From the perspective of geographical location, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun can be divided into two parts, the seven prefectures in front of the mountains and the nine prefectures behind the mountains. The core of its strategy is the seven states south of Yanshan, mainly Youzhou. As long as they control these lands, they can guard the Yanshan line and ensure that the Central Plains is not invaded by grassland nomads. The Song Army¡¯s main attack direction was also the Seven Prefectures in the Piedmont. After experiencing the disastrous defeat in Qingzhou, the Liao Army was in a very bad situation. We no longer have the strength to defend all the cities. Splitting the troops to guard them will only scatter the troops and eventually they will be defeated individually. Yelu Jun thought about it and made a decision to withdraw all the troops to Youzhou. Even if all the other six prefectures and counties south of Yanshan fall, as long as Youzhou can be saved, it will be considered a major victory. As long as the Song Dynasty army withdraws, it can make a comeback. Youzhou is the core and the strongest city, and its defense is unmatched by other cities. Just like how Song Taizong conquered Yanyun a hundred years ago, as long as Youzhou is defended, the Song people can only fall behind. Yelu Jun did not return to Beijing, but stayed in Youzhou. As an emperor, leaving at this moment will undoubtedly affect the morale of the army. He must assume the responsibility of defending the country and commanding from the front line. At the same time, he regarded Youzhou as very important, and he was not too worried about other generals coming to guard it. He could only feel more at ease if he personally took charge of it. The most important thing is that Yelujun is a little unconvinced. The failure of Qingzhou made his self-esteem very frustrated. He had no chance to take the initiative to defeat Zhao Zhao for the time being, but as long as he defended Youzhou and let Zhao Zhao return disappointed, it would be considered a victory and he could save some face. As for going to Beijing, even if she has a grudge, Xiao Guanyin will always be his mother. The empress dowager of the Liao Kingdom. The Liao Kingdom has always had the tradition of the Queen Mother taking charge of the government. Therefore, the responsibilities of going to Beijing were handed over to his mother, Xiao Guanyin. Yelu Jun himself stayed in Youzhou City to recuperate from his injuries and resist the Song army's attack. On August 20th, it was the time of crisp autumn. After several days of rest and recuperation, the Song army launched a joint attack on the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun. The first step is to clean up the prefectures and counties outside Youzhou. Among the seven prefectures in the mountains, including You, Ying, Mo, Zhuo, Shun, Tan, and Ji, Mozhou and Yingzhou were recovered in the early Chai Rong era. This time, taking advantage of the Qingzhou war. The army took advantage of the situation to regain Zhuozhou, the ancestral land of the old Zhao family, and then mainly attacked Shunzhou, Jizhou, Tanzhou and other places. Because the Khitan army took the initiative to evacuate, the cleaning process was easy, but it only took seven days to complete. On August 27, more than 200,000 troops from the Song Dynasty arrived at Youzhou City and surrounded Youzhou City. As the southern capital of the Liao Kingdom, Youzhou has a developed economy and is very wealthy, with sufficient food and grass preparations in the city. Yelu Jun also organized hundreds of thousands of troops to garrison Youzhou. Coupled with the strong men in the city, the number of troops is definitely not small. And the city wall of Youzhou is tall and strong. The moat is wide and it is what is called a majestic city in the art of war. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Will Youzhou be able to be defended in this way? Yelujun was asking himself. Maybe he would have been absolutely sure before, as Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi had already verified it once a hundred years ago. The disastrous defeat in that battle was at the Gaoliang River. The infantry of the Song Army blindly pursued the Liao cavalry. They were ambushed by Brother Yelvxiu and successfully counterattacked, leading to the defeat. But in fact, before that, Zhao Guangyi's troops surrounded Youzhou for a long time and were always difficult to conquer, which in turn led to a loss of morale and morale among the troops. At that time, Zhao Guangyi's battle formation actually surpassed that of Zhao Zhao today, and his military strength also exceeded 300,000. But facing Zhao Zhao now, especially the Song army after the Battle of Qingzhou, Yelujun felt very uneasy. Especially the mysterious firearm that explodes. It can crack mountains and crack rocks. If it can attack the city wall, will it What makes Yelujun feel a little relieved is that the Song Army did not use this weapon at the beginning. The main methods are conventional warfare methods, including crossbows, swords and arrows, and ladder siege methods. Yelujun secretly guessed that perhaps Zhao Zhao did not have many firearms in his hands. Indeed, gunpowder had just been born in the Song Dynasty, and its texture, production efficiency, and effect were very limited. The Battle of Qingzhou was just a rehearsal and test. And this time, the firearms were more like grenades, using iron filings and shrapnel to injure people. To use it on the city wall, the blasting effect must be good. There is no such thing as a cannon at present. Using catapults to throw gunpowder shells is more likely to injure and intimidate people. After exploding on the surface of the city wall, it is difficult to demolish a solid city wall. Unless a tunnel can be dug and a large amount of gunpowder can be buried under the city wall. This trick was commonly used by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in later generations, and it was quite effective. However, digging tunnels is a commonly used method in ancient siege warfare. The defending party is on guard, so it is not easy to achieve success. On the one hand, Zhao Zhao requested to strengthen the manufacturing and production of gunpowder to increase its power, while at the same time digging tunnels under Youzhou City. Unfortunately, the effect was not good, and it was discovered by the Khitans, so there was no progress for the time being. The war cannot be prolonged for a long time, but capturing Youzhou cannot be achieved overnight. Attacking Youzhou is only one aspect, the more important thing is to divide the Khitan nobles. Yelu Jun¡¯s southern expedition did not receive support from the Khitan nobles, and the opposition grew louder and louder. After the defeat in Qingzhou, the voice of opposition became even louder, and turmoil began in Shangjing City. "But Yelu Jun himself stayed in Youzhou and was now trapped in the city, unable to suppress him at all. Zhao Zhao realized that this was an opportunity and could take advantage of it. "Li Cheng, what's going on over there in Shangjing?" "Don't worry, the officials have already started taking action!" "Well, in order to cooperate with the action, there needs to be more noise in Youzhou!" Zhao Zhao asked: "Gunpowder "How is the situation?" Li Chengdao: "A batch has been shipped, but the quality is relatively poor. Master Shen Kuo made a new batch in Daming Mansion. It is said that the power was improved, so he did not take the water route and transported it by dry road. , it will take a little longer." "Okay, use the inventory first, use the Sangong bed crossbow to add gunpowder, and make some noise on the Youzhou city wall." Zhao Zhao said: "Speed ??up a little bit on the way to Beijing. On the Jurchen side, although they were defeated by Yelu Jun, their strength was still there. Hearing that the Wanyan tribe had relatively few losses, they sent someone to go to Liaodong with Agu Da Sutra. He was supposed to be the young master of the Wanyan tribe, so he persuaded them with his identity. Jurchen, if you want to create trouble with huge profits, there is one thing. After the war, you must send Aguda back to Bianliang and let him study hard!" "Yes!" Li Chengzhi said that Zhao Zhao had raised Wanyan Aguda for many years. I already have feelings, so I ask to be kept by my side. But little did he know that what Zhao Zhao was even more worried about was that if history took a fateful turn, the consequences would be disastrous. The Jurchens can only exist to contain the Khitans, and they must not be allowed to rise and become another wolf on the grassland. They can bite each other, but they must not threaten Da Song. "Also, tell the King of Koryo to use all his strength to attack Liaodong for me." Zhao Zhao said: "Otherwise, if the Song Dynasty Navy sets off, there will be no Koryo Kingdom in the future." Being an emperor is such a good feeling, Zhao Zhao couldn't help but sigh. , the feeling of issuing orders is so refreshing and domineering! No wonder so many people are working so hard to become emperors and take over life and death. It feels so good to dominate the country! Zhao Zhao felt this way, and Yelu Ta also had such thoughts. He was the king of Song Dynasty in Liao Dynasty and the son of Yelv Renxian of Yue Dynasty. His father had a great status and power in the Liao Kingdom. He made great contributions to quelling the Yelu Chongyuan Rebellion and was honored as Shangfu by Yelu Hongji, the Daozong of the Liao Dynasty. Prestige is very important. Precisely because of his existence, although Yelu Yixin was powerful and ambitious in the early stage, he never dared to be too arrogant. Until two years ago, Yelvren was ordered to conquer the Tatar rebellion in the northwest. He was old and had to go on a long expedition, so he died shortly after returning. From then on, Yelu Yixin felt that there was no one to suppress him, so he began to expand more and more, doing whatever he wanted, and became a powerful minister. Eventually, he had an irreconcilable conflict with Yelu Jun, and was defeated and killed after he conspired to rebel. After the death of Yelu Ren, his son Yelu Ta also inherited the title and some related powers. He also made a lot of achievements in putting down the rebellion of Yelu Yixin. "But after Yelu Jun ascended the throne, he was wary of the Khitan nobles who held heavy troops and refused to reuse him. Instead, he cultivated a talented Yelujie who was from a low background. It's a pity that in the battle of Qingzhou, he died gloriously on the battlefield in order to cover his escape. Yelu Jun's behavior made Yelu Ta not very dissatisfied, thinking that the emperor was deliberately neglecting and suppressing him. This person is relatively proud because his family is relatively good. After all, his father is the second Yue Yue after Brother Yelvxiu in a century. The arrogant Yelu Ta sometimes even looked down upon the crown prince, but he was not stupid and knew how to conceal his ambitions, so he was never suspected. This time Yelu Jun hurriedly led troops to attack the Song Dynasty. He had the same attitude as most of the Khitan nobles and did not fully agree. But Yelujun insisted on going his own way, and there was nothing they could do. As a result, the front line was defeated and the Song Dynasty counterattacked and besieged Youzhou. When the news came back to Shangjing, there was an uproar. Most of the Khitan nobles were disappointed and angry. The Iron Khitan was so powerful, how had it ever failed in such a fight? What a shame. Not to mention the defeat, even Youzhou is in danger now. The young and energetic emperor made a mistake, refused to listen to advice, and offended the public. The Khitan nobles here are discussing, gathering troops and horses to go south to rescue Youzhou. But didn't Yelu Ta have other thoughts? Yelu Jun made many mistakes, was he a qualified emperor? If not, can you consider replacing it? LiaoIn recent years, there has been a tradition of rebellion, so most Khitan nobles have a heart that is ready to stir up trouble. Especially when the emperor is away and the capital is empty, that heart becomes even more restless! (To be continued) PS: I didn¡¯t update yesterday, so I apologize to all paying readers, I¡¯m sorry! As for some friends who watch pirated copies, they can only complain a few words. You didn't spend money to read the book, I have no obligation to you, and you have no right to curse, please respect yourself!