But it was obvious that Prince Han also knew that it was inappropriate, but he obviously didn't care. He didn't even look at the other party. He just looked north and answered: "But some things are beyond human control... We can only be prepared."

Li Yanxian was stunned for a moment, then realized that the other party had misunderstood him, and then he looked at the swaying banner above his head without changing his expression: "Does Prince Han think that I am saying that the weather is getting colder and it is not conducive to the confrontation?"

"Li Jiedu, don't pretend." Han Shizhong said seriously. "Others don't know, but don't you? The military reports from behind are so clear... The Shanzhou River is turbulent, and there are pillars blocking the way. The logistics are difficult. Now the temperature suddenly drops, but it can't freeze quickly. Is it beneficial to confront it?"

Li Yanxian ignored the other party's sarcasm and continued to face him seriously: "Prince, there is something strange about this confrontation."

"Of course I know something is wrong." Han Shizhong still didn't look at him. "Longde Prefecture sent one Wanhu first, but it can send three Wanhu. Taiyuan Prefecture sent three Wanhu first, and it is estimated that it can send another two Wanhu. By then, there will be 90,000 Jin troops, more than half of which are cavalry... But we are too far ahead. There are still two big cities in the Hezhong area, Hedong City and Anyi City, which have not been taken. Not only can we not gather our troops, but the Taihang rebels are swarming in, and there are too many of them... If something goes wrong, something big will happen."

Although Han Shizhong did not understand what Li Yanxian meant, there was no doubt that Li Yanxian knew what Han Shizhong meant.

By the way, now in the area around Tieling Pass, or to the east of Tieling Pass, that is, Wenxi, Jiangxian, and Quwo, which together are equivalent to the key area at the junction of the Hezhong (Yuncheng) Basin, Linfen Basin, and Shangdang Basin, the density of the Song and Jin armies in the so-called area of ​​sixty or seventy miles in radius is already somewhat terrifying.

The Jin army currently has three Wanhu in the north and one Wanhu in the southeast.

As for the Song army, it currently has Li Yanxian's initial 35,000 troops, Han Shizhong's 12,000 troops, plus the 12,000 troops of the four commanders who came to support from Li Qiong's troops, totaling nearly 60,000 main forces. There is also an additional Taihang volunteer army whose number cannot be fully counted, but is estimated to be no less than 30,000 to 40,000.

As for the reduction in staff, to be honest, the reduction is a lot, but not too much.

The high casualties were only in these short four or five days. From the day the two sides met in a chaotic battle, there had been fighting almost every day. This was undoubtedly a bit hasty and numb for the main forces of both sides, one having not fought for three years and the other for five years... It seemed as if both sides were using the lives of their soldiers to recover and warm up.

But at the same time, we have to admit that times have really changed.

Even though they had not fought for several years, the two sides had been in a state of total war at least ten years ago, and their military technology had basically reached the peak of the Middle Ages, especially the armor of the main forces of both sides. The lamellar armor had reached a terrifying level. Unless morale collapsed, basically only the Jurchens' close-range heavy arrows, the heavy cavalry's spear thrusts, and the Song people's long-handled axes and divine arm bows could cause specific damage to each other... So, it is true that the fighting was fierce and frequent these days, but more than half of the casualties on both sides were still caused in the first two days.

All these seemingly staggering casualties are insignificant when compared with the huge numbers of troops on both sides.

However, this balance is only for now.

Just as Han Shizhong said, it is good that the Jin army currently has only four Wanhu. But if we count the days, in a few days, the Jin army will react on all fronts, all main forces will be well prepared, and then arrive as reinforcements. There will be five Wanhu in the north and four Wanhu in the southeast, with as many as 90,000 main forces gathered in the north and south of Jiangxian County.

At that time, any slight movement could cause a chain reaction and lead to a decisive battle.

But at the same time, some mistakes occurred among the Song army.

This is not referring to the fact that Han Shizhong complained that there were still two big cities that had not been conquered - this matter did seriously distract the main force of the Song army. For example, Han Shizhong needed to leave 20,000 people to lock Hedong City. For example, after Li Qiong crossed the river, he only sent half of his troops over, but he personally went to assist Li Yanxian's troops to attack Anyi City, which had few defenders.

However, these were things that had been anticipated long ago, and the Song army had already made preparations for attacking Hedong. This was part of the strategic prediction... When Han Shizhong said this, he essentially wanted to complain about Li Yanxian's recklessness.

The real problem, or the unplanned problem, actually lay with Ma Kuo... Ma Kuo and his troops came too fast, and there were too many of them.

This doesn't sound right. If Ma Kuo hadn't come to his rescue so quickly, who knows what would have happened that night. Even if Han Shizhong was right behind him at the time, he would still unconditionally praise Ma Kuo's army for coming to his rescue in a timely manner.

What's more, Ma Kuo's rebel army had undertaken a lot of work during these days, including building tunnels and trenches, setting up camps, acting as guides, and crossing mountains for reconnaissance. They did all of it.

But this did not delay the rapid arrival of Ma Kuo and his rebel army, but it did cause a serious problem... Don't forget that the Song army's Northern Expedition was a hasty and premature Northern Expedition, and it was originally scheduled to come after the spring plowing next year. This means that even if the Song court had stored military supplies for the winter, it would need to temporarily change the plan and make temporary adjustments to prepare winter supplies.

However, there were too many troops following Ma Kuo down the mountain, and they suddenly appeared on the front line. In addition, they usually had no basic equipment in order to facilitate movement in the mountains, which created even greater temporary logistical pressure.

What's more, long before the war, Liu Hongdao, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War and the head of the Capital Water Conservancy Bureau, pointed out that Shanzhou was the weakest point in the Yellow River waterway transportation, but Emperor Zhao ignored him.

Therefore, due to the combined effects of these factors, the Song army's logistics temporarily encountered certain problems, and even Li Qiong's previous river crossing was obviously affected.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!