Therefore, Yelu Zongzhen did not feel that he was in a desperate situation.

"As long as the King of Qi eliminates Di Qing, allows the gunpowder, supplies, and reinforcements from Tokyo to arrive, and then adds the troops from the remaining tribes, then everything will be fine."

Yelu Zongzhen thought about this and scolded Liu Liufu, "Prime Minister Liu is saying that my millions of soldiers in the Great Liao are no match for the Song's mere tens of thousands? Prime Minister Liu is saying that I should take the initiative to bend my knees and ask for peace with Zhao Zhen? Where is my dignity then? Where is the dignity of the Great Liao?"

"I have absolutely no such intention."

Liu Liufu was startled and quickly said, "I also feel that now is not the time for a decisive battle with the Song Dynasty."

"No need to say more, Liu Liufu is dismissed as the military governor of Changning Army!"

Yelu Zongzhen slammed the table and angrily shouted, "How can such a coward be the Prime Minister of the Northern Prefecture of the Great Liao? If it weren't for your father's meritorious service to the late emperor, you would have died long ago!"

"His Majesty."

Liu Liufu was horrified. He never expected that Yelu Zongzhen would get so angry that he actually stroked him.

"snort!"

Yelu Zongzhen snorted coldly and was about to have someone carry Liu Liufu out.

Zhang Jian said again, "Your Majesty, this is the time to recruit people. Although Prime Minister Liu's words were inappropriate, they were not intentional. Please be magnanimous."

Hearing Zhang Jian's words, Yelu Zongzhen frowned slightly. Zhang Jian's words still had weight. After all, in history, Yelu Zongzhen had always treated him like a father and listened to his words.

So after a brief thought, Yelu Zongzhen did not call anyone, but he also did not reinstate Liu Liufu's position. Instead, he said, "What do you think I should do, my father?"

"The battle with Song at this time will probably become a battle like the Battle of Changping. It depends on whether Your Majesty intends to win the battle in one fell swoop or choose to temporarily retreat and negotiate peace with Song."

Zhang Jian analyzed, "Drag it on will do us no good. Even if Xiao Xiaomu defeats Di Qing, the Song State will surely send more troops. We don't know how many naval forces they possess, so there are only two possible outcomes: war or peace!"

This may seem like nonsense, but in fact, it is about the final outcome of this battle between them and the Song Dynasty from a strategic analysis, that is, fighting or drawing. After all, no matter in terms of equipment or tactical play, they have actually fallen into a disadvantage.

After losing the ability to fight in the field, the Liao Kingdom had to consider whether to fight to the death or negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty. Otherwise, if it continued to drag it out, it would undoubtedly be defeated and there would be basically no possibility of victory.

Yelu Zongzhen naturally understood, so he asked, "In your opinion, if we were to fight, what are our chances of winning?"

"What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Zhang Jian asked back.

Yelu Zongzhen thought for a moment and said, "I still have a million troops. Once the troops from the rear arrive, we will fight the Song Dynasty to the death! I don't believe that if we gather all the troops and launch a surprise attack at night, can the Song army really withstand it?"

Zhang Jian smiled bitterly and said, "Let's not even talk about the numerous trenches Fan Zhongyan dug, just the fact that fighting at night is disadvantageous to the Song army is also bad for our Liao army."

Why were wars in ancient times mostly fought during the day, with few battles at night?

Like in the Battle of Changping, would it have been better if Zhao Kuo had chosen to break out at night when the Qin soldiers were sleeping?

If anyone has such doubts, they are totally wrong.

Because in ancient times, night lighting basically relied on the moon or torches, and even with the moon and torches, visibility was very low. It was easy to hurt teammates in night battles, so the ancients tried their best to avoid night battles.

At the same time, night battles are not easy to command. If you are not careful, the army may become chaotic and run around like a headless fly, and then the enemy will seize the opportunity to defeat it in one fell swoop.

In addition, there was no positioning or smartphones in ancient times, and people had to rely on themselves to determine their direction, such as looking at the sun, moon, or the Big Dipper.

But when fighting is so tense and exciting, you might not notice these things if you are not careful.

Once a war breaks out, it's okay if it involves a few thousand people, but if it involves tens of thousands of people, it will often be just many small armies of a few or dozens of people fighting each other.

The night was pitch black, making it impossible to see the moon or the Big Dipper, and night blindness was a common problem in ancient times. If you accidentally ran to the wrong place or didn't know the direction well, you could just rush forward and all sorts of messy mistakes could happen.

Therefore, in ancient times, night battles were often avoided. Even when attacking the enemy camp at night, only a small number of troops were sent, and even if they were sacrificed, it would not be a big deal.

Including the Liao army's recent harassment of the Song camp, although the scale was large, with more than 50,000 or 60,000 troops dispatched, but in reality the troops were scattered across the Youyan land and fought. When they really fought, they were only a few hundred or even dozens of people harassing various Song camps.

Under such conditions, attacking the Song army at night, which has a large number of firearms and a large number of horse traps and trenches on the periphery, is actually not much less difficult than during the day, and the probability of defeat may even be greater than during the day.

So when Yelu Zongzhen heard Zhang Jian's words, he was silent for a moment.

He also understood that if he continued to divide his troops and harass them like this, with Fan Zhongyan's defensive ability, how could he give them any chance?

Unless Fan Zhongyan is replaced...

Yelu Zongzhen suddenly turned his head and glanced around. "I've heard that the Emperor of Song is always afraid of foreign ministers leading the army. If we spread rumors that Fan Zhongyan will rebel and force him to be transferred, will this plan succeed?"

As long as Fan Zhongyan was replaced, it is possible that the new generals would not adopt such a turtle tactic.

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