On the vast plain of Hebei Road, the fresh wind howls.
If you stand on the city wall of Xiongzhou City and look out, you will see that the world outside the city is desolate.
Withered and yellow basil spread all over the wilderness, there were countless dense jungles in the wild, and fallen leaves fell all over the ground.
The original villages and farmland have long been ruined and have not been cultivated for decades.
In this chaos, there is only one official road in the south of the city, still telling people that at least there are still people passing through here.
After the Battle of Chanzhou, the Song Dynasty moved the border people inland to prevent the Liao people from plundering grass and valleys. Today, there are no villages and fields on the border, only cities and military villages remain.
However, this does not mean that there is no human habitation at all. Businessmen going north to China and businessmen from the Liao and Song Dynasties who come to trade with each other will still come here.
It's just that after the war started, no matter how brave they were for profit, they dispersed long ago and fled the border far away.
On December 26, only four days before the New Year's Eve, Di Qing, who was on duty in Xiongzhou City, saw several knights flying toward the south city from a distance.
He watched for a while and then directly asked someone to open the city gate - one of the knights he knew was his subordinate Zhang Yu, who was now serving as the defense envoy of Xiongzhou due to his military exploits.
It is worth mentioning that Di Qing's performance in the war with Xixia was also very outstanding. His promotion was like a rocket. He was already under the command of Hebei Road Soldiers and Horses. With 5,000 people under his command, he had already touched the threshold of the general level. The next step is to become a general.
Zhang Yu hurried into the city. When the city gate opened, he saw Di Qing. He quickly reined in his horse and said, "Hanchen, here we come."
"What's coming?"
Although Di Qing had suspicions in his mind, he still wanted to ask.
Zhang Yu immediately turned over and dismounted, wiped the Han water on his forehead, took two sips of the water handed to him by the soldiers next to him, and then said: "Yesterday, Mr. Jinlue defeated the Liao army in Baosai, and their remnants are retreating north. escape!"
"Quick, go back and tell Shuai Si!"
Di Qing immediately took a horse, climbed on it, and headed directly to Zhang Kang's mansion in the city.
After a while, Zhang Kang got the news and became energetic.
"Very good."
He stood up and said to Di Qing: "Command the three armies to go to war!"
"yes!"
Di Qing also answered sonorously and forcefully.
After a while, the entire Xiongzhou City became excited, and all the soldiers and horses in the city were ready.
Except for one thousand people who were left to defend the city, all the others left the city to intercept and defeat the Liao army.
Situations like this also occur in many important border towns such as Suicheng, Ansu, Rongcheng, Baoding, and Wen'an.
If the previous Hebei Army, even if the Liao Army was defeated, they probably would not have dared to go out of the city to pursue them like this.
But Lao Fan placed the elite Northwest Army in many cities on the border just for this moment.
The morale of the Northwest Army was much stronger than that of the Hebei Army, so naturally they dared to go out of the city for a decisive battle.
These are all the same military achievements.
At the same time, after the Liao army was defeated, it was impossible to reorganize the team.
Because the Song army has been chasing after them.
Fortunately for the cavalry, they galloped all the way north and were able to escape.
It's a tough job for the infantry.
Although most of the Song army were infantry, the Song army had high morale and fought hard to catch up for military glory.
The infantry of the Liao army had no choice but to flee crazily in order to survive.
The two sides chased each other for hundreds of miles overnight, and the entire border line of more than 200 miles long including Baozhou, Ansu Army, Guangxin Army, Xiongzhou, and Dingzhou in Hebei Road was filled with enemy soldiers.
Fan Zhongyan could no longer control his men, because the enemy was scattered and the Song army was scattered in pursuit. There was even an anecdote that a Song army squad of more than 200 people chased more than 3,000 Liao army infantry regiments.
So he simply did nothing. After giving the pursuit order, he just took a few thousand people with him and slowly and leisurely headed north to Ansu.
Ansu's guard was Zhao Zhen, the new commander-in-chief of Hebei West Road. He didn't have many cavalry on his side, only more than 3,000 people, and only 10,000 infantry. They actually stationed themselves arrogantly at Huludi, intercepting a large number of people from behind. Liao army.
Huludi is located on the bank of the Cao River south of Ansu. This Cao River is not a Cao Canal, but a tributary of the Fu River, a tributary of the Daqing River. It originates from Wuhuiling in Yixian County, Baoding City, and is the only way to cross the river.
According to historical records, this place is also a place prone to accidents. From the third year of Kaiyun in the Later Jin Dynasty in the Five Dynasties to the fifth year of Xuanhe in the Northern Song Dynasty, for 178 years, it was the frontier position of the Liao Dynasty.
Wars between the Liao and Song Dynasties often occurred here.
However, the Song Dynasty once cooperated with the Ansu City to resist the Liao army at Langshan Village on the south bank of Huludi. Now the Song army has gone to the north bank to intercept the Liao army, which is quite rebellious against Tiangang.
The remnants of the Liao Kingdom were running around like headless flies. There were nearly 200,000 troops, and a large part of them followed Yelv Zongzhen towards Dingzhou.
There is the army of Yelu Chongyuan, the brother of Liao Dynasty, who can let Yelu Chongyuan cover their return from Dingzhou to the north.
The rest of the Liao army was not so lucky. They just wanted to escape from the Song Dynasty as soon as possible and chose the fastest route, which was also the shortest route to hell.
Zhao Zhen set up an ambush at Huludi and defeated the Liao army again when they crossed the river. He killed more than 3,000 people and captured 5,000 others.
Suicheng garrison intercepted more than 10,000 Liao troops in Cunpu, Busan. He also defeated the enemy, killed more than 2,000 people, captured more than 3,000 people, and the remaining 5,000 to 6,000 people fled back to the Liao territory in embarrassment. .
Zhang Kang, the defender of Xiongzhou, personally led the cavalry and pushed all the way to the west. He didn't bother to kill the small groups of Liao troops he encountered. He only pursued at least three to four thousand Liao troops each time. In just a few days, he killed them. There are more than ten thousand enemies, and there are no prisoners.
Originally, the war could continue to expand, but after reaching the border of Liao Kingdom, Zhao Zhen and the others hesitated, and ultimately did not dare to take the risk and continue to march.
The reason is that after the Chanyuan Alliance, Song Zhenzong strictly restricted the generals of Hebei Road.
1. Do not provoke border wars.
Second, even if the enemy comes to attack, you are not allowed to fight back immediately, waiting for the court's order.
3. Defeat the enemy and do not pursue him.
Fourth, you must not enter the Liao territory.
It sounds outrageous.
But this is actually the reality. This series of restrictions caused the Song Army on Hebei Road to be restrained and did not dare to let go.
If Fan Zhongyan hadn't come over, they would have dared to stay in the city and watch the Liao army wreak havoc outside, even if the Liao Kingdom suddenly marched south. They would not have dared to fight back unless the enemy came to attack the city.
Fortunately, Lao Fan arrived in Ansu the next day. After learning about this situation, he slapped his forehead and immediately issued a military order to pursue him into the Liao territory. We would wait until he encountered resistance.
After receiving this military order, the Song army bravely entered the territory of the Liao Kingdom, frightening the defeated Liao soldiers who originally thought they were safe, and continued to flee north, reaching Xijin Mansion in Nanjing, the Liao Kingdom.
Xiao Xiaoyou, the general of the Xijin Prefecture, quickly collected the defeated soldiers and led his troops to resist. While the Song army was pursuing, he led the cavalry to sneak attack on several parts of the Song army, causing some casualties to the Song army. This made Sha crazy. The stunned Song army calmed down and slowly retreated to Zhuozhou.
There is no way, it is impossible to spread out the formation during such a pursuit, which makes it difficult to respond to a sudden attack. It is also the fault of those Song troops who were greedy for merit and advanced rashly, otherwise there would not have been any casualties.
Fortunately, the Song army won a complete victory in this battle. This small accident did not affect Fan Zhongyan's mood. He reorganized his troops and went north to settle in Zhuozhou.
After Yelu Zongzhen arrived in Dingzhou, he joined forces with Yelu Zhongyuan, regrouped about 70,000 to 80,000 cavalry, and fled north to Yuzhou, which is the Lingqiu area in later generations, and then made a detour from the Yuxian area in later generations. Only then did he run back to Xijin Mansion.
Since there were still a large number of defeated Liao troops in the Song Dynasty at this time, if they were not eliminated, it might affect the security of the rear, so Fan Zhongyan did not continue to fight against Xijin Mansion, but mobilized troops for a confrontation.
He gathered 50,000 northwest troops and took about 80,000 infantry to station in Fanyang, Zhuozhou, Liao State.
Some of the more than 100,000 troops at the rear were responsible for wiping out the remaining Liao troops, some were responsible for transporting grain and grass to Fanyang on the front line, and some immediately went north from Cangzhou, Baoding, Xin'an, Qingzhou and other places to harass Wuqing and Wuqing in the southeast of Xijin Prefecture. Anci and other places.
In this way, the Song armies from all over the Hebei Road performed their respective duties and surrounded Xijin, the capital of Nanjing, the Liao Kingdom, with a pincer offensive from two routes. They quite planned to take advantage of this opportunity to go all the way north to regain the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
Just because most of the Song army were infantry, even though Fan Zhongyan's command and dispatch was very good, time was still wasted due to the lengthy front line and the bloated army.
After the arrangements were made here, it was basically January of the next year. The soldiers could not celebrate the New Year properly. All they could do was chase the Liao army fleeing all over the mountains and plains with swords and guns. , I almost forgot about the Chinese New Year.
This undoubtedly gave Yelv Zong a chance to breathe.
Almost at the end of December, Yelv Zongzhen had already rushed back to Xijin Mansion to stop the transfer again. Around Xijin Mansion, he deployed defense lines in Miaoyin, Liangxiang, Yuhe, and Wanping, and launched a defense in the city. war.
For the Liao Kingdom, although Han people have long existed on the Nanjing border, and since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a large number of Han cities have been left in this area, allowing them to have city defenses.
But the nomads allowed the farming people to invade the hinterland, and also required the nomadic people to defend the city. This is absolutely unprecedented.
It can be said to be quite frustrating.
On January 13, Yelu Zongzhen stood on the city tower of Xijin Mansion with a haggard face. He saw countless Han people inside and outside the city actively joining the army, and he couldn't help but sigh: "The people's support can be used."
Zhang Jian, who was standing next to him, thought to himself that it was because the Song Dynasty itself was too harsh on the Han people and the taxes were extremely high. When I heard that the Song army was coming, even the Han people did not want to be subjects of the Song Dynasty.
But of course he would not say it out loud, and just said: "Your Majesty, there is nothing we can do about this big defeat. The Song people's firearms are too powerful, and it is not a crime of war. Facing the Song army's attack, we should take the long term and be careful. .”
Yelu Zongzhen said with a sad face: "I regret that I should not have listened to my father. I really should not have attacked the Song Dynasty so rashly. If I had only sent envoys to discuss with the Emperor of the Song Dynasty before, I would not have reached this point today. I am afraid that they will continue to do so from now on. , we will cancel the Sui coins and stop trading with us."
Zhang Jian replied: "That's not the case."
"oh?"
Yelu Zongzhen asked hurriedly: "Is there anything else Shangfu can do?"
Zhang Jian muttered: "Although we were defeated in this battle, the losses were basically men and horses from various vassal states and tribes. Our main force, the Pishi Army of the Liao Dynasty, is still safe and sound, and still has the strength to fight. Moreover, the Song Army is good at defense. , it is impossible to use grenades to attack the city, but it would be difficult to use the cannon to attack the city. Fortunately, the Song army has less of these things and still has room for maneuver."
"Father, please speak clearly."
Yelu Zongzhen said.
"Of course we will continue the peace talks with the Song Army."
Zhang Jian said in a deep voice: "We can abandon the ten counties on the south bank of Laishui River, but the Song army must increase the currency by 200,000. Only after we have the money can we appease the tribes. Otherwise, His Majesty's prestige will plummet, which will be detrimental to the country."
"Giving up so much land like this will probably be criticized by many powerful people in the country."
Yelvzong was really hesitant.
Zhang Jian shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, look at the Han people in the city. Aren't they all actively joining the army to defend the country?"
"This is?"
Yelu Zong really doesn’t know why.
"It's because His Majesty treated them so leniently that their people's hearts returned."
Zhang Jian said: "The people of the Song Dynasty levied taxes more harshly than tigers. Even if they occupied the land, the local people would not surrender and would flee north to the Liao Kingdom. All we lost was the land. As long as Dingkou was there, we would not be able to surrender." It has caused too much damage, and the top priority now is two things."
"What two things?"
"The first is to appease the country so that there will be no turmoil in the country due to the war."
Zhang Jian raised two fingers and said: "The second is to try every means to obtain the gunpowder formula of the Song Dynasty and make our own grenades and cannons. Otherwise, we will always be controlled by others. If we continue to fight, the people's livelihood will only be ruined and the country will be in ruins." Lack, and thus total defeat.”
"Um."
Yelu Zong really felt that Zhang Jian's words made sense and nodded slightly.
The loss in this battle was too great for him.
No benefits were gained. Not only was the country's strength wasted in vain, but a large number of men and horses were also lost.
His headquarters sent out 150,000 Pishi troops, plus the combined troops of other ethnic groups from various ministries, making it look like 250,000 to 60,000 troops.
Among them, the Pishi Army lost 20,000 to 30,000 people, and the coalition forces of various tribes lost at least 50,000 to 60,000 people. It can be said to be a disastrous defeat.
Although the heritage of the Liao Kingdom is naturally more than that. When his father conquered the Xixia capital, 500,000 people were recruited. Now, with the addition of the troops stationed in the north of Shanxi and the Xixia border, the Uighur border, and the hinterland, it is not a problem to organize another 500,000 people. .
The problem is that after the confrontation in the past few months, the Liao State's treasury was basically exhausted. If they cannot get supplies from the war, a large number of Liao soldiers will starve to death.
So you can organize so many people, but whether you can continue the fight is another question.
Therefore, instead of continuing to wage war and continue fighting against the Song State at the risk of destroying the country, it is better to gain some practical benefits and simply give up part of the land to the Song State, which is equivalent to selling the land.
Anyway, the Song Dynasty was very wealthy, so with just this little money, it probably wouldn't matter.
Thinking of this, Yelu Zongzhen sighed and said: "That's it, I'll send an envoy to have a detailed discussion with Fan Zhongyan!"
(End of chapter)
