As soon as the messenger saw Zhang Xiaochun, he immediately saluted and said urgently: "Sir, Yan Yun's army suddenly came out of Chengtian Army Stronghold. The three military strongholds our army deployed on the front line have all fallen. Now only Pingding City is left. We are still holding on! There are only 40,000 troops in the city, please send reinforcements quickly!"
Zhang Xiaochun was shocked, "Wha, what? The Yanyun Army suddenly left the Chengtian Army Stronghold? How is this possible? Previous intelligence showed that there was no sign of the Yanyun Army mobilizing in the direction of the Chengtian Army Stronghold!" "That's the fact! Now that peace is at stake, my lord, hurry up and send reinforcements!"
Zhang Xiaochun said angrily: "How can I send soldiers and horses in Bingzhou City!" The messenger was anxious, "What should we do?" Zhang Xiaochun thought for a while, "For the current plan, we can only send a message to Xijing Road and the Generalissimo , please ask Xijing Road or the Generalissimo to send troops to support!" As soon as he finished speaking, an officer rushed in anxiously and reported in a panic: "It's not good, sir, Yanmen Pass has been lost!" Zhang Xiaochun and the courier were shocked, Zhang Xiaochun said He yelled: "How is this possible? There are ten thousand soldiers and horses guarding Yanmen Pass, and they are in the hinterland of our country. How can Yan Yun's army not be able to fly!?"
His eyes turned back to Pingding City. Night had fallen, and the city soon became quiet. Countless torches were lit on the city walls on all sides, illuminating the area near the city wall like daylight. Gan Buli patrolled the city wall, thinking about the methods Yan Yunjun might take.
At the same time, many Yanyun Army officers and soldiers were busy outside the city, digging tunnels. The entrance to the tunnel is in a forest in the southwest corner of Pingding City. It is about 500 meters away from the city wall. That is the nearest forest. There is no closer one. The closer forest has long been cut down by the Khitan army. . This was the case in ancient times. Any woods approaching the city would be cleared away, especially in places where fighting was frequent. This was to prevent enemies from relying on the woods as cover to raid the city.
Xiao Qianbuli inspected all four walls of the city, returned to the city administration office, read the report for a while, and then fell asleep.
In the early morning, it was the darkest time of the night. The light of the torches on the city wall seemed to be able to drive away only a small circle of darkness around them, and the sergeants on guard were drowsy. Boom...! An earth-shaking loud noise suddenly shattered the silent night sky, shaking the earth and shaking the sky. The soldiers of the Liao Kingdom woke up one after another and looked around in horror. Then they saw fireworks rising into the sky from the southwest corner of the city wall, and faintly saw countless stones and human bodies flying into the sky. The soldiers of the Liao Kingdom were stunned. They couldn't understand for a while what terrible thing had happened. !
At this moment, there was a loud killing sound, and Yan Yun's army suddenly appeared in the southwest corner, climbed over the city wall that collapsed into a steep slope, and invaded the city.
The Khitan army reacted and hurriedly fought. A fierce battle broke out between the two sides near the gap. Yan Yun's army advanced bravely with the Modao army as the vanguard. The Khitan army that had just felt that the battlefield could not resist was killed and retreated continuously. However, as more and more Khitan troops gathered, the battle gradually evolved into a stalemate. Soldiers from both sides roared and fought in the narrow streets. More and more people fell to the ground. Blood flying in the sky continued to soak the city walls, streets and houses.
Soon after, Xiao Qianbuli rushed to the scene and personally supervised the formation. The morale of the Khitan army was greatly boosted, and the battle became even more fierce!
At this moment, chaotic shouts suddenly came from the direction of Xicheng, and they vaguely heard something like, 'The Yanyun Army has invaded.' Xiao Qianbuli saw the torches flashing wildly in the west city. Under the light, it seemed like countless people were running. For a moment, he couldn't figure out whether it was his own troops or Yanyun's army. If it was the Yanyun Army, it would be unbelievable for Xiao Qianbuli, because there were thousands of men and horses guarding there, and the Yanyun Army were not ghosts, so how could they attack the city silently.
After a while, a group of broken soldiers were seen running over. Qian Buli was about to ask, but at this moment, the sound of horse hooves rumbled ahead, and countless Yanyun warriors came rushing towards them, full of murderous intent. Gan Buli was horrified and hurriedly led the knights around him to fight. The war cavalry of both sides collided violently and started a massacre. Yan Yun's war cavalry was so fierce that the Khitan army could no longer resist it and retreated towards the south city gate.
Yanyun's cavalry defeated the enemy's cavalry and did not pursue them. Instead, they slammed into the middle of the Jin army who was blocking the gap. The Khitan army, which was fighting fiercely with the Yanyun army in front, was suddenly stabbed in the butt, and chaos immediately broke out. At this time, Yanyun's army attacked fiercely from front to back, killing the Khitan army's corpses and flying to pieces with blood. The Khitan army scattered and fled. Yan Yun's army was chasing him from all sides.
Xiao Qianbuli ran continuously all night. When it was daytime the next day, when he saw that no pursuers were coming, he couldn't help but be frightened. He reined in his horse and looked at the soldiers around him. He found that only a few hundred cavalry were still following him, and he felt extremely melancholy. Everyone was ordered to take a short rest, and the soldiers rested on the spot. Many people ran to the stream not far away to drink water; no one spoke, and everyone felt very heavy.
Suddenly the sound of horse hooves was heard in the distance, and everyone became nervous. Then I saw several people wearing Khitan army uniforms coming, and I couldn't help but feel relieved.
When those people came closer, Xiao Qian Buli Cai Ren took the lead. The person who took the lead was none other than Hua Chao, a warrior under his command. Unexpectedly, he escaped. It was a blessing in misfortune! Hua Chao ran to Xiao Qianbuli, reined in his horse, dismounted, and paid homage to Xiao Qianbuli. Xiao Qianbuli asked: "Where are the others?" Hua Chao showed resentment, "I'm afraid they all died in the rebel army!" Ganbuli's heart sank, "Could it be that Hanon didn't escape either?" ?" "No, General Hanon escaped, and General Mo saw him fleeing towards Bingzhou!"
Xiao Qianbuli sighed, "It's really a total loss. Our army of 100,000 people was completely wiped out in just two or three days!" "General, there is no need to worry. When the Generalissimo's army turns around, it will be Yan Yun's army's turn." What bad luck! Let's see if they can still be so arrogant at that time!" Xiao Qianbuju nodded, "I hope so!" Then he raised his voice and said: "Everyone get on the horse and continue on the road!" Everyone got on the horse and headed south. Speeding away.
After Yang Peng captured Pingding City, he did not launch an attack on the surrounding cities to expand his victory. Instead, he organized his troops to repair the city walls and accumulate supplies on the spot, seeming to be preparing for long-term defense. Yang Jiumei and Yang Erya led 30,000 infantry soldiers of the directly affiliated legion to escort a large amount of grain, grass supplies, artillery and ordnance to the Pingding Army. Soon after, news came from the Kingdom of Zhanjin that he had been ordered to pass Yanmen Pass and entered the Xijing Road of the Liao Kingdom, and was in the midst of a furious advance.
Brother Ye Qianxiu, who was marching southward, suddenly received an urgent report from the rear. Yan Yun's army suddenly came out of Chengtian Army Stronghold, swept away the three military strongholds on the west side of Taihang Mountain, surrounded Pingding City, and pacified Pingding City. The city is in danger! Brother Yeganxiu was greatly surprised and immediately summoned his generals to discuss countermeasures.
When the generals heard that Yan Yun's army suddenly came out of Chengtian's stronghold and besieged Pingding City, they immediately started talking about it. Guo Tong frowned and said: "The Yanyun Army moved faster than us!" Han Chang said to Brother Ye Qianxiu: "Generalissimo, the matter has come to this, I'm afraid we have to cancel the original plan, we must first eliminate the intruders Only the Yanyun Army in the hinterland of our army can do it!" Brother Ye Qianxiu was a little hesitant. He felt that if the Yanyun Army did not have many troops, it might be better to stick to the original plan. This action of the Yanyun Army might be just an emergency, not an early incident. It was a premeditated action. Perhaps Yan Yunjun from Chengtian Army Village discovered his own actions, so he took the initiative to contain his own side! If this is the case, it is undoubtedly correct to stick to the original plan. As long as the plan is implemented smoothly, the Yanyun army will retreat on his own without having to go on a crusade.
Just when Brother Ye Qianxiu was hesitating, another messenger rushed in. He knelt down in a panic and said: "Reporting to the Grand Marshal, Yanmen Pass has been captured by the Yanyun Xuanjia Army who suddenly appeared!" People present heard this. These words were startling. Brother Ye Qianxiu stood up suddenly and frowned: "The Xuanjia Army actually appeared there? If you put it this way, this was not an accidental action, but a carefully planned strategic move by Yanyun!? "
Before he finished speaking, another messenger rushed in and reported anxiously: "No, Generalissimo, pacify the city, pacify the city..." Because he spoke too hastily, he couldn't catch up. Brother Ye Qianxiu and others had a bad premonition in their hearts. Brother Ye Qianxiu stepped forward and asked urgently: "What happened to Pingding City?" The messenger swallowed hard and said urgently: "Pingding City fell. !" Brother Ye Qianxiu was shocked. After calming down, he frowned and asked: "What is going on? Even if the Yan Yun army from Chengtian Army came out in full force, it would be impossible to break through Pingding City in the blink of an eye!" The messenger said: "Early King Yan We have already arrived at Chengtian Army Stronghold, and it is not only the troops from Chengtian Army Stronghold that are attacking us, there are also hundreds of thousands of war horsemen!"
Everyone was shocked when they heard that so many troops were gathering in the direction of Chengtian Army Stronghold. Guo Tong said in disbelief: "This is incredible! How could so many troops of the Yanyun Army appear in Chengtian Army Stronghold? Yang Peng is also here, which shows that this is the main direction of the Yanyun Army's attack!"
Han Changdao: "Chengtian Army Stronghold originally had 30,000 soldiers of the direct legion and 60,000 soldiers of the Eighth Army. Now with the addition of a hundred thousand war cavalry, there are not 200,000 soldiers! This is a big army! "Brother Ye Qianxiu said angrily: "How dare he concentrate so many troops in the direction of Chengtian Army Stronghold? Aren't you afraid that I will make a desperate move south?" Guo Tongdao said: "I'm afraid Yang Peng expected that we would not dare to make a desperate move! Now the rear area Being attacked, the morale of the army is in turmoil. If we go south regardless of everything, we can sweep through the Central Plains as we wish. But if something goes wrong, the matter may be serious!"
Brother Ye Qianxiu frowned tightly. Han Chang said: "Why don't we order the troops on the front line to attack first, and our 100,000 troops will come back to support us. We should be able to get the best of both worlds."
Brother Ye Qianxiu thought and nodded, "This is a good idea, let's do it! Immediately send an order to Dalan to act according to the original plan, and an order to Hahun to leave Weizhou and cross the Yellow River immediately. Huh, Yang Peng is desperate to attack my flank, but I want to Let him regret it!" Brother Ye Qianxiu thought that Yang Peng had transferred a large number of troops to the direction of Chengtian Army Stronghold, so the army in the south must be very weak.
Immediately, Brother Ye Qianxiu ordered his 100,000-strong army to turn around and return to Taiyuan. He was careful along the way, for fear of being ambushed by Yan Yunjun. Soon after, news was received that after Yanyun's army captured Pingding City, they did not attack Taiyuan. Instead, they garrisoned Pingding City and put up a defensive posture. Brother Ye Qianxiu was very suspicious, but he was a little relieved and ordered the army to station in Lutai Mountain to confront Pingding City, which was more than a hundred miles away to the east. Immediately, a large number of scouts were sent out to investigate every move of the Yan Yun Army, but nothing unusual was found. The Yan Yun Army seemed to be planning to hold on to Pingding City, but Brother Ye Qianxiu became even more suspicious.
At this moment, military reports came one after another from the south, saying that Hahun forced himself to cross the Yellow River. It went smoothly at first, but after crossing the Yellow River, he was met with a fierce counterattack by an army of more than 100,000 Yanyun. The two sides fought several fierce battles, and the Khitan army finally could not withstand it. Retreating north across the Yellow River, the army of more than 200,000 lost 50,000 to 60,000 troops, and its morale was severely frustrated. After entering Xiangzhou, Dalan's 200,000 soldiers and horses who left Huguan were attacked by nearly 300,000 Yanyun. The two sides fought fiercely, and the two sides fought five battles. The Khitan army was defeated in five battles and retreated into Huguan, with the loss of fifty or sixty thousand soldiers. Now the main force of the Yanyun army has approached Huguan under the leadership of Han Bing.
Brother Ye Qianxiu was shocked when he received the above-mentioned military report, "What's going on? Why are there so many Yanyun troops? Did they come out of the ground? Didn't they go south for reinforcements? ?" Brother Ye Qianxiu felt an unprecedented crisis. Thinking of the nearly 200,000 Yanyun troops in Pingding City, if they attacked in large numbers at this moment, his own side would probably be stretched thin! It feels like those 200,000 Yanyun troops are like a sharp dagger against his chest, and he must get rid of them! As soon as he thought about this, he came up with a plan and decided to mobilize 100,000 troops from Weizhou and Huguan each to form an army of 300,000 to attack Pingding City.
However, thinking of the terrifying combat power of the Yanyun Army, I felt that 300,000 soldiers and horses were not safe, so I wanted to mobilize another 100,000 warriors from the Xijing Road to form an army of 400,000, and counterattack to pacify the city with a force of two to one. It should be Confident. Brother Ye Qianxiu had made up his mind and immediately issued the order.
Xiao Tianzuo, who was left behind on Xijing Road, received the order from Brother Ye Qianxiu to mobilize troops. He was very angry. "I have been messed up by the Yanyun Xuanjia Army, and he actually wants to mobilize troops!" General Xiao Telie said: "The generalissimo commands the troops of the whole country. Since he has given the order to mobilize troops, I'm afraid I have to send troops!"
Xiao Tianzuo frowned, "In that case, let Xiao Tianfeng lead a hundred thousand infantry troops to go south for reinforcements." Xiao Telie asked in surprise: "Don't we send cavalry?" Xiao Tianzuo said angrily: " I don’t have enough cavalry, how can I send him any extra! One hundred thousand infantry is also one hundred thousand, and he didn’t disobey the military order, so he can’t say anything!”
Reinforcements from the direction of Huguan and Weizhou arrived at Lutai Mountain one after another, leaving only the reinforcements from Xijing Road. One day later, 100,000 reinforcements from Xijing Road also arrived. Brother Ye Qianxiu eagerly hoped that the 100,000 cavalry troops would come, but he did not expect that only 100,000 infantry troops would arrive. He couldn't help but get very angry and questioned Xiao Tianfeng, who was leading the troops. Explained: "The Yanyun Xuanjia Army is attacking and destroying everywhere on Zhongjing Road, so His Highness Xiao Tianzuo needs cavalry to chase them!"
"Fart!" Xiao Tianfeng was startled and lowered his head in a hurry. Brother Ye Qianxiu just wanted to kill Xiao Tianzuo, but there was nothing he could do about it at this point. We couldn't send back these 100,000 infantry troops and replace them with 100,000 cavalry troops. How much food would be wasted and how much time would be lost in this coming and going? ? What's more, brother Ye Qianxiu thinks that with the current army of 400,000, it should not be a big problem to defeat the 180,000 Yanyun army in pacification. Brother Ye Qianxiu suppressed his anger, "Forget it, it's my fault that I didn't make it clear in the order!" Xiao Tianfeng couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when he heard what Brother Ye Qianxiu said.
A herald rushed in and reported urgently: "To the general marshal, nearly 300,000 troops led by Han Bing are storming Huguan; in addition, 120,000 troops led by Yang Yanzhao from Bianjing have forcibly crossed the Yellow River and are on the way. Attack Weizhou; Yang Dezheng and his 50,000 troops are fighting fiercely with General Sa Lihe!"
Everyone was startled. Guo Tong frowned and said, "The situation is not good!" He glanced at Brother Ye Qianxiu and said, "We must defeat the pacified Yan Yun Army as soon as possible!"
Brother Ye Qianxiu nodded, frowned and said: "Time is running out, we must defeat Yang Peng as soon as possible to relieve our worries!" He raised his head and said in a loud voice: "Send the order to the entire army to march forward. The goal is to be secured!"
Four hundred thousand Khitan troops started to move towards Pingding City. A fast horse galloped into Pingding City and galloped towards the government office. Immediately, a scout rushed into the hall, knelt down to Yang Peng, who was sitting at the top and was reading a report, and said: "Report to King Yan, brother Ye Qianxiu's 400,000-strong army is coming towards this way!"
Yang Peng put down the report in his hand and smiled, "Well done, I'm waiting for him! Explore again!" The scout promised and ran down. Yang Peng picked up the report and read it again, frowned, and couldn't help but murmured: "The war in the south is a bit worrying!" Yang Peng was talking about the war in Huainan, and the progress of the war was somewhat different from previous estimates. , the previous estimates were too optimistic. Luzhou fell at the beginning of the war. At the critical moment when the Song army was attacking the city, the Luzhou general magistrate led his subordinates to mutiny and opened the city gate. The Song army surged in, with only five thousand troops. Yanyun's defenders fought back hard but to no avail and had to abandon Luzhou and retreat to Chuzhou. This incident shows that many people still care about Song Ting. In their hearts, it is orthodox after all.
Yang Peng shook his head and put the matter aside for the time being. No matter how critical the situation over there was, he couldn't control it at the moment. The war with the Khitans was about to begin. If he could win here, even if the two Huai Rivers were lost, Yang Peng thought it was still worth it. But if the war in Shanxi fails to go as planned and another situation arises in the south, then the gain will really outweigh the loss!
At this moment, in Bianjing City, a grand celebration banquet was being held in the main hall. The monarchs and ministers were passing pots and drinking wine among each other, making it very lively. They are rejoicing over the successful recapture of Luzhou! Wang Qinruo raised his wine glass and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty is so powerful that only the soldiers at the front can sing triumphant songs! Colleagues, let's toast your Majesty with a glass of wine!" All the ministers raised their wine glasses one after another, and various voices singing praises came and went. Zhao Heng was said to be a peerless wise king who surpassed Emperor Qin, Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, and even surpassed Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty! Zhao Heng only felt elated, as if he was a peerless saint! Pick up the glass and drink it all in one gulp.
There are some different voices among the people, but the mainstream voices are still happy, happy that Master Wang has taken back Luzhou from the rebel hands. Everyone hopes that more and greater good news will continue to come.
His gaze returned to calmness. The 400,000 Khitan troops marched more than 20 miles west of Pingding City. The forward cavalry met Yanyun's outpost cavalry, and they fought fiercely, with both sides suffering casualties.
Before evening that day, 400,000 Khitan troops arrived at the foot of Pingding City. The roaring footsteps suddenly stopped, and the whole world was filled with murder. Looking from the Pingding city wall, I saw the Khitan army flags fluttering in the wind like clouds. The 400,000-strong army was overwhelming and there was no end in sight. The cold light reflected by the swords and guns completely took away the brilliance of the setting sun. At this time, the spring earth seemed to be covered with frost. Like snow! At this time, Pingding City was also full of banners and spears, and the whole Pingding City was like a ****!
A Khitan army general rode his horse to the foot of the city wall and shouted to Yang Peng who was standing on the top of the wall: "The Generalissimo of the Liao Kingdom wants to speak to King Yan!" After saying this, the general turned around. The horse's head ran back. Immediately, Yang Peng and others saw Brother Ye Qianxiu, who was wearing golden armor, leaving the military formation and coming between the two armies, supported by several powerful generals.
Yang Peng smiled, picked up the iron horse and climbed down the city wall. Immediately after the city gate opened and closed, Yang Peng, who was dressed in black iron and heavy armor, galloped out on a divine black dragon colt carrying an iron horse, and came to rein in the horse more than ten steps in front of Brother Yeganxiu and others. When Brother Ye Ganxiu and others saw Yang Peng coming to the meeting alone, with a majestic appearance, he couldn't help but admire him. Brother Ye Ganxiu saluted Yang Peng by pressing his chest, "King Yan!" Yang Peng saluted back, "Generalissimo!"
Brother Ye Qianxiu put down his right hand and said, "Prince Yan must also know the current situation!"
Yang Peng said with a smile: "What should I know?" Brother Ye Qianxiu frowned slightly, pointed at the endless military formation behind him, and said loudly: "My army of 400,000 has arrived, it will be easy to conquer and pacify the city! ... Yang Peng smiled and said: "In that case, what are you waiting for?" Brother Ye Qianxiu's momentum couldn't help but stagnated, and he thought to himself: Why is he so calm? Is he being mysterious or is he confident? It must be a trick, huh, you think you can scare me!
At this thought, he regained his proud momentum, "Now the Song army has invaded Huainan in a large scale, and even Luzhou has been lost. It's rare that King Yan can be so calm!" He stared at Yang Peng's face, hoping to see something from his face. However, he was disappointed when he saw the other party's mood swings. The other party just smiled and could not see any mood swings at all. Yang Peng smiled and said, "Isn't this great for you?"
Brother Ye Qianxiu didn't like the current atmosphere. He felt as if everything was controlled by his opponent. He said calmly: "I can be lenient, as long as King Yan takes the initiative to withdraw from Pingding City!"
Yang Peng shook his head. Brother Ye Qianxiu's face darkened, "Don't get me wrong, King Yan, I'm not afraid of you! I just don't want to sacrifice many men and horses in vain! If a war really starts, what do I have to fear? My 400,000 soldiers and horses are enough to wipe out Yan Yun here. Army!" Brother Ye Qianxiu said with great pride.
Yang Peng said with a smile: "In that case, why do the generals say so much?" Brother Ye Qianxiu snorted coldly, "As soon as the war started, our army suffered a lot of losses, but your Yan Yun army is probably going to be wiped out. !" Yang Peng laughed loudly, "If this is the case, I, Yang Peng, will die without regrets!" He glanced at Brother Ye Qianxiu and said, "Brother Ye Qianxiu, you can be considered a hero of the generation, so don't play such little tricks. Think about it. If you want to take back Pingding City, just rely on your own ability! With an army of 400,000, huh, I really don’t take it seriously!”
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
