Yelu Deguang’s plan is as follows:
Since he had suffered multiple defeats in a row and was in danger of being strategically surrounded by the later Jin Dynasty, he simply went with the flow and "withdrew" the Khitan. Yelu Deguang ambushed his elite troops in Dunqiu City north of Qicheng, then lifted the siege of Weizhou and lured the Later Jin army to pursue it.
According to Yelu Deguang's plan, during the ambush battle at Dunqiu City, the Khitan cavalry would take advantage of plains operations and eat up the troops of Liu Zhiyuan, Du Chongwei, and Ma Quanjie in one go, and then take advantage of the victory to move south and approach Chanzhou where Shi Chonggui was located.
The plan was simple, but also perfect. Whether it was the reason for retreating or the choice of the ambush circle, it was all watertight. He did successfully deceive the soldiers of the Later Jin Dynasty.
However, he is always one step away from success.
The soldiers of the Later Jin Dynasty were indeed successfully deceived by Yelu Deguang. Zhang Congen, who was left behind in Weizhou, kept informing the court, eagerly requesting the court to immediately send troops to pursue the retreating Khitan army, not to miss the opportunity and let the tiger return to the mountain; and Shi Chonggui had already ordered Liu Zhiyuan and Du Chongwei , Ma Quanjie joined forces from Dong Zhaoyi, and then marched eastward to support Weizhou.
Just when the soldiers of the Later Jin Dynasty were gearing up and preparing to jump into the trap, it suddenly rained continuously. It was late February of the lunar calendar and it was spring. As the saying goes, spring rain is as precious as oil, but God also had a luxury in order to extend the life of the later Jin Dynasty. The continuous spring rain seriously delayed the assembly of the main force of the later Jin Dynasty.
Perhaps Shi Chonggui and other senior officials are still looking at the sky, stamping their feet and beating their chests, asking God why he is helping the evil deeds. God has endured so much grievance.
The main force in Chanzhou did not take the bait, but what about the main force on the western front of Liu Zhiyuan, Du Chongwei, and Ma Quanjie? They didn't obey the order at all.
This is really the most typical and bitter irony of the Five Dynasties period.
Liu Zhiyuan never crossed the Taihang Mountains or left the jurisdiction of Hedong. Therefore, Du Chongwei and Ma Quanjie did not dare to leave the territory under their own army rashly to prevent being annexed by Liu Zhiyuan. Who knows if Liu Zhiyuan will be the second Zhao Dejun?
At this time, the Taihang Mountains reproduced the situation of the "Hedong Station": In order to prevent being annexed by Zhao Dejun, Fan Yanguang had no choice but to hold back his troops. Fire, theft, and friendly forces.
The elite Khitan troops laid an ambush near Dunqiu City for ten days, but they did not see even half of the Later Jin soldiers. Instead, he made himself hungry, sleepy, and exhausted.
At this time, Zhao Yanshou, who was more eager to destroy the Later Jin Dynasty than Yelu Deguang, cheered for Yelu Deguang.
Zhao Yanshou said that the reason why the Later Jin Dynasty did not dare to pursue was because they were full of fear of the Khitans deep in their hearts. They only dared to set up defenses along the river and defend the city. We might as well attack Chanzhou. As long as we captured Chanzhou and captured Shi Chonggui alive , the world belongs to me, the Great Khitan!
Yelu Deguang was taken into the ditch by Zhao Yanshou, and he also believed that the reason why the ambush was not carried out was because the later Jin Dynasty was timid. That being the case, make the most of their fears.
So, Yelu Deguang stopped pretending and I showed my cards.
On March 1, Yelv Deguang personally led a hundred thousand Khitan troops to the gates of Chanzhou City, built the main position in the north of the city, and sent two east and west wings to surround the east and west gates of Chanzhou, forming a "pin"-shaped semi-defense formation against Chanzhou. Surrounded, because the south of Chanzhou is the Yellow River, and Yelu Deguang cannot surround it on all sides.
Chanzhou's first line of defense was Gao Xingzhou stationed south of Qicheng.
Khitan pioneers Zhao Yanshou and Zhao Yanzhao led tens of thousands of cavalry to attack Gao Xingzhou's west wing from the west; Yelu Deguang personally led the elite cavalry to attack Gao Xingzhou's east wing from the east. The two armies formed a flanking attack from east to west, and the thieves' power was overwhelming.
Gao Xingzhou responded calmly, and the two sides fought hand-to-hand. From morning to dusk, they fought fiercely all day long, with each other winning and losing, and the battlefield was in a stalemate.
In the evening, Yelu Deguang led the main elite to attack from the center. The situation for former army leader Gao Xingzhou is getting more and more difficult.
At this time, Shi Chonggui, a pure man, personally led the rear army to advance forward. The left and right wings of the rear army took the lead in crossing the river and stood in the front. Shi Chonggui was in the middle and behind, forming a "V" shaped moon formation. The array was neat and uniform, with flags flying. The soldiers have bright armor, high morale and high morale.
Most of the time, the "imperial expedition" was just a gesture. The emperor personally gained experience and usually hid in the absolutely safe rear area. However, people like Shi Chonggui came to the front line in person and faced tens of thousands of Khitan cavalry. The crazy attack and those who dare to press forward are really rare.
When the soldiers of the Later Jin Dynasty saw that His Majesty the Emperor had also made a gesture of joining the war, their will to fight became even stronger.
Yelu Deguang saw Shi Chonggui getting ready to attack from a distance. He was surprised and sincerely admired. He couldn't help but said to the people around him: "Yang Guangyuan told me that most of the soldiers and horses of the Jin Dynasty have starved to death, and the remaining ones are also very weak. Watch today It’s so strong!”
The Khitan cavalry tried to approach the rear army and threatened Shi Chonggui. Unexpectedly, the Jin army who was waiting for the attack had strict military discipline. Faced with the impact of the Khitan cavalry, no one flinched and the array remained unmoved. When the Khitan cavalry rushed closer, the Jin army's array suddenly Thousands of crossbows fired in unison, the arrows were like locusts, covering the sky and the sun. The Khitan cavalry could not get close and could only retreat temporarily.
At the critical moment, traitors appeared on the Jin army's side, and they leaked an important piece of information to the Khitans: the Jin army's east wing defense was relatively weak.
Therefore, Yelu Deguang changed the main attack direction to the east. The Jin army was defeated as expected. The Khitan cavalry pursued them all the way, and it seemed that the Jin army was about to collapse.
A dramatic scene happened again: a team of more than a thousand engineers had been ordered to build a water village at the river embankment. The flag on the construction site was just a little higher than the river embankment. The Khitan cavalry was chasing this way and suddenly discovered that the river The corner of the flag was vaguely exposed at the embankment. He mistakenly thought that he was ambushed by the Hou Jin Dynasty, so he hurriedly turned his horse's head and said, "No, we've been tricked, retreat!"
The Later Jin Dynasty was able to take a breather and recuperate, and then the two armies were in close combat again, and the Khitan army once again gained the upper hand. Li Shouchao, the general of the Forbidden Army, led several hundred cavalrymen. He bucked the trend and charged head-on into the Khitan cavalry formation. He successfully blocked the enemy's front with a heroic and almost suicidal attack. The later Jin Dynasty took advantage of this short space to re-complete the array deployment. , the Khitan cavalry lost an opportunity to make dumplings, and could only give up with regret.
This was the first major decisive battle between the main forces of both sides since the Khitan invasion. The two emperors Shi Chonggui and Yelu Deguang both marched in person and appeared on the front line to command the battle. The fighting lasted all day.
This decisive battle was particularly brutal. Historical records say, "On the battlefield, there were countless dead men and horses, broken arrows and arrowheads, several inches thick across the battlefield." The arrows on the battlefield were actually spread several inches thick, which makes us have to think about it. During the Battle of Shangganling during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the entire mountaintop was cut off by two meters.
Salute the immortal volunteer soldiers before reading the next chapter.
