Yelu Deguang didn't understand, and Zhao Yanshou and Yang Guangyuan didn't understand why the Later Jin Dynasty could still burst out with tens of thousands of Khitan elite cavalry when it encountered a series of rare natural disasters and hundreds of thousands of people starved to death. Such a tenacious and unyielding will to fight will put life and death aside and resist at all costs.
Why don't you give in? What exactly is supporting you?
They don't understand, the little devils a thousand years later don't understand, and the Americans on the Korean Peninsula don't understand either.
Because this is the land of China, because this is the motherland of heroes, and the place where I grew up. In this ancient land, there is the power of youth everywhere.
This is something the invaders will not understand, let alone face.
Yelu Deguang was greatly shocked and could not recover for a long time. That night, he ordered the withdrawal of troops and retreated thirty miles overnight to set up camp to avoid being robbed by the later Jin Dynasty.
On March 3, the soldiers who were on duty at Yelu Deguang's Chinese army stole the royal horse that Yelu Deguang was riding, came to surrender, and leaked a major confidential information within the Khitan: Queen Mother Shulu flew to the front line to write a book , ordered Yelu Deguang to retreat!
This traitor knew that the Liao army was false and true, and begged the later Jin Dynasty to take advantage of the situation and pursue them, so that they would surely win a complete victory.
With the "attempted ambush at Dunqiu City" incident, Jing Yanguang did not dare to take risks, thinking that this must be another Khitan trick to lure our army into attacking, so he refused to send troops.
With a single thought, the new Khitan army retreated calmly.
On the way back to the north, in order to delay the development of the Later Jin Dynasty and curb the recovery and development of the Central Plains, Yelu Deguang carried out systematic destruction of the places he passed. Simply put, it was the "Three Guangs Policy", taking away everything he could and not taking away anything. All the people were burned down, and the common people marched northward, leaving the later Jin Dynasty with a piece of smoking scorched earth.
"When the Liao Emperor returned to the north, he burned and looted all the people and goods he had passed through." - "Khitan National Chronicles"
When the Khitan army returned to the north, some generals of the Later Jin Dynasty surrendered and fled into the Khitan army. Shi Chonggui ordered that all these traitors (Yiqi tribe) be executed. There were also generals of the Forbidden Army An Chonghuai, Wu Hanqi, He Yanchao, etc. If you are afraid of the enemy in battle, "kill them all".
On the eastern battlefield, Yang Guangyuan was unwilling to be abandoned by the "Taijun" and continued to attack westward, attacking Mingshui Town (today's Mingshui Street Office, Zhangqiu District, Jinan City, Shandong Province), but failed again; the hometown of Taichang Cheng Wang Xu was Qingzhou, so he secretly colluded with Yang Guangyuan and leaked the court's movements to him. Wang Xu had a concubine who loved his concubine, and his concubine had an idle brother. This "eldest uncle" came to Wang Xu and asked for some money, but Wang Xu refused to give it. , the eldest uncle was angry and killed his relatives, and reported to the court that Wang Xu secretly communicated with Yang Guangyuan, so Wang Xu was arrested and executed.
The main reasons why Yelu Deguang decisively retreated were as follows:
1. From a tactical point of view, the two sides were basically tied, and the Liao army even had a slight upper hand; but from a strategic point of view, the Liao army had been defeated.
Yelu Deguang, misled by Zhao Yanshou, Yang Guangyuan and others, made a serious misjudgment of the situation in the Central Plains. He believed that the Later Jin Dynasty was a shaky house that would collapse with just one kick at the door. A blitzkrieg strategy was adopted. Unexpectedly, within a month, we would be plunged into the quagmire of war.
The strategic goal of the blitzkrieg had failed. Yelu Deguang did not conduct sufficient research in advance, let alone formulate a plan B. A good commander never fights an unprepared battle. The general is the one who shows off his tactics at the drop of a hat, and the marshal is the one who plays a game of chess across the country.
2. The Later Jin Dynasty is about to complete its strategic encirclement.
Although Liu Zhiyuan did not participate in the Shandong battlefield as promised, and Du Chongwei and Ma Quanjie were restrained because of this, Ma Quanjie still dispatched a partial force to cooperate with the main battlefield of Chan Wei and cut off the Khitan's retreat. Just when Yelu Deguang retreated, Ma Quanjie captured Taizhou (now Baoding City, Hebei Province, not Taizhou, Jiangsu Province), captured 2,000 people, and seized all grain and grass supplies.
At that time, the border line between the two countries showed an inverted "S" shape in Hebei. That is, Yizhou controlled by the Later Jin Dynasty protruded into the territory of the Liao Kingdom, while Taizhou, Mozhou, and Yingzhou of the Liao Kingdom protruded into the territory of the Later Jin Dynasty. The two phases overlapped. Interlocking teeth.
Taizhou and Mozhou line up in an east-west direction, and Yingzhou is to the south of Mozhou. The three cities filled the Khitan administrative peninsula extending southward into the territory of the Later Jin Dynasty. After that came Zhuozhou and Youzhou.
Ma Quanjie's capture of Taizhou was equivalent to compressing Yelu Deguang's retreat to a narrow and fragile line of Yingzhou - Mozhou - Zhuozhou - Youzhou. If Ma Quanjie continues eastward and conquers Mozhou, then... distant guests, please stay.
3. Line struggle
The core figure of the "Support Jin Faction" in Khitan, the Queen Mother Shulu, originally did not support the rash and reckless launch of large-scale military operations against the Central Plains, especially due to the first two reasons. Therefore, an emergency order was urgently sent, telling Yelu Deguang to withdraw his troops and go home.
Yelu Deguang divided into two groups: east and west. The east route was led by Yelu Mazao, passing through Bozhou, Dezhou, and Cangzhou, and entered the territory of Youzhou; the west route was led by Yelu Deguang himself, passing through Beizhou, Jizhou, and Shenzhou, and passing through Beizhou, Jizhou, and Shenzhou. Leaving Taizhou and entering Youzhou.
Since Jing Yanguang did not pursue the enemy, both Khitan armies were able to retreat calmly. On the west road, when Yelu Deguang passed by Beizhou, he appointed Zhao Yanzhao as the rear guard of the Yongqing Army in Beizhou. Firstly, it was to cut off the rear of the army and block possible pursuers of the Later Jin Dynasty. Secondly, it was to operate a southward bridgehead for the Khitan and prepare for the next attack. The foundation for the invasion was laid, and the civilian population of Beizhou was treated as spoils of war and carried northward; on the east route, Yelumaxun conquered Dezhou and captured 27 generals alive, including Yin Jufan, the governor of Dezhou.
Although this battle is not well-known, its significance is very great. It refreshed the two countries' understanding of each other. The Chinese people no longer talked about the Khitan with disdain, and the Khitan also changed their contemptuous attitude.
In the Hedong War just seven years ago, Shi Jingtang had less than 10,000 troops, but with the help of the Khitan, he overthrew Li Congke's rule in one fell swoop. Only seven years later, when the Khitans returned to the Central Plains with a stronger military investment, the poor and weak Central Plains weakling was actually able to compete with him in a team battle and even draw a draw.
This also confirms from the side that Shi Jingtang's rule over the years is still remarkable.
During the war, both sides had traitors betraying each other, and both sides had opportunities to expand their victory, but both sides missed them by mistake. Generally speaking, the first battle was quite satisfactory and in line with the rules. It was basically about strength and toughness. For the later Jin Dynasty, it was not easy to achieve a tie.
We also did not want to be wise in hindsight and accused Jing Yanguang of being too conservative and losing the great opportunity to pursue the Khitan. Jing Yanguang also has appropriate reasons:
