Huangfu Yu and Murong Yanchao fought and retreated to Yulindian in the east. At this time, more Khitan troops came after them. It is very similar to the Qicheng encounter in the first battle. Both Jin army detachments encountered the main force of Khitan.
The two generals were not afraid of danger and reached a consensus on key issues. They believed that they could no longer retreat. If they retreat blindly, the entire army would be annihilated. It was better to fight with them!
Therefore, the army of the Later Jin Dynasty, which was at an absolute disadvantage, stopped on the spot and built camps on the spot, blocking horses with ropes, tripping horses with ropes, blocking horses, and deer villages...
The Khitan army arrived, and the two sides fought fiercely. From noon to the afternoon, there were more than a hundred rounds of bloody battles, with heavy casualties on both sides. Huangfu Yu's horse was hit by an arrow and fell to death. Huangfu Yu threw away his long weapon, drew out his short weapon, and continued the bloody battle with the Khitans. Servant Du Zhimin gave him his horse. Huangfu Yu sat on the carved saddle and charged into the enemy's formation again.
Later, the battlefield eased, and both sides retreated for a while to rest and recuperate before charging into the next round.
At this moment, Huangfu Yu discovered that Du Zhimin had been captured by the Khitan. Huangfu Yu said to the people around him: "Du Zhimin is a good comrade, a loyal person, and cannot be abandoned!" Then he picked up the reins with Murong Yanchao, jumped into the enemy's camp again, and rescued Du Zhimin seven times.
The Hou Jin army was exhausted and was waiting to be able to breathe a sigh of relief after rescuing Du Zhimin. Unexpectedly, the Khitan people did not respect martial ethics and relied on their absolute superiority in numbers to engage in wheel warfare. The Khitan cavalry, which had not participated in the battle just now, entered the battlefield and attacked the Hou Jin army, which was at the end of its crossbow.
Huangfu Yu and Murong Yanchao were determined, their eyes full of pride, "I'm afraid we will all die here today, so let us die to serve the country!"
The general will have the heart to die, and the scholar will not be greedy for life. Encouraged by the two generals, thousands of later Jin cavalry fought with tens of thousands of Khitan cavalry for half a day, fierce fighting from noon to night, still maintaining strong combat effectiveness.
It was getting late, but the scouts had not returned. The soldiers in the Xiangzhou camp began to worry about Huangfu Yu and Murong Yanchao. An Shenqi said: "The two of them went north to investigate the enemy's situation and did not return for a long time. They must have been surrounded by the Khitan army!"
Before he finished speaking, a scout who risked his life to report the news returned to the camp and reported that the two generals were being surrounded by tens of thousands of Khitan cavalry!
An Shenqi was about to lead his troops to rescue, but the commander Zhang Cong'en stopped him, saying that the scout's words may not be credible, because he may be a spy instigated by the Khitans, who wants to lure us away from the mountain and lead us into an ambush. We should not take the bait easily; besides, , even if what he said is the truth, then there is really nothing we can do to help. We may not be able to defeat the tens of thousands of Khitan troops if we mobilize the entire army. If we go, we will die, so why bother?
An Shenqi was furious and said, "Success or failure is determined by heaven. Even if we fail, we will still have to face the difficulties. If we sit back and watch Huangfu being kidnapped and heading north, how can you and I have the face to see the emperor?" Then he led his army to help.
In the darkness, the Khitan army did not know how many troops came from the Later Jin Dynasty. For the sake of safety, the Khitan army broke up and left. An Shenqi successfully rescued Huangfu Yu and Murong Yanchao.
A very dramatic scene was staged again: the retreating Khitan soldiers were panic-stricken and spread rumors to each other, saying that the Later Jin Dynasty had sent out a large army and was about to kill them.
This time, it was the Khitan army's turn to retreat. The Khitan army fled northward overnight and reached Gucheng (southeast of Zhenzhou) in one breath.
Zhang Congen held a meeting with the generals and said that the Khitan army was large in number, but we were not only small in number, but also short of food. We only had enough food for ten days. If a spy leaked this secret to the Khitan people, we would be dead. , it is better for us to retreat to Liyang, where there is not only sufficient food and grass, but also the natural danger of the Yellow River, so that we can be absolutely safe.
The generals discussed intensely, but before the discussion could come to a final result, the junior high school came to report that Zhang Congen had led his troops to withdraw first.
As soon as Zhang Congen left, other generals also retreated with their troops. In an instant, morale collapsed, and the embarrassing situation of the Xingzhou retreat was repeated.
Before leaving, Zhang Congen only left five hundred soldiers to guard Anyang Bridge. After the army withdrew, Fu Yanlun, the acting governor of Xiangzhou, said to his generals: "Have you all seen the mess tonight? Now people are panicked and morale is low. How can these five hundred frightened birds guard Anyang Bridge?" Then he ordered five Hundreds of soldiers entered the city to rest.
Early the next morning, Fu Yanlun climbed up to the city and took a look and found that tens of thousands of Khitan troops appeared on the north bank of the Anyang River and had already set up a battle array.
Fu Yanlun ordered the defenders on the city wall to wave flags, beat drums and shout.
The "empty city strategy" worked. The Khitan army did not know how many defenders there were in the city and did not dare to act rashly for the time being.
After a stalemate for a while, the Khitans sent Zhao Yanshou as cannon fodder to fight the thunder, and ordered him to cross the Anyang River, but not to attack Xiangzhou City, but to circle the city south and advance south to see Xiangzhou's reaction.
This is one of the main functions of a dog-legger, to serve as cannon fodder for his master.
When Zhao Yanshou advanced to Tangyin County (between Xiangzhou and Liyang, on the Xiangzhou side), he received news that Shi Chonggui had sent Zhang Yanze to support Xiangzhou. So we turned around and returned.
When Zhao Yanshou came to Xiangzhou City again, he ordered his troops to form an array and make a gesture of attacking the city. Show off your power to Fu Yanlun.
Fu Yanlun predicted Zhao Yanshou's prediction and said that this guy was not trying to attack the city, but was trying to escape. He was afraid that we would attack him halfway across the river, so he bluffed and created time for himself to escape. So five hundred soldiers were sent to ambush in the north of the city.
As expected, Zhao Yanshou's attack on the city was false, but his escape across the river was true. He was ambushed by Fu Yanlun and suffered heavy losses, but he finally escaped to the other side.
Shi Chonggui's condition eased slightly, and he prepared to go on a personal expedition. The attendants advised him that his dragon body was in serious condition and he should get more rest. Shi Chonggui flatly refused, saying that Beidi was not at peace, so why should I rest? On the same day, he reviewed the troops, deployed troops and generals, and began to arrange a counterattack.
The second campaign is almost a copycat of the first campaign. Khitan made great efforts, then declined, and finally exhausted. After gaining a huge advantage through a blitz at the beginning, they immediately entered a stalemate stage due to a series of coincidences.
There are internal causes and external causes.
The external factors were the stubborn resistance of the main forces of the Later Jin Dynasty and the Zhe Congyuan of Fuzhou. At this time, they had surrounded Shengzhou (today's Tuoketuo County, Inner Mongolia) and were taking advantage of the victory to attack Shuozhou. If Zhe Congyuan had scratched his itch in the southwest before, the attack on Shuozhou would have already hurt his skin. Further east of Shuozhou are Yingzhou and Yunzhou. If Zhe Congyuan advances all the way, then he will complete the task for Liu Zhiyuan. The strategic encirclement of the Khitans cut off the retreat of the Khitan army from the Daibei area.
