The Northern Expedition army set off. Du Chongwei and Li Shouzhen led the main forces to meet up in Weizhou, then regrouped from Weizhou and headed straight to Yingzhou City.
During this period, Du Chongwei sent his wife into the palace and asked Shi Chonggui for more troops on the front line, saying that the army must have enough troops to penetrate into the enemy's hinterland. Shi Chonggui was so convinced that he not only handed over all the local field armies to Du Chongwei, but even the imperial guards in the capital were sent to the front line and handed over to Du Chongwei's command.
The capital was completely empty. This was another major taboo committed by Shi Chonggui. He should really reflect on Li Cunxu's history of defeat.
As the army marched north, the fatal shortage of logistical supplies was fully exposed.
According to historical records, there had been two consecutive months of autumn rain in the Hebei area at that time. The people had to demolish their houses, use the construction wood to make fires for cooking, and cut up the mats to use as fodder for cattle. There was no surplus to supply. quartermaster? Du Chongwei led the army to walk in the mud, which was slow and painful. Many soldiers fell ill before they reached the front line. As for the logistical supplies, it was even more elusive.
However, Shi Chonggui was still immersed in his sweet dream and refused to wake up for a long time.
On November 12, after nearly a month of marching, Du Chongwei's main force finally arrived at Yingzhou City. At this time, Yingzhou was already an empty city, with the city gates wide open and no one in the city.
Du Chongwei did not dare to enter the city rashly. At this time, there was intelligence that the Yingzhou garrison had abandoned the city and was retreating to the north. Du Chongwei sent Liang Hanzhang to lead two thousand cavalry to pursue him. As expected, he was ambushed by the Khitan army and Liang Hanzhang was killed in battle.
As expected, it was a false surrender. Du Chongwei regretted it and hurriedly retreated. At this time, several counties under Yingzhou announced their rebellion against Liao and returned to Jin, and asked Du Chongwei to support him.
Du Chongwei ordered the women among them to be taken over, but refused to accept the elderly, men, and children. He also set a fire and burned down their houses. Then they retreated to Wuqiang County, south of Yingzhou and north of Jizhou.
Yelu Deguang also gathered all the Khitan troops, and their main force chose the route of Yizhou, Dingzhou, and Zhenzhou.
Youzhou is the gathering point of the Khitan. There are three main routes going south from Youzhou, namely the westernmost Yi-Ding-zhen, Mo-Ying-Ji, and Cang-Jing-De. Yelu Deguang used Yingzhou as bait to deceive the main force of the Later Jin Dynasty into the middle road, while the main force of the Khitan army went south from the west road.
After Du Chongwei got the news, he planned to retreat southward along Jizhou and Beizhou, retreat to Weizhou to defend, and repeat the template of the first two battles, that is, giving up the battle for forward positions, luring the enemy deep into our army's hinterland such as Weizhou and Huazhou Hold on to the city and drag the war into a stalemate.
At that time, Zhang Yanze was stationed in Zhenzhou. He led his troops to join forces and said that the Khitans were very easy to conquer and they must not withdraw without fighting. It was best to block the enemy in Zhenzhou.
Du Chongwei then changed his plan and marched westward instead of south. He ordered Zhang Yanze to be the forward and decided to fight with the Khitan under Zhenzhou City.
To the south of Zhenzhou is the Hutuo River (pronounced the same as "Hu"). There is a moderate bridge on it connecting the north and south traffic. It is also the choke point between Zhenzhou and the rear. Unfortunately, when Du Chongwei arrived, the Khitans had already occupied Zhongdu Bridge.
Zhang Yanze led his troops to rob, but the Khitans set fire to the bridge and retreated to the north bank.
Yelu Deguang was indeed affected by the failure of the first two battles. He fought very cautiously. Faced with the sudden emergence of the main force of the Later Jin Dynasty, he chose to burn the bridge. In fact, this was a cowardly show of weakness, which showed that he was against There was no guarantee of victory in this decisive battle, and he did not dare to join forces rashly, so he burned the bridges and faced off to see the consequences.
At that time, Zhenzhou City was still defending. If the army of the Later Jin Dynasty fought hard to seize the bridge, cross the river, and cooperate with the defenders in the city, the Khitan would be attacked from both sides. After Yelu Deguang burned the bridge, he seriously discussed the withdrawal of troops with the generals, planning to temporarily abandon Zhenzhou and withdraw troops to Dingzhou and Yizhou to avoid the attack of the later Jin Dynasty.
As a result, it was discovered through investigation that Du Chongwei actually set up camp on the south bank, assuming a posture of fighting a protracted war. Yelu Deguang breathed a sigh of relief. I gave you a chance but you didn't use it. The Khitan army then canceled its plan to retreat.
Li Hub, who was in charge of the army's logistics, suggested to Du Chongwei and Li Shouzhen that the army was close to Zhenzhou City and the Hutuo River was shallow and gentle. We could easily repair a temporary pontoon bridge and then join forces with the city's defenders inside and outside to sneak into camp at night. If the stronghold is robbed, the Khitans will be defeated.
Du Chongwei then ordered: Go transport your grain and grass!
Li Hub was sent to Huaizhou and Mengzhou to supervise the transportation of grain and grass. Huaizhou and Mengzhou are located to the north of Luoyang and west of Bianzhou, and can be regarded as the rear area of the rear area. Out of sight, out of mind, roll as far as you can.
At the same time, Yelu Deguang personally led the army to confront the main force of the Later Jin Dynasty in Jiahe, bluffing to contain the energy of the Later Jin Dynasty, and sent his uncle Xiao Han to lead a hundred elite cavalry and some old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers to detour back to Du Chongwei's back and cut off its logistical supply lines.
Yelu Deguang sent people to capture the soldiers of the Later Jin Dynasty who went out to collect firewood, and did everything possible to cut off the supply of Du Chongwei's main force. Occasionally, some fish that slipped through the net escaped back to the military camp, and they all exaggerated the power of the Khitan army, causing panic among the troops of the Later Jin Dynasty.
Xiao Han detoured back to Luan City (south of Zhenzhou). There were a thousand defenders in the city, but they never expected that the Khitan would bypass the main force of the Later Jin Dynasty under Zhenzhou City. They were caught off guard by Xiao Han's 100 men. Collective surrender.
Xiao Han gave free tattoos to the people in the city, tattooed four characters on their faces - "No killing under orders", and then let them flee south.
Therefore, the people in the rear area of the Later Jin Dynasty were all in danger. Any disturbance would cause the grain transport team to abandon their baggage and run for their lives. Du Chongwei received almost no reinforcements on the front line.
Li Hu, who was sent to Huaizhou, wrote a secret message to Shi Chonggui, explaining the critical situation on the front line, and suggested that Shi Chonggui lead the expedition in person. Li Hub seemed to have seen the huge retreat on the front line, so he suggested that Shi Chonggui come to Huazhou and prepare for group battles in Huazhou and Chanzhou. He also suggested that more troops be sent to Huaizhou and Mengzhou to prevent the Khitan from detouring back to the Heyang area and attacking first. Luoyang then takes Bianzhou.
Why does Li Hub have such worries? Because he had an ominous premonition that Du Chongwei was going to rebel!
His hunch was correct. Du Chongwei deceived the country's elite and became his bargaining chip in political negotiations. He secretly contacted Yelu Deguang in private, hoping to imitate Shi Jingtang. He helped the Khitan to destroy Shi Chonggui, and then expected to canonize him as the Lord of the Central Plains.
Yelu Deguang readily agreed, saying that as long as you show off and act, I will definitely make you emperor!
So far, the "Lord of the Central Plains" has had one daughter and two families. Du Chongwei and Zhao Yanshou are thousands of miles apart.
