Destroying a country is not something that happens overnight, let alone a country as vast as Northern Liao that started out as a nomadic cavalry? The capital city of the nomadic tribe has never been fixed. Even they built a relatively prosperous Kyoto and a luxurious palace. But their palace can still be solved with just a few tents. The Four Seasons Nabo of Northern Liao Dynasty has already proved this point. Previously, according to the analysis of Huang Qiong and Cao Rui, if Emperor Liao was really unable to return to the capital, he would most likely go east.
Although the west is a vast desert grassland, the Northern Liao Dynasty also relied on nomadic herding. But if he fled to the desert, there were several points that Emperor Liao could not solve. One is that although Bei Liao also started as a nomadic tribe, the entire desert plateau was not all Khitan people. There were countless tribes of the same and different sects. Even during the period of Bei Liao's control, these tribes themselves were indecisive. Otherwise, Beiliao would not station 20,000 elite troops in Kedun City. It was also decided that the 20,000 cavalry would not be mobilized even if the country was destroyed.
The desert plateau has never been a reliable rear for Bei Liao. At that time, the nomadic lands of Bei Liao were always in the Huangshui Basin. It only occupies a corner of the desert plateau. The relationship with the tribes on the desert plateau is more of a fetter. Beginning with Taizu of the Liao Dynasty, the Northern Liao Dynasty made countless expeditions to the hinterland of the plateau, but they were never able to subdue those tribes. What's more, the desert plateau is now fragmented compared to the previous Xiongnu and Turkic periods. Not to mention there are still a large number of tribes who are not convinced by Bei Liao. There is no shortage of people in this world who add insult to injury, let alone those who add insult to injury.
Even the tribes closely related to Bei Liao were unable to support Bei Liao's restoration. In the past dynasties, as long as there was no civil strife in the Central Plains dynasties, those nomadic tribes became stronger, whether it was the Xiongnu in the Han Dynasty, the Xianbei in the Jin Dynasty, or the Turks and Uighurs in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the most they would do to the Central Plains was intrusion. Unless the Central Plains fell into the kind of internal strife that the Western Jin Dynasty had in which they were killing each other, there were even more people trying to lure wolves into the house. Otherwise, with the current situation of the desert grassland being fragmented, those tribes would not be able to support it.
Secondly, and probably more importantly, although the desert plateau has a vast area. However, the fragmented situation and other outputs other than cattle, sheep and horses could not guarantee its supply at all. Even the ordnance could not meet the needs of the Liao Emperor's counterattack. Especially the desert plateau does not produce food. Tokyo Road is different. Not only is the area relatively densely populated, but most of the tribes are weak or extremely backward. At least for now, they are truly submissive to Beiliao. The most important place is the agricultural area of Beiliao.
Not only can it provide a relatively sufficient number of soldiers, but it can also provide supplies necessary for various other operations that the desert plateau cannot provide. Of course, Tokyo Road is dominated by Bohai people, Han people, and Jurchens. Among them, the Bohai people had a hatred for the destruction of the Northern Liao Dynasty. They may not truly surrender to the Northern Liao Dynasty. However, the products and population of Tokyo Road are still incomparable to those of the desert plateau. Therefore, Huang Qiong concluded that if Zhao Wuhu failed to capture Emperor Liao and his son. The father and son, who are now drowned dogs, will definitely flee to Tokyo.
After pondering for a long time, Huang Qiong decided to keep Kou Zhun behind to supervise the grain, fodder and baggage in Zhongjing City. He also left two thousand troops and one thousand cavalry from Wang Xing's army to protect the grain road behind him. He took his people and set off immediately to the capital. As for Huang Ruifeng, who wanted to stay since brother Xiao Bodhisattva was sent away, his heart felt like grass, but Huang Qiong gave him a look, so he could only follow him honestly. Although Zhongjing is said to be the starting point for Bei Liao's southward offensive, it is actually not far from Shangjing. The distance is no more than three hundred miles.
Three days later, Huang Qiong and his party stationed in Shangjing City, Beiliao. After meeting Zhao Wusha, Huang Qiong learned about Yelu Longxu and his son. They fled to Fengzhou and met the Liao people who had escaped from Shangjing City. They learned that Shangjing City had been captured by the Qi army. Then he turned around and fled to Wuzhou. Zhao Wushu had already sent out his capable subordinates, leading five thousand fine cavalrymen, each with two horses, to pursue them along the way. In the past few days, he has successively captured Fuzhou, Longhua Prefecture, Yongzhou, Raozhou, Yikun Prefecture, etc., and cleared the states around Shangjing City.
After reporting the previous battle situation, Zhao Wushu hesitated for a moment, but finally said: "Your Majesty, I think the most important thing to do now is to go north as quickly as possible to capture Changchun Prefecture and Huanglong Mansion. Complete sealing The connection between Tokyo Road and the desert. I suggested that Lord Cao’s infantry force should be used to take over the main force of his troops and stationed in Shangjing. I would lead the main force to Changchun Prefecture in the north. Before the heavy snow falls, capture Huanglong Prefecture and Changchun Prefecture. Come down. Block Bei Liao and recruit soldiers from the Jurchen tribes in the north."
Huang Qiong pondered for a moment about Zhao Wushan's request. But he shook his head and said: "No, you don't need to worry over there. Now Lord Cao's troops have captured Shengzhou and are marching north on a starry night. Ouyang Shan's cavalry is advancing northward with all its strength, towards Longhuazhou. Raid. And Guo Chen's troops have successively captured Laizhou, Jinzhou, and Xianzhou, and are attacking Xianping Prefecture. Together with Yang Jiyuan's troops, the number of the entire Tokyo Dao army is already large enough. You don't want it over there. Let’s continue to participate.”
Having said this, Huang Qiong walked up to the map, stared at it for a long time and said, "I know it's a bit difficult for you to stay in the capital. Therefore, you should focus on the west and south. . We defeated the Liao army on the battlefield, but the real decisive battle is never on a single battlefield. Now the Xi people in the Huangshui River Basin are loyal supporters of the Northern Liao. We defeated the Khitans on the battlefield. These Xi people There won't be any movement at all. You have to deal with it with all your strength and be prepared to go deep into the desert."
"As for now, what you have to do is to wipe out the Khitan people and the tribes that have not yet surrendered. Secondly, raid the Xi people's settlements and wipe out those tribes that are still loyal to the Northern Liao. The most important thing is to intimidate all the surrounding tribes. Tribes that have not yet surrendered. If you don’t conquer these tribes, how can they obey the governance of Daqi honestly, and how can you allow the people to immigrate here and explore with peace of mind? At the same time, you must also be prepared. March westward to conquer the desert at any time. The tribes in the hinterland. There will be wars to be fought in the future, not at this moment."
In fact, there is another point that Huang Qiong did not say clearly. That is, Zhao Wushu's 30,000 cavalry troops were stationed around Shangjing City. Not only to deter the surrounding tribes, but also to serve as a general reserve force. Although the main force of the Liao army has been defeated now, the Liao army still has tens of thousands of troops and horses on Tokyo Road, and it can recruit more than 100,000 troops from Tokyo Road. In addition, it is absolutely impossible for the tribes on the grassland to not have a strong cavalry as a general reserve to deal with unexpected situations that may arise at any time.
Just like what Huang Qiong and Huang Ruifeng said. To defeat the enemy's main force on the battlefield is only the first step in a long march of thousands of miles. There are still quite a lot of things that need to be resolved. Those who were dispersed by the Liao army were wiped out, the surrounding tribes loyal to Bei Liao, and the ambitious tribes on the desert grasslands wanted to succeed the tribes of Bei Liao. Especially those tribes in the desert grassland, do not let them surrender completely. Then not only would the alliance flag system be unable to be implemented, but the Central Plains would never have peace. Da Qi will follow the path of the Han, Northern Wei, and Sui dynasties.
The harsh living environment of the desert steppe has never lacked the environment to breed a strong nation. Previous generations continued to invade the border areas, and even took advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains to enter the Central Plains and establish political power. The Xiongnu, Rouran, and Turks, as well as the Jie, Xianbei, and Donghu people who caused great harm to the Han people, are all in the present Northern Liao. It started on the desert grasslands. Relying on the war horses abundant in the desert grasslands, the powerful cavalry was cultivated. It became the most troublesome thing for every Central Plains dynasty. Even those dynasties who also came from nomadic tribes.
The Northern Wei Dynasty, which also had powerful cavalry, had to surrender to the more powerful Rouran people on the grassland. If there is no complete end, these nomadic people will destroy Bei Liao themselves, and I am afraid they will have endless troubles. I have already issued an imperial edict to the Red and White Sects, asking them to send eminent monks to the grasslands to preach in order to cooperate with the future promotion of the alliance flag system. But the premise is that these tribes must be completely conquered first. What is most beneficial to me now is that the tribes on the grassland were wiped out before the Northern Liao Dynasty.
There were no overly powerful tribes or tribal alliances. This is undoubtedly the best opportunity for Daqi at present. The prerequisite for combining gentleness and toughness and making great efforts to break up and disintegrate is to first have a stick in your hand. At least when the army is trying its best to solve the Bei Liao Tokyo Road, if it doesn't have a powerful army and horse in its hands, how can it deal with those tribes? Therefore, Huang Qiong did not intend to use Zhao Wushu's 30,000 fine cavalry. At least within a short period of time, these 30,000 troops and horses must be in his own hands.
Seeing Huang Qiong's refusal, Zhao Wushu had no choice but to stay in Shangjing honestly even though he wanted to fight. The Xi people who were grazing and farming in the Huangshui Basin, as well as the remaining Khitan forces, were wiped out. And Huang Qiong gave him a death order. Before the heavy snow fell, the remaining Liao troops around Shangjing and between Shangjing and Zhongjing must be cleaned up to ensure the smooth flow of food routes and to completely defeat the Xi people. While Huang Qiong was always keeping an eye on the battle situation in the east, he temporarily stayed in Shangjing City.
Huang Qiong originally planned to join the middle route army led by Cao Rui. But after much consideration, Huang Qiong decided to leave the entire Tokyo Road battle to Cao Rui. He sits in the capital city and coordinates and directs the overall situation. As for the battle ahead, Huang Qiong kicked out Huang Ruifeng, who had been a little distracted since setting off to the capital, and asked him to go to the front to cooperate with Cao Rui and restrain the troops. Before Huang Ruifeng set off, Huang Qiong gave him two tasks. One is to be a good grain and grass officer to ensure the supply of the army ahead.
Second, restrain the armies to obey Cao Rui's command and restrain the military discipline of the armies. What the imperial court wants is a complete Tokyo Road, not a completely whitened Tokyo Road. The third is to adjust the possible conflicts between Cao Rui and Yang Jiyuan. Huang Qiong is still relieved about Cao Rui. After several years of adjustment, Cao Rui has become more mature and stable than when he first suppressed the rebellion. But what Huang Qiong is worried about is Yang Jiyuan, who will fight against the world and the earth. There is no one in the world who dares not fight against him, even if he doesn't give face to the stubborn donkey.
During the previous counter-insurgency battle, the two of them were on two battlefields, each responsible for a direction, and they were able to live in peace. After the rebellion, Huang Qiong transferred Yang Jiyuan to Shandong Road to train the navy. In addition to making full use of his talents and tough methods to rectify the rotten navy, he also wanted to protect the navy. he. Otherwise, given his personality, both he and Yu Mingyuan can tolerate him. But there is not only one Yu Mingyuan in this court. Transferring him to the center would probably harm him.
This time, two people are on the same Tokyo Road battlefield, which will cause various conflicts. Once the two of them are at odds with each other, not only are they unable to cooperate with each other, but they even end up fighting on their own, which will only do a lot of harm to the entire war situation. There is even the danger of being defeated one by one by the Liao army.
