This retreat was actually not a smooth one.
Kong Yanzhou was a little anxious after being beaten. All he could think about was how to drive away the Liberation Army and eliminate the danger on Nanjing Road. He thought that the war would continue, but he never thought that the war would end like this. .
One night, all the Liberation Army secretly retreated. At dawn the next day, the Jin Army only saw a mess on the other side of the river.
Since the Guangfu Army had been on the offensive and the Jin Army was on the defensive, the Jin Army did not react quickly, so that Kong Yanzhou didn't know at first whether the Guangfu Army was retreating or trying to lure the enemy.
Some of his subordinates suggested pursuing him. He was worried that this was a ploy, so he sent only a few troops to follow tentatively. After following for a while, he defeated several small troops at the rear. Only then did Kong Yanzhou confirm that the Liberation Army was retreating rather than luring the enemy. count.
He was puzzled, but his heart was immediately filled with the urge for revenge.
No matter why you retreated!
It's fun to hit me while you're pressed, isn't it?
I will kill you!
Kong Yanzhou waved his hand, and the fierce generals Xia Ou and Huang Chang led the golden soldiers who could still fight in pursuit. They met Zhao Yucheng's subordinates who took the initiative to serve as the rear of the army.
Zhao Yucheng ordered the army to fight to the death and promised a generous bounty.
But in this case, the bounty is really of little significance. What everyone has to consider is whether they have lives to spend it.
The Tabai Army had been unsuccessful in crossing the river several times before. Their morale was low and they were very tired. When they heard the news of the casualties in the rear, they hurriedly retreated. However, they had no fighting will when encountering the pursuing Jin Army.
It was only thanks to Zhao Yucheng's supervision that they were able to resist for a while.
However, Xia Ou and Huang Chang then led their own soldiers to attack quickly, quickly breaking through the Tabai Army's defense line and shaking the Tabai Army's military formation.
Zhao Yucheng's eyes were split when he saw it, and he felt that if he was scattered by the Jin soldiers here, the main force led by Zhao Kaishan would be in danger of overthrowing, so Zhao Yucheng ignored the obstruction of his cronies and personally led his cavalry to the front of the battle. Fight against the golden soldiers.
After a bloody battle, Zhao Yucheng suffered three wounds and lost nearly half of his guards, and finally repulsed Xia Ou and Huang Chang. However, the Tabai army was at the end of its strength and could not pursue or expand the victory, so it had to retreat in a hurry.
Zhao Yucheng hastily bandaged the wound. Feeling that the soldiers no longer had the will to fight and could not break the rear, he decided to take the remaining guards and personally break the rear of the entire army.
Subsequently, as expected, a small group of Jin soldiers tried to attack the defeated troops of the Tabai Army several times. Zhao Yucheng commanded the cavalry to fight several times and barely managed to reach the bank of the Yellow River.
Fortunately, the large army had successfully begun to cross the river at this time. Zhou Zhi led part of the Youyi Army to meet the exhausted Zhao Yucheng and Tabai Army. Seeing that Zhao Yucheng was seriously injured, Zhou Zhi quickly asked Zhao Yucheng to retreat, and he cut off the rear for the entire army.
After being repelled by Zhao Yucheng, Xia Ou and Huang Chang regrouped their troops, made a comeback, and faced Zhou Zhi's coastal defense forces.
Xia Ou and Huang Chang relied on the large number of cavalry and tried to defeat Zhou Zhi with the tactics of rushing and fighting.
Facing the superior cavalry of the Jin soldiers, Zhou Zhi was already prepared. He left all the remaining crossbows and arrows of the Liberation Army, gathered thousands of crossbowmen to form an arrow array, and fired with all their strength to stop Xia Ou and Huang Chang. impact.
Because Zhou Zhi personally came to the front line to command and boost morale at any time, almost all the guards around him died in the battle and paid a heavy price.
So the cavalry led by Xia Ou and Huang Chang made many attacks and fought bravely, but they were still unable to overwhelm Zhou Zhi's troops with their backs to the Yellow River.
Until the liberation army's retreat was completed, the main force of the Jin soldiers led by Kong Yanzhou still failed to arrive.
The vanguard forces led by Xia Ou and Huang Chang were not strong enough and failed to defeat Zhou Zhi. They watched helplessly as Zhou Zhi cut off the rear and then destroyed the pontoon bridge.
The surging Yellow River blocked the Jin army's counterattack and allowed the main force of the Liberation Army to retreat smoothly.
In the words of high emotional intelligence, the Battle of Kaifeng ended with both sides maintaining their pre-war strategic posture.
But to be honest, Zhao Kaishan failed.
Kaifeng was not obtained, the main force of the Jin Army on the Nanjing Road was not eliminated, the logistics base was destroyed, the three states in the rear were ravaged, and none of the pre-war strategic goals were achieved.
However, it should not be said that because of the good performance of Zhao Yucheng and Zhou Zhi during the retreat, although the Liberation Army lost nearly 10,000 troops in this battle, the main force was barely saved.
However, the Liberation Army also lost a large amount of food and supplies, and its morale was extremely low. In addition, it suffered heavy losses in the rear, and it will no longer have the economic strength to launch a strategic offensive for a long time in the future.
The area controlled by Zhao Kaishan has been squeezed to the limit by him. If he does not take a serious break but continues, a new uprising will break out internally before the Jin soldiers attack.
The rebel army was revolted by the rebel army. This is a reality full of black humor.
After Zhou Zhi retreated, the main force of the Jin army led by Kong Yanzhou arrived belatedly and was helpless in the face of the surging Yellow River.
But he still felt more joy than regret.
It's another victory, isn't it?
But what is going on?
Why did the Liberation Army rush to retreat?
They clearly have the advantage, but as long as they continue to fight, their side is likely to lose their defense line. Kaifeng is in danger, so why did they retreat at this stage?
Is there something wrong behind the scenes?
It wasn't until two days later that Kong Yanzhou learned about Tu Dankening's report that Tu Dankening had led a thousand cavalrymen to pierce the rear of the Liberation Army and violently bled their chrysanthemums, so The Liberation Army had to retreat and gave up the attack on Kaifeng.
After learning the news, Kong Yanzhou felt a little complicated.
Of course, he was happy that the war was over and he was safe.
But I also felt unhappy at the same time.
First, it was not him who accomplished the most important feats and turned the tide of the war, but Tu Dan Kening, a relative of the emperor who was in trouble.
Secondly, this relative of the emperor is not popular with the emperor. He was sent here. If he takes the lead, the emperor will not be happy.
Thirdly, his order to the border states was to defend rather than go to war. Tu Dankening went to war rashly and violated the military order, which was wrong.
No, we must not let this credit be snatched away by Tu Shan Kening.
It must belong to yourself!
So Kong Yanzhou seized this loophole and sent someone to tell Tu Dankening that this time he had both merits and demerits. The merits and demerits were balanced, and he was asked to continue to strictly guard the border and not take risks again.
Then he turned around and took all the credit to himself.
Kong Yanzhou displayed his traditional skills very skillfully, bragging about his achievements in front of Jing Sihui, and quickly sent people north to tell the emperor Wan Yanliang the good news.
It is said that he quickly and violently captured Caozhou Shanzhou, delaying the attack of the Liberation Army under Zhao Kaishan to the Hedong area, and then successfully blocked the attack of the main force of the Liberation Army in the subsequent Battle of Kaifeng, and successfully counterattacked, defeating the Liberation Army.
He annihilated more than 50,000 members of the Liberation Army in one battle and killed more than a dozen important generals of the Liberation Army. The Liberation Army was severely damaged and fled with its tail between its legs.
All this is due to Kong Yanzhou.
After handing over the merit book, Kong Yanzhou happily prepared to receive the reward and then enjoy the boundless glory and wealth.
Jing Sihui didn't care much about this. He just wanted to build the palace in Kaifeng Mansion so that the emperor could live happily. That was all. The rest was not important.
As for Kong Yanzhou's merits, it will naturally be judged by the emperor.
So this great opportunity to attack Kaifeng Mansion failed miserably due to various reasons.
When Su Yonglin met Zhao Zuoliang again in Hejian Mansion, he also learned about Zhao Kaishan's defeat almost at the same time, and felt very sorry for it.
"If Commander Zhao can protect the grain road well and prevent others from taking advantage of it, it is not completely impossible to capture Kaifeng. Moreover, once Kaifeng is captured and the aid from the north of the Jin Kingdom is cut off, Nanjing can be greatly intimidated. The Jin Kingdom border troops on the road.
By that time, the Jin border army, composed of the Song army on one side and the Liberation Army on the other, has a high probability of surrendering or simply running away. It is not impossible to capture the entire Nanjing Road. Once Nanjing Road is captured, it will be backed by the situation of the Southern Kingdom. .
Based on his current relationship with the Southern Kingdom, this means that the rear will be stable. With the rear being stable, he can use the Nanjing Road as the basis to reorganize the army and start marching to Guanzhong. There is Song in the south of Guanzhong, Xia in the northwest, and Xia in the southeast. The Liberation Army, facing enemies on three sides, was about to collapse. "
