It is an indisputable fact that Wan Yanliang does not like members of the Wan Yan clan.
He comforted Yelu Yuanyi several times, telling him to cool off and do things honestly, and not to think about Wanyan when nothing happened. What's so good about Wanyan?
Wanyan Liang's behavior may actually be due to his distrust of the Wanyan family members of Jin Taizong's line of outstanding military achievements.
He wanted to appoint more high-ranking officials from the Khitan and Han people, and did not want to use up the Yan family as high-ranking officials to take power. This would convey his political signal, draw the Khitan and Han people closer to him, consolidate his power, and further suppress the Wanyan family. .
But there are always some people in special circumstances who don't appreciate it.
They care more about their surname and identity than their future and political situation.
For example, Yelu Yuanyi.
He needs the Wanyan surname to shape his identity. Compared with this, the official career can be slightly further down the list, and he really does not think that the Jin Dynasty court will really suppress the Wanyan family.
This is just a stopgap measure.
The rise to prominence of people with a foreign surname is temporary, but the Wanyan family's royal status lasts forever.
Yelu Yuanyi was very dissatisfied with Wan Yanliang for this, and this dissatisfaction had been buried deep in his heart for a long time. Although he rose through the ranks and became Minister of the Ministry of War, and became very powerful, he was still unhappy.
Wan Yanliang told him that this time he went on an expedition because of his trust.
Because Wan Yanliang trusted him, he asked him to lead the army on the expedition, but he always felt that Wan Yanliang was not well-intentioned.
It is said that the Liberation Army in the south has hundreds of thousands of people and is very powerful.
When Wanyan Alin led 20,000 elite cavalry south to attack the Liberation Army, most of them were eaten by the enemy. He also died. Only a few people escaped in embarrassment and suffered heavy losses.
In this case, he was only asked to take 20,000 people on an expedition. Isn't this a rush to serve food to the opponent?
The vanguard of the main army?
Be a reincarnated pioneer!
Although before the expedition, Deputy Privy Apostle Shan Zhen had a secret conversation with him, letting him know that the emperor's real intention was not to win a big victory, but to obtain even a small victory.
But the more this happened, the more he felt that Wan Yanliang was tricking him.
His dispatch of troops was an expedient measure, a helpless move made by the emperor to appease people's hearts. His real mission was not to gain much advantage, but to win the battle and report a victory as much as possible.
[Just report a victory]
But is it easy?
The opponent has hundreds of thousands of people, but he only has 20,000. The opponent is not just a ragtag group, but an iron-blooded army that killed Wanyan Alin!
Yelu Yuanyi knew Wanyan Alin and knew how much talent and learning Wanyan Alin had, and Wanyan Alin was defeated at the hands of Su Yonglin.
Twenty thousand cavalrymen were defeated just like that.
At that time, the opponent was definitely not as strong as he is now. At this moment, he still went south with 20,000 soldiers, including only 3,000 cavalry...
Did the Liberation Army know Wan Yanliang’s true purpose?
And then perform a double act with yourself?
What a joke!
If they thought it was the main force of the Jin Army going south, and then brought their own main force over, let's take a look! Good guy, only 20,000 people?
Isn't this going to kill you?
The emperor's hand was big enough. Twenty thousand soldiers were turned into cannon fodder with just a wave of his hand?
Wan Yanliang, Wan Yanliang, your heart is too cruel, right?
Yelu Yuanyi was full of complaints, but he had to go into the army - his family was in Wan Yanliang's hands, and his wealth and life were controlled by others, so what else could he do?
So Yelu Yuanyi could only bite the bullet and lead the army to move south bit by bit, thinking that he could delay it for a little while. It was best to delay it until the emperor personally led the army to go south. At worst, it was better to be reprimanded than to die in vain, right? ?
It is said that the three armies should go ahead without using food and grass. If an army of 20,000 goes south, it still needs to be equipped with enough food and grass.
The convenience of water transportation is still very strong.
Heshi Lieliangbi gathered more than 200 ships for the vanguard army to transport food and fodder back and forth, going deeper into the enemy's territory than the army. There were also some ships that followed the army and moved forward with the army. They protected the army's food and equipment and at the same time accepted the army's orders. Protect.
According to intelligence, Yelu Yuanyi learned that the Liberation Army, which had attacked Xiongzhou and Bazhou not long ago and had the upper hand, had completely withdrawn southward. Perhaps he had received news that the Jin Army was about to advance, so he took the initiative to withdraw southward and make preparations.
They must be waiting for the arrival of the Jin army in some strong defensive facilities.
Thinking of this, Yelu Yuanyi felt frightened. He didn't know what those cunning and terrifying thieves had prepared for him. He very cautiously sent out a large number of enemy sentry cavalry, and while heading south, he expanded the scope of searching for the enemy and made sure that he is safe.
He felt that if he encountered the main force of the Liberation Army, he would retreat immediately and never hesitate to fight.
What does winning a battle mean? Being able to return alive is the greatest victory!
But there is never absolute safety on the battlefield.
On September 30, the first decisive battle between the Jin Army and the Liberation Army officially started.
Zhou Mancheng led the navy to attack the Jin army's supply fleet, using kerosene, gunpowder, ramming, crossbows and other methods to attack the Jin army's ships.
Although the Jin Army also had escort ships, they looked very clumsy in the face of the professional navy of the Liberation Army, like a muscular man with a fever, wielding bastard fists, using less than 10% of his strength.
The water surface of the lower reaches of the Hutuo River was wide, and the Liberation Army's navy launched an offensive in the river. The Jin Army's ships lacked countermeasures. Their formations in the water were chaotic, their command was improper, and they were unable to fight the enemy.
The Jin army on the shore could only stare, helplessly watching as their ships were sunk and burned, and the materials on board turned into ashes.
A large number of Jin soldiers and signed soldiers who were transporting supplies jumped into the river to survive and swam hard to the shore. It was not known how many people could survive.
All in all, Yelu Yuanyi's grain and a large amount of military supplies were destroyed, and the army suddenly came to a standstill and was unable to move forward.
In response to this, Yelu Yuanyi wrote a memorial to Zhongdu in panic and apologized to the emperor, but in his heart he did not think this was a simple bad thing.
At that time, when he was watching the Liberation Army's navy retreating swaggeringly on the hill, besides being unhappy, he also felt vaguely happy in his heart.
Fortunately, his marching speed is relatively slow. If he goes too far or goes too deep, it will be difficult to stop and go back at this time, and there will not be enough food to go back.
At that time, the Liberation Army will send a force to follow, and they will definitely be able to keep him here before he goes back. That would be tragic, and the entire army may be annihilated.
That's fine now.
The grain was burned, leaving only seven days of rations for the army. Ordnance supplies, especially arrows, were not enough. The army did not carry much with them, and there were not many various logistics supplies.
To sum up, the army cannot continue to advance and must retreat, otherwise the army will starve to death here.
He must now withdraw to Baoding to replenish food and military supplies, and please ask His Majesty the Emperor for further instructions.
The main forces of the two armies did not make any contact. As soon as Su Yonglin led his troops to Mozhou, the Jin army retreated under the leadership of Yelu Yuanyi, avoiding Su Yonglin's front and not engaging him.
The person who went back to report the news didn't run very fast, and it took more than three days to send the news back. When Wan Yanliang heard this, he became furious.
"What does Yelu Yuanyi do for food? Does he still want to be the Minister of the Ministry of War? If he doesn't want to do it, there will be a lot of people waiting! He has thrown away the logistics and food before the war. Will he go to war?"
Heshi Lieliangbi, who reported the news, felt that Yelu Yuanyi's crime was not serious, so he advised Wanyan Liang.
"Although Yelu Yuanyi lost the food and fodder, he saved the army and did not damage it because he was a stable man and did not advance rashly. He could only quickly return to the army after losing the food and fodder. If he had replaced someone who had rashly advanced, he would have gone deep.
At that time, the food and fodder will be lost, and the army will not carry much food with it, and the morale of the army will be in chaos. If the bandits continue to pursue and stop them, the 20,000 vanguard troops will be lost in Hebei if they are not kept. The vanguard will be destroyed before the army can come out, which will have a blow to the morale of the army. It's extremely big. "
Wan Yanliang thought about it and felt that what He Shi Lieliangbi said made sense.
A person who can act calmly and protect the main force of the army in such a situation cannot be considered a waste.
Compared with food, people are more important. Food is available every year, and it takes at least fourteen or five years for people to grow up.
So Wan Yanliang decided to give Yelu Yuanyi another chance.
"Then give him an order to be careful! Pay attention to protecting the food and fodder! If he loses the food and fodder again, he will be directly charged and dismissed! Go home!"
