In the seventh year of Tianfu, AD 942, December 20th.
Emperor Shi Chonggui of the Later Jin Dynasty reluctantly deposed Jing Yanguang's bodyguard Ma Bu from the title of commander of the army, and on the same day he took out brocade and silk from the treasury to reward the troops.
On December 21, Shi Chonggui appointed Li Shouzhen, who had won the first battle at Majiakou, as the military supervisor in front of the palace. It seemed that he gave Li Shouzhen the command of Jing Yanguang's troops.
But in fact, Li Shouzhen was still guarding the Khitans in Bozhou near Majiakou, and there was no way he could come back to supervise the troops in front of the palace. The military power was in the hands of Shi Chonggui.
Later, Shi Chonggui rewarded them based on their merits. He named Huangfuyu the military governor of Huazhou, Hu Cile the military governor of Weizhou, and Gao Xingzhou, Fu Yanqing, etc. all received rewards.
The army was finally convinced and obeyed Shi Chonggui's command, and in the end it did not lead to military chaos.
Three days later, Jin's 60,000-strong army broke out of camp, crossed the Yellow River, and headed north to Qicheng to find the Khitan army for a decisive battle.
On December 27th, Shi Chonggui arrived in Qicheng. Because the Yuan Day was coming soon, the Jin army did not go north and spent the Yuan Day in Qicheng.
At this moment, Jing Yanguang has been deposed and lost power only recently.
Sang Weihan, who had been excluded from the core of power by Jing Yanguang, immediately became energetic.
Feng Dao, He Ning and others were also willing to discuss with them that the powerful minister of the country was a scholar like Sang Weihan, so they jointly recommended Sang Weihan in front of Shi Chonggui.
And Sang Weihan did have two brushes. At this time, the Later Jin Dynasty was actually facing a severe drought in the north and south of the Yellow River, with poor harvests for two consecutive years.
But in this case, Sang Weihan still obtained enough supplies for an army of 60,000 to live a good life.
For a time, everyone from Shi Chonggui to the lower-level soldiers and generals felt that Sang Weihan was a talent and thought of him well.
Shi Chonggui immediately promoted Sang Weihan to Zhongshu Ling and Privy Council, and began to become the de facto prime minister of the later Jin Dynasty.
After the Yuan Dynasty, it was impossible for all the 60,000 troops of the Later Jin Dynasty to shrink in Qicheng, so Shi Chonggui used An Shenqi as the right army formation envoy and led 20,000 troops to camp on the right side of Qicheng.
Fu Yanqing served as the formation envoy for the Zuo army and stationed 15,000 troops on the left side of Qicheng.
Shi Chonggui took charge of 25,000 people headed by the Imperial Guards of the Later Jin Dynasty and stationed them in Qicheng as the Chinese army.
In the eighth year of Tianfu in the later Jin Dynasty (AD 943), on the fifth day of the first lunar month, Emperor Yelu Deguang of the Liao Dynasty held a ghost arrow shooting ceremony in Changle, south of Weizhou, now Nanle County, Puyang City, Henan Province.
This is the most important ceremony before the Khitan army is dispatched. It not only captures the enemy prisoners in the direction of the army's advance, but then kills them with random arrows, thereby achieving the purpose of praying for blessings and exorcising evil spirits for the army.
However, since the Khitan army had not captured many Jin prisoners before, Yelu Deguang arrested more than 300 innocent residents of Changle County and shot them together with dozens of Jin prisoners, completing the ghost arrow shooting ceremony.
After continuous blows, the Liao emperor finally lost his composure and stopped acting like a benevolent king beyond the Great Wall.
Changle County was only eighty miles away from Qicheng, and the Khitan army was dispatched on the seventh day of the first lunar month. But one day, when Shi Chonggui climbed to the top of Qicheng again, the Khitan army had already appeared in his sight.
However, Shi Chonggui was not too surprised, because he knew the movements of the Khitan army long before they held the ghost arrow shooting ceremony.
Because all the 700 Liangzhou horses of the new Weizhou Jiedushi Hu Cile arrived, they were in an area of several hundred miles from Changle to Qicheng, with the Khitan's Youpishi Iron Pigeon Army Rangers, A fierce cavalry dog fight took place.
In this kind of mounted battle where the cavalry outside the Great Wall is best at, the Hu Ci Le tribe is not at a disadvantage, because most of them are Dadan people. After being equipped with equipment, they are actually better at riding and shooting than the Khitan people.
Therefore, Shi Chonggui was able to obtain the movements of the Khitan army in time. It was not until the eighth day of the first lunar month, when the Khitan army arrived at Qicheng City, that Hu Ci Le's troops withdrew their troops and stopped spying.
For this southern expedition, Yelv Deguang recruited a total of 80,000 Khitan troops, 50,000 Zhao Yanshou, Yanyun Han troops and Bohai troops, and 40,000 Xi Renhao Chief Wei Wang.
A total of 170,000 troops, excluding 10,000 people responsible for logistics, 160,000 people arrived at the front line.
However, there are only 120,000 people left at this moment, because King Wei's tribe has not yet arrived after being defeated.
After arriving in Qicheng, Yelu Deguang and Shi Chonggui had similar arrangements.
The right Pishi army, Xiangwen Yelvwuzhi, was the right army, and the left Pishi army, Xiangwen Yelu Pode, was the left army. Each led 30,000 soldiers and horses as the left and right troops. He himself led 60,000 elite troops as the center army.
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The strength of the Khitan people was exactly twice that of the Jin army.
At this moment, from Shi Chonggui's sight, the Khitan soldiers and horses seemed to be boundless.
Due to their extremely large number of horses, although their number was only 60,000 more than that of the Jin army, in terms of visual effects, they were at least twice as many as the Jin army.
Shi Chonggui was not very proficient in military matters to begin with, but now that he saw so many Khitan people, his face turned pale.
He had some doubts about whether Gao Xingzhou, Hu Zaile and others were deceiving him?
How could this mighty Khitan army be easily defeated?
However, fortunately, he did not need to be half-assed in commanding the battle, because veteran generals An Shenqi, Gao Xingzhou and others were by Shi Chonggui's side.
As mentioned before, Shi Chonggui has a very outstanding advantage, that is, he is still very clear at critical moments, and he also knows that professional things should be done by professionals.
Although this guy is greedy for money, lustful and fun-loving, and is easily excited by bold words, he is not a fool.
If he were born in a peaceful and prosperous age, how could he be a master of pleasure like Zhu Zaijing, Emperor Muzong of the Ming Dynasty?
But it is a pity that he was born in the troubled times of the Five Dynasties, and he was succeeded by an emperor dynasty.
When An Shenqi and others saw that Shi Chonggui was a little frightened, he immediately took over the command without saying much.
Now the Jin army of 60,000 people is deployed along the line of the Yellow River. The fortresses have only been planted with antlers not long ago, and they must not be able to hold on.
Because there is the Yellow River behind them, there is no deep space. If any part of the stronghold is breached, there is a danger of being driven down the river immediately. The army must move forward and try to leave room for maneuver.
Moreover, this is the fifth generation. Soldiers can fight in the field and never defend the city. Although the Khitan people have a large number of people, they have lost three games in a row and are really not impressive. They are not afraid.
Under An Shenqi's order, the Jin army opened its camp and moved forward to attack the Khitan army.
On the tower of Qicheng City, more than ten large drums were beating at the same time. The messengers were like flying bees, passing military orders to everywhere. The flags of each army were raised continuously.
The officers followed the drums and controlled the pace of the soldiers. Those at the front were all elites wearing iron armor. Although they could not walk out of a unified military formation like the Liang Army, they were still pretty good.
The Liang army under Zhang Zhao was systematically trained in military formations. The Jin army was considered diligent if they could conduct military formations every three days, but they had no time to spend so much time practicing formations.
At this time, Yelu Deguang was also observing the Jin army. He was not surprised to see the Jin army's orderly appearance.
Although Yelu Deguang's military was a shame among Taizong, it was still many times stronger than a second-generation leader like Shi Chonggui.
The Jin army's front troops were well organized and equipped with iron armor, but the rear troops were not as good and lacked cavalry.
There will be no more than 10,000 cavalry in the 60,000-strong army, and they are quite scattered.
Even if the Khitans cannot defeat an army with many infantry, they can still retreat without any problem.
"Your Majesty, to the east is the trail leading to the floating bridge. If the heavenly soldiers can occupy that place, they can bypass the Jin army and reach the floating bridge on the river."
Next to Yelu Deguang, a middle-aged man wearing a Khitan-style leather hat but wearing a Han-style leather jacket was pointing to a place east of Qicheng and said.
This man's name was Ma Polong, a native of Qicheng. He took the initiative to seek refuge with Yelu Deguang after seeing the emperor's ceremonial guard.
Since he is a local, he knows that there is a hidden path in the northeast of Qicheng that can lead to the floating bridge behind Qicheng.
In this way, Yelu Deguang was greatly moved. Although the trail was difficult, as long as he could pass through it and use hundreds of elite troops to control the pontoon and cut off the Jin army's retreat, the Jin army would definitely collapse.
So Yelu Deguang made the first adjustment. He ordered the Shan army to draw out a thousand fine cavalry and attack the Jin army in the northeast corner of Qicheng first.
The Chinese army sent out three thousand armored cavalry from the Dragon Army, Phoenix Army and Eagle Army to attack the middle of the Jin Army.
Behind Jia Qi, he arranged for the Yanyun Han Army, Bohai Navy and other infantry to advance in succession.
Light cavalry came out from the left and right wings, bypassing the Jin army's front soldiers and outflanking the waist.
At the end of Mao Shi (7 o'clock in the morning), the Khitan army launched the attack first. A thousand fine cavalry of the Shan army took the lead in bypassing the front of the Jin army and heading northeast.
Yelu Deguang thought that the Jin army did not know about this trail, but in fact, the Jin army had been prepared for it.
Shushan's army of one thousand elite cavalry had just dispatched. Yao Yuanfu, Hu Guang, and Murong Ye, each with two hundred cavalry, immediately flew out to meet the enemy with Yao Yuanfu as the vanguard.
The Shushan army used bows and arrows to shoot at Yao Yuanfu's troops in the middle. Yao Yuanfu braved the rain of arrows and sacrificed more than ten people, and rushed in front of the Shushan army, killing several enemies one after another with iron laos in his hands.
The furious Shan army directly abandoned Hu Guang and Murong Ye on both sides and chose to besiege Yao Yuanfu. They easily cut Yao Yuanfu's troops into three sections.
But Yao Yuanfu was extremely brave. He charged left and right among the Khitan cavalry and killed several people in a row. The so-called Shan army cavalry of the Khitan people were unable to do anything.
At this time, Hu Guang and Murong Ye had arrived and immediately disrupted the Shan army's formation. The six hundred mounted Jin troops actually dispersed a thousand Khitan Shan army's elite cavalry, causing them to flee in confusion.
In the distance, Yelu Deguang had no choice but to order Yelu Wuqi to dispatch hundreds of cavalry to support him, and then he stabilized the situation.
But at this moment, the Jin army formed a silver spear formation in front of the Khitan central army and fired crossbows at the Khitan central army.
Yelu Deguang sent the dragon, phoenix and eagle cavalry into battle in an attempt to repel the Jin army.
However, the Jin army's combat effectiveness was very tenacious. The Chinese army withstood several consecutive Khitan cavalry charges. Although the military formation was crumbling, it could not be broken.
Yelu Deguang could only continue to order the Han army and Bohai infantry to attack.
The Jin army suffered thousands of cavalry charging into the formation, and was attacked by the Liao infantry which outnumbered them. Finally, they could no longer withstand it and began to retreat.
Yelu Deguang took the opportunity to reunite the cavalry of the Pishi Army, and this time added a thousand Xiong Army cavalry.
After the tired Jin army resisted for a while, it collapsed. More than 4,000 Khitan cavalry rushed like sheep and plunged into the Jin army's center.
Yelu Deguang was immediately overjoyed and was about to add more money, but his face immediately turned ugly.
Because the Jin army deployed thousands of powerful crossbowmen in the second formation of the Chinese army, when the Khitan cavalry rushed more than 80 steps away and were running low on horsepower, they suddenly fired thousands of arrows.
For a moment, the Khitan cavalry dropped to the ground like dumplings, and those behind saw that something was not going well and ran back quickly.
Gao Xingzhou and his son Gao Huaide were hiding in the infantry formation with hundreds of fine cavalry, when they suddenly came out from the left and right.
The Khitan cavalry, which was suddenly hit, completely lost the ability to resist. Yelv Deguang, whose face was ashen, could only push forward the reserve troops in his hands again, and then withstood the Jin army's attack.
Gao Xingzhou also suffered a small loss because of this. His horse was shot and killed, and he himself was turned into a hedgehog.
If the guards on the left and right hadn't grabbed him quickly, they would have been almost stabbed to death by the oncoming Khitan cavalry, so they had no choice but to retreat as a whole team.
After that, the two sides reversed their offensive and defensive positions several times in the middle of the army, and only the blood flowed like rivers of blood.
At the same time, on the left wing, the Khitans were surrounded and attacked by Yao Yuanfu, Hu Guang and others. They did not collapse only because of Yelu Wuzhi's good command.
On the right wing, Fu Yanqing was suppressed and beaten by Yelu Pode.
Fu Yanqing's cavalry was insufficient and he could only defend passively. The Khitan army was twice as large as his, so the fight was extremely difficult.
The two sides fought fiercely from the end of Mao Shi to the end of Shen Shi, for more than five hours. Both the Liao and Jin armies suffered heavy casualties, and no one could do anything about the other.
But in terms of form, the Liao army was more dangerous, because they used an army of 120,000 to besiege the Jin army of 60,000, but they only fought a draw.
This shows that the Jin army's combat effectiveness and determination are far stronger than the Liao army.
Furthermore, the Liao army had a large number of cavalry, which was an advantage, but also a disadvantage, because the endurance of horses was far inferior to that of humans.
Today, the Khitan cavalry repeatedly charged and killed, and most of them had almost exhausted the power of their second horses. If they continued to fight, their combat effectiveness would definitely become weaker and weaker.
The most important thing is that the 150,000 shi of food obtained by Yelu Deguang in Beizhou is about to be used up. If the attack continues, food will also be a problem.
So the unwilling Yelu Deguang came up with a vicious plan, which was also a common trick used by the Khitan people, a nomadic fishing and hunting people in the north.
He retreated more than ten miles overnight, pretending to flee north in embarrassment, and ambushed troops on the road from Qicheng to Changle, hoping to trap and kill the Jin army.
The next day, when the Jin army got up, they found that the Khitan army had retreated. The generals thought that the Khitan people were afraid of them, and they all became excited and demanded to pursue them.
But God blessed the stone. At this time, it rained heavily, and the rain continued for five or six days. The road was muddy, and the Jin army's pursuit failed.
This was a disaster for Yelu Deguang. Not to mention that the ambush failed, the Khitan army was still soaked in the rain for several days in the wild.
On the 20th of January, the unwilling Yelu Deguang once again led his army to approach Qicheng. Only then did the Jin army realize that the Khitans were luring the enemy last time, and a battle broke out between the two sides again under Qicheng.
After three hours of fierce fighting, Yelu De lost more than 2,000 troops. He couldn't stand it anymore, so he took advantage of the night to throw away the baggage, and the army directly broke camp and returned north.
The Jin army also thought that the Liao army was trying to lure the enemy, so they stayed in Qicheng until ten days later, when they were sure that the Khitan army had returned north, and then they went out to recover the states and counties along the way.
The first war between Liao and Jin ended here.
Yelu Deguang went south with great ambition, but he suffered a huge loss and lost nearly 40,000 troops. Among them, the Pishi Army lost more than 3,000, and in the end he didn't even get a hair.
Fortunately, the heaviest losses among them were the more than 20,000 people of King Xi Renwei, and the losses in the inner circle were not huge.
But the Later Jin Dynasty did not win much. More than 3,000 of their soldiers died in the battle and tens of thousands were injured. The prefectures and counties along the way were also looted by the Khitan army returning from the north.
Especially in Daming Mansion in Weizhou, dozens of miles around were almost turned into white land.
However, Shi Chonggui's reputation has grown greatly since then, and he has finally secured his position at the bottom.
