Xiao Shilu's panic in retreat was far greater than the Jin army imagined.
Moreover, his appearance frightened Yelu Pode. Yelu Pode, who was about to cross the river to attack Yedu, thought that the main force of the Jin army had arrived, so he hurriedly withdrew northward.
For a time, the Khitan army north of the Zhang River was panicked. The people of Zhao, Xing, Ming and other prefectures and a small number of defenders who had not been conquered by the Khitan army took the opportunity to leave the city.
Everyone beat the drowned dog together. Most of the food, grass and baggage that the Khitan people had worked hard to grab for more than two months were thrown away. They were in an extremely miserable state.
Zhang Congen, who received news of another great victory in Xiangzhou (Anyang), quickly reported to Du Chongwei on flying horse.
At this time, even the timid Du Chongwei began to despise the Khitan people. The Jin army used partial forces twice to severely defeat the Khitan people. This shows that the combat effectiveness of the so-called Khitan cavalry is just that!
Therefore, Du Chongwei, who was originally nestled in Xiangzhou and refused to go north, immediately broke out of camp and crossed the Anyang River at an extremely fast speed to the Zhang River.
After that, all the Jin armies joined forces and marched north to regain the lost territory.
In mid-December, the Jin army gathered in Dingzhou, totaling 40,000 people, with flags flying and high morale.
In addition to Gao Xingzhou, the powerful generals of the Later Jin Dynasty include An Shenqi, Fu Yanqing, Huangfu Yu, Murong Yanchao, Hu Cile, Yao Yuanfu, Wang Zhou, etc. For a time, famous generals were like clouds and powerful soldiers were like rain.
With so many ferocious men gathering together, something is bound to happen. If something doesn't happen, it would be a shame to live up to the name of the Fifth Generation Tooth Soldier.
On December 20, Liangzhou Xiaoqi of Hu Ci Le's tribe crossed Pushui, which was later known as Puyang River in Shunping District, Baoding, and approached Mancheng of Yizhou, which was the generation of Mancheng, Hebei.
Yizhou was dedicated to the Khitan people by Shi Jingtang seven years ago. It was one of the sixteen states of Yanyun. This was also the first time that a large army entered the sixteen states of Yanyun after the founding of the Later Jin Dynasty.
After entering the vicinity of Mancheng, the Liangzhou cavalry conducted an investigation and learned that the Khitan Zuopi Chamber had secured Yelu Pode's troops and was undergoing repairs in Mancheng.
At the same time, Xiao Shilu's troops, who had withdrawn in embarrassment to the north, were renovating in Qingyuan County, Mozhou, which is about 40 miles away, that is, Qingyuan County, Baoding.
The generals who were gathering at the Jiedushi Office in Dingzhou were greatly surprised when they heard the news. Yao Yuanfu was the first to jump out and say.
"The Khitan people plundered Ding, Heng, Zhao, Xing, and Ming prefectures, and the gold, silver, brocade, and silk they obtained are all in these two places. If they can capture these two cities, wouldn't they all become our wealth?"
In fact, Yao Yuanfu is not very greedy for money. Instead, he is wise and courageous, has a heroic character and has great ambitions.
The reason why he came out to say this is because he had already taken refuge with Zhang Zhao.
Recruiting Yao Yuanfu can be said to be Zhang Liecheng's greatest achievement in the Central Plains.
Even Hu Cile didn't know that Yao Yuanfu had actually taken refuge and sent his second son Yao Chongyu to Liangzhou.
The more long-term and ambitious a person is, the easier it is to be attracted by Zhang Zhao and Liang Guo.
There is no other reason, but because Shi Chonggui really lacks the appearance of a leader, and those who control the government and military power are Sang Weihan, Du Chongwei, Feng Yu and others.
Anyone with some vision began to look down on the court of the Later Jin Dynasty.
In addition, Yao Yuanfu defeated more than a thousand Khitan soldiers with 200 cavalry in the last battle at Qicheng. He was originally going to seal the envoy, but Shi Chonggui regretted it after he said it.
In order to leave the position of Jiedushi to his side Xing Jin, Yao Yuanfu was only given a governor, and he was still a distant leader. Apart from sounding good, it had basically no practical significance.
How could such a monarch be qualified to let someone like Yao Yuanfu die?
When everyone heard what Yao Yuanfu said, their eyes suddenly lit up. Why are the soldiers working so hard for it? Isn't it just wealth? If we can defeat the Khitan troops in these two places, how much less gold and silver will we get?
Hearing this, Pan Huan, who has always been greedy for money, also jumped out and said: "I also heard that the Lord Khitan had hoarded a large amount of grain, grass and baggage in Yizhou and Mozhou in order to invade the Jin Dynasty from the south. God will give it to him!"
When Du Chongwei heard that there was money to be made, his eyes really lit up, and the image of the Khitans as invincible in his eyes had been completely overturned by these two battles.
However, he knew that it was not enough for him to just talk to people like Yao Yuanfu and Pan Huan. People like An Shenqi, Fu Yanqing, and Huangfu Yu had to nod.
"Recruiting envoys, I also suggested to go. The Khitan people rely on the speed of their horses and go south to plunder again and again. If they don't hurt them once, they will come every year in the future. It's better to beat them hard this time."
Fu Yanqing's considerations are reasonable. If the hidden costs of the Khitans' march south are not increased, it will not be good if it becomes a routine in the future.
An Shenqi thought for a while and felt that he should be beaten. There is no reason for me, the general of the Jin Dynasty, to have to hang his head and be beaten, right?
This time Ding, Heng, Zhao and other states have been ravaged to a state of disgrace. If they don't teach the Khitan people a lesson, they will come once a year in the future and the Jin will be killed.
"Please give the order to the envoy! Now that our army is in great power, it is unrealistic to recapture Yanyun, but it is still possible to defeat the Khitans."
Even An Shenqi agreed, and Du Chongwei was immediately overjoyed. There had been no consensus among the Jin army for a long time.
"The generals will return to camp, restrain the troops, and set out in three days. We will capture Qingyuan and live a prosperous life there with the Khitan people's supplies!"
Facts have proved that Du Chongwei is much more reliable than the Five-Star Emperor in establishing flags.
At the end of December, the Jin army united and attacked Mancheng in Yizhou first.
Although the whole city had complete city defenses, the walls were not high. The Jin army quickly filled in the trenches, used Lu Gong's cart-borne crossbowmen to suppress the city head, and used rams to ram the gates below. They also sent out a "demolition team". Poaching under the cover of the nest car.
After fighting for only five days, Yelupode could no longer hold on. He could only lead more than 10,000 cavalry and fled northward in a hurry in the early morning.
The Jin army successfully captured the first city in the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun.
Immediately afterwards, Du Chongwei personally went to the front line. The morale of the three armies was like a rainbow, and they broke into Qingyuan City in one fell swoop.
At this time, the Khitan had renamed Qingyuan County Taizhou, and the state government was moved to around Baoding in later generations.
By the Luhun River in Xiaoshi, Zhang Zhao sent Murong Nobunaga and Zhe Deku to defeat the troops and generals, and was severely repaired by the Jin army. He had long lost his former arrogance, not to mention that the Jin army's siege ability was not that of the Khitans. Than.
Although Qingyuan County is much taller than Mancheng, Xiao Shilu is far less calm than Yelu Pode.
After much thought, he actually only defended for three days. Before the Jin army encircled the enemy, he led his troops to break out early in the morning.
The Jin army conquered two cities in seven days, and their morale was like a rainbow. Du Chongwei led the main force to stay in Qingyuan for repairs, while he asked An Shenqi to continue the pursuit.
On the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, An Shenqi led his army under Suicheng and defeated Xiao Shilu's troops again. Xiao Shilu lost all his baggage and fled to the grassland in embarrassment.
Suicheng was located northwest of Xushui County in later generations. After An Shenqi captured Suicheng, the vanguard arrived at the edge of Yishui, which was only 200 miles away from Youzhou.
However, the Jin army's offensive ended here.
First, as Yuan Day approaches, the army has been marching wildly for two months and continues to rest and recuperate. Second, the Jin army has gained so much in these three battles.
In Qingyuan alone, they obtained 110,000 dan of food prepared by Yelu Deguang for the southern invasion. The gold, silver, brocade and silk looted by the Khitan army were worth more than 200,000 guan, as well as a large number of weapons and stomachs.
In addition, residents of Qingyuan, Mancheng and other places also donated large amounts of money and food to avoid being robbed.
What's more important is that Du Chongwei is not easy to exploit too harshly in full view of the public.
I, Marquis Wen, still have a good idea. If he wants to plunder the common people and merchants, he will naturally plunder them ruthlessly, but he still knows the importance of the soldiers.
If you treat the soldiers holding the handle of the sword harshly, it will be fatal.
The capture was quite rich, but the Shangguan did not dare to be too skimpy. Forty thousand Jin troops were stationed in three places, their wallets were bulging, and their mouths were full of food.
A soldier of the lowest rank has a regular income, not to mention officers.
For a time, everyone was extremely satisfied, and the soldiers and generals naturally lost their fighting spirit.
After all, although the Jin army was brave, and generals An Shenqi, Fu Yanqing, Huangfu Yu and others were also brave and resourceful, they still could not hide the fact that they were just barbaric soldiers of the late Tang and Five Dynasties.
If Zhang Zhao were here, he might be able to capture Youzhou, grant him a title to encourage them, or mobilize his troops to deploy defenses on the Yishui front line.
But Du Chongwei, An Shenqi and others do not have this ability.
Therefore, it seemed that the three armies were attacking together and the Jin army, which was so powerful, could no longer attack after everyone got great benefits.
.
.
Liao Kingdom, Zhongjing Road, Bei'an Prefecture, Xinghua City, which was later located near Chengde, Hebei Province.
Yelu Deguang was so angry that he didn't even attend the Yuan Day celebrations. He stationed his troops here, originally waiting for good news from the former army, and then went south to destroy the Later Jin Dynasty after Yuan Day.
What came out was a huge defeat that made his eyes bloodshot. The front army of 60,000 people ran all the way from the Zhang River in Xiangzhou back to Youzhou, and more than 10,000 soldiers were lost.
Now, let alone annexing Jin, Yelu Deguang lost three cities.
That’s okay! The face of the Emperor of Liao was burning, and in the midst of his furious howls, Xiao Shilu was imprisoned to await his punishment, and Yelv Pode confiscated one of his direct tribesmen and 500 good horses, and served him in the army until he was sentenced. .
After the anger is over, it’s time to deal with the current situation.
This time he was fighting inside the country. Although it was embarrassing, Yelu Deguang felt much more confident.
He abandoned his previous strategy of recruiting large numbers of Xi people, Han people and Bohai people, and instead concentrated all Khitan tribes, selected 80,000 elites, and assembled them at Hubeikou, which later became known as the Gubeikou Great Wall.
As soon as Yuan Day passes and the ice and snow subsides, we will immediately go south for a decisive battle with the Jin army.
Du Chongwei had a great time in Qingyuan. He rarely experienced the feeling of being a conqueror. This kind of battle of beating foreigners was very exciting.
At this time, people of all ethnic groups who had been oppressed by the Khitans also sent food and grass to reward the army.
They thought that the later Jin army came to the Northern Expedition to recover Yanyun. Some people thought that the imperial court finally had a British master, thinking of them, the ceded people.
The biggest role played by these people in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun was to spy on the movements of the Khitan people for the Later Jin army.
But when a merchant traveling on the grassland excitedly reported to Du Chongwei the news that the Khitan Emperor Yelu Deguang had gathered 80,000 troops at Hubeikou, Du Chongwei's expression changed.
For Du Chongwei, the name Yelu Deguang was by no means as simple as a Khitan emperor.
As Shi Jingtang's brother-in-law, he was not spared when Shi Jingtang was forced by Li Congke.
Du Chongwei followed Shi Jingtang and was frightened day and night. When Zhang Jingda's troops came to Jinyang City, he was so frightened that he almost committed suicide.
At the most desperate moment, Yelu Deguang's Khitan soldiers and horses descended like gods and drove back the Tang army.
At that time, Du Zhongwei wanted to kneel down and lick Yelu Deguang's shoes. The feeling of finally removing the huge stone weighing on his heart after a disaster was unimaginable to those who have not experienced it.
Later, in Tuanbai Valley, Yelv Deguang consecrated Shi Jingtang as the Emperor of Jin. That scene flashed in Du Chongwei's mind more than once.
It was as if he was the one who was canonized as emperor back then.
Therefore, Du Chongwei had a strange feeling of closeness to Yelu Deguang, his de facto savior, and the urge to kneel down and lick him.
At this moment, he heard that his 'male god' was going to lead an army of 80,000 people to attack him. The first feeling Du Zhongwei had was fear, and he wanted to run away quickly.
And when he revealed this idea, he actually won the unanimous support of the Jin army.
Because at this time, the soldiers and officers who had obtained a large amount of property wanted to transport the loot back as soon as possible.
Although An Shenqi, Fu Yanqing and others wanted to fight, they also understood that the soldiers had lost the desire to fight and could not continue the fight at all.
.
.
In 944 AD, Shi Chonggui, the leader of the Jin Dynasty, was greatly surprised when he heard that the Jin army had won a great victory and even invaded Yizhou and Mozhou.
He immediately changed the year name from Tianfu to Kaiyun, calling this year the first year of Kaiyun.
It can be said that the two reign titles of Tianfu and Kaiyun really did not bury the cultural level of Shi Jingtang and Shi Chonggui, the father and son.
One Tianfu means that his position is a blessing given by Heaven (Yelü Deguang), and the other means that he has defeated the Khitan people and brought good luck.
Also..., it's quite straightforward.
In the first year of Kaiyun, on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, just after the Shangyuan Festival, Du Chongwei urgently ordered An Shenqi of Suicheng to lead his army to withdraw south.
An Shenqi didn't care about the lake either. Anyway, the army was ready to return and immediately led the army south.
At the same time, Huangfu Yu, who was stationed in Mancheng, also received Du Chongwei's order and began to move closer to Qingyuan.
After Du Chongwei planned to assemble the Jin army, he would go southwest directly to Wangdu in Dingzhou, and then organize defense in the Shenzhou area of Dingzhou.
Although the Jin army made up its mind to retreat quickly after receiving the order, because all the soldiers and generals had property, they did not move quickly, and it could even be said to be a bit procrastinating.
An Shenqi's troops retreated from the south of Suicheng to Qingyuan, which was only sixty miles away, but they actually walked for three full days.
After An Shenqi arrived at Qingyuan, something even weirder happened.
Du Chongwei's troops, who had been preparing to retreat for a long time, were not yet fully prepared to retreat.
Everyone was stationed in Qingyuan for a while, and it was not until the 26th of the first lunar month that they withdrew from Qingyuan County on the tenth day after the decision to withdraw south.
But what they didn't know was that they had the people of Yanyun reporting the movements of the Khitan army, and naturally there were also people reporting their whereabouts to Yelu Deguang.
As early as when An Shenqi's troops began to retreat from Suicheng, the 80,000 Khitan army at Hubeikou had already been dispatched.
On the twenty-seventh day of the first lunar month, as soon as the procrastinating Jin army reached Bai Tuanwei Village in Yangcheng, about 20 miles southwest of Qingyuan, Hu Cile, who was responsible for covering the army, discovered to his horror that the Khitan army had already caught up to the Jin army. It's twenty miles away.
Du Chongwei was covered in cold sweat. Fortunately, Hu Cile was from the Liang Kingdom and was used to placing his sentry cavalry more than ten miles away, otherwise they would be surprised by the Liao army.
Fortunately, it was getting late at this time, and there were tiger thorn troops outside to block the approach of the Khitan vanguard Qingqi. Today, the Khitan army did not dare to charge directly.
Du Chongwei quickly asked General An Shenqi to take out antlers and insert them into the ground to form a stronghold. At the critical moment of life and death, the Jin army also burst out with huge energy.
The terrain of Bai Tuanwei Village is relatively high, and there are more than ten private houses that can serve as a barrier. The Jin army took out all the antlers and buried them in the soil, and then surrounded them with ropes to block the attack of the Khitan cavalry. They built a village in one night. Simple camp.
In the early morning of the next day, while the Jin army was still asleep after working hard for most of the night, the vanguard led by Zhao Yanshou and Yelu Anduan arrived.
They did not come to attack the already built Xingzhai, but went to attack Xue Huairang's troops on the periphery.
Du Chongwei sent Xue Huairang out of the village. He originally wanted to take advantage of the fact that the Khitan troops did not arrive and set up camp at another place near Bai Tuanwei Village.
As a result, they were hit by the intruding Khitan cavalry. Xue Huairang's 2,000 men lost nearly half and fled back in embarrassment.
Now there is some trouble, because the reason why there are few people in Bai Tuanwei Village is because the village is far away from the water source.
The place where Xue Huairang went to camp was by a small stream. Du Chongwei wanted to set up two camps to ensure water supply.
Now that Xue Huairang was defeated, the Jin army suddenly lost control of the water source.
Sure enough, after defeating Xue Huairang's troops, Yelu Anduan immediately ordered Zhao Yanshou to lead his army to seize the edge of the stream and camp here.
This Yelu Anduan is worthy of being the youngest son of Yelu Abaoji. He has followed his father and brother in battles since he was a child, and he immediately blocked the fate of the Jin army.
At three quarters, Governor Yelu Deguang arrived with the main force of 70,000 Khitans.
At this time, the Jin army had already set up camp in Bai Tuan Wei Village. They relied on the small hillock of Bai Tuan Wei Village and spread antlers on all sides.
Every intersection was guarded by crossbowmen, and a total of 8,000 cavalry were hidden in the village.
Yelu Deguang personally ran to the front line to observe the formation. Suddenly he pointed at a mountain pass in the southwest and laughed loudly.
"Who is the coach of the Jin army? It seems that he is incompetent and does not want to defend his way to the southeast."
This is indeed a way out. Although Bai Tuanwei Village is located in the North China Plain, it is still a bit hilly. The only main road is the southeast. If the Jin army wants to retreat, they can only go here.
If we can hold on to this hillock, we can have a way to escape, at least some of the generals and cavalry can escape.
Second, it can attract the Khitan army to attack, and support each other with the Bai Tuan to defend the village and city.
Of course Yelu Deguang knew who the Jin army coach was. He just wanted to show off the opponent's stupidity by saying this.
"The First Minister of the Ming Dynasty"
Yelu Anduan followed up with discernment: "It must be Du Chongwei, the clan clan member of the Jin Dynasty."
"He is indeed an incompetent person!" Yelv Deguang showed contempt on his face, and the Khitan soldiers and generals around him laughed in agreement, as if the victory was determined.
But this is really no wonder Du Chongwei. It was almost dark when the Jin army arrived at Bai Tuanwei Village yesterday, and they were busy planting antlers and setting up strongholds. There was no time to survey the surrounding terrain!
"Encircle the entire army, attack from the west, destroy this Han and feast on it!"
Well! Setting flags seems to be a common problem among human beings. When Yelu Deguang was complacent, he seemed to be able to wipe out the Later Jin army immediately, but in fact the battle progressed like this.
Yelu Deguang set the flag.
The Khitan army attacked.
The Khitan army played GG.
The Jin army counterattacked.
The Khitan army fought hard to drive them back.
This battle lasted intermittently from the end of Jishi (11 a.m.) to the end of Shenshi (5 p.m.).
The Khitan army launched a total of eleven attacks, and were all driven out by the Jin army.
Among them, the Khitan cavalry dismounted, although they were also wearing iron armor, but they were not much stronger than the Jin army.
The Jin army blocked the intersection, first killed and wounded with bows and crossbows, then put the Khitan people into the village, used the narrow passage to limit the Khitan's numerical advantage, and finally drove the Khitan people out.
And often after the Khitans were driven out, the Jin army would use the cavalry hidden in the villages to fight back, and there would be a commotion in front of Yelu Deguang's formation, which could be beaten every time.
The Liao army also tried to use armored cavalry to charge, but in the face of the large number of antlers and crossbow arrows of the Jin army, the armored cavalry was not very useful.
Seeing this situation, Yelu House was still in good condition, so he quickly ran over and said to Yelu Deguang.
"The Jin army is on the verge of death. They are not weak soldiers. They will resist to the death and will be difficult to capture.
The minister's cavalry captured the residents of the village and learned that there was no well in the Bai Tuanwei village. Now that I am surrounded on all sides, why not trap the Jin army until they can't bear thirst and come out to die on their own. "
Yelu Deguang made sense when he heard it, so the Khitan army stopped attacking and began to camp around Bai Tuanwei Village, preparing for a long siege.
They imitated the Jin army and planted deer antlers around their camps and intersections to block the Jin cavalry attack.
Now it was the Jin army's turn to panic. After stabilizing their position, the Jin army also found itself in a dead end.
After some discussion, it was decided that An Shenqi would personally supervise more than 10,000 cavalrymen, go to control the southeast exit, and then go down the mountain to the village.
If Bai Tuanwei Village cannot defend the village, it can at least provide an escape route for the horse-riding generals and cavalry.
However, the Jin army also thought highly of themselves. It took An Shenqi 10,000 cavalry to leave Bai Tuanwei Village, but the Khitans ordered more than 20,000 cavalry to intercept them.
An Shenqi could only lead the troops to form a formation to resist outside Bai Tuanwei Village, but they were ultimately outnumbered. Finally, with the support of Huangfu Yu and Yao Yuanfu, they retreated in embarrassment.
In this battle, An Shenqi lost more than 3,000 troops, especially his cavalry. The Jin army suffered heavy losses and did not dare to leave the village to fight anymore.
At this point, the war has entered a difficult stage. In the Bai Tuanwei Village, the Jin army was under the pressure of being wiped out, and was suffering terribly.
The Khitan soldiers and horses were outside, being beaten by the wind and snow. Even Yelu Deguang was shivering from the cold, let alone the soldiers below.
This is a competition of patience, but time is on the side of the Khitans.
.
.
On the fifth day of February, the Khitan army had been besieging Bai Tuanwei Village for eight days.
What is extremely disadvantageous for the Jin army is that it has not snowed for three days.
Originally, the Jin army could barely obtain water due to heavy snowfall, but now, without snow for three days, the Jin army encountered great difficulties in drinking water.
Bai Tuanwei Village is not big, but the Jin army has nearly 40,000 people and more than 10,000 mules and horses.
So many people and animals need a lot of drinking water.
The thirsty Jin army dug down, collected mud and water to quench their thirst, and killed horses and mules to drink blood to quench their thirst.
However, the blood of mules and horses is not only unpleasant to drink, but killing one of them will result in one missing, and it is impossible to supply the entire army. Seeing this, they are on the road to death.
It seems that the only way left before the Jin army is to fight to the death.
But everyone saw what happened last time when An Shenqi led his army into battle. The Khitans gathered all their elites and came for a decisive battle in the wilderness. They couldn't get any favors at all.
What to do?
