It’s extremely cold in Hebei in December.
The howling north wind, carrying dry and cold snowflakes, slapped people's cheeks mercilessly, easily filling another wound on the already cracked face.
Although this snowflake is not big, the damage is really quite big.
This season was not originally the season for fighting, but the Jin army, trapped on the banks of the Hutuo River, had no other choice.
Because the temperature has dropped sharply in the past few days, the Hutuo River has begun to freeze. Although tens of thousands of people cannot cross at the same time, it is still possible to cross thousands of elites in batches.
As long as a few thousand elites can cross the river and gain a foothold, the follow-up troops can cross calmly.
Moreover, in heavy snow, the Khitan army's horses cannot move very fast, which is the most conducive time for the Jin army to give full play to the strength of its infantry.
Wang Qing, the governor of Xizhou, who had previously suggested to Du Chongwei to cross the river to clear the way for the army, was crossing the river one after another with Song Yanyun, the military governor of Dengzhou Weisheng Army, leading 5,000 elite troops.
At this time, the sky was slightly bright, and both sides of the Hutuo River were quiet. Only the cold wind mixed with a small amount of snowflakes was blowing against our faces.
Although the hand holding the knife was almost frozen and the snot could not stop dripping from the nose, none of the two thousand pioneers who followed Wang Qing to attack did not flinch or speak.
These two thousand people were the most courageous in the entire Jin camp, and they also hated the Khitans the most.
Either some of their relatives died at the hands of the Khitans, or they, relying on their simple national sentiments and unwilling to see the barbarians become so domineering, vowed to drive the Khitans out of the Central Plains.
The Jin army was like ants, squatting on the ice and slowly slithering toward the opposite side. The vanguard of 500 people in advance crossed the bank of the Hutuo River smoothly.
Wang Qing was pleasantly surprised. It seemed that the Khitans were not on guard. As long as his two thousand men lined up on the west bank to cover them, the main force on the east bank could quickly cross the river.
Soon, most of his two thousand people crossed the river, and Song Yanyun's three thousand people behind him also crossed more than a thousand people.
Just as Wang Qing was about to walk over and ask his soldiers to line up, he heard loud voices.
Wang Qing looked carefully and found that the sound did not sound like the footsteps of the soldiers around him.
Suddenly, the soldiers he arranged to scout in front screamed in horror.
Wang Qing also quickly climbed up the ladder sill by the river and looked where the soldiers were pointing. He saw dense white dots surging in the distance, all of which were Khitan soldiers.
They did not display any flags, and were covered with white cloth. Like ghosts that suddenly appeared, they were already lurking less than 500 steps away from Wang Qing and others.
After being besieged for too long, the soldiers were unable to keep up with their nutrition, so they could not clearly see the Khitan soldiers wearing white robes.
Moreover, the Khitan soldiers and horses all wore cotton shoes and were wrapped in cotton cloth, so they made little noise even if they were careful.
Zhao Yanshou looked at the Jin army opposite him as if he were looking at the steps he was ascending to a great treasure.
He had no choice. After the last battle of Bai Tuanwei Village, his basic Lulong army suffered heavy casualties. If he could not become the emperor of the Central Plains, he would not even have the chance to become an ordinary Khitan.
"Kill! I have become the emperor of the Central Plains, and all of you are heroes of the founding of the country!"
Amidst Zhao Yanshou's roar, the surrounding soldiers were all working hard.
These people had made a heavy bet that Zhao Yanshou could become a son-emperor like Shi Jingtang. Now that all their belongings had been lost, there was no way out. Therefore, they were even more fanatical than the Khitans.
Zhao Yanshou's attack was so fast that Wang Qing didn't even have time to set up a formation. Fortunately, his soldiers were all quite elite. Although they were not in formation, there was still a dense rain of arrows, and they shot him at the first opportunity. .
The elite Lulong Army under Zhao Yanshou also began to draw their bows and shoot. People on both sides kept falling to the ground, and the scarlet blood was extremely conspicuous on the white snow.
However, it is often not easy to draw a bow and shoot an arrow in such weather, so it soon developed into a stage of close combat.
Zhao Yanshou's Lulong Army numbered more than 4,000 people. They had been preventing the Jin army from sneaking across the Hutuo River for a long time, and they also had a numerical advantage.
However, Wang Qing's two thousand men were more powerful.
In fact, if they wanted to form a formation to fight, Wang Qing's two thousand men had been summoned at short notice, and their cooperation would not be very tacit. However, it turned into a chaotic battle, which was more conducive to their performance.
The sound of fighting carried far away in the cold morning wind. Although the Shanxi and Liao armies were said to be facing each other by the Hutuo River, the camp was still some distance away from the Hutuo River.
Hearing the sound of fighting, the horns of the Jin army began to blow, and the soldiers began to gather. Huangfu Yu cursed Du Chongwei while putting on his armor.
For such an important matter as Wang Qing and Song Yanyun crossing the river to attack, Du Chongwei only prepared five thousand men and did not let others prepare.
The Khitan people were much faster. Yelu Deguang felt keenly that this Jin army's attack would be an important turning point.
He immediately sent the powerful general Yelu Shuogu to lead 10,000 elite troops first, and he himself led 30,000 troops to follow.
Facts have proved that Zhao Yanshou overestimated himself. His 4,000 men could not defeat Wang Qing's 2,000 men, let alone Song Yanyun's 3,000 men who were crossing the river.
Even though Zhao Yanshou personally went into battle with rifles in hand, the Lulong Army soldiers risked their lives and charged the Jin Army three times in a row, but they still failed to repel the Jin Army, which was smaller in number than him, let alone drive the Jin Army down the river.
The blade of the sword was curled, the barrel of the gun was broken, and the blade was damaged. The Jin army lost the veteran general Wang Qing. Although the number was small, they gathered tightly together, like a spear, and stabbed Lu Longjun in the belly.
The only problem was that Song Yanyun's support seemed to be coming a bit slowly. Only a few of the three thousand Wei Sheng Army soldiers had climbed over the river embankment to fight, and most of them were still gathering.
However, Wang Qing and the two thousand vanguards in the bloody battle did not notice at all. They just relied on their bloody bravery to repel the Lulong Army soldiers one after another.
Zhao Yanshou, if not looking at his moral character, could be regarded as a momentary hero. He was handsome in appearance, good at reading history, could shoot a strong bow, was good at dancing, and was also proficient in the art of war.
He and Huangfu were from the same hometown, and they were both from Zhending. This place seemed to like to produce brave generals.
At that moment, seeing the incomparable bravery of Wang Qing's two thousand men, Zhao Yanshou charged twice, but was unable to repel them. He stopped being reckless now. He retreated to a hill to observe, and soon discovered the weakness of this army.
That was when the battle began, Wang Qing's troops did not gather into formation.
At this time, the bloody battle lasted for a long time. Since the soldiers were summoned at short notice, Wang Qing could not command them like an arm, so he did not form a large formation.
"Yan Zhao, bring five hundred of our army horses, put on the horse armor, select people who are proficient in equestrian skills, and lead the horses to trample the Jin people."
Zhao Yanshou loudly ordered his younger brother Zhao Yanzhao. Although there was snow on the ground at this time, which was not conducive to the charging of the war horses, the horses could still charge if no one was sitting on their backs and only the horses were allowed to charge.
Zhao Yanzhao took the order and soon brought 500 armored tall war horses, and then arranged for fifty of the best horsemen to lead the charge of the horses.
At this moment, Wang Qing's troops had completely defeated more than 2,000 people from Zhao Yanshou's right army.
Some soldiers saw that the dead Lulong Army soldiers had good swords and armor on them, so they couldn't help but pick them up. Some of them were so jealous that they were not finishing the last blow.
Not to mention maintaining the formation, many people did not have long spears in their hands.
At this moment, five hundred heavily armored war horses suddenly rushed towards them, and the Jin army on the battlefield was immediately scattered.
Wang Qing shouted loudly, but only more than a thousand people were gathered. They quickly retreated to a hill on the right to form a defensive formation.
At this time, Yelu Shuogu's 10,000 soldiers and horses arrived to support Zhao Yanshou. Zhao Yanshou was overjoyed and hurriedly attacked Wang Qing with Yelu Shuogu.
Wang Qing's troops, which had been fighting smoothly, suddenly encountered a counterattack. They were temporarily unprepared and were beaten in a panic.
Fortunately, Wang Qing was not afraid in the face of danger. He led dozens of tooth soldiers to rescue the dangers and finally stabilized his position.
Fortunately, Song Yanyun's troops, who had been procrastinating in formation, finally arrived. Most of these three thousand people were Song Yanyun's Dengzhou Wusheng Army's tooth soldiers.
Three years ago, An Congjin rebelled in Xiangzhou on the east road of Shannan. Although he was suppressed, Xiangzhou has been coveted by Jingnan since then.
Therefore, the Later Jin Dynasty prepared thousands of tooth soldiers in Dengzhou, and they came in handy at this time.
The tooth soldiers of the Wei Sheng Army stepped on the white snow of Kacha Kacha and came steadily in formation. Zhao Yanshou and Yelu Shuogu, who were attacking Wang Qing, did not dare to be careless and could only divide their troops into two groups and resist them respectively.
The two sides then started a bloody battle on the bank of the Hutuo River, which was not very broad.
At this point in the battle, neither side can take advantage of the other. The next thing to compete is the coach's next move.
However, the Jin soldiers and most of the generals had no idea that Du Chongwei had arranged this attack.
Only after they were awakened by the shouts of death from Wang Qing and Song Yanyun's troops did they realize that their comrades had already crossed the river.
In the rush, he didn't even eat the morning meal, and Du Chongwei deliberately delayed, so the organization's speed was much slower.
On the other hand, on the Khitan side, Yelu Deguang mobilized almost immediately after Yelu Shuogu led 10,000 reinforcements.
In only two quarters of an hour, 30,000 troops were gathered from more than a dozen camps.
At this time, the Khitan people and the Khitan Kingdom were still on the rise, and the soldiers and generals could endure hardships. Thirty thousand people gnawed on biltong, grabbed handfuls of snow when they were thirsty, and hurriedly rushed to the Hutuo River.
Wang Qing and Song Yanyun fought hard on the west bank of the river for an hour, but they never saw Du Chongwei sending troops to help.
Song Yanyun also tried several times to help Wang Qing's thousands of people evacuate from the trapped mountains. However, there were too many Khitan soldiers and Song Yanyun's troops could not rush through.
After another half an hour, the Khitan soldiers and horses suddenly cheered loudly. Song Yanyun looked from a high place and saw the sound of hooves thundering to the west, the flags covering the sky and the sun, and the Khitan emperor's yellow umbrella suddenly appeared in the distance. .
The Khitan people's morale soared, but the soldiers of Wu Shengjun looked at each other in panic. Countless people looked back, but there was still no movement behind them.
Yelu Shuogu and Zhao Yanshou also took advantage of the surge in their own morale to watch Wang Qing's troops with a small number of troops, and attacked Song Yanyun with more than 8,000 men.
Wu Sheng's soldiers were unable to resist and were beaten back again and again. Moreover, the Khitan people were still making detours to both sides, intending to block Song Yanyun's retreat.
The whole army of Wu Shengjun was in an uproar, and Yuhou Ma Yuan, the infantry commander of Wu Shengjun, ran to Song Yanyun and shouted.
"Reinforcements have not arrived yet, but the Emperor of the North has arrived. Why should we, the people from the south of the mountain, sacrifice our lives here for the sake of the people of Hebei?"
Song Yanyun glanced at Wang Qing who was surrounded on the mountain, then looked at the Khitan Emperor Huang Luo Gai Umbrella who was getting closer, and gritted his teeth.
"Retreat! Even if you don't send troops to help, you can't blame me for waiting."
At this time, Du Chongwei had led the Jin army to the Hutuo River. He deliberately refused to mobilize and allowed tens of thousands of soldiers to huddle together by the Hutuo River.
The soldiers were so noisy that An Shenqi and Huangfu Yu wanted to go over to see Du Chongwei, but they couldn't get through.
After a while, more than 2,000 soldiers and horses under Song Yanyun retreated to the river, followed by the pursuing Khitan soldiers and horses.
Huangfu was in great danger, so he asked two tall tooth soldiers to lift him up and shout from the riverside.
"Don't let Song Yanyun's troops cross the river. Let them set up their formations on the spot. A certain Yi Cheng army general is willing to cross the river first!"
Unfortunately, Du Chongwei was already worried about Xiao Jiujiu. He deliberately pretended not to hear Huangfu Yu's words and refused to answer.
Song Yanyun, who fled to the river, was still a little stunned.
If Du Zhongwei ordered him to defend on the spot and the army began to cross the river, he would not have to cross the river.
But Du Chongwei didn't show any sign, so of course Song Yanyun ignored it. More than two thousand Wei Shengjun soldiers fled back to the east bank in full view of everyone.
Huangfu Yu had no choice but to look at Song Yanyun who fled back in embarrassment and roared.
"All major national affairs will be defeated by you and others."
In Hexi, the surrounded Wang Qing saw the Khitan Emperor Huang Luo Gai Umbrella getting closer and closer, and saw Song Yanyun's troops retreating without a trace. He knew that he was trapped in a tight siege and there was no possibility of survival.
At this time, a young Khitan general in Chinese uniform rode up from the hillside.
"His Majesty the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty is kind and generous. The general is in desperate situation. Why not surrender quickly?"
Wang Qing didn't even look at the young Khitan general, but looked around at the soldiers and generals around him before speaking.
"The general holds the troops and sits back and watches us in distress without rescuing us. This must be a different intention. We must die to serve our country!"
"I am willing to die righteously with the general!"
The soldiers fought bloody battles for two hours. They were tired and thirsty. There were only a thousand in number, but they were not afraid at all. Instead, they felt Wang Qing's loyalty and were willing to die with Wang Qing.
After hearing this, Wang Qing looked up to the sky and sighed. It was not that Wang Qing failed to complete his mission today. On the contrary, if the army could cross the river in time, even if it could not defeat the Khitan, it would still be able to rush to Hengzhou City.
But at this time, no matter how unwilling he was, there was nothing he could do. Wang Qing suddenly drew his bow and nocked an arrow, and shot an arrow into the arm of the young general who came to persuade him to surrender. The Khitan young general screamed and hurriedly hit his horse and fled back.
Wang Qing drew back his bow and held his spear, and laughed miserably, "We will die here alone!"
Yelu Deguang looked at the young general with blood on his arm, a trace of disgust flashed in his eyes, then looked at Zhao Yanshou and Yelu Shuogu and said: "This Jin general doesn't know what is good, so kill him!"
Later, Yelu Deguang personally led his troops to the Hutuo River where the Jin army was gathering. He ordered his sergeants to throw rocks to break through the thin ice on the river, and fired Fuyuan crossbows at the Jin army on the other side of the river.
Du Chongwei was like a mouse seeing a cat, and hurriedly ordered the Jin army to retreat.
At the end of the day, the shouts of killing gradually died down, and there were no people left around Wang Qing.
However, these more than a thousand elite Jin troops paid a heavy price for the Khitan soldiers and horses who came to besiege them. Under the hill, there were all the corpses of Khitan soldiers and generals. It was estimated that there would be no less than a thousand people.
Zhao Yanshou was holding a spear, and his shirt was also soaked with blood. He was almost hit by the armor several times.
At his feet, a tooth soldier of the Lu Long Army was still twitching slightly. Zhao Yanshou looked at the crumbling Wang Qing, and his eyes almost burst out with fire.
"Old man, today is the day you die!"
"I have served my country with my life and deserved to die! Little Zalu, you and your son are willing to be slaves of the barbarians. You shamelessly send your wife, daughter and sisters to be ruined by the barbarians. Sooner or later, you will have your wrists disemboweled and your heart disemboweled!"
When Zhao Yanshou heard this, his defenses were immediately broken. He was a traitor, and he was most afraid of others calling him a traitor.
In shame and anger, Zhao Yanshou straightened up his long penis and penetrated Wang Qing in the chest.
Blood spattered out, and the fifty-one-year-old veteran fell heavily.
Around him, more than 1,400 loyal ministers and warriors died.
Er arrived on a flying horse. It turned out that Yelu Deguang hated Wang Qing so much that he ordered Zhao Yanshou to collect the bodies of Wang Qing and the Jin soldiers crossing the river, and build a palace on the side of the Hutuo River to frighten the Jin army. , so that they no longer dare to resist.
That night, the Khitan people were at the Hutuo River. While smashing the ice to prevent the Jin army from crossing the river again, they also took advantage of the night to build up a base to watch.
On the second day, the sentinel of the Jin army saw that the capital was ready and brought the news back to the camp. The morale of the Jin army was greatly reduced.
Song Yanyun and the soldiers of Wu Shengjun were mostly criticized, and Zhang Yanze, the governor of the Yiwu Army in Dingzhou, was also criticized because it was his suggestion to lead troops westward.
These people were criticized by the generals, and their dissatisfaction grew.
At this time, the Jin army's rations were only enough for three days. Du Chongwei no longer pretended. He quickly found Li Shouzhen and said straight to the point.
"Now that the army is exhausted and the Liao army is tightly besieged, there is no way out for either left or right. I want to follow the example of the late Emperor Jinyang. Will you follow me?"
Li Shouzhen had been waiting for Du Chongwei's words for a long time and was overjoyed when she heard them.
"If you are the emperor, what will you do to your servants?"
Seeing that Li Shouzhen really agreed, Du Chongwei nodded with satisfaction.
"It should be rewarded with a large town in the middle of the river. It should be given to the King of Qin. The wealth of Jingzhao Mansion can be used for three months."
Li Shouzhen couldn't be too satisfied. He got the position of Hezhong Jiedushi that he had dreamed of, and was granted a title by the King of Qin.
Jingzhao Mansion has tens of millions of treasures. As long as he is allowed to guard it for three months, even one hundred thousand guan can be looted.
"My only concern is that An Shenqi and Huangfu are opposed by the generals, so they can send their confidants to the Khitan camp to ask for an audience with the Khitan Lord.
If you get a promise, you will summon your soldiers to lie down outside the commander's tent, then summon the generals to discuss matters, and order them to submit letters of allegiance. Anyone who dares to disobey will be killed on the spot! "
After hearing this, Du Chongwei couldn't help but feel happy, but then he frowned again.
"You and I only have two hundred trusted soldiers, and all the generals have followers. Besides, if we move them rashly, it will definitely make people suspicious.
If the matter is exposed and An Shenqi, Huangfu Yu and others start killing, we will not be able to resist it. "
Li Shouzhen waved his hands calmly, "This matter is easy. Song Yanyun was defeated and returned to the camp. Everyone said that he abandoned Wang Qing. They were even more afraid that Duke Du would hold him accountable. As long as the Duke offered to win over him, Song Yanyun would definitely agree.
Moreover, this trip to the west was Zhang Yanze's idea, and he was harshly criticized by his superiors and subordinates for this. He had already been dissatisfied and could be recruited.
As long as these two generals surrender, hundreds of soldiers can be obtained, and the Duke can also order the Weisheng Army and the Yiwu Army to guard the commander's tent with great fanfare, and no one will doubt it. "
As soon as they said they were going to do it, these two shameless traitors sold the country very quickly, and they immediately contacted Song Yanyun and Zhang Yanze separately.
Song Yanyun was scolded so badly and was afraid of being liquidated in the future, so he agreed after thinking about it for a while.
Zhang Yanze thought that the Khitans had captured Dingzhou and seized his family, and since he was a shameless person, he agreed very happily.
After gathering the conspirators, Du Chongwei sent his confidant Fu Shui across the Hutuo River that night to the Liao army camp.
Yelu Deguang had already fallen asleep. When he heard Du Chongwei's request to surrender, he rushed out wearing only his underwear to meet Du Chongwei's envoy.
After testing in many ways and confirming that Du Chongwei was not faking his surrender, my Great Khitan Emperor, Brother Guang, was almost in tears.
He is under great pressure! We lost troops and generals in the first two times. If it hadn't been for the solid foundation we had laid over the years, we would probably have collapsed.
Even though the Jin army was trapped now, Yelu Deguang still felt uneasy because he didn't know how much food the Jin army still had?
Moreover, the combat effectiveness of Wang Qing's troops the day before yesterday made Yelu Deguang even more frightened.
Now everyone is camping in the wild, just to see who can hold on. If he is the one who cannot hold on in the end and returns north again in disgrace, then the position of the Khitan emperor may not be stable.
Therefore, the ecstatic Yelu Deguang said directly to Du Chongwei's envoy: "(Zhao) Yanshou's prestige is not enough to be the emperor of the Central Plains. If you surrender to me, I will make you the emperor."
When the envoy returned, Du Chongwei got Yelu Deguang's promise and almost jumped for joy.
He immediately ordered his close confidants, Gao Xunfu, to surrender and enter the Khitan camp again. This was a statement of attitude, and it was also the last step to confirm the authenticity.
Gao Xun received the utmost courtesy from Yelu Deguang and repaid Du Chongwei with satisfaction. From this, Du Chongwei confirmed that Yelu Deguang really wanted to make him emperor, and quickly sent someone for the third time to agree on a time for surrender with Yelu Deguang.
The next day, Du Chongwei ordered Song Yanyun to send one hundred and fifty soldiers from the Wei Sheng Army, and Zhang Yanze sent one hundred and fifty soldiers from the Yiwu Army to guard the commander's tent, and then summoned the generals to discuss matters.
As soon as the generals entered the tent, they felt something was wrong, because as soon as they arrived, the soldiers of the Wei Sheng Army and the Yiwu Army immediately isolated the inside and outside.
At this time, Du Chongwei pretended to be crying and said to the generals.
"The elites of the country are all here. Now Luan City has been occupied, the food road has been cut off, the army only has one day of food and grass, and the court has no reinforcements to arrive. Everyone on the left and right is dead.
I am worried about your lives, and I am willing to follow the example of the late emperor and form a good relationship with the Lord of Khitan. What do you think? "
Everyone was stunned and speechless. Although they thought that others might beg to surrender, they did not expect that someone like Du Chongwei would take the initiative to surrender.
For a moment, the unresponsive generals didn't know what to say.
Huangfu was the only one who was different. He had long sensed that Du Chongwei might surrender, and because of his fiery personality, he immediately jumped out and sternly questioned him.
"The imperial court regards the Duke as a noble relative and entrusts him with important responsibilities. Now that the army has not been defeated, do you want to be shy and surrender?"
Du Chongwei was also said to be a little unable to hold his head up. He replied with wandering eyes: "The current situation is such that we have to compromise."
Huangfu Yu looked around and saw the soldiers hiding behind the scenes. Where the sun shined, the light from the tip of the knife flickered from time to time.
The surrounding generals were all photographed by Du Zhongwei's armored soldiers. In addition, they were in a desperate situation and no one dared to speak.
Huangfu Yu became even more angry. He ignored them and ran away. The soldiers outside did not dare to stop him because of his reputation.
Li Shouzhen winked, and Zhang Yanze led more than ten soldiers to chase him out to prevent Huangfu from making any noise and leaking the secret.
Du Chongwei stood in the position of the coach and did not move. Instead, he instructed Song Yanyun to take the surrender form and ask the generals to sign it.
At this time, Huangfu never met such a person again. All the generals were photographed by Du Chongwei's lustful power, and even An Shenqi covered his face with his hands and signed and stamped his name.
The fate of the 60,000 Jin army and the later Jin court has been decided.
