Due to national strategic issues, in the first ten years of the Qianlong reign, too many outstanding generals of the Han Dynasty were "idle" in the north by Liu Chengyou, including Yang Ye, Ma Quanyi, Han Lingkun, Dong Zunzhen, Li Hanqiong, Luo Yanxuan, Wang Shenqi, Bai Chongzan, Li Hanchao... This series of generals and envoys are not inferior to the Han generals in the Southern Expedition in terms of ability. However, most of them have been in a garrison for many years, such as Yang Ye and Luo Yanxuan. It is measured in ten years.
In order to stabilize the northern border defense of the Han Dynasty, these generals indeed sacrificed a lot. In view of this, the tens of thousands of border troops in Hebei were mobilized this time to prepare for great use and not have the opportunity to make achievements.
And these long-repressed generals are like wild beasts that want to eat people. Even the low-level garrison soldiers have some expectations for military merit. All soldiers are eager for success, and that is good news for war.
To launch such a large-scale foreign war, the emperor and the court were under great pressure. The most taboo thing was that if the people did not support it, they would have no fighting spirit and the soldiers would be tired of fighting. Fortunately, these situations were relatively rare in the early days of the war.
Where did the Han army's officers and men's desire to fight come from? The most important thing is that in these years, the imperial court has never been stingy in its treatment of the army, whether it was rewards or pensions. In the past few years, among the various corruption cases investigated by Dahan, only those involving military salaries and military supplies were dealt with the most severely, without exemption or reduction of penalties.
As a result, some civil servants complained, feeling that the emperor treated those Qiu Ba too kindly, which easily made them domineering. Liu Chengyou also received some remonstrances. Although it is difficult to say it directly, the implication is very obvious, which is to remind Liu Chengyou that the three generations of troubled times depended on the power of warriors and arrogant soldiers...
Liu Chengyou accepted all these suggestions, but he just didn't do them. Some people can always only see one side of things, but often deliberately ignore the other side. Although he was kind to the army, at the same time, the strictness of the Han military law was not relaxed, and it was gradually improved and serious. What Liu Chengyou did was nothing more than "combination of kindness and power".
For Liu Chengyou, the most satisfying aspect of the transformation of the military in recent years is not the measures to check and balance the power of generals and the means to win over the morale of the military, but the establishment of a set of military management regulations that can be accepted by the officers and men.
Coupled with the establishment of the propaganda system and years of brainwashing, it is still very effective for low-level officers and soldiers who don't have much brains. These comprehensive factors worked together to create the new look of the Han soldiers today.
Among the many generals of the Han Dynasty, who has the closest relationship with Liu Chengyou? Ma Quanyi. Looking back on the past, Ma Quanyi had already followed Liu Chengyou when he was the second son of the Prince of Peking. It can be said that he was the first general Liu Chengyou discovered and conquered. In the early years, this emotional bond was not very deep, but as time goes by, the more time passes, the more precious the friendship becomes.
Ma Quanyi, on the other hand, has never let Liu Chengyou down. He guarded Yongqing for 89 years and never acted arrogantly as an old man of the emperor. Fulfilling his duties is his best reward for the emperor. Therefore, Liu Chengyou always remembered Ma Quanyi during every New Year and holidays, and called him back to Beijing several times to report on his duties and meet with him.
In the former, on the orders of An Shenqi, Ma Quanyi led the Yongqing Army to fight north. In 11 battles, he killed more than 1,500 enemy troops. When the Liao cavalry invaded on a large scale and the situation in Yan worsened, they also stepped forward.
On August 12, due to the difficulty of attacking the city and the fortress walls, and the full cooperation of the army and the people of Youzhou, the Liao army began to change its offensive thinking and began to encircle the points for reinforcements.
At that time, at the suggestion of the Liao general Han Kuangmei, the Liao army gathered 5,000 troops to besiege Xin'an Fort south of Jizhou, attracting the reinforcements of the Han and Yan armies, and secretly ambush troops and horses in all directions. At that time, the main cavalry force of the Han Dynasty did not realize that it was Ma Quanyi who took the initiative to lead the troops out of the city from Yuyang to rescue Xin'an Fort, and they were indeed trapped in a tight siege.
Facing the Liao army's sudden attack and siege, Ma Quanyi performed very bravely. He personally led the three hundred cavalry accompanying the army, risking his life to fight, rushing left and right, repeated several times, giving the infantry time to form a formation to defend against the enemy.
After that, he took the lead and directed the soldiers to defend on the front line. He was hit by several arrows, but his face was fine. The Liao army broke through the military formation several times, but it was Ma Quanyi who led his men to rush forward, fill the holes, resist the enemy with blood, and re-establish the defense line.
In this way, the Yongqing Army's more than 3,500 infantry and cavalry were able to resist the siege of three times more enemy troops for a full day. During this period, the Yan people of Xin'anbao saw the reinforcements fighting hard and took the initiative to gather 300 people to attack and killed many Liao troops. However, at that time, the Liao army had no intention of paying attention to the fortress and only sent a partial division to defeat it.
The Yongqing army fought bloody battles for a day, and the effect of using themselves as bait was fully achieved. The Han and Yan coalition forces from You, Shun, and Jizhou rushed to support one after another. Some of them were blocked on the way, and some fought with the Liao army on the spot. , and some broke through to the Xin'an area to participate in the battle.
When reinforcements from the Han army arrived, the Liao army, which had also been fighting hard for a long time, gradually became exhausted. After learning of the battle situation, the Liao army from Luanping and Zunhua areas also came to reinforce.
Around Xin'an Fort, the Han and Liao sides fought the largest battle since the war began. The Han and Yan coalition forces had a total of about 20,000 infantry and cavalry, and the Liao army also participated in the battle before and after 24,000 people.
Although it was a battle, it was more like a melee and chaos. Xin'anbao was the main site and the fighting was the fiercest. However, outside the main battlefield, the entanglement between the two sides in support and reinforcements was equally fierce. In fact, there was no unified command at all. From Xianghe River in the west to Yutian County in the east, the fighting area between the two armies exceeded hundreds of miles. The Han army either relied on mountains or ridges to fight against the Liao army, and some cavalry units even launched active attacks on the Liao army.
The final result ended with the Xin'an Liao army taking the initiative to withdraw from the siege. As for the result of the Xin'anbao battle, the Liao army's final casualties were around 4,000, and the Han army could not find many. Many of the losses were caused by the Liao army on the way to aid. Riding robs and kills.
However, from a strategic point of view, the Han army was completely victorious. First of all, it thwarted the Liao army's conspiracy to "encircle the point for reinforcements" and caused a large number of casualties; secondly, the Han army took great risks to rescue Xin'an Fort, which won the hearts of the people and made the hearts of the soldiers and civilians of Yan closer to the Han. Inspiring the determination of Youyan soldiers and civilians to resist the Liao army; in the end, this was the starting point for the Han army to turn from defense to offense.
As for its own losses, to be honest, in a war involving hundreds of thousands of people, a mere 4,000 casualties is really nothing. With Dahan's human resources, it can be replenished quickly.
In this battle, Ma Quanyi played the most critical role. Of course, the contributions of other Han and Yan generals cannot be denied.
After the battle, after resting for three days, Ma Quanyi led his army and took the initiative to attack Zunhua City eastward. In Yiyang, Gu River, they defeated the Liao army again and beheaded more than 200 people, causing the Zunhua garrison to retreat inside.
After the army arrived, Ma Quanyi chose to retreat. Although the Hebei frontier army went north and fought happily with the Liao army, although there were many chariots and horses, they did not bring any real siege weapons, so it was not the time to attack by force.
Looking at the terrain of Yannan, Jundu and Yanshan are in the north. There are many obstacles in between, Zunhua is one of them. If it is removed, an exit for the Liao army to go south will be cut off.
In fact, even if Yanshan is dangerous and in the hands of the enemy, with Youzhou as the backbone and supplemented by Yuyang, Huairou, and Changping, it will be very difficult for the Liao army in the north of the mountain to cross south and fight deep into the Han border.
In contrast, the enemy forces from the east are more threatening to Youzhou. They can almost reach Youzhou through the plains and rivers. Therefore, in the battle against Liao, the key target of Han and Yan was the Liao army that entered the pass from Yuguan to assist in the war.
Shicheng County, nearly three hundred miles away from Youzhou City, was established by the Liao Dynasty and belonged to Luanzhou. During more than a month of the tug-of-war between Han and Liao, five major and small battles took place here. More than 2,000 people bled on this land, and the bodies of more than 1,000 people turned into nutrients for the soil.
At the height of autumn in August, the sixth battle was unfolding, between 3,000 Han infantry and cavalry and 5,000 Liao troops. The generals of the Han army were Ma Quanyi and Ma Renyu, and the Liao army was the veteran general Gao Mohan.
Gao Mohan was a general and veteran of the Liao Kingdom. As a Bohai native, he was highly used by several generations of Liao lords, from Yelu Abaoji to Yelu Jing. He was active in the Khitan's military use of the Central Plains. This time too, Gao Mohan took the position of prime minister of Nanfu and led the Liaodong division to enter the pass and fight.
In fact, due to the separation of mountains and mountains, difficult roads and inconvenient information transmission, various Liao armies often made mistakes in coordinating operations due to their different affiliations and insufficient organization. This is also one of the reasons why the Hu people were not heroic, but after fighting fiercely, they were gradually suppressed by the Han army.
After the main force of the Han army in the Northern Expedition of Yongqing went north, the Liao army, which was mainly active in the Youji area, quickly retreated to Miyun and Juyongguan. Because of the lack of interest, Gao Mohan's reaction was slower and he was entangled by the Han army.
The troops that Gao Mohan brought to the Pass from Liaodong, plus the defenders of the Luanping Camp, totaled more than 20,000 people, a mixture of foot and cavalry, supplemented by a small number of Khitan and Xi people, as well as Han and Bohai people. However, under the attack of Han and Yan soldiers and civilians, nearly 30% of them were damaged.
The battle in Shicheng County can also be regarded as an encounter in the pursuit. Gao Mohan indeed had good general ability and courage. He personally led people to cover the rear, and retreated while fighting. He was always at the rear to accommodate the soldiers who were defeated by the Han army, and to replace them at any time.
Gao Mohan had a clear judgment on the battle situation. He knew that although he had more people, his equipment and training were not as good as those of the Han army. Although the Han army had fewer people, there were still many chasing troops behind him.
Gao Mohan had not considered concentrating his forces to defeat the Han army in front of him, but he was not sure of victory. The result of the Battle of Xin'anbao made the Liao army once again realize that the Han army in formation was indestructible. If you are not mentally prepared to pay twice as much sacrifice and fight for a long time, don't try it easily.
Therefore, being driven eastward by three thousand Han troops, Gao Mohan could only endure it no matter how aggrieved he felt.
Fortunately, his retreat was less than ten miles away from the county seat. As long as he retreated into the city, he could get some breathing space. The area east of Shicheng was still controlled by the Liao Kingdom, and the Han army did not dare to go deeper.
