Yang Yanzhao seemed to see through Yang Yunfan's thoughts and said with a smile: "Xianggong Zhang is not an ordinary scholar. He once led an army to defeat the Liao army with a small number of enemies and a clever plan. He killed two thousand enemy troops in formation, captured two thousand horses, and carried heavy armor and baggage. There are so many that the Liao people are frightened to hear them."
Yang Yunfan's eyes lit up when he heard this, and his face immediately glowed with energy, and he said, "Oh? Is this husband really so powerful? Fourth uncle, please tell me."
Yang Yanzhao smiled slightly, sat on the Taishi chair beside him, and then motioned for Yang Yunfan to sit down.
He picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, and said slowly: "This starts with the Liao army's invasion of the south in October of the third year of Yongxi's reign."
In October of the third year of Yongxi's reign, the Emperor of the Liao Kingdom issued an edict to the soldiers and civilians of the Six Prefectures of Juma and Henan, announcing that he would start a war with the Song Dynasty.
The Liao army was divided into three groups, one of which was led by King Yelu Pununing of the North Campus and was responsible for the battle in Shanxi.
Yelu Pununing led his troops to attack Daizhou. Ma Zheng, the commander of the Shenweidu of the Song Army, led his troops to fight with the Liao Army at the south gate of Daizhou City, but was outnumbered and defeated. Lu Hanyun, the deputy capital of Daizhou in the city, saw that the Liao army was powerful and refused to fight, but only wanted to defend the city.
At that time, Zhang Qixian, who was the magistrate of Daizhou at that time, heard that the Liao army was launching a large-scale attack, so he sent an envoy to discuss with Pan Mei, the capital of Bingzhou who was far away in Bingzhou, to join forces to defend against the enemy.
After discussing with Pan Mei, Zhang Qixian returned to Daizhou City and discussed with Lu Hanyun, the deputy commander in charge of the army, about sending troops to attack the Liao army with Pan Mei.
However, Lu Hanyun was frightened by the Liao army and did not dare to send troops. He just wanted to defend the city. No matter how much Zhang Qixian persuaded him, he refused to send any troops to him.
Zhang Qixian was angry and helpless. He turned his attention to the thousands of troops in Daizhou. The so-called Xiang army is a miscellaneous army selected from the rest of the regular army.
Zhang Qixian gathered these people together and selected more than 2,000 strong men among them, as well as some martial arts figures from Jin Dynasty, to ambush in Tuchong Village.
Arrangements were made, and they were waiting for Pan Mei's army to arrive, but they received news that the envoy sent out to invite Pan Mei to lead the army to fight was captured by the Liao army when he returned.
The envoy was arrested and the date of dispatching troops was leaked. Zhang Qixian was worried that Pan Mei's troops would be attacked by the Liao army. Just when he didn't know how to tell Pan Mei, Pan Mei's envoy came.
The envoy said that Pan Mei's army left Bingzhou and when they rushed to Baijing, they received an imperial edict from the emperor, saying that the East Route army was defeated at Junziguan and that all Bingzhou troops were not allowed to fight. Pan Mei had led his troops back to the city.
Zhang Qixian breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, he saw Liao soldiers coming from all over the mountains and plains outside the city. Zhang Qixian rolled his eyes and realized his plan.
He walked around with narrowed eyes and smiled and said to his subordinates: "The bandit army only knows that Pan Mei is coming, but they don't know about his retreat. It's better to take advantage of it."
After listening to Zhang Qixian's plan, his subordinates all beamed with joy, but one of the more mature and steady generals thought about it for a while, frowned and said to Zhang Qixian: "Master Zhizhou, your battle plan is indeed relatively good, but our men are... Most of these thousands of people are miscellaneous Xiang troops, can they be relied upon against the Liao people?"
This general's words are not unfounded. Most of the Song Dynasty's troops were infantry, and they were already at a disadvantage against the Khitan cavalry;
Even the regular elite troops of the Song Dynasty won less against the Khitan cavalry and lost more. Those who won were all because the opponent's coach was incompetent or they took advantage of the strong city and geographical advantages to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to surprise and win;
As for Zhang Qixian's thousands of troops, it is estimated that the Khitan army will collapse if they charge, and then it will cause a chain reaction and a complete rout;
After listening patiently, Zhang Qixian said to his subordinates: "Our army will win this battle for three reasons. First, as you just said, we only have a few thousand troops, and the Khitans will not let us go." In your eyes, you will underestimate the enemy. The so-called arrogant soldier will be defeated;
Secondly, most of the people we recruit are refugees from the north and people from the Jianghu. Their families were either destroyed because of the Khitan plundering, or they want to stand out through military exploits. They will fight to the death for the hatred of the country and the family, and we will not hesitate to do so. As for the reward, if we cannot defend Daizhou, then the Khitans will massacre the city to vent their anger after they break through. We have no way out. This is called risking death and living later.
Thirdly, we will not fight on the plains with the Khitans. We will set up ambushes in dangerous places in the passes and cooperate with the tactics of suspicious soldiers. This will greatly offset the disadvantage of military strength. This is called using the right combination to win by surprise."
When all the generals heard this, they all nodded repeatedly. When the calm and mature general saw that Zhang Qixian was not a man who talked about war on paper, but made decisions before taking action, he felt relieved and stopped talking.
So Zhang Qixian ordered the envoys to be locked in a secret room to prevent leaks. He himself took the lead and led the army to defend the city.
At midnight, he sent two hundred soldiers, each holding a flag and carrying a bundle of hay, thirty miles southwest of the city. They dispersed their troops, arranged flags, and lit firewood.
The Liao soldiers saw a banner with the word "Pan" written on it in the light of the fire from a distance. They thought Pan Mei's army from Bingzhou was coming and panicked.
Because the intelligence sent back by the Liao army's scouts found no signs of Pan Mei's troops dispatching, and now they suddenly found fierce flags and billowing smoke in the southwest, they thought Pan Mei had already been ambushing there, and the Liao army had no time to adjust, and they were in chaos for a while.
Yelv Pununing was also a veteran who had been on the battlefield for a long time. Seeing the situation, he hurriedly ordered the troops to pass on the order. The rear team changed to the front team and retreated thirty miles to camp before making plans;
However, if an army with a large number of cavalry regiments wants to change formation, it is not as easy as infantry. Moreover, the Khitan army is mostly composed of multiple tribes, and there is no such tacit understanding between them, so it seems a bit chaotic for a while;
Zhang Qixian observed the enemy's movements from the city. When he saw that the opportunity had come, he personally led the army in the city to attack from Ma Zheng's right and drove the Liao army towards Tuchengzhai in the west. Zhang Qixian generously swore an oath and encouraged his subordinates to One versus a hundred, fight hard.
The Liao army hurriedly responded to the battle and saw the flaming flag in the distance. They thought Song's reinforcements were coming. In desperation, they hurriedly withdrew their troops eastward.
Song Jun was waiting for this opportunity.
Tudengzhai is located on the east side of Daizhou City. Its terrain is surrounded by high mountains on both sides, and in the middle is a straight road of several miles, like a large gourd, which is very convenient for setting up ambushes.
In fact, when the Liao army withdrew to the intersection of Tudengzhai, they had already vaguely felt that the Song army would set up an ambush here.
It's just that they relied on the speed of their cavalry, and they could pass these few miles in half the time of a stick of incense.
Secondly, Daizhou had few soldiers, and they did not think that the ambush troops in Daizhou City would have much combat effectiveness.
But reality taught them a harsh lesson. The ambush Song army did not rush to take action.
They first let go of the scouts who were exploring the road. After most of the Liao army entered the valley entrance, they rolled down boulders and wooden ropes on both sides of the valley to cut off the Liao army's retreat, and then stood on both sides of the valley. He kept shooting with his crossbow from the side,
The bows and crossbows of the Song Army were the sharpest long-range weapons in this era. The infantry defeated the cavalry mainly by relying on bows, crossbows, swords and shields;
Although most of the Liao army were good at shooting, due to backward technology, the range of Liao bows was far less than that of the Song army's crossbows, and they could not use cavalry to launch a charge, so they were in a position where they could only be passively beaten;
Arrows raining down like rain crazily harvested the lives of the Liao army. Without the Khitan cavalry in the open space, they could not launch an attack. Instead, each one became a living target for the Song army;
The Liao army was demoralized and had no fighting spirit, while the Song army's Xiang troops and martial arts figures became more and more courageous as they fought. Some finally took off their shirts, held broadswords, and rushed into the enemy's formation to fight hand-to-hand with the enemy;
In this way, the Liao army was defeated. Although Yelu Pununing, the king of the North Court, escaped under the desperate protection of his own soldiers, most of his men were annihilated; the momentum of the Liao army's southward movement was curbed;
In the battle of Tuchengzhai, the Liao army was defeated and more than 2,000 people were beheaded. The son of Yelu Pununing, the king of the North Courtyard, was captured. He captured a relic in front of the tent, more than 2,000 war horses, and many weapons and armor.
In the "Battle of Tuchengzhai" in the Song and Liao Dynasties, Zhang Qixian knew the state as a scholar, cleverly used suspicious troops, ambushed the troops, charged into the battle, and led his army to defeat the enemy. It shocked Mobei and made the Liao army dare not go south from Daizhou for several years;
After hearing this, Yang Yunfan couldn't help but praise: "Xianggong Zhang is so majestic. He can win by surprise and defeat the strong with the weak. The famous generals in ancient times are nothing more than this. It is really a blessing for the Song Dynasty to have such a prime minister who can be both literary and military."
"I will definitely attend this Fan Lou banquet. It is a great honor to be able to share the banquet with such a talented gentleman." Yang Yunfan said excitedly.
