Han Shizu

Chapter 1305 Battle of the Liaohe River, a triumphant song

Inside Wuqing County, the returned Emperor Liu was sitting directly in the tent, accepting the performance of the courtiers with relaxed expressions.

"Is there a result? Liaoyang won?" Emperor Liu was smiling and in high spirits.

"Exactly! The battle has been decided!" Liu Xu gave an affirmative response.

Within a month of Emperor Liu's northern tour, the war in Liaodong reached a new climax after the Han army marched eastward. The two sides stayed on the Liaohe Plain, surrounding Liaoyang, Shenzhou, and Liaozhou. Zhucheng launched a large-scale offensive and defensive confrontation.

Regardless of the scale or intensity of the war, it far surpassed the previous battles. After nearly a month of fierce fighting, it finally came to a result.

At first, Yelu Xiezhen adopted the method of concentrating forces and shrinking the defense line, intending to lengthen the front line and transfer the battlefield of the decisive battle of Liaodong to the north of Xianping and Tongyuan.

In the process of preparing for the eastward advance of the Han army, he was indeed asked to transfer a batch of military strength, money and food.However, this war is after all a matter for both parties, and it is difficult for him to wishful thinking.

The reaction speed of the Han army greatly exceeded Yelu Xiezhen's expectations, and the ability and efficiency of collecting and transmitting intelligence also exceeded his imagination.

The spies from the two agencies of military intelligence and Wude learned about the changes of the Liao army. Although they were a little surprised at Yelu Xiezhen's boldness and determination, and some couldn't believe it, they still basically judged the Liao army's intentions.

On this basis, Zhao Kuangyin also changed his previous conservative and rigid tactics, but took the initiative and chose to attack boldly.On the eastern front, led by Gao Huaide and supplemented by Li Hanqiong's troops, a hundred thousand people left Yanyuan City, which was abandoned by the Liao army, and went straight to Liaoyang.

On the other hand, Zhao Kuangyin led the main force of the camp, abandoned Liaoyang, turned north, and advanced into the Shenzhou and Liaozhou areas.In this process, the Han cavalry, which had already been replenished to [-], launched a massive attack to chase and wipe out the Liao army.

Previously, the cavalry had little effect on the attack and defense of the city, and Zhao Kuangyin also spared no effort, and basically only used it to protect the logistics supply line of the Liaodong Corridor.

But on the Liaohe Plain, the role of cavalry can be fully utilized, and Zhao Kuangyin dared to use it boldly, and the rivers on the plain have little restrictions on Han cavalry.

The Liao army in Liaodong is actually mainly infantry. The Han cavalry supplemented after the Battle of Jinzhou, although there were more Fan cavalry recruited, the strength of the Han cavalry has already surpassed the Liao army. plan, caused great hindrances, and major blows.

When the range of activities of the Han cavalry spread to Liaozhou in the north, Yelu Xiezhen's northward retreat was completely declared a failure.In the difficult situation of the war and the irreversible situation, it is difficult to withdraw the army safely and calmly, not to mention so many people and animals.

The reaction speed of the Han army was surprisingly fast, and the execution was surprisingly high. For the Liao army, the situation became more and more embarrassing.Faced with such a critical situation, Yelu Xiezhen was naturally unwilling to be restrained, and responded positively, taking countermeasures.

Yelu Xiezhen's target was also chosen very clearly, and he directly placed it on those hard-edged and unscrupulous Han cavalry.At that time, among the Han cavalry active in the Liaobin and Yanjin areas eighty miles north of Shenzhou, only the Han general Cao Han led [-] Han cavalry. It also seems to be alone.

Therefore, Yelu Xiezhen decisively sent all the nearly [-] cavalry in his hands, and divided them into two groups to attack.The two sides fought on the east bank of the Liao River. The Han army was few and the Liao army was numerous, and they attacked suddenly, so that the Han army was at a disadvantage.

General Cao Han may be ostentatious and cruel, but he is very tough on the battlefield. Facing the bad situation, he is particularly tenacious and leads his troops to fight hard.

Of course, this also lies in the fact that on the plain, it is very difficult to completely annihilate a group of cavalry. It took a lot of effort, and the Liao army just bet Cao Hanjun on the bank of the Liaohe River.

However, Cao Han did not fight alone. The Han cavalry who were active and fighting in the Shenzhou area heard the news and went to support them one after another. The other Liao cavalry who were entangled with them also had to be ordered to join the battle.

Thus, a counterattack launched by Yelu Xiezhen gradually evolved into a cavalry battle. More than [-] cavalry from both Han and Liao were engaged in a series of large and small fights between Shenzhou and Liaozhou for hundreds of miles. fighting.

Moreover, this was just the beginning. Zhao Kuangyin's army, which was marching towards Shenzhou in the south, was convinced, and without hesitation, he sent Ma Renyu to lead [-] cavalry to go up the Liaohe River and advance along the waterways for support.

In this regard, Yelu Xiezhen also made up his mind and sent troops to harass and delay. However, the Han army relied on the advantage of water transportation, and the Liao army could not completely cut off support.

It took Ma Renxuan's army three days to arrive at the battlefield, and the main force of the Liao army was assembled under the dispatch of Yelu Xiezhen.On the banks of the Liaohe River, fifty miles southwest of Liaozhou, the Han and Liao forces fought a decisive battle.

On the frontal battlefield, under the command of Yelu Xiezhen, the Liao army concentrated nearly 60,000 cavalry, and the Han army was slightly smaller, more than 180,000.If you add the cavalry battles outside the main battlefield, the horse and infantry troops participating in the battle will add up to nearly [-] people.

For this battle, Yelu Xiezhen did his best, and invested all the combat-capable troops accumulated after the Battle of Jinzhou.He didn't want to make such a gambling decision, but helplessly, the Han army's saber was already on his neck, if he didn't take the initiative to ask for a fight, he would only be trapped and squeezed to death under Zhao Kuangyin's oppression and encroachment.

However, for Zhao Kuangyin, you have already done your best, and I am still able to handle it with ease.Under his dispatch, the Han army in camp continued to support them through the Liaohe River.

If there is any major mistake of Yelu Xiezhen, it is that the battlefield was chosen by the Liaohe River, but this is not determined by his personal will.

Therefore, when the Han army on the frontal battlefield broke through 100,000 people, the Liao army could no longer hold on.This battle lasted for a total of thirteen days, and finally formed a melee in which you are among you and you are among me. The Liao army was forced to fall into it helplessly, unable to extricate itself.

In the end, it was the Han army that relied on stronger troops and more adequate supply support to win the Liaohe Battle, while the Liao army ended in complete defeat.

By July 28, when the defeat was irreversible, the Liao army retreated without support. This retreat was a rout.

On the frontal and auxiliary battlefields, the Liao army suffered more than 30,000 casualties and more than 10,000 were captured. His army, which is only in the early 30,000s, is less than [-] people even if the cavalry from the various Liao troops who have been taken in one after another are included.

On the side of the Han army, after such a fierce battle, casualties are inevitable. However, thanks to sharper weapons, better protection, and being the victor, the casualties were well controlled, and eventually the casualties added up. It was less than [-]. Among them, Cao Hanjun suffered the heaviest loss, which was more than half.

In fact, a Liaohe battle can be regarded as completely establishing the situation of the Liaodong battle.This battle was also the most powerful counterattack Yelu Xiezhen could launch against the invasion of the Han army, but under the stronger strength and stronger response of the Han army, it was completely defeated.

In the battle of Liaohe, the Liao army suffered heavy losses, and it was regarded as having lost the capital to counterattack the Han army in the end.Since then, the Liao army has no troops to transfer and no food to levy in Liaodong and even the Bohai Sea area. The vast area south of Yinzhou can only be left to the Han army to attack.

As for Yelu Xiezhen's plan to shrink back and go northward, and defend Tongzhou in anticipation of a counterattack, it died prematurely, and instead lost a lot in the process of execution.

Especially Shenzhou, which was used as a transfer station for the northward withdrawal, most of the materials failed to be transferred successfully and were trapped in the city.In fact, when the battle of Liaohe was in full swing, Yelu Xiezhen had already received an order from Yeluxian of Shangjing not to abandon Liaoyang, but to stick to it.

However, at that time, it was already irreparable.Yelu Xiezhen paid the bill for his decisive and bold decision-making. As a result, the Liaodong battle was completely defeated, and it was hard to recover.

Perhaps, according to Liao Yeluxian's order, concentrating strength, defending Liaoyang, and not doing extra ideas, will have a different result, at least not losing so quickly and so badly.

But the final result is not very optimistic. What Yelu Xiezhen can imagine is to concentrate his forces, and then be surrounded by the Han army, and then another "Jinzhou offensive and defensive battle".

However, in all previous battles, choosing to stay on the defensive is a way of giving up the initiative. Without foreign aid, it is only a self-defeating situation, and it is impossible to escape the end of defeat.And, still with that little concern, Liaoyang is more difficult to defend than Jinzhou.

Perhaps Yelu Xiezhen also saw the hopeless ending, so he took this risky approach, including launching the Liaohe Battle, which was also a manifestation of wanting to break the situation, but he failed.

In the final analysis, the disparity in strength between the Han and Liao armies is still too great. The generals of the Han army have too many cards to play and various choices. Plans are all meaningless struggles, and they all seem so powerless.

The battle of Liaohe just fast-forwarded the situation in Liaodong.Later, from the southwest of Yinzhou, the three most important Liao cities, Liaoyang, Shenzhou, and Liaozhou, all fell into siege by the Han army.

Liaozhou was empty and simply surrendered, followed by Shenzhou, under the siege of Zhao Kuangyin's main force, it only lasted for three days and was also broken.Only Liaoyang, as the capital of Tokyo, Liao general Yeluhai did not have time to withdraw, this is also a tough bone, and he vowed to fight to the death.

There were only [-] Liao troops under the command of Yeluhai, and he gathered all the men and women in the city to help defend the city. Of course, this was destined to be a battle between trapped beasts.

Facing the siege of Gao Huaide's [-] troops, he only persisted for ten days before breaking through.What Emperor Liu received this time was the good news of regaining Liaoyang.

Once Liaoyang is over, the most mature area of ​​the Liao Kingdom in the Northeast will be included in the hands of the Han. It also means that the Liao Kingdom’s rule over the Northeast has officially entered the countdown. Pursue and wipe out the remnants of Yelu Xiezhen.

(End of this chapter)