Han Shizu

Chapter 917 No War in Winter

Although it was decided to withdraw to the west, even to abandon some Shanyou states and set the battlefield in the Yunshuo area, the Liao army did not make any major moves in the following days.In addition to sending troops to monitor the Han army in Ruzhou and blocking the pass, it is also to strengthen the investigation of the Han army spies who have been penetrating into the Liao territory. Since the war started, those Han army spies have been a bit rampant.

Other than that, the Liao army made no abnormal movements, they just rested peacefully in Huailai, acting as if the enemy was not moving and I was not moving.Facing the actions of the Liao army, Li Chongjin became more honest after a wave of harassing troops were chased and wiped out by the Liao army.

In this process, Liu Chengyou added [-] troops to Jinshan through his victory speech. While continuing to increase the threat to the Liao army's flanks, it also ensured the strength of the Jinshan Han army, so that it can advance and retreat with evidence.

Until mid-October, when the Han army still held the strategy of staying still, the Liao army, which had recuperated for more than half a month, finally made a big move. Hundreds of thousands of Liao troops retreated across the board and headed towards Wende in the northwest. County shrinks.

Juyongguan and Huailai counties were all abandoned. Before retreating, the Liao army removed all the able-bodied men and "conquered" all the grain and livestock stored by the government and the people, leaving behind a lot of old and weak women and children.This is not a coup, but at least it can be guaranteed that a lot of burden will be added after the Han army takes over.

At the same time, burning Huailai City was not intended to give the Han army a base to rely on.How could the Han army not respond to such movements of the Liao army? Li Chongjin immediately led his army westward to pursue after reporting the news to the imperial camp still in Changping.

However, due to the large number of Liao troops, Li Chongjin was very careful. Coupled with the harassment of Liao cavalry, when he arrived at Huailai, he saw a burning earthen city with thick smoke billowing above the city wall.
And there are tens of thousands of old and weak people gathered outside the city. Although there is constant noise and mourning, it seems to be waiting for them.Seeing this scene, Li Chongjin was a little furious. He summoned several old men to inquire about the situation. Only then did he learn that preparations for the retreat of the Liao army had already been started, and it was only today that there was a big commotion.

Facing the burning county town, Li Chongjin had no intention of responding. It was impossible to fight the fire. Large-scale water intake was obtained from the Sanggan River in the west, or the Sanggan River in winter.

Just lead the army and stop outside the city to keep warm. As for the tens of thousands of old and weak, choose another place to resettle.At this time, the people of Huailai sent representatives to say that all the rations had been confiscated, and hoped that the King of the Han Dynasty would distribute the food relief.

In this regard, Li Chongjin's attitude was very rude. He didn't think the petitioner was a good person. Moreover, in his opinion, military rations were precious, so how could they be used on these "Liao people".Yes, flatly refuse.Later, unable to stand his repeated pleadings, Li Chongjin simply ordered the soldiers to tie him up and whip him a few times.

At this time, the scouts sent out also came to report back.On the other side of Juyongguan, people went to the empty city, but the road was blocked by the Liao army quarrying stones. Shi Shouxin, the capital of Yu in front of the camp, was arranging people to clean it up.What interests Li Chongjin is the situation of the westward withdrawal of the Liao army. Because the escorting Minzhuang and the accompanying army have a lot of wealth and supplies, the Liao army did not withdraw westward quickly. behind.

In this regard, Li Chongjin immediately became interested in pursuing him. Together with Shi Yande, the cavalry general of the Longjie Army, he led five thousand Han cavalry to chase after him, hoping to bite the Liao army hard.

As a result, naturally it will not be as smooth as Li Chongjin expected.He caught up with the rear of the Liao army, but was ambushed by the Liao army in front of Jiming Mountain, sixty miles west of Huailai.

The more than 40,000 Liao army surrounded them, and the Liao general who was in charge of setting up an ambush was Yelu Xiezhen, the envoy of the battalion newly promoted by the Liao emperor.Li Chongjin and Shi Yande were completely unprepared for the encirclement and annihilation of the Liao army eight times. In a critical situation, they naturally resisted desperately and broke through the encirclement. With more than half the casualties, they forcibly fought their way out.

Then, under the pursuit of the Liao army, the casualties were even heavier. If Murong Yanqing, the commander of the right wing of the Holy Guardian Army, had not led the army to respond, I am afraid that Li and Shi would have been wiped out.

Even so, the final result was no different from the annihilation of the entire army. Only less than five hundred riders survived, and almost everyone was injured.After such a victory, the Liao army retreated more calmly, and their morale was greatly restored.

Knowing the change of the Liao army, Emperor Liu Chengyou of the Han Dynasty did not hesitate at all, and ordered to advance, the enemy retreated and we advanced, and oppressed step by step without the slightest hesitation.

Only part of the Jinshan and Nankou armies arrived in Huailai earlier, with a total of more than [-] people.As for Liu Chengyou, it was only three days later that he joined the army.

On the day of his arrival in Huailai, Liu Chengyou didn't inquire about the military situation first, he already knew what he needed to know, and there were no more changes in other things during these three or four days.

Liu Chengyou first met with representatives of the old, weak, women and children abandoned by the Liao army, comforted these people, and personally welcomed them back to the Han with the honor of the emperor, and ordered a part of the army rations to be allocated for them to survive the winter. .

To be honest, the old and weak actions abandoned by the Liao army did add some cumbersome troubles to the Han army, but at the same time, it also gave Liu Chengyou a chance to play the political card.

Afterwards, Li Chongjin and Shi Yande were received. These two people were already restless, and they desperately wanted to plead guilty to the emperor.Especially Li Chongjin, seeing the emperor's attitude towards those "Liao people", felt even more disturbed.

For the defeat of the two, Liu Chengyou did not show an overreaction, but just said that victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs, and let the two make a good summary.Of course, since the defeat and the loss of so many cavalry, you must know that the Long Jie horse army is a fine cavalry guard, so it is not easy to train them.It's just the anger in my heart, I didn't show it.

Liu Chengyou handed over to Chai Rong how to deal with the two of them.In this regard, Chai Rong certainly has no reason for favoritism, nor does he dare to favoritism.He summoned Li Chongjin, scolded him, and then ordered that he be demoted to be the commander of the First Army of the Protector's Right Wing.At the same time, because of his rough treatment of the people, he was given another thirty lashes.

Speaking of it, Li Chongjin's career in the military was really not smooth.Very early on, he became a senior general of the Forbidden Army, but he couldn't make it up these years.

During the Huainan War that year, he made a lot of meritorious service. After returning to the court, he was punished for messing with Wang Yansheng in the end, but he made further progress.During this Northern Expedition, Tanzhou was defeated in front of the city, and then led the army to break through Shengkou, regaining Confucianism, and suffered the defeat of Jiming Mountain and the crime of whipping the people.

There really is a sense of bad luck.If there is no better performance in the next battle, then after returning to the court, maybe it will stop at the same place again, and it may even fall instead of rising
After the Han army took Huailai, the Han and Liao sides fell into a confrontation again in the following time.The Han army stationed in Huaihuai with a large army of [-], accumulating food, grass, and ordnance. They had no intention of attacking, but intended to spend the winter here.

And the Liao army, after withdrawing to Wende, did not continue to retreat, but firmly grasped the various barriers.Don't take a step back and wait for the Han army to move.

In fact, Yelvjing did not fully agree with Yeluwuzhi's proposal to abandon all the Shanyou states.The evacuation of Huailai was due to the loss of Jinshan to avoid the two sides of the Han army.

However, the Yunshuo area is indeed relatively convenient for the cavalry of the Liao army. However, if the four prefectures of Confucianism, Gui, Wu, and Xin are abandoned, then the Han army can also attack Yunzhou from both sides.If the Han army marched west from Huai'an, west of Wuzhou, it could even be called a backstab.

If it is such a situation, Yunzhou will also be unable to defend, which is determined by both strength and terrain.Yelvjing didn't know why Yelv Wuzhi couldn't see this.
In this kind of "tacit understanding", for the first time since the Han and Liao wars, they fell into peace, and a moment of silence is like a winter.

(End of this chapter)