Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 214 The Battle of Hebei between Da Zhou and the Khitan
At the head of the city of Cangzhou, the cold wind howled, and the guards at the head of the city shivered from the cold and hid behind the walls.

Wearing armor, Zhao Kuangyin blew into his palms and then rubbed them together, staring into the distance from time to time.

In front of the city wall is a two-foot-wide moat, and in the distance there is a small stream with dead grass reaching ankles, cut marks, and covered with hoarfrost.

The surface of the water was sparkling, and white mist floated from time to time under the sunlight, and the withered forest in the distance stretched its teeth and claws at the end of the avenue, and nothing could be seen.

Zhao Kuangyin kept looking into the distance. He followed the Khitan soldiers all the way from the south to Cangzhou.

As winter approached, a small number of in-depth Khitan soldiers began to retreat northward, and Zhao Kuangyin led his troops to follow, in order to drive them all the way out of the border.

But after arriving near Cangzhou last night, the Khitans were temporarily lost because of the darkness. Zhao Kuangyin did not dare to camp in the wild for fear of being attacked by the Khitans in the middle of the night, so he entered the city.

He is very familiar with the combat style of the Khitan people. The Khitan people seldom fight head-on battles. In a big battle, they are best at fighting if they can get past it, and retreating if they can't. Khitan people.

But the most cunning thing about them is that once the situation is a little unfavorable, they will retreat to lure their own troops to pursue them. If they don't pursue them, they will rely on their horsepower to open the distance, and after recuperating, they will launch the next attack again, and go round and round until their own soldiers Exhausted, and then launched a general attack.

If they pursue, they will mostly retreat in the direction of the main force of the army and set up an ambush in the rear.

Generally speaking, once an army is defeated and disintegrated, it is difficult to regroup and fight again, but for the Khitan army, reunion is normal, and it is also very troublesome and a headache.

Moreover, Zhao Kuangyin's long-term contact with Liao soldiers also allowed Zhao Kuangyin to observe many characteristics of their combat.

Liao soldiers mainly use cavalry and archery, and they like to use cavalry in a concentrated manner.

During the battle, a reconnaissance cavalry team of more than ten people was sent to carry out activities within a range of about [-] miles from the forward troops.If you find a small group of enemy troops, you will capture them. If your combat power is insufficient, you will ask for support from the forward troops. If you find a large-scale enemy army, you will report to the commander of the Liao Army and do not attack rashly.

When the vanguard army encountered a small county or town, it would try to capture it directly. If it was a large state or city, the Liao army would choose to capture or evacuate according to the situation. They would try to attack, but in most cases it would not last more than three to five days.

Once unable to defend, the Liao army would burn, kill, and loot the houses, gardens, and sangzhe they passed along the way.

If the soldiers from the prefectures and counties take the initiative to fight, they will lure the enemy away by riding, shooting and insulting, lay an ambush in the middle of the road, or suddenly turn the horse's head to kill them. This is a very common tactic of the Khitan people.

If the city is closed and defended, they will divide their troops to plunder the surrounding area, leaving the attacking state city isolated and helpless.

Most of the large and small cities that they pass through, most of the time, hundreds of cavalry go to the city gate to prepare for war and provocation.If the enemy goes out to battle, and more than a hundred cavalry cannot defeat them, if they can lure the opponents to pursue them, they will lure them to pursue them;

When they attacked the city, they would also drive the young and old who came to the front to resist the arrows and weaken the morale of the defenders.

Facing the Zhou army forming an army formation, they will ride in teams on all sides in front of the formation, conflicting formations.

If you can successfully break through the enemy's formation, the infantry and cavalry teams engulfed in the rear will take the opportunity to rush forward;
If it fails to break through, the first team will retreat to rest, and the second team will continue to attack in turn.If it doesn't work after several rounds, use the cavalry to surround the enemy from all sides as much as possible. After two or three days, the soldiers are tired and horses are exhausted before attacking.

If there are too many enemy troops to encircle them, they will retreat immediately with the help of horses. This is a common fighting method used by the Khitan people, and Zhao Kuangyin kept it in mind.

This style of play of the Khitan made them very passive.

They are indeed large in number, about [-] troops deployed throughout Hebei, but they must be stationed in various cities, otherwise the people there may suffer.

And once they disperse and deploy their troops, they will also disperse. If they take the initiative to attack, they are likely to be defeated by the Khitans one by one.

This is almost a big problem that cannot be solved. Without Yanyun Sixteen States, all the passes in Hebei would be difficult to defend.

Slowly, Zhao Kuangyin saw a figure in the distance approaching the city quickly. The sound of horseshoes rumbled, splashing a large amount of water, and then rushed across a small stream in the distance and rushed to the city. Hundreds of Khitan cavalrymen carried short bows and sabers, Carrying a spear.

They stopped sixty or seventy steps away from the moat, and one could tell they were Khitan people by their hairstyles. The Khitan people's hairstyles were not uniform, but most of the time they shaved the top of their heads, and they had various styles.

They yelled and yelled below the city, speaking in a language they didn't understand, and then they took three heads off their horses and threw them near the moat, a blatant act of provocation.

Zhao Kuangyin was almost certain that this was the Khitan soldier they lost last night, and the people nearby were murdered by them.

The soldiers at the top of the city were filled with righteous indignation and scolded them, some people asked for orders to go out to fight and exterminate them, there are more than a hundred Khitans in this group, and they are absolutely sure of dealing with them.

Zhao Kuangyin was a little worried. He knew the habits of the Khitan people best. There were hundreds of Khitan soldiers following them, and there might be ambushes behind them. What he was most afraid of was that they would merge with other troops, otherwise they would not come to pick them for no reason.

The Khitan people are very cunning, if they ran away early, how dare they come here to provoke?

So he resolutely refused to let everyone go to battle, even though the group of Khitan people provoked them, all the soldiers were outraged.

Until the afternoon, the Khitan people who had been yelling and cursing for a whole day at the bottom of the city finally had nothing to do, and began to rein in their horses and retreat.

A mile behind, in the dead woods on both sides of the hills, a large number of moving figures began to appear. From a distance, there were signs of human figures moving in the woods on both sides of the hills. It was estimated that there were at least a thousand people, obviously Khitan people. Ambushes.

Only then did the crowd wake up, sweating from fright, and praised Zhao Kuangyin for his foresight. If he had chased him before, he would have been fooled by the Khitan people.

Zhao Kuangyin chuckled, accepted everyone's praise, and explained his doubts to everyone. The Khitans have always used small cavalry to lure the enemy in battle, and he often used it to send large troops behind.

The Khitan people they followed to Cangzhou last night were only 300 to [-] people, and it is only right that [-] or [-] people dare not come here to provoke, but they dare to blatantly shout and curse in front of the city.

It is very likely that when they fled north last night, they met a large army of other Khitans who joined together. After they became stronger, they wanted to kill the carbine before leaving and scam a wave.

Everyone was convinced by his analysis, and then Cangzhou sent scouts to follow the Khitan army.

It was found that there were more than 2000 of them, and the ambush plan failed. They might be afraid that Cangzhou would mobilize reinforcements from nearby cities to encircle and attack them, so they went north without stopping and fled out of the country.

Everyone was more convinced by Zhao Kuangyin. He smiled and dealt with it, but he was a little absent-minded.

When he was still in Beizhou, he got the news that Shi Congyun had pacified Nanping and Wuping in two months. Because of Zhang Yongde's meritorious service in fighting against the Khitan in the north, the officials added Zhang Yongde but removed him from the post of inspector in front of the palace. Shi Congyun was in charge of inspecting the capital in front of the hall.

When the decree arrived in Hebei, Zhang Yongde was still quite happy. It is true that the school inspector Taiwei Jiatong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi was added to the rank, but Zhao Kuangyin knew very well that this was Mingsheng and secretly descending.
But he didn't say much, but felt a little melancholy in his heart. He might have gone the wrong way.

Zhao Kuangyin went out to work hard since he was a child. He is a very ambitious person. He has made a lot of efforts to get to where he is today. At the beginning of Gaoping, and later in Huainan, he came from the edge of life and death several times. dead.

But he also understands that hard work and ability are one aspect, and following the right person is also very important.

He chose to go north, and chose Zhang Yongde
Slowly, I remembered what my third brother said to him that day, and I felt a little different in my heart. Shi Congyun had invited him on his own initiative.
But now it's useless to think about that.

Looking at the lone geese in the distance, the Liao Kingdom's offensive this year should be over. The losses in the states and counties are actually not small, and the Khitan people have also suffered a lot. Especially near Beizhou, a large-scale battle broke out between the two sides with a total strength of more than 8000 people fight.

Zhou's army was backed by Beizhou, so the Khitans did not take advantage of it, and the two sides fought each other for more than seven days.

The Khitans still used the old method, trying to exhaust the Zhou army through continuous harassment and uninterrupted attacks, and then launched a general offensive.

However, under the command of Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin, Zhou Jun used military chariots as a battalion, defended the perimeter, and the people in the middle took turns to rest. They used bows and crossbows to prevent the Khitan from approaching, so that they could not take advantage of it.

If they fight head-on, the Khitan people are actually very afraid of the army of the Central Plains, because their armor and weapons are not as good as those of the Central Plains, and they will suffer losses when confronted head-on.

In the end, the two sides confronted each other for seven days, and each suffered injuries. After more than a hundred people were killed on both sides, the Khitans took the initiative to retreat to the north, not daring to stay any longer.

This is the largest and most severe confrontation between the two armies this year, and it will be a huge test for both sides. If the generals of the Zhou army could not hold on at that time, their attention was not concentrated, and their will was not strong enough, let the Khitan people find an opportunity within seven days. The situation in Hebei may have changed completely.

The defeat of more than 3000 people is not a trivial matter, and it is enough to change the situation in Hebei.

It was also difficult for the Khitan people, they also took turns to harass and attack, and fought non-stop for seven days. If they could not defeat the Zhou army, they would not dare to stay near Beizhou for a long time.

Young people who are over fifteen years old in Khitan will join the army. The fragile ecological environment and harsh climate on the grassland are destined to be unable to support more people. For some poor people, they must either plunder or starve to death in the winter of the grassland. There are no more options.

In the end, after seven days of fierce fighting, they were still unable to capture the Zhou army's defense line. Such a failure was doomed to many people to accept a tragic fate.

Afterwards, after finding out the location of their main force, reinforcements from surrounding states and counties kept coming. The Khitan people were very experienced, and if they didn't leave, they would be doomed.

At this time, the Zhou army had the advantage in strength and equipment, but at the beginning they had to disperse the defense of various cities, and they were in the fog of war. They didn't know where the main force of the Khitan people going south was, and where they would attack on the vast land of Hebei, so they didn't know. Dare to act rashly.

Now that the Khitans are actively attacking, but they cannot win in time, the position of the main force is exposed, and the defenders in the surrounding towns can watch the wind and gather in the direction of the main force of the Khitans.

And once the Zhou army is assembled and forms a large corps, the Khitan people will be in trouble. They have rich experience in fighting the Central Plains Dynasty, and they will withdraw immediately if they fail to succeed in one blow.

Therefore, it began to stipulate the assembly area and time, and divided the troops to withdraw to the north to prevent being blocked by the Zhou army.

This trick has always worked. The Khitans dared to divide their troops because of their fast horses and more horses. The Zhou army did not dare to divide their troops. The Zhou army had cavalry, but the main force was still infantry. If a division of troops chased them, it would be easy for the Khitans to use their mobile advantages to concentrate their forces. Surround and destroy.

In the end, they could only watch them retreat northward to northern Hebei. Zhao Kuangyin followed one of the Khitan soldiers to Cangzhou at that time.

After September, the fighting in Hebei gradually began to calm down, and the Khitan completely withdrew from Hebei. According to statistics from various places, more than 300 households were robbed or killed.

This loss is much greater than in previous years, because this year the Khitans dispatched more troops and made greater moves, and behind such actions there was a vague sense of uneasiness.

Fortunately, the Khitans did not please the Beizhou confrontation in the end, otherwise the loss would be even greater.

According to the information provided by the informant in the north, this southward attack was presided over by Xiao Siwen, who stayed in Nanjing in Liao Kingdom, and he seemed to have other actions.

Zhao Kuangyin and Zhang Yongde immediately reported this information to the court.

Shi Congyun's comfortable life in the capital unknowingly reached mid-September, and the discussion of the Dianqian Division on how to make the Northern Expedition continued.

From the initial logistical support, it has slowly reached the route of advancing troops.

The maps of Hebei are different from those in the Southern Tang Dynasty, Nanping, and Wuping. People still need to spy on them. Hebei has been fighting for decades, and the maps there cannot be called bad streets. At least there are several copies in the Privy Council.

Moreover, many generals have been to Hebei and know some or most of Hebei.

The war in Hebei is very different from that in Guanzhong and the South. There is almost no danger to defend. Compared with Jianmen Pass and Tongguan, the so-called passes are not comparable at all.

There are no dangerous checkpoints, no big rivers to block, this is the overall situation of the battle in Hebei, where mobility becomes an important factor in the decisive victory.

The main points that affect the speed of the army's advance return to logistics.

Finally, after everyone discussed, Shi Congyun made a decision, thinking that if he wanted to go north, it would be best to travel by land and water, starting from Cangzhou, and heading north along the river.

Han Tong, who built the river wall in Hebei, put forward his own opinion. He should go north from Cangzhou, pass the Qianning Army to the north, turn the army west near Duliukou, and go upstream to reach Yijin Pass directly by water.

Today, Yijin Pass is an important pass on the border between Dazhou and Liao. If you go north from Yijin Pass, you can take advantage of the waterway to ease the logistical pressure and let the fleet go directly to the front line.

Shi Congyun agreed with Han Tong's opinion very much. After returning home, he dictated it, and ordered Zhao Shijian to compose words and sentences, and wrote it as a memorial and handed it over to the officials.

In late August, when Zhao Kuangyin and Zhang Yongde from Hebei sent a memorial, Shi Congyun and Wei Renpu took a general look at it.

The memorial records in detail the tactics and habits of the Khitan people, as well as the situation in Hebei at this time, the process and success or failure of the battle between the Zhou army and the Khitan people. .

The name Xiao Siwen, who stayed behind in Nanjing in the Liao Kingdom in the Memorial, made him feel a little familiar, and he couldn't remember it all at once.
(End of this chapter)