Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 222 The Army Goes North + Battle of Yangcheng ([-] words)

"When are you going to come back from the north this time?" Zhou Xian was dressed in a thin tulle dress, dripping with fragrance, lying softly on the side of the bed, strands of black hair stuck to his cheeks and snow-white back, his graceful figure seemed made in heaven, and he should be protruding Convex, should be concave, Xiao Shi wished he could yell "Help me up, I'm alright!"

"It's easy to go to Hebei Road, and it won't take long this time." Shi Congyun comforted, and embraced her from behind as he spoke.

Zhou Xian is very obedient, if Zhao Shijian thinks he is hot, the weather has indeed begun to gradually warm up.

"Then you have to worry, I heard that the Khitan people are very powerful."

Shi Congyun hugged her tighter: "Don't worry, it's as if your husband and I are not very good."

Zhou Xian really thought about it for a moment, then nodded: "My husband is the most powerful man I have ever seen."

She may not have expected that this sentence is like beating chicken blood to a man, Shi Congyun almost couldn't help Xiongqi to do her, but after thinking for a long time, he held back and just hugged her. "It's good that you know, there is nothing in the world that your husband can't handle, so don't worry."

Shi Congyun comforted him. He understood that Zhou Xian had no sense of security. After all, he was alone in the north and couldn't go home.

He thought that when Nantang was taken down and Jiangnan was taken back, the situation would get better, and Zhou Xian would be able to go home casually.

At the beginning of May, when the army of the Northern Expedition was ready to fight, Shi Congyun began to select generals, and this time almost all of them were able to go.

Father Shi Yanchao, Gao Huaide, Shao Ji, Dong Zunhui, and Murong Yanzhao led the Long Jie Army and the Iron Cavalry Army with 4 elite cavalry. Wang Shenqi, Xiang Xun, Wang Zhong, Wang Quanbin, Shen Zhiyi, Luo Yanhuan, etc. There are [-] elites such as the Crane Control Army and Shenhuo.

Si Chao and Wang Huan led the Yulang Army with [-] sailors, and a total of [-] troops marched northward.

In the war in Hebei, the role of the navy has been greatly reduced. The main role of the navy has changed from the main combat force to logistics support, so the navy does not need to bring too much.

This arrangement of troops was Shi Congyun's deliberate decision, and it was also approved by officials and several prime ministers.

It seems that there are not as many soldiers and horses in Huainan, and even less than when they fought in Jingchu, but the troops are actually more elite, and Huainan is different from Hebei. There is no natural barrier like the Huaihe River.

This means that there is no need to spend a lot of troops, manpower and material resources to open up the way for the army to advance.

With so many troops in Huainan, many of them were spent in two places. One was to defend the pontoon bridge on the Huai River to ensure that the army retreated and the grain roads continued, and the other was to besiege Shouzhou.

These two occupied a lot of troops in Huainan. Huainan fought for two years, and for a long time, [-] to [-] troops were used to defend the pontoon bridge and besiege Shouzhou.

Otherwise, it would be useless to have too many soldiers, it would only drag down the logistics, and the two armies would not be able to spread out when they were fighting. Although Hebei was flat, many places in this era were covered with large forests.

On the sixth day of May, everything was in order.

Shi Congyun stayed at home all day, preparing some of his personal equipment, while saying goodbye to his three wives.

Recalling his first expedition, Shi Congyun was very moved. At that time, pots, pans and pans were clattering and he had to bring a lot of them. Although Wang Zhongshaoji helped him and a small mule carried him, he was very uncomfortable. easy.

Now that he has a battalion of soldiers specially assigned to him, these are not a problem at all, and he doesn't care that someone has already packed and prepared for him.

The little girl Wang Qiu picked up from Gaoping back then has also grown up and is directing the soldiers to pack his luggage.

Back and forth, his pots and pans, tent bedding, armor and weapons, as well as the clothes and shoes prepared for him by his three wives, mosquito nets for sleeping, delicious food, etc., were filled to the brim.

There were four cars piled up, and Shi Congyun was ashamed. If he hadn't stopped him, the three wives would have filled him with the basins and buckets he used to wash his face and feet.Zhou Xian and Zhao Shijian were still afraid that he would be bored, so they planned to take out a few books from their collection and ask him to take them to read on the road.

Shi Congyun didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he was a commander-in-chief, and he brought four big carts with him alone.

But although there are many things, it is still much worse than the emperor's driving. He had seen the temporary palaces of the officials in Shanxi and Huainan, and it was not as simple as four cars. There were twenty or thirty long dragons.

Moreover, the official family belongs to the relatively frugal category among the emperors.

But four carts of things are nothing to his five hundred soldiers. He is dignified to work with the Zhongshumen, and they are checked in front of the hall. Only these things will make people feel less, and the soldiers feel that they are worthy. Not his status as a handsome man.

You should bring the ceremonial utensils brought by Taicang, such as gongs and drums, painted halberds, brocade robes, etc., in order to show your prestige and prestige and be worthy of the status of a marshal.

Shi Congyun laughed and scolded them. I went to fight, not to show off.

On May [-], the government issued an imperial edict to add him as Hebei recruiter.

The imperial edict was written on drawing paper, neatly affixed with more than a dozen various seals, the seal of the emperor, the seal of the Privy Council, Zhongshu Province, Menxia Province, Shangshu Province, and the Ministry of War.

At the same time, there are the private seals of Wei Renpu, the privy envoy, Wei Renpu, the servant of the Zhongshu, Fan Zhi, the servant of the Zhongshu, Wang Pu, the servant of the door, Li Gu, the left servant, Li Gu, the third envoy, and Tao Gu, the servant of the Ministry of War.

And Da Nei deployed Li Guyin to sign with the officials of various departments who handled the edict at that time.

So in fact it is very difficult to correct the imperial edict.

Because the emperor's edict does not work immediately after it is issued, it still needs to go through many departments, there are many seals on it, and it also needs to be signed by the handling officials of each department, it is very difficult to imitate or get through all the joints.

When Shi Congyun got this edict, he could officially transfer troops.

On the seventh day of the fifth lunar month, Shi Congyun built a platform for generals in the camp outside Bianhe, and began to appoint generals, and appointed the responsibilities of the generals one by one, and arranged the marching route.

In fact, it is easier to march northward. The road is flat, easy to walk and not easy to get lost.

The march to the north this time does not need to be divided into large groups like Hunan and Hubei. The north is very flat and the road is wide enough to let the troops advance one by one.

At first, Shi Congyun wanted to use his father as the vanguard, but soon thinking of the battle at Xinkou, he felt a little scared, afraid that his father would kill the Khitan people again if he saw them again.

So he ordered Shao Ji to lead the scout battalion and a thousand cavalry cavalry as the forward, and gave him an explanation that if he encountered an enemy, he should report to the Chinese army as soon as possible.

Shao Ji nodded in agreement and reassured him.

Afterwards, Long Jie separated from the rest of the iron cavalry, under the control of Shi Yanchao, Gao Huaide, Dong Zunhui, Murong Yanzhao, etc., and the father led the bulk.

After that, the Crane Control Army was divided into four divisions, each with 1 people and four armies, mixed with infantry and cavalry, with a small proportion of cavalry, led by Wang Shenqi, Xiang Xun, Wang Quanbin, Luo Yanhuan and others.

Wang Zhong led Shenhuo to follow the Chinese army.

During the march, the commander-in-chief was the center and marched northward. Except for the forward Shao Ji, the rest of the generals had to ride to the central army tent every day to report to Shi Congyun the position of the troops and the marching situation. Of course, if there was a war, they would send messengers.

These are the arrangements during the march, and how to fight after arriving in the north is another arrangement.

After the point will be over, the generals will start to call and gather the troops under their command according to the arrangement, and prepare to go.

On May [-], the army set off and began to head north to the Yellow River.

On the [-]th, Shi Congyun's central army left Daliang City and arrived at the bank of the Yellow River, and then stayed by the river to organize the army to cross the river in an orderly manner.

There are many crossings on the Yellow River, and the army started to cross the river from several places and converged in the north at a very fast speed.

On the morning of the [-]th, Shi Congyun ate his first breakfast of millet porridge and mutton on the north bank of the Yellow River.This time Pan Mei was still the supervisor, but this time he served as the supervisor as a military officer.

By the afternoon, all the rear troops had crossed the Yellow River.

Shi Congyun looked at the Taotao Yellow River, and said to Fu Zhaoyuan beside him: "Go to Weizhou first to inform Yue Zhang, and gather the soldiers of the Tianxiong Army to participate in the battle, and then the army will not enter the city."

Shi Congyun deliberately said that his father-in-law was not the king of Wei in order to bring the two families closer. In this way, Fu Yanqing might give him more soldiers. Fu Zhaoyuan gladly accepted the order, and then he brought a dozen or so entourages to rush to Weizhou first.

The route of the march this time is Chanzhou, Weizhou, Beizhou, and Cangzhou. To resist Cangzhou will reach the front line, and he will pass through Weizhou on the way, but he is not going to sit at Fu's house.

Subsequently, the army began to march north as planned.

On the way, the personal barracks was responsible for defending the commander-in-chief's flag, and then came the Shenhuo Capital. Although the combat effectiveness of the Shenhuo Capital was not strong, it was Shi Congyun's favorite.

On May [-]th, Shi Congyun arrived at the post station outside Weizhou City, which was still more than ten miles away from Weizhou City. Unexpectedly, Wei Wang Fu Yanqing personally brought people to wait in the post station.

The army on the side of the road continued to move forward, while Shi Congyun stopped and went to the post station to meet King Wei.

The meeting this time was very simple, there was no banquet and no grand welcome, only in the station that could be regarded as clean, even the tables and chairs were old wooden tables and chairs, the surface was also bumpy, and it lost its luster in the wear and tear of time, just like Wei on the opposite side king.

The last time the two met in Gaoping was six years ago during the Battle of Gaoping, Shi Congyun was just a nobody at that time, presumably Fu Yanqing didn't even remember who he was.

But just six years later, everything changed drastically.

Shi Congyun became the inspector in front of the palace and the commander of the Northern Expedition Army. Although Fu Yanqing's Wei Wang name was still greater than Shi Congyun's in name, but in actual power, Shi Congyun had more power.

This is like the TV series saying that the county magistrate is a seventh-rank sesame official, but the reality is that although the county magistrate is a seventh-rank official, he has great power and is more sought-after than many fourth- and fifth-rank officials. Ordinary officials have no chance to serve.

"The old man has been waiting for the commander here for a long time." Fu Yanqing bowed his hands respectfully when he saw him.

Shi Congyun reacted quickly, and quickly helped the old man, not to mention his age, it was still his father-in-law: "My father-in-law has seen someone else, so we are all a family, so there is no need to see someone else like this."

The so-called talking about people when seeing people, and talking nonsense when seeing ghosts, as soon as Shi Congyun opened his mouth, he was his father-in-law and his family, and he immediately drew closer. Send him more troops.

Seeing what he said, Fu Yanqing was also very happy. Although he kept saying "in the army and talking about the army", he had already accepted such an identity inside and outside the words.

Afterwards the two exchanged pleasantries, Fu Yanqing cupped his hands and said: "Our Fu family is loyal to the country's border guards. When the Khitans went south, I fought against them when I was young. We are at odds with the Khitan dogs and thieves, and we also have a deep blood feud.

This time the official northern expedition, the old man has already prepared elite soldiers and let them go north with the army to serve the imperial court. Unfortunately, the old man is nearly sixty years old, weak and weak, otherwise he would also like to go north with the commander to hunt down the thieves! "

Shi Congyun immediately said in awe: "Yue Zhang has devoted himself to the country and the people, there is no need to force yourself, leave these trivial matters to us descendants to deal with.

There are still many things in the world, but one generation cares about one generation's heart, and one generation does the things of one generation. We, the children and grandchildren, cannot be complacent about the achievements of our ancestors and stagnate.

Father-in-law can rest assured that we will leave these important matters to our younger generations. I think Zhaoyuan is also very capable, and I will support and support me a lot in the future. "

His words were half-truths.

Fu Yanqing said, "Commander Gao Yi, this time I summoned 1000 elite soldiers from Weibo, all of whom are experts in Tianxiong's army. Let Zhang Zhenghai and Guo Tingwei lead the troops and go north with the commander to hunt for bandits."

Shi Congyun nodded, feeling a little disappointed. The soldiers Fu Yanqing gave were not as many as he expected, but it can be said that he was full of sincerity to let Guo Tingwei and Zhang Zhenghai lead the army.

Shi Congyun readily accepted: "Thank you, Yue Zhang, and I will come to thank you on the day of triumph."

"For matters of duty, the old man is also an official of the imperial court, so he should share the worries of the society." Fu Yanqing continued.

Then the two talked for a while, Shi Congyun separated from Fu Yanqing because the army had to go north and could not delay.

Looking at the faraway King Fu on his horseback, Shi Congyun was filled with emotion. Although it is said that the old man has great ambitions and the martyrs are full of ambitions in their old age, most of the time when people get old, their ambitions will gradually fade.

This is probably the case for King Wei. He looks quite healthy, but he is no longer ready to go to the north to fight again.

Afterwards, Guo Tingzhi and Zhang Zhenghai indeed brought a thousand well-armoured elite cavalrymen from the Tianxiong Army to join him.

The two were very excited to see him again, but Shi Congyun kept them by his side in the army.

"Where is Fu Zhaoyuan?" Shi Congyun asked.

"King Wei has something to explain to him, so let's go first, so as not to disturb their father and son, which is inappropriate." Guo Tingwei agreed.

Shi Congyun nodded. In fact, Fu Yanqing is indeed an extraordinary person. He also talked about him with Liumei, Fu Zhaoyuan and even some military figures.

Especially Gao Huaide admires King Fu very much, because Fu Yanqing once rescued Gao Huaide's father, the Jiedushi of the Tianping Army, Qi Wang Gao Xingzhou.

Moreover, Fu Yanqing was famous for fighting Khitan. If you want to ask who the Liao Kingdom fears most in today's world, it is definitely Fu Yanqing.

In the third year of Tiancheng, Fu Yanqing participated in the conquest of the capital of Yiwu Jiedu envoy Wang Yanqiu, who accompanied Guide Jiedu envoy Wang Yanqiu to defeat Khitan in Jiashan (now west of Quyang, Hebei).The following year, Dingzhou (now Dingxian County, Hebei Province) was recovered.

In the ninth year of Tianfu, during the Battle of Tieqiu, Fu Yanqing led hundreds of cavalry into battle, rescued the northern camp surrounded by tens of thousands of Khitan cavalry and deployed Gao Xingzhou.

In the same year, Li Shouzhen followed Yicheng Jiedu envoy Yang Guangyuan to rebel against Lu Jiedu envoy Yang Guangyuan.

In the second year of Kaiyun, in the battle of Baituanwei Village in Yangcheng (southwest of Baoding, Hebei today), General Du Zhongwei feared the battle, and Fu Yanqing and others led the fight to the death. Guang fled north alone.

In the first year of Xiande, after the Northern Han Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty invaded the north of the Zhou Dynasty, Fu Yanqing was ordered to march from Guzhen Road in Cizhou (now Cixian County, Hebei Province), putting pressure on the rear of the Han-Liao coalition forces.When the Zhou army surrounded Taiyuan, the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty, Fu Yanqing went to Xinzhou to prevent the Liao Dynasty from going south to rescue. Shi Congyun also saw the legendary King Fu for the first time at that time.

Fu Yanqing and Khitan fought not once or twice, and the results were very beautiful. People say that the Battle of Yangcheng can be regarded as the Battle of Feishui in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. In a sense, this can indeed be said.

The nearly [-] Khitan army marched south, an unprecedented scale, because Fu Yanqing and others fought hard and returned in defeat.

Just looking at these battles, in fact, Fu Yanqing won very narrowly most of the time. He was far behind the Khitans in terms of military strength and strength, so he could only rely on his desperate bravery and wisdom to find a way to win.

This style of play looks exciting, and it can be called a legend when it wins in the end, but in fact, it is a lot of psychological pressure. It is a nightmare for generals, and they may never want to experience it again.

This is probably one of the reasons why Fu Yanqing did not want to go north.

Shi Congyun didn't want to fight that kind of battle, he would rather use the big to bully the small, and use the strong to take the weak, unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Let Shenhuo go first, let's wait for a while to fulfill Zhaoyuan." Shi Congyun ordered, and the messenger went to deliver the order.

Shi Congyun and the others waited to hide from the sun under a big willow tree by the post station outside Weizhou city.

After waiting for a while, Zhang Zhenghai talked to Shi Congyun about his experience in Weizhou these days. It can be seen that he was treated very well after he arrived in Weizhou. people.

Listening to his bragging, Shi Congyun suddenly thought of a question, and immediately said to the crowd behind him: "You wait here, I have something to see the king of Wei."

After speaking, he beat his horse and rushed towards Weizhou City.

On the side of the Weizhou City Avenue, the gray-haired and bearded King Fu said to his young son: "Be careful when you go north this time. Khitan dog thieves are always cunning, you have to remember what your father told you.

If a Khitan flees on horseback, don't chase him.

If you encounter a small group of Khitans who can fight, you must fight quickly, and you can't delay. Their reinforcements are not as fast as ours.

If you can't win, throw away all your armor when you want to run, the faster the better, don't stop so you won't be caught up.

You have to keep these things in mind.

If something happens at that time, and someone accuses you of fear of war, you will refuse to admit it, saying that you will go back to the court and be punished by the officials, then the old man will definitely find a way to get you out. "

"Father, this..." the young Fu Zhaoyuan hesitated.

"Don't talk, just listen to me." Fu Yanqing immediately interrupted his son's words, and then said:
"Shi Congyun is indeed a powerful person, and he is also your brother-in-law. If you can make achievements by following him, you should follow him well, but you must also judge the situation and be good at protecting yourself.

The old man has seen too many powerful people in this life, but not many people can die well.

Shi Congyun is covering the sky with only one hand now, and I don't know what will happen in the future. I am not at ease in my heart, and I regret marrying the sixth child to him. "

Fu Wang said and sighed: "But it's your eldest sister who said it. She has a progressive heart and is a queen. How can I not fulfill it? I'm just afraid that this kind of thing will bring disaster to our Fu family.

The old man has seen too many dead people. He has seen all kinds of ups and downs and major events in the world. Our Fu family has enough wealth and honor. It is a good thing that only us people can be safe in your generation.

The people who died in Yangcheng back then piled up and filled up the moat. The young people in Weizhou of that generation were almost extinct. They counted as the one hundred thousand army that blocked the Khitan people. People of your generation
The old man does not expect such a life to fall on your head."

When it came to the end, the voice of the old King Wei was low, and his eyes were slightly wet, but he quickly covered it up.

"This time they say I'm cowardly, or think I'm incompetent, I don't dare to go north."

"Father" Fu Zhaoyuan had a sore nose and almost shed tears.

Fu Yanqing patted his son on the shoulder: "Go well, come back well."

Fu Zhaoyuan nodded, and the father and son just looked at each other without doing anything else, probably because they are not good at expressing themselves.

At this moment, the sound of horseshoes came from the other side of the avenue. Fu Yanqing put away his emotions and looked from a distance. He saw a person and a horse coming towards them. He subconsciously put his hand on the handle of the knife. It was Shi Congyun who let go.

"Marshal." Fu Yanqing repeatedly cupped his hands.

When the other party approached, he dismounted and returned the gift.

This son-in-law always gave people a sense of being polite, yet cunning at a young age. Fu Yanqing believed in his intuition that this son-in-law was amazing, and he didn't dare to neglect him.

Moreover, Shi Congyun is now an extremely human minister. Since ancient times, conflicts between powerful ministers and monarchs have been easy to occur. Since the Five Dynasties, it has been more straightforward and generally replaced directly.

This made Fu Yanqing feel that his son-in-law would conflict with the officials sooner or later. He just wanted to live in peace, so he deliberately kept a distance from his familiar son-in-law, and said:
"The commander-in-chief has gone and returned, what's the matter?"

The other party smiled and said, "I suddenly remembered something.

At the beginning, my father-in-law defeated the Khitan army of [-] in the battle of Yangcheng, which shocked the world. As soon as I thought about it, I asked my father-in-law to teach me how to defeat the Khitan people. It would also be beneficial to go north to fight. "

It turned out to be this.
Fu Yanqing immediately let go of his guard, and when he talked about this incident, his eyes lit up, and his heart was full of pride, he laughed and said: "The situation was dangerous at that time, but it was actually simple.

In the Battle of Yangcheng in the second year of Kaiyun (945, nine years before the Battle of Gaoping), the old man also learned from the masters of ancient military art, but made some changes. "

"Famous military master? May I ask who is the father-in-law?" Shi Congyun asked curiously.

"I learned from the chariot formation used by General Wei Qing of the Han Dynasty to deal with the Huns, and made some changes based on my own experience in fighting.

At that time, the old man took the carts used by farmers for farming near Yangcheng, connected the shafts of these carts with strong ropes, and then put the cattle on the carts and placed them on the periphery.

No matter how powerful the soldiers are, they will feel afraid when facing the bandit cavalry. If the outer circle of the chariot formation is defended by soldiers, it is easy to be afraid of fighting.

Moreover, the Khitans are cunning, they will often use horsepower to walk around the formation but not attack. The soldiers are afraid of horses, and they have to keep an eye on their movements when holding up their shields. There is an opportunity to rush into the car formation.

But if you put the cattle on the periphery of the car formation, there is no such concern. The cattle are not afraid of the horses at all, and they will not get tired.

This can prevent the bandit cavalry from breaking through our battle formation, and the bandit soldiers dare not rush to the outer herd of cattle;

When the thieves and cavalry approached, they shot with bows and crossbows. With the cover of cattle and carts, the soldiers could concentrate on shooting the opponent's cavalry or horses.

After the opponent's cavalry is injured by the impact, the cavalry of one's own side who is waiting for work is dispatched for the final blow, killing the opponent's cavalry.

That's how we won the Yangcheng War back then. "

……

(Readers, I beg you to count the votes, so that the author can open his eyes)
(End of this chapter)