Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 228 The North-South Vibration
In the last few days of May, tens of thousands of Zhou troops gathered inside and outside Waqiaoguan City, and the successive victories boosted the morale of the soldiers of the armies.

At this great moment, some headaches also occurred. The navy was trapped in the south of Yijin Pass.

As the army moved northward, the waterway became narrower and narrower. At the end of May, a Qiyun battleship led by Si Chao was unable to move forward because of the narrowing of the riverway, and it would be stuck if it went any further.

However, the narrow river channel did not allow the big ships to turn around, so more than 100 naval warships were trapped in the river channel more than ten miles south of Yijin Pass, unable to move forward.

There is a lot of luggage on board, a lot of food and grass, and a thousand forward sailors. Originally, they wanted to go all the way north to the vicinity of Youzhou.

Now it seems that this plan is impossible, so Shi Congyun decisively ordered the navy to abandon the ship and go ashore, and all the supplies, food and grass on the ship were moved to the nearest city of Yijinguan.

At the same time, let Luqiu Zhongqing go south quickly, summon Hebei civilian husbands, and re-open the logistics supply line from the direction of Waqiaoguan.

This road has been opened by the army, and all the states and counties along the way have been taken by the Zhou army, so there is no worries.

He also immediately wrote a letter to the officials to plead guilty, and also explained the situation here. If he does not make his own claims, then the tens of thousands of troops ahead may have difficulty in supplying supplies.

Fortunately, the Liao army in Waqiao Pass also stockpiled a lot of food and grass, and the army also had a lot of land supplies, which could last for more than ten days in preparation for subsequent operations. respond.

Moreover, Shi Congyun was more or less prepared for this, because the north is not the south, and the river here would not be able to turn around for Zhou Jun's large boats. It is not the river in the south that is several miles wide at every turn.

The logistics problem has been solved, the first phase of the full-scale attack, and the lightning attack has also ended, and the next battle needs to be reorganized and deployed.

Shi Congyun often said that the best defense is offense. This sentence is useful at the tactical level, but not at the strategic level.

In history, because there is no long-term consideration, we only know how to fight a wave, and the results seem to be winning steadily. When the opponent reacts, there are too many examples of directly destroying the group by counterattacking when one's own soldiers are exhausted and less food.

When the enemy recovered from the panic and began to counterattack, they were exhausted from fighting one after another, and the army, which had difficulty in food supplies, met the enemy's counterattack army, which was waiting in full swing.

When facing a large enemy country that cannot be completely wiped out in a short period of time, launching an attack rashly without preparing for defense will definitely have disastrous consequences.

Fortunately, the generals are basically calm.

Shi Congyun thought that in history, after the officials won the three passes, they wanted to continue to advance northward, and took Youzhou in one go, and all the generals opposed it.

The reason for the generals is that they fought smoothly, but the main force of the Liao Kingdom did not come at all. If they rushed north and bumped into the main force of the Liao Kingdom, and the strong city of Youzhou in front of them could not be taken in a short time, the army would be very passive and dangerous.

It seems that the thoughts of the generals may be similar to those in history.

Shi Congyun sighed with emotion, after all, these generals are experienced in many battles, have gone through the troubled times of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and have rich military experience, which is different from the generals in the late Northern Song Dynasty.

Although they won successive victories, they fought all the way with local soldiers from the Southern Academy of the Liao Kingdom. To put it bluntly, the soldiers recruited from all over the country were all ethnic groups except the Khitan, mainly Han people, and Bohai people. Shatuo people, Xi people and so on.

The only more formal one is the Qianning Army.

These are not the core combat power of the Liao Kingdom. Over the years, the main force of the Liao Kingdom’s southern and northern wars to expand its territory is the Khitan elite army in the North Academy. On the northern grassland, they were the ones who entered Daliang 13 years ago.

So far, the Zhou army has progressed very smoothly, but there has been no confrontation with the main force of the Liao state, and the pressure is still there.

That night, Shi Congyun stationed at Waqiaoguan, and then summoned all the generals to a banquet in the hall of the government office in the city to discuss matters.

Shi Congyun asked people to go to the village next to Waqiaoguan to buy a sheep from his fellow villagers, and slaughtered the sheep to entertain the generals. There were also a batch of live sheep in the army's rations and supplies, but as a commander, he must distinguish between public and private.

Daddy Shi Yanchao, Xiang Xun, Murong Yanzhao, Luo Yanhuan, Shen Zhiyi, Shao Ji, Wang Zhong, Zhang Zhengtao, Fu Zhaoyuan, Pan Mei, Zhao Kuangyin, Wang Quanbin and others were all present.Wang Shenqi, Dong Zunhui, Si Chao and Wang Huan also came to the banquet from the north on horseback.

This is not just about the banquet, it is mainly about how to fight next.

Everyone was a soldier in the army, and after sitting down, they all barked their teeth and claws and began to eat and drink. When the meal was almost finished, Shi Congyun, who was sitting in the seat, asked, "What's your opinion on how to fight next?"

Speaking of this, everyone put down the bowls and chopsticks in their hands, wiped their mouths full of grease, and got serious.

In Shi Congyun, it is not the first time that everyone has fought with him. Due to his long-term habit, everyone is not afraid of the scene, and they speak enthusiastically. That's enough, going further north is not good for the army.

We haven't seen the main force of the Liao Kingdom until now. If we go north to Youzhou without any support, Youzhou's strong city will be unable to attack for a long time, the food road will be long, and morale will be depressed. If it happens that the Liao army goes south to Youzhou to fight us , will put us in the unfavorable situation of being attacked on both sides, and it is very likely to lead to a big defeat.

The final general felt that we should guard Yijin Pass, Waqiao Pass, and Yukou Pass, and be prepared to deal with the counterattack of the Liao army, so that we can completely occupy and control the land south of the three passes. On the [-]st, the troops were sent to Youzhou again, only [-] miles ([-] kilometers) away from the front line, and they were supplied directly from the Guannan. "

After Xiang Xun finished speaking, many people expressed their agreement, and then Wang Shenqi also spoke: "Commander, you must either win Youzhou, or don't fight at all, and don't defend if you don't take the land north of the Three Passes of Youzhou.

The last general also felt that it was too dangerous to attack Youzhou. It would be best if the Liao army went south to fight them, but now I don't know where the main force of the Liao army is and what plans they have, but it is very dangerous. "

After Wang Shenqi finished speaking, Shi Congyun nodded. Shi Congyun nodded. In fact, this is what he is most afraid of. In war, he is not afraid of having many enemies, or how powerful the enemy is, but he is afraid of not knowing the enemy's movements at all.

Shi Congyun saw that his father looked a little anxious. It seemed that he was the only one among the crowd who was looking forward to continuing to fight north, but his father didn't say anything.

Zhao Kuangyin stood up, "Commander, to fight Youzhou, the whole army needs to go north. Once the tens of thousands of troops go north, it will not be so easy to retreat. The general thinks that the Khitan army has come and can fight against it, but it cannot fight under the city of Youzhou. Otherwise it will be very bad for us.”

Shi Congyun nodded, Zhao Kuangyin got to the point.

Zhou Jun is not afraid of the Liao army, but he can't fight like this.

He thought of Du Yuming's deployment in the early stage of the Huaihai Campaign was to stick to the fortified city in front with part of the troops and arrange the mobile corps in the rear.

It is intended that when the People's Liberation Army goes south to attack a certain strong city and fails, it will dispatch the rear mobile corps to carry out a decisive battle.

This kind of deployment is very clever, but Du Yuming's ideas have not been implemented. The national army quickly set up a legendary funny long snake formation, forming a situation where they are beaten everywhere. There are similarities but the same results.

Did the Song Dynasty have 80 forbidden troops? Of course not. Many generals and officials were paid for nothing, but the frontier troops of the Song Dynasty may have been close to 80 at their peak.

Shi Congyun only thought that such a deployment was funny, just like the national army's long snake formation, he handed over the initiative of the war to his opponent.

He is not learned enough, not knowledgeable enough, but he is very savvy. After so many years of fighting, combined with Li Desheng's art of war that he has seen before, he already has his own understanding of war.

The competition for the initiative is very important!
Shi Congyun raised his hand to stop everyone from arguing, got up and was about to speak, and the big tent fell silent instantly. In fact, he already had a plan in his mind for how to fight this battle.

"You're right, and I understand that too.

Our soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty were not afraid of the Khitans, they couldn't fight them, they couldn't go to Youzhou to fight them. It's a big taboo to garrison troops under the fortified city and stretch the supply line.

Doing so would also hand over the initiative to the Khitans.

We are in the south of Youzhou, and the Khitan people have many places to defend. If they want to rescue them, they must divide their troops. They don't know where the main force of our army is, so they dare not act rashly.

And once we got to the city of Youzhou, we had to gather in one place, so that the Khitan people had no worries at all, and just concentrated their forces to attack us in one place, which was tantamount to being beaten passively.If the strong city of Youzhou in front cannot be taken quickly at that time, then there will be defenders in the front and reinforcements in the back will make the situation even worse.

This is the difficulty of this battle!

So what I am most afraid of is that the Liao army will stand still. It would be best if they went south for a decisive battle. "

This is the difficulty of fighting Youzhou at the moment. The battlefield is in the fog of war. They don't know where the main force of the Liao army is, where the main force of the Liao army is, and what plans they have.

Conversely, the people of the Liao Kingdom didn't know much about it, so they were also guilty before discovering the main force of their army.

But the problem is that a strong city like Youzhou is like Taiyuan and Shouzhou.

Once they do that and their main force is exposed, then the Liao army will have no worries. They will not be afraid of being ambushed by them, and they will not be afraid of accidentally bumping into their main force and the whole army will be wiped out, etc.

When the army stationed at the city of Youzhou, the Liao Kingdom fully understood their intentions and movements, and only needed to mobilize all troops from all directions to rush to help and fight around them.

This was the situation that Shi Congyun was most afraid of.

So what he was afraid of was not that the Liao army would go south in a big way, but that the Liao army would stand still and wait for them to attack Youzhou.

This is similar to the strategy Du Yuming envisioned. Put the mobile corps in the rear and let the opponent attack the strong city, so that the troops will gather.

This is a battle for the initiative on the battlefield.

The generals did not speak, but watched him pace.

"The battle is up to me, not to the thieves!
We must not be led by the nose by the Liao State, nor can we hand over the initiative.

So we have to fight this battle, we have to fight against the Liao Kingdom, but we can't fight it under the city of Youzhou. "Shi Congyun set the tone with one sentence: "I will do three-tier deployment. "

"The main force of the Chinese army controls the Crane Army with 2 people, and 2000 people from Shenhuo are stationed at Waqiaoguan. I will lead it personally, and Wang Quanbin and Wang Zhong will follow me as my deputy.

The [-] elite cavalry of the Crane Control Army were stationed in Wen'an County in the east, led by Shi Yanchao, with Gao Huaide as his deputy.

Luo Yanhuan led 4000 troops from the two armies controlling cranes to garrison Yukou Pass.

The 5000 Yulangshui Army is still led by Si Chao and Wang Huan, guarding Duliukou.

Wang Shenqi, Dong Zunjiao, your 8000 people are still standing firm at Yijin Pass. "

Everyone listened carefully, and when it came to this, Shi Congyun looked at the three people who had not assigned tasks, Xiang Xun, Murong Yanzhao and Zhao Kuangyin.

These are the three people who he thinks are the most thoughtful, and they are very stable and mature in their use of troops.

"Zhao Kuangyin!"

"The last general is here!" Old Zhao stood up excitedly and cupped his hands. He hadn't participated in the previous wars and was eager to make meritorious service.

"You lead the Longjie Army with three thousand elite cavalry to station in Duliukou."

"promise!"

"Murong Yanzhao, Xiang Xun."

"The end is here!" Murong Yanzhao and Xiang Xun got up and cupped their hands.

"Each of you leads two thousand infantry and cavalry of the Crane Army. Murong Yanzhao goes out of Yijin Pass to attack Zhuozhou to the north, and Xiang Xun to attack Gu'an to the north. After defeating them, you can continue to go north and reach the city of Youzhou."

"No!" The two clapped their hands together.

After the deployment was finished, Shi Congyun immediately stated the combat plan.

"We can't fight in Youzhou, we will fight in the south of Youzhou.

The two armies of Murong Yanzhao and Xiangxun don't have to aim at conquering the city. Your purpose is to lure the Liao army to go south. If you encounter the main force of the Liao army, save your strength and go south through Yijin Pass.

At that time, if the army of the Liao Kingdom wants to regain the lost ground in the south, there are only two ways to go, Yijin Pass or Yukou Pass. Yijin Pass has a wide road, and they are more likely to go there, but Yukou Pass cannot be relaxed.

Once the main force of the Liao army reaches Yijin Pass, Wang Shenqi and Dong Zunhui, you must defend it with all your strength. "

"No!" The two clasped their hands together.

"When the Liao army gathered at Yijin Pass and the siege was frustrated, I personally led the army to go north from Waqiao Pass, my father went north from Wen'an County, Si Chao and Wang Huan went west from Duliukou, and went to Yijin Pass together. Attack the Liao army.

Zhao Kuangyin led his fine riders through Yukouguan to the north, and raided Guzhen to cut off the Liao army's retreat.

In the same way, if the enemy troops pass Yukou Pass, we will join forces at Yukou Pass. "

"No!" Everyone agreed in unison.

"If the battle goes well and the Liao army is defeated, we will take advantage of the victory and march northward.

If the battle is unfavorable, the whole army will retreat to the three passes to keep the land in the south of the pass. "Shi Congyun said seriously:
"Of course, there is the last situation. If the Liao army is very smart and doesn't go south at all, just waiting for us to attack Youzhou, then we don't march, it depends on who is more patient!"

This is his strategic deployment, which is similar to Du Yuming's strategy.

The deployment is a little more complicated. To put it bluntly, it is to give up a strong city on the only way to fight for the enemy.

In order to open the passage and capture the strong city with a large number of defenders, the Liao army must concentrate the scattered cavalry and troops in the direction of Yijin Pass.

In this way, the advantage of the Liao army completely disappeared, and their main force position was fully exposed.

At that time, Shi Congyun will dispatch the various legions that have been waiting in the rear, go north to meet the Liao army, and have a decisive battle with them!
If we talk about a decisive battle head-on, the Zhou army has never been afraid of the Khitans, so the initiative is in their hands, and the battle has changed from the division of troops that the Khitans are good at to the decisive battle of the large army that the Zhou army is good at!

Of course, the worst case scenario is that there are also brilliant people in Liao Kingdom who have the same idea as him.

If you want them to fight against Youzhou, and wait for the army to set up troops under the city to attack the strong city and then dispatch the mobile corps in the north of Youzhou for a decisive battle, then they will fall into an embarrassing situation where neither side dares to send out the large corps.

At that time, it will only be a competition of patience, who can afford it, and it will become a competition of national strength, which is the worst situation.

Because the current Dashou is one of the best in the world and has not yet achieved it, the population and national strength must not be exhausted by the Liao Kingdom.

Just as Shi Congyun was mobilizing and deploying large-scale troops in the north, he was planning and calculating, and forgot to sleep and eat.

News that Zhou's army captured Ningzhou, Mozhou, Yingzhou, Wen'an County, Pingshu County, Qianning Army, Duliukou, Poyukou Pass, Yijin Pass, and Waqiao Pass within more than ten days has gone south. Spread quickly to the north.

For a time, the state of Zhou in the south was boiling, and Youzhou in the north was terrified. All the official roads galloped and galloped in all directions, bringing the great news of joy and sorrow to some families. The whole world was shaken, and a bigger storm was brewing.
(A map of the Hebei situation and Shi Congyun's march are attached to the chapter comments for your convenience)

(End of this chapter)