Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 236 The Battle of Three Levels ([-])

Yelv Talie could smell blood from a long distance away, the road under his feet was muddy, surrounded by camps, the soldiers passing by whispered something, and from time to time he could hear the pain and wailing of injuries and illnesses, the army no longer had the vigor to go south .

They stationed troops under Jiancheng for several days. More than 900 people died and more than 2000 were injured. Still no progress was made, which made morale even lower.

Yelv Talie's cowhide boots were covered with yellow mud. After crossing the small river with shallow water, he saw a dead body on the side of the road. A guard of the imperial tent he knew was digging a hole beside him. The child belonged to his relatives. The descendants were arranged by the elders to be guards beside His Majesty.

Yelu Talie frowned, and walked over a few steps, "What's going on?"

"He is His Majesty's cook," the guard whispered.

Yelu Talie understood, "Is there something serious going on?"

"I heard that people who went south met Zhou Jun, and more than 900 people were killed. Few escaped. His Majesty was very angry. Unlucky cook." He glanced at the ground as he spoke.

Yelu Talie's face became even more ugly.

He immediately asked his own soldiers to lead the horse, and walked to the golden-roofed imperial tent by himself, and His Majesty's roar could still be heard outside.

"Stupid, useless than a dog, trash!"

The guard at the gate saw him and went in to report. Soon the voice inside disappeared, and it became quiet, and then the guard let him in.

When Yelu Talie entered the big tent, His Majesty was in the big tent, his face was full of anger, his bald hair was a bit messy, there was still wet blood on the carpet of the big tent, no one dared to clean it up, and there was a bloody crock on the table. The knife obviously belonged to the unlucky cook who was killed just now.

Yelu Talie saluted, "Your Majesty, those who are close to you should not be killed casually."

"It's just a lowly slave, don't worry about it."

Yelu Tali swallowed the words again, even lowly slaves can easily kill people, being too cruel and harsh to the servants around him is definitely not a good thing, if anyone harbors resentment?
No matter how brave a person is, he can't beat a knife within five steps.

But he didn't say these words in the end, because His Majesty showed him a battle report. The army going south was ambushed by Zhou Jun on the road south of Yijin Pass yesterday. Only a few of the more than 1000 people escaped back, and most of them were killed by Zhou Jun.

It is estimated that about 1000 people died in battle. This is really bad news. 1000 people died in battle is not a small number.
After a few days like this, under the city of Yijin Pass, plus the loss of going south, they have killed about 2000 people in succession.

2000 people is already a big loss. If it is not supported by tens of thousands of troops, the loss of 2000 people is enough to determine the outcome of a small or medium-sized war.

Although they gained a lot and killed many Zhou troops, Yelu Talie knew that it was completely different.

Their advantage lies in quick battles. The Khitan warriors are used to fighting fast raids. They don't bring much food and supplies, usually no more than three months. They don't have the stamina of the Zhou people. If they fight for a long time, the more they will be delayed. Bad for them.

Years of experience told Yelu Talie that their soldiers were not as patient as the southerners. If they could not suppress the southerners at the beginning, the morale of the army would worsen later on.

They have been able to maintain their advantage over the south in recent years, largely because of the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun. Being able to supply supplies at the south front in time greatly reduces their disadvantages.

This is also the reason why he thinks that Youzhou cannot be lost. If you lose Youzhou, it will be difficult for them to go deep into the Central Plains, so when he heard that Youzhou was in danger, he urged them to go south.

Yelu Talie could only calmly analyze: "Your Majesty, the Zhou army must have deployed heavy troops at Waqiaoguan, and the southerners are good at defending in battle. The old minister thinks that they may be deployed with two lines of defense.

The line of Yijin Pass and Yukou Pass is the first line, followed by the line of Waqiao Pass as the second line, defending layer by layer, consuming our troops, as the southerners have always been in war.

Every time we go south, they will organize a large-scale defense. As long as we break one, the morale of the rear will collapse. "

What Yelv Talie said was the truth. As the king of the South Courtyard, he had run the South Courtyard for many years and had the most dealings with the Han people in the south. Whenever there was a war with them, they always liked to take a defensive position and stick to the fortified city.

So he felt that this time was the same as usual. After they went south, Zhou Jun took a defensive position, preparing to block them from going south.

If he gives up now, the lost land cannot be regained. He is unwilling. The three passes: Yijin Pass, Waqiao Pass, and Yukou Pass are the gateways of Youzhou. Without these places, Zhou Jun can go north to attack Youzhou at any time. Guan, Youzhou is like a beauty who doesn't wear anything, anyone who looks at it will be tempted.

According to past experience, the risk of going down is not great. The best situation is to regain the lost land and still have the energy to continue going south to plunder land and wealth.

In general, regaining the lost ground and keeping Sanguan, the southern gateway, will make Youzhou safer.

In the worst case, they can also withdraw their troops back to Youzhou to protect the main force of the army. Southerners always like to defend the strong city and rarely take the initiative to attack, especially when facing their army.

His Majesty thought for a long time: "You mean to continue to attack Yijin Pass?"

Yelu Talie nodded: "It's only summer, it's still early, and our army has already left Youzhou and moved south, and there are still many people in the court watching."

He knows the weakness of His Majesty today. His Majesty is a mutiny, and he has done very little since he took the position. In fact, there are many people at home and abroad who oppose it openly and secretly. If he loses like this, he will go back in despair.

He didn't want to say such a thing at first, but he was afraid that His Majesty would give up on Sanguan.

His Majesty's face was very ugly, and slowly looking at him, Yelu Talie didn't even dare to look at him, "Your Majesty, what I said may be wrong, or it may be reasonable, but everything should be decided by Your Majesty."

There was silence in the big tent for a long time before Yelu Talie heard His Majesty say: "Continue to fight, order the whole army to resume the siege tomorrow morning, take down Yijin Pass and go south, and kill everyone who can see it! Looted everything!"

Yelu Talie felt the anger in the words, and he didn't dare to say more. He believed that the situation would change if he persisted for a few more days.

Zhenzhou, where the government is located in Zhending County, is located at the foot of Taihang Mountain. The county seat here is not tall, and the army can only be stationed outside the city after it arrives.

At this time, there are three generals of the Zhou Dynasty sitting in this small county town, hoarding tens of thousands of soldiers and horses.

Li Chongjin, the commander of the bodyguard Mabu's army, and Zhang Yongde, who was under the same law as Zhongshumen, and Li Jixun, the governor of Heyang.

Li Chongjin stood by the Daying River, with a wide river in front of it, across the county seat, with a letter in his hand, and two people standing behind him, Li Jixun was close to him, and Zhang Yongde was a little farther away.

Zhang Yongde and Li Chongjin had always been at odds. In Huainan, Zhang Yongde even played Li Chongjin with the intention of rebelling against him.

So the two of them talked very little, and this time they had to work together, but there was nothing to talk about on weekdays, and there was very little talk between the two of them.

Li Jixun is a veteran, so he naturally understood the situation, but he didn't get involved. He was originally the oldest and earliest member of the Zhou army.

He was already the commander of the Guards and Infantry before the battle of Huainan a few years ago. If it hadn't been for the defeat in the battle of Shouzhou, he would now be the top official of the two divisions with a high probability!

But now the senior officials of the two divisions, besides Li Chongjin, are the Shi family father and son, Shi Yanchao and Shi Congyun.

This made Li Jixun very jealous. At the beginning, he was dissatisfied with Shi Congyun's young age, but the officials let him take charge of the army alone, so that he was too eager to perform and was too impetuous, which led to the defeat of Shouzhou.

The defeat outside the city of Shouzhou was the worst defeat of the Zhou army in the two years of the Huainan War, and it also made him, who had a bright future, demoted from the commander of the infantry guards to become the Jiedu envoy of Heyang.

After arriving in Heyang, Li Jixun was depressed and angry all the time, but he didn't think it was all his fault, it was all Shi Congyun's fault. If it wasn't for him, he wouldn't be so blinded and reckless.

Later, he may have been the one who led the Huainan army. He was originally the commander of the guards and infantry.

The more he thought about it, the more angry he became. Later, he heard that after Shi Congyun defeated the Southern Tang Kingdom, he forgave Liu Renshan, the Shouzhou guard, which made him even more dissatisfied. His career prospects made him demoted from being a commanding envoy of the guards and infantry to being an envoy of the Heyang Jiedu envoy. It was a joke, but Shi Congyun easily spared him!
Later, he heard that Liu Renshan was promoted to be an official procurator and was still living in Beijing, which made him hate it even more. What thing in the world is more resentful than an enemy living a better life than himself.

And he was in the three cities of Heyang, so he rarely had the opportunity to go to Beijing, and he had no chance to impeach or deal with Liu Renshan.

Finally, in order to deal with the Khitans this year, His Majesty remembered him and revived.

After going north this time, he will find an opportunity to return to the court again, and Li Chongjin is now the head of the bodyguard department, so he must please him no matter what.

After reading it, Li Chongjin turned around and said, "It's a letter from Marshal Shi Congyun, Hebei's recruitment envoy. He asked us to take the initiative to ambush the reinforcements of the Northern Han Dynasty."

Li Jixun was very upset, "Shuai Li, we will be our own division, and we can judge the situation by ourselves, so we don't have to listen to them." He has high seniority in the army, so he doesn't have to be cautious even when talking to Li Chongjin.

Most importantly, he knew that Li Chongjin and Shi Congyun did not get along, the relationship between the two was very bad, and it was said that they almost fought, so he felt that saying such a thing should suit Li Chongjin's wishes.

Li Chongjin glanced at him, the meaning in his eyes was unclear, "Shi Congyun is Hebei's recruitment envoy, and he is in charge of the war in the north. As long as the army is sent to conquer Liao, he will dispatch it, and we are no exception."

As he spoke, he shook the envelope in his hand: "This is not a discussion, it's an order."

Li Jixun was not stupid, he immediately understood the meaning of Li Chongjin's words, and his expression was not good.

"I do have a grudge with Shi Congyun, but it is a personal grudge. Our personal grudge can be resolved by ourselves. It is a major national event at the moment, and no one can delay it." The soldiers went to the south to ambush."

"According to scout reports, the reinforcements of the Northern Han Dynasty have set out from Jinyang, passed through Mengzhou, followed the Jingxing Road to the east, and will arrive at the mountain pass in a few days.

Their purpose couldn't be more obvious, it must have been driven by their Khitan bandit father, and they were going out of Taihang Mountain to go northeast and attack Shi Congyun's main force behind the Khitan bandit army.

If that is the case, there is no need to fight this battle. The officials put us here to prevent this from happening.

If we neglect our duties and affect the overall battle, what face do we have to go back, and we will all commit suicide here. "

Li Chongjin's face was dark, he spoke mercilessly, and he fought fiercely. Because of this character, when Huainan was attacked, the Southern Tang people were frightened and frightened, and called him "the black king."

Since then, this nickname has also become popular, and many people call him the Black King, which fits his temperament very well.

Li Jixun thought to himself that Li Chongjin is really a fool, he is the head of the bodyguard department, and Shi Congyun is the head of the front of the palace, if Shi Congyun wins back this time, wouldn't he want to crush him, but he still did his best.

Just as he was thinking, the Black King spoke again.

"One is going to lead the army to the west according to the order, and ambushe the bandits in Tumen Village, Shankou (near the No. [-] Middle School in Jingxing County). Zhending County is too small to hold on, so we have to take the initiative to intercept them at the exit of Taihang Mountain. " Li Chongjin said without a doubt, with a big black face and no wave.

"Someone is going too!" Zhang Yongde stood up immediately, this time he did not oppose Li Chongjin.

Li Jixun didn't speak, he really didn't want to make a wedding dress for Shi Congyun.
"It's okay for Li Jieshuai to guard Zhenzhou." Li Chongjin asked.

Speaking of this, Li Jixun knew that he had no choice. He was not the chief general, so he cupped his hands and said, "Your order is the last general."

In the afternoon of the same day, Li Chongjin and Zhang Yongde led [-] riders, left Zhending County, crossed the river, went west to ambush the Northern Han reinforcements near Tumen Village.

And Li Jixun continued to garrison.

On the day when the army set out to the west, many people ran outside the city to watch, pointing and discussing. The people only heard that the bandits from the east side of the river were coming. Some people were panicked, but few people knew the meaning of this battle. .

The victory or defeat of this battle is related to the victory or defeat of another army of more than [-] troops hundreds of miles away from the northeast. If it loses here, the army of the Northern Han Dynasty will go north from the side, and the army of Shi Congyun in front will be unable to fight no matter what the situation is. If we continue to fight with the Liao army, we can only withdraw our troops.

Li Jixun didn't want Shi Congyun to succeed in his heart. Since the troubled times at the end of Tang Dynasty, martial arts were the most important, and the status of warriors was far beyond that of literati. Therefore, the highest military officer in the imperial court was the one who really held great power and was above ten thousand people.

Li Chongjin and Shi Congyun are juxtaposed under the official family of the current court.

But if Shi Congyun gains military merit against the Liao Kingdom again this time, then the Dianqian Division will definitely overwhelm the Guard Division, and Shi Congyun will truly be under one man and above ten thousand people.

He didn't want to see that kind of situation very much.
Two days later, there was a heavy rain in the afternoon, which cleared away the dust on the avenue by the woods outside the city. After the rain, a rainbow of seven colors rose in the sky. The fortune tellers in the city said it was an auspicious omen.

Li Jixun ignored it, and after half an hour, several riders galloped into the city with red flags on their backs, bringing news from the vicinity of Tumen Village in the southwest.

Li Chongjin and Zhang Yongde led the army to set up an ambush at the mountain pass of Tumen Village. They defeated the army of the Northern Han Dynasty who had just come out of the Taihang Mountains. They beheaded more than [-] people and captured [-]. The rest broke up and fled into the Taihang Mountains. Destroyed, powerless to go east!

On the tenth day of June, at Waqiaoguan Camp, after Murong Yanzhao defeated the main force of the Liao army going south, another piece of good news was delivered to Shi Congyun. Shi Congyun, who hadn't slept well for more than ten days, finally had a good night's sleep. After the news spread in the army, the soldiers talked a lot, and their morale soared!

Li Chongjin and Zhang Yongde stationed in Zhenzhou did not passively defend and waited for the reinforcements from the Northern Han Dynasty to attack the Zhenzhou government.

At this point, the army's worries about the future have been completely relieved, and they only need to think about how to confront the frontal Liao army.

And in the past few days, Murong Yanzhao's victory, Li Chongjin's Zhang Yongde's victory, and Wang Shenqi's persistence are gradually reversing the situation, gradually dissipating the shadow of the previous defeat in Zhuozhou, and the morale of the Zhou army is getting higher and higher. Many generals came to ask him to fight, and they wanted to go north to rescue Yijin Pass and fight the Liao army.

From Yijin Pass in the north, news would come every half an hour, and a large number of messengers and scouts went back and forth between Yijin Pass and Waqiao Pass.

According to news, the Liao army resumed attacking the city after being frustrated in the southward march, but Wang Shenqi, Xiang Xun, and Dong Zunhui were all there. The defenders were the elite Crane Control Army, which could resist the Liao army's attack in a short time.

By mid-June, there were two more heavy rains at night, which were unfriendly to marching and fighting. Many soldiers fell ill due to the rain in the middle of the night, but Shi Congyun was very happy. He knew that his army was not suitable for it. The army will only be more inappropriate.

In the next few days, the front battle reports continued to come back, and the Liao army's siege became more and more difficult, and its actions became less and less active.

Shi Congyun has been paying close attention to it, thinking that the time for a full-scale counterattack is coming soon.
(End of this chapter)