Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 238 Sudden decisive battle

Outside Yijin Pass, in the northwest corner of the camp, two or dozens of Liao soldiers were listlessly digging a pit. Next to it was a hill of corpses. Soldiers continued to move the corpses here. Most of the corpses were stripped of their armor and weapons. Only the clothes that can cover the body are left.

Among the corpses piled up into the hill, most of them died in a horrible and hideous manner, which was caused by the rolling logs, stones, hot oil, and golden juice on the top of the Zhou people's city.

After a group of soldiers dug the hole in disgrace, they climbed up cursing, kicking their feet like rolling logs and rolling the corpses in. They were exhausted and exhausted, but there were still many people to bury.

The Khitan people didn't handle the corpses that delicately, and they didn't use coffins. Even if they had time, they basically buried or burned them on the spot.

If it weren't for the requirements above, they would rather let these people expose their corpses to the wilderness.

The burial of the Khitan nobles was more cumbersome. They would cut open the abdomen of the corpse with a knife, remove the intestines, clean the body cavity, fill it with spice plants, salt and alum, suture the corpse with five-color thread and then bury it.

In the past, if there were Khitan nobles who died in battle, they would use horses to carry them back to the grassland if conditions allowed, but in the current weather, it would be rotten to return to the grassland, so there may only be a single pit.

After working for a long time, until all the bodies were buried, more than 20 people were all listless from exhaustion, and some people lay down directly on the mound.

The continuous heavy rain in the past two days and the hot and humid air have made many people sick. This is rarely the case on the grassland. The grassland is so dry that it is not like here even in the rainy season, so their tents did not apply tung oil as a rainproof measure. After the heavy rain, it was impossible to sleep at all. It was a double torture both mentally and physically.

The slightly better thing is that compared with the Zhou people, their tents are not made of green mantles, etc., but most of them are made of animal leather such as cowhide and sheepskin, which can at least prevent light rain.

After everyone had finished their work, they rested for a while before someone sighed, "How many people have died in the past few days."

"Those of us who bury people don't have a day off. Think about how many people have died." The respondent was full of dissatisfaction, but no one dared to say more, because His Majesty is famous for killing people. If he is not careful, Maybe I can't save my life.

Everyone was complaining sporadically, but when they looked up, they saw Yelu Talie, the great king of the South Court, watching them not far away, and they all shut up in fright.

The order to bury the corpses was given by Yelu Talie, who had a lot of experience in marching and fighting. The weather is very hot now. If a large number of corpses are not disposed of properly, there may be a plague.

Looking at the mounds of dirt all over the edge of the woods from a distance, he also felt very uncomfortable.

These mounds spread for several miles beside the forest, dense enough to fill his eye sockets. In the past ten days, more than 500 grassland warriors have been buried here, and Yijin Pass is still holding on. No one was left alive, regardless of men, women, or children, and everything was left to be looted by the soldiers.

In order to mobilize the enthusiasm of the soldiers to attack the city, otherwise the battle will be difficult to fight.

Yelu Dalie also began to worry. The siege has suffered heavy casualties in the past few days. More than 500 people have been killed and more than 3000 people have been injured. The tents were filled with accumulated water, sometimes it was impossible to sleep at night, and the morale was getting worse and worse, which was completely different from the situation when we just went south.

He wasn't that worried about these things at first. This time they brought 8000 troops from Shangjing, and [-] people from the Sixth Army of Youzhou's Southern Academy also went south with [-] people. After that, there were also tribal troops who came one after another.

In a few months, their army will be as many as 11 or so.

For the 11 army, such casualties are acceptable. Once Yijin Pass is captured, follow-up troops will arrive one after another. It will be an easy task to recover the lost ground in the south, and it is even possible to take the opportunity to go south to the Central Plains.

But Xiao Siwen followed him these few days and told him about Zhou Jun's commander Shi Congyun's expeditions to the north and south over the years.

Before he went south, he had never heard of Shi Congyun, because he was far away in Shangjing. When he heard the name of this person for the first time, he thought it was invented by Xiao Siwen.

But after getting to know each other these days, he discovered that Xiao Siwen hadn't lied.

This made him tense instantly. It would be very dangerous if the opponent's coach was someone who knew how to fight. Fortunately, Zhou Guo's army hadn't made any moves in the past few days. Except for being blocked from going south, their generals seemed to be ready to defend to the death. Signs of counterattack.

Yelu Talie thought about the direction of the battle, and thought if Yijin Pass could not be attacked for a long time, should he persuade His Majesty to retreat?
It is a big taboo for military strategists to station troops under the fortified city. Just as he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard the sound of horns in the distance.

Yelu Talie immediately turned his horse's head, "Enemy!"

Could it be that Zhou Jun started to counterattack!

He wanted to find someone to ask what was going on, and then he rode his horse all the way from the north of the camp to the east, then turned to the south, and followed a row of low-rise woods to the southeast of the camp. It was shouting and killing.

Soon he saw many cavalrymen from the Daliao Kingdom rushing out of the woods on the opposite bank, rushing towards the river bank, rushing into the river in panic, splashing water around the horseshoes, the men on the horses shouted that the southerners were coming, and shouted to kill The sound shook the sky, the dust filled the sky, and the sky was gray.

"The army of Zhou is coming!" Yelu Dalie immediately understood, and then mobilized a large number of soldiers to come to the bank to meet the soldiers facing him across the river.

The cavalry on the opposite side scrambled to cross the river, some fell into the water, and some were shot down by the crossbows from behind one after another. The originally not deep river was gradually dyed red.

Yelu Talie couldn't see the situation on the other side clearly, because there was a small forest on the opposite side of the river, so he didn't dare to go there rashly, so he sent scouts to investigate, and soon the scouts came back in a hurry, "There are Zhou troops on the other side, there are many of them!"

Yelu Dalie sent people to report the situation to the central army, and at the same time sent people to organize defenses on the bank to prevent the follow-up Zhou army from crossing the river.

After hundreds of soldiers chased and fled across the river one after another, everyone stared nervously at the woods on the other side of the river dozens of steps away.

The sound of footsteps and shouts of killing in the dark woods became louder and louder, and the surrounding atmosphere suddenly became tense, and soon Zhou Jun's figure appeared on the opposite bank of the river one after another, and Yelu Dalie, who had already prepared, immediately shouted: "Shoot the arrow! Shoot all the arrows!"

In an instant, the bowstring hummed, and the black arrows rushed towards the opposite bank like a cloud of black clouds. A dozen soldiers of the Zhou army rushing to the front were shot down, but when they raised their bows and arrows again, the people on the opposite bank An iron wall has been cast.

Zhou Jun arrived one after another and erected a long wall with high shields on the shore. Then the explosion of a large number of Zhou Jun's crossbow strings resounded densely in the woods, which could still be heard clearly after twenty or thirty steps.

This kind of sound can be described as a life-threatening sound for the Liao army on the shore!

They have already experienced the strength of the southerners' crossbows. At a distance of dozens of steps, almost all armor can be easily pierced, and shields that are not well made can also be shot through. Many people fell to the ground and wailed in an instant.

Seeing that many soldiers in front of him were shot down in an instant, Yelu Talie screamed again and again, and immediately ordered the troops by the river to retreat, and turned his horse's head around to escape a certain distance.

He didn't admit defeat, but prepared to organize more cavalry to rush directly to counterattack and retake the river bank.

Soon, His Majesty also sent someone over to inquire about the situation, and asked him to organize a response. Yelu Talie asked the soldiers to report: "It should be Zhou's reinforcements. I don't know how many, but they dare not occupy the other side of the river." Crossing the river, there should not be many people.

It may have come from Yukou Pass. "

Then began to organize the Zuopishi Army stationed on the east side of the camp, preparing to send a large number of cavalry to cross the river and retake the river bank.

Just as Yelu Talie was organizing his troops and preparing to act, the scouts by the river came to report, and Zhou Jun changed his deployment.

Yelv Talie and others escorted him to look closer, and saw from a distance that after recapturing the southeast bank, the Zhou army did not cross the river, but began to tie many chariot shafts together by the river, and stood by the river to build a long road. The city wall spread across the river to the foot of the city wall in the east section of Yijin Guandong, stretching for about two miles.

This formation gave Yelu Dalie a headache, or the Central Plains people's car formation has always been a headache for them.

Their chariots stood tall, with sharp swords tied to the front, and the chariots were tightly connected with ropes and chains, and behind them were spearmen and crossbowmen. It was almost impossible for the cavalry to attack such a formation head-on.

People will be afraid of war horses rushing at high speed, but those wooden carts are not afraid, and after hundreds of thousands of carts are fastened together, it is very difficult to shake them, and there are headaches behind them. Spears and crossbows.

Even if you want to harass them with horseback riding, you don't dare to get too close. If you are not careful, you will be shot off your horse by the crossbowmen behind the cart.

The reason why Yelv Talie still remembers this formation is because he personally understood the horror of this style of play when he was in his 40s. It was also the worst defeat of the Daliao Kingdom since the founding of the Taizu.

More than ten years ago, more than 8 troops from the Daliao Kingdom marched southward and were defeated in a disastrous defeat at the Baiweituan Village about ten miles around Yangcheng. .

At that time, the Central Plains army on the opposite side defeated them with a chariot formation.

But now it is even more difficult to cross the river by force. The deepest part of the small river in front of him only reaches the thigh, and most of the places are knee-deep. It cannot prevent the cavalry from crossing the river, but it will also slow down the speed.

They had to move slowly in the river, while facing the dense crossbow shooting of the Zhou army on the opposite bank, and then climbed up a short gentle slope, and then in front of them was the Zhou army's impenetrable chariot formation.

So Yelv Talie immediately fought a cold war, ordered all the troops to stop, gave up the previous plan to attack and retake the opposite bank, and instead sent troops to patrol the river bank to prevent the Zhou army from crossing the river.

The car formation has its strengths, but it also has its weaknesses, that is, it is too stupid and slow to move.

Hundreds of thousands of military vehicles in a row, the defense is very strong, but it is also very difficult to move, just can't run away
Because of this, after Yelu Talie found out that the Zhou army had put up such a formation, he guessed that the Zhou people on the opposite side were also afraid and did not dare to confront them head-on, so they adopted the method of car formation, only defending, and did not want to take the initiative to attack.

"The southerners are like this. They have always been like this. They are as timid as a mouse." After thinking about this, Yelu Talie felt contempt in his heart.

Southerners have always liked to defend in battle, either defending the city or using military vehicles, they are not as brave as their Khitan warriors.

He originally thought that if the other party launched an attack at this time, it would be difficult for them to deal with it. He didn't expect that the other party's army would come from the east.

After arranging the manpower, he immediately headed west and reported the matter to His Majesty in the imperial tent of the Chinese Army. His Majesty also laughed at the fact that the southerners are cowardly, like mice, so there is nothing to be afraid of. He also agreed to send troops to watch over them. , don't storm the advice.

However, when the southern army arrived outside the city, it would undoubtedly be seen by the defenders in Yijinguan City, and their morale would be improved, which is a disadvantage.

Their deployment at this time is that the army camp is located in the north in the rear, and the siege troops are in the front, about half a mile apart. When the east reaches the city, the siege cannot be delayed any longer.

At the same time, more troops were sent to the east of the camp. I felt that the Zuopishi army (about [-] troops) should be dispatched to the east of the camp, so as to monitor the movements of the Zhou army on the other side at any time. "

Halfway through, he felt a little thirsty. Xiao Siwen in the big tent brought him a wine glass, and Yelu Tali moistened his throat and continued:

"If the Zhou army in the southeast is unwilling to sit back and watch the fall of Yijin Pass and wants to cross the river, they must withdraw their chariots and move. At that time, the troops in the east can take the opportunity to attack immediately, defeat them or drive them back to the other side of the river.

If they have been standing still in the car formation, only defending the southeast side of Xiaoniu Creek, and sitting back and watching the front Yijin Pass fall, then ignore them at all.

After our army took Yijin Pass, they were completely isolated, and they had to either flee east immediately or wait to die. "

Emperor Yelujing of the Daliao Dynasty nodded after listening, and said to the soldiers around him: "Follow the arrangement that the King of the South Court said, and convey my order."

The soldiers handed over their hands and went out to pass the order, and soon the soldiers and horses in the tens of thousands of Liao army camps began to be dispatched.

The Liao army lost part of the camp on the other side of Xiaoniu Creek on the northeast side of the camp, but they didn't care.

It was originally the outskirts of the camp, and the soldiers deployed in that area were originally to guard against the Zhou army coming from Yijin Pass and Duliukou in the east. If there is no attack, then continue to confront, and it will not affect the main event of attacking Yijin Pass head-on.

The main energy of the Liao army was still focused on Yijin Pass in the front. They did not manage the Zhou army in the southeast, which was three or four miles away from the center of the camp. They only sent troops there to confront the Zhou army coming from the east.

This kind of arrangement is very wise, at least to distinguish between the primary and secondary, Yelujing and Yelv Talie are also quite proud of this arrangement.

But after dawn the next day, not long after the Liao army dispatched the siege troops, a huge rumbling sound came from the southwest corner of the camp, and yellow dust in the distance circled up in mid-air, covering the sky.

A large number of flags slowly appeared among the fields and woods in the southwest of the camp. A long black line stretched out on the horizon at the end of the eyes. The hot air rolled and twisted, making the black line in the distance seem to be rolling and swaying. Like a black wave surging on the earth, accompanied by the sound of desolate marching horns, it came overwhelming.

Yelu Talie, who was about to go to the siege camp in front of the city, felt a sudden shock, just as the scouts in front also galloped over, reporting to him that Zhou Guo's army was coming.

He is not blind, he can see the movement that covers the sky and the sun in the distance, and he can also hear the sound of horseshoes shaking the earth and the sound of horns resounding through the sky.

"Report to Your Majesty immediately! Ask him to gather the army!" Yelu Talie loudly shouted, he had already seen the big "Historical" flag among the people and horses in the distance, the high-level Khitan nobles, especially the Xiao family and the Yelu family Many of them have learned Chinese characters and Chinese.

He immediately knew what was going on in his heart, Zhou Jun's coach Shi Congyun led the army to come!
He also quickly understood the seriousness of the matter. The two countries have been fighting for more than a month, and the two armies have also been fighting in local battlefields for more than half a month. But today, the decisive battle came so quickly and abruptly.

This is war, and it is always changing. Yelu Talie took a deep breath, and immediately thought of sending someone to call back the siege troops from the city, but never thought that it would be too late after such a short delay
(End of this chapter)