Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

In mid-April, the weather began to warm up, the trumpet sounded continuously by the river, and a large number of craftsmen and soldiers were logging on the mountains to the west.

The felled trees rolled down the mountain ridge, and then pulled out from the valley to the edge of Gushui by cattle and horses. The construction of the Lotus Fort required a lot of wood and stones, but fortunately, these materials can be obtained locally.

The speed of construction was beyond Emperor Shi's expectations, probably because the craftsmen and soldiers were too enthusiastic. Originally, he expected to start construction at the same time, and it would be considered fast if they could be rushed out in a month.

The difficulty lies not in the raw materials, but in the lack of adhesives. Similar to the cement of later generations, the highest-standard cement substitute in this era is glutinous rice fried paste, which is lime mortar mixed with glutinous rice soup. The physical properties are more stable, the mechanical strength is great, and it is compatible with Stronger.

The simplest example is that many large city walls and pagodas are built with these things. There are many ancient buildings like this in China in later generations.

But the problem is that the cost is very high, and lime slurry is easy to get. There are lime kilns outside the city of Tanzhou. When the Sui and Tang Dynasties were repairing the Great Wall of Northern Qi Dynasty, there were also many lime kilns under the city wall near the north entrance. You can find weeding shovels and use them.

The key lies in glutinous rice. There are very few glutinous rice collected nearby from Tanzhou, Youzhou, Shunzhou, Yizhou and other states, which is not enough at all.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, the navy transported a ship from Shandong by sea and starry night, entered the Haihe River from the Bohai Sea, and then went north from Chaohe Gushui to the city of Beikou, which solved this problem.

After just over half a month, the two lotus castles in the east and west were built. The soldiers and craftsmen slept in batches, day and night, and even a few craftsmen and soldiers of the confidential department were so tired that they passed out on the construction site.

Although Emperor Shi liked to exploit his subordinates, he was very moved and went to see them in person.

In such an atmosphere, the high work efficiency was completely beyond Emperor Shi's expectations.

So Li Chuyun suggested that at this speed, there was enough time to add a few more fortresses to form a criss-crossed situation in the valley.

Emperor Shi agreed, and by the end of April, through the joint efforts of craftsmen and soldiers, six Lotus Fortresses had been built in the river valley from the north entrance to the south, double the three that was originally thought.

It can be built again later, but Emperor Shi stopped it because the artillery and defenders had to be deployed immediately.

The news came from the scout who crossed the north entrance and went further north. He found Liao cavalry in the area south of King Xi's Yazhang, and speculated that the Liao army might have gone south.

Although it was only possible, and it was also possible that they encountered a few Liao herdsmen, local patrol soldiers, etc., Emperor Shi still treated them cautiously and prepared to deploy combat troops immediately.

In fact, facing the vast land and mountains, human beings are very small.

The role of scouts is limited. The vastness of the world is far beyond most people's imagination. The scouts sent out in this era are like grabbing a handful of beans and throwing them into the lake. Whether you can see the enemy depends on your luck. higher.

Although people take it for granted that the army should send scouts ahead, then the two armies should know the position of the other side before they meet, but there have been many battles in history where the main force encountered the battle, and the scouts and the forwards did not know that the rear had already fought. stand up.

...

Not to mention now, even in the era of the Napoleonic Wars, there were two large armies that were several kilometers apart but had no idea of ​​each other's position. The battlefield was chaotic and unpredictable. Never dare to be too big.

The six fortresses soon began to deploy artillery and troops. Each fortress stationed a battalion of artillery, and a large number of water troops could support along Gushui.

In the next few days, Emperor Shi returned to Chanzhou and handed over the command and deployment rights to Li Chuyun.

Afterwards, Li Chuyun deployed a large number of mobile cavalry in the area of ​​Chanzhou as the rear mobile force, and also deployed many forts on the hillside in the northern section of the valley, and placed the reserve corps in Shunzhou, led by Wang Shenqi, as the general reserve.

So far, the deployment of the Qin army has been basically completed. In late April, good news came from the Lin Renzhao front army in the east. They have captured Yuguan. However, the battle report also mentioned that a Qiyun boat accidentally touched a reef and sank while advancing along the coast , resulting in the death of sixty sailors and many injured.

Emperor Shi didn't blame them for this matter, but affirmed their style of play.

In this way, with Yuguan in hand, the east side will be stable. Emperor Shi immediately asked Zhao Shijian to write a letter to Lin Renzhao, asking them to stick to Yuguan and Pingzhou, and at the same time let the navy fleet stand by at Sanggan River.

Lin Renzhao proposed that they wanted to go north to fight in the direction of Jinzhou. Emperor Shi thought about it again and again, and ordered him to stick to Yuguan and the front line of Pingzhou temporarily, and make plans after Beikou meets the enemy.

If it is determined that the main force of the Liao army is at Beikou, they will then attack in the direction of Jinzhou. If the enemy situation at Beikou is unknown, then the direction of Yuguan cannot be moved lightly.

In addition, he was specially instructed to report to Youzhou in time if he detected the enemy's situation in the west of Liaoning, so that the Chinese army could grasp the direction of the main force of the Liao army.

When the prestige of the emperor is high enough, it will be handy to control these capable ministers and generals.

Emperor Shi wished he could have a reconnaissance plane to monitor the enemy's movements at any time, but his general judgment should not be wrong, and the Great Wall built by successive dynasties on the northern line of defense, such as the Northern Qi Great Wall and the Juyongguan Great Wall, also had a great impact on the Liao army's march. limit.

Shi Congyun often stared at the map in the palace of Youzhou in a daze. He was [-]% certain that the Liao army would either go to Juyongguan, Yuguan, or Beikou, and there was an [-]% probability that the main force would go to Beikou, but nothing happened. After confirming it, it is difficult to calm down.

After all, this is related to the national destiny of the next hundred years, and whether he can seize this historical opportunity.

When he was having dinner with Zhao Shijian at night, he still felt unsafe, and tried hard to figure out what chess pieces he had in his hands. He suddenly thought of the female straight woman who had come to pay tribute all these years, and was tirelessly making trouble in Liaodong with their support.

They traveled by sea from Bohai Sea to Qidi, and then to Daliang, so Emperor Shi immediately called for the navy and asked them to send some scouts to try to contact the Jurchens from the sea, to let them know that the southern army is going north to attack The Liao Kingdom, let them respond on the Liaodong side if possible.

However, it is also possible that the female straight people knew that they had gone north. After all, the army went north for a month and fought a lot of battles. The whole Liaodong should know the news soon. "Brother Yeluxiu only brought back more than 3000 people. The cattle, sheep, and horses are currently calving, so we cannot gather manpower, and we will bring 8000 people next month." In Shangjing Imperial City, Yelusha carefully revealed the bad news.

...

Ye Luxian didn't say a word. They originally thought that the tribes in the northwest grassland could at least gather [-] tribal soldiers, but now they only have [-], which is only [-]%.

Although the reasons given by Zub and other ministries are very reasonable, spring and summer are indeed the seasons for intensive calving of livestock, and the tribes on the grassland usually try to avoid wars during this time, but Yeluxian does not believe that they can only send 3000 troops.

His face turned red with anger, but he quickly calmed down, "I'm not afraid of Shi Congyun. I'll deal with them after I clear up the situation in the south."

Yelusha nodded: "Your Majesty is wise." What he was most afraid of was that at this time, His Majesty would disregard priorities and get angry with all the grassland ministries.

"Any news from the south?"

"Yuguan was also lost. Qin's vanguard arrived at Beikou and did not go further north." Yelusha, as the prime minister of Beifu, remembered all this very clearly.

"Are they trying to use that section of the city wall to resist my army?" Yeluxian thought.

"Perhaps, but we have already demolished the closed gate of the north entrance. They don't know that there is a gap about five miles east of the north entrance that we deliberately opened." Yelusha said. In order to prevent that section of the Great Wall from becoming an obstacle to them, they Not only did the city gate of Beikou Pass be demolished, the city tower was abandoned, but it also took half a year to open a gap of about half a mile on a gentle slope in the east, which was enough for the army to pass through, and it was impossible to block it in a short time.

"They are simply whimsical, but it may be an opportunity." Ye Luxian almost thought of a way to defeat the Qin army, "If they stick to the pass, and we enter from the east gap, we will attack directly from behind."

Yelusha didn't speak, he instinctively felt that Shi Congyun was very cunning, and he probably would not fail to inspect the nearby city walls, but who knows what happened, maybe Shi Congyun didn't go to the north entrance.

In the afternoon, bad news came from Tokyo, and straight women began to harass the northern counties.Liaoyang was struggling to cope with the rebellion of female straight people. Yelumo, who stayed behind in Tokyo, could only play, but he could not send many people over. The Taiwei Han Kuangsi and his son Han Derang also brought worrying news. The armies of Bohai, Shiwei, Wugu, Dilie and other tribes originally thought that there would be 9 to 3 people, but in the end there were only more than [-] people.

Because of Yelujing's negligence in the past, many tribes refused to send troops, while some were too far away to arrive in time and were still on the way. In this way, the originally thought to be more than 20 troops, in the end only gathered twelve or three about ten thousand.

"Your Majesty, if the men and horses from all tribes arrive next month, we will have more soldiers and horses." Yelusha persuaded. In fact, he didn't want to fight the Qin army head-on at all. The Battle of Hedong was left to him The shadow is too deep, and he wants to delay it a little longer. The Qin army's occupation of the south is stable, and His Majesty may give up sending troops and compromise with Qin.

In his view, this is the only way to survive at the moment.

"I'm not afraid of him!" Ye Luxian emphasized again, "These troops are enough and we can't wait any longer. If they repair the Great Wall at Beikou next month, our situation will be even more difficult."

Yelusha didn't speak. He didn't know how to persuade the confident young monarch, but he knew that the current situation was already very difficult. Qin State occupied Juyongguan and Yuguan. There were not many routes left for them to go south. Zhou can go, he must have thought of Shi Congyun's cunning.

...

Moreover, the generals and soldiers of the Liao army who fled back these days came to Shangjing one after another, and told them about the power of the Qin army's cannons. In their descriptions, those weapons would thunder and emit fire and smoke, and they could shoot screaming iron balls. When I saw it, I had already hit it, and it fell apart when I touched it, and even the fortress couldn't stop it.

His Majesty and the ministers accepted some of their statements, but also felt that they were exaggerating, perhaps to cover up the responsibility for the defeat.

I also asked Taoist priests, eminent monks, and wizards in Shangjing to inquire about this matter. A Taoist priest said that there is a magic power that an immortal can indeed send out thunder, which can smash rolling stones and make a loud noise. He said drinking talisman water can crack it, everyone was skeptical, but decided to give it a try.

Many people think that it is mainly due to the emptiness of troops on the banks of the Sanggan River. The cannon should be an ordnance similar to the bed crossbow of the Qin army, and they must be handled with care.

That night, Yelusha, Yelu Xiezhen, Brother Yeluxiu, Xiao Siwen, Gao Xun and many other civil and military personnel from the Liao Kingdom discussed the final deployment of troops in the main hall of the Shangjing Imperial Palace.

Everyone was discussing, Yelusha found that he seemed to be the only one who didn't advocate sending troops, so he didn't speak.

Others were chattering, discussing how to send troops.

In the end, everyone basically agreed, and they all decided to divide the troops into four groups. The forward and the main force of the central army went southward with [-] elites, attacked Chanzhou and Shunzhou from the north entrance, and then reached Youzhou.

The forward division will use 1 riders to go southwest to the area behind Juyongguan Mountain. If the battle goes well, it will attack Youzhou from Juyongguan, and if it doesn't go well, it will contain the Qin army in the southwest.

There is also an army to go near the Heishan Pass to prevent the Qin army from the east from continuing to advance north after defeating Yuguan and attacking western Liaoning.

The last army is in the south of King Xi's Yazhang, serving as the general reserve to support the battle in the direction of Beikou.

In general, the main force is about 8 people, divided into the forward central army and the reserve team, attacking in the direction of the north entrance, and the two side divisions will contain and harass the Qin army on the east and west fronts respectively. Once any of them wins, It can outflank the Qin army in the direction of Tanzhou from the side.

This plan is the final plan after everyone's discussion.

However, their hopes were mainly pinned on the breakthrough at the North Gate, because it was the closest to Youzhou, and it was also the best way to go. The avenue in the valley was wide and suitable for large-scale cavalry marches.

If they can reach Tanzhou, it will not be a problem to counterattack Youzhou in an all-round way, and once they break through Tanzhou, the mobility of their cavalry can be brought into play, no matter how powerful the Qin army is, they will not be afraid.

This is why Yelu Xiezhen, Yeluxiu, Gao Xun and other generals who have fought in battle are so confident: "As long as we cross the river valley, we can exhaust the Qin army to death, and when the time comes, they have no choice but to give up the secluded army." State.

The counties and counties around Youzhou can't hold it at all. If they can hold it for a year, we will attack it for a year, and if they can hold it for two years, we will attack it for two years. Sooner or later, they will go back to the south. "

"In this way, the backs of Juyongguan and Yuguan are also in our hands, and the Qin people won't be able to defend them for long." Brother Yeluxiu said, although he is still in his prime, he has quelled the tribal rebellion with the prime minister of the Beifu, and he is already battle-tested.

Yelu Xiezhen nodded, and he also agreed with this view, but he had fought against the Qin army in Hedong, so he reminded, "Avoid fighting them head-on, the Qin army is very brave, most of their cavalry have iron armor, if you are not careful In case of a head-on collision, it is best to retreat immediately and fight slowly."

Yeluxian listened to what they said, and after careful consideration, he finally decided that Brother Yeluxiu would lead the West Route Army to attack the back of the mountain and block the West Route enemy army.

Gao Xun led troops to Montenegro to prevent the Qin army from continuing to attack Liaodong northward.

The forward of the Chinese army, led by You Yelu Xiezhen, went down to Tanzhou from Beikou and took Youzhou directly. Yelusha and Han Derang led the Chinese army to follow, while Yeluxian himself was going to lead the last palace guard army, and went to Xi Renya Zhang as a large army. General Reserve.

The emperor of the state of Qin will go on a personal conquest, and he is also preparing to go on a personal conquest to boost the morale of the three armies.

After the battle plan was finalized, the Liao army began to mobilize and assemble the next day, because time was running out. At noon that day, Brother Yeluxiu led the army to leave, and then Yelu Xiezhen and Gao Xun also led troops to go there one after another. Army attack!