Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

In the mountains, forests and grasslands, waterfowl suddenly rose up, and their hoofs sounded like thunder.

Almost in an instant, hundreds of powerful cavalry rushed into a pasture, and for a while, arrows flew horizontally, and knives and guns rang.

In fact, the Khitan people were already prepared.

No one is a fool. When they are close to the face, they are lazy and don't take it seriously, without the slightest warning.

Thus, Xia and Qi's cavalry fought face to face in the dry open space in the swamp.

But just a face-to-face meeting, the knights of the Annihilation Army gave the Khitan people a small shock.With their outstanding melee combat ability, they brought down too many Khitan cavalry, but they only paid a small price for dozens of people falling off their horses.

Qu Shuai, the leader of the Khitan army, also knew how to fight. He immediately gathered his formation and drilled into swamps, reeds, groves, and hillsides. The distance between them changed the way of fighting into shooting each other with bows.

This is the way they are familiar with fighting.

Cavalry is supposed to ride horses and shoot arrows to kill the enemy at a medium distance. Frontal melee combat is too rude and not suitable for us grassland men. In fact, when Khitan conquered Shiwei, Tatar and other tribes, they often With sticks and long spears, they charged and smashed the enemy. They were considered to be the most melee-combat tribe outside Youzhou Pass.

But today it is clear that it has met its opponent.

When the cavalry of the two sides confronted each other, the knights on the Khitan side fell to the ground like reeds blown down by the strong wind.There is no other reason for this result.The cavalry is not as crowded as the infantry, and the formation is actually very loose.Tactics and formations are useful, but they are far less demanding than infantry. Most of the time it depends on teamwork, and the role of individuals is greatly magnified. At this time, it is skill.

How many hours a day do you train?How about your weaponry?Can you usually afford meat?How strong are you?Is your horse a war horse or a random horse?etc.
The details determine success or failure, and this is the secret.

Therefore, the Khitan resolutely gave up hand-to-hand combat and began to use the complex terrain to deal with Xia soldiers.Chao Cuo once mentioned in the Han Dynasty that the advantages of the cavalry of the Xiongnu lie in riding and archery, but the original source of the cavalry of the Dingnan Army was the Helong Fan people. They have no obvious shortcomings in this field. Instead, they became professional warriors Afterwards, food and lodging are guaranteed, and the amount of training has also increased, and it is not inferior to playing bow and arrow.The Khitans did this to avoid disadvantages, but the advantages they thought were not necessarily advantages.

Ever since, we saw it: the war horse splashed a large ball of water between the grass and marshes, and the two sides appeared and disappeared like hide-and-seek. Suddenly, an arrow was shot, and one person was shot down like stealing a chicken, and then the horse galloped wildly, detoured to Another place against the enemy.Casualties were not small on both sides.

After shooting at each other for a while, the Khitan people were very scared, and the morale of the soldiers was a little low.Seeing that it had dragged on for a long time, he retreated slowly.

The Ding Nan Army gave a symbolic pursuit, and then withdrew.

Fu Yanchao, the capital of the Dingnan Army who led the team, was not too satisfied with the course of the battle.

They are light cavalry, focusing on mobile combat on the battlefield, but rolling hills, dense swamps, and dense woods limit their performance.Although there is no disadvantage in the process of shooting against each other, and there are even great advantages, but what is the cost of the enemy and what is the cost of your soldiers?
You still have to find a way to force the Khitans to charge and fight you face to face. "Get out!" He waved his hand.

The soldiers waved the flag, and the cavalry scattered around gradually gathered together, and then took the ownerless horses and withdrew from the battlefield in batches.

******
Yelu Shilu immediately learned of Xia Bing's attack.

He and Xiadi temporarily put aside their differences and rushed to help with thousands of horsemen, but the Xia people had already retreated.Yelu Shilu got off his horse and carefully inspected the battlefield.

The corpses of Xi people were strewn all over the ground.Many died by swords, and many were killed by lances, short spears, iron maces, and iron rods.In contrast, far fewer people died from bows and arrows.

"I remember that summer bandits attacked Pingdi pine forest. Those with the title of "Iron Cavalry" gathered and charged, and they were valiantly defeated. In the end, they were driven out by a large number of people." Yelu Shilu
He said: "Today we are fighting in valleys and swamps, and we can still move around. What should we do when the Xia people detour and fight on the flat and open grassland in another day? Are we still avoiding their edge and guerrilla attacks like now?"

Yelvhadi's face was also serious, he looked more carefully than Shilu, he searched through more than ten corpses, even pulled out a feathered arrow and stared at it for a long time, Fang said: "It should be the forbidden army of the Xia people. Shilu, what does this mean?"

"It means that the Xia people are going to trouble us." Shi Lu said with a wry smile.

Xia Di threw away the arrow, and said: "Actually, I have a question that has not been solved yet." "Let's listen to it." Shi Ludao.

"I heard that Shao Shude has completely occupied Youzhou. In the past few months, he has been busy rectifying Lulong Ten Prefectures." Xiadi said.

"Wasn't it a waste of time to lay down the territory but didn't take the time to rectify it?" Shi Lu raised his head, looked at Xia Di, and asked, "What exactly do you want to say?"

"A few days ago, you sent envoys to Wendao to Hedong. Although you were forced to turn back halfway, you also know that Xia soldiers slaughtered in Youzhou and organized households into Qimin. This chaos will not be settled in a year or so. That is to say, Said, the Xia people should not have much interest in going around here, so what is their purpose?" Xia Di asked.

"Why do you ask knowingly?" Shi Lu snorted dissatisfied, and said, "Don't you want to attack Liaoze and nibble at every step? And put pressure on me, which frightened me, so I didn't dare to go south with all my strength."

"Then how did they figure out that I, the Khitan, was going south to southern Liaoning?" Xia Dibi asked.

Shi Lu was silent.

"Hmph! You're embarrassed to say, but I'll tell you, isn't it because of your stupid son, Brother Hua?" He said angrily.

Yelu Shilu let out a long sigh, but did not refute.

"What can Brother Hua do, besides playing with women, do you have other skills?" Xia Di continued, "I don't want to say anything more. Shi Lu, give me an order."

"What order?" Shi Lu was startled.

Judizi's eyes widened with anger, and he said, "Of course I asked Abaoji to stop recruiting the young men of the various ministries. Now that we are going south, we may be able to achieve some results in southern Liaoning, but if the Xia people gather troops and attack Liaoze, what do you have for it?" Resist? Shi Lu, you also mentioned the flat pine forest just now. If the Xia people send another large army to advance along the Huangshui, do you want to send someone to resist? What do you use to resist?"

Yelv Shilu showed hesitation.

He is Yu Yue, who knows the military and state affairs. In theory, he can command the eight military commanders, A Baoji.Not to mention the close relationship between the two parties, as long as he speaks, even if he doesn't want to, A Baoji will still obey.but--
"Why are you still hesitating?" Xia Di was even more angry, and said: "A Baoji is not worth cultivating at all. His ambition is too big, so big that the Khitan Babu can't bear it. He is not the son of Khitan's destiny at all, but a catastrophe , a great disaster.”

"You?!" Shi Lu was a little annoyed.

"Yan Mujin has a bowl of ecstasy soup, really fascinated you?" Xia Di sneered again and again, and said, "Let me just say it, if the Khitan had the strength of the Turks and Uighurs back then, A Baoji could indeed lead the Khitan to rise. Even going south to the Central Plains. But do the Eight Khitans have this strength? No! Do you think that I am targeting Abaoji everywhere, is it purely a battle of spirits? Yi Li Jin, have I ever argued with you? These are all words from the bottom of my heart, there is nothing to say about A Baoji's life at the wrong time."

When Shi Lu heard it for the first time, he almost drew his knife and stabbed someone again.However, after listening to Xiadi's words, he was also touched, and almost got to know this person again.

Judi means that he is right about things and not about people.In the current situation, A Baoji might be able to lead the Khitan to defeat the Bohai Kingdom. If it takes another ten years or so, it is not impossible to destroy Bohai in one fell swoop.But will the Xia people give you this chance?
They floated north to southern Liaoning, what was the reason?
As soon as Shao Shude conquered Youzhou, he couldn't wait to restore the stronghold behind the mountain, and even went one step further to spy on Liaoze. What's the reason?
The Xia people were aware of Khitan's ambitions early on, and began to make targeted arrangements.This is just a prelude, and no one knows what the future will hold.

"The chaos in the Central Plains, such a good opportunity, is like the end of the Sui Dynasty," Shi Lu hesitated.

"A Baoji told you again, right?" Judi sneered, and said, "Shao Shude is about to unify the north, it's too late! Even if there is no unification, I don't think A Baoji's plan to go south will go smoothly. He couldn't beat it in the past Zhang Zhongwu, who later lost to Li Kuangwei, and later lost in the decisive battle with Li Keyong, couldn't even win Youzhou, still wants to go south to the Central Plains? Why?"

Yelu Shilu heard the words, although he felt that Hadi's words were not unreasonable, but his tone of contempt and self-deprecation made people very displeased, so he said: "Hadi, you have fought for half your life anyway, destroying the front and breaking the edge, If you are brave enough, why build up the ambition of others and destroy your own prestige?"

"I just don't want Khitan to be implicated by one person's ambition." Yelv Hedi said, "In my opinion, it is better to send an envoy to Luoyang and proclaim him a minister. Shao Shude also has Wang Rong, Wang Gao, and Li Keyong. There should still be many towns that have not been captured. Anyone who is a normal person knows that attacking Jiangnan is more profitable than conquering Khitan. In this way, this catastrophe may be over. Shao Shude is not young, and when he dominates the world, he will probably be very old Well, what kind of ambition is there? Let’s be respectful and coax it, and it will be over. After his death, no one can tell what the Central Plains will be like, maybe there will be a chance.”

Shi Lu once again refreshed his understanding of the bottom line.

The strategy he mentioned is actually quite feasible.

The kings of the Central Plains love face more than lizi.In the Sui Dynasty, the Turks were defeated in the Central Plains, and they also professed their vassals to Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, and gained a valuable opportunity for adjustment. Then they interfered in the unification process of the Central Plains at the end of the Sui Dynasty, which almost succeeded.

The Turks respected Yang Jian as the "Saint Khan". If the Khitan respected Shao Shude as the "Supreme Khan", would it be possible for the Turks to gain respite after continuous fiascos like the Turks did?
Shi Lu thought about it carefully, and the current situation seems to be similar to that of the Sui Dynasty.The Sui Dynasty had not yet destroyed Chen, and only unified the north, but the troops were divided into several groups. Tens of thousands of infantry and five or six thousand cavalry could kill the Turks with hundreds of thousands of cavalry. The Khan fled in embarrassment.

Shao Shude is about to unify the north, but the south is not peaceful.He has also experienced the strength of the Great Xia Imperial Army.The tens of thousands of Khitan cavalry were stunned, unable to take down the more than 3000 cavalry of the Longwu Army, and they were beaten to the point of losing their helmets and armor.

Face it head on, maybe you really can't win.

Yelu Shilu was almost shaken for a moment, but he remembered Abaoji's words and the bright future that Abaoji had described to him, so he hesitated.

Yelvhadi watched with cold eyes, sighing secretly in his heart.

He knew that Shi Lu would eventually fall to A Baoji and choose to support his favorite nephew.

At the same time, I also think it is quite ridiculous that the Guangde assassination department cannot reach a unified opinion, let alone the Khitan eight department.A Baoji, but another one that can be missed.

"Jiadi, what you said is not completely unreasonable." Shi Lu cleared his throat and said, "I will discuss it with A Baoji again. The Xia people are increasing their troops, Liaoze may break out of war, you and I We have to work together to beat the Xia people back first."

Without saying a word, Judy turned and left.Yelu Shilu's face was frosty.

He knew that the Diet had in fact split.Perhaps this will not be obvious on the surface, and it can be barely maintained, but as long as the battle situation is unfavorable, more and more people will support Xia Di, and finally he and A Baoji, the powerful uncle and nephew, will be completely buried.