Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 442 Shi Chonggui: I Wasn't Made Of Dough
In the seventh year of Tianfu in the Later Jin Dynasty, in October 942, Yelu Deguang led an army of [-] troops from Yuanshi City and marched southward. At this time, the Khitan army had penetrated nearly [-] miles into the territory of the Later Jin Dynasty.

In the [-]-mile assault, the Khitans did not attack other states and cities in the later Jin Dynasty except for sending troops to capture the Yuan Clan.

In other words, the Khitans basically didn't capture anywhere except the line from Yuanshi City to Beizhou.

Yelu Deguang's 50,000 army, plus Zhao Yanshou's [-] people, hardly had any stable supply lines, and only relied on a certain number of cavalry to transport a small amount of food and grass.

It can be said that without the support of the traitor, the Khitan people would not have discovered Beizhou, where food was stored in the later Jin Dynasty, so accurately. Yelu Deguang would not have dared to go south so directly, and it is estimated that he is still gnawing at Jiancheng in the second state.

After getting 150,000 shi of grain and grass from Beizhou, the supplies of the Khitan people became sufficient at once.

In addition to supplying the needs of the army, this sufficient food and grass made Yelu Deguang have the heart to perform.

He strictly ordered all Khitan tribes, no matter they were Khitan people or Bohai people, not to plunder the people of Hebei.

He also treated the soldiers of the Beizhou Yongqing Army who surrendered with kindness, never killing them indiscriminately, and never embezzling them.

It can be said that from the present point of view, Yelu Deguang really has the appearance of a master.

At this time, Khitan and Later Jin were confronting each other across the Yellow River.

Shi Chonggui and Jing Yanguang led an army to station in Chanzhou on the south bank of the Yellow River.

Zhang Yanze and Gao Xingzhou crossed the Yellow River, just north and northeast of Chanzhou, and served as the fulcrum of the Jin army on the north bank of the Yellow River.

After Yelude Guangba camp went south, he took Beizhou as the new garrison.

Zhao Yanshou, who was originally stationed in Beizhou, continued to push forward until Weizhou, which was approaching the Yellow River, stopped.

At the end of October, Yang Guangyuan had openly rebelled in Qingzhou for more than three months, but the later Jin court did not have the energy to send troops to attack him.

After being bored for a while, Yang Guangyuan realized that the Khitan people had driven straight in and reached the bank of the Yellow River.

Just at this time, Yelu Deguang also sent someone to invite Yang Guangyuan to send troops to flank the Later Jin army.

Yang Guangyuan then led the Pinglu army of more than [-] men, and then engulfed tens of thousands of strong men, claiming to be [-], bypassing Qizhou, which is later known as Jinan, and arrived at Linyi in the north of Qizhou.

And sent a forward to investigate Yucheng, which is only a few dozen miles away from the Yellow River.

Knowing that Yang Guangyuan led his army to the north of Qizhou, Yelu Deguang suddenly became energetic.

He once again led his troops south from Beizhou and stationed in Weizhou, and Zhao Yanshou of Weizhou City received new orders.

Yelude Guang ordered him to select [-] elite soldiers to join forces with Youpishi Xiangwen Yeluwuzhi, a total of [-] soldiers, to besiege the Jin general Gao Xingzhou who was stationed in Qicheng.

In addition to besieging Gao Xingzhou, Yelu Deguang also allocated [-] tribal troops and handed them over to General Ma Da, ordering him to go east to attack Bozhou, which is the later Liaocheng of Shandong.

Bozhou is also the site of the Yongqing army. Beizhou, the old nest, was captured. Seeing tens of thousands of Khitan soldiers coming, the Yongqing army with only two to 3000 people collapsed immediately, and Bozhou fell without a fight.

Ma Da plundered the city of Bozhou, killing thousands of people, and then sent out all his troops, trying to cross the Yellow River from Majiakou in the northeast of Bozhou, and joined forces with Yang Guangyuan's Pinglu army.

If this is the case, the Yellow River defense line that the later Jin painstakingly managed will be destroyed without attack.

At this time of life and death, Shi Chonggui and the later Jin court moved very quickly.

Since they only knew that Yelude had divided the troops, but did not know where the troops were divided, the court of the later Jin Dynasty could only order the Yunzhou Tianping Army and the Yanzhou Taining Army who came to reinforce them to go northward quickly.

He Chongjin, An Yanwei, Bai Zairong and other generals guarded the Yellow River from Heyang to Yangliudai to prevent being breached everywhere.

As for Majiakou, where the Khitans are most likely to break through, Shi Chonggui ordered Li Shouzhen, the commander of the guards and horse troops, and Huangfu Yu, the commander of the right Shenwu army, to lead ten thousand people, hundreds of warships and thousands of mules and horses, along the water and land of the Yellow River. And go forward to defend.

It seems that Shi Chonggui also knows the consequences once the Khitan people enter Qi, Qing and other states.

Because if that is the case, the entire Shandong Peninsula will be finished, and the natural danger of the Yellow River will become empty talk.

Li Shouzhen and Huangfu Yu's hundreds of warships and thousands of mules and horses were almost the most important mobile force in Shi Chonggui's hands.

And it turns out, it was worth it.

At the beginning of November, when Li Shouzhen and Huangfu met Damajiakou, the Khitan people had already erected a pontoon bridge, and more than [-] vanguard soldiers had crossed the Yellow River.

Seeing this, Li Shouzhen gathered the large ships among the more than a hundred warships to the head of the fleet, and selected extremely powerful sergeants to hold a spear more than two feet long on the bow.

The big boat went down the river and smashed the pontoon bridge of the Khitan people in an instant. The Khitan people crossed the river in small boats to drive them away, and the soldiers of the Jin army fought back with spears and crossbows.

Although most of the so-called hundred warships of the Jin army at this time were very small ships, the first few were quite large.

Big boats were far more stable than small boats, and they took advantage of the distance of weapons. The navy trained by the Khitan on the Liao River couldn't adapt to the Yellow River, which was still full of water at this time, and was immediately defeated.

As for the tens of thousands of Khitan soldiers who had already crossed the Yellow River, seeing that most of the pontoon bridge had been destroyed, their morale was shaken.

Huangfu Yu held a large gallbladder and took the lead, the soldiers of the Jin army cheered loudly, regardless of fatigue, followed Huangfu Yu to attack the unfinished camp of the Khitan people.

This Khitan is not good at attacking the city, and naturally he is not good at defending the city either.

Moreover, in order to get through the soldiers' rush to repair the camp as soon as possible, Ma Da only let people pass but not horses in the early stage. The tens of thousands of tribal troops who were supposed to be cavalry could only dismount and fight on foot.

What does it mean to attack the enemy's strengths with one's own strengths?

That's it!

The Khitans were not only defending the city, they also got off their horses and turned into an infantry army. They were no match for the late Jin army.

At the beginning, the Jin army was still a little timid due to the prestige of the Khitan people and the impression of Shi Jingtang's servility.

As a result, upon contact, these Khitan troops were far weaker than they imagined, so their morale was boosted, and they all rushed over.

Huangfuyu used 10,000 people to attack the Khitan army with 10,000 people, and in less than an hour they broke through more than ten camps.

The Khitan people were defeated like a mountain, they could only flee downstream crying and howling.

Some panicked and jumped directly into the Yellow River, and countless people were drowned.

Ma Da, who stayed on the west bank, had no choice but to watch the more than ten thousand people on the east bank being defeated.

The Khitan people on the west bank and the east bank were almost all from the same tribe. Seeing their relatives and brothers being killed at this moment, both sides of the Yellow River cried loudly.

Huangfu fought more and more bravely when he met, and led his army to chase downstream for more than ten li before withdrawing his troops.

However, according to the original intention, Huangfu Yu wanted to kill all these more than ten thousand Khitan soldiers.

But Yang Guangyuan, who was stationed in the north of Qizhou at the moment, heard that the Khitan people were fighting with the Jin army, so he hurriedly pulled out his camp and led more than [-] people to help the Khitan army in the battle.

Li Shouzhen also completed the demolition of the pontoon bridge at this time, and the two joined forces with 20,000 people.

Although Huangfu Yu's soldiers had been fighting for two hours and were exhausted, they had just won the battle and their morale was high.

So the two simply left more than a thousand soldiers to guard the warship, and the remaining 6000 people lined up eastward to meet Yang Guangyuan.

Yang Guangyuan and his son hurried over from the north of Qizhou, without breathing evenly, and without seeing the Khitan Heavenly Soldiers they imagined, they bumped into Li Shouzhen and Huangfuyu who were coming to the east.

The two sides met in Qihe Town, east of Qizhou. Yang Guangyuan personally put on armor and went into battle. The menacing one wanted to teach Li Shouzhen, a junior, a lesson. As a result, Li Shouzhen let hundreds of cavalry fly out of the formation.

But instead of attacking Yang Guangyuan's army, they threw hundreds of sets of Khitan armor at Yang Guangyuan's Pinglu army, and made people shout that the Khitan army was defeated.

When Yang Guangyuan heard it, he saw hundreds of sets of Khitan suits on the ground. He thought it was real, so he hurriedly took off the armor he just put on, and did not go on stage himself.

When Pinglu Jun saw Yang Guangyuan like this, his heart suddenly became cold.

As soon as the two sides fought, the Pinglu army was beaten back again and again. Nearly 20,000 people fought and retreated. The two sides fought until dusk.

Seeing this situation, Yang Guangyuan knew that there was nothing to be done, and Yang Chengzuo and his father and son led hundreds of fine horsemen, turned around and ran away, and the Pinglu army collapsed in response.

Li Shouzhen and Huangfu met and defeated the Khitan and Pinglu troops consecutively within a day, and their reputations were greatly enhanced.

Since then, the pressure on Eastern Shanxi has disappeared immediately.

Khitan general Ma Da took advantage of the time when Li Shouzhen and others were besieging Yang Guangyuan, and then built a pontoon bridge downstream, leading more than [-] Khitan people who were still in shock to the west bank.

After that, they didn't dare to cross the river again, but just burned the pontoon bridge and retreated to Beizhou.

Yang Guangyuan's [-]-strong army was wiped out. The father and son fled back to Qingzhou with only a few hundred cavalry.

At the same time, the Khitan West Route Army, King Xi Renhao and Chief Wei led more than [-] Khitan tribal troops to besiege Xinzhou City Xiurong, which is Xinzhou City in Shanxi.

Liu Zhiyuan hastily recruited 5000 fine cavalry from Tuyuhunbai Chengfu Department, plus [-] cavalry from Hedongbu, a total of [-] people went north to rescue the siege.

The two sides fought a battle outside Xiurong City, Bai Chengfu and other ethnic groups such as Tuyuhun and Turks were oppressed by the Khitans, this time they had seized the opportunity, they fought with hatred and were extremely brave.

King Wei's Zuo Army could not withstand the pressure at first, and was defeated by Bai Chengfu's thousands of cavalry.

Then the defenders in Xiurong City also sent archers out of the city to help.

Liu Zhiyuan sent Guo Wei and Guo Rong to lead more than a thousand elite cavalry to go around behind the Khitans and attack them suddenly.

The battle lasted from early morning to noon, King Wei's army was defeated, leaving behind more than [-] corpses, and ran all the way from Xinzhou to Yaming Valley, more than [-] miles away, before they stabilized their position and gathered the remnants of the army. The [-] army There are only more than [-] people left.

King Wei had no choice but to lead the remnant troops along Mianmanshui (Taohe River, Yangquan, Shanxi) to the east to join the main force of Khitan.

Up to this point in the battle, Yelu Deguang divided his troops into two groups, and they all returned in disastrous defeats, leaving only the main force of the Chinese army led by himself.

(End of this chapter)