Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 610 Strategies for Trapped Beasts
Although Yelu Kunping was negligent for a while and let the Song army take advantage of the loopholes, he did not get too hot-headed and ordered all [-] troops to pursue the Song army. army, and the other [-] cavalry stood still.

The luggage and the camp were burned, which discouraged him from paving the road, and he could directly lead the army to bypass the east of Baosai City and go to Hejian Mansion.

An hour later, news came from the south that the Caishi army was surrounded by the Song army, and almost all 3000 troops were wiped out. When the cavalry of the Liao army rushed there, there were only more than 3000 soldiers who broke out of the 100 soldiers. Except for more than a thousand people who died, the rest surrendered to the Song army.

Yelu Kunping had no choice but to lead the army to retreat to the north. He originally wanted to take the rest of the army directly to bypass Baosai City and head for Hejian Mansion, but was strongly opposed by the generals.

The food, grass and luggage were all burned. Everyone had only two days of dry food, which was not enough to eat. The horses had no fodder. More importantly, they had to cross the two big rivers, the Shashui River and the Hutuo River. The bridges were demolished by the Song Army. , how did they cross the river?

Yelu Kunping also figured this out. They really had no other choice but to withdraw to Liao.

That night, [-] cavalry and [-] infantry rested in Manshui County, about [-] miles away from the border. Manshui County is a small county. All the people in the city have moved south, and there are only a few hundred empty houses left. After being taken away, the grain was even invisible, and the beams of the house were also taken away, leaving only a ruined wall.

Yelu Kunping didn't dare to cross the border at night. He was worried that the Song army would have an ambush, so he sent more than a hundred spies to the north to investigate the situation. The army was tired and hungry. After entering the city, they ate a little dry food and fed the horses some bean cakes , the soldiers fell asleep.

At five o'clock, Yelu Kunping was suddenly awakened by a commotion. He stood up and asked anxiously, "What happened?"

After a while, a soldier came to report, "General Qi, the city is flooded."

Yelv Kunping was taken aback immediately, and asked, "To what extent is it submerged?"

"To about the knee!"

At this time, their soldiers also shouted, and saw that the water had already flooded over, and all the sheepskins they spread on the ground were submerged.

Yelu Kunping was terrified, and repeatedly ordered: "Pack up and go north immediately!"

Thirty thousand cavalry mounted their horses one after another, and the infantry panicked and rushed out of the city gate first. There was already a vast ocean outside the city. After entering Baigou, the river flooded over, and the water was very strong, so the general retreated quickly!"

"How deep is the water in the north?"

"About Qi Ren's waist is still rising, and Song Jun dug a deep ditch at Longwei Town, which has been submerged by the river. Many of our brothers fell into the ditch and disappeared. I don't know how deep the ditch is. ?”

Yelu Kunping was well aware of the terrain on the other side of the passage. The terrain there was low-lying, and it would definitely be difficult to pass after being submerged, not to mention a ditch was dug.

Going to the west is a mountainous area, even if people can cross the mountains, what about the horses, you can't abandon all [-] horses, and you can go to Hejian Mansion if you go east, but how many big rivers should you cross?

But the rising water didn't wait for him to make a decision, and it flooded his thighs in a blink of an eye, and the soldiers all shouted in fear.

Yelu Kunping had no choice but to grit his teeth and ordered: "Evacuate to the west!"

Thirty thousand cavalry and nine thousand infantry fled desperately towards Dingzhou.
A few months later, the water receded slowly, but a long and narrow lake with a width of seven miles and a length of more than [-] miles was permanently formed between the Song and Liao Dynasties. The Song army called this lake the Longweidang.

Xiao Hannu, the head coach of the Liao army, led the [-] East Route Army from Bazhou across Baigou, all the way south, and went straight to Hejian Mansion. He hardly encountered any obstacles and went directly to Hejian County.

Like Baozhou in the west, Hejian Mansion was built with solid walls and cleared the wilderness. All the houses were destroyed, the trees were cut down, and there was no human habitation for more than 200 miles.

This time, the Song army strengthened the wall and cleared the wilderness, using the line of the Yellow River and the Hutuo River as the boundary. Although not all the trees in the south were cut down, all the people moved south without exception. Army, I believe it will be difficult for the Liao army to cross this line of defense.

The Hutuo River originates from the Taihang Mountains, flows through Zhendingfu, Dingzhou, Qizhou, and Shenzhou from west to east, turns north at Raoyang in Shenzhou, and passes through Hejianfu, Mozhou, Xiongzhou, and Bazhou to the north. State, and finally flows into the Juma River, forming a huge arc, which made it impossible for the West Route Army of the Liao Army to cross the Hutuo River to Hejianfu.

The Hutuo River has a wide surface and can sail a huge ship of 50 shi. In order to make the Hutuo River a natural defense line to prevent the Liao army from going south, and also become the main line of transportation, Fan Ning asked the court to mobilize [-] civilians last winter. An artificial canal with a length of [-] miles was excavated in an abandoned Xiaoliu River. This artificial canal was dug for three and a half months and was only completed ten days ago. It is of great strategic significance.

The reason why the strategy is significant is that this artificial canal connects the Yellow River and the Hutuo River, which not only allows the Yellow River fleet of the Song Army to go north to enter the Hutuo River through it, but also prevents the Liao Army cavalry from going south.

The only thing to worry about is winter, when the river freezes, the Hutuo River and the Yellow River will lose their defensive functions. However, the distance between the Hutuo River and Baigou is [-] miles, and the cavalry needs supplies along the way. A big city is needed as a logistics center.

This is why the Liao army first captured Baosai City. With Baosai City as a logistical supply, it would be much easier to attack Hejian City or continue southward.

Of course, Yelu Hongji's strategy was to capture Hejian Mansion and use Hejian Mansion as a logistics center for the Liao army to go south.

In terms of county size, Hejian County is slightly inferior to Zhending County, but when it comes to population size, it is the second largest county on Hebei Road after Daming County, with a population of more than [-] and a circumference of more than [-] miles. The city wall is three feet high, tall and strong, with wide walls and thick gates. It is known as the strongest city in northern Hebei.

Hejian County currently has 3 garrisons and 5 militiamen. It is also the location of the Hebei Xuanfu Office, the Liao Army Military Office, and the Hebei Logistics Military Capital Camp. The coach Fan Ning is currently in Hejian County.

Not only did the Liao army want to capture the thief first, capture the king, and seize Fan Ning, but Hejian County had 80 shi in food alone, countless military resources and armor, and hundreds of thousands of military salaries, including 1000 silver. Wan Liang, the Liao Kingdom obtained this information through the spies in the city, how could it not make them salivate.

This morning, Fan Ning was standing on the top of the city in the far north of the Liao army camp. Three days ago, the Liao army also launched a tentative attack on Hejian City. After losing more than 200 people, it stopped. In the offensive, the Song army did not use iron fire mines in the battle, but burned more than [-] siege ladders with fierce oil, forcing the Liao army to retreat.

For three days, the Liao army did not launch an offensive against the Song army again, but Fan Ning knew very well that the opponent was waiting for news from Baozhou.

Thinking of Baozhou, a sneer appeared on the corner of Fan Ning's mouth. The Liao army in Baozhou would not be able to get through, so he wanted to see how the Eastern Route Army could withdraw?
The Song Dynasty navy has blocked Baigou, the floating bridge has been burned, and the logistics supply has been cut off. Unless they can capture a strong city and get supplies, they can only last for two months at most.

The Liao army still used traditional combat methods to deal with the Song army, but their opponent was Fan Ning who abandoned the traditional tactics. Supplies were obtained in the territory of the Song Dynasty, and this was when the Liao army's southern invasion gradually evolved into a battle of trapped beasts.

The Liao army did not realize this at this time. They were surrounded by the Hutuo River to the west, the Yellow River and the artificial Hutuo River to the south, the Yellow River to the east, and Baigou to the north. They were actually surrounded by a land of about 10 square kilometers. In fact, only the four strong cities of Hejian County, Renqiu County, Ba County, and Qingshui County have population and food, but the Song Army has [-] troops in the garrison, and there are also [-] water troops and [-] thousand stone warships. Ships control several important rivers.

At this moment, Yang Wenguang walked quickly to Fan Ning's side and said, "Xiaozhi has a bold idea, please refer to Mr. Fan."

"Old General, please speak!"

Yang Wenguang said: "Currently there are only [-] garrisons in Yi County. I suggest that a surprise army be sent to capture Yi County and completely disrupt the deployment of the Liao Kingdom."

The reason why Yang Wenguang proposed this plan was because they received a letter from Yang Gui in the morning. The main force of the Liao army was deployed on the front line of Pingzhou to deal with the threat of the Song navy. The Han army dominates.

Fan Ning smiled slightly: "The capture of Yi County will inevitably lead to a massive counterattack from the Liao Kingdom. We have to consider whether we can hold on?"

Yang Wenguang quickly said: "Yi County is located in a mountainous area, and the county seat itself is built on a high place with huge stones. I believe that they will support the Song Army, and once we occupy Yi County, we can send food to Yi County through Yishui, as long as there is enough food for one year, I believe Liao Kingdom will not be able to take Yizhou back.”

Yang Wenguang saw that Fan Ning was a little tempted, and immediately said: "As long as my husband agrees, I am willing to lead an army of [-] to go north to capture Yi County."

Fan Ning pondered for a moment, since the Liao army in Baozhou couldn't get through, then his own [-] troops would be enough to defend the city, and if he could take Yi County while it was empty, it would be a good move.

Of course, there is also a great risk here, maybe the entire army of [-] troops will be wiped out, Fan Ning weighed it for a long time, and finally nodded.

"Okay! I can accept your proposal."

After a pause, Fan Ning smiled again and said, "I suggest you take a dozen more door craftsmen to Yizhou."

(End of this chapter)