Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 679 Dilemma
At noon, Yeluna also led an army of 11 to an open area with a width of more than ten miles in all directions, and a small village could be seen faintly at the foot of the mountain.

Yeluna also sent orders to the soldiers for local news, and sent people to the village to inquire about the news.

After a while, the cavalry who went to inquire about the news galloped over and reported to Yeluna: "My lord, the village is empty and there is no one there."

"What do you mean, an abandoned village?"

"It's not abandoned. There should have been people living there not long ago, but now everyone has run away."

Yeluna also felt a little uneasy, reminding him of the Song Army's strong walls and clear fields, he immediately said to Yelu Hulu: "Let's go and see!"

The village is small, with only thirty or forty families. There are no wheat fields around, only dozens of acres of vegetable fields. These families should hunt or collect herbs for a living.

Yeluna also went into several households to check carefully. The room was not messy, and all kinds of items were placed in an orderly manner, but the food and valuables were gone.

Yeluna also looked more and more frightened. Just now, he expected that the people here fled in a panic because of the attack of the forward Liao army, but now it seems that there is no sign of fleeing in a hurry at all, it is clear that they retreated calmly.

'Strengthen the wall and clear the field! '

This word also popped up in Yeluna's mind, and he said to Yeluhulu very worriedly, "It is very likely that we were ambushed by the Song army."

Yelu Hulu also saw something was wrong, he frowned and said, "Why didn't Yelu Xinfeng discover this?"

"It is very likely that he passed by here at night and did not find this small village. Look around the village, there is no sign of an army approaching at all. It is also possible that he just sent someone to look and leave when he found no one, but this is not important. , what shall we do now?"

Yeluna also looked at Yeluhulu anxiously, and Yeluhulu was also very embarrassed. Their current positions happened to be on the same level, so he hesitated for a moment and said: "If you go back too far, then keep going forward, it should be very fast." There will be news of Yelu Xinfeng."

Yeluna was also very anxious, and immediately ordered: "Send my order, the whole army must be assembled, and set off immediately!"

Not long after the army set off, Yeluna finally received the news from the forward Yelu Xinfeng that the Song army had hoarded heavy troops at Jingxing Pass, and his army attacked three times in a row, all of which suffered heavy losses. Jingxing Pass was like a fortress of iron and steel.

Yeluna's heart suddenly sank into the abyss. The thing he feared most finally came. The 12 troops fell into the trap of the Song army and were trapped in Jingxing Road.

Yeluna also had chills on his back. If Fan Ning had seen through their strategy long ago, then the [-] sailors on the Eastern Front would be equally at risk.

"My lord, what should we do now?" Yeluhulu asked.

Yeluna also bit his lips tightly and said: "Our army is divided into two groups. General Hu Lu led [-] troops to go back and try to recapture the pass, while I led other troops to continue eastward. No matter what, if we want to attack Jingxing Pass, we will take it as our own." They are attacking Taiyuan."

"Understandable!"

Yeluhulu knew that the problem was serious. If they could not break through the siege, the 10,000+ army would be trapped in Jingxing to death.

The 11 troops were divided into two groups. Yelu Hulu led an army of [-] to fight back to Niangziguan, while Yeluna led the remaining [-] troops to continue to Jingxing Pass.

Jingxingguan is named for its terrain like a well. It is surrounded by high mountains and a small flat land in the middle. If it is enlarged, it will be a basin terrain. Jingxingguan is located on the gap in the east. Looking up from the bottom, it looks like a building A gate on the mountainside, so Jingxing Pass is also called Tumen Pass or Tianmen Pass.

Jingxing Pass is also a defensive system. Contrary to Niangziguan and Guguan, it mainly deals with the enemy troops coming from the west. City walls were built on the steep ridges on both sides, and a castle was built in the middle. This kind of building can accommodate 3000 defenders, but the Song army deployed 3 troops here. Except for the [-] defenders in Jingxing Pass, the other troops were stationed on the east side of the pass, led by the governor Yao Sheng.

The entire 20 troops stationed in Hebei were led by Di Qing, the new Hebei recruitment envoy. They not only invested [-] troops in Jingxing to encircle the main force of the Liao army, but also stationed more than [-] troops in ten major cities. In addition, there are [-] naval troops and thousands of large ships sailing in the Baigou, Yellow River, and Hutuo waters, making it difficult for the Liao army to cross the layers of defense lines in northern Hebei.

Yao Sheng, the governor of the capital, stood on Gaogaoguan City with a long spear in his hand. The Liao army more than a dozen miles away was as insignificant as ants. Yao Sheng's eyes were full of disdain and indifference. Think it's a little too late?

A soldier rushed over, knelt down on one knee and said, "Qibao is in charge, and Zhending County has sent an urgent pigeon letter!"

Yao Sheng took the pigeon letter and unfolded it slowly. It turned out to be a letter written by Fan Ning himself.

Fan Ning did not have much content in the pigeon letter, only a few words, mainly to clarify an order, if all the Liao army surrendered, it is acceptable, but to prevent the Liao country from using surrender to deceive, once such a thing happens, then Don't accept the surrender of the Liao army and completely trap them in Jingxing Road.

Yao Sheng nodded. Fan Xianggong's order was slightly different from that of Deputy Commander Di. Deputy Commander Di pointed out that if the Liao Army falsely surrendered, it would not accept it unless the Liao Army showed sincerity again, and Fan Xianggong simply did not accept the surrender. , but is the other party sincere?

Yao Sheng was more in favor of Fan Ning's plan. If the Liao Kingdom feigned surrender, they would have to pay a heavy price for their actions.

At this time, a low horn sounded from the Jingxing Road in the distance, and the soldiers of the Song Army on the Guancheng stood up and looked into the Jingxing Road, only to see a huge team in the distance, densely packed with black spots of cavalry that could not be seen.

Yao Sheng immediately understood that this must be the main force of the Liao army.

He looked at the sky, it was getting dark, the sky was covered with dark clouds, and there would be no moonlight tonight, so he had to beware of the Liao army attacking the city at night, so he immediately ordered the ballista to be lifted to the top of the city.

Not long after, the Song army brought out dozens of small ballistas from the city. This kind of ballista was about eight feet long and small in size. It could only shoot stones weighing forty to fifty catties fifty steps away. So the range is not required.

In addition to the crossbows, the Song army also brought up boxes of iron fire mines, each with three iron fire mines, which was a great weapon against the Liao army.

Not only that, Yao Sheng transferred [-] soldiers from the back camp, and distributed them on the walls on both sides, so that the defenders of Jingxing Pass reached [-] people, strictly preventing the Liao army from attacking the city at night.

Since there were no lights at night, in order to understand the enemy's situation, Yao Sheng sent another soldier to sprinkle some sirens on half of the mountain road.

The [-] army led by Yeluna finally arrived at Jingxing Pass. Sure enough, as the previous army reported, Jingxing Pass was full of soldiers from the Song Army, leaving Yelunaye's last ray of hope gone.

However, the valley below Jingxing Pass is relatively open, with a width of seven or eight miles, and it can accommodate an additional [-] troops. The soldiers were exhausted, so they ate some dry food and fed the horses some hay and beans. Wrapped, fell to the ground and fell asleep.

There is a certain marching tent on the open ground, which is the only tent carried by the Liao army, and now it has become the large tent of the Liao army's central army.

Yelu Xinfeng was like a bear, with a swollen face and a very fierce appearance. He had a very violent temper and a relatively simple mind. He was kneeling in front of the coach to plead guilty.

Yeluna also stared angrily at the forward general in front of him, wishing he could chop the bastard up with a single knife. He just found out that Yelu Xinfeng had gone to attack Shuque Valley before, and only turned around into Jingxing Road after the attack failed. I arrived one day early and wasted a whole day and a half.

Otherwise, I should have gotten the news before I arrived at the old pass, and I blame this damn bastard!
Of course, Yeluna was looking for an excuse to shirk his responsibility. He knew in his heart that even if the former army found something wrong and sent someone back to report it, it would be too late.

But it is meaningless to shirk responsibility in front of Yelu Xinfeng, Yeluna also gritted his teeth and said, "Then what do you think we should do now?"

Yeluxin said with a full face of shame: "Besides breaking the pass at all costs, I can't think of any other way."

"You didn't send soldiers to look for a way out in the surrounding hills?"

"I sent people to look for it. The Taihang Mountains are all rocky mountains, very steep. Not to mention war horses, even people are difficult to climb. Moreover, the mountains are connected for hundreds of miles, and there is no way to go."

Yeluna also nodded, "The weather is gloomy today, and there will be no stars and moons at night. It is suitable for a sneak attack. Tonight, you lead the army to sneak attack on Jingxing Pass. See if there is any chance of success?"

(End of this chapter)