Kai Fu Han

Chapter 508
"They went west. They have horses and we can't catch up." Liu Zhijie replied, and then introduced the capture process of Yanshan County to Liu Xinqi.

When the four thousand cavalrymen of the Xinghan League arrived at the north gate of Yanshan County, they saw a large number of Jin soldiers escaping from the north gate. After the cavalry dismounted and fired a few rows of guns, the north gate of Yanshan County was controlled.

At that time, the city was already in chaos, leaving two cavalry battalions to guard the north gate. The other cavalry went directly through the city and rushed to the south gate. They happened to see some Jin soldiers still resisting here, blocking Xinghan who wanted to enter the city. Allied infantry.

Attacking from both sides, this part of the crumbling golden soldiers was quickly eliminated.

The army entered the city, and after finally occupying the entire city, they discovered that most of the golden soldiers in the city had fled through the west gate.

"The Jin soldiers in the camp outside the city also fled westward." Liu Xinqi said: "It seems that we will have another big battle."

"Indeed, the main force of the Jin Army is still there, but I don't know if they still have the courage to come and attack actively."

One hundred thousand plus twenty thousand elite cavalry could not defeat the two brigades of the Xinghan League's field army. It is indeed possible for the Jin army to retreat halfway.

……

Many things in this world are evil.

By the time the situation in Yanshan County had stabilized and all the defeated troops in the city had been wiped out, it had already passed Shen hour and it was going to be dark soon.

There are still many corpses outside the city, which can only be dealt with tomorrow. There may be some seriously injured Jin soldiers and civilians inside who are in a coma and are not dead.But the troops of the Xinghan League no longer had the energy to deal with all the corpses one by one.

It is estimated that these unconscious people will not survive the cold nights of early spring.

After the victory in this battle, the Xinghan League finally captured nearly 6 people, including more than 4 civilians and more than 1 gold soldiers.

Liu Xinqi was listening to reports from generals in the county government hall when Xu Zhong walked in from outside.

"The golden soldiers from Qingchi County have returned."

This was the news brought by Xu Zhong. It was the same as what Liu Xinqi and Liu Zhijie said at noon. The Jin army did not dare to come and touch the Xinghan Alliance army which already had a city to rely on.

"Will they escape directly to the north?" Liu Zhijie guessed.

Liu Xinqi looked at Liu Zhijie and murmured in his heart, he might be right again.

"We can't let them run away," Zhao Yinghao said.

"Yes, we can't let them escape after causing such trouble in Cangzhou." A deputy brigade commander also echoed.

"Where have the other two brigades gone?" Liu Xinqi asked.

The Military Intelligence Department was responsible for the rear intelligence of this war. Liu Xinbao stood up and said: "The fifth brigade will arrive the day after tomorrow at the latest, the eighth brigade will arrive one day later than the fifth brigade, and the garrison will need eight days."

Liu Xinqi asked someone to take the map.

It can be seen from the map of Hebei East Road that there are only two ways for the Jin army to retreat north.

One is to go north along the ancient Yellow River Road, pass Qingzhou City, and then go north to Nanjing Road (Yanjing Road) in Qingzhou.

One is to go west from Qingchi County, enter Hejianfu, then go north to Mozhou and Xiongzhou, and then enter Nanjing Road.

There are two roads, the first is quick and easy to be blocked by the Xinghan Alliance troops.The second one is a little roundabout, but it’s safer. "Actually, the Jin Army may not necessarily withdraw north. They have been preparing for more than a year and have gathered so many troops to make life miserable for the people in Hebei just to have a showdown with our Xinghan Alliance. I believe they will not give in easily. "Liu Xinqi said something first: "But it is not ruled out that the commander-in-chief of the Jin Army will have the idea of ​​retaining his strength."

It can be said that the food of the people in Hebei was basically robbed by the puppet Qi and Jin soldiers. Even if the Xinghan League recovered, it would be a big expense to relieve these people in the future.

"Then what should we do next?" Liu Zhijie asked.

We only have 2 people, and we can hardly fight with the Jin army in the field. If we attack the city defended by the Jin army, the losses will be huge.

"Tomorrow you take the Sixth Brigade on your back, bypass Qingzhou City directly, and attack all the fortresses in the north of Qingzhou." Liu Xinqi ordered.

"How to ensure supplies?" Liu Zhijie asked. He was not worried that this critical task would not be completed.

"I will ask the navy to support you from the boundary river. Those cities and villages are basically built on the boundary river, or on the tributaries of the boundary river. Supply will not be a problem." Liu Xinqi replied.

"Yes!"

There are many walled cities in the north of Hebei. These walled cities were built by local wealthy families. Since the Liao Kingdom, the Liao people often crossed the border to plunder. In order to survive, these local wealthy families built small military fortresses along the river.

On the one hand, the river water can be diverted to become a moat, and there is no need to worry about being cut off by the enemy during war.On the other hand, the land beside the river is fertile irrigated land, and building a city along the river can also ensure that these fertile lands are cultivated.

These cities and villages are autonomous by wealthy families, and the government cannot get involved at all. In order to avoid being attacked by the army, these wealthy families will give the government a certain amount of grain tax in order to obtain "autonomy".

The Zhao people originally did not dare to take care of the land guarded by these walled cities. After the Liao people came, they did not want to take care of it as long as they could collect taxes.By the time of the Puppet Qi period, the Puppet Qi government no longer dared to take care of it.

The clans in the Walled City have no concept of a nation-state at all. They just want to survive. No matter who establishes the political power above them, as long as their own "autonomy" is not touched, they are willing to pay according to the regulations.

Some homesteaders and landless peasants with a small amount of arable land gradually became unable to survive as the troubled times continued. In the end, they had no choice but to join the walled city and rely on the wealthy families to survive.

This kind of dependence has led to the growing power of these powerful families. In addition, the powerful families are also united and help each other, which ultimately makes the autonomy of these powerful families more stable.

"What if the Jin army withdraws from Xiongzhou to the north?" Zhao Yinghao asked.

Attacking the city first can only prevent the Jin army from withdrawing from Qingzhou to the north. There is still a Baoding army between Xiongzhou and the city.

"Then there's nothing we can do." Liu Xinqi replied.

Going deep into the interior would not keep up with the logistics and would not be in line with the original intention of the Bohai Rim strategy.

.......
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, at Chen time, the Sixth Field Brigade set off northward, basically along the seaside, only five to ten miles away from the coast, and could obtain naval supplies along the way.

At noon on the sixth day of the first lunar month, the Fifth Field Brigade arrived at Yanshan, and the strength of the Xinghan League field army in Yanshan once again reached 2.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, at noon, the Eighth Field Brigade arrived at Yanshan.

During these three days, the Jin army in Qingchi remained silent. They did not send troops to the east to attack Yanshan, nor did they retreat to the north. A large number of civilians and food in the prefectures and counties controlled by the puppet Qi in the west were forcibly requisitioned to Qingchi. .

Since there were nearly [-] prisoners in Yanshan, Liu Xinqi could only wait patiently for the arrival of the garrison.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Liu Xinqi received intelligence from Wunan on the western front. The puppet regent of Qi led [-] troops to march into Yunzhou, but was blocked by the [-]th Field Brigade led by Wunan in Yanggu County in the west of Yunzhou.

(End of this chapter)