I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 560: Take a gamble! Su Liang: I predicted his prediction of me

The third day of November.

It was the sixth day that the Song army besieged the Liao capital, Linhuang Prefecture.

It's freezing cold.

The heavy snow fell like goose feathers.

The Song army camp was covered in white, and everyone was hiding in their tents to avoid the cold.

Fortunately, Wang Yaochen, the Third Commissioner, had made preparations in advance and sent a large number of cotton clothes, quilts and charcoal to the army.

At this moment, in the central army tent.

Han Qi and Fu Bi sat in front of the stove, warming themselves by the fire and drinking hot water.

"Why hasn't Jingming arrived yet? There's a blizzard raging, and not only do they have no cotton clothes or quilts, they also have to march quickly. The journey must be very difficult!" Fu Bi said.

Han Qi turned over the sparking charcoal and said, "Yes! Jingming went deep behind enemy lines and annihilated the Jurchens, and even risked his life. It was not easy! Fortunately, this war that has lasted for a year is about to end!"

Fu Bi nodded.

As long as Linhuang Prefecture is captured and Yelu Hongji is taken down, the Liao Kingdom will be finished.

As for the remaining areas, we can divide our troops into several groups and occupy them quickly.

at this time.

A soldier entered the tent and said excitedly, "General Fu, General Han, Chief Minister Su is here!"

Fu Bi and Han Qi were overjoyed and quickly got up to greet him.

Fu Bi said to the soldiers standing by, "Prepare hot water, charcoal fire, cotton clothes, quilts and tents immediately."

……

Outside the tent.

Su Liang appeared in front with five hundred Longyu soldiers and five thousand Song cavalry.

Su Liang was wearing a thick grey robe, the corners of which were sticking out stiffly and covered in ice chips.

At this moment, he had almost lost all feeling in his feet.

My hands are also a little red, swollen and cracked.

The heavy snow for several days caused frostbite on the soldiers and horses.

Their clothes were thin, they had little charcoal, and they were all very tired after marching all the time.

At this time.

Fu Bi and Han Qi walked on the snow and ran quickly towards Su Liang.

"Jingming!"

"Jingming!"

When they saw Su Liang, they shouted excitedly.

Su Liang immediately greeted him with a smile. They both knew how difficult these days had been, but now they had all gotten through it.

Just as the three of them were about to have a big hug.

Wow!

Fu Bi suddenly slipped and tackled Su Liang.

The two of them lost their balance and fell to the ground. When Han Qi went to help Fu Bi, he slipped and also fell to the ground.

Xu Mang and Liu Sandao, who were not far away, were startled and ran over quickly.

The three of them sat on the ground, looking at each other's miserable appearances, and burst into laughter almost at the same time.

They laughed so loudly that the surrounding soldiers couldn't help laughing out loud as well.

This is the laughter of impending victory.

Lean slightly.

Xu Mang and Liu Sandao helped the three people up.

"Go, go, go, let's go to the tent and warm up. I have ordered people to provide hot water and cotton clothes for the soldiers!" said Fu Bi.

……

After a while.

The soldiers led by Su Liang were all settled into warm tents, and Su Liang even changed into brand new cotton-padded clothes and cotton shoes.

Fu Bi also put his thick sheepskin coat on Su Liang.

In the Chinese army's tent.

Su Liang was roasting a fire and drinking hot water, with meat on the side.

He ate with great relish.

Fu Bi looked at the still obvious scar on Su Liang's neck and said, "Jingming, we were all very worried when we learned that you were stabbed by the Jurchens and your neck was cut. If you hadn't reported to the emperor that there was no problem, the emperor would have asked me to bring an army to forcibly take you back to Yanyun to recuperate!"

Su Liang smiled and said, "I am blessed with a long life. Now it's time for us to enjoy our life. How can anything happen to me?"

"Hahahaha..." Fu Bi and Han Qi couldn't help laughing out loud.

……

Half an hour later.

Fu Bi and Han Qi told Su Liang about the situation in Linhuang Prefecture in Shangjing.

At that time, there were 80,000 Liao soldiers and more than 100,000 civilians in the city. According to the scouts' report, since the Song army began to besiege the city, the food in the city would be enough for at most ten days.

It was now the sixth day of the siege.

The plan of Fu and Han was to first besiege the enemy for half a month, wait for them to get tired, and then attack the city. If the heavy snow continued after half a month, they would wait until the snow stopped before attacking.

At this moment, the snow all over the sky has turned into a snow disaster.

There is not enough charcoal in Linhuang Prefecture, so they may have to dismantle houses and chop firewood. The colder the weather, the more food they will need. Once some people are extremely hungry or frozen, there is a high probability that civil unrest will break out.

Su Liang nodded in approval.

It is not suitable to fight on such a snowy day. The Song army has sufficient food and grass, and the rear can continue to deliver them, so besieging the city is the best strategy.

……

And this moment.

Linhuang Prefecture, inside a huge mansion.

Yelu Hongji stood in the hall, looking at the heavy snow outside the door and pacing back and forth.

He did not expect that his soldiers were so weak, even worse than their performance in the Battle of Yanyun, while the Song army became more and more courageous as the battle went on.

At the moment, he only has three options.

First, after the snow, they would have a decisive battle with the Song army. If they were defeated, Liao would be destroyed, but if they won, Liao could survive for a while longer.

However, the probability of the Liao army winning was too low.

Second, surrender.

This was almost impossible for Yelu Hongji. He never cared about the lives of civilians. He would rather kill all his soldiers and civilians than admit defeat.

Third, break out. Hide in the mountains and forests, replenish strength, and rise again.

at this time.

The prime ministers of the Northern and Southern Palaces, Xiao Weixin and Yao Jingxing, walked quickly to the front of Yelu Hongji.

"Your Majesty, the snow is heavy and the weather is very cold. Food and charcoal are running low. Someone suggested killing the war horses for food!"

Yelu Hongji glared and said, "Whoever dares to kill the warhorse, I will kill him first!"

"Your Majesty, the Song army is besieging the city. Su Liang, who was responsible for exterminating the Jurchens, has also led his troops outside the city. They are obviously waiting for us to run out of food before they attack the city. By then, I'm afraid we won't have any chance of winning!"

"Besides, the roads are now frozen, making it difficult for the cavalry to move forward. This is very disadvantageous for us!"

"I suggest that we immediately organize soldiers and civilians and find a suitable opportunity to break out. As long as we can escape from here and as long as we Khitans are not killed, we still have a chance to make a comeback!" Xiao Weixin said seriously.

Yao Jingxing added: "Yes! Your Majesty, the Song army can afford to delay, but we can't!"

"No, I don't want to escape. I want to fight the Song army again. As long as we can win this time, we can turn the tables!" said Yelu Hongji.

Hearing this, Xiao Weixin and Yao Jingxing knelt down on the ground.

"Your Majesty, is it possible... is it possible that the Liao Dynasty will be destroyed in our hands? Do you want to be the king of a lost country? We can't fight anymore. We still have tens of thousands of soldiers. We can escape to the deep mountains and old forests. The Song army cannot stand the cold. We can hide until the beginning of next spring, and then we can recruit soldiers and recover the land and cities we have lost!"

"This time, we can let the men go first, and leave the old, weak, sick and disabled behind. For the sake of the Liao Dynasty, we can sacrifice those who have no fighting ability, and there is still a great chance of successfully breaking through."

……

"boom!"

Yao Jingxing knocked his head to the ground, tears streaming down his face.

When Yelu Hongji heard the words "the king of a fallen country", he felt a great sense of sorrow in his heart.

Once upon a time, his ideal was to become the most wise emperor of the Liao Kingdom.

He reformed the country to enrich Liao and incorporated the Song Dynasty into Liao territory. He also thought about treating the people well and reforming the civil service, so that the people of Liao would praise him and the history books of later generations would praise him.

but.

When he first ascended the throne, the national conditions of the Liao Kingdom and the threat from the Song Dynasty did not allow him to become a wise and virtuous emperor.

He felt angry.

He didn't want to run away, didn't want to admit that he had failed.

But the reality is that he is about to become the king of a fallen country.

Yelu Hongji thought for a moment and said, "Let me think about it for a while. I will give you an answer before tonight."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Yao Jingxing and Xiao Weixin were in tears, feeling unwilling, but had to compromise.

……

On the fifth day of November, in the early morning, the sun, which had not been seen for many days, rose from the east.

The ice and snow are melting.

By noon, the sunlight became increasingly stronger and the temperature rose a lot, which also made the Song Dynasty soldiers feel much better.

At this time.

A general stationed at the front line of Linhuang Prefecture in Shangjing came to the central military tent on horseback.

"General Fu, General Han, and Minister Su, half an hour ago, many Liao soldiers were added to the tower of the enemy's south city gate. There were frequent movements inside the city gate. The Liao army may be coming out of the city to fight!"

Fu Bi said excitedly: "Yelü Hongji finally couldn't hold on any longer. It's not easy to fight a siege, but if the enemy wants to leave the city, it will be easy to fight!"

At this time, Han Qi frowned slightly.

"Is it possible that this is Yelu Hongji's strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, not a decisive battle, but an escape?"

"You mean, the decisive battle out of the South Gate is fake, and the real purpose is to escape from the North Gate."

Fu Bi nodded slightly and continued, "It is very likely. The north gate is close to the wilderness, which is the best direction for them to break out. However, he chose to fight us at the south gate, which is indeed contrary to common sense. If there were 150,000 soldiers in the city, Yelu Hongji would still dare to fight us head-on, but he only has 80,000 soldiers, and their combat effectiveness is not high. Doing so is like an egg hitting a stone!"

"I suggest that we deploy more troops at the north gate."

Han Qi continued, "If the enemy does not fight but breaks through, we will disperse our forces to the north and south gates, which may allow Yelu Hongji to lead a small number of Liao troops to escape."

At that time, there were 100,000 Song troops stationed in Linhuang Prefecture (excluding the troops led by Su Liang) and they were stationed at eight gates, with 20,000 soldiers at each of the north and south gates and 10,000 soldiers at each of the other six gates.

The South Gate and the North Gate are farther apart.

If the Liao army was just bluffing and pretending to fight the Song army at the South Gate, but actually wanted to escape from the North Gate, then when the Song army concentrated its forces towards the North Gate, the South Gate would become the biggest loophole.

Fu Han and his men had planned to attack the city after the snow melted, but they did not expect that the Liao army would break out at this time.

At that moment, there was a lot of snow and it was difficult to ride a horse, so breaking out was not a good strategy.

The two of them were focused on capturing Yelu Hongji.

Unexpectedly, the other side was unwilling to fight a decisive battle even though they still had 80,000 soldiers, and directly turned the Song army's siege into their own breakout battle.

At this time, Su Liang said: "You two, do you want to make a bet?"

"How to bet?" The two looked at Su Liang.

Su Liang said: "I know Yelu Hongji."

"He is very smart and good at learning. If I am right, he must have guessed that we would guess that his decisive battle at the South Gate was fake and his breakout at the North Gate was real."

"So, I don't think he will break out from the north gate."

"If he chooses to break out, he will be completely defeated. He will linger on and become a bandit. This is not in line with Yelu Hongji's character. He has never admitted defeat and will never admit defeat!"

"I predict that he will order the people in the city, the nobles of the Khitan tribes, and a small number of Liao soldiers to break out from the north gate, but this is actually a cover. He wants to use the lives of these people, and even the lives of the prime ministers of the North and South Palaces, Xiao Weixin and Yao Jingxing, in exchange for our wrong judgment and transfer heavy troops to the north gate."

"By then, he will lead his elite troops to charge out from the south gate, aiming at our central army tent. He wants to capture the three of us. If he fails, he will run away. His desire to defeat me is more important than anything else!"

"I'm 80 percent sure he would do that. I know him and I know what he's thinking."

Fu Bi and Han Qi were a little confused.

Soldiers who, deception also.

Su Liang's words anticipated Yelu Hongji's prediction about Su Liang.

"Let's take a gamble! If we win and capture Yelu Hongji, we can declare that we have successfully destroyed Liao. Maybe, we can even celebrate this year's New Year's Eve in Bianjing."

"If I lose the bet, it will be my fault, Su Liang. I am willing to go to the deep mountains and forests to capture Yelu Hongji."

Fu Bi and Han Qi looked at each other and puffed out their chests.

"You can give it a try. If the bet is wrong, the three of us will go to the deep mountains and forests to capture Yelu Hongji!"

The two of them trusted Su Liang very much.

In addition, if the bet is won, it will reduce the casualties of many Song Dynasty soldiers.

……

At dusk that day, Fu Bi and Han Qi issued military orders to all the generals.

When the intelligence of a breakout at the north gate came, they would pretend to go to the north gate first. Then, except for the 20,000 Song troops at the north gate, all other soldiers would gather at the south gate and do their best to destroy all the Liao troops rushing out of the south gate.

……

Late at night, the snow turned into ice.

It was quiet inside and outside Linhuang Prefecture.

Make an appointment for midnight.

Yelu Hongji appeared on the city wall of the South Gate.

At this moment, 60,000 Liao soldiers were stationed in the south of the city.

The prime ministers of the North and South Palaces, Xiao Weixin and Yao Jingxing, led 20,000 Liao soldiers and tens of thousands of Liao nobles and appeared in the north of the city.

On the side, there was Yelu Hongji’s imperial flag and the person disguised as Yelu Hongji.

At this moment, these Liao nobles only knew that they had to break out tonight, and Yelu Hongji asked them to leave from the north gate. They did not know that Yelu Hongji was using them as bait.

Only Xiao Weixin and Yao Jingxing knew what Yelu Hongji was going to do.

They didn't expect Yelu Hongji to be so crazy, but this might be the only chance to save the Liao Kingdom.

They chose to sacrifice themselves.

A quarter of an hour later.

Xiao Weixin shouted loudly: "All Khitan soldiers, listen to my orders and break through!"

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!
Suddenly, arrows rained down from the north gate, and at the same time, bursts of shouting were heard, sounding like there were tens of thousands of Liao soldiers.

The imperial flag of the Liao emperor Yelu Hongji was also fluttering on the city wall, and Xiao Weixin and Yao Jingxing also kept showing up on the city wall.

This kind of formation clearly shows that the entire army is trying to break out.

Soon, the Song Dynasty soldiers surrounded them and conveyed orders with military flags.

Half an hour later.

When Yelu Hongji saw that the guards in the south of the city were all heading towards the north of the city, he couldn't help but be overjoyed.

"Haha...Su Liang, I have anticipated your thoughts. This time, you lose! When I catch you, I will definitely humiliate you. You are not the only smart person in the world!"

At this moment, Yelu Hongji was extremely proud and felt that he had finally defeated Su Liang once.

He said to the soldiers beside him: "Wait another half an hour, lead all the surrounding Song troops to the north gate, then we will go to seize the Song army's central camp and try to capture Fu Bi, Han Qi and Su Liang alive."

"If we can't find them within an hour, we will grab food and then flee south and hide in the mountains and forests. We are better than the Song army in surviving in this cold winter!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." All the generals bowed.

Soon, the battle at the north gate broke out. After the Liao army rushed out of the city, the Song army concentrated on long-range shooting, and then surrounded and killed them.

Xiao Weixin and Yao Jingxing stood on the city wall, looking at the night illuminated by fire and snow. At first they were determined to die, thinking that it was worth it to sacrifice their lives in exchange for a group of Liao soldiers breaking through.

Unexpectedly, after a moment, they felt something was wrong.

Half an hour had passed, and not a single reinforcement had arrived at the north gate.

"Oh no!" Yao Jingxing was a little panicked.

And this moment.

Fu Bi, Han Qi and Su Liang were also very nervous.

If the bet goes wrong, the North City Gate will have 20,000 men against 80,000 men, and the Song army will suffer heavy losses.

Another quarter of an hour passed.

Liu Sandao ran over excitedly and said, "The south gate is open, a large number of Liao troops are rushing out!"

"Prepare for a siege!" Fu Bi said excitedly.

Su Liang and Han Qi also breathed a sigh of relief.

Now, Yelu Hongji was like meat that was delivered to his mouth, and he had to be eaten.

(End of this chapter)