A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 975: Cutting off from the outside world and going to the fifth round, Jicheng is in trouble and reaps the benefits

On the night of September 13, the eighth year of the Tianyou reign of the Tang Dynasty, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.
The heavy city gates of Jingzhou Jingcheng, which had been on the front line resisting the Song army, slowly opened.

A point of fire appeared on the dark top of the city wall, shaking continuously, three circles to the left, two circles to the right, and two circles to the left.

Not long after, a dark mass suddenly appeared outside the originally silent city, and only the sound of armor colliding could be heard.

"Bang!" A cannon sounded outside the city, and shouts of killing rose out of nowhere.

"Report ~, General, the east gate has been breached, and the Song army has entered the city." At the guard's mansion, as the cavalry came to report, Jingcheng guard general Pang Quan was shocked and furious.

Pang Quan, wearing a white undergarment, grabbed the collar of the soldier in front of him and shouted angrily, "How could the enemy break through the gate so quickly?"

The soldier was frightened by Pang Quan and turned pale. He stammered, "Sun Xuan, the commander of the East Gate, had already colluded with the enemy and opened the city gate under cover of darkness, letting the Song army in. That's why the city gate was breached so quickly."

Pang Quan let the man go, and while he was being helped by his personal soldiers to make armor, he cursed: "I have already written to the court, saying that Sun He is dead and his descendant Sun Xuan cannot be kept, but there has never been a reply...."

After he was fully dressed in armor and out of the mansion, Pang Quan, hearing the sounds of fighting getting closer and closer from the east, jumped on his horse, took dozens of his personal cavalrymen, left the defenders in the city, and went out from the north gate.

At dawn the next day, the sounds of fighting in the city had already stopped.

A rider came from the city. When he arrived in front of Bai Xingjian, he immediately dismounted, knelt on one knee and said, "The enemy troops in the city have been cleared. Please enter the city, General."

Bai Xingjian nodded, and led thousands of soldiers behind him to slowly enter the fortified city that had blocked their way for months.

September

On the second day after Bai Xingjian attacked and captured Jingcheng, Li Cunqian, the commander of the Song army, personally led an army of 20,000 and defeated the Qianning army of Yan State stationed more than 30 miles northeast of Jingcheng, beheaded more than 2,000 people and captured 10,000 enemies.

At this point, there was no longer any organized army south of Tuoshui River in Yan State.

September 21

The Song army captured Yingzhou and all the remaining counties surrendered.

September 29
The Song army crossed the Tuoshui River from Wen'an, Mozhou, and arrived at the south bank of the Juma River, Ba County.

At this time, Liu Shouguang, who was still immersed in the joy of being proclaimed emperor, finally sent a large army south to the north bank of Juma River, facing the Song army across the water.

On the south bank of the Juma River is the Song army camp.

The cavalry in the camp galloped back and forth, delivering military orders, and the soldiers were all in a hurry. A murderous atmosphere rushed from the camp into the sky.

This is the momentum that only elite soldiers can have.

In the central military tent, Li Cunqian, Bai Xingjian and Cui Shaojie were discussing a cowhide drawing.

"According to the spies, the enemy commander is Qi She, the right prime minister of the pseudo-Yan State, and he leads about 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers and horses. However, from my observation, most of them are able-bodied men and herdsmen."

"Only the 10,000 cavalrymen from Khitan and Tuyuhun, and the 5,000 imperial guards from Yan are worthy of our attention."

Bai Xingjian had already arranged for scouts to march out at night, find a narrow place to cross the river, and risk their lives to obtain the aforementioned intelligence. The price they paid was hundreds of elite cavalry.

Li Cunqian looked at the endless stream of giant horse water in the picture with a serious face.

Although this water is not as big as the Zhang River, it is also a big river.

Even if the enemy only has 15,000 available soldiers, don't forget that they are almost all cavalry, and they are grassland cavalry who are skilled in archery and horse riding.

"It's difficult. With the help of the Khitans and Tuyuhun, our army may not be able to cross the river easily in a short period of time."

"If this takes too long, there may be changes."

Hearing Li Cunqian's words, Cui Shaojie had an idea in his mind: "General Li is worried that the Jin army will intervene."

"Otherwise, given the wealth of our Song State, it would be effortless even if we confronted them for years."

Li Cunqian exclaimed: "Just as General Cui said, if the army stays here for a long time, the Jin State will surely take advantage of it."

Cui Shaojie smiled and said, "In that case, why not open up a second battlefield?"

"You mean joining the army?" Bai Xingjian and Li Cunqian looked at each other, and then a smile appeared on their faces.

October st

The Song army tried to cross the river but was destroyed by the Yan army, leaving hundreds of corpses on the north bank. The situation was hopeless, so they withdrew to the south bank.

Over the next few days, the Song army did not take any action. Instead, they cut down trees and set up camp, preparing for a prolonged confrontation.

Upon seeing this, Qi She, commander of the Yan army, also ordered his troops to cut down trees and set up camp. He also arranged countless cavalry to guard along the upstream and downstream of the Juma River to prevent the Song army from sneaking across the river.

However, what he didn't expect was that the Song army's circle was a bit too big.

On October 13, Song general Bai Xingjian led 10,000 cavalrymen all the way to the end of Juma River, Wuhui Mountain, and crossed the Yishui River at night from Wuhui Section.

The next morning, they attacked Yicheng, the capital of Yizhou, and Yizhou fell into the hands of the Song army.

Without Yizhou, we can, on the one hand, take Jicheng from the east of Fanyang, and on the other hand, cut off the Jin army's route to the east through Feihu Pass.

October 16

Bai Xingjian left the capital commander Shen Bian with 3,000 men stationed in Yicheng.

He led the remaining 8,000 cavalrymen to cross the Lai River to the east and capture Fan Yang.

On one hand, Fan Yang was in a state of emergency, and on the other hand, the main force of the Song army was trying to cross the Juma River. The Yan army was fighting on both sides and could hardly hold on.

October 23
Liu Shouguang took into consideration the solidity of Jicheng and the sufficient food and grass in the city.

In order to prevent unnecessary losses, he ordered Qi She to withdraw to Jicheng.

October 24

The Song army crossed the Juma River.

October 25
Li Cunqian sent 5,000 infantrymen to Fan Yang to help Bai Xingjian break the city.

October 30

Li Cunqian captured Huichang, Gu'an, Changzhou, Guangyang, Wozhou, Longhuo and other cities along the way and arrived at the foot of Jicheng.

Looking at this majestic city, even with Li Cunqian's military energy, he couldn't help feeling that he had no idea where to start.

Furthermore, although our troops are elite, they only have more than 50,000 people, so a strong attack is impossible.

"It seems that we have no choice but to surround them," Li Cunqian thought.

"Pass the order down. Dig deep trenches, build high walls, and erect wide wooden fences. Be sure to surround Jicheng for me. Don't let anyone escape."

At the foot of Jicheng, Li Cunqian pointed at the tall city wall of Jicheng and gave instructions to the generals on his left and right.

Subsequently, with Jicheng as the center, a commander was appointed in each of the eight directions of east, south, west, north, southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest to be responsible for the defense of that area.

An army of 50,000 strong set up more than ten camps outside Jicheng City, surrounding it so tightly that not even birds could get in or out.

Any bird that flew out of the city would be shot down by the sharpshooters stationed on the high platform outside the city arranged by Li Cunqian.

Ensure that Jicheng is isolated from the world.

At the same time, far away in the Prince of Jin's Mansion in Taiyuan, Li Cunxu's handsome face turned red when he listened to the news reported by the spy, and it was obvious that he was very angry.

When the spies went down, Li Cunxu could no longer bear it: "This is too much bullying. The old thief Baijian is so shameless."

Although Li Cunxu and Bai Jian are cousins ​​and Li Cunxu is more than ten years younger than Bai Jian, this is obviously not the time to discuss family ties.

After a tantrum, Li Cunxu looked at Bai Zelu who had been silent, and asked, "Master, what do you want to teach me?"

Bai Zelu, as Li Keyong's counselor, was the most prominent celebrity in Hedong and the greatest master left in Jinbai Academy.

Although Bai Zelu is a member of the Bai family, according to the Bai family's conclusion that morality comes first, since he has entered the Jin Mansion, as long as it does not harm the interests of the family, he should put the client first.

The Bai family members clearly distinguish between family and country.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Although Duke Song has taken the lead, it is not without benefit."

"Now that the King of Yan is under siege in Jicheng, and the main force of the Song army is unable to move, it is the best time for the King to reap the benefits."

Li Cunxu asked, "Are you saying that while the Song army was in Jicheng, they took Yizhou and other prefectures of Yan State?"

Shaking his head, Bai Zelu explained: "No matter what, the king's strength has not recovered at this time, and he still needs to rely on the Song army to contain the Liang Kingdom. He must not make enemies with it."

"Although we cannot make enemies, a part of the grassland cavalry and most of the Yan army are trapped in Jicheng."

"Your Majesty can accept the prefectures and counties north of Jicheng, as well as the tribes on the grassland."

"This way, we won't have to confront the Song army, and we can also gain some benefits."

Li Cunxu nodded: "Although it is a little less, the loss is not big either. Well, let Baijian get the advantage this time."

November 5th

Li Cunxu, King of Jin, sent Zhou Dewei with 30,000 troops from Yunzhou to attack Guizhou in the north of Yan State, as well as the Khitan and other grassland tribes that were dependent on Yan State.

(End of this chapter)