Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 830 Whereabouts of the Liao Army
Hu Sanguang respectfully said yes, when he and His Majesty came from Xiajing more than half a month ago, thousands of elite spies from the Ministry of Security were brought to Yinzhou together, and they have been scattered all over Yinzhou these days. After Hekou County was besieged , Ordinary spies did not have Haidongqing, and once disconnected. At this time, the contact was restored, and naturally it was time for his security department to show its skills.

In fact, since entering Yinzhou, the Liao army has not failed in a real sense.Yinzhou City and Hekou County were not captured, but the strategic goal was not achieved, and the overall loss of troops was actually not that big.As long as so many soldiers and horses are still there, it is possible to capture dangerous cities and defeat the enemy in field battles.

"However, although the main force of the Liao people still exists, their horses' physique and strength may be greatly depleted now, and there should not be too many who can go into battle." Ye Chen said, "You can count, since Xiao Dage's troops left Liao How far have their war horses run in the past month or so since Guowu Prefecture?"

Tang Xingwu followed closely: "Your Majesty, I did the math yesterday, and it's about two thousand miles, and not much less."

"It's still winter," a staff officer added.

Not to mention the journey of the Liao army from Wuzhou through Jiazhou of the Song Dynasty. After breaking through the Daxia Pass, after arriving in Yinzhou, the cavalry of the Liao army plundered back and forth every day, and the horses did not stop. of swag.Every horse in the Liao army has run no less than two thousand miles in the past month, and all of them are carrying heavy loads. The most important thing is that this is winter, and normal war horses cannot bear such hard work.

This is tantamount to letting a person who has been hungry for a whole winter run back and forth with a weight of thirty to fifty catties on his back every day. Even if he can fill his stomach with hay and food during the running, how can his physical condition be improved.

"Your Majesty, after the Liao thieves arrived in Yinzhou, the number of horses that died on the road was not small. Before the Liao army besieged the city, the scouts sent out by the minister reported that at least two hundred horses were found in the surrounding area of ​​Hekou County. , this does not include those discovered by the common people and then hidden and distributed privately, and it does not include the ones eaten by the Liao thieves themselves."

"In addition, in the camp of the Liao army, many broken bones, limbs and internal organs of war horses were found, and they were not completely buried. They were eating dead war horses!" Hu Sanguang said his discovery.

"Compared to the total number, it's actually still a small number." Ye Chen was holding a cup of tea, and concluded, "But the most important thing is not how the horses are? It's because of the particularity of the Liao bandit army. The soldiers' mounts are their own private horses. property."

Those who are doing it are very clear that even the most elite and highest-ranking army in the Liao Kingdom, such as Gong Wei and Pi Shi, all have their own armor, horses and bows and knives.State-owned conscripts, the main soldiers will prepare their own bows and vests to respond to the call.Not to mention the Jingzhou Army brought by Xiao Dage, even more so.

War horses are their own property, and they are one of the most valuable properties.The death of a horse is not only a loss of family property, but also means that there is one less animal power to carry the stolen goods.This loss is great for ordinary Liao soldiers.

Before Xiao Dage was able to use the property in Yinzhou, and even the entire Xiangfu Kingdom as a picture cake, to lead all the troops under his command to come to Xiangfu Kingdom to 'rob'.But now it is not so easy.Not to mention returning in vain, being cut off from the rear, and constantly seeing a large number of casualties around the horses, will inevitably make a large number of Liao generals choose a more conservative plan and lose the will to fight decisively.However, if they were forced to die, and the [-] soldiers of the Liao army fought desperately, the number of troops that Xiangfu Kingdom could dispatch was limited, and the final result was two-sided.

"So, in the early stage, I have ordered all the armies to bite the Liao army, but don't rush to fight with them. The longer it is delayed, the more their horses will die. The Liao army cavalry loses their horses, and their combat power goes away. Mostly."

"Of course, if we can weaken the Liao thieves one more point, victory will be easier for us. I have sent orders before, ordering the soldiers and civilians everywhere to delay the speed of the Liao army's actions as much as possible. If it doesn't work for a day, it will take half a day. If it’s not enough for half a day, then it’s an hour. If it’s not enough for an hour, it’s a quarter of an hour. If you can delay it for a while, then delay it for a while. In short, we must keep the Liao army in Yinzhou, which has been smashed, for as long as possible.”

What Ye Chen didn't say was that he hoped that through the sneak attack and harassment of the guerrillas formed by the special brigade and the rebel army, as well as the cold weather, the lack of food and grass for the Liao army and other natural factors, he would continue to weaken the Liao army, so that the balance of final victory could be more towards himself This side is shifted a bit, sometimes even just a little bit, maybe in the end, it is the key to determining the outcome.

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After all, Ye Chen is the emperor of a country. Now that the biggest crisis in Yinzhou has been resolved, Xiangfu Kingdom, the civil and military courts, and the three empresses in the harem will not allow him to continue taking risks.Although Ye Chen really wanted to try the experience of leading two thousand black knights to fight guerrilla warfare, but in the end he followed suit and chose to go to Yinzhou to take charge of the overall situation.

After resting all night, Ye Chen led two thousand soldiers and horses composed of black cavalry and dark guards to Yinzhou.Tang Xingwu took the initiative to ask for orders to lead the three thousand people he had trained to act as a rebel army to fight guerrilla warfare, and Ye Chen agreed.These 400 people passed through the defense of the city once, and more than 300 people died. Those who survived seemed to have experienced a baptism. In addition, the reward order was still there, and Tang Xingwu, who had excellent eloquence, encouraged them, so except for more than 200 people Apart from unwillingness, more than [-] people were willing to fight guerrilla warfare with Tang Xingwu.Tang Xingwu took this as the capital for his meritorious service and promotion.

During the military meeting, Ye Chen discussed with Tang Xingwu, Hu Sanguang, Lian Jicheng and other staff officers of the military headquarters. Xiao Dage had reached this point, and there were only two options. You can return to the Liao Kingdom by the same route, or use Daxia Pass and Xiangfu Kingdom to bargain.This choice is extremely risky, because with the lessons learned from the collapse of the internal response twice, this time it must be conquered from the front, which is bound to be difficult, and it cannot be conquered in a short time.And during this period, there is a great possibility that the Liao army will be besieged and wiped out by the troops sent by Xiangfu Kingdom.Second, choose other routes, such as going back to Liao through Fuzhou.This choice can take advantage of the fast maneuverability of the cavalry of the Liao army, and Fuzhou has the support of tribal troops.However, there are bound to be a lot of Xiangfu troops blocking them along the way, and it is conceivable that there must be many casualties along the way.

Although the deduction judgment is based on these two results, Ye Chen is not wishful thinking about what the Liao people should do. He asked all the spies from the Ministry of Security to watch every move of the Liao people from all walks of life. At the same time, he searched the surrounding area to prevent Xiao Dage from staying behind. something.

In this process, they received the full assistance of the surviving local people and the rebel army.With a guide who is familiar with geography, the places where soldiers can be hidden can be checked one by one.As an outsider, it is almost impossible for the Liao army to ambush a large number of troops in a hidden place, waiting for Ye Chen to leave the city, and then suddenly appear to surround and kill Ye Chen with few troops around him.

The results of the inspection also proved this point.Xiao Dage and Shi Fat did not procrastinate at all, the Liao army had completely withdrawn from the vicinity of Hekou County, and the 200 Liao troops stationed outside Yinzhou City were also gone.Those who were searched out along the way were only those who left the team with a total of no more than [-] riders, and Ye Chen ordered them to hang them by the side of the road regardless of life or death.

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After Hu Sanguang confirmed that the road was absolutely safe, Ye Chen set off for Yinzhou City.

Xu Kegang led all the officials, soldiers and civilians out of the city to meet him.Ye Chen went to the city to rest and sit in town, using more than a thousand spies from the Ministry of Security and Costin to control the overall situation.

As soon as he arrived in Yinzhou, he received news from Bai Canghai and Yang Jiye respectively.

Liao thieves in the three county towns that were originally in the hands of the Liao thieves had also withdrawn their troops, joined forces with Xiao Dage's main force, and headed northeast to Fuzhou.

During the process, Bai Canghai led a special brigade to attack once at night and twice during the day, beheading nearly a thousand people and injuring 47 people.Huang Dongqiu led a thousand Xuanwu infantry and thousands of rebels to attack twice, beheading more than 400 people, and killed and injured more than 300 people himself.The two successfully slowed down the speed of the Liao army.

The [-] Liao troops who fought Zeng Shangfei received an order that was beyond everyone's surprise. They intended to bypass Zeng Shangfei's troops and go straight to Xiajing. Caught in a war again.It has to be said that this was a good move by Xiao Dage and Shi Fat.If these [-] Liao army cavalry were allowed to leave Yinzhou territory and enter Xiajing, it would definitely cause chaos in the entire Xiangfu Kingdom, and a larger proportion of the army in Yinzhou would have to go back to Xiajing for rescue.In this way, Xiao Dage led the main force to have a greater chance of escaping.Of course, these [-] Liao troops were also abandoned sons.

Xiao Dage and Shifa 2 led 7 troops from Hekou County, plus the troops withdrawn from Yinzhou City and the three counties, a total of nearly 1 troops, together with Yang Jiye, who were confronting nearly [-] troops, a total of nearly [-] troops. With a full blow, they defeated more than [-] people led by Yang Jiye, and then went straight to Fuzhou.

However, their nightmare has just begun.

Empress Dowager Xiao and Xiao Dage hoped that the tribal army of Daowu Prefecture in Xijing would contain Li Guangshun and Zhe Yuxun's Heilang and Zhelan legions in Fuzhou and Jinsu and Ningbian counties, but the result was already doomed. They were very disappointed. Although the tribal army has dispatched more than 3 people to fight grass valleys in Fuzhou, Jinsu, and Ningbian areas these days, there are still [-] people stationed in the Black Wolf Army and Zhelan Army. However, the combat power of the legion had been verified by Zhangjiabao defender Han Tao at the very beginning of the war, and it was much stronger than the tribal army of the Liao Kingdom.And defend according to the city, advance can attack, retreat can defend, go out of the city to fight in the field at any time, and the people in these places also responded to Ye Chen's call, there have been many rebels, and thus there have been strong walls to clear the fields, harassment and sneak attacks by various "guerrillas" etc.

(End of this chapter)