Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 831 Landmine Warfare

After more than half a month, the tribal army of the Liao Kingdom had suffered one-third of the casualties unknowingly.However, the combined losses of the Heilang and Zhelan armies totaled less than [-].

In fact, if Xiao Dage, the great king of the South Court, had not given them a death sentence before he came, the tribal army would definitely not be able to withdraw before he withdrew.Otherwise, these tribal troops would have already run home with some of the stolen items.

Immediately afterwards, these tribal troops received the news that their lair had been attacked, and they were shocked. Even after receiving the order from Empress Dowager Xiao asking them to respond to Xiao Dage, these tribal troops led people back without much hesitation.Just kidding, my family is gone, and my clan, relatives, and family members have been killed by others, or are facing being exterminated. How can they have the heart to stay in a foreign country and fight with others in the cold winter? Casualties continue to increase. You must know that all the things that can be grabbed by the villages and towns in Fuzhou have been divided up by them. Unless you can conquer the castle, it will only waste food and increase casualties.As for worrying about the punishment of King Xiao Dage or Empress Dowager Xiao of the Southern Academy afterwards, there is no need to think too much about it. There is nothing to be afraid of when the tribes are gone.

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Xiao Dage led the main force to break through from Fuzhou. Ye Chen had notified Yang Jiye, Li Guangshun, and Zhe Yuxun with Haidongqing two days ago when he received the news that Daxia Pass had been withdrawn.The three had already expected that the tribal army would definitely retreat.Therefore, in the past two days, according to Ye Chen's overall strategy, full preparations have been made to intercept Xiao Dage's main force.

In view of the fact that Xiao Dage's troops are still superior in number and are in the current situation of fleeing for their lives and breaking through the siege, although the physical strength and spirit of the men and horses are not good, and it can even be said to be poor, they must be in a state of madness for survival from top to bottom.Under such circumstances, if they fought a frontal field battle with the Liao army, even if the Liao army was defeated, the Xiangfu Kingdom would suffer heavy losses.

Therefore, according to Ye Chen's overall strategic instructions, Yang Jiye, Li Guangshun, and Zhe Yuxun had the same early-stage combat plan as Bai Canghai and Huang Dongqiu. They would attack and harass the Liao army, killing the morale of the Liao army and making the Liao army exhausted.You must know that this is a cold winter, and the Liao army does not have much food and grass in their hands. It can be said that the men and horses are not full, rest well, and wear warm clothes.According to Ye Chen's estimate, in this state, the desperate blood that the Liao army mustered up in order to survive could not last for a few days.In this process, the Liao army suffered a lot of battle damage from the sneak attack plus non-combat attrition. When the Liao army was physically and mentally exhausted and its strength was reduced, it was time for a decisive battle.

Compared with Yinzhou, which is more mountainous, Fuzhou is flat.So in the wilderness, even an army of [-] can be deployed.But all gathered together, it was not convenient to raise food and grass along the way, so the army was divided into two groups with [-] and [-] troops respectively, each led by Xiao Dage and Shi Fatty, with an interval of about [-] li between each other. If there is a war, we can support each other within an hour.

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December [-]st, Yinzhou, Military Assembly Hall.

Ye Chen, Hu Sanguang, Xu Kegang, and Brigadier Wang laid out a map of Fuzhou in front of them.

Hu Sanguang pointed to the map and said: "There are no counties under the rule of Fuzhou, but there are Twelve Army Forts. There is no difference between the counties under the jurisdiction of other prefectures in the country. The Liao army wanted to go through Fuzhou and return to Wuzhou. On the premise of bypassing Fuzhou City, the shortest route would also pass through Sanchuan Fort, Rihe Fort, and Liujia Fort. Only in the borders of the six military forts, Iron Stone Fort, Dafeng Fort, and Zhangjiabao, can we escape from the territory of our Xiangfu Kingdom and return to Wuzhou."

"According to His Majesty's will, Master Bai led the special brigade along the way, Huang Dongqiu and Tang Xingwu led their respective subordinates and rebel troops to harass. The general followed with more than ten thousand troops and carried out sneak attacks according to the situation. State. Each of the more than 1000 spies under my command carries ten stone mines. After determining the marching route of the Liao army, they will plant the mines before the arrival of the Liao army. The Liao army will drive away the sick horse after some people die. , and even try to arrest the people to explore the way, but the speed will inevitably be slowed down a lot. In this way, the general and the two army commanders Li Guangshun and Zhe Yuxun will have enough time to make various arrangements on the road ahead."

Ye Chen nodded and said, "Where is Zhan Xiongwu now?"

Hu Sanguang immediately said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the commander of Zhanxiongwu Army has withdrawn from Wuzhou in accordance with His Majesty's will before the Wuzhou tribal army withdraws from Fuzhou, and detoured to Fuzhou Zhangjiabao to rest and reorganize."

"How many of them are there?"

Hu Sanguang said with some emotion: "Zhan Xiongwu went deep into the Liao territory with an army of [-] alone, and wiped out four medium-sized tribes and seven small tribes in the Liao Kingdom, and conquered two counties. A total of more than [-] beheaded. They were beaten and maimed. Only out of Zhan Xiongwu's ten thousand cavalry came back only four thousand of them."

Ye Chen sighed. Zhan Xiongwu's loss was within his expectations. After all, the Jingzhou army from Wuzhou had almost left Yinzhou and half of the tribal army remained. Nomadic men and women can use horse-drawn bows to kill the enemy at the age of 13. It can be said that all the people are soldiers. This is more than [-] to [-]. Taking advantage of the cavalry's advantages and staying away immediately after a blow has always made it difficult for the Liao army to form a situation of joining hands against the enemy, thus defeating these tribes one by one.

"What's the domestic situation in Liao Kingdom?" Ye Chen asked again.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have just received news from the Liao Kingdom. As Your Majesty expected, after our people spread the news, the Mongols, Rouran, Jurchen and other large affiliated tribes in the north of the Liao Kingdom began to move around. Even the various tribes of the Khitan have changed. Although they have not rebelled openly, many tribes have refused to pay the Liao court for offerings and taxes for various reasons. The army is going to frighten all places, and the only army Empress Dowager Xiao can mobilize now is the army belonging to Brother Yeluxiu who is still besieging Zhenxi Fort and Zhenbei Fort."

"Brother Yeluxiu...Even if the Empress Dowager Xiao asked him to send troops to Babaili to rescue Xiao Dage, he would probably only pretend."

"Give Deng Chongxuan and Zhang Dawei an order from Haidongqing that Brother Yeluxiu led the guards of the Liao Kingdom Palace to become a tired army, and they have been unable to attack for a long time, and their morale will gradually decline. I think they will withdraw soon. After controlling Yeluhan Under the premise of night and Yelulu, the infantry can continue to garrison the castle, and the cavalry can go out of the city to pursue and kill the enemy as much as possible according to the situation."

Hu Sanguang respectfully said yes.

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"boom"

Twenty miles north of Sanchuan Fort.Xiao Dage heard the explosion again, and his face was extremely ugly. It is not known how many stone mines he stepped on.

"Drive those damned people to the front to explore the way." Xiao Dage ordered angrily.

"Your Majesty, we have come all the way. Most of the people have already entered the city, or avoided the army. It is becoming more and more difficult to catch them. If these people can't last for a hundred miles, I'm afraid they will be exhausted."

"Then drive the sick horses to the front. After the sick horses are killed, they can still eat meat. After the sick horses are finished, let the wounded go up. After the wounded die, let each department take the lead. In short, we must not stand still. "I haven't seen Xiangfu Kingdom's army blocking me head-on, Xiao Dage has had an ominous premonition these days, and has a vague feeling that if he doesn't evacuate from Xiangfu Kingdom as soon as possible, he might stay here forever.

Just as Ye Chen and Hu Sanguang guessed, after hundreds of people were killed in the first bombing, Xiao Dage ordered to drive away some sick horses and captured civilians to explore the way. This avoided some casualties, but the marching speed It is still inevitable that it is difficult to speed up.The Liao army also made detours several times, but every time they were detected by the spies from the Ministry of Security in advance, they rushed to the front and planted stone mines.For the Liao army, it can be said that it is impossible to defend against.

A day passed quickly with the sound of explosions and screams, and the two armies of the Liao army only moved forward for more than 40 miles.

In the evening, two Liao troops camped and rested in two villages that were no longer populated.

In the middle of the night, there were several special brigades who were good at moving forward at night and sneaked into the village.Not long after, many places in the Liao army camp in the village caught fire first, and then exploded. At the same time, the main force of the special brigade hiding near the village, Huang Dongqiu and Tang Xingwu's troops, and some rebels took advantage of the chaos in the Liao army. First use the longbow to shoot rockets to cover the projectile, and then start to rush to the camp.However, it took less than a stick of incense to rush in, and when the Liao army got rid of the panic and the whole army counterattacked, they withdrew quickly.Not sure how many ambushes were outside, the Liao army didn't dare to chase them out.Can only stick to the camp.

In this night attack, less than 1000 Liao troops were bombed, burned, and killed, but it triggered a bombing camp in a small area of ​​the Liao army, and the Liao army killed more than 1000 people in the dark.As for injuries, given the medical conditions of the Liao army, in this cold winter months, serious injuries would undoubtedly lead to death. Even minor injuries could only be resigned to fate.

Of course, due to this disturbance, the Liao army could not sleep well one night, and naturally lacked energy and physical strength the next day.

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On a hill three miles away from the resting point of the Liao army, Xue Mijian stared at the busy Liao army with his red eyes.

Their squad is the most proficient in concealment, reconnaissance, and disguise among the thirteen reconnaissance squads of the reconnaissance company of the special brigade. They performed outstandingly when they hijacked the Liao army's grain and grass some time ago. Bai Canghai directly rewarded this reconnaissance with his telescope. class.This time, he was responsible for reconnaissance of the [-] army led by Xiao Dage, and then reported the news to the captain in time.Along the way, they followed the Liao army to Sanchuan Fort in Fuzhou. At this time, there was no shelter near the temporary resting point of the Liao army. They could only observe the movement of the Liao army from a distance. Fortunately, they had binoculars, otherwise they would only be caught blind.

(End of this chapter)