Across the Water Margin: Officials of Ximen

Page 536

After a secret discussion between Guo Yaoshi and Yang Keshi, he decided not to return to the camp in Liangxiang County to throw himself into the trap, but to flee to Zhuozhou City with the remnant army of more than 400 people.

Zhuozhou City is the base camp of Guo Yaoshi, where he still has tens of thousands of soldiers and several confidant generals.As long as Yang Keshi returns to Zhuozhou City with him, he will be safe and not afraid of being framed by Liu Yanqing.

Guo Yaoshi and Yang Keshi made up their minds that after returning to Zhuozhou City, they should go to Taiwei Tongguan to file a complaint, so that Taiwei Tongguan and even His Majesty the Emperor in Bianliang City in Tokyo will know That Yanjing city was gained and then lost, the right and wrong of it.

After the victory of the Liao Army in Yanjing City, Xiao Qian, the king of the Fourth Army, handed over Yanjing City to Empress Dowager Xiao and Zuo Qigong and others to restore it. Compete with Liu Yanqing's army.

Yelu Dashi and other lieutenant generals gritted their teeth and vowed to defeat the Song army and avenge the compatriots in the city after learning of the tragic massacre of the Khitan people in Yanjing City by the Song army.

The Liao Army's heart ignited raging anger, there was no need for Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi to mobilize again, the morale of everyone in the camp was greatly boosted, and they only wanted to fight the Song Army to the death.

The generals of the Liao army were eager to fight, but Xiao Qian calmed down instead, restraining the generals not to act rashly.

Xiao Qian thought that the soldiers had to hold back a bit more, when their eyes glowed green and they screamed, it would not be too late to let them out to fight the Song army.

In this way, the Song and Liao armies faced off on the south bank of the Lugou River.

Xiao Qian ordered people to bring out Zhao Duanfu, the literary officer of Guo Yaoshi who was captured in Yanjing, and took out the armored mounts of Guo Yaoshi and Yang Keshi, and showed them to the Song Army outside the Song Army's camp.

Xiao Qian laughed at Song Jun before the battle and said: "This king has wiped out all the Song troops who attacked Yanjing, and the two generals you are waiting for have already surrendered to this king.

Liu Yanqing, when will you imitate them and ride a horse to vote for the king? "

Xiao Qian did this, of course, to make fun of Liu Yanqing and to distract the Song army.

At this time, Liu Yanqing had learned that Yang Keshi and Guo Yaoshi had fled back to Zhuozhou City, and was secretly writing a letter to sue him for not saving him, which caused Song Jun to miss the opportunity to take Yanjing City.

Liu Yanqing is not afraid to fight this lawsuit with Yang Keshi in the court. You Yang Keshi only know that your thousands of troops are besieged and need to be rescued, but you know that my son Liu Guangshi encountered tens of thousands of Liao troops in the wild and almost fell into an ambush ?

If my son hadn't used his soldiers like a god and escaped safely from the encirclement of the Liao army with a large army, tens of thousands of soldiers would have been lost outside the city of Yanjing.

Is it important for you, Yang Keshi's thousands of people, or the tens of thousands of children of Song Dynasty?

Lost Yanjing City can be regained, lost tens of thousands of horses, this Northern Expedition was a complete failure.

Without sacrifice, where does the final victory come from?

This commander has an overview of the overall situation and weighs the pros and cons. How could you, Yang Keshi and Guo Yaoshi, generals who are out of selfishness, be able to overthrow you?

Chapter 825 I'm Not Here

In the camp of the Song Army in Liangxiang County, although the coach Liu Yanqing still focused on shirking responsibility and arguing with Yang Keshi and Guo Yaoshi, the soldiers in the camp saw the prisoners and horses escorted by the Liao Army to the front of the battle. Knowing that all the troops who attacked Yanjing City were wiped out by the Liao army, their morale immediately dropped.

In the camp, there was an atmosphere of pessimism and loss.The generals of the Song army couldn't help but think of the defeat of Xiongzhou City. The aura of being so numerous and powerful at the beginning of the Second Northern Expedition had disappeared.

Liu Yanqing saw that the army was in danger of being shaken. In order to stabilize morale, Liu Yanqing hurriedly sent people to Zhuozhou City to contact Yang Keshi and Guo Yaoshi, and obtained Guo Yaoshi's handwritten letter from there, proving that neither Yang Keshi nor Guo Yaoshi had surrendered to Liao, Xiao Qian said. is a lie.

After Guo Yaoshi's handwriting was circulated to the generals in the army, and then informed the soldiers through them, he temporarily stabilized the hearts of the soldiers.

However, the city of Yanjing was lost again, and the fact that Yang Keshi's army suffered a disastrous defeat cannot be denied. The morale of the Song army in the camp is still low.

In Liu Yanqing's heart, he also felt afraid of Xiao Qian, the commander of the Liao army, and retreated in his heart.

This time the expedition was originally Taiwei Tongguan forcing Liu Yanqing to go north, Liu Yanqing lacked confidence in defeating Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi.

Yang Keshi, the fiercest general capable of fighting tough battles, was defeated, and General Gao Shixuan also died in battle. Liu Yanqing lacked generals who could confront the Liao army head-on.

Therefore, Liu Yanqing chose to continue to close the base and confront the Liao army on the south bank of the Lugou River.At the same time, he sent an urgent report to Taiwei Tongguan's Xuanfu Department and reported his opinion to Tongguan.

Liu Yanqing reported that the Liao army in Yandi was still strong, and the non-Song army could defeat it alone.It is necessary to invite the Jin army to enter Yan, and the two armies will attack the north and the south before they can defeat the Liao army.

Liu Yanqing wanted to fight for the camp every step of the way, waiting for the Jin army to destroy the Liao army in Yandi, but Xiao Qian, the commander of the Liao army, would never give him this opportunity.

The Song Army led by Liu Yanqing was originally based on infantry, supplemented by cavalry.In the battle of attacking Yanjing City, another [-] precious light cavalry were lost, which greatly reduced the mobility of Liu Yanqing's army.

On the other hand, the main force of the Liao army led by Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi was a cavalry-based force.

Therefore, although the strength of the Liao army is not as strong as that of the Song army, the combat effectiveness and mobility of the soldiers and horses are stronger.

Xiao Qian made full use of the advantages of the Liao army, and sent cavalry troops to harass the Song army every day, making the Song army's camp restless.

What worried Liu Yanqing even more was that the Liao Army's cavalry troops bypassed the Song Army's camp, frequently appeared in the direction of Zhuozhou City, and attempted to cut off the Song Army's food roads and retreat routes.

Although Liu Yanqing saw through the Liao army's intentions, he had too few cavalry units in his hands to stop the Liao army cavalry's large-scale and deep penetration operations, so he had to do nothing but fall into a passive situation of being beaten.

In the plains, the huge disadvantage of infantry over cavalry is undoubtedly revealed here.

On the south bank of the Lugou River, in the barracks of Xiao Qian, the king of the Fourth Army, Guo Yaoshi's literary officer Zhao Duanfu, Yang Keshi's general Zhao Ming, Gao Shixuan's general Huang Dingguo and other Song army generals who were captured by the Liao army in Yanjing City were all detained in the camp. .

In the Battle of Yanjing City, except for Guo Yaoshi, Yang Keshi and others who escaped over the wall, the rest of the Song army who entered Yanjing City were killed by the Liao army and the angry Khitan people.

Zhao Duanfu, Zhao Ming, Huang Dingguo and others were captured by Xiao Qian himself in the melee guarding the base camp of Minzhong Temple. They had no chance to escape from the city wall, and they also escaped the final retaliatory massacre by the Liao army and the Khitan people. The only survivors of the Song Army in the Battle of the Capital.

Xiao Qian spared their lives just to insult Song Jun.According to Xiao Qian's arrangement, the Liao Army took several of them to the Song Army's camp every day to yell and scold them, humiliating the Song Army hiding in the camp as cowards.

Being taken to the front of the two armies and humiliated in public, generals like Zhao Ming and Huang Dingguo felt that they had been greatly insulted, and it was really more uncomfortable than death.However, the Liao army guarded them closely and did not give them the chance to seek death or escape.

On this day, Zhao Ming, Huang Dingguo and others were locked in a big tent again after being brought to the front of the formation by the Liao army and shown to the Song army for half a day.

For some reason, the Liao army camp was full of people that day, and the soldiers of the Liao army slaughtered cattle and sheep in the camp and had a delicious meal.It seems that the Liao army has something to celebrate.

There were even a few extra pieces of mutton in the meals that the Liao army gave Zhao Ming and other prisoners, and the soldiers who delivered the meals seemed to have had some wine.

Zhao Ming, Huang Dingguo, and Zhao Duanfu looked at each other, feeling that the Liao army's behavior was abnormal, and they were suspicious.

After nightfall, Zhao Ming and the others lay in the tent and pretended to sleep, but each of them pricked up their ears to eavesdrop on the conversations of the Liao army officers and soldiers outside the tent.

I can only hear the Liao army singing and dancing outside the tent, drinking and eating meat, so happy.

Many sergeants of the Liao Army are already talking about returning to Yanjing City to reunite with their relatives after the war is over.Some sergeants of the Liao army said that they were alone, and this time they wanted to take the opportunity to go to the territory of the Song Dynasty to snatch two southern women back home, so that they would never be single again.

In the conversation among the sergeants of the Liao Army, it seemed that victory was just around the corner, and the Song Army commanded by Liu Yanqing ten miles away had become a useless display.

Zhao Ming and the others were puzzled, and listened attentively, fearing that they might miss some crucial information.

Around midnight, there was a sound of orderly footsteps outside the tent.Zhao Ming and others who had been imprisoned for many days knew that it was Liao army leader Xiao Qian who came to patrol the camp in person.

Every night, Xiao Qian, the leader of the Liao army, would personally patrol the camp. This alone showed his reputation as a famous general, much stronger than the commanders of the Song army, Zhong Shidao, Liu Yanqing and others.

This move of Xiao Qian made the opponents Zhao Ming, Huang Dingguo and the others admire him extremely.

Guessing that Xiao Qian was coming, Zhao Ming and others cheered up and listened attentively.

I could only hear a soldier of the Liao Army outside the tent asking Xiao Qian: "King Xiao, our reinforcements have gathered, will we be able to repel the Song army this time? Brothers are all looking forward to following King Xiao to Bianliang, Tokyo." the city!"

I could only hear Xiao Qian laughing outside the tent: "Hahaha~ You really dare to think, this time you can hit the Yellow River and you should be content.

The king has already found out that the Song army claims to be 50, but in fact, most of them are local militia rebels attached to the Song army in Yandi, and they have no combat effectiveness.