nycdaug Chapter 392 Defeat
Chapter 392 Defeat
In early November of the second year of Yuanyou in the Great Song Dynasty, Yelu Cong, who was ordered to transfer south, fell into silence as he looked at the two routes south of Danzhou.
In his plan, he wanted to go south through Shunzhou. After all, it was the main road and he didn't have to cross mountains and hills. It was the most ideal route.
However, Gao Zunyu and Liu Changzuo were eyeing Shunzhou covetously at this time. Yelu Cong felt that the only way for now was to work harder, enter the Yanshan area, take the Huairou and Changping line, and detour to the northwest of Youzhou.
The moment he made up his mind, his scouts came to report that Gao Zunyu and Liu Changzuo from Shunzhou had actually abandoned the city and headed towards Sunhou Pavilion in the south.
Wangjing Pavilion, formerly known as Sunhou Pavilion, was originally built by the Liao Dynasty court as a resting place on the road for envoys from the north and the south (i.e. Song and Liao).
According to the "Records of Chunming Meng" written by Sun Chengze in the Ming Dynasty, Wangjing Pavilion was built in Sunhou Village, 50 miles northeast of the capital. There was Sunhou River beside the village, which was renamed Sunhetun in the Ming Dynasty.
"Not good! Could it be that the Song army intends to capture Xijin Prefecture first, and then gather forces to march north to drive out the reinforcements?"
This thought immediately crossed Yelu Cong's mind. After all, it was somewhat unreasonable to suddenly give up Shunzhou when it was already under his control.
"That's not right. Even if they were determined to march south to encircle Xijin Prefecture, they shouldn't have left such a large gap in Shunzhou to the north. Could this be a trap set by the Song army..."
The old hand is worthy of being an old hand. After wiping away the fog on the surface, he immediately felt something was wrong.
"They want to force me to take the Shunzhou route and then ambush our army!"
Yelu Cong's eyes wandered back and forth in Shunzhou, and he slowly came to an answer.
It must be said that these generals who have been on the battlefield for many years and are still alive and well must have some skills.
The only pity is that in the face of such a situation, Yelu Cong was unable to make a decision.
On the one hand, he received an order from the military to urgently go south for reinforcements, but on the other hand, he did not know what to do about the Song army's voluntary abandonment of Shunzhou.
Knowing that the other party must be lying in ambush in Shunzhou, he still rushed in. This is not only stupid, but also crazy.
Yelu Cong's hesitation soon received an answer, and he didn't need to make a decision himself, as Yelu Hongji gave him the answer.
"Urgently order Yelu Cong to lead his troops through Shunzhou and advance into Xijin Prefecture to join forces with me and fight against the Song Dynasty!"
Yelu Hongji's simple military order was filled with a strong sense of urgency, which was a sign that the Liao Dynasty's strategic layout in the Yanyun area was about to fail.
Yelu Cong took a deep look at the military order and couldn't help but calm down: "Since it is your majesty's order, then please ask the angel to tell your majesty that I will arrive at Xijin Prefecture on time!"
After bidding farewell to the messenger, Yelu Cong immediately marched south to Shunzhou. As for Tanzhou, he was still cautious and left nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses to garrison in order to prevent the retreat from being raided.
As soon as they received the news, in the area of Pinggu City northwest of Jizhou, Di Zi and his third son Di Yong, as well as Marshal Zong Ze, who had just made his debut and would be famous throughout the world in the future, led the main force of the Bazhou Legion northward, heading straight for Danzhou.
At the end of November, the Liao army led by Yelu Cong entered the deserted Shunzhou. At the same time, Di Zi and his two men also surrounded Danzhou.
This time, in order to achieve a complete encirclement of the Youyan area as soon as possible, Di Liang sent all the firearms of the Bazhou Legion and 800 artillerymen borrowed from the Shenji Camp to the outside of Danzhou City.
On November 28, the same day that Yelu Cong was preparing to march into Shunzhou City, Di Zi, Di Yong, and Zong Ze launched the final battle of the "Northern Expedition against Khitan and Recapture of Yanyun".
After the 800 artillerymen of the Shenji Camp arranged the 160 "Shenwu" cannons in sequence outside the city of Tanzhou, this so-called siege battle had already come to an end.
As the roar of one hundred and sixty "Shenwu" cannons shook the nine heavens, shells carrying unparalleled terrifying power flew into the gates, walls and interior of Tanzhou City.
In an instant, the sky was filled with black gunpowder mist, sweeping in all directions, bringing a different smell of fireworks to this world.
"Om-!"
Seeing how the east gate of Tanzhou City was blasted to pieces in just two rounds, Di Zi was filled with emotion: "With this magical weapon, there is no need to worry about the prosperity of the Song Dynasty and the unrest in the world!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly drew his sword, pointed it towards the gate of Tanzhou City, and roared, "Brothers, we broke our promise a month ago and did not carry out the Grand Marshal's military order."
"Today, the Grand Marshal gave us a chance to avenge our previous humiliation and even sent brothers from the artillery unit to support us."
"We must capture Tanzhou City before we can report back!"
"Follow my command, charge into Tanzhou City and liberate the people—!"
Di Zi's words excited the soldiers of the Bazhou Legion. They waved their weapons, mounted their horses, and rushed quickly towards the Tanzhou City, which had no power to resist.
Just two rounds of artillery attacks are enough to make these nomadic peoples roaming the grasslands become good at singing and dancing. This is the power of firearms.
Of course, this trend was not so obvious before the emergence of the Maxim, the real epoch-making weapon of the future.
Following Di Zi towards Danzhou City, Di Yong and Zong Ze had the seed of firearms warfare planted in their young hearts, which would blossom and bear fruit in the future conquests of Mongolia and Central Asia.
. . . . . .
On November 1087, , the city of Danzhou was broken, and the Bazhou Corps of the Song Army immediately switched to a defensive posture, built a defense line, and completely locked down the entire Youyan area.
When the news reached Yelu Cong, this Liao army general was also facing Han's heart-breaking plan and was completely at a loss.
"Who do you think is on the top of Shunzhou City?!"
Yelu Cong grabbed the spy's collar and asked.
"It's His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! His Royal Highness sent me a message, asking the General to meet him outside the city!"
The spy told the whole story in detail, not daring to hide anything.
"Have you seen the Song army's ambush?!"
Yelu Cong's mind was working rapidly, thinking about the current strange situation.
"Yes, judging by the flags, they are the 'Jingsai Army' and 'Shenji Camp' of the Song army, which have not yet been deployed to the battlefield!"
The spy's words made Yelu Cong feel instantly chilled.
Ordinary people don't know what the 'Jingsai Army' and the 'Shenjiying' are, but as a general in charge of the troops, how could he not know about them?
One is a cavalry unit comparable to the Liao Dynasty's strongest "Iron Forest Army", and the other is said to be a "firearms unit" that was carefully selected by a certain Han and took nearly twenty years to form.
This thing, which was once used by children as a plaything and as a folk firecracker, was transformed into an extremely terrifying weapon in the hands of a certain Han.
Yelu Cong had information about these two troops in his hands, but he didn't think of it at the beginning of the battle. Now he realized that Han Ming had been holding two trump cards and hadn't played them.
"How can this bastard be so patient?!"
Yelu Cong felt a little panic in his heart. Let alone the Shenji Camp, even if the Jingsai Army was dispatched, it would be difficult for his troops to resist.
Apart from the Tielin Army under His Majesty's command, it is impossible to defeat the Jingsai Army, which has been reborn from the ashes, in a one-on-one frontal battlefield.
Think about the Yuanfeng Northern Expedition, when the Song attacked and the Liao defended. In the crucial "Battle of Jizhou", Guo Kui and Gu Tingye, who had integrated hundreds of thousands of Song troops, were defeated by their own majesty's Tielin Army in one battle, and they lost nearly half of their troops before fleeing back to the border in a hurry.
Seeing that he now only had 80,000 troops, and the opposite side not only had the Jingsai Army of equal strength, but also the Shenji Camp, which was considered the best army in the world, the battle was over before it even started.
Yelu Cong had no choice but to suppress his inner fear and irritability and went to Shunzhou City to meet Yelu Jun in person.
"Your Highness, I haven't seen you for a long time. You are still as elegant as ever!"
Everyone can say polite words, not to mention that the two of them have a very good personal relationship and there is a friendship between them.
"How can I still be so elegant now that I'm in this state? General, please don't laugh at me."
Yelu Jun's family knew his own situation. Today, as soon as he stood on the top of Shunzhou City and opened his mouth, he would be labeled a traitor. It was still unknown what the outcome would be within Khitan in the future.
The two sides finally came to the city gate for a private meeting. The soldiers on both sides did not know what they talked about, but they could guess a little from Yelu Cong's somewhat heavy face.
Yelu Cong also knew that the Liao Dynasty had reached its limit in this battle, not only against the Song Dynasty, but also internally. Now the entire country was in chaos due to rebellions.
Forcing a decisive battle with the Song Dynasty would only push the Liao Dynasty into a deeper abyss.
It didn't matter what thoughts Yelu Jun and Yelu Cong had when they parted ways; what mattered was that Yelu Hongji never received the reinforcements he had longed for...