Chapter 148 The Second Southern Expedition

[After Yelu Deguang retreated, Shi Chonggui made some arrangements for the army and strengthened the defense of the northern army according to his own wishes.

He appointed Liu Zhiyuan, the governor of Beijing, as the commander-in-chief of the northern camp, Du Chongwei, the governor of Zhenzhou, as the commander-in-chief of the northern camp, Zhang Cong'en, the governor of Yunzhou, as the commander of the cavalry, Jing Yanguang, the governor of Xijing, as the commander of the cavalry and infantry, An Shenqi, the governor of Hezhong, as the commander of the cavalry and infantry, Fu Yanqing, the governor of Heyang, as the commander of the left wing of the cavalry, Huangfu Yu, the governor of Huazhou, as the commander of the right wing of the cavalry and infantry, and Zhang Yanze, the commander of the right Shenwu army, as the commander of the cavalry.

The command of the northern camp was handed over to Du Chongwei and Zhang Cong'en.

October 23 was the Khitan Tianshou Festival, and all the countries presented gifts to Yelu Deguang to complete this diplomatic procedure. Only the Later Jin did not send gifts and blessings.

This is undoubtedly a good reason to start a war.

So, after the Tianshou Festival, on the third day of the eleventh month, Yelu Deguang issued an edict to mobilize troops from all regions, preparing to march south again. This time, it was planned that the troops from all regions would meet north of the Wenyu River on the first day of the intercalary twelfth month, and then march south.

On the fifth day of December, Yelu Deguang officially prepared for the southern expedition.

On the 26th, he led his troops to station at Gubeikou (Beijing). On the first day of the twelfth month of the leap year, he reviewed the troops of various routes at Wenyu River and then marched south.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang squinted his eyes and carefully looked over Shi Chonggui's series of appointments and dispatches of generals.

Miracles usually don't release a bunch of official appointments and dismissals at once, so since it was released this time, it means that Shi Chonggui's appointment of generals this time is to be the main general to resist the enemy during Yelu Deguang's southward march. Or, someone among them played a role in the important events later.

"Fu Yanqing and Huangfu Yu, these two have fought in the battle before," he pointed them out one by one, "Jing Yanguang, this was also a key figure before, but this time he doesn't have the command power in his hands... Liu Zhiyuan was the one who repelled Yelu Deguang's western army before, and he doesn't have the command power in his hands either."

As for Du Chongwei and Zhang Cong'en, these two powerful people appeared for the first time, and An Shenqi and Zhang Yanze were also characters who had never appeared before.

It is not surprising that Jing Yanguang lost the core command. After all, judging from his previous words and deeds, as well as Shi Chonggui's actions, this was a matter of time. But Liu Zhiyuan did not get the command... He was the governor of Taiyuan before, and now he is still in Beijing, so he and Shi Chonggui are not on good terms?

Fu Yanqing and Huangfu Yu are probably the two people that Shi Chonggui is willing to employ but not his confidants and reliance on - so, between Du Chongwei and Zhang Cong'en, which one of these two represents the core of Shi Chonggui?

Han Dynasty, during the first year of the reign of Emperor Jingdi.

Liu Qi smiled and asked Liu Che: "Che'er, who do you think will lead the army when Yelu Deguang goes south this time?"

Liu Che answered fluently: "Yelü Deguang himself is definitely one of them, and if we have to single out a core general... it should be Zhao Yanshou."

Although Liu Che could not regard Yelu Deguang as his own, regardless of this, Zhao Yanshou's performance was really good and very useful! He led the troops in the last southern expedition and played a significant role. Since he was such a useful person, why not use him this time?
Regardless of whether he has some secret thoughts of becoming emperor in his heart, he has been working hard for the Khitan so far, so letting him lead the troops is a good choice.

[On the eleventh day of the intercalary twelfth month, the Khitan army surrounded Hengzhou (Zhengding County, Hebei), and captured Gucheng of Dingzhou (Jin County, Hebei), Putze of Jizhou (Xinhe, Hebei), Gaocheng of Hengzhou, Luancheng, Yuanshi, Gaoyi, Baixiang, Ningjin of Zhaozhou, and Zhaoqing of Xingzhou (Longyao, Hebei).

On the third day of the first lunar month in the eighth year of Huihe, Yelu Deguang divided his troops to attack Xingzhou (Xingtai, Hebei), Mingzhou (Yongnian, Hebei), and Cizhou (Cixian, Hebei), and conquered and plundered them all. The vanguard had already reached Yedu (Daming, Hebei).

After receiving the news, Shi Chonggui ordered Zhang Cong'en, Ma Quanjie, and An Shenqi to station troops in Xingzhou, and Zhao Zaili to guard Ye City. However, Shi Chonggui himself was ill at the time and did not personally lead the army.

Although the imperial edict said so, in the face of Yelu Deguang's attack, the Later Jin army was ordered to temporarily retreat to avoid the attack. As a result, the Later Jin army retreated again and again. Zhang Cong'en led his troops to retreat to Xiangzhou (Anyang, Henan). This retreat brought about the spread of fear.

Afterwards, Zhao Zaili returned to Chanzhou, Ma Quanjie went to Yedu to station troops, Shi Chonggui ordered Zhang Yanze to station troops in Liyang (Junxian, Henan), and Jing Yanguang to station troops in Huliangdu (the ancient Yellow River in Huaxian); then, Huangfu Yu led troops to Xingzhou, and Ma Quanjie led troops to Xiangzhou.

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

"What are they doing?" Liu Che was very confused. He could not quite understand this wave of military mobilization by the Later Jin Dynasty.

There is nothing much to say about Yelu Deguang. He just went south and attacked along the route of Dingzhou-Hengzhou-Zhaozhou-Xingzhou-Mingzhou-Cizhou-Yedu.

What happened to the Later Jin? You first sent three armies to station troops in Xingzhou. Didn't you intend to use Xingzhou as the first key defense line? Didn't you intend to rely on Xingzhou to fight the Khitan? Why did you retreat directly? And you retreated so far?

Xingzhou and Xiangzhou are not adjacent prefectures and counties. There are Mingzhou and Cizhou between them. With this retreat, it is no wonder that Yelu Deguang was able to directly conquer Xingzhou, Mingzhou and Cizhou, and his troops went straight to Yedu.

Moreover, the negative impact of such a retreat on morale is no joke - he turned his head to look at Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, and indeed saw expressions of confusion and disapproval on their faces.

It's okay to temporarily avoid the enemy's attack and consume their morale, but that's not the way to do it! If you do that, you'll end up consuming your own morale instead.

You realize that morale has collapsed, and then you wake up?
Liu Che thought with disdain, from the last point of view, Shi Chonggui intends to use Xiangzhou as the first line of defense? Zhang Cong'en and Ma Quanjie have gathered in Xiangzhou again, and An Shenqi is probably there too. However, there is an Anyang River, or Huanshui River, to the north of Xiangzhou, which can be used as a line of defense.

[On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Later Jin army regrouped in Xiangzhou and set out. Zhang Cong'en, An Shenqi, and Ma Quanjie led tens of thousands of troops to line up south of the Anyang River, while Huangfu Yuze and Murong Yanchao led thousands of cavalry north to investigate the whereabouts of the Khitan army.

As a result, Huangfu Yu and Murong Yanchao ran into tens of thousands of Khitan cavalry in Ye County (Ye Town, Linzhang County, Hebei Province). They fought and retreated all the way eastward to Yulindian (Linzhang County, Hebei Province). The Khitan army was in hot pursuit. When the army arrived, Huangfu Yu and Murong Yanchao realized that they had no chance if they retreated any further, so they fought hard in Yulindian.

On the way, Huangfu Yu's horse was shot by an arrow and he had to dismount and fight on foot. At this time, the main force of the Later Jin Dynasty, which had assembled in the north of Xiangzhou, found that Huangfu Yu and his companions had not returned for a long time. After receiving a report, An Shenqi led his troops to rescue them, and the Khitan army retreated.

This battle also had a certain impact on Yelu Deguang.

When An Shenqi led his troops to rescue Huangfu Yu and Murong Yanchao, smoke and dust were billowing. The Khitan army thought that the main force of the Later Jin army was out in full force, and reported the news to Yelu Deguang. At that time, Yelu Deguang was camping in Handan. After hearing the news, he immediately retreated northward.

Ming Dynasty, during the Hongwu period.

The princes, who had carefully watched the war process between Liao and Later Jin, remained silent, not knowing what to say.

Although Shi Chonggui's behavior of sending troops to defend Xingzhou first and then retreat to Xiangzhou, and transferring generals here and there, seemed to be a bad idea, but now when the Liao army saw the smoke and dust rolling when An Shenqi led his troops to rescue Huangfu Yu and Murong Yanchao, they thought that the Hou Jin army had all arrived... This kind of intelligence discrimination ability...

Moreover, Liao Taizong Yelu Deguang, your reaction is a bit too intense. Ye County and Yulindian are adjacent to each other, and they are separated from Handan by Cizhou...

"So, is this why the Liao Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty finally resolved their conflicts through political struggles rather than military struggles?" Zhu Su sighed. This time, Yelu Deguang failed to achieve his ultimate goal, and the success of his third trip south was inseparable from Yelu Deguang's actions on the court politics of the Later Jin Dynasty.

The others looked at each other in bewilderment. Zhu Chong said, "When I talked about Emperor Taizong of Song before, I said that what you can't get on the battlefield, you can't get through negotiations... Now it seems that although we can't count on negotiations, when there is no result from the tug of war on the battlefield, we can also try politics."

If they could communicate with the Qin Dynasty, the ministers of the Qin Dynasty would certainly be happy to agree with their point of view and strongly recommend Guo Kai, a great war god of the Qin Dynasty, to the princes of the Zhu family.

[Although Yelu Deguang fled north, the Khitan army did not all move north at once.

As for the Later Jin, although no major battle took place this time, Zhang Cong'en, the commander-in-chief, believed that the food and grass reserves in Xiangzhou were not enough to support the army's long-term stay. At the same time, the Later Jin's military strength was not enough to confront the Khitan army. It would be better to retreat to Liyang, where there is the Yongji Canal in the northwest and the Yellow River in the south, which is a natural barrier for defense.

Moreover, Zhang Yanze was stationed in Liyang at that time, and to the south of Liyang was Huliangdu, where Jing Yanguang was stationed.

Zhang Cong'en wanted to find a safe place very much, so without waiting for the consent of all the generals, he gave an order and led his troops to retreat south on the evening of the 15th. The others had no choice but to follow Zhang Cong'en and retreat to Liyang.

However, Zhang Cong'en did leave 500 men to defend the Anyang River Bridge.

After Zhang Cong'en left, Xiangzhou Governor Fu Yanlun felt that this arrangement was inappropriate. The army withdrew and the morale of the army was low. How could 500 people defend Anyang Bridge? It could only be a gift to the Khitans, and it might also let the other side see the strength of Xiangzhou.

So he sent people to bring the five hundred people back to Xiangzhou City overnight.

At dawn on the 16th, the Khitan army had already lined up outside Xiangzhou City. Fu Yanlun ordered his men to put up a banner on the top of the city wall to bluff. Although Zhao Yanshou and his men, as the vanguard, still intended to attack the city, they were unable to judge the situation inside Xiangzhou City. Later, Zhang Yanze, who was stationed in Liyang, sent troops to help. Zhao Yanshou and his men were worried that their retreat would be cut off, so they retreated. 】

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan period.

The development of the war situation in the south this time really caught the attention of the Zhenguan emperor and his ministers.

It's not because of anything else, but because this is really different from their experience during the founding period of the Tang Dynasty - such chaos is really not common.

First, the decision-making of the Later Jin army demonstrated to everyone what it meant to change orders every day, what chaos and contradictions meant. Then, Yelu Deguang and the Liao army demonstrated what speed meant and what it meant to lack judgment of information. Now, the generals of the Later Jin Dynasty showed their personal style again.

"How on earth did Zhang Cong'en become so valued by Shi Chonggui that he was given the highest command in the army?" Yuchi Jingde was amazed. He had never seen a general who held military power like Zhang Cong'en.

It's not that we can't retreat to Liyang. It's true that Xiangzhou is short of food and grass. Liyang is indeed a good place, and we can rely on natural defenses. But why are you in such a hurry? Are you going to withdraw that night? Such a fast retreat will inevitably cause the army of Hou Jin to lose morale and cause chaos again!
As for Zhang Cong'en remembering to leave people to defend Anyang Bridge... five hundred people, what's the use? If these five hundred people were left behind, wouldn't they lose their will to fight and think that they were left behind to die?
Moreover, judging from the situation of the Khitan army on the 16th, even if Zhang Cong'en did not withdraw from Xiangzhou immediately on the night of the 15th, as long as Zhao Yanshou and others followed Fu Yanlun's method at this time, they would most likely retreat.

[After the battle, Zhang Cong'en and Ma Quanjie submitted memorials one after another, full of descriptions of the Khitan army's attack, while Du Chongwei, who was stationed in Hengzhou, repeatedly said that the situation in Hengzhou was critical, and Shi Chonggui's condition had improved. Therefore, on the 25th, Shi Chonggui issued an edict, deciding to lead the expedition in person.]

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Looking at Yelu Deguang's actions, everyone present was a little confused.

They were originally fighting with the goal of destroying the Later Jin Dynasty and occupying its territory when Yelu Deguang was fighting. In other words, the Khitan side should have had a clear plan, deciding which route to take south and which cities to advance the main force along... and relevant preventive measures, such as dealing with the sudden increase of troops and mobilization of forces by the Later Jin Dynasty, should also have existed.

But now it seems that Yelu Deguang and the Khitan side do not seem to have as detailed a plan as they thought?

Although the battlefield changes rapidly, all plans must be adjusted according to the specific situation at the time and will not remain unchanged. However, if Yelu Deguang only planned to destroy the Later Jin Dynasty through a large-scale attack, the plan would change too quickly.

Could it be that Yelu Deguang really wanted to destroy the Later Jin Dynasty, but when it came to his combat methods and principles of employing troops, he still followed the traditional nomadic approach, advancing when he could and retreating when he couldn't?

After all, looking at the situations in these wars, the Khitans were advancing or retreating too quickly, and the transition between the two was also very fast. Although this was closely related to the fact that the Khitan army was mostly composed of cavalry, they obviously did not practice a long-term tug-of-war around a city like the two sides in the Central Plains.

(End of this chapter)