The Anxi Army followed its usual training. The infantry formed a circular formation with long spears and swords outside, and swords, shields, bows and crossbows in the middle. The flag of the Anxi Army was erected in the middle. The cavalry relied on the infantry to form an army. The Anxi Hussars Centurion Li Ranzheng commanded the hussars to circle around the formation and drive away the rebels. Chen De just reined in his horse and stood in front of the formation, watching with emotion the tens of thousands of imperial troops running around in panic.
In the distance, a Linzhong and an imperial camp flag official rode past each other. When the flag officer saw that the Anxi military camp was in good order, he shouted loudly: "Your Majesty has a decree. The Japanese cavalry and the east and west squadrons in front of the palace found Khitan reinforcements in the north of the city. All the troops quickly moved forward and worked together to defeat the enemy!" After saying this, he ignored Chen. Did De and the others hear clearly? They raised their hands to Lin Zhong and headed towards the imperial army assembled elsewhere.
Seeing Chen De's gaze in the forest, he turned his horse forward and said in a deep voice: "Chen Jiedu, the former army patrol encountered a Khitan brigade, so we went to reinforce it. If the protection is not effective these days, please let Chen Jiedu take care of it." ." He had no time to say anything, so he raised his whip and slapped the horse's butt hard, then turned his head to catch up with the subordinates of the Knight Cavalry who had been galloping northward. The heroic cavalry army was formed by recruiting the sons of good families from the border counties. At this time, they had traveled a long distance to the gate of Youzhou City. They were just getting ready to take a rest. Almost all of them were in disheveled clothes. Many of the soldiers were almost shirtless and covered with armor, holding in their hands Holding various weapons, they were not as neat as usual. Although they were a little panicked, they still ran desperately towards the north of the city where the battle was taking place.
Chen De's heart suddenly moved, he raised his whip and pointed in the direction of the heroic cavalry army, saying: "Tens of thousands of troops here are in chaos, which makes it more dangerous. Let's go to the north of the city to see the battlefield situation." So Zhang Zhongyao and Li were ordered Ran Xian led the valiant cavalry forward, and personally led the other Yajun infantry and cavalry forward, along the path of the three thousand valiant cavalry, towards the place where the shouts of killing were fierce.
Zhang Zhongyao came to the north of the city and saw the Liao soldiers at the head of Youzhou City constantly shouting to cheer for the friendly forces outside the city, but they closed the city gate tightly and did not dare to come out for reinforcements, which seemed a little timid. A Song army of about five thousand horsemen was stationed outside the north gate of Youzhou under the banner of the cavalry army. The leading officer had an angry look on his face, and he and his soldiers were pointing their halberds at the head of the city and yelling at each other. Zhang Zhongyao knew that this was a partial division of the Song Army that was monitoring Youzhou soldiers and horses to prevent them from rushing into the battlefield, so he bypassed them and went north to explore. Within a few miles, he arrived at the south side of the battlefield.
At this time, in early summer, there was sufficient rain, the land near Youzhou was moist, dust could not be raised, and the field of vision was clearer. Groups of cavalry from the Song and Liao armies circled back and forth, colliding with each other, entangled and fighting, and many camps were set up further away. Many of the accounts were already on fire, and the horses were ready and scattered in panic. At a glance, it can be seen that the Song cavalry wearing red tassels on their heads is far less than the Liao people, but they are more brave and have sharp armor, so they are on the offensive side on the battlefield. It seemed that the Liao people's camp had been raided. Many of them were only wearing Khitan fur coats, with half of their arms exposed. They each raised scimitars and spears, gritting their teeth and fighting fiercely with the Song army. At the same time, one after another Song Army cavalry rushing from the south rushed into the battlefield. Every time a supporting army arrived, the morale of the Song Army increased by one point, while the morale of the Liao people dropped by one point. .
Zhang Zhongyao was reining in his troops to watch the battle. Chen De had already arrived with his follow-up Ya army. When he saw this, he asked, "How is the battle going?" Zhang Zhongyao said, "The Liao people seem to have been attacked by a surprise attack. There are not many people and horses, so a big victory is expected." Chen Seeing this, De nodded silently and saw that the Liao cavalry was centered on the Chinese army's camp, resisting the superior Song army's cavalry one after another. Although the defeat was apparent, it was not chaotic. There were vaguely commanding generals reorganizing the cavalry that had been scattered by the Song army and rejoining the battlefield. "I've been holding it back for too long. Can you let us go and charge for a fight?" Li Ran, the Centurion of the Cavalry, raised the horse and looked at Chen De expectantly. Under him was a Hexi horse that was happy to see the battle. Seeing this, it kept snorting and pawing its hooves, as if it was as impatient as its owner and wanted to run.
Chen De watched the enemy formation for a long time. He saw that the Liao army only had more than 10,000 cavalry. According to the rules of war, the Liao people immediately retreated when encountering a Song army cavalry that was several times their own. However, this group of Liao soldiers surrounded the central army camp and continued to resist hard. It can be seen that there must be a commander in the camp with strict orders and supervision. At this moment, they are trying their best to maintain the camp. The few hundred Liao soldiers in the Chinese army have dismounted and held bows. Most of them are guarding the front where the Song army's cavalry is constantly charging, but there is nothing behind.
Seeing that all the Anxi cavalry were eager to try, Chen De raised his whip, pointed at the commander's flag of the Chinese army and said: "There seems to be a gap in the Liao people's rear formation. Lead your cavalry to cut in from there and kill them." Lower this flag to show off our power in Anxi!" He paused and then said: "You are all elites trained by me personally. You cannot waste your lives just for the sake of quick success. If the Liao people send a large group of cavalry to stop you and others, , don't fight to the death, just retreat." The place he was referring to was behind the Liao camp, where several cavalrymen from the Song and Liao armies were fighting each other, but there happened to be a slight gap, and they were killed there. Entering, there is only a group of broken soldiers who are reorganizing. As long as the broken soldiers are dispersed, they can reach directly under the commander's flag. The Song army entered the battlefield one after another, and each team of cavalry was eager to find the Liao cavalry to fight, but they did not pay attention to the Liao army's strength.At the drop of a hat, there was actually a flaw left on the side and rear that could not be repaired.
"Thank you, Lord!" Li Ran saw Chen De's order and looked at the gap between Chen De and him. He was overjoyed and left. More than a hundred Anxi cavalry bypassed the front of the battlefield where the two armies were fighting, and then made another battle. Several Song and Liao cavalrymen from the regiment cut in next to them. The cavalry formations that the Anxi Army cavalry are accustomed to forming are much closer than those of the ordinary Northland cavalry. The men and horses move as one, which has become a unique advantage at this moment. There is only a small gap on the battlefield where several enemy and our cavalry are intertwined and fighting. They actually penetrated in quickly, and occasionally a few blind Song and Liao cavalry troops rushed over, and the Anxi Army, which was in a tight formation, drove them away with their horses without mercy. The Liao Army cavalry commander who was commanding his subordinates to fight to the death with the Song Army occasionally realized that either the Song Army was tightly clinging to him and he had no time to clone himself, or his reaction speed to rectify the cavalry actions was not as fast as that of the Anxi Army, so he actually watched this shortcoming. Two hundred Song Army cavalry arrived in front of the Zhongjun stronghold, where there were only some Liao Army cavalry who had just retreated from the battlefield.
Li Ran saw that all the Di Liao cavalrymen who had turned around to resist the Liao people had panicked expressions on their faces, as if they wanted to turn their horses to the side and escape at any moment. He was overjoyed and thought to himself: "My lord's ability to observe the formation is like a divine aid!" With a loud shout, more than a hundred cavalrymen pressed closer together, piercing the scattered and scattered army like an iron needle. The Liao soldiers either kicked their horses to the side to avoid, or they could not avoid it and were impaled by the iron spear. Come on, after a few breaths of effort, he rushed to the commander's flag. Li Ran stretched out his hand, pulled out his horizontal knife, and cut off the rope under the flag. The commander's flag of the Liao army floated in the air like a kite with a broken string. After the flag was fluttering down, Li Ran did not stop. With a wave of horses, he led the Anxi cavalry in a circle and rushed out from another gap behind the Liao army camp. He ran non-stop all the way back to where the infantry of the Ya army led by Chen De formed a formation. Looking at the chaos of the Chinese army on the battlefield, he clasped his fists and handed in the order: "Fortunately, I did not disgrace my order!"
The commander's flag of the Chinese army was cut down, and the morale of the Liao army was greatly reduced. The defeated troops on the battlefield were in chaos and could not be rectified. Finally, one after another Liao soldiers abandoned their camps and retreated northward under the leadership of the commander. The main force of the Song army had a long way to go. After trekking here, although they were victorious, they did not have the strength to pursue them, so they stopped and simply cleaned the battlefield and counted the results of the battle. They beheaded more than 2,000 people, captured 500 people, and captured 10,000 horses and countless other weapons and armor. Afterwards, the prisoners of the Liao soldiers were interrogated. It turned out that the Liao Kingdom did not expect that after the Song people attacked Taiyuan, the more than 200,000 forbidden troops were resting for a month, and unexpectedly emerged with a large army to attack Youyan. Unprepared, King Yelu Xidi of the North Courtyard and the commander-in-chief Xiao Tao Gu hurriedly gathered 10,000 Liao troops and went south to reinforce Youzhou. On the afternoon of June 23, they arrived at the foot of Youzhou City. As soon as they set up a camp, they encountered Fu Qian and Kong Shouzheng who were patrolling the north of Youzhou City. The Japanese Cavalry of the East and West Squadrons. After this encounter, the Liao army was defeated again. The Song Army was able to gain a foothold under Youzhou City. After the Forbidden Army rested, the various ministries set up strong camps in the southeast, northwest and northwest of Youzhou City according to the plan before the expedition. They began to cut down trees on the outskirts of the city and make siege equipment, preparing to storm Youzhou City. .
In addition to the Liao soldiers who were defeated in the north of the city the day before yesterday, several Liao reinforcements have arrived one after another in the past few days. However, seeing the strength of the Song army, they all patrolled near Youzhou and did not dare to challenge them. A small group of Liao soldiers actually They would rather use the previously dug tunnels to sneak into Youzhou City than dare to pass through the Song Army's defense line surrounding the city. A few days ago, the Forbidden Army encountered the Khitan soldiers again in the north of Youzhou and defeated them again.
When the soldiers and civilians near Youzhou saw this, they all wanted to return to the Central Plains. First, more than 400 soldiers from the Shenwu Camp of the Han Army and rural soldiers returned to surrender. There were also more than 150 Han people from the nearby county magistrates and gentry, bringing cattle and sheep with them. With wine and food, go to the imperial camp to reward the troops. The Song army swept through the surrounding Liao troops and drove away the Liao reinforcements who dared to approach Youzhou. Khitan officials in the peripheral areas of Youzhou fled one after another, while Han officials surrendered, and the rule of the Liao Kingdom almost collapsed.
"It seems that the Liao army is indeed unprepared. Even the arrival of reinforcements is like a drop in the bucket." Zhang Zhongyao sighed. As a Han vassal town, he and other officers of the Anxi Army had an ambivalent mentality towards the Battle of Youzhou. Listening to his sigh, Chen De smiled and said in a deep voice: "Zhong Yao doesn't have to worry about the Liao people. These Liao soldiers who came one after another only delayed the imperial army's attack on the city. The real victory for the Liao people was to always stay in the city." We are guarding Emperor Liao's Gongfen army. The Imperial Imperial Guards are attacking from afar. If we cannot capture Youzhou City before the Gongfen army arrives, we will have to fight a decisive battle with the Gongfen army below the city. It is not yet known who will win."
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