The banks of the Gray River were covered with green grass. Tens of thousands of troops did not set up tents and set up camp. Instead, they only set up firecrackers in small groups and sat on the ground to take a rest. There were no cooks to set up pots and stoves to provide hot food. Everyone drank from the river water. After swallowing the dry food they carried with them, several grooms took the officer's mount to the riverside to drink water and chew some fresh grass.
Not far behind the army, a large village fell into silence. It was just when the smoke was curling up under the sun. Many villagers should have gone to the Gray River to fetch water with buckets, but at this time, There was not a soul in sight, and almost all the villagers chose to close their doors, and even the smoke from some houses suddenly stopped.
After marching in a hurry for half a day, the Zhou army, which was pointed directly at Shuozhou, chose to rest by the Hui River near Langya Village. The Liao army's far block had already come into contact with the scout team of our own army. The defenders of Shuozhou City At this time, Yang Ye obviously knew about the existence of his army, so Yang Ye relaxed his mood and stopped urging his men to rush towards Shuozhou City.
It is no longer possible to directly take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to attack the city gate - of course, even if the Liao army's far blocker did not discover the whereabouts of our army, this kind of action is basically unthinkable. Between the two armies, During the war, there would be no lookouts on the city gate tower.
However, since our army's actions have been discovered by the enemy, Shuozhou City will definitely quickly enter a defensive state. It is unnecessary to continue the attack without stopping. Therefore, Yang Ye still ordered the entire army to take a rest here in a timely manner. . But it's just a short rest. This place is still eighteen miles away from Shuozhou City, and it will take at least half a day to move forward in a battle formation. Obviously it is not suitable for setting up camp for a long time. After resting, we still have to rush to Shuozhou City to camp.
As for the panic and alertness of the villagers in Langya Village towards our army, Yang Ye has seen it a lot, even though our army has strict military discipline. They would not act as recklessly as those people speculated, but Yang Ye still understood them very well and did not feel dissatisfied with their actions.
"After Zhou Dynasty completely recovers Yunzhou, Shuozhou, Yingzhou and other places, I believe that the sons will have a lot of time to prove to these villagers who the king is."
The sergeants under his command were all resting and eating, but Yang Ye did not really take a rest. He drank a sip of river water from the gourd and swallowed two mouthfuls of dry food. Yang Ye stared at the map spread on the ground and fell into deep thought.
Cross the river from here. More than ten miles away is Shuozhou City. There should be no more than a few thousand defenders in the city. The bed of the Gray River here is very shallow, and the river water is not cold in midsummer. The sergeants' legs would be dry after walking for a long time if they got wet, so they can completely walk on foot without building a special bridge. The next military operation should go smoothly.
Once Shuozhou City is captured, the next target is Mayi County, forty miles northeast. In Huanzhou, which was ceded back then, the road from Shuozhou City to Mayi County is even smoother. The army only needs to walk downstream along the Hui River, and the garrison in the city will not exceed two thousand. If we can capture Shuozhou City, we can even capture Mayi County.
As long as these two places are taken down. That joke is that the Guangwu Walled City at the north entrance of Segu Road is almost a turtle in the urn, even though the stone and rammed earth walls are not easy to explode. The city gates on the west and north sides are always weak points. Even if the walled city cannot be breached temporarily, the defenders who are cut off from their retreat will always feel desperate.
When the Guangwu Walled City is demolished and the Gouzhu Saigu Road is open again, and the Xishan Road patrol side attacks Yingzhou from the east, the plain valley at the northern foot of Hengshan Mountain and Yanmen Mountain will be captured, and then we can With the support of the Hedong garrison, he marched into Yunzhou without any worries.
According to the battle plan of the Privy Council, the expedition to Liao will advance northward in two routes: east and west. The camp in the north of Youzhou in the middle route will decide where to go based on the progress of the two wings. It is impossible to say that we can win the first place in this battle.
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"The Khitan people from far behind listened to the Liao people's whistle, and I didn't think it was that good. Although they fought bloody battles with our scout team, they were not the ones who lost in the end! Not to mention that they didn't have time to spy on our army's military situation. There was no way to snatch the corpse back, so it was fitting that the scout team took the first step."
Of course, a chief officer like Yang Ye has no leisure time. He has to worry about the follow-up military strategy while everyone is resting. However, the top soldiers under his command don't need to worry about so many things. After eating and drinking, they sit on the grass and start. Well, the scout team's small victory in Langya Village has naturally become their latest topic of conversation.
"Well, the riding skills of the scout team may not be as good as the Khitan's long-range guards, and their riding and shooting skills may not be as good. However, our scout team has revolver guns in their hands, which are above ordinary infantry commanders. Not only the cavalry bow, which can only be equipped by generals, but has a range and lethality greater than that of the Liao Army, the rate of fire of the six muskets at the beginning is no worse than that of the cavalry bow. The scout team has two men, which is twelve consecutive rounds of musketry. Although the Khitan's long-distance blockers are strong, there are not many people who can shoot twelve arrows in a row. It is too common to be unable to defeat the scout team!"
"My soldiers must have enough food and fine food"??Things worth showing off, the weapons in hand are more lethal, have a longer range and hit faster than the enemy. This is of course a guarantee of a greater chance of survival on the battlefield. Although this old pawn is only comparing his own weapons The difference in weapons between the scouts and the Liao army's far-reaching troops was mostly due to the musket in their hands.
"Hehe, that's right! The Khitans always thought that riding on the grassland was their specialty, but they didn't know that this time they were at a disadvantage. They were shot to pieces before they even got close. Fighting with maces at close range. No matter how fierce it is, what's the use? From now on, they will not only avoid fighting when they see our infantry, but also flee when they encounter our cavalry!"
This person's focus is on the fact that the scout team and Yuanlanzi are both cavalry. Although they are considered to be the best cavalry in both armies, and their tactics are not the same as those of the cavalry in the brigade, they can always be seen from the side. Can you provide some reference? Presumably this expedition to Liao required an expedition to Shuomo. The rumors that the Liao people were good at riding caused him considerable trouble. The performance of the scout team undoubtedly doubled his confidence.
"However the scout team failed to retain all the Khitan's distant barriers after all. Now the defenders of Shuozhou City must have been convinced and know the news of our army's attack. I'm afraid they will have to work hard to attack the city ¡Sieging a city is no better than fighting in the open. No matter how sharp our army¡¯s firearms are, the thick city wall is still not easy to chew through.¡±
This person was worried about the upcoming siege. After all, they could all see the high thickness and solidity of the city walls in Xinzhou, Daizhou and other places. Shuozhou City would not be much worse than those cities. With their From what I have seen in the military, siege warfare is basically the most difficult and the most casualty. The confidence I had built up in field battles because of my excellent equipment faded a little when I thought about siege warfare.
"Oh, I'm so worried! The commander-in-chief has his own thoughts on this kind of thing. We just need to take care of ourselves. When we really want to fight, we can not only take care of our own lives, but also won't be punished by military law for shrinking. Then It's not that easy Besides, I heard that the commander-in-chief was a veteran in the army. The puppet Han leader relied on him in every possible way back then. The Holy Emperor was also very happy with his surrender. Later, he studied martial arts for a long time and started fighting. There should be no mistakes in the battle, but have you seen it? After the conflict between the scout team and the Liao army at the far block, the commander stopped the army's rapid advance and let us rest by the river for half an hour. It is obvious that he is not afraid that the Shuozhou garrison will defend the city after hearing the news. The commander must have some good ideas!"
This person¡¯s confidence is based on Yang Ye¡¯s military reputation.
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While the resting army was discussing the situation of the battle, a horse rushed back from the north. Although it did not stir up much dust, the rapid steps of the war horse attracted the attention of the whole army, especially the inadvertent rider. He slowed down and rushed directly into the river, wading through the gray river with water all over the sky and heading straight for the Chinese army, which caused an uproar throughout the entire army.
"He's the son of the scout team!"
"There must be some urgent military situation over there in Shuozhou City."
¡°It looks like we can¡¯t continue to rest¡±
The sudden sound of horse hooves also woke up Yang Ye who was thinking about the map. He raised his head and looked at the person. His brows suddenly raised and his eyes lit up. Others may not have seen clearly yet, but Yang Ye's eyes were as sharp as hawks. I saw that although the person who came was galloping hard, there was no trace of anxiety on his face. Instead, there was a hint of excitement.
"Report! Xiao Qian, the governor of the Shunyi Army of the Liao Dynasty, has already led the main cavalry to retreat to Yunzhou. There are only two thousand Han troops and hundreds of Khitan soldiers left to guard Shuozhou City. Now Shuozhou defender Zhao Kuo has disappeared. The defenders are in chaos, the Khitan soldiers have abandoned the city and fled, and the Han army and the local people have opened four gates and sent envoys to surrender to our army!"
The eighteen-mile journey was not so breathless that the horse running all the way was just dripping with sweat and snoring, and the rider only panted slightly. His words were still quite coherent, and the information contained in them was conveyed. Completely and fully communicated to all officers and soldiers of the Chinese Army.
"Okay! Very good! Very good!" Yang Ye was overjoyed when he heard this. He slapped his thigh with his right hand and stood up. "In that case, please ask Commander Zhang of Xinzhou to send the Xinzhou soldiers under his command to go north to receive Shuozhou City. The entire army Immediately turn eastbound and try to reach Mayi County at noon tomorrow!"
Zhang Shoujie, the commander of the troops and horses in Xinzhou, promised loudly: "The last general will definitely live up to the commander-in-chief's trust!"
Using five hundred men to take over Shuozhou City, where two thousand enemy troops were stationed, seemed to be a difficult and dangerous matter, but the two people who issued the military order and accepted the order did not take it seriously at all, because they all knew that the Liao army was here. At this time, deception has no effect, and the Zhou army under one command is enough to cope with all changes.
Yang Chongjin laughed loudly: "Congratulations to the inspection team for their victory! The first victory in the expedition against Liao to seize the capital of Liao Kingdom probably belongs to our army!""It's hard to say During the two days that our army has been traveling through the mountains, the East Route Army may not be able to land across the sea and seize Jinzhou. Our army cannot be complacent."
However, Yang Ye quickly calmed down his joy and regained his composure after issuing the military order. To be continued. .
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