Although Guo Wei had already prepared in his mind the prospect of the final decisive battle between the Zhou and Liao armies in Linhuang Mansion, this was ultimately just his wishful thinking.
"Know yourself and know the enemy and you can fight a hundred battles without danger." This war principle is certainly familiar to everyone, but in the final analysis it is only an ideal state. Although Guo Wei attaches great importance to intelligence work, the ancients also knew how to use time and take precautions. No matter how much he surpasses the times, he will not be able to surpass the times. Therefore, it will not be easy to detect the enemy's situation. Guo Wei can fully grasp the status of his own side. It is already quite remarkable. As for the Liao Kingdom, after the war started, the Reconnaissance Department could only grasp some of the opponent's frontline deployment and changes. As for the strategic changes of the Liao Kingdom's monarchs and ministers, it had to rely purely on speculation. .
This time Guo Wei obviously failed to guess correctly.
As we enter May, the grasslands are getting hotter and hotter. The heat in the southeastern foothills of the Daxingan Mountains around the summer solstice is not much lighter than in the south of Yanshan Mountain. Although the Daxinganling Mountains running from southwest to northeast can intercept and raise the water vapor blowing from the southeast and bring precious precipitation to the local area, the monarchs and ministers of the Liao Kingdom were still in no hurry to return to Beijing. Nabo Panhuan.
The Mu Nu and the general Khitan shopkeepers naturally did not feel that this year was any different from previous years, but the messengers coming from the south and southwest in the past few days still made everyone feel an unusual atmosphere, and the slightly higher-ups The Khitan nobles were even more uneasy.
"Although the repeated losses of ground on the Xijing Road had long been expected by the imperial court, the armies were planned to gather from Yanbianzhou County to Yunzhou, and the loss of the border counties was naturally inevitable. But within ten days, Shuozhou, Yingzhou, Wei Prefectures and other places either surrendered or rebelled, and Ruzhou and Khan Prefecture could not stop the Zhou army. The Zhou army was about to attack Yunzhou and Fengshengzhou in the morning and evening. Such a defeat is really shocking"
In the imperial tent. Yelvxian was counting the numerous defeats suffered by the DPRK and China during this period. Although he did not know the details of the attack and defense of Guangwu Walled City and other places, it did not prevent the center of the Liao Kingdom from grasping the latest changes in the front lines of the two armies in a timely manner. The battle report from the distant Xijing Road was no more than five or six days late.
Especially for cities like Ruzhou and Khanzhou that were captured by the Zhou army after desperate resistance, the battle reports are naturally the most detailed. Although Shuozhou, where the defenders abandoned the city, did not have a defender to report the battle situation, some of them However, most of the Khitan soldiers fled back to Yunzhou. The basic situation could not deceive the Southwest Recruiting Division, and naturally it could not be deceived by the court; even Yingzhou and Yuzhou, where the defenders in the city mainly rebelled and defected to the enemy. Some Khitan soldiers were also able to escape and reported the specific battle situation back to Yunzhou and Shangjing.
Such a fragile situation obviously shocked Yelvxian, even though he had been mentally prepared for a long time and was ready to abandon the defense of Yunzhou in front of the Zhou army. He even made up his mind to give up going to Beijing and enter the grasslands to deal with the enemy forces as a last resort, but he never expected that the border town in the southwest would be lost so quickly.
Of course, what hit Yelvxian even more was the military action taken by the Zhou army in the east, which was beyond the expectations of the Liao monarchs and ministers, and gave him an ominous feeling that the development of the war situation was completely out of his control.
"What's even more surprising is that the Zhou army actually made a false move to Goryeo and rushed from the Jurchen territory in the southeastern mountains to the city of Liaoyang, catching Yelu Heli and others by surprise. Although the imperial court failed to do as it ordered Yelu Xiezhen to do, He was generally ordered to evacuate military assets, women and children as soon as possible. Tokyo Road did not give the slightest warning to the Zhou army's actions! Tens of thousands of Zhou troops entered from the east and rushed to Liaoyang City, causing the Tokyo Road garrison to lose the opportunity to abandon the city and fight What is even more hateful is that the Zhou people took advantage of their naval strength to seize our Jinzhou and Yaozhou across the sea. Not only did they create a crisis that cut off our connection between Tokyo Road and Shangjing, but the Liao River turned into a river in one day. The passage of the Zhou army was blocked, and Liaoyang was trapped at its elbows and armpits, but it could neither save nor retreat"
Although there has been no news of the fall of Yunzhou and Fengshengzhou, it was already within the imperial court's plan. Not only had the women and children in the city been evacuated to the depths of the grassland a few months ago, but even the grain, grass and weapons in the city had been evacuated. A lot of them have moved out, so even if these cities are lost, the impact on the civil and military forces of North Korea and China is not very serious.
He abandoned the defense of the city to avoid the enemy's sharp edge, retreated into the vast grasslands with strong walls to drain his energy, and used his cavalry to wait for opportunities to cut off the enemy's food routes and drive them home. Even though both the national and military power were at a disadvantage, Yelvxian still left here. He gained confidence in a military deployment that could bring his own strengths into play, and believed that the final victory should belong to him, to him who could rationally analyze the situation between the enemy and ourselves and endure the humiliation in the early stages of the war.
However, the urgent report from Tokyo Road was like a bucket of ice water poured on Yelvxian's face, making him realize his negligence and realize that Zhou Jun had too many specialties!
Just like the vast grassland where Khitan athletes can come and go freely, the vast sea to the south of Tokyo Road turned out to be a blessed land for the Zhou army to gallop freely, and the entire south of Tokyo Road was alsoIt was almost like an undefended state. Even if Goryeo did not support the Zhou army to send troops, and even if the Jurchens blocked the Zhou army's passage, the Zhou army could still quickly go deep into Tokyo Road to siege Liaoyang City from the Liao River alone?
I and the civil and military commanders of the DPRK thought that Tokyo Road and the Zhou people's Yuguan were separated by the vast sea and several fortified cities on the coast of Nanjing Road, so they were not worried about the Zhou people's sudden attack, so they had no special concerns about Tokyo's left-behind Yeluheli. He was told that he was not allowed to prepare to evacuate military assets, women and children as early as Yelu Xiezhen did, but he was caught off guard by the Zhou army. By the time they learned of the Zhou army's actions on Tokyo Road, part of the Zhou army had already arrived at Liaoyang City. At this time, it was completely impossible to calmly move from the city to the depths of the grassland.
"What is even more confusing and makes me uneasy is that the Zhou army has already made great efforts on both the east and west routes. It can be said that Lian Kejian City has won several battles. It is expected that the news of Zhou army's attack should be on Nanjing Road. But no warning message came. The Lord of Zhou was personally in charge of Youzhou, and the main force of Zhou¡¯s imperial army was concentrated in the north of Youzhou, but they have not launched an attack to the north of Yanshan. It is really worrying to wait!"
It can be said that the Zhou army's attack on Tokyo Road caught Yelvxian off guard and made him feel a little panicked. However, the main force of the Zhou army stationed in the north of Youzhou in the middle road did not attack, which made Yelvxian feel guilty for a while. When they were retreating steadily as planned and Tokyo Road was unexpectedly lost one after another, the large number of mobile troops reserved in Beijing did not know which direction they should be deployed
When the fighting was already in full swing on both the east and west sides, the middle line, where the Zhou army had the strongest troops and the most powerful combat power, and where the Lord of Zhou personally was in command, remained silent. This strange phenomenon only made Yelvxian more and more worried. When I feel uneasy, it feels like a heavy hammer being held high above my head by an invisible hand, but I don't know when it will be knocked down. It's really not as good as a hammer hitting my head.
Yelu Xianshi, the Privy Councilor of the Beiyuan, responded quite understandingly: "Yesif the Zhou army in the north of Youzhou crosses Yanshan Mountain and attacks our Nanjing Road at this moment, then the Nanjing Road garrison can just resist like they did on the Xijing Road. , we can introduce the enemy troops into the territory step by step, inflate their morale, lengthen their food routes, weaken their military fronts, and even lead them all the way to Beijing to deal with it when necessary."
Gao Xun, the privy envoy of the South Academy, also nodded calmly and said: "The Pishi army and the palace guards and cavalry have already gathered in Shangjing and Nabodi, whether they are fighting the Zhou army outside Linhuang Mansion, or fighting with the Zhou army on the grassland near Shangjing. After a lot of maneuvering by the enemy, it can be said that they have more than enough strength. Even if the Zhou army has the advantage of weapons, if the plan continues, our army still has great hope of victory. I am afraid that the Zhou army in the middle will contain the main force of our army, but will not compete with it. Our armies are engaged in battle. At that time, our armies on both the eastern and western fronts are unable to engage in a decisive battle with the enemy. Maybe the two capitals will fall into the hands of the enemy in such an aggrieved manner"
"Yes! What if the Zhou army in Youzhou doesn't fight, retreats but doesn't retreat, but just gathers momentum to contain the Pishi Army and the Palace Guard Cavalry, so that our army has no time to distract from rescuing the East and West capitals! "Beiyuan King Yelu Xi was impatient and glanced at Gao Xun hatefully, "If you abandon Yunzhou without a battle, Liaoyang may not be able to defend it, and then it will be difficult to rely solely on the strength of the east and west capitals. To recapture them would be equivalent to being blackmailed into two capitals by the Zhou people. How can such a situation be tolerated?"
Yelu Xidi is the general who criticizes the current strategy the most. Although he also knows that the Zhou army's combat effectiveness is good and that it is very difficult to deal with the Zhou army's firearms, he is still quite confident in the Khitan Erlang's advantage on the grassland. If Tokyo Road and Nishikyo Road really changed hands without a fierce battle, he would probably be so angry that his belly would explode.
For Yelv Xian, he couldn't say anything. Emperor, no matter how wrong he was, he could only make circumstantial remarks; for Yelv Xianshi, he couldn't question and blame him. After all, the other party's military experience was no worse than his own, even though he was born He is lower than himself, but he is more trusted by the emperor and his official position is higher
So even though the meaning of Gao Xun's words was closest to him, he still directed the anger in his heart towards the other party, as if this strategy that might lead to the easy abandonment of the East and West capitals was passed by Gao Xun. Who told the other party to be a Haner! Even if he is an important minister who has won the trust of several emperors, Han'er is Han'er. If he were not in the imperial tent, if the Privy Envoy of the South Courtyard was not respectful to the King of the North Courtyard in terms of etiquette, Yelu Xidi might still be angry with Gao. Xunlao punched each other.
But resentment is resentment. Yelu Xidi is quite dissatisfied with this conservative strategy of only retreating, defending and even avoiding war. But if Yelv Xian wants him to come up with a different strategy he has nothing to do. At that time, he couldn't help but think of his predecessor, Yelu Wuzhi.
{PiaoTian Literature www.PiaoTian.com thanks all book friends for their support, your support is our greatest motivation}