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Volume 4 Middle Chapter 155 The Huns Laugh for a Thousand Years-6

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    "Lu Mingyu and Luo Xianshi are surrounded?" Wang Gui took the military report and looked at the messenger in front of the horse suspiciously.  "Exactly, General Lu asked the commander-in-chief to quickly send troops for rescue." The messenger bowed, his expression was calm and there was no sign of pleading.  Wang Gui nodded, opened the military newspaper and read to the end, he suddenly realized.  With the ability of the Zuo Army to fight, Lu Mingyu was not surrounded by the Liao Army, but was harassed by the Liao Army's cavalry and forced his way into Xiongzhou City, which was occupied by the Song Army's vanguard.  According to Zuo Jun's investigation, the Liao army that besieged Xiongzhou used both infantry and cavalry. The total number was between 50,000 and 70,000, but there was no artillery camp.  Lu Mingyu estimated that this was just one part of the Liao army, and the artillery battalion of the Liao army should be together with another Liao army.  Together, these two armies should be the main force of the Liao Army in Youzhou.  Lu Mingyu suggested that if the Liao army really planned to gather troops to recapture Xiongzhou, the Song army might as well accept a decisive battle and move the entire army forward to win a big victory in Xiongzhou to reduce the difficulty of attacking Youzhou.  Attacking a city is not as good as fighting in the field. I have to say that this is a very tempting plan.  Over the past hundred years, the border officials of the Song State spent their efforts and invested countless civilians to create a strip of hundreds of miles of rivers and canals on the border of the Liao and Song Dynasties. Only a few passes were reserved for mutual exchanges between the Liao and Song Dynasties.  Xiongzhou is the most important one.  Nowadays, the weather is freezing and there is a world of ice and snow everywhere in Hebei. Rivers, lakes and swamps are all covered with a thick layer of ice, extending in all directions. Xiongzhou is like an isolated city on the plain.  However, once the weather got warmer and the border between Song and Liao became a swamp, the importance of Xiongzhou Pass became highlighted.  "The Liao invaders are cunning," Deputy General Guo Dapeng said in a low voice, "" General Lu went deep alone without authorization "The military order given to the Zuo Army is to attack Xiongzhou," the guard envoy Song Weixue said: "Now how can we  Can you say that he made the decision without permission? " "General Wang" Seeing Wang Gui's silence, the messenger Cui couldn't help but become a little anxious. He took a step forward and looked directly at Wang Gui.  Master Cui came from a rough background. The man who followed Lu Mingyu in Yuezhou to recruit troops was one of the few warriors in the left army who was good at bow and horse. When he came back to move troops this time, he led a hundred cavalry to break through the Merbo people's siege and interception.  At the time of Yishui River, there were only about fifty riders left under his command.  Cui Shi could not trust Wang Gui. If Wang Gui refused to send troops, he would still yell at this man who was greedy for life and afraid of death, even if he was under strict control.  Wang Gui pondered for a while and asked: "President Cui, you came from the Xiongzhou battlefield. Do you know the strength of the Liao army?" "There are about 50,000 Liao troops besieging the city, and most of the attackers are Jurchen troops.  There are many old and weak people." Master Cui said without hesitation, "In addition, there are also Milbo cavalry, at least ten thousand cavalry, who are not attacking the city, but are circling outside to intercept us." Commander Wang Gui.  The Chinese army has a large number of soldiers and horses, many of which are new troops transferred from the south.  The commanders from far and near listened attentively to Master Cui's account of the battle with the Liao army. Since the formation of the new Fire Gun Army, the turnover of officers has been extremely rapid. Many young officers have become battalion commanders and all commanders.  However, compared with generals like Master Cui who crawled out from the dead, they still lacked a lot of experience on the battlefield.  "There are more than 50,000 Liao troops besieging Xiongzhou The Meerbo cavalry is roughly between 20,000 and 30,000" "There is a Xia army threatening to come to Beijing in the west"  "There is nowhere to plow the valley in winter" "The Liao army that can be used to go south to Youzhou will not exceed 200,000 troops." Wang Gui frowned and looked at the snow-covered mountains in the distance, talking intermittently.  Repeating some words.  Some of these came from the military reports of Master Cui and Lu Mingyu, and some came from some secret reports on the strength of the Liao army from the Military Intelligence Department.  The cold weather made it extremely difficult for the Song army, but the Liao army from the north had even greater difficulties moving south.  For this reason, the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of War have repeatedly urged that when the spring is warm and the grass grows, it will be easier for the northern Liao army to go south to rescue Youzhou, while the Song army is stationed at the Song-Liao border where there is no people and no food, and it is even more difficult to capture Youzhou.  More difficult.  The Art of War says that in a decisive battle between two armies, there is no chance of victory. The one with more temples wins, and the one with fewer temples loses.  However, a veteran general like Wang Gui, who has been on the battlefield for a long time, knows that manpower is sometimes exhausted. If it is an evenly matched war, there are too many factors that determine victory or defeat.  This is even more true when it comes to a campaign or a battle.  From the general to the soldiers, the moment they step onto the battlefield, they surrender their lives to God.  However, even so, they had no choice but to risk their lives.  Because only if you dare to fight, you will have a chance to win. If you don't dare to fight, you will definitely lose.  Therefore, Marshal Yue said that generals are not afraid of death, which is the most basic requirement for his generals.  Warriors seek victory with a death wish. Only those who are alive know whether they will win or lose in the end.  "It is commendable that the left army holds on to Xiongzhou" After a long time, Wang Gui finally made up his mind and said in a deep voice: "The whole army should go north and form an array on the north bank of Yishui River." Then, Wang Gui ordered Zhang Xian again.  Twenty thousand fine cavalry were mobilized to move closer to the Chinese army. The two armies responded to each other and prepared to support the left army that had left Xiongzhou.  If the Liao army is not prepared to give up Xiongzhou, then the three Song armies will work together to fight the Liao army north of Yishui, under Xiongzhou City!  He had already made a plan in his mind, and after making the decision,Almost without thinking, the march and position of each army were immediately assigned, everything was in order.  After all the elite left-behind troops in Tokyo returned to the front army, there were still 110,000 soldiers and horses in the Hejian camp.  In addition to the soldiers and horses of the former Tokyo Remaining Department, most of them were the Forbidden Army camp leaders who had been transferred from the south since the imperial court decided to launch a large-scale Northern Expedition.  Some time ago, the imperial court changed generals on the spot. Although the generals were a little strange, Wang Gui was born under Marshal Yue. He has risen rapidly in recent years. He has always been tactful and resourceful. With the combination of kindness and power, Wang Gui, except for Zhang Xian and a few other former soldiers,  In addition to the generals and assistants, all the generals in the Chinese army were also willing to bow their heads and obey orders.  When all the generals saw that Wang Gui had the air of a general, they all obeyed his orders solemnly.  Since the Northern Expedition of Zhao Xingde, the Song army has won more battles with the Liao army than lost. Regardless of whether it is siege or field battle, it is not at a psychological disadvantage to the Liao people.  As soon as the military order to cross Yishui came, the veterans of each battalion talked happily about the rewards from the court and returned home in fine clothes, while the recruits who had never been on the battlefield were anxiously waiting for the first battle to come.  In early spring and February, the weather in Hebei not only did not get warmer, but instead became increasingly cold, making people's hands wet with iron guns.  ¡°Don¡¯t pull it, don¡¯t pull it, be careful, hey¡ª¡ª¡± Hebei veteran Zhang Peng yelled at a pale newcomer.  "It's your turn to ask, what should I do?" Wan Jin was so anxious that he almost cried. He was from Hebei, but he had never experienced such a cold weather. After the snow stopped, the weather not only did not get warmer, but became even worse.  Cold, when I was doing exercises in the morning, I just picked up the gun and felt something was wrong. It stuck to my hand and almost peeled off the flesh. A burst of heartbreaking pain made Wan Jin scream like a pig.  He was quite lucky. Yesterday, the new recruit in the nearby camp encountered an explosion when trying his gun, and his palm was blown off.  "It will take a while." Zhang Peng curled his lips. He looked at the sky outside the tent and murmured, "What a damn weather." On this day, all the Song soldiers in each battalion received military orders to prepare for the expedition, and each group of soldiers were separated.  They carried cotton tents and jackets for camping in the wild, seven days of dry food for each person, and more than fifty rounds of guns and ammunition. In addition to the first time, there were more than 100,000 civilians carrying military supplies and accompanying them.  Wang Gui was very cautious and arranged the marching column of the old Hebei battalion in the forward and two wings. Many new battalions, artillery battalions and civilian battalions from the south were protected in the middle of the marching column.  On February 28, the army crossed Yishui, stopped and camped on the north bank of Yishui, and sent Division Cui with a group of cavalry to break through the interception of the Liao army and enter Xiongzhou to contact Wang Gui.  The 110,000 Song troops formed horns with each other and marched forward step by step, rolling forward like boulders.  The harassment of small groups of Liao troops was unable to stop the Song army from advancing.  For the Liao army attacking Xiongzhou, the Song army in Xiongzhou was a smelly and hard bone that was difficult to chew. However, Wang Gui's army moved slowly and unstoppably like Mount Tai. The closer the Song army got to Xiongzhou,  The Liao army felt more and more trapped in the dilemma of being attacked from both sides.  Before Wanyan Xieye and Xiao Tachi could ask for help, the military order from the North Court arrived, ordering the Jurchen and Milbo tribes not to take a step back and prepare for a decisive battle with the Song army under Xiongzhou City.  "This is Brother Yelutie's intention to consume the strength of the two departments. Although Xiao Tachi and Wanyanxie are also suspicious, they have no choice but to do anything.  Brother Yelutie's plan was to use the Jurchen Army and the Meerbo Army to test the strength of the Song Army. The Liao Army would monitor and wait and see the success or failure of the battle. If the Song Army was exhausted, the superior cavalry would launch a decisive victory.  If the Song army easily defeats the Jurchen army and the Merbo tribe in one blow, they will retreat to Youzhou. According to Emperor Yelu Dashi's wishes, rely on the strong city of Youzhou to consume the Song army, and then see if there is a chance to defeat the Song army in one fell swoop.  .  According to Brother Tie's plan, the main force of the Liao army did not need to leave Youzhou where grain and grass were stored. However, on the first day of March, a group of imperial troops sent to the imperial palace on horseback dashed Brother Yelu Tie's wishful thinking.  .  After learning that Beiyuan intended to send the consort Xiao Tachi to Xiongzhou to die, Empress Xiao personally took Princess Pu Suwan to cry and plead with Yelu Dashi.  Yelu Dashi was originally dissatisfied with Beiyuan's unauthorized change of his plan to consume the Song army under Youzhou City, and wanted to stabilize the Jurchen and Milbo armies, so he ordered Yelv Tiege not to have his own way, but to keep the Jurchen and Milbo armies under control.  They were rescued from Xiongzhou City.  At the top of Xiongzhou City, the Song Army and the Jurchen Army fought hard for several days. Not only did the morale not fall, but it became even higher.  Outside Xiongzhou City, two days after Wang Gui's army crossed the Yishui River, the vanguard cavalry came into contact with the Liao army besieging the city. Milbo's cavalry was okay, but it was not that easy for the Jurchen army to retreat completely. Yelu Tiege weighed in  Due to the pros and cons, he had to personally lead 50,000 fine cavalry south to Xiongzhou in an attempt to force the Song army back outside the city and support the Jurchen army to withdraw to Youzhou.  At this time, Zhang Xian's 20,000 cavalry also arrived at Xiongzhou City. Wang Gui realized that the opportunity for a decisive battle with the Liao army had come, so the Song army not only did not retreat, but instead opened up their formation.  In the confrontation under Xiongzhou City, the Song and Liao armies were like two bulls with their horns pointing at each other. If anyone turned around and retreated first, he would be chased by the other party and knocked to the ground.
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