Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Galloping all the way, until the horses were tired, everyone came down and walked for a while, and continued to drive north. In the afternoon, most of them were sweating profusely. On the big boat, he only had light leather armor on his body, but even these leather armor felt heavy at this time.

Shao Ji simply ordered that the entire army take off their leather armor and throw it on the road, just to speed up the march.

Everyone complied, and then continued to go northward. A long line of people and horses galloped northward on the avenue, rolling up dust in the sky, and the sound of horseshoes could be heard even a mile away.

From noon to afternoon, there were more and more trees on both sides of the avenue, and the shade of the trees made them breathe a sigh of relief. When the sun slanted westward and everyone was exhausted, they came to a small creek. The guide told them that the distance from here to the north Duliukou is only six miles away.

Shao Ji looked at the sky, and at this time the sky had begun to dim, so he immediately ordered everyone to rest in the woods by the river, and sent time to guard the intersection of the road.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, rested in the woods, ate some dried meat and grain cakes with the clear water in the water belt, and then recuperated.

"We have to attack before dark. We didn't bring anything with us this time, and we didn't have fuel for torches. If it's completely dark, we'll be in big trouble." Shao Ji chewed the jerky to recover his strength, and called everyone over Sit around him.

"Rush in, first arrest people and ask where the Qing Liao military camp is, and then occupy the military camp."

"Duliukou is at the end of the canal. I don't know how many troops the Liao Kingdom has, but it is estimated to be at least five hundred. Be prepared for a tough battle."

"Don't worry, general, who are we afraid of when we fight this way!" Everyone said one after another.

Shao Ji also instructed: "Now that we have entered the territory of the Liao Kingdom, we must be more careful than in the south."

.......

The sun was setting to the west, and from the woods, smoke was rising from the villages on the other side of the river, and it was almost time for dinner.

Shao Ji's years of war experience told him that the time has come!

Immediately ordered: "Everyone get on their horses and kill them!"

The people led the horses that had eaten grass for a while, and immediately started to walk north along the avenue, and they arrived at Liulidi in a short time. When they arrived, the sun was setting and every family was eating.

After arriving about a mile outside the village, the soldiers divided into three groups, all the way to fight directly north from Zhengzhong Avenue, all the way to the east trail, and all the way to rush through the large flat wheat fields in the west.

With an order, all the horses galloped immediately, and the black crowd rushed to the distant Duliukou in three ways.

The avenue in the middle is a full foot wide, with a row of woods on both sides, and a wide wheat field outside.

Shao Ji led the Chinese army of five hundred and headed straight for the front, along the boulevard, and quickly rushed to the front gate. In the setting sun, the gate of Duliukou was a wooden gate with thatched roofs on both sides. The guardrail is covered with sheepskin to block arrows, and a few flags are planted on the top, swaying slightly in the evening wind.

From a distance, there were few people on the sentry tower, only a few panicked people. The thick wooden door below was wide open, and several farmers were walking in, and someone was driving an ox cart.

Facing the large group of cavalry descending from the sky, everyone at the door was dumbfounded. The sentinel on the left wanted to climb up to the upper floor in a panic to ring the copper bell the size of a pot lid hanging under the top plate to sound the alarm.

But Zhou Jun is a veteran of many battles, and the more than ten riders in front of the side immediately reined in their horses to both sides, made way for the people behind, and stopped steadily on the side of the road. , Shooting the sentinel on the tower into a sieve from a distance of twenty steps, it was too late to ring the warning bell.

The rest of the sentries jumped down from the sentry tower screaming in fright, unable to get up, the people hid on both sides one after another, and the rest of the cavalry filed in without stopping.

The people who stopped immediately got off their horses, rushed to the sentry tower with knives and captured a few sentries, forced them to leave the Liao army's garrison, and then rode their horses to catch up with the group of people ahead.

After Shao Ji heard that the Liao Army's garrison camp was in the northwest of the town, he immediately led his troops to that direction, and the sound of horseshoes came from other directions, and the remaining two teams must have entered the town.

For a time, people were panicking everywhere in Duliukou, and people could be heard yelling in panic. Every family had a gold coin door, and many people were eating and it was too late.

Shao Ji ignored their intentions, and led hundreds of cavalry to gallop through the rammed loess road in the town, then passed westward, passing through the gaps between several low thatched houses and seeing the flag behind the earth wall in the distance, he knew it The destination has arrived!

There is an earthen wall around the Liao army garrison, and an arc-shaped arch at the gate. The earthen wall is about ten feet high, which is far less than that of the Qianning army garrison. .

At this time, two other groups of men and horses also came from various directions, stopped their horses in the east and west, and surrounded the small Liao army garrison.

Soon the Zhou army tacitly began to attack from three sides. First, they shot a large number of arrows towards the back of the wall. A dozen guard towers outside were dead and fled. They were quickly emptied. The Liao army inside was probably eating. Respond quickly and reinforce the door.

Shao Ji immediately dispatched more than a dozen warriors, stepping on horseback and biting the back of their knives, climbed into the earthen wall, opened the main door, and then rushed in with spears in hand.

A large number of Liao soldiers in the camp gathered in the direction of the main entrance in a hurry, before they even had time to put on their armor, Shao Ji rushed in and immediately killed one man with a spear more than ten feet long.

Then a large number of Zhou troops poured in, and the Liao army tried to counterattack with bows and crossbows to stop them, which slowed down the Zhou army's attack. The people who came in afterward shot arrows on horseback one after another. Someone also rushed in from the east and west of the camp, rushing into the Liao army from the side and rear.

The screams from the rear and the appearance of the enemy's flag quickly caused the Liao army in the front to collapse, and they retreated one after another. But facing the cavalry, everything is fine and you must not run, because if you run, it will become a one-sided chase.

Shao Ji immediately led people to chase from the front, and stabbed another person to death. The Liao army was caught off guard by the sudden attack, and ran to the back of the camp in a disorderly manner, trying to escape to the stables on horseback, but soon they were also attacked by the west. The hundreds of people who came in truncated...  

Shouts of killing and screams mingled in the camp. Many people in the distance looked into the distance tremblingly, but they didn't dare to approach. Some families packed up their things and prepared to run away.

Until the sky was completely dark, a large number of Liao troops were forced to the northeast corner of the camp. The soldiers in front retreated desperately because of fear, and the people behind were so crowded that they could not breathe and cried loudly.

I can’t go to the stables. There is an earthen wall of more than two meters behind, and the front is surrounded by three sides. Zhou’s army keeps shooting arrows. Many people began to cry and beg, kneel down and surrender, and some desperately stepped on other people’s heads trying to escape over the wall He was shot into a sieve by Zhou Jun's riders, and his body fell on top of the dense crowd and couldn't fall to the ground.

Shao Ji asked the guide to shout at these people in Chinese and Khitan, telling them to hand over their weapons above their heads.

The Liao soldiers who had been crying bitterly for a long time followed suit one after another...

Half an hour later, Zhou Jun found a large number of torches, turpentine, fish oil ointment, etc. from the warehouse in the camp and lit the torches and fires to illuminate the surroundings, and the prisoners of war were guarded.

Shao Ji immediately gave orders to the messengers around him: "One of you, go and tell Si Chao and Wang Huan that Duliukou has been captured and the waterway is cleared, so that they can go north without worry.

One is to tell the commander that I have taken Duliukou, and then I will turn west to attack Yukou Pass. "

The two messengers took the order and immediately set off overnight with torches and dry food. Shao Ji was very excited. This raid was a great success. They ran for more than a hundred miles a day, and Duliukou didn't even know that the Qianning Army fell. information.

After interrogating the generals of the garrison, it was known that there were originally two battalions of 1000 people in the garrison, but there were actually only more than 600 people.

In this battle, the Zhou army beheaded 89 enemies and captured more than 400 people. More than 20 of them were squeezed to death by their own people in a corner. Hundreds of people were crowded in a corner. It's miserable for those who live there, and the ground is ineffective every day, and they are squeezed to death by hundreds of people in the corner.

Then Shao Ji immediately ordered to leave 500 people to take over the place, waiting for the follow-up of Si Chao, Wang Huan's water army, and Wang Shenqi's [-]-step cavalry army. The rest will rest tonight and continue to raid west with him tomorrow morning. Yukou Pass, if the surprise attack is successful, it will be another great achievement.

Everyone agreed one after another, and they were very excited. They successively raided the Qianning Army and Duliukou succeeded, allowing them to taste the sweetness, and they became more and more convinced of the commander's arrangement and deployment.

So everyone rested in the camp for one night, and at dawn the next day, they continued to rush west without stopping, heading straight for Yukou Pass west of Duliukou.

On the road, a messenger came chasing from behind, bringing another piece of good news to Shao Ji.

It turned out that while they were fighting like this, Gao Huaide also followed the commander's deployment to launch a surprise attack all the way. He defeated the Pingshu County defenders in the first battle three days ago, conquered Pingshu County, and then rushed northward. The army arrived at Wen'an County at noon yesterday. , Murong Yanzhao did not stay after leaving some soldiers behind, but also led the army to Yukou Pass!

Shao Ji was excited: "According to the schedule, we will arrive at Yukou Pass at about the same time."

If you win Yukou Pass, you can open up the passage for the army to Yijin Pass, and Yijin Pass is the biggest obstacle for them to go north to Youzhou, and it is also the last pass for Youzhou to face the Great Zhou. Shang, Shi Yanchao and Murong Yanzhao surrounded Waqiao Pass from north to south, and the army will go north without hindrance!

Chapter 227, The Soldier Approaches the City

"Commander, General Shao Ji broke through the Qianning army all the way to the north, and then succeeded in a surprise attack on Duliukou, and turned his head west, heading towards Yukou Pass. This happened the night before yesterday.

In addition, General Gao Huaide has taken Pingshu County and Wen'an County along the way, and is also rushing towards Yukouguan in the north. This is also what happened two days ago. "Luqiu Zhongqing sorted out a large number of battle reports, summed up the above information, and then marked the positions of the various armies on a large map for him to see.

In this way, Shi Congyun can intuitively see the overall situation.

He had already arrived at Duliukou at this time. In a mud house in the Liao army barracks, there were many soldiers standing guard outside.

The Chinese army also accompanied her here. Duliukou is only a dozen kilometers away from the later Tianjin. At that time, it was a small town with few people, but in fact it was almost like a county because it was located at the end of the canal and was relatively prosperous.

"Where's Si Chao and Shao Ji's navy?" Shi Congyun asked.

"It turned west in the morning, heading towards Yijin Pass." Luqiu Zhongqing replied.

Shi Congyun nodded. This is the purpose of his rush to take down Duliukou. After taking down Duliukou, the big ship can go north along the canal, and then go west to Yijinguan. Transportation can greatly reduce logistical pressure.

"Let Wang Shenqi's army advance quickly, and is there any news from the West Road?"

Shi Congyun's central army took the north route, but there were fathers Shi Yanchao, Murong Yanzhao, Xiang Xun and Luo Yanhuan's army approaching ten thousand on the west route.

"The West Road is quite far away, so the news came slowly. I only know that Wang Hong, the governor of Ningzhou, surrendered before, and the army from the West Road should have gone to Waqiao Pass after that."

Shi Congyun nodded, with a comprehensive consideration of the overall situation in his mind.

Then he guessed: "They may be blocked at Waqiao Pass. Regardless of the west, we can't delay here. Let the Chinese army rush to the direction of Yijin Pass immediately and take Yijin Pass as soon as possible."

He has an overall consideration. If he wants to fight this battle with the Liao Kingdom, Yijin Pass must be won no matter what.

Luqiu Zhongqing nodded, and went down to arrange staff.

"Marshal, shall we rely on Yijin Pass to defend against the Khitans?" The young Fu Zhaoyuan asked curiously, "I think it is better to fight than to defend. It is better to fight than to defend."

Shi Congyun laughed and said to the young Fu Zhaoyuan: "What you said is reasonable, but it is wrong from a strategic point of view. Tactics...From a certain battle point of view, offense is the best Defense, it is feasible to initiate offense instead of defense.

But from a strategic point of view, the consequences of rashly launching an attack without preparing a defense are very serious. "

Fu Zhaoyuan was a little puzzled, but Shi Congyun didn't explain it to him. This kind of thing depends on understanding.

At noon, Shi Congyun ate something hastily, and then personally led an army of [-] to set off in the direction of Yijin Pass.

As for the hundreds of captives, the old method is still used, the Khitan generals will detain them, and the rest will be released.

Because these Liao troops are mainly Han people, with only a few Khitan people.

Not only the army, but almost all the governors and county magistrates in the southern states are Han and some Shatuo people. Liao’s system of the northern and southern courts is an important reason why it can rule the Han-inhabited areas. This system not only ensures that the Han-inhabited areas can autonomy.

At the same time, it is also supplemented by completely copying the imperial examination system of the Central Plains, giving the Han people under the rule a channel to rise. .

However, this situation will always deteriorate, because there are only so many upper-level resources, and the class will gradually solidify. At the beginning of the founding of the Liao Kingdom, Liao Taizu Yelu Abaoji held imperial examinations every once in a while to select Han people at the bottom for the imperial court. Used.

Up to now, it has gradually changed to a fixed one-year exam. Shi Congyun also knows that in the Northern Song Dynasty, food became a three-year exam. This is because the talents have been saturated and the upper-level resources are gradually monopolized. Fewer and fewer people are becoming more and more dissatisfied with the rule of Liao.

But now, after they entered the Liao territory, they could only say that they did not encounter resistance from the local people, but there was no scene of "eating pots of pulp to welcome the king's teacher".

To put it bluntly, the people in the northern part of the North China Plain are not so disgusted with the rule of the Liao Kingdom at this time. The Central Plains has been in chaos for years, and the dynasty has changed three times in just over a decade.

At this time, winning the hearts of the people is the key. The Liao Kingdom has no troops stationed in these places. Most of them are local soldiers recruited from the localities. These people are not the regular army of the Liao Kingdom. No matter what, I have no intention of fighting them.

So Shi Congyun adopted the strategy of suppressing and appeasing all the way.

It was the Khitan officers and generals who were wiped out, and the people of other ethnic groups were appeased. This kind of treatment can slowly disintegrate the enemy from within.

Shi Congyun also asked people to follow the army along the way to spread the word that Wang Shi's Northern Expedition only targeted the Khitan thieves, and the rest of the people of all ethnic groups were the people of the Great Zhou. As long as they didn't participate in the rebellion and didn't help the Khitan people, they would be safe and sound.

In this way, two days later, Shi Congyun's army arrived at Yukou Pass. As expected, the battle report was that Shao Ji and Gao Huaide joined forces at Yukou Pass two days ago.

Waqiao Pass, Yijin Pass, and Yukou Pass are the three passes facing Dazhou in the Liao Kingdom. Among them, Waqiao Pass is in the southernmost part, facing Dazhou directly, and after walking sixty to seventy miles along the road, it is Yijin Pass that is side by side. And Yukou Pass.

The general of Yukou Gate never dreamed that Zhou Jun would not play his cards in a routine way. While Waqiao Pass was still there, he made a surprise attack from the east, then made a detour from Duliukou to the west, and directly killed Yukou Pass, which is the last of the three passes.

Yijin Pass in the west and Waqiao Pass in front did not call the police at all, and they could not have expected that the Liao army would come directly from behind.

When Shao Ji and Gao Huaide's army arrived, the general at Yukou Pass was making out with his concubine, and he didn't expect Zhou Jun to come. Afterwards, Yukou Pass was captured without any accident. Many cavalrymen fled into the city in fright on the spot, and no one dared to go down and close the gate.

Afterwards, the guard surrendered, and the Yukouguan soldiers were taken down without bloodshed.

After Shi Congyun arrived at Yukou Pass, he didn't stop any longer, and continued to lead the army to Yijin Pass in the west. The distance between the two places was only forty miles in a straight line, which was a day's march for the army.

At noon the next day, Shi Congyun led his army across a small river about ten meters wide and knee-deep, and soon arrived at Yijin Pass.

The most majestic of the three passes of Yijin Pass, the main body is a masonry city with a height of more than four feet, surrounded by a city wall extending east and west, which is four or five miles long, with hillsides and rivers on both sides, and the road to the north must pass through.

The guards at the top of the city were densely packed, and they were all nervously looking down. In the distance, Shao Ji and Gao Huaide's army camped outside the city. There were thousands of tents densely packed, and fences were erected around the perimeter.

Wang Shenqi and Dong Zunhui's infantry and cavalry mixed army is located in the west, near the forest, and is cutting down trees to make siege equipment.

It seems that they have nothing to do with Yijin Pass.

After Shi Congyun led the army to arrive, Shao Ji, Gao Huaide, Wang Shenqi, and Dong Zunhui all rode over to visit him soon.

"Marshal!" Shao Ji said with some guilt: "I am incompetent, I can't overcome this Yijin Pass."

"I don't blame you, it was a surprise attack with light equipment, how could it be possible to capture such a fortified city." Shi Congyun comforted: "You executed very well, and you didn't react until you hit this enemy, which was much better than I thought. "

"Si Chao and Wang Huan's naval forces have reached the Zhongting River, more than ten miles to the south, just passing through the woods. We will send your armor and supplies over later. Go to the south and set up camp. Let the soldiers receive the armor as well." Take a good rest, this time has worked hard for you.

The matter of siege will be handed over to the Chinese army. "

Shao Ji and Gao Huaide took orders, went back to gather troops, and then led the army to the south, giving up the open space in front of the city of Yijin Pass.

Shi Congyun immediately said: "Wang Shenqi, Dong Zunhui."

"The end is here!" The two immediately responded.

"Go back and deploy now. Tomorrow morning, you will lead your own troops to attack the city in the west of the city. Build the siege equipment you need today, and make something simple. There are not many defenders at Yijin Pass. As long as we attack from all sides, they will not be able to hold it back." .”

"Yes!" The two agreed in unison, and then rode back to the west camp to deploy and dispatch troops.

"Wang Quanbin!"

"The last general is here!" Veteran Wang Quanbing came out.

"You organize the deployment of the Chinese army. The [-] infantry of the Crane Control Army are all under your command. Surround the city on both sides. You arrange the siege on the south and east sides. The deployment will be completed before dark, and the siege will start tomorrow morning. " Shi Congyun said seriously.

"No!" Wang Quanbin took the order.

Shi Congyun said to Wang Zhong again: "Wang Zhong!"

"exist!"

"You lead the gods and fire to cut wood and build some simple siege equipment immediately. Don't stop tonight, build it overnight, and it will be usable tomorrow morning."

"Promise!" Wang Zhong also took the order, and began to go down to lead the troops to arrange.

For a time tens of thousands of horses were mobilized in front of Yijin Pass, the sound of rumbling horseshoes made the ground tremble, and the black army was densely packed, and the troops and flags of the Zhou army were everywhere within a radius of more than ten miles. There was a kind of black cloud overwhelming the city. The tendency to destroy.

The pressure on the defenders at Yijin Pass must be unprecedented.