Across the Water Margin: Officials of Ximen

Page 531

After Liu Yanqing, Liu Guangshi, Yang Keshi and other generals arrived in Zhuozhou, they reorganized the army. The 20 Song army plus the Changsheng army and the local powerful army that surrendered, known to the outside world as 50, went northward to attack Liao in mighty strength.

The Song army set out from Zhuozhou, and the sound of drums shook the sky all the way, and the army was at its peak, so spectacular.

However, in the eyes of the people of Zhuozhou, the Song army was mighty and unrivaled.But in the eyes of veteran generals such as Guo Yaoshi, Zhen Wuchen, Zhao Heshou, etc. of the Changsheng Army, this Song army is lax in discipline and ostentatious. It is completely marching. How can it look like marching and fighting?

Guo Yaoshi was dumbfounded when he saw that the Song Army commanded by Liu Yanqing was marching without discipline.Going into battle with such an army, no matter how many are pigs and sheep!How could he be the opponent of Xiao Qian, the famous general of the Liao Kingdom?

Guo Yaoshi felt uneasy, and hastily rode his horse to Liu Yanqing's side, admonishing Liu Yanqing: "Dutong, today our army marches forward, but the military discipline is lax, and we don't take precautions against the enemy. This is a big taboo in marching! If the enemy lays an ambush midway and makes our army unable to respond, our army will be defeated."

Liu Yanqing laughed loudly after hearing this: "Our army has fought against the Xixia army in the northwest for many years. The soldiers are brave and good at fighting, and they are familiar with the battle formation. How can we face the enemy in front of the battle and be defeated without a fight? Besides, the Empress Dowager Xiao has already told me Da Song handed over the surrender form, who dares to stop our army from advancing? General Guo need not worry too much."

All the generals around Liu Yanqing also boasted of their bravery, so they didn't take Guo Yaoshi's words to heart.

This time they attacked Liao for the second time, Guo Yaoshi surrendered without a fight, the generals of the Western Army could not help but despise the generals of the Ever Victorious Army, thinking that they did not know how to march and fight.

Seeing the arrogant generals of the western army and the lax discipline of the soldiers, Guo Yaoshi couldn't help feeling uneasy.

When Liu Yanqing led the army to Lugou River in Liangxiang County, the forward troops reported that Xiao Qian, commander of the Liao army, and general Yelu Dashi had led troops to resist, and they were facing the Song army across the Lugou River.

It turned out that after the Empress Dowager Xiao of the Liao Kingdom sent the surrender form to the Song and Jin countries, she heard that the Song Kingdom did not miss the old love, but sent a large army to attack the city. The main force of the army left Yanjing City and came to Lugou River to defend against the enemy.

Seeing that the Liao army launched an attack on its own initiative, Liu Yanqing ordered the forward army to fight, and the Song and Liao armies clashed on the banks of the Lugou River.

Although there were many Song troops, their military discipline was lax, and the various ministries could not coordinate their operations.On the other hand, the Liao army, with national hatred and family hatred, fought desperately with the Song army with the same enemy, and all of them counted as ten.

Liu Yanqing's former army fought a battle with the Liao army and was defeated.

Seeing the setback of the former army, Liu Yanqing hurriedly ordered the Song army to camp in place to guard against the surprise attack of the Liao army cavalry.

Seeing that it was getting late, Xiao Qian called for gold to withdraw his troops and set up camp ten miles away from the Song army.

After the Song army suffered setbacks in the first battle, Liu Yanqing knew that the Liao army was still strong, so he ordered all the troops to come out of the barrier.The Song and Liao armies confronted each other for many days at the Lugou River, but they did not fight.

After Taiwei Tong Guan knew the situation, he sent an order to Liu Yanqing, saying: "The army has been delayed here for a few days, affecting the progress of marching into Yanjing, and wasting the country's money and food every day. It is said that our army is ten times larger than the Liao army, and the advantage is obvious. Why? Don’t dare to fight the enemy? I hope you will quickly deal with this Liao army and capture Yanjing City for the country.”

After Liu Yanqing received the order, he dared not avoid fighting against the Liao army, so he had to call all the generals to discuss countermeasures.

Guo Yaoshi was eager to make contributions, and stepped forward to offer advice: "The enemy general Xiao Qian is now leading the main force of the Liao Kingdom to fight against our army here, the rear must be empty.

Our army can send a light cavalry force to bypass Xiaoqian's main force, cross the Lugou River from Gu'an, bypass Anci, and directly arrive at the city of Yanjing.

The Han people in the city know that when our Song army arrives, they will respond in the city. With such a combination of inside and outside, Yanjing City is within easy reach. "

Chapter 8 Nineteen

Guo Yaoshi is familiar with Yanjing City's virtual reality and the surrounding geography, and the plan he offered is exactly "to build plank roads in the open, and to keep open warehouses in the dark".Unexpectedly, there is a great possibility of success.

Liu Yanqing felt that the plan was feasible, so he ordered Guo Yaoshi to lead 6000 cavalry from the Changsheng Army of his headquarters as a guide, and ordered Yang Keshi, Yang Kebi, Gao Shixuan, and Zhao Heshou to lead a total of [-] light cavalry to follow behind. A plan to attack Yanjing City.

At the same time, according to Guo Yaoshi's proposal, Liu Yanqing arranged for Liu Guangshijun to respond to Guo Yaoshi and Yang Keshijun.

After receiving the order, the generals acted separately, with Guo Yaoshi's army as the forerunner, Yang Keshi's army followed closely behind, and Song Jun chose to leave the barracks quietly in the middle of the night.

This light cavalry troop hurried to the southeast, detoured Gu'an County, crossed the Lugou River, and then passed through the territory of Anci County.

At dawn, Guo Yaoshi's confidant General Zhen Wuchen brought fifty warriors dressed in civilian clothes, drove a carriage, dressed up as vegetable sellers in the city, and arrived outside the Yingchun Gate in the east of Yanjing City.

To the east of Yanjing City are Jizhou, Pingzhou, Yingzhou and other places controlled by the Liao Army. The Liao Army defenders of Yanjing City did not expect that the enemy would suddenly appear outside the east gate.

Yanjing City has a population of 30, and many country people transport vegetables to the city for sale every day. Therefore, the guards at the Yingchun Gate are unprepared for the crowds gathered outside the city, and open the city gate on time to let the people enter the city.

Seeing that the city gate was wide open, Zhen Wuchen and his men drove into the Yingchun Gate.

After entering the city gate, Zhen Wuchen suddenly pulled out a big knife from the carriage, and chopped down the guarding captain next to the city gate.

"kill!"

Accompanied by Zhen Wuchen's yell, fifty of Zhen Wuchen's subordinates also drew their sharp blades to attack the defenseless officers and soldiers, beheading dozens of people in an instant, and seized the control of Yingchun Gate.

Guo Yaoshi and others had already ambushed outside the Yingchun Gate in the east of the city. Seeing that Zhen Wuchen had controlled the gate, he immediately led a large army to ride into the Yingchun Gate, occupied the Minzhong Temple in the east of the city, and used it as a temporary base camp.

Guo Yaoshi and Yang Keshi assigned seven troops in Minzhong Temple, each with two generals and 200 soldiers, and asked them to quickly occupy the remaining seven gates of Yanjing City.

The rest of the army entering the city, led by the Changsheng Army who was familiar with the situation, launched a surprise attack on the Liao army stationed in the city.

The city of Yanjing covers an area of ​​36 miles. The city wall is three feet high and one foot five feet wide. There are eight gates on the city wall, namely Andong Gate and Yingchun Gate in the east, Danfeng Gate and Kaiyang Gate in the south, and Qingjin Gate in the west. , Xianximen, Tongtianmen and Gongchenmen in the north.

There are 30 people in Yanjing City, including Han, Khitan, Xi, Bohai, Jurchen and other ethnic groups.

Because the Khitan Liao State inherited from the Tang Dynasty, Yanjing City followed the urban layout of the Tang Dynasty and divided into 26 "workshops".

Entering the city, the Song army acted swiftly, quickly killed the sleepy-eyed defenders of each gate, and took control of the eight gates on the outer wall of Yanjing City.

When the Song army controlled the entrances and exits of Yanjing City, many people in the city were still in the dark.

The people who were awakened by the shouts of killing poked their heads out of the gate, only to find that the Liao army on the city wall had been wiped out, and the banner on the top of the city had been replaced with the battle flag of the Song army.

Immediately in the city, those Han people who were good at flattering and speculating ran to Minzhong Temple to work as soldiers to welcome the arrival of the heavenly soldiers.

Some people, in order to praise the Song army for being like a divine soldier, brazenly wrote poems to Yang Keshi and Guo Yaoshi on the spot: "General Polu enters Yan at dawn, and the city is full of harmony to meet Yaotian!" It will last for 200 years."

After entering the city, Yang Keshi ordered people to go to various places in the city to pass orders, calling on the Han people in the city to cooperate with the Song army and fight against the Khitan people.

At this time, Yanjing City was in chaos, and the Liao army guarding the city did not know how many Song troops had come. Seeing that the flags of the Song army were planted on the gates of the city, they thought that the general situation was over, and they retreated to the inner city in the southwest corner in disorder.

Zuo Qigong and other city ministers noticed it early and rushed to the inner city with their soldiers to escort them. Some ministers learned that when the Song army entered the city, the streets had already been controlled by the Song army.

Seeing that the situation was unclear, these people had no choice but to close their doors, gather their young adults at home to protect themselves, and wait and see what happened.

Yang Keshi, Gao Shixuan and other generals were defeated by the Liao army in Xiongzhou City, and they hated the Khitan people to the bone.After they captured the city gate, they immediately allowed the soldiers to massacre the Khitan officials and civilians in the city.

Because the Song Army could not distinguish where the Khitan people lived in 26 squares and where the Han people lived, the Song Army asked the Han people in the city who came to help to climb the city wall and pointed out where the Khitan people lived one by one.

With the guidance of the Han people, after confirming the target, the Song army broke in, burned, killed and looted the Khitan people's homes, raped women, and vented their hatred for the Khitan people.

The Khitan people in the city soon discovered that the Song army was going to kill them all, so all the Khitan people, regardless of men, women, old and young, took up arms and fought the Song army desperately.

Both the Song army and the Khitan people were blinded by blood. There were endless scuffles in the courtyards and streets of the city, and blood flowed like rivers.

Many ordinary Khitan people don't have any weapons at hand, they are just sticks and stones. How can they be the fully armed opponents of the Song army?

The sound of killing in Yanjing City was loud, countless Khitan people were killed and injured, dead bodies were strewn across the streets, it was too horrible to look at.

Yang Keshi listened to the wailing of the Khitan people in the city at Minzhong Temple, and showed a ferocious smile.

He wrote a battle report in hand, and ordered people to send it directly to the Hejian Prefecture's Hedong and Hebei Xuanfu Divisions, and won the victory against Taiwei Tongguan.It is said that he led an army of [-] surprise soldiers and had already occupied Yanjing City.

Yang Keshi's move was naturally worried about Liu Yanqing and his son who were at odds with him, and he didn't want them to steal his credit, so he directly reported the victory to Taiwei Tongguan.