The movements in the previous few months of the Northern Expedition were obvious and could not be kept secret.
Li Chongjin was ordered to lead his army from Yangzhou to return to Beijing, and received first commendation and banquet from the emperor in Tokyo. He did not care about the coming year and the festival was over, and he was replenished in winter and was deployed in the north of Luzhou, Hedong... Li Chong entered the battlefield and fought many wars. Chai Rong seemed to be not caring about anything else at this time, and still asked him to command the guards and horse stance.
Xiang Xun then led Zhen'an Army to Beijing and mobilized to Hedong to meet with Li Chongjin's troops.
Gao Huaide's troops in the right wing of the Hujie Army were transferred to Beizhou before the New Year; Li Gu followed the army and regardless of the frozen rivers, they mobilized Xingu, which was in the summer and autumn seasons, successively transported to Hebei one after another.
Han Lingkun's troops of the guards Long Jie Army returned to Beijing from Xiacai Town, Shouzhou. In the first month of the fourth year of Xiande, the left wing was deployed to Dingzhou, Hebei.
...But the Liao people may not be able to eat exactly what Chai Rong wanted to do, because Chai Rong made a move to the Northern Expedition not once or twice. Not only did he intimidate the southern countries for a long time, but he also wanted to intimidate the Liao Kingdom with force. Before the Battle of Huainan, he mobilized a large number of troops in Hebei, and in the early stage he made a move to attack the Liao Kingdom, but later the main force suddenly went to Huainan.
However, this time it was not only a threat. In early March of the fourth year of Xiande, Chai Rong quickly issued an edict to start the Northern Expedition.
At this time, the deployment in the north has basically been completed.
Li Chongjin, Xiang Xun and Li Yun defended the Northern Han in Hedong and served as support for the attack.
Han Lingkun's tribe was the left wing in Dingzhou (west of Hebei); Guo Shao's tribe and Gao Huaide's tribe were the middle wing in Beizhou, Qizhou; Chai Rong led a large army to Cangzhou from the waterway, which was the right wing.
The elite troops of the Zhou army were almost dispatched and began the Northern Expedition in three directions.Among them, Chai Rong personally led the main force of the imperial guards as the main attack direction.
The emperor Chai Rong was full of elite soldiers. The squads in front of the hall were elite cavalry, most of which were cavalry, and the 30,000 Iron Cavalry was mostly elite cavalry, and the Crane Control Army was mostly cavalry and archers.
This group of people is a powerful soldier collected by the whole country, and consumed half of the court's finances and taxes.
Tens of thousands of cavalry and soldiers from Zhujie Town advanced side by side. Before the battle started in Cangzhou, Wang Hong, the governor of Ningzhou, the Liao Kingdom, suddenly, took the initiative to surrender.
Chai Rong sent someone to commend and appease Wang Hong and asked him to continue to be the governor; then led his army to advance north along the waterway and attack Yijin Pass.
The emperor also ordered all troops to start attacking: the left wing of the Longjie Army in the west and the Jiedushi Sun Xingyou of Dingzhou attacked Yizhou; the middle dynasty Guo Shao's troops directly entered Waqiao Pass (now Baoding City), and Gao Huaide's troops then went north to monitor Ying and Mozhou.
In one month, the attack on the whole line was smooth, and good news came from all over the place.
Yijin Pass, Waqiao Pass, Yingzhou and Mozhou surrendered one after another, and the defenders were all Han people. When they heard the Central Plains army came, they all offered passes as if they had agreed.
Only Yizhou fought one battle, hundreds of Khitan cavalry were defeated by Han Lingkun's generals, and the Yizhou defenders immediately surrendered.
Han people from all over the country welcomed each other, and the Zhou army transformed into the liberator of the military and civilians in various places, and successfully accepted seventeen counties in the three gates, four prefectures and 17 counties.
People were filled with tears, and people on the roadside shouted words such as waiting for twenty years and finally waiting for the King's Army, which made the soldiers feel more popular than on their own territory.
When Guo Shao's troops arrived in the north of Waqiao Pass, they encountered a group of Han people taking advantage of the chaos to grab more than 100 Liao army horses to surrender. They immediately collected them into troops and allocated the captured army horses to them.
Zuo You wrote the Anmin List, and promoted the Wang Shi Beiding everywhere, and the brothers of the same clan were treated equally.
Shi Chairong quickly rectified the places he had obtained and ordered Han Tong to convene Ding Zhuang to consolidate Waqiao Pass and Yijin Pass, and change it to Xiongzhou and Bazhou respectively.
In mid-April, Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin's troops crossed the Juma River and a cavalry war broke out in Zhuozhou, repelling Xiao Siwen, the general manager of the Southern Court of the Liao Kingdom, and conquering Zhuozhou.
So the imperial guards divided their troops and arrived at the banks of the Juma River one after another. The emperor did not order the tribes to cross the river, but only summoned the generals from Zhuozhou Palace to discuss taking Youzhou.
The emperor led the squads and the Crane Army to the Zhuozhou Palace.
Suddenly, Li Yun sent an envoy to report that he had found a military opportunity in Jinyang. The Khitan Lord urgently ordered the Northern Han to send troops to assist... This news brought the unstoppable atmosphere of victory to abruptly. Since the Northern Han was assisting, could the Khitan Lord send troops?
Sure enough, in less than two days, a secret whistle found a large number of movements from the Liao army and the horse soldiers behind the Yàn Mountain.
When Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin heard the news, they entered the palace to meet the saint. When they saw Chai Rong sitting on the upper chair, they were pondering something. The two of them whispered in a low voice when they kowtowed and spoke.
Chai Rong took away his hand that was rubbing his chin and said without raising his head: I just knew you were asking for a meeting, so I finished speaking if I had anything to say.
Zhao Kuangyin did not speak at first, and Zhang Yongde said: Your Majesty, the enemy cavalry are all gathered in the north of Youzhou, so it is not advisable to go further and further.
Chai Rong's face suddenly became unhappy.
Zhao Kuangyin looked up and looked up, and said: I think that the main thing to attack Youyun is not to capture the city and territories, but to defeat the Khitan to come from the Liao Kingdom’s “Shangjing”.If you can defeat the Khitan reinforcements in one battle, you will be surrounded by Youzhou and advance to the land of Youyun. If you are defeated by the enemy cavalry, even if you capture Youzhou, it will be an isolated city, and there is no evidence around you. The reinforcements and food routes are all under the threat of the enemy cavalry, and Youzhou has no effect.
The army was eager to siege the heavy city and gather troops at the city. If the city failed to break down and then failed outside the city, it would be attacked inside and outside, which was annihilated.Therefore, Zhang Du’s opinion is not to hesitate, but to make careful arrangements and plan advances and retreats.
Zhao Kuangyin's words were more acclaimed, and Chai Rong nodded slightly.
Zhao Kuangyin continued: The Khitan lord was cruel and unkind, the Liao Dynasty's government was in turmoil, and the arrival of reinforcements may not be an elite opponent of our Zhou army.
Chai Rong said: Let’s continue.
Zhao Kuangyin bowed: If you follow my opinion, set up defenses before attacking, and deploy it with a deep and deep formation.From Yizhou, Zhuozhou to Youzhou, there were multiple camps and defenses, with infantry behind and cavalry ahead; the horse soldiers advanced to the north of Youzhou City, waiting for the Liao reinforcements to arrive, and taking advantage of their fatigue from afar, the cavalry could fight mobile.If it is unfavorable, then the enemy cavalry can do nothing to me.
Chai Rong refused to comment, and saw an eunuch coming in, he asked: Is the guard Sima Budu Yuhou Guo Shao coming?
The eunuch said: Here, but the generals have not arrived yet... Should the officials summon General Guo first?
Chai Rong thought for a while but said: I'm going to change my clothes, you two will come to the palace to discuss matters with the generals later.
Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin bowed and retreated together.
The two of them left the palace all the way, and Zhang Yongde said: Brother Zhao has discussed with me for so long before. When I went in and met the saint, I persuaded me. Why don’t you help persuade the officials?
Zhao Kuangyin said: The government is determined to win Youzhou, but I just found out that I couldn't persuade him.
After hearing this, Zhang Yongde had to simply say: Then I can only try one battle... Brother Zhao thought what the outcome was?
We didn't expect the Khitan Lord to send reinforcements so soon. It was a sleeping emperor. His throne was not stable and Youzhou was not a place for the Liao Kingdom. It was expected that the Khitan Lord would simply give up the land of Youyun; even if he had to send troops, it would be difficult, and I don't know when he would go.Zhao Kuangyin said, but now there has been movement for more than a month. It can be seen that it is not the Khitan Lord's intention, but the ministers of the Liao Kingdom are asking him together; otherwise, the Khitan Lord will not be able to convince the ministers in a short time, nor will he be willing to go against the public's opinions.If all the tribes of the Liao Kingdom want to protect Youzhou, there is no difference. The Liao army's cavalry is powerful, it will be difficult for us to win.
Zhang Yongde said: I haven’t fought yet.I have never seen you fight so much!
Zhao Kuangyin said: Do you remember the battle in Jinyang?The Liao Kingdom sent thousands of cavalry to Xinkou for reinforcements. The King of Guard Fu Yanqing held 20,000 people, and almost lost the striker Shi Yanchao and was defeated.
At that time, Fu Yanqing had no elite soldiers, only Xiang Xun and Shi Yanchao's horse soldiers could fight.
Zhao Kuangyin said: Even so, Shi Yanchao and Xiang Xun have thousands of cavalry together.Anyway, I think you can't be impatient when fighting Liao Kingdom, and you can't underestimate the enemy.
In the afternoon of the same day, the ministers of the Privy Council and generals from all over the country discussed affairs in the Zhuozhou Palace.
Wei Renpu was left behind in Tokyo at this time, and Wang Pu presided over the discussion, which was still a rough picture. Wang Pu first described the military situation from the upper and lower sides.
Guo Shao was also in the queue as a senior general, and he still listened silently.
This time the discussion scene made him a little disappointed. Wang Pu's talent should be higher than Wei Renpu, but because he was older, he lacked the confidence and calmness of his every move... Guo Shao couldn't help but think of the scenes during the Battle of Huainan and the palace in Yangzhou, and made a comparison.
When the generals heard that the Liao army was behind the mountain, they had a conflict of opinions and had a dispute until evening. Guo Shao did not participate in the dispute, and he was all focused on what his superiors wanted to do and what he should do.
Later, Chai Rong finally made some arrangements against the public.
The Iron Cavalry and the Crane Control Army were moving to the north of Youzhou City to wait for an opportunity to move. The left wing of the Long Jie Army and the squads were stationed directly under the city to monitor the movements of Youzhou City.
The Hujie Army left-wing infantry army was stationed in Zhuozhou, and the military power was replaced by Qi Tingxun, commander of the Left-wing capital; the Hujie Army right-wing Gao Huaide's unit stationed in the south of the Juma River; the Hantong unit was located in Xiong and Bazhou.
As expected, Guo Shao was specifically named by the emperor to attack Youzhou City.
But the emperor did not seem to want to attack the city with all his strength, because the siege troops transferred to Guo Shao were not the elite troops of the Tiger Army left wing (in Zhuozhou), but the cavalry of Sun Xingyou's troops of Dingzhou Army, Guo Shao's troops, and the towns of Hebei successively came to tens of thousands of troops.
Guo Shao found that there were only two types of troops under Youzhou City: one was the cavalry and the other was the miscellaneous soldiers.It gave him an illusion that he was ready to run away at any time and then left the cannon fodder to die.
The main force of his siege troops are all from local towns. Can he still be besieged to the heavy city?
He felt that he was completely a feint attack that put pressure on the siege; the main force of the Zhou Dynasty seemed to be placed on the reinforcements of the Liao Kingdom, which had not yet appeared.
But the emperor did not clearly say that only let him support and the imperial edict was to attack the city.So Guo Shao immediately remembered the large amount of gunpowder placed in Qizhou.
During the Huainan period, the emperor personally gave the nickname Guo Pocheng. In fact, Guo Shao was not proficient in siege at all, and the only skill he was proficient in was to use gunpowder to blow it up.There was nothing he could do this time, he was ready to use the same trick again at any time.
Li Chongjin was ordered to lead his army from Yangzhou to return to Beijing, and received first commendation and banquet from the emperor in Tokyo. He did not care about the coming year and the festival was over, and he was replenished in winter and was deployed in the north of Luzhou, Hedong... Li Chong entered the battlefield and fought many wars. Chai Rong seemed to be not caring about anything else at this time, and still asked him to command the guards and horse stance.
Xiang Xun then led Zhen'an Army to Beijing and mobilized to Hedong to meet with Li Chongjin's troops.
Gao Huaide's troops in the right wing of the Hujie Army were transferred to Beizhou before the New Year; Li Gu followed the army and regardless of the frozen rivers, they mobilized Xingu, which was in the summer and autumn seasons, successively transported to Hebei one after another.
Han Lingkun's troops of the guards Long Jie Army returned to Beijing from Xiacai Town, Shouzhou. In the first month of the fourth year of Xiande, the left wing was deployed to Dingzhou, Hebei.
...But the Liao people may not be able to eat exactly what Chai Rong wanted to do, because Chai Rong made a move to the Northern Expedition not once or twice. Not only did he intimidate the southern countries for a long time, but he also wanted to intimidate the Liao Kingdom with force. Before the Battle of Huainan, he mobilized a large number of troops in Hebei, and in the early stage he made a move to attack the Liao Kingdom, but later the main force suddenly went to Huainan.
However, this time it was not only a threat. In early March of the fourth year of Xiande, Chai Rong quickly issued an edict to start the Northern Expedition.
At this time, the deployment in the north has basically been completed.
Li Chongjin, Xiang Xun and Li Yun defended the Northern Han in Hedong and served as support for the attack.
Han Lingkun's tribe was the left wing in Dingzhou (west of Hebei); Guo Shao's tribe and Gao Huaide's tribe were the middle wing in Beizhou, Qizhou; Chai Rong led a large army to Cangzhou from the waterway, which was the right wing.
The elite troops of the Zhou army were almost dispatched and began the Northern Expedition in three directions.Among them, Chai Rong personally led the main force of the imperial guards as the main attack direction.
The emperor Chai Rong was full of elite soldiers. The squads in front of the hall were elite cavalry, most of which were cavalry, and the 30,000 Iron Cavalry was mostly elite cavalry, and the Crane Control Army was mostly cavalry and archers.
This group of people is a powerful soldier collected by the whole country, and consumed half of the court's finances and taxes.
Tens of thousands of cavalry and soldiers from Zhujie Town advanced side by side. Before the battle started in Cangzhou, Wang Hong, the governor of Ningzhou, the Liao Kingdom, suddenly, took the initiative to surrender.
Chai Rong sent someone to commend and appease Wang Hong and asked him to continue to be the governor; then led his army to advance north along the waterway and attack Yijin Pass.
The emperor also ordered all troops to start attacking: the left wing of the Longjie Army in the west and the Jiedushi Sun Xingyou of Dingzhou attacked Yizhou; the middle dynasty Guo Shao's troops directly entered Waqiao Pass (now Baoding City), and Gao Huaide's troops then went north to monitor Ying and Mozhou.
In one month, the attack on the whole line was smooth, and good news came from all over the place.
Yijin Pass, Waqiao Pass, Yingzhou and Mozhou surrendered one after another, and the defenders were all Han people. When they heard the Central Plains army came, they all offered passes as if they had agreed.
Only Yizhou fought one battle, hundreds of Khitan cavalry were defeated by Han Lingkun's generals, and the Yizhou defenders immediately surrendered.
Han people from all over the country welcomed each other, and the Zhou army transformed into the liberator of the military and civilians in various places, and successfully accepted seventeen counties in the three gates, four prefectures and 17 counties.
People were filled with tears, and people on the roadside shouted words such as waiting for twenty years and finally waiting for the King's Army, which made the soldiers feel more popular than on their own territory.
When Guo Shao's troops arrived in the north of Waqiao Pass, they encountered a group of Han people taking advantage of the chaos to grab more than 100 Liao army horses to surrender. They immediately collected them into troops and allocated the captured army horses to them.
Zuo You wrote the Anmin List, and promoted the Wang Shi Beiding everywhere, and the brothers of the same clan were treated equally.
Shi Chairong quickly rectified the places he had obtained and ordered Han Tong to convene Ding Zhuang to consolidate Waqiao Pass and Yijin Pass, and change it to Xiongzhou and Bazhou respectively.
In mid-April, Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin's troops crossed the Juma River and a cavalry war broke out in Zhuozhou, repelling Xiao Siwen, the general manager of the Southern Court of the Liao Kingdom, and conquering Zhuozhou.
So the imperial guards divided their troops and arrived at the banks of the Juma River one after another. The emperor did not order the tribes to cross the river, but only summoned the generals from Zhuozhou Palace to discuss taking Youzhou.
The emperor led the squads and the Crane Army to the Zhuozhou Palace.
Suddenly, Li Yun sent an envoy to report that he had found a military opportunity in Jinyang. The Khitan Lord urgently ordered the Northern Han to send troops to assist... This news brought the unstoppable atmosphere of victory to abruptly. Since the Northern Han was assisting, could the Khitan Lord send troops?
Sure enough, in less than two days, a secret whistle found a large number of movements from the Liao army and the horse soldiers behind the Yàn Mountain.
When Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin heard the news, they entered the palace to meet the saint. When they saw Chai Rong sitting on the upper chair, they were pondering something. The two of them whispered in a low voice when they kowtowed and spoke.
Chai Rong took away his hand that was rubbing his chin and said without raising his head: I just knew you were asking for a meeting, so I finished speaking if I had anything to say.
Zhao Kuangyin did not speak at first, and Zhang Yongde said: Your Majesty, the enemy cavalry are all gathered in the north of Youzhou, so it is not advisable to go further and further.
Chai Rong's face suddenly became unhappy.
Zhao Kuangyin looked up and looked up, and said: I think that the main thing to attack Youyun is not to capture the city and territories, but to defeat the Khitan to come from the Liao Kingdom’s “Shangjing”.If you can defeat the Khitan reinforcements in one battle, you will be surrounded by Youzhou and advance to the land of Youyun. If you are defeated by the enemy cavalry, even if you capture Youzhou, it will be an isolated city, and there is no evidence around you. The reinforcements and food routes are all under the threat of the enemy cavalry, and Youzhou has no effect.
The army was eager to siege the heavy city and gather troops at the city. If the city failed to break down and then failed outside the city, it would be attacked inside and outside, which was annihilated.Therefore, Zhang Du’s opinion is not to hesitate, but to make careful arrangements and plan advances and retreats.
Zhao Kuangyin's words were more acclaimed, and Chai Rong nodded slightly.
Zhao Kuangyin continued: The Khitan lord was cruel and unkind, the Liao Dynasty's government was in turmoil, and the arrival of reinforcements may not be an elite opponent of our Zhou army.
Chai Rong said: Let’s continue.
Zhao Kuangyin bowed: If you follow my opinion, set up defenses before attacking, and deploy it with a deep and deep formation.From Yizhou, Zhuozhou to Youzhou, there were multiple camps and defenses, with infantry behind and cavalry ahead; the horse soldiers advanced to the north of Youzhou City, waiting for the Liao reinforcements to arrive, and taking advantage of their fatigue from afar, the cavalry could fight mobile.If it is unfavorable, then the enemy cavalry can do nothing to me.
Chai Rong refused to comment, and saw an eunuch coming in, he asked: Is the guard Sima Budu Yuhou Guo Shao coming?
The eunuch said: Here, but the generals have not arrived yet... Should the officials summon General Guo first?
Chai Rong thought for a while but said: I'm going to change my clothes, you two will come to the palace to discuss matters with the generals later.
Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin bowed and retreated together.
The two of them left the palace all the way, and Zhang Yongde said: Brother Zhao has discussed with me for so long before. When I went in and met the saint, I persuaded me. Why don’t you help persuade the officials?
Zhao Kuangyin said: The government is determined to win Youzhou, but I just found out that I couldn't persuade him.
After hearing this, Zhang Yongde had to simply say: Then I can only try one battle... Brother Zhao thought what the outcome was?
We didn't expect the Khitan Lord to send reinforcements so soon. It was a sleeping emperor. His throne was not stable and Youzhou was not a place for the Liao Kingdom. It was expected that the Khitan Lord would simply give up the land of Youyun; even if he had to send troops, it would be difficult, and I don't know when he would go.Zhao Kuangyin said, but now there has been movement for more than a month. It can be seen that it is not the Khitan Lord's intention, but the ministers of the Liao Kingdom are asking him together; otherwise, the Khitan Lord will not be able to convince the ministers in a short time, nor will he be willing to go against the public's opinions.If all the tribes of the Liao Kingdom want to protect Youzhou, there is no difference. The Liao army's cavalry is powerful, it will be difficult for us to win.
Zhang Yongde said: I haven’t fought yet.I have never seen you fight so much!
Zhao Kuangyin said: Do you remember the battle in Jinyang?The Liao Kingdom sent thousands of cavalry to Xinkou for reinforcements. The King of Guard Fu Yanqing held 20,000 people, and almost lost the striker Shi Yanchao and was defeated.
At that time, Fu Yanqing had no elite soldiers, only Xiang Xun and Shi Yanchao's horse soldiers could fight.
Zhao Kuangyin said: Even so, Shi Yanchao and Xiang Xun have thousands of cavalry together.Anyway, I think you can't be impatient when fighting Liao Kingdom, and you can't underestimate the enemy.
In the afternoon of the same day, the ministers of the Privy Council and generals from all over the country discussed affairs in the Zhuozhou Palace.
Wei Renpu was left behind in Tokyo at this time, and Wang Pu presided over the discussion, which was still a rough picture. Wang Pu first described the military situation from the upper and lower sides.
Guo Shao was also in the queue as a senior general, and he still listened silently.
This time the discussion scene made him a little disappointed. Wang Pu's talent should be higher than Wei Renpu, but because he was older, he lacked the confidence and calmness of his every move... Guo Shao couldn't help but think of the scenes during the Battle of Huainan and the palace in Yangzhou, and made a comparison.
When the generals heard that the Liao army was behind the mountain, they had a conflict of opinions and had a dispute until evening. Guo Shao did not participate in the dispute, and he was all focused on what his superiors wanted to do and what he should do.
Later, Chai Rong finally made some arrangements against the public.
The Iron Cavalry and the Crane Control Army were moving to the north of Youzhou City to wait for an opportunity to move. The left wing of the Long Jie Army and the squads were stationed directly under the city to monitor the movements of Youzhou City.
The Hujie Army left-wing infantry army was stationed in Zhuozhou, and the military power was replaced by Qi Tingxun, commander of the Left-wing capital; the Hujie Army right-wing Gao Huaide's unit stationed in the south of the Juma River; the Hantong unit was located in Xiong and Bazhou.
As expected, Guo Shao was specifically named by the emperor to attack Youzhou City.
But the emperor did not seem to want to attack the city with all his strength, because the siege troops transferred to Guo Shao were not the elite troops of the Tiger Army left wing (in Zhuozhou), but the cavalry of Sun Xingyou's troops of Dingzhou Army, Guo Shao's troops, and the towns of Hebei successively came to tens of thousands of troops.
Guo Shao found that there were only two types of troops under Youzhou City: one was the cavalry and the other was the miscellaneous soldiers.It gave him an illusion that he was ready to run away at any time and then left the cannon fodder to die.
The main force of his siege troops are all from local towns. Can he still be besieged to the heavy city?
He felt that he was completely a feint attack that put pressure on the siege; the main force of the Zhou Dynasty seemed to be placed on the reinforcements of the Liao Kingdom, which had not yet appeared.
But the emperor did not clearly say that only let him support and the imperial edict was to attack the city.So Guo Shao immediately remembered the large amount of gunpowder placed in Qizhou.
During the Huainan period, the emperor personally gave the nickname Guo Pocheng. In fact, Guo Shao was not proficient in siege at all, and the only skill he was proficient in was to use gunpowder to blow it up.There was nothing he could do this time, he was ready to use the same trick again at any time.
![[traverse Novels] The rebirth of the two dragons in the Tang Dynasty is not disappointed - plot, harem, hunting for beauty, cool article](/templates/nvshen/themes/img/thumb_1.png)