Chapter 167 Time Change 3
Hunta is very clear about the principle of losing lips and cold teeth.
Therefore, when he received Luke Dehun's request for help, he recruited troops from all over the country. Apart from those left behind, he also brought together a reinforcement army of 5,000 people.
But Hunta made some adjustments in the reinforcement direction.
He picked out 1,500 elite cavalry, led by his deputy general Saha, and went east along the Dayang River and straight to the back of Phoenix City.
Although Li Dingguo occupied Phoenix City, because the time it occupied was still short, most of the supplies of the Liao army were still stored in Dongjiang Town and Pi Island.
The purpose of Hunta's dispatch of this cavalry was to raid Zhenjiang Fort and burn the food stored there. Even if it was not possible, it could block it through harassment and delay the grain route of the Keliao Army.
Hunta himself led 3,000 infantrymen and 500 cavalry to the north along the Whistle River and set up camp in Maojiu Mountain southwest of Tongyuan Fort.
He was the chief general of Xiuyan City and should not have left his residence without permission.
The reason he did this was because Luke Dehun was a rising star of the Qing generals and Daishan's grandson, and he was likely to be the banner owner of one of the two red flags in the future.
Although Hunta is a native of the Inlaid White Banner, Duoduo currently leads the main force of the Eight Banners to the Central Plains. The ruling leader who stayed in Liaodong is Daishan, and most of the soldiers left behind are two Red Banners.
Whether for his own future or for the future when Xiuyan City is besieged by the Keliao Army, Hunta must establish good relations with Luke Dehun.
The arrival of his troops himself can show his obedience and respect for Luke Dehun.
Hunta contacted Li Lutai in Tongyuan Castle and told him about his plans.
Maojiu Mountain and Tongyuan Fort form a corner. If Li Dingguo attacks Tongyuan Fort with all his strength, Hunta will send troops to restrain him. On the contrary, Tongyuan Fort will send troops to prevent him from attacking with all his strength.
Hunta knew that he had few troops, so he took advantage of the danger and defended it.
Li Dingguo attacked several times, but no matter which side of the attack, he was attacked by the other side. Moreover, whether it was Li Lutai or Hunta, he was extremely cautious every time he sent troops, which made it difficult for him to lead the Qing army to annihilate the plan.
The most troublesome thing is that the flanking cavalry led by Saha raided Dongjiang Town and eventually attacked in.
If the guards in the city had not resisted stubbornly and Saha would not have suffered too much loss there, I am afraid that Dongjiang Town would have been taken away by the Qing army. Even so, dozens of houses in the Xicheng that the Qing army invaded were burned and hundreds of people in the city were killed.
After evacuating, they captured Tangzhan Fort dozens of miles away between Phoenix City and Dongjiang Town. After slaughtering two hundred soldiers and more than a hundred people in the fort, they burned it.
Before the main force of the Keliao Army stationed in Phoenix City arrived, they completely disappeared. A few days later, they appeared again, and a village fort was slaughtered.
For a time, people everywhere were panicked, and rumors spread everywhere, and false news about Qing cavalry appeared everywhere. And those who were driven into Changbai Mountain by Li Dingguo or those who were interested in the Qing Dynasty also jumped out to cause chaos.
Gao Jinsong was in charge of Phoenix City, and those small-scale rebellions were quickly put down.
But he had only more than a hundred cavalry in his hand, and the Qing cavalry ran around everywhere and could not find any trace. Even if there were scouts who found out, they had already left after the arrival of the Keliao army.
Finally, Gao Jinsong had no choice but to ask Li Dingguo for help. He hoped that he could send some cavalry to help him wipe out the Qing cavalry.
While Li Dingguo received the news, Luke Dehun also received rewards for the situation there. He was overjoyed and personally led 5,000 elite troops to reinforce Tongyuan Fort.
Just when Li Dingguo retreated, he led his troops to suppress him. Even if Li Dingguo did not retreat, as long as the cavalry was present, it would affect the morale of the Ke Liao army.
The Liao army was mostly from the Central Plains, and their combat power would be greatly reduced as long as the winter entered.
In the cold winter, the weather is cold and the earth is frozen; if you can't catch it for a long time, your morale will decline.
At that time, it will not be difficult to take advantage of the situation and defeat Li Dingguo. Perhaps the result is even greater, and it may not be completely impossible to directly recover Phoenix City or even attack North Korea.
Zhou Xian held Li Dingguo's handwritten letter in his hand and asked in disbelief that the general was the first general. His name was Du Jianming, a native of Shaanxi, and he was Li Dingguo's confidant general. "The letter said that Ning Yu has now captured Xiuyan City?"
The general clasped his fists and said, "Yes, the general came from Xiuyan City. But at present, there are less than two thousand soldiers in Xiuyan City. Please send reinforcements immediately. If you are late, the general is worried..."
Zhou Xian felt even more strange, full of doubts. "How did Ning Yu take down Xiuyan City? Why did he have only two thousand soldiers around him? Why did he ask me to send troops to reinforce? Attack the army that opened the Yuanbao!"
The previous Tang newspaper was sent by Li Xiong, telling the current difficulties faced by the Liao army on the eastern front. But in just a few days, Li Dingguo captured Xiuyan City.
Li Dingguo did not mention this matter at all in the letter, and only asked himself to send reinforcements as soon as possible.
Du Jianming replied: "The Governor, this is the case. After receiving high guerrilla requests for help, General Li set up a plan to secretly cause chaos in the army, causing the illusion that our army's morale was affected due to poor food channels. At the same time, he sent two thousand cavalry left in the army to walk towards Phoenix City with great fanfare in the name of returning to aid. But in fact, this cavalry was led by General Li himself. After crossing Liujiahe, he suddenly went west and spent a day passing through Jiguan Mountain."
Zhao Xusheng smiled and said, "General Li is very good at using his own way. He probably wanted to use his own way to cure himself, and go around to the back of Maojiu Mountain to cut off the food and grass in Hunta."
As he said that, he pointed to the sand table. There was indeed a small path west of Jiguan Mountain leading to the rear of Maojiu Mountain.
Du Jianming said with a sad face: "General Li did plan so at first. But after passing Jiguan Mountain, General Li found that the defense in the rear was very slack, and it could even be said to be completely useless. Just say that breaking through a flank Qing army was not capable of, and occupying Xiuyan City could only shake the entire battle situation. He led us to wander around the day and night, and was not discovered by the Qing army. Until the city of Xiuyan, he launched an attack and took it down in one fell swoop."
Zhou Xian smiled bitterly, "This is indeed like his style. During this process, did the Qing army in Tongyuan Fort and Maojiu Mountain have no reaction at all?"
Du Jianming scratched his head, "Before General Li left, he divided the army of Tongyuan Fort into two parts. The front was handed over to Wang Xingyun, and the back was handed over to Qi Yilong, so that Li Xiong could be responsible for the reconciliation."
Zhou Xian nodded.
Wang Xingyun was a general under Li Dingguo and was always valued by him.
Chapter completed!