The defense preparations in Shanyang against the Liao army moving south seemed to be a bit of an overreaction. After all, so far, the movement of the Liao army has been undecided, and for the time being it remains Cao Bin's guess.
However, Emperor Liu did not hesitate in his heart and decided to mobilize troops and generals to replenish Shanyang. One very important reason is that Shanyang is indeed empty and is a big loophole in the northern defense system.
When the Liao army was far away in Shangjing and in the desert, they did not feel much threat. However, once the situation turned and the enemy came south in large numbers and approached Guanshan, the sense of crisis suddenly increased sharply. Emperor Liu had always been a person with a full sense of crisis. He was killed
It was him who was delusional.
And the Liao army came south in such a large scale. Although they won a great victory against the Han army, they failed to achieve full success in the end. When they came to the Han border, they obviously wanted to do something big and pave the way for the second Han-Liao war.
To avenge those defeats in the war, they also needed more victories against the Han Dynasty to relieve the country that was almost collapsing under the pressure of the huge war and boost the gradually losing confidence.
Therefore, Emperor Liu could be sure that the Liao army would never give up. The emperor came in person, which showed his determination. Emperor Liu himself also had this determination, and even gave up all his scruples long ago and gave it a go.
Emperor Liu didn't care where the Liao army would direct its troops next. He only needed to do what he should do, make up for the loopholes, strengthen the borders, and strengthen defenses.
If the Liao army is stubborn and thinks that the Han army in the middle will be completely defeated in one battle, and wants to invade Youzhou by attacking Xuanhua, then Emperor Liu welcomes them and Yehuling is waiting for them. Emperor Liu still has confidence and expectations for Liu Tinghan, and there are
Motivated by the previous defeat, one will surely be able to realize the shame and become brave later, giving the Liao army a head-on blow.
After all, the current situation between Liao and Han is not comparable to the Battle of Mengjin in the original time and space, and Yehuling will not be an opportunity for it.
Of course, judging from the Liao Kingdom's planning and execution of Liu Tinghan's army, the Liao Kingdom's monarchs and ministers were very knowledgeable and would most likely not choose to touch the strong and dangerous passes in the Xuanhua area. The Yunzhong Line was obviously a more reasonable choice.
With such planning, there was not much time left for the Han army to adjust their arrangements. Considering this, a sense of urgency filled Emperor Liu's heart.
After pondering for a moment, Emperor Liu looked at Cao Bin, who was still waiting, and gave instructions: "Cao Qing, I will do your colleagues a little more work tonight. Call Liu Xu, Li Ye, and Chu Zhaofu to order the generals and aircraft as quickly as possible.
The speed at which Shanyang will be conveyed! Where the situation in Shanyang will go next depends on how quickly we respond!"
"Yes!" Feeling Emperor Liu's tone, he was as calm as Cao Bin, but also felt a lot of pressure.
"Your Majesty, Liu Tinghan also mentioned something in his report. It is difficult to know whether it is true or not, but it is of great importance..." Looking at Emperor Liu who was sitting expressionlessly, Cao Bin hesitated, with an obvious tone in his tone.
careful.
"What's the matter?" Emperor Liu picked up the military report that had not been read in detail on the desk and glanced at him: "Is there any worse news than Liu Tinghan's defeat and the border crisis?"
"Return to your Majesty!" Cao Bin lowered his head subconsciously and lowered his voice as he reported: "During the fierce battle with the Liao army in Tianling, Liu Tinghan got a piece of news from a captive general of the Liao army, saying, saying.
....."
"What are you talking about!" Emperor Liu tilted his head and stared at Cao Bin with cold eyes. Even though he had just reported Liu Tinghan's defeat and the Liao army's defeat, Cao Bin did not hesitate like this.
Feeling Emperor Liu's sharp gaze, Cao Bin responded in a deep voice: "According to what the captured generals said, a month ago, Wang Yansheng and Yang Ye's army, which attacked Mobei, were attacked by Liaobei Privy Councilor Yelv Xianshi at Wugushan.
Lead the army to intercept and the whole army will be wiped out!"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Liu's eyes suddenly froze, and at that moment, Cao Bin felt that the air was frozen. Emperor Liu's hand reading the military report paused in the air for a while, and then he continued the movement he had stopped, without any trace of emotion in his voice.
Without the slightest emotion, he said quietly: "Is the news true?"
"It still needs to be verified!" Although Cao Bin did not dare to give a definite answer, he did not give an optimistic attitude. He analyzed: "However, I think that if Mobei is in trouble, the Liao army will not dare to be so confident and march southward.
..."
The study fell into silence again, and after a long silence, Emperor Liu spoke again, with no trace of weakness or wavering in his voice: "I understand! You don't need to worry about this matter. Go and take care of Shanyang affairs first. It's important over there.
The order is strictly enforced and there must be no delay. Military and political officials at all levels, if there is any delay, will be severely punished!"
"I retire!" After receiving the order, Cao Bin did not dare to delay and left in a hurry.
After Cao Bin retreated, Emperor Liu lowered his head and opened Liu Tinghan's report and found the content of the report about the Mobei expedition soldiers. The dim light in the room reflected on Emperor Liu's face, and his face was trembling slightly unconsciously.
....
"Come here, tell Li Chongju!" After a while, Emperor Liu ordered coldly.
Still in this study, although there are two rows of oil lamps burning hard to release light, the surroundings are still slightly dim, as if there is a layer of haze stubbornly hanging in the air, which is difficult to dispel.
Emperor Liu stood and Li Chongju knelt down, with his body bent to the ground, his forehead almost touching the ground, and the broken porcelain cups scattered. This was the first time in many years that Emperor Liu had lost his temper with Li Chongju. Of course, Li Chongju also had a headache.
Never been so scared.
"The road is long, the traffic is cut off, the enemy is in control, and the news is difficult to deliver. Don't I know these difficulties?" Staring at Li Chongju, Emperor Liu no longer concealed his anger and almost asked Li Chongju: "If intelligence information can be obtained so easily, how can you
What is the use of Wude? What is the value of the elite soldiers and generals under your command?"
"This minister is incompetent, please punish me!" Li Chongju banged his head heavily on the ground.
"Stop talking about incompetence! That's not what I want to hear!" Emperor Liu interrupted him a little irritably, and said coldly: "If you are used to using incompetence as an excuse, then what else do I need you to do as a military envoy?
?”
"What your Majesty blames is that I have let you down!" Some habits have probably penetrated deep into his bones. Although Li Chongju was frightened, it was difficult to change his begging attitude.
Seeing this, Emperor Liu raised his hand, waved it, then put it down again, and finally said coldly: "No matter what difficulties you encounter, or what method you use, I want you to find out the location of the Mobei soldiers as quickly as possible.
The situation is life or death, I want a clear result!"
"Yes!" Li Chongju responded.
"Back off!"
Li Chongju came in a hurry and left just as quickly. As for Emperor Liu, he started pacing in the room again. Yantuo personally collected the broken porcelain cups beside him, and was equally cautious, knowing that Emperor Liu was in extremely danger at this time.
After a long time, Emperor Liu sighed. In fact, he also knew that Li Chongju could not be entirely blamed for this matter. Sometimes, the lag in information could not be compensated for by human resources.
However, the anger towards Li Chongju was not only limited to this, but also caused Emperor Liu to have too much backlog of dissatisfaction due to his failure to do the job many times before, and this time it just exploded.
He has put enough pressure on Li Chongju. What Li Chongju will do next and how to transfer this strong pressure to his detectives are not what Emperor Liu cares about. He only cares about the results.
As for the safety of the soldiers on the expedition to Mobei, although Emperor Liu still had a glimmer of hope in his heart, his confidence was really insufficient.
After all, they were fighting thousands of miles away, in a remote and unfamiliar place with enemies on all sides. There was no rear and no military supplies. Even if some were captured, the strategy of keeping food at the enemy's disposal was severely weakened in the vast desert. of.
On the other hand, long-distance attacks by the armies of Wang Yansheng and Yang Ye require sudden cold arrows and unexpected effects.
This was only the early stage, and good results were indeed achieved. The abundant results gained caused the Liao Kingdom's backyard to catch fire, the northwest to be disrupted, and the Mobei to be shaken, which greatly affected the internal energy of the Liao Kingdom.
However, that is the enemy's territory after all. It is difficult to enter, but it is not easy to escape. It is a thorny road full of hardships and dangers, and it is almost a road of no return.
After the Liao Kingdom reacted and took precautions, it would not be so easy to achieve greater results. In fact, the Liao Kingdom's failure in the northwest of the desert was largely due to King Ping Yelulong. Lack of preparation and failure to respond.
After replacing Yelu Xianshi, a more difficult opponent, he led the Mobei Liao army to deal with Wang and Yang's partial forces. It can be imagined how severe the difficulties and dangers faced by Wang Yansheng and Yang Ye were.
It was precisely because of thinking about this that Emperor Liu's mood continued to sink. After receiving this bad news, he suddenly realized that the previous joy was a little too early.
The whole army was wiped out? Emperor Liu didn't believe it. How could it be so easy? If he couldn't defeat him, why couldn't he run away?
What he can expect now is that Wang Yansheng and Yang Ye can successfully escape from danger with their rich battlefield experience and tenacious fighting will. Although it seems very difficult, it is greater than the crises and risks they faced during the northern expedition. .
The Mobei Expeditionary Force had a lot of feelings on Emperor Liu's side, not to mention the two generals Wang Yansheng and Yang Ye, and the two princes Liu Fang and Liu Min.
This was also the point that Emperor Liu was most concerned about and nervous about.
At this moment, he still cares more about his son. As for those soldiers, frankly speaking, even if the entire army is really wiped out, Emperor Liu will not shed a tear...
However, what made Emperor Liu feel most indignant was that he was powerless to deal with this situation. Even if he was the supreme and wealthy person in the world, he could only wait for the result.
This feeling made Emperor Liu very uncomfortable. Putting aside the gorgeous cloak of identity and power, he was just a human being, a middle-aged greasy man who was full of complacency.