In the late autumn, the northern Xinjiang was already covered with withered yellow. The howling autumn wind swept across the Great Wall and inside, accompanied by the rising beacon smoke. Starting from mid-September, the Liao army launched an attack on the Han Pass border defense. For a time, along the Great Wall, Han Pass,
Warnings are everywhere.
In the north of Shanyang, along the line of the Great Wall, there were a total of twenty-four large and small forts before and after the Han Dynasty. They were distributed at important road passes, and each garrison had soldiers. There were two hundred soldiers in the big fort and only twenty in the small garrison.
These garrison points really do not play much of a defensive role along the long Great Wall. Their most important function is to provide security. In the past ten years or so, the Han's control and influence on the north of the Great Wall has been
The number is increasing day by day, so the defense construction of forts has slowed down.
And this time, the Liao army invaded the south in a large scale, and these forts naturally did not play much of a deterrent role. However, in times of emergency, all the forts received only one order: stand firm and wait for help, and are not allowed to give up or retreat.
.
Obviously, the imperial court's intention was to use these forts to try to prevent and delay the Liao army's southern invasion, even if it could only provide some meager strength, it would still try its best.
Even the Hu and Han tribes and herdsmen north of the Great Wall became bait for the Liao army. The smart ones who saw the opportunity quickly fled back to the southern part of the country, perhaps hiding in the city or deep in the mountains.
And more people became the initial victims of this war. Those Zhendian pastures, led by the Shanyang government and built by the Hu and Han people, did attract the attention of the Liao army.
The Liao army marched westward and spent seven days raiding and plundering the people in northern Saibei who were unable to respond in time. For the Liao army, which was driven to the brink of depletion by the war, not to mention the livestock, grain, tea, salt, and ironware.
, even tents and fodder are valuable for looting.
These seven days are also very precious for the Han army. Because the situation has deteriorated so much, even if the Han Dynasty reacted quickly enough under Emperor Liu's instructions, it still takes time.
Whether it is the transmission of orders, the mobilization of troops and horses, the collection of military supplies, and the shelter of the people, it all takes time. For example, the farthest transfer order sent to Fengzhou, even if you work hard and work hard, will take six or seven days. If you add in the preparations,
There will be more time for Dongyuan.
Therefore, the extra six or seven days are still enough to satisfy the thirst. However, for the big man's preparations for war, even half a day or one extra day is still earned.
At least, during the Liao army's sweep of Monan, Fengyi Army sent Tian Zhong to lead five thousand troops back to Yunzhong. Reinforcements from nearby Ningyuan, Dingxiang, and Yongning also arrived one after another. Jiuyuan Marquis Li Wanchao did not care about his old age and hurriedly arrived slowly.
Yunzhong began to coordinate the Shanyang armies.
On the Shanyang side, the response was launched in full swing, and even when things were going crazy, the Liao army did not relax too much. Yelvxian issued a timely order to restrain the looting Liao army and continue their journey south.
This time, Yelvxian's goal was very clear. He did not test any temptations, and did not bother with the Han army's pass fortresses along the Great Wall. Instead, he headed directly for Jiaoshan Town, about a hundred miles north of Yunzhong.
Jiaoshan Town is the main route from Monan to Shanyang. It was this route that Yelujing's army took when it retreated from Yunzhong to the north. In the past, the Han Dynasty had 500 garrison troops stationed here all year round. Because of the Northern Expedition and the
Li Chuyun went north to rescue Liu Tinghan and mobilized most of them, leaving only 200 people.
Of course, Yelvxian chose to break through Jiaoshan Town not because he saw the emptiness of this pass, but because he felt that this road was easy to walk. As the main military and commercial transportation thoroughfare in the southern part of the country and the northern part of the country, the Shanyang government had
Those who carried out construction and widening are now being used by the Liao army.
On the Shanyang side, due to the lack of a backbone, the reaction could not keep up. After Tian Chongjin returned to Yunzhong, he first went to Jiaoshan Town to add a thousand troops, but this thousand troops were still exhausted.
After catching up with the Jiaoshan defensive battle, they faced dozens of times the enemy force. The Liao army, driven by Yelu Xian, was very determined. The cavalry was used as infantry, and the elite dead soldiers were selected and dismounted to attack the stronghold.
, regardless of casualties.
As a result, the Han army resisted for three days, and the town of Jiaoshan was breached. The Liao army suffered more than 3,000 casualties, and the more than 1,000 Han troops who defended were all killed in battle. The remaining few hundred people in the town were
The people were not spared, and they were all killed.
At that time, after Li Wanchao took office, he learned of the danger of Jiaoshan Town and urgently sent Tian Chongjin to lead three thousand troops northward for reinforcements. Halfway through the journey, he learned of the fall of Jiaoshan Town, so he had no choice but to turn back to Yunzhong.
The fall of Jiaoshan Town was like a breach in the dam, and the Liao army was like a flood, pouring into Shanyang along the breach. On September 17, Jiaoshan Town was broken, and on the evening of September 18, the Liao army advanced
Ten thousand horses have already gone south to knock the pass.
By September 20th, nearly 100,000 Liao troops, led by Emperor Yelu Xian of the Liao Dynasty, came to Yunzhong City and surrounded the city. At this time, there were not enough troops and people in Yunzhong City.
There are only 12,000 capable warriors out of the 50,000, and more reinforcements are either on the way or in the process of urgent recruitment of weapons.
Fortunately, Li Wanchao, Marquis of Jiuyuan, was in charge of military defense. The old general had a high prestige, and he did a good job of pacifying the troops and the people, and making overall arrangements. Yunzhong City was rebuilt by Song Qi when he was in office. The city was very solid.
There are only more than 10,000 soldiers, but they are composed of several frontier troops, so their combat strength is still guaranteed. There is also a large amount of military supplies prepared for the central route army in the official granary.
The troops were slightly weaker, but there was no shortage of food, grass and weapons. In order to make up for the lack of defensive manpower, Li Wanchao directly organized all the strong men in the city and issued weapons to assist in defending the city. Men who make a living in border states are always good.
Many of the troops in the city were rural soldiers, and they were brave warriors given weapons. And when it came to defending against the Liao army, they shared the same hatred and the whole city was united.
Probably feeling the difficulty of Yunzhong, although the Liao army surrounded the city, the order to attack was delayed. On the 21st, after resting for a day, the Liao army simply and clearly stated that it would give up the attack on Yunzhong.
Attack, but choose to divide your troops into four fields to attack and plunder other states and counties.
Yunzhong may be impregnable and difficult to conquer, but the same cannot be said for other prefectures and counties in Shanyang. The Liao army may not have the guts to attack Yunzhong, but it is obvious that they still have to take a bite of those small towns.
So in late September, a large area south and east of Yunzhong became a racecourse where the Liao army was raging. More than 40,000 Liao troops were divided into groups and attacked from all directions, attacking cities, looting, burning houses and destroying fields.
Although the Shanyang government had already done the work of fortifying the walls and clearing the country, there were always people who could not escape, property and food that could not be accommodated, and these were the targets of the Liao army's attack.
The most arrogant Liao army even crossed the Sanggan River and attacked Jincheng County, the prefecture city of Yingzhou. However, this was a prefecture city after all. The garrison officers, soldiers and civilians were very tough and resisted tenaciously. The Liao cavalry who dared to attack the city were knocked down.
His head was broken and bleeding.
Of course, not all Seoul cities have that kind of defense capabilities. For example, Huairen City south of Yunzhong, which was where Fu Yanqing's troops were stationed during the Northern Expedition, was besieged by more than 10,000 Liao troops. Although they resisted desperately, the city was still destroyed.
People die.
Changqing County, east of Yunzhong, was established not long ago. It is a young county newly established in the east of Yunzhong. The town is small and there are few people. Even though the location is advantageous, it still cannot withstand the Liao army's attack.
As time went by, the situation became somewhat clearer. The Liao army moved south in a large scale this time, and even resolutely broke through the Great Wall and entered the southern part of the Great Wall. The soldiers invaded Yunzhong. Defeating Yunzhong was obviously not the main purpose. They took advantage of the empty mountains and sun to plunder the northern Xinjiang.
Destruction is the goal.
Under such circumstances, there was limited strength, and there was not much the Han army could do in a short period of time. Additional reinforcements had to be sent carefully to prevent the Liao army from taking advantage of the reinforcements and laying siege to the city.
You must always be on guard against the conspiracy of recruiting reinforcements. The Han army used to use it in the past, and the Liao army also did it.
The defenders in Yunzhong are strong enough, so they can only retreat to the city for the time being. After all, there are still more than 50,000 Liao troops outside the city besieging and monitoring them. Even if Yunzhong is like this, the people in other prefectures and counties can only rely on themselves.
Historically, in defensive operations, the defender has often fallen into this dilemma. If a city is trapped for a long time, it will be lost. This not only tests the general's command and dispatch ability, but also the morale of the army. It also needs reinforcements to see the hope of holding on.
In fact, the situation faced by Yunzhong was much better. Although he was trapped, he was safe and secure. Reinforcements from all directions were also arriving under overall planning. All he needed to do was to cooperate with the subsequent operations.
It's just that the feeling of being besieged and watching the enemy troops march across the border, ravaging the territory and invading the hometown is not so pleasant.