Although they decided to withdraw to the west, even abandoning some Shanyou states and setting up the battlefield in the Yunshuo area, the Liao army did not make any major moves in the following days. Apart from sending troops to monitor the Han army in Ruzhou and blockading the passes, , which is to strengthen the investigation of the Han army's spies who are constantly infiltrating into the Liao territory. Since the war began, those Han army spies have become somewhat rampant.
Apart from this, the Liao army made no unusual movements. They just rested and rested peacefully in Huailai, acting as if the enemy would not move and I would not move. However, in the face of the Liao army's actions, they were chased and killed by the Liao army after a wave of harassing troops. After half the battle, Li Chongjin became more honest, and only conducted targeted surveillance, and did not dare to harass him with hundreds of soldiers.
In this process, Liu Chengyou, through his victory speech, sent 30,000 more troops to Jinshan, which continued to increase the threat to the flanks of the Liao army and at the same time ensured the strength of the Han army in Jinshan and ensured a well-founded advance and retreat.
Until mid-October, when the Han army still maintained a standstill strategy, the Liao army, which had been resting for more than half a month, finally made a big move. More than 100,000 Liao troops retreated across the board and headed toward Wende in the northwest. County shrinks.
Juyongguan and Huailai County were all abandoned. Before retreating, the Liao army moved all the able-bodied men and "confiscated" all the grain reserves and livestock of the officials and people, leaving behind a large number of old, weak, women and children. This It's not a brilliant move, but it can at least guarantee that it will add a lot of burdens after the Han army took over.
At the same time, Huailai City was burned down, not intending to give the Han army a base to rely on. How could the Han army not react to such movements from the Liao army? Li Chongjin immediately informed the imperial camp still in Changping of the news. After that, he immediately led his army westward to pursue him.
However, due to the large number of Liao troops, Li Chongjin was very careful, and coupled with the harassment of Liao cavalry, when he arrived at Huailai, he only saw an earthen city that was still burning, with thick smoke billowing above the city walls. .....
There were tens of thousands of old and weak people gathered outside the city. Although they were noisy and wailing, they seemed to be waiting for them. Seeing this scene, Li Chongjin was a little angry and called several old men to inquire about the situation. , I just learned that the Liao army’s retreat had been prepared for a long time, but it was only today that there was a big movement.
Facing the burning county town, Li Chongjin had no intention of paying attention. It was impossible to put out the fire. Large-scale water extraction had to go to the Sanggan River to the west, or the Sanggan River in winter.
He just led the army and stopped outside the city to get warm. As for the tens of thousands of old and weak people, they chose another place to resettle. At this time, the people of Huailai sent a representative to say that all the rations had been confiscated and hoped that the Han Dynasty King would Able to distribute food relief.
In this regard, Li Chongjin's attitude was very rude. He thought that the petitioner did not look like a good person. Furthermore, in his opinion, military rations were valuable, so how could they be used on these "Liao people". Therefore, he flatly refused. Later, he couldn't stand it anymore. After pleading repeatedly, Li Chongjin simply ordered the soldiers to tie him up and whip him several times.
At this time, the scouts sent out also came to report back. On the other side of Juyongguan, people were leaving the city, but the Liao army was quarrying stones and blocking the road. In front of the camp, Yuhou Shi Shouxin was arranging for people to clean up. Li Chongjin was moved. What is interesting is the situation of the Liao army withdrawing to the west. Because they escorted the people and the army with a large amount of goods and supplies, the Liao army did not withdraw quickly to the west. In addition, they evacuated in batches, with some hanging behind.
In response to this, Li Chongjin immediately became interested in pursuing the enemy. Together with Long Jie's cavalry general Shi Yande, he led five thousand Han cavalry to pursue the trail, hoping to bite the Liao army hard.
The result was naturally not as smooth as Li Chongjin expected. He caught up with the rear of the Liao army, but was ambushed by the Liao army in front of Jiming Mountain, sixty miles west of Huailai.
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More than 40,000 Liao troops surrounded them. The Liao general responsible for setting up the ambush was Yelu Xiezhen, the camp commander newly promoted by the Liao Emperor. Facing eight times the encirclement and annihilation of the Liao army, Li Chongjin and Shi Yande were
They were completely unprepared. In the critical moment, they naturally resisted desperately and fought hard to break through. With more than half of the casualties, they forced their way out.
Then, under the pursuit of the Liao army, there were more casualties. If Murong Yanqing, the commander of the right wing of the Protecting Saint Army, had not led the response, Li and Shi would have been completely wiped out.
Even so, the final result was no different from the annihilation of the entire army. Only less than 500 cavalry survived, and almost everyone was injured. After such a victory, the Liao army retreated more calmly, and its morale also improved.
Got a lot of responses.
Upon learning of the Liao army's unusual movements, Han Emperor Liu Chengyou did not hesitate at all. He ordered the advance. The enemy retreated while we advanced, pressing step by step without any hesitation.
Those who arrived in Huai Lai early were only part of the Jinshan and Nankou armies, totaling more than 60,000 people. Liu Chengyou only followed the army three days later.
On the day he arrived in Huailai, Liu Chengyou did not inquire about the military situation first. What he needed to know was already known, and nothing else changed in these three or four days.
Liu Chengyou first met with representatives of old and weak women and children who had been abandoned by the Liao army. He comforted these people and personally welcomed them back to the Han Dynasty with the dignity of the emperor. He also ordered that a part of the army rations be allocated to support them through the winter.
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To be honest, the Liao army's act of abandoning the old and weak did add some burdens and troubles to the Han army, but it also gave Liu Chengyou an opportunity to play his political cards.
Afterwards, they met with Li Chongjin and Shi Yande. The two men were already restless and eager to apologize to the emperor. Li Chongjin, in particular, felt even more uneasy when he saw the emperor's attitude towards those "Liao people".
Regarding the defeat of the two, Liu Chengyou did not show an overreaction. He just said that victory or defeat is a common matter for military strategists, and let the two of them sum up. Of course, since the battle was defeated and so many cavalry were lost, you must know that Long Jie
It is not easy to train horse soldiers and elite guards as cavalry. It’s just that the anger in my heart has not been expressed.
How to deal with the two of them, Liu Chengyou left it to Chai Rong. In this regard, Chai Rong certainly had no reason for favoritism and did not dare to do so. He summoned Li Chongjin, scolded him, and then ordered that he be demoted to the right wing of the Guardian Saint.
The commander of the First Army was promoted from a general to a lieutenant general, and was demoted three levels in a row. At the same time, because of his rough treatment of the people, he was also whipped thirty times more.
Speaking of which, Li Chongjin's military career was really not smooth. He became a senior general of the Forbidden Army very early on, but he has never been able to rise to the top over the years.
During the Huainan War, many achievements were made. After returning to the court, although he was punished for causing trouble with Wang Yansheng, he still went a step further. In this Northern Expedition, he succeeded in destroying the city of Tanzhou and led his army to defeat the victory.
, regained Ruzhou, but was defeated at Jiming Mountain and punished by whipping the people.
There really is a feeling of bad luck. If there is no better performance in the next war, then after returning to the court, we may have to stand still, or even fall instead of rising...
After the Han army took Huai Lai, the Han and Liao sides fell into a state of confrontation again. The Han army came with a hundred thousand troops to station in Huai Lai, accumulating food, grass, ordnance. They had no intention of attacking anymore and seemed to want to spend the winter here.
mean.
However, after the Liao army withdrew to Wende, they did not continue to retreat, but firmly grasped the chokepoints. They did not retreat a step further and waited for the Han army to make a move.
In fact, Yelv Jing did not fully agree with Yelu Wuzhi's proposal to abandon all the Shanyou prefectures. The reason for evacuating Huailai was because of the loss of Jinshan and to avoid a flanking attack by the Han army.
However, the Yunshuo area is indeed relatively convenient for the Liao army's cavalry. However, if the four states of Ru, Gui, Wu, and Xin are abandoned, then the Han army can also attack Yunzhou from both sides. If the Han army starts from the west of Wuzhou
Going out to the west of Huai'an, it can even be called a backstab.
If that's the situation, Yunzhou can't defend it either. This is determined by strength and terrain. Yelujing doesn't know why Yeluwuzhi can't see this...
In this "tacit understanding", it fell into peace for the first time since the Han-Liao War, and the silence lasted for a whole winter.