The cold night, accompanied by the bone-chilling cool breeze, enveloped Shi Yanchao's hundred riders. Several miles away, he climbed a hillock and looked at Yunzhong City. He was very emotional. Although it was a little blurry, the Yunzhong in his memory was still there.
The city is not as high as this, nor as wide as this, and even the trenches under its feet are deep.
"Everything about this Yunzhong and the Liao army is really weird!" Soon, Shi Yanchao discovered the problem.
"I feel strange too!" the officer next to him said.
Hearing this, Shi Yanchao couldn't help but turn his head and look at him: "You kid, what did you see? Tell me!"
The officer said directly: "Night has fallen, and there are not many lights on this huge Yunzhong City! Previous reports said that chaos and commotion continued from morning to night inside and outside Yunzhong. Now that Wang Shi is heading north,
But there was silence, and the Liao camp was so huge, but there were scattered lights, as if there was no one..."
"You are right!" In the dark night, Shi Yanchao's hawk-like eyes were sharp and bright. He lightly kicked the horse's belly and said in a cold voice: "Let's go, follow me to Liaoying to have a look!"
"General, the Liao army's cavalry has already noticed us, so it's better not to take any more risks!" the officer advised.
"Why, you want to imitate Kang Zaiyu and nag like that woman, or are you afraid?" Shi Yanchao said extremely insulting words in a joking tone.
Sure enough, the officer said: "What is there to be afraid of in the Liao camp? With the general, we can go through mountains of swords and seas of fire. The general is not afraid, so how can I be afraid of danger?"
Obviously, what kind of general brings out what kind of soldiers. Shi Yanchao's soldiers, especially these personal followers, are all arrogant and fearless. Seeing this, Shi Yanchao showed a satisfied smile and whipped lightly with his whip.
He gave him a slap and cursed: "You are quite loud, there are hundreds of thousands of Liao troops in front of you!"
He said this, but without any hesitation in his actions, he went out first, followed closely by the Han cavalry behind him, ran down the hill, and then headed straight towards the Liao camp.
The closer I got, the more surprised I felt, because the noises coming from the target camp were the sounds of "women crying and children screaming", and there was almost no defense, not even Jumalu Village. They rushed straight into it and set up camp.
The ease was astonishing.
"General, there are actually old, weak, women and children in this Liao camp!" During the commotion, the officer accompanying him said to Shi Yanchao.
"Let's go and check out the other camps!" Shi Yanchao's expression was extremely serious, his brows were furrowed, and he led the crowd away without thinking, without caring about the old and weak.
Then, after passing through the Liao camp and passing through four camps, they found that they were all empty camps. At this time, if you still don't understand what happened, then Shi Yanchao would be in vain as a general.
"The Liao army actually withdrew!" Shi Yanchao exclaimed in shock.
Before he could think about it carefully, a killing sound could be heard from Yunzhong City to the west. The lights were ablaze and there was a lot of movement, but it was obviously directed at Shi Yanchao. After all, he, Bai Qi, was too arrogant.
Without the slightest hesitation, Shi Yanchao led his men and turned around and left, with no intention of fighting with the Liao army. After knowing a little about the enemy's situation, he was not so arrogant that he really relied on these hundred cavalry to fight against the Liao army. However, before retreating, he turned to the other side.
They visited a "private camp" and captured two old men, not only to cause a disturbance to escape the pursuit of the Liao army, but also to get some more precise information from these people.
By the time Shi Yanchao got rid of the Liao army's pursuit and returned to the forward cavalry, it was already close to midnight. The attacking Hundred Cavalry had killed and wounded more than thirty people, but this did not hinder Shi Yanchao's joyful mood.
Kang Zaiyu and his men chose a place to stay, which was a forest hillock with a tributary of Sanggan next to it. They had something to rely on for both advance and retreat. They did not set up camp, but only slept in units of a hundred people by a campfire.
Facing Shi Yanchao's return, Kang Zaiyu looked relieved and entertained the returning soldiers with roasted horse meat. Sitting by the campfire, cutting the horse meat with a sharp dagger and putting it into his mouth, Shi Yanchao asked
: "How is the situation in the military?"
Kang Zaiyu was also cheerful and said directly: "Two hundred and twelve people were killed in the front and rear, and 354 horses were captured. The casualties of the Liao army should be around a thousand..."
"Isn't it a pity that we have spent so much effort to achieve such results?" Shi Yanchao said.
Listening to his words, Kang Zaiyu thought that Shi Yanchao was still discouraged from pursuing him, so he immediately said: "General Yang of the Dingxiang Army sent someone to deliver a message. He led 10,000 horsemen behind, more than ten miles away from us.
Camp outside. In addition, King Wei also led his army to the north!"
After learning about this military situation, Shi Yanchao was in high spirits and obviously confident. Noticing his expression, Kang Zaiyu hurriedly asked: "I haven't heard that the general went to Yunzhong to explore the enemy. What's going on?"
"What a great harvest!" Shi Yanchao's eyes showed excitement: "Most of the Liao army has retreated, and almost all the camps outside Yunzhong City are empty. There is one camp left in the city, probably to contain our army's pursuit.
Obviously, the Liao army was afraid of the power of our army and knew that it was outnumbered, so it retreated. All previous changes were made to confuse our army and buy it time to evacuate. This is also confirmed by the words of the old people in Yunzhong.
!”
Hearing this, Kang was also shocked when he met again. If it was true as Shi Yanchao said, then this military information would be too important. He immediately said: "Inform the friendly troops immediately and report it to the Ming Wei King!"
"This is natural!" Shi Yanchao said: "However, the Khitan army has withdrawn. Although it is difficult to know how long and how far it can escape, we are the vanguard force and we should not sit back and watch!"
Hearing what he said, Kang Zaiyu's heart suddenly tightened. Seeing Shi Yanchao like this, he planned to cause trouble again and asked, "What does the general want?"
"Why?" Shi Yanchao grinned, chewing horse meat in his mouth, and replied: "Of course we will bypass Yunzhong and pursue the Liao army!"
"Isn't this too risky?" Kang asked Ningmei again.
"If we don't take risks, how can we allow hundreds of thousands of Liao troops to retreat calmly?" Shi Yanchao glanced at him and said seriously: "There is no way to fight without taking risks. If the Liao troops are really allowed to retreat, will our army be able to do so?"
Too incompetent? Since the Northern Expedition, Youyan has fought several battles with great achievements. This is a rare opportunity, how can we miss the opportunity to pursue and annihilate? If word spreads, it will make people laugh!"
"You don't have to persuade me. I have made up my mind. I will lead my army around Yunzhong and pursue northward. I will not let him escape easily!" Shi Yanchao stared at Kang Zaiyu: "If General Kang has other intentions, he can stay here.
Now, I'm waiting for Yang Ye and King Wei's army to report to me and explain their intentions!"
Shi Yanchao said this, how could Kang Zaiyu express his position? Being forced into this situation, he had no choice but to say: "If the general insists on marching, I will be willing to accompany the army!"
If it is true that Shi Yanchao said that he stayed here and waited for the army, then no matter what the truth is, he cannot escape the reputation of being timid and timid.
They reached a consensus and rested separately until dawn. At the temporary camp, under the urging of Shi Yanchao, the Han cavalry who had rested all night started to move, packed up their armor and weapons, prepared their horses, and then marched north under the light of the spring morning.
When they reached Yunzhong, they quickly circled around and headed north. Naturally, the movements of Shi Yanchao's army were in the eyes of the defenders in Yunzhong, and they quickly reported it to Yelu Talie. But Yelu Talie seemed very calm when he heard about it.
He just said that he should not pay attention to it. He chased thousands of horses alone. He was brave enough, but he was not wise enough to do it. He only ordered people to continue to monitor the main force of the Han army in the south.
The Dingxiang Army in the rear, after receiving Shi Yanchao's notification, also became vigilant. After dawn, they also led the army northward and approached Yunzhong City. When they arrived at Shi Yanchao's station, they were all empty of men and horses, leaving only a bonfire in chaos.
From the mouths of the wounded soldiers, they learned about the situation of Shi Yanchao's army in pursuit of the Liao army.
Hearing this, Yang Ye's face changed drastically. Last night, Shi Yanchao made the decision to pursue and reported the military information to Yang Ye. At that time, Yang Ye hurriedly sent soldiers to the north to dissuade him and asked him to calm down.
Don't rush in.
But obviously, it didn't work at all. In fact, what Yang Ye didn't expect was that his dissuasion would have a counterproductive effect and stimulate his desire to join the army. In Shi Yanchao's view, as Yang Ye, a junior, you are the emperor's favorite.
He is not qualified to point fingers at him, Shi Yanchao.
As for Yang Ye, he could understand Shi Yanchao's mood in pursuing Jiangong, but he disagreed with his impetuous approach. Judging from the movements of the Liao army in the past few days, it was obvious that they had made full preparations for their retreat.
Moreover, it is still unclear what the enemy's situation is. Under such circumstances, it is definitely not a wise choice to pursue rashly.
Therefore, after learning about the advance of Shi Yanchao's army, Yang Ye immediately brought five thousand of his generals with him and prepared to march north as well. He left deputy envoy Kang Yanze alone to lead the army to monitor the situation in Yunzhong City and wait for Fu Yanqing's army.
Yang Ye led 5,000 cavalry. In addition to the 3,000 Hedong Fan cavalry assigned by Fu Yanqing, the remaining 2,000 were Dingxiang cavalry. Among the border troops, there were 2,000 cavalry, and only Dingxiang army was the only one. This shows that the emperor's
Beloved.
Yang Ye led his troops north not to pursue the Liao army, but to support and rescue them. He did not think that Shi Yanchao could achieve any results, but might be in danger. After all, it was Fu Yanqing's military order to coordinate Shi Yanchao.