People's hearts in the world are floating, and there are rumors among the people that this is the end of the Song Dynasty.
It is normal for the common people to think this way. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, there have been many princes. After you sing, I will appear on the stage. The country titles are changed like a revolving door. Which of the countries of Shu, Tang, and Han, which have now been destroyed, has not passed down the second and third generations?
Although the Song Dynasty unified the Central Plains in the 40s and 50s, in real terms, the state of Zuo had only been in power for more than ten years, and it was far from the point where the world had reunited.
As a result, Youzhou was defeated first, and the 300,000-strong army was wiped out. Then Xixia issued the "Order against Zhao Jiong", and the king of Qi, Zhao Defang, was the victim. Once Zhao Guangyi's actions were revealed to the world, how could he not lose the hearts of the people? Zhao Guangyi hadn't thought about it yet.
He didn't know how to deal with this crisis, but his head was picked off in the camp of a hundred thousand troops, and the prince succeeded to the throne in a hurry.
Zhao Yuanzuo changed orders day and night, and was indecisive. It seems that the unusual news about his father's sudden death has spread in Bianliang City. Don't look at the deep palace, in fact, there are few things in the palace that are not airtight.
Wall, the royal family of the Song Dynasty has always been relatively close to the people, and the palace prohibitions are not as strict as those of other dynasties, so this matter cannot be hidden from the people of the capital.
When such an official appeared, the tigers and wolves of the Liao Dynasty immediately moved southward, Longyouguanzhong entered the Western Xia Dynasty, the Bashu rebel army rose up again, and the turmoil in the south of the Yangtze River continued. Not to mention the ordinary people, even the officials of the Manchu Dynasty were panic-stricken.
When the Song Dynasty withdrew its troops, Xiao Chuo quickly formulated a counterattack plan. Relying on his strong morale, he integrated all the troops and horses to rescue Nanjing on the spot and turned from defense to offense. Now, the stormy Song Dynasty faced the domestic crisis.
The situation is unstable, people's minds change, and troops are used on both sides, both of which lead to a situation where the enemy is strong.
Regarding military affairs, Zhao Guangyi is considered a military theorist, far less than his brother. However, if you really want to discuss military matters with him, he can speak clearly and eloquently. However, the prince Yuanzuo knows nothing about military matters.
You can't use it to fight, right? Fortunately, although he lacks ability and his mental state is extremely unstable, he has Zhang Jie in court and Luo in military to defeat the enemy. Zhao Yuanzuo has no idea. Everything depends on the two people's ideas, which is temporary.
Open at will.
Zhang Jie and Luo Kedi, one has no personal ethics, is mean and ungrateful, the other has evil intentions, and has long been against his father's wishes. These two people are the civil and military team his father left for him. However,
In terms of talent, these two people really have nothing to say. In the current situation, no matter what they think privately, they have to brace themselves to fend off the foreign invaders first. If the Khitans really let go of the Central Plains, it is no joke.
In view of this, Zhang and Luo cooperated sincerely, and after some discussions, they reported to the emperor for approval, and assigned Li Jilong, Liu Tingrang, and Tian Chongjin to deploy in Cangzhou, Yingzhou, and Dingzhou respectively to defend the three passes. Originally, Li Jilong was ordered to defend the three passes in the face of danger.
Leading the border army alone, but this experience is not like an expedition, but a defense. In this case, each major pass must have its own commander, who can make decisions at any time according to the situation of the enemy and ourselves. Letting Li Jilong take over the military power will be a mistake, and it is not intentional.
His military power.
In the initial battle, both sides had their own victories and defeats. Although the morale of the Song army was not high, they relied on the geographical advantage, so the Liao army did not take much advantage. The battle reports and military information were spread to Tokyo, and the reports were distributed all over the world. The people gradually felt at ease, feeling that although the Song army
Although they suffered a defeat, the Liao people did not seem to be as terrible as they imagined.
However, the commander-in-chief of the Liao Army is Brother Yelu Xiu, who is a real commander, and no one can realize his excellence at the moment. The Song State self-examined the reasons for the failure of the Northern Expedition. Although it did not say it openly, it secretly
It is tended to be believed that the late emperor made a mistake in his use of troops, which resulted in a great defeat, and that brother Yelvxiu's victory was more due to luck.
In fact, the current stalemate is entirely due to Brother Yelusiu's arrangement. He doesn't care about these small victories and defeats at all. His goal is the main force of the Song Army. What he wants is to break through and advance into the Central Plains, and this is not something that can be achieved overnight.
He was waiting for opportunities and creating opportunities. This opportunity finally came to him.
After a few days of stalemate between the two sides, Tian Chongjin gained a firm foothold and began to launch a tentative counterattack. Tian Chongjin advanced his troops out of Qigou Pass, defeated several Liao armies in a row, and even regained Zhuozhou for a time. Tian Chongjin was not a rash advance, it was the imperial court's initiative to attack.
Meaning, the official statement is to defend the enemy from outside the country, but the real reason is that the morale of the military and the people are not available at the moment, and the Song Dynasty urgently needs a great victory to restore everything.
Tian Chongjin's victory was reported back to Kaifeng, and the whole city of Kaifeng was like a Chinese New Year. People who had been in panic for a long time finally calmed down. Zhao Yuanzuo was overjoyed and immediately issued an order, ordering Liu Tingrang, Li Jilong, and the three armies to go out and regain the lost territory. Zhang Jie, Luo Luo
After hearing this, the enemy hurriedly dissuaded him, believing that he should win steadily and accumulate small victories into big victories. However, Zhao Yuanzuo couldn't wait. Although he was hesitant in doing things, once he recognized a truth, he was extremely paranoid.
I can't make him look back.
The imperial edict was issued, and Liu Tingrang and Li Jilong, who had been standing still and blocking the enemy, immediately sent troops to expand the results of the war and must fight to regain the territory abandoned due to the failure of the Northern Expedition. Liu Tingrang and Li Jilong accepted the imperial edict and had no choice but to follow the order, but both of them failed
Lao Cheng was a prudent general. After some deliberation, he decided to act as safely as possible, with Liu Tingrang's troops as the vanguard and Li Jilong's troops as the rear troops, taking care of each other and launching a counterattack.
In fact, according to Li Jilong's wishes, it is most appropriate to seek stability at the moment. However, the current difficulties of the Song State are not only the Northern Kingdom, and the pressure it is under is not only military. A great victory, especially the recovery of the Northern Kingdom that fell due to the defeat of the Northern Expedition.
A great territorial victory was really important to the Song Dynasty.
, its significance is definitely not just a victory in war. Moreover, the Holy Emperor is so hasty that he may not have the intention to save the face of the late emperor in his heart. He is a general who lives on the salary of the emperor, and he is also the uncle of the current Holy Emperor.
Personally, I have no reason to play devil's advocate, so I can only cooperate fully.
Brother Yelu Xiu has been ambushing the main force and not making any contact with the Song army. They are all cavalry, coming and going quickly, and have strong maneuverability. It is difficult for the Song army's scouts to contact them, so as to obtain useful information, and the Liao army
The flag numbers were quite confusing, and it was more difficult to detect the details by visual inspection from a distance, so we never knew that the Liao army had hidden an absolute main force.
Liu Tingrang his troops to advance north first, and his vanguard was He Lingtu, the training envoy of the Pingzhou regiment. This general came from a family of generals and was an official in Yinbu. He had no combat experience. He had never fought against the Liao people, but he had a kind of newborn calf.
Not afraid of tiger spirit
Probably, he led his troops to attack Junzi Pavilion in Hejian, Hebei Province. He happened to encounter Brother Yelusiu's troops. As soon as the battle began, the Liao army retreated without support. Immediately afterwards, Brother Yeluxiu sent an envoy to say that he was afraid of the enemy.
The Song army was strong and wanted to surrender.
Brother Yeluxiu sent someone casually, just to tease He Lingtu. He also knew that the Song army could not be fooled, but it could only be delayed for a while. Even if the Song army generals were to audit the calculations, his real purpose was to lure Liu Tingrang
The main force of the army entered his encirclement. The men and horses in front of him were too thin for him. This little sheep was not enough to fit between his teeth.
However, an unbelievable scene happened. He Lingtu actually believed it. Not only did he believe it, but he was also very enthusiastic. He took only a few dozen soldiers and ran to Brother Yelvxiu's camp to accept the surrender. The Battle of Gaoliang River
Brother Yeluxiu of the Liao Kingdom, who had defeated the Song Dynasty's 300,000 troops and forced Zhao Guangyi to flee, said this casually, and he actually believed that others were afraid of his military power.
Brother Yelvxiu was planning a plan to encircle and annihilate the Song army with his generals in the Chinese army's tent. He was shocked when he heard the report from his own soldiers. He did not expect that a general from the Song Kingdom... unexpectedly... how?
Could it be that stupid?
Brother Yelvxiu didn't believe the report from the soldiers until now. He ran out of the tent in person and saw the triumphant congratulations on horseback. Then he heard him tell his identity in person. Brother Yelvxiu finally
Knowing that the soldier was not joking with Yue Yue after he was full, Brother Yelusiu couldn't laugh or cry, so he immediately asked someone to hang up the innocent child. Seeing his kindness, Brother Yelusiu was angry and funny.
, but he didn’t ask anyone to beat him up.
However, since the pioneer officer came to his door, Brother Yelvxiu was no longer polite to him. He directly ordered people to surround He Lingtu's vanguard troops and eat them in one bite. Brother Yelvxiu originally wanted to use this Song army
As a bait, General He Lingtu was not around when he made the move, and there was no one to direct him. As a result, no one escaped. As a result, the role of the vanguard was completely lost. Liu Tingrang, who was leading his troops behind, had no idea about this.
As a result, Liu Tingrang dove into Brother Yelvxiu's encirclement. More than 100,000 troops surrounded Liu Tingrang's 30,000 horses. Liu Tingrang resisted desperately with his cloth ring formation. The Song army's infantry was invincible in the world. They fought head-on in positional battles, and they were so impressive.
Liu Tingrang's defensive front was never broken through.
Liu Tingrang sent people to break out again and reported to Li Jilong urgently. Li Jilong, who came later, was shocked when he heard the news. The deputy general Sang Jing who reported the news was covered in blood. He was supported by someone and said in a hoarse voice: "Sir, General Liu is leading the army.
It’s been a tough fight, but if it’s delayed for too long, I’m afraid the entire army will be wiped out, so please send reinforcements as soon as possible!”
The generals under Li Jilong's command were red-eyed and eager to fight. Li Jilong walked slowly for a long time, turned around and asked: "How many people are there in the Liao army?"
Sang Jing said: "Judging from the general's opinion, there are at least one hundred thousand people. If General Liu can hold out for a whole day and night, he will not be able to delay any longer."
Li Jilong narrowed his eyes slightly, shook his head slowly and said: "Since you saw one hundred thousand people, then he has more than one hundred thousand people in his hands. One hundred thousand cavalry, on a flat land, attacked the three people who rushed to the point of no danger to defend.
Tens of thousands of soldiers, actually persisted for a whole day and night without defeat? No... no..."
Sang Zhan became anxious, his eyes turned red, and he roared: "Li Jilong, what do you mean, are you too timid to fight?"
Li Jilong's soldiers approached with swords drawn and shouted: "Bold, what did you say?"
Li Jilong waved his hand to stop his men from acting rashly. He looked up to his commander and sighed: "We have fallen into a trap. Going to the rescue is nothing more than moths flying into the flame. We will throw in as much as we go. We should have stayed tight and defended.
We shouldn’t take the initiative to send troops at all, we shouldn’t take the initiative to send troops at all…”
He turned around and shouted sternly: "Command the three armies to change the rear formation into the front formation and retreat immediately!"
"No! General Li, we can't!" Sang Zhan burst into tears: "Master Liu is trapped in a tight siege and struggling to hold on. Thirty thousand brothers are eagerly waiting for us to save our lives. General Li, we can't withdraw!"
Li Jilong's face was ashen, and his cheeks twitched violently several times. Seeing his friendly troops being surrounded, he was about to abandon them and run away. He was also heartbroken, but he knew that this was not the time to be emotional. He shouted loudly: "
Didn’t you hear my general? Retreat immediately!”
He strode a few steps forward and shouted in a deep voice: "It may be too late to withdraw our troops at this time. We cannot return by the original route. We should withdraw to Leshou nearby, or we can use the danger of the city to protect our army!"
He said sadly: "We...we can no longer afford another failure."
"Li Jilong retreated?"
Brother Yelu Xiu, who was waiting for Li Jilong to surrender with great ambition, was stunned for a long time after hearing the news before suddenly reacting: "Xiao Tallie, Yelu Shan, lead your ambush troops to pursue Li Jilong immediately. Be sure to trip him up and wait until Ben Yu."
The more you deal with Liu Tingrang, immediately send your troops to cover him up."
He hurriedly walked towards the map and asked: "In which direction will Li Jilong retreat?"
The detective horse reported: "Looking at its direction, it should be retreating to Leshou, which is controlled by the Song army."
Brother Yelvxiu was startled, and the excited expression on his face gradually calmed down. He tapped his finger on the map several times, as if he wanted to poke a hole in the part marked with the location of Le Shou.
Xiao Talie said impatiently: "Da Yue, shall we get on the road immediately?"
Brother Yelu Xiu gave a bitter smile and shook his head: "No need to chase, we can't catch up. Li Jilong, what a Li Jilong!"
He turned his eyes to Liu Tingrang's troops who were still defending at the foot of the hill, and his eyes gradually turned cold: "This bait is of no use anymore, eat it!"
In the battle of Junzi Pavilion, Liu Tingrang fought his way out of the siege under the desperate protection of his generals, and only led a few dozen light cavalry to escape back to the Song Dynasty. Tens of thousands of his troops died here. When the news came back to Bianliang, Tokyo, Zhao Yuanzuo sat dumbly like a thunderbolt.
On the throne, the ministers said nothing but said nothing. Later, they suddenly jumped up and issued an edict to launch a full-scale counterattack at all costs. They were dissuaded by Zhang Jue, Luo Kedi and others.
After that, Brother Yelvxiu took advantage of the great victory and surrounded Zhuozhou again. After several days and nights of hard fighting, the city of Zhuozhou was broken. The Song army in the city was forced to surrender. They were collected and integrated into seven battalions by Brother Yelvxiu, and were dispersed into the Liao army.
, headed south together, conquered Qizhou, Xin'an, Xiaolangshan Village, and occupied Yizhou. When the news reached Bianliang, Zhao Yuanzuo was horrified and ordered the garrison at each pass to fortify the walls and clear the country, and not to fight.
Luo Kedi believed that the enemy was strong and it was appropriate not to fight hard. However, the specific situation must be decided by the border commander based on the enemy's situation. The imperial court issued an order that all theaters should not fight regardless of the enemy's strength. This was in line with the previous requirement that they must all take the initiative.
Going into battle is just as inappropriate
The timing was right, which made Zhao Yuanzuo furious. Fortunately, Cheng Yu, Jia Yan, Song Qi and other old ministers who were favored by Zhao Guangyi also felt that what Luo Kedi said was reasonable, and they all responded with words. So they did not punish him, but still insisted on it.
Following his wishes, he issued an edict to the border generals.
After leaving the Meridian Gate, a small school led a war horse. Luo Kedi climbed on his horse, but he looked up to the sky and sighed. The Song Dynasty was in this situation, and he felt that it was not unstoppable, but this emperor... changed his orders day by day, was moody, and had emotions.
His emotions are as changeable as a baby's face. He cries and laughs when he wants. He obviously doesn't understand military affairs, but he likes to get involved. He is also stubborn and doesn't listen to anyone's opinions. The emperor is the head of a country, how can he act like this?
So rash and willful?
The two edicts, just a few days apart, turned out to be two different people. This alone was enough to weaken the courage of the border officers. What power could he have to recover after defeating the enemy? Zhao Guangyi did not want to protect him in the first place, but Zhao Guangyi had to
If the throne is not right, the legality of his son's succession to the throne is naturally in doubt. But now the Song Dynasty is in the hands of this young emperor who is already somewhat unconscious. He may not care about the two generations of emperors Zhao Guangyi and his son, but this Han Dynasty
How could he allow the Khitan barbarians to brutally trample them? As a member of the Privy Council and now the person in charge of the Song Dynasty army, what should he do?
"Lord Luo..."
Another horse galloped up from behind. The man on the horse was wearing a crest and a military commander. When he saw Luo Kedi's horse frightened, the man reined in his horse to show his respect.
Luo Kedi turned his head and recognized that it was Zhai Musi, the Marquis of Yu, who was in charge of the front office of the palace. He returned the salute with a look of dismay: "Master Zhai."
Zhai Musi, who was around forty years old, was originally a mid-level general in the Forbidden Army. He used to have a close relationship with the King of Jin, Zhao Guangyi, and was always much closer than many senior generals who had no contact with the prince at that time. Zhao Guangyi purged all the old ministers.
, he is also a general who benefited from it and was promoted. This person usually doesn't talk much, is steady and mature, and Luo Ke respects him even if he is hostile.
"Your Excellency, are you worried about the border war?"
Luo Kedi smiled awkwardly: "It's not just the border pass? Over there in Guanzhong, Chen Bing is now fighting at Tong Pass. He can't advance or retreat. I don't know what his intention is. Bashu's rebellion is raging, Jiangnan is about to move, and the people in the capital are uneasy. Alas! In such a situation, Luo is powerless.
ah."
Zhai Musi smiled and said: "Your Majesty is brave and brave, and the lower officials are aware of it. However, this military and national event is unprecedentedly serious since the founding of our country. It is really difficult for Your Majesty. In fact... there is nothing for Your Majesty to worry alone here."
Why not ask someone for advice?"
Luo Kedi said: "For advice, who can I ask for advice?"
Cuimusi covered her lips and coughed softly, and said: "Your Excellency is now in charge of the country's military affairs, but in terms of official position, it is still a matter of the Privy Council. There are also Privy Envoys and Deputy Privy Envoys above. The two adults have asked me to rest at home due to illness. As a matter of course,
I mean, I shouldn't bother you, but at this moment of national crisis, how can we ministers only care about our own safety? Cao and Pan have gone through hundreds of battles in their lives, and they always have experience. Maybe
...Can you give me some advice, sir?"
"Oh?" Luo Kedi's eyes flashed slightly, showing a thoughtful look. Marquis Zhai Yu smiled slightly, cupped his hands and said, "I'll take my leave..."
"May I ask for advice from Cao Bin, Pan Mei? I'm afraid it was Cao Pan who was summoned and asked him to pass on the message... These two old generals who have long since resigned from the court and are idle at home want me to go. What do they want to do?"
Luo Kedi pondered for a while. He originally wanted to go home and ask his father for advice, but now he thought about it. His father's opinions on people and politics were all accurate, but in terms of military affairs... after all, he
He is a scholar. Perhaps Cao Bin and Pan Mei, the two famous founding generals of the country, really have a plan to save their lives?
Luo Kedi drove the horse forward a few steps, then suddenly reined in the reins, jerked the horse's head, and shouted to the guard: "Let's go to Privy Council Cao's house!"