Chapter 457: What I can't bring back is just shame
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After leading the army for more than ten years, Liu Ling still did not escape unscathed. He was injured for the first time, and the injury was so serious.
The next day, Liu Lingqiang held a brief meeting with his generals in the living room. Zhaozhou's defense had been well arranged. The reason why Liu Ling convened the meeting with the generals was actually to stabilize the morale of the army. He did not see Liu Ling for three days.
In charge of military affairs, although the generals below will not make any changes, they are afraid that the soldiers at the bottom will make random guesses.
A general is the courage of an army. Now that Zhaozhou is in crisis, if the news about Liu Ling's injury spreads again, it will definitely have an impact on the morale of the army. Now the defenders in Zhaozhou City are holding on with perseverance. This perseverance
Very strong and very fragile, so strong that it almost ignores the arrogance of the enemy. It is also fragile, so fragile that it breaks like glass when touched. The reason why there is such a conflict in the heart is because the Han soldiers have a belief in their hearts.
This belief is Liu Ling. As long as Liu Ling is still there, they firmly believe that they are invincible. No matter how unfavorable the situation is, as long as the King of Han leads everyone, they will be able to reverse the unfavorable situation.
Moreover, the current situation is very serious for the Han army. Liyao Nayan's army still exceeds one hundred thousand, and since the Khitan people have decided to go south in a large scale, they must have backup plans. The Han army trapped in Zhaozhou City does not know
Will the Khitans continue to move south one after another? Compared with the unified and powerful Liao Empire, the Central Plains is now even more eroded and weak. Although many martyrs spontaneously rush to the front line to resist the invasion, there are more people
They watched and hesitated. There were many people among them who had relatively large forces. The big ones had tens of thousands of troops, and the small ones had more than ten thousand soldiers. The reason why they were hesitant was that they were afraid of losing all the power they had carefully developed.
People with big ambitions tried to seize control of the Central Plains while Liu Ling was away, and people with small ambitions also wanted to protect themselves. People were distracted and there was no powerful state machine to restrain them, which resulted in the current weakness of the Central Plains.
.In fact, since His Majesty Chai Rong, Shizong of the Great Zhou Dynasty, became seriously ill, the Great Zhou Dynasty was no longer the great empire with millions of soldiers that made the grassland people afraid to go south. Almost all generals everywhere were not thinking about that chair.
They scheming and fighting each other, but chose to remain silent when faced with the outside world.
There are even many people who are looking forward to it, hoping that the Khitans will defeat the Han army and make Han King Liu Ling lose the ability to dominate the Central Plains, so that their opportunity will come.
The Han people are a very strange group. Since ancient times, this nation has been advocating patriotism, but when it comes time for everyone to shed their lives and blood, a large number of them choose to escape.
Liu Ling did not place his hopes on those small warlords at all, and he would not regret his decision to go north to fight against the Khitans. Even if he is seriously injured now, even if he is besieged in an isolated city, he has never regretted it. He knows that no matter what
Doing anything and pinning the hope of success on others will often lead to disappointment, and disappointment on the battlefield is often followed by failure. The key to victory or defeat must be grasped by oneself, rather than placing hope on others.
This time the Khitans came suddenly, and the Han army did not have time to assemble before going north to fight against the Wolf Cavalry. But it was different now. Liu Ling relied on tens of thousands of troops to drag the Khitan army of 400,000 to Cangzhou and Zhaozhou for nearly two days.
By the end of the month, the Han army had enough time to prepare.
Today, armies gathered from Luoyang, Jinzhou, Yongzhou, Tangzhou, Yanzhou, Huazhou, and more than 80 state capitals in Dahan are rushing to the north at night and night. Apart from the necessary protective forces,
In addition, almost all the troops that the Han army could mobilize were heading towards that battlefield.
After two months, the Han troops assembled from the southern states gathered in Huazhou and marched to Cangzhou in a mighty manner. In the west, the armies assembled from the northern states, led by General Maoyuan, first assembled in Luzhou, and then fought with
The Han armies that set out from Huazhou responded to each other from afar, like two dragons, and charged towards the north. The total strength of the two Han armies exceeded 400,000. After more than two months, the Han army was finally ending the difficult period of passive defense.
Such a large-scale military build-up is also a show of strength to those forces, large and small, that are eager to try. The Han army used such powerful strength to declare that no one can shake their position as the overlord of the Central Plains. If anyone wants to take advantage of the troubled waters, the Han army
It will definitely be crushed with a thunderous offensive. The Central Plains forces that did not go to the front line of Zhaozhou and Cangzhou to fight against the Khitan people going south, after learning that such a huge Han army was going north, they all calmed down, and many people saw the Han army.
After becoming stronger, he chose to surrender, and followed the Han army waving flags and shouting, pretending to be sworn in with the Khitan people.
The West Route Army, with more than 250,000 men, was led by Maoyuan and passed through Luzhou and Xiangzhou, heading straight to Xingzhou. After passing Xingzhou and walking a few hundred miles away, you will reach Zhaozhou. The South Route Army, led by General Chen Yuanshan, had more than 180,000 troops.
, starting from Huazhou, passing through Weizhou, Bozhou, and Dezhou, and heading straight to Cangzhou. In Cangzhou, under the leadership of Huben Protector Luo Xu, there were now hundreds of thousands of troops from all over the country confronting Yeluji. The two sides fought fiercely to protect their victory.
Once the 180,000 Han troops arrived in Cangzhou, Yeluji was afraid that he would never have a chance to make a comeback.
And most of the Han army, 250,000 men, rushed to Zhaozhou all night long because the King of Han was there.
The location of the King of Han is the most important thing.
Liu Ling is the king of the Han Dynasty and the unique leader of the Han army. When he heard that the King of Han was trapped in a lonely city in Zhaozhou to resist the Khitan army of hundreds of thousands, every Han soldier was anxious. This kind of strong cohesion is today
Only Liu Ling can have it in the world.
After learning that more than 400,000 Han troops and more than 100,000 coalition forces composed of various Han forces were arriving in a mighty manner, Li Yao Nayan, who had one shoulder exposed and was changing dressing in the Khitan camp outside Zhaozhou City,
His expression froze. The hand holding the chess piece trembled slightly, and then he threw the chess piece aside. Jean leaned back on the chair and sighed, looking indescribably lonely.
"I thought that today's leaderless Han people would be unable to withstand the pace of our Khitan army. What fighting power could the scattered Han people in the Central Plains have? Who would have thought that just Liu Ling could keep the banner of the Han people in the Central Plains from falling! What's even more unexpected is that,
In just four years, the Han army has become so powerful!"
He looked at the chessboard with nineteen horizontal lines on the table and looked indescribably lonely: "When I went south, I suggested to your Majesty that if you want to take over the prosperous world and splendid mountains and rivers in the Central Plains, you can't be tempted like this and give me all your strength.
Your Majesty personally conquered the power of the Liao, wielding millions of wolf cavalry, and subdued the Han people with the power of thunder. If your Majesty had personally conquered it, and if all the elites of the Liao Dynasty had gone south, how could they have ended up in such a difficult situation now?"
Looking at the confidants in front of him who dared not interrupt, Li Yao smiled bitterly and pushed the chess piece away: "If we can't move anymore, go and invite all the generals to discuss the military situation."
He looked sideways at his shoulder where the medicine had been changed. Although his expression was calm and normal, the huge pain in the wound was still very difficult for him to endure. His hands were trembling slightly, and his back was soaked with sweat.
After putting on his clothes, Li Yao Nayan leaned on the seat and closed his eyes to relax.
The waiter and the military doctor knew that the general was thinking about the problem, so they did not dare to disturb him and retreated slowly.
Not long after, a dozen capable generals under Li Yao Nayan filed in. After everyone saluted, Li Yao Nayan said calmly: "Everyone, sit down. I have some bad news to tell you. The reinforcements of the Han people are coming from Li Yao."
As we have recently arrived at Xingzhou, it won't take long to reach Zhaozhou even if we crawl. This time the Han army came out in full force, and the total reinforcements coming to Zhaozhou exceeded 300,000. Again
In addition, there are tens of thousands of Han troops in Jizhou, which means that in a few days, you will face a Han army four times our size."
He glanced at the generals who were shocked by the news, curled his lips and said, "Tell me, what should we do next?"
Silence, everyone became silent. Although they were all proud and arrogant Khitan warriors who thought they were invincible wolf cavalry generals, they were not arrogant enough to think that the 300,000 reinforcements were vulnerable to a single blow.
So big that they simply ignored the Han people who came for revenge. Yes, they thought so before going south. When His Majesty Yelu Xiongji ordered the southern expedition, they all thought it would be an exciting but easy war. They thought it would be an exciting but easy war.
They do not think that the weak Han people can be compared with the Dangxiang people. In their view, the Han people are just weak two-legged sheep. Some people even joked that if they go south in August, they can go across the Yangtze River before winter comes to enjoy the warm environment of Jiangnan.
A good day when the north wind calls.
But the defenders of Zhaozhou let them know the tenacity of the Han people, and they knew that they were not the only ones in the world who were unyielding. The fierce attacks for two consecutive months failed to capture a single city. If one city after another in such a large Central Plains
How long will it take to defeat them? Then, when Liu Ling led the reinforcements to Zhaozhou, they had to re-evaluate the combat effectiveness of the Han people. With more than 20,000 troops, they were besieged by hundreds of thousands of troops, and they forced their way out
A bloody road entered Zhaozhou City, and our own side, which had the upper hand, actually lost more troops than the Han people!
If... if the reinforcements of more than 300,000 Han people were all such good soldiers, how could this battle be fought?
Li Yao Nayan did not show any anger at the silence of the generals under his command. He was just sipping the expensive tea he had snatched from the Han people, with a calm expression as if he was talking about family matters rather than military affairs.
After a while, a general glanced at Li Yao's face cautiously, and then tentatively asked: "General, why don't you... withdraw your troops?"
As soon as he said these words, without waiting for Li Yao Nayan to react, another general stood up suddenly and said: "Withdraw the troops? Is the Daliao Wolf Cavalry going south with such a great momentum, can it be that we withdraw in such a dejected manner?"
Don’t forget, we are the invincible Daliao Wolf Riders blessed by the Immortal God!”
"snort……"
Li Yao's face turned pale and the excited general glanced at him and said: "Stop deceiving yourself and others. Yes, I, Daliao, are favored by the Immortal God, but... no matter whether it is the Dangxiang people or the Han people, what do I think?
Less than a shadow of invincibility?"
He didn't seem to be shy about saying such words, but stood up and looked at his generals who were a little overwhelmed by what he said above and said: "The Han people have a saying, only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win a hundred battles. We must face the enemy squarely, and more importantly, we must face the enemy squarely.
Face yourself squarely. Hasn’t your arrogance been polished off when you first went south? Then tell me, what great victories have you fought to support your arrogance?”
While pacing, he said in a calm tone: "You can be proud, but don't just remember the era when the Daliao cavalry was invincible twenty years ago. The impressive achievements of your and my father's generation are not yours. When you show them off, don't you?
Do you feel blushing? I don’t know if you feel ashamed. Anyway, I was too embarrassed to go back to see His Majesty. Why did I boast about coming to Haikou in the first place? I fought in Jinling before winter. Now that I think about it, I don’t think it’s like that.
Is it a slap on your own face?"
The general lowered his head in shame and said, "I know I was wrong, General... It's just that I feel unwilling to withdraw my troops just like this. I am humbled by my position!"
Li Yao Nayan looked at him and said: "You are not willing to accept it, and neither am I. I am afraid that your majesty will not be willing to do this to no avail. But do you have the certainty of victory in the face of more than 400,000 Han troops? If not, then we
Although it is embarrassing to withdraw the troops, there is nothing we can do about it. But after we go back, how can we have the face to see His Majesty, and how can we have the face to meet our fathers?"
He paused and turned his gaze in the direction of Zhaozhou City, his eyes gradually becoming deep and cold.
"So, we must go back with some achievements and not let our parents be ashamed of us." (To be continued)
