"Xiao Shilu!" Yelu Deguang roared wildly, and smashed the mutton leg bone in his hand directly at Xiao Shilu, who had just received the money and was kneeling on the ground without even wiping away the blood stains, shivering with cold.
"Why do you dare to come back? That was the Pishi Army of a certain person, and three thousand of them were just gone! If our Great Khitan had a few more supervisors like you, Xiao Shilu, I would probably die in the hands of a certain person.
!”
Amidst Yelu Deguang's roar, Xiao Shilu's forehead instantly became red and swollen.
But he did not dare to show any dissatisfaction, because he knew that this loss had indeed greatly damaged the strength of his close nephew.
The political structure of the Khitan people for hundreds of years is actually a bit like the setting in the Hong Kong movie "Underworld".
The Khitan Khans implemented a family selection system, that is, the position of Khitan Khan must be held within the Yelu family through generational selection, and the capable men of the Yelu family must take turns to hold the position.
This is similar to how the Hong Kong underworld chooses the leader. Sometimes, in order to ensure the power of the leaders of each tribe, they will deliberately not choose a powerful person like Big D, but choose a relatively mild-looking Ah Le.
This has been done for hundreds of years, and it is also an important reason why the Khitan tribe has existed for hundreds of years, but has never grown big.
The absence of a powerful leader ensured the power of each tribe and made it impossible for them to unite as one.
After Yelu Abaoji came to power, he was a man of great talent and brilliance, and gradually destroyed the system of succession. He also renamed the Khitan Khan the Khitan Emperor, and the system of succession became a hereditary system.
But even though Yelu Abaoji was such a powerful figure, rebellion among his brothers still occurred, and the leaders of the eight tribes were forced to abdicate.
It was not until the Da clan's Bohai Kingdom was completely wiped out, and after the iron-fisted attacks of Yelu Abaoji and Shulu Ping, that the hereditary system slowly stabilized.
But it only stabilized and was not accepted by everyone. In history, various rebellions of the Yelu family occurred many times in the Liao Kingdom, and they were still accepted by many people. This is the root of the law.
Therefore, as each tribe has its own strength, each generation of Khitan emperors can only choose to continuously strengthen the strength of the Pishi Army directly under them to fight against the leaders of each tribe.
Xiao Shilu was the half-brother of Shulu Ping and the biological uncle of Yelu Deguang. The Zuopi Shifeng Holy Army he controlled was, strictly speaking, Yelu Deguang's private army.
In this battle, the Holy Army killed more than 600 people, 400 to 500 were captured, more than 200 people fell into the water, and more than 300 people died of cold and starvation on the road due to lack of food and clothing.
Including some injured and separated ones, only 1,1200 people managed to escape in the end. All their war horses and armor were lost. The 3,000-strong Feng Sheng Army basically lost its combat effectiveness.
The last such disastrous defeat was the battle of Dingzhou between Yelu Deguang and the Later Tang Dynasty. At that time, several Khitan generals such as Tie La and Nieligun were captured by the Later Tang Dynasty, and more than 4,000 soldiers were lost.
Seeing that Yelu Deguang was so angry, none of the close ministers dared to dissuade him, but the leaders of various tribes.
Each one of them either pretended to plead for Xiao Shilu, or said angrily that they had to be stationed outside in the heavy snow, and that Yunzhou, as promised, could not be defeated, and they should not send people westward into Yunyun. Yelu Deguang was so angry that blue veins popped out on his forehead.
Jump.
However, the behavior of these tribal leaders actually calmed down Yelu Deguang. No matter how miserable Xiao Shilu was, he was his uncle and someone he trusted.
Moreover, Yelu Deguang was very familiar with the combat power of the three thousand men of Zuopi Shi Feng Sheng Army. Even if he encountered an enemy five times stronger, he still had the ability to retreat calmly without fighting. How could he do it so quickly and easily?
Defeated? And defeated so miserably?
"Get up and talk! Put on a robe and take a seat."
Yelu Deguang looked solemn, but no longer angry. Instead, he gave Xiao Shilu a seat and asked his attendants to put warm robes on him.
Xiao Shilu finally returned to his throne at this time. He knew that he, the emperor's nephew, would not deal with him for the time being, so he quickly kowtowed to thank him and then sat down.
"Now that we have been defeated, do you know who came from the west?" Yelu Deguang asked as soon as Xiao Shilu sat down.
Xiao Shilu could only leave his seat, knelt on the ground again and replied: "I led three thousand troops and horses to the west, all the way to the Zhenwu Army Beacon Fort.
At this time, the rain and snow were getting heavier, and the messengers sent out were always intercepted and killed. I discussed with the generals and thought that some large tribes were coming from Mobei, so they discussed pretending to withdraw and lure the enemy to show up."
Yelu Deguang, Zuo Pishi Xiangwen Yelu Pode, and Youpi Shi Zhengwen Yelu Wuzhi all nodded.
Xiao Shilu's strategy was correct. Zuo Pishi's 3,000-strong holy army had complete armor and excellent war horses, so he was fully qualified to do so.
In recent years, the climate has been cold, and Mobei tribes often go south. Even the Khitan people cannot know when another tribe that cannot survive will appear south to plunder near the vast Beihai and Langjuxu Mountains.
However, many of these tribes did not even have iron arrowheads. Although they were tough and brave, their weapons were poor and their armors were only made of broken cowhide, so their combat effectiveness was not strong.
Not to mention the Pishi army, even the tribal army, when encountering such an enemy, can defeat enemies several times their own with a small number and a large number.
"I and others traveled westward to the north of the Hun River. The troops were in good order and were not slacking off, and the soldiers and horses were not tired. They were waiting to cross the river. At this time, there were horseshoe formations from the west, and about thousands of elite cavalry, wearing white robes, were rushing in pursuit.
"
Xiao Shilu continued, his eyes narrowed as his right skin was steady.
"Thousands of white-robed cavalry, these are definitely not the Mobei tribe. They can't afford thousands of white-robed cavalry."
Everyone looked at Yelu Deguang, and Yelu Deguang's heart skipped a beat. Everyone thought of a possibility.
Only the leader of the Jin Dynasty, Shi Jingtang, rebelled and wanted to kill Yelu Yeye. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the other forces to gather thousands of white-robed elite cavalry.
However, Yelu Deguang forcibly suppressed the uneasiness and anger in his heart and motioned for Xiao Shilu to continue.
"When I saw thousands of white-robed cavalry, I guess it was someone from the Southern Dynasty who claimed to be loyal and was not angry, so they raised an army to invade."
Xiao Shilu's political quality was still passable, and Shi Jingtang recognized Yelv Deguang as his father, which was one of the most dazzling halos around Yelv Deguang's head.
Even if he knew that something was wrong with Shi Jingtang, he couldn't say it in front of everyone, not to mention it was still uncertain.
"Then I placed my back against the Hun River and set up a large formation of Yanyue bows and crossbows, using strong bows and hard crossbows to shoot at the invading enemies!"
After hearing Xiao Shilu's arrangement, even the tribal leaders nodded in agreement. They were all experienced in fighting, so they naturally knew that there was nothing wrong with Xiao Shilu's arrangement.
There is snow on the ground, which is not conducive to cavalry attacks. It is definitely the best arrangement to deploy a large array of bows and crossbows with the elite leather army, with the frozen Hun River as your back. Generally speaking, the enemy will be defeated soon.
Sure enough, Xiao Shilu continued: "The enemy's vanguard of 500 cavalry arrived. I fired with bows and crossbows, greatly defeating the enemy. Then I suddenly rushed out with my iron cavalry. I killed nearly a hundred enemies and gained dozens of horses. It was a pity that the thieves
They came with a large group of horses, but failed to kill many.
When the bandit cavalry army arrived, numbering about five thousand, I realized that the arrangement was wrong.
It turns out that the bandit army is not just light cavalry. They are wearing a kind of heavy armor that I have never seen before, and they are holding a strange crossbow that looks like a bow or a crossbow. Hundreds of elite soldiers in the middle army are also holding Mo Dao.
The army heard the drums and advanced, but the drums stopped and stopped, even though they were thousands of people, they were as one.
Our army was invincible with bows, crossbows, spears and clubs. I charged in with armored cavalry, but was unable to advance several times. The enemy used light cavalry to attack my left flank, and we were completely routed!"
Speaking of this, Xiao Shilu burst into tears, "I lost my master and humiliated my country. I should have died in battle by the Hun River, but I was afraid that Your Majesty didn't know that a strong army was coming from the west, so I shamelessly survived to repay Your Majesty.
The people coming from the west have thousands of knights, well-equipped horses and armor, and they even fly the Three-Chen Banner of the Great Dynasty. They should be regarded as our formidable enemy."
"Uncle, please stand up. In the past, the emperor who ascended to heaven was defeated by the Southern Dynasty several times, but now he has become a vassal of the Southern Dynasty. He will control all the sixteen states of Yanyun. This battle is not my uncle's fault. All leaders and generals should take this as a warning. "
When Yelu Deguang heard this, he quickly left the table and helped Xiao Shilu up.
Then he insulted his father Yelu Abaoji a few times, and then showed off his achievements in the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun.
This serves as a foil to the fact that this defeat is nothing and will not damage his reputation as Yelu Deguang.
What a filial and good son!
"In that great dynasty when all the clans surrendered, the Tian Khan in Chang'an City has long gone away. The so-called Sanchen Banner is just for self-promotion.
But these people are so tough and their armor is so sophisticated, could it be that the Southern Dynasty has another descendant of the Li family from the Great Dynasty?"
After Yelu Deguang finished his performance and the left room was stable, Diansu Guardsman Yelu Pode spoke.
Everyone was talking a lot, and they were all speculating that there was some hero from the Southern Dynasty who dared to stroke the tiger's beard of their great Khitan.
Many people are clamoring to send special envoys to reprimand Shi Jingtang and ask him to thoroughly investigate who it is.
"May I ask the supervisor, is the armor worn by those white-robed soldiers wearing this kind of iron armor?"
A slightly childish voice sounded, and everyone looked and saw that it turned out that Youzhou Jiedushi, the eldest son of Yan King Zhao Yanshou, Jinwu General Zhao Kuangzan, was pointing at the soldier behind him and asked.
Yelu Deguang asked the soldiers behind Zhao Kuangzan to stand in front of Xiao Shilu and let Xiao Shilu take a look.
If Zhang Zhao were here, he would recognize him as the general standing behind Zhao Kuangzan at the foot of Mawei slope. He also gave this set of cotton armor to Zhao Kuangzan.
Xiao Shilu took a closer look. The surface of the armor was covered with a layer of cloth and fixed with bubble nails. When he turned it over and looked inside, he immediately shivered.
Good guy! It’s made up of layers of strange cloth that’s as hard as a wooden board, plus large pieces of fine iron. No wonder the protection is so good!
"Your Majesty, this is exactly the kind of armor! I wonder where General Jinwu got it?"
Zhao Kuangzan did not answer Xiao Shilu's question, but asked someone to fetch a tall horse from outside the tent.
This horse is quite majestic, with its ears erect and held close to the middle. It looks strangely arrogant.
"Are those cavalry horses similar to this?"
"Exactly! The ears are especially similar." Xiao Shilu nodded repeatedly.
"Your Majesty, I know who is coming." Zhao Kuangzan raised his hand and said.
"Oh! Come on, tell me, who can afford to raise such an elite? Dare to be so bold!"
Yelu Deguang stood up and asked whether Zhao Yanshou and Zhao Kuangzan, father and son, were suitable candidates for him to stabilize the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun.
Zhao Kuangzan wore a wide robe and long sleeves, stood up and put his hands over his forehead, as if he was saluting Yelu Deguang, but in fact he was taking the opportunity to adjust the expression on his face.
By the time he finished saluting, his expression was already very solemn.
"Reporting to your Majesty, this person is Zhang Zhao from the Zhang family in Shazhou who returned to the rebel army. He returned from the Eighteen Prefectures in Longyou, Hexi Province two years ago. He was well-known in the Southern Dynasties for his righteousness.
There were millions of people under his rule, and more than 50,000 of them wore armor. The cloth-covered iron armor, the Hexi folded horse, and the Hexi divine arm bow were all unique to the Guiyi army.
The heavy armored soldiers holding Mo swords that the supervisor saw must be Han Shandu, the personal guard of King Zhang of Hexi.
When I was in Guanzhong, I met King Zhang several times. The Hexi army is brave, so please treat him with caution."
