In the seventh year of Tianfu, AD 942, December 20th.
The Emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty, Shi Chonggui, was unwilling to depose Jing Yanguang's bodyguard Ma Bu from the title of commander of the army, and on the same day he took out brocade and silk from the treasury to reward the troops.
On December 21, Shi Chonggui appointed Li Shouzhen, who had won the first battle at Majiakou, as the military supervisor in front of the palace. Apparently, he gave Li Shouzhen the command of Jing Yanguang's troops.
But in fact, Li Shouzhen was still guarding the Khitans in Bozhou near Majiakou, and there was no way he could come back to supervise the troops in front of the palace. The military power was in the hands of Shi Chonggui.
Later, Shi Chonggui rewarded them based on their merits. He named Huangfuyu the military envoy of Huazhou, Hu Cile the defensive envoy of Weizhou, Gao Xingzhou, Fu Yanqing, etc. all received rewards.
The army was finally convinced and obeyed Shi Chonggui's command, and in the end it did not lead to military chaos.
Three days later, Jin's 60,000-strong army broke out of camp, crossed the Yellow River, and headed north to Qicheng to find the Khitan army for a decisive battle.
On December 27th, Shi Chonggui arrived in Qicheng. Because the Yuan Day was coming soon, the Jin army did not go north and spent the Yuan Day in Qicheng.
At this moment, Jing Yanguang has been deposed and lost power only recently.
Sang Weihan, who had been excluded from the core of power by Jing Yanguang, immediately became energetic.
Feng Dao, He Ning and others were also willing to discuss with them that the powerful minister of the country was a scholar like Sang Weihan, so they jointly recommended Sang Weihan in front of Shi Chonggui.
And Sang Weihan did have two brushes. At this time, the Later Jin Dynasty was actually facing a severe drought in the north and south of the Yellow River, with two consecutive years of poor harvests.
But in this case, Sang Weihan still obtained enough supplies for an army of 60,000 to live a good life.
For a time, everyone from Shi Chonggui to the lower-level soldiers and generals felt that Sang Weihan was a talented person and thought of him well.
Shi Chonggui immediately promoted Sang Weihan to Zhongshu Ling and Privy Council, and began to become the de facto prime minister of the Later Jin Dynasty.
After the Yuan Dynasty, it was impossible for all the 60,000 troops of the Later Jin Dynasty to shrink in Qicheng, so Shi Chonggui used An Shenqi as the right army formation envoy and led 20,000 troops to camp on the right side of Qicheng.
Fu Yanqing served as the formation envoy for the Zuo army and stationed 15,000 troops on the left side of Qicheng.
Shi Chonggui took charge of 25,000 people headed by the Imperial Guards of the Later Jin Dynasty and stationed them in Qicheng as the Chinese army.
In the eighth year of Tianfu in the Later Jin Dynasty (AD 943), on the fifth day of the first lunar month, Emperor Yelu Deguang of the Liao Kingdom held a ghost arrow shooting ceremony in Changle, south of Weizhou, now Nanle County, Puyang City, Henan Province.
This is the most important ceremony before the Khitan army is dispatched. It not only captures the enemy prisoners in the direction of the army's advance, but then kills them with random arrows, thereby achieving the purpose of praying for blessings and exorcising evil spirits for the army.
However, since the Khitan army had not captured many Jin prisoners before, Yelu Deguang arrested more than 300 innocent residents of Changle County and shot them together with dozens of Jin prisoners, completing the ghost arrow shooting ceremony.
After continuous blows, the Liao emperor finally lost his composure and stopped acting like a benevolent king beyond the Great Wall.
Changle County was only eighty miles away from Qicheng, and the Khitan army was dispatched on the seventh day of the first lunar month. But one day, when Shi Chonggui climbed to the top of Qicheng again, the Khitan army had already appeared in his sight.
However, Shi Chonggui was not too surprised, because he knew the movements of the Khitan army long before the Khitan army held the ghost arrow shooting ceremony.
Because all the 700 Liangzhou horses of the new Weizhou defense commander Hu Zaile had arrived, they fought with the Khitan's Right Pishi Iron Pigeon Army Rangers in an area of several hundred miles from Changle to Qicheng.
A fierce cavalry dog fight ensued.
In this type of cavalry battle, where the cavalry outside the Great Wall is best at, the Hu Ci Le tribe is not at a disadvantage, because most of them are Dadan people, and after being equipped with the equipment, they are actually better at riding and shooting than the Khitan people.
Therefore, Shi Chonggui was able to obtain the movements of the Khitan army in time. It was not until the eighth day of the first lunar month, when the Khitan army arrived at Qicheng City, that Hu Ci Le's troops withdrew and stopped spying.
For this southern expedition, Yelu Deguang recruited a total of 80,000 Khitan troops, 50,000 Zhao Yanshou, Yanyun Han troops and Bohai troops, and 40,000 Xi Renhao Chief Weiwang troops.
A total of 170,000 troops, except for the 10,000 who were responsible for logistics, there were 160,000 who reached the front line.
However, there are only 120,000 people left at this moment because King Wei's tribe has not yet arrived after being defeated.
After arriving in Qicheng, Yelu Deguang and Shi Chonggui made similar arrangements.
The right Pishi army, Xiangwen Yelvwuzhi, was the right army, and the left Pishi army, Xiangwen Yelv Pode, was the left army. They each commanded 30,000 troops and horses for the left and right, and he himself led 60,000 elite troops as the center army.
The strength of the Khitan people was exactly twice that of the Jin army.
At this moment, from Shi Chonggui's sight, the Khitan soldiers and horses seemed to be boundless.
Due to their extremely large number of horses, although their number was only 60,000 more than the Jin army, in terms of visual effects, they were at least twice as many as the Jin army.
Shi Chonggui was not very proficient in military affairs to begin with, but now that he saw so many Khitan people, his face turned pale.
He had some suspicions that Gao Xingzhou, Hu Zaile and others were trying to deceive him.
How could this overwhelming Khitan army be defeated so easily?
However, fortunately, he did not need to be half-assed in commanding the battle, because veteran generals An Shenqi, Gao Xingzhou and others were by Shi Chonggui's side.
As mentioned before, Shi Chonggui has a very outstanding advantage, that is, he is still very clear at critical moments, and he also knows that professional things should be done by professionals.
Although this guy is greedy for money, lustful and fun-loving, and easily excited by rhetoric, he is not a fool.
If he were born in a peaceful and prosperous age, how could he be a master of pleasure like Zhu Zaijing, Emperor Muzong of the Ming Dynasty?
But it is a pity that he was born in the troubled times of the Five Dynasties, and was succeeded by an emperor dynasty.
When An Shenqi and others saw that Shi Chonggui was a little frightened, he immediately took over the command without saying much.
Now the Jin army of 60,000 people is deployed along the line of the Yellow River. The fortresses have only been equipped with antlers for a short time, and they must not be able to hold on.
Because there is the Yellow River behind them, there is no deep space. If you are defending the stronghold, once any part of it is breached, you will be in danger of being driven down the river immediately. You must move forward with a large army and try to leave as much room as possible for maneuver.
Moreover, this is the fifth generation. The soldiers can fight in the field and never defend the city. Although the Khitan people are large in number, they have lost three games in a row and are really not impressive. They are not afraid.
Under An Shenqi's order, the Jin army opened its camp and moved forward to attack the Khitan army.
On the tower of Qicheng City, more than ten large drums were beating at the same time. The messengers were like flying bees, passing military orders to everywhere. The flags of each army were raised continuously.
The officers followed the drums and controlled the pace of the soldiers. Those at the front were elites in iron armor. Although they could not walk out of a unified military formation like the Liang army, they were still pretty good.
The Liang army under Zhang Zhao had systematic training in military formations. The Jin army was considered diligent if they could conduct military formations every three days. There was no time to spend so much time practicing formations.
At this time, Yelu Deguang was also observing the Jin army. He was not surprised to see that the Jin army was in good order.
Although Yelu Deguang's military was a shame among Taizong, it was still many times stronger than a second-generation leader like Shi Chonggui.
The Jin army's front troops were well organized and equipped with iron armor, but the rear troops were not as good and lacked cavalry.
There will be no more than 10,000 cavalry in the 60,000-strong army, and they are quite scattered.
Even if the Khitans cannot defeat an army like this with many infantry, they can still retreat without any problem.
"Your Majesty, to the east is the path leading to the pontoon bridge. If the heavenly soldiers can occupy that place, they can bypass the Jin army and reach the pontoon bridge on the river."
Next to Yelu Deguang, a middle-aged man wearing a Khitan-style leather hat but a Han-style leather jacket was pointing to a place east of Qicheng and said.
This man's name was Ma Polong, a native of Qicheng. He took the initiative to seek refuge with Yelu Deguang after seeing the emperor's ceremonial guard.
Since he is a local, he knows that there is a hidden path in the northeast of Qicheng that can lead to the floating bridge behind Qicheng.
This made Yelv Deguang very excited. Although the trail was difficult to pass, as long as he could pass through it and use hundreds of elite troops to control the pontoon and cut off the Jin army's retreat, the Jin army would definitely collapse.
So Yelu Deguang made the first adjustment. He ordered the Shan army to draw out a thousand fine cavalry and attack the Jin army in the northeast corner of Qicheng first.
The Chinese army used the Dragon Army, Phoenix Army and Eagle Army to send out 3,000 armored cavalry to attack the Jin Army's middle road.
Behind Jia's cavalry, infantry troops such as the Yanyun Han Army and the Bohai Navy were arranged to advance in succession.
Light cavalry came out from the left and right wings, bypassing the Jin army's front soldiers and outflanking the waist.
At the end of Mao Shi (7 o'clock in the morning), the Khitan army launched the attack first. A thousand fine cavalry of the Shan army took the lead in bypassing the front of the Jin army and heading northeast.
Yelu Deguang thought that the Jin army did not know about this trail, but in fact, the Jin army had been prepared for it.
Shan's army had just sent out a thousand fine cavalry. Three generals, Yao Yuanfu, Hu Guang, and Murong Ye, each with 200 cavalry, immediately flew out to meet the enemy with Yao Yuan Fu's army as the spearhead.
The Shushan army used bows and arrows to shoot at Yao Yuanfu's men in the middle. Yao Yuanfu braved the rain of arrows and sacrificed more than ten people, and rushed in front of the Shushan army, killing several enemies one after another with iron laos in his hands.
The furious Shan army directly abandoned Hu Guang and Murong Ye on both sides and chose to besiege Yao Yuanfu. They easily cut Yao Yuanfu's troops into three sections.
But Yao Yuanfu was extremely brave and brave. He charged left and right among the Khitan cavalry and killed several people in succession. The so-called Shan army cavalry of the Khitan people were unable to do anything.
At this time, Hu Guang and Murong Ye had arrived and immediately disrupted the Shan army's formation. Six hundred mounted Jin troops dispersed a thousand Khitan Shan army's elite cavalry, causing them to flee in confusion.
In the distance, Yelu Deguang had no choice but to order hundreds of cavalry from Yelu Wuqi to go to support, and then the situation was stabilized.
But at this moment, the Jin army formed a silver spear formation in front of the Khitan central army and fired their bows and crossbows at the Khitan central army.
Yelu Deguang sent the dragon, phoenix and eagle cavalry into battle in an attempt to repel the Jin army.
However, the Jin army's combat effectiveness was very tenacious. The Chinese army withstood several Khitan cavalry charges in succession. Although the military formation was shaken to the point of collapse, it could not be broken.
Yelu Deguang could only continue to order the Han army and Bohai infantry to attack.
The Jin army suffered thousands of cavalry charging into the formation, and was attacked by the Liao infantry which outnumbered them. Finally, they could no longer withstand it and began to retreat.
Yelu Deguang took the opportunity to reunite the cavalry of the Pishi Army, and this time added a thousand Xiong Army cavalry.
After a little resistance, the exhausted Jin army collapsed. More than 4,000 Khitan cavalry rushed like sheep and plunged into the center of the Jin army.
Yelu Deguang was immediately overjoyed and was about to increase the pressure, but his face immediately turned ugly.
Because the Jin army deployed thousands of powerful crossbowmen in the second formation of the Chinese army, when the Khitan cavalry rushed to a distance of more than 80 steps and were running low on horsepower, they suddenly fired thousands of arrows.
For a moment, the Khitan cavalry dropped to the ground like dumplings, and those behind them quickly ran back when they saw something was not going well.
Gao Xingzhou and his son Gao Huaide were hiding in the infantry formation with hundreds of fine cavalry, when they suddenly came out from the left and right.
The Khitan cavalry, which was suddenly hit, completely lost the ability to resist. Yelv Deguang, whose face was ashen, could only push forward the reserve troops in his hands again, and then withstood the Jin army's attack.
Gao Xingzhou also suffered a small loss because of this. His horse was shot and killed, and he himself was turned into a hedgehog.
If the guards on the left and right hadn't grabbed him quickly, they would have been almost stabbed to death by the oncoming Khitan cavalry, so they had no choice but to retreat as a whole team.
After that, the two sides were in the middle, and the offensive and defensive momentum reversed several times, and only rivers of blood flowed.
At the same time, on the left wing, the Khitans were surrounded and attacked by Yao Yuanfu, Hu Guang and others. It was only thanks to Yelu Wuzhi's good command that they did not collapse.
On the right wing, Fu Yanqing was suppressed and beaten by Yelu Pode.
Fu Yanqing's cavalry was insufficient and he could only defend passively. The Khitan army was twice as many as his, so the fight was extremely difficult.
The two sides fought fiercely from the end of the Mao period to the end of the Shen period, lasting more than five hours. Both the Liao and Jin armies suffered heavy casualties, and no one could do anything to help the other.
But in terms of form, the Liao army was more dangerous, because they used an army of 120,000 to besiege the Jin army of 60,000, but they only ended up with a draw.
This shows that the Jin army's combat effectiveness and determination are far stronger than the Liao army.
Furthermore, the Liao army had a large number of cavalry, which was an advantage, but also a disadvantage, because the endurance of horses was far inferior to that of humans.
Today, the Khitan cavalry repeatedly charged and killed, and most of them had almost exhausted the power of their second horses. If they continued to fight, their combat effectiveness would definitely become weaker and weaker.
The most important thing is that the 150,000 shi of food obtained by Yelu Deguang in Beizhou is about to be used up. If the attack continues, food will also be a problem.
So the unwilling Yelu Deguang came up with a vicious plan, which was also a common trick used by the Khitan people, a nomadic fishing and hunting people in the north.
He retreated more than ten miles overnight, pretending to flee north in embarrassment, and ambushed troops on the road from Qicheng to Changle, hoping to trap and kill the Jin army.
The next day, when the Jin army rose up, they discovered that the Khitan army had retreated. All the generals thought that the Khitan people were afraid of them, so they all became excited and demanded to pursue them.
But God blessed Shi Zhonggui. At this time, it rained heavily and the rain continued continuously for five or six days. The roads were muddy and the Jin army's pursuit could not be stopped.
This was a disaster for Yelv Deguang. Not to mention that the ambush failed, the Khitan army was still soaked in the rain for several days in the wild.
On the 20th of the first month, the unwilling Yelu Deguang once again led his army to approach Qicheng. Only then did the Jin army realize that the Khitans were luring the enemy last time, and a battle broke out between the two sides again under Qicheng.
After three hours of fierce fighting, Yelu De lost more than 2,000 troops. He couldn't stand it anymore, so he took advantage of the darkness to throw away the baggage and the army directly broke camp and returned north.
The Jin army also thought that the Liao army was trying to lure the enemy, so they stayed in Qicheng until ten days later, when they were sure that the Khitan army had returned to the north, and then they went out to recover the states and counties along the way.
The first war between Liao and Jin ended here.
Yelu Deguang went southward with great ambition, but he suffered a huge loss. He lost nearly 40,000 troops, of which more than 3,000 Pishi troops were lost. In the end, he didn't even get a single hair.
Fortunately, the heaviest losses among them were more than 20,000 people belonging to King Xi Renwei, and the losses in the inner circle were not huge.
But the Later Jin Dynasty did not win much. More than 3,000 of their soldiers died in the battle and tens of thousands were injured. The prefectures and counties along the way were also looted by the Khitan army returning from the north.
Especially in Daming Mansion in Weizhou, dozens of miles around were almost turned into white land.
However, Shi Chonggui's reputation has grown greatly since then, and he has finally secured his position in the industry.
