This time, Han Desui and Han Zhang sent out almost all their troops in the south. They did not ignore the movements of the Jurchens in Liaodong, but when they passed through Liaoyang Prefecture, the Jurchens suffered huge losses. Two hundred thousand Jurchen soldiers and horses
Most of the casualties were casualties. At this time, the Jurchens would not have the courage to send troops. Secondly, in the first month of the first month, Wanyan Agu sent a peace letter, saying that he had no intention of becoming an enemy of Han Zhang and Han De.
He said that if possible, he would be willing to negotiate with Han Zhang and Han Desui for a truce between the two sides, saying that he did not want to continue fighting like this, otherwise the northern tribes would definitely kill each other and be exhausted, giving the southerners an opportunity.
After analysis, Han Desui and Han Zhang believed that even Wanyan Aguda might not be sincerely negotiating for peace, but just needed to recuperate due to huge losses, so he adopted a delaying strategy. But as far as the current situation is concerned, it is in line with our needs at this time. What better way?
They first pretended to promise Wanyan Agu to stabilize the Jurchens, and after defeating Yelvchun, they would turn around and sweep the Jurchens. Because they thought so, they decided to leave only 20,000 soldiers and horses to garrison with some tribal soldiers and horses.
Xingzhong Prefecture and Dading Prefecture. Once the Jurchens have an intention, these 20,000 troops can delay the opponent, and the army can immediately return to support.
The 160,000-strong army is basically made up of pure cavalry, and the attack speed is extremely fast. It is best to fight quickly and defeat the main force of the tribe's soldiers and horses in Linhuang Mansion. Afterwards, they can also divide their troops to make a triumphant return to Dading Mansion, and nothing will go wrong.
The army quickly moved northward and arrived at Songshan Prefecture in only two days. After resting for half a day, it took only two days to cross the Xanthium River and reach Fengzhou, the southernmost state capital of Shangjing. The defenders of Fengzhou were not at all strong.
When they saw the cavalry coming over the mountains and plains like dark clouds, the generals who defended the city didn't even think about resisting, so they fled with the three thousand defenders.
Capturing Fengzhou is not actually a victory. The geographical location of Fengzhou is actually irrelevant. The real key point is Raozhou, which is eighty miles northwest of Fengzhou. Raozhou is the south gate of Linhuang Mansion, and its location
It is the place where the only crossing of a large river called Huanghe is located. This Huanghe is not the other, and this Huanghe has nothing to do with the Yellow River. But its origin is in the pine forest area of the northern plains. The population of Liao is
The flat pine forest in the picture is actually the western Daxingan Mountains. The melted ice and snow here form a raging river.
This river changes with the seasons every year. After freezing in winter, it becomes flat like a slope, but after the ice melts in spring, it begins to become wide and turbulent. In summer, the water flow is the most ferocious, because the water from melting ice and snow in this season is like a flash flood.
An explosion of water was injected into it, causing it to gallop like a herd of horses, and the river water changed from clear to like yellow soup. Hence the name Huanghe River. In autumn, the ice and snow melted slowly, and the river gradually became calm, until it froze in winter.
, return to silence. This is what happens every year, with each season having its own characteristics.
Huanghe River runs from east to west and originates from the plain forest.
, all the way to the east, twists and turns and flows for thousands of miles until it flows into the Liao River and into the sea. The source in the west is where the water is the most ferocious, and the downstream is open and gentle. The reason why Linhuang Mansion is called Linhuang is because
On the bank of Huanghe River, Huanghe River is a natural barrier to the south of Linhuang Mansion.
When it comes to why the Khitans established Linhuang Mansion, their geographical location was also carefully considered. To the west of Linhuang Mansion is the dense forest and snowfield of the Greater Hinggan Mountains, which is impossible to pass through. It is a dangerous place. To the south is the turbulent terrain.
The Huanghe River serves as a barrier. When Linhuang Mansion was first established, it was to guard against enemies from the south. If the enemies from the south wanted to attack north, they had to cross the Huanghe River. Because the Huanghe River and the Liaohe River together divided the northern land.
, there is no shortcut at all. If you want to go around the gentle ferry downstream to cross the river, you have to go around hundreds or even thousands of miles. The infantry is afraid it will take several months and half a year, and the cavalry is afraid it will take more than a month. When fighting, every second counts.
, detour attacks are not allowed in terms of timeliness of operations and difficulty of supply.
Therefore, if the enemy from the south wants to attack Linhuang Mansion, they must attack from one place, which is Raozhou, which is located southwest of Linhuang Mansion and south of Huanghe River. Raozhou is located where the upper reaches of Huanghe River is the narrowest.
The distance between the two cliffs is less than 20 feet. Below is the rushing water of the Huanghe River. The cliffs face each other and are connected by a wooden trestle cable bridge. The cable bridge can accommodate people and horses. This Raozhou is the only road leading to Huanghebei.
On the fertile grassland of the bank is the passage to Linhuang Mansion.
To attack Linhuang, one must cross the Huanghe River; to cross the Huanghe River, one must capture Raozhou.
The battle to attack Raozhou began on the second day of April. As expected, tribal soldiers and horses invested a large number of troops in Raozhou. Both sides knew the importance of Raozhou, and this siege was destined to be tragic. In fact, both sides were very
The soldiers and horses who are good at attacking and defending the city, one side is the cavalry who lacks siege equipment, and the other side is the tribal cavalry who only knows how to charge and kill on horseback, and also lacks the equipment and ability to defend the city. In this situation, the two sides seem to be in conflict.
Neither of them could use their own strengths, so although the siege battle was fierce, it seemed a bit lame, and both sides felt very awkward.
Finally, after two days of fierce fighting, the southern troops and horses relied on their absolute superiority in numbers and equipment to finally break through the two city walls at the south and east gates of Raozhou, and entered Raozhou City. The southern Liao army achieved its strategic goal and conquered Raozhou.
Zhoucheng is the key to going north. However, in terms of the number of casualties, because the city was forcibly captured with the advantage of numbers, the number of casualties was more than double that of the opponent. The opponent's defenders only suffered less than 8,000 casualties.
, the siege troops and horses suffered nearly 20,000 casualties.
But Han Desui and Han Zhang were already very satisfied. The other party obviously did not try their best to defend Raozhou, or their response seemed a bit hasty, and they did not realize the importance of Raozhou at all. In fact, there were less than 30,000 soldiers and horses defending the city.
People. Logically speaking, they should devote a large number of troops to the battle of Raozhou city defense, and should not give up so easily. It seems like
It seems that our own side used hard power to break through Zhuozhou City, but it felt like the other side gave up on defending the city in the end. It always gave people a strange feeling.
Han Desui and Han Zhang did not give each other a chance to breathe. After the city of Zhuozhou was defeated, Han Zhang personally led a cavalry force to pursue the retreating Liao soldiers. The purpose of this was to prevent the other party from having the opportunity to destroy the aerial trestle on the Huanghe River. That was
The only way to cross the river. If the opponent wants to escape unscathed, they must retreat north from the trestle and send a cavalry to pursue them closely, which will allow them to flee in a hurry and have no time to destroy the bridge.
Han Zhang achieved his goal and the trestle was saved. The opponent seemed to have no intention of destroying the trestle. The defeated troops retreated from the bridge to the north, dispersed in a crowd, and disappeared into the wilderness. And Han Zhang would not pursue it.
He gave up his position and ordered the cavalry to clear the area north of the bridge and strictly guard the position at the head of the bridge.
At this point, the southern army's strategic intention has basically completed all the early preparations. The army paid a price of 20,000 people to capture Zhuozhou and occupy the trestle on the Huanghe River. Linhuang Mansion was as naked as a girl who had been stripped of her clothes.
Uncovered and exposed in front of the army.
By this time, Han Desui and Han Zhang were not in a hurry. They stayed in Zhuozhou for a few days, waiting for the supply of logistics supplies. To enter the area near Linhuang Mansion, the supply of supplies must be sufficient. And there is another
An important thing to do is to send people to the snowy mountain slopes in the flat pine forests to the west to cut down a large amount of wood and transport it across the Huanghe River. Because if you want to attack a big city like Linhuang Mansion, you must make all preparations. Even if the opponent
The number of soldiers and horses was much smaller than our own, but attacking a city by force was definitely not a good choice. Attacking Raozhou is an example. For such a small city, 20,000 people were killed or injured, which shows the importance of siege equipment.
The Southern Army was not without the ability to manufacture siege equipment. They had already obtained samples from Dazhou before. In the past few months, the craftsmen had been ordered to study carefully and mastered the production method. However, the trestle on the Huanghe River was still impassable.
To attack Zhuozhou with large-scale equipment, you don’t have to make a fuss about logging and building siege equipment to attack the city. After using these equipment, you can’t cross the river at all. Therefore, Han Desui and Han Zhang decided to capture Zhuozhou and occupy the trestle bridge to the north before freeing up their hands.
They came to cut wood and transport it across the Huanghe River, set up a camp on the north bank, manufacture a large number of siege equipment, and then advance to Linhuang Mansion City after preparations were completed.
Now is actually the time when there is no need to worry at all. The ones who are anxious and afraid are people like Yelv Chun and Brother Meng Sa. Even if they know what they are doing, they can only watch helplessly, huddled in Linhuang Mansion and shivering.
Because they didn't dare to go out of the city to fight.
Although Han Desui and Han Zhang reminded each other not to take it lightly every time they met, they both saw uncontrollable smiles in each other's eyes. Both of them were leading generals, and they both understood that in this situation,
