Before the Song Dynasty launched a general offensive...
"Your Majesty, the cavalry of the Song Dynasty sent about 100,000 troops from the Weifu Army Division of Heishan and the Yan Army Division of Heishui Town in the former Western Xia Dynasty to Daliao. All of them are cavalry, and they are all Dangxiang and Tubo people with one man and three cavalry."
"We arrived at Yunnei Prefecture yesterday, and the entire territory of the Southwest Road Recruitment Division was occupied by the Song Dynasty."
In the palace tent of Beiliao, there was a lively discussion about the effectiveness of the fire horse formation... It was obviously effective, and there was hope of breaking through the Song Dynasty's chariot line.
Another such impact is likely to open a gap, allowing the Daliao cavalry to quickly penetrate the Song defense line and defeat the Song central army.
That will be another battle of the Gaoliang River, and the Emperor of Song will once again stage the story of his great-grandfather.
However, I heard such a report.
Yunnei Prefecture, just over there is Fengsheng Prefecture, and then on to Nanjing Road.
Such a report made the entire Daliao Palace suddenly feel cold...
The current situation is that, except for the main battlefield on Nanjing Road, there is almost no mobile force in Daliao.
Whether it is the Northwest Recruitment Department or the Southwest Recruitment Department, all the elite troops from Xijing Road and Shangjing Road have been mobilized to the Nanjing Road battlefield.
It is even said that almost all the string-controlling warriors in the entire Daliao were recruited on the main battlefield.
Regardless of whether it is the Liaodong Road or the Northwest and Southwest Recruitment Division, all the troops used for peace and defense are old, weak, sick and disabled. Otherwise, Daliao would not sit back and watch the Uighurs in Xizhou plundering cattle and sheep...it would not be able to control it.
The original plan was to send a large army to visit the Uighurs in Xizhou after the battle with the Song Dynasty was over, and ask them to return what they had eaten...~
"Why does the Song Dynasty have so many cavalry? Isn't it an intelligence report that the Song Dynasty only has 100,000 cavalry? Where do the cavalry in the northwest and southwest come from?"
This is a common question among all the officials and workers in the entire Daliao Palace.
"The cavalry recruited from the northwest and southwest to attack Daliao are not the main cavalry of the Song State, or in other words, they are not the cavalry of the Song State's battle order."
"The cavalry that attacked Daliao from Xijing Road were mainly young men from Dangxiang and Tubo, not the uniforms of the Song army..."
"According to a report from the soldiers, the Song Dynasty court allowed Dangxiang and the Tubo people to join the army and fight. They are not part of the establishment team, but the Song Dynasty court will reward them with military merits."
"And the source of the reward is the pastures, cattle and sheep in my Daliao territory..."
Obviously, in this war, the Song Dynasty not only wanted to regain Yanyun, but also had the purpose of destroying the entire Liao Dynasty.
Is it possible? No one dares to say it's impossible.
Judging from the current battle situation, hundreds of thousands of troops are concentrated on Nanjing Road. The result of the nearly month-long battle is that the Song Dynasty is advancing step by step, while the Liao Dynasty is gradually retreating.
Although they have been explaining to the soldiers in terms of strategic retreat, everyone knows that in this battle, Daliao did deal with a disadvantage, or a decline.
"It would be great if Daliao and I, the Liao Dynasty, concentrated our superior forces to attack the palace tents of the Central Army of the Song Dynasty from the beginning. Maybe at this time I will be waiting in Zhending Mansion for the Song Dynasty to beg me and the Liao Dynasty to negotiate!"
"At the beginning of the war, who would have thought that the Liao cavalry would be blocked from attacking? The 50,000 palace guards went deep behind the Song Dynasty and were completely wiped out!"
"We, Daliao, should not be in such tit-for-tat confrontation with the Song Dynasty, but should give full play to the advantages of Daliao's cavalry..."
Advantage? A fart advantage. Since the rebellion of Yelu Yixin, the Song State has begun to deploy troops to Hebei Province. The two years of civil strife have given the Song State enough time to deploy defense lines.
Chariot soldiers are almost the nemesis of cavalry, coupled with the use of firearms... the situation in the Liao and Song Dynasties has long been reversed.
"When Yelu Yixin fled to the border, the Song Dynasty wanted to take back the sixteen states of Yanyun on the condition of sending troops to help Daliao quell the rebellion..."
"With negotiations at that time, maybe Daliao wouldn't have to go through the two years of war, and it wouldn't be where it is today..."
"Do you really think that the Song Dynasty will quell the rebellion in Daliao? Now it is clear that the Song Dynasty was behind Yelu Yixin's last desperate struggle and the chaos in Daliao..."
"What was the imperial court doing at that time? Why didn't they even get such important information?"
"Yelu Yixin's rebellion does not mean that the ministers of Daliao cannot be trusted, and not all of them have the intention to rebel. At that time, the court should not focus on guarding against civil strife..."
This is already an insinuation about the fault of Yelu Hongji, the Emperor of Liao Dynasty.
The problem is, under the circumstances at that time, Menggu and Jurchens cooperated with Yelu Yixin's rebellion. Who knew if there were other forces ready to respond to Yelu Yixin?
After the Yelu Yixin rebellion began, the Northern Liao court focused on monitoring all internal forces, which is understandable.
It can even be said that quelling the civil strife in Yelu Yixin and consuming the combat power of all parties was a decision adapted to the situation at that time.
In fact, Yelu Yixin's team was the elite of Northern Liao no matter what, and it indeed caused losses to all forces.
In other words, Yelu Yixin's chaos in the Northern Liao territory in the later period shows traces of deliberate actions by the Northern Liao court.
Later, it was precisely because all forces gathered forces to quell Yelu Yixin's rebellion, and at the same time the Song Dynasty launched the Northern Expedition, which also gave the Northern Liao court an excuse to directly mobilize soldiers from all forces...~
Many things happen at one time and another, and ideas and results may not necessarily match.
This is what Beiliao is like now.
It was not that Yelu Hongji couldn't hear the whispers and discussions in the palace tent.
Looking at it now, maybe the original decision was wrong, but at that time, as the Emperor of Daliao, it seemed that he could only do that.
"Continue to attack the palace tent of the Song Dynasty tomorrow..."
Yelu Hongji wanted to scold him, and even imagined that the whole court would be silenced as soon as he spoke out.
Unfortunately, he also knew that this was not the time for him to lose his temper, so he could only pretend not to hear everyone's comments.
He didn't even discuss the situation of the fall of Northwest and Southwest, and left the headquarters palace directly.
How to discuss? It is impossible to discuss the results, because Daliao really cannot mobilize too many troops now.
The ministers and ministers of Beiliao looked at each other in shock, and were stunned by His Majesty the Emperor's reaction.
Just broke up like this? What's going on?
We were all yearning for it together just now, longing for the Liao Dynasty to use fire and horse formations, and then concentrate their forces to attack the palace tents of the Central Army of the Song Dynasty, so that the Emperor of the Song Dynasty would once again repeat the mistakes of his great-grandfather, and the old incident of Gaoliang River would happen again~...
Now, a large number of Song troops have appeared in the northwest and southwest... Is it possible to repeat the reversal of the Battle of Gaoliang River?
It’s difficult, it’s difficult!
At the time of Gaoliang River, the Song army went on a rampage and directly reached Nanjing in Daliao. All other troops in Daliao suffered no losses.
And now, the Song army is advancing step by step, and Daliao, not only experienced two years of civil strife in the early stage, but also concentrated all its combatable forces on Nanjing Road...
What's more, since this year, not only the supplies of war horses, but also soldiers have been insufficient.
Think about it, the current Daliao army looks very much like the Song army in the past... The divisions and veterans are tired.
How big is this battle?
…
"Your Majesty~~Your Majesty...~There is an urgent battle report from Xijing Road..."
Yelu Hongji has not slept well at all. He has not slept well for more than a year. This is especially true these days.
Hearing the call from the attendant, Yelu Hongji quickly stood up.
"What's up?"
"Your Majesty, urgent report from Xijing Road... The Yunzhou Army of the Song Dynasty saw through our suspicious troops on the Xijing Road, broke through our defense line of Daliao three days ago, almost wiped out all the troops defending the Yunzhou Army of the Song Dynasty, and advanced rapidly to the east.
"
"According to the report from the soldiers, I am afraid that within two or three days, the Yunzhou Army of the Song Dynasty will arrive at the Nanjing Road Front."
"The Yunzhou Army of the Song Dynasty has merged with the Yuzhou Army yesterday. Now the troops are divided into two groups, advancing eastward in response to the north and south."
"The Yunzhou Army and Yuzhou Army of the Song Dynasty were a mixture of cavalry, infantry, musketeers, and chariots."
"Because the Weizhou Army of the Song Dynasty went north, blocking the channel for Xijing Road to report to the court, and sent scouts Baili to intercept the transmission of the battle report, the Xijing Road battle report did not arrive until today."
We broke through three days ago, then joined forces and divided our forces into two groups to march eastward... I am afraid that we will arrive at the main battlefield of Nanjing Road in the next two days.
The Song State was trying to encircle Daliao!
Yelu Hongji was a little confused...
"Your Majesty, how to make a decision? We need to make up our mind as soon as possible..."
What else can we do now? To the south, the Song Dynasty is connected as a whole and has an indiscriminate defense. Even the fire horse array attacking for three consecutive days was unable to break through the Song defense line.
To the west, it is obvious that whether it is the Yunzhou Army or the Yuzhou Army of the Song State, or even the Dangxiang and Tubo cavalry recruited by the Song State, they are all new forces. Now the tired divisions of Daliao cannot compete with them.
contend.
Once you go west, you can't escape being surrounded by the Song army, intercepted and killed...
As for heading east, after Gao Yongchang's rebellion in Suzhou, the forces originally attached to Daliao, including Xi and Shiwei, still tried to unite to rebel against the Daliao court even though they had been mobilized by the Daliao court.
If it had not been for the ruthlessness with which the Jurchens were put down, and if Daliao still had an army of 500,000 men, perhaps Liaodong would have rebelled again.
The only way to go is to the north... Fortunately, since the beginning of Yelu Yixin's rebellion, all the forces in the north have been mobilized. Even the remaining troops can still sweep away the forces in the north...
Yelu Hongji was thinking about the escape route at this time...
"When will the Song army arrive at Nanjing Road at the latest? How is the security situation at Juyong Pass?"
"Back to Your Majesty, it is difficult for the guards at Juyong Pass to stop the Song army... The Northern Route Army of the Song Dynasty may need to break through Juyong Pass, while the South Route Army can directly attack the back of our army..."
"In other words, the Song Dynasty's southern army may go north and advance directly behind Juyong Pass, thereby opening up the natural danger of Juyong Pass..."
Yelu Hongji understood it, which meant that there was nothing he could do to save the day...
"Your Majesty, according to what was agreed upon in the palace tent today, I understand that early in the morning, we, Daliao, will once again organize a fire-horse formation to attack the palace tent of the Central Army of the Song Dynasty. At the same time, the cavalry will accompany us, waiting for an opportunity to break through the Song army's defense line and directly attack the Song Dynasty Emperor's camp to reverse the situation.
The current disadvantage..."
Easier said than done!
If this plan really works, the Song army will be unprepared on the first day, and when 30,000 to 50,000 fire horses charge, they should be able to break through the Song army's defense line.
The attacks for three consecutive days have not worked. Is it possible that we still hope to achieve success after the Song army has corresponding measures?
Moreover, the armies on both wings of the Song Dynasty have advanced nearly fifty miles towards the Chinese army and will soon join forces with the Chinese army.
With the cooperation of chariot soldiers, cavalry, and musketeers, the single combat method of the Daliao cavalry could not stop the Song Dynasty's two wings from advancing towards the central army...~
Tomorrow, I'm afraid it will be in vain again, but what about after tomorrow?
Not only the armies from the two wings of Hebei Province of the Song Dynasty are approaching, but also the Yunzhou Army and Yuzhou Army from the northwest and southwest will also arrive at the battle line.
By then, I am afraid that by then, the Song State will really form a trend to encircle Daliao...~
Yelu Hongji is no longer the high-spirited Emperor of Liao in his early years, but an old king who has ignored government affairs for many years but cherishes his life...
"Convene all the ministers to discuss the matter and say that Yunzhou saw through the strategy of the Xijing Dao's suspicious soldiers yesterday evening and will arrive at the Nanjing Dao Master's battlefield in five days..."
Although the attendant didn't quite understand why His Majesty did this, he still obeyed and went out to deliver the order.
…
"Dear ministers, the Yunzhou Army of the Song Dynasty has sent troops, and the Yuzhou Army has also sent troops. The situation is quite serious! And the Yunzhou Army and Yuzhou Army of the Song Dynasty are new forces..."
"Obviously, the Song Dynasty is preparing to encircle and annihilate our Liao army of 500,000 troops on Nanjing Road!"
"Now, we, Daliao, have no choice but to make a desperate move. We must continue to implement the Fire Horse Formation tactics within three days. We must break through the defense line of the Song Dynasty's central army and reach the emperor's camp...~ Only in this way, we, Daliao, can possibly reverse this war.
situation."
"What I'm worried about is that we have finally found a way to deal with the Song Dynasty's defense line, but because of the possibility of being surrounded by the Song army, our Liao army of 500,000 people will be surrounded."
"Now, what I want to say is that despite the reality that Daliao is short of troops, we still need to send a team to the west to block or even hold on to Juyongguan and even the entire western defense line, so as to gain time for the army's fire and horse formation to build up its achievements!"
"The armies on both wings of the Hebei Road of the Song Dynasty may advance to the middle battlefield in ten days at the latest, and the Yunzhou and Yuzhou Army of the Song Dynasty will arrive on the Nanjing Road around that time...~"
"And our Daliao Fire Horse Formation has only been used for three days. There is indeed a possibility of breaking through the palace tent of the Central Army of the Song Dynasty. How to seize such a great opportunity?"
"Which general will take on the important task of blocking the Yunzhou Army and Yuzhou Army of the Song Dynasty to the west?"
It's said that they are a new force...~
After Yelu Hongji finished speaking, the important ministers of the Northern Liao Dynasty who were still in a dazed state suddenly woke up.
It's a pity that no one took up the challenge...
Indeed, judging from the current situation, Daliao is surrounded by the Song army.
However, all the ministers also understood that the Yunzhou Army and Yuzhou Army of the Song Dynasty could never establish an absolutely solid defense line with the cooperation of chariots and cavalry like the Hebei Road.
Therefore, the so-called encirclement is unrealistic for the cavalry.
From here to the north, there is a flat river, which is most suitable for cavalry to gallop. Just relying on Yunzhou and Yuzhou with less than 200,000 troops is like encircling the Liao Dynasty with 500,000 cavalry...~ Song Dynasty really dared to think.
At this time, all the forces in Northern Liao still believed that even if they could not win, it would not be difficult for Daliao to withdraw to the north of Yanshan Mountain.
The most important thing at this time is who will stop the new forces of Yunzhou and Yuzhou.
Ever since the rebellion of Yelu Yixin was quelled, His Majesty the Emperor of Daliao had allowed non-royal and descendant forces to charge at the forefront, and now, he has not forgotten to weaken everyone's combat power...