Di Qing and others only regretted that the horses on their backs were not strong enough and the armor on their bodies was not strong enough, otherwise they could break through Tongtai Pass and rush all the way to Shangjing City of Liao Kingdom.
When Di Qing led the Tiger Army, they rushed out of the trail and met the Liao soldiers patrolling the Liao Kingdom.
The Liao soldiers patrolling the Liao Kingdom heard the report from the scouts, saying that there were enemies, and wanted to come over and clean them up.
But after seeing the full lineup of Di Qing and others, he was so frightened that he immediately turned around and ran away.
The Liao soldiers did not take a closer look at what soldiers and horses were behind the formation of the Tiger Army led by Di Qing. Just the cavalry of the front army was enough to frighten them into fleeing in confusion.
Heavy armored cavalry!
The great weapon of cavalry charging into battle, heavy armored cavalry!
Without sufficient preparation in advance, if the Liao's rangers faced off against the heavily armored cavalry and faced off head-on, it would be no different than seeking death.
Even though the people sitting on the horse were Song people whom they looked down upon.
The Liao soldiers encountered Di Qing and his party and wanted to escape.
But Di Qing did not give them a chance to escape.
Although the Tiger Army was not equipped with muskets, it was equipped with crossbows.
Di Qing and others pursued the Liao soldiers, drew their hand crossbows, and fired fiercely at them.
Those who ran fast naturally escaped with their lives, while those who ran slowly became dead souls shot by arrows.
Some of those who were not shot to death fell off their horses and were trampled to death by the iron hooves rushing up from behind.
Hundreds of kilograms of weight rolled over them.
In the end, they turned into a pile of minced meat.
Di Qing estimated that two sticks of incense would be enough to reach Tongtai Pass, but in fact, it only took one and a half sticks of incense.
The reason why the speed was faster than Di Qing expected was also because they encountered Liao soldiers on the way to charge.
The tiger-character army lived up to its name. Seeing the Liao soldiers was like a hungry tiger seeing a sheep.
They pushed their horses forward with all their strength, just to rush in front of the Liao soldiers and give them a blow.
One knife is enough to take away the life of a Liao soldier.
The knives in their hands were very sharp and could easily cut through the leather armor of Liao soldiers and chop into their flesh and blood.
The Liao soldiers were either hacked to death on the spot, or after being hacked, they could not get help and died of excessive blood loss.
When Di Qing and others rushed to Tongtai Pass, the guard of Tongtai Pass appeared in panic on the pass.
"Song Jun?!"
"Why did the Song Army appear at Tongtaiguan?!"
The Tongtai Gatekeeper looked at the Tiger Army led by Di Qing in disbelief.
Since Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty Zhao Guangyi failed in his three Northern Expeditions, traces of the Song army have completely disappeared from Daliao.
The Song army did not dare to step into Liao territory for decades.
Once Song troops set foot in Liao territory, without Daliao doing anything, the emperor of Song would send people to cut off the heads of those Song troops and send them to Daliao to calm Daliao's anger.
The general guarding Tongtai Pass had long forgotten the appearance of the Song army invading Liao.
Maybe it's not just him.
Most Liao people have forgotten the Song army's invasion of Liao.
After all, decades have passed since the Song Dynasty bared its teeth to the Liao Dynasty.
Decades of time are enough for many people to forget many things.
In their eyes, the Song Dynasty was just a big fat pig that they kept in a pigsty. When they were hungry, they could go over and cut a piece of it and roast it.
They never thought that the pigs they raised would grow tusks and bite them back.
When the Tongtai Pass guard saw the Tiger Army led by Di Qing, he was in disbelief at first, and then became angry. Before his anger could be vented, a panic arose in his heart.
"quick!"
"Quickly defend against the enemy!"
"quick!"
The Tongtai gatekeepers panicked and roared loudly on the gate.
The defenders in Tongtai Pass hurriedly came out to defend themselves against the enemy, holding weapons and armor.
A sporadic rain of arrows fell for a while.
Di Qing and others rushed to the top of the city, dispatched twenty cavalry and rushed out. With the scattered arrows falling from the top of the city, they crossed the trench by long ladders and cut off the iron cables on the suspension bridge.
After the iron cables were cut, the suspension bridge crashed to the ground with a loud bang.
"Bang bang bang..."
The crossbowmen who followed closely used their crossbows and fired fiercely.
The crossbows pierced the city wall fiercely.
The Tiaodang soldiers rushed along the suspension bridge, climbed up to the top of the city with their crossbows in hand.
"Quick! Kill them quickly!"
The Tongtai gatekeeper shouted in panic.
The Liao soldiers were holding swords and bows and shooting with all their strength.
However, the Tiaodang soldiers in the Song army surged upward like a tide.
Without the help of rolling logs, stones, gold juice and other powerful weapons, the Liao soldiers would not be able to defeat them.
"Bang!"
Just when the Liao soldiers at Tongtai Pass struggled to resist the Tiaodang soldiers climbing on the city wall.
The auxiliary soldiers of the Tiger Army have already pushed the siege chisel across the suspension bridge.
Pushed by the soldiers, the huge log slammed into the gate of Tongtaiguan.
One after another, holes were made in the door.
The Tongtai Gatekeeper felt the heavy blows hitting him in the heart. He panicked so much that he immediately sent more people to guard the city gate.
It's just that his order to send additional manpower has not yet been conveyed.
The Tiaodang soldiers had already jumped onto the top of the city.
The confrontation between the two sides changed from the exchange of bows and arrows to close combat.
Hand-to-hand fighting unfolded everywhere on the city.
A Tiaodang soldier rushed under the eyes of the Tongtai Gatekeeper, and the Tongtai Gatekeeper had to take action himself and fight hand-to-hand with the Tiaodang soldiers.
The hand-to-hand fighting was very brutal.
In order to make it easier to climb the city, the jumpers all wore light armor. The only protective tool they could rely on was a small buckler in their hands.
Both sides went back and forth, and blood spurted out.
"Bang!"
A collision sounded that was obviously different from the others.
The Tongtai Gatekeeper who was killing was shaken all over.
"The city gate is broken?!"
"The city gate is broken!"
The gatekeeper at Tongtai Gate was muttering to himself in astonishment.
The auxiliary soldiers of the Tiger Army under the city wall were roaring with all their strength.
Both sides said the same thing, but their thoughts were completely different.
After the city gate was smashed, the auxiliary soldiers of the Tiger Army pushed the siege chisel and rushed in arrogantly.
The Liao soldiers in front of the city gate had no way to kill them and could only be forced back by the siege chisels.
The moment the city gate was breached, Di Qing hardly hesitated. He raised his spear and led his cavalry in.
"Fight in! Take no prisoners!"
Di Qing led the cavalry and rushed into Tongtai Pass in a swarm.
The reason why he did not take prisoners was not that Di Qing was bloodthirsty, but that he was conducting a sneak attack on this trip, so he did not bring much food and grass.
When the army led by Cao Wei did not capture the entire territory of Zhuozhou, it was very difficult for him to replenish food and grass.
He couldn't afford to keep so many prisoners.
When the cavalry rushed into Tongtai Pass, the battle was already over.
Di Qing led his cavalry and rushed from the gate of Guancheng to another gate. Seven or eighty-eight Liao soldiers inside the pass had been killed.
When some Liao soldiers were captured at Tongtaiguan, they fled through the back door on horseback.
The Liao people have become accustomed to the idea of not caring about the gains and losses of one city or one place, so they will never stick to a single city.
If nothing can be done, they will evacuate decisively.
Half of the Liao soldiers in Guancheng escaped after Di Qing rushed into Guancheng.
The Liao soldiers on top of the city had no way to escape.
Peng Yue climbed up the stairs inside the city gate and chopped off the head of the Tongtai Pass guard with one blow, and the battle ended.
The remaining Liao soldiers on the city walls asked for surrender.
Di Qing ordered Peng Yue to take them down from the city and kill them all in one go.
Afterwards, Di Qing quickly sent people to clean up the battlefield and re-deployed the defense of Tongtai Pass.
Tongtai Pass changed its owner, and the defenders on the city became soldiers of the Tiger-shaped Army.
The banner with the character "Tiger" given by Zhao Zhen and the banner with the character "Di" from Di Qing were hung on the top of the city.
After the war, Peng Yue found Di Qing very excitedly and said excitedly: "General, we have won, we have won Tongtai Pass."
Although Di Qing was young, he did not show any excitement because he broke the Tongtai Pass. He said to Peng Yue: "We calculated mentally but not intentionally, and went out day and night. With the help of noble people, we defeated the Tongtai Pass."
It is inevitable to take Tongtai Pass by surprise, so there is nothing to be excited about.
If we had not received help from noble people and had not quietly marched nearly twenty miles toward Tongtai Pass, it would not have been so easy to capture Tongtai Pass.
When it comes to merit in this battle, it is the old man who takes the lead, not us."
When Peng Yue heard what Di Qing said, he felt much less excited. He said solemnly: "The general is right, we were able to take Tongtai Pass, and that old man made a great contribution.
I have already sent someone to invite him, and he will arrive in Guancheng shortly."
Di Qing nodded and ordered: "When I enter Guancheng, you will arrange for me to live there. You will ask me if I have other family members. If so, you will send someone to pick them up and live in Tongtai Pass."
Down.
My father-in-law has helped us so much, and there is no guarantee that others will find out.
Now we have not captured the entire territory of Zhuozhou, and my father-in-law's family is still living under the rule of the Liao people.
If the Liao people know that my father-in-law helped us, they will definitely take action against his family.
So we have to take the first step and bring my father-in-law’s family over.”
Peng Yue nodded solemnly.
Di Qing continued: "Our defeat of Tongtai Pass was not a real fierce battle. The real fierce battle is still to come. In less than a day after Cao Shuai led the Chinese army, we may be counterattacked by the Liao people at any time.
It is even possible to be surrounded by two sides and attacked by tens of thousands of soldiers and horses.
So after you settled your father-in-law, you immediately sent people to reinforce the city wall of Tongtaiguan and prepare rolling logs, stones and other materials.
Hundreds of tigers galloped together, and weapons such as crossbows and bed crossbows were also set up on the top of the city in accordance with my instructions."
"I understand the humble position..."
"Just do it."
After Peng Yue left, Di Qing took a piece of paper, wrote the news about the breach of Tongtai Pass on it, and then sent someone to pass the news to Cao Wei on a fast horse.
After one day and one night.
Cao Wei received the good news from Di Qing.
"Hahaha... After winning the first battle, Di Qing captured Tongtai Pass, paving the way for our army to clear Zhuozhou."
Cao Wei took the good news sent by Di Qing and laughed loudly.
Winning the first battle is indeed a happy thing.
After Cao Wei laughed, he immediately issued an order, "pass the order, the army will be divided into three groups, attack from the left, center and right, and wipe out all the cities in Zhuozhou. After taking Zhuozhou, they will meet at Tongtaiguan."
After Cao Wei conveyed the military order, Lu Yijian smiled and said to Cao Wei: "As long as Di Qing can hold Tongtai Pass before we rush to Tongtai Pass, Zhuozhou will be our territory of the Song Dynasty."
Cao Wei smiled and said: "This is the advantage of launching the attack first. The army led by Emperor Yelu Longxu of Liao probably has only arrived at Youzhou City, and we have already captured Zhuozhou."
Lu Yijian nodded and said with emotion: "In the past, the Liao people invaded the south and conquered the two states of Song Dynasty, and we only reacted."
When Cao Wei heard this, he snorted coldly and said, "It's because of the incompetence of the defenders and the ignorance of the prefects. The Liao people went south in large numbers. They thought the Liao people were going south to harvest grass and valleys, and they would plunder for a while."
They would retreat, so after the Liao army appeared on the border, they did not report it to the court immediately, which caused the court to miss many opportunities."
Lu Yijian pouted and said, "What the Liao people used on us in the past has now been used on them by us. This can be regarded as a kind of retribution."
When Cao Wei heard this, he was speechless. He didn't believe in retribution.
When Lu Yijian saw that Cao Wei was silent, he said, "Commander Cao must warn his soldiers and not become arrogant and complacent."
Cao Wei nodded solemnly, "I understand."
Cao Wei knew why Lu Yijian said this.
The root cause lies in Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi.
Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi conquered the Liao Kingdom three times and entered Yanyun three times. Each time, he was able to conquer several states in Yanyun.
But, I couldn't stand firm every time.
As long as the Liao people seized the opportunity and defeated the central army of the Song Dynasty in one fell swoop, the Song Dynasty would have to withdraw from Yanyun and return the several states they had previously obtained.
The Liao people abandoned several states and lured the enemy deep into the territory three times.
Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi fell into the same pit three times.
Such a painful lesson is certainly worth learning from by Cao Wei and others to avoid making the same mistake.
…
After Cao Wei received the news that Tongtai Pass had been breached, it took two days for Emperor Yelu Longxu of the Liao Dynasty to receive the news that Tongtai Pass had been breached.
Emperor Yelu Longxu of the Liao Dynasty had just arrived at Youzhou City with his troops and horses when he heard the news that Tongtai Pass had been breached, and his face became gloomy and terrifying for a moment.
In the palace.
Emperor Yelu Longxu of the Liao Dynasty sat high on the dragon throne, staring gloomily at the figure kneeling in the middle of the hall.
"Is the Tongtai Pass broken?"
That figure was a tooth general who had escaped from Tongtai Pass and led an army. Hearing Emperor Yelu Longxu's question, he trembled and said: "It's broken... it's broken..."
Liao Emperor Yelu Longxu glanced at him and said coldly: "Then why are you still alive?"
Yajiang was stunned and said quickly: "Your Majesty, we Liao people never care..."
Before he could finish his words, Liao Emperor Yelu Longxu snorted coldly.
Immediately in the palace, a general stood up and hacked him to death.
Emperor Yelu Longxu of the Liao Dynasty watched helplessly as the tooth general died, and coldly said to the civil and military officials in the palace: "We, the Liao people, don't care about the gains and losses of a city or a place.
But is Tongtaiguan an ordinary city and place?
If we lose Tongtai Pass, we will lose the opportunity.
If we lose Tongtai Pass, we will lose the entire Zhuozhou.
How many Tongtai Passes in Daliao can we give up?
How many more Zhuozhou can be lost?
If the generals guarding Guancheng in Daliao surrendered Guancheng to the Song people when they saw them, how could Daliao still gain a foothold?"
Emperor Yelu Longxu of the Liao Dynasty looked at the ministers and said coldly: "We lost Tongtai Pass and handed over the entire Zhuozhou to others, but you still have the nerve to lick your face and come in front of me. What do you think I, the Liao people, don't care about?"