Luoyang's defense, in terms of terrain, can indeed be said to be easy to defend but difficult to attack.
The Luoshan Mountains, Xiong'er Mountains in the west and Songshan Mountains in the east embrace Luoyang, forming the Luoyang Basin.
Luoshui, Yishui, and Jianshui are not only beneficial to transporting troops, grain, and baggage, but also bring abundant water sources.
To the north is the natural danger of the Yellow River. Burning the pontoon bridge can block the enemy.
Moreover, in this boundless land of the Central Plains, Luoyang, surrounded by mountains and surrounded by water, is like a natural fortress on the vast plains. This is also the reason why Luoyang has become the ancient capital of several dynasties since ancient times.
But at the same time, the shortcomings of Luoyang's city defense are also obvious, that is, the Luoyang Basin is too small and cannot be compared with the Guanzhong Plain and Chengdu Plain.
This resulted in Luoyang being surrounded on all sides and unable to withstand a long-term tug of war.
Moreover, compared with the Guanzhong Plain, which is the top scenic spot, it still has a huge flaw, that is, there are too many places to defend.
As long as Bashu is captured in the Guanzhong Plain, what needs to be defended is basically super natural dangers like Tongguan and Xiaoguan.
But what about Luoyang? There are as many as eight passes. Due to the insufficient strategic depth of the Luoyang Basin, as long as one of these eight passes cannot be defended, it will cause an extremely heavy blow to the overall defense.
Therefore, Luoyang City is called the capital of prosperity for a reason.
Its terrain actually improves the country's fault tolerance rate. This kind of natural fortress in a place with easy access to all directions is very difficult to defeat when the country is not at the end of its rope.
Because of a little persistence, as soon as the troops of King Qin from various places arrived, they were able to hold on again.
But when the country was in decline, Luoyang's natural insurance system was of limited use.
Just encircle it casually, or as Cao Cao suggested in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, surround it with eight passes and attack fiercely. If you break one, you're done.
This is the situation in Luoyang now. From the time when people laughed at Luoyang as the sacred capital bypassing the green fields, we can see how far Luoyang's defense system has declined.
Even the city of Luoyang is in decline, and the surrounding eight passes are full of loopholes.
Ma Da was the son of Yelu Abaoji, his mother's brother Yelu Lage, and the cousin of Yelu Deguang. His military ability was quite good.
It should be good, because now is the period of the rise of the Liao Kingdom. From Yelu Abaoji to Yelu Deguang, the Khitan people have been conquering the south and the north, and generally winning the battles.
As long as you are not a fool, after so many years of hearing and experiencing, you will always have some ability, so of course Ma Da knows that Luoyang cannot be defended at all.
He didn't plan to defend it, because he never thought that Zhang Zhao's Yongliang would become a threat to the Liao Kingdom!
Before this, Zhang Zhao's disguise was still very good. He looked like he was going to fight the Gaochang Uighurs. He also kept clashing with the Liao Kingdom over the issue of Xijiasi, and even held a grand ceremony to elect the Great Khan.
In addition, there was always something about Zhang Zhao that could not be wiped off the Hulu character, which made the Liao Kingdom not regard Zhang Zhao's Yongliang as a Central Plains country like Meng, Shu, Wu and Tang.
In the eyes of the Liao Kingdom, Yongliang was a semi-Huru regime that had little to do with the Central Plains.
Yelu Deguang's policy against Zhang Zhao was actually to devour the Central Plains, then compete with Zhang Zhao for the grassland, and finally achieve great success.
That's why he temporarily tolerated Zhang Zhao and subdued the Xijias people who had surrendered to the Khitan.
How can the bitter cold land of Beiting compare to the Central Plains? After the Liao Dynasty took over the Central Plains, wouldn't it be easy to use the whole world to conquer Hexi Longyou and secure Beiting and Shuofang?
And another more important factor is that since Yelu Deguang went south, no one knew how the Shanxi-Liao War would turn out.
Even after Yelu Deguang was defeated in Bai Tuanwei Village in Yangcheng, he himself was shaken to a certain extent.
At this time, whoever said he could know that the Jin army would be so strong and the Jin country would perish so quickly would be considered nonsense.
But not only did Zhang Zhao know about it, he also started preparations before the war between Jin and Liao started, and even before Shi Chonggui came to power.
He hoarded a large amount of grain, grass and supplies in Qinzhou, Yuanzhou and Xiazhou.
Without these supplies, Zhang Zhao's Yongliang army would not be able to leave Tongguan at all.
It can be said that Zhang Zhao relied on the foresight of the time traveler to clear the fog of time and space and make plans in advance.
This also led to the fact that after Zhang Zhao took control of Guanzhong, the Liao Kingdom was still not alert, and even had no news from Guanzhong, adopting a posture of numbness and forgetfulness.
Because Yelu Deguang, Liu Zhiyuan, and Meng Chang all expected that even if Zhang Zhao occupied Guanzhong, he would at least have to settle down and raise food and grass, and would not send troops until July or August.
But now, Zhang Zhao spreads the word to the world and really leads his army from Guanzhong. Yelu Deguang's response has suddenly caused a big problem, and it seems that he has made mistakes everywhere, which is really eye-catching.
He, the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty, was so irritating, let alone Mada.
Moreover, even among the Khitan people, this piece of shit like Mada can be considered as cruel, rivaling Yelu Deguang's younger brother Yelu Li Huyou.
After he arrived in Luoyang, he only did one thing, and that was to clear grass and grain.
Not only did he allow the generals to fight, he also went into battle himself. Anyone who knew that there was a beautiful woman or treasure in a house among the people, he would definitely come and seize it personally.
No matter whether they were officials or civilians in Luoyang, even Liu Jixun, the Zhengzhou defense envoy who lived in Luoyang, could not avoid it. His daughter-in-law and granddaughter were all snatched away by Mada.
In addition to plundering, Mada was also extremely cruel. He invented four punishments in Luoyang: covering the face, cutting off the eyes, cutting off the wrists, and burning, and killed the guilty people.
The so-called guilty refers to those who dared to resist when being robbed by Khitan soldiers. Even if Ma Da dislikes the other party, he is still considered guilty.
He often took out the severed limbs, livers and gallbladders of these people, embalmed them and decorated them on tents and even horses to frighten the people of Luoyang.
Regarding the Heyang Army stationed in Luoyang, Ma Da probably forgot how he was defeated by Huangfu Yu and Li Shouzhen on the Yellow River. He actually thought that the Han Army was useless and it was better to deprive them of food and clothing and give it to the Liao Army.
Under such high pressure, even if Zhang Zhao did not come, the Heyang Army in Luoyang City would still fight to the death.
Ma Da realized that Zhang Zhao's army was coming soon, and received an urgent letter from Yelu Deguang, asking him to guard Luoyang, and also sent Gao Song to assist.
So, Shuang turned over the Tianma answer and made an exception to summon the Heyang Army and the military academy to his residence to discuss the issue of defending Luoyang.
Ma Da's original intention was to think that although these Heyang troops were useless, they were still locals and wanted to see if there was any good way to defend the city.
But when this order was issued to the Heyang Army and the Military Academy, everyone felt the fear of impending disaster.
According to the information obtained by Zhao Hongyin, the Marquis of Yu of the West Gate, King Yong had led his army southward along the river. Ma Da was afraid that the Heyang army would defect to King Yong, so he wanted to kill all the Heyang troops to avoid future troubles.
The soldiers and generals who heard the news immediately believed it! This was because it was very consistent with the style of the Khitan people, especially Mada.
Immediately afterwards, a frightening news began to spread among the 50,000 to 60,000 people in Luoyang City.
The Khitan people did not have much food and grass, so Ma Da planned to kill all the people over thirty years old, leaving only those under thirty years old to be imprisoned.
Their meat is tender and plump, and can be used as pigs and sheep. When there is no military ration, they can be made into preserved meat.
Especially children under ten years old are the favorites of Khitan people.
At this time, all the people in Luoyang began to panic. They wanted to escape from the city, but found that there were Khitan cavalry outside the city.
It turned out that after Ma Da learned that Zhang Zhao might be arriving, he also started to make a show of sending people to explore everywhere. The people of Luoyang happened to think that he wanted to block them all in the city.
In this way, Zhao Yanjin didn't know whether it was a rumor or not. It only fermented for one day, and the soldiers of the Heyang Army couldn't stand it any longer. They contacted each other in private, and people were panicked.
The reason why he said he didn't know whether it was a rumor or not was because Zhao Yanjin discovered that after the rumor spread, Ma Da seemed to think that this was a good idea and there was a tendency to follow this.
Jiamaying, Zhaojia.
Carrying out a mutiny is a very measured job. For example, at present, if the rumors are allowed to continue and the soldiers of the Heyang Army do not take action, the Khitan people should also take action.
So Zhao Yanjin and Zhao Kuangyin quickly seized the opportunity and secretly contacted the military academies above Heyang's Chief of Arms, the powerful Chenghusherat in the city, and even the monks from major temples in Luoyang, including the White Horse Temple.
Why don't you come? The temples in Luoyang also "voluntarily" contributed 150,000 yuan to Yelu Deguang. Humph! How easy is it to get the Buddha's money?
In order not to attract the attention of the Khitan people, Li Jianchong and his son did not come at all, only Li Jianchong's eldest grandson followed.
The location was not chosen at Li Jianchong's residence of the military envoy, but at the Zhao family's mansion in Jiama Ying where the people were mixed and the Khitans could not get through.
When the Zhao family and Heyang Army military academies saw that Li Jianchong did not come, they immediately retreated.
Because although Li Jianchong's official position is not high, he has an advantage. This kind of boss is still very reliable. Although he can't get wealth for the tooth soldiers, he usually won't cheat them.
The prestige of Zhao Kuangyin's father, Zhao Hongyin, was still too low. Except for his close confidants, he could not suppress other Heyang military academies.
Just when they were about to exit with low noises, an old man with gray beard and hair came out, surrounded by two heroic generals.
The old man glared hard at the military academy that was causing the most trouble, "Shuzi, do you recognize me?"
The military academy turned around and took a look. After careful identification for a moment, he was still not sure. He walked in and observed carefully for a while, then suddenly fell to his knees on the ground and exclaimed.
"But the old benefactor is here? Aren't you always leading your comrades in the National Army to guard Shaanzhou? How did you get this place?"
The Heyang Army and the Fengguo Army originally belonged to the Forbidden Army of the Later Tang Dynasty, so some military schools in the Heyang Army knew Zhao Hui.
When they heard that Zhao Hui was here, all the military officers, whether they knew him or not, came to pay homage. Everyone seemed to have found a backbone, and they knelt down and cried in begging.
"Old benefactor, help me! Old benefactor, please help me!"
These military academies are not stupid. Zhao Hui, who was a good soldier and horseman of the Shaanzhou Protectorate Army, did not become a high-ranking official, but came to Luoyang City dressed as an old farmer. He was definitely not here to visit relatives.
At this time, Li Jianchong's eldest grandson also came out of the back hall. Although he was only a teenager and could not play any role, the meaning was obvious.
Li Jianchong knew that Zhao Hui was here, and was even an accomplice.
"Do you really want to live?" Zhao Hui asked coldly. At this time, we must set the stage to let them know that this opportunity is rare.
"The old benefactor was joking, if you can live, who wouldn't want to live?"
After Zhao Hui heard this, a smile appeared on his face, "Do you want to be rich?"
And what about wealth? When the military commanders heard this, they who had already stood up immediately knelt down again, kowtowed and shouted.
"Please show me the way, old benefactor!"
Zhao Hui then took out an ocher-yellow piece of cloth with writing on it from his arms. When the military academy saw it, they were filled with joy.
Because this kind of thing is only for the emperor, and no one would use it on weekdays!
"This is an order issued by King Yong Zhang. King Yong's general Murong Baipao has led three thousand elite cavalry to the Yang of Mang Mountain in order to destroy the Khitans and save the world.
Order me in Luoyang, regardless of the officers and soldiers, to quickly kill the Khitan soldiers and horses, and welcome the Yongtian soldiers into the city. After this is accomplished, Luoyang will be exempted from the land tax for three years, and those who have meritorious service in killing the thieves will be given gold and silver to serve as officials."
Heyang Military Academy, the leaders of the City Fox Club, and the monks from various temples cheered loudly when they heard this. They all buckled their heads and shouted in unison: "I am willing to kill the Khitan thieves and welcome King Yong to Luoyang."