To be precise, they arrived two months ago, and there were not many soldiers and horses, only fifty or sixty thousand people.
With this small amount of troops, the Yelv clan organized it very easily and did not need to mobilize the other five tribes. However, there were still many warriors from other tribes who followed them south and made a fortune together.
The turbulent infantry and cavalry frenzy swept across the entire outside the pass, and the remaining settlements of the Jin army were captured one by one. The soldiers and civilians were panicked, and either died in battle or were plundered. Only a few lucky ones were able to escape south.
For two months, the Jin army did not launch any retaliatory action. This made Yeluyi see the truth and they had no troops.
In Li Kuangwei's era, even if there was only border friction, the Youzhou cavalry would march northward to sweep away the Khitan and ridicule the tribes for revenge.
Li Kuangchou's time was slightly worse. It is said that because his brother was in Hedong, Datong lost a lot of soldiers and horses - of course, Li Kuangchou seemed to have lost even more miserably, losing the entire town of Youzhou.
The Li Keyong era seemed to be the time for Youzhou Town to regain its strength, but with the sudden change in the war situation in the Central Plains, they were in trouble again.
Do you really think that you are afraid of the garrison outside the pass? A military town, with as many as two thousand soldiers, as few as a few hundred, and hundreds of thousands of horses came over, but they were defeated no matter what. The only people to worry about were the reinforcements from Youzhou.
No matter what Li Cunzhang, who was in charge of the war in Youzhou, thought, the fact that he did not dare to send reinforcements and just evacuated the soldiers and civilians from the last few strongholds explained everything.
Yeluyi stood high on his horse, pointed at the towering Linyu Pass, and said with a smile: "One day, I will break through this pass and enter, going south to Youzhou and even Weizhou."
Brother Yelu Hua was behind him and said sourly: "Abaoji, can you defeat Xiaguan City?"
Before Yeluyi could speak, several of his confidants angrily rebuked him.
General Yelv Xieniechi scolded: "Brother Hua, how can we fight at Linyuguan? Yili Jin has his own plans, why are you making such noise?"
Brother Yelu Hua was furious and was about to scold him when someone spoke again.
"Okay, okay, Brother Hua, please say a few words." Yelu Yuwen came out to smooth things over and said, "Yili Jin has brought us a lot of benefits in the past two years. Such a big pasture, so many people and slaves, can't we all grab it?"
Are you back? You haven't made any merit, so don't say a few words, otherwise it will only make people look down upon you."
This seemed to be a way of smoothing things over, but in fact it was a side-effect. Brother Hua was even more annoyed when he heard it, but Xieniechi's nephew Lao Gu stared at him fiercely, which made him tremble and shut up.
Although Yelu Laogu is only a boy of sixteen or seventeen years old, he is very brave, devoted to Abaoji, and has a bad temper. Brother Hua is really afraid of him.
Yelu wants to be stable and is a member of the Tulubu tribe. He is cunning and cunning, and is not easy to deal with. Usually when he gives face, if you fight with him again, you will be punished later, without exception.
"Actually -" Liu Rengong suddenly spoke: "It is not necessarily necessary to attack Linyu Pass at this time. Why bother? The war in the Central Plains is fierce, and Youzhou's elite troops will be transferred to the west sooner or later. If Li Keyong suffers a big defeat, he will lose a lot of money in the first battle.
If there are more than 50,000 soldiers and horses, then the defenders at Linyu Pass will also be taken away. We can defeat them without a fight and go straight to Youzhou."
Gao Silun and Gao Si's stepbrothers looked at each other and sighed inaudibly.
Li Keyong killed his younger brother Gao Sixiang. Although they hated Li Keyong deeply, they still felt very uncomfortable when they heard that the Khitans wanted to attack Youzhou.
Just over ten years ago, when Li Keju was the governor, Youzhou was still in its heyday. At that time, under the orders of the imperial court, Li Guochang was defeated in Datong. Li Keyong and his son drove them to the desert.
During the Zhonghe period, Li Quanzhong led his army south to attack Yi Ding and took advantage of the situation to expand. However, he was defeated by the combined forces of Wang Chucun, Wang Rong and Li Ke. This was the first time Youzhou lost blood.
During the Guangqi period, Li Kuangwei was defeated miserably in Yunzhou and lost tens of thousands of troops. This was the second major blood loss in Youzhou.
During the Dashun period, Li Kuangchou was defeated in Xinzhou and Guizhou one after another, and Youzhou suffered a third major blood loss.
If it weren't for three consecutive Jiedu envoys who kept killing people, why would Youzhou be like this?
If the eighty or ninety thousand elite soldiers who died in Yizhou, Yunzhou, and Xinzhou were still there, how dare the Khitan people be so arrogant?
If Youzhou doesn't have a good foundation, just gather some local people and train for a few years to create an army that can fight. I am afraid that Linyu Pass will be gone by now. But the problem is that Youzhou is still slowly losing blood.
.If this continues, I am afraid that as Liu Rengong said, the Khitans will conquer Linyu Pass without a fight, this shameless thief!
Brothers Gao Xinggui and Gao Xingzhou followed their father silently, holding silver spears.
Gao Xinggui was a little older, already in his twenties, while Gao Xingzhou was still a fifteen-year-old boy. The two brothers had strong family backgrounds and were both outstanding among the more than 10,000 people who traveled north to Khitan.
"General Liu, there was news from the southwest a while ago. In the battle between Xia and Jin, Weizhou has been captured. Is Li Keyong at a disadvantage?" Yelu Yi asked kindly, not taking Brother Yelu Hua seriously at all.
inside.
"It is too early to say that the Jin people are at a disadvantage at this time." Liu Rengong thought for a while and said: "Yuzhou is in ruins, and it is impossible for the Xia people to station troops. After the frost in October, if Yunzhou is not defeated, they will
Wherever you came from, you will go back again. By then, the people of Jin can easily recover these places."
After the frost, grazing and supplies on the grassland will no longer be possible. What will the Xia people eat? Once supplies are cut off, they will have to withdraw their troops. No matter how much they eat now, they will all be vomited out by then.
On the other hand, the Jin people are close to Yun and Wei and can send troops to recover at any time.
You can tell from the behavior of the Xia people. They plundered people and obviously did not intend to stay for a long time. Their supply base is in Shengzhou, Shen, and Rouzhou. They cannot support the consumption of the army at all, so retreat is inevitable.
Yeluyi could obviously understand this truth, and after hearing this he praised: "General Liu really has real knowledge and insights. Yunzhou stands like a nail on the grassland. If it cannot be conquered, the Xia people will indeed be unable to do anything."
Liu Rengong also laughed when he heard this, and came up with another idea: "Now the Khitan ranch has reached Linyu Pass, and there is nothing to plunder here. King Xi's attack on the traitorous khans is really a heinous crime, so it is better to conquer them."
"The Xia people are really hateful. They actually reached out to Ruyuan. I wonder if there are any troops from Ruyuan in this attack on Yunzhou." Yeluyi asked.
"Perhaps troops have been sent out." Liu Rengong was not very sure: "Seeing that there is nothing to plunder in the territory of Youzhou, Yili Jin might as well prepare his troops and go to Ruyuan for a trip, maybe he will gain something."
Yeluyi hesitated.
The scene of the previous defeat in the field battle with the Jin people is still vivid in my mind. The Xia people can fight the Jin people back and forth, and even have the upper hand. Their combat effectiveness should be good. If they really fight, do they have a chance of winning?
That defeat was solely the responsibility of coach Yelu Yugu, otherwise his uncle Shi Lu would not have had a chance to make a comeback. It would not be a good thing if he had defeated the team and came back defeated.
But Liu Rengong just said something right. After cleaning up the garrisons behind the mountains in Youzhou Town, the Khitan faced a problem, where to expand?
There are three directions. The first is to attack Shiwei and Tatar in the north. But they are too poor, so everyone is not interested. The second is to attack Bohai State in the east. They are richer than Shiwei and Tatar, but they are also stronger.
The Khitans have fought many battles with them over the years. Generally speaking, it is not difficult to fight, and everyone is still somewhat interested.
The third is to attack in the southwest direction and collect the scattered small tribes there. The first to bear the brunt is the Ruyuan Tuoba clan who have just moved here two years ago after King Xi went to Zhuji.
Should we fight or not? Yeluyi was undecided.
The strength of Quzhu is very weak, and the number of people is sparse. There are not many people in the Tuoba tribe. They have been settled for more than a year, and they are probably not rich. They are just paupers. After all, wealth takes time to accumulate.
"No more fighting." Yeluyi shook his head and finally gave up.
"But -" he suddenly added: "Forget all the temptations and ridicules, the Xia people plundered two small tribes that were attached to me last year, and this account cannot be ignored. Xie Niechi, want to be stable!
"
"Yili Jin!" Yelu Xianniechi, Yelu wanted to stabilize both of them stepped forward.
"You two each lead five thousand warriors, one person and three horses, to Ruyuan and around Tanshan Mountain. If you have the opportunity, give the Xia people a blow. Their hands are also stretched too long, and they must learn a lesson.
.If there is no chance, lead your army back." Yeluyi said.
"Okay!" Yelv Xienechi laughed and said, "Yili Jin is waiting, I will definitely give you a surprise."
"Don't be careless!" Yeluyi said seriously: "Ruyuan, we still don't know what the situation is on the other side of Tanshan Mountain. It's best to be careful in everything."
"As ordered." Yelu Yu said calmly.
"We will return to the army, raid a group of Bohai people, and grab a handful of them." Yeluyi ordered.
"Grab! Grab! Grab!" Everyone looked excited and shouted one after another.
Yeluyi laughed loudly, reined in his horse, turned around, and headed north.
Liu Rengong felt slightly regretful. It was pointless to fight against the Bohai Sea. We were getting further and further away from the Central Plains, which made people feel melancholy.
"Second brother..." Gao Silun sighed and stopped talking.
Gao Siji was speechless.
There were more than 10,000 soldiers behind them, half of them belonged to Liu Rengong, half to the Gao family, and most of them were Tibetan and Han soldiers from Youzhou.
To be honest, Yelu Yi treated them very well, valued and trusted them very much, even to an outrageous level, so much so that some people within the Khitan were dissatisfied, thinking that Abaoji treated the people from the Central Plains too favorably and trusted them too much.
Humans are not grass and trees, who can be ruthless. Gao Siji is also very grateful for this and is willing to fight for Yelu Yi. But if there is a chance to return to Youzhou, he will go back without hesitation. It is a pity that Youzhou is still there today
Li Ke held it in his hand, not knowing that he would have to wait until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse, let alone whether he would have another chance in this life.
"Brother, I think..." Gao Siji secretly said to Gao Silun when no one was paying attention.
"Brother knows what the second brother wants." Gao Silun said in a low voice: "You always have better ideas than me. If you have any ideas, just go for it. If something happens, we will shoulder it together, and we will advance and retreat together."
"Okay!" After hearing what his brother said, Gao Siji no longer hesitated.
The situation was urgent and there was no room for any delay. He summoned his close relatives and whispered a few words in a low voice.