Abaoji has been wandering outside Xianyou Palace for nearly ten days.
He arrived in Yanbei in mid-June and took the lead in attacking the Sanquan inspection envoy Wang Hebu. There were two reasons for this.
Needless to say, the first one is that the ranch of the Tibetan Talent Party Xiang Wang is the closest. Who can I hit if I don’t hit you? The second reason is that the city in the Sanquan area only started to be built last year because of the lack of materials and craftsmen and the lack of manpower.
A large number of them were deployed to fight, so the city wall has not yet been completed.
Wang He also knew that it was very difficult to hold on, so he only left 3,000 men to guard the city, and led more than 10,000 men to wander on the grasslands, constantly harassing the Khitans and preventing them from attacking the city with all their strength.
More than 10,000 soldiers and horses were obviously not enough to fight against the Khitan. Therefore, Wang He was repeatedly defeated in the field battles and had to retreat westward. After resisting for more than ten days, the soldiers who stayed behind finally broke out, and Sanquan fell.
After capturing this place, Abaoji ordered the demolition of most of the city walls that had been built and burned the city on fire. Then he joined the partial army led by Xiao Dilu and surrounded the Xianyou Palace.
Xianyou Palace is not a serious city, but it is surrounded by a complete city wall. Tuoba Jin led the remaining Dingzhuang to resist desperately and attacked for ten days, but Abaoji was unable to succeed.
"It would be great if Liu Kutou was here." Watching the clumsy siege sergeant retreat, Abaoji sighed repeatedly.
Liu Rengong once talked about many methods of siege, such as ant infestation, burrowing, flooding, etc. He also mentioned many unheard of siege equipment, such as ladder trucks, smoke trucks, trench-filling trucks, parapets, and spore trucks.
wait.
When Abaoji first heard about it, he was fascinated and wanted to build it immediately to create a professional siege team. However, the Khitan infantry was too small. Except for a small number of children of the eight Khitan tribes, most of them came from captured ethnic groups.
There are only a few thousand prisoners so far. Moreover, their combat effectiveness is not as strong as that of Gao Siji and Liu Rengong who surrendered, which makes people very helpless.
In the process of trying to form an infantry, Abaoji also discovered that for this unit to truly develop combat effectiveness, long-term training, battles, and appropriate equipment rationing are essential. Slaves usually have to farm, and obviously they cannot meet this requirement.
conditions, so it eventually gave up, and only a few thousand people remain today.
In addition, Abaoji led his troops to attack the Bohai Kingdom many times, and found that during the campaign, the Bohai people often collapsed thousands of miles after failing in the field battles. They were not even willing to defend the city, and their fighting will was very problematic. This further shaken him to expand
The determination of the infantry scale was such that things were delayed.
Today's siege of Xianyou Palace has revealed its consequences. When the enemy's will to fight is very resolute and the city defense equipment is complete, there is nothing you can do against their city.
Not only were they unable to attack, the defenders in the city often came out to attack at night. The two sides fought several times. Although they did not suffer any major losses, they were harassed enough that their morale was affected to a certain extent.
"Yi Li Jin, since we can't defeat him, it's better to retreat far away. See if the enemy will come out of the city to pursue. If they are willing to come out, there may be a chance to break the city." Yelu Haili had no choice but to give this answer.
Suggestions.
Abaoji nodded slowly.
He knew that Haili's suggestion was a bit out of tune. But everyone didn't know much about how to attack the city, and they were all in the exploratory stage. Haili was always smart, but if he didn't understand, he didn't understand. He could adapt to changes, so giving this suggestion was already very good.
.
"There's one more thing." Haili said again.
Abaoji guessed what Haili was going to say and waited silently.
"Yili Jin, there seems to be something wrong with the situation in southern Liaoning." Yelu Haili frowned and said, "I sent people to Yue to report that the Xia people arrived in Jian'an at the end of June and arrived in Anshi City a few days ago. There were so many people along the way.
There are many tribes, plundering and plundering people, and more than 10,000 cavalry are at your fingertips, why can't you get a few thousand infantry?"
"Didn't you also see the military report?" Abaoji said: "The Xia people used a chariot formation. When the cavalry harassed them, they fired their bows and crossbows in succession, but they couldn't get close. After beating our army's morale to a great loss, they resumed their attack.
The troops attack."
Yelu Haili thought for a while and said: "Actually, this move is not invincible. Yu Yue recruited strong men from various tribes and surrounded them together. Maybe there is a chance of victory."
Abaoji nodded.
In fact, even if uncle Shilu did not personally lead the troops south,
The more than 10,000 herdsmen in southern Liaoning alone would not have no chance. But their fighting will was too poor. If they suffered any casualties, their morale would be dampened. If the Xia people sent out their best cavalry to launch a charge, they could often defeat them.
They ran after them. Once the people were driven away, the power of cleaning the battlefield fell into the hands of the Xia people. They could cut grass and feed the horses at leisure, dispose of injured horses, replenish food, and the Khitan horses that could be used were also collected.
Even part of the arrows fired can be recovered.
The battle was won! Abaoji sighed, let's see if Shi Lu can improve after he goes to suppress the battle.
"Let's pretend to retreat first and see how the Xia people respond." Abaoji ordered: "Otherwise, send an envoy to Jinyang and urge them again."
****
Li Siben led his troops to Guizhou.
He was the envoy of the Shengsheng Army and had less than 4,000 cavalry under his command, stationed in Shunzhou. This time he received an order from Jinyang to assemble westward at Guizhou and listen to Li Cunxiao's control.
When Li Siben entered Guizhou Yamen, Li Cunxiao was drinking. Seeing Li Siben coming, he laughed and said, "Xinu is here too! Stop standing here and come over to drink."
Li Siben opened his mouth, then smiled, sat down, picked up the wine bowl and drank.
There was nothing on the table, so the two of them drank and chatted.
"There is such a big fight in the north, why don't you go and join in the fun?" Li Siben put down the wine bowl, wiped the corners of his mouth with his sleeve, and asked.
"So what if you go, what if you don't go?" Li Cunxiao glanced at Li Siben and asked.
Li Siben was startled. These words were worth chewing. He sounded a little resentful.
Li Cunxiao was impatient and couldn't hold back his words. Seeing that Li Siben didn't answer, he became slightly angry and said, "Even if I lead the Qingyi army to the north and defeat the Xia people, what will happen? Can I leave this ghost place like Xinyi Gui?"
Li Siben stood up and poured wine for the two of them, but still said nothing.
He could tell that Li Cunxiao was very dissatisfied with his current situation. This didn't happen overnight. It must have been brewing for a long time, and it just came out today due to the influence of alcohol.
Sure enough, Li Cunxiao over there raised his head and drank it all, and then said: "In the past, my adoptive father gave me the new Yi Gui Sanzhou, and I was very happy. However, after fighting with the Xia people for so many years, the land of the Sanzhou became more and more broken.
, more and more people fled to the south, and the tribes behind the mountains were wiped out by the Xia people, and the remaining ones were in panic all day long. Although I tried my best to maintain, I repeatedly defeated the Xia soldiers, but there was a huge disparity in strength. To this day, I have become more and more cramped and embarrassed.
If we fight for another two years, there will be nothing left of Xinyi Gui. What’s the point of me being a team trainer?”
Li Siben sighed and poured another bowl of wine for each of them.
He originally had a great future, but the King of Jin was about to focus on cultivating him. In the battle of Xilu County, he lost everything. If it hadn't been for many years of love, he would not be able to do what he is doing now.
Li Cunxiao, originally had outstanding military exploits and was one of the first Mesozoic generals to win territory. However, he was not good at managing politics, and the position of the three states of Xinyi was not very good. The more he fought, the poorer and weaker he became. To this day, he has been continuously
How could he feel happy when people like Li Siyuan were trying to get on top of him?
This is just two frustrated people drinking.
"That's all, let's not talk about this anymore." Li Cunxiao sighed: "Your Highness wants to gather a large number of cavalry troops to march north. What do you think of this battle?"
Li Siben raised his neck and drank a bowl of wine and said, "I'm not optimistic about it."
"Why?" Li Cunxiao asked in surprise.
The nine cavalry troops of Qingqi, Yunqi, Flying Cavalry, Sudden Cavalry, Rushing Formation, Rampage, Zhuosheng, Tielin, and Yi'er were all sent out. With more than 20,000 cavalry, couldn't they have a battle with the Xia thieves?
If it is not enough, you can also recruit the three Shatuo tribes, the nine surnames of Zhaowu, the Uighurs, the Tartars, and the Tuyuhun tribes who have moved inland to Xin, Dai, Wei and other prefectures. The Xia people cannot fully defend you, so why can't they attack you?
"I am not optimistic about the strength of the Khitan people." Li Siben said: "When we were in Tanzhou, some Khitan people came in to plunder. I led the captured army to attack them, killing three hundred of them, and the rest dispersed. They are all bullies and afraid of force.
You guys look decent, but when it comes to fighting, they are always very slippery and unwilling to fight you to the death. I can’t stand an army that doesn’t dare to fight to the death.”
Li Cunxiao didn't expect that there was such a story. He thought about it and found that it was indeed the case.
Khitan is a tribal alliance, not a country.
One point is crucial.
The country has laws and regulations, whether it is marching and fighting, the distribution of spoils, or even the daily production and life of soldiers, there are regulations. If you meet a tough and prestigious khan, the laws will be very strict, and your combat effectiveness will naturally increase.
Why were Tubo so ferocious during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong? Because they combined farming and animal husbandry with strict discipline. Anyone who refused to patrol would be beheaded! Those who were defeated and fled would be beheaded! Those who failed to deliver food and grass and military supplies to the front line in time would be beheaded! They themselves were junior generals and hundreds of households.
Thousands of corpses, ten thousand households, and a strict structure with long wings were organized. In the Han region, they were governed by the Han region's Jiedu envoys and the administrative system of prefectures, counties, and townships. In the Tibetan region, they were governed by the Ru-Dongdai system.
He also recruited people from the Tang Dynasty as officials and generals, and was very flexible.
Why were the Tibetans so vulnerable during Xuanzong's reign? Because they were torn apart, rituals and music were ruined, various institutions and systems had collapsed, and laws no longer existed, so naturally they could not be fought.
The tightness of Tubo's organization during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, the advanced degree of integration of farming and animal husbandry, the scale of smelting armor and soldiers, the strictness of military discipline, and the sheer size of Tubo were all unprecedented among the barbarian Tibetan states since ancient times. If it had not been for the great Tang Dynasty
It's prosperous, but if it doesn't work well, the mainland of China will sink.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, Tubo had already degenerated into the common Tubo tribe, which had some Tubo heritage and was just a little stronger.
So what about the Khitan at this time?
Li Cunxiao poured another bowl of wine, pondered for a while, and then said: "I guess the king is also evaluating Abaoji's strength. If he cannot effectively control the eight Khitan tribes and enforce orders and prohibitions, he probably will not take chestnuts from the fire for him. Abaoji
This may seem like they have the upper hand, but they just have more troops. If it goes without success for a long time, their internal contradictions will slowly emerge, and then a lot of nonsense will happen, and they may be defeated."
Li Siben nodded and toasted another bowl of wine.
Li Cunxiao didn't refuse anyone who came, drank it all in one gulp, and suddenly asked: "Have you met Shao Shude, how is this man?"
Li Siben looked dazed for a moment, then said after a while: "Not bad."