In late October, the Han and Liao sides were already in a virtual truce, and all fronts fell into silence before the arrival of deep winter. This war, which lasted for almost the entire eight years of Kaibao, also came to an end for the time being.
The Liao army suffered a complete military defeat, losing troops and territory, and the country fell into irreversible turmoil. It almost collapsed and was unable to fight anymore. For the Liao emperor, how to clean up the domestic mess and maintain the Khitan's dominance over the grassland
, is the most important thing, and if you are not careful, the once glorious Liao Empire will also fall apart.
As for the pain and shame of failure, we can only endure it silently. As Han Derang said, endure the humiliation and move forward with hope for the future. However, the future described by Han Derang is becoming more and more illusory.
The Han Dynasty is also somewhat exhausted from this protracted and wasteful mobilization war. Even if it has spare strength, it will be difficult to maintain the huge war consumption unless it ignores the actual contradictions and difficulties and continues to squeeze the domestic people and force the war.
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Fortunately, Emperor Liu listened to the advice and accepted the implicit or explicit advice from the prince, generals and ministers, and then decided to temporarily cover the front and call a truce.
A large-scale withdrawal of troops to return to the people has begun in full swing. One Shanyang and one Liaodong, especially Liaodong, had nearly 400,000 troops at their peak, which was more than the population gained by taking Liaodong.
Within more than twenty days after the onset of winter, under the arrangements of Prince Liu Yang and the civil and military officials of Zhao, Gao, Cao, Han, etc., more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians had been evacuated from Liaodong, along with a large amount of military equipment and equipment.
, To this end, Xingying Transshipment collected more than 400 large and small official and merchant ships for transportation.
Initially, Prince Liu Yang's suggestion was to leave 100,000 troops to garrison Liaodong. By mid-October, he would continue to reduce the number of troops stationed. 60,000 infantry and cavalry would be enough, and Emperor Liu agreed.
There is a huge difference between feeding 400,000 people and 100,000 troops, and the gap in feeding costs between 100,000 troops and 60,000 troops is also huge. Cutting off 40,000 troops will naturally reduce the heavy burden on the court.
As for Emperor Liu, after staying in Shanyang for more than ten days, he also decided to drive back to Youzhou. Before that, under the leadership of Li Wancao and Kang Yanze, the Shanyang Han army also gradually withdrew southward. To this day, it is still
There are only less than 30,000 Han troops staying north of the Great Wall. Among these 30,000 people, except for the 3,000 Su guards, they are all garrison soldiers prepared to stay in the northern border.
Of course, the truce is the overall overall situation, but in some areas, the military operations have not been completely ended and are still in progress. From west to east, they are divided into three locations.
The first is the battlefield of the Western Regions. As a supplement to the Han-Liao War, the Western Regions have also been undergoing changes for more than half a year. After Guo Jin led his army to march westward and occupied Yizhou and Gaochang, the Western Regions formed
A three-party struggle for hegemony began, and the stalemate has persisted to this day.
Thousands of remnants of the Liao army, led by Yelu Dilie and Yelusha, retreated to the Luntai and Beiting areas in the northern part of the Tianshan Mountains. They were trapped in a corner. Although they were like bones in a grave, they were still struggling to support themselves.
Guo Jin mainly used Hexi infantry and cavalry, supplemented by Uighur servants, and had the logistical support of Hexi Chief Envoy Lu Duoxun. He firmly controlled the Yigao area. He once wanted to go north to deal with the remnants of the Liao army, but he was restrained by the gangsters who were advancing eastward.
The Khan's army is difficult to mobilize.
Although the Black Khan's army marched eastward and finally captured ancient cities such as Yanqi and Qiuci, they probably shed too much blood in the battle with the Liao Kingdom for hegemony in the Western Regions, so they were much more cautious this time.
The three parties have their own shortcomings, so they have been in a stalemate to this day. There have been small-scale tentative battles, but a large-scale decisive battle has never broken out and they have been suppressed.
Of course, there is another spectator, the Khotan Kingdom in the southern part of the Western Region. They dare not participate in the war between the three parties. Although they are forced by the aggressiveness of the Black Khan Dynasty, as well as the good relations and historical closeness with the Han Dynasty in the past many years, they do not dare to participate in the war between the three parties.
Sexually, Khotan was emotionally inclined to the big man, but the big man didn't seem to be easy to mess with. Therefore, he stayed on the sidelines.
Of course, the current situation in the Western Regions is maintained only because it is not the focus of the Han Dynasty. All Guo Jin can rely on is the support of the broken half of the Western Regions and part of Hexi to maintain the situation.
It is conceivable that once the resources of the Han Dynasty are tilted to the west, the seemingly deadlocked and balanced situation will be easily broken. It just depends on when Emperor Liu will turn his attention to the Western Regions.
In addition to the low-intensity wars in the Western Regions, the army that attracted the most attention from Emperor Liu was of course the army that attacked Beijing from the north. The number of people who attacked was not large. Including the Xi cavalry, there were only 20,000 troops. He was responsible for commanding the army.
The general who attacked was Dong Zunyi.
However, if Emperor Liu really expected to conquer Shangjing, it would be an unexpected surprise, and it would be another heavy blow to the Liao Kingdom. As a result, the so-called Liao Dynasty might be completely unworthy of its name, and it would never be worthy of its name.
The imperial era returned to its original shape.
In addition, what is not worth mentioning is the invasion of the Kingdom of Koryo by the Donghai Navy. In more than a month, Guo Tingwei launched seven landing operations on the west coast of Koryo, and gained a lot, which made the officials and people of the cities along the Koryo coast
Can't bear to be disturbed.
However, as winter deepens, the naval operations will also come to an end and will be difficult to continue. Of course, Emperor Liu has approved Guo Tingwei's request to establish a naval base on Jeju Island. It is conceivable that Korea will be in a long-term situation in the future.
Under the shadow of the big man.
...
In the Yunzhong Mansion Hall, one Wen and one Wu were sitting. They were Hedong Chief Minister Shi Xizai and Jiuyuan Marquis Li Wancao. Both of them were chatting with joyful faces. Of course, they had inevitably interacted with each other in Hedong before.
Li Wanchao is a veteran minister, veteran general, and the founding marquis, with deep experience in the military. With Shanyang's contribution this time, his position will be more secure. Shi Xizai is a minister who walked out of the emperor's side, and was a feudal official in charge of Hedong Road.
With the tempering of serving in Hedong for the past two years, his whole temperament has also changed greatly. Compared with the original elegance and easy-going, he is vaguely more powerful.
Under the guidance of the chamberlain, General Tian Renlang, who had distinguished himself in the battles of Yanzi City and Shanyang, walked in with a respectful demeanor. For Tian Renlang, who had been working hard in the border army for many years, it was the first time that he was specially summoned to see the emperor.
Once.
This move obviously means something. Tian Renlang is both excited and looking forward to it, and at the same time a little uneasy. Unlike more than ten years ago, when he was in his twenties, thirties or even less than twenty years old, he could fight hard and use force.
, meritorious service and fame, as long as you make some achievements, you can be appointed as a senior general and be awarded honors and titles.
In today's military and political system of the Han Dynasty, it is getting harder and harder to climb up, and Tian Renlang is already in his forties. Without the opportunity of this Northern Expedition and the merits of establishment, he might just be a middle-level and lower-level member of the Han Dynasty who are as numerous as gravel.
A member of the general class has a limited future.
Fortunately, he grasped it and seized the opportunity in the last battle. Otherwise, like most of the Northern Expedition generals, he could only work hard, gain more qualifications, survive until the end of the war, and receive some rewards of money and food.
That’s all.
When Tian Renlang entered, the two people who were talking immediately turned their attention to him. Tian Renlang also hurriedly stepped forward to see Li Wanchao as a junior.
"General Tian, no courtesy!" Although he was not familiar with him, Li Wanchao still looked at him with admiration and responded with a warm face to one of the "Second Fields" of the three armies who was famous for Kaibao's Northern Expedition.
"This is Shi Shijun, the governor of Hedong!" Probably seeing that Tian Renlang didn't know Shi Xizai, Li Wanchao took the initiative to introduce him.
Upon hearing this, Tian Renlang hurriedly saluted again and said, "I have met the envoy!"
In the current Han Dynasty, any chief envoy has already demonstrated his status in the military and political system of the Han Dynasty. He can become the head of a department or even become the prime minister. This kind of future is far greater than that of generals like them.
many.
Of course, as a general, it is easier to gain titles through military merit and become a member of the military nobility, which is also difficult for civil servants to match. Over the years, people who have been awarded titles by civil servants are very rare, and many of them are promoted to the nobility because of their contribution to the founding of the country.
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"General Tian, there is no need to be polite!" Shi Xizai's response was also very modest. He stood up and said: "The general's voice has shocked the northern Xinjiang. I have heard about it in Jinyang. The big man has another general star!"
"You have given me too much praise!" Tian Renlang was a little surprised, but he still did not show arrogance and responded in a low-key manner: "The general is just a brave man, I don't dare to be."
"General, there is no need to be too modest! After this battle, Ertian's name has spread far and wide. The general is so humble, and the future is promising!" Shi Xizai said.
Of course Shi Xizai could see that the emperor had the intention to promote Tian Renlang, so he was not stingy with some kind words.