Chapter Ninety-sixty-fourth tossing and turning (5)
Su Jin led 90,000 cavalry and light cavalry to advance quickly, and two days later they arrived at the foot of the northernmost mountains of the grassland. Although the mountains here were not high, they were outstanding in that they were continuous and criss-crossed, like a screen stretching from east to west, blocking everyone in front of them.
This is already the northern part of the Liao Kingdom. In addition, it is almost November, and the cold current from the north has enveloped this land, and the weather has become extremely cold. Su Jin's army entered the Liao Dynasty to fight in midsummer. At that time, it was not comfortable to be shirtless.
It was hot, so naturally I didn’t bring any winter clothes. After arriving in Liao Kingdom, there were few plundered materials to keep out the cold. So at this moment, the soldiers were still wearing thin jackets under their armors, and they were riding on horses and running, the cold wind was clear.
marrow.
Su Jin knew that he could not delay any longer. He originally wanted to bypass this mountain and approach Beijing more secretly. Now this plan needs to be adjusted. With this mountain as a barrier, the cold wind in the north is better. If he takes the detour from the north of the mountain, he will be delayed.
When a heavy snow falls, everything will be over. Now we can only risk being discovered by the Liao people and head west along the south of the mountain.
The soldiers also came up with many strategies to keep out the cold. Some people recognized that there were many long grasses called "Ula grass" growing at the foot of the mountain. These grasses called Ula grass have excellent cold protection effect. After being cut and dried, they become soft and loose.
The warmth-keeping effect was very good, so the whole army used their rest time to go up the mountain to cut grass. After that, they dried the half-green and half-yellow grass by the campfire and stuffed it into their armor and shoes. It suddenly seemed like they were wearing a thin cotton jacket.
Much warmer.
Su Jin greatly appreciated these methods. The most important thing when you are in trouble is to complain, but to actively save yourself. Su Jin vigorously promoted this method of keeping out the cold, and promoted many soldiers who came up with solutions. But Su Jin knew in his heart.
, This is not a long-term solution. The most urgent task is to capture Shangjing before the first heavy snowfall in winter. Shangjing is the capital of the Liao Kingdom and has everything there. If you capture Shangjing, everything will be different.[
After marching along the south side of the mountain range for several days, there were many villages and towns along the way. Su Jin had to order all the people in these villages and towns to be brought with the army, because he was afraid that these people would tell the news. The Liao people often used falcons or beacons to send messages. Although the people
He may not have those means, but in order to avoid mistakes, Su Jin cannot take risks. If Yelu Zhongyuan separates his troops to rescue him, it will only take him four or five days to return from the grassland, and he leads his troops to walk in the rugged mountains.
When the genius arrived at Linhuang Mansion, he was targeted by Yelu Zhongyuan, and his plan was completely ruined.
In early November, the mountains ahead turned into plains again. Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. After setting up camp that night, he sent scouts out overnight to investigate the situation ahead. This place was completely unfamiliar and he had no idea which direction Shangjing was in.
At dawn, the scout reported that there was a city fifty miles away in the north, but it was not going to Beijing. He captured the people and asked, saying that the town was called Ningzhou. Su Jin quickly opened the map to look at it, and immediately stamped his feet and walked along the mountain range.
It is true that we were heading west, but the direction of the mountains was northwest. After seven or eight days, we traveled hundreds of miles north and ended up in Ningzhou. From Ningzhou, we went more than 200 miles south to reach Wuzhou and Yikun.
, to go to the south is to go to Beijing, this is called a slight difference, a thousand miles missed, these days there is no GPS positioning, and there is no road to follow, the large group of people rely on the mountains and the rising and setting of the sun to determine the direction, how can they not get out?
Wrong.
Pan Jiang and others suggested taking Ningzhou for rest first, and then marching south to Linhuang Mansion, which is more than 200 miles away. The urgent march can only take two days, so there is no need to rush.
Su Jin looked at the gray stratocumulus clouds rolling in the sky and knew that a heavy snowfall was coming. In just two or three days, the weather would turn extremely cold. If he took Ningzhou and delayed it again, he would be destroyed.
This heavy snow has trapped the isolated city. When will the snow melt and the roads can be dispatched? By then, Yelu Chongyuan may have already withdrawn his army back to Linhuang Mansion, and he will have no choice but to wait for death.
"We can't take Ningzhou, and even Wuzhou and Yikun can't move. It's going to snow. We have only one way to survive, which is to take Shangjing at all costs before the snow falls, otherwise everything will stop." Su Jin said.
Jingtai said: "The commander is right. If it snows, we will freeze to death and starve to death. We will also lose our mobility. The only way to survive is to capture Shangjing quickly. But we don't know what the situation of General Dynasty and others is like. Yelu Zhongyuan
More than ten days have passed since the 250,000-strong army chased him, and I am afraid the victory or defeat has already been decided."
Su Jin looked at the gray sky outside the tent and said slowly: "The disparity in military strength is too great, and there is little danger. Now we have to race against time. Not only must we run before the heavy snow, but we must also rush back to Linhuang Mansion before Yelu Zhongyuan."
Before."
Pan Jiang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "What if Yelu Zhongyuan has already returned to defense when we arrive at Linhuang Mansion?"
Su Jin looked up at the sky and said quietly: "We must not retreat, we can only attack by force, because we have gone too deep and for too long. Cold, hunger and siege will defeat us. No matter how brave you are, you will always be able to fight back."
When the weather comes, I hope none of this will happen."
All the generals were silent. What Su Jin said was the truth. If you don't like to hear it, you don't like it, but you can't deny that it is a fact. A question that has been floating in people's minds for a long time has become bigger and bigger, and it almost blurts out. The battle begins.
Over the past month, the army has caused such huge damage in the Liao territory, and the Liao people even called back the army from the southern battlefield to encircle and suppress them. But why don't our frontal troops of the Song Dynasty take the opportunity to counterattack? So far, there is no news of the Song army's counterattack and advance. This is incredible.
Don't teach people to doubt.
…
Yelu Zhongyuan's army besieging Xinzhou launched a fierce attack early the next morning after setting up camp. Nearly 80,000 Song troops and 50,000 Jurchens resisted desperately. The thin Xinzhou city defense had not been repaired for a long time, and there were loopholes everywhere.
Fortunately, Yelu Chongyuan's army did not have heavy siege weapons and could only rely on brute force to climb to the top of the city with hooks or simple ladders. This gave the defending troops too many opportunities.
This was probably the most brutal and bloody siege and defensive battle in history. For three consecutive days, the walls of the four cities were always covered with attacking Liao soldiers. The defenders on the city walls had finished shooting their arrows.
Stones were thrown at them, long poles and buckets were used, boiling water was poured down, and people were jumped while holding them. All methods were used in extreme ways.
The siegeers continued to use hooks and ropes to grab people off the city wall, and the archers below shot arrows at the top of the city day and night, not caring about the mix between the enemy and ourselves.
There was a thick layer of corpses piled up under the city. The corpses on the first day were trampled into flesh on the second day, and then covered up by the corpses that fell on the second day. The water in the moat beside Shinshu City has been dyed blood red.
"Color" has become a bloody streamer flowing beside a dilapidated city.
The losses during the siege were huge, but Yelu Chongyuan didn't care. When he learned that not all the Song troops in the city were there, he guessed the Song people's strategic intentions, but after several days of hard pursuit, the 80,000 Song troops were captured.
The army rushed into Xinzhou City, how could they escape, so he didn't even think about building any equipment, but simply and crudely used the human sea tactic to kill them quickly, and then it was not too late to go back to rescue Linhuang Mansion.
Things did not progress as expected. The city, which was thought to be broken in one day under a fierce attack, was still at a stalemate in three days, with more than 60,000 casualties. Although tens of thousands of the Song troops defending the city died, the city still remained.
Yelu Zhongyuan was very unhappy when he failed to capture it. He had no time to waste any more time.
In the early morning of the fourth day, Yelu Chongyuan mobilized all the 100,000 elite tribal soldiers who had been hiding in the snow for several days onto the battlefield. These were the elite troops he brought back from the front line. He originally planned to recharge his batteries to deal with the Song army attacking Linhuang Mansion.
Now it seems that I have to send him out in advance.[
The Song army and Jurchen soldiers defending the city clearly felt the difference. The Liao army's siege force was much stronger than in the previous days. It was not only better equipped but also more agile. In addition, more than 30,000 defenders died in the city.
There are only more than 90,000 soldiers left to fight, and they are extremely exhausted.
When the Liao army's offensive was at its peak, Wanyanhu's selfishness brought catastrophic losses. Half of the 50,000 troops he brought with him turned out to be surrendered troops from Longzhou. At the critical moment, the surrendered troops suddenly rebelled.
Shui, who was attacking the Song army and Jurchen soldiers around him at the top of the city, suddenly the situation was in chaos, and the west gate wall was declared to have been lost.
Wanyan Hu tried his best to lead a counterattack, but after regaining his strength, the Liao army surged onto the head of Xinzhou City like a "tide", and the momentum could not be stopped.
The Dynasty guarded the two city walls in the northeast, and news of the fall of the west wall came. The Dynasty knew that the situation was over, and he knew that he had to evacuate Xinzhou quickly; half an hour later, the Dynasty led 40,000 Song troops to break out from the north gate, relying on their bravery and fear of death.
They charged and killed, and finally led 20,000 Song troops to break out of the weakest north gate.
Although Yelu Chongyuan was angry, he knew that he had no time to chase people anymore, so he ordered all the Song troops and Jurchen soldiers in the city to be killed. At noon, the battle of Xinzhou came to an end. The Liao army paid a price of 90,000 people and forcibly defended the city.
Xinzhou's 80,000 Song army and 50,000 Wanyan Hu's army were defeated; the Song army broke through and escaped with 20,000 soldiers, but Wanyan Hu died fighting hard, the defenders died in 70,000 battles, and 30,000 soldiers were captured and later surrendered.
Yelu Chongyuan knew that he could not delay, so he only rested for the afternoon and night, and led the remaining 160,000 troops back to Linhuang Mansion early the next morning.