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The ensuing battle was lackluster. Although the Liao army, whose morale was extremely low, returned to the imperial city, it had lost the conditions to defend the imperial city. The imperial city was already in ruins and was a dead place with lack of food and clothing. Standing here could only be
Chronic death.
However, the long-awaited army of the emperor's brother Yelu Zhongyuan has not yet arrived. The surrounding areas of Linhuang Mansion have been completely controlled. Not even scouts can be sent out, and no news can be heard at all.
Yelu Hongji wisely chose to evacuate. The Song army did not have enough troops to besiege the imperial city, and Su Jin did not seem to want to divide his troops to siege the city at all. Although the Song army had twice the strength of the Liao army, they did not want to divide their troops, which would inflict losses on the Liao people.
Leave opportunities to attack weak links with more strikes and fewer strikes.
Yelu Hongji left behind 20,000 men to guard the still strong city defense, while he led 20,000 men to escape from Linhuang Mansion without stopping and headed straight to the north.
Su Jin did not order the pursuit. Yelu Hongji's 20,000 troops could no longer be used. Taking Linhuang Mansion was the top priority at present. The soldiers urgently needed to rest and recuperate. Although the soldiers' morale was high after more than half a year of continuous fighting, they were already exhausted.
Exhausted, Linhuang Mansion Imperial City's solid walls provided protection, so he could take a good rest; another reason was that Yelu Zhongyuan's army should have arrived soon, and it was taboo to pursue him at this time, and it was very likely that Yelu Zhongyuan would be killed.
Yuan was caught in the wild. Without the strong city of Linhuang Mansion as a barrier, he was no match for Yelu Chongyuan.
The battle to attack the imperial city lasted less than three hours. At the end of the afternoon, the imperial city was defeated. The 20,000 Liao troops who stayed behind raised their hands and surrendered after 6,000 were killed. All the princes ran away. Who would be willing to be cannon fodder?
Under such circumstances, in the face of a Song army that was several times larger than ours, surrender was the only way out.
Linhuang Mansion was defeated, and Su Jin's ultimate strategic goal for the past six months was finally achieved. Throughout the six months of continuous campaigns, Su Jin's Northern Expedition army traveled thousands of miles, captured sixteen Liao cities in a row, and annihilated the Liao army.
There were nearly 200,000 garrison troops from various places, and they were moving across the territory of the Liao Kingdom as if they were in an uninhabited land. They diverted too much energy of the Liao people from the frontal battlefield. The Liao people had to mobilize troops from the front line twice to return reinforcements.
The number of troops is as high as 150,000.
The frontal battlefield was originally a one-sided offensive and defensive situation, with 700,000 Liao troops against 400,000 Song defenders. Now, the frontal battlefield has more than 400,000 vs. more than 300,000 Song troops. The military strength has gradually been evened out.
Another most important significance of taking Linhuang Mansion is that it dealt a huge blow to the opponent's psychology and morale. The front line fought desperately to advance to the third line of defense, paying the price of hundreds of thousands of deaths, but the old nest in the rear was destroyed.
Being copied, this feeling can't be described as terrible. When the news spread to the front line, Yelu Zong was really afraid that a mouthful of old blood would spurt out three feet away.
Su Jin immediately ordered all the food and supplies in Seoul to be moved to the imperial city. Seoul could not be defended and had to be defended in the imperial city. Unfortunately, the buildings in the imperial city were severely damaged, and the people had to be forced to rebuild simple houses to live in; Song Dynasty
The army seized the time to rest and prepare for the incoming Yelu Zhongyuan's army. At the same time, the scouting horses were sent out in all directions to detect the enemy's position.
There is another thing that has been hanging on Su Jin's mind, and that is the whereabouts of the dynasty. Yelu Zhongyuan returned to help, indicating that the Song army and the Jurchen coalition had lost in the Battle of Xinzhou. Judging from the situation, Yelu Zhongyuan was eager to return.
The chance of coming to rescue Linhuang Mansion and chasing down and annihilating the coalition forces is slim. With the dynasty's ability, even if the entire army is annihilated, he will definitely be able to escape if he wants to. However, it has been such a long time since Linhuang Mansion returned, which is really reassuring.
No less.
Su Jin sent a hundred-man cavalry team to search for the possible direction of the dynasty. Once Xinzhou was defeated, the dynasty had only two ways to go. One was to go north towards Longzhou, and the other was to go south to the burned Hanzhou and Liaoyang.
The direction is not traceable; in addition, the news of the capture of Linhuang Mansion must be sent back to the front line as soon as possible to urge the front line to take advantage of the opportunity to launch a counterattack; Zhao Hu personally led the team and led 500 cavalry to carry Su Jin's autographed memorial
He and the letter left Linhuang Mansion overnight and ran to the south.
…
When Yelu Chongyuan led an army of 160,000 to a place more than 100 miles east of Linhuang Mansion, he had already learned the news of the capture of the north of Linhuang Mansion. An angry Yelu Chongyuan cursed Yelu Hongji for being a fool.
The army defended the Imperial City of Linhuang Prefecture, and even a fool could hold on for ten days and a half. Yelu Hongji actually lost the city in six days.
Along the way, Yelu Zhongyuan was already marching rapidly. After the victory over Xinzhou, he didn't even take any rest. He dragged the exhausted army back and rushed back. The weather was unfavorable, and it started to snow heavily on the way. Yelu
Chongyuan had to slow down, but he thought he would be able to catch up. He didn't believe that the Song army would capture Linhuang Mansion so quickly, because the Song army had no siege equipment or baggage at all, but the fact slapped him in the face.
.
As soon as the dawn dawned, Yelu Zhongyuan had already dressed up and left his tent. He stood on the high platform of the camp and looked towards the city. The scout captain beside him bowed to report the latest news.
"Your Highness, the Song Army captured Seoul four days ago, and then used Seoul as a camp to launch an attack on the Imperial City. They captured the Imperial City late yesterday, and the eldest prince led 20,000 people to retreat north to Ningzhou. There are also
I don’t know whether to talk about something or not.”
"Huh?" Yelu Zhongyuan felt that the scout captain's expression was a little strange: "Why don't you tell me quickly? Why are you hesitating?"
"Yes, that villain said. My team heard a shocking news. I don't know whether it is true or not. During the siege yesterday, the Song army captured Queen Renyi, the second prince and two princesses. Song
People may have wanted to use them as hostages to force the prince to surrender, but the result...the result..."
"What's the result? If you hesitate any more, I'll cut out your tongue and make you unable to speak for the rest of your life." Yelu Zhongyuan faintly felt that something was wrong and shouted in a low voice.
"As a result...the eldest prince lied in front of the battle that he wanted to see the queen and asked the queen for instructions. Unexpectedly...the eldest prince drew a knife during the meeting and killed the queen and the second prince...all the two little princesses.
"
"What?" Yelu Zhongyuan opened his eyes wide and looked at the captain in disbelief.
The scout captain trembled with fright. The emperor's brother's reaction was completely inconsistent with his imagination. He originally thought that Yelu Zhongyuan would be furious, but now his eyes seemed to be filled with excitement and a hint of joy.
The scout captain thought he was blinded.
Yelu Zhongyuan returned to his normal reaction and cursed angrily: "This little beast is so cruel and ruthless that he even dares to kill the queen. He must be using the safety of Linhuang Mansion to refuse the threats from the Song Dynasty."
"Yes, it is said that this is the case. The eldest prince said that Linhuang Mansion is more important than anything else. He is willing to bear the name of matricide in order to keep Linhuang Mansion and the country."
Yelu Zhongyuan sneered and said: "What's the result? Isn't Linhuang Mansion lost? Okay, okay, my nephew can be considered a number one, are there any others? Are there any other movements of the Song Army?"
The scout captain hurriedly said: "Apart from being heavily guarded, the Song army has not made any unusual movements."
Yelu Chongyuan nodded and said: "Continue to explore and report again, go down." The scout captain bowed and retreated. Yelu Chongyuan fell into deep thought. Wang Han, a close follower from Bohan who was following him, stepped forward and said with cupped hands: "Congratulations, Your Highness, congratulations to Your Highness.
"
Yelu Chongyuan said: "The current situation is so corrupt, how can we be happy about it?"
Wang Han looked around and saw that there was no one around, and said softly: "Your Highness, there is no need to worry about losing the throne. Although the Emperor has appointed His Highness as the crown prince, anyone with a discerning eye can see that he simply wants to pass the throne to the eldest prince. Now the eldest prince is doing the opposite.
, not only killed the queen, but also lost the emperor, and the emperor's flesh and bones were also killed by him himself. As a result, he has no qualifications to succeed, so who else can succeed the throne? Congratulations in advance, villain."
Yelu Zhongyuan's brows moved and his breathing became heavy, but he regained his composure instantly and pretended to scold: "What's the point of talking about the throne at this time? The top priority is to regain the capital with the same enemy. Although the throne is important, it is nothing compared to the national crisis.
?”
Wang Han said hurriedly: "His Highness has a broad mind, and I admire him very much. I believe that at this moment, we need to immediately recruit the eldest prince's troops to turn back and join the army. Doesn't he have 20,000 troops? To attack the imperial city, the more troops the better."
"
Yelu Chongyuan looked at Wang Han and said, "Calling him back? Can't my 160,000-strong army attack the imperial city?"
Wang Han smiled and said: "Of course we can attack, but the eldest prince has lost Linhuang, so of course he has to fight this battle."
Yelu Zhongyuan's expression changed, and he looked at Wang Han's smiling face and remained speechless.