HLnovel Chapter 284: Ten Thousand Horses Gathered in a Flat Formation
Chapter 284: Ten Thousand Horses Gathered in a Flat Formation
During the period when Xiao Yi received the news of retreating to the north and Yelu Liang led his men to rescue, the Western Army of the Song Dynasty, which had defeated Datong Prefecture, under the leadership of Guo Kui, "rushed forward" and rushed straight to Pingxingguan without any disguise.
In Daizhou, as Xiao Yi's Western Army abandoned Daizhou and turned to the northeast to break out, in just a dozen days, all the lost cities, counties and military camps were recaptured by the Hedong Army.
In order to put more pressure on the Liao army and force them to have no time to think about the situation in the northeast of Daizhou, Di Liang and Di Zi of the Sun-supporting Tianwu Army also launched the "chicken chase" operation.
They followed Xiao Yi and others all the way. As long as the Liao army dared to stay and station, Di Zi would lead the cavalry to charge at the enemy's formation.
At night, the Liao army rested in full armor and did not dare to relax at all.
Under such high-intensity pressure, Xiao Yi, Shi Mochago and others were so nervous that they dared not relax for a moment, so they missed the correct analysis of the situation in the Pingxingguan area.
There was only one thing in their minds, which was to break through Pingxingzhai, pass through Pingxingguan, jump out of the current Daizhou quagmire and return home. Little did they know that there was an even more difficult and bloody dead end ahead.
At the end of February, after "disturbing" all the major cities and counties in Xijing Road that were short of troops, the Western Army of the Song Dynasty slowly crossed the Hunyuan River and entered the area around Hunyuan City.
Perhaps the intentions of the Western Army of the Song Dynasty were too obvious, and the Liao Army immediately guessed their direction of advance.
Therefore, Xiao Boyu, who was far away in Nanjing Road (Liao), took over the command and asked the garrisons in Guangling, Weizhou and Jincheng, Yingzhou to ambush the Western Army on the left and right wings of Hunyuan City at the same time.
However, the Western Army, which had been reformed and trained by Han Mingjun, was no match for the second-line city defense forces and a small number of elite troops of the (Liao) Xijing Road.
Guo Kui completely learned Han's artistic way of commanding battles. With a casual sentence, "Yao Si advances eastward, Zhe Ji Shi advances westward," he easily defeated the Liao army's ambushes on both the east and west routes.
Looking at the Liao army retreating in panic, leaving behind a mess of weapons and equipment, Guo Kui sighed for a long time and uttered the famous saying: "It's really like the situation has changed over time!"
The military doctor standing by said with some malicious intent, "If the Marquis were to say 'Don't bully the poor young man'!"
Indeed, Han's age is rare in the entire history of the Song Dynasty, as he became famous at a young age.
Now at the age of 26, he holds several positions and is in charge of the Secretariat and the Privy Council, becoming one of the youngest prime ministers.
"It won't take many years. I'm almost thirty now."
Because Guo Kui was deeply trusted and respected by Han, he often made fun of the Marquis of Anyang with many people from Han's party.
"Hahaha, Guo Shuai has finally learned how to joke."
Guo Kui in the military camp is usually not so out of tune. Today he was also lamenting the great changes in the military strength of Song and Liao, which was a cause for regret, so he said a few more words.
"With Marquis Han at the helm, many things are indeed much easier. Every time we fought the Liao army in the past, we lost both our dignity and our reputation."
"Now, with a wave of my hand, the situation has been turned upside down. I can't even imagine it!"
Guo Kui seemed to be full of emotion, but in fact he was secretly flattering Han.
Now the entire Song Dynasty army knows that if one wants to do well in the military system, live comfortably, succeed, and live with dignity, showing goodwill to Han is the first step.
If you have the ability to join the Han family, then you are awesome. If that is not possible, being recruited into the Han party is also a good result.
And in the end, if you can attach yourself to a core figure of the Korean Party, you will have a stable backer.
Now everyone knows that the changes in the social recognition and treatment of the military were all brought about by a certain Han.
Compared to the scholars who occasionally "eat with the bowl in hand and curse when the bowl is put down", the soldiers of the Song Dynasty are very down-to-earth. If you let me live with dignity and have food and drink, then there will be no problem in fighting and supporting you.
However, in order to make himself appear "harmless", Han basically stopped personally participating in the activities of any army after the Song-Xia War.
Especially the central imperial guards of Tokyo Prefecture, Han completely left it to the old men such as Duke Yingguo and General Zheng who were closer to the royal family to deal with.
His position as Deputy Privy Councilor simply allowed him to participate in military decision-making and the formulation of marching strategies and tactics.
Even so, the rush to join the Han Clan and the Han Party is also a means of promotion and self-protection for many people in the current military.
Inside and out, Han became the army's umbrella and a big boss-level figure, which was actually a bit stressful for him at the age of 26.
"Then we must not let the Marquis down in the upcoming battle at Pingxingguan."
Zhongzhen is a staunch Han supporter. After all, they have many years of friendship and benefits. He unconditionally supports whatever Han Ming wants to do.
"This is inevitable. We've finally managed to turn the situation to our extreme advantage. If we still can't win, Guo's reputation will be thrown away."
Guo Kui laughed heartily, his tone full of confidence and unspeakable ambition.
He had to be ambitious, or rather, anyone with some military talent in the entire Song army was quite ambitious.
As the court's military reform progressed, the army's combat effectiveness increased day by day, and the gap with the enemy countries continued to widen.
"Now is the time to make great achievements!" This is not just a casual remark. Now is indeed the best time for soldiers since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Guo Kui's ideas and ambitions were simple. He wanted to try to see if he could have his name printed in history books - that is, to become an epic general on par with Wei Huo.
As it turned out, this idea was not easy to realize, because the first enemy Guo Kui had to face was the Liao army at Pingxingguan.
. . . . . .
It is the beginning of March, and spring has arrived, but the cold and chilly air of late spring continues to rage in the north, adding a bit of chilliness.
In the Liaodong Army in front of Baigou Station, Yelu Hongji's injuries became increasingly serious. In such a tense situation, Xiao Boyu could only hold up half of the Liao army.
After contacting Xijin Prefecture, Xiao Boyu sent someone to send Yelu Hongji back to Xijin Prefecture to recuperate.
This also marked the end of the Song-Liao War. Now, apart from ensuring the safe evacuation of the Western Route Army, the Liao Kingdom had no other extra ideas.
A few days after Yelu Hongji left, a certain Han from Baigouyi Village also received the news. Upon seeing the "injury" information sent by Cheng Lan, he couldn't help but frown.
"What? Do you think the other party is playing tricks on you?"
Gu Tingye is now handsome. He doesn't need to worry about the war, as General Yang Wenguang will handle it; and the military analysis will be handled by a certain Han.
In addition, the war has come to an end, which makes Gu Tingye, who is a little bit in love, a little impatient to go home.
Thinking of his fair and tender little wife, Mr. Gu became a little distracted.
"It's hard to say... At this point, the other side probably has run out of cards to play. If we hold the East Road hostage and don't let go, there's nothing they can do."
Han Ming's words were incoherent, but Gu Tingye understood his concerns.
"Are you afraid that Yelu Hongji will feign injury and return north, but actually march westward to lead his troops in a surprise attack on Pingxingguan?"
Han Ming nodded hesitantly when he heard Gu Tingye's words, then shook his head slightly.
"Yelü Hongji's injury can't possibly heal that quickly. I have some idea of it, but I can't say how serious the injury is!"
"Although our spies reported that he vomited blood twice and fell into a coma recently, we are worried that he will take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble. We are unable to prevent it."
Han Ming was not as relaxed as he had imagined. Facing Yelu Hongji's cards, he also responded with all his strength.
Otherwise there would be no inconsistency. On the one hand, it said that the Western Army was not allowed to go north, but on the other hand, the Western Army directly attacked the territory of Liao and began to wreak havoc.
Han Ming had the idea of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west when the battle situation was unfavorable.
However, he did not expect that Yelu Hongji and Xiao Boyu on the Liao army side were both slow and incompetent, so that Han's back-up plan became a brilliant move.
"No need to overthink it. I won't move unless the enemy does. The eastern route is an iron wall; not even a fly can get in."
"As for the western route, with General Guo in command, as well as Lord Wu and the brothers Di Liang and Di Zi, we should be able to retain at least half of the Liao army's elite troops."
"As long as you can weaken the Liao army a little, your plan of 'fishing in troubled waters' will be halfway successful."
Gu Tingye's words made Han Ming nod slightly, and he felt relieved.
"That's right. The Song Dynasty is full of talented people. I can't really be like Zhuge Liang and do everything myself!"
Han Ming shook his sleeves, picked up the hot tea and began to sip it slowly.
As time went on, on March 10, the Western Army of the Song Dynasty officially entered Pingxingguan, followed by troops from six military camps in the northeast of Daizhou.
For a moment, the entire Pingxingguan was crowded with people, and nearly 70,000 Song soldiers gathered there. A quick glance showed that the mountains and plains were covered with people, as if there were thousands of troops.
Everyone came to this battle that would go down in history with great anticipation, and they all had the intention of making achievements and gaining military merit.
Inside the Baigouyi stronghold, Han Ming, with a solemn expression, wrote down his comments on the "Battle of Pingxingguan" which was recorded by later generations.
"Thousands of troops gather in Pingxing, and the battle begins, and the Song Dynasty rises!!!"