This time, Han Desui and Han Zhang almost dispatched the soldiers and horses in the south. They did not ignore the movements of the Jurchens in Liaodong, but as soon as they came, the Jurchens suffered huge losses in the first battle of Liaoyang Mansion, and more than half of the 200,000 Jurchen soldiers and horses were killed and wounded. At such a time, the Jurchens would not have the courage to send troops. Second, it was in the first month of the first month that Wanyan Agu sent someone to send a letter asking for peace, saying that he had no intention of making enemies with Han Zhang and Han Desui and saying that if possible, he was willing to negotiate with Han Zhang and Han Desui about the truce between the two sides, saying that he did not want to continue the war with such attrition, otherwise the northern clan would inevitably kill each other and exhaust it, so that the southerners would have a chance to take advantage of it.

After analyzing Han Desui and Han Zhang, they believed that even Wanyan Aguda may not be sincere in negotiating peace, but only because of the huge losses and the need to recuperate, so they adopted a strategy of delaying the army. However, as far as the current situation is concerned, it is also in line with the needs of our side at this time. It is better to pretend to promise Wanyan Agu to stabilize the Jurchens, and after he has pacified Yeluchun, he will turn around and sweep the Jurchens. It is precisely because they think so that they also decided to leave only 20,000 soldiers and horses to garrison Xingzhong Mansion and Dading Mansion with some tribal soldiers and horses. Once the Jurchens have an attempt, these 20,000 soldiers and horses can play a role in delaying the other party, and the army can immediately return to help.

The 160,000 army is basically dominated by pure cavalry, and the speed of the attack is extremely fast, and it is best to be able to fight quickly, defeat the main force of the tribe's soldiers and horses in Linhuang Mansion, and then you can also divide the troops and triumph, and return to Dading Mansion, then it is foolproof.

The army quickly marched north, and it took only two days to reach Songshan Prefecture, and after resting for half a day, it took only two days to cross the Cang'er River and reach Fengzhou, the southernmost state capital of Shangjing. There were not many defenders in Fengzhou, and when they saw the cavalry galloping like dark clouds all over the mountains, the generals defending the city didn't even have the idea of resisting, so they fled with 3,000 soldiers and horses.

Taking Fengzhou is actually not a victory, the geographical location of Fengzhou is actually irrelevant, and the real place to rush is Raozhou, eighty miles northwest of Fengzhou. Raozhou is the southern gate of Linhuang Province, and its location is where the only crossing of a large river called Huanghe River is located. This Huang River is not the other Huang, and this Huang River is also not related to the Yellow River. However, its origins are in the pine forests of the Northland. The flat pine forest in the Liao population is actually the land of the Great Xing'an Mountains in the West. The melting of the snow and ice here is a raging river.

The river changes from season to season, from the cold to the sloping slopes in the winter, but to the spring when the ice melts and the summer when the water is at its most violent, when the water from the melting ice and snow melts into it like a flash flood, making it gallop like a herd of horses, and the water changes from clear to yellow soup. That's why it's called the river. In autumn, the snow melts slowly, and the river calms down until winter freezes and falls silent. This is true every year, and each season has its own characteristics.

The Huang River stretches from east to west and originates from the flat forest

, all the way to the east, zigzag around the flow of thousands of miles, until it flows into the Liao River into the sea. The western source is the most ferocious water, and the downstream is more open and gentle. The reason why Linhuang Mansion is called Linhuang is because it is on the bank of this Huang River, and the Huang River is a natural barrier to the south of Linhuang Mansion.

If you want to say why the Khitans established Linhuang Mansion, its geographical location has also been carefully considered. To the west of the terrain of Linhuang Mansion is the dense forest, sea and snow fields of the Great Xing'an Mountains, which is impossible to pass through at all, and is a dangerous place. To the south, the raging Huang River serves as a barrier. At the beginning of the establishment of Linhuang Mansion, it was the enemy in the south to be guarded against, and if the enemy in the south wanted to attack in the north, the only way to cross the Huang River was to cross the Huang River. Because the Huang River and the Liao River together divide the northern land, there is no shortcut. If you want to cross the river by detouring the gentle ferries downstream, you have to detour for hundreds or even thousands of miles. The infantry is afraid that it will take months and half a year, and the cavalry is afraid that it will take more than a month. When fighting, every second counts, and a bypass attack is not allowed in terms of the timeliness of the battle or the difficulty of supply.

Therefore, if the enemy in the south wants to attack Linhuangfu, he must attack from one place, that is, Raozhou, which is located in the southwest of Linhuangfu and south of the Huanghe River. The location of Raozhou is the narrowest part of the upper reaches of the Huang River. Between the two cliffs, the gathering is less than 20 zhang. Below is the water of the rushing Huang River, the cliffs are opposite, and there are wooden trestle bridges to connect, and the rope bridges can be walked. This Raozhou is the only passage to Linhuang Mansion on the fertile grasslands of the wilderness on the north bank of the Huang River.

If you want to attack Linhuang, you must cross the Huang River, and if you want to cross the Huang River, you must take Raozhou.

The battle to storm Raozhou began on the second day of the fourth month. As expected, the tribal soldiers and horses invested a large number of troops in Raozhou, and both sides knew the importance of Raozhou, and this siege battle was destined to be tragic. In fact, both sides are not good at attacking and defending cities, one side is a cavalry that lacks siege equipment, and the other side is a tribal cavalry that only knows how to charge on horseback, and also lacks the equipment and ability to defend the city. In this situation, neither side seems to be able to play to their strengths, so the siege battle, although intense, seems a little lame, and both sides feel awkward.

In the end, after two days of fierce fighting, the southern soldiers and horses finally broke through the two city walls of the south and the east gate of Raozhou by virtue of their absolute superiority in numbers and equipment, and attacked Raozhou City. The southern Liao army achieved its strategic goal, and the capture of Raozhou City was the key to the north. However, in terms of the number of casualties, because the city was forcibly conquered by the advantage of numbers, the number of casualties was more than double that of the opponent. The opposing defenders suffered less than 8,000 casualties, and nearly 20,000 siege soldiers and horses.

But Han Desui and Han Zhang were already very satisfied, the other party obviously did not do their best to defend Raozhou, or their response seemed to be a little hasty, and they did not realize the importance of Raozhou at all. In fact, there were less than 30,000 soldiers and horses defending the city. It stands to reason that they should put a large number of soldiers and horses into the battle to defend the city of Raozhou, and they should not give up so easily. It looks like it

It was their own side that forcibly used hard power to break through Zhuozhou City, but it gave people the feeling that the other party seemed to have given up defending the city in the end. It always feels weird.

Han Desui and Han Zhang did not give each other a chance to breathe, and after the city of Zhuozhou was broken, Han Zhang personally led a cavalry to chase after the defeated Liao soldiers. The purpose of this is not to give the other party a chance to destroy the aerial trestle bridge on the Huang River. It was the only way to cross the river. If the other party wants to retreat, they must retreat north from the trestle and send a cavalry in close pursuit, so that they can flee in a hurry and have no time to destroy the bridge.

Han Zhang achieved his goal. The trestle was also saved. The other side did not seem to have any intention of destroying the trestle at all, and the defeated troops retreated from the bridge to the north, scattered in a hurry, and disappeared into the wilderness. And Han Zhang would not chase after him, but ordered the cavalry to clear the place north of the bridge and strictly guard the position of the bridgehead.

At this point, the strategic intent of the Southern Army has basically completed all the preparations in the early stage. The army paid 20,000 people to capture Zhuozhou and occupy the trestle bridge on the Huang River, and Linhuang Mansion was exposed naked in front of the army like a girl who had been stripped naked.

At this time, Han Desui and Han Zhang were not in a hurry. They stayed in Zhuozhou for several days, waiting for the supply of logistical grain and grass supplies. In order to enter the land near the Linhuang Mansion, the supply of materials must be fully guaranteed. And there is another important thing to do, that is, to send people to the snow-capped slopes of the pine forests to the west to cut down a large amount of timber and transport it across the Huang River. Because if you want to attack a big city like Huangfu, you must make all preparations. Even if the opponent has a lot fewer soldiers and horses than himself, it is never a good choice to forcibly attack the city. The attack on Raozhou is an example, such a small city, with 20,000 dead and wounded, shows the importance of siege equipment.

The Southern Army was not without the ability to make siege equipment, they had already obtained samples from Da Zhou, and the craftsmen had been ordered to study it carefully in the past few months, and they had mastered the method of making it. But because the trestle bridge of the Huanghe River cannot pass large equipment, and there is no need to make a fuss about attacking Zhuozhou, it is necessary to cut down wood and build siege equipment to attack the city, and these equipment cannot cross the river at all. Therefore, Han Desui and Han Zhang's decision was to lay down Zhuozhou and occupy the trestle bridge to the north, and then free up their hands to cut wood and transport it across the Huang River, set up a camp on the north bank, manufacture a large number of siege equipment, and then advance to the city of Linhuangfu after preparation.

Now it's actually time to not be in a hurry at all, it's people like Yeluchun and Mengsa who are anxious and afraid, even if they know what they are doing, they can only watch and watch, huddle in the Linhuang Mansion and tremble. Because they didn't dare to go out of the city to fight.

Although Han Desui and Han Zhang reminded each other not to take each other lightly every time they met, they both saw an uncontrollable smile in each other's eyes, both of them were leading generals, and they both understood that in this situation, victory was actually only a matter of time.