Just six days after besieging Lingqiu, the rain finally stopped. Just when Tian Chongjin was about to lead the army to attack the city, the Lingqiu defender actually surrendered the city.

After taking Lingqiu without blood, Tian Chongjin was even more complacent.

Although the armies of the Great Song Dynasty are still in high spirits, the plans of the Liao people are slowly unfolding.

……

"Captain Cao, wouldn't our rapid march be too long to stretch the supply line of grain and grass?" Because the advance speed of the Eastern Route Army was too fast, Cao Bin's generals had already begun to worry about whether there would be problems with the grain and grass.

"Don't worry, didn't you see that the Liaodi Hanmin along the way are secretly helping us. In addition, this Khitan iron horse seems to be nothing more than this now. We won't have any problems with our fast march. The officials are still waiting for us to bring back more good news of victory. ”

Cao Bin did not have any worries about the questions raised by his subordinates, and continued to command the army to advance towards the army.

……

"This Cao Bin is inevitably too unaware of our Da Liao Iron Horse. If you look at this supply line, it's full of holes. At this time, it was Xiao Dalan, the first member of the Liao general's subordinate Yelu Huge, who spoke.

"Isn't this just right, it seems that our lure the enemy deep into the extreme has fully taken effect. It's time to give the Song Dynasty a little color to see. Yelu Hugo did not pay any attention to the defeat of the Liao State in the recent period, but was very happy that the Song army was marching according to the script described by his side.

"The last general asked for orders to cut off the supply line of Cao Bin's department." Hearing that Yelu Hugo finally wanted to start fighting back, Xiao Dalan's heart felt excited.

"Well, as you wish." Seeing that Xiao Dalan took the initiative to invite Brother Yelu Hugh to fight, he was also very happy. "Xiao Dalan obeyed the order and ordered you to drop 5,000 cavalry to cut off the supply line of Cao Bin's department at night, and if you fail, come to see you."

"The last general will obey the order, and he will live up to the trust of Yue." After finishing speaking, Xiao Dalan turned around and walked out of the big tent to gather the people of the headquarters.

"It's time to tell you that it's time to tighten the reins of the horse."

That night, Xiao Dalan led 5,000 cavalry to take advantage of the darkness to set out, and along the way, using starlight as a guide to go around the supply line behind the Song army.

Just before dawn, Xiao Dalan ordered a raid on the camp where the Song army's grain transport troops were stationed and set fire to the grain.

Dawn was the time when people slept heaviest at night, and the entire camp of the Song army's grain transport troops was not even aware of the impending attack.

Cao Min, the grain officer of the Song Army, who was still asleep, was suddenly awakened from his sleep by the shouts of killing outside the tent. Just when his mind had not yet settled down, he saw a fire outside the tent.

Realizing that something had happened, he rushed out of the tent to see that all the grain trucks were on fire. There are also countless Khitan cavalry wreaking havoc.

The soldiers of the Song army were all disheveled and unarmed, driven and slaughtered by the Khitan cavalry.

Seeing this scene in front of him, Cao Min was already so frightened that his soul was not possessed, and at this moment, a Khitan cavalryman found him, and then directly rushed over and pierced his throat with a spear. Cao Min died instantly.

……

On the night of the same day, thousands of miles away in the Liang Palace of the Song Capital.

Since the country was in a state of war, Zhao Guangyi did not go to bed very early. He ordered all his troops to expedite the march route back to the palace every day, and to be the first to reach him, no matter how late it was.

At this time, Cao Bin's marching route had just been presented to Zhao Guangyi.

Zhao Guangyi was shocked when he saw the map: "What does Cao Bin want to do?" He marched in this way, and the supply line was completely exposed to the attack range of the Khitan cavalry. Does he want to ruin the entire Northern Expedition? ”

Zhao Guangyi's worries were justified, because by this time Cao Bin's troops were already in danger of running out of food.

……

Early the next morning, Cao Bin, who had just woken up, received a message, which made his still little sleepiness dissipate.

"Captain Cao, the grain transport army in our rear has been attacked by the Khitan. The grain and grass were completely destroyed by the Khitans. ”

Hearing this news, all the generals in the entire Cao Bin tent were stunned.

"How long is the food and grass in the army enough to support it?" Cui Yanjin, who was the first to wake up from the shock, asked the most important question of the moment.

The officer who was in charge of the grain and grass in the army next to him was obviously still in a huge blow, and it took him a long time to react, and then he stammered and replied: "The most, the most, the most...... Many, ten, ten, ten...... Sky. ”

At this time, Cao Bin came back to his senses and said, "Ten days? What can you do in 10 days? Who has the ability to capture Nanjing in ten days? ”

Hearing Cao Bin's questioning tone, all the generals were silent.

At this time, Cao Bin also regretted it to the extreme, regretting that he did not listen to the words of the original generals and defend the grain road.

Just when Cao Bin was still regretting it, another scout ran in from outside the tent and reported: "Tai Lieutenant, the big thing is not good, the Liao army has come to attack, and the vanguard is less than ten miles away from us." ”

Knowing that regretting it now would be useless, Cao Bin decided not to think about the problem of the grain road for the time being, and it was the right thing to resist the attack of this wave of Liao State at the moment.

So Cao Bin hurriedly ordered the whole army to fight and lined up to meet the Khitan troops.

After all, Cao Bin is a famous general in a hundred battles, although he made a fatal mistake, but he handled the battle in front of him very properly.

First of all, he ordered to conceal the news of the cut off of the grain route from the soldiers, so that the ordinary soldiers could devote themselves to the battle situation in front of them.

After that, he quickly organized an effective defensive line and quickly blocked the offensive pace of the Khitan vanguard.

Later, Yelu Hugo, who led the army to arrive, saw that Cao Bin quickly organized an effective defense, and he couldn't help but have some respect for this opponent.

"This Cao Bin is worthy of being a famous general in a hundred battles, and it seems that he has concealed the fact that the grain road was cut off from ordinary soldiers. At this moment, the morale of the Song army has not decreased, and it seems that it has not been affected by the danger of food shortage. ”

"How's that good? With the current defense of the Song army, it is not too easy for us to defeat the Song army directly. The general on the side asked Jeruxiugo.

Indeed, the feeling of the Khitan vanguard at this time was that they bit on a hard bone and almost broke their teeth.

But the Song soldiers here are also uncomfortable, their feeling is that today's Khitan people seem to be different from what they encountered before, so fierce?

Just when the two sides were at a stalemate, Jeruxiugo decisively withdrew his troops.

"Yu Yue, why is this? Although the Song army is still strong, we are not without a chance. Seeing that Yelu Hugo ordered the collection of troops, the Khitan generals on the side were a little anxious.

"Of course, we can defeat the Song army today, but our losses will not be small. I expect that Cao Bin will not be able to hide the news of this food shortage for a few days, once the Song army runs out of food, they will definitely retreat, and then we can defeat the Song army at a very small cost in pursuit. ”

Sure enough, as Yelu Hugo expected, within three days, rumors of the cutting off of the grain route began to spread within the Song army.

The soldiers of the Song army were not stupid, and the Liao army came to disturb them every day, which already made them feel very strange. The previous Liao army had always held out in the city.

In addition, it has been a long time since the last time the grain transport unit came to resupply, and the new grain transport unit has not been seen.

Cao Bin's headache is not only this, but also the Liaodi Han people who have been secretly helping their own army are all gone.

Supplies in the rear were cut off, and local support was lost. Cao Bin now seems to have no choice but to withdraw his troops, because there is really not much surplus food.

Cao Bin, who was determined to retreat, still had the only concern in his heart at this time, what if the Khitan came to chase him.

Cao Bin, who was hesitant, decided to gather all the main generals of the army to discuss it.

"Now that everyone knows our situation, it is estimated that the robbery of this grain road can no longer be hidden. Instead of waiting until the grain and grass run out and being directly served by the Khitans, it is better for us to take the initiative to withdraw our troops. ”

None of the generals at the bottom disagreed, because everyone knew that this battle could not be fought again.

"Since everyone has no opinion, let's retreat. But in order to prevent the Liao State from pursuing, I need a general to lead the troops after the break, who wants to go? ”

When the generals heard this, they all fell silent, because this is basically a matter of life and death.

Just when everyone was silent, a voice came from a corner: "If you don't give up, the last general is willing to lead his troops to break off." ”

"Dare to ask the general's name?"

"In the lower state of Huyanzan."

This general who was willing to lead the army after the break was the later famous Hu Yanzan, but although he had some military exploits, he was not too famous in the Song army.

"Okay, since the general is willing to break the queen, then the general will give this matter to the general."

"It will definitely live up to the trust and cover the safe retreat of the army."

In this way, Cao Bin's army led by Hu Yanzan with 5,000 people to cover and began to retreat to Xiongzhou.

The expected Khitan pursuit did not come, and Cao Bin led the army to retreat to Xiongzhou very calmly.

……

It's not that Jeruxiugo doesn't want to pursue, it's that something has happened on another battlefield.

After capturing the new city, Mi Xin continued to advance north without making any repairs.

On the other hand, Tian Chongjin's troops marched much faster than Yelu Hugo had imagined.

Just as Cao Bin was retreating, and then Yelu Hugo was about to pursue, he got the news that Ulzhou had missed.

It turned out that Tian Chongjin sent people to secretly contact Li Cunzhang and Xu Yanqin, the Han people who were the left and right guards in Ulzhou City, and these two people immediately assassinated Xiao Moli of Ulzhou Jiedu, imprisoned Geng Shaozhong, the prison envoy, and surrendered the city.

The sudden loss of Ulzhou and Mishin's rapid march did catch him by surprise, so he had to abandon his plan to pursue Cao Bin and send troops to increase the number of troops on this side of the battlefield.

……

Cao Bin's army retreated to Xiongzhou without any pursuit, although it was reprimanded by Taizong, but there was no substantive punishment.

Cao Bin's army gradually left behind the big losses they had suffered, and the good news came from several other battlefields one after another, and the sergeants under Cao Bin gradually began to sit still again.

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