On the first day of the lunar month, heavy rain and snow, Zhao Kuangyi saw the heavy snow, and once summoned his ministers to the Yuhua Palace, saying: "Since spring and summer, I have not tasted alcohol, and now I have Jiaxue, which is very comforting, and I am drunk with Qing. ”

Song Jiu blamed himself and forced Zhao Kuangyi to suffer.

Isn't it a mistake to make a bigger mistake?

But in this era when there are no pesticides, no fertilizers and lack of irrigation machines, a heavy snowfall means that many pests are frozen to death, the snow melts, and the water resources will be relatively abundant in the coming year, especially this year, which has been traumatized by war, and the harvest next year is a joyful thing for the whole country.

However, heavy snow means that the weather is colder, and this is the case in Kaifeng, and it is the Hebei front?

The defeat at Qigou Pass made Song Jiu soberly realize that he had improved his armor, reformed the military system, gradually replaced the urban soldiers with simple rural soldiers, and then purchased rural soldiers, and some other weapons, and even the production of steel surged, so that the weapons were sufficient, which could only be said to have obvious effects in reducing the cost of raising troops, but on the battlefield, fighting with an evenly matched enemy, although these had advantages, but the advantages were not enough to subvert the tide of the war. If you want to defeat the enemy, you still need the command ability of the main general. Therefore, there are often many classic examples in history of winning more with less and defeating the strong with the weak.

However, Xiao Yanyan fought with Yelu Hugo Gentleman's Pavilion, and it took so much trouble to show that even if the Song army was defeated, the advantage of the Liao army was not obvious.

And this battle is the end of a legend and the beginning of another legend.

Song Jiugao looked at Brother Yelu Xiu, although he was powerful, he could never be compared with Han Xin, and he was not as good as another big man who made the Han army suffer countless hardships, Tubo's Qinling.

Gaoliang River, Qigou Pass, Junziguan, the three battles brought Yelu Hugo to the top. It also made Jeruxiugo begin to be complacent.

When Li Jixuan arrived from Mancheng, Yelu Hugo had already won a great victory in Wangdu.

But this is not the main intention of the Liao State, the intention of the Liao State is Yingzhou. If you draw a route map for the march, you can see how cunning the Liao State is in using troops this time.

The troops on the side are full of cities, and after the defeat, they look forward to the capital. However, the main force is to reach the Hutuo River in Tangxingzhai, and then advance to Wangdu in the southwest, where the troops are divided into the Tanghe Bridge and the northern area of Qizhou. Then suddenly turn around and go east and kill Yingzhou!

Liu Ting asked to move the rescue troops, and Yang Chongjin came to help from Gaoyang Pass. He Lingtu came to help from Xiongzhou, as well as Li Jilong...... Then there is Zhao Tingpu of Beizhou.

The Zhao Tingpu who also ran away in Qigou Pass, but luckily did not pursue it afterwards!

It's Brother Yelu Xiu again, Zhao Tingpu shamefully coaxed.

Then one thing was done, and the Liao army came and went like electricity. I don't know where I am. Liu Tingrang took the Yingzhou Song army out of Lu and marched in the direction of Junziguan. Yingzhou and Mozhou are empty. Let's keep watch. The Hebei border at that time was different from the Hebei border later. There are many lakes and low-lying terrain. Therefore, Zhao Tingpu took advantage of the fact that Yingmo and Mo were 100 miles apart, and their terrain was full of water, retreated to Yingmo, blocking the water and consolidating itself.

Liu Tingrang, Li Jingyuan, and Yang Chongjin began to bump into Yelu Huge's tens of thousands of iron horsemen.

The Battle of Gentleman's Pavilion begins.

The veteran Liu Tingrang is not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, but he has not been in the army for a long time. Even in the military, with him, he is not an opponent of Jeruxiugo. The two armies met in the Junzi Pavilion and had not yet fought. Some of the treacherous terrain was preemptively occupied by Jeruxiugo.

That is, it is obviously in the Song Realm, and the advantage of geographical advantage was in turn snatched by Yelu Xiuge.

At this time, there was not much difference in the strength of the two armies, to be precise, the Liao army had the advantage, one was the ability of the commander Yelu Huge, and the other was that the Liao army was mostly cavalry. If Li Jilong arrives at this time, then there may be an advantage in terms of troops, and Li Jilong's military ability will also make up for Liu Tingrang's shortcomings.

However, Li Jilong hurried to Cangzhou, and he was not familiar with Cangzhou, so he hurriedly gathered troops from Cangzhou, and he had to cross Bazhou, Mozhou, and so far. By the time Li Jilong finally led the 10,000 infantry from Cangzhou to the battlefield, Liu Tingrang was already in a very disadvantageous position.

In fact, Li Jilong's situation was even worse, Cangzhou has not been the main battlefield of the Song and Liao rivalries, and later Song Jiu initiated the township soldier system, and the garrisons of various forts were gradually replaced by township soldiers. And Li Jilong didn't dare to bring out all the troops in Cangzhou together, so the 10,000 infantry was almost a miscellaneous army, with township soldiers, forbidden soldiers, and even a small number of brave men who took the initiative to participate in the battle.

Little Li Jilong, Yelu Hugh in his eyes.

He only sent an ambush to snipe, but the result was very disappointing to him.

Li Jilong quickly routed this ambush army.

The two armies almost met.

Liu Tingrang was overjoyed and sent warriors to inform the army of the queen of the palace to join Li Jilong.

It was only then that Jeruhugo began to face up to the unkempt-looking reinforcements. What if Zhao Tingpu came to the front with a large army? It may not be invincible, and it may not be impossible to knock Jeruxiu off the altar of God in advance!

But there was no if.

After all, although Li Jilong can fight, his subordinates' combat effectiveness is too weak.

So under the arrangement of Yelu Xiuge, the Song army was once again divided into three, Liu Ting asked Yang to re-enter the first department, and Yelu Xiuge continued to lead the main force to kill. Li Jilong's department, and even Li Jilong's subordinate Cangzhou deputy deployed Wang Gao, but they were also forcibly cut out of Li Jilong's army by Yelu Xiuge and became a lone army. Wang Gao's subordinates had the least troops, and the first to choose the few to fight, Yelu Hugo mobilized the army and horses, and launched a crazy attack on Wang Gao, and soon Wang Gao's subordinates were gradually annihilated, and Wang Gao painfully fought out of the encirclement alone and escaped from Lu.

But on the main battlefield, the two armies are still fighting, and it is difficult to separate, and Yelu Hugo actually did not take advantage of it.

At this time, Xiao Yanyan led the main force of the Liao army to kill.

How many soldiers and horses Xiao Yanyan brought, the scouts have not inquired, and the Liao State wants to be powerful, so the numbers have been kept secret. But at this time, Li Jilong's men were 10,000 soldiers and horses, and Liu Tingrang was 20,000 soldiers and horses, a total of 30,000 soldiers and horses, but until now, under the successive sacrifices, there are only 20,000 soldiers and horses. Xiao Yanyan is the empress dowager of Liao, she came in person, and the army may not have 100,000, but at least 60,000 or 70,000, which is more than several times that of the Song army. Moreover, at this time, the Song army was exhausted and frozen, which was conducive to the Liao army's battle, not the Song army's battle.

So Li Jilong's subordinate Sangzan took the lead in escaping.

Wang Gao's troops were destroyed, Sangzan fled again, and Li Jilong had no choice but to retreat to Leshou with the rest of his subordinates. In order to find out what is Le Shou, Yingzhou Mozhou already has Zhao Tingpu's army, so Le Shou has become a vacancy. This is to prevent the Liao army from moving south after the defeat of Junziguan.

In the previous battlefield, Liu Tingrang was in front, Li Jilong was behind, Li Jilong retreated, and Yelu Xiuge did not pursue, but turned the rear army around and surrounded Liu Tingrang at once.

At this time, Yelu Hugo suddenly changed his style, he knew that He Ling was greedy for merit, and he had no plan. So he sent a spy to him: "I am guilty of Khitan." I wish to return to the court, but I have no way to surrender, hoping to make the king take it in. ”

He Lingtu actually believed it.

It is also possible that at this time, the Song army was surrounded by countless Liao troops, and the situation was extremely bad. Then the miracle will happen. This is He Lingtu's desire for a life, so he gambled. So he left Yelu Hugh ten taels privately. Jeruxiugo replied. I would like to see him. He Lingtu led dozens of horsemen to meet each other, and the Liao soldiers who were ambushed rushed up and captured alive. Brother Yelu scolded according to the bed: "You like to longitude and side affairs, and today you finally came to die." ”

Let the left and right push him out and slash him.

Then Jerexiugo ordered a general attack.

The weather was really cold on this day, so cold that the Song army couldn't even hold up their bows and arrows. The bow and crossbow could not be saved, how the Song army, which was dominated by infantry, was the opponent of the Liao army. Yang Chongjin was captured and killed. Li Jingyuan died in battle, nearly 20,000 Song troops all died heroically, and Liu Tingrang broke through with only a few Song soldiers. However, under the counterattack of the Song army, the Liao army also suffered heavy casualties. The uncle of the country, Brother Lie, and the palace envoy Xiao Dali were all killed by the Song army in this battle. The Liao State is also very happy, how many Liao soldiers died in this battle, because the Liao State has not counted, it is not known, but the uncle was killed by the Song army, and the sacrifice is heavy.

Liu Ting annihilated the whole army, and the opportunity of the Liao State came.

First of all, let's talk about the strength of troops, unlike the Liao State where everyone is a soldier, the real soldiers of the Song Dynasty only refer to the forbidden soldiers, and also, the box soldiers, but when can the box soldiers be expected to fight on the battlefield?

At this time, the Song Dynasty had only 300,000 forbidden troops, some of them were garrisoned in Hedong, some were garrisoned in the northwest, and there were also Bashu, Hunan, Liangguang, and those who were resting in rotation near Gyeonggi, although there were many troops stationed on the border of Hebei, but they were less than 100,000, including the township soldiers, it was only more than 100,000.

This is the original, after the defeat of the Qigou Pass army, many forbidden soldiers and border township soldiers were not replenished in time, and the troops were even less. That is, the entire Hebei garrison is less than 100,000. Liu Ting made 20,000 soldiers sacrificed, and a huge black hole came out.

But at this time, the Liao State was still very sane. Zhao Tingpu's troops are in Yingmo, Li Jilong is in Leshou, and the east direction will definitely not work. Okay, if it is stormed, the siege is not the director of the Liao army, if the sacrifice is heavy, and the various departments of the Song army gather again in time, then there are variables. Tian Chongjin's troops were in Dingzhou, and the losses were not large, which was also undesirable. So he concentrated his forces to go south to Qizhou, and the Song army heard that the front line was defeated, and Liu Zhixin saw that his troops were small and were defeated by the Liao army, so he had to rely on the villagers to assist in defending the city. In fact, except for the lonely city of Qizhou, Qizhou has fallen. Then went south to Xingzhou, and the officers and soldiers of Xingzhou surrendered. Then went south to Shenzhou, and the officers and soldiers of Shenzhou wanted to resist, but because of the small number of troops, they did not hold the city, so they punished the generals below and plundered the troops, that is, they were doing what Cao Han did in Jiangzhou. and even once attacked the troops to Texas.

Another unit was sent to capture the Zhongdu Bridge and block the Jingcheng Pass, intending to block the Song army from Hedong to come to the aid and eat the fields to re-enter this lone army. Suo Xiang offered a plan, and the three armies formed a phalanx to march eastward, claiming to join up with most of the Song army left by Yang Chongjin in Gaoyang Pass, and the Liao army would inevitably snipe at Pingyu City (the only way from Dingzhou to Gaoyang Pass) in the south of Gaoyang Pass. Then, taking advantage of its unpreparedness, the second watch led his troops to the south suddenly, breaking the fence left behind by the Liao State. As soon as the rear army is broken, the Liao army will inevitably retreat north in a hurry. However, the Liao army that was detected by the Liao people and went down from Jingcheng Pass to the Tang River all fled. This plan did not succeed, but it also made Liao realize that this Song army was not easy to mess with, and it was only a temptation, so he did not touch him again.

In this attack, only Ma Zhijie, the supervisor of Bozhou, heard that Liu Ting was defeated, and was worried that the Liao people would take advantage of the victory to invade the south, so he urgently requisitioned the people to build the fortress, treat the equipment, collect Ding Zhuang, and collect grain, which once made the officials and the people hate it for a living. Fifteen days later, the Liao State arrived, and seeing that it was prepared, it had to retreat. So everyone was impressed.

You can't completely blame the cruelty of the Liao State, the Fengzhou Wang family and the Fuzhou Zhejia are in Fengzhou, the Song Dynasty is in Yanyun, and Wu Xuanming is in Liaodong, and they have all done similar things. It can only be said that the Liao State has done it more cruelly and decisively. It may also be the revenge of Xiao Yanyan, who gambled fiercely, against the Song Dynasty.

……

Song Jiu looked at the twists and turns in various places.

If you don't understand anything, everyone has their own opinions, and it is difficult to see the truth.

The ministers of the political hall were talking about it.

Most of the ministers demanded that Li Jilong be severely punished, and if Li Jilong did not escape, it would fail, and Hebei would be so erosive.

However, there are also ministers who are struggling to find a way to save them. Song Jiu entered the political hall, when the Liao army was raging in the Hebei states. We have to find a way to retreat the Liao army.

Song Jiu put down the twists and turns and fell into deep thought. After a while, he instructed the official: "Bring a pen and paper." ”

The little official smiled and brought a pen, ink, paper, and inkstone. It seems that Song Jiu is going back to Xifu again, and compared with others, these officials still welcome Song Jiu, who does not put on a show, to return to Xifu to preside over Xifu.

Song Jiu carefully drew the marching routes of the generals of the two countries, and then recounted the process one by one.

This is very clear, Tian Chongjin's performance is good, but it is not as great as Tian Xi said, although he has been winning from beginning to end. was led by Brother Yelu Hugh and Xiao Yanyan.

Li Jixuan is brave, but not handsome, but an excellent general.

Yang Chongjin sacrificed, Song Jiu didn't want to say more, but he was also making mistakes. Take a look at the black-faced male Yin Jilun, what he did after he arrived in Xiongzhou. All the bunkers are assembled. Prepare to rescue Song Jiu. However, Yang Chongjin realized that the Liao State might want to eat Liu Tingrang's main force, but he put most of his troops in Gaoyang Pass, so that when Yelu Xiuge pounced, even if Li Jilong helped, the troops never had an advantage. Now Gaoyang Pass seems to be unlost, but what about Shenzhou. What about Xingzhou, what about Dezhou, and Qizhou? Compared to the few people on the front, how many people are in the rear?

Liu Tingrang is not a coward. But if you haven't been on the battlefield for a long time, your talent is limited, and you are not the opponent of the other party.

In fact, to go deeper, it is extremely unscientific to use the war of the Northern Song Dynasty to recover the Central Plains, compared with the Song-Liao War, such as Pan Mei took Lingnan with only a miscellaneous army, but can you use this miscellaneous army to defeat the Liao State?

There are also people who laugh at Gao Lingtu, but in that case, doesn't Gao Lingtu want to be alive?

Zhao Tingpu Ming in order to defend Mo Ying, in fact, he showed the most cowardice among the several armies, Song Jiu sighed: "Recall the pension, or use General Zhao to deal with the southern barbarians, and then let him garrison the north, it will only harm more front-line soldiers." ”

That's the way it is.

Zhao Kuangyi was silent.

Song Jiu said again: "Then there is General Cui Han, who sent Sun Quanzhao to support Tian Chongjin to attack Qigou Pass from the beginning, and then although he had some troops in his hands, he disappeared. General Cui is light on wealth and righteousness, but he fights on the front line, not accumulates virtue. Qin used Meng Mingshi to finally defeat the Jin State, according to the views of the ministers, it is better to use General Cui Han than General Cui Yanjin. Give him a repentant institution, maybe General Cui will surprise the imperial court. ”

and Liu Zhixin.

There was merit in this battle, but the resourcefulness was insufficient, and he was led away by the Liao State. But in Song Jiu's thoughts, it is better to use Cui Han and Zhao Tingpu and the like, than to use Liu Zhixin.

Song Jiucai commented on Li Jilong and said: "Everyone, the Liao State is ravaging the people of Hebei, why doesn't the imperial court send troops?" ”

"The Liao country is powerful, has a lot of military strength, and is going south to win the victory, and the weather is cold, who can defeat them?" Zhang Hong said.

"Your Majesty, the minister said before that although the Xifu is not as important as the Dongfu, the selection of people is more harsh. Zhang Gong is quiet and quiet, but he is not good at the military, how can he be chosen in Xifu? Zhang Gong, let me ask you, now that the Liao State has divided its troops and copied the Kou, the imperial court is in a dilemma. When he was in the Junzi Pavilion, all the armies were assembled, and Li Jilong only had 10,000 miscellaneous infantry in his hands, just like that, if there was no Xiao Yanyan army, he would still fight with Yelu Xiuge, the first brave general of the Liao State. However, Xiao Yanyan's army arrived, the strength was several times that of the Song army, the weather was cold, our army's bows and arrows could not be opened, Wang Gao's whole army was destroyed, Sang Xian led his subordinates to escape, how is Li Jilong their opponent? For example, when I was trapped in the Juma River in Qigou Pass, Yang Ye divided his troops to Jintaitun, and I led the army to forcibly retreat. ”

Then Song Jiu said again: "Since the use of soldiers, Yelu Xiuge has killed our army, and almost no one is his opponent, Li Jilong actually led a miscellaneous army, and he fought on a par with him, which can be said to be the first person." In this way, Yang Ye also recuperated from his wounds in the capital, gave 30,000 soldiers and horses to his ministers, and sent an envoy to Zhao Le Shou, asking Li Jilong to help me expel the Liao army from Lu as soon as possible. ”

"Huh?" Everyone was dumbfounded, and after a long time, Li Jilong was defeated, but he became the most capable general of the Song Dynasty in Song Jiu's heart.

Song Jiu sneered again: "Ladies and gentlemen, you used to say that peace is precious, but I don't know what you think when you see today's situation?" ”

Li Fang immediately drooped his head.

Suddenly, the eunuch outside shouted: "Report, Hedong Army report." ”

It was only five words, including Song Jiu, and the head bombarded together. (To be continued......)