In the face of Yuguan (Shanhaiguan), which had changed the banner of the city, the chief general of the Khitan reinforcement vanguard secretly regretted in his heart that the speed of his previous march was no longer faster, and at the same time arranged for his subordinates to set up camp three miles away from the pass, and sent the news that Yuguan (Shanhaiguan) had been lost back to the main reinforcements who were still coming to the state. To say that the chief general of the vanguard of the Khitan reinforcements is also a dedicated general, he did not sit back and wait for news from the rear, but constantly sent people to report the situation in Yuguan (Shanhaiguan) to Laizhou, while arranging his soldiers to start trying to attack Guancheng.

However, because the vanguard of the Khitan reinforcements was originally prepared to strengthen the defense of Yuguan (Shanhaiguan), they urged and assisted the original defenders to hold this strategic passage that was the most important southward and northward along the Great Wall, so as to create favorable conditions for their main forces to go south to the eight states in front of the mountain and repel the Zhou army. Therefore, this light cavalry of more than 10,000 people is a variety of large-scale special siege equipment, and even the most basic siege ladder has not been prepared. As one of the most important strategic passages connecting the inside and outside of the Great Wall, Yuguan (Shanhaiguan) has not been fully repaired for many years, but it is still a majestic pass, and it is impossible to attack it without siege equipment. In this way, the siege of this Khitan vanguard army can only be a kind of test after making a batch of rudimentary siege equipment - testing who occupies the city, testing whether the original defenders in the city are in league with the enemy, testing the strength of the enemy occupying the city, and so on.

As for the effect of this kind of tentative siege, and how Qian Yuanshan, Wang Feng and others who guarded the pass dealt with it, Muttel didn't know very well. Because he led the cavalry regiment out of the pass overnight on the night of his occupation of Yuguan (Shanhaiguan) and came all the way to the west, Qian Yuanshan and Wang Feng told him about the battles in Yuguan (Shanhaiguan) in the past few days, and the briefing was naturally not very detailed.

After listening to Muter's explanation, Wang Kunjun nodded, while lamenting that his brother's luck was indeed good, and hoping that the Khitans were only slow to move rather than being timid and afraid of war, because only in this way could the strategic intention of the crossing team be realized, and at the same time, he could personally experience this big battle.

On the third day after Wang Kunjun and his party left Shangzhuang Village to continue eastward, on the twelfth day of the fourth lunar month of the ninth year of the calendar (the sixth year of Xiande), Muttel received a telegram from Yuguan (Shanhaiguan), informing him that the main force of the Khitan reinforcements had arrived at Guanxia. Moreover, according to the banner in the Khitan camp, the imperial tent of the Khitan "sleeping king" emperor Yelu Jing is also among them. This news lifted the spirits of Wang Kunjun and the others, and even the speed of the team's march was unconsciously accelerated - the arrival of the main force of the Khitan reinforcements and even Yelujing meant that the battle was developing as the crossing team had expected, and the third phase of the "Zhuji No. 1 Operation Jihua" would be carried out smoothly, and the realization of the entire Jihua was just around the corner.

It's just that Wang Kunjun and his party are happy because the war is developing according to their expectations, but Qian Yuanshan, Wang Feng and others who confronted the Khitan reinforcements head-on in Yuguan (Shanhaiguan) are not as easy as them. Because with the arrival of the main force, the Khitan attack on Yuguan (Shanhaiguan) is no longer the initial temptation, but a serious siege battle. It can be seen from the telegram sent by Qian Yuanshan afterwards that the main force of the Khitan army began to attack the city as soon as it arrived at Guanxia, and the Khitan army, which was fully prepared, was attacking quite fiercely, and the crossing team was undergoing the biggest test since the outbreak of the Youyun War. …,

In the face of such a situation, Wang Kunjun had already thrown his previous excitement out of the clouds, and ordered Qian Yuanshan to guard the city of Guancheng, and not to go out of the pass to fight the Liao army without the support of cavalry - except for the third cavalry battalion left behind in Youzhou City, all the cavalry units of the crossing team are currently by Wang Kunjun's side; On the one hand, he ordered his group to speed up and be sure to rush to Yuguan (Shanhaiguan) on the thirteenth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, that is, the day after the arrival of the main force of the Khitan reinforcements.

Wang Kunjun gave this order, and his party accelerated suddenly, and for the next twenty-four hours, they could almost be called sleepless on the road, except for the time when they had to stop to rest in order to restore the horse's strength, the rest of the time was spent on horseback. As a result of such desperate efforts, the nearly 200 miles that were originally expected to be completed in two days took less than 20 hours to complete.

On the evening of April 13 of the lunar calendar in the ninth year of the calendar (the sixth year of Xiande), Wang Kunjun and his party of more than 2,000 people arrived at Yuguan (Shanhaiguan).

After entering the city, Wang Kunjun couldn't care about the fatigue all the way, and immediately climbed the city wall under the guidance of Qian Yuanshan, observed the movements of the Khitan camp outside the pass, and listened to the reports of Qian Yuanshan, Wang Feng and others on the battle between the two sides on this day. At first, it was nothing, it was all a normal report of the battle process, but when it came to his own casualty figures, Wang Kunjun couldn't help frowning. Because according to Qian Yuanshan, in just one day of the battle for Guancheng, the soldiers under his command suffered more than 1,000 casualties - although Qian Yuanshan's troops had a total strength of more than 10,000 when they first arrived at Yuguan (Shanhaiguan), but excluding the main force of the cavalry regiment that went to meet Wang Kunjun, as well as the men and horses stationed in the passes west of Guancheng and east of Gubeikou after occupying Yuguan (Shanhaiguan), the crossing team that really stayed in Yuguan (Shanhaiguan) to resist the main force of the Khitan reinforcements was actually only the main force of the first division of the "Flying Dragon Army" (the first and second battalions) , the main force of the artillery regiment, the first regiment of the "security army", the strength of which is less than 5,000 people. Now that the war has only been one day, more than 1,000 people have been lost, and if the war continues like this, I am afraid that in less than a week, the troops under Qian Yuanshan will be exhausted. At that time, it will be said that the Khitan reinforcements will be blocked from the pass, but I am afraid that even whether the fruits of the victory that have been achieved can be preserved. Therefore, although Wang Kunjun had made up his mind not to interfere with the command of the brothers in the military department before he came, after hearing this casualty figure, he couldn't help but ask: "Lost more than 1,000 in one day?" How could there be such a large number of casualties? Could it be that you gave up the fortified city and went out of the customs to fight a field battle with the Khitans? ”

"It's not at all." Qian Yuanshan replied, "Before the fifth brother led the old thirty-five and them back, the soldiers guarding the pass of our army were all foot soldiers, how could the brother make use of his weaknesses and avoid his strengths, and let his infantry go out of the city to fight the enemy's cavalry." The reason why our army has suffered heavy casualties in the past day is mainly because the brothers have been using the first regiment of the 'security army' to be responsible for the defense of the city, and other units have not yet participated in it. ”

"Only the first regiment of the 'Security Army' is defending the city?" Wang Kunjun was puzzled, "Old Eleven, what do you mean by this, could it be that since this day, only one regiment of "security" has resisted the attack of the Khitan army on this Guancheng?" ”

"Exactly." Qian Yuanshan replied.

"Why is that?" Wang Kunjun's words were already full of dissatisfaction and doubts, "You must know that the 'security army' is not equipped with firearms, and purely uses cold weapons to defend against the enemy. At present, there is a Khitan army of 100,000 outside the pass, and you only use a regiment of "security forces" to guard the pass, isn't this taking eggs to touch stones? Let me tell my brother clearly, what is the reason for your arrangement? ”

Qian Yuanshan obviously expected Wang Kunjun to react like this - in fact, not only Wang Kunjun, anyone who doesn't know Qian Yuanshan's Jihua will have the same reaction as Wang Kunjun, and may even react more intensely and directly than Wang Kunjun, who has always been approachable. Therefore, Qian Yuanshan did not panic when he heard his fifth brother's questioning, but said very calmly: "Fifth brother is in a hurry, and listen to my brother's explanation to you." ”…,

"You say." Wang Kunjun said solemnly.

"Brother thinks so," Qian Yuanshan explained, "this time the Khitan reinforcements went south to Youzhou, stopping and stopping along the way, and the movement was very slow. Among them, there are certainly reasons for the fact that the famous 'sleeping king' emperor of the Khitan likes to drink and sleep and does not like military affairs, but there are also factors that wait and see, hoping that the Khitan soldiers and horses in the Youyun region alone can solve this war. But the most important point that the brother thinks is that this 'sleeping king' Yelujing is hesitant and does not take a firm position on the question of whether to go south to fight and protect the sixteen states of Youyun, and changes his mind from time to time. As a result, the Khitan reinforcements had to stop and go, and it was difficult to give full play to their advantages of being mainly cavalry and good at mobile warfare. Especially after we annihilated the main force of the Youyun Khitan Army and conquered Youzhou City, his hesitation and determination reached the extreme. Otherwise, he wouldn't have led a hundred thousand people to stay in Laizhou for several days.

Although I don't know if this 'sleeping king' Bixia suddenly has a clear mind, or the result of the persuasion of those ministers in his hand, but after coming to the state for many days, he led his army south again, and the troops were approaching Shanhaiguan, Yelu Jing obviously moved his mind again, and planned to carry out the battle of Youyun to the end. In the face of such a fickle opponent, the brothers and several other brothers who guarded the customs together discussed many times, and agreed that the battle of Shanhaiguan must be fought, it must be fought wonderfully and beautifully, and the Khitans must be hurt through this battle, so that they will no longer dare to raise the idea of going south to the Central Plains. And to do this, one needs the 'Sleeping King' emperor to appear under the Shanhaiguan in time. Second, the main force of the Khitan reinforcements needs to stay in the current barracks in a down-to-earth manner, so as not to affect the progress of Jihua in the future.

When Yelujing will set off and when he will be able to reach the foot of Shanhaiguan, this brother is naturally difficult to influence, and he can only rely on God to help. But for the second article, the brother can use some strategies and means to strengthen Yelujing's determination to continue to go south and tie it to Shanhaiguan, and the reason why the brother only let the 'security army' defend the city and not let the 'flying dragon army' participate in it is to keep Yelujing.

In the eyes of the brothers, if they resist the attack of the Khitans with sharp firearms as soon as they come up, and even directly bombard the Khitan camp with heavy artillery fire like the previous 'Baoxingzhuang Annihilation War', then although they will also inflict heavy casualties on the Khitan army, the Khitan reinforcements who have suffered the blow are likely to scatter and flee like the main force of the Youyun Khitan Army in Baoxingzhuang. Before the old thirty-five returned, the brothers had no cavalry troops in their hands, and in the face of the scattered Khitan army, the soldiers guarding the pass could do nothing but experience a feeling of being out of reach. In this way, our army will not be able to accomplish its goal of hurting the Khitans. Therefore, the brother decided to defend the pass only with the 'security army', creating a false impression for the attacking Khitans, thinking that the enemy army occupying the gate was limited in number and had ordinary weapons, and that it could conquer the pass in a short time with its own strength, thus strengthening Yelujing's determination to continue southward. After the cavalry unit returned, it would cooperate with the cavalry with heavy artillery fire to defeat or even annihilate the main force of the Khitan reinforcements in one fell swoop, creating conditions for the final achievement of the battle. ”

Wang Kunjun nodded when he heard this, his face was much calmer, and he said: "Old Eleven, your strategy is of course haode, but in this way, the losses of the first regiment of the 'Security Army' are a bit large. The regiment was only 2,500 men at full strength, and the casualties in this battle were 40 percent, and I am afraid that it will no longer be able to survive the next offensive and defensive battle. ”

Qian Yuanshan nodded again and again after hearing this: "Fifth brother, don't worry, brother naturally understands this truth, a defensive battle like this brother will never let the 'security army' carry out a second time." Now that the cavalry has returned, the brothers plan to launch a general attack on the Khitan army early tomorrow morning, and no longer give the other side a chance to attack. ”