At this time, Xiao Hanjianu didn't know that Yelu Kunping's army had fled west, and he was still waiting for news from Yelu Kunping, but Xiao Hanjianu was already suspicious, they were only more than 200 miles away from the Western Route Army, and four full days had passed, why didn't even a messenger come over.

Xiao Han's slave stood in front of the map for a long time and was silent, could it be that the messenger couldn't cross the river or encountered the Song army scouts on the way and was killed

Thinking about it, there are only these two reasons, he said to Yelu Kunping before, no matter whether he wins or loses, after launching the siege, he must give himself a detailed report, he believes that this report Yelu Kunping wrote, and also sent someone to send it, but he just can't get to himself, there is only one reason, there is an accident on the way to send the letter.

Xiao Han's slave was a little anxious in his heart, he thought of a piece of information received in the morning, the sentry found the Song army's warship in the Hutuo River in the west, this news made Xiao Han's slave like a slap in the head, they had considered all the possibilities when formulating the strategy before, but they didn't expect the Song army's navy to intervene.

The Liao army crossed the river with a raft connected together, and then laid a wooden plank on it, this method is simple and convenient, can quickly build a pontoon bridge, they crossed the Juma River this way, but this simple pontoon bridge also has a great weakness, that is, it is very easy to be destroyed, there is no Song army is fine, but once the Song army warship appears, their raft pontoon bridge is not vulnerable at all, and an arrow can shoot a raft to explode.

If the warships of the Song army appeared on the Hutuo River, then the Western Route Army would not be able to come

At this time, there was a soldier at the gate of the big tent to report: "Qi Yu Marshal, the spies found a cavalry of the Song army out of the city, about 10,000 people, running to the southwest." ”

Xiao Han's slave was taken aback, and without thinking, he said to the soldiers next to him: "Quickly order Yelu Gan to lead 10,000 cavalry to chase after him, and be sure to annihilate this army." ”

"Obey!"

The soldiers took the arrow and left, and as soon as they reached the door of the tent, Xiao Han's slave suddenly shouted: "Wait a minute!" ”

The pro-soldiers stopped, Xiao Hanjianu thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Cancel the order and let them go." ”

It was now the second watch, and he was afraid that his cavalry would be unfamiliar with the road conditions in the south at night and fall into the ambush of the Song army, which was likely to be a trick by the Song army, so he must not be careless.

However, the appearance of the Song warship was like a cancer growing in his back, which made him sit still, and he immediately ordered: "Order the first battalion of spies to go to the Juma River to investigate and see if there are any Song warships on the river."

.........

The north of Dingzhou belongs to the remaining veins of the Taihang Mountains, the Changshan Mountains that stretch for hundreds of miles lie across the plains, the mountains are high and steep, the famous Langya Mountain is located in them, the Changshan Mountains have become the natural dividing line between the Song and Liao countries, although the mountains are steep and majestic, but it is not no way to go, the mountains have many fault zones, forming large and small mountain canyons, these mountain canyons are the main path for the Liao army to enter Zhendingfu.

The same is true for the Liao army that fled westward, if they want to return to the Liao country, they can only pass back through these mountain valleys.

But things are not so simple, in every mountain valley, the Song army has built passes at dangerous places, not only to prevent the Liao army from the north, but also to prevent the Liao army from the east.

This Song military war also included the repair and replenishment of various passes in Dingzhou and Zhendingfu.

The Liao army on the west road ran all the way west, and arrived at the Tangshui River Valley the next day, which is the most suitable valley for cavalry in the five valleys of Dingzhou.

The Tangshui River valley is more than a dozen miles wide at its widest point and less than a mile at its narrowest point, and it is about forty miles from here to Lingqiu County in Ulzhou, which is also the only route that can save their lives for the Liao army, which is almost out of food.

There happened to be a few Han Chinese in the army who had been traveling to and from the Tangshui Valley all year round, and Yelu Kunping ordered them to be guides and lead the army north.

At this time, it was noon, nearly 40,000 troops rested in the valley, after eating their last bit of dry food, many soldiers also ran to the river to touch fish and shrimp, the water flow is not deep, only the waist of the people, there are large wheat fields on both sides, many wheat fields still grow wheat seedlings, that is, the peasants have just sown seeds and then retreated south, these wheat will grow on their own, grow lush, just cheap war horses.

30,000 horses entered the wheat field, and in a short time, hundreds of acres of wheat seedlings were eaten up.

Yelu Kunping ordered a few guide soldiers to be brought in and asked, "Where is the pass of the Song army?"

"General Huiyu, it's not far ahead, five or six miles at most, and you'll see it when you turn the corner."

Yelu Kunping pointed to a relatively gentle hillside not far away and asked, "Is it possible to bypass the pass of the Song army after climbing over that hillside?"

He had to consider a lot of realities, although there were many trees on the mountain, which could be used to make siege ladders, but hundreds of their craftsmen had been killed by the Song army, and many of the necessary tools were not available, so they could only make some of the most rudimentary siege weapons, and more importantly, their food had been cut off, if they couldn't rush to Lingqiu County before dark, their morale and military morale would probably be lost.

Yelu Kunping didn't want to attack the city anymore from his bones, and the strong shock brought to him by the Song army's iron fire and thunder made him not subside until now.

He looked expectantly at the guides as to whether this gentle slope could be bypassed without the siege pass

One of the guides said: "It looks low here, but the north side is steep, and people can climb down with a rope, but horses can't walk." ”

"The characteristic of this side of the mountain is that it looks gentle on one side and steep on the other." Another soldier next to him guided.

Jelu Kunping was a little annoyed, and he immediately sent a group of soldiers over the ridge to confirm the words of the guides, which he had to confirm before he could believe it.

After resting for more than half an hour, Yelu Kunping saw that he had almost rested, so he got up and ordered: "Almost rested, the whole army is assembled and ready to go!" ”

The trumpet sounded, and nearly 40,000 troops began to assemble, and soon marched north along the west bank of the river.

Skirting a large bay, the canyon suddenly narrowed, and just a few miles ahead, a tall, sturdy pass appeared before them.

There were actually two such passes, one on the north and one on the south, with soldiers' houses and tents in the middle, and cliffs on both sides.

There was a crescent-shaped opening under the pass, and the river flowed from below, and in order to prevent people from crawling underneath, an arm-thick iron fence was installed inside, and there should have been a small city gate next to it, but it had been blocked by huge stones.

In short, even if the Liao army captured this pass, it would have to climb this pass with a ladder that was four feet high.

Above the pass, there were densely packed with Song troops, more than 1,000 people, all holding bows and arrows, looking at the Liao army coldly.

Yelu Kunping saw clearly, there were three trebuchets on the head of the city, and he suddenly shuddered, such a narrow valley, the Liao army rushed up together, if the iron fire and thunder exploded in the crowd, none of the besieging soldiers would survive.

"General, this pass is not easy to attack!"

A general said in a low voice: "There is no city gate, and the city wall is too high, the siege ladder is not good, we must use a ladder, but we don't have a ladder." ”

It's not that there are no fir or pine trees up to four feet high, and even if there are none, two ladders can be tied together and used, but the problem is not that the ladders are too high, and the soldiers have not yet climbed halfway, and the rolling wood and stones on it, or the canisters of oil, are smashed down.

At this time, a group of soldiers rushed back and said, "General Qiyu, we have explored the north side of the mountain beam, and it is indeed relatively steep, people can go down, but war horses can't." ”

"Where is it after going down?" asked Jelu Kunping again.

"In the valley north of the pass, about ten miles away from the pass."

Yelu Kunping lowered his head and pondered for a moment, he had to sigh and say to several generals: "We don't have siege weapons, even if we have siege weapons, it is difficult to resist the iron fire and thunder of the Song army, everyone has seen it with their own eyes, our food has been cut off, everyone will have to starve at night, in order to break through successfully, I consider giving up the war horse, the army can cross the pass of the Song army from the side of the mountain beam, what is everyone's opinion?"

The generals looked at each other, and a veteran said: "The general is right, preserving the troops is the most important thing, as for the war horses, let the Song Dynasty double the compensation in the future." ”

Everyone agreed, but from beginning to end, no one put forward a suggestion to kill the war horse, the Liao people took the war horse very seriously, just like relatives, even if they had to give up, it was impossible to kill the horse, as the Khitan veteran said, the Song Dynasty would be repaid twice in the future.

When the order came, the cavalry had to say goodbye to their horses in tears, and the 40,000-strong army left the valley, and they walked through a forest and climbed towards the low mountains in the distance.

At this time, the Song army found out about the Liao army's attempt, they were very surprised, but they did not dare to take it lightly, until dusk, the first battalion general received the news that the Liao army appeared in the valley more than ten miles north of the north, and then believed that the Liao army really abandoned the horse and left, he immediately ordered the five men: "You go to Tang County quickly, tell General Zhang that there are tens of thousands of war horses here, and ask him to immediately lead the army to pack up the war horses." ”

The five soldiers climbed down the city wall with ropes, turned over on their horses, and galloped towards Tang County, dozens of miles away.

Early the next morning, Zhang Meng, the guard of Tang County, led 10,000 Song troops to the Tangshui River Valley, and soon, the cheers resounded throughout the valley, and they actually captured 30,000 war horses in the river valley, which was an unprecedented trophy of the Great Song Dynasty.