Chapter 497 Li Ge asked for a meeting
Li Liangzuo wanted to withdraw his troops, but Li Mingxiao disagreed. "Your Majesty, you have only lost such a lot of effort to capture two cities. As long as you capture this city again, you will enter the hinterland of Hehuang. It is only a matter of time before you annex Hehuang." Li Mingxiao said anxiously.
The Xixia took considerable effort to capture two cities, because after Dong Wen occupied Hehuang, he continued to strengthen the border cities facing Xixia.
But Dong Wen could not reinforce all the cities. As long as he captured another city, the soldiers and horses of Xixia could enter the hinterland of Hehuang.
Those cities are easy to fight, and the hinterland of Hehuang is almost plain. Xixia can beat anyone, but Dong Wen needs to divide his troops to defend and cannot gather a large number of troops at all. "It's not that I want to withdraw my troops, but... cough... cough..." Li Liangzuo suddenly started to cough violently.
"Your Majesty..."
The ministers of Xixia in the tent quickly began to ask.
"It's okay!"
Li Liangzuo felt a little better and waved his hand and said, "The Song Dynasty has already reached the Xijing City of Liao Kingdom."
"What?"
"This is impossible!"
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When the Western Xia civil and military officials heard this, they didn't care about Li Liangzuo's health, and they were all shocked by the news.
You should know that there are dozens of cities between the border between the Liao Kingdom and Xijing.
Now that the Song Dynasty has sent troops, it has only been more than half a month since it sent troops. How could the Song Dynasty fight to Datong so quickly? "I don't want to believe it either, but this was discovered by the spies I sent, and it would never be fake. There is something in the Song Dynasty that can make a loud noise and destroy the city. Facing this thing, The general city could not be defended at all, and Yelu Yixin could only give up the outer city, which made the Song Dynasty unstoppable and attacked the city of Xijing. "Li Liangzuo said.
Everyone looked at each other when he heard this, and Li Liangzuo said it was too mysterious.
If there is such a thing, wouldn’t the city be useless?
And even the city wall can be destroyed, so what about dealing with people?
In this way, who is still the opponent of the Song Dynasty?
Reason tells them that there is no such thing, but Li Liangzuo's swearing is difficult for them to refute.
"Your Majesty, where is this kind of thing in the world? If it really exists, why didn't it be used before the Song Dynasty?"
Li Mingxiao, as Li Liangzuo's uncle, did not have so many concerns and said, "Even if it is," There is really a Song Dynasty. I just heard from Your Majesty that the Song Dynasty only uses it on broken cities, but it is useless at other times. This shows that this thing has many restrictions and needs to be close to the city. As long as you are more vigilant, it is not enough to make a case."
"Unless the Liao Kingdom is all idiots, it is impossible for him to think of this. The reason why he gave up so many cities must be to lure the enemy into the deep."
"There is a military strategy, and arrogance will be defeated. The Song Dynasty captured dozens of cities in a short period of time, from generals to ordinary soldiers, and they must be extremely arrogant. This kind of arrogance, even if someone notices it, will be difficult to change. ! "
"The Liao Kingdom has been asking for help from my Daxia, but it is just that it does not want to see my Daxia take the opportunity to occupy Hehuang and wants to deceive me Daxia to send troops to the Song Dynasty."
He This Privy Council envoy, like the Song Dynasty, had to transfer military power and had to obtain the consent of the emperor Li Liangzuo.
Although there are many loyal people in the army, they are always controlled by others in the capital.
This attack on Hehuang was an opportunity for Li Mingxiao.
Li Liangzuo personally led the army to fight, but it was impossible for him to stay in Hehuang for a long time after conquering Hehuang.
The battle of Hehuang requires someone with enough status to take charge.
And he is the most suitable person.
He naturally didn't want to withdraw his troops.
"Your Majesty, the words of the Privy Councilor Li are reasonable!"
The other civil and military officials, whether loyal to Li Mingxiao or loyal to Li Liangzuo, all agreed with Li Mingxiao's words.
Li Liangzuo pondered, and according to his original plan, he was to provoke a war between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom.
When the war is together, it doesn’t stop just by wanting to stop.
He sent troops to Hehuang, and neither the Song Dynasty nor the Liao Kingdom had the energy to intervene.
When the Song Dynasty and Liao Kingdom ceased to fight, the two countries were severely damaged, and the Western Xia also had enough time to recuperate and completely digest Hehuang.
As one goes up and down, although Xixia is still the weakest among the Three Kingdoms, the gap is also narrowing.
The reason for retreating was that he was frightened by the speed of the Song Dynasty.
But after Li Mingxiao's analysis, it has to be said that it is very reasonable.
Li Liangzuo pondered for a long time and said, "Then don't retreat, continue to attack."
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Li Liangzuo stood up and looked at everyone and said, "The siege speed will be accelerated next. If someone slacked off, I will not show mercy no matter what his identity is!"
…………
Bazhou City
Zeng Gongliang returned from the front line in person and met Zhao Xing, telling the dilemma of the front line.
The Liao Kingdom did not believe in evil at first, but after the Song Dynasty broke several cities again, it began to abandon the city.
Moreover, these cities were prepared for a long time, and they fled as soon as the city was broken, with little casualties.
Although the Song Dynasty occupied dozens of cities, the Liao Kingdom actually suffered little losses.
Although most of them are small cities, there are people in the city, and the Song Dynasty has to divide its troops to guard it.
Now the Liao Kingdom has reduced its troops and has more than 200,000 troops in Xijing City.
Although the Song Dynasty used nearly 600,000 troops, the original border needed troops to defend, and the cities captured also needed troops to defend, and only 400,000 could be used.
It is a fantasy to have 400,000 soldiers and horses trying to capture a strong city with more than 200,000 soldiers and horses defending it.
The British Duke tried to attack, and the Liao Dynasty had a very tight defense.
As for gunpowder, there is no chance of getting close.
The city bombings several times, although the Liao Kingdom has not yet figured out what the Song Dynasty used.
But the Liao Kingdom already knew that the Song Dynasty needed to approach the city wall to bomb the city.
Every night, a large number of braziers were lit on the wall of Liao Kingdom, and the surrounding walls were illuminated like daytime. After trying several times, they were all discovered.
The British Duke attacked several times, suffered a lot of losses. Seeing that the gunpowder had no chance to be used, he had to pause.
"Your Majesty, you have conquered dozens of cities in a row, and the morale of the army is high, but there is a little arrogant. Not only did the ministers notice it, but also the Duke of England noticed it. The reprimanding and disposing of some generals is just It's a little better. But the morale in the army is high, and it's not good to be too strict, otherwise it will only hit the morale of the soldiers. I am worried that when the Liao Kingdom cannot be captured for a long time, the Liao Kingdom will send troops to attack." Zeng Gongliang said worriedly.
Zhao Xing was shocked when he heard this, and some cold sweat oozed out of his forehead.
Not to mention the soldiers in the army, these days, good news has been frequent, and even he has the idea of the Liao Kingdom being like this, and it is just around the corner to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
Even if you cannot retake the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and once you take the Xijing City and take the Yanmen Pass, you can restore the territory of the Taizu period, which is also an exciting thing.
Zeng Gongliang said this, Zhao Xing really noticed something was wrong.
Did the cities that the Liao Kingdom abandoned before really just because they couldn't defend them?
Apart from the cities on the border of Liao Kingdom, the cities behind are indeed not very strong cities, just some county towns.
But there are still several cities that are relatively strong. Even if they cannot be defended, the Liao Kingdom can defend first and test the situation of gunpowder.
But the Liao Kingdom did not. After resisting a little, it was thrown all to the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty conquered dozens of cities in a row and regained hundreds of miles of territory. In addition to gaining a lot of benefits at the beginning, the cities behind did not get any benefits.
The food and equipment that can be removed have been removed in advance, and those that cannot be taken away have been burned.
The wealthy families and Khitan nobles in the city also fled, and the rest were ordinary people.
Although most of these people were Han people, they were ruled by the Liao Kingdom for many years and had no sense of belonging to the Song Dynasty.
For the sake of the people's hearts, not only can we not forcefully collect grain from the people, but we must also leave some soldiers to maintain public order. In other words, the Song Dynasty seemed to have captured dozens of cities, but it could not be replenished and had to disperse some of its troops.
What I received was that the front line was extended by hundreds of miles, increasing the difficulty of supplying food and grass.
What if this is really Yelu Yixin's lure into the enemy deeper?
The more Zhao Xing thought about it, the more he felt that this was possible. He took a deep breath and said, "Zeng Aiqing was right. The Liao Kingdom was probably luring the enemy deeper and wanted to wait for the Song Dynasty to attack the camp for a long time. Since Zeng Aiqing came to find me, there should be a way to deal with it, right? ”
"I have two strategies. One is to retreat to the city first, strengthen the city, and temporarily suspend the attack. The other is to build the city nearby and force the Liao Kingdom to go out of the city to fight." Zeng Gongliang said.
Zhao Xing thought after hearing this and retreated to the rear city, so that the soldiers could calm down slowly.
It can also make Liao's calculations fail, but the only disadvantage is that it will take time with Liao.
It's just that even if it takes time, the Song Dynasty also has the advantage.
After all, Yelu Yixin was in a bad position and lost so many cities, which had a great blow to his prestige.
When the Song Dynasty attacked, the Liao Dynasty could be temporarily stable. Once the Song Dynasty suspended the attack, various rumors would arise, and Yelu Yixin was also very passive.
No mistakes, one poem, one post, one content, one in 6, one book, one bar, one read!
But the stalemate was not what Zhao Xing wanted to see. The Song Dynasty dispatched nearly 600,000 troops, people ate horses, and the food and grass consumed every day were astronomical.
Yelu Yixin was not feeling well, and he was not feeling well.
The most important thing is that the winter in the north is not only cold, but also early.
In a few more months, it will be snowing in the north, and you will have to retreat.
The dozens of cities captured were not in favor of the people and had no danger to defend. Once the troops retreated, they were likely to be taken back by the Liao Kingdom.
But if you do not retreat, logistics will be a big problem when it is cold and freezing.
Therefore, a stalemate with the Liao Kingdom is not a good idea.
Casting a city is a good way. You only need to cast a city wall so that it is difficult for the Liao Kingdom to attack.
In this way, Yelu Yixin would definitely not want to see it, so he naturally had to send troops to destroy it, but he could destroy some Liao troops.
But that's still the same problem. Once Yelu Yixin doesn't care about it and just defends it, it will be difficult for the Song Dynasty to break the city.
The final result is nothing more than a stalemate. Just wait until the beginning of winter and the Song Dynasty retreated.
Zhao Xing pondered for a long time and said, "Can Zeng Aiqing be sure that Liao Kingdom will definitely attack sneakily?"
"I can't guarantee it, but Liao Kingdom's sneaki attacks are very likely. In theory, the rear of Liao Kingdom's country is in the dark. The reinforcements should have arrived long ago, but in the city of Xijing, there were only the troops brought by Yelu Yixin when he personally fought, and those troops who had abandoned the city and retreated, but no reinforcements arrived."
"The reason why Liao Kingdom lacked reinforcements is that I guess it may not want to arouse the alertness of the Song Dynasty." Zeng Gongliang said. "What if I'm going to make a plan?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Your Majesty, no!"
Zeng Gongliang said anxiously when he heard this: "If you only have a thousand days to be a thief, how can you defend against a thief for thousands of days? If the Liao Kingdom has not attacked the sneak attack for a long time, it will only waste time. Manpower and material resources. If this continues, it will inevitably affect the morale of the army. Moreover, there is still a gap in the hundreds of secrets. If the Liao Kingdom robs the camp, it will definitely not send many troops. It can only attack the morale of the Liao Kingdom. If one is not careful, hundreds of thousands of troops will be destroyed. The danger is not worth it in his opinion.
Waiting for the other party to rob the camp, that is, the enemy is in the dark and I am in the bright.
Even if it is done, you can still rob the camp when facing the other side.
Unless the Song Dynasty has a way to quickly break the city, even if the camp is not robbed and its morale is affected, the other party can slowly recover, which is of little significance.
On the contrary, our side has to take a lot of risks.
Zhao Xing frowned slightly when he heard this. Indeed, he thought things too simply.
"Then..."
"Your Majesty!"
Zhao Xing was about to talk about casting the city, but Zhang Feng's voice sounded outside.
"Come in!"
Zhang Feng walked in and saluted, "A soldier discovered a suspicious person and arrested him. The man's name was Li Ge, who claimed to be His Majesty. The soldier dared not delay and escorted the person over."
"Li Ge?" Zhao Xing was stunned when he heard this and said, "Come and see me quickly!"
Since Yelu Chongyuan died, Li Ge has never appeared again.
Zhao Xing thought he was dead, but he didn't expect that he would be so lucky.
He wanted to see what purpose Li Ge had when he came to find him now.
"Yes!" Zhang Feng responded and retreated.
Zhao Xing told Zeng Gongliang about Li Ge's situation.
After listening, Zeng Gongliang pondered for a while and reminded: "Your Majesty, this Li Ge has disappeared for so long, so don't believe it."
"I understand what Zeng Aiqing said." >
Zhao Xing nodded with a smile.
He naturally could not believe Li Ge, and he never believed it from beginning to end.
But Li Ge is of some use.
After a while, Zhang Feng took Li Ge in.
Seeing Li Ge's expression, Zhao Xing laughed.
"You're so troubled like this?"
Li Ge was a little fat. When he saw him several times, he was dressed very well.
At this time, Li Ge said that he looked haggard, but he lost weight all over and his clothes were damaged in many parts, like a refugee.
"I pay homage to Your Majesty!"
Li Ge saluted and smiled bitterly, "I am really hard to describe in my current appearance."
"Then let's talk short." Zhao Xing waved his hand.
"Since..." Li Ge told his experience during this period.
When Yelu Chongyuan led his troops to Shangjing, he was in the army.
Later, Yelu Chongyuan received a secret letter from Empress Dowager Xiao and led the cavalry to go first, and he stayed in the rear.
Yelu Chongyuan was ambushed, and a soldier went to inform the infantry in the rear. After he learned the news, he fled back to pick up his family.
I wanted to escape to the Song Dynasty, but I was arrested by a escaped tribe leader.
The tribe leader knew that he was Yelu Chongyuan's man and wanted to use him to please Yelu Yixin.
Li Ge thought he would die without a doubt, but in the end he was saved by Nerugu.
During this period, he and Nerugu were under house arrest in Shangjing.
"Yelu Yixin did not kill Nelugu, I can understand. Why do you keep it? You defected to Yelu Yixin, right?" Zhao Xing sneered.
Yelu Chongyuan had many old subordinates, and Yelu Yixin could not have been killed.
Nelugu's murder of his father was untolerant in the eyes of the Han people, but it was nothing among the nomadic peoples.
(This chapter ends)