Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 538 The Battle of Beikou ([-])

On May [-], the weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the camp was full of stench.

In addition to the smell of herbs, the stench of maggots and rotting wounds, and stinky feces and urine, not all the wounded were taken care of, not to mention that many of them were seriously injured with broken legs and hands.

The excrement, ointment, mud and rot also exacerbated the deterioration of the injury, but there were too many wounded and fierce fighting ahead, they didn't have many people to look after them, it was chaotic and disturbing.

"General, there are 760 more people today." The person next to him reported with a serious expression, "There are another hundred people missing."

Han Derang looked out, and there was smoke billowing down the slope in the distance. Someone was splitting up dead bodies and throwing them into the fire, and someone was digging a hole dozens of steps away.

In the army of the Liao Kingdom, there was a mixture of people from various ethnic groups, the most being Khitan and Han people. The Khitan people had a tradition of wind burial and cremation, but the Han people were not allowed to burn, and they had to be buried in the ground for peace.

Until now, Han Derang was still physically and mentally exhausted. His eye sockets were sunken, his face was covered with dust, and he no longer had the demeanor of leading the army south alone.

They have been fighting for six or seven days in a row, but they still haven't taken down any of the fortresses, with little effect, but there are a lot of casualties every day.

It rained at noon on the third day of May, and the siege was suspended for a day. From the eyes of the soldiers, he saw the joy of luck and the joy of the rest of his life.

Hande gave way to the camp where the wounded were placed. He stepped on the bloody dark red mud on the avenue with his black riding boots, and looked at the fortresses of the Qin army in the distance. top, looking down at them.

Last night, he just had a long talk with Yelu Xiezhen, who was also exhausted and under great pressure. He drank a few bowls of wine to support himself. The troops in the east suffered even more casualties. Compared with not fighting, he dared not think about How many casualties did they cause to the Qin army? Are they dying meaninglessly?

There were even deserters in the east because of the heavy casualties. Yesterday, five people wanted to swim across the river at night and ran to the mountains in the west. They were finally caught by patrolling soldiers and beheaded for public display.

However, the appearance of deserters made Yelu Xiezhen very nervous. He was afraid that if the fight continued, the army would mutiny.

Han Derang could only comfort him a few words, but he didn't know what to do. The only way was to slow down the attack, but neither His Majesty sitting in the rear nor the prime minister near Beikou would agree. Down.

And the day before yesterday, due to too many casualties, they had mobilized another group of troops near Beikou to the front line, and so far the Beikou troops were almost exhausted.

The two also had some doubts about the effect of Fushui, because the casualties were increasing, but they still didn't stop using it. They always thought it would be a little less, but in fact they didn't know whether it was useful or not. There are too many influencing factors, it is difficult to distinguish clearly.

Yelu Xiezhen did not return to the camp until midnight, but he hardly slept all night, until dawn, the prime minister of the rear, Yelusha, personally came to the front line to encourage the soldiers and urge them to attack.

Yelusha saw that they both showed embarrassment, and also saw the large-scale camp for the wounded. He picked up the horsewhip and patted the dirt on it, and said earnestly, "I understand your concerns, the matter has come to this point, and there is no turning back.

If they withdraw without any results, the people of Qin will feel that our country is weak and can be bullied. Their main force is still alive and well in the south, with almost no damage, but there is no progress in the war here.

They've put their guns down our throats, and if we don't do anything we'll be considered no different than sheep. "

Yelusha said and patted the shoulders of the two men: "I have never agreed to send troops from the beginning, I have fought with Shi Congyun.

Now that troops have been sent out, it is like an arrow shot out, there is no way to turn back, if there is no result, the ambition of the Qin people will be further fueled, I believe we are vulnerable.

Even if there is a victory, they can sit down and discuss with the Qin people. If there is no result, they will only make progress. "

The two young men were deeply moved and saluted one after another, because these days Yelusha kept urging them to march regardless of the casualties, and they thought that the prime minister who originally did not advocate war with Qin had made up his mind to fight to the death.

But now it seems that his philosophy has not changed. He didn't think he could defeat the Qin army head-on at the beginning. What he thought at the beginning was not to fight, but relying on a strong army to maintain deterrence and negotiate peace with Qin in order to win Qin After getting the land of Yan, he retreated, and now that the army has set off, he must win a victory as a bargaining chip to negotiate a peace with the Qin army.

Otherwise, once they dispatch more than [-] troops, but it is difficult to win a game, the Qin army will feel that they are weak and can be bullied, since they are likely to continue to go north.

Yelu Xiezhen and Handerang also gradually changed their minds at this time, they felt that maybe Yelusha was the wise man.
"Your Majesty still has tens of thousands of people in King Xi Yazhang. I will send someone to ask him to move the troops south to support the front line. I will tell His Majesty clearly that I am at a disadvantage in fighting, resulting in many casualties and insufficient manpower. But you must achieve some results. Come." Yelusha continued.

The two were so moved for a moment that they were about to kneel down to thank them, but Yelusha stopped them: "I am old, but you are still young." Without further ado, they rode back to Beikou.

Both Han Derang and Yelusha felt a lot of pressure. After so many days of fierce fighting, they realized the fact that the strength of the Qin army was beyond imagination.

Two thousand Qin troops guarded the valley, preventing their [-] troops from advancing an inch, and suffered heavy casualties. After seven or eight days of fierce siege battles, their casualties could not be counted in detail. The battlefield was too chaotic and personnel changes were too fast. But the two knew it in their hearts, and it was likely that more than ten thousand people had passed away.
This is an unbelievable thing. It is very difficult to keep them from passing through the valley. It is unheard of and unexpected that they can cause serious damage to them with such a small number of people.

On the same day, the last troops were transferred from the north entrance to the front line.

After sieging the city one day, they still found nothing. In order not to cause mutiny among the soldiers, they slackened their supervision a lot. In the evening, Han Derang’s troops left more than 200 corpses on the north slope, and more than 400 more wounded, and then withdrew from the battlefield. , they reached the corner recently and filled the hole with some soil, but it was quickly knocked down.

That night, he and Yelu Xiezhen got together again, the two discussed for a long time, and finally reached a consensus.

Up to now, they have no hope of completely defeating the Qin army. They just want to retreat north after a victory, as the prime minister said, so that the Qin army will not dare to go north easily, and they will explain to the monarch.

As for taking back the lost land in the south, they no longer dare to think about it. A river valley has already been broken up like this. If they want to compete with the Qin army for the city in the south, they dare not think about the price they will pay and how many troops they will need. One hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, 20?Still millions.
In the end, they discussed with more than a dozen senior generals and agreed that these fortresses of the Qin army would not be fought. When His Majesty's Chinese army from the north arrived, they gathered superior cavalry, rushed through the blockade in one go, and went directly to the south to surprise the Qin army and win a battle. Fight and retreat.

It's been so many days, and the only way they can think of is to win De Fei.
Everyone agreed with this suggestion. In fact, the soldiers in the army have long been afraid of the kind of siege that looks like death. In the next few days, some people even couldn't help crying when they found out that they were assigned to siege the city. Morale was already extremely low. Tactics must be changed.

From going south in high spirits, to now just wanting to find ways to win for a while and then rushing away, the mentality of the Liao army has undergone earth-shaking changes in this small river valley for more than a month.

(End of this chapter)