The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

After the kings and ministers of the Liao Kingdom understood the route and purpose of the Su Jin army's attack, instead of feeling relieved, they became more worried. It was obvious that the destination of the army along the way was Shangjing.

At present, Shangjing Dao is left behind by Xingzong's eldest son, Yelu Hongji. Yelu Hongji is only 17 years old and has not experienced a big battle at all. There is a group of veterans staying behind to help.

But now, the Song State's 20 troops rushed to Beijing, Yelu Hongji and those veterans were no match at all, and Shangjing was in danger.

"Your Majesty, for the current plan, we have to consider going back to destroy Su Jin's army. We must not lose the capital." Xiao Hui said.

Liao Xingzong Yeluzong really flashed through his mind the horror scene of the capital being broken, the empress dowager, the queen, the prince and the princess being looted and humiliated by the Song people, and he couldn't help but get goosebumps all over his body.

"No, Brother Huang, you must not return to the army." Yelu Chongyuan said loudly.

Yeluzong really frowned and said: "What if I don't return to the capital? Do I sit and watch my capital city be destroyed? There are many royal relatives there, including the empress dowager and the princes."

Yelu Chongyuan said: "Our Daliao army is pressing down on the border, and the Song people are already tired of coping. The reason why we sent Su Jin's son to sneak into our Daliao to make trouble is to trick us back to our defense. How can we fall into the trap?"

Yeluzong said, "What about going to Beijing?"

Yelu Chongyuan said: "Immediately mobilize the defenders on the eastern border of Koryo and the border of Jin to defend. These two places are our Daliao vassal states, and there is no need for heavy surveillance. There are nearly 20 soldiers in the two places, although most of them are recruits. , but it should not be a big problem to stick to Linhuang Mansion on Shangjing Road. The Sujin army is working hard to attack far away. As long as they hold them back, they will worry about being surrounded and annihilated, and they will never love to fight; Whose capital was copied first?"

Xiao Hui hurriedly said: "Impossible, the Jurchen Koryo people have been fooling around for a few years, so the imperial court has sent heavy troops to the prison. If they are transferred to Linhuang Mansion, what should they do if there is trouble in two places?"

Yelu Chongyuan sneered and said: "You are Xiao Hui who looks forward and looks backward. You might as well change your name to Xiao Wugui. Let me ask you, if we retreat and the Song people cover up and chase after us, what should we do? The current situation is not as good as a fish dies and a net is broken. If Shangjing is broken, Let’s take Bianliang as the capital, they take our family and parents, we take their family and parents, no one suffers.”

Xiao Hui said angrily: "Emperor Taidi, please be more respectful. You call me Xiao Hui a tortoise. You need to know that I am your mother's clan. Then what are you?"

Yelu Zong really heard Xiao Hui and Yelu Chongyuan quarreling endlessly, he was really annoyed, he waved his hands and shouted: "Shut up, is there any sense of decency? You are not ashamed in front of so many generals under your command ?”

Xiao Hui and Yelu Zhongyuan stopped talking, glared at each other and turned back to their seats. Yelu Zongzhen rubbed his forehead for a long while before saying: "I decided to take a compromise strategy. Given that we are in an advantageous position on the frontal battlefield, we must not give up the great opportunity. , but the Linhuang mansion on Shangjing Road cannot be lost, that is where the dragon veins of the Daliao Dynasty are located, and the morale and popular support of the Linhuang mansion will be lost if we lose it; A total of 15 troops stationed in Shangjing, and ordered the state capitals along the way to hold back the Song army with all their strength, and buy time for the returning army. It will be no problem for the 20 army to stick to Linhuang Mansion; pass on my imperial decree, and order all concubines, princes and princesses in the palace to withdraw. The Dalugu tribe in the north avoided disaster; our army canceled the rest and immediately launched a fierce attack. They forced us to return to defense, and we will also force Sujin's [-] people back."

Xiao Hui hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, don't do this, this is not the best strategy, there are gaps everywhere, and there are many hidden worries."

"No need to say much, I have already decided that you don't need to stay in Daizhou. You should go back to the camp overnight and launch an attack immediately." Yelu Zongzhen waved his hand and retreated to the inner tent to rest.

……

After conquering Raozhou, the passage leading to Linhuang Mansion in Shangjing has been opened, and there is only one city lying on the road, and that is Zuzhou three hundred miles away; Burn down the houses, destroy the city defenses, take away the food that can be brought, and set fire to the fire if it cannot be brought, the people fled one after another. The bigger the damage, the more serious the damage will be, so that the Liao Army can pay enough attention to it, so he doesn't feel particularly guilty.

At this time, the displaced people will not be frozen to death, and the Song army will not snatch the food, cattle and sheep from the people's homes. This is the limit of what Su Jin can do.

In three days, Raozhou was in ruins. When attacking Raozhou, 20 soldiers were lost. The 19 army lost 2 soldiers along the way. This made Su Jin very satisfied. He attacked three cities, Annihilating 15 to [-] enemies did not cost much, and the number of war horses increased by more than [-], and the number of horses used for transportation increased by [-]. This army already has [-] people who do not need to walk on their feet.

After two days and two nights of rapid marching, the army arrived outside Zuzhou City, the last barrier of Linhuang Mansion. To Su Jin's surprise, he thought that there was no strong city in Liao Kingdom, but Zuzhou was actually a strong city worthy of the name. , although there are no high mountains and dangerous valleys nearby to defend, the mountains are densely covered, the terrain is complex, and there are many lakes, which are very unfavorable for attacking; But these two city walls are tall and thick, completely different from other state capitals.

Su Jin scratched his head. He didn't know that this Zuzhou had a lot of background. The Yelu family of the Liao Kingdom originally originated here. Later, after the Northern Territory was unified and the Daliao Dynasty was established, the place was named Zuzhou because the ancestors, great-grandfathers, grandfathers, and fathers were all born here.

It is conceivable that this is the birthplace of the dragon veins of the Yelu royal family, and it is also the key point of the Linhuang Mansion. Naturally, the city is strong and the defense is tight; there are not many soldiers in Zuzhou, only five thousand regular troops and ten thousand soldiers. However, this 5000 people occupying a favorable location is more than enough to defend the two city walls, let alone Su Jin's army with no means of attacking the city.

Two days after the army arrived, they didn't come up with a good attack method. Pan Jiang tentatively used a simple ladder to force the attack, but soon found that it was impossible. The casualties were too great, and there were hundreds of giant beds on the city wall. The crossbow, the crossbow arrows with thick arms fired continuously, and killed more than 1000 people in one round at a distance of [-] steps. The bluffed Pan Jiang hurriedly stopped, good guy, if this is a strong attack, it is impossible to kill [-] to [-] people. It worked, and Su Jin would never agree to use this kind of crowd tactics, because the more downsizing, the more difficult it will be in the future, and the army becomes a bandit, how can it play the role of a shit stick?

Someone suggested to use fire to attack, and carry kerosene with the army. Rockets are not a problem, but Su Jin inspected the terrain and immediately rejected this proposal. The construction of Zuzhou's city seems to be prepared for fire attack, and the houses are all made of bluestone. Outside, there are very few trees in the city, which is a huge contrast to the lush forests outside the city; moreover, the southern city wall is actually built on water, and half of the big lake outside the south gate is in the city, and half is in the city. Outside the city, it is conceivable that the entire city must be ditched to circulate water. Even if it catches fire, it is easy to extinguish it.

After this proposal was rejected, there was no good plan. Su Jin was anxious and restless. He couldn't afford it. He could imagine that there must be several large armies gathered from all directions to Shangjing. , can also form a huge defensive army. At that time, I can only leave Shangjing Road in despair.

On the evening of the third day, Su Jin rode a horse with the dynasty horse Han Zhang Long and Zhao Hu outside the city of Zuzhou to relax and march along the embankment of the Great Lake. Su Jin suddenly discovered an interesting phenomenon. The terrain is generally high in the west. It is low in the east and high in the north and low in the south, but here is a bit different. Several streams beside the lake flow into the lake from south to north. It may be because of the abundant rain in summer. away.

Su Jin's heart moved, and he shook the reins and walked around the South Embankment, looking left and right, and galloped his horse until the sun set. After traveling for tens of miles, he suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed.

Chao Mahan and others followed, while Monk Zhang Er was puzzled.I thought the young master was going crazy and wanted to come forward to comfort me, but I heard Su Jin say loudly: "God help me, Zuzhou will be destroyed."