The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

(Thanks to the monthly tickets of two book friends, I Pain Chong and longtu168168)

The ensuing battle was lackluster. Although the Liao army with low morale retreated back to the imperial city, they had lost the conditions to defend the imperial city. Slow death.

However, the long-awaited army of Emperor Taidi Yelu Chongyuan has not arrived, and the surrounding area of ​​Linhuang Mansion has been completely controlled, and even scouts can't be sent out, and no news can be heard at all.

Yelu Hongji wisely chose to evacuate. Song's troops were not strong enough to besiege the imperial city, and Su Jin didn't seem to want to divide his troops to besiege the city at all. Although Song's troops were twice as strong as Liao's, they didn't want to divide their troops, which would hurt the Liao people. Leave the opportunity to attack weak points with more hits or less.

Yelu Hongji left 2 people behind to guard the still solid city defenses, while he himself led 2 people to escape from Linhuang Mansion non-stop and headed north.

Su Jin didn't order the pursuit. Yelu Hongji's 2 troops could no longer be successful. Taking down Linhuang Mansion is the top priority. Exhausted, the strong city walls of the Linhuang Mansion Imperial City are for protection, so they can just take a good rest; another reason is that Yelu Chongyuan's army should have arrived soon, and it is taboo to pursue at this time, and it is very likely that Yelu Chongyuan will be killed. Yuan was captured in the wild, without the fortified city of Linhuang Mansion as a barrier, he was no match for Yelu Chongyuan at all.

The battle to attack the imperial city took less than three hours. At the end of the afternoon, the imperial city was destroyed. The [-] remaining Liao troops surrendered after [-] were killed. The princes all ran away. Who would be willing to be cannon fodder? Under such circumstances, surrender is the only way out in front of the Song army that is several times larger than yourself.

The Linhuang Mansion was destroyed, and Su Jin's ultimate strategic goal for six months was finally realized. Throughout the six months of continuous campaigns, Su Jin's northern expedition army traveled tens of thousands of miles, captured sixteen Liao cities in a row, and wiped out the Liao army There are nearly 20 defenders from all over the country, moving freely and horizontally in the territory of the Liao Kingdom as if entering a no-man's land, which restrained too much energy of the Liao people for the frontal battlefield; Up to 15.

The frontal battlefield was originally a one-sided offensive and defensive situation. The 70 Liao army defended against the 40 Song army defenders. Today, the frontal battlefield has more than [-] troops against the Song army's [-] troops, and the force has gradually leveled off.

The other most important meaning of winning the Linhuang Mansion is that it dealt a huge psychological and morale blow to the opponent. The front line desperately advanced to the third line of defense, paying the price of 10,000+ people killed in battle, but the old nest in the back was given away. Copy it, this feeling is too bad to describe, the news spread to the front line, Yelu Zong is really afraid that a mouthful of old blood will be spurted three feet away.

Su Jin immediately ordered to transport all the food and materials in Seoul to the imperial city. Seoul could not hold it, so it could only hold it in the imperial city. Unfortunately, the buildings in the imperial city were severely damaged, and the people had to be forced to rebuild simple houses to live in; The army seized the time to rest and meet the coming army of Yelu Chongyuan. At the same time, the horses were released around to check the position of the enemy.

There is another thing that has been hanging in Su Jin's mind, that is the whereabouts of the dynasty. Yelu Chongyuan returned to the army to help, which shows that the Song army and the Jurchen coalition forces have lost the battle of Xinzhou. Judging from the situation, Yelu Chongyuan is eager to return to the army Coming to rescue Linhuang Mansion, the chances of chasing and annihilating the allied forces are very small. With the ability of the dynasty, even if the entire army is wiped out, he will definitely be able to escape if he wants to. It's just that it has been so long since Linhuang Mansion has a round, which is really reassuring. No more.

Su Jin sent a cavalry team of one hundred men to search for the possible direction of the dynasty. After Xinzhou was defeated, the dynasty had only two ways to go. One was to go north to Longzhou, and the other was to go south to Liaoyang, Hanzhou, which was burned to the north. Going in the same direction, it is not without trace; in addition, the news of the capture of Linhuang Mansion must be sent back to the front line as soon as possible, urging the front line to take advantage of the opportunity to launch a counterattack; Zhao Hu personally led the team and led [-] cavalry to carry Su Jin's autograph memorial He and Shuxin left Linhuang Mansion overnight and headed south.

……

When Yelu Chongyuan led an army of 16 to a place more than a hundred miles east of Linhuang Mansion, he had already heard the news that the north of Linhuang Mansion had been captured. Angrily, Yelu Chongyuan scolded Yelu Hongji for being a fool, with [-] troops According to guarding the imperial city of Linhuang Mansion, even a fool can last ten days and half a month, but Yelu Hongji lost the city in six days.

Yelu Zhongyuan was already marching rapidly along the way. After the victory in Xinzhou, he didn't even take any rest, and dragged the exhausted army back. God is not beautiful, and it snowed heavily on the way, Yelu Chongyuan had to slow down, but he thought he would make it in time. He didn't believe that the Song army would take down Linhuang Mansion so quickly, because the Song army had no siege equipment and supplies at all, but the fact slapped him solidly .

As soon as the dawn dawned, Yelu Chongyuan had already put on his tent and stood on the high platform of the camp overlooking the city. The scout captain beside him bowed to report the latest news he had found.

"Your Highness, the Song army captured Seoul four days ago, and then used Seoul as a camp to launch an attack on the imperial city. The imperial city was captured at the end of yesterday. The eldest prince led 2 people to retreat north to Ningzhou. I don’t know if I should say something or not.”

"Huh?" Yelu Zhongyuan felt that the scout captain's expression was a bit strange: "Why don't you say it quickly? Why are you hesitating?"

"Yes, the villain said that my team heard a shocking news. I don't know if it is true or not. During the siege yesterday, the Song army captured Empress Renyi, the second prince and two princesses. People may want to use them as hostages to force the prince to surrender, but the result...the result..."

"What's the result? If you hesitate again, your tongue will be cut off and you will be unable to speak for the rest of your life." Yelu Zhongyuan faintly felt that something was wrong, and shouted in a low voice.

"In the end... the first prince lied before the battle that he wanted to meet the queen, and asked the queen to show her, but unexpectedly... the first prince drew a knife and killed the queen and the two little princesses, the second prince, when they met. "

"What?" Yelu Zhongyuan opened his eyes wide, looking at the captain in disbelief.

The captain of the scout trembled in fright, the emperor's younger brother's reaction was completely inconsistent with his imagination, he thought Yelu Chongyuan would be furious, but at this moment, his eyes seemed to be mostly excited, and there seemed to be a trace of joy, The scout captain thought he was delusional.

Yelu Zhongyuan returned to his normal reaction, and scolded angrily: "This little bastard is so ruthless that he even dares to kill the queen. He must be refusing the threats of the Song people under the banner of the safety of Linhuang Mansion."

"Yes, it is said that this is exactly the case. The First Prince said that Linhuang Mansion is more important than anything else. He is willing to bear the name of killing his mother, and he also wants to keep Linhuang Mansion and Jiangshan Sheji."

Yelu Chongyuan sneered and said, "What's the result? Isn't Linhuang Mansion lost? Well, well, my nephew can be regarded as a famous person. Is there anything else? Does Song Jun have any other moves?"

The scout captain hurriedly said: "Apart from the strict security of the Song Army, there is nothing unusual about it."

Yelu Chongyuan nodded and said: "Investigate again and report again, go down." The captain of the scout saluted and retreated, Yelu Chongyuan fell into deep thought, and the trusted lord Wang Han who followed beside him stepped forward and cupped his hands: "Congratulations, Your Highness, congratulations, Your Highness. "

Yelu Chongyuan said: "The current situation has become so corrupt, why do you like it?"

Wang Han looked around and said softly, "Your Highness, you don't need to worry about the throne being sidelined. Although the Emperor appointed His Highness as the emperor's younger brother, anyone with a discerning eye can see that he really wants to pass on the throne to the eldest prince. Now the eldest prince is doing the opposite. , not only killed the queen but also lost the capital, the emperor's flesh and bones were also killed by him, so that he is absolutely ineligible to succeed, so who else can succeed the throne? My congratulations in advance."

Yelu Zhongyuan frowned, and his breathing became heavy, but he regained his composure instantly, and pretended to reprimand: "What are you talking about about the throne at this time, the top priority is to recapture Shangjing with the enemy. Although the throne is important, it is nothing compared to the national crisis. ?”

Wang Han hurriedly said: "Your Highness has a broad mind, and the villain admires it so much. The villain thinks that at this moment, the eldest prince's soldiers and horses must be recruited immediately to join the army. Doesn't he have [-] soldiers and horses? The more troops the better, the better the imperial city is. "

Yelu Zhongyuan looked at Wang Han and said, "Call him back? Can't my army of 16 conquer the imperial city?"

Wang Han smiled and said: "Of course we can attack, but the eldest prince has lost Linhuang, so he is the one to fight this battle."

Yelu Zhongyuan's face changed, and he looked at Wang Han's smiling face, and was dumbfounded.