Became a feudal lord in the late Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 158: Taking away his bird position

It is generally difficult to hide large-scale army mobilization from the enemy unless it is a rush attack. For example, when Liu Ling went south, he directly captured Hejian Mansion, an important town in Hebei Province, in just two days. Neither Hebei nor Tong Guan could react at all.

One is because in ancient times, news could only be conveyed by horses and manpower. It was possible that if there was an incident at the border, the court would not know that it had been lost until several months later.

Two, even if they noticed some signs in advance, they didn't dare to believe it, and they didn't want to believe it.

The edge of Tong Guan's army has penetrated deep into the Yan region. If Liu Ling led his army to resist, he could actually resist it. It was even possible to block Tong Guan south of Zhuozhou and prevent him from going north.

But after all, the Song Dynasty actually recruited hundreds of thousands of troops. Of course, there may not be many elites who can really fight, most of them are shrimp soldiers and crab generals, but after all, the troops are there. If they really go head-to-head, Liu Ling's side You will have to suffer a certain loss, and even if you defeat Tong Guan, it will be difficult to negotiate with the Song people in the future.

Just like Liu Ling said before,

The purpose of going south was to beat the painful and crying Song people, not to wake them up.

Aren’t you, Da Song, quite capable?

Okay, let's switch houses, let's go against each other, and see who loses more!

In the middle of the Han army heading south, a cavalryman sent a military report. Liu Ling reached out to take it. After reading it once, he chuckled and said:

"He was fooled."

In the letter, it was said that large numbers of troops frequently left the city and evacuated southward in the Jizhou area, which was suspected to be a precursor to collapse. At the same time, the northwest prefectures of Hebei began to fortify walls and clear the country on a large scale. It seemed that they were preparing to stick to Jingxing and wait for the arrival of reinforcements from Hedong.

Once the latter arrived, and Tong Guan's army surrounded and surrounded him, the cage around Liu Ling was almost sealed.

"Does the army have enough food?"

"There are reserves in the treasury of the states and prefectures along the way, enough to be used as military rations."

"Tell the soldiers that there is no need to rush for money. If this battle is won, the Song people will send the money with both hands."

"I understand."

Liu Ling handed the letter to Han Fang, yawned and asked, "How far is Daming Mansion?"

"It has to be forty miles at least. Even if we can get there tonight, the soldiers are all tired. It's best to rest for the night."

Daming Prefecture was the "Beijing" of the Song Dynasty. Compared with Hejian Prefecture, its political status was higher because further south, there were the Yellow River and Kaifeng Prefecture.

It has been almost a month since Yan sent troops southward. Tong Guan failed to capture Zhuozhou, the gateway to the south of Yan, and was delayed for a full month. However, Liu Ling took the whole army with him in one month. The army rushed outside "Yancheng", the capital of Daming Mansion.

There was a loud wind in the cool autumn night, and I was speechless all night.

When countless black flags were erected outside the city, and an endless sea of ​​soldiers began to line up outside the city, the walls of Yuancheng were crowded with panicked people.

Officials from Qiu Ba at the bottom to the top went up and down the city wall like a revolving lantern. The last servant Liang, who had been fleeing all the way south from Hejian Mansion, also climbed up to the top of the city tremblingly and began to look towards the city. Looking outside.

what happened?

Didn't Zongze's letter say that the Yan thieves would definitely find a way to conquer the Northwest Prefecture of Hebei in order to open a road?

Why did the Yan Thief not return to the north, but still go south!

You must know that Jizhou, where Zongze is based, is to the north of Daming Mansion. Unless the Yan thieves capture Jizhou, they will...

But soon, Nei Shi Liang had a reaction in his mind.

"These damn Yan thieves are so bold. Are they going to bypass Jizhou City directly?"

National wars often involve fighting steadily and step by step. Sometimes an entire army will be blocked in front of a city, because if they bypass the city, the logistics and food routes will be seriously threatened.

Liang's servant knew some of the inside story, but he didn't understand why Yanyun's army came over like a mad dog to take a bite.

Yuancheng is a fortified city!

This is no different from drinking poison to quench thirst, because even if you are lucky enough to capture the city in the north, you will be stopped here forever, or even the entire army will be annihilated.

Liu Ling raised his hand, and Liang Zhe next to him immediately began to pass the order, shouting: "Fire the arrow!"

A large number of soldiers formed a formation outside the city, and shield soldiers on both sides began to approach the city wall to protect the arrow array behind them.

After the order to release arrows was passed, for a moment, the captain who was delivering the order drew his sword and pointed it at the top of the city. Then countless arrows shot into the sky, as if a large haze suddenly appeared in the sky, and then they shot at the city like splashing water. head.

The crowd began to scream and disperse, and some people left their lives on the city wall forever. The smell of blood began to spread out unscrupulously. Except for a small number of soldiers who still stayed at their posts, most of the entire city wall had collapsed.

The more than 6,000 victorious soldiers of the former army effortlessly defeated the defenders on the wall in front of them. Then the army began to push the ladders. There should be a lot of defensive equipment on the top of the Song people's city, but they were not moved at all. Only a few The arrow fell.

When the ladder was erected at the top of the city with a bang, it meant that this "extremely strong" Yuancheng fell into Liu Ling's hands again in less than half a day.

That night, Yuancheng's treasury was opened, and most of the captured Song officials asked to surrender. The King of Han ordered them to hold gold and silver coins to reward the army. In the official office, the King of Han waved his hand, and the Song officials who were still trying to please him hurriedly bowed and saluted, and then walked out. The only ones left were the confidant generals and Han Fang and other civil servants.

"All the prefectures and counties north of Daming Mansion collapsed. Although Jizhou is still in the hands of the Song people, it is already an isolated city."

When Zongze decided to lure Liu Ling to lead an army to attack Jizhou City to buy time, all three counties in the north of Jizhou had fallen, which meant that Zongze was half-blind in the north.

Therefore, if he wanted to make Liu Ling believe in him, he had to at least pretend as much as possible that he could not bear to fight again. In other words, he should stop recruiting defeated soldiers, withdraw his sentries, and constantly give up the advantage he had at hand to let Liu Ling Seeing that I really want to "surrender".

His strategy is actually reasonable, but on the one hand Liu Ling knows who he is and will never confront him head-on unless necessary; on the other hand, Zongze gathers a large number of defeated soldiers from the north to Jizhou and at the same time guards against the northwest, which means The state east of Jizhou is now extremely empty and unprepared.

Several soldiers worked together to unfold a map, and everyone stood up and looked at the map.

"Everyone, please take a look." Han Fang approached the map and took the initiative to explain it.

"Our army began to march south to attack the Song Dynasty more than a month ago. The border states of the Song Dynasty were lax in their armaments and the soldiers were unable to fight. Our army moved southward with great momentum, and also surrendered a lot of the Song army."

In addition to Liu Sichu, there were also some Song generals who surrendered with their troops and horses, and most of them were randomly placed by Liu Ling in those captured states. In fact, these people are not stable. If the Song Dynasty suddenly wins a victory, these leading parties are likely to switch sides.

"The Daming Mansion has been destroyed. Except for Jizhou, Hebei is invincible. Even from Jizhou and Jingxing to the west of Hebei, it will be difficult for the Song army to come over."

"Why?" Liang Zhe asked directly.

"Both the Xia army and the grassland people have sent reinforcements. The former is led by the Empress Dowager Yelu. On the grassland people's side, the Zubu people and some small tribes have completely surrendered and knelt down. They need to show their loyalty.

There will be a large number of reinforcements in the Yunzhong area. If the Song's Western Army dares to move, the Xia Army will dare to take advantage of the situation and go south to plunder and attack Taiyuan Prefecture in the east of Hedong. By then, the Song Army will lose sight of one thing and cannot save any place. "

Han Fang stepped on the map, looked around, and said in a deep voice: "I think that the people of Song Dynasty are incredibly weak at the moment, so it is best to seize the opportunity, cross the Yellow River, continue south, and go to the capital of Song Dynasty. Take a walk!”

"What happens after that?"

Liang Zhe was supposed to be the one taking the lead and Han Fang was the one taking the retreat, but now the two of them were the other way around.

Liang Zhe sang the opposite and said: "If our army rushes outside Kaifeng Mansion, the Song people will definitely shake the whole country, but how should the Song people deal with King Qin's army next?"

What he asked was what the generals wanted to know.

Everyone knows that going around the capital of the Song Dynasty is definitely a qualification that can be boasted for a lifetime, and the rewards may be huge.

But the problem is that the total army of more than 30,000 people is already at the limit in Hebei. The size of the Song people is there. After all, it is such a big country. If all the troops are really used to encircle and suppress them, who is standing here today? How many can you go back to?

"Let's see."

Han Fang used his toes to draw a circle in the northwest region of Song Dynasty.

"The most capable army in the Song Dynasty is the Western Army. The Western Army has divided into various branches. Among them, Master Zhong is trapped in the clouds and is now under house arrest.

The rest of the generals who can lead troops are Zhong Shizhong, Zhe Keqiu, Yao Gu, and Yao Pingzhong. In the previous battle in Fuzhou, Tong Guan took advantage of the situation to take back their military power. Now they are idle officials. Even if If the Song Dynasty court wanted to re-activate them, it would take at least two months for envoys to come and go and troops to be dispatched. "

Not to mention that more than half of the capable troops in the Song Kingdom are in the hands of Tong Guan, who cannot come back at all. Even if he still has some wealth, he will not be able to sustain the situation for a while.

Liang Zhe nodded slightly and acknowledged:

"Both the Zhong family and the Yao family are prominent families in the northwest of the Song Dynasty. They have always fought constantly, but these two families are probably the ones who can lead the army. Even if they do lead the army, our army's chances of winning will still be extremely high."

"So, do you still have concerns?"

Liang Zhe immediately shook his head and said carelessly: "I have nothing to say, general. I am willing to follow the king and go to the capital to seize the bird position of the Song official family!"

Half a month later, by the Yellow River.

A Song Dynasty official with a relatively strong bone stood on the river bank. Looking at the countless soldiers and cavalry in front of him, he showed a bit of calmness and asked loudly: "What is the intention of the King of Han coming south?"

Liu Ling glanced at the ferry on the bank of the Yellow River and replied softly:

"This king is here to welcome the bride."

(End of this chapter)