A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 1006: Jibei rescues Juyong, the advantage is in my governor's district

The fifteenth year of Xia Chengqian, the fourth year of Qingtai in the Later Tang Dynasty

April

Xia Beitiao's deputy marshal, Prince of Lu Bailang, invited the Khitan Emperor Yelu Deguang to fight outside the camp at Xingye.

The battle lasted for half a day and the Xia army was exhausted.

At the critical moment, Chu Cai, the commander of the front army of the Xia Guard Cavalry Division, arrived with 5,000 cavalry and attacked Yelu Deguang's flag.

Xia Cavalry General Li Jie led his 1,000 cavalrymen to break through several formations and arrived under the big flag.

Emperor Yelu fled in panic, and Li Jie chased him for thirty miles until he reached Juyong Pass.

Yelu Deguang was defeated and the Khitan cavalry besieging the Bailang tribe also fled in all directions.

Yelu Jindong, the Khitan general who had been besieging Jibei, learned that his brother had escaped. Even though there was only one day's worth of food left in the city, he decisively withdrew the siege and led his 10,000 cavalrymen to retreat beyond the Great Wall.

The Khitan cavalry that was defeated in Wozhou was also gathered by Yelu Yunchuan, and 30,000 cavalry retreated to Weizhou.

As a result, south of Juyongguan, only the scattered Khitan defeated soldiers, the defeated Jin army, as well as the rebel troops and bandits were left.

Bai Tao, who had been besieged in Jibei for five months, finally met Bai Lang heading north. It is hard to describe how the two brothers hugged each other and cried bitterly.

April 27
The main force of the Xia army's northern expedition arrived in Jibei.

Because the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Army was Bai Tao, Li Cunqian handed over the command on the same day and behaved as if he was obeying orders.

Bai Tao didn't hesitate either.

May th
The 70,000-man northern expeditionary army rested in Jibei for ten days, leaving 20,000 to garrison Jibei, and the rest set out for Juyongguan.

The 20,000 people left behind were not only to guard against the Jin army in Hebei, but also to guard against the Khitans in Liaodong.

As for the Khitans in Weizhou, Bai Tao sent cavalry general Chu Cai to station in Yizhou to supervise them.

The 30,000 Khitan cavalry in Weizhou alone could not defeat the 5,000 elite cavalry of the Xia army.

May

The Xia army arrived at Juyong Pass.

This strategic pass was originally in the hands of the Xia State. After Jibei was besieged, Huairong outside the Great Wall was besieged by 200,000 Khitans and was unable to move south to provide support.

Therefore, how could they withstand the continuous attack of tens of thousands of Khitans with only 800 soldiers?

So two months later, Juyongguan fell.

None of the 800 soldiers guarding Juyong Pass surrendered.

How could Bai Tao not feel angry when he saw that this pass, which originally belonged to him, was now in the hands of the Khitans and became a chain blocking his advance northwards?

Not only did he feel ashamed for not realizing the true intentions of the Khitans, which led to the Khitans entering the pass and the 50,000 border troops being surrounded and barren, but he also felt ashamed for the fact that the land of Hebei was ravaged and devastated.

He was even more angry at Shi Jingtang for shamelessly letting his friendly forces' flanks go, leading to massacres in the Central Plains.

This includes not only anger towards the Khitans, but also anger towards the Jin people.

By now, Shi Jingtang had already stolen the throne from the Li family, proclaimed himself emperor, and established the "Great Jin".

In the eyes of the Xia people, Shi Jingtang's act of bringing the Hu people into the pass and obtaining the throne was completely an act of treason and he would definitely be nailed to the pillar of shame in history.

The Xia court had even decided on a strategy to take action against the Jin State after the Hebei issue was resolved.

"The Khitans thought that by breaking through our passes and crossing the mountains, they could ravage our people and occupy our land at will."

"They are wrong. All land under heaven belongs to the king, and all people in the world are his subjects. Everywhere the sun and the moon shine is our Great Xia territory."

"How can such a shameless person occupy the land of the Xia people?"

"Drive them out, drive them to a place where we can't see them, until they disappear between heaven and earth." "Soldiers, forge ahead, His Majesty is watching you in Kaifeng, glory and wealth, and a name in history are all waiting for you."

"kill!"

After a brief boost in morale, the Xia army rushed towards Juyong Pass like wolves and tigers.

Although Juyongguan occupies a geographical advantage, the army finds it difficult to maneuver.

However, the Xia army advocates elite forces, and the soldiers have high professional qualities. It is in such a narrow place with few soldiers that they can exert their greatest combat power.

On the other hand, the Khitans were a nomadic people after all. They might be okay on horseback, but without their horses, how could they defeat the armored and armed Xia soldiers?

So it was only three days.

The Xia army recaptured Juyong Pass.

Yelu Deguang, who had already fled back to the outside of the Great Wall, now joined the 200,000-strong army that was besieging Huairong City.

It was learned that the Xia army had left the border and would arrive outside Huairong City in less than a day.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to concentrate his superior forces to fight a decisive battle with the Xia army, and sent envoys to Chang'an to ask Shi Jingtang to send troops to help.

Facing the worried ministers, Yelu Deguang said with great pride: "Our army has 200,000 soldiers, and even if we add the 50,000 exhausted soldiers in the city, the Xia army only has 100,000 soldiers."

"Soon the Emperor of Jin will personally lead an army of 100,000 to the north. 300,000 versus 100,000. The advantage is on my side."

Hearing Yelu Deguang's confidence, the Khitan civil and military officials who had been afraid of the elite Xia army were no longer worried and felt relieved.

May

The Khitans withdrew their siege on Huairong and set up camp in Huaian County in the northwest, awaiting the arrival of the Jin army.

May

The 50,000-strong northern expeditionary army led by Bai Tao arrived at Huairong.

Governor Huairong, Vice Minister of War, General Guanjun, and Marquis of Kaiguo County Gao Du, who was in charge of the defense of the northern border, led dozens of border army generals out of the city to welcome them.

"Thank you for your hard work." Bai Tao held Gao Du's rough big hand, thanking him for his perseverance over the past five months.

The northern defense line of the Xia Kingdom is centered on Jibei, with Yizhou, Guizhou, and Jizhou as the defense lines, among which Guizhou and Jizhou are the most important.

Jibei Prefecture is an important town in the northern border. King Bai Tao of Ji is personally in charge of it. He is also the supreme commander of the Xia border troops here and is in charge of the overall coordination.

Guizhou is located in the northern part of the Great Wall, facing the threat of the Khitans, so 70% of the troops are stationed here, led by Huairong Governor Gao Du.

Jizhou was facing the Liaodong tribes who were vassals of the Khitan. In addition, the Liaodong Corridor was easy to defend but difficult to attack, so it was not the main direction of the Khitan's attack.

The defense focuses on Yuguan, Xiongwu, Hongshui, Yancheng and other places. A garrison was set up under the command of Jing Kesong, the governor of Jizhou, with 5,000 garrison troops under his command.

As Yizhou was adjacent to the Tang State, it had a garrison of only a thousand men, a local army belonging to the Yizhou Military Governorate.

The governors of the Xia Kingdom were divided into upper, middle and lower levels.

Among them, the important cities, such as Jibei, Xiangyang, Suzhou, Yuzhou, Luozhou, and Yangzhou, are all under the jurisdiction of the Shangdu Governorate, of the third rank, with a military strength ranging from 10,000 to 50,000.

The more important ones include Guizhou, Jianzhou, and Jizhou, all of which are under the jurisdiction of the Central Military Governorate, with a military strength ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of soldiers from the third rank.

Those inland military governorships that did not need defense, such as Caozhou and Bozhou, were all lower-level military governorships, of the fourth rank, with a force of less than 1,000 men. They were responsible for suppressing bandits and defending the local prefectures and counties, no different from the county soldiers during the Han Dynasty.

The sources of these soldiers were also different. Most of the soldiers under the command of the governor came from local garrisons, half farmers and half soldiers.

Most of the soldiers in the middle and upper governorates were recruited from the central government and were garrison troops with an average level of professionalism.

As for the Central Imperial Guards, they are elite soldiers selected from each governor's district and equipped with the best equipment. They are also paid imperial guards with a high degree of professionalism and all they need to do is hone their martial arts.

(End of this chapter)