Late Tang

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At the end of February in the fifth year of Qianfu, the Bailangshui River Valley in western Liaoning, although it was already the end of February, there was still no breath of spring here, as long as the cold wind howled like a knife and the river was frozen.

White Wolf Mountain, two hundred miles west of Liucheng, the governor of Yingzhou in the west of Liaoning, guards the inexhaustible route from the Central Plains to Liao.

Since the Tang army launched the offensive in western Liaoning last winter, the entire western and eastern Liaoning have been fighting everywhere.

On the eastern front, the town [***] launched an attack from the direction of Anshi in the lower reaches of the Liaoshui River to the west of Liaoxi, and in the north of Anshi, as well as in the two directions of Wugu City and Niangniangshan City, it also launched an attack on the Goguryeo people in Liaodong at the same time. In order to contain Liaodong City, Xincheng City, Baiyan City, Gaimu City and other Goguryeo troops.

On the western front, Zhen [***] troops divided into two groups, all the way along the endless road to attack Bailangshui through Xuanshui, and finally fought with the Khitan and Xi Lianjun under the capital mountain, and the confrontation lasted for three month long.

At the same time, nearly [-] troops and civilians were the main force on the West Zhen[***] Road, and the Liaoxi Corridor was opened up along the coast. I fight.

However, on the whole, from the surface, the Liaoxi offensive launched by Zhen [***] seems to have fallen into a muddy quagmire, and it is impossible to break through on all battlefields.The war lasted for a long time, and seeing the rivers thaw, large areas in western Liaoning will become swampy areas as the rain increases.In particular, the more than 200-mile swamp belt in the east direction can make the town [***] in the east completely unable to stand, and can only retreat to Anshi.

The situation in western Liaoning seems to be more favorable to Khitan, especially after Khitan lost its ally Bohai, but gained the support of Xi Ren, the situation in western Liaoning became more favorable to Khitan.

In the lower reaches of the Bailang River in the eastern part of Liaoxi, the Khitan people guarded the lower reaches of the Bailang River, from the west bank of the Liao River to the east bank of the Bailang River, and the Diel tribe stationed in Huaiyuan City, Wulu City, Liaoxi City, Yancheng, and Ruluo. There are five cities in the city, and there are also soldiers and horses stationed in Wanghaidun, the water city at the mouth of Bailangshui.

Although the Tang army in the east launched several attacks, they failed to capture even a strong city in the past three months.

The general Diela stationed in Liucheng is the elder brother of the current Yili Jin, and the son of the former Yili Jin Yun Deshi, Yelu Shilu.

Yelv Shilu led the troops of various tribes in western Liaoning, including [-] Khitan soldiers in the six cities in the east, [-] Khitan soldiers in Liucheng, and [-] Khitan soldiers and [-] Xi soldiers in Dushan.Plus [-] Khitan soldiers stationed at White Wolf Mountain.

There are a total of [-] soldiers and horses deployed in the small western Liaoning, of which at least [-] are soldiers.There are [-] soldiers in the elite cavalry of the Die assassination department alone.

Moreover, with the successive victories of the Diela tribe soldiers on the Huangshui battlefield in the Khitan, the Diela tribe has predicted that they can completely defeat the Khende Khan before the arrival of summer. , Send another [-] to [-] troops to western Liaoning.

With one hundred thousand troops dispatched at a time, this will be the biggest battle of Khitan in a hundred years.At the same time, Xi Ren will also send about [-] more soldiers and horses to help out.Yelv Shilu had enough confidence to believe that Li Jing's luck had come to an end in this battle.

Yelu Shilu was wrapped in a mink fur robe and sat on the gate tower watching the wind and snow, gazing at the vast snow field outside Liucheng for a long time.

"Father!" Yelu Wansi, the son of Yelu Shilu, strode up to the gate tower and bowed to his father.

Yelu Shilu retracted his thoughts from a distance, looked back at his snow-covered son, and asked, "How is the inquiry about that matter?"

"Li Jing's handsome flag was originally in Shanhaiguan, and it appeared in the Tang camp by the sea before. However, our spies tried their best to inquire, but found an unexpected situation. Although Li Jing's handsome flag is in the seaside camp, it has always been Li Jing's bodyguard. The pro-army Jinjia Shengjie Army is not there. Not only the Jinjia Shengjie Army is not there, but even the elite army of the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army is not there."

Previously, Yelu Shilu discovered that Li Jing, the general of the Tang Army, seemed to have received news suddenly, although Li Jing's commander-in-chief had been in the Tang Army camp all along.But it has been a long time since I saw Li Jing's movement, and no one has seen Li Jing.Yelu Shilu was worried about Li Jing's conspiracy, so he sent his son Yelu Wansi to investigate in person.Unexpectedly, things turned out to be as he had feared, and this Li Jing disappeared.

Yelu Shilu was the third uncle of Yelu Abaoji, and Yelu Abaoji became the Taizu of the Liao Dynasty, largely because of Shilu's early support for him.Before the establishment of the Liao Dynasty, Yelu Shilu took over the military power and worshiped Yue.After the founding of the country, he was named king of Sui Dynasty.Yelu Wansi, served as the king of the South Court in the Liao Kingdom.His son, Brother Yeluxiu, is the God of War in Daliao.

"Father, maybe Li Jing is just playing tricks?"

"No, Li Jing must not be underestimated. I'm always worried that he will suddenly appear at a certain time and bite us." Yelu Shilu shook his head and frowned, "I have studied how he was in Daibei and Sha The battle of the Tuo people. In several battles, this Li Jing left the battlefield, and then when the Shatuo people fought the most intensely with the official army, he suddenly rushed from the side and severely injured the Shatuo people. Li Jing's whereabouts are now uncertain. That’s how it feels to me.”

"But where can he hide? Now that the Liaohe River is frozen, even if Li Jing has the strongest navy, his navy cannot walk on the ice. At the very least, it will not be possible until March. However, news came from within the clan that Khan Hende would not be able to hold on anymore. Perhaps before that time, a few uncles would be able to lead troops from the grassland. At that time, more than ten of us Wan Qi, are you afraid that you won't be able to defeat Li Jing?"

Yelu Shilu nodded, but there was still an unspeakable worry in his heart.

"Have you got in touch with Youzhou?" Yelv Shilu asked expectantly after taking a sip of his spirits.

"I have already contacted Fan Xinglong, he is very interested in this matter. However, he proposed that if Li Jing is defeated, Pingzhou will belong to him, and we will also give him [-] horses."

"How did you answer?" Yelu Shilu sneered.

"I paid back the price with him, and finally agreed with him that as long as he sends troops to help us, the land of Pingzhou will belong to him, and we will give him [-] war horses as a reward."

Yelu Shilu glanced at his son appreciatively, "You did a good job. Since Fan Xinglong is so greedy for small profits, then just give him something sweet. As long as we can defeat Li Jing, even if we return Yingzhou to him, but Does he dare to ask for it?" With a smile, he asked again: "Have you got in touch with Liu Yue? Although Li Jing is the commander-in-chief in Youzhou in name, in fact Liu Yue is the biggest army leader. If Liu Yue is willing Sending troops to attack Li Jing from behind will undoubtedly increase our chances of winning."

"I have already sent someone to contact, but Liu Yue has not responded yet. It can be seen that this person is very afraid of Li Jing."

"Perhaps, he is more greedy than Fan Xinglong just because he doesn't see rabbits and don't scatter eagles. After all, sending troops to attack Li Jing is also risky, and if he can't see the benefits, how could this guy send troops easily. You send someone to go If you go to Youzhou, you might as well have some benefits, for example, tell him that as long as he sends troops to help us defeat Li Jing, then we can help him defeat Fan Xinglong afterwards, and help him win the Ping and Ji states."

Yelv Shilu was full of calculations, looking forward to defeating Li Jing in western Liaoning.

Almost at the same time, Li Jing led [-] Tang cavalry and another [-] Xiren cavalry along the endless road, from King Xi's tooth tent day and night, and unexpectedly killed everyone at the foot of Bailang Mountain.

In the silent night, there were [-] Khitan soldiers stationed at the foot of White Wolf Mountain, including [-] soldiers and [-] auxiliary soldiers.

However, there were [-] Khitan and Xi cavalry soldiers from the Dushan Camp in the front, and Liucheng in the back. Therefore, the Khitan soldiers in the White Wolf Mountain Camp did not have much vigilance.

When the [-] Xi people led by Xi Tujin and Yi Gu arrived in front of the camp, the Khitan general guarding the camp really believed that they were the Xi people's allies who had come to reinforce them, and let them approach with confidence, and opened the camp gate .

Ten thousand Xiren cavalry easily crossed the Haogou fences and entered the camp with ease.

Then, Yi Gu led Xi Qi to suddenly turn around and charge. The Khitan cavalry were caught off guard, and many soldiers were still warming in their tents.The Khitan soldiers were defeated and fled in all directions.But he didn't escape very far. Li Jing, who had been ambushing outside, led the cavalry to intercept.

At the foot of White Wolf Mountain, by the river.

The brutal massacre lasted for nearly half a day, and blood stained the snow and ice.

The [-] Khitan cavalry were wiped out, none of them fled, and their corpses lay for more than [-] li.

Suddenly went around behind the Khitan people and wiped out the [-] Khitan cavalry from Bailang Mountain. Li Jing left [-] elite troops to guard Bailang Mountain to prevent the troops from Liucheng from coming to reinforce Dushan. willow city.

Afterwards, Li Jing led [-] Tang troops and [-] Xi cavalry turned westward, and directly killed Xiangdushan Khitan and Xi Ying.

When Li Jing's soldiers and horses set off, they had sent dozens of cavalry to report to Li Juyi and Liu Xun, and at the same time to report to the seaside camp, asking them to lead their troops to encircle the capital.

On February 27, Li Jing's troops arrived in the east of the capital, while Liu Xun and Li Juyi led [-] elite troops to advance to the west of the capital, and Lin Wei led [-] elite cavalry to rush from the south.

The army surrounded Dushan with [-] Khitan and Xi Lian regiments.

Khitan originally wanted to defend the capital, Li Jing sent an envoy to see Shi Se, and handed him a letter in public.

The envoy left after handing over the letter. When Shi Se opened the letter, he saw that many places on the letter had been altered, and he couldn't see the details at all.Just in a strange moment, the Khitan general Yelu Yanmu came to ask for the letter to watch.

When Shi Se handed the letter to Yanmu, Yanmu saw that the letter had been altered and he could not read the content clearly, so he couldn't help feeling suspicious.

The second son of Yeluyan Mu Naiyun Deshi, the second elder brother of Yelu Shilu, and Shise's wife and brother.Confidence explained it for a long time, and Yanmu believed it on the surface, but after returning, a scout went down and reported that there was a banner of Xi Jun in the Tang camp at the foot of the mountain.Yeluyan was shocked and sent someone to investigate carefully.It didn't take long to report back, and it was indeed Xi Jun at the foot of the mountain, with tens of thousands of riders, and the old Xi Wang Tu Dongsu's banner was also in the army.

Yelu Yanmu was terrified, and at this time he had already decided that Xi Ren had betrayed Khitan.That night, Yelu Yanmu mobilized troops and suddenly attacked Shi Se's men.

Chaos broke out on the mountain for a while, Li Jing took the opportunity to attack the mountain, and the Khitan could not hold out until midnight before falling.

Several groups of Tang troops fought in all directions, and Yelu Yanmu was defeated and fled.Li Jing led his army to take advantage of the victory and pursue them all the way east.

On the first day of March in the fifth year of Qianfu, Li Jing led [-] vanguard cavalry to kill Liucheng, and then Lin Wei and other commanders arrived with [-] troops.

At the same time, Zhao Ji and Zeng Yuanyu of Anshi also led their troops across the Liaoshui River to aggressively attack the west of Liaoning.

On the fifth day of March, Pei You led the navy to break through the White Wolf Water into Haikou Water City Linhaidun City.On the sixth day of the third month, Zhao Ji attacked Liaoxi City, and on the eighth day, Zeng Yuanyu attacked Wulu City.

On March [-]th, Li Jing stormed Liucheng for ten days and finally broke Liucheng.

Yelu Shilu led the defeated troops to break through and fled to the east.At the same time, the Khitan soldiers in Ruluo City and Yan City also began to abandon the city.

On March [-]th, Li Jing led the army to capture eight cities in Liaoxi: White Wolf City, Liucheng, Yancheng, Ruluo City, Linhaidun City, Liaoxi City, Wulu City, and Huaiyuan City.So far, the entire Liaodong has been recovered by Li Jing.

In the end, Yelu Shilu, Yelu Yanmu and others only led more than [-] Khitan soldiers to flee back to the upper reaches of the Liao River and retreat into the territory of Khitan.More than [-] Khitan and Xi people died in battle, and more than [-] were captured.

The news spread to Youzhou, and Fan Xinglong, the Lulong Army of Youzhou, was leading his troops from Jizhou to Pingzhou, besieging the stone city of Pingzhou.

Seeing that Shicheng was about to be breached, a scout horse galloped over and delivered an urgent report to Fan Xinglong.

Fan Xinglong sat astride his horse and was complacent. He took the letter and opened it casually. His eyes fell on the parchment but froze instantly. Then his face turned pale and he suddenly fell off the horse.

"It's not good, the general has a stroke, please send it to the doctor!"

Fan Xinglong, with crooked mouth and drooling eyes, was lying on the icy snow, with one hand still tightly clutching the urgent report, on which there was a line of big characters, Li Jing smashed Khitan and seized the whole territory of Yingzhou! (To be continued.)