History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 1008: "Jin" is within reach 1
【“Jin” is within reach】

Like his predecessors Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Guangyi needed to train his troops through a foreign war to eliminate doubts about himself from both inside and outside the court. Zhao Guangyi also chose to lead the army in person.

In the first month of 979, Pan Mei was appointed commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition (Northern Route Recruiting Envoy), and Cui Yanjin, Cao Han, Li Hanqiong, and Liu Yu led their troops to besiege Taiyuan City respectively; Mi Xin, Tian Chongjin and others led their troops as the second echelon of the siege; Guo Jin was stationed at Shiling Pass to block the Liao reinforcements; other generals and soldiers were assigned their duties and there is no need to list them in detail.

At the farewell banquet for Pan Mei and others, Zhao Guangyi, as usual, "personally taught Pan Mei a strategy". At that time, Liu Cong (Southern Han), Qian Hongchu (Wuyue Kingdom), Chen Hongjin (Quanzhou) and others also attended the farewell banquet. It was at this banquet that Liu Cong shamelessly raised his glass to congratulate Zhao Guangyi, saying that the Song Dynasty was mighty and that the usurpers from all directions had the honor to gather here. In a few days, Liu Jiyuan of the Northern Han Dynasty would also join our circle. At that time, the emperor must make me the administrator of the "usurper circle of friends" (the chief of the surrendered kings of various countries)!
Everyone present laughed, and Zhao Guangyi laughed particularly happily. Qian Hongchu, Chen Hongjin and others must have smiled awkwardly but politely.

It is also worth mentioning that Xiazhou also sent troops to cooperate with the king's army to attack the Northern Han. When Zhao Kuangyin "conquered the Northern Han three times", Xiazhou also sent troops. But don't think that Xiazhou is a friendly army like Wuyue. Soon, Xiazhou will officially declare independence and establish "Western Xia", forming a three-legged tripod with Song and Liao. It has fought many wars with the Song Dynasty, causing the Song Dynasty to suffer. Xiazhou nominally helped the court to attack the Northern Han, but in reality it took advantage of the fire to rob and take the opportunity to expand Xiazhou's power.

As for the transportation of grain and grass, in addition to the front-line Hebei and other places, the Song Dynasty also requisitioned grain and grass from today's Shandong, Henan and other provinces, mobilizing the whole country. Thanks to the dredging and maintenance of water conservancy since the Later Zhou Dynasty, the strategic delivery capability of the Song Dynasty was incredibly strong, and troops and supplies continued to flash to the city of Taiyuan.

The following month (February), after arranging domestic affairs, Zhao Guangyi personally led the army to the Taiyuan front.

Faced with the aggressive Song army, the Northern Han still adopted the same old approach: close the gates and call for help.

The Khitan's approach is very interesting. In the past, the Khitan would immediately send troops to support and intervene militarily. This time, the Khitan was not in a hurry to send troops to support, but sent a close attendant, Tamar Changshou, to visit Bianzhou urgently. Tamar Changshou, some historical books write "Tama Changshou", Tamar is a transliteration, meaning an attendant or a close attendant of the emperor, an official name.

What is Comrade Changshou doing here?

"Asking about the reason for raising an army to attack Liu Jiyuan." - History of Liao

"Ask why you raised an army to invade us." - "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals: Northern Han"

I just came to ask why the Song Dynasty launched an army, and I didn't mean to "blame" but to "ask". Brother, I just want to ask timidly.

Zhao Guangyi's reply was also very polite: "I am willing. If you don't agree, I will do it with you."

——"Hedong rebelled and should be punished. If the Northern Dynasty does not help, the peace treaty will remain the same; otherwise, we will fight."

Han and traitors cannot coexist. It is natural for the Central Plains Dynasty to recover the Northern Han Dynasty. National sovereignty cannot be discussed. The highlight of this sentence is the second half of the sentence - "the peace treaty remains the same." This is the core focus of the recent chapters. There is indeed a kind of agreement between the Song Dynasty and the Khitan similar to the "Soviet-German Non-Aggression Treaty." The last sentence "otherwise, we will fight" is domineering. I don't want to waste time talking to you. If you don't accept it, just fight.

Outside Taiyuan, the Song army gathered. The Liao Kingdom finally sent reinforcements: the Southern Prime Minister Yelu Sha took the lead, and the Prince of Ji Yelu Dilie was the military supervisor to rush to Taiyuan; the Southern Courtyard Prince Yelu Xizhen was sent to lead the army, and the Deputy Privy Envoy Yelu Mazhi was the military supervisor as the second echelon to aid the Han Dynasty; the Northern Courtyard Prince Xidi and Yishi Prince Sahe were sent to garrison Youzhou. These Khitan generals will appear in the future, so I will not elaborate on them here.

In March, Zhao Guangyi arrived in Chanzhou and was about to cross the river when a man in green clothes suddenly stopped his carriage, saying that he had something to report. The accompanying staff shouted at him, but the man insisted on seeing the emperor. Zhao Guangyi ordered someone to bring his letter. Before he opened it, a smile broke out on Zhao Guangyi's face. It turned out that the sender's name was written on the cover of the letter - Song Jie, the chief clerk of Linhe County.

Zhao Guangyi was very pleased and said that this was a good omen. The Song Dynasty had gone out to fight and returned victoriously. This was God's will! So he immediately promoted this person to the position of Chief of Staff, and the Street Office was promoted to the State Council.

The Khitan sent a senior official (Shangshu) to greet Zhao Guangyi and brought a letter from Emperor Jingzong of Liao. Although the two countries were about to go to war, the Khitans still wanted to try to save the situation and called on the Song Dynasty to remain calm and restrained, not to escalate the conflict, and to maintain the hard-earned friendship between the two countries!

The Northern Han defenders put up a desperate resistance, but it was of no avail. They lost cities and territories, and the area they controlled shrank rapidly. During this period, more and more Northern Han soldiers and civilians surrendered to the Song Dynasty. The Khitan reinforcements were still the only lifeline for the Northern Han.

Soon, the Khitan reinforcements encountered the Song general Guo Jin at Baimaling, south of Shiling Pass, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.

There was a river between the two armies. The Liao army commander Yelu Sha and his generals all thought that they should wait for the main force in the rear to arrive before launching a rebellion. "Don't launch a rebellion, wait until the main force arrives." However, Ji Wang Yelu Dilie and Privy Councilor Yelu Mazhi said, "Go up and launch a rebellion!"

Yelu Sha was the commander, Yelu Dilie was his supervisor, and Yelu Mo was only the supervisor of the second echelon, that is, the regiment commander did not want to fight, but the political commissar demanded it. Yelu Dilie and Yelu Mo only advocated "hurrying up to attack", our people were not complete, and the enemy's personnel were not complete either, so what was there to be afraid of? We must take them by surprise and strike them head-on while they were still breathing. Go!
When the commander's opinion is inconsistent with that of the military supervisor, the military supervisor shall prevail. Yelu Sha was forced to agree to launch a strong attack. The military supervisor Yelu Dilie led the charge. Yelu Dilie really did "catch the enemy by surprise". Guo Jin really didn't expect that the Khitans would be so stupid.

“Aren’t you just asking for trouble?” So the Song army gave the Khitans a basic military lesson – attack the enemy halfway across the river.

The Khitan cavalry waded across the river and became live targets for the Song army archers to score points. They were defeated in an instant and suffered heavy casualties. Five senior officers including Ji Wang Yelu Dilie and his son, Tumin, the governor of Tulubu, and Huangpi Shixiang Yin Tanggu were shot dead on the spot.

Just when Guo Jin was about to reap the remnants, Yelu Xizhen and others arrived with their troops and ordered thousands of arrows to be fired. This prevented the Song army from further reaping the remnants of the Khitan army, and they were able to gather the remnants and retreat in embarrassment.

The Battle of Baimaling completely blocked the Khitan reinforcements. Historical records record that "the Northern Han reinforcements were thus cut off."

Liu Jiyuan of the Northern Han Dynasty sent someone to take a shortcut to deliver a wax letter to the Khitan to ask for help, but he was captured by the Song army. The Song army dragged the spy to the streets of Taiyuan for public display, which greatly reduced the morale of the Taiyuan defenders.

According to Khitan records, some Northern Han spies successfully broke through and submitted wax ball letters to the Liao Kingdom for help. The Song army only intercepted some of them.

In April, Liu Jiyuan sent his son-in-law Lu Jun to Khitan again to ask for help. "Don't hesitate, this time is different from the past. If you don't take action, the Northern Han will really be destroyed!"

When the Khitans heard this, they said, "It's still the same as before. You say this every time you come..."

"Dad, you are my ancestor. This time it is really, really different..."

Zhao Guangyi had already arrived at the city of Taiyuan. What was the scenery outside the city of Taiyuan? The history books said, "It was built with earth and surrounded on all sides. Arrows and stones rained down on it day and night."

The Song army built a large-scale construction outside Taiyuan City, and built a circle of "Great Wall" around Taiyuan City, completing the physical encirclement of Taiyuan. Second Battalion Commander, where is your Italian cannon? Pull it out for me!

Under Zhao Guangyi's supervision, the city walls of Taiyuan were in ruins, riddled with holes, with not a single intact part. The Khitan reinforcements were slow to arrive, and the city was on the verge of running out of food and grass... The Northern Han army and civilians fell into great panic and were almost in despair.

Zhao Guangyi wrote several letters to Liu Jiyuan asking them to surrender, but whenever the messengers came to the city, the Taiyuan defenders would close the gates and refuse to let them in. You can lose a group battle, but you can never lose your dignity.

Let the storm come even more violently. Zhao Guangyi gave the archers a perverted BUFF of unlimited ammunition and redefined "Van Fleet's ammunition" (each edict gave the army millions of arrows, which would be used up in an instant), allowing the Northern Han defenders to enjoy the famous scene from "Hero" more than a thousand years in advance. Historical records record that "arrows gathered on the city wall like hedgehog hairs" and the city walls were shot into hedgehogs.

A captive from the Northern Han told the Song army that Liu Jiyuan was buying up arrows from the Song army at a high price, ten coins per arrow, and had already obtained more than one million arrows. Zhao Guangyi laughed and said thank you comrade Liu Jiyuan for keeping them for me. It is estimated that this captive was caught when he ventured out of the city to pick up arrows to generate income.

The second battalion commander finally pulled over the Italian artillery - the catapult. Zhao Guangyi had previously inspected this batch of heavy weapons at the Lecture Hall, and today they finally came in handy.

In such a terrifying atmosphere, Zhao Guangyi decided to help the defenders relax their tense nerves and presented a wonderful acrobatic show outside the city: hundreds of warriors with bare upper bodies, dancing with swords, dodging and moving, sometimes throwing swords into the air and then somersaulting to catch them.

This group of acrobatic troupes was composed of the best and strongest men selected by Zhao Guangyi from various armies. They had undergone professional training and were mainly used to scare the Khitans. Whenever the Khitan envoys came, Zhao Guangyi would give a banquet in the side hall and then let the acrobatic troupe perform sword dances and various thrilling moves to liven up the atmosphere. The Khitan envoys were so scared that they dared not look directly at them.

Now, the Taiyuan defenders are "scared to death" at the sight of it.

(End of this chapter)