History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 1019 Yongxi Northern Expedition 1
[Yongxi Northern Expedition]

In September 982, Emperor Jingzong of Liao, Yelü Xian, passed away, and the 9-year-old prince, Yelü Longxu, was enthroned as the new emperor. In December, Zhao Guangyi was very happy when he received the news. The young emperor ascended the throne, and the orphans and widows... This scenario was too familiar to the Song Dynasty. He thought it was a perfect opportunity to attack the Liao Kingdom, so he sent a peace request to the Liao Kingdom, expressing his willingness to put aside past grievances and reconcile.

That’s right, “Song sent envoys to offer rhinoceros belts and ask for peace.”

The Liao Kingdom did not fall for this and was still playing strategic deception? It had only been a few days since the Northern Han Dynasty was destroyed? At this time, they lowered their posture to seek peace, which was nothing more than thinking that the young ruler of the Liao Kingdom ascended the throne and the country was in doubt, and deliberately created a relatively safe external environment so that the internal contradictions of the Liao Kingdom could fully ferment. After all, using foreign wars to divert domestic contradictions is an old trick that has been sung everywhere.

The Liao Kingdom found an excuse to send the Song envoy away and rejected the Song Dynasty's request for peace.

In November of the eighth year of Taipingxingguo (983), the captured Khitans (live) were delivered to Bianzhou by express delivery from Waqiaoguan. Zhao Guangyi met with them and asked them about the strength of Liao. He replied that Liao was in great chaos, with tribes divided and unable to compete with Song. He was also worried that Song would take advantage of the situation, so he had recently built fortresses in strategic locations to deal with the Song's advance.

This sentence touched Zhao Guangyi's heart, so he told his prime ministers his thoughts: Khitan people were originally nomadic people, and plundering in the south was their job, but now they are building cities, which means they are really at the end of their rope and are only seeking to protect themselves; before Liu Jiyuan stole Hedong, Zhou Shizong and Song Taizu were awesome, right? Even they couldn't do anything to the Northern Han, and I helped Shizong and Taizu to avenge their previous humiliation and captured Liu Jiyuan alive. I'm not saying that I'm more awesome than Shizong and Taizu, but the facts don't allow me to be low-key.

When Zhao Guangyi asked about his opinion on the Northern Expedition, Prime Minister Song Qi said, "I was trapped in the Liao Kingdom when I was young, so I have a certain understanding of the Liao Kingdom. Although the Liao Kingdom reached its peak during the Later Jin Dynasty, it had many tribes, each with its own agenda. Since the Later Zhou Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom has suffered defeats year after year, especially under the attack of your great, glorious, correct, wise and powerful Majesty. I believe that the prestige of the Liao Emperor will be greatly frustrated, and it will be difficult to check and balance the various tribes. In the long run, it will collapse on its own... Therefore, we don't need to send troops to attack them. Let's wait until they collapse and then clean up the mess."

He got up early and worked late; he clapped for a long time, but found that he was booed. Zhao Guangyi never expected that he was the clown. After a long time, he finally calmed down and said again: "Recently, from the intelligence sent back by various channels, the Liao Kingdom is indeed afraid of us; and our border generals are also the most capable and determined warriors in recent decades; Youzhou is flat on all sides and difficult to control. We must set up a barrier at Gubeikou in the north of Youzhou. There are only three or five barriers there, which is simple."

Zhao Guangyi was not just hinting, he had already made it clear: I am going to launch a Northern Expedition.

Song Qi said that Your Majesty is right. The Xi and Khitan are sworn enemies. If we use kindness and trust to summon Huai and let them resist the Khitan, there will be no need for us to take action.

Song Qi still insisted on opposing the Northern Expedition.

In February of the second year of Yongxi (985), Zhao Guangyi invited Song Qi and other important officials to have tea again, saying that he had recently read the history books and saw that Shi Jingtang recognized the enemy as his father, ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, and trapped millions of people in the hands of the Khitan... I was extremely heartbroken! My dear ministers, what do you think?

Song Qi and others finally couldn't stand Zhao Guangyi's constant nagging, and finally said "there should be a time to restore the old situation", and reluctantly expressed their approval of the use of force to recover the lost territory.

Zhao Guangyi finally heard what he wanted to hear, "Since everyone agrees, I will follow their will."

In the first month of 986, generals on the front line of Waqiao Pass, such as He Lingtu and Chen Liyong, jointly wrote a letter to the emperor, saying that the new emperor of Liao was young, the empress dowager was in power, the general Han Derang was abusing his power, and there were many internal conflicts. They asked him to take the opportunity to send troops to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun!

Zhao Guangyi discussed the Northern Expedition again. After years of planning, opponents almost disappeared. Even Song Qi, who was a "pig-raising person", expressed his agreement and offered the "Plan to Conquer Yan" and the "Road to Enter Yan".

There were so many civil and military officials in the court, why did Zhao Guangyi choose to fleece Song Qi? Because Song Qi was of Chinese descent.

Song Qi was from Youzhou. Because Shi Jingtang ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, the young Song Qi changed his passport to Liao without knowing it, and lived in Youzhou under the rule of Liao. Later, Liao imitated the Han system and held an imperial examination. Song Qi passed the imperial examination and first served as a tutor in the palace of Prince Shou'an (the future Emperor Muzong of Liao, Yelü Jing). Later, he was recruited by Zhao Yanshou, the governor of Youzhou, as a staff member. When Liao destroyed the Later Jin, Song Qi followed Zhao Yanshou to the Central Plains and was arranged to work with Zhao Kuangzan (Zhao Yanshou's son). Zhao Kuangzan surrendered to Liu Zhiyuan of the Later Han Dynasty in light of the situation, so Song Qi returned to the embrace of his motherland.

In terms of talent and learning, Song Qi may not stand out from the crowd, but in terms of his understanding of Youzhou and the Liao Dynasty, Song Qi is definitely a senior expert. Not only did he live in Youzhou for many years, but he also had close contact with the dignitaries of the Liao Dynasty (the tutor of Emperor Muzong of Liao). More importantly, during the "Jin-Liao War", he stood in the Liao camp and participated deeply in it, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the Liao Dynasty, and provided extremely valuable reference for Zhao Guangyi, who was obsessed with the Northern Expedition.

Song Qi also focused on the "Jin-Liao War", and deeply analyzed a shocking conclusion: the Jin army won every battle, but lost the entire war. The reason was the misuse of people, such as Zhang Yanze. After sufficient preparation, in the first month of the third year of Yongxi (986), Zhao Guangyi officially launched the "Yongxi Northern Expedition", with troops divided into three routes: Cao Bin was the commander-in-chief of the Youzhou front, Cui Yanjin was the deputy; Mi Xin and Du Yangui sent troops out of Xiongzhou; Tian Chongjin sent troops from Dingzhou and out of Feihukou. In February, Pan Mei and Yang Ye were sent as the Western Army, and troops were sent out of Yanmen Pass.

Zhao Guangyi learned the lesson from the last hasty attack on Youzhou. In this military deployment, he particularly emphasized the importance of cutting off Youzhou's reinforcements. His strategic concept was that Cao Bin would lead the main force to contain the main force of the Liao army, while Pan Mei would be responsible for clearing Youzhou's rear in a roundabout way and then completing the siege of Youzhou.

In March, good news came from three fronts:

Cao Bin captured Zhuozhou; Pan Mei and Yang Ye killed more than a thousand enemies, and Huanzhou surrendered; Tian Chongjin captured the Liao general Dapengyi alive.

Dapengyi was the Liao Kingdom's Southwest Amnesty Envoy and Jizhou Defense Envoy. He was a man of majestic appearance and bravery, and his reputation was resounding throughout Youyun. His capture was a great blow to the morale of the Liao army (after being captured, the morale of the army was lost). Also captured with him were the military supervisor Ma Yun and the cavalry commander He Wantong.

The Song Dynasty won the first victory, and the generals from all over the country advanced to take advantage of the victory.

Pan Mei turned to attack Yingzhou, and Yingzhou Jiedushi Ai Zheng and Observation Judge Song Xiong opened the city and surrendered; Tian Chongjin ordered Dapengyi to be the guide and persuade people to surrender along the way. The Feihu garrison commander of the Liao army opened the city and surrendered, and the Lingqiu garrison commander opened the city and surrendered.

In April, Pan Mei conquered Yunzhou; Tian Chongjin reached Weizhou. The Weizhou defenders revolted on the battlefield and surrendered the entire city.

At this point, in the first two months of the war, the three fronts of the Song Dynasty were unstoppable, recovering lost territories such as Zhuozhou, Huanzhou, Shuozhou, Yingzhou, and Yunzhou, occupying many important military strongholds such as Feihukou, Gu'an, Qi Gou, and Lingqiu, and defeating the Liao army in many battlefields such as Xincheng. The situation was very good.

Facing the fierce attack of the Song army, the Liao Kingdom deployed its troops and first appointed Yelu Xiu'ge as the commander-in-chief to be in charge of the defense of Youzhou. Then, it dispatched envoys to mobilize troops everywhere. It immediately recruited the country's elite troops to station in Youzhou in the south, all of which were under the command of Yelu Xiu'ge. It sent Yelu Mozhi to the south to reinforce, and before leaving, it also gave Yelu Mozhi the Shangfang sword, allowing him to kill first and report later. It sent Mou Lugu to lead the elite central imperial army to the south to assist Yelu Xiu'ge. It appointed Yelu Xizhen as the commander-in-chief of Shanxi troops to confront Pan Mei...

It is particularly worth mentioning that the Liao army's deployment was cautious and even more complete than that of the Song army, because they also sent people to garrison Pingzhou (now the southern coastal area of ​​Liaoning Province) to prevent the Song army from crossing the Bohai Bay from the Shandong Peninsula and landing on the Liaodong Peninsula... They overestimated the strength of the Song army, and Zhao Guangyi had never thought about three-dimensional operations by sea, land and air.

The Liao army stationed in Pingzhou could also deter forces such as Goryeo and Bohai. When the Liao army was in full swing in Hebei and Shanxi, they still thought of dispatching troops to garrison Liaodong, which shows the calmness and foresight of the Liao decision-makers.

During the Song army's advance, many people in the border areas spontaneously organized themselves to help the Song army attack the Liao army. Some even sneaked into the city at night and cut off the heads of Liao soldiers and presented them to the Song army. After hearing about the heroic deeds of the righteous army, Zhao Guangyi was very pleased and immediately issued an edict: Anyone who can organize the people will be subsidized with food and weapons, and those who can capture enemy generals will be replaced with the captured military positions; those who capture Khitan people will be rewarded with 5,000 yuan for each living person and 3,000 yuan for each head; those who capture Khitan war horses will be rewarded with 10,000 yuan for high-quality horses, 7,000 yuan for medium-quality horses, and 5,000 yuan for low-quality horses; after the recovery of Youzhou, those who participated in the righteous army and were willing to stay in the army will be rewarded with military positions according to their merits, and those who are willing to go home to farm will be exempted from taxes for three years.

Long ago, Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty did some calculations, saying that he could buy a Khitan head for 20 pieces of silk, and the Khitan elite soldiers numbered at most 100,000, so he could destroy the Khitan with only 2 million men. Zhao Guangyi must have remembered this calculation.

Looking at the letters announcing victory after victory, the attendants on both sides were all smiling and congratulating Taizong on his upcoming achievement, which would be comparable to the achievements of Qin Shihuang... However, Zhao Guangyi's smile suddenly froze, "Too fast."

Everyone was puzzled. Isn’t it bad to go too fast?
Sometimes, it's really not good to do things too fast.

Thanks to my old friend “江湖刘白” for the monthly ticket support!

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(End of this chapter)