History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 1022: Broken muscles and bones
[Injury]

Zhao Guangyi knew that the Liao Kingdom would definitely take advantage of the victory to counterattack. After withdrawing Cao Bin and others, he arranged for Zhang Yongde to be the governor of Cangzhou, Song Wei to be the governor of Bazhou, Liu Tingrang to be the governor of Xiongzhou, and Zhao Yanpu to be the governor of Beizhou, in order to rebuild the Hebei defense line.

Let's take a look at their resumes:
Zhang Yongde is a name from a long time ago. He was Guo Wei's son-in-law. He was the chief inspector of the imperial court during the reign of Emperor Taizong. Later, Emperor Taizong was worried that he would threaten him, so he sent him out of the capital and removed his military power. He promoted Zhao Kuangyin to be the chief inspector of the imperial court. After that, Zhang Yongde lost his power and was marginalized. Therefore, this meritorious general who helped Guo Wei establish the Later Zhou Dynasty and made many military achievements with Chai Rong faded out of the historical stage during the reign of Emperor Taizu of Song. It was not until now that he was entrusted with an important task by Emperor Taizong.

Song Wei, formerly known as Song Yanwo, had a very rich background. He was the master of the wife route and a hardcore player of nepotism: his father married the daughter of Li Cunxu, the Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty; he himself married the daughter of Liu Zhiyuan, the Emperor Gaozu of the Later Han Dynasty; his daughter married Zhao Kuangyin, the Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty. He was exiled for corruption a few years ago, but after Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, he was gradually brought back to the core of power;

Liu Tingrang, whose original name was Liu Guangyi, was changed to avoid the taboo of the emperor. He was not an ordinary person. His grandfather was Liu Shouwen, and his great-grandfather was Liu Rengong, also known as "Liu Kutou". When the Later Shu was destroyed, Liu Tingrang was the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army, and later he worked with Cao Bin to quell the rebellion in Shu. In the current "Yongxi Northern Expedition", he is partnering with Cao Bin again, and was also demoted after the defeat.

These people have many things in common, one of which is that they are all at the bottom of their careers. Zhao Guangyi arranged for them to defend the border in order to give them a chance to defeat the enemy and serve the country, so that they would know shame and then be brave.

In November, as Empress Xiao had agreed, the autumn southern expedition began. Empress Xiao led the young emperor and the army south to personally march south, advancing to the vicinity of Gaoyang Pass, and launched a tentative attack on the Song army, with both sides winning and losing.

Under the command of Empress Xiao, the Liao army fought very cautiously. In addition to appointing the experienced Yelu Xiuguo as the commander-in-chief of the front line (vanguard commander), they also sent Xiao Dalin, Di Zi and others as cavalry scouts to block the flanks, and sent Mou Lugu and others to patrol along the border to prevent the Song army from infiltrating and detouring. Empress Xiao also specifically instructed Yelu Xiuguo to send cavalry to cut off the road to the west to prevent the Song army from escaping to Xingzhou.

A few days later, Liao scouts indeed discovered a Song army grain transport team and immediately launched an attack. Not only did they kill many of them, but they also burned all of the Song army's grain and supplies.

Afterwards, Yelu Xiu'ge led the main force to launch an attack, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides at Junziguan (now 30 miles north of Hejian City, Hebei Province).

The commander-in-chief of the Song army was Liu Tingrang, who had just been promoted to "repair his crime". It was freezing cold at the time, and the fingers of the Song soldiers were frozen stiff, making it impossible for them to use bows and crossbows. The Song army, which was mainly composed of infantry, relied heavily on long-range attacks with bows and crossbows, and "not being able to use bows and crossbows" was a disaster for Liu Yanrang. As expected, as soon as the two armies engaged in battle, Liu Yanrang was surrounded by the Liao army's iron cavalry.

Liu Yanrang still had a backup plan. Before the battle, he ordered Li Jilian to be deployed in Cangzhou to lead elite soldiers as the rear army, to cooperate with the front army led by him and form a support for each other.

However, while Liu Yanrang was struggling to hold on and wait for support, Li Jilong led his troops to retreat to Leshou. You guys hold on, I will retreat first.

Li Jilong made his teammates suffer. The imperial guards general Sang Zan, who was trapped in the siege, led his troops to fight hard from morning to afternoon. At this time, the Liao Kingdom sent reinforcements. Sang Zan could not hold on and fled. In the end, Liu Yanrang's entire army was annihilated, tens of thousands of Song troops were annihilated, and Liu Yanrang changed horses and fled, only escaping with his life. He Lingtu, the governor of Xiongzhou, was captured, and Yang Chongjin, the commander of Gaoyang Pass, was killed.

It is worth mentioning that He Lingtu’s capture was not tragic, but instead became a laughing stock at home and abroad.

He Lingtu's father, He Huaipu, was the elder brother-in-law of Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin. He died for his country with Yang Ye during the "Yongxi Northern Expedition". He Lingtu was a subordinate of Zhao Guangyi in his early years and a meritorious official. After Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne, he was the governor of Mozhou and then Xiongzhou. At the beginning of the "Yongxi Northern Expedition", he served as the trench commander of Youzhou Camp and conquered Gu'an, Xincheng and Zhuozhou.

However, He Lingtu was "greedy for merit and causing trouble" and "frivolous and unstrategic". During the more than ten years he was stationed in the northern border, he constantly instigated the Northern Expedition. The formation of the "Yongxi Northern Expedition" had a lot to do with his report at the beginning of the year.

Before the war, Yelu Xiuguo sent spies to tell He Lingtu that he had committed a serious crime in Liao and planned to defect to Song Dynasty. He asked He Lingtu to provide necessary support. If Yelu Xiuguo's defection could be accepted, it would be a great achievement. How could such a merit be taken away by others? He Lingtu not only believed it, but also kept silent, intending to take the credit for himself and make a fortune. He also gave Yelu Xiuguo ten taels of heavy brocade as a gift. Anyone with a little bit of brains would not be so stupid.

In the Battle of Junzi Pavilion, He Lingtu was surrounded together with Liu Yanrang as the vanguard. At this time, Yelu Xiuguo sent someone to convey the message: "I wish to see Envoy He of Xiongzhou."

He Lingtu was even more convinced that Yelu Xiu'ge wanted to surrender to him, so without asking for permission, he left his army with only a few dozen personal followers and went straight to Yelu Xiu'ge's tent, saying, "I'm here, you surrender."

Yelu Xiu'ge almost died of laughter.

He Lingtu stopped a few steps away from Yelu Xiu'ge, waiting for Yelu Xiu'ge to kneel down and salute him. Unexpectedly, Yelu Xiu'ge sat upright on the commander's chair, pointed at him and cursed: "You have been trying to sow discord between the two countries, and now you are finally here to die!"

Before He Lingtu could react, dozens of his followers were killed in the blink of an eye, and he himself was tied up and became a prisoner of the Liao Kingdom.

Historical records say that He Lingtu and his son "masterminded the Northern Expedition," but they were killed or captured one after another within a year, and "the whole world laughed at them."

When Ma Zhijie, the military supervisor of Bozhou, heard about the defeat on the front line, he immediately ordered people to repair the city, rush to make weapons, recruit militia, store food and grass, and issue an emergency mobilization order to prepare for battle. Bozhou is now Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, and Junziguan is in the hinterland of Hebei Province, so the officials and people of Bozhou thought that Ma Zhijie overreacted and complained that he was looking for trouble (officials and residents were all unhappy with his troublemaking). After half a month of emergency mobilization, Bozhou was ready for battle. As luck would have it, the Khitan cavalry came roaring in. Seeing that Bozhou was well-equipped, they turned their heads and went elsewhere. At this time, the soldiers and people of Bozhou were full of admiration for Ma Zhijie.

After the Battle of Junziguan, the Liao army marched across Hebei, successively conquered Xingzhou and Shenzhou, burned, killed, looted, and built Jingguan, which brought a heavy blow to the Song Dynasty.

Only the news of victory came from Daizhou. Zhang Qixian of Daizhou set an ambush using the strategy of confusing the enemy with an enemy. The Khitan king's uncle, Talega, and the military supervisor Xiao Dali were killed. Two thousand Liao soldiers were killed, five hundred were captured, and countless chariots, tents, cattle, sheep, war horses, weapons, etc. were seized.

After completing the zero-yuan purchase in Hebei, Empress Dowager Xiao returned to the court and rewarded the meritorious soldiers.

The Battle of Gaoliang River only scratched the Song Dynasty, but the Northern Expedition of Yongxi caused great damage to the Song Dynasty. The failure of the Northern Expedition of Yongxi not only made the Song Dynasty unable to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, but also caused the Song Dynasty to lose Jiaozhou and Xiazhou.

As for Jiaozhou, Li Huan had previously surrendered and asked for a title, but Zhao Guangyi refused because the Song Dynasty was not strong enough to allow it. He said that he could consider recovering Annan after he recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun. After the failure of the "Yongxi Northern Expedition", "Li Huan, the commander of the naval forces, was appointed as the military governor of the army";
At the same time, Xiazhou Li Jiqian sent people to the Liao Kingdom to make peace with the marriage and claim vassal status. Xiazhou had always been nominally the territory of the Song Dynasty. Although it had been flirting with the Liao Kingdom, it did not dare to do so openly. It just flirted with the eyes. Seeing that the Song Dynasty had lost power, Xiazhou Li Jiqian decided not to compromise anymore and simply expressed his love to the Liao Kingdom openly, and successfully "flash marriage".

The Song Dynasty stopped expanding its territory and shifted its focus back to domestic development. Domestic regional conflicts, especially in Sichuan and Shu, became acute, and a massive peasant uprising broke out soon after. This is a story for later.

Thanks to my old friends "Yang Kui" and "Jiang Hu Liu Bai" for their monthly ticket support. The book will be completed around May Day!

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(End of this chapter)