History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 571: The Battle of Qicheng 4
Since the "Battle of Xiazhou" during the reign of Emperor Mingzong Li Siyuan, Xiazhou has been essentially divided. The modern mainstream view is that the Central Plains dynasty, Liao, and the Xiazhou Li family at that time had formed a three-way balance of power, among which the Xiazhou Li family was undoubtedly the weakest.

The Xiazhou Li family was between Qi and Chu. Although the leadership changed over several generations, the bloodline of the Tuoba Li family has been continued. More importantly, their philosophy of governing the country was also inherited, that is, they were between Qi and Chu, mainly using political and diplomatic means and supplemented by military means, repeatedly switching between the Central Plains dynasty and the Khitan, and enjoying the benefits of both.

To the Central Plains dynasty, they were traitors who sought to establish their own empire, "Xia separatists" and national separatists. Recovering Xiazhou had been the dream of the Central Plains people since the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and then the Song Dynasty.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Central Plains people had fought a large-scale war with the Western Xia. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Central Plains people's primary task became "the day when the royal army conquers the Central Plains", and recovering the area north of the Huai River was more urgent than recovering the Western Xia, so the "Xiazhou issue" was artificially shelved and ignored.

So in Li Yimin's view, if he did something in Xiazhou, he would get the support of the Central Plains Dynasty, just like the Khitan supported Shi Jingtang. The Central Plains Dynasty could reap the benefits of the internal strife in Xiazhou, so why not?
It's a pity that he miscalculated because he chose the wrong time.

At that time, the two countries of Jin and Liao were already on the verge of a war, and at this time, the Later Jin had no energy or ability to interfere in the civil strife in Xiazhou. If Li Yimin succeeded, the Later Jin could certainly go with the flow, but another key problem was that he failed.

At this time, Li Yimin, who fled to the area controlled by the Later Jin Dynasty to seek political asylum, was like Zhao Yanshou in the Khitan territory.

Shi Chonggui made the right choice: he issued an imperial decree to take the traitor Li Yimin to Xiazhou and asked Comrade Li Yiyin to behead him. He turned a thorny political burden into a political resource, and Li Yiyin owed the Later Jin court a great favor.

Within half a year, Shi Chonggui cashed out and Li Yiyin sent troops to attack the Khitan.

Li Yiyin was very smart. He did not send troops immediately, but waited and watched. Perhaps he did not know that the Later Jin Dynasty had won a great victory at Majiakou on the Shandong battlefield, but he must have learned about the situation on the Shanxi battlefield.

In international politics, no one will come to help someone when they are in need, but only to add icing on the cake or to add insult to injury.

In the second month after the outbreak of the war, Khitan suffered a series of blows and fell into an extremely unfavorable situation in the main battlefield of Shandong:

1. Guerrillas everywhere
In the far west, Li Yiyin of Xiazhou personally led an army of 40,000 into the country to fight; on the Shanxi battlefield, the Khitan were defeated across the board; on the main battlefield in Shandong, they suffered defeats at Qicheng and Majiakou.

Yelu Deguang became furious and began to vent his anger on the Han people.

After the "Beizhou Massacre", Yelu Deguang had already started the public relations road, dressing himself up as a benevolent and magnanimous ruler, allowing the Khitan army to appear as liberators in newly occupied areas, such as Bozhou. The Khitans were gentle and considerate to the people in the occupied areas, and promoted talented people to enjoy the great grace of the Liao Empire.

Now, Yelu Deguang tore off his hypocritical mask, revealing his true vicious side. He once again raised his butcher knife against the Han people in the occupied areas, killing people to vent his anger, and used even more cruel means to kill the captured Later Jin soldiers.

The people of Hebei deeply experienced the feeling of being slaves of a conquered country, and anti-Liao sentiment grew increasingly strong, so they began to rise up in resistance.

2. Bad teammates
After the defeat at Majiakou, Yang Guangyuan and Zhou Ru were terrified. Yang Guangyuan immediately led his army to meet them, trying to open up the communication line with the Khitan army. Yang Guangyuan set his attack target on Dizhou, and the man who had rejected him, Li Qiong, fought back. Yang Guangyuan was unable to capture Dizhou quickly, and the central army from Yunzhou threatened his flank, so he had to burn down the camp and retreat to Qingzhou.

Shi Chonggui ordered He Chongjian to enter Yunzhou to increase the containment of Yang Guangyuan in Qingzhou.

After Zhou Ru, the governor of Bozhou, surrendered the city to the Khitan, the Khitans tied up the soldiers of Bozhou, put handcuffs and shackles on them, and took them to the front line of Weizhou, preparing to incorporate them into the Khitan army. After crossing the Yellow River, one night, while the guards were sleeping, a sergeant quietly untied the shackles, secretly helped other soldiers open the shackles, then stole the weapons of the Khitan soldiers, killed more than 200 Khitan soldiers in their sleep, and then fled back to the south.

Unfortunately, they had no boat to cross the river and could only rely on swimming. As a result, only sixty-seven survivors managed to swim to the other side.

3. The chrysanthemums are withered and the ground is full of wounds
The Khitans chose to march straight in, using the "leapfrog tactics" to attack Beizhou in the heart of enemy territory. Their tactics required a quick victory and a single battle, as they were most afraid of falling into a stalemate, like the current one.

The North China Plain was indeed an ideal battlefield for cavalry to gallop across the country, but the people of the Central Plains chose to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. All the prefectures and counties in Hebei closed their cities and held their ground. Although the wilderness was ravaged by the Khitan cavalry, the Later Jin Dynasty still retained a large number of fresh troops. The prefectures, cities, and counties in the territory were like time bombs, threatening the Khitan's transportation lines at any time.

For example, in Jizhou, the coffin of the "Golden Head King" was seized;

For example, in Cangzhou, a Khitan transport team of 3,000 people was intercepted. Their mission was to transport the people and baggage looted on the front line back to Khitan, which was equivalent to the Khitan's money transport vehicle. The Cangzhou defenders immediately sent out cavalry to attack, captured and killed more than a thousand people, and the rest abandoned their baggage and fled;

An Shenyue, the governor of Yizhou, defeated the Khitan army in the border area, forcing the Khitan troops to retreat to Youzhou. An Shenyue took the opportunity to burn the pontoon bridge, temporarily cutting off a small section of the Khitan main force's retreat.

These three small things were enough to remind Yelu Deguang that he had committed a major military taboo.

Shi Chonggui ordered Liu Zhiyuan to cross the Taihang Mountains to join forces with Du Chongwei and Ma Quanjie...

It seemed that the Later Jin Dynasty was about to complete the strategic encirclement of the main force of the Khitan, and Yelu Deguang's situation was precarious.

At this time, Yelu Deguang felt a little regretful. On the one hand, under the instigation of traitors such as Zhao Yanshou and Yang Guangyuan, he was indeed arrogant and was not fully prepared for the military strength of the Later Jin Dynasty and the resistance of the people. He strategically underestimated his opponent. On the other hand, his own political demands seriously affected the military progress. Although the military is an extension of politics, the political line struggle cannot interfere with the specific military deployment in a rough manner, but remains at the level of outlining and guiding.

After all, Yelu Deguang was born as the "Grand Marshal of the Army of the World" and had experienced the baptism of battlefield. When Yelu Abaoji was alive, he was already a qualified commander who could stand on his own. Faced with an unfavorable situation full of dangers, Yelu Deguang also played to his strengths and avoided his weaknesses, set a trap for the main force of the Later Jin Dynasty, and prepared to turn the tables and win in one fell swoop.

(End of this chapter)