History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 581: The Battle of Yangcheng 4
Zhao Yanshou used his numerical advantage to launch a frenzied attack. The next day, Qizhou was captured, Shen Bin committed suicide, and his wife and children were all captured and escorted north.

Qizhou is located to the east of Zhenzhou and to the south of Dingzhou. The three states are arranged in a triangle. To the north of this triangle is the "S"-shaped border line between Jin and Liao.

Ma Quanjie had previously conquered Taizhou, but it was soon recaptured by the Khitan. Now, the main force of the Later Jin launched a full-scale attack, and the Taizhou governor appointed by the Khitan surrendered the city, and Qizhou was also recaptured by the Later Jin. Subsequently, the main force of the Later Jin attacked Mancheng, west of Taizhou, captured 2,000 Khitan soldiers, and the next day they continued to conquer Suicheng.

Taizhou, Mancheng and Suicheng were also arranged closely in a triangle, firmly blocking the Khitan army's path to the south.

One of Zhao Yanshou's subordinates came to surrender and revealed two important pieces of information to the Later Jin army. The good news was that Yelu Deguang had already led the main force of the Khitan to retreat into the Khitan territory and had reached the foot of Yanshan Mountain north of Youzhou, and was about to return to the heartland of Khitan. The bad news was that when Yelu Deguang heard that Taizhou had fallen, he immediately ordered the baggage train to return to the grassland first, and led tens of thousands of cavalry to turn around and return. After calculation, he estimated that they should arrive tomorrow night, so you should be prepared.

"Yelü Deguang will arrive at the battlefield in five seconds. Please be prepared."

Commander-in-Chief Du Chongwei and Political Commissar Li Shouzhen exchanged views and believed that our army's food and grass had not yet been delivered, and we were alone in deep enemy territory and encountered the main force of the enemy. A head-on confrontation was probably not a solution. It would be better to retreat to Taizhou first, observe the enemy's situation, and then make a decision.

On the same day (March 3), the main force of the Later Jin retreated to Mancheng.

On March 3, the main force of the Later Jin continued to retreat and retreated to Taizhou.

Yelu Deguang was one day late and arrived at the city of Taizhou on March 3.

"I heard you guys have been looking for me recently? Here I am, come out!"

"You think I don't dare to come out?"

Du Chongwei immediately assembled his troops and left the city from the south gate on March 3, retreating all the way to Dingzhou in the southwest. Yelu Deguang ordered a pursuit. The main force of the Later Jin retreated to Yangcheng (between Taizhou and Dingzhou, on the Taizhou side).

On March 3, the main force of the Khitans chased to Yangcheng. The history books described the arrival of the Khitan cavalry in six words: the enemy cavalry came like a wall.

The Later Jin took the initiative to attack, forming a square formation with infantry, selecting elite cavalry to harass the guerrillas, and then attacking the enemy head-on when the enemy had not yet caught their breath. This move worked, and the cautious Khitan soldiers thought Yangcheng was an ambush circle set by the Later Jin, so they retreated, but were chased by the Later Jin for more than ten miles.

After a short rest, on March 3, the main force of the Later Jin formed a battle formation and continued to retreat towards Dingzhou.

The agile and mobile Khitan cavalry followed again. After realizing that this was not a trap set by the Later Jin Dynasty to lure the enemy deep into their territory, the Khitan cavalry boldly displayed their strength and moves. On the vast North China Plain, the Khitan cavalry outflanked them from all directions, like crows circling around a dying bison on the grassland.

The main force of the Later Jin Dynasty fought and marched, and only traveled more than ten miles a day. The men were tired and the horses were hungry, and their fighting power was greatly reduced. When dusk fell, the main force of the Later Jin Dynasty arrived at Baituanwei Village, cut down trees, buried fences, and repaired the camp.

The main force of the Khitan surrounded them and sent elite cavalry to cut off the food supply line of the main force of the Later Jin.

This is the interesting part of the Jin-Liao War, which is always full of surprises and has a high tolerance rate. There are basically no tricks or schemes, only mistakes. The two sides are at the same level at the strategic level, which is quite conventional and rarely has any brilliant ideas. At the tactical level, they just wait and see. The historical matching mechanism is really fair.

Yelu Deguang's counterattack was not planned in advance, but it was so smooth and impulsive that he managed to defeat the main force of the Later Jin Dynasty. If the main force of the Khitan could defeat the main force of the Later Jin Dynasty in Baituanwei Village, history would be rewritten and Shi Chonggui would be destroyed in this year.

History seemed to be developing along this line. That night, a strong northeast wind suddenly blew, and the wind was so strong that houses collapsed and trees were broken. The Later Jin army had finally dug a well, but it also collapsed because of the strong wind.

The soldiers were so thirsty that they had to wrap the wet mud in cloth and drink the muddy water that was squeezed out.

By daybreak, the wind was even stronger than at night.

Yelu Deguang saw the hope of victory. He rode the "Khitan No. 1" - a "big Xi car" specially built by skilled craftsmen of the Xi tribe, and went to the front line in person. He was extremely pleased to make pre-war mobilization, "This is God's help! In front of us is the entire armed force of the Later Jin Dynasty. Kill them and go south to seize Bianzhou!"

The Khitan soldiers were full of fighting spirit and shouted and cheered.

Yelu Deguang ordered the armored cavalry (Iron Harriers) to surround the Baituanwei Village, then dismounted and dismantled the stakes and chevaux de frise. The follow-up troops, armed with short weapons, rushed into the Later Jin camp to fight, and at the same time set fire to the upwind area to create chaos for the Later Jin.

The fire was fueled by the wind, and the fire was fueled by the wind. The fire quickly spread throughout the Hou Jin camp, and countless Khitan soldiers poured in, putting the main force of the Hou Jin in imminent danger.

However, the supreme commander of the Later Jin army, Du Chongwei, still did not organize any resistance, and the Later Jin army could only be slaughtered by the Khitan army.

The soldiers of the Later Jin Dynasty were furious and shouted, "Why hasn't the commander given the order yet? Are you going to let us die in vain?"

The generals were willing, but Du Chongwei said, "Let's wait until the wind is a little weaker."

Li Shouzhen, the military supervisor, said: "The enemy has many people, and we have few. Under the cover of wind and sand, no one knows how many people the enemy has. We should take advantage of this situation to fight and win. This sandstorm is to save our lives! Once the wind slows down, we will be wiped out."

But Du Chongwei still refused to give the order.

Li Shouzhen directly issued a combat order, and then said to Du Chongwei: "Marshal, you just guard the base camp well, I will lead the people to fight the enemy to the death!"

Zhang Yanze, the cavalry commander, also called his men together to discuss countermeasures. They said that the enemy was in the upwind position and it would be best to wait for the wind to change direction before attacking. Zhang Yanze thought this made sense, so he kept his troops in place and waited for Zhuge Liang's miracle of using the east wind to happen.

After the cavalry general Yao Yuanfu and other generals retreated, they stayed behind and said to Zhang Yanze: "Our soldiers are hungry and thirsty. They have reached their limit. If we don't do anything, we will be wiped out. The enemy also thinks that we will not attack against the wind, so we have to take them by surprise and win by surprise!"

General Fu Yanqing also supported taking the initiative, saying that it would be better to die for the country than to surrender.

So Fu Yanqing, together with Zhang Yanze, Yao Yuanfu and Huangfu Yu, led the elite cavalry and went out of the west gate to fight. Under their leadership, other generals at all levels joined in, and the Khitan army retreated hundreds of steps.

(End of this chapter)