History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 909 The decisive battle begins

[The decisive battle begins]

The Song army opened the Fen River and diverted it into the newly built dam surrounding the city. Soon, the area outside the city became a vast ocean. Zhao Kuangyin arrived in the southeast of Taiyuan City and ordered strong crossbows to be set up on small boats and then fired at the city walls. This should be a destroyer in the cold weapon era.

However, Zhao Kuangyin probably didn't know a basic principle of naval warfare, which is that surface ships should do their best to avoid exchanging fire with fortresses on the shore. Until modern times, if there was no generation gap in equipment between the attacking and defending sides, the fleet was at an absolute disadvantage in front of the fortress:
First, due to objective conditions such as the ship's structure and waterline, the caliber of a ship-borne crossbow or cannon has a ceiling, while fortresses on land have no such restrictions. In other words, in terms of pure damage output, ships are obviously at a disadvantage.

Secondly, for the same reason, the fortress has an unlimited defense system. In comparison, the armor of the ship is as thin as paper.
Third, fortresses on the ground can be replenished with personnel, ammunition and other resources at any time, are more convenient to maintain, and have almost unlimited endurance. In comparison, ships are disposable toys.

As expected, under the tenacious resistance of the defenders, the Song army suffered heavy losses. Wang Tingyi, the commander of the inner and outer cavalry and infantry, was shot in the head by an arrow and died on the spot; Shi Hanqing, the commander-in-chief of the palace, was shot by an arrow and fell into the water and died.

In the intercalary fifth month, a breach was created in the southern city, and the flood rushed from the outer city into the inner city, causing panic in the city. The defenders rushed to rescue and save the city, and planned to build a waterproof wall. The Song army's archers suppressed the fire, and the waterproof wall project was delayed. Suddenly, a large amount of hay and wood floated from the city, completely immune to the long-range output of the Song army, so the Northern Han soldiers used these firewood to block the breach and keep the flood out of the city again.

Immediately afterwards, the Northern Han defenders poured out from the west gate, intending to destroy the Song army's siege equipment. Fierce fighting broke out between the two sides. The Northern Han army suffered heavy losses, with more than 10,000 people killed, and had to retreat into the city to rest.

That night, someone suddenly shouted to the Song army camp, "My lord surrenders!"

Taiyuan had been under siege for several months and was newly flooded. Several attempts to break out had failed, and the losses were heavy. Under such circumstances, the surrender of Liu Jiyuan of the Northern Han seemed reasonable. Zhao Kuangyin believed it and immediately ordered the guard of honor to line up and open the gate to welcome the surrender.

"slow!"

Zhao Kuangyin's trusted envoy Zhao Yan hurriedly intercepted him and said, "Accepting a surrender is like accepting an enemy. We must treat it as if we were facing a war. Besides, how can someone surrender suddenly in the middle of the night?"

When the two lakes were pacified, Zhao Yan was ordered to go to Tanzhou to contact Zhang Wenbiao. This man was calm and experienced, and he was a rare think tank. Zhao Yan's words immediately woke up Zhao Kuangyin, so he closed the gate of the camp, all the members entered combat mode, and sent scouts to investigate. The scouts quickly sent back intelligence: Taiyuan pretended to surrender!
Zhao Kuangyin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Fear often leads to anger. Zhao Kuangyin ordered to intensify the offensive, use light boats to load firewood, and concentrate on burning the South Gate of Taiyuan.

The Taiyuan defenders put up a tenacious resistance. Li Huaizhong, a general of the Song army, was hit by a stray arrow and was seriously injured. He was almost killed. After he was carried down, Zhao Kuangyin came to show his concern. Li Huaizhong struggled and said to Zhao Kuangyin: "The enemy is trapped. Now is the critical moment. We just need to select a group of death squads and then we can attack them directly."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Tinghan, the chief military officer of the Palace Guard, knelt down immediately. The other generals of the Palace Guard also knelt down to show their loyalty. They rushed to sign up for the death squad, crying and shouting that they were willing to sacrifice their lives to repay the emperor's kindness.

Zhao Kuangyin burst into tears and said to them: "You are all my trusted and beloved generals, each of you is worth a hundred men. However, the reason why I brought you with me is because we are like brothers. I would rather give up Taiyuan than let you die in vain!"

The generals were deeply moved and burst into tears.

In this book alone, similar sieges have occurred more than once. At the most intense and stalemate moment, the attackers mobilized a group of death squads to climb the city wall and finally conquer the city. Zhao Kuangyin was a veteran who had personally commanded similar scenes in his early years. It was impossible for him not to know the principle of failure at the last moment. However, he still chose to give up. Why?

Some people believe that this is actually a foreshadowing, that is, Zhao Kuangyin really couldn't bear to part with Zhao Tinghan and his gang, but the reason was not brotherhood, but to guard against "that one person" - Zhao Guangyi. Today's Zhao Guangyi is very similar to Zhao Kuangyin back then, and he is gradually gaining strength. If Zhao Kuangyin consumes all his direct forces under the city of Taiyuan, he will not have enough power to check and balance Zhao Guangyi who stayed in Bianzhou, and the drama of the "Chenqiao Mutiny" may reappear.

In addition, the external environment is not optimistic.

Let’s talk about the Taiyuan defenders first.

The tenacious resistance of the Northern Han Dynasty exceeded Zhao Kuangyin's expectations. Everyone knows the gap in strength between the Han and Song Dynasties. Liu Chengjun once admitted that the strength of the Northern Han Dynasty was not even one-tenth of that of the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty had a completely overwhelming advantage over the Northern Han Dynasty. At the beginning of the war, the Song Dynasty was indeed unstoppable and marched straight into the crystal defense battle. Zhao Kuangyin also arranged a plan to block the Liao reinforcements in advance, and achieved certain results. The Liao Kingdom was temporarily unable to support. When Zhao Kuangyin was stationed in Luzhou, he caught a Northern Han spy. During the interrogation, the spy also said that the people of Taiyuan were looking forward to the king's army day and night and were eager to be liberated.

All this made Zhao Kuangyin develop a mentality of arrogance to a certain extent. He believed that wherever the royal army went and the righteous flag pointed, the people would celebrate the liberation with food and drink... Taiyuan's stubborn resistance dealt a great mental blow to Zhao Kuangyin.

Why were the Taiyuan defenders so tenacious? First, Liu Jiyuan's attitude of resistance never wavered, which made all the civil and military officials fight against the enemy with the same hatred and united as one; second, Han Zhifan, the Liao envoy, helped the defense. Han Zhifan was quite knowledgeable about military affairs. After entering the city, he assisted in the command day and night. A foreigner came to Taiyuan from afar and did not seek personal gain but only benefited others. What kind of spirit is this? This is the great spirit of internationalism! Liu Jiyuan was so moved that he wanted to write an article "In Memory of Han Zhifan". The second reason was the appearance of Liao reinforcements.

Zhao Kuangyin's deployment was impeccable. He realized that the biggest obstacle to the Northern Expedition was the Liao Kingdom, and he proposed targeted solutions by sending elite troops to set up defenses in advance.

The Liao Kingdom's previous reinforcements were indeed effectively repelled. However, it should be noted that there were many reasons why the Liao Kingdom was not able to provide assistance in the south. For example, the Liao Kingdom intentionally raised the price and raised political bargaining chips mentioned above, and objectively was unable to do so. Muzong was killed, Jingzong ascended the throne, and the Liao Kingdom needed to stabilize internally... Therefore, the Liao Kingdom did not use its full strength in the south to rescue the Northern Han Dynasty.

Now, Emperor Jingzong of Liao quickly stabilized the situation and overcame objective factors. Subjectively, Liu Jiyuan killed the "surrenderist" Guo Wuwei, which was considered a token of his loyalty to the Liao Kingdom, showing his attitude of persisting in resistance and never compromising with the Song Dynasty, and won the trust of the Liao Kingdom. The situation in Taiyuan was also critical, and the Liao Kingdom could not afford to continue to wait and see.

Therefore, the Liao Kingdom finally took out its trump card - Yelu Wuzhi.

Yelu Wuzhi emerged in the "power struggle between grandfather and grandson", promoted the "Crossing Agreement", and saved the Liao Dynasty from a self-destructive civil war. He also supported Emperor Shizong of Liao, Yelu Ruan. During the reign of Emperor Shizong, he saw through Yelu Chage's rebelliousness and tried to persuade him to no avail. During the "Huoshendian Rebellion", when Emperor Shizong was assassinated, Yelu Wuzhi remained calm and decisively supported Emperor Muzong of Liao, Yelu Jing. During the reign of Emperor Muzong of Liao, Yelu Wuzhi was promoted to the King of the Northern Courtyard.

In the historical books of the Central Plains, Yelu Wuzhi is often written as "Wuzhen".

Yelu Wuzhi led his army southward and encountered the blocking troops of the Song army. At this time, Yelu Wuzhi's calmness and good strategy were demonstrated. On the one hand, he left the old, weak, sick, and pregnant women to make up the number and stalemate with the Song army. On the other hand, he selected elite cavalry and took a shortcut to Taiyuan at night. When they arrived at the west of Taiyuan City, this elite cavalry beat drums and shouted, and raised fire as a signal.

The Taiyuan defenders were immediately excited, "The Liao reinforcements are coming!" So they also raised their fire in response. The long-trapped Taiyuan rekindled hope, and the fighting spirit was instantly full. Everyone was resurrected on the spot with full health and full buffs. On the other hand, the Song army was a little depressed, and morale gradually declined.

Finally, there are the common visitors on the battlefield – natural factors.

It was already the hottest summer day, and it was raining heavily. The Song army was stationed in the grassland, and many soldiers suffered from abdominal diseases. Plague began to spread in the army.

The combination of these three major factors forced Zhao Kuangyin to seriously consider withdrawing his troops.

Li Guangzan, a doctor of the Ministry of Rites, wrote a memorial to persuade Zhao Kuangyin to withdraw his troops, saying that your majesty was wise and invincible, and that the separatist forces that had previously usurped the throne were now surrendering, and China was gradually becoming unified. You are using a butcher knife to kill a chicken, why would you bother with such a small place like Taiyuan? Moreover, the cost of the war has been passed on to the people, and it is not worth the loss to fight to the death in Taiyuan. We have consumed a lot of strength in Taiyuan, and those other separatist forces with their own ulterior motives are secretly rejoicing, as the saying goes, "the thicker the neighbor, the thinner the king." It is better to return to the court, leave the elite troops to garrison in Luzhou, and wait for the crops to mature, and then rob the grain of the Northern Han. This will not only weaken the Northern Han, but also strengthen us. Isn't it wonderful?

Zhao Kuangyin was overjoyed and took the memorial to discuss with his think tank Zhao Pu. Zhao Pu strongly agreed with Li Guangzan's suggestion.

So, Zhao Kuangyin began to discuss the issue of withdrawing troops.

Under the guidance of Li Guangzan's thought, Xue Huaguang gave specific implementation measures, saying that when cutting down a tree, you should first remove the branches and leaves, and then dig up the roots. The reason why the Northern Han Dynasty was able to resist stubbornly was that it had the Khitan aid from outside and the land rent and land tax from inside. Therefore, we should build fortresses and strongholds on the dangerous terrain of the border between the Northern Han Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty to cut off the connection between the two countries; move as many people from the Northern Han Dynasty as possible to the territory of the Song Dynasty and give them idle land for farming. In this way, the Northern Han Dynasty would not last for a few years.

Zhao Kuangyin agreed with this and rewarded Xue Huaguang handsomely, and then began to retreat in an orderly manner. He moved more than 10,000 households in Taiyuan to the territory of the Song Dynasty, sent imperial guards to escort them all the way, and distributed food according to the population.

Retreat is like attack. When the army was retreating, Zhao Kuangyin sent the imperial cavalry to launch a charge and rescue hundreds of Song soldiers captured by the enemy. The Northern Han defenders did not know the intention of the Song army and did not dare to chase them easily.

The Song army completed its retreat while the enemy was wavering. In order to save time, 300,000 hu of grain and tens of thousands of tea and silk were seized by the Northern Han Dynasty, barely making up for the war losses.

Zhao Kuangyin's "Second Expedition to Northern Han" ended.

(End of this chapter)