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Chapter 11 Battle of Gaoping
Gaoping, this place had another name a long time ago, called Changping.

During the Warring States Period, Qin and Zhao exhausted their national strength, and millions of troops from both sides fought here. In the end, Qin won a great victory.

Qin general Bai Qi killed more than 400,000 Zhao soldiers, which accelerated the process of Qin's unification of the world. It is known in history as the Battle of Changping.

And a thousand years later, another battle that will go down in history will take place here.

Although it was not as tragic as the Battle between Qin and Zhao, it also had a profound impact on the future direction of China.

Because this was a life-and-death battle for Zhou Shizong Chai Rong, the "first wise ruler of the Five Dynasties", and after this battle, a young man named Zhao Kuangyin would step onto the stage of history.

But no one could have imagined that a lieutenant of the Imperial Guard named Li Yi would become that small variable...

……

March 19th, Guisi day. The weather was clear and cloudless.

Early in the morning, the army of the Later Zhou Dynasty broke camp and advanced towards Gaoping City.

But after only half an hour of marching, the vanguard troops encountered the Northern Han army.

Chai Rong immediately ordered the vanguard troops to launch an attack.

Not long after, the battle report from the front came back, and the enemy army was defeated and retreating.

In fact, the vanguard of the Zhou army encountered only the vanguard of the Northern Han army. The two sides launched a wave of exploratory attacks, and the Northern Han army retreated directly after suffering a minor loss.

Of course, it is not ruled out that the other party was just feigning defeat in order to lure the Zhou army deeper.

But no matter what, the first round of confrontation between the two armies was a small victory for the Later Zhou army, and it did greatly boost morale.

Chai Rong was worried about letting the Northern Han army escape, so he wanted to defeat them in one fell swoop and urged the imperial guards to advance quickly.

However, when the Later Zhou army reached Ba Gongyuan, south of Gaoping City, they found that a large force of the Northern Han coalition had already deployed there.

It was obvious that the defeated vanguard of the Northern Han army was only used for testing, and the main force of the enemy had already been waiting here for the Zhou army to tire itself out.

The Later Zhou army had no choice but to stop pursuing and immediately began to deploy its troops.

Chai Rong ordered Bai Chongzan, the governor of Yicheng Army, and Li Chongjin, the commander of the imperial guards and cavalry, to lead the left army in the west.

The commander-in-chief of the imperial guards' cavalry, Fan Aineng, and the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards' infantry, He Hui, led the right army in the east.

Xuanhui Envoy Xiang Xun and Zhengzhou Defense Envoy Shi Yanchao led elite cavalry in the center, ready to support the left and right armies at any time.

Chai Rong himself was in command of the central army, and Zhang Yongde, the commander-in-chief of the palace, led the personal guard to protect him.

……

"These warriors were once the elite of our Han army, but now they have been taken as private soldiers by the traitor Guo Wei. How despicable!"

Emperor Liu Chong of Northern Han looked at the Later Zhou army forming their battle formation from afar with a look of gnashing teeth.

It’s no wonder that he hated Guo Wei so much. After all, the Later Han Dynasty was founded by his brother Liu Zhiyuan, but Guo Wei destroyed the Later Han Dynasty and usurped the throne.

He also killed his most beloved son Liu Yun.

Back then, Guo Wei rebelled in Ye City, and Liu Chong, the governor of Hedong at the time, wanted to lead his troops south.

But at that time Guo Wei was not sure he could declare himself emperor immediately, so he pretended to have Prime Minister Feng Dao welcome Xuzhou Jiedushi Liu Yun into Tokyo, expressing his intention to support him as emperor.

After hearing this, Liu Chong believed it to be true and gave up the idea of ​​raising an army. However, he did not expect that Guo Wei would turn around and proclaim himself emperor.

Not only that, his son Liu Yun also died suddenly for unknown reasons, and everyone knew how he died.

It is conceivable how much Liu Chong hated Guo Wei.

"Your Majesty, the Zhou army's battle array is not yet complete. This is a good time to attack. I am willing to lead the elite cavalry as the vanguard to defeat the enemy for Your Majesty."

A general accompanying Liu Chong volunteered. "The Zhou army is exhausted after their long journey, and ours is well-rested and outnumbered. Do we really need to resort to a surprise attack to defeat them?"

Liu Chong was a little unhappy. In his opinion, if Guo Wei came in person, he might be a little afraid.

But the person who came was Guo Wei's adopted son. It was said that he had hardly ever been in a battle, but he was recklessly trying to learn how to lead an army in person.

After all, I am a veteran of many battles, and my military strength is twice that of the enemy. No matter how you look at it, I have a huge advantage.

Are you still afraid of him?

"Your Majesty, please calm down." Seeing this, the general who volunteered did not dare to say anything more and retreated to the side in shame.

At this time, a group of Khitan cavalry rushed towards Liu Chong's position, led by a rough-looking man with a curly beard.

"General Yelu, are you here to see how I defeated the Zhou army?"

Liu Chong turned to look at the bearded man, with a subtle flash of resentment in his eyes, but his tone seemed very friendly.

The bearded man seemed not to hear and continued, "Your Majesty, judging by the momentum of the Zhou army, they are indeed a formidable enemy. We must not attack rashly."

Although he called him "Your Majesty", his attitude was not respectful at all, but rather had a hint of command in his tone.

This big man with curly beard was Yelu Dilu, the Liao Dynasty's political affairs director and Northern Xuanhui Envoy. His nickname was Yangyin, which was also transliterated as Yang Yan.

When later generations published historical materials, they mistakenly named him Yang Gun, so that he was confused with the father of Yang Jiye in the folk novel "The Yang Family Generals". Some people even said that he was the historical prototype of Yang's father.

In fact, the prototype of Yang Jiye’s father should be Yang Xin from the Five Dynasties period.

"I have my own arrangements. General Yelu, please do not say more. Just wait and see how I defeat the enemy."

Liu Chong's tone suddenly turned cold. Yelu Dilu frowned in dissatisfaction, but did not say anything more. He said goodbye and prepared to return to his own army.

This time he brought more than 8,000 Khitan cavalry to help in the battle, and Liu Chong arranged his troops to serve as the right army, forming a separate formation.

"Ugh!" The generals around Yelu Dilu cursed in Khitan. "When the fight starts, let's not move. Let's see how this old man defeats the enemy."

Most of the Khitan generals who came with Yelu Dilu this time could speak Chinese, so they naturally understood what Liu Chong had just said.

……

"Do I need you Khitans to teach me how to fight?"

Liu Chong was also very unhappy and said to his men, "I will use my own troops to defeat the Zhou army and let those Khitans see how powerful we are."

During this invasion of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Liu Chong specially invited the Liao Kingdom to send people to help just in case.

But in fact, he had no good feelings towards the Liao Kingdom in his heart.

Especially when he thought about how when he proclaimed himself emperor, he was forced to rely on the Liao Kingdom, and had to call himself the nephew of the Liao emperor and pay tribute every year.

Liu Chong felt extremely humiliated.

In this battle, he must defeat the Later Zhou Dynasty fairly and take back the kingdom that belongs to his Liu family.

At the same time, it also proved to the damn Khitans that he did not have to rely on them to survive.

Perhaps God sensed Liu Chong's thoughts, and the opportunity to attack soon came.

The weather suddenly changed and a strong north wind blew. The Northern Han army was located just to the north of the Later Zhou army.

Wouldn't it be God's help if we fight with the wind in our favor?

In addition, Wang Yansi, the Deputy Privy Councilor of the Northern Han Dynasty who was accompanying the army, sent someone from the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to report to Liu Chong: "The wind direction will not change in the short term..."

Liu Chong immediately gave the order, ordering the vanguard commander Zhang Yuanhui to lead a thousand elite cavalry to attack the right wing of the Zhou army.

War is imminent!
(End of this chapter)