The prince is more stable

Chapter 423 No retreat
Everyone else was concerned about whether Zhao Xiaoqian was a scumbag or not, but only Yelu Chun was concerned about whether he got in or not.

Love.

Ever since Zhao Xiaoqian took office as the governor of Zhending Prefecture, the Song army has been acting with complete recklessness. I don't know what kind of magic Zhao Xiaoqian has injected into the Song army.

The Song army, which has always been weak and vulnerable, is now like a group of tigers out of the cage. It seems that there is no one or thing in the world that they are afraid of. No matter what enemy they face, there is only one word: fight.

Not only that, the Song army was even more shameless than before. To be precise, the commander of the Song army was even more shameless.

The truce agreement that had just been negotiated was torn up immediately, and then troops were sent out immediately.

This made Xiao Zhengyou, the Liao envoy,'s visit to the Song camp seem less like a peace agreement and more like a declaration of war. Yelu Chunzhen began to doubt what Xiao Zhengyou had said in the Song camp and whether he was really a traitor...

The Song army is within a hundred miles. What will Yelu Chun choose?

His choice was very sober and calm.

He chose to withdraw.

Upon receiving the news that the Song army was approaching, Yelu Chun ordered 40,000 Liao troops to retreat 50 miles north and set up camp without saying a word. He also sent people to report to the capital urgently and mobilized reinforcements from Xijin Prefecture and Feihu Bingmasi.

It has to be said that Yelu Chun was a veteran with rich combat experience. He knew very well that this Song army was not easy to deal with. With 40,000 Liao troops facing 30,000 Song troops, Yelu Chun was still not sure.

He won't do anything if he's not sure, and he doesn't care even if he's questioned or ridiculed.

As long as he can preserve his strength and achieve the final victory, the ridicule of others before victory will only become his final medal.

Thus, a strange scene appeared in the history of Song and Liao.

The weak and vulnerable Song army approached step by step, and the invincible Liao army retreated in panic.

This scene had never happened before. As both sides were approaching and retreating, the soldiers were a little confused.

I'm not used to it.

The Song army officers and soldiers were not used to it. They had never expected that they were so powerful that the Liao army did not dare to test their strength.

The Liao army soldiers were not used to it. They were used to attacking, killing and destroying, but had never retreated from the enemy like today.

A day later, the Song army and the Liao army widened the distance between them, and the two sides were more than 100 miles apart.

However, the scouts of both sides had already been sent out fifty or sixty miles away. So on the Hebei Plain, the scouts of the two armies met unexpectedly and inevitably engaged in battle.

Sadly, the scouts' engagements were all one-sided.

The Liao army scouts were surprised to find that face-to-face fighting was no longer necessary in today's wars. The Song army scouts took out their firearms from a distance, took aim calmly, and fired.

When the Liao army scouts rode up, the Song army scouts rode back, loading gunpowder and bullets on their horses as they retreated, then reined in their horses, turned around, took aim, and fired...

As they ran and retreated, most of the Liao army scouts were killed or wounded without realizing it. The remaining ones finally realized with horror that they were always in a passive position of being beaten. The distance between the two sides was constant and they could not catch up no matter what. However, the enemy's firearms were deadly and they could easily kill them from hundreds of steps away.

How could this be played out? The Liao scouts felt like they had become mindless prey, being toyed with and hunted by experienced hunters.

The Liao army scouts were finally frightened and turned their horses around and ran away without hesitation.

As soon as the Liao army scouts retreated, the Song army scouts turned around, changed from retreating to pursuing, and continued to shoot and kill the Liao army scouts.

Before the two armies engaged in battle, the scouts of both sides had already determined the outcome.

Light cavalry versus light cavalry, in the end, advanced civilization crushes backward civilization.

When the news that the Liao army scouts were shot and killed by name reached the Liao army camp, Yelu Chun's expression became more and more solemn. At this moment, he felt that his decision to order a retreat was correct.

The Song army's firearms seemed to have become the Liao army's natural enemy. If the two armies faced off head-on, their chances of winning were slim.

Yelu Chun is now waiting for reinforcements from Shangjing and Xijin Prefecture.

In the current situation, they can only rely on numbers and the Liao army's swift cavalry tactics to counter the Song army's firearms.

Two days later, the weather gradually improved. The heavy snow had stopped, and the sun gradually penetrated the clouds, shining warmly on my body, as if telling the world that spring was coming.

During these two days, the Song army continued to march every day and continued to approach the Liao army.

Yelu Chun finally ordered to stop, he could not retreat.

With every step he retreated, the pressure on him increased, and the Liao army generals also opposed it. The Liao army generals, who had always been arrogant, thought that Yelu Chun, the commander, was too disgraceful and a humiliation to the Liao army's character.

Even the Crown Prince Yelu Yanxi, who had always supported him, disagreed with Yelu Chun's decision. Yelu Yanxi joined the army this time and was appointed as deputy commander in order to gain experience and military merits.

Yelu Chun did this and brought disgrace upon himself as the crown prince. When he inherits the throne in the future, this battle will become a black history for court officials to criticize him. It would be better for him to stay in Shangjing and live a rich and prosperous life.

So Yelu Yanxi and Yelu Chun had a dispute. Yelu Yanxi asked the Liao army to fight immediately. No matter how powerful the Song army's firearms were, if my 40,000 soldiers and horses launched a charge at the same time, could they kill all the Song army's firearms?

As long as the Song army's defense line is torn open, the rest will be as easy as cutting melons and vegetables. There will be no suspense. What is there to worry about?
Yelu Chun shook his head after hearing Yelu Yanxi's innocent words.

This pampered Crown Prince had probably never experienced the horror of a battlefield, let alone the power of the Song army's firearms.

If there were only a few thousand firearms, perhaps a desperate charge, at the cost of heavy casualties, could tear a hole in the Song army's defense line.

But now the Song army has 30,000 troops.

There are 30,000 soldiers and each of them is equipped with firearms. One round of volley means 30,000 iron balls will hit people's bodies. What does this mean?
If the ancestral tomb of our Yelu family were to explode, the soil that was splashed out would be enough to knock down a group of people, let alone a volley of 30,000 firearms.

In the Song-Xia War, Zhao Xiaoqian led 5,000 firearms soldiers deep into the heart of Western Xia, and they were able to enter as if there was no one there. Even the capital of Western Xia was broken by these 5,000 soldiers. Now there are 30,000 soldiers.

The uncle and nephew had a quarrel and it was very unpleasant.

At this time, Yelu Chun had to order to stop the retreat, and the entire army retreated and took a defensive posture.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to retreat, but that he has no way to do so.

If he retreated again, the Song army would follow him into Shangjing. No matter how patient Yelu Chun could be, he had to keep his head to eat.

There was still no news of the reinforcements he had been waiting for, so Yelu Chunyi gritted his teeth and decided to set up camp and prepare to meet the enemy.

…………

As the Song army approached and the Liao army set up camp, the distance between the two armies naturally became closer and closer.

Two days later, the distance between the two sides was no more than fifty miles.

This distance is already close enough. The scouts of both sides have encountered each other more than once and engaged in fierce fighting.

At the same time, a wing army that was not part of the Song army's Longwei Camp sneaked in late at night and slowly approached the Liao army camp.

Shao Jing and Feng Sheng led 5,000 troops and marched forward in the dark. When they were ten miles away from the Liao army camp, the 5,000 troops had to stop and hide in a forest under the cover of darkness.

They could no longer advance. The defense of the Liao army camp was unprecedentedly tight, almost impenetrable, and a surprise attack at night was no longer possible.

They would definitely be discovered by the Liao army patrolling outside the camp from several miles away. The distance was too far, and the Liao army camp would definitely be prepared to meet the enemy. The so-called surprise attack would lose its effect and instead increase the casualties of the wing army.

The five thousand troops were led by Shao Jing and Feng Sheng. The two generals held their breath and squatted in the forest, looking at the brightly lit Liao army camp in the distance. They could do nothing but grit their teeth.

"I can't do it!" Shao Jing sighed, his expression full of unwillingness.

Feng Sheng also frowned. "Yelü Chun is indeed a talented general of the Liao Kingdom. His camp is impenetrable. There's a sentry every three steps and a sentry every five steps. There are densely packed watchtowers and crossbow platforms around the camp. There's even a kerosene belt and antler chevaux de frise in front of the camp... Tsk!"

Shao Jing said coldly: "If the Dragon Guard Battalion didn't have firearms, no one would be able to break through the defense of this camp."

Feng Sheng sighed and said, "Duke Zhao said that we should just lure the enemy out. Zhang Rong and Zhe Keshi of the Dragon Guard Camp are lying in ambush ten miles away. Why don't we just start? Make some noise and lure the Liao army out of the camp..."

Shao Jing shook his head and said slowly, "We were originally trying to lure the enemy, but now seeing how Yelu Chun has arranged the camp, I'm afraid the Liao army won't be fooled even if we make a noise. Yelu Chun keeps retreating, clearly showing he's unsure. In this situation, do you think he'll let the Liao army out of the camp to pursue us?"

"This man is extremely cautious in commanding his troops and cannot be judged by common sense."

(End of this chapter)