The prince is more stable

Chapter 559 Wrong Strategy
The area around Xijin Prefecture was not unfamiliar to the soldiers of the Dragon Guard Camp.

Not long ago, in order to rescue Su Shi, Zhao Xiaoqian mobilized the Dragon Guard Camp to approach Xijin Prefecture and made a feint attack on the city.

This action really scared the Liao people. Memorials flew into Shangjing like snowflakes, causing great psychological pressure on the Liao emperor and his ministers.

Because of this action, Yelu Hongji had to release Su Shi and let him go.

This time, the soldiers of the Dragon Guard Camp came to the outskirts of Xijin Prefecture again, which was considered a revisit to the old place.

You should have the same attitude when you visit again. Last time, the Longwei Camp fired a feint to deliberately scare the Liao army. If we talk about fighting, we really didn't dare to do so last time. After all, there was no guarantee of victory, and the consequences would be very serious.

This time it was different. Zhao Xiaoqian’s goal was to take the lives of 40,000 Liao soldiers.

As a subordinate of Zhao Xiaoqian, Zhong Jianzhong firmly carried out Zhao Xiaoqian's orders.

There are different ways to fight a sniper battle and a different way to fight an annihilation battle. In terms of tactical experience, Zhong Jianzhong has more than Zhao Xiaoqian. He knows what tactics to use to deal with the 40,000 Liao troops.

"Send out scouts thirty miles to closely monitor the four directions of our main camp for ambushes. We must be vigilant against any Liao attack tonight," Zhong Jianzhong said. "Also, order the soldiers to gather their weapons, check their rations and ammunition, and launch a direct attack on the 40,000 Liao troops in Xijin Prefecture at noon tomorrow."

The generals present were all stunned. Was it so direct? Was he not going to use any of these sneaky military plots at all?

Zhong Jianzhong seemed to guess what the generals were thinking and looked around at everyone coldly.

"Throughout history, the vast majority of wars have been decided on the battlefield. Furthermore, our army's firearms are unrivaled and provide an absolute advantage. Why resort to scheming and subterfuge? We can just fight face to face!"

The generals suddenly understood and clasped their fists in acceptance of the order.

Zhong Jianzhong asked again, "Where is that pig brain that was surrounded by three and missing one?"

Facing the generals' sneers, the general who made the suggestion clasped his fists with a bitter look on his face and said, "You have a pig's brain."

Zhong Jianzhong glanced at him and said, "I'll give you five thousand soldiers. In two hours, you will lead your troops northward and lie in wait twenty miles north of Xijin Prefecture. After tomorrow's battle, the Liao army will surely be defeated and flee north. You will be responsible for intercepting the fleeing Liao army and spare no one."

"Follow the order!"

Zhong Jianzhong said in a deep voice, "Xijin Prefecture is the focal point of this battle. Its location is extremely important. His Highness the Prince has instructed that our army must completely annihilate the 40,000 Liao troops in Xijin Prefecture, cutting off their eastern and western routes. This will isolate them so that we can divide and annihilate them."

"Tomorrow, when you go into battle, don't embarrass His Highness. If you fail in your job, you will face death before His Highness. Remember, no prisoners will be taken in this battle. Kill the enemy on sight. Even if the Liao army surrenders before the battle, it will be a feigned surrender and will be killed without mercy!"

All the generals stood up and responded loudly.

…………

Outside Xijin City, the Liao army camp.

The camp was brightly lit. Teams of patrolling Liao troops looked around nervously, looking at the pitch-black sky and earth outside the camp. They felt a little panicked.

In the afternoon, scouts brought news that the Song army had arrived and was setting up camp fifty miles away.

This news caused an uproar in the Liao army camp, and the morale of the entire camp dropped inexplicably.

He is afraid of fighting before the battle even begins.

The Liao army cannot be blamed for panicking, after all, the battle record of the Song army's Longwei Battalion can be checked.

The Liao army had fought more than one battle with the Longwei Camp, and the results of each battle were well known. The Liao army was now somewhat phobic of the Song Dynasty. When they heard that the Song army had arrived, the morale in the Liao camp inevitably became depressed and panicked.

That night, the Liao army camp was destined to be sleepless. The soldiers were listening anxiously to the noises around them, fearing that a loud noise would suddenly be heard at some point in the middle of the night and the Song army would take the opportunity to attack the camp.

Inside the Liao camp's general's tent, Yelu Chun's face was ashen as he stared at the map on the table without moving. He had maintained this posture for two hours.

He almost stared through the map, but Yelu Chun still couldn't think of a way to defeat the Song army.

Fundamentally speaking, this war was a huge mistake, a strategic error made by the Liao Dynasty's rulers and ministers.

Yelu Chun was the governor of Nanjing. When he received the imperial edict from Yelu Hongji, his first reaction was that his Majesty had lost his mind! Or perhaps his Majesty had treacherous ministers around him, and he didn't know who had come up with this bad idea that would bring disaster to the country.

Zhao Xiaoqian was dismissed from office by the Song court, the Longwei Camp was leaderless, and the people of Zhending Prefecture were in panic. The Liao army took the opportunity to launch an attack, recover lost territory, and capture Zhending City.

Thoughts are beautiful, reality is skinny.

It seemed like a godsend opportunity, but in fact it was a big pit.

In the past two years, the Liao army and the Song army have fought many times. Putting aside those small and medium-scale battles, the two major battles that truly determined the reversal of the offensive and defensive situation between the two countries resulted in the Liao army losing a total of more than 80,000 soldiers, more than 400 miles of territory, and the Feihu Bingmasi.

Yelu Chun was not talented, so he personally commanded both battles.

Therefore, when it comes to the Liao Kingdom’s understanding of the Song Army’s combat effectiveness, who in the entire country has more say than Yelu Chun?
No one understood the Song army better than Yelu Chun. Even the Song army itself probably didn't understand it as well as he did.

So after seeing Yelu Hongji's imperial edict, Yelu Chun felt like the sky was falling.

Why did Your Majesty make such a foolish decision?

The eyes of the Liao Dynasty's rulers and ministers were generally fixed on Zhao Xiaoqian, as if there was no one in the Song army who could fight except Zhao Xiaoqian.

This wrong decision was probably because the Song army lost nearly 10,000 soldiers in the two major wars between the Song and Liao dynasties.

This gave the Liao Dynasty's rulers and ministers an illusion that the Song army was not a monster with three heads and six arms, and they would die if they were hit by a knife. Only Zhao Xiaoqian was the most difficult to deal with. Zhao Xiaoqian was dismissed from office by the Song court. Wasn't this a godsend opportunity for the Liao Dynasty?
But Yelu Chun knew best that even without Zhao Xiaoqian's command, the Longwei Camp on the south bank of the Juma River was still a man-eating tiger and must not be provoked easily.

The biggest mistake made by the Liao Dynasty's rulers and ministers far away in Shangjing was that they paid too much attention to the influence of Zhao Xiaoqian and ignored the overall combat effectiveness of the Song army.

They thought that without Zhao Xiaoqian, the Longwei Camp would be in disarray. At worst, the Liao army's three-pronged attack would force the Longwei Camp to send troops to support, thereby weakening its combat effectiveness.

Because apart from the Dragon Guard Battalion, the other armies of the Song Dynasty were not equipped with firearms. As long as the combat effectiveness of the Dragon Guard Battalion could be weakened, they would do so even at a huge cost.

Even after resolving the problem of the Dragon Guard Camp, the Song Dynasty was still a naked girl in the eyes of the Liao Kingdom, and the Liao Kingdom could still do whatever it wanted to this girl.

Only Yelu Chun knew that Yelu Hongji had made a huge mistake.

If the Dragon Guard Battalion's combat power was truly as simple as the Liao emperor and his ministers suspected, how could Yelu Chun have suffered two consecutive defeats? Did he really think that this renowned Liao general had a brainless mind?
Yelu Chun, who realized that Yelu Hongji had made a big mistake, was extremely anxious after receiving the imperial edict. He hurriedly wrote a memorial to the emperor, stating the terrifying combat power of the Song army. He also reported in detail the power of the Song army's firearms, as well as various in-depth analyses of the Song court, Zhao Xiaoqian, the combat power of the Song army's Longwei Camp, and so on.

The memorial was sent to Shangjing by express horse. However, Yelu Chun did not wait for Yelu Hongji to stop, but instead scolded him.

Yelu Hongji would never go back on his decision, and he still maintained a stubborn impression of the Longwei Camp. He believed that as long as the Longwei Camp divided its troops to support the east and west routes, the Liao army would be able to annihilate the Longwei Camp, even if it cost a huge price in casualties, it would be worth it.

As long as this damn firearms army could be annihilated, the Liao army would be able to reverse its strategic disadvantage in one fell swoop, thereby continuing to exert military suppression on the Song State and maintaining the Liao State's dominant position.

Although Yelu Chun was scolded by Yelu Hongji, he was still anxious and continued to write memorials to persuade Yelu Hongji to revoke his decision, bide his time and wait for the right opportunity.

The memorial was sent to Shangjing, but Yelu Hongji had not yet replied when he heard from scouts yesterday that the Song army had arrived.

Yelu Chun suddenly felt a chill in his heart, and an idea immediately flashed through his mind.

If there is a mole, stop trading!

Yelu Chun couldn't help but have this thought, because the Song army's reaction was too fast and totally unreasonable.

The 40,000 Liao troops had just assembled in Xijin Prefecture the day before yesterday, and yesterday the Song army was already fifty miles away from Xijin Prefecture. If there was no insider tipping off, Yelu Chun would rather dig out his own eyes and let others step on them.

Yelu Chun was terrified. He found himself standing on the edge of a cliff, and if he took a step into empty space, he would be doomed.

Our weapons are inferior to theirs, our intelligence is inferior to theirs, and there’s even a traitor inside. How can we fight this war?
Destroy it, I'm tired!

Originally, the 40,000 Liao troops in Xijin Prefecture were there as an ambush. Taking advantage of the fact that the Longwei Camp was divided into two routes to provide support, east and west, these 40,000 Liao troops marched south in one fell swoop and raided Zhending City. They not only wanted to recover the lost territory, but also wanted to take Zhending City for themselves.

Now that the 40,000 Liao troops have just assembled, the Song army is already right in front of them. What the hell is this an ambush? It's a joke!

Yelu Chun, who had been defeated twice by the Song army, felt extremely frightened at this moment.

What will be his fate if he loses the third time?
At the same time, another idea popped into his mind.

The Song army's swift response was probably due to Zhao Xiaoqian. It had to be admitted that it was only with Zhao Xiaoqian's command that the Dragon Guard Battalion was able to achieve such astonishing efficiency and results.

So, that guy Zhao Xiaoqian was reinstated and returned to the Juma Henan Camp?

Apart from this guess, Yelu Chun really couldn't think of any other possibility.

I don’t know whether Zhao Xiaoqian was in the Song army camp fifty miles outside Xijin Prefecture. If he was personally commanding this battle, the 40,000 Liao soldiers would have suffered even more deaths.

"Inform the entire army to prepare food at 3:00 AM tomorrow and organize the army to fight against the Song army after the meal!" Yelu Chun issued the order.

The psychological shadow and fear of the Song army were too deep for Yelu Chun to dare to conceive of tricks such as attacking the Song camp in the middle of the night or setting up ambushes on the road. He knew very well that Zhao Xiaoqian was bold in using troops but also very cautious, and these tricks would be of no use to him.

The only option is to meet the enemy head-on.

Outside the general's tent, the personal guards hurried away to pass on the message. Yelu Chun sat inside the tent with a sullen face, muttering to himself with lifeless eyes.

"I can't sleep anyway, I'm probably going to die..." Yelu Chun was filled with resentment.

Why should I, a sober person in this world, be the one to take the blame for the mistakes made by Yelu Hongji?

(End of this chapter)