Chapter 261 Attack
The battlefield of the Liaoxi Corridor is vast, and the Liao Kingdom is mainly based on cavalry.

They fought when they wanted to fight and retreated when they wanted to retreat. This also led to the fact that it was actually a bit difficult for the Song army to win a once-and-for-all victory and directly wipe out the enemy.

In fact, if you think about it carefully.

In a unified dynasty, one can go directly into the enemy’s heartland and gain great gains.

There are only Han and Tang dynasties.

The Han Dynasty was established because Emperor Wu of Han was willing to spend money.

The Tang Dynasty, on the other hand, had its own place to raise horses, and if it won a war, it could even distribute land to its soldiers.

As for other dynasties, they don’t seem to be that good.

Even for the Ming Dynasty, in field battles, they could only rely on the advantage of firearms, and it can be said that they could only win a small victory.

in the military camp.

All the soldiers were waiting for Zhao Xin’s orders.

In fact, with the current number of cavalry they have, they can just charge directly.

The issue is……

Zhao Xin hopes to win more in this battle.

If you expose all your strength right at the beginning, what if you scare the opponent away?
not to mention……

Zhao Xin also wanted to capture Yelu Hongji alive.

Zhao Xin had considered how to govern the world after conquering the Liao Kingdom.

If you suggest letting the soldiers garrison on the grassland, you can’t say that this method is not possible.

only……

Such an approach is bound to be a waste of time and money.

Besides, who would be willing to travel so far to guard the grassland for you?
to this end……

Zhao Xin also had to re-explore the relationship between the grassland and the Central Plains.

What Zhao Xin said about the fifty-six years of peace since the Treaty of Chanyuan was not just a casual remark.

In fact…

Zhao Xin does have some ideas about this relatively peaceful way of dealing with the issues between the two ethnic groups.

otherwise……

What can you do?

Even if you kill the Liao people, there will still be Mongols and Tartars next.

Unless your technology has reached the level that can make nomadic people sing and dance.

The issue is……

They haven’t reached that level yet.

of course!

This is just a rather fanciful idea. Zhao Xin does not believe that the Liao Kingdom can live in peace with them after losing the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

and……

Is there a possibility that the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty were able to maintain peace for so many years?

This is because the Liao Kingdom already had the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

Relying on the wealthy Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the Liao people began to degenerate. After all, they could collect taxes from the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and make transfer payments to the grasslands, which was enough for them to spend.

As for the remaining half of the country you mentioned.

If there is no overwhelming military advantage, then there is no harm in having it.

Originally, the peaceful relationship between the two countries was expected to last for a long time, but unfortunately, an outlier like Zhao Xin appeared.

To put it bluntly, Zhao Xin is indeed the “criminal” who destroyed the peace between the two countries.

But Zhao Xin had no choice!
He knew that if he didn’t work harder now, the Song Dynasty would be destroyed in a short time.

If that is the case, we have no choice but to attack the Liao Kingdom first.

Moreover!
Back then, you, the Liao Kingdom, extorted 200,000 taels of silver and 200,000 pieces of silk from me. You were wrong in the first place. Now that I am beating you, this beating is not in vain.

only……

Fighting aside, Zhao Xin actually still hoped that the Khitans could become a barrier to the north of the Central Plains.

As for your question about how to fill the Khitans’ hungry stomachs.

Zhao Xin actually thought about taking them to Southeast Asia.

Anyway…

Zhao Xin also needs manpower.

otherwise……

If the Han people had always been distracted from fighting the nomadic peoples in the north, they would probably have missed the great voyages.

of course!

This is only limited to people like the Khitans of the Liao Dynasty who are willing to actively absorb the Central Plains culture.

Look through the history of the Liao Dynasty and take a look at how the Liao people dressed and their system.

to be frank!
Apart from her bad hairstyle, there’s nothing else about Zhao Xin that’s really annoying.

It can be seen that the Liao Kingdom was still willing to embrace civilization.

It is a little different from other nomadic peoples.

I heard that the Liao Kingdom still has the Han people’s imperial seal.

The Liao Kingdom even felt that it was the orthodox one.

This can also provide a very good basic condition for the integration of the two.

of course!

These actually only require a little thought!
Zhao Xin actually deeply understood that integration was only on the tip of the sword. Without destroying the Liao Kingdom and using technology to completely suppress the nomadic peoples and lock up their living space, such a thing was simply impossible.

Then we have no choice but to fight!
Fight once, and then there will be a brief peace of ten or even a dozen years.

……

The main account in the army.

The people below said, “Your Highness! When are we going to attack?”

Zhao Xin said, “Wait for two more days. If the Liao Kingdom can’t do anything to us within two days, we can take the initiative to attack.”

The day.

The Liao Kingdom then organized another night attack.

But it didn’t work.

the next day.

The Liao Kingdom had absolutely no way to deal with Zhao Xin.

It was a rare day of peace, and Zhao Xin also spread the word that he was going to build a city here to paralyze the enemy.

Early on the third day, before the fog dissipated.

Zhao Xin then ordered Zhao Xun to lead 5,000 elite cavalry, 10,000 light cavalry, and 2,000 dragoons equipped with flintlock rifles to launch a surprise attack on the Liao camp dozens of miles away overnight.

Nearly 20,000 cavalrymen were galloping along the Liaoxi Corridor.

Don’t even mention you’re a soldier from Liao.

I’m afraid even the Song Dynasty itself has never fought such a prosperous battle since its founding.

At this time, the mentality of the Liao soldiers had become extremely depressed after the defeat in the previous few days.

In addition, Zhao Xin just wanted to build a city and had no intention of attacking them.

The early morning fog had not yet dissipated when this happened suddenly.

Suddenly…

Everyone immediately became confused.

and……

Before this, the Song army was clearly at least eighty or ninety miles away from them.

This was absolutely beyond the expectations of the Liao army, which had long been accustomed to the comfort and used to the snail’s pace of the Song army every day.

Even a Liao soldier was a little slow to react at first, because logically there shouldn’t be such a big noise so early in the morning.

Until he realized that the other side did not seem to be the cavalry on his side.

in fact……

This should have been guessed long ago. After all, if it were our own cavalry, they would not have come from the south.

His feet unconsciously ran behind him, and as he ran, he opened his voice and shouted to everyone: “Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”

However, before he could walk far, an arrow pierced through his back.

Not long after…

The entire Liao army’s camp was in chaos.

In fact, there were many loyal and righteous people in the Liao Kingdom.

After all… the current Liao Kingdom has not yet become as rotten as it would be a few decades later.

but……

It would be difficult for these loyal and righteous men alone to resist Zhao Xin’s flintlock infantry.

Get off your horses, quickly form a formation, load up your ammunition, and then kill whoever stands in your way.

You said that if the other side also had flintlock rifles, the soldiers on the Song Dynasty side might still be afraid.

But now you are the only one with a flintlock.

Then today, the Song army can loudly declare that we are invincible in the world!

This is actually the same principle as the regular army killing peasant uprisings.

When you are covered in armor and your enemy is just a ragged old farmer, your self-confidence will be extremely high.

And the flintlock rifle can indeed give people such confidence.

Because almost everyone who came forward to resist them was shot through with their armor.

Those who wanted to use shields to resist them had their shields shot through by him.

The wood chips were floating in the air.

……

In the Liao military camp.

There were sounds of fighting and fleeing everywhere.

After breaking up the defense line that the loyal and righteous people of the Liao Kingdom wanted to organize.

All that was left was to chase and kill them all the way.

Many Liao soldiers did not even have time to put on their armor at this time. Naturally, once they were caught up, they would be slaughtered.

The battle lasted from morning to afternoon.

Although Yelu Hongji broke through the encirclement under the protection of a group of loyal and righteous men, when he reached a safe place and counted, he found that there were only a dozen people left around him.

The others were either dead or lost, but the problem was that that was the entire military force of the Liao Kingdom!

“Is the Liao Kingdom going to perish in my hands?”

In the afternoon, the sun had begun to move westward and was about to set. Yelu Hongji looked very sad at this moment.

The ministers below also said: “Your Majesty, we have already fled so far, I believe the Song army will not catch up with us, Your Majesty, please take a rest first.”

Yelu Hongji said, “My 700,000-man army! Just gone like that!?”

The others immediately showed an embarrassed look on their faces.

The same minister replied, “Your Majesty, most of them should have just fled. If they could gather together, there should still be quite a few.”

Yelu Hongji asked, “Who was on sentry duty last night?”

Others also thought that the man on guard was probably dead by now.

Someone did say something fair, saying, “The fog was so thick this morning that you couldn’t see clearly beyond twenty steps. I guess the sentry must have been killed by the Song army.”

Yelu Hongji asked everyone, “What should we do next?”

The minister immediately replied: “It’s dangerous outside, Your Majesty should return to the capital first. As for gathering these deserters…”

Soon someone volunteered, “Leave the matter of collecting the deserters to us!”

Yelu Hongji looked at the determined expressions of his men and could only close his eyes. This was the only thing he could do.

In fact, if Yelu Renxian was still alive, he would never let Yelu Hongji escape.

Because if it runs away, we will definitely not be able to defeat it.

There’s no way!

Yelu Renxian had already been chopped off by Yelu Chongyuan.

of course!

If Yelu Renxian were still alive, he would definitely let Yelu Hongji stay to stop the enemy.

If this were true, then Zhao Xin might be able to capture Yelu Hongji alive at this moment.

When the battle report from the front line came back, Zhao Xin couldn’t help but sigh after reading it.

“Sure enough! It’s still a bit difficult to capture Yelu Hongji alive. This nomadic people is really good at running.”

Noon on the third day.

Zhao Xin led the follow-up troops to the front line.

According to statistics, in this battle, at least 30,000 enemies were killed, and thousands of them surrendered to the Song army because they could not escape. Countless cattle and sheep were captured.

only……

Zhao Xin felt that these were all empty talk. If you want to kill 30,000 enemies, you have to kill the elite troops in their country. If you only kill the fleeing herdsmen, that would be meaningless.

Although on the grassland, herders are actually a threat.

Because as long as you give them the opportunity, they can equip themselves with armor, ride on horses, and fight you at any time.

The good news is…

It cannot be said that there are no elite troops at all.

As the bodies of some ministers were carried out, the Khitans soon recognized that these were the personal guards or officials who had protected Yelu Hongji.

People like this have nearly a thousand personal guards and dozens of officials.

and……

It seemed that even their prime minister-level people were killed.

Someone introduced Zhao Xin, “This man is called Xiao De, the Northern Court Privy Counselor of Liao, and was granted the title of Duke of Lu.”

Zhao Xin asked, “Is this person famous in Liao?”

The man said, “I don’t know if he is famous or not, but he is old and he is fearless in judging for His Majesty. I can’t help but admire him.”

Zhao Xin said, “Then give him a respectable burial! He is a rival that deserves respect.”

The man said, “Yes!”

With the cattle and sheep of Liao, the next step is…

Zhao Xin’s army was no longer short of food.

But then there is a problem.

Is it better to go west or east?
at the same time……

This is the Goryeo side.

Goryeo also raised an army of 100,000 and began to attack the Liao cities north of the Yalu River.

of course!

Since Goryeo does not have Zhao Xin’s siege capabilities, if they want to attack the city, they can only use the most traditional methods.

The cities in Liaodong, such as Wugut City in the Tang Dynasty, are easy to defend but difficult to attack, which made it a little difficult for Goryeo to attack these cities.

otherwise……

If it were really that easy, Goryeo wouldn’t even need to discuss it with Zhao Xin and would have probably taken over all these cities on their own.

Zhao Xin thought about it and decided, “Well, let’s not go to Liaodong. Let Goryeo continue to attract firepower.”

As for Zhao Xin…

In fact, he has more important things to do.

For example, along the Liaoxi Corridor, there are actually cities along the way.

It would be better to first take down some of the small counties and state towns along the way.

To be honest, these small counties and state capitals don’t have much military strength. It is estimated that they can’t even gather ten sets of armor for a city.

natural!

Zhao Xin was able to persuade these cities to open their gates by directly persuading them to surrender.

The essential……

Many of the people in the city were once Han people.

That makes it easier!
If there is any disadvantage, it is that it is tasteless to eat and a pity to throw away.

Zhao Xin was also considering whether to move them all to Shanhaiguan.

But the problem is…

Zhao Xin didn’t have that much land to accommodate them.

If we leave them alone, they might be taken back by the Liao Kingdom.

Keeping them here will only waste our manpower.

It can only be used as a stronghold.

But the problem is…

Zhao Xin didn’t quite trust them as they were using it as a military base.

After all, who knows whether there are any of them who are loyal to the Liao Kingdom.

Not all of them were Han people, there were also people from other tribes and officials appointed by the Khitan.

(End of this chapter)