The autumn wind blows, the chill is strong, and the geese fly south.
September and October are originally the harvest season, but at this time, both the nobles and the common people in Linhuang Mansion are in panic. They can no longer care about the various prey that have grown up on the plains outside the city, nor can they care about the acres of fields. Amid the vast tracts of golden wheat waiting to be harvested, everyone had only one thought, which was to pack their luggage and escape from the capital city of the Liao Kingdom as soon as possible, before the Song army arrived and fled far away.
The Yelu Dashi stands on the highest tower of the palace. From a commanding overlook, you can almost have a panoramic view of the entire capital city below. And after seeing the scene of chaos and chaos, eager to escape, the wrinkles on his face became deeper and he looked older.
The current Emperor of Daliao, who was originally in his prime, turned gray and wrinkled in just a few years. These are all the trauma brought to him by years of pressure and repeated battles, the serious damage after joining forces with the Song people and fighting, the civil war between the Liao people and Yelu Yanxi, and now another bloody battle with the Song people... In a few years Here, Yelu Dashi almost never had time to relax. More than a thousand days and nights of hard work made him burn out everything in him, and he was truly exhausted physically and mentally.
What made him even more desperate was that even though he had reached this point, he still couldn't revive Daliao as he imagined. He finally eradicated Yelu Yanxi and his remnants last year. Not even a few good days had passed before the Song Dynasty's Northern Expedition army came over again, and this time the Song army was more powerful than ever before. As a result, many city defenders in southern Daliao were unable to truly withstand their raging offensive. In just half a year, more than a dozen city passes blocking the way to the capital had completely fallen, and now the capital city of Daliao was almost completely exposed. Under the sword and gun of the Song army.
To be honest, this is something that no Liao person could have imagined in the past. Even when they were at their weakest, they may have thought that the Liao Dynasty would be destroyed by the sudden rise of the Jin people, but they never imagined that one day they would die at the hands of the Song people, who had always been poor and weak.
However, the reality in front of them has told all the Liao people that everything is different. The Song people really have the strength to destroy them, and their millions of troops are heading towards Shangjing.
Yelu Dashi let out a long sigh, and at the same time sighed, wondering why he failed to seize the opportunity to eliminate the biggest hidden danger for Daliao. Because he knew very well that the reason why the Song Dynasty was able to rise in a short period of time was because of Sun Tu.
He remembered that when he first met Sun Tu, he was just a lowly official in Tokyo City. At that time, he could kill him with just one finger. Even later, he still had many such opportunities. The closest he came to success was outside Nanjing, when his subordinate Xiao Yanping had already shot Sun Tu into the water. If that arrow really killed the opponent, maybe everything would be different.
But in the end, Sun Tu still escaped death, and then spent a few years climbing up the ladder little by little. Today, he has become the most powerful person in the Song Dynasty. Only some of his generals have led several A hundred thousand troops marched towards the north, causing panic throughout the Liao Kingdom.
"Time is destiny, and now is also destiny."
There was only one way left. "After letting out a sigh at the end, Yelu Dashi withdrew his gaze and said to some of the courtiers waiting behind him: "Let's move to the city and escape to Beijing, and give this place to the people of Song Dynasty. "
"Your Majesty, are we really leaving like this? Can't we hold on to the capital? After all, our ancestors spent more than ten years building the city here. The defenses are there, and our troops and horses are sufficient..." Some ministers were filled with dissatisfaction. said.
Yelu Dashi shook his head: "It's useless. People's hearts are in chaos, and the military's morale is no longer there. Even if we force ourselves to hold on, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold on for long. What's more, it's not like you haven't seen the battle report ahead. That Song Army General Yue Fei attacked the city. The combat is the sharpest, and with the assistance of new weapons that can penetrate the city from the air, our city wall defenses can block their fierce attack at all, and in the end it will just be people dying in vain. In this case, it is better to leave here before them , take shelter to the west."
After a pause, he continued: "After all, there is Xijing there, and there are hundreds of thousands of Liao troops who can provide backup. Moreover, as long as we go west, we can put a large enough distance between us and the Song Dynasty. Their follow-up troops and food supplies could not keep up. By then, the Song generals would be wise and would not risk pursuing them again. Even if they did dare to pursue them, they might be defeated due to logistical supply and other reasons. It's in our hands. So evacuating to Beijing now is the last and best option."
The eyes of all the ministers were still filled with reluctance. After all, this was the most important city in the capital of Liao Dynasty. And just a few years ago, it fell into the hands of the Jin people. If it happened again, the morale of the Liao Kingdom would be completely destroyed.
Yelu Dashi snorted when he saw this and stopped talking nonsense with them. He just said with a straight face: "This is my will. Just follow it!"
Once he spoke like this, the officials finally dared not raise any objections and bent down to agree. However, they felt sad in their hearts. They were afraid that after leaving, they would never be able to come back here again for the rest of their lives.
On the third day of October, the Daliao garrison in Beijing and most of the people began to flee westward out of the city. Although they tried to take valuable gold and silver with them when they left, after all, they were fleeing for their lives this time, not moving, so they still left countless treasures and belongings behind. Those are all things that the Liao Kingdom accumulated over the past one or two hundred years and snatched back from the Jin people. Now they can only take advantage of the Song people who are about to kill them.
Originally, according to the wishes of many ministers, they planned to set fire to the entire upper capital when everyone left the city. Since they could not defend it, they could not give the Song people an advantage in vain. But in the end, this proposal was rejected by Yelu Dashi, because he knew very well that once he really did this, it would only bring greater danger to the entire team fleeing west.
If the entire city of Shangjing is present, the Song army will naturally occupy the entire city after arriving and make all arrangements before making subsequent plans. But once even this city has been destroyed, the Song army will have no choice but to continue to pursue them one after another and fight them to the death. This is not what Yelu Dashi wants to see.
It can be said that Yelu Dashi tried his best to escape from the golden cicada shell this time, but the cicada shell itself is attractive enough.
, so as to ensure the safety of those who escape.
The Song army did have an unspeakable tacit understanding with the Liao people. Just five days after the Liao people left the city, the vanguard army under the banner of the Song Dynasty appeared at the foot of Shangjing City.
And when they discovered that the entire capital of the Liao Kingdom was almost an empty city, with only the old and the weak and those who could not travel far, they did not start killing people in the city. Instead, they divided their forces to guard the city gates and occupied key locations in the city. , and at the same time, fast horses were sent to convey the news back to the rear.
Two days later, Yue Fei personally led his army to arrive. After seeing the scene in the city, he was also startled and happy: "I can't believe that Yelu Dashi was so decisive. In order to preserve the population and strength, he actually gave up the entire upper capital. We gave it up. But this way, our casualties were greatly reduced, and it also caused great harm to them. I'm afraid they won't be able to recover for decades."
"General, should we continue to send troops to pursue? According to the accounts of the Liao people left in the city, they have been away from here for less than ten days. If we pursue them with light cavalry, there is still a chance. After all, there are too many people from the Liao people fleeing west. You can't walk fast at all." One of his subordinates asked anxiously, looking like he was gearing up.
After Yue Fei pondered for a while, he shook his head and said: "No, the whole army is ordered to station safely in the city and not to advance rashly. Since the Liao people have given up going to Beijing, they will do whatever it takes to protect the people. If we pursue rashly, we will only I'm afraid that they will intercept and defeat us with heavy troops, and damage our troops and horses in vain. Don't forget, when it comes to cavalry combat power, we are still not as good as the Liao people after all."
These words woke up the others. Although the Song Army's Northern Expedition repeatedly conquered the city during this period, it seemed that the Liao Army had become vulnerable. But in fact, everyone knew in their hearts that it was just because the previous city defenders were far from insufficient in strength, and they had just experienced many battles and were exhausted. Once they really had a decisive battle with the most elite main force of the Liao Kingdom in the wilderness, the Song Army really didn't dare to say that they would definitely win.
As for the cavalry duel, the Song cavalry, which has only improved in the past two years, is even less likely to be the opponent of the Liao people. Therefore, Yue Fei's decision was undoubtedly quite correct. Taking Shangjing first slowly and steadily, and then radiating from this center to capture all the surrounding Liao cities was the most reasonable strategy for the Song Dynasty.
As for whether to continue to advance westward or to stop when the situation is good, it will be up to Dong Ping, the commander at the rear, and even Sun Taiwei in the court to make the final decision. However, from Yue Fei's point of view, such a victory was enough, and there was no need to be greedy and continue to want to drive out the Liao people.
Because after this incident, the Liao people had lost the most important piece of land on which they relied for their livelihood. Forced to move westward, they would not only have to face a strange and complex environment, but also face challenges from the Xixia Kingdom. After all, when they moved to the west, they were closer to Xixia, and the other side was also sending troops eastward. Maybe the two sides would fight again this time.
This means something important. The Khitan people and the Liao Kingdom, who had risen since the Tang Dynasty, were about to slip into the abyss of destruction like many nomadic peoples after two or three hundred years.
At least, the Daliao Empire has come to its end!