Just after noon, the army had eaten some dry food and had no time to rest. Suddenly, the south gate opened, and two light soldiers rode in, and the gate was hastily closed. Soon, the sound of drums was heard from the tower, and the soldiers around Guo Shao stood up and looked up. But inside the city, they could only see the Zhou army soldiers walking on the wall, and they didn't know what had happened.
An officer in the army said: I will go to the north city to take a look. You all should take care of the troops and wait for the lord to come back.
Yes, several other generals responded.
At that time, the drums sounded loudly, as if there was a military situation. Soldiers were constantly being sent to the city, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense. However, everyone remained calm and did not panic, but discussions gradually arose in the army.
Wasn't it rumored that the Khitan soldiers only had a few thousand cavalrymen? They wouldn't attack the city. Someone had revealed the secret. No wonder everyone in the city seemed to be taking their time.
Then I heard another person say: Let alone thousands of cavalry, even with tens of thousands of cavalry, it is unclear when we can capture Xinzhou City.
This person was not wrong. It was rumored that the Liao people were not very good at attacking cities, let alone defending them.
After the Khitans entered the Hebei region, they were no longer pure nomads, but were in a state of semi-pastoralism and semi-agriculture, with animal husbandry being very popular. They learned a lot from agricultural countries. However, the Han people were good at managing and leveraging the military role of cities, but the Liao Dynasty did not seem to pay much attention to this aspect.
But this time the Liao army wanted to rescue Jinyang. If they didn't take Xinzhou, how could they have a safe journey to Jinyang
Since the Five Dynasties, the Liao Kingdom has never given up its attempt to expand southward and encroach on the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty, and they have done a good job. They occupied the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun and opened the door to the core area of the Han people from the eastern line of Hebei; they supported the Northern Han in occupying Jinyang in the west. This place overlooks the entire Hedong area from a high vantage point, and can drink from the Yellow River to the south, approaching the heart of the Central Plains. In terms of the situation, the Liao Kingdom has stepped into the threshold of the Central Plains with both feet, and occupied all strategic locations, which can be used for attack or defense.
Therefore, Jinyang was very important to the Liao Kingdom, and they had to gather elite troops to rescue it even though they were in the midst of civil strife.
The Zhou Dynasty sent a large number of troops to Xinzhou in order to block the Liao reinforcements and prevent them from threatening the siege forces in Jinyang.
In the afternoon, the general who went to the north city to check the situation came back, and everyone waited for his feedback. Because Xiang Xun's troops had not received the military order to defend the city, the soldiers did not dare to move, and they could not see anything from inside the city wall.
During the conversation between the generals, Guo Shao learned that the general who returned was named Zhang Jianxiong. This person left a deep impression on Guo Shao, not because of his appearance, but because he was the first person Guo Shao talked to after arriving in Northern Han. He was the one who asked the infantry in Jinyang where so many war horses came from, and who almost went out to argue with Shi Yanchao when he saw him killing innocent people halfway.
Zhang Jianxiong said succinctly: A group of Liao cavalry came, probably more than a thousand, and the cavalry were wandering around outside the city. King Wei ordered the vanguard Shi Yanchao to lead the cavalry out of the north gate to fight. It didn't take long for the Khitans to resist and fled north. Shi Yanchao received another order from King Wei to follow and pursue.
A general standing nearby sighed after hearing this: Shi Yanchao is indeed brave!
Zhang Jianxiong frowned when he heard this: I think it is most likely that the Khitan soldiers deliberately pretended to retreat to lure the enemy, so that Shi Yanchao would underestimate the enemy and advance rashly, and let this guy fall into the trap.
The general muttered: Didn't Shi Yanchao pursue the enemy only because he received the order from King Wei
Zhang Jianxiong blurted out: King Wei is old.
After hearing this, all the generals kept silent, as it was inconvenient to discuss the King of Wei in public. After all, the King of Wei, Fu Yanqing, was the commander of all the armies in Xinzhou, and he had such a high status and prestige, so it was not appropriate for a group of middle and lower-level generals to say something wrong about him.
At this time, Xiang Xun and several other riders came riding from the north central axis road. Xiang Xun returned to the army, then nimbly jumped off the horse and threw the reins in his hand to his followers. All the generals also gathered around.
Xiang Xun first looked back to the north before speaking: "Shi Yanchao went to the battle and chased to Xinkou, where he ran into a large group of Liao troops. King Wei was worried that he might have a mishap due to insufficient troops, so he asked me to lead my troops to support him. Everyone, get ready."
Guo Shao, Yang Biao and others were not familiar with Xiang Xun's subordinates and did not talk much along the way, but they understood the military situation of the war as they went back and forth in Xinzhou City. At this time, Guo Shao was very puzzled.
Prince Wei Fu Yanqing's mission objective was very clear, which was to garrison Xinzhou and other places to block the Liao reinforcements from saving Jinyang. Normally, it seemed that doing this kind of thing was the most obvious, and passive defense would do the job. Even if the Liao army could not be defeated, as long as the defense was managed diligently, the Liao army would not be able to take Xinzhou. Anyway, the Liao army wanted to pass through here, not only would they be worried, but they would also be in turmoil. Under such circumstances, what was Fu Yanqing's intention in asking Shi Yanchao to take the initiative
Could it be that seeing that Shi Yanchao won the first battle, Prince Wei wanted to take the opportunity to capture Xinkou? Along the way, Xiang Xun kept asking local officials and people about the topography of Xinzhou. Guo Shao also learned a lot. The Xindai Basin is the main road into the Jinyang area from the north, and there are mountains between Xindai that block it and are difficult to cross; only in front of Xinkou Town are there two traffic passages that can be used, and these dangerous passages are like the nostrils of the Xinzhou area to ventilate the outside world.
If the Zhou army occupied Xinkou and sent troops to block the two nearby passages, the Liao army would have to turn into a bird to fly over the mountains if they wanted to move south. If this was the plan, why would Fu Yanqing's main force still be in Xinzhou? He should have taken advantage of Shi Yanchao's fierce charge and followed with all the troops to drive the Liao army out of Xinkou at all costs. But now he only asked Xiang Xun to respond. I really don't understand what the mystery is.
Xiang Xun brought a few thousand soldiers, but only about 300 light cavalry could really fight a tough battle. With such reinforcements, Shi Yanchao's vanguard would have to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Liao army, or he would have to rush back to help Shi Yanchao. Then why did Shi Yanchao chase him out
For a moment, Guo Shao felt that the tactics and strategies of the King of Wei lacked basic logical connections. However, it was hard to say. After all, Fu Yanqing's family was a warlord who had been crowned kings for three generations. People in such high positions should always have extraordinary wisdom. Maybe they had some far-sighted plans, which were not something that a ten-year-old like Guo Shao could guess.
However, since it concerned the lives of himself and twenty brothers who had traveled a long distance, Guo Shao could not care less. He changed his previous style of being well-behaved and taciturn, and when he saw the opportunity, he asked: "General Xiang, should we go to rescue Shi Qianfeng or support him to continue the battle?"
Xiang Xun turned his head to look at Guo Shao who was speaking, and responded calmly: King Wei didn't say that.
Guo Shao was speechless and asked no more questions.
At this moment, Zhang Jianxiong started to curse: "Shi Yanchao, this fellow didn't give the lord any face. He makes me angry when I think of him, and he asked us to rescue him. He is so capable, let him beat the Liao people back by himself."
When Guo Shao heard this, he also thought of the incident at the village halfway. Zhang Jianxiong's words of disrespect to him were probably referring to that incident.
At that time, when Shi Yanchao killed those innocent women who were robbed, Zhang Jianxiong almost stepped forward, but was later stopped by General Xiang. At that time, Guo Shao thought that Zhang Jianxiong was a good young man with sympathy and a sense of justice, but now he heard him only scolding Shi Yanchao for not giving face to Xiang Xun, and suddenly realized that Zhang Jianxiong's dissatisfaction was not because of sympathy for those innocent women, but because he was angry about Shi Yanchao's attitude in front of his lord, and he was standing up for his lord Xiang Xun.
I'm afraid that these warriors of the Five Dynasties didn't even consider those slaughtered women as human beings.
At that time, Xiang Xungang, as soon as he saw Shi Yanchao, gave him a lecture with the official order, and his words were all reasonable. It was probably difficult for Shi Yanchao to refute the reasonable reasoning, but Shi Yanchao must have felt unhappy. Why was he taught a lesson by a general he looked down upon
So Shi Yanchao didn't try to reason with you verbally. You're asking how to deal with them, right? According to Xiang Xun's opinion, the innocent women should be released and the soldiers who didn't follow military discipline should be punished. But Shi Yanchao was very straightforward and killed them all. What can you do to me
He was not trying to kill anyone, but was deliberately trying to make things difficult for Xiang Xun in public and to slap Xiang Xun in the face to vent his anger.
It's just a pity for those innocent women, who did nothing wrong but were chopped off as a prop for venting anger. Guo Shao still has some mainstream values of modern people, and of course he cannot agree with this kind of indifference to life, but he doesn't think it's wise to stand up and argue about right and wrong in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, so he just became an indifferent bystander; the key is that Shi Yanchao didn't know who you were at all, and he was angry. Seeing a young general like you, he drew his sword and chopped you off when he didn't agree with you. What should I do? Should I fight with the first fiercest general of the Zhou Dynasty, or wait for someone to seek justice for me after I am killed? Besides, in a place full of war and chaos, there are many tragedies, and it is not something that a mortal can handle.
Everyone was very dissatisfied with Shi Yanchao and cursed him in front of Xiang Xun.
At this moment, Xiang Xun raised his hand to stop the generals from talking, and said slowly: Shi Yanchao is a little arrogant, but he has not killed our people or done anything unjust, so why are you angry with him? We are all generals of the Great Zhou, don't quibble over trivial matters.
Zhang Jianxiong said angrily: We are afraid that even if we rescue him, he will not appreciate it and will blame us for being nosy.
Xiang Xundao: Shi Qianfeng is not someone who does not know grudges. You must put the overall situation first and do not act on impulse and ruin the battle. You can stop talking and order all troops to leave the city lightly.
Only then did the generals calm down and obey the orders.
Guo Shao also told his men to get their horses and weapons ready to go. Luo Mengzi asked: "If we leave our things here, will they be picked up by others?"
Before Guo Shao could answer, Yang Biao started to scold him: "You talk as if you are rich. Search carefully and you will find nothing but the things on the horse that are worth a few copper coins."
Luo Mengzi then gave up and muttered: I don't have a good opinion of Shi Yanchao. It would be better for those women to wait for the rebels to take them away. Maybe they can live better if they are taken back by the soldiers.
Yang Biao also said coldly: Shi Yanchao is a piece of shit.