Guo Shao returned to the left wing camp of the Xiongzhou Beihujie Army at Waqiaoguan.
He first summoned more than 40 military commanders, including the military commander and the military commander, to the tent to discuss matters. The central army tent was a felt-top tent, built with wood and cloth around it, and covered with felt straw, which was used to make straw raincoats, and had a good waterproof effect.
The generals arrived one after another and habitually took off their weapons and placed them on the shelf at the door. Soon it looked like a weapons exhibition, with all kinds of swords and various protective accessories displayed.
After everyone arrived, Guo Shao led his personal guards into the tent. However, the personal guards did not go in, but directly imposed martial law around the area, not allowing any unrelated soldiers to approach.
The group of people saluted in a somewhat chaotic manner. So many people came at once that there was no place to sit, so everyone had to stand.
After a while, several guards came up with a crude frame on which hung a large map, which was roughly outlined with thick lines. This map was made by Guo Shao himself, and it was a little ugly, but very simple.
Guo Shaoxian took off his helmet and put it on the table. It was mid-April and the weather was already a bit hot. He felt a bit stuffy with his long hair tied up on his head and covered with the helmet. When he turned around, the noise of the crowd gradually stopped, and many eyes turned to Guo Shaoxian. He was used to such scenes now.
So he pondered for a moment, then pointed to the map and said casually: It is said that a large number of Liao reinforcements have arrived at Yanshan, and they are probably in this area; our army is currently on the north and south of the Juma River.
The deployment of the left wing of the Hujie Army is to cross the Juma River and reach Gu'an in Zhuozhou. The two cities will form a pincer attack and defend on standby; the power of the infantry will be handed over to Qi Tingxun, the commander of the left wing. Once in Zhuozhou, Qi Tingxun will be responsible for commanding the six armies.
Suddenly someone asked: Marshal Guo is going to step down as the left wing commander
Guo Shao said: I have new military duties. I will lead the garrison troops from various routes to follow the main force and advance towards Youzhou. Under my command will be the Hujie Army, the left wing cavalry, the Dingzhou Army, and tens of thousands of garrison troops. I am not sure exactly where they are from and how many troops they have.
He turned to look at the tall Qi Tingxun: Send someone to move the dozen large boxes in Qizhou to Zhuozhou. You know what I'm talking about, right
Qi Tingxun clasped his fists and said: I understand.
Guo Shao added: "Li Chuyun, Luo Yanhuan, Dong Zunxun, Deng Fei, four generals, led their cavalry to follow me; the others followed the command of Qi Tingxun, the commander of the left wing. The various commanding and messenger troops also followed the army, Zuo You and Luo Mengzi followed me; Lu Chengyong was the deputy commander, and he and Zhou Duan stayed in the left wing shogunate. You all understood where you were going."
Everyone agreed and after a discussion, Guo Shao immediately ordered all the generals to return to the camp and prepare to set out.
The next morning, the troops crossed the Juma River one after another using the floating bridge. Most of the battles were spent on marching, and everyone was used to it. It had been more than a month since the Northern Expedition began, and everyone had walked hundreds of miles and occupied many places, but had not really fought a battle.
The river water is clear, and the fields on both sides are green in spring and summer. A lot of land here is barren and covered with grass, but it still looks full of vitality. Compared with the snowy winter, the scenery at this time seems to be in a different place.
Guo Shao rode his horse to the river bank and stood under a tree, watching the army marching in formation and the large number of mule and horse carriages. When he looked around, he saw Li Chuyun beside him. Thinking of Li Chuyun's words at the end of last year, he couldn't help but say: Brother Li is right.
Several months had passed since those words were spoken, and the generals had almost forgotten about them. Only when Guo Shao mentioned them did they gradually remember them.
Li Chuyun bowed on his horse and smiled without saying anything.
Seeing this, Guo Shao suddenly felt that he was becoming more and more like a great general. Guo Shao only remembered that in history, Chai Rong was forced to stop the Northern Expedition due to illness, which caused regrets; but he could not remember the whole process. On the contrary, Li Chuyun's words at the end of last year, looking back now, seemed to have predicted what would happen.
The Zhou army fought all the way to the south of the Juma River, with only one small-scale conflict, and they surrendered all the way. Guo Shao said, after crossing the Juma River, the Liao reinforcements will soon arrive, and the key point of this battle is really a decisive battle with the main force of the Liao, which is consistent with what General Li said.
After hearing this, Li Chuyun said: Youyun and Bohai are the old lands of the Khitans. They are the important places for the Khitans to obtain products. There is no reason for the Liao Kingdom not to save them. There are occasional fights among relatives and brothers, but who is willing to give away half of their fertile farmland to outsiders
Guo Shao asked again: "Brother Li, please make another prediction about the outcome of this battle between Zhou and Liao.
Li Chuyun was quite hesitant and said calmly: I think it will be difficult to win.
Guo Shao was deep in thought when he was informed that a messenger from Daming Prefecture had come to the army. He ordered the messenger to be brought up, and saw a man wearing a futou and robes with several followers. After greeting them, he really handed over the letter.
Fu Ermei's letter. Guo Shao asked his followers to receive the messenger first, then rode his horse aside quietly, and then opened the letter to read it. Letters in this era were very difficult to deliver and cost a lot. People were specially sent to run hundreds of miles to deliver letters. Otherwise, they could only ask acquaintances to carry them, and there was a high possibility of losing them.
The beginning of the letter seemed very plain. Fu Ermei described that there was an official post inside the gate of the palace, which was a place dedicated to receiving letters, official documents, visiting cards, etc. She would send someone to ask every few days, and for the first time she felt that waiting was so tiring. If she found a letter from her husband, she would be happy for a long time. For a long time, she could only read his letters carefully to express her longing.
When Guo Shao saw this, he suddenly felt anxious and wanted to defeat the Khitan as soon as possible and return to Tokyo.
But he guessed that Chai Rong's body might not last long, and he would not be able to rest in peace if he returned, as the moment of great historical change was looming ahead. This made Guo Shao anxious, and after thinking about it, he had no solution at the moment.
The best option is to follow the Queen's arrangements.
When the Hujie Army's left wing arrived in Zhuozhou, the troops of the Palace Front Division had already moved north, so Qi Tingxun took over the defense of Zhuozhou and Gu'an. Guo Shao followed the imperial edict and led more than 2,000 cavalry north to follow the main cavalry of the Zhou Army.
The water at the crossing of Zhuoshui was shallow, so the troops waded across it and easily broke through the Zhuoshui. At this time, there was no place for the Zhou army to rely on in front of Youzhou City, and the plain was flat; the rivers near the city were also shallow and could not stop the army at all. Youzhou Plain was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the south was a completely flat plain.
Guo Shao only had 2,000 cavalrymen under his command, and the Dingzhou army and the Zhenjie troops had not yet arrived. The vanguard Shi Yanchao led a part of the Palace Guards and was already approaching Youzhou City, followed by the elite cavalry of the central army, and Guo Shao and the cavalry of the Longjie army were at the end.
On the second day of the march, when they were setting up camp that night, someone from the central army suddenly came to say that the emperor had summoned all the generals to discuss matters. Guo Shao had no choice but to bring a dozen of his followers and catch up with the central army.
There was a bright fire outside the big tent, and it was dark when Guo Shao arrived. Wang Pu and more than a dozen generals and the emperor were all present, and they said directly: Shi Yanchao reported that the Liao army has arrived in the northwest of Youzhou City near Juyongguan Deshengkou.
Chai Rong then said: What do you think of how we should advance? Please tell me first.
The generals looked at each other in bewilderment. Chai Rong called on Zhang Yongde and said: General Zhang, talk to me.
Zhang Yongde stepped forward, bowed and said: "The Liao army has already set out to rescue Youzhou. I don't know if the Great Zhou has already occupied several states and seventeen counties on the south bank of the Juma River. It has already been successful. There is no need to rush into Youzhou now, but to take it slowly."
There is no need to persuade me to withdraw the troops, Chai Rong said decisively.
At this time, Zhao Kuangyin stood up and said: "Since the Liao army has arrived in the northwest of Youzhou, why don't they come directly to rescue Youzhou City? It may be a deliberate plan to lure our army to the city and lure the enemy deep into the city. Now that the Liao reinforcements have arrived, our army should wait and see in the south, wait for the main force of the Liao army to move south, and then wait for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle."
Several generals immediately agreed with Zhao Kuangyin's strategy and were unwilling to go deep into the city of Youzhou.
Wang Pu also said: When the enemy arrives at the city, we will have to divide our troops to besiege the city and disperse our forces. If we can wait for the Liao army to move south, we can avoid any worries.
Another person said: "The Liao army has come from afar to reinforce and has just arrived in Youzhou. We should not attack now. They will not easily go south and will have to delay to rest. If we approach Youzhou now, we can force the Liao army to fight urgently. If the Liao army still retreats to Deshengkou Pass, we can take the opportunity to attack the city. Once we occupy Youzhou, we will have a foothold."
Guo Shao, Guo Shaohe, Chai Rong suddenly called out.
Whenever the emperor talked about attacking the city, he would think of Guo Shao, who was usually silent. Guo Shao hurried forward and bowed, saying: "I am here."
Chai Rong asked: When can you go to Youzhou
Guo Shao said: "I have sent spies disguised as merchants to Youzhou to inquire about the situation. Youzhou has a general manager of the Southern Court. The Southern Court has 18,000 Khitan cavalry and an unknown number of Xi soldiers and cavalry. With the troops under my command, it may be difficult to besiege the city. Even if the city wall is blown up, it will take about a month. We must first dig tunnels everywhere to find a suitable explosion point. Because there is water seepage underground in some places, it is impossible to place gunpowder."
He couldn't help but offer some honest advice: To besiege Youzhou, they had to mobilize the elite infantry as well, build several layers of fortifications outside the city, and surround it with a large army.
After a long consideration, Chai Rong decided to camp in the south of the city and not attack Youzhou City for the time being. He also did not order the follow-up elite infantry troops to be transferred up.
It can be seen that Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin had relatively consistent views on the strategy of attacking Youzhou. Both focused on the Liao reinforcements and looked for opportunities to annihilate the enemy in field battles.
Guo Shao participated in many high-level court meetings and probably understood the military thinking of Chai Rong and other generals: they generally did not rely on strategies, but just wanted to find an opportunity to fight back.
However, when fighting, there are always some external conditions that affect the outcome, such as terrain, morale, strength, and number of people. Therefore, the so-called tactics are to try to lead the external conditions to the side that is favorable to oneself, and in the end it is still a battle of strength.
At present, the elite troops of the Zhou army are not advancing because they feel that the conditions of being at the gate of the city are unfavorable to them.