In the sunlight, you can see dark green moss in the corners of the bricks and stones on the ancient city walls of Youzhou; the edges and corners of the stones on the ground on the city walls have been rounded. This is a trace of time, but there are not many signs of man-made damage. Youzhou has not seen a war for many years.
Xiao Siwen stood by the parapet, looking out and stroking his beard with his fingers, looking thoughtful.
There were many people outside the city, but there was no fighting at the moment. Smoke could be seen rising from the wilderness from afar. Xiao Siwen looked at it for a while and said: They are burning fire to bake the frozen soil. They should be using rammed earth to build siege fortifications.
He stretched his neck and looked down at the outer wall. There was a layer of ice on it, and there were icicles under the parapet, like frozen running water. The water splashed last night would freeze in the evening and morning. But Xiao Siwen looked up at the sun, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face, and guessed that the ice on the wall would melt before noon.
At this time Abudi pointed to the northeast and said: There is a large group of Zhou troops stationed there. Before they surround the city, we can counterattack and attack their camp.
Xiao Siwen immediately thought of Zhuozhou a few years ago. It was because of a momentary thought that he suddenly ordered the general to lead the troops to attack Zhuozhou, which resulted in huge losses. He shook his head cautiously and said: It's useless. Even if the attack on the camp is successful, too few people will go out and can't cause any substantial damage to the Zhou army. We have to take the risk of too many Zhou soldiers. It is reported that there are endless troops on several roads.
He carefully observed the soldiers on the city wall and felt that they were afraid. There were rumors circulating in the army that the Zhou ruler, Guo the Blacksmith, was a monster that had three heads and six arms and held a big hammer.
Moreover, the Zhou army was at its peak, and it was not the right time to leave the city and seek battle under such morale.
At this time, a general knelt on the ground: "I didn't even find out that the Zhou army was moving north in large numbers. I did send out scouts several times, but I don't know why they haven't come back yet. I don't know what happened. Why didn't I find out that the Zhou army was moving north?"
Xiao Siwen looked down at him and said: "You were negligent, but even if we had known about it in advance, our situation would not have been much different. It took the Zhou army only a few days to get from Yizhou to Youzhou. At that speed, it would not be much different if we discovered it in advance."
He looked around and said, there is no other way now, but to defend the city and wait for reinforcements. Without reinforcements, the troops stationed in Youzhou are insufficient and have no way to deal with the Zhou army.
All the generals bowed and said: We obey the orders of the king.
Xiao Siwen said solemnly again: The 10,000 cavalrymen who came to support us at the end of last year are fine, but those of us guarding Youzhou have their families all in the city. If we don't defend to the death, the city will be destroyed if it falls. I hope you all will do your best to protect our country.
After he finished speaking, he looked towards the north for a long time. In the depths of his vision, he seemed to see the vast and boundless grassland beyond the towering mountains.
In the royal court on the hills of Shangjing, charcoal fires were burning even during the day, and the windows were sealed shut. The firelight reflected on the face of the Liao emperor, Yelü Jing, and his eyes reflected the fireworks, looking very scary.
The ministers and nobles of the Northern Court were filled with indignation and were shouting and yelling for war and killing.
Yelu Jing frowned and said nothing. He thought to himself: If you guys weren't all thinking about getting me off the throne, with the Liao Dynasty's martial arts strength, it wouldn't be necessary to do this.
All the nobles took the initiative to request to send troops to Youzhou, and there was no objection in the court to rescuing Youzhou.
The minister of the Northern Court came out and bowed with his hands on his chest, saying: The Khan has ordered that the Northern Court should gather 400,000 cavalry from the palace army and tribal army within two months.
The Liao Dynasty was not weak in strength. They occupied vast tracts of land, ruled numerous tribes and populations, and had almost no fortresses or Great Walls. Without a large and powerful military force, it would have been difficult to maintain such a large country. Moreover, the cavalry on the grasslands could be mobilized quickly, and the ratio of population to military force was high. It was true that they could mobilize hundreds of thousands of cavalry in times of emergency.
Yang Gun said: I'm afraid we can't wait until the army is gathered.
After hearing this, all the ministers looked at each other sideways.
Yang Gun bowed and said: "I followed Yelu Xiu'ge to rescue Northern Han, which can't be considered as delay, but Jinyang was broken before we got there. You can look down on Northern Han, but the solidity of Jinyang City is world-famous. The King of Zhou is called Guo Pocheng, and his ability to capture cities and strongholds is beyond people's expectations. If we wait two months to gather the army and then go south, it is hard to say who will hold Youzhou City.
A noble asked: What do you mean
Yang Gun bent over and looked up at the person above him.
Yelu Jing picked up the bowl on the table with his palm, raised his head and took a gulp of the strong liquor. As the hot taste flowed down his throat, his face gradually turned a sickly red.
He understood Yang Gun's intention: to rescue Youzhou as quickly as possible, the only option was to mobilize the palace guards who were guarding the royal court in Shangjing.
But Yelu Jing had to think about it. If the palace army was transferred away, the tribal army would be able to gather and approach Shangjing with a legitimate reason. Would they take the opportunity to plot something bad? If he led the palace army south himself, he would have to gather more reinforcements later. Would they take the opportunity to occupy Shangjing and deal with the Khan who had already gone south
Yelu Jing couldn't help thinking too much. If he felt safe, why would the windows of the palace be sealed
He took another sip of wine, and the bowl was empty. He wanted to throw it on the table, but he put it down gently and said coldly: How many people can you have in a month
The Prime Minister of the Northern Court said: The palace army and tribal troops gathered in various places outside Shangjing can have 100,000 to 200,000 cavalry.
Yelu Jing understood that Youzhou was of great importance. If he did not rescue and lost Youzhou, it would only arouse internal dissatisfaction and conflict.
He no longer hesitated and said: First, dispatch 40,000 elite cavalry from the palace to quickly march south to harass the Zhou people who were attacking the city. One month later, the Khan himself will lead an army of 200,000 from Shangjing to the south.
The ministers echoed: The Khan is wise and powerful.
Yelu Jing looked down at the ministers, one by one, and his eyes stopped on the young Yelu Xiu'ge's face: Yelu Xiu'ge, you lead the Khan's elite troops to set out first.
Yelu Xiuguo immediately stepped out, slapped his left chest with an ambitious palm, bowed vigorously and said: "I will obey your orders and will not fail in my mission even if it means my death."
Well, Yelu Jing pointed at Yang Gun again, and you should be the deputy general.
Yang Gun said: I obey your order.
Yelu Jing slapped the table with his palm: Give me some wine
The palace maid hurried up with a wine jar, filled Yelu Jing's first, then placed two bowls with wine and brought them to the two generals.
Yelu Jing picked up the wine bowl.
Xie Khan and his two generals bowed together, raised their heads and drank the wine clean.
Yelu Jing also picked up the bowl and gulped it down. He felt even hotter. He waved his hand to smash the bowl into pieces, stood up and pointed to the south: If you don't show me your true colors, you think the Liao Dynasty is easy to mess with!
Yelu Xiu'ge and Yang Gun took the imperial edict to the camp in the north of Shangjing to mobilize troops. The two led the guards out of the palace and soon saw the garrison of the palace troops.
Yelu Xiu'ge looked at the scene in front of him with excitement.
The felt tents were neatly arranged horizontally and vertically on the grass, as if they were as vast as the white clouds in the sky. The scene here was completely different from that in the south city. There were no buildings at all, just open space. The Khitan army did not need houses, and they kept their original habits and lived in tents.
Yelu Xiuguo shouted and led his men down the gentle slope and rushed into the camp. The accompanying court officials handed over the credentials and summoned the generals from various units to confirm the military order.
Yelu Xiuguo immediately inspected the various divisions of the palace tent army. He determined that the palace tent army in the northern courtyard of Shangjing was the real elite.
Most cavalrymen wore iron armor, mainly scale mail, or at least some sturdy leather armor.
After Emperor Taizong of Liao, the Liao Kingdom was no longer a purely nomadic country. Although the main force was still on the grassland, there were large tracts of farmland and towns in Youzhou and other places in the Bohai Kingdom. Even in the southern part of Shangjing, there was an area built specifically for the Han people. A large number of craftsmen of various ethnic groups made porcelain tools and armor and weapons for them. Forging armor was more troublesome and could not meet the needs of most Liao troops, but the palace army had a high rate of armor first.
The palace army in the northern courtyard of Shangjing was well-equipped and strong. There was even a group of heavy cavalry with armor on their horses, but Yelu Xiu'ge could not take that group with him, as they were guards only around the emperor.
The main force of the Liao army was hunting everywhere, so they could set out as soon as the garrison's tents were packed up. It took less than two days to send out the troops.
A large number of horses left Shangjing, and the grasslands were surging with thousands of horses, so it was naturally difficult to hide. There were a large number of Han people in Nancheng, and many people knew that the Liao army's palace army had left the capital, and among them there were spies from the Great Zhou.
First, a small number of spies pretended to be fur traders and entered the southern part of Shangjing to establish trade relations with the locals. This route was more troublesome and difficult. Later, when the Northern Han Dynasty fell, many Northern Han officials were worried about being liquidated by the Zhou army, so they fled to the Liao Kingdom with their families, including many slaves.
At that time, the army was in chaos and the people were mixed. The spy leader in Jinyang took the opportunity to follow the pre-arranged arrangements and sent undercover agents to disguise themselves in various identities and blend into the fleeing crowd, and then fled to Shangjing. Some said that the servants of a certain family were separated, and there were too many servants in each family to check clearly and no one cared; there was even a person who claimed to be an official in Jinyang, and was asked by an official which yamen and which room he was in, and he was exposed. The Northern Han officials thought he was a scoundrel who was trying to take advantage of the situation and tricked him away.
Outside the South City Gate, two men carrying firewood stood there and watched. On the rolling grassland, a dark mass of horses spread like a flood. The land was so open that the horses did not need roads to march. Although it looked slow, it was actually very fast.
One of the men was keeping an eye on the surroundings, while the other carefully estimated how many troops there were. There were tens of thousands of troops, and it was impossible to count them, but it was only a matter of time to get an approximate number.
As soon as the Liao army set out and left Shangjing, the Zhou people knew their true strength. In this regard, the Zhou court did a better job than the Liao people.