The next morning, the first thing Yelu Jing did was to go to the front of the battle line to watch. It was just getting light, and in the distance, the Zhou army's battle lines stood in a forest, like a forest; the fires farther away had not yet gone out, illuminating the mist that had not dissipated last night like a halo.
Yelu Jing's face was livid. On the vast battlefield, he could not see any gap where he could stab his opponent.
Soon, someone came up on horseback and reported: "Abudi, the governor of Youzhou, has an urgent report that the Zhou army has attacked Youzhou City."
After hearing this, Yelu Jing's face turned pale and blue. He looked away from the vast Zhou army formation in front of him and turned to see Xiao Siwen: Abudi is one of your men. He is a good-for-nothing.
Xiao Siwen's face looked very ugly: "Great Khan, calm down. It must be the Zhou army that harassed my food supply. The light was dim at night, and the cavalry was large and powerful. Abudi was too concerned about the safety of Youzhou City, so he misreported the military intelligence."
Yelu Jing said in a deep voice: How come the Zhou army has come to Youzhou again? Weren't they still in the northwest yesterday evening
Xiao Siwen frowned and said: These people marched all night, they must not have stopped to rest. Since they arrived in Youzhou from the northwest overnight, they must want to go out from Youzhou to the southeast.
He also suggested that Yelu Xizhen's 20,000 elite cavalrymen should encircle the Zhou army from the west near the Wenyu River in the east. If they could move south in time, they would be able to block the Zhou army's way. The Zhou army had not ridden for a day and a night and must be exhausted at this time. If they were caught by part of the Liao army, they would undoubtedly be defeated.
Yelu Jing gritted his teeth and asked: Is it too late
Xiao Siwen said: "According to reports, the Zhou army attacking from the north is a large group of cavalry, and it is difficult to hide their tracks. Yelu Xizhen will know their movements sooner or later, but I don't know if he will be in time. I will immediately send a fast horse to the west to inform the Zhou army of their movements."
At this time, the sun had risen from the east, and the light between heaven and earth suddenly became brighter. Xiao Siwen arranged for a fast horse, watched the shadow of the fast horse galloping to the northeast, and looked at the rising sun in the east again.
After receiving the report from the scouts, Yelu Xizhen led his guards and galloped south for a distance. Then he saw a long series of curved footprints on the snow.
He jumped off his horse and took a closer look. There were countless traces of horse hooves on the ground. In some places, even the mud under the snow was turned up. The snow had been repeatedly trampled into broken ice. I don't know how many people and horses had passed by here to make it look like this.
Yelu Xizhen raised his head and looked south along the footprints. There was a long footprint on the snow field, with no end, extending to the south.
Bei Yelu Xizhen spat hard onto the ground.
The east gate of Gu'an County was wide open, and a large number of horsemen filed in. In the cold air, the men and horses exhaled white steam, and they were exhausted. But Dong Zunhui jumped off his horse in front of the military camp, and laughed out loud with his head raised.
The generals cheered and rejoiced. Dong Zunhui pointed at the dead sheep on the horse's back and shouted: Skin it and roast the prey!
Another general clamored to ask the Gu'an County treasury for good wine, and there was a lot of noise at the entrance of the military camp.
The soldiers hadn't slept for a whole day and night, but none of them felt sleepy at all and they were busy preparing the mutton excitedly.
When we entered the lobby of the military camp, someone said: This sheep died yesterday and was not bled, so the color of the meat may not look good.
Zhou Tong said loudly: But our sheep have a different taste, the taste of victory.
The generals stared with their eyes wide open, and said in unison: The taste of victory
Soldiers had already come in with charcoal and firewood to build a fire. Dong Zunhui and others poured wine first, and drank while waiting for the meat to be cooked. Everyone raised their wine bowls and shouted, tilted their heads back and drank the first bowl of wine in one gulp. Dong Zunhui finished drinking, squinted his eyes and exhaled a long breath, and everyone turned their heads to look at him with a smile.
Dong Zunhui slammed his wine bowl down on the table and said, "Youzhou is a vast plain near the left. We are always on the move. The Liao army has temporarily dispatched troops and wants to catch us."
Ha ha
Zhang Jiankui flattered him: General Dong is a great hero
Dong Zunhui immediately clasped his fists and said: It all depends on the proper deployment of the government.
Everyone agreed immediately. Dong Zunhui looked at the sheep on the fire and said, "Pick up a few and send them as gifts to the government." Dong Zunhui turned to look at Zhou Tong and laughed, "This sheep has a special flavor."
As soon as he finished speaking, a general came in and clasped his fists and said, "General Dong, someone from the Bazhou Palace wants to see you."
Dong Zunhui stood up immediately and asked
After a while, a civil servant came in, bowed and said: "General Dong has conquered the Liao army and won countless victories. The news has spread to Bazhou, and everyone in the military has praised him. General Dong has become a hero of the Great Zhou."
Dong Zunhui's tired face was flushed, but it was unclear whether it was because he couldn't hold his liquor or because he was intoxicated even without alcohol.
The civil servant stood up again and said: "Your Majesty has ordered General Dong to take a nap before going to Bazhou to see the emperor. The queen has sent someone to bring some good grape wine, and Your Majesty wants to drink it with General Dong."
The civil servant glanced at him and reminded him in a private tone: It is said that the fine wine brewed by the queen herself is not much, and not everyone is lucky enough to taste it.
Dong Zunhui rubbed his hands, so excited that he couldn't speak.
All the generals immediately clamored for congratulations. Zhou Tong even joked: The Queen Mother, the mother of the country, brewed the wine herself. General Dong must come back and talk about it with his brothers after drinking it.
Of course, Dong Zunhui patted his chest and said, "Let me attack again, this time I will turn Youzhou upside down."
Yelu Jing's hair and beard were so stiff that they were almost standing up like a hedgehog. Someone came in and reported: The army camp in the north of Zhuozhou was attacked by Zhou cavalry.
A nobleman asked hurriedly: Which direction are you coming from
Xiao Siwen, who was standing below, could not help but glance at the noble, wondering if this guy was stupid or just stunned. The Zhou army was not a tribe on the grassland, and the harassing cavalry had already returned south. The main force was all near Zhuozhou, so how could there be troops and horses suddenly attacking from the north? It was obviously cavalry attacking from Zhuozhou city. To the north of Zhuozhou were the Liao army's troops attacking Zhuozhou fortifications.
As expected, the person who came said: It was the cavalry vanguard from Zhuozhou who charged with heavy cavalry and threw iron spears. Their spears were invincible. They must be Shi Yanchao, who was known as the most powerful general in Zhou.
After the cavalry we left in the camp was defeated, the Zhou army rushed in from several directions. The Xiren and Jurchen infantry stationed in the camp could not resist and were killed and wounded by the cavalry. The catapults, ladders and baggage were burned by the fierce fire oil thrown by the Zhou army.
Yelu Jing slapped the armrest of his chair and said angrily: "How dare the Zhou army be so rampant with so few cavalrymen in Zhuozhou? Send elite troops to reinforce them immediately!"
Xiao Siwen could no longer stand, so he stepped out and bowed, saying: "Khan, I have something to say."
Yelu Jing turned around, his face full of anger.
Xiao Siwen calmed down and said: Something is wrong with the situation.
Yelu Jing said coldly: What's wrong
Xiao Siwen said: This battle is the Northern Expedition of the Zhou Kingdom, but from the beginning they passively built a defense line to prevent the Liao cavalry from counterattacking. Their fortifications and infantry could not choose when and where to start the battle. But since the Zhou army in the north harassed the rear, our Liao army dispatched troops to encircle and suppress them, and gradually followed in the footsteps of the Zhou army. In the current situation, the Liao army's more than 100,000 mobile cavalry are actually clamped by the Zhou army at every step, and there are signs that they are being led by the nose.
Another minister said: The Xiren and Jurchen infantry in the main camp can't resist. If we don't rescue them, two-legged people can't run faster than four-legged people. Can we just sit there and watch them being killed by the Zhou cavalry? Can we not dispatch troops to counterattack at this time
Xiao Siwen was speechless and could not think of any solution.
Yelu Jing immediately ordered his general to lead elite troops to the west for assistance.
The main force of the Liao army was almost all in Zhuozhou. First, the Liao army attacked the outer castles of Zhuozhou and besieged them from all sides. The main camp was set up in the north of Zhuozhou, facing the direction of Youzhou City. Then the main force of the Zhou army's infantry moved westward from Gu'an County. The Liao army attacked halfway. Most of the elite cavalry were between Zhuozhou and Gu'an, and the confrontation was stalemate, which is where Xiao Siwen, Yelu Jing and others are now.
The Liao army was attacked by large groups of Zhou cavalry from front and back. More than 30,000 elite Liao cavalry had already attacked. Now the main camp in the north of Zhuozhou was broken, and the front camp had to be divided from the Khan's tent to fight back. Every move was to deal with the actions of the Zhou army. This was not passive.
Xiao Siwen felt that the situation was inexplicable and strange. The Liao army was mainly composed of cavalry. Shouldn't they control the battlefield and take the initiative to choose when and where to start the war
The charcoal fire was burning brightly in the big tent.
Suddenly, Yelu Jing slammed his palm on the table, extremely furious, and pointed at the nose of a servant next to him: "This Khan ordered you to wear a dog-skin hat and take you out to be beaten to death!"
Great Khan, please spare my life, please spare my life. The servant's face turned pale, his knees went weak and he fell to the ground.
The attendant said again: "My nobles, please have pity on me and persuade the Khan."
Everyone looked at each other, no one said anything. Yelu Jing was very angry today, but he didn't dare to take it out on the ministers and nobles. He just wanted to beat a servant, who would be willing to speak out
But many people were probably puzzled. Even Xiao Siwen wondered: How could the attendant wearing a dog-skin hat offend the Khan? Whatever hat others wore was wrong. After thinking about it, maybe it was a little hot in the big tent, and wearing such a tight hat made Yelu Jing unhappy. Or maybe Yelu Jing remembered his favorite hunting dog and was very angry that the attendant wore dog skin.
After a while, screams of crying for parents were heard outside the big tent.
Everyone listened silently, as if no one heard it.
Xiao Siwen took half a step forward and immediately attracted everyone's attention. Yelu Jing also looked at him coldly.
Xiao Siwen said in a deep voice: "I suggest that the Khan take the big tent and make preparations. Many of the decorations in this big tent were left by our ancestors, and it would be a pity if they were lost."
Yelu Jingdao: What do you mean
Xiao Siwen said: The infantry and cavalry of the Zhou army may attack us. The infantry can't catch up with us, but it's too hasty for us to break camp and pack up the tents. Why not prepare first
The atmosphere suddenly fell to the bottom.