The new name of Yelu Xian in the first year of Daxu Shixing (the fourteenth year of Liao Yingli) will be used at the beginning of next year. It is already the end of winter, the coldest time of the year. However, by the time Xu Jun arrives in the northwest, it may be the end of the year or the beginning of next year.
Liao general Yang Gun arrived in Xiazhou first and immediately went into the palace to meet Li Yiyin.
Neither of them could speak the other's language, but they could speak Chinese slowly. So the two sides teamed up to deal with Han Er, but they could only communicate in Chinese without the need for an interpreter.
Yang Gun used to be trusted by Yelü Jing. After Yelü Jing died, he took refuge with Xiao Siwen, who generously accepted him. He was a middle-aged man with a serious and dignified expression. Compared with the rounder faces of most people in the Central Plains, Yang Gun's face was a little narrow and long, with a high nose bridge. He wore a fur hat and furry earmuffs. When he entered the palace, he bowed to Li Yiyin.
Li Yiyin immediately said: I am the leader recognized by all the Dangxiang tribes. I hope General Yang will restrain his subordinates and not harass the people of Pingxia.
Yang Gun said: "Don't worry, as long as you guarantee the Liao army's food and fodder, I will ensure that no one will be harmed." He changed his tone and said anxiously that a few days ago, I received an urgent report from the Northern Courtyard Privy Councilor Xiao Gong, who had found out that Xu's army had mobilized 70,000 to 80,000 troops, including 40,000 to 50,000 imperial guards.
Li Yiyin immediately showed a suspicious expression on his face after hearing this: Pingxia and Liao joined forces, and Xu State made a big fuss and thundered loudly, as if it was going to destroy Dangxiang, but it only used tens of thousands of people to attack
Yang Gun was also somewhat embarrassed, because the coalition forces currently numbered over 100,000 men, and they were defending the Tangut territory. It was rare that the attacking force had only about half the strength of the defending force.
Yang Gun said: This is the news sent by Lord Xiao himself, so it should not be wrong.
Li Yiyin asked: Xu's troops are still in the country, how did Liao know the strength of Xu's army
Yang Gun replied: Use spies. In the past, when the Liao Dynasty tried to spy on Tokyo, they sent scouts across the Yellow River, but they were often caught by the Central Plains inspectors; or they sent envoys, but they could only see very little. Later, the Liao officials found several spies from the Xu State in Shangjing. Lord Xiao was quite shocked. The Xu people had secretly penetrated the grasslands and came to Shangjing. After asking, he found out that they were disguised as merchants, taking advantage of the Khitans' greed for profit and colluding with the Khitans to hide their identities.
Xiao Gong followed suit and had Liao spies disguised as merchants to benefit the Xu people. As expected, the Xu people hid it as a goose that laid golden eggs.
Not long ago, Tokyo made a big fuss and gathered soldiers and horses in the suburbs to inspect the troops, which lasted for half a month. The people sent by Xiao Gong repeatedly inquired and bribed officials, and finally got the news.
Li Yiyin still didn't quite believe it.
Yang Gun was not sure whether the news was ready, after all, there were too many twists and turns. He suggested that Li Yiyin place spies on the southeast road and wait for Xu's army to approach Pingxia before conducting on-site espionage.
After Yang Gun finished speaking, he suddenly remembered something, took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Li Yiyin: This is a letter written by Mr. Xiao to Mr. Li, and all the earnest words are in the letter.
Li Yiyin picked it up and saw that it was all Chinese, written in very neat and beautiful small characters. He didn't expect that Xiao Siwen, an important official of the Liao Dynasty, was so proficient in Chinese. Obviously, Xiao Siwen could not write Tangut characters, and they could not understand Khitan. In the end, Chinese was the most convenient, as they could still recognize the characters even after a thousand years.
However, Xiao Siwen's literary talent was useless here, because Li Yiyin had limited knowledge and was really confused. He looked a little embarrassed. After all, he was the highest leader of the Dangxiang people and did not want to show that he was illiterate. So he said: "Thanks to Mr. Xiao for writing this, I will take a bath, change my clothes, and read it carefully."
He thought about it and went back to find someone to help him. Then he thought of his daughter Li Yueji. Yueji had read more books than him and would definitely understand it.
Yang Gun noticed the subtle change in Li Yiyin's expression. He then took the initiative to say: "Xiao Gong has instructed me to do my best to fight the enemy with you and will never sit back and watch the fire."
Li Yiyin nodded thoughtfully.
Yang Gun said calmly: General Li, do not doubt the sincerity of the Liao army. Xiao Gong said that the world has been enjoying good weather for many years, just like the rain, the grass and trees will grow wildly; the shaman priests observed the sky at night and understood the instructions of the gods. The priests also predicted that the next hundred years will be prosperous. The crops are abundant, the cattle and sheep are fat, and the population will surely prosper.
Li Yiyin stared after hearing this, not knowing whether to accept it or not. He thought that the priests who could foresee what would happen a hundred years later were just big liars and did not believe it at all. Besides, the shamanism seemed to worship ancestors, but those were the ancestors of the Khitan people, and it had nothing to do with the Tanguts.
But he did not raise any questions and just kept silent. There are many religious sects in the northwest, including Buddhists, Lamaists, Manichaeists, Zoroastrians, and so on. If you must argue over what others believe in, then there is no need to talk about anything else. Let's first argue over whether the gods are real or not.
Yang Gun seemed to be a believer of shamanism. He spoke with great interest. A prosperous population is the foundation of prosperity. Now is the time for all countries and tribes to grow stronger. The Han people of Xu State are numerous and powerful. They occupy the vast and fertile land of the Central Plains. Now they are ambitious and will be a threat to all tribes. We should form an alliance and not let Guo the blacksmith and his ministers taste the sweetness of expansion.
After hearing what was said later, Li Yiyin nodded repeatedly. No matter what, as long as the Liao army sincerely helped me, that would be enough.
As for the rest, it's all nonsense. Li Yiyin's hair is already gray, and he is in his forties. His rich experience has made his beliefs more and more stubborn. It is obviously not easy for Yang Gun to convince him of other concepts.
Yang Gun also warned: Xu Jun's firearms are very sharp when attacking cities, so if you are defending a strategic location, you must be careful. They are also very brave in field battles, but they also use the common battle formation method.
It was not until the middle of the twelfth lunar month that Li Yiyin began to admire the ability of Xiao Siwen, a minister of the Liao Kingdom.
His scouts had already found out the strength of the Xu army, which was no more, no less, between 70,000 and 80,000. And Xiao Siwen had actually found out this information a month ago.
After all, the Liao Dynasty was a great country in the northern grasslands, ruling over various ethnic tribes from west to east. It was indeed no ordinary country.
The weather was so cold at this time that people didn't even want to go out. The news made Li Yiyin wake up and he became much more energetic.
There were only more than 70,000 people, divided into two groups, the front and the back, which were dozens of miles apart. Li Yiyin suddenly became a little excited.
There were only more than 40,000 main forces in front. When the Liao people first sent the news, he thought it was ridiculous, but now his own people have made many inquiries and observations and found that it coincided with the real situation, so Li Yiyin had to believe it.
The Liao reinforcements alone had 20,000 infantry and cavalry, and the combined strength of the Dangxiang tribes was nearly 100,000. In the battle of Youzhou, Xu's army relied on its large numbers. Although the Liao army was defeated in Youzhou, all the tribes still did not dare to deny its cavalry's combat power. The reinforcements were equivalent to nearly half of Xu's troops this time.
At this time, Ye Ci, who was at the bottom of the poem, suddenly became a little angry: The people of Xu country look down on us too much. This is a contempt and humiliation to us.
Li Yiyin didn't understand why the man was angry. Fighting in battle is not about humiliating others. Why are you so angry
Ye Ci said: Xu Jun sent out such a small number of troops, I am afraid they only care about the Liao army reinforcements and regard us Dangxiang people as nothing.
Li Yiyin gave him a displeased look. No matter what, as long as Xu's army was defeated in this battle, no one would stop the Dangxiang people from establishing the Dabaigao Kingdom.
At this time, Mei Zang said: Haner does not despise our people, he is just forced to do so.
He glanced at Ye Ci and said: Haner came from Tokyo, took the southeast road, and went north along the Yellow River. South of Hengshan, the land is barren with gullies and ravines. The population in Xu State is sparse, and food and grass have to be sent from afar. The mountains are high and the roads are long, making transportation inconvenient. Even if there are 70,000 or 80,000 troops, it is enough for the Xu State court to toss.
This is also the reason why the Central Plains court has been rewarding us and lenient for many years, trying to win us over. It's not that they don't want to, but they can't do anything to us. The Dangxiang people are few in number and their territory is small, so there is no benefit in being an enemy of the Central Plains.
Li Yiyin pondered after hearing this and said: That makes sense. I heard that the Central Plains mobilized a large army during the Youzhou War and spent a lot of money. Maybe the funds are not sufficient now, so this situation has occurred.
Li Yiyin also thought of many reasons to convince himself to believe what was happening before him.
Ye Ci said coldly: Since the Central Plains court is powerless, why are you still so disrespectful and forcibly oppressing and humiliating us
Li Yiyin was very happy and excited, but he felt that he should keep calm, so he appeared to be relatively calm. This would not be the first time that war would be waged, and after this battle, there would probably be constant wars.
His implication was that Xu Jun's attack might just be a test. The most difficult thing was still to come. Xu Guo might rely on its solid foundation to fight against Dangxiang for a long time.
However, Li Yiyin could not help but indicate that Xu Jun was personally leading the army this time, and the emperor was also in the army.
Ye Ci immediately bowed and said: Please let my troops lead the way, capture the emperor and avenge Princess Yueji.
Li Yiyin said: "Very good. Even if we fail to capture the emperor and defeat his personal army, the status of the Dangxiang people will be completely different in the future."
Li Yiyin immediately called all the troops together to discuss countermeasures. After finding out that Team Xu was heading north along the Yellow River, everyone guessed that they might march along a larger river, which would not easily get lost and would fully guarantee the army's water supply. So they would enter the Wuding River from the Yellow River, first attack Suizhou, and then break through the Hengshan area.
The northern part of Pingxia is mainly grassland and pastureland, and the Hengshan area is agricultural land. They can get a lot of supplies from the Hengshan area; therefore, they cannot give up the Hengshan area and let Xu State gain a firm foothold on that land first.
Suizhou was a center in the southeastern part of Hengshan. If Xu's army captured it, it could become a rear camp. However, before advancing to Suizhou, there was no important town or place where supplies were gathered for a long distance. It would be disadvantageous for the coalition forces to leave Suizhou and look for an opportunity to fight.
The main reason is that the morale of the troops is very high at this time. They are all looking forward to teaching the emperor of the Central Plains a lesson. After all, the emperor does not have many soldiers around him.