The water of Hutuo River splashed on the rocks, and the white waves splashed and shone in the sun. The Khitan cavalry rushed on the flat road, and the corridor-like area stretched from east to west like a smooth road.
But the mountains to the north and south were stacked one after another, and the shadows of the mountains loomed over the sky. The rumbling of horse hooves echoed between the mountains and rivers.
Yang Gun knew more about Hedong than other Khitan generals. He told Xiao Duli: The road to the east is the road to Hebei; however, after passing the Pingxing Pass victory near Pingxingling, turn north at Lingqiu, and you will reach Weizhou. As long as you reach Weizhou, there will be no danger to Yunzhou.
Xiao Duli agreed and he had no choice.
The soldiers rode for nearly two hours, and the flat road gradually became rugged and rugged. Suddenly, they heard that Xu Jun was spotted ahead.
Xiao Duli rode his horse to the front and saw a group of soldiers waiting in the middle of the road. He suddenly realized that the soldiers from Zhangjiakou, Wuzhou, were the ones who appeared here at this time.
The general cursed: We were tricked from the beginning. All the troops from the north of Xu State are coming here.
No, Xiao Duli looked closely and noticed the Chinese characters on the Xu army's flags. On the various colored flags, there were characters such as Xu, Pingzhou, Jun, Lin, etc. He slapped his forehead and thought that the general surnamed Lin in Pingzhou must be Lin Renzhao, who was quite famous and was a subordinate of Liu Renzhan.
Xiao Duli glared and said: If the people here are Liu Renzhan's men, then where is Gao Yanchou
No one expected that the troops of Hebei Pingzhou Army would appear in Hedong, but Gao Yanchou had been predicted by Xiao Duli. He knew that Gao Yanchou's troops had left Wuzhou and moved westward. At first, the Liao army generals thought that Gao Yanchou was going to attack Yang Ye. Now that they were clearly being plotted by the Xu people, Gao Yanchou would definitely participate in the siege.
Gao Yanchou may be deploying a second containment line in the northern part of Yanmen Mountain.
Xiao Duli let out a long sigh, feeling that he would be unable to escape this time, and he didn't know how many layers of siege Xu's army had put on the battlefield.
He looked at the surrounding mountains. This was the only known passable road. No one dared to lead a large army into the mountains in other directions. They might get stuck there and fall into a dead end.
The sun was shining brightly overhead, but Xiao Duli felt his hands and feet were cold. The vast mountains and rivers of Xu State with complex terrain were no longer a sheepfold or hunting ground in his mind, but a man-eating quagmire, full of dangers.
He was desperate, but the enemy would never let him go just because he was desperate. Xiao Duli quickly judged the situation and decided to attack Lin Renzhao. Lin Renzhao's subordinates were surrendered soldiers from the Southern Tang Dynasty, and their fighting power was definitely not as good as the Xu Kingdom's imperial guards in the west. If the Southern Tang army was strong, such a large territory would not have been destroyed in just a few months. Xiao Duli believed that the Jiangnan soldiers were not even as good as Yang Ye's Hedong Army in land combat.
Attack immediately, Xiao Duli said coldly, otherwise you will just sit here and wait to be captured.
The Liao army quickly mobilized troops and attacked Lin Renzhao's troops at the entrance of the valley.
The cavalry's horses roared, and in the yellow earth smoke, fire flickered like stars, firearms flashed, arrows flew, and screams and shouts resounded through the mountains and rivers.
Heavy iron hooves clattered to the ground, and every time they trampled, sand flew up. A huge black shadow emerged from the dust and fog, and the sound of strings made the misty air tremble. Not far away, a long spear fell, and a soldier covered his eyes with his hands and screamed.
The Xu Jun soldier behind him staggered two steps with his eyes wide open, and tried to hold his spear with both hands. His whole body was visibly shaking, and his spear was trembling with it. In an instant, the Liao cavalry leaped up with a neigh, and the man on the horse roared and stabbed the sword head-on. With a sound of "crack", the raised iron sword splashed with blood. The cavalry immediately rushed through the spear formation in front and squeezed in, with roars and clanging sounds.
Xiao Duli and his men had already climbed up a nearby hillside. Looking up, they saw wild grass and yellow earth. The wind blew the dust around, like smoke from burning wild grass. Countless cavalrymen rushed to the mountain pass. The front formation of Xu's army had collapsed. The infantrymen holding muskets like sticks were running desperately, and the cavalrymen's iron swords were waving everywhere.
Other phalanxes were also retreating in groups to the slopes on both sides, which looked like a false defeat to lure the enemy, because there were many soldiers and horses on the high ground on both sides that could be seen with the naked eye.
But Xiao Duli had no time to play tricks with Lin Renzhao, so he decided to break through with force. He immediately ordered: Beat the drums, break through the blockade
Drums rumbled, and the Liao cavalry vanguard shouted as they rushed into the valley along the road. On the hillsides on both sides, the chevaux de frise and the slanting spears looked like a fence, and several rows of Xu army gunners stood behind the fence, firing at the running cavalry on the road.
The Liao cavalry also bravely ran forward, while riding sideways and shooting, and up and down the hillside, cavalry and Xu's infantry kept falling down. On both sides of the road, smoke filled the air and shouts shook the sky.
Soon, the cavalry reached a bend and the road was narrow, so the Liao army was forced to slow down. This bend became a nightmare.
Firearms flashed, not only from the two sides, but also from the curved side and front, attacking from three sides; the road was narrow, and the firearms were close. Every time the fire flashed, the Liao army on the road seemed to be hit by lead bullets that poured down like raindrops.
Some horses fell to their knees, screaming, and some fell to the side, killing both the riders and horses. The number of riders and horses that rushed over gradually became smaller and smaller, and the last one fell to the ground with blood splattered all over his body.
The shouts of "Wow!" and the clatter of horses' hooves continued without stopping, as a group of cavalrymen from behind rushed over again.
Bang, bang, bang, it seemed like there were explosions everywhere. The soldiers who had finished firing immediately left the fence, and the soldiers behind them quickly placed the long firearms they were carrying flat on the road.
There was no land left on the ground, the valley was littered with corpses of men and horses, and the mud and sand were all stained dark with blood.
Xiao Duli, a Liao general on the hillside behind, saw the valley covered in dust, with the sound of horse hooves and shouts of killing, and could not see what was happening inside. However, he saw cavalry rushing into the valley, but the yellow dust never extended to the depths of the valley. Xiao Duli could imagine what happened to the people and horses.
As the battle continued, his eyes became wet. The people around him were all silent.
The Xi and Jurchen soldiers had dismounted from their horses and were attacking Xu's troops on the hillside along both sides of the valley. The whole mountain was filled with people, and the whole field was filled with smoke. They did not seem to be fighting bravely, but rather struggling painfully in the wilderness.
At this time, a Khitan man rode his horse up the slope with a big flag and shouted: "General, Xu's pursuing troops have engaged our rear army on the north bank of the Hutuo River." The men in armor were Dong Zunhui's cavalry.
Xiao Duli stood there in a daze.
The general who reported to the Marshal shouted again.
Xiao Duli finally spoke: "Send a message to the generals, our Liao army has been surrounded and killed. The Khitan warriors would rather die in battle.
In the west, the Liao army was fighting with Dong Zunhui's troops, and the sound of killing seemed to echo throughout the entire corridor.
A cavalry unit of the Liao army on the south bank of the Hutuo River waded northward from the shallows, intending to attack Dong Zunhui's flank on the north bank and reinforce the Liao army on the north bank.
Dong Zunhui and Yang Ye joined forces, and the north and south responded to each other, greatly increasing their military strength. There was endless fighting on both sides of the Hutuo River. The river was full of corpses washed up by the water, as well as horse carcasses and flags. It was a mess.
In the afternoon, Dong Zunhui's cavalry and infantry gathered forward, the heavy infantry formed a square formation and slowly advanced, and the cavalry charged on both sides. Yang Ye's troops also formed a dense infantry square formation.
The fighting lasted from noon till dusk.
The two armies pressed eastward, with a total of no less than 100,000 troops from all sides crowded into this area. The corridors on both sides of the Hutuo River and between the Taihang Mountains and the Yanmen Mountains seemed to be filled with troops and horses.
As the light gradually dimmed, many Liao army soldiers began to flee towards the valley paths between Yanmen Mountain and Taihang Mountain. The battle situation was out of control.
The Liao army's supervisors shot the fleeing soldiers with bows and arrows. Someone shouted in Khitan: If you run into the mountains, you will get lost. Even if you can cross Yanmen Mountain, Gao Yanchou's scattered soldiers will go in and die like dogs. The great Khitan warriors fought to the death with Xu's army.
Deputy General Yelu Huer led his troops to make a detour from the front, and Yang Gun and others stopped him.
Yelu Huer looked panicked and pale. Seeing Yang Gun wearing a bloody armor, he asked: "Brother Yang, why are you not in the central army? Why are you like this?"
Yang Gun said: It's not my blood, it's the armor taken off the dead. He paused and sighed,
Yelu Huer was dejected.
Yang Gun rode his horse forward and said in a deep voice: Someone must go north to find out the situation behind the mountain and report the danger here to Lord Xiao.
Yelu Huer was stunned after hearing this and said: Brother Yang, can you find the way
Yang Gun pointed to the north and said: "That valley is called Xigou. After crossing Xigou, there is a rugged path heading north. It is difficult for a large army to pass, but if there are only a dozen riders, it won't be congested."
Yelu Huer turned his head and looked at the big flag on the hillside. Yang Gun whispered: "The troops are too crowded to pass through. Moreover, if the commander escapes, the army will be defeated. The general should make a decision immediately."
At this time, Xu Jun's cavalry had launched an attack from the north, and the melee in front gradually approached the valley entrance called Xigou. Yelu Huer hurriedly said: General Yang, remember your brothers at this critical moment of life and death, and your brothers will not forget.
Yang Gun said: The Northern Court King Yelu Xizhen treated me very well.
Without further ado, Yelu Huer immediately led his personal cavalry, Yang Gun and others to rush north. Fan Zhongyi was also in the team, but his face was so pale that he could not utter a word.
Yang Gun ran into the valley with everyone else, and when he reached the valley entrance, he couldn't help but look back. Behind him, there were people and horses running everywhere, and the entire corridor seemed like a mess.
At this moment, his heart was broken. He turned around and rushed into the valley. The huge noise behind him was still in his ears. It seemed that a Chinese voice came from the air: General Yang, if you want to achieve national strategy, you have to shed some blood.
What happened that night in Daizhou suddenly came to my mind.