【In the fourth year of the Taiping Xingguo era, Song Taizong Zhao Jiong destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty, and the territory of the Song Dynasty bordered that of the Liao Dynasty. At this time, Zhao Jiong set his sights on the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, hoping to use the momentum of the Song Dynasty’s victory over the Northern Han Dynasty to reclaim the Sixteen Prefectures and fulfill his ancestors’ wishes!】
【The Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun were divided into the seven prefectures in front of the mountains, namely, Tan, Shun, Ji, You, Zhuo, Mo, and Ying, which were located southwest of the Taihang Mountains, and the nine prefectures behind the mountains, namely, Ru, Gui, Wu, Xin, Yun, Shuo, Huan, Ying, and Dai, which were located northwest of the Taihang Mountains.】
【After the Liao Dynasty occupied this area, it paid great attention to its development, not only expanding the cities but also deploying heavy troops to guard them, making the Youzhou City at that time a secondary capital with a circumference of 36 li, a height of 3 zhang, a width of more than 1 zhang, and a population of 300,000.】
【On the twentieth day of the fifth month of the same year, the Song army advanced eastward from Taiyuan, crossed the Taihang Mountains, and arrived at Zhenzhou on the twenty-ninth day. On the seventh day of the sixth month, weapons, equipment, grain, and provisions from various prefectures in Hebei and Jingdong reached the front line.】
Seeing the words on the golden list, Zhao Kuangyin's whole being was filled with confidence, and he waved his hand with a springy air, shouting:
"Bring me the map!"
The palace attendant immediately spread out the map, which had been blown down by the wind, on the wooden table.
Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Guangyi, and the officials surrounded the map and pointed at it:
"Zhenzhou... they've reached Zhenzhou..."
【On the twentieth day, the Song army reached Dongyi Prefecture, crossed the Juma River and entered Liao territory. The prefects of Liao Yizhou and Zhuozhou surrendered their cities. On the twenty-third day of the sixth month, the Song army arrived south of Youzhou City, and Zhao Jiong set up camp at Baoguang Temple.】
"Yizhou and Zhuozhou have been captured, they're moving pretty fast..."
Zhao Guangyi said excitedly, while Zhao Kuangyin furrowed his brows and his eyes were dark.
【The Song army achieved an initial victory in the first battle, with the vanguard Fu Qian and Kong Shou defeating the Liao army's vanguard and capturing over 500 people. Seeing the Song army's overwhelming force, the Liao army did not dare to fight against them, so they used blue flags at Deshengkou to pretend to be gathering their retreating troops, enticing the Song army to continue attacking. The Song army, unaware of the trick, continued to attack.】
"What? This Song Taizong fell for it? He's too reckless!"
Zhao Guangyi scolded!
Seeing Zhao Kuangyin remain silent and contemplative, he shut his mouth reluctantly.
【The Song army pursued their victory, first beheading over a thousand, then they were attacked by Yelü Xiezhen, the Southern Yuan Marshal of the Liao Dynasty, and retreated to confront Xiezhen's army at Qingsha River.】
【On the twenty-fifth day of the sixth month, the Song army saw that Xiezhen's forces were insufficient and could only serve as reinforcements, so they deployed part of their army to confront them, while the main force attacked Youzhou City.】
Seeing this sentence, Zhao Kuangyin finally spoke, letting out a cold laugh:
"As expected! I knew that the Liao army's forces in Youzhou were insufficient!"
He fell into contemplation, but he didn't know how the Song army would lose or how the Liao army would win given this situation.
【In this critical situation, the Liao army was demoralized, and many generals in front of the battle surrendered to the Song army, being appointed to high positions by Zhao Jiong, further undermining the morale of the Liao army.】
【On the twenty-sixth day of the sixth month, Zhao Jiong personally led the battle from Baoguang Temple in the south of the city to the north of the city, fighting fiercely for a whole day and killing numerous enemies.】
【On the thirtieth day, he continued to lead the battle. At that time, Liao Nanjing was under siege, and the whole world was shaken. The commanders of Liao Shunzhou and Jizhou successively surrendered to the Song army.】
Seeing this scene, all the Song Dynasty officials and subjects showed excited expressions!
The Song army's might is indeed formidable! Four prefectures have already surrendered to the Song Dynasty, and as long as Youzhou is taken, the ancestral legacy will be restored!
Even Zhao Guangyi showed a smile, but Zhao Kuangyin remained expressionless, motionless.
【When Liao Jingzong Yelü Xian learned that Nanjing was under siege, he quickly sent troops for reinforcements. The Song army, having besieged Youzhou City for a long time without success, was demoralized and the soldiers were slacking off.】
【On the sixth day of the seventh month, Yelü Sha's reinforcements arrived in Youzhou. Zhao Jiong, upon learning of this, led his army to engage in battle at Gaoliang River. Yelü Sha, despite fighting bravely, retreated.】
"Good, good, good! This Song Taizong still has some skill, if this continues, he will definitely conquer Youzhou City and recover the Sixteen Prefectures!"
Zhao Guangyi exclaimed joyfully, and the officials around him nodded uncontrollably.
Only Zhao Pu's face was gloomy, he suddenly asked:
"But our Song army has not captured Youzhou City after many days, their morale is likely to falter!"
As soon as he said this, everyone fell silent and continued to look at the golden list screen.
【After Yelü Sha retreated, the Song army pursued him. Liao general Yelü Xiuguo, taking advantage of the Song army's exhausted pursuit, suddenly launched a counterattack, each soldier holding a torch. The Song army was scared and dared not confront them, so they retreated to Gaoliang River.】
【Yelü Xiuguo also took the opportunity to gather the remaining forces of Yelü Sha and confronted the Song army again. The next day, the two sides engaged in battle again. Yelü Sha personally led his army to engage the Song army, while Yelü Xiuguo and Yelü Xiezhen each led their elite cavalry to attack the Song army from both flanks.】
【In this battle, Yelü Xiuguo led from the front, though wounded three times, he continued to fight bravely. Yelü Xuegu, inside Youzhou City, also took the opportunity to sortie and join the battle. The Song army, hearing the sound of drums, suddenly realized they were surrounded and, in their panic, began to retreat.】
【Yelü Sha pursued from behind the Song army, while Xiuguo and Xiezhen also led their troops in hot pursuit. The Song army suffered a disastrous defeat, with over 10,000 killed or wounded, they fled south in the night, scrambling for the road, in complete disarray.】
【Zhao Jiong was separated from his generals, and the generals could not find their soldiers. In this chaos, Zhao Jiong's close attendants hastily found a donkey cart and loaded Zhao Jiong onto it, fleeing south in haste.】
【The Liao army pursued them all the way to Zhuozhou City, where they seized countless weapons, seals, grain, equipment, and money!】
【On the seventh day of the seventh month, Zhao Jiong reached the outskirts of Zhuozhou City. The retreating Song army had not yet returned to the city, so Zhao Jiong bypassed Zhuozhou City and went straight to Jintaituan, then he ordered the army to withdraw.】
【In this battle, the Song army suffered a devastating defeat. After this battle, Zhao Jiong sent generals to guard Dingzhou, Guan Nan, and Zhenzhou, and personally gave them battle maps, instructing them to act strictly according to the maps. As a result, the Song army lost the opportunity to recover Yan Yun, and from then on, they were at a disadvantage in their wars against the Liao, until the demise of the Song Dynasty.】
【Zhao Jiong was also nicknamed "The Gaoliang River Cart God" by posterity for his "donkey cart" performance!】
……
"Bang!"
As soon as the golden list's review ended, Zhao Kuangyin slammed his hand on the wooden table, his eyes burning with anger, he roared:
"Zhao Jiong, the little fool, he's a complete idiot!"
The officials were stunned, even Zhao Guangyi looked confused.
Initially, the Song army was sweeping all before them, with the momentum to unify the entire world. And in reality, this was the case, they first captured four prefectures, then besieged Youzhou City, their military strength was undeniable!
However, in the end, they suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Gaoliang River, fleeing in such disarray that even their emperor had to escape in a donkey cart, a truly laughable performance!
"Our army had been besieging Youzhou for many days, how could the Liao not know? Since they knew reinforcements would arrive, they didn't send troops to intercept them. Not intercepting them would be one thing, but during the battle, they didn't even guard against attacks from their flanks!"
"In the end, they allowed the enemy to exploit the opportunity and attack them from both flanks. This Zhao Jiong is truly a stupid donkey, he's completely disgraced our Song Dynasty!"
Zhao Kuangyin was breathing heavily, pacing back and forth, his anger erupting:
"My Song Dynasty's attempt to recover Yan Yun was such a humiliating defeat? This Zhao Jiong is truly a despicable villain!"
……
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