flstandardbreds Chapter 347 Yuanfeng Northern Expedition
Chapter 347 Yuanfeng Northern Expedition
In the second half of the tenth year of Xining, war mobilization slowly began throughout the north.
The Northern Army, the main participating force, and the Northern War Zone entered the countdown to the Northern Expedition.
After discussion, Guo Kui, Gu Tingye and Zhang Qie set up the Northern Army's highest command headquarters (temporarily) in Zhending Prefecture.
The highest command headquarters of the five major war zones are only set up temporarily during foreign wars. In normal times, there is no such organization.
As for the selection of the temporary command center, it will also be determined based on the specific circumstances of the external operations.
For example, during this Northern Expedition, Zhending Prefecture was located in the north-central part of Hebei West Road. To the east, it could coordinate the army and logistics of Hebei East Road, and to the west, it could control the advance of Hedong Road.
It is perfect as the (temporary) supreme command center, and it is also the base for Zhang Qie's logistics support troops.
The three men have clear division of labor. As the commander-in-chief, Guo Kui will personally lead the army from the eastern route of Hebei north to the southern route of Liaonan, and attack Yingzhou, Mozhou, and Zhuozhou in the territory.
Threaten Youzhou where Xijin Prefecture is located, and tie down the entire Liaonan Road army.
Gu Tingye led the Hedong Army out of Yanmen Pass and attacked Liaoxi Jingdao, sweeping the three states of Shuozhou, Huanzhou and Yingzhou on the border between the two countries, threatening Yunzhou where Datong Prefecture was located behind them.
The two armies launched a "pincer" offensive and eventually met in Guizhou (Huailai) and advanced northward together.
All remaining Liao troops were expelled from Wuzhou (Zhangjiakou), Ruzhou (Yanqing), and Danzhou (Miyun), locking down the entire northern Great Wall defense line and blocking the Liao Kingdom behind the Great Wall.
At the same time, the navy of the northern theater of war set out from Cangzhou, feinting an attack on Yingzhou, making a gesture of landing and advancing westward, thus tying down the military forces of Pingzhou in the eastern part of the entire Liaonan Nanjing Road.
To support Guo and Gu in their mission of encircling and recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
Although the strategic plan came from the Privy Council, the general direction was determined by Emperor Shenzong.
Such a strategic deployment made many people feel a little confused, because such an advance was very similar to the Northern Expedition of Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty before the Song Dynasty.
These elderly ministers were right in their guess. Emperor Shenzong's arrangement this time was modeled after the Northern Expedition deployment made by Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty.
Advance by land and sea, a pincer attack!
However, compared with the situation of Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, the Song Dynasty is now facing the Liao Kingdom, which is at the end of its peak. No one knows what the outcome of this battle will be.
In March of the first year of Yuanfeng, the weather in the north started to warm up. The Song army, which had been preparing for nearly half a year, finally received the order to march north -!
In an instant, the three armies of the Song army set out at the same time, with flags flying in the air, and they were majestic and powerful, as if they could swallow up the world and sweep across the eight directions.
This was the first time that the Song Dynasty took the initiative to launch a northern expedition after the new policy reforms, and the target was directly aimed at the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun that the Zhao family had been thinking about for nearly a hundred years.
The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, also known as the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun and the Sixteen Prefectures of Youji, refers to the sixteen prefectures in northern China centered on Youzhou (now Beijing) and Yunzhou (now Datong, Shanxi).
That is, the present-day Beijing, northern Tianjin (north of the Haihe River), northern Hebei, and northern Shanxi.
The name "Yanyun" was first seen in "History of the Song Dynasty·Geography".
In the first year of Tianfu in the Later Jin Dynasty (936), Shi Jingtang, the founding emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty (the governor of Hedong in the Later Tang Dynasty), rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and declared independence, seeking help from the Khitan.
The Khitans sent troops to support him in establishing the Later Jin Dynasty. Emperor Taizong of Liao and Shi Jingtang became father and son (Emperor Taizong of Liao was the father and Shi Jingtang was the son).
In 938, Shi Jingtang ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the Khitan at their request, which expanded the Liao Kingdom's territory to the Great Wall. Several dynasties in the Central Plains were unable to completely recover it.
The strategic significance of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun made the Northern Song regime in the Central Plains feel threatened for more than 160 years.
In the 1367th year of Zhizheng's reign in the Yuan Dynasty (), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Xu Da as the chief commander and Chang Yuchun as the deputy commander to lead a northern expedition against the Yuan Dynasty.
It took only over a year to capture the Yuan Dynasty capital Dadu, and the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were recovered by the Han regime.
At this time and space, the Song Dynasty had already begun actively preparing for war, ready to recapture Yanyun in one fell swoop, completely consolidate the northern defense line, and no longer worry about the Liao army moving south.
On April 12, just over a month later, the Hebei East Route Army led by Guo Kui captured Yingzhou and Mozhou with great momentum and headed straight for Zhuozhou.
The powerful military force of the Song Dynasty and Guo Kui's experienced wars shocked the Liao border troops. They hurriedly evacuated northward, preparing to defend Youzhou and wait for support from other regions.
As a result, the defense line of Zhuozhou was easily torn apart by the Song army. The terrifying speed of the Song army's advance shocked the top leaders of both countries.
As for the attack on Gu Tingye's army from Yanmen Pass, it started the "unparalleled sweep" mode, and the four states of Shuo, Huan, Ying and Yun were all recovered by the end of April.
Such exciting news made the top leaders of the Song Dynasty begin to change their thinking, as if this Northern Expedition did not have so many messy problems.
Even without Han Ming, the Song army was strong enough to dominate and defeat the Liao army, which was said to be the strongest in Eurasia in this century.
Emperor Shenzong was even more proud and generously rewarded the frontline troops, especially the commanders Guo Kui and Gu Tingye, which made him, the emperor, very proud.
Even Guo, Gu and Zhang, who were on the front line, were moved by the ease of the battle and suddenly felt that this was a sure thing.
Who knows, they will soon witness history and achieve indescribable great military exploits and legendary achievements!
Then the three of them threw all of Han Ming's pre-war instructions behind their backs, and actively advanced, preparing to end the war by the end of the year.
While the Song army was making such a rapid strategic advance, the Liao army was showing an obvious decline.
Within two months, the Liao Kingdom lost land and cities one after another, and Xiao Boyu, as the supreme commander of the Liao Kingdom's southern army, was criticized by the entire top leadership.
In particular, the newly appointed prime minister Yelu Yixin openly criticized Xiao Boyu's questionable war command, and petitioned Yelu Hongji, hoping that he could lead the troops south to confront the Song army.
Yelu Hongji's attitude was somewhat intriguing. He did not directly reject Yelu Yixin, but he did not agree immediately either.
This led many people to speculate that Yelu Hongji had the idea of replacing Xiao Boyu, but it was not yet time for His Majesty the Emperor to make up his mind.
In early May, Guo Kui suffered a head-on attack from Xiao Boyu in Xijin Prefecture. For a time, the two sides launched a series of dazzling tactical games around Youzhou City.
On the Liaoxi Jingdao Road, when Gu Tingye led his troops to advance into Xinzhou (Zhuolu) area, he was suddenly stopped by Xiao Boyu's deputy general Yelu Asi.
The two sides fought for several days and nights outside the city of Xinzhou. Gu Tingye was more skilled and defeated the enemy, forcing Yelu Asi to lead his troops to retreat eastward and garrison in Guizhou.
For a time, the Hedong Army led by Gu Tingye was the first to enter the strategic deployment, arrived in Guizhou, and confronted Yelu Asi.
And under the city of Youzhou, Xiao Boyu and Guo Kui could be said to have met their match.
Both sides used everything they had learned in their lives, one wanted to break through, the other wanted to defend, and as a result, the battle was completely dragged into a quagmire.
Both sides thought that this would be a protracted war, but the supreme rulers of the two countries did not think so.
Emperor Shenzong and His Majesty Yelu Hongji, Emperor Dao Zong of Liao, had a highly unified mind at this moment.
"We absolutely cannot fight a protracted war. This will be extremely disadvantageous to us!"
"I want to see an army destroyed in the attack, not an army withered and defeated in the defense!"
"We must strike quickly! Leave the Liao (Song) no time to delay. A single battle will determine the outcome—!"
The supreme rulers, Emperor Shenzong and Emperor Daozong, simultaneously issued orders to launch an all-out attack on the front line.
However, compared to the Liao army's frequent flexible tactical drills such as assaults, if the Song army attacked quickly at the same time as the enemy, it would be very likely to lose its composure.
This would give Xiao Boyu and Yelu Asi a glimmer of hope to completely stop the Song army's offensive or push it back.
Han Ming immediately realized the problem after receiving the letter from his father.
He immediately reported to Emperor Shenzong that they should not engage in offensive counter-offensive action. However, the report was buried in the Privy Council by Emperor Shenzong and received no response.