At the end of January in the seventh year of the Qingli period, Fan Zhongyan led his troops north.
The remaining Liao troops in Xijin Prefecture fled north in panic, and a large number of Han troops surrendered on the spot.
By February, after the logistics department cleaned up the battlefield and counted the casualties, it was found that more than 40,000 Liao soldiers had been killed in the battle north of Xijin City.
There were more than 100,000 wounded, surrendered and captured, and only about 200,000 Liao soldiers escaped.
Most of these Liao troops were from the rear and did not participate in the battle. It can be said that most of the more than 200,000 troops fighting in the front were killed, and only a few tens of thousands of people fled.
Afterwards, Fan Zhongyan divided his troops into two groups. One group went out of Juyongguan and broke through Guihuazhou and Fengshengzhou of the Liao Kingdom, which was the area of Zhangjiakou in later generations. Together with the Song army in Hedong Road, they took a two-sided encirclement strategy against Datong Prefecture in Xijing Road of the Liao Kingdom.
The Liao garrison in Datong Prefecture was already in a state of panic after the defeat on the front lines. There were many Han Chinese soldiers there, and the Khitans were afraid they might rebel, so they adopted a high-pressure strategy.
However, if it could be suppressed before Yelu Zongzhen was defeated, it could be suppressed now that Yelu Zongzhen was defeated and even Xijin Prefecture was breached, so it is definitely impossible to suppress it.
Therefore, many Khitans fled directly. Those who did not escape were almost all killed or captured by local rebellious Han soldiers and handed over to the attacking Song army before Fan Zhongyan's army and the Song army in Hedong Road attacked.
At one time, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun officially returned to the territory of the Song Dynasty.
But Fan Zhongyan was not satisfied with this, and his eyes were set on Liaoyang Prefecture outside the Great Wall.
Another army marched eastward to join forces with Di Qing who was guarding Yumen Pass, and then went out of Yumen Pass to attack the Liao army outside the pass.
This part of the Liao army did not put up much resistance and fled in panic towards Liaoyang Prefecture.
Old Fan, like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, ordered Di Qing to be the chief general, commanding an army of about 120,000, to march straight outside the Great Wall and besiege Liaoyang Prefecture.
Wherever they passed, counties and towns all surrendered.
After all, the Youyan area has been operated outside the Great Wall since the Qin and Han Dynasties. For thousands of years, a large number of Han people have lived in this area of Liaoyang Prefecture.
In addition, Yelu Abaoji moved many Han people here in his early years, resulting in the absolute advantage of the number of Han people here.
The Liao people were now frightened and had almost no ability to fight back against the Song army's offensive. Under such circumstances, the Song army successfully completed their strategic goals with almost no obstacles.
By the end of February in the seventh year of the Qingli period, just one month after Yelu Zongzhen's disastrous defeat, Nanjing, Xijing and Dongjing of the Liao Dynasty fell one after another.
Now only Zhongjing Dading Prefecture and Shangjing Linhuang Prefecture are still in the hands of Yelu Zongzhen.
After Yelu Zongzhen returned to Dading Prefecture, he fell ill due to fright. The Liao Kingdom was in chaos for a while, and taking advantage of this opportunity, some people went to Qingzhou to try to bring back Empress Dowager Xiao.
Upon learning of this, Yelu Zongzhen dragged his sick body to find Yelu Chongyuan and asked him to be regent of state affairs. He also said that if he died of illness, he would make him the emperor of Liao.
The most important instruction was that Yelu Chongyuan must immediately rectify the internal situation and told him not to let his mother come back.
Yelu Chongyuan had a very good relationship with his brother. Although Xiao Noujin was their biological mother, it was Yelu Chongyuan who reported the secret when Xiao Noujin planned to depose Yelu Zongzhen.
If Empress Dowager Xiao came back to take over the government again, Yelu Chongyuan's life would definitely not be easy, and it would be only a matter of time before he became a puppet.
So Yelu Chongyuan immediately called those important ministers and generals and asked them to pacify the army.
At the same time, he sent Yelu Xisun to lead 5,000 people to Gaozhou in accordance with his brother's instructions to intercept Empress Dowager Xiao on her way south and force her to go back.
Yelü Xisun was once Xiao Noujin's bodyguard and forced Emperor Shengzong of Liao's empress, Xiao Pusa Ge, to death for Xiao Noujin. However, he later betrayed Xiao Noujin when he deposed Yelü Zongzhen.
Yelu Zongzhen chose to retaliate and ordered Yelu Xisun to lead 500 people to surround Xiao Noujin's residence and kill Xiao Noujin's general manager and dozens of eunuchs.
Then Yelu Xisun forced Xiao Noujin onto a yellow cloth carriage and sent him to the Qikuo Palace in Qingzhou for imprisonment. He announced to the outside world that Empress Dowager Xiao "returned power to the emperor and personally guarded Qingling."
Therefore, Yelu Xisun was most afraid of Xiao Noujin's return, and he would do his best to make this matter a success.
It must be said that although Yelu Zongzhen was seriously ill, he was not confused. Even when he was in poor health, he used Yelu Chongyuan to stabilize the situation.
no way.
The Liao Dynasty was in turmoil. If Empress Xiao returned, it would inevitably exacerbate internal friction within the royal family and lead to political turmoil. By then, the possibility of the Liao Dynasty's demise would be very high.
It can be said that at this moment, Yelu Zongzhen was very clear that even passing the throne to Yelu Chongyuan would be much better than letting Xiao Noujin come back.
After all, compared to his tyrannical mother, Yelu Chongyuan's abilities were not too bad.
While the Liao Kingdom was busy with internal strife, Fan Zhongyan arranged the subsequent affairs in Xijin Prefecture and returned to Bianliang in April of the seventh year of the Qingli period.
He went out to fight in September last year and has been away for more than half a year now.
Although there were no complaints in the court, he himself had to understand the situation and honestly hand over his military power and return to the center to secure his position.
On April 6th, it started raining in Bianliang. The raindrops fell on the roof and slid down along the eaves.
The spring breeze blew on the banks of the Bian River, and a carriage, supported by a hundred or so guards, slowly headed towards the Xianfeng Gate.
Surprisingly, Xianfeng Gate, which originally had far less traffic than the East and West Gates, was bustling with people today, and there were crowds of people even on rainy days.
When the carriage was about to arrive, the guard reported to Fan Zhongyan: "Sir, there are many people outside the city."
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