Originally, the war could have continued to expand. However, after reaching the border of Liao, Zhao Zhen and his men hesitated and ultimately did not dare to take the risk of continuing to advance.
The reason is that after the Treaty of Chanyuan, Emperor Zhenzong of Song strictly restricted the generals of Hebei Road.
1. Do not provoke border wars.
Second, even if the enemy attacks, you are not allowed to fight back immediately and must wait for the court's order.
3. Defeat the enemy and do not pursue them.
Fourth, you must never enter Liao territory.
That sounds outrageous.
But this is actually the reality. This series of restrictions caused the Song army in Hebei Road to be tied up and dare not fight freely.
If Fan Zhongyan had not come, even if the Liao Kingdom suddenly launched a large-scale attack southward, they would have dared only stay in the city and watch the Liao army wreak havoc outside, and would not have dared to fight back unless the enemy came to attack the city.
Fortunately, Lao Fan arrived in Ansu the next day. After learning about the situation, he slapped his forehead and immediately issued a military order to pursue into Liao territory and wait and see when he encountered resistance.
With this military order, the Song army brazenly charged into the Liao territory, scaring the Liao soldiers who had thought they were safe half to death. They continued to flee north and ran to Xijin Prefecture in Nanjing, Liao.
Xiao Xiaoyou, the defending commander of Xijin Prefecture, hurriedly gathered the defeated soldiers and led his troops to resist. While the Song army was pursuing him, he led his cavalry to launch a surprise attack on several parts of the Song army, causing some casualties. This made the killing-crazed Song army calm down and slowly retreat to Zhuozhou.
There was no other way. During this pursuit, it was impossible to deploy a full formation, making it difficult to respond if suddenly attacked. It was also the Song army's fault for being too eager for success and advancing too quickly; otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many casualties.
Fortunately, the Song army won a great victory in this battle. This little accident did not affect Fan Zhongyan's mood. He reorganized his troops and marched north to Zhuozhou.
After Yelu Zongzhen fled to Dingzhou, he joined forces with Yelu Chongyuan and regrouped about 70,000 to 80,000 cavalrymen. He fled north to Weizhou, which is the area of Lingqiu in later generations. Then he made a big detour through the Weixian area in later generations before running back to Xijin Prefecture.
Since there were still a large number of defeated Liao troops in Song territory at that time, if they were not eliminated, it would affect the safety of the rear. Therefore, Fan Zhongyan did not continue to attack Xijin Prefecture, but mobilized troops to confront them.
He assembled 50,000 northwestern troops and brought about 80,000 infantry to station in Fanyang, Zhuozhou, Liao State.
Of the more than 100,000 troops in the rear, some were responsible for clearing out the remaining Liao troops, some were responsible for transporting food and grass to Fan Yang on the front line, and others immediately headed north from Cangzhou, Baoding, Xin'an, Qingzhou and other places to harass Wuqing, Anci and other places southeast of Xijin Prefecture.
In this way, the Song army in various parts of Hebei Road performed their duties and surrounded the Liao Dynasty's Nanjing capital Xijin Prefecture from two directions with a pincer attack. They seemed to be planning to take advantage of this opportunity to march north and recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
However, since most of the Song army were infantry, even though Fan Zhongyan's command and dispatch were very good, time was still wasted due to the long front line and bloated army.
By the time he had finished making arrangements, it was already January of the following year. The soldiers had no time to celebrate the New Year properly. They just held their swords and guns, their eyes red with killing intent, chasing the Liao army that was fleeing all over the mountains and plains, and they almost forgot about celebrating the New Year.
This undoubtedly gave Yelu Zongzhen a chance to catch his breath.
Almost by the end of December, Yelu Zongzhen had already run back to Xijin Prefecture and stopped the mobilization again. He set up defense lines around Xijin Prefecture in Huangyin, Liangxiang, Yuhe, Wanping and other places, and fought a defensive battle in the city.
For the Liao Kingdom, although the Han people had lived on the Nanjing border for a long time and a large number of Han cities had been left in this area since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, they had cities to defend.
But it is absolutely unprecedented that the nomadic peoples allowed the farming peoples to attack their hinterland and also required the nomadic peoples to defend the city.
It can be said to be quite frustrating.
On January 13th, Yelu Zongzhen stood on the city wall of Xijin Prefecture with a haggard face. He saw countless Han people inside and outside the city eager to join the army, and he couldn't help but sigh: "The people's hearts can be used."
Zhang Jian, who was standing by, thought to himself that it was because the Song State was too harsh on the Han people, and the taxes were frighteningly high. When they heard that the Song army was coming, even the Han people didn't want to be citizens of the Song Dynasty.
But he naturally wouldn't say it out loud, and only said: "Your Majesty, this defeat is unavoidable. The Song army's firearms are too powerful, and it's not our fault. Facing the Song army's attack, we should still take a long-term view and be cautious."
Yelu Zongzhen said with a worried look on his face, "I regret listening to my father-in-law's advice. We shouldn't have been so rash in attacking Song. If we had only sent envoys to discuss matters with the Song emperor, we wouldn't have reached this point. I'm afraid they'll cancel the annual tribute and stop trading with us from now on."
Zhang Jian replied, "Not really."
"oh?"
Yelu Zongzhen hurriedly asked, "Shangfu, do you have any other ideas?"
Zhang Jian pondered, "Although we suffered a crushing defeat in this battle, the losses were primarily incurred by troops from various vassal states and tribes. The Liao's main force, the Pishi Army, is relatively safe and sound, and still has the strength to fight. Furthermore, the Song army excels at defense, so using grenades to attack a city is impossible. However, cannons are a challenge for attacking a city, but fortunately, the Song army has fewer of these, so we still have room to maneuver."
"Please explain clearly, Father Shang."
Yelu Zongzhen said.
"Of course, we will continue to negotiate with the Song army."
Zhang Jian said in a deep voice, "We can give up the ten counties south of the Laishui River, but the Song army must increase its supply of 200,000 coins. Only with this money can we appease the various tribes. Otherwise, your majesty's prestige will plummet, which will be detrimental to the country."
"Giving up so much land like this will probably be met with criticism from many powerful people in the country."
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