Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

When Liu Yannian returned to Jiangxi, the war between the four countries besieging Annan had ended.

The first to send troops were Champa and Chenla. The two countries were at odds with each other, but they jointly attacked Annan two years ago.

At first they were victorious, but conflicts intensified due to their victories. After all, they are feuding, and they can join forces when they have a common enemy. If they win a battle and grab the spoils, they will inevitably fall out.

Then, they were defeated by Annan!

It is estimated that they have not yet recovered from the loss of troops and generals. They only sent 10,000 troops to capture the city this time, and only 8,000 troops to Zhenla. The former started fighting on the border between the two countries in early November of last year's lunar calendar. The latter arrived on the battlefield only in late November.

The Golden Tooth Kingdom did not directly fight against Annan, but instead attacked the tribes affiliated with Annan in the northwest - these tribes were in Laos in later generations.

Yang Zaixing sent troops in the ninth month of the lunar calendar and arrived in Menzhou in the middle of the tenth lunar month.

It was about 20 degrees at this time and the weather was extremely cool.

Under his command were 6,000 new field troops, 3,000 Guangxi garrison troops, 5,000 Guangxi local soldiers, and 25,000 grain transporters of all ethnic groups.

Menzhou was located near Zhennanguan in later generations, and Ming Dynasty and Annan respectively built related castles.

The terrain of the fortress on the Annan side is even more dangerous!

Before Yang Zaixing's troops arrived, Annan had already received the news. After all, traveling in mountainous areas was too slow.

"Start attacking the stronghold tomorrow!"

"General, the envoy from Annan wants to see you."

"Bring him here."

Before the two armies started fighting, Annan's envoy had arrived, or it could be said that he had been waiting for a long time.

The envoy's name was Zhang Xianlu. He bowed to Yang Zaixing and said, "Zhang Xianlu, the envoy from the lower country, pays homage to the general of the Great Tomorrow Dynasty!"

Yang Zaixing said: "If you have something to say, say it quickly, and then fight after you say it."

Zhang Xianlu said: "As the saying goes, divisions are famous for their troops. I wonder why the Ming Dynasty sent troops this time?"

Yang Zaixing said: "You paint scales on rhinos and treat them as unicorns as tribute. You are guilty of deceiving the emperor!"

"This was the case throughout the previous Song Dynasty," Zhang Xianlu said.

Yang Zaixing asked: "In the previous Song Dynasty, there were all stupid emperors, and they were deceived by you. Do you think that the emperor of tomorrow is also a stupid emperor?"

Zhang Xianlu quickly explained: "That's not the case. Our country is just following the old rules. After the envoy returned to China, our Lord regretted it very much. Next year, he will send another envoy to Luoyang to plead guilty. I beg the general to withdraw his troops!"

Yang Zaixing sneered: "You can retreat. Annan must return the land of two states, two caves, six counties and eight passes, and return the tens of thousands of people and their descendants who were kidnapped back then."

"this……"

Zhang Xianlu tried to stall for time, and it would be easier to wait until the weather was hot: "These can all be discussed. I can't make the decision, so I will return home immediately to report and ask the general to postpone the attack on the stronghold."

"You go back and discuss it." Yang Zaixing, of course, wanted to fight first and then talk.

Zhang Xianlu left overnight and returned to Thang Long (Hanoi) at full speed under the stars.

The next day, Yang Zaixing began to attack the stronghold.

Annan guard Liu Chun was not very afraid. He had a thousand soldiers guarding the pass and thousands of Annan barbarians. The terrain of Guanzhai is dangerous, and it is no problem to hold on. It can be delayed until the weather gets hotter. Daming will definitely choose to withdraw its troops by then.

He said to the barbarian chiefs who assisted in guarding the pass: "There are not many enemies. As long as we work together, we will definitely be able to hold off until the weather is hot. Your Majesty has already said that whichever tribe makes great achievements will be married to the princess. When all the enemies have withdrawn Let’s go and go to Ming Dynasty to rob the property and women!”

As soon as these words came out, all the barbarian generals were excited.

Throughout the northern and northwest mountainous areas of Annan, various barbarian tribes lived.

When the Vietnamese Li Dynasty invaded the border of the Northern Song Dynasty, they first married the barbarian chiefs, married princesses or noble daughters, and also gave them some benefits. Then the barbarian tribes were ordered to repeatedly harass the Northern Song Dynasty, rob the population and supplies, and then run away. The Song army could not find the enemy after chasing them. If the Song army pursued deeply, they would be ambushed by barbarians.

After the war between the two countries, Annan went on a military and financial collapse, and gradually began to focus on internal affairs.

It’s been a long time since I married a princess, and I haven’t supported the barbarians’ march north to plunder for a long time.

Hearing that they were going back to their old profession, the barbarian chiefs cheered and led their troops to defend the fortress.

There are three Annan Walled Forts here, including Zhennanguan and Longmenguan in later generations, all of which are now under Annan's control. The Ming army controlled Guanqian Pass further north.

Annan did not build a fortress at Zhennanguan, but built a mountain fortress at Hengpo Ridge to the north.

"You lead people to guard the west!" Yang Zaixing said.

"Yes!" Li Herong cupped his fists and handed over his hands.

The person who served as deputy general to Yang Zaixing was General Li Herong under Zhong Xiang.

This man was forced by Zhong Xiang's brother to join the Ming Dynasty, and later served as a garrison general in Guangxi. He was very good at suppressing barbarians, so he was selected by Yang Zaixing.

Li Herong only brought 500 new troops and 500 garrison troops, and they formed formations and stationed themselves on the main roads between several passes.

To the west is the later Longmen Pass, to the southeast is Hengpo Ridge, and to the south there are mountains where enemy soldiers may appear.

Yang Zaixing left the civilians at Guanqian Pass and led the rest of the troops to attack Henpoling.

Annan guard Liu Chun climbed up the mountain and looked over, and he said happily: "The enemy general is arrogant and only sends a few troops to guard the flanks and rear. We will hold here and send troops to attack the rear. Once we win, we can take advantage of the victory to pursue and block the enemy's main force from the front and rear. At the foot of the mountain!”

Liu Chun ordered his soldiers to defend Hengpo Ridge, and sent people to notify the defenders in the direction of Longmen Pass. He even sent 200 elite soldiers to climb over the mountains from the south to attack in a surprise attack.

Yang Zaixing led the main force and dragged the artillery forward.

Most of the artillery in his army are small cannons, and only two can be used to attack fortresses, and the caliber of these two cannons is not large.

However, the Annan Walled Fort on Hengpo Ridge is a weak earth and stone structure, and its ability to defend against cannonballs is far inferior to that of the rammed earth city wall.

It was difficult to find the artillery angle. Several groups of infantry protected the gunners, looking for suitable firing positions everywhere.

The rest of the troops were also sent to occupy nearby mountains.

…

Li Luohan led two to three thousand barbarians to attack Li Herong's tribe from the direction of Longmen Pass.

Although Li Luohan was a barbarian chief, his biological mother was a princess of the Li Dynasty of Vietnam. He himself was given the national surname Li, and he believed in Buddhism, so he changed his name to Li Luohan.

Such barbarians were almost assimilated by Annan.

"There are enemies to the west!"

On a hillside to the north, there was a Ming army lookout, using binoculars to observe the situation.

After Li Luohan led his troops out of the mountain, he was immediately discovered by the Ming army lookout. The light cavalry saw the lookout's flag signal and rushed over to report the enemy's situation.

Li Herong said to the soldiers who were sitting cross-legged and resting: "Line up to kill the enemy!"

Five hundred new field troops and five hundred garrison troops stood up slowly and quickly formed an array.

Not to mention that these new troops were very calm, even the garrison was not afraid at all. The Ming army had already gained confidence.

The new army is equipped with flintlock muskets, and the improved firearm Yuanyang Formation is listed.

The garrison did not have flintlock rifles, and it was still the old version of the Yuanyang Formation. However, the wolf soldiers were canceled and replaced with crossbows and spears.

Li Luohan led his troops to fight, and found that there were only a thousand Ming troops. He immediately shouted with joy: "There are few people on the opposite side. If you kill them, you will win! Charge!"

Two to three thousand Annan barbarians rushed in a chaotic manner, and their formation was in chaos.

They actually knew how to outflank the Ming army, sending hundreds of people on each side to circle both sides of the Ming army.

"Boom boom boom!"

About forty paces away, several New Army cannons fired shotgun shells.

Not many Annan barbarians were killed, but many were injured. After being hit by shotguns, some had broken bones, and some even had no bones broken. The power of this small cannon was too small.

The effect was obvious. The injured barbarians screamed, causing the friendly troops around them to panic.

"Bang bang bang!"

About thirty steps apart, each squad leader of the new army led his musketeers to fire freely.

After a burst of gunfire, the Annan barbarians began to chaos.

Continuously attacked by muskets and artillery, although the Annan barbarians suffered few casualties, they were afraid of the unknown. Some people continued to charge, some stopped and watched, and some even started to retreat.

Barbarian soldiers rely on their bloody courage.

Just beat them awake.

"Archery!"

What followed was a volley of bows and crossbows from the garrison's Yuanyang team.

"Throw the gun!"

There are also shield players in the garrison, and the giant shield of the long player has legs that can be placed on the ground without using hands. Together with the rattan players, they drew out their javelins and threw them violently at the Annan barbarians.

Each rattan player is equipped with three javelins.

After throwing the three javelins, the crossbowman had already started the second round of shooting.

The fusiliers are about to finish loading their ammunition.

At this time, after encountering muskets and artillery, the enemy encountered two rounds of crossbows and three rounds of javelins. These barbarian soldiers were in complete chaos. More and more of them ran away or stopped, and fewer and fewer dared to charge. There were still many who stood still and fought back with earthen bows.

Li Luohan was also frightened at this time, but he still shouted the order: "Charge and win. Charge!"

But Li Luohan's own soldiers only had a few hundred soldiers, and the rest were soldiers from other tribes.

Just as Li Luohan was charging, a tribal chief fled with more than two hundred people.

"Bang bang bang!"

The fusiliers of the new army finally fired their second shot.

Because the distance is so close, the hit rate is close to 100%.

Li Luohan, who was charging forward, was suddenly shot and fell down.

Li Herong drew his sword and shouted: "Array forward!"

As the bugle sounded, a thousand soldiers of the Ming Dynasty marched forward in formation.

The Annan barbarians have collapsed.

The barbarian soldiers under Li Luohan didn't even care about his body, and turned around and fled in the direction of Longmen Pass.

The power of the Yuanyang Formation has not yet been fully exerted, because the two sides have not yet come into close combat.

Li Herong left 200 reserve troops and continued to guard the place, while the remaining 800 men pursued at full speed to occupy the stronghold in the direction of Longmen Pass.

More than twenty Ming light cavalry riding southwest ponies also chased and killed the collapsed Annan barbarians.

The two hundred Annan elites who came over the mountains from the south were so frightened by this situation that they immediately retreated and did not dare to enter the battlefield again.

When Li Herong captured the village fortress in the direction of Longmen Pass, Yang Zaixing was still choosing a location to test the artillery.

"Quickly retreat!"

When Liu Chun learned that the friendly fortress had fallen, he was so frightened that his entire army abandoned the fortress and retreated.

If he doesn't leave, the Ming army will be able to cross the mountains and ridges from the west, and in a day or two they will be able to get behind him and block his retreat.

The Annan garrison withdrew all the way to the vicinity of Lang Son, and sent people back to Thang Long House to frantically ask for help.

However, Yang Zaixing did not take advantage of the victory to pursue Langshan. Instead, he asked the Yongzhou native soldiers to guard the various passes in Menzhou. He led his troops to kill Qiyuanzhou in the northwest.

Qiyuanzhou was established in the Tang Dynasty and later belonged to Qixi, Lang Son Province, Vietnam.

This place used to be the Jisi territory of the Northern Song Dynasty, and was gradually controlled by the Li Dynasty of Vietnam, and then by Nong Zhigao and his son. After the Northern Song Dynasty came back, it was impossible to garrison troops for a long time, and it acquiesced to Annan's invasion of Qiyuan Prefecture.

After conquering Qiyuan Prefecture, continuing to the northwest is Guangyuan Prefecture, which was the territory conquered by the Northern Song Dynasty and given to Annan.

The order given by the Ministry of War to Yang Zaixing was to beat Annan painfully, and did not intend to kill Annan.

Therefore, Yang Zaixing wanted to take back the lost land of the Northern Song Dynasty, which would be a great achievement!