Tibet

On the last day of February, Guo Ziyi worshipped the God of Horses and God of Roads, left 30,000 troops to guard Pingzhou, and personally led 180,000 troops by land and sea, marching towards Liaodong along the Liaoxi Corridor.

Among them, there were 170,000 infantry and cavalry. Xi Wanli led 30,000 cavalry and thousands of fortification soldiers as the vanguard, entered Yingzhou territory first, and attacked Liucheng.

And the naval tiger guard general Wang Xueguo led 10,000 naval troops and 300 warships from Bohai to Liaohe River, blocked Liaohe River, and intercepted the Japanese army and Silla army from supporting Khitan.

Wang Xueguo is the eldest son of the former naval commander Wang Xiaoru. Wang Xiaoru has a bad heart and has retired to enjoy the happiness of family in Chang'an.

The Khitan is currently ruled by Su Khan, whose name is Yaoyanbo. Among the eight tribes of the Khitan, the Dahe tribe was initially powerful. The Khitan repeatedly invaded the Tang Dynasty, but was later severely damaged by the Tang army. The Dahe tribe declined from then on, and the Yaoyan tribe replaced it and became the leader of the Khitan.

The Yelu tribe did not rise until the late Tang Dynasty, and is currently just a small tribe among the Khitan.

The Khitan headquarters is in the Songmo area, but the Khitan has expanded rapidly in recent years. It not only annexed the Yingzhou of the Tang Dynasty, but also subdued other tribes such as the surrounding Xi tribe, and continued to expand eastward, annexing the entire Liaodong including the Liaodong Peninsula, and the Yalu River is the boundary with Silla.

Since the second half of last year, the Khitan has attacked the Bohai Kingdom fiercely, but the Bohai Kingdom invited the wolf into the house and was destroyed by the Japanese army. The main force of the Bohai Navy surrendered to the Khitan, and the Khitan withdrew its troops back to the west of the Liaohe River to prevent the Tang army from launching a northern expedition.

There are more than 50,000 Khitan troops in Yingzhou. The chief general is Diecifeng, who is over 30 years old and is the second-in-command of Dieci, another important Khitan tribe.

Diecifeng was very nervous and sent a large number of spies to investigate the situation in the Liaoxi Corridor. As a result, the river water in Liaodong had just thawed, and the Tang army came in a mighty force. Diecifeng was shocked. On the one hand, he sent people back to Songmo Wangzhang to report to the Khan. On the other hand, he ordered his brother Diecizhen to lead 20,000 troops to the south of Bailangshui to intercept the Tang army.

Liaodong in the Tang Dynasty was not as densely populated as it is now. Yingzhou was mainly inhabited by low mountains and hills, with large tracts of forests, mountains and rivers. Khitans and Xi people lived by the water, and transportation was extremely inconvenient.

During the Tianbao period, there were tens of thousands of Han people, mainly living in Liucheng County, growing grain around them for a living.

A straight official road leads directly from the Liaoxi Corridor to Liucheng, and it must cross the Bailang River. This is the first line of defense built by the Khitan Army. The bridge has been demolished. It is spring, and the Bailang River is turbulent. The river surface is 60 to 70 meters wide, and it is not easy to cross the river.

Xi Wanli is still 30 miles away from the Bailang River. He received news from scouts that the Khitan Army camp was found on the north bank of the Bailang River ahead. There are as many as 20,000 to 30,000 garrisons, which have controlled the Bailang River.

Xi Wanli ordered the army to camp and rest on the spot. There was a stream next to it. The soldiers took water to cook. No one drank the stream water directly. This was the military regulation of the Tang Army, which was very strict. In particular, it was necessary to prevent the Khitan from poisoning the upstream, so even the war horses had to drink boiled and cooled water.

In a big tent, Xi Wanli was checking the sand table map. Since the sand table was promoted in the army, all generals were unwilling to use paper maps. They had to be equipped with sand table maps when going out.

This is also the legacy left by Feilong. During the Kaiyuan period, he vigorously promoted the sand table. The Ministry of War spent nearly 20 years making sand tables in various places. Finally, it became an important military asset of the Tang Dynasty and was fully utilized by Li Ye.

From the sand table, behind the Bailang River is a hilly mountain covered by forests. The mountains are rugged and there is not even a path. There is a long canyon in the middle, and the official road passes through the canyon.

Is it necessary to force the crossing of the Bailang River?

At this time, the soldier said at the door of the big tent: "General, the guide officer is here!"

"Please invite him in!"

The guide officer of the Tang army is called Song Kuan. He is a head of the police recommended by the governor of Pingzhou. He is over 30 years old. He is actually a native of Yingzhou Han. When he was young, he was a hunter in Yingzhou. When the Khitan invaded Yingzhou, he fled to Pingzhou with his family. Because of his high martial arts and great strength, he was recruited as a constable by Pinglu County.

Because he was a hunter and was very familiar with the mountains and rivers of Yingzhou, Guo Ziyi simply recruited him into the army and appointed him as a staff officer and a guide officer.

Song Kuan walked into the big tent and knelt on one knee to salute, "I pay my respects to General Xi!"

"General Song, no need to be polite, please look at the map here!"

Song Kuan hurriedly stepped forward and looked at the sand table map carefully. He nodded, "It's very detailed and very real. The terrain of Yingzhou is exactly the same as the sand table."

Xi Wanli pointed to the Bailang River and said, "I want to go around the back of this river. Is there a way?"

Song Kuan pointed to the hill and said, "You can go over the mountain, but the cavalry can't go, and the baggage can't go either. Only the infantry can go!"

Xi Wanli pointed to the valley and said, " How wide and long is this valley? Are the two sides suitable for ambushes? "

"Reporting to the general, this valley is called Bailang Valley. It is about seven or eight miles long and about a hundred steps wide! There are dense forests on both sides, so of course an ambush can be made, but the slope is relatively gentle, and the enemy can easily rush up."

Xi Wanli called his deputy general Yang Qing. Yang Qing was originally a general under Lei Wanchun. Lei Wanchun led his troops to guard Youzhou. This time Lei Wanchun did not participate in the Liaodong battle, but part of his army was transferred away and led by Yang Qing. Now Yang Qing has become Xi Wanli's deputy general.

Yang Qing quickly entered the tent, bowed and saluted, saying: "I am here to see General Xi!"

Xi Wanli smiled and said: "I have a task to give to General Yang!"

"Please give your orders, General!"

Xi Wanli pointed at the White Wolf Valley and said: "You lead an army of 10,000 to the White Wolf Valley to ambush. Song Can's army will take you to take a detour and ambush in the mountains and forests on both sides of the White Wolf Valley. Once I attack the Khitan army on the north bank of the White Wolf River, They must retreat to Liucheng, and you ambush them in White Wolf Valley!"

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Xi Wanli made a few more special remarks, and Song Kuan followed Yang Qing in a hurry.

Soon, Yang Qing led 10,000 infantrymen southward. After walking less than ten miles, he turned east and circled to the north bank of Bailangshui. Then, under cover of night, he crossed the Bailangshui about thirty miles away from the Khitan army. , went straight up the hill.

As the time gradually reached the fourth watch, the Tang army arrived at the south bank of Bailangshui. The Khitan army deployed sentries. When the Tang army was less than ten miles away from Bailangshui, the Khitan sentries discovered it and immediately sounded the alarm.

The 20,000 sleeping Khitan soldiers gathered on the north bank of Bailangshui. The general Die Cizhen nervously watched the situation on the south bank.

Not long after, the Tang army began to appear on the south bank of Bailangshui. Hundreds of cyclone cannons were placed in a row. The cyclone cannon was a small trebuchet carried on the back of a camel. It could throw 20 kilograms of iron fire thunder 150 steps away. .

Tang Jun also prepared pottery bombs and fire clay, which is a double-layered pottery pot. The inner pot is filled with arsenic-added fire oil slurry. There is a little explosive in the interlayer of the pot. First, the kerosene inside is fully burned, and the interlayer of explosives is used. It will explode in the air, and the burning fire oil and sticky slurry will fall like raindrops on the skin, which will cause pain to the bones.

And of course there are traditional kerosene bombs, which create patches of burning fields.

Before the enemy could see clearly, Xi Wanli gave an order, hundreds of trebuchets were launched at the same time, and hundreds of iron fire thunders rushed towards the enemy's position, "Boom! Boom!"

Iron fire thunders exploded among the enemy troops one after another, causing the enemy troops to fly bloody and bloody, with corpses strewn all over the ground, and screams and wails resounded.

This was a firearm that the Khitan army had never encountered before. It shocked everyone. Then the clay bombs and fire oil flew out and exploded in the air. Sparks rained down from the sky. It was a spectacular sight. Unfortunately, this was poisonous fire oil. If it falls on the skin and burns, it will kill the person alive.

There were cries of ghosts and wolves howling on the battlefield, and the general Die Ci was extremely panicked. He had never seen such a weapon. He could not defend Bailangshui at all, and would be completely wiped out by the Tang army without blood. It was better to save his troops to defend the city.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly ordered: "Evacuate the entire army and withdraw to Liucheng County!"

The Khitan soldiers were already in chaos. After hearing the order, more than 18,000 troops left their positions in panic and ran towards White Wolf Valley.