Chapter 5 185 Yang Wudi

It took Song Taizu 13 years to destroy the five southern countries, and then sent troops to attack Taiyuan, the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty.The Northern Han Dynasty asked the Liao Dynasty to send troops to help, but the Song army was defeated.Soon, Song Taizu also fell ill and died. His younger brother Zhao Kuangyi succeeded to the throne. This is Song Taizong. Song Taizong was determined to complete the cause of unifying the north. In 979 AD, he personally led four armies to besiege Taiyuan, the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty.The Liao army came to help again, and Song Taizong sent troops to cut off the reinforcements.Taiyuan City was heavily surrounded by the Song army, with no reinforcements outside and no food and grass inside.Liu Jiyuan, the ruler of the Northern Han Dynasty, had no choice but to surrender.Liu Jiyuan had a veteran Yang Ye under him, who also belonged to the Song Dynasty.Song Taizong had heard of Yang Ye's high martial arts skills a long time ago, so he valued him very much and appointed him as a general.

Song Taizong destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty and wanted to take advantage of the victory to attack the Liao Dynasty and regain the lost land in the north.The Song army attacked fiercely, and the defenders of the Liao Dynasty in several states in the north surrendered one after another.The Song army fought all the way to Youzhou (now Beijing).Later, the Liao Dynasty sent General Yeluxiu to rescue.The two sides fought a battle on the Gaoliang River (west of today's Beijing City), and the Song soldiers were defeated. Song Taizong fled back to Tokyo in a donkey cart. Since then, the Liao army has continued to attack the border of the Song Dynasty.Song Taizong was very worried, so he sent Yang Ye as the governor of Daizhou to guard Yanmen Pass.

In 980 AD, the Liao Dynasty sent 100,000 troops to attack Yanmen Pass.At that time, Yang Ye had only a few thousand troops, and the strength of the troops varied greatly.Yang Ye is an experienced veteran, knowing that it is impossible to rely on hard work, so he left most of his troops in Daizhou, led hundreds of cavalry, and quietly walked around the path to the enemy's rear in the north of Yanmen Pass. The Liao soldiers marched southward, met no resistance along the way, and were proud of themselves.Suddenly, there was a sound of shouting and killing from behind, and the smoke and dust billowed, and a cavalry came from behind, slashing and killing like a tiger rushing into a flock of sheep.The Liao soldiers were unprepared, and they couldn't figure out how many troops were coming behind them. They were all terrified, and the lineup was in chaos.Yang Ye led his troops to catch up, killed a large number of Liao soldiers, killed a Liao nobleman, and captured a Liao general alive.

After the victory at Yanmen Pass, Yang Ye became famous far and wide.As soon as the Liao soldiers saw the "Yang" banner, they were too frightened to fight.People nicknamed Yang Ye "Yang Wudi". Yang Ye's great achievements also aroused the jealousy of some frontier generals.Someone wrote a memorial to Song Taizong and said many bad things about Yang Ye.Song Taizong was about to rely on Yang Ye, ignored those false accusations, sealed the memorials, and sent someone to Yang Ye.Seeing that Song Taizong trusted him so much, Yang Ye was naturally very moved. A few years later, Yeluxian, Emperor Jingzong of Liao Dynasty, died, and Yelulongxu, Emperor Shengzong of Liao Dynasty, was only twelve years old, and his mother, Empress Dowager Xiao, ruled.A frontier general made a memorial to Song Taizong, thinking that the political situation in the Liao Dynasty had changed, and he took this opportunity to recover the lost land in the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun.

Song Taizong accepted this opinion.In 986 A.D., Song Taizong sent Cao Bin, Tian Zhongjin, and Pan Mei to lead three armies to the Northern Expedition, and Yang Ye was Pan Mei's deputy. The three-way army attacked in separate ways, and the flag was set to win.Pan Mei and Yang Ye's team left Yanmen Pass and quickly regained four states.However, the main force led by Cao Bin was defeated by the Liao army because of the lone army going deep.Song Taizong quickly ordered all Song troops to retreat. After receiving the order, Pan Mei and Yang Ye led the troops to cover the people in the four states and retreat to Langya Village.At that time, the Liao army had already occupied Huanzhou (now east of Shuo County, Shanxi, Huanyinhuan), and the army was very strong.Yang Ye suggested sending troops to feign an attack to attract the main force of the Liao army, and send elite soldiers to ambush at the main route of retreat to cover the retreat of the army and the people.

The military supervisor Wang Yan (shen) objected to Yang Ye's opinion, saying: "We have brought tens of thousands of elite soldiers, are we still afraid of them? I think we just march along the Yanmen Road with great fanfare, so that the enemy will be scared when they see it. " Yang Ye said: "Now the enemy is strong and we are weak, so doing this is bound to fail." Wang Yan said with a mocking tone: "Didn't General Yang claim to be invincible? Now that he shrinks back in front of the enemy, does he have other plans?" This sentence angered Yang Ye.He said: "I am not afraid of death, but seeing that the timing is not good, I am afraid that the soldiers will die in vain. You must fight, and I can take the lead."

The chief general Pan Mei also supported Wang's claim.Yang Ye had no choice but to lead his men and horses to set off.Before leaving, he said to Pan Mei with tears in his eyes: "This battle is bound to fail. I originally wanted to see the right time, beat the enemy hard, and repay the country. Now everyone accuses me of avoiding the enemy, so I have to die first." Then, he pointed to Chenjiayu (now in the south of Shuo County, Shanxi Province, Yuyin yu) in front of him and said to Pan Mei: "I hope you will ambush the infantry and crossbowmen on both sides of this valley entrance. After I am defeated, I will retreat here. You lead troops to respond, attack from both sides, maybe there is hope of turning defeat into victory."

Yang Ye did not send his troops far, but he was ambushed by the Liao army.Although Yang Ye was brave, the Liao soldiers rushed up like a tide.Yang Ye fought for a while, but couldn't resist, so he had to retreat while fighting, leading the Liao army to Chenjiayu. When we arrived at Chenjiayu, it was time for the sun to go down.Yang Ye retreated to the mouth of the valley, only to see the silence on both sides, not even the shadow of Song Jun.Where did the main force led by Pan Mei go?It turned out that after Yang Ye left, Pan Mei also brought people to Chenjiayu. After waiting for a day and hearing no news from Yang Ye, Wang Yu thought that the Liao soldiers must have retreated.He was afraid that Yang Ye would take the lead, so he urged Pan Mei to withdraw the ambush and left Chenjiayu; when they heard that Yang Ye was defeated, he fled to another trail.

Seeing that there was no answer at the agreed place, Yang Ye stomped his feet angrily, so he had to lead his subordinates to turn around and start a fight with the Liao soldiers who were chasing them. All the soldiers resisted bravely.But there were more and more Liao troops. In the end, there were only more than a hundred soldiers around Yang Ye. With tears in his eyes, he said loudly to the soldiers: "You all have your own parents and children. Don't die here with me. Hurry up!" Break out of the encirclement so that the imperial court can know about our situation." After hearing these words, the soldiers were so moved that they shed tears when they saw Yang Ye's bloody battle. None of them wanted to leave Yang Ye.In the end, all the soldiers died in battle, and Yang Ye's son Yang Yanyu and his general Wang Gui also died.Yang Ye suffered more than a dozen wounds and was covered in blood. He rushed back and forth, killing and wounding hundreds of enemies.Unexpectedly, an arrow flew and hit his horse. The horse fell to the ground and threw him off.Liao soldiers took the opportunity to surround him and captured him.

After Yang Ye was captured, General Liao persuaded him to surrender.He raised his head and sighed, "I, Yang Ye, originally wanted to destroy the enemy and repay the country. I didn't expect to be framed by treacherous ministers and the entire army was wiped out. How can I have the face to live in this world?" He went on a hunger strike for three days in the Liao camp. After three days and nights, he died. The news of Yang Ye's death spread to Tokyo, and everyone in the court mourned him.Song Taizong lost a brave general, so he naturally felt sad. He demoted Pan Mei and punished Wang Dian from his post for investigation.

After Yang Ye's death, his descendants inherited his father's career. His son Yang Yanzhao and grandson Yang Wenguang all made contributions in defending the border of the Song Dynasty.The heroic deeds of their family have been recited and praised by people, and the folk tales of the generals of the Yang family were developed based on their deeds.