Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 829 0824 [Wanyan Zonghan launches in advance]

Including the entire northern Shanxi region, extending northward to the Gobi Desert, it all used to belong to the Liao Kingdom's Xijing Road.

In Xijing Road, you can find almost all the ethnic groups in northern China at that time!

Han, Xi, Khitan, Dangxiang, Bohai, Shatuo, Tubo, Shiwei, Tuyuhun...

And many ethnic groups settled in northern Shanxi. For example, a branch of the Bohai people live in Shuozhou, Lingqiu, and Yu County, which are all located south of Datong.

After more than a hundred years of integration, the smaller ones have been assimilated by the Han people, and the Han people have also been influenced by ethnic minorities.

Various ethnic groups may turn to farming to make a living, and the Han people may also go to the grasslands to graze.

The clothes, hairstyles, and customs of the Han people are gradually moving closer to those of the Khitan people.

In terms of customs, the Han people have accepted marriages between different generations, the death of a sister and the death of a sister, and there are even Han people who engage in marriage robbery.

Zhangbei County was called Rouyuan County at this time. Although the scattered tribes living in the nearby grasslands were all regarded as Khitans, subtle differences could still be found.

Another leader said: "We are not Han, but we often go to Xuande (Zhangjiakou) to sell horses. We can speak both Khitan and Chinese."

Liu Qi asked: "What else do you have to do?"

"Meet General Ming!"

Liu Qi had read the book and was quite moved by it.

Another leader rushed to answer: "He's going east."

The leader of Han descendants said: "We have been walking for more than half a month. When the Jin soldiers left, they forced our livestock and war horses, and burned the city of Rouyuan with fire."

Guan Sheng asked: "When did the Jin soldiers abandon Rouyuan City?"

I guess Wanyan Zonghan also knew that the hatred was so deep that he didn't even bother to force the herdsmen here to serve as cavalry.

"Which way are you going?" Guan Sheng asked again.

The tribal leaders immediately agreed, but they refused to leave.

The leaders were overjoyed and knelt down to Guan Sheng again.

After Guan Sheng thought for a while, he said very generously: "You can exchange horses for food, and you can pay it back in ten years. But in addition to keeping an eye on the grasslands, you must also listen to orders at any time. If the Jin soldiers come back, all the ministries will The warriors immediately gathered towards Rouyuan, especially to protect the Yehuling food road. Once the food road there was cut off, the people in all tribes would be hungry."

One of the leaders opened his clothes and revealed the Chinese-style Chinese shirt underneath: "General, my ancestors are Han."

A leader said: "The Jin people have robbed a lot of livestock. Can the general give us some food? We don't want it in vain. From now on, we will use horses to pay off the debt every year. If we pay back the food in a few more years, we can pay off the food."

Take the descendants of the Han people on the grasslands, for example. They also ride horses and herd cattle, speak Khitan, wear Khitan clothes, and have Khitan hairstyles. Even their customs have completely changed. However, they still retain the Han Chinese shirt, which cannot be seen unless they take off their coats.

Outside Rouyuan County, a group of "Khitan people" came and knelt down to greet the troops of Guan Sheng, Liu Qi and others.

Guan Sheng ordered: "You can go back to graze, and then tell the nearby tribes and ask everyone to help keep an eye on the grassland. Once you find a golden soldier, report it to Rouyuan City immediately. Those who have made meritorious services will be rewarded heavily!"

In fact, there is not much to say. Perhaps the first two generations were still consciously retaining the characteristics of Han clothing. But after four or five generations, it has simply become a dressing habit. Anyway, I usually don’t show it, so I’m not afraid of being treated differently by other tribes.

Guan Sheng asked: "You all speak Chinese?"

They are all poor people and have been greatly harmed by the disaster of the Jin Dynasty.

"We must obey orders!"

The damn Jin people are finally gone, and Ming Dynasty also promised to borrow food. This winter may be much easier.

After the leaders of the various ministries dispersed, Guan Sheng and Liu Qi led their troops into the city. The houses in the city had been burned into ruins.

They did not move eastward immediately, but waited for the garrison troops in various cities in Youzhou to move to checkpoint cities along the way. Especially Yehuling, a full 5,000 garrison troops were mobilized, and even hundreds of sky-shaking thunders were left behind.

The generals of the Ming army already knew Wanyan Zonghan's plan.

But they didn't know where Wanyan Zonghan would attack, so everyone was extra careful, fearing that their food routes would be cut off.

After waiting for about ten days, there was no fighting on Zhang Guangdao's side. So Yao Pingzhong, Guo Yaoshi, and Wu Jie were sent to Rouyuan City to join Guan Sheng and Liu Qi.

The generals gathered 40,000 troops, took local refugees as husbandmen, and headed all the way to Huanzhou (Zhenglan Banner of Mongolia).

The ethnic composition of Huanzhou is much purer. Most of them are Khitans who migrated south in the early Liao Dynasty.

Historically, this place gradually developed into the war horse base of the Jin Kingdom. Genghis Khan led his army southward, and the Jin Kingdom directly abandoned this place. Together with the two or three states near Huanzhou, the Mongols obtained hundreds of thousands of war horses - Genghis Khan's fortune.

Now there are not that many war horses, and there are not that many people.

Because in the last years of the Liao Kingdom, too many cavalry were transferred from Huanzhou, the place had been destroyed by Emperor Tianzuo. Coupled with the exploitation and oppression of the Jin Kingdom, Huanzhou has become vast and sparsely populated, and the Khitan tribes are seriously lacking in young people. In many Khitan tribes, women and children account for more than 80%, and the number of adult men is pitifully small.

Liu Qi learned about the situation of various ministries and said to Guan Sheng: "But it can be mutually beneficial to Youzhou. Most of the first batch of southern immigrants in Youzhou are adult men. We can get some prairie women to marry them."

Wu Jie said: "You can't force it, you have to discuss it with the leaders of each department."

Yao Pingzhong said disdainfully: "What is there to discuss? The Huanzhou Khitans have already surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. If we bring them some food and cloth, they will naturally agree to marry women far away."

Guan Sheng said: "It's better to go to the imperial court first, and our ministers will solve the matter."

Pharmacist Guo asked: "I have inquired with all the ministries in Huanzhou, and they all said that they have not seen the Jin soldiers. Do we still want to go eastward?"

Guan Sheng shook his head: "Don't leave, the food road is too long."

The army from Shanxi and the West Route Army from Hebei stopped at Huanzhou Grassland. If they continue to advance eastward, their next target can only be Fengzhoupu (Wengniute Banner), and the grain road will be extended to more than a thousand miles. If you are not careful, the car will overturn, and you may be cut off from food at some point. Even if no enemies are encountered, the cost of transporting food and grass is too high.

Yao Pingzhong said: "We can take this opportunity to sort out the Monan grassland and wipe out all the tribes that are unwilling to surrender!"

Guan Sheng nodded and said, "It's also an achievement."

Most of these famous generals would not be able to fight against the Jin soldiers and could only go and recover those grassland tribes.

As long as some token troops are sent to fight two disobedient ones, the rest of the tribes will definitely surrender, because each tribe is too weak at this time.

……

The other two armies in Hebei set out from Gubeikou and Xifengkou respectively, and had already met in Xinghua (near Chengde).

Keep going, it's all mountainous, so you don't have to worry about being ambushed.

Li Bao, together with Yue Fei, Wang Yan and others, quickly occupied Zezhou and Hezhong.

Then they sent partial divisions to capture Lizhou (Kalaqin's left wing), Longshan, Fushu, and Jianzhou, but there was still no trace of the Jin soldiers.

Li Bao simply led his troops to the Jin Kingdom's Zhongjing Dading Mansion (to the west of Ningcheng County).

There was still no one, so Wanyan Zonghan burned the city of Dadingfu, and even a large section of the city wall was torn down!

Li Bao left some troops to defend the city and rushed to Jianzhou and Xingzhongfu (Chaoyang City).

There are gold soldiers in Xingzhong Mansion, and they can be garrisoned with silver skills.

As for Wanyan Zonghan, he was in the direction of Jinyuan.

"Marshal, the southern thieves have been attacking Xingzhong Mansion!"

"understood."

Just as Wanyan Zonghan was slowly laying out his plans, another fast horse came rushing up and delivered Wanyan Zongfu's letter asking for help.

After reading the letter, Wanyan Zonghan stood stunned on the spot.

The various ethnic groups in the Bohai Sea want to rebel, may Liaoyang be gone?
Wanyan Zongfu trapped and killed the generals of various ethnic groups in the Hesu Pavilion?

Before Wanyan Zonghan could recover, another letter asking for help arrived. It was from Wanyan Xiyin from Jinzhou.

Various ethnic groups may rebel, and Jinzhou will be lost?
Each urgent military situation seemed to hit Wanyan Zonghan's head with a sledgehammer.

In their original plan, the Liaodong battlefield had just begun.

Once Liaodong is lost, even if Wanyan Zonghan wins here, what effect will it have?
And there is no way to blame Wanyan Zongfu, the handsome men from all races are really too stupid. As soon as the war started, I was thinking about rebellion, and I was just a faggot.

If it were Wanyan Zonghan himself, he probably wouldn't have a better choice.

Now, he must make a choice.

Should he lead his troops back to rescue Liaodong immediately, or launch an attack on Li Bao in advance?

If you choose the former, your trip may be in vain. By the time he led his troops to the battlefield, Liaoyang, Jinzhou and other cities were gone. Moreover, rushing back all the way, with people and horses exhausted, it is very likely that the entire army will be annihilated.

Choose the latter?
The time has not come yet, the layout has not been completed yet. At this time, you can choose to start, open the lid or fill the pot with uncooked rice.

For a moment, Wanyan Zonghan wanted to learn Yelu Dashi.

No matter what, he went straight to Mobei and occupied a large piece of grassland to become his own king.

But the soldiers under his command cannot be taken away!
Wanyan Zonghan did not even dare to disclose these urgent military information.

His subordinates are all the elites of the Jurchen tribes. Once they learn that Liaodong may fall, the generals will definitely make a fuss and go back.

How to do?
"The entire army obeys the order and fight back to Dading Mansion!" Wanyan Zonghan finally became ruthless.

The Ming army's grain road has been stretched to 600 miles, and there are rugged mountain roads along the way.

The Ming army still had to divide its forces to occupy the city. One of them was marching towards Xingzhong Mansion, and its forces became more dispersed.

When the Jin soldiers withdrew from Dading Mansion, a long section of the city wall was removed, making it easier for Wanyan Zonghan to lead his troops back.

Just put uncooked rice between them.

Wanyan Zonghan planned to eat the Ming army in Dading Prefecture first, and at the same time send a partial army to attack the grain road in the direction of Xingzhong Prefecture. If Li Bao returns to the army to rescue Liangdao, Wanyan Zongfu can attack from both sides with Xingzhong Mansion's Yin Shu.

You can also besiege the city for reinforcements, tightly surround Dading Mansion, and eliminate the Ming army that comes to help.

The Jin soldiers who were kept in the dark followed Wanyan Zonghan straight to Dading Mansion.

Stationed in Dading Mansion is Wang Yan's Eight-Character Army.

Hezhong County, more than a hundred miles to the southeast, was the grain transportation hub of the Ming army, and Yue Fei led his troops to guard it.

Li Yanxian's cavalry was divided into several places. The main force was in Fushu County, forming a "pin" shape with Dading Prefecture and Hezhong County.

The distance between each city is more than a hundred miles.

But most of them are mountain roads, and the actual distance may be two to three hundred miles.

(End of this chapter)