Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Tong Guan's attack on Jinzhou was divided into two routes.

They stationed troops in Yunxiang (Yun County) all the way, and went up the Han River to directly attack Xunyang.

They stationed troops all the way to Zhushan and attacked Pingli by land.

Both roads are not easy to walk, because that large area was called Shangyong eight hundred years ago, and eight hundred years later it will be called... Shennongjia!

There are actually not many Jinzhou rebels.

Zhang Guangdao led 11,000 troops to guard Xunyang, of which 5,000 were naval troops.

Guan Sheng led 6,000 troops to guard Pingli. He built a camp between Pingli and Zhushan to defend the dangerous area.

The total military strength is only 17,000 people, and including civilians, it is only over 20,000. Because most of them are waterways, civilians don't need to recruit too many.

However, these more than 10,000 soldiers have been trained for the longest time, starting when Ju Ming attacked Hanzhong.

Most of the soldiers were mountain herbalists and hunters. They collected herbs and hunted at the same time. Crossing the mountains and ridges was considered a walk for them.

(There are also some trained and trained young refugees who have escaped from the Nanxiang Basin. The training time of this type of troops can also last up to half a year.)

As for the navy officers and men, half were private salt traders and fishermen, and the remaining half were bandits on the Han River, especially in the Shennongjia area.

The Golden State Rebels, like Hanzhong, focus on a defensive counterattack.

Tong Guan's offensive force, if the rural soldiers on Jingnan Road are also included, totaled 70,000 or three people.

17,000 versus 73,000!

The two sides took the lead in fighting near Juiyang Town (ancient Shuhe town).

Tong Guan was stationed in Xiangyang and led the troops on the front line. Xin Xingzong was on the north road and Xin Qizong was on the south road.

The Xin family had already taken refuge with Tong Guan twenty years ago. At that time, Tong Guan was not able to command the army alone and only participated in the war as a supervisor.

Xin Xingzong set up camp eighty miles away from Juiyang Town, which was later known as Baihe County.

There was no way to move forward because it was difficult to move a large army along the river bank, so ships had to be used to transport troops.

After completely defeating or suppressing the rebel navy, Xin Xingzong dared to use ships to transport troops on a large scale, otherwise the entire army would be annihilated if there was a slight mistake.

"We must capture it as soon as possible. Master Tong is waiting in Xiangyang!" Xin Xingzong said to He Guan.

He Guan's qualifications actually far surpassed that of Xin Xingzong, but his relationship with Tong Guan was not that close.

He Guan said: "Those sailors need to train for another month."

Xin Xingzong said: "Master Tong can't wait."

He Guan could no longer disobey the order and had no choice but to lead the officers and soldiers towards Juiyang Town.

Most of the warships in his hands were modified from cauldrons.

In order to transport grain and flowers and stones, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty frantically built water ships over the years. In the fourth year of Zhenghe's reign alone, 6,700 watercraft were built in various parts of the south, and the shipbuilding industry in the Northern Song Dynasty reached its peak.

However, corruption is serious and the quality of the ships is worrying.

After deciding to conquer the Zhu Pi, the imperial court ordered a large number of warships to be renovated, and it was Zhu Meng who was responsible for this.

A total of 300 warships were renovated, 200 of which were transferred to attack Jinzhou, and the other 100 were transferred to attack Kuimen.

He Guan not only had a large number of warships, but also a large tonnage: 1 warship with a 500-year charge, 10 warships with a 300-year charge, 50 warships with a 200-year charge, and 139 warships with a 100-year charge. There are also some small warships within a hundred materials.

Most of the warships of the Jinzhou Rebel Army were modified merchant ships: 1 warship with 300 rations, 15 warships with 200 rations, and 37 warships with 100 rations. There are also many small boats within a hundred materials, and there is even a "Heifeng Village main battleship" that is several meters long.

On the Han River, officers, soldiers and navy warships came in a mighty manner with their sails fully set.

With this quantity and tonnage, without doing anything else, the rebel navy can be defeated in a collision.

But He Guan was always worried because the officers and soldiers of the Navy had not practiced much.

Some came from the Tiger Wing Navy (Forbidden Army), which initially recruited soldiers from the Jianghuai River. Later, fathers died and sons gradually succeeded, soldiers were basically not trained, and warships were used by generals to do business, and they were only performed to the emperor during the Dragon Boat Festival every year.

Some of the Gang Army, Cao Army, and patrol soldiers from various places are usually collecting taxes or running transportation.

Anyway, after Zhu Meng renovated the warships and sent sailors from various places, he temporarily formed a navy. What He Guan took over was these damn things.

Zhang Guangdao stood on the wall of the earthen fort, observing the enemy's situation with a telescope, and looking at the warships covering the river, he couldn't help but exclaimed: "The imperial court is really rich and powerful, what is the navy in my hand? Get ready to fire!" "

Some of the extremely shabby rebel navy were hiding in Feishui, and some were hiding in the Han River further upstream.

He Guan stood at the bow of the ship, unable to see any signs of the enemy, and he suddenly became more vigilant.

"Boom boom boom boom..."

There are six cannons made of pig iron in Hanzhong and four in Yangzhou, but there are eight here!

Shells flew from both sides of the bank without warning, splashing water continuously.

Due to the large number of officers and soldiers and the large size of the warships, two of the eight cannonballs fired actually hit.

what's the situation?

He Guan was startled. He thought it was a catapult attacking, but the bandits' artillery cart must have hit too far.

No matter what, you have to keep moving forward.

He Guan had two tasks: to search for and defeat the rebel navy, and to transport the vanguard to seize a foothold.

It's just a catapult, which can be withstood for the time being.

On the two battleships that were hit, the sailors were horrified at this moment. One of the ships was severely damaged and had a hole in the waterline. It was taking in water crazily and could sink at any time.

The guide was very frightened and suggested: "General He, go back three or four miles and there is flat land by the river. You can set up camp there. There is no need to sail forward."

Before He Guan could say anything, news came from the lookout: "There is a warship flagging, and they are sinking!"

"Stand back a few miles!"

He Guan asked someone to fly the command flag, and the officers and soldiers on the warships furled their sails one after another and began to row back.

Three or four miles back, there was a riverside village. The people had already fled, and the village was deserted.

Three thousand vanguard troops set up camp after landing.

He Guan took a small boat to check the situation of the warship. Before he could get close, the soldiers on the ship jumped into the water one after another.

After lifting the soldiers out of the water, He Guan asked, "Why did it sink so suddenly?"

The general in charge of the ship said: "There was a big hole in the side."

One couldn't understand, the other couldn't understand.

He Guan asked if any other warships had been damaged, and was soon taken to another ship.

I saw that the bow of the ship was smashed to pieces. When asked what it was, no soldier could answer.

Just guessing out of thin air, how can you figure it out?

After the camp was set up and the vanguard troops were stationed in, He Guan immediately sent some warships back and cooperated with the merchant ships there to transport the large troops in batches.

Xin Xingzong led his army to arrive by boat and asked, "Have you defeated the bandit navy yet?"

He Guan explained the situation, and Xin Xingzong also felt strange.

Another day, more than 20 small rebel boats rowed near the officers and soldiers camp to provoke.

Xin Xingzong said: "Hurry up and destroy the bandit navy, so that our army can safely cross the river and attack the stronghold."

He Guan immediately boarded the ship to direct the battle. He was about to catch up to the place where he was bombarded that day. He ordered the sails to be lowered and the ship to wait for orders. He only sent a few 200-ton warships to continue the pursuit.

There was no movement from the artillery this time, because the warships of the officers and soldiers were too small, and there were only ten of them. The hit rate of the artillery was not high, so there was no need to waste gunpowder and shells.

However, there were also catapults and other officers and soldiers warships getting closer and closer, and countless flat cannons began to throw stones.

And more rebel warships entered the Han River from Feishui.

More than 40 small rebel boats with dozens of materials, like a pack of wolves attacking tigers, rushed towards several official warships with 200 materials.

He Guan waited and waited, but did not see the strange "gun truck", so he dispatched 40 large ships to support the friendly forces.

Where do the rebels dare to fight? The boat turned around quickly and ran very fast for a while.

"Boom boom boom!"

Eight shells, all missed.

But as the government warships got closer and closer to the earthen fort, countless flat cannons were fired, but two rocks hit it.

The warships of these officers and soldiers were all cut corners and made of very cheap wood.

Not only can you be greedy when building a ship, but you can also continue to build ships and continue to be greedy.

The hull of the ship was hit by a catapult, and a large hole was opened.

"Nothing!"

He Guan ordered more warships to move forward, because the place where the Feishui River merged into the Han River was very suitable for a two-sided attack. The rebels must have set up an ambush, and the little force they just invested was not enough to win.

However, there was no ambush at all.

In fact, the disparity in strength between the two naval forces was so great that Zhang Guangdao never thought of actually engaging in battle. The rebel warships ran as fast as they could and fled as far as they could.

"Boom boom boom..."

As the main force of the navy approached, the artillery finally completed loading and fired again.

This time it hit a ship. After smashing the side of the ship, it bounced on the deck again, leaving a bloody mess in its path. It killed and injured several navy officers and soldiers.

The rebel warship escaped too quickly, and He Guan did not dare to pursue it too deeply, so he could only order the entire army to return, and suffered another round of shelling when passing by the earthen fortress.

The artillery, plus the flat artillery, sank one ship and damaged six this time.

He Guan went back to take stock of the losses and was so depressed that he didn't even touch the pirate ship.

He went to Xin Xingzong and said: "The pirate navy dare not engage in battle, and the artillery carriages are too powerful. It is better to transport troops across the river farther away, and the officers and soldiers climb over the hills and directly attack the town fortress."

Xin Xingzong thought for a while and nodded: "That's okay. After crossing the river, we camped on the top of the mountain. There is no shortage of water near the river. Your Excellency will stay near the camp and drive away the thieves and water troops immediately if they encounter them."

Just when the officers and soldiers were transporting troops across the river from a distance and planning to move their campsite, the rebel boats came to provoke them again.

He Guan just thought it was a fly flying around and didn't bother to send a boat to chase him. He used his bed crossbow to fight back. Crossbow arrows were also precious. After a few shots were fired, the crossbow was no longer needed.

Qu Fangping, a salt dealer who had cooperated with Daming Village for a long time, was now the commander of the navy under Zhang Guangdao. He returned to the bunker and said depressedly: "The officers and soldiers will not be fooled anymore, and they will not move no matter how provocative they are. The crossbow can shoot again." Far away, I don’t dare to get too close.”

Zhang Guangdao said: "I looked carefully with a telescope and found that the enemy general was good at fighting, but his sailors were not. Every time the enemy general raised his command flag, the enemy ships reacted very slowly, sometimes turning around or even ramming into them. When they got together, the sailors had to use long wormwood to prop up the hull of the boat and push each other away."

He Guan was not only good at fighting, but also good at governing the place.

This man was a Wu Jinshi. When he was the governor of Minzhou (Minxian County, Gansu Province), he dug canals to irrigate hundreds of thousands of acres of land and improved more than two million acres of land, solving some of the food problems in the Hehuang area.

He Guan is fifty-nine years old this year, and his official position is Yuhou, the Infantry Commander of the Guards.

Historically, Song Huizong fled and Song Qinzong ascended the throne.

King Yun Zhao Kai tried to usurp the throne, and wanted to enter the palace with the soldiers and horses of the Imperial City Department. He also colluded with civil servants to transfer He Guan out of the capital in advance.

However, He Guan found an excuse to stay and led the imperial army to stop King Yun. Only then did Song Qinzong become emperor without any danger.

Such great achievements were made, but the ending was tragic.

He was ordered to go to the front line to resist the Jin army. Due to insufficient troops, he could only recruit civilians to make up the number.

Halfway through, news of Liang Fangping's escape came back, and the civilian troops under He Guan collapsed before they even saw the Jin soldiers.

He Guan had no choice but to return to the capital with his remaining soldiers, but his request to see Song Qinzong was in vain, and he was actually ordered to defend the enemy outside the city.

A sixty-two-year-old veteran who protected the new emperor's ascension to the throne led a group of remnant soldiers and fought against the Jin soldiers for three days with their backs on the moat. In the end, he was seriously injured and died of exhaustion. There were two remaining soldiers who continued to fight and died together outside the moat.

After his death, he was impeached by Yan Guan, who blamed him for abandoning Baima Jin, and was pursued by Emperor Qinzong of the Song Dynasty to take away his official rank.

By the way, the prime minister at the time was Bai Shizhong He Guan, who suggested that all the imperial troops who could still fight be left to defend the capital.

Bai Shizhong disagreed, and insisted on sending troops to the north of the Yellow River to destroy the last fighting force in Tokyo.

"It's hot summer now and the weather is dry, which is suitable for fire attacks." Zhang Guangdao looked at the river in the distance. "The current is fast, and the enemy ships usually dock at the river bend. After I dragged him for half a month, the officers, soldiers and navy became careless. , do you dare to attack an enemy several times your own at night?"

Qu Fangping smiled and said: "Why don't you dare? When I was selling salt, how could I not live with my head in my head?"

Zhang Guangdao said: "Then burn the officers, soldiers and navy!"