Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Before the main force of the Jin army arrived, Wanyan Zongwang came in person.

"How is the battle going?" Wanyan Zongwang asked.

Salihe said: "The moat has not been filled by the enemy yet, but Prince Zhu has thousands of armored cavalry. My two thousand cavalry were killed and returned to the city. I cannot go out to explore the battlefield."

"How do the armored cavalry of the Ming Dynasty compare with the last time they fought?" Wanyan Zongwang asked.

Saliho said: "It's even harder to fight. The horses have become taller, the armor has become more abundant, and the riding skills have become better. I sent the cavalry out to scout the enemy's situation, and fought three times, losing more than 400 cavalry. The enemy has a cavalry general whose surname should be Li. He carries a flag with the character Li when he goes into battle. This man has the largest number of cavalry. Generals such as Yue Fei and Li Qiong from Zhaozhou are also there."

Wanyan Zongwang asked again: "How is the morale of each department?"

Salihe said: "Except for the Han army in Hebei, the soldiers of all other ethnic groups are okay. The enemy shoots letters into the city every day. Some of the letters cannot be found after they are shot in. I am worried that some Han soldiers will surrender to the enemy."

Wanyan Zongwang said: "The bandits recruited from the Taihang Mountains can stay and guard the city. Select a few wealthy households in the city, preferably from local wealthy families living in the city. Let these bandits who were recruited to be recruited go to kill and rob, and steal the money and women. It all belongs to them. This will not only benefit them, but also make them enmity with the local big families, so they will definitely not dare to think about surrendering to the enemy."

"What a great idea!" Sari said happily.

Wanyan Zongwang added: "I will take away the rest of the Han army in Hebei and leave you with a group of Khitan soldiers."

Saliho asked: "The marshal won't fight here?"

Wanyan Zongwang shook his head and said: "How could I dive into the battlefield chosen by Prince Zhu? I want to take the main force of Dajin and the unreliable Han army from Hebei to attack Zhaozhou City from Zhending Mansion south. The battlefield where the two armies will fight. , just outside Zhaozhou City!"

The Hutuo River, Benshui River, Hulu River and the Yellow River are connected to each other and form an irregular rectangle.

The manuscript city is stuck in the upper left corner of the rectangle. Two Ming armies are located on the long side and the broad side, more than thirty miles apart, sandwiching the manuscript city.

The entire rectangular interior is the territory of the Ming army.

Wanyan Zongwang can also cross the river and go around, but he will face multiple cities within the rectangle. Every city is a stronghold of the Ming army. Who knows which city is heavily ambushed.

If Guocheng is chosen as the decisive battlefield, both sides will have to fight in a narrow area in the upper left corner of the rectangle, and it will be difficult for the Jin cavalry to unleash its combat effectiveness.

Moreover, Ju Ming was not afraid of being attacked by Jin soldiers, because several rivers and waterways were connected, and grain ships could go wherever they wanted.

Wanyan Zongwang's idea was very simple. He wanted to change the route of dispatching troops.

That is, starting from Zhending Mansion, using Luan City as a springboard, they will go straight to Zhaozhou City where Zongze is located, and at the same time let Salihe defend Gao City.

Zhu Mingruo led troops to rescue Zhaozhou, where Wanyan Zongwang fought the decisive battle. If Zhu Ming did not save Zhaozhou, he would besiege the city while attacking the camps of Guan Sheng, Li Jinyi, and Yue Fei from behind. He could also take the opportunity to attack Ningjin further south, threatening Xinhe Town, an important grain station of the Ming army and a gathering place for craftsmen. .

…

"Is the Jin soldiers changing defense?" Zhu Ming began to think about the situation.

Li Yanxian said: "According to the observation of the scouts with telescopes, a large number of elites from the Jin Kingdom crossed the river and entered the city, and many weak soldiers in the city were transported away by ships. It should be that the Jin soldiers were used to replace the Han troops in Hebei. It seems that the Jin people wanted to Stick to the manuscript city."

Ju Ming said: "Guocheng is the gateway to Zhending Mansion. Of course the Jin people must defend it. But where will they take the Han soldiers in Hebei?"

"Could they be going to fight Zhaozhou?" Li Yanxian guessed.

Zhu Ming nodded and said, "It's also possible. But Zhaozhou City is high and the pond is deep, and Guan Sheng and Yue Fei can quickly return reinforcements. Wanyan Zongwang will definitely not be able to defeat him. He probably wants to lure me over and change the battlefield for the decisive battle. He won't I am willing to fight in a shabby place like Guocheng."

Li Yanxian said: "Actually, it doesn't matter where you play."

Zhu Ming smiled and said: "The Nishui River is relatively narrow, so the Jin soldiers can easily cross the river, and the Jin cavalry can gallop freely. If defeated, they can quickly retreat to Luan City and Zhending. There can be advanced and retreated there, which is naturally better for the Jin people." Let Yue Fei lead the army back to Zhaozhou, and send more light cavalry to investigate the enemy's situation. Once it is confirmed that the main force of the Jin army has gone to Zhaozhou, Li Jinyi will lead the troops to stay and join forces with me, while Guan Sheng and Li Qiong will join Yue Fei."

"Aren't we going?" Li Yanxian asked.

Wang Yan, the commander of the Eight-Character Army, suddenly said: "Your Highness, you want to attack the city by force?"

Zhu Ming said: "With the capture of Kuo City, the door of Zhending Mansion will be opened. I have almost filled up the moat, so how can I be led by Wanyan Zongwang? I will attack Kuo City, and he will attack Zhaozhou. Let's see who can attack first." Come down."

Wanyan Zongwang's last southern invasion, with tens of thousands of troops, was unable to defeat Zhaozhou despite a group of weak soldiers defending it.

Even if we bring back artillery this time, I'm afraid we can only sigh in despair. Zong Ze, Yue Fei, Li Qiong, Guan Sheng, Li Xianzhong and others are all there!

Of course, Wanyan Zongwang thought the same way, and he left his elite troops to defend the manuscript city. Although the walls of Gao City were not as good as those of Zhaozhou, the west and north sides were backed by rivers. He really couldn't figure out how Ju Ming could capture it.

How to get it?

Use muskets and artillery!

Although it is difficult for artillery to destroy a solid city wall in a short time, it can prioritize the destruction of important defense facilities such as city towers and archery towers.

…

Manuscript city.

A large number of Han troops in Hebei were taken away, leaving only 6,000 soldiers to pacify the bandits, and thousands more Khitan soldiers were brought in.

The remaining commanders of the Han army were Zhang Di and Kong Yanzhou.

Kong Yanzhou is Yue Fei's fellow villager in Xiangzhou. He was a gangster. He committed a crime and changed his name to become a soldier. He was caught and taken to jail, bribed the guards to loosen his bonds, escaped in the middle of the night and became a thief again.

Historically, this guy served as a soldier to suppress the Shandong rebels and made great achievements, and he actually rose to the top in the Southern Song Dynasty. When he led an army to conquer Zhong Xiang, he burned, killed and looted during the march, forcing a large number of people to defect to the rebels. He was defeated and lost a lot of baggage, which fattened Zhong Xiang Yang Yao's rebel army.

Later, he rebelled against the Song Dynasty and surrendered gold, but even forcibly married his own daughter. In order to force the mother and daughter to submit, he sent his concubine to a prostitute camp. After some humiliation, the concubine could only sacrifice her daughter to the beast.

Such a bastard was able to die a good death. He was named the Prince of Guangping County in the Jin Kingdom. Before his death, he still persuaded Wanyan Liang to attack the Song Dynasty.

At this time and space, Shandong had long been occupied by the Ming Dynasty, so Kong Yanzhou naturally had no chance to surrender to Shandong to suppress it.

He had been working as a thief in Xiangzhou, and was later recruited by Zongze to fight against the Jin Dynasty. Because of poor military discipline, he was punished by Zongze. When he committed the second crime, Kong Yanzhou felt that his life was in danger, so he led a group of indiscriminate soldiers into the Taihang Mountains to become bandits, and was recruited by the puppet court.

"Which of you will lead the troops to attack this family?" Saliho asked.

Zhang Di said: "This is the Dong family's shop, and Mr. Dong is the Minister of Rites."

Salihe said with a smile: "It's just a gold shop, and the people living in the backyard are just Dong Shangshu's nephews. Dong Shangshu is loyal to Da Jin, and he won't care about a gold shop. If you lead troops to attack, the people in the shop in front will The gold and silver jewelry, and the wealthy women in the house behind, whatever they grab is yours. Who is going?"

Kong Yanzhou's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he couldn't wait to say: "I'm going!"

Zhang Di hesitated to say anything. He was indeed a huge bandit. He had robbed many wealthy families before. But at that time, it was for survival. Now that we don’t have to worry about food and clothing, why do we need to do this kind of thing again?

Moreover, this is the gold shop of the Dong family. How can you join the Ming Dynasty after killing people and stealing goods? The Dong family will definitely file a complaint, and the Ming Dynasty will most likely hold them accountable in the future.

Salihe ignored Kong Yanzhou who was eager to try, but looked at Zhang Di who was hesitant: "You go!"

"General..." Zhang Di still didn't dare to make a move.

Salihe interrupted: "You don't dare to kill or loot. Do you want to collaborate with the enemy? All the officers under your command must rush into the gold shop and hack the men inside. Every officer must take action!"

Zhang Di could only bite the bullet and obey the orders. If he didn't take action against Dongjia Jinpu, he would definitely be executed on the spot by Salihe.

Calling all the officers under his command and two hundred veterans, Zhang Di spoke again and said helplessly: "If the people inside die, we will have to die. Follow me and do business again."

Everyone had no choice but to rush into the gold shop, kill the men they saw, and rob the property they saw. At the same time, they also divided their forces into the inner house to rob the women.

There were screams inside, and Salihe was all smiles when he heard it.

He had been worried that the Han army in Hebei would defect to the enemy, and now he killed local prominent families to see how they would surrender to the enemy again!

But Kong Yanzhou couldn't wait and asked: "General, where should I go to rob?"

Saliho said: "You can pick any one, but remember that the front store and the back house will all be sold out."

Kong Yanzhou said excitedly: "I'm sure no one will be left alive!" Then he added, "The goods in one store may not be enough for the soldiers under his command to share the profits. Can the general rob two stores?"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Salihe burst out laughing when he heard this. He pointed at Kong Yanzhou and said, "You are a promising person, so go and pick two companies to rob."

"Thank you for the gift, general!" Kong Yanzhou went to gather troops and horses in a hurry.

There are Liu Yu in literature and Kong Yanzhou in military affairs. There are quite a few such anthropomorphic creatures.

They are all reckless and only care about the immediate wealth and wealth, and they will worry about the future matters later.

The Dong family's gold shop had stopped, and Salihe went in to check it out in person. He found many corpses of men along the way, and a group of women and children huddled in the inner house, crying and trembling.

"very good!"

Salihe expressed that he was extremely satisfied and could rest assured that Zhang Di would lead the troops to defend the city.

After thinking for a while, Saliho asked again: "Who is the shopkeeper's wife?"

The women and children were still crying, and no one answered the questions.

Saliho dragged out a boy and said, "I want to kill someone."

"don't want!"

"Give me back my grandson!"

An old man and a young man suddenly stood out. They should be the mother and wife of the shop owner.

"This one is too old," Salihe pointed at the young woman and said to Zhang Di, "You take this woman to the bedroom, and I will be your matchmaker today."

Zhang Di was very unhappy when he was forced to kill people and buy goods.

Now he was forced to seize a wife in broad daylight, and Zhang Di was extremely angry. When he was forced to rebel by the Song Dynasty, there was really no way to survive. He was a heroic and powerful bandit with hundreds of thousands of followers, not a scumbag who only had money and beautiful women in his eyes!

The woman cried and was dragged into the bedroom by Zhang Di, where she struggled even more fiercely on the bed.

Zhang Di felt that someone was watching outside the window, so he lay on the woman and leaned into her ear and said, "Madam, please forgive me, I was forced to do so. The gold thief is watching outside the window."

The woman just cried and struggled, how could she listen to these words.

Zhang Di sat up and slapped her twice hard, making the woman dizzy. He yelled angrily: "Smelly bitch, don't cry anymore. It will make grandpa's ears hurt."

After saying that, he pretended to borrow his belt, lay down and whispered again: "Madam, I don't fit in, so you can pretend for a while. When I surrender to the Ming court, you have to stand up and testify for me. I am really forced this time." have no choice."

The woman understood, but she was still in a daze and completely forgot about acting.

Until Zhang Di unbuttoned her pants, the woman subconsciously screamed again.

"Yes, that's how he screamed." Zhang Di didn't dare to look back out the window.

Saliho observed it, as if it was interesting, laughed and turned around to leave.