Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Zhaozhou and Gaocheng are only sixty miles apart, and they are flat, separated only by a canal.

Zhu Ming and Wanyan Zongwang each chose a place to attack the city. Strictly speaking, it belonged to the same battlefield. For the cavalry, they could rush to the rescue in half a day, so Wanyan Zongwang was not worried at all about the fall of the city.

Wanyan Zongwang has a total of 20,000 cavalry under his command!

He first led the cavalry towards Zhaozhou, and used the cavalry to cover the entire area of ​​Zhaozhou within a radius of twenty to thirty miles, so that the Ming army could not figure out the movement of the main force of the Jin soldiers.

Even more than ten miles southwest of the city, Jin cavalry appeared, and they could contact Salihe at any time to know the progress of Ju Ming's siege.

Yue Fei set out early and returned to Zhaozhou smoothly to aid.

However, generals such as Guan Sheng and Li Qiong were suppressed by the Jin cavalry and did not dare to return to Zhaozhou in a straight line. They could only go south along the Qingshui River to Ningjin first.

In other words, the Zhaozhou Ming Army has been divided into two parts. If Guan Sheng and Li Qiong continue to return for reinforcements, it is very likely that they will be surrounded by the large number of golden cavalry halfway.

After all, cavalry is more mobile!

"Is everything going to be okay in Zhaozhou?"

In Ningjin City, Li Qiong was very worried. His whole family was there.

Guan Sheng shook his head and said: "It must be fine. With the troops of Yue Fei and Li Shifu, we can also recruit the people in the city and issue them armor. The Zhaozhou city is only slightly inferior to the Zhending city. How can the Jin soldiers conquer it easily? The two of us are stuck in Ning Jin, we must not go to rescue Zhaozhou easily, otherwise we will be attacked by the Golden Cavalry during the march!"

"Just sit here and watch the friendly troops being surrounded without saving them?" Li Qiong was a little unwilling.

Guan Sheng said: "Ningjin is also extremely important. By staying here, we can not only respond to Zhaozhou, but also protect the grain station in Xinhe Town."

…

Outside Zhaozhou City, another Jin infantry arrived, and craftsmen had already begun to build returning artillery.

"That Ming army entered Ningjin City?"

"Their heavy equipment went south, and the troops marched along the east bank of the Qingshui River. They were protected by Prince Zhu's cavalry. We, the Dajin cavalry, were afraid of being attacked halfway across the river and did not dare to cross the river easily to attack and kill us. We waited until we had detoured far before crossing the river. This would The Gu Ming army has gone far, and they have all retreated to Ningjin City and will not leave."

"Intensify the attack on Zhaozhou. As long as Zhaozhou is in danger, we can lure the Ningjin Ming army to come to rescue. We will just wait for the siege and reinforcements."

Wanyan Zongwang led hundreds of soldiers to personally inspect the city defenses in Zhaozhou.

He had been here two years ago. At that time, he was eager to attack Kaifeng, but the Zhaozhou defenders were unwilling to surrender, so Wanyan Zongwang did not attack with all his strength.

In fact, as long as the Zhaozhou defenders at that time had the ability to camp in the wild for defense, they could block the Jin soldiers' fastest retreat route. In that case, the Jin soldiers would either have to take a long detour, or they would have to abandon the boats they robbed and bring back the plundered goods and people by land.

But there is no way to assume it. If we really had to assume it, if Ju Ming had enough troops at that time, Wanyan Zongwang would have stayed in Kaifeng!

The scale of Zhaozhou City, which was expanded in the early Northern Song Dynasty, was basically the same as that of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the perimeter of the city wall had reached thirteen miles. The overall shape is rectangular, with a deliberately recessed northwest corner in order to use the natural creek as a moat.

The Lishui River flows through its southwest side, and the famous Zhaozhou Bridge is erected outside the south gate and above the Lishui River.

The city is eleven meters high, the city foundation is more than eight meters thick, the rammed layer is close to 50 centimeters, and the rammed nest is more than 30 centimeters.

A city wall with this kind of structure would be difficult for even Ju Ming's artillery to destroy, let alone Huihui artillery. Even if they came with heavy artillery, they would still have to bombard them continuously for more than a month or two.

On the east and west sides, there is also Wengcheng!

With the siege ability of the Jin soldiers, if there is no internal response to open the city gate, they will not be able to break through it after a year of fighting.

The Han troops from Hebei arrived one after another, and under the cover of the Jin soldiers, they began to fill in the moats in the northwest and due north.

After only half a day of filling, we gave up filling the northwest part. The concave and irregular city wall there could carry out cross fire on the enemy. The Hebei Han army responsible for filling the soil was shot and fled many times.

Wanyan Zongwang didn't even think about breaking the city. Those cumbersome Hebei Han troops were brought here to be used as cannon fodder.

He really didn't dare to put the Han troops in Hebei to defend the city, because he might one day turn against them on a large scale. Now it is best to use it as cannon fodder for sieges, and it can also consume the materials and physical strength of the Ming army.

Wanyan Zongwang's attention was always on the east and south.

To the east is Ju Ming's main force ninety miles away, and to the south are Guan Sheng and Li Qiong thirty miles away. He will attack whoever comes to rescue him. The right way is to besiege the city and rescue him.

Time gradually comes to mid-October, the lunar calendar.

Although it hasn't snowed yet, the temperature has dropped significantly.

The moats to the north, northeast and east had been filled in by the Hebei Han army in many places, and returning artillery continued to bombard the city walls every day.

In the middle of the night, Li Qiong discovered that there would be heavy fog the next day.

After asking Guan Sheng for instructions, he led more than 3,000 soldiers under his command and marched quickly along the west bank of the Mishui River. Taking advantage of the heavy fog early in the morning, we crossed the river to the southeastern suburbs of Zhaozhou, perfectly avoiding the Jin cavalry and returning to Zhaozhou City to aid.

Yue Fei was overjoyed: "Brother Li arrived just in time to supplement the troops defending the city. Where is General Guan?"

Li Qiong said: "General Guan is guarding Ningjin, he can't come."

"General Guan is so magnanimous!" Yue Fei said with emotion.

Not bringing troops to rescue Zhaozhou was not because Guan Sheng was greedy for life, but because he did not take away the credit for defending the city from generals such as Yue Fei. And Ning Jin is also extremely important. Guan Sheng's tasks are heavy and his achievements cannot be highlighted. It is a rare decision to be able to make this decision.

In fact, Guan Sheng also had his own little thoughts. He was the commander-in-chief of Hebei Province appointed by Ju Ming, and Yue Fei and Li Qiong were nominally his subordinates.

However, Guan Sheng was not transferred to Hebei for a long time, and he needed to rely on the generals here. He took the opportunity to express his goodwill to Yue Fei and Li Qiong, so that he could give orders when commanding the army in the future, and there was no need to compete with his subordinates for credit.

Some people want to make meritorious deeds!

Li Shifu and his father commanded more than two thousand beggar soldiers. After changing their equipment, they were eager to try. They had no idea about being left to guard Zhaozhou, but they did not expect that Wanyan Zongwang actually committed suicide.

"Commander Zong, it's foggy today, it's a good time to go out of the city to harass!"

Li Shifu went to Zongze and said: "The Jin people don't take us seriously. The place where the ladders and the walking female wall are built is very close to the city wall. The general has prepared fire starters. Please lead the eight hundred warriors out of the city to fight!"

Zongze nodded in approval: "I'll give you eight hundred horses. Go and come back quickly."

Yue Fei was also ready and came to Zongze to ask for a fight.

Zongze felt that the military spirit was available, so he asked them to go out through different city gates.

Large siege equipment, if water transportation is convenient and the battlefield is not far from the rear, can be disassembled and transported to the front line for assembly.

But most of the time, they are temporarily built before siege.

Zhending Fucheng is a hundred miles away from Zhaozhou, and you can only take a boat to Luancheng, so Wanyan Zongwang built the equipment on the spot.

In addition, the camp is several miles away from the city. In order to save manpower and material resources, some fortifications are usually set up not far from the city, and troops are sent to protect the craftsmen who are building close to the city wall.

This is also the reason why in ancient city defense battles, defenders often went out of the city to destroy siege equipment.

There are only a few hundred cavalry under Yue Fei's command, and there is no serious cavalry armor. They used infantry armor to remove a row of armor plates, modified it into cavalry armor themselves, and covered key parts of the war horse with leather armor, thus creating a force of valiant cavalry.

Li Shifu looked even more shabby. They were all infantrymen guarding the stronghold. The horses they rode out of the city this time were all spare horses picked by Yue Fei and others.

The second general did not choose to gallop on horseback. They quietly left the city through the heavy fog and moved towards the enemy's fortifications bit by bit. All the kerosene canisters were hung on the horses' backs.

Opposite is a small village, which is stationed with Hebei Han troops, civilians and craftsmen, and is guarded by three thousand Khitan and Xi people infantry. The task of these people was to fill in the moat, pile up earthen observation towers, and build siege equipment.

In order to facilitate the rolling out of siege equipment, not only no barriers were built, but many village gates were also opened.

"It's foggy today, beware of enemy troops attacking the camp!"

Guard general Xiao Zhonggong personally patrolled on horseback and warned the ministries to be careful. He was such a conscientious person.

This man was the cousin of Emperor Tianzuo. Emperor Tianzuo fled east and west, but Xiao Zhonggong never left him. He was the last general in charge of the Liao Kingdom before its demise.

Wu Qimai appreciated his loyalty very much, and promoted him to a higher position, and also asked him to lead troops to follow Wanyan Zongwang. To put it bluntly, he was a chess piece planted by the Emperor of Jin. There was no wax pill incident in this time and space, and Xiao Zhonggong had not yet truly prospered in the Kingdom of Jin.

"Send the two hundred cavalry out, don't go too far, just stay on guard around the camp!" Xiao Zhonggong continued to order.

The camp master will do his best, but the soldiers below will get by.

Especially the Han troops, civilians and craftsmen in Hebei are exhausted these days. When Xiao Zhonggong came to inspect, they pretended to cheer up, and when Xiao Zhonggong left, they all found a place to lie down and rest.

The Khitan soldiers and the Xiren soldiers were not far behind. They were separated from their tribes and moved to Youzhou last year. Little grain was confiscated in the first year of land reclamation. This year, we managed to grow more grain, but were ordered by the Kingdom of Jin to hand over most of it.

Moreover, if the regulations were exceeded and drafted as soldiers, all ethnic groups would be filled with resentment.

It was okay to go south to plunder, but the Han people along the way were poor, and they didn't know whether they could defeat the Ming army. Morale was visibly declining day by day.

After Xiao Zhonggong left the patrol camp, the Khitan soldiers and Xi Ren soldiers also found a place to lie down. Some soldiers felt uncomfortable wearing their armor and even took off their armor to rest. The siege lasted for many days without incident. They didn't think the defenders dared to fight out.

The two hundred riders sent out by Xiao Zhonggong also had no intention of running around in the heavy fog with only two or three meters of visibility, and they only rode horses back and forth near the village wall.

"Is there any movement?"

"There seems to be footsteps. Listen carefully."

"Enemy attack! Blow the trumpet quickly..."

The moment the trumpet sounded, Yue Fei and Li Shifu, who were two miles away, mounted their horses almost at the same time and shouted: "The whole army is mounted, charge in!"

"kill!"

The two men brought less than 2,000 soldiers. Under the shouts in unison, the enemy army could not figure out how many came.

The Han troops, civilians and craftsmen in Hebei were the most direct. They got up and fled towards Wanyan Zongwang's camp. Some people even fled towards the Mishui direction, planning to take advantage of the foggy weather to run along the Mishui River to the southern suburbs of Zhaozhou, and then join the Ming army in Zhaozhou city.

"Behead those who escape from battle!"

Xiao Zhonggong responded extremely quickly. He personally led the law enforcement team to kill the fleeers, and at the same time asked the messenger to blow the trumpet to summon the Khitan and Xiren troops.

The sound of the trumpet also alerted Wanyan Zongwang's camp in the distance, and Wanyan Zongwang immediately sent thousands of cavalry to help.