Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Jin Kingdom, Posu Road City (Dandong Jiulian City).

Wanyan Zongqian robbed a large number of people, goods, and food from Goryeo and returned to Beijing happily.

After receiving news that the Ming Dynasty was stationing troops in Baozhou and Pyongyang, it was Wanyan Zongfu who came this time.

In the hearts of the people of the Song Dynasty in a different time and space, the Jin Kingdom had four military princes, namely: Wanyan Zonghan, Wanyan Zongwang, Wanyan Zongfu and Wanyan Zongbi.

Zong Fu and Zong Bi, who have been with Aguda for a long time, are actually more interested in training their internal affairs abilities.

Zong Bi is naturally the famous Jin Wushu, but he actually served as Zong Fu in this series of battles from the time he scared Zhao Gou to flee Yangzhou, to the battle of Sou Shan and Hai, the Battle of Huang Tiandang, the Battle of Fuping, and the Battle of Monk Yuan. deputy.

The real strategic commander is actually Wanyan Zongfu.

Most of the subsequent emperors of the Jin Kingdom were descendants of Wanyan Zongfu!

In this Bojilie Conference, Wanyan Zongfu did not fight or grab, and only got one Bojilie (deputy prime minister in charge of diplomacy) from the second room.

He seems to be a little transparent, but as long as Wanyan Zongfu says something, everyone in the Jin Kingdom will have to give him face.

Because when Aguda was still alive, most of the various military and political orders of the Jin Kingdom had to go through the hands of Wanyan Zongfu. However, Wanyan Zongfu was fair, generous and honest. When a bowl of water was even, all factions owed him favors.

However, this guy doesn't like to argue with others, and he doesn't even want to get involved in factional fights.

Now the Ming Dynasty is stationing troops south of the Yalu River, Wanyan Zonghan wants to defend Shanxi, Wanyan Zongwang wants to defend Hebei, and Wanyan Zongfu, who doesn't like to cause trouble, can only go out in person.

He also brought his little follower Jin Wushu.

Xiemao Ali, who conquered southern Liaoning and the northeastern part of the Korean Peninsula for the Jin Kingdom, and made the first contribution in the battles such as the siege and annihilation of Yelv Yuchi, introduced the current situation and said: "Since the Ming army stationed in Baozhou, they have been strengthening and expanding the mouth of the Yalu River. harbor. There are more than 40 warships patrolling the lower reaches of the Yalu River."

Most of the so-called forty warships here are river vessels and come from the downsized Dongting Lake Navy. Because the hull was small, it was directly tied to a large ship and brought over.

Wanyan Zongfu asked: "Has anyone sent people across the river to inquire about it?"

Xie Mao Ali said: "We have inquired about it. Most of the population of the six cities in Jiangdong of Goryeo were taken away by our army, and the food had already been evacuated. The Ming army did not garrison those mountain cities."

Wanyan Zongfu confirmed: "Only Baozhou City on the other side has Ming troops stationed there?"

Xie Mao Ali said: "Yes, the Ming army only occupied Baozhou City, regardless of the mountain cities under Baozhou's jurisdiction. Even Anzhou City further south, the Ming army did not station troops."

"What do you think?" Wanyan Zongfu asked.

Xie Mao Ali said: "The intention of the Ming army is very obvious, which is to cross the river from Baozhou and go north. It does not want to take the opportunity to occupy the territory of Goryeo."

Jin Wushu, who was faithfully following his brother, asked at this moment: "Since the Ming army only wants to advance north, why do they station troops in Pyongyang further south of Anzhou?"

Xiemao Ali was familiar with the geography here and immediately expressed his understanding: "Maybe he is afraid that our army will send troops from Haolan Road, and then coerce the Korean army, go around to the south, and kill Baozhou City together."

Wanyan Zongfu rode out of the city and came to the Yalu River. Pointing to the other bank, he said, "This is a very suitable place for crossing the river. Didn't the Ming army build a fort on the bank?"

"No, maybe they want to trick us into attacking the city." Ximao Ali guessed.

Posu Road City and Baozhou City are twenty miles apart across the Yalu River.

To the south of Posu Road City in the Jin Kingdom, there are a large number of islands formed by the alluvial deposits of the Jue River. These Jiangxin Islands are densely scattered and scattered. The large warships of the Ming army cannot get in, and small warships are easily ambushed.

If Jin Bing wanted to cross the river, it would be easy to use the terrain.

But if the Ming army built two castles on the opposite bank, it would cause great trouble for the Jin soldiers to cross the river.

Wanyan Zongfu muttered: "We neither occupied the mountain city nor built a fort on the shore. This is too lazy to divide our troops and a waste of manpower and material resources. It is estimated that when the Ming army has sufficient supplies in Baozhou, they will cross the river and attack Posu Road."

"Brother, should we take the initiative to attack?" Wanyan Zongbi asked.

Wanyan Zongfu sighed: "I'm afraid that if we transport soldiers and food across the river, the Ming navy will come to cut off our retreat. Although the islands in front of us are conducive to setting up ambushes for our army, we don't have that many warships at all. By that time, The Ming army has cut off its retreat. Our army can only capture Baozhou City before we run out of supplies. Otherwise, we can only starve to death on the south bank of the Yalu River, or the entire army can withdraw from the mountains."

Although the large area on the south bank of the Yalu River belonged to the Jin Kingdom at this time, the Jin Kingdom only set up a Haolan Road along the easternmost coast. The other mountainous areas were full of savages, some of whom were taken away by the Jin Kingdom as if they were pregnant women. The rest of the Jin Kingdom didn't even bother to collect taxes.

Those mountainous areas are not suitable for marching, nor for withdrawing troops, or even for survival!

If the Jin soldiers were cut off from their retreat after crossing the river, they would have to go south to Anzhou. It would be easiest to go back through the valley in the northeast of Anzhou. During the entire process, they may be pursued or ambushed by the Ming army at any time.

Wanyan Zongfu continued: "Even if the Ming navy did not come to cut off the river, can we really capture Baozhou City? The Ming army held on to the city, but we suffered heavy casualties due to the attack. I am afraid this is what the Ming army wanted to see most. . Although our Dajin warriors are brave, they have never been good at attacking cities. Even the Ming army is not afraid of being besieged. They can enter the river from the sea at any time and transport food to the outside of Baozhou City."

"What should we do?" Wanyan Zongbi asked.

Wanyan Zongfu said: "Deploy more soldiers to garrison Posu Road."

Wanyan Zongbi said: "Where are there many soldiers?"

The Jin Kingdom was really short of troops. The coastal road was cut off by Li Bao, and all the cities in the Western Liaoning Corridor had to garrison troops for defense. Especially Jinzhou, which really produces brocade. It is one of the important tax areas and must not be plundered by the Ming army.

There were also Yelu Yujian and others in Lushun, leading a group of people of all ethnic groups who had surrendered. They relied on the Zhenhaikou Great Wall to watch there. The Jin Kingdom must station troops in Dalian and Jinzhou.

Now we have to station troops on the north bank of the Yalu River?

The reason why the Jin Kingdom originally gave Baozhou and six cities in Jiangdong to Goryeo, and the reason why later Zhu Di gave that large area to North Korea, was because the nearby terrain was complex and the population was insufficient. There is little use in garrisoning troops. If there are too many garrison troops, military supplies will be tight. Most of the food will have to be transported from other places.

But it had to be defended here. Once Posulu City was breached, the Ming army would be able to kill Fengcheng City in later generations.

It was very important during the Liao Kingdom. The prefecture was changed to a prefecture, and the prefecture was changed to a prefecture several times. It was even renamed "Kaifeng Prefecture" by the Liao State at one time, which had the same name as the capital of the Song Dynasty. Now it is Kaizhou of the Jin Kingdom, which has the same name as the capital of Goryeo.

After capturing this place, the Ming army can continue to move north and penetrate directly into Liaoyang, the hinterland of the Jin Kingdom!

At that time, Li Bao from the Liaoxi Corridor, Yelu Yujian from Lushunkou, and Zhe Yanzhi from the Yalu River side can attack Liaoyang in three directions.

Wanyan Zongfu did not dare to cross the river to attack the city, nor did he dare to withdraw his troops. He even had to continue to increase troops and garrison them.

The Goryeo Bohai people who had been taken away by the Jin soldiers had just planted grain in the Fuzhou area when thousands of them were forcibly moved here by Wanyan Zongfu.

A thousand young men were selected as the city's defenders, and the rest were placed in nearby ravines to clear up wasteland. No matter how many bans are established on the piers and platforms, once the Ming army is discovered crossing the river, all the men in the nearby villages will enter the city to defend it.

…

After receiving the news, Zhe Yanzhi took a boat to Baozhou in person.

Accompanied by Li Cheng, Zhe Yanzhi arrived at the other side of Posu Road City and picked up a telescope to observe for a long time: "The Jin people just increased their troops and didn't think about attacking the city?"

Li Cheng smiled and said: "Last time Wanyan Zongqian personally led an army across the river, he only besieged but not attacked, forcing the Goryeo defenders to surrender. Baozhou is a fortified city built by the Liao Kingdom. When the Goryeo soldiers were stationed, it was not easy for the Jin people to conquer it. .Now that I am the Ming soldiers stationed here, how can the Jin soldiers dare to rush over?"

Zhe Yanzhi licked his lips: "I hope the Jin people will come and kill them. How can there be any military exploits without fighting?"

Li Cheng encouraged: "Our army has just formed the Yalu River Navy. The soldiers and warships are all from the Dongting Lake Navy. They have completely controlled the dozens of miles of the Yalu River. Our army can cross the river at any time and attack and plunder the people on the other side from time to time." How about forcing the Jin soldiers to come out of the city to fight in the countryside?"

"How many golden soldiers are there in the city opposite?" Zheyan asked.

Li Cheng said: "At least more than three thousand, maybe four or five thousand."

Zhe Yanzhi hesitated and said: "The prince wrote to us and told us not to go north for the time being. The main purpose is to station troops in Baozhou and Pyongyang. One can contain the Jin Kingdom's troops, and the other can encroach on the territory of Goryeo. What if we cross the river without authorization and miss the prince's good deeds? ?”

"It's just a small group of harassment and no large-scale use of troops. What can happen?" Li Cheng's troops were reorganized and some of them were eliminated again. The rest were all re-equipped and received many powerful crossbows.

Although there were fewer soldiers in his hand, Li Cheng felt that his combat power had greatly improved. He is now like holding a hammer in his hand. When he sees a nail, he wants to hit it twice. If there is no nail, he even wants to hit someone.

But Zhe Yanzhi said: "The number of soldiers crossing the river for a surprise attack should not exceed 300 people each time. Even if they are defeated, it will not cause any harm."

This guy is an outlier among military generals. He actually wants to be a civil servant, and he is good at poetry, classics and history. When Prince Zhu gave orders, Zhe Yanzhi's first thought was not to perform meritorious service, but to obey the prince honestly, even if he missed the opportunity to fight, it didn't matter.

However, it was said that when Li Cheng personally led his troops and crossed the river many times to plunder the countryside of the Kingdom of Jin, Wanyan Zongfu, who was unwilling to be passively defensive, had already written to Harbin and Yanjing at the same time.

Wanyan Zongfu planned to use the food stolen from Goryeo to gather a large army and completely eradicate the Ming army's sea crossing stronghold.

Including Liaoxi Corridor, Lushun and Baozhou, Wanyan Zongfu must be removed!

…

Yanshan Mansion.

Wanyan Zongwang received two letters at the same time, almost at the same time.

After reading the letter, Wanyan Zongwang said to Shi Liai: "This is a letter asking for help from Hedong (Shanxi). The Ming army there has begun to attack Guancheng. Nianhan asked me not to lead troops there. The terrain there is narrow and there will be no more troops." The troops could not be deployed. He asked me to go south as soon as possible and attack Hebei of the Ming Dynasty. We must conquer Zhending, open up Jingxing, and kill Zhang Guangdao from Jingxing to the rear."

Shi Liai shook his head: "Jingxing is really a natural hazard, and Zhending is a fortified city. It's difficult to capture any one place. How can it be possible to open up both places? The pressure on Nianhan is not low, and they are already talking nonsense."

Wanyan Zongwang added: "Yu Liduo (Wanyan Zongfu) asked me to send troops to open the seaside road. He gathered all the ministries in central Liaoning, eastern Liaoning, and southern Liaoning to pull out other Ming troops crossing the sea."

"Once the main force of the marshal leaves Youzhou, the Ming army in Hebei will definitely go north, and the land of Youyan will be in the hands of the Ming army!" Shi Liai reminded seriously.

Wanyan Zongwang was extremely entangled, and he became more and more sincere in wanting to negotiate peace with the Ming Dynasty.

Shi Liai said: "Marshal, we must never send troops to fight. As for Banghai Road, thousands of elites can be sent out to attack together with the Liaodong soldiers. Marshal's main force should be to defend Youzhou."

Shi Liai wanted to help Wanyan Zongwang preserve his strength, but Wanyan Zongwang shook his head and said: "Thousands of soldiers are not enough, at least ten thousand troops must be divided to open the seaside road with the Liaodong soldiers. Dajin is at a critical juncture, and we can no longer have those petty thoughts. "