Volume 2 Chapter 42: Sword Forging
War is complex and simple; it is cruel and gentle; it is orderly and chaotic; it advocates the comparison of strength and also requires miracles and courage.
These things manifest themselves in completely different ways depending on people's positions and standpoints, but no matter what, war will never be easy.
Therefore, after Emperor Zhao's old homesickness came back, he drank a few more cups of yellow soup and complained to himself, but it did not help the war situation at all. He still had to face the harsh reality of the war situation.
In late September, as the main force of the Jin army crossed the river and joined the battle, the Song-Jin War in the second year of Jianyan quickly entered a new stage, which was the most difficult stage for the Song Dynasty, the so-called stage of large-scale loss of cities and territories, and heavy casualties.
Throughout September, Zhao Jiu sat in Nanyang, while news from the frontline poured in like snowflakes:
The entire territory of Zhengzhou's six counties and eleven cities fell, and three of them were massacred;
Kaifeng Prefecture lost 6 counties and 15 cities out of 16 counties and 37 cities, and massacred the city twice;
Sishui Pass was lost;
Of Henan Prefecture's 16 counties and 21 cities, 13 counties and 17 cities were lost. The city was massacred once and burned twice.
All the areas south of Hunchuan in Yan'an Prefecture were lost;
Huazhou Weicheng was captured and burned to the ground...
All of the above, plus the defeat of Zhang Jun's general Liu Bao in Luyi, Bozhou, which triggered a massacre in the city, only Nanyang was informed of it, and a total of more than 50 cities were lost, 17 battles were lost, 7 massacres, and 3 city burnings. Among them, one governor and a scholar of the Zizheng Palace, six military governors, five commanders, and countless other commanders, county magistrates and lower-level officials and generals died in the battle.
As for the area east of Shuntian Prefecture (Nanjing and Shangqiu), the two routes of Jingdong were basically occupied again. Even if there were one or two remnants, it would be impossible for them to have an impact on the war in the core area of the Central Plains after the Jin army stationed heavy troops in Nanjing...not to mention it.
If measured by this, 70% of the counties and cities in the four routes of Jingdong and Jingxi have actually fallen!
However, during the march, in addition to the routine large-scale massacres, destruction of troops, burning and looting, the Jin people also carried out one thing that particularly attracted the attention of Nanyang... That was that whether it was Wanyan Wushu in Zhengzhou or Wanyan Talan in Puzhou, and even Wanyan Loushi who was far away in Shaanxi, they all carried out large-scale activities to persuade and recruit surrender. From the Tokyo Lyosu Division that held military power, the generals of the Western Army, and the leaders of the local rebel armies and bandits, to the local cities, the Jin people would always send people to persuade them to surrender in almost every battle.
Moreover, what shocked the Nanyang side even more was that, from the intelligence they had obtained, they knew that the Jin army had basically kept its word... Any military leader who surrendered would be guaranteed to keep his troops and be given the promised official position. As for the cities that voluntarily opened their gates, as long as they paid a quota of military rations, they would also be guaranteed to be preserved.
Although they were reluctant to admit it, with regard to these surrendered cities, the Jin army seemed to be more disciplined than the Song army!
On the other hand, once a city or place made clear and large-scale efforts to assist the war, the Jin people would inevitably carry out systematic, large-scale massacres and burnings of the city after the war.
Under such circumstances, some cities on the front line naturally began to resist the Song army. Some cities refused to accept the Song army, and even directly betrayed and confronted them. This made the troops of the Tokyo garrison, which was already in a very difficult situation, restricted outside Tokyo and had to gather around Tokyo City, where the range of activities was getting smaller and smaller.
To be fair, this situation was more terrifying and frightening for Nanyang than the massacre and the second fall of Tokyo... because the Jin people actually knew how to win over the hearts of the people with political offensives, and the Jin leader's intention to divide the Central Plains and rule it was obviously not an empty talk.
However, there was some good news. Han Shizhong's left army of the imperial camp advanced at all costs and successfully attracted Wanyan Wushu's attention. Since Han Shizhong's troops joined forces with the original defenders of the cities in Shunchang Prefecture, and Han Shizhong himself personally led an army of more than 20,000 to station in Yancheng, Jin Wushu and Talai's offensive around Tokyo was indeed delayed and hesitant.
But the good times didn't last long, the delay only lasted less than ten days.
Entering early winter, perhaps because of the reminder and suppression from Wanyan Nianhan, the commander-in-chief of Damingfu behind him, or perhaps because Wanyan Wushu had long wanted to take the opportunity to rest and regroup, after leading 40,000 troops and gathering 10,000 troops led by Wanyan Balisu who came from Xijing, he turned his attention back to Dongjing City, and in early October he defeated the commanders Cao Cheng and Wang Shan in one fell swoop, and captured Zhongmu... So far, the main force of the Jin army was only fifty miles away from Dongjing City.
In other words, the city of Tokyo was once again under siege.
At the same time, Li Yanxian and Yuwen Xuzhong also received a new piece of bad news almost at the same time - after Wanyan Loushi broke through Yan'an, he divided 20,000 troops and let his son Wanyan Huonu garrison there, and led 30,000 Jin troops northward. After conquering the Suide Army, he suddenly gave up the Jinning Army in front of him and turned to cross the Xixia Right Wing Shenyong Army Headquarters (the area around Yulin in later generations), and surrounded Fuzhou, Linzhou, and Fengzhou.
The Zhe clan of Fuzhou was caught off guard, and their castles fell very quickly. The last confirmed news was that the Zhe clan of Fuzhou, who had been loyal to the Song Dynasty for hundreds of years, should have surrendered, because the head of the Zhe clan of Fuzhou, Zhe Keqiu, soon reappeared, but he was there to persuade Wanyan Loushi to surrender, which had in fact become the capital of the Jinning Army, an isolated island in the northwest.
However, Zhe Keqiu's action met with an extremely fierce reaction. After climbing up the city wall, Xu Huiyan, the defender of the Jinning Army, publicly scolded Zhe Keqiu for betraying the country, and drew his bow against him, forcing Zhe Keqiu to flee in embarrassment.
Besides, the Zhe clan in the northwest is the oldest, most loyal and special border town in the Song Dynasty. The Zhe clan surrendered three states to the Jin people, which was a thunderbolt for the entire Guanxi and even Nanyang. Moreover, at this time, Yuwen Xuzhong also mentioned that Qu Duan did not listen to the command of his superior, the governor Wang Shu. For this reason, Yuwen Xuzhong has specially sent an envoy to northern Shaanxi to urge and persuade Qu Duan...
In short, after the winter, the situation had become completely bad for the Song army. At this time, Emperor Zhao and all the other Privy Council members who made plans could no longer dream of letting Han Shizhong shut himself in at the northeastern pass of Nanyang... The plan of the Zhifangsi could be burned. In desperation, Zhao Jiu had to personally write an order, asking Han Shizhong to take the initiative to go north to rescue Tokyo regardless of the consequences.
At this moment, the reality is to take one step at a time.
Han Shizhong's loyalty and bravery are beyond doubt. After receiving the imperial edict, he immediately led his entire army from Yancheng and headed north again even though he knew that his combat strength was insufficient.
On October 11, Han Shizhong himself stationed in Changsha, the capital of Yingchang Prefecture (the area of Xuchang in later generations), which was only 150 miles away from Zhongmu.
On October 13, Han Shizhong left several thousand soldiers in Changsha as backup, and also left his wife Liang there to settle down, but continued to lead 20,000 troops to Changge at the northeast end of Yingchang Prefecture, which was only a hundred miles away from Zhongmu.
On October 14, Han Shizhong led 20,000 troops, crossed the Wei River eastward, entered the territory of Kaifeng Prefecture, and marched quickly to Zhujiaqu Town that night.
In the dead of night, after settling everything and just lying down, General Han, who was still missing his wife and wondering why several scouts had not returned, was suddenly startled by the sound of horse hooves, and then he hurriedly put on his armor with his upper body naked!
"General!"
Han Shizhong hurried out of the bedroom while putting on his armor, and ran into several frightened Beiwei army subordinates in the courtyard. The leader was Cheng Min, who had become the commander of the Beiwei army. "Is this the Jin army attacking?"
"What do you think?"
Feeling the earthquake-like movement on the ground, Han Shizhong's face turned pale. How could he not know that Wanyan Wushu had never "ignored" him at this point? The previous ten days of hesitation must have been preparations for this battle, and the capture of Zhongmu was a strategy to lure the enemy against him. "The Jin people have calculated me, Han, to the core! What a bullshit Fourth Prince, he is just holding a grudge against Huaishang!"
Cheng Min became more and more anxious: "General, how many soldiers are there to hear the sound of horse hooves..."
"Thirty or forty thousand is not bad!" As he spoke, Jie Yuan, the commander of the Destroying Army and the deputy commander of the Imperial Camp Left Army, hurried to the house that served as the central army camp without even putting on his armor. "Fifth brother... make a decision quickly!"
"What else is there to decide?! Should we defend or fight now?!" Han Shizhong put on his helmet, but he was not in a hurry to put on the copper mask. Instead, he walked out with a ferocious look on his face. "Pass on my military order... All units of the army should follow the commander-in-chief, and quickly break out in the dark. Everyone who can escape is a success! Go east, go south, but don't go west back to Changge. It's best to go from the south. There are bridges in Songlou and Xutian in the south, and you can go back to Changsha from there!"
Jie Yuan and Black Dragon Wang Sheng and other generals who had just arrived outside the courtyard were all stunned for a moment, but they exhaled a breath of white air and turned away without looking back.
In the dark night, with the rumbling of horses' hooves, the main force of the Jin cavalry rushed over at night. Han Shizhong was caught off guard and could only break out in a panic... He was really leaving it to fate. As for the overall situation of the Song army, this battle was doomed to be a great defeat from the beginning, which was really adding insult to injury.
Not to mention how Han Shizhong bravely broke through in the dark night. When the battlefield turned into chaos as soon as the fighting started, on a gentle slope a few miles north of Zhujiaqu Town, under the light of several torches, one could see from afar that the people in Zhujiaqu Town reacted quickly and the fighting was chaotic. The instigator Wanyan Wushu, who was sitting on a tall horse, could not help but frown slightly.
"Don't worry, Fourth Prince."
Seeing Wanyan Wushu's expression unchanged, a middle-aged scholar who had just surrendered to the Jin people and passed the palace examination and was appointed as a county magistrate carefully stepped forward and flattered him earnestly. "In my opinion, the fourth prince's feint to the east and attack in the west, and the so-called repairing the plank road in the open while secretly marching through Chencang, is the essence of the art of war, and can be called a brilliant strategy... Han Shizhong is surrounded by our Jin cavalry, and he will definitely die here."
"What kind of ingenious plan is this?"
Wanyan Wushu frowned and looked at the scholar, wanting to get angry, but for some reason, he squeezed his buttocks and suppressed his anger, and spoke frankly. "Han Shizhong was able to fall for my previous strategy of luring the enemy, but it was only because the overall situation collapsed that I had no choice. If I were in Han Shizhong's position, would I not come to save Tokyo? As for what happened tonight, it was just relying on the advantage of cavalry. If Han Shizhong had 20,000 cavalry, how could I surround him?"
The scholar was stunned for a moment and didn't know how to answer.
The fourth prince looked at the chaotic battlefield ahead and sighed more and more:
"As for the current battle situation, to be honest, Han Shizhong's reaction has exceeded my expectations. If I had stayed in that town, I would have been waiting to die. How could he have decided to break out so quickly? Just based on his reaction, he can be called a famous general. If you are a scholar and don't understand military strategy, then you should say less and just work as a clerk for me. When our Great Jin Kingdom establishes a new emperor in Henan in the future, your future will be indispensable."
"Yes." The scholar quickly restrained his expression.
The surroundings returned to silence, and Wanyan Wushu was able to continue to observe the battlefield calmly, but as time passed and the shouts and screams clearly shifted to the south, the Jin army commander who had just planned a perfect surprise attack kept frowning, and his frown became more and more severe... After all, as he just said, with the general situation and deliberate planning, and the advantage of flatland cavalry, this battle should have been a thorough and complete annihilation war!
And once the most combat-effective unit of the Song army, the Left Army of the Imperial Camp, was annihilated in an organized manner on the Henan Plain, and once Han Shizhong, the most courageous general of the Song Dynasty who was regarded as the backbone of the Zhao Song officials, died in this town, then in Wanyan Wushu's view, this southern expedition was basically a sure thing.
In fact, this was also the fundamental reason why Wanyan Wushu, after his brother Wanyan Erlido returned to Yanjing, forced to change the established strategy under pressure from Nianhan and painstakingly designed this ambush and raid.
After all, for the fourth prince of the Jin Dynasty, the battle of Huaishang was unforgettable. So how could Han Shizhong, the de facto commander of the Song army that day, be "ignored" by him?
He would never forget Han Shizhong in his entire life, just as he would always remember that the fundamental target of this attack was the Zhao Song emperor, and not anyone else!
He can even write the four words "Jinwu Hufu"!
However, it was not until now that Wanyan Wushu discovered a major mistake in his plan - he should not have chosen to march in at night for the sake of the suddenness of the battle, because this would greatly reduce the effect of the original annihilation battle! He should have let Han Chang, Wanyan Balisu and others take advantage of the cavalry and complete the encirclement during the day when the vision was good, and then slowly plan.
Of course, things have come to this point, and there is no point in thinking too much. Wanyan Wushu can only stand here and wait for news at dawn.
In winter, the sun rises very late in the east, and it seems that the more you worry about something, the more likely it will come true. Instead of waiting for the good news that Han Shizhong was captured and killed, Wanyan Wushu received a message that could be called a negative testimony.
"So, you fought a large and elite Song Dynasty bronze cavalry last night, but were repeatedly charged by them, repeatedly rescued a small group of trapped soldiers, and finally were separated from the south?" Wanyan Wushu looked at Wanyan Balisu who saluted him and frowned slightly. "Not the west?"
"No." The imperial clan general, Wanyan Balisu, the commander of the Western Army, replied calmly on his horse. "He probably guessed that we had sent people to take Changge City, so he went directly from the south to the fortified city of Changsha (later Xuchang). However, last night, the arrows from the soldiers were like rain, and many of the cavalry fell off their horses. It is possible that Han Shizhong had already been trampled into mud..."
"There is no such thing as a person like Han Shizhong!" Wanyan Wushu interrupted him expressionlessly. "Unless you see the body with your own eyes."
"Fourth Prince, even if Han Shizhong is still alive." Wanyan Balisu frowned slightly and looked at him carefully. "We also won a great victory last night. The Song army lost nearly half of their lives. At most, 10,000 people escaped. And those who could hastily follow and gather in Changsha are estimated to be only a few thousand. It seems not enough..."
"What exactly do you want to say?" Wanyan Wushu interrupted him again, causing the surrounding officers and scholars to not even dare to breathe.
"I mean, Han Shizhong's troops are already broken and can no longer rescue Dongjing. So when will the Fourth Prince go to take Dongjing?" Wanyan Balisu was slightly angry and raised his head. "It is said that Zong Ze in Dongjing has been gradually dying because of the recent war. It is just to stabilize the morale of the army that it is kept secret. So, when we easily take Dongjing..."
"Why should I take Tokyo?" Wanyan Wushu interrupted him for the second time.
Wanyan Bali fell silent immediately… If he forced himself to contradict, he could of course say it was the order of the Grand Marshal, but there were some things that he really could not interfere with, especially his own brother, Wanyan Yinshu, the governor of Taiyuan, had been in poor health since he came back from the south last year, and he had given special instructions when he came.
"Balisu, are you trying to say that Marshal Du has given the order?" However, Balisu wanted to give face to the Fourth Prince, but the Fourth Prince did not want to give face to Balisu at all. Instead, he stood up from a high position on the slope and pointed it out in public.
"Yes." Wanyan Balisu had no choice but to bow at the bottom of the slope.
"It's true that the commander-in-chief has given orders, but I am the commander-in-chief of an army. It is my responsibility to handle the military affairs here." Jin Wushu said calmly. "Besides, I also have the order of the king... Balisu, let me ask you again, what is the first order of the king? Does it mean that we have to chase the emperor of Song to wherever he is?"
"Yes!" Wanyan Bali became more and more angry, but there was nothing he could do.
"Which is more important, the king's will or the marshal's military order?" Wanyan Wushu pressed on.
"So what exactly does the Fourth Prince want to do?" Balisu pretended to be impatient to avoid this frustrating question.
"Of course I will follow the king's order and rush south to Nanyang to find the Emperor of Song!" Wanyan Wushu finally changed his face.
"What about Tokyo?" Balisu was speechless. "Can't we take Tokyo and then go south?"
"Don't we still have tens of thousands of Talan soldiers?" Wanyan Wushu finally lost his patience. "I'm giving a formal order now. Don't worry about the stragglers. You lead the way and head south to Changsha immediately. Han Chang and I will follow and see if Han Shizhong is dead or not!"
"That's all."
That evening, the Jin army had not yet arrived at the city, and in Changsha City, Han Shizhong, who had just escaped back to the city, was lying naked on the couch with his eyes closed and silent. The back of the governor was bloody and there was almost no good skin, and there were bloody flesh on his thighs and arms . And in this situation, suddenly, Mrs. Liang held a basket in front of her husband with tears in her eyes.
Mrs. Liang's hands were covered in blood, and the basket was filled with blood, including twisted arrowheads and arrow heads... Judging from the weight, it must have weighed several kilograms.
It turned out that the Jin people's arrows were good at breaking armor, and Han Shizhong was in a hurry to put on his armor yesterday, and he had no time to put on the silk lining that was usually used to protect against arrows. As a result, in the night battle, countless arrows shot into his back through the iron armor, but they were nailed into the flesh through the gaps in the armor. Han Shizhong has always been a scoundrel, so scoundrel that he didn't care about his life, so when he returned at this time, he did nothing but asked Madam Liang and the military doctor to use a knife to cut out the arrows on his back one by one. There were even two arrows shot into his arms and went straight into the bones. They couldn't be cut out for a while, so he simply forced Madam Liang to wrap the machine of the enemy-killing bow around it and then shoot it to force the arrow out of his body... With such an attitude, it's no wonder that Madam Liang, a female husband in the army who is used to her husband's style, would cry.
Back to the present, Han Shizhong, who was lying on the couch, raised his head slightly and glanced at the basket weakly. He was silent at first, but suddenly grinned: "This weight is enough for a blow... Take it and ask the blacksmith in the city to forge a short knife for me. In the future, I, Han Wu, will use this knife to skin Wanyan Wushu alive to avenge the loss of tens of thousands of men yesterday. Otherwise, I swear I will not be a human being!"
By the end of his speech, blood was streaming from Han Shizhong's back and his voice was shaking the roof tiles. The generals and soldiers who had gathered around, including the defenders and officials in the city, were originally depressed, sad and frightened, but when they heard these words, they were cheered up.
