Volume 2 Chapter 43 Five Rivers
"What is the military situation inside and outside the city?"
A day later, after conquering Changge City, Jin Wushu led tens of thousands of Jin troops to continue southward. In the afternoon, they arrived at Changsha City. Before he could order the city to be completely surrounded, he immediately summoned Wanyan Balisu, who had attacked first, and questioned him in detail at the bank of the Qishui River outside the city.
"Han Shizhong was seen fleeing into the city, but he was probably injured." Balisu was seen to be much more honest after the previous day's confrontation, and his reply was very detailed. "There were also 4,000 to 5,000 people who followed him into the city, and there were 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers and horses left in the city to support him, totaling... about 10,000 people... As for the rest of the escapees from the battle the day before, according to the report from the scouts, his general Wang Sheng was seen leading 3,000 to 4,000 people to flee to Yanling in the east, and there he gathered with Zhang Yong, the garrison commander sent by the Tokyo garrison."
When the generals and soldiers heard that Han Shizhong was trapped in the city, many of them were delighted. Only Wanyan Wushu, who had dismounted and sat on a fur-covered stool, frowned slightly:
"I just came here. Although I haven't explored it thoroughly, I can see that the city has been reinforced and repaired a lot... The color of the moat shows that it was newly dug, right?"
"good."
Wanyan Balisu didn't pay attention to Wuzhu's expression, and continued to report the military situation without turning his head. "We captured several junior officers of Han Shizhong's army on the way, and also forced several local officials to surrender in the surrounding villages and towns. According to these people, it's not just Changsha City in front of us, there are five or seven large cities near the five rivers of Yingshui, Weishui, Qishui, Shangshui, and Rushui, probably Yancheng, Xiangcheng, Linying, Xiping, and Wuyang. They have all been reinforced and repaired in the past few months, and a large amount of military equipment and food have been added..."
"Where are the soldiers and civilians?" Wanyan Wuzhu's brows became increasingly furrowed.
"Of course, we have been prepared." Balisu shook his head and laughed, obviously not understanding why Wuzhu asked such a shallow question. "The Zhao Song officials in Nanyang have been living there for several months. Obviously, they are not the kind of people who will sit and wait for death. Since they want to set up defenses here, why do they only build cities and transport food without preparing troops? I have already asked clearly... Several large cities have generals at the level of commanders leading troops to station there, and they have previously recruited civilians from the refugees in the north to repair the city on the spot. After the repairs are completed, they will stay in the city with the army. For example, in Xiangcheng, it is Lu Xing from Sishui Pass; in Xiping, there is a commander who comes from a local tyrant family, named Zhai Chong, who seems to be related to the big and small Zhai in Xijing, so I call him Old Zhai; in Yancheng, it is Xu Shi'an, the general of the rear army of Han Shizhong's headquarters; even Changsha in front of us, there is the garrison commander and commander Wang Shan sent by Zong Ze before."
Wanyan Wushu's expression became increasingly ugly, but Balisu still didn't care... because ever since he had joined forces with the Fourth Prince in Henan, he had never seen the other party show any good expression.
After a long pause, seeing that Wanyan Wushu did not speak, Balisu could not help but continue to bow and said: "Fourth Prince, according to the rules, I should have sent people into the city to persuade them to surrender, but I dare not make a decision on what reward to give to a general of Han Shizhong's level..."
Wanyan Wushu finally managed to smile, but it was uglier than not smiling at all: "If Han Shizhong surrenders, plus his subordinates' four states in Huaixi, and the contributions of these cities, it would be fine to make him the emperor of Henan. But according to the rumors about his belt, if I expect him to surrender, I might as well hope that the Zhao Song official in Nanyang will surrender in person..."
The surrounding Jin people burst into laughter, even Balisu laughed.
"But Fourth Prince, do you still want to send someone to persuade them to surrender?" After laughing, Balisu restrained his expression. "After all, this is the rule of this march, and you have never made an exception..."
"Of course I can't make an exception." Wuzhu turned around and pointed at a Han scholar who was still smiling. He was the newly surrendered man who flattered him when the battle was going on that night. "Go and tell Han Wu that if he opens the city and surrenders before sunset today, I will risk my own future to allow him to rule the west of the capital and become the emperor of Zheng. But if he doesn't surrender, I will definitely massacre him after the city is captured!"
The man was stunned at first, then frightened, and the people around him were also stunned at first, but then they all sneered.
It was getting dark, and a full hour had passed since Wang Shan, the commander of the Tokyo garrison, threw the head of the surrendered man to the edge of the moat. In the slightly crowded and noisy Jin army camp, Wanyan Wushu was discussing military affairs with Wanyan Balisu, Han Chang, Da (upper Bai, lower Da) and other Wanhu.
"The Fourth Prince is right. The moat is newly expanded, and the city walls are newly reinforced and raised. As long as Han Shizhong is still alive, the defenders in the city will not lose their momentum. Therefore, in the end, it's just one way..." At this point, Han Chang, who was sitting cross-legged with a serious look, rubbed his eye sockets, paused for a moment, and then said that sentence. "Fire the cannons and smash the city!"
"Let's fire cannons and smash the city." Da (white on top, big on bottom), the younger brother of Da Tabuye, the former Bohai Qianhu, was promoted to Wanhu because of his brother's death. He was the person with the least experience among the people present. Only the Da clan represented the Bohai people who had intermarried with the Jurchen Wanyan clan a long time ago, so their status was not low. "We have strong soldiers and horses, and a large number of people. There is no shortage of southerners in Zhengzhou and Kaifeng behind us. Drive those people over, fire cannons on three sides, and smash this Changshe City!"
"This is the only way to break the city." Han Chang continued to rub his eye sockets and continued. "But I have said before, people like Han Wu cannot be judged by common sense. What if the city wall is broken? Shouldn't we prepare for street fighting? What if we succeed in taking the city? Can we really keep him? Should we continue this in the next city? We should prepare for the battle of Taiyuan..."
"How can this city be compared with Taiyuan?" Balisu didn't want to interrupt when he heard Han Chang's words. "The terrain of Taiyuan, the cannons in Taiyuan, and the fierce battles under Taiyuan are all experiences I will never forget after serving in the army for decades. The success of Jingkang was all due to the battle of Taiyuan..."
"I'm not saying whether General Balisu has worked hard or not, nor am I talking about a mere Changsha City, but the five rivers and six cities here, or the five rivers and seven cities..." Han Chang put down his hands and calmly faced. "These cities are the second checkpoint prepared for us by the Song government after the Tokyo Resident, the Jingdong Zhizhishi, and Li Yanxian of Shanzhou. I'm not saying that the Zhao government in Nanyang is counting on these cities to stop us, but our army seems to be advancing rapidly and with great momentum, but after breaking these cities one by one and then reaching Nanyang City, how long will it take? How much loss will it take? How much strength will we still have? And if Nanyang City becomes a fortress by then, will we have to wait until next summer under the city and wait for the plague to break out in the army? This should be the plan of the Zhao government in Nanyang, right?"
Balisu remained silent, and the people around him were all thinking... This was not only because Han Chang was a veteran general in the army, nor was it just because what he said made sense. The key point was that everyone knew that Han Chang was Wanyan Wushu's trusted general, and there was no doubt who he meant by these words. And the Fourth Prince sent away his two veteran generals, Ali and Erlubu, and took a few trusted men and a Wanhu of the Western Route Army who was opposed to him. There was no need to say what he was thinking.
"Send a Meng'an to Puzhou to tell Talan." Wanyan Wushu, who was sitting at the head, suddenly looked at Balisu. "Tell him that I don't care how he handles it, whether he breaks through Huazhou from the north or defeats those Dongjingliushu troops from the south, as long as he sends reinforcements here within ten days..."
Balisu asked helplessly: "Does Tokyo really not care?"
"Didn't you say that Zong Ze was dying?" Wuzhu responded coldly. "Not to mention Zong Ze's death, even if Zong Ze couldn't get up to command, wouldn't the Tokyo garrison be useless? Wouldn't Tokyo City be an empty, abandoned city? What's the point of conquering it? Do you really have to tell me directly? The reason why the Tokyo garrison was a shield for Zhao Song was not because of Tokyo City, but because of Zong Ze!"
Balisu had no choice but to lower his head and think, then asked: "How many reinforcements does the Fourth Prince want?"
"I don't care. Just tell Talai that I will take you, Han Chang, Da (Bai on top and Da on bottom), and at least four thousand households of my own troops to attack Nanyang City. While I lead the four thousand households to attack Nanyang City, Talai must watch over Tokyo, Han Shizhong, and the five rivers and seven cities for me!" Wuzhu replied calmly.
Balisu was silent for a long while. He wanted to refute, but he had no words to say... because this was exactly the battle strategy of the Jin people during the two southern expeditions when they reaped the most rewards.
At that time, the Jin army was besieging Taiyuan City and heading south to Bianliang at all costs, which was successful in one fell swoop and destroyed the Song Dynasty in two moves. At this time, even if Wanyan Nianhan came, it could not be said that there was something wrong with Wanyan Wushu's strategy.
