Volume 2 Chapter 76: Benefiting Both Sides (Part 1)
It is said that Han Chang persuaded Wanyan Wushu by the river and finally changed his decision. However, once the army decided to abandon the baggage and rush to Xijing, it was unstoppable in an instant...
Of course, this situation also meant that the Jin army had completely given up its intention to fight the Song army, and abandoning the baggage and marching purely at a forced pace would in itself mean that the horse death rate and the non-combat casualties rate of the soldiers would be greatly increased.
Seeing this situation, Yue Fei did not dare to delay. On the one hand, he sent part of the troops to cross the river to rob the abandoned baggage of the Jin army, and on the other hand, he quickly pursued along the river. He did not forget to report to Zhao Jiu and Han Shizhong in a hurry. After learning of Wang De's movements, he contacted Wang De and agreed to pursue him along the river.
But it was too late. The Jin army fought hard despite the huge pressure of casualties. When they reached Dengfeng, they met Yelu Ma Wu's support troops and successfully entered the Luoyang Basin.
This time, Han Shizhong's ambush plan completely failed.
This is not because Han Shizhong did not try his best, nor is it because Yue Fei did not diligently implement Han Shizhong's strategy.
In fact, there was nothing wrong with what the two did. Han Shizhong had not forgotten the loophole in Xijing. He had already contacted Li Yanxian to try to completely drive out Yelu Ma Wu in the Xijing area and seal the loophole, but it was too late.
Yue Fei's execution was impeccable. He even resisted the temptation to annihilate the four Meng'ans on the banks of the Ru River.
What's the problem?
It's very simple. The Song army underestimated the significance of the Battle of Yanling-Changshe... They underestimated both the degree of shock to the Jin army at this battle and the inspiring effect of this battle on their own people.
In other words, Zhao Jiu, Han Shizhong, and Yue Fei were all a little special and a little detached from the masses. When they were preparing for the ambush, they did not put themselves in others' shoes at all and figured out what the significance of the Song emperor's personal appearance on the battlefield and victory, as well as the complete annihilation of the fifteen Meng'ans, would be to both the Jin and Song armies?
This was the first time that the Jin army, which had more than 10,000 troops, was annihilated in an organized manner!
When anything happens for the first time, it will make people panic... The Jin army themselves were afraid. Talai experienced the battle personally and was so flustered that he simply left and never returned. Although Wuzhu and his men were not afraid of this, they were actually afraid and uneasy in their hearts. This fear made them not fall into Yue Fei's textbook delay and temptation, but made them more vigilant.
After all, the Song army was not like this before.
The direct cause that led the Jin army commander Wuzhu to completely change his strategy was the active pursuit from Nanyang, which was beyond the expectations of Zhao Jiu, Han Shizhong, Yue Fei and others. They really didn't expect that Wang De and Huyan Tong could catch up.
Of course, if you think about it the other way around, it seems unreasonable for Wang De and Huyan Tong not to chase after them... Although I don't know what the specific reaction was in Nanyang, but seeing the Jin army disappear in an instant, and then hearing that Emperor Zhao was in Yanling-Changshe, which sounded a bit scary but seemed impossible to fake, how could Nanyang's Prime Minister Lu not have any reaction?
In fact, it was Lu Yihao's original suggestion that the emperor lead the army in person.
Of course, Han Chang's excellent judgment and the vigilance of Balisu and others were also an important reason. It must be admitted that during the rise of the Jin Dynasty, a large number of outstanding military talents also took advantage of the situation. Their combat effectiveness is not a tree without roots or a mountain without fortifications... In a word, they can panic for a while because of this battle and the current predicament, but it is not realistic to expect their combat effectiveness and judgment to collapse rapidly.
But no matter what, after the main force of the Jin army suffered nearly a thousand non-combat casualties and lost even more war horses, Wanyan Wushu finally successfully retreated to Xijing and reunited with Yelu Ma Wu.
However, even so, the war could not end there, because almost at the same time when Wuzhu arrived in Luoyang, Li Yanxian's troops, Han Shizhong's troops who sent Wang Yan's troops to Tokyo to defend Zhao Guanjia, Yue Fei's troops, and even Wang De's troops and Lu Xing's troops, gathered one after another in Sishui Pass east of Luoyang, Dengfeng south, and Mianchi west, which is the outskirts of the traditional Luoyang Basin.
All the troops combined had at least 70,000 to 80,000 people, and they were in constant communication with each other. Under the leadership of Han Shizhong, who had the triple bonus of imperial edict, gold medal and jade belt, they basically surrounded Luoyang from three sides and kept shrinking the encirclement. It was obvious that they were eyeing the main force of the Jin army's cavalry, which numbered more than 40,000.
It was not that Han Shizhong was so bold, nor that he was so eager , but these generals, and even Emperor Zhao who was far away in Tokyo, knew that Wanyan Wushu, who had abandoned his baggage and arrived in Luoyang, would definitely learn that Talan had gone north. Now that Talan had left, no matter how furious the Fourth Prince was, who had so many cavalry but lacked supplies, he had only one choice, and that was to raise a ferry as soon as possible and then quickly cross the Yellow River, because he could no longer stay in Henan!
When the Jin army crossed the river and divided its troops to cover their retreat, it was the best opportunity for the Song army to surround them and give them a severe bite!
The first month of the year is about to pass and the second month is about to begin. Due to the speed of information dissemination, the Jin and Song armies in other places may still be in a state of extreme division... But as the point of view put forward in "On War", the main battle determines everything at the military level. With the successful battle launched by the Zhao Song official himself more than ten days ago, and the expansion of the results of that battle by the Song army in the following days, at least the two warring parties around Luoyang know that the Song army held on in the end and the Jin army was defeated.
Moreover, this battle will soon be over.
So, Wanyan Wushu took the most decisive approach in his rage. He chose Yelu Mawu as the rear guard without hesitation, and then the entire army crossed the river in time.
There is nothing to say. The Song army was waiting for this rearguard force. While the main force of the Jin army used the fleet to cross the river, tens of thousands of Song troops began to advance into Luoyang from three sides... There were no tricks, and no desperate resistance. By the time the Song army calculated the opportunity and finally concentrated its forces to attack the ferry north of Beimang Mountain, only Yelu Ma Wu and less than 10,000 Jin troops were left on the south bank of the river to cover the rear.
The two sides fought, re-enacting the previous battle of Zhengzhou. Yelu Ma Wu won first and then lost. After losing nearly 3,000 soldiers, his entire army fled.
But the story continued to repeat itself, which made Han Shizhong extremely unhappy - Yelu Ma Wu fled westwards, and with the help of horsepower he managed to meet the fleet on the other side of the Yellow River at Changquan Ferry in the upper reaches, and then successfully escaped.
The reason for Yelu Ma Wu's successful breakout was actually very simple: Li Yanxian missed the deadline.
In fact, this commander-in-chief, who was highly valued by Emperor Zhao and whose actual status was probably on par with Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun, not only failed to arrive on time, but also simply withdrew his troops.
Of course, Li Yanxian was not bringing up any bad traditions of the Western Army, but there was a reason for it - the part of Shanzhou on the north bank of the Yellow River suffered a strong attack from the Jin Army's Western Army, and in this wave of attack, the flag of Wanyan Loushi's son Wanyan Huonu also appeared in the Hedong area.
Li Yanxian had to immediately organize support for his troops on the north bank of the Yellow River to prevent them from being wiped out.
After all, with the emergence of the Western Army and the northward retreat of the main force of the Eastern Army, the main force of the Jin Army had reached an astonishing number around Zhongtiao Mountain at this time.
After learning the news, Han Shizhong did not dare to talk nonsense anymore. On the contrary, understanding the seriousness of the matter and knowing that Emperor Zhao was watching him from behind, Han Liangchen sent troops to assist Li Yanxian's troops in retreating, while leading the entire Song army to immediately deploy troops along the Yellow River.
In early February, from Tongguan to Huazhou, the main forces of Song and Jin gathered on both sides of the Yellow River, and the total number of troops on both sides facing each other across the river reached an astonishing 300,000.
At this point, Emperor Zhao was a little panicked.
Of course, Han Shizhong made a report immediately while arranging the defense line.
He believed that the weather had turned warmer, and the Jin army, which hated the warm climate in the south, had no desire to move south again, nor could it raise enough food and fodder for 200,000 troops to move south in the short term. It was obvious that the coordination of the two armies in the east and west was the result of Wanyan Nianhan, the commander-in-chief, coordinating the two armies in his capacity as the commander-in-chief after learning that Talan had been defeated and fled back to Hebei, in order to support the withdrawal of the Henan troops.
Now, Wanyan Wushu's main force has withdrawn, and the Hedong land that was previously recovered by Li Yanxian of Shanzhou has been recaptured. As long as the Jin army in the direction of Nanjing and Huazhou withdraws safely, the current terrifying confrontation will disappear immediately.
By then, the fourth major invasion of the Jin army, which lasted from the second year of Jianyan to the third year of Jianyan, for half a year and stretched across thousands of miles, would officially end.
A few days later, the Jin army withdrew from Nanjing and Huazhou was relieved, and Han Shizhong's words officially came true.
Immediately, the main force of the Jin army in Hebei withdrew across the board and the war ended.
On February 15, as Zhang Jun, who had recovered Nanjing, personally led his troops to Tokyo to "protect the emperor", Emperor Zhao issued a new decree.
The first was to have each army distribute military rations that could be used as seeds, as well as some eliminated military livestock to local governments. The governments would then distribute them to the soldiers and civilians who had returned home to escape the war, in order to seize the last opportunity for spring ploughing.
Second, the old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers in each army were settled locally to form military settlements.
Thirdly, he would order the officials from Nanyang and Xiangyang who were heading for the Wuhe area to follow the other ministers and change their route to Zhengzhou Heyin. The wealth and food grains that were being escorted from Xiangyang should also be transferred to Heyin. After all the armies were properly settled and ensured to be safe, they should also try to gather in Heyin… As the emperor, he wanted to reward the six armies here and reward them according to their merits.
