Volume 2 Chapter 8: The Incoming Army
Hu Yantong couldn't help but panic.
Although this person was born in a military family, he was a descendant of the Huyan clan, and his ancestors had a dull mind and no scheming. On that day, it was just by chance that Han Shizhong casually pointed him out and followed Emperor Zhao, so he was always somewhat uncomfortable with the core work.
He was completely different from the smooth-talking Yang Yi Zhong. He neither knew how to guess the emperor's thoughts nor how to get along properly with civil servants and eunuchs. Some of his inappropriate remarks even got out, leading to his impeachment by the censor... From this point of view, this Huyan Commander was not even as good as Liu Yan, who knew how to keep silent.
However, this man was born into a family of generals in the Western Army and had some idea of the importance of the task. It was understandable .
Besides, no matter what, the enemy came too fast - Bachelor Kobayashi arrived in the morning, and the enemy appeared in the west of Ruyang City at noon. Such a speed, even taking into account that Bachelor Kobayashi's horse riding speed was too poor, was enough to show that the Jin people might have immediately set out from Dengzhou after defeating Monk Zongyin.
How can such a reaction and decision not be shocking?
But it didn't matter. Now that the enemy had arrived, the previous concealment and appeasement were no longer meaningful... For a moment, not to mention that Huyan Tong did not lose his character as a veteran general while reporting to Emperor Zhao, he quickly ordered the gathering of idle people outside the city, and hastily cut off the floating bridge outside the city, and then closed the city gates. Even the four ministers who had just left not long ago received the order and were assigned to various places in the city to stay in charge in order to appease the people, and Emperor Zhao also personally went to the top of the west city.
Of course, there was no armor this time.
"The enemy has only 500 cavalrymen." In the afternoon sun, Hu Yantong, who had regained his composure, pointed to the direction of the sparkling Ru River and gave the emperor a brief introduction. "This is a common tactic used by the Jin people. Whenever they march and attack, they must lead with a small group of elite troops at high speed. If they can scare the enemy or seize the city gate when they are not prepared, they can easily succeed... Before, outside Xiacai City, it was the dead Puluhun who was the vanguard and arrived at the city first."
Sitting on the top of the city wall, Zhao Jiu looked at the flags on the other side of the Ru River, and recalled the scene he saw on the Huai River that day. He nodded slightly and said, "So, the one who came should be the most capable Meng'an (captain of a thousand men) under Yin Shuke's command?"
"That's how it should be." Hu Yantong shook his head, a little doubtful. "But the scouts came back to report that the word Yelu was on the flag, and it was also a white horse flag..."
Yelu Jia Baima must be a Khitan without a doubt. As for Huyan Tong's reaction, Zhao Jiu suddenly realized it but said nothing.
By the way, the military myths of the Jin army in the previous decade were there, so much so that many ministers, generals, and even the people of the Song Dynasty believed that the Jurchens were better at fighting than the Han, Khitan, and Xi people, as if the Jurchens had two more hands than others.
According to this line of thinking, for the traditional generals of the Song Dynasty, it is sometimes difficult for them to understand a phenomenon, that is, why the Khitans, Xi people, and Han people in Liao, who had always been on the same level as themselves, and were the remnants of a fallen country, suddenly changed and showed such powerful fighting power once they surrendered to the Jin people?
The answer to this question is of course very simple for Emperor Zhao - when the Jin Dynasty was first established, there were senior military officers from the Han, Xi, Khitan, and Bohai peoples. What maintained the strength of the Jurchen army was always the strict military discipline, the morale brought by consecutive victories, and the emphasis on military technology, which had nothing to do with race or ethnicity.
But it's not the right time to say this, and there's no point in saying it.
"It should be Yelu Ma Wu." After hearing the introduction, Liu Ziyu, who was standing behind the emperor, thought for a moment and guessed the possible answer. "A surrendered general of the Liao Kingdom, he once served as the commander-in-chief of the army. During the Battle of Taiyuan, he served under the brothers Yin Shuke and Balisu... He had no reputation before surrendering to the Jin Dynasty, but after surrendering to the Jin Dynasty, it is said that he would personally fight in the front in every battle and was fearless. Judging from his current appearance, it is probably because he had made many contributions before and officially entered the system of Meng'an and Mouke, becoming a formal Meng'an."
"If that's the case, I'm willing to lead the troops down to meet him!" Hu Yantong couldn't hold back and took the initiative to ask Emperor Zhao for a fight.
After all, he was quite embarrassed by the official's scolding just now, and now that he saw that it was a Khitan, he became even more indignant.
"Just defend the city." Zhao Jiu had no choice but to scold again. "You are the only commander in the city, and most of the defenders are your old subordinates. What if something goes wrong when you go down? Besides, there is the Ru River in between, and the floating bridge has been demolished. Will he wait for you to come over, or will you wait for him to come over?"
Hu Yantong was embarrassed for a moment.
"Don't worry, Commander Huyan." Liu Ziyu also hurried over to persuade him. "Being careful and cautious at this time is a great achievement... Yelu Ma Wu didn't cross the river from upstream in advance, and when he came here and saw that the floating bridge was broken and the city was well guarded, he must have lost his mind."
"Right. Instead of worrying about these 500 men, we should send another messenger while the enemy is still looking for an opportunity to cross the river and the main force has not yet arrived." Zhao Jiu also arranged. "Send another messenger to tell the surrounding towns to be cautious and not to come to Ruyang. Send another official messenger to Han Shizhong and Wang De to tell them to be careful of being besieged and attacked."
Huyan Tong knew the seriousness of the matter after all, so he nodded in agreement after hearing what was said. After Emperor Zhao finished his instructions, he simply stood up and prepared to follow the previous discussion and leave Huyan Tong in charge of defending the city while he himself would return to the city to calm people's hearts... Because in just a short while, due to the closure of the city gates and the withdrawal of people outside the city, there was already some unrest in the city.
Just like that, Zhao Jiu led Scholar Xiao Lin and Canjun Liu with about thirty or forty armored soldiers and walked straight down the city wall. In the street, they ran into Chief Censor Zhang Jun and Imperial Camp Commander Wang Yuan, who came specifically to look for the emperor. They exchanged a few words and then rode along the street together to patrol the people's hearts... But they had just walked one street, and Emperor Zhao had not yet gotten a good chance to perform, when Huyan Tong suddenly sent another team to come, saying that there was serious military information and asked the emperor to go up to the city again.
Zhao Jiu had no choice but to let Zhang Jun take half of the squad to various places to suppress the riots in the name of Chief Censor, while he led the rest to return immediately.
Unexpectedly, this time he did not return to the west wall, but, under the guidance of the guards, directly climbed up the north tower where there was no Ru River blocking the way, and then met Huyan Tong here.
However, as soon as he climbed onto the city wall, Emperor Zhao realized what was going on without Huyan Tong saying anything... because he could see with his own eyes that smoke and dust were rising in the fields to the north, and it seemed that a large army was heading there. According to Emperor Zhao's mediocre eyesight acquired in Bagua Mountain, it looked like there were about four to five thousand troops.
"The Jin army was so fast?" Zhao Jiu felt that his opponent was just cheating. "And they crossed the river so early?"
"It's not the Jin people." Liu Ziyu blurted out. " This is not the movement of cavalry..."
Zhao Jiu felt embarrassed for a moment, but couldn't help feeling confused.
"It's definitely not the Jin people," Hu Yantong reported immediately, helping the emperor to cover up the embarrassment for a while. "I'm glad you know that I was ordered to send messengers out of the city from this side to spread the message everywhere, but soon after leaving the city, someone encountered this group of soldiers on the north road. The leader claimed to be surnamed Zhai, and was from the Xiping Volunteer Army. Hearing that the Jin people had broken the seal of the Zhao clan in Dengzhou, he guessed that the Jin army might attack here, so he didn't have time to report, and immediately led the northwest tribes of Caizhou to come here to rescue the king..."
"The Xiping Zhai Chong that Yan Xiaozhong mentioned?" Zhao Jiu suddenly realized and was overjoyed. He almost ordered the troops to enter the city, but just as he was about to speak, he stopped himself and asked again with forced calmness. "Is Yan Xiaozhong also in there?"
"I don't know!" Hu Yantong shook his head. "It is precisely because the situation is unclear and the timing is too coincidental that I dare not make a decision on my own. I only ask the emperor to make a clear decision..."
"Send someone to investigate and find out where Yan Xiaozhong is. If he is still there, let him come to the city to see me first!" Zhao Jiu thought about it and could only give such an order.
After receiving the order, Hu Yantong immediately went down to the city to carry out the assignment.
Speaking of which, let's not talk about how Huyan Tong went to find Yan Xiaozhong. Let's just say that as this army gradually approached Ruyang City and revealed the flags of the Song Army, the atmosphere on and off the city had already changed. For example, Yelu Ma Wu had not given up before, and was looking for a shallow place to cross the river along the west. When he saw such a large number of Song troops appearing on the north side of the river, he immediately gave up crossing the river and just gathered in the northwest of the city, and then watched from afar across the Ru River.
On the other hand, the Song army on the city walls were naturally excited when they saw the reinforcements coming. Even as many officials and ministers went up to the city walls to see the situation and report back, the originally turbulent streets gradually calmed down.
After a long time, as the sun was setting, Yelu Mawu on the other side of the river had set up camp. The rebel army that had been visible on the plains before was gradually approaching the city, and Yan Xiaozhong, whose figure and appearance were unforgettable, also appeared in Zhao Jiu's sight again, riding a donkey.
"Mr. Yan, how come you are here?" Zhao Jiu was relieved when he saw this person on the city wall.
"Your Majesty!" Yan Xiaozhong got off his donkey, sweating profusely, and directly pulled the donkey's rope to salute under the city, shouting at the other side. "I was a civilian in the Jin army before, so I knew some of the ways the Jin used troops. Then I was in Xiping in the west, and when I heard that Wuguan was defeated, I immediately urged Zhai Chong to come here... In addition to Zhai Chong's troops, there are also righteous troops from various places in the northwest of Caizhou that have gathered along the way, totaling no less than 5,000 people, and they just arrived! With these 5,000 people, they are enough to fill the city walls, and Ruyang City will be as solid as a rock!"
Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly and was about to give the order to open the city gate and let this person in.
But at this moment, Liu Ziyu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly pulled Emperor Zhao's sleeve from behind, and whispered, "Emperor, even if Yan Xiaozhong is here, we can't open the city! This man must have been captured by the Jin army!"
Zhao Jiu's expression remained unchanged, but he was shocked in his heart. However, after a moment of thought, he was about to refute it.
At this time, Wang Yuan on the other side also lowered his voice and said seriously: "Your Majesty, I also think that Yan Zhizhou is reliable, but what about Zhai Chong?"
Zhao Jiu still disagreed: "Yan Xiaozhong's resistance in Tangzhou is definitely not a fiction, and Zhai Chong and Yan Xiaozhong were allied before the arrival of the Jin people. I and the emperor made a temporary decision to come here after the battle of Shouzhou. Could it be that they were spies before Yin Shuke came to Jingxi, and they calculated it until now?"
"I'm not doubting Prefect Yan." Liu Ziyu sighed, helpless. "The key is that what Commander Huyan said before is too right... Your Majesty, the timing is too coincidental! Let's not talk about Prefect Yan or Zhai Chong, there are other people in Zhai Chong's army at this time, are they all reliable? If there are one or two hundred of them arranged by Yin Shuke, can the Song Dynasty bear it? Let's take a step back and say that even if they are all reliable at this time, but after entering the city and seeing that your army is small and surrounded by the Jin people outside, will they still be reliable at that time?"
Zhao Jiu was speechless, but after a moment, he shook his head again: "It's still not right... If I don't allow them to enter the city, what if they leave in anger because I don't trust them? What if they surrender to the Jin army? When the main force of the Jin army arrives at the city and defeats them, what will happen to the morale of the city?"
Liu Ziyu and Wang Yuan were both shocked and speechless. However, it was obvious that no matter what, the two of them were determined not to let the rebels enter the city.
As I said, the arrival of reinforcements is a good thing, but the problem is, firstly, the timing is too coincidental, which makes people suspicious; secondly, there is an official and four ministers in the city at this time, they should have maintained a solid defense and been conservative, and should not have created unnecessary trouble. In fact, Official Zhao had just sent a messenger asking these people not to come.
But then again, they have already come, and they didn't receive any imperial edict when they came. Should we blame them for coming to rescue the king?
While hesitating, Yan Xiaozhong seemed to have realized something under the tower, and he once again led the donkey and tried to raise his feet to speak: "Sir, I will go and tell Zhai Chong to set up camp on the north side of the city, with his back against the city wall and the river! What do you think?"
Just as Zhao Jiu was about to speak, a man next to him suddenly stepped out and spoke clearly, "The situation today clearly shows that I am not good at riding a horse and have delayed the opportunity, so I, the Hanlin scholar Lin Jingmo, have the audacity to report this and request to leave the city to appease the rebels and atone for my sins!"
