Chapter 1 Iron Cavalry Raids, Autumn Waves Crash Against Mountains

In late December, the Song army suddenly shifted from slow to rapid, from few to many. The speed of their advance and the scale of their forces shocked the Jin defenders in the Taiyuan Basin. Before they could mount a systematic response, they were easily divided and surrounded in various strongholds. Zhao Song's own dragon banner arrived directly beneath the city of Taiyuan, the heart of the Taiyuan Basin, in just eight days and nights.

For a time, the army was at the city's doorstep, and the Jin troops in the city couldn't help but feel afraid.

At this time, the defending general Wanyan Zhehe led several hundred cavalry out as a brave force to raid the enemy lines and returned, greatly stabilizing the morale of the city.

The victory of this raid was beyond doubt... The Jin army, with just over seven hundred cavalry, seized the opportunity when the Song army's large cavalry force went north and the infantry formation was not yet stable, inflicting casualties of no less than four or five hundred, while only losing seventy or so of their own.

What's more, before most of them retreated, they even approached within two or three hundred paces of Zhao Song's dragon banner.

If this wasn't a great victory, what was?

However, the Song army didn't feel too discouraged about this battle... First, it was said that in such a large-scale situation, a battle of this size was not very meaningful; these losses were not proportional to the attrition caused by forced marches in the dead of winter. Secondly, most of the casualties caused by the Jurchen iron cavalry were newly arrived Japanese samurai. Hardly any soldiers in the system felt any sense of belonging to these samurai. Even the Imperial Guards at most shouted, "Brave fellows who don't value their lives," and then left it at that.

Finally, didn't they also get seventy or eighty heads in return? In the eyes of a considerable number of mid-level officers, this was a profitable venture.

However, these were considerations at the middle and lower levels. For the highest levels of the Song army, this battle revealed some other information.

First, under the strong assault of the Song army at such a scale and speed, Wanyan Zhehe's attitude was undoubtedly revealed by this show of force, which was completely different from Wanyan Salihe on the west bank of the Fen River.

Secondly, Taiyuan City, especially the three fortified outposts outside Taiyuan City, were indeed thorny... At that time, although the Japanese samurai's raid failed, it undoubtedly gave the scattered Song cavalry time to assemble. The seventy-odd heads were also achieved by these Song cavalry afterward.

However, when these Jurchen cavalry realized the problem and desperately tried to escape as soon as possible, arriving at the angle between the outpost and the city wall along the passage reserved by the sheep-horse wall, the hunt had to stop. The Song army couldn't even use the Shenbi Crossbow to kill the enemy... because the Jurchen cavalry directly transferred from the passage between the outpost and the city gate, which was simply a blind spot for shooting. On the other hand, the powerful crossbows on the outpost threatened the pursuers.

In the end, the Song army could only watch helplessly as the Jin army returned to the city, but there was nothing they could do.

"The most deadly thing is the outpost, which shields the city gate, turning weakness into strength."

"And the outposts are too big, shielding half of the city wall. Just guessing, the giant crossbows on the corners of the outposts should be able to intertwine with the giant crossbows on the corners of the walls. No matter where you attack from, you can't escape..."

That evening, in the hastily erected Song army camp, Zhao, the Emperor, who had already removed his armor, was holding an exaggerated Japanese longbow, playing with it with great interest on the open space beside the central army tent. At the same time, some military officers who had previously come from military academies and the Imperial Guards were summoned and were arguing somewhat nervously and seriously. Han and Li were not present, but Wang Yan was overseeing and presiding, and many close ministers were listening in.

Moreover, these people, including Zhao, the Emperor himself, were not idle all afternoon. After the situation was brought under control, basic reconnaissance was indispensable. Although Zhao, the Emperor himself, refused Han Shizhong's proposal to have the Beiwei Army protect him, he still pacified the Japanese samurai and led his dragon banner, circling the city from a distance, until he just returned, as a gesture.

With the Emperor doing so, the officers of various troops under the city naturally couldn't help but be a little attentive. However, no one expected that Zhao, the Emperor, would not immediately summon the commanders and generals to discuss military affairs, but instead suddenly summoned a group of officers from various troops who had previously served in the Imperial Guard to inquire about the city's defenses.

"Crossfire."

Zhao Jiu murmured in his heart, but remained silent, playing with the longbow in his hand. Only when he actually got it did he realize that the Japanese longbow was not symmetrical, which undoubtedly aroused his interest... In any case, this Emperor could be considered an expert in playing with bows, but he was just not good at actual combat.

"The sheep-horse walls are also completely set up, basically circling the city." Someone else said. "But looking at it from a distance, it should be newly built by the defending army in the city."

"Not only the sheep-horse walls, but outside the sheep-horse walls, there is a moat, and outside that, there are outer trenches and deer fences," another person mentioned. "And the passages within them are also relatively complex. I saw with my own eyes today that the Jin army was guided by the flags on the outposts to find their way in."

"There are also siege engines," another person said. "Previously, the Prince of Anhua (posthumously conferred on Wang Bing) first used siege engines to counter siege engines in this city... Wanyan Zhehe has taken over the city's defenses for more than forty days, and there is no reason not to imitate him. Therefore, I guess that at this time, there should already be siege engine positions in the east, south, and north triangles of the city, but there is no need to show them off today. But once we set up siege engine positions nearby, we will fall into his trap..."

"If that's the case, although the Emperor has always personally faced arrows, he must never easily approach the front line this time."

Just as the discussion was gradually gaining momentum, Ren Baozhong, who was in charge of military affairs among the close ministers, suddenly turned around and respectfully saluted Zhao, the Emperor, taking it seriously, which caught everyone off guard and interrupted the rhythm of the discussion.

Of course, after being caught off guard, Wang Yan and the others, although speechless, couldn't help but pinch their noses and quickly echoed... However, everyone also knew that this Taiyuan City was different from Nanyang City and Tokyo City. Although the city was dangerous, the scale of the city wall itself was limited, and the core main city wall was a rammed earth city wall. This meant that the siege engines could not be placed on the wall at all, and the Jurchens should also lack small siege engine technology. Therefore, as long as Zhao, the Emperor, was not stupid enough to run to the base of the wall, this would never happen... Ren Baozhong was really just looking for a way to show his loyalty.

The topic was pushed to the front, and Zhao Jiu finally smiled and opened his mouth, still playing with the bow: "I know, I will just watch you break the city from the camp, and I will never take risks."

Everyone quickly agreed, acting as if relieved. But when they came back to their senses and continued the discussion, they couldn't help but have to enter the main topic early because of Zhao, the Emperor's, words about breaking the city. At this time, it was very dry to talk about it again.

Because it was really difficult to break the city.

"Therefore, if you want to break the city, you must use siege engines layered on top of each other, first smash the outposts, then erase the deer fences, fill the trenches, and maybe even fill the moat, and finally the siege engines can smash each other, winning with quantity." After some discussion, Wang Yan tried to summarize.

"So, does Taiyuan City have no weaknesses?" At this moment, Zhao Jiu suddenly interrupted again, fiddling with the longbow. "You see, the city has outposts on three sides, isn't there one side missing? And if we follow your statement, the inner city in the city is close to the west and north sides, and the siege engines cannot be placed in the northwest corner... Why can't we attack from the west?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then looked at each other.

Afterward, Wang Yan couldn't avoid it after all, and could only take the initiative to explain with cupped fist: "So that the Emperor knows, there is indeed no outpost on the west side of Taiyuan City, and siege engines cannot be set up in the northwest corner. Not only that, but there is only one sheep-horse wall under the west side of Taiyuan City, and there is not much extension, and even the fortresses on the wall are much fewer than on the other three sides... But the Fen River channel is only a hundred steps away from the west side of the city. Now the weather is cold and the Fen River is passable, but in at most ten days, there may be a risk of thawing. At that time, the west side of Taiyuan City will be the safest place in Taiyuan City... Emperor, it's not that we can't take a risk and try from the west, but we don't have ready-made siege equipment, I'm afraid it's too late."

Zhao Jiu smiled and shook his head, but he didn't know if he was pretending to be profound or if he was happy because he had finally figured out how to pull the longbow in his hand.

"Does the Emperor mean to cut off the Fen River?" Ren Baozhong thought for a moment and asked seriously. "While the weather is cold, first dig a river channel on the periphery, and when the ice melts, cut off the original river channel, so that the river channel can be turned into a flat road, and a position can be set up on the west side to launch a siege?"

Wang Yan and the others were thoughtful, and after a while, quite a few people looked moved, and soon there was a sound of echoing... Obviously, although this method sounded stupid and a bit wasteful of manpower, in front of the nearly flawless military fortress of Taiyuan City, it seemed to be truly feasible.

Zhao, the Emperor, was not in a hurry to answer, because after studying it for a long time, he finally pinched the lower arc of the Japanese longbow by one-third and properly pulled the bow open. Ping Qing Sheng, who had not dared to say a word or interrupt, quickly handed over an arrow.

Then Zhao, the Emperor, bent his bow and nocked an arrow, released the bowstring towards a soil barrier dozens of steps away, and then looked at the arrow that was deeply embedded in the soil barrier, as if he was lost in thought.

And this shot also attracted a lot of attention.

"What do you think of this Japanese big bow?" Zhao Jiu looked back and asked a question that was obviously off topic.

But who made him the Emperor?

As for how the bow was, everyone present was an expert. After a little look, they knew the inside story, but because of their status, it might not be their turn to answer.

"This subject believes that this bow still has some advantages." Wang Yan was already a little anxious, but he could only answer with cupped fist. "For close-range precision shooting, in terms of lethality alone, it is comparable to the Jurchen hard bow and heavy arrow, but in actual combat, it is far inferior to the Jurchen hard bow..."

"Is it because the bow body is too long, or because the bow body is made of bamboo and wood?" Zhao Jiu asked, pressing on.

"Both." Wang Yan said with a slightly sullen face. "The bow body is too long, making it inconvenient to draw the bow, and if you want to shoot accurately on horseback, eight or nine times out of ten you need to hone your archery skills from an early age to make it easy to use. As for being made of bamboo and wood, in close combat, the cowhide and iron tire of the Jurchen hard bow can block knives and swords, but this Japanese bow can be easily cut off."

"That's right." Zhao Jiu sighed and handed the bow to Ping Qing Sheng beside him. "This bow is not useless, but it's not its turn to play here, because there is a hard bow with cowhide and iron tire for close shooting, and a Shenbi Crossbow for long-range shooting. Where can it be used? Just like those samurai today, their loyalty is commendable, but they don't have heavy armor there, but here we have Zha armor everywhere, so their courage can only be left idle. But we can't laugh at them either. When the Jurchen heavy armor and iron cavalry first came out, we were also helpless at first, and finally slowly figured out the way, using heavy armor against heavy armor, using crossbows against heavy bows, and using long axes against iron cavalry... When something comes out, it only has a very good effect at first. Over time, it will be adapted to sooner or later."

Everyone was even more confused.

"Now the most fundamental thing in attacking the city is the siege engine, right or wrong?" Zhao Jiu continued to ask. "Once the siege engine is launched, any city is just a matter of time, and the city's counterattack methods are mostly to counter siege engines with siege engines, right or wrong?"

"Right."

"Yes."

Wang Yan and Ren Baozhong spoke almost at the same time.

"This is what I mean." Zhao Jiu finally turned his head and gave a conclusion. "Taiyuan City is not an ordinary city. It is the hub of the entire Hedong. Once it is taken, the land of Hedong will be safe. Any price is worth it, and any method can be tried... In fact, this is also one of the reasons why I rushed to the city so quickly at all costs... Gentlemen, I want to break the city, and I want to break the city quickly, otherwise, why would I come so quickly?"

Not to mention those young officers, almost all the close ministers around him wanted to say something but stopped. However, Wang Yan, who had the most awkward temper, first frowned, and then looked thoughtful.

"There are about thirty to forty thousand people in the camp now. Commander Ma should arrive tomorrow, and I don't know when Commander Wu will arrive... We will use manpower as the standard... First launch the siege engines, starting from the south side of the city under our feet. This side will be entirely handed over to you, Wang Qing!" Zhao Jiu ordered in this way.

"Yes!" Wang Yan's spirits suddenly lifted.

"If the manpower exceeds 50,000, then set up siege positions at the same time, burn the deer fences, fill the trenches, and destroy the sheep-horse walls... Start destroying from the west. Persuade those who should be persuaded to surrender, and launch night attacks on those who should be launched... Ren Qing, you are responsible."

"Yes." Ren Baozhong was overjoyed.

"If the manpower exceeds 100,000, then launch siege engines on three sides at the same time... At that time, the north of the city will be given to the Prince of Yan'an, and the east of the city will be given to Commander Li."

"Yes."

"If there is even more manpower, dig a river channel on the west side of the city to prepare for the thawing of the river, and attack the city from the west." As he said this, Zhao, the Emperor, looked at a strange candidate. "At that time, Yang Qing, you will oversee this matter."

Yang Yizhong was stunned for a moment, and then cupped his fist: "This subject understands."

Wang Yan and Ren Baozhong were also stunned for a moment, and then the two of them seemed to realize something, but they just didn't say anything.

From the result, a strange meeting seemed to have no problems. It was just a saturated attack with manpower, but even the several commanders and veteran generals did not participate, and the organization of the siege was determined in this way, which inevitably made Zhao, the Emperor, seem too hands-on.

When the matter spread that night, many veteran generals, including Wang De, had complaints and doubts.

Even a daring Jinshi who accompanied the army wrote a memorial, advising Zhao, the Emperor, not to imitate the story of Emperor Taizong of this dynasty, and that he should trust the generals more, and not use close ministers... This was of course just a marginal matter.

In fact, there were more reliable rumors. A deeply rooted statement was that Zhao, the Emperor, did not distrust the commanders, but that he was waiting for Wu Jie, the Commander of the Rear Army of the Imperial Guards. When encountering big scenes, this Emperor essentially trusted Commander Wu more. This was something that even the Prince of Han and Commander Li had long known, so they did not say anything... And before Commander Wu arrived, it did not matter if these preliminary preparations were handed over to the close ministers.

But this kind of gossip was not worth mentioning, especially from the next day, as the imperial edict was issued, they really began to launch siege engines and besiege the city.

Moreover, as the number of soldiers increased, the actions of the siege positions became larger and larger, and everyone was busy.

Zhao, the Emperor, arrived under the city on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, and that night there were 40,000 people under the city.

On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, as Ma Kuo arrived afterward, and more and more straggling soldiers and laborers arrived, the number of soldiers and laborers under the city reached 70,000. Therefore, almost at the same time, Wang Yan officially set up workshops in the north of the city, designated siege engine positions, and felled trees on a large scale, preparing to launch siege engines. Under the command of Ren Baozhong, the various troops also began to try to burn the deer fences and destroy the sheep-horse walls... But to be honest, the latter had a poor effect, because the bows and crossbows on the outposts were too strong. The only effect was on the west side of the city, but as everyone knew, if the Fen River was not cut off, the west side of the city would not be of much significance without a layer of sheep-horse walls.

On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, the subsequent main forces arrived one after another, and the combat troops and auxiliary soldiers under Taiyuan City definitely exceeded 100,000.

And Zhao, the Emperor, kept his word. Regardless of the fact that more than half of the laborers still had to focus their energy on rear logistics and transportation, he directly began to launch siege engines on three sides.

On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, the two small villages of Xugou and Tuanbai were successfully captured, which allowed more soldiers and laborers to come to the city in the following two days. From this day on, the west side of the city also officially began to dig river channels. Under these circumstances, even though the Song army camp still had a logistics base in Yongli Prison behind them, the scale of the camp passively surrounded the entire Taiyuan City.

This caused panic among the Jin army in the city. Some people advised Wanyan Zhehe that he should attack the siege engine positions in time, but Wanyan Zhehe sternly refused... This veteran general was very clear that, to put it bluntly, this was just the beginning.

It was just that Wu Jie had not arrived yet. If Wu Jie led Zhao Song's Rear Army of the Imperial Guards and the Dangxiang and Khitan people to arrive together, he might learn from Daming Prefecture and build another city to surround Taiyuan.

And even then, he would still have to conserve his energy and prepare to wait until the siege engines were about to be completed before launching an attack.

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, there were only two days left before the New Year. What made the Song army under the city cheer and made Wanyan Zhehe feel panicked for a moment was that 20,000 troops with the Wu character flag suddenly came from the west... Wu Jinqing came too fast.

On the same afternoon, a small snow fell from the sky.

And these two things made Zhao, the Emperor, who had been "waiting for Commander Wu," feel a little caught off guard.

ps: I'm going on a blind date today... I've been so nervous that I can't code for three days... And Xiao Yu is calling in these days... Please forgive me.