The city of Xinzhou is an ancient city and a large city, which has been the front station of the Central Plains regime against the northern regime and nomadic tribes for thousands of years, and it is also the main battlefield in the north.

For thousands of years, the city of Xinzhou has been constantly repaired, the city is high and the walls are thick, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

When the Jin army seized Xinzhou, it was also a trick, the Song army alliance was Liao, taking advantage of the Liao army to escape, the main force of the Song army was in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Hebei, and easily occupied Xinzhou, and then did not wait for the Song army to take over Xinzhou, the Jin army launched a southern invasion, all the troops and energy of the Song army were consumed in the Hebei area, and to the Jingkang Rebellion, Hedong no longer had time to take care of it.

For decades, the city of Xinzhou, which was lost by the Song army, was of little use in the hands of the Jin army and was not taken seriously.

After the Song army withdrew to the south of the Huai River, it had not even been able to cross the Yellow River in the previous decades, let alone threaten the east of the river. After the Jin people withdrew from Bianjing, Luzhou and Liaozhou were not in the hands of the Song army, and Taiyuan Mansion, Pingyang Mansion and Bianjing and Daimyo Mansion were separated by the Taihang Mountains, which made it difficult for the army to pass, and then there were more than 80,000 garrisons in Taiyuan Mansion, Xinzhou and Pingyang Mansion, and they were not afraid of the Song army's attack at all.

Moreover, even if the Song army launched an attack on Guanzhong and Hedong, due to the blocking of the Taihang Mountains in the north, the offensive route could only go west to Hangu Pass, but after entering the pass, whether it was attacking Pingyang Mansion to the north or Jingzhao Mansion to the west, it would be attacked by the Jin army from the other direction, and in their opinion, Hangu Pass alone could block the Song army of 100,000.

In other words, with the strength of the Song army, it was simply not enough to capture Hangu Pass, and it was impossible to enter the pass to attack Zhongzhong and Hedong.

Since Taiyuan Mansion and Xinzhou are absolute rear areas compared with Pingyang Mansion and Hangu Pass, even when the Song and Jin were at war, there would not be too many garrisons, let alone after the Song and Jin Dynasty negotiated peace, so most of the 80,000 garrisons of the Jin State in Hedong were deployed in Pingyang Prefecture, and the main force was close to the Yellow River, assisting in the defense of Hangu Pass, and holding the possible northward passage of the Song army.

Over the years, after continuous infiltration and reconnaissance, the Privy Council of the Great Song Dynasty finally decided to launch an attack on Taiyuan Mansion from Luzhou and Liaozhou in the name of the righteous army, cut off the large passage for the Jin army to travel from south to north, block the elite of Datong Mansion north of Yanmen Pass, block the main force of the Jin army of Pingyang Mansion in the south of Jiexiu of Taiyuan Prefecture, and block the north and south ends, so that the Song army could quickly establish an advantage in the empty east of the river, and then concentrate the main force south to Pingyang Mansion.

Fortunately, in recent years, the Great Song Dynasty army has been training in Jinan Mansion and Hejian Mansion, and the movements are frequent and the momentum is huge, and Luzhou and Liaozhou were able to secretly prepare to seize Hedong under the cover of the identity of the righteous army.

With the intention of not intentional, coupled with secret preparation, and deployment in advance, the Northern Expeditionary Army will enter Taiyuan Mansion as a righteous army, quickly take Taigu and Qixian, and attract almost all the troops of Taiyuan Mansion, and then take advantage of it by surprise, occupy the pass Jiexiu, and add Xia Chengjie in Xinzhou, who secretly took refuge, and the Northern Expeditionary Army took Taiyuan City without blood.

Judging from the strategic deployment and preparation of the entire Hedong, there will not be many problems in capturing Yanmen Pass and holding Yanmen Pass, after all, there are almost no troops stationed in Xinzhou.

After Xia Chengjie occupied Taiyuan City as a Xinzhou reinforcement, he almost closed Taiyuan City on the grounds of quelling the chaos, and even Yangqu Pass was also closed, Xinzhou people can go south, but not north, outsiders can enter Taiyuan City, but they are allowed to enter but not out, and the news is blocked for many days.

Therefore, after the 5,000 Song army led by Yuan Hua passed through Yangqu and went north to Xinzhou, Xinzhou stayed behind and was still unaware, and was skeptical of the report of his subordinates, until the Song army arrived at the city of Xinzhou, and Xinzhou stayed behind before hurriedly ordering to defend the city and wait for help.

How many defenders there are in Xinzhou City, Xia Chengjie knows very well, and Xin Qiji is also clear, but it is not wise to storm Xinzhou City.

According to Xin Qiji's order, 30,000 troops camped two miles outside Xinzhou City and blocked the four gates, while the other troops were divided into various places to recover all the states and counties in Xinzhou, and at the same time announced to the people that the Great Song Dynasty had returned to Xinzhou!

Xinzhou fell to the hands of the Jin State for more than 40 years, two generations of people broke off relations with the Great Song Dynasty, and now the Great Song Dynasty has returned to the north, and the army is coming, just to let them know that the Great Song Dynasty is back!

Recovering the hearts of the people is an indispensable part of the complete recovery of Hedong, Xin Qijian came from the righteous army, traveled north and south, traveled thousands of miles, and naturally understood this truth, and in the entire plan to recover Hedong, he wanted to stay in Xinzhou and Taiyuan Mansion, mainly preparing grain and grass materials, as well as guarding and supporting, so the people's hearts were turned back, which was particularly important for stabilizing Hedong.

Ordinary people don't want to go through war, but they want to see the bad guys who oppress them punished, which is a paradox to some extent.

But Xin Qiji hopes to do it, because he knows that the most cruel oppression is at the bottom, so he wants to send a large army to sweep the prefectures and counties, kill a group of corrupt officials and cool officials, so as to win the hearts of the people, and for a big city like Xinzhou City, you can't easily use force, a big city means a rich network of relationships and gathered resources, to be stable first, if you can not kill people, try not to hurt people.

Xin Qiji's strategy is very clear, attack the small city, besiege the big city, and wait until all the small cities in Xinzhou are taken, Xinzhou City is a huge lonely city, waiting for them except for the burning of jade, there is only one way to surrender in Kaicheng, and there is no other way.

A few days before the siege of Xinzhou City, Xin Qiji did not send someone to shout to the city, nor did he send anyone to try to communicate, he knew that at this time, the city had just besieged the city, and the officials and defenders in the city still had hope in the direction of Datong Mansion, and felt that Datong Mansion would send people to rescue them, and it was useless to persuade them to surrender at this time, and there was no need to spend that effort.

Therefore, the Northern Expeditionary army stationed outside the city did not pay attention to the city two miles away and the defenders who were waiting on the city, just like in their own military camp, they went out to drill and train every day in the wilderness, and even deliberately marched to a place where the defenders of Xinzhou City could see, and practiced in formation as far as the other side could see.

Half a month later, in addition to the small force stationed in the local area, most of the troops sent out to recover the county returned to the military camp outside Xinzhou City one after another, and the Song army besieging the city was as many as 50,000.

Xin Qiji and other Song army generals looked at the ancient city, practiced every day, and did not move.

The Xinzhou guards in the city couldn't sit still, and repeatedly sent people to go out of the city at night to inquire about the news, but many went out and few came back, but the people who came back without exception brought back worrying and desperate news.

All the prefectures and counties in Xinzhou were all under the Song army within half a month, and almost all the grassland people and Jurchens who were evil officials in various places were hunted and killed by the Song army, and the local ruling power temporarily fell into the hands of the Song army.

The spies sent out from the city failed to reach Yanmen Pass, but the spies still found some news.

"My lord, most of the spies we sent out failed to return, and it is estimated that they are dead. Now there are Song troops everywhere, and there is no point in sending spies out again except for sending them to death. Judging from the news obtained, there may not be reinforcements in Xinzhou, Yanmen Pass has already fallen into the hands of the Song army, and their defenders there are estimated to be seven or eight thousand people, even if Datong Mansion sends reinforcements, it will be difficult to break through Yanmen Pass. ”

Staying in the mansion, several subordinate officials gathered, some stated the facts, and some remained silent.

The left-behind adults finished their faces, and their faces were very unsightly.

"Datong Mansion to Xinzhou, since ancient times can only go to Yanmen Pass, now Yanmen Pass is lost, into the hands of the Song army, and it will be difficult to take it back. Originally, it was easier to attack Yanmen Pass from Xinzhou, but now we are trapped in the city, and it is difficult to protect ourselves, so we can't help the army outside the gate at all. If Yanmen Pass is not recaptured, even if there are 50,000 or 100,000 troops outside the pass to help, it will not help Xinzhou at all. My lord, let's find another way out, reinforcements shouldn't be able to wait. ”

"I see that there are no less than 80,000 Song troops outside the city, but they have not moved from beginning to end, they are just training, not attacking the city, I don't know what they mean."

"I think they want to trap us, knowing that we can't wait for reinforcements, and they want to take Xinzhou City without blood. We've lived here for almost a lifetime, can you give it to them? I just fought for this life, even if I died, I would never let them enter the city! ”

"You can't say that, it's better to be alive than dead. There are 80,000 Song troops outside the city, and we only have more than 2,300 soldiers who can defend the city, plus the people who have been temporarily brought over, there are only 30,000 people. ”

"How can you grow the morale of others and destroy our prestige! The Song people want to enter the city unless they step on my corpse! ”

"Majestic, where do we still have majestic, don't you see 80,000 people outside the city training every day, now they are playing majestic, but it's not us, let's live first, living is the most important thing." Left-behind adults, what do you say? ”

After Xinzhou stayed behind, Yan Lu listened to the words of several subordinate officials in his ears, and his heart was in a mess.

In his early years, he was not welcomed in Huining Mansion in Shangjing, so he was sent out as an official, from Liaoyang Mansion in Tokyo to Linhuang Mansion in Beijing, and then moved to Yidu Mansion, and then to Datong Mansion in Xijing, and finally was branched to the nameless Xinzhou.

Isn't there a place for this great world?

Wan Yanlu asked himself, he had never done anything bad or wrong, why was fate so unfair to him? As the grandson of Jin Taejo, he has never been greedy for power, and now he can't even enjoy his old age in peace?

"Left-behind adults, you have something to say, what should we do? There are forty or fifty thousand people in the city! ”

"You can do whatever you want, I couldn't be your master before, and I can't be your master now." Wan Yanlu replied.

"My lord, you are a royal family and a stay-at-your, how can we be the lord of Xinzhou? Whatever the adults want, we will obey! ”

There is no way out in Xinzhou, everyone knows the final destination, but no one dares to say that sentence.

Wan Yanlu is a royal family, and he is left behind, although he usually doesn't care about things, but now except for him, no one in Xinzhou City dares to call the shots.

Regarding the way out, Wan Yanlu has been thinking about it for many days, Xinzhou is lost, even if he returns to Datong Mansion alive, what awaits him will not be a good ending, and after so many years, he has long been unsuitable for life in the northern grassland, and there is no point in returning to the grassland.

"Let's beg for surrender in Kaesong."

Wan Yanlu made what he considered to be the most prudent and important decision in his life.