Although the actual scale of the troop is smaller than the propaganda from the outside world, the ground forces in particular are less than a quarter of what is claimed. However, after all, this northern expedition was a military operation with tens of thousands of troops and a journey of nearly 500 miles, and the strategic focus of the Beiping Army has always been tilted to the south, and most of the war preparations were to serve the Central Plains in the south, and the amount of war material reserves on the front line of the Great Wall in the north was relatively small. In addition, this operation mainly focused on supplies from sea to land, and many war materials had to be transferred to Dagu Port. Therefore, after the introduction of "Overlord Jihua" at the beginning of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, it was not basically ready until the end of the month, and the official date of sending troops was set on the first day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar.

On the first day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar in the eighth year of Xiande, more than 10,000 soldiers of the "Flying Dragon Army" and "Security Army" lined up under the Guancheng, waiting for their commander to issue an order to them to set off. On the top of the city, Wang Kunjun, Xu Shaoan and others were dressed in military uniforms, looking at the military array under the city with solemn expressions. Although there were tens of thousands of people at the scene, there was no sound except for the fierce sound of flags fluttering in the wind, only the indomitable morale and the smell of iron and blood.

Wang Kunjun was very satisfied with the performance of the soldiers under the city, he nodded slightly, took the flaming red order flag from the hands of the guards beside him, and waved it vigorously towards the north. With his movement, dozens of cowhide drums on the head of the city rang out. And to the accompaniment of the drums, the army under the city slowly moved, turned and advanced, and the movements were uniform, like a moving fortress, and marched towards the north.

Almost at the same time, several huge firecracker bombs took off from the city and flew straight to a height of more than 100 zhang. As the fireworks bomb exploded in the air, on the sea nearly 20 miles away from Shanhaiguan, Huang Hai, who was standing straight on the bridge command platform of the flagship "Dagu," also nodded to the signal soldiers behind him. A moment later, a string of signal flags representing "departure" was raised to the top of the mainmast, and the trumpeter on the flagship also "whined" and blew the horn in his hand. Immediately, more than 200 warships and transport ships of various types, under the instructions of their respective commanders, pulled anchors one after another, carrying nearly 20,000 sailors and marines to sail to the sea, and also headed north.

Looking at the military array under the city and the fleet on the sea in the distance, he sketched in his mind the scene of this era that can be called the first integrated hot weapon battle of sea and land. Thinking of the military array in front of him is just a small part of the invincible, invincible, and invincible army in the world, once he waives his army to the south and chases the Central Plains, he will be followed by a steel lion several times the military array in front of him.

Shanhaiguan is only more than 30 miles away from Haiyang City, the administrative office of Runzhou, and the Northern Expeditionary Army is mainly cavalry and cavalry infantry, so the army set off early in the morning of the first day of June, and at noon, the "Rangers" battalion, the "Wolf Tooth" battalion, the "Flying Dragon Army" independent cavalry regiment and the "Security Army" independent cavalry regiment were already stationed under Haiyang City. If it weren't for the need to wait for the artillery troops to arrive and open the city gate with heavy artillery, Muttel, who led the leading cavalry troops, would have already attacked the city with his army -- this time the Beiping army was fighting a regular battle, and it was impossible for him to take advantage of the Khitan rout to enter the city without bloodshed, as he did when he was "taking Haiyang by horseback." However, Rao was like this, and the sudden appearance of thousands of elite cavalry outside his city still frightened the officials and guards in the city. While they sent messengers to the Jinzhou garrison and even Yelu Tart Lie of the garrison in Beijing to ask for help, they also drove the soldiers and horses in the city and all the young men and women who could wield swords and guns to the city, ready to resist. At the same time, those officials and guards also prayed silently in their hearts, hoping that this time the Beiping army would still go north to "fight the grass valley" as usual, just search for scourge outside the city and plunder the city, and would not really come to attack the city - even if they had already received the news that the Beiping army was going north this time to carry out a serious expedition to attack the city and capture the territory, rather than the behavior of "fighting the grass valley" based on harassment and plunder.

It's just that the wish is beautiful, but the reality is cruel. After trembling and confronting thousands of cavalry under the city for more than two hours, after eating a wave of symbolic small-scale mortar bombardment from the other side, with the arrival of artillery and infantry units of the Northern Expeditionary Army, with dozens of 75-mm field guns and 105-mm howitzers lined up under the city, especially when the eight 130-mm siege guns (cannons) aimed at the black and shiny muzzles of the city gate on the south side of Haiyang City, and dozens of tall and mighty warships with their sideways exposed on the sea several miles away, The Runzhou officials and guards who had been able to stabilize their minds before, were still lucky, and thought that the Beiping army would plunder the city, and they immediately panicked. In particular, those officials and defenders who had experienced the Battle of Youyun and seen the power of the Beiping Army's artillery were even more frightened, completely ignoring the commander's reprimand and the disdain of their robes, and ran down the city without looking back. For a time, the city was in chaos.

Seeing the chaos at the head of the city, Qian Yuanshan, Zeng Zhilin, who were the chief and deputy commanders of the former enemy, and the vanguard officer Mutel discussed and agreed that without further ado, they should immediately launch an attack and take the city that had fallen into chaos in one fell swoop. So, with Qian Yuanshan's order, the eight 130-mm siege guns (cannons) arranged at the front of the artillery array first roared and began to bombard the city gate and its surroundings. As a result, the eight siege guns (cannons) only fired two rounds and fired sixteen shells, and the other artillery did not even have a chance to fire, and the white flag flew over the head of Hai Duong City. Soon after Qian Yuanshan and others ordered a suspension of the shelling, the south gate of Haiyang City was opened, and the officials, guards, and soldiers of the city rushed out under the leadership of Runzhou Assassin Shi and surrendered unconditionally to the northern expeditionary army.

It took only half a day from the arrival of the soldiers in the city to the capture of Haiyang, and it was only less than half an hour from the artillery bombardment of the other side to the surrender of the other party. Although this result seems to be slightly inferior to Muter's record of "taking Haiyang from a horse" at the beginning, it is also a combat operation that has achieved the greatest results at the lowest cost, which can be regarded as a good start for this Northern Expedition.

Under the personal guidance of Runzhou Thorn History, Qian Yuanshan, Zeng Zhilin, Mutel, and the Yellow Sea, who landed with the Marines, all rode high-headed horses, and led their soldiers into Haiyang City with majesty, and rested in the Thorn Mansion. To say that this Runzhou Thorn Shi and Mutel are also old acquaintances, except that the two met once when they "took Haiyang", and then Murtel went north from Shanhaiguan many times to "fight the grass valley", and they all showed off their might and swaggered through the city under Haiyang, and the two sides had a lot of dealings. Therefore, Muttel treated this Han assassin very favorably, not only did not take him into a prisoner camp, but after obtaining the consent of Qian Yuanshan and Zeng Zhilin, he still let the other party and his family live in an independent courtyard in the assassin's mansion, and sent people to serve him with good food and drink. In this regard, on the one hand, this Zhou Tingshi thanked Muttel and others, but on the other hand, he was also secretly puzzled, not understanding that the other party Weishenme would be so polite to his opponent.

Zhou Tingshi's doubts were answered after a drink with Mutel, and the other party proposed to him at the banquet the personnel arrangements of the Beiping Army for the northern expedition to Xinzhan County. According to the committee's decision, all civilian officials in the prefectures and counties occupied by the Northern Expedition will retain their posts as long as they wish, and the yamen at all levels will also maintain the status quo and continue to perform their administrative functions. The only difference from before is that these officials are no longer loyal to the Khitan court, but to the Beiping Military Jiedu Mansion. As for the military generals in all prefectures and counties, the commanders and above are all dismissed from their posts and dismissed, and they are no longer allowed to control and command the army. Officers below the command command level are retained only if they wish. However, whether it is a civilian or military officer who maintains the status quo, or a high-ranking officer who has been dismissed, their lives and property will also be protected, and those who have been dismissed will be allowed to decide for themselves whether to stay in the city where they were stationed and live as ordinary people after the war, or leave the area and go to the area still under the control of the Khitans.

Such an arrangement made the officials and guards of Runzhou, especially the civil officials, who were originally panicked, quickly settle down. In their view, in this troubled era, it was by no means an era of emphasizing "loyal ministers and not two masters", and they did not need to lose their lives for the Liao court - otherwise they would not have unanimously agreed to surrender in Kaecheng. What's more, for more than 100 years, they have been under the rule of the Khitans, and they follow the law of the jungle of the nomadic people's "the strong are respected". Therefore, except for a few civil and military generals who were Khitans, all other Han officials were sincere to Qian Yuanshan, Zeng Zhilin and others, expressing their willingness to accept the jurisdiction of the Beiping Army and make a modest contribution to the Jiedu Lord.

Although the officials of Runzhou expressed their loyalty to the Beiping Army, as the saying goes, "the heart of defense is indispensable", the Beiping Army did not relax its control over this newly occupied city while welcoming and encouraging the other side's surrender. While the Northern Expeditionary Army set up camp in Haiyang City for two days and continued to march north with the original Haiyang garrison, which had been reorganized into a regiment, a company of the "Flying Dragon Army" and a regiment of the "Security Army" also drove from Shanhaiguan under the leadership of the newly appointed Runzhou garrison and stationed in the city to exercise the duties of defending the city and maintaining law and order in the city.

In the following half a month, the Northern Expeditionary Army marched all the way north, attacking cities and plundering land. Perhaps it was forced by the military might of the Northern Expeditionary Army, or perhaps it was the policy of Runzhou's preferential treatment of the original officials that successfully enveloped the officials of other states and counties, or perhaps it was the desire of the people, in short, after the Northern Expeditionary Army left Runzhou, it was smooth sailing, and with the cooperation of the army, navy and marines, it was almost bloodless to conquer Qianzhou, Laizhou, Xizhou, and Juehua Island (Yanzhou), and achieved a series of victories.