In "The Complete Biography of Yue", there are dozens of fierce generals in Yue's army.

Among these people, there are no more than twenty people who can be traced to history.

Gao Chong, Tang Huai, Lu Wenlong and other top fighters are all fictionalized by later generations.

Nowadays, there are only three generals under Yue Fei's command, namely: Wang Gui, Xu Qing, and Ji Qian (Ji Qing's prototype).

On the contrary, it is the brothers Zhai Xing and Zhai Jin, and there are four generals under their command: Niu Gao, Dong Xian, Zhao Yun, and Liang Xing.

Dong Xian was originally the general of the Zhai brothers, Niu Gao was the captain of the Minfu to transport grain to Shanxi, and Zhao Yun and Liang Xing were the leaders of the Shanxi Anti-Jin Rebellion. Last year, the Zhai brothers organized and trained a new army in Shanxi, and all these people were incorporated into the army.

In the previous Shanxi War, Zhang Guangdao sent the Zhai brothers back to Shouyang to rescue Guo Yaoshi, and Niu, Dong, Zhao, and Liang participated in the raid on Yan Zonghan's East Camp.

Zhang Xian joined the Ming army in Sichuan, was first transferred to Shanxi, and then to Hebei, but now he is a general under Guan Sheng.

Zhang Yong and Zhang Li brothers, whose prototypes are Zhang Bofen and Zhang Zhongxiong, are now both under the command of Han Shizhong. However, they wanted to become civil officials, intending to participate in the imperial examinations after the war, which the brothers had passed in the Song Dynasty.

In this battle just now, Meng Bangjie led his troops to surrender to Ming, but he was under the command of Li Shifu.

Li Shifu fought bravely and was appreciated by Zong Ze. Zong Ze asked him to train soldiers and replenish the troops to 3,000 people, and Meng Bangjie happened to be absorbed.

This foggy victory, the morale of the defenders of Zhaozhou was even stronger, and even the people in the city were not afraid.

However, Wanyan Zongwang was a little confused, and he couldn't figure out the reality of the defenders of Zhaozhou at all, and a large number of craftsmen and people were scattered, which seriously affected the next siege battle.

"Marshal, the draft city is in an emergency, the city tower and arrow tower have all been destroyed by the artillery of the Ming army!"

"Transfer another 4,000 Khitan soldiers to defend the city."

Wanyan Zongwang chose to transfer the battlefield, and he was indeed more active than before. He succeeded in dividing the strength of the Ming army, but he was able to send infantry to reinforce the city within a day while besieging Zhaozhou, and it would even take half a day if he sent cavalry over.

These 4,000 Khitan soldiers were transferred to the draft city, so the defenders in the city had 8,000 Jin soldiers (Jurchen, Khitan, and Xi people), and 6,000 Hebei thieves who were Zhao'an.

14,000 soldiers held on to the draft city, and they already had the strength to go out of the city to fight, and Wanyan Zong did not believe that the Ming army could capture it.

Another day later, Wanyan Yan's mother dispatched the golden soldiers from the middle battlefield to come over, and Wanyan Zongwang's troops were even more sufficient.

After understanding the situation, Wanyan Yan's mother said: "The marshal mobilized the main force to besiege Zhaozhou, and has forced the Ming army (Guan Sheng, Yue Fei, and Li Qiong) on the shore of the sleeping water to rush back to Zhaozhou and Ningjin. The Ming army was divided into three, and Zhaozhou was not easy to overcome, so a small number of elite cavalry could be left to contain and harass the Ming army of Zhaozhou and Ningjin, and the main force of our army went to Manuscript City to fight a decisive battle with Prince Zhu! ”

In the previous battlefield, four rivers formed a rectangular area, and the four sides of the rectangle were under the control of the Ming army, while the Jin soldiers only had the upper left corner of the rectangle of the draft city.

After Yan Zongwang switched troops, he had already controlled one side of the rectangle, gaining more advantages in tactical strategy.

Wanyan Zongwang thought carefully and said: "Let the craftsmen and people build a number of pontoon bridges in the sleeping water first. In this way, our army's more than 20,000 cavalry can calmly travel between Zhaozhou and Manuscript City. Wherever you want to fight, you can fight wherever you want, the Ming army infantry will definitely be exhausted! ”

Wanyan's mother led 8,000 horsemen, and led the craftsmen and men to the northern section of the water, and used the cavalry to protect the craftsmen and quickly build a pontoon bridge.

However, Zhu Ming did not send troops to interfere with Jin Bing's pontoon operation.

He's starting the siege!

……

Zhu Ming's troops are strong, with 3,000 heavy infantry, 6,314 musketeers, 9,000 elite people in Kuizhou, 9,000 elite people in Hanzhong, more than 7,000 Hebei Bazi Army, 5,000 Shaanxi cavalry, more than 5,000 logistics arms, and 210 iron cannons of various types.

Wanyan Yanmu, who was supervising the construction of the pontoon bridge, learned that Zhu Ming's whole army was dispatched, and immediately understood that a siege battle was going to break out.

He sent people back to report to Yan Zongwang, led 8,000 Jin State cavalry, and began to cruise back and forth on the outer battlefield to find an opportunity.

Li Yanxian led the cavalry under his command, always covering the advance of the infantry, and the musketeers were also neatly lined up to defend against the enemy. The whole army of more than 40,000 people, in front of Wanyan Yanmu and Sariho, built a large car formation in the southwest and south of the draft city.

The siege was extremely slow, and the army set out in the morning, pushing artillery and siege equipment, and did not set up the large array until noon.

Wanyan Zongwang even arrived at the battlefield with the vanguard!

"Is the Ming army going to attack the city, or is it going to fight a decisive battle outside the city?" Wanyan Zongwang didn't understand.

Wanyan Yan's mother said: "No matter what Prince Zhu wants to do, it is beneficial to us anyway, we can flank the enemy with the defenders on both sides!" ”

Wanyan Zongwang said: "I can't see it really here, I will personally go to the city to check the enemy's situation." ”

Wanyan Zongwang took a boat to the northwest of the draft city and quickly boarded the south city wall.

The towers of the southern city wall, as well as the nearby arrow towers, have all been destroyed by the Ming artillery.

"Meet the marshal!" Saariho stepped forward to greet him.

Wanyan Zongwang asked, "What is the morale of the defenders?" ”

Sariho said: "The morale is okay, but the Ming army's artillery is powerful, and the daily artillery is annoying. The arrow towers on the south and east walls are all gone, and our troops can only shoot arrows while standing on the city walls. ”

Wanyan Zongwang did not ask again, but carefully observed the movements of the Ming army outside the city.

It was already past noon, and the Ming army, relying on the car formation, was digging trenches and building barriers to prevent the Jin cavalry from charging from the side and rear!

At this rate, the city will definitely not be attacked today.

Wanyan Zongwang said to the herald: "Tell Wanyan Yan's mother and ask him to send cavalry to the east to explore the reality of Prince Zhu's camp." ”

In the middle of the afternoon, the cavalry of the Jin State finished their investigation and came to report: "Prince Zhu's previous camp is empty, and he has not brought the people who are besieging the city, and there is still excess grain and grass, so he should have all withdrawn to Gucheng (Jinzhou City)." ”

Gucheng was thirty miles east of Manuscript City, where it was full of grain and grass, and there were 6,000 Hebei township soldiers recruited by Wang Yan to defend it.

Wanyan Zongwang was extremely surprised when he heard this, and at the same time he was furious.

Zhu Ming's behavior looked down on the Jin soldiers too much, this was after completing the preparations for the siege, he directly transferred the main camp to the outside of the city, and he was completely building a camp close to his face. Moreover, the food brought was not much, at most ten days' supply, and it seemed that he was sure that he would break through the city in ten days.

Wanyan Yanmu also climbed the city wall, observed it and said: "Do you want to take advantage of the fact that the Ming army's camp has not yet been built, and immediately launch an attack on all sides, or wait until they attack the city and consume the morale of the troops before fighting?" ”

"Let them attack the city, transfer all the main forces of our army, and surround the Ming army here, and not allow the Ming army to transport a grain of military food here," Wanyan Zongwang said, "If the defenders of Zhaozhou dare to come to the rescue, they will eat those reinforcements first, and I will besiege Prince Zhu here!" ”

Prince Zhu was too bullying, and he didn't take Jin Bing seriously at all, and Wanyan Zongwang felt that he was being ignored.

Zhu Ming held the binoculars and could clearly see Wanyan Zongwang speaking.

Wanyan Zongwang set up a number of pontoon bridges on the sleeping water, in a vain attempt to create a fast passage connecting the two battlefields, which made Zhu Ming not want to endure it anymore.

If you endure it any longer, the initiative on the battlefield will be taken away by the Jin soldiers.

……

Guan Sheng got Zhu Ming's handwritten letter, and found out that the main force of Jin Bing went to Manuscript City, and led his troops to Zhaozhou that night.

After reading Zhu Ming's handwritten letter, Zong Ze was dumbfounded and said, "How can the prince be so risky? If he can't quickly break through the draft city, or if he is defeated by the Jin soldiers during the siege, the entire Hebei battle situation will be rotten! ”

The handwritten letter was handed over to the generals to circulate, and Li Shifu exclaimed: "Your Highness is too crazy to fight. ”

Guan Sheng said: "Your Highness has heavy armor and firearms, as long as the food is not exhausted, you will definitely not be afraid of the golden soldiers." ”

Yue Fei said: "The prince used himself as bait to contain the main force of the golden soldiers. Wanyan Zongwang mobilized so many golden soldiers to come over, and the east and middle roads of our army should be able to go smoothly, and maybe they have already captured Hejian Mansion. ”

Zong Ze shook his head and sighed: "The Jin people don't think the same way we do. They don't care about the city at all, even if the whole of Hebei is lost, the Jin people don't care. As long as they eat the prince's main force, they can fight back no matter how many cities there are. ”

Zhu Ming wanted to open up the situation everywhere, using himself as bait to attract more Jin soldiers for a decisive battle, so that Deng Chun, Han Shizhong, Li Hui, Yang Zaixing and others could quickly attack the city.

Wanyan Zongwang only wanted to eat Zhu Ming's main force, and would rather throw away all those cities.

In the current situation, both sides take what they need, and it can be said that they hit it off.

Meng Bangjie, who had just surrendered, said: "In the city of Zhendingfu, most of them are garrisoned by the Hebei Han army, and the Khitan soldiers and Bohai soldiers add up to only two or three thousand. Why don't we take advantage of the transfer of the main force of the Jin soldiers besieging Zhaozhou, and we will attack Zhending by surprise? ”

Zong Ze worried: "Zhending Mansion City is very important, will Wanyan Zongwang secretly keep more elites?" ”

Meng Bangjie said: "The elite of the Jin Kingdom has gathered a total of tens of thousands, and they have to defend Zhending, Luan City, and Manuscript City, and besiege His Royal Highness the Prince, where can there be extra troops?" ”

"But Zhending City is even more difficult to fight than Zhaozhou, even if there are only two or three thousand gold soldiers stationed there, it will be difficult for us to take it when we rush." Zong Ze said.

Yue Fei said, "You can really decide!" ”

Yue Fei asked Meng Bangjie again: "In Zhending City, how many Hebei Han troops are there?" ”

"Five or six thousand, or maybe seven or eight thousand," Meng Bangjie said, "are all the cronies of the traitor Liu Yu, and I have been stationed in Zhending City for half a month." The people in the city were panicked, and many soldiers were reluctant to fight. Liu Yu's reputation is extremely bad, and he is a good hand at party fighting, but he is a mess in governing the army and the people. The cronies and generals under his command also did the same, eating empty pay and drinking the blood of soldiers, and everyone from officers to non-commissioned officers was dissatisfied. ”

Yue Fei said: "Only two thousand horsemen need to rush to attack Zhending, and raise more torches at night, and there will be chaos in the city." ”

Guan Sheng said: "Your military order to freeze to death and not demolish the house can't be taken care of this time." Our army rushed to the outside of Zhending City, and should burn down a large number of Fuguo dwellings, and it is more effective to have a fire outside the city than to raise more torches. When the time comes, after shouting that Yan Zongwang is dead, I don't know how many officials and soldiers in the city will take the opportunity to be corrected! ”

Yue Fei didn't refute, it was a tacit acquiescence.

Just when Yue Fei and others were discussing the real timing of the surprise attack, the Eastern Route Army of the Ming army was already overwhelmed.

Due to Wanyan Zongwang's withdrawal of the elite Jin soldiers on the East Road, the remaining Hebei Han army was crushed at the first touch.

Li Cheng led his troops to attack Leshou, and while the moat was still filled, some officers in the city shot a book, saying that they were willing to raise fire to help capture the city.

Han Shizhong led his troops to attack Qingzhou, and personally led dozens of people to climb the city at night, and thousands of Han troops in the city collapsed in fright. Even if a large number of Han troops surrendered, a small number of fierce people did not dare to fight and fled to the north to become bandits.

Deng Chun captured Beilin Town and Yongning Town, and waited for Li Cheng and Han Shizhong to lead troops to converge, and the three of them besieged Hejian Fucheng together.

As soon as the army arrived outside the city, there were officers in tandem and killed the guards to open the door and dedicate the city.

The Eastern Route Army then marched westward and attacked the Yongning Military City with Li Heng, Cao Cheng, and Yang Zaixing.

There are 2,000 Bohai naval defenses here, and the Han army in Hebei does not dare to surrender immediately, but as long as the moat is filled and the siege begins, most of the Han troops defending the city will compete to defect.

It's not that Wanyan Zongwang was too stupid, which caused the Ming army to quickly attack the city, but that he could use too few troops.

From Youzhou to Liaodong and then to southern Liaoning, it has experienced more than ten years of war, during which there have been many uprisings, rebellions, suppressions, and massacres. The fight was ten rooms and nine emptiness, the population and resources of the Jin State were extremely tight, and the territory of the puppet court of the puppet Song Dynasty was difficult to digest, and even made an order to shave their hair and make it easy to obey.

It's all like this, and it's divided into east and west roads by internal friction, and the two armies of the Jin Kingdom have almost no cooperation at all, so why dare they invade the south of the country in such a serious situation.

Wanyan Zongwang didn't concentrate his forces to fight a decisive battle, what other choice could he have?

(End of chapter)