Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The tribal cavalry from the grassland were arranged by Wanyan Zonghan to besiege Dadingfu City and at the same time explore the grain station within a radius of more than 100 miles.

The core grain station was stationed near Ningcheng City in later generations, led by Wanyan Mouyan. Afraid that something might happen to him if he was too young, he arranged for a veteran, Wanyan, to live with him.

Although Wanyan Zonghan who besieged Li Yanxian and the prairie cavalry who besieged Dadingfu City each set up a camp, they did not have much food and grass around them.

Every day, there are grain transport teams transporting grain and grass from Wanyan Mouyan to the two camps.

The closer you get to the main food station of the Jin Kingdom, the more prairie cavalry will be on sentry duty.

Almost every four or five miles, a group of cavalry is on patrol. They were all herdsmen from the grasslands and were recruited by Wanyan Zonghan to serve as light cavalry.

"We can't get through," Han Chang rode back on horseback. "If we only have twenty or thirty light cavalry, we might be able to approach quietly. But we have thousands of cavalry. Even if we lead the horse, we will be easily discovered."

Yue Fei thought for a moment and said: "Then let's go there openly. You lead people to shout from the front, saying that the rear city of Jin Bing has been lost. I will lead people to pretend to be defeated soldiers, intimidate those grassland cavalry, and gallop all the way towards the grain station."

Han Chang nodded and said, "You can try it."

Han Chang immediately brought his cavalry who could speak Khitan and advanced towards the south at a low speed. Yue Fei led more than a thousand brave cavalry to follow.

After advancing about three miles, they were discovered.

A herdsman cavalry rushed over and asked: "Which tribe are you from? Who sent you here to guard?"

Han Chang pretended to be very tired and replied: "Jinyuan County and Huihe County have all been lost! Li Bao, the leader of the Southern Bandits, made a surprise attack from Jianzhou northward and caught us off guard. I am an escapee from Huihe County." I came here, and my horse was almost dead from running so hard. There were more than a thousand horsemen behind me, all of whom were defeated soldiers from the two cities."

The herdsman cavalry was so shocked that he didn't ask any more questions, but rushed back to inform his companions.

Immediately afterwards, the cavalry team responsible for patrolling and sentrying did not rush to the south to notify Wanyan Mouyan. Instead, they galloped all the way west to the Jinbing camp that besieged Dadingfu City.

Han Chang was stunned for a moment, not understanding what was going on.

He rode back and told Yue Fei. Yue Fei clapped his hands and laughed: "It seems that these cavalry from the grassland are not very loyal to the Jin people. They heard that the two cities in the rear had fallen, so they went to join their own tribe without confirming . It is obvious that the Jin Kingdom will be defeated and plans to escape to the grassland in advance."

Han Chang reacted immediately, nodded and said: "It must be so. The Jin soldiers failed to attack Dading Mansion, and their attempt to attack General Li Yanxian was not successful. After continuous setbacks, why didn't these grassland herdsmen think more? They didn't escape in advance, they were already right. The Kingdom of Jin is extremely loyal. Now that I heard that the rear has been lost, how can I still be willing to stay here?"

Yue Fei ordered: "Separate a few of your men, pretend to be prairie cavalry all the way, and go to Dadingfu City to report the news. Say that the enemy's morale is low, and let Wang Yan lead his troops out of the city to attack the prairie cavalry besieging Dadingfu. It will be sure. Defeated in one strike! After winning, don’t pursue, but march to the Jinbing Food Station to help us burn food and evacuate. If there is a chance, Wang Yan and I will fight against the Jinbing in the wild!”

"yes!"

"Wait a minute. Bring my trump card with you, in case Wang Yan doesn't believe it."

But he said that the group of prairie cavalry was running all the way west.

On the way, they encountered light cavalry patrolling. No matter which tribe they came from, they all hurriedly told that the city behind them had been lost and that the troops here had become alone.

Without confirmation, everyone believed it!

Although these herders from the grasslands were far away from the Ming Dynasty, they had heard that the Ming army fought fiercely.

Even if you haven’t heard of it, you have seen it a few days ago.

The artillery can shoot so far, and the thunder will explode. How can a mortal body win?

Now that the rear has been lost, there is no need to work for the Kingdom of Jin anymore. Everyone fled back to the grassland quickly. It was best to live their own lives. If the Ming army came to kill them, they would surrender.

More and more prairie cavalry fled back to the camp east of Dadingfu City.

Although the chief general there was a Jurchen general, he could not control the situation at all. In the blink of an eye, the news spread throughout the camp, and the leaders of various grassland tribes told their tribesmen to prepare to run away.

When the light cavalry sent by Han Chang passed near the enemy camp, no one came to care about them.

Because various tribes in the grassland have begun to flee one after another, a few even rushed to Dadingfu City, intending to directly defect to the Ming army in the city.

A group of more than 200 prairie cavalry rushed over and asked, "Are you going to join the Ming Dynasty too?"

The leading officer of the Qingqi sent to the city to report the news was Han Chang's younger brother Han Su. He spoke fluent Khitan: "You too?"

The leader asked: "Can you speak Chinese?"

The cavalry from all the grassland tribes fled one after another instead of going to Fucheng to surrender, probably because they could not speak Chinese... If they could all speak Chinese, there would probably be more tribes who defected.

Han Su thought for a while and simply revealed his identity: "I am a cavalry officer of the Ming Dynasty. If you want to make meritorious service, go and call more tribes and take them to the nearby Tu River to wait."

The leader was shocked: "Where did you come from?"

Han Su said: "We followed Li Xianggong and broke through the rear city of the Jin Kingdom. We are going to attack the Jin Bing camp tonight. Not only are there Ming cavalry here, but also from the south, north and east. They have surrounded the Jin Bing from afar! You hurry up and invite all the cavalry, and they will join you in the siege after a while. If you win this battle, all participating tribes will be rewarded with food and cloth."

Is this place already besieged from all sides?

The leader was doubtful, but the sudden appearance of the Ming army in front of him forced him to believe it. After only hesitating for two or three seconds, he said: "General, please wait for me for a while, I will call someone right away!"

The development of things is getting more and more outrageous.

Perhaps they were frightened by the firearms. Various tribes from the grassland thought that the Ming army could not defeat them.

They were already frightened and originally planned to escape separately. Now someone went back to spread the word, saying that there were ambushes from the Ming army on all sides. As panic spread rapidly, they all agreed to surrender to the leader.

Moreover, you must also take the initiative to submit a certificate of nomination!

The Jurchen generals who stayed in the camp were leading troops to pacify the various tribes when they were suddenly besieged by several tribes.

The tribal leaders sent people to connect with each other. The prairie cavalry who had not escaped rushed to besiege the Jurchen soldiers who were left behind. Although these guys were very short of soldiers and armor, they were so many that the ants killed the elephants, and they actually defeated the Jurchen soldiers and broke out of the encirclement.

It's just that the record is a bit bad.

Three to four thousand prairie cavalry besieged two hundred Jurchen knights, and more than a hundred were successfully broken through by the opponent... If it were daytime, it was uncertain who would win and who would lose.

Han Su blew the trumpet all the way to the city, and soon alerted the defenders in the city.

Wang Yan was sleeping in the tower at the moment. He walked quickly to the parapet, observed carefully and then ordered: "Don't shoot arrows, let them come over."

Han Su came to the city: "We were sent by General Yue Fei, and we have the general cards as evidence. General Wang, please mobilize your troops quickly. Many of the prairie cavalry besieging the city have fled in panic, and some are still planning to defect to the Ming Dynasty." ”

Wang Yan ordered the entire army to assemble and asked someone to hang Han Su up in a basket.

After confirming that the trump card was correct, Wang Yan asked about the situation in detail.

Immediately, he sent out all the cavalry in the city, led by Han Su, and he led the infantry to follow. As for Dadingfu City, only two thousand people were left to defend it.

Han Su led the cavalry in the city to the river, only to see thousands of cavalry there.

what's the situation?

The tribal leader from before came running over and said happily, "The Jurchen soldiers who stayed here have been killed by us."

Han Su felt like he was dreaming. He just had an idea and wanted to get more surrender troops.

What the hell is a few thousand rides sent over directly?

These prairie cavalry did not have many pieces of armor, and their combat effectiveness was extremely poor in battle. But it’s fine to take it and set it on fire!

Han Su said: "You go back to the camp quickly and bring more torches. Also, the torches in your hands are also extinguished. Don't let them reach the place where they have been burned."

As for Yue Fei, he let Han Chang go first and spread false news when encountering enemy sentries.

Many enemy cavalry ran to the west, and some ran to the south.

Before Yue Fei even got close to the Jinbing Granary, there was already chaos there.

Wanyan Hezhu hurriedly ran to report: "Some Qingqi came back to report that the two cities behind our army are gone. People in the grassland are confused. Some people are already running away. I have dispatched warriors to intercept and suppress them."

"How could it be lost there? Even if Li Bao withdrew his troops from Xingzhong Mansion and attacked at full speed, he still wouldn't be able to catch up." Wanyan Mouyan said.

Wanyan said: "There must be some Ming army cavalry, pretending to be herdsmen, spreading rumors at night."

Wanyan Mouyan said speechlessly: "How can they believe such outrageous rumors?"

Wanyan stayed together and said depressedly: "I believe it all!"

Wanyan Mouyan: "..."

The two discussed it but couldn't think of a way to solve it.

We can only guard the food and grass while sending people to intercept and refute the rumors to prevent more prairie cavalry from fleeing in panic.

Yue Fei led more than a thousand knights, but the speed was not very fast.

He knew that Jin Bing must be on guard, and there was no way he could attack by surprise. Just trot slowly, wait for the situation to change, and then decide how to fight.

Soon hundreds of cavalry appeared in the south, all of them were food-guarding troops planning to escape back to the grassland.

"Go and surrender!" Yue Fei ordered.

Han Chang rushed out immediately. Instead of directly asking for surrender, he first confirmed his identity: "Which tribe are you from?"

The other party had no time to answer and asked anxiously: "Is the Ming army coming from the north?"

Han Chang burst out laughing: "The soldiers of tomorrow are here. If you turn sides and surrender, not only will your sins be forgiven, but you will also be rewarded for your meritorious service!"

Yue Fei heard Han Chang's laughter and ran forward with his troops for more than ten steps.

As they got closer, the prairie cavalry finally saw their equipment clearly.

They are all brave knights!

It seems that what was said before is not a rumor, the Ming army has indeed arrived.

The leader quickly dismounted and led his men to kneel down to ask for surrender.

Yue Fei asked Han Chang to translate: "Tell them to follow me directly to the enemy camp to burn food. I have 10,000 cavalry behind me and will arrive soon to help."

…

(Han Chang is a Han from the North, one of the four major Han surnames in the Liao Kingdom. The first two chapters were written as Bohai people.)