Chapter 825 0820 [Then let’s have a decisive battle]
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Ju Ming has led the main force to Chengzhou, which will later be known as Haicheng City.
During the Liao Dynasty, Tongzhou was established in the southeastern mountainous area, and Tiezhou was also established in the southern mountainous area.
There is copper, there is iron, and there is gold.
Continuing forward, one hundred and ten miles to the northeast is Liaoyang.
A fierce offensive and defensive battle is breaking out there!
The city has been occupied by the rebels, but the Jin army's food and grass are in the city, and Wanyan Zongfu must win it no matter how high the price is.
Wang Zheng brought all the family members of each clan to the top of the city, pointed to the Jin soldiers outside and said, "Look carefully, are there any Bohai soldiers or Han soldiers?"
Everyone looked at it for a long time but found no relevant flag.
But it's also possible that it's too far away to see clearly.
As long as you garrisoned the city wall that day, or transported supplies, or even just helped deliver meals, you can collect military pay after the handover.
At the same time, some Jurchen soldiers guarded the bridge to prevent the defenders from leaving the city and damaging the moat bridge.
Wanyan Zongfu led his troops to arrive in the middle of the night. They were exhausted and did not attack immediately. Instead, the whole army retreated to rest and recuperate.
On the third day, the entire army used the wood obtained from demolishing houses to build thousands of simple siege ladders.
If you perform meritorious service in battle, there will be rewards.
There are more than 10,000 Jurchen soldiers surrounding the city!
All the wealthy and aristocratic families mobilized to carry out propaganda in separate areas. Everyone told everyone that the Jurchens were going to massacre the city. Moreover, Wanyan Zongfu had been defeated, and the Ming Emperor was coming soon. It was only a matter of time before the Jin Kingdom was destroyed.
Military pay is paid on a daily basis.
Gao Jingshan said: "The armies of all ethnic groups in Huosuguan City must have surrendered and driven the Jurchen soldiers out of the city. The people in charge of the troops in your clan have rebelled. Once the Jurchen soldiers capture Liaoyang, they will still show kindness.
Do you want to let everyone go? It will definitely lead to the destruction of the whole family!"
The Jurchen soldiers outside the city were demolishing nearby houses to obtain wood, and used nails and even ropes to build siege ladders.
"We will do our best."
Women and children helped transport supplies and cooked and delivered meals to the soldiers.
Climbing a fortified city on this kind of siege ladder is simply seeking death. Fortunately, there are not many regular troops in the city, and the common people will be in a hurry before the battle.
outside the city.
The total number of troops defending the city was only 3,200.
The next morning, half of the soldiers took a rest while half demolished the houses. In the afternoon, the shift changed to continue demolishing the houses.
As a left-behind member of the largest family in Liaoyang, Zhang Xuanzheng immediately understood what to do. He said to other prominent families: "I will come from the center to dispatch the supplies in the city, and Generals Gao and Wang will direct the battle. You go to the city to organize the people.
Tell them that the Jurchens have been defeated and have reached the point where they are desperate. Once the city is defeated, no one will be left alive. Anyone who does not defend Sangzi will wait to be massacred by the Jurchen soldiers!"
…
Men ranging from old men in their fifties and sixties to young men of fourteen or fifteen were organized into the army.
Anyway, there are mountains of military rations in the city. In order to boost the morale of the entire army, both the soldiers participating in the battle and the women and children responsible for logistics can eat every meal with an open stomach.
In the city, there were more than 800 Bohai elites brought back by Gao and Wang, more than 300 Huangtou Shiwei (who suffered heavy casualties when attacking the city gate), and more than 2,000 Han soldiers and Xi soldiers.
The three great minions each led a new army. They were all ordinary people who had never fought in a war.
It's a matter of wealth and life, so all the noble families must brace themselves. If they can't defend Liaoyang, everyone will die.
A group of light cavalry suddenly arrived. They came from the mountainous area in the south.
"Marshal, Posulu is on the way to withdraw troops. The main force will arrive at noon tomorrow at the latest." Qingqi, who was responsible for reporting the news, said.
Wanyan Zongfu asked: "Are the Ming troops on the other side of the Yalu River chasing us?"
Qingqi replied: "We sent elites and carpenters along the way to cut down the mountains and trees and roll them down the slopes to block the road. It is estimated that we can delay the Ming army for a day or two."
"We only have one or two days, time is tight." Wanyan Zongfu looked to the southwest, which is the direction of the main force of the Ming army. It is estimated that they will arrive in a day or two. If the Ming army abandons their artillery, I am afraid they can arrive today.
But Wanyan Zongfu had to stay here, either to break into the city quickly to obtain grain and grass, or to wait for Jin Wushu to withdraw his troops and bring grain and grass.
"Prepare to attack the city from three sides together!"
All veterans in the city are responsible for guarding the wall near the city gate, or staying at the horse trail as a reserve team.
The new soldiers were distributed on the four walls and fought with a variety of weapons.
Hundreds of poles were urgently built to overturn the siege ladder. It was best to overturn the siege ladder, otherwise once the Jurchen soldiers boarded the city, the new soldiers would be easily defeated.
The more than 10,000 Jurchen soldiers only carried rations for a few days, and they would be all eaten in two or three days.
Defeat or the destruction of the country is no longer a concern for them. Now these guys just want to enter the city to seize food.
Everyone is looking forward to death!
Dozens of people formed a team and rushed forward carrying the siege ladder.
The defenders did not have many bows and arrows, and the Jurchen soldiers quickly rushed to the bottom of the wall. When they started to climb, the defenders began to push the siege ladder with forks, or dropped rolling logs and poured gold juice.
The previous waves of attacks all failed, and the team with too many casualties was immediately replaced and rested, while another team continued.
The fight lasted until evening, and Wanyan Zongfu had no intention of withdrawing his troops.
Finally, a few Jurchen soldiers climbed up the city wall and killed dozens of nearby recruits.
Those recruits were ordinary people a few days ago, and they came to help defend the city because they were afraid of being massacred. Although they were given enough food and wages to have high morale, they were completely blind when it came to fighting. Firstly, they lacked soldiers and armor, and secondly, they were not drilled.
A few well-armored Jurchen soldiers can kill a large number of people after they board the city.
Wang Zheng was observing the battle situation on the city tower, and he was responsible for commanding the walls on both sides of the city tower. When he saw Jurchen soldiers ascending the city, he immediately ordered: "Move the Xi soldiers over!"
The flag on the city tower was waving, and the messenger soldiers near Xi Bing immediately shouted after receiving the news: "Xi Bing, go to the rescue quickly!"
This Xi Bing is a reserve team. Although they have a grudge against the Bohai people, they are all grasshoppers on the same rope now.
On the other side, the Jin soldiers were also moving troops towards the first landing point, trying to occupy the city wall in one go.
The Xi Bing reserve force was delayed by the defeated troops. By the time they rushed over, more than fifty Jurchen soldiers had already boarded the city.
At the same time, another recruit was also killed and routed, and the nearby Han army reserve team went to the rescue.
They continued to fight until it was completely dark, and the Jurchen soldiers who had ascended the city were finally driven out completely.
In desperation, Wanyan Zongfu could only withdraw his troops at night.
"Follow me!"
Gao Jingshan led the 500 Bohai elite cavalry who had been waiting for a long time. When the Jurchen soldiers retreated, they opened the urn city under the cover of night and rushed out to kill them.
The Jurchen soldiers who were retreating carrying the siege ladder were caught off guard and were defeated and fled.
It was not until they had chased half a mile across the moat that the Jurchen cavalry arrived to rescue them. Gao Jingshan quickly led his troops back to Wengcheng.
…
Jin Wushu is still on his way in the mountains. His biggest headache now is not the pursuing soldiers, but the deserters who appear every night.
He ordered all the tribes south of the Yalu and Tumen rivers to leave their homes and go to Shoupo Sulu City.
It is true that these mountain tribes took refuge in the Jin Kingdom very early, but their leaders had long been promoted and moved away. The rest were all poor people, and there were not many young and strong people. Only the lazy Jurchens were considered elite.
With a city to defend, they were relatively safe.
They are not willing to abandon the city and evacuate.
Especially the Jurchen people south of the Yalu River. They have not gained much benefit from following the Jin Kingdom, but now they are required to leave their homes and flee for their lives, and their lives may even be in danger at any time.
On the night when Jin Wushu withdrew to the north, some Jurchen soldiers fled.
There was an emergency evacuation in the mountains, all along narrow mountain roads, and there was no time to even set up camp. All they had to do was stick spears on both sides. How to stop deserters in this situation?
Often a team of soldiers would be sent to collect firewood, only half of the team would be left, and the rest would take the opportunity to escape.
Or wait until most people are asleep and quietly crawl into the forest.
Some were even brave enough to go back and join the pursuing Ming army. Because they had no food and were afraid of encountering wild beasts in the mountains, they simply rebelled against the Jin and joined the Ming army to have a better chance of survival.
When Jin Wushu led his army out of the mountains, he had less than 20,000 troops (including the grain transport team).
Although horses can carry armor and grain, the mountain roads in some places are rugged and horses cannot carry too much weight. If you want to transport most of the grain on the Posu Road, you will need a group of civilians to carry grain.
The two Jin soldiers met outside Liaoyang City.
Jin Wushu asked: "It hasn't been captured yet?"
"It's almost time. From yesterday to now, we have already visited the city several times." Wanyan Zongfu said.
Jin Wushu asked again: "Where is the main force of the Ming army?"
Wanyan Zongfu said: "This morning, the Ming army's light cavalry was found twenty miles away. Their main force is probably arriving soon."
Jin Wushu said: "I left several thousand soldiers to guard the mountain pass to prevent the Ming army chasing after the Yalu River from coming out of the mountain. Do I need to be transferred here for a decisive battle?"
Wanyan Zongfu turned to look at the city, wondering whether he should attack the city again.
Within a day, if they still cannot capture Liaoyang, they will face the main force of the Ming army led by Ju Ming himself.
Wanyan Zongfu asked: "I still have more than 11,000 soldiers in hand. Counting the soldiers you brought, how long can I last with food and grass?"
"One month," Jin Wushu said, "if we save on food, we can survive forty or fifty days."
"Why are these the only ones left?" Wanyan Zongfu asked.
Jin Wushu explained: "I was traveling in a hurry in the mountains. Along the way, there were many deserters, and some were injured and stragglers. In the second half of the journey, there were not enough civilians to escape, so I could only let the war horses carry grain and grass, and there were many others.
The little food and grass were burned on the road."
There was nothing we could do about it. If Jin Wushu didn't rush for time, the main force of the Ming army would definitely arrive earlier.
At this moment, several cavalrymen from the east rushed over, their armors covered in blood.
The horses were running so fast that they were frothing at the mouth, and one of them fell down after being far away.
A cavalryman who was at the forefront was led to Wanyan Zong, got off his horse and reported: "Marshal, Shenzhou (Shenyang) is gone!"
Wanyan Zongfu was shocked: "Why is Shen Zhou missing?"
The Jurchen cavalry said: "The Ming army had thousands of cavalry, and they made a surprise attack on Shenzhou last night. Many of them were armed with muskets. Shenzhou's troops were empty, and there were still some fine works in the city, so it was suddenly lost."
Wanyan Zongfu stood stunned on the spot.
It turns out that the reason why the main force of the Ming army was so slow was not because the artillery slowed down the march, but to paralyze Wanyan Zongfu so that he could secretly send troops to surprise Shenzhou.
All the cavalry in Ju Ming's hands were sent to Jinzhou and Baozhou, leaving only Yang Zaixing's troops who had suffered heavy losses to rest and recuperate.
How can we get thousands of cavalry to attack Shenyang by surprise?
Most of the people who participated in the surprise attack were infantry, and the war horses were descended from various ethnic groups. They took a detour and went straight to Shenyang on horseback, and then attacked the city on foot!
As soon as Shenyang was lost, Wanyan Zongfu's westward retreat route was blocked. If he wanted to escape, he could only make a circuit from the north.
Jin Wushu said: "If we withdraw our troops immediately and head north, we will definitely be chased along the way, and we may not be able to take much food with us. Instead of fighting with low morale during the withdrawal, it is better to fight the decisive battle in Liaoyang while waiting for work!"
"Then let's have a decisive battle." Wanyan Zongfu's eyes were blank.