According to the official system, the Central Army of Goryeo consists of the Second Army and Six Guards, namely Yingyang (Controlling Crane), the Second Army of Longhu and Left and Right, Shenhu, Xingwei, Jinwu, Qianniu, and the Sixth Guard of Prison Gate. There are a total of forty-five subordinates.
Receive, each receive a thousand people.
In other words, the Central Army of Korea should have 45,000 men on its books.
The local army is divided into five state and county armies and two realms of state and town armies.
Among them, the state and county armies exist as reserve forces, and their number is about 50,000. Including the second-level army and the third-level army in each township and village, that is, the rural soldiers are young and strong, and logically there should be 600,000.
.
The northern and eastern boundaries, that is, the prefectural and town armies of the Anbei Protectorate and the Andong Protectorate, are standing frontier armies, and there should be about 140,000 on the books.
But these are all paper numbers.
Over the past hundred years, the power of local aristocratic families and yangban nobles in the Goryeo Kingdom has grown day by day. They have not only annexed a large amount of land, but also hidden a large number of young and strong laborers. The second army and six guards are all short of vacancies, not to mention the state, county and town armies. Each army can recruit three
One hundred thousand is not bad.
In the past few years, the Goryeo Kingdom "expanded its ambitions" in the northern border, and successively mobilized more than 100,000 soldiers and horses to go north for reinforcements. In addition to the 50,000 soldiers in the northern border state, it was almost 150,000. Later, Yin Guan formed a "partial martial arts squad" and Cui
Hongzheng formed two armies, the "Shenbu" and the "Shenqi", with a number of about 30,000.
The total number is around 180,000.
It’s just that in the past few years, the Jurchens have been suppressed and beaten, and they have won less and lost more, and the losses have been a bit large. The losses have been replaced to maintain sufficient military strength. During the "Great Victory of Qingchuan River", tens of thousands more troops were added. Now Cui Hongzheng has about
There are 190,000 troops and horses.
In addition, there are more than 300,000 civilians who transport grain and grass, all young men "between fourteen and fifty years old" recruited from all over the country of Goryeo - there are not so many rivers, canals, and rivers in northern Goryeo.
Most of the grain and grass were transported to the nine-city stronghold by manpower and animal power.
It can be deduced from this that the Song army directly cut off more than 500,000 soldiers, horses and young men of Goryeo with such a horizontal sword. This does not include the hundreds of thousands of officials and civilians north of Xishui and Langshan.
Wang Ma's heart is bleeding. The population of Korea is only 16.7 million, and now one person is surrounded by nearly one-third. How can this be possible?
These are not the old, weak, women and children, but the main labor force!
"Your Majesty, Privy Cui is a famous general in the world. The victory at Qingchuan River is proof of this. He now has 200,000 elite soldiers in his hands, and he will definitely be able to deal with the Song army and remain invincible."
Li Ziqian quickly comforted his son-in-law Wang Ma.
"Your Majesty, what Prime Minister Li said is very reasonable. Although the Song army has 200,000 troops, it is scattered on a thousand-mile defense line. It is fortified everywhere but not defended everywhere. You can ask Prime Minister Wu to lead the army from south to north, and then ask Prime Minister Cui to
From north to south, attacking together from north to south, we defeated the Song army in one fell swoop and won another great victory."
Jin Yuan followed immediately.
He switched jobs from the Lord Harmony Faction, and was appointed Yu Shi Zhongcheng - responsible for the important task of impeaching members of the Lord Harmony Faction. If he doesn't show his performance at this time, it will be later.
As he talked, Jin Yuan believed it himself.
He said with excitement: "Your Majesty, the last time the Song army underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, it was the reason for the great victory at Qingchuan River. Now the Song army has no regrets and still underestimates the enemy and rashly advance. Prime Minister Cui and Wu will definitely be able to join forces and defeat the Song army. This is really a gift from heaven.
Good opportunity, bless me Korea!"
Li Ziqian looked at his son-in-law Wang Mao, whose expression turned bright, and then at Jin Yuan who was still excited. He sighed in his heart, as expected of a well-educated man, he knew that if he wanted to deceive others, he had to deceive himself first.
Amazing and promising, I have a keen eye for recognizing talents!
Wu Yanchong looked at Jin Yuan with a complicated expression, complaining in his heart.
He has fought against the Qinglong Banner of the Song Army, and he knows the strength of his opponent. He also knows that the Song Army is best at strategic layout. Whether it is to destroy Xia or to level Liao, he can predict the enemy first and defeat the opponent to death. This
Only then did he achieve the momentum of a storm.
He and Cui Hongzheng knew the truth about the so-called "Great Victory at Qingchuan River" before. They were just fabricating a small victory given by God to cope with the pressure exerted by the Lord Harmony Faction. However, he did not expect Cui Hongzheng to be so bold.
, so ridiculously made up.
Wu Yanchong knew very well that a lie requires more and bigger lies to cover up. The "Victory of Qingchuan River" was so loud that it made it difficult for the main combatants to dismount.
And he would never think that the Song army's layout on the front line of Zhushui Langshan was underestimating the enemy's advance. If the Goryeo army was bruised and bruised, with heavy casualties, I really don't know how it would end!
The ministers walked out of Shouchang Hall, and Jin Yuan walked aside with several familiar colleagues, as if he had just returned in triumph.
On the other side, Li Ziqian asked Wu Yanchong quietly: "Prime Minister Wu, how little confidence do you have in defeating the Song army?"
Wu Yanchong raised his head and looked at the gray sky, and said quietly: "Winter is coming. Winter in the north is bone-chilling, and this winter will be colder than in previous years."
After saying that, he cupped his hands and left quickly.
Li Ziqian looked uncertain, his eyes flickering with fluctuations.
Opening a courtyard in Songyue Mountain outside the capital city, Zheng Keyong hurriedly walked in and went straight to the backyard.
"Brother Jin, I just got the latest information from the north. The Song army has occupied the five cities of Pyongyang, Sima, Jiaoshan, Yanyuan, and Qiwo. Along the Xishui River and Langshan Mountain, they have stabbed our country of Korea across the neck and conquered the north.
The boundary is cut off from a small portion of the eastern boundary..."
Zheng Keyong hurriedly told Jin Fuzhe that the information he told was similar to what the Goryeo monarchs and ministers in Shouchang Palace knew. He even drew a sketch to indicate the actual situation.
Jin Fuzhe looked at it for a long time, and the more he looked, the more frightened he became.
"Brother Zheng, do you think our army can break through the Song army's defense line with a combined attack from the north and the south?"
"It's very difficult!" Zheng Keyong shook his head and said. He was once a soldier of Yin Guan and later returned to Cui Hongzheng's command. It was actually he who proposed and planned the "Victory of Qingchuan River" that led the enemy deep and surrounded him from all sides.
"Why?"
"Pyongyang City is surrounded by natural dangers of the Mareshui River, and there are Song navy forces on the sea and rivers. It is difficult to defeat the city with foreign aid. The same is true for Sima City. The Marishui River in Jiaoshan City is narrow and shallow, and it is difficult for the Song Navy navy to go up it, but it is surrounded by mountains and rivers.
, In addition to the natural dangers of the river, there are also favorable mountains and terrain. Yanyuan guards the Langshan Valley, and one man can guard the pass and no one can open it. Qiwo City is surrounded by mountains and the sea. In addition to the dangerous mountains, there is also a port that connects to the sea. "
"I heard that the Song Dynasty built a port in Zuibin City (Tumen River Estuary) in the northeast, and ships were constantly coming and going. It is not far from Qiewo City, and two or three ships can make Qiewo City worry-free for foreign aid. Brother Jin
, how to conquer these five cities?"
Zheng Keyong spread his hands and asked.
"And the Song Army is the best at defending. The Western Xia Army and the Northern Liao Army were the most powerful armies in the world in the past, and they were good at attacking and difficult to defeat. The Song Army defended the city and resisted each other, and they have been able to fight evenly for hundreds of years. Now that the Song Army is defending these five cities, what do we, Korea, use?
To conquer?”
Having said this, Zheng Keyong pointed to the gray sky and said secretly: "Brother Jin, it has already entered winter. The weather is cold and there is snow on the ground. It is inconvenient to walk. Marching and transporting food are more difficult, which is also conducive to the Song army's defense of the city. It is even more difficult for the Song army to defend the city.
People are worried about the 200,000 soldiers and horses and more than 300,000 civilians under the command of Prime Minister Cui. They eat horse chews and consume countless amounts of food in a day."
"Previously, grain and grass had been transshipped from various places. Most of them were first collected in Gyeonggi and Haeju, transported to Pyongyang by sea, and then transferred by land from Pyongyang to cities in the northern border; a small amount was transshipped separately through the other four routes just mentioned.
Not only has a large amount of grain and grass fallen into the hands of the Song army in Pyongyang City, but the water and land routes for transportation to the north have also been cut off. Brother Jin, this winter is going to be difficult."
Jin Fuzhe's heart was as gray and cold as the sky, "Brother Zheng, do you think the Song Army was sure to arrive at this time?"
Zheng Keyong put his hands in his sleeves and said secretly: "Who knows? I set up strategies to lure the enemy in depth five or six times, and the Song army never fell into the trap. But when I least expected it, it suddenly succeeded. Who knew this