The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 209: Go to Sizhou, Battle on the Yangtze River
Yang Kang was instantly furious, his eyes bloodshot, "General Wanyan, explain to me why Mu Huali left Xuzhou alone and came to attack our granary. Also, why did the Mongols know our deployment?"

Sweat suddenly broke out on Wanyan Chenghui's forehead. He opened his mouth, not knowing how to explain. God knew how the Mongols knew this news.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Yang Kang suppressed his anger and said, "Besides withdrawing the troops, is there no other way?"

Wanyan Chenghui wiped the sweat off his forehead and replied, "Guo Jing's troops far outnumber ours, and Mu Huali has joined him. Even with a strong city, we can't hold them out for long. Sizhou City doesn't have walls like Kaifeng, so it can't stop their attack. For now, we can only evacuate. We'll be on the other side of the river, using the navy's warships to harass them."

"Okay, I'll do as you say!"

Yang Kang stared at him for a long time and agreed with his strategy. Although he was not a general, the granary was destroyed and the cities along the Sizhou line had no supplies and would be breached sooner or later. He hoped to compete with Guo Jing, but he was not here to die.

Then, that night, Yang Kang and Wanyan Chenghui evacuated Sizhou City with their elite troops. When the soldiers in the city woke up the next day, they found that their commander had fled. However, the defender of Sizhou City was a member of the Jin royal family. Even though he knew that the granary was destroyed, he still led the soldiers in the city to hold their ground.

At the foot of the city, Guo Jing looked at the figure on top of the city wall and said with some regret, "Yang Kang ran really fast!"

On the general platform, Shi Tianni's eyes were full of eagerness to try, "The granary in Huaidi has been destroyed. I don't think Sizhou City can hold out for long. Lord, I will be the vanguard to attack the city."

"allow!"

Whenever his generals asked for orders, he would grant them.

Then, Shi Tianni led his personal soldiers to attack the city, braving the arrows and rolling logs and rocks from the top of the city walls.

The Jin Kingdom also knew that to defend the Yangtze River, it was necessary to defend the Huai River. Over the past hundred years, the defense system built by the Song Dynasty in the Huai area was very complete. All the losses they suffered at the hands of the Song Dynasty in the past were now being used against them.

Even though Guo Jing slowed down the pace of the siege, the soldiers who climbed the city first still suffered heavy casualties.

However, after several days without any food input from outside, the Jin army in the city finally panicked. Taking advantage of the enemy's chaos, Shi Tianni led his men to act as the vanguard many times, and their morale was high.

On the other hand, Mu Huali robbed the Jin army's granary and then withdrew. His troops had traveled hundreds of miles without any logistics, so they withdrew after achieving their strategic goal.

On the city wall, blood and flesh were flying, and shouts of killing were deafening.

Shi Tianni climbed up the city wall using the ladder and was faced with a Jin guard. Seeing a spear stabbing at him, he crouched down, rolled closer, and thrust out the long knife in his hand, piercing the enemy's chest.

When the Jin army saw a gap in the defense, they hurriedly sent people over, but Shi Tianni and his men fought desperately and stayed on the top of the city wall from beginning to end. Taking advantage of this opportunity, more and more Han soldiers climbed up the city wall.

In just half an hour, this section of the city wall finally fell.

"Oh!"

After taking control of the city wall, the Han soldiers fought in the city, opened the city gates, and lowered the drawbridge.

A large number of soldiers poured into the city gate, and cavalry rushed into the city, disrupting the Jin army's deployment. Upon learning that the city gate had been broken, the Jin generals gathered all their soldiers in an attempt to fight to the death.

On the top of Sizhou City, Guo Jing, wearing black armor, walked across the city wall with his hands behind his back, overlooking the burning and chaotic city. The cloak dragging behind him fluttered in the wind. Not far away, there were shouts of fighting. A Jin soldier was pushed off the city wall and died. There was not much resistance around.

The Jin army was already on the verge of defeat, and riots broke out soon after the Han cavalry poured into the crisscrossing streets. However, as more and more soldiers entered the city, the riots gradually subsided. Those who took advantage of the chaos to burn, kill and loot were caught in the act and directly executed and hung under the eaves of the houses on the street.

In times of war, there are many people like this who take advantage of the situation. Sometimes, the damage they cause is greater than that of the enemy. In front of Caishikou, the breeze was gentle, and the rows of hanging corpses swayed slowly, shocking the people in the city.

The sun was setting in the west, and the warm sunset cast an orange-red glow. The common people, the rich, and even the children of wealthy families in the city who had experienced the chaos walked out of their homes trembling with fear. What they saw were streets stained with blood and burns, and bodies hacked to death by the chaotic soldiers were casually placed on the roadside. This scene stunned them.

However, after interrogation, Guo Jing discovered that these people were all Han nobles. They were the Henan people who were relocated by Yang Kang and settled in Huainan and Jiankang and other places. There were very few real Jin nobles.

After the war, near the city wall, the collapsed ruins revealed a pair of long white legs, which remained planted on the ground without moving. A child nearby looked at the legs covered with dust and dirt, crying helplessly, tears streaming down his dirty face.

Some people who found the bodies of their relatives sat there with dull eyes, without crying. There were also many people who were lucky enough to survive and cried and searched everywhere for their family members who had not returned, or helped and comforted the people in distress.

The dead in the turmoil were cleared out, covered with sackcloth or white coarse cloth, and lined up in long, densely packed lines on the streets, creating a scene that will be unforgettable for a lifetime.

Guo Jing stood on the high city wall and watched this scene. Lu Guanying, Pei Andao, Wang Shan and others behind him did not speak, but their faces looked a little ugly. After all, some subtle things were unpredictable.

These things were not done by them, but by the Jin people. After the city was captured, the Jin people fled. They hid in the city, burned, killed, looted, raped and plundered. The turmoil was not completely quelled until the army stationed in the streets and caught them.

The result of this incident was that Guo Jing ordered all the Jin troops in the city to be found and killed, leaving no one alive.

……

In the Jin army camp, Wanyan Honglie, who received the news that Yang Kang was heading north, was like an angry lion. "Asshole, how dare he go to Huaidi? Where can he go?"

Shuhu Gaoqi quickly dissuaded him, "Your Majesty, calm down. The Crown Prince has returned intact. Don't get angry and hurt the dragon's body."

"Hmph." Wanyan Honglie snorted coldly, suppressing his anger. He glanced at the generals in the tent and said, "Mongol troops of 250,000 are sent to attack Lianghuai. What countermeasures do you have?"

Jin general Wanyan Saibu said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, we had anticipated the Mongolian troops' dispatch. At the beginning of the war, we deployed nearly 150,000 troops in Lianghuai. After the war became tense, we drew another 50,000 troops. Now we have 100,000 left."

"Sizhou City was captured by Mongolia. The next key is Xuzhou. As long as Xuzhou is still there, the enemy cannot easily cross the river. The top priority now is to quickly ease the war with the Song Dynasty. Starting a war on two fronts is a taboo in military strategy."

"Do you think so too?" Wanyan Saibu's words made him fall into deep thought, and he looked at the other generals.

The remaining generals looked at Wanyan Saibu, then at the emperor, and dared not say a word. At this time, a young general gritted his teeth and stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Mongolia is not as strong as the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty is weak and will be destroyed by us sooner or later. But Mongolia is the mortal enemy of our Great Jin Dynasty. 250,000 troops are not a small number. The pressure on Huaidi is very heavy. We must be cautious."

Although no statement has been made, the meaning is very clear: the troops must be withdrawn.

Wanyan Honglie stared at him for a while and sighed, "The opportunity to destroy the Song Dynasty was right in front of us, but unfortunately the Mongols took advantage of the situation and attacked our Huai area. We will never find such an opportunity again."

Perhaps, if he was given a few more years, he could really destroy the Southern Song Dynasty. After all, the Jin Kingdom had already crossed the river, and everyone in the Song Dynasty was in danger. Countless people surrendered, and Wanyan Honglie was not stingy with high positions and titles. He awarded a large number of official positions and titles, which attracted a large number of people from the Southern Song Dynasty.

There was no way. Jinphobia had penetrated the bones of the emperors and ministers of the Song Dynasty. The more they knew, the more desperate they were about reality. Not every official of the Song Dynasty had the integrity of the literati. "Shuhu Gaoqi, tomorrow you must arrange for the envoys to go to the Song Dynasty and stop the war as soon as possible."

"Wanyan Heda, I order you to lead 20,000 vanguards to the north to support Jiankang and defend Zhenjiang. Remember, even if Xuzhou is lost, Zhenjiang must not be lost."

The young general who had spoken earlier was delighted and said, "I obey your orders!"

Then, Wanyan Honglie made a lot of arrangements, his face visibly tired, "Everyone, retreat."

……

Snow was falling in the Central Plains. The branches that had been piled up for two nights could no longer bear the weight of the snow and fell down, landing on the shoulders of the people passing by. A maid carrying warm water walked under the eaves. As the door opened, the cold wind squeezed into the room. The flame in the copper stove swayed slightly, bringing warmth. Guo Jing, who was leaning over a long desk, wrote on the official document for a while before he raised his head to look across.

"Your Majesty, the ships have been mobilized and the attack will be launched soon." Pei Andao reported respectfully.

Guo Jing put down the brush in his hand and asked, "An Dao, we are going to have a naval battle with the Jin people. How do you think this battle will turn out?"

"My Lord, after taking Sizhou City, our army occupied Sizhou, while the King of the Grand Tutor launched a massive attack in Huaidi and captured Guide Prefecture and Yingzhou. However, the Jin Kingdom sent a large number of troops to take over Xuzhou, and our navy was seriously short of warships. We only requisitioned civilian ships, so this battle was too hasty."

"Yes, it's too hasty." Guo Jing murmured to himself. He had already recruited soldiers in Guanzhong to train the navy, but the training time was too short, with only a few hundred people, which was not enough.

When the Jin Kingdom marched southward, because of a traitor leaking information, the Jin Kingdom dispatched cavalry to destroy the Song Dynasty's water forts, forcing the Song Dynasty's navy to surrender.

After all, the navy could not stay in the water for a long time, and they still needed supplies. However, the Jin Kingdom launched a massive attack in Huai area, and the navy dared not fight to the death or go ashore. At this time, the Jin people called for surrender, and they naturally surrendered to the Jin Kingdom.

The Jin Kingdom obtained the complete navy of the Song Dynasty, and the Yangtze River defense line was stable. The northerners were notoriously bad at naval battles.

……

However, the arrow was on the string and had to be shot, and the naval battle finally began.

Da Hu brought news that Wanyan Honglie had returned to the court with a part of his troops and gave full authority over the war in the Southern Song Dynasty to Wanyan Saibu.

If we wait until this part of the army enters Huaibei, it will be even more difficult to cross the river.

Mu Huali was still besieging Xuzhou, but the Jin Kingdom had naval warships and quick supplies, so they were unable to capture it.

The naval commander of the Jin Dynasty was the new general Wanyan Heda, a young general who had made his mark in the war against the Song Dynasty and was entrusted with important tasks by Wanyan Honglie.

The naval commander appointed by Guo Jing was Shi Tianze from the Shi family. A few years ago, Shi Bingzhong resigned due to illness. In addition, he was no longer short of generals, so Guo Jing put Shi Tianze in the navy.

Compared with the Jin Kingdom, the Han army had only more than 200 naval warships, and the rest were civilian ships, while the Jin Kingdom had nearly 1,000 warships.

In the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, a fleet of more than a thousand ships confronted each other on the river. The white sails spread out and covered the flowing water. After a moment, the sound of war drums sounded, and the warships rushed towards each other fiercely.

Arrows flew across the sky like locusts, mixed with stone cannons and smashed towards the enemy, splashing up waves of water three feet high.

At the camp by the river, Guo Jing stood on the general platform and looked at the Jin navy with some longing in his eyes. This was the navy of the former Song Dynasty. It would be great if he could recruit it for his own use.

He had no shortage of naval soldiers, but he lacked naval warships. The hatred between Jin and Song made him arrive in Huai area. The Han people were very enthusiastic and bravely joined the army to seek revenge.

However, in addition to having people, you also need ships. When the Song Dynasty retreated, the shipyards in the south of the Yangtze River were not destroyed and were all accepted by the Jin people.

Guo Jing was furious when he heard the news. In his opinion, the Song Dynasty court was like fools. Not only could they not win the battle, but they also aided the enemy. Leaving this thing to the enemy, weren't they just waiting for them to attack?
In the south, is there any need to talk about the importance of the navy?

"Pass the order, the Stone Throwing Camp can move!"

"As ordered!"

In the camp by the river, huge catapults were pushed to the riverside and aimed at the direction of the Jin army's naval warships.

Guo Jing was not just trying to send off the enemy when he dared to initiate a naval battle. Catapults can not only be used to attack cities, but also to fight naval battles. He had ordered people to try it before and found it feasible. That was why he decided to send out troops and take a risk.

However, if we use it this time, the enemy will definitely be on guard next time, and it will be difficult to achieve success again.

On the river, Shi Tianze, wearing silver armor, stared at the enemy's warships. Teams of soldiers on the ships were waving command flags back and forth, maneuvering the ships.

On the other side, the young Jin army general Wanyan Heda stood on the bow of the ship, with two people standing beside him. One was the Jin army naval general Wanyan Zhan, and the other was the navy deputy general Li Tianda, who was one of the naval generals who surrendered to the Jin Kingdom.

Li Tianda pointed at the Han navy fleet and said, "General, you see, the enemy's front is scattered, and the ships are of different shapes, most of them are civilian fishing boats, which are useless. On the other hand, we have strong soldiers and horses, and most of them are tower ships and barges. The small boats on the opposite side capsized after a collision."

Wanyan Heda didn't know much about the navy, but he could clearly see the gap in equipment between the two sides.

Soon the two sides engaged in battle, shooting arrows and cannonballs at each other, causing damage to each other.

However, after rushing into the enemy's formation, Wanyan Heda saw clearly that, as Li Tianda said, the Han army's ships could not be stopped at all. Except for the main tower ships, the others would be scattered with a single collision.

However, the Han army's ships were small but flexible. Shi Tianze even formed a beacon camp, with small boats loaded with hay and kerosene to attack the large ships on the opposite side.

The huge poles hit the ship, causing it to shake continuously.

"Oh!"

The Jin ships had the upper hand and quickly divided the Han warships. Several ships besieged one ship, and several boats under the control of the Jin army hit the Han ships, actually overturning a large ship.

(End of this chapter)