Usurpation of Mongolia: My father-in-law is Genghis Khan

Chapter 185 The weather is getting cold, the Jin Kingdom is doomed!
Of course, in addition to Meng Gong, Zhao Shuo was also greeted by Chen Hui, the Pacification Commissioner of Jinghu of the Song State, Shi Songzhi, the Prefectural Magistrate of Xiangyang, and dozens of local civil and military officials.

Among these people, the one with the highest status was undoubtedly Chen Hui, the Pacification Commissioner of Jinghu.

He was a capable official promoted by Zhao Fang. After the death of Zhao Fang, the original Pacification Commissioner of Jinghu, his two sons, Zhao Fan and Zhao Kui, resigned due to mourning. In order to stabilize the situation in the Jinghu region, the Southern Song court directly appointed Chen Ji to succeed him.

However, it is clear that Chen Xi was promoted by Zhao Fang, not Shi Miyuan. He cannot stay in such a crucial position for long; he is just a transitional figure.

The current prefect of Xiangyang, Shi Songzhi, is not only quite capable but also the nephew of Shi Miyuan. He is just waiting to accumulate enough experience before he will take over the position.

Everyone in the Jinghu region is fully aware of this.

Shi Songzhi's influence in the Jinghu region was perhaps no less than Chen Hui's. Therefore, Chen Hui's position was truly frustrating.

Now that Zhao Shuo has arrived, he not only wants to lead his people to welcome him, but also offers up his own Jinghu Zhizhi Shisi Yamen (official residence of the Governor of Jinghu) as Zhao Shuo's place of residence.

After settling in, Zhao Shuo's first task was to summon Chen Hui, Shi Songzhi, and Meng Gong to discuss military matters.

"Your Majesty, please take a look."

Chen Yi pointed to a map and said, "The border between the Jinghu region of our Great Song Dynasty and the Jin invaders is this Tongbai Mountain. The Tang and Deng prefectures of the Jin Kingdom are located north of the Tongbai Mountain. Therefore, for the Jin Kingdom to defend the Tang and Deng prefectures, it is to defend the Tongbai Mountain defense line."

Meng Gong added, “Currently, the Jin state has 100,000 elite troops and 250,000 local soldiers gathered in Tang and Deng prefectures and along the Tongbai Mountain defense line. However, Your Majesty should not regard this defense line as another Yefuling. Yefuling is steep and difficult to mobilize troops. If the Mongol army attacks one point, the other armies will not be able to come to the rescue in a short time.”

"The Tongbai Mountains are relatively flat, and they are backed by the Tang and Deng prefectures. If Your Majesty attacks one point, the other Jin troops can come to the rescue in time. Moreover, the Tongbai Mountain defense line is much shorter than the Yefuling defense line. The Jin army is numerous and can set up multiple defense lines to block our breakthrough."

"Of course, it is precisely because the terrain here is not as treacherous as Wild Fox Ridge that it is much easier to launch a strong attack than Wild Fox Ridge."

Shi Songzhi said, "In the end, the Jin army has a geographical advantage on the Tongbai Mountain defense line, but it's not a big one. They want to use the terrain of Tongbai Mountain to fight a decisive battle with our Song-Mongol allied forces. Your Majesty's cavalry is the most advantageous, while the Jin army is mainly composed of infantry. They are holding this defense line to force Your Majesty's cavalry to dismount and fight on foot."

"very good."

Zhao Shuo was very satisfied with the performance of the three powerful figures from the Song state in the Jinghu region.

Perhaps it was a final burst of energy for the Song Dynasty, but their choice of commander-in-chief for the Jinghu region was very suitable. Whether it was the former Zhao Fang, the current Chen Hui, or the successors Shi Songzhi and Meng Gong, they could all be considered outstanding figures of their time.

Their assessment of the Jin Dynasty's current strategic layout was very accurate.

Zhao Shuo asked, "In your opinion, how should our army break through the Jin Dynasty's Tongbai Mountain defense line?"

"Uh……"

The three exchanged glances, and Meng Gong spoke first, saying, "Now the King has 100,000 elite troops and 100,000 soldiers under his command, plus 20,000 loyal soldiers from my Song Kingdom to assist in the battle, which makes a total of 220,000 men."

"The Jin army has 100,000 elite troops and 250,000 conscripts, for a total strength of 350,000. Given the advantageous terrain of Tongbo Mountain, a direct assault would be disadvantageous for our army. However, after much deliberation, I understand that the Jin want to engage Your Majesty in a decisive battle to achieve their goal in one fell swoop. But why should we grant their wish?"

"what do you mean?"

"Xiangyang is a vital military stronghold of our Great Song Dynasty. Even without transporting grain from other places, we have 800,000 shi of grain stored up. This autumn harvest will bring in another 200,000 shi of military grain. It may not be a huge amount of grain, but it can easily support the Xiangyang garrison and Your Majesty's army for a year or two."

Fearing Zhao Shuo might not believe it, Chen Ji took the initiative to explain: "Prefect Shi has been in charge of the military farms in Xiangyang for many years and has achieved great results. Of the 800,000 shi of military rations, 680,000 shi are what he has accumulated."

The so-called Prefect Shi was Shi Songzhi, a man who was a real farming expert and reaped great rewards from his land reclamation efforts in Xiangyang.

Chen Ji continued, "The other one is General Meng. He built the Pinglu Weir in Zaoyang, which can irrigate 150,000 hectares of fertile land. He established ten villages and three districts, which were divided between the Zhongshun Army and civilian households. At the same time, he ordered each Zhongshun Army family to raise horses, and the government provided feed and grain, so the grain was plentiful and the horses increased. Of this, 120,000 shi of grain was saved by General Meng."

Zhao Shuo said, "In recent years, the Jin Dynasty has been at war with the Mongols, the Western Xia, and the Song Dynasty, exhausting its resources with its military campaigns, causing immense suffering to the people. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been the Zhongshun Army, composed of brave men who fled from the three prefectures of Tang, Deng, and Cai."

"Currently, the Jin state has stationed 350,000 elite troops at the Tongbai Mountain defense line, and all Jurchen men have been conscripted into the army. In addition to the original conscripted troops, their total strength will exceed one million. They lack both livestock for farming and livestock for transportation. How can they support such a million-strong army?"

"Therefore, as long as the stalemate continues, it will be the Jin Dynasty that will eventually give out. Once the Jin army shows signs of fatigue, our main force can break through the Tongbai Mountain defense line in one fell swoop and destroy the Jin Dynasty?"

"Indeed."

To put it bluntly, the Jin Dynasty is like it's been injected with adrenaline, unleashing its full potential and appearing unstoppable.

However brave they were, due to the lack of warhorses, they could only defend and could not launch an offensive.

Why fight them now?
Why not just wait until the adrenaline rush from the Jin Kingdom has subsided?

How long can the Jin state maintain this status quo?
Meng Gong and the other two immediately saw the key to it.

"but……"

Zhao Shuo shook his head slightly and said, "That's just your opinion. The Jin Kingdom is not only facing national annihilation, but also the threat of extermination. Those Jurchens who oppressed the people might very well contribute their stored grain."

"They can probably hold out for much longer than you think. Moreover, if the war drags on, the Jurchen conscripts have undergone sufficient military training, which might make things even more troublesome."

Meng Gong said, "Then what does Your Majesty mean..."

"Do not harbor any illusions or wait for the Jin Kingdom to collapse on its own. Whether the Jin Kingdom can hold out for a year or not, we must break through the Tongbo Mountain defense line. Moreover, the losses of the allied forces must not be too great."

"Is...is this even possible?"

"Why can't it be done?" Zhao Shuo smiled slightly and said, "The Jin army's elite troops are all concentrated on the Tongbo Mountain defense line. Other places are just conscripted soldiers, and the defenses are weak. If our army enters Henan from elsewhere and heads straight for Bianliang, do you think the Jin army on the Tongbo Mountain defense line will come back to reinforce it?"

Of course we'll go back to help.

It wasn't just because the Jin emperor, Wanyan Shouxu, was in Bianliang.

Most importantly, the families of most of the Jin's elite soldiers, such as the families of the 60,000 elite soldiers at Tongguan, were relocated to Bianliang. With the fall of Bianliang, their wives and children were gone.

Therefore, even though the Jin army knew that returning to reinforce was a trap, they still had to jump into it!
Meng Gong hesitated and said, "It's not that easy, is it? First, we have to keep a close watch on the Tongbai Mountain garrison and prevent them from discovering the movements of our detachment. If they split their forces in advance and block that detachment, all our efforts will be in vain."

"Secondly, the Jin state has conscripted all the Jurchen men into the army. There are quite a few garrisons in each city, and this small detachment is not many. How can they attack the enemy's fortified cities? And how can they ensure the supply of the main army? In addition, a lot of the Jin army on the Yellow River defense line has been transferred, but the King has not left many troops in Shandong and Hebei. It will probably not be easy for them to cross the Yellow River."

Zhao Shuo smiled and said, "Then we won't cross the Yellow River from Shandong and Hebei, but will still pass through the Song Kingdom to cross the Huai River and enter the Huaibei region. Don't tell me that the Song Kingdom's navy doesn't even have the capability to escort my army to Huaibei."

This was actually Zhao Shuo borrowing from the historical precedent of the Mongol army's conquest of the Jin dynasty.

Historical records indicate that Tolui led 40,000 Mongol troops to forcibly pass through the Song Dynasty, but by the time they reached the Tangdeng region, only 35,000 to 36,000 remained.

Faced with the defensive line built by the main force of the Jin Kingdom, Tolui was powerless.

However, his surprise attack drew away the main force of the Jin dynasty, and even the elite Jin troops guarding the Yellow River came to intercept him. Ögedei Khan led the main Mongol army, taking advantage of the situation to cross the Yellow River in Shanxi and march on Bianliang.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Jin state quickly mobilized its army to return to the aid.

Tolui's forces were insufficient to stop the Jin army, so he could only harass them along the way. As a result, the Jin army became determined and decided to take advantage of their numerical superiority to first annihilate Tolui's more than 30,000 Mongol troops.

The two sides fought a decisive battle at Sanfeng Mountain.

Originally, the Jin army had a large number of elite troops and generals, and they had a numerical advantage, putting Tolui in a precarious situation. But at this moment, heavy snow fell for several days in a row, and the Jin army, which no longer possessed the hard work and endurance of its ancestors, suffered a great loss of combat strength.

The Mongol army, however, was still at its peak, extremely hardworking and resilient. After a fierce battle following the snow, Tolui annihilated the main force of the Jin army with less than 40,000 troops.

It was precisely because the victory was so brilliant that Ögedei killed Tolui on the way back.

Zhao Shuo left few troops in Shandong and Hebei, and did not enter Shanxi, so it was unrealistic to force a crossing of the Yellow River from Shandong and Hebei.

However, the Song Dynasty had a navy!
The western section of the Song-Jin border was marked by the Huai River. It was one thing for the Song army to be unable to defeat the Jin army, but if even their navy couldn't defeat the heavily depleted Jin navy, they might as well have committed suicide!
Meng Gong was still somewhat uneasy and pressed on, "From Huaibei to Bianliang is a distance of a thousand miles, with countless fortified cities along the way. How will your army deal with these fortified cities and ensure logistics?"
"Why bother dealing with those fortified cities, and why insist on ensuring logistics?" Zhao Shuo smiled slightly and said, "We grassland warriors are best at long-distance raids. We are not only brave in battle, but also the most hardworking and resilient."

"If I were to lead ten thousand soldiers from the grasslands north of the Huai River, each with three horses and enough provisions, I could probably reach the vicinity of Bianliang in less than half a month. At that time, I wouldn't have to worry about the garrison at Tongbo Mountain not returning to reinforce Bianliang!"

Meng Gong's eyes lit up, and he said, "Can the king's grassland warriors do this?"

"of course."

The grassland warriors of this era were best at fighting without logistical support and at long-distance raids.

In this respect, no matter how much the Han Chinese Eight Banners trained, they could not compare.

Grassland warriors carry their own high-calorie portable foods such as cured meat jerky and cheese, which can keep them from cooking for ten days to half a month, resulting in extremely low supply requirements.

When necessary, they can make do with just mare's milk.

They could even place a piece of fresh meat under the saddle, and after a period of jolting, the meat would soften and they could eat it directly.

Even without fresh meat and mare's milk, grassland warriors can simply stab horses and drink their blood to solve their hunger and thirst.

How do you train this thing?

It can only be said that the harsh life on the grasslands shaped the dietary habits of the grassland warriors. And these dietary habits were best suited for long-distance raids.

Historical records indicate that the Mongol army traversed the Kizilkum Desert, completing a long march of thousands of miles using only mare's milk and their own provisions.

If they could endure in the desert, they could certainly withstand traversing thousands of miles of agricultural land. If ten thousand steppe warriors couldn't conquer the Jin dynasty's major cities, could they really not even manage to subdue rural towns?
The Jin army's garrison troops and elite forces in various cities had all been withdrawn, leaving them incapable of launching an attack.

After the Mongol army entered Huaibei, what difficulty was it for them to launch a long-distance raid on Bianliang?
"If this plan succeeds, Your Majesty's brilliant military strategy and the unwavering resilience of your army will be forever remembered in history!"

Although Meng Gong is known as the master of mobile defense in later generations, he is still young and has not yet reached his full potential.

If this plan fails, so be it.

If this plan succeeds, both Zhao Shuo's military strategy and the tenacity of the grassland warriors will open a new world for him!
Zhao Shuo looked at Meng Gong and the other two, and solemnly said, "This plan is of great importance, and it must be kept strictly confidential. If it is leaked, I will not care how it was leaked, but will hold the Song Dynasty accountable!"

"clear."

Chen Ji, of course, knew the importance of the matter and said, "I will personally lead the Xiangyang Navy to help Your Majesty transport the steppe warriors."

"So good."

In the days that followed, the Song-Mongol allied forces began a series of attacks on the Jin dynasty's Tongbai Mountain defense line, though not particularly fierce.

Stones hurled by ordinary catapults rained down on the camp on Tongbai Mountain.

The counterweight catapult was also assembled, and the 120-pound boulder terrified the Jurchens.

And most importantly, the thunderbolt.

The north lacked saltpeter and sulfur, so even after Zhao Shuo conquered Shandong and Hebei, he could only obtain saltpeter and sulfur from the Song state through trade.

Due to the control of the Song Dynasty court, the amount of saltpeter and sulfur obtained from this trade was not enough, and Zhao Shuo always used the thunderclap bomb sparingly.

However, now that the Song state has allied with the Mongols to destroy the Jin state, Zhao Shuo can save on buying saltpeter and sulfur and directly buy the Song state's thunderclap bombs.

Anyway, he doesn't have to spend any money himself; he can just deduct it from next year's tribute. Seventeen million strings of cash! If he exchanged it all for thunderbolts, he could give each of the Jin soldiers guarding Tongbai Mountain a good bet and still have plenty to spare.

In addition, Zhao Shuo ordered the State of Song to send a large number of pigs and sheep to provide meat for the army and boost the morale of the entire army.

The loyal and obedient army under Meng Gong was already well-treated, and now, in order to demonstrate its strength to Zhao Shuo, the State of Song has further improved the treatment of the loyal and obedient army.

With a large supply of meat now available, morale has soared even higher.

Moreover, this is a campaign against the Jin dynasty!
They were originally an army composed of young men who had fled from the three prefectures of Tang, Cai, and Deng in the Jin Dynasty, and they hated the Jin Dynasty to the core.

Suddenly, morale soared, putting immense pressure on the Jin army.

Of course, Zhao Shuo was only trying to draw the Jin army's attention. Although he bombarded the Jin camps and the Zhongshun Army launched a swift attack, he did not actually exert his full strength.

In the blink of an eye, three months had passed. Although the Jin Kingdom's Baitong Mountain defense line had suffered considerable losses, the Song-Mongol allied forces had not achieved any significant results.

Within three months, victory reports arrived at the Bianliang Imperial Palace like snowflakes.

Wanyan Shouxu was overjoyed, thinking that the Jin Dynasty had indeed risen up with its remaining strength and blocked the main force of the Song-Mongol allied forces. He promoted and rewarded the officers at the front line.

The situation in the Jin Kingdom seemed to be very favorable.

However, by this time, autumn had already arrived.

The weather is getting cold; the Jin Dynasty is doomed.

With Zhao Shuo's order, ten thousand grassland warriors, led by Altana, left Xiangyang by boat with three horses and one rider, preparing to launch a surprise attack on Bianliang!
They will mobilize Jin troops, creating an opportunity for the Song-Mongol allied forces to annihilate the main force of the Jin army in one battle!
.

(End of this chapter)