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

Chapter 206 Times have changed, crushing Korea with overwhelming force!
"Third brother, let's do as brother-in-law says!"

Before Ögedei could reply, Tolui quickly echoed his sentiment.

Despite Ögedei's apparent fear of Tolui, it was merely a matter of his mind. After failing to suppress Tolui on the steppe, Ögedei reverted to his former generosity and magnanimity, showing great affection and friendliness towards Tolui.

In fact, not to mention Tolui, even Zhao Shuo was addressed as "brother-in-law" by Ögedei.
Tolui was among the best in military talent among the Mongols, but his political acumen was far inferior, and he was easily fooled by Ögedei.

Ögedei was seriously wounded, and he felt deeply for him, and had long wanted to take revenge on the people of Guizhou.

"Alright! Let's do as my fourth brother and brother-in-law say!"

Ögedei nodded and said, "After the fall of Guizhou, destroy its city walls and slaughter its inhabitants. Only young women who become slaves of the soldiers will have the right to live. Furthermore, I will not take a single penny from this battle; all will be given to the meritorious soldiers!"

Tolui said, "The Great Khan is wise."

Zhao Shuo nodded and said, "That's excellent."

The three had reached a decision, and the fate of Guizhou City was already sealed.

The army rested for seven days and worked on building siege equipment.

Seven days later, Zhao Shuo led his 80,000-strong army to attack the north city wall of Guizhou.

Ögedei Khan led an army of 30,000 to attack the eastern city wall of Guizhou. Tolui led an army of 30,000 to attack the western city wall of Guizhou.

No troops were sent to attack the south city wall.

However, this time the Mongol army totaled 80,000 men. Among them were 20,000 Mongol cavalry, ready to deliver a fatal blow to the Goryeo army that had escaped through the south gate.

This is precisely the strategy of surrounding three sides while leaving one side unfinished.

Regardless of whether the "surrounding three sides and leaving one open" strategy works or not, there is no doubt that Zhao Shuo, with the strongest military force, is the main force in this siege.

Meanwhile, Guizhou City had already made defensive arrangements.

In addition to the army, all able-bodied men in Guizhou City, totaling 40,000, participated in the defense of the city.

Park Seo led the remaining 897 detachments and 2,000 regular soldiers in Guiju City to provide support from the center of the city.

General Jin Qingsun of Jingzhou, whose right arm injury had not yet healed, led three thousand regular soldiers, five thousand garrison soldiers, and ten thousand able-bodied men to be responsible for the most dangerous southern city wall.

Pu Wenchang, the deputy envoy of Weizhou, and An Huai, the deputy envoy of Taizhou, were responsible for guarding the east and west sides of the city walls.

Kim Yun-hou, who had been appointed as a regent general by the Goryeo court for his meritorious service, led 4,000 regular soldiers, 5,000 garrison soldiers, and 10,000 able-bodied men to be in charge of the northern city wall, which was the shortest part of the city wall.

Furthermore, it must be noted that during this month-long siege relief effort, although the originally exhausted garrison of Guiju was given a chance to regroup, some lightly wounded soldiers recovered and were able to return to the battlefield, and the Goryeo court even granted Kim Yun-hou an official title, only five thousand regular troops were sent as reinforcements.

Unfortunately, Pu Xianwannu's Dongzhen army was only willing to help defend Gaegyeong, and Goryeo couldn't mobilize any more troops. The Goryeo court's own forces, after more than a year of devastation by the Mongol army, were already extremely stretched thin.

Choi Woo, a powerful minister in Goryeo, did have quite a few private soldiers, especially his "Night Byeolcho," which was renowned for its formidable fighting force. However, Choi Woo knew that his wealth and status in Goryeo depended on these private soldiers, and he was determined not to deplete them.

Therefore, after losing Jin Zhongwen's three thousand soldiers, the current Guizhou City is not much better than the Guizhou City that Ögedei Khan attacked with his army.

After understanding the strength of the Han army led by Zhao Shuo, both Park Seo, Kim Yoon-ho, and Kim Kyung-sun realized that Guizhou City could not be defended.

Their operational objective has been changed to inflicting heavy casualties on both the Mongol and Han armies.

Kim Yoon-hoo was very confident about this.

"Come on! Damn Han Chinese! Today, let my armor-piercing arrows drink your blood! When Guizhou falls, at least ten thousand Han soldiers will perish!"

Jin Yunhou stood on the north city wall, gazing at the bustling Han army camp below, lost in thought.

He even gave a final pep talk to the soldiers guarding the north city wall: "My warriors of Goryeo, with Zhao Shuo leading 80,000 troops to reinforce the Mongol army, Guizhou City is in its most dangerous moment, and Goryeo is also in its most dangerous moment. But have you forgotten the glory of our ancestors, Goguryeo?"
"No!" the soldiers answered in unison.

To reiterate, although the Goryeo people are descendants of the Silla people, they have forgotten their roots and consider themselves descendants of the Goguryeo people. Their country's name, Goryeo, is derived from Goguryeo.

Kim Yoon-ho continued, “Emperor Wen of Sui sent an army of 300,000 to conquer Goguryeo. Emperor Yang of Sui led an army of one million to conquer Goguryeo three times, Emperor Taizong of Tang conquered Goguryeo three times, and later Emperor Gaozong of Tang attacked Goguryeo again, which forced our ancestors to temporarily lie low. Later, their descendants, inspired by the glory and blood of their ancestors, rebuilt the Goryeo Kingdom, which continues to this day.”

"Today, our Guizhou may fall, and Goguryeo may perish! But we must, like our ancestors, leave something for future generations. Goguryeo killed more than a million Han Chinese, inspiring later generations to restore their kingdom. What should we do today?"

"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill the Han people!"

"We will not disgrace our ancestors, nor bring shame upon our descendants!"

"Let Guizhou City become a grinding mill for the flesh and blood of the Han people!"

"The city stands, and we stand; the city falls, and we fall!"

……

The Korean soldiers responded enthusiastically, shouting and cheering with great passion.

Now they can all see that the force responsible for attacking the north city wall is the army led by Zhao Shuo, mainly composed of Han Chinese Eight Banners troops.

They all understood that Guizhou City was likely lost, but they had descendants. Just as the sun waxes and wanes, so too could the Mongols and Han Chinese remain powerful forever. As long as their descendants remembered their ancestors' achievements, Goryeo would surely be restored!
What they need to do now is to make the Han people pay a sufficient price, just like Goguryeo destroyed the millions of troops of the Sui and Tang dynasties, to inspire future generations!
With such tragic feelings, the Goryeo people on the north city wall gripped their swords and spears, raised their powerful bows, and inspected the rolling logs, stones, and catapults, preparing to deal with the Han army's attack.

What's there?

They had already witnessed the Mongol army's methods of attacking cities.

The Han army was at best comparable to the Mongol army. How could they possibly break through Guizhou City without paying a sufficient price?

Their wishes are entirely possible to be fulfilled.

However, the truth is—

"put!"

With a command from Wang Alu, the artillery battalion commander, the Han army's five hundred catapults unleashed their power simultaneously!
Among them, there were 470 trebuchets and 30 counterweight trebuchets!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~
Four hundred and seventy stone projectiles weighing twelve or thirteen pounds each, and thirty thunderbolts struck the north city wall almost simultaneously!
Before Zhao Shuo attacked the Jin Dynasty, he brought all one thousand bombs from his stockpile and used them to bombard and break through the Jin army's defenses at Tongbai Mountain.

He attacked the Jin state for nearly two years, and another five hundred thunderbolts were stored in the city of Zhongdu.

When Zhao Shuo led his army to aid Ögedei, he brought with him three hundred guns.

Let's use these three hundred thunderbolts on Guizhou City, where Ögedei Khan suffered a crushing defeat!
Boom boom boom!
Thirty deafening sounds rang out almost simultaneously, as if thunder had struck the earth, or as if the cage of hell had been opened!

The thunderbolts struck the densely packed Goryeo troops atop Guizhou City, landed on the city walls hastily constructed over the past month, near the Goryeo's catapults, and beside the boiling oil cauldrons...

boom!
The Goryeo soldiers within five steps of Thunderclap were sent flying like scarecrows!
boom!
Five thunderbolts struck the Goryeo castle tower simultaneously, causing it to collapse with a deafening roar!

boom!
The Goryeo people's huge catapults were not severely damaged, but seven or eight Goryeo soldiers who were responsible for operating the catapults had already fallen to the ground, either dead or wounded!

"Oh no! Help!" "Lie down! Quickly, lie down!"

"Heavens! How could the Han people possess such terrifying weapons?"

"Heavens above, have you truly abandoned Goryeo?"

……

The sounds of panic, screams, and cries from the Koreans on the north city wall rose and fell in a chaotic scene.

Unfortunately, the Koreans themselves did not possess gunpowder in that era.

In fact, not to mention this era, throughout the entire Yuan Dynasty, due to the technological blockade imposed by the Mongols, they did not have gunpowder, or even cotton.

Historical records indicate that it was not until the Ming Dynasty, more than two hundred years later, that Choi Mo-eui, the judge of the Korean Armory, was commissioned to research and manufacture gunpowder.

As the saying goes, "Whenever Mao Yi saw a merchant coming from Jiangnan, he would ask about the method of gunpowder." Later, he met Li Yuan, a Chinese merchant who had worked as a gunpowder maker during the Yuan Dynasty. Cui Mao Yi deliberately treated Li Yuan with respect and befriended him. Then, "he stole his technique, had several of his servants learn it and try it out, and then wrote a letter to him to repair it."

Even so, Goryeo only learned how to make gunpowder, and due to a lack of raw materials, the amount of gunpowder produced was pitifully small.

Later, when the Japanese pirates attacked, the Koreans sought help from the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Emperor issued an edict: "Send them to gather 500,000 catties of saltpeter and 100,000 catties of sulfur, and bring them here to be mixed with the appropriate medicine. Then they can build new ships to capture the Japanese pirates."

Thanks to the hundreds of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder raw materials readily provided by the Ming Dynasty, the Goryeo army was able to defeat the Japanese pirates' invasion with the help of cannons and rockets.

Of course, before Ögedei Khan led the Mongol army to attack Goryeo, the Goryeo people had seen the Mongols use thunderclaps.

However, when Ögedei Khan attacked Goryeo, he only brought four or five pounds of thunderbolts. Although the scale was impressive, the quantity was small and the power was average. The technological advantage was not significant, so the Goryeo people could handle it and were not too shocked.

But what the Han army is paying for now is a forty-pound bomb made of granulated gunpowder!

Back then, at the Tongbai Mountain defense line, the thunderbolts made the Jin army doubt that Zhao Shuo was destined for heaven, let alone the Goryeo people who were like frogs in a well.
This is already a level of attack that is far beyond what is possible. The Korean army has never even heard of it, let alone seen it!
The Goryeo soldiers on the city wall were so shocked by the bombing that they questioned their existence, and their morale plummeted.

Kim Yun-hou was more doubtful of life than the average Goryeo soldier!
Is there no justice left in this world?

It's one thing that the Han army's individual equipment was better than the Mongol army's, but how come their siege weapons were so much better than those of the Mongol army under Ögedei Khan?

Which of you is the main force and which is the auxiliary force?!

If we had known this earlier, we would have been terrified and wouldn't have dared to send three thousand troops to take advantage of the Han army!

Furthermore, Kim Yun-hou had just encouraged his soldiers to fight to the death and make the Han people pay a heavy price. Now, what use is it for the Goryeo soldiers to be so fearless? Can they withstand an attack from such terrifying gunpowder weapons?
More importantly, in the face of such powerful weapons, what is the difference between Jin Yunhou, the archer, and an ordinary soldier?

"Yes, this new batch of Thunderclap Bombs has better purity of saltpeter and is more powerful."

On the command platform, Zhao Shuo, who was watching the battle with binoculars, was very satisfied with the attack effect of the thunderbolts. After the eight trebuchets finished their attack, he decisively gave the order: "Baru Battalion, move out!"

"Yes!"

With Zhao Shuo's order, the command flag on the platform waved, and the Balu Battalion set out.

The Balu Battalion, composed of 20,000 former Jin soldiers, was naturally under the old command of Mochibieduwen, as per usual practice. He divided the Balu Battalion into four batches, the first batch consisting of 5,000 men.

"Soldiers of the Balu Battalion, follow me!"

Li Zhongde led 5,000 former Jin soldiers, carrying ladders and pushing battering rams, and under the cover of catapults and ballistae, charged toward the north city wall of Guizhou!

The so-called Li Zhongde is Wanyan Zhongde, a general who surrendered from the Jin Dynasty.

Zhao Shuo had long ago announced his intention to exterminate the Wanyan clan. Although Wanyan Zhongde was safe in the Balu camp, he was unwilling to offend Zhao Shuo and voluntarily changed his surname to Li.

Now that things have come to this, Li Zhongde feels both fortunate and excited.

Fortunately, I decisively submitted to Zhao Shuo back then at Sanfeng Mountain.

He had long heard that the Han army had broken through the Tongbai Mountain defense line with thunderclaps, but only now had he truly witnessed the power of the thunderclaps.

There was no chance; the Jurchens had absolutely no chance.

Needless to say, if he hadn't surrendered that day, the Jin army at Sanfeng Mountain would have been ruthlessly annihilated by Zhao Shuo.

Even the Jin Dynasty court had absolutely no chance.

Even without the help of the Song army, the Jin dynasty would have been swiftly and decisively destroyed by Zhao Shuo.

His early surrender preserved a bloodline for the Jurchen people.

How lucky we are!
Look at Korea!
Upon entering Goryeo, King Zhao Shuo erected a mound of skulls. Before this upcoming battle, he issued the order to leave only young women behind!
This is true annihilation, leaving not even a bloodline behind!

If he had angered Zhao Shuo that day, who knew that Zhao Shuo wouldn't have treated the Jurchens the same way?

What excited Li Zhongde was that Zhao Shuo's strength was much greater than he had imagined!

What happened to him being in Camp Balu?
You can become a regular Eight Banners warrior by cutting off three heads or going through three bloody battles!
How difficult could it be for him?
After becoming a member of the Han Army's Eight Banners, he truly became a member of such a powerful army.

With the fall of the Jin dynasty, the Jurchen people may have also been wiped out from history due to large-scale surname changes.

However, Li Zhongde is still alive. He will live under the Han Chinese system, achieve great deeds, and conquer all those who are disloyal! His descendants will be the glorious Han Chinese.

Isn't this good enough?
In fact, not only did Wanyan Zhongde think this way, but the original Jin soldiers also thought this way.

"Charge! Kill!"

"Break through Guizhou City, and flatten the wheels of the cart!"

"Now is the time to make a name for yourself and achieve great things!"

"Korean dogs, prepare to die!"

……

Five thousand Jin soldiers shouted and roared, their morale soaring!

If we can't beat the Han Eight Banners, can't we beat you?
Today, use your heads to pave the way for us to join the Han Army's Eight Banners!

The Koreans on the north city wall were destined to be disappointed.

What makes the Han people pay a sufficient price?

Why would we need the Eight Banners Han Army to personally intervene if we were to launch a strong attack on them?

The Han army's auxiliary troops alone, plus the power of the thunderbolts, are enough!

(End of this chapter)