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

Chapter 98: Pile up the earth into a mountain and race against time to the city!
Seeing Wanyan Chengyu vomiting blood, Du Ji Sizhong sighed.

"Wanyan Canzheng, you must take care of yourself!" Duji Sizhong stepped forward to support the staggering Wanyan Chengyu, his tone full of concern, and said, "I am a civilian. The life and death of the 400,000 troops in the northwest and the safety of Zhongdu all rest on your shoulders, Wanyan Canzheng. You must hold on!"

"I'm fine... I'm fine."

Wanyan Chengyu waved his hands, broke free from Duji Sizhong's support, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and became somewhat dejected. He suppressed his inner grief and said, "Prime Minister Duji, what should we do now?"

The Mongols broke through the Wu Yue Camp and would definitely head towards Fuzhou next. There was no time to grieve and he had to prepare countermeasures.

Hearing Wanyan Chengyu's words, Duji Sizhong blurted out the words he had been thinking about for a long time and said:

"Retreat! We must retreat immediately!"

"With the loss of Wusha Fort and Wuyue Camp, the 600-mile Great Wall is now useless. If the Mongols can break through the Yehu Ridge defenses, they will directly threaten the security of Zhongdu. We must gather all our frontline forces at Yehu Ridge and build the strongest possible defense!"

"Nonsense! How is this possible!"

Wanyan Chengyu's first reaction was to refuse.

The strategic terrain of the Jin Dynasty was actually very poor.

Looking at the map, the Jin Dynasty looked like a "dumbbell", big at both ends and thin in the middle.

Above is the Northeast, all the way to the Greater Khingan Range. Below is Hebei and Shandong, all the way to the Huai River.

Both the north and south areas are of paramount importance.

Therefore, in order to control the north and the south, the Jin Dynasty set up its capital in the middle of Yanjing, called Zhongdu.

This is indeed very convenient for managing the entire country.

But there is one most fatal flaw, that is, Zhongdu is too close to the grassland.

The Mongolian border was only 400 li from Zhongdu. If unprepared, the Mongols could reach it in two days on horseback.

In order to make up for this shortcoming, the Jin Kingdom established three strict defense lines in the northwest.

The first line of defense was composed of the 600-mile Wushabao Great Wall defense line, also known as the "Golden Boundary Moat".

The second line of defense consisted of four strong cities inside the Great Wall from west to east: Wuyueying, Fuzhou, Changzhou, and Huanzhou.

The third line of defense is the Yehuling Line of Defense built on the mountain. It is also the most important line of defense and the last barrier of the Jin Dynasty’s Zhongdu.

The 400,000-strong army is distributed along these lines of defense.

Now, the Mongolian army only broke through Wusha Fort and Wuyue Camp, and they gave up the 600-li Great Wall defense line and the three strong cities of Fu, Chang, and Huan? This is a joke!
"Only by holding on to Fuzhou, Changzhou and Huanzhou can we attack the Mongols from both sides, making them afraid to attack Yehuling with all their might. Prime Minister Duji, do I need to explain this to you? The three cities of Fu, Chang and Huan must not be given up!" Wanyan Chengyu said angrily.

"Wanyan Canzheng, what you said makes sense, but I'm worried that we might not be able to defend the three cities of Fuzhou, Changzhou, and Huanzhou..." Duji Sizhong said solemnly, "The Mongols may have some special siege methods!"

The defense line of the Jin Dynasty was built by Du Ji Sizhong. How could he not know the role of the three cities of Fu, Chang and Huan?

However, as he was fleeing, he thought of a question that frightened him: how on earth had the Mongols managed to break through the Wuyue Camp he was guarding in the blink of an eye?
He couldn't figure it out.

However, he knew one thing: the Mongols must have developed some special siege methods!

Perhaps, this was developed by the Mongols during their attack on Western Xia.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why a group of Mongolian barbarians were able to conquer half of Western Xia, even break through the Keyi Gate, and march straight to the Western Xia capital, Zhongxing Prefecture.

This will cause big trouble!
If the Mongols could capture the Wuyue Camp overnight, could they capture the Fuzhou City overnight?
If he could get away with it once, could he get away with it twice?
If he and Wanyan Chengyu were captured by the Mongols, what would happen to the Yehuling defense line? What would happen to Zhongdu? What would happen to the Great Jin Dynasty?
Can they afford the gamble?

It was with this in mind that Du Ji Sizhong proposed the idea of ​​abandoning the three cities of Fu, Chang and Huan, and mobilizing all troops to strengthen the Yehuling defense line.

"Special siege tactics..."

As soon as Du Ji Sizhong said this, Wanyan Chengyu immediately understood what Du Ji Sizhong was worried about.

If it were in the past, Wanyan Chengyu would definitely be confident that he could defend Fuzhou City.

However, his son, leading 35,000 elite soldiers, was still defeated by the Mongols and was nailed to the wooden donkey.

Du Ji Sizhong's Wu Yue Camp was breached under completely inexplicable circumstances. He really couldn't guarantee that he could defend Fuzhou City 100%.

Wanyan Chengyu hesitated.

The loss of Fu, Chang, and Huan prefectures wasn't a big deal. While these three prefectures were considered wealthy, the loss of the Jin dynasty's 179 prefectures was a minor nuisance, a concern the emperor wouldn't necessarily take seriously. Even less so would the Jin nobles enjoying themselves in Beijing.

However, let alone allowing the Mongols to capture Zhongdu, even if Zhongdu was threatened, both the emperor and the nobles of the Jin Kingdom would vent their anger on Wanyan Chengyu.

Can he afford it?
Du Ji Sizhong struck while the iron was hot and continued to persuade him, "Besides, we're not giving up Fu, Chang, and Huan Prefectures. We're just diverting most of our forces to the Yehuling defense line. We can fully explain this to the court. If Wanyan Canzheng is still not worried, how about you and I jointly submit a petition?"

His last words completely moved Wanyan Chengyu.

Wanyan Chengyu paused for a moment, then slowly said, "That's right. Retreating to the Yehu Ridge defense line has another advantage: the Mongols' strongest weapon is their cavalry, and the terrain of Yehu Ridge is difficult, so they can only attack with infantry. This is like using our strengths to counter their weaknesses. From this perspective, it's indeed safer to focus all our efforts on defending Yehu Ridge."

Once people make a decision, they will find various ways to convince themselves.

After many concerns, Wanyan Chengyu finally adopted Du Ji Sizhong's suggestion.

Immediately, Du Ji Sizhong and Wanyan Chengyu jointly wrote a memorial and sent it to Yanjing at an express speed of 800 miles.

Then, in the name of the two commanders on the northwest line of the Great Jin, troops were dispatched to transfer most of the troops from the 600-mile Great Wall defense line and the three states of Fu, Chang and Huan to the Yehuling defense line.

Three thousand troops were left behind along the 600-li Great Wall defense line, and three thousand were left in each of Fu, Chang, and Huan Prefectures. To put it bluntly, these nine thousand troops had essentially been abandoned.

It was just to give an explanation to the court and the people of the world by not giving up these passes on the surface.

Wanyan Chengyu and Duji Sizhong also hurriedly left Fuzhou City and headed for the Yehuling defense line.

After all, if the Mongols could break the Wuyue Camp, why couldn’t they break Fuzhou?

Fuzhou is less than a hundred miles away from Wu Yueying, and it is unsafe for the two commanders to be without heavy military protection.

However, mistakes were made in a hurry.

A wise man must have a loss if he is worried.

Just like in the timeline without Zhao Shuo's travel, the two prime ministers of the Great Jin made a rather low-level and stupid mistake: they forgot to deal with the war horses of the governors of Heng, Chang and Huan states.

The Mujian was a special animal husbandry agency of the Jin Dynasty.

They mainly raise horses, but also raise cattle, sheep, camels and other livestock.

In the early years of the Jin Dynasty, there were five horse prisons. Later, the number increased and decreased, and the current number is seven.

The supervisors of the three states of Fu, Wen and Huan are three of them.

Moreover, these three pastures were the largest and had the most abundant grass and water among all the pastures in the Jin Dynasty. Most of the war horses in the country were raised in these three pastures.

If you really can't take these war horses with you, you can just send three teams of elite cavalry to kill them!

One day is enough.

They both completely forgot about it!

Such a large-scale mobilization of the Jin army could not be hidden from the Mongolian scouts. Temujin received the news in the evening of that day.

"What? Most of Fuzhou's Golden Dogs have gone south? Exploring again, don't fall for their tricks!"

When Temujin heard the news, he could hardly believe it, and his tone was filled with caution.

Fuzhou is the richest and most solid of the three states of Fu, Chang and Huan, and it is also the location of Wanyan Chengyu's command center. How could it be given up so easily?
Will he give up on Changzhou and Huanzhou?

If all three states were abandoned, wouldn't the Mongolian army be able to attack the Yehuling defense line with confidence?

If the Mongol army did not give up these three states, when it attacked the three states with all its strength, it would worry about the Jin army in Yehuling. If it attacked Yehuling, it would also worry about the Jin army in these three states, which was really difficult to attack.

This Jin Dynasty commander can't be a fool, right?

I didn't give him any money, so why did his treatment seem so much like that of an insider of our Mongolian descent?
What is the conspiracy behind this?
When Zhao Shuo heard the news, he was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

He didn't expect that although Mongolia attacked the Jin Dynasty two years earlier, Wanyan Chengyu still made the same stupid decision as in history.

According to historical records, he simply gave up Fuzhou, Changzhou, and Huanzhou. As a result, the Mongols not only no longer had to worry about their own safety, but also obtained countless war horses from the pastures of these three states, greatly increasing their strength.

Zhao Shuo said, "The news that most of the Jin Dogs in Fuzhou have moved south shouldn't be false. After all, if they don't move south, will we not attack Fuzhou? I guess they have given up on the three states of Fu, Chang, and Huan."

"Then why do they do this?" Hu Nan also expressed his doubt cautiously.

Zhao Shuo chuckled and said, "This is the difference between the Jin Kingdom and us Mongols. We Mongols are pragmatic. As long as we can win the battle, Genghis Khan will not blame us no matter what we do.

What about the Jin generals? Even if they won a great victory, as long as they made the Jin emperor feel the slightest danger, they would be guilty without merit.

It might even make the emperor feel that the loyalty of the commander is questionable and he would want to get rid of him as soon as possible.

Wanyan Chengyu was too worried about the Yehuling defense line, so he made such a foolish decision."

Hu Nan listened to Zhao Shuo's words and nodded thoughtfully, but there was still a hint of doubt between his brows: "But if we lose the battle, won't Wanyan Chengyu still have a bad ending?"

Zhao Shuo said, "He's actually caught in a dilemma. On the one hand, he has to deal with our threat, and on the other hand, he has to constantly understand the emperor's intentions. Sometimes, in order to take care of both sides, he has to make some seemingly foolish decisions. In the end, he can't take care of either side."

"What Ah Shuo said makes a lot of sense."

Although Zhao Shuo only stated the reasons why the Jin people gave up Fuzhou, wasn't the biggest reason that Temujin was wise and brave, while Wanyan Yongji was a useless person who could only hinder them?

This not only matched Temujin's experience, but also made him feel very happy. He asked, "So what should we do next?"

"Hurry! We must move quickly!" Zhao Shuo said, "The three states of Fu, Chang, and Heng are fine, as the Jin have practically given up anyway. However, these three states all have Jin herdsmen with large numbers of horses and other livestock.

Now, we don’t know whether Jin Gou dealt with the livestock.

But with such a large number of war horses, even if there is only half a chance, we must strive for it."

Temujin was naturally very interested in horses and asked, "How many horses do the herdsmen of these three states have?"

"The exact number of horses is a military secret of the Jin Gou tribe. Even the Wanggu tribe doesn't know, let alone me. However, I estimate that there are at least 200,000 horses."

Two hundred thousand war horses was actually Zhao Shuo's most conservative estimate.

He really didn't know the exact number of war horses in the three state governors' offices, but he could make a rough estimate.

Forty-eight years ago, when King Hailing of Jin launched a southern expedition against the Song Dynasty, he dispatched 560,000 war horses. Later, King Hailing's southern expedition failed, and only about 1,000 war horses and 90 camels remained in the Jin Dynasty's herdsmen.

However, only twenty-six years later, that is, twenty-two years ago, the number of horses, cattle, and sheep in the Jin Kingdom's animal husbandry reached 470,000.

Another twenty-two years have passed. How many horses are there in the Jin Kingdom's animal husbandry?
It is said that before the Battle of Yehuling, 40% of the Jin army was cavalry, and each man had three horses.

And what happened after the Battle of Yehuling? The Jin Dynasty was completely infantry-based, with only a little over 20,000 cavalry in the country.

The biggest reason was that the war horses in the Fu, Chang and Heng prefectures were seized by the Mongols.

As for the specific number, we can only make a detailed count after conquering the three states.

"Okay, Ah Shuo said there are at least 200,000 horses, that's at least 200,000 horses!"

Zhao Shuo's consistent correctness and consistent victory earned him a good reputation in Temujin's heart.

At least 200,000 horses!

It is enough for the current Mongolian army to add three horses for each person!

Moreover, at the same time, the Jin Kingdom could lose 200,000 horses, which would greatly reduce the losses of the Mongolian army in future campaigns.

At this moment, Temujin's eyes could almost shine, and he said: "Ashuo is right, 200,000 horses, even if there is only half a chance, we must strive for it.

"So, Fuzhou is closest to Wuyue Camp and is the most secure. I will personally lead 30,000 troops to capture it. Muhuali, Zhebie, Subutai! You will lead 22,000 troops to attack Changzhou, 200 miles away."

"Yes," the three agreed in unison. "Ah Shuo, you command the most warhorses. Huanzhou, five hundred miles away, is now yours. Let's work together to capture all of Jin Gou's warhorses in these three states!"

"Yes!"

The word "Huan" in Huanzhou is taken from "Wuhuan". This place was originally a place where the Wuhuan people raised horses and had the best pasture in the Jin Dynasty.

Huanzhou Pastoral Supervisor is known as the "top pastoral supervisor in the country".

I'm afraid that all the war horses in Fuzhou and Changzhou combined may not be as many as those in Huanzhou.

Once Zhao Shuo captures Huanzhou, he will obtain a large number of horses.

At the same time, in the Jin Dynasty's Yanjing, the Council of State.

"Duji Sizhong misled me! Wanyan Chengyu misled me!"

When the Prime Minister of the Great Jin Dynasty, Wanyan Kuang, saw the document that was sent urgently over 800 miles, he almost vomited blood.

If history had developed normally, Wanyan Kuang, a top talent who had worked hard for the Jin Dynasty his entire life, would have passed away by the end of this year. Two years later, the Mongols invaded the Jin Dynasty, which had nothing to do with him, so he couldn't worry about it even if he wanted to.

However, Zhao Shuo changed history, and the Mongols attacked the Jin two years earlier, which was closely related to Wanyan Kuang.

He hurriedly left the Tang Dynasty and came to see the Jin Dynasty Emperor Wanyan Yongji.

"Your Majesty, the military situation is urgent. It seems that this old minister has no choice but to go to Huanzhou in person."

"Why? Why can't someone else do it for you? Why does the old Prime Minister have to do it himself?"

No matter how dumb Wanyan Yongji was, he knew what Wanyan Kuang represented. He was the pillar of support for the Jin Dynasty. If he left, Wanyan Yongji wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully at night.

cough cough-

Wanyan Kuang coughed several times before stabilizing his breath. He said helplessly, "It's true. I have to go. Wanyan Chengyu and Duji Sizhong gave up Fu, Chang, and Huan Prefectures. Although I don't agree with it, it's not a big mistake for the sake of protecting Yanjing.

However, they did not mention the livestock in the three state pastoral areas in their memorial.

If they didn't mention it, it means they completely forgot about it.

It was definitely too late for the court documents to circulate.

And now, who else besides the old ministers can directly revoke their orders and mobilize their troops on the spot? "

After all, Wanyan Yongji was over fifty years old and had received strict royal education. Even if he was a waste, he understood the seriousness of the matter after being reminded by Wanyan Kuangyi.

He asked, "When will the old prime minister leave?"

"I, the old minister, must leave now. If I leave later, it may be too late."

"Then I will dispatch five hundred guards to escort the old Prime Minister."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The Imperial Guards were the most elite troops of the Jin Dynasty.

At the beginning of the establishment of the Great Jin Dynasty, it was called Heza Meng'an and was only affiliated with four people: Aguda, Wuqimai, Zonggan and Zonghan.

Later, it developed into the emperor's personal guard, with a total number of 6,000 people selected from soldiers across the country, and they were the elite among the elite.

It’s not that Wanyan Yongji was unwilling to transfer more guards to Wanyan Kuang, but the more people there were, the slower the marching speed.

Now is the time to race against time with the Mongols!
Although Wanyan Kuang was already in his twilight years, he was, after all, a general and a prime minister who had commanded an army of hundreds of thousands.

At this time, relying on his strong will, he managed to hold on, riding the best warhorse, and under the protection of 500 guards, he galloped 500 miles in one night. In the early morning of the next day, he had arrived at the Huanzhou Mujian.

As soon as he dismounted, Wanyan Kuangjiu issued an order: "All mules, donkeys, cattle, and sheep in the Huanzhou Ranch must be abandoned. Instruct Yelu Chuan, the head of the Huanzhou Pasture Supervisor, to drive all the horses into Huanzhou City. This must be done before noon today."

Yelu Chuan quickly took the order and left, and there was chaos in the Huanzhou Muguan.

Wanyan Kuang was too lazy to take care of these trivial matters, so he issued a series of orders in the name of Shangshu Ling in Huanzhou Mujian.

First, the herdsmen in Changzhou and Fuzhou were ordered to transfer all the horses in their herds to the prefecture capital. If the horses were not transferred in time and the Mongolian army arrived, all the horses would be killed.

Second, all the garrison officers and soldiers in Huan, Chang and Fu prefectures were concentrated in the prefecture capitals in the shortest possible time.

Third, a message was sent to Wanyan Chengyu and Duji Sizhong who were stationed at Heifengkou in Yehuling, asking them to send heavy troops to support Fu, Chang and Huan prefectures.

After issuing these orders, Wanyan Kuang rushed to Fuzhou City without stopping to strengthen the city's defenses.

There were only 3,000 defenders left in Fuzhou City, and the people were in panic because Wanyan Cheng had transferred most of the troops away.

The arrival of Wanyan Kuang, the prime minister of the empire, quickly calmed the people in the city.

By noon, all the horses in Huanzhou Muguan were gathered in Huanzhou City.

Some reinforcements from other small towns in Huanzhou also arrived, totaling more than 1,200 people.

"Thankfully, I arrived in time and prevented Wanyan Chengyu and Duji Sizhong from causing such a disaster. There are already 4,000 troops in the city. I believe that by evening, reinforcements will arrive, and I will have enough strength to defend the city."

Wanyan Kuang stood on the city wall and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he felt sleepy and wanted to go back to the yamen to take a nap.

However, at this moment, smoke and dust rolled in the distance, and it seemed that a large group of cavalry had arrived.

How could the reinforcements arrive so quickly?
wrong!

It's Mongolian soldiers!

The golden word "Zhao" on the big banner is simply dazzling!

"It's the Mongolian consort Zhao Shuo!"

"They nailed Wanyan Chihu to a wooden donkey and turned the Jurchen soldiers into a forest of skulls!"

"It's over! Huanzhou is finished!"

……

Wanyan Chengyu transferred most of the troops from Huanzhou City and actually gave up Huanzhou, so the news of the failure on the front line could no longer be kept secret.

Seeing Zhao Shuo's flag, the people who had just calmed down suddenly became panicked.

Wanyan Kuangque remained calm and said loudly, "Don't panic! The Mongols are not as scary as you think. Follow me and defend the city."

"Somebody come!"

"Here!" the imperial guards answered loudly.

"Hang out my banner!"

"Yes."

In a moment, Wanyan Kuang's flag was raised.

In addition to a big word "Wanyan", there are also a few small words: King Shen of the Great Jin Dynasty, Shangshu Ling.

"What? Wanyan Kuang is here?"

Zhao Shuo was really surprised by Wanyan Kuang's arrival.

Because it was a large group of people and had to pass through the small towns guarded by the Jin army in Fuzhou and Changzhou, Zhao Shuo's army arrived more than three hours later than Wanyan Kuang, even though each man had four horses.

His vanguard troops first went to Huanzhou Horse Farm.

After realizing that they had failed, they hurried to join forces with the central army.

The army then rushed to the city of Huanzhou.

It was not until now that Zhao Shuo realized that it was the accident involving Wanyan Kuang.

However, it was just a slight surprise. He sneered and said, "First, tell the city wall my message: If anyone dares to kill as many horses as Huanzhou City dares to, I will take their heads with them. If the number is not enough, I will take the Jurchens of the Jin Kingdom with them!"

There were more people in Baru Camp who understood Chinese, and immediately some soldiers with loud voices started shouting.

Geerle asked, "Prince Consort, what should we do next? Should we fire the cannon?"

"Fire a s***!" Zhao Shuo said, "Is it worth firing a cannon against the few defenders in Huanzhou City?"

Huanzhou is a big city and usually has 30,000 troops stationed there.

There are only 4,000 people now. Zhao Shuo, who has been through hundreds of battles, can see at a glance how weak Huanzhou is.

"Then what the Prince Consort meant is..."

"Before we set out, didn't I have each of you take ten cloth bags from the May Camp's reserves? Now, follow my orders, everyone put on your armor! Each of you fill half a bag with soil, charge forward, and throw it in front of Huanzhou City!"

"How far?"

"Throw it into a big slope and we'll attack directly!"

According to historical records, Temujin used this method to break the city of Fuzhou.

It’s not that they don’t know how to build siege equipment. Genghis Khan had already conquered Western Xia, so how could there be no craftsmen to build catapults?

The truth is, there are too few defenders in Fuzhou City and their morale is too low, so there is no need to go through so much trouble.

Temujin's action is the world-famous "Horse Racing to the City".

Of course, in reality, it's impossible to actually "rush a city wall with horses." One can only rush horses to pile up sandbags, and even then, infantry would sometimes have to be deployed. Ultimately, it was the infantry that would ultimately ascend the city walls.

However, Huanzhou was far less solid than Fuzhou, and Temujin acted on impulse and had to search for cloth bags, while Zhao Shuo had already prepared everything.

Zhao Shuo's attack on Huanzhou this time was much easier than Temujin's attack on Fuzhou.

Boom boom boom!
Seventeen thousand soldiers from the Baru camp, ten thousand from Zhao Shuo's own army, and three thousand from the Wanggu army, a total of thirty thousand troops showed their might.

They went back and forth, constantly throwing sandbags to the foot of Huanzhou City while braving the rain of arrows from the city.

In fact, seeing so many Mongolian troops coming into the city and making those harsh words, the families of the defenders of Huanzhou were all here or in Huanzhou, so they did not dare to do anything extreme and their resistance was very weak.

What's wrong with the Great Jin Prime Minister Wanyan Kuang being here?
Is he as cruel as the Mongolian prince consort Zhao Shuo?

And the most important thing is that he can’t even conjure up any soldiers!

In less than two hours, the front end of the slope was level with Huanzhou City.

"Charge with me!"

At Zhao Shuo's command, eight hundred black cavalrymen abandoned their horses and followed closely behind him, and thirty thousand Mongolian troops followed closely behind, climbing the city with Zhao Shuo.

What about Wanyan Kuang?
When Zhao Shuo's slope was halfway built, he escaped under the protection of 500 guards.

In order to cover his escape, he didn't even take his big flag, and it became Zhao Shuo's trophy.

Nonsense, what if I don’t run?
Zhao Shuo was a man who always kept his word. If Wanyan Kuang insisted on killing the horses, the tens of thousands of civilians and four thousand defenders in the city would not agree. They would probably have opened the city gates and surrendered at that time.

Therefore, it would be better to escape while the Mongols are concentrating on attacking the city.

Of course, Zhao Shuo didn't care whether Wanyan Kuang ran away or not.

Now his attention was completely on the war horses in Huanzhou City.

"Prince Consort, the statistics are out!"

Half an hour later, Geerle excitedly reported: "Four hundred thousand horses! A full four hundred thousand! We have ten horses for each of us, and we have more than enough!"

(End of this chapter)