I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 251 Could this be considered an empress?

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After defeating Fang Qifo, Song Jiang did not stop there, but instead used his cavalry to relentlessly pursue and kill Fang Qifo.

When they reached Chongde, Yao Pingzhong and Liu Guangshi caught up with Fang Qifo, and the two armies clashed in a fierce battle.

Fang Qifo's army was in chaos, and even Fang Qifo himself was almost captured alive by Yao Pingzhong.

There was no way around it; Fang La's rebel army was mainly composed of infantry, and they were no match for the iron hooves and sharp sabers of the Song army's cavalry. As a result, they quickly collapsed and fled towards Hangzhou.

After receiving the news, Fang La followed the advice of Wang Gong Laofo and ordered that the defeated troops not be allowed to enter the city.

Fang La and his men were worried that when the routed troops entered the city, they would lead the Song army into the city, which is why they ordered the city gates to be closed.

The soldiers of Fang Qifo's rebel army under Fang La shouted loudly outside the city gate: Don't close the city gate!
However, Fang La's rebel army in Hangzhou ignored them completely.

This led Yao Pingzhong, Liu Guangshi, and later Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng, Lin Chong, Xu Ning, Yang Zhi, and others to lead their troops in a massacre, causing Fang La's rebel army to be slaughtered and scattered in disarray.

Seeing this, Fang La had no choice but to send his newly appointed Eighth King Lu Mai, along with generals such as Guan Sunzhong and Fang Shizong, and his personal guards (including more than 5,000 cavalry and more than 20,000 elite infantry) out of the city to fight fiercely with the Song army.

Lu Mai, Guan Sunzhong, Fang Shizong and other generals were all trusted and fierce generals under Fang La. They brought with them the elite of Fang La's rebel army. The officers were all core members of the Manichaeism and were not afraid of death in battle.

The Song army had been fighting all day and was exhausted.

In the end, after fighting Fang La's rebel army for more than an hour outside the city of Hangzhou, the Song army, seeing that it could not win, reluctantly withdrew and waited for its own infantry to come up so that it could attack the city of Hangzhou again.

In this battle, from Chongde to the city of Hangzhou, the corpses lay piled up one after another, countless in number. Fang La's rebel army trampled on each other, and weapons were abandoned all over the outskirts.

After the Song army left, Fang Qifo received an imperial edict from Fang La, ordering him to set up camp outside Hangzhou, gather the rebel army, and wait for orders in place.

It is worth mentioning that this was the first imperial edict issued by Fang La after he ascended the throne.

After the regrouping was completed, Fang Qifo took stock and found that of the more than 100,000 rebels under him, Fang Baihua, Chen Miaozhen and other leaders of Fang La's rebel army, only a little over 10,000 remained.

Fang Qifo gazed at the dark sky, his feelings complicated.

Fang La didn't give Fang Qifo any time to sort out his feelings.

Fang La quickly summoned Fang Qifo to the city and asked him how he had been defeated so thoroughly and so quickly, catching them completely off guard.
Fang Qifo blamed the entire incident on the imperial court's re-equipping of Song Jiang's rebel army, saying that the court not only equipped Song Jiang's rebel army with elite gear, but also provided them with a large number of cavalry, including heavily armored cavalry.

Moreover, the Song army outnumbered his troops by nearly double.

Upon hearing this, Fang La blamed Fang Qifo, saying, "If that's the case, why did you insist on engaging in battle with Song Jiang? Why didn't you choose a city with abundant supplies, like Chongde City, and fight a defensive battle against the Song army?"

Fang Qifo didn't say that the order you gave me was to defeat Song Jiang's rebel army, annex it, and then seize the opportunity to defeat Song's army and blockade the Yangtze River. He said that he was carrying out the order you gave him. He also didn't say that he didn't expect the court to be so decisive. They had just recruited Song Jiang's rebel army and then re-equipped this bandit army, which led to the carelessness and loss of Jingzhou.

Fang Qifo merely gave a fairly objective account of how he was defeated.

It's not hard to see that this defeat dealt a significant blow to Fang Qifo.

Lu Jiang gave a very objective analysis, saying that the Song army had a large number of cavalry, and now it was winter, the water network was dry or the water level was low, and some areas had become land. The cavalry could use their speed advantage to launch surprise attacks, making them very difficult to defeat. It was understandable that they suffered a defeat because they did not know that Song Jiang's rebel army had been armed by the imperial court.

As for the Song army's cavalry this time, there is absolutely no need to worry.

If they can hold out for a few more months, when the weather warms up and rainfall increases, the Jiangnan region will be full of rivers, lakes, swamps and dense waterways. Land routes will be narrow and easily cut off by waterways, making it difficult for cavalry to maneuver (such as rapid charges and flanking maneuvers). Warhorses will have difficulty moving in muddy terrain and may even get stuck in swamps, thus failing to take advantage of their speed.

Furthermore, the Ma army relies heavily on fodder and water. The hot and humid environment of the Jiangnan region makes feed prone to mold. Moreover, the transportation of grain and fodder in the water network area depends on boats, which is less efficient than the land routes in the north. If the supply line is cut off, the Ma army may quickly lose its combat effectiveness due to lack of food and fodder.

Furthermore, cities in the Jiangnan region are mostly built along waterways, with moats or waterways surrounding the city walls, making it difficult for cavalry to directly attack them.

Most importantly, the cavalry had almost no combat capability on water. As long as they deployed their navy, the Song army could only passively take the beating.

After listening to General Lü's analysis, Fang La and his men felt much more at ease and even became more optimistic. They thought that as long as they could drag it out for a few months, not only would the Song army's cavalry advantage be completely lost, but when the weather got hot, the heat would kill those northerners.

Fang La also changed his previous complaints and comforted Fang Qifo, saying, "After we defeat the Song army and Song Jiang, our Jiangnan region has a population of 50 million. How can we lack a righteous army?"

Fang La wasn't exaggerating.

Since the Huang Chao Rebellion, the Jiangnan region has experienced little warfare, and its people have lived in peace and prosperity. As a result, it has become a land of plenty, densely populated, and wealthy, with the potential to harbor countless soldiers.

The key issue is that the people of Jiangnan are increasingly dissatisfied with heavy taxes and oppression. The people are poorly clothed and starving, and there are even tragic cases of people selling their children. As long as Fang La is not suppressed by the court, he can easily recruit 100,000 to 200,000 rebels with a single call to arms.

If Fang La had enough time, he could have easily recruited another one or two million rebels in Jiangnan.

After being comforted by Fang La, Fang Qifo regained his fighting spirit and led his men to reinforce the defenses of Hangzhou City, while also taking full responsibility for the deployment of Hangzhou City's defenses.

Fang Qifo knew he bore a heavy responsibility and dared not slack off in the slightest. He used the "hundred-step method" to divide his troops, dividing the outer city wall into four defense zones: east, west, south, and north. He dispatched more than 12,000 men to each defense zone as the main combat force. In addition, he assigned a member of the Fang clan and a skilled rebel leader to serve as the defense zone commander for each of the four defense zones. He also made key deployments at each city gate. In short, he divided the area and assigned each person to a specific area.

At the same time, Fang La sent a trusted confidant to each of his rebel armies to represent the court and urge the commanders of all routes to quickly lead their troops to Hangzhou to provide reinforcements.

Three days later, on the seventeenth day of the second month of the ninth year of Hongwu.

Song troops gradually arrived outside Hangzhou.

Two days later, Song Jiang also led the main force of the Song army to the outskirts of Hangzhou.

Song Jiang did not immediately launch an attack on the city. Instead, he adopted the advice of his advisors, including Zhang Suo, and ordered his soldiers and hired laborers to set up a series of interconnected fortifications around Hangzhou, like fish scales, to strengthen defenses. He also divided the four suburbs of Hangzhou into four districts: east, west, south, and north. Each district was led by a strategist and a brave man. Twenty-four strongholds were built in strategic locations in the four suburbs, each with a commanding officer. This clearly indicated that he was preparing for a protracted war against Fang La's rebel army.

Song Jiang made this choice for two reasons. First, Hangzhou was too well-fortified, and Fang La's rebel army was too numerous to be captured in a short time. Second, they knew that Hangzhou had very little food, and as long as they fought steadily and put enough pressure on Fang La's rebel army, they knew that Fang La's rebel army would not be able to hold Hangzhou.

No one expected that Song Jiang's first battle against Fang La would be a one-on-one duel.

It wasn't a one-on-one duel between Song Jiang and Fang La, but rather that each side sent a fierce general to fight one-on-one outside Hangzhou.

One-on-one duels, or rather, single-rider duels, were not common on the battlefield at that time.

However, Fang La's rebel army had just suffered a defeat, and many of their unruly members were very dissatisfied.

So Fang La sent his valiant general Zheng Mowang, who, wielding a spear and riding a horse, rode to the front of the Song army and cursed Song Jiang, demanding that Song Jiang come out and fight him one-on-one, thus setting off this great show of a duel on horseback.

Zheng Mowang was a core follower of Manichaeism. He was known as the "Demon King" because he "dressed with disheveled hair, naked, and painted with ghosts and gods" during battles, using religious rituals to boost morale.

Zheng Mowang was a rare leader of Fang La's rebel army who, after the uprising, responded to Fang La's call and led his followers to obey Fang La's orders.

It was precisely for this reason that Zheng the Demon King became the vanguard general of Fang La's rebel army. He once led his troops in a surprise attack on Muzhou, breaking through the city with a swift offensive and demonstrating a powerful battlefield impact.

Now that Fang La's rebel army was in decline, Zheng Mowang stepped forward without hesitation. Seeing that Zheng Mowang was indeed tall and strong and looked brave, Song Jiang dared not be careless and ordered two of his generals to go out together and take down Zheng Mowang.

Unexpectedly, Zheng the Demon King was exceptionally skilled, and in just a few rounds, he knocked the two Song generals off their horses.

Zheng the Demon King became even more arrogant, shouting, "How dare such a pig and dog come here to make a fool of themselves?!"

Zheng the Demon King then berated Song Jiang for his treachery and demanded that Song Jiang go into battle.

Song Jiang remained silent.

At this time, a junior officer named Wu Jie from the Jingyuan army sent by Tong Guan to reinforce Song Jiang requested to fight.

Today's Wu Jie is not the historical figure who long guarded Sichuan, defending places like Heshanyuan, Raofengguan, and Xianrenguan, repeatedly defeating the Jin army. It is said that "without Wu Jie bearing the brunt of the attack, Sichuan would have been lost long ago." He and his brother Wu Lin successively guarded Sichuan for decades. Historians praised him for "pacifying the people and assisting in the peace of the country, truly a man who devoted himself to his duties diligently." In terms of military achievements, he is undoubtedly one of the top three generals of the Southern Song Dynasty.

At this time, Wu Jie was just a junior officer who had just started out and had no reputation in the army, the kind who was nobody.

Given this, Song Jiang was in a dilemma and advised Wu Jie, "Both of you are no match for him. If you lose again, what will become of the prestige of our Great Song army?"

Wu Jie said, "If I may borrow your precious horse, sir, I will surely return victorious by slaying the enemy general."

When Song Jiang asked the reason, Wu Jie replied, "The enemy general is indeed brave, but I noticed that his horse is not very agile when turning around, which is his fatal weakness."

Song Jiang thought Wu Jie's words made a lot of sense, so he lent Wu Jie his precious horse and let him go into battle.

Wu Jie rode out into battle, and Zheng the Demon King immediately spurred his horse to meet him.

Wu Jie, however, did not engage Zheng the Demon King in battle, and instead rode away.

Zheng the Demon King then gave chase.

As the two horses galloped side by side, Wu Jie suddenly pulled on his horse's head, turned around, and pounced on Zheng the Demon King.

Although Zheng Mowang's mount was very strong, it was slow to stop when it suddenly lunged forward or turned back, which was not ideal. When Wu Jie suddenly pounced, it couldn't stop and suddenly darted ahead.

Wu Jie seized the opportunity and with one spear thrust, knocked Zheng the Demon King off his horse.

The Song army immediately cheered, while Fang La's rebel army fell silent.

Wu Jie became famous overnight because of this battle.

Later, Zhao Yu used this as an excuse to transfer Wu Jie to his side as a personal guard and personally train him. Later, he transferred him to the Shenji Army.

This is a later story, so let’s not discuss it for now.

That night, the Song army used the "cave" as cover to move to the city walls, and then built ladders to swarm up the walls.

The "cave" or "cave house" is a wooden arched frame covered with cowhide, resembling a cave or room in appearance, and can defend against arrows and ordinary cannonballs.

Fang La's rebel army used battering rams to knock down the siege ladders and then threw huge stones from the city walls to destroy the caves.

The Song army then brought in a massive battle tower. The tower was covered with cowhide on the outside and had climbing frames inside, making it almost as tall as the city walls of Hangzhou.

The Song soldiers pushed the battle tower against the city wall and jumped directly from the top of the tower onto the city wall of Hangzhou.

Fang Qifo and other leaders of Fang La's rebel army ordered the suicide squad to open the city gates and go out to kill the Song soldiers with spears and broadswords, and burn down the battle towers.

The Song army responded by sending its elite troops to fight Fang La's rebel army's suicide squad.

Both sides exchanged fire, arrows flying like locusts. Soldiers on both sides fell, constantly struck by arrows.

The only difference was that the Song soldiers wore armor, so if they were hit by an arrow, they could be rescued as long as it wasn't a fatal wound.

Moreover, after Song Jiang's rebel army accepted the imperial pardon, the court sent many doctors to his army, enabling his wounded soldiers to receive effective treatment.

The situation was different for Fang La's rebel army; once they were hit by arrows, they were almost certain to die.

This made the Song soldiers even more fearless. Even with layers upon layers of corpses piled up, they continued their relentless attack, stepping over the bodies to charge towards the city wall.

It must be said that Fang La's rebel army, driven to desperation and brainwashed by Manichaeism, fought very hard. They were truly willing to risk their lives, thus inflicting considerable casualties on the Song army.

This is why Zhao Yu armed Song Jiang's rebel army.

Fang La's rebel army numbered over a million and was fearless. If Song Jiang's rebel army had not been armed, how could Song Jiang's mere 200,000 troops have quelled the rebellion in Jiangnan?
Historically, the Song Dynasty mobilized 400,000 to 500,000 elite troops, along with armed forces from gentry and landlords in Jiangnan, to barely quell the Fang La Rebellion.

After the war, the elite forces of the Zhao Song Dynasty suffered heavy losses, to the point that they could not even defeat tens of thousands of troops from the remnants of the Liao Dynasty. They were underestimated by the Jin people, which led to the Jingkang Incident.

Furthermore, although Zhao Yu provided Song Jiang's rebel army with decent equipment, it was only second-tier equipment for the current Zhao Song Dynasty.

Take the best three hundred sets of heavy armor as an example. The Jingse Army composed of them can only bully the poorly equipped Fang La rebels. If they were to face the Shenji Army, a single volley of thunderbolts would basically render this heavy cavalry useless.

in short.

Although Fang La's rebel army fought very hard and did not allow the Song army, which launched a fierce offensive, to gain much of an advantage on the battlefield, the food supplies in Hangzhou were running out quickly, making it impossible for them to hold out for long.

Therefore, after six days and six nights of fierce fighting, Fang La ordered Fang Qifo to lead 20,000 Fang La rebels to remain in the city to contain the Song army, while he led the rest of the Fang La rebels to break out and flee towards Muzhou.

Upon seeing this, Song Jiang ordered his cavalry to pursue them.

The Song army's cavalry pursued Fang La's rebel army for dozens of miles, killing countless enemies and even defeating the main force of Fang La's rebel army.

Unfortunately, Fang La ran too fast, so the Song army had no chance to capture him.

However, the Song army did not come away empty-handed.

Yang Zhi was fortunate enough to capture Fang La's wife, Shao.

Could she be considered an empress?

A few days later, seeing that the situation was not good, Fang Qifo also led his men to break out of the city.

With Hangzhou recaptured and the three beauties of Shao Shi, Fang Baihua, and Chen Miaozhen at his disposal, Song Jiang could finally return to the capital...

……

(End of this chapter)