I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 340 The Crown Prince's Military Service

...

Upon arriving at the front lines, Zhao Shou learned many things he had never known before from Zhao Yan and the soldiers there.

For example, the reason why his father was respected by all the soldiers of the Song Dynasty, and even those soldiers who were originally barbarians or Hu people praised his father, was not only because his father was the emperor of the Song Dynasty and had a noble status.

More importantly, his father, the emperor, always led them to great victories in his personal campaigns, earning them merit and rewards.

Furthermore, his father changed the extremely unfair situation of the Song Dynasty, where civil officials were superior to military officials, and instead created an era of separate civil and military administration. This greatly improved the social status and treatment of soldiers who defended the country. For example, soldiers and their families had priority in medical treatment, their children had priority in choosing schools, and the parents of martyrs received a peck of rice, a peck of noodles, and two pounds of meat during festivals. The propaganda also changed from "good men don't become soldiers" to "good men should take up arms to defend their country" and "soldiers are the most lovable people in the Song Dynasty."

Furthermore, his father, the emperor, resolved all the worries of the Song Dynasty's soldiers, allowing them to fight on the battlefield with peace of mind. If they died in battle, it would not only be extremely honorable, but their parents, wives, and children would also be taken care of by the imperial court.

Moreover, his father broke the monopoly of the military, and the system of rewards and punishments was clear, so that as long as the soldiers of the Song Dynasty fought hard, they would have the opportunity to stand out, which was something they never dared to dream of before.

In addition, his father vigorously promoted the military medical system, ordering that all wounded soldiers, regardless of rank, should be treated with all their might, so that those who should not die could be saved.

In addition, since his father ascended the throne, the court has never failed to provide supplies to the front lines. There has always been an abundance of grain and supplies, and they have always arrived early.

As for the frequent delays in paying military salaries that the imperial court used to have, this was something that never happened during his father's reign. Sometimes when the national treasury was empty, his father would even pay the military salaries out of his own pocket. In the words of Consort Li, "We cannot let the soldiers bleed and then weep."

All of this gave his father immense prestige among the military and made him deeply loved by the soldiers of the Song Dynasty. He stood like a towering, unyielding mountain in the hearts of every soldier, becoming their strongest support and highest faith, for which they were willing to fight.

It can be said that in the military camp, whether generals or soldiers, everyone had a sincere respect and admiration for his father, especially the older ones.

Only at this moment did Zhao Shou understand that his father's position among the military was irreplaceable and unsurpassable, and even unparalleled, regardless of who it was, including himself, even if he successfully inherited his father's throne in the future.

Furthermore, it was only at this moment that Zhao Shou understood why his father had sent princes like them, who were ambitious and eager to achieve great things, to the front lines to experience the war firsthand. It turned out that many things were not as simple as they were written in books.

Zhao Shou originally thought that as an emperor, he only needed to sit in the palace and issue orders, and never thought that he would need to do so many things.

Being an emperor is really not easy!

Realizing this, Zhao Shou had mixed feelings!

Zhao Shou had always known that no matter how hard he tried in his life, he might never reach the heights of his father, who had become the greatest emperor of the Song Dynasty. But he never imagined that the gap between him and his father would be so huge, so huge that he was not even worthy of being compared to his father.

At this moment, Zhao Shou felt immense pressure.

However, on the other hand, Zhao Shou was also carefully taught by Zheng Xiansu over the years. Ever since he was old enough to understand, he knew that he would be the next emperor of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, although Zhao Shou had begun to realize the huge gap between himself and his father, he was not discouraged, but instead worked even harder to catch up with his father.

It was precisely for this reason that Zhao Shou began to actively hone his military skills, spending his days gaining a deep understanding of the army and his nights studying military books and strategies.

During this period, Zhong Shidao strictly followed the tactics most familiar to the Song Dynasty, namely, shallow attacks and advances into fortified positions, and organized more than a dozen small-scale offensive operations, provoking a full-scale counterattack from the Jin people. Enraged by the harassment, the Jin people amassed an army of 150,000, intending to crush all military forces on the Liaodong Peninsula.

Zhong Shidao personally directed all mobilization matters and coordinated the various military forces.

This prevented the Jin army from conquering the Liaodong Peninsula in just a few days of encirclement.

The key was that the Song army had Li Lin's cannons, which made the Jin army hesitant to attack and dare not launch a concentrated attack.

The crucial point is that the Jin soldiers, considering the potential danger of being cut off from their return route by Zhong Shidao and the inability to plunder, were forced to return empty-handed.

Upon seeing this, Zhong Shidao decisively dispatched Song Dynasty cavalry to pursue and intercept them.

Unfortunately, this was repelled by the Jin army, which was more adept at open field battles.

In this battle, the Jin Dynasty mobilized 150,000 troops, but only killed a few hundred Song soldiers. These were casualties that occurred while pursuing the Jin army. Meanwhile, the Song army, using the fortified villages for defense and counterattack, killed thousands of Jin soldiers with the help of Li Lin cannons and Shenbi crossbows.

In terms of the outcome of the battle, the Song army definitely came out on top.

Most importantly, the Jin people were few, while the Song people were many, and the Song people were least afraid of exchanging lives.

After hearing Zhang Jun's explanation, Zhao Shou felt even more that Zhao Yu was brilliant, but he still had one question: "Why didn't the Jurchens come to fight?"

Zhang Jun laughed and said, "He has no choice but to come and fight."

Zhao Shou quickly understood what Zhang Jun meant.

The day after defeating the Jin army, Qiu Yu began constructing defensive fortifications leading to Liaodong City, protecting the route connecting the Liaodong Peninsula to Liaodong.

At the same time, Qiu Yu also organized the construction of roads leading to the former garrison locations of the Liao and Jin armies.

Once the road was completed, railway tracks were laid, pushing the Song Dynasty's fortified villages directly to the Jin army's front lines.

Then, the Song army continued to harass the Jin army. In just over a month, they fought more than forty battles with the Jin army, which annoyed the Jin army.

What made things particularly difficult for the Jin army was that the Song army's tactics were a mix of feints and real attacks, causing the Jin army, which actually had a small number of troops, to run back and forth.

Taking advantage of the frequent troop movements of the Jin army, Zhong Shidao suddenly dispatched a large army to launch a surprise attack on the Jin fortresses leading to Chenzhou, seizing the vital passage that cut off the Liaoxi Corridor and the Liaodong Peninsula.

Before the battle began, Zhong Shidao ordered the preparation of city-building materials and instructed the other forces to launch feigned attacks to distract the Jin army.

Taking advantage of the Jin army's preoccupation with dealing with the Song army's harassment, the Song army controlled the advantageous area in front of Chenzhou in just twenty-two days, and then captured Chenzhou city in one fell swoop.

Zhao Yu named this city Pingjin City, implying his intention to destroy the Jin Dynasty.

After capturing Pingjin City, Qiu Yu personally led craftsmen and laborers to fortify the city.

The completion of Pingjin City marked the beginning of a series of attacks by the Song army.

Due to the defeat of the Jin army, not only the Song army on the Liaodong Peninsula, but also the Song army in Liaozhongjing led by Liu Fa, were building fortresses and roads, encroaching on the territory of the Jin state, and constructing a series of defensive fortifications within the Jin territory.

The Song army's fortified camps gradually formed a triangular defensive line, which severely restricted the Jin army's movements. It was wishful thinking for the Jin army to use its mobility to defeat the Song army piecemeal.

The standing of Pingjin City was like a steel nail driven into the heart of Liaodong, the territory of the Jin Dynasty. If the Jin Dynasty did not remove this nail, the Liaodong Peninsula and the Song Dynasty would be completely connected.

really!

After Pingjin City was completed, the Song army continued to use the strategy of "shallow attack and advance construction", forming dozens of construction teams with a thousand men each, and advancing into the Jin territory like silkworms eating mulberry leaves.

Wherever the Song army achieved victory, the artisans and laborers in the rear would work with astonishing efficiency, ramming earth and piling stones to build a simple fortress within a few days, which would serve as a base for the next advance.

These fortified villages, scattered like stars, were connected by newly built roads and even railways, enabling the rapid transport of supplies and ammunition, and forming a mutually supportive defensive system, like an impenetrable net woven across Jin territory. The Jin army, naturally, would not stand idly by as its territory was gradually eroded.

Wanyan Xie also personally led 30,000 elite troops once again in an attempt to destroy several of the Song army's forward fortresses and create a breach in the Song army's defenses.

However, the Song army had already built artillery racks and deployed Li Lin cannons in Pingjin City and the core fortresses that were subsequently constructed, and also prepared a large number of rolling logs and stones for defense.

Wanyan Xie also knew that the Song army's fortifications were strong and their cannons were sharp. If he attacked them by ordinary means, he would suffer heavy losses. Therefore, he gathered thousands of Han Chinese, Korean craftsmen, and laborers to work day and night to make tunnels, goose carts, shield carts, and the like.

The tunnel was made of thick wood, covered with raw cowhide, and equipped with wheels. It could accommodate more than ten people crawling forward to reach the city. The goose cart was as high as the city, with wheels as big as plates. It had a sky bridge on top, and soldiers could climb the ladder to board the cart and enter over the wall. The shield cart, as the name suggests, was a war chariot with amazing defensive power and a large defensive area.

Three days later, the Jin army marched forward with great fanfare. Using the cave as the vanguard, more than thirty vehicles lined up end to end, like black turtles lying on the ground, slowly approaching the Song Dynasty fortress.

Seeing this, the Song soldiers on the stockade remained calm. When the tunnels were within a hundred paces, the commander gave an order, and dozens of catapults suddenly unleashed their power. Huge rocks roared down, and several tunnels immediately collapsed, scattering wood chips and cowhide everywhere.

At the same time, Li Lin's cannons roared and fired at the Jin army's bunkers.

The shell hit the cave, the bark shattered, and even the area around the cave was blown to pieces, with mud churning and corpses strewn everywhere.

Once the cave is destroyed, the Jin soldiers hidden inside will be exposed.

Arrows immediately rained down from the stockade walls, and Li Lin's guns fired in unison.

Both the Shenbi bow and the Li Lin gun had a longer range than the Jin army's bows and arrows.

The key difference is that the Song army fired from above, while the Jin army fired from below.

The result was self-evident: a large number of Jin soldiers were shot and killed by the Song army.

At the same time, the Jin army's right flank of the Goose Chariot formation also began to move forward.

More than ten goose carts, under the cover of shield carts, slowly approached the stockade wall.

Upon seeing this, Li Linpao immediately turned his cannon around and bombarded the shield cart and the goose cart.

The cannonballs landed precisely on the shield carts and goose carts, the violent explosions blasting the shield carts to pieces and the hulls of the goose carts riddled with holes, the Jin soldiers on board screaming as they fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, under the command of their generals, the Song soldiers methodically shot down the unprotected Jin soldiers.

However, the Jin army seemed determined to break through the Song army's defenses, and disregarded casualties, continuing to drive the remaining tunnels and goose carts forward.

Zhao Yan and Zhao Shou, who also participated in this battle, directed the artillery to quickly load ammunition and continue to bombard the Jin army's caves and goose carts according to Zhang Zigai's command.

Because they were so anxious and nervous, the two brothers' voices were hoarse from shouting.

Through actual combat, Zhao Shou finally understood why Zhao Yu said that for a long time to come, the battlefield would belong to cannons; the Li Lin cannon was simply too useful.

It could even be said that without Li Lin's cannons, the Song army's battles would have been many times more difficult.

It was at this moment that Zhao Shoucai realized that listening to Zhao Yan and staying in the artillery unit was the right thing to do. Otherwise, how would he have known that Li Lin's artillery was the true master of the battlefield?
Unfortunately, the Li Lin artillery at the front was still too few, with only about twenty in total.

This undoubtedly gave the Jin army an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

As a result, although Zhao Yan, Zhao Shou and other artillerymen fired many of Li Lin's cannons until they were red-hot, many tunnels and goose carts still crashed down to the city wall.

The Jin soldiers quickly poured out of the cave, wielding shovels and picks, intending to dig up the foundation of the wall and collapse the temporary fortress built by the Song Dynasty, so that the Jin army could prepare to send its cavalry to charge into the fortress at any time.

The bridge over the goose cart suddenly collapsed, and the Jin soldiers roared as they stepped onto it.

The Song soldiers on the stockade wall were prepared for this. Armed with divine crossbows and Li Lin guns, the Song soldiers fired in three volleys. The laborers carried or lifted logs and stones and hurled them down the city wall like a waterfall. Thunderclaps were thrown at the sky bridge and goose carts like a meteor shower.

A dense barrage of arrows and bullets wove together a deadly net, slaying the Jin soldiers who had scaled the city walls.

The rolling logs and boulders mercilessly swallowed up the Jin soldiers who tried to climb the stockade walls.

Even more terrifying were the thunderbolts that exploded like hand grenades on the goose carts and overpasses, causing widespread death and injury.

Although the Jin army's offensive was fierce, it was like waves crashing against rocks and breaking into countless sprays in the face of the Song army's tough defenses.

Furthermore, Song soldiers poured fuel oil on the road and set it ablaze, instantly turning the cave and the goose cart into a cage of flames. The soldiers inside screamed as they were engulfed by the flames.

Upon seeing this, Wanyan Xie also ordered the follow-up troops to launch a fierce attack.

The Jin army swarmed forward, but was firmly suppressed by Li Lin's cannons, muskets, and crossbows on the stockade.

Li Lin's cannons roared intermittently, each shell tearing a gash in the Jin army's ranks, sending men and horses flying in blood and gore.

By dusk, the Jin army's corpses were piled up like mountains, and the caves and goose carts were more than half destroyed, yet they still could not cross the wall even half a step.

The Song army took advantage of the night to rest, strengthen the city's defenses, and replenish ammunition.

In fact, with the war having progressed to this point, many Jin soldiers, especially the Goryeo soldiers who made up the largest number of Jin troops, no longer wanted to fight.

However, the Jin army had no choice but to fight, otherwise, once the Song army gradually devoured Liaodong, the Jin state would perish. Therefore, Wanyan Xie also organized a brutal supervisory team to force the Jin army to continue its attack.

So the next day, the Jin army attacked again, their offensive becoming more intense, but they still could not shake the fortress in the slightest.

Li Lin, the commander of the village, fired his cannons incessantly. When he ran out of rolling logs and stones, he threw gunpowder packets, and explosions rang out one after another, leaving the Jin army dead and wounded in droves.

After five days of this stalemate, the Jin army suffered nearly 10,000 casualties, and all their equipment, including tunnels and wagons, was destroyed, and their morale was completely shattered.

Seeing that there was no hope of attacking the stronghold and fearing that further delay would lead to encirclement by Song reinforcements, Wanyan Xie had no choice but to order a retreat.

Taking advantage of the chaos during the Jin army's retreat, the Song cavalry launched an attack, constantly dividing and encircling small groups of Jin soldiers and annihilating them. Meanwhile, the Li Lin cannons in the fortress continued to provide fire support, bombarding the Jin army that was trying to regroup, preventing them from putting up an effective resistance.

This led to a major defeat for the Jin army.

The Song cavalry pursued them for more than ten miles, killing several thousand more.

After this battle, the Jin army dared not attack the fortified camp easily again, while the Song army, relying on the advantages of strong cities and artillery, continued to nibble away at Liaodong territory. The Jin state's territory shrank day by day, and it gradually became trapped in a siege...

……

(End of this chapter)