I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 369 Zhao Yu's War Profits

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At the beginning of Gaegyeong, there were no city walls, making it like a body without armor. When the Liao army trampled through, they could drive straight in. The flames raged for three days, becoming a wound that was hard to heal in the hearts of the Goryeo king and his ministers.

Until the twentieth year of King Hyeonjong of Goryeo, Kang Gamchan strongly advocated the construction of the city. 304,400 laborers carried stones and timber day and night to work, and a magnificent city finally rose from the ground.

This city was the largest in Goryeo, with walls stretching for dozens of miles, encompassing the city, palaces, and granaries. Standing at the south gate, one could see the shadow of the north wall on the horizon. It would take half an hour to ride a horse from the east to the west of the city. The streets inside the city were laid out like a chessboard, wide enough for ten horses to ride abreast. Even if tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians were mobilized at the same time, there would be no congestion.

Its defensive capabilities set a new benchmark for the time: the rammed earth city walls were 66 feet high, nearly twice the height of ordinary prefectural cities, and the walls were plastered with glutinous rice mortar, making them as hard as iron; the moat outside the walls was 55 feet wide and 3 feet deep, with sharp stakes hidden at the bottom and iron chain suspension bridges that could be raised and lowered at any time. If the enemy tried to cross the water, they would either be pierced by arrows or fall into the stake array.

The city had twenty-two gates, each a double-layered iron and wood structure, covered with three-inch-thick iron sheets. Behind each gate was a thick iron bolt, and a heavy bolt was used to block the passage even if the gate was breached. The gate tower was a combination of arrow tower and watchtower, with each floor capable of housing a hundred archers. Arrows could cover a hundred paces in front of the gate, making it a truly formidable fortress that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Perhaps it was for this reason that Kim Bu-seok chose to take advantage of the chaos to bring Wang Kai and Wanyan Wule back to Kaijing, preparing to put up a last-ditch resistance, or to use this fortified city as a bargaining chip for negotiations with the Song army.

Chen Gou, Zhong Shizhong, and others remained calm and composed. Despite their victory over the Jin-Goryeo allied forces in the decisive battle, they did not lose their composure. Instead, they decisively dispatched reserve troops to pursue and capture the entire Jin-Goryeo allied forces, preventing them from regrouping. At the same time, they sent troops currently fighting on the front lines to surround Gaegyeong.

While the Jin-Goryeo allied forces were completely defeated, the Song Dynasty began to liberate a large number of slaves.

Thanks to the Jin-Goryeo side's conscription of a large number of slaves in this battle, and the fact that Goryeo nobles mostly abandoned their slaves in their escape, the Song Dynasty captured nearly 100,000 slaves in this battle.

Even if all the old, weak, women and children were removed, there would still be 50,000 able-bodied Goryeo slaves.

Song Dynasty officials immediately began political education for these Goryeo slaves, reorganizing them into a new army. Using elite Song troops and Goryeo soldiers as the backbone, they continued to besiege the resistance forces in Gaegyeong...

……

The situation had reached a point where the very survival of Goryeo was at stake. King Kai and all the civil and military officials of Goryeo dared not go home. They simply worked and rested in the Goryeo royal palace so that they could hold meetings in a timely manner, communicate the situation, study countermeasures, and send people out of the city to negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty.

Soon, news came back that the Song army had completely defeated the Jin-Goryeo allied forces.

When Wang Kai and his ministers heard this, they were all greatly shocked and pale.

Immediately afterwards, more and more bad news came back.

The Song army's offensive was as fierce as a storm, sweeping through the city and quickly surrounding Kaesong.

Upon hearing this news, the atmosphere in the Goryeo royal palace suddenly became extremely chaotic.

Wang Kai and all the civil and military officials of Goryeo were in a panic!
Some advocated sending elite cavalry to lead Wang Kai out of Kaijing and to Xijing for refuge.

Some advocated sending high-ranking officials to negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty at all costs, in order to prevent the Song army from attacking and opening up the capital.

Others advocated for the immediate recruitment of soldiers, regardless of rank or age, to be sent to the city walls to strengthen defenses and implement a scorched-earth policy.

The situation is now very clear: Goryeo is facing its greatest challenge in over two hundred years, and one wrong move could lead to utter ruin.

Faced with this precarious situation, King Wang Kai and his ministers were remarkably united in their decision: war was out of the question, and the only urgent task was to negotiate peace at all costs. Only then could Goryeo have a chance of survival, or at least possibly save the lives of those in Gaegyeong.

In fact, some people wanted to risk breaking out of Kaesong.

The problem is that the largest cavalry force in Kaijing is the 5,000-strong Jin cavalry left behind by Wanyan Zongfu. This army was originally intended to suppress the Goryeo people and prevent them from defecting. Now that this Jin army is in Wanyan Wule's hands, it would be impossible for them to break out of the city without this well-organized cavalry force.

Wanyan Wule's attitude was still unclear, especially after he decisively allowed the Jin army to take over the capital city as soon as he entered Kaijing.

That night, deep within the Goryeo royal palace, the lights were bright. A group of Goryeo civil and military officials sat together, all with solemn expressions. Some were deep in thought, while others were arguing heatedly about countermeasures.

That night, they discussed and studied every possible strategy, tried to figure out the intentions of the Song Dynasty, and searched for ways to resist the Song army.

However, despite staying up all night and having many thoughts, they were still at a loss.

As dawn broke, the palace lights remained bright.

Meanwhile, a large number of Goryeo officials were dispatched by King Gaecheong to Gaegyeong to gather the fleeing soldiers who had entered the city, and to have them hold out alongside the soldiers and civilians in Gaegyeong and await reinforcements...

By dawn, the Song army had already surrounded Kaesong.

The atmosphere of war immediately enveloped the skies above Kaesong and the hearts of the people in Kaesong.

Although at this time, the number of troops in Kaesong, including the Goryeo army, the Jin army, and the civilians in Kaesong, was still over 100,000, and they had ample food and supplies, as well as an inexhaustible supply of weapons and equipment, they still had the potential to fight the Song army.

In Kaijing, everyone from Wang Kai down was on tenterhooks, fearing that the Song army would storm the city and massacre it at any moment.

In order to regain the initiative, the faction of relatives of the emperor led by Li Ziqian and Tuo Junjing, and the royalist faction led by Jin Fushi, excluded Goryeo ministers such as Zheng Zhichang who were close to the Jin people and originally listened to the orders of Wanyan Zongfu and Wanyan Wule from the core circle, thus clearing obstacles to negotiating peace with the Song Dynasty.

Yi Ziqian and Kim Bu-sik also met separately with the main generals of the various armies in Gaegyeong, promising them high-ranking positions and generous salaries, and even rewarding them with large amounts of gold and silver jewelry, in an attempt to win their hearts and minds and seize military power in their hands.

Kim Boo-seok even took Wang Kai to inspect the city walls, showing concern for the troops at various points along the walls and slaughtering pigs and cattle to reward them.

Jin Fushi and others then suggested to Wang Kai that an additional supervisor be appointed to each city wall, and a member of the imperial clan be appointed as co-supervisor; and that a member of the imperial clan be assigned to each city gate to oversee its opening and closing. Furthermore, numerous supervisory officers were to be stationed at all the city gates… …

The siege by the Song army plunged the capital city of Kaesong into a thick layer of panic.

The bustling city was no longer filled with the usual noise; only fragmented yet jarring rumors swirled through the streets and alleys—"That Li Lin cannon could shatter the city walls with a single shot; the capital is probably doomed," "The nobles have secretly changed into civilian clothes; if things go wrong, they will blend into the crowd and escape," "The Song Dynasty doesn't kill civilians and slaves; it even distributes land and grain to them." The rumors, like poisonous vines, entangled the soldiers and civilians, causing widespread panic and even giving rise to thoughts of surrendering the city.

The Goryeo court was deeply concerned about this, fearing that if Gaegyeong were besieged by the Song army again, public sentiment would change drastically and unrest would break out. What they feared most was not the Song army outside the city, but the collapse of the "line of defense of the people's hearts" within the city—if the siege dragged on and supplies ran out, the people in the city would likely rebel first, and then the city would disintegrate from within without the Song army even having to attack.

To appease the military and civilians and stabilize the situation, Kim Bu-sik and others issued a special edict in the name of Wang Kai:
"I have repeatedly sent envoys to establish friendly relations with the Great Song Dynasty, with messengers constantly traveling the roads. However, the enemy's momentum continues unabated. This is all due to the failure of the generals to unite as one. I hope that the soldiers and civilians in the city will take this as a warning. I have already summoned troops from various garrisons to reinforce and protect the royal family. The soldiers and civilians in the capital should understand my intentions and refrain from causing any disturbance..."

It can be said that even today, the people in Goryeo City still harbor a sense of wishful thinking and illusion.

Their hope was that the Song army wouldn't be able to breach the formidable defenses of Gaegyeong; their fantasy was that their envoys to negotiate peace with the Song would succeed, and that Goryeo would pay a price so the Song army would withdraw, just as the Liao and Jin armies had previously besieged the city. Or perhaps soon, a massive Goryeo army would converge from all directions, creating a stalemate with the Song army and forcing the Song to negotiate peace with Goryeo.

Ultimately, everyone in the capital city harbors self-deceptive thoughts, like two straws clutched at by drowning people.

It was under this mindset that King Kai and his ministers gave up their last chance to escape and ordered all the gates of Kaesong to be closed, forbidding anyone from leaving Kaesong, vowing to live and die with Kaesong!
……

Meanwhile, the Song Dynasty did not rush to attack the city or negotiate with Goryeo. Instead, it steadily expanded its army by using Goryeo slaves and civilians, cleared out the remaining Goryeo forces in Gaegyeong, and seized natural defenses, passes, and fortresses such as the Han River. At the same time, it allowed the Song army, which had just experienced a major battle, to rest and reorganize, and used well-performing Goryeo civilians and slaves to replenish the troops that had suffered losses.

Meanwhile, the Song army, having rested and regrouped, and the expanded Goryeo army, gradually gathered around Gaegyeong (Kaesong).

The Song army set up numerous military camps around the four walls of Kaesong, effectively enclosing the city. These camps were numerous, varying in size, and countless. The Song soldiers openly displayed their banners in the countryside, moving between the camps. In other words, the Song army deployed in a dispersed formation. This made their forces appear to number in the hundreds of thousands.

In its propaganda, the Song army has always claimed to be a million-strong army.

Is the Song Dynasty making such a show of force because it can't take the capital?
how is this possible.

Three hundred Li Lin cannons were fired at one spot.

There's no need for a second round of bombardment; they'll definitely be able to blast a breach in the walls of Gaegyeong, even though Gaegyeong is the most fortified city in Goryeo.

By then, the Song army wouldn't even need to fight much to break the will to resist of the soldiers and civilians in Kaijing.

Honestly, given the current situation, it would be incredibly easy for the Song army to capture Kaesong.

The problem is that after taking Kaesong by force, the chaos inside the city was far more terrible than the collapse of the city walls.

There are always people who are willing to sacrifice their lives, and it's hard to guarantee that they won't set fires in the streets with the intention of "destroying everything in the process."

Whether it was military rations stockpiled in the outer city, palace treasuries in the inner city, or grain stored by the people, once engulfed by flames, they were instantly reduced to ashes.
Armor, arrows, and other weapons and equipment in the armory that could have been used by the Song Dynasty would also be set on fire in the chaos, and even the oxcarts and horse-drawn carts transporting grain and fodder could be turned into a sea of ​​fire.

Even more deadly is the chain reaction of "self-depletion of supplies".

The Song army, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, consumed tens of thousands of shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain daily. If all supplies were transported from the rear, the Song's logistical burden would be immense. In fact, even a minor incident, such as a typhoon, could cause the Song army at the front to run out of food. At that point, not only would the conquest of other Goryeo prefectures be impossible, but even the troops stationed in Gaegyeong (Korean capital) might mutini due to lack of supplies. The entire plan to conquer Goryeo could crumble in the blink of an eye due to starvation.

The best way to solve this problem is to find food locally.

If the Kaijing granary were burned down, it would be equivalent to cutting off the foundation of "obtaining grain locally".

The loss of property was equally glaring. The gold, silver, jewels, silks, and satins accumulated by the Goryeo Dynasty over two hundred years, as well as the taxes and tributes paid by various prefectures and counties, were all concentrated in the palace and treasury of Gaegyeong.

When the city falls, the defending troops will definitely loot, the fleeing soldiers will definitely loot, and even the civilians in the chaos will take advantage of the chaos to loot, not to mention the cloth burned and the silver ingots melted in the sea of ​​fire.

These assets could have been the "capital" for the Song Dynasty to appease Goguryeo and support its garrison after the war, as well as the war profits made by Zhao Yu.

—Every bit burned reduces Zhao Yu's income, and the financial resources for governing Goryeo may also be depleted.

However, if the Song army could take over Gaegyeong intact, the situation would be completely different. As long as the garrison in Gaegyeong surrendered, the Song army could immediately take control of the palace treasury, granaries, and armories: the grain in the palace treasury was enough to feed hundreds of thousands of troops for half a year, and the grain stored in the civilian granaries in the city would directly save the rear three to five months of transportation pressure. If the subsequent management was good, the Song Dynasty would not even need to provide Goryeo with grain and supplies. The gold and silver in the treasury could not only make up for the Song Dynasty's losses, but also be used to reward Song soldiers and stabilize morale, and also to provide relief to the people of Gaegyeong and appease the people.

In short, for feudal dynasties, the capital was never just a city, but the "granary" and "money bag" of the entire country. What the Song Dynasty wanted was not just to conquer Goguryeo, but to occupy it. Burning the grain and goods of Gaegyeong was equivalent to gaining an empty shell. Without food, even the strongest military force could not sustain hundreds of thousands of troops. Only by completely seizing the foundation of Gaegyeong could the Song army truly gain a foothold in Goguryeo, and only then would there be room for subsequent governance and pacification.

……

The Goryeo soldiers and civilians in Gaegyeong stood on the city walls, having a clear view of the Song army outside the city. Upon hearing that the Song army numbered a million, fear filled their eyes, even among the Goryeo nobles in Gaegyeong.

This led not only to the common people and slaves of Goryeo in Gaegyeong wanting to surrender, but even some Goryeo nobles in Gaegyeong were considering surrendering.

After all, no matter how good wealth and glory are, they can't compare to the importance of being alive.

You know, when a person dies, they lose everything.

It was at this time that the Song Dynasty finally sent envoys to Gaegyeong (Kaifeng) to persuade them to surrender...

……

(End of this chapter)