I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 397 Capturing the Capital of the Jin Kingdom
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After successfully capturing the Jin capital, Yue Fei ordered his generals Zhang Xian, Wang Gui, Yao Zheng, and others to immediately seize all the city gates of the Jin capital and send troops to climb the city walls to drive the Jin army off the walls.

Yue Fei specifically instructed the Song soldiers to set fires while driving away the Jin soldiers and civilians.

This is because fire attacks are not only a physical means of attack, but also a sophisticated tactic to break down the enemy's psychological defenses and paralyze their organized resistance. In the era of cold weapons, the core bottleneck of city siege warfare lay in the enemy's three-dimensional defensive system formed by city walls and gates. Simple troop charges often resulted in huge casualties and were difficult to break through quickly.

Yue Fei's orders actually used "fire" as the core of the tactical chain, solving the three major problems of siege warfare in a series of interconnected steps.

First, fire is the fastest "isolation agent." The raging flames and thick smoke would quickly sever the Jin army's communication between the city walls and gates. The defending troops, who could originally support each other and pass on military orders, would be isolated due to obstructed vision and fire-blocked passages. Zhang Xian, Wang Gui, and others' task of capturing the city gates changed from "storming heavily guarded areas" to "mopping up the remnants of the troops fighting independently," greatly reducing the difficulty of the assault.

Secondly, fire is the most ruthless "psychological deterrent." For the Jin soldiers and civilians, cities were symbols of home and protection, and the sight of fire engulfing houses and supplies would instantly destroy their will to resist. When the Song army set fires while driving away the Jin soldiers, they faced not only the swords of the Song army, but also the despair of being "homeless and without food." Soldiers would scatter in panic, and the chaos among civilians would further shatter the Jin army's defensive order, creating a chain reaction of "wavering morale - collapse of the defense line."

Finally, fire was the most efficient "sweeping tool." Compared to street fighting, which involved going from house to house, fire attacks forced the Jin soldiers hiding in the city's buildings and streets to expose themselves. They were either driven into open areas by the fire, becoming targets for the Song army, or trapped in the fire and rendered unable to fight. This allowed the Song army to control the entire city at a relatively low cost without having to commit a large number of troops to a time-consuming mopping-up operation, buying crucial time for stabilizing the situation and consolidating the gains.

This command style, which integrates tactical objectives with psychological offensives and battlefield cleanup, is precisely what makes Yue Fei superior to ordinary generals—he not only commands soldiers in combat, but also dominates the rhythm of the entire battlefield and the psychological state of the enemy.

The generals strictly followed Yue Fei's orders. After capturing Dayan Gate, they continued their attack along the city wall towards other gates, setting fire to all the watchtowers and fortifications along the way. The flames blazed high, turning the entire city crimson.

The Jin soldiers on the city wall, seeing the fire spreading rapidly with the help of the strong wind, had no will to fight and abandoned the city to flee for their lives.

Wanyan Zongpan, responsible for guarding the Jin capital, saw his soldiers abandoning their weapons and fleeing into the inner city. He drew his scimitar and killed two deserters, but still could not stop the rout. The Jin soldiers were filled with fear of the fire, shouting, "The Song people have set fire to the city and are massacring it!" No matter how the Jin generals rebuked them, they only cared about squeezing into the narrow passages of the inner city, and even drew their swords against their own troops in the struggle for escape.

The Jin army dared not kill the enemy, but they were ruthless in killing their own people.

After the army collapsed, more than a hundred Jin generals and officials were killed in a short period of time. The fleeing soldiers trampled each other, and the number of the dead was unknown.

Some defeated soldiers took the opportunity to plunder the people. Armed with weapons, they rushed into the neighborhoods and homes, forcing the people to bring out firewood, rice, wine and food for them to enjoy. They even took advantage of the chaos to rape women.

Many more defeated soldiers ran alongside civilians from the east to the west of the city, shoulder to shoulder.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, some Jin generals and officials secretly took off their armor and official robes and tried to hide among the civilians, completely abandoning their command of resistance.

Of course, there were also instances where the Jurchens attempted to drive the Song army out of their capital, Shangjing.

Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang, who were temporarily resting in the rear and preparing to recruit new soldiers to replenish their army, led their elite troops (i.e., personal guards) to fight fiercely against the Song army in the vicinity of Dailoumen.

—The main force of Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang's troops was not in the city at this time, but was resting in Zhaozhou and Jizhou, which were not far away.

However, on the other hand, as two great generals of the Jin Dynasty, even though Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang did not bring their main forces with them, they still had more than a thousand elite troops under their command, making them quite powerful.

Unfortunately, Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang encountered the main force of the "Yue Family Army." With their new Li Lin guns, the Yue Family Army forcefully drove Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang back, causing heavy casualties among their troops. In the end, they could not withstand the attack and had to retreat.

At this time, all the inner city gates were closed, so they used ladders to climb over the inner city gates and pass through the city walls to enter the inner city. Some high-ranking officials and scholars chose to take their wives and children, change into coarse clothes, and hide in the homes of ordinary people in the slums.

Although the Song army had scaled the city walls, they did not descend. They continued to set fire to the walls, burning watchtowers and other defensive structures. The flames would sometimes leap into the sky in the strong wind, and sometimes be driven to their deaths, billowing thick smoke.

When Wanyan Wuqimai, the crown prince in charge of overseeing the country, learned of the fall of the outer city, he was terrified! He knew that once the outer city fell, the inner city would lose its defenses, and the Song army could advance unimpeded. He immediately ordered the four gates of the inner city to be closed, and transferred all his trusted elite troops to guard the inner city walls. At the same time, he sent his personal guards to the granaries and armories to inventory the supplies, preparing for a desperate last stand.

When Chancellor Wanyan Sagai, who lived in his palace on the east side of the outer city, heard the news of the outer city's fall, he immediately ordered his servants to pack up the gold, silver, jewels, and rare paintings and calligraphy in his palace and put them in carts, hoping to escape through the side gate of the inner city in the chaos. However, when he arrived at the side gate with his family and servants, he found it already crowded with nobles who were also trying to escape.

Some Jurchen nobles ordered their guards to use knives to cut through the crowd, while some noblewomen cried and cursed after their carriages were overturned. The once orderly and hierarchical noble class was now reduced to nothing but greed and wretchedness as they desperately sought survival.

Even worse, Wanyan Zonggan, who had repeatedly advocated fighting the Song Dynasty to the death, knew that he would not have a good end if captured by the Song army. So he took a few confidants, disguised himself as an ordinary herdsman, and tried to escape from the Jin capital under the cover of night. He did not care about the lives of the people in the city and only hoped to escape alive.

However, the Song army quickly captured all the city gates and the entire outer city wall. People in the Jin capital city could not escape, and all those who wanted to flee the city could only retreat in disgrace.

The chaos continued into the night.

It didn't stop even into the night.

That night, many ignorant and idle people, essentially gangsters, who loved to take advantage of chaos and incite unrest, seized the opportunity. Now that the Jin capital had fallen and the Jin state was in peril, these people began to burn, kill, and loot in the confusion.

Some of them even disguised themselves as Song soldiers to commit evil deeds.

This plunged the already chaotic capital city of Jin into a frenzied inferno.

Flames soared into the sky on the streets, and cries, screams, and fighting mingled together, like a desperate lament.

Those thugs disguised as Song soldiers, armed with sharp blades, wantonly broke into people's homes. Their eyes gleamed with greed and madness as they looted all the valuables inside. Any people who resisted were mercilessly slaughtered.

An elderly Jurchen man who had participated in the raid on Liao Shangjing City clutched a glass cup he had stolen from the city, pleading with the villains to spare him. But his only response was a cold blade; blood instantly stained his clothes, and he slowly collapsed to the ground, his eyes filled with disbelief.

The young women were subjected to even more inhumane treatment. They were forcibly dragged away by these thugs, and no matter how much they struggled or cried out, it was to no avail.

In reality, the Song army never even came down from the city wall.

After taking control of the city walls and main gates, Yue Fei immediately issued an order: Anyone who kills someone outside the city will be executed!
The Song army dared not leave the city and instead fortified their positions on the city walls to prevent a counterattack by the Jin army inside.

After they brought the situation under control, they followed Yue Fei's instructions and patrolled the city in an orderly manner, trying to maintain the most basic order.

However, faced with such large-scale chaos, their forces proved somewhat inadequate. Ultimately, the Song army could only ensure that the area near the city walls remained undisturbed.

Wanyan Wugumai felt deeply guilty about the fall of the Jin capital. He felt he was too incompetent and had failed his elder brother Wanyan Aguda's trust and high expectations.

Wanyan Sagai, Wanyan Zonggan, Wanyan Zonghan, Wanyan Zongwang and others, because they were unable to escape the city or were unable to defeat the Song army, eventually returned to the capital to see Wanyan Wugumai.

Wanyan Zonghan said, “The Song army has only captured the outer city walls, and all the gates of the inner city are closed. There are still 200,000 soldiers and civilians in the city. I am willing to lead them to fight the enemy in the streets and defend the city to the death. I humbly request that Anban Bojilie quickly issue a decree to inform all the people in the city to go to the Donghua Gate to receive weapons and armor, and jointly resist the powerful enemy to protect our country.”

With things having come to this point, Wanyan Wuqimai had no choice but to nod in agreement.

In the evening, Wanyan Wuqimai, along with Wanyan Sagai, Wanyan Zonggan, Wanyan Zonghan, Wanyan Zongwang, and others, ascended the gate tower.

Upon hearing the news, the people flocked to the scene, their cries of weeping shaking the heavens and the earth.

Wanyan Wuqimai ordered his men to proclaim the imperial edict, and then threw a large number of weapons down below the gate tower, allowing the people to come forward and collect them.

However, all the able-bodied men of the Jin Kingdom had gone south with Wanyan Aguda to fight against the Song Dynasty. The vast majority of those remaining in the Jin capital were the elderly, women, and children. Even if they were given weapons, they would not have much fighting power.

Everyone knows this perfectly well.

Therefore, there weren't many Jurchen civilians who genuinely wanted to engage in street fighting with the Song army.

The key point is that the outer city, which has the most complete defensive facilities, has already been captured by the Song army. How could the inner city, which has only average defensive facilities, possibly withstand the Song army's attack?
Moreover, even the fierce Jin army could not defeat the Song army and was defeated by the Song army. What fighting spirit could these old, weak, women and children who had lost the protection of the outer city and the army have?
That's just how pragmatic people are. Many Jurchens discarded their weapons shortly after acquiring them.

Because many Jurchens from the outer city had been driven into the inner city, the inner city was now densely populated, with people everywhere, creating a bustling and anxious atmosphere. From Wanyan Wugumai to ordinary soldiers and civilians, everyone feared the Song army would raid the city and wondered how to escape this catastrophe.

It's no wonder the Jurchens were so worried. After all, when they conquered other cities, such as those of the Liao Dynasty, they would often massacre the inhabitants.

Even if they didn't massacre the city, they would still inevitably loot it.

The Jurchens were very good at plundering. Usually, after they conquered a city, they would divide it into several areas. The Jurchens would plunder the richest areas, followed by the Khitans and Xi people, and then the Han, Zubu, Shiwei and other ethnic groups.

Ok.

In this era, not only did the Jurchens enjoy looting after conquering cities, but many Song soldiers also liked to do this.

In the eyes of the soldiers of this era, once the city walls were breached, the city was no longer territory, but a "rewarding ground" earned through blood and sweat.

For them, massacring and looting cities was not an atrocity, but a tacit "military rule" in chaotic times—fighting for their lives amidst swords and shadows, seeking only the city's wealth, food, and people, which could both make up for the long-overdue military pay and save up the capital for their wives and children far away to survive.

This idea grew wildly in the military camp like weeds, becoming the spiritual pillar that supported them as they traversed mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

If the commander-in-chief were to issue a decree at this time, strictly prohibiting the massacre of the city, it would be tantamount to cutting off the soldiers' "source of income" or even their "livelihood".

Soon, voices of resentment would rise from the barracks, and former comrades-in-arms would begin to show hostility in their eyes.

Even worse, if the general forcibly suppresses the rebellion, at best the soldiers will become passive and lazy, deliberately delaying when defending the city and shrinking back when attacking; at worst, it will incite a mutiny. Soldiers armed with sharp weapons will gather in front of the camp, demanding that the commander retract his order. If the commander insists on his own way, someone may raise their arms and shout, and the mutinous soldiers will rush into the military tent. At best, they will seize the seal and power; at worst, they will turn on each other with swords drawn.

After all, in the hearts of soldiers in chaotic times, "following the general means survival and wealth" is the fundamental principle. Once this foundation is shaken, the so-called military discipline and loyalty will crumble in the face of the instinct to seek profit and survival.

This predicament is not due to the incompetence of the generals, but rather to the survival logic of a chaotic world—soldiers risk their lives for profit, and generals use profit to maintain their troops. Although the ban on massacring cities is morally justifiable, it runs counter to this cruel logic, ultimately leading to the dilemma of "banning leads to mutiny, while allowing it leads to devastation."

That night, many brave Jurchens also tried to break through the gate and escape.

However, without exception, all of these Jurchens were driven back by the Song army.

The chaos continued until dawn before gradually subsiding.

As early as midnight, Wanyan Wugumai had already personally written a letter, summoning a group of Jin ministers to the palace for an emergency meeting to discuss the matter.

After a long time, a dozen or so Jin ministers and Jurchen elders who had stayed behind arrived at the palace one after another.

Wanyan Wuqimai walked with them to Hemen Pavilion for a meeting and discussion.

Not long after the discussion, Wanyan Wuqimai accepted Wanyan Zongpan's suggestion and sent Wanyan Zongpan and Tudanye, the Minister of Revenue, out of the city to investigate the true intentions of the Song army in the outer city.

Before setting off, Wanyan Wuqimai and Wanyan Sagai both said to Wanyan Zongpan and Tudanye: "Everything is for the sake of all living beings."

Because the inner city gates were already closed, Wanyan Zongpan and Tudanye had no choice but to be lowered down the city walls.

The outer city, fresh from the ravages of war, lay in ruins, their crumbling walls barely visible in the morning mist, bearing the stark marks of last night's fierce battle. Wisps of black smoke still rose from the burned houses, the acrid smell mingling with the stench of blood filling the air. Broken weapons and tattered banners lay scattered among the rubble. Occasionally, embers flickered on the fallen logs. In the silent streets, only the wind swirled ashes, a far cry from the bustling activity of yesteryear.

Wanyan Zongpan and Tudanye stumbled through the ruins towards the Song army camp...

……

(End of this chapter)