I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 399 Song Jiang Followed the Right Person
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Zhao Yu had one great advantage: he rewarded those who had rendered meritorious service without regard to their social status.

Song Jiang, a former minor official in Yuncheng, was originally frustrated and unsuccessful. Even in his thirties, he still saw no hope of getting ahead and could only wander around in the Jianghu (江湖, the world of martial arts and outlaws).

Just like the first two lines of "Xi Jiang Yue - I studied the classics and history since childhood": I studied the classics and history since childhood, and grew up to be resourceful and cunning. Just like a fierce tiger lying in the wilderness, hiding its claws and teeth and enduring hardship.

It wasn't until he was chosen by Zhao Yu that Song Jiang experienced the highlight of his life. He fought his way from the north to the south, killing countless wealthy landowners and gentry, becoming a veritable second Huang Chao.

What made Song Jiang even more fortunate was that, unlike Huang Chao, he did not commit suicide, but instead transformed into an important minister of the Song Dynasty.

All of this was because Song Jiang followed the right person.

When Song Jiang and his group were first granted amnesty, there were scholars and officials who wanted to kill Song Jiang.

Everyone knows that Zhao Yu was the culprit behind the massacre of gentry and landlords, but who dares to hold such a deep grudge against Zhao Yu? Is it because they think his family has not suffered enough deaths? As a result, many people who dare not seek revenge against Zhao Yu but are unwilling to give up their hatred want to settle for second best and seek revenge against Song Jiang and the Liangshan heroes under his command, who acted as the executioner for Zhao Yu.

What angered these people was that Zhao Yu not only forbade them to seek revenge against him, but also prevented them from seeking revenge against Song Jiang and the Liangshan heroes.

Even more outrageous, Zhao Yu also stationed Song Jiang and other Liangshan heroes in the southeast region to suppress the gentry and landlords of Jiangnan, preventing them from making any moves.

Several years later, a new gentry and landlord class emerged, and the Industrial Revolution replaced the original agricultural-based economic structure, bringing about a dramatic change in society. The newly emerging industrialists and merchants, relying on the power of capital, gradually gained important positions in the imperial court, and the original gentry and landlord class became completely insignificant. Only then did Zhao Yu gradually transfer Song Jiang and the Liangshan heroes away from Jiangnan.

That matter was over by then.

But Song Jiang and the Liangshan heroes did not become history.

Zhao Yu always remembered that Song Jiang and the Liangshan heroes helped him solve the biggest hidden danger of the Song Dynasty, extended the life of the Song Dynasty, and enabled the Song Dynasty to truly achieve a revival.

In addition, the Song Dynasty has developed rapidly in recent years and needs talented people.

This led Zhao Yu to heavily rely on Song Jiang and the Liangshan heroes.

Under Zhao Yu's patronage and promotion, half of the senior commanders of the Song Dynasty's navy came from Liangshan heroes. The Tiger Warriors were always a regular army of the same level as the Imperial Guards of the capital region, the Northwest Imperial Guards, the Hebei Imperial Guards, and the Jiangnan Imperial Guards. The Liangshan heroes were always the main force of this army.

Of course, the Ministry of War must have assigned a large number of supervisors to this army in accordance with the dual leadership system established by Zhao Yu, but this did not affect Zhao Yu's heavy reliance on the Liangshan heroes, which enabled them to bring glory to their ancestors and bestow titles and honors upon their wives and children.

As for Song Jiang, he has now climbed step by step to become the Grand Master of the Three Departments, the Military Governor of Zhenhai Army, and the Junior Guardian, becoming one of the commanders of the Song Dynasty and an absolutely important minister. If he were to return to the court, he might even become a prime minister.

The key point is that Song Jiang is only forty-six years old, which is the best age for a man to make a career.

Even Wu Yong has already served as the chief official in several regions.

Anyone would agree that Zhao Yu was very kind to Song Jiang and the Liangshan heroes, and they were deeply grateful for the emperor's favor.

It is precisely for this reason that Song Jiang and the Liangshan heroes were Zhao Yu's most steadfast supporters and served him in their own ways.

This made the Tiger Legion perform second only to the Divine Machine Army and the Four Auxiliary Armies on the battlefield, and they were fully capable of competing with the Western Army.

Song Jiang also fought alongside Liu Fa on the front lines.

In this crucial battle, Zhao Yu personally appointed Song Jiang as the commander-in-chief.

Fearing that Song Jiang would mess up this crucial battle, Zhao Yu specially summoned Song Jiang back to the capital to give him personal instructions. Even the assistants such as Zhang Shuye, Yue Fei, and Zhang Jun were chosen by Zhao Yu for Song Jiang.

After receiving the order, Song Jiang began to plan and prepare:

He recruited a large number of people familiar with the roads in Northeast China, especially the route from Yongming City to Jin Shangjing, to survey the marching route.

—There were Han Chinese merchants who frequently traveled between the Song and Jin borders, Bohai people who had lived in the Jin capital but later migrated south due to war, and even some Jurchens who had surrendered to the Song Dynasty. They not only drew the main road, but also marked the mountain trails that could be used for concealed marches and the streams and springs that could be used to replenish water sources. They even marked in red ink which sections of the road needed to be traveled quickly at night to avoid Jin army outposts and which valleys could be used for ambushes and rendezvous.

His spies, sent deep into the heart of the Jin army, thoroughly investigated the Jin army's movements. He acted decisively as soon as Wanyan Aguda transferred all of the Jin army's main forces to fight against the Song army.

He also secretly mobilized the Song army originally used to recapture Ji to gather in Ji, and asked the court to reassemble the sea ships originally used to launch a surprise attack on Ji.

That's how Yue Fei and Zhang Shuye were able to capture the Jin capital in a single battle.

However, Song Jiang knew very well that this was just the beginning of the battle, and that a fierce battle was yet to come.

Therefore, after sending Guan Sheng, Yang Zhi, and Lu Junyi to reinforce, Song Jiang also ordered a forced march to reach the Jin capital as soon as possible.

During this process, Wanyan Zongwang's generals, including Wanyan Zongbi (who was also Wanyan Aguda's fourth son, Jin Wuzhu) and Wanyan Chang, led Wanyan Zongwang's Jin army to launch a surprise attack on Song Jiang's Song army.

At that time, the main force of Song Jiang's army was marching swiftly along the riverbank.

No one expected that Jin Wuzhu and Wanyan Changhui would each lead 5,000 Jin cavalrymen and suddenly emerge from the reeds upstream.

The sound of horses' hooves thundered across the riverbank. Jin Wuzhu and Wanyan Chang each led five thousand iron cavalry out of the reeds, their scimitars flashing coldly in the morning light, rushing straight at the advancing Song army.

Many Song soldiers were thrown into a panic, especially those from Ji County. They had never seen such a fierce cavalry charge. Their formation instantly crumbled, and some soldiers even lost their grip on their spears, taking a half-step back.

The veteran general He Guan immediately reined in his horse and stood atop the high slope, shouting in a booming voice, "What is there to fear! Deploy my hollow formation!"

He Guan was a member of the Shenji Army and was most skilled in the use of firearms. Moreover, he also had the Shenji Vanguard Army specially sent by Zhao Yu.

Upon seeing the enemy attack, He Guan immediately waved his command flag, and the Shenji Vanguard quickly moved into formation, forming a hollow circle of ten men, end to end. They knelt on the ground, raised their new Li Lin guns, aimed the muzzles at the charging Jin cavalry, and pressed their fingers on the triggers, awaiting the order. The twelve light Li Lin cannons and more than one hundred tiger-crouching cannons inside the formation also quickly adjusted their angles, raised their muzzles, and the gunners skillfully loaded gunpowder, inserted cannonballs and lead bullets, the cannon barrels gleaming with a dark luster, like lurking beasts.

Seeing the Song army hastily forming ranks, Jin Wuzhu sneered, "Like a mantis trying to stop a chariot! Prepare to fire!" He spurred his horse and charged towards the front of the formation, followed closely by the Jin cavalry. Their hooves kicked up dust on the riverbank, and even the ground trembled slightly.

"Musketeers, fire in stages!"

As the roar of Wang Dewang Yaksha, the commander-in-chief of the Shenji Vanguard Army, fell, the muskets of the three thousand Shenji Vanguard Army soldiers began to fire in segments without interruption. Lead bullets rained down on the Jin cavalry, and dozens of Jin soldiers at the forefront fell from their horses instantly, their blood splattering on the river and staining a patch of water red.

But the Jin cavalry did not stop. The following cavalrymen continued to charge, stepping over the corpses of their comrades, and were less than fifty paces away from the hollow formation.

A fierce glint flashed in Jin Wuzhu's eyes as he pointed his spear straight into the formation: "Charge in, kill the generals, and seize the flag!"

"Tiger Crouching Cannon, fire in stages!"

Wang De then gave the order.

More than a hundred tiger-squatting cannons also began to fire in a flurry, with shrapnel spreading out like a net, covering a large area.

The Jin cavalrymen charging in the middle were hit by bullets one after another. Their warhorses neighed and fell to the ground, throwing the cavalrymen far away, and a gap appeared in the formation in an instant.

Upon seeing this, Wanyan Chang was secretly alarmed, but still gritted his teeth and shouted, "Circling around to the flanks and scattering them!" He led a portion of his cavalry to turn around, attempting to avoid the brunt of the tiger-squatting cannons.

Before Wanyan Chang's Jin army could adjust its direction, the twelve light Li Lin cannons in the formation suddenly roared to life.

In this battle, due to the need for a rapid march, the Song army did not carry many Li Lin cannons and cannonballs.

In order to maximize the destructive power of the limited Li Lin cannons and shells, Zhao Yu specially ordered the Shenji Vanguard to bring the newly developed exploding shells.

This exploding shell, crafted from refined iron, is round in shape with walls only half a finger thick, yet exceptionally tough, capable of withstanding the immense pressure of gunpowder explosion. A copper fuse hole at the top houses a slow-burning fuse made from a mixture of sulfur, saltpeter, and rosin. The fuse length can be pre-cut according to the combat distance, ensuring precise explosion upon impact. The shell's interior is not solid, but filled with 30% black powder and 70% scrap iron, lead pellets, and porcelain shards. Some more powerful shells also contain sharpened bamboo nails and burning grease packets, releasing a triple kill of impact, fragmentation, and incendiary effects upon detonation.

As Wanyan Chang led his cavalry to turn to the flank, the muzzles of the twelve light Li Lin cannons were adjusted to the optimal angle. After the artillerymen lit the fuses, the sparks hissed and drew tiny arcs in the morning light.

Moments later, twelve booming sounds rang out almost simultaneously, and the shells swept across the river with sharp whistles, leaving faint trails of smoke in the air.

The first exploding shell landed two steps in front of the Jin cavalry. The ground shook violently, the shell shattered instantly, and the explosive force of the gunpowder kicked up the soil within three feet, spraying countless pieces of iron and lead pellets like a torrential rain. The heavy armor of the three Jin cavalrymen at the forefront was torn apart like paper, iron fragments embedded in their flesh, and blood gushed from the gaps in their armor. The men and horses collapsed and convulsed instantly. The flying porcelain shards cut the faces and horses of more than ten cavalrymen around them. The frightened warhorses reared up, throwing their soldiers into the air.

The second exploding shell landed precisely where the Jin cavalry were concentrated. The explosion instantly ignited the grease pack inside the shell, and flames and thick smoke shot into the sky, forming a fireball ten feet high. Five cavalrymen within the fireball's radius were instantly engulfed in flames, their leather armor and fur ablaze. Their piercing screams drowned out the sound of hooves. Cavalrymen unaffected by the flames were thrown back by the shockwave of the explosion, their heavy armor slamming against the ground with a series of muffled thuds. Even more deadly, the flying burning debris landed in the reeds along the riverbank, instantly igniting a raging fire. The crackling of the reeds mingled with the chaotic shouts of the Jin soldiers, tearing a huge gap in the once fierce cavalry charge formation.

Wanyan Chang himself was struck in the left arm by a flying lead pellet, his armor pierced, and blood soaked his sleeve. He reined in his frightened warhorse, looking at the chaotic scene before him with disbelief in his eyes—he had never seen such terrifying firearms, capable of instantly shattering the charge of five thousand iron cavalry.

Seeing that the exploding shells were effective, Wang De in the formation immediately ordered: "Musketeers, provide cover! Li Lin, load the cannons!" The three thousand musketeers fired again in segments, and the lead bullets covered the Jin army who were trying to reorganize their formation. The gunners quickly cleaned the cannon barrels and pushed new exploding shells into the muzzles, preparing to receive the next round of fire.

On the riverbank, the Jin army's iron cavalry were no longer fierce; the ferocity on the soldiers' faces was replaced by fear, and the thunderous sound of hooves was gradually drowned out by the chaotic sounds of retreat.

It must be said that in the Jin army led by Wanyan Zongwang under Jin Wuzhu and Wanyan Chang, elite cavalry accounted for more than half. They inherited the ferocity of the steppe cavalry for thousands of years. Their sabers gleamed coldly in the sunlight, and their horses' hooves shook the earth when they charged. Their momentum was enough to make any opponent tremble.

But they were facing the Shenji Vanguard Army, equipped with new Li Lin guns, Li Lin cannons, and tiger squat cannons.

This force of only three thousand men had already completed the iteration of firearms: the new Li Lin gun had a maximum range of two hundred paces, and even its effective range had reached one hundred paces, capable of accurately penetrating cavalry armor; the Li Lin cannon, equipped with exploding shells, had a kill radius that covered half the battlefield.

The gap between the two sides can no longer be bridged by courage and numbers, but rather by the generational divide between cold weapons and firearms, between agricultural civilization and industrial civilization.

The misjudgment in tactical choices amplified the Jin army's disadvantages to the extreme.

Jin Wuzhu employed traditional cavalry charge tactics, attempting to break through the Song army's defenses with a dense formation. This was a classic tactic of "breaking the formation with speed" in the era of cold weapons.

However, in front of the Shenji Vanguard's artillery array, this tactic was tantamount to suicide: the Shenji Vanguard deployed in skirmish lines, with riflemen firing in sections to form a continuous fire network; the artillery built positions behind the lines, and the exploding shells fired by Li Lin's cannons rained down on the charging Jin cavalry. Each shell exploded, creating a bloody mess, and the frightened warhorses ran away in all directions, disrupting the Qing army's own formation.

—The shotgun attack of the Tiger Crouching Cannon can also achieve a similar effect.

It must be said that the Jin army was very brave. Knowing that death lay ahead, they still charged forward again and again with their sabers.

They charged to within tens of meters, even a dozen meters, of the Shenji vanguard, but were unable to break through the fire blockade. Jin cavalrymen fell in droves, their corpses piling up like small mountains by the bridge.

Jin Wuzhu personally led his elite troops in a charge, but his mount was hit by a cannonball, causing him to fall from his horse and nearly be captured; Wanyan Chang was shot through the cheek, and his battle robe was stained with blood.

The Shenji Army, on the other hand, only suffered a few dozen casualties but firmly grasped the initiative on the battlefield.

When the last batch of Jin cavalrymen retreated, dragging their weary horses, the reed beds and the riverbed were soaked in blood. The once proud and mighty Jin cavalry was now nothing but a trail of regret.

He Guan ordered Hu Yanchuo, Lin Chong, Xu Ning, and others to lead the Song army's cavalry in a ten-mile pursuit before returning.

In other words, Song Jiang and He Guan did not want to prolong the battle and wanted to get to the Jin capital as soon as possible. Otherwise, this time it would not have been a heavy blow to Wanyan Zongwang's Jin army, but a complete defeat.

After this battle, the morale of the Song soldiers soared, especially those from Jidi. Looking at the Jin soldiers' corpses scattered all over the ground, their eyes no longer showed the panic they had before, but rather a newfound determination.

As the sun rose higher, the river breeze stirred up the smoke of battle. Song Jiang left three thousand infantrymen to clean up the battlefield, while he led the main army to continue towards the Jin capital.

After another half-day of forced march, Song Jiang's army arrived at the Jin capital, Shangjing, at 7 PM that evening...

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(End of this chapter)