The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 429 The war is over
Yue Fei: "That's not necessarily true. When the pseudo-Chu Kingdom was first established, it used heretical words to deceive the people, promising them 'equal distribution of wealth and status.' However, many years have passed, and the promises made back then have not been fulfilled. Now, perhaps it is time to let the people of the pseudo-Chu Kingdom wake up."

Gao Chong's spirits lifted.

Yue Fei asked those around him, "Which general of the puppet Chu state has jurisdiction over this land?"

A subordinate reported: "Huang Zuo."

Yue Fei nodded: "Very good. Send a team of archers to write a few words on the arrows, asking Huang Zuo: After he 'equalized wealth,' is he now rich? Are his subordinates rich? Are the people under his rule rich? And is Yang Yao rich now? Shoot all these arrows into Huang Zuo's camp, and then just observe."

Soon, Yue Fei's men sprang into action, attaching numerous arrows with written instructions, each carrying a soul-searching question, and they rained down on Huang Zuo's army camp...

After holding out for a few days, the camp suddenly descended into chaos. The gates opened wide, and a large number of lower-ranking soldiers from the puppet Qi state fled. Huang Zuo also came out of the camp, knelt before Yue Fei, and said sadly, "I followed the wrong person before. From now on, I am willing to follow the general to fight the enemy!"

Meanwhile, scattered soldiers and outlaws from all over the Southern Song Dynasty flocked to Yue Fei's command under the imperial court's orders, and the Ministry of Revenue poured money and grain into his hands. Yue Fei went from a lowly general to a powerful general in the blink of an eye...

After Huang Zuo joined Yue Fei's army, he desperately tried to recruit Manichaean believers. In just a few days, he recruited two to three thousand people.

While continuing to persuade Zhou Lun to surrender, Yue Fei seized the opportunity to attack the outer camps. First, he ordered Huang Zuo to attack Zhou Lun's water camp. Zhou Lun was defeated and fled, with many of his soldiers killed or falling into the lake. The stockades and grain ships were all burned. Next, Yue Fei sent Ren Shi'an, who had been repeatedly defeated by Yang Yao, to lure the enemy into battle. Yue Fei had set up an ambush beforehand, and when Shi'an was exhausted, the ambush was sprung, and the enemy was surrounded and attacked from all sides, resulting in a great victory.

Yue Fei was kind and generous, and his army was disciplined. In contrast, Yang Yao was extravagant, decadent, corrupt, and degenerate.

You don't know until you compare; the difference is like heaven and earth.

The Manicheans were increasingly realizing they had been deceived! The promised equal distribution of wealth had not been achieved, and the promise of equal social status was just empty talk. Following Yang Yao was no better than following Yue Fei.

A large number of Manichaean fanatics defected and joined Yue Fei's army.

Yang Qin led over 10,000 men (including over 3,000 soldiers) in hundreds of boats to surrender to Yue Fei. He also persuaded Quan Cong, Liu Shen, and other troops to surrender on Yue Fei's behalf.

At this point, the pseudo-Chu state was doomed!

Knowing the treacherous and unpredictable terrain of the lake area, and that his naval forces were no match for Yang Yao's carts and ships, Yue Fei first ordered his men to open the sluice gates to release water, release rafts to block the lake's harbors, and scatter grass on the lake surface to impede the carts and ships. Then, with Yang Qin as his guide, he led his troops to besiege Yang Yao's stronghold. Yang Yao led his men in a breakout attempt, but fought valiantly and was defeated, captured, and executed.

Thus, the farce of Manichaeism finally came to an end...
-
at the same time!

The Northern Song army, however, stood slowly and unhurriedly outside Kaifeng.

Yue Wenxuan launched several probing attacks and found that Kaifeng City, just as he had expected, had not surrendered. With Jin Wuzhu in charge of the city, the soldiers of the pseudo-Qi Kingdom had not collapsed and still held onto their illusions about their Jin Kingdom father.

They were convinced that as long as they clung to the coattails of the Jin Dynasty, no one could defeat them.

Kaifeng has high walls and thick walls; as long as the defenders dare to hold their ground, it will be difficult for the attackers.

Yue Wenxuan ordered Zhang Yong to set up the artillery array and bombard Kaifeng for half a day, destroying more than a hundred cannonballs. However, the city wall of Kaifeng remained unmoved. Apart from breaking a section of bricks, they gained nothing. The five-meter-thick adobe bricks inside could not be broken at all.

Every night, the Jin soldiers in the city would organize laborers to carry out emergency repairs.

When they woke up the next day, they would see that the city wall, which had been bombarded by cannons the day before, had been reinforced with a few bricks. Whether it was sturdy or not, it was just covered up. Moreover, the more than one hundred cannonballs had all been collected by Jin Wuzhu's men and displayed on the city wall. Some people even deliberately set up a furnace on the city wall, put the cannonballs in to melt them down, and used them to forge arrowheads in front of the Northern Song army.

Seeing this, without Yue Wenxuan saying anything, all the generals who had attended military academies understood that a strong attack on Kaifeng would not only fail to achieve any results, but would instead be handing iron to the defending army.

If the Northern Song army could have surrounded Kaifeng from several sides, effectively cutting off the city's food supply, they might have been able to achieve a "psychological warfare" effect and force Kaifeng to surrender. However, the Jin army was not isolated and without support. When their reinforcements arrived, cavalrymen were running rampant across the Kaifeng plains, making it difficult for the Northern Song's infantry-based firearms forces to cope.

"Withdraw!"

At Yue Wenxuan's command, the army retreated.

This four-nation war, initiated by Li Heng's Northern Expedition against the puppet Qi state, with the Northern Song army joining in and the Jin army providing reinforcements, officially ended at this moment.

Historians later named this battle the "Battle of the Two Song Dynasties to besiege Kaifeng".

In this battle, the puppet state of Qi lost four regions: Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Haozhou, and Suzhou.

The Southern Song Dynasty lost the entire Xiangyang region.

The pseudo-Qi state lost one piece of land but gained another, so it seemed like it neither gained nor lost.

The Southern Song Dynasty suffered heavy losses, and the Jin army suffered heavy losses.

Only the Northern Song Dynasty gained four prefectures for free.
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Spring of 1134 AD.

Shouzhou is going all out to boost production.

Shouzhou was currently under the actual control of the Northern Song Dynasty, but its location was very delicate. To its northeast was Haozhou, which was also under the control of the Northern Song Dynasty, but Yingzhou to its north and Guangzhou to its west were in the hands of the puppet Qi state. Huangzhou, Qizhou, and Shuzhou to the south, as well as Luzhou to the east, were all in the hands of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Shouzhou is like a pointed peak protruding from the territory, isolated outside the Northern Song Dynasty, giving it a very dangerous appearance.

The location was indeed terrible, but the people of Shouzhou had great confidence in this "newly arrived imperial court".

Since the Northern Song Dynasty captured Shouchun, it had been focusing on internal affairs. Subsequently, the Northern Song army also sent several small units to recover various towns in Shouzhou. Every time a town was taken back, the government would vigorously promote internal affairs and support production, so that the local people would feel that the "newly arrived court" was genuinely committed to production, rather than being a bandit who would rob and run away.

Since the imperial court is reliable, the people will naturally work hard to seize this opportunity and earn more food to make a living.

The entire Shouzhou area was bustling with activity.

The agricultural officials were so busy that they were running around all over Shouzhou, teaching people how to farm all day long.

The common people were quite annoyed by these talkative agricultural officials. "I've farmed all my life, why should I need your instruction?"
However, these agricultural officials weren't like the officials of the past who liked to use their authority to oppress people. Instead, they reasoned with people and focused on yield, using gentle methods. Therefore, they were disliked but not hated, and they were able to manage to mingle with the farmers. The farmers listened to their daily nagging and gradually became interested in their new farming methods…

At that very moment, unbeknownst to anyone, a massive force of tens of thousands had just crossed the Dabie Mountains southeast of Shouzhou City and entered Shouzhou's territory...

(End of this chapter)