You have truly caused me great suffering!

Hebei.

The Jurchens' frequent troop movements could not escape the notice of the Dingnan Army's scouts and spies, who immediately deduced that they were about to engage in a decisive battle.

In Bazhou, the three commanders sat together to discuss the war.

Li Xiaozhong said, "Sometimes we need to support each other in battle, but sometimes we also need to fight alone!"

“We have too many troops now, and it is very difficult to coordinate so many troops. It is also easy to make mistakes. The Yongxi Northern Expedition and the Battle of Fei River hundreds of years ago both show that more people are not necessarily better in war.”

"Therefore, I propose that we each fight our own battles. We each have enough troops. Even if the Tartars gather their troops in one place, I think we can grit our teeth and hold them off."

"The other two routes can then take advantage of the situation to break through the defenses and sweep through Youyan. At that time, the Tartars will be surrounded."

The generals in the tent pondered for a long time and then began to nod.

The three armies that fought together numbered approximately 140,000 to 150,000 men at this time, and their battle lines stretched across the entire border of Hebei and Youyan.

On such a front, even sending an order would take three days by horse from east to west!

This doesn't even include Wu Lin's Lingwu army, which also had opportunities to launch attacks from Wuhui Ridge in Weizhou.

There were also miscellaneous Song soldiers, whose commanders were all incredibly powerful, holding top-ranking official positions. Even the three commanders of the Dingnan Army couldn't possibly control them.

Of course, we didn't have high hopes for them either, since their record against the Tartars was really not impressive.

The battle lines are too long; it would be good if they could clean up the battlefield and do some cleanup work.

"Alright! Let's each fight our own battles!" Han Shizhong laughed. "Old Zhu, you'll suffer a little loss. While you're fighting, also keep an eye on the Ever Victorious Army in the east."

“He doesn’t dare to come out!” Zhu Lingling said, “I can hear Guo Yaoshi’s plan right here. He just wants to sit back and watch the tigers fight. We’re going to fight the Tartars to the death, and he’s afraid we won’t fight hard enough, so why would he come and join in the fun?”

Although Li Xiaozhong's suggestion was somewhat out of necessity, it truly resonated with everyone.

Who will command such a large-scale battle?

Unless the King himself arrives.

Even when he arrives, he will oversee the overall situation and delegate a great deal of authority to his subordinates.

Each side fights its own battle, and can also support and assist each other. Just pay close attention to the surrounding battlefield.

Even within these three main forces, it is likely that power will need to be delegated downwards, giving middle and lower-ranking military officers and generals greater autonomy.

Back then, Zhao Guangyi set up a perfect formation called the "Perfect Formation for Pacifying the Barbarians," which was theoretically invincible.

However, in actual combat, it is a useless formation that cannot afford to make even the slightest mistake.

At that time, the Pingrong Wanquan formation also consisted of 140,000 men. Commanding and mobilizing 140,000 men simultaneously could not be done wrong; even if Han Xin were there, it would not be possible.
-
News from the front lines reached Taiyuan.

This was also within everyone's expectations.

Things on the battlefield are all traceable; these people spend their days preparing for battle in the rear.

They naturally knew the key points of warfare.

Strictly speaking, these civil officials were all knowledgeable about military affairs.

At least they know the basic rules of warfare and the impact of factors such as supplies, intelligence, and battle lines.

Many of the civil officials sent to the northwest in the early Song Dynasty were ignorant and lacked any real knowledge. They had only read a few biographies in historical books and dared to give forceful orders, ignoring the objections of military generals.

I don't know how many people were killed because of it, or how many famous generals were killed because of it.

The Jurchen Tartars had already mobilized to the extreme. If they didn't fight soon, their chances would become increasingly slim. Eventually, the strength of the Dingnan Army would rise to a certain level, resulting in an overwhelming defeat.

The Tartars are not fools; they fought for over a decade and have a large number of top generals and commanders.

"No matter where the Tartars attack, we have the strength to stop them!"

After analyzing the battle reports from the past six months and carefully questioning the soldiers who had withdrawn from the Zhong family army, Zhong Shidao now had a general assessment of the combat capabilities of both sides.

Hearing his confidence, the people who were initially worried about "fighting each other alone" regained their confidence.

Chen Shao nodded in the main seat without speaking. If it were half a year ago, he would have been eager for the decisive battle to begin as soon as possible.

At this point, he felt there was no rush, but the Tartars couldn't wait any longer, and there was nothing he could do.

He was determined to acquire the territory of Youyan.

If the Jurchens lost Youyan, they would have to switch from offense to defense and become just another branch of the northern tribes for thousands of years, nothing special.

Even if they did their best, they still wouldn't reach the heights of the Khitan at its peak.

He could then focus on accumulating strength and preparing for the Northern Expedition, achieving the same great feats as Liu Che and Zhu Di.

Thinking of this, Chen Shao stood up and looked at the enemy and friendly situation map on the wooden map.

"The Dingnan Army has been attacking ever since Nuanquan Peak. Their momentum must not be extinguished! In this battle, we will drive out the Tartars, restore the lost lands of Youyan, and make them a permanent bulwark for the Han people."

"Therefore, we cannot just focus on fighting the war. We must get the emperor to issue an edict, let the common people know about it, and let the soldiers on the front lines receive the honor they deserve."

Chen Shao's words awakened the officials of the Hedong faction; their eyes lit up, and they were all invigorated.

The propaganda work must indeed keep up; otherwise, after the war is over, the efforts of those who contributed and the blood shed for the Han Chinese civilization in the Central Plains may be stolen by the civil officials and scholars of the Song Dynasty.

You should know that there are quite a few Song soldiers on the front lines.
-
Liangxiang Town.

Wanyan Xiyin was now certain that the other side knew their strategy.

Wanyan Xiyin was truly inspired to concentrate the main force of the Jurchens and prepare for a decisive battle at Gu'an in the south.

But he soon realized that he had been too happy.

The main force of the Jurchen army in Tanzhou and Shunzhou was mostly taken away by Zonghan.

However, he entrusted this task to Wanyan Xiyin alone.

Meanwhile, the Dingnan Army launched a powerful offensive, which forced Wanyan Xiyin to sit still in the rear and personally go to the front line, where he used almost all of the troops he had left behind!

"Gather troops! Gather troops! Gather what troops! Where are the troops!"

Having dealt with this field army, which takes Dingnan as its name, for so long, the Jurchen Western Route Army no longer underestimates it.

At the Wuhuiling line, the Dingnan Army took turns attacking, disregarding casualties, relying on its superior strength to fight in shifts.

Although the Dingnan Army suffered heavy casualties, the Jurchen Tartars on the front lines were in dire straits.

However, Dingnan Army's offensive seems to be proceeding step by step, waiting to prepare all the siege equipment before advancing layer by layer under the cover of the equipment's powerful firepower, first removing obstacles and then filling trenches.

Then they used crossbows to suppress the enemy and attacked the stockade. Although the movements were not fast and seemed to lack the vigor of the attack at Wuhui Ridge, the offensive was carried out with unwavering determination.

However, once a village is captured, it can be secured, and casualties are not severe.

The Jurchen defenders lost only one village, and of the ten soldiers in that village who were defending it were able to escape under the meticulously planned offensive by the Dingnan army!
Moreover, once they take it, it will be extremely difficult for you to take it back.

Heaven knows why these people are so good at defending the city; their methods are endless and beyond Xi Yin's comprehension.

At this point, Wanyan Xiyin was finally convinced. Open field battles were one thing, but as for the siege and defense of cities and fortresses, they had been fighting for thousands of years. Why should you fight them?

More than a decade ago, most Jurchen warriors had never seen a city wall that was more than two meters high, but now they often have to face cities that are as high as mountains.

就拿燕京来说，这城池高3丈（约9米），城墙底部宽1.5丈（约4.5米），顶部宽1丈（约3米）！

The city walls were surrounded by three layers of moats, forming a robust defense system. There were eight city gates in total, including Yingchun Gate and Danfeng Gate, with some gates featuring barbicans and arrow towers.

Whether it's offense or defense, a lot of skills and techniques are required.

What's most infuriating is that these Dingnan armies still maintain a powerful cavalry force, with far more warhorses than the Jurchens.

If Xi Yin's men wanted to use cavalry to launch a counterattack, they would be forced to retreat with their heads bruised and bloodied.

When the Mongols later entered the Central Plains, they relaxed the policy on horse breeding, resulting in the Han people having countless warhorses, with an outcome similar to that of today.
The Ming army swept through the enemy with overwhelming force, fearing they would fall behind and miss out on the credit when facing the Yuan troops. During the early Ming Northern Expeditions, even when surrounded, the Ming army was able to launch counterattacks and achieve decisive victories.

With such a powerful cavalry force stationed there, the infantry attacking the fortress could act more freely and decisively. They pressed forward step by step, while Xi Yin's troops could only retreat step by step.

Moreover, the fighting power of the Dingnan Army was not limited to this. In addition to the direct assault, they also sent out a large number of sentries to traverse the mountains and infiltrate the defenses of Xi Yin's troops.

In the mountains and forests of Youyan, they would either hunt down Jurchen patrols, attack military supplies, equipment, and provisions being transported from the rear, or rescue civilians captured by the Jurchen Tartars.

The chaos was so great that smoke and fire were everywhere. Xi Yin's troops had to be escorted by a large force of three or four hundred cavalrymen to transport their supplies from the rear.

The Jin emperor's edict had only been in effect for a few days when Xi Yin discovered it was completely unenforceable.

He has successfully turned a concentrated offensive into a defensive retreat.

From his vantage point atop the watchtower lay the last line of defense, fortified and heavily fortified by the Jurchen army.

If this defensive line is breached, Yanjing will be completely exposed to the Dingnan Army's might.

If we're reduced to defending Yanjing, what's the point of talking about a decisive battle or an offensive?

Wanyan Xiyin went all out this time, using all the knowledge he had gained over the past ten years, especially after arriving in Yunnei.

Along the road through the Sanggan River valley, there are twelve military camps stretching as far as the eye can see.

They engaged in crossbow battles, providing ample support, and exhausted the resources of the people of Yanjing, forcing the local population to build military camps. Each camp had three layers of palisades.

They could hold out layer by layer until the very end, with all the necessary arrow towers, watchtowers, hanging doors, protruding ramparts, and even leaving passageways for cavalry to launch short counterattacks.

The roads in the valleys and mountains were blocked by seven or eight deep and wide ditches, and between these ditches, a large number of abattoirs were laid out in layers.

In addition to these temporary military camps, there are also military camps on the nearby hills that command a commanding view of the roads.

The final and most important part of this defense system was Liangxiang Town, which housed more than 3,000 elite Zhen and Jurchen troops, ready to provide support to any place under attack at any time.

Dingnan Army is an extremely difficult opponent!
This was all Wanyan Xiyin could do; his defensive line was short of troops.

To gather troops for a counterattack is pure wishful thinking. If he can help the other routes hold and prevent them from being breached, then Wanyan Xiyin will have done right by the ancestors of the Great Jin Dynasty and the spirit of the old Khan Aguda!

At this moment, the Dingnan Army was still launching a fierce attack. A violent tremor and the sound of something breaking through the air could be heard. More than ten polished stone projectiles came flying through the air, most of them landing in the deer fortress, smashing broken wood flying everywhere.

Several of them even hit the front of the military camp's pallor. The Jurchen warriors on the camp wall watched as the stones bounced and rolled after landing.

Eventually, one of the stones bounced up and hit the stockade.

The watchtower, made of timber over five feet long and secured with thick jar rims and nailed together, and buried deep in the ground, produced a deafening roar when struck by these stone projectiles.

Like a soft branch, it was torn apart and flew through the air, instantly creating a gap in the stockade.

Amidst the billowing dust, shouts in the Jurchen language rang out.

The ragged laborers from Yan were driven up by the Tartars to repair the stockade with spare materials.

If they moved even slightly slower, the Jurchen soldiers who were supervising them would swat them down with a single blow.

The people of Yan, who once deeply resented the Song people because of the tyranny of Tong Guan, Liu Yanqing and others, suddenly stopped hating them.

Because someone even more beastly than the Song people appeared.
It's not that I'm afraid of bad people, it's that I'm afraid of people who are even worse than me.

Guo Yaoshi had just finished looting once when the Jurchen Tartars returned. Their forces were like plowing a field, repeatedly plundering and killing in the Youyan region.

Today, the people of Yan (present-day Beijing) fondly remember the time when they lived in peace with the Song people during the Liao Dynasty under the rule of the Khitan.

On the opposite side, they saw that the Dingnan Army had once again formed a thick array.

The armor gleamed in the sunlight, and side shields were smashed into the ground to serve as a barrier. A fortified enclosure was also set up on the outer perimeter.

The troops that went out to attack the camp took turns resting under such shelters, and soon they would charge and attack the camp again.

Just as the Jurchens and the laborers of Yan were relieved, they saw the Western barbarians erect several seven-pointed cannons in the midst of the formation.

The so-called Seven-Spear Cannon was a heavy catapult unique to the Song Dynasty, mainly used for city defense warfare.

The gun carriage is supported by four wooden legs, forming a stable triangular frame, with a rotatable gun fin shaft placed horizontally on top.

The cannon tip is made of hard and flexible wood, usually elm or sandalwood, and is about 7 meters long. The end is tied with 5-10 tethers. The more tips there are, the greater the projectile power.

A seven-pointed cannon requires 13 points and a total of 125 pulling ropes. To fire it, 250 people are needed to pull the ropes, and 2 people are responsible for aiming and releasing.

Its power is self-evident.
After finishing one round of attacks, the Dingnan Army was busy reloading, while the strong soldiers, who had taken off their shirts, were catching their breath by pulling on ropes, waiting for the next round of firing.

They were right behind the formation, completely trusting their brothers in front, as more seven-barreled cannons were being assembled and repaired.

The polished stone projectiles brought up by the auxiliary troops were piled up into several small hills.

It's scary to look at.

The Jurchen Tartars felt extremely aggrieved; they were being attacked here, while the Dingnan Army on the other side was having a very easy time.

With nothing to do, the large cavalry unit sat down to rest on the riverbank.

The warhorses were led by auxiliary soldiers to drink water and wash, because the horse feed and fodder were replenished in a timely manner, and a large number of civilian laborers and auxiliary soldiers participated in taking care of these precious warhorses, so there were plenty of people.

These valuable military resources were well-maintained, with plump muscles, smooth manes, and full of energy when they neighed.

Further back were the long, continuous camps of the Dingnan Army.

At this moment, wisps of smoke were rising from the chimneys.

The cooks were preparing all kinds of hot food and delivering it to the front lines in a continuous stream so that the soldiers and officers on the front lines could be replenished at any time.

Warfare often boils down to a contest of national strength, a fact that has been fully demonstrated in this context.

The Dingnan Army became more and more adept at fighting, and they no longer needed to rely on their desire for military merit, their fearlessness of death and injury, and their relentless charges as they had in the early stages.

As the fighting progressed and their experience deepened, the Dingnan Army increasingly favored this meticulous planning and methodical offensive, tearing apart the Jurchen Tartar defenses layer by layer.

Don't be fooled by their seemingly unhurried demeanor now; once they create an opening, they will destroy all sorts of auxiliary defenses.

Immediately, a large contingent of armored infantry surged forward under the cover of crossbows and stone cannons, fighting to the death with long swords and sharp axes at every breach.

Until more and more armored soldiers poured in, wiping out all the Jurchen warriors who were defending the camp!
Unlike the Jurchens, whom they had fought for ten years.

The Dingnan army is still advancing, which is the most frightening thing. Even if the stalemate continues, time is not on the side of the Jurchen Jin Dynasty.

This is actually the right direction, because the two sides have different cultural foundations, and the gap is huge.

How can your explosive talent explosion of one or two generations compare to my millennia of accumulated talent?

The dynasties of the Central Plains have always been destroyed by people like Zhao Ji, Liang Shicheng, and Wang Fu, because the upper echelons excessively indulged in pleasure and the resulting social stratification led to their downfall.

The defeat was never due to the fighting strength of the civilians or soldiers. (End of Chapter)