The Song army on the eastern front was stationed on the northern border of Goryeo. In addition to transporting grain by boat from Miju, Goryeo also continuously transported grain and fodder from within the country.

Adhering to the mentality that "we won't send troops unless we're well-fed and watered," Wang Bing's defenses on the eastern front were as solid as a rock.

Wang Bing had a unique characteristic in warfare: he wasn't good at offensive battles, but he was a master of defensive warfare.

To paraphrase Wanyan Zongwang, Wang Bing was a coward hiding in his shell, unmoved no matter how much he was scolded.

For Zhao Huan, Wang Bing was undoubtedly a formidable general who held back the Jin army on the eastern front.

In terms of strength, Wanyan Zongwang is currently the most capable general in the Jin Dynasty.

The Jin army originally planned to quickly end the war on the eastern front, invade Goryeo, and make up for the losses incurred in the war from Goryeo.

But to everyone's surprise, Wanyan Zongwang launched more than a dozen attacks, all of which were thwarted by Wang Bing.

When Zhong Shizhong's army arrived in Xianzhou, with their forces at his back, Wanyan Zongwang began to feel uneasy.

Wanyan Zongwang no longer dared to attack recklessly, and was now caught in a dilemma.

Along the coastline of the Bohai Sea, large numbers of Song troops were landing and assembling.

Their actions were swift; they quickly occupied the villages and cities there, forming a formidable fortress along the narrow strip of land stretching from the border between Goryeo and Jin to the northern shore of the Bohai Sea.

It also revealed its sharp blade, making it suitable for both offense and defense.

Such a long battlefront left Wanyan Zongwang exhausted.

On the western front, after Yang Zaixing won a battle, Yue Fei's army was also steadily advancing, reaching Fengzhou.

On the road from Shangjing to Shenzhou, there was an endless expanse of Jin soldiers.

Some of them wore regular army armor, carried long knives, and spoke coarse language. Having just eaten meat stolen from farmers, they were full of energy and appeared somewhat irritable.

They could also visit the next village along the way, where there are pretty girls.

Some of them had no armor, especially since the Jin Dynasty's treasury could not support such a large army. These people picked up their old hunting axes and bows and arrows, put on leather and straw sandals, and looked very rough and uncouth.

Wanyan Zongpan's comprehensive Sinicization efforts ended with his death, and especially during the war-torn years, the Jin dynasty's barbarian atmosphere surged to an unprecedented level.

The power of the Han people was suppressed like never before in the country. Wanyan Dan vigorously promoted the theory of Jurchen supremacy, and believed that all ethnic groups should work together to fight against the Han people.

He began to incite all non-Han people to take up arms and march south to attack the Song Dynasty.

In his description, the South was a land of gold.

There was an abundance of meat, wine, and silk.

Women are more beautiful than flowers; their skin is as white as snow, their hair as black as jade, and their eyes as clear as the waters of a celestial pool.

In Wanyan Dan's words, the Song Dynasty was a paradise on earth.

Once the Song army is defeated, we can cross the Hedong and Hebei regions again and march on the prosperous city of Bianjing (Kaifeng).

On July 6, Wanyan Dan personally traveled south from Shangjing to Shenzhou to oversee the battle.

The Jin army amassed 300,000 troops in Shenzhou, including 5,000 musketeers.

At the same time, the Jin army also had a series of firearms such as thunderclap bombs and fierce oil, and made full preparations for the city's defense.

Furthermore, they also prepared large stone cannons.

These advanced pieces of equipment are all legacies of the Liao Dynasty and outstanding works by Han Chinese craftsmen.

From a macro-strategic perspective, Wanyan Dan wanted to first hold Shenzhou and lock the main force of the Song army in Shenzhou. At the same time, he placed high hopes on his eastern front army, Wanyan Zongbi.

This is due to both reasons of power and political motives.

Looking at the three armies of the Jin Dynasty, Wanyan Zongwang's role on the Jin-Gao-Guo front was limited. Once he defeated the Song army, his mission was to invade Goguryeo, and his impact on the Song Dynasty was limited.

Meanwhile, Wanyan Zonghan led the main force of the central army to confront the main force of the Song Dynasty's Yanyun army head-on.

This arrangement seems to place Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Zonghan in important positions.

In reality, the one who truly benefited the most was Wanyan Zongbi of Fengcheng.

Wanyan Zongbi not only had 30,000 Iron Pagoda Cavalry and 50,000 cavalry, but his total infantry force was also continuously replenished, reaching 200,000.

Wanyan Dan placed high hopes on him, hoping that he could defeat the Song Dynasty's northwestern army there and then advance deep into Song territory.

If this happens, the morale of the Song army at the front will inevitably be unstable.

If Zhong Shidao besieges Shenzhou for a long time without success, the Song army at the front will be thrown into chaos, and collapse will only be a matter of time.

Therefore, Wanyan Dan believed that the key to this war lay in defeating the Song army's northwestern forces.

As for his current large-scale troop deployment to Shenzhou and his advocacy in Shenzhou to defeat the Song army from here and attack Juyong Pass, it is merely an attempt to attract the attention of the main Song army force.

While Wanyan Dan was mobilizing a large army to gather in Shenzhou, he urged Wanyan Zongbi in Fengzhou to end the war as soon as possible.

Yue Fei increased his total forces to 200,000. After obtaining the defensive layout of Fengcheng, Yue Fei decisively launched an attack on Fengcheng.

In fact, Wanyan Zongbi's scorched-earth tactic isolated the Song army on the grasslands.

The Song army's battle lines stretched far into the distance, and the supply of provisions to the rear was constantly disrupted by the Jin army.

On July 12, the Jin army continued its usual small-scale harassment of the Song army's rear.

But the Song army was different on this day; Yue Fei launched a fierce siege of Fengcheng.

On this day, the Jin army on the walls of Fengcheng could see, under the sunlight, an endless Song army appearing from the distant horizon, densely packed, like a silver torrent rolling towards them.

Swords and spears were like a forest, and banners seemed to obscure the sky.

Yue Fei's army was in great shape and powerful. Among them, the heavy infantry under Liu Qi had been replenishing their beef supplies for some time, and they were very strong and vigorous.

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!