In 1127 AD, the Northern Song Dynasty fell. Immediately, the ninth imperial prince, Zhao Gou, ascended the throne in Shangqiu amidst widespread anticipation, inheriting the Song imperial line and r...
The doubts and waiting of Emperor Zhao and the Nanyang Central Command did not last too long, because the Jin people could not waste too much time and watch the opportunity slip away... Whether the early raid was successful or not, they had to continue to advance. So in late autumn in September, it was probably because the Jin follow-up troops gradually gathered successfully, and the clues of the main force of the Jin people also appeared one by one.
Among them, Wanyan Loushi's message was the first to arrive.
This general, who was recognized by the Jin army internally and probably also by the Song army, was the most victorious general of the Jin army and the most reliable general under Wanyan Nianhan. He led the main force of the Jin army's western route of 50,000 across the Yellow River, landed at the mouth of the Yan River, went upstream and directly took Yan'an.
The news came with a long delay, not much later than the five-way raid. Moreover, according to what Yuwen Xu relayed to the local governor Wang Shu, Qu Duan, the governor of Yan'an Prefecture, gave up resistance and chose to withdraw directly. It is possible that Yan'an had already fallen by then.
Emperor Zhao and the other officials in the central government could not say anything to blame them.
After all, the gap in troop strength is so huge, and Wanyan Loushi's record and reputation are there, so avoiding frontal combat to preserve strength is a reasonable choice. What's more, Guanxi and Li Yanxian, and everyone in Nanyang have already made an agreement that they will drag it out as long as they can, and they will hold out as long as they can, without any additional requirements... So there is really nothing to worry about Qu Duan's actions this time.
The only thing he fears is comparison. The news that a minister of Zhang Suo's rank died for his country and that Xin Daozon, a Yanei whom Emperor Zhao had secretly looked down upon, died in battle had just arrived, and then Qu Duan took the initiative to give up Yan'an, which inevitably made people compare.
But as I said before, from the current perspective, the only news we know is that he gave up Yan'an, which leaves us speechless.
The second general exposed after Wanyan Loushi was somewhat surprising, but also reasonable... He was also from the Western Route Army, the so-called Taiyuan garrison Wanyan Yinshuke.
Due to Li Yanxian's successful counterattack, Wanyan Loushi led the main force of the Western Army across the river, and the military situation in Shanxi and Hedong areas gradually emerged in the vision of the Song Army. At this time, everyone knew that Wanyan Yinshu, the second-in-command of the Jin Kingdom's Western Army, did not move at all and was stationed in Taiyuan.
His presence not only successfully supported the defeated Wanyan Saba, but also caused Li Yanxian's bold strategic plan to fail in the womb, and Hedong soon fell into a stalemate.
So far, the deployment of the Jin army's western army has been roughly determined:
Wanyan Loushi actually assumed the task of commanding the main force of the attack, leading 50,000 troops across the Yellow River to sweep Shaanxi;
Wanyan Yinshu could lead 20,000 troops to garrison Taiyuan (Taiyuan Basin), while Wanyan Gushen and Yelu Yudu, whose forces were unknown, were stationed in Hezhong Prefecture (the area around Linfen in later generations), working together to ensure the Jin people's control over the Hedong area of Shanxi, while also ensuring Wanyan Loushi's retreat.
Wanyan Saba (Wanyan Seri's younger brother), Wanyan Balisu (Wanyan Yinshuke's younger brother), and Yelu Mawu each led 5,000 to 10,000 troops to participate in the raid.
Up to this point, there may be some unclear details such as the sudden rise of Yelu Ma Wu's army, the transfer of Yelu Yudu's military power, and the unknown strength of Wanyan Gushen's army, but the deployment of the Western Army from top to bottom has been clearly demonstrated from a strategic point of view, with both offense and defense, both normal and unconventional.
This seems to prove once again that the Jin Dynasty's Western Army was still the strongest, most combative, and most strategic and tactical force among the Jin people.
Time continued to move forward, and before the Double Ninth Festival on September 9, with the continuous arrival of messengers from the Tokyo Garrison, the rest of the Jin army's deployment was completely exposed, and this time it was much simpler - Jin's capital marshal Wanyan Nianhan, the left deputy marshal and the third prince Wanyan Erlido, the right deputy marshal Wanyan Talan, and the marshal's left supervisor and the fourth prince Wanyan Wushu were all in Damingfu. Moreover, after the arrival of follow-up troops, Wanyan Talan and Wanyan Wushu immediately divided their troops and crossed the river to the south. The former went out of Puzhou (northeast of Kaifeng) and the latter went out of Zhengzhou (west of Kaifeng), bypassing Huazhou (due north of Kaifeng), where the resistance was the most intense, in an attempt to launch a fierce pincer attack on Tokyo.
"The troops of Wanyan Balisu and Yelu Mawu should be regarded as the support of the Eastern Army by the Western Army. If we count them as 20,000, then the area around Tokyo is the main force of the Jin Army of 120,000?!" In the military quarters of Yushan Camp, which has been getting more and more lively and crowded recently, Chen Gui, the Minister of War who visited today, looked grim after hearing this military situation.
"What about 120,000?" Prime Minister Lu Yihao responded coldly. "It's only 20,000 more."
"So what if there are 120,000?" Chen Gui almost laughed out of anger. "Prime Minister Lu! Prime Minister Lu! The Jin army has 20,000 more troops, and we lost 20,000 troops because we lost Zhang Suo. With one increase and one decrease, doesn't it mean that the original 200,000 to 100,000 has become 180,000 to 120,000? It was 2 to 1 before, and now it's 3 to 2. This is dangerous enough."
"Wanyan Nianhan and Wanyan Erliduo will not cross the river. According to the Jin people's fighting habits, they should stop in Damingfu and Puyang to supervise the army. Wanyan Erliduo may withdraw as soon as possible." Hu Hongxiu has been beaten by officials for a few times and has become more honest. At this moment, he is cautious. "And in order to protect the retreat, Damingfu and Puyang should leave 20,000 to 30,000 people as backup and support."
"Is this what a military officer of the Privy Council should say?" Chen Gui, who was almost sixty years old, immediately retorted, leaving Hu Hongxiu afraid to reply. "The Jin people are leaving a large number of troops in Daming Prefecture to control the Yellow River. Doesn't Zong Liushou in Huazhou have any troops to guard against it?"
"Minister Chen." Liu Ziyu bowed. "General Hu's point is that things have come to this point. From the overall perspective, we are not without troops to deploy, but we are also constrained by the overall situation. What we can do is actually limited."
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