Chapter 128: Sword Forging
War is complex and simple; it is cruel and gentle; it is orderly and chaotic; it advocates the comparison of strength and also requires miracles and courage.
These things manifest themselves in completely different ways depending on people's positions and standpoints, but no matter what, war will never be easy.
Therefore, after Emperor Zhao's old homesickness came back, he drank a few more cups of yellow soup and complained to himself, but it did not help the war situation at all. He still had to face the harsh reality of the war situation.
In late September, as the main force of the Jin army crossed the river and joined the battle, the Song-Jin War in the second year of Jianyan quickly entered a new stage, which was the most difficult stage for the Song Dynasty, the so-called stage of large-scale loss of cities and territories, and heavy casualties.
Throughout September, Zhao Jiu sat in Nanyang, while news from the frontline poured in like snowflakes:
The entire territory of Zhengzhou's six counties and eleven cities fell, and three of them were massacred;
Kaifeng Prefecture lost 6 counties and 15 cities out of 16 counties and 37 cities, and massacred the city twice;
Sishui Pass was lost;
Of Henan Prefecture's 16 counties and 21 cities, 13 counties and 17 cities were lost. The city was massacred once and burned twice.
All the areas south of Hunchuan in Yan'an Prefecture were lost;
Huazhou Weicheng was captured and burned to the ground...
All of the above, plus the defeat of Zhang Jun's general Liu Bao in Luyi, Bozhou, which triggered a massacre in the city, only Nanyang was informed of it, and a total of more than 50 cities were lost, 17 battles were lost, 7 massacres, and 3 city burnings. Among them, one governor and a scholar of the Zizheng Palace, six military governors, five commanders, and countless other commanders, county magistrates and lower-level officials and generals died in the battle.
As for the area east of Shuntian Prefecture (Nanjing and Shangqiu), the two routes of Jingdong were basically occupied again. Even if there were one or two remnants, it would be impossible for them to have an impact on the war in the core area of the Central Plains after the Jin army stationed heavy troops in Nanjing...not to mention it.
If measured by this, 70% of the counties and cities in the four routes of Jingdong and Jingxi have actually fallen!
However, during the march, in addition to the routine large-scale massacres, destruction of troops, burning and looting, the Jin people also carried out one thing that particularly attracted the attention of Nanyang... That was that whether it was Wanyan Wushu in Zhengzhou or Wanyan Talan in Puzhou, and even Wanyan Loushi who was far away in Shaanxi, they all carried out large-scale activities to persuade and recruit surrender. From the Tokyo Lyosu Division that held military power, the generals of the Western Army, and the leaders of the local rebel armies and bandits, to the local cities, the Jin people would always send people to persuade them to surrender in almost every battle.
Moreover, what shocked the Nanyang side even more was that, from the intelligence they had obtained, they knew that the Jin army had basically kept its word... Any military leader who surrendered would be guaranteed to keep his troops and be given the promised official position. As for the cities that voluntarily opened their gates, as long as they paid a quota of military rations, they would also be guaranteed to be preserved.
Although they were reluctant to admit it, with regard to these surrendered cities, the Jin army seemed to be more disciplined than the Song army!
On the other hand, once a city or place made clear and large-scale efforts to assist the war, the Jin people would inevitably carry out systematic, large-scale massacres and burnings of the city after the war.
Under such circumstances, some cities on the front line naturally began to resist the Song army. Some cities refused to accept the Song army, and even directly betrayed and confronted them. This made the troops of the Tokyo garrison, which was already in a very difficult situation, restricted outside Tokyo and had to gather around Tokyo City, where the range of activities was getting smaller and smaller.
To be fair, this situation was more terrifying and frightening for Nanyang than the massacre and the second fall of Tokyo... because the Jin people actually knew how to win over the hearts of the people with political offensives, and the Jin leader's intention to divide the Central Plains and rule it was obviously not an empty talk.
However, there was some good news. Han Shizhong's left army of the imperial camp advanced at all costs and successfully attracted Wanyan Wushu's attention. Since Han Shizhong's troops joined forces with the original defenders of the cities in Shunchang Prefecture, and Han Shizhong himself personally led an army of more than 20,000 to station in Yancheng, Jin Wushu and Talai's offensive around Tokyo was indeed delayed and hesitant.
But the good times didn't last long, the delay only lasted less than ten days.
Entering early winter, perhaps because of the reminder and suppression from Wanyan Nianhan, the commander-in-chief of Damingfu behind him, or perhaps because Wanyan Wushu had long wanted to take the opportunity to rest and regroup, after leading 40,000 troops and gathering 10,000 troops led by Wanyan Balisu who came from Xijing, he turned his attention back to Dongjing City, and in early October he defeated the commanders Cao Cheng and Wang Shan in one fell swoop, and captured Zhongmu... So far, the main force of the Jin army was only fifty miles away from Dongjing City.
In other words, the city of Tokyo was once again under siege.
At the same time, Li Yanxian and Yuwen Xuzhong also received a new piece of bad news almost at the same time - after Wanyan Loushi broke through Yan'an, he divided 20,000 troops and let his son Wanyan Huonu garrison there, and led 30,000 Jin troops northward. After conquering the Suide Army, he suddenly gave up the Jinning Army in front of him and turned to cross the Xixia Right Wing Shenyong Army Headquarters (the area around Yulin in later generations), and surrounded Fuzhou, Linzhou, and Fengzhou.
The Zhe clan of Fuzhou was caught off guard, and their castles fell very quickly. The last confirmed news was that the Zhe clan of Fuzhou, who had been loyal to the Song Dynasty for hundreds of years, should have surrendered, because the head of the Zhe clan of Fuzhou, Zhe Keqiu, soon reappeared, but he was there to persuade Wanyan Loushi to surrender, which had in fact become the capital of the Jinning Army, an isolated island in the northwest.
However, Zhe Keqiu's action met with an extremely fierce reaction. After climbing up the city wall, Xu Huiyan, the defender of the Jinning Army, publicly scolded Zhe Keqiu for betraying the country, and drew his bow against him, forcing Zhe Keqiu to flee in embarrassment.
Besides, the Zhe clan in the northwest is the oldest, most loyal and special border town in the Song Dynasty. The Zhe clan surrendered three states to the Jin people, which was a thunderbolt for the entire Guanxi and even Nanyang. Moreover, at this time, Yuwen Xuzhong also mentioned that Qu Duan did not listen to the command of his superior, the governor Wang Shu. For this reason, Yuwen Xuzhong has specially sent an envoy to northern Shaanxi to urge and persuade Qu Duan...
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