Chapter 392: Embankment Slope Management
Entering the twelfth lunar month, the main forces of Song and Jin met in Daming Prefecture.
In the entire Damingfu battlefield, the Song Army's Hebei Front Army, including the Imperial Camp Front Army, the Right Army, and the Navy, had a total of over 60,000 combat soldiers and more than 70,000 civilian laborers; the Jin Army had a total of 50,000 soldiers from the Longde Prefecture Marching Division, 40,000 soldiers from Hedong who worked hard to support, and 40,000 soldiers from the local marching division of Damingfu, a total of 130,000 soldiers, 130,000 infantry and cavalry, and an uncertain number of civilian laborers who were responsible for logistics and transportation, that is, 200,000 to 300,000 signed military contracts.
Comparing the military strength of the two sides, even without emphasizing the unprecedentedly powerful cavalry cluster of 60,000 to 70,000 of the Jin army, the strength of the two sides is definitely obvious.
In addition, the Jin army also grasped the administrative power and control over almost all the surrounding counties and prefectures, which could ensure the support and dispatch from the periphery. More importantly, Yuancheng, the capital of Daming Prefecture, which was 40 miles in circumference and controlled the strategic point of Hebei Province, was still under the control of the Jin army.
In such a situation, with Shaohe and Ali in the north and Wang Bolun in the northeast, the Jin army actually had the intention of encircling the enemy from the very beginning.
From the Jin army's perspective, the Song army was already trapped both internally and externally, so it didn't matter.
Of course, with the current arrangement of the Song army, it doesn't matter whether they encircle or not - the Song army doesn't seem to be ready to leave, and is prepared to hold on despite being trapped both internally and externally. Maybe they even want to pull the tiger's teeth out of the tiger's mouth and take Yuancheng in front of them.
There is little gossip, and turning back to the present, all that is said is that the Jin army set up camps and fortifications, and the scene was grand, claiming to be able to move mountains and seas, but in fact, a few days after entering the twelfth lunar month, the battle situation was somewhat beyond everyone's expectations... This is not to say that the battle was not fierce or the scene was not large, but that the Jin army was only beaten unilaterally.
Facing the huge Yuan City, the Song Army was divided into different groups, firing artillery on three sides of the land and sailing on the river, bombarding non-stop. At the same time, the army was divided into groups, some digging tunnels, some leveling the land, some beginning to formally build giant siege towers, and some concentrating small disassemblyable crossbows and eight-ox crossbows to eliminate the more threatening towers in Yuan City.
In contrast, the Jin army in Yuan City was not discouraged. After the arrival of almost endless reinforcements, the morale of the defenders in the entire city soared, and some of the city’s hastily assembled artillery carts also began to fight back across the wall.
And after entering the twelfth lunar month, small-scale suicide squads would be sent out of the city to attack almost every night.
However, compared with those outside the city, the number and flexibility of the artillery vehicles were all limited. Secondly, the Song army had a very obvious inner fortification around the city, and attacks were often unsuccessful, so they were always at a clear disadvantage.
As the days passed, although Yuancheng could not be said to be surrounded by enemies, it had indeed suffered great weakening and shaking. Seventy or eighty corner towers were destroyed within a few days, including a dozen of the most threatening ones. Some walls began to crack under the bombardment of artillery vehicles, and casualties gradually became a problem that could not be ignored in the city.
What was not even known to people outside the city was that in order to ensure the continued supply of timber and building materials for firing artillery and repairing the city defenses, Gao Jingshan set an example by even demolishing his own mansion and spent all day lingering in Cuiyun Tower…and the reason Cuiyun Tower was left behind was simply because it was the commanding height inside the northern half of the city, making it convenient for observation and command.
During these days, the Jin army west of the Yellow River had no chance to launch a full-scale attack, let alone move mountains and seas, because they were the first to see the advantages of the Song army's navy that Wanhu Ali and Shaohe reminded them of.
Frankly speaking, the Jin army had anticipated and understood the navy's ability to block the river. In the previous battle on the Huai River, Han Shizhong's sea vessels entering the Huai River made it impossible for the Jin army to cross the river. Later, Zhang Rong led the Liangshanpo navy into the Yellow River and controlled the Yellow River channel, which formed a strategic advantage and basically eliminated the Jin army's idea of moving southward from the lower reaches. This time, the Jin army gathered together with the intention of taking advantage of the period when the Yellow River was frozen to sweep away Yue Fei's troops.
However, even so, they did not have enough understanding of the navy's powerful control capabilities in such narrow terrain.
Of course, they soon realized that the so-called armor, war horses, and dense military forces were almost a joke in front of the moving Eight-Ox Crossbow.
The Yellow River, which was several hundred steps wide, and the absolute deterrent distance of six or seven hundred steps on both sides of the Yellow River, instantly made the Jin army lose some unrealistic thoughts, and also made the Jin army in vain to show its impressive momentum, but unable to stretch its hands and feet and unable to support Yuancheng. As a result, the city fell into a clear disadvantage due to the encirclement of the Song army and the obvious difference in military strength, but the outer Jin army, which should have encircled the Song army in turn and had a clear military advantage, fell into an embarrassing situation of being unable to organize an attack due to the existence of the Song army's navy.
Even under the protection of the Song army's navy, the Song army's logistical supplies were still continuously transported along the Yellow River.
To be honest, this situation did not exceed the imagination of the Jin army's top leaders, but it still had a strong impact on morale.
"What if we spread out the army for 200 miles and then cross the river together? Zhang Rong has several warships that can carry eight-ox crossbows. Can he really stop them?"
"So what if we disperse and cross the river? General Ali and General Shaohe are on the other side of the river... After we cross the river, it's such a narrow place, and there are eight-ox crossbows on both sides. Can we deploy our forces to attack?"
"Hmph...Excuse me for being blunt, Shaohe and his subordinates are all from Bohai, that's why we can't conquer them!"
"In this case, it would be better to persuade General Gao to surrender as soon as possible and ask the Jurchen warriors to fight on their own."
"Even if it was the Jurchens, didn't General Ali fight? Can't we listen to him?"
"Although General Ali was brave in his time, he is old now!"
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