Forty Jianghuai march (I)

Just when the Song, Mongolia, Jin, and Xia kingdoms each performed a whole-body solution in the land of Western Xia and carried out a melee, the Great Song Dynasty in the south of the Yangtze River seemed to think that the world was not chaotic enough, and was not willing to be lonely, and added another stroke, in December of the sixth year of Jianye (1176), Zhao Chen officially issued an order, and the Song army of Jianghuai began to enter the Central Plains. The curtain has officially opened on a completely chaotic situation.

The attack of the Song army was divided into two lines, east and west, the eastern line was dominated by Cao Xun, the commander of the soldiers and horses of the Huainan East Road, bringing together the Xuyi army and the imperial garrison of Chuzhou, mobilizing 40,000 army and 20,000 water army, divided into three routes, and launched an attack on Shandong. and ordered the imperial garrison of Chuzhou to control Li Gongzuo to send troops from the sea to attack the East China Sea, with the intention of involving the monk Wanyan Chen in Shandong.

The main force of the Song army on the west road, with Bi Zaiyu, the commander of the soldiers and horses of the Huainan West Road, as the main general, concentrated the two imperial garrisons of Guangzhou and Haozhou, and at the same time, the Jiankang court was also afraid that Bi Zaiyu's troops were insufficient, so they supplemented him with the two armies of the horse army Si Weiyuan, the two armies of the flying cavalry and the left and right armies of the infantry division, totaling more than 75,000 people and horses. Even Chen Min, who was in charge of the guards and the military department, was sent to Huaixi to assist Bi Zaiyu in the battle. The Song army on the Western Front was divided into two routes, led by Bi Zaiyu and Liu Fuwu to attack Caizhou in Guangzhou, and Chen Min and Zhang Shiyan led to attack from Haozhou and attacked Shouzhou.

At this point, among the three forbidden armies guarding Jiankang Mansion, all the men and horses of the Ma Military Division were dispatched, and six of the nine armies of the Infantry Army Division were also dispatched, and only three armies remained in Jiankang, totaling 18,000 people. Five of the twelve armies of the temple were also dispatched, and seven armies remained, totaling 56,000 men.

However, this time the Great Song Dynasty sent troops, from the proposal to the resolution, and it was not hindered much, mainly because the object of this battle was the Jin State, from a moral and emotional point of view, it was difficult for the ministers to refuse, and after the debate on the Western Xia troops, the officials knew the emperor's temper, and saw that Zhongshu Province agreed, and no one was willing to oppose the emperor's resolution at this time. At the same time, the continuous victories of the Song army in the Western Xia battlefield also inspired the confidence of many people, and the current expansion of the war in the imperial court was not so bottom-notch.

At this time, the Jin State also had 1670,000 troops in Nanjing and Shandong. There are more than 70,000 defenders stationed in Shandong, and since the Jin army sent troops to Western Xia, the monk Wanyan Chen is ready to meet the attack of the Song army at any time. Therefore, as soon as the Song army moved, the monk Wanyan Chen ordered the general Wanyan Kuang to lead 15,000 men and horses to guard Pizhou, so that he was only allowed to hold the city, but not to engage the Song army.

And Monk Wanyan Chen himself personally led 25,000 men and horses to Suzhou. At this time, the Song army captured Lingbi, Qixian, Jing'an and other places around Suzhou, forming a siege of Suzhou. And Wanyan Chen monk personally led 5,000 cavalry, through the gap between Qixian and Jing'an, and attacked Xigu Town, killing more than 1,000 Song troops and cutting off the supply lines of the Song army.

Fortunately, Cao Xun made a decision and ordered the Song troops from all walks of life to withdraw, and he personally led 5,000 Song troops to Xigu Town, where he fought with Monk Wanyan Chen to cover the retreat of other Song armies. The two sides fought for a day, each with its own injuries, and there was no winner or loser. Fortunately, Cao Xun restrained the men and horses of Monk Wanyan Chen, and the other Song troops withdrew safely. And when the monk Wanyan Chen saw that all the men and horses of the Song army were scattered back with scriptures, he did not dare to fight for a long time, and led the army to retreat to Qi County. The entire Song army retreated to the vicinity of the lower reaches of the river, and the two sides fought several battles, and each had its own victories and defeats. However, the Song army's attacks on both sides of the eastern road were blocked by the Jin army, and they could not move any further.

However, Li Gongzuo led more than 200 warships of all sizes to send troops from the sea, and encountered the Jin navy on the sea near the East China Sea, and the two sides fought a big battle, on the water, the advantage of the Song army was still quite obvious, and the Jin army's navy was defeated by the Song army, lost more than 50 warships, and returned to the port of the East China Sea, only deployed on the shore, and did not dare to fight again. Although the Song army defeated the Jin army's naval army, after all, the troops were insufficient and did not dare to carry out landing operations, so they could only hail along the coastline of Shandong in the Jin Kingdom, occasionally going ashore to disturb for a while, but they did not dare to go deep inland, and soon retreated to the ship.

However, the Jin army's attack on the Song army was very strong, but because of the lack of water power, there was nothing to be done, and the monk Wanyan Chen had to increase the deployment of troops in the coastal area, which also weakened the strength to deal with the Song army's land attack, so although there was more than enough to defend Shandong, it was insufficient to counterattack the Song army.

Fortunately, Cao Xun's task was not really to capture Shandong, but only to contain Monk Wanyan Chen, so that he could not draw troops to support Nanjing, so he was not in a hurry to spend it with Monk Wanyan Chen.

On the other hand, the Jin army had more than 85,000 soldiers and horses in Nanjing, which was superior to Shandong's, and it did not have the weakness of coastal defense, so it should have been more worry-free. When Wanyan Changzhi was in office, he governed the army very strictly and defended carefully, which can be described as solid and foolproof.

However, since Su Shilie Hu Shahu replaced Wan Yan Changzhi as the Nanjing Left-behind Division, all this has changed. Hu Shahu was originally a mediocre material, but now he finally got a fat difference, that there is a reason to let go, and he relied on himself to be the emperor's cronies and ministers, and after taking office, he didn't care about the border defense, he only knew how to eat, drink and have fun every day, and he was a cronie of An Cha in the army, and he hung his post on the scales, so the guards of the Nanjing defense line were becoming more and more relaxed.

In the past, although Wanyan Changzhi governed the army strictly, he was also lax, rewarded and punished, absolutely fair, and he was also honest and self-controlled, taking himself as his side, and not allowing the army to disturb the people, so the army and the people were happy and convinced of his governance. After Hu Shahu arrived in office, he not only deducted military salaries, filled his own pockets, and served as a non-commissioned officer for private affairs, but when he was not satisfied, he was whipped and beaten with sticks, but also openly instructed his own soldiers to rob in the city, bully men and women, and do all kinds of evil. It has been less than nine months since he took office, but he has accumulated more than 100,000 yuan of frugal money, occupied seven or eight mansions, more than 10,000 acres of fertile land, and robbed more than 20 women for his own enjoyment.

The soldiers of the Jin Army were already quite resentful of Wan Yan Changzhi being demoted for no reason, and Hu Shahu, whether it was qualifications, ability, or prestige, could not be compared with Wan Yan Changzhi, and now he was doing mischief in Nanjing, since he arrived, the soldiers could only get half of their salaries, so all the soldiers hated him to the core, and the military and the people were gradually dissatisfied. I only hope that the imperial court will be able to transfer Hu Shahu away that day and reactivate Wanyan Changzhi.

And at this time, the Song army launched an attack on Nanjing. The guards of the Jin army were already very lax, and the generals of the defending army were either incompetent cronies appointed by Hu Shahu, or they were dissatisfied with Hu Shahu, so they had no intention of resisting the Song army at all.

Bi Zaiyu and Chen Min sent troops on both sides, and along the way, they attacked Shouzhou, Yingzhou, Caizhou, Tangzhou and other places in succession, so smooth that even Bi Zaiyu couldn't believe it, and thought that the Jin army was using a trick to lure the enemy in. Therefore, the Song army was ordered to postpone its march and wait until it heard the movements of the Jin army before making plans.

Hu Shahu was not shocked when he learned that the army was defeated and lost his territory, of course he knew that if he couldn't hold Nanjing, even if he was a close minister of Wanyan Yungong, he might not be able to hand it over, so he was obviously afraid, but he couldn't help fighting. So he immediately recruited men and horses, gathered an army of 40,000, and led Yang Woyan, Wan Yan Ting, Wan Yan Chong and other generals to personally supervise the battle, and stationed in Xuzhou to meet the Song army.

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Just when Su Shilie Hu Shahu hardened his head and led the army to meet the Song army. Yijing was demoted to the Marquis of Weijun and the defense envoy of Dengzhou, and Wanyan Changzhi also had an urgent plan.

Since he was demoted to the defense envoy of Dengzhou, Wanyan Changzhi has been very low-key, and after Hu Shahu took office in Nanjing, he only went to see him once, and then he has been sick in Dengzhou. Therefore, this time Hu Shahu sent troops, and he did not mobilize Yan Changzhi. However, in secret, Wanyan Changzhi and Zhang Hu were intensively plotting, first of all, they continued to spread dissatisfaction with Hu Shahu and the imperial court in various parts of Nanjing, and then asked Guo Yuto, Shi Mo Yanshan, Pu Atong and others to incite middle and lower-level soldiers in the army, ready to turn their backs on Hu Shahu and support Wanyan Changzhi.

Although Dajin has been in the Central Plains for more than 50 years, and his rule is stable, after all, he is still a foreign race, Han people, and although the Han people who settled in the Central Plains have no strong antipathy to the rule of the Jin State, they also do not have a strong sense of belonging, and the residents of Nanjing are already very indignant about Hu Shahu's actions, and after deliberate incitement, this sentiment is even more intense, and naturally they are extremely dissatisfied with the Dajin court. Therefore, although they will not take the initiative to rebel, they will never be low-hearted if they raise their flags.

Most of the soldiers guarding Nanjing were Jurchens, except for a small number of people who were Wan Yan Changzhi's henchmen, most of the Jin soldiers thought of the benefits of Wan Yan Changzhi when he was in power, so most of the middle and lower-level soldiers hoped that Hu Shahu could be replaced by Wan Yan Changzhi, and this sentiment could also be exploited at present. Moreover, the Jurchens are far from having such a strong sense of loyalty and righteousness as the Han people, as long as Wanyan Changzhi can prove that he has the ability to replace Wanyan Yungong and become the emperor of Dajin, then he will definitely get the support of many people.

Therefore, without Hu Shahu being aware of it, Wan Yan Changzhi secretly controlled most of the situation on Nanjing Road. Moreover, the Southern Song Dynasty was attacking Western Xia with all its strength at this time, and there was no time to take care of the affairs of the Jin State for a while.