Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 234 The Jin Army Marches South!

Although the Jurchens' transformation actually occurred later, in the oral traditions passed down among the Song people, they were consistently portrayed as a monstrous threat.

The reason for this is that the rise of the Jurchens was truly legendary: the Jurchens were originally subjects of the Liao Dynasty, and the Jurchens under Liao rule were like the Jurchens during the Ming Dynasty—initially, they were basically primitive tribes.

Just as the Jurchens of the Ming Dynasty had to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, the Jurchens of the Liao Dynasty also had to pay tribute to the Liao Dynasty. In fact, the Liao people oppressed them even more than the Ming people. The Jurchens as a whole were an extremely weak party.

[Thus, the Jurchens of the Liao Dynasty, just like the Jurchens of the Ming Dynasty, rose in rebellion!]

Whether it was because the Jurchens were indeed historically formidable warriors, or because the Liao Dynasty was nearly as corrupt as the Ming Dynasty, the Jurchen uprising was characterized by swift and decisive victory. Their leader, Wanyan Aguda, had only been leading his army for a short time when he crushed the powerful Liao Dynasty, even capturing its last emperor, Emperor Tianzuo (Yelü Yanxi), and subsequently establishing the Jin Dynasty!

[From being enslaved subjects of the Liao Dynasty, they suddenly rose to become the ruling class of the new dynasty. This immense sense of satisfaction made the Jurchens feel elated, believing themselves to be the chosen ones... and the saying "The Jurchens are invincible if they number less than ten thousand, but if they number ten thousand, they are unmatched" originated from this period.]

Driven by immense confidence and arrogance, the Jurchens, having successfully destroyed the Liao Dynasty, quickly turned their greedy gaze towards the Northern Song Dynasty… Ultimately, under the combined influence of the Jurchen army's powerful offensive and the disastrous actions of the two emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jurchens once again created the miracle of swiftly conquering a nation, inflicting the "Jingkang Incident," a humiliation etched deep in the hearts of the Song people…

However, the conquest of the Song Dynasty differed from the conquest of the Liao Dynasty. After conquering the Song, the Jin Dynasty failed to swallow the entire Song territory in one fell swoop. Instead, it became embroiled in a protracted war with local anti-Jin forces and the Southern Song army in the vast Central Plains region. Seeing that the plan to annex the Song was impossible, and coupled with ongoing internal turmoil, the Jin people sought peace negotiations with the Song.

Ultimately, the Jin and Song dynasties reached the "Shaoxing Peace Treaty," which resulted in the map you see today...

In conclusion, the Jin people's exaggerated military achievements left an indelible impression on the Song people, to the point that they regarded the Jin people as an invincible monster. Coupled with the subsequent "celestial upheaval" that led to a collective mutation among the northern population... all these factors combined to create a psychological bias among the Song people towards the Jin people.

The mere mention of the Jurchen statue evokes a fear akin to turning pale at the mere mention of a tiger...

Although the Song army has beheaded tens of thousands of Jurchens since the start of this northern expedition, greatly reducing their psychological disadvantage against the Jurchens, the Jurchens are the Jurchens, and the Jurchen soldiers are the Jurchen soldiers!

The Jurchens killed by the Song army during this northern expedition were, in essence, just remnants of the Song people who had been captured in the north, so the fear they evoked wasn't particularly strong... But the Jurchen soldiers were different. They were the genuine Jin army, and many of them even included genuine Jurchens, which posed a significant threat to the Song army!

Therefore, after the frontline scouts learned that a large force of Jin troops was marching south, panic inevitably broke out within the Song army. In the midst of this chaos, everyone instinctively turned their attention to the marshal's tent...

[Yue Fei, Marshal Yue! This famous Song Dynasty general who repeatedly defeated the Jin army on the battlefield became everyone's backbone!]

【…】

Upon hearing that 100,000 Jin troops were advancing south with overwhelming force, Yue Fei did not panic like his inexperienced followers. Instead, after a moment's thought, he issued a response order: use the newly captured city of Xinye as a base to ensure the supply lines to Xiangyang remained uninterrupted, and then engage the enemy in battle!

Thus, a great battle was about to break out...

As an ordinary member of the Northern Expeditionary Song army, your task is to collect stones and logs for use in the defensive battles against the Jin army.

You didn't say anything about the task itself, as preparing supplies for the city's defense was a perfectly normal thing to do, but you couldn't help but have some questions about the hidden meaning behind it...

"Given the Jurchens' previous behavior, is it really necessary for us to defend the city?"

A soldier in the same squad muttered, "Anyway, once they see us, those Jurchens will turn into mindless monsters. Then we can just hunt them down like we're hunting, right? Why bother defending the city?"

[Someone pondered: "Perhaps the Jin soldiers are different from ordinary Jin people? Maybe even after turning into monsters, the Jin soldiers still retain some of their intelligence, so we need to be cautious..."]

"Does it even have a brain?"

[Someone commented: "The transformation from human to monster is essentially exchanging brains for power. If you could retain even a little bit of brainpower, wouldn't that just be pure power?"]

[“But we haven’t mutated. If we really fight, it’ll be the weak attacking the strong. No wonder we can’t win…”] [“Anyway, the Jurchens definitely can’t be both strong and intelligent, otherwise they would have already come south to attack us!”]

"Yes! I think so too..."

In short, the consensus reached was that the Jin soldiers possessed both intelligence and strength, suggesting that Marshal Yue's order to defend the city was likely just a matter of caution...

But you weren't so optimistic.

[Because it's the same argument as the soldier just made: he said that if the Jin army were truly strengthened across the board, then there would be no need for them to sign any peace treaty with the Song Dynasty; they could simply march south and destroy the Song.]

But you might argue: if the Jin soldiers truly turned into mindless monsters upon seeing Song people, then the imperial court would have already launched a northern expedition!

The logic is this: Yue Fei might indeed have chosen not to launch a northern expedition out of pity for the northerners, but ultimately, whether or not to launch one was not up to him. The only person qualified to decide the strategy for the northern expedition was "Divine Zhao Gou," who sat high on the dragon throne in Lin'an!

Given that "expeding into the Central Plains" had long been a set national policy of the Song Dynasty, if the Jin Dynasty could truly be eradicated so easily, then "Divine Emperor Zhao Gou" would never have stagnated on the issue of the Northern Expedition for two hundred years... And since the court had never launched a large-scale Northern Expedition, it proved that the Jin Dynasty was not weak, and the Jin soldiers would not mutate into mindless monsters upon seeing the Song people.

Therefore, your conclusion is that the Jin army most likely did indeed strengthen its forces... at most, this strengthening was somewhat limited, which is why the Jin army did not continue its southward invasion to destroy the Song Dynasty, but instead maintained a long period of peace with the Southern Song Dynasty...

【…】

Your guess is correct.

[On the very second day of your intensive preparations for war, the vanguard of the Jin army arrived at the northern border of Xinye County and engaged in battle with Yue Yun and four other detachments!]

News of the battle that day arrived shocked the army...

Is it a battle?!

The group, encountering the Jin soldiers for the first time, were immediately bewildered: What? Could it be that the Jin soldiers could truly overcome their mindless transformation after encountering the Song people and confront the Song army head-on?

Everyone couldn't help but speculate, and the subsequent battle reports fully confirmed this...

[Soon after the Jin army clashed with Yue Yun's forces, although the Jin soldiers quickly mutated, they did not completely lose their minds. Even after the intensified mutation, they retained a degree of consciousness and launched a large-scale attack on the Song army!]

Because the Song army already harbored a certain fear of the mutated Jurchens, and because the Jurchen soldiers' mutations were purely enhanced without losing their minds, Yue Yun's offensive was immediately thwarted.

Although Yue Yun commanded skillfully, and even personally led the charge with his spiritual body, he still couldn't break through the Jin vanguard. Left with no other option, he had to call upon the other three flanking forces to assist him, and together they routed the Jin vanguard!

Even after overwhelming the Jin vanguard with sheer numbers, Yue Yun had no choice but to abandon his offensive plan and instead slowly retreat towards his main force in Xinye...

Not long after, 100,000 Jin soldiers followed closely behind, advancing all the way to Xinye County, where they encountered the 200,000-strong Northern Expeditionary Army defending the city!

You stand cautiously atop the city wall, gazing at the imposing contingent of Jin soldiers in the distance. As you confirm your suspicions about the Jin troops, you carefully observe the banners and flags amidst the dense ranks of soldiers…

"Wuzhu?"

……

(End of this chapter)