Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

“The land was teeming with wolves and tigers, and the people were so afraid to even farm that they dared not go out unless they had at least ten people with them.”

In this bizarre situation, if the Jin army had attacked from Xifengkou, the government wouldn't even have needed to organize a scorched-earth policy.

Shicheng County doesn't even have a county magistrate anymore, because it has been downgraded to a town.

The government was too lazy to collect taxes because the cost of collecting taxes far outweighed the revenue.

Zhao Yuan said, "After the war begins, our army will attack the places the enemy must defend."

"Even if Wanyan Zonghan wanted to fight in Youzhou, the other nobles of the Jin state, as well as the gentry and powerful clans of various ethnic groups, would force the Jin state to send troops to Liaodong."

“I will personally command the Liaodong battlefield, you will command the Youzhou battlefield, and Zhang Guangdao will command the Shanxi battlefield.”

"Once you seize the opportunity, you and Zhang Guangdao will break through the pass and head north."

"Don't worry about my side. Keep advancing north and take the opportunity to reclaim the former Han territory."

Chapter 3406 The Fall of Liaoyang

Li Bao said with a smile, "Even if the main force of the Jin army is in Youzhou, I am not afraid."

"First, we must fortify our defenses and scorched earth, preventing the Jin soldiers from seizing supplies on the spot, and then force them to engage in a decisive battle with us."

Zhao Yuan warned, "Be careful in everything you do; Wanyan Zonghan is no easy man."

During the standoff between the two countries, the Ming Dynasty forced the Jin nobles to band together to maintain a relatively peaceful political situation.

However, if the Ming army marches into Liaodong, factional conflicts within the Jin state will erupt.

Liaoning Province in later generations was the core and most important region of the Jin Dynasty and its main grain-producing area.

If the Ming army were to cross the sea and attack this place, Wanyan Zonghan would not be able to withstand the pressure from the domestic situation and would be unable to fight in the place he wanted to fight. At that time, he would have to mobilize his main force to fight here.

Once the fighting starts in Liaodong, the Ming army in Shanxi and Youzhou will launch a strong attack on the strategic pass.

The Ming Dynasty field army was deployed to the three battlefields of Liaodong, Youzhou, and northern Shanxi, and garrison troops were also mobilized to move north.

Not counting the laborers, the Ming Dynasty will send out 300,000 troops!

The Hongjila tribe, located between Hulun Lake and Bel Lake, has officially submitted to the Mongol Great Khan Khabul.

Furthermore, the two tribes engaged in extensive intermarriage; Khabul Khan's two sons married noblewomen from the Hongjila tribe.

At the same time, he married one of his daughters to a nobleman from the Hongjila tribe.

There's an unreliable rumor that this place is full of handsome men and beautiful women.

Genghis Khan later decreed that the daughters of the Hongjila leader would be queens of the Mongol kingdoms for generations.

The son of the leader of Hongjila, whose family had been princes-in-law of the Mongol Empire for generations.

The Hongjila clan's relationship with the Mongols was similar to that of the Xiao clan in the Liao Dynasty; in short, it was a political marriage.

After subjugating the Hongjila tribe, the Mongol power grew even stronger.

Half of the Tatar tribal leaders were defeated and forced to submit by Khabul Khan, while the other half fled south to seek help from the Jin Dynasty.

Instead of continuing their pursuit, the Mongols marched towards the Greater Khingan Mountains to conquer the smaller tribes further east.

The Jin state was powerless to help in this matter!

The Jin Dynasty was already stretched thin in terms of military strength to deal with the Ming Dynasty, so how could it spare any elite troops to deal with the affairs of the Hulunbuir Grassland?

...

The Bojilie Conference was held in Beijing.

Emperor Wuqimai of the Jin Dynasty was currently half-lying and half-sitting in the main seat.

Wu Qimai has been suffering from gout frequently in the past two years due to excessive drinking.

When the pain is severe, it's difficult for him to even sit, let alone walk, as if someone is stabbing nails all over his body.

“The Ming army has a shipyard in Baozhou, where they have built over a hundred (inland) ships,” Wanyan Zongfu said. “Since the beginning of this year, the Ming army has repeatedly ventured deep into our Great Jin territory along the Yalu River.”

“They also kidnapped people from the mountains, making the Possuri mountain area even less populated.”

Wanyan Zongbi continued, "The Ming army will definitely launch a large-scale attack on Baozhou and launch a strong assault on our Great Jin's city of Posulu."

"Then they can split into two groups, one of which will head north through the mountains and take Liaoyang directly."

"Another force marched westward toward Huacheng to coordinate with the Ming army that had crossed the sea to attack the Great Wall at Zhendonghaikou."

"At that time, with two routes advancing simultaneously, Liaoyang will be right under the Ming army's military might."

Wanyan Zongfu said, "I suggest that all the troops in Datong be transferred back to Liaodong!"

After a long silence, Wanyan Zonghan suddenly questioned, "You don't want Datong anymore?"

Wanyan Zongbi said, "That place was never part of the Jin territory. Even though it was taken from the Liao Dynasty, Emperor Taizu didn't really want to manage it."

“If it weren’t for the dissuasion of the Han officials in the north, Datong would have been sold to the Song state long ago.”

Wanyan Zonghan sneered: "Datong has been lost, do you still want the southern grasslands?"

"Once the Ming army conquers those tribes in the southern grasslands of Datong, they will all openly rebel against the Jin Dynasty."

"They will help the Ming army fight, advancing eastward all the way to the north of Yanshan, cutting off the retreat route of our western garrison!"

“If you try to protect every place, your forces will be scattered and defeated one by one by the enemy!” Wanyan Zongfu said.

Wanyan Zonggan suddenly spoke up: "Liaoyang is the cornerstone of the nation."

"With the fall of Liaoyang, the Great Jin Dynasty is in grave danger."

Wanyan Zonghan asked, "How many troops does the Ming army have, coming across the sea?"

"There is no problem holding Liaoyang for two or three months."

"When the harsh winter snows, the enemy will have no choice but to retreat."

Wanyan Zongfu said, "South of the Yalu River, the number of Ming troops is increasing."

"If the Ming army continues to reinforce Baozhou, it is possible that they could station 100,000 troops on the Yalu River."

"With 100,000 troops marching north from the Yalu River, and another detachment crossing the sea to attack, how could Liaoyang possibly hold out?"

"We must abandon Datong and return to defend Liaoyang to the death."

"My suggestion is to recall the main force of Yanshan, leaving only a portion to guard the strategic pass."

"Then concentrate our forces and engage the Ming army in a decisive battle at Liaoyang!"

“I think this method is feasible,” Wanyan Zonggan said.

Looking at Zongfu and Zongbi, who were practically inseparable, and then at Zonggan, who clearly supported them, Wanyan Zonghan felt utterly exhausted.

Tired, destroy it!

From the perspectives of Zonggan, Zongfu, and Zongbi, it was imperative to mobilize a large army to defend Liaoyang.

From a public perspective, if Liaoyang falls, the Jin dynasty will lose its main production areas for grain and ironware.

The most steadfast allies of the Jin dynasty's nobility—the powerful Bohai clan of Liaoyang—would also defect to the Ming dynasty, directly halving the Jin dynasty's military manpower.

Chapter 3407 Let Him Come From Any Direction

Privately, their main base is in the Liaoning region.

Once Liaoyang falls, Wanyan Zonghan will be uncontrollable, and all three of them will have to depend on him for survival.

The room fell silent; no one spoke.

Wu Qimai remained half-reclining, like a sleeping Buddha.

Wu Qimai's son, Wanyan Zongpan, felt a strange sense of pleasure as he watched his political enemies arguing.

The two factions that are about to clash today have been working together to undermine the emperor and prevent his eldest son from succeeding to the throne.

Feeling good now? Serves you right!

Seeing that he could not persuade the other party, Wanyan Zonghan began to threaten in a roundabout way: "How about this, I will send some militia to Liaodong."

"Then, we'll each do our own thing and not interfere with each other."

"No!"

Zonggan, Zongfu, and Zongbi all voiced their opposition.

The core elite forces of the Jin Dynasty were all in the hands of Wanyan Zonghan.

If the two sides split up and each fights their own battles, how could they possibly win the decisive battle of Liaoyang?

"Then listen to me," Wanyan Zonghan said forcefully.

Wanyan Zonggan asked, "How do you plan to fight?"

"It is no longer possible to plunder Youzhou. The Ming army has built fortified villages south of Gubeikou and Xifengkou."

Wanyan Zonghan said, "We can still get there even if we build a fortified city, but we won't be able to transport large quantities of grain."

"Dispatch eight thousand elite cavalry, each with four horses, carrying half a month's worth of provisions."

"Take no hay, only a small amount of salt and soybean cake, and let the warhorses graze on the grass themselves."

"These eight thousand men were scattered into more than ten groups, and they went around the Ming army's fortress. It didn't matter if one or two groups were wiped out by the Ming army."

"Then they would raid Ming army's supply convoys, march all the way to the Juma River, then westward to plunder Yizhou, and even march towards Zhengding of the Ming Dynasty."

"The Ming army's chariot formation is formidable, but they are slow and will be constantly on the run by our army."

"When they arrived in Zhending, they didn't attack the city. They just looted the villages they saw and burned everything they couldn't take with them."

"If we really run out of food, we'll eat people!"

"Zhending Prefecture is a prosperous place with a large population."

“Once we disrupt things, the Ming Dynasty will mobilize its various armies and slowly close in, attempting to encircle and annihilate us.”

"No matter how many Ming armies surround us, we will only choose one to attack, seize the opportunity to annihilate it, and then move on to confront the other..."

Just as Wanyan Zonghan was speaking at length, Wanyan Zongfu asked, "If the Ming army allows you to plunder freely, their main force will only attack Liaoyang."

What should we do then?

"Even if you loot the entire Hebei province and slaughter hundreds of thousands of civilians, what good will it do if Liaoyang is lost?"

Wanyan Zonghan could not answer.

Even if it were Huang Taiji, he would be at a loss in this situation.

The land of Youyan was no longer afraid of being robbed, because it was already sparsely populated.

If the Jin troops marching south wanted to seize grain, they had to cross the Song-Liao border river and could only manage to plunder grain in Zhengding and Baoding.

If they were not careful, the Ming army would block their way through the border river, and the Jin soldiers heading south would be completely wiped out.

Even if Li Bao, Yue Fei, Wang Yan, Li Yanxian and others were all fools, allowing Wanyan Zonghan to turn Hebei upside down.

But what will the Jin Dynasty do now that Liaoyang is gone?

After a long silence and deep thought, Wanyan Zonghan spoke again: "The Ming Dynasty most likely wants to fight a decisive battle in Liaoyang. Their chariot formation is very powerful; I have already witnessed it."

"We must never fight according to their wishes!"

“That’s all nonsense. Produce a workable plan,” Wanyan Zongfu said.

Wanyan Zonghan said, "Regardless of the consequences, conscript a large number of militiamen to defend Jinzhou, Guangning, Fuzhou, Liaoyang, Chengzhou and other cities to the death."

"Our main force pretended to withdraw from Datong and Yanshan, luring the enemy deep into our territory before launching a surprise attack."

"Or we could lure the enemy deep into our territory and then cut off their supply lines!"

"If Liaoyang can hold out until winter, it will force the enemy to retreat."

"By luring the enemy deep into our territory, we can annihilate the other two Ming armies and seize a large amount of grain and fodder."

This plan piqued Wanyan Zongfu's interest, and he beckoned for someone to bring him a map.

Wanyan Zonghan's ideas were extremely crazy and audacious.

It means giving up northern Shanxi and the Yanshan Mountains, including places like Yanmen Pass, Gubeikou, and Xifengkou.

The plan was to lure the Ming army into attacking the grasslands, thus lengthening their supply lines and making them complacent and arrogant.