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

Chapter 3972 The Fall of Haizhou!

If it weren't for the shield bearers protecting the front line of the Goryeo army, they would have been routed by the Ming cavalry long ago!

"Woooooo~~~"

Outside the moat, horns sounded.

More than thirty riders came to help, and another two or three hundred riders charged toward the other moat bridges on this side of the city wall.

Sensing the approaching hoofbeats of reinforcements, the five elite Ming cavalrymen on the bridge immediately seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack.

"kill!"

They charged forward in unison, brandishing their spears and ignoring the enemy's weapons. Once they got close, they discarded their spears and drew their secondary weapons.

They were all blunt weapons; they just swung them around and smashed.

The Goryeo officer in charge of leading the team had his head smashed open by a mace.

"Run away!"

The Goryeo soldiers immediately collapsed; they were already struggling against five opponents.

More than thirty riders charged in from behind; what hope was there of victory?

Five elite Ming cavalrymen seized the opportunity to pursue and kill, but when they reached the barricade, they did not seek credit. Instead, they moved the barricade to clear a path for their allies.

Following them, the Ming cavalry filed in, and someone on the Goryeo city wall shouted: "Close the city gates! Close the city gates!"

The fleeing Goryeo soldiers were escaping into the city, watching helplessly as the city gates slowly closed.

All the city gates were gradually being closed.

All the Goryeo soldiers who went out of the city to engage in battle were abandoned by their allies.

Okay, it's not like we're really giving up.

Many baskets were hung down from the city wall, while arrows were fired at the pursuing troops.

However, the number of baskets was limited, and the Korean soldiers, eager to escape, started fighting among themselves to grab the baskets.

The fighting gradually subsided.

Zhe Yanzhi's first wave of troops has completed their landing, and Haizhou City has been besieged.

The so-called siege involved sending cavalry to patrol the city in shifts, preventing any contact between the city and the outside world.

There was no immediate attack on the city, so the soldiers set up camp on the shore and unloaded the supplies from the ships.

Those ships were to return to the mouth of the Datong River to pick up the second batch of Ming troops.

Zhe Yanzhi plans to besiege the city and attack reinforcements!

This is the western gateway to Gaegyeong, the capital of Goryeo.

Once Haizhou falls, Gaegyeong will be exposed to the very eyes of the Ming soldiers.

If Zheng Zhongfu does not send troops to rescue the capital, then the only options left are to move the capital or take the king on a "hunt to the east," otherwise the capital may be besieged at any time.

……

The elite Goryeo troops stationed in Haizhou were organized into the Right Shence Army.

The name sounds pretty powerful.

The names of other Goryeo armies were also quite impressive. Not to mention the palace guards like Kongha and Qianlong, their two main imperial guards were named Yingyang and Longhu respectively.

In addition, there were the Six Guards of the Capital, the Golden Guard, the Thousand Ox Guard, and so on.

After a small battle just outside the city, Zhe Yanzhi's subordinate returned and reported: "General, according to the prisoners' confessions, those elite troops who just left the city were the Right Shence Army of Goryeo stationed in Haizhou."

"Their weapons and armor are inferior to those of the Ming garrison, but better than those of the Ming grain transport army."

"Their combat capability is estimated to be similar to that of the Ming Dynasty's grain transport army. The main problem is that their morale is too low, probably even worse than that of the Ming Dynasty's grain transport army."

Zhe Yanzhi muttered, "It would be a miracle if morale wasn't low after they've been constantly skimping on rations and pay."

"This army, with its utterly demoralized state, can be taken down in a single battle if we have siege equipment!"

"Fill the moat first, and fire a few shots when you have nothing else to do. Don't rush to attack the city; save it for besieging the city and attacking reinforcements."

"As long as the reinforcements are defeated, the garrison inside the city will surely surrender."

"Send light cavalry and small boats eastward to scout for news of enemy reinforcements, and then try to make contact with local spies."

Chapter 3973 Moldy Armor

"Yes!"

Cui Daoxiu was organizing the people to defend the city and was also distributing military equipment from the treasury.

Haizhou was once the seat of the Protectorate General of Goryeo, mainly to guard against the Liao Dynasty.

At that time, the Anbei Protectorate (Anzhou) was the front line against the Liao, while the Anxi Protectorate (Haizhou) was upgraded to a Grand Protectorate, which could quickly mobilize troops from half of Goryeo to fight.

Therefore, regardless of how well the armor and weapons are maintained, the treasury here is definitely not short of weapons.

Iron armor rusted, leather armor became moldy, bowstrings broke, and spear shafts rotted...

Armor sets were carried out and distributed to the young men who had been temporarily organized; most of these young men were ordinary citizens from the city.

Half of the Right Shence Army was driven away by the Ming cavalry before they could enter the city, so Cui Daoxiu had no choice but to recruit militia to defend it.

That's utter nonsense.

The invincible Ming army had been preparing for its southward advance.

Meanwhile, the precarious Goryeo was completely unprepared, with its weapons stored away and no one even bothering to repair its military equipment.

The next day, the second batch of Ming troops arrived and landed with great fanfare, bringing the total strength here to five thousand men.

Cui Daoxiu dared not send troops out of the city at all, and only sent a few light cavalry to request reinforcements when the Ming army first landed.

In the afternoon, the remnants of the army that had fled from Huangzhou were defeated by more than a hundred Ming cavalrymen before they even got close to Haizhou City, and Xin Jia, the commander of Huangzhou, was captured on the spot.

"The Huangzhou garrison has been defeated?" Zhe Yan questioned.

Xin Jia spouted nonsense: "The Ming army is really too powerful. I was originally planning to find an opportunity to surrender."

"Before we could even surrender, the Ming army had already stormed in. Long live the Ming Dynasty! Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

After another half day, Zhang Yi arrived with his troops from Huangzhou.

He left three hundred soldiers and one thousand laborers to guard the city, and led two thousand seven hundred soldiers to join him.

There's not much to fight around here, so we can continue the siege. We need to give Zheng Zhongfu time to gather his troops.

The Ming army's total strength was not large, so the more troops Goryeo gathered, the better, to avoid having to break through layers of defenses and fight counter-insurgency battles.

Most of the county towns in Goryeo didn't even have city walls!

……

Jeong Jung-bu has led his army to the area between Kaiju and Haeju. At present, it is just a small county town, which was upgraded to a prefecture during the Joseon Dynasty.

Um, its name is... Yan'an County.

After the Ming Dynasty annexed Goryeo, it would have to change the names one by one, otherwise there would be duplicate place names everywhere.

Leaving aside places like Guangzhou and Huangzhou, there are also counties like Kunming, Wendeng, and Jiangyin.

"What? You're saying Haizhou is besieged?"

Zheng Zhongfu was greatly alarmed.

He gathered only a few thousand elite troops and set off without stopping, simply wanting to get to Haizhou as quickly as possible.

Then, relying on the strong city defenses there, one can either hold the line or seek an opportunity to fight a decisive battle.

What's with the idea that Haizhou was besieged?

The messenger cried out, "The Ming army is coming by sea in ships; we are completely unprepared."

"Even half of the Right Shence Army soldiers didn't have time to bring their armor into the city before they were scattered and fled by the Ming cavalry."

Zheng Zhongfu was furious: "A month ago, a merchant brought back news that the Ming army on the north bank of the Daedong River was mobilizing supplies."

"I've already gathered my troops and rushed here, how could Haizhou be completely unprepared? Has the Cui family colluded with the enemy and betrayed their country?!"

The messenger, stammering, said, "Governor Cui... he thought that with Huangzhou City to the north as a buffer, the Ming army wouldn't be able to reach Haizhou for a while. He never expected the Ming army to come by sea."

Chapter 3974 Choi of Goryeo

"How could he not have expected this? In maritime trade with the Ming Dynasty, the Cui family has earned the most!" Zheng Zhongfu was furious.

As the two were talking, dozens of defeated soldiers came to surrender.

Those were the Right Shence Army troops who didn't have time to enter the city. After all, they were elite troops from Goryeo, and some of them were unwilling to surrender.

One after another, hundreds more soldiers fled, some even bringing their families with them.

Zheng Zhongfu sent out light cavalry to scout the situation, and they soon ran into the Ming cavalry—the two places were only about seventy li apart, and the terrain was flat with no obstacles.

The Goryeo cavalry retreated in defeat, unable to explain the enemy situation at all, because they were intercepted halfway.

Zheng Zhongfu summoned Li Junyi to discuss the matter: "The Ming army has besieged Haizhou. We don't know how many Ming troops have arrived, nor do we know if Haizhou has already fallen. What should we do next?"

Li Junyi was originally collecting treasures and beautiful women, planning to set sail before winter to Luoyang to bribe the Ming emperor and his officials.

Before he could even set off, news arrived from the Daedong River that the Ming army was mobilizing supplies.

Li Junyi said, "Since Haizhou is besieged, we can't fight there, nor can we fight here."

"The south side of Haizhou City is the sea, and the north side is all mountains. We can only cross it through a narrow coastal passage."

"The Ming warships had powerful cannons, and their shells could deter half of the coastal area."

"If we were to fight there, our army would likely be routed by the Ming warships' cannons before the two armies even clashed."

"And this place can't be used as a battlefield either. Only the county town is on a small hill, surrounded by flat terrain. How long can a mountain town hold out?"

"If the Ming army surrounds us without attacking, keeping our main force here, we can send a detachment to attack Gaegyeong."

"Most of the powerful clans and civil officials in the capital will take the opportunity to rebel and surrender the city."

Zheng Zhongfu said, "I understand everything you've said, but what should we do next?"

"I will take His Majesty on a southern expedition," Li Junyi said.

Zheng Zhongfu was taken aback: "Southern Hunt?"

Li Junyi nodded and said, "Yes, go to Nanjing (Seoul). The Ming army's ships can reach the outer port of Kaesong directly, and it will be very difficult for us to defend it."

"Although Nanjing has the Han River leading to the sea, large ocean-going ships cannot enter, so there is no problem in holding out until winter."

"Is it just winter?" Zheng Zhongfu asked, somewhat disappointed.

Li Junyi said, "It would be good if we could hold out until winter. We can buy time and wait for the Ming army to make a mistake so we can find an opportunity to counterattack."

Zheng Zhongfu said, "Can't we go hunting in the east? There are even more towering mountains and steep ridges over there."

Li Junyi shook his head: "If we take His Majesty and hide in the mountains, the Ming army can take advantage of the situation to occupy the two capitals, and then march on the local powerful clans to subdue them."

"Goryeo has already lost Seogyeong (Pyongyang). If it loses Gaegyeong and Nanjing (Seoul) as well, it will only have Tokyo (Gyeongju) left."

"By then, we will be bandits, and His Majesty will be a false king."

"Will the remaining Tokyo support us? No, we just wiped out the powerful clans of Gyeongju there!"

After much deliberation, Zheng Zhongfu finally gritted his teeth and said, "Then please, Your Majesty, take a southern tour to Hanyang!"

Without hesitation, the Goryeo reinforcements packed up their supplies and planned to leave under cover of darkness after nightfall.

Soldiers suffering from night blindness can walk by holding onto their belts, as long as they don't get separated from the main army.

Just as the Goryeo army was setting off to retreat, someone in Li Junyi's camp took advantage of the chaos to lead a horse westward.

Chapter 3975 Yizhou

Li Junyi recently went so far as to become Zheng Zhongfu's godfather to save his own life; how could he possibly die alongside Zheng Zhongfu?

……