Chapter 27: The Plan to Attack the City

  The northern bank of the Huai River, the Golden Army's large camp.

  The main tent of the large camp was brightly lit. Wanyan Liang and Kong Yanjiu had just reported to Wanyan Zongmin about today's probing attack.

  Wanyan Zongmin stroked his long mustache, somewhat silent and speechless, apparently the tenacity of Han Shizhong's troops was beyond his expectation.

  Originally, in his view, with the plague inside and strong enemies outside, the morale of the defending army was easy to collapse. Moreover, he ordered that only one side of the city wall could be attacked, and not multiple sides at the same time, in order to leave a way for the defenders to escape. As long as the defenders really escaped from the city, under the pursuit of the Jin army's superior cavalry, they would surely collapse completely.

  He never thought that Han Shizhong would resolutely defend the isolated city, and his army fought so stubbornly. From start to finish, not a single person escaped from the city. It seems that this Chu State can only be taken by force.

  Wanyan Liang, after eating a bitter head today, his arrogance was also much smaller than before the expedition. He said in a low voice: "Ninth Uncle Huang, Liang'er attacked today, although he did not break through the city wall, but found that the Song army's combat-effective troops in the city are not many, and there are only more than 3,000 regular soldiers. The rest are mostly civilians. If our army launches a strong attack from three sides tomorrow, under the advantageous forces, the Song army will inevitably lose."

  Xue Yelü Zhining, upon hearing this, immediately exclaimed: "Then let's have Liang brother and I, along with General Kong, each attack from a different side of the city wall tomorrow. I bet the Song army won't be able to withstand it!"

  Actually, he wanted to go into battle today, but Wanyan Zongmin insisted on keeping him by his side. He didn't want to compete with Wanyan Liang and other direct imperial descendants for merit, so he had no choice but to give up.

  Wanyan Zongmin, however, seemed to think little of the two men's proposal. Although he believed that if they launched a frenzied attack tomorrow without regard for casualties, they would definitely be able to break through the city defenses. The Jin army would also suffer heavy casualties. If his goal was only to capture Chuzhou City, perhaps this could be done.

  But Wanyan Zongmin's ambition was not small, his idea was to break through Chuzhou and then march south, directly attacking Yangzhou, and then counter-attacking Shouchun from the south. He would cut off the rear of the Southern Song army in Huainan, reversing the current unfavorable situation of the Jin army's successive defeats. And if they suffered heavy casualties in the city of Chuzhou, he was worried that neither morale nor military strength would be sufficient to continue marching south.

  He thought of this and asked: "Liang'er, General Kong, when you attacked the city today, which Song army generals did you see on the city wall?"

  Wanyan Liang was at a loss for words, because he and Han Shizhong had only met once several months ago, and Wanyan Liang did not know many of the generals under Han's command.

  Fortunately, Kong Yanjiu was familiar with the situation of the Han family army after dealing with Han Shizhong for many years. So he quickly replied: "Report to the Ninth King, although there are many generals in Han Shizhong's department, only three people are formidable. One is Hu Xian, who has been following him since the Jianyan period and participated in the Huangtian Dang War to intercept the Fourth King. He is now the commander of the front army of the forward camp; another person is Geng Zhong, who was promoted from his personal soldiers in recent years. This person was originally a fellow general from the same hometown, with careful thinking and bravery in battle, so he was promoted quickly and is now the defender of Chuzhou and the commander of the central army; and the last one is Han Shizhong's only son, Han Yanzheng, who is now the commander of the right army and the left Wu Daifu. This person is young, only 20 years old, but he is clever and has both literary and military skills. Han Shizhong also loves him very much."

  "Oh, then today's attack on the city, are these three people all on the city wall?"

  "Reporting to the Ninth King, Hu Zhong and Geng Zhe have already been spotted, but Han Yan has not been seen." Kong Yan answered with a bow.

  Wanyan Zongmin's eyes closed slightly, then suddenly opened to ask Xishi Liezhining: "Liezhining, you sent scouts to monitor the movements of Chuzhou City yesterday. Were there any unusual movements?"

  Xishi Lie Zhi Ning pondered for a moment before bowing his head to answer: "According to the scouts' reports, last night in the depths of night, several hundred cavalrymen rushed out of Chu State's city gates, but due to the darkness, the scouts couldn't see clearly what the commander looked like or how many men there were. However, it's estimated that there were around a few hundred riders. After all, there are only over 500 cavalrymen in Chu State's city, which won't have much impact on the battle situation."

  Wanyan Zongmin listened and said calmly: "So, it seems that the several thousand troops and horses should be sent by Han Shizhong to seek help. However, Yang Yimeng and Liu Qi's armies are still 7-8 days away from Chu State, and Yue Fei is even farther away in Zhuxian Town. Only Zhang Jun's army can arrive on time. But given the relationship between Zhang Jun and Han Shizhong, it would be good if Zhang Jun didn't take advantage of the situation to harm him, let alone rescue him!"

  Xishi Lie Zining listened, but was somewhat worried, and hastily said: "9th King, but if our army breaks through Chu State, it will **, go straight to Yangzhou, and encircle Shouchun, which would cut off Zhang Jun's retreat route. How could he just sit back and do nothing?"

  Wanyan Zongmin smiled slightly and said, "Hehe, Zhining! You think the Song people are like us Jurchens. Although we Jurchens also have internal conflicts, we would never stab our own people in the back on the battlefield. But the Song people's infighting is not only in the imperial court, but also on the battlefield! When I and my fourth brother marched south to attack Bianjing, if it weren't for the internal strife between the Western Army and the Victory Army of the Song military, we wouldn't have been able to easily capture the strongholds of Xiongzhou, Bazhou, Taiyuan, and reach the outskirts of Bianjing. Zhang Jun is a man with great ambition but little talent, selfish and self-serving, with a very small belly. He has had many conflicts with Han Shizhong, and several years ago they almost clashed over the issue of troop allegiance. This time our army attacks Chuzhou, Zhang Jun will definitely not come to rescue."

  Wanyan Zongmin saw through Zhang Jun thoroughly. He had fought against Zhang many times before and understood his character very deeply.

  Xishi Lie Zining saw that Wanyan Zongmin's words were so sharp and decisive, and it was no longer good to persuade him. However, he thought of another thing.

  "Your Majesty, I recall a strange occurrence and would like to request your attention as well as that of General Liang and General Kong...". After some deliberation, Shi Ning continued: "This morning when we were setting up the pontoon bridge, I was worried about the Song army's naval forces causing trouble, so I deployed a large number of archers on both banks, even placing some catapults along the shore to prevent a surprise attack by the Song navy... but unexpectedly, only a few small boats from the Song navy approached for reconnaissance, while their larger ships all vanished without a trace, and it's unknown where they went."

  "What? Such a thing?" Wanyan Zongmin's expression changed immediately upon hearing this.

  "Where are the Song army's naval ships? Have they escaped?" Kong Yanjiu couldn't help but exclaim.

  Wanyan Liang shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be, right?"

  After a fierce battle during the day, he did not believe that Han Shizhong's troops would retreat without a fight.

  "Who is Han Shizhong's naval commander?" Wanyan Zongmin asked after a moment of thought.

  "It's Liu Bao, and it's said that he's also an old general who has been with him for a long time!" Kong Yanzhou replied.

  "That's it! Han Shizhong's troops and their families are all in the city, how can they abandon their families and escape? They haven't reached the point of the city being on the verge of collapse. Even if there were some soldiers who fear death, it is impossible for all the ships to flee together. In my opinion, these naval vessels have probably gone elsewhere, I'm afraid they have other plans!" Wanyan Zongmin said, stroking his long beard.

  "Arrived elsewhere? Where would that be?" Kong Yanzhou couldn't help but ask in confusion.

  Wanyan Zongmin turned around and said to Xieli Zhining: "Zhining, bring the map over!"

  Xishi Lie Zhi Ning hastily ordered his attendants to bring out a map and present it to Wanyan Zongmin for review.

  Wanyan Zongmin took a look at the map and already had a plan in mind. He sneered, "You see: from Chuzhou going west along the Huai River is Bozhou, which is Zhang Jun's territory, while going south along the Grand Canal is Yangzhou. Neither of these places can be reached by the Chuzhou naval forces! The only possible place they could go is east along the Huai River!"

  "Are you going down the Huai River to the east? Are you planning to enter the East China Sea and use your navy to harass my territory in Laizhou and Qingzhou, forcing me to send troops to rescue them?" Kong Yanzhou asked in surprise.

  "It's possible, but I think a more likely scenario is that Han Yanzheng and those 500 cavalrymen took the naval ships to sail downstream along the Huai River, crossed the river to the north, and harassed us from behind, trying to lure our army into dividing its forces!" Wanyan Liang also chimed in at this time.

  Wanyan Zongmin gazed at Wanyan Liang with a seemingly smiling yet not quite smiling expression, then turned to Xieli Zhining and asked: "Zhining, what do you think?"

  "This... at the end of it all, I think it should be like this..." Xī Shí Liè Zhì Níng nodded first, but after thinking about it again, he felt that something was off.

  He scratched the back of his head and said, "If Han Yanzhi is also participating, it shouldn't just be harassment against our army. Otherwise, why would they need to mobilize a general like Han Yanzhi, when sending a deputy general would suffice?"

  "Hmm! You've all guessed some of it, but Zhi Ning, you're closer to the truth! I can be certain that Han Yan is planning to use these 500 cavalry as a surprise attack on our army... Their target is likely to be our army's food and supplies. If they can burn our food and supplies, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for three days before retreating!" Wanyan Zongmin said with a serious expression.

  "Impossible! Does he think that 500 cavalrymen can burn our grain and fodder? Is Han Shizhong really so confident as to send his son to his death?" Kong Yanjiu exclaimed in surprise.

  Generally, the grain and grass depots of an army on a expedition are heavily guarded. This 50,000-strong army also left behind more than 2,000 soldiers to specifically protect the camp where the grain depot was located. Although these guarding troops were originally from the puppet Hebei-Chahar Military Region and were not crack troops, they could not be defeated by just 500 cavalrymen.

  Wanyan Zongmin said cautiously: "General Kong, this matter cannot be taken lightly. Although Han Yanzhi's 500 cavalrymen are not enough to pose a major threat to our grain camp guards, the changes on the battlefield can occur in an instant. It is difficult to predict whether the enemy has any other tricks up their sleeve. Therefore, I will entrust the task of guarding the grain camp to your deputy general Ye Cheng! The garrison will be increased by another 1,000 men. As long as we can protect the grain and supplies from being lost, it will be a great achievement!"

  Wanyan Zongmin warned Kong Yanjiu, then turned to Wanyan Liang and Xieli Zhining and said: "Tomorrow, Liang'er, Zhining, you two will lead the army from both east and west sides to launch a strong attack on Chuzhou! The south side is handed over to General Kong! I want to see how long they can hold on!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, a cold glint flashed in his dull eyes.