The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 500: No Reinforcements Coming
The Northern Song army continued to assemble towards Kaifeng.

Talan and Jin Wuzhu were not blind; they knew very well what the Northern Song Dynasty was going to do next.

When Yue Fei marched into Zhuxian Town, intending to recapture Kaifeng, Jin Wuzhu abandoned Kaifeng without hesitation and fled, because he knew that even if he handed Kaifeng over to Yue Fei, he could easily take it back from Zhao Gou.

Indeed, after the Battle of Zhuxian Town, Yue Fei was recalled by twelve imperial edicts. The Jin Dynasty used a peace treaty to easily take away Ruzhou and other places, forcing the Southern Song Dynasty to retreat to Xiangyang. All of Yue Fei's hard work in the last Northern Expedition turned into tears.

However, now that the Northern Song Dynasty was about to open Kaifeng, Wanyan Wuzhu was unwilling to abandon the city and flee, because he knew that every time the Northern Song Dynasty seized a territory, it would manage it well, building gray forts all over the place to hinder the movement of cavalry, making it impossible for the Jin army to take it back.

“We must use different strategies against different enemies,” Jin Wuzhu said, slamming his fist on the table. “Kaifeng must be defended to the death, or it will no longer belong to our Jin Kingdom.”

Talan's face was quite ugly, but he did not object to Jin Wuzhu's opinion. He just said in a low voice, "With the tens of thousands of Jurchen soldiers in our hands, plus the hundred thousand Qi soldiers, we cannot stop the Northern Song."

Jin Wuzhu: "We must seek help from Yanjing."

Talan: "I sent messengers to request reinforcements long ago, but... the reinforcements are slow to arrive... I'm afraid it's also difficult for Yanjing to spare troops..."

Jin Wuzhu: "Why?"

Talan: "The Northern Song Dynasty's navy has already established a foothold on the Liaodong Peninsula and has even begun to send troops to harass Shenzhou (Shenyang)."

Jin Wuzhu: "!!!"

He knew that reinforcements were not coming. Now that the Northern Song had reached Shenzhou, the Jin would certainly be focusing all their efforts on defending their stronghold; how could they dare to spare troops to defend Kaifeng?
Meanwhile, in Liaodong, Jinzhou!

By this time, it had been renamed Dalian by officials of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Li Bao, the naval commander of the Northern Song Dynasty, was stationed in Dalian.

After a long period of management, the atmosphere in Dalian is now much more stable than when he first arrived.

When the Northern Song army first landed and captured Dalian, the people in the city were quite hostile to the Song army and did not cooperate in various ways. This forced the Northern Song army to divide its troops to guard against a rebellion by the people in the city while defending the Zhendongguan Great Wall.

However, the Northern Song Dynasty quickly dispatched soldiers to shout throughout the city: "Khitans, don't be afraid. You Khitans are just like us Han people, being bullied by the Jurchens. We should unite to resist the Jin. We are not here to bully you, but to rescue you."

At first, such shouts were not very effective, but day after day, with the Northern Song army managing the troops well, there were very few cases of soldiers bullying the Khitans.

Even more impressively, the Northern Song Dynasty's transport fleet, led by the pirate Gao Jin, would distribute a portion of the supplies to the local people every time they arrived with a large amount of cargo, helping them to resume their normal lives.

This trick works like crazy!
The atmosphere in the city is getting better day by day!

Many Khitans began to trust the Han people. They no longer hated the Northern Song soldiers, but began to seriously consider the few words that the Northern Song soldiers shouted every day. The idea of ​​sharing a common hatred against the enemy finally took over their minds.

With the common people no longer holding them back, and even the military and civilians starting to work together, Li Bao was much more relaxed. He no longer needed to deploy heavy troops to maintain order in Dalian and prevent popular uprisings, and could begin to focus his attention on the Zhendongguan Great Wall.

He used to be on the defensive, but recently he has been able to take the initiative.

At this moment, Li Bao was leading a fleet to the coast of Gaizhou (Yingkou City). Li Bao unfolded a map, glanced at it, and laughed, "Hehe, order the entire army to land here. It's only three hundred li from Shenzhou. After we land, we only need to walk a few dozen li towards Shenzhou to scare the entire Jin Kingdom into chaos."

Yang Tian, ​​a general who had joined the Manichaeism, said, "Governor Li, don't get carried away and actually rush to Shenzhou City. It's too far from the coast. If the Jin cavalry gets involved, it's very likely that you won't be able to retreat back to the coast."

Li Baoxiao said, "Don't worry, I'm not that crazy! Everyone, stay alert. We can fool around, but we can't stray too far from the shore. We need to be able to retreat back to the ship at any time, so we don't get surrounded by the Jin cavalry."

Generals Yang Xiao, Xu Wen, and others responded in unison, "Yes, sir!"

After the generals finished speaking, they immediately led their troops to attack Gaizhou City (Yingkou City).

The Jin governor in the city was terrified. Heaven knows what happened, a group of Song soldiers suddenly attacked from the sea. He had no troops stationed here, so he couldn't stop them. He could only organize local militia while sending people to ask Baliyuanshan for help.

When Bali Yuanshan led the Khitan army to arrive, they found that the Northern Song flags were already flying on the walls of Gaizhou, and the head of the Gaizhou prefect was tied with a rope and swaying on the city wall...

Bali Yuanshan was furious. He jumped up and down and roared, "What kind of hero is it to go around stealing chickens and dogs in a boat?"

Li Bao poked his head out from the city wall and laughed, "Bali Yuanshan, we meet again. Are you still working as a dog for the Jin Kingdom?"

Bali Yuanshan roared, "You're the dog of the Northern Song Dynasty!"

Li Bao: "The Great Song Dynasty is my mother country. I risk my life for the Great Song Dynasty, that's called being filial to my mother, it doesn't count as being a dog. But your Liao Dynasty was destroyed by the Jin Dynasty, it's like your mother was killed by the Jin people, and then they took you in and raised you. What else is that but being a dog? Hahahaha!"

Bali Yuanshan was so angry that his nose twisted, but he didn't know how to refute it for a moment.

Li Bao: "Bali Yuanshan, I have a suggestion for you. Send a few envoys to Dalian to take a look around. I will grant your envoys special permission to enter Dalian and let them investigate the current situation in Dalian. After they have finished their investigation, we can talk again. How about that?"

Bali Yuanshan: "Stop talking nonsense."

He was cursing, but he was actually quite curious about the current situation in Jinzhou.

Jinzhou is the former city of the Liao Dynasty, and there are many Khitan people living there. Bali Yuanshan is worried that these people of his own ethnicity will be oppressed by the Han people. Now that he hears that his envoys are allowed to investigate at will, how can he not be tempted?
Li Bao: "Alright, let's fight a good battle first, and remember to send an envoy later."

After saying that, Li Bao laughed loudly, "Prepare for battle!"

"Boom boom boom!"

The naval guns along the coast began firing, and the muskets on the walls of Gaizhou City also started firing.

The Baliyuan Mountain tribe was once again overwhelmed by firearms and could only retreat in disarray, far from the coast. They could only watch helplessly as Li Bao and his group emptied the state treasury of Gaizhou City and sailed away on a sea ship.

Bali Yuanshan was so angry that his teeth itched. He turned around and ordered, "Prepare a small team of envoys to go to Jinzhou and see how our Khitan brothers are doing."

Two days later, a group composed entirely of Khitans marched toward the Zhendongguan Great Wall...

(End of this chapter)