The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 531 Entering the City
"Damn it, the firearms unit has arrived too, but not many of them."

Jin Wuzhu quickly took a few steps back.

After several battles with the Song army, Jin Wuzhu had long known that the enemy had something called "skirmishers," who could accurately snipe his generals from a great distance.

Therefore, once he engaged in battle with the Song army, he would pay attention to his position, trying to stay as far back as possible and not stand too far forward. Ideally, he would have his soldiers stand in staggered positions in front of him to prevent enemy bullets from hitting him directly.

Once they set up that position, they looked incredibly timid.

A general being so cowardly has a huge impact on morale.

But I have to be a coward!
We can't have our general killed before the battle even begins, can we? Then who will take command?
Talan: "The situation is predictable now. Yue Fei and Han Shizhong are leading the former Southern Song troops, along with a small number of firearms units, to attack Daming Prefecture. Meanwhile, the former Northern Song firearms units continue to employ their usual steady and methodical tactics, advancing slowly in all directions."

Jin Wuzhu's face was grim: "How can we break their attack like this?"

Talan sighed deeply and remained silent.

Jin Wuzhu immediately understood that there was no way to break through.

Talan: "Let's try our best to defend Daming. As long as the firearms troops don't come, the enemy shouldn't be able to take down a large city like Daming Prefecture with just the old troops from the Southern Song Dynasty. Let's stall for time until the enemy's firearms troops gather before abandoning the city. Once the firearms troops concentrate here, other places will be undefended. Then we can consider using the speed of our cavalry to cause them some trouble."

Jin Wuzhu was furious: "Damn it! The unification of the Northern and Southern Song dynasties caused months of administrative chaos. Even our Jin state didn't have time to properly integrate the Qi state. How did they manage to integrate the Southern Song and produce so much food and weapons in such a short time?"

Talan: "God knows! This kind of domestic affairs ability is abnormal."

Jin Wuzhu: "In short, let's hold out for a while and then see what happens."

The Jin soldiers dared not leave the city. Large numbers of Jin soldiers held their ground at the few city walls of Daming Prefecture. They also ordered former puppet Qi soldiers to serve as auxiliary troops on the city walls to assist in the defense. They even conscripted residents from the city to provide the soldiers with water, oil, logs, and stones.

The Song soldiers were not in a hurry to attack the city that day. Instead, they cut down trees and felled timber outside the city to make traditional siege weapons. After all, without cannons or other firearms, they could only use traditional methods to attack the city, so they had to make proper preparations.

Two days have passed in the blink of an eye!
The Jin army sent out a small cavalry unit to probe the city and engage in battle.

The Song army did not send out its main force, but only dispatched the Beiwei cavalry to engage in minor clashes with the Jin army's Guaizi cavalry.

Seeing this, Jin Wuzhu laughed: "Yue Fei and Han Shizhong came so fast earlier, it startled me. I thought they were so great. But when they arrived at Daming Prefecture, they had to drag their feet and wait for the firearms troops to catch up. It's the same old Northern Song method, a steady and slow advance. There's nothing remarkable about it. At their pace, even if they were given another ten years, they still wouldn't be able to reach Yanjing."

But he didn't know...

Two nights later, around midnight.

At Zhang Xiaochun's residence, dozens of civil and military officials from the puppet Qi state had gathered, including Shi Yisheng, Zheng Yinian, Li Chou, and Sun Andao. Even Ling Tangzuo and Li Gen, who had died in the original history, were still alive and well due to the butterfly effect, and thus also participated.

These men had gathered their trusted followers, servants, and other retainers, numbering in the thousands, all currently in their respective residences, awaiting the patriarch's command.

Zhang Xiaochun raised a cup of wine: "Gentlemen, can we return to the Song Dynasty safely with this one move?"

Everyone raised their glasses: "Success or failure hinges on this."

Zhang Xiaochun: "Everyone, please return home immediately and lead your household guards. The attack will commence precisely at midnight. Shi Yisheng and I will set fire to the east gate, while Zheng Yinian and Sun Andao will set fire to the west gate. Once the fires are lit, the Jin army will inevitably move towards the east and west gates. The four of us responsible for setting the fires will immediately infiltrate the streets and houses, remaining hidden. Sun Andao, Ling Tangzuo, and Li Gen, the three of you will immediately rush to the south gate and open it as quickly as possible to let Marshal Yue and Marshal Han in." After the discussion was completed, everyone dispersed and returned home.

Meanwhile, the Yue Family Army and the Han Family Army outside the city were already fully prepared.

It's midnight!

As expected, a fire broke out in the city, with flames erupting simultaneously at both the east and west gates. The people in the city immediately began to shout and cry out, creating chaos.

As Zhang Xiaochun had predicted, the Jin army moved towards the east and west gates to fight the fire and strengthen the city's defenses...

After setting the fire, Zhang Xiaochun and his men immediately changed into ordinary clothes they had prepared beforehand and hid in civilian houses or even in tunnels they had dug in advance. By the time the Jin army arrived at the east and west gates, they had not caught a single "rioter" who had set the fire.

Only then did the Jin army realize it was a trap!

But it was too late. A huge roar erupted from the south gate, and an army of several thousand servants, private soldiers, and slaves charged towards the south gate, catching the guards off guard.

Within minutes, the south gate was wide open and the drawbridge was lowered.

The Yue Family Army, which had been waiting outside the city for a long time, immediately rushed out from their hiding places. The Beiwei cavalry led the way and charged towards the city gate at top speed...

The Jin army had no time to block the city gates. The Beiwei Army rushed into the city in an instant, took control of the city gates, and prevented the Jin army from closing them. Then, a large number of Yue Family Army and Han Family Army soldiers poured into the city. Even the stragglers followed, climbed the city walls, and lay on the top of the high city walls, providing sniper support to their own soldiers with rifled muskets.

The accomplices inside the city cheered and immediately transformed from "gate-opening party" to "road-delivering party," leading the Song army to rampage through the city.

If the troops entering the city are armed with firearms, they might face some difficulties in street fighting.

But the troops that came in were Yue Fei's army and Han Xin's army, who were good at close-quarters combat. Street fighting was their specialty, so there was no need to worry about the complex terrain affecting their firing range.

The Jin cavalry could not maneuver effectively in the streets and alleys, and thus lost their advantage.

Some were forced to become infantrymen before they could even find their warhorses in the darkness.

In infantry fighting infantry, the Jin army had no advantage whatsoever and was thoroughly thrashed by Yue Fei's and Han Xin's armies.

Amidst the chaos, Talan and Jin Wuzhu quickly opened the north gate and fled.

The Jin soldiers who could run followed them, but the puppet Qi army had no desire to run at all. Most of the puppet Qi soldiers laid down their weapons and knelt down to surrender.

Yue Yun led the vanguard, charging headlong towards the palace of the puppet Qi Kingdom.

At first, they encountered some resistance, but later there wasn't a single pseudo-Qi soldier resisting. Wherever they went, the pseudo-Qi soldiers surrendered at the mere sight of them.

They charged all the way to the emperor's palace and stormed into the inner palace.

They then discovered that the bodies of Liu Yu and his son Liu Lin were hanging from a large tree in the inner palace, swaying precariously, with a large group of their concubines, maids, and eunuchs nearby, wailing loudly over their corpses.

The pseudo-Qi state was destroyed twice in just a few days!
(End of this chapter)