The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 533 The Death of Tartar
The pirate commander of the pseudo-Qi had no idea how the Song navy, which had been so weak just moments before, could suddenly become so tough.

They ran away without even daring to shoot a single arrow, but now they've turned around and are attacking fiercely.

why?

Why is that?

Just as he was wondering why, a barrage of shells flew over, and columns of water shot up from the river near the fleet.

It's funny, the Yellow River is yellow, but the columns of water it creates are white.

The puppet Qi army was thrown into disarray by a barrage of cannon fire, and then the Song navy charged in.

The puppet Qi sailors immediately raised their shields...

In naval battles, a large shield is usually prepared on the side of the ship, mainly to "borrow" the enemy's arrows.

In addition, large warships also have "parapets," which are the "bumps and grooves" commonly found on city walls. Of course, the bumps and grooves on city walls are made of stone, while the bumps and grooves on ships are made of wood.

Just as the Qi soldiers had taken cover behind the ravines and shields, the Song Dynasty's centipede-shaped ships unleashed a barrage of muskets at the Qi side.

The shield was instantly pierced by bullets, and the puppet Qi soldiers hiding behind it screamed and fell to the ground.

The wooden, uneven surface was slightly better at stopping bullets than a bulletproof shield, but still far less effective than a stone one. The uneven surface cracked and splintered as bullets struck it, sending wood chips flying everywhere. The puppet Qi soldiers behind it were too terrified to even lift their heads...

The pseudo-Qi navy was stunned in just one encounter.

Li Cheng roared, "They're getting close! Throw the incendiary devices!"

The burning tube of the new Song Dynasty was actually the "fire gun" of the former Southern Song Dynasty. It was made of bamboo and filled with gunpowder that sizzled when it burned. The second section of the bamboo tube would also contain some oil to aid combustion.

To this end, the military even held a sports meet, with a special event called "jamming," which was designed to train soldiers' ability to throw incendiary canisters.

The sailors lit the incendiary tubes and hurled them at the puppet Qi warships.

In an instant, countless bamboo tubes blazing in the air flew up, creating a spectacular scene.

As soon as these bamboo tubes landed on the warships of the puppet Qi state, they immediately burst into flames, turning the deck into a sea of ​​fire. The puppet Qi soldiers could not extinguish the fire with water; instead, the water would spread the oil everywhere, causing the flames to move as well.

In the blink of an eye, the pseudo-Qi navy was completely routed.

The pirate commander was completely dumbfounded. He hadn't expected the Song Dynasty's navy to be this strong. Damn it, if you're so strong, why did you run away in the first place? Are you kidding me?
"I'll fight you to the death!" The pirate admiral brandished his knife and leaped onto the Song Dynasty's warship, determined to fight to the death and make a profit.

But before he could even jump over and get into position, a dozen muskets fired a volley at him...

The pirate admiral was riddled with bullets and fell into the Yellow River.
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Smoke and fire rise from all sides...

Although a few people in the pseudo-Qi state put up a desperate resistance, it had little effect. The Song army surged in like a tidal wave, continuously advancing northward.

A swift army conquers cities and seizes territory, while a slow army advances steadily and surely.

Although the Jin dynasty attempted to harass the Song dynasty with cavalry, it was utterly ineffective against the ever-expanding northward reach of the Huibao fortress. They couldn't even slow down the Song advance, let alone stop it. Furthermore, Shenzhou (Shenyang) was constantly threatened by the Song navy, prompting Emperor Xizong of Jin to repeatedly order Talan and Wanyan Wuzhu to abandon their puppet Qi regime and return to defend their homeland.

With the war having progressed to this point, Talai and Jin Wuzhu knew that the situation was hopeless.

They used to be the ones sweeping through the Song Dynasty, but now the Song Dynasty is sweeping through them, and they can't do anything about it. They don't know how the situation has changed so much in just a few years.

When Talan returned to his lair, he no longer even had the thought of rebelling and seizing the throne of the Jin Dynasty. What use was there in seizing the throne now that he had such a mess to deal with? When the Jin army besieged Kaifeng, the capital of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Huizong of Song quickly passed the throne to his son, passing the buck faster than anything else.

Talan now finally understands Emperor Huizong of Song. Let alone asking him to rebel now, if he were the emperor now, he wouldn't be so eager as to hand over the throne to Emperor Xizong of Jin.

“Sue for peace!” Talan said to Emperor Xizong of Jin, “The only way now is to desperately seek peace with the Song Dynasty. There is no other way out.”

Emperor Xizong looked embarrassed: "Back then, Zhao Gou desperately sought peace with us and was ridiculed by the world. Now you want me to follow Zhao Gou's example and seek peace with the Song Dynasty? Do you want me to become a laughing stock?"

Talan: "If we don't seek peace now, we'll only face certain death."

Emperor Xizong of Jin: "You are spreading heresies and confusing the morale of our army. You must have betrayed our Great Jin and become an inside agent for the Great Song. Drag you away and execute you!"

Thus, in early 1138 AD, Talan, who should have been killed for treason, was instead killed on the inexplicable charge of being an "insider to the Song Dynasty."

When Jin Wuzhu heard this news, he was terrified. Fortunately, he had always been a vanguard in the war against the Song Dynasty and had never been biased towards the "peace faction" like Talan, so he was not implicated.

However, because Jin Wuzhu had been fighting on the front lines for a long time and knew the strength of the Song Dynasty, he had gradually accepted Talan's appeasement ideology. When he heard that Talan had been killed because of this, he was quite dissatisfied.

A few days later, Jin Wuzhu secretly packed up his valuables and gathered several thousand elite and trusted troops, heading to the Western Regions, just like Yelü Dashi, to seek a way to survive in the west.

We're leaving those monster rooms in East Asia! Wouldn't it be better to go pick on the weaker West?
Winter of 1138 AD!
Snowflakes fell heavily, and the cold wind was biting.

Gong Erniangzi led the main force of the army and stationed them in Baoding.

Meanwhile, Yue Fei and Han Shizhong stationed their troops in Xin'an, Zhang Yong stationed his troops in Xiongzhou, Guan Sheng and Yu Fanwen stationed their troops in Guangxin, Ma Sheng stationed his troops in Taiyuan, and Sui Yi and Pang Di stationed their troops in Xi'an...

The Song Dynasty has fully recovered its lost territories! Almost all of the country's military forces are deployed on the northern border, putting enormous pressure on the Jin Dynasty.

Everyone in the world knows that the next strategic move of the Song Dynasty is definitely to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.

In the first year of Tianfu in the Later Jin Dynasty (936), Shi Jingtang, the founding emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty (the governor of Hedong in the Later Tang Dynasty), rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and declared independence, seeking help from the Khitan.

The Khitans sent troops to support him in establishing the Later Jin Dynasty. Emperor Taizong of Liao and Shi Jingtang became father and son (Emperor Taizong of Liao was the father and Shi Jingtang was the son).

In 938, Shi Jingtang ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun to the Khitan at their request, extending the Liao Dynasty's territory to the Great Wall. Subsequent dynasties in the Central Plains were unable to fully recover these prefectures. The strategic significance of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun meant that the Song Dynasty felt threatened for over 160 years.

Recapturing the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun was a long-cherished wish of every sane ruler and minister since the founding of the Song Dynasty! In fact, even treacherous officials with questionable judgment shared this ambition, such as Tong Guan. Although he was one of the Six Traitors, a notorious and utterly useless minister, he still dreamed of recapturing the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.

Now, the Song army is only one step away from the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.

(End of this chapter)