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

"But he can no longer command his own tribesmen and must be transferred to another place as a general."

"As for how many troops he can lead in the future, that depends on how many troops he leads to surrender."

"If you can still make contributions in the destruction of the Jin dynasty, you will be rewarded accordingly."

When Gao Song saw someone else approaching, he said quietly, "Farewell."

The Bohai people of the Jin Dynasty had three major Gao clans: the Liaoyang Gao clan, the Chenzhou Gao clan, and the Chengzhou Gao clan.

If the Ming army were to advance towards Liaoyang, Chengzhou would be a necessary stop on their route.

After Zhao Yuan crossed the sea and established a foothold, he was about to attack Chengzhou, which made the Gao family of Chengzhou very worried.

In addition, last year's domestic political reforms in Kim Il-sung also made Gao Jingshan very unhappy.

The powerful leaders of various ethnic groups could no longer concurrently serve as local officials, and the powerful Bohai ethnic groups were mixed together.

Gao Jingshan was transferred to Guide (Fushun) as a military officer, and his involvement in civil affairs significantly reduced his opportunities for personal gain.

Although he was still a commander of ten thousand households, he did not have many standing troops under his command. He would only send Gao Jingshan back to his hometown to recruit troops when a war was about to break out.

The more I mingled in the Jin Kingdom, the more my military power was restricted. My hometown was about to be attacked. Why can't I surrender to the Ming?

Historically, Gao Jingshan and Gao Song, uncle and nephew, both served as commanders of ten thousand households under Jin Wuzhu.

Gao Jingshan was killed by Yue Fei, but Gao Song died a natural death.

After Gao Song left, another person came over.

The man said in a low voice, "I was sent by the First Prince."

The Ming Dynasty merchant was taken aback: "The Crown Prince of the Jin Dynasty?"

"Get it!"

A letter was handed to the merchant, who then turned and left.

The Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants were completely stunned.

The eldest prince of the Jin Dynasty is colluding with foreign enemies? What the hell!

"Load the cargo quickly and return to port immediately!" the merchant whispered to his deputy.

Three days later, the merchant ship returned to Shandong, and a secret letter was swiftly sent to Youzhou.

Zhao Yuan, accompanied by Li Bao, inspected Wang Yan's troops in the Xifengkou direction and was planning to visit Yue Fei's side as well.

Chapter 3410 A Vicious Scheme

A secret message has arrived.

Zhao Yuan opened the letter himself, his expression quite interesting, and then handed it to Li Bao: "It was sent by the Crown Prince of the Jin Kingdom."

After reading the secret letter, Li Bao was so shocked that he broke out in a cold sweat: "What a vicious plan!"

It's unlikely that Zhang Guangdao will fall for Wanyan Zonghan's plan to lure the enemy deep into his territory.

After the Jin army withdrew, Zhang Guangdao first divided his troops to occupy several prefectures in Yunzhong. Next, he would definitely send small groups of cavalry to coordinate and recover those small grassland tribes.

At most, they would take over the Juyongguan area and connect the battlefields of northern Shanxi and Youzhou.

And what about Li Bao?

Most of them fell headlong into the trap set by Wanyan Zonghan.

He himself was aggressive in his military tactics. If Wanyan Zonghan were to feign a major defeat and withdraw his troops, Li Bao would assume it was due to the influence of the Liaodong battlefield.

The terrain on the northern slopes of the Yanshan Mountains is complex. Li Bao led his troops in a rapid advance, and if they were not careful, they would overturn.

The thought of his tens of thousands of troops being trapped and their supply lines being completely cut off filled Li Bao with dread.

In his shock, Li Bao couldn't help but think further: "How could the eldest son of the Jin Dynasty's false emperor leak military intelligence to us? There must be a trap!"

"Whether it's a scam or not, you and Zhang Guangdao should be careful,"

Zhao Yuan said,

"Baozhou must also be careful, lest the Jurchen fire ships actually succeed in their sneak attack."

Li Bao said, "I have Yue Fei lead elite troops to guard the supply route. He is both cautious and bold, so there shouldn't be any problems."

"Let's assume this letter is genuine and set a trap. If Yue Fei can hold out for a day or two, I'll lead my troops to encircle and annihilate the Jin army's elite forces!"

This secret letter not only revealed Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongfu's entire military plan, but also took the opportunity to claim credit and request to submit and surrender.

Wanyan Zongpan only wanted to retain the territory west of Xianping Prefecture, half of Posu Road, and half of Helan Road, while ceding the rest of the country to the Ming Dynasty.

Furthermore, the Jin Dynasty submitted to the Ming Dynasty, and from then on, they agreed to be father and son states.

To put it more simply, the Jin dynasty only retained Jilin, Heilongjiang, and much of the territory that later became Russia.

In addition, Wanyan Zongpan also said that his younger sister was young and beautiful, and he wanted to marry Zhao Yuan as a concubine...

As soon as the Ming army defeated Wanyan Zonghan's main force, Wanyan Zongpan immediately colluded with nobles to carry out a political purge.

Zhao Yuan sent someone to inform Zhang Guangdao and Zhe Yanzhi, but he himself held the secret letter and read it over and over again, and couldn't help but sigh, "This Wanyan Zongpan is truly a talented person."

In fact, Wanyan Zongpan had no other choice.

Historically, it was he who secretly released Qin Hui, and it was also he who advocated returning Shaanxi and Henan to Zhao Gou.

In the end, he, along with several of his younger brothers and a large group of Jin nobles, were all killed by the pro-war faction on charges of treason.

The internal strife within Kim Jong-un is escalating, and sooner or later it will become a life-or-death struggle.

Wanyan Zongpan might as well take a gamble; maybe he could become a prince in a remote, isolated region.

He lives in constant fear, terrified that Zonghan, Zonggan, Zongfu, and others will join forces to storm the capital and kill him.

Wouldn't it be better to be a prince in a remote, isolated place than to live this miserable life?

At the mouth of the Yalu River, the rice fields on both banks have been harvested.

Rice cultivation began here as early as the Goguryeo period.

Zhe Yanzhi, Li Cheng, Zhao Li, and Yelü Yudu led their troops to assemble in the Baozhou area.

The troops under their command were either bandits from Shandong or people from various ethnic groups brought across the sea, with only a very small number coming from the local area.

In total, there were only about 20,000, and most of them belonged to the garrison troops, with only a few thousand in the field army.

The garrison troops even had to bring their families to farm in order to reduce the food and supplies consumed by the garrison troops in Goryeo.

But they'd already boasted about having 50,000 elite troops.

This frightened the Goryeo king and his ministers so much that they dared not resist, and it also prevented the Jin army from crossing the Yalu River and heading south.

"The latest military orders received are to bombard Posuru City, deploy troops on the south bank of the Yalu River, and build many empty camps to intimidate the enemy,"

Zhe Yanzhi said,

"But do not cross the river to the north lightly. The purpose is to contain the Jin army. Send some elite troops into the mountains to wipe out the Jurchen tribes!"

Li Cheng, preoccupied with the prospect of making a contribution, said unwillingly, "A great battle is imminent, and we're just holding them off here?"

Zhe Yanzhi said, "When the time is right, we can cross the river and attack the city."

"No matter what, among all the armies, we were the first to start fighting."

Zhao Li volunteered, "I'll lead the troops to attack the mountain!"

"Be careful of ambushes," Zhe Yanzhi warned.

In the following days, military camps rose up in the rice fields on the south bank of the Yalu River, where the harvest had just been completed.

Many camps were empty, with straw figures bound together with fresh straw, dressed in Ming army uniforms, and bright flags erected everywhere.

Fearing that the Jin generals might have telescopes, the empty camps were set up in the back, and the straw figures only revealed a tiny bit of clothing.

According to Wanyan Zongfu's plan, the Ming warships would be attacked with fire first.

Then, troops were dispatched to the mountainous area south of the Yalu River to launch surprise attacks on the people of the Ming Dynasty, looting and burning the newly harvested rice of the Ming army.

Therefore, he also sent Jin Wuzhu with three thousand elite troops.

Chapter 3411 Two-Pronged Approach

"Didn't they say that warships would venture deep into the Yalu River every now and then?"

“I’ve been here for more than half a month and haven’t seen a single Ming warship,” Jin Wuzhu questioned.

Xie Mao Ali speculated, "The Ming army is about to march north in a large-scale operation, so they will no longer come to plunder the people."

Jin Wuzhu sailed along the river, constantly observing through binoculars: "The enemy's camp stretches for more than ten miles, and extends several miles further south, probably numbering seventy or eighty thousand."

Xie Mao Ali said, "From Pyongyang in Goryeo to Boju, all were occupied by the Ming Dynasty, and many troops were stationed in each city."

"The information gathered by our spies is that a total of 50,000 men are stationed here."

"There are seventy or eighty thousand troops in front of us; it's likely the Ming Dynasty has reinforced their forces."

Jin Wuzhu remained silent.

He was terrified of Li Bao's defeat along the coastal road and had developed a psychological aversion to the Ming army's fighting capabilities.

Currently, there are about 20,000 Jin soldiers in Posuru City, but most of them are conscripted militia, and the real Jin elites number less than 5,000.

With 70,000 to 80,000 Ming troops crossing the river to attack, can this place really hold them off?

"Urgent military situation!"

A fast boat sailed from the upper reaches of the Yalu River.

The messenger came from the mountainous area south of the Yalu River, where the mountains stretch endlessly and are inhabited only by scattered Jurchen and Bohai tribes.

They couldn't even read, so they relied entirely on oral communication to convey military intelligence.

"Many enemies have entered the mountains; Zhenming Village is gone!"

Zhenmingzhai is a military stronghold that was newly built two years ago.

There was no proper garrison, so if they encountered danger, the Jurchen people in the vicinity would gather in the village to defend against the enemy.

After hearing the military report, Jin Wuzhu dared not send troops to rescue him.

He believed this was a tactic by the Ming army to lure him away from the city, and that once he led his troops there, the Ming army would surely take the opportunity to cross the river and attack the city.

After careful consideration, Jin Wuzhu said, "Relocate all the mountain tribes on the south bank of the Yalu River to this area."

"We don't need half of Helan Road anymore. All the troops and civilians south of Tongmen River (Tumen River) and Aiyeku River (the main upper reaches of Tumen River) will be moved here!"

Jin Wuzhu was prepared to fight to the death.

Since he couldn't spare any troops to provide relief anyway, he simply abandoned all the territory south of the Yalu and Tumen Rivers.

All the troops and tribes there were moved to Posuru for defense.

As long as we defeat the Ming army, we can reclaim any territory we've lost.

Of course, mountain tribes cannot be moved at will.

Jin Wuzhu could only forcibly relocate the population from the main areas, while the tribes in the deep mountains and forests simply wouldn't listen.

"Woooooo~~~"

The bugle sounded from the city wall, and Jin Wuzhu was startled. He quickly went ashore, rode his horse, and rushed back to the city.

More than a hundred inland river warships were already on the river outside the city of Posuru.

"Boom boom boom!"

Suddenly, the sound of cannons rang out.

Instead of directly bombarding Posuru City, they fired cannons at Jiangxin Island.

Where the Ai River flows into the Yalu River, it creates numerous river islands, dividing the Yalu River in two.

The narrowest point in Beiliu is less than 200 meters, while the narrowest point in Nanliu is only a few tens of meters.

Posulu City was located on the west bank of the Ai River estuary, and a fortified village was built on Jiangxin Island to garrison troops.

If the Ming army wanted to cross the river and attack Posuru City, they had to take Jiangxin Island first.

"Boom boom boom!"