The Villain's Counterattack

"King of Jiaodong, His Majesty has ordered that in the face of national crisis, all princes and ministers are not allowed to leave the city without permission." A Jin Dynasty gatekeeper general led his troops to block Yang Kang in front of the city gate.

"Clang!" Yang Kang drew his Imperial Sword from its sheath and sneered, "Here is the Imperial Sword. All generals, see the sword as if it were your Majesty. Now our nation is in crisis. The Mongols are wreaking havoc on the land of Jin and slaughtering its people. Instead of driving out the Tartars and defeating the enemy, you are trying to stop us, our generals. Execute them immediately!"

Yang Kang rode his horse forward, and the general's face changed drastically. He no longer had the high-spirited spirit he had when he received the imperial edict. As they had imagined, the King of Jiaodong did not dismount and kneel down upon hearing the imperial edict. Instead, he slashed at him with a sword. The murderous aura made the soldiers silent and they dared not move. They watched helplessly as the general was beheaded by Yang Kang.

"I have been ordered by the emperor to go to Shandong. The Jin Dynasty will move its capital soon. The capital area is indefensible. Before the Mongolian army makes a comeback, the people can go to Shandong, Liaodong, Luoyang and Chang'an. Don't trust the disguise of the Mongolian jackals. They are still wild and cruel. It is a risk of death to go to Mongolia. If we meet them on the battlefield in the future, we will be enemies. Don't blame me for not warning you." Yang Kang swaggered out of Zhongdu and rode away. When the Jin emperor woke up from his drunken stupor, Yang Kang had already boarded a big ship and sailed downstream.

At court, the Jin emperor's face was livid. The Grand Marshal who had driven back the Mongol army had departed the day after the celebration banquet, noting rumors of a capital relocation. After the terrifying experience of the Mongol army breaching four fortresses and defeating a 400,000-man army that surrounded Zhongdu, he had indeed considered moving the capital and abdicating. However, Yang Kang's fierce defenses, even achieving victory after victory, forced the Mongol army back and even recaptured two fortresses, led to the Jin emperor's refusal to relocate.

"Bang!" The Jin emperor slammed his hand on the table and shouted angrily, "What on earth does he want to do?"

"Report~" An urgent military report was suddenly presented to the court. The Jin emperor took a closer look and realized that while Yang Kang had captured the fortress, he had also sent two troops to seize two more. As long as these four fortresses were in hand, the Mongol army would be unable to invade on a large scale. However...

However, the two armies he sent, totaling 50,000 troops, were defeated by the Mongolian defenders, and less than 20,000 escaped. There was also news that the Mongolian army had driven the 5,000-man army that invaded the grassland and desert so far that it could no longer look south and could only flee to the even more bitter and cold land in the north.

The Jin emperor slumped down on the dragon throne, a trace of fear flashing across his face. It was not that the Mongolian army was weak, but that the King of Jiaodong was too strong. Now that the King of Jiaodong, their greatest contributor, had left, they could not even take down two small fortresses, let alone fight back against the Mongolian army. Their 50,000-strong army was defeated miserably by just over 10,000 Mongolian soldiers.

Now the Jiaodong King’s secret weapon has been chased to the point where he has no way out. What will happen when the more well-prepared Mongolian army comes again next time?

"What on earth does he want to do?!" The Jin Emperor stood up and shouted angrily, "The Prince of Qi was ordered to govern Shandong. I personally promised him that. How dare a mere city defense officer prevent the prince from leaving? Is he plotting a rebellion? Well done! If the Prince of Qi hadn't personally intervened, I would have exterminated that commander's entire clan. Half of the border fortresses have fallen. The Mongol army has temporarily retreated but could return at any moment. Do you have any good strategies for keeping the enemy at our borders?"

The civil officials and military generals looked at each other in bewilderment. This question was a bit embarrassing for these good-for-nothings. If it was about poetry, songs, and romantic stories, they could still answer a few. Flattery was their strong point. But when it came to leading troops to fight and defend against the enemy outside the country, the King of Jiaodong, no, it should be said that the new King of Qi had only won for a while, intentionally or unintentionally. Now, wasn't he leaving this difficult-to-defend capital city in disgrace?

Many officials began to use their imagination, and in the end they came up with only a few ideas: moving the capital was first, mobilizing the national army to defend the king was second, forcibly recruiting the King of Jiaodong/King of Qi was third, and sending troops to take the initiative to attack was fourth. There were also various other strange ideas, but no one could explain them clearly.

The court was locked in debate, so no action was taken. After the court was dismissed, many people began to connect with each other. Most of them were able to recognize the gap between the Mongol army and the Jin soldiers. The victory in this battle was largely due to Yang Kang's personal strength and the help of his brave and resourceful guards. Even so, the damage they inflicted on the Mongol army was not enough to cause any serious damage.

Many court officials thought it was time to prepare a retreat. Needless to say, the Jin would definitely move their capital or leave their garrison. However, many fantasized about seeking refuge in Shandong, where the King of Jiaodong reigned. With him in power, the Mongol army would have a harder time getting its way. Han officials, on the other hand, were considering a new master. After all, they were all barbarians, so what difference did the Jurchens make from the Mongols?

Across the steppes, five thousand Jiaodong cavalrymen fled northeast, hotly pursued by a 30,000-strong Mongol army. The Jiaodong cavalry were well-prepared, each man carrying three horses and ample supplies. However, as time passed, their food supply eventually ran out, and food was not always readily available during their escape. Besides looting two or three small Mongol tribes, they gradually ran out of supplies.

Fortunately, the spare war horses were the best food. It took them seven days to go from three horses per person to two horses per person, and then another seven days to one horse per person. The 5,000 cavalrymen from Jiaodong were already in such a difficult situation, and the 30,000 Mongolian pursuers were also in great trouble. The main thing was that they had to chase them desperately and not let them fall behind and escape. They were not free to move around, so naturally their life was extremely difficult. The logistics troops had already been left behind by them for thousands of miles.

In the middle of summer, large ships along the Heilongjiang River picked up many tired soldiers, replaced them with new cavalry, and set up camp in a dangerous place close to the mountains and water, waiting for the Mongolian army to attack.

When the Mongol army arrived, they saw only smoke rising from the camp. Horse pits and rat holes were everywhere, and the ground was littered with thorn stakes that had either been left uncleaned or deliberately left there, severely limiting their cavalry's advantage. They had cut down and gathered all the surrounding trees to build their camp, leaving them unable to construct even simple siege equipment. Even worse, these people had deliberately prepared delicious food, the aroma wafting towards them constantly, making the hungry Mongol cavalry salivate, yet they had nothing to eat.

Two thousand soldiers were patrolling and defending the camp in an orderly manner. The others were eating and drinking. There were also a large number of rest tents in the camp, which were actually looted from the Mongolian tribe. They ate well and slept well here, but the Mongolian cavalry was not doing so well.

The water behind this place is fast-flowing and very deep. They have almost no good way to attack from behind, and their familiar wolf pack tactics become a fantasy here.

The Mongolian army tried to charge once, but they fell down before they reached the range of 100 meters of the camp. The Jiaodong soldiers who were in a dominant position fired thousands of arrows at the camp. Most of them used bows and crossbows, which had a much longer range than ordinary bows and arrows. The Mongolian army lost thousands of men in the first charge and had to retreat. They couldn't even collect the bodies. They watched helplessly as the Jiaodong soldiers in heavy armor and holding shields dragged the dead and wounded horses back, and the Mongolian soldiers who were not dead were killed.

The bodies of the Mongolian soldiers were not left in their original places. They were all thrown into the river behind them by the Jiaodong soldiers and washed away by the water. The blood dyed a large area red, attracting countless fish and shrimps to scramble for them. In summer, corpses are prone to cause plague. The Jiaodong Army has strict requirements and no one dares to take it lightly.

The Mongolian army was very frustrated as they besieged the entire camp here. They ran to farther places every day to cut wood and make simple siege equipment. At the same time, they also filled in horse traps and mole holes bit by bit, and continued to approach the camp.

The Mongolian army was large in number and powerful, and even if they were on duty in batches day and night, they could still make it impossible for the Jiaodong soldiers to start. The Jiaodong soldiers would harass them from time to time and would gain some gains every time. However, a few dozen people were nothing compared to the 30,000 Mongolian troops, and there were always more Mongolian soldiers coming from behind to reinforce them.

After suffering thousands of casualties, the Mongol army finally managed to level the ground twenty meters in front of the camp. Any attempt to level the remaining area was met with a strong backlash from the Jiaodong soldiers, resulting in enormous sacrifices but unsatisfactory results. The Mongol army launched a massive attack, with the front soldiers attacking while those behind continued to pave the way. They nearly broke into the camp several times, but were ultimately repelled by the Jiaodong soldiers using crossbows and falling rocks.

This tug-of-war lasted for more than half a month. On this day, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Suddenly, the Mongolian army invaded the camp in large numbers. The shouts and screams were deafening. However, when they entered the camp, they found that it was empty. Suddenly, fires broke out on all sides. The Jiaodong soldiers ran to the outside of their camp, snatched their horses and left.

In this battle, the Mongolian army suffered nearly 10,000 casualties, most of the war horses were robbed, and the enemy disappeared all the way eastward, leaving the Mongolian generals in tears. They never understood how the enemy got behind them, while the Jiaodong soldiers were returning home on large ships loaded with harvests. Jiaodong, no, the entire Shandong province began a major transformation under the command of Yang Kang.