Across the Water Margin: Officials of Ximen

It's a pity that although Sun Xu is brave, his soldiers are not as brave and durable as the Jurchens.

The two armies fought for half a day, Wanyan Loushi and Wanyan Yinshu Kejun had already attacked Sun Xu no less than ten times in turn, but they still launched assaults tirelessly.

All the cavalry of Sun Xu's army were killed in battle, the arrows of the god's arm bow were used up, and the solid formation formed by the pikemen was also smashed by the Jin army, and finally lost.

Sun Xu retreated to the foot of Taiyuan City, shouted to the city, and asked to enter the city to repair.

However, the Jin army was just behind Sun Xu's army and was fighting with the Song army.The prefect Zhang Xiaochun was afraid that the Jin army would take advantage of the opening of the city gate, so he strictly ordered the defenders not to open the city.

Zhang Xiaochun ordered people to shout to Sun Xu that the Jin army is just around the corner, and the door cannot be opened for safety reasons, please observe and serve the country loyally, and fight to the death with the Jin people.

After Sun Xu heard the shouts of the defenders on the city, he looked up to the sky and screamed, saying that he only hated the lack of major generals in his hands and could not repel the strong enemy.

Sun Xu yelled "kill the enemy and serve the country", and led the few remaining pro-army to launch a countercharge against the Jin army, drowning in the crowd.

In the melee, Sun Xu was shot more than a dozen times in his body and died heroically for his country. All the soldiers under his command were also wiped out by the Jin army under the city of Taiyuan.

Two days after Sun Xu's defeat, the Second Support Army of the Song Army rushed to Taiyuan Mansion.

The main general of this army horse is a famous general of the Western Army of the Song Dynasty, and the governor of the prefecture and the prefecture can ask for it.

The Zhe family has guarded Fuzhou in the northwest of Hedong for generations. They are small semi-independent warlords with Fan blood.

However, unlike the party members who established Xixia and turned against the imperial court, Fuzhou Zhejia was always loyal to the Song Dynasty court, and repeatedly defeated the Xixia Army in the Song Xia War, becoming a barrier in the northwest of the Song Dynasty.

Historically, the daughter of the Zhe family once married Yang Ye, a famous general of the Northern Song Dynasty. The old lady She in "The General of the Yang Family" in the later storytelling book should actually be called "the old lady Zhe".

Therefore, after a closer look, the "green-faced beast" Yang Zhi and the Fuzhou Zhejia can be considered as distant relatives.

It's just that after a few generations, Zhe and Yang's families have long been estranged, and Yang Zhi, the unlucky guy, didn't even think about joining Zhe's family in the past.

Because it is close to the Hequ area, the Zhejia Army has assembled the best Hequ war horses.In addition, the Zhe family has retained the aggressive habits of the Fan people for generations, and the Zhe family army has always been the most valiant army in the Western Army of the Great Song Dynasty.

After receiving the order from the Xuanfu Division to reinforce Taiyuan, Zhe Keqiu, the prefect of Fuzhou, immediately led [-] troops to the rescue.

When Zhe Keqiu led his troops through Kelan Prefecture to Tianmen Pass, the place had already been occupied by the Jin army.

Zhe Keqiu did not make a strong attack, but went south with Han Quan, the military horse envoy, Luo Cheng, the governor of Jinzhou, and Ma Hebing, a reinforcement soldier from Liu Guangshi [-]rd Road on Yan'anfu Road, forming an army of [-]. They took Songziling and came to the west of Taiyuan by detour. Jiaocheng County in the south.

After the Jin army's scouts discovered the movement of Zhe Keqiu's army, Wan Yan Zonghan led the army to fight, and started a battle with the Song army on the Fen River in the southwest of Taiyuan City.

Under Zhe Keqiu's command, the Zhejia army displayed a combat effectiveness that was comparable to that of the Jin army. The two sides began to fight since the dawn of the sun, and they fought until noon without deciding the outcome.

Wanyan Zonghan, while admiring the incredible bravery, also showed no mercy to the Song army.He ordered Wanyan Loushi's son, Wanyan Huonv, to lead a troop to quietly lurk behind Zhekeqiu's camp, and suddenly launched a surprise attack.

In the camp of the Song army, Liu Guangshi was shocked when he saw that the general Zhe Keqiu was taken from the back by the Jin army, and he quickly ordered the troops to retreat to the rear.

Liu Guangshi once again played the fine tradition in the battle against Liao, leaving his friendly troops and fleeing.

Because of the defeat of Liu Guangshi's army, the Song army's camp suddenly became chaotic.

Zhe Keqiu's troops were flanked by the Jin army from front to back, and the flanks lost the cover of friendly troops. The army formation was first dispersed by the Jin army.

This time, the army was defeated like a mountain, the morale of Luo Cheng and Han Quan's two armies was low, and they were also defeated by the Jin army one after another.

Liu Guangshi was the first to leave his friendly army and escape, and he was safe and sound.

Zhe Keqiu killed dozens of people, desperately broke out of the encirclement, and led the defeated soldiers to flee back to Fuzhou's old nest.

The two generals Luo Cheng and Han Quan did not have the bravery that can be expected, they failed to break through the siege and died in the battle.

The Song army was defeated in this battle, and more than 3 elite soldiers died in the battle, and only a few thousand remnants of the defeated generals survived by chance.

Wanyan Zonghan successfully wiped out Sun Xu's army and Zhekeqiu's army under the city of Taiyuan by using the tactic of "surrounding the spot to fight for aid".The field elite of the Song Dynasty in Hedong was almost completely lost, and it was no longer possible to organize decent reinforcements for a while.

When Wanyan Zonghan's Jin Army West Route Army fought against the Song Army, another old opponent of the Song Dynasty in the northwest, Xixia, also took the opportunity to send troops to grab cheap.

After the demise of the Liao Kingdom, the Xixia Kingdom had declared itself a vassal to the Jin Kingdom.

Therefore, Wanyan Zonghan sent envoys to the Xixia Kingdom before sending troops, ordering the Xixia Kingdom to send troops to Yinzhou to attack the Song Dynasty, so as to hold back the Song Dynasty's Western Army.

When the Jin army sent troops, the Xixia Kingdom sent troops to attack the Song Dynasty at the same time, and recovered the Hengshan area occupied by the Song army.

The situation in the Northwest of the Song Dynasty was precarious.

Chapter 887 The Emperor's Elder Is Not Free

When the frontlines of Yanshan, Hebei, Hedong, and Shaanxi were in critical condition, the rulers and ministers of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty in Bianliang City, Tokyo, were still singing and dancing, not knowing that disaster was imminent.

Seeing the peace and stability in the palace, both Li Shishi and Xu Ning couldn't help having illusions. Could it be that the official Ximen Qing made a wrong judgment this time?

In fact, long before the Jin army sent troops, Cai Jing, the magistrate of Yanshan Prefecture, wrote more than 170 secret melodies to report the border situation, in which he repeatedly mentioned that the Jin soldiers might invade the south.

However, the court officials in Bianliang City in Tokyo thought that Cai Jing was only exaggerating by asking the court for money and food in order to secure his position as a conciliator on Yanshanfu Road, and ignored Cai Jing's warning at all.

In November, when the Jin army attacked in two ways, the front-line battle reports suddenly flew from the front line to Bianliang City, Tokyo like snowflakes.

However, because Song Huizong was holding a sacrificial ceremony, the ministers believed that the Song and Jin Dynasties were just border conflicts, and the situation was not serious, so they stopped all the battle reports.

At this time, not only Song Huizong didn't know that the front line was fighting, but even Li Bangyan, the young prime minister, and Bai Shizhong, the prime minister and his servant, didn't know anything about it.

At this time, Cai Jing had retired because of his old age, and Li Bangyan and Bai Shizhong were prime ministers. Their talents were much worse than those of Cai Jing when he was in power, so that he didn't even think about such a big change in the border. Can respond in a timely manner.

Li Bangyan and Bai Shizhong didn't know about the invasion of the front-line Jin army until December [-], when the envoys of the Kingdom of Jin came to Bianliang City, Tokyo, and asked to meet Song Huizong and asked the officials of the Song Dynasty to cede land and pay compensation.

As a result, Li Bangyan and Bai Shizhong, like those ministers in the court, reported good news but not bad news, and continued to conceal the frontline battle reports from His Majesty the Emperor.

Blood flowed from the front line, but Li Bangyan and others believed that the envoys of the Kingdom of Jin were bluffing. They refused to negotiate with the Kingdom of Jin, and only sent the envoys of the Kingdom of Jin away with generous gifts, still pretending to be nonchalant.

Until December [-]th, Wang Tongguan of Guangyang County, who led the Privy Council and proclaimed Fuhebei, Hedong, and Yanshan, ran back to Bianliang City in Tokyo from Taiyuan Xuanfusi. The war in the north could no longer be concealed. Only then did Zhongfang report the truth to Song Huizong.

Knowing that the Jin army had invaded on a large scale, there was an uproar in the ruling and opposition parties.

After Song Huizong learned the truth about the Jin army's invasion, he did not blame Li Bangyan, Bai Shizhong and others for deceiving the king and concealing himself.

Because, the Jin army's attack on the Song Dynasty this time was under the banner of crusade against Song Huizong, the perfidious and faint king!If this matter is revealed to the world prematurely, it will undoubtedly damage Song Huizong's sage image in the minds of the subjects of the world.Unless it is absolutely necessary, it is best to keep this matter secret.

Therefore, the concealment of the two prime ministers, Li Bangyan and Bai Shizhong, may not be able to feel sorry for the soldiers who fought bloody battles on the front line, but it is to take into account the dignity of the emperor and cover up the fault of the emperor, which is an expression of loyalty to Song Huizong .

Song Huizong understood this truth, so naturally he would not vent his anger on Li Bangyan, Bai Shizhong and others.

So, is Tong Guan disloyal and disrespectful to Song Huizong by returning to Beijing all the way to expose this matter?Of course not.

Tong Guan was aware of the frontline situation and knew that the Jin army would not give up until it reached its goal, so he hurried back to Bianliang City in Tokyo to mobilize soldiers and horses from all over the world to defend Song Huizong.Tong Guan's move is also an expression of his loyalty to Song Huizong.

Song Huizong looked at these loyal officials around him, and he was still very relieved. He asked Tong Guan, who was in charge of the Privy Council, to dispatch troops to formulate a plan to counterattack the Jin army.

Tong Guan returned to the capital and took control of the military power in the country. When he was about to show his skills and fight the Jin army, the latest battle report from Hebei shattered his confidence.