The northern boundary trench of the Kingdom of Jin was a defense system of extremely large scale that was rare in modern times. It starts from Puyu Road in the northeastern hinterland of Jin Kingdom in the north and stretches westward to the border with Xia Kingdom. A network of defenses composed of two layers of linear boundary trenches and a large number of passes and fortresses was used to hinder the attack of the cavalry troops on the plateau and to effectively break the roundabout tactics that the cavalry was good at.
However, because the Jin Kingdom built the boundary trench, its national power began to weaken and it was unable to control the grasslands. The weakening of the country's national power also caused them to make a lot of shackles when building the boundary trench and use the city sites left by the Liao Kingdom.
Jinshan was built on the basis of the Jinyang Army of Confucianism in the Liao Dynasty. During the Five Dynasties, the Later Jin ceded the Sixteen Youyun Prefectures to the Liao Dynasty, and Ruzhou was one of the so-called nine prefectures behind the mountains. If you push forward further, the history of this place can be traced back to Banquan where Huang Emperor and Yan Emperor fought.
The city is located in the middle of a grassland surrounded by mountains on three sides. The melted snow on the mountains and rivers gathers into mountain springs and streams, and then into Qingshui River, Gu River, Xihe and other rivers that meander around the city. The continuous meadow to the west of the city is rich in water, with patches of wetland and a clear spring called Baiyan Spring. People at that time wrote a poem praising it: "When the morning rain passes through the clouds in the Black Mountains, new water and grass grow in the hundred-eyed spring."
Just when Zhao Xuan and others entered the city, hundreds of birds gathered around the White Horse Spring in the north of the city, hovering on the clear water, causing many soldiers to laugh.
From Jinshan Mountain to the west to Xuande and Hongzhou, this entire area is a place where farming and nomadic life intersect. It is also an important water source for the northern Xinjiang grasslands and Zhongdu.
Over the past decade or so, this has been the northern ordnance and material transfer center that Daikin has worked hard to build. Daijin's Qunmu Station and Zhongdu's Jiafang and Sharp Weapon Offices all had branches here to supervise the work of herders or craftsmen to supply military supplies.
However, in the third year of Da'an, the Mongolian army broke through Jinshan and massacred all the people in the city. These herdsmen or craftsmen were lucky enough to survive, but they were all taken captive to the depths of the grassland. It is said that they were treated as property by many Mongolian Nayans and divided into slaves of various tribes. In the eyes of the Nayans, their status was roughly equivalent to that of a horse or a hound.
Because the entire population was massacred and robbed, Jinshan City now looks empty. Almost no one lives in the outer city seven miles away from Zhouhui, and no one has cleaned up the ruins. The weeds and thorns have obviously been cut down and burned. , but some nooks and crannies were not taken care of, so there were swarms of mosquitoes and gnats flying around.
Zhao Xuan stared at it for a while, and several soldiers in charge of the city quickly said, "We will send people to clean up immediately."
After walking a few steps, you can see a high hill on the east side of the city. There is an iron smelting workshop on the high hill that is in full swing, and the entire inner city next to the workshop is now a place where soldiers and horses are stationed.
Seeing Zhao Xuan frequently visiting the workshop, Zhang Shao, who came to greet him on behalf of Qiu Huiluo, shook his head and said: "Don't expect too much, we can only make a few arrows and repair a few armor leaves there, nothing else can be done! "
Qiu Huiluo's subordinate generals suffered many losses in the bitter battle in the north of Sanjiaidian. Therefore, Guo Ning successively transferred many officers to fill the vacancies in his army.
Zhang Shao was a companion of Guo Ning who fled from Yehuling to Hebei after being defeated. He served as Guo Ning's guard leader and was as famous as Zhao Jue in archery. He once wounded Tuo Lei with an arrow on the battlefield. At this time, he also became the commander, but he was temporarily responsible for training the newly signed Beijing Road soldiers and horses. After the troops were strengthened, he would then restore the Huanzhou Northwest Road Recruitment Division's old place to the north.
So he and his men were also stationed in Jinshan City, occupying half of the barracks.
When the Mongolians who came with Zhao Xuan were busy unloading their goods, Zhang Shao sent his men to help. I walked around with Zhao Xuan and had a look.
After hearing what Zhang Shao said, Zhao Xuan asked: "I think this workshop is quite large? Is this the only thing it can do?"
"The key is that there is no one. In the Shannan area, more than one hundred thousand people have been killed or injured in the past two years. We can't find any blacksmiths locally. And over in Zhongdu, ahem, they are short of manpower. Secondly, even if we are No matter which craftsman you have chosen, when they hear that they are coming to the back of the mountain, they will immediately shake their heads like a rattle..."
Zhao Xuan smiled and said: "That's natural. After all, this place is under the eyes of the Mongols! The people are scared of being killed by the Mongols. Who dares to come here to seek death."
"So not only is there a shortage of people in the blacksmith workshop, but also the construction that should be done in this city, such as warehouses, stables, and horse stalls at the head of the city. Because there are no common people to sign for service, the soldiers have to do it themselves. It was very hard to come out!”
Zhang Shao is a local veteran and is the most considerate of others. He had just seen that Zhao Xuan was dissatisfied with the mess in the city, and now he said something sideways and praised Zhao Xuan's new subordinates.
At that moment, the few officials nodded like they were pounding garlic, and they all said, "It's not hard work, you have to work harder."
What Zhang Shao said is quite right.
After Guo Ning took control of Zhongdu, he immediately appointed Zhao Jue as the military envoy of Wuding Army and advanced to the states behind the mountains in the north via Juyong Pass. But three months later, when Qiu Huiluo's troops were gradually mobilized to the states behind the mountains, there was still only one Jinshan that we could firmly control.
That's because the population is too small to support the army.
Without the population for grazing and arable land, all the army's food and supplies had to be transferred from there. This puts huge pressure on logistics, especially since the geographical environment of this transportation route is complex, with mountains, grasslands, and wetlands interlaced. The roads are difficult to maintain, the wheels and axles are frequently damaged, and the consumption of vehicles and materials is very high.
Without the support of the population, even if the Marshal's Mansion controls all parts of Shannan, it will only be an empty territory. Our own forces can only control a few strategic points and the vast outer space. The Mongols can come and go wherever they want. If we are slightly negligent, we will be surrounded by them again and march straight into the Central Plains.
But how many people would be needed to rebuild the northern defense line? How many people can support at least two-thirds of the boundary trench defense line and the many military forts dotted behind it?
fifty thousand? One hundred thousand? Half a million?
When the Jin Dynasty was at its peak, the command forts and garrison forts at the state and road levels behind the boundary trenches were all densely populated. For example, Changzhou, where Guo Ning was born, has 1,241 households, and Xuande, behind Changzhou, has 32,147 households. Although there is no accurate number of Yongtun soldiers and civilians along the boundary trench, there are approximately 200,000 strong men.
What now?
What it looks like along the boundary trench, the soldiers and horses of the Ding Navy have not arrived, so no one can see it. Just look from Jinshan Mountain to the south, through Juyong Pass, and all the way to Jinkou Camp in the north of Zhongdu City. How many villages have been burned down, and how many fertile fields have been trampled into white ground? Even if you use a grate to carefully cross the one hundred and eighty-mile boundary, you may not be able to identify 10,000 strong men.
As for the city of Zhongdu, it was besieged twice by the Mongolian army, only to be worse. Not to mention those who died from fighting, more than 300,000 people died from starvation alone. The mass graves in the south of the city have long been buried on the fifth floor!
This is also the reason why the Du Marshal's Mansion treats a large number of prisoners with great dignity.
After the war in Zhongdu, the Mongols, Khitans, and even the surrendered soldiers on Beijing Road who failed to catch up with the battlefield uprising and became prisoners were now treated as laborers and sent to work in various departments to atone for their sins. Without them, a lot of things just wouldn't be possible!
After talking a few more words on this topic, Zhang Shao shook his head repeatedly. He came here first. In the past two months, he had witnessed the difficulties in earnest and felt a lot of depression in his heart.
The two of them climbed up the wall of the inner city and looked out. Under the scorching sun, the Mongols lined up in several queues and unloaded boxes and packages of military supplies from vehicles and pack horses. Everyone's clothes were covered with robes. Soaked.
Shi Mo, who was leading the team, had just finished looking at the unloading area designated in the city and walked out from the inner city. Unintentionally, he looked up and saw Zhao Xuan and Zhang Shao standing side by side. He stopped and raised his hands: "Shi Mo is the first to meet these two generals."
Zhang Shao's family members were all killed by the Mongolian army. He had no good impression of any foreign race, so he just snorted and ignored them.
Zhao Xuan looked at Shi Moye first and said with a smile in Khitan: "This trip is hitting the poisonous sun, you have worked hard! After the goods are unloaded, take a good rest. I think there are a few lakes outside the city that are good, Let’s all go take a shower and come back for dinner.”
Zhao Xuan was born as a merchant, and his family was engaged in business in the grasslands and various ethnic groups in the northeastern interior. Therefore, he can speak Mongolian, Khitan, and Jurchen, and can also chat with the Tatars and Wanggu people. His temperament is relatively soft.
Shi Mo also led people to transport supplies. He had seen many officers of the Ding Navy recently, and it was rare to see them surrender to foreigners so politely. At that moment, he was moved and saluted again: "Don't worry, General Zhao, we will be able to finish moving in half an hour at most. Those who need to be handled with care, I also specially let people keep an eye on them, and there will never be any question."
Shi Mo also spoke in Chinese first.
Zhao Xuan also turned back to Chinese and smiled: "Okay, okay!"
Shi Mo also hurried out first to supervise the Mongols in their work.
"Turns out he's a Khitan! Hum hum..." Zhang Shao turned to look at Shi Mo Ye's back.
Because there were many Khitans in the Dinghai navy, especially those who moved Chu Cai to the top of the list of civil servants, many Han soldiers often felt that the military government was particularly tolerant of the Khitans. However, the Khitan people are also very sinicized. In the eyes of ordinary Han people, there is almost no difference between the Khitan people and the Han people. It would take a veteran from Northern Xinjiang like Zhang Shao to feel that it was still different.
Moreover, during the Battle of Zhongdu, Zhang Shao was one of the people who stayed in Shandong and was unable to catch up to fight and make meritorious deeds, so he felt particularly unhappy at the moment and was not happy to see any foreign race.
However, Zhao Xuan smiled and persuaded: "This Shi Mo is also a smart man and cooperates well with us. Let's be polite to him. Maybe in two years, this person will be a colleague! If you want to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds, The spirit must be in the north!"
Zhang Shao nodded slightly.
At this time, he looked around and saw soldiers wearing armor and holding swords and guns at every gate, horse face, and watchtower of Jinshan City. Everyone was standing under the scorching sun, sweating profusely, but no one stood crookedly, and no one left their post to rest.
This situation proved the effectiveness of the military training in the past two months and made him happy.
Zhao Xuan then said something to make him more energetic.
"As for the shortage of personnel in the military states behind the mountain... the marshal has known about it for a long time. Lao Zhang, to tell you the truth, I came here this time on the order of the marshal to solve this problem."
