Each party may have its own understanding of what exactly means approaching the city with troops.
The king of Sui and his ministers who were sitting in the city of Kaifeng felt that they had to direct the navy to the top of the city before they could reach the city. As long as the Ding Navy does not force the outer city sixty miles away from Kaifeng Prefecture, we will always have room for maneuver.
In Guo Ning's view, if he marched hundreds of miles with his recharged soldiers, penetrated multiple defense lines of the Kaifeng court in one go, and then waited leisurely for reinforcements, that would be an attack on the city.
After Guo Ning reorganized his troops in Guide Mansion and gathered Guo Zhongyuan, Yin Chang, Han Xuan and other troops, he immediately attacked westward again along the south bank of the fork of the Yellow River. Within six days, he led his army to advance 200 miles, and successively captured Ningling, Xiangyi, and Qixian. He also repelled the command of Lieutenant Jia Guze who came from Xuzhou to intercept.
Now 30,000 troops were flying with flags all over the field, and the front group had already surrounded Chen Liu, who was only fifty miles away from Kaifeng. The dispatched reconnaissance cavalry also contacted Zhao Jue's headquarters stationed in Li Gudu.
But Guo Ning was not in a hurry to attack. Instead, he sent scouts out to inquire about the surrounding situation. The spies were running around day and night, pouring information into Guo Ning's hands like a stream of information. Everything was down to the smallest detail, and no trace was left out.
There are more than 200 scout cavalrymen in Dinghai Navy. They are all proficient in riding skills, agile and capable. They all have two horses, and they are all carefully selected good horses. They were divided into three shifts and took turns, patrolling from Fugou in the south to Xingyang in the west, thoroughly covering all places that might become battlefields.
As a result, they often encountered confrontations with small-scale defenders from various prefectures and counties in Kaifeng, with battles ranging from a few to dozens of people. Other than that, there were no large-scale conflicts.
In the Chinese army tent, Guo Ning looked down at the map, picked up a few round wild fruits, and placed them one by one on the map as markers.
His style in the army is very simple, and his food, clothing and housing are not much better than those of ordinary soldiers. But after all, his status is high, the weather is so hot, and he has a few crispy fruits soaked in well water on hand, which is not a luxury.
"In the past few days in Kaifeng City, I have sent messages from Mr. Gold Medal, but they have been intercepted several times by Ni and his people. From this, we know that Wanyan Congtan and He Shilie Qier are here, and Monk Wanyan Chen is here... Jin The reinforcements from the army were not slow in their actions. Wanyan Saibu was a little farther away. Maybe he wanted to wait for King Sui to flee west, and then take the credit from King Qin? Jia Guze retreated to Zhuxian Town, still ready to make a move. This guy is obviously a Han. I remember his surname is Fan, right? He took the Jurchen surname, which is quite serious."
Guo Zhongyuan on the side said: "The Southern Dynasty will not try its best to involve the Jin army for us. There should be two more captains from Huainan who will arrive at any time. Within five days, they will gradually capture them. I am afraid there will be 30,000 to 40,000 people."
Han Xuan said in a deep voice: "The Thirteen Captains' troops have returned with 30,000 to 40,000 people, which is not a small number. At least tens of thousands of people can be drawn out of Kaifeng City."
Guo Ning twisted a wild fruit in his hand, and when he was about to place it in the box representing Kaifeng, he shook his head again: "Not to mention tens of thousands of people in Kaifeng city, if we pull out all the men, there can be hundreds of thousands of people." , 200,000 people, but these are all empty heads. Does the Kaifeng court dare to believe that there are so many Han'ers? Does it dare to use them?"
He brought the fruit to his mouth, took a bite, and grinned sourly: "In the past few days, I have been stationed in Chenliu, just to let the news of my personal arrival spread slowly in Kaifeng City. Maybe At a certain point in time, the people of Kaifeng will be able to help us, and we don’t know.”
"I see."
It was already July, and more than twenty days had passed from the time Guo Ning's troops dispatched troops to the time they arrived in Kaifeng. This was a surprise attack without warning, the marching distance was extremely long and the range of troops mobilized was huge. It was as fast as lightning, and the results were even more brilliant. However, after arriving here, Guo Ning was not in a hurry.
He has been studying very hard in the past two years, especially the Art of War. He usually likes a sentence in the Art of War, which is called "Those who are good at fighting will have dangerous situations and shortcomings." This is all because he has conquered east and west in the past few years, and almost every time he has naturally met the definition of danger and shortcomings.
It is also said in the Art of War that a person who is good at fighting people's power is like turning a boulder on a thousand-foot mountain. At this moment, Ding Haijun had gained the advantage through a short and fierce action, but after approaching Kaifeng, it would need to gather momentum again on Qianren Mountain, mainly to resist the enemy, and wait for the next short and fierce action.
The target of the next operation is the crumbling Kaifeng court.
In this regard, the Kaifeng court was also unlucky.
Since the founding of the Kingdom of Jin, in terms of military, political and economic status, it has adopted the policy of first Jurchen, second Bohai, second Khitan, and finally Han'er. The brutal oppression of Han'er is indescribable. Under the centuries-old foundation of the Great Jin Kingdom, Han's people are weighed down like a mountain of corpses and bones, like a sea of blood and tears. It is true that it is true.
However, the attitude of the Han people towards Dai Jin cannot be said to be completely hostile in recent years.
Because the Mongols in the north are more ferocious and violent than the Jurchens who are gradually becoming Chinese, so generally speaking, the Han children in the north hope that the Jin Kingdom will continue to maintain basic order and choose the lesser of two evils.
As for the three prefectures and nineteen military prefectures on Nanjing Road, Daijin has always been more careful in governance because it faces the relationship with the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty. If the times were not bad and there was no military conscription, the life of the people on Nanjing Road would be no worse than that of ordinary people in the Song Dynasty.
After King Sui arrived in Kaifeng, he used Tian Zhuo, Hou Zhi and other Han officials to try to break the barriers between the Jurchens and the Haners. They had made great efforts and could even be said to be very sincere.
The problem is that no matter how hard King Sui works, he can't get rid of his identity as a Jurchen, so he can't compete with Guo Ning.
After all, Guo Ning is a real man! He is the only powerful minister who has wielded power by force since the founding of the Kingdom of Daijin a hundred years ago!
When Guo Ning actually controlled half of the Kingdom of Jin as a Han'er, and saw that the dynasty was about to change, countless Han people were overjoyed.
People used to have no choice, but now they do!
The common people are as loyal to the Kingdom of Jin as Guo Ning is to the Kingdom of Jin!
This time Guo Ning suddenly sent troops, important towns such as Xuzhou and Guide Mansion fell so quickly, and the tribes such as Wanyanbi, Mo Niu Jinzhong and Wanyan Heda were defeated so quickly. Who dares to say that this has nothing to do with it?
So, do the monarchs, ministers and nobles in Kaifeng regard the people in the city as objects they can rely on, or objects they need to guard against?
As the ancients said, water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. Is the Han'er in Kaifeng the water that carries the boat or the water that capsizes it?
This question was not originally so intense, but since Guo Ning rushed to Kaifeng in one breath, he was forced to surface this question and get an answer from everyone.
If the Kaifeng court avoids this issue, the people in the city cannot rely on it. They did not have the courage to rely on the city to fight a fierce offensive and defensive battle with Ding Haijun.
All they can hope for is that the soldiers of the Thirteen Captains, who are filled with a large number of foreign races, can rush back in time. And then in the field…
Um?
When the military plan was originally set, the possibility of Wanyan Shouxu and others abandoning the city was considered. Therefore, extra cavalry were brought with them, ready to continue the pursuit at any time.
At present, the situation on our side is already excellent, but Wanyan Shouxu did not escape.
Is it because he and his advisers understood that once they fled, the Jurchens' prestige would completely collapse?
Or was it because of Wanyan Shouxu's extraordinary courage?
Or do they really think that the Kaifeng court's exhausted family resources can force the navy to retreat in a field battle?
Guo Ning's eyes suddenly condensed.
Just as he was thinking carefully, he heard Yin Chang chuckle and say: "Seventy thousand or eighty thousand hungry ghosts tightened their belts and went deep into the territory of the Song Dynasty to rob. They were beaten dozens of times with dog-beating sticks by the Song people. The battle couldn't be solved. The whole group worked hard for more than a month, and then rushed back in disgrace. Half of the people who could get there were extremely tired, and they were crying and shouting that they would die under the city of Kaifeng... This is quite interesting."
Hearing these contemptuous words, Peng Yibin felt particularly happy. He was a rebel through and through, and his origins were different from those of the other generals and most of the imperial soldiers, so he immediately clapped his legs and laughed.
The army suddenly penetrated deep into the enemy's territory. On the one hand, it unexpectedly dispersed the heavy troops of the Jin Kingdom in Hebei, and then suppressed Kaifeng Mansion on both sides. On the other hand, it was inevitable that the enemy was outnumbered and we were outnumbered.
When Yin Chang said this, all the generals knew that he was deliberately making a joke to encourage everyone at the last moment before victory. Several generals followed and laughed for a while, but they would not really underestimate the enemy.
As soon as the laughter started, Guo Ning raised his hand.
The generals immediately stopped laughing: "Lord?"
"Excluding the partial troops from various places in Fuding, we have 18,000 people here. Mr. Jin Qing and Shi Tianni's troops will also arrive in the next few days at the latest. In addition, Marshal Liu will also bring some troops and horses. Kaifeng On the front of Edom, we can have 30,000 troops."
"yes."
"Zhao Jue will arrive at Li Gudu first. Don't worry, Li Erlang. Don't go crazy. I expect he will rush the troops to arrive tomorrow at the latest. Then we can have 15,000 troops on the front north of Kaifeng."
"yes."
"There are a total of 45,000 troops and horses in both directions. They are all elites that we have gathered little by little over the years. They are all armed and ready to fight at any time. Food and supplies have also been prepared in advance. In the past few days, we have won consecutive battles, and the soldiers Their morale is even more high, eager to win a battle and be rewarded for their meritorious service. This can be said to be as powerful as a crossbow and as fast as a machine..."
Guo Ning has really gained a lot of knowledge recently, and he casually added a semi-incomprehensible sentence before continuing: "Then, how come the city of Kaifeng expects to take advantage of field battles? Do they think that less than half of them can Are the troops of the Thirteen Captains stronger than Genghis Khan’s cowardly army?”
He looked around at the generals: "My confidence comes from the strong military force that has been tempered for thousands of years, and from everyone in front of me. Where does the confidence of the Kaifeng court come from?"
"My lord, what you mean is that there is a back-up plan in Kaifeng that we didn't know about beforehand?"
"What do you think?"
"Thinking about it this way..." Yin Chang looked at the generals and replied thoughtfully: "Since Wanyan Shouxu didn't run away, he couldn't have waited for death in Kaifeng City. If he really wanted to die, he could have exposed himself to the bushes long ago. Once the city is opened, there is no need to send people repeatedly to urge for reinforcements."
Guo Ning thought for a while and raised his voice slightly: "Every ministry immediately mobilizes Qingqi. I want to send more scouts, twice as many!"
"As you command!"
