vrcanaries Chapter 412 The Battle of Shunchang
Chapter 412 The Battle of Shunchang
Lan Yu of the Ming Dynasty: It's not that we're trying to diminish the prestige of the Song Dynasty or boost the morale of others, but Wanyan Zongbi is a better kid than Zhao Gou!
Fang Xuanling of the Tang Dynasty: It is the truth. Zhao Gou and Qin Hui colluded, and from that moment on, the fate of the Song Dynasty was sealed!
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: (??∧??)…
Sang Hongyang of the Great Han Dynasty: Everyone knows the Jurchens have wolfish ambitions, but Zhao Gou of the Zhao family is completely unaware of it!
……
The live broadcast continues.
Lin Ke continued, "Seeing the dire situation, Liu Qi and his officers abandoned their boats and traveled by land to Shunchang City."
"I received intelligence from Prefect Chen Gui that Wanyan Zongbi had occupied Tokyo and Kaifeng, and Chen Gui asked him what to do."
"Liu Qi then said that if there was grain in Shunchang City, he could defend the city with you."
"Upon receiving this answer, Chen Gui felt somewhat relieved and said to Liu Qi, 'We have tens of thousands of bushels of rice.' Upon hearing this, Liu Qi indicated that it was already sufficient."
"In addition, Liu Qi also discovered that Liu Yu had some unknown hobby and had collected a large amount of poison, which was quite a bargain for him."
"The families and supplies of the 'Selected Vanguard' and 'Wandering Warriors' armies, under Liu Qi's command, were still far from Shunchang. Fearing any unforeseen circumstances, Liu Qi dispatched cavalry to provide support, and they all entered the city by midnight."
"At this time, the battle report came that the Jin cavalry had reached Chenzhou, which is only three hundred li away from Shunchang."
"The situation was urgent, so Liu Qi convened a meeting of his generals to discuss how to defend against the Jurchens!"
"He analyzed that the Jin army would first occupy Kaifeng when they marched south, and then attack Shunchang. However, the Song army was not superior in terms of troop strength, which led to low morale."
"At this moment, someone suggested that since the enemy outnumbered us, we should send the elite troops to cover the rear, while the rest of us would protect our families and return to Jiangnan."
Upon hearing this, Liu Qi flew into a rage. Although Tokyo had been lost, it could still be defended. How could it be abandoned so easily? If anyone dared to say they were leaving again, then they could go to the underworld and stay there!
"Liu Qi's attitude silenced the others; birds of a feather flock together."
"For example, one of Liu Qi's subordinates, named Xu Qing, also shouted loudly:
The soldiers came with their families; we can't just abandon them and run away alone. Besides, if we bring them along, it'll be even harder to escape. It's better to fight back; there's still a sliver of a chance.
A soldier from the Ming Dynasty said: "That's right. They are all old, weak, and disabled. If they run away together, how can we guarantee their safety?"
Cheng Yaojin of the Tang Dynasty: Let's defend the city and fight bravely; we might just win!
An official from the Han Dynasty said: "Judging from his appearance, he's a bit more reliable than that Liu Guangshi. At least he didn't run away!"
A minor official in the Qin Dynasty: If we had prepared earlier, how could we have ended up in such a passive position?!
……
Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but admire Liu Qi. Even with a large army pressing on the city, he was unwilling to abandon it and flee. It seemed that the chances of winning were quite high!
Lin Ke's voice came through the screen again:
"Therefore, Liu Qi, in order to cut off the soldiers' retreat and to strengthen their resolve to defend the city,..."
"He ordered all the boats in the Ying River and other waterways to be scuttled and sunk, in order to show the officers and soldiers that he was determined to 'burn his boats and leave no way out,' and that only a desperate battle was the last chance for survival."
"Afterwards, he settled his own family and that of his generals and soldiers in a temple, piled firewood around them, and then sent troops to guard them."
Then he said to the guards, "If the city ultimately falls, then start burning down the place where my family lives, and never let a single household fall into the hands of the Jurchens."
"Upon hearing this, everyone became excited. Even the women brandished swords and shouted, 'People usually bully us, the Eight-Character Army; today, we will fight for our country and defeat the enemy!'"
"Subsequently, before the great battle began, Liu Qi ordered his generals to guard the four gates, while he personally supervised the preparations for war from the city walls."
"Then, he ordered the dismantling of the chariots built by the puppet Qi regime, burying the wheels on the city walls; then he removed the windows of the people's homes and blocked them with something."
"Furthermore, he worried that since there were thousands of houses outside the city, they might fall into enemy hands, so he simply burned them all down, implementing a scorched-earth policy."
"Liu Qi and the others prepared for six days, taking care of everything they could think of. There shouldn't be anything else left, before they were finally ready!"
"At that moment, the Jin cavalry had already reached the Ying River and the city walls."
"But Liu Qi had already taken the lead, setting up an ambush below the city walls, attacking and capturing two commanders: Ahei and the other two."
"Through interrogating these two men, we learned that General Han was stationed at Baishawo, thirty miles from the city."
"So that very night, Liu Qi dispatched over a thousand men to attack the camp of Han Chang, the commander of ten thousand. These men probably didn't expect so many to be killed."
"Not long after, 30,000 Jin soldiers joined forces with the Dragon-Tiger King Wanyan Tu and gathered together beneath the city walls."
"Liu Qi devised a plan—the Empty City Stratagem—by ordering the city gates to be opened. However, the Jin people were extremely suspicious, and because he was so open and straightforward, they dared not advance!"
Da Ming Lan Yu: The Empty City Stratagem seems to have worked for several of them!
A certain romantic and talented scholar of the Tang Dynasty: Liu Qi is indeed far more capable than Liu Guangshi. To achieve this level of skill when outnumbered is truly remarkable!
Zhu Houzhao, the number one troublemaker of the Ming Dynasty: Even with so many soldiers and generals, he couldn't control Wanyan Gou...
A Qin official: This indirectly shows that Wanyan Gou's destructive power was truly immense!
……
During the reign of Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty
At this moment, everyone in the imperial court looked at each other in silence.
The information that Miss Lin just mentioned has already been relayed to us.
Its contents were explosive, causing a large number of senior officials to faint, followed by a steady stream of imperial physicians filing in.
Who would have thought that this state, which is neither a state nor a ruler, would be descended from the blood of Prince Duan?
Even the most shameless among them could hardly remain a vassal state of the Jin dynasty like Emperor Gaozong!
The hope now is that the better His Majesty's health, the better the future situation will be.
To avoid that outcome, Prince Duan should continue to be a leisurely prince!
……
At this moment, people in front of the screen sighed and lamented. What good was Liu Qi's fighting prowess? The Jin Dynasty's greatest weapon was Zhao Gou!
Live stream continues:
"The Jin army had no choice but to shoot arrows at the Song soldiers, intending to let them experience what it meant to be hit by a torrential downpour!"
"However, Liu Qi had already considered this situation when he was making preparations. He first ordered his soldiers to build a low wall around the city."
"Immediately afterwards, they had someone dig a hole in the wall to make something like a door. Before the Jurchens fired their arrows, Liu Qi, Xu Qing, and others hid behind the Yangma wall and formed a battle formation."
"The arrows shot by the Jurchens all hit the wall, failing to strike vital points, so they were naturally useless."
"Liu Qi, through that breach, used the 'Enemy-Breaking Bow' supplemented by other bows like the Divine Arm Bow and the Powerful Crossbow to shoot at the enemy from the city wall, killing a great many Jin soldiers in an instant."