Chapter 24: Psychological Warfare Before the Lines

This is the fundamental reason why the Jin army adopted the strategy of siege and peace negotiations; as long as the Song army was willing to hold the city walls, the Jin army would certainly never be able to breach the city—unless they sent that great god Guo Jing out to perform square dancing.

Zhao Ning arrived at the city wall, followed by his ministers. Upon seeing the soldiers around them, the ministers looked panic-stricken and full of disdain. When they caught sight of the Jin army arrayed in orderly, dense black ranks outside the city, they turned pale as paper and trembled all over.

Li Ruoshui advised him, "It is dangerous here, Your Majesty. As the Son of Heaven, you should return to the palace quickly. We ministers are enough to handle things here."

Li Ruoshui had guts, but the other officials were not as brave. Some of them had knees knocking together and felt their legs go weak.

"It is of no consequence," Zhao Ning said, staring at the Jin troops still forming up below.

In the Jin encampment, the main body of the rear reinforcements was assembling. Looking down from the ramparts, the dark, dense mass resembled a torrent rapidly converging. Officers shouted and berated their men. Before a war, all great armies require mobilization. Mobilization is intended to bring soldiers into a combat state as quickly as possible and increase the collective fighting power.

As an elite force, the Jin army’s mobilization speed was extremely fast. After conquering the Liao State, they had captured a vast amount of siege equipment. For this siege of the Eastern Capital, the Jin people were fully prepared. Tall scaling ladders, trebuchets, and "goose carts" were being pushed out from the snow, with men specially assigned to clear the snow ahead.

The Jin army was composed of Jurchen, Khitan, Bohai, and Han people. The Jurchens were few in number, but they were the elite of the elite. The rest were remnants from the fallen Liao State. A *mouke* (a Jin military commander of a hundred, usually in charge of 300 men) shouted, "Give it everything you've got!"

Tall men of the Bohai tribe could be seen pushing the even taller and heavier trebuchets. In ancient China, these were known as *pao* (catapults). They had been used on the battlefield since the Three Kingdoms period, but they began to evolve during the Song Dynasty for a simple reason: firearms were beginning to be introduced into the military domain.

On the Song side, the barbican was filled with defenders—archers and crossbowmen. The barbican extended outward in a semi-circle, giving the Song soldiers a wide range of fire while the Jin army attacked.

The Song troops on the walls were also fully prepared. Everyone had finished their breakfast that morning, which consisted of steamed buns. In the Song Dynasty, these buns were filled with meat. Zhang Shuye was currently overseeing the military rations. His ability to streamline the army's supplies in such a short time was proof of his formidable capability. If that straw-filled fool Sun Fu had been in charge, the defending soldiers would likely not even be fed and would have been left watching Guo Jing open the city gates.

Watching the Jin soldiers being mobilized outside, Zhao Ning once again felt the suffocating, overwhelming atmosphere of an ancient battlefield. The Song-Jin war was the pinnacle of cold-weapon warfare in ancient China; both sides would continuously pour in and mobilize armies of a million, carrying out inhumane slaughter across the vast lands of China. And this was only the beginning.

He, a 21st-century office worker who lived for overtime, had been thrust into this era—this cruel era. His mindset had begun to shift gradually during this time. War is brutal, but it can also temper a person's will into steel. Compared to the day he first arrived, he felt much calmer as he looked out at the city once more.

He turned and asked Zhang Bofen, "Bofen, who is the commander of this Jin army?"

"It is their Marshal, Wanyan Zonghan."

"Oh, so it is Wanyan Zonghan."

Just like their first southern campaign earlier that year, the Jin army had split into two routes. Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang each led one. Zonghan was the Marshal, and Zongwang was the Vice Marshal. The primary mastermind behind them was Wanyan Gao, the most powerful official in the Jin court.

Zhao Ning used his "megaphone" to shout, "Who is the commander below?"

Fierce generals like Yinsuke certainly had to learn Chinese; after all, the Jin State had annexed the Liao, and the backbone of the forces governing the Liao were precisely the Han people. After the Liao fell, these high-ranking Han officials entered the Jin court. Wanyan Aguda, in order to better consolidate his rule, began requiring some of the Wanyan clan to learn Chinese. Yinsuke was one of them, though his Chinese was relatively weak. Consequently, both southern campaigns brought along a large number of Han officials. For instance, Wanyan Zongwang brought Liu Yanzong, while Wanyan Zonghan had figures like Shi Li'ai.

Yinsuke shouted back, "Yinsuke! Who is the Song general?"

"I am the Emperor of the Great Song. Tell Wanyan Zonghan to come forward and speak with me."

Upon hearing that it was actually the Emperor of the Song, Yinsuke immediately sent someone to report.

"Report! Marshal, the Song Emperor requests to speak with you."

Wanyan Zonghan was somewhat surprised. "The Song Emperor wants to speak with me?"

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

"He is currently on the city tower."

"What is the Song Emperor trying to do?" Wanyan Zonghan wondered.

Wanyan Xiyin said, "Marshal, the Song Emperor likely feels intimidated now that we are attacking the city again."

Wanyan Zonghan replied, "The city is filled with a clamor of voices; the Song people's resistance is high today."

"Marshal, I fear that is merely a play the Song Emperor is putting on for us."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Marshal, think carefully: what kind of man is the Zhao-Song Emperor?"

Greed shone in Wanyan Zonghan's eyes. "Dull, cowardly, and hedonistic. A man like that being Emperor is the perfect opportunity for us!"

"And what of the strength of the Song army?"

"Xiyin, I know all of this. The Song army is fragile and only looks imposing; if it weren't for the sturdiness of Bianjing, my army would have already taken this place, and the Song State would have fallen long ago!"

"Then why is the Song army so fragile?"

"Naturally, it is the problem of the Han people themselves. They are a flock of sheep. How can a flock of sheep fight against us tigers and wolves?"

"Not necessarily! Marshal, if I may be so bold, please do not look down on the Han people in terms of warfare. The Han have established several dynasties full of martial vigor and once swept across the frontier. The Song Dynasty is weak only because of the problems of the Zhao Emperor himself."

"What does this have to do with the current situation?"

"The Song Emperor is suspicious of his military men and guards against his own subjects. Li Gang is no longer in the city, and most of the ministers in the court are cowards. The behavior of the Song court over the past year is enough to prove that the Emperor of the Song is fundamentally incapable of uniting all sides to fight us."

Wanyan Zonghan seemed to understand Wanyan Xiyin’s point. He said, "You mean to say that the Song Emperor is boosting morale in the city today not because he truly wants to fight us, but because his goal is to negotiate?"

"Exactly."

"Then what of the *Tokyo Daily* we received yesterday?"

At this point, the Han official Shi Li'ai stepped forward and said, "Marshal, that is even easier to explain. The Song Emperor wants to tell us that he knows we also want to negotiate, and he is trying to gain a more advantageous position at the negotiating table."

Zhao Ning did not expect that his actions would be so over-analyzed by the Jin generals. However, this could not be blamed on the Jin generals; their habitual thinking was still stuck in the era of Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong, when the Zhao-Song court had indeed appeared far too weak.

"In that case, I might as well go and meet the Song Emperor."