Han Shizu

Chapter 2169: Sejong 45: Han-Jin Conflict
How to solve the Mobei problem? From the winter of the eighth year of Jianlong to the spring of the ninth year, the court discussed many ways, but almost everyone knew that with the rise of the Naiman and Liu Jin's arrogance, if they wanted to achieve substantial results in dealing with the problem, they would have to resort to military means in the end. Other means might be useful, but they would be of limited use.

However, the Han Empire was distracted by the rebellion in Yunnan and Guizhou in the southwest at that time. Although it also felt that the rise of the Naiman Jin Kingdom posed a serious threat to the northern border of the empire, it was unable to make up its mind to resort to direct force.

The road should be taken step by step, and the meal should be eaten bite by bite. The early teachings of Emperor Shizu made Emperor Liu Wenji restrain the impulse to send troops to the north to attack the Naiman. Of course, given the situation at that time, the hostility between Han and Jin was already obvious, and the war between Jin and Raole was almost over.

The reason why Liu Jin did not march south in large numbers was that he had concerns, especially the existence of Rao Leguo, which was a thorn in his side. He had to eliminate this threat before he could march south with confidence.

As for the southward movement of the Jin troops, it was only a matter of time. The fundamental reason was that the Naiman Jin Kingdom, which was "conquered" by Liu Jin, could not stop the pace of war for long. At the same time, the harsh and cold living conditions in the northern desert and the traditional nomadic production and lifestyle could not provide for the needs of the people of all ethnic groups across the country.

Generally speaking, in such situations, the rulers would either exploit their subordinates to the utmost, which was actually the ruling mode of the Mobei Khitan for decades. As a hero who had just unified the desert, Liu Jin naturally could not follow the old path of the Mobei Khitan and castrate himself and get rid of his own minions.

Making use of the traditional skills of nomadic peoples and expanding and plundering outward or southward became the only option. Even though the Han Empire was at its peak, there was basically no other way to solve the fundamental problems of survival under the limited conditions of the social era.

It was inevitable that Raole Kingdom became Liu Jin's first target. It was too close to Mobei and posed a huge threat to Jin's rule, especially the newly conquered "Hulunbuir Prairie", which Liu Jin could not ignore.

At the same time, Raole Kingdom had the support of the Han Dynasty, and occupied the "Korqin Grassland" and a large area of ​​fertile land in the Nahe River Basin. After Liu Xin's 30 years of development and prosperity, it had accumulated enough population and wealth to make Liu Jin drool.

If the Raole Kingdom could be annexed, the benefits are self-evident. It would directly enhance the national strength of the Jin Kingdom. As for the disadvantages, it would only lead to enmity with the Han Empire. After annexing the Khitan, Liu Jin was no longer afraid of the Han Empire in the south, at least mentally.

However, the attack on the Raole Kingdom was not smooth. In terms of bravery, the Raole army was inferior to the Jin army, but in terms of equipment, it was far superior to the Jin army. In particular, relying on its close relationship with the empire, the Raole army was also armed with gunpowder weapons such as rockets, artillery, and fire mines. In this regard, even though Liu Jin had been prepared, he still suffered a great loss after a large-scale confrontation.

It is worth mentioning that the Jin soldiers under the command of Liu Jin evolved very quickly. Although they could not find a way to restrain the enemy, they at least gradually became familiar with the battlefield rhythm of gunpowder weapons. The explosions and roars were shocking, but given the limitations of accuracy and power, it was still difficult to pose a fatal threat to the highly mobile cavalry of the Jin Kingdom in the situation of attacking and defending. In the fight on horseback alone, relying on more sufficient experience and the instinct of fighting on horseback, the Jin soldiers were indeed better than Rao Le's army.

However, the problem faced by the Jin soldiers was still obvious, that is, they were weak in siege. Although Raole's army was also mainly composed of cavalry, it also had the defensive factors of the Han army, especially in city defense. The cities scattered among rivers and mountains within the territory of Raole were hard bones for the Jin soldiers. If they wanted to chew them, they had to be mentally prepared to lose their teeth.

Therefore, during the years-long "Battle of Rao Le and Jin Le", the Jin soldiers' tactics were constantly changing, from the early "one-battle" decisive battle to siege the city and attack the reinforcements, mainly to trap the city and annihilate the effective forces of Rao Le's army.

In the first few years, with their rich accumulation, they were still able to fight against the Jin soldiers, but as time went on, they became weaker and weaker. Rao Lejun didn't even dare to fight with the Jin soldiers outside the city, and could only defend the city, changing "protecting the border" to "protecting the city". Even if they were defending the city, they could only rely on Jinshan, Xingguo, Baicheng, and Lekang. Ordinary small cities and forts could not withstand the attacks of the Jin soldiers.

Seeing that the strong city was difficult to conquer, Liu Jin was reluctant to waste precious troops in the Han city, so he gave up the goal of directly annexing Raole State and focused on plundering. Tens of thousands of Jin soldiers, like locusts, plundered everything in Raole State, including people, livestock, and property.
In the eighth year of Jianlong, Liu Xin lost almost half of his life's possessions in several large-scale lootings by Liu Jin. When the Andong Jurchen Rebellion was in full swing, some Jin soldiers even crossed the border and went south to burn, kill and plunder in the Yanshan North Road. Although they were quickly expelled by the local garrison, the Yanshan North Road also tasted the taste of iron and blood again after nearly half a century of peace.

The harassment and threats posed by the Jin army to the northern border of the empire were not limited to the northern road of Yanshan Mountain. During the raging war in Raole, harassment from Jin soldiers or Jin's subordinate tribes had become normalized along the Han Empire's long northern border, in the deserts and grasslands north of the Great Wall and south of the Yin Mountains.

By the eighth year of Jianlong, the existence of the Naiman Jin Kingdom had become a cancer that had plagued the peace of the northern border of the empire. The Han and Jin were only a thin layer of fragile window paper away from a complete breakdown. The turmoil in the northern frontier even affected the eating of sheep by the powerful and the people in the capital.
But at the beginning of the ninth year of Jianlong, the resolution reached by the imperial center still did not include sending troops directly to the north. The basic policy of the empire to suppress rebellions and expel bandits was to attack the south first and then the north. However, knowing the ambitions of Liu Jin and the threat of Jin to the Han Dynasty, it was impossible to sit idly by.

The demise of Khitan has already caused Liu Wenji to be criticized. For this matter, there is always gossip inside and outside the government, accusing Liu Wenji of only focusing on seizing power and rectifying the situation, dealing with his relatives, and indulging in foreign aggression.
In this regard, Liu Wenji was in a really difficult situation. If he had insisted on sending troops to rescue the Khitan in northern Mobei, not to mention the political risks that military success or failure might bring to Liu Wenji, once he took action, the outcome would have been different.

Rumors, though they cannot hurt people, can certainly hurt their hearts, and Liu Wenyuan, the King of Andong, always liked to play such tricks. This was an important reason why Liu Wenji was deeply angry with Liu Wenji and Andong, which triggered the "vassal dispute" in the sixth year of Jianlong.

Therefore, after discussing with the civil and military officials in the Political Affairs Hall, Liu Wenji took three measures against the Naiman Jin Kingdom. First, increase the support for the Raole Kingdom in terms of food, weapons and troops (select brave warriors from the Khitan tribes in the south, give them weapons, and support Raole as mercenaries);
Second, the imperial edict was issued to all the troops guarding the northern border of the empire to strengthen their vigilance, patrols and other control measures. If the Jin army invaded again, the border garrison commanders could launch a counterattack at the right time and resolutely eliminate all the invading enemies.

Thirdly, and this was the most severe blow to the Jin Dynasty, an imperial edict was issued to the northern borders, especially the important roads and checkpoints bordering the Jin Dynasty, to block all trade routes leading to the northern desert and prohibit any grain, tea, salt or iron from flowing into the Jin Dynasty's territory. Economic sanctions were directly used.

That's right, even during the years when the Jin Kingdom and the Raole Kingdom were in fierce confrontation, the economic ties between the Han Empire and Mobei were not interrupted. Many merchants still sold the materials that the Jin Kingdom urgently needed, including some weapons and equipment, through open and secret trading routes. During that period, smugglers in the northern border were the most rampant, and it was the right time to make money.
With the issuance of the three major orders from the court, although no large-scale military action was taken, the atmosphere in the entire northern border of the empire became tense. Liu Xin, the Prince of Raole, finally breathed a sigh of relief and his complaints against the court were somewhat eased.

Due to the economic sanctions, smuggling crimes in the northern border have become more rampant. Even though the imperial court issued a cruel order to kill the offenders, some merchants still broke the law, especially some tribes living in the northern desert.
At the same time, economic sanctions were indeed effective for the Jin Dynasty. The north-south trade line was also the lifeline of Mobei to a certain extent. When the Han Empire issued a ban, many problems were quickly exposed. And those smuggling activities alone were obviously unable to make up for the Jin Dynasty's demand for various materials from the Han Dynasty.

As you can imagine, the Han Empire's move completely angered Liu Jin and intensified the hostility and conflict between the Han and Jin. Starting from the autumn of the ninth year of Jianlong, the northern border of the Han Empire, from Yulin in the west to Yanbei in the east, was full of warnings, smoke billowed, and the Jin soldiers frequently raided the south.

This time, compared with some so-called "tribal behavior" in the past few years, it was much more direct. Although the scale was still not large, they were all organized cavalry of the Jin Kingdom, rushing south, avoiding the strong, attacking the weak, and plundering the civilians.
Although the attack was minor and could not hurt the root, the harassment of the Jin soldiers still broke the peace of Shanyang and other places for decades. Facing the Jin cavalry that came and went like the wind, the Han army mainly relied on defense and counterattack. Although it achieved some results, the border troops were still in a mess. Some of the older generation of people in the south of the desert even missed Li Jilian. When Li Jilian was in charge of the south of the desert, he only led his troops to the north and plundered the Khitan, but the northern army was not seen plundering the south.

It was natural for Han and Jin to fall out. In fact, Liu Jin also saw that the Han Empire was powerless to the north. Although it was not difficult for the Han Empire to conquer both the south and the north, Emperor Liu Wenji was obviously unwilling to take such a risk.

After some blatant probing, the shrewd and cunning Liu Jin grasped this point, so in the tenth year of Jianlong, he reduced the harassment of the northern borders of the Han Dynasty and instead concentrated his forces again to march eastward to attack the Kingdom of Raole.

Without the Han army's direct involvement, relying on the strength of Raole alone and some "assistance", it is obvious that they are no match for the Jin soldiers who are as fierce as wolves and tigers. After all, the Raole Kingdom, starting from King Liu Xin, is not as good at fighting as the three Central Asian countries. After all, the environment is different and the training they have experienced is also different.

In addition, after many battles between the Jin Kingdom and the Raole and Han armies, the Jin soldiers also began to try to use gunpowder weapons. Some of their firearms came from battlefield capture, harassment and looting, and some came from imitation (Liu Jin paid special attention to the plunder of various craftsmen in Raole and Han territory, especially those who could build war machines). Even if the products they produced were of inferior quality, it was a valuable progress.

Therefore, in the summer of the 11th year of Jianlong, Liu Jin achieved the biggest breakthrough in the attack on Raole: he surrounded Xingguo City. This siege lasted for more than a month, and not only besieged the city, but also attacked it.

The Jin soldiers used tens of thousands of slave soldiers to launch an ant attack on the city of Xingguo, and combined with long-range weapons such as rockets, crossbows, and stone cannons, they really posed a considerable threat to Xingguo. If it weren't for the fact that King Liu Xin of Raole was highly respected and popular, and had a group of loyal subjects fighting to the death for him, Liu Xin would have been captured by the Jin soldiers, becoming a disgrace to the empire and a disgrace to the kings.
Xingguo was able to be saved, in addition to Raoleguo's desperate resistance, mainly because of support from two parties. Of course, it was not the imperial court. It took time to learn about Xingguo's difficulties, and it took even more time to make decisions, respond, and coordinate and raise funds.

It was two other people who saved Prince Raole from danger: Prince of Andong Liu Jitan and the commander-in-chief of the Northern Road of Yanshan, Dong Congyan (grandson of Dong Zunhui. Since Dong Zunhui had guarded Linhuang Prefecture for a long time after the Northern Expedition, Dong Congyan took up the position again decades later, which became a good story in the military and political circles of northern Yan).

Upon learning that Xingguo was under siege, Dong Congyan, an old rival of the Jin soldiers, immediately realized that this time was unusual. On the one hand, he sent people to inquire, and on the other hand, he mobilized 20,000 border troops and militia, and led them personally to the north to provide assistance.

Although Liu Jin was a little surprised that the Yanbei Han army took the initiative to rescue, he was overjoyed after hearing the news. He felt that this was a good opportunity to inflict heavy damage on the Han army, or even a godsend opportunity to incorporate Raole and Yanbei into the territory of the Jin Kingdom in one fell swoop.

When Dong Congyan's army marched to the west of Baicheng and the bank of the Talulu River, they were attacked by 40,000 Jin soldiers led by Liu Jin. This time, Liu Jin suffered a lot, and Dong Congyan was well prepared to deal with the attack of the Jin soldiers.

Even though the Jin soldiers outnumbered the Han army, they failed to defeat the Han army in the first few waves of attacks, and they lost the opportunity to quickly defeat the "Dong army". On the contrary, under the command of the strict and calm, the Han army formed a formation to defend itself, made steady progress, and even launched a local counterattack.

In the military history of the Han Empire, there are countless battles that prove that when the Han army formed a battle array, as long as the command system was not chaotic and the morale was not lost, they were invincible in their "domain". Dong Congyan, in just a few years, made the Yanbei Han army regain some of the things that had been worn away by the years.

After being caught in a melee of close combat, Liu Jin also felt something was wrong. By the time he adjusted his tactics and got rid of the fight with the Han army, he had already suffered more than 3,000 casualties. For the next five days, the two sides confronted each other by the Tulu River. The Jin soldiers closely monitored the Han army, while the Han army, under the command of Dong Congyan, was fearless and unmoved.
It was not until the news came from Xingguo City that the Jin soldiers were defeated that Liu Jin stayed in Xingguo to monitor the Jin soldiers in the city. Liu Shangyuan, the general of Andong State, led an army of 10,000 and joined forces with the defenders in the city to defeat the Jin soldiers in one fell swoop, beheading thousands of them, and the rest fled in embarrassment.

Upon hearing the news, Liu Jin was horrified and no longer cared about fighting with Dong Congyan's army, and quickly withdrew his troops. Dong Congyan saw the opportunity and personally led the Yanbei cavalry to pursue, but encountered a counterattack by the Jin soldiers at the eastern foot of Mantou Mountain, killing thousands of soldiers.

From the Taluo River to Xingguo City, Liu Jin suffered his first major defeat since he destroyed the Khitan and rebelled against the Han Dynasty, which severely hit his arrogance. From this battle, it also completely opened the prelude to the Han Empire's counterattack against the Naiman Jin Kingdom.

Dong Congyan's dispatch of troops also caused an episode later. Some civil officials in the court criticized him, saying that he had mobilized troops without permission, neglected his duties, and ignored the safety of Yanbei. They said that if the army failed and Yanbei was lost, Dong Congyan would be held responsible. Some even accused him of losing troops in the final pursuit of Liu Jin.
Fortunately, Liu Wenji was still sober and did not fall into the ditch. Although Dong Congyan's decision was questionable, both the original intention and the result were worthy of recognition. Liu Wenji was not to the extent that he could not tolerate some impromptu decisions by the generals. Therefore, he not only praised and rewarded Dong Congyan, but also sent several court officials who submitted the petition to Yanbei Dusi to serve under him.

As for the fact that Andong State sent troops to rescue, it was understandable. After all, if Raole was lost, they would face the threat of the Jin State directly. For the sake of security interests, they had to do something. This was also the consensus of the important regents left by Liu Wenyuan, and they let Liu Shangyuan, one of the "three horses", lead the army personally.

It should be noted that during the time of Liu Wenyuan, the relationship between Andong and Raole was not harmonious because Liu Wenyuan treated his fourteenth uncle with contempt. However, after this battle, starting with Liu Jitan, the relationship between the two countries began to improve thoroughly.
(End of this chapter)