Ch.165Extinction (2)

The Jin Dynasty’s city gate had developed a crack.

Unlike the walls, a crack in the city gate meant only one thing.

“All forces, gather at the front gate! The siege is coming to an end!”

At my command, soldiers began to assemble.

There were no reinforcements coming to save the Jin Dynasty.

With the walls protecting Zhongdu collapsed, the city was as good as finished.

“No matter how skilled the enemy commander might be, resistance is meaningless once the walls have fallen.”

The Jin Dynasty originally arose from the Jurchen people, who were both farmers and herders.

But after conquering the Central Plains, they became too immersed in Han Chinese culture.

As a result, they became like weak settlers, unable to withstand enemy attacks without walls.

“Weak and soft.”

Without walls, the Jin Dynasty was vulnerable.

With their armor of walls gone, they were essentially naked.

In terms of wildlife, they were like turtles with broken shells.

“Gurkhan! The gate will completely collapse soon.”

“The Keriks are successfully scaling the walls.”

“Enemy archers are attempting to counterattack, but their resistance is futile.”

“Victory seems imminent, Khagan.”

Reports from the Darughachis were coming in one after another.

I nodded and issued orders to the messenger.

“Once we enter Zhongdu, we’ll immediately engage in urban warfare. Along the main avenue, Hulitu will control the right flank, and Chalukhab the left.”

Zhongdu was a larger city than Xingqing or Qara-Ordo.

Therefore, it was nonsensical to think one unit could control the entire city.

We needed one quick cavalry unit and one infantry unit to prepare for any contingencies.

For this siege, I assigned Hulitu and Chalukhab to control the city.

“Munglig.”

At my call, Munglig approached as if he had been waiting.

He bowed and looked at me.

“Let’s go meet the Jin Emperor.”

“I obey the command of Gurkhan, the sole Khagan of the steppe.”

Munglig rose and waved his hand, signaling to the Kheshig.

The Kheshig then formed up behind me and Munglig.

When Munglig pointed forward, the Kheshig began to advance in two columns.

Munglig and I followed behind them.

* * *

“You must flee, Your Majesty!”

“Where to? Do we even have a path of escape?”

Bang.

The Jin Emperor struck the throne hard with his clenched fist.

The startled officials didn’t know what to do.

“Your Majesty, please calm your anger.”

At the words of Zhang Hao, the Minister of State, the Emperor looked at him.

Seeing his calm demeanor, the Emperor took a deep breath and nodded.

“Zhongdu is surrounded. If this continues, the entire Jin Dynasty could be in danger.”

“But I don’t think the Mongols will just stand by and watch.”

The Minister nodded as if he understood.

Then he carefully presented his strategy to the Emperor.

“Appoint the Prince of Yue as Crown Prince and have him defend this place.”

“The Prince of Yue…?”

The Prince of Yue was two years younger than the Prince of Zhao, Wanyan Shunan.

Currently, the official Crown Prince of Jin was Prince Hu, Wanyan Yingzhong, but he was in poor health and unable to fulfill his duties as Crown Prince.

As a result, the Prince of Zhao was effectively acting as Crown Prince in his place.

However, Wanyan Shunan was currently on a mission to recruit reinforcements.

For this reason, Zhang Hao suggested appointing the Prince of Yue as Crown Prince to defend this place.

“Yes. Appoint the Prince of Yue as Crown Prince to defend this place, while Your Majesty escapes to Kaifeng, which has not yet been captured.”

Kaifeng was one of the four major cities of the Jin Dynasty.

It was a city through which the Grand Canal, built during the Sui Dynasty, passed, making it prosperous in commerce and known as a city of transportation and trade.

For this reason, the Jin Dynasty focused on managing this place, and as a result, they were able to build walls that could withstand foreign invasions for several months, though not at the level of Zhongdu.

Additionally, as mentioned earlier, the Grand Canal passed through, so a river flowed nearby.

If they retreated to Kaifeng, which had high walls and was situated along a river, even the Mongols would find it difficult to attack Kaifeng recklessly.

“Kaifeng has a river flowing through it, making it difficult for Mongol cavalry to approach carelessly. Additionally, with its high walls, we can hold out as long as possible.”

The Emperor fell into deep thought.

If they remained in Zhongdu, the fate of the Jin Dynasty was as good as sealed.

So rationally speaking, evacuation was the right choice.

But thinking about the aftermath of this evacuation, he couldn’t easily flee.

The Emperor abandoning his duty to protect his people.

This was tantamount to saying that the Han Chinese, who made up the absolute majority of the Jin Dynasty’s subjects, had no reason to follow the Jin Dynasty anymore.

Additionally, going down to Kaifeng meant essentially losing control over the Liaodong region, the birthplace of the Jurchen people.

If they lost that place, it would be difficult to maintain the Jurchen cultural protection policies that the Emperor had been constantly attending to while governing the state.

As if understanding the Emperor’s feelings, Zhang Hao spoke.

“What is taken can be reclaimed by building strength. But if we surrender here now, we will never be able to reclaim it.”

With Zhang Hao’s words, the Emperor had to make a decision.

“Call for the Prince of Yue. I will appoint him as Crown Prince and entrust him with the defense of Zhongdu.”

At the Emperor’s decision, the officials cheered.

From their perspective, they wouldn’t have to stay and die here.

* * *

Zhongdu Daxingfu.

Since Emperor Hailing moved the capital, it had served as the capital of the Jin Dynasty.

It was not far from Liaodong, where the Jurchen people arose.

Additionally, it was suitable for controlling the Han Chinese.

Zhongdu was essentially a bridgehead connecting the vast empire of the Jin Dynasty.

Although we had not yet subdued the enemy commander, it was only a matter of time before he was eliminated.

Therefore, we had essentially captured this city.

“The enemy commander will soon be subdued.”

I nodded at the messenger’s report.

Then I turned my head to look at the walls.

Indiscriminate slaughter was taking place there.

The Mongols were generous to allies but not to enemies.

Especially to those who refused to surrender.

In that sense, there was no need to spare those who continued to resist from the moment our forces broke through the gate.

If a modern person saw this, they might call it unnecessary slaughter.

I agreed with this point.

But in the medieval era, such examples were necessary.

Not that this justified the slaughter, but if it could control the whole with minimal loss of life, it had to be done.

“Show no mercy to those resisting on the walls.”

“I obey your command.”

The messenger received my order and headed straight for the walls.

As he disappeared, Munglig approached my side.

“Brother, how do you feel returning to this place?”

Munglig and I had been here before.

To pay tribute to the Jin Emperor.

Having come here for that reason, returning now gave me a special feeling.

“It feels good.”

“I think so too. By the way, brother.”

“What is it?”

“I was wondering if I could receive the land reward I didn’t get last time…”

“Land?”

Suddenly talking about land, I couldn’t help but tilt my head as I looked at Munglig.

To this, Munglig pointed to a corner and said:

“Do you see that place, brother?”

“I see it clearly. An open space with impressive large trees.”

“I would like to receive that land.”

It was enough land to build about two buildings.

“Just that place?”

“Yes. That’s all I need.”

“What for?”

“I plan to recruit the servants we met last time and build a physical training facility there.”

A training facility?

This seemed like an absurd idea.

As I was about to say something, Chalukhab suddenly appeared before me.

With an urgent expression, he bowed and began to report.

“Khagan, we have a serious situation.”

“What is it?”

“Intelligence just came in from the forces controlling the area near the imperial palace that all the imperial guards protecting the front of the Jin palace have disappeared.”

“The imperial guards disappeared…?”

The role of the imperial guards was to protect the Emperor.

That’s why they stood in front of the palace to protect him.

But their disappearance meant…

“Munglig.”

As soon as I called, Munglig immediately brought the horses.

I mounted and galloped toward the imperial palace.

Munglig and Chalukhab followed behind me.

Upon arriving at the palace, I could immediately sense that we were too late.

“Not Renzong too… huh.”

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

Emperors fleeing was a common occurrence.

This was because in a monarchy, the death of the leader, the Emperor, often led to the fall of the nation.

For this reason, many monarchs throughout history chose to flee to fight another day.

I was well aware of this.

That’s why I had given orders to carefully surround Zhongdu to prevent the Jin Emperor from escaping.

But despite such orders, the Emperor had already fled.

“Unless he fled before we completely surrounded Zhongdu, this would have been impossible…”

The Jin Emperor didn’t consider the possibility of Wanyan Liang driving us away and winning, or conversely, being captured by us and losing.

Just based on the possibility that our ulus might surround Zhongdu, the Jin Emperor had led his officials and left Zhongdu.

Having left Zhongdu, the Emperor had roughly two places to go.

One was Shangjing Huiningfu, and the other was Nanjing Kaifengfu.

Shangjing had served as the capital until they moved the capital to Zhongdu.

However, since it was a city in the Liaodong region, if they had heard that Goryeo had invaded Liaodong, they would not have headed there.

So…

“There’s only one place.”

Nanjing Kaifengfu.

Sensing that the Jin Emperor was heading there, I looked at Munglig.

“The Emperor is heading to Kaifeng.”

At my words, Munglig’s eyes began to gleam.

“Can you capture him and make him kneel before me?”

“Of course, ruler of the four seas.”

Munglig bowed and smiled.