Chapter 1547: The Shiwei–Jurchen War

"No, no!" Inside Chongzheng Hall, Emperor Liu argued loudly, and perhaps sensing the impatience in Emperor Liu's voice, the fan-holding palace maids nearby instinctively increased the force of their waving to cool him down.

Emperor Liu glared at Prince Wei Liu Min, who before him looked increasingly valiant, and pointed at a sand table in front of him, saying: "The Shiwei have over thirty thousand men, while the Wanyan Jurchen have fewer than five thousand—a six-to-one disparity—and they're attacking a besieged city. Even at a two-for-one exchange rate, they could annihilate the Jurchen. How can they fail to take a mere Tieli City?"

Before this father and son lay a square sand table, upon which was presented a vast expanse of mountains, forests, plains, and cities—the Tieli region of the northeast. Surrounding Tieli City were planted small red and yellow flags, representing the two forces of Shiwei and Jurchen currently contending in the Tieli region.

Emperor Liu and his son were playing a war-gaming exercise over the Shiwei–Jurchen War. Emperor Liu naturally took the side of the numerically superior Shiwei, while Liu Min naturally took the relatively weaker Jurchen. However, as the exercise went on, arguments were inevitable.

Seeing Emperor Liu getting anxious, Liu Min said calmly: "Tieli City may be small, but it was after all the site of the former Tieli royal capital, and it has some defenses to rely upon. The Jurchen are holding the city, and have stockpiled large amounts of grain and weapons inside. The Shiwei are primarily cavalry—adequate for field battles, but they likely can't take a city!"

"If Shiwei cavalry can't take cities, are the Jurchen any good at defending them? Besides, back then, didn't the Wanyan Jurchen take Tieli City with just three thousand cavalry?" Emperor Liu retorted.

Liu Min: "According to reports from the Liaodong Military Intelligence Office and the Wude Office, the Wanyan Jurchen's troops have undergone specialized infantry training and can basically skillfully use the various military equipment supplied by Liaodong. Their city-defense capability naturally cannot compare with our Great Han army, but compared to the Shiwei, they should still be considerably stronger.

As for taking Tieli City back then, it was also a matter of catching the enemy off guard—the Shiwei were unprepared, and moreover lacked experience in defending cities, which is why the Jurchen cavalry were able to exploit the opportunity!"

"Fine, suppose what you say makes sense!" Emperor Liu pointed out again: "But the Shiwei still have nearly thirty thousand men, and they can also request reinforcements from the Shiwei royal court. Wanyan Bohai's combined Jurchen forces number only a little over ten thousand. The advantage in troop numbers isn't so easily erased! Even if they can't take Tieli City for the moment, they can starve them out, can't they?"

The reason Emperor Liu took the Shiwei side was that the Shiwei were currently the largest power among the northeastern foreign tribes. Overwhelming with superior force and winning through numbers had also been what Emperor Liu was most skilled at for most of the past.

Although Emperor Liu prided himself on being a horse-riding emperor, aside from the time he truly participated in warfare when leaving Hedong before the founding of the state, the series of wars the Great Han had experienced gave him no real opportunity to exercise his "military ability." The Battle of Luancheng was already his peak, and the only thing truly worth elaborating upon—and even so, the fame of that battle was achieved through a combination of many coincidental factors.

And when it came to true military ability, Emperor Liu was clearly inferior even to this sixth son of his before him. Liu Min said unhurriedly: "Siege might be one option, but it's clumsy and heavy. In this conflict between the two sides, the Wanyan Jurchen have been scheming deliberately, while the Shiwei are responding passively, without adequate preparation. Their ability to counterattack to Tieli City is merely a matter of superior numbers.

Moreover, Wanyan Bohai has clearly prepared for this in advance. He left five thousand troops to hold the city while personally leading cavalry to roam outside, continuously harassing—coordinating from within and without. Though his numbers are few, the initiative in the battle rests in their hands. And with Jurchen cavalry operating outside, how can the Shiwei, who are poor at siege warfare, risk being attacked while committing fully to assaulting the city?

Therefore, I can say with certainty that the Shiwei cannot take Tieli City through frontal assault. Unless they wait for the Jurchen inside the city to run out of grain—but first, that takes time; second, the Shiwei may not even be able to sustain themselves that long; and third, the Wanyan Jurchen likely still have contingency plans!"

Hearing his analysis, Emperor Liu thought for a moment, then pointed out: "The Jurchen are already at a numerical disadvantage, and they've split their forces in two. The intent is clear and the idea is good—coordinating inside and out—but with their strength spread thin, if one part goes wrong, it's total failure and heavy losses.

If the Shiwei can't take the city, they could simply leave a portion to watch Tieli City and concentrate their forces to eliminate the Jurchen cavalry outside. You yourself said they're adequate in field battles and mostly cavalry—on those open plains and grasslands, are they afraid they can't outfight the Jurchen?"

Liu Min: "If they can't win, can't they run? In my view, that Wanyan Bohai is rather cunning and naturally won't fight the Shiwei head-on. As long as they aren't forced into a direct confrontation, it won't be easy for the Shiwei to break through the outer Jurchen forces first.

Moreover, though the Shiwei are numerous, their tribal composition is complex and orders are hard to unify. The Jurchen are few, but they're centered on the Wanyan tribe. Even just in terms of discipline and obedience to orders, the Jurchen hold a certain advantage!"

"Then in your view, this time the Wanyan Jurchen march north can truly defeat a larger force with a smaller one, overcome the strong with the weak, and successfully occupy the Tieli region?" Emperor Liu was getting a bit anxious, and his words carried irritation.

Seeing this, Liu Min chuckled: "That's not necessarily so. It's just that according to the war-game exercise, since I'm playing the Jurchen side, I naturally have to explore the Jurchen's advantages..."

Hearing this, Emperor Liu snapped back to reality and couldn't help but laugh at himself. This was after all just a playful exercise—why had he taken it so seriously? Still, what they were discussing was all military intelligence.

Turning back to look at the standard military situation marked on the sand table, he fell into contemplation. Since the rebellion in Goryeo had been pacified, the periphery of the Great Han had basically returned to general tranquility—even the Khitan in Mobei were behaving themselves.

Though various places inevitably had some disputes, conflicts, and even rebellions, they were all minor skirmishes. Therefore, the Tieli dispute between the Wanyan Jurchen and the Tulu Bu Shiwei in the northeast stood out as rather conspicuous.

The Wanyan Jurchen had sent their forces north in late spring of this year. Wanyan Bohai personally led over ten thousand tribesmen, crossing the Huntong River northward to attack the Shiwei who had already spread out north of the Huntong River.

Wanyan Bohai dispatched three thousand Jurchen cavalry as the vanguard, racing over three hundred li to strike directly at the former Tieli royal capital, while he personally led the main force behind. This time, the Wanyan Jurchen had truly thrown caution to the wind, with great resolve—determined to achieve territorial expansion and take the Tieli region that the imperial court had promised them into their grasp.

Tieli had originally been a vassal state attached to Liao. During the Great Han's second northern expedition, Liao's rule over the northeast collapsed, and various tribal powers such as the Shiwei, Jurchen, and Bohai rose up in the chaos.

As for the state of Tieli, because most of its army had been conscripted during the Khitan's resistance against the Great Han, it had no ability to resist when the Shiwei advanced eastward. Even though the Tieli people promptly raised the banner of rebellion against Liao, they still could not avoid their fate of annihilation, being swallowed up by the Tulu Bu Shiwei of the western grasslands.

The territory under Tieli's jurisdiction was quite vast—over thirty thousand square kilometers—mostly plains, nestled against mountains and rivers, with excellent soil quality, suitable for both farming and herding.

Although in Wanyan Bohai's eyes, Huanglong Prefecture to the south was more valuable, the Great Han had taken it after all, and he didn't have the audacity to contend with the imperial court over it.

Therefore, obtaining the imperial court's promise of the Tieli region was still acceptable. It just meant contending with the powerful Shiwei to the north, and the only drawback of the Tieli region was probably that the Liu Tu Bu Shiwei occupied the western grasslands.

But if one wanted to develop and expand, one had to face enemies eventually. For the Wanyan Jurchen, with the imperial court at their back, holding the moral high ground, and having some military equipment supplied by the court, they had a certain foundation of confidence.

In fact, Wanyan Bohai had prepared for the worst—if things didn't work out, he would request aid from the Han army and place himself entirely under the protection of the imperial court's wings. At the same time, since the Shiwei had never paid much attention to the Great Han, Wanyan Bohai had also discerned this point: the imperial court wouldn't let his Wanyan Jurchen be wiped out by the Shiwei. Based on all this, he had few misgivings—in one word: go for it.

This time, the Wanyan tribe had come out in full force, bringing all the tribe's most elite fighting forces. At the same time, Wanyan Bohai exercised his social skills, recruiting over three thousand men as reinforcements from neighboring Jurchen tribes such as Dalu Gu and Huanglong, promising them heavy rewards. It was worth noting that during the anti-Liao process, there had been friction among these parties.

And so, the Wanyan Jurchen's campaign against the Tieli region began. The early stages went very smoothly. Even though the imperial court's unscrupulous instigation had given the Shiwei some warning, they still hadn't expected the Jurchen's speed of advance. When the Jurchen cavalry launched their surprise attack on Tieli City, they hadn't even reacted in time.

After taking Tieli City, Wanyan Bohai immediately set about constructing city defenses and manufacturing and stockpiling grain and weapons, preparing for the Shiwei's counterattack.

At the same time, he also recruited the local Tieli people. Under Shiwei rule, the former Tieli nationals had not been having an easy time at all, so Wanyan Bohai naturally succeeded in persuading a number of them to unite with the Wanyan Jurchen against the Shiwei. Additionally, under the banner of having the Great Han imperial court's support, he held a certain deterrent effect over those northeastern foreign tribes.

As for the Shiwei, in the past they had resisted the Khitan, and after being beaten into submission, they had reluctantly submitted, though they alternated between surrendering and rebelling. After the Great Han broke the Khitan, recovered Liaodong, and advanced into the northeast, they likewise maintained their same unruly and defiant attitude.

They didn't even pay attention to the Great Han imperial court—so how could they tolerate an infringement by the mere Wanyan Jurchen? Soon, tribal armies from the western grasslands came surging back in a vengeful posture, counterattacking with force.

The war between the two sides had already been going on for nearly three months.