Chapter 328

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The Jin army split into eastern and western routes to attack Goryeo: the eastern route advanced along Helan Road, the western route along Posu Prefecture Road. Details as follows:

Eastern Jin Army: advance along Helan Road. The southwestern border of Helan Road’s general command post adjoins Goryeo’s northeast. The eastern Jin army departs from Hamheung and other places, crosses southwestward over the Jin-Goryeo border, heads straight for Goryeo’s northeastern stronghold to seize grain and supplies. Then, depending on circumstances, passes through Silleng and strikes directly at Goryeo’s capital, Kaeseong.

Western Jin Army: advance along Posu Prefecture Road. Posu Prefecture Road borders the Yalu River, with Goryeo’s northwest defined by the lower reaches of the Yalu. The western Jin army departs from Posu Prefecture, follows the Yalu River downstream, crosses the river by boat, attacks Goryeo’s northwestern frontier, aiming to seize strategic riverside strongholds such as Laiyuan City, securing logistical routes and stabilizing the advance.

After the campaign plan was set, Wanyan Aguda appointed Wanyan Zonghan as vanguard of the western Jin army, and Wanyan Zongwang as vanguard of the eastern Jin army.

Soon, the western Jin army crossed the Yalu River, swept through Baozhou, Linzhou, and other prefectures, then entered Goryeo territory.

Goryeo’s border garrisons urgently reported to the court: “The Jin have sent envoys; their army and envoys advance together, penetrating deep into our territory, and will reach the Western Capital within days—unstoppable!”

Upon hearing the news, the Goryeo court was shaken. The Western Capital was Goryeo’s shield; if it fell, the Jin army could march straight in.

King Wu of Goryeo immediately dispatched his general Taku Jyeong to defend the Western Capital, and urgently summoned civil and military officials to deliberate a response.

In the imperial hall, the atmosphere was heavy; ministers debated endlessly but reached no consensus.

Some advocated holding the Western Capital, conserving strength to counterattack when the Jin grew weary; others proposed launching a preemptive strike, using offense as defense to disrupt the Jin’s formation while they were still unsteady.

Soon after, urgent reports arrived from Helan Field: the eastern Jin army had swept through Goryeo’s northeastern strongholds, seized vast quantities of grain and supplies, and now surged rapidly toward Goryeo’s heartland.

The battle reports exploded like thunder in the Goryeo court. The already heavy atmosphere grew suffocating; ministers turned pale. Both factions—those advocating defense and those advocating offense—fell silent, filled with dread.

The Jin were no longer the tribal Jurchens who once skirmished with Goryeo along the border; they were a mighty dynasty that had just crushed Liao and absorbed its territory.

Goryeo had for generations recognized Liao as its suzerain. Liao’s collapse was a thunderclap, revealing to all of Goryeo the Jin’s overwhelming strength—the power capable of toppling a century-old suzerain, far beyond Goryeo’s capacity to resist.

King Wu had elevated his eldest and second daughters to imperial consorts. The second daughter bore the crown prince, Wang Kai, and thus rose rapidly in status: Li Jipyeom was promoted to Censor-in-Chief, Left Minister of the Department of State Affairs, Pillar of the State, then granted the rank of Grand Master of the Imperial Household, Keeper of the Grand Tutor, and Secretary of the Central Secretariat with equal authority to the Chancellery; later he was further promoted to Keeper of the Grand Commandant and bestowed the title “Merit-Bearer of Divine Aid.” He stepped forward and said: “Our Goryeo is small and weak; now the Great Jin shines like the midday sun—we cannot resist. In my view, we should temporarily agree to pay tribute to ease their advance…”

Before Li Jipyeom finished speaking, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat Kim Boksi stepped forward and fiercely rebutted: “Your Majesty’s father-in-law speaks foolishly! Though the Jin are strong, Goryeo has stood for centuries; the Western Capital has natural defenses, Kaeseong holds ten thousand elite troops—how can we surrender without a fight?”

As soon as Kim Boksi finished, the Academician of the Hanlin Academy and Draftsman of Edicts, Jeong Jichang, stepped forward and said: “The Secretary of the Central Secretariat understands only war, not circumstance. The Great Liao spanned ten thousand li, with a million soldiers, yet still could not withstand the Great Jin. Goryeo’s forces are less than one-tenth to one-fifth of Liao’s—how can we resist? When Liao was strong, we served Liao; now that the Jin are strong, we serve the Jin—this is Goryeo’s way to preserve the state.”

This struck a chord with many Goryeo ministers; murmurs of agreement rose. Some recalled past battles with the Jurchens in Helan Field, when victories were mutual; but the Jin of today were no longer the same—they had crushed Liao, let alone Goryeo?

Others whispered privately that the Jin’s current advance was not merely for grain and silk; they might demand Goryeo’s submission and hostages. If we fight, and the city falls, the consequences will be unbearable; if we surrender, though we lose face, our ancestral temples may survive.

The thoughts of war and surrender churned in King Wu’s mind, yet he could not decide—fighting seemed like an egg against a stone; surrendering, how could he honor the legacy of his ancestors?

At that moment, another urgent report reached the hall: Wanyan Zonghan’s western army, after crossing the Yalu River, captured three more riverside fortresses including Laiyuan City, and now advanced along the Taedong River toward the Western Capital.

This report doused the last flicker of hope in the hall. The voices of those advocating battle grew faint; those urging retreat multiplied. The atmosphere shifted from debate to spreading fear and helplessness.

King Wu hurriedly sent envoys to seek peace, offering Goryeo’s submission to the Jin, as it had once submitted to Liao, and presented lavish gifts to Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang.

Unfortunately, the Jin’s campaign against Goryeo was not meant to secure submission—it aimed to drain Goryeo’s blood to restore their own strength.

Thus, King Wu’s envoys could not halt the advance of either the eastern or western Jin armies.

Facing Goryeo’s peace petition and gifts, Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang merely sneered coldly and discarded them, continuing to direct their troops deep into Goryeo’s heartland.

Wanyan Zongwang moved with terrifying speed: upon encountering a city, he first probed with fierce assaults; if resistance was fierce and the city held, he immediately bypassed it, marching silently toward the next target. His forces were like a sharp blade piercing Goryeo’s core. Along the way, surrendered and routed Goryeo troops streamed in, absorbed into his Meng’an-Mouke units, swelling his ranks. By Jowon, his army had grown to fifty thousand; when attacking cities thereafter, he no longer needed his two thousand elite Jin troops—he merely watched Goryeo forces slaughter each other.

Less than a month later, the eastern Jin army reached the gates of Kaeseong.

Kaeseong was Goryeo’s capital, its walls high and moats deep. Though the defenders were terrified, they knew that if the city fell, the nation would perish—so they fought to the death.

Seeing this, Wanyan Zongwang did not rush to storm the city; instead, he first sent surrendered troops to shout demands for surrender, while dividing his forces to clear out surrounding strongholds and crush reinforcements coming to aid the capital, encircling the city completely.

Wanyan Zonghan’s tactics differed sharply from Wanyan Zongwang’s. He firmly believed every city he passed must be captured, leaving no rear threats.

Thus, after crossing the Taedong River, the western Jin army swept through every city along the way, sending vast quantities of seized grain, supplies, and captives back to the Jin.

In this process, Wanyan Zonghan selected the strong and fit, expanding his forces and rapidly replenishing troops lost to the Song army.

When they reached the Western Capital, its commander, Taku Jyeong, knowing the city’s fate determined the nation’s survival, led soldiers and civilians in a desperate defense, refusing to surrender.

Wanyan Zonghan led the western Jin army in a month-long fierce assault; though the Western Capital suffered heavy losses, it never fell.

At this moment, Wanyan Zonghan received Wanyan Zongwang’s battle report: the eastern Jin army had reached the gates of Kaeseong.

Fearing Wanyan Zongwang might snatch the glory of Goryeo’s destruction, Wanyan Zonghan grew frantic. He knew battlefield opportunities were fleeting—he left ten thousand troops to continue besieging the Western Capital and personally led sixty to seventy thousand men southward.

Along the way, Wanyan Zonghan still attacked every city he encountered, though now with far greater speed.

When the western Jin army arrived at Kaeseong, the eastern Jin army had already cleared all key points around the city, crushed all reinforcements, and laid siege for over twenty days.