The strength of the Yue Family Army before Yue Fei's Northern Expedition in Shaoxing for ten years

In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yue Family Army led by Yue Fei withstood the severe test of previous wars and gradually improved in the frequent wars. Grow and thrive.

In his early years, Yue Fei had stayed with Zongze in Tokyo to guard Kaifeng. After Zongze's death, Du Chong took over the post in Tokyo, and Yue Fei, who was originally Zongze's general, became Du Chong's subordinate. Later, Du Chong wanted to abandon Kaifeng and go south. Yue Fei came in and said that the Central Plains should not be abandoned. However, Du Chong refused to listen, so Yue Fei was forced to follow his general Du Chong south to Jiankang (today's Nanjing).

In the third year of Jianyan of the Southern Song Dynasty (1129), the Jin general Wanyan Zongbi (Wushu) led his army south to invade the Song Dynasty. Under the unfavorable situation when all the generals in the Southern Song Dynasty were defeated, Yue Fei still fought hard. Soon, Du Chong, who was left behind in the Jiankang camp at the time, surrendered to the Jin people. Faced with the chaotic situation in which the general surrendered to the enemy, the soldiers were dispersed, and the people panicked and called for help, Yue Fei summoned the stragglers of the division army left behind in Tokyo, made a generous speech, and encouraged everyone: "We should serve the country with loyalty and righteousness, establish meritorious service, write books and silk, and die immortal." "The soldiers were moved by his patriotism and expressed their willingness to follow him to fight to the end.

Subsequently, Yue Fei commanded this army, which numbered only a few thousand people, to fight in many places in the south of the Yangtze River. The troops did not commit any crimes. In the battles with the Jurchen soldiers of the Jin Kingdom and rogue bandits from various places, they won one after another, and in In the fourth year of Jianyan's reign, Jiankang (now Nanjing) was recovered. Soon, the Southern Song Dynasty court appointed Yue Fei as the governor of Tongzhou and Taizhou and as the governor of Taizhou. At this time, Yue Fei had become a general who could take charge of his own affairs, and the Yue Family Army also began to take shape at this time.

In the fourth year of Jianyan (1130), when Yue Fei formed an independent army, he had less than 10,000 regular soldiers. After that, after a series of battles and recruitments, by the time Yue Fei regained the six counties of Xianghan in the fourth year of Shaoxing (1134), the strength of the Yue family army had increased to more than 35,000.

In the fifth year of Shaoxing (1135), after Yue Fei led his troops to quell the Yang Mo rebellion, he incorporated the Hunan peasant uprising army and merged some local armies, greatly increasing the strength of the Yue family army.

In the Southern Song Dynasty army reorganization in the fifth year of Shaoxing (1135), most of the 50,000 to 60,000 strong men in the original Hunan Peasant Rebel Army were organized into the Yue Family Army, plus those who were later assigned to Yue Fei's command The Jinghu South Road Appeasement Department commanded Ren Shi'an, Hao Yu, Wang Jun, and commanded Jiao Yuan, Qiu Yun and other troops of about 12,000 people, as well as 8,000 Caizhou soldiers brought by Du Zhan's troops when they were transferred to Yue Fei's command. In addition, there were The Jiangnan West Road Appeasement Department controlled Qi Chao, commanded Gao Dao and other ministries of about 8,500 people. In this way, the total number of troops under Yue Fei's control has reached more than 100,000. In the future, the number of Yue Family Army soldiers will generally remain at 100,000. People controlled this number until Yue Fei was killed by Song Gaozong and Qin Hui.

By the ninth year of Shaoxing (1139), the total strength of the Yuejia Army had increased to more than 100,000, with 22 commanders and 252 generals, including 84 generals, deputy generals and reserve generals. , among the generals of Yue Fei's army, Wang Gui was appointed as the commander of the central army, and Zhang Xian was appointed as the commander of the front army. These two were important deputies of Yue Fei. When Yue Fei is not in the army, Wang Gui and Zhang Xian can replace Yue Fei to command other commanders and preside over the affairs of the Yue Family Army. Xu Qing, Niu Gao and Dong Xian are the three most skilled in fighting. The above five are all the backbone generals of the Yue Family Army. During the same period, there were only 10 commanders of Zhang Jun's department in Huaixi, and only 11 commanders of Han Shizhong's department in Huaidong.

Before the Northern Expedition in the 10th year of Shaoxing (1140), based on Ezhou on the Yangtze River, the Yuejia Army had at least twelve armies at the first level, including: 1. Beiwei Army; 2. Front Army; 3. Right Army; 4. Center Army; 5. Left Army; 6. Rear Army; 7. Youyi Army; 8. Tabai Army; 9. Select the Front Army; 10. Victory Army; 11. Defeat the Enemy Army; 12. Navy. Among them, Tabai Army and You Yi Army were both cavalry troops, and Beiwei Army, as Yue Fei's personal army, was basically cavalry. According to the research of Mr. Wang Zengyu, an expert on contemporary Song history, the Yuejia Army had about 100,000 people at that time, with an average of about 8,000 people per army. Therefore, the three armies of Tabai, Youyi and Beiwei combined together had about 20,000 cavalry troops. In other words, the Yue Family Army had more than 20,000 cavalry troops at that time.

At this time, the Yuejia Army has become a powerful military group with complete infantry, cavalry, and sailors. It ranks first among the armies of the Southern Song Dynasty and is the strongest.

But since then, a problem has arisen. The Song Dynasty has always been short of horses, especially in the Southern Song Dynasty. Where did Yue Fei get so many horses to form a cavalry? According to research, so many war horses were neither given by the Southern Song Dynasty court nor purchased, but were captured by the Yue Family Army when they fought against the Jin Kingdom and the puppet Qi regime supported by the Jin Kingdom.

As early as August of the sixth year of Shaoxing (1136), Yue Fei launched his second Northern Expedition and marched into Yiluo. When his fierce general Yang Zaixing led his army to conquer Changshui County in Xijing, he seized one of the puppet Qi regime. The horse supervisor seized more than 10,000 war horses. During the Third Northern Expedition in November of the same year, the Yue Army captured four to five thousand horses and more than a thousand cavalry from the Puppet Qi. In terms of the situation at that time, the Puppet Qi regime received full support from the Jin State, and horses were easily obtained. In addition, during the Northern Song Dynasty, the Luoyang Horse Prison was set up in Luoyang, Xijing ("Song Hui Yao Collection"), and Luoyang was located in the Puppet It is very natural to raise a large number of horses in the belly of Qi territory, but the enemy never expected that the Yue family army would advance so quickly. The approximately 15,000 war horses captured, together with the war horses captured in previous battles and a small number of war horses allocated to the Yue Family Army by the Southern Song Dynasty court, laid the foundation for the Yue Family Army to form a powerful cavalry unit.

Yue Ke mentioned in Volume 22 of "The Compilation of Jin Tuoyang of the State of Hubei" "The Second Huaixi Bian of Xutian Bian False Accusations" that "the people with high backs are also the close soldiers of the ancestors. Both Chang and Zhuxian were victorious with their troops, and more than 8,000 cavalry could not be said to be few." - In other words, in the following year after the ten-year battle of Yingchang and Zhuxian Town in Shaoxing, Yue Fei When he led his troops to rescue Huaixi, the Beiwei Horse Army alone had more than 8,000 cavalry. This was also an important reason why the Yue Family Army was able to compete with the Jurchen Cavalry in field battles for a long time.

Hua Yue, the military strategist of the Southern Song Dynasty, wrote in the eighth volume of his military book "Mr. Cuiwei's Northern Expedition": "I heard that there were four carbine guns in the test, and there was a single gun on horseback. Yue Fei taught The soldiers of Jingxiang were equipped with spears. Li Xianzhong taught the soldiers of Guanxi to carry spears and the gunners to carry bows. Since modern times, those who are good at horse shooting are not good at cavalry, so the navy only has spears. Eighteen pieces of carbine and six flag-bearers were selected, and the rest were all custom-made, and no additions or subtractions were allowed. If the new cavalry army and the new horse training school were not trained, they would not be familiar with the bow and horse, and they would be afraid to hold the bow with both hands. If you can't use it, you have to use the ability of the cavalry and the man. How can he handle it alone? If a team is composed of old cavalry, then each team is ordered to use small guns, regardless of the number of eighteen; they are all new. Those who are not well-recruited will be ordered to specialize in bows and arrows, and they will not be limited to the position of the leader or deputy flag leader. If the common people are not strong, they will harm their strengths. "

Obviously, use them immediately. Spears are not an easy task, and Yue Fei's ability to "teach Jing and Xiang's soldiers how to shoot with guns" obviously places high demands on the Yue family's cavalry. It should be noted that Yue Fei himself is good at riding and shooting, and is known as the "brave champion". With his guidance, his soldiers can master archery skills and marksmanship. Such elite soldiers are naturally no small matter.

In addition, according to the "Relics" in Volume 9 of "The Collection of Jin Tuoyan of the State of Hubei": "Chen Yun (Yue Yun) tried to use heavy armor to practice Zhupo, and his horse was riding on the ground. Xian Chen (Yue Fei) Because he was not accustomed to it, he said angrily: "Is this the case with the forerunner enemy?" "When he was ordered to kill him suddenly, all the generals kowtowed and prayed to avoid it, and then they released him with a hundred sticks." It can be seen that Yue Fei usually requires the cavalry of the Yue Family Army to wear heavy armor and practice hard on fighting actions such as charging steep slopes and jumping trenches. This is very Pay attention to practical results. Only the Yue cavalry who have undergone such rigorous training can compete with the Jin soldiers in the Central Plains. The establishment of such a powerful cavalry force of about 20,000 people provided important conditions for Yue Fei to become the only rare and famous general among the generals of the Southern Song Dynasty who dared to take the initiative to attack the Jin Kingdom.

Looking at the process of Yue Fei's formation of the Yue Family Army, the following points are particularly eye-catching. The first is the principle of army formation based on the principle of valuing quality rather than quantity. The second is to establish a highly efficient staff organization. The third is to attach great importance to the construction of cavalry. At that time, there were more than 8,000 cavalry in the Beiwei Army (Yue Fei's personal army) alone.

In addition, Yue Fei is famous for his strict military discipline in governing the army. He "will not demolish the house even if he freezes to death, and does not pillage if he starves to death." Zhou Mi, a scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty, called Yue Fei's military discipline in his book "The Wild Words of Qidong" "ZTE No. 1". The Yuejia Army has the strictest training system and combat discipline of the ancient Chinese army. It has clear rewards and punishments and strict discipline. It does no harm to the people and is as ferocious as tigers and wolves to the enemy. Strict military discipline is the guarantee for the Yuejia Army to maintain strong combat effectiveness and maintain good military-civilian relations. What's more different from other armies in the Song Dynasty is that the Yue Army is an army full of faith. They keep in mind the national humiliation and family feud, honor the country with loyalty, share the same hatred with the enemy, and fight to avert the national humiliation, resist foreign aggression, and restore the old mountains and rivers, so their morale is high.

Yue Fei also believed that to manage the army, benevolence, faith, wisdom, courage and strictness are indispensable. Yue Fei usually shared the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, but on the battlefield he set an example and charged into battle. "In every battle, he takes the lead and takes the lead." Yue Fei also has a famous saying: Civil servants do not love money, military officers are willing to die, and the world will be peaceful. Due to the combination of kindness and power, the Yue family army was harmonious and harmonious, showing strong cohesion and combat effectiveness. In today's terms, all of the above are the strong soft power of the Yue Family Army.

Wang Zizhong, a patriot from Dongzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty, mentioned the following conduct of Yue Fei in governing the army in his "Records of the Yingzhou Loyalty and Martyrs' Journeying Temple" written in September of the 15th year of Chunxi (1188): "One said Zhong: Lin Rong swears the blessings of the country, and the soldiers look up to the sky and obey the orders. When they hear that the great commander is lucky, they don't even sit down with their backs. The second is to be modest: where the diners come, they are always full, and they discuss the past and the present. Interrogation, there is no violation. The third is: The soldiers pass by and stay outdoors at night. The people open their doors and accept them. No one dares to go in early in the morning. The fourth is: Lian: Don't keep any money privately. The fifth said: Small deeds must be rewarded, small transgressions must be punished, and tens of millions of people must be treated like one person. The sixth said: Don't be shaken when you encounter an enemy suddenly. The enemy thinks that "it is easy to shake the mountain, but it is difficult to shake the Yue family's army." Selection of abilities: Whatever you do, you will be worthy of success. The eighth rule is not to be greedy for merit: push for power. "Obviously, the army led by the patriotic general Yue Fei with these outstanding military conduct is indeed a powerful force with strong cohesion and combat effectiveness. , at the same time, they have withstood the severe tests and tempers of previous wars, coupled with the strict requirements and well-trained training in peacetime, so this army has strong combat effectiveness, and everyone is brave and good at fighting. It can be said that "one is equal to ten".

As Mr. Wang Zengyu, a leading figure in the study of contemporary Song history, pointed out, among the various Song armies in the early Southern Song Dynasty, only the Yue Family Army was an offensive army. At that time, it had the determination and determination to "attack Huanglong" and regain its homeland. The most capable commander in chief of the Song Dynasty was Yue Fei.

Postscript:

As early as the fourth year of Shaoxing (1134), after recovering the six counties of Xianghan, Yue Fei proposed to organize "two hundred thousand elite troops" to achieve "direct attack on the Central Plains, "Restore the old Xinjiang" strategic proposition, and has made arduous efforts to this end. However, due to concerns and obstruction by Song Gaozong and others about the expansion of military generals, Yue Fei's plan to organize "200,000 elite troops" was never implemented. Since then, the total strength of the Yue Family Army has been maintained at around 100,000, which is far from the planned number of 200,000. This has also become one of the limiting factors for Yue Fei's ten-year Northern Expedition in Shaoxing.

So in the early days of the Northern Expedition in the 10th year of Shaoxing, the Yue Family Army fought a series of victorious battles and recovered a wide area of ??lost territory, which was beyond the reach of other Song armies. However, the large area of ????occupation caused the dispersion of troops. It has become a serious military weakness. Without the cooperation of friendly forces, as the recovered areas expanded, the Yue Family Army not only had to continue to complete combat missions, but was also ordered to "allocate soldiers and generals to strictly guard" the newly recovered areas. Therefore, the forces were dispersed and The problem of insufficient soldiers has become increasingly prominent.

Faced with the unfavorable situation of being alone, dispersed, and unable to cooperate with friendly forces, the Yue Family Army had to shorten its front line in order to concentrate its forces to defend against the enemy. As a result, the various units of the Yuejia Army participating in the Northern Expedition had to suspend their frontal advancement and try their best to gather and move closer to each other.

However, the Jin army commander Wanyan Zongbi (Wushu) saw an opportunity and seized the opportunity before the Yuejia army was assembled and launched a large-scale counterattack. Then the Jin army The strategic decisive battle between the main force and the Yuejia Army - the Battle of Yancheng and the Battle of Yingchang.

The Battle of Yancheng and the Battle of Yingchang were large-scale mixed infantry and cavalry battles between the Yuejia Army and the main forces of the Jin Dynasty's goddess. Both battles took place in July after the leap six months of the tenth year of Shaoxing, and they were fought in plain areas, which was most conducive to the Jurchen cavalry's galloping skills. In this severe situation, the Yue Army was able to attack with a small number. It is even more difficult to win with a large number of people. The Yingchang Victory and the Yancheng Victory were both unprecedented victories with extraordinary significance.

In these two battles, the commander-in-chief of the Yue Family Army was able to stay calm in the face of danger, correctly judge the situation, and take timely response measures. The officers and soldiers of the Yue Family Army bear the national humiliation and family feud, share the same hatred of the enemy, and promise the country with loyalty and righteousness, so their morale is strong. Even in the face of the severe situation of being outnumbered and outnumbered, they fight bravely to kill the enemy regardless of their own safety. At the same time, the officers and soldiers of the Yuejia Army have withstood the severe tests and training of previous wars, coupled with the strict requirements and well-trained training in peacetime, so they have strong combat effectiveness, and they are all brave and good at fighting. They can be said to be "one is as good as ten". In addition, Yue Fei attached great importance to the construction of cavalry. The Yue family army established a powerful and high-quality cavalry force based on the horses captured in previous wars (especially the two Northern Expeditions in Shaoxing in six years), and thus competed with the Jurchen cavalry. The male has longer capital. At the same time, the developed economic and technological conditions of the Song Dynasty enabled the bows and arrows equipped by the Yuejia Army to have a longer range and stronger penetrating power. Therefore, with the above necessary conditions and the outstanding military ability of the commander, under the severe situation of being outnumbered and outnumbered, the soldiers of the Yue Family Army were able to defeat the main force of the Jin Army led by Wanyan Zongbi (Wushu) one after another. Not surprising.