Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 898 Battle of Shanyang
With Chuzhou as the center, both the Song and Jin armies gathered in large numbers, and scouts were dispatched in all directions.

Yang Yuan soon learned that Wanyan Liang had personally led an expedition and was currently stationed in Chuzhou City.

Wanyan Liang, of course, also learned that Yang Yuan, the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty, had arrived in Shanyang.

That lifelong enemy who completely changed Wanyan Liang's life trajectory from the moment he was sent as an envoy to the Jin Kingdom!

Now it's so close.

Two formidable rivals who had never met before were closer than ever before.

However, the fact that the two commanders, each now commanding over 100,000 troops, are so close yet also creates the greatest distance between them.

Commander-in-Chief Wu Ting, Cavalry Commander Xin Qiji, Infantry Commander Yu Yunwen, and Naval Commander-in-Chief Lin Rongyue gathered at Yang Yuan's headquarters to plan the battle.

Yang Yuan completely relinquished control, allowing Wu Ting, the commander-in-chief of the Huaidong front, to take charge of the overall situation.

Yang Yuan has always done things this way: if he's not good at something, he leaves it to the professionals.

Moreover, his target is Huaixi, and Huaidong will ultimately be left to Wu Ting's responsibility.

If we don't let him get started now, things will inevitably get chaotic later.

Wu Ting had commanded troops for many years and had extremely rich experience in battle.

In Huaidong, all he lacked was prestige and seniority.

With Yang Yuan personally coming to support him, there were no arrogant or rebellious soldiers who dared to cause trouble.

In this way, Wu Ting's biggest weakness was addressed.

Yang Yuan held Xin Qiji in high regard.

However, Xin Qiji was still young and had no experience in commanding large armies in battle.

Yang Yuan would not blindly trust this person just because of his great achievements in history, and would not place such a heavy burden on his shoulders all at once.

As for Yu Yunwen, he was also knowledgeable in military affairs, and he was quite old, already over fifty, and had a steady temperament.

However, he shared the same problem as Xin Qiji: he lacked experience in large-scale military operations and was not well-trained.

Yang Yuan would not blindly promote Yu Yunwen to the position of commander-in-chief simply because Yu Yunwen's role in the Battle of Caishi in the original history led to Wanyan Liang's defeat and death.

They still need to be sharpened.

Wu Ting had assumed that Yang Yuan would personally participate in the design and command of the campaign against the Jin dynasty in the Huaidong battlefield.

The idea that he, as the head coach, should plan the overall strategy was just a polite remark.

However, when he discovered that Yang Yuan truly respected his opinions and that his trusted generals, such as Yu Yunwen, Xin Qiji, and Lin Rongyue, all obeyed his orders, he was naturally very moved.

At the same time, his reverence for Yang Yuan grew even stronger.

In the past, the Wu family, as one of the three giants of the Western Army, was greatly feared by the Song emperor.

But now, his cousin Wu Gong still controls the Wu family army.

Yang Yuan, however, entrusted nearly 100,000 troops stationed in Huaidong to him without any hesitation.

Yang Yuan brought with him 80,000 elite Imperial Guards, which he handed over to him.

This is not only a sign of trust in him, but also an extremely strong sense of self-confidence.

A scholar will die for one who understands him, and Wu Ting naturally did his utmost to achieve a victory in the first battle in order to repay the Prime Minister's kindness.

While the Song army was deploying its troops, the Jin army was also sharpening its swords.

Although the two commanders were stationed so close to each other, each side had over 100,000 troops, so naturally they wouldn't all be gathered in such a small city.

Their actual stationed area is distributed along the Huaihe River East boundary line.

Before long, before any major battles had taken place in the army, the navy had already engaged in a fierce skirmish.

When Jin general Su Baoheng led a naval force south along the canal, they encountered a naval force led by Song general Lin Rongyue.

It turned out that this Song navy was also secretly planning to head north along the canal.

The two old men bumped into each other on the canal and immediately started fighting.

The Song army was equipped with a large number of firearms, and as soon as they engaged in battle, they completely suppressed the Jin navy in the narrow river channel.

Fire snakes spewed forth, filling the entire canal.

After the Jin Dynasty captured many Song Dynasty firearms craftsmen and obtained some blueprints at any cost through spies, it began to rapidly develop firearms.

However, they were far behind the Song Dynasty. At present, the firearms developed by the Jin people were mainly used for the army, and they had not yet paid attention to the navy.

The commander of this Song navy was, coincidentally, Li Bao, the nemesis of Su Baoheng, the Jin navy commander.

Li Bao, like Xin Qiji, was from Shandong.

However, Xin Qiji was from Licheng County, Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province, while Li Bao was from Heze, Shandong Province.

His life trajectory is somewhat similar to that of Xin Qiji.

He led an uprising in Puzhou, Shandong (north of present-day Juancheng, Shandong) in the ninth year of the Shaoxing era.

Xin Qiji was born in the tenth year of the Shaoxing era.

After Li Baobing's defeat, he went south to join Yue Fei.

He cooperated with Yue Fei in the counterattack against the Jin Dynasty, and launched several attacks on the Jin army in Shandong, thus hindering the Jin Dynasty's southward advance.

Later, he followed Han Shizhong to guard Haizhou (now Lianyungang, Jiangsu).

He was originally a famous naval commander, and he was also good at launching surprise attacks. It was only natural that the Grand Admiral of the Navy, Lin Rongyue, would appoint him as the vanguard.

Therefore, Li Bao, as if by fate, encountered Su Baoheng, a general of the Jin navy.

Both sides had dozens of warships and thousands of naval troops.

Following the suppression by rockets and artillery, which caused several Jin ships to catch fire, Li Bao ordered his navy to board the ships and engage in boarding operations.

There are now many Han Chinese in the Jin army, especially in the navy.

Because the Jurchens were not good at water, their naval soldiers were either Han Chinese or Bohai people.

If it were a winning battle, it would be fine, but they suffered such a crushing defeat as soon as they started fighting.

As soon as the Song army boarded the ship, the Jin navy officers and soldiers knelt down in disarray.

Su Baoheng was furious and led his personal guards in a rampage, but he could only prevent his flagship from surrendering.

But with the flagship caught in the middle of the haphazardly arranged ships, escaping upstream was impossible.

In the end, Su Baoheng could only order his ship to ram through the other vessels, force its way to shore, and flee with less than a hundred personal guards.

The Jin army's navy was essentially wiped out; none of its warships escaped, and three supply ships were also captured by the Song army, which seized a large amount of grain and provisions.

Yang Yuan was overjoyed upon hearing the news and immediately submitted a memorial to the court, requesting that Li Bao be rewarded. Yang Yuan was a shrewd man; General Li Bao was already old, and granting him a higher rank and title would only be icing on the cake.

Upon learning that the general who initiated the boarding action was Li Gongzuo, the son of General Li Bao, Yang Yuan's report of victory directly recommended that Li Gongzuo be promoted to Commander of the Imperial Navy and granted the title of Baron.

Yang Yuan said that submitting a memorial to request commendation for him was just a formality.

Everyone knew that once the Prime Minister submitted such a memorial to the court, it was a done deal.

This is one of the advantages of fighting alongside Prime Minister Yang: you don't have to wait for the post-battle commendation; he rewards you on the spot, and the results are immediate!

The Song army's infantry and cavalry were all dumbfounded.

Who would have thought that the navy would be the one to win the first battle!

Xin Qiji was very dissatisfied, and Yu Yunwen was even more anxious.

He had always wanted to be a military general since he was young, and he argued with his father about it his whole life. It wasn't until his father died with regrets that he gave up his dream of becoming a military general and took the imperial examination.

That year, he was forty-seven years old.

How old is he now?
I finally have the chance to realize my lifelong dream of commanding a large army.

If we don't achieve great feats in this battle, will we ever have another chance?

Xin Qiji and Yu Yunwen immediately went to Yang Yuan to request permission to fight.

Yang Yuan dismissed them with a single sentence.

"On the Huaidong battlefield, everything is decided by General Wu; I have no say in it."

So, Xin Qiji and Yu Yunwen, like two gatekeepers, went to block Wu Ting again.

Wu Ting was naturally extremely grateful for Yang Yuan's trust.

Furthermore, although he commanded all the troops on the Huaidong battlefield, he still considered the navy and the army differently.

He himself came from the army, so naturally he preferred the army more.

Now that the navy has stolen the limelight, he is not happy.

So Wu Ting invited the two door gods into the commander's tent, and the three of them discussed things in secret for a long time before Yu Chongwen and Xin Qiji finally left satisfied.

The navy's initial defeat in battle enraged Wanyan Liang.

Seeing Su Baoheng return in such a sorry state, he was so angry that he really wanted to chop that bastard to pieces.

However, he was, after all, one of his trusted confidants.

Moreover, Su Baoheng was one of the few generals in the Jin Kingdom who was skilled in naval warfare, and given Wanyan Liang's current resources, he could not afford to squander them like that.

Su Baoheng was a Han Chinese, born in Yunzhongtian (Tianzhen, Shanxi).

His father was a minister of the Liao Dynasty. After the Liao Dynasty was destroyed by the Jin Dynasty, Su Baoheng and his son surrendered to the Jin Dynasty and were still highly regarded. Su Baoheng once served as the Minister of Works of the Jin Dynasty.

Later, given the excessive military support the Song Dynasty provided to the Jin Dynasty at sea, Wanyan Liang ordered him to establish a navy in Tongzhou, and he became the main commander of the navy.

Therefore, Wanyan Liang simply gave Su Baoheng a severe scolding, demoted him three ranks, and sent him to oversee the transport of grain.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Wanyan Liang is going to launch a feigned attack on Huaidong. How exactly will he launch a feigned attack?

Are we just going to make a show of it here, and then head to Huaixi?

How could the State of Song possibly fall for that?

He has assembled a large army in Huaidong, intending to fight several serious battles.

Only in this way can the State of Song be convinced that its main attack direction is Huaidong, and adjust its troop deployment accordingly.

However, with over 100,000 combat troops and hundreds of thousands of auxiliary troops, even in a feint battle, the pressure on food and supplies during this process is immense.

Therefore, Wanyan Liang's decision to send Su Baoheng to escort grain supplies was still a sign of his trust and support, clearly indicating his intention to protect Su Baoheng.

Su Baoheng was naturally aware of this, and therefore felt grateful and accepted the order.

After sending Su Baoheng away, Wanyan Liang personally commanded his army to launch a fierce attack on Shanyang County, where they were stationed.

In Shanyang County, the Prime Minister Yang Yuan of the Song Dynasty was stationed.

Wu Ting was eager to retaliate and fight for every inch of land.

However, the generals in the Huaidong War Zone raised different opinions with Wu Ting.

Shanyang County has no natural defenses; it lacks high ground such as mountains and hills, making it difficult to construct strong fortifications.

The town of Shanyang is even lower in height.

This area has a dense network of waterways, making it extremely vulnerable to being surrounded and divided by enemy forces.

Wu Ting had no shortage of combat experience; what he lacked was familiarity with the geography and terrain of Huaidong.

After listening to the generals' reports, Wu Ting immediately realized the problem.

A direct confrontation is not out of the question, but now that the Jin army has also mastered gunpowder, the so-called fortifications in this terrain become virtually useless with the aid of gunpowder.

That would be equivalent to direct field combat for both sides.

Given that our army has gained the initiative in the region, why should we engage in open field battles with you?

Wu Ting then hesitantly went to consult Yang Yuan.

He was initially worried that Yang Yuan would not back down.

This is a common problem among many civil servants.

Once they win a battle, they become complacent and lose all sense of self-importance.

Once war begins, saving face is valued far more than practical significance.

The dignified Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty moved his first battle from Shanyang County, fearing that Yang Yuan would not be able to put down his airs.

But Yang Yuan doesn't seem to care about her image at all.
Wu Ting stammered out half of his sentence, but Yang Yuan understood immediately.

"Then, in Commander Wu's opinion, where would be a suitable place for me to retreat?"

Wu Ting said cautiously, "Please, Prime Minister, retreat to Baoying for the time being. I wonder..."

"Okay, wherever you want me to go, I'll go."

Yang Yuan immediately gave orders to pack their bags and prepare to flee.

Such a prime minister is truly a worry-free person.

Wu Ting sighed with satisfaction and hurried off to prepare.

(End of this chapter)