Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 1004 Looking Back at Chang'an: Chaotic Clouds Condensed into Azure
Wodaochong, after all, was a prime minister who appeared only once in a century in the history of Western Xia, and he made a decision immediately.

They escaped the city with Hu Chong!

This is not about being afraid of death, nor is it about not daring to stick to one's own judgment. Rather, it is about how someone like Wodao Chong, if he were to die prematurely before the King of Youdu, would cry out for injustice if he failed to realize his great ambitions.

He died with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

He didn't dare to gamble at all.

Amid the current chaos in Chang'an, both Hu Chong and Wo Daochong are colluding with the city's garrison, and they have no shortage of ways to enter and leave the city.

After a brief discussion, the two men descended the city wall from the west and returned to Hu Chong's main army at the crack of dawn. They immediately split up and launched an unprecedented large-scale rendezvous.

As evening approached, all the people who could be gathered were assembled in a small town in the northwest of Chang'an City for a unique yet incredibly realistic military council.

"...That's the situation."

Thanks to the mediation of Hu Chong and Wodao Chong, the Han Chinese army and the Tangut soldiers, who had already completed their respective connections, finally sat down together somewhat awkwardly.

Ironically, the Kansai people and the Tangut people have almost become sworn enemies, but now, faced with an increasingly tense situation, the two sides have no choice but to sit down and find a way out together.

It seems to be a posture of forming a national united front against the Jin dynasty.

Of course, even when they could sit together, the two groups remained distinct, occasionally exchanging barbs.

The scene fell silent for a moment.

Wodao Chong also said with some helplessness: "General Liang Yuanfu, you are a veteran general who has been leading troops since the Great Bai Gao Kingdom. It is time for you to make some arrangements for the current situation."

Liang Yuanfu was defeated in the Battle of Fufeng, and his right leg was broken by the fleeing soldiers during his escape. Fortunately, his personal guards risked their lives to save him.

At the subsequent blame-sharing meeting, Liang Yuanfu was dismissed from his post for underestimating the enemy and acting rashly, effectively becoming a nobody.

However, he was, after all, of noble birth from the Tangut people and a general who had led troops for many years, so his opinion had to be sought before undertaking any major task.

Amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd, Liang Yuanfu, supporting his knees, said dejectedly, "I've already become like this, so what's the point of talking about dealing with this?"
Moreover, His Majesty has shown me immense kindness, and the Tangut men are my trusted confidants and brothers; I am caught in a dilemma.

The Han Chinese from Guanzhong looked on with mockery, while the Tanguts looked helpless.

Seeing that the other generals had nothing to say, Hu Chong stood up and said, "In that case, let's contact the two Grand Commandants Zhang and Li of the Song Kingdom and invite them to lead their troops here."

In Hu Chong's mind, since the two Song generals, Zhang Congjin and Li Shiyan, were able to deliver the letter to him, the other generals in Guanzhong must have also been won over. His proposal, though it might not be universally accepted, should at least be discussed.

To his surprise, as soon as Hu Chong uttered his suggestion, he heard a chorus of opposition, which startled him so much that he involuntarily took two steps back.

The Tangut general Ahua was the first to stand up and said, "General Hu, let's not beat around the bush. If the Song army is still led by Lord Lu today, we Tanguts will serve you with our lives!"

But Zhang Congjin was a traitor to the Jin Dynasty, and Li Shiyan was an old revolutionary from Guanzhong. Neither of them could be considered true heroes, so how could they expect us to submit to them?
Not to mention that Zhao Gou is now in power in the Song Dynasty. What if he abandons us Tanguts again, just as he abandoned Guanzhong?

Ahua's words were reasonable and well-founded, which drew nods of agreement from everyone.

Hu Chong thought about it, but couldn't refute it at all.

Among the Han generals, one spoke up: "Old Hu, I know what you mean, it's just that the Song army is closer. But as that Western bandit said, apart from Lu Xiangong, who is somewhat reliable, the rest of the Song people are not heroes."

Now, the King of Han, by the mandate of Heaven, has destroyed the Eastern Jin and seized the Jin's ancestral homeland. He harbors ambitions to conquer the world. If the King of Han were to attack Guanzhong in the future, would we fight to the death for the Song Dynasty? Instead, if we were to pledge allegiance to the King of Han, why not do so immediately?!

"Han slave! Who the hell are you calling a Western bandit?!"

"Whoever admits it is being talked about!"

"Fuck..."

Seeing that the situation was about to escalate again, Wodaochong took off one of his boots and slammed it heavily on the table: "Shut up! What time is it! Still arguing!"

No sooner had the words been spoken than someone called out the names of those entering.

"Report! A military envoy has arrived from the east, saying that five thousand cavalrymen have left Tongguan and will soon arrive in Chang'an!"

"what?!"

"When did this happen?"

"One day ago!"

"One day ago?! The vanguard of the cavalry was almost as fast as the military envoy, doesn't that mean the Jin cavalry will arrive soon?!"

"What are they planning to do? What is Wanyan Liang planning to do?"

The hall was finally filled with an uproar.

Just then, another person rushed in. It was General Ahua's personal guard: "General, several hundred cavalrymen are charging straight at our army. I hope you can return to camp immediately!"

Ahua immediately stood up, about to point at Hu Chong and scold him, but then he saw that Wodao Chong was also dumbfounded, and he couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.

"Since Prime Minister Wu is here, I won't say that you and Wanyan Liang colluded to lure the tiger away from the mountain. I just want to ask one question: now that battle is about to begin, do you Han soldiers want to fight alongside my Dangxiang troops?!" Hu Chong immediately stood up, drew his sword, and slashed the table in front of him: "My Han soldiers don't fight for anyone else, but for our own lives! Whether you Dangxiang people come or not, today we Han soldiers are rebelling!"

"Inverted!"

"Inverted!"

The Han Chinese generals were also filled with rage, and they drew their swords and shouted.

"Fine!" Ahua glanced at Liang Yuanfu, who was pale-faced, and then gritted his teeth, his face contorted with rage: "Then let's fight for our lives!"

For a time, there was a sense of unity and concerted efforts to change the world.

Of course, a spiritual atomic bomb cannot replace objective laws.

The objective reality is that several thousand Jin troops have arrived from Luoyang and launched a surprise attack directly into the Chang'an camp.

Unlike the main Jurchen force that suffered heavy losses, these troops maintained their high morale and spirit.

If we calculate based on the timeline, we can only say that Wanyan Liang was indeed extremely intelligent, and his ability to see the big picture from small details was by no means lacking.

After Wanyan Zonghao inexplicably hanged himself that day, Wanyan Liang immediately sent a letter to Luoyang, urging the Jin army to spare some troops to stabilize the situation in Guanzhong, otherwise the Jin state would really perish inexplicably.

At this time, most of the main Jin army's forces in Luoyang had been taken to the Xingyang defense line by Pusan ​​Zhongyi, leaving only less than 10,000 regular troops.

However, Crown Prince Wanyan Guangying, who was left to guard Luoyang, did not dare to delay after receiving the order. He immediately dispatched several thousand men and personally led the army to march towards Chang'an.

Today, Luoyang has become like a seemingly massive but easily punctured pig's bladder. If a Song army could enter Yique Pass from Nanyang and march north, they might actually be able to capture Luoyang in one fell swoop and destroy the Western Jin.

After Wanyan Guangying led his army to the massive military camp outside Chang'an, he immediately joined forces with several thousand Jurchen remnants from Guanzhong and surrounded the camps of the Han and Tangut armies in an encirclement formation.

Surrounding a camp of nearly 20,000 men with more than 10,000 men sounds impossible, but the key issue now is that most of the camp commanders have gone to make deals with Hu Chong and others, and the deputy commanders, seeing the Crown Prince's banner from afar, are at a loss as to whether they should retaliate.

This is the Crown Prince! A counterattack would truly mean rebellion! Who could possibly come up with such a plan so hastily?!
The most crucial window of opportunity was wasted.

However, strangely enough, Wanyan Guangying quickly relied on the advantage of his cavalry to bypass the main camp from both sides. After occupying the key roads and making a siege posture, he did not immediately launch an attack.

Instead, he dispatched a military envoy to summon the commanders of each camp to discuss matters.

In Wanyan Guangying's view, it was impossible to completely wipe out these soldiers. Even the commanders of each unit could only be punished slightly, and at most a few people would be killed.

A combination of kindness and severity was enough to win over these Han Chinese and Tangut people who had not yet united.

However, he did not expect that a loyal guard squad would do everything in their power to avenge their benefactor, Wanyan Zonghao, and that Hu Chong and Wodao Chong would become extremely nervous and complete their final connection today.

This caused complete chaos, with everyone making grave mistakes in their predictions of the other side.

While Wanyan Guangying was ordering the commanders of various units to come and pay their respects, the generals who had quietly returned to their troops quickly mobilized the army and immediately launched a counterattack against the Jurchen army.

Wanyan Guangying never expected such a scene to occur, and was momentarily flustered.

However, the Jurchen army, consisting of 5,000 cavalry, was a complete division that had not experienced a major defeat. They overwhelmed the newly defeated troops in terms of combat strength, and soon the Tangut-Han allied forces were at a disadvantage.

It is simply impossible to expect the Han people of Guanzhong and the Western barbarians, the Dangxiang, to share weal and woe and overcome difficulties together.

In just over half an hour, nearly 20,000 troops were defeated one by one, and in the end, they scattered in all directions.

Hu Chong rallied nearly a thousand soldiers and crossed the Wei River in a somewhat disheveled state, cutting off the pontoon bridge before the pursuers arrived.

Surprisingly, Wodao Chong did not follow the Dangxiang people to the former territory of Western Xia, but instead stayed with Hu Chong's central army. Only then did he recover and asked with difficulty, "General Hu, where are we going now? Are we going to Longyou to join Zhang Congjin?"

As night gradually enveloped the plains, Hu Chong looked back at Chang'an City and slowly shook his head: "Ahua and Lao Zhen are right. Song is not a good place, especially now that Zhao Gou is in power."

Hu Chong didn't keep them in suspense. Before Wo Daochong could press him for details, he pointed to the east and said, "My closest brother-like figure has already gained some power at Puban Ferry. We'll cross the river there, block the ferry, and then seize Hezhong Prefecture."

Now that the Eastern Jin have perished and the Western Jin are in decline, and the King of Han has only just annexed Youyan and Liaodong, he has not yet had the time to take control of this region. As long as we raise the banner of the Han dynasty, we can gather enough support to hold out for several months and await the King of Han.

Wodao Chong glanced at Hu Chong with some surprise.

We usually just thought of him as a reckless fool, but how could he have come up with such a brilliant plan?
"Chang'an, I will return!"

Taking advantage of the last rays of the setting sun and the cold wind, Hu Chong gazed deeply at Chang'an before turning his horse and departing.

Wodaochong followed closely behind, but after only a few hundred steps, the two of them turned around unintentionally and found that Chang'an City was gradually becoming brighter, and in the end it was a fiery red.

The two stared at each other in shock, a sudden thought forming in their minds.

Has chaos already broken out in Chang'an?

Thinking of this, Hu Chong couldn't help but rein in his horse. However, after seeing the disheveled state of his troops, he sighed and slowly drove away.

(End of this chapter)