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

Chapter 295: Ten Years of Progress but Still No Entry

Burning a ship is not something that can be done simply by setting it on fire.

Although there were no military strategies such as "Navy Model" in those days, Su Baoheng was a capable minister after all. He had the intention of fire prevention when designing the port, and the ships were not crowded together. Especially after the main force moved south, the inner harbor of Chenjia Island seemed even more empty.

When it rains, it becomes even more difficult to burn down the fleet.

"...Old Li, Li Jinyan, stop your nonsense! The enemy is here, and you're still stubborn!" Gao Pingchang said impatiently to a minor official from the Water Conservancy Bureau. "I'm telling you, we only have a little over a thousand soldiers. How are we supposed to keep watch over so many ships?"

The middle-aged man named Li Jinyan was wearing an ill-fitting official uniform and was speechless for a moment.

Although this person was an official of the Capital Water Conservancy Bureau, he was promoted from the navy system. Naturally, he was not a powerful person, but just an official.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Jinyan seemed to be convinced by Gao Pingchang, but still raised an objection: "If there is a fire..."

"How could a fire start in this goddamn weather?" Gao Pingchang pointed to the dark clouded sky, growing even more impatient. "Whether it's the thieves or the Song dogs, how could they possibly get through in these high waves?"

Li Jinyan was about to say something when he heard a voice from behind him: "Old Li, you are so ignorant. Just listen to what General Gao says now. He will bear the responsibility anyway. If you resist and anything happens, you will be beheaded."

Gao Pingchang's face darkened. Turning around, he saw a tall and strong man wearing a straw raincoat and holding a sword approaching. "General Gao, I, Grand Duke Luo, have come here on the orders of the general to obey your orders!"

Gao Pingchang's face flashed with anger, and then he burst into laughter again: "With big brother here, Chenjia Island is as stable as Mount Tai!"

Although he said this, he was a little panicked in his heart.

The reason is simple. This Grand Duke Luo is the cousin of the military commander Meng'an Daliangyu. They are both from the Bohai clan and are also military commanders.

During the military meeting, Daliangyu was the most active. He even came forward to stabilize the morale of the army when Gao Shi was a little discouraged. Could it be that the confidant of such a person came to Chenjia Island because Daliangyu discovered something?
Grand Duke Luo seemed to have noticed Gao Pingchang's confusion. He sighed and said, "It's because the enemy army is so bloodthirsty. My second and third brothers died long ago, and I'm the only one in the family. We have no children, so I can't let my life go to waste. So the general risked his dignity and asked for a post in the rear. It's a great favor."

Gao Pingchang nodded, then asked again, "Has the fighting started up ahead?"

"That's right." Grand Duke Luo took off his bamboo hat. The cold wind blew through him, and he felt a little cold again. He couldn't help but shrink his neck. "Not long after the military meeting yesterday, the bandits attacked. Both the Loyalty Bandits and the Dongping Bandits came. The famous Feihuzi was supervising the battle behind us. He was very tough when he attacked. He even attacked the camp last night.

Do you know that Wu Sai? He's usually a real character, but last night he was completely destroyed. If the steward hadn't reacted in time, the camp might have been broken last night."

Gao Pingchang's heart skipped a beat; these thieves were quite capable.

Then he felt a huge sense of urgency.

The manager is right, we can’t stay in this crappy place any longer.

With this thought, Gao Pingchang turned to look at Li Jinyan, who was already shivering in the cold rain, and said coldly, "Stop talking nonsense. You heard it too. The situation is difficult. Now listen to me. Gather all the ships and keep them under centralized supervision. If anything goes wrong, it's my responsibility."

Li Jinyan stamped his feet and said, "Then it will be as the general said."

After saying that, the man didn't waste any more words. He walked away quickly in the drizzling cold rain and on the muddy road.

Let’s not talk about how Gao Pingchang and Da Gong Luo, two people with ulterior motives, began to test each other.

Take Li Jinyan, who had been chosen by Gao Pingchang to be the scapegoat. After he sent his subordinates to drive all the ships to the port, he turned around and returned to his tent. He took off his clothes, revealing his strong muscles. After wringing out his official robe and hanging it up by the fire, he slumped down on the stool again, looked at the hanging official robe, sighed, and remained stunned and speechless.

"You idiot, what are you still hesitating about now?" A faint voice sounded in the corner of the tent.

As if he had known there was someone in the tent, Li Jinyan was not surprised and sighed, "Old Jin, did you know that Feihuzi started attacking the camp yesterday and almost took over the army camp last night?"

Jin Wenyan walked out from the darkness in the corner of the tent, shook his head and said, "We have not been in the Loyal Army for too long, how can we know all the strengths and weaknesses? But seeing that the Loyal Army defeated the Wuxing Army head-on, the Feihuzi must be very powerful." Although the Wanyan Zheng family had publicly declared that they must not allow the Wucheng Army, which was mainly composed of Shandong good families, to be connected with the sailors, who were mainly Shandong Haner fishermen.

However, in reality, as Shandong men, how could we possibly wait until the last minute to blend things?

Especially in the political atmosphere of the Jin Dynasty, where high-ranking military officers were often Jurchens, the status of Han people was already low, and they had to stick together. This is not to say that sticking together is Han people's instinct, but that Han people who do not stick together can easily be killed by the Jurchens.

As early as when the navy was just established, many people began to talk about their hometown ties and age, and some even secretly became sworn brothers with different surnames, agreeing to help and watch over each other.

Of course, this kind of verbal solidarity is ultimately stabilized by facing one crisis after another. Among them, there are people who talk big but do little, and naturally there are also people who are truly loyal to each other and share life and death with each other.

For example, Jin Wenyan, who was a military commander but worked as a spy, and Li Jinyan, who was nearly forty years old and could only become a minor official in the Dushui Supervisor, were friends for life and death.

Li Jinyan sighed and said, "Second brother, as the eldest brother, I should work together with you when you ask. But I still have hundreds of brothers under my command, and I can't lead them into trouble, so naturally I have to weigh the pros and cons."

Jin Wenyan sneered: "Brother, I think you are afraid of losing this small official position."

Li Jinyan also laughed. "I can't hide this from you, second brother. I just feel a little sad. I was muddle-headed until I was thirty, and only realized the need to make progress when my family was broken up. After ten years of hard work, I got this official position and lived like a human being, but now I have encountered such a thing. Second brother, tell me, is this God's will or fate?"

Jin Wenyan also sighed: "It's the way the world is. This world won't let us, the Han people, live in peace."

Li Jinyan nodded. "Indeed. Second brother, do you know why I hesitated yesterday and made up my mind today?"

Jin Wenyan shook his head and replied: "I don't know."

Li Jinyan smiled bitterly and said, "I just got two pieces of news. One was from Grand Duke Luo, saying that a military commander named Wu Sai had died. It was a pity. The other was found out by my brothers, saying that our deputy commander Wang Dadu also died last night."

At this point, Li Jinyan's face showed a complex expression, seemingly angry, yet also sad: "That bastard, Grand Duke Luo, didn't even mention our deputy commander! He didn't even mention it!

A deputy commander is actually worse than a military commander? How can a lowly official like me think about this? After ten years of advancement, I am still just dirt in the eyes of the Jurchens.

Jin Wenyan listened quietly, then bowed and said, "Brother, this is why our general manager insisted on leading us to rebel against the Jin Kingdom. There's no benefit in working for those Jin bastards. We might as well take advantage of our strength and our knives to rebel against them! Who knows, we might even be able to carve out a new world!"

Li Jinyan looked up and thought for a moment, then stood up, took off the official robe that had been half-dried by the bake, and held it in his hands to examine it carefully.

Just when Jin Wenyan was about to persuade him again, Li Jinyan raised his hand and threw the official robe that represented his ten years of hard work into the fire.

Amidst the rapidly expanding flames, Li Jinyan gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it! We've done it! Second Brother, go tell the officers of the Loyalty Army that no matter what they do, they need to act quickly, because Gao Pingchang has gathered the ships together."

Jin Wenyan was stunned for a moment: "What is this guy going to do?"

Li Jinyan smiled and shook his head: "I don't know, but what I do know is that when things are out of the ordinary, there must be something fishy. When things are extremely strange, there must be something fishy. He must be doing something, otherwise he would be so full that he would come out to get wet in the rain."

Jin Wenyan thought about it, but couldn't figure out what else to do with the concentrated ships in such bad weather. For a moment, he could only shake his head and remain silent, ready to tell this information to those smart people and let them worry about it.

"Brother, there's no time to lose. I'm leaving now." Jin Wenyan put on his straw raincoat and walked to the entrance of the tent. He turned back and said, "Brother, you must be careful these few days. Although we want to start a rebellion, we still have to wait for the main force of the Loyalty Army to arrive. You must not try to be a hero."

Li Jinyan smiled and nodded: "I know."

Jin Wenyan waved his hand, turned and walked into the winter drizzle.

(End of this chapter)