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

Chapter 296: The Long Road to Zhushan Mountain and the Cold Rain

Jin Wenyan did not come here by land, not only because the official road was blocked by the Weizhen Army, but also because the rainy weather made the trails in Zhushan even more difficult to travel. If one wanted to come here, he could only take a detour of more than 60 miles from the northern foot of Zhushan.

As a spy, there was no need for him to go this far.

Jin Wenyan first went to a beach alone, and then pushed a small boat covered with dead wood into the sea. Relying on his skillful boat-handling skills, he steered the boat south along the north wind.

After traveling about thirty miles, they landed at the mouth of a small river called Fenghe and boarded Li Gongzuo's ship.

This place is ten miles south of the Weizhen Army’s Zhushan Pass camp and is protected by the Zhongyi Army camp, so there is no fear of being discovered.

More than 30 steamships of the Dongping Army and the Song Army were anchored here, both to avoid the sight of the Jin Army and to avoid the wind and waves at sea.

After finishing a big bowl of hot soup noodles, Jin Wenyan drank another bowl of ginger soup. He still felt a little unsatisfied, so he simply asked for a piece of ginger and chewed it until his stomach felt hot and he was sweating all over, and only then did he drive away the coldness.

Li Gongzuo just watched quietly. When he saw Jin Wenyan finally feel better, he asked seriously, "What happened?"

Jin Wenyan clutched the ginger and said, "I'm glad I've fulfilled my mission. My elder brother has already agreed with me to give the Jin thieves a hard time. But we have to be quick because the Jin army has gathered all their ships and seems to be preparing for some major action."

"Big move?" Li Gongzuo frowned and thought, but after a long while he still couldn't figure it out: "Never mind, no matter how powerful the Jin thieves are, they can't carry all these ships away. Jin Erlang, we can still go later."

Jin Wenyan was stunned for a moment, then he understood and was a little surprised again: "Are they going to take action right away?"

Li Gongzuo nodded. "I just received the news as well. The commander has detected the Jin army's strength and has agreed to attack together tomorrow night. Our navy will also charge forward at that time. You must not act rashly, just support us."

Also, we're going for the ship, so be careful... Okay?"

At this point, Li Gongzuo stroked his short beard and said thoughtfully, "The Jin thieves have gathered all the ships together. Are they planning to burn them?"

Jin Wenyan felt a little puzzled: "That's impossible... Gao Shi is not crazy."

"Forget it. Anyway, we'll see the outcome tomorrow night." Li Gongzuo also threw away this sudden thought: "Rest first, gather your strength before setting off again."

Jin Wenyan nodded in agreement, but then hesitantly asked, "Excuse me, General, where is the commander-in-chief? Will he personally attack from the front tomorrow night?"

"Ok?"

Seeing Li Gongzuo's questioning gaze, Jin Wenyan quickly waved his hand and said, "General, I don't mean anything else. I just want to say that although Gao Shi doesn't have any great abilities, he has one advantage: he learns from his mistakes.

Since the camp was nearly breached last night, he must be prepared for today. If he's just reinforcing the camp, that's fine; I'm just worried that Gao Shi might be deliberately exposing his weakness in order to kill the general who broke through the enemy lines. Then...

General, everyone makes mistakes."

Li Gongzuo nodded, quickly wrote a document on his desk, called the military envoy, and asked him to pass it to the central army. Then he looked up and said, "Jin Erlang, your intelligence is very timely, but there is no need to worry. The commander-in-chief is responsible for the entire army and would never take any risks himself."

Jin Wenyan felt relieved. It was nonsense to say that he was loyal to Liu Huai, but they had already rebelled against the Jin Dynasty after all, and they could only rely on the Shandong Volunteer Army. If the second-in-command of the Loyal Army was defeated and killed at this time, things would be troublesome.

Liu Huai, who Li Gongzuo said would never take risks himself, was now wearing a straw raincoat and an iron crotch jacket, walking on the Zhushan Mountain Road with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

This place is located approximately at the northern foot of Mount Zhushan. Unlike the land that was reclaimed and leveled after the population explosion in the Ming and Qing dynasties, although it is on the coast, it has only rugged mountain roads and even more difficult beaches.

Liu Huai climbed up a small hill, stopped briefly, and looked back. He saw that the assault force, which had been reduced to 700 people, was slowly advancing in the cold rain.

Compared to the thousand-man team that set out, nearly 30% had been lost in non-combat situations. Of course, that wasn't the case with over 200 dead, but rather the fact that some had fallen behind, some had caught a cold in the rain, and some had simply broken bones on the slippery mountain roads.

And inevitably, there were sergeants who attempted to desert but were discovered by officers and immediately executed by military law.

At this time, Liu Huai also understood why the guide who came from Wucheng Army vowed that the Weizhen Army would definitely not send anyone to guard the mountain road.

It's really fucking difficult to walk.

This is only a team of a thousand people. If tens of thousands of people were to take this mountain road, they would be doomed.

"Tian Twelve Lang!" Liu Huai called out to the guide twice. The distance was a bit far, and the guide didn't seem to hear him. He raised his voice a little: "Tian Tingtao, how far is it?"

Wu Chengjun, also known as Tian Tingtao, turned around and trotted over to Liu Huai. "Less than two miles to go, my dear. Once we pass the mountain pass ahead, the journey will be much easier."

Liu Huai waved to several personal guards and walked quickly forward: "Lead the way."

Tian Tingtao nodded hurriedly, still feeling a little frightened.

Commander Liu Huai was unlike any other commander; he commanded an army of ten thousand men. At first, Tian Tingtao, seeing his youth, had looked down on him. But when he saw over ten thousand soldiers and officers bowing before him, how could he not recognize him as a hero capable of establishing prestige through military exploits and suppressing all enemies?

Why would such a powerful person venture into such a dangerous place? If they were to die inexplicably east of Mount Zhu, Tian Tingtao would consider his death a small sacrifice. However, if Huyan Nanxian was implicated, he would be condemned to death.

However, when Liu Huai really led the way on the mountain road, Tian Tingtao felt admiration again.

No wonder the Shandong volunteer army seemed to be dominated by the Loyalty Army. The leader of the Loyalty Army was really fighting desperately.

Liu Huai did not think so much. The reason why he took the risky move and personally led his troops to bypass the enemy from the northern foot of Zhushan Mountain was certainly to establish prestige, but more importantly, it was the sense of crisis brought about by the out-of-control situation.

Liu Huai had a premonition that the upcoming war between Song and Jin would not develop as history had done, but no matter what, he should seize the strategic initiative as much as possible to remain calm in the upcoming storms.

This must not be said to others, because given Liu Huai's identity, even if he was a little panicked, even if he was a little unsteady, it would inevitably cause widespread unrest.

Didn’t you see that a few days ago, Liu Huai was just melancholy for a moment in Yishui, and that attracted Lu You and Xin Qiji to come at the same time?

Therefore, he could only take practical actions to eliminate the danger as soon as possible.

After walking two miles in the rain with several personal guards, Liu Huai finally walked out of the mountain pass. Looking into the distance, he saw a smooth road ahead.

The distance between Zhushan and the sea quickly widens here, turning into a plain. Looking from afar through the misty drizzle, one can only see vague ridges of fields, and in the distance there seems to be a village-like settlement.

"Look, my dear," Tian Tingtao pointed to the south. "Ten miles south from here, along the eastern slope of Mount Zhu, is the southern pass of Mount Zhu, where Gao Shi's camp is located. And if you go south from here and turn east for five miles, you will reach Chenjia Island, where the ships are stationed."

Liu Huai nodded, looked south for a moment, and asked again: "Where is the place you said we can set up camp?"

Tian Tingtao pointed to the path between two hillocks nearby and said, "Look, my dear! If we go two ways from here, we'll find a forest. The terrain is high, so we won't be affected by mountain torrents. There are also hills around to block our path, so it won't be discovered by anyone."

Liu Huai nodded again: "Lead the way, we'll camp here tonight. As long as we hold out for one night, tomorrow night we'll attack from the north and coordinate with Deputy Commander Li to overthrow the Jin bandit camp in one fell swoop!"

(End of this chapter)