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

Chapter 329: Discerning the Military Situation

Liu Huai dismounted, piled the two Jin army corpses together to make a simple stool, and bowed to Yu Yunwen: "Please come in, Mr. Yu."

Yu Yunwen sat upright on his horse, his eyes twitching, and he waved his hand with a smile and said, "I don't know anything about military affairs, so I'll rely on you, Dalang."

Shi Jun knew that torture would follow, and he was eager to try, but when he saw that neither of them had the intention to give him a chance, he gave up, dismounted, and signaled his personal guards to clean up the battlefield. Shi Jun, on the other hand, stood solemnly in front of Yu Yunwen's horse, holding a knife, like a loyal guard.

Liu Huai didn't notice Shi Jun's little trick. He sat directly on the two corpses, pulled out a melon hammer from the waist of his personal guard, and said to the five Jin army prisoners in front of him with a smile: "Who will go first?"

The mouths of the five tied-up Jin soldiers were tied with ropes by the soldiers behind them, so they could not speak for a while. They could only glare at Liu Huai and make wild beast roars in their throats.

"Start with you." Liu Huai pointed at the person on the far right with the melon hammer: "Name."

"Cough cough, you Song dog..." After the rope in the Jin soldier's mouth was pulled out, he just coughed twice and started shouting and cursing.

Liu Huai didn't wait for him to finish, and swung the melon hammer directly on the bald head of the Jin soldier. Blood mixed with brain matter sprayed all over the Jin soldier on the left.

"Wrong answer." Liu Huai wiped the hammer head with the clothes of the dead Jin soldier and pointed the hammer at the second person again: "You are the second one, what is your name?"

"Pooh!"

Before a mouthful of thick phlegm mixed with blood fell to the ground, the hammer head came down again.

"I just don't believe it. Are all of you Jin soldiers made of iron? Why aren't there any tough guys like you among the Jin soldiers I captured in Shandong?" This time, Liu Huai didn't wipe the hammer head. Instead, he used the hammer head, which was covered in brain matter, to lift up the third Jin soldier. "Name?"

The Jin soldier was now breathing rapidly, sweating on his forehead, and his eyes were wandering.

After the hemp rope was pulled out of his mouth, Jin Jun immediately said, "Han...Han Chengdong."

Liu Huai smiled and said, "You are indeed sensible. Where do you live?"

"Daming Prefecture, Hebei."

"You live in Hebei, and your last name is Han. Could your family be the Han clan of Zhaozhou? Are you related to the famous minister Han Qi?"

"No... no, my family is a branch of the Youzhou Han family. We have served as officials of the Liao Dynasty for generations. More than forty years ago, my father served in the Jin Dynasty, and I..."

This person was really frightened. Before Liu Huai asked any further questions, he took the initiative to talk about all his family situations.

"Who the hell is asking you that?" Liu Huai interrupted the chatterbox. "Where is the main camp? How many people are there in total? How many of them are combat soldiers? How many of them are armored? Which army are they from?"

"Uh..." Han Chengdong hesitated for a moment.

Liu Huai swung the melon hammer and hit the opponent's shoulder, smashing his shoulder blade and collarbone.

"Ah!!!" Han Chengdong screamed in pain and twitched violently. The Flying Tigers soldiers who were controlling him from behind couldn't hold him down for a while.

Seeing this, the other two captured Jin soldiers couldn't help but turn their heads away, not daring to watch this scene anymore.

"Turn their heads around so they can see!" Liu Huai shouted, then stuffed the brain-stained head of the melon hammer into Han Chengdong's mouth, muffling his screams. "Boy, let me ask again, where is your camp? How many people are there in total? How many of them are combat soldiers? How many of them are armored? Which army are you from? Can you answer now?"

Han Chengdong nodded hurriedly despite the severe pain.

Liu Huai pulled the melon hammer out of the other person's mouth and wiped it on his body.

"The main camp is at Dongcaishi, on the east end of the floating bridge. There's only one Meng'an, the best Meng'an of the Wuping Army. A total of... a total of over 1,200 people." Han Chengdong's forehead was covered with sweat. He endured the pain and said loudly, "There are 800 combat soldiers, all cavalry, 500 armored cavalry, and 300 light cavalry. There are also more than 400 signed soldiers and civilian laborers."

When he heard the four words "Diyi Meng'an", the corner of Liu Huai's mouth twitched.

The number one Meng'an of the Wuxing Army left a deep impression on him. Even when he was ambushed, he still fought hard and inflicted heavy casualties on the Zhongyi Army, which had a greater number of troops.

They were also elite troops from the regular army, and even if the Wuping Army's First Meng'an was slightly inferior, they were still very formidable. Of course, if the entire Jingnan Army arrived, rested for two days, and then attacked with 5,000 men, these hundreds of Jin troops would be helpless no matter how capable they were.

But the key point is that the main force of the Jin army was also rushing over quickly, and everyone's speed was about the same. When the Jingnan army arrived, the main force of the Jin army was basically about to arrive.

If not for this, Liu Huai would not have been in such a hurry to lead his elite cavalry to Cai Shi to participate in the battle despite the casualties caused by falling behind and non-combat casualties.

Liu Huai thought for a moment, let Han Chengdong go, and pointed the melon hammer at the fourth prisoner: "Are you a Jurchen?"

The fourth prisoner with braided hair nodded respectfully, "Yes, Commander."

"what is it call?"

"Sahacha."

"How many of you are at the ferry? Who's in command?"

"... Twelve hundred men are in Dongcai Stone, and the marching general is called Aligua." Sahyan answered honestly.

"Where are the rest of the tribe?" Liu Huai heard the hesitation in Sahyan's tone and asked directly in a cold voice.

"There's a Mouke guarding the island in the middle of the river, and there's another Mouke guarding the west end of the floating bridge on the west bank of the river..."

Before Sahni could finish his words, he was interrupted by a scream that was not like a human voice.

Liu Huai raised his melon hammer and rained down on Han Chengdong. "You're not being honest, are you? You're so bold to hide it!"

Han Chengdong screamed and twitched violently under the hammer as if he was electrocuted. At first, he struggled and twisted as the hammer fell, but in the end he only twitched reflexively when the hammer landed on his body.

Soon, the Jin army led by Han Chengdong fell silent.

Liu Huai held the melon hammer and smashed the opponent into a torn sack with one hammer after another, like a farmer working hard to plow the land and weed.

"Ah!!! Ah!!!" Sahyan, who witnessed all this, screamed like a wild beast, while the other prisoner's mouth was still tied with a hemp rope, and he could only make a hoarse sound from his throat, but the color of his pants quickly darkened.

Liu Huai stood up, took two deep breaths, pointed at the two prisoners and waved his hand: "Separate them, I want to question them individually."

After watching Liu Huai's ruthless methods, the psychological defenses of the two Jin soldiers completely collapsed. They answered every question and told everything they knew, almost selling out Ali's underwear.

These soldiers knew very little, but for Liu Huai, it was enough.

"Yu Sheren, Shi Tongzhi, do you have anything else to ask?" Liu Huai turned his head and asked the two people who had been watching coldly.

Yu Yunwen shook his head. Although he still had a smiling expression on his face, if you looked closely, you would find that his smile was a little stiff.

Liu Huai made a neck-cutting gesture to the soldier standing behind the captives, and the next moment, the throats of the two Jin army captives were cut.

The situation is now clear.

If Liu Huai did not want to engage in a decisive battle with the main force of the Jin Kingdom too early, he would have to use the meager capital in his hands to eliminate the Wuping Army's First Meng'an who was guarding the pontoon bridge within these two days.

Within two days, the only Jingnan army troops that could arrive were 500 elite cavalrymen from the Flying Tiger Army. Not to mention that Liu Huai was reluctant to use them to attack the enemy, even if he gave them all, the Flying Tiger Army would not be able to fight a tough battle as soon as they arrived. They would need some time to rest before they could go into battle to kill the enemy.

Time is too tight, so we can only wait and see what happens to the defeated Huaixi troops gathered east of the Yangtze River.

I hope it can be of great use.

(End of this chapter)