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

Chapter 337: Men Must Be Energized

Sheng Xin, commander of the Chaohu navy, was gathering his troops at the northern end of Caishi Town.

They said they were their own troops, but except for more than 400 veterans of the Chaohu navy, the rest were defeated soldiers gathered along the way.

This is actually not difficult to understand. The two Huai regions were beaten into such a state by the Jin army that even the elite Song army fled in confusion.

The Jingnan army would fall behind during a long raid, not to mention these defeated soldiers. After these soldiers were scattered, they would often gather together in groups of villagers, selecting a leader. Some chose to continue fleeing south, some chose to go up the mountain to become bandits, some chose to surrender to the Jin army and become fake soldiers, and some chose to gather their troops locally and begin to resist.

The five commanders of Huaixi were probably the last type of people.

Although some fought desperately and some were timid, they were not like Wang Quan after all. After crossing the river, they continued to struggle to escape. They were considered to have maintained some bottom line in the troubled times.

Of course, since the troops had been gathered together and became a hodgepodge, Sheng Xin's words were not particularly effective. In order to avoid embarrassment caused by someone singing a different tune, Sheng Xin did not dare to hold any major military meeting. He simply gathered nearly 200 soldiers who were the backbone of the camp, began to lecture them and gave them guarantees.

Naturally, there were people who were completely discouraged, and there were also people who secretly looked down on Sheng Xin, but Sheng Xin had many years of military career after all, and he still had some prestige in the army. He quickly encouraged the 83 soldiers under his command.

Just when the morale was slightly boosted, Sheng Xin suddenly heard a commotion at the edge of the market town that served as the military camp, and immediately became a little worried.

Generally speaking, you are not allowed to shout loudly in the army because people follow the crowd. Once they disobey the officers' orders and start making noise, no one knows what slogans they will shout in the end and where the situation will lead.

Could it be that after hearing that they had to send troops to fight the Jin bandits, some of the troops lost control and started making noise?

Sheng Xin led a dozen personal guards and rushed there. However, just as he was mixed with the defeated soldiers who had gathered together, before he could ask anything, he saw a group of murderous cavalry slowly approaching on the street that looked like a market.

The leader was none other than the general Liu Huai whom he had met at Yu Chu's place earlier today.

At this time, this unnaturally young commander of the Jingnan Army was holding two war horses in his hands, with three human heads with braids hanging behind the horses' butts. One of the horses was carrying two suits of armor on its back.

The armored cavalry behind him were all in the same situation. Everyone was covered in blood. Two of them seemed to have suffered some minor injuries, but that did not stop them from each holding the head of the Jin thief and leading the captured warhorse, sitting upright on the horse's back and looking around with a heroic look.

At this time, many defeated Huaixi soldiers had come out of their tents to watch this scene. Many people had recognized that these cavalry were the Jingnan Army that entered Caishi Town in the morning. At that time, these people entered the town carrying human heads and leading war horses, and seemed to have returned victorious.

But how did these people return victorious just an hour or two later? And where did they kill so many gold thieves?

Many people had questions in their minds, but most of them only dared to whisper to each other and were reluctant to ask loudly, for fear that they would be mistaken for thieves who had frightened the army and were killed by this group of cavalrymen.

But after all, there are still some people who are brave enough.

"General Liu, where else can you make such a good business?" Opposite Sheng Xin was Shi Jun's military camp. Shi Jun was also gathering troops there. He was also attracted by the noise on the street and came out to see the scenery. Seeing this scene, Shi Jun couldn't help but ask loudly.

Liu Huai was like a fisherman who got lost after catching a hundred-pound fish but couldn't find a place to show it off. He was still worrying about how to brag and boost morale. When he heard Shi Jun's question, it was like someone offering him a pillow. He immediately shouted, "Twelve armored cavalrymen from my Jingnan Army went to scout the Jin bandits' camp. Fifty Jin bandits came to fight. We fought them back, killed eighteen enemy cavalrymen, and cut off their heads. The rest of the bandits fled!"

The sound was so loud that it could be heard from all directions, and the Song army was immediately in an uproar.

The Song army had seen the combat effectiveness of the Jin army and instinctively did not believe this.

The overwhelming and reckless charge of fifty Jin cavalrymen would often cause the Song army's formation of five or six hundred men to loosen. If the Jin army had continued to charge, the Song army would likely have been completely routed, with countless casualties.

How could such a powerful Jin army be defeated head-on by twelve riders?

How can this be?

However, seeing the human heads hanging behind the saddles, the strong war horses, and the standard armor of the Jin army, it was obvious that they could not be fake.

Among the Song army, several Song army officers looked at each other and saw disbelief in each other's eyes.

Compared to ordinary soldiers, these officers had more experience. However, their experience did not allow them to see through Liu Huai's words, but instead made them even more shocked.

Because the number of heads taken, the number of enemy soldiers killed in battle, and the actual casualties caused are three different numbers.

Heads are incredibly difficult to cut off, because the battlefield is so chaotic, with enemies desperate to kill each other on all sides. Who has the time to spare to cut off the heads of the enemy corpses? The battle is going on fiercely, and suddenly the cavalry stops fighting and starts chopping off the heads of the corpses. The battle is then unsuccessful.

In fact, there were many cases in the Song army where the soldiers lost their composure and turned a great victory into a great defeat because they cut off heads on the battlefield for the purpose of commendation. Later, there was a special military order prohibiting the cutting of heads on the battlefield and requiring military judges to uniformly record the merits.

How easy is this? Because the enemy is not stupid, if they have any conditions, they will not leave the bodies of their comrades on the battlefield.

Unless one side wins a great victory and the other side is so defeated that they dare not even return to the battlefield or harass the enemy, the victorious side can calmly collect the heads as military merits.

How was it possible that the twelve armored cavalrymen of the Jingnan Army could scare the Jin army's camp of a thousand men?

Could it be that the Jin army has actually become an inflatable pig urine float, which looks big on the outside but will burst with a single poke on the inside?
Could it be that after the Jin army broke through the Huai River and the Yangtze River, it was still able to maintain its resistance because the Song army did not dare to fight?
Could it be that... as long as we dare to fight, we can bite off a piece of meat from the Jin army?
Many of the more nimble-minded Song soldiers were eager to try. It wasn't just the promise of rewards from the officers that was being offered... In fact, the Song army's credibility was so poor that they often had to wait for a round of rewards before shooting a round of arrows... More importantly, many of these soldiers' hometowns were in the Huai River and Yangtze River regions, which had been ravaged by the Jin army. They had a deep grudge against the Jin army.

It would be fine if they were unable to do it, but now that they can see the hope of victory, how can they not be excited?

A fire gradually rose in the eyes of many Song soldiers, and they looked at Liu Huai and other armored cavalry with scorching eyes.

Shi Jun was also a little dazed, but this smart officer immediately reacted and realized that this was a good opportunity.

"So, can the Jin thieves win?"

Liu Huai responded loudly: "How can we not win? Look at these heads. Then find a pond and look at yourselves. Do you think everyone has a head supported by two arms? Do you think everyone has two eyes and a mouth?

Why do they kill people, and you get to be killed? Are they superior? How can this be justified?

Liu Huai held up a waist badge and pointed behind the saddle. "This is the Jin bandit's marching commander, their centurion! There are only a thousand Jin bandits at the Dongcaishi Ferry this time, with only ten centurions. If our Jingnan army kills one today, and another nine tomorrow, we can defeat the Jin bandits at the ferry!"

"There are a total of seventy Jin bandits marching south to Lianghuai this time. Let's take care of one in the next two days, and then kill sixty-nine more tomorrow. Then the Jin bandits in Lianghuai can be defeated!"

"The Jin thieves have a total of thirty-two armies and three hundred and twenty marching warriors. If we kill them all, the Central Plains can be recovered and the world can be pacified!"

"Today, we will start by killing the Jin thief called Aligua. My Jingnan army will kill them one by one. Who of you wants to join me?!"

When Liu Huai was halfway through his harsh remarks, the whispering became quieter. In the end, the more than a thousand onlookers had fallen silent, and they just looked at Liu Dalangjun with a strange look as if they wanted to say something but couldn't.

Just when Liu Huai thought that his bold words had silenced the entire audience, a voice came from a corner: "I am willing to follow General Liu to kill the Jin thieves!"

"I am willing to follow General Liu and kill the Jin thieves!"

The noise was noisy, but soon the voices of the Song army became uniform.

"Kill the gold thief!"

"Kill the gold thief!"

Amidst the shouts and cries of killing, Liu Huai finally breathed a sigh of relief and left proudly with his cavalry amidst everyone's salutes.

Sheng Xin was silent in the crowd, just watching the scene quietly with his eyes. Listening to the Song soldiers around him praising Liu Huai as a hero, he felt a little regretful for no reason. After sighing heavily, he held his head high and returned to his own military camp to start assigning tasks.

On the other side, Liu Huai brought the spoils directly to the central army.

Yu Yunwen was already standing at the gate of the courtyard with his hands behind his back. Amid the shouts of "Kill the Jin thieves", he smiled as he watched Liu Huai returning triumphantly with the head in his hand.

"I didn't expect Liu Dalang to be so quick." Yu Yunwen looked Liu Huai up and down. "You warriors are really good at fighting. People like me, who are corrupt scholars, really have to talk a lot to win people's hearts. How can Liu Dalang just go out and chop off a few heads and it's enough to boost the morale of the army."

Liu Huai smiled and shook his head. "Yu Sheren, if only things were that simple. Don't look at how excited these Huaixi soldiers are now, but in fact they are still useless. I am only doing this to help the five commanders to encourage the core troops. It would be great if they can gather 500 people.

If we want these 5,000 Huaixi troops to go into battle, we need not only to continue to encourage them with great victories, but also to provide them with large amounts of rewards and money. They are all veterans, so empty promises will not do."

Yu Yunwen folded his hands and thought for a moment, "I will order Dangtu County to raise funds from the treasury. There should be some money there, and even with the small amount of money I brought back to reward the troops, it should be enough to pay them out. Furthermore, I will send messengers to Wuhu and Fanchang counties to explain the situation and offer guarantees as a temporary solution, so they can use their treasuries to support them. Finally, I will write to the court, requesting money and grain, citing the autumn taxes collected from various parts of Jiangnan."

Liu Huai nodded repeatedly after hearing this.

This is why it is easy to become an official if you have someone in the court.

If there was no Yu Yunwen, and it was just Liu Dalang fighting in Cai Shi, no one would care about him no matter how he fought to the death. Not to mention the Song Dynasty court withdrawing money and food to support him, even if he wanted to open the treasury of Dangtu County, he would have to use force.

"Money and food are easy to deal with, but where should we start to boost morale with a great victory?" After a moment's silence, Yu Yunwen asked sincerely.

It has to be said that the scholars and officials of the Song State generally had the ability to plan strategies and win battles thousands of miles away.

Regardless of whether he is good or not, at least everyone wants to be the commander-in-chief.

Yu Yunwen was no exception. In the past, he had no access to military power, and no matter how much he liked military strategy, it was just talk. But now, with this rare opportunity, he almost eagerly absorbed military knowledge.

"It's better to cut off one finger than to injure ten. If we want to attack, we must naturally eliminate the weakest part of the Jin bandits." Liu Huai said, "Didn't Yu Sheren notice that I'm missing someone?"

At this time, Yu Yunwen discovered that Zhang Baiyu, also known as Zhang Silang, who had always been following Liu Huai, was not there.

(End of this chapter)