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

Chapter 370: The Colorful Clothes Transformed into Butterflies and the Golden Threads Ended

Li Dao finally opened his eyes.

Capturing the enemy's main general in the midst of thousands of troops and relying on him to protect the entire army's retreat is a common story in novels, but in reality, Li Dao has only heard that Yue Fei did it once during the Jing Kang period.

Li Dao personally helped Liu Huai up the ladder to the flagship, and looked Liu Huai and others up and down fiercely for several times.

From the armor that had been dyed black and red, and the arrows that had not been cleaned until now, one could imagine how fierce the battle was.

"Good man! Really a good man!" Li Dao patted Liu Huai on the shoulder and said.

The tentacles were sticky and sticky, but the feeling was like blood curdling. Li Dao, with his vast military experience, had his sergeant bring out hot water and help the six warriors remove their armor.

"Lord Commander, why didn't you kill that captain just now?" Shen Longzi asked in a low voice.

"There's no need. He's just a seriously injured disabled man." Liu Huai said lightly as he untied the belt of his armor.

Liu Huai was still a little proud. Since the Jin army did not play any tricks during the Song army's retreat, he would naturally leave a way out.

"You even managed to snatch the flag." Shao Chongrong handed the Qilin flag to Li Dao. Li Dao carefully took it, unfolded it, and exclaimed, "This is an incredible achievement."

"Let's not talk about this anymore." Liu Huai took off all his armor and wore only shorts and tights. "General Li, what do you think of this Jin army?"

"Very powerful, invincible." The speaker was Wang Huai.

He was the general who faced Hezhameng'an's surprise attack head-on, so he had the most say.

Damn it, this is too scary. The combat effectiveness and fighting spirit of this Jin cavalry are not at the same level as other Jin troops.

If Liu Huai had not suddenly appeared and captured Wanyan Qige, all the soldiers of the Dongting Lake navy might have been killed in Wujiang Town.

"If the battle is decided in the wild, two thousand of those Jin thieves can defeat the 20,000 royal troops." Wang Huai wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed.

Liu Huai also nodded. This Heza Meng'an army was not only brave, but also had very high military quality.

"How many people are missing?" Li Dao asked.

He glanced at the bodies of the soldiers on the deck, and his heart ached.

Naval soldiers are not easy to raise. First of all, they must be good at swimming, secondly, they must be good at close combat, and they must be well-nourished and well-trained. To date, there are only a little over a thousand such soldiers in the entire Dongting Lake Navy.

These soldiers were the most elite troops of the Dongting Lake navy. Normally, they would regret for a long time if one of them died. However, they suffered so many casualties in less than an hour after landing.

"One hundred and eighty-seven people died, forty-six were seriously injured, and fifty-one were slightly injured." Wang Huai's face looked unhappy, but he still started to count.

Except for the more than 30 casualties in the initial battle with the defenders of Wujiang County, the remaining casualties of the soldiers were caused by the attack of the Jin army's cavalry.

Heza Meng'an truly lives up to his reputation.

Although the deck of Li Dao's flagship was only used to place the remains of the Song army, a large area of it was now spread out.

Near the railing outside the ship, a woman in colorful clothes was muttering something next to the corpse of a soldier.

"What's going on?" Li Dao pointed at the woman in colorful clothes and asked.

"She said that was her husband, so she asked her to come along." The soldier who was removing the armor from the corpse saluted and said.

Li Dao was furious. He thought that there were family members among the navy soldiers, which was a huge taboo.

Li Dao was about to open his mouth to scold, but Liu Huai stopped him. After briefly explaining the general situation, Li Dao looked at the woman in colorful clothes, whose face softened and he sighed deeply.

At this time, the Song army soldiers who were removing the armor from the corpse were attacked by the woman in colorful clothes.

"Liu Lang is sleeping... Come back later... Don't wake him up..." The woman in colorful clothes opened her arms and stopped him with a silly smile on her face.

The Song soldier scratched his head in embarrassment, but the military order was that if the armored soldiers were not removed, neither the transportation nor the burning and burial of the bodies could be carried out, so he took a detour and continued to reach out to the body of the young soldier.

"Didn't I tell you? Come back later!" The woman in colorful clothes suddenly pushed the Song soldier, causing him to stagger back a few steps, and then she opened her arms like an eagle protecting its chicks.

"You woman!..." The Song army soldier was a little anxious. He was about to say something but was stopped by Li Dao.

"Young lady, let's take off his clothes. Look, he is sleeping, but he is still wearing this. How uncomfortable it must be..." Li Dao walked up to her, tried to force a smile, and said to the woman in colorful clothes.

The colorful-clothed woman was filled with questions: "Who are you? Where is my grandfather?"

Seeing this, Liu Huai quickly said, "That's right, girl. If you sleep like this, your Liu Lang will fall ill."

"Grandpa..." After hearing this, the woman in colorful clothes finally moved away carefully.

"Be gentle, Liu Lang is a very light sleeper..."

The Song army sergeant was indeed much more relaxed and helped the young soldier take off his armor.

"His name is Yu Boling, he is from Xiangyang, and he is only nineteen years old this year..." After the Song army sergeant took off the young soldier's helmet, Li Dao looked at the young soldier's deformed head, closed his eyes, and said painfully.

"He's a warrior." Whether it's as a man saving the weak, or a soldier saving civilians, this little soldier has earned Liu Huai's respect: "They are both incredible warriors."

The woman in colorful clothes stood by the railing of the boat with her hands hanging down, staring at Yu Boling's face. She waited for a long time, until the Song army sergeant removed Yu Boling's breastplate, and then she spoke: "He...he is not my Liu Lang..."

After saying that, the colorful-clothed woman raised her head and looked at Liu Huai: "You are not my grandfather either..."

There was finally some intelligence in the eyes of the woman in colorful clothes.

"We are the imperial army of the Great Song Dynasty." Seeing that the woman in colorful clothes seemed to have regained consciousness, Li Dao was also somewhat surprised and happy: "We are here to rescue you. You are safe now."

"That's right, my grandfather, my Liu Lang, and my whole family are dead..." The woman in colorful clothes seemed not to hear Li Dao's words. She lowered her head and looked at Yu Boling's young face again, then leaned over to help him close his eyes.

"Thank you... Thank you." The woman in colorful clothes stood up, tears welling up in her eyes. She crossed her hands to her chest, bowed slightly to Liu Huai and Li Dao, and said, "Thank you..."

"Unfortunately, you came too late..."

"Girl!" After hearing this, Liu Huai suddenly realized something and rushed forward with a roar.

Before Li Dao could react, he saw the woman in colorful clothes snatch the armor from the Song army soldier and climb over the railing on the side of the boat.

No matter how fast Liu Huai moved, he only had time to grab the hem of the colorful-dressed woman's skirt at a distance of five meters.

With a hissing sound, a piece of red cloth was torn off the hem of the colorful-clothed woman's skirt, and the colorful-clothed woman fell into the icy river like a fluttering butterfly.

A wave hit, and the figure of the woman in colorful clothes could no longer be seen on the river.

"Li Laosi, go down and save them!" Li Dao also threw himself on the railing, pointing at the river and shouting to a young sailor beside him. "No need..." Liu Huai said, holding the red silk and looking at the river.

The woman in colorful clothes went into the water holding her heavy armor. If she wanted to survive, she just had to let go of the armor.

She was determined to die.

Even Shen Longzi and others who were used to seeing separations and deaths could not help but sigh when they saw this scene.

There was silence on the boat for a moment, with only the sound of waves and the whistling wind.

Li Dao seemed to have aged a little. He waved his hand to let the panicked soldier continue to tidy up the body. Holding the railing, he looked at the place where the woman in colorful clothes fell into the water and sighed silently.

As if waiting for a miracle.

But the miracle did not come.

After a long while, Li Dao spoke, his voice as hoarse as rubbing iron: "General Liu, what do you think we are soldiers for?"

Liu Huai was silent for a while, then said, "For those who shouldn't die, so that they can continue to live..."

If Liu Huai was initially filled with ambition to change the dynasty, he eventually gained some enlightenment after facing countless deaths and struggles for survival in Shandong.

Why pick up the knife?
Because we need to protect those who cannot hold a knife.

Then why am I the one who has to take the knife? Why am I the one who has to fight?
Because I am the strongest, I should protect the weak.

This kind of chauvinistic idea is a bit too arrogant, but isn't the reason why Chinese civilization can be passed down to later generations because there are strong people or people who think they are strong who constantly stand up and give everything for those ignorant and irrelevant people?

"...For those who didn't deserve to die..." Li Dao chuckled, his graying beard trembling slightly. He took off his helmet and looked toward the west bank of the river.

The villages and towns along the river were ravaged by the Jin army, and many villages and towns have been reduced to ruins. Groups of seven or eight Jin cavalrymen can be seen cruising on the shore.

"That's how I was back then, watching the Yellow River's north bank reduced to ruins from the south. I thought my life would just pass by like that." Li Dao sighed and said, "But who would have thought I would see such a tragedy on the Yangtze River..."

"In order to fight against the Jin, Zong Liushou was exhausted to death."

"In order to resist the Jin, the father and son of the prefect Zhai (Zhai Jin and Zhai Liang) died in Luoyang. The governor of the great Zhai (Zhai Xing) was assassinated by a villain in Yiyang. The governor of the great Zhai (Li Yanxian) died in Shanzhou."

Li Dao paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was choked with sobs: "Marshal Yue was directly killed on trumped-up charges, and his body was not found at all."

"So many people sacrificed their lives, but what was the result? The Jin army still reached the banks of the Yangtze River." Li Dao turned to Liu Huai and asked, "General Liu, tell me, were all these people's deaths in vain?"

"...I don't know, I really don't know." Liu Huai looked at the river and was silent for a while.

From a macro-historical perspective, no sacrifice is meaningless. But if we look at the current situation, since the Jingkang Incident, the Han people have made so many sacrifices, but still cannot change the overall situation of the world, which is enough to make people despair.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Huai said slowly, "I also heard stories about the Three Kingdoms when I was young. I was also curious about why Zhuge Liang was so determined to lead the Northern Expedition, exhausting himself to death. I also don't understand why Jiang Wei wanted to restore the country to peace and the sun and moon to shine again after the emperor surrendered. They are the wisest people in the world. Don't they know that using only Bashu to fight against the Central Plains will ultimately be futile?"

"Think deeper: Why did Guan Yu relinquish his official seal and leave Cao Cao, riding alone for thousands of miles to join the wandering Liu Bei? Why did Zhao Zilong ride single-handedly into the battle of Changbanpo against an army of thousands, just to rescue Liu Chan? Why, after Guan Yu's murder, did Liu Bei lead a massive army to retaliate against the Eastern Wu, even at the cost of his chance to conquer the world? Didn't they understand the stakes?"

"Later, I finally understood that a true man should not ignore right and wrong and only consider the benefits and disadvantages when doing things."

"Reporting my loyalty to my confidant and bringing peace to the people is right. Rebuilding the country is right. Avenging my brother's death is even more right. So I must risk my life to do this."

"Heroes like the Zhai brothers, Li Jiedu, and Yue Yuanshuai didn't care about their reputation during their lifetime or after their death, and they didn't care about being worshipped or trampled underfoot. They just did what was right and gave their all for it."

"Whether their deaths were in vain may only be determined a thousand years from now." Liu Huai finally looked Li Dao in the eye. "But no matter what, since you and I are both in the military, protecting the country and the people is our most important priority."

"Don't worry about whether your death was in vain." Liu Huai said solemnly, "In this world, there are always people who will do it, and as long as it is done, it is better than not doing it. The only way is to stick to your original intention and devote yourself to it until your death."

Li Dao has reached the age of knowing the destiny. Looking at the young Liu Huai, he can't help but think of himself more than 20 years ago, with the same lofty ambition and the same fearlessness.

Li Dao suddenly felt a little jealous of Liu Huai, jealous of his ability, jealous of his youth, jealous of his courage. But in the end, Li Dao only focused his attention on the Li character flag standing at the highest point of the flagship.

"I will devote myself to the cause until my death..." Li Dao muttered to himself.

Afterwards, Li Dao put on the helmet, his face regained its firmness, he nodded to Liu Huai, turned around and walked towards the command position.

Under the command of Li Dao, the fleet returned to Caishiji Ferry.

Logically speaking, although they didn't achieve complete success this time, it was still a great victory after all. However, because of the incident with the woman in colorful clothes, both Liu Huai, Li Dao and others were immersed in low pressure.

This sentiment reached its peak when the people of Wujiang County disembarked. Under the command of the people-friendly officials, these skinny people finally had a bowl of hot porridge to drink. They wolfed it down while crying loudly.

As if a contagious disease, the people of Wujiang County cried out in unison.

However, those women were as if ashamed to see people. They wrapped themselves tightly with cloth and dared not even cry loudly. They could only sob silently.

Four or five bolder Song soldiers tried to approach and tease them, but Liu Huai caught them red-handed. With a single gesture, the Huaixi officers stepped forward and pinned the Song soldiers down, without even the Jingnan army having to intervene.

"Twenty military sticks, fight now!" Liu Huai stopped and pointed at several men who looked like captains and said.

The captains didn't dare to delay and hurriedly pinned the five thugs to the ground, stripping off their skirts, armor, and trousers. Other soldiers used their rifles as instruments of torture, spanking them amidst screams and pleas for mercy.

Liu Huai waited until the execution of those Song soldiers was completed, and saw the white buttocks covered in blood, then he followed Li Dao to Yu Yunwen's central military tent.

As soon as he entered the tent, Liu Huai found that the atmosphere here was even worse than outside. Commanding officers such as Shi Jun and Wang Qi all had gloomy faces.

He Boqiu had a sneer on his face, while Xin Qiji was shocked.

As for Yu Yunwen, who was sitting on the main seat, he looked like his father had died and his mother had remarried.

Liu Huai's mood couldn't help but skip a beat.

Was it Liu Qi or Li Xianzhong who died in battle? Or was it the Jin invaders who broke through the Guazhou Ferry? Or were the naval forces of Li Bao and Zhang Rong completely wiped out? It couldn't be that Xiangfan was captured by the Jin invaders!

Fortunately, Yu Yunwen did not sell the lawsuit. He directly took out a beautifully sealed document and handed it to Li Dao.

At the same time, he explained to Liu Huai, "The court has issued an order to commend the Jingnan Army for their loyalty and righteousness, and to order them to march south to Lin'an to receive the reward."

Li Dao opened his mouth wide and the letter slipped from his hands.

Liu Huai reached out to take it, read it quickly, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

After he sat down and drank a bowl of tea, he looked around at the generals in the tent and said, "Your expressions scared me. I thought the Jin army had already crossed the river!"

　If I don't finish coding this afternoon, there will probably only be one big chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)