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

Chapter 396: Traveling Back and Forth, Suspicious

The generals of the Jingnan Army had reason to worry.

As the Wu Rui Army was tasked with covering the vast area from Yuxikou to Xicaishi Camp, even though they were somewhat tired these days, they still retained a certain level of combat effectiveness.

Logically speaking, although the Wu Rui army had already arrived at the Jin army's Xicaishi camp to prepare for battle, it was impossible for them to ignore the chaos in Yuxikou.

Isn't this just taking care of the head and not the butt?
Even if we can't send all our troops back to support, we can still send one or two thousand cavalry to test and stop them.

Otherwise, once Yuxikou is lost, the baggage route will be threatened. If the front line encounters setbacks, retreat will become very difficult.

But even though he understood this, when the military envoy came to Han Tang to report military intelligence, Han Tang still hesitated.

As the commander-in-chief of the Wurui Army and a high-ranking official of the Jin Dynasty, Han Tang had a certain grasp of the overall situation of the war.

The overall situation mentioned here is not just the confrontation between East and West Cai Shi, nor is it just the situation in Liang Huai, but the entire world situation.

The reason why Wanyan Liang invaded the Song Dynasty in the south was to use military victory to feed the people of the Jin Dynasty, and more importantly, to gain prestige and thus suppress the situation in the country.

In other words, when the big family of the Jin Dynasty had not yet been sorted out, Wanyan Liang chose to go out and beat up his neighbors, and then use the prestige of defeating his neighbors to distribute the things he had looted from their homes, giving them a slap in the face and a sweet date, so that his family could live in peace.

The biggest problems with this plan are two points. The first is that you have to be able to beat your neighbors, and the second is that during the time you are beating your neighbors, there cannot be chaos in your own home.

However, it now seems that this tightrope-walking plan has finally failed.

And it's not just one hole, but three big holes.

The first and most terrifying one was that the two important cities in Shandong, Yidu Prefecture and Dongping Prefecture, were captured by the rebel army. Shandong was almost in turmoil and broke away from the control of the Jin Dynasty, and even Hebei became unstable.

The situation in Shandong is so troublesome. We originally thought that the Wuxing Army and the Weiyi Army would stabilize the situation in Shandong, but we did not expect that the Han people in Shandong have been so strong that they actually swallowed up these two armies. The situation in Shandong is completely out of control.

Tushan Zhen, who was fighting in the eastern part of Huainan, was now panicked, fearing that someone would cut off his army's supply lines. He sent three letters a day to Wanyan Liang asking for instructions on what to do next, some of which included words like withdrawing troops.

Of course, everything Tushan Zhen did was in vain, and the only result was a scolding from Wanyan Liang.

The second one is Zhang Zhongyan and Tushan Hexi, two useless people in Guanzhong. After they captured Dasan Pass, they felt that they had completed the task of restraining Wu Lin and only sent cavalry to attack Huangniu Fort.

Veteran general Wu Lin seized the opportunity and sent troops to defeat the Jin army under Huangniu Fort. He then sent his generals to recapture Longzhou, Qinzhou, and Taozhou, with a tendency to counterattack Guanzhong.

This is not what scares Han Tang the most.

The third one was top secret information, which was delivered by someone sent personally by the Youyan Han family.

The Jin Dynasty's former territory in Liaodong seems to be no longer stable.

A few months ago, it seemed that some disturbances had occurred in Tokyo Liaoyang Prefecture. Those who knew the inside story were vague about it, but there were rumors everywhere, including but not limited to the rebellion of the Left Prime Minister Hesheli Liangbi; the rebellion of the general Hesheli Zhining; the Khitan Saba returned to attack again; and the rebellion of Cao Guogong Wanyan Yong.

However, this turmoil came and went quickly. In less than three days, Liaoyang Prefecture had returned to its previous state, so that other forces did not know where to start if they wanted to investigate.

The news reached Han Tang because some members of the Han family followed Wanyan Fushou to Liaoyang Prefecture at that time. Wanyan Fushou was clamoring to support Liu Shou to become the emperor, but after hearing the news that Wanyan Yong followed Hesheli Liangbi to fight against the Khitan rebels, Wanyan Fushou was completely dumbfounded and is now staying in Shicheng area and unable to move.

Han Tang was also a little confused when he heard the news.

Hesheli Liangbi, Hesheli Zhining, Wanyan Yong, and Wanyan Mouyan—these four people were mixed up together? How could this be possible? The only thing Han Tang could be sure of was...

Something big must have happened in Liaodong.

Did Wanyan Liang know this news?

Hard to say.

But no matter what happened in Liaodong, once the news of these four people joining together was spread, it would cause a huge storm.

Han Tang had some guesses as to why Wanyan Liang was so anxious to cross the river.

In the face of the great changes in Shandong, if Wanyan Liang still wants to maintain his political advantage, he must produce some results. Otherwise, after returning to his country, not only the Shandong men, but even the Jurchens will rebel!
Therefore, as Wanyan Liang's confidant, Han Tang must implement his master's ideas to the end no matter what. As a minion, facing such a war, how can he not give his all?

Only by crossing the Yangtze River and searching the small Southern Song Dynasty court thoroughly would there be enough political capital to clean up the mess in the country.

With these reasons, Han Tang fell into hesitation when faced with the enemy troops that suddenly appeared behind him.

This is not just a military issue. If we send some troops back to Yuxikou when facing Wanyan Liang's military order for the Wurui Army to go to Xicaishi to participate in the war, will Wanyan Liang think that he has other intentions?
As the commander-in-chief of the army, although he could theoretically act at his own convenience, Han Tang also knew that the current posture of a decisive battle was the military order issued by Emperor Wanyan Liang to act at his own convenience.

Do you dare to resist such military orders?

Are you the emperor or the chief steward?
But we really have to take care of Yuxikou.

"How many Song dogs did you just say came to Yuxikou?" Han Tang asked the military envoy after a long silence.

The military envoy, still sweating profusely in the winter, answered loudly, "General, I don't know. The river is full of Song dog boats, forming a long line. There may be thousands or even tens of thousands of them."

This kind of information is worse than not having it.

After thinking for a long time, Han Tang said to a general beside him: "Han Wenguang!"

Han Wenguang, the first general of the Wurui Army and also the best among Han Tang's nephews and nieces, immediately bowed and agreed.

"You heard everything!" Han Tang said in a loud voice, "Now take the First Meng'an and turn around to check the situation. Remember, if Song Gou is too powerful, don't get entangled with him any further and quickly return to the Xicaishi camp!"

Although Han Wenguang wanted to say something, he did not dare to bargain after seeing the officers surrounding him and the military orders coming down. After agreeing loudly, he turned around and left with several of his marching officers.

This is not because the Wu Rui Army's first Meng'an is afraid of fighting, but because the first Meng'an are all cavalry. When they were previously assigned to cover the area around Yuxikou, they were the main force among the main forces.

If the previous series of battles were taken into account, the Wu Rui Army had hardly received any rest and was already somewhat exhausted.

What's more, in order to achieve the suddenness of the naval attack today, the Wu Rui Army rushed from Yuxikou to Xicaishi half an hour before the Jin navy set out. Now that they were about to arrive, they rushed back. This was a big blow to the morale of the army. When the lower-level officers were at a loss, their combat effectiveness would be reduced.

This is the reason why the three armies are suspicious.

However, military orders were as strong as a mountain, and the First Meng An was a cavalry unit, making him the best choice for tactical maneuvers. Besides dispatching the First Meng An, the only other option was to draw cavalry from the remaining thousand-man units, which would only lead to further chaos.

Under the command of Han Wenguang, the first Meng'an of the Wurui Army mounted another spare horse, endured the fatigue and the cold wind, turned around and galloped back the way he came.

(End of this chapter)