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

Chapter 408: Taking Advantage of the Situation

On November 30th, at noon, Wanyan Guo led three Mouke cavalrymen and advanced slowly on the road.

The remaining one and a half Mouke, plus nearly a thousand lake dwellers captured as auxiliary soldiers, were all on the river boat to the right of Wanyan Guo.

Although Wanyan Guo is also a member of the Wanyan family, as the royal family of the Jin Dynasty, the Wanyan clan has already branched out over the years and their descendants are everywhere.

Wanyan Guo's ancestor was from the lineage of the prime minister Wanyan Sagai, and he could be related to the former leader of the Western Route Army, Wanyan Nianhan. However, on the one hand, Wanyan Nianhan's party was uprooted from top to bottom, and on the other hand, the relationship was indeed distant, so Wanyan Guo was just a small marching marshal until he joined the army for nearly ten years.

Now he was even sent to transport food and grass, which made Wanyan Guo feel a sense of vicissitudes of life, as if his talent was not recognized and his ambitions were not fulfilled.

However, even if he has not made any contributions over the years, he has worked hard. The fact that Xingjun Meng'an Guo Feng asked the five Moukes to obey Wanyan Guo was also a way of giving his surname some face.

No matter what, military orders are military orders, and Wanyan Guo would not joke about his life. His eyes were always on the boats on the river, fearing that something might happen to one of the boats and cause him to miss the deadline.

By then, Wanyan Guo will be too stupid, and the three Wanhu around Wanyan Liang will all starve!

There were a total of 200 ships of various sizes, loaded with food, military supplies, various weapons and equipment, cotton-padded clothes and leather hats to keep out the cold, and water warfare weapons such as the Eight-Ox Crossbow.

Except for the three leading ships, the remaining ships were not carriage ships, but common merchant ships. They did not have water wheels, but were driven by sails and oars.

These were almost all the ships that Da Huaizhen, the general of the Wusheng Army, could find. Although Sheng Xin's burning of the ships was wrong in many ways, it objectively did not aid the enemy. Da Huaizhen had no choice but to mobilize his troops to seize merchant ships at various ferry ports and use them to transport grain.

There was no other way. It was said that going by water was ten thousand times more convenient than going by land. If we went by land, the amount of food and supplies consumed by three thousand households and their horses would be an astronomical figure. At least ten thousand civilians would be needed to transport them.

Shouldn't we assign two Meng'an to watch over these ten thousand civilians?

It is already very tight for Da Huaizhen to guard the rear of the entire Huainan West Road with only 10,000 troops. How can he have extra troops to do this?

It is very easy to use ships. With more than 200 merchant ships, more than 1,000 civilians, and five Moukes, the task can be completed.

After arriving at Yuxikou, the signing army will take over the transportation.

The weather is just right today, but there is not a single breeze. Fortunately, the merchant ship is going downstream and does not need to row or tow, otherwise a thousand boatmen would definitely not be enough.

"Well, when I return to Chao County to hand in the order, I will recruit more boatmen from the East Gate. There are so many men, how can I sleep peacefully if half of them are not killed?" Wanyan Guo thought boredly as he gently whipped the saddle with his whip.

If you surrender you won't have to die?

what……

There is no such good thing in the world!

Thanks to Chen Ruhui's action of blocking the East Gate yesterday, and the subsequent scouts of the Jingnan Army running around, the Jin Army messengers who came to report were almost wiped out. At this time, only the military envoy who went through Zhaoguan successfully arrived in Hefei, and just informed Da Huaizhen of the news of the Jingnan Army crossing the river and the military order to wipe out the Song Army that crossed the river.

Although the veteran general knew that something might go wrong, given the pathetic speed of information transmission in the Middle Ages, Da Huaizhen could only send military envoys to notify all directions while assembling troops and letting several surrendered troops move towards Luzhou.

Therefore, at this time, neither Wanyan Guo nor his immediate superior, Guo Feng, the fourth general of the Wusheng Army in Chao County, knew that the Jingnan Army had captured the East Gate, and they did not even know that a group of Song troops had crossed the river.

It was almost noon when Wanyan Guo finally caught sight of the East Gate wall in the distance and breathed a sigh of relief. He had already covered a third of the distance without making any mistakes, which was truly commendable.

The city gate was still open, and the two scouts sent out had not yet entered the gate when they met a tall officer running towards them, and they followed him back to Wanyan Guo.

Wanyan Guo took a closer look and realized that this person was an acquaintance who often showed him filial respect. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Old Chen, why are you dressed so neatly? Where's Alibai? He didn't even come out to greet me when I came back?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wanyan Guo saw the bloodstains on Chen Ruhui's body, and Chen Ruhui had no intention of covering it up. Half of the long sword at his waist had not been put back into the scabbard, and it was covered with bright red.

"Chen Ruhui, what happened? Where is Alibai? Where is Lu Yuanhua?" Wanyan Guo and his personal guards became alert in an instant, raised their spears, and forced Chen Ruhui to be about ten feet away.

Chen Ruhui's round face still wore a genial expression, but now he cried out in disgrace: "General Wanyan, General Alibai is facing the enemy south of the city. I was sent to inform you that the waterway west of Yuxi Sandbar is blocked and you must pass through the waterway near the East Gate. Why are you turning your sword on me?"

"Meet the enemy? Where are the enemies?" Wanyan Guo was shocked when he heard this: "Could it be that Your Majesty is quarrying..."

"No, no, I dare not say anything..." Chen Ruhui waved his hands hurriedly: "No military envoy sent a message to Chaohu? It's strange, three waves of military envoys left yesterday..."

In fact, the three waves of military envoys were all let into the checkpoint by Dongguan, and were caught in a trap.

"I haven't heard of it!" Wanyan Guo pointed his spear at Chen Ruhui and shouted, "What the hell happened?"

"It was the soldiers at Yuxikou who rebelled, Commandant..." Chen Ruhui quickly explained, "The navy was in trouble, and several large ships were stolen. However, these soldiers didn't know how to steer, so they forced their way upstream for dozens of miles. They collided with each other, and sank on the west side of the sandbar, blocking the waterway."

"Another 4,000 soldiers ran themselves ragged but didn't know the way, and were blocked by the East Gate. The anxious navy and two Meng'an sent by General Han came to attack them, and the soldiers were defeated. General Alibai and Commander Lu opened the city gates and went out to hunt down those soldiers." Chen Ruhui spoke like a machine gun, quickly telling Wanyan Guo the whole story.

"Commander Lu was worried that the grain boats would enter the west side of the sandbar and miss important events, so he asked me to wait here for General Wanyan."

Wanyan Guo thought about it and didn't see anything wrong with it. Could a beggar-like army of soldiers capture the East Gate? Could they hold it if they did? How could they escape the relentless pursuit of Han Tang's Jin army and navy?

As for the possibility of a formal army crossing the river, Wanyan Guo didn't even think about it.

Others may not know what the character of the Song army is, but doesn’t he, a grassroots officer who fought all the way from the Huai River to the Yangtze River, know it?
How could the Song army have the courage to do this?

"General, why are you still standing there?" Seeing Wanyan Guo still thinking about something, Chen Ruhui reined in his horse and took a few steps forward, whispering, "This is military merit, military merit spread all over the mountains and plains, and there is no one owner. Whoever gets the head will own it!"

As soon as these words were spoken, not only Wanyan Guo, but also the two marching officers beside him had their eyes lit up.

"Hanging the rebels is a huge achievement, a legitimate military merit. His Majesty will have to admit it even if the case is brought before him. Otherwise, who will protect his country in the future? Didn't you see that General Alibai and Commander Lu were rushing to grab the credit?" Chen Ruhui's voice was urgent and fast, and every word he said hit the spot in Wanyan Guo's heart.

"Not too much. With three hundred heads, we can report a victory at Dongguan and show off in front of the general." Chen Ruhui was like the snake in the Garden of Eden. He used words to lure Wanyan Guo to let down his guard, and with the last sentence, he completely convinced Wanyan Guo.

"Grand Marshal, you are a hero. How could it be that you could not make great contributions when Your Majesty went south to destroy the Song Dynasty, but only did some hard work?"

Upon hearing this, Wanyan Guo took a deep breath and said to the messenger beside him, "Send my order to Mengdu, telling him to lead the fleet to the east side of the sandbar. Tell him clearly to keep an eye on the baggage and food supplies, as he will be indispensable in the contribution!"

"Let's three Moukes put on armor!" Because they were marching, the three Mouke cavalry only put the armor on the spare horses and did not wear them.

"My dear Grand Commandant, why are you still wearing armor?" Chen Ruhui said anxiously, "Even if you put on your armor, it will be cold! Those soldiers were defeated long ago. They don't even have two sticks in their hands and can only flee. Is it necessary to wear armor? This kind of military achievement will only come to you once in your lifetime!"

"Old Chen, it seems that you don't want me to take the credit, but you are afraid that it will be too late and you will get nothing..." Wanyan Guo pointed at Chen Ruhui and smiled.

Chen Ruhui blushed and said shyly, "...Taiwei, you have a keen eye. Yesterday, I had a few words with Commander Lu..."

"Alright, alright, I'll let you have your wish just this once." Wanyan Guo stood up from his stirrups and roared, "Brothers, follow me to kill the bandits and earn military merit!"

"General, I've just had my men hastily clear the main road, connecting north, south, east, and west. Please follow me!" Chen Ruhui beamed, spurring his horse towards the East Gate. "This fat white man is very sensible. I will definitely recommend him in the future!" Wanyan Guo was delighted. He held up the Wuque flag, representing his status as a Mouke, and rushed towards the East Gate behind Chen Ruhui.

The three Mouke's soldiers were arranged in twos and followed their leader to grab military merits.

The commander-in-chief of the Wusheng Army is called Da Huaizhen. From the name, we can tell that he must be from Bohai, and he is related to Da Huaizhong, the actual commander-in-chief of the current Hezhameng'an and the inspector of the Palace Front.

This is indeed the case. Da Huaizheng is Da Huaizhong's cousin and is highly valued by Wanyan Liang.

Because of this relationship, and because he was Wanyan Liang's confidant, Da Huaizhen had no choice but to obey the central government's military orders and had no reason to bargain.

For example, now, when the Wusheng Army attacked Lianghuai, they fought all the way in the front and made considerable contributions. However, they had no share in the battle of crossing the river, which is really annoying.

Da Huaizhen understood Wanyan Liang's concerns. On the one hand, the Wusheng Army really needed to rest and recuperate. On the other hand, Wanyan Liang also needed to have confidants to maintain a retreat in the future.

After all, Wanyan Liang was alone and deep in the Huai River region. If there was any danger, he had to ensure that the general guarding Luzhou would come to rescue him at all costs.

However, as a high-ranking military officer, Da Huaizhen had a commanding position and could naturally be at ease as his general. However, the entire Wusheng Army under his command naturally had resentment in their hearts.

Although the bottom line of the strategic goal of the top leaders was to capture Jingxiang, the high-ranking officials of the Jin Dynasty could not inform the entire army of such matters after all. Therefore, many middle and low-level officers, including Xingjun Meng'an, regarded this battle as a war to annihilate the country.

In fact, he had been preparing and promoting this since Wanyan Liang ascended the throne.

This caused a certain deviation in the thinking between the top and middle levels of the Jin Dynasty.

As for Wanyan Guo, his way of thinking is different from Wanyan Liang.

This is the achievement of destroying a country!
What a big piece of fat!
If the Song Dynasty could be successfully destroyed, how many titles and official positions could be bestowed? How many people would be able to share the country's life and share the land? That would be a mountain of gold and silver that could be passed down to future generations!
But all this had nothing to do with Wushengjun. No one in Wushengjun could get any meat or soup, not even the hot pot water to drink.

The only military achievement was to mop up the remnants of the defeated troops behind the front lines. This can only be considered hard work, not any kind of merit.
The worst off among the Wusheng Army were Guo Feng's troops. He, as Meng'an, was only responsible for protecting the grain route and ensuring the smooth flow of food along the line between Lujiang, Chaoxian, Dongguan and Yuxikou. He didn't even do any hard work.

Now that the credit for wiping out the rebels is right before their eyes, it’s no wonder that Wanyan Guo and the others are all so excited.

For Jin Guozheng’s army, military merit is not life, but it is definitely more important than life.

But red eyes mean that the observation and thinking abilities have declined. Three hundred riders formed a long line and ran on the main road in the center of the East Gate, entering from the north gate and turning to the east gate at the county government office.

When Wanyan Guo, who was at the front of the team, followed Chen Ruhui to the gate of the county government office, the Jin army cavalry at the end of the team also stepped into the East Gate.

The city gate slammed shut, but the sound of horse hooves suddenly became chaotic. Puliyan, who was at the rear of the team, saw a dark shadow in his peripheral vision.

……

"The streets are deserted. It seems they have been cleared to facilitate the army's advance." Wanyan Guo thought to himself, "What is that?"

Wanyan Guo suddenly discovered a cage hanging on the gate of the county government office. Although his warhorse was galloping like the wind, he still recognized the owner of the grinning head in the cage.

Lü Yuanhua...

There was a loud bang in Wanyan Guo's head. Just as he had a thought in his mind, he heard another loud bang in his ear.

On the street in front of him, behind Chen Ruhui, countless barricades were thrown down on the street, and shouts of killing rang out like thunder.

……

Meng Du cursed loudly on the boat. He knew that even if there was any credit, he would only get the smallest share. But who made him want to be idle and rush to get on the boat? All he could say was, every sip and every bite is determined by fate.

Military orders were as heavy as mountains, and Mengdu had no choice but to accept them. He followed Wanyan Guo's orders and led the fleet to the east side of the sandbar. When the tail of the fleet just entered the intersection of the sandbar and the river bank, Mengdu was blocked by several vehicles and boats.

The Jin army was not large in number, only about 130 people at most, so in addition to one or two supervisors on each ship, most of them had leaders at the head and tail to support them.

"He's fucking blind! He even dares to stop the grain transport ship for His Majesty!" Mengdu stood at the bow of the ship and cursed at the four ships dozens of steps away.

He learned the general situation through the messenger. He only knew that the Qian army had rebelled and the Jin navy was chasing them. When he saw the vehicles and ships blocking the waterway, he naturally thought they were the Jin navy.

What Meng didn't know was that in the northwest, at the tail of the fleet, four ships also came out from a hiding place on the west side of the sandbar, blocking the fleet's retreat.

On the west side of Dongguan, on this curved waterway that was no more than a hundred steps wide and two and a half miles long, eight ships were blocking both ends, completely blocking the Jin army's grain ships.

There's not much else to say.

Eight ships raised the flag with the word "Song" on it. The remnants of the Chaohu navy, who were full of anger, and Yang Qin, a member of the Dongting Lake navy who came for revenge, joined forces. They first attacked and killed the marching commander named Mengdu, without leaving any prisoners, and threw all the Jin troops into the Yuxi River to feed the turtles.

Afterwards, the naval officers and soldiers, under the command of Zhang Xiaoyi, ignored the fierce fighting inside the East Gate, boarded the ships one by one to check, and caught the Jin soldiers who tried to sneak in among the fishermen to prevent them from setting fire to the ships.

In fact, the navy didn't even need to take action. The moment the Song Dynasty flag was hoisted high and the drums sounded, the fishermen on the canal boats started a riot. Even if the Jin soldiers were good at fighting, they couldn't possibly face five or six young boatmen at the same time, let alone on a boat. If they really couldn't defeat them, the boatmen would jump into the river and escape. The Jin army was a bunch of landlubbers and couldn't even chase them.

"Get rich!"

Zhang Xiaoyi split open the door of the canal boat's cabin, and after entering, he was blinded by the brand new armor.

"I'm indeed rich!"

Yang Qin also nodded blankly.

This kind of wealth is not just gold and silver treasures in the ordinary sense. The Huainan and Huainan routes are already in a chaotic time. In such a chaotic time, it is considered good if a bucket of gold beads can be exchanged for a bucket of rice. The most valuable things are weapons, food, and soldiers.

When planning before the war, Liu Huai had already made a judgment that if he fought his way through Dongguan, Chaoxian, and Hefei, he would definitely be able to get a full meal somewhere.

The reason is very simple. Wanyan Liang has a field army. Although he has baggage and food, it is definitely not too much.

How to maneuver and fight with only several months' rations?

Therefore, food and supplies will inevitably gather in the cities behind the front line.

Even in Liu Huai's most optimistic estimate, he had to capture a city to seize so many supplies. However, who would have thought that a baggage fleet would arrive on the second day. If it weren't for the fact that Dongguan was indeed missing one and a half Mouke, Liu Huai would have thought that Lu Yuanhua had deceived him before his death.

But it doesn't matter. Now that the water transport boat has been seized, today's matter is 80% settled. As for the 300 golden cavalrymen who rushed into the city, they were just a minor problem.

(End of this chapter)