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

Chapter 410: The General's Concession Is Not Personal

By the beginning of the Xu hour (around 7 p.m.), the chaos in Chao County had gradually subsided.

After the Flying Tigers joined forces with the enemy-defeating army, they were personally led by two generals to pacify the situation in the county.

Lan Junhao and Gong Erchuan's subordinates are almost all local people from Chaohu, and the Lan family is a powerful family in Chao County. Because they had to cooperate with the Jin army before, they attacked the Jin army most ruthlessly at this time, hoping to atone for their sins later.

The arrival of Liang Zichu also gave the remnants of the Chaohu navy a backbone.

After the sweep of the city was completed, Liu Huai ordered that the captured Jin army and the leaders of the Qian army be detained, and the Qian army should not move around to prevent anyone from causing trouble at night. Everything had to wait until the next day.

No matter how fast Da Huaizhen was, it was impossible for him to fly dozens of miles from Luzhou in one day.

Doesn’t it take time to organize the army and travel?

However, if the Jingnan Army was too impatient and let the Qian troops blow up the camp and destroy Chao County, it would be a loss.

In this way, after selecting the soldiers to patrol at night and maintain discipline, the soldiers including Liu Huai took a good rest.

On the second day, which was December 1st, Liu Huai had just put on his iron jacket when an officer from the general's tent called his name into the tent.

"This is Li Mengguang, the county magistrate of this county." Lan Junhao pointed to a fat old man beside him and introduced him briefly.

"I had already given up hope of living a miserable life, but I didn't expect the Yutian Army to arrive so quickly. I am truly overjoyed." The old man bowed and said, "The Grand Commandant leads the mighty army..."

"Alright, alright..." Liu Huai took out a stack of flatbreads from a basket in the hall and waved at Li Mengguang. "How did you avoid the Jin thieves during the days when Chao County fell?"

"I hid in a farmhouse outside the city. The Jin thieves came to raid it several times. My son and daughter-in-law... wuwu..." Li Mengguang's tears fell before he finished speaking.

Liu Huai took a bite of pickles and a bite of bread, then turned his gaze to Gong Erchuan.

Gong Erqi nodded, indicating that Li Mengguang was not lying.

"County Magistrate Li...you can tell from our accents that most of our Jingnan Army are from the Shandong Volunteer Army, not from Huainan. Even if we have some merits, it will still take some effort to stabilize people's hearts. So since you didn't join the bandits, you have to take responsibility for the civil affairs of Chao County." Liu Huai blew the foam on the hot porridge and said lightly.

"Yes... yes..." Li Mengguang nodded while crying.

Seeing this, Liu Huai could only sigh, "Li County Magistrate, please stop crying. I'm going to say something unpleasant. How many wives and children have died since the Jin thieves came south? How can we cry enough? All we can do as living people is to avenge those who died in vain."

"The Jin thieves will come again, and we'll need the County Magistrate to ensure the manpower and supplies. Do your best to prevent such a tragedy from happening again in Chao County."

Li Mengguang wiped away her tears, bowed to Liu Huai, and stepped back.

Liu Huai nodded to Lan Junhao, who understood and followed Li Mengguang. In this situation, the Lan family, as a wealthy family, had more influence than the county magistrate.

Liu Huai, the second person to come and pay a visit, was not surprised either.

It was Liang Zichu, the commander of the Chaohu navy.

To be honest, Liang Zichu never thought that the Jingnan Army would really cross the river as promised, and he never thought that they would arrive a day earlier than the agreed time.

Even though Guan Chongyan praised Liu Huai to the skies, Liang Zichu had been in the army for many years and knew the character of the Song army very well. Selling out teammates was simply the norm.

This is why Yang Chun and Liang Zichu insisted on gritting their teeth and waiting for the Jingnan Army to arrive before joining up instead of actively attacking Chao County.

At that time, Liu Huai said that his wife was giving birth, and if they were a few days late, the remaining Song army would be directly killed by the Wusheng army.

It now seems that the Jingnan Army was indeed brave and fierce. They came when they were told to and fought when they were told to, without any compromise.

In this case, Liang Zichu will obey Liu Huai's orders as promised.

"I, Liang Zichu, am here to see the commander-in-chief!" As soon as Liang Zichu entered the commander's tent, he knelt down on the ground like a giant, ignoring the armor on his body, and kowtowed heavily.

Liu Huai naturally showed his respect for the wise and humble, and hurried forward to help him up: "Commander Liang, please stand up."

Liang Zichu remained kneeling on the ground. "General, you have led your troops here to save the people of Dongguan Chao County from disaster. This is truly something no one else could do. On behalf of the people of this county, I thank you for your great kindness."

After saying this, Liang Zichu kowtowed again despite Liu Huai's attempt to stop him.

Liu Huai had no choice but to use his arms to forcibly pull Liang Zichu up.

"Commander Liang, now is not the time to discuss these trivial matters." Liu Huai helped Liang Zichu up and then pressed him down on the seat beside him. "The current situation is still urgent."

Liang Zichu bowed and said, "Before I came here, Yang Zhizhou told me to obey the orders of the commander-in-chief in everything."

Liu Huai returned to the main seat, but didn't immediately issue any orders. Instead, he asked with a half-smile, "Oh? If that's the case, why didn't Governor Yang come to see me in person?"

Liang Zichu was stunned for a moment, then smiled wryly and said, "Zhizhou Yang was injured in the previous battle of Hefei and has just recovered. Furthermore, the Chaohu Water Fort is filled with defeated soldiers from all sides, a mixed bag of good and bad, so someone with prestige is needed to take charge."

Liu Huai nodded casually, but he understood in his heart.

Yang Chun certainly considered keeping some cards in his hand, but more importantly, he didn't know how to face Liu Huai.

This is not to say that Yang Chun did anything wrong, but because Liu Huai is too young.

Even though Yang Chun was not promoted according to the normal process for scholar-officials, he was temporarily promoted to the position of acting governor when Gong Tao, who was in charge of the Huaixi Pacification Office, abandoned the city.

However, Yang Chun was the military commander of Luzhou after all, and also had the military rank of Xiuwulang. Although he was not a famous official or general, he was still an old veteran who had made great contributions.

Yang Chun really couldn't bring himself to do that, so he kowtowed to Liu Huai like Liang Zichu did, and called himself a humble general.

Liu Huai was indeed a little annoyed by Yang Chun's behavior.

This is not to say that Liu Huai is arrogant and thinks that all heroes in the world should bow down to him. Rather, the current situation is dire and it is time for us to work together to overcome the national crisis. How can we avoid him just for the sake of face?

Moreover, Liu Huai did not come north empty-handed.

Not only did Yu Yunwen and Li Xianzhong, the two military and political leaders in Huaixi, give guarantees, but even Liu Qi and Ye Yiwen in Huaidong said that they would be responsible for all rewards and punishments issued by Liu Huai. As long as he did not appoint a king, they would grit their teeth and accept it.

At the same time, the Jingnan Army also had the power to control the Huaixi volunteer army. From this perspective, Yang Chun, who had been labeled a Chaohu bandit, was under his command.

Of course, Yang Chun had his share of faults, but after the defeat in Lianghuai, he didn't retreat. Instead, he gathered his troops and continued to fight against the Jin army. For this reason alone, Liu Huai had to look up to Yang Chun.

"I know a thing or two about what Yang Zhizhou is thinking." Liu Huai shook his head and said, "I can make three guarantees. First, I will not annex his subordinates. Second, I will never humiliate him. Third, I will not let him fall into an unexplained death. However, Yang Zhizhou must come to Chao County as soon as possible to discuss military matters."

Liang Zichu nodded repeatedly, and finally bowed in agreement.

"As for the current situation, we had already deduced it a few days ago before our army crossed the river."

"If my calculations are correct, the food and fodder at the docks are meant for Wanyan Liang's army. The Jingnan Army's current position has perfectly cut off the Jin army's food supply. This isn't just a small pass like the East Gate, but the entire 50-mile barrier from Chao County to the East Gate has been blocked by us."

"The most dangerous thing in war is to cut off the supply of food. In other words, the Jin thieves are going to fight to the death."

"The one who fought desperately at the beginning must have been Da Huaizhen, who stayed behind. Whether it was according to military orders or to preserve his troops, he had no choice but to send a large army to attack. Although Chao County was difficult to capture, he still had nine Meng'an in his hands, so it was still possible to encircle Chao County."

"And in five or six days at the latest, Wanyan Liang will abandon his attack on Caishi and lead his army back to attack Dongguan."

"No matter how strong this line of defense is, it cannot stop the two-pronged attack of the 40,000-strong Jin bandit army."

"There's only one chance of victory. That's when Da Huaizhen's army attacks. We defeat them below Chao County, then we can fully defend against Wanyan Liang's attack. Then we can just sit back and wait for them to starve to death!"

"This timeframe is no more than twenty days. If Da Huaizhen is not defeated within this period, we will be forced to defend Chao County and be besieged by tens of thousands of troops."

As for Da Huaizhen, the emperor personally ordered him to guard the rear, but he ended up in such a state. If Da Huaizhen still had a little bit of willpower, he would immediately send a large army to fight in order to atone for his sins.

If the Eastern Army encountered major problems because of Da Huaizhen, he would be dead even if his surname was Wanyan, let alone Da.

Even if Wanyan Liang pardoned him at that time, Da Huaizhong would definitely kill him!
As for Wanyan Liang, should he embark on the smooth path paved with the blood and flesh of the Jin navy? Don't forget, Su Baoheng had already sacrificed half his life. Should he abandon the impending destruction of a nation just because thousands of Song soldiers were crossing the river behind him? With the army still having enough food, should he trust Da Huaizhen to swiftly suppress the rebellion and open up the food supply route?
This is self-explanatory.

This move was naturally a military adventure, but wasn’t the Jin Dynasty’s entire southern expedition plan also a huge political adventure?
This also means that although Da Huaizhen is far away, he must have arrived first, and he must have arrived in a hurry at all costs.

Only when Da Huaizhen could not resolve Chao County, or when the military rations of the three Wanhu were about to run out, would Wanyan Liang lead his troops back.

Will Wanyan Liang lead his entire army to bypass Dongguan and attack Chao County through Hanshan?
The answer is no.

Because this was a retreat, the troops would inevitably be scattered. Chao County was too far away from Hanshan, and there was a mountain road in between. Even with 30,000 troops, they would not be able to respond. This was the opportunity for the Song army. If the Jin army's attack was not going well, Yu Yunwen would lead the army to attack Hanshan from behind.

The three Wanhu of the Jin army would be trapped in the triangle area surrounded by Dongguan, Chaoxian and Hanshan. The remaining ranges of Dabie Mountains and Chaohu Lake would block all the escape routes of the Jin army.

A more stable general would not take such a risk.

As for Wanyan Liang joining forces with Tushan Zhen, who was currently encroaching on Yangzhou, to retreat, that was even more impossible.

Because the two routes in Shandong have completely reversed!
Don't forget that the reason why the original main attack direction of Lianghuai has now become a detachment is because Shandong's food and grass are unsustainable and cannot be transported to the front line through Sishui, whose river channel has been taken over by the Yellow River.

If Wanyan Liang dared to make such a stupid move, the logistics of the six Wanhu would collapse together. At that time, Liu Huai would dare to lead more than a thousand light cavalry to follow and pursue him, and cut off Wanyan Liang's head.

Therefore, Wanyan Liang must open up the East Gate line.

This is not some kind of divine strategy or a clairvoyant plan, but rather a natural result of the geography and military planning of the mountains and rivers.

This kind of fact-based inference is ten thousand times more accurate than counting on your fingers.

"Therefore, Commander Liang, I will temporarily appoint you as the commander of the Quanchao Lake navy. First, you must investigate the situation in Hefei and find out the timing and number of their troops. I will also have soldiers familiar with the water to accompany you."

"Yes!" Liang Zichu bowed and promised: "I will organize the men now and go north along the Feishui River!"

Liu Huai waved his hand: "No hurry, the Jin thieves have done so much evil in Chao County, don't you want to see their final end?"

Liang Zichu was stunned for a moment, then he said with a sinister smile, "Of course I do."

(End of this chapter)