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

Chapter 425: Inconsistent Military Strength

When the Jin army's military meeting was almost finished and the generals on the front line of the Jin army had barely reached a consensus, Lu You came to Liu Qi's tent at the Guazhou ferry camp in Huaidong with someone.

He held up a document and breathlessly said to the guards at the door, "Quickly inform General Liu, there is important military information!"

The personal guards also knew Lu You and immediately went forward to deliver the message.

After a while, the tent was opened. Liu Qi, wearing underwear and a cloak, sat in the main seat. Seeing the person behind Lu You, he was startled: "Zhang Diwan, why are you here in person?"

Zhang Rong was also sweating all over, with white smoke rising from his gray hair. It was obvious that he had come from far away and had just arrived.

Liu Qi’s question was also very simple.

At this time, Zhang Rong's identity in the Song State was not the commander-in-chief of the Dongping Army, but the deputy general manager of Huaidong, under the jurisdiction of Liu Qi. He led 5,000 Dongping troops and joined forces with Li Bao's Zhejiang East Navy to confront the Wucheng Army in Zhenzhou. Now he abandoned his troops and ran to Guazhou Ferry. His intentions were sinister, so it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was deserting the battlefield.

"I'm here to deliver military intelligence to the commander-in-chief and discuss military strategies with him," Zhang Rong said with a bow.

Liu Qi coughed twice, took the document handed over by Lu You, squinted his eyes and read it carefully in the candlelight. Half a minute later, he put down the document, breathed a long sigh of relief, and a smile appeared on his face.

This was a report of achievement issued by the Jingnan Army after it had completely occupied Chao County.

"If everyone in the world were as brave and courageous as Liu Dalang, who disregarded life and death, then great events could be resolved, and the Central Plains could be stabilized."

Liu Qi sighed and started coughing again.

Lu You sighed slightly, knowing that Liu Qi was not only praising Liu Huai, but also expressing his anger towards the armies in the south of the Yangtze River.

Especially Zhang Zigai, as the military successor of Zhang Jun, one of the four great generals who crossed the Southern Migration, this guy simply inherited his uncle's behavior of harming his neighbors. He stayed in Jiankang like a stone puppet without any movement, allowing Liu Qi to mobilize troops again and again. Zhang Zigai only sent a part of Liu Bao to Zhenjiang Prefecture, while he himself remained motionless.

The key point is that Liu Bao is not a good guy!

Letting this old veteran cross the river and fight for his life? Dream on!
After Li Xianzhong rushed to support Huaixi, Liu Qi's Huaidong army had only 30,000 soldiers and had to be divided everywhere, making it impossible for him to launch a decent offensive.

If it weren't for the fact that Tu Shanzhen had fewer troops, not to mention Yangzhou, even the Guazhou ferry camp would have been difficult to defend.

Just as Liu Qi lamented, if all the people in the world were as capable as Liu Huai, he would have organized tens of thousands of troops in Huaidong and given Tushan Zhen a big surprise.

Zhang Rong nodded. "That's right. Liu Dalang was only twenty years old, yet he led a large army in a desperate battle against the Jin army. We, who claim to be famous teachers and generals, have wasted our years, allowing the Jin bandits to slaughter the people of Lianghuai. It's truly shameful."

Although he said it was embarrassing, Zhang Rong's expression was mostly angry.

The gap between people is so big.

Zhang Zigai might be angry about being sent to the battlefield, but Zhang Rong was angry because he had to sit in Zhenjiang Prefecture and was unable to fight the Jin army.

Liu Qi narrowed his eyes and asked, "Zhang Diwan, what do you want?"

Zhang Rong couldn't help but get furious. "I'm just a deputy general manager. Do I have to make all the decisions in the world? As a senior official and the pillar of Lianghuai, shouldn't the general commander shoulder the overall responsibility? All we, the Dongping Army, can do is fight the Jin bandits to the bitter end!"

"Now that Liu Dalang has opened up the situation in Lianghuai, doesn't the commander-in-chief have a plan or two?"

Liu Qi looked at the veteran in front of him who was also active during the Jianyan period, and knew what he was thinking.

The country has been lost, and it is difficult to return to the hometown. Seeing the nephews and nieces risking their lives and falling into danger, while you can only sit back and watch the success or failure, how can you bear it?
"Things aren't that simple." Liu Qi pondered for a moment before deciding to explain to Zhang Rong: "Now our army..."

Just as he began to speak, a soldier called out his name: "General, the Privy Councilor is here."

Before he finished speaking, Ye Yiwen had already lifted the door curtain and entered the general's tent. Although he saw that the lights in the tent were brightly lit and knew that Liu Qi was not asleep, he was still slightly startled when he saw Lu You and Zhang Rong.

The three of them quickly stood up and bowed.

As the Privy Councilor, he could enter not only Liu Qi's tent but also the emperor's bedroom. This was the power of the prime minister.

In the past few days, Ye Yiwen did not stay in the Guazhou camp in Jiangbei, but went to Zhenjiang Prefecture south of the Yangtze River to deploy supplies and drive the remaining troops across the river to fight. However, this Privy Councilor who knew nothing about military affairs was too easy to fool, and was perfunctorily dealt with by Liu Bao and others with a few words.

Originally, Ye Yiwen wanted to try again, but after receiving a piece of terrible news, he crossed the river in the dark to find Liu Qi.

Lu You bowed and saluted: "Sir, have you met with the military envoy and learned that Liu Dalang crossed the river and captured Dongguan and Chao County?"

Ye Yiwen was stunned and blurted out: "I didn't see the military envoy."

The next moment, he reacted and was extremely surprised: "So, doesn't that mean Liu Dalang will join forces with General Cheng?"

Liu Qi was shocked and said, "General Cheng? What happened to Cheng Min?"

Ye Yiwen took out a document from his bosom and handed it to Liu Qi: "I just received military intelligence that General Cheng is leading the elite troops of Ezhou and heading straight for Luzhou!"

Liu Qi's eyes suddenly widened, he snatched the document and read it carefully, then slammed the table and wanted to laugh, but his throat felt itchy and he started coughing violently.

"No problem, no problem." Liu Qi took the teacup handed to him by Lu You, shook his head and smiled, "I didn't expect that Cheng Min, that scoundrel, would dare to fight so hard. If this happens, the situation in Lianghuai will change!"

In real history, after receiving the transfer order, Cheng Min chose to go down the river and station his troops in Zhenjiang Prefecture. This choice was normal. Firstly, Wanyan Liang had sent a large number of troops to Lianghuai, and important towns such as Hefei were heavily guarded, so there was no need to worry about the retreat. Secondly, after arriving in Zhenjiang Prefecture, Cheng Min saw that the troops were all hesitant to advance, and he did not want to be the first to come forward.

At this time, political unrest erupted, and the court attempted to investigate Cheng Min's troop strength. As a veteran soldier who had been paid a pitiful salary, Cheng Min fabricated a lie: his troops were not used to the corn they ate, leading to many starving to death. After this incident, Cheng Min became even more cautious, making almost no progress in the entire campaign, ultimately escorting the Jin army out of the country without engaging in a single battle.

To be honest, Cheng Min's behavior in history is consistent with Liu Huai's impression of him as a slippery person.

Now Cheng Min's army is taking a risky move, not only because of the situation, but more importantly because they see the opportunity of the Jin army's empty retreat. They want to force back the Jin army's southward invasion at the lowest cost, thus achieving great success.

After laughing twice, Liu Qi finally calmed down and looked at Zhang Rong. "Zhang Diwan, I have always been worried about the lack of troops. If we want to make a breakthrough in either of the two routes in Huainan, we must concentrate more than 30,000 Jin troops in one place."

As he spoke, Liu Qi started counting on his fingers.

"Before Cheng Pocai arrived, the total number of troops capable of field battle in the entire Huaidong and Jiangnan region was approximately 13,000 men, including Zhang Di's 3,000 men, Li Bao's 3,000 men, my Huaidong army of over 10,000, Li Xianzhong's Chizhou army of over 10,000, and Yu Xianggong's Huaixi army of 5,000. Add to that Liu Dalang... I estimate that Liu Dalang's reliable troops would be no more than 10,000, which is simply not enough."

Ye Yiwen lowered his head and silently calculated. Upon hearing this, he asked in doubt: "General Liu, our army currently has over 40,000 soldiers. If we are generous, we should have 50,000 soldiers. Why is it not enough?"

Liu Qi knew that Ye Yiwen was ignorant of military affairs, so he patiently explained, "Prime Minister Ye, I won't say anything about estimating the enemy's strength. Just to say, how can these 50,000 soldiers and horses all go to Huaidong or Huaixi at once?

For example, if I went to Huaixi to participate in the war, wouldn't I leave behind thousands of elite troops for defense in Guazhou Ferry, Zhenjiang Prefecture, and Yangzhou? If Yu Xianggong and Li Xianzhong crossed the river, it would be impossible for them to leave no troops behind.

The same thing happened when they came to Huaidong, which meant that more than 10,000 soldiers and horses could not move.

Furthermore, the Jin thieves are not fools. If we reveal our intention to annihilate part of Huaidong or Huaixi, they will certainly send troops to support us. By then, it will be difficult to say what the difference in military strength between the two sides will be."

At this point, Liu Qi hesitated, as if he had some doubts that he was hesitant to express.

Lu You saw it clearly from the side and said, "General Liu is not in a position to say the following, so I will do it.

The Jin army was under the overall command of Wanyan Liang, the Jin ruler. Even though the Jin ruler was incompetent and cruel, he was able to ensure that the army acted together.

Our Song armies are not under the same command, making coordination difficult and our combat effectiveness naturally reduced by 30%.

This is a major problem of the Song army.

In order to get rid of the system of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms where anyone with a gun could become a king and military leaders could stage a military coup every other day, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, established the Song Army with the central idea of suppressing dissenting opinions layer by layer, so that no commander could completely control the army.

All these measures were aimed at ensuring that the Emperor of Song became the biggest military leader.

Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin decided to lead the army in person.

Zhao Guangyi wanted to lead the army in person.

Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng was extremely scared, but was still dragged by Kou Zhun to lead the army in person.

Theoretically, as long as the emperor of Song dared to go to the battlefield, the combat effectiveness of the Song army would still be considerable.

This approach is not wrong, but who would have thought that the country would become like this by the third generation?
If Zhao Kuangyin were still alive in heaven and saw Zhao Heng, he would probably only smile bitterly.

By the time of the Southern Song Dynasty, although the control over military generals was slightly relaxed, that was during the Jianyan and early Shaoxing years. By the 31st year of Shaoxing, the old system had been restored.

For example, Yu Yunwen knew that he would never get the position of governor, so he tried to win over Li Xianzhong and Liu Huai.

For Liu Qi, this lesson was even more profound. Since the annihilation of Liu Fa's army in the expedition against Western Xia, the Song army to which Liu Qi belonged had suffered countless heavy losses due to inconsistent military orders, so that they had some post-traumatic stress syndrome at this time.

"That's why, without Cheng Min's troops, we would never be able to take the initiative to fight the Jin bandits in the field." Liu Qi said seriously, and then looked at Zhang Rong again: "Zhang Diwan, I know what you are thinking and what you are planning.

It was simply because Liu Dalang had cut off the retreat of the Jin lord's 30,000 troops and felt that the opportunity had arrived. He waited for the Jin bandits to run out of food and retreat, or simply took advantage of their panic to annihilate a part of them. But forgive me for being frank, without the combat power of 60,000 soldiers, this would be difficult to accomplish.

But now that Chengpo has arrived, we have about 10% to 20% confidence."

After Liu Qi explained everything in detail, Zhang Rong could only nod with difficulty: "If our army is to fight in Huaixi, we must inflict a heavy blow on the enemy. Tu Shanzhen is still easy to deal with, but Xu Wen, who is entrenched in Zhenzhou, must be eliminated!"

Lu You interrupted, "This matter is already being worked on. Whether it succeeds or not will be revealed in the next few days."

Seeing that Zhang Rong was still somewhat angry, Liu Qi could not help but advise him, "Zhang Rong has ten thousand enemies. The army cannot be rushed in the battle. This is not because I am afraid of fighting. I can give you a promise. If the opportunity arises, I will lead the army and will not fall behind the younger generation."

Zhang Rong could only smile bitterly when he heard this: "You are too kind, Commander-in-Chief."

Liu Qi was about to say something when he suddenly remembered something. He picked up Cheng Min's memorial and asked Ye Yi, "Mr. Ye, is this document submitted to the Privy Council?"

Ye Yiwen nodded blankly.

"That means the military envoy went straight to Zhenjiang Prefecture along the Yangtze River, and no one along the way knew about it." Liu Qi quickly handed the document to Lu You, who had already stood up to move the desk. "Hurry up and make a copy and send it to Minister Yu and the others! And have them find a way to get this news across the river to Liu Dalang!"

Liu Qi didn't need to say more. After Lu You took the document, he spread out the four treasures of the study, and while writing quickly, he hurriedly called out to the military envoy. After the ink had dried slightly, he stuffed the ink into the envelope and asked the military envoy to send the document out quickly.

Seeing this, Ye Yiwen's face turned red.

At this point, how could he not know that he had made a fool of himself again?

(End of this chapter)