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

Chapter 461: When I was a teenager in bright clothes and angry horses

On the second day, that is, on the morning of the 20th, Liang Zichu personally sailed from Chaohu Lake and arrived in Chao County. He reported to Liu Huai the results of the Ezhou army's night attack on the Jin army camp yesterday.

At this time, the body of Yu Feiying, the chief officer of Guangzhou, had been hung on the gate by the Jin army.

The heads of the 400 Song soldiers who participated in the attack on the camp last night were piled up into a memorial and placed at the foot of Guishan Mountain.

These warriors who retreated all the way from Gwangju obviously did not have Li Tieqiang's good luck. Although they took the initiative to launch a night attack, they did not expect that the Jin army had already prepared for it. They ran into the ambush circle of the Jin army and were strangled to death in a very short time.

Yu Feiying was wounded eight times and continued to curse when he was brought in front of Wanyan Liang.

Wanyan Liang originally wanted to persuade this man to surrender personally, but after Yu Feiying bit off his tongue and spat blood all over Wanyan Liang's face, he could no longer persuade him.

The Song army's Guishan camp had considered sending troops to rescue, but they could not afford the cost of a decisive battle at night.

The Jin army was obviously well prepared. If they were defeated, it was not impossible for the Jin army to capture the Guishan camp in one fell swoop in the chaos.

A night raid was a bit like poker, sending elite soldiers to the most dangerous place. Victory was a big win with a small investment, while defeat was a devastating defeat with utter annihilation. If Yu Feiying's troops couldn't be rescued, the Ezhou army would have to pay the price of a significant drop in morale.

It is impossible to conceal it. There are many Gwangju troops who went to the expedition, and their comrades and superiors never returned. How can this be concealed?

Cheng Min watched the scene silently on the watchtower, looking at the heads piled up into a small hill, and then looking at the broken corpse on the gate, silent in the cold wind.

Hearing the sound of a wooden ladder beside him, Cheng Min turned around and saw Bi Zaiyu climbing up wearing an ill-fitting helmet.

"Did your father go to Xiaoying?" Cheng Min asked in a deep voice.

"Reporting to the commander, the lord has left the camp." Bi Zaiyou said respectfully.

In any case, Bi Jin had fought side by side with the Gwangju Army led by Yu Feiying in Lu'an, and they had a close relationship. It was appropriate to send him to appease the old Gwangju troops at this time.

Cheng Min turned his head and continued to look at the Jin army camp. After a long moment, he asked, "Deqing, tell me the truth. Are you afraid now?"

"I'm not afraid, kid. I'm just angry and sad!" Bi Zaiyou answered loudly.

"Uncle Yu died in battle. A man's death on the battlefield is no one's fault. Yet, the Jin thieves treated his body so blatantly, like beasts. I would eat his flesh and sleep on his skin, so why should I be afraid of this?"

Cheng Min shook his head and smiled bitterly, "If all 20,000 of our soldiers had the same ambition as you, this battle would be much easier to win."

Upon hearing this, Bi Zaiyu knelt down like a golden mountain overturning a jade pillar. He ignored Cheng Min's support and kowtowed several times. He said in a loud voice: "General, I also know that morale must be boosted, not weakened. I only ask for a group of elite soldiers to go out of the camp and fight for a while, and collect the heads of my comrades!"

"Boy, I'm not looking down on you. How old are you this year?" Cheng Min chuckled.

"Thirteen... No, I'm fourteen!"

"Do you know that when military discipline was still intact, the army wouldn't accept soldiers of your age?"

"The Jin thieves won't let me go just because I'm young!" Bi Zaiyu said proudly, "General Cheng, don't lie to me. Officer Ying went into battle at the age of twelve, a year younger than me... no, two years..."

Cheng Min looked at Bi Zaiyu's childish face and suddenly realized something.

Yue Family Army.

They are Yue Family Army...

Cheng Min turned his head again and looked at the Jin army camp, and a feeling of resentment suddenly rose in his heart.

If Yue Pengju were still alive, how could we have encountered such a disaster today?!
"You came to me while your father was away, begging me for help. Let's not talk about how I will blame you if something happens to you. What if you lose?"

"If I lose, the situation can't get any worse. And only a kid can do this!"

Cheng Min knew that what Bi Zaiyou said made some sense. If they left the pile of heads at the foot of the mountain alone, morale would inevitably decline.

If we send some famous teacher or general to fight for it, if we lose again, the morale will be completely destroyed.

Bi Zaiyu was a thirteen-year-old kid, so it was normal for him to lose, and no one would say anything. But if Bi Zaiyu could win, even if it was just a small victory, his age would surely boost the morale of the entire army.

If a thirteen-year-old boy dared to go into battle to meet the enemy, who would dare to say he was afraid?

The only thing to worry about is sending Bi Jin's only son to the most dangerous place. Cheng Min felt that this was not a fair thing to do.

As the saying goes, a man of integrity cannot guard wealth and a man of kindness cannot command an army. Cheng Min quickly made up his mind.

"Okay, Deqing, since you have such ambition, I can't stop you." Cheng Min threw an iron plate from his waist to Bi Jin: "Take my plate and go to each camp to recruit warriors. Remember, you can't use military orders to force them. I will only let soldiers who voluntarily leave the camp go!"

"Thank you, uncle!" Bi Zaiyou was overjoyed. He kowtowed deeply and turned to leave.

The process of Bi Zaiyou recruiting death-defying soldiers was extremely difficult. Firstly, he could not offer any money or goods to reward the soldiers, and secondly, he was too young.

After a long day of hard work, only eighty-seven daredevils responded, including thirty personal guards that Cheng Min had transferred because he couldn't bear to watch the situation anymore.

Half an hour later, Bi Zaiyou put on heavy armor that didn't fit him well, and mounted his warhorse with a spear in hand.

"Uncles!" The newly changed duck voice was very unpleasant, and Bi Zaiyu's efforts to pretend to be mature made the scene a little funny. "I don't want to say more about the blood feud between the Jin bandits and the Song Dynasty. I just want to say that I am fourteen years old this year and have fought against the Jin bandits many times and experienced life and death."

"Do you want your sons and grandsons to go through the same thing when they're fourteen?"

The Song army cavalrymen's faces also changed from laughing to solemn. Bi Zaiyu met them again and added fuel to the fire: "My fellow uncles, you are all warriors who have been on the battlefield for a long time. Don't embarrass yourself in front of a boy like me!"

After saying that, Bi Zaiyu put on his helmet without caring about the reaction of the Song army cavalry and said, "Open the door!"

The gate creaked open and the drawbridge dropped with a crash.

The general's drum rumbled, and Cheng Min personally beat the drum for Bi Zaiyou in the drum tower to boost his prestige.

"Kill the Jin thieves!" Bi Zaiyou raised his spear and shouted, then rushed down the mountain first.

"Kill!" After all, the Song army's armored cavalry had volunteered and were definitely not lacking in fighting spirit. Given that each considered themselves a hero, how could they allow themselves to fall behind?
Although the Jin army was somewhat on guard and knew that the Song army commander would not sit idly by and watch morale decline, they had not expected the Song army to come so quickly and so decisively.

The Song army did not use their usual large infantry formation, but instead rushed forward with a group of elite cavalry of less than a hundred people.

There are at least a hundred elite cavalrymen of Mouke in the Jin army camp at the foot of the mountain. Could it be that the Song army has become so bold?

However, it is undeniable that the Song army defeated the master with a random punch. For a time, apart from the cavalry, the Jin army had only more than 200 scattered infantrymen to face the enemy head-on.

In full view of the crowd, the Song army's armored cavalry was like a tiger among a flock of sheep, and with one charge they defeated the infantry of the Qian army and sent them fleeing for thousands of miles.

Some people are indeed born to go to the battlefield. If a novice on the battlefield encountered this situation, he would have been blinded by the petty gains and would have scattered to kill the defeated soldiers.

However, Bi Zaiyou gathered the cavalry together and asked more than 30 riders to collect the heads that had piled up like a hill, while he himself led the armored cavalry to attack the Jin army's cavalry.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the armored cavalry who were collecting the heads cleaned up the Jingguan. Regardless of the sack still oozing blood, they put it behind the saddle and rushed towards the camp on the top of the mountain.

In the Jin army camp, three or four Mouke cavalrymen rushed out from the left and right gates and charged towards this side.

Bi Zaiyou knew that it would be too late if he didn't leave now, so after giving the order to retreat, he personally covered the rear and fought while retreating.

Only then did Bi Jin climb up to the watchtower of the small camp and stare in amazement at his son's display of prowess.

"That's your son? Bi Zaiyu?" Chen Min pointed at Bi Zaiyu, who had just been wielding a spear in battle, and asked in disbelief, "Isn't this kid only fourteen years old?"

"This kid..." Bi Jin looked calm, but he was anxious inside.

Chen Min's mind worked quickly. Pretending to be casual, he told the defenders in the camp about Bi Zaiyu going out of the camp to snatch the head. People kept climbing out of the camp to watch the battle, including soldiers from Gwangju.

At this time, the situation on the battlefield has undergone new changes.

Cheng Min also put a lot of thought into building the two camps. He cut down trees on the hillside if he could, and burned them if he couldn't. Except for a small path four or five steps wide, the hillside was covered with tree stumps of all sizes.

It would be difficult for infantry to walk up this kind of hill, let alone cavalry.

After Bi Zaiyu rushed up the hillside, his speed inevitably slowed down. The vanguard of the Jin army's armored cavalry behind him was now within ten steps. Arrows whizzed past his ears, and from time to time, heavy Jurchen arrows pierced his back. Fortunately, his armor was thick, and although the pain penetrated his bones, he was not injured by the arrows.

Bi Zaiyou forced himself to calm down, and when the opportunity arose he pulled the reins. The warhorse leaped to its feet, then retreated instead of advancing, and rushed down the mountain.

The first two Jin soldiers were about to fire their bows, never expecting the fleeing Song army to turn and counterattack. The Jin soldier in the front was stabbed through the heart by the spear, and the second Jin soldier was hit on the head with a hammer, staggering a few times before falling off his horse.

Although Bi Zaiyu was brave, he was too young. After such a long battle, his physical strength gradually weakened. Taking advantage of the traffic jam, Bi Zaiyu turned his horse and fled again.

The Jin army had just chased for a hundred steps when they entered the range of the Song army's bows and arrows. After being hit by a hail of arrows, they could not help but retreat in anger.

"Wan Sheng!"

"Wan Sheng!"

Whether in the big camp or the small camp, the cheers of the Song army were deafening.

It has to be said that young heroes are always the focus of everyone's attention, and no one will admit that they are not as good as a thirteen-year-old kid.

The morale of the Song army, which had just been defeated, was boosted again.

"He is indeed a young hero. Your son has a bright future." Chen Min thought of his two sons and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, comparing people with each other is a crime, and comparing goods with each other is a crime.

However, a clay pot will break if it is not kept away from the well, and a general is bound to die on the battlefield. Who is lucky? Who can say for sure?

"You'll have something to worry about in the future." Chen Min continued with emotion.

Bi Jin held onto the wooden railing and said, "There's nothing to worry about. Life and death are determined by fate, and wealth and honor are determined by God. Now that we've embarked on this journey, no one's life is their own."

Chen Min looked at the wooden fence that was about to be crushed in Bi Jin's hand, curled her lips and said nothing.

"However, we still couldn't get Lao Yu's body back..." Bi Jin turned his head and looked towards the Jin army's gate.

"We will get it back!" Chen Min said fiercely, "We will get it back when we overturn the Jin bandit camp!"

Although Chen Min spoke harshly, at this moment, neither Cheng Min nor Liu Huai could do anything about the Jin army.

Although this was no longer the era when a Jurchen army of less than 10,000 or more was invincible, when the three Jin regular armies of 10,000 households gathered together, both the Ezhou army and the Jingnan army could only rely on the advantages of the terrain for defense.

Now that the Jin army has set up camp tightly, even a night attack cannot shake it, so the Jingnan army can only set up camp to fight against them and consume their food and grass.

The only good news is that the Jin army will definitely not be able to defeat the Song army in terms of consumption of food and supplies.

Even if the Jin army plundered the land, their food and grass could only last for a dozen days. In other words, the Jin army was under offensive pressure, and as long as the Song army could rely on the terrain to hold on, they could wear the Jin army down.

Moreover, the last elite Song army in Lianghuai is rushing here in two groups at night!

According to the consensus between Liu Huai and Cheng Min, the day of the decisive battle would be when Liu Qi, Yu Yunwen and Li Xianzhong arrived at the battlefield.

After a night of fighting, both the Song and Jin factions were exhausted, and for the next two days, both sides remained silent. Although short, fierce battles between scouts continued, large-scale battles involving hundreds of soldiers never occurred again.

Liu Huai also felt the tranquility before the war and stopped attacking the camp. The entire army took the time to recuperate and prepare for the decisive battle.

On the morning of the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month, Liu Qi raided Hanshan County. The county had been ravaged by the Jin army several times and was already in ruins. There were only a few signed troops stationed there. They had almost no ability to fight back when facing the 5,000 elite troops led by Liu Qi himself.

Less than two quarters of an hour after the battle began, the brave general Yuan Qi climbed the city wall first, killed the defenders at the city gate, and opened the gate from the inside.

After a short rest, Liu Qi left only a thousand auxiliary soldiers to guard the city. At noon, the entire army broke camp and rushed towards Chao County along the mountain road.

At the same time, Yu Yunwen and Li Xianzhong's 15,000 troops arrived at the even more devastated Dongguan.

The city had been burned down and could no longer be used as a military base. The situation in the Yuxi River was even worse. The burned and sunken Jin warships blocked the entire river, and Li Bao's large ships could not get through at all. In the end, the Zhejiang East Navy could only rely on their superb boat driving skills to drive 30 small boats slowly through the silted river section.

Yu Yunwen did not wait for Li Bao, but left a thousand auxiliary soldiers to set up camp on the east bank of Yuxi River, north of Dongguan. After the entire army rested for several hours, they made a desperate rush to Chao County.

On the evening of the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Liu Huai stood on the city wall and took the letter from Lu You, who had arrived along the waterway first.

After skipping the previous series of nonsense, Liu Huai looked directly at the end of the letter.

"...Therefore, I have made an appointment with you all: at noon on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, the entire army will gather together to hunt down the Jin thieves. Yu Binfu bows his head again."

"It seems that tomorrow will be the day for the decisive battle!" Liu Huai passed the letter and said with a sigh.

He Boqiu took the letter, scanned it twice, and couldn't help but frown and said, "This Yu Xianggong doesn't seem to be a stupid person. Why is he so anxious?"

The other generals, civil and military officials gathered on the city wall of Chao County also looked at Lu You with doubts.

The reason is very simple.

From a purely military perspective, Yu Yunwen's plan should have been to continue waiting, putting the Jin army in a dilemma of either fighting the Jingnan army to consume food and grass, or attacking Guishan and Chao County by force.

After the Jin army was beaten half to death, Yu Yunwen led the army to make the final blow.

In this way, his political capital will instantly accumulate to the level of Xuan Ma being appointed prime minister.

Even though the Jin army has laid low and is ready to strike, if they were to sit back and waste food and supplies, they really couldn't outlast the four armies of the Song Dynasty.

This plan naturally contained Yu Yunwen's selfish motives, but it also won the unanimous approval of Liu Huai and Cheng Min.

From the perspective of national war, this tactical method is actually the best for the country.

But this is a national war, how can it be completely separated from politics?

Lu You wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, feeling a little embarrassed to speak, but finally he sighed and said, "Tu Shan Zhen will not be fooled for long. The opportunity that Zhang Zongguan fought for with his life cannot be thrown away easily."

Even though he had learned the news two days ago, Zhang Baiyu's eyes turned red instantly when he heard it again. However, he immediately gripped the hilt of the knife at his waist, forcing himself to suppress his emotions, and finally did not lose his composure.

What Lu You said does make some sense.

If Tushan Zhen was truly loyal and courageous, and had disregarded everything to bring 30,000 troops to Huaixi to reinforce and join the war, then this encirclement would have become a joke.

As for whether Tu Shanzhen is a die-hard loyalist, who can predict that?

However, He Boqiu did not let Lu You go. He frowned and asked, "Mr. Lu, you and I know each other very well. Don't hide anything. Is there something wrong with the court of Song?"

Lu You looked at Liu Huai, then at the others, and finally stamped his feet in a state of exasperation. "Fancheng has fallen, and the Jingxiang army has suffered heavy losses. This matter has spread throughout the court and the country. Chen Kangbo, the Minister of State, is also beginning to lose his composure. The Emperor summoned him to the palace three times in one day to discuss matters. The Emperor... the Emperor seems to be interested in negotiating peace."

As soon as these words were spoken, not only the military generals from Lianghuai such as Yang Chun were in an uproar on the spot, but even the generals from Shandong looked at each other in confusion.

Negotiate peace?

How to negotiate peace?

Of course it is to cede land and pay compensation!

If we negotiate peace under such circumstances, at least the two Huai regions will be lost, and the Shandong rebel army will be finished!
It was precisely because Yu Yunwen was well aware of the government and knew that if he could not achieve a great military victory, someone would surrender politically, so he had to take action and fight a head-on decisive battle.

Liu Huai was not as indignant or disappointed as the others. In the final analysis, was there any hope for a man like Zhao Gou?

Do you really expect that this guy will become a wise emperor after Qin Hui's death, sleep on straw and eat bitter food for ten years, accumulate wealth and learn lessons for ten years before recovering Yanyun?

However, Liu Huai still felt tired for no reason.

This was the political environment of the Song Dynasty. People who wanted to get things done often had powerful enemies in front of them and teammates who held them back behind them. As a result, they not only had to guard against the open attacks on their heads, but also had to dodge the hidden arrows shot from behind.

Liu Huai, who still had ulterior motives, was still so embarrassed and resentful. He could not imagine how angry and disappointed Yue Fei would be that day.

He Boqiu was stunned for a long time before he sneered. Just as he was about to taunt him, Liu Huai stopped him, "Manager He, don't say anything else. Those who came to this battlefield to die are loyal and brave men, and they deserve respect. But those cowardly and shameless people are hiding in the back, and they can't hear your ridicule."

Upon hearing this, He Boqiu instantly lost the desire to speak and could only shake his head and sigh.

"Everyone." After Liu Huai suppressed the biggest troublemaker, his tone became firm: "We are all warriors. Stand upright and don't think about anything else. Let those cunning people talk to themselves. From now on, it will be a battle of swords and blood!"

Amidst the resounding responses, Liu Huai's gaze swept across the faces of the surrounding generals one by one.

Among them are veteran generals who fought their way out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood during the Jingkang period, brave men who remained undeterred after the Song Dynasty was defeated, men from the north who rose up in resistance after suffering oppression, extraordinary men from Shandong with extraordinary ambitions in their hearts, and heroes from the sea who bore deep blood feuds.

I just don’t know how many people will survive after tomorrow’s battle.

Liu Huai looked to the west. The setting sun dyed Chaohu Lake blood red, like the endless blood of heroes.

(End of this chapter)