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

Chapter 481 Who Says a Good General Is Not a Good Prime Minister?

"Prince Yu, how is Commander Liu?"

Walking quickly into the county government office, Liu Huai first asked about Liu Qi's injury.

Liu Qi was already old and sick, and after forcing himself into the battle, he was shot by Wanyan Liang. Although his chest armor was relatively thick, the heavy arrow still pierced the armor and penetrated an inch into the flesh at close range.

As if this was the last straw that broke the camel's back, Liu Qi fell into a coma after the battle and developed a high fever the next day.

Yu Yunwen was processing a lot of paperwork. He looked up at the words, his face somewhat gloomy. "Old General Liu went into battle while ill, and he also drank a lot of strong medicine. The military doctors examined him, sutured his wounds, and prescribed some herbal medicine for him to drink.

If General Liu can wake up tomorrow, there's still a chance of survival. If he can't wake up... Sigh..."

At the end of his speech, Yu Yunwen couldn't help but sigh repeatedly.

In the past two days, apart from gathering and deploying troops, he has been writing documents.

At this time, Yu Yunwen handed the written document to Liu Huai for his review.

The first and most important one is the report document.

The brutality of the Chao County battle is so great that there is no need to describe it using literary techniques. Simply by narrating it in a straightforward manner, readers can see the selfless dedication and heroic spirit of the fighters.

Not to mention the capture of the Jin emperor and prime ministers, just the seized flags and severed heads are enough to prove how great a victory this battle was.

If there are no generous rewards, not only will the army be dissatisfied, but all the people in the world who are loyal to the Song Dynasty will also become discouraged.

The second was to submit a memorial to the imperial court and write a document to Ye Yiwen, proposing new strategic goals.

First of all, Wanyan Liang's 40,000 outdoor troops and navy in Huaixi were completely destroyed, the flank in Huaidong was no longer threatened, and Pushan Zhongyi was still fighting in Xiangfan and could not fly over.

The hundreds of thousands of Song troops gathered around Jiankang should stop standing there and quickly send troops to pursue Tushan Zhen's 30,000 households in Huaidong.

Wei Sheng is still leading the main force of the Loyal Army to block Pizhou. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the entire army will pursue northward, attack from the front and back, and strangle Tushan Zhen's 30,000 households to death. After joining forces with Wei Sheng and Geng Jing, Shandong can be directly liberated!

Then, taking advantage of the chaos in the Jin Dynasty, Shandong and Lianghuai would attack the Plains together to directly cut off the retreat of the hundreds of thousands of troops led by Pushan Zhongyi, leaving him with no way to take care of both ends!
And it all has to happen quickly.

Because the 30,000 households in Huaidong led by Tushan Zhen were also eager to return home. Although the fiercest soldiers of each army were gone, the main force was still there. The thousands of soldiers of the Loyal Army could only delay and were no match for them in battle.

The third one was a letter to the court, asking Zhao Gou to come to Jiankang instead of hiding in Lin'an.

At this time, the most important war had ended and the imminent danger had disappeared. As the emperor, Zhao Gou had to come to Jiankang to take charge, so as to boost morale and make decisions on the next strategy.

The transmission of information to and from Lin'an was too slow.

In fact, Yu Yunwen did not want Zhao Gou to be the commander-in-chief. He wanted the prince to come directly, but it was impossible.

The last time such a document was sent, the final result was most likely that Yu Yunwen was exiled and the crown prince was deposed.

Liu Huai frowned as he read the three documents, and then said nothing in the military meeting. Li Xianzhong and others turned their heads and looked at each other, but he didn't say anything else in the end.

After the military meeting was disbanded, Liu Huai quickly wrote a document and sent several military envoys to inform them of the cause and effect of the matter, and asked these military envoys to rush to Pizhou and tell Wei Sheng the whole story.

And at the end of the letter, Liu Huai gave his own judgment.

The Song army will definitely hesitate and dare not fight a decisive battle with Tushan Zhen's main force. The Loyal Army must make preparations early and avoid a deadly fight with the main force of the Jin army in Pizhou.

Can't beat it!

If the loyal army suffered heavy casualties, Shandong's favorable situation would surely be lost.

This was not a judgment made by Liu Huai on the spur of the moment, but because in history, Zhang Zigai and his group watched the Jin army retreat safely and did not dare to pursue them at all.

The troops from Lianghuai who dared to fight against the Jin army were all in Chao County at this time. If the Jiankang army dared to fight to the death with the Jin army, where the hell would they have been?
Everything happened just as Liu Huai expected.

On December 26, the day after Liu Qi woke up, the Jiankang army, consisting of 30,000 infantry and cavalry and 10,000 naval forces, set out in a mighty force.

The goal is exactly...

Chao County!

This tactical move confused Yu Yunwen. Within one day, he sent five letters to ask the Privy Councilor Ye Yiwen what he wanted to do.
Liu Huai felt that Yu Yunwen had lost his mind.

What else can they do here?
Come and steal the credit!

At the very least, they could distribute some war horses, some prisoners, and some armor.

If they could control Wanyan Liang, they would have accomplished a great feat.

Even if none of this happens, taking over several prefectures and counties north of Hefei will not only make him a great achievement, but he will also be able to make a lot of money.

And it’s not necessarily the case that Ye Yiwen was fooled in this matter.

Because Ye Yiwen himself also needs political resources.

With such a great achievement, how could he not take some credit?! Yu Yunwen listened to Liu Huai's cold words and shook his head repeatedly: "Impossible, the military of the Song Dynasty has its own rules. If Ye Xianggong came alone, it would be understandable, but how could it be possible for 40,000 troops to come together to claim the credit?"

Of course, Yu Yunwen didn't understand, because he was originally a civil official who knew nothing about military affairs. Although he participated in the war and handled military affairs, he had no personal experience of the despicable tactics in the army.

It's not that he hasn't heard of it, but he has never actually experienced it.

But this method is too familiar to Cheng Min and Li Xianzhong, two generals who have been in the Song army for half their lives.

It would be better to say that this is the authentic Song army. Under Chao County, all units of the Song army fought for their lives to fight for that tiny chance of victory, which is rare among all.

Facing such a scene, Cheng Min and Li Xianzhong were both silent. Liu Huai continued to explain: "After a war, the army that benefits the most is never the one that contributed the most, but the one that preserves its strength the most. This is the norm at the end of a dynasty.

Now, our army has made the greatest contribution, and the Jiankang army is the most intact, so they are here to reap the benefits."

Yu Yunwen lowered his head to drink his tea. After hearing this, he looked at Liu Huai with a complicated look. He did not talk about military strategy, but instead discussed another matter: "Liu Dalang, do you think that our Great Song Dynasty is about to end?"

Liu Huai pointed to his feet and said, "This is Lianghuai, Chao County. Since ancient times, the Southern Dynasty was attacked here. Isn't it appropriate to say that it was in decline?"

Of course it’s fucking inappropriate!
This is in the Song Dynasty, not your old nest in Shandong!

This thought occurred to the three old ministers of the Song State at the same time, but they all lost the desire to refute it.

Wasn't the battlefield in Lianghuai? Didn't the friendly forces come to take credit for it?

Since it is all true, why bother arguing about it?
"I will submit a petition to the imperial court right now and send the document to Lord Ye!" Yu Yunwen gritted his teeth and said, "Send them back where they came from!"

"It's useless." Liu Huai shook his head. "Emperor Zhao is in Lin'an. It would take a long time for the two sides to communicate. He has no idea about the situation on the front line. He is too easy to fool. If Minister Yu has one document, the others will have ten. How can we win against them?!"

"As for Mr. Ye..." Liu Huai sneered, "If they could be repelled by a written document, they wouldn't have come."

Yu Yunwen sighed, feeling exhausted, and then a wave of uncontrollable anger rose up.

Countless loyal and righteous people died on this battlefield with hope for the future to create such an opportunity.

But such a precious opportunity was wasted by these sneaky villains!
Liu Huai looked at Cheng Min and Li Xianzhong.

As the future three marshals, these two are theoretically only one imperial decree away from becoming the most powerful military officer. When faced with the dirty things in the army, they should be able to do something.

However, the two of them smiled bitterly at the same time.

"Commander Liu, it's not that we have no other options, it's just military practice." Cheng Min sighed, then said somewhat dejectedly, "I'm also angry at those losers in Jiankang, but I'm disregarding the overall situation. But now that they've already set off, we can only let them take some of the credit. Otherwise, we won't be able to live like this."

Liu Huai nodded to show his understanding.

This is a typical case of the military being coerced by politics.

"You two are both in the Song army, I understand." Liu Huai said, then turned and looked at Yu Yunwen: "Prime Minister Yu, I am a Shandong barbarian. I am not afraid of this general manager or that commander-in-chief. I just don't know if you still have the sense of responsibility."

Yu Yunwen glanced at Liu Huai coldly and said, "Liu Dalang, if you have anything to say, just say it directly. In my opinion, the speaker is innocent."

Liu Huai nodded, but the first thing he said was something no one had thought of: "The Huai River and Huaibei are so devastated that they can't withstand another war. We absolutely cannot let the Jiankang army recover the lost land in Huaixi. We must find a way to provide disaster relief!"

Yu Yunwen was stunned, and then looked at Liu Huai with a complicated look.

The other two veterans were stunned, and then for some reason, they began to tremble slightly.

When the despicable ones looked at fame, wealth and power, and the noble ones looked at the general situation of the world, only Liu Huai first looked at the people who were struggling on the line between life and death.

"A large amount of food and fodder must be stored along the transport route between Chao County, Luzhou, Haozhou, and Anfeng. Cheng Bo and General Zhang can march north to reclaim the lost territory, but they must maintain strict military discipline. After obtaining the food and fodder, they will provide relief to the victims and restore order. I hope that Minister Yu can take charge of this matter."

After Liu Huai finished speaking, he bowed to Yu Yunwen.

However, Yu Yunwen did not dare to accept the gift. He stood up and left the table, then returned the gift.

"As for the Jiankang army," Liu Huai sneered, "they're filthy bastards who don't even dare to engage the Jin bandits head-on. Even though our Jingnan army has suffered heavy losses, we won't be afraid of them. I'll take on the responsibility myself, but I'll still lack a title."

Yu Yunwen understood: "I will immediately forbid the Jiankang army from advancing, citing the shortage of food in Huaixi. I will also send it to the court as a preemptive measure."

Liu Huai nodded, then took the document written by Yu Yunwen and said, "There is no time to lose. I will immediately organize my troops and set out to set up camp at Dongguan."

As he spoke, Liu Huai looked at the two veterans again.

Cheng Min and Li Xianzhong naturally knew what Liu Huai wanted to say. Li Xianzhong stated directly, "I will launch a northern expedition from Lianghuai someday. I will not allow my men to disrupt Huaixi at this time. Wouldn't that be just making things difficult for myself?"

Cheng Min said directly: "I have been stationed in Huaixi for a long time. I know everyone here. I will not harm my neighbors. Don't worry too much."

Only then did Liu Huai feel relieved and nodded before leaving.

However, just as he reached the door of the tent, Yu Yunwen's voice came from behind him: "Liu Dalang, I always thought you were the Yue Pengju of the future. Today I know that you may be the Prime Minister in the future."

Faced with such praise, Liu Huai simply turned around and shook his head: "Prime Minister Yu, you are too kind. I just follow my heart in everything I do."

(End of this chapter)