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

Chapter 585 Flying Horse Catches Thieves and Captures Prisoners

Traveling northwest along the Yellow River, Liu Huai's biggest impression was how desolate it was.

Even though he knew that the people's livelihood in the north was devastated by Wanyan Liang's actions, Liu Huai only realized the extent of the people's suffering when he saw it with his own eyes.

The local government had completely failed. The officials of the Jin Dynasty had all fled to who-knows-where, or perhaps they had simply become local landlords and powerful clans, and had begun a frenzied land annexation.

Along the entire Yellow River, almost all the fields near the river had no self-cultivating farmers; the banks were filled with manors built by powerful local magnates for self-protection.

Historically, during the reign of Wanyan Yong, the power of local magnates in Shandong during the Jin Dynasty reached its peak, to the point that the Jin central government had to reach an agreement with these magnates to avoid sending troops to suppress them.

However, the reasons for the decline of Shandong's powerful clans are both surprising and expected.

The Yellow River's repeated flooding and breaches of its banks turned the Yellow River and Huai River systems into complete chaos. The floods treated powerful families, officials, and ordinary people alike; no one had a means of survival, and the powerful families naturally declined.

Of course, even though the powerful clans of Shandong were at their peak at this time, they could not possibly confront the army head-on. When they saw Liu Huai and his fifty cavalrymen, they all hid in their manors, relying on the strategic terrain to guard against a surprise attack.

Liu Huai naturally had no time to deal with these powerful figures; he only bought some beans from them when horse feed was scarce.

The landowners remained as non-violent and indifferent as ever; they weren't refusing to sell grain, but the prices were higher than usual.

On the third day, October 23, Liu Huai finally arrived in Pengcheng County, Xuzhou. He asked Chen Wenben to hide away and find a camp to rest. Then, he personally led two guards, dressed as merchants, and rode a poor horse towards Pengcheng.

Zhao Baiying, the grandson of Zhao Li, a famous general who fought against the Jin dynasty, was one of these two personal guards. With him, a local, leading the way, there should have been no problem.

However, plans can't keep up with changes. Liu Huai had just arrived in Lüliang Town and hadn't even had time to explore the local situation when he encountered the Jin Kingdom's traditional arts.

Signatures solicitation.

This is not surprising. Given the civil administration capabilities of the Jin Dynasty at that time, it was really too much to ask a county magistrate or prefect to organize a reliable team of laborers.

In critical moments, the military has to come up with its own solutions.

The methods used by armies are naturally rather crude, especially those of the Jin Dynasty army.

Naturally, the only option left is forced conscription.

Ironically, when Heshilie Liangbi served as Wanyan Yong's prime minister, he dedicated himself to reforming the conscription system to restore people's livelihoods. Yet now, he can only rely on forced conscription to maintain the war effort—a dark irony of history.

Faced with this situation, Liu Huai did not try to stand up for himself, but instead turned and left in the direction the people were fleeing.

Zhao Baiying's face was extremely ugly. She seemed to be indignant at the way her fellow villagers were being treated. However, after seeing Liu Huai's actions, she released her grip on the knife hilt and fled out of the town with Liu Huai.

After escaping into a grove of trees, Zhao Baiying asked, "Young Master, are we just going to run away like this?"

Liu Huai remained silent, only staring out of the woods. Another guard, Cao Dache, immediately whispered sharply, "Silence!"

Zhao Baiying immediately shut up, but her face clearly showed her dissatisfaction.

All three wore chainmail under their clothes. Although they had no warhorses, only a poor horse for company, they were still able to fight for a while.

The Jin army that came to draw lots clearly only had five or six regular soldiers; the rest were local militia. If those regular soldiers were killed, wouldn't some civilians be saved?
Is Liu Dalang a coward?

The thought had just crossed Zhao Baiying's mind when she saw Liu Huai nod at Cao Dache. Cao Dache nodded silently, then took the bow off his horse, pulled out the bowstring from his bosom, and began to string the bow.

Liu Huai also took the blade from the side of the saddle and assembled it with the staff to form a simple broadsword.

Zhao Baiying then remembered that, in order to avoid attracting attention, none of the three of them had exposed their long weapons and bows and arrows; they only carried a hand knife for self-defense.

To think you could charge into battle with three swords is truly wishful thinking.

Seeing Liu Huai frown and turn around, Zhao Baiying quickly took out a small round shield from her luggage, tied it to her arm, drew her hand knife, and waited with a composed expression.

The three remained in the grove, watching the townspeople flee. Only after the ferocious soldiers dispersed did Liu Huai mount his inferior horse and coldly order, "Zhao Dalang, protect me, let's charge!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Cao Dache had already charged out of the woods on foot. After stopping, he took a deep breath of the cold winter wind, then nocked an arrow and released it, felling a Jin soldier on guard duty outside the perimeter. "Enemy attack!"

Some of the bored Jin officers suddenly realized what was happening, shouted loudly, and then drew their spears from their Victory Hooks to charge at Liu Huai.

The other three Jin soldiers followed suit. Although they were not wearing heavy armor, they were wearing iron-clad tunics. In their eyes, killing three bandits was a piece of cake.

However, the Jin army had chosen the wrong market. Although Liu Huai's inferior horse was not very useful, he still managed to quickly approach the Jin general at a tricky angle. Before the general could accelerate, he swung his broadsword in a wide arc and slashed down.

The Jin general had not expected these bandits to be so resolute. In his shock, he braced himself with both hands, raised his spear high, and tried to block the blow aimed at his head.

He succeeded and failed.

The Jin general did catch the broadsword with his spear shaft, but his arms went numb and he couldn't hold on, so the broadsword shaft struck his shoulder.

In excruciating pain, he couldn't even keep his balance on his warhorse and fell to the ground.

The other three Jin soldiers had just spurred their horses on when they witnessed this scene, and they were all horrified. Under the threat of being executed according to military law, they had no other choice but to rein in their horses and rush to the rescue of their squad leader, surrounding Liu Huai.

At this moment, Zhao Baiying also showed some of his family's martial arts skills. He knew that swords and shields were not advantageous in mounted combat, so after approaching the battle on his inferior horse, he immediately dismounted and fought on foot.

He first used a round shield to protect his head and face, then swung his hand in a wide arc, attacking the lower body of the Jin cavalry.

Driven by a certain peasant mentality, Zhao Baiying did not immediately slash the horse's leg, but instead slashed the thigh of the Jin cavalryman.

The golden rider screamed and tried to rein in his horse and turn around, but he almost fainted from the excruciating pain from his severed thigh.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhao Baiying dragged Jin Qi off his horse and wildly slashed at his face with her hand.

"Thief! Traitor who harms the people! Deserving to die!"

Zhao Baiying grinned and roared, smashing the Jin soldier beyond recognition with just three or four slashes.

"Take him alive!" Liu Huai said, facing the attack of the remaining two Golden Cavalrymen. As soon as he finished speaking, an arrowhead protruded from the neck of one of the Golden Cavalrymen, blood gushing from his mouth and nose. He struggled for a couple of moments before collapsing onto his horse and remaining motionless.

Cao Dache was too far away to hear the order clearly. However, he was also exhausted. Several fierce soldiers saw this scene from afar and actually turned around and attacked with their knives raised.

Cao Dache, a fierce soldier, was naturally not afraid of the militia. He simply turned around, stood still, and fired arrows in rapid succession, wounding several people. Then the soldiers scattered in all directions.

The last Jin soldier in front of Liu Huai was already somewhat timid, with only one thought in his mind.

Damn it, these are definitely not ordinary bandits. We have to send the message back so the army can deliver a heavy blow!

His fear caused his martial arts skills to falter. Originally, this Jin soldier could take advantage of Liu Huai's unsuitable weapon, but once he became afraid and wanted to retreat, he immediately fell into a disadvantageous position. In just a moment, the Jin soldier's weapon was knocked away, and he himself was knocked off his horse.

"Zhao Dalang! Gather the warhorses!"

Liu Huai gave the order to Zhao Baiying, and then whistled at Cao Dache from a distance.

Cao Dache understood, returned to the woods, mounted his inferior horse, and galloped over to begin binding the prisoners and searching the Jin soldiers for their belongings.

Liu Huai, on the other hand, changed into a warhorse and then stood guard from a high vantage point, carrying a broadsword.

The three worked together seamlessly, like seasoned bandits.

Before long, the five warhorses had been gathered together. Cao Dache tied up the two still panting prisoners tightly, threw them onto the horses, and then galloped northward with all sorts of spoils of war.

Only then did some of the bolder villagers return. After seeing the seven or eight corpses on the ground, they tacitly stripped all the clothes off the bodies and threw the naked corpses into the river.

The Yellow River churned for a moment, and then nothing could be seen anymore.

(End of this chapter)