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

Chapter 615 Brave Warriors Take the Lead

"If I were Heshi Lie Liangbi, I wouldn't be worried about Dongping Prefecture right now, but about Xuzhou further south."

Under the banner of the Han Dynasty fluttering in the wind, Liu Huai said to Lu You: "Mr. Lu, Xin Wulang has sent military intelligence. The Jin army, consisting of two 10,000-strong households, plus the powerful rebel forces of Dongping Prefecture, fought a battle with the Tianping army yesterday."

After the Taiping army broke through the encirclement, these Jin traitors did not get any rest and pursued them all night long, which was extremely arrogant.

Our army has 20,000 troops. In this terrain, if we can break through the Jin invaders' vanguard, we can wipe them all out.

Liu Huai was not exaggerating.

The Han army had captured Licheng the day before and beheaded Pusanhuntan, and had now finished resting.

Facing a weary army that had barely rested for a day and a night, Liu Huai dared to attack even if the Jin army numbered 100,000, let alone less than 30,000. He could have easily defeated Heshi Lieliangbi and reduced him to eating at the same table as Sun Quan.

Lu You wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded repeatedly.

Although Lu You was no longer a mere scholar ignorant of military affairs by this time, and could command troops with considerable skill, making him a capable general in the Southern Dynasties, he still felt uneasy before the decisive battle and instinctively sought the affirmation of professionals.

At this moment, Liu Huai was both analyzing the situation and giving instructions to the chief steward of Shandong East Road, so that Lu You could calm down and not let the others see his panic.

"If we can defeat these Jin troops on the banks of the Beiqing River, Dongping Prefecture will be no threat. We can simply let our army roam freely, just like we swept through Jinan Prefecture."

"Xuzhou only has one commander of ten thousand men left. What can he do? Let alone me personally leading the army south, even Zhang Baiyu's four thousand soldiers would be enough to give the Jin bandits in Xuzhou a hard time."

"If we capture Xuzhou, then the situation in Shandong will be completely opened up. Our army can look north to Hebei and west to explore the Central Plains! Wanyan Yong and Wanyan Liang, those two bones in their graves, will be captured by us sooner or later!"

Hearing Liu Huai's confident words, Lu You was not at ease; instead, he felt a chill run down his spine.

This wasn't because Lu You was worried about the war situation again. In his eyes, Liu Huai was a famous general with exceptionally strong strategies and tactics, the kind of general who could sweep across the world. If he said there was no problem, then there must be no problem.

But Liu Huai's words mentioned both Hebei and the Central Plains, could it be that he harbored other ambitions?
There's a saying: "Competing for supremacy in the Central Plains!"

More importantly, this battle was entirely fought by the Shandong rebels, with the Song state not participating at all. So, aside from rewards, they would have no leverage to do anything else.

Lu You only pondered the matter for a moment before putting it out of his mind again.

On the verge of a great victory, yet he harbors suspicion towards his general. How is this any different from the actions of Qin Hui, that old dog?

Moreover, Wei Sheng has already arrived in Licheng, Jinan Prefecture, to take charge. With this pillar of the Shandong rebel army there, even Liu Huai wouldn't be able to cause too much trouble... right?

Not to mention Lu You's chaotic state of mind, Liu Huai once again weighed the strength comparison between the two armies in this battle.

Because the Flying Tiger Army was stationed in Suzhou, the Han army had relatively few elite armored cavalry, totaling only about three thousand, and these were distributed among various commanders. Their advantage lay in their elite infantry, which were also numerous.

However, in this narrow terrain, even with a large number of cavalry, the Jin army could not carry out strategic flanking maneuvers and could only play a role in harassing enemy positions.

Moreover, after fighting for a day and a night, the Jin army was exhausted. Weren't their warhorses also tired?
A person can get through being tired and hungry with strong willpower, but a warhorse will really give up!
With both sides' cavalry greatly weakened, there is only one way to win in this terrain.

As the saying goes, "When two armies meet on a narrow path, the brave shall prevail." Let's use a large infantry formation to hold them off head-on!
After much deliberation, and feeling that his arrangements were complete, Liu Huai issued the order: "Send word to Xiao En, instructing him to lead three thousand Dongping soldiers to engage the enemy first. Lei Ben of the Vanguard Army will lead one thousand swordsmen as the rearguard!"

"Wu Chengjun Huyan Nanxian led 4,000 troops as the second vanguard."

"Wang Shilong led three thousand soldiers of the right wing, forming the third vanguard."

"Shi Qilang led the vanguard of three thousand soldiers, forming the fourth vanguard."

"I personally led four thousand enemy troops to carry out the attack on the rest of the army."

"Send the order to all generals: there are no ingenious schemes or clever plans in this battle, no superfluous thoughts. We must proceed step by step, steadily and surely, and push forward head-on!"

"Yes, sir!" the military envoys replied, then took their military orders and tokens and went off in all directions.

The scouts charged out first, annihilating the Jin scouts. Then the main army changed formation, with the Dongping army at the forefront moving even faster towards the battlefield.

Two miles ahead, Xiao En could already see the banners bearing the characters "Kong" and "Shao" fluttering in the wind; the more than seven thousand rebel troops of Dongping Prefecture were almost upon him. Just as Xiao En was directing the armored soldiers who had been riding in carts to dismount and form ranks, Liu Huai received some unexpected news.

"Report! General Xin has already led several hundred Tianping soldiers to fight against the Dongping bandits." The military envoy seemed somewhat surprised as well: "General Xin sent me to report to the eldest son that Jiedushi Geng has personally led elite troops to ambush the Jin bandit's Left Chancellor, Heshi Lieliangbi. They must already be engaged in battle at this time. I hope the eldest son will come to their aid quickly."

After hearing these words, not only was Liu Huai somewhat bewildered, but even Lu You, who was standing next to him, looked surprised and doubtful: "Didn't Xin Wulang just say that Commander Geng had already gone to the Song Dynasty? How did it become an ambush for the Jin invaders?"

Liu Huai only hesitated for a moment before making a decision: "Never mind all that. Since Xin Wulang has already started fighting the bandits, how can we just stand by and watch? Send the order to Xiao En again: I want to see him launch an attack in a quarter of an hour!"

The military envoy quickly agreed.

At this moment, Yuan Qi, who was in the third vanguard, watched the military envoys coming and going and the cavalry fighting, and couldn't help but feel anxious.

Like all political forces, the Shandong East Route rebel forces under Liu Huai's command, or rather the forces based on the Loyal Army and the Jingnan Army, also had a distinction between the old and the new, and a struggle between the host and the guest.

People from Shandong will feel that Shandong belongs to Shandong people, so what are you, a bunch of southerners from the State of Song, pointing fingers at?
People from the State of Song would think that Shandong has been in constant uprisings every year, when will they ever succeed? It was only after the arrival of Duke Wei and Liu Dalang of the Great Song Dynasty that some results were achieved.

Of course, the rapid expansion of the regime was enough to cover up these minor issues, but for a newly annexed person like Yuan Qi, even the smallest matter would weigh heavily on his head.

More importantly, the Han army was ultimately based on the Shandong rebels, and most of the high-ranking officers were from Shandong. Even with Zhang Xiaoxiang's support, it would be difficult for Yuan Qi to be promoted to a general in a short time.

In the past, Yuan Qi could stand out from the crowd in the Song army because of his bravery and fierceness.

Other Song soldiers only dared to shoot arrows from a distance, but Yuan Qi dared to lead his troops into close combat. He was an irreplaceable person and naturally deserved to be given important responsibilities.

However, there were many elite soldiers and fierce generals in the Han army who dared to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

It's really too difficult to get ahead.

Yuan Qi had already reached the rank of commander in the Song state. After arriving in Shandong, although he retained his position as commander, he did not have any troops under his command. It was not until he personally conquered several powerful manors and defeated several landlord private armies that he was assigned more than 600 surrendered soldiers.

At this time, Yuan Qi led these villagers to follow Wang Shilong. Nominally, he was one of the deputy generals, but in reality, he was just an assistant general.

However, Yuan Qi was still ambitious. As the saying goes, opportunities don't fall from the sky, and you have to fight for them yourself. He immediately asked Wang Shilong for help.

Faced with Yuan Qi's request to lead the troops, Wang Shilong frowned, but ultimately did not speak harshly to the general: "Yuan Sanlang, today's battle will be a series of advances, one after another, to crush the Jin invaders. It's not that the Commander-in-Chief is unwilling to send the entire army up, but rather that this terrain simply makes it impossible to deploy a large force."

After saying this, Wang Shilong saw that the banners were waving and the battle cries were ringing out at the forefront of the war. He immediately dispatched scouts and military envoys to continue to investigate and communicate with the generals at the front.

After finishing his work, Wang Shilong noticed that Yuan Qi was still by his side and frowned, saying, "Yuan Sanlang, no one can escape the battle today, so we must proceed in an orderly manner. Haven't I made myself clear enough?"

Yuan Qi nodded silently, then slowly said, "General Wang, I understand the general strategy for today, but I still wish to request permission to fight. My troops are all newly recruited. If I don't let them fight, not only will the army still lack trust, but they themselves will also be uneasy. These peasant soldiers have no experience in battle, only fragmented combat skills honed in daily struggles for water and fields..."

Hearing this, Wang Shilong seemed to understand, but he also became impatient: "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Yuan Qi pointed to the southern foothills of Mount Tai, where ravines and hills abound: "I think it's impossible to deploy a large army in such a place. Commander Xiao of the Dongping Army will only send small groups of soldiers to scout there. In that case, why not send me to look for an opportunity in the mountains?"

Wang Shilong thought for a moment and slowly nodded: "In that case, I will give you a token and documents. You will travel along the mountain path to provide cover for the Dongping army. Remember, once you arrive there, you must obey Commander Xiao's orders."

Yuan Qi was overjoyed and patted his chest, saying, "I have many locals under my command. With them leading the way, the ravines and gullies of Shandong will surely be as smooth as walking on flat ground! I will definitely..."

He was about to say something more when he saw in the distance at the forefront of the battlefield, where the Dongping army was fighting against the rebel forces of the local lords. Two or three hundred soldiers rushed out from the mountains on the south side and suddenly charged into the left flank of the Dongping army.

Wang Shilong slapped his forehead.

He almost forgot that most of the rebels led by Kong Duanqi were also private soldiers of powerful local magnates.

Compared to battles fought in formations, they are also more adept at small-scale, sporadic conflicts.

"Yuan Sanlang, I'll give you another thirty personal guards. Take them with you and hurry!" Wang Shilong made a quick decision and immediately realized this was an opportunity. He looked at Yuan Qi with a hint of admiration: "Today, the greatest credit for our Right Army might just be yours!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Qi was even more delighted. If he hadn't been on horseback, he probably would have immediately bowed deeply in respect.

(End of this chapter)