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

Chapter 675 General Nishikawa of the Western Army

June, Longyou.

This is the hottest and most humid time of the year.

Wu Lin sat atop the city wall of Deshun Military City, gazing at the rolling mountains of Guanxi, his mind filled with countless thoughts.

Wu Lin is sixty-two years old this year. He has experienced too many things in his life, so for a moment, he couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

Wu Lin followed his father and brothers in fighting against the Western Xia when he was young, and made a name for himself early on, eventually rising to the position of Gentleman of the Palace.

However, such reputation was of little use during the turbulent transition between the Northern and Southern Song dynasties. Faced with the newly rising Jin army, even Han Shizhong, the senior general of the Western Army, could only flee in disarray, let alone him.
Later, in the Battle of Fuping, which determined the fate of Guanzhong, the brothers Wu Jie and Wu Lin fought desperately but still suffered a major defeat.

The generals of the Western Army either fled, died, or surrendered.

From then on, there was no more Western Army in the world.

Later, Wanyan Wuzhu attempted to enter Shu from Guanzhong. Wu Jie and Wu Lin fought against the Jin army along the Dasanguan and Xianrenguan lines. In utter despair, they finally achieved their first great victory.

In this battle later known as the Battle of Heshangyuan, Wu Jie demonstrated his command abilities, not only defeating the main elite force of the Jin army in one fell swoop, but also beating Wanyan Salihe, one of the best of the second generation of Jin generals, to tears, firmly attaching the nickname "Weeping Prince" to this fellow.

Looking back now, it's hard to believe that that great victory was already thirty years ago.

Later, his elder brother Wu Jie did not live to see the moment when he returned to his hometown to fight back. He left Shaoxing in resentment after nine years.

Three years after Wu Jie's death, in the eleventh year of Shaoxing, the Jin Dynasty broke the peace agreement and launched a large-scale invasion southward. Wu Lin finally saw a glimmer of hope to return to his hometown and almost impatiently volunteered for the battle.

At that time, Wu Lin was only in his early forties, the golden age of a great general, and he had reached the peak of his life in terms of both military strategy and martial prowess.

Wu Lin led his army into Longyou in one fell swoop, advancing with unstoppable momentum. Finally, he encountered the main force of the Jin army at Shanjiawan and defeated 50,000 Jin troops in one battle. Wu Lin took advantage of the situation to advance eastward.

But who would have thought that just when victory was in sight, the court would order a withdrawal of troops.

The Northern Expedition failed, Yue Fei was unjustly killed, and the following year, the Shaoxing Peace Treaty was reached.

The Heshan Plain, which the Wu brothers had defended with their lives, was so easily ceded to the Jin Dynasty. In an instant, the morale of the Song army in Xichuan plummeted, and even Wu Lin became dejected.

Wu Lin had thought his life would pass by uneventfully, but fate seemed to be playing a cruel joke on him. At the age of sixty, Wu Lin actually had the opportunity to launch a northern expedition.

Thinking of this, Wu Lin looked down at his wrinkled hands and couldn't help but find it a little funny.

What on earth is Heaven doing? Why did it let him suffer a crushing defeat at the age of greatest courage? Why did it abandon him at the age of greatest maturity? And why did it give him such an opportunity at the age of decline?

If this wicked God truly has some sense, isn't His nature a bit too wicked?

Just as Wu Lin was lost in thought, a cloud of dust appeared between the mountains and approached the city with what seemed like a slow but actually rapid motion.

The leader was a burly general, and the flag bearer behind him carried a large flag with the character "Wu".

"Young Master has arrived!"

"Young Master has arrived!"

Soldiers and civilians alike cheered loudly, both on the city walls and below.

Even Wu Lin smiled and nodded slowly.

This person was Wu Ting, Wu Zhonglie, the fifth son of Wu Lin, and also the son with the most outstanding literary and military talents.

Although Wu Ting is only twenty-six years old this year, he has already made numerous military achievements and has been appointed as the Military Commissioner of Wuchang Army, Commander of the Fourth Wing of the Dragon God Guard, and Commander of the Central Army of the Xihe Road Pacification Commissioner.

Moreover, Wu Ting's official position was not obtained through his father's favor, but through hard work and dedication.

In the previous battle with Tudan Hexi, he took the lead and led his light troops straight into the enemy formation, almost killing Tudan Hexi in battle.

"Father, your son has returned!"

Wu Ting took off his helmet and grinned widely.

Wu Lin resumed his stern demeanor and nodded slightly: "Was the journey peaceful?"

Wu Ting nodded: "The Jin bandits don't have enough troops, so they have to retreat. They haven't encountered a single scout or even a cavalryman along the way."

This is true.

When Wanyan Liang launched his southern invasion, Tudan Hexi was a minor force within a minor force, consisting of only five regular armies with ten thousand households each: Wuwei, Wuding, Weilue, Weiguo, and Weiyong.

Although these troops were fairly strong, their numbers were somewhat small. At the beginning, they could take advantage of the element of surprise in the war to catch the Song state off guard, break through San Pass, and reach Huangniu Fort.

However, once the Song army reacted and Wu Lin launched a counterattack, the Jin army was short of troops and had to retreat to Longyou and Guanzhong for defense.

If history had unfolded as it should, after Wanyan Liang died at Guazhou Ferry and Wanyan Yong succeeded to the throne, reinforcements would have been sent to stop the Jin army's decline.

The two most crucial generals among them were Wanyan Shoudao and Wanyan Zhang.

But now, Wanyan Shoudao, needless to say, is fighting against the Shandong rebels in Daming Prefecture.

Wanyan Zhang did not lead his troops to provide support.

This fellow was once a subordinate of Wanyan Salihe. After Wanyan Liang went on a killing spree and killed Wanyan Salihe, he was put on hold by Wanyan Liang and could only live in Zhongdu Daxing Prefecture.

Given this political stance, Wanyan Zhang was absolutely incompatible with Wanyan Liang.

Therefore, after Wanyan Yong formally proclaimed himself emperor in Liaoyang Prefecture, Wanyan Zhang immediately killed Pucha Shali, the garrison commander of Zhongdu, and surrendered to Wanyan Yong. However, Wanyan Zhang's political integrity was extremely poor. After surrendering to Wanyan Yong, he first took over as the garrison commander of Zhongdu before being appointed by Wanyan Yong.

Therefore, Wanyan Zhang always felt that Wanyan Yong would be dissatisfied with him, and wanted to take the opportunity to contact some officials to kill Wanyan Yong when he was worshipping his ancestors, and install Wanyan Kexi, the Minister of War, as emperor.

However, when Wanyan Zhang tried to persuade Gao Song, the commander of the Bohai region, Gao Song was unwilling to rebel.

Seeing that the matter was about to be exposed, Wanyan Zhang simply led the others to report Wanyan Kexi, thus causing his death.

Regardless of Wanyan Zhang's political integrity, his military capabilities are still commendable.

Historically, Wanyan Zhang led an army and achieved considerable success in his battles against Wu Lin.

But Wanyan Liang is still alive, and Guanzhong is still under his rule. Why would Wanyan Yong send reinforcements to Guanzhong?
Therefore, Wanyan Zhang is still training troops in Hebei.

Without these two reinforcements, Tudan Hexi's predicament would have been predictable.

The Jin army could only keep shrinking its defensive lines, to the point that it could no longer send out many scouts and patrols.

Wu Lin wasn't surprised by this, and simply said, "This is a good thing. Have you seen the recent official gazette?"

When his father asked, Wu Ting nodded: "Father, I have seen it."

"Is Father referring to Liu Dalang from Shandong?"

Wu Lin nodded, a smile appearing on his face: "I don't know where this Shandong Jingnan Army came from. Two years ago, they won a great victory in Huaixi, and this year they have recovered Shandong. They are truly heroes."

Wu Ting frowned: "I heard that Liu Dalang forbids the court from appointing a prefect. Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

Wu Lin glared at Wu Ting before slowly saying, "Don't talk nonsense. It's just a common practice for military men to be prefects in border areas."

Wu Ting was young and slow to react in this regard, but after being scolded by his father, he immediately realized what was happening and his face turned red.

Because that's the situation with the former Western Army and the current Wu family.

They have a collective name: the Western Army Generals.

Unlike ordinary warlords, the generals of the Western Army were subject to orders and decrees. They would fight to the death at the command of the Song emperor. However, being located on the border between the Song and Western Xia undoubtedly gave them greater initiative.

For example, there was the Zhong clan, and the Zhe clan, which had a semi-warlord nature.

Since the Wu family inherited the remnants of the Western Army, they basically inherited most of the Western Army's bad habits, which led to Wu Lin having a great deal of autonomy by his generation.

This matter cannot be simply described as good or bad, because the Song emperor was in Lin'an, which was too far from Sichuan. Whoever was in charge of military and political affairs in Sichuan would have a great deal of autonomy. Even if Wu Lin was removed, someone else would take his place.

But this was something that attracted attention, and every now and then someone would criticize him. Wu Lin had gotten used to it, and at this moment he actually felt some empathy for Liu Huai.

Given this premise, Wu Lin could not possibly say that Shandong was inappropriate, because that would be digging a hole for himself.

If the central government then decides that Shandong is inappropriate, and Sichuan is also inappropriate, and you all have to make corrections together, wouldn't Wu Lin be dumbfounded?
After reprimanding Wu Ting, Wu Lin paused before saying, "Now that Shandong has been recovered, the Central Plains are within reach. If we can recover Guanzhong, then the old capital can also be recovered."

"I originally thought that this undertaking could only be completed in your generation. Now it seems that I was able to see this corner of the world before I died, which is enough to comfort my brother."

As Wu Lin finished speaking, his face flushed and he began to cough incessantly.

"Father, your body..." Wu Ting stepped forward, wanting to help Wu Lin, but was pushed away.

"It doesn't matter."

Despite saying that, Wu Lin didn't seem to be alright.

Like Liu Qi, Wu Lin was also too old. The wounds he had sustained in his early years had become a death knell at this age. The general who had been able to fight with great vigor even after bleeding profusely in battles in the past could only endure the pain and fight at this age.

Prior to this expedition, Wu Lin had already been traveling by sedan chair.

In order to attack Deshun Army, Wu Lin forced himself to mount his warhorse to boost morale, but after Deshun Army was captured, he almost fainted and was quickly sent to the rear to recuperate.

This is a major reason why the Song army on the western route sometimes won and sometimes lost when attacking the Jin army's detachment.

Because the supreme commander was in poor health and had to return to the Song state for recuperation from time to time, the Song army, without overall command, naturally encountered various problems when facing the concentrated forces of the Jin army.

However, Wu Lin had already recovered and believed he was ready to face the upcoming battles.

"It's alright," Wu Lin waved his hand and said, "What about the matter I asked you to investigate? Have you found anything?"

Seeing that they had gotten down to business, Wu Ting's expression also became serious: "Reporting to Father, the Jin bandits are still stationed at those same crossroads, and there is no sign of a large-scale reinforcement in Guanzhong. Our army is gathering troops now, and we will definitely be able to break through Yuanzhou!"

Wu Lin nodded: "How is the livelihood of the people in Guanzhong? Have you seen it clearly?"

Wu Ting's expression was complicated: "Father, it seems that Guanzhong is engaged in land reclamation, but it doesn't seem quite like that. I asked around and found out that the tax rate is about 50%, but the people are still willing to farm. It's really strange."

Wu Lin sighed, leaning against the city wall, and said, "It's not surprising. We can survive with half the food. Guanzhong is barren now... Heh, I wonder what that bastard Zhang Zhongyan is up to..."

No sooner had Wu Lin finished speaking than they heard someone climb up the city wall.

"Your Excellency, a letter has been delivered." The military envoy bowed and presented a letter to Wu Lin.

Wu Lin's expression immediately hardened when he saw the signature on the envelope.

(End of this chapter)