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

Chapter 741 The Golden Order Urgently Issued

Just one day later, on May 26, Guan Chongyan received Wei Sheng's troop mobilization order. Upon opening it, he saw that it ordered the Flying Tiger Army and the White Horse Army to set off immediately and proceed to Daming Prefecture to receive orders.

Then, Guan Chongyan naturally panicked.

On one side is the legitimate military order issued by Wei Sheng in the name of the Shandong Marshal's Office, and on the other side is Liu Huai's repeated admonitions. It seems that following either side is reasonable, but it will inevitably offend the other side.

Therefore, Guan Chongyan quickly summoned the other generals and laid out the strongly worded troop mobilization order to read it, asking them for their opinions.

Seeing this, Chen Wenben and the others were stunned, feeling as if a battle between gods was causing trouble for the lesser demons.

But military orders are absolute, how could they be delayed?

After a brief discussion, Chen Wenben suggested sending the document to Daming Prefecture by express courier so that Liu Huai could make a decision. Meanwhile, the entire army should begin packing up and breaking camp, but the process should be slow until they received Liu Huai's definitive document before setting off.

There is no other way.

Guan Chongyan and the others acted quickly. If Liu Huai ordered the Flying Tiger Army to stay in Jizhou and not move, they would send the document Liu Huai sent to Xuzhou, and then let the father and son fight it out.

However, Wei Sheng had already anticipated Guan Chongyan's move.

Wei Sheng was very worried that the absence of the Flying Tiger Army in the battle meant that the war in Hebei could not be fully accomplished.

Therefore, he sent seven solemn military orders in one day, with a military envoy arriving almost every hour, reading the orders aloud and questioning why the Flying Tigers had not yet been mobilized.

Helpless, Guan Chongyan could only continue sending documents to Liu Huai in Daming Prefecture.

However, as the wording of the military orders became increasingly harsh, by the sixth order, Wei Sheng had even written the insidious statement, "Do the Shandong rebels only know Liu Huai as their military governor, but not as their marshal?"

After receiving this document, Guan Chongyan finally couldn't hold back any longer and immediately led six thousand cavalrymen to break camp and set off.

The Flying Tiger Army and the White Horse Army were, after all, elite troops serving as the general reserve force, and were always ready to go on campaign, so their speed in breaking camp was very fast.

Of course, this is also largely due to the eagerness of junior and middle-ranking officers to make meritorious contributions.

Having been stationed in Jeju for so long, the arrogant and fierce soldiers were already getting restless.

Once the cavalry, having rested and recuperated, begin their rapid march, their speed is as fast as chasing the stars and catching the moon.

This time, the army marched along a branch of the Yellow River through Shandong Province, with supply depots along the way to replenish food and water, allowing them to abandon their baggage and travel light.

Six thousand cavalrymen might not be able to cover a thousand miles in a day, but they could certainly cover a hundred miles in two hours.

When the six thousand cavalrymen arrived at Shouzhang in Dongping Prefecture, Guan Chongyan encountered Bi Zaiyu, who had come to deliver the order in person. Unsurprisingly, he found the other party to be somewhat exasperated.

In addition to conveying the order to the Flying Tiger Army to continue stationing in Jizhou, Liu Huai also gave Bi Zaiyu the task of having him take another extremely sincere letter to Wei Sheng and ask him to rescind his order.

But who would have thought that the Flying Tigers would be so fast?

Guan Chongyan was also helpless about this, so he took out Wei Sheng's military order from his pocket and let Bi Zaiyu take a look.

Bi Zaiyu's resentment vanished instantly, and he felt a strange sense of sympathy for Guan Chongyan.

Although both father and son meant well for each other, they were both very opinionated people, so it's not surprising that things have developed into this push-and-shove situation. Naturally, the one caught in the middle is not having a good time.

When the news reached Daming Prefecture, Liu Huai could only sigh at the outcome.

After the Flying Tiger Army arrived the next day, Liu Huai didn't even reprimand Guan Chongyan for his wavering stance. Instead, he quickly deployed 6,000 cavalrymen north of Yuancheng to form an ambush with one side missing from the encirclement. Since the Flying Tiger Army and the White Horse Army had already arrived in Daming Prefecture, they couldn't be allowed to return.

The physical exertion of traveling back and forth is one aspect, but more importantly, the fact that the army travels back and forth in vain will lead to low morale.

If the Flying Tigers, the elite force of the entire army, had not achieved any merit, but were instead tormented to the point of collapse by a marshal and a military governor, that would be a huge joke.

Only now, with the Flying Tiger Army capable of rivaling Hezhameng'an, is the main force of the Han army considered complete.

On the city wall, seeing the complete Han army from afar, Heshilie Zhining almost instantly felt the urge to jump off the wall.

How could such an elite force be hidden away?
How many elite troops does Shandong actually have?
Just as the movement of the Flying Tigers could not be kept secret from He Shilie Zhining, He Shilie Liangbi, who was in Bozhou, also knew that the Flying Tigers had left Jeju, but he felt no joy at all.

The reason is simple: Heshi Lieliangbi knew the outcome of the Battle of Daming Prefecture, and in detail.

This was neither a rumor gleaned by spies from Shandong, nor a message relayed by Pu Sanzhongyi. In fact, due to the chaotic situation in Hebei, with war raging everywhere and Daming Prefecture in complete disarray, Pu Sanzhongyi had gathered a multitude of rumors, making it impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood for the time being.

Heshi Lieliangbi knew this very clearly because his cavalry intercepted Liu Huai's messenger who was conveying military intelligence to Yu Yunwen and found the documents.

Of course, Liu Huai concealed certain details in his documents to the Song state. However, this did not prevent Heshi Lie Liangbi from getting a clear understanding of the battle situation.

Upon learning the outcome of the Battle of Daming Prefecture, Heshi Lieliangbi was able to remain calm, while Jia Gu Qingchen nearly collapsed.

Sixty thousand troops! Those were the sixty thousand most elite troops of Dongjin! And they were defeated just like that? And such a crushing defeat! Only twenty thousand cavalrymen escaped the battlefield!
"Qingchen, calm down." Heshi Lieliangbi picked up his teacup, drank a cup of tea, and then looked at the gloomy weather outside the command tent and said, "The closer we get to this point, the calmer we must be. If we can calm down, there might still be a chance to turn the tide. But if we lose our composure, then we will truly be doomed."

Jia Gu Qingchen, panting heavily, nodded with difficulty: "The country is in such a state of decline that I, as a general, cannot sit idly by. I urge you, my lord, to make preparations as soon as possible."

Heshilie Liangbi drank tea again, the tea wetting his beard. However, this Jin Dynasty prime minister, who was extremely particular about his appearance, did not care at all. He simply said slowly, "The situation in Hebei is something only you and I know. It must not be spread outside."

Kiyotomi Kagaya suppressed his fear and said, "That's natural."

Heshi Lieliangbi sat back down at his desk and continued, "I will write a letter, along with all the captured documents, and send it to Minister Shi Ju with my trusted elites. Then he will know what to do."

With swift strokes of his pen, a letter was quickly completed. Seeing that Jia Gu Qingchen was still looking dejected, He Shi Lie Liangbi said solemnly, "Qingchen, the situation is already like this, and neither of us can change it."

However, if we can capture Xuzhou and then advance north along the Yi River to take Yizhou, we can severely damage the Shandong bandits and buy the Jin Dynasty a chance to regroup. Therefore, no matter what, we must continue according to plan!

Kiyotomi Kagaya finally made up his mind, gritted his teeth, and loudly agreed. He then took the letter and documents, strode away, and went to find his personal guards.

After Jia Gu Qingchen left, He Shi Lie Liangbi's upright posture in his seat went limp as if his soul had been taken away. He was covered in sweat and could only barely keep his balance by leaning on the table.

He forced his head up and looked at the sky outside the command tent. Although the weather was gloomy, the sunlight was still dazzling, which made him lower his head again and cover his eyes with his hands.

Two lines of clear tears slowly flowed from between his fingers, and Heshi Lieliangbi wept silently.

This is not just because of the pain of spending years running around only to find that things in the world ultimately turned out the worst.

More importantly, Heshilie Liangbi, as the prime minister of the Jin Dynasty and a student of Wanyan Xiyin, was well-versed in literature and possessed a far superior strategic vision. He was not only an outstanding prime minister but also an extremely intelligent man. Therefore, he was able to foresee an outcome that others had not yet seen and to endure suffering that others had not yet felt.

He knew that after this battle, the Han people's momentum was unstoppable, and the Jin Dynasty would decline day by day, and its demise was imminent.

Even if they invaded deep into Shandong, what could they do? They would only burn, kill, loot, and destroy Shandong's autumn harvest. At most, they could only throw Liu Huai into disarray; could they truly stop him from destroying the Jin dynasty?
However, amidst his grief, Heshi Lieliangbi lowered his hands from his cheeks, leaving red marks on his face with his fingertips, and a surge of emotion mixed with anger and resentment rose in his heart.

"Master Gu Shen! Just watch from heaven and see your student secure a second or even a second of the Great Jin's reign!"

(End of this chapter)