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

Chapter 745 Human Relationships in Turmoil

The Jin army's victory in this battle was undoubtedly a great one.

Not only did they defeat the Song army and lift the siege of Ruyin, but they also seized all the supplies from the Song army camp.

However, the Jin army ultimately failed to expand its gains and completely annihilate the routed troops.

On the one hand, the Jin army was extremely exhausted after its long march.

On the other hand, it was getting late and dark, making it impossible to pursue them.

Another unspoken claim is that after this battle, the conflict between the Jurchens and Han Chinese in the Jin army not only did not diminish, but intensified dramatically.

The reason was not even due to the baggage left behind by the Song army, but rather that the Jurchens began to massacre Song prisoners of war.

The fate of the Song army was neither their concern nor their concern. However, many of the Song army's laborers were local Henan men who had been forcibly conscripted by the Song army. Among them were even local strongmen who had been captured in previous major battles.

The Han army naturally wanted to rescue them, but the Jurchens didn't care about that and went straight for the kill to vent their frustrations.

Some of the Chenzhou soldiers who arrived one after another recognized some of the prisoners and immediately offered to rescue them and stop the Jurchens from carrying out their massacre.

The two sides already had a grudge against each other, and the fighting escalated to the point that after a few shoves, they started slashing each other with knives.

By the time higher-ranking officers arrived to stop them, both sides had already suffered over a hundred casualties.

The damage caused by this internal strife was actually greater than that caused by the battle with the Song army, which was truly unexpected.

Xie Fuyao, who had fought his way out of Ruyin City, witnessed this scene and felt that it was truly an eye-opener. Then, he immediately made a decision.

We absolutely cannot let the Jurchens into the city!

Otherwise, who can guarantee that the Jurchens won't do something in Ruyin City?

This naturally became the starting point for a new round of escalating conflicts.

Only through the forceful mediation of Shi Ju and Pu Cha Shi Jie were the impending fire finally brought under control and suppressed.

However, the Chenzhou army entered the city to rest that night, while the Wujie army could only occupy the Song army camp and continue to suffer in the rain.

While it's true that one should be tolerant for the sake of the country and prioritize the overall situation, Pucha Shijie still feels he can't swallow this insult.

If it weren't for Shi Ju leading his personal guards to remain outside the city, sharing weal and woe with the Wu Jie Army, Pu Cha Shi Jie might have already led his army to attack Ruyin City by now.

Even so, Pucha Shijie was still determined to teach these Han slaves a lesson immediately, otherwise they would really think they could turn the world upside down!
However, that very night, just after Pucha Shijie had fallen asleep, Shi Ju hurriedly came to his door.

Pucha Shijie could only get up and put on his armor. When he saw Shi Ju, he said in an annoyed tone, "Lord Shi, what has happened? Has there been a mutiny in the army?"

The two men originally had a good relationship, but now the lower-level employees have taken sides and started to oppose each other, which has also caused the middle-level employees to become irreconcilable. It is impossible for this not to affect the higher-ups.

Shi Ju clutched a document in his hand, his face pale, water droplets still clinging to his shoulders, and he was dressed only in a thin garment, looking as if he had been chased out by the mutinous army. But upon hearing Pu Cha Shijie's teasing, he couldn't help but stamp his foot and say, "Chief Steward Pu Cha, take a look at this first!"

With that, Shi Ju handed over the document.

Pucha Shijie glanced through it, and his face instantly darkened.

This is a document sent by Pusan ​​Zhongyi, which records the course of the Battle of Daming Prefecture and says that the Shandong rebels have likely defeated the main force of the Eastern Jin and are now besieging Daming Prefecture.

In addition, Pu Sanzhongyi said that he had personally led the main force south along the Wo River and had now reached the territory of Bozhou, preparing to take action against the Song army besieging Mengcheng.

After Pusan ​​Zhongyi defeated the Song army's detachment, the two sides agreed to advance together to besiege Li Xianzong's main force of the Song Northern Expeditionary Army.

By then, the total number of Jin troops will exceed 50,000, and defeating Li Xianzong's 30,000-strong army will not be a problem.

After carefully reading it twice, Pu Chashijie shook his head and sighed, feeling a mix of emotions.

To be fair, he truly understood Shi Ju's loss of composure.

Wanyan Yong deployed 60,000 regular troops in Daming Prefecture, commanded by the famous general Heshilie Zhining. However, in the main battle, they were defeated head-on by the Shandong Han army. Doesn't this mean that the Western Jin army would be no match for the Han army?

After losing these troops, whether Hebei could be held became a huge question.

As Wanyan Yong's chief minister and a scholar from Hebei, how would Shi Ju conduct himself if Hebei were to be restored by Liu Huai?
However, although the Jin army suffered a major defeat in Hebei, these Jin soldiers were, after all, Wanyan Yong's men. In Pucha Shijie's eyes, they were all traitors. Therefore, although he was alarmed, he did not feel the same deep pain as Shi Ju.

But another piece of news made Pucha Shijie very happy. His good friend, the Grand Marshal of the Western Jin Dynasty, Pusan ​​Zhongyi, was about to lead the main force of the Jin army south.

And among these main forces of the Jin army, the vast majority were undoubtedly the Jurchens.

If we combine our forces, wouldn't we be able to overwhelm the number of Han soldiers in the army?

When the time comes, we should teach the Han slaves a lesson and let them know who is really in charge of the Great Jin Kingdom.

After reviewing the document once more, Pucha Shijie finally spoke, saying, "Lord Shi... Hebei is too far away, and neither of us can reach it. For now, we can only follow Wu Zhe's advice, deal with the Song army properly first, and then go to deal with the Shandong bandits."

Moreover…and Prime Minister Liangbi is, after all, near Xuzhou; he will not stand idly by and watch the Shandong bandits continue their rampage.”

Shi Ju was already somewhat at a loss and didn't notice Pu Cha Shi Jie's expression. However, he could still tell that Pu Cha Shi Jie was trying to comfort him, so he could only shake his head and smile bitterly: "Asa, the Shandong bandits have already gained momentum. Even with Liang Bi's abilities, what can they do... Sigh... Let's make preparations as soon as possible."

But Aza, remember this: you must keep the news secret. Neither the outcome of the battle in Hebei nor the arrival of Wuzhe's large army can be revealed to the outside world, otherwise I fear the morale of the army will be shaken.”

Having said that, without waiting for Pucha Shijie's reply, Shi Ju shook his head and turned to leave.

Pucha Shijie held the document, flipped through it again, sighed inexplicably, summoned the military clerk to file it, and then went to sleep again after removing his armor.

But the matter was not over that night. The clerk accompanying the army was a good friend of Pu Chaping. After making a copy of the document, he sent it to Shi Ju's tent and then went to find Pu Chaping, revealing all the military information in the document.

It goes without saying that Pu Chaping was somewhat excited because the main force of the Jin army led by Pusan ​​Zhongyi was about to arrive.

On the other side, Du Wuji, who was following Shi Ju, became curious about the document after seeing the usually calm Shi Ju in such a panicked state.

After the documents were returned, this fellow, using his position as a military judge, found an excuse to go to the military archives. While the staff was organizing the documents, he secretly glanced at them and immediately became somewhat panicked.

Of course, it wasn't because Du Wuji valued the future of the Jin state so much, but because the arrival of Pusan ​​Zhongyi would almost certainly affect the balance of power in the Jin army.

The Han army is now far stronger than the Jurchens, but if they join forces with Pusan ​​Zhongyi, the Han army will immediately be at a disadvantage in terms of numbers and combat power.

After defeating the Song army, it would be strange if the Jurchens didn't take the opportunity to severely punish the Han army.

Even if the Han soldiers are not completely wiped out, the purge within the army will put the lives of almost all Han officers in danger!
Du Wuji forced himself to remain calm, disregarding his exhaustion from the battle. Under the pretext of checking military merits, he was hoisted onto the city wall in a bamboo basket, where he pulled Zhang Shu up and led him to Xie Fuyao's location.

The two men were initially a little annoyed at being woken up in the middle of the night, but after hearing Du Wuji quietly recount the military intelligence he had read, their drowsiness vanished completely.

"No, no." Xie Fuyao covered his forehead with one hand and dabbed at the map on the table in front of him with the other, his hand still wet with wine. "You said that Liu Dalang from Shandong won a battle in Daming Prefecture, Hebei, and then Pusan ​​Zhongyi didn't care about Hebei but went straight south to attack the Song Dynasty... I remember that Daming Prefecture is not far from Bianliang. Isn't he afraid that Liu Dalang will launch a surprise attack and destroy Bianliang as well?!"

Upon hearing this, Du Wuji could only shake his head blankly. He was indeed somewhat unclear about the grand strategy that encompassed the Central Plains, Hebei, and Shandong.

Zhang Shu, who was stunned by the news, finally came to his senses and said in a dry voice, "Of course, Pu Sanzhongyi is afraid, but firstly, when he learned of this news, he had probably already led the army out. If he returns, the morale will be terrible."

Secondly, given the Song Dynasty's military strength, they might be driven back to the Huai River within a month. Even if Liu Dalang possessed extraordinary abilities, how could he possibly sweep across Hebei within a month? Alas…

Even though he was clearly saying that Liu Huai didn't have the ability, this general from Hebei still sighed deeply.

The other two were both quick-witted and understood Zhang Shu's meaning perfectly.
If Liu Huai can't clear Hebei in a month, what about two months, three months? Half a year or a year?

Given the Shandong Han army's ability to crush the main force of the Jin army head-on, let alone Hebei, who in the world could withstand a fierce attack from him?

Even if Pusan ​​Zhongyi dealt with the Song army, could he really stand up against the Han army?
Xie Fuyao and Zhang Shu were just ordinary comrades-in-arms. In the past, they had some disputes over who was the host and who was the guest. However, since ethnic conflicts are now above all else, the two of them are now on the same side.

He wiped the wine stains off the table with a wave of his hand, then said to Zhang Shu solemnly, "Our army must not join forces with Pusan ​​Zhongyi, otherwise we Shandong men will be in danger!"

Du Wuji nodded: "That's right. At that time, even Master Shi won't be able to protect us! But how should we do it?"

Xie Fuyao remained silent for a long time before gritting her teeth and saying, "The situation is critical. We must start coordinating now to let all the generals, commanders, and leaders know that things are urgent. Even if we can't kill all the barbarians directly, we must take precautions as soon as possible."

If they force us to meet up then, we can just stir up trouble and even try to crown Minister Shi with the imperial robes—it wouldn't be out of the question!

Du Wuji nodded again. These were the kinds of tricks that powerful figures used.

What else could they do? Could they possibly seek refuge with the Song state?
After a moment of silence, Zhang Shu said seriously, "Can't we just go and seek refuge with Liu Dalang?"

Du Wuji and Xie Fuyao both changed color at the same time, but then felt it was somewhat natural. However, they did not respond immediately, but looked at Zhang Shu and fell silent.

(End of this chapter)