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

Chapter 752 Still Capable of Fighting and Earning Merit
The saying goes, "A loud drum doesn't need a heavy hammer."

Given Wei Sheng's loyalty and bravery, why would Zhang Jun and Yu Yunwen need to send a special document to mobilize troops?
When Wei You and Liu Bao arrived in Xuzhou, exchanging glances, at least Li Huo'er and Wei Sheng's old comrades knew that this battle was inevitable.

"The Marshal has ordered that Chief Steward Liu have a good night's rest and a hearty meal before returning to Suzhou to reorganize the troops. Suzhou will help with some of the provisions." In front of the Xuzhou government office, Yu Chi Mingyue finished speaking coldly, then looked at Wei You: "Commander Wei, come with me to see the Marshal."

Liu Bao froze on the spot, and immediately became somewhat angry: "You are so rude to bring me here, only to drive me away without even seeing me. You have no manners whatsoever."

"Oh?" Yu Chi Mingyue turned around, sword in hand, and sneered, "Chief Steward Liu, let me put it this way. If you weren't the Deputy Chief of the Huaidong Army of the Great Song Dynasty, and not of any use in this great war, how could I have spared your life for what you did to plunder Suqian that day?!"
Now that Duke Wei has shown you some courtesy, if you don't accept it, then I'll kill you in the name of national defeat and humiliation, and brazenly annex your troops. What can you do then?

Yu Chi Mingyue was, after all, a general in the Shandong Loyal Army system. Although he had not followed Liu Huai through all the major battles from beginning to end, he was eventually raised to be somewhat arrogant by the victories.

Furthermore, he was a general who had fought his way up from an archer to a commander. Even though he was nearly fifty, his imposing presence remained undiminished. The murderous aura emanating from him as he gripped the hilt of his sword immediately silenced Liu Bao.

Yu Chi Mingyue ignored Liu Bao and gestured to Wei You to invite him in before entering the Pengcheng government office, which was the location of the Shandong Marshal's Office at that time.

Liu Bao's face was pale and uncertain. After glaring hatefully at the government office, he didn't even eat his meal. He turned around, mounted his horse, and left.

He needed to return to Suzhou as soon as possible to find a way to regroup his troops, otherwise his defeated army might really be annexed.

Inside the government office, Wei You asked somewhat uneasily, "Are we just going to let this fellow go back like this? Chief Steward Liu is not someone to be trifled with. Once he returns to command the troops, he will surely cause trouble."

Yu Chi Mingyue shook his head and said, "How could I not know this principle? But I am ultimately a soldier and must obey military orders. Lord Wei must have his reasons for wanting to keep this fellow alive."

Enough talking.

But they both understood the unspoken part.

To put it bluntly, Wei Sheng still recognized the name of the State of Song, and within the Song system, the officials in Shandong naturally could not deal with the governor of Huaidong.

If Liu Huai were here, none of this trouble would have happened. He would have taken advantage of the chaos to slit Liu Bao's throat and dump the body in the pigsty to cover his tracks.

However, Wei Sheng's actions reassured Wei You.

This is a rule-abiding person; at least we don't have to worry about Wei Sheng kicking us when we're down.

The two walked into the main hall of the government office one after the other. Wei Sheng was stroking his beard and looking at a huge map hanging on the wall.

Wei You didn't hold back. Before Yu Chi Mingyue could even introduce him, Wei You had already knelt down and kowtowed heavily: "Lord Wei! I am Wei You, the Left Army Commander of the Huaidong Army. The day before yesterday, our army was attacked by the main force of the Jin invaders and suffered a great defeat!"

The Jin invaders are powerful; we hope that Duke Wei can quickly send troops to provide assistance. Otherwise, it will not be appropriate for the two ministers, Zhang and Yu, to be in a difficult position.”

Wei Sheng didn't even turn his head, but just gestured on the map and said directly, "Get up, Yuchi, go and bring Commander Wei some food. We can talk while he eats!"

Soon, a small bowl of soup noodles was served. Wei You was also very hungry, so he sat down and ate heartily.

Wei Sheng continued to look at the map, occasionally asking a question or two, which Wei You answered while eating.

After Wei You finished eating a bowl of soup noodles, Wei Sheng finally understood the military situation that the Huai Dong army had encountered. He then sighed and said, "In other words, not only did Pu San Zhongyi lead the main force of Xi Jin to come, but they have also joined forces with He Shi Lie Liangbi."

That means at least 30,000 legitimate Jin bandits attacked the Huaidong army together. No wonder you suffered such a crushing defeat.”

Despite saying this, Wei Sheng still had a furrowed brow, clearly feeling that the Huaidong army had been defeated far too quickly and too miserably.

If Li Heng can hold out for ten days, Li Xianzong of Xia Cai will lead his troops to support him, and Wei Sheng will immediately send troops to Bozhou, cutting off the Jin army's retreat. At that time, the Jin army might collapse.

But it's too late to say anything now.

Since Li Heng has already retreated, it means that the Jin army has opened up the Wo River passage. The Jin army can now advance and retreat at will, and is no longer something that the Zhongyi Army, which is mainly composed of infantry, can do anything about.

Wei You let out a burp, wiped his mouth, and bowed to Wei Sheng, saying, "Lord Wei, the situation is urgent now, and we hope that you will make a decision as soon as possible."

Wei Sheng looked at Wei You, stroked his beard and smiled, "Judging from your appearance, you don't seem to be in a hurry."

Wei You gave a bitter smile: "Lord Wei, several dozen hours have passed now. Those comrades who were able to escape have mostly been gathered up, while those who couldn't escape have either become prisoners or turned into ghosts."

Rather than frantically babbling and making a mess of things, causing Lord Wei to misjudge the situation, I should wait patiently for Lord Wei's decision.

Wei Sheng nodded slowly: "In that case, I will give you a decision now."

"Yuchi, beat the drums and gather the generals!"

Yu Chi Mingyue's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't show it on her face. After giving a greeting, she turned around, gripped her sword, and strode away.

Soon, accompanied by the rumbling of drums, civil and military officials from Xuzhou filed in. In addition to Li Huo'er and others, there were also some local officials and logistics officers.

Seeing that everyone was seated, Wei Sheng didn't waste any words. He then pointed to the map behind him and said, "I just received news that the Huaidong army has been defeated, and at least 30,000 Jin troops have marched south from the Wo River."

If we include what we already knew—the disastrous defeat of the Huaixi army and the more than 20,000 Jin bandits who marched south along the Ying River—we now have nearly 60,000 troops attacking Xiacai City.

Wei You was drinking water when he heard this and almost choked to death.

He was a witness to the defeat of the Huaidong army, so he was naturally aware of it.

But how did the Huaixi army fail?

How come it seems they were defeated even earlier than the Huaidong army?

Moreover, since the main force of the Jin army has moved south along the Wo River, what is the situation of the Huaixi army? Could they have been defeated by the second-line troops of the Jin army?
Is Shao Hongyuan any good or not?

Furthermore, Li Heng was unaware that the Huaixi army had already been defeated, so how did Wei Sheng, who was further east, know about it?
Surely they can't be some kind of fortune teller?
A jumble of thoughts rushed through Wei You's mind, leaving him momentarily bewildered. Wei You's actions went unnoticed by anyone.

In fact, everyone sitting in the hall felt as if they had been struck by lightning upon hearing this news.

Of course, Xuzhou did not have a strong sense of belonging to the Song state, or rather, none at all. Therefore, these people were not sad, but simply shocked.

Just a few days ago, Shandong was still basking in the joy of the great victory at Daming Prefecture, but today they heard the news of the defeat of two Song armies. It was truly a case of extremes.

After everyone quieted down a bit, Wei Sheng then said, "That's the situation now. What are your thoughts?"

After a moment, Li Huo'er forced herself to stand up and said, "Is there a military order from the Prime Minister of the Great Song Dynasty to mobilize troops, or an official document from the court, ordering us to send troops?"

Wei Sheng slowly shook his head: "No."

Upon hearing this, Li Huo'er's heart leaped into her throat: "Marshal, should we request reinforcements from Hebei?"

Li Huo'er was naturally aware of the agreement between Wei Sheng and Liu Huai.

Indeed, even in the worst-case scenario, only if Yu Yunwen personally comes to the loyal army to serve as the commander can Wei Shengfang take the initiative to attack.

However, to maintain Wei Sheng's authority as commander-in-chief, Li Huo'er could not speak plainly and could only use this veiled approach to remind him.

Wei Sheng said solemnly, "Of course we need to report the military situation to Dalang, but the situation is urgent, how can we wait for reinforcements? Moreover, Dalang is in dire need of manpower and is short-handed. If the Jin bandits escape because of troop movements, it would be undesirable."

At this moment, Li Huo'er, Yu Yuan, Yu Chi Mingyue, and Zhou Xinglie all thought of the Flying Tiger Army at the same time, and their hearts were filled with complicated feelings.

Liu Huai's judgment on strategy was quite accurate.

The Song army was truly useless!
If there were 6,000 elite cavalry in Jizhou, they could march south to support Xuzhou, and even if troops were dispatched, the chances of victory would be 20% higher.

But it's too late to say this now.

The Flying Tiger Army and the White Horse Army have both gone to Hebei and are very likely to have already started fighting the Jin army. They are not so easy to mobilize anymore.
After pondering for a moment, Li Huo'er said with difficulty, "Does the Marshal intend to engage in a decisive battle with the Jin invaders?"

Wei Sheng shook his head and replied: "The Jin bandits have so many troops, while our army only has eight thousand regular soldiers. How can we possibly defeat them?"

However, I cannot stand idly by and watch the situation collapse. I must personally lead the army to Suzhou to contain the Jin invaders' flank.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

At this time, in addition to the 8,000 soldiers of the three command divisions of the Loyal Army, there were also some local soldiers and archers around Xuzhou. If you include the young men who were temporarily recruited, you could still barely muster an army of 20,000.

Soldiers of such quality, deployed along rivers and cities, relying on the terrain to defend against the enemy, were always able to cope with the Jin army's attacks.

However, if they wanted to send them out to fight tens of thousands of Jin troops in open battle, they would be courting death.

Suzhou has two advantages: one is that it has the Huan River and the Bian River within its borders.

Another point is that there are many famous cities and important towns along the Huan River, including Qixian and Linhuan, two cities downstream that can be used to garrison troops for defense.

If the Jin army does not attack, the Loyal Army can use the floating bridges to harass the Jin army's flanks.

If the Jin army comes to attack, even if Huanshui is lost, we can retreat to Fuli on Bianshui to resist.

If all else fails, they can return to Xuzhou and use Pengcheng as their final base.

If the Jin army hadn't gathered all its elite troops to attack at once, and had been weakened layer by layer, there's no need to fear that the Jin army could turn the tide.

Do any of you have any further objections?

Seeing that Li Huo'er had stopped speaking, Wei Sheng asked loudly, "If there is no such thing, I will have to issue a military order."

Upon hearing this, everyone stood up, clasped their hands, and prepared to receive orders.

Seeing this, Wei Sheng didn't mince words and directly ordered, "Liu Shi."

Liu Shi, the prefect of Xuzhou, stepped forward with his hands clasped.

"For now, I appoint you as the General Manager of the Xuzhou Supply Camp. Summon able-bodied men, ferries, and cargo ships to support the front lines. Meng Tang, the Magistrate of Pengcheng, will be in charge of this."

"Here!"

"Send an order to Xiao Zhongda, instructing him to guard Linhuan carefully."

"Send an order to Zhang Anguo to expand the Qixian camp and prepare for the arrival of a large army."

"Li Huo'er, Yu Chi Mingyue, Yu Yuan. You will lead your troops and follow me on this expedition!"

"Zhou Xinglie, you go to Xuzhou to reorganize your troops and gather local soldiers and archers from the surrounding prefectures and counties for follow-up support!"

"Here!"

After Wei Sheng issued the order, Wei You was stunned. He summoned someone to put on his armor, showing no intention of lingering for a moment and ready to go to war immediately.

After witnessing the civil and military officials in the hall disperse and the war machine of Xuzhou set in motion, Wei You felt a strange sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex feeling of mixed emotions, including admiration and reflection).

This...this, if everyone in the Song Dynasty were this loyal and brave, what great things could not be accomplished!
(End of this chapter)