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

Chapter 753 Rebellion on the Verge, But the Trend Is Hard to Reverse (Part 1)
Troop movements take time.

Wei Sheng was like that.

The Song army was like this.

The Jin army was no exception.

After Pusan ​​Zhongyi and Heshi Lieliangbi easily defeated the Song army, they did not take advantage of the situation to attack Cai in the south, but instead tried to mobilize Shi Ju's army to join them.

However, the outcome seemed unexpected. Shi Ju and Pu Chashijie jointly sent a document rejecting the request to join forces, citing the issue of provisions.

This naturally surprised Pusan ​​Zhongyi and Heshi Lie Liangbi, because theoretically Shiju was the prime minister of the Eastern Jin, and Heshi Lie Liangbi could issue orders at any time, while Pucha Shijie was a general of the Western Jin, and Pusan ​​Zhongyi, as the Grand Marshal, could also issue orders.

The current situation is that both of them are defying proper military orders, which is simply unbelievable.

Is the issue of military rations also a problem?

Shi Ju's army merely moved from Ying River to Fei River, a distance of only about sixty li. Could this really cause difficulties in transporting military supplies?
Since they can't, then Shi Ju and Pu Chashijie are deliberately delaying.

They actually dared to deliberately delay military orders?!

Soon, a solemnly worded letter was sent to Shi Ju's army again. However, on the very night the letter was sent, June 4th, as the Wujie Army marched to Meng'an Jiagu Asu and arrived in Mengcheng, news that stunned everyone came.

"Lord Liangbi, Grand Marshal, Shi Ju has rebelled!"

With the moon bright and stars few, and a gentle night breeze blowing, upon hearing these words, both Heshi Lieliangbi and Pusan ​​Zhongyi felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

To be honest, Shi Ju's reasons for opposing the Jin dynasty were more than sufficient.

First of all, Shi Ju was from Hebei. After the Battle of Daming Prefecture, even a fool could understand how vibrant and thriving Hebei was. It was a time when people's hearts were filled with anxiety and fear.

How could Shi Ju, a Han Chinese from Hebei, not have some other thoughts?
Furthermore, Shi Ju commands over 20,000 troops from Chenzhou and is the de facto ruler of several military prefectures in southern Henan. If Shi Ju intends to establish himself as a powerful ruler and establish a state, now might not be a bad time.

Of course, the result was nothing more than dying after having a brief moment of pleasure.

Neither the Song and Jin dynasties nor the powerful Liu Dalang of Shandong would spare him.

Thinking of this, Heshi Lieliangbi and Pusan ​​Zhongyi exchanged a glance: "Asu, explain yourself clearly, what do you mean by saying that Minister Shi has rebelled? Did he shout out slogans, or raise a banner, or is Pucha Shijie already dead?!"

Jia Gu Asu knelt on the ground and kowtowed heavily: "Although there has been no rebellion yet, it is not far off!"

Heshi Lieliangbi's face darkened, and thanks to his superb composure, he ultimately refrained from uttering a curse.

But Pu Sanzhongyi didn't care about that. Startled, he immediately cursed, "Asu, who gave you the audacity to make fun of me here? Men, drag him away and give this bastard five lashes to clear his head."

Jia Gu Asu, his face streaked with tears, was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, but after glancing at Pu San Zhongyi's ashen face, he ultimately dared not speak. He obediently allowed himself to be dragged away, stripped of his upper garment outside the tent, and given five solid lashes before being dragged back by the guards like a dead dog.

Pu Sanzhongyi's face remained furious and ferocious: "Asu, framing a colleague and superior without evidence is punishable by retaliation. Do you know what you're doing? If Prime Minister Shi really didn't betray you, and Prime Minister Liangbi insists on killing you, I'll have nothing to say!"

Despite the burning pain in his back, Jia Gu Asu kowtowed again and said, "Marshal Du, I did not lie. Now that Lord Shi has not rebelled, it seems as if he has already rebelled! Even if he does not rebel today, he will surely rebel tomorrow!"

This is still the same old story, and it's still based on speculation and doubt, even bordering on mudslinging.

However, this was, after all, a certain wording that Jia Gu Asu still insisted on after being whipped five times and warned by Pu San Zhongyi. Therefore, neither the general nor the prime minister, who were sitting in the main seat, refuted it again, but remained silent and listened attentively.

Jia Gu Asu continued loudly, "Lord Liangbi, Grand Marshal! At this moment, the Chenzhou army, along with the Han people from several prefectures in Henan, and two Han men from my Wujie army, Meng Anquan, are all connected together."

They banded together to defy orders and disobey the military command of General Pucha. How could this not be a rebellion? If they rebelled, how could Minister Shi remain unscathed?!

Heshi Lieliangbi and Pusan ​​Zhongyi exchanged a glance, and he began to believe it to some extent.

The outcome of the Battle of Daming Prefecture cannot be concealed; it is very likely that it has already spread.

Oh, so you Hebei people are allowed to have ulterior motives, but we Henan people aren't allowed to have ulterior motives?

Heshi Lieliangbi frowned and said, "When did the conflict in the army begin? Why haven't either of us received any information about it?"

Jia Gu Asu gritted his teeth and said, "The conflict has always existed, but it was just a minor squabble within the army before, which the commander could suppress to some extent. However, the march was difficult a few days ago, and a major conflict broke out on the road, which is why it suddenly became more intense."

After pondering for a moment, Pu Sanzhongyi coldly said, "That's not right. You just said that the Wujie Army, the Han'er Army, and the Meng'an Army have also joined forces with the Chenzhou Army. I know those people. Many of them have even served as His Majesty's personal guards. How could they betray us? If you dare to cover up anything, do you really think I wouldn't dare to deal with the Meng'an Army?"

A few drops of cold sweat trickled down Jia Gu Asu's forehead as he gritted his teeth and said, "Marshal, I dare not lie. It was because Guo Taichu died mysteriously in the camp that a series of incidents followed."

Upon hearing this familiar name, Pu Sanzhongyi's brow twitched a few times, and his words were filled with murderous intent: "Who killed him?"

"I don't know." "You don't know?!"

Jia Gu Asu's forehead was covered in sweat, and he kowtowed again: "I really don't know. The Han'er army thinks we killed him, but after we discussed it, we think it's probably because the Chenzhou army failed to win over Guo Taichu, so they used such force!"

"Marshal Du, Prime Minister Liangbi, at that time our army was already very close to the Song rebels, so these things were ultimately impossible to investigate."

Upon hearing this, Pu Sanzhongyi scoffed and didn't bother to say anything more.

In his view, this mess must have been caused by those Jurchen generals, otherwise Pucha Shijie was no pushover, so why would he let it go?
The only one who died was a man. Although he was highly experienced, he was still just a man in the end, and the servant Sanzhongyi did not want to pursue the matter.

What else can we do?

Are we going to use the death of one Han man as a pretext to punish the entire Jurchen nation? What a joke!
Heshi Lieliangbi was still furious, but not because of Guo Taichu's life or death. Rather, he was furious that Shi Ju and Pucha Shijie, working together, were unable to suppress the situation, which had led to the army starting to scatter.

Are these two really capable?

"Who are the instigators this time? Can Shi Zimei and Asa still control the army? Should we lead the army to quell the rebellion?"

Jia Gu Asu kowtowed again: "The troublemakers are all the Han people, and they cannot be killed all of them. At this time, Chief Administrator Pucha is still in a good position, but Minister Shi may already be hesitant!"

As he spoke, Jia Gu Asu raised his head and looked at Pu San Zhongyi solemnly, saying, "Marshal, now is the time to act quickly. The army should move forward as soon as possible. As long as we connect the two banks of the Fei River, we can deter those Han soldiers and make them concentrate on attacking the Song bandits!"

This is probably what Pucha Shijie wanted to say to Pusan ​​Zhongyi.

However, Pusan ​​Zhongyi fell silent. He did not immediately agree, but instead turned to look at Heshi Lie Liangbi.

Heshi Lieliangbi pondered for a moment, then waved his hand to dismiss Jia Gu Asu: "You may go and rest for now."

Jia Gu Asu was instinctively somewhat apprehensive, but after seeing that Pu San Zhongyi did not stop him, he was somewhat bewildered.

He didn't understand why such a simple decision was impossible for these two important figures. Could it be that something was going wrong with the main force as well?

After Jia Gu Asu left, Pu San Zhongyi then said to He Shi Lie Liangbi, "Lord Liangbi, do you have any ideas on whether to attack Xia Cai first or Xuzhou first?"

Heshi Lieliangbi remained silent.

Both men were strategists and ambitious. After hearing Jia Gu Asu's words, they immediately realized that the main force of the Jin army might not be able to attend to both sides and would only be able to go to one direction.

If the Jin army advances along the Fei River, they might be able to hold back these Han soldiers and attack Xia Cai together.

However, if the main force of the Jin army were to advance eastward, the Han army might use this as an excuse to delay, and might even cut off the main force's retreat when the Jin army suffered a setback.

However, if we were to first eliminate these 20,000 Han soldiers, it could very likely cause rebellion in several prefectures in Henan and Huaibei.

At that time, the Jin dynasty's hard-won rule over Henan might completely collapse.

It's a dilemma.

Despite the extraordinary talents of Heshi Lieliangbi and Pusan ​​Zhongyi, they could not overcome the fact that the Jin Dynasty was already showing signs of decline.

One can only say that a person's fate depends on their own efforts, but the course of history must also be taken into account.

After a long silence in the command tent, Heshi Lieliangbi finally said, "The key is still with Shi Zimei. As long as he leads his troops to the vicinity of Xiachai and begins to fight the Song bandits, we can succeed."

Given the temperament of those Henan soldiers, they certainly wouldn't have any goodwill towards the Song traitors.

Pu Sanzhongyi nodded: "You still want to attack Wei Sheng?"

Heshi Lieliangbi nodded and said, "Besides the arrangements being almost complete, there is another point: if my main force besieges Wei Sheng, the Song army in Xia Cai may not dare to come to the rescue."

However, if our army launches a full-scale siege of Xia Cai, Wei Sheng will certainly launch a full-scale attack. At that point, the battle will be difficult, and the Han army is likely to descend into further chaos. And you, do not forget those men of Wu Cheng's army.”

Upon hearing this, the servant San Zhongyi could only nod in agreement.

It was no secret that Huyan Nanxian had defected to the Shandong rebels. This was the first organized defection of a regular army from the Jin Dynasty. Given this precedent, if Wei Sheng were to lead his army to the vicinity of Shouzhou, who knows what kind of trouble the Henan Han army might cause.

"In that case, let's do as Lord Liangbi said and let Lord Shi come up with a solution."

For some reason, the servant San Zhongyi became angry, got up, and left in a huff.

(End of this chapter)