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

Chapter 766 Acting as an Accomplice to the Tiger to Save the Elders (Part 1)
This was Du Wuji's first time in the Loyal and Righteous Army. Although he was mentally prepared, he was still quite taken aback by their cautiousness.

They are really being cautious.

In order to prevent Du Wuji from spying on military intelligence along the way, Shan Ding tied him up tightly, covered his eyes with a black cloth, plugged his ears, and even put a burlap sack over his upper body.

If it weren't for the abundance of clean water along the way, Du Wuji might have died halfway through his entrepreneurial journey, suffocating to death in a sack.

"Cough cough cough..." After being untied, Du Wuji first lay on the ground and coughed a few times, then spat out some sour liquid before getting up and bowing deeply to the main seat: "This humble general Du Wuji pays respects to Marshal Wei."

Wei Sheng didn't put on airs. After giving a perfunctory gesture of support, he smiled and said, "General Du, how did you know that I am Wei Sheng?"

Du Wuji, panting heavily, said, "That fellow Xie Jiuzhong told me that the man with the magnificent beard is none other than Lord Wei."

This time, not only Wei Sheng, but even Lu You laughed out loud: "General Du, what you said is indeed very nice, but we will not be swayed by a few words."

Seeing that they had gotten to the point, Du Wuji took two steps back and took out a bamboo tube with a intact sealing wax from his pocket: "This is a personal document from Shi Ju, the current Chancellor of the State. I hope Lord Wei will take a look."

Wei Sheng made no other move, but simply squinted his eyes. A guard stepped forward, took the bamboo tube, examined it, and placed it on the table in front of Wei Sheng.

"Besides this letter, does Master Shi have any other instructions for you?"

As Wei Sheng unpacked the bamboo tube, he asked casually.

Du Wuji: "Yes, Lord Shi instructed me to explain the military situation in detail, without offering any advice or making any guesses, so that Lord Wei would not make any misjudgments."

Upon hearing this, Lu You immediately kicked everyone out of the tent, and then personally laid out paper and ground ink.

"Then you can speak now."

"Here."

After Du Wuji loudly agreed, he recounted everything in chronological order.

Some of the information had already been reported when Xie Jiuzhong came last time, but most of it was hearsay from Xie Jiuzhong, while Du Wuji was a party involved, so his account was naturally more truthful and reliable.

Lu You wrote with flowing strokes on the paper, occasionally interrupting Du Wuji to ask questions to confirm the truth of the matter.

Nearly half an hour later, Du Wuji finally managed to explain everything he knew in great detail, his throat dry. Lu You, having spent time at the Dali Temple, though not as skilled as the veteran criminal investigators, still understood some basic interrogation techniques and quickly made a rough judgment from the seemingly disjointed questions.

Du Wuji was telling the truth.

There were indeed major problems within the Jin army.

Wei Sheng and Lu You reached this conclusion not only based on the accounts of the Jin soldiers, but also by discovering clues from the marching route of Liu Bao's four thousand troops a few days earlier.

Although Lu You forced Liu Bao to raid the Jin army's rear that day, he knew that this kind of veteran soldier would not fight to the death, so there was no hope for him.

As Lu You had predicted, Liu Bao did not head north at all, but instead returned to Xia Cai City with what he considered to be excellent maneuvering.

However, in Wei Sheng's view, the fact that the Jin army did not send troops and watched as the four thousand Song soldiers returned to Xia Cai was enough to explain something.

It should be noted that the Jin army was mainly composed of cavalry, and Liu Bao wanted to return to Xia Cai, but he had to march between the Wo River and the Fei River, completely exposing himself to the Jin army's iron cavalry. If Pu San Zhongyi had wanted to swallow up these four thousand Song soldiers, the Jin army's armored cavalry would have already rushed out.

The Jin army may really be facing internal strife!
After reading the letter in his hand, Wei Sheng said to Du Wuji, "What does this Mr. Shi want me to do?"

Du Wuji bowed and replied, "Lord Wei, Prime Minister Shi didn't say anything else. He knows the situation is too chaotic right now; anything could be right, and anything could be wrong. Everyone can only act according to circumstances. There's just one thing..."

Du Wuji looked up at Wei Sheng and said solemnly, "Lord Shi said that his ambition is to stabilize the Han lands, and he would never lay a hand on a comrade who shares the same ideals."

Wei Sheng nodded slowly.

This isn't really an agreement; it's just a tacit understanding between them.

What else can we do?
Are we going to join forces?

……

"Let's just go to Suzhou now and join forces with Lord Wei!"

While the ministers and generals had their own overall considerations, when it came to the specific military commanders below, it was a different story.

Take Hou Yuanliang, for example.

This guy was a complete jinx. He was first placed in Mengcheng by Shi Ju to block the Northern Expeditionary Song army.

The original plan was that regardless of whether they could hold out, they would be greatly rewarded after the war.

However, Hou Yuanliang did not receive the relief from the Chenzhou army, but instead encountered the main force of the Jin army personally led by Pusan ​​Zhongyi.

In the Battle of Mengcheng, although the Jin army easily drove away the Song army from Huaidong, the main force of the Jin army also stationed itself in Mengcheng, trapping Hou Yuanliang's two thousand-plus troops within its ranks. Initially, the Jurchen generals in the main Jin army treated Hou Yuanliang relatively politely, but after the arrival of Wujie Army general Pucha Shijie, the living conditions for Hou Yuanliang's troops suddenly became dire.

There was nothing that could be done about it; after all, he was a Han Chinese, and he was a commander in the Chenzhou army.
When the Wujie Army and the Chenzhou Army joined forces, even Pucha Shijie, a dignified military commander, could only humble himself and swallow his pride. How much less could Hou Yuanliang?

During this period, Hou Yuanliang also asked Heshi Lie Liangbi to return to the Chenzhou army, but Heshi Lie Liangbi made it very clear that he could leave alone and even take his personal guards with him, but his more than two thousand soldiers had to be under the command of the main army.

Upon hearing this, Hou Yuanliang dared not leave.

With him in command, the situation is still precarious; if he leaves, their own troops might be wiped out.

After losing over a hundred horses again today, Hou Yuanliang could no longer contain himself and summoned his trusted brothers to discuss countermeasures.

Faced with his younger brother's immature statement, Hou Yuanliang simply sighed: "We are right in the middle of the main force. With so many armored cavalry and light cavalry, let alone running to Suzhou, it's impossible for us to even return to Mengcheng."

Another trusted confidant suggested, "Then let's find a way to cross the Fei River under the cover of night and meet up with Master Shi."

Hou Yuanliang shook his head: "Let me tell you the truth. At this moment, Minister Shi is also harboring resentment and wants to do something. Therefore, he wants us to stay on the east bank of the Fei River and act according to circumstances."

The other three people who were plotting in the tent perked up upon hearing this, but then each hesitated.

"Brother, does Master Shi intend to rebel?!"

"Wulang, no one can say for sure. When our Commander Du came looking for us that day, he was also vague about it."

Upon hearing the name Du Jiedu, even amidst the tense situation, a mocking expression appeared on the faces of the four men.

As the only person in the Han army to be granted the title of Jiedushi (military governor) and valued by the Jin Dynasty, Du Wuji was currently without soldiers, money, or territory. Apart from the title of Jiedushi, he had nothing and was practically a commander without troops, which was truly laughable.

However, the mere title of this military governor was enough to make Hou Yuanliang envious and even jealous.

Of course, this might also be the situation that Heshi Lieliangbi wanted to see.

The inability of the Han army to work together made it easier for him, the Jin prime minister, to act.

However, after a few laughs, someone quickly frowned and said, "Brother, isn't Master Shi's vague statement just telling us to do things our own way?"

Hou Yuanliang sighed and said, "That's where my hesitation lies. If there's any best course of action right now, it would be to take advantage of the darkness and find a way to cross the Fei River directly to meet up with Master Shi."

The benefits are obvious. Our men are living a stifled life now. Once we cross the Fei River, we will immediately find our leader. With more than 20,000 Chenzhou soldiers together, we can conquer the world.

However, this would not only potentially ruin Lord Shi's plans, but we would also have completely abandoned the people of Mengcheng, ceding the land east of the Fei River to the Jurchen dogs.

Upon hearing this, the three trusted confidants fell silent.

Although the two thousand-plus Han soldiers lived a miserable life, as long as they stayed on the east bank of the Fei River, they could continue to hold on for another day. These soldiers from Shouzhou were not exactly homeless dogs who had abandoned their hometown.

If they cross the Fei River, the morale of these two thousand soldiers might be greatly boosted by their escape from their suffering, or they might be completely demoralized by being separated from their homeland. Who can say for sure?

After a moment, one of them finally spoke up: "Brother, you are, after all, the commander. What are your thoughts?"

Hou Yuanliang shook his head and sighed, "Of course..."

Before the words were finished, a commotion was heard outside the tent. After a short while, the noise grew louder and louder, and it seemed that there were also cries and wails mixed in.

"What's all this commotion?!" Hou Yuanliang immediately stood up, asking loudly as he walked out of the tent.

However, upon stepping out of the military tent, Hou Yuanliang found his personal guards at the tent entrance looking at each other in bewilderment, equally unaware of what had happened.

Moreover, his military tent was set up on a small hill, which offered a good view of his own camp. After looking around, Hou Yuanliang was certain that the sound was not coming from his own camp.

Hou Yuanliang looked in the direction from which the commotion was coming, and a thought suddenly struck him. Then his breathing became heavy: "Wulang, you guard the camp. I'll take some men to check it out."

After saying this, Hou Yuanliang mounted his horse and, with a few personal guards, left the camp, heading east.

The Jin army's main force, the cavalry, numbered nearly 40,000, and their camps stretched for over ten miles along the Fei River. Hou Yuanliang's camp was surrounded within them, clearly indicating a defensive posture.

Therefore, even after galloping at full speed, it took Hou Yuanliang about fifteen minutes to follow the increasingly loud wailing, pass through several small camps, and arrive at the easternmost side of the main camp.

Hou Yuanliang was stunned by the sight before him.

The scene is described as follows: The carriages rumble, the horses neigh, and travelers carry bows and arrows at their waists. Parents, wives, and children see them off, but the dust obscures the Xianyang Bridge. They tug at their clothes, stamp their feet, and block the road, weeping, their cries reaching the heavens.

The first batch of conscripted soldiers from Shouzhou by the Jin army has arrived.

(End of this chapter)