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

Chapter 770 The Prime Minister Decides the Battle

A battlefield was divided into east and west halves by the Fei River.

The reason why the war was so intense west of Feishui was simple: although a large number of conscripts were sent to the Chenzhou army, as soldiers from Henan, the Chenzhou army could not force all the villagers to their deaths if they wanted to continue to stand in front of their hometown elders.

Even if there were scoundrels like Javert among them, being in the army, he had no choice but to compromise with his comrades.

Therefore, the Chenzhou army immediately deployed its regular troops and engaged in fierce battles with the Song army in the sweltering heat.

Dai Gao's 5,000 elite troops were alright, but the Huaixi army had just returned in defeat. Although Zhang Zhen had reorganized them, they were still somewhat weakened.

In addition, although the Chenzhou army hated the Song army with a passion, they also harbored resentment towards the Jin state and held back some of their strength, so the war between the two sides became deadlocked.

On the main battlefield east of Feishui, Pusan ​​Zhongyi didn't care about the lives of the Han soldiers. He directly forced Hou Yuanliang to send wave after wave of soldiers armed with simple spears to the front line to fight against the Song army and wear them down.

This was naturally good news for the Song army, because they would not be facing the main force of the Jin cavalry, but rather conscripted soldiers who were essentially civilian laborers.

Li Xianzong also knew of Pusan ​​Zhongyi's plan, and naturally could not let this fellow have his way, so he also sent the defeated soldiers gathered by the Huaidong army to meet the enemy.

Li Xianzong was initially optimistic, because the Huaidong army was, after all, a regular army, and dealing with a group of conscripted soldiers would be a piece of cake.

However, after fighting for two or three days, on July 1st, the Song army was still locked in a fierce and evenly matched battle with the Jin army, which was really going too far.

"A group of conscripted soldiers, are they really that hard to fight?"

Li Xianzong rarely flew into a rage during a military council, and the target of his anger was Liu Bao, the deputy commander of Huaidong.

Liu Bao was filled with shame and indignation, but he remained silent.

The troops under Li Heng, the General of Huaidong, suffered heavy losses in the surprise attack by the Jin army. Although there were still more than 6,000 men who could fight, their low combat effectiveness was understandable because their organization was still chaotic.

However, Liu Bao's more than 4,000 troops escaped unscathed and were naturally expected to step up at this time. But now the battle has turned out like this, how can it not be infuriating?
Liu Bao remained silent, but Li Heng, as the commander-in-chief of the entire army, had no choice but to speak up: "Commander Li, the weather is too hot, and our Huaidong army has been fighting for days and is extremely exhausted. Although the Jin bandits' conscripted soldiers are of low combat strength, there are also legitimate Jin soldiers mixed in among them. If we are not careful, we will suffer a great loss."

Since Li Heng had spoken up, Li Xianzong forcibly suppressed his anger: "What does Steward Li have to say?"

Li Heng cupped his hands and said, "This humble general believes that our army should not go out to fight, but should defend our camp. After a few days, the summer heat will naturally wear down the morale of the Jin invaders, and then a counterattack will be easy. Commander Li, and Lord Yu, this humble general is not afraid of those conscripted soldiers, but is worried about the Jin regular army hidden behind them."

Li Xianzong sighed before saying, "I understand what you mean, General Li. But have you considered that this heat will not only affect the Jin invaders, but also demoralize our army? In that case, my army in Chizhou will still be in good condition, but the troops in Huaidong and Huaixi will be completely useless."

Hearing such harsh words, Li Heng finally couldn't hold back any longer.

It is true that he had a falling out with Liu Bao, but it was ultimately an internal matter of the Huaidong Army. What right did Li Xianzong have to interfere with the Huaidong Army?

You're a military governor! Not the Grand Marshal of the entire army!

“What Li Jiedu said makes some sense.” Li Heng did not directly refute Li Xianzong, but said solemnly, “This humble general is willing to risk his life to personally lead the Huaidong army to defeat the Jin bandit conscripts. However, the Jin cavalry will take advantage of the situation and rush in. What can this humble general use to stop them?”

Li Xianzong glared at Li Heng: "You mean to send the main force of the Chizhou army out to fight now? Then I have another question. It's easy to help you defeat the Jin bandits' conscripted soldiers, but after the Chizhou army is exhausted, who will deal with the main force of the Jin cavalry?"

Yu Yunwen sat solemnly behind the desk.

Although he was knowledgeable about military affairs, he didn't understand the intricacies of the military until now, when he finally understood it completely.

Li Xianzong wanted to use the remnants of the Huaidong army as bait so that the Chizhou army could confront the main force of the Jin army head-on.

However, Li Heng, who was the one to exchange for the item, was unwilling to die such a miserable death.

It's easy to say "at all costs," but what if you become the cost?
However, this is the military, a war in which people die every moment. In theory, once a military order is given, one should be willing to go through fire and water without hesitation. How can one bargain?
In fact, the current situation of the Song army is the same as that of the Jin army in the Battle of Daming Prefecture. Ultimately, it is because the military and political leaders did not fight on the front lines.

If Zhao Shen were here, he would have directly issued a military order for Li Heng and Liu Bao to lead an attack and make sure they were pinned down in front of the Jin army. Would they dare to utter a single word?
Now that the world is in such a state of chaos, launching a war is not about conquering small, disobedient states or quelling bandits and rebellions, but about truly conquering the world. How can the emperor not personally lead the army?
Therefore, as soon as Wanyan Liang arrived in Guanzhong, he immediately suppressed the cunning Zhang Zhongyan and Tudan Hexi; Liu Huai raised the banner in the central army, and the vanguard fought to the death and refused to retreat.

Only military and political leaders can do this, or conversely, those who can do it will automatically become military and political leaders. This is the principle behind the saying that those who conquer the world rule it.

Although Yu Yunwen was a prime minister, he was ultimately not the emperor of the Song Dynasty.

But now that things have come to this, we can only make do by keeping accounts. We can't exactly tie Zhao Shen up and bring him to the front lines, can we?
"Li Heng, Liu Bao," Yu Yunwen said slowly from behind the desk, "I know you two have worked hard, but this is a national war, and we must fight to the death!" Li Heng felt anxious and immediately wanted to say something.

Ignoring all that, Yu Yunwen turned to Li Xianzong and said, "However, we cannot let the Huaidong army be sent away in vain; we must have a backup."

Li Xianzong nodded in agreement: "Of course there will be support, but General Li's idea is to have the Chizhou army participate in the battle and provide support. Forgive my bluntness, but this is absolutely unacceptable."

Yu Yunwen stroked his beard and said, "Now, Chief Steward Li probably doesn't believe that Military Governor Li can provide timely support, is that right?"

Li Heng felt that he had thoroughly offended Li Xianzong today anyway, so he steeled himself and nodded heavily: "That's exactly right."

Yu Yunwen suddenly stood up: "This is simple. Today, I will be in General Li's army with the Huaidong army to reassure the two generals. What do you think? I don't think General Li would dare to sell a current prime minister to the Jin bandits."

Li Heng and Liu Bao were immediately alarmed.

Li Xianzong naturally dared not let a prime minister die in battle, but they also dared not let the prime minister go into battle!

Putting everything else aside, if Yu Yunwen issues a military order and gives arbitrary commands, will you listen to it or not?
However, he could not help but regard his husband as an official. Once Yu Yunwen made up his mind, no one could stop him.

The military meeting ended hastily, and Yu Yunwen, carrying his own banner, followed Li Heng directly to the Huaidong army. After having breakfast, he immediately left the camp with the army that had marched out to form ranks.

Li Xianzong was also caught off guard by Yu Yunwen's move, and could only grit his teeth and order General Yang Chun to lead 7,000 troops forward to be ready to support the Huaidong army and protect Yu Yunwen.

Meanwhile, in the Jin army's front-line conscripted troops camp, one human tragedy after another was unfolding.

"Ah Da, you must protect your mother and your second brother. I'm leaving now." A thin old man took off his still decent clothes and put them on his eldest son: "When you go back, take good care of the crops and be an honest person."

Ah Da was only a teenager. After putting on an extra layer of clothes, a thin layer of sweat quickly appeared on his head due to the hot weather, but his tears rolled down even faster: "Grandpa, let me go!"

The gaunt old man, shirtless and with only one hairy leg bare, wearing only a loincloth, sighed and said, "Ah Da, your grandpa is already this old, he's lived enough. Since there's a way to live, it should ultimately be given to you."

Ah Da wept bitterly, but gritted his teeth: "Hou Yuanliang! Hou the Skinflint! We respected and loved him so much, and now this thief has actually..."

The old man immediately covered Ah Da's mouth: "No, no, it's not Hou Dalang's fault, Hou Dalang has done his best! We've ended up like this because of the Jin invaders, do you understand?! Zhang Daliang, do you understand?!"

The boy named Zhang Daliang had his mouth covered, unable to make a sound. Tears streamed down his face, and he could only nod hurriedly.

Hearing the bugle call outside, the old man shouted, "Remember, you must protect your mother and ensure your second brother lives on!"

Without another word, the old man picked up his spear and turned to leave the temporary shack. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Hou Yuanliang sitting on his horse, standing there with his guards.

The gaunt old man immediately felt a little flustered, fearing that his son's shouting had been heard.

However, upon seeing Hou Yuanliang's expressionless face, the gaunt old man breathed a long sigh of relief. He then hurriedly grabbed his spear and, under the officers' reprimands, walked towards the outer perimeter of the camp.

Hou Yuanliang has lost a lot of weight compared to the past few days, and even his temples are graying. He looks like he has aged ten years.

He wasn't deaf, so he naturally heard Zhang Daliang shouting.

Meanwhile, Pu Chaping, who was standing beside him, was equally sharp-eared. He watched the gaunt old man's departing figure, then glanced at the shack beside him, and sneered at Hou Yuanliang, saying, "Old Hou, these people are slandering you. Should we kill them to establish our authority?!"

Hou Yuanliang immediately decided to kill, but not the man who had insulted him; rather, he targeted Pu Chaping.

However, he didn't show it on his face, but just smiled and shook his head: "Have I been scolded a lot lately? This huge conscription camp is full of people who scold me. Do you want to kill them all? If you kill them all, who will fill the ditches for the royal army?"

Pu Chaping smacked his lips and clicked his tongue, "I didn't expect you to be so magnanimous."

"Sigh, I know you care about your hometown folks and have been doing everything you can to make sure they have enough to eat. The other day you even drew your knife in front of Marshal Du. You've got guts."

"But you don't need to worry. These days have worn down the Song army's strength. Today we will all join the battle. As long as we can defeat the Song bandits, once we become military governors, will we still have to worry about not living a good life?"

Faced with Pu Chaping's teasing, Hou Yuanliang simply ignored him, offered a few perfunctory words, and then continued to lead his personal guards out of the camp.

(End of this chapter)