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

Chapter 798 A Heart and Soul: Leaving or Staying

On the morning of July 13, Dai Gao led his troops across the Fei River and joined forces with the army from Chizhou.

Zhang Zhen led his troops in retreat and returned to the Huaibei camp to hold their ground.

Chen Zhoujun saw all of this, but still did not make a move.

By noon, the main force of the Song army around Xia Cai City began to converge, break out of their camp, and advance.

The Jin army continued to send cavalry out of their camp to harass the enemy, but this time, the Song infantry advanced with unwavering determination.

Pu Sanzhongyi discovered the unusual movements of the Song army and wanted to intercept them, but by then it was already afternoon. The auxiliary troops of the Song army immediately set up camp and then built a passageway between Xia Cai City and Xinyingzhai to transport soldiers and supplies.

It was only at this point that Pusan ​​Zhongyi realized the Song army was really going to fight, and he immediately mobilized his army to prepare.

The pig's bladder is about to rupture.

Pusan ​​Zhongyi was also quite distressed about this. He didn't know why Heshi Lieliangbi, who led 15,000 Jin troops to launch a surprise attack on Zhongyi's army, had never returned.

Are the Shandong bandits really that hard to defeat?
However, the arrival of another message that night plunged Pusan ​​Zhongyi into even greater hesitation and panic.

The entire city of Bozhou is gone.

To be honest, at this point, Pu Sanzhongyi already had the idea of ​​leaving and returning to Bianliang, where he would then move the capital to Luoyang.

However, at this time, the dozen or so Meng'an that Pusan ​​Zhongyi handed over to Heshi Lie Liangbi became a burden, because he could not abandon those elite Western Jin troops under any circumstances.

Therefore, Pusan ​​Zhongyi immediately dispatched a military envoy to report the news of the loss of Bozhou to Heshi Lieliangbi. He also mustered his spirits and was determined to teach the Song army a great lesson.

The situation is changing almost daily.

At this time, Qixian County also became a hell of blood and fire.

Under the Jin army's relentless and fierce attacks, the loyal and righteous army suffered heavy casualties.

The Jin army was not far behind; the corpses piled up thickly beneath the city walls. Both sides were utterly exhausted, to the point that no one bothered to remove the armor from the bodies, and no one bothered to dispose of the remains.

Under the scorching summer sun, it quickly became foul-smelling, covered with a thick layer of flies and mosquitoes, which would occasionally scatter and gather as logs, stones, and arrows fell.

With casualties so heavy, the Jin army was finding it difficult to continue their advance.

But the key figure is still Heshi Lieliangbi.

This Left Chancellor of the court used every means at his disposal, both civil and military, soft and hard, to force the Jin army to continue its offensive.

On the night of July 13th, in the pitch-black darkness, it wasn't just the Jin army suffering. Wei Sheng, standing atop Qixian city walls, gazed at the Jin army's siege camp outside the city, rubbed his somewhat numb arm, and remained silent.

In recent days, facing the fierce attacks of the Jin army, Wei Sheng has been leading his long-sword armored soldiers to attack from all sides of the city wall without getting any rest. The wound on his arm has been repeatedly reopening, and today his entire arm is feeling weak.

However, as the commander-in-chief of the entire army, Wei Sheng still received some preferential treatment in terms of medical conditions. Doctor Tong would come every day to examine and treat Wei Sheng's wounds, and in the end, the wounds did not fester and become inflamed.

Lu You walked slowly from the other side of the city wall, wiped the sweat from his face, and said to Wei Sheng, "Marshal, you have been fighting all day. I can just patrol the camp. You should go back and rest early. There will be more fighting tomorrow."

Wei Sheng nodded slowly, but then, leaning against the parapet, he suddenly said, "Mr. Lu, do you think the Song Dynasty has already abandoned me?"

Lu You's heart skipped a beat, but because the torchlight flickered, he couldn't see Wei Sheng's expression clearly, so he could only force a smile on his face: "I don't understand what you mean by that, Marshal. How could the Great Song abandon us?"

Wei Sheng patted the parapet and said, "This place is only a little over a hundred miles from Xia Cai. Our military envoy can arrive in a day or two, and the royal army can reach this place in just three or four days."

However, after the military envoy left, there was no further news. Not only did Prime Minister Yu not send reinforcements, but he didn't even utter a single word. What else could this be but abandoning us?

Lu You was speechless.

Even if the military envoy made a mistake and didn't reach the Song army, a scout could still tell something was wrong from a distance of only a hundred miles, right?
It's been over ten days, haven't the Song army noticed anything at all?

Neither Wei Sheng nor Lu You expected that a general of the highest rank, who was both extremely cowardly and extremely audacious, would dare to intercept the military envoy, nor did he send out any scouts to Suzhou to investigate the situation.

But this did not stop Lu You from speaking firmly. He immediately said, "Marshal, this must be because the battle at Xia Cai is urgent and it is difficult to divide the troops for the time being. Perhaps the royal army's reinforcements are already on their way."

Wei Sheng concealed his expression in the darkness: "Mr. Lu is right, but I still can't calm down." Lu You shrugged: "Even if the Marshal doesn't trust the others, he must trust Prime Minister Yu. Let me be clear today, if the Great Song wants to continue controlling Shandong, Prime Minister Yu will absolutely not allow anything to happen to the Marshal. Otherwise, given Liu Dalang's temperament, how could he let this go so easily?"

Wei Sheng nodded in the darkness, then shook his head and said, "Mr. Lu, what you said makes sense, but it can't overcome the fact that reinforcements didn't arrive, which led to our heavy casualties."

Lu You was utterly helpless, but then he realized something: "If the Marshal has any orders for you, just say so."

Wei Sheng coughed lightly and said slowly, "Whether it's the work of a villain or the urgent situation in Xia Cai, I just want an explanation. I would like to ask Mr. Lu to make a trip in person, starting from the water gate, to Xia Cai to ask Prime Minister Yu in person."

After a moment's thought, Lu You nodded with difficulty.

To put it bluntly, why did Lu You rush south in such a hurry?
Isn't it precisely so that, in the face of this situation, one can personally confront the civil and military officials of the Song state?
Do you really think the Pacification Commissioner is a cabbage?
Wei Sheng seemed to breathe a sigh of relief: "At dawn, when the Jin bandits are most relaxed, I had Cao Dache lead his troops to escort Mr. Lu on his journey."

Mr. Lu...take care on your journey.

Lu You felt something was amiss, but faced with a legitimate military order, he chose to obey, immediately descending from the city wall and returning to his own tent to begin preparations. Only Wei Sheng remained standing on the city wall, gazing northwards into the distance.

At dawn, as the moon faded and the sun had not yet risen, in the darkest hour of the day, Lu You and more than twenty guards boarded a small boat and exited through the water gate. They crossed the Huan River without incident, then mounted their warhorses and galloped off in a grand display.

Small groups of Jin cavalry were no match for the elite Flying Tiger Cavalry, and the large group of cavalry had enough time to gather before Lu You could break through.

As dawn broke, the group had escaped the Jin army's cavalry's patrol range, and Lu You finally had time to rein in his horse and rest for a while.

However, just as Lu You was counting heads in the dim morning light, he found that Cao Dache, who was usually carefree, had a solemn face and a hint of sorrow in his eyes.

Lu You opened his mouth, but still took a few more steps forward. After he and Cao Dache had broken away from the pursuers of several armored cavalrymen, he asked in a low voice, "Cao Dache, why do you have that expression? Is something wrong?"

No sooner had Lu You uttered these words than Cao Da Che suddenly burst into tears, though he suppressed his sobs to maintain the morale of the army.

“Mr. Lu… Qixian is about to fall, the city is about to breach, and Lord Wei is about to fight to the death in the city. I… I can’t even follow him and share his life and death… I…”

As he spoke, Cao Dache gritted his teeth, forcibly suppressing his sobs, and couldn't utter a single word.

Lu You reined in his horse and stopped, stunned in the still sultry morning breeze of early autumn. He then unconsciously turned back towards Qixian County.

However, with the morning mist thick and the sky high and the road long, even after traveling only a few dozen miles, how could one still see any trace of Qixian County?
Lu You turned his head blankly, gripping the horse's mane tightly with both hands. His heart felt as if it had been crushed by a large stone, a tangled mess. After a moment, he managed to speak with difficulty, "Brother Cao, in Qixian City... I think the city is quite safe... why..."

Cao Dache secretly wiped his eyes and said through gritted teeth, "The Jin invaders have been attacking the city from three sides, and our troops have not been able to rotate shifts. They are all extremely exhausted. Just yesterday, the Jin invaders made three attempts to breach the city walls, and it was only thanks to Duke Wei leading his personal guards that they were able to suppress them."

Mr. Lu, the only fresh troops left in the entire city are Wei Gong's personal guards, and at this point, Wei Gong's personal guards have only a little over two hundred who are still capable of fighting, and they are also extremely exhausted.

These two hundred-odd people can't hold out for much longer. But if they can't hold out either, the Jurchen invaders will breach the city in no time.

"Mr. Lu, the Duke of Wei sent you out not to request reinforcements from the State of Song, but because the war is critical and he doesn't want you to remain in danger any longer."

Lu You clenched his fists even tighter, but still gritted his teeth and said, "I don't believe it. The Marshal said that as long as the Jin invaders' explosives are destroyed, they can definitely hold out for a year or two without any problem. Cao Dalang, don't try to fool me into thinking I don't know anything about military affairs!"

Cao Dache finally couldn't hold on any longer, and his voice changed slightly: "Mr. Lu, at first I thought the same thing, that the Jin army would use the same methods as before to attack cities, setting up fortifications and cannons on all sides, smashing the city while building the Goose Cart and Well-Beam, and then attacking the city."

However, given the current situation, the Jin invaders don't value their own lives, forcing us to value the lives of our soldiers as well. In this mutual attrition, our army simply cannot outlast the Jin invaders...

Mr. Lu, Qixian is really on the verge of collapse. If only the Jin invaders could gain a foothold on the city walls even once… if only…”

After hearing this, Lu You remained silent, turned his horse around, and wanted to return to Qixian County.

Cao Dache quickly reached out and grabbed Lu You's horse reins tightly.

Lu You turned around, stared into Cao Dache's eyes, and gritted his teeth, saying, "What do you mean by this?!"

Cao Dache retorted through gritted teeth, "Mr. Lu, what can you do if you go back now? You might as well go to Xia Cai and try to get reinforcements!"

My words are meant to tell Mr. Lu that the situation is critical! Everyone must fight with all their might!

Lu You remained silent on horseback for a moment, then looked back at Qixian County one last time. He then pulled on the reins, let out a long whistle, spurred the horse, and headed towards Xiachai.

(End of this chapter)