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

Chapter 813 Lofty Ambitions Arise, Desires Fade Away

When the entire Chenzhou army broke camp and headed east, it was already July 18th.

At this time, Lu You also arrived at Mengcheng with more than a thousand vanguard troops of the Chenzhou army.

It wasn't until he stopped his horse that Lu You noticed a pain in his palms. Looking down, he discovered that his hands were bleeding from the cowhide reins he had been gripping tightly the whole way.

Lu You, however, paid no attention. With a slight flick of his hand, he dismounted and hurriedly ran toward the command tent beneath the banner with Chinese characters.

Although Lu You was now almost completely despondent, he still held onto a sliver of hope.

What if Wei Sheng was only seriously injured, and the message transmission over a hundred miles went wrong?

What if this is just some kind of strange and bizarre scheme?
What if the messenger accidentally fell and hit his head on the way, went completely insane, and then arbitrarily altered the military intelligence?
However, when Lu You staggered into the commander's tent and saw Liu Huai and Wei Chang, both dressed in mourning clothes, he was immediately filled with despair and could barely stand.

Xin Qiji quickly stepped forward and helped him to a seat.

Lu You did not cry; in fact, his expression had completely collapsed. He simply stared blankly at Liu Huai, as if he had gone mad.

Surprisingly, Liu Huai remained silent, simply looking calmly at Lu You.

Their eyes met, and for a moment they were both speechless.

I'm speechless.

What was Lu You's purpose in traveling south?
Isn't it all so that at the crucial moment, we can hold onto the State of Song and protect Wei Sheng at all costs?
But now that Wei Sheng has died in battle, and before the Song reinforcements arrived, what can Lu You say?

Similarly, Liu Huai ultimately could not blame Lu You.

Because he did not have extremely great power, and he had traveled all the way, risking his life to break through the encirclement, and it was a real effort to persuade the Chenzhou army to defect and change their allegiance.

The only unexpected thing was that Heshilie Liangbi desperately urged the Jin army to attack the city without regard for their own lives, so that everyone arrived a step too late.

If the Jin army had stopped attacking the city and rested for a day or two, the situation might be completely different now.

As the saying goes, it's all about timing and fate; in the end, the two could only sigh at each other.

After a long silence, Liu Huai finally spoke up: "Mr. Lu must be tired from your journey. Why don't you go back to Qixian to rest? My father's body is currently lying in state in Qixian. You may go and pay your respects first."

Lu You suddenly gritted his teeth, looked at the city wall of Mengcheng, and said, "Is that damned Left Prime Minister of the Jin invaders in the city?"

Liu Huai nodded: "That's natural. In the past few days, we've captured quite a few escaped Jin thieves. After interrogating them, they all said that Heshi Lie Liangbi had appeared several times to boost the morale of the whole city."

Lu You clenched his fist, feeling the distinct pain in his palm, and said in a low voice, "How about I kill this person with my own hands?"

After looking at Lu You for a long time, Liu Huai finally nodded slowly: "I'll have to trouble you then, Mr. Lu."

Upon hearing this, Lu You showed no joy, but rather seemed to have all his strength drained away. He slumped into his chair, overwhelmed with grief, and finally covered his face and wept softly.

Meanwhile, inside the command tent, the expressions of both the military advisors and the generals who came to report on the military situation became complicated.

As a veteran and key figure in the Northern Expeditionary Army, Lu You's status in Shandong was self-evident. Although his power was suppressed by Liu Huai, he was still one of the top five most powerful figures in the Shandong rebel army.

Although the officials in the Shandong rebel army had some distance from Lu You due to his political stance, they still maintained great respect for him.

But what does it matter now?
The fact that the Song state refused to come to Wei Sheng's aid in his time of need made the entire Han army grit their teeth in hatred, and their feelings towards Lu You also became strange.

At this moment, Guo Qingzhi, who had been waiting outside the tent for a long time, was finally called in.

As the vanguard, Guo Qingzhi was someone Shi Ju naturally needed to explain things to. Therefore, he wasn't surprised to see Liu Huai dressed in white mourning clothes. He simply glanced at him briefly, then disregarded his heavy armor and knelt down, kowtowing heavily: "This humble general, Guo Qingzhi, greets the eldest son!"

Liu Huai gestured for Guo to rise, saying, "General Guo, please rise."

Guo Qingzhi maintained his kowtow posture: "This humble general dares not!"

Liu Huai sighed: "General Guo, I have come all the way from Hebei, and my father has just passed away. I am exhausted. Do you really want me to help you up? Get up and talk to me."

Upon hearing this, Guo Qingzhi finally stood up, but kept his head down the whole time.

Instead of immediately discussing military matters, Liu Huai started talking about family matters: "Who is Guo Anguo to you?"

Guo Qingzhi's heart skipped a beat, and he dared not hide it: "It is indeed my uncle."

Liu Huai nodded: "Guo Anguo is currently a captain and military advisor in our army's Embroidered Uniform Guard. He has made some meritorious contributions and has a proper official position in our army. You should also strive to improve yourself."

Upon hearing this, Guo Qingzhi breathed a sigh of relief, feigned gratitude, and knelt down on the ground again.

Guo Anguo was a veteran general of the Jin army who had served as the commander of the Wujie Army for several years and was also the patriarch of a branch of the Guo clan.

Even though he no longer held military power, now that he was on the right track, Liu Huai would definitely use Guo Anguo if he still wanted to attack Youyan.

Guo Qingzhi could also take this opportunity to establish himself within the Han army. "Stand up and speak."

Liu Huai gave the order again, then said calmly, "I'm telling you this not to find you a backer, but to tell you that the Han army has its own laws. As long as you make a contribution, you will be treated equally and without bias!"

Guo Qingzhi had just stood up and was about to kneel for the third time when he heard Liu Huai continue to ask, "Does Master Shi have any instructions?"

Guo Qingzhi immediately followed Shi Ju's instructions and responded loudly, as if he wanted the whole army to know how loyal and brave the Chenzhou army was.

"Lord Shi will lead his entire army of 20,000 men to break camp. They will surely arrive at Mengcheng within three days! At that time, Lord Shi will personally come to pay his respects to the eldest son!"

The Chenzhou army came without reservation, even disregarding the Song army that might launch an attack from behind. Putting aside everything else, their attitude alone was impeccable.

It must be understood that this was the weakest point for the Han army in the Huaibei region. Eight thousand loyal soldiers had been decimated, and only three thousand soldiers were still available.

After suffering a series of combat and non-combat casualties, the main force of the Han cavalry that marched south was reduced to just over 5,000 men. Moreover, their warhorses were severely depleted, and if they hadn't seized some from the Jin army camp, many of them would have had to fight on foot.

The Chenzhou army, arriving at Mengcheng by a forced march, would immediately replenish the Han army's ranks.

This is the merit of saving the emperor.

And since ancient times, there has been no greater merit than saving the emperor!

But Liu Huai frowned upon hearing this: "Send reliable people to tell Prime Minister Shi that he must send troops to clean up the mess in Henan."

Those who have been conscripted need to be resettled immediately. The autumn harvest in Huaibei is about to begin; every extra bushel of grain harvested is a good thing.

Seeing that Guo Qingzhi hesitated to speak, Liu Huai continued, "Tell Lord Shi clearly what I have said. I have no doubt about him, nor do I doubt that the Chenzhou army would rebel against me under these circumstances."

War has always been divided into military and political components. Now that the major military battles are nearly over, how to win the political battle of the autumn harvest and thus bring stability to Henan depends on the hard work of the next month.

Guo Qingzhi nodded hastily, but he felt somewhat relieved.

Although he was from Youzhou, and the deaths in Henan were none of his concern, now that both Hebei and Henan were to submit to Liu Huai, it would be good for everyone to have a ruler who cared about the people's livelihood.

Otherwise, who could stand another Wanyan Liang?

Just as Guo Qingzhi was about to leave after receiving the order, he saw Liu Huai lower his head and think for a moment before coldly saying, "Also, tell Minister Shi that the autumn harvest is of utmost importance. Focus on the big picture and let go of the small details, and deal with the soft issues while ignoring the hard ones."

"I'll take care of those tough nuts for him."

Guo Qingzhi didn't quite understand the hidden meaning in Liu Huai's words, only thinking that the two important figures were exchanging veiled insults. He immediately agreed loudly, turned around, and left.

Liu Huai gave a few more military instructions and comforted Lu You. Then, dressed in plain clothes, he walked out of the command tent, looked at the city wall of Mengcheng in silence, and his eyes gradually filled with resentment.

"Is that scoundrel Heshi Lieliangbi still not giving up? At this point, does he still expect a good outcome?!"

Xin Qiji, who followed him out, looked up at the banner of Heshilie on the city wall of Mengcheng and was equally filled with resentment: "All the Jin prisoners sent in have never returned. It seems that the Jin army still thinks they can hold out for a while."

"Brother, let's get started on building the catapult! I refuse to believe their bones are harder than stone projectiles!"

Liu Huai sneered: "No need. Let's starve the Jin bandits for now. Once the Chenzhou army and Wucheng army have all arrived, I'll see what tricks the Jin bandits have up their sleeves."

The two inspected the military situation around Mengcheng. After returning to the camp, another piece of military information came in.

This was news of the troops led by Pusan ​​Zhongyi.

After his camp was burned down in a night attack, Pusan ​​Zhongyi gathered more than 10,000 cavalrymen during the day the next day. Instead of waiting in Shouzhou, he sent out military intelligence to Heshi Lie Liangbi to meet him, while leading Hezhameng'an to rush to Chenzhou in an attempt to open up a way back.

However, under the command of Zhang Shu, a general of the Chenzhou army, all the towns, fortresses and villages in Chenzhou were on high alert, and they were determined to hold their ground and fight the Jin army to the bitter end.

After conquering two villages, Pu Sanzhongyi still failed to intimidate Xiangcheng. Finally, in desperation, he led his troops north along the Ying River, avoiding battle all the way, in an attempt to return to Bianliang.

However, abandoning baggage and marching through enemy territory naturally comes at a price.

Those who were injured or fell behind naturally became the targets of the Chenzhou soldiers, and non-combat casualties immediately rose sharply.

Upon returning to Fugou County within the territory of Kaifeng Prefecture, Pu Sanzhongyi finally received Zhang Shousu's assistance. After counting the troops, they discovered that only nine thousand cavalrymen remained, having lost as many as two thousand men along the way.

But what's that saying again? Existence is everything, and everything is for the sake of existence.

While this existentialist philosophy could not prevent the rebellion in several prefectures of Henan, it did leave some traces of the Western Jin dynasty.

Lu You naturally saw the military intelligence report shortly afterward, but a sudden wave of melancholy washed over him.

With the external enemy gone, the next issue is internal conflict.

The turmoil caused by Wei Sheng's death has only just begun.

(End of this chapter)