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

Chapter 874 A Rare Talent Can Take on Duties

On the second day of the eleventh month, just as Lu You was making great strides in Sichuan, a scouting battle between the Han army and the Jin cavalry had already begun around Bianliang.

To be honest, this battle was incredibly tedious and tedious, a far cry from Liu Huai's usual aggressive and ruthless style of fighting. Even the Han army generals were somewhat unaccustomed to it.

A month has passed since Liu Huai made up his mind to seize Bianliang. The Han army has not only failed to launch a large-scale invasion, but has only gathered 10,000 regular troops, and has not yet crossed the old course of the Yellow River.

There are many reasons for this, but the two main ones are the most important.

One was the large Song army group commanded by Yu Yunwen, which, despite its loud slogans, remained in Nanyang and did not move.

The Han army at least tried to gather intelligence and conduct preliminary battles, but the Song army was like a turtle that had swallowed a tortoise's egg, sitting down and not moving.

The other one, Pu Sanzhongyi, also only dispatched elite cavalry to defend on all sides, using speed to fight fast, while the main infantry retreated back into Bianliang City, and there was no indication that they were moving large amounts of wealth, food and people.

Thus, the three parties engaged in a fierce sit-in war around Bianliang.

"Brother, I think that Pusan ​​Zhongyi also wants to fight a big battle."

The Han army's main camp in Puyang.

Xin Qiji looked at the crisscrossing flags on the sand table and pointed with his wooden stick to the route from Bianliang to Luoyang: "This journey is definitely not short for the migrants. Even without obstruction, the people are easily scattered."

"If I were a loyal and righteous man, I would definitely want to defeat one of the troops and intimidate them before calmly withdrawing."

Xin Qiji pointed to the area around Bianliang with his small stick: "Our army now has three routes of troops. One route is led by the eldest son, and there are four thousand Flying Tigers and four thousand Heavenly Heroes near Daming Prefecture."

"There is another force in Guide Prefecture, led by General Zhang Baiyu, with three thousand Dongping soldiers pressing in from the east."

"Besides that, there's only the Chenzhou army."

At this point, Xin Qiji paused, then looked at the generals, including Zhang Shu, who were standing solemnly in the tent.

"The Chenzhou army has just been reorganized into garrisons, and its combat strength is currently uneven. It is time for a great general to return and take command."

Zhang Shu and the others were all invigorated, feeling that their opportunity had arrived.

When these Chenzhou generals arrived in Hebei, they originally thought they would have to go through a standard feudal procedure.

In other words, after being shown favor, experiencing a harmonious relationship between the ruler and his subjects, fighting a few small battles, and fighting side by side a few times, they can completely integrate into the relationship.

It must be said that Zhang Shu and others' thinking was accurate and reasonable, but not comprehensive enough.

Aside from the usual drama between the emperor and his ministers, these generals spent the entire year studying, studying until their heads were spinning, wishing they had been born smarter.

From document formats to intelligence handover, from troop marches to encampments and formations, from the staff system to the officer system, from military strategy to new weapons, they all had to learn a good share of everything before they could succeed.

At first, these generals from Henan thought that learning these things was useless. But starting in June of this year, after they entered various armies as deputy generals and participated in training exercises with the regular army, they realized that the King of Han really regarded them as his own people and really wanted to cultivate them to serve as the backbone of the army.

Meanwhile, these Henan generals also learned through correspondence with their hometowns that Henan was also undergoing military reorganization and troop reduction. Some of their subordinates were not used to the rigorous drill training and wrote letters to their former commanders to complain.

Feeling obliged by his fellow villagers, Xie Fuyao reluctantly went to Shi Ju to ask for leniency.

Shi Ju did not reprimand them, but said that Xie Fuyao was originally supposed to return to the army and be used, but if the Chenzhou army was not incorporated into the Han army's regular army system, then they could only serve as auxiliary soldiers.

If Xie Fuyao is truly willing, Shi Ju wouldn't mind personally pleading with Liu Huai to allow a certain unit of the Chenzhou army to become a second-line force, under Xie Fuyao's command.

Xie Fuyao didn't dare utter a sound and slunk away.

However, once the news spread, it excited the generals in Henan even more.

Doesn't this mean that I can return to my hometown in Henan to command troops one day?

However, even with such thoughts, they did not expect the opportunity to come so quickly.

Liu Huai understood Xin Qiji's meaning, but only glanced back at the Henan generals before smiling and saying, "Does Fifth Brother mean that Pusan ​​Zhongyi is very likely to attack Huaibei first?"

Xin Qiji thought for a moment and nodded emphatically: "Military tactics are not fixed, just as water has no fixed shape. If I put myself in others' shoes, I would do the same."

Xin Qiji was relatively considerate of the generals from Henan, especially Shi Ju and Li Tong.

To put it bluntly, the newly surrendered troops in the Henan region, west of Suzhou, south of Bianliang, east of Xiangfan, and north of the Huai River, are insufficient in strength.

Moreover, because Bianliang (Kaifeng) was like a thorn in the side, blocking north-south transportation, it was necessary for someone to take charge of several prefectures in Henan.

Although Li Tong is a man of great political acumen, he has no military achievements and is not a capable commander, making it difficult for him to control the situation.

The only course of action now is to quickly dispatch a general to the south for overall coordination and deployment.

Liu Huai nodded, then turned back and swept his gaze over the generals before saying to Xin Qiji, "What Fifth Brother thinks is what I think."

"Xie Fuyao! Du Wuji! Hou Qi!"

"The general is here!"

"Today I issue you orders to be promoted to commanders, each to lead your own troops upon returning." "Yes, sir!"

"Zhang Shu, you are hereby promoted to Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Henan Road Army. Lead your troops to advance on Xuzhou and block the line between the Song and Jin armies. Act according to the circumstances."

"Here!"

Several prominent generals from Henan were given orders and were overjoyed.

However, they quickly realized that since there was a deputy commander of the Henan Road armies, why wasn't there a commander?
The next moment, everyone saw Liu Huai take off his sword, hold it out to Xin Qiji with both hands, and say: "Fifth Brother, although this sword is not as sharp as yours, it is the best sword I can offer."

Although Xin Qiji had anticipated this, he was still somewhat flustered when the time came. After a moment of astonishment, he shook his head with a wry smile and said, "After so many years of trials and tribulations, we've been through thick and thin together. Does my brother still doubt my determination to take on this responsibility?"

Liu Huai still held his sword and said sincerely, "I have never doubted whether Wu Lang can shoulder this heavy responsibility. However, Wu Lang has treated me as a national hero, but I am ashamed that I cannot treat you as a national hero."

Upon hearing this, Xin Qiji no longer hesitated. He stepped forward, took the sword with both hands, raised it level, bowed, and said, "For the sake of the world, I should disregard life, death, honor, and disgrace. Please give the order, my lord!"

Liu Huai nodded: "Remove Xin Qiji from his positions as Military Governor of Tianping Army and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Shandong Western Route Army."

Li Tieqiang was promoted to Military Governor of the Tianping Army.

Xin Qiji is hereby promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the armies in Henan Province and ordered to immediately march south to reorganize the Henan troops and prepare for battle!

Without a moment's hesitation, Xin Qiji answered loudly, "This humble general obeys the order!"

All the civil and military officials who were qualified to participate in the military council were dumbfounded.

Those who hadn't understood the conversation earlier suddenly realized what was going on and began to sigh in amazement.

The several prefectures and counties in Henan do indeed need a military commander, and this military commander needs to have sufficient prestige, sufficient qualifications, and sufficient authority and ability to resolve the complex issues between the Song and Jin dynasties.

More importantly, this general, who was sent to Henan to garrison the province, was destined to miss the Hebei campaign that would begin two years later.

Even the momentous event of recovering Youyan, which would have made him famous throughout history, was missed by this great general.

This general was destined to hone his skills for many years before he could be of great use when the war with the Song Dynasty officially began.

He was destined to make silent sacrifices, and even if he maintained military pressure on the Song state with a weaker force, he was destined to never have a distinguished reputation.

This is also one of the reasons why the position of commander-in-chief of the various armies in Henan has been vacant for a year.

Now Liu Huai has finally made up his mind, but the choice of person is beyond everyone's expectations.

From a purely objective standpoint, Xin Qiji was a very suitable candidate.

He was a veteran minister and the de facto leader of a powerful faction within the Han army. He was also a rare military genius in the Han army, and no matter what, the armies of Henan dared not challenge him.

However, from a personal perspective, Xin Qiji began working as a tax collector at the age of twelve, accompanying his grandfather Xin Zan to Youyan to pay taxes. Along the way, he drew maps and explored local customs, and from a young age, he began planning a northern expedition to Youyan to recover lost territory.

Now, due to the prevailing trend, he has no choice but to leave the battlefield of the Northern Expedition and come to Henan. His dream of personally taking up his sword to recover the homeland of the Han people has been shattered. Isn't this a kind of cruelty?

Therefore, Liu Huai then said with shame that he could not repay the debt of gratitude as a national hero.

Therefore, Xin Qiji said that he did not care about life, death, honor, or disgrace.

A true man should act in a way that benefits the world; how can he possibly care about his own selfish desires and ambitions?

After Liu Huai helped Xin Qiji up, he remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Chen Wenben!"

Flying Tigers Deputy Commander Chen Wenben immediately responded loudly, "Your subordinate is here!"

"Lead your 1,000 Flying Tigers south to protect Xin Wulang!"

"Here!"

The Flying Tiger Army was an elite cavalry force established in the style of Cao Wei's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, Tang Dynasty's Black Armor Army, and Jin Dynasty's Heza Meng'an. Each knight was selected from the best and was equipped with three weapons.

Most importantly, the Flying Tigers soldiers had already undergone basic literacy training, could read maps, and knew military tactics, so they could be sent out to serve as junior officers such as squad leaders and generals.

Therefore, Flying Tiger Knights enjoy the highest salaries, the best land grants, and the smoothest promotion opportunities.

In a sense, the Flying Tigers could be considered an officer corps.

Even though Liu Huai has now occupied half of the northern lands, he has only gathered four thousand Flying Tiger Army soldiers. He is now sending a quarter of them to Xin Qiji's side, both for protection and as a kind of signal.

Xin Qiji remains my trusted and beloved general. His current posting to a distant location is due to the circumstances of the time, not because of any discord. We are still of one mind!
Xin Qiji naturally did not refuse. He tied the sword Liu Huai had given him to his waist, bowed deeply again, and after receiving the appointment document and seal, he said loudly, "Brother, the military situation is urgent and cannot be delayed. I will set off immediately."

"As for the rest of the staff, military officers, and subordinates, I'll trouble you, eldest son, to gather them up and send them over."

Liu Huai smiled and said, "I certainly won't let you fight alone, Wu Lang!"

Xin Qiji nodded emphatically, then bowed to Liu Huai again without stopping for a moment before turning and leaving.

(End of this chapter)