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

Chapter 881 The Two Jin and Song States' Bitter Maneuvering

Wanyan Guangying returned to Bianliang City in a heroic manner.

No one can deny that this was a great victory.

The Song army stormed into Kaifeng as if it were empty. Fortunately, the great Crown Prince and the Grand Marshal led the army to attack and defeat the Song army, thus ensuring the safety of the region. How can this not be praised?

However, Wanyan Guangying, one of the parties involved, was in a depressed mood and could only force a smile the whole way.

"Your Highness, are you feeling resentful because you didn't get to fight the Great Azure Rhinoceros today?"

When night fell, after the victory banquet was over and the official titles and rewards had been distributed, Tudanli came to the Crown Prince's tent to inquire about the young prince's unusual behavior that day.

Wanyan Guangying shook his head: "It's not just because we didn't fight, but... sigh..."

The young prince was somewhat dejected: "We have nearly 20,000 troops, while the other side only has 1,000 Flying Tigers. We can't even fight a single battle. It's really too demoralizing."

Tudanli responded with a smile: "It's alright. Our army's morale against Liu the bandit has already been crushed. Both the generals and the soldiers know this, so it won't damage morale."

These words did not ease Wanyan Guangying's mind; on the contrary, they made him even more depressed.

The army has come to regard defeat as a given. Does this mean that when facing the Han army in the future, they can only avoid battle?
The world is only so big, where can we go to avoid war?
Do you really think that after the Han army finishes dealing with the Eastern Jin, they won't attack Luoyang and Guanzhong?
Tudanli also suppressed his smile, sighed deeply, and said, "Your Highness, do you know that this is not the first time I have witnessed such a scene?"

"Oh?"

"In the Battle of Hubudagang, Emperor Taizu defeated the 700,000-strong army led by Emperor Tianzuo of Liao with 20,000 troops. After that, the Liao army dared not fight our army head-on."

"Later, the Second Prince and King Nianhan split their forces and marched south to attack the Song Dynasty. After one of them reached the walls of Bianliang, the Song army feared our army like a tiger."

"That was the height of our Great Jin Dynasty, a time when heroes emerged in great numbers. After Zhao Gou ascended the throne in Yangzhou, the Southern general Liu Guangshi led an army of 100,000 to protect him. Does the Crown Prince know how many troops our army used to defeat the Southern army of 100,000?"

Wanyan Guangying shook his head.

Tudanli sighed: "It's less than a thousand riders."

Wanyan Guangying was astonished: "Our army of 1,000 armored cavalry defeated the Song army of 100,000?"

Tudanli nodded: "That's right. Does the Crown Prince know why I disagreed with engaging in battle immediately, but instead advised him to retreat with the momentum of a great victory while the Great Blue Rhinoceros is still unable to gauge the strength of our army?"

“Once they lose their will to fight and become fearful, let alone 10,000 or 20,000, even 100,000 or 80,000 soldiers are nothing but pigs and dogs.” Tudanli sighed repeatedly: “No… even worse than pigs and dogs. It would take three days and three nights to capture 100,000 pigs, but if the morale of 100,000 people collapses, they will simply be captured without resistance.”

Upon hearing this, Wanyan Guangying became even more dejected: "So, does this mean that the fate of the Great Jin Dynasty is truly beyond saving?"

Even though the Jin prince was intelligent, he was still a young man who had experienced both great victory and great defeat in two days, and his mentality was somewhat unstable.

This is normal; those who advocate for quick victories often switch to advocating for quick defeats after a major loss.

Tudanli said solemnly, "Your Highness, it's not like that."

Let's talk about the Liao and Song dynasties again. Both were terrified by the Jin dynasty, but Yelü Dashi, a hero of the Liao, went to the Western Regions and founded the Western Liao.
Yue Fei, a hero of the Song Dynasty, endured hardship and bided his time for more than ten years before finally launching a northern expedition to conquer the Central Plains.

Meanwhile, Da Jin gradually declined, to the point where it is today.

Does this mean that our Great Jin Dynasty has no heroes left? Just as when the Song and Liao Dynasties were about to be conquered by the Great Jin Dynasty, were there no heroes left either?
No, heroes have never ceased to emerge; they are simply waiting for their opportunity.

What the Crown Prince needs to do is wait for the opportunity, work diligently to govern the country, and the world will eventually change.

Wanyan Guangying immediately stood up, adjusted his hair ornament, and bowed respectfully: "This humble one has learned much."

Tudanli quickly helped Wanyan Guangying up, displaying an air of harmonious relationship between ruler and subject.

That's for sure. With the Jin Kingdom in such a dire state, anyone who wants to accomplish anything must unite. If they were to fight amongst themselves at this point, they would truly be doomed.

This applies to Western gold, and it also applies to Eastern gold.

Conversely, the Western Jin and Eastern Jin were, after all, two emperors coexisting, especially with the death of Heshi Lieliangbi, their last trusted confidant. Once a chain of suspicion was formed, it was difficult to completely dispel it.

Youzhou, Yanjing.

After reading the document in his hand, the newly appointed Marshal of the Eastern Jin Capital, Tudan Kening, said to Wanyan Yong, "This must have been Wu Zhe's idea. He wants us to distract Liu Bei so that he can escape."

"Hmph, this fellow has wasted all his cleverness on this, not on matters of national importance."

With his trusted confidant and son-in-law, Wugulun Yuanzhong, gone and never to return, Wanyan Yong's deep-seated insecurity resurfaced.

However, he managed to hold the court and the people together and did not collapse. However, continuous insomnia caused the dark circles under the eyes of this Eastern Jin emperor to almost connect, and he became thin as if he were dehydrated.

"Marshal Du is right," Wanyan Yong said slowly. "However, the main reason I summoned you here is to know whether it is feasible to immediately gather troops to attack Shexian?" Although Tudan Kening was slightly inferior to Heshilie Zhining and Pusan ​​Zhongyi, he was only slightly inferior. Faced with such an obvious national strategic issue, he immediately gave an answer.

“It’s feasible, but we can’t be the ones to make the first move.” Tudan Kening drew a line on the map: “Instead, we have to wait until Pusan ​​Zhongyi leads his army to move the capital to Luoyang in the west and officially engages Liu the traitor before our army can take action.”

"Secondly, all the remaining troops of Youyan should be mobilized. Ignore Liaodong and make it appear as if they are about to cross the Hutuo River and attack Daming Prefecture."

"At the same time, Wanyan Guying must also mobilize a large army, with all the explosives, to attack Shexian County directly."

This was a decisive battle to sever the Han army's reach into Jin territory.

The generals and two prime ministers present all turned pale.

Warfare also requires cost calculation. To spend such a large sum just to capture one or two counties is a huge loss.

However, no one could say anything yet, because the most important reason why the Han army had not crossed the Hebei Plain and rushed straight to Youyan was that Wanyan Guying's army was still watching them from the high ground on their flank.

If the main force of the Han army were to advance along the Fukou Pass into the Shangdang Basin, or even fight a battle in Taiyuan along the Fen River, the hard-won front line of the Eastern Jin would completely collapse.

It should be understood that the Jin Dynasty relied mainly on cavalry, but the Jin army could not defeat the Han army's infantry formations even on the plains. If they were to go to places like Taiyuan, which is full of ditches and ravines, the cavalry would have difficulty exerting its strength, and the Han army's armored infantry formations would be able to sweep them all away.

Wanyan Yong remained calm, looked down at the map carefully, and then looked up: "Is that all?"

Tudan Kening shook his head: "Of course not. I estimate that with Liu's current troop strength and combat power, he will complete the mobilization within a month at the latest. In other words, our army only has one month to capture Shexian. If it drags on any longer..."

Tudankening gritted his teeth: "Then it will inevitably be a decisive battle where the entire army goes out and lives or dies."

Wanyan Yong's maternal uncle, Li Shi, who is also the current prime minister of Dongjin, immediately stood up and said, "We must not fight a decisive battle. Now is not the best time!"

Wanyan Mouyan, who had been returned as a prisoner in exchange, immediately stood up: "Indeed, Your Majesty, the traitor Liu is now so powerful that the Song Kingdom absolutely cannot tolerate it!"

Those present were all important officials of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, so they all knew that the Eastern Jin had sent secret envoys to contact the Song Dynasty.

This matter was actually started last year, but the difficulty of contacting the Song state exceeded the expectations of the Eastern Jin rulers and ministers.

The current Song emperor, Zhao Shen, is trying to win over the people by launching a northern expedition, and the ministers he promotes are all pro-war. Even if he is wary of Liu Huai, he cannot openly make peace with the Jin dynasty.

Zhao Shen's power was based on his advocacy for war and a northern expedition, and he could not possibly relinquish this popular support to Zhao Gou.

The victory of the Northern Expedition and the Jin Dynasty's several major defeats filled the Song court and the public with contempt for the Jin Dynasty. Officials who could be contacted in the past now refused to let them in, and some even threatened to arrest and report to the authorities if Jin envoys came again.

Jin envoys traveled by sea, but the new maritime alliance was slow to materialize, causing great anxiety throughout the Jin state.

Finally, in August of this year, the Jin Dynasty's secret envoy made contact with Yang Yizhong.

However, the way the wire was connected was both laughable and pathetic.

As the power struggle between the Imperial City Guard and the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Lin'an intensified, the management of the household registration of outsiders became stricter. The Jin Kingdom's secret envoy was spotted by the Imperial City Guard as soon as he entered the city.

After being secretly captured, all the letters and tokens on the envoy's person were searched and handed over to Yang Yizhong.

Yang Yizhong was a discerning man, and upon seeing this, he dared not delay and immediately reported it to Zhao Gou.

At this time, Zhao Gou's power was greatly diminished, and he was looking for a way to break the deadlock. Upon hearing that an envoy from the Jin Dynasty had arrived, he immediately secretly brought him into Deshou Palace and had a cordial conversation with him.

Since the peace negotiations between the Song and Jin dynasties have yielded significant results, the best time for the Jin generals to launch a decisive battle is when the Song dynasty launches a large-scale invasion of the Central Plains.

Tudankening scoffed at the court's remarks.

Do you really think Liu Huai and Zhao Shen are fools? What makes you think they'll start a fight? Just because of the envoy's words? Is our Jin Kingdom producing a bunch of Zhang Yis and Su Qins now?

Of course, these thoughts could not be spoken aloud, so Tudan Kening could only explain: "The current situation is just like a game of Go, where Liu the traitor has the black pieces and moves first. We can only respond to each move as it comes."

But since I am the Grand Marshal, I should consider the overall military and political situation of the country; it's better than being caught off guard and panicked when things come to a head.

After Tudankening finished speaking, he looked up at Wanyan Yong, awaiting his decision.

Wanyan Yong then asked another question: "Can our army's actions assist Wuzhe in relocating the capital?"

Tudan Kening was only taken aback for a moment before nodding emphatically: "Of course it is possible. I do not speak falsely. Now that Liu Bei has occupied Daming Prefecture, Bianliang is within his grasp. Even if we miss this opportunity, I do not believe that Wuzhe can withstand Liu Bei's fierce attack."

"On the other hand, if Liu Bei really allows our army to block the Fukou Pass, he will be hampered in the upcoming battle. Weighing the pros and cons, as soon as our army makes a move, Liu Bei will definitely turn around and fight us."

Wanyan Yong nodded, then stared with bloodshot eyes and said, "I still wish I could devour Digunai alive! But what have my Jurchen people done? Just as the Grand Marshal said, we can help Wuzhe and allow him to preserve a little more of the Great Jin bloodline!"

(End of this chapter)