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

Chapter 915 The Mongol Cavalry Enters Linhuang

Because of his unique perspective as a time traveler, Liu Huai's viewpoint often differs from that of the native Song and Jin people.

This has nothing to do with intelligence, because some things are history for Liu Huai, but for others they are the future.

In a materialistic world, no one is a charlatan, so how can anyone accurately predict the future?
With the Mongol Empire spanning Eurasia as its foundation, it would be truly strange if Liu Huai didn't be extremely wary of the Mongols.

Of course, this is also partly because Liu Huai himself was a novice and didn't understand why the Mongol Empire was so powerful in history.

The others were even more puzzled as to why Liu Huai treated the Mongols as a formidable enemy, to the point of establishing a successor.

In the eyes of the Han military officials, even if the Jin army joined forces with the Mongols, at most they would only have tens of thousands more steppe cavalry, what kind of threat could they pose?
Whether it's one or two, it's all the same. The Han army has quite a few elite cavalry, and when it comes to heavy cavalry head-on confrontations, the Han army has never been afraid of anyone.

The Jin dynasty also started with heavy cavalry. Even during the reign of Wanyan Liang, many cavalrymen maintained the tradition of charging into battle, but they were still torn apart by the Han cavalry.
How could those light cavalrymen on the grasslands, poorly equipped and disorganized, withstand a head-on charge from the Han army?
This mentality cannot be called arrogance, nor can it be called wrong, because in history, the Mongol people's many famous battles were decided by heavy cavalry and heavy infantry.

Where can the Mongols gather so many heavy cavalry and infantry these days?

What's even more perplexing is that this mentality wasn't just common among the Han army; even within the Jin state, and even among Wanyan Yong himself, there was some uncertainty about the Mongol's fighting strength.

However, all of this could not withstand the fact that after the Khitan tribes north of the mountains invaded the Yanshan Mountains and officially broke with the Jin Dynasty, the Khitan tribes south of the mountains also became unsafe.

In addition, following the political upheaval caused by Liu Zhan, and with the Youyan Liu clan seemingly siding with the Han army, Wanyan Yong became less willing to continue employing Han officials.

As for the Jurchen population, it goes without saying. After the Jin Dynasty split into two and years of war, the Jurchen population had already decreased significantly. If they were to be surrounded twice more on the battlefield, the Han army wouldn't even need to fight; the Eastern Jin would be overthrown from within.

Therefore, Wanyan Yong would inevitably need to introduce new forces to serve as his army.

If it were during the Jin Dynasty's heyday, they could simply recruit Jurchen soldiers; these foreign mercenaries would naturally fight tooth and nail for the Jin Dynasty.

However, things have come to this point, the power of the grasslands and Liaodong has shifted, and the Eastern Jin is even losing control of Linhuang Prefecture. Even if the Jin Kingdom summons the Jurchen army, it may well end up being a stepping stone for Yesugei.

Therefore, with no other choice, Wanyan Yong personally went to Linhuang Prefecture to meet with Yesugei, the Khan of the Mongol Empire, hoping to 'borrow troops to suppress the bandits'.

Although most of the Khitan tribes had been taken away by Liu Ba and Yelü Chenjia, Linhuang Prefecture, the birthplace of the Liao Dynasty, still had many Khitan people left behind.

They naturally didn't want to continue fighting, but they couldn't bear to leave their homeland.

After Wanyan Yong arrived at Linhuang Prefecture with more than 10,000 troops, these small Khitan tribes had nowhere to hide and could only obediently come over to protect the Jin emperor.

Wanyan Yong still played to his strength in winning people over, never mentioning the Yelü Chen family and others, but instead offering them good comfort and rewards.

Since the Battle of Daming Prefecture, Yelü Wowo had become completely dejected, spending his days drinking, making merry, and indulging in gluttony. He had become an obese man who even had difficulty mounting a horse.

Even so, Wanyan Yong did not forget to bring this fellow along when he came to Linhuang Prefecture.

Yelü Wowo had been the ruler of the Khitan for a time and had some prestige among the Khitan people. Bringing him along would surely win over some people.

However, the Jin delegation made a grand military parade in Linhuang Prefecture and stayed for nearly a month. Five days had passed since the agreed meeting time in the letters, and the Mongols had not made a single move.

This aroused collective anger among the Jin officials and civil and military personnel accompanying the group.

The mighty Jin emperor, though now somewhat fallen from grace, was still being ridden on by the Mongol Khan—this was far too outrageous.

Do you really think the Great Jin Dynasty can't function without the Mongols?

However, on the sixth day of the agreed date, a messenger finally brought news that Yesugei Khan was not disrespectful to His Majesty the Emperor of Jin, but that the journey was too long and it was difficult for him to arrive on time.

This time, even the usually composed Wanyan Yong was somewhat angered.

Now Yesugei occupies the eastern Mongol region, which is only a few hundred miles from Linhuang Prefecture. The grasslands are well-connected, and the Mongol people are a nomadic people. How could they possibly miss their deadline?
However, since it was a matter of national importance, and as the saying goes, "tolerance is for the sake of the country," Wanyan Yong swallowed his anger.

On June 18th, the Mongol people finally arrived in Linhuang Prefecture in a grand procession, much to the anticipation of the Jin emperor and his ministers.

As a seasoned general, Wanyan Shoudao immediately noticed that something was wrong: "Your Majesty, there are too many Mongol cavalry."

Upon hearing this, the Jin emperor and his ministers were in an uproar. Wanyan Yong quickly composed himself and asked, "How much more?"

Wanyan Shoudao gritted his teeth and replied, "I don't know, but the scale of the dust is not right... Even if you include the spare horses, two thousand cavalry wouldn't produce this much dust..."

"Your Majesty!" Wanyan Fushou immediately shouted, "Now is not the time to talk about these things. Immediately order the Loyal and Filial Army to escort the imperial carriage backwards, and gather all cavalry to prepare to meet the enemy!"

Wanyan Shoudao, being more mature, said: "No, we still don't know what the Mongols are planning, whether they are friend or foe. If we show weakness..."

Wanyan Fushou interrupted him again: "This is not the time to talk about this! His Majesty's safety is the most important thing!"

"Alright!" At the crucial moment, Wanyan Yong made the final decision: "Have Hutuwa lead the civil officials to the rear of the formation. The army will immediately form ranks. I will stay here and see what tricks these Mongols can pull!" Since the emperor had given the order, the Jin army immediately started. The six thousand loyal and filial soldiers, under the command of Wendun Qizhi, began to change formation, and the cavalry also swarmed out and lined up on both flanks. In a short while, more than ten thousand Jin soldiers formed the most commonly used cavalry formation.

"Beat the drums! March!"

"call!"

"drink!"

At Wanyan Shoudao's command, the Jin army began to slowly advance.

The originally aggressive Mongols immediately calmed down. Their light cavalry, whistling, bypassed the Jin army's flanks and then returned to the Mongols' ranks.

The Mongol army also halted their advance, reining in their horses three or four miles away.

Subsequently, nearly a hundred riders charged out from the Mongol army's formation and arrived at Wanyan Yong's banner.

The leader was Yesugei, whom Wanyan Yong had met once before.

The Jin army's armored soldiers broke apart, making way for several Mongol nobles.

Yesugei did not put on airs as the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. He dismounted a dozen paces away, and after taking a few more steps forward, he knelt before Wanyan Yong and said in a strange tone of Chinese, "Greetings, Your Majesty the Emperor of the Great Jin!"

As a barbarian who had been completely assimilated into Han culture, Wanyan Yong naturally knew that barbarians were all of this kind of character—fearing power but not appreciating virtue.

If the Jin army hadn't reacted quickly and immediately deployed its main force to prepare for battle, Yesugei might have actually launched a surprise attack by now.

Of course, if the Mongol army had been any closer, Wanyan Yong might have even considered killing Yesugei right there.

Cooperation is based on matching strengths; otherwise, one party will only be a vassal of the other.

Mutual probing was inevitable during this period, but since everyone was a barbarian, the methods of probing were naturally crude.

Wanyan Yong didn't let the situation escalate. He laughed heartily, dismounted, and personally helped Yesugei up: "Yesugei, why are you so late? You've kept me waiting!"

Yesugei swayed his braid, stood up, and turned to the side to make way for one person: "With His Majesty's decree, we Eastern Mongols are immediately invigorated, and fighting against the Han people of the Central Plains is a piece of cake."

However, I heard from the Khitan people who fled to the grasslands that there was a flying tiger in Han territory that had devoured countless people. I figured that fighting the wolf required a large group, so I called my sworn brother along as well.

A Mongol giant behind Yesugei stepped forward and knelt down as well: "Your Majesty the Emperor of the Great Jin, I am Tuoli, the Great Khan of the Western Mongols. I have come to obey the Emperor's orders! To peck at the lambs of the Han lands!"

"Good, good, good!" Wanyan Yong said three times, but in his heart he felt a little contemptuous.

The Jin state had a lot of intelligence on the grasslands, so Wanyan Yong knew Tuoli's background.

This fellow was indeed born in the Simagu tribe. His father, Khurjahus, was the chieftain of the Simagu Kereit tribe. At the height of his power, he was considered a great leader and could be loosely called the Great Khan of the Simagu tribe.

However, when Tori was young, he was captured and enslaved by the Merkits and Tatars. After finally escaping, he was excluded from the inner circle for a long time because of his discord with his uncles and brothers.

It wasn't until after Hurzahus died that Tori became a chieftain because of the Mongol custom of the youngest son guarding the hearth, and with the help of Anda Yesugei, he established himself in the Tuula River area.

The strength of the Kereit tribe has been greatly reduced, and Toghril's claim to be the Great Khan of Simon is purely a boastful act to embellish his own image.

But what Wanyan Yong didn't know was that the Tuoli in front of him was actually the unified Ximengwu, and his name recorded in historical books was: Wang Han.

He was Temujin's adoptive father, Wang Khan, who was later sent away by Temujin along with Jamukha.

Returning to the present, even though the Kereit tribe's power has greatly diminished, it is still considered one of the top forces in the Western Regions and can gather tens of thousands of archers. Therefore, Wanyan Yong showed no arrogance and pulled the two of them to his side, one in each hand.

"With your help, what great thing can't we accomplish!"

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

At the opportune moment, Wanyan Fushou raised his weapon and shouted loudly, boosting the morale of Wanyan Yong.

Under his leadership, the Jin soldiers also raised their weapons and shouted, and for a moment the sounds of weapons clanging and the killing intent soared to the sky.

Tuoli's expression changed slightly, while Yesugei simply stared into Wanyan Yong's eyes and burst into unrestrained laughter.

(End of this chapter)