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

Chapter 922 At the End of the Road, Taking Perverse Actions
The Han army's general meeting in early July was brief but resolute.

Naturally, not everything can be resolved by this meeting. In fact, this major military meeting only served to communicate strategy and strengthen the resolve of the entire army.

No matter what measures are implemented, they all require collective wisdom and effort, and the cooperation of many people.

For example, just transporting military rations required mobilizing laborers and boats, with the cooperation of inland waterway naval forces along the way, and local warehouse officials had to do their utmost to inventory the supplies, making it a massive undertaking.

Therefore, once a major military or national event begins, nothing can be concealed.

Yu Yunwen, who had just returned to Nanyang after calming down the court affairs, had no time to catch his breath when he received news of unrest in the Central Plains, and he immediately perked up.

"Grand Commandant Wu, what do you think Liu Dalang is trying to do?"

The person Yu Yunwen was asking was none other than Wu Gong, the current Hubei Military Commissioner, Prefect of Xiangyang, and Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army of Jingxiang.

He is also the current regional official who, together with the Military Commissioner of Jingxi, the Prefect of Dengzhou, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army of Ezhou, is stationed in Nanyang.

He was fifty-one years old this year, with a square mouth, large ears, a broad face and a heavy chin. He was imposing and awe-inspiring. The only drawback was that he was a little short, unlike Cheng Min who was so robust.

However, no one can deny that the Grand Commandant's reputation, which he earned by following his father Wu Jie to the battlefield since childhood, was truly earned through hard work. He experienced almost all the battles in Guanzhong and fought against all the enemies of the Song Dynasty. He had remarkable achievements at a young age, and now, at his age, he has gained considerable experience.

Nowadays, some people in the court even refer to Wu Gong, Cheng Min, and Li Xianzong as the three great marshals of the later period, to show that they are on par with the three great marshals of the earlier period: Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, and Zhang Jun.

Wu Gong took the letter from Yu Yunwen, read it quickly, and immediately gave his answer: "Eighty percent of the time, they want to take action against the Jin invaders; twenty percent of the time, they want to rebel completely and attack the Song Dynasty."

Yu Yunwen stroked his beard and said, "Twenty percent?

Wu Gong: "Does Prime Minister Yu know what is the least trustworthy thing on the battlefield?"

"Oh?"

"Experience is the least reliable thing, because anything can happen. It can rain heavily on a sunny day, or clear up on a snowy day. A seemingly invincible enemy can be killed with a single blow, and a seemingly reliable ally can inexplicably retreat."

Therefore, I have always kept a degree of caution in mind.

Yu Yunwen laughed: "So, you don't think Liu Dalang will attack Song either?"

Wu Gong remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Yu Yunwen knew this fellow was exceptionally cautious, so he didn't press the matter further: "So, in your opinion, Grand Commandant Wu, does Liu Dalang intend to attack Eastern Jin or Western Jin?"

Wu Gong maintained his ambiguous stance: "Eighty percent chance is an attack on Eastern Jin, and twenty percent chance is an attack on Western Jin."

Wu Gong then added, "Lord Yu, actually, discussing these matters is completely useless."

Does Liu Dalang's clear intention to attack the Jin invaders mean we shouldn't take any precautions?

"If Liu Dalang doesn't attack the Western Jin and divert our troops, does the Song Dynasty really not want Luoyang?"

Yu Yunwen tapped the table lightly with his finger, nodded and smiled, "That's exactly what I meant, Grand Commandant Wu. You should know that this is the best opportunity. How confident are you in capturing Luoyang?"

Wu Gong remained silent for a long while: "What did Grand Commandant Cheng say?"

Yu Yunwen held out his hand: "He said he was 70% confident."

Wu Gong nodded: "My calculations are similar to yours, but I need to deduct 20% for precautions, so I am only 50% confident."

Yu Yunwen stood up and looked at the map: "Fifty percent is enough to take a gamble, but it's not something we should do right now."

“Once Liu Dalang launches a general offensive in Hebei, it will definitely affect Jin. If we can attract the attention of the Western Jin north of the Yellow River, our army will be more confident in capturing Luoyang.”

Wu Gong didn't give him any face this time: "If that's what you think, then my chances are only 30%."

"Oh?" Yu Yunwen turned around in surprise.

"What makes Prime Minister Yu superior to the other prime ministers of the Song Dynasty is that he is able to go to the battlefield and dares to go to the battlefield."

However, they still had the bad habits of the scholar-officials: they always sought shortcuts and tricks, leading their generals to neglect battle and only think about taking advantage of the enemy before they could react.

Yu Yunwen showed no anger at Wu Gong's direct accusation, but simply sighed, "It was my oversight to send the Cui Pian Army and the Bei Wei Army to Bianliang that day, which caused Wu Taiwei to suffer heavy losses."

Wu Gong shook his head: "This humble general does not mean to blame Prime Minister Yu. After all, I agreed to send troops that day. Moreover, given the current situation, who else can we rely on besides Prime Minister Yu?"
However, when it comes to fighting a war, one should honestly train troops, honestly distribute money and pay wages, and then honestly fight a proper battle.

If every war is fought based on hearsay and wishful thinking, it will inevitably lead to a major defeat.

Yu Yunwen remained silent for a long time, then took off his turban and pointed to his mostly white hair: "Grand Commandant Wu, look, how many more years do you think I have left to live?"

Wu Gong was speechless.

"The saying goes, 'Ten years to build up strength and ten years to learn lessons.' If I had seized power twenty years ago, I would have made plans gradually. If I had taken control of the court ten years ago, I could have completely won over people like Wei Gong and Liu Dalang to my side."

"Now I am too old. I often wonder, if I die, will the Great Song... and the Emperor, still have the will to continue the Northern Expedition?" Yu Yunwen gripped his stiff-winged turban, his hands behind his back, looking at the brand-new Yu-character banner outside the tent: "This was given to me by Liu Dalang, who said it was the banner he used when he entered Bianliang City. Alas... if it had been earlier, I should have gone myself... alas..."

After sighing several times, Yu Yunwen finally said to Wu Gong, "Grand Commandant Wu, I can't wait any longer."

Wu Gong looked into Yu Yunwen's eyes, and after a long while, he nodded with difficulty: "In that case, I will select elite soldiers this time and personally lead the vanguard."

Yu Yunwen put the hard-winged turban on his head, waved his hand and said, "No rush, I have to go back to Lin'an next month to oversee the relocation of the capital."

You and Grand Commandant Cheng will prepare together. We'll set October 20th as the target date. At that time, I will personally lead the armies to attack Luoyang!

Upon hearing this, Wu Gong nodded slowly, but then took the opportunity to ask about the relocation of the capital: "Such a major matter, are there no voices of opposition in the court?"

Yu Yunwen smiled and said, "Of course there are. At the very least, our retired emperor has said more than once, openly or secretly, that Your Majesty is unfilial."

Wu Gong was surprised to find that the question concerned such an important matter of the imperial family. He turned to look around before continuing, "What did His Majesty say?"

"The Emperor said that moving the capital was to control the Central Plains in the north and to avenge the humiliation of the Jingkang Incident for the retired Emperor, which is the greatest act of filial piety in the world."

Wu Gong remained silent for a moment.

Whether Zhao Gou wanted to avenge the humiliation of Jingkang was something everyone in the world knew; did Zhao Shen need to say it?

If you do something your father doesn't want to do, are you going to call yourself filial?

The whole family was in uproar over the filial piety!
For the Southern Dynasties, however, the Northern Expedition was absolutely politically correct, especially when the emperor proposed it, no minister dared to oppose it openly.

Therefore, the trivial matter of filial piety was ultimately confined to the emperor and the retired emperor, and no one else dared to get involved.

"Please be careful, Lord Yu. Moving the capital is a matter of great importance. Even if it is just moving from Lin'an to Jiankang, there will be huge twists and turns." Wu Gong thought for a moment and then solemnly instructed, "In particular, the powerful families in Jiangnan who have lived in Lin'an for a long time will probably not let this go so easily."

The soaring land prices in Jiankang City have come at the cost of unsustainable land prices in the surrounding areas of Lin'an. It would be strange if the landlords in Lin'an were happy.

One order from above and your family's assets shrink inexplicably. Who could stand that?
Especially those big landowners, wouldn't they hate Yu Yunwen to the core?
Those officials who had to leave Lin'an with the imperial court were also somewhat dissatisfied, after all, changing the political center involved a great deal of complexities.

This was only after the Song state nominally recovered the Central Plains and Shandong, but in reality, it had only recovered Nanyang. If Zhao Shen had pushed things forward empty-handed, he might have already been forced to abdicate.

Yu Yunwen reassured Wu Gong, "No, the pro-war faction is currently in power in the court. Several ministers are the emperor's confidants. With them keeping things in check, there will definitely be no trouble."

The key now is that you still have Grand Commandant Cheng. If you can win a major victory, all the troubles will vanish, and the Emperor's authority will be as stable as Mount Tai.

Wu Gong nodded: "The morale of the Jin invaders is so low, there's no reason why we can't win."

Yu Yunwen said with a wry smile, "We still owe Liu Dalang a debt of gratitude."

Wu Gong nodded: "Originally, I was only 30% confident, and after reducing it by 20%, I was only 10%. Now that I am 50% confident, it is already quite remarkable."

Since the liberation of Bianliang, although Liu Huai did not intend to attack the Jin army's Xingyang defense line due to a host of domestic problems, his political offensive never stopped.

The consequences of Pu Sanzhongyi abandoning those Meng'an Mouke households have been fully exposed.

Every day, dozens or even hundreds of assimilated Jurchens were escorted by the Han army to Zhengzhou, shouting at the city walls, "Come back quickly, so-and-so! Your parents and children are waiting for you in Kaifeng!"

At first, the garrison commander dared to order the expulsion, but later he did not.

Because the commander's maternal uncle also came to the city to persuade him to surrender.

This startled even the garrison commander.

Wanyan Yuanyi had no choice but to constantly replace the soldiers on the front lines.

But the Jin army only had so many soldiers. Who didn't have relatives or friends left behind in the Central Plains?
This caused the morale of the entire Jin army on the eastern front to plummet.

When Wanyan Liang learned of this situation, he was somewhat helpless. The current strategy of the Western Jin was to try to switch the troops on the eastern and western fronts, using the eastern troops to deal with Lu You, and transferring the western troops to the Xingyang defense line to maintain the stalemate.

Regardless of what measures the Jin army takes, it will inevitably give the Song army an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. With the assistance of internal collaborators, it is not impossible for them to capture Luoyang from Nanyang in one fell swoop.

"Then let's do it this way. We'll agree on a date with Prime Minister Lu, and he'll launch a feint attack while we launch the main attack..."

"Lord Yu! Lord Yu!"

Before they could finish speaking, Cheng Min walked into the command tent waving a document: "Lord Lu has sent a document, agreeing to set a date for us to take action against the rebel Liang!"

Yu Yunwen burst into laughter, but then sighed, "Lord Lu is a hundred times better than me. It seems that after I die, the Song Dynasty will have to rely on him."

Wu Gong's expression was serious, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

(End of this chapter)