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

Chapter 997 Sounds from All Sides Rise

What happens in a prisoner-of-war camp may be a cataclysmic event for someone.

But for the newly established Han Dynasty, and even for the entire world, it was utterly insignificant.

For example, the idea that the Song generals of Lianghuai wanted to band together was utterly worthless. It was such a trivial matter that even Xin Qiji couldn't be bothered to deal with it.

The so-called lack of factions in China leads to a myriad of strange and unusual phenomena.

There are countless factions, large and small, within the Han Dynasty. If they were to spend all their time thinking about dismantling these factions, then the emperor and his ministers would have nothing to do but fight with others every day.

On December 15th, just three days after Li Jinyan led his ragtag naval force to cut off the pontoon bridge over the Huai River, Xin Qiji finally managed to roughly count the prisoners and, with those who had been plundered along the way and were sentenced to death according to military law, sailed to the south bank of the Huai River.

Under the glaring gaze of Yang Kang, the transport commissioner of Huaidong, Xin Qiji read out the names one by one and had the soldiers repeat them aloud in unison.

After shouting three times, the Han army carried out the execution on the spot on the boat and pushed the head and body into the surging Huai River.

In this process, the person who had tried to fake their death was left with no way to prove it.

"This...this is Grand Commandant Shao's head," a released Song soldier said tremblingly. "Commander Xin also sent me to deliver a message, saying..."

Yang Kang was furious: "Speak! Is there anything you can't say now?"

The Song army prisoner closed his eyes, steeled his resolve, and said: "He said that the retired emperor is a shameless traitor who is disloyal, unfilial, inhumane, and unjust. Today, we will first subdue all the armies of Lianghuai, and tomorrow we will surely cut off the retired emperor's head to commemorate the innocent people who died in the world since the Jingkang Incident."

Yang Kang showed no anger. He simply stepped forward, trembling as he opened the box. Upon seeing the human head, which, despite being preserved with lime, still smelled foul, he collapsed onto the cold ground.

“The army of Lianghuai…a hundred thousand troops!” Yang Kang’s hands trembled, unable to hold the box properly, letting Shao Hongyuan’s head roll to the ground: “From Grand Commandant Shao, Grand Commandant Li, down to more than eighty generals…all gone, all gone…”

At that moment, Yang Kang thought it best to end it all and resign from his post.

Wang Fang, standing to the side, was also ashen-faced. He never expected that his escape that day would cause such serious consequences.

That giant blue rhinoceros is truly a cruel person!

"General Wang, you are now the highest-ranking officer in the Lianghuai Army, you should think of a way."

Wang Fang immediately stamped his foot: "If I had a way, I would have used it in Huaibei. Why would I have been beaten and forced to cross the Huai River alone?!"

The scholar and the warrior stood hand in hand on the banks of the Huai River, their eyes filled with tears, ultimately speechless with emotion.

This was not the most terrifying thing for Yang Kang.

As if by some divine intervention, on the afternoon Xin Qiji was sailing his boat to kill someone, a cold wind suddenly blew in from the north, the temperature plummeted, and a few snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

And falling along with the snowflakes was Yang Kang's enormous heart.

Is the Huai River about to freeze over?
If it were frozen, wouldn't that mean the northern gateway of the Song Dynasty had become a smooth road?
"Steward, I see clearly now, the Huai River has frozen over!"

Hundreds of miles to the east, on the upper reaches of the Huai River, Du Wuji brushed the snowflakes off his clothes and said to Zhang Shu, "Let's send out troops quickly."

Zhang Shu rubbed his hands and said, "Is the Song army in Xia Cai really not making a move?"

Du Wuji shook his head directly: "Boss Zhang, we can't be concerned about small matters now. It's not about how many Song soldiers there are, but about how our 10,000-plus troops have not made any contribution in the founding war!"

Zhang Shu's cheeks twitched a few times, but he immediately started cursing: "That Xie Fuyao is really lucky! Why didn't I draw the lot to go north that day?!"

Du Wuji immediately glanced sideways. This senior soldier didn't seem to care about Du Wuji's predicament; he only cared about his own well-being. He was indeed too selfish.

It's no wonder that these two generals from Chenzhou lost their composure.

In Liu Huai's campaign to destroy the Eastern Jin, the Chenzhou army was divided into two: one force of 10,000 men, led by Xie Fuyao, went to Hebei to participate in the battle; the other force, led by Zhang Shu, the current deputy commander of the Henan armies, was responsible for defending Henan.

This is only natural, because the Chenzhou army still has to protect its hometown. It's impossible for the entire Chenzhou army to leave and then draw troops from Hebei and Shandong to guard it.

Isn't this just like taking off your pants to fart?
However, despite the logic, those who remained behind were extremely frustrated.

There was no way around it. Everyone knew that Dongjin was about to be crushed, and their own Hanwang was fierce and invincible. Following him and risking their lives would bring them easy rewards. Who wouldn't be tempted?
As expected, the Eastern Jin Dynasty has now fallen, and the Great Han Dynasty has been established.

However, a series of battles, such as the Battle of Zhending in Delu, the Siege of Yanjing, and the Pacification of Jin, were all fought by others, and the nearly 10,000 Chenzhou troops left behind in Henan could not even get a chance to participate.

Of course, Zhang Shu also had his own explanation for this.

Now that the Han Dynasty's unification of the four seas is unstoppable, if the Chenzhou army can't reach the Eastern Jin, does that mean that when attacking the Western Jin and the Song Dynasty, the Chenzhou army won't have a chance to contribute?
The war is still ongoing!
They deserve a lot of credit!

While being overjoyed at the prospect of war is certainly a good thing for the army, such elation can be a happy problem for commanding generals.

Subsequent developments proved Zhang Shu's insightful observations to be true.

When news of the coup in the Song Dynasty arrived, the generals of Chenzhou were filled with mixed emotions of joy and anger.

What angered me was: What was the Song state anyway? How dare someone like Zhao Gou declare the King of Han a traitor? He was truly arrogant and ignorant, like a frog in a well.

The good news is that when good fortune comes, nothing can stop it. The Chenzhou army has fought against the Song army before, so they have a psychological advantage.

In the eyes of the generals of Chenzhou Army, with the advantages of terrain, advanced weapons, and the cooperation of garrison troops and militia, their 10,000 troops had great potential! Thinking this, the Chenzhou Army requested orders from Xuzhou while simultaneously preparing for battle, waiting for the Song army to emerge from the Nanyang Basin.

Then... news came that Cheng Min was paralyzed.

Feeling utterly disgusted, Zhang Shu instead began to look forward to the Song army's advance from Xia Cai.

After all, wasn't Yu Yunwen's shameless occupation of Xia Cai City that day precisely to create a situation where he and Shouzhou were situated between two cities and a river, allowing him to advance and retreat at will?
The Chenzhou army is currently in Chenzhou, and dares not show any strength. They are about to shout on the spot, calling on the Song army to cross the river quickly.

However, what followed left everyone speechless.

The Song army of Lianghuai mobilized all its forces and marched north along the Yellow River towards Xuzhou;
Xin Qiji, the Grand General of Henan, led over a thousand cavalry to meet the Song army head-on, and the Song army collapsed and fled back.

Recent intelligence indicates that Commander Xin has dealt a major blow, nearly preventing any Song soldiers from escaping.

The entire Chenzhou army was dumbfounded.

On the one hand, it is because Xin Qiji's battle earned him a place in history, which is quite astonishing.

On the other hand, this meant that there were no more Song troops for the Chenzhou army to gain merits from.

This underestimation of the enemy should certainly be severely criticized, but Zhang Shu, as the deputy commander of the Henan armies, could not allow the morale of his troops to be dampened, and immediately made a decision.

We must retake Xia Cai City.

"Is it really frozen solid?" Zhang Shu's heart skipped a beat. "But is it completely frozen?"

Du Wuji picked up a cup of hot tea and drank it down: "How could it possibly freeze solid? Isn't that how the Huai River is? I tried riding my warhorse, and the ice couldn't hold up after ten zhang from the riverbank. Moreover, there are large pieces of floating ice on the river. General, the Huai River is located in the south after all, and it has only been frozen for a few days. If we don't seize the opportunity and delay for a few more days, things might change."

Suppressing his excitement, Zhang Shuqiang slowly nodded: "Du Dalang, what you said makes sense."

The fighter jets they were talking about were actually quite simple.

The so-called two-city river defense line is based on a simple principle: relying on the cities to block the enemy's attack, and using the advantage of the naval forces on the river to continuously send troops and supplies into the besieged cities, thereby maintaining a tactical advantage over the enemy.

The most typical example is the Battle of Stalingrad.

The key lies in the river.

Now that the Huai River is frozen, the Song navy is unable to move out, and Xia Cai City has become an isolated city without support from the rear.

However, this window of opportunity will certainly be short, and Chen Zhoujun needs to make a quick decision.

Seeing Zhang Shu fall into deep thought again, Du Wuji said anxiously, "Chief Zhang, Xia Cai is my hometown, and I have too many disciples and old friends here."

At this time, the Song army in the city numbered only three thousand, and they were not considered elite troops; many of them were locals from Huaibei.

I've already won over a few men, and we're just waiting for the army to arrive so we can open the city gates. Why hesitate like this?

Zhang Shu was breathing heavily when he said to Du Wuji in a serious tone, "I know you want to avenge Du Erlang, but the closer we get to this point, the more cautious we should be, and we shouldn't be blinded by emotions."

When Du Wuji heard Zhang Shu mention his second brother, Du Yourong, he immediately became somewhat angry.

But before he could speak, Zhang Shu grabbed his arm.

Zhang Shu's words were more sincere than ever before: "Brother Du, think about it. The situation of the Han Dynasty is now thriving."

Leaving aside figures like the King of Han and the Grand Commander, even Shi Qilang, who had already become a commander, could conquer the Jin region with ease.

If we suffer a defeat because of our haste and recklessness, how will we maintain our foothold in the Han Dynasty afterward?

Du Wuji gradually calmed down.

Now, it's not just about the future of Zhang Shu and Du Wuji, but also about the future of everyone in the Chenzhou army.

Let's take an extreme example.

What if we underestimate the enemy and fall into the Song army's ambush, and are deemed unsuitable for important tasks by the central government, and are then abandoned in the subsequent battles?

It's not impossible. With the Han army's elite troops and strong generals, if you can't do it, there are plenty of people who can.

“Boss Zhang, you’re right, I was too hasty…”

Before Du Wuji could finish speaking, a military envoy was heard calling out names and entering.

"Reporting to the Commander! Minister Li has sent a document stating that my servant San Zhongyi has appeared in Xingyang. I hope the Commander will make preparations as soon as possible!"

Zhang Shu's breath hitched, and he helplessly exchanged a glance with Du Wuji.

Now the two of them no longer needed to discuss it; Xijin had already made the choice for them.

(End of this chapter)