Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 235 The Reversal of Peace and War
[Wuzhu of Jin?]

Is he still alive?

This discovery will startle you: the Jurchens were unlike the Song people. The Song people, upon death, produced pinkish souls, and the strong among them could even be reincarnated under the arrangement of the government—a truly unique phenomenon… but the Jurchens did not produce any souls.

[When the Jin people died, they were simply dead. Once their lifespan was over, they returned to dust. Except when they encountered Song people, they would mutate into strange, black monsters; otherwise, they were basically the same as ordinary people.]

So when the name of Jin Wuzhu appeared before your eyes, you were immediately puzzled: How could Jin Wuzhu have lived so long? Yue Fei relied on his primordial spirit body, but what about Jin Wuzhu? Was he also a primordial spirit body?

You can't help but speculate about the reasons behind this...

【…】

[One hundred thousand Jin soldiers and two hundred thousand Song soldiers were crammed into the tiny town of Xinye. One hundred thousand men were outside the city, ready to attack aggressively, while two hundred thousand men were inside, preparing to defend with unease. Moreover, the general leading these two hundred thousand men was none other than the illustrious Yue Fei, Yue Pengju… This situation was truly strange.]

But actually, this is not surprising at all!

[Because most of the Song soldiers in the city were ordinary people, although they had some military training, their combat effectiveness was still at the level of ordinary people... On the other hand, the Jin soldiers outside the city were not human at all!]

They formed a menacing array outside the city, their jet-black aura constantly rising and soaring into the sky like smoke signals—a truly bizarre and monstrous army.

Their strength and speed far surpass those of ordinary people. If the Song army did not form a coordinated battle formation, a single monster could easily kill nearly ten Song soldiers. Even if the Song army formed a battle formation, they had to make the most of their intelligence when facing these monsters in order to kill them like wild beasts.

[Now it seems that the Jin Dynasty must possess some unknown method or power, allowing these 100,000 mutated Jin monsters to overcome their mindlessness debuff and retain their intelligence, enabling them to form ranks and confront the Song army!]

Clearly, the Song army had a very low chance of winning this battle. Even with 200,000 troops under his command, Yue Fei dared not engage them in open battle outside the city...

【…】

During the standoff, Yue Fei also had a conversation with his old rival, Wuzhu, but the result was that Wuzhu sent a sarcastic letter.

[It's unclear what exactly was written in the letter, but Yue Fei seemed genuinely angered...]

[Then came the actual attack and defense battle!]

Under Wuzhu's command, the Jin army launched wave after wave of fearless attacks on Xinye County. Simultaneously, several detachments bypassed the county and attacked the vast uninhabited area behind it, aiming to cut off the Song army's supply lines and encircle Yue Fei's main force.

[Yue Fei, however, was well-prepared. As an experienced veteran, he certainly couldn't just sit and defend an isolated city. So, while relying on the city's defenses, he also dispatched his eldest son, Yue Yun, with elite troops to directly intercept the Jin army's flanks from both sides of the city!]

These elite troops were all former subordinates of Yue Fei. Using their spiritual bodies, they confronted the mutated Jin soldiers head-on, and for a time, they held their own, even gaining the upper hand!

Meanwhile, Yue Fei continuously transferred elite troops from the city to rotate between the left and right flanks. Under such a strong defensive posture, the Jin and Song dynasties were locked in a protracted battle of attack and defense...

【…】

【"wrong……"】

Seeing this, the Prime Minister, who had been pondering Yue Fei's thoughts, frowned: "This Northern Expedition... is very strange!"

What was Yue Fei's purpose in launching his Northern Expedition?

[Answer: Obviously, it means recovering the Central Plains and striking directly at the heart of the enemy!]

Based on this strategic goal, if Yue Fei wanted to launch a Northern Expedition, he would need to possess the formidable strength to sweep away the Jin army... But it seems that Yue Fei did not have this strength!

[Defeating mindless ordinary Jurchens would be easy, but now, facing the regular Jurchen army, Yue Fei immediately went on the defensive...] [With this kind of strength, how dare he launch a northern expedition?]

The Prime Minister frowned: Either Yue Fei has a powerful move yet to unleash, or Yue Fei is unaware of the Jin Kingdom's strength...

[But neither of these is possible, because Yue Fei was already inside the city. He must have already played all his cards; otherwise, why would he be defending the city with an advantage? He could have just given Jin Wuzhu a decisive push and destroyed it!]

[And it's even more impossible that Yue Fei didn't know the strength of the Jin Dynasty... Not to mention he was an experienced old general, how could he not have investigated the Jin army's combat capabilities during his two hundred years of garrison duty?]

So neither is possible... and if neither is possible, then there's only one possibility...

"Was he doing it on purpose?"

[The Prime Minister couldn't help but piece together some information: When it came time to send troops, Zhao Gou, who was consistently conservative in his historical approach, directly agreed to the request to send troops in response to Yue Fei's petition for a northern expedition... This was very strange. How could the emperor launch such a major undertaking as a northern expedition simply because of a general's sudden petition?]

[While Yue Fei was indeed a high-ranking official of the Southern Song Dynasty, could he really have directly disrupted a national strategy that had been in place for nearly two centuries? In other words, although Yue Fei initiated the Northern Expedition by submitting his petition, Zhao Gou's strategic policy had actually been focused on the Northern Expedition from the very beginning. Yue Fei's request to lead the expedition simply happened to align with his wishes!]

No... it's not just a coincidence!

"This was most likely instructed by Zhao Gou!"

[The Prime Minister's thoughts gradually became clear: "By considering Yue Fei's performance during the Northern Expedition, we can see that Yue Fei didn't actually support this expedition much, because he felt sorry for the people in the north... So this Northern Expedition was most likely just a way for him to comply with Zhao Gou's instructions, rather than a genuine desire to conquer the Central Plains, and he didn't have the strength to do so..."]

Having clarified this crucial point, the Prime Minister (Xiangfu) viewed the Northern Expedition from a different perspective... because Yue Fei's Northern Expedition was merely a response to Zhao Gou (Emperor Gaozong of Tang), Yue Fei had given his subordinates a heads-up beforehand: "The Northern Expedition is risky; participation is voluntary!"

[This would scare many people away, greatly reducing the number of people participating in the Northern Expedition...]

[Then he led 200,000 ordinary soldiers eager to make a name for themselves on a northern expedition, but after fighting for a long time, all the battles were fought by his son Yue Yun with his elite detachment, while your 100,000-strong main force didn't even kill a single Jurchen...]

Why is that? It's simple: to prevent your casualties!

[You mortal soldiers, Yue Fei never intended for you to confront the Jin army directly, because that would have resulted in too many casualties. You're just here to gain experience... Oh, and incidentally, to appease Zhao Gou: Look! My 200,000-strong army has done its best in the Northern Expedition, hasn't it?]

[And now, hundreds of thousands of you are trapped in a small city, while 100,000 ferocious Jin soldiers are besieging it relentlessly. If you fall, you are finished!]

"Therefore, under these circumstances, Yue Fei would certainly not launch another offensive, and this Northern Expedition can be considered over... His next task is to do his best to bring the army safely back to Xiangyang..."

The more the Prime Minister thought about it, the more amused he became: "Yue Fei... Zhao Gou..."

"Historically, Yue Fei was a staunch advocate of war, wanting to launch a northern expedition to reclaim the Central Plains."

[“Historically, Zhao Gou was a staunch advocate of peace, wanting to negotiate with the Jin dynasty and preserve half of the Southern Song dynasty’s territory.”]

[“However, in the current historical timeline, Yue Fei has become a proponent of peace, even resorting to theatrics to appease the emperor's Northern Expedition strategy…”]

[“Zhao Gou, on the other hand, became a proponent of war, strongly urging Yue Fei to launch a northern expedition to the Central Plains, thus igniting the war…”]

"Interesting, interesting..."

……

(End of this chapter)