Song Dynasty: Yuan Dynasty, you didn't expect this, did you? I'm still alive.

The 54th year of the Jingyan era (1329).

From the 46th year of the Jingyan era to the present, a full eight years have passed. The Tughluq Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate launched two southern expeditions, but both were blocked by Yang Zhi outside the city of Devajiri. Each time, the expeditions resulted in heavy losses and fruitless retreats.

The most recent clash occurred in the 52nd year of the Jingyan era. In order to breach this fortified city, Tughluq did not hesitate to sacrifice the lives of many soldiers by secretly digging tunnels under the city walls and eventually blasting a breach with gunpowder.

The city of Dvajiri was in grave danger at the time, but fortunately Yang Zhi had taken precautions and immediately mobilized musketeers to guard the breach.

The narrow opening became a natural defensive barrier, giving the musketeers an excellent field of vision. No matter how many soldiers Tughluq sent to charge, they fell one by one to the dense gun barrels, like moths to a flame.

Tughluq intended to continue using gunpowder to blast open more breaches the next day, but he did not expect that Yang Zhi had already quickly repaired the city wall with cement.

The gray cement hardened to the point of being as hard as stone, sealing the breach completely overnight, making it even stronger than the original city wall.

Seeing this, Tughluq had no choice but to withdraw his troops.

This shows that although the Delhi Sultanate could not produce powerful firearms like those of the Eastern Song Dynasty, it was quite skilled in the use of gunpowder.

However, when Yang Zhi personally took the newly produced rifled gun, his fingertips tracing the fine spiral rifling on the inner wall of the barrel, feeling the coldness and weight of the metal, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

He knew that the era of Tughluq's southern expedition was completely over.

Next, it's the Eastern Song Dynasty's turn to appear—

Northern Expedition!

Northern Expedition!

It's still the Northern Expedition!

Let this northern expedition against the Delhi Sultanate become a real-world exercise for the Eastern Song Dynasty in its future confrontation with the Yuan Dynasty!

Yang Zhi was filled with pride at this moment. He was fifty-three years old this year. Although he still held the position of president of the Western Chamber of Commerce, his obsession with wealth had gradually diminished since he entered the Indian Governor's Office and held military and political power.

"A true man born in chaotic times should wield a three-foot sword and achieve unparalleled feats!"

This is the dying words of Taishi Ci, a general of Eastern Wu, from his favorite novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

In the past, he had ambitions but no opportunity to realize them; now, the opportunity is right in front of him, and he must seize it!

He, Yang Zhi, will surely be remembered in history!

This way, future generations can introduce themselves without mentioning the family's wealth, but instead proudly say, "I am a descendant of Yang Zhi!"

Yang Zhi immediately picked up his pen and wrote a heartfelt letter requesting a northern expedition, along with a detailed strategic plan, and sent it by fast horse to the Governor-General's Office in India.

For this Northern Expedition, he planned to deploy 5,000 elite Song soldiers equipped with rifled muskets, 5,000 elite Indian troops with a mix of rifled and matchlock muskets, 20,000 reorganized Indian infantry, 20,000 servants, plus a heavy artillery regiment consisting of 20 Shence General Cannons, 40 Shenwei General Cannons, and 60 Tiger Crouching Cannons, totaling more than 50,000 men, to depart from Devajiri and officially begin the Northern Expedition.

The Kingdom of Hosala and the Kingdom of Kakatiya, which had previously joined forces with the Eastern Song Dynasty to conquer the Deccan Plateau, were unwilling to lead their armies to participate in the northern expedition due to their fear of the powerful Delhi Sultanate.

Yang Zhi had anticipated this and even suggested against bringing them along—he worried that the two countries might have ulterior motives and hinder the Northern Expedition at a crucial moment.

At this time, under Lu Junyao's careful management, the Indian Governor's Office had a full treasury and sufficient food supplies, and was fully capable of supporting a large-scale Northern Expedition.

More importantly, Lu Junyao received news that his mentor, the current prime minister Ye Li, was recently unwell, and the position of prime minister would soon be vacant.

At this moment, as a high-ranking official in charge of a region, if he could achieve great merit in the Northern Expedition, he would very likely be transferred back to the capital, enter the central government, and become the prime minister.

He had to consider that this might be his only chance in his life to realize his ambitions.

He felt it was his duty to rebuild the glory of the Song Dynasty.

Upon receiving Yang Zhi's request for a northern expedition, Lu Junyao approved it almost without hesitation.

He personally replied to Yang Zhi, telling him to focus on the Northern Expedition and that the Governor-General's Office would take full responsibility for logistics and supplies, so there would be no worries.

To encourage Yang Zhi, Lu Junyao even wrote a poem himself and sent it with the letter:

"In the past, Ban Chao had the ambition to pacify the distant lands; today, we see Dewa shoot down the heavenly wolf. Firearms thundered like lightning, shattering the enemy's fortifications; iron cavalry crossed the Hengcang River under the moonlight. Eight years of guarding the border, swords gleaming cold; one day, a northern expedition to serve the country with fervor. Do not say that southern merchants lack courage; history still remembers the Han dynasty's territory."

Yang Zhi unfolded the letter, read the poem, and couldn't help but feel speechless.

Our governor is good in every way, except that he loves literature and poetry too much, and he can't go anywhere without composing poems.

What made him even more envious and jealous was that Lu Junyao was not only proficient in Confucianism and could pass the imperial examinations, but also had a great deal of knowledge about the study of things (heavenly books). It seemed that there was nothing in the world that he was not good at.

However, the more versatile Lu Junyao was, the more Yang Zhi admired him.

He carefully put away the poem, folded it neatly, and placed it in his inner pocket. Then, he took a deep breath, his eyes hardening with determination, and solemnly ordered his personal guards, "Pass on my order! Prepare the entire army for battle! The Northern Expedition begins!"

"Yes!" the guard shouted in response, turned and strode away, relaying the order throughout the entire camp.

With Yang Zhi's order issued, the war machine of the Indian Governor's Office began to operate at high speed.

The grain, ammunition, medicine, clothing and other supplies accumulated over the years were continuously transferred from various places to the front line; warships in Southeast Asia also set sail one after another, transporting heavy artillery and large military supplies along the coastline.

Two months later, everything was ready.

On the plain outside the city of Dvajiri, an army of 50,000 stood in neat formation, their banners fluttering and their armor gleaming.

Yang Zhi, dressed in heavy lamellar armor, rode a tall horse, holding a whip in his hand, his gaze sweeping over the army before him, his heart filled with heroic spirit.

He lashed out with his whip and shouted, "Let's go!"

The army marched from Dvagiri, crossed the Godavari River to the east, and was the first to arrive in Aurangabad.

This city is a vital transportation hub connecting the Deccan Plateau with central India. Once captured, the Eastern Song Dynasty could leverage the Godavari River's water transport advantage to ensure unimpeded supply lines.

Ibn Saeed, the local military governor of Aurangabad, had only two thousand soldiers under his command.

When he learned that 50,000 troops from the Eastern Song Dynasty were pressing on the border, he was having sex with his concubine in his mansion.

The sudden military intelligence was like a bucket of ice water poured over his head, instantly making him weak all over and losing all interest.

For the past eight years, Dong Song has been like a coward, hiding in Devajiri and has never taken the initiative to attack.

Why the sudden change of heart today, launching a major northern expedition?

Could it be that the Delhi Sultanate is experiencing another civil war, with someone vying for the Sultanate's throne?

If that's the case, why didn't he receive any messages?

Ibn Said paced anxiously around the room, filled with doubt.

Just as his thoughts were in turmoil, "Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Several thunderous roars suddenly erupted, shaking the entire mansion and causing dust to fall from the window frames.

Immediately afterward, a trembling soldier stumbled in, his face deathly pale, and reported, "Sir...the city...the city has fallen!"

Upon hearing this, Ibn Saeed was instantly relieved.

He shook his head with a wry smile, realizing he had actually tried to defend the city with only two thousand men; he had truly lost his mind.

The Eastern Song Dynasty possessed powerful cannons; in the face of such cannons, city walls and gates were no different from paper.

"Surrender," he ordered decisively. "Tell the people of the Eastern Song that I am willing to surrender, submit to the Eastern Song, and become a compliant subject of the Song."

In reality, Ibn Saeed's surrender was of little consequence to Yang Zhi.

Before cannons existed, it might have been necessary to win over local generals and trick them into opening the city gates; now, with the immense power of cannons, there's no need for that effort at all—just fire the cannons and blast the city gates open.

"Open fire and blast his mother!" Yang Zhi chuckled inwardly, but then thought that he might as well make a show of spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones.

Accepting Ibn Saeed's surrender might make subsequent Delhi Sultanate generals more likely to surrender, reducing resistance to the army's northward expedition.

Aurangabad was captured with almost no effort.

Yang Zhi left a thousand soldiers to garrison the city, responsible for protecting the supply lines and pacifying the local people, while he led the main force to continue the northern expedition.

The army marched north, crossing the ancient passes of the Vindiya Mountains, and advanced along the Tapti River Valley, successfully capturing Burhanpur. They then advanced along the eastern edge of the Malwa Plateau, seizing Chandri.

Along the way, the Delhi Sultanate's garrison was few and far between, numbering at most a few thousand, and was simply unable to withstand the onslaught of the Eastern Song army.

With their superior artillery, the Song army advanced unimpeded and swept through the enemy lines, eventually reaching the gateway to northern India – the city of Gwalior.

The city of Gwalior is situated in a strategically important location, built against a rocky mountain. It has three layers of walls, which are tall, thick, and easy to defend.

This is a crucial point connecting North India and Central India. By capturing Gwalior, the connection between Delhi and other parts of Central India can be severed, creating a trap that can then be used to capture cities in Central India one by one.

Mahmud, the Viceroy of Central India of the Delhi Sultanate and the younger brother of Sultan Tughluq, belonged to the core nobility of the Tughluq dynasty.

He commanded 20,000 elite soldiers stationed in Gualior.

Upon learning of the successive falls of cities like Burhanpur and Chandri, Mahmud was in a rage in the governor's mansion. He slammed his wine glass to the ground, shards flying, and roared, "These useless bastards! All useless bastards! Burhanpur and Chandri, they've fallen to the Song army in just a few days? Even a trip wouldn't be this fast!"

"Quickly! Send a message to His Majesty the Sultan immediately! Tell him that 50,000 Song troops have launched a massive invasion and have already reached the walls of Gwalior. We request His Majesty to send a large army to support us immediately!" Mahmoud ordered his officials sternly.

"Your Excellency is wise!" the adjutant beside him quickly echoed, a fawning smile on his face. "As long as we hold fast to Gwalior City, and rely on its strategic location to delay the arrival of the Sultan's army, we will surely ensure that the Song army never returns and is utterly annihilated!"

Mahmoud chuckled dismissively, glancing sideways at his adjutant: "You know you need to defend the city, do you think the Song army wouldn't?"

The lieutenant's smile froze instantly, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart. He cautiously asked, "Sir... what does he mean?"

"Defend the city?" Mahmoud scoffed, his tone mocking. "Weren't the walls of Burhanpur and Chandri high and thick enough? Didn't they still get easily breached by the Song army? The Song army had cannons; defending the city was like being trapped like a turtle in a jar, just waiting to die!"

The lieutenant inwardly grumbled, reluctant to admit he was a "turtle," but the person before him was the Sultan's own brother, and he dared not refute him. He could only lower his head and ask again, "Then... what does Your Excellency mean?"

A confident glint flashed in Mahmoud's eyes. He gripped the scimitar at his waist and said in a deep voice, "Taking advantage of the fact that the Song army has just arrived in Gualiaoer City, their foothold is not yet firm, and their morale is not yet settled, I will personally lead eight thousand elite cavalry to launch a preemptive attack and harass their camp. We will surely defeat the Song army!"