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

Chapter 136: I only know how to complain alone

It's no wonder that Liu Huai was confused, because it took a lot of effort to organize an army of thousands of people. It's not like they could finish their work one moment and attack again the next.

There must be time for the officers to form the team, time for replenishing the water bottles and arrows, and time for the sergeants and squad leaders to boost the morale of the troops.

It took more than an hour or two to finish all this, and the whole morning passed in a flash.

The morale of the Jin army will definitely be hit, and the Tianping army may also take the opportunity to survive the most critical moment.

In fact, as soon as the Jin cavalry withdrew, the Tianping Army cheered loudly, as if they had won a great victory.

Pushan Damo on the west bank of the Anzi River was also extremely surprised. He didn't think that Jiagu Shou and Shuhu Ali would dare to fool him at this time.

What a joke! The Yizhou army just defeated an army of 100,000 with only a few thousand soldiers under his command. He, the prestige of Pushan, is at the peak of his power. These two old guys didn't dare to disobey his orders before, so how could they dare to disobey him now?
But precisely because he didn't dare, Pushandama was even more surprised. He didn't even have time to send a messenger, so he took He Boqiu, Wang Xiongyi and Gao Anren on a small boat and came to the east bank.

As soon as he entered the camp, Pushandamo felt that something was wrong, because the Jurchen cavalrymen did not have a trace of joy or excitement on their faces, but were all terrified and whispering to each other.

They had just won a great victory last night, so how come they became like this after just a few hours?

Pushandamo quickened his pace and entered a large courtyard that served as the central army. There, in addition to Jiagu Shou and Shuhu Ali, there were seven or eight other people. Three of them were sitting on the ground, sweating all over, with their legs trembling slightly, as if they had just ridden horses for a long time.

Pushandama immediately had a bad feeling in his heart. Before he could ask, Jiagu Shou handed him a letter with a complete wax seal.

When Pushandamo took the letter and saw the signature of Liu Fen, the magistrate of Yizhou, his heart sank again.

"Do you know the contents of the letter?"

Jia Gushou shook his head. "I don't know, but I can roughly guess. Because my family's manor also sent someone to report the news, and they met Liu Dapan's messenger on the way, so they came together."

"My family's farm is also gone," Shuhu Ali said with difficulty, his mouth dry. "...I don't know if Zhang Chou is dead or surrendered. Including Zhangjiazhuang, the dozen or so farms are all gone. Song Gou has already moved west and set up camp by the Yi River."

Pushandarmo tore open the letter, read it in a few seconds, and his heart sank instantly.

Liu Fen had made it very clear in the letter that this was not a matter of a dozen villages being lost, but rather a matter of the defense system on the east bank of Yishui being completely scrapped.

Zhangjiazhuang, Hejiazhuang and Cuijiazhuang, which were originally used as defensive fulcrums, were arranged in a triangle from north to south. The manors of Shuhu Ali, Jiagu Shou and the dead ghost Wu Yanlie were all within this triangle.

Now that Zhangjiazhuang has been captured, the three Jurchen villages will be the first to be attacked by the Loyal Army.

But these Jurchen villages are different from the Han villages. The Jurchens oppressed the Han tenants so badly that they almost turned them into slaves. Now with powerful enemies approaching from outside and a lack of young and strong people inside, it would be a miracle if the Han people in the Jurchen villages did not take the opportunity to cause trouble.

It is no wonder that these Jurchen manors sent messengers to report this fatal news to the manor owners.

Pushandharma held onto a glimmer of hope and asked, "Have these news been blocked?"

Jia Gushou stamped his feet and said, "How can we block it? The messenger came to me in panic in front of everyone. If I don't tell them clearly that Zhangjiazhuang is gone, everyone will think ours is gone! I can still gather my men now, but if they spread rumors, they will all scatter!"

Pusan Damo held the letter and glared at the messenger for a moment, but ultimately, he was helpless. He sighed deeply in the courtyard and stood there staring blankly at the sky. He wanted to scold Zhang Chou, but Liu Fen's letter made it clear that Zhang Chou had left the camp to fight the Song army and had become completely incompetent after his defeat.

Pushandarmo was a Jurchen governor, and Zhang Chou was a powerful Han Chinese. They had no recent gratitude towards each other, but they had grudges in the past. Zhang Chou had done this much for Pushandarmo, and he had already done his best to satisfy the conscience of heaven and earth.

Do you still expect everyone in Zhangjiazhuang to be completely loyal to the Jin Kingdom?

In the end, Pushandharma could only sigh again and remain silent.

Everyone was confused for a moment, unable to understand why the situation deteriorated so quickly after such a beautiful victory.
After a moment's silence, Wang Xiongyi spoke with difficulty, "Governor, withdraw! The Tianping army is already frightened and will surely not pursue us. If we continue to engage these defeated remnants, we might lose those Jurchen villages, but what if the Song army is determined to cross the river and attack Cangcheng? There's a mountain of military equipment and rations collected from the entire eastern Shandong region. If these are lost, Your Majesty will go hungry during your southern expedition. No one can afford that."

When Wang Xiongyi said "a few Jurchen manors were lost, so what", several Jurchens in the courtyard glared at him at the same time. But when he finished speaking, Jiagu Shou and Shuhu Ali had nothing to say and could only nod in agreement.

Pushandama looked at He Boqiu, as if he wanted to ask for his opinion, but he saw that this wealthy man from Yishui just lowered his head and said nothing, so he could only give up.

As for Gao Anren... he was just a brave guest general, and everyone ignored him tacitly.

Pusan Damo was furious and tore the letter into pieces. He sternly ordered, "You may take the captured gold, silver, and valuables as you wish, as long as it does not affect the march. But I have one thing to say: All prisoners, regardless of gender, age, or status, must be killed to restore military prestige!"

Eight out of ten people present wanted to return to Linyi as soon as possible. They didn't think much about it and just nodded randomly.

He Boqiu remained silent.

After it was decided that the cavalry would break camp first and leave, and He Boqiu would lead the farmers to provide support in the rear, He Boqiu finally responded calmly and returned to the camp, allowing Pushandarmo to take his trusted armored cavalry to the east bank of the Anzi River to join forces with the Jurchen cavalry.

It was only then that He Lai approached He Boqiu and asked, "Ah Lang, are we really going to kill all the captives?"

He Boqiu remained calm and said, "How is that possible? The Jurchens don't treat Han people as human beings, but we ourselves cannot belittle ourselves. Let's release them all."

He Lai also nodded and was about to leave, but he saw his master sitting upright on his horse, his mouth slightly open, as if he had suddenly realized something extremely important.

He Lai also hurriedly asked: "A Lang... are you okay?"

He Boqiu swayed on his horse and sighed, "I just figured out why, despite our great victory, the situation is getting worse. It turns out that Yizhou is not only being attacked by Wei Dadao, but also by the Jin Emperor and the Jurchens."

"Wei Dadao has only been attacking Yizhou for a few days, but His Majesty the Emperor has been attacking for over a decade, and the Jurchens have been attacking Yizhou for thirty years! The people of Yizhou have long been devastated by the Jin Empire, leaving them with only their last breath. That's why Wei Dadao is so unstoppable and unstoppable!"

"Wei Dadao has always been just a minor problem, but these Jurchens are the real problem! They are the real problem!"

At the end of his speech, He Boqiu was almost roaring to the sky.

Although He Lai was frightened when he heard it, after all, the only people around him who could hear the roar were his own farmers and a group of captives, so he just let his master vent his emotions.

(End of this chapter)