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

Chapter 142: Military and Political Gains and Losses

On the night of August 12, apart from the fighting between the scouts of both sides, there was almost no trouble.

Both sides were too tired and just wanted to have a good night's rest and fight hard tomorrow.

On the morning of August 13, the Yizhou Army and the Tianping Army, both of which had no shortage of cavalry, sent out a large number of scouts at the same time and began fighting and reconnaissance in the mountains and rivers about one mile wide.

This kind of fighting is different from battle in formation, because scouts focus on lightness and speed, so at most they just wear an iron crotch. If there is no difference in equipment, the Khitan cavalry who are skilled in horsemanship and cooperate with each other in groups of three or two may not be worse than the Jurchen cavalry.

More importantly, the Khitan cavalry had been marching normally in the previous few days, while the Jurchen cavalry was on a long-distance raid, and the fatigue level of the war horses was infinitely magnified at this time.

Coupled with the irrefutable morale reasons, the Jurchen scouts were defeated one after another in a short time.

However, some Jurchen cavalrymen still reported back the news that Pushandamo wanted to know.

The pursuing Tianping Army seemed to have no intention of leaving the camp to fight.

Pushandarmo's face quickly turned ashen, because he originally wanted to take advantage of the situation by waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out, but the Tianping Army seemed to have seen through his response and did not move at all.

At this time, Liu Huai was on a slope inside the camp, chatting with Xin Qiji and others.

"Why would I attack them? It's the Jin bandits who are anxious right now. We can just march forward step by step and crush them. Why would we fight a hard battle? Besides, you just suffered a crushing defeat. If you don't boost your morale, how can you afford a hard battle?"

Yelu Xingge watched the victorious Khitan cavalry scouts lift a captured iron crotch with their spears and cheered. After listening to Liu Huai's words, he stroked the gold ring on his braid and frowned, saying, "I still don't understand why the Jin bandits were so arrogant and domineering the night before, treating me like nothing, and how they are so embarrassed today?"

Liu Huai smiled and explained, "Why are you fighting?"

Yelu Xingge thought for a moment and said sincerely, "In order for the tribe to survive, it's best if we can live a good life."

"Then why are the Jin bandits fighting?" Without waiting for Yelu Xingge to answer, Liu Huai answered directly: "To kill those of you who are rebelling because you can't survive. They want you to die directly, which will save everyone trouble, right?"

Yelu Xingge nodded silently.

"So, do you think more people support the Golden Thieves, or do you think more people support you?"

Yelu Xingge was a little confused: "But...but we lost..."

"That's why I told Chief Geng to reorganize the Tianping Army. That's why I couldn't wait to force Xin Wulang to do this. Because the Jin bandits are few in number, but they can unite as one, while you are many in number but are scattered like a pile of sand. If you don't change, you will suffer great losses again."

After saying that, Liu Huai turned his head and looked at Xin Qiji: "Wu Lang, Yelu Xingge may not understand what I am going to say next, but I still want to tell you."

Xin Qiji was already helpless, and now he felt even more helpless: "Just say what you want to say. Is there anyone who can stop you?"

But Liu Huai did not continue to talk about internal rectification, but continued to talk about this battle: "Victory in war can be divided into three types: the first is political victory, the second is strategic victory, and the third is tactical victory.

Regardless of the group, whether it's the Jin or Song states, or the Yizhou Jin army, the Tianping army, or even our Zhongyi army, the ultimate goal is political victory."

Liu Huai waved his finger and said, "For Jin Lord Wanyan Liang, his reforms and capital relocations harmed the interests of the Jurchen nation, leading to political failure. Therefore, he resorted to heavy taxes and levies to invade the Song Kingdom in the south, using this political failure to annex the Song Kingdom. This would allow him to achieve a strategic victory through tactical victory, which would then feed back into politics and ultimately lead to political victory."

"For Pushan Damo, the governor of Yizhou, this was a natural political defeat, caused by Wanyan Liang's excessive taxation, which he could not change. Therefore, he wanted to use a tactical victory, that is, defeating the Tianping Army, to achieve his strategic goal, that is, defeating the Zhongyi Army and pacifying Yizhou, thereby covering up his political defeat."

"For our Loyal Army, we launched the Northern Expedition in obedience to Heaven's will, to rescue the people of the North, and to stabilize the world. Therefore, we have a natural advantage politically. We will then achieve tactical victories by attacking the county towns and manors along the way in Haizhou and Yizhou. Then, through a series of measures such as strict military discipline, clear rewards and punishments, and stabilizing the local areas, we will quickly transform tactical victories into strategic victories, thus turning political advantages into victory."

"You, the Tianping Army, rose up in rebellion against the Jin Empire's tyranny in order to survive. You also possessed a political advantage, as evidenced by the countless civilians who responded to your support in Tai'an Prefecture. However, you failed to leverage your political advantage to gain a strategic advantage. In your attempts to achieve a tactical victory, you were dealt a heavy blow by the Jin Army in Yizhou."

Liu Huai didn't comment on the Song State. After saying this, he continued his analysis, "The current situation is that while the Jin army in Yizhou has achieved a tactical victory, meaning they've defeated you, their internal weakness and political disadvantages allowed my father to rip their defenses apart, resulting in a crushing strategic defeat. Therefore, they've quickly gone from victor to loser. If the Jin army in Yizhou suffers another tactical defeat, they'll lose all three of their strategies, and there's no way they can recover."

"Although your Tianping Army has failed tactically and is strategically incompetent, as long as you use the banner of resisting the Jin, you still have the political advantage. With just a slight tactical victory, you can hopefully turn it into a strategic victory and gain a firm foothold."

Xin Qiji had been bombarded with similar remarks numerous times over the past two days, and he was growing increasingly irritated. "I'll convey your words verbatim to Chief Geng, and please don't try to harm me. If anyone else heard these words, it would be as if you, Liu Dalang, were constantly urging me to seize control of the Tianping Army. That's far too much of a taboo." After saying this, Xin Qiji paused, a hint of a sneer on his face. "Also, can you truly guarantee that the Loyalty Army will capture Yizhou without any setbacks?"

Liu Huai said with a smile: "Why not? Our army is superior on all three fronts, while the Jin army in Yizhou is inferior on all three fronts. If we can't win, then we will be doomed."

As he spoke, Liu Huai looked towards the other side of the river. Smoke and dust were billowing there. Except for a few cavalrymen on guard at the bank of Anzi River, the rest of the infantry were all marching quickly under the leadership of a large flag with the word "He" on it, ignoring the battle situation on the east bank of the river and not even stopping.

"What's going on with the He army and the Jurchen cavalry? I was originally worried that we might pursue them too far. The He army is crossing the river in the north, and we're being attacked from both sides. Another major defeat would be irreparable."

Yelu Xingge touched his chin. He had just listened to a lot of strategic, tactical and political talks. Although he didn't understand much, he knew it was a big deal, so he had been holding back and didn't say anything. Now seeing Liu Huai looking at the other side of the river, he couldn't help but feel confused again.

"Could it be that there's a rift between the two sides? I remember that you, Liu Dalang, didn't send anyone to spread rumors and sow discord?"

Liu Huai shook his head and sighed, "Why would I need to stir things up? Working together when you're in an advantageous position is nothing, but when you're at a disadvantage, you can suppress your own ulterior motives and work together. That's the real skill."

"Yesterday, when I saw the Jurchen cavalry advance and leave the He family's infantry on the other side, I could have anticipated this outcome. Let alone the distinction between Jurchen and Han, even if they were close friends, they would have split after doing something like this."

Xin Qiji and Yelu Xingge nodded at the same time.

"So what should we do now?"

After a moment of silence, Xin Qiji asked.

"Wait." Liu Huai said, and then said to Yelu Xingge: "Xingge..."

Yelu Xingge patted his chest and said, "Liu Dalang, don't be so formal. I'm the second child in my family. You can just follow your Han customs and call me Yelu Erlang."

Liu Huai nodded. "Yelü Erlang, our army is only five miles away from the Jin bandits. Our scouts are all Khitan light cavalry, so you must make it clear to them that their mission is not to kill or injure the Jin bandits, but to monitor them. If they break camp or really can't help but attack our camp, you must have them send a message immediately."

Yelu Xingge nodded and quickly sent his confidant Li Yizhenjin to deliver the message.

"If the Jin invaders attack, there's nothing to say. We can just defend the camp." Liu Huai said to Xin Qiji, "If the Jin invaders retreat, we'll have to chase them from a distance. We have plenty of scouts, so don't be afraid of a surprise attack. Cavalry deployment is difficult, but we have plenty of time. We can then form a battle array and fight by relying on the terrain near the mountains and rivers.

If the Jin bandits simply retreat, at their current speed, it will take them at least two days to get out of this mountainous area. If they can still command smoothly by then, then our army will directly launch an attack and bite off a piece of meat!"

Xin Qiji frowned, suddenly realizing the flaw in this plan: "What if the Jin thieves abandon their horses and retreat at full speed?"

Liu Huai smiled, his smile like a hungry wolf seeing a tender lamb: "That's great. I'd rather say I'm looking forward to them doing this every moment."

Yelu Xingge explained, "Wu Lang, you haven't seen a thousand horses together, so you don't understand. With so many horses running together, they'll chase each other. It would be fine in the stables, but with cavalry on their backs, even if they don't spare any effort, the horses will literally die of exhaustion."

Yelu Xingge paused and continued, "Furthermore, cavalry formations are different from infantry formations. Not only do they occupy a larger area, but they are also more chaotic. If infantry fall behind, someone will notice, but when cavalry are running wild, they are really at the mercy of fate and difficult to organize."

Xin Qiji suddenly realized something and said, "So, if the Jin bandits really retreat at full speed, even if we do nothing, they will still leave behind a few hundred men? Just like those Jurchen cavalrymen who strayed a few days ago?"

Liu Huai replied, "It won't be just a few hundred men, because the terrain is so bad. Conservatively, we'll have to leave behind half the stragglers, and then our army will just have to kill them."

Xin Qiji breathed a sigh of relief: "So, the Jin thieves can only withdraw their troops at this slow pace?"

Liu Huai shook his head. "Their best option is to take advantage of the army's remaining courage and perseverance, abandon any wishful thinking of waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out, and come to our camp and fight. Furthermore, the Jin bandits only have one day's chance, as their morale and strength are only going to deteriorate. If they don't dare come today, they'll be pursued and beaten by our army later."

"An orderly retreat for the entire army? Humph, how can that bastard Pushandarman control it?"

Just as he finished speaking, two Khitan cavalrymen came swiftly from outside the camp. After reining in their horses, they shouted, "General! The Jin bandits have broken camp and fled south!"

Liu Huai couldn't help but laugh heartily, then his expression turned serious. He said to Xin Qiji, "Wu Lang, in another quarter of an hour, our army will break camp and set out. Arrange your troops in a strict formation and catch up with them!"

(End of this chapter)