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

Chapter 174: Once a Righteous Army, Never Let Down the Ghosts

The area between Yishui and Shuhe is not entirely plain.

Shandong's terrain is high in the middle and low on all sides. The highest mountain in the middle is naturally Mount Tai. However, being low on all sides does not mean that there are vast flat lands on all sides, but that there are extensive hilly areas.

After traveling more than 120 miles north from Linyi along the Yishui River, Liu Huai and others had entered the hilly area. To the west of Yinan County in later generations was Mengshan Mountain, and to the north was Yishui County about 50 miles. To the east of Yishui was a large area of hills.

After crossing this hilly area which is fifty miles wide, you will reach Ju County, the capital of Juzhou. After passing Ju County and heading east, after crossing an area of more than one hundred miles mixed with hills and high mountains, you will arrive at Rizhao County. Maybe there you can meet Zhang Rong who is attacking Mizhou along the coastline.

Without further ado, when Liu Huai arrived here, he almost instantly regarded this place as a place to stop the Jin army.

Of course, in order to find out whether the Jin army would move south along the Shu River, Liu Huai also sent a large number of scouts to cross the hilly areas in the east to investigate the situation in Ju County.

The Jin Dynasty was founded on cavalry, so no matter which regular army came to attack, there would always be a lot of cavalry.

The disgusting thing about cavalry is that their tactical mobility is unparalleled. If the Loyal Army sets up camp on the plain to block the Jin Army, the worst that can happen is that they will bypass them and attack the civilians in the rear directly, turning the fertile plain between the Shuhe River and the Yishui River into a hell on earth.

At that time, the Loyal Army was unable to advance or retreat, and in their panic they might have been defeated by the Jin Army in one battle.

Therefore, the Jin army must be blocked in the mountainous area, even if it means fighting a tough battle.

Of course, according to Liu Huai's analysis of the situation, the Jin army's goal was to clear the retreat route during the southern expedition, and they were bound to fight to the death with the Loyal Army.

But nothing in the world is absolute. Who knows whether the commander of the Jin army is a ruthless person who appears respectful on the surface but is actually ready to stab Wanyan Liang in the back at any time?
You must know that in history, after Wanyan Liang started his southern expedition, the Jin Kingdom lost the suppression of its army, and there were little Fengxians everywhere.

Han, Jurchen, Khitan, and Xi people all started to make a commotion. Even Wanyan Loushi's second son, Wanyan Mouyan, rebelled and put Wanyan Yong on the throne, let alone others.

What if the Jin commander was also this type of person, and his attitude upon meeting them was: "No rush, let's just play with them first?" Given the Jin cavalry's mobility, things would be very serious. By then, Wanyan Liang might have already died on the banks of the Yangtze River, and the battle with the Loyal and Righteous Army wouldn't have ended.

After all, this is not the Mengshan Mountain where there is a small river on both sides of the mountains, but a relatively intact and essential place in Shandong. As long as you are willing to be ruthless and plunder, you will always find food.

While Liu Huai was discussing with the local He Boqiu, he described the terrain and topography through drawings and letters, and sent appropriate people to inform Wei Sheng of his strategic intentions.

Wei Sheng's order arrived almost at the same time as the 200 vanguard armored cavalry. The content of the order was very simple. The vanguard army, which had been expanded to 2,600 people, needed to face the Jin army alone for the time being.

The central army and the right army are not unable to move, but they can only move after determining the main attack direction of the Jin army.

Moreover, as the news of land distribution spread, some small landlords and wealthy families were afraid of being affected, and there were some riots, which required military force to suppress.

Under such circumstances, He Boqiu volunteered to take that group of powerful people back to Linyi to stabilize the situation.

Liu Huai naturally agreed.

Although many of these powerful people were already interested in the Loyal Army and wanted to join it directly, Liu Huai still decided to respect Wei Sheng's authority and let them all follow He Boqiu back.

You can join the Loyal Army, but I cannot decide your specific rank or what you do. You must obey the orders of Marshal Wei.

Although this group of powerful people were Liu Huai's personal subordinates on the surface, they were more following He Boqiu to express their opinions. After hearing what Liu Huai said, He Boqiu did not object, so he nodded and went back in a mighty manner.

It’s just a matter of making two more trips.

"That's the military order." Zhang Baiyu, sweating profusely in his armor and panting heavily, said to Liu Huai, "The commander-in-chief said that if the Jin bandits exceed 20,000, the front army can retreat, but if they are less than 20,000, we must stay here and hold out for six or seven days."

Liu Huai nodded. "Besides the 2,600 regular troops, how many civilians are there? When will they arrive?"

Zhang Baiyu was still sweating profusely. "Thirteen or fourteen hundred civilians can all serve as auxiliary troops. The entire army should arrive in five days, which is August 28th."

After a pause, Zhang Baiyu seemed to remember something and quickly added, "Oh right, the commander-in-chief asked the civilians to use the Ruyi chariot to transport food and fodder this time. He said it should be useful."

Liu Huai nodded again and was about to say something when his personal guards called out his name, saying that the military envoy of the Dongping Army had arrived.

Dongping Army? Zhang Rong's Dongping Army?

Why would the Dongping Army send envoys to such a place?

The Loyalty Army and the Dongping Army were divided. Directionally, the Loyalty Army was heading northwest, while the Dongping Army was heading northeast, increasing the distance between them. Furthermore, if Zhang Rong and Zhang Diwan wanted to negotiate with the Loyalty Army, shouldn't they have first followed the Shu River to find Wei Sheng? Why did they end up here?
Not only Liu Huai was curious, but even Zhang Baiyu looked a little dazed, wondering if he had heatstroke or was thinking of his biological father.

Liu Huai and Zhang Baiyu went forward to meet them, but they only saw one person following the light cavalry that had been sent to Ju County to investigate.

The man was not tall, about thirty or forty years old, but his face was full of wrinkles. He was not wearing armor, only coarse cloth clothes, and a huge hat on his head. His skin was as dark as charcoal, and his joints were thick. He looked more like an old farmer than a soldier.

"Commander-in-Chief of the Dongping Army, Guan Kaizhao, pays homage to Lord Liu Dalang and Lord Zhang Silang."

The officer named Kai Zhao bowed and saluted.

Zhang Baiyu frowned directly: "I have never seen you before, how do you know the commander and me?"

Kai Zhao glanced at Liu Huai and continued to bow, "General Zhang once said that the most powerful and majestic among the Loyal Army is Liu Dalangjun, and the most handsome... the most handsome is the general's fourth son."

Zhang Baiyu's pretty face darkened, knowing that this guy just wanted to say something like the prettiest.

Liu Huai simply gave up and turned his laughter into coughing before he exhaled: "Ahem, how did you get here?"

"In reply to the eldest son's question." Kai Zhao wasn't as rough as his old peasant appearance would suggest. On the contrary, he was quite polite. He actually maintained a bowed posture until Liu Huai waved him off. "General Zhang sent Ming Chun to join me in the siege of Ju County. Although we haven't taken it yet, after seeing the eldest son's scouts, I knew that the Loyal Army had captured Linyi and that the Northern Expedition had reached this point. That's why I hurried to pay my respects to you."

Liu Huai suddenly understood.

In fact, the Shandong heroes who now belong to the Dongping Army, such as Kai Zhao, Ming Chun, Liu Yi, Li Ji, Zheng Yun and others, originally followed Wei Sheng and later followed Li Bao.

However, since Zhang Rong took on the important task of supporting Li Bao in attacking the Jin navy, these anti-Jin rebel forces on the eastern coast naturally became part of the Dongping Army.

For example, Kai Zhao in front of him, this guy should have been mixed up with Wang Shilong and also attacked Ju County, but at that time Yizhou was never captured by Wei Sheng from beginning to end. After the Zhongyi Army withdrew, the Jin Army in Yizhou sent cavalry as reinforcements, and Kai Zhao and Wang Shilong retreated accordingly.

Among them, Wang Shilong stationed troops in Rizhao County, and after Geng Jing's death, he and Xin Qiji carried out the operation of beheading the traitor Zhang Anguo among thousands of troops.

Kai Zhao, on the other hand, took refuge with Li Bao and subsequently returned to Song.

Now, Wang Shilong is the commander of the front army of the Loyal Army. He will arrive here in a few days and is ready to fight to the death with the Jin bandits.

Kai Zhao, following Zhang Rong's orders, surrounded Ju County tightly and also surrounded Juzhou's governor Wanyan Zijin in the city. However, this time, there were no Jin thieves from Yizhou to rescue Ju County.

It can be said that due to Liu Huai's internal and external provocations and tossing, history took another small turn in Juzhou.

However, at this moment, hearing Kai Zhao's name and observing his behavior, Liu Huai suddenly remembered something: "General Kai, who is Kaishan Zhao to you?"

Kai Zhao's calm expression finally showed a ripple. After a moment's silence, he said, "It's my brother!"

Liu Huai suddenly realized again.

Kaishan Zhao is Zhao Kaishan, the leader of the rebel army that rose up in Shandong a few years ago to fight against the Jin Dynasty. In order to show his determination to give up his ancestral surname if the fight against the Jin Dynasty failed, he changed his name and called himself Kaishan Zhao.

At that time, the Kaishan Zhao army was powerful, with an army of 300,000 men, and fought in Yizhou, Mizhou, Jinan Prefecture, etc. In the end, it was defeated by the Jin veteran general Wanyan Bendu, who personally led his army and tore the Zhao army apart with six horses.

Of course, with such a large-scale uprising, it would be a miracle if there were no remnants left.

Kai Zhao should be one of them.

In order to remember his brother's hatred, he took one character from his brother's name as his name, and also reversed his name to show his determination to resist the Jin.

In short, this is a person who is very firm in both his position and actions.

After a few pleasantries, Liu Huai invited Kai Zhao to his temporary camp, and another scout came on horseback.

However, this person did not speak any military information loudly. Instead, he stepped forward and saluted, then leaned close to Liu Huai's ear and whispered.

After hearing this, Liu Huai narrowed his eyes.

(End of this chapter)