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

Chapter 251 I am living in the human world with my head covered in snow

Wei Sheng has been sitting on this hill for some time.

His staff and personal guards had come to him several times, asking whether he should send troops to aid the front line immediately, but all of them were rejected by Wei Sheng.

In the end, Zhang Baiyu even came to Wei Sheng in person to ask for a fight. Although he was still respectful after being scolded, he did not go back to lead the armored cavalry. He just stood by with a sword in his hand so that he could receive orders as soon as possible.

Wei Sheng just stroked his long beard and looked at the battle situation on the front line. During this period, he only said a word when Liu Huai asked the soldiers to break the formation and sent out the swordsmen of his personal guards. He did not say a word at other times.

Zhang Baiyu became more and more anxious, and in the end he almost squeezed the handle of the knife until it squeaked, attracting the attention of the guards around him.

To be honest, if people didn't know that this guy was the fourth son of Zhang Rong and Zhang Diwan, and was also the commander of the former army, they might have mistaken him for an assassin and dragged him away for questioning.

Even so, Luo Guzi, a staff member of the Loyal Army, kept coughing and signaled Zhang Baiyu with his eyes not to be anxious.

Wei Sheng also came back to his senses from his deep thoughts. He stroked his long beard and asked with a hint of amusement, "Zhang Silang, why are you acting like this? Do you still think I would abandon my biological son and adopted son together and leave them to die?"

Zhang Baiyu quickly bowed and said, "I dare not."

Wei Sheng smiled and shook his head: "Even if I don't care about the lives of Huai'er and Chang'er, can I really let Luo Dalang die in front of Mr. Luo?"

Zhang Baiyu continued to lower his head, but remained silent.

Wei Sheng, observing this, turned his gaze towards the battlefield ahead, explaining to Zhang Baiyu, "Zhang Silang, a battle between ten thousand men is somewhat different from a fight between a few hundred. The larger the number of men, the more chaos they cause. Therefore, there's a saying in the military: if you have five thousand men, you must split them up, and if you have thirty thousand men, you must split them up into different routes."

This means that during wartime, the commander-in-chief can only directly command an army of up to 5,000 men. If the number exceeds 5,000, the excess troops must be assigned to the deputy general, who will then control the troops through command of the deputy general.

If there are more than 30,000 troops, the roads will be blocked during the march, and it will be difficult to transport supplies to the rear through a single route. The troops will have to be divided and marched separately. This is why 30,000 troops must be divided into different routes.

As he spoke, Wei Sheng pointed to the large banner with the words "loyalty and righteousness" written on it behind him, then pointed to the anxious front line, and finally pointed to the large banner of "Wuxing" that was visible in the distance.

"This is precisely why both I and Meng Tian, the guardian of the state, remain unmoved. We have already divided our forces among our deputy generals, leaving them to fight on the front lines. As the main generals, our responsibility is to coordinate and respond to any changes."

"As for the battle situation on the front lines, I can probably figure it out based on observations from afar and the communication of military envoys. But who can know as well as Huai'er? If the situation were dire, he would use flags to call for reinforcements. He didn't do that right now, which shows that he has enough confidence in the battle on the front lines. Zhang Silang should also have some confidence in Huai'er."

Zhang Baiyu's nervousness eased a little, but he felt a little embarrassed again: "I'm ashamed, but I still have one question..."

"Say it."

"The second formation has been gathering strength for a long time. When can it move?"

Wei Shengfu pointed at the Wuxing flag again and said, "I will only move once that flag moves. This is not just a matter of striking first, but also because I need to clearly see the main attack direction of the Jin bandits so I can respond accordingly."

As soon as the words fell, a huge clamor and shouts of killing suddenly rang out at the front line. Everyone stopped talking and concentrated on analyzing the situation on the battlefield through the movement of the flags.

First, the large Saker Falcon flag representing Marching Meng'an advanced, and several small flags of the Loyal Army fell one after another. A moment later, the Flying Tiger flag representing Liu Huai came head-on. The Saker Falcon flag made slow progress and ultimately made little headway.

After the Flying Tiger flag and the Saker Falcon flag held each other for a while, the Saker Falcon flag finally fell to the ground at an angle amid the noise that drowned out the shouts of killing.

Wei Sheng waved his hand to stop his staff and guards from cheering, and then stared at the front line again.

Wei Sheng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw several large flags of the Marching Mouke army coming to attack but being repelled.

Another half a minute later, Wei Sheng finally smiled when he saw the Flying Tiger flag and the Luo flag standing side by side, with a slightly smaller 'Wei' flag following closely behind, pressing forward and causing the Jin army flags to retreat.

When the 'Wu Xing' banner was also unfurled, Wei Sheng suddenly stood up, unable to contain his laughter any longer: "Hahaha, God is really helping me! We can pacify this bandit today!"

"Zhang Silang, aren't you anxious? We have 200 armored cavalrymen from the central army and you, plus the front army headquarters, for a total of 500 armored cavalrymen. Push forward and follow Huai'er's orders!"

Zhang Baiyu was delighted. After bowing and receiving the order, he turned around and left quickly.

"Send the order. Commanders of the Central Army, Wang Xiongyi, Pang Rugui, Yuchi Mingyue, and Zhou Xinglie, each lead their troops and horses to advance in battle formation."

"Send the message. Deputy Commander of the Right Army, Li Xiu, lead his troops forward and dispatch two hundred armored cavalry from the Right Army to reinforce Zhang Xiaoyi's forces on the right wing."

"Send the order. Xin Qiji, Yelu Xingge, and Li Tieqiang of the third formation of the Tianping Army move forward and form up on the left wing of the main army."

"Send a message to Wang Shilong, the commander of the front army. Tell him that a decisive battle has already begun on the front line. Even if we cannot defeat the enemy troops in the mountains, we must maintain the front line and absolutely cannot let the Jin bandits attack our rear."

"Send the message. Uncle He asks Judge He to personally lead the troops. Tell him that over ten counties in Shandong are watching him, as are Shandong's century-old heroes. Life and death depend on this. Fight with all your might and don't hold back!"

After saying this, Wei Sheng jumped on his horse, ordered his personal guards to hold high the flag representing the commander-in-chief of the Loyal Army, and stepped forward in person.

They had gone but a hundred paces when a military messenger hurried in with a report: "Report, Grand Judge Lu sent me to tell you that Generals Wang and Shi have defeated the bandits in the mountains and are driving them back to attack their flanks."

Wei Sheng laughed again. "It's heaven's will that this happens so perfectly! I'll pass on another order to Wang Shilong, telling him to make a decision on the spot, but be very careful! He's already accomplished a great deal. From now on, we won't seek to achieve any more, but rather to avoid any mistakes!"

The military envoy bowed, took the document and the rewritten military order, then quickly left with the token.

The order was passed back, and the first to move were the generals of the Central Army, followed by Li Xiu of the Right Army and the Tianping Army, which had rested for an hour. Finally, the order was passed to He Boqiu. He Boqiu took the order, listened to Wei Sheng's words, and after a moment's silence, he finally laughed out loud.

"Father, since the commander-in-chief has given the order and regards us as the deciding factor, we must go to war no matter what." He Zizhen saw that his father did not give the order immediately. Even after waiting for a moment, he could no longer bear it and urged him directly.

Although He Zizheng was more steady, he also looked at He Boqiu with anticipation.

He Boqiu nodded repeatedly, without further ado, and said directly: "Of course, and I will take the lead."

He Zizhen and He Zizheng stepped forward together, wanting to say something, but He Boqiu waved his hand and said, "Don't try to persuade me. I have to give myself an explanation."

After throwing out these incoherent words, He Boqiu raised the military order in his hand and shouted: "General's order, raise the sails! Go to war!"

After that, the general drum in the water fort boomed, and the sailors who were already waiting on the boat cheered in unison: "Victory! Victory!"

"Erlang, you will be my successor; Sanlang, you will be the third formation! The rest of you, follow me!"

After that, He Boqiu led more than fifty soldiers onto a steamship and personally went to the wheelhouse.

The gate of the water fort rumbled open, and the sailors in the cabin stepped on the water wheel, allowing the watercraft to move forward without relying on wind direction or water current.

Thirteen waterwheel boats, plus nearly a thousand soldiers on board, were the troops Wei Sheng prepared for the Jin army to circumvent the rear.

He Boqiu looked into the distance, holding the rudder, and laughed again: "Uncle Jiu, do you know why I laughed just now?"

He Lai also shook his head.

But He Boqiu didn't seem to want He Lai to answer, he just wanted to confide: "I really didn't expect that after twenty years, after so many twists and turns, I would finally embark on the road of resisting the Jin army."

He Lai also knew that the incident twenty years ago was a thorn in He Boqiu's heart. After a moment of silence, he said with difficulty: "At that time, Alang was also doing it for our He Family Village."

He Boqiu sighed: "Actually, I'm scared."

He Lai was also stunned.

"Yes, I was afraid. I was afraid of being killed by swords and axes, I was afraid of being separated from my wife and children, and I was afraid of living a hard life. So I watched my two brothers rise up to fight against the Jin Dynasty, watched my two brothers fail and were killed, and watched Pangzhuang and Xiao Pangzhuang destroyed." He Boqiu murmured, as if he was talking to He Lai, and also as if he was talking to himself twenty years ago.

"I also tried to convince myself that I had saved Zhuangzi, but as Pang Shisan said, how many times have I been awakened by nightmares in the middle of the night, how many times have I been overcome with sorrow when drunk, how many times have I thought of the past while riding my horse across the Yishui River? I have fooled so many people, but can I really fool myself?"

"I'm just scared."

As he spoke, He Boqiu looked towards the shore. There, the soldiers of the Loyal Army were rushing forward, stepping onto the battlefield as if they were rushing to a party. He searched among the crowd and finally found the smaller flag with the word "Pang" on it.

Although the distance was far and only shadowy figures could be seen, He Boqiu still recognized the spirited general under the big flag.

Pang Rugui, Pang Shisan, he looks so much like his father.

In a trance, He Boqiu seemed to really see his two brothers under the big banner with the word "Pang", as well as the young man with a timid face following closely behind the two brothers.

That was myself twenty years ago.

The next moment, Pang Huiming, Pang Hu, and He Boqiu from twenty years ago turned their heads at the same time and looked over through the unreachable time. The appearance of the two brothers had become a little blurred by the passage of time, but He Boqiu still recognized them.

The two brothers were frozen in the long river of time and in He Boqiu's memory. They were still young, but He Boqiu had aged a lot.

You buried the bones in the mud, I sent the world to the world full of snow.

He Boqiu wanted to wave goodbye to them, but immediately came to his senses.

The figures of the three people in the distance disappeared like a mirage.

He Boqiu lowered his head, looking at the lines on his palm. When he looked up again, he finally spoke firmly, "I've been hiding from this war for twenty years! Today, I won't hide anymore. If the heavens have mercy on me, please let me complete what my brother left unfinished twenty years ago!"

The sound was not loud and was soon drowned out by the sea songs sung by the sailors rowing the boat.

It is:

"One call brings sweat, one call brings courage, head up to the sky, bare feet, white sails hoisted on the waves!

A straw hat and a straw raincoat, a cabin for the family to eat in wind and rain, hard stones, soft mudflats, and a crescent moon hanging on the mast!

A whip for every step of the way, a bowl of rice for a hundred miles, skinned in the morning, sleepless at night, corpses all over the riverbank!

"Clad in armor and carrying a steel whip, I'm filled with ambition and courage. I'll avenge my vengeance and repay my grievances. How can I let the gold thieves escape?"

(End of this chapter)