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

Chapter 270: Sounds from all directions

It turns out that the strategy of adjusting and waiting is completely correct.

After the fighting stopped, there were enough scouts to travel between different places, and information became much smoother.

At this time, news from the surrounding areas began to spread.

First, Geng Jing reduced the number of Tianping Army soldiers to about 10,000, and registered the tens of thousands of refugees who came with him as citizens and settled them in Fei County.

After all, this is not a long-term solution, because a county is still too small to accommodate so many people.

In fact, during the military meeting, Li Tieqiang had already revealed where the Tianping Army would go next, and this was a fact that everyone knew.

That is to go to Yanzhou.

After waiting for Wanyan Liang to lead the army to Lianghuai to fight a decisive battle with the Song State, the Tianping Army will take action, capture Yanzhou, and then attack Jizhou and Dongping Prefecture.

Together with Tai'an Prefecture, with the four prefectures as the foundation, we will stand back to back with the Loyal and Righteous Army and plan for the future.

This was a plan that any discerning person could see, because given the geographical situation of the mountains and rivers, it was impossible for the Tianping Army to cross Dongping Prefecture and directly attack Yanjing City.

On September 6, just after the Loyal Army had finished its trial, the Dongping Army encountered a frontal attack from 25,000 Jin Kingdom naval forces.

The 4,000 Dongping troops stationed in Caoqiao Town were caught off guard and completely collapsed after holding out for half a day.

Commander Hu Yanchuo almost fled back to Xinyang Town alone, where there were 8,000 soldiers led by Zhang Rong himself.

Zhang Rong was an experienced man who had seen all kinds of storms. He had already set up a defensive position in Xinyang Town. While ordering Zhang Qing, the right army of the Loyalty Army behind him, to come to his rescue, he also passed the information to Dong Cheng, the left army of the Loyalty Army stationed in Ganyu County.

Although Zhang Qing was a guest general of the Loyalty Army and a close confidant of Zhang Rong, and therefore could be directly commanded by Zhang Diwan, Dong Cheng had to come and negotiate.

Of course, although Dong Cheng was a Song army soldier, he was not a Song soldier after all, and he did not inherit the tradition of remaining indifferent to allied forces in distress. Therefore, after receiving the order for assistance, he only left a few hundred men in Qushan County, instructed the county magistrate Gao Chang to guard Qushan, and then led his entire army of 3,000 soldiers directly north.

He did not expect these three thousand soldiers to be able to play a role in a battle involving tens of thousands of people, but he felt that they should at least go to provide some support.

At this time, it was already September 7th.

The front of the Jin navy had arrived at Xinyang Town and then launched a tentative attack.

Seeing that the attack failed, the follow-up troops of the Jin navy set up camp directly around the town, built fortifications, and manufactured siege equipment.

Wanyan Zhengjia is indeed a prudent person.

Why should I resort to any tricks when I have an absolute advantage in military strength?
Yes, I have also seen those battles that are recorded in history, and they are indeed exciting.

But did these divine armies only last ten years? Hadn't the remaining thousand years been spent in this kind of honest siege and honest fighting?
With such a powerful force and 25,000 regular troops attacking head-on, what can you do?
Zhang Rong was naturally not the type to sit and wait for death, so he directly ordered Xiao En and Li Gongzuo to lead the navy to attack and go around the side of the Jin navy from the sea.

But after walking less than two miles, they saw dozens of ships on the sea. They were the warships sent by the Jin navy to encircle them.

The two sides immediately started fighting.

The Dongping Army started out as a naval force, so naturally it had some capabilities in naval battles.

However, the Dongping Army had only 25 ships that could be used in battle. Although they relied on their superb technology to deal with the Jin navy and even suppressed the Jin navy for a while, they were ultimately unable to deal with the enemy ships that had already deployed in battle formation, and could only retreat at night.

On September 7, the battle was still intense.

Over a thousand miles away in Bianliang, Wanyan Liang also received the battle report from Meng Tian, the guardian of the country. It was a big surprise.

"Alas..." Wanyan Liang, who was already staying in the military camp outside the city, sighed at Wanyan Yuanyi who had delivered the battle report, "Meng Tian, the state guardian, was a general I promoted from humble beginnings. He had fought tough battles before, so how could he be forced into this state by a group of thieves?
Listen to what he's saying. He's always asking for death in return. Why doesn't he understand that a dead person can't accomplish anything? If you want to work for me, you have to stay alive no matter what."

Wanyan Yuanyi stood on one side with his hands clasped in a bow, like a wooden sculpture.

Ever since he witnessed Wanyan Liang killing the empress dowager with a hammer, he has been like this, trembling with fear, treading on thin ice, doing things only to avoid mistakes, not to achieve merit.

There's nothing we can do about it, it's human nature.

Although the public statement was that Empress Dowager Tushan died in a fire, there is no wall that is impenetrable. With so many soldiers cleaning up the situation, the truth would gradually spread out.

The impact is extremely bad.

How bad is it?
Wanyan Guangying, the twelve-year-old crown prince of Wanyan Liang, recently read the Book of Filial Piety and asked his minister Wugu Lun Yuanzhong: "The Book of Filial Piety says that among the three thousand sins, none is greater than unfilial piety. So what is unfilial piety?"

Speaking of this topic, Wugu Lun Yuanzhong couldn't hold it in any longer, but he still said: "People who gamble and drink and don't support their parents are all unfilial."

Wanyan Guangying was silent for a long time, thinking of his own father's deeds of filial piety, and could only say: "How can such a small thing done by the common people be considered unfilial?"

Although Ugun Yuanzhong did not dare to respond, he knew what Wanyan Guangying meant and could only sigh.

If the crown prince is like this, what can Wanyan Yuanyi do?
"Yite Nian, if Lou Shi (the Jurchen name of Hesheli Liangbi) knew the result, would he cry or laugh?" Wanyan Liang asked softly, leaning against the Hu bed.

Wanyan Yuanyi pondered for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty, the Left Prime Minister is a gentleman. He will never be pleased with the loss of our country's troops or generals when it comes to state affairs."

Wanyan Liang smiled and pointed at Wanyan Yuanyi: "You are wrong. Lou Shi is not only a gentleman, but also a minister of state. He has the elegant demeanor inherited from Xi Yin Gong, and the fierce methods inherited from his fourth uncle.

If Lou Shi knew the result, he would only be happy that he had tested the depth of the quagmire with only one army and the lives of only 10,000 people, so that the country would not suffer greater losses.

He is the Shangshu Zuocheng of the Great Jin Kingdom. How can you use the shallow thoughts of a corrupt scholar to guess at him? "

Wanyan Yuanyi immediately agreed: "Your Majesty is right."

Wanyan Liang handed the document back to Wanyan Yuanyi and said, "Now that the result is known, I accept the loss. Gather the civil and military officials to discuss the matter."

Because the important officials all had their own official duties to attend to, even though the eunuchs had sent an urgent message, it still took half an hour for the important officials to arrive.

As the saying goes, small matters are dealt with in big meetings, and big matters are dealt with in small meetings. Therefore, the people gathered in this military camp are naturally the high-ranking officials of the imperial court and Wanyan Liang’s confidants.

Among them were Grand Protector and Privy Councilor Wanyan Bendu, Shangshu Youcheng Li Tong, Judge of the Grand Clan Affairs Wuyan Puluhun, Co-Judge of the Grand Clan Affairs Tushan Yongnian, and Jinan Yin Pushan Zhongyi.

In addition, there were Shangshu Ling Zhang Hao, Canzhi Zhengshi Jing Sihui, Zuo Prime Minister Xiao Yu and others.

Except for Shangshu Zuocheng Hesheli Liangbi who had already gone to Shangjing, Imperial Censor Tushan Zhen who arrived in Pizhou to command the army, Henan Yin Tushan Hexi who went to Guanzhong to command the army, and Taiyuan Yin Liu E who arrived in Tangzhou, almost all of Wanyan Liang's confidants had gathered together.

In order to make these people willingly march south, Wanyan Liang used all kinds of tactics, including soft and hard tactics, threats of killing, and gentle persuasion, before he made these people at least agree to the march south on the surface.

As for whether these people were warm on the outside but cold on the inside, or whether they were working but not putting in the effort, Wanyan Liang really had no control over it.

After the civil and military officials exchanged greetings in the big tent, they stood solemnly with their hands clasped aside, saying nothing, like clay puppets.

"My mind is made up," Wanyan Liang said straight to the point: "Conquer the Song Kingdom in the south and unify the world!"

(End of this chapter)