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

Chapter 278: Fighting to Maintain Morale

Rizhao County.

Dong Cheng said earnestly to Zhang Rong, "General Zhang, I have three thousand soldiers here, and Commander Zhang has over two thousand combat troops. If we join forces with General Zhang's over seven thousand, we will have a total of thirteen thousand regular troops. We can definitely fight a direct battle."

Zhang Rong, standing on the top of the city wall, gazed at the azure sea to the east. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "No, we still have to divide the Jin army. With 13,000 men against 15,000, we have no chance of winning."

Zhang Rong turned to look at Dong Cheng and said, "I know what you're thinking. Wei Dadao defeated an army directly, so you think you can do it too. But let me tell you, this is completely different."

Seeing Dong Cheng about to say something, Zhang Rong waved his hand to stop him: "I have seen the military report sent by Wei Dadao clearly, and even he himself admitted that even with the reinforcements of the Tianping Army, if we face the Jin army of 10,000 people head-on, we will definitely be defeated.

The Loyalty Army's victory was a stroke of luck. The Wuxing Army underestimated Wei Dadao and made several inept moves, splitting their forces two or three times, allowing the Loyalty Army to defeat them piecemeal. Even so, in the end, Wei Dadao and Liu Dalang had to mobilize their entire forces to defeat the Wuxing Army in one fell swoop. We're still far behind now."

Dong Cheng was a little unconvinced, but after thinking about it, he felt that his little bit of Taoism was indeed not enough in front of Zhang Rong.

Apart from anything else, Zhang Rong had commanded a battle involving tens of thousands of troops thirty years ago, while Dong Cheng had only gained experience in commanding troops of more than a thousand men in the past month.

But Dong Cheng still had his considerations. He said to Zhang Rong sincerely, "General Zhang, I'm not talking about whether we can defeat the Jin army, but that we can't escape anymore."

Zhang Rong frowned: "Why do you say that?"

"The morale of the army will not be able to bear it."

Zhang Rong sneered, "When it comes to experience in desperate escapes, I can say no one in the world can compare to me. During the Jingkang Incident, I led 100,000 folks from Dongping Prefecture south, fighting all sorts of soldiers, bandits, and thieves along the way. In the end, I escaped unscathed and settled in Taizhou."

Could it be possible that even with several thousand soldiers at this moment, we would be chased by the Jin bandits and our entire army would flee in panic?"

Dong Chang sighed and said, "General Zhang, most people follow you because they can benefit from you.

During the Jing Kang period, if you didn't escape, you would be dead. Escape was an advantage, so the people of Dongping Prefecture would follow you across thousands of miles to fight.

But now, many Dongping soldiers have been divided up, and many soldiers recruited from surrounding areas will surely resent you for abandoning their hometown. "General Zhang, the present is truly different from the Jingkang era. It's advantageous to fight back now; retreating would only lead to a loss of popular support."

Zhang Rong could only remain silent for a while.

After a long pause, Zhang Rong finally said solemnly, "Based on what you said, Ah Cheng, if we continue to retreat and divide the Jin army along the way, how far can the Dongping army retreat to?"

After weighing the pros and cons for a moment, Dong Cheng finally said with difficulty, "Haizhou and Ganyu County are the bottom line. General Zhang, Haizhou's land was the first to be divided. Many of Haizhou's warriors have already joined the army, not just the Dongping Army, but also the Zhongyi Army. If we let the Jin army into Haizhou and let them burn, kill, and loot, our armies might even collapse without a fight."

Zhang Rong pondered the terrain, closing his eyes for a long moment before saying, "So, our army actually only has one foothold between Ganyu and Rizhao?"

"That's right...that's right, Dishui Town," Dong Cheng said seriously, adding firmly, "But I still have to say, if we can defend Rizhao to the death, we must do so. If we retreat any further, our morale will be completely destroyed."

The terrain along Shandong's eastern coast is relatively rugged, with several peaks running from north to south along the coastline. Therefore, finding a gathering place near the mountains and water is not difficult. However, choosing a place to station a large army requires more than just picking a city.

Especially the Dongping Army and the Jin Navy, both sides have naval fleets, so the selected city must have an inland crossing.

This results in only a few options.

This was the case with the previous Caoqiao Town and Xinyang Town. There was Langya Mountain on the side for stationing troops, and there was an inner ferry in the town for docking the navy. The city walls were relatively neat and could be used as defensive fortifications with a little repair.

This is especially true in Rizhao County today.

Jiuxian Mountain is on the west side, and Shijiu Mountain is in the northeast. Troops can be stationed on both sides... In fact, Zhang Qing is now stationed on Shijiu Mountain with more than a thousand rear-line soldiers of the Loyalty Army, forming a corner with Rizhao County.

Taking into account the nearly two-meter-high city wall of Rizhao County, it can be said that in terms of defense alone, the Dongping Army can defend this place like an iron barrel.

The subsequent Dishui Town and Ganyu County were roughly of the same terrain, but if the Jin army was placed under Qushan County, the capital of Haizhou, the situation would be completely different.

The most important point is that Donghai County, isolated on an island, would surely be captured by the Jin navy, and the strait between Donghai County and Qushan County was a perfect safe haven. If the Jin navy didn't go all out and stationed directly in Donghai County, it would be a disaster!
The Jin navy used Donghai County as its base and attacked cities and territories back and forth... They didn't even need to attack the cities. They implemented the Three Alls Policy in Haizhou and attacked every village. Both the Zhongyi Army and the Dongping Army were defeated.

Thinking of this, both Zhang Rong and Dong Chengdu felt a headache.

It seems that we have to fight a decisive battle with the Jin navy.

Although the situation is complex, from a strategic perspective, it is natural for this to happen.

The reason is that the Northern Expedition Army changed from roving bandits to sedentary bandits and began to operate bases.

This was also the period when the Northern Expedition Army was at its weakest.

Go forward a little. If you can't win, just turn around and run. I can just rob you all the way, and your baggage line as a regular army will drag you down to death.

Later on, my base will be stable, and I can requisition money, food, and soldiers from several states. Even if I am still weak, I can make you pay a heavy price.

It just so happened that this was the time when there were the most bottles and jars. The enemy had been pushed to a certain point and could no longer run away, but could only fight back head-on.

But this is also a necessary stage for the rebel army to grow bigger and stronger. In history, countless rebel armies have been eliminated at this stage. The Loyal Army was relatively lucky because they happened to meet Wanyan Liang, a man who was capable of making trouble. When a normal feudal government saw that the Loyal Army began to divide the land, it would concentrate the elite forces of the country to fight.

"Then let's do it this way. We'll finish these thieves off in Dishui Town at the latest!" Zhang Rong thought for a moment, then mentally re-calculated the terrain and the direction of the battle. Finally, he said fiercely, "It's time to show the Jin thieves what I, Zhang Rong, can do!"

Zhang Rong's retreat was not to avoid war, but to avoid the sharp edge of the Jin army. He forced the Jin army to split up and dragged the Jin army until it was exhausted, thus wiping out the main force of the Jin navy in one go.

What Wei Sheng and Li Bao, no one is as good as me doing it myself!
If the Jin navy can be completely destroyed in Shandong, and then cooperate with Li Bao's navy heading north, and the Zhongyi, Dongping and Tianping armies all fight to the death at the same time, after Wanyan Liang marches south for a month, the two routes in Shandong will be completely out of the control of the Jin Dynasty!
(End of this chapter)