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

Chapter 349: Once Fearful of Death, Now Fearful of Life

Unlike later movies where people set off fireworks and drink alcohol immediately after a victory, troubles will still come one after another after the war.

If we follow the words of soldiers in later generations, war is a very low-quality video game. 99% of the time is spent on trivial matters, and the remaining 1% is spent facing the final boss.

Now is the time to clean up the mess. In a sense, the extent to which we achieve this now will directly determine the outcome of the battle.

The first thing to do was to gather the troops and treat the wounded. Although this was extremely difficult to do at night, it had to be done. The freezing weather and the first half of the night were enough to turn a minor injury into a serious one, and the serious injury was completely incurable.

At this time, the news of Sheng Xin's death finally came and was delivered to Yu Yunwen and Liu Huai.

Although this was not the first commander to die in the Huaixi defeat, nor was he the first commander to die fighting on the front battlefield, it still caused a great shock in the Huaixi army.

In particular, the scene of Sheng Xin's final death in battle was witnessed by many Chaohu naval officers and soldiers. Even if it was told truthfully without any exaggeration, it was enough to shock people greatly.

In the State of Song, commanders-in-chief could often command 2,000 to 5,000 soldiers and horses. Some commanders who were more capable and daring in fighting and were highly valued could even command more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, which were considered middle and senior officers in the Song army.

Such a general died so simply during the night raid today?! How could he die so heroically?!
Upon hearing this news, Liu Huai sighed for a long time, feeling that Wei Sheng and Lu You's repeated assertion that "Song State had its heroes" was indeed correct. However, the other four commanders were struck by lightning and completely lost their composure.

Before the great defeat in Huaixi, Shi Jun and others were just acquaintances. However, as they were all defeated generals and were all able to gather troops on the east bank of the Yangtze River, the five of them quickly became familiar with each other.

At this time, the five people just laughed at Wang Quan and mocked the cowards who had fled to the south of the Yangtze River but had not stopped there. However, they never dared to mention the Song army who died in the north of the Yangtze River, nor did they dare to mention their previous bases or even their hometowns.

Therefore, when Yu Yunwen arrived at Cai Shi to reward the troops, only Shi Jun responded to him, while the others seemed to have completely lost their courage.

The other four people all had some respect for Shi Jun, because he was the only one who had been trying to find ways to fight the Jin army since the front line in Lianghuai.

As for Sheng Xin, the others all felt a little contempt for him.

The reason was simple: Shi Jun, Wang Qi, Dai Gao, and Zhang Zhen had all fought the Jin army head-on and were defeated. Sheng Xin, however, who was theoretically the safest in Chaohu Lake, burned his ships and fled.

You can say that Wang Qi and others are just laughing at one another, but who can really look at themselves completely detachedly?

However, at this time, the person who was originally the most despised fought and died for his country.

After hearing the news, Dai Gao was the most inconsiderate among the four commanders.

After Dai Gao apologized and left under the pretext of gathering his troops, in a dark corner, this man in his forties, regardless of the presence of his trusted guards by his side, leaned against a tree and cried bitterly.

Dai Gao was so sad not because of his deep friendship with Sheng Xin, but because he suddenly remembered his sworn brother in the army, Yao Xing, the commander of the enemy-breaking army who had died in the battle of Weizi Bridge.

On that day, Wang Quan led his army to flee near Zhaoguan, but was caught up by the vanguard of the Jin army. Yao Xing knew that he could not retreat any further, but his persuasion was futile. He could only rely on his personal reputation to gather nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses to fight against the Jin army at Weizi Bridge.

This was almost a battle that was doomed to fail, but those in the Huaixi Army who considered themselves heroes still stopped and, relying on the mountains and rivers, fought to the death with the Jin Army.

At that time, Dai Gao also thought that he was a hero. However, when the Jin army's cavalry and armored cavalry took turns to fight, and the Crooked Horse and Iron Pagoda surrounded him head-on, he was still afraid.

Fear of injury, blades, pain, and death is human nature and shouldn't be overly criticized. However, Dai Gao, then the leader of the right wing, was terrified of all these things and was completely stunned.

When he came to his senses again, he was surrounded by his personal guards and fled south.

Dai Gao turned around and took one last look at the flag of Yao Xing, who was charging left and right in the Jin army formation. Then he dared not look back at all.

The next news about Yao Xing was that he and fifty generals, including Zheng Tong, the Defense Commissioner of Zhongzhou, died in battle at Weizi Bridge.

Although Dai Gao could comfort himself with the excuse that the king was a coward, when he asked himself in his dreams at midnight, how could he not know that it was his retreat at the critical moment that led to the complete failure of the Battle of Weiziqiao?

What if I persist for a while longer?

What if you can sacrifice your own life?
Did they really push the Jin army back at Weizi Bridge?

Normally, Dai Gao could still say that everyone wanted to live and feared death, and that his choice was just that of an ordinary person. But now, the most cowardly of the five commanders had sacrificed his life for justice, and he finally faced himself, the coward that he once was.

Is it really so difficult to die?
The once defeated generals are destined to undergo a transformation tonight.

As the commander-in-chief of the front line, Liu Huai had no time to feel sentimental. He ignored the darkness and directly dispatched civilians with tools and materials to Jiangxin Island to set up camp. The Jin army arrived at dawn, and although the Jingnan army should have arrived by then, they would undoubtedly be exhausted.

But the Jin navy was not necessarily so. The northwest wind had been blowing these days, and the ships on the river had filled their sails. Although they were going upstream and their speed was slower, they still would not lose much energy.

Liu Huai had experienced the combat effectiveness of the Jin army's navy on land. Except for having fewer cavalry, they were no different from the ordinary Jin army. If they came to fight for Jiangxinzhou, they would probably have to fight a tough battle.

As for the Dongting Lake navy coming to support from Ezhou, Liu Huai thought about it again and again, but still did not dare to completely trust them.

The reason is simple: the experience of this army from top to bottom is simply too complicated.

The establishment of the Dongting Lake navy can even be traced back to the transition period between the two Song dynasties, when Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao launched a major uprising during the Jianyan period.

It was during the period of the great defeat of the Song Dynasty, and the situation in Ezhou was complicated. The defeated army, rioters, roving bandits, corrupt officials, and cruel officials gathered together there to participate in the grand event. They levied heavy taxes and levied heavy taxes, making the people's lives miserable.

Therefore, Zhong Xiang raised the slogan of equalizing the rich and the poor, and the noble and the humble, and started a rebellion in Wuling.

This is the famous Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao uprising in history.

Although Zhong Xiang's uprising had some religious nature, it ultimately had a certain popular base. After Zhong Xiang was captured and killed, Yang Yao took over the leadership banner and continued to rebel based on the Dongting Lake water fort, and defeated various generals of the Song army in succession.

Finally, under the command of Yue Fei, this massive uprising was put down.

Yue Fei naturally would not kill prisoners. After settling the surrendered soldiers, he recruited strong and brave men from them and established a navy, which was the Hengjiang Army.

Later, a part of the Hengjiang Army was split and given to Han Shizhong. Now some of the officers and soldiers of the Zhejiang Navy led by Li Bao are from the Hengjiang Army.

Later, although Yue Fei was unjustly executed, the Yue Family Army was merely dismantled, just as the commander-in-chief was not completely exterminated. The Hengjiang Army was reduced in size, but not completely abolished.

However, the person who subsequently took charge of Jingxiang was Zhang Jun's son-in-law, Tian Shizhong. This man, deeply influenced by his father-in-law's teachings, was obsessed with amassing wealth. Following his example, the Yue Family Army quickly lost its fighting power. The once formidable force had, in just a few years, become a weak force that would lose hundreds of soldiers even if it captured a few hundred bandits.

By this time, the main force of the army stationed in Ezhou was no longer Yue's army, but Cheng Min's troops stationed in Ezhou seven years ago.

With such twists and turns, one can imagine Liu Huai's guess about the combat effectiveness of the Dongting Lake navy.

Even though Li Dao, the commander of the Dongting Lake navy, was a veteran, even a famous veteran in history, Liu Huai still did not dare to trust him completely in military and national affairs that decided life and death.

Besides, the reason why Li Dao was able to go down in history was not because of his fighting ability, but because he had a daughter, Li Fengniang, who was like Jia Nanfeng.

Li Fengniang was the queen of Zhao Dun, the third emperor of the Song Dynasty. She had many deeds, such as driving her husband Zhao Dun crazy, scolding her father-in-law Zhao Shen, who was now the crown prince, and setting a precedent for the harem to interfere in politics in the Southern Song Dynasty.

But the most famous story, one that has been attributed to many vicious women, is about a palace maid who was washing her hands when Zhao Dun noticed her hands were slender and white, so he praised her. Li Fengniang noticed this and a few days later, she brought a food box to Zhao Dun. When Zhao Dun opened it, he saw the hands of the palace maid who had been carrying the basin.

Faced with such provocative behavior, Emperor Zhao Dun was so cowardly that he dared not say anything.

This is the magical court politics of the Southern Song Dynasty.

The fact that Li Dao had such a daughter was enough to make Liu Huai doubt his character and ability, even though he was from Yue Family Army.

Cultivate oneself, manage the family, govern the country and bring peace to the world. If he can't even manage his family, how can we expect him to govern the country?

Of course, whether Li Dao is a famous general or not depends on the results of the Dongting Lake navy. Is it possible that he is good at commanding an army but poor at managing a family?

After patching up what he had in mind, Liu Huai left Zhang Baiyu and Zhang Xiaoyi at the Dongcaishi Ferry to prepare for the upcoming Jingnan Army, while he personally arrived at Jiangxinzhou to supervise the expansion of the camp.

This place was originally a military camp-like building. It was later renovated by the Jin army and some defensive facilities were added. It is relatively convenient to expand it at this time.

When the moon was setting in the west and the sun had not yet risen in the east, and the night was at its darkest, Liu Huai, who had almost not slept all night, saw a line of fire slowly spreading from the west bank of the river, and converging in the west, facing the island in the middle of the river across the river.

The vanguard of the Jin cavalry finally arrived.

(End of this chapter)