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

Chapter 354: The Yangtze River is like the Yellow River

"Whose fleet is this? Who is singing?" Although Xin Qiji had already killed three Jin army warriors, Wanyan Liang didn't even look at them. His attention was also attracted by the singing.

Su Baoheng was in a trance while listening to the singing.

The song inevitably reminded him of the place where he grew up. It was Datong, the Western Capital, and the river was called the Sanggan River. Every autumn harvest time, the banks of the Sanggan River were covered in golden yellow, and the fragrance of rice filled the air. It was indeed a vast world with beautiful scenery.

My official career is treacherous and I haven't been back to my hometown for more than 20 years.

But at this moment, hearing the emperor's question, Su Baoheng could only suppress his emotions and replied: "In my opinion, it should be the Dongting Lake Navy, commanded by Li Dao Li Zishi."

"As for this singing, I have never heard of it before." Su Baoheng answered politely.

Wanyan Liang nodded and said, "Let's listen to this..."

Xin Qiji's killing journey continues, and the singing on the river continues.

"The girl is like a flower, and the boy has a broad mind..."

"To open up new horizons..."

"It awakened the sleeping mountains and changed the appearance of the rivers..."

Xin Qiji held the heavy sword, listened to the singing, narrowed his eyes slightly, and ignored the two Jin soldiers who surrounded him.

Now he finally understood why this song could be called a war song.

Although the song is soothing and the tone is gentle, the lyrics contain a will as hard as granite, expressing the great power unique to a nation in a calm yet proud manner.

"This is the heroic motherland, where I grew up..."

"In this ancient land..."

"The power of youth is everywhere..."

"Ah!" "Kill!" Two Jin soldiers roared at the same time, attacked Xin Qiji from the front and back.

As if this was the order to take action, Xin Qiji rushed towards the spear-wielding soldier in front of him. He first blocked the spear in his hand, then twisted his right hand and pierced the spear into the brain of the Jin soldier through the eye of his helmet like a poisonous snake entering a hole.

The soldier holding a sword and shield in the back was not in a good situation either. Before he could take two steps, another heavy sword came towards him like a sweeping arrow. He held up his shield to block it, but he felt that the force from the shield was like a mad rhinoceros charging at him with all its strength, and he was knocked to the ground with his shield.

Before he could get up, Xin Qiji stepped forward and stabbed the Jin soldier's helmet and back armor with his heavy sword, nailing him to the ground.

The Jin soldiers who were still waiting on the boat looked at each other, and two more Jin soldiers stood up at the same time and boarded the small island.

Xin Qiji didn't care. He just leaned on his sword, waited for the Jin army to move their arms and legs, and listened quietly to the singing.

"Beautiful mountains, beautiful waters, beautiful places, and all the roads are wide..."

"When friends come, there's good wine. But when that wolf comes..."

"There's a shotgun waiting for them!"

The sound of drums on the three boats gradually stopped. Li Dao threw down the drumstick and wiped his eyes subtly.

Fortunately, the soldiers on the boat were immersed in the singing and no one noticed Li Dao's little action.

The reason why this song has been sung for years is that it resonates with everyone.

Everyone’s hometown always has a river, big or small, and there are always crops on both sides of the river. The fishing boats and fishermen’s calls on the river will eventually become part of the symbol of the hometown.

Every time the wheat and rice are ripe, there are always beautiful girls and strong boys busy in the fields, enjoying the joy of harvest.

The background of this song in later generations is that countless Chinese people fought bravely and finally stopped the invasion of imperialism. Therefore, this song is full of pride, but at the same time it is not passionate, as if it is just narrating a trivial matter.

We have defended these great rivers, mountains, rivers, and our fellow countrymen! No matter how powerful the enemy, no matter what difficulties we face, no matter how great the sacrifices, we will ultimately defend it!
But when Li Dao heard this song, it was like a thunderclap and a sword questioning his heart.

Li Dao was from Tangyin, Xiangzhou, and was a fellow villager of Yue Fei.

However, he spent most of his youth in Liyang, more than 50 miles south of Tangyin, and the big river in front of Liyang was called the Yellow River.

Li Dao has been watching the scenery described in the song since he was a child. Every autumn, the white sails on the Yellow River and the fragrance of rice on both sides of the river are scenes that he will never forget in his life.

However, this fertile land in Hebei has been handed over to the Jin Kingdom.

Like Yue Fei, Li Dao joined the army during Liu Bei's recruitment drive for brave men, but he didn't initially follow Yue Fei. Instead, he served under Zong Ze as a captain. After Zong Ze's death, the Tokyo garrison collapsed. Li Dao didn't flee south with the rest of the army, but instead took some of his trusted men to Shanzhou, where they joined Li Yanxian's army.

In the fourth year of Jianyan, Shanzhou City was broken and massacred by Wanyan Loushi. Li Yanxian had originally escaped, but he could not bear to live and committed suicide by drowning.

After this battle, Li Dao, who escaped from hell, was still not discouraged. He took the remaining villagers to join Zhai Xing, and then fought a great battle with the Jin people in Luoyang.

In the second year of Shaoxing, Zhai Xing was killed and Luoyang could no longer be defended. Li Dao had no choice but to retreat southward with Niu Gao.

From the first year of the Jing Kang period to the second year of the Shao Xing period, six years passed. He was getting further and further away from his hometown of Yan'an, and there were fewer and fewer people from Xiangzhou around him.

Li Dao, who was already the commander at that time, had suddenly come to his senses.

I may never be able to return home in this lifetime.

But that's life, hope will come at any time.

In the third year of Shaoxing, Li Dao followed Niu Gao to join Yue's army.

In the fourth year of Shaoxing, Li Dao followed Yue Fei to the north to recover six counties and conquer Tangzhou and Xiangyang counties.

In the fifth year of Shaoxing, Yue Fei pacified Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao. It was also in that battle that Li Dao's naval talent was valued by Yue Fei and he was selected to form the Hengjiang Army.

In the tenth year of Shaoxing, after much persuasion, Yue Fei finally agreed to transfer Li Dao back to his command to participate in the Northern Expedition.

This battle was a thrilling one. Li Dao didn't know how many years it had been since he had fought such a thrilling battle. Yue Fei led his army out of Xiangyang and marched towards the Central Plains. He defeated the enemy and killed the generals along the way, and captured cities and strongholds as if he were in an empty land.

While rushing all the way, Li Dao finally saw the Yellow River again, and was only one step away from his hometown.

And Li Dao could also say that although he had suffered repeated defeats, he had finally avenged the elders of his hometown more than ten years later. He could finally pay homage to the graves of his ancestors with dignity and tell them that his mission was accomplished!

Hope always disappears so quickly. Even after twenty years, Li Dao still couldn't understand why the nobles in the court would use twelve golden medals to call back the army.

It's over, it's over.

Ten years of hard work, wasted in an instant! All the counties we have conquered are gone in a single day! The country and its people will never be able to recover! The world will never be restored!
This is not just Yue Fei’s lament, it is simply the cry of all the soldiers of Yue Family Army, and even the entire occupied area!

As if he had aged ten years in an instant, Li Daoxin lost all his spirit and quietly returned to Hengjiang Army to continue serving as the commander of his naval forces.

Later, Yue Fei was unjustly executed on a trumped-up charge, Niu Gao was poisoned to death by a cup of wine, and the Hengjiang Army was split into several parts.

Li Dao said nothing. He didn't want to talk and was too lazy to say anything. Only when Wu Gong was hosting a banquet did he ask under the influence of alcohol: "Little Taiwei, can we return home in this lifetime?"

Wu Gong smiled awkwardly and said nothing.

Li Dao understood what he meant and continued drinking until he was completely drunk.

Today, when Li Dao scolded the Jingnan Army as if it were the Huaixi Army, wasn't he also questioning himself?

"This is a strong motherland..."

“It’s where I grew up…”

"In this warm land..."

"There is sunshine of peace everywhere..."

After singing three times, Liu Huai found that he no longer needed to continue singing.

This song was indeed catchy and full of passionate emotions. After it was sung once, people started humming it. After it was sung twice, people started joining in the singing. By the third time, all four steamships were singing along in unison. Even people in the Jin army camp opposite joined in the singing, but they were suppressed by the officers' scolding.

Amid the sound of singing that filled the entire river, Xin Qiji had already killed ten Jin soldiers. Not only was he not injured, he was even in the mood to perform a few handsome sword moves to the sound of the singing. The Jin soldiers on the small boats were looking at each other in bewilderment, and no longer dared to take the initiative to fight.

If two against one could still be fooled, three against one was too outrageous. In fact, the Jin army had just tried to join the siege of Xin Qiji halfway, but as soon as he stepped onto the small island, a crossbow arrow was shot in front of him, and the warning was very obvious.

He originally wanted to exchange his life for Xin Qiji's or use his life to consume Xin Qiji's strength, but he failed because Xin Qiji's moves were too flexible.

The Jin army warriors were not fools and would not do something that would obviously lead to their death. The situation was deadlocked for a while.

At this time, the drumbeats in the Jin army camp had stopped. Strictly speaking, these Jin soldiers did not violate military discipline, they just seemed a little cowardly.

(End of this chapter)