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

Chapter 358: Immediately at the First Peak of Wushan Mountain

The victory of the Tianping Army was destined to be glorious and would trigger dramatic changes in Shandong.

At the very least, Daming Prefecture is within reach. If Geng Jing is a little more ruthless and captures Daming Prefecture, the Jin Kingdom will have a lot of fun.

It would be strange if Hebei doesn’t turn the world upside down.

Of course, this is another story.

At least in the past few days, the news of the recovery of Dongping Prefecture has not spread far and wide, and Cai Shi is still a busy scene.

Unlike the Song army's orderly deployment of defensive positions, the discussions in the Jin army's tent became increasingly heated.

The next steps in the battle, and how to fight them, all require consideration from the overall perspective. It also requires the collective wisdom of the entire army to gain its agreement.

Military and national affairs are not to be taken lightly.

"This time I have come here to take risks. If I fail, my navy will be in danger." No matter where we cross the river, the navy must be the top priority, so Su Baoheng was the first to speak.

He pointed to the Yangtze River waterway on the map and said, his first sentence crushed the ambitions of the Jurchen generals into an eternal glacier.

"What do you mean?" Wanyan Liang frowned and stared at the map, saying in a low voice.

"I have divided my forces in Zhenzhou, with Xu Wen leading the Wucheng Army to tie up Li Bao and Zhang Rong there. While the Wucheng Army has several thousand men and Xu Wen is a veteran, our Great Jin navy is still relatively new and cannot possibly be a match for the Song navy. We don't know when Li Bao will break free and attack from both sides."

"Minister Su, wait a minute. Zhang Rong?" Wanyan Yuanyi frowned and asked, "Could it be that Zhang Diwan?"

"It's this person!" Su Baoheng nodded.

The sudden intake of cold air almost caused oxygen shortage in the tent.

"So, all the Shandong rebel troops have gone south?" Wanyan Liang knocked on the table and asked calmly.

Su Baoheng: "Zhang Rong, Li Bao, and Liu Huai have all appeared. As for the most famous Wei Sheng and Geng Jing, they seem to be still causing trouble in Shandong."

"Shandong... huh... Shandong..." Wanyan Liang laughed. "Why are things in Shandong always so troublesome?"

Seeing that someone else wanted to join in, Wanyan Liang waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. It's just that the quarry couldn't be taken. As Su Qing said, the navy is in danger."

Everyone looked at the Yangtze River waterway on the map and understood what Su Baoheng meant by taking risks.

Su Baoheng left two powerful enemies behind, went upstream, and led the navy here in person, just to allow the army to break through the Yangtze River defense line.

This is a risky move, but also a strange one.

If the idea of Wanyan Liang and others was followed, as long as they could cross the river, they could then rely on land warfare to capture cities and strongholds, eliminate the land base of the Song army's navy, and thus eliminate the threat from the water.

Of course, this is only the worst-case scenario for the Jin army. The prerequisite for this situation to occur is that the Song Dynasty can remain clear-headed and launch an all-out counterattack even if the Jin army crosses the Yangtze River.

In fact?

The Yangtze River defense line was not only the Southern Dynasty's last natural barrier, but also a psychological one. If penetrating the Huai River and Huai River defense lines was like stabbing a fat pig's belly with a sharp knife, causing it to struggle desperately, then crossing the river was like stabbing a sharp knife into its heart. No matter how fiercely it struggled, it would be like a grasshopper in autumn, unable to jump for long.

Wanyan Liang even suspected that with Zhao Gou's courage, he would have fled in a panic after the Jin army captured Jiankang.

Of course, we cannot advance recklessly. If Liu Qi's troops, who were still intact, fought desperately to cut off the retreat of the troops crossing the river from the east route of Huainan, perhaps the Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty and his eastern army would be destroyed in the south of the Yangtze River.

That would be funny.

So this becomes a contradiction. If you want to cross the river, you must seize the bridgehead and at the same time clear the retreat, attack Liu Qi and Li Xianzhong from both sides, or at the very least drive them across the Yangtze River.

But all this takes time, and Aligua must hold out in isolation until the arrival of the main force.

Unfortunately, Alisha didn't hold up.

Su Baoheng's hasty deployment of troops to support the Jin army was a military gamble, an act of strategic compliance, and should not be criticized by anyone. However, if the army could not cross the river, the Jin navy would be effectively blocked in the middle of the Yangtze River by Li Bao and Li Dao, with the useless Zhang Guang of the Jiankang navy also in the way.

If the Jin army's navy was destroyed, crossing the Yangtze River would be a pipe dream!
It was fine for the ministers in the court such as Li Tong, but the three commanders who participated in the military meeting, Wanyan Alin, Wanyan Yuanyi and Han Tang, all had uncertain expressions.

Only Wanyan Liang and Da Huaizhong, the chief inspector of the Palace Guards standing beside him, remained calm.

"How's Tu Shanzhen doing?"

Even though he had just left and knew that Tushan Zhen could not take over Yangzhou in a short time, Wanyan Liang still asked in case.

Wanyan Yuanyi shook his head: "Your Majesty, Liu Qi is not an ordinary man. Since he is determined to die, he cannot be easily shaken by Tu Shanzhen."

As Wanyan Yuanyi had said, the old general Liu Qi, a remnant of the old era, had already decided to die at Guazhou Ferry. Even if Tushan Zhen's commanding ability was stronger, or Pucha Shijie was a better fighter, they would definitely not be able to chew this tough bone for a while.

Deadlocked.

Wanyan Liang frowned and thought.

The seven Wanhu who were able to follow the emperor to attack Lianghuai at this time were the most elite forces of the Jin army, and those who were able to act with Wanyan Liang were the elite among the elite.

Wanyan Alin, Wanyan Yuanyi, and Han Tang are all veteran generals and confidants who can be relied upon.

These three Wan Hu, together with He Zhameng'an, numbering 3,000 men, were almost invincible in land warfare. However, they were unable to use their power and could only be blocked west of the Yangtze River.

The Song army is not scary, and the natural barriers are not scary either, but the natural barrier of the Yangtze River plus the fearless Song army are troublesome.

"Can the navy defeat that fellow Li Dao?" Wanyan Yuanyi asked. "It's difficult relying solely on the navy. The Jin navy has three major disadvantages. First, they're downstream, with the river's current working in their favor. Second, they're unfamiliar with the hydrology and don't know where the hidden reefs and whirlpools are. Third, they have very little training, far less than those who grew up on the river," Su Baoheng replied gravely.

"His Majesty gave you ten years, and you actually said the time was too short?" Wanyan Alin said with a sneer.

"People in the south have been sailing since the Wu and Yue era thousands of years ago." Su Baoheng did not tolerate Wanyan Alin and directly retorted.

"you……"

"If the navy forces the Song army away from the river, we can take the opportunity to build a pontoon bridge and force a crossing to Caishiji. What do you think?" Han Tang, who had been silent the whole time, interrupted the two men's argument. He stretched out his hand on the sand table and moved the small boat representing the Jin army fleet southward, across the Caishiji ferry, and pressed upstream, forcing back the boat representing Li Dao's troops. He looked up at Su Baoheng and asked, "If you can get three or four thousand of our troops across, I will personally lead the team and wipe out the Song army over there!"

"No." Su Baoheng shook his head and said, "Not to mention that those Shandong bandits across the way are a powerful army that directly destroyed Meng Tian's state and attacked my navy. How can you destroy them with only three or four thousand people? Just tell me..."

"If fire ships are launched upstream, the Jin fleet will have no way to hide in such a narrow area. Not only will the campfires burn all the ships to ashes, but the pontoon bridge will also be completely destroyed. Are the three or four thousand people you sent across the river truly invincible?"

"So the whole front is in trouble, just like when we were calculating in the temple." Wanyan Liang said surprisingly, "But the temple calculation was when the whole front was in trouble in Lianghuai. Now we have come to the river, which is a blessing from heaven."

"I ordered this adventure, so naturally, I bear the blame." Wanyan Liang looked at Wanyan Alin and said, "It is only I who bear the blame."

Wanyan Alin quickly bowed and said he dared not.

These high-level officials all knew that according to the strategy given by the Left Prime Minister Hesheli Liangbi, the upper limit of this southern expedition was to destroy the State of Song, and the lower limit was to firmly swallow up Jingxiang!

The other three armies, including the navy, were all feint attacks, with the goal of creating strategic space for Pushan Zhongyi.

As the emperor, Wanyan Liang not only personally went into battle to release smoke bombs, but also sent two of the three Hezhameng'ans to Pushan Zhongyi's camp to receive his orders, vowing to open a gap in the Song army's defense line in Xiangfan.

As the saying goes, plans cannot keep up with changes, and strategies are dynamic. No one expected that while Pushan Zhongyi was still slowly chipping away at the Xiangfan defense line, Wanyan Liang had already broken through the Song Dynasty's Lianghuai defense line.

"But now that I've secured Long, I'm looking forward to Shu. Now that we've arrived, no one would believe me if I said I hadn't given it much thought." Wanyan Liang said with a self-deprecating laugh, "Su Qing, you're a veteran minister, could you teach me something? At the very least, find a way to rescue the navy."

"The navy doesn't need saving. Facing a nation on the brink of destruction, what are the lives of the entire navy? What is the life of this old minister?" Su Baoheng spoke slowly and forcefully, "As long as we can destroy the Song army that's blocking our way, even if we all die, Your Majesty will naturally lead the army across the river and unify the world."

"As for breaking the deadlock, I have two ways, one urgent and one slow." Su Baoheng did not give others a chance to interrupt.

"What if it's urgent? What if it's slow?" Wanyan Liang asked.

"The most urgent thing is that the entire army rests for a day and then crosses the river tomorrow. I will personally lead 200 large and small boats to engage Li Dao, while the remaining 100 large boats will be fully deployed to force a crossing of the Yangtze River. Within a day, we will transport all 30,000 regular troops and 20,000 contract troops." Su Baoheng said in a deep voice, "As for what to do after crossing the river, I believe I don't need to elaborate."

"What about the navy then?" Wanyan Yuanyi asked with a serious face.

"Who knows? There's an 80% chance that the entire army will be wiped out." Su Baoheng responded calmly.

"Take advantage of the fact that the other side's forces haven't yet formed a large force. We can use three Wan Hu to break through with all our might and annihilate the Song army at Caishiji Ferry. Then, we can either penetrate the heart of Song, or march eastward to capture Jiankang, cooperating with Tu Shanzhen to encircle Liu Qi from both sides. We can even take Lin'an directly. It's truly a brilliant move." Wanyan Yuanyi nodded, pointing to the map. "And the timing is perfect. In two days, Li Xianzhong will lead his army to Caishiji."

"But Minister Su, if it were just us, it would be fine. I'm willing to take the risk. But Your Majesty is here. Do you really want to let Your Majesty take the risk of being cut off from your retreat and dying in Jiangnan?" Wanyan Yuanyi's hair and beard stood on end, and he pointed his spear at Su Baoheng and cursed, "You old bastard, you have ulterior motives!"

"If we are in a hurry, it will be dangerous, Minister Wanyan, you are also a person who knows military affairs, you can't be ignorant of this, right?" Su Baoheng responded calmly.

"but……"

"Alright..." Wanyan Liang stopped the argument and turned to Su Baoheng, saying, "I want to be Huo Qubing, and I believe I can do it. But I am the emperor after all, and my safety is at stake for the country. I can't act arbitrarily. Let's talk about another solution."

"Yes!" Su Baoheng bowed and continued, "The safest approach is to first try to defeat Li Dao. Without the navy's restraint, our Great Jin navy will naturally be able to protect the river crossing."

"Didn't you just say that you were no match for Li Dao? And the Minister also mentioned a lot of disadvantages." Wanyan Alin sneered.

"So this old minister needs the assistance of the land army." Su Baoheng didn't care at all about the conflict with Wanyan Alin just now, and said to Wanyan Liang sincerely.

"How can I help?" Wanyan Liang replied in a deep voice.

"There must be a port on the west bank of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in the hands of the Song army." Su Baoheng pointed to the area near Yuxikou on the map. "Take it by land. At least the west side of the river will be safe for the Jin navy."

"Afterwards, we will conceal the sight and hearing of the Song army and sweep the surrounding area. I will then send troops from this place to attack Li Dao by surprise."

Wanyan Liang stared at the place Su Baoheng pointed at, his mind racing. He already knew what Su Baoheng meant, and couldn't help but smile. He said, "Yite Nian, our appointment with Wuzhe is still a few days away."

Wuzhe refers to Pushan Zhongyi, whose Jurchen name is Pushan Wuzhe.

"One month." Wanyan Yuanyi replied.

This was the deadline for Pushan Zhongyi to capture Xiangfan and Fan. If they failed to capture them within this time, they would have to prepare for a slow and steady attack, which would be a bit of a logistical challenge. Strategic plans might even have to be reset.

"Han Tang." Wanyan Liang pointed to the area Su Baoheng had just drawn with his large hand. "You have 10,000 troops from your own army, and I'll give you another 10,000 signed troops. How long will it take to clear this area?"

Han Tang looked at the cities around Yuxikou, calculated in his mind and said, "Five days will be enough."

"Su Qing, how long will it take you to complete all the preparations?" Wanyan Liang asked.

"Let me mobilize the remaining soldiers and conscript civilians. The minimum period will be fifteen days, and the maximum period will be twenty days." Su Baoheng replied.

"Okay, then the 20th." Wanyan Liang stood up and nodded, standing in front of the sand table and said, "With the carriages and books of thousands of miles mixed together, how can Jiangnan have a separate border? Lead a million troops to the West Lake and immediately conquer the highest peak of Wushan Mountain!"

"Everyone should work hard. This time we must destroy the Song Dynasty in one fell swoop and unify the world!" Wanyan Liang slapped the map, his eyes shining as he looked around at several thousand households and said in a deep voice.

"Order!"

(End of this chapter)