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

Chapter 373: Agree to attack the enemy's nest alone

"Since everyone is here, I won't waste my time."

In the Jingnan Army's tent, Liu Huai took the commander's seat and spoke to the other generals in the tent, "There are two things. The first is that we just fought Hezhameng'an. Flying Tiger Squadron Leader Shen Longzi has the merit of capturing the general, and Flying Tiger Squadron Leader Shao Chongrong has the merit of capturing the flag. We should report this to the entire army as a commendation. He Daguan, give them three ranks of merit."

All the generals nodded.

Since this matter has been brought up for discussion at the military meeting, it is naturally of great importance. It concerns the morale of the troops and should be implemented quickly.

However, Xin Qiji frowned and stood up to speak: "General, I have actually wanted to advise you for a long time. The General is responsible for the weight of the army and should not take risks for no reason. You must know that this is no longer the time to risk the lives of a hundred people. Now the Jingnan army has 5,000 soldiers and horses, and we still need the General to mobilize them.

For example, today, I've heard the details from Shen Longzi and the others. The Jin bandit Hezhameng'an is incredibly powerful, and the commander-in-chief should have boarded the ship and left the battlefield immediately, rather than risking his life by leading five men into battle and displaying his own bravery."

Liu Huai looked at Xin Qiji, who had just fought a battle in front of the battlefield the day before, showing off his bravery, with a bit of amusement. He shook his head and said, "The people of Wujiang County and the Dongting Lake navy were all retreating. At that time, I only had the courage of a single man, and I should have used it after all."

Xin Qiji's tone became more serious: "There are people in Wujiang County who need to be rescued. Does that mean the people in Huaibei and Shandong should not be rescued? Even if the commander-in-chief sacrifices his life in Wujiang County, how many people can he save? Who will the people in Huaibei and Shandong rely on then?"

To be fair, this flattery was a bit blatant. At least Liu Huai got goose bumps all over his body, and kept saying in his heart that he didn't deserve it.

However, seeing Xin Qiji's serious expression, Liu Huai felt that the other party seemed to be telling the truth.

After casually agreeing to get by, Liu Huai talked about the main point of today: "Just now, Yu Sheren said that there is an imperial decree for us to go to Lin'an to receive the reward."

As soon as these words were spoken, smart people like Wang Shilong frowned, thinking that the Song Dynasty court was simply making a fuss.

But there were still some who hadn't reacted. Jia Rui of the Tianping Army excitedly said, "Then what are you waiting for? Not yet..."

As the de facto leader of the Tianping Army, Xin Qiji shouted, "Jia Hulu, going to Lin'an now is no different from deserting the battlefield. Are you really that afraid of the Jin thieves?"

Jia Rui was startled, but saw that the other generals were all looking at him strangely. He quickly waved his hand and said, "Fifth Brother, that's not what I meant. I just felt that since we've come south, we should finally pay our respects to His Majesty. If we receive a reward along the way, it will boost our morale and give us a better chance of victory in the battle against the Jin bandits."

Xin Qiji was about to scold him again, but Liu Huai waved his hand and said, "General Jia, this matter is not that simple."

Liu Huai recounted the struggles between the pro-war and pro-peace factions within the court, emphasizing the relationship between Prime Minister Chen Kangbo and Emperor Zhao Gou. He also alluded to Zhao Gou's desire to dismiss officials and sail across the sea to confront the enemy, but omitted the story of Crown Prince Zhao Shen.

After hearing these words, not only Jia Rui was stunned, but even Zhang Baiyu and others who had just understood something also looked solemn.

"General Jia, this is the whole story," Liu Huai said sternly. "To put it simply, if we go to Lin'an, we can enjoy high positions and generous salaries, but it's basically impossible to return to the anti-Jin battlefield. If we want to return to Shandong, we don't know when we will be able to do so."

Xin Qiji shook his head and added, "More than that, everyone. The reason we went south to join the war was to fight the Jin bandits and prevent them from completely occupying Huaibei and Huainan. If we seek wealth and glory and avoid fighting, even if Song can survive this war and cede Huaibei and Huainan to the Jin bandits in exchange for peace, Shandong and Huainan will then be under siege from all sides by the Jin. What will the Duke of Wei and Jiedushi Geng do?"

At this point, the generals who still had some ambitions for fame, wealth and power became solemn.

Shandong is not only my foundation, but also my hometown. As the saying goes, people are despised when they are away from their hometown. What’s the use of having more wealth when you are away from home and without your fellow villagers?
Wealth and honor do not return to their hometown, just like walking in brocade at night.

This is a truth that even Xiang Yu understood.

Anyone can give up Shandong, but the Han people of Shandong cannot give it up.

He Boqiu bowed and said, "I've said it long ago, the Song Kingdom is not something we can rely on. Even if we fight side by side now, we must be extremely cautious. My Lord, even if we can get away with it this time, the Song court will have other tricks up its sleeve. There will always be a time when we can't escape."

Liu Huai tapped his fingers twice on the table in front of him, feeling helpless.

With powerful enemies in front and constraints behind, this battle is truly outrageous.

Zhang Baiyu stood up and frowned, "But what can we do? Just sitting on Caishiji and glaring at the Jin bandits across the Yangtze River won't drive them away! Do we really have to wait for the world to change before taking action?"

Wang Shilong laughed dryly, "I'm afraid Shu will change before the rest of the world does."

At this point, everyone's faces looked ugly.

The reason is simple. The prototype of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms had already appeared in this era. Even if the people here have a low level of education, they probably know the story of the Three Kingdoms.

What a brilliant strategy Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Plan encapsulated: "When there is a change in the empire, order a general to lead the army of Jingzhou to attack Wan and Luo, while the general himself leads the people of Yizhou out of Qinchuan. Who among the people would dare not welcome the general with food and drink?" If this were true, then hegemony could be achieved and the Han Dynasty could be revived.

It’s a pity that the world had not changed yet. Shu Han lost Jingzhou and Guan Yu died, so the Northern Expedition became a bubble.

However, Shu Han at least had a united will and a wise ruler and good ministers. What the hell was this Song Kingdom? Even when the sword was about to be cut off, they still had to do something strange!
Who knows whether the world will undergo a major change first, or whether the Song State will be in turmoil first?!
Moreover, what does it mean that the world is changing? Can the world change on its own? Wouldn't it take a group of people fighting to the death to turn the tide?

If the Jingnan army just sits back and watches the situation change, who will fight?
Of course it’s Wei Sheng and Geng Jing!

Thinking of this, all the generals' faces turned black.

Especially Zhang Baiyu, because he suddenly realized that although Wei Sheng and Geng Jing were in a difficult situation and needed to break the situation as soon as possible, they were ultimately facing the local army of the Jin Kingdom.

His biological father Zhang Rong personally led 3,000 soldiers and horses to face 30,000 Jin troops at Guazhou Ferry.

Shi Qilang looked around, then stood up and bowed, saying, "Lord Commander, all of us have followed you and Duke Wei all the way here. We are convinced by your military strategy. You tell us what to do, and we will fight in the battle."

The other generals all nodded.

Liu Huai looked around the tent and said, "I do have some ideas." Then he walked to the map in the tent and said, "First of all, from a political point of view, as long as the Song State does not establish a stable rule in Shandong, we will not be able to submit to the Song State.

After all, the Song Dynasty could give up Shandong at any time, so could we? If one day, the Song Dynasty said it would give Shandong to the Jin Dynasty and asked us to surrender, would you bow down to the emperor and obey his will?

Xu Zongyan's face changed, and he was about to say something, but when the words came to his lips, he sighed deeply and swallowed them back.

He Boqiu was cheered up: "That's right."

The others were also interested, but Zhang Baiyu, Lei Ben and Jia Rui had complicated expressions.

But he could not refute it. After all, the Song Dynasty's bold move was really scary. If some pro-war leader in the court who knew nothing about military affairs suddenly got confused and thought that now was the time to kill the enemy and serve the country, and ordered the Jingnan Army to cross the river to fight, and Yu Yunwen could not withstand the pressure, things would be serious.

"Therefore, in order to avoid being constrained by the imperial court, we must try our best to fight independently." Liu Huai continued to add.

Lei Ben frowned. "The Jingnan Army is still a foreign force. The Commander-in-Chief has been forced into the Song Dynasty's battle formation. How can he lead the military and political affairs of an area?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lei Ben seemed to have figured something out and looked horrified.

Liu Huai pointed at the map and said, "There's no place for us to use our military power in Jiangnan. What about Jiangbei?"

Liu Huai drew a circle with the short sword in his hand across the Huai River and finally pointed it at the vicinity of Luzhou and Chaohu Lake.

Hefei.

"Yuxikou, Dongguan, Chaoxian, Hefei, Shouchun, Zhongli." Liu Huai pointed out the important towns in Huaixi from south to north. They were also the supply lines for Wanyan Liang's 30,000-man army. "If we can gain a foothold along this line, we can threaten Wanyan Liang's retreat and make his army unable to advance or retreat!"

From a strategic perspective, this can be considered a fantastic idea that can defeat the enemy in one move.

This is the reason why they say there is no worse strategy than cutting off food supply.

However, if one wants to carry out this tactical action, it will be extremely difficult even with the current strength of the Jingnan Army.

The most direct difficulty was that there was a big river in front of them, and there were 30,000 Jin regular troops to the west of the river. Although the Dongting Lake navy on the river could overwhelm the Jin navy, they could not completely destroy it.

The Jin army was not foolish. Even if they avoided the front of the Jin army, they would send out scouts. The five thousand soldiers crossing the river were so powerful, how could they escape Wanyan Liang's eyes?

Moreover, the Jin army would also deploy troops in the rear. After the Jingnan army landed, the road ahead would be blocked and there would be pursuers from behind, which would mean they were going to die.

In addition, the Jingnan Army was considered a foreign force, and the Huainan and Huainan routes were unfamiliar to the Jin army, and it was also a foreign location for the Jingnan Army. It was not so easy to connect the local resistance of the Huainan and Huainan people with the defeated army.

Furthermore, even if all went well, would the Jin army allow their retreat to be cut off? If they were determined to withdraw, would the Jingnan army be able to stop them? If they attacked, would they be able to withstand it?

Even Xu Zongyan had experienced war among those present, and there were also some future generals who simply lacked experience. They came up with many difficulties in just a moment.

However, as always, these people had followed Liu Huai out of the chaos in Shandong and had long been convinced by him. Therefore, everyone's first reaction was not to say that this was not feasible, but to think of solutions.

"I know this is a difficult undertaking. To accomplish this, we need not only the desperate fighting of the Jingnan Army, but also the cooperation of the Song Army and even the alliance with the soldiers and civilians of Huaixi. We cannot afford to be careless." Liu Huai said solemnly, "I have already dispatched soldiers to Huaixi to scout the military situation, and will discuss a plan with Yu Sheren to seize the opportunity to cross the river. Now, raise your hands and make the decision."

The generals each had their own calculations.

Although this is only a general strategy, once it is passed at the military meeting, it means that everyone has to work in this direction. At the very least, these commanders have to communicate with their subordinates and boost morale. After all, this is considered an isolated force deep behind enemy lines, and it cannot be done without high morale.

After a moment's silence, Zhang Xiaoyi was the first to raise his hand, gritting his teeth. "If we don't fight the Jin bandits, we'll never be able to drive them out of the Central Plains. How can we resist the Jin across a vast river?"

With Zhang Xiaoyi taking the lead, the others also raised their hands to show their agreement.

It was passed unanimously.

"Okay." Liu Huai didn't waste any words and began to give orders directly: "He Dapan, you will be fully responsible for recruiting soldiers. Recruit from the defeated soldiers in Lianghuai and the refugees, mainly volunteers. But you must clearly tell them that although our Jingnan Army is from Shandong, we know the hardship of leaving our homes. This battle is to take them back to their hometowns."

He Boqiu solemnly agreed: "As you wish!"

"Mr. Xu." Liu Huai looked at Xu Zongyan again. "As the governor of Lianghuai, you possess knowledge and strategy. If you wish to save the people of Lianghuai from their suffering, you must help me formulate a comprehensive offensive plan."

Xu Zongyan felt a lump in his throat, but he immediately stood up and agreed.

"The rest of the reinforcements are from Jiangnan and Huaibei." Liu Huai looked at the other generals again and said, "I hope you can treat them fairly. We are all Han people fighting against the Jin. Don't create discord among yourselves."

"Order!"

The others also stood up and agreed.

But after a moment, Zhang Baiyu asked, "Lord Commander, if we need reinforcements, can we use the Flying Tiger Army first?"

Before the words were finished, someone else spoke up: "The Flying Tiger Army is composed entirely of elite armored cavalry, and it's difficult to replenish them. We still need to select armored soldiers first."

Seeing that there was a tendency to start arguing again, Liu Huai simply waved his hand to stop everyone: "If this strategy can really be implemented, we will have as many good soldiers as we want in Lianghuai."

(End of this chapter)