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

Chapter 484: Thousands of Cavalry Coming to Compete for Merit and Fame

Ye Yiwen stood on the bow, his face filled with worry. He said to Zhang Guang, the commander-in-chief of the Jiankang navy, "A document signed by both Minister Yu and General Liu states that the Huaixi army is running low on rations. Forty thousand soldiers have nowhere to eat. What should we do?"

Zhang Guang had a very good-looking face, with a square mouth, big ears, long flowing beard, sword-like eyebrows, a height of nine feet, and a strong and powerful figure. He had the standard posture of a military general, and anyone who saw him would feel at ease.

But inconsistent with his appearance, Zhang Guang's performance in this battle was really poor.

Note that this is not just bad.

At the beginning, Zhang Guang led the Jiankang navy to station in Zhenzhou. When Li Xianzhong blocked the main force of the Huaixi Jin army, Zhang Guang led the Jiankang navy to flee, leaving Li Xianzhong in the north of the Yangtze River, causing a big hole in the Caishi defense line.

Afterwards, the main force of the Jin navy entered the Yangtze River, and Zhang Rong and Li Bao also led the navy to pursue. If Zhang Guang led the Jiankang navy to fight at this time, he could attack from the front and back and directly kill Su Baoheng and Wanyan Zhengjia in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

But this guy was afraid of fighting and disobeyed orders, watching the main force of the Jin navy cross Jiankang and arrive at Caishi.

In the subsequent battles, Zhang Guang adhered to the tortoise tactics. No matter how strong he was, he would hide in Jiankang under the banner of defending the government and the Song Dynasty. It was not until the great victory in Chao County that he joined forces with many people and tricked Ye Yiwen into going to Chao County to grab the credit.

"Mr. Ye was deceived by the group in Chao County." Zhang Guang said seriously, "The Jin army has 30,000 regular troops, and tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers. Did their food grow wings and fly away?

Even if they sank, even if they were burned, the battle was so fierce that some horses would die, and at worst we could eat their meat. Besides, our army is not without food, so how could we be short of it?

Ye Yiwen thought for a moment, frowned, and asked, "If that's the case, why didn't a figure like Yu Binfu allow the army to reach Chao County? He's not someone who seeks credit."

Zhang Guang waved his hand and said, "Prince Ye, people change. Before, Prince Yu was a servant. If he didn't share the credit, he wouldn't be able to keep it himself. How could he have been crowned a king? But now he is a prince. To be only one step away from becoming a prime minister, how can he not consider himself?"

Ye Yiwen shook his head: "After all, this is his credit."

"Prince Ye, this is why the generals are asking for battle." Zhang Guang said sincerely, with a righteous air: "Although this action may seem like a quest for merit, it is actually for the greater good of the world.

The troops that participated in the Battle of Huaixi were already exhausted and in urgent need of reinforcements, otherwise they would be unable to recapture the Huaixi areas.

As for their proposal to pursue Tushan Zhen, it was truly too hasty. The canal runs smoothly from east to west and north to south of the Huai River, and Tushan Zhen's 30,000-man army marches at a rapid pace. By the time we catch up, they'll already be within Jin territory.

Regardless of whether the imperial court agrees to our army's counterattack into Jin territory, the devastation in Huaidong is so severe that we are in real danger of running out of food. Our army's attack on Huaixi at this time is really a matter of starting with the easy and then moving on to the difficult."

This statement sounds high-sounding, but it has many flaws. However, it is more than enough to fool a husband who knows nothing about military affairs.

However, Zhang Guang still looked down on Ye Yiwen.

The scholars and officials do not know about military affairs because they are too lazy to join the army and do not want to associate with uncouth people. It does not mean that they are as stupid as pigs and cannot learn.

In the Tang Dynasty, there were scholars who served as military advisors and were promoted to military governors. In the Ming Dynasty, there were military officials who participated in military affairs. Ultimately, these shrewd people who could influence the government were not fools. After a long period of experience, they would naturally become knowledgeable about military affairs.

But although Ye Yiwen knew that Zhang Guang's words were nonsense, he still remained silent.

To be honest, Ye Yiwen was a little angry at this time.

You, Yu Yunwen, are only one step away from being the prime minister. Am I not the same as Ye Yiwen?
If we really want to be picky, Ye Yiwen, the Privy Councilor, is closer!

And then he didn't even want to share any of the credit, which was really outrageous.

Mr. Ye has also worked very hard and his hair has turned white because of the situation.

"In that case, let the entire army speed up." Ye Yiwen gave the order slowly.

Zhang Guang was overjoyed, and then winked at a guard beside him.

The guards understood and quickly boarded the boat, rowing to the shore. They said to Zhang Bingcong, Zhang Guang's trusted general, "General, Lord Ye has agreed. The general manager asked me to tell you to take the documents I gave you and quickly go to Chao County to seize more property and land."

These words were extremely blunt, but neither of them cared.

Zhang Bingcong was equally delighted, and said to the three hundred cavalrymen behind him, "My men, today is the day to make achievements. Follow me to Chao County to eat meat!"

These 300 cavalrymen were all Zhang Guang's personal guards. It was not easy for the Southern Dynasty to maintain cavalry, and it was even more difficult for the navy to maintain cavalry, so they were all Zhang Guang's treasures. Only when facing friendly forces would he dare to let them out to show off his power.

Zhang Bingcong has Ye Yiwen's order from Ye Xianggong in his hand. Is there anyone who dares to attack him?
When Zhang Bingcong made this move, the various Song troops who had been observing the movements immediately realized that it was Ye Yiwen who made the decision. Then the whole army became agitated, and some cavalry followed Zhang Bingcong to move together.

This Song army, which had barely participated in the battle, instantly assembled nearly 3,000 cavalrymen, marching westward along the Yangtze River. After reaching Yuxikou, they continued along Yuxikou towards Dongguan. However, because these Song troops were not under the same command and had relatively few horses, with only two horses per person at most, their formation was quickly thrown into disarray. The 3,000 cavalrymen formed a single line, scattered along the line from Caishi to Dongguan.

There were many cases of looting and fighting, and even blood was shed. Of course, there were relatively few civilians in this area, and these Song soldiers often robbed each other, stealing money, horses, clothes, armor, and everything. Although there were officers to stop them, the chaos was so extreme that it was difficult to quell it. Often, when one side was suppressed, chaos would break out again.

Although Dongguan was destroyed by Wanyan Liang and everything was burned down by fire, even the city walls were burned to ashes and the civil structure of the tower collapsed, it still stood on the road.

After a brief rest, less than 1,500 Jingnan troops were stationed here. After seeing the chaotic Song army from the watchtower, the soldiers who were originally a little nervous were speechless for a moment.

What the fuck is this?
We have been preparing for two days, and are going to meet another group of elite Jin troops at the East Gate, and you show me this?

How dare this group of Song soldiers do this?
Don’t they know I’m a good fighter?

Liu Huai was also speechless and instantly laughed out of anger.

He had thought that these Song soldiers who dared not participate in the war were relatively weak, but he did not expect that they were so weak that they could not even maintain the most basic marching formation and could let the sheep go while marching on their own land. It was really outrageous.

What made Liu Huai even more speechless was that several Song soldiers saw that the East Gate was closed and the river next to it was blocked. They were all furious and went to the foot of the East Gate to shout and curse, asking the defender to open the gate.

Liu Huai nodded at Zhang Baiyu, who was already dressed in armor at the city gate. Zhang Baiyu understood and opened the city gate with several guards and rushed out.

"What's your name, you bastard? Why don't you open the city gate? Don't you know that we are here to help in the battle in Chao County under the orders of Prime Minister Ye?" Zhang Bingcong was sweating profusely. He glanced behind him and started yelling at Zhang Baiyu.

Zhang Baiyu just looked at Zhang Bingcong coldly, then raised his hand and pointed: "Go back, Nai Gong will count to three, otherwise you will die."

Zhang Bingcong's heart skipped a beat. He then turned to look at the hundreds of cavalrymen behind him, and then at the few cavalrymen beside Zhang Baiyu. He couldn't help but feel relieved: "You thief..."

"Three..." Zhang Baiyu raised a finger.

"We..."

"two……"

"You can't..."

"One..." Zhang Baiyu bent his last finger, but did not give Zhang Bingcong any chance to complain. He simply bent his bow and shot an arrow through Zhang Bingcong's bun.

The sharp arrow cut open his hair crown and took away a bunch of hair. Zhang Bingcong cried out and immediately fell off his horse.

Zhang Baiyu said to the knights beside him, "Try not to kill anyone. Follow me!"

Then, seven armored cavalrymen held their spears upside down and launched an attack on hundreds of Song cavalry.

Zhang Bingcong was the first to be arrested.

This guy's position is really too far forward, and he's holding his head with his hands like a bear getting beaten. It makes people feel it's unreasonable not to kick him.

When Zhang Baiyu passed by, he directly pulled Zhang Bingcong off the horse, laid him across his own horse, strangled his neck with his thighs, and then continued to charge.

Although these Song soldiers were numerous and powerful, they were just for show and their horsemanship skills were even weaker. Faced with the sudden attack, they were unable to react at all. After more than 20 riders were knocked off their horses, the Song soldiers could not help but begin to retreat, trying to keep some distance.

But such a withdrawal would be disastrous.

These Song troops originally came from various departments, and their command orders were not unified. Then, chaos occurred during the long-distance raid. At this time, a captain had at most a dozen close comrades with him. The soldiers could not find their generals, and the generals could not find their soldiers.

Moreover, the military order they received was to take over Chao County. How could they have expected to be attacked?
On the official road before Dongguan, which was sandwiched between Yuxi River and Rushu Mountain, the Song army in the rear did not know what was happening in the front. They only knew that they were retreating all the way, and the rest of the people also began to retreat.

The retreat quickly turned into a rout. Before the East Gate, there were at least a thousand Song soldiers who were beaten into a pulp by seven Jingnan Army knights, leaving Shi Qilang, who was just about to leave the city to provide support, stunned.

"Young Master. Shall we...shall we leave the city?" Shi Qilang asked with a strange look on his face.

Liu Huai didn't know what to say, so he could only wave his hand and said, "Go and treat the wounded quickly and gather the troops. Shi Qilang, you said the Song army is like this, how dare they do this?"

Shi Qilang didn't know how to answer. He felt like he had been thinking for three days and three nights but couldn't figure out why they dared to start a war. He could only laugh dryly, bowed and left.

(End of this chapter)