The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 191 The Real Gold Thief Has Arrived

"Okay, what I just said was all nonsense." Yue Wenxuan: "Everyone, let's continue listening to the spy's military intelligence."

Everyone: "!"

Well, everyone then remembered that they had only heard half of the military intelligence.

The spy was also very confused. I came here to report military intelligence, but what were you guys talking about?

But fortunately, I am the protagonist again.

The spy quickly continued to talk about the current situation.

In late February, after abandoning their pursuit of Zhao Gou, the Jin army began their march north, transporting the looted treasures from the prefectures and counties along the way back to the north. This treasure was enormous. After all, they had captured many prefectures and counties along the way, and each of them contained countless gold, silver, and jewelry. Loading all of this stuff onto trucks and transporting it away was a huge undertaking.

The carriages and horses loaded with wealth stretched for dozens of miles, with no end in sight.

The main force of the Jin army can no longer wander around. With such a large amount of wealth, who would not protect it well?

Most of the main forces in the southern expedition transformed themselves into "escorts", protecting the countless goods as they headed north.

Money, this is all money!

They stared at the money without blinking, and ignored the bandits or remnants of the Song army they encountered on their way back north. Occasionally, when they came across a city that had not been captured, they would send a small number of light cavalry to scare the Song army into surrendering.

If you don’t surrender by scare, just attack!
If they succeed in capturing the city, they will plunder all the property in the city. If they encounter a tough problem, they will go around the city.

But the leaders of the Jin Dynasty were not stupid. They knew that if they withdrew like this, the Song army would soon cross the river and reoccupy this large territory.

The Jin Kingdom’s hands can’t reach that far now, and it can’t take care of everything. What should it do?
Of course, they would continue to support the puppet army! They ordered Liu Yu, the prefect of Jinan who had surrendered to the Jin Dynasty, to help them manage it.

Liu Yu, the later emperor of the pseudo-Qi Kingdom, officially became a lackey of the Jin Kingdom.

The spy said, "A few days ago, Wanyan Chang, a high-ranking Jin general, passed through Jinan with a large amount of treasure. I was in the city at the time, pretending to be a beggar, trying to gather information. The main force of the Jin army, their carts carrying gold, silver, and jewelry, kept passing me by. It took a full half hour for the convoy to clear."

Everyone: "!"

The spy said, "Wanyan Chang entered the Jinan government office and stayed there for most of the day before coming out. The next day, I bribed the maid at the government office, and she told me that Liu Yu had complained to Wanyan Chang, saying that there was a band of rebels on our Jiaodong Peninsula who were blocking the advance of the pseudo-Jin bandits. He also said that even the Khitans and the Tieli people were no match for us, and he wanted Wanyan Chang to intervene personally."

Madam Gong Er couldn't help but clench her fists: "Are you going to attack the Jin general?"

The spy's face showed a strange expression. "No need, actually. After hearing what was said, Wanyan Chang didn't agree to lead his army to attack Jiaoshui. He was clearly more anxious to transport the treasure back to the north, and his main force wanted to continue north. He only agreed to send 2,000 light cavalry to attack Jiaoshui, and asked Liu Yu to arrange a puppet army to cooperate with the Jin light cavalry."

Madam Gong Er's expression suddenly turned a little sad, and she murmured, "Two thousand light cavalry! Two thousand light cavalry!"

Two thousand light cavalry are not easy to deal with!

Her father, Guan Yi, led an army of 10,000 volunteers to garrison Jimo County, but was defeated by a thousand Jin Kingdom light cavalrymen.

She still remembered the ferocity of the Jin light cavalry, who galloped around the city walls, in no rush to attack.

Instead, they rushed to the villages outside the city on fast horses. All the people who did not have time to escape into the city were caught from the villages and hacked to death. The countryside outside the city became a river of blood. Most of the rebels were locals. When they heard that their villages were massacred, they howled in anger. Some impulsive guys relied on their numbers to open the city gates and tried to rush out to save their own villages.

As a result, as soon as they left the city, they were easily defeated by the Jin cavalry and massacred.

Then, the Jin cavalry counterattacked the city at an extremely fast speed, galloping around the city and shooting arrows at the city walls. The city wall of Jimo County was only three meters high. The Jin light cavalry shot arrows from outside the city and were not at a disadvantage. The archers on the city walls were no match for the Jin light cavalry and their morale was soon destroyed.

The Jin cavalry simply pretended to dismount and climb the city wall, which frightened the rebels so much that they turned around and fled.

Then the city was broken inexplicably!

It is estimated that most cities in the Song Dynasty were scared away in this way.

Qian Zhuoqun: "Second Madam, don't think about the past, let's think about how to fight this battle first."

Upon hearing this, Madam Gong Er habitually turned to look at Qi Jiguang, but this time Qi Jiguang offered no advice and stood there motionless. Yue Wenxuan spoke from the side, "We've been preparing for a long time to deal with the Real Gold Bandits. Madam Gong Er, all you need to do now is to put all your preparations to good use. Why bother General Qi with making plans?"

"Hey! That's true." Madam Gong Er brightened up, a dashing beauty on her face. "We've been preparing for a year to deal with the real gold thieves. At this point, there's nothing much to think about. Pass the order and prepare to fight the real gold thieves. The real gold thieves usually use a tactic of high-speed cavalry interspersed across the country, unlike the fake gold thieves' infantry who only know how to surround and attack cities. The real gold thieves will definitely harass the countryside, so first we will give them a strong defense and clear the countryside."

At her command, the defense line consisting of the three major cities of Jiaoshui County, Laizhou City and Jimo County immediately came alive.

Several checkpoints had already been built along this line of defense. For example, a small path between two peaks was now fenced with wooden barriers, with outposts erected on either side of the mountaintops. A small stone fort had also been built at the river crossing...

The rebels have been preparing for more than a year, all for this day!
When the people on the west side of the defense line heard that the real gold thieves were coming, they immediately packed up their things and moved eastward.

The house was no longer needed, and if it was burned down by the Jin thieves, the rebels promised to help rebuild it.

The crops in the fields were also abandoned. The rebels promised to compensate for the crops destroyed by the Jin thieves.

The rebels had been telling the people all along about these matters over the past year: as long as they defeated the Jin bandits, they would help them with everything. If they couldn't defeat the Jin bandits, they would all be doomed, and even if they lost their lives, there would be no compensation.

In the past, the government of the Song Dynasty would not publicize these things, and the people were at a loss during the war. But now the rebel army has already considered everything carefully, so the people are naturally not panicked and evacuate in an orderly manner.

West of the defense line, a large area became a no-man's land.

To the east of the defense line, in the area adjacent to the defense line, everyone who can evacuate should evacuate as much as possible.

Shortly after the people evacuated...

A light cavalry unit, led by the brave Jin general Gu Wei, crossed Changyi County and galloped towards Jiaoshui...

The real gold thieves went ahead, and Liu Yu's son Liu Lin led 3,000 infantrymen and followed from behind to clean up the mess for the real gold thieves.

(End of this chapter)