Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Upon hearing that Zhao Gou wanted to declare himself emperor, Yue Fei's expression changed, and he was instantly caught in a dilemma.

Lin Fei continued, "The Song army in Guangling has suffered a series of crushing defeats and desperately needs a morale-boosting victory to restore Prince Kang's reputation."

Prince Kang was young and unable to make many decisions on his own; ultimately, he had to defer to the whims of those powerful families.

As I predicted, Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan were undoubtedly trying every means to urge Prince Kang to ascend the throne, in order to seize greater power for themselves.

Yue Fei: "Then, according to Staff Officer Lin's suggestion, what should I do?"

Lin Fei turned his head and replied, "Brigade Commander, you only need to understand why the Commander entrusted you with the command of the Independent Brigade. Why bother with so many other things?"

Yue Fei sighed: "But I am, after all, a Song citizen, a captain of the Daredevil Battalion, and have also received the emperor's salary. If I openly oppose the Prince of Kang's ascension to the throne, I fear it will affect the subsequent anti-Jin strategy."

Lin Fei smiled slightly: "What you say is correct, Your Excellency. To receive the emperor's bounty and share his burdens is the duty of a subject."

But the traveler overlooked one crucial point: from whom do you receive your stipend?

Yue Fei's eyes lit up: "What Staff Officer Lin means is..."

Lin Fei paced back and forth in front of the sand table, and continued, "Since ancient times, there have only been two situations in which a vassal king's succession to the throne could be recognized by the people of the world."

The first scenario is that the crown prince is deposed, and a vassal king is appointed as the heir apparent by the emperor. The second scenario is that the previous emperor met with misfortune and did not have time to designate a successor.

But now, the two emperors are still alive, albeit imprisoned. If Prince Kang were to ascend the throne, would he be considered legitimate in terms of law?

After listening to the analysis, Yue Fei nodded repeatedly: "In that case, if Prince Kang were to ascend the throne and become emperor at this moment, it would not be legally recognized?"

Lin Fei nodded: "What the commander needs to do right now is to sweep away all Jurchen forces south of Bianjing, then gather strength and quickly launch a northern expedition to recapture Bianjing in one fell swoop."

As for Prince Kang, my advice is to neither oppose nor support him, maintaining an ambiguous stance to prevent them from sabotaging the Northern Expedition.

"What if Prince Kang ascends the throne during this period?"

"It's very simple. If he wants to become emperor, then let him. As long as the governor neither supports nor opposes him, let things take their course. We can deal with everything after we recover Bianjing."

After Lin Fei finished speaking, he directly took out the booklet he had just memorized.

"Commander, this is the strategy I just came up with. Now that the Jin army has just suffered a defeat, Wanyan Zongqing will definitely send troops to attack Xizhao."

"It would be better to strike first before the Jin army arrives, setting up an ambush on their inevitable route and giving them a crushing defeat."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Han Ming burst in, excitedly saying, "Commander, there are two men outside the city who claim to be Li Gang and Zhong Lue, leading three thousand soldiers and waiting for you to receive them."

Yue Fei immediately said, "Quickly, invite them in."

Lin Fei's lips curled up: "It's just in time. With that, we have a candidate to guard Xizhao, and the Independent Brigade can advance towards Wanyan Zongqing's headquarters without any distractions."

……

The night was as dark as ink. Under Zhong Lue's leadership, the entire 4,000-strong Independent Brigade set out to ambush the invading Jin troops.

After being rescued by the Jingwei Division, Zhong Lue and Li Gang continued to fight against the Jin people by guerrilla tactics in various parts of the south.

During this period, Guangling County offered them service more than once, but the two, who had long since lost hope in the Song imperial family, resolutely refused Zhao Gou's recruitment.

Upon learning of Yue Fei's great victory over the Jin army in Xizhao County, he realized that it was the Chu Kingdom that had intervened, and immediately came to join them.

With the addition of 3,000 elite Western Army troops under Li Gang and Zhong Lue, the pressure on Yue Fei's side was greatly reduced, allowing him to concentrate his forces to inflict greater casualties on the enemy.

"Wanyan Qingzong's main force is in Juzhou City. This place straddles the middle of Guangling and Guangping prefectures, severing the connection between the two prefectures. If we can annihilate Wanyan Qingzong's main force in one battle..."

Not only can the severed communication between the two prefectures be re-established, but it will also put immense pressure on Bianjing City. Currently, Wanyan Zongqing's main force numbers only slightly over 20,000.

If we can win this battle, the situation between the Song and Jin dynasties will be completely reversed.

Zhong Lue recounted all the intelligence he had gathered along the way to Yue Fei and Lin Fei in detail.

Yue Fei: "General Zhong, you've really worked hard these past few days."

Zhong Lue: "What does hardship matter? I only hate that the Song emperor and his ministers are incompetent and foolish, causing the people to suffer in dire straits."

Lin Fei: "Let's talk about these things later. We should be at Reed Ferry soon, right?"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Lue turned around, glanced at the spot, and nodded: "That's right, the Reed Ferry is just ahead."

Lin Fei immediately said to Yue Fei, "Let's set up an ambush here at the reed crossing and wait for the Jurchens to walk right into our trap."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Lue hurriedly said, "There is more than one road to Xizhao, such as Reed Ferry. Lin... Advisor? Why are you so certain that the Jurchens will take this route?"

Lin Fei shook his head and said, "I don't know which path the Jurchens took."

Zhong was slightly taken aback, and was about to ask a question when Yue Fei said, "I understand what Staff Officer Lin means. Luwei Ferry is the closest to Juzhou City, only a little over a hundred li away."

If the Jurchens pass through this area, they can naturally be annihilated using the terrain. However, if the Jurchens travel to Xizhao County via other routes,

"Then my independent brigade can take advantage of the weakened state of our headquarters in Juzhou and launch a swift attack. Either way, it will be advantageous for us."

Zhong thought for a moment and muttered to himself, "I see."

Yue Fei immediately ordered, "Notify the entire army to set up an ambush in the reed crossing. The army will march for two days and one night, and they will eat wherever they can find food."

"Yes."

Han Ming immediately followed Yue Fei's orders upon hearing them.

After setting up the ambush, a strong feeling of hunger overwhelmed the group.

"General Zhong, there's not much to eat while we're on the march, so please make do with whatever you have."

Yue Fei took out several cans of food from his marching backpack, which turned out to be full of luncheon meat and some fresh bamboo shoots.

Without hesitation, Zhong Lue immediately picked up a can of luncheon meat and took a big bite, his expression becoming complicated.

This tastes absolutely amazing!

Looking at the other soldiers who were lying in ambush, they were eating the same thing, and Zhong Lue felt a mix of emotions.

The food he received in the Western Army was nothing compared to the canned food in front of him.

During wartime, the Western Army's staple food was usually dry rice that had been steamed more than a dozen times, and the side dish was usually dried meat.

This is just the data on paper. When they actually got to the battlefield, most of the Western Army soldiers were almost starving due to the embezzlement by various parties.

The independent brigade in front of us has such abundant wartime marching rations that just one bite of this soft and delicious luncheon meat is enough to bring a sense of complete satisfaction.

In fact, as early as the second year after the conscription system was established, Shen Lang had already promulgated wartime food standards.

Each person receives 750 grams of staple food, 125-220 grams of meat, 200 grams of vegetables, two sesame seed cakes, three small pieces of sugar, 8 grams of salt, and 6 grams of tea per day. In addition, alcoholic beverages and tobacco are also provided.

If you encounter an emergency and cannot cook, use canned luncheon meat to stave off hunger.

No wonder the Chu Kingdom is so powerful; their food alone is far superior to that of the Song army.

Zhong Lue couldn't help but sigh inwardly.