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

Inside Juzhou City, Wanyan Qingzong rested his hand on the long sword at his waist, his tiger-like eyes fixed on the military map on the table.

After a long silence, he muttered to himself, "It seems we must request reinforcements from Bianjing. Without taking Guangling and capturing that brat Zhao Gou alive, our Great Jin will hardly make any progress in the south of the Song Dynasty."

"Report~"

Just then, a scout covered in blood burst into the general's hall.

Distracted, Wanyan Qingzong was extremely irritated. Just as he was about to order this servant who knew nothing of etiquette, he heard him cry out.

"General, when General Wanyan Zhen and General Haolu's army of over ten thousand men passed through Luwei Ferry, they were ambushed by a large force of Song troops. The two generals fought bravely and risked their lives."

However, the Song army possessed formidable firearms, and ultimately, ultimately…

"What happened in the end?"

Wanyan Qingzong's eyelids twitched, and he immediately rushed to the scout, grabbed him, and shouted with wide, fierce eyes.

"Just say it!"

"Both generals, along with tens of thousands of warriors, were wiped out. Only I, a humble servant, managed to escape. I have come to report this to the generals..."

"Ah~"

Upon hearing this, Wanyan Qingzong roared and grabbed the scout by the neck.

"Impossible! How could our great Jin warriors suffer such a crushing defeat! It must be you, you lackey, who have corrupted the morale of the army!"

"No! General, spare my life! Everything I said is true!"

Click~

The scout's voice abruptly stopped as he was snapped in the neck by the enraged Wanyan Qingzong.

"Guards, drag this man out and feed him to the dogs!"

After the scout was dragged away, Wanyan Qingzong immediately returned to the main desk and continued to examine the map.

"Luwei Ferry is only a hundred miles from Juzhou City. If Wanyan Zhen and the others really meet with misfortune, wouldn't that be..."

An ominous thought unconsciously formed in my mind.

"Will the Song army advance towards Juzhou City? If so, will the Song troops holed up in Guangling and Guangping counties join the attack?"

"If that's the case, how long can Juzhou City hold out with its current force of 10,000?"

The chill, like the winter weather, kept creeping into Wanyan Qingzong's mind.

"Probably not. The Song people are so cowardly. They should be celebrating such a victory. I have enough time to recall the 15,000 troops that besieged Guangping and Guangjun to defend them."

Thinking of this, Wanyan Qingzong immediately ordered men to go to Guangping and Guangling prefectures to send the troops besieging the two prefectures back to defend Juzhou...

At this moment, standing before the reed-covered ferry, looking at the corpses scattered everywhere, Lin Fei showed no joy on his face. Instead, he directly offered Yue Fei a new suggestion.

"Commander, the Jin army has just suffered a defeat. We have two options. The first is to take Juzhou City directly. Juzhou is poorly defended. We can take it in one fell swoop."

"The second strategy is to besiege the enemy's stronghold and attack their reinforcements. The Jin army suffered a great defeat at Luweidu. If Wanyan Qingzong wasn't stupid..."

They will surely send troops back to defend, and our army can take advantage of the Jin army's exhaustion during their retreat to further expand our gains.

"The choice is ultimately up to the Commander-in-Chief."

Yue Fei thought for a moment and said directly, "In today's battle, the entire army has lost more than half of its ammunition. The remaining shells are insufficient for a strong attack on Juzhou City."

Instead, we should besiege the enemy stronghold and attack their reinforcements, taking advantage of their exhaustion to completely annihilate their remaining forces.

Lin Fei nodded: "In that case, we'll split our forces into two groups to deal with the Jin army retreating from Guangling and Guangping at the same time."

Yue Fei: "After the war is over, we will meet at the city of Juzhou."

"Ah."

The two quickly finalized the plan, and then Yue Fei patted the dumbfounded Zhong Lue: "General Zhong, it's time to move out."

Zhong Lue realized what was happening and couldn't help but sigh, "When Imperial Censor Zhou proposed reforming the Song Dynasty's military system and wanted to introduce weapons from the Great Chu, if that had succeeded, our Great Song Dynasty would have suffered far more than just this humiliation."

Yue Fei comforted him, saying, "General Zhong, what's done is done, there's no use in talking about it anymore. The most urgent task is to drive out the Jurchens and rescue tens of millions of Song citizens!"

Zhong Lue glanced at Yue Fei, and finally nodded vigorously...

……

Three days later, on the city wall of Juzhou.

"Report!"

An urgent report rang in my ears.

Wanyan Qingzong turned around and saw a Jin soldier covered in blood stumbling and kneeling in front of him.

"General, Bu Luoyan's 8,000 troops in Guangling were ambushed by the Song army during their retreat. The Song army's firearms were sharp, and our great Jin warriors were simply no match for them. After three quarters of an hour of fighting, Bu Luoyan and his entire army were wiped out! Ah—"

After saying this, the Jin soldier immediately lay down on the ground, beating his chest and stamping his feet as he cried.

"How is this possible? Where did the Song army come from? Where did the Song army come from at all!"

Wanyan Qingzong felt as if the blood in his body was about to freeze, and he simply couldn't believe that such a magical thing was happening.

"I don't believe it. How did the Song army know about their actions, and how did they end up in the Guangling area!"

Just then, another report of defeat came into their possession.

When Wanyan Qingzong opened it, his vision went black, and he almost collapsed onto the city wall.

"The Yilan Su tribe of Guangping was also ambushed by the Song army, and all seven thousand soldiers were wiped out! Ah!"

Suddenly, Wanyan Qingzong felt a sharp pain in his head, which tormented him so much that he began to writhe in agony.

"Which Song army is it? Wasn't the main force of the Song army wiped out during the attack on Bianjing?"

"Eighty thousand guards, eighty thousand heads—weren't these enemies who dared to obstruct the warriors of my Great Jin Dynasty already wiped out long ago?"

"But why is there now an army stronger than the Bianjing garrison? Where did they come from?!"

Wanyan Qingzong had gone mad; the series of crushing defeats in just a few days had caused him to lose the composure that a commander should have.

The lieutenant immediately reminded him, "General, should we withdraw from Juzhou City?"

"Can't withdraw!"

Wanyan Qingzong refused without even thinking.

"We finally made it this far, and we've finally managed to establish a foothold for our Great Jin. Are we going to give up now just because of some losses? No, I'm not willing to accept that!"

Just then, a loud bugle call sounded outside the city, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

Wanyan Qingzong looked outside and his pupils immediately contracted.

Within three miles outside the city, a vast expanse of azure blue stretched out.

"This is... the Song army?"

Wanyan Qingzong stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

The "Song army" before him was completely different from the Song army he remembered.

At this moment, the soldiers of the Independent Brigade, who had just experienced a bloody battle, arrived at the city of Juzhou with a strong will.

Without taking any rest, they went straight into battle preparations.

Yue Fei looked up at the city wall and asked expressionlessly, "How much ammunition do we have left?"

Han Ming, standing beside him, replied, "Each person has only eight bullets, twenty grenades, and sixty armor-piercing rounds. We have already ordered men to ride fast to Xizhao City. The ammunition will take at least three days to arrive."

Yue Fei: "Order the artillery battalion to change to armor-piercing shells!"

"General, our individual ammunition is running out, and a direct assault at this time is not advisable."

"Follow orders!"

"Yes!"

Han Ming was taken aback and could only relay the message to the artillery battalion behind him.

Upon receiving the order, the artillery immediately began to reload armor-piercing shells, and all six recoil-operated steel cannons were aimed at the Juzhou city wall.

"fire!"

boom--

The simultaneous firing of six cannonballs was like a thunderbolt, causing Wanyan Qingzong to tremble involuntarily.

The intense heat condensed and was reflected in Wanyan Qingzong's pupils, causing his lips to twitch slightly.

boom--

The moment the armor-piercing shell hit the city wall, the wall collapsed to the ground.

Amidst the billowing dust, a burning hot bottom stood out starkly, as if to say:

Happy New Year! Sending New Year's greetings to all the dads!!!