Volume 1 Chapter 26: The Reward of One Hundred Thousand
In the middle of December, the people of Jinan Prefecture rioted against the Jin army. The surrendered Jinan prefect Liu Yu rode a horse to ask for help and sent the military information to Talan on the 16th. Although he was anxious to make achievements, Jin Wushu still maintained basic military literacy. After a little thought, he sent out another 5,000 cavalrymen to follow Talan to sweep Jinan Prefecture and then take advantage of the situation to go south along Liangshan Lake to occupy Jizhou on the west side of Mount Tai as a rear support... This action was taken into consideration that the roads in the Yimeng Mountain area east of Mount Tai were dangerous, and he had to prevent these surging anti-Jin forces from easily blocking his retreat from the marching route.
However, just after the troops were divided, Jin Wushu could not wait any longer and immediately went south in the snow, ready to follow Liu Guangshi and attack Huaidian.
But only one day later, on the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, Emperor Zhao, who was still waiting for news with Zhang Jun in Xiacaicheng on the north bank of the Huai River, received a bolt from the blue - the governor of Fengguo Army, the director of the Imperial Camp Affairs, and the military commander of the six states in the east of Jingdong, that is, Liu Guangshi, the Grand Marshal, kept reporting on horseback that the six military states under his command were simultaneously attacked by the main force of the Jin army, and that the total number of Jin troops, no less than 100,000, were about to march south!
The few important officials who were left in the capital were almost anxious to jump into the Huai River - at this time, 100,000 Jin troops suddenly arrived. Are they going to kill them all?
Even Zhao Jiu, who had been determined to defend the city at the risk of everything, was instantly in despair!
With 100,000 Jin troops, Daozu couldn't defend it even if he opened a portal for them? He had to ask the Monkey King to descend to the earth, hoping that the Monkey King's stick would roll a few times on the Huai River for him to defend it.
Liu Guangshi lied about military intelligence?
There’s no need!
It should be noted that as soon as Zhao Jiu arrived in Xiacai, he gave Liu Guangshi a special military order by express horse. Once the Jin army invaded the south, they could quickly move south after determining their number and regroup along the banks of the Huai River!
In other words, Zhao Jiu allowed General Liu to retreat immediately after he had understood the military situation.
He was really stunned and lied about the military situation in a panic. But if he pushed it to the limit and cut it in half, there would be at least 50,000, right? Otherwise, how could six military states be attacked at the same time and then defeated at the same time?
In fact, after Zhao Jiu regained his composure, he discussed with Zhang Jun all night long. Combining various objective conditions with Liu Guangshi's character, they came to the conclusion that it was probably Wuzhu's main force of 50,000 troops that went south.
But even 50,000 is despairing, right?!
Besides, the rough plan that Zhao Jiu, Han Shizhong, and Yang Yizhong had come up with on the embankment of Yingshui River outside Shunchang Prefecture, although hastily made, was not groundless. Issues such as the defensive position and the red line of 30,000 people were all the result of serious discussions.
Not to mention the defensive position, Shouchun and Xiacai have been strategic points since ancient times and are easy to defend. The 30,000-man force is not only a calculation of the combat power of the imperial camp, but also a combination of the intelligence brought by the two officials from Jingdong who fled south, and a very likely military estimate of the distribution of troops and horses of the Jin Kingdom's Eastern Army...
It should be noted that the Jin people were barbaric and would burn, kill and loot without restraint wherever they went. Based on the experience in Hebei, there would definitely be rebels and ambitious people rising up in the east and west routes of Jingdong. The Jin people might not be able to maintain their position in the east route of Jingdong this time!
Therefore, Talai, the deputy commander-in-chief, first needed to ensure the control of the Jin army in Qi and Lu, so he naturally would not support Wushu. Once Wushu went south, he would only have his own five thousand households to dispatch.
But can he bring all five Wanhu?
This guy must leave some soldiers to ensure his retreat, right?
Jingdong has so many treasures, so he must have some troops to guard the spoils he seized in Jingdong, right?
And we have to divide our troops and station them in the cities led by Liu Guangshi along the way, right?
So, the number is feasible and achievable! It is not made up!
But now the price is as low as 50,000 and as high as 100,000. What the hell is that?
Could it be that Jin Wushu only wanted to take over the Jingdong Road south of Mount Tai, and had no intention of looking for Emperor Zhao? But that was not right! Because the time and season were there, the strategic target that could make the Jin army march south in the snow at this time was none other than Emperor Zhao who was lying in Huaidian, right?
In short, whether it was Emperor Zhao, General Zhang, or the accompanying civil and military officials, they were all completely despaired by these military reports from General Liu Guangshi, so desperate that they were stunned... Moreover, these military reports, mixed with the series of reports sent by Zong Ze from Tokyo, "No war on the northern front, Tokyo can be returned", seemed particularly dramatic and absurd at this time! It seemed to be a little reasonable!
"No matter what, the emperor should cross the Huai River first!"
After thinking for a long time, Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, became the second person to kneel down to him after someone came out of the well. "Since it may be the main force of the 50,000 Jin army, I really can't defend it! What's more, Liu Zhengyan's march is slow, and Liu Guangshi must have suffered heavy losses. The original deployment of troops is insufficient!"
Zhao Jiu was speechless, apparently unwilling to accept the result... Of course he was unwilling to accept the result!
He finally mustered up the courage and was ready to burn his boats, ready to give an explanation to himself and everyone else. He had done so many things for this and made such a great determination, making it seem as if he was going to accomplish something big. However, he was easily defeated by the opponent with such direct strength... For a moment, Zhao Jiu felt that he was a joke without anyone mocking him.
But what can we do about it?
If you can't win, you can't win. Han Shizhong, who was probably the most outstanding, positive and trustworthy general of the Song army at that time, said that he couldn't hold on to more than 30,000 troops! Then Zhang Jun, who was probably the second most capable fighter, just told him that he really couldn't hold on to 50,000 Jin troops!
At this point, all we can say is that Zhao Jiu's actions were purely a result of his wishful thinking, and he only has himself to blame.
" Officials, please cross the Huai River!"
When General Zhang Jun was speaking, the civil officials present wisely remained silent. It was not because they did not want to speak, but because they knew in their hearts that one word from Zhang Jun was worth ten of theirs at this moment.
"After crossing the Huai River, I will go to Yangzhou to wait for a while. But please make sure to leave enough boats for me, and recruit men from Shouzhou and Haozhou for me in Huainan in advance. I will try my best to hold off the enemy for you in Xiacai City. If it really doesn't work, I will retreat to Huainan and resist step by step, so that you will have room to maneuver..." Zhang Jun's words became more and more earnest.
"Can't we cross the river together and then guard behind the Huai River?" Zhao Jiu finally couldn't help but speak after hearing this. "I see that the terrain of Bagong Mountain on the opposite side is dangerous!"
"cannot!"
Zhang Jun, who was kneeling there, answered with absolute certainty. "Your Majesty, please know that our army cannot fight in the field at this time. If we want to defend the Huai River, we must rely on a strong city like Xiacai to set up a salient point in the north of the Huai River, so that the Jin army will have to divide its army under the city. Then we can use the power of the navy to isolate the long river, and then attract human and material resources from Huainan to support Huaibei. This is the reason for holding on! This is also where Han Wu's strategy is indeed feasible! Otherwise, even if the Jin army takes some time to cross the thousand-mile Huai River, they can find an opportunity to calmly cross it!"
Zhao Jiu had nothing to say... because he had already been familiar with these principles in the past few days, and although he did not understand military affairs, he could understand that Zhang's words were in line with the so-called basic logic of facts.
In addition, he also knew what the other party was going to say next. It was nothing more than that the Jin army had sufficient troops and came so quickly, so the existence of Xiacai City might not be enough to affect the Jin army's crossing of the Huai River. Their plan collapsed at this point, and everything collapsed!
"Then prepare to cross the Huai River!" Zhao Jiu held back his last breath and agreed with gritted teeth. "Shouzhou people, send as many as you can!"
After hearing the official's words, for some reason, both the civil and military officials in the hall felt relieved, yet at the same time, they felt a little depressed.
After all, the world is in such turmoil. Although we know it is just imagination, who can not expect that this Emperor Zhao, who has a hint of the heroic spirit of the Han and Tang dynasties, is really a figure like Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang?
Do you really think that Li Boxi was completely incompetent due to his illness? Do you really think that the Song Dynasty elites who were diverted from Yingkou to Huainan by the government were fools? Do you really think that all people in the world are submissive ?
But so what?
