Volume 1 Chapter 28: Awakening from a Dream (Part 1)
The wind blew in the Huai River, and the small waves in the river beat against the thin ice on the edge. In the early morning of the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month in the first year of Jianyan, Emperor Zhao finally led the last group of civil and military officials across the Huai River and arrived at Bagua Mountain.
At noon of that day, when Zhao Guanjia was personally supervising the construction of a military camp for Zhang Jun and Liu Guangshi to defend during their retreat on Mount Bagua, under the clear sky, he saw with his own eyes the defeated troops of Liu Guangshi rushing down to Caicheng from the northeast!
Their force was so dense that it was impossible to count them, and their flags were in disarray, their cavalry and infantry were in disorder, and they were scattered on the plains east of Xiacai City and north of the Huai River, but they all gathered towards Xiacai City, like a bunch of messy ants that smelled of honey.
Zhao Jiu sat on Bagong Mountain and watched for a long time. His mood became worse and worse. He turned back and asked an expert: "Zhengfu, although I don't understand military affairs, isn't this number a bit too much? How many people are there in Liu Guangshi's army?"
"Reporting to the emperor," Yang Yizhong answered carefully. "Previously, although the troops under General Liu were the largest among all the armies, they only had 120,000 or 130,000 men. Now the number is no less than 20,000. It should be that the local militia archers from the six military states in southern Shandong followed them southward..."
"So..." Zhao Jiu suddenly sneered. "Although General Liu has rarely performed well on the battlefield, he still has some skills. How could he still have so many local warriors abandon their homes and follow him in such a dangerous situation?"
Yang Yizhong became more cautious, but lowered his voice and said, "Your Majesty, Liu Taiwei's troops have been raised by his father and son for decades since they were in Hebei. Many of the generals in the Western Army have inherited this tradition and are good at raising children with kindness..."
"I know what you mean." Zhao Jiu interrupted him unhappily. "How could I have the slightest intention of accusing him? If I really wanted to accuse him, wouldn't I have fled in a panic? Whether it was 100,000 or 50,000, the Jin army was powerful, so Liu Guangshi's crime was not his."
Yang Yizhong fell silent immediately.
However, Zhao Jiu, after watching for half a day and seeing the soldiers crowded in front of the city gate, turned around and gave an order, asking Wang Boyan to draft an edict, asking Zhao Ding to find Wang Yuan to cross the river to Xiacai City to appease Liu Guangshi, and let Liu Guangshi organize the defeated soldiers. Those who were useful should stay and defend with Zhang Jun, and those who were really useless should be transported back to the south bank by Wang Yuan for rest.
When the decree arrived, Zhao Jiu had no idea how the other side of the river reacted, but he sat still on Bagua Mountain the whole afternoon, and no one knew what he was thinking. The others stood by and saw that Xiacai City, which was once famous , but they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Of course, Zhao Jiu also breathed a sigh of relief, but he still had no intention of moving.
The rest of the civil and military officials knew what was going on, so they all stood by and watched, waiting for news.
Finally, in the evening, when the light was about to dim, Yang Yizhong suddenly pointed to the northeast and said something that made everyone feel relieved:
"Look, sir! The Jin army has arrived!"
Zhao Jiu, wearing a round-necked red robe, sat upright on a throne in the middle of the hillside. He raised his head slightly and looked around. In the setting sun, he saw a small group of cavalrymen with strict equipment and a well-organized formation galloping towards the city from afar.
As this group of cavalry rushed over, the scattered defeated soldiers outside the city were almost instantly blown away, scattering in all directions like headless flies. Some even ignored the fact that the Jin army was very far away and jumped directly into the Huai River...
Zhao Jiu caught a glimpse of this scene from afar and was instantly stunned.
You know, in this kind of weather, unless you are a brave man born by the Huai River, jumping down would be like committing suicide. However, these Song Dynasty soldiers had not yet encountered a life-and-death crisis, but they were all so frightened.
Moreover, in a sense, if they dared to jump into the Huai River in winter, they were not afraid of death, right? If they were not afraid of death, why would they jump into the Huai River out of fear?
What's even more ridiculous is that this group of Jin cavalry, which consisted of only about five or six hundred people, ignored the frightened fleeing soldiers and rushed straight to the east gate of Xiacai City, which was covered with flags and loaded with bows and crossbows, as if trying to seize the big city of Xiacai where tens of thousands of soldiers were stationed... Fortunately, they could be seen across the Huai River from Bagua Mountain, and naturally the people from Xiacai City on the other side of the river could also see them. So after the drawbridge over the moat was pulled up in a panic, countless arrows flew down from Xiacai City, and finally forced the Jin army to retreat.
After being forced to retreat, the Jin army seemed to be a little angry. They turned around and scattered, wantonly killing those defeated soldiers of Liu Guangshi's army who were unable to enter to vent their anger.
After this "battle", Zhao Jiu felt extremely aggrieved... They were all cold weapon troops, but there seemed to be a generation gap between them. Mr. Jiang's worst troops were no more than this against the Japanese army, right?
However, what is even more frustrating is that all the civil and military officials around had fled from Hebei and Tokyo, but there were not many surprises and they seemed to have adapted to the situation!
"Officially, please go and have a rest!"
As the sky darkened, the Jin army left on their own, apparently going to find a place to stay in the empty market town nearby. In the dim light, seeing the emperor sitting still, his expression unchanged, and in a very bad state, Lu Haowen hesitated for a moment, in the end he was fulfilling the duties of a prime minister. "The two generals Zhang and Liu have joined forces, with sufficient troops and horses, and Xiacai is a strong city. The transportation on the Huai River is also in our hands, and the supplies in Huainan can also be supplied... Before the main force of the Jin army arrives, Xiacai will definitely be able to be defended."
Zhao Jiuqiang laughed and did not refuse. He finally got up and left. However, as soon as he stood up, he heard a sudden commotion from the other side of the river. It actually came from across the river!
They all turned around to look, but because it was already dark, it was difficult to see the specific situation. They just vaguely felt that there seemed to be trouble somewhere in Xiacai City, and they felt more and more confused and nervous.
Zhao Jiu looked at Yang Yizhong almost instinctively.
"It should be that Liu Taiwei's troops had just arrived and were unwilling to obey Zhang Taiwei's troops. They also had the intention to fight because of the night camping and meals." Yang Yizhong thought for a moment and came up with a very credible conclusion. "This is a common thing in the army, not to mention that Liu Taiwei's troops have no military discipline..."
Everyone sighed a few words, as if they still felt that this was a very natural thing, and then they stopped talking and continued to disperse, looking for a clean place in the camp on the mountain to rest.
And he didn't know why, maybe it was because what he saw and heard in that day and night was beyond his previous experience, and he could only respond like a puppet, confused and dazed from beginning to end. Zhao Guanjia, who had accumulated too many emotions, fell asleep very quickly after camping on the mountain that day .
