Volume 1 Chapter 61 Guangji
On the 16th day of the first lunar month, Yue Fei integrated his subordinates, received military equipment, and set off with Ma Kuo. However, after leaving Tokyo, he naturally headed southeast along the Bianhe Avenue, vaguely heading towards Nanjing (now Shangqiu).
However, after only three days of walking, as soon as he entered Nanjing, he suddenly received a military order that was neither issued by Shouzhou nor by Dongjing. He followed the order and headed directly to Guangji Army (the area around Dingtao in later generations) in the north-east direction. Ma Kuo, who wanted to see Emperor Zhao as soon as possible, had no complaints about this, because the person who issued the military order was not just some random person, but Yang Weizhong who had withdrawn from Hebei!
So who is Yang Weizhong?
This person is the ancestor of the Western Army of this era... or to put it more politely, he is the oldest, highest-ranking, and most famous person in the Western Army system. He can be called a living legend.
Yang Weizhong's ancestors were sometimes mistakenly reported to be the Kang family, a family of founding heroes of the Song Dynasty. There was even a rumor that they were the descendants of General Kang and a Liao princess after they were captured by the Liao. But in fact, that was only because he was born in Huanqing Road, and was most likely a foreigner...either a Dangxiang or a Tibetan...so most people knew that his name was a fake name, and rumors were inevitable after he rose to a high position.
But no matter what, he changed his name to Yang Weizhong to join the army and serve his country. He has been in the Western Army all his life. As early as the reign of Song Zhezong, he was a general second only to the Taiweis and served as the Deputy Envoy of Appeasement. It was only because when Song Huizong ascended the throne, he proposed that the son of Song Zhezong should be enthroned instead of the frivolous one, which caused a huge trouble. Therefore, he was unable to make a name for himself in the later Tong Guan era. But even so, this person was enough to walk sideways in the Western Army system. At this time, there were three generals stationed in front of Zhao Jiu . Zhang Jun was not mentioned. Han Shizhong was promoted by Taiwei Yang himself. It was because Liu Zhengyan, as the son of Liu Fa, had been neither up nor down before, and it was also because the mountaintop of Liu Fa's faction was occupied by this person.
So back to the present, when the Jingkang Incident happened, Yang Weizhong had found Zhao Laojiu early and made him the commander-in-chief of the Marshal's Office at that time. Later, Zhao Laojiu ascended the throne and became emperor, but kept him in Hebei and made him the governor-general of the Northern Road... However, didn't the Jin Kingdom make up its mind to sweep Hebei?
When the fourth prince of the Jin Dynasty, Wanyan Wushu, went south, he did not forget to ask General Han Chang to lead 20,000 troops to complete the task of swallowing Daming Prefecture. And after his brother went berserk, the third prince of the Jin Dynasty, Wanyan Erlido, personally led the central army to go south from Yanjiang to clean up the mess.
In contrast, Du Chong, the garrison commander of Daming Prefecture, abandoned the city and fled from the very beginning. Under heavy pressure, there was no more direct battlefield in Hebei, and the defeated Yang Weizhong could only try his best to gather the defeated soldiers while crossing the river to the south through the gap between Han Chang and Erlido. He happened to arrive at the territory of Guangji Army and received the orders from Zhao Jiu. However, after the veteran general learned about the general military situation in the Central Plains, he had other ideas.
"What the commander wants to say is that we should not go to Shouzhou, but first defeat the enemy in Jeju to cut off Jin Wushu's path?"
"There are only 5,000 Jin troops in Jeju, and they are isolated from all directions?"
The Guangji Army's Dingtao City was filled with defeated soldiers, rebel forces, and bandits. After Yue Fei led his troops there, he and Ma Kuo went to the hall of the government office in the city to pay a visit to Yang Weizhong. However, as soon as he entered the hall, before he saw Yang Weizhong himself, he learned about Yang Weizhong's intentions from the leaders of the rebel forces. He was also moved and they wanted to meet each other!
This is of course, because Yang Weizhong's strategy is absolutely correct... In fact, after arriving at the border of Jingdong Road, the enemy situation is basically clear. Wanyan Talai and Wanyan Erlido are both focused on Hebei, and Jin Wushu's 30,000 troops are simply advancing alone. But even so, the more than 20,000 Jin troops stationed in Shouzhou in front are not something that any Song army can eliminate in a field battle.
They were all veterans of the military, and those who had managed to hold on until now and still be under Yang Weizhong's command were also very clear about the military accounts:
In the current situation, if the Jin army and the Song army each send out 100 people, it is hard to say who will win. The Jin army has a nearly invincible war god like Wanyan Loushi, but the reputation of Han Shizhong, Wang De and others in the Song army is not exaggerated. Even if Yue Fei led his 100 most basic brothers to fight, he would not be afraid of any 100 Jin soldiers.
He even said that there were still some decent men to be found everywhere. After they were rewarded sufficiently, they would put on armor, wield spears, shoot bows and arrows. You have my life, and so is I. Who's afraid of whom?
But one thousand against one thousand?
To be fair, it is hard to say about the Song army, or to put it bluntly, the chances of winning are not high... The Jin army can just send out a well-organized Meng'an and reinforcements to make up a thousand people. The Song army that can fight here may need generals of the level of Zhang Jun and Han Shizhong to draw out their core troops and fight desperately.
But at this time, the Song army was still able to fight. At most, they could take advantage of their numbers and terrain. You have one thousand people and I have ten thousand. We can block you in the mountain cave and eventually kill you.
What if it reaches 20,000 people?
Everyone knows that when the Jin army reached this level, the Song army basically had no room to defeat the enemy in a field battle and could only passively defend, because this was no longer a math game. At this level of battle, the addition of numbers had no meaning.
This was the consequence of the fall of the Song Dynasty and the complete collapse of the military system. It had nothing to do with personal bravery or the quality of a general. The bravery of ten thousand men could not defeat a real army of ten thousand men…Did Yue Fei in Xiangzhou, Han Shizhong in Baigou, and Zhang Jun in Taiyuan all play a role in the army?
But now, there are more than 20,000 Jin troops stationed on the plain of Shouzhou. Not to mention the soldiers in Emperor Zhao's imperial camp, even if they were doubled, it would not be enough. Moreover, even if they were doubled, they might not be as effective as the Xiacai-Huaihe-Baguashan defense system currently set up by Zhang Jun, Han Shizhong, and Zhao Jiu.
In fact, after Yue Fei and his companions entered the Jingdongxi Road and learned about the situation in Shouzhou, they discussed with Ma Kuo and others, and they all felt that this rescue might not really be effective, and that at most they could just find a nearby city called Linhuai to serve as a fulcrum.
As for the 5,000 Jin troops in Jeju, it's not that Yue Fei hadn't thought about it, but he was short of soldiers and could only think about it. Unexpectedly, General Yang Weizhong happened to be here, and the documents from Emperor Zhao aroused countless volunteers, which were enough to gather strength in the Guangji Army. Naturally, people had some ideas... Breaking the retreat and forcing Jin Wushu to withdraw is the only way to resolve this battle!
And this is exactly what Emperor Zhao has been striving for.
"Does Pengju think it's feasible?"
After discussing for a while, seeing that the leaders of various armies in the hall were in a mess, with all kinds of people, and what they said was more outrageous than the other, Ma Kuo could not help but ask Yue Fei privately... In the past few days, he followed Yue Fei's army and saw that this number one general under Zong Ze was indeed strict in military discipline and enforced orders, and he had long been convinced.
"If there are 20,000 soldiers willing to be deployed, it will be enough!" Yue Fei answered simply. "But I don't know how many soldiers there are in Dingtao City at this time..."
"Jingdong is a prosperous place, so there must be 20,000 soldiers." Even though Ma Kuo had already convinced the other party, he still shook his head. "But Pengju, that's 5,000 Jin soldiers, and there are cities to rely on..."
"How can the Jin army abandon field battles and rely on the city?" Yue Fei answered calmly without changing his expression.
"That's true." Ma Kuo nodded, but then shook his head. "But it's still not right... As you said, the Jin army prefers field battles, and 5,000 cavalrymen will never defend a city, but how can our 20,000 soldiers be enough to charge them in the wilderness?"
"Why do we have to fight in the wilderness?" Yue Fei remained calm. "Below the Ji River from Dingtao, in the territory of Jizhou, there is a battlefield that can restrain cavalry. Send a group of soldiers to lure the enemy. With the current ferocity of the Jin army, they will definitely follow. We can ambush them there..."
Ma Kuo was slightly moved, and just as he was about to say something, he heard a commotion in the hall. Suddenly, a ruddy-faced, gray-haired, old general in his 50s or 60s came in with seven or eight fully armed military officers. It was Yang Weizhong. And beside Yang Taiwei, a red-robed civil servant was walking in the same position, but he just said no. It turned out that the officials of the Guangji Army had already fled when the Jin Army occupied Jeju. The one who followed was a Tongpan from Hebei, who was picked up by Yang Weizhong. At this time, he was pretending to be something, so naturally he didn't have any shape.
But no matter what, the civil and military officials sat down first. After all, they represented the authority of the Song Dynasty for one or two hundred years. The leaders of the rebel armies, bandits, and defeated soldiers in the hall became more or less solemn.
"You all know the official's will."
After Yang Weizhong sat down, he didn't say anything nonsense, but rolled up his sleeves and slapped the table with one hand, which scared the judge beside him. "You should understand my intentions. And I also understand your intentions... Those who have served in the army should recognize me, Yang Weizhong, and know that I am the governor of the Northern Circuit appointed by the emperor; even locals should recognize me, because at this time last year, before the emperor ascended the throne, I led troops to garrison here... So don't bother with small talk, I'll tell you straight, if this thing succeeds, those without a family background will naturally have a good family background, and those with a family background will also have a good future! If you want to stay at home, I can give you a proper commander on the spot, so that you can stay at home and have a proper official position to defend your country; if you want to bring honor to your ancestors, it's not a big deal for me to take you to the imperial court to see the emperor afterwards! What do you say?!"
The heroes in the room looked at each other, some were tempted, but some were reluctant to be the first to do so. But since everyone had come here, who was not here for the background and future that Taiwei Old Yang had mentioned?
So, some superficial people finally stood up, bowed loudly in the hall, and started talking.
Once someone started talking, the scene became chaotic. One said that I had fought against the Jin people before, and we needed so many soldiers and horses; another said that we had to first determine the status and who would be in charge before we could send troops; someone else volunteered to give him so many soldiers and horses; someone else was indignant and argued on the spot that he wanted to be the deputy of the grand marshal and take charge of the battle from beginning to end... The lobby of the Dingtao government office turned into a gathering place for heroes of the green forest!
In this regard, Yang Weizhong neither stopped nor advocated it, but just watched coldly.
However, after talking for half a day, two people finally gained the upper hand in the hall. One was Li Cheng, a bandit leader who escaped from the battle in Zibo that day. He was originally from Hebei. After the Jin army occupied Hebei, he fled to Shandong and occupied Zibo as a bandit. However, he had gathered together to fight against Jin Wushu's large army a few months ago, so he was quite respected by the Shandong heroes.
One of them was a local tyrant, and the other was a newcomer. They were almost equally powerful and had similar prestige. They both wanted to be the leader of the rebel army. However, General Yang, his second in command, almost came to a head with swords drawn.
The two argued for a long time. Li Cheng looked back and saw Yue Fei and Ma Kuo sitting at the table in front of Yang Weizhong, staring at him. He became furious and drew his sword in public, pointing at Yue Fei and yelling:
"What do you mean by that? How dare you roll your eyes at me? Do you look down on me, Li Cheng of Xiongzhou?"
