Volume 2 Chapter 37: Anxiety
Yue Fei was ordered to go to war just after the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 16. As soon as he entered the northern Dongping Prefecture, he ran into Zhang Rong's numerous defeated troops. Naturally, he was surprised and suspicious. However, despite his surprise and suspicion, Yue Pengju still commanded with confidence. He immediately ordered his troops to seize Pingyin City on the south bank of the Jishui River, and at the same time, he quickly sent troops to gather the defeated soldiers and gather military information.
Of course, after they had fought together and were standard neighbors, so the relationship between the two families was pretty good. Therefore, there was no need for Yue Fei to deliberately gather them together. The defeated troops of Zhang Rong's army would automatically gather towards Pingyin City with a big flag with the word "Yue" on it.
Among them, of course, there were also high-ranking generals of Zhang Rong’s army, or leaders of Liangshanpo, with whom he had had dealings in the past.
"Calm down!"
After a moment, Zhang Xian, the deputy commander of the central army, who was heading northeast to gather the defeated troops, led a man to Yue Fei who was standing outside the city gate. "Commander Li Kui is here..."
Yue Fei, who was squinting his eyes and looking towards the road to the north, was cheered up when he heard this.
You should know that Yue Fei was very strict in military discipline. After he was appointed as the pacification envoy and had a foothold in a state and an army, his troops quickly expanded to 14,000 to 15,000. If it were someone else, he would have had more than a dozen commanders under him, but under Yue Fei's command, except for himself, there were still only two commanders... One was Wang Gui, who usually guarded Jizhou City, and the other was Fu Xuan, who was usually stationed in Dingtao City of Guangji Army... Both were officially appointed by the court.
Going down further, they were only at the commander level, and the appointment process was extremely strict. Even confidants like Tang Huai and Zhang Xian could not become a real commander.
Relatively speaking, "others", namely Zhang Rong of Liangshanpo, still followed the style of the underworld, but they could not help but give rewards indiscriminately. Many leaders, even those who managed ships and raised pigs, had the title of commander... If Zhang Suo had not sent someone to warn them later, he might have come up with 108 commanders.
Yue Fei was slightly encouraged at this moment, not because of anything else, but because Li Kui, the commander-in-chief, who was born in Yizhou, became a military bandit and followed others to rule Mizhou after the chaos, was defeated by Li Cheng who had a sword fight in the hall that day, and finally wandered and surrendered to Zhang Rong. Li Kui was a rare steady and meticulous person under Zhang Rong's command, and also a serious military leader. With his words, he could know some details.
"Yue Zhenfu!" The skilled general named Li Kui came to Yue Fei with a dusty face, bowed in dismay, and reported the two most important military information without waiting for Yue Fei to dismount. "The Jin people are coming, and Kong Yanzhou rebelled on the battlefield..."
Even though Yue Fei had guessed it, his face changed slightly when he heard these two sentences. He then reined in his horse and asked, "Are you sure it's the Jin people? Why didn't they make any noise before?"
"It must be the Jin people." Li Kui stood up, his fair face was covered with blood and dust, but he quickly told what he had seen. "Although they are dressed as soldiers from Jinan Prefecture, their riding skills and archery skills are not fake... Yesterday afternoon, Liu Yu's eldest son Liu Lin personally covered the front of the battle formation, and the four or five thousand soldiers behind them suddenly mounted their horses and raised the flag of Wan Hu Ali who came to Jingdong last year. As soon as they rushed forward, they knew they were Jurchens! The hateful thief Kong Yanzhou must have heard Liu Yu's words in advance and deliberately fell behind. When he saw our battle formation collapsed, he immediately turned against them and joined them in the attack... As for how they came, it is still unclear at the moment, but nine out of ten times they should have pretended to be refugees from Hebei."
"He must have pretended to be a refugee from Hebei." One of the generals behind him immediately expressed his agreement.
"Yes, didn't they say at the beginning of the month that the Jin people didn't have time to cross the river, so they supported Liu Yu and his son with four or five thousand war horses? It was for this reason that Prime Minister Zhang (Zhang Suo) made up his mind to attack Jinan. And now the Jin people have disguised themselves, which shows that the men and horses were separated, the war horses came first, and then the soldiers pretended to be refugees..." Others thought of the previous military intelligence.
"I just don't know why Kong Yanzhou wants to ruin the reputation of us Xiangzhou people? When I saw him gaining momentum before, I thought this bastard had changed his nature! Today, it seems that he is still the same scoundrel as he was back then in his hometown of Xiangzhou!" Zhang Xian, who has always been a lively person, cursed loudly.
Yue Fei narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he was thinking about something, but did not say much.
Although Kong Yanzhou was born as a local soldier in Jingdong, he was from Hebei Province, just like Li Cheng who had fought against Yue Fei. He committed a crime and was forced to flee to the south to join the army. Moreover, as Zhang Xian revealed in his indignation, Kong Yanzhou's hometown was none other than Xiangzhou, so many people in Yue Fei's army knew him. In addition, his station in Yanzhou was a little to the north, so many Xiangzhou refugees also joined him.
What's more, due to this hometown relationship, coupled with the fact that Yue Fei was famous and rose to power early, and Kong Yanzhou also had some skills in commanding the army, and the two sides' jurisdictions were close, so the latter was once known as "Little Yue Fei"... It is said that Zhang Suo's emphasis on this person was also related to this reason.
"Mr. Yue, what should we do now?" Seeing that Yue Fei didn't say anything, Li Kui couldn't help but get anxious no matter how meticulous he was.
"Stay in Pingyin for now." Yue Fei finally spoke after coming to his senses. "Gather as many troops as possible and make good preparations to prevent the Jin army from taking advantage of the victory to attack. The key is to quickly find Zhang Zhenfu (Zhang Rong)..."
Now that Yue Fei had spoken, the people around him breathed a sigh of relief as if they had found a backbone, and then took action on their own.
And then, everything went smoothly within a day. Not only did the defeated soldiers gather together, but the enemy did not pursue them. Moreover, by evening, even Zhang Rong received accurate information that he had been shot in the thigh by the Jin people. He did not dare to take the small road easily, and could only be pushed along the secret ditch beside the Jishui River, stopping and starting.
Yue Fei did not dare to delay, so he asked Tang Huai to guard the city, and he personally led Zhang Xian and Li Kui to lead the Ta Bai Army to meet them overnight. However, after seeing Zhang Rong, he was unwilling to enter the city.
"How can I have the face to go to Pingyin City to preside over the situation after fighting such a cowardly battle?" Zhang Rong sat on a cart, with a pile of hay as a pillow, one leg tied to a wooden board, and a sweaty white towel wrapped around his forehead. He no longer had his former proud demeanor, and even turned his head away when he saw Yue Fei and Li Kui.
"It's just a temporary victory or defeat. Besides, it was a surprise attack by the Jin people, and Kong Yanzhou defected in the middle of the battle. Brother Zhang, don't worry about it." Yue Fei stepped forward helplessly and held his arm to persuade him. "Now the situation is unclear. I guess the Jin people will not come only from Jinan. The troops along the river may arrive at any time. By then, the overall situation will still be handled by you. Kong Yanzhou has defected, Jinan Prefecture and Yanzhou have become one, and Dongping Prefecture will bear the brunt. If you don't take charge of the situation now, what will happen here?"
Zhang Rong shook his head again and again: "You are becoming more and more literary in your words... Actually, Pengju, you don't have to worry about the affairs of Dongping Prefecture. I was born and raised in Liangshanpo. Whether it is the Jin people or the thieves like Liu Yu and Kong Yanzhou, I will not allow them to destroy the surrounding areas even if I risk my life. But when it comes to the overall situation, I can't do anything today..."
Yue Fei wanted to persuade him again.
"Brother Pengju, stop talking." Zhang Rong spoke before the other party. "You are a man of ambition and ability, otherwise you wouldn't have learned to write poems and read books in Jeju. I know this. But in the end, I am just a pirate, and I can't compare with you. It's a pity that I was lucky enough to win a battle that day, and I was appointed by Emperor Zhao. I also had a swell in my head, and I really thought I was a famous general against the Jin Dynasty... This battle made me see my ability clearly. So many brothers came to join me, and countless died and were injured in one day! How can I have the face to take charge of the situation again?"
Yue Fei already understood what the other party meant, but he was at a loss to speak. Li Kui, however, was a meticulous person, so he stepped forward and bowed at the right time.
Sure enough, when Zhang Rong saw Li Kui coming forward, he took the opportunity to express his thoughts: "Brother Li Kui, if you still regard me as a leader, then listen to my orders and follow Yue Zhenfu to Pingyin to take charge of the situation... Tell those brothers that after Liangshanpo and Dongping are sorted out, escort the people in the north of Dongping Prefecture to Liangshanpo to find me. With Liangshanpo as my support, I can protect them no matter how difficult it is; as for the other heroes who have come to seek refuge these days, you can take them in for the time being, and don't come to find me after that, just listen to Yue Zhenfu's arrangements."
Li Kui came here just for these two sentences, so he simply bowed and agreed.
Seeing the other party's attitude, Zhang Rongqing knew that he had indeed lost the hearts of these outsiders, and he felt even more bored... The only difference was that Yue Fei was forced to cover his retreat and clean up the mess. The leader of Liangshanpo felt really sorry for him, so he leaned on the cart and wanted to hold the other party's hand and say a few heartfelt words.
But after thinking it over, firstly, I really didn't know much, secondly, I was really ashamed, and thirdly, after thinking it over again and again, I always felt that they were better than me in everything. Reading and writing lyrics were fine, but even the business prospects were better than those in Dongping. So, I had nothing to say.
Finally , in order not to waste the other party's time, this great leader simply imitated the most popular gesture in the martial arts world, which was to hold the other party's hands and say take care!
The two men parted ways there. Not to mention Zhang Rong's underworld style, where he would rise after one battle and fall after another, just to say that after hearing Zhang Rong's words and having a formality for dealing with the matter, Yue Fei, Zhang Xian and Li Kui led the White Army back in a hurry. Among them, Yue Fei had a stern face and was silent all the way, which made his entourage somewhat uneasy.
After entering Pingyin City, the others went to rest. Zhang Xian had the chance to spy on them when he was tying his horse in the stable behind the government office. He couldn't help but ask when they were alone: "Brother, you have been in a bad mood since you heard the military situation today. Are you angry at Kong Yanzhou, the villain, for bringing shame to us Xiangzhou people? Or do you think Zhang Rong lost the battle too badly and the situation in Dongping is difficult to deal with?"
"Kong Yanzhou deserves to be cut into pieces." Yue Fei had nothing to hide from his brothers in private. "But there are definitely many people like him since Zhang Bangchang, Fan Qiong, and Liu Yu. I can't say I'm angry. The situation in Dongping is also worrying, but since the Jin people are heading south, I'm afraid the entire Central Plains will be in trouble. The overall situation of the country's survival is there, so why would they care about Dongping?"
"So you still remember about your sister-in-law?" Zhang Xian asked cautiously.
Yue Fei was slightly stunned and didn't react for a moment.
When Zhang Xian saw this, he wished he could slap himself twice... After becoming the pacification envoy, Yue Fei finally had enough manpower. As the situation in Hebei was deteriorating, he asked others to find his own family and those of his brothers. However, after eighteen rounds of searching, he finally brought the families from Xiangzhou, Hebei over last month, only to find out that his wife had abandoned her mother and several children a year ago and had crossed the river to the south with her family.
In other words, Yue Pengju was dumped, and it has been more than a year, so it is very likely that he has been cheated on for a long time... If this happened to other men, he would probably be jealous for the rest of his life. Even if it happened in a novel, it would be a case of sending the girl away, and he would be criticized.
However, upon hearing this, Yue Fei smiled. "Of course I hate her for being ruthless, but at that time, everyone was trying to survive. How can I blame her for abandoning her in such a fire pit? But she is my legally married wife after all. She could have run away, but she shouldn't have abandoned my mother and two children... This is considered a violation of chastity... And now that my mother has settled down in Jeju, I don't need to pay too much attention to this matter. When I get news in the future, I'll see if she's doing well and give her some money."
"Brother, that's right." Zhang Xian quickly replied perfunctorily.
"But today I do have a worry and a resentment that is hard to resolve." After Yue Fei finished speaking, he saw that his brothers did not believe him, but he did not explain. He just stood in the stable, then touched the head of the warhorse in front of him and sighed slightly, explaining the reason why he was in a bad mood all day. "What worries me is that once the Jin invades the south, they will surely launch a full-scale attack with an army of 200,000, and at least one main force will head for Nanyang. It is not terrible that there is a sneak crossing in Jinan today . What is worrying is that there will be other places as well, and then the front lines will collapse together, making the overall situation difficult. By then, we in Jeju will only have more than 10,000 people, and we will have to rely on the front. We have to defend the city and fight at the same time. I am afraid it will be difficult to take care of everything... In the past, I always felt that I had few soldiers and lacked strength. I thought it would be great if I could manage a military state and lead tens of thousands of people. Now the government has really made an exception and let me, a mere 25-year-old, be a pacification envoy, leading a state and an army, and more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. I can handle everything by myself, but I still can't do it alone, and I may not even be able to preserve the place. I can't help feeling depressed."
Zhang Xian nodded immediately... In the overall situation, one person cannot carry the whole thing alone. They have experienced this truth too much before. His brother's promotion speed in the previous year was like a dream, and in the end it was still the same. Naturally, he was upset.
"There is another infuriating thing. They all say that the Jin people in Jinan Prefecture pretended to be refugees from Hebei and sneaked south. I also think so..." Yue Fei continued to sigh. "Let's not talk about other places. Let's just talk about the four or five thousand Jin people in Jinan Prefecture. Where did they get their clothes when they pretended to be refugees? They couldn't have bought them, right?"
Zhang Xian was stunned for a moment, but Yue Fei took the opportunity to move aside, added some night grass to his warhorse, and then went to rest. Pingyin City rarely became peaceful.
There was silence in the middle of the night, but as time came to midnight, everyone in the city was awakened by the sound of scouts' horses' hooves, saying that they saw flashes of fire in the distance to the north of Pingyin City, as if a large army was marching all night. They didn't know if the enemy was preparing to attack at night... The enemy was nearby, and Yue Fei certainly did make a plan in this regard. He immediately stood up and ordered the troops to prepare themselves and be ready to attack at any time; at the same time, he ordered no one on the city wall to light torches without permission to show that they were unprepared.
However, the scouts came one after another and soon reported a detailed military situation that made Yue Fei completely change his color - there was indeed a large group of cavalry advancing overnight, and it was almost certain that it was the Jin army led by Wanhu Ali, but the Jin cavalry was moving southward at a high speed along the Jishui River on the opposite bank, and had no intention of attacking Pingyin at all.
This should have been good news, but the generals who had already gathered became nervous, because the enemy was likely heading for the Guangji Army and Jeju behind Liangshanpo, and wanted to use the advantage of cavalry to outflank the rear of Yue's army.
However, this possibility was still not enough to change Yue Fei's color as he sat in the hall in neatly armed armor. What really worried Yue Fei was that, based on his understanding of the Jin people's combat style, a greater possibility for the Jin people's southward march this time was... Wanhu Ali, as the pioneer of the sneak crossing, had a greater strategic mission!
Therefore, the other side did not take Yue Fei's 10,000 men seriously at all. They were simply anxious to meet up with other Jin troops, or even to join up with other sneak troops and directly attack Zhang Suo in Nanjing or Zong Ze in Tokyo.
With this in mind, Yue Pengju did not dare to delay at all. Early the next morning, he immediately mobilized the entire army. On the one hand, he sent Zhang Xian as the vanguard to lead the Ta Bai army southward at a high speed to find out the situation and pass on information; on the other hand, he ordered his own troops to go to the surrounding villages separately, in order for them to escort the people of Pingyin and the injured officers and soldiers of Dongping Prefecture southward to gather at the north bank of Liangshan Lake; finally, he personally led Tang Huai and Li Kui with less than 2,000 central troops to continue to gather the defeated troops in Pingyin and serve as the rear guard.
At this point, we can only hope that Liu Lin and Kong Yanzhou will come slower.
However, in the morning, just as the various troops had dispersed to the surrounding areas to gather and escort the civilians, military intelligence came in saying that Xu Qing, a general under Kong Yanzhou, had led 3,000 troops and appeared 20 miles north of the city.
"Xu Qing came so quickly!" Even the usually taciturn Tang Huai was anxious. "It must be that the scouts were attracted by the Jin army last night, and he took the opportunity to stop his movements and secretly marched over overnight..."
"Yue Zhenfu, the defeated troops are not enough to fight, should we let some of the troops that just dispersed come back?" Li Kui was also a little flustered. "You must know that Xu Qing doesn't have to defeat us at all, as long as he pins us down, and when Kong Yanzhou and Liu Lin arrive in the rear, we won't be able to escape."
"If that's the case, why did he stop his activities and sneak over here overnight?" On the top of the city wall, Yue Fei narrowed his eyes slightly, with the whites of his eyes bulging, as if he looked down on Xu Qing. "No matter what, this person is an old acquaintance of mine in Xiangzhou. Why don't you two follow me out of the city to the north and take the initiative to welcome this person?"
Tang Huai naturally had nothing to say.
Li Kui had no choice but to agree.
