Volume 2 Chapter 71: North and South
In the evening, Zhao Jiu saw the head of Pucha Hubalu in Changsha City. His first reaction was naturally a little surprise, because Emperor Zhao could not understand why Talan escaped and why this man died?
But soon, when he learned that Da (Bai on top and Da on bottom) was also witnessed escaping, Zhao Jiu no longer had any extra thoughts, because now it seemed reasonable to him, an engineering student, and if it was reasonable, he would naturally feel at ease - according to Emperor Zhao's rational speculation, the fate of these three main generals of the Jin army fully illustrates that when times are against the trend, it is often the cowards who survive, while those who still have courage die.
In fact, it cannot be said that Emperor Zhao’s theory is nonsense, because in the previous few years, especially during the Jing Kang period, this truth has been verified countless times by the Song army and the top leaders of the Song Dynasty... People like Han Shizhong who survived by relying on their skills can only be said to be really courageous.
How to say it? After seeing the head, I confirmed the merits of Li Kui and Niu Gao, although I was a little disappointed that I failed to capture Wanyan Talan... After all, according to Wanyan Talan's performance today, once he was captured, he would most likely be captured alive, and then there would be too much room for maneuver, and the significance would be extraordinary... But no matter what, after this great victory and this gain, from the highest-ranking officers to the number of the main forces of the Jin army, to the successful strategic relief, the results of this battle are still beyond words.
Logically speaking, at this time, Emperor Zhao should sit down and have a good exchange of feelings with these famous generals, discuss the significance of this battle, reward them according to their merits, confer official titles and make promises, and then gain their loyalty. He might even recite an "old poem by Yi An Jushi" to help with the mood.
But in fact, Emperor Zhao had no time to do all these, and he fell into a new dilemma - the war was still going on, and he had to use the political influence and military advantage of this successful risky attack to further expand the results of the war.
And this is bound to involve the issue of strategic choice.
Looking back now, Zhao Jiu obviously lacked strategic decisiveness at the beginning of the Song-Jin War and was extremely passive. In contrast, it was Wanyan Wushu who successfully ambushed Han Shizhong in Zhujiaqu Town, then quickly moved south, besieged the Wuhe cities, and strangled Nanyang, forcing Zhao Jiu to risk his life to fight for the country's destiny... No matter how strong Nanyang City was, and how the fourth prince was frustrated under the city, from a strategic point of view, Wushu still had no problem.
So back to the present, the problem that Zhao Jiu has to face now is actually very simple. Where should the troops go next?
After returning, Emperor Zhao invited Niu Gao, Li Kui and several other officers who had performed outstandingly today to have a meal together in the hall, and then asked them to go back to comfort their troops, recuperate and rest. However, he left behind the four people who came with the army this time, Hu Yin, Lin Jingmo, Wanqi Xie, and Liu Yan, as well as the three generals Han Shizhong, Yue Fei and Wang Yan. Everyone understood that they were going to discuss important matters.
In fact, Liu Yan and Wan Qi Xie had already stood up and left the table... They stayed here because they followed the emperor all the way here from Nanyang, but they were not qualified to participate in the strategic decision-making, especially since this decision needed to be made quickly and they could not spend time discussing it in detail. This was not the time to listen to opinions from all sides.
"This is a simple matter!" As soon as Liu Yan and Wan Qixie stood up, Han Shizhong took the lead, holding his jade belt, and spoke with his head held high behind the desk. "You can't go to Nanyang..."
"Why can't we go to Nanyang?" Unexpectedly, Han Shizhong was interrupted by someone as soon as he opened his mouth. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was the Chief Censor Hu Yin.
Speaking of which, Han Shizhong not only vented his resentment for three months today, the key point was that he saw Emperor Zhao coming to rescue him in person, and he knew that Emperor Zhao really regarded him as his confidant. So since he saw Emperor Zhao in person, that Shaanxi-style ruffian spirit surged up, and he was already inexplicably excited.
Later, after the emperor entered the city, he even tied the jade belt on purpose, and his tone seemed to have the flavor of "first in the world". Before, when dealing with Yue Fei, Wang Yan, and the officers of the Tokyo Liaison Office, he simply acted like a boss when dealing with and dividing military affairs... There was actually nothing wrong with this. He was the only general here who had established his integrity. His status, qualifications, official position, and even the emperor's favor were far superior to Wang Yan and Yue Fei. He was even recognized by both countries as the number one general of the Song Dynasty... When he was not here before, Yue Fei made the general arrangements, and Wang Yan's subordinates were dissatisfied. Now that Han Liangchen has come out, who will deal with it if he doesn't deal with it?
All I can say is that the fact that the emperor himself was the only one in charge here was a bit too much of a scoundrel...but considering that he had been surrounded for two or three months, no one would care if he escaped from the cage one day.
However, even Han Shizhong felt a little nervous when facing Hu Yin, because these two people had a story.
After a pause, Han Taiwei finally explained: "Brother Hu, you don't know. Today, it's not safe for us to fight five against one. Wanyan Wushu must have 30,000 cavalry. Today, there are twice as many Meng'an, and they are all led by famous Jin generals such as Balisu and Han Chang. How can they go to Nanyang? Moreover, after this battle, many soldiers were killed and wounded."
Hu Yin was slightly stunned, as if he still didn't quite understand... Wasn't the morale high after winning the battle?
"Not only that." Wang Yan also showed respect to Hu Yin, the only purple-robed civil servant at the table. "Let the Minister know that in fact, our army has a slightly larger number of soldiers and horses. Although we have seized some spoils, we are still a little short of food and grass. Unfortunately, Yancheng, Fangcheng, Xiangcheng, and Xiping have not yet been relieved... Therefore, if we force ourselves to go to Nanyang City for support, we can only seek a quick victory. If we fail, we will be defeated by the Jin army on the way."
Since Wang Yan had spoken, Yue Fei naturally hesitated for a moment... This was the first time he had been involved in a meeting of this level. The day before, Emperor Zhao had made all the decisions and let him do whatever he wanted, which was certainly refreshing. But today, after calming down and looking around carefully, he realized that he was the lowest-ranking official, the least experienced, and the youngest. Even with Han Shizhong here, he might not even dare to boast about his military level, so it seemed that there was no point in saying anything.
However, thinking about it the other way around, Emperor Zhao went straight into the camp yesterday, found me, and entrusted the fate of the country to me. Although it may seem like he is at the end of his rope, it also shows his trust in me.
So, after thinking for a while, Yue Pengju carefully reminded the so-called half-prime minister who had recommended him to be the governor that day:
"Minister, forgive me for speaking frankly, but today's victory cannot be repeated lightly... Today's incident was caused by Du Chong, and our army lost all opportunities and had no control. Seeing that the overall situation was about to deteriorate, the emperor came here alone and made a desperate move..."
"alright!"
Hu Yin had tolerated Han Shizhong and Wang Yan, but now that he saw Yue Fei, whom he had recommended in the past, he no longer had to tolerate him and immediately interrupted him. "I know that we cannot fight in Nanyang!"
The reason for his temper was unclear, but Scholar Kobayashi, who remained silent, and Wanqi Xie, who was standing there, guessed a little bit of the reason. They probably understood that Hu Mingzhong was fed up with the label of "ignorant of military affairs" and wanted to correct it. However, the attitude of the three generals confirmed his reputation of "harming the country and the army", so he lost his temper.
However, only the two civil servant elites understood this kind of thinking, Han Shizhong and Wang Yan did not, and Yue Fei, who was meeting such a high-level official for the first time, did not understand it even more. He thought he had committed some taboo and offended this benevolent prime minister!
However, this Prime Minister was the only purple-robed civil servant at the table. If he really had to make a decision, according to previous knowledge, he was more useful than Han Shizhong. So Yue Fei was angry and even a little aggrieved, but for the sake of the overall situation, he could only try to whisper and persuade carefully:
"Zhongcheng, there is another reason why we cannot go to Nanyang... Now Wanyan Talan has retreated to the north. He has ten Meng'an. After Yelu Mawu joins him, he will have seventeen or eighteen Meng'an. Their fighting power is still not weak. There are enemies in both the north and the south. So whether we go south or north, we must divide our forces to block the other side to prevent the two from merging... And once we divide our forces, how can we still fight against the powerful enemy in Nanyang?"
Hu Yin was a man who was definitely one of the most elite figures in front of Emperor Zhao when he was not involved in military affairs. Seeing Yue Fei's expression and tone, how could he not understand his intentions? But he couldn't get angry again and cause misunderstanding, so he could only watch him carefully "explain" to him, as if he could really interfere in military affairs in front of Emperor Zhao.
But secretly, he was already so angry that his whole body was cold, and his hands were shaking under the desk.
Yue Fei finished speaking carefully and looked at Hu Yin again. He felt relieved when he saw that the other party stopped talking. Little did he know that his prime minister was already furious.
Fortunately, Han Shizhong could no longer hold back and continued with Yue Fei's words, "In fact, General Yue and General Wang's previous remarks were quite insightful..."
Yue Fei was stunned for a moment, but didn't dare to interrupt.
"That is, even though we won this battle, our troops were damaged and our supplies were limited. Secondly, this place connects the north and the south, so we need to send some troops to act as a barrier to prevent the Jin army from joining the north and the south." Han Shizhong held his head high and finally continued his speech at the banquet. "And if this is the case, we must be careful when sending troops again... It is absolutely impossible to go to Nanyang. Although we won today, I still have to say that Nanyang is really difficult to win; but the rest of the east, west, and north are all feasible."
When everyone heard the word "minister", they all looked at Emperor Zhao who was sitting in the main seat. Unexpectedly, they saw Emperor Zhao looking up at the skylight above his head in a trance. However, this did not prevent him from calmly lowering his head and looking at the other person with a serious expression:
"Good minister, please tell me!"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Han Shizhong hurriedly held his belt and continued. "To the north, of course, we should pursue Wanyan Talan. Talan has lost his courage after this defeat. In addition, Pucha Hubalu is dead. Even though they have 17 or 18 Meng'an, they may be able to take advantage of the situation to pursue us... This strategy is the most urgent and risky, but once it succeeds, it will completely put an end to the Jin army's southward advance."
"It's true that Pucha Hubalu is dead, but what about Yelu Mawu?" Zhao Jiu thought for a moment and asked seriously.
"Yelu Ma Wu is not incapable." Han Shizhong sneered. "But his troops are the surrendered Khitan soldiers under Yelu Yudu. I advised you to be careful of Pucha Hubalu before, not only because he is still brave enough to fight, but also because he is Talai's son-in-law. At the critical moment, Talai can let go and entrust the matter to his son-in-law. But now, Talai's army has been defeated and he only has ten Meng'an, while Yelu Ma Wu still has seven or eight Meng'an... Therefore, if our army advances quickly tomorrow to force him, he may not trust the surname Yelu!"
Zhao Jiu suddenly understood, and Yue Fei, Wang Yan, and even Hu Yin and Wanqi Xie all nodded at this time... Obviously, even if Yue Fei was sitting here, considering his age, Han Shizhong was still the "first in the world" in military strategy anyway, and this analysis was enough to convince everyone.
"As for going east... it's to get food in Huaixi, join forces with General Zhang, and besiege Nanjing." Han Shizhong continued. "Nanjing has the smallest number of Jin troops, and by joining forces with General Zhang and taking military rations from Huaihe, we can naturally gather a large army back to Wuhe to confront the enemy and look for an opportunity to fight again... This is the safest way, but it will inevitably miss the opportunity, and changes will occur if we delay."
Zhao Jiu nodded again: "What about going west?"
"Going west doesn't really mean going west, but it means that after the army sweeps through the Five Rivers and relieves the siege of the cities, it will defend this place." Han Shizhong became a little more serious. "But we must go west and set up troops in the Ruzhou area to completely cut off all the retreat routes of the enemy troops in Nanyang... This is actually a return to the old policy of the Privy Council, the so-called closing the door and cutting off the rear!"
Zhao Jiu understood in his heart, but he smiled again: "Which one do you think is better, Liangchen?"
"Of course I want to go north and have a good fight first!" Han Shizhong sighed. "But from the overall situation, it is better to go west, that is, to re-deploy the troops between the Five Rivers and force Nanyang Wanyan Wushu to withdraw... Of course, the three strategies are just about speed, slowness, stability and risk, and the emperor can decide for himself."
"Where is Peng... Zicai?" Zhao Jiu instinctively wanted to ask Yue Fei again, but when he saw the seating arrangement of the generals on the right, he asked Wang Yan first.
"I am no different from Han Taiwei. All my subordinates came from Taihang. I also want to go north!" Wang Yan immediately stood up and saluted, which made Han Shizhong realize a little and embarrassed. "But from the perspective of the safety of the country, it is better to go west and force the Jin army in Nanyang to withdraw."
"Pengju."
"My personal wish is to go east, but your suggestion is to go north." Yue Fei immediately stood up and bowed.
"Why?" Zhao Jiu was slightly startled. "Why north?"
"I have fought the longest with the Jin army today, and I also fought with Yelu Mawu for a long time before. I do feel that Talai has lost his courage, and I know for sure that Yelu Mawu has been abandoned and excluded by Talai... So, I think we can chase him and fight him!" Facing Emperor Zhao, who seems to be very good at listening to opinions at the moment, Yue Fei spoke his true feelings.
"What do you think... Regardless of the military situation, just considering the overall situation, east, west, or north?" Zhao Jiu looked at Hu Yin and others again.
"To the west!" Hu Yin simply bowed his hands and answered. "Your Majesty came here in a hurry. Even if we won this battle, we have sent messengers to Nanyang and Xiangyang to inform them, but we still have to be careful of the people in the two places being unstable." Having said this, Hu Mingzhong paused for a moment before continuing. "Nanyang may not believe this great victory, so your Majesty must be especially careful."
Zhao Jiu nodded heavily, but then looked at the last person, who was his most trusted internal official, Bachelor Kobayashi.
However, when Mr. Kobayashi heard the question, he remained silent for a long time and just sat there motionless.
In response, Emperor Zhao did not urge them, but just waited quietly. The others had no choice but to wait in silence.
After waiting for an unknown amount of time, Xiaolin Scholar finally stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I think we should head north!"
"Why?" Zhao Jiu stared with interest at his confidant who was gradually becoming as close to him as Yang Yizhong.
"Only by heading north can the emperor return to the old capital calmly!" Scholar Kobayashi answered calmly.
"Well said."
Zhao Jiu, who had not taken off his armor, seemed to have expected such a reply. He stood up with his sword in his hand and responded calmly under the dull gaze of several important officials in the hall. "I have made up my mind. Yue Fei will stay in Changsha to take charge of the battle in Wuhe, relieve the siege of the cities, and stop Wanyan Wushu. Tomorrow morning, Han Shizhong will be the chief and Wang Yan will be the assistant. They will immediately lead the troops to the north and join forces with Chang Ge Magao and other troops to attack Zhongmu and pursue Talan. I will take the Yanling route and return to Tokyo!"
Several people sitting or standing in the hall were still dumbfounded, not knowing how to react.
The atmosphere was not right, Zhao Jiu was slightly embarrassed, and then he said seriously: "I want to spend the Lantern Festival in Tokyo!"
Hearing this, Hu Yin suddenly burst into tears.
