Volume 2 Chapter 75: Lost Ground (Part 2)
Before the spring rain arrived, the Jin army was stuck in the mud.
After crossing the Li River, Wanyan Wushu sent people to explore the surrounding area, and indeed found across the river that the city defenses of Yancheng, a node downstream, had been repaired and troops had been replenished. As the saying goes, a strong city means a strong army. Then he had no choice but to give up the idea of returning north from this key point, and angrily went straight north to cross the Ru River.
To be honest, the Ru River is much more famous and wider than the Li River. This time, just for the purpose of building a pontoon bridge, the Jin army had no less than seven or eight conflicts in Hejian with the suddenly appeared large flags of Niu, Tang, Li and other elite Song troops with a total of no less than five or six thousand people under the flags. The Song army used fireboats, swimming, and even a small-scale navy to harass the Jin army effectively... The pontoon bridge was never built.
Finally, the Jin army had no choice but to repeat the old trick. They forcibly separated a cavalry unit of 4,000 people from the shallow place where the tributary of the Ru River in the upper reaches forked. Taking advantage of the forked river and the numerous shallows in the upper reaches, they detoured for hundreds of miles before rushing to the other side of the river... When the opposing troops saw such a large-scale cavalry, they did not want to fight anymore. They burned their own riverside positions early and then retreated to the reserve camp further north, a full 20 miles away from the river, and set up camp properly.
The Jin army did not dare to pursue them easily, nor did they hastily build a bridge. Instead, they set up camp on the spot according to Balisu's instructions when they set out.
After all, the loss they suffered at the Li River last time made them realize that even if they succeeded in building the bridge now, they would not be able to expand the scale of river crossing. Instead, they would be vulnerable to attacks at night, and the pontoon bridge might not be able to be preserved at that time.
As expected, perhaps it was within the Jin army's expectations, but at nightfall the Song army launched another night attack.
Logically speaking, this time, the Jin army had been well prepared and even had a camp, so they should have been able to deal with it properly.
But in fact, the fatigue from the detour made them lose a considerable amount of combat effectiveness. Relatively speaking, the Song army took advantage of the cover of night and their familiarity with the geography and successfully made the battle sudden.
Of course, the more important thing is that according to the Jin army’s own statement later, the Song army had more than 10,000 troops in this night attack!
The Jin army had no choice but to rely on the hastily erected camp to fight hard, and the battle lasted from midnight to dawn... Poor Wanyan Wushu and others led tens of thousands of troops to listen to the noise from the other side, how could they sleep? In the end, almost all the Jin army on the south bank stood up, holding torches and facing each other across the wide Ru River, trying to understand the situation.
The flames on the south bank of the river shone brightly, turning the Ru River in the middle into a river of fire, but it was impossible to see the battle situation clearly.
At dawn, the Song army dispersed on their own initiative. At this time, someone from the opposite camp, which was already in a mess, swam across the river to report that Wanyan Wushu had lost more than a thousand of the 4,000 soldiers and horses, and more than half of the war horses had been lost.
The loss of more than a thousand soldiers was of course only a minor injury to Wanyan Wushu's troops, and it was also consistent with the speculation on the combat effectiveness of the Song army. So that day, the pontoon bridge was built again, and it took another two and a half days for the 40,000 Jin troops to cross the river.
But just after the entire army crossed the Ru River, a fierce dispute broke out among the top leaders of the Jin army that evening!
The cause of the incident was actually very simple. After crossing the Ru River, the Jin army found itself in a new, small strategic dilemma... You must know that at this time, the Ru River behind the Jin army and the Ying River in front of them were both major tributaries of the Huai River. They were both relatively large rivers. The previous battles also showed that such large rivers posed a great obstacle to the Jin cavalry. At this time, there was a strong Yancheng downstream of the Jin army, that is, in the southeast, and a strong Xiangcheng upstream, that is, in the northwest.
The garrison commander of Yancheng was Xu Shi'an, the most reliable general under Han Shizhong's command. The garrison commander of Xiangcheng was a little more powerful , being Lu Jing, the surviving infantry commander of the Three Yamen of the Song Army during the Jing Kang Campaign. He was a veteran who had persisted in fighting against the Jin Army on the Yellow River line for many years... But no matter what, these two cities were the main defense points that the Song Army had held on to at the beginning, and now the Jin Army's scouts had explored them many times. After the Battle of Yanling, the two cities were replenished and repaired in time, and the previous siege was a failure.
Then the question arises... In this situation where the cavalry are almost restricted on the left and right and blocked in the front and back, which is a death trap for them, should they continue to cross the Yingshui River to the north?
Although Balisu and others could still endure and persevere before, after the continuous loss of personnel in the past few days, these veterans of the battlefield have already vaguely sensed that something is wrong.
"The Song army is delaying us layer by layer and exhausting us..." Next to the campfire, Wulindatai grabbed a handful of ashes and sprinkled them in front of him. He pointed a finger at the ashes before he came to a conclusion.
"I know!" Wanyan Wushu glanced at the firewood ash in front of the other party. He knew that the other party was reminding him of the Jurchens' military consultation tradition. He seemed powerless and could only respond coldly .
"We are short of supplies." Balisu had obviously discussed this with Wulinda Taiyu, because he spoke almost immediately. "Fourth Prince, this time is different from when we came here. The towns between the Five Rivers have been combed by the army several times. The battle has been going on for three or four months. All the Song people who could escape have fled. There is no way to get supplies locally. Moreover, the Song army is obviously taking the initiative to fortify its defenses and clear the countryside..."
"I know that too!" Wanyan Wushu remained cold in response.
When the three of them reached this point, they were in a stalemate and almost instinctively looked at the last Wanhu Han Chang, but Han Chang just lowered his head and said nothing.
It is obvious that this Liao Han general was against continuing the advance, and shared the same view as Balisu and Wulindatai. But at the same time, another obvious thing is that as Wuzhu's trusted general, this man maintained respect for Wuzhu in his political stance.
When Han Chang took such an attitude, the three of them reacted in unison... They all breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but curse this man in their hearts for not being able to stick to his position.
Of course, it’s also difficult for Han Chang.
In desperation, beside the fire, Balisu turned back and said to Wuzhu: "Fourth Prince, I only want to ask you one more question. You insist on crossing the river. Do you think the Zhao Song officials should be in the city ahead, or do you want to chase them, surround them, and eat them up?"
Wanyan Wushu was silent for a moment, and instead of answering, he asked: "Let me ask you, Talai is our commander-in-chief this time, are we going to abandon him? According to common sense, even if he is defeated, he should be guarding the Zhengzhou and Kaifeng areas in the Wuhe area, right? Maybe he is surrounded by enemies!"
This is half nonsense but actually does make some sense... The nonsense part is that when Wushu marched south a few months ago, he never regarded Talai as the chief commander. Instead, he forcibly summoned Talai like a subordinate. The truth is, no matter whether Wushu respected Talai or not, this right deputy marshal was still the right deputy marshal after all. After crossing two rivers there was no news. It was likely that the Song army took advantage of the great victory to hit him in the face, so he had to be rescued.
Thinking of this, Balisu shook his head repeatedly, but did not argue with the other party. Instead, he simply said his real suggestion: "This is what I want to say, Fourth Prince, if you want to go to Zhengzhou, why not go through Ruzhou, go through Luoyang, and go out of Sishui Pass to support the Right Deputy Marshal?"
Wuzhu was slightly startled, obviously he had been tricked.
After a long while, the fourth prince of the Jin Kingdom slowly said, "We have already crossed two rivers. How can we give up halfway?"
Balisu had already completely determined the other party's thoughts, but he just sneered and said nothing.
But Wulinda Taiyu was furious: "In the final analysis, the Fourth Prince wants to put the army in danger just for one person's personal grudge?"
"Is capturing the Emperor of Song a personal grudge?!" Wuzhu was also furious. "Have you ever thought about this? Now that the weather has warmed up, we are forced to withdraw today. If we fail to capture the Emperor of Song, all the hard work of several months will be in vain! Henan will once again belong to the Song people!"
Wulin Datai wanted to argue after hearing what was said, but he couldn't, so he simply slapped the ashes in front of him. The ashes flew up and into the campfire, sparks flew everywhere, reflecting the stern faces of the four top Jurchen nobles around him.
To put it bluntly, unless it is absolutely necessary, who would be willing to admit that this southern expedition has failed?
Of course it failed. Just think about it. Let's not talk about the Western Route Army in northern Shaanxi. The 120,000 troops here went south to the Henan area that had already been seized. Even if there were spoils of war and oil, they were gradually consumed in the months of siege. There were not enough spoils of war, and they were defeated, and the entire army lost more than a dozen men.
As for the strategic purpose of capturing the Zhao Song officials and supporting a puppet regime in Henan...
In short, if they chose to withdraw directly at this time, considering that the weather could not support the Jin army's siege for another few months, they would have to retreat completely. However, they retreated without achieving any strategic results and instead lost more than a dozen men. This march southward would certainly be a complete defeat!
What we must know is that even when Wanyan Wushu was defeated at Huaishang last time, it was just a setback after the Jin army completed its established goal (sweeping the two wings of Hebei in an attempt to completely control Hebei)... So, if the Jin army just left in disgrace this time, it would be the first time in the history of the Jin army that a strategic offensive was frustrated... Who can afford it?
Back to the present, the conflict on the banks of the Ru River ended in a stalemate, and since the stalemate had occurred , it was natural for them to continue heading north in accordance with the commander's wishes.
Soon, the Jin army's central force arrived at the third of the five rivers, the famous Yingshui River.
As expected, before the arrival of the Jin army, the other side of the river was quiet. However, with the arrival of the Jin army, more Song troops suddenly appeared on the other side of the river than last time. They even clearly saw the word "Yue" on the flag on the opposite side. Considering the rarity of this surname, Wanyan Wushu and others immediately realized that this was Yue Fei, the Jeju Governor who had once annihilated 5,000 Jin cavalrymen in Liangshanpo.
The appearance of a general of this caliber undoubtedly declared that it would be much more difficult for the Jin army to cross the Yingshui River in front of them than to cross the two rivers behind them.
To be honest, that evening, when Wanyan Wushu personally arrived at the Ying River and looked at the Song army on the opposite bank, which was neither too many nor too few, plus the flag that he had to take seriously... at that moment, the Fourth Prince himself was so tired that he wanted to give up.
Linhe stood up and raised his hips slightly. He hated that Talan was defeated but couldn't give him a clear message, so that he was in such a confused situation. He hated that the Zhao Song official was dishonest. He said he would wait for him in Nanyang City, but suddenly ran out to Yanling. At the same time, he hated himself for being incompetent...
If he had been able to destroy the Song army's incredibly efficient artillery in Nanyang earlier, he would have been able to lock the dragon in the well and wait for victory.
If we could have seen through the Zhao Song government's scheme by the Baihe River and captured that guy early, this battle would have been over long ago and everything would have been fine.
If they had advanced without hesitation after Talan's defeat, they would not have fallen into such a predicament at this moment.
"The Fourth Prince."
Just as Wuzhu was looking at the river and sighing, his trusted general Han Chang suddenly reined in his horse and came to his side, standing beside him, and then whispered to him, "It must be the beautiful scenery of the Central Plains, right?"
It is indeed a beautiful scenery.
The sun sets in the west, the river is golden, the cavalry are endless, the blood soaks the green grass, and there is a breeze. The flags are fluttering in the wind from behind, echoing with the flags of the Song army on the opposite side. How can it not be a beautiful scenery?
Of course, it's a bit out of place.
Therefore, Wanyan Wushu could not help but be confused: "In a place where we have no way to advance or retreat, do we still have the mood to talk about the scenery?"
"Why can't we talk about the scenery when we are at a loss?" Han Chang didn't even turn his head, but continued to look at the river and whispered. "In my opinion, such a beautiful scenery is just the right place for a hero like the Fourth Prince to die..."
Faced with such shocking words, Wuzhu remained silent. He knew that even his confidant Han Chang was unwilling to continue moving forward with him.
"Fourth Prince, don't force your way to the northeast to cross the remaining rivers." Han Chang said so, but he seemed to have another opinion. "There is something strange in the northeast, or it should be said that there is something strange in the Song army."
"What do you mean?" It might be because of the blow of the current situation, or it might be because he himself understood that this confidant by his side was his last resort to maintain his dominance in the army and suppress Balisu and Wulindataiyu, so Wuzhu remained calm for a rare time.
"I have thought about the experiences of the past few days carefully... There are at least two things that have shocked me." Han Chang said calmly. "First, the Song army is too bold, which is completely different from the previous Song army. They are very calm in night attacks, harassment, guarding the ferry, and retreating. They are brave and capable of fighting. It can be seen that the victory of the Zhao Song officials in Yanling-Changshe has greatly boosted the morale of the Song army, and they are no longer in the embarrassing state of the past. This is a big problem. I am afraid that our future battles with the Song army will be difficult."
Wanyan Wushu nodded slowly.
"Another point is that the Song army was so brave in fighting and so measured in their advances and retreats, so why didn't they take the opportunity to eat up our 4,000 men on the north bank of the Ru River last time?"
Wushu shook his head again and again: "How could the Song army defeat four of us in one night? More than a thousand casualties are already their limit."
"Maybe so, but I am always a little worried." Han Chang pointed at the flag on the other side and narrowed his eyes. "Others are fine, but this Yue Fei is not a man of false reputation, right? Not to mention Liangshanpo, once Yanling-Changshe was defeated, more than a dozen of us were killed in an hour, and he was the first to cross the Qingqi River..."
"What do you want to say?" Wuzhu suddenly interrupted.
"I always feel that the Song army is deliberately luring us to the northeast." Han Chang said seriously. "These days, there are casualties, but they are never big. There are delays, but they always allow us to continue to advance... But the military situation in front is unclear. When I came to my senses, I realized that this place is a dead end for cavalry, and it has become a situation where we can't advance or retreat! Fourth Prince, let me ask you a question, what if Marshal Talai is defeated again in the past few days? Wouldn't there be 100,000 Song troops waiting in front?"
Wuzhu instinctively wanted to speak, but then he was choked and broke into sweat.
At this point, Han Chang finally glanced at the Fourth Prince beside him, and then whispered a new piece of news: "Let the Fourth Prince know that Wang De and Hu Yantong have caught up from behind, have already broken through Wuyang, and crossed the Li River... Otherwise, if it was just Yue Fei's posture in front, I would not have guessed so much."
Wanyan Wushu was stunned for a long time before he responded: "Why did you tell me such military information only now?"
"Because I'm afraid that the Fourth Prince is too eager to capture the Zhao Song official, and upon hearing the news, he can't wait to cross the river, and even loses his mind." Han Chang responded coldly. "And if that's the case, based on my observations over the past few days, I'm afraid that General Balisu will directly lead his troops west..."
"He dares?!"
"Why wouldn't he dare?" Han Chang remained cold. "The Eastern Army was defeated in Henan in this battle. What can the Fourth Prince and Marshal Talan use to defeat the Western Army? Are Marshal Nianhan and Yin Shu just for show?"
Wuzhu was speechless for a moment, and then became more and more frightened.
"Not only that, he has already lost his own nephew in this expedition. If he loses his soldiers, how can his brother Yin Shu forgive him?" Han Chang continued to analyze calmly. "Fourth Prince, it is reasonable for him to leave... If he leaves, we will fall apart. When the Song army surrounds us from the north and south, this river will be the burial place of the Fourth Prince and this fool who will never abandon the Fourth Prince and leave! However, such a scenery is also suitable for the Fourth Prince's identity. I think the Fourth Prince must have no complaints like me!"
Wuzhu was completely speechless until the sun set and the surrounding soldiers began to light fires and set up camps . Only then did he reluctantly speak in a low voice: "Yuanji (Han Chang's courtesy name), what do you say we should do?"
Han Chang remained calm, and had obviously thought it through: "Pretend to cross the river, pack up and prepare dry food, then suddenly abandon the baggage, and all the cavalry will go northwest along the Ying River, turn from Gaoshi to Luoyang, and then plan other things!"
Just as Wuzhu was about to say something else, Han Chang finally lost his patience and said, "Fourth Prince... I did not speak out at the evening military meeting, but came here privately because there are some things that cannot be said in public. In this battle, the Fourth Prince was defeated by the Zhao Song official again! Whether in bravery or decisiveness, you are at a disadvantage. However, our army still has countless cavalrymen, so we can still take the initiative in the future. That's why I advise you to recognize the situation as soon as possible and don't make the same mistake again!"
After that, Han Chang stopped talking. After an unknown amount of time, Wanyan Wushu nodded in the twilight and said, "Just as General Han said."
Han Chang persuaded Wuzhu so much that he was completely relieved and was about to turn around and leave, but unexpectedly the Fourth Prince still stood still. Han Chang was helpless and was about to persuade him again, but with the help of the faint firelight around him, he saw the other party take out a thick arrow unique to the Jurchens from the quiver behind him.
Han Chang's heart moved, so he stood still, reined in his horse and kept silent.
As expected, Wuzhu had an arrow in his hand, but he took out a dagger from behind, cut the arrow and dropped it to the ground. He swore by the river: "Father Taizu, if I cannot destroy the Zhao Song Dynasty and kill Zhao Jiu of Cangzhou in this lifetime, I will be cut into pieces by this arrow!"
After saying this, he straightened his back, retracted his hips, and rode back to the camp under Han Chang's stunned gaze.
