Volume 3 Chapter 71: Exhaustion
Wu Jie's judgment was absolutely correct. Wanyan Huonu, who was active in Danzhou behind the battlefield, did receive the military order from her father Lou Shi at the first opportunity. She immediately led her troops westward and reunited with Wanyan Salihe before Wu Lin and Li Yongqi arrived in Fangzhou.
It can be said that Wu Jie's previous strategy of striking the enemy at the tail and forcing the head so that the head and the tail could not take care of each other was discovered by Lou Shi from the very beginning and was easily resolved.
Zhao Jiu was not too disappointed about this, and neither was Wu Jie... Because as the battlefield became smaller and smaller, the decisive battle point was basically anchored, so there was not much room to maneuver around the core battlefield of Yaoshan-Wulongshan.
Outside the main battlefield, to the north is Fangzhou and the Jin army's camp at the mouth of the Beiluo River, to the southwest is the Song army's logistics camp in Jingyao Town, to the northeast is Longmen Ferry, and to the southeast is Puzhou Ferry, which is heavily guarded by Han Shizhong's main force.
With just these few points, in such a small area, and with such a few tricks, if Wu Jie could think of them, there was no reason why Lou Shi couldn't think of them.
On the other hand, there is no reason why the Song Army could not think of what the Jin Army could do.
Just like that, three days later, when the agreed date arrived, the Jin army didn't move at all, and correspondingly, the Song army didn't foolishly go out of the camp to form a battle line... Instead, Wu Jie specially sent an envoy to Lou Shi again, accusing the other party of breaking the contract and sending a set of women's clothes.
In response, Lou Shi calmly accepted it and announced that he would send the clothes to the outside of the pass so that Duke Hun De Zhao Ji would not have to suffer from the cold this winter.
When the news came back, Wu Jie was completely humiliated, but he publicly listed the crimes of the Jin army generals in slaughtering civilians and killing innocent people according to the sequence of the Jin Dynasty's Western Army, and then publicly offered a reward in the name of Yuwen Xu Zhong... From the capital marshal Nianhan to the youngest Wanhu Salihe of the Jin Dynasty's Western Army, more than a dozen people had uncertain rewards and specific words.
For example, a reward of 1,000 pieces of silk and 10,000 taels of silver was offered to Wanyan Loushi himself; and Wanyan Xiyin (Gushen) was obviously in a position as high as Loushi in the Western Army, and his official position was even higher than Loushi, but because he seldom killed people, the reward for him was only 1,000 pieces of silk; and as for Yelu Yudu, a Khitan general who had long been idle and deprived of his military power, it was publicly announced that he was the imprisoned Song internal supporter, and whoever rescued him would be rewarded with 3,000 pieces of silk and 3,000 taels of silver; and Yelu Mawu, who was leading the main force of the Khitan in the opposite camp, was not even mentioned.
Wanyan Loushi still chose a light-hearted approach this time. He offered a reward of a donkey to Wu Jie.
For a while, the two sides kept exchanging words, but they both knew that these meaningless tricks were basically tests. But because this test was unequal... At this time, the Song army took the initiative to advance to the foot of Yaoshan Mountain, and their attitude of seeking a battle was obvious, while the Jin army's defensive mentality was temporarily chaotic... Therefore, it seemed that Wu Jie was at a disadvantage in everything.
In fact, over the past few days, countless people came to Zhao Jiu to complain about Wu Jie and point out all the ridiculous things about him, but they were all suppressed by Zhao Jiu.
How to say it?
In Zhao Jiu's opinion, this kind of advantage and disadvantage in verbal attacks is really meaningless at this moment. It all depends on the final outcome of the battle. If the Jin army wins, Wu Jie's attitude will be a clownish act, but if the Song army wins, it means that Wu Jie has successfully paralyzed the opponent.
Moreover, Zhao Jiu, who stepped away and observed the situation in the past few days from a higher perspective, vaguely felt that Wu Jie was not without more practical thoughts. Because his and Lou Shi's real attention was not on these verbal skills, both sides were making estimates and endurance in other more practical, simple and direct areas.
Of course, Zhao Jiu was just seeing things in a fog. If you asked him to think about it, let alone the conditions for a decisive battle, he couldn't even figure out Wanyan Loushi's intentions, and couldn't figure out whether the famous general of the Jin army wanted to fight or avoid it?
If they wanted to fight, why didn't they hold their ground from so early on?
If he wanted to avoid a fight, what was he waiting for? Was he really waiting for the Hedong army to make a decisive breakthrough? Was he waiting for the outcome there to affect Guanzhong?
To be fair, this is not Lou Shi's character. This kind of person will not leave the outcome of the battle to others. Both the Song army, which has been beaten many times by Lou Shi, and the Jin Kingdom's Western Army are certain of this.
Zhao Jiu was also certain of it.
So, what are both he and Wu Jie waiting for?
"General, can I lead a cavalry unit to go around the other side of Yaoshan Mountain and attack Jingyao?"
While the Song army leaders were complaining all day, the Jin army leaders also had their own activities. For example, Lou Shi liked to go hunting on Jinsu Mountain, where he could observe the situation around the entire Song army camp. On this day, looking at the huge but increasingly perfect camp system of the Song army, the deputy governor Wanyan Balisu, who came with Lou Shi again, frowned and made tactical suggestions to Lou Shi. "Jingyao Camp is the logistics center of the Song army. Once it is broken, the front army will be in chaos!"
Under the shade of a nearby tree, Lou Shi, who was riding on a horse, kept looking in the direction of the Song army camp. The water around there, which had been white before, gradually returned to its state before the rainstorm. Now there was only a little white light... and when he heard Bali Su speak, Lou Shi did not even turn around, but just shook his head.
"Why?" Balisu asked seriously.
After hearing this, Lou Shi finally turned around, but still said nothing.
Balisu finally felt helpless, but he sneered and laughed at himself: "Indeed, Jingyao is surrounded by four cities, and the terrain is no different from this side. It looks like a sweet melon, but it is actually more like a trap... If we go to attack Jingyao, how many soldiers should we bring? If we bring too few, how can we guarantee that we can hit it in one shot? If we bring too many, how can we guarantee that Wu Jie will not abandon the main camp and counterattack, and block the other troops in a place like Jingyao with cities on all sides? And if we take a longer route, what if the Song army hears the news and simply rushes directly to the main camp? In the final analysis, we don’t have enough troops..."
"Pull it off." Lou Shi finally couldn't bear to listen anymore, and was forced to speak. "What do you want to say?"
Balisu turned his head and glanced at his followers behind him. All the officers and soldiers understood and withdrew. For a moment, only Lou Shi's second son Mou Yan was standing not far behind him with a sword in his hand. Balisu originally wanted Mou Yan to get out as well, but he didn't dare to open his mouth.
"I want to ask the commander-in-chief, how are you going to solve the problem of insufficient troops?" He turned his gaze from Mou Yan and turned to Lou Shi, speaking frankly. "Qu Duan and Wu Lin led 20,000 troops to Fangzhou, and you sent Huo Nu to the Hekou camp. This response was correct, but now we have 30,000 troops here, 10,000 of which are Han'er troops... How can we fight a Song army of this size?"
Lou Shi was about to answer, but Balisu started talking non-stop:
"When you came back from Tongguan at the beginning of the year, the military strength you calculated for us was not like this! When we were setting out, everyone was afraid of the heat, but you said that we had 50,000 to 60,000 troops against the Song army of 80,000, and that the heat didn't matter. As a result, the Song army we actually faced was definitely more than 100,000! The decisive battle you calculated at that time could be 40,000 to 60,000 even without reinforcements, which was plenty of room, but now it's obviously 30,000 to 80,000!"
"Of course there are deviations when marching and fighting." Lou Shi waited until the other party finished speaking before speaking, but he didn't care at all. "Although there was a mistake in the military strength, I have already considered it. It is not a critical issue, and you don't have to worry... Do you have any other questions?"
Balisu was speechless for a moment, but he forced himself to hold his breath and said, "Lou Shi, I have always respected you, but you should be a little honest with me. Do you really think I don't know the situation in Hedong? Ali and Erlubu crossed the river and broke through Luoyang, which was a brilliant strategy, but they couldn't break through Sishui Pass and couldn't get to Shanzhou for the time being. Could it be fake? On the contrary, tens of thousands of Song troops landed in Hebei, and Hebei is the base of the Eastern Army's Zhu Meng'an and Mouke. The Eastern Army was clamoring that the Third Prince sent 40,000 troops the day before yesterday, and he was basically letting the Fourth Prince lead the army back to the north, and then go to Huguan to protect Hebei!"
"So what?" Lou Shi said calmly.
"What can we do?" Balisu said anxiously. "The troops in Hedong originally only have more Han troops, and their fighting power is weak. Some should be sent to Luoyang, some to Hebei, and some should be left in Taiyuan. When facing Li Yanxian and Han Shizhong, two veteran generals, they dare not withdraw any more troops... How do you 'consider' the military strength?"
Lou Shi looked calm and unconcerned: "Balisu, you are only the deputy governor, there are some important things you don't know."
"I don't know? What do I not know?" After saying this, Balisu finally became furious: "You confessed to the capital marshal and the king that you were seriously injured and about to die, which exchanged for this summer expedition. I don't know? Your old injury is unbearable. Once it rains, you are almost in pain and can't move. For this reason, you have destroyed several battle plans in a row before. I don't know? Before in Fangzhou, you underestimated Wu Jie, causing Tuhesu to be injured and Salihe to be defeated. What's more, the route and troops of this expedition went awry, so that you panicked and almost wanted to fight Wu Jie... I don't know? Or, at this moment, you were clearly in unbearable torment because of the heat, the troops, and the terrain, but you still had to force yourself to stay calm... I don't know?!"
At the end of his words, Balisu became very excited, and the warhorse under him neighed.
"I almost forgot that you are Yin Shuke's younger brother and you know everything." Lou Shi turned his head and looked at Balisu's outburst, his expression slightly complicated. "But Balisu, do you still know that I am the commander-in-chief here, the commander-in-chief of the marching division?"
"So what?" Balisu sneered and turned his head away.
But as soon as he finished speaking, the deputy commander of the Jin army was shocked, because Lou Shi beside him picked him up from the horse like a child, and then threw him to the ground easily.
Mou Yan behind him quickly drew his sword and tried to stop Ba Lisu, but Lou Shi raised his hand to stop him.
"Balisu, if Yin Shu could be met in person, he would never ask these nonsense. He would just sharpen his spear, maintain his bow, and wait patiently to charge with me." Lou Shi looked down at his deputy commander coldly.
"Of course I am not as good as my brother!" Balisu gasped for breath on the ground. After calming down a little, he sneered again.
"This is not a matter of being inferior to your brother." Lou Shi continued to hold the reins and looked at the person on the ground coldly. "Balisu, I know what you are thinking. Your brother and Xi Yin (Wanyan Gushen) went to Yanjing together, and the Marshal is in power at the center. My health is getting worse. You are in this position. It is normal for you to boast of your qualifications and reputation and to have the intention of succeeding Taiyuan as the governor or even the commander of the Western Route Army. But you shouldn't be so anxious. You can't bear it after suffering here for half a month, so you put personal interests above public interests and complain everywhere!"
After hearing the last sentence, Balisu's face finally changed.
"Actually, if I kill you today, it would be like killing a dog or a horse. The reason I don't kill you is not because you are Yin Shuke's brother, but because the battle is about to start, and you are still useful..." Lou Shi said a few more words, and then he felt bored, so he simply waved his hand. "Go back! Since you know my body well, you should know that I can't wait until the autumn rain. The decisive battle will come sooner or later, you just need to go back and prepare well!"
Balisu got up from the ground with an expressionless face. He showed neither anger nor obedience. He just jumped onto the horse, reined in the horse, turned around, and tried to go down the mountain.
However, this person walked a few steps and when he came behind Mou Yan, he turned back and looked at him: "General! I don't know what you are planning, but as the deputy general, the person who you said will lead the entire Western Route Army after his death, I have to remind you of one thing... Do you want to listen?"
"I'm talking seriously, why don't you listen?" Lou Shi remained calm.
"Don't let Huo Nu go south for support!" Ba Lisu suddenly said seriously. "You must know that our army is all cavalry. If we lose this battle, we will just be defeated. It's not a big deal. The worst case scenario is that we lose some weak soldiers and return empty-handed. But if we lose the Hekou camp and Fucheng behind us, it will be a disaster! You are gambling your life for the future of your children and grandchildren, and we, as your subordinates, will follow you and die in battle. But if you cut off your retreat for the sake of your family, and let tens of thousands of people become wild ghosts here, let alone after your death, Huo Nu and Mou Yan will never have a good end!"
"I understand." Lou Shi responded indifferently.
Upon seeing this, Balisu sneered again and again, then shook his head and rode away.
It was the hottest time of midsummer. For several days in a row, the sun was scorching hot during the day and the breeze was blowing at night. The Song and Jin armies continued to confront each other in a strange and tense state. As the end of the month was approaching, one day, the heat dissipated a little, and Wu Jie, who had been asked not to report everything before, suddenly came directly to the camp at the foot of the mountain in the evening and asked to see the "deputy commander".
"Officials."
Under the Milky Way, the military camp had already settled down, and even the cicadas had begun to chirp again around the camp. Therefore, Wu Jie, who had followed Scholar Xiaolin all the way to the open area of the shooting range next to the 'Deputy Commander's' tent, had directly changed his name under the Milky Way. "The war will begin in a day or two!"
Zhao Jiu, who was sitting on a small stool in the shooting range enjoying the breeze, nodded without much reaction. However, Wang Yuan, Yang Yizhong and Liu Yan, who were accompanying him, had already changed their expressions. However, Scholar Kobayashi, who went to greet Wu Jie, maintained his composure.
"Is there anything to say?" The matter was of great importance, so Wang Yuan, who had been reduced to an idle job, asked seriously.
"General Wang." Wu Jie was polite to Wang Yuan, because he knew that he was actually speaking to Emperor Zhao. In fact, he was targeting Emperor Zhao who seemed a little careless. "Your Majesty, I have been fighting with Lou Shi for several years. I believe that no one knows Lou Shi better than me... So I thought from the beginning that Lou Shi had not fought for a long time, not because they did not dare to fight, not because they did not want to fight, but because they did not have the right time and place for this battle, so they just wanted to find a suitable opportunity to fight."
"So the Jin army's fighter planes have arrived?" Under the starry sky and torches, Zhao Jiu finally looked a little more serious.
"No, it's just that the Jin army is running out of opportunities." Wu Jie answered seriously.
Zhao Jiu finally showed some interest: "What do you mean?"
"For the Jin army, the two things that can change are the heat and the water." Wu Jie explained quickly. "In the past few days, although the sun was scorching during the day, fortunately, the wind was clear and the air was bright, so it can only be said to be hot, but not the heat... For the Jin army, what they fear most is actually the stuffy heat..."
"So, the good weather is going to end, and it's going to get hot and humid soon?" Zhao Jiu understood almost immediately. Battles should be so pragmatic, not so complicated. "Although the water has not completely dried up, we can't wait any longer?"
"Not only will it be hot and humid, I'm afraid it will rain again." Wu Jie finally laughed. "When I knew that Lou Shi often went to Jinsu Mountain to hunt, I guessed what Lou Shi was thinking. These days, I have been observing the water and the weather... Today, several old soldiers with hidden injuries in the camp came to me together and said that although were not sore all over, they could feel that their wounds were swelling. In two or three days, it will rain!"
Zhao Jiu nodded slowly: "The Jin army also has many veterans, and they also know how to use this method to predict the rain... So, if Lou Shi really wants to fight, he can't wait any longer! Is it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?"
"Officials are wise!"
"Don't say those words. What do you want me to do?" Zhao Jiu looked at him sternly, his eyes sparkling in the dark.
"You don't need to do anything... I have already sent urgent orders to Qu Da and my brother to let them observe the movements of the living women and attack the Hekou camp at all costs." Wu Jie was silent for a moment before he came forward. "And this time I came here to persuade you to go to Jingyao to avoid the battle overnight, and just leave a dragon flag behind..."
"I won't leave." Zhao Jiu sighed calmly. "My army is here, my land is here, you just need to do your best... And if I leave, those people will definitely cause trouble. The closer the battle is, the more I will stay here for you."
Wu Jie said nothing, bowed and walked away.
Wu Da had been gone for a long time. Zhao Jiu thought for a while before calling out to someone sitting on a small stool: "Pingfu!"
Liu Yan hurried forward: "Official."
"I want you to do something." As Yang Yi and the others looked at each other in bewilderment, Zhao Jiu sighed softly. "Go now, go to Jingyao and get the last 3,500 soldiers from there, and find a way to transfer them to me! You can directly transfer them to the army, or pretend to be civilians and wait on the road to the north to join the battle when the opportunity arises... It's up to you!"
Liu Yan was silent for a moment, then bowed and left.
And on the same night, when the moon was dark and the wind was strong, at the Longmen Ferry behind Liangshan, the northernmost tip of Tongzhou, which was more than a hundred miles away, a team of Jin army messengers crossed the river as usual despite the late night... This was a natural and common thing. If the Jin army on both ends of the river wanted to get in touch, they would naturally go through here.
However, what is interesting is that after crossing the river, this team of Jin troops did not rush south along the river to Hezhong Prefecture to meet the nominal commander-in-chief, the third prince Wanyan Erlido, but instead turned north across Longmen Mountain and entered a large camp late at night.
"Cross the river?" Wanyan Wushu hurriedly stood up and looked at Wanyan Mouyan in front of him. Without waiting for him to speak, his face became serious. "Cross the river now and fight tomorrow? If we fight tomorrow, why didn't you come earlier? Will we make it in time?"
"We should cross the river at night and fight the day after tomorrow." Mou Yan bowed his head and corrected. "My father asked the fourth prince to abandon the camp and baggage immediately and cross the river with General Han. Then, you must cross the Beiluo River before sunset tomorrow and settle on the west bank of the Beiluo River. There, my brother and daughter will provide supplies. And the next morning, you must rush south regardless of everything. You must follow me from the west side of Yaoshan to the south end of the Song army camp in the afternoon to attack from the north and south!"
Wuzhu finally heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this: "Because of a word from your father, I almost caused disunity in the Eastern Route Army. I just forced these 20,000 people to stay. Then I have to march a hundred miles every day for two consecutive days to fight the Song army with the last hurdles... I hope your father will not let me down!"
"My father has never failed anyone in his life!" Mou Yan raised his head, ignoring the fact that the person in front of him was Taizu's flesh and blood, the fourth prince of the Jin Dynasty, and his face became ferocious.
Seeing this, the shirtless Wanyan Wushu was not angry but happy: "That's exactly what I meant!"
