Entering the twelfth lunar month, the main forces of Song and Jin met in Daming Prefecture.
In the entire Damingfu battlefield, the Song Army's Hebei Front Army, including the Imperial Camp Front Army, the Right Army, and the Navy, had a total of over 60,000 combat soldiers and more than 70,000 civilian laborers; the Jin Army had a total of 50,000 soldiers from the Longde Prefecture Marching Division, 40,000 soldiers from Hedong who worked hard to support, and 40,000 soldiers from the local marching division of Damingfu, a total of 130,000 soldiers, 130,000 infantry and cavalry, and an uncertain number of civilian laborers who were responsible for logistics and transportation, that is, 200,000 to 300,000 signed military contracts.
Comparing the military strength of the two sides, even without emphasizing the unprecedentedly powerful cavalry cluster of 60,000 to 70,000 of the Jin army, the strength of the two sides is definitely obvious.
In addition, the Jin army also grasped the administrative power and control over almost all the surrounding counties and prefectures, which could ensure the support and dispatch from the periphery. More importantly, Yuancheng, the capital of Daming Prefecture, which was 40 miles in circumference and controlled the strategic point of Hebei Province, was still under the control of the Jin army.
In such a situation, with Shaohe and Ali in the north and Wang Bolun in the northeast, the Jin army actually had the intention of encircling the enemy from the very beginning.
From the Jin army's perspective, the Song army was already trapped both internally and externally, so it didn't matter.
Of course, with the current arrangement of the Song army, it doesn't matter whether they encircle or not - the Song army doesn't seem to be ready to leave, and is prepared to hold on despite being trapped both internally and externally. Maybe they even want to pull the tiger's teeth out of the tiger's mouth and take Yuancheng in front of them.
There is little gossip, and turning back to the present, all that is said is that the Jin army set up camps and fortifications, and the scene was grand, claiming to be able to move mountains and seas, but in fact, a few days after entering the twelfth lunar month, the battle situation was somewhat beyond everyone's expectations... This is not to say that the battle was not fierce or the scene was not large, but that the Jin army was only beaten unilaterally.
Facing the huge Yuan City, the Song Army was divided into different groups, firing artillery on three sides of the land and sailing on the river, bombarding non-stop. At the same time, the army was divided into groups, some digging tunnels, some leveling the land, some beginning to formally build giant siege towers, and some concentrating small disassemblyable crossbows and eight-ox crossbows to eliminate the more threatening towers in Yuan City.
In contrast, the Jin army in Yuan City was not discouraged. After the arrival of almost endless reinforcements, the morale of the defenders in the entire city soared, and some of the city’s hastily assembled artillery vehicles also began to fight back across the wall.
And after entering the twelfth lunar month, small-scale suicide squads would be sent out of the city to attack almost every night.
However, compared with those outside the city, firstly, the number and flexibility of the artillery vehicles were all limited; secondly, the Song army had a very obvious inner fortification around the city, and attacks were often unsuccessful, so they were always at a clear disadvantage.
As the days passed, although Yuancheng was not surrounded by enemies, it was indeed greatly weakened and shaken. Seventy or eighty corner towers were destroyed within a few days, including a dozen of the most threatening ones. Some walls began to crack under the bombardment of artillery vehicles, and casualties gradually became a problem that could not be ignored in the city.
What was not even known to those outside the city was that in order to ensure the continued supply of timber and building materials for firing artillery and repairing the city defenses, Gao Jingshan set an example by even demolishing his own mansion and spent all day lingering in Cuiyun Tower…and the reason Cuiyun Tower was left behind was simply because it was the commanding height inside the northern half of the city, making it convenient for observation and command.
During these days, the Jin army west of the Yellow River had no chance to launch a full-scale attack, let alone move mountains and seas, because they were the first to see the advantages of the Song army's navy that Wanhu Ali and Shaohe reminded them of.
Frankly speaking, the Jin army had anticipated and understood the navy's ability to block the river. In the previous battle on the Huai River, Han Shizhong's sea vessels entering the Huai River made it impossible for the Jin army to cross the river. Later, Zhang Rong led the Liangshanpo navy into the Yellow River and controlled the Yellow River channel, which formed a strategic advantage and basically eliminated the Jin army's idea of ​​moving southward from the lower reaches. This time, the Jin army gathered together with the intention of taking advantage of the period when the Yellow River was frozen to sweep away Yue Fei's troops.
However, even so, they did not have enough understanding of the navy's powerful control capabilities in such narrow terrain.
Of course, they soon realized that the so-called armor, war horses, and dense military forces were almost a joke in front of the moving Eight-Ox Crossbow.
The Yellow River, which was several hundred steps wide, and the absolute deterrent distance of six or seven hundred steps on both sides of the Yellow River, instantly made the Jin army lose some unrealistic thoughts, and also made the Jin army in vain to show its impressive momentum, but unable to stretch its hands and feet and unable to support Yuancheng. As a result, the city fell into a clear disadvantage due to the encirclement of the Song army and the obvious difference in military strength, but the outer Jin army, which should have encircled the Song army in turn and had a clear military advantage, fell into an embarrassing situation of being unable to organize an attack due to the existence of the Song army's navy.
Even under the protection of the Song army's navy, the Song army's logistical supplies were still continuously transported along the Yellow River.
To be honest, this situation did not exceed the imagination of the Jin army's top leaders, but it still had a strong impact on morale.
"What if we spread out the army for 200 miles and then cross the river together? Zhang Rong has several warships that can carry eight-ox crossbows. Can he really stop them?"
"So what if we disperse and cross the river? General Ali and General Shaohe are on the other side of the river... After we cross the river, it's such a narrow place, and there are eight-ox crossbows on both sides. Can we deploy our forces to attack?"
"Hmph...Excuse me for being blunt, Shaohe and his subordinates are all from Bohai, that's why we can't conquer them!"
"In this case, it would be better to persuade General Gao to surrender as soon as possible, and ask the Jurchen warriors to fight on their own."
"Even if it was the Jurchens, didn't General Ali fight? Can't we listen to him?"
"Although General Ali was brave in his time, he is old now!"
"So, you are the only one who can help the Jin Kingdom? There are 60,000 Song Kingdom soldiers in armor on the other side! You are so powerful, how about you use your Wan Hu to try? We are happy to cross the river to rest!"
In Ligu Town, which served as the core point of the main camp of the Jin Kingdom, in the courtyard of a wealthy family with two flags erected, as Ali and Shaohe crossed the river to pay homage again, a military meeting was once again held at the level of Wanhu. However, a quarrel soon broke out at the meeting, and it quickly became fierce, chaotic and deviated.
Faced with this situation, Wuzhu had already become impatient. At the same time, Marshal Balisu, who was sitting next to Wuzhu at the top, had a blank expression on his face and said nothing. This inevitably made His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei a little cautious... He did not want to steal the show, especially since this quarrel seemed to be one thing on the surface, but was actually directly related to Balisu's authority.
However, as the quarrel became increasingly detached from the war itself, the ruling king of the Jin Dynasty could no longer tolerate it. After a moment's hesitation, he finally turned around and asked the slave behind him to whisper in his ear:
"Tell the Marshal to deal with Wanyan Bendu with confidence. I will agree and cooperate with him no matter how he deals with him!"
Tai Shi Nu understood what he meant and immediately took advantage of the chaos to go behind Wanyan Balisu and whispered in his ear again.
This is the correct answer.
Across the table, having received the promise, Balisu immediately spoke out proudly: "Wanyan Bendu!"
With a loud shout, the courtyard suddenly became quiet.
But soon, the Wan Hu who had argued the most and was almost the youngest in the courtyard just sneered, and then bowed in an almost provocative tone: "What do you want, Marshal? Could it be that after the Marshal took office, we Jurchens changed the rules and were not allowed to speak even in military meetings? When Taizu was here, even the Moukes present could criticize his mistakes to his face!"
"During the military meeting, instead of discussing military affairs, you attacked your colleagues for no reason. Isn't this what destroys the tradition of military meetings?" Balisu, who was sitting there motionless, responded coldly, and then blurted out an order. "Wanyan Bendu is too selfish and deliberately disrupted the military meeting. He should be flogged twenty times. Who objects?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the whole courtyard fell into silence. Not only was Wanyan Ben stunned when he saw himself, even Wuzhu, who had just made a promise in private, was stunned for a moment.
It is true that Wanyan Bendu was causing trouble and throwing a tantrum, and everyone knows the reason, which is that he was dissatisfied and unwilling to accept that Balisu was the marshal.
Come to think of it, in terms of closeness, although Wanyan Bendu is a distant relative, he was raised under Aguda since childhood and can be considered Aguda's direct descendant; in terms of mountain base, he was from the Eastern Army, and in this battle, the Eastern Army's nine million households far exceeded the Western Army's four million households; taking a step back, just saying that Wanyan Bendu, as the commander-in-chief of the Longde Prefecture's military division, brought the five million households under his command this time, which is also much stronger than Balisu's direct descendant from Taiyuan.
Even before the twelfth lunar month, that is, before Wuzhu and Balisu led the Hedong troops to gather here with great difficulty, this side was basically the camp organized by Wanyan Bendu. At that time, he was not seen yelling that Ali was old, Shaohe was a Bohai person, and we should cross the river in dozens of groups.
But now, you are saying this in front of Ali and Shaohe?
In a word, Xiang Zhuang danced with a sword, aiming at Pei Gong. Even those who don't know this Han Dynasty allusion can understand what is going on.
It is precisely because of this that, when the war was stuck in an awkward and helpless situation, whether it was Wanyan Bendu taking the opportunity to throw a tantrum or Wanyan Balisu taking the opportunity to establish his authority, it was all considered normal... But the problem was that he was dissatisfied and made a few complaints, and you established your authority by giving him, a governor-general and a standard third-ranked figure in the army, twenty lashes. This was a bit beyond your expectations.
This is no longer the era when Nianhan beat Wuqimai with twenty crutches!
This is different from that time.
"I have the gold medal bestowed by the Emperor Taizu, who dares to whip me?!" After a moment of silence, Wanyan Bendu came to his senses and flew into a rage. He directly pulled out his gold medal from his waist, then held the gold medal in his hand and shouted at the soldiers. "You, the marching soldiers, look at your own gold medals and then look at mine. Are they the same? My future was publicly promised by the Emperor Taizu! I want to see who dares to whip me in this army?!"
At the end of his words, this guy almost put the gold medal in his hand right in front of Balisu's nose.
But it was this action and these words that finally aroused the wrath of one man...It happened in a flash. Balisu remained silent, but Wuzhu suddenly stood up, picked up the horsewhip on the table between himself and Balisu, and lashed at Wanyan Bendu who was approaching.
Poor young man with a golden medal, who was just so arrogant and thought he was invincible in the army, but the next moment, he saw that it was one of the two remaining ruling princes among Taizu's own sons, who might also be the real master of the Eastern Army, who came to whip him personally, and he did not dare to resist at all. In a panic, the young man with a higher generation than Wuzhu could only quickly put away the golden medal and hold it in his arms to prevent it from being accidentally injured, and then just stood there with his head down, allowing the other party to whip him non-stop.
This kind of whipping, through armor and fur robes, of course, could not cause any substantial harm. A few whips on the face would not be a big deal, but the deterrent and insult were extremely great. After twenty whips, Wanyan Wushu turned back to his seat and continued to pretend to be dumb without saying a word, and Wanyan Bendu did not dare to say another word, but just returned to the group of households below and stood in silence.
The rest of the tens of thousands of households were even more speechless.
"Let me tell you straight!"
Seeing that the situation was stable, Balisu spoke again as if nothing had happened. "The Yellow River is not frozen. Under the current situation, the river channel is blocked by the Song navy. If we force an attack from the north and south, not only will we not be able to deploy our forces, but the fortifications in the north and south are also not for show... Although General Ali is old, he is a veteran and has strict military discipline; although most of General Shaohe's subordinates are from Bohai, they are also the most courageous ones who want to rescue General Gao... If the two of them say no, then no!"
Hearing this, Wuzhu could not help but look at Ali. This veteran who had always been critical of him in the past, did not say a word this time. Even before, when faced with Wanyan Bendu's "accidental injury" and insults, he did not react at all. He just let Shaohe come forward and fight with Wanyan Bendu.
I don’t know if I’m really old.
"It's not possible, but we can't just sit there and wait for the ice to freeze." After Balisu's fair statement, there was another awkward silence. Wanyan Tuhesu dragged his legs forward a step to smooth things over for his own commander-in-chief and marshal. "We have to do something, either hinder the Song army's siege or support the city. We can't just sit there and wait! Otherwise, how will Commander Gao in the city look at us? We can't explain to the hundreds of thousands of troops."
"That's exactly what I mean." Balisu nodded slowly and looked around. "What ideas do you have? Tell us what you think!"
Everyone looked at each other, and finally looked more at Ali and Shaohe.
To put it bluntly, these two are playing at home, and now that they are geographically restricted, we have to listen to their opinions.
But it was obvious that these two had been criticized by Wanyan Bendu before, and no one knew whether they were angry or not, but they just stood there and didn't bother to say anything more.
After waiting for a while, Olubu, who was quite familiar with Ali and was now Wanyan Ben's subordinate, smiled awkwardly and said almost jokingly:
"How about trying to cut off the Yellow River?"
Everyone laughed, and at this moment, Ali finally spoke calmly: "It's feasible!"
The laughter in the yard stopped abruptly.
"Are you kidding?" Elubu asked.
"No kidding." Ali said calmly to his old friend. "The Yellow River in Hebei is not right now... Rather than saying it is the Yellow River, it is better to say that the Hebei water system is borrowing the Yellow River channel, or the Yellow River channel is invading the Hebei water system. In this case, the river in front of us has more water from the Yellow River during the flood season, and more water from Hebei during the dry season. The water flows slowly and the water sources are complicated. In addition, the river has too many branches, so cutting off one branch will not cause any trouble."
Everyone suddenly realized and became excited.
But soon, Balisu realized something and asked seriously, "If what General Ali said is true, with 200,000 local civilians, how many days will it take to complete it?"
"If the Song army does not invade, there are 30,000 to 50,000 civilians, and more is useless... about 20 to 30 days." Ali remained calm. "And after the river is cut off, we must prevent the riverbed from being muddy and difficult to navigate."
Everyone was speechless, and Balisu smiled awkwardly: "Twenty or thirty days, it's better to wait for the ice to freeze!"
"I was originally trying to analyze what Erlubu said." Ali also laughed.
"The situation is difficult, I would like to ask the old general for some advice." Wuzhu spoke again, but he rarely stood up, bowed to Ali, and then sat back.
Ali glanced at him and finally stopped laughing: "If we want to support Yuancheng now, there is a way. We can cross the river from the south in small groups, find some small boats, change the water route and go through the port area southeast of Yuancheng. In theory, we can still get in... The Song army can't really lock it on all sides... But in theory, it's impossible for a complete unit to get in."
Everyone nodded and became a little more serious - no matter what, as long as they could enter the city at this moment, even if it was just a few or dozens of people, it would be a great encouragement to the defenders in the city.
Even if the probability of success is low, you should still give it a try.
"The second one." Ali continued calmly. "Cut off the Yellow River is of course a joke, but we can cut off the Yongji Canal to disrupt the Song army..."
Wuzhu, Balisu and others were all cheered up again, because the Yongji Canal was right next to Li Gu Town and also passed through the Jin army camp.
"What does Yongji Canal say?" Balisu asked proactively.
"The Yongji Canal is an artificial canal, which draws water from the Qi River and the Huan River into the river ahead... It crosses the Yellow River, reaches below Yuancheng, and then crosses the Song army camp." Ali said calmly. "Because of the forced water diversion and artificial work, this river is actually at a low position when it is diverted from the Yellow River on the other side, and it looks like a hanging river. If we cut it off from the downstream, it will inevitably flood the Song army camp. By then, it depends on the situation. If we are lucky, we may be able to divide the Song army camp into three. If we are unlucky, or if he can deal with it properly, it will take him some effort."
Everyone finally cheered up, and this seemed like a serious approach.
Balisu was unable to nod.
Wuzhu even got up from his seat, walked up to Ali, held his hand, and praised him repeatedly.
But Ali shook his head directly: "This is not my idea. I am an old Jurchen man, how can I know anything about hydrology and geography? These are some words that Gao Dutong said when I was with him before. I remembered them and thought they were feasible. I just showed off temporarily... Besides, we don't know the effect of such things. We can only say that we are taking advantage of the fact that there is no ice and we need something to perfunctory the morale of the troops below, so we gave it a try."
Everyone sighed even more.
In this way, today's military meeting was not in vain.
First of all, it definitely unified people's thoughts and strengthened the authority of the commander-in-chief, Balisu; secondly, the Jin army finally found a strategy against the enemy that could be tried and seemed feasible.
Of course, everyone knows that this can only be a "perfunctory" countermeasure, and they still have to wait for the ice to freeze before they can really fight and put an end to it.
No words were spoken that day. Everyone held a banquet to entertain Ali and Shaohe. Even though Wanyan Ben felt humiliated, he did not dare to disobey the Fourth Prince again. It was a reluctant and somewhat happy occasion.
Then, in the evening, Wuzhu personally went to the river bank downstream to send Ali and Shao back to the camp as a consolation... The warships of the Song army could not really cover everything... There was always a way to find a chance to travel on the river.
Putting aside the discussion of how Ali and Shao cut off the Yongji Canal after they returned to the camp, let's just say that evening, the moon was waning and the stars were sparse. After seeing the two off, Wuzhu wanted to turn back, but when he thought of Ali's words about "scratch the situation", he knew that if he wanted to really launch an attack, he still had to wait for the Yellow River to freeze over. He became anxious and decided not to rush back to the camp. Instead, he took Tai Shi Nu and other attendants while it was still dark, and walked slowly downstream along the embankment of the Yellow River, close to the water surface. He asked the attendants to test the ice condition at the edge along the way, in order to observe the ice situation.
After all, the current temperature situation is already very delicate.
For example, in the Yongji Canal, a thick layer of ice had formed on the surface because the Jin camp had ignored it. Soldiers had to break the palm-thick ice to get water. The Yongji Canal section on the Song army's side probably had to rely on comprehensive ice-breaking to transport water.
The same was true for the Yellow River. Every day from early morning to dusk, Song soldiers and civilians would work non-stop to break the ice in order to delay the flooding as much as possible .
In this situation, if there is another one or two drops in temperature, or an ice and snow event, the weather may gradually freeze over.
In this way, Wanyan Wushu followed the river upstream under the cover of night. Along the way, he could clearly feel that the ice layer on the river bank was getting wider and thicker as time went by. But when he walked all the way downstream and faced the area of ​​the Song army camp, there were only ice debris on the river bank... This was understandable, because Wushu saw with his own eyes that in the middle of the night, there were still many Song army civilians holding torches and riding small boats on the river, pounding ice overnight. What surprised Wushu was that there was a lot of movement around the Song army warships. It was obvious that the ships were anchored in the river, and the freezing was directly caused in just the first half of the night, forcing the Song army to do so.
It seems that the freezing of the Yellow River is inevitable, and the Song army knows this, but they are just doing their best to transport supplies and control the river as much as possible.
It was the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, halfway through the night, with a strong northwest wind, and the moonlight and starlight overhead were not very bright. It was a typical cold winter night.
However, at this time, the camps on both sides were dense and large, and the bonfires were connected for dozens of miles. Wuzhu stood on the inner side of the river bank and saw the fires on both sides reflecting each other. There was a faint light in the river due to the ice flowers and water color rising in the dark night. After getting a glimpse of the situation, he became a little dazed.
The river flows for thousands of miles, and when it reaches the lower reaches, it splits into two, and then into five. It looks vast and magnificent, but in fact the amount of water inside is no longer as abundant as that in the upper reaches. Even the source of the water inside has changed, making it difficult to find its source.
In fact, Wuzhu secretly thought that if not for this, the river might not be frozen every year.
But, on second thought, a river is still a river after all. Even in low water and with only one fork, it is still magnificent, with boats still sailing across it, making hundreds of thousands of troops sigh in despair at the sight of the river, unable to make the slightest progress.
Compared with the natural environment and geography, what are the mere human affairs? And how should we deal with the general trend?
Should we learn from the words in the newspaper of the Zhao official residence in the south and have the determination to conquer nature, or should we go with the flow and disperse? Or should we do our best and leave the rest to fate, and do what we can?
In a trance, the ruling prince of the Jin Dynasty was actually a little crazy again.
However, just as the Fourth Prince was sighing out of habit, suddenly, the Grand Master's slave, regardless of etiquette, dragged Wuzhu directly to the river bank. Wuzhu came to his senses and saw two boats in the river heading straight to the west of the bank. The people on the boats were clearly flashing in light and shadow under the glow of the two banks, and they were clearly the elite soldiers of the Song army in armor.
Perhaps they are an elite squad of Song army coming to cross the river for reconnaissance. Although it doesn't seem like they are coming for him, there should be no big danger. But a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, so there is no need to do so... While thinking, Wuzhu hurriedly climbed up the river bank with Tai Shi Nu and other attendants, preparing to turn back.
However, this action exposed their whereabouts, and the two ships came directly towards this side.
When Wuzhu arrived at this side of the river bank, he heard the sound of boats hitting the thin ice on the other side of the river bank. He was about to get on his horse, but at this moment, someone on the other side took the initiative to speak with a smile:
"I wonder which general of the Jin Kingdom came to the river to watch the scenery instead of going to sleep at night?"
When Wuzhu heard the other party's loud voice and calm words, he knew that he had met a general of the Song army. He was slightly moved and while mounting his horse, he gestured to Tai Shi Nu and others.
Tai Shi Nu and other attendants quickly bent their bows and drew their arrows just in case. At the same time, they took down a large shield and jumped on their horses to cover Wuzhu. On the other side, across the river bank, there were the sounds of bowstrings and the rattling of armor, as if they were also preparing.
When Tai Shi Nu and the others were ready, Wushu smiled and said, "The Great Jin Kingdom's Privy Councilor, King of Wei, Wanyan Wushu, is here. I wonder which general of the Song Kingdom shares the same sentiment as me and wants to enjoy the view by the river late at night?"
There was obviously some commotion on the other side, but it soon quieted down, and then the one who had been there continued to respond with a smile: "The Marshal of Hebei Road of the Song Dynasty and the Commander-in-Chief of the Front Army of the Imperial Camp, Yue Fei, is here! Fourth Prince, it's a rare opportunity for us to meet, why don't we go over to the embankment and chat?"
Wushu was also stunned for a while, and Taishi Nu and others were also in an uproar for a moment, but soon, Wushu smiled bitterly and said, "I have heard that Marshal Yue is the best in Hebei in archery, horsemanship, swordsmanship, and spears. Even in the army, he is only slightly better than Prince Han because of his seniority... You are so brave that I am afraid I will be shot by an arrow if I go over now... Marshal Yue, if you are willing, why not come over here, I will definitely treat you well."
The man opposite, Yue Fei, laughed even more after hearing this: "Don't try to fool me, Fourth Prince. No matter how strong my martial arts skills are, at this distance, if I get hit by a heavy arrow from the Jurchens, I will be crippled if not dead... Why bother yourself?"
"That's right, that's right." Wuzhu nodded repeatedly, sighed, and seemed to be thinking about something. "If that's the case, why don't we just shake hands and chat across the embankment?"
"What are you talking about?" In the dark night, Yue Fei pinched the hard bow behind his back, and for some reason he was solemn. "At this point, the Fourth Prince wants to talk to me about reason and current affairs?"
"Even if we are at war, why can't we talk about reason?" Wuzhu said disapprovingly. "Besides, we are meeting at the dike slope at midnight today. Although we cannot meet face to face, it is a rare opportunity. Moreover, even if we say something wrong or bad, we don't have to worry about losing morale or being impeached."
"Your Highness, you misunderstood me." Yue Fei replied with a sigh. "It's not that I think we can't talk here, but there are some things that really don't need to be said... The Jurchens invaded China, killed our people, robbed our property, destroyed our cities, and seized our territory... Is there any reason for this?"
"General, you just said something stupid." Wuzhu sneered. "The two rivers were once the territory of the Song Dynasty, and now they are the territory of the Jin Dynasty. You used to call yourself China, but after losing the two rivers, what kind of China are you? You can only be considered half of China. On the contrary, the Jin Dynasty now occupies the two rivers, establishes systems, opens imperial examinations, respects Confucius and values ​​Confucianism. Isn't it also a Chinese country?"
"How can a bunch of Diyi, who are monkeys in human clothing, claim to be Chinese?" Yue Fei said with disdain.
"This is even more confusing." In the twilight, behind the shield, Wuzhu on horseback was still not angry. "The Khitan people only occupied the land of Yanyun, but they can be called a great Chinese nation and inherit the Chinese tradition. You all admit it. But the Great Jin now occupies the two rivers. Why can't it be called China? You must know that the source of this orthodoxy is in the tradition, not in the orthodoxy... During the so-called Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Northern Wei occupied Han land and was assimilated to Han culture, which was the orthodoxy. The Sui and Tang dynasties inherited it and ruled the world. The Song, Qi, Liang and Chen dynasties, on the contrary, became separatist and rebellious nations. How similar is it to today? Even if we ignore these, you say that we invaded from outside, but your Great Song Taizu did dirty things and seized the foundation of the Chai family. Do you have the right to say that the Great Jin did not get the country legitimately?"
"What the Fourth Prince said seems to make some sense." Unexpectedly, Yue Fei was frank. "But speaking of this, I have to make it clear to the Fourth Prince... You said that the source of orthodoxy lies in the order rather than the order. Then I dare to ask, the Jurchens stole the two rivers, treated the people as slaves, and implemented harsh laws, causing the people to abandon their homes and businesses, or cross the river to survive, or go up the Taihang Mountains, all of which were no less than a million. Is it true? Not to mention that you used to slaughter people here on a regular basis, making the fields bloody... Is this also considered orthodoxy?"
"That was when I first arrived. When a country rises, war is inevitable. The Great Jin was also built day by day." Wuzhu blurted out a sophistry, but he regretted it as soon as he opened his mouth.
“So, the Fourth Prince thinks that the massacre by the Jin Kingdom is inevitable, and that the abdication of the Song Dynasty more than a hundred years ago was not legitimate?” Yue Fei sneered.
"My original intention was just that the eldest brother, let alone the second brother, is ridiculous. " Wuzhu responded with a wry smile.
"Yes." Yue Fei continued to sneer. "The Fourth Prince thought that the orthodoxy of the country was based on the rule rather than the rightness. As a result, the Song Dynasty has been in power for more than a hundred years, with a flourishing culture and a population of hundreds of millions. However, it is as ridiculous as the Jin Dynasty, which ruled the two rivers for ten years, slaughtered people for three to five years, and was tyrannical for three to five years... But who is the one who is ridiculous?!"
Wuzhu avoided the question and remained silent.
"Besides." Yue Fei's voice became clearer. "Even if I admit today that the Song Dynasty came to power illegitimately, so what? Is the orthodoxy of the Song Dynasty still in the same place as it was a hundred years ago? Wasn't it our government that led hundreds of millions of people to drive out the Tartars, restore China, and rule the world? After the White Horse Shaoxing, our government made it clear that the country was gradually divided into the old and the new. Your so-called Jin Kingdom is ridiculous compared to the old Song Dynasty. How dare you compare it with the new Song Dynasty today? Why don't you compare insects with bears and tigers and say that they are the same?"
"Marshal Yue." Wuzhu finally responded solemnly. "I thought you were a marshal of a country, so you must have profound ideas. Who would have thought you would say such vulgar words?"
"It was the Fourth Prince who wanted to talk to me!" Yue Fei said across the river bank without any politeness. "Besides, if your Great Jin has any merit, why would you humiliate yourself?"
Wuzhu was so angry that he was choked with anger. Both sides were silent for a moment on the other side of the embankment.
After a moment, Wuzhu calmed down and changed his words: "These fancy things are the words of scholars. We are all in the army and should not be as talkative as those in the court reports. As for whether the Great Jin Kingdom has support, Marshal Yue, of course our Great Jin has support. Aren't these hundreds of thousands of elite Jin Kingdom soldiers in front of you and behind me our support and foundation? The current situation is that the two countries' military forces are actually equal, and the confrontation across the river has become a fact. However, we have repeatedly wanted to negotiate peace with you, but you have ignored us and instead want to cross the river to attack with all your strength... I read your court reports and know one thing, that is, you have almost exhausted all the means of plundering for this war, wasting people's money and resources, and draining the pond to catch fish. Moreover, the imperial camp in front and the literati in the back are completely in opposition, and the country is almost divided. Is it worth it? Even if it succeeds in the future, how much effort will it take for you to stabilize and unify the country?"
Having said this, Wuzhu stopped and waited for a while. After hearing no response for a long while, he paused for a moment and continued:
"Moreover, if they really cross the river to attack, can the Song army defeat my army? Let's not talk about other places, just take you here. It's cold in winter. The soldiers and civilians should all stay at home and celebrate the New Year with a heated kang. As a result, you dragged more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians into the wilderness and asked them to work hard to break ice along the river in the middle of the night... And breaking ice is just a perfunctory measure. The key is that your army has been trapped in a place of internal and external difficulties. After three or five days, the river will freeze over as usual. If my army attacks, let's not talk about the outcome. Let's just say that by then, countless innocent people from both armies will die. How can you feel at ease?"
Wuzhu waited again, but the other party remained silent. This encouraged the Fourth Prince, and he continued to speak: "I also know that Marshal Yue is from Hebei, from Xiangzhou... Ten years ago, when the army marched south, it was me who conquered Xiangzhou... So I know Marshal Yue wants to recover his hometown, but for his own selfish reasons, he caused bloodshed all over the world. Is this considered a virtue as a general?!"
Wuzhu waited three times, but still heard the other party remain silent. He became more excited and continued to speak: "Marshal Yue, please listen to me..."
"Wu Shu!"
At this moment, Yue Fei on the opposite side suddenly spoke, and his voice was so loud that even across the embankment, it still frightened Wanyan Wushu.
After being startled, Wuzhu laughed and said, "I'm listening, Marshal Yue, please speak! I'm waiting!"
"Some of what you said are indeed irrefutable." After a shout, Yue Fei calmed down. "For example, if you say that once a war breaks out, no matter who wins or loses, countless innocent lives will be lost on both sides... Who can refute that?"
"yes……"
"But I can't refute you, but that doesn't mean I have nothing to say to you." Yue Fei continued to speak sternly. "The only thing I can say is that when the soldiers and civilians fight to the death for the country, I, Yue Fei, will be among them and will be the first to fight! If we win, we will win together, and if we lose, we will lose together. If I die on the battlefield, my soul will return to Yuetai and my body will turn into the green mountains! If I survive by chance, I will unite with the rest of the living, comfort the wounded and the dead, and then work together to restore peace! I can say this to the sky, to the mountains and rivers, to the more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians behind me, and to you tonight!"
Wuzhu remained silent.
"As for what you said about war and peace... Since you have read the court reports, you should know this truth. I can talk about it for three days and three nights, which is enough to refute you dozens of times." Yue Fei was still calm, but his words gradually became sonorous. "But today I don't want to talk about big truths, I just want to ask you a few questions... The two countries have been at war for ten years. Weren't you the first to slaughter and plunder? Weren't Nianhan and your second brother Wulibu rushing to the south? Why did you slaughter cities and plunder land when you were strong, and rob money and kill people now that we are attacking, you say peace is the most precious?! The Jingkang Shame was only ten years ago; the fall of the two rivers was only nine years ago; the massacre of the Central Plains was only eight years ago, and you actually want us to pretend that nothing happened and forget it directly?! At this point, what's the point of you talking about all this? You must know that if you dare to do such a bloody thing, you should be prepared to suffer the sword and the sword!"
Wuzhu remained silent, but the slave of the Grand Master who was holding a shield next to him could clearly see in the light of the fire in the distance that the corner of the Fourth Prince's mouth was twitching slightly.
After twitching, the fourth prince of the Jin Kingdom suppressed his various thoughts and gritted his teeth, "So, we still have to fight to decide the outcome?"
"That's what I meant. It was you, the Fourth Prince, who made up some nonsense and forced me to talk to you across the embankment." Yue Fei's voice regained its composure. "As for this battle... Fourth Prince, I have one more thing to say. Where did you get the confidence to think that you could break my camp before I break Yuancheng? Although our army is small, it is as strong as dragons and tigers, unlike you, the Jurchens, who are all like short-legged toads riding on horses! Do you expect to jump over this river with 50,000 or 60,000 toads?!"
Wuzhu was stunned and didn't know how to respond.
But soon, before he could reply, he heard a commotion on the other side of the river bank, and then he could clearly hear the sound of boats starting and armor rubbing against each other. A moment later, just as the fourth prince was about to speak again, he heard a different voice:
"Your Highness, King Wei of Jin, my marshal has already left. He said that although they had a quick meeting at night and parted unhappily, they could not lose their manners... so he left his sword here as a gift..."
Wuzhu was confused and didn't know whether to thank him or give him something else as a gift. But he heard the other side continue to say: "He also said that there are countless people in the Song Dynasty, from the Prince of Han and below, who want to skin the King of Wei alive. If the King of Wei is defeated, he might as well use this sword to commit suicide in consideration of today's encounter at the dike slope. In the future, when people fight over his body and recognize this sword, it can be regarded as a contribution of our Marshal."
Wuzhu was stunned again and wanted to explode, but he knew that Yue Fei had already left, and it would be a loss of face if he went to trouble with a personal guard. However, he sat on his horse, listening to the noise, and let the second ship leave.
After a while, Wushu let out a long sigh and smiled at the Taishi Nu: "Yue Fei is a vulgar man, but I can't lose face. Bring me that sword. I will use it to kill the Song people in this battle!"
Tai Shi Nu had no choice but to climb up the embankment to look for it. Sure enough, he found a precious sword under the embankment. He then brought it back and handed it to Wuzhu.
The Fourth Prince took the sword and returned to the camp as if nothing had happened... As for what happened on the embankment that night, he did not tell anyone.
Not to mention how extraordinary Wuzhu was, let's just say that in the next two days, the Jin army cut off the lower reaches of the Yongji Canal, but did not find anything wrong with the Song army. In the end, the Jin side carefully raised two hot air balloons... One was burned, and one survived and made a report. Only then did the Jin army know... It turned out that the Song army's position on the west side had already started to build earthen hills, and behind the earthen hills there were huge pits connected to the Yellow River for water storage... Perhaps they would also serve as docks in the future.
Therefore, when the Jin army cut off the Yongji Canal, the Song army directly dug through the Yongji Canal and these huge pits without any chaos.
In other words, the Song army was well prepared for the Yongji Canal, so the Jin army returned empty-handed.
However, it didn't matter, because during these few days, a gust of northwest wind caused the Yongji Canal to be completely frozen, and the Yellow River, which had a slow flow, gradually became unable to support it. Many large ships began to sail into the prepared docks in the camp.
Then, after a light snowfall, the temperature dropped again and the small steamer could no longer stand and disappeared on the river.
At this time, the Jin army was already gearing up for battle, but they were worried that the river was not frozen tightly enough. If they attacked without authorization, they would be caught in the muddy water by the Song army's artillery vehicles lined up on the river bank on the opposite bank.
However, even so, the Jin army began to send troops to seize the southern side of the Song army camp.
And soon, on the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, with another gust of northwest wind, soldiers came to report that the Yellow River had been frozen to a thickness of more than one foot, and even the stone bullets from the artillery carts could not break much of the ice at once.
The long-awaited fighter plane finally arrived.
On that day, the Jin army held a military meeting in Ligu Town again. This time, except for the necessary officers on the front line to guard against the Song army's surprise attack, almost all the marching soldiers gathered together. More than a hundred people gathered and waited for military orders.
But on that day, a messenger suddenly came into the camp from the southwest, saying that he was delivering a document to the fourth prince Wuzhu on behalf of the Zhao Song government. Then he left a letter outside the camp... The soldiers in the Jin camp did not dare to delay and presented it quickly.
Wuzhu took the letter in confusion in front of everyone, but did not dare to open it. He just looked at Balisu.
Balisu certainly knew what the other party meant... The Zhao Song official didn't send the troops earlier or later, and the river was frozen. He sent the troops when the Jin army was discussing the assignment of combat tasks. It must have been intentional.
Maybe it had been written long ago and placed in the military camp opposite, waiting to be delivered today.
In this case, it was most likely a mockery or joke to ruin morale... otherwise, could it be to encourage the Fourth Prince?
However, after thinking for a while, Balisu still smiled and said on the spot: "Although Emperor Zhao Song has made some progress in Hedong, he has been sending messages behind him. Everyone knows that he has just opened up Queshu Valley at most. If he left this letter early, he would have nothing to rely on... If we don't read it, it would seem that we are afraid of Emperor Zhao! And if he boasts about something untrue or says something vulgar, he will be the one who becomes a joke!"
After this statement was made, many Wanhu and Meng'an nodded in agreement, saying that it was fine. They all said that the more the Zhao Song officials were sarcastic, the more capable the Fourth Prince seemed.
Even Wuzhu, thinking about the confrontation with Yue Fei on the dike that night, even put away the sword. He asked himself that he would not be provoked by any remarks, so he nodded and prepared to open it.
"Let me serve the King of Wei!" At this moment, the golden young man Wanyan Bendu suddenly stepped forward and responded respectfully. "Although you are the king of a country, you shouldn't be too mean, but just in case, I'll take over and read it..."
Wuzhu had no objection, and he was also happy to see Wanyan Bendu suppress his rebelliousness and integrate into the group, so he handed the document over directly.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Wanyan Bendu opened it, took out a thin piece of paper, glanced at it, and then stood there in a daze. Then he said nothing, did not read a word, and just looked at the Fourth Prince awkwardly.
Wuzhu was confused for a moment, but he couldn't help but stand up and snatch it away, then look at it carefully while sitting there.
At first glance, there was only one sentence on the paper except for the familiar signature of Zhao Jiu from Cangzhou:
"Wushu, I have always trusted you to do things. Now that things have come to a head, don't panic just because you are facing Yue Pengju. Just roll up your trouser legs and work hard!"
Wuzhu didn't react at first, but after just a moment, his eyes became bloodshot and he felt as if something was rolling over the back of his head. He was immediately filled with anger, and almost in front of the eyes of all the senior military leaders, he tore the letter with words of encouragement into pieces.
But, after all, it was a but. Wuzhu suppressed his anger, folded the paper almost tremblingly, and stuffed it into his arms, panting and looking around: "It is indeed some vulgar words."
Everyone knew something was wrong, but before they could react, they saw the ruling prince suddenly draw the sword from his waist, then look around, and finally tremblingly point at Wanyan Bendu in front of him, and say sternly: "I heard that the lord humiliates the minister, and the minister dies. Everyone, although you are all commanders, generals, commanders-in-chief, and veterans, if you still believe that this Great Jin Kingdom belongs to the Wanyan family, you should fight hard on the battlefield and avenge this shame for me, Wushu!"
All the others, including Balisu, were stunned. Only Wanyan Bendu, ignoring the fact that he was actually a generation older than Wuzhu, knelt on the ground, hugged Wuzhu's thigh, pointed to the sky and swore. After a while, Balisu suddenly stood up and took the lead. The generals also shouted in unison, saying that they would avenge the King of Wei.
Just as the Jin army was caught up in the unity caused by a small accident, at the same time, in the Song army camp on the opposite bank, Yue Pengju, who had convened a military meeting because the Yellow River was completely frozen overnight, was also in shock.
Moreover, the instigator was still Emperor Zhao, who was thousands of miles away.
Or to put it bluntly, Emperor Zhao, who had previously promised not to interfere with Yue Fei's actions, suddenly sent ten golden medals as his order.
At this moment, ten gold medals were placed in front of them, and the ones delivering the orders were ten military commanders. It was obvious that the orders were delivered in advance through secret letters. Moreover, these commanders did not know each other's existence, so after they stood out holding the secret letter box with the gold medals tied to it, they were a little dazed.
"The gold medal is correct, and there is no reason for ten commanders to forge the imperial edict together. It must be the emperor's original intention. Judging from the time, it should be the emperor's response after knowing the battle plan here in Hedong." After verifying the gold medal, Hu Yin turned back with a dark face. "But in my opinion, the war is coming, even if it is the emperor's will, there is no need to pay attention... Thousands of miles away, does the emperor still want to remotely control the battle? Give me all these gold medals and boxes, and I will deal with them myself."
Yue Fei, who was sitting in the middle, was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "This matter cannot be concealed from anyone, or the government uses this method just to let everyone in the camp know... If it is not revealed, the camp will definitely be shaken."
Hu Yin was silent for a moment, then snatched a small box tied to a gold medal from the nearest commander, tore it open, took out a piece of paper, looked at it, and stood there in a daze.
But after he realized what was happening, he immediately grabbed the note and looked at the second, third, and fourth... When he saw the sixth one, he was too lazy to look at it anymore. He just kept shaking his head, angrily saying, "Ridiculous! Ridiculous! Ridiculous!"
The commanders became more and more panicked, and Tian Shizhong could not help but stepped forward and opened a door, but was also stunned. Zhang Rong was at a loss and had to look at Yue Fei. Yue Fei had no choice but to stand up seriously, squinting his eyes, and look at the slips in Hu Yin's hand.
This was so shocking that Yue Pengju actually laughed in public, a rare occurrence.
It turned out that the notes in Hu Yin's hand all had the same message: Move the northernmost Eight Oxen Crossbow on the dike forward ten steps to welcome Wushu! No mistakes!
Yue Fei smiled, but suppressed his smile and continued to ask seriously: "Minister Hu, the emperor's order must be obeyed, but should we move the Eight Oxen Crossbow forward ten steps, or ten times a hundred steps?"
"Move a hundred steps and send them to the river?!" Hu Yin was furious. He threw the papers down and walked away. After walking a dozen steps, he was still angry. "Military and national affairs are treated like a joke. Can't they just issue an imperial decree to encourage them? And the wooden box is free, right?!"
After saying this, the man couldn't give up the military discussion after all, and sat back angrily.
At this point, the whole room was in an uproar, and everyone rushed to watch. The military officials knew the absurdity of the imperial edict and felt a little relieved, but they were soon horrified again... Because they immediately realized that this war was not only instructed by the ministers in Tokyo, but the emperor himself was also aware of it and had made the decision. He was also aware of the deployment of officers and troops here, and knew the key points of the situation at the moment... Even people like Tian Shizhong had further vaguely realized why Minister Hu was angry... When the emperor sent the gold medal that day, he might not have known that Minister Hu was here.