An eagle soared, covering a thousand *li* in a single day.

Except for Zhao Jiu, almost all the Song Dynasty's civil and military officials believed that the Jin army, which had only returned north a few months prior, would not invade the south again in the short term. Their reasons were various: "A prolonged campaign leads to fatigue," "Logistics cannot keep up," "Internal power struggles following the death of the Grand Marshal and Second Prince," and so on. But ultimately, they were all imposing their own understanding onto the enemy.

Little did they know that since Wanyan Aguda, the founding emperor of the Jin dynasty, raised his army against the Liao thirteen years ago, the Jurchens had repeatedly won with fewer soldiers and attacked with smaller forces. They swallowed the Liao and destroyed the Song, expanding from a mere corner of Liaodong to deploy their military might in the Central Plains within thirteen years, shaking the world. This army of a hunting and fishing people was probably at the peak of a cold-weapon army of the old era.

Some Western Army generals described the Jurchens, saying that in past battles between the Great Song and the Western Xia, both sides fought for pride. Once one side faltered, it would collapse. But in battles with the Jurchens, their own side still collapsed with defeat, but the enemy could scatter and regroup, retreat and return, often making it impossible to break them even after a whole day of fierce fighting. The Jurchens themselves boasted that if cavalry could not charge back and forth ten times in a single battle, what right did they have to call themselves cavalry?

This kind of vigor and organization was simply unimaginable for the Great Song's Imperial Army, which collapsed without rewards... The classic example of a famous Western Army general whose troops scattered after firing a single volley of God's Arm Crossbows without reward probably only happened in the Song army, right?

In addition, the Jurchens started as a hunting and fishing tribe, and their repeated victories over the past thirteen years naturally led to looting and spoils of war in the most barbaric way. They could be said to be sustaining the war with war. While constantly learning military technology, this army also used its spoils to supply logistics and arm themselves. Why would they worry about logistics?

As for internal power struggles, this was indeed an objective reality. The factional struggles within the Jin court were almost as obvious as those in the Song court.

However, the problem was that, firstly, the Jin emperor, Wanyan Wuqimai (Wanyan Sheng), the younger brother of Aguda, was quite prestigious and could still make decisions. Secondly, with constant spoils and expansion, what internal contradictions were worth mentioning?

Or rather, precisely because there were internal contradictions, there was a need to send troops south, plunder the incompetent Great Song, and use victory after victory, countless riches, and the daughters of the Central Plains to alleviate these contradictions!

In fact, a few months ago, the Jin Dynasty's second most important figure, Wanyan Wulibu (Wanyan Zongwang), the Jin marshal who had actually presided over the destruction of the Song, died of illness soon after returning to the north. After his death, the Jin's military and political power was quickly reorganized into the hands of three factions.

First, naturally, was the faction of the Jin emperor, Wanyan Wuqimai (Wanyan Sheng), later known as Emperor Taizong of Jin. He was Aguda's younger brother, and those who rallied around him were Aguda's other brothers and cousins, such as Wanyan Talan (Wanyan Chang).

Second, was Wanyan Zhanhan (Wanyan Zonghan), a great meritorious minister of the Jin Dynasty who had competed with the Second Prince Wanyan Wulibu (Wanyan Zongwang) during his lifetime.

It should be said that this man was distantly related to the Aguda faction, but he was from a major tribe within the Jin with a lineage of *bojilie* (similar to a prime minister, but with the flavor of a tribal council from primitive society, with far greater power than a prime minister). During the destruction of the Liao, he was the commander of Aguda's right army. During the destruction of the Song, he was the commander of the western army. His qualifications and merits surpassed all others in the Jin after Wanyan Wulibu died.

At this time, this man not only commanded Wanyan Loushi's ever-victorious army, responsible for the Hedong war zone, but also effectively controlled most of the newly occupied areas in Hebei after Wanyan Wulibu's death, making him the strongest figure in the country.

However, in any case, neither Wanyan Wuqimai nor Wanyan Zhanhan could deny or encroach upon the authority of Wanyan Aguda himself and his direct descendants. Therefore, after Wanyan Aguda's death, Wanyan Wulibu was the Jin commander-in-chief, subtly above Zhanhan. Now that Wulibu had died, after a brief period of competition and exchange, Aguda's three surviving older sons each gained something. Among them, one person stood out and quickly inherited Aguda's direct line's prestige and part of its military power in the eastern army.

This person was Wanyan Zongbi, also known as Aguda's fourth son, Wanyan Wushu!

As for Wanyan Wushu, since he held power as an important minister of the Jin and was naturally the leader of Aguda's direct line, he found that he had no ability to compete with Zhanhan in Hebei, and it was even more difficult to find fault with his uncle and older brothers in Youyan and Liaodong. Therefore, according to the simple thinking of primitive tribes, he almost instinctively gave up internal strife and instead proposed a military strategy of going south again to plunder the Great Song.

His original intention was to attack Jingxi North Road (Shaanxi-Luoyang area) and Jingdong Two Roads (Shandong area), which were strategically important to the Central Plains, and then see if he could take the opportunity to attack the Central Plains, defeat the Zhao Song's new emperor, and plunder wealth, women, craftsmen, and military equipment.

If possible, he actually harbored the ambition of occupying the Central Plains, using it to contend with Zhanhan in Hebei!

Even if this plan to capture the Central Plains failed, he could launch large-scale pacification wars in Hebei and Hedong after controlling the two flanks, thoroughly digesting these fertile lands that could be considered the foundation of the country.

Therefore, this wave of invasion was inevitable!

Regardless, since Wanyan Wushu had this idea, the Jin emperor Wanyan Wuqimai and Marshal Wanyan Zhanhan, despite their respective considerations and arguments, quickly reached a compromise... In other words, only a few months after returning north, the Jin's highest leadership had already approved the strategy of a third major southward invasion of the Song.

According to the plan, Wanyan Zhanhan was nominally the commander-in-chief, but he allowed Wanyan Loushi, the Jin's ever-victorious general, to lead the original western army that invaded the Song, with a total of 100,000 Jurchen soldiers, Liao surrendered soldiers, and even Song surrendered soldiers. They crossed the river and went south to attack Luoyang and Shanzhou!

Wanyan Talan, Wanyan Wuqimai's cousin and Wanyan Wushu's uncle, led 50,000 soldiers as Zhanhan's nominal deputy commander. Aguda's fourth son, Wanyan Wushu himself, also led 50,000 soldiers as Zhanhan's nominal vanguard. Together, they also had a force of 100,000, effectively reforming the eastern army to take Jingdong Two Roads, meaning the Shandong region of later generations.

Back to the present, the Jin army mobilized 200,000 troops from across the country to invade south. The cavalry galloped back and forth. The first to move was naturally Zhanhan's troops, who were originally stationed in Hebei and Hedong. The first to bear the brunt was not Vice Marshal Zong Ze, who felt that Sisui Pass was under pressure, nor the garrisons of Luoyang and Shanzhou, but a Song Dynasty detachment that had just won a major victory in Hebei.

The leader of this force was named Wang Yan, with the military position of *dutongzhi*, with a force of 7,000 men. Under his command was a *tongzhi* named Yue Fei, whose courtesy name was Yue Pengju, who was twenty-four years old this year, a native of Xiangzhou, Hebei, with innate divine strength and unmatched courage in the army.

The reason why Yue Fei was here was naturally related to Li Gang.

Yue Pengju was formerly a *wuyilang* in Nanjing (Shangqiu). He heard that the treacherous ministers Li Gang, Huang Qianshan, and Wang Boyan each held their own opinions, either going to Nanyang or Yangzhou, all of which were acts of abandoning the people of Hebei and fleeing south. As a refugee from Hebei, he was naturally indignant. He submitted a memorial to the new emperor, asking the emperor to remove the three treacherous ministers, mobilize all six armies to cross the river, establish an imperial base in his hometown of Xiangzhou, resist the Jin, and recover Hebei.

However, Li Gang and his cronies held great power. How could they tolerate such nonsense? They directly dismissed this small military officer and expelled him from the army.

Yue Fei was single-mindedly determined to resist the Jin, so he was not discouraged. He took a few close brothers with him, crossed the river to his hometown, and prepared to resist the Jin on his own.

Unexpectedly, just as he was about to cross the river, Yue Pengju encountered Zhang Suo, the Hebei West Road Pacification Commissioner promoted by Li Gang, recruiting soldiers there. Through the recommendation of an old friend, Zhao Jiuling, an official under the Pacification Commissioner, Yue Fei was able to see Zhang Suo himself. Zhang Suo, a direct descendant of Li Gang, greatly appreciated Yue Pengju and promoted this mere commoner non-stop within a few days... In just over a month, he was first made a "attendant before the tent," then "borrowed to fill the position of *xiuwulang* as a commoner," then promoted to commander, and finally, simply promoted to *tongzhi*!

Poor Han Shizhong joined the army at the age of eighteen, beheaded a consort, captured Fang La, fought the Liao, and defended Hebei. It took him twenty years to catch up with Zhao Lao Jiu to become a *tongzhi*. In comparison, Yue Pengju's official career, although somewhat fictitious, was truly like having a cheat code.

In short, when the Pacification Commissioner managed to gather 7,000 troops, Yue Fei, with the position of *tongzhi*, became one of the main generals of this force. Then, he crossed the river north with *dutongzhi* Wang Yan! He immediately won a victory in Xinxiang, Hebei, successfully recovering this important town!

But at this time, the treacherous minister Li Gang was dismissed as prime minister, and Zhang Suo's Hebei West Road Pacification Commissioner was also dismissed. While this force of 7,000 men was panicking and quickly trying to establish an administrative relationship with Zong Ze, suddenly, in early winter, the Jin army from the north surged up in dense masses. Around them, there were no fewer than fifty independent Jin cavalry generals. It turned out that Zhanhan's troops, who had originally intended to go south to attack Shaanxi and Luoyang, heard that Xinxiang had fallen, and ordered the main force to take the opportunity to encircle them.

Faced with such a predicament, this army could only be defeated miserably. The entire army, led by Wang Yan, broke through in a panic, fighting and retreating towards the Taihang Mountains.

Of Wang Yan's eleven generals, only Yue Fei's unit was the most capable of fighting and the most daring to fight. Yue Fei himself was recognized as a warrior of unparalleled courage in the army, so he was assigned to cover the rear, resulting in heavy losses.

When they arrived at the foot of the Taihang Mountains, the Jin army, firstly, had a general captured alive by Yue Fei using beheading tactics, and secondly, their cavalry was not good at advancing in mountainous areas, so they went along with the situation and gave up the pursuit... But as the battle eased, Yue Fei believed that Wang Yan had abandoned him during his rearguard action, causing his soldiers to die in vain. He even felt resentment in his heart and had some other thoughts, so he simply built his own fort and refused to join Wang Yan.

At this time, the situation was already very critical. Wang Yan had only eleven generals under his command. Two had died, two had run away, three had surrendered, and of the remaining four, Yue Fei refused to obey orders. How could he tolerate this?

Therefore, Wang Yan, as *dutongzhi*, repeatedly ordered Yue Fei to bring his troops over, otherwise he would be punished according to military law. After several unsuccessful attempts, Wang Yan Wang Zicai simply issued an ultimatum, saying that if Yue Fei did not move his camp to the main force, he would publicly write to Zong Ze, the defender of Tokyo, to let the heroes of Hebei know that there was a Xiangzhou Yue Fei who was a deserter who disobeyed orders!

But what responded to Wang Yan was still not the surviving troops of Yue Fei's headquarters, but *tongzhi* Yue Fei himself visiting the mountain alone.

"He really came alone?"

In the camp built in the Xinxiang Shimen Mountain valley, in the central tent, *dutongzhi* Wang Yan, who had been a little tired recently, looked up in surprise.

It is said that Wang Yan Wang Zicai would be forty years old after the New Year, sixteen years older than Yue Fei. When he was young, he participated in the imperial examination. With his outstanding martial arts skills, he was personally appointed as a *zhihou* by the Taoist Emperor, and then transferred to the Western Army, under the command of Zhong Shidao, participating in many battles against the Western Xia and making many meritorious achievements. Later, when the Jin invaded the south and Hedong fell, as a native of Shangdang, he immediately chose to join the army in Bianliang. When Bianliang fell, he saw Zhang Suo organizing troops to cross the river and re-enlisted in the army. As soon as he entered the army, he was appointed *dutongzhi*, becoming the commander of an army.

Such a figure, whether in terms of identity, status, prestige, or existing official position, or the importance in the eyes of Zong Ze, the defender of Tokyo, was undoubtedly far higher than Yue Fei, who was almost like a subordinate general under his command.

However, Yue Fei did not obey him!

"It is indeed one person, alone on horseback, waiting in front of the camp." The person who answered the gatekeeper was Fan Yihong, Wang Yan's adjutant. It turned out that he was a descendant of Fan Zhongyan, who had also come to join the army after seeing the devastation of the country. His family name was naturally looked upon differently, so although he was also a mere commoner and extremely young, he directly became Wang Yan's confidential adjutant.

"What does little Fan mean?" Wang Yan naturally wanted to ask his strategist.

"Kill him!" Fan Yihong replied blankly.

"Why?" Wang Yan sighed softly.

"Why else?" Fan Yihong sneered. "The Grand Commandant ordered him to move his troops here, but he came alone, clearly determined to resist to the end with his wild temper. We are isolated outside, surrounded by Jin troops. Yue Fei, as a subordinate, refuses to obey orders and even treats his troops as private property. If we don't enforce military law at this time, how can we win people's hearts?"

Wang Yan did not respond, but signaled to the gatekeeper: "Take out the remaining jars of wine, and call over Commander Li and the other commanders in the army. I want to host a banquet to entertain Commander Yue... but he is not allowed to enter the camp before the banquet is completed."

The gatekeeper obeyed the order and left. Adjutant Xiao Fan wanted to say something but could only stop.

After a while, everyone hurriedly set up the banquet. The two or three jars of wine were nothing, but Adjutant Xiao Fan had gone to scout the surrounding terrain yesterday and encountered a bear. It was early winter, the time when bears were fat and strong. After Adjutant Xiao Fan ordered it to be shot to death with a volley of arrows, it benefited Yue Fei today.

After everyone was seated, the wine was poured, and the bear paws and bear meat were stewed until tender, only then did they see a rider arrive in front of the tent, calmly remove his armor and weapons, and then enter the tent proudly.

The generals looked at him one after another. They saw that this person was seven feet tall, with an unremarkable appearance, except that his face was slightly broad and his skin was slightly white, unlike a farmer... However, everyone knew that this person seemed ordinary, but he had innate divine strength. On horseback and on foot, spears and bows were the best in the army. It was because of him that he was able to escape the pursuing Jin troops, personally killing a Jin general and capturing another in a desperate situation.

However, as the officers thought, it was probably because he had this talent that he was arrogant and disobeyed orders.

In fact, when this person walked closer, gave a big bow to Wang Yan on the main seat, and then went to sit down on his own, and his eyes looked down on all people, as if he was rolling his eyes at Wang Yan.

Wang Yan immediately frowned: "What's wrong with your eyes? Why are they one big and one small?"

"Answering to the Grand Commandant," the broad-faced man, who was Yue Fei Yue Pengju, whom someone longed for day and night, just raised his hand slightly in his seat and frankly said, "I was covering the rear last month and was grazed by a Jin arrow. Although it didn't break my eye, it injured my brow bone. Now, I can only see people as if I'm looking down on them. Even if the injury heals in the future, I'm afraid my eyes will still be a little big and a little small."

Wang Yan was silent for a while before stroking his beard and saying, "Pengju, you worked hard in the rear!"

"I am originally from Hebei," Yue Fei, sitting at the top left, still said calmly. "Resisting the Jin and killing enemies is what I seek, and I don't feel tired."

Wang Yan was even more speechless.

"Commander Yue!" At this time, seeing that his Grand Commandant was speechless and his momentum was taken away by a chaotic army person, Adjutant Xiao Fan, sitting diagonally opposite Yue Fei, could not bear it any longer. "I only ask you, why have you ignored the Grand Commandant Wang's several orders for you to lead your troops to join the camp? Is Grand Commandant Wang not your superior?"

"Grand Commandant Wang was of course my superior in the past, but whether he will be my superior in the future depends on a few questions I ask today." Yue Fei did not bother to hide anything.

"Absurd..."

"Ask." Wang Yan was of a frank disposition and simply agreed.

"Grand Commandant." Yue Fei turned his head and stared at the other party with his one big and one small eye. He actually pursed his lips slightly for a moment before his face twitched slightly and he managed to say, "I was covering the rear, and my soldiers went through life and death. Why was there no agreed-upon support?"

Wang Yan remained silent, and everyone in the room was silent. Even Adjutant Xiao Fan honestly lowered his head and gnawed on a piece of bear meat... There was no other reason. In fact, everyone in the room knew the answer, and the answer was extremely simple, but no one could say it face to face.

What was the meaning?

It was very simple. Yue Fei's unit was only one of Wang Yan's eleven units. Wang Yan had planned to abandon Yue Fei's unit from the beginning. He had made preparations for Yue Fei's unit to be completely annihilated or surrounded from the beginning. Wang Yan's central army had not prepared to provide support from the beginning. Even later, when Yue Fei requested reinforcements, Wang Yan agreed in words, but still had no real intention of saving anyone... But no one expected Yue Fei to be so capable that he actually managed to bring his troops out alive.

This matter could not be blamed on Wang Yan. Surrounded on all sides, as the commander-in-chief, making trade-offs in the army and sacrificing the tail to survive had always been a common decision on the battlefield.

It was just that now that the person had returned alive and questioned him face to face, Wang Zicai, as a capable person, could only be speechless and admit his fault.

"This matter is fine." Yue Fei let out a long breath and shook his head repeatedly. "After all, it was a military arrangement. I have another question, which is the root cause of why I refused to move the camp before and came here alone today..."

"Say it!" Wang Yan became even more concise.

"I heard that the Grand Commandant is building a camp and walls in the mountains, and even had three *tongzhi* occupy the mountain peaks, preparing to live and work in the mountains for a long time? I heard that you also want to contact some heroes from the two rivers in the mountains to jointly resist the Jin?" Yue Fei's eye injured by the arrow was opened to the extreme, so that the skin below his eye socket twitched constantly. His words were plain, but his emotions were extremely intense.

"Is that not allowed?" Wang Yan also became serious.

"How can you resist the Jin in the mountains?!" Yue Fei was furious and directly overturned the bear paw in front of him. "The people of Hebei are wailing on the plains. We are the only royal army in Hebei, yet we want to hide in the mountains and become bandit kings?!"

"Are you doubting my determination to resist the Jin?!" Wang Yan was equally indignant, slamming the table and glaring at him.

"In this situation, how can I not doubt?!" Yue Fei stood up, pointed at his eyes, and then pointed his arm at the generals in the room. "And am I, Yue Fei, the only one who doubts you, Grand Commandant Wang?! Where the Jin army goes on the plains, the villagers of Hebei are like chickens and dogs, slaughtered at will, men killed, women enslaved. Have you not seen this?! Today you can become bandit kings to avoid war, and tomorrow you can surrender to the Jin and become dogs for wealth and glory?!"

Yue Fei's heart was filled with anger, and he spoke without thinking. Wang Yan was also filled with anger, and Adjutant Xiao Fan repeatedly gave him winks... However, Wang Zicai wanted to attack several times, but stopped several times after seeing Yue Fei's one big and one small eye.

After Yue Fei finished scolding, the tent was somewhat tense. After Wang Yan released the handle of his knife again, he let out a long sigh, then slowly raised his cup and said, "Commander Yue, I know your intentions, but you have misunderstood my intentions. Please drink!"

Yue Fei was filled with grief and indignation and did not answer, but sat back in his seat, raised his cup and drank it all in one gulp, and then used the remaining bear meat on the table.

"Pengju." Wang Zicai felt even more uncomfortable in his heart when he saw this, but he could only endure his various emotions and said, "I know you resent me for the rearguard action; I also know that Xiangzhou is just ahead, where your mother, wife, children, and villagers are; I also know that after today's defeat, I don't know when I will be able to return home. But as the commander of an army, I also have my difficulties... Fine, I won't argue with you anymore! How about this, I will write a report of today's events to Zong, the defender of Tokyo, and let him determine right and wrong. Then I will give you a document to guard the pass with me, allowing you to lead troops alone. Wherever you think you can lead troops to fight, go wherever you want!"

When Yue Fei heard this, he stopped eating meat, wiped his mouth directly, and stood up: "Grand Commandant, please give me the document now!"

Wang Yan still had something to say, but he had no choice but to give up. After a while, Adjutant Xiao Fan wrote quickly, almost immediately completing the document. Then Wang Yan personally used the seal of the Two Rivers Pacification Commissioner sent by Zong Ze earlier, and then handed the document to the most capable lieutenant under his command.

The two generals, who were probably the most determined to resist the Jin in this era, parted ways.

Yue Fei took the document, turned around, and left the tent without looking back.

Wang Yan saw the other party walk to the door of the tent in large strides, but finally couldn't help but shout, "Commander Yue!"

"Does the Grand Commandant have anything else to say?" Yue Fei turned his head, his one big and one small eye looking down on the person behind him.

"My intention to serve the country with utmost loyalty has not changed for a single day!" Wang Yan sat in the tent and announced loudly.

"What will the Grand Commandant use to prove it?" Yue Fei's face did not change.

"Heaven and earth are bright, they can prove my heart!" Wang Yan pointed to his chest and said sternly. "You may go!"

Yue Fei was rarely silent for a moment, but finally turned around and left alone.

ps: Crap, will this ruin everyone's investment?! I am truly a national sinner!