It is said that in mid-December, the people of Jinan Prefecture rioted against the Jin Dynasty. The surrendered Jinan Prefect, Liu Yu, sent a flying horse to ask for help, delivering the military situation to Talan on the sixteenth. Although eager to establish his achievements, Wuzhu of Jin still maintained basic military skills. After a little thought, he divided another five thousand cavalry troops to follow Talan in sweeping Jinan Prefecture and then taking advantage of the situation to go south along Liangshanbo, occupying Jizhou on the west side of Mount Tai, as a rear support… This move was to prevent the surging anti-Jin forces from easily cutting off his retreat route from the dangerous Yimeng Mountains east of Mount Tai.

However, after dividing the troops, Wuzhu of Jin, impatient, immediately went south in the snow on the same day, preparing to follow behind Liu Guangshi and head straight for Huaidian.

And only one day later, on the eighteenth day of December, Zhao, the official, who was still waiting for news in Xiacai City, north of the Huai River, with Zhang Jun, received a piece of devastating news - Liu Guangshi, the military commissioner of Fengguo Army, who was in charge of the imperial camp and the six prefectures of Jingdong East Road, repeatedly reported that the six prefectures and states under his command were simultaneously attacked by the main force of the Jin army, with an estimated total of no less than one hundred thousand Jin soldiers about to go south!

The few remaining senior officials in the Xingzai almost jumped into the Huai River in anxiety – the sudden arrival of one hundred thousand Jin troops meant they were going to be wiped out!

Even Zhao Jiu, who had previously gone all out and decided to defend, was instantly plunged into despair!

One hundred thousand Jin troops, even if Daozu opened a magic door for him, he couldn't defend it! He had to ask the Monkey King to come down to earth, hoping that the Monkey King's staff could roll around on the Huai River a few times to help him defend.

Liu Guangshi falsely reported the military situation?

There was no need!

It should be known that as soon as Zhao Jiu arrived in Xiacai, he specially sent a military order to Liu Guangshi, telling him that once the Jin army invaded the south, he could quickly retreat south after determining the number, and regroup along the Huai River!

In other words, Zhao Jiu allowed Liu Guangshi to retreat immediately after figuring out the military situation.

Even if he was stunned and falsely reported the military situation in a moment of panic, even if it was cut in half to the extreme, there would still be fifty thousand, right? Otherwise, why would six prefectures and states be attacked at the same time, and then six prefectures and states collapse at the same time?

In fact, after Zhao Jiu regained his composure and discussed with Zhang Jun all night, combining various objective conditions and Liu Guangshi's character, the conclusion was – it was probably Wuzhu's own fifty thousand troops that had gone south.

But even fifty thousand was despairing?!

It is said that the rough plan that Zhao Jiu, together with Han Shizhong and Yang Yizhong, came up with on the Ying River dike outside Shunchang Prefecture, although hasty, was not a vain theory. The location of the defense and the red line of thirty thousand people were all after serious discussion.

Leaving aside the defense location, Shouchun and Xiacai have been strategic locations for military strategists since ancient times, and are easy to defend; and the force of thirty thousand troops not only calculated the combat power of the imperial camp, but also combined the intelligence brought by the officials of the two Jingdong roads who fled south, and came to a very possible military estimate for the troop distribution of the Jin Kingdom's East Route Army...

It should be known that the Jin people are barbaric, and they will burn, kill, and loot wherever they go. So, according to the experience in the Hebei area, there must be righteous armies and ambitious people rising in the two Jingdong roads. The Jin people may not be able to gain a firm foothold in the Jingdong East Road this time!

Therefore, Talan, the supervising deputy commander, first needs to ensure the Jin army's control over the Qilu area, so he naturally will not support Wuzhu. And once Wuzhu of Jin goes south, he can only dispatch his own five Wanhu at most.

But can he bring all five Wanhu?

This guy has to leave some troops to ensure his retreat, right?

There is so much wealth in Jingdong, he has to divide some troops to guard his plunder in Jingdong, right?

And he has to divide troops to garrison the cities along the way that he conquered from Liu Guangshi, right?

So, the number of thirty thousand is an operable and indeed achievable number! It was not made up out of thin air!

But now, what is it with the minimum of fifty thousand and the maximum of one hundred thousand?

Could it be that Wuzhu of Jin just wants to swallow the Jingdong West Road in the southern part of Mount Tai, and does not intend to seek Zhao, the official, at all? But that's not right either! Because the time and season are there, the strategic goal that can make the Jin army brave the snow to go south at this time is only Zhao, the official, who is lying in Huaidian, right?

In short, Zhao, the official, and Zhang, the Grand Commandant, as well as the accompanying civil and military officials of the Xingzai, were completely despaired by the military reports of Liu Guangshi, the Grand Commandant, to the point of being dumbfounded... And these military reports, mixed with the series of reports from Zong Ze who had been sent back from Tokyo, saying 'there is no war on the northern front, Tokyo can return,' were particularly dramatic and absurd at this time! It even seemed a little reasonable!

"In any case, Your Majesty, cross the Huai River first!"

After thinking for a long time, Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, thumped and became the second person to kneel down to someone after they came out of the well. "Since it may be the main force of fifty thousand Jin troops, this minister really can't defend it! What's more, Liu Zhengyan's march is slow, and Liu Guangshi will inevitably suffer heavy losses. The original troop deployment is insufficient!"

Zhao Jiu was silent and unspeakable, apparently unwilling... Of course, he was unwilling!

He had finally mustered the courage to prepare to burn his boats, to give himself and everyone an explanation, and he had done so many things for this, made such a big determination, and it seemed like something big was about to happen, but it was easily defeated by the other side's crushing strength... For a time, without others ridiculing him, Zhao Jiu only felt that he was a joke.

But what could he do?

If you can't beat them, you can't beat them. Han Shizhong, probably the most outstanding, most upright, and most trustworthy general of the Song army at this time, had said that with more than thirty thousand troops, it was impossible to defend! And then Zhang Jun, who was probably the second best fighter, had just told him that he really couldn't withstand fifty thousand Jin troops!

As things stand now, it can only be said that Zhao Jiu's actions this time were purely based on wishful thinking, and he brought it on himself.

"Your Majesty, please cross the Huai River first!"

When Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, spoke, the civil officials here wisely remained silent, not because they didn't want to speak, but because they knew in their hearts that Zhang Jun's one sentence was worth ten of theirs at this time.

"After crossing the Huai River, Your Majesty can go to Yangzhou and wait for a while, but please be sure to leave enough ships for this minister, and pre-recruit strong men from Shouchou and Haozhou in Huainan for this minister. And this minister will first block as much as possible for Your Majesty in Xiacai City. If it really doesn't work, this minister will retreat to Huainan and resist step by step, so that Your Majesty can have room to maneuver..." Zhang Jun's words became more and more earnest.

"Can't we cross the river together and then defend behind the Huai River?" Zhao Jiu finally couldn't help but speak when he heard this. "I see that the Bagong Mountain on the opposite side has a dangerous terrain!"

"No!"

Zhang Jun, who was kneeling there, answered with certainty. "Your Majesty must know that our army cannot fight in the field at all at this time. If we want to defend the Huai River, we must have a prominent point in Huaibei relying on a strong city like Xiacai, so that the Jin army has to divide a large army under the city. Then we can use the power of the navy to isolate the long river, and then draw manpower and material resources from Huainan to support Huaibei. This is the way to defend firmly! It is also where Han Wu's strategy is indeed feasible! Otherwise, the Jin army can find an opportunity to cross at ease along the thousands of miles of the Huai River, even if it takes some time!"

Zhao Jiu had nothing more to say... Because he had long been familiar with these principles in the past few days, and although he did not understand military affairs, he could also understand that Zhang's words were in line with the so-called basic logic.

In addition to this, he also knew what the other party was going to say next, which was nothing more than the Jin army's strength being sufficient and coming so quickly, so the existence of Xiacai City was probably no longer enough to affect the Jin army's crossing of the Huai River. Their plan collapsed at one point, and the whole plan collapsed!

"Then prepare to cross the Huai River!" Zhao Jiu forcibly suppressed the last breath in his heart and agreed to the other party almost gnashing his teeth. "Send as many people from Shouchou as possible!"

Hearing these words from His Majesty, for some reason, the civil and military officials in the hall all felt relieved, but also faintly carried a sense of頹sàng.

After all, the world is so turbulent, and although they knew it was just wishful thinking, who could not expect Zhao, the official, who vaguely had the heroism of the Han and Tang dynasties, to be a figure like Emperor Wu of Han or Emperor Taizong of Tang?

Did Li Boji really become completely incompetent that day? Were the elites of the Song Dynasty who were diverted from Yingkou to Huainan by His Majesty fools? Are all the people in the world submissive?

But so what?

ps: Thanks to the new leader, Master Ze! Speaking of which, Master Ze is an associate professor!

Let me say something more about the update. New readers may not know yet, I am a part-time worker and have no manuscript saved, so the update has always been difficult, but during the new book period, I will try my best not to let everyone's investment go to waste... This is the bottom line. And then I will try my best to achieve two updates a day... try my best, I hope you understand.