"Not the tide?" Yue Fei, having boarded the large ship, saw Zhang Rong in a new set of leather armor and received an unexpected answer.

"Where would a tide come from in a lake?" Zhang Rong, no longer wearing flowers in his hair, stood with his hands on his hips, looking utterly dismissive. "This kind of scenery is only seen in spring and autumn, clearly related to the water level. Maybe it's an underground river that flows in on schedule... But what are you asking about, Commander Yue? As long as the water rises, you can call it a tide if you want!"

"Indeed." Yue Fei smiled faintly and nodded immediately.

Under the firelight, Zhang Rong saw Yue Fei smiling and laughed even more brightly with his hands on his hips.

In any case, regardless of the principle, Liu Lin's explanation and Wanyan Seli's guess were essentially correct in their result.

With the retreat blocked and heavy troops ahead, and most importantly, the water rising higher and higher, the formidable Jin army in land battles was basically powerless against a mere dilapidated small boat... But the Liangshan heroes of the water marshes, having completely surrounded the Jin army from evening to night, didn't launch a general attack. Instead, they lit torches, sang fisherman's songs, and waited anxiously for the moment when the water reached its highest level!

In contrast, the Jin army had gradually lost self-control and reason. Since dark, some had been stripping off their armor, trying to escape on horseback, only to be shot to death by arrows, rammed by small boats... or even more directly, dragged into the water by the fishermen of Liangshan Po and drowned alive in the deep water!

As for the Jin soldiers huddled on the flat sandy beach, they could only become more hungry, cold, and fearful as time passed.

Throughout the entire process, no officer stood up to organize a breakout or surrender... Surrender was impossible, and they knew in their hearts that these local Jizhou fishermen would not let them go. As for breaking out, to be honest, every Jin soldier understood that once the lake water rose, they had basically lost the possibility of survival, because it had nothing to do with combat power or willpower. This was the most typical power of nature!

Besides, before dark, they had tried a ground assault, but it was useless. The narrow pass had long been turned into a death zone by broken wood, armor fragments, and corpses. Even if they managed to struggle through under the barrage of fire from three sides, they would be met by thousands of Liangshan bandits beyond the pass, just like delivering food.

Some even crawled back in disarray, telling of how the Liangshan bandits had dug ditches behind the pass, using water plants, wooden frames, and mud to build a stockade to block the way back.

Back to the present, torches flickered in the distance, forming a sea of fire, and beneath the sea of fire was a true ocean. In the very middle of this ocean, the courage of Wanyan Seli, the Jin army commander, had long been lost with the failure of various Jin attempts to break out.

But the most terrifying thing was the endless fisherman's songs. These rising and falling, rhythmic songs seemed to have some kind of magic, almost crushing everything in Wanyan Seli… Earlier, he had thought of the Chinese idiom 'surrounded on all sides by the songs of Chu,' and now, as the night deepened, he was completely out of control.

"I'm still young."

Wanyan Seli suddenly burst into tears, even though his feet were still on the dry sand. He shrank back in fear, not knowing who he was talking to. "I am of the royal clan, I have read many books... I have thought many times that as long as I can survive to my forties or fifties, the old Bojilie system will no longer be suitable. The Great Jin will need to change to a prime minister to govern, and it will inevitably be my turn to take power... How could I die in this water marsh today?"

Liu Lin, who had already cried, remained silent.

"I..."

"Have some dignity!"

Wanyan Seli was about to continue his wailing, but Liu Lin suddenly couldn't bear it any longer. "General, have some dignity! Things have come to this, and breaking out is impossible. There are only three paths left. Showing such ugliness will only make people laugh in vain!"

"What... three paths?" Wanyan Seli suddenly became even more fearful.

"Either secretly abandon your armor now and escape on horseback, leaving life and death to fate!" Liu Lin said through gritted teeth. "Or sit and wait for the water bandits and Song army to attack, begging for your life; or... simply end it yourself!"

Wanyan Seli opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out.

"Waste!" Liu Lin muttered, but took the lead in untying his armor and heading towards the southwest waters.

Several guards of various ethnic groups looked at each other, but many followed suit, untying their armor and escaping on horseback... Wanyan Seli watched from afar, his face showing expectation.

However, only a moment later, a commotion broke out in the southwest, and the cheers of the Liangshan bandits could be heard, with faint screams also coming through. This immediately silenced the Jin soldiers on the shrinking beach.

But this silence didn't last long. Perhaps realizing that there were big fish trying to escape, the Song army and Liangshan bandits soon launched a general attack!

Large and small boats began to close in, with the large boats holding the rear and the small boats squeezing forward, throwing torches and shooting arrows!

Scattered Jurchen knights tried to fight back. Their powerful bows and arrows were not without effect, but in the darkness, the sea of fire floating above the water was endless, constantly approaching!

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, Wanyan Seli began to hear the sounds of melee combat, the clash of blades... He finally sighed and then, this young member of the Jin royal family mustered his courage, drew his sword, and easily slit his own throat on the still-dry sandy beach.

The dream of becoming a prime minister and taking power ended here.

Also ending here was the Jin army's minimal chance of escape. With the commander dead, the Jin army had no chance of turning the tide. They fought until dawn, finally ending this battle with total annihilation.

On the twenty-eighth day of the first month, only five days after the plan was made in Dingtao city of Guangji Army, the five thousand Jin soldiers of Jizhou were declared annihilated.

On the thirtieth day of the first month, Jizhou city fell!

On the same day, Yang Weizhong sent Wanyan Seli's head to the four corners, ordering the armies and prefectures of the Jingdong West Road to defend their cities.

On the fourth day of the second month, Wanyan Wushu, who was bombarding the city, suffered two heavy blows in one day - the result of his hard work in setting up the cannons was that the artillery positions, which had not yet been put into operation, were smashed to pieces by the counter-attack of the hidden artillery vehicles within the city in the morning; then came the news of Wanyan Seli's death and the severing of his retreat.

Correspondingly, Zhao Jiu also witnessed two good news on the same day, watching a wonderful artillery battle during the day and receiving Yang Weizhong's triumphant report in the evening!

Honestly, if it weren't for the two keywords Liangshan Po and Yue Fei, Zhao Jiu would have almost thought that the old Grand Commandant Yang was fooling him... just like the million-strong army of his great-grandfather.

"Let's discuss it!" Zhao Jiu sat still, speaking to the increasingly large group of civil and military officials in his entourage.

As he spoke, for some reason, Zhao, the Emperor, who had accepted the reality, felt a touch of jealousy towards that General Yue, whom he had not yet met... A subordinate several levels down was doing so well, how was he, the leader, supposed to act?

ps: Good night