Chapter 1 The Inevitable Fall

The fall of Hedong City was quite dramatic in itself, but in terms of the result, it was inevitable and a matter of course.

Therefore, the story of Wundun Sizhong and that Jin general fighting bravely against the enemy, returning to the government office after being defeated, drinking tea and chatting with smiles, and finally assisting each other in committing suicide, dying generously for their country, was destined to be recorded only in the notes of the top 100 elites of the Southeastern Public Pavilion accompanying the army. It would take many years before it would be unearthed and form the remaining mark of these two men in history.

And if these unofficial histories are not counted, perhaps even a mark would not be left. It would only be mentioned in the history books, or attached to the biographies of Wang Sheng or Han Shizhong.

As for Wundun Sizhong's talent, his pride, his sense of superiority from being born under Aguda's command, and the legendary events he experienced with Aguda, even his original ambition to be among the prime ministers, and his ruthlessness in wanting to retaliate against the Wulinda brothers after gaining power, no one cared about any of it.

However, this was nothing.

Just like at the beginning of this war ten years ago, at that time, the Great Song also had countless similar cases, equally dramatic processes of failure, and equally undeniable powerlessness to reverse the situation outside of the drama. Countless lives with their own ideas, personalities, and futures suddenly disappeared.

No one cared about anyone; on the battlefield, there was only the enemy and ourselves.

"There's no need for formalities in the army. Rise, everyone."

At the end of October, although Zhao Guan Jia (Emperor) was delayed in Wenxi for half a day, he finally listened to Lu Yihao's advice and rushed to Tieling Pass with the armies of Wang De, Li Qiong, and Li Shifu. Then, he met the generals led by Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, and Ma Kuo who had gathered there. Before the crowd could salute, he waved his hand directly, signaling them to enter the pass quickly.

Among the generals who came to welcome him, there were more than dozens with names, surnames, achievements, and merits.

There were also dozens of generals, dozens of close officials, and nearly a hundred elites from the Southeastern Public Pavilion who arrived with Zhao Guan Jia. Originally, they thought it would be an extremely solemn and enthusiastic meeting, but they did not expect Zhao Guan Jia to act this way, which made people nervous and puzzled for a while.

Could it be that Prime Minister Lu's occasional cold had directly turned serious?

What was going on?

Did the Great Song always have to have a prime minister die on the front line every time it officially fought against the Jin?

However, despite the tension and speculation, everyone could only follow the expressionless Guan Jia and swarm into the pass.

As mentioned before, Tieling Pass was just a bottleneck, a narrow courtyard, plus two gate towers, three stories on the north side and two stories on the south side. When the Jin army controlled the entire Hedong, there was only one Mouke stationed there. In reality, it could only accommodate three or four hundred people at most, making it very narrow. Now that Zhao Guan Jia's dragon banner entered the pass, countless civil and military officials poured in, plus the Imperial Guards who had to be there, they immediately occupied the entire pass completely.

Those below the rank of commander were not qualified to enter the pass, and among the top 100 elites of the Southeastern Public Pavilion, only a few who were obviously older and more prestigious were able to enter the courtyard.

For a time, many people sighed outside the courtyard, hoping to enter.

However, even if you entered the courtyard, you might not be able to speak or participate in the military discussion.

That's right, as soon as Zhao Guan Jia entered, seeing that Tieling Pass was so cramped, he simply gave up the idea of speaking on the gate tower. He only asked Yang Yizhong to put the dragon banner on the bare gate tower, and then sat directly under the corridor in the courtyard, facing south, and opened the wooden sand table with Liu Yan to start the military discussion.

The first thing at the beginning of the military discussion was to bestow the hastily made great banner to Ma Kuo.

But to tell the truth, just like the process of rushing to make this great banner, this banner presentation was also a bit hasty... Moreover, few of Ma Kuo's subordinates were qualified to enter this courtyard, especially Liang Xiaoge, who had been demoted to commander for disobeying military orders and going east without authorization, while Zhang Heng, who had greatly boosted the morale of the volunteer army this time, had been taken away by Han Shizhong long ago and returned to the sequence of the Imperial Camp Left Army.

Even the four words 'Liao Yuan Xing Huo' (Prairie Fire) made Li Yanxian and his subordinates look unhappy.

Because in the eyes of these people, Guan Jia's choice of these four words seemed to be taking the opportunity to beat them.

Of course, no matter what the atmosphere was like, even if it was said to the heavens, it would not delay Ma Kuo, as a Jiedushi (military governor), from taking another great banner that was of extraordinary significance among the commander-in-chief, and from then on, he would go a step further and become one of the few 'famous generals' in the world.

Didn't you see that the eyes of Wang Yan, President Wang, and Wang De, Deputy Commander Wang, were already wide open? Even Wu Lin, who came to see Guan Jia in place of his brother Wu Jie, was a little失态 (shītài, out of composure).

Moreover, this great banner ultimately made Ma Kuo himself slightly relieved—he didn't really care about these things at this time, and he didn't care about his rank. What he was thinking about was whether the Taihang Mountain Volunteer Army could get a good result after this battle, but it was useless to talk about these things before the battle.

It could only be said that the bestowal of the great banner represented Guan Jia's attitude.

In this way, the process of bestowing the great banner seemed a bit cold and yet solemn. After this matter was settled, Zhao Guan Jia almost without stopping, directly asked Han, Li, and Ma about the related geography and military situation of Linfen.

The three of them did not dare to neglect, and immediately stepped forward actively, pointing to the wooden sand table, and gave Guan Jia a detailed explanation. But to tell the truth, these things were not much different from the information that this Guan Jia had obtained before.

However, it gave the accompanying civil and military officials a general understanding of the military situation.

"So, the three prefectures and one army of Linfen are bordered by the main vein of the western wing of the Taihang Mountains in the east, and the southern section of the Guji Mountains (Luliang Mountains, also known as Gushe Mountains) in the west. The middle is as flat as a plate, two hundred miles long from north to south, and no more than fifty miles at the narrowest point from east to west, and seventy miles at the widest point. There is also a Fen River in the middle. The overall terrain is like a thick and long noodle, slanting from north to south between the two mountains... Is that right?" Zhao Jiu compared the sand table set up by the accompanying Red Heart Team and asked a seemingly nonsensical question.

"Yes."

Han Shizhong, holding his belt, answered crisply and without hesitation.

"Is such a terrain beneficial to the Jin army or to us?" Zhao Jiu did not move, his expression unchanged, and continued to ask, looking forward.

"Neither can be said to be beneficial." Han Shizhong, who turned to the side of the sand table, blurted out. "To let Guan Jia know, this kind of flat ground is convenient for the Jin cavalry to travel north and south, but the east-west direction is too narrow, especially since the Fen River has not yet frozen. It takes effort for the cavalry to cross the river, but it also divides this place into two, making the terrain even more narrow and long... As long as our army has sufficient troops and is properly deployed, even if the Jin army has the advantage of cavalry, it will not be able to exert much influence."

"Then are our troops sufficient?" Zhao Jiu suddenly asked again.

Han Shizhong was stunned for a moment and looked back at the people in the courtyard, not knowing how to answer for a moment. Even the others were stunned for a while.

"Let me change the question." Zhao Jiu saw that his expression did not change, and continued calmly. "According to what Han Qing just said, the Jin army currently deployed in the four counties of Linfen has at least 40,000 and at most 60,000 to 70,000 troops, and they are deploying defenses along both sides of the Fen River, is that right?" Zhao Jiu continued to point to the wooden sand table and ask.

"Yes." Han Liangchen nodded quickly.

"Is it possible for the Jin people to continue to increase their troops?" Zhao Jiu continued to ask.

"It shouldn't be." Han Shizhong shook his head. "And even if they do increase their troops, there is nothing to fear, because in Fenzhou, between the Yangliang North Pass and the Yangliang South Pass, the Shunque Valley Road is narrow and long, with thirty to forty miles of narrow land. How can it supply more logistics?"

Speaking of this, Han Shizhong seemed to have thought of something and couldn't help but say more: "If you think about it from this general direction, the terrain of Linfen is actually beneficial to the Wang Shi (imperial army) and not beneficial to the Jin army... If I were the commander of the Jin army, I would never dare to decide life and death here."

"When I was in Wenxi, I heard Wang Sheng's urgent military report saying that Hedong City had been broken. Therefore, south of the Huai River, our army has the entire Imperial Camp Left Army, the entire Central Army, another 10,000 cavalry, and at least 30,000 to 40,000 from the Taihang Mountain Volunteer Army, is that right?" Zhao Jiu did not commit himself, but continued to point to the sand table and ask expressionlessly.

"Yes." Han Shizhong was a little panicked for no reason.

"How much is that?" Zhao Jiu continued to ask, as if he couldn't do arithmetic. "Subtract the Eight Character Army that went to guard Zhiguan Xing, subtract the necessary fortresses stationed along the logistics line."

"Although there are battle losses and attrition, there are also surrendered soldiers and supplements, and the difference from before the war is not significant. Subtract some necessary garrisoning..." Han Shizhong estimated in his heart, and then gave a number that made him even more panicked. "The main force of the Imperial Camp, combined with cavalry and infantry, is always around 110,000 to 120,000, plus 30,000 to 40,000 from the Two Rivers Volunteer Army that can be used as auxiliary soldiers... And if you count the Imperial Camp Rear Army..."

"Don't count the Imperial Camp Rear Army." Zhao Jiu immediately interrupted the other party, but used his eyes to find Wu Lin, who had been sent by Wu Jie, and then calmly said, "The Imperial Camp Rear Army is the general reserve team, and it will not be used lightly until the decisive battle. Moreover, Wu Jie is gradually combining his forces in northern Shaanxi, which is enough to hold back the Jin army in Datong, which is also effective."

"Yes." Wu Lin hastily stepped forward and responded.

"Then we came across the river, do we know the local geography?" Zhao Jiu still did not change his expression, but the questions he asked were becoming more and more outrageous.

And probably realizing something, Han Junwang (Prince) simply stopped answering Zhao Guan Jia's questions, and just stood there thoughtfully, not knowing if he was re-measuring the number of troops.

"Guan Jia, although the Jin people have occupied Hedong for ten years, they cannot change the mountains and rivers." Li Yanxian watched coldly for a long time, and suddenly stepped forward at this time and answered proudly, "Not to mention that President Wang (Wang Yan) and Deputy Commander Jie (Jie Yuan) are both people from Hedong. Even if General Manager Ma (Ma Kuo) is not from here, he has been wandering in the Taihang Mountains for many years... To take a step back, there are tens of thousands of Taihang Volunteer Army and tens of thousands of Eight Character Army here. If we talk about understanding the local mountains and rivers, I am afraid that even the Jin army is not as good as us."

Zhao Jiu nodded, still not committing himself, and still continued to ask non-stop: "The weather is gradually getting colder, and the logistics transportation capacity is insufficient. I am afraid that we will have to prioritize the transportation of winter clothing and suspend military equipment... Is the current military equipment sufficient?"

"The early transportation to Tunliu is enough to advance into the four counties of Linfen." Li Yanxian simply stated his words, making many civil and military officials who were still speculating suddenly realize.

"How to solve the fuel problem when it gets cold in winter?"

"Hedong has produced stone coal since ancient times. There is enough stone coal and wood on the left and right. As long as there is enough manpower, it can be obtained locally."

"What about siege equipment?"

"There are big trees in the mountains, and there are craftsmen in the army. Do whatever you need to do." Li Yanxian was still awe-inspiring.

"That's good." Zhao Jiu nodded. "I already know the situation. Now in Linfen, the terrain is narrow and long, and it will not be too disadvantageous to us at least before the river freezes. Then, the main force of our Imperial Camp is twice as large as the main force of the enemy's West Route Army. At the same time, our army has a clear understanding of the local terrain; logistics and auxiliary soldiers are temporarily sufficient; and it is not yet the real cold winter... Is that right?"

"Yes." Li Yanxian's voice was high-pitched and his figure was upright.

"Then can we immediately take action to compete with the Jin army for the four counties of Linfen?"

"Yes!" Li Yanxian was about to speak, but Wang De suddenly flashed out opposite him, and his voice was so loud that it overwhelmed everyone for a while.

"Okay, now I am in Tieling Pass." Zhao Jiu sat motionless behind the sand table, looked around, and listed them like a treasure, "There is currently one marshal, five Jiedushi, nine commanders, general managers, and deputy commanders in this pass, and Wang Sheng, who is sorting out the situation in Hedong City, is ten. Outside, there is Wu Jie leading 50,000 main forces of the Imperial Camp Rear Army, plus tens of thousands of Dangxiang auxiliary soldiers, as well as Khitan and Mongolian reinforcements, who are holding back the Jin army's strength in the Hexi and Hebei... Who among you is willing to stand up, supervise the entire army, and take these four counties for me?"

"I am willing to go!" Li Yanxian immediately responded.

Immediately, Wang Yan, the General Commander of the Imperial Camp, Wang De, the Left Deputy Commander of the Imperial Camp Central Army, Li Qiong, the Right Deputy Commander, and Li Shifu, the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Camp Cavalry Army, almost all spoke out together.

Only Ma Kuo knew that he could not command the main force of the Imperial Camp with more than 100,000 troops, and was silent for a while. Wu Lin also knew that he was just making up the numbers, so he stood honestly in the distance, while Jie Yuan looked at Han Shizhong.

Zhao Jiu also looked at Han Shizhong, but spoke coldly: "Han Qing, what are you thinking about?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty." Han Shizhong seemed to have recovered and quickly bowed in response. "I was thinking about the poem I sent to Guan Jia in the secret letter that day..."

This time, it was Zhao Guan Jia's turn to be stuck. After a full few breaths, this Guan Jia looked at each other blankly and said, "I remember that poem that day, Han Qing's loyalty is overflowing... Then read it! Han Qing, read the poem you wrote to me last year for everyone!"

"Yes!"

Han Liangchen bowed his head and responded, then got up and crossed Li Yanxian and others on his side, walked to the other end of the sand table, looked around the courtyard, then supported his belt, raised his head and chest, and became impassioned.

His voice was clear and loud, his energy went straight to the sky, and his momentum shook the entire courtyard:

"Drunk, I trim the lamp to look at my sword, in dreams, I return to the bugle's blare in the barracks.

Eight hundred miles, my men roast the meat, fifty strings play the sounds beyond the frontier.

On the drill ground, autumn review of the troops.

The horse is like Lu Bu's Red Hare, flying fast, the bow is like thunder, the string startling.

To finish Your Majesty's affairs of the world, to win fame before and after life.

Alas, what a pity for my whitening hair!"

As soon as the poem was finished, the entire courtyard was silent. Wang Yan, Li Yanxian, Ma Kuo, Li Qiong, Wu Lin, and others were all stunned. Those literary close officials and famous scholars in the southeast were even more distraught. Even Wang De and the others who did not understand could not delay their perception that the atmosphere in the courtyard had changed, and they were timid for a while.

"Your Majesty."

After reciting the poem twice, Han Shizhong turned around, released his belt, and then solemnly saluted again. "I have received Your Majesty's favor since Huaixi for more than eight years, and there has not been a day when I have not thought about avenging Your Majesty's shame of Jingkang. Now that Your Majesty has spoken, allowing the generals to seek war, I am listed as the Marshal of Hedong Road, and I dare not seek this task... Please give me 100,000 troops and leave me 20 days. If I cannot drive all the Jin troops out of Linfen across the Shunque Valley within 20 days, I will give up this Junwang (Prince) title, abandon these three towns' Jiedushi, to warn later people!"

"Wu An has broken tiles, and the Yi River has no cold song." Zhao Jiu nodded, seemingly lightly. "Liangchen's request for battle at the pass today is enough to be famous in history. With such heroism, why do you need to gamble with me? I have brought you reinforcements, a hundred thousand troops, so take them and use them!"

"I thank Your Majesty."

"There is still one thing to say."

"Please give Your Majesty's decree."

"If there are any violations below the rank of Jiedushi, you can behead them yourself without reporting to me. You also don't need to discuss field appointments on the battlefield with me... Only three things must be seriously reported." Zhao Jiu appeared calm. "First, the Northern Expedition of the Wang Shi is to punish the guilty and comfort the people. If there are any who commit crimes, rob, or harm the people, they must be sent to the front of the pass for me to personally approve and deal with. Second, the shortage of military supplies is related to the overall success or failure of the Northern Expedition and must not be concealed. Third, although I let go and let you do it, I also need to know the general military situation. All battle lines must be reported in an orderly manner for advances and retreats of twenty miles north and south, and there must be no mistakes."

"I dare not disobey!" Han Shizhong answered seriously.

"Then send troops!" Zhao Jiu urged impatiently.

At this point, the civil and military officials in the courtyard finally came to their senses.