In January, while small groups of green forest people were heading north towards the Yangtze River, more people were heading west and south in panic, escaping from the fighting war zone.
The triangular area from Jiangning to Zhenjiang for more than 100 miles to the east and Lin'an for more than 450 miles to the south is gradually falling into the flames of war. This is the most prosperous place in the world since the Wu Dynasty moved south. It contains
It is the most prosperous Jiangnan town near Taihu Lake, radiating to Changzhou, Suzhou, Jiaxing and other large cities, with a total population of tens of millions.
After the Jurchens came, there were prosperous and important places everywhere that needed to be defended. However, even with the manpower of the Wu Dynasty, it was impossible to station heavy troops in every city to ensure that the city was not lost. In fact, the second year of Jian Shuo was called
In the battle of searching mountains and seas, Wu Shu led the army and actually marched through many towns in the south of the Yangtze River.
Fortunately, the situation this time was different from the past. The Jurchens did not have the capital to delay the fourth southern expedition with the purpose of defeating Nanwu for a long time. After Wushu's army arrived in Lin'an, the Wu Dynasty mobilized the troops previously stationed in Jiaxing
, about 170,000 troops from Suzhou and other places came to Lin'an King Qin, and together with the 200,000 forbidden troops stationed in Lin'an at this time, they became a core in this war.
The other core is naturally the Yangtze River battle circle with Jiangning and Zhenjiang as the center. After crossing the river, the main attack point of the East Route Army led by Zong Fu was in Jiangning, and then spread towards Zhenjiang and the large and small cities in the south. Liu Chengzong's troops in the north attacked the Xuzhou area
After taking away the attention of some Jurchen troops, the main force of Zongfu's army, excluding attrition, still numbered less than 200,000. In addition, hundreds of thousands of Han troops came from the Central Plains. On the one hand, they attacked Jiangning and on the other hand, they sent elite troops.
, push the front as far south as possible.
The distance between Jiangning and Lin'an is more than 400 miles. If we advance at full speed, it will only take more than ten days. For the Jurchens, there are two strategic directions at the moment. Either defeat the resistance group led by Prince Junwu along the Yangtze River.
, or gradually move south to seize the city, and join forces with Wu Shu's elite cavalry to threaten Lin'an and force the Wu Dynasty to surrender.
These two strategic directions can be carried out at the same time. In mid-January, the main force of the Zongfu was divided into more than 30,000 people, led by generals Tatang and Arubao respectively, and marched south and southeast, while the Central Plains warlord Lin Baoyue
, the more than 100,000 Han troops led by Li Yangzong have pushed the battle line to Taiping Prefecture (later Ma'anshan), Danyang, and Changning in the south. During this period, several small towns were knocked open, and a group of Han troops plundered them wantonly.
Burning and killing, the dead and injured will not be counted.
On the Wu Dynasty's side, it was naturally impossible to allow Zongfu and others' troops to continue southward at this time. In addition to the 100,000-strong military camp originally stationed in Jiangning, Han Shizhong also led the main force of 50,000 naval forces to station in Jiangning, and another 70,000 naval forces were promoted.
Chang Ning, together with nearly 300,000 Huaiyang troops and reinforcements, firmly blocked the way for Zongfu's troops to go south.
By mid-to-late January, Yue Fei's Beiwei army, Xi Yin and the Tushan Guards led by Yin Shuke arrived on the battlefield. Jurchen general Arubao, who had gone to Changning with more than 30,000 men, made a false shot and turned northeast towards Zhenjiang.
When Xi Yin's troops launched a surprise attack in the Zhenjiang area, the entire Jiangnan area was already intertwined and fell into a chaotic situation where you were surrounded by me and you were surrounded by others.
The situation in Lin'an is more complicated.
Wu Shu's cavalry stopped attacking the city after launching an attack on Lin'an in early January. The army wandered around Lin'an, burning and killing, and occasionally conflicts and frictions broke out with Xu Liejun's troops in Shencheng, where the Wu Dynasty came to Qinwang. From a rational perspective,
It is not easy for 50,000 troops to break through a big city garrisoned by 200,000 troops. Although the Jurchens have had more glorious achievements in the past, the complex surge of people in Lin'an City is more like the changes in the stock market in later generations. With the news from the outside world time after time,
There are strange fluctuations in the news trend in the city. In addition to the anti-gold voices and desperate slogans on the surface, various thoughts are intertwined in private, and the undercurrent is surging. With every victory or defeat,
The messages kept coming and going.
Of course, the Wu Dynasty had been raising scholars for more than two hundred years, and words about paying money or collaborating with the enemy would not be talked about by everyone. In the past month or so, the changes in Lin'an's news have become more complicated. It's just about Zhou Yong and a group of people.
There are several kinds of news about the falling out between officials. For example, the news that Zhou Yong wanted to reconcile with Heiqi and was then put under house arrest by hundreds of officials was particularly convincing because of its half truth and half falsehood.
In addition, since the Huaxia Army issued a warning and sent out anti-traitor teams, discussions in the capital also arose about who was a traitor and who had surrendered to the enemy. Students turned their attention to every suspicious minister in the court, some of whom were Li Pin.
In order to increase sales, the capital tabloids that were opened later began to secretly produce and sell pamphlets about the family backgrounds and personal relationships of the court and military officials for public reference. Among them, there were also literati who had repeatedly failed in their official positions.
Among them, it expresses high opinions and attracts people's attention.
As for the direction of the war situation in the world, the judgment of the possible future victory or defeat, and the discussion of many ways to turn defeat into victory, they have never stopped since the beginning of the war. Those who are worried about the country and the people are running in private, and there are books such as "Defending the Enemy Old Country Three"
Admonition posts such as "Policy" and "Ten Essays on Retreating Jurchenism and Reviving China" were flying around the court and even the princess palace every day.
On the fourth day of February, a scholar in his sixties who called himself "Old Man of Qiulu" went to a tabloid shop to print a large number of pages with his "good advice on governing the country". He followed the example of the previous Jurchens and distributed such leaflets in the city.
After the patrolling army captured him, the old man shouted that he wanted to see the governor of Lin'an, the prime minister, the privy envoy, and the eldest princess.
Luo Shuwen, Yin of Lin'an Prefecture, had no choice but to meet him and asked him for advice, but he only asked the emperor to reuse a great sage like him and immediately kill many court officials who he thought had problems. As for how he judged
When there are problems with high-ranking officials in the imperial court, most of the news comes from various gossips in Beijing. The old man has been working hard for fame all his life, but in fact he is just a scholar. In the end, his family's wealth is gone, and he only has an old wife who goes to the streets and markets every day to pick up some vegetables.
He even begged for a living, and when he printed leaflets, he even put some coffins on them. Prefect Luo Shuwen couldn't laugh or cry, so in the end he had to offer two taels of silver and let the old man go home.
More treacherous human hearts are hidden under this vast and chaotic public opinion.
On the eighth day of February, there was a poetry recital in the west of Lin'an City. The venue was an old courtyard called Baopu Garden. The trees were budding, the peach blossoms were in buds, and the breath of spring had just arrived. While they were drinking and drinking, a man in his thirties
, many people gathered around the middle-aged scholar with a goatee. This man brought a map of the entire Wu Dynasty and was pointing and drawing on it. His argument was clear and convincing, which shocked everyone.
"...Looking at the situation in our Wu Dynasty, everyone thinks that the center is trapped in the south of the Yangtze River. This naturally makes sense. If nothing happens in Lin'an and the Yangtze River line can finally be defended and hold back the two Jurchen armies, the Wu Dynasty's siege will be lifted. This is
Right argument. If you can do it, you don’t need to think too much about the rest... But if you just look at it, there is still a core of today’s world, in Xiangyang to the west..."
He tapped his finger on the location of Xiangyang on the map, and then headed further west.
"... You may not agree that Xiangyang is an important town, but it is more than 1,500 miles away from Lin'an. Whether Xiangyang is defended or defeated, it has nothing to do with the overall situation of Lin'an. But here, I have to talk about an old rule.
The discussion is the so-called dispute between the Jurchens and the Eastern and Western courts. In the past, when we talked about the Eastern and Western imperial courts and sow discord, it was just a scholar's argument on paper. But today, the Jurchens have come, and the discussion is different from the past.
…”
"...For you and me, if the entire Jin Kingdom is regarded as one, then their goal in this southern expedition is naturally to overthrow our Wu Dynasty, but after the overthrow, what will they do next?" The scholar pointed his finger.
Move to the west, further west, knock, "Destroy the black flag!"
"Everyone, to put it bluntly, for the Jurchens today, the real thorn in their side is probably not our Wu Dynasty, but the black people who rose from the southwest, killed the Lou family, and waited for the Jurchen generals without giving up.
The Banner Army. But now, the two Jurchen armies have different emphasis on the Black Flag... Judging from the previous situation, Zong Han and Xi Yin really regard the Black Flag Army as the enemy, and Zong Fu
, Wushu and his ilk have the primary goal of overthrowing our Wu Dynasty and defeating Lin'an... It is naturally best for the two armies to join forces and defeat the Wu Dynasty first, and then invade the world to destroy the southwest. But here, we should see that,
What if we settle for the next best thing?”
"... In the previous years, we said that there were conflicts between the Jurchen and Eastern courts and that they could be provoked. That was just talk but no reality. Zong Han and others were so tyrannical in conquering the world. How could they be so arrogant because of some private instigation?
Just start a series of internal strife with A Gu? But now, let's think about it, if there is such a choice before Zong Han and others: We in Lin'an can stay a lot longer, delay Wu Shu, and even let Jurchen Dong
The Route Army's southern expedition returned in vain, but they were able to take advantage of the West Route Army, and even went straight to the southwest to confront the Black Flag Army, destroy this army, and kill the Demon Leader Ning, Zong Hanxi
Is Yin Fang really not tempted?"
"...What I say next may be inappropriate, but it is just an idea. If so..."
The middle-aged man lowered his voice, and everyone listened. After a while, some people at the literary meeting were pondering, some were praising, and some were proposing refutations... The new buds of the trees in the courtyard were shaking, figures and various opinions,
Soon they were all submerged in this cool spring scenery.
The poetry meeting ended and it was already afternoon. The crowds of people dispersed in twos and threes. The middle-aged man who spoke earlier said goodbye to a group of scribes, and then turned to the streets of Lin'an City. A military disaster was imminent, and the atmosphere in the city was solemn. There were not many pedestrians.
The young man turned around several streets and realized something was wrong behind him. He quickened his pace in the next lane. When he turned into a deserted alley, he used his strength to climb up the wall of the courtyard next to him, and then
But he fell down because he was not strong enough.
When he got up from the muddy water, several figures were already approaching him.
The figure was covered with a sack, dragged out of the alleyway, and then thrown into a carriage. The carriage turned along several long streets and entered the prison of Lin'an Mansion. Soon, Tie Tianying came in from outside, and someone led him to the prison. The three
A middle-aged man in his teens has been tied up in a torture room.
The middle-aged man woke up leisurely and saw the old catcher who was burning a soldering iron. He struggled a few times on the shelf: "You, you, you, who are you!? Who are you? I am a Juren, Jing Han is thirteen years old.
You have the title of Juren! What are you doing!?"
Tie Tianying raised his head and looked at him: "If you don't know where you are, what is your identity? If you are kidnapped by bandits, can your identity save you?"
"I, I, I, I... I can guess that the country has a discipline and the punishment is not as good as the doctor. You are not allowed to kill those who speak out. You..."
"Who told you to speak these things? Who taught you to speak?"
"No one! No one! Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the country! I am a citizen of the Wu Dynasty, and I have the status of a civil servant. When the country encounters a disaster, I share the country's worries! I share the country's worries! And I just talked about it with everyone, and
Didn’t do anything else”
The middle-aged man struggled on the wooden frame and shouted in panic. Tie Tianying looked at him quietly. After a while, he untied his bloated robe and put it aside, and then picked up the torture instrument.
"I'm keeping an eye on you for more than a day or two. If you do your own thing and do your own thing, you'll be offended."
…
The early spring sun sets and day turns into night.
In the early morning of the ninth day of February, Zhou Pei got up dressed in his clothes, washed up, got into a carriage, and crossed the city.
It was only more than an hour after midnight, and the city still seemed quiet. However, the further north you went, the more you could hear a small buzzing sound in the air. As you approached Heningmen in the north, this small sound gradually became clearer. It was a large number of people.
The sound of crowd activity.
On the afternoon of the eighth day of the lunar month, Xu Liejun's 30,000 men were defeated by 20,000 fine cavalry sent by Wu Shu during the transfer. Thousands of people were killed and wounded. Later, Xu Liejun sent tens of thousands more to repel the invading Jurchen cavalry. Now a large number of wounded are heading to Lin'an City.
Send it here.
After the wounded were transported into the Wengcheng, they were screened. Some doctors went in to provide emergency treatment to the seriously injured. Zhou Pei climbed up the city wall and watched the moans and screams in the Wengcheng. Cheng Zhouhai was already there and came over to salute.
"Another defeat. I don't know how many people are going to spread the word in private." Zhou Pei said in a low voice.
"Being calm is like, no matter when there is a war, someone will be careful," Cheng Zhouhai said.
"More than ten years ago, the world did not know that the Wu Dynasty would really lose the Central Plains. Even if they thought about it privately, they could not help but feel that the Wu Dynasty could survive. Now everyone's discussions are inevitably making some 'worst case plans'
"In the 'worst case scenario', they all hope that they can live a better life..." Zhou Pei whispered, raising his head to look into the darkness at the outermost part of the city wall, "Mr. Cheng, Bianliang's city wall is also
Is it so high and so thick? Sometimes when I stand and look up, I feel that such a towering city wall should never be easy to build, but what I have experienced over the years tells me that it is not necessarily that difficult to break it open.
"
Cheng Zhouhai was silent for a moment: "...His Majesty called His Highness into the palace yesterday. What did he say?"
Zhou Pei smiled, then his face became solemn, he looked around, and then spoke in a low voice to Cheng Zhouhai: "My father asked me in a subtle way, if the situation in the capital is critical, whether the Zhenhai New Army led by General Han Shizhong can be withdrawn to Lin'an in time.
, to switch defenses with the Forbidden Army... My father knew that the people below were unstable and could not trust the Forbidden Army, and even wanted to... remove General Yu Zihuayu of the Forbidden Army."
"Withdrawing the Zhenhai Navy, he was ill and sought medical treatment. As for General Yu..." Cheng Zhouhai frowned: "General Yu... has been promoted from the Wu Lie Camp, but he is His Majesty's confidant."
Zhou Pei hesitated for a moment, and remembered what his father said yesterday, with a sarcastic smile on his face: "...Yes, Wulie Camp was stationed in Jiangning back then, and Yu Zihua and his father knew each other in the old days, so he was able to command the Forbidden Army, but in
At this time...Mr. Cheng, my father knew very well who those people who played with him back then were. He just had no one to help him. He bullied and bullied people and drank wine. My father trusted him more than anyone else.
They are about to go to war, but my father can’t trust them more than anyone else..."
"However, General Yu has indeed changed his past mistakes over the years and is extremely strict with himself."
"Father doesn't believe this, so I can only... try my best to dissuade you." Zhou Pei rubbed his forehead, "Don't ask the Zhenjun Navy to be moved, and don't leave General Yu lightly. Alas, I hope my father can be stable. He has also been in trouble recently.
Lord Qin often summoned Qin Hui to the palace for questioning. Lord Qin was old enough to seek the country, and it seemed that he had a dissuading effect on his father's thoughts. His father wanted to summon the navy back to Beijing, and Lord Qin also tried to persuade him... In the past few days, Lord Qin also tried to persuade him.
, I want to pay a personal visit to Mr. Qin and have a frank talk with him..."
The two looked at the city tower for a while, then left again. The carriage drove away from the city wall and drove through the dark streets. When they arrived near the Lin'an Mansion Prison, Zhou Pei, who was rubbing his forehead, remembered something: "Yesterday, the iron arrester
It seems that some people have been arrested over there, let's go to the prison and have a look."
Cheng Zhouhai nodded in agreement.
The group of people arrived at the prison, and the deputy next to them had already reported what Tie Tianying was doing. When they approached the execution room, the smell of blood could be heard. Tie Tianying probably washed his face and hands a little, and then came out with clothes on his face.
There was a lot of blood on it. He held a stack of interrogation notes in his hand, and led Zhou Pei and Cheng Zhouhai to look inside the execution room. The middle-aged scholar tied to the wooden shelf was no longer human.
"Are you subduing yourself?" Cheng Zhouhai asked with a frown.
"No." Tie Tianying shook his head, "This person's connection with the Jurchen side has been confirmed. The letters, the person who corrected him, and the imperial guards who came in to deliver the news for him have all been confirmed. Of course, he only thinks that he is a member of the powerful clan.
He just ordered and lobbied for the interests of some big families in the south, but he was involved in the spread of news confirmed to be related to the Jurchens several times before... Now it seems that the Jurchens are starting to have new ideas."
"Are they the ones you reported earlier?" Cheng Zhouhai asked.
Tie Tianying nodded, and then looked at Zhou Pei together with Cheng Zhouhai: "I will report this matter, Your Highness wants to..." Tie Tianying pointed to the execution room and the relatively clean small room on the other side, and made a brief inquiry.
Zhou Pei looked at the bloody man in the cell with his fingernails pulled out, and turned towards the small room.
Tie Tianying and Cheng Zhouhai followed over and spread out the map on the table in the small room: "Some people have been talking about this matter on a small scale a few days ago. It sounds quite deviant at first, but if you chew it carefully, it is still a fact.
This idea, its general direction is this..."
Tie Tianying paused, placed his palm on the Xiangyang position on the map, and then swept towards the west area marked on the map: "If the war in the capital is urgent and there is no way to retreat... I will cede it to Marshal Zong Han of the Jurchen West Route Army.
Xiangfan and all areas west of Xiangfan and north of the Yangtze River."
After he said this, Zhou Pei pressed his arm on the table, and his entire face became gloomy.
Cheng Zhouhai spoke in a low voice from the side: "There is talk in private. This is a request secretly made to the city by the Jurchen general Wanyan Xiyin who is currently near Zhenjiang. In early January, the Black Flag side intends to discuss with Si Zhongxian, the guard of Jiange.
Regarding the matter of borrowing the road, Jiange is the main road out of Sichuan. This matter is obviously Ning Yi's intimidation and pressure on the Jurchens. The Jurchens' decision is also obviously a counterattack against the Black Flag Army."
He pointed to the area on the map: "From Xiangfan to Jiange, it is a thousand miles away, and it also controls Sichuan and Shu. Once this area is ceded, the Jurchen West Route Army's record will be enough, and there will be no reason to go south to attack the east route.
The army's futile return is even more pleasing to them. Once they control this area, Zong Han and Xi Yin will enter Chengdu with strong troops. Zong Han and Ning Yi will fight against each other in advance. Both sides will suffer.
It’s not impossible…”
"Ceding a land thousands of miles away? Is this even possible?" Zhou Pei's voice was dry.
"If we are in danger, then it's easy to say..." Cheng Zhouhai said, "And, from a general perspective, the Jurchens... at least Zong Han Xiyin's fear of the Black Flag Army is even greater
As for the Wu Dynasty, it would be best if they could swallow up the Wu Dynasty and then destroy the Black Flag, but if they settle for the second best, I sometimes feel that they would rather destroy the Black Flag this time..."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Zhou Pei quietly, and Zhou Pei's body shook a little. Some things did sound like fantasy at first, but if they could really come true, Zong Han would lead his army into the southwest, and Ning Yi would lead the army.
The Chinese army will definitely not retreat. If these two strongest armies in the world fight together, the situation will definitely not be as embarrassing as the Jiangnan battle of the Wu Dynasty...
Zhou Pei thought for a while, then finally shook his head and left: "This is what people say about cholera. Find them out and kill them all someday!"
Cheng Zhouhai showed a slight smile, and after leaving the prison, he said seriously: "No matter how beautiful these things are now, their purpose is just to demoralize our military. Wanyan Xiyin is worthy of the name of the God of the Valley, and his yin and yang strategy,
Not inferior to Ning Rentu in the southwest. However, although we can understand this matter, many people in the city may be tempted, as well as His Majesty... I hope His Majesty will be careful..."
Zhou Pei nodded and soon took a carriage.
A few days later, similar news began to spread in the city, and the Jurchen West Route Army made a request: cede the west of Xiangfan, and withdraw troops north of the Yangtze River.
Among them, it is said that the Jurchen East Route Army also made a request: the Wu Dynasty recognized Da Jin as his father and his vassal forever, and paid tribute every year. At the same time,
Kill Han Shizhong to appease the hearts of the Jin people!
…
In Zhenjiang in February, the military camps were covered with frost and mud. When Jun Wu walked out of the camp, he could see the troops changing their defenses and mobilizing supplies. Occasionally, wounded soldiers would come in, carrying the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood.
The war is more about iron-bloodedness and killing. In the past half year, Junwu has almost adapted to this rhythm. In front of him are the attacks of many Jurchen generals who are famous all over the world. Behind him, they have also experienced
There were tragic casualties of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians.
To the east and south of Zhenjiang, the troops of Xi Yin, Yin Shuke, Arubao and other Jurchen generals have captured several small cities and are cautiously extending the battle line to the south. In a larger area, belonging to the Wu Dynasty
The troops are blocking the roads on the southern route layer by layer. There will be one or two frictions every few days.
Even the current Beiwei Army, the most elite Tushan Guard under Jurchen Zonghan led by Xiyin, could not stop its offensive in frontal combat. However, the Wu Dynasty troops gathered around it were wearing down its vigor layer by layer. Even if it could not
Stopping its advance in one or two battles will definitely block its retreat, making it unable to travel south for a long time.
Compared to the bloody battles of the frontline soldiers and the strategizing of the generals, the identity of the prince is more like a backbone and mascot here. He only needs to exist and firmly implement the belief of resistance to complete the mission. Jun Wu is not frustrated by this.
, no matter how tired he is every day, he works hard to dress himself up, grow some beard, and maintain a correct appearance to make himself look more mature and determined, and to boost the morale of the soldiers.
Occasionally, the various intrigues and complex emotions that came from Lin'an made him laugh and sigh. Occasionally, some of the actions of the anti-gold patriots who came from the outside world in front of the Jin people made him feel encouraged.
, these messages are mostly heroic and tragic, but if everyone in the world can do this, how could the Wu Dynasty lose the Central Plains?
On February 12, envoys from the Jin people came to the army in Zhenjiang, demanding that Prince Junwu and the entire Wu Dynasty court be persuaded to surrender. The conditions were to surrender the area west of Xiangfan and north of the Yangtze River, and to severely punish the generals who resisted the Jin Dynasty.
When many lions opened their mouths, Junwu took a look and threw it out.
"Xi Yin and others are now surrounded by my million-strong army. Let's go back and talk! Push him out and kill him."
The envoy was dragged out and shouted: "If the two armies are fighting, please do not kill us! If the two armies are fighting, please do not kill us! You can talk! You can talk, Your Highness." After that, he was dragged to the school field and beheaded with a knife.
Soon after, Wanyan Xiyin, who was stationed in the southeast of Zhenjiang, received the envoy's head in the military camp. He smiled slightly and said to the people around him: "This little prince has a strong heart, but he is a little different from everyone in the Wu Dynasty...