Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 37: Being clever but being misled by cleverness

Shi Qilang had been laughing, but upon hearing this, he froze and immediately knelt a few steps, "Governor Gao, I don't want this gold bead anymore, and I don't dare go back. I just want to seek a future with you!"

"Oh? Why?" Gao Wenfu held his big belly with a playful expression.

Shi Qilang placed the golden bead at his side and kowtowed again, so hard that his forehead bled. He raised his head, opened his single eye wide, and gritted his teeth, saying, "The nobles of the Great Jin can kill me, the people of the Song can kill me, and even the stray dogs on the roadside dare to bare their teeth at me. I can't live another day like this!"

"Sir, I could have just galloped back home, but what good would that do? I'd still be in a pile of mud and shit." Shi Qilang kowtowed again, "Sir, I'm brave and not afraid of death. I'm willing to die for you! I want to live a different life!"

After hearing this, Gao Anren, who had originally sneered at Shi Qilang, couldn't help but look up to him.

Gao Wenfu chuckled and pointed at the door, saying, "Shi Qilang, do you know that if you had really left with the golden bead just now, the soldiers at the door would have killed you immediately?"

Shi Qilang looked up blankly, watching Jinzhu beside him move two steps to the side as if avoiding a snake or scorpion.

"Okay, okay, since I said I would reward you, this golden bead is yours." Gao Wenfu clapped his hands again, and the soldier who had been guarding the door strode in.

"Karasuno, if this person wants a future, let him follow you. Do you know how to do it?"

The soldier named Wu Ye was the leader of Gao Wenfu's guards. He was naturally meticulous and knew that this meant he was asked to keep a close eye on Shi Qilang, so he immediately bowed and agreed.

After the two of them left, Gao Wenfu and his son were the only ones left in the state government office. Gao Anren saw his father closing his eyes and saying nothing. After waiting for a while, he couldn't help but ask, "Dad, is what this man said true?"

Gao Wenfu opened his eyes, his superficial fatness vanished, his eyes gleaming with brilliance. "Erlang, what do you think?"

"You can only trust his words 50%. Hey, the Loyalty Army, is this considered a legitimate military call? Could it be that there was a civil uprising in Lianshui?!" Gao Anren said this, stroking his beard with some confusion: "But the Wuxing Army has three Moukes, are they also such useless people?"

"You can only believe 30% of it. Since he dared to stay, what he said should be roughly the same. But he is just a captured soldier, it is impossible for him to know the whole story." Gao Wenfu shook his head.

When interacting with his son, he naturally doesn't hide anything: "The key to this matter is not whether it is true or not, but how to deal with it."

"How else can we respond? Rally all our troops and attack! Daddy is the prefect and has a duty to defend this territory. If we don't recapture Lianshui now, we might end up getting into trouble in court."

Gao Wenfu sighed and said with a look of disappointment, "Come out in full force? Don't forget, the Loyalty Army has boats. What if they head straight for Qushan?"

"Well... then I will do whatever Daddy says." Gao Anren stroked his beard and gave up thinking.

"You've only grown taller these past few years, but you haven't grown smarter," Gao Wenfu cursed. "Song Gou's troops can't be too numerous, otherwise we would have gotten wind of it long ago. Besides, the muddy forks in southern Haizhou aren't strong enough to support a large army. The military intelligence may be true, and Song Gou only has a few thousand men, but we have to be on guard. If they follow in force, it would be troublesome."

Gao Anren stamped his feet, frowned and said, "If it weren't for His Majesty's decision to march south and take all the troops with him, even if he had left behind a single garrison commander, this wouldn't have happened..."

"shut up!"

Gao Wenfu scolded his son, but at the same time he felt helpless.

The Jin, a small nation facing a larger nation, lacked a strong foundation, especially in the vast Central Plains. Therefore, the Jin could only rely on military might, establishing two garrisons in each prefecture to manage the situation and suppress the Han people.

Each town defense Meng'an has about 3,000 households, among which there are naturally many vacancies, but one thousand female real soldiers can also be mobilized.

The Zhenfang Meng'an both have special garrisons that control the key waterways.

It's a bit like the Manchu city during the Qing Dynasty.

As the prefect and a hereditary Mouke, Gao Wenfu had the right to command his own Mouke cavalry and to sign civilian laborers to form a signed army. Together with these two thousand female real soldiers, he could suppress ordinary civil unrest before it even started.

But isn’t Wanyan Liang planning to march south?
Aren’t all the female soldiers from all over the country gathering in Bian Jing?

At this time, Haizhou's Zhenfang Meng'an was just two empty shells. If more soldiers were to be withdrawn, it would cause big problems.

Although Gao Wenfu still has some local militia archers and can sign up some men, he is not sure how much combat effectiveness they have.

However, on second thought, the army on the other side is the Song army... their combat effectiveness... is also questionable!

"The enemy situation is unclear. We can't move, nor can we act rashly." After a moment's hesitation, Gao Wenfu made up his mind: "Pass on my order. Tell Shuyang to prepare well and not let the enemy take advantage. Tell the Wuxing Army Commander-in-Chief, Meng Tian, about the fall of Lianshui. Let him worry about it first. Humph... Three regular army Moukes couldn't even hold the city. His guilt is greater than mine."

"Also, all the fishing boats and cargo ships from Qushan and Donghai counties have been gathered together, and the harbor gates have been sealed, so not a single sail can sail out to sea. Humph, even if Song Gou is a master of the water, I won't fight you on the water. What can they do?"

Gao Anren cautiously reminded: "Should we send a letter to Minister Su and ask him to come and help?"

The Minister of Works Su Baoheng was the Minister of Works. He and the 70,000 naval forces commanded by Wanyan Zheng were stationed on Chenjia Island, 200 miles northeast of Haizhou.

Gao Wenfu thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Not for now. Firstly, Meng Tian, the guardian of the country, was once an official in Haizhou and has a close relationship with me. I have to cover up the defeat. Secondly, this is not a critical moment after all."

After saying that, Gao Wenfu looked at his son: "Gao Anren."

This is an official military order.

"I am here." Gao Anren bowed and stood solemnly.

"You will lead my own mouke and two hundred household officers, plus another fourteen hundred soldiers from the Jiazhong Township, for a total of one thousand six hundred men, to encamp at Yishan, sixty miles south of Qushan County. Yishan and Shuyang lie between the east and west of Shuofu Lake, with the Shushui River to the south, making them easy to defend but difficult to attack. If we can hold this line, even if the Song army has thousands of troops, the rear is a quagmire, and their baggage will be unable to catch up."

"What if there are fighter planes..." Gao Anren asked carefully.

"Based on the rebel commander's calculations, the opportunity you saw might have also been seen by the Wuxing Army in Lianshui. If you believe it, you'll most likely suffer the same fate as Lianshui." Gao Wenfu glared at his son and made a quick mental calculation. "Within twenty days, any opportunity to fight wouldn't count. After twenty days, even no opportunity would still count. The bottom line is, their baggage won't hold out for much longer."

Gao Anren suddenly understood and nodded heavily.

(End of this chapter)