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

Chapter 45: Holding the clothes and crying

"The wheels rumble, the horses neigh, and the travelers draw their bows and arrows. Mothers and wives run to see them off, but the dust obscures the view of the Xianyang Bridge. They hold onto their clothes, stamp their feet, and block the road, weeping, their cries reaching the sky."

Even though he was mentally prepared, when the moment really came, Luo Guzi still covered his face and dared not face it.

This poem by Du Fu suddenly came to my mind.

At dawn on July 21st, Luo Guzi had just sorted out the affairs of the military camp when Gao Anren hurriedly broke camp and sent troops.

There is no need to be anxious. The scouts reported last night that there was a lot of noise on the south bank of the Shu River, and it seemed that thousands of troops were arriving.

The Song army came too fast!
Shouldn't you be retreating and advancing as swiftly as the wind, outflanking and encircling as slowly as a forest, plundering money and invading like fire, while standing firm like a mountain when your allies are in trouble?
How can it be so fast? Are you still the Song army?
It has to be said that the marching speed of the Song army made Gao Anren feel a huge sense of crisis.

You must know that in order to march south, Wanyan Liang had already summoned the regular army to Bianliang. At this time, Gao Anren brought about 1,400 local soldiers from the state, of which only 800 were trained by him personally. Including 200 personal guards and armored cavalry who could fight tough battles, there were only more than 1,000 people who could be used.

The remaining hundreds of people, plus the two thousand signed soldiers who were forcibly brought along along the way, can only be used to transport food and supplies, wave flags and shout slogans, or be cannon fodder to die. If they are sent into battle, they will end up scattering.

Fortunately, although the Shu River is not a natural barrier, it can be regarded as a support. By setting up camp by the river, the Song army could not easily cross.

But everything has to be fast!

The vast majority of the signed soldiers and civilians were ordinary people yesterday. After a night of slaughter and looting, they were already frightened, and now they were forced to be separated from their families, making them even more terrified.

I don’t know who started it, but the wails instantly resounded through the sky.

Gao Anren didn't care about this and immediately ordered his soldiers to kill the soldiers who were unwilling to march.

"Stop! Stop it all!"

Luo Guzi tried to stop them, but it was no use. The soldiers respected him and didn't dare to use violence, but he could stop one but couldn't control the other. In a blink of an eye, the soldiers had cut down the soldiers and their families.

After leaving behind more than a dozen corpses, the Qian army was finally driven away.

Gao Anren sat high on his horse, suddenly stretched out his spear, stabbed a running soldier to death, and then pointed the bloody spear head at Luo Guzi.

Luo Shenyan blocked Luo Guzi with his sword, but Gao Anren ignored him and said loudly: "Mr. Luo, I am a rough man, and my mind is not as good as yours. I only know rewards and punishments, and nothing else."

"I think you are a bloodthirsty thief who only knows how to kill and nothing else!" Luo Guzi was very angry.

Gao Anren laughed heartily: "Whether you are a thief or an official, I recognize you, but Song Gou is on the other side of the Shu River. No matter whether I am an official or a thief, I can only kill people, and kill those who don't obey.

Of course, if Mr. Luo can make them obey, I won’t kill them!"

Luo Guzi was furious but helpless: "Okay! Okay! Okay! I'll be the logistics manager. After signing up for the military camp, you'll follow my orders. How about that?"

Gao Anren overpowered Luo Guzi, letting out the frustration of last night. He couldn't help but laugh triumphantly: "My father always said that Mr. Luo has a strong character and can't be easily coerced. But in my opinion, isn't Mr. Luo very sensible about the current situation?
I'll give you a hundred archers, but you must manage the soldiers well and don't let them escape, otherwise... humph!" Gao Anren didn't wait for Luo Guzi's response, and rode out directly, summoning two hundred armored cavalry and fourteen hundred infantrymen to march towards the Shu River.

"Erlang, I have something to say, but I don't know if I should say it." As the army just stepped onto the official road, Wu Ye, the armored cavalry leader beside Gao Anren, asked in a deep voice.

Wu Ye was also from Bohai, and had fought in the army since he was a teenager, protecting Gao Wenfu. Over the years, Wu Ye had become part of the Gao family, so Gao Anren could not help but respect him.

"Uncle Six, please feel free to speak."

"Mr. Luo has made great contributions to the management of the Shuhe River. All the counties in Haizhou have benefited from his kindness. Erlang should not treat him like this."

Gao Anren sighed, "Uncle Six, you don't know that I already regret it, but I don't regret anything I did to Mr. Luo. At most, after this battle, I'll go and ask for forgiveness. At most, I'll get a few lashes. How can he really go against a junior like me?"

Karasuno looked puzzled, "Then what does Jiro regret?"

"I regret massacring Dayi Town," Gao Anren said sincerely. "If I had known the Song army would arrive so quickly, I wouldn't have resorted to such brutal measures simply for military supplies and morale. But the deed has already been done, so what can we do about it? There's no time to carefully discipline those contracted soldiers and civilians. If we don't force Luo Guzi, this mess will be impossible to clean up."

Wu Ye was silent for a moment, feeling that he had no other choice in Gao Anren's position, so he could only abruptly change the subject: "Erlang, is the entire army in armor now?"

Gao Anren shook his head: "Not yet. This is a long-term stalemate, so we need to save our energy. How about this, Sixth Uncle, you and I will lead fifty cavalrymen, all in armor, as the vanguard. If the Song army dares to cross the river under your nose, you will give them a hard time!"

"Yes!" Wu Ye responded loudly, and then led fifty armored cavalrymen to rush towards the Shu River.

At the same time, the Song army on the south bank of the Shuhe River was cooking. In the central army tent, Wei Sheng, Dong Cheng, Zhang Qing and Lu You were sitting opposite each other, pointing and gesturing at a simple map drawn with stove ash.

Lu You, with dark circles under his eyes, showed he hadn't slept for hours the previous night. He drew a map on the ground and said, "This is the general position of our army... Actually, there's nothing much to say, it's simple and clear. Liu Dalang and his cavalry are ambushed in the reeds on the north bank, and our army is stationed on the south bank. The Jin bandit army has arrived. The key lies in whether we can successfully cross the river today, and even more importantly, whether we can gain a foothold on the north bank today!"

Dong Cheng frowned and asked, "How's the floating bridge going?"

Wei Sheng, sitting at the head, slowly replied, "Mr. Lu found a number of ferry boats yesterday, and with the planks and wooden boxes we made last night, we should be able to quickly build two floating bridges. However, we need someone to go to the other side of the river and secure the ropes for the first step."

"Brother!" Dong Cheng immediately stood up and bowed, asking for orders: "Today is going to be a tough battle. Brother, gather your strength first. I'll take the lead this time!"

Wei Sheng nodded. "Lead your infantry, bring plenty of large shields and long spears, and I'll give you thirty crossbowmen. Immediately, pull up the ropes and take the boats across the river. Make sure you gain a foothold on the north bank of the river!"

"Yes!" Dong Cheng bowed and turned away.

"Wait!" Wei Sheng thought for a moment, "Take Achang with you!"

Dong Cheng was slightly stunned, but immediately realized that this was a military order that could not be refuted, so he immediately agreed.

Zhang Qing sat cross-legged, the bow resting on his knees, wiping it again and again. He had wanted to complain, accusing Liu Huai of bringing Zhang Rong's son, Zhang Baiyu, into danger, but when he heard Wei Sheng continue to send his own son to the front while his godson was still in danger, he immediately swallowed all his words.

(End of this chapter)