The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 455 50 Jin Soldiers

By this time, Yue Fei understood the purpose of the other party's invitation to "chat".

Yue Fei said, "Although you are not afraid of my attack on the mountain, I will still attack if I receive orders from the Emperor."

Yue Wenxuan gave a strange smile: "Don't worry, he won't ask you to be the one to attack."

Yue Fei said no more, stood up and said, “We shall part ways here today! I will certainly promote the technology you have given us, and try my best to ensure that every soldier is well-fed and that the people learn from us. As for the garrison in Tongbai Mountain, I will not withdraw because of your words. Let them stay here and farm with you.”

Yue Wenxuan smiled and clasped his hands in a fist salute: "The green hills remain unchanged, the clear waters flow forever, we'll meet again someday."

At this point in their conversation, the two decided to part ways.

Unexpectedly, a fast horse galloped over from the territory of the Southern Song Dynasty. The rider was clearly a messenger, panting heavily, and shouted from a distance, "Marshal, urgent military intelligence! Urgent military intelligence!"

Yue Fei was startled, and Yue Wenxuan couldn't help but turn his head away.

The messenger didn't even bother to whisper to Yue Fei; instead, he continued to shout at the top of his lungs from afar: "Jin Erliduo, Talan, and Jin Wuzhu are leading 50,000 troops, joining forces with the puppet Qi army to invade the south, heading towards our six prefectures of Jing and Xiang."

This really startled Yue Fei!
Jin Erliduo was Wanyan Zongfu, the son of Wanyan Aguda, and served as the Left Deputy Marshal of the Jin Dynasty.

Talan and Jin Wuzhu need no introduction; they are old rivals.

Yue Fei didn't dare to delay for even a moment and shouted, "Let's go, let's go, let's go back quickly."

He mounted his horse and galloped off to the west.

Generals Zhang Xian, Gao Chong, Yang Zaixing, and others mounted their horses and galloped off.

Yue Yun was extremely anxious: "Hey? What about me? Am I still supposed to stay behind at Tongbai Mountain? I'm going to fight the Jin people too."

Yue Fei didn't even turn his head: "You stay here and guard this place. Dong Xian, you come with me."

Yue Yun: "Hey? Father, you can't do this."

Dong Xian quickly mounted his horse and followed Yue Fei, shouting back at Yue Yun as he rode, "Keep an eye on those chickens for me, don't let them steal any, and make sure to breed more breeding chickens. More breeding chickens mean more eggs, eggs lay more chickens, chickens lay more eggs..."

Yue Yun: "Father, you can leave Uncle Dong here to raise chickens, and let me go to war."

Yue Fei ignored him completely and ran away in a flash.

The Yue Family Army had strict military orders, and Yue Yun dared not disobey his father's orders, so he had no choice but to obediently stay where he was, looking resentful...

Meanwhile, Yue Wenxuan was also curious.

"Huh? Was there such a battle in history? I don't recall it at all?"

Yue Wenxuan quickly switched to the sand table and searched for major historical events.

You won't believe it until you look it up; it's truly amazing.

At the end of September 1134, the Jin army did launch a major offensive, but this offensive was not aimed at the six prefectures of Jingxiang, but rather... at the Jianghuai region.

Historical records indicate that the Jin army's previous offensive in the Sichuan-Shaanxi battlefield stalled, thwarting their plan to annihilate the Southern Song Dynasty. Consequently, they shifted their focus back to the southeastern front. For his own benefit, Liu Yu, the puppet Qi regime, dispatched his son Liu Lin and nephew Liu Ni to lead troops in cooperation with the Jin army, attempting to "cross the Yangtze River and directly attack Wu and Kuai" to destroy the Southern Song regime in one fell swoop. Jin generals Eliduo, Talan, and Wuzhu led 50,000 troops, joining forces with the puppet Qi army, claiming an army of 500,000. Their army launched two attacks: one from Caishi towards Jinling, and the other from Guazhou towards Jingkou.

After reading this part of history, Yue Wenxuan couldn't help but chuckle to himself, "So that's how it is!"
Historically, the Jin army took the route through the Jianghuai region, intending to directly annihilate the Southern Song Dynasty. However, in this timeline, the Northern Song Dynasty emerged and occupied the Jianghuai region. Currently, Chuzhou is still an important economic center of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Seeing the densely packed gray fortresses and powerful firearms of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jin army dared not attack the Jianghuai region, and instead focused its attacks on the six prefectures of Jingzhou and Xiangyang.

History took a major turn here.

Yue Wenxuan found it amusing, and realizing what was happening, he jumped onto Jing Ke's back and set off to see what the commotion was about at the Southern Song court...
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The Southern Song court was indeed quite lively.

Late September, 1134 AD.

The Southern Song Dynasty court is arguing, yes, arguing!
Whenever the Jin army arrives, the pro-war and pro-peace factions are bound to argue; there are no exceptions.

Li Gang, a Grand Academician of the Guanwen Hall and a leading figure in the pro-war faction, was naturally the first to speak: "Your Majesty! The Jin and the puppet Qi forces, with an combined force of 500,000, are attacking Jingzhou and Xiangyang. They have the intention to destroy our Great Song Dynasty. We must not back down any further. I request Your Majesty to issue an order to fight the Jin army to the death."

A fight to the death?

Upon hearing those two words, Zhao Gou instinctively flinched.

Damn, a deathmatch is terrifying, so bloody! If we can't win, won't we even lose the chance to make peace? Can we please stop putting the word "death" before "war"?
As he was pondering this, Wei Liangchen, a minister who advocated peace, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Jin army is too powerful to be defeated. I believe that we should prioritize peace negotiations."

Li Gang was furious: "We've already sent 500,000 troops to attack Jingzhou and Xiangyang, and you still want to negotiate peace? If we keep negotiating peace, the Song Dynasty will be wiped out."

Next, I'll skip the 100 million-word-long argument between the pro-war and pro-peace factions... You can probably guess what they were arguing about using your imagination...

But then I saw Qin Hui in the crowd, his eyes darting around, thinking quickly: In this chaotic situation, it's about time I brought up the Northern Song Dynasty. Young Master Yue's task for me was to promote the unification of the two Song dynasties, but Zhao Gou regarded the Northern Song as a "pseudo-Song," so I've never dared to discuss it openly before, but now is definitely a good opportunity.

Qin Hui coughed lightly, stepped to the center, and said loudly, "Gentlemen, the Jin army numbers 50; our army is utterly no match for them..."

As soon as he made this opening remark, Li Gang became furious, thinking: So you're going to side with the peace faction too?
Wei Liangchen was overjoyed: So Qin Hui was on my side. I always thought he was a proponent of war.

Unexpectedly, Qin Hui immediately changed his tone: "However, our Great Song Dynasty is not entirely without a chance of victory; we still have the strength to fight."

Li Gang had drawn 39 meters of his 40-meter-long sword, then immediately with a whoosh, he retracted it.

Wei Liangchen, however, began to silently draw his sword...

Zhao Gou: "Tell me, what opportunities are there?"

Qin Hui pointed north and said, "We have reinforcements to use in the north."

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked, thinking: The Emperor hates hearing about the Northern Song Dynasty the most. How dare you, Qin Hui, bring it up? Do you not want to stay in the court anymore?
As expected, Zhao Gou felt a physical aversion to the Northern Song Dynasty and immediately flew into a rage: "Qin Hui, why are you mentioning those traitors?"

Qin Hui remained unfazed, showing no sign of fear, and calmly replied, "Your Majesty, I am only thinking of your best interests. The Jin army has arrived with 50 troops, 50!"

He repeated the number 50 twice, and each time he said it, Zhao Gou's eyelids twitched.

Qin Hui: "It is no easy task to repel 50 Jin troops. At this time, we must use whatever we can, even if it is a traitor. If it can save the country, we must use it."

(End of this chapter)