You have truly caused me great suffering!

After crossing the Wuding River, Chen Shao's army slowed down, because at each city they passed, they had to repeatedly confirm where they were going and whether there was any imperial decree.

The Lingwu Army wasn't there to fight, so Chen Shao wasn't in a hurry. His troops were continuously departing from Nuanquan Peak.

In the various prefectures of Yunnei, small-scale skirmishes broke out with the Jurchens. For the first time since their uprising began, the Jurchen warriors, who had been invincible in every battle, found themselves in a stalemate.

Chen Shao and his Dingnan Army became famous overnight.

In Mizhi City, Zhang Shen invited Chen Shao to enter the city.

Zhang Shen was appointed as the acting Commissioner of the Pacification and Pacification Office of the Fuyan Circuit.

Why an agent?
When the Song and Xia armies were at the height of their conflict, the former commander Jia Yan abandoned the city and fled, resulting in his dismissal. Zhang Shen was appointed to take over the command in a time of crisis, coordinating the defense of Suide, Yan'an, and Bao'an, as well as the border troops of both Han and non-Han ethnic groups.

Chen Shao led his personal guards into the city. Most of the troops here were under the command of Linfu Road Military Commander and Prefect Zhe Keqiu.

Even if Zhang Shen gave the order, they wouldn't lay a hand on him.

Zhe Keqiu and I had long been allied and agreed to resist the Jurchens together. If it weren't for me, Fugu would actually be at the forefront.

Zhang Shen personally greeted them at the gate, and the two entered the city together. Chen Shao's personal guards stayed by his side, and they followed Zhang Shen to a banquet.

The banquet was attended by many people, mostly generals of the Western Army, as well as some civil officials from Shaanxi Province.

Chen Shao's dispatch of troops was both a cause for joy and worry for them. They were happy that they didn't have to go, but they were also worried about the same thing.

Not going means avoiding battle with the Jurchens, who are extremely troublesome. If they were to encounter them, victory is not guaranteed.

However, not going also means that the court has recognized the reality of the Western Army's decline, and the millions of grain and military pay that would be spent every year in the future may vanish into thin air.

When the dishes were scattered and the banquet was about to end, Zhang Shen invited Chen Shao to a private room for tea.

Chen Shao nodded and led Da Hu to a private room, which was surrounded by bamboo curtains.

Chen Shao found it somewhat amusing; these scholars of the Song Dynasty placed great importance on such superficial matters.

The venue for each gathering is beautifully decorated, a scene worthy of a painting.

After we sat down, a handsome young servant started brewing tea in front of a clay stove.

Zhao He walked over, waved his hand, and gestured for him to move aside.

Then he sat down and began to brew tea for him, while Zhao Shan took out a tea set from his bag.

Zhang Shen was already aware of his behavior and didn't take it to heart.

Once the tea was ready, he personally poured a cup for Chen Shao, saying, "General, Geng Xidao is my closest friend."

It turned out to be the case.

Chen Shao laughed and said, "Then we're practically family now."

Zhang Shen gave a bitter smile, realizing that he probably wasn't even considered one of their own in their eyes.

"The commander was concerned about the country and its people. After the Jurchen Tartars issued a challenge, he immediately set out with his troops without any delay, which is admirable."

Chen Shao took a sip of tea and suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia for Li Shishi. Holding his teacup, he said softly, "I have no other choice. The patience of the Dingnan Army has reached its limit. If I keep suppressing them, they'll run out of fighting options and start attacking me."

"The commander is really witty." Zhang Shen sighed inwardly. He knew very well that Chen Shao was not witty, but very honest.

They told the truth.

Perhaps they felt that no one could control them, so what was wrong with venting their frustrations?
Chen Shao chuckled. In fact, he was only half telling the truth. He had personally facilitated the expansion of the Dingnan Army's power.

But this does not mean that they will be unconditionally 100% loyal to you.

Such strength, but without a corresponding status, wealth, and power, will gradually breed discontent.

Resentment builds up in people's hearts, and over time, it will inevitably lead to unforeseen changes. Perhaps those loyal to Chen Shao can suppress the troublemakers, but even then, they will suffer a great loss of strength.

This is why, after Chen Shao launched his campaign, he changed his strategy and began to attack cities and seize territory, which he then firmly occupied.

After occupation, there will be territory, land, and official positions.
There are plenty of things to reward the soldiers who have already made too many contributions to him.

Chen Shao held absolute power in the Dingnan Army, but he also had to appease his arrogant and fierce subordinates.

Not everything will go exactly as he wishes. Chen Shao needs to be prudent, patient, and also need to compromise.

Let alone the fact that he was just the leader of the Dingnan Army interest group, which had only been rising for three years, even the Sun Family, which had gone through three generations in later generations, sometimes had to compromise temporarily.

Chen Shao told the truth to shut Zhang Shen up.

Don't try to use righteousness to pressure me. Asking me to lead troops to fight in Hebei is pointless, not to mention there's no time to spare.

Even if I flew there, what about the supplies? What about the provisions?
Can the Song Dynasty guarantee that it will provide enough?

Will they take this opportunity to weaken me by using the Jurchens?

Once I arrive in Hebei, separated from my own territory, it's questionable whether I, Commander Chen, can return unscathed.

After all, the Song Dynasty was ruthless when it came to betraying its own people.

Before Zhang Shen could even speak, he knew that he had prepared all night and didn't need to say anything more.

This guy looks young, but he's actually quite experienced; he shut himself up before the game even started.

What should we talk about next?
Should he be made to break with his subordinates for the sake of the greater good?

When Geng Nanzhong was kicked out of Xiping Prefecture, he was beaten up, and I didn't want to go looking for that bad luck.
-
Beneath the walls of Yingzhou, the bugle calls sounded again and again.

This time, however, even more Jurchen cavalry emerged. Unlike the light cavalry of the past, this Jurchen cavalry consisted of heavily armored soldiers and horses wrapped in felt.

Armed with stiff bows and long weapons, squads of heavily armored cavalry surged out, their horses covered in gleaming armor, a vast expanse like a torrent.

The people of Yingzhou often dealt with Jurchen troops, but they had never seen so many Jurchen heavy cavalry.

They usually only had a few dozen people, yet they dared to come out of Datong Prefecture to hunt for food, treating the Liao people's land like a hunting ground.

It seems that the Liao people were no different from the beasts and birds in the forest, and their resistance was not worth mentioning.

At the very end were several hundred heavily armored cavalrymen, who surrounded two tall black banners. Beneath the banners stood Yin Shuke and Wanyan Xiyin.

Although Wanyan Xiyin was fascinated by the culture of the Liao and Song dynasties, he was first and foremost a very typical Jurchen general.

He was burly, cruel, and cold-blooded.

The Jurchen armored cavalry escorted the two heavily armed generals straight up a small hill before stopping.

This distance is already very close to the city; generally, when commanding an attack, the defending general would not come here.

The Jurchen armored cavalry responsible for guarding the banners laid out in layers, coldly facing the Yingzhou fortress.

They were seasoned veterans, skilled in breaking through enemy lines, and finally destroyed the vast Liao Empire, which boasted a million armored soldiers and covered an area of ​​thousands of miles.

They were the elite Jurchen troops, and just by being deployed here, their killing intent surged forth, rushing straight to the foot of Yingzhou City!

Seeing the Jurchen's most elite troops surge out, the defenders standing on the city wall became somewhat nervous, nervously rubbing their hands together.

The soldiers looked at each other with a sense of unease.

Meng Nuan swallowed hard, then suddenly burst into laughter, "Just a few Tartars dare to attack my Yingzhou? Under that black flag, isn't that Wanyan Yinshuke, whom our brothers just defeated!"

Yin Shuke led his troops in a surprise attack, but was repelled by Meng Nuan, who was prepared. Wanyan Zonghan had no choice but to send Xi Yinye with his troops to provide support.

Because they were close by, the Jurchens also saw Meng Nuan pointing at Yin Shuke and laughing. Since their sneak attack had just failed, it wasn't hard to guess what he was going to say.

Faced with such ridicule and humiliation, Yin Shu remained unfazed, and his mindset was not affected at all.

On the contrary, Wanyan Xiyin looked somewhat ashamed and spat through gritted teeth.

By this time, they had already seen through the situation. Yingzhou had long since colluded with the Dingnan Army, and from the very beginning, they had been prepared to go to war with the Jurchens.

Wanyan Xiyin, who had been stationed in Datong Prefecture for a long time, was the one who should be held responsible. Under his very nose, the Dingnan Army, a thousand miles away, subdued a local tyrant.

Yingzhou Prefecture is now like a nail, wedged into the road of Zonghan's western army's southward advance.

Not only did this cause Zong Han to lose face, but the Eastern Route Army had already begun its southward march from Pinglu.

The entire Western Route Army was furious. They had attacked the western border of the Liao Dynasty and conquered the largest territory they had ever seen, but it was all barren land.

They endured the most hardship, fought the most battles, and gained the least. Meanwhile, the Eastern Route Army, led by Zong Wang, destroyed the Liao Dynasty's fertile eastern territories, including the vast and prosperous Liaodong region.

They had hoped to reverse the situation by invading the Song Dynasty from the south, but unexpectedly, the Dingnan Army rose up and came to block their way.

Looking at the map, the Dingnan Army was located in the northwest of the Song Dynasty. It was almost impossible for them to fight their way to the east, and they could not affect the southward advance of the Eastern Route Army at all.

However, they happened to run into the Jurchen western army led by Zonghan.

Moreover, judging from the current battle situation, the Dingnan Army is not coming to interrupt the two armies' southward invasion; they are not marching hastily to block the various battlefields.

Instead, they would take over each place they conquered, as if they were out expanding their territory.

Meng Nuan, clad in heavy armor and with her hand on the sword at her waist, laughed loudly before coldly staring at the approaching wave of thousands of people.

When Wanyan Xiyin arrived, the Jurchen Tartars, having failed in their sneak attack, began to use the nearby populace to attack the city.

They've developed a path dependency; they always do it this way first, and after some die, the enemy loses their courage, while they become even more excited at the sight of blood.

Dozens of carts moved hesitantly, growing larger and larger in sight. Eventually, the faces of the people at the very front were almost visible.

Meng Nuan drew her sword, stood straight against the cold wind, and glanced at the Jurchen army arrayed on the hill in the distance. Her gaze fell on the two black banners.

Beside him, dozens of his most loyal and trusted confidants watched Meng Nuan nervously, waiting for him to give orders.

"Those Jurchen Tartars, do they really think they're invincible? We brothers have horses and men. In this chaotic world, whoever we side with will be favored! Why do we have to live under the clutches of these Jurchen devils?"

"Holding Yingzhou is a sure path to great wealth and power. Just wait and see!"

Beneath two black banners fluttering in the wind, Yin Shuke and Wanyan Xiyin stood side by side on horseback. Their gazes were both fixed on the foremost city wall of the administrative center.

Yin Shuke stared for a long time, then asked someone beside him who recognized the flag before raising his whip and saying to Wanyan Xiyin, "The commander of this fortress is Meng Nuan. After the Liao people were defeated, these local strongmen took the opportunity to seize the administrative center. Most of them surrendered to us, but only Meng Nuan is still guarding this strategic location."

Wanyan Xiyin said "Oh" and laughed, "Those garrison troops in the city are definitely remnants of the Liao people. Their morale is low, and they're not very useful. As long as we successfully capture the first few fortresses, the city itself will fall into chaos. If this Meng fellow is smart, he should surrender sooner rather than later, and he'll surely be rewarded with something."

"Yinshuke, you've been ordered by the Emperor to lead the vanguard, so don't disappoint him. We Jurchens have so many brave warriors, yet the Emperor has chosen you; it's truly enviable!"

Hearing the sarcasm in Xi Yin's words, Yin Shuke sneered: "I was valued by the emperor not because of luck, Xi Yin, just you wait and see... I actually hope he doesn't surrender, so I can kill for days and kill thousands of people. How can I keep these barbarians in check? We need to have a good fight and clean things up before this place truly belongs to us Jurchens."

Xi Yin nodded. "Yin Shuke, you already know how to defend these places and truly turn them into our Jurchen territory. This alone surpasses most Jurchen men."

"I don't need your praise."

Wanyan Xiyin laughed heartily, not caring at all. He waved his hand, signaling his men to drive the survivors to their deaths, thus depleting the defenders' arrows and equipment.

Next to the Yingzhou government seat, there were several fortified villages guarding the perimeter, all of which were now in a state of high alert, preparing for battle.

Not far behind Fort A, on Fort B, the garrison commander Liu Zhi watched everything with equal tension, glancing at the approaching wave of people and then at the commotion on Fort A.

Sweat was already beading on his forehead. This military officer was a veteran who used to serve in Datong Prefecture. He had escaped to Mengnuan and was taken in.

As the wave of people drew ever closer, the Jurchen knights leading the procession reined in their horses and stopped them outside the range of their bows and crossbows.

The captives being driven by them did not stop and continued to move forward, already within the range of the crossbows.

Thousands of people approached silently and numbly, the only sound being the sound of footsteps crunching through the mud. The scene was enough to send chills down one's spine.

Liu Zhi looked around, about to order the arrows to be fired, when he saw the newly recruited soldiers looking at each other, their hands and feet trembling.

Even the key figures who brought Yingzhou back never stopped looking back at themselves.

Even a seasoned general like Liu Zhi couldn't help but hesitate at this moment.

With a single command from me, a massacre ensues! In battle, soldiers and generals fight, and death is no object. But now, the Jurchen Tartars are using me to slaughter the people of Yingzhou!
He was a military officer in Datong Prefecture of the Liao Dynasty. These people were also Liao people before, and since they had been stationed in Yingzhou for some time, they inevitably had to interact with the local people.

Urging for supplies and requisitioning grain and fodder, the people received them with respect and courtesy, bowing and scraping as they begged for survival, thus establishing a meager relationship.

Liu Zhi knew how difficult life was for ordinary people in this chaotic world, and now, looking down, he could still see a few familiar faces.

The more I look, the more familiar I feel with everyone; everyone seems familiar.

Every human being should have some humanity and compassion.

But what can we do now? We can only blame this blind, wicked God!

Liu Zhi's eyes reddened, he raised his hand, and the word "release the arrow" was stuck in his mouth, but he couldn't get it out.

At the Yingzhou capital, Meng Nuan, looking at the approaching sea of ​​people, gritted her teeth and said, "What are we waiting for? Fire the arrows!"

Dozens of his trusted men instinctively fired their arrows and crossbow bolts upon receiving the order, while the ballistae on the fortress also unleashed their large bolts. The sound of bolts piercing the air was piercing and mournful.

Seeing the arrows being fired from the Yingzhou government office, Liu Zhi closed his eyes and waved his hand forcefully.
-
The battle for Yingzhou has lasted for three days.

In the nearby dense forest, four people lay prone in the grass, keeping a close eye on the battle below.

Each of them wore a right-fastening cloth jacket, made of coarse cloth with large holes.

Her messy hair was tied up on top of her head, adorned with a wooden hairpin, and her face was ashen.

As long as they don't speak, everyone will probably just think of them as ordinary people hiding from the Jurchens' search and capture.

The young man in the lead couldn't hide his Hebei accent when he opened his mouth.

"Brother, I really can't stand it anymore. Let's go back and report to Grand Commandant Wang."

"That Meng Nuan is no human being!"

The young man took a deep breath and slowly waved his hand: "He is right. If the city is breached, even more people will die."

The young man at the head of the group was Yue Fei, who served under Wang Bing.

Because the battle of Yingzhou is directly related to Taiyuan, once the Jurchen Tartars capture the capital of Yingzhou, they will definitely use Yingzhou as a base to begin their southward invasion.

The towns near Wutai Mountain in Hedong were the first to be hit, but those towns were too small to stop the Jurchens.

They can quickly surround Taiyuan.

Wang Bing sent people to this place to gather military intelligence, and Yue Fei was one of them.

The three men he brought with him were his fellow villagers and friends who had come to join him after he joined the army.

They are: Wang Gui, Xu Qing, and Yao Zheng.

This small group cautiously made their way north along the road, fearing they might encounter a large contingent of Jurchen scouts. These men rode two horses each, moving swiftly like the wind; once discovered, they would have no chance of escape.

To their surprise, there were no scouts along the way. They arrived in Yingzhou early and then witnessed this scene.

Xu Qing stared blankly at the horrific scene before him, muttering to himself, "How can we let these Tartars march south? How can we let them march south?"

They were all from Xiangzhou, but now they were defending Hedong, where the situation was even worse than in Hedong.

Yue Fei also looked solemn. Although these people in front of him were all Liao people.

However, Yingzhou was one of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, and more than half of its inhabitants were Han Chinese.

Even though these people were of a different race, the brutality they suffered was enough to make one's scalp crawl.

However, he was naturally more composed than others. Unlike Xu Qing, he simply said in a low voice, "Wait a little longer. I think Meng Nuan has a very methodical approach to defending the city. Perhaps he can really hold out. If he holds out, Wanyan Zonghan won't have to wait long."

“I’m afraid their army will force its way south through the mud, so I must persuade Grand Commandant Wang to send troops to rescue Yingzhou.”

Anyone with even a basic understanding of military strategy knows that when attacking Hedong, Yingzhou must be captured; it is not a place that can be bypassed.

Yingzhou was equivalent to the "gate bolt" in northern Shanxi.

Geographically, it is located at the confluence of the Sanggan River and the Yellow River, controlling the vital passage from the Datong Basin to Yanmen Pass.

The Jurchen western army could only take two routes south: one was to march directly to Taiyuan via Yunzhong-Yingzhou-Yanmen Pass; the other was to detour through Shuozhou and break through from the flank.

If they could control Yingzhou, they could block the first main road, forcing the Jin army to take the more rugged western route.

Meanwhile, on the western front, in Shuozhou, the Yinzhou troops are currently fighting the Jurchens for control of the city and its surrounding areas. With the large army entering Shuozhou during the flood season, the transportation of supplies will be a major problem.

That's when we truly stepped into the mud.

Therefore, Yingzhou is as important as the "King of the Hill" in Go—gaining this one stone can bring the whole game to life. (End of Chapter)