You have truly caused me great suffering!

The camp of the Southern Expeditionary Army was filled with the smell of medicine.

Some of the recruited military doctors were indeed local healers with many years of experience, while others were simply filling in the ranks without proper qualifications.

In the Song Dynasty today, there was no systematic training for barefoot doctors.

Many folk healers are actually just charlatans.

On the contrary, those who sell medicine generally have a good understanding of pathology and pharmacology, so they are relatively reliable.

However, once the leading doctors developed the prescription, it was not difficult for them to decoct the medicine and grind it into pills.

Wu Jie gathered his generals in his tent to discuss matters and spoke first: "Since we entered Jiaozhi, we have gone down the river and repeatedly defeated the enemy. I have observed that the Li Dynasty's troops are not as fierce as the officials and people of Quang Nam have described."

Wang Xi said, "General Wu is right, it's time to divide our forces."

Wu Jie brought 30,000 soldiers and 20,000 auxiliary soldiers with him, and also received 30,000 Yunnan horses and 10,000 laborers from Dali.

“Alright, let’s divide our forces into five groups and continue down the Red River. Before, we gathered our troops like a fist, but now we’ll divide them like a palm and push them along the river.”

"Yang Zheng, Wang Xi, Li Shiyan, Ma Xizhong."

"The end will be here."

"Each of you lead your troops to expand to both sides, spread out the battle lines, and advance towards Thang Long. Do not be too far apart from each other, and be able to support each other."

"As ordered!"

Looking at the map, Wu Jie said, "The foundation of the Joseon Dynasty lies in this Red River Plain, just like Xingling was to the Western Bandits back then. If we take Xingling, the Western Bandits will have no choice but to flee into the Helan Mountains and wait to die. Now, as long as we destroy all the wealthy prefectures and counties along the way, the Joseon Dynasty and its officials will be finished. Even if they flee into the mountains, they will be killed by the barbarians."

Over the years, the Joseon Dynasty has been tyrannical and bullying people here, kicking and shoving them.

If they lost their foundation, it would be tantamount to being sentenced to death. That's why they were desperate and recruited a million people to dig trenches and build walls to wear down the Southern Expeditionary Army.

After the troops were divided, the army moved again, with Wu Jie's force heading straight for Fengdao Prefecture outside the Gates of Hell.

Although it's called a prefecture, this place is located in the Central Plains and is only about the size of a town.

Outside Fengdao City, moats and fences have been built to besiege the city, and craftsmen are busy felling trees to build various siege weapons.

Wu Jie did not order a siege because the city had water gates and the Joseon Dynasty had a navy. Building fortifications before attacking a city was a tradition of their Northwest Army, although it seemed somewhat conservative.

But Wu Jie did not stop him. He felt that he should not underestimate his enemy and should just continue fighting according to the usual tactics.

Building fortifications can also prevent the people in the city from suddenly rushing out to counterattack and destroy their siege equipment.

The place where they were stationed was originally a very prosperous port on the trade routes of the Joseon Dynasty.

Lu Zhigen, who was grinding pills, was the owner of a pharmacy in Guizhou, Guangnan.

When the Southern Expeditionary Army recruited military doctors in Guangnan, he sold his property and brought medicine for preventing malaria and treating external injuries to enlist.

It wasn't that he was particularly patriotic or had high ideals, but rather that his only son was killed by Joseon soldiers when he was buying medicinal herbs in Yongzhou in his early years.

Over the years, he has been heartbroken, and because of his advanced age, although he has taken several concubines, he has never had any children.

Upon hearing that the army was going to conquer the Joseon Dynasty, he seemed to have become decades younger and immediately poured all his wealth into joining them.

Wu Jie naturally welcomed such a person and put him in charge of the camp's medical staff.

Upon seeing Wu Jie approach, Lü Zhigen stepped forward and said, "Commander Wu!"

"What's the matter?"

“This area used to be an important place for the Joseon Dynasty, connecting the North River and Haiyang. There were many merchants and travelers, and many pharmacies. When I went to collect herbs today, I discovered something that I was about to report to Commander Wu.”

Lu Zhigen lowered his voice and said, "There are unusually few hemostatic herbs here. It's obvious that the people are hiding wounded soldiers."

Wu Jie turned slightly to the side, thought for a moment, and then nodded to the deputy general beside him.

The lieutenant immediately grabbed his weapon, mounted his horse, gathered his men, and began clearing the area.

Wherever the Southern Expeditionary Army went, they would spread the word that if a village had a single person hiding a wounded soldier, the entire village would be massacred; if a town had a single household hiding a wounded soldier, the entire town would be massacred.

A hint of pleasure flashed in Lü Zhigen's eyes, but he quickly lowered his head to hide it.

In fact, he didn't need to. What Wu Jie wanted was to wipe out the Red River Plain, the heartland of the Joseon Dynasty.

Otherwise, even if we occupy this place in the future, there will still be endless troubles. The people here are very arrogant and hate the Central Plains.

Moreover, they were the beneficiaries of the Joseon Dynasty's massacre of Quang Nam, and the Red River Plain was the stronghold of the Joseon Dynasty's gentry.

Which of their households did not have slaves captured from Guangnan? Which family did not have able-bodied men serving as soldiers for the Joseon Dynasty's invasion of the Song Dynasty?

So regardless of whether what Lü Zhigen said was true or false, as long as someone reported it, the Southern Expeditionary Army would start killing in the vicinity.

Doing these things made it very easy for them to carry out their campaign against Wu Jie's forces in Jiaozhi.

Back when they were fighting the Uyghurs in Xizhou, Chen Shao didn't have much money at the time, so he allocated all his military funds to supply the silver.

Wu Jie had to find a solution on his own. He collaborated with Xiao Ting from the caravan to capture the people of Xizhou and sell them.

Castrated boys were in high demand and were often sold to Arab nobles along with jade.

At that time, the caravans had not yet been weakened. When the caravans fought, they were even more ferocious than the regular army, and were notorious in the Western Regions.

They personally taught Wu Jie's salt soldiers how to capture slaves, how to castrate them, and how to systematically search for, escort, and manage them.
Later, when fighting against the Tibetans in Qinghai and Tibet, the Prince of Dai directly stated that climate change was causing a decline in barley production, and that the Tibetans would eventually rebel if they went hungry. Therefore, he directly ordered the Tibetans to be captured and brought back to the eleven prefectures of Dingnan, and assigned to various fortresses to work.

Wu Jie's troops resumed their old ways and wiped out the Tibetan people of Qinghai and Tibet.

Now, all they do is kill and sell out, all to completely destroy the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty in the Red River Plain, eradicate its descendants, and prevent any possibility of its resurgence.

Although the camp was very noisy, filled with the sounds of saws cutting wood, clanging and banging, and the shouts and songs of the men from Northwest China as they worked.

But Lü Zhigen felt he had never been so happy in his life, especially after his eldest son died. He had been living in a daze, his life tasteless and meaningless.

At that time, the Joseon Dynasty was a dominant power in the southwest, and the Song Dynasty, through constant appeasement, dared not attack. This left him with no hope of revenge and he became increasingly depressed. Fortunately, the Southern Expeditionary Army arrived and recruited military doctors, and he even managed to join their ranks.

He felt that this was a blessing from heaven.

Lu Zhigen used to be a ruthless businessman, only interested in profit. He wouldn't sell even a single ounce of medicine cheaply if a poor person was dying. He thought about it carefully for a long time, but he couldn't figure out what good deeds he had done to deserve such great blessings.

After much thought, he realized that the people of Jiaozhi were even worse than himself, so Heaven sent him to punish them.

Wu Jie walked around the camp, pointed to the large fortifications ahead, and said, "The enemy is building a defensive line along the river. We lack a navy. Although we can build boats, I'm afraid we'll suffer heavy losses if we rashly flood the area. After we capture Fengdao Prefecture, we'll advance a few miles eastward and create a breach!"

The staff officer Liu Zhong said, "A few days ago, I led some men to explore this area. Don't underestimate Jiaozhi, a small state; its city walls are quite strong."

"Throughout history, troops that are not good at field battles can still fight when defending a city if they are commanded properly."

Wu Jie said, "No matter what kind of city it is, it is always guarded by people, and it all depends on the people."

Liu Zhong didn't argue much. He nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

The group inspected the city's fortifications for a while longer. When dusk fell, the deputy general Tian Weizhong returned, covered in blood. Many soldiers carried poultry around their waists, and there were others herding pigs and sheep behind them.

Wu Jie didn't say much and let them improve their meals.

Back at their camp, there were only a few lonely tile-roofed houses; all the other houses around had been demolished.

The walls were made of rammed earth, and the furniture was mostly made of bamboo. The simple central military headquarters contained maps, files, and paper and pens.

Wu Jie looked at the pictures hanging on the wall for a while. At this moment, Tian Weizhong, who had cleaned himself of the bloodstains, came in, clasped his hands and said, "General Wu, the enemy is defending along the Yangtze River. They must be trying to delay our progress, make us run out of food, or wait for the rainy season next year, so that we will retreat without a fight due to the plague and rain."

In my humble opinion, it would be better to launch a cavalry assault on Thang Long and capture the king first! Once we've surrounded Thang Long, the Ly Dynasty troops will rush to our aid from all directions without us even needing to search for him. Then we can defeat them one by one!

"Don't be arrogant." Wu Jie frowned and said, "The situation is not as smooth as you think. Their tactics are indeed stalling, and this is only the beginning."

Wu Jie traced lines on the map and continued, "Yongtai and Wanchun have the most enemy troops. We have two routes to take to capture Shenglong. If we go west, we'll reach the two places mentioned above, which have many cities and troops. We can attack key towns along the way. The advantage is that if we can capture these cities, we can open up the confluence of the Baihe River and the Dajiang River. The Dajiang River is narrower here, making it easier to cross."

If they head east, the downstream river widens, and the main force of the Ly Dynasty's navy is located there, making a naval battle across the river a difficult one. However, if they can cross the river from this point, they can bypass their fortified cities and naval strongholds and directly approach Thang Long Fortress.

"Only then can we besiege the enemy's stronghold and lure them in to come to their aid, and then defeat them one by one."

Tian Weizhong stepped forward, looked at the map, and asked, "General Wu, should we go east or west?"

"We're not good at naval warfare," Wu Jie sighed. Actually, if they went east, they could win quickly, but they would need to win the naval battle.

"Let's capture the city instead. Our soldiers are better at siege warfare than naval battles."

Tian Weizhong laughed and said, "It's a pity that the Prince of Dai didn't give us many of those bronze cannons. I heard that those things were very impressive in the north, and they stunned Guo Yaoshi's Ever Victorious Army. These Yue people, don't be fooled by their poor armor and arrows, they are quite good at building cities."

"When we attack the city in the future, I am willing to be the vanguard and seize the credit for being the first to scale the walls!"

Wu Jie could sense the restlessness in his subordinates' words. They had missed the chance to go north and gain military merits, and with the Prince of Dai about to ascend the throne, they might very well be inferior to others in the future.

The entire army was thinking of destroying the Joseon Dynasty before the King of Dai declared himself emperor, so as to celebrate the new king's victory in the destruction of the country!
He paced back and forth in the room. “Everyone must be patient. A victory now would be the icing on the cake, but if we are careless and suffer even a small defeat, it will upset the King of Dai and the people of the world.”

“Therefore, we should prioritize stability and proceed step by step. Don’t think that just because this war is about destroying a country, it will last a long time.” Wu Jie walked to the map, pointed at it, and said, “The Joseon Dynasty is small, at most smaller than the Central Plains. Our battlefield is only on both sides of the Red River.”

"Even if we maintain a steady pace, we can still conquer it within a few months. As far as I know, the Prince of Dai needs to make many preparations before he can declare himself emperor, and it will take some time."

Wu Jie himself was aware of this, but the four armies he sent out did not have these concerns.

They played with the most unrestrained and aggressive style possible.

Ten days after the troops were divided, Wu Jie was still thinking about how to attack Fengdao Prefecture, while the other forces had completely forgotten what he had said about not being too far apart.

Yang Zheng had already started building ships on the Tuojiang River in preparation for naval warfare; some people were even trying to build pontoon bridges to cross the river.

Wang Xi was the most radical. He was originally only allocated 8,000 troops, but he further subdivided them and sent them to attack in all directions.

These eight thousand men were almost entirely barbarian soldiers, mainly Tanguts. They fought entirely in the Jurchen style, capturing prisoners wherever they went. They burned all the houses, drove the Joseon people to attack their own cities, and filled the moats with lives.

These Joseon people were forced to carry a bag of soil to the city walls, throw it into the moat, and run back; otherwise, they would be shot dead.

The Jurchen Tartars' methods are straightforward; they just require a bit of ruthlessness. Previously, they were bound by military law, but this time, the proclamation and the Prince of Dai's orders made it very clear that this battle was motivated by revenge.

We were going to use swift and decisive measures to avenge the people of Guangnan, knowing that everyone in Yongzhou and Qinzhou hated the Li Dynasty to the core.

Furthermore, after Wu Jie entered Yue, his attitude was ambiguous, and he basically didn't care about these matters, which gradually emboldened the military officers.

After splitting up their forces, they dared to use any means necessary.

Li Shiyan pursued a policy of appeasement, constantly sending people to sow discord and incite armed rebellions that were already at odds with the Joseon Dynasty.

The actions of other factions further enhanced his deterrent power, leading to the surrender of many tribes and generals.

Everyone speaks Chinese, so there isn't a deep barrier between them. Seeing that the Central Plains' southern expeditionary force is indeed powerful, many ambitious people have also started to think about replacing the Li family.

The best way to replace the Li family is, of course, to cling to the powerful forces of the Central Plains.

Li Shiyan then used Jiaozhi people to fight Jiaozhi people, and the effect was outstanding.

Jiaozhi was not a large place to begin with, and the fighting was along the Red River. Wu Jie knew all about the things his subordinates who had been sent out to fight.

But he ignored it.

With the Prince of Dai about to declare himself emperor, he certainly needed to be cautious, but Wu Jie felt that being cautious all the way was enough.

As long as you don't act rashly, there won't be any major problems. Even if other lanes fail, you can still provide support.

Even if he were the only one left to fight, he would still be confident in continuing.

As for the other forces, if they actually achieve victories and can reach Thang Long City as soon as possible to celebrate the King's ascension to the throne, that would naturally be the best outcome.

Wu Jie is just playing it safe; it doesn't mean he doesn't want a quick victory.

If possible, he would rather than anyone else take all the prisoners of the Joseon royal family to Bianliang to present the victory report. (End of this chapter)