Chapter 68: Easy Water Flows

  The final battle site that brothers have been guessing for a long time is right here!

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  Jin Donglu led his army northward, with hundreds of thousands of men and horses. After resting in Zhending Prefecture for three days, they set out again on April 29th.

  On May 3rd, entered Zhongshan, rested for a while and then continued on the journey.

  On May 7, arrived at Baizhou, the army stayed in Baizhou city for two days. Originally planned to set out on the 9th, but unexpectedly a sudden heavy rain caused the Jin army to be delayed for three whole days. Until May 11, the weather cleared up, and the ground also dried hard, tens of thousands of troops were able to start marching slowly.

  It was this heavy rain that brought about a major reversal of fortune for the hundreds of thousands of troops and many high-ranking generals of the Jin army.

  Perhaps it was fate, the heavy rain a month ago added countless grievances to the women of Song Dynasty, and the banks of the Wan River were shrouded in a tragic human song. And what will another heavy rain bring to the perpetrators of this tragedy a month later?

  From Baoding northbound, via Guangxin Army and Ansui Army, then exit the Great Wall mouth, this section of road is not long, only 70 or 80 miles. But just these short dozens of miles of road, there are many rivers distributed, among which there are several larger ones, such as Xuhu River, Caohe River, Baohu River and so on. Due to the heavy rain in recent days, the original wooden bridges on these rivers were mostly washed away by the surging river water.

  Normally, before the Jin army sets out on a campaign, they would send out an advance party to scout out the route, and then dispatch another group of Alixi auxiliary troops, who would use mules or ox carts to transport various tools for building bridges and paving roads. They would set up pontoon bridges or repair the roads in advance, so as not to delay the entire army's march.

  However, at this time it was slightly different. The Jin army had been delayed for too long and was eager to get on the road. Therefore, shortly after dispatching the vanguard scouts and auxiliary troops, the main army set off in a hurry. When the main army arrived at the Xu River, due to the sudden surge in river water, the difficulty of setting up the pontoon bridge increased, and it wasn't even done yet. As a result, the hundreds of thousands of troops had no choice but to set up camp on the spot to rest. After waiting for half a day, the pontoon bridge was finally set up, and the main army continued to advance. With this stop-and-go progress, the 70-80 li journey actually took three days.

  On May 14th, at one o'clock in the morning (around 8 am), the large army of Jin Dong Road marched north out of the Great Wall Pass for over ten miles and arrived at the banks of the Yi River.

  The Yi River, almost every Chinese knows it. The sentence "The wind is blowing gently, the Yi River is cold, the brave warrior has gone and will not return" has been echoing for thousands of years.

  But from a geographical perspective, Yi Shui is just an ordinary river. The river is divided into three sections: the northern section south of Yi Zhou is called Bei Yi Shui, which flows east to Ju Ma He and is also known as Zhong Yi Shui; the southern section that turns south and flows into Xiong Zhou is called Nan Yi Shui. Historically, Jing Ke's assassination attempt on Qin was carried out along the northern section of Yi Shui. The Yi Shui we usually refer to is this northern section.

  However, when history arrived at the Northern Song Dynasty, this ordinary river in geographical location had an extraordinary significance.

  The Northern Song Dynasty had been fighting with the Liao State over the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun since its founding by Emperor Taizu of Song. The fuse that led to the downfall of the Northern Song was also related to the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun. Yi County was one of them. The Yi River, which is only about five miles south of Yi County, was one of the boundary lines between the two countries in the north.

  Simply put, south of the Yi River is the traditional territory of the Song Dynasty; while north of the Yi River, on the northern shore, is the former territory of the Liao Dynasty - which has now been completely taken over by the Jin Dynasty.

  One river divides two countries.

  When the Jin army arrived at the south bank of the Yi River, a spacious pontoon bridge that could accommodate four horses to pass through side by side had already been set up on the rolling river surface. The official in charge of setting up this pontoon bridge, Wang Jian, the governor of Yizhou Prefecture, also personally brought large quantities of wine and food to welcome the Jin army.

  Zong Wang stood tall on horseback, gazing at the majestic mountains stretching along the northern bank of Yi River, and let out a long sigh: "Finally back home..."

  Following the Jin Donglu Jun Shuai, there were a group of Jin army generals: Wanyan Xiyin, Wuzhu, Sai Li, She Yema, Xie Bao, Wanyan Yaoshi, A Ti Ji... and a large number of Meng'an and Mouke.

  Wanyan Xiyin couldn't help but sigh: "Yes, our great army has been fighting since last September, and after countless battles, we have finally brought down the Song Dynasty. The Right Vice General's achievement is truly remarkable, and it can be said that it will comfort the spirit of Taizu in heaven."

  Zong Wang looked back at the endless army behind him, shaking his head slightly: "Compared to my merits, what I am more pleased with is that after destroying a dynasty, I can still bring so many Jurchen men back safely."

  Wuzong couldn't help but interrupt: "Second imperial brother is right, our Jurchen population is not large and cannot withstand significant losses. Unlike the southerners, a single route of theirs has a population equivalent to that of our entire Jurchen tribe." At this time, Wuzong was less than thirty years old, with a resolute face and a calm and brave character, making him a very satisfactory deputy for Zongwang.

  Xie Li spat on the ground with disdain and said, "No matter how many piglets a pig gives birth to, they are still pigs! The southerners are weak, one hundred of them can't even defeat one Jurchen woman. They have a lot of people? That's perfect for us to make them our slaves, heh heh, the more slaves our Great Jin Empire has, the better."

  Wanyan Xiyin looked at Zong Wang and Wuzhu, laughing: "The two princes are indeed worthy of being close brothers, and even more so as heroes of the Jurchen people. Just like what those southerners say, 'heroes see things in a similar way'. Hahaha..."

  It should be noted here that in some historical materials and later literary and film works, Wanyan Zongwang (Hanzhi) and Wanyan Zongbiao (Wuzhu) are often referred to as the "Second Crown Prince" and "Fourth Crown Prince", which is obviously a misnomer. These are absurd things created by those Mongolian slaves (_The History of Song_ and _The History of Jin_ were compiled by people of the Yuan Dynasty). If this was called in the Central Plains dynasty, that person would have been killed long ago. The crown prince is the heir to the throne, and it must be certain and only one. Before this crown prince dies, it is impossible for a second crown prince to emerge.

  In the Jin Dynasty, a regime of alien nationality, there was no possibility of any crown prince. Although these two brothers were indeed the sons of Wanyan Aguda, they never had the qualification to inherit the throne. In the early days of the Jin Dynasty, the mode of succession to the throne among the Jurchen people was still the traditional "brother dies and brother succeeds" system. For example, after Aguda's death, his brother Wuqimai succeeded him, who is now Emperor Taizong of Jin. At that time, the crown prince was another brother of Aguda: Wanyan Zongwang.

  Wanyan Xie, at the time served as the Hanban Baojielie of the Jin Dynasty, and this "Hanban Baojielie" was second only to the Emperor of the Jin Dynasty himself. It's a high position that is one person below and millions of people above. Moreover, this "Hanban Baojielie" is very special, equivalent to the position of Crown Prince in the Central Plains dynasty, which can only be held by the heir apparent, otherwise it would rather be left vacant than let unqualified people take the position randomly. In other words, any next emperor of the Jin Dynasty must hold this Hanban Baojielie position, just like the British heir apparent must have the title of "Prince of Wales".

  In fact, among the sixteen sons of Jin Taizu Wanyan Aguda, not one son eventually became the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, which cannot be said to be a strange thing.

  When they saw the glittering Yi River, not only did the high-ranking generals of the Jin army sigh, but even ordinary Jin soldiers couldn't help cheering in waves.

  This is what it feels like for a warrior returning home from a long expedition.

  Although the Jin army fought fiercely against the Song Dynasty, launching attacks on both the eastern and western fronts, capturing several routes including Hebei East and West, Hedong, Jingji, Jingxi, Jingbei, Yongxingjun, and taking control of the entire Central Plains region. They also took advantage of the situation to destroy a dynasty. However, the high-level officials of the Jin Dynasty showed little interest in the territory of the Song Dynasty, or perhaps they had some interest but lacked sufficient manpower to occupy and govern it.

  So neither Jin nor his army considered the places they conquered along the way as their own territory, still regarding the north bank of Yi River as their home and the south bank as enemy territory.

  The homeland is in sight, and there is also a wide and flat road ahead. Time is ample. At the moment, with a single order from General Zong, the whole army begins to cross the river.

  Crossing the river had always been a time-consuming and laborious task for medieval armies, especially for a large army with heavy equipment. Although there was a wide and stable floating bridge, with sturdy cowhide ropes on both sides, such a huge flow of people and animals could not avoid chaos and congestion, and from time to time, people, horses and cattle fell into the water. In such a rushing current, once fallen in, it was impossible to rescue - of course, the Jurchen-led army had no interest in rescuing, this looting gain was too much, this loss was negligible.

  It continued until the second watch of Shen (5 pm), when hundreds of thousands of people and horses had already crossed more than half. After crossing the bridge, they continued northward, and twenty miles ahead was Yi State.

  At this time, the sun's shadow is westward, the evening clouds gather from all sides, and another dusk has arrived...