Chapter Thirty-Eight: Dark Clouds over Pingzhou

  Three days later, the summer sun was still scorching, and the gentle breeze could not dispel the intense heat of summer. The air seemed to be burning as it rose between heaven and earth. Although the imperial guards were already drenched in sweat at this time, no one went to wipe away their sweat. Twenty thousand imperial guards stood sternly on the drill ground, holding guns and shields.

  Zhao Kuang stood on the high platform, wearing armor and holding a wine bowl. Cai Jing brought up a wine jug and filled the bowl to the brim. Zhao Kuang declared in a loud voice: "Today our great army sets out, carrying the power of heaven and earth, the mandate of the sun and moon, to protect my home, rescue my people, may heaven and earth bless us with victory in battle, success in every endeavor! Generals, do you remember that poem?"

  "The Imperial Forest Iron Army, wielding long spears, tearing through the heavens. Blood can flow, lives can pass, but what is left of the army's soul?"

  Destroy the enemy first, restore the rivers and mountains. If you ask about this moment, now, the rivers and mountains are broken, and millions of forbidden troops have restored the mountains and rivers." Tens of thousands of soldiers shouted out at the same time, with a momentum like a rainbow, shocking people's hearts.

  "Right, you must remember your mission. Even if we fight until only one of us is left, we cannot abandon our faith. Now I order the 20,000 Imperial Guards to be reorganized into the Imperial Forest Army, with General Liang as the commander and Zhang Yue as the vanguard." Liang Fangxu and Zhang Yue stepped forward to receive the military symbol, while Zhao Yin held up a wine cup and took a step forward, saying loudly: "This first cup of wine is offered to heaven, praying for our army's victory." After finishing speaking, he poured the wine onto the ground.

  Cai Jing immediately refilled the sea bowl again.

  "This second cup of wine is for you, General. May our army be invincible." He poured the wine onto the ground again.

  "This third glass of wine is for our deceased brothers, let them see us pursuing their dreams."

  After Zhao Yun finished drinking, he smashed the wine bowl to the ground, and it shattered into pieces. He drew his sword and shouted loudly: "Let's set off!"

  Twenty thousand troops marched in neat formation, slowly advancing. Among these twenty thousand imperial guards, many were from the Invincible Army. After experiencing another bloody battle at Yan Mountain Prefecture, these veteran soldiers who survived the hail of bullets and arrows became even more formidable. Zhang Yue was one of them, standing out from the Invincible Army. He was handsome, had a beautiful writing style, and was well-versed in both literature and martial arts. Originally, he came from a prominent family in the capital, with a promising future ahead of him. However, when he heard that the Jin State invaded the Great Song Dynasty's borders, he became enraged and gave up his chance to become a top scholar. He also rejected his arranged marriage and joined the army at Yan Mountain Prefecture. Zhang Yue's father was furious and disowned him, declaring "The Zhang family has no such son."

  Because Zhang Yue's face was too white and clean, he feared that his comrades would look down on him and be unable to intimidate the enemy, so he wore a fierce mask. In this battle to defend Yan Mountain Prefecture, he fought bravely and repeatedly repelled the Jin army's attacks within his own defensive area. After the war, he was wounded in seven places and almost didn't survive. When Zhao Song treated him, although Zhang Yue was dizzy from excessive blood loss, he still shouted "Defend the city, defend the city."

  This time, Zhao Jiong originally wanted to leave Zhang Yue in Yanshan Prefecture to recuperate. However, Zhang Yue suddenly picked up his steel spear and began dancing with it on the drill ground, causing his wound to burst open and bleed profusely. He only stopped when Zhao Jiong agreed to take him along. As a result, Zhao Jiong was scolded by Xu Shuwei, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, leaving Zhao Jiong feeling rather depressed.

  Grain and fodder are transported slowly, it is often said that the army has not moved, but grain and fodder have already been transported. Now, just out of Yanmen Pass, grain can still be transported by carts, but when the troops enter the range of the Jin army's scouts, soldiers can only carry their own grain to prevent being discovered by the enemy.

  A group of officials from Yanshan Prefecture saw off Zhao Yun's army of 20,000 men at the city gate. Before leaving, Zhao Yun whispered a few words to Cai Jing, who immediately promised to complete the task and not betray the trust placed in him.

  The army had just set out when a wounded soldier was brought over. Zhao Yun waved his hand and the entire army came to a halt. He ordered, "The whole army will camp here."

  Zhao Yan recognized at a glance that this was one of the escorts who had sent Wu Caiyun to the Southern Garrison, and his heart skipped a beat. He immediately dismounted and ran over, asking urgently: "Where is Miss Caiyun? Where is General Hou?"

  General Hou brought us to escort Miss Wu to a riverbank, the sky was about to darken, and the river water was rushing, with no bridge. We were waiting for a while to find a boat, but strangely, there were no boatmen around who could ferry us across. Just then, dozens of small boats came rowing up the river, and the leader of the boatmen was an old man. The old man said he would take people across the river and asked for some silver coins as payment.

  "General Hou felt something was off, so he refused, but Miss Wu thought General Hou was being modest and generously took out dozens of taels of silver to give to the boatman. General Hou didn't want to lose face in front of Miss Wu, so he led his men onto the boat, while he himself protected Miss Wu and kept a close eye on the old man rowing the boat. When they reached the middle of the river, the boat suddenly started leaking water, and the rower jumped into the water. General Hou was injured by the old man as he jumped in. At that time, only one person on the boat knew how to swim, so General Hou sent me to inform Your Highness."

  Zhao Yan was already in a state of panic, his back to the blood-soaked soldier, and he trembled slightly as he asked: "Where is the Chao Bai River?"

  "Eighty miles east of here is the Baihe River." The soldier replied immediately.

  Zhao Kan knew this was not the time to be indecisive, and with his back turned to the soldier, he forced a warm tone: "You go down and rest first, take good care of your injuries."

  "I am unworthy of your trust." Suddenly, he drew out the sword from the waist of a nearby general and killed himself with it.

  Zhao Kan felt something was wrong, turned around and before he could even shout the word "slow", that warrior had already spat out blood from his throat and died, leaving only his wide open eyes to express the regret and unwillingness in his heart.

  Zhao Yan clenched his fists and said in a cold voice: "Someone come, bring General Liang here."

  "Give him a lavish burial."

  The guards beside Zhao Yun saw his icy face and their hearts skipped a beat. If Zhao Yun had such an expression, the enemy would definitely be in trouble.

  Liang Fangxu ran over, panting slightly, apparently his injury had not fully recovered.

  "Your Highness, you're looking for me."

  "General Liang, find me a hundred soldiers who can swim, and be quick about it."

  "Your Highness, what is this?"

  "General Liang leads the army to continue advancing, remember not to expose our military's whereabouts." Zhao Yan said in a cold voice.

  "Yes sir." Liang Fangxu clenched his fist and accepted the order.

  Zhao Kan looked at the more than 80 people beside him with great helplessness. Among the army of 20,000, only over 80 people knew how to swim, and he couldn't even guarantee that they would be able to come out alive after entering the river.

  "This time, going forward is a matter of life and death. If one's swimming skills are not excellent, not only will they lose their own life, but also cause their comrades to lose theirs. Those with poor swimming skills must withdraw immediately."

  Zhao Yan said this and more than 20 people quit. Zhao Yan was helpless and thought 'If only I had a water army, that would be great.'

  Zhao Yan was already anxious at this time, thinking to himself '57 people, that's enough.' "Don't delay, each of you bring crossbows and arrows, and a broken blade. Set off in half an hour." Zhao Yan ordered.

  Zhao Kuang returned to the military tent, took out the diving suit, and hung two crossbows with bolts on his body, five hand grenades on his waist, and a dagger shining with cold light behind him. After preparation, Zhao Kuang's eyes flashed with cold light as he led more than 50 men riding horses in a frantic gallop towards the Chao Bai River.

  ZHAO KANG managed to hold onto the eastern line's YANSHANFU, but in the western line's TAIYUAN, disaster has already struck. As early as mid-October, after TONG GUAN received an alert from the HEDONG border region about the frequent movements of the JIN army during this period, his attention gradually shifted from diplomacy to military affairs. At this time, he also began to take action in response to the JIN people's increasingly aggressive stance.

  Several months ago in Taiyuan City, the capital of Shanxi Province

  Tong Guan, a eunuch and the commander of the troops in Bianzhou, was extremely powerful. He led the armies of Hedong alone, which is rarely seen in history. At this time, in the mansion of the prefect of Taiyuan City, many officials were flattering Tong Guan, while those with some integrity remained silent.

  Tong Guan seemed to have already gotten used to the flattery and fawning of local officials, and in a sharp, fine voice said: "As an imperial envoy, I am entrusted by His Majesty with the task of supervising your defense of Hebei. This is a weighty responsibility, so you must all exert yourselves to the utmost."

  "Don't worry, General. The generals of Hedong will surely win every battle under your leadership and defend our land against foreign enemies." A local official flattered.

  "Alright, with Lord Wang's words, I have a bottom line in my heart. However, I think we should send someone to probe the attitude of the Jin people." Tong Guan used his pink handkerchief to wipe his lips that had just been moistened by tea water.

  "Wang Gong rose to his feet and said, 'General Tong, the Jin people are wolves with a wild heart, they will inevitably attack our He Dong. I hope General Tong will prepare defensive equipment as soon as possible to guard the city, there is no need to do this meaningless thing.'"

  "Who are you? How dare you speak to me like that." Tong Guan was somewhat enraged, and he was extremely displeased with Wang Yun for opposing his proposal.

  "In the city of Taiyuan, Wang Yun is still guarding, and he also asked Lord Tong to make early preparations. If not, when the Jin army comes to attack, how can we resist? When the time comes, the city will be dead, what face will we have to face the many people of Taiyuan?" Zhang Xiaochun, who was standing next to Wang Yun, saw that Tong Guan's face looked a bit unsightly, and pulled Wang Yun down.

  "Please don't blame me, Lord Tong. Lord Wang was momentarily enraged. I will go back and severely punish him."

  "Yes, it's time someone taught him some discipline." Tong Guan said calmly.

  Wang Zongyin was furious in his heart, but seeing Zhang Xiaochun's eyes, he made a low voice and came down. After the discussion of the civil and military officials, Tong Guan sent Ma Kuo and Xin Xingzong as envoys to visit Jin, and the two men patted their chests on the temple hall, guaranteeing that they would make the barbarian state surrender under the heavenly power of the Great Song.

  The ostensible mission of the envoy was to negotiate with the Jin state regarding the return of the two provinces, but in reality it was to spy on whether the Jin army had any intention of marching south.

  Ma Kuo's envoy arrived in the Western Capital of Datong, which was under the control of the Jin army. Everywhere, soldiers and horses were on high alert, and the atmosphere was tense. Zong Han ordered the Jin people to treat the Song Dynasty envoy with strict orders, as if they were an enemy country.

  The golden armored soldiers of the Jurchen-led army gazed at the Song Dynasty envoys with eyes filled with contempt, some of their eyes bursting with a fierce light, as if they were about to pounce and slaughter the Song envoys. Although Ma Kuo and Xin Xingzong had guaranteed that they would be in high spirits and full of confidence when they arrived at the Golden Army's military camp, in reality they were extremely fearful.

  The Jin people's attitude towards the Song Dynasty envoy was very cold. At first, they arranged a shabby place to stay, with most of the houses leaking wind. If it were winter, they would probably freeze the Song Dynasty envoys to death before negotiations even began. The food they provided was like pig and dog food. Moreover, under the pretext of being busy with military affairs, they didn't meet for over a dozen days. What's strange is that the Song envoy endured it all quietly.