Chapter 25: Conquering Yanshan Prefecture Four

  Yesterday, the sky was overcast with dark clouds, but no rain fell, which made people marvel. Today's weather is still somewhat oppressive. Cai Jing and other high officials of Yanshan Prefecture are hosting a banquet at Dianjiang Pavilion to see off the soldiers who will be going into battle. Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren stood not far away and did not come forward, but only clasped their fists in greeting to Cai Jing, seemingly with a lot on their minds. Cai Jing filled three cups of wine, but only Guo Yaoshi came forward to accept the farewell wine.

  "Zhang and Liu, what's wrong? Why do you look so troubled and tired?" Cai Jing asked in a low voice.

  "Smiling faintly, Guo said, 'Please excuse them, sir. The two of them caught a chill yesterday and are not feeling well enough to drink wine. I hope the governor will understand.'"

  Cai Jing was filled with contempt for Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren, thinking that they had lost their composure on the eve of a major battle. It wasn't just a minor cold, but rather fear of fighting and fear of death. These generals were indeed unreliable.

  Cai Jing ordered Guo Yao Shi to lead the main force of 45,000 infantry and cavalry of the Song army in Changsheng to intercept the Jin army at Baihe (Tongxian North Canal) east of Yanjing. Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren each led 10,000 imperial guards to set up camps on the mountain roads to block the Jin army's cavalry from coming by land. The order was given for the large army to depart immediately, and tens of thousands of soldiers lined up in formation, holding guns and armor as they marched out of the military camp. Especially the Changsheng army, with its majestic appearance and neat pace, looked like a seasoned veteran army, but unfortunately, what awaited them was an ambush.

  Liang Fangxu went to see off An Yiqi before parting ways. Liang Fangxu received the order to study and survey, not under Cai Jing's command, so he did not participate in this battle. An Yiqi simply said "thank you" and rode away, catching up with the main troops. An Yiqi was just a prepared general and could not depart with the vanguard, only following behind as a guard for the central army. As the two armies parted ways, Guo Yao Shi looked at Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren with profound meaning in his eyes. Zhang Linghui smiled bitterly and bowed, while Liu Shunren walked away with his head down, not looking at Guo Yao Shi. A fierce glint flashed across Guo Yao Shi's eyes as he watched Liu Shunren leave. The two armies split into two routes to defend against the Jin invasion.

  Soon, General Guo led the main force of 45,000 infantry and cavalry of the Song army to arrive at the White River east of Yanjing. General Guo took a look at the river water and saw that it was turbulent and not suitable for crossing. His face suddenly looked a bit ugly, but after hesitating for a moment, he still ordered the bridge on the river to be dismantled. He then returned to the front of the army, mounted his horse, and waited for the arrival of the Jin army. General Guo did not want to leave any handles, so he had to dismantle the bridge.

  Jin Jun looked across the White River and saw tens of thousands of Song soldiers in the distance, with a commander named "Guo" leading them. He remained calm and began to deploy his troops, with archers taking aim at the Song army on the opposite bank. The Jin army stood at attention, while also starting to build a pontoon bridge. The two armies faced off across the White River, with the wind blowing across the land, foreshadowing an imminent war.

  Suddenly, Guo Yao Shi turned to his aide and said, "Pass down my order: retreat twenty li." A senior general, who was already advanced in age, hesitated before stepping forward (his hair had long since turned white, indicating that he was a veteran of the army). He remonstrated, saying, "General, if we do this, our army will lose the strategic advantage of the White River, which would be disadvantageous to us."

  "Bring this man here. He is deceiving the minds of our soldiers and must be a spy for the Jin army. Take him down and execute him immediately." More than ten of Guo Yao Shi's personal soldiers stepped forward and roughly pressed the general to the ground, binding him with ropes and preparing to behead him. The old general did not beg for mercy but instead glared at Guo Yao Shi in anger. Just then, hundreds of imperial guards suddenly charged out from the army formation, pushing back Guo Yao Shi's soldiers. The leader was An Yi Qi. An Yi Qi cut open the ropes and helped the general up, saying: "General, I apologize for your suffering." "You are creating chaos! This is equivalent to a military rebellion, which is punishable by death!" the old man said in a low voice. Guo Yao Shi sneered and took out his military token, commanding the imperial guards to step forward: "Neither of you can escape, both will die. Take them down, if anyone dares to resist, kill them on the spot..."

  The soldiers of the Invincible Army were stirred up and surrounded the Imperial Guards summoned by Guo Yashi, with their weapons pointing directly at them. Guo Yashi's army did not dare to move forward for a moment, and the air seemed to have solidified. Guo Yashi was also somewhat afraid, trying his best to keep his voice from trembling: "Are you all going to rebel? I will temporarily arrest these two and take them back for further action." Upon hearing Guo Yashi's promise, the soldiers of the Invincible Army retreated. To be honest, if they were accused of rebellion, not only would they themselves certainly die, but their families would also be implicated, so no soldier was willing to rebel. After the Invincible Army retreated, Guo Yashi led his Imperial Guards in a rush to confiscate the weapons of the old general and An Yi, putting them all in shackles and sending them to prison carts.

  The old man with the cangue looked at An Yiqi, who was also wearing a cangue, and sighed: "Why must you do this? Do you know that offending Guo Yao Shi is not only unbearable in Yan Shan Fu, but also ruined your future, let alone worrying about your life."

  "I won't regret it, if I don't save General Huang Lao, that's when I'll regret it. Besides, following Guo Yao Shi to fight will surely lead to death, this person has ulterior motives." An Yi Qi smiled slightly, as if the one wearing shackles wasn't himself.

  "I, Huang Chengfu, have spent my whole life in the saddle, I should have died wrapped in horsehide, but unexpectedly I will die in such a humiliating way, it's really unbearable." The old general sighed deeply as he sat in the prisoner's cart.

  "Hold on, General Huang Lao, I believe we still have a thread of life left." He said, looking far away at the Jin army crossing the White River.

  Cai Jing and others waiting for the war report at the prefectural mansion were silent, quietly drinking tea, and the crowd was still calm. "Report." A young scout covered in blood rushed in, "Sir..." Before he could finish speaking, he fainted to the ground. Lu Yi Hao hurriedly went forward to hold the scout, and everyone gathered around. Cai Jing brought over tea water to feed the young scout. Fresh blood slowly dripped down from the scout's body, forming a pool of blood on the ground in no time. The young scout's face was pale, already at his last gasp, struggling to open his eyes, and tremblingly said: "Sir, Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren have... fled without a fight, the east and west strongholds... have been lost, the Jin army cavalry will soon arrive at the White River, hoping that the general will make preparations..." The scout had already died, but his eyes were wide open, very unsatisfied. Lu Yi Hao used his hand to close the scout's eyes. Cai Jing hastily said: "Quickly send for a doctor." Lu Yi Hao waved his hand to stop Cai Jing and solemnly said: "Prefectural governor, please quickly dispatch someone to request support, our calamity is not far off." After finishing speaking, he carried the scout's corpse out of the door. The news that the east and west strongholds had been lost quickly spread throughout the military camp, and everyone sensed the atmosphere of defeat. Many people in the Imperial Guard asked for leave to return home, mostly officials' sons with backgrounds. Those who did not get approval slipped out under the cover of night, and for a time, the military camp was in chaos, no longer resembling the Yan Mountain Prefecture's official army. It wasn't until Cai Jing ordered that anyone who privately left without permission would be killed without pardon that the Imperial Guard's panic was basically brought under control. Liang Fangxu felt very depressed. Although Cai Jing temporarily controlled the entire military camp's frantic emotions, issuing a decree that no one could leave made it impossible for Liang Fangxu to send someone out to deliver a message to Zhao Chen. "I hope Your Highness can judge the timing of the attack." Liang Fangxu secretly said to himself.

  Commander Guo looked into the distance, where tens of thousands of Jin troops had already crossed the White River. His eyes gleamed with fervor and urgency. Suddenly, a deafening rumble shook the earth, growing louder from afar. Seasoned veterans knew this was the sound only cavalry could make, but the direction they came from left all the generals bewildered. The source of the sound seemed to be from both the east and west camps, where there were 20,000 Song troops, plus a fortress built into the mountains - how could the Jin cavalry have possibly breached it? Commander Guo also heard the thunderous, heart-trembling hoofbeats of the cavalry.

  Kuo the pharmacist smiled coldly and rode his war horse to lead the way. This move immediately attracted the attention of the soldiers of the Changsheng Army, but the Changsheng Army was still a well-trained army and did not disperse immediately. A few imperial guards secretly released An Yiqi and the old general from their prisoner cart. The old general remained calm, and An Yiqi also looked normal, very calm. Huang Chengfu began to organize the troops and officers on horseback because he was a veteran in the Changsheng Army, and soon stabilized the morale of the army. However, before the big battle had even begun, the commander-in-chief had already been lost, and the Changsheng Army still had low morale.

  All the military officers sat together and began an emergency meeting. An Yiqi calmly said, "General Huang will lead the main force of Changsheng Army to retreat first, and I will lead 5,000 people to intercept the Jin army."

  Huang Lao's general did not speak, suddenly cutting off the iron and saying: "Come on, tie up General An and take him to the horse, five thousand soldiers in front of the army wait for orders, the rest of the soldiers abandon all luggage and withdraw quickly."

  "Yes, General." All officers took their orders and left.

  An Yi Qi struggled for half a day to no avail, then lay on his horse panting heavily and staring blankly at Huang Cheng Fu. His eyes were dazed. Huang Cheng Fu patted An Yi Qi's shoulder kindly and said: "Yi Qi, you are still young, in the future there will be opportunities to achieve great ambitions, recover our rivers and mountains, save our people, I hope you can help me fulfill this lifelong wish, when you have recovered the sixteen states of Yan and Yun, when you offer sacrifices to me, be sure to tell me." An Yi Qi's eyes were moist, he nodded vigorously.

  Huang Chengfu looked at the departing Anyi Qi with a gaze full of hope, then turned around and led the 5,000 imperial guards to form a military array, waiting for the approaching Jin army. At this time, the Jin army that had crossed the river had already completed their crossing, and the distant cavalry also saw a glimpse of their shadow.

  Huang Chengfu rode his horse forward, walking in front of thousands of soldiers from the Changsheng Army, and loudly declared: "Soldiers, we are about to block the wolves and tigers that outnumber us. To be honest, I am also afraid in my heart, and at this moment, I miss my family and friends back home. But just because of this, should we put down our courage to resist and allow the Jin dogs to occupy our land and slaughter our relatives and friends? Brothers, take out your courage! We must make the enemy pay a painful price. They can take away our lives, but they cannot take away our courage to resist. Our sacrifice today can save our comrades who have already retreated, and they will carry our faith to annihilate the enemy. So now, let them know our courage!"

  Huang Chengfu finished speaking and drew his sword, looking around in all directions.

  "War, war, war." Thousands of soldiers let out a roar of anger, it can be said that:

  Drunk with passion, singing heroic songs

  The beauty of the moon is most evident when it is drunk with wine.

  The icy aura spreads in all directions, the army forms a majestic array.

  The withered mulberry tree bleeds again into the rivers and streams.