Chapter 27: Conquering Yanshan Prefecture (6)

  Jin army is sweeping the battlefield, soldiers walking around beheading Song army officers, tying their heads with ropes and hanging them from their waists, preparing to report their military achievements later, and giving those who are not yet completely dead a knife to finish them off. Not far away, a large group of vultures are circling, looking forward to this delicious meal, extremely excited.

  Dark winds howl, sweeping across the blood-soaked battlefield, as if the sounds of slaughter had never ceased. Everywhere are the bodies of dead soldiers, broken weapons, and shattered flags. The corpses of soldiers from both sides are piled on top of each other, many already mangled beyond recognition, with severed limbs impossible to identify. Fresh blood has formed into small streams, flowing down from higher ground to lower-lying areas, a stark and eye-searing sight.

  Wanyan Zongwang arrived on the battlefield surrounded by many Jurchen generals and soldiers, and heard that out of the 5,000-strong Song army, only over a dozen were captured wounded, while the rest were all killed in action. Wanyan Zongwang was shocked upon hearing this, thinking to himself that if the entire Song army fought to the death without surrendering, it would be difficult for the Jin dynasty to conquer Northern Song. The white-faced scholar saw Wanyan Zongwang's concern about the battle situation and stepped forward, bowing his head in greeting: "General, do not worry, these Song troops who blocked our great Jin army are the elite of the Song military, the always-victorious army; such armies are rare, how can they be compared to every single one of our great Jin soldiers being as fierce as tigers and wolves?"

  "I hope so, as Mr. Fang said." Wanyan Zongwang still had some worries.

  At this moment, two Jin soldiers carried a corpse and placed it in front of Wanyan Zongwang, kneeling down and saying: "We have failed to live up to the general's trust." Wanyan Zongwang was suddenly enraged, for the deceased was his own son, Wanyan Lieyue. Wanyan Zongwang drew out his sword and beheaded one of the kneeling soldiers with a single swing, then killed another Jin soldier. Wanyan Zongwang still hadn't vented his anger and roared: "Let those surviving Song dogs taste the punishment of being torn apart by carts."

  "General, you mustn't; these men are still of use."

  Wanyan Zongwang looked at Mr. Fang with a somewhat sinister gaze, and Wen Shi was startled and hastily continued: "These Song soldiers must die, but if they are allowed to die under the city of Yanshan Prefecture, let the defending soldiers see what will happen if they resist, and be subjected to the punishment of being torn apart by carts. It will definitely have a great deterrent effect on the enemy's morale."

  Wanyan Zongwang also thought that Mr. Fang was reasonable, so he ordered: "Come on, ask the doctor to treat those wounded soldiers, let Song Gou live, no need to use precious medicine."

  Wanyan Zongwang looked at Bai Mianwenshi and asked in doubt: "Mr. Fang, as a Han person, why are you treating your own people like this?"

  The white-faced scholar said calmly: "I am a Jin person, General, please don't make such jokes again."

  Wanyan Zongwang also found it uninteresting and stopped talking.

  When the news of Guo's defeat and the annihilation of the Changsheng Army arrived, the Yan Mountain Prefecture immediately became chaotic. Although the local Imperial Guards looked down on the Changsheng Army, its combat strength was evident to all. Even the Changsheng Army had been completely annihilated, these Imperial Guards couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive in their hearts.

  Within a day, the Yanshan government had dozens of armed fights, and once someone even brought hundreds of forbidden troops to attack the gate-keeping forbidden troops. It wasn't until dozens of people were shot dead by crossbows that they calmed down. Cai Jing was already in a state of panic at this time, having thought about escaping several times, but ultimately shook his head and gave up. As an official from the capital city, if he escaped, it would absolutely lead to the downfall of nine clans. Although Cai Jing was panicked, he hadn't lost his rationality yet.

  Recently, he has sent out four waves of messengers seeking help, and the army in Baoding Prefecture is gathering to provide reinforcements. It is believed that they will arrive within half a month, but at this time, the morale of the Yan Mountain Prefecture army is collapsing, and the Jin army will soon surround the city. Whether or not it can hold out for half a month is still unknown. If the city falls before the Baoding army arrives, and the Jin army opens up the passage to Bianjing, everything will be lost.

  For the time being, we can only rely on General Guo Yao Shi to defend the city to the death. Only then will it be possible to hold out until the Baoding army arrives. Cai Jing made up his mind and shouted at the gate: "People, leave three thousand taels of silver from the treasury in the mansion, and hand over the rest to General Guo Yao Shi to reward the soldiers and defend the city to the death."

  "Yes, sir." The person who entered took orders and left.

  Master Guo looked at the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver being carried into the military tent, his eyes gleaming with delight. But then he thought that all this silver would have to be handed over to the Jin people, and his heart felt quite unwell. However, Master Guo thought for a moment, as long as he destroyed the account books in the warehouse before the Jin army arrived, killed the accounting clerk, naturally no one would know. Of course, those few soldiers who carried the boxes also had to be silenced.

  After Guo Yao's careful planning, the original 110,000 imperial guards stationed in Yanshan Prefecture were now reduced to only 40,000 people. Among these 40,000 people, fewer than 20,000 had combat effectiveness. On the other hand, they faced 60,000 Jin soldiers who were as fierce as tigers and wolves. The future was worrying. Guo Yao quickly embezzled this batch of silver and did not distribute it to the generals and soldiers. Instead, he asked them to go to the prefectural government office tonight to discuss matters. Cai Jing was angry that Guo Yao disobeyed orders, but at this time, he needed Guo Yao's help, so he didn't dare offend him and didn't say much. He replied to Guo Yao that they would set up a banquet in the prefectural government office tonight to jointly discuss strategies for defending against the enemy.

  Zhao Yan soon encountered the retreating Changsheng Army, which now looked a bit like a defeated army, with low morale and no fighting spirit. The appearance of the Changsheng Army made Zhao Yan feel suffocated, and he stepped forward to intercept them. When Zhao Yan took out the emperor's tiger tally, he smoothly accepted this army that had already lost its fighting spirit. The current Changsheng Army had almost lost its prestige as a powerful army.

  An Yiqi was also thrown off his horse by the cavalry, and An Yiqi sat stupidly on the ground, with a dog tail grass in his mouth, wondering what he was thinking. Zhao Yan walked to An Yiqi's side, because in Liang Fangxu's letter, this person was mentioned many times as having great abilities, Zhao Yan also sat down beside him and gazed at the sky, saying casually: "Do you want to avenge yourself?"

  An Yi stared blankly at Zhao Jie, not speaking. "I need someone to lead an army of 20,000 to ambush the Jin army from behind, cutting off their supply lines while our army is attacking and defending. It's a very dangerous task, if the Jin army discovers the troops behind them, they will turn their guns around and attack with all their might, it's certain death, are you willing to go?"

  "I'm going." An Yiqi said firmly.

  "Alright, you lead 20,000 troops of the Ever Victorious Army to set out immediately, annihilate the small bandit groups of the Jin army in the rear, harass the enemy's supply lines. In the final battle, return to support the Yan Mountain Prefecture. Outside, you don't have to accept military orders, freely deploy your troops, and grasp all the time for yourself. Farewell." Zhao said with great expectation.

  "General An accepted the order and began to inspect his 20,000 troops."

  The Invincible Army, due to Huang Chengfu's sacrifice, did not lose its main force, but the three armies could capture the commander but not capture the spirit. Now that the morale has been lost, it quickly changed from a majestic lion to a gentle sheep. Zhao Jie sent the remaining nearly 20,000-strong Invincible Army to garrison in the surrounding mountains and forests, stipulating that cooking should not start a fire, and night patrols should not shine lights.

  A soldier walked up to Zhao Yi and handed him a letter with elegant handwriting: 'To His Highness.'

  Zhao Kan took out a letter, with few words inside: "Tonight, know the prefecture's mansion, Guo Fa Nan"

  Zhao Yin tore up the letter and threw it aside, then sent someone to bring out the long-prepared items and had Hou Yi follow the army to prepare for departure. Zhao Yin personally led 500 Imperial Forest Army soldiers to quietly depart from the forest, heading towards Yanshan Prefecture.

  Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren led the 20,000-strong army to temporarily camp in an unknown mountain forest. At this time, Liu Shunren was full of worry, worrying about his family and his own future. Zhang Linghui walked over and patted Liu Shunren's shoulder to comfort him: "Brother Liu, don't think too much, you and I have no way back now, we can only rely on the Jin State, believe that General Guo will keep his promise and protect your family's safety." After finishing speaking, he handed over a water bag.

  Liu Shunren picked up his water bag and took a few big gulps before saying, "Thanks, Brother Zhang."

  Liu Shunren suddenly felt a bit nauseous, with a dizzy and blurred vision, his eyes gradually becoming somewhat hazy, the Zhang Linghui in front of him slowly turned into several, looking not very clear.

  Zhang Linghui looked at Liu Shunren, who was lying on the ground, and apologized: "Sorry, Brother Liu. I can only surrender to the Jin army by holding your head. There's one more thing I want to tell you, most of your family members are already dead, and many of your women have been sold into slavery in the Jin country. I hope you'll be reborn with a good fate in your next life."

  "You..." Liu Shunren's eyes were filled with anger and regret, he was remorseful that his momentary weakness not only failed to save his family but also caused the death of many Song army officers, a grave sin. He was exhausted, and slowly closed his eyes.

  Zhang Linghui let out a sigh, drew his sword and beheaded Liu Shunren. Dark red blood gushed out, splashing Zhang Linghui all over, but he didn't mind the bloody smell on him. He said apologetically to the headless Liu Shunren: "Don't worry, every year on this day I will go to offer sacrifices to you, and you won't go hungry on the road to the Yellow Springs."

  Not far away, Liu Shunren's dozens of personal soldiers were also killed. Liu Shunren died in such a humiliating way in the desolate mountains and forests, forever bearing the infamous name of a traitorous general, forever tied to the pillar of historical shame. In fact, people struggling with fate often don't consider the future.

  Guo the medicine master led nearly a thousand close guards to quietly surround the prefecture mansion, and he himself took dozens of people to walk in.

  Cai Jing, Transport Commissioner Lyu Yihao, Deputy Commissioner Lyu Yuquan, and Officer Shen Quan were all present today. Guo Yao Shi stopped the servant who wanted to go and report, standing by the door, only to hear Transport Commissioner Lyu Yihao say angrily inside: "That surnamed Guo has actually embezzled all the silver in the treasury, not issuing any to the soldiers, I think this person is insincere, seemingly having had treacherous intentions from the start. In my opinion, he should be taken down as soon as possible."

  "It's not possible. Although Guo the medic is greedy to the extreme, at this time we need him to lead the troops and defend against the enemy, so we can't afford to offend him. If we were to capture him, the army would mutiny and we would certainly die without a place to be buried." Cai Jing said helplessly.

  "Hahaha." Guo the medicine master walked in with a cold smile and said, "You will soon die without a place to bury your body. Take them down." The soldiers behind him immediately rushed up and took everyone down, tying them up with five flowers. Cai Jing and others had already lost their courage as a big official, only Lü Yihao scolded loudly, Guo the medicine master listened and was annoyed, saying: "Someone, cut off this mad dog's tongue." Two soldiers came up and pried open Lü Yihao's mouth, using a dagger to cut off his tongue. Lü Yihao, with a mouth full of blood, soon fainted from pain. Guo the medicine master handed a letter to a soldier, whispered a few words in his ear, and that soldier immediately took orders and left.