Chapter 161: Losing Ground on All Fronts (Part 1)

Dalai's astonishing retreat north across the river, which had left Zhao Jiu in a state of some sorrow, quickly lifted his spirits, because even lacking military acumen, he understood that this Jin Army Right Vice-Marshal's decisive withdrawal north had completely overturned the situation in all of Henan.

The problem with this matter was not how many troops Wanyan Dalai still had, nor whether he still had the will or ability to fight; the problem lay precisely in his departure from Henan itself.

One must understand that Dalai was the nominal commander of the 120,000 main force of the Eastern Route Army, and the actual leader of the central group among the three Jin Army groups in the Henan region.

With him there, as long as he held out in Henan, no matter how many troops he had, all the main Jin forces in Henan would still form an organic whole. Whether it was the Wushu group separated by the Wuhe region, or the so-called easternmost Huazhou group and Nanjing group, they would all have a common point of contact.

But once he left, leaving aside the Eastern Route still remotely controlled by Wolian at Damingfu, Wanyan Wushu's group was completely isolated!

Hampered by the Jin Army's powerful combat effectiveness and mobility, the Song Army still dared not say their opportunity had come, but at the very least, they had seized the initiative!

In fact, over the next three days, Han Shizhong, based on changes in military intelligence, repeatedly sent envoys with memorials, constantly presenting his views to the Zhao official in Dongjingcheng while also continuously revising his own plans.

In fact, by the twentieth day of the first month, with new news—that Wulinda Taiyu, originally supposed to be besieging Fangcheng under Wanyan Wushu, had personally led a large force of several thousand cavalry into the Wuhe defense zone under Yue Fei's responsibility—delivered by Yue Fei via fast horse to Zhengzhou and Kaifeng, Han Shizhong's plan was immediately adjusted to one of layered delay and luring the enemy deep, then doing everything possible to set an ambush in the border area of Zhengzhou, Yingchangfu, and Kaifeng, to bite Wanyan Wushu hard.

This plan had obvious personal revenge motives, because it was essentially a mirror image of the day Wanyan Wushu ambushed Han Shizhong at Zhujiaquzhen and broke him, only with the roles of hunter and prey completely reversed.

So, the Zhao official naturally immediately issued an edict agreeing... for a simple reason: first, the plan was indeed feasible; second, Yue Fei had only just delivered the news here, and the event itself—the news of Wulinda Taiyu appearing in the Wuhe region—was already a day and a half old. Time was tight, and having a plan to deal with the enemy was good enough!

Setting aside for now the growing boldness of Han Shizhong and Zhao Jiu, on the other side, after Wulinda Taiyu appeared in the Wuhe region, Wanyan Wushu indeed chose to withdraw his troops on all fronts and head toward the Wuhe region.

He had no choice but to come.

Or rather, he had no choice but to believe.

To begin with, when Wanyan Wushu first heard of the defeat at Changshe and Han Shizhong's escape, though angry and shocked, he had little doubt or hesitation... because victory and defeat are common in military affairs. For Han Shizhong, a Song chief general for whom 'miracles always accompany me,' with so many troops from the Tokyo Rear Area Command arrayed against him, losing was actually quite reasonable to think about.

In fact, when the first wave of routed soldiers and messengers arrived beneath Nanyang city walls, this Fourth Prince of the Jin state, after only a brief discussion with Han Chang and Balisu, gritted his teeth and decided on a strategy: turn back to rescue, attempt to retake the Wuhe region, and if that failed, detour through Ruzhou and return north via Xijing.

After all, at that time, Wushu was already caught in the difficult choice of whether to detach troops to Xiangyang. To put it bluntly, Dalai's defeat actually spared him from having to choose.

However, when more routed soldiers arrived there later, Wanyan Wushu instead became suspicious, fearful, and panicked, because he absolutely refused to believe what these people said—that the Zhao Song official himself had appeared on the battlefield and effectively driven this battle.

This was too absurd!

Because just a few days earlier, everyone, including Wushu's own military common sense, was telling this Fourth Prince that Zhao Jiu, using ten thousand Song armored soldiers as bait that day, had successfully fooled everyone, including the Jin Army and the Song Army, and then escaped to the fortified city of Xiangyang, separated by the Han River... This was already infuriating enough for him, alright?

But now, all those who had fled here were telling him that Zhao Jiu hadn't gone to Xiangyang, that this Song official had fooled him, the Jin Fourth Prince, twice... a double layer!

So, could such a thing be believed?

Thus, in the early morning of the tenth day of the first month, with the situation at a dead end, the lure-and-block battle broke out south of Nanyang. The Jin Army won a great victory, and Zhao Jiu escaped from Nanyang.

On the twelfth day of the first month, Zhao Jiu went straight into Yanling, killed Du Chong, and seized military power.

On the thirteenth day of the first month, the Battle of Yanling-Changshe erupted. Within a single hour, the careless and contemptuous Jin Army suffered a devastating blow.

On the fifteenth day of the first month, the Lantern Festival, Zhao Jiu arrived in Dongjingcheng, peacefully took over the Tokyo Rear Area Command from Zong Ze, and that night, Zong Ze passed away. But on that same afternoon, Wanyan Wushu also saw the routed troops of Dalai's force, escorted by Wulinda Taiyu via fast horse to Nanyang city.

In fact, too many things happened on this day. Dalai likely also crossed the Yellow River on the same day.

On the sixteenth day of the first month, Han Shizhong's pursuing force encountered the unprepared Yelu Mawu division in Zhengzhou territory and won a great victory.

On the eighteenth day of the first month, Wulinda Taiyu's force, finally receiving orders, appeared in the Wuhe region and that night entered Wuyang, merging with the Jin remnants that had abandoned Xiangcheng, Yancheng, and Xiping to gather there, thus completely confirming all previous news.

However, considering that Wulinda Taiyu had previously been at Fangcheng, the central point between Nanyang and the Wuhe region, only a hundred li from Wuyang, Wanyan Wushu likely hesitated for a day and a half before accepting this fact, then made his decision and issued his orders.

And more interestingly, within just three days of Wulinda Taiyu appearing in the Wuhe region, Wanyan Wushu and his 30,000 main cavalry force arrived menacingly at Wuyang and merged their forces with Wulinda Taiyu.

In other words, after all news from Changshe was completely confirmed, Wanyan Wushu left not a single soldier in Nanyang and rushed his entire army at top speed toward the Wuhe region... and then he plunged headlong into the defensive line Yue Fei had hastily set up.

To be fair, the disparity in troop numbers was huge, the disparity in combat power even greater, and with the Song Army having cities to defend, Yue Fei could not possibly inflict substantial casualties on Wanyan Wushu... but war is not just field battles and city defense.

"What do you mean, can't cross the river?"

On the morning of the twenty-second day of the first month, by the Lihe River, Wushu, who had been sitting silently on his horse for a long time, finally received news, but couldn't help coldly staring at the Meng'an before him.

"Fourth Prince, we've checked clearly. On the very night General Wulinda arrived at Wuyang, the bridges over the Lihe were all dismantled and burned by the Song Army on the opposite bank overnight. It's not just this one spot..." The Meng'an, who had just returned from a hard ride, was also on his horse, looking troubled. "Moreover, the ice has melted and the water has risen. Several fords are also difficult. Horses can barely swim across, but it's extremely hard to get the subsequent baggage train across."

Wushu opened his mouth but ultimately didn't lash out.

"When an army marches, it cuts a path through mountains and builds bridges across rivers," Balisu suddenly said coldly from the side. "If there's no pontoon bridge, find a place with calm waters and build one... Is this the Huai River or the Han River? Can't it be done?"

The Meng'an was startled and immediately took his leave to carry out the order, sending men to fell trees on the spot to build a pontoon bridge at the site of the old one.

Seeing the Meng'an leave to give orders, Balisu then earnestly advised Wushu: "Fourth Prince, to speak bluntly, since the Song Army has already begun deploying here, it means the entire Wuhe region is in their hands. The more this is the case, the more we must be careful, wait quietly for the baggage train behind us, and not easily abandon our reserves to advance."

Wushu nodded repeatedly, but it was unclear whether he was humoring him or truly listening.

Han Chang, standing nearby, also wanted to interject about whether to be wary of Wang De's force at Nanyang behind them, but seeing Wushu's hand holding the horsewhip trembling slightly, he said nothing more—he was well aware of this Fourth Prince's current unwillingness, anger, and sense of absurdity, and also of a certain desire he was forcibly suppressing.

Clearly, if there was one thing Wanyan Wushu urgently wanted to do at this moment, it was to charge over, find that Zhao Song official who had gone north instead of south, and devour him alive!

In fact, if not for knowing the Zhao Song official was on this side, given the current situation, Wushu should have played it safe, directly gone north from Ruzhou in the west, first gone to Xijing Luoyang to clarify the military situation and stabilize the situation.

Felling trees and building bridges were both slow, not only because the Song Army was prepared and had collected possible ferry boats in advance, or because the Lihe, a river neither large nor small, didn't necessarily need boats as a base for a pontoon bridge. A more important point was that only now did Wanyan Wushu and his men realize the adverse consequences of abandoning the artisan camp earlier to lure the enemy at Nanyang, and then abandoning the civilian laborers to concentrate the main cavalry force for a lightning advance.

In a word, a bridge could always be built, but when lacking the necessary number of Han civilian laborers and accompanying artisans, it was inevitably clumsy and slow.

Not only that, but even more frustrating things lay ahead. The Jin Army finally managed to roughly float a bridge, then sent a small elite force across the river from a distant ford to anchor it on the opposite bank... but instead of the small force, they first saw fire ships drifting down from upstream.

After the fire ships came the remaining troops of that small force, hastily fleeing back. The leading Poliyan, wounded, kowtowed and reported: they had just stripped off their armor, swum their horses across in the cold water, but were ambushed on the opposite bank. About three or four hundred Song troops, equipped with leather armor, crossbows, and short weapons, had long been waiting in the increasingly lush reeds across the ford.

After a brief skirmish, the fifty-man force quickly lost over half its men and could only flee back in disgrace, jumping into the river with their horses and swimming for their lives.

The Jin high command on the south bank of the Lihe looked at each other in dismay. No one dealt with the Poliyan who had fled back, and no one looked at the still-smoldering river water—they only looked at the Fourth Prince.

"We have no choice but to send more men across on horseback and thoroughly clear the north bank," Wanyan Wushu said, activating his military common sense and logical deduction, uttering a platitude.

"How many men need to be sent across?" Wulinda Taiyu finally spoke, frowning. "Fourth Prince, the Song Army is well prepared. Send too few, and with that kind of ford, they'll just be going to their deaths. But send too many, how many is appropriate? And how much time will that waste?"

"Then tell me, what should I do? What can I do?" Wushu suddenly flushed red, the veins on his hands gripping the reins bulging.

Wulinda Taiyu was startled and could only look at Han Chang and Balisu.

"You three Meng'an, go search for fords upstream and downstream together, and cross together... cross as many as you can, and control the situation first," Balisu said helplessly, turning to give the order.

Upon receiving the order, three cavalry units, which in other times would have been enough to slaughter cities and break armies, galloped off together, causing the ground by the river to tremble slightly, a truly imposing sight. But thinking that such a magnificent iron cavalry would soon have to risk swimming across under asymmetrical mortal danger, just for the construction of a single pontoon bridge, Wushu and the other Jin high commanders below him could only feel a sense of absurdity.

This time, however, it finally worked... After enduring asymmetrical casualties and a long ordeal, by evening, the pontoon bridge was finally erected.

And with one pontoon bridge up, as long as it was protected, countless more could be easily built the next day.

At this, Wulinda Taiyu, probably still smarting from Wushu's earlier groundless reprimand, crossed the river alone and joined the three Meng'an as the vanguard.

However, that night, the Song Army launched a sudden assault.

Instantly, gongs and drums sounded in unison, torches waved everywhere. No one knew how many Song troops were attacking. Not only were the Jin troops who had swum across during the day exhausted and caught off guard, scrambling to fight, but even the main Jin force on the south bank was startled into hurriedly rising to respond.

What was even more disheartening was that, after the Jin army on the southern bank stabilized the situation and urgently dispatched reinforcements, the originally safe pontoon bridge instead had its position exposed during the night, allowing the Song army to take advantage... A well-equipped Song unit charged along the riverbank, hurling oil-soaked brushwood and torches together, setting fire once again to that pitiful pontoon bridge.

That much could still be endured.

However, what truly drove Wushu to the brink of collapse was that after a night of chaos, when dawn came and the Song army withdrew, the Jin army counted their losses and discovered that hardly anyone had died during the night. Clearly, those drums, gongs, and torches had only been a feint and a fatigue tactic—only that one unit that had charged in to burn the bridge had any real substance.

But even that Song unit, after successfully burning the bridge, merely left behind a crude remark: "Your Grandpa Niu of Ruzhou sends his regards."

Who the hell was Grandpa Niu of Ruzhou?

Regardless, with the main Jin army present, since casualties were negligible and both banks were held, the Jin army eventually rebuilt the pontoon bridge. This time, it went smoothly. By noon, several pontoon bridges were linked together, and the bulk of the Jin army began crossing the river. By evening, seventeen to eighteen thousand men had already crossed.

Yet at this point, as the Jin high command carefully calculated by the riverside, they discovered a massive problem.

One must understand that the Jin army, with thirty-five thousand cavalry, had merged with the remnants of Talan's forces, restoring their strength to the original forty thousand men at the start of the campaign.

With such a vast force, the vanguard had already crossed the Li River, while the rear had yet to fully exit Wuyang City. But even more terrifying was that the baggage train they had brought from Nanyang was still slowly making its way toward Wuyang. Under these circumstances, to guard against the Song army and ensure complete safety, following Bolisu's suggestion, the entire army should wait properly at the Li River until everyone had crossed before advancing to the next river.

Bolisu's plan was certainly sound. After Talan's defeat, the situation in the Five Rivers region ahead was completely chaotic for the Jin army—or to put it bluntly, the worst-case scenario was that it had all fallen under Song occupation. Under such conditions, if the Song army controlled every river with this level of intensity, then only by crossing one river could they learn what lay beyond it... Otherwise, who could guarantee that the next time, the Song army wouldn't send their main force for a night raid or an ambush? One must remember that at this point, the Song army—from the Tokyo Rear Service Command to Han Shizhong's remnants, plus the original garrison troops of several cities—could probably muster a force of one hundred thousand!

But if they proceeded with such caution, a huge problem emerged... Even for just the Li River, it would probably take three or four days to fully cross. For five rivers, if they had to cross them all, how many days would they have to wait?

Would no battles occur in between?

Could they afford to leave those troublesome cities unattended?

But if so, would the army's baggage train be sufficient? Could they still sweep all before them as they had on the way here, forcing the opened Song cities to supply them with grain? Where would their supply line be?

And if the baggage train couldn't supply them... what if forty thousand cavalry were truly bogged down here? In reality, this was precisely the purpose of the Song army's Five Rivers defense system of cities in this region from the very beginning. Only, no one had expected that when the Jin army came south, they hadn't felt its power, but when heading north, they would have to suffer heartbreak over it.

"Talan has wronged me!" By the campfire, Wanyan Wushu, both eyes bloodshot, seethed with resentment. "I don't hate him for losing, only that he couldn't contact me quickly. If I had known where he was, how could I have been so lost and disoriented?"