Chapter 379: A Private Letter

Why does the fire of war burn?

This question is as foolish as asking, "Why do autumn leaves fall?"

Whether it's the cold preventing water absorption or the accumulation of minerals, autumn leaves falling is simply the way of nature... By the same logic, at this point, with a state of total war having lasted ten years, there's no need to repeatedly emphasize how much the people of the Two Rivers have suffered, how many times Guanzhong has been plundered, or how many cities in the Central Plains have been massacred—not even the Humiliation of Jingkang needs to be dragged out.

As early as early autumn this year, when the Zhao Song Emperor returned from the south, everyone knew deep down that war was coming. Even among the Jin high officials at the Secretariat, when they heard Qin Gui and Wushu's assessments, they merely nodded and thought to themselves, "Here it comes!"

Everyone knew it would happen, that it had to happen, that this mountain was about to collapse and that land was about to split. But when the moment of the mountain's collapse and the land's rupture actually arrived, no matter north or south, people still couldn't help but twitch an eyelid, feel their hair stand on end, and startle in their hearts.

Now, in early October, early winter had arrived, but the weather was still warm, the Yellow River's flow remained abundant, and several old channels could still accommodate large ships.

After more than ten days of mobilization in late autumn, because the Emperor had issued his decree from Zilu Sao in Jingdong, the Song army largely entered combat readiness from east to west. The one slight exception was Shanzhou—Li Yanxian's forces had long held Pinglu, the only proper Song city in Hebei, and the surrounding troops had already conducted several rounds of siege operations against Hezhong Prefecture. So this time, it was familiar territory, and they set out immediately upon receiving the order.

In other words, from the very start of October, the Song and Jin had already opened a front stretching 1,700 li from Fenglingdu to the Bohai Sea.

And that wasn't all. It was easy to imagine that as Han Shizhong and Wu Jie launched their offensives in turn, the front would extend beyond the river, and the extreme length of this war's front line might truly reach 3,000 li.

The early winter sun was warm but not dazzling; the early winter rain was drizzling but not gloomy.

On the coast of the East Sea, Li Bao, who could no longer contain himself, received his military orders and immediately set sail from port with his deputy Cui Bangbi. Leading a fleet of sea vessels insufficient in number to suppress the Jin navy, he sailed north, bypassing the Magu River estuary that his mission required him to suppress, and even passing Cangzhou's Big Mountain north of the estuary, heading straight for Cangzhou's Little Mountain.

That was precisely where the Jin navy, commanded by Li Qi—formerly the naval commander of the puppet Qi and now the deputy commander of the Jin navy—was stationed.

In truth, Li Qi, once a powerful local magnate and pirate chieftain in Dengzhou, had after the Jingkang Incident briefly organized a righteous army, claiming he would sail upriver to rescue the emperor. But times and fate being what they were, among the heroes of the Shandong righteous armies back then—Li Bao, Li Kui, Monk Liu, Xu the Big Knife, Hu Cheng, Du Yan, Wu Shun, Li Zhang—none was necessarily inferior to the others. Yet often, because of a single thought or a twist of circumstance, they drifted with the current onto completely different paths.

Right and wrong might already be decided, but who would laugh last was still uncertain.

In Qingzhou of Jingdong East Circuit, Tian Shizhong, upon receiving the decree and military orders, remained exceptionally calm. But he did not hastily dispatch his troops. Instead, following convention, he first made a detailed report to his father-in-law, Zhang Jun... Only after Zhang Jun nodded did he issue the order for the entire army to cross the river, first concentrating forces to storm Yanci, then dividing troops to take Zhao'an, Shanghe, Wudi, and Leling.

Not only that, after effectively entrusting the vanguard mission to several of Zhang Jun's sons, nephews, and trusted men, Tian Shizhong still chose to remain in Qingzhou, sharing a banquet with Zhang Jun—a banquet for just the two of them.

What this father-and-son pair, bound by no blood, said in private, no one knew.

Further west, it was raining around Jinan, but this stretch of the Yellow River front was so quiet it was almost dead. The heavy army group of the Imperial Guard Forward Army stationed here, as the first to be mobilized, had long since gathered upstream. In the rain, countless conscripted Jingdong commoners, heedless of the mud, ceaselessly transported the region's stores upstream... Beneath the hazy rain, the scene along the road seemed no different from when Liu Yu had campaigned against Dongping Prefecture.

In Dong'e County of Dongping Prefecture, Moqi Xie, the Grand Coordinator of Jingdong West Circuit, had arrived early at this key logistics hub after receiving the decree.

Today, facing this sudden early winter drizzle, after inspecting the day's storage situation and ordering an extra two bowls of gruel for all the laborers at noon, Grand Coordinator Moqi refused his staff's company, dismissed their flattery, and climbed alone onto the northern gate tower of Dong'e City. There, without a word, he clasped his hands behind his back and gazed north, letting the rain soak his purple robe.

On a clear day, from here one could clearly see Mount Wu across the Jishui River, and even during the high-water season, faintly make out the Yellow River channel not far behind Mount Wu. But now, with the winter rain falling and the sky overcast, no one knew what Moqi Yuanzhong was actually seeing.

And why he remained silent.

West of Dongping Prefecture was Zilu Sao. After the Zhao Emperor personally appeared on the opposite bank and Third Prince Eriduo suddenly died, the greatly shaken magistrate of Liaocheng made the decision to surrender the city, successfully welcoming the Song army into this strategic military stronghold at the first opportunity.

But unexpectedly, Yue Pengju did not choose to continue using Liaocheng as a breakthrough point to expand his gains. Instead, he ordered Tian Shizhong to quickly advance on Di Prefecture downstream, while he himself and his main force chose to advance from Zilu Sao further upstream.

Concentrating a combined force of up to 40,000 troops from the Imperial Guard Forward Army and the navy, they launched a massive river crossing here. The overwhelming momentum told the world: the Song army had begun its northern expedition!

Once the crossing was accomplished, the Song army, with absolute numerical superiority, swiftly seized Guancheng on the opposite bank with the force of a mountain crushing an egg.

Then, ignoring the more than 10,000 elite Jin troops that might not yet have fully withdrawn from Liaocheng behind them, they continued directly westward, rapidly sweeping through Chaocheng, Liutaji, and other places. By the second day, they had captured Shanghu Sao, allowing the Imperial Guard Navy to sail unimpeded into the Yellow River's east-flowing channel.

This was the second channel from the south among the three channels and five forks of the Yellow River in Hebei, and one of the main arteries, carrying certain strategic significance.

However, just as Ali had unhesitatingly abandoned Liaocheng and withdrawn north in the face of Yue Fei's main force, the warships and equipment at Shanghu Sao had also been taken away early by the garrison, presumably already delivered to the Maling Road mouth before Great Ming Prefecture... Clearly, Gao Jingshan, the commander of the Jin Great Ming Prefecture Field Headquarters, had kept his head and made the most reasonable strategic decision within his power.

That was, before someone truly capable of fighting a major battle arrived, to preserve effective strength and implement a strategic contraction.

At the same time, as the Song army crossed the river, the Jin army abandoned its last shred of hope. All around Great Ming Prefecture, Jin troops were conscripting laborers and scrounging for any usable grain, iron, and timber.

At this time, the Yanjing Secretariat's decree on conscription hadn't even reached Great Ming Prefecture.

Also because the Song army had captured Shanghu Sao, large numbers of laborers began taking boats into the undisputed territory of Hebei.

Zhou Bin, leading the laborers of Heyin's First Jiazi Settlement, was among them. This settlement, a farming colony filled with refugees and retired soldiers, had always been attached to the Imperial Guard Navy. They had known for years that once war came, they would have to bear the corvée of supplying the Imperial Guard Navy.

But this time, the distance clearly exceeded their imagination... Within a few days, following the Imperial Guard Navy's large steamships downstream, they found themselves, in a daze, among the first laborers to cross the river.

On the Yellow River, as the people on the boats gradually realized where they were headed, some settlers who had fled from Hebei couldn't help but cheer and leap for joy on deck, even breaking down in tears. Others, settlers scattered from the Central Plains, looked numb and confused, some even shrinking in fear at arriving in the unfamiliar territory of Hebei.

Zhou Bin, as settlement head and a man with county clerk status, propped himself up with his carrying pole and stood. He wanted to scold those cheering Hebei lads and comfort the Central Plains settlers. But when he stood up in the boat and looked around, seeing countless steamships, banners, armored soldiers, and laborers within his field of vision, and the distant outlines of Hebei towns and markets, then turned back to notice the eternal eastward flow of the great river glittering under the sun at his feet, he felt somewhat dazed.

Drawing his sword and looking around, his heart was lost.

For no clear reason, this former heroic scholar who had fancied himself a master of both letters and arms during the Jingkang chaos, only to be swiftly crushed by the times into the head of Heyin's First Jiazi Settlement, suddenly thought of this poem.

But soon, he thought of his Hebei wife, of his infant son still in swaddling, of his father-in-law's constant mention of his ancestral home after a few cups of cheap wine on every holiday... It seemed to be Guantao, but where was Guantao?

No one cared where Guantao was. At the very least, the big shots in the Eastern Capital didn't.

For the Eastern Capital, this anticipated war had come far too hastily. The army was rushing to set out, the Emperor was hurrying west, Yue Fei's main force had already crossed the river, Zhang Rong had seized the Yellow River's east-flowing waterway, and yet the Eastern Capital was still fretting over countless troubles.

Not to mention that Privy Councilor Zhang Deyuan had grown cautious due to the recent memorial controversy, and most other high officials were also working with their heads down because of their earlier serious mistakes... Yet, from the chief councilors and ministers down to the vice directors of the Six Ministries, they found that every time they diligently solved one problem, twice as many new ones arrived.

It wasn't their fault. Truly not their fault.

This year's autumn tax from the south was still en route, and they had to immediately launch corvée labor across the four Central Plains circuits... Jingdong East Circuit—one prefecture, seven departments, thirty-eight counties; Jingdong West Circuit—four prefectures, five departments, one military district, forty-three counties; Jingnan West Circuit—one prefecture, seven departments, one military district, thirty-one counties; Jingbei West Circuit—four prefectures, five circuits, one military district, sixty-three counties; plus Kaifeng Prefecture's own sixteen counties—a total of thirty-eight commanderies and two hundred and one counties... Such a massive mobilization was itself unprecedented.

The Ministry of Revenue had to tally households, conscript able-bodied men, and audit supplies; the Ministry of War had to calculate military resources, coordinate weapons—from armor plates to bows and crossbows, from the pay of rear-area families to the selection and deployment of reserve officers—all had to be handled with extreme care, because the slightest error would be sent back by the Ministry of Works.

And the Ministry of Works wasn't deliberately making trouble. They were responsible for direct liaison with the front. With matters of state and military, and the Zhao Emperor himself waiting in Luoyang to set out, who dared to cause delays?

Even the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice were at a loss dealing with local disputes and official evaluations. The Court of State Ceremonial was busy day and night intimidating the Koreans in the capital, while also finding time to coordinate with the Ministry of War on how to handle the Japanese warriors who might arrive next month.

Under these circumstances, the Ministry of Rites had simply sent all its personnel to the Privy Council to help.

For a time, throughout the Eastern Capital, only the official gazette reported that all was well and the momentum was grand—today a great victory on the river with a successful crossing, tomorrow the Imperial Guard Forward Army pressing directly on Great Ming Prefecture... But after just two issues, as front-line military news slowed, Compiler Hu Quan didn't know what to write anymore.

He couldn't very well report with a straight face that Hezhong Prefecture had been taken, could he?

Wang Lun, the Chief Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, had already complained to Hu Quan several times: why hadn't he reported the four counties taken by the Imperial Guard Forward Army separately?

Four great victories—how wonderful?!

Hu Quan could only regret that he had written too quickly... That evening, this famous compiler racked his brains, sitting in meditation until late at night, before finally writing on the paper before him a draft about the Emperor personally arriving at the river and Hezhong Prefecture being surrounded on three sides, already a fish in the net.

That's right—though Hezhong Prefecture hadn't been taken yet, it would be soon!

Of course, the Zhao Emperor hadn't actually arrived at the river, and Hezhong Prefecture couldn't possibly surrender immediately.

In reality, while the entire front was gradually making contact with the enemy, the Zhao Emperor himself, under the escort of the Imperial Guard Central Army, was slowly advancing westward through the safe Luoyang Basin... The only major thing he had done in the past two days was to remember that there was still Yuwen Xuzhong, a Commissioner with the rank of Grand Councilor, in Chang'an who had lost all value the moment the northern expedition began. He hastily issued a decree to him, ordering him to oversee logistics and ensure the supply of the Hedong theater, and so on.

After all, although times were different now and the Emperor's persona as a "wise ruler who understood warfare" was already well established, no one would allow him to cross the river until a regional-level major city like Hezhong Prefecture was taken.

And speaking of Hezhong Prefecture, it was precisely the first truly strategic stop of the northern expedition.

For a long time, the Song court had been continuously refining and detailing its northern expedition plans. But no matter how they refined or adjusted them, they could never escape the strategy for destroying Jin that Yue Fei and Lu Zhi had independently arrived at—first take Hedong. With Hedong in hand, the strategic high ground of the Taihang Mountains would allow them to look down from above, and Hebei would fall in time.

Not only that, but the internal terrain of Hedong—the so-called "exterior rivers and interior mountains"—could also ensure that the gains of the Northern Expedition would not be easily abandoned.

The entire Hedong region, with the Taihang Mountains to the east and the Lüliang Mountains to the west, enclosed by the great river on the outside, and strung with four basins from southwest to northeast on the inside, was like two long flatbreads wrapping four meatballs strung together on a skewer—and these four meatballs were, respectively, the later Yuncheng Basin where Hezhong Prefecture was located, the Linfen Basin around Jinzhou and Quwo, the Taiyuan Basin where Taiyuan was located, and the Datong Basin where Datong Prefecture was located.

These four basins, all clustered to the west, were such that if you took one, you could hold one; after taking all four, the remaining Shangdang Basin to the east would have no reason to survive independently. So the gains would never be lightly thrown away. This was nothing like the Hebei region, which during the dry season was essentially a flat plain where the Jurchen cavalry could sweep across at will.

Therefore, no matter what, the main attack had to be on Hedong, and Zhao Jiu had to personally take command there.

In fact, even up to the present moment, nearly two hundred thousand of the three hundred thousand Imperial Guard Army troops, plus several tens of thousands of Dangxiang tribesmen with a strong military character who could serve as auxiliary troops or laborers, plus the Taihang volunteer armies and possible Mongol and Khitan reinforcements, were all deployed around Hedong.

It could be said that the Song court's full-strength Northern Expedition was more like a gamble—a left hook aimed at Hedong, to see if it could knock the Jurchens senseless.

Thus, as the Northern Expedition began, after the news of the death of the Third Prince Eliduo and Yue Fei's opportunistic advance northward, all truly knowledgeable people turned their gaze toward Hezhong Prefecture.

Everyone wanted to know: when would Hezhong Prefecture be taken?

That's right, just like that article by Compiler Hu said... although Hezhong Prefecture had not yet been taken, it would be taken sooner or later... No one would ask the question of whether Hezhong Prefecture would be taken.

The reason was simpler than simple.

This was the Northern Expedition. The Song army was on the Northern Expedition. After waiting three years, stockpiling enough grain for one year, gritting their teeth and setting aside numerous internal problems behind them, they had concentrated several hundred thousand troops for a full-scale offensive. This was a national war with the basic goal of recovering the Two Rivers. If they couldn't even take a single Hezhong Prefecture, then what was the point of the Northern Expedition?

You must understand, even the Jurchens knew the danger of Hezhong Prefecture. They didn't dare station heavy troops there. Instead, they had chosen Wendun Sizhong, a man who had always despised the Song army and had a fierce temperament, as the Hezhong Prefecture garrison commander, and then repeatedly relied on heavy reinforcements from Taiyuan and Longde Prefecture to conclude the previous years' rotating campaigns.

If such an isolated fortress could not be taken, then whether it was His Majesty the Emperor or Han Shizhong, the Marshal of the Hedong Front Army, they might as well go home and hold their babies!

Hezhong Prefecture had to be taken, and taken quickly.

"I regard this city as impregnable."

On the third day of the tenth month, atop the Stork Tower west of Hedong City, Wendun Sizhong, the Hezhong Prefecture garrison commander, personally ascended the tower. He gazed contemptuously at the dense columns of the Imperial Guard Left Army crossing the river to the west, then turned back and pointed at his own city behind him to the east, appearing completely calm and composed.

The civil and military officials around him all nodded eagerly, seemingly equally confident. After all, they had seen this kind of scene many times before. Who among Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, including Wang De and Li Qiong, hadn't come here? How many times had they come?

But when had they ever taken it?

Soon, however, one local Han official seemed thoughtful, and then cautiously spoke up on the tower: "My lord, previously the Zhao Song Emperor repeatedly proclaimed from the south that he would launch a Northern Expedition. Even the Prince of Jin took the initiative to come south and take command. The timing of this troop deployment is unusual. It might be that the Song army is truly going to commit its full strength this time. When that happens, it won't be like before. We should still be careful."

Wendun Sizhong glanced at the man who had spoken. Instead of getting angry, he stroked his beard and laughed uproariously at the sky. He laughed until the Han official's face turned pale, then looked back contemptuously and pointed: "Let me ask you... since you know the Third Prince has come south, do you know that in his previous letter he said he had gone to Great Ming Prefecture?"

"This subordinate knows," the Han official quickly bowed his head.

"Then let me ask you again," Wendun Sizhong stroked his beard and pressed on, "why did the Third Prince go to Great Ming Prefecture?"

"It was because, according to reports, the Zhao Song Emperor left the capital on the first day of the ninth month, and then, as usual, went on a river inspection tour from west to east... This, combined with previous rumors, caused great tension on the Great Ming Prefecture side. So the Prince of Jin left Zhending and went to Great Ming Prefecture."

"Correct." Wendun Sizhong finally raised his eyebrows triumphantly. "Based on this information, the Zhao Song Emperor should have been opposite Great Ming Prefecture half a month ago. The Third Prince probably arrived at Great Ming Prefecture around the latter half of last month... Let me ask you, what madness possessed the Zhao Song Emperor to, before the Third Prince arrived, obediently conduct his river inspection tour, following the usual routine from west to east, and then, as soon as he learned the Third Prince had reached Great Ming Prefecture, immediately send a flying horse to order Han and Li to launch the entire army across the river? Even if he genuinely wanted to fight a major battle, there is absolutely no reason for such haste!"

Not just the Han official, but all the surrounding officials suddenly realized.

Or rather, they all put on a show of realization, all saying that the garrison commander, with his brilliant judgment, had seen through the Song army's bluff from a thousand miles away, and that this battle was probably already prepared for, just like the routine rotating campaigns of previous years.

Some even went so far as to say that in previous years, when the Song army had attacked with all its might, it couldn't shake Hezhong Prefecture in the slightest. So even if the Song army really did come with its full force this time, it could only slink away in disgrace... All that talk of 'unmatched under heaven' and 'mainstay' was just self-praise.

"You can't say that." Hearing this, Wendun Sizhong, who did have some self-awareness after all, put on a stern face and waved his hand from atop the Stork Tower. "Han Shizhong is undoubtedly a famous general under heaven; otherwise, how could he have such brilliant past exploits? But this man, after the Yaoshan battle, became a Junior Guardian, a Commandery Prince, a Military Governor of three circuits, and even formed a double marriage alliance with the Zhao Song Emperor. He has already reached the pinnacle of wealth and honor... I'm afraid his drive for advancement is long gone. His campaigns in recent years have just been going through the motions. As for Li Yanxian, even if he could fight in the past, after sitting in Shanzhou for eight years like a candle, how could he still know how to fight? He truly is a waste. Otherwise, why would Han Shizhong have already started crossing the river while he, Li Yanxian, is still at Pinglu, not even separated by a river, yet nowhere to be seen? In previous years, he was never this slow."

The crowd nodded repeatedly, once again praising the garrison commander for his civil and military talents, saying he would surely become Chancellor one day, surpassing those petty men, the Wulindazhan brothers.

Wendun Sizhong was greatly pleased by this, but he was, after all, a man who had come up through the ranks in the Aguda era. Seeing that the Song army on the Pujin side was gradually getting into formation, and that Han Shizhong's 'Unmatched Under Heaven' banner had also appeared on the opposite bank, he knew the enemy would soon cross the river. He became serious again, pointed out that his ten thousand garrison troops included a full four battalions, and divided them into four detachments with commanders, ordering the four generals to be on strict alert. When the Song vanguard crossed the river and landed, they were to launch their assault cavalry, hit the Song army before it could secure its foothold, and blunt its edge.

Then, he immediately led the civil and military officials of Hedong City back to the extremely sturdy Hedong City, the capital of Hezhong Prefecture, preparing to hold out and await reinforcements as usual.

His messengers, as usual, had spotted the situation on the opposite bank this morning and had hurried eastward.

Leaving aside how Wendun Sizhong saw through the bluff, on the west bank of the Yellow River, beneath that 'Unmatched Under Heaven' banner, Han Shizhong dismounted and sat upright. He did not put on his armor, nor did he reach for his 'Conquer the Enemy' bow. Instead, he had someone set up a table, spread out paper and ink, and prepared to compose a poem to demonstrate his loyalty and add to the elegant atmosphere.

And would you believe it? The Commandery Prince Han, who had probably read a few books in recent years, picked up his brush and, sure enough, was immediately struck by poetic inspiration. He wrote a line on the paper.

Wang Shixiong, a young personal guard close by, saw it clearly. It read: "Sweat and horses, yellow sands, a hundred battles' merit; the crimson land, beset with woes, awaits you, lords."

He couldn't help but marvel inwardly and silently applaud.

Not just Wang Shixiong, but some of the other military staff and subordinates who had a bit of knowledge, after stealing a glance, were also momentarily astonished... These two lines were too fitting. Marshal Han was indeed, like Marshal Yue, a born cultured man!

However, this poetic inspiration came quickly and left just as fast. The great Marshal Han, who had only been reading for three years, hastily wrote down one line and then didn't know how to continue. He was so anxious he scratched his ears and cheeks.

It also left the other subordinates speechless.

The two deputy commanders, Wang Sheng and Jie Yuan, having finished handling the river crossing arrangements, came to report. Seeing this scene, they exchanged helpless glances, both wishing they could snatch the brush and paper from him. But knowing they weren't as strong as him and probably couldn't take it, they could only sigh and stand at attention.

And it was at this awkward moment that a plume of dust rose along the river from afar. Several riders were escorting a single rider in special attire, galloping at full speed, showing no regard for the Commandery Prince of Yan'an's ceremonial guard. The sound of bells came from afar... Han Shizhong, and indeed everyone in the Imperial Guard Left Army, knew at once that this was another urgent dispatch from His Majesty. They all breathed a collective sigh of relief and, along with the Commandery Prince Han, stepped forward to greet the messenger.

However, when the messenger arrived, it was not an imperial edict, but a personal letter from His Majesty to be handed to Commandery Prince Han.

Although it was a personal letter, it was sent via the Yellow River military postal stations, using the highest level of transmission... a distance of six hundred li, changing twenty horses and twenty riders, taking two nights, one day, and half a day to deliver.

It seemed this personal letter was far more serious than an ordinary edict, and the others were not supposed to crowd around to see it.

So, before Han Shizhong could speak, Wang Sheng, Jie Yuan, and everyone else, including the many personal guards, voluntarily withdrew, leaving a space of several tens of paces. Han Liangchen himself quickly returned to his table, took a small knife to cut open the envelope, and read it carefully.

And when he looked, he found that His Majesty had actually sent him a ci poem.

It went:

Drunk, I trim the lamp and gaze at my sword; in dreams, I hear the bugles of the camp.

Eight hundred li, the roast is shared among the troops; fifty strings, the frontier sounds are plucked. Autumn, the army is reviewed on the battlefield.

The horse flies like the steed Dilu; the bow twangs like a thunderclap, startling the strings.

To accomplish the emperor's great task for the realm, to win a name both in life and after death.

Pity the white hairs that have grown!

Han Shizhong stared blankly for a while. He opened his mouth to speak but didn't know where to begin. He only felt a surge of heat filling his entire body.

And it was a full half-hour later that this great Marshal of Hedong belatedly noticed that there were actually words below this "Breaking Through the Enemy Formation" poem. Looking closely, they were clear and brief:

This "Breaking Through the Enemy Formation" was composed by Han Liangchen, Commandery Prince of Yan'an, in the autumn of the ninth year of Jianyan, and sealed in a secret letter to Fenghuang Mountain in Hangzhou. I, the Emperor, was moved by his feelings, and thus decided to hesitate no longer. The three-year term is up; the Northern Expedition shall commence immediately.

Han Liangchen, who joined the army in his youth, was the bravest in the three armies. Since the Jingkang Incident, he has served by my side, his loyalty and courage foremost under heaven.

After the Battle of Yaoshan, the realm was in confusion, and everyone had a lax attitude. Some famous marshals, complacent in their achievements, went through the motions in military affairs; some generals, fearing the times, idled in the forests; some fierce ministers, seeking to retreat and preserve themselves, dabbled in literature and art. Only Han Liangchen, though enfeoffed as a Commandery Prince, holding the office of Junior Guardian, commanding three circuits as Military Governor, with the highest military rank and a fortune rivaling heaven, never ceased to think of the Northern Expedition. He did not slacken for a single moment, honing his blade day by day, waiting for the right time.

He is truly the backbone of my ambition, unchanged for ten years.

Han Shizhong silently finished reading, paused for a long while, then carefully tucked the paper into the seam of his jade belt. Then he sat upright behind the table again, his eyes flashing like lightning, sweeping over the assembled generals, startling them all.

Then, this Marshal of Hedong, from behind the table, pointed at men in succession: "Hu Yantong, you will be the vanguard... The enemy is sure to have elite cavalry lying in ambush on the opposite bank, trying to hit us before we can secure our foothold. Take plenty of long spears and strong crossbows, but try not to show them too early. Do you understand my meaning? Jie Yuan will lead the supporting force in the rear, make sure to teach the Jin army a lesson. Cheng Min, three volleys. Wang Sheng, take my banner and supervise the main force as it crosses later!"

The generals, still dazed, hurriedly acknowledged.

The next moment, Han Shizhong's eyes widened as he fixed his gaze on a man not far away. "Wang Shixiong, fetch my armor. All of you, follow me and set out together with Cheng Min! Let's see how the Jin Jun try to stop me!"

The generals all shuddered, finally snapping out of their stupor.

PS: Thank you to Teacher An and the big shot Yunzhu's Song for the patronage.

Continuing to wish everyone a happy New Year.