Chapter 625: The Yuan's Acceleration

False Song world.

Time, as if an invisible hand had pressed the fast-forward button.

The drastic change left people stunned.

First, the north.

North of the Yellow River, on the vast territory.

The force that Chen Wen called the "Yuan" and that Yue Fei regarded as a grave threat rose and expanded at a speed beyond anyone's imagination.

It was not gradual nibbling.

But like an avalanche, or a prairie fire.

Late February.

Still in the chill of early spring.

Yuan army vanguard cavalry had completely controlled several important ferries and strongholds on the north bank of the Yellow River.

They did not rush into a large-scale southern invasion.

Instead, they turned their forces.

Westward.

Northward.

Like a precise and ruthless plow, they began to "tidy up" the rear.

Target: the remnants of the Jin.

At this time, the region north of the Yangtze was in utter chaos.

The False Song court had already effectively abandoned the area north of the Yellow River.

After a series of crushing defeats last year, the Jin's main forces hunkered down in a few core cities such as Yanshi, Zhengzhou, and Kaifeng (Bianjing), barely surviving, internal conflicts intensified, morale low.

To the west, the Western Xia took advantage to loot.

Defeated soldiers, bandits, and powerful local armed groups sprang up everywhere.

Originally, this should have been a loose sand, with various forces checking each other, able to stalemate for a long time.

But in the face of the Yuan, a war machine that suddenly opened full throttle.

All resistance appeared so fragile.

Early March.

A Yuan army detachment marched west, claiming 30,000 (actually possibly less than 20,000), straight for Yanshi.

The Jin commander defending Yanshi, Wanyan Zongbi (Wuzhu), had been an old opponent of Yue Fei for many years.

He tried to rely on the city defenses and the remaining tens of thousands of troops to hold out for reinforcements, or at least to stall the Yuan army, waiting for the situation to change.

However.

The siege lasted only five days.

On the fifth night, the west gate of Yanshi was opened by an insider (rumor had it the defending commander had already been bribed by the Yuan with heavy money or death threats).

Yuan elite cavalry surged into the street fighting.

The Jin army was utterly routed.

Wanyan Zongbi, with his personal guards fighting to the death, led only a few hundred cavalry in a breakout eastward, aiming to flee to Kaifeng.

En route, they were intercepted and slaughtered by Yuan scouts.

A renowned Jin general of his generation, he died amidst the chaotic troops, his head hung from a horse's saddle for public display.

The main Jin force at Yanshi either surrendered or died; the entire army was annihilated.

The news spread.

The region north of the Yangtze trembled.

Mid-March.

The Yuan main force did not rest, relying on the prestige of their great victory, and split into two routes.

One route continued westward to sweep away the Jin remnants and warlord forces west of Luoyang.

The other route, the true main force, mighty and mighty, advanced eastward toward Kaifeng.

At this time, Bianjing was no longer the former prosperous capital.

Having endured war, it lay in ruins.

The garrison's morale was panicked; hearing of Yanshi's grim state and Wuzhu's death, they lost all will to fight.

The False Song court nominally still had officials here, but in fact had already fled south or shut their doors.

The Jin forces left behind here were originally few, and furthermore factional strife plagued them.

The Yuan vanguard reached the city walls and made only a probing attack.

The second day, internal strife broke out within the city.

At dawn on the third day, the city gates swung open.

The Yuan cavalry entered this historically significant ancient city with little effort.

After the humiliation of Jingkang, the old capital that had fallen to the enemy for many years changed hands again in an almost absurd manner.

Only the master had changed, from the Jin to a more unfamiliar and also more formidable "Yuan".

Almost simultaneously.

Hebei, Shandong, and other regions reported more bad news, like snowflakes.

The Yuan army took cavalry as its core, supplemented by large numbers of incorporated Han military units with decent combat ability (these local forces switched sides extremely quickly), and with astonishing efficiency took cities and seized territory.

Weak resistance was simply crushed.

Fierce resistance was often followed by brutal slaughter after the city fell (especially targeting Jurchen settlements or cities that stubbornly resisted), to serve as a warning.

The last ruling foundation of the Jin state in Zhongyuan was like a snow pile under sunlight, melting away swiftly.

Its remnants of royalty and nobility, some tried to flee north to the ancestral grasslands, some tried to cross south to surrender to the Song, while many more were annihilated or captured in the chaos.

The once invincible Great Jin that had driven the Northern Song to desperation.

Under the tearing bite of the newborn beast known as the "Yuan."

In just a little over a month.

Showing a trend of utter collapse, near extinction!

Such speed.

So fast it's abnormal.

So fast that anyone watching the northern situation feels a chill deep inside.

Lin'an, the imperial palace, the Hall of Supreme Reverence.

The atmosphere was so oppressive you could wring water from it.

Emperor Zhao Gou on the dragon throne, his face pallid, fingers unconsciously rubbing the robe's hem.

Below the steps, civil and military officials stood in rows, most with heads bowed, none daring to speak lightly.

Chief Minister Qin Hui stood at the head of the civil officials, brows furrowed, a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead.

He held a stack of urgent military reports that had just arrived from north of the Yangtze via various channels—some even smuggled back from areas controlled by the Yuan forces.

Their content was largely similar, yet each more shocking than the last.

"……Yanshi fell, Wanyan Aguda died, tens of thousands of Jin troops were annihilated."

"……Bianjing opened, Yuan cavalry entered, the old capital's banner changed again."

"……Zhengding, Daming, Dongping…… in half a month, seven prefectures fell in succession, their commanders either surrendering or dying, the Yuan vanguard already approaching the Huai River……"

"How…… how could this be possible?" an elderly minister whispered, voice trembling, breaking the silence, "Though the Jin are declining, they still have the resilience of a centipede—how could they…… collapse so swiftly?"

No one could answer.

Only heavy breathing filled the hall.

Their original plan was to ally with the Jin to control Yue, even fantasizing about using the tiger to devour the wolf, letting the Jin and Yue Fei fight to mutual exhaustion, after which the court would step in to clean up the remnants.

But now.

The "tiger" (the Jin) is about to be bitten to death by a far more ferocious "monster."

And that "monster's" next target, obvious even to a toe, is surely the wealthy lands of Jiangnan, the very refuge of their Lin'an court!

"Yuan…… just what kind of divine being are they?" Zhao Gou's voice was dry, laced with fear he could not conceal.

Qin Hui drew a deep breath, stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty, according to multiple reports, this 'Yuan' is a newly risen barbarian chieftain from the north, who has united the tribes, extraordinarily fierce and valiant, and employs deceitful tactics, adept at using Han tracers as his tools. Observing his actions, he harbors wolfish ambitions, likely beyond comparison to the Jin. Now that Jin power has waned and the northern barrier is utterly lost, our court ought to…… ought to make preparations early."

He made no mention of his earlier advocacy for allying with the Jin.

He merely described the "Yuan" as a more terrifying barbarian.

"Defenses? How to defend?" Zhao Gou showed some loss of composure, "Yue Fei holds Luoyang but refuses orders. Wang Jun's hundred-thousand-strong army is stalled outside Xuchang, hesitating to advance! The north is lost; how can we guard the Huai? This realm…… this realm……"

He did not finish his words, but everyone in the hall understood his meaning, and their hearts grew even heavier.

A panic like a great hall about to collapse silently spread.

Qin Hui's eyes turned gloomy and vicious.

He knew some of the inner details better than the emperor.

Through limited and obscure contacts with "those people" (the Iron Crow Army and its agents), he faintly sensed that the dramatic shift in the northern situation was being driven by a power beyond the ordinary.

The rise of that "Yuan" was fast to an uncanny degree.

It seemed as if a hand were forcibly speeding up the pendulum of history.

This gave him a barely perceptible fear of being a pawn.

But more than that, it was anxiety.

His authority was rooted in this refuge court.

If the court fell, everything of his would be finished.

Something must be done.

"Your Majesty." Qin Hui spoke again, his voice somewhat steadier, trying to steady the situation: "The urgent priority is to stabilize the Huai defenses, transfer elite troops from the riverbank northward to deploy. Meanwhile…… regarding Yue Fei's forces at Luoyang, we could temporarily halt the pursuit, even…… grant some nominal pretext to send them north to resist the Yuan, serving as a buffer for our court."

This is a classic case of driving away the wolf to provoke the tiger, diverting disaster northward.

It also appears to be the most cost-effective option at present.

As for whether Yue Fei will obey the order……

At least it is an attempt.

Low murmurs rose in the hall.

Some approved, while others believed this amounted to acknowledging Yue Fei's separatism, storing up endless future troubles.

Zhao Gou, vexed and troubled, waved his hand: "This matter…… let us discuss it later. The Huai and Jiang defenses—have the Secretariat draft proposals at once! Court dismissed!"

He almost fled as he left the great hall.

Left behind, the entire court of civil and military officials stared at each other, worried and anxious.

They vaguely sensed.

An era darker and more despairing than the Jingkang Incident.

Approaching at an unprecedented speed.

Toward the fragile, storm‑tossed Southern Song court.

Lunging forward.

And in Luoyang.

Yue Fei received the latest northern intelligence only slightly later than Lin'an.

Looking at the shocking place names and results on the silk paper.

On his face, there was no surprise.

Only a frozen solemnity.

"Indeed...... it has accelerated."

He muttered softly.

Chen Wen's earlier warning still rang in his ears.

Now, it is becoming reality in the most cruel way.

The collapse of the Jin state brought no respite.

On the contrary, it means that a stronger, more unified, more dangerous enemy has completely cleared away the obstacles behind it.

They can concentrate all their strength.

They have moved south.

He raised his head.

His gaze seemed to pierce the roof of the military governor's mansion.

He looked north.

He looked toward the Yellow River.

There.

The last buffer is disappearing.

"Issue orders to all units."

Yue Fei's voice broke the silence in the hall.

"Cancel all rotations."

"Strengthen the city defenses, especially the north."

"Send out all elite forces to keep moving night and day, penetrate as far north as possible; I need to know the exact gathering location and scale of the Yuan army's main force."

"Patrol boats will patrol the river day and night, monitoring any signs of attempting to build pontoon bridges or find shallow fords to cross the river."

"Grain, weapons, arrows, and fire oil—take stock again to ensure sufficient supply."

A series of orders, clear, decisive, and swift.

The generals in the hall received the orders solemnly.

They all read from Yue Fei's words and gaze an undeniable sense of urgency.

Mountain rain.

Has arrived.

No.

It is a towering flood.

Has reached beneath the city gates.

The time left for them.

Really not much left.