Volume 1: Zhu Xian Town Crisis Chapter 41: The Final Act of the Chu State War

  At the same time as Yue Yun and others withdrew, Kong Yanzhou, more than ten miles away, finally waited for the first batch of Jurchen reinforcements. These Jin troops were the original personal soldiers of Wan Yan Zongmin, and they chose to withdraw to the nearest Jin army camp.

  Kong Yanjiu had already received a scout's report that a large-scale Jin army cavalry battle was taking place fifteen miles away (mainly because the Song army led by Yue Yun and others were wearing Jin army uniforms to facilitate a surprise attack). The scouting horse, for some reason, was afraid of being mistakenly injured if it approached, so it hurried back to report.

  Kong Yanjiu became even more tense after hearing the news. Although he couldn't figure out why the two groups of Jin troops were fighting each other, he knew that his first task was to guard the grain depot, which was the most important thing. He then ordered all Jin troops to enter a state of alert and prepare for a possible surprise attack by the Song army.

  However, after waiting for half a day without seeing Song Jun arrive, he instead waited for Wan Yan Zong Min's personal soldiers to come and ask for help in sorrow. Moreover, they also brought Wan Yan Zong Min's corpse with them.

  Kong Yanjiu was stunned: the Ninth King, who had been plotting and directing the attack for several days, actually died like this? This is too absurd! Although Jin Guo has lost many battles in recent years, the highest-ranking general to die in battle was only a commander-in-chief, and the closest to the imperial family was Xia Jinyu, another son-in-law of Wanyan Zongbi. But this time, Wan Yan Zongmin died, which is a huge shock for Jin Guo.

  Wanyan Zongmin was the ninth son of Wanyan Aguda, the founding emperor of the Jin dynasty. He held the title of King of Shu and had a good relationship with the current young Emperor Wanyan Dan of Jin. He also served as the Executive Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat, second only to the Chancellor. The corpse of such an important person was right in front of him, and Kong Yanjiu's mind suddenly went blank.

  The other Golden Guards present were also stunned, at a loss for what to do. Later, it was one of Gong Yanju's personal guards who reminded him, "General, shouldn't we send someone to inform Lord Liang about this right away?"

  "Yes! Hurry up and inform! Send the fastest horse to notify Lord Liang to come quickly!" Kong Yanzhou shouted loudly, as if he had just woken up from a dream.

  An hour later, Wanyan Liang finally learned of the news that almost drove him crazy: his respected Ninth Prince, Wanyan Zongmin, who had been in close conversation with him just a few hours ago, was actually killed by a group of fake Jin army Song military cavalry!

  "How did it end up like this..."

  "How could Ninth Uncle be so careless..."

  "What should I do now..."

  Wanyan Liang's mind flashed with thoughts one after another.

  If he retreats, he will likely be severely punished. Not only did he lead the army to defeat without authorization, but also implicated Ninth Uncle's death. Even if Xieli Zhining testifies that it was Wanyan Zongmin who proposed attacking Chuzhou, he may still not escape punishment. Moreover, losing Sizhou and suffering heavy casualties are undeniable facts. Although he is only a former military envoy in name, with the rank of Wanfu Lang general, his position is actually that of Fuguo Shangjiangjun. As a result, it's likely that his official position will be difficult to maintain, and he may have to be demoted and reduced in salary.

  Or, make one more desperate attempt and try to capture Chu Prefecture within the next two days. If we can capture it, perhaps things will look up a bit.

  "Your Highness, what shall we do now? Should we inform General Xieli and the Fourth Prince?" asked several generals beside him cautiously.

  "The death of the Ninth King is temporarily not announced in order to avoid affecting the morale of the troops. Our army continues..."

  Just as Wanyan Liang was about to order the continuation of the siege, another scout rushed into the tent with a panicked expression and reported: "Your Highness, something big has gone wrong! A large number of Song troops have appeared 50 miles west of the city, the exact number is unknown, but it's estimated to be around 10,000!"

  "Ah! Could it be that Zhang Jun's troops have come to rescue Chu State?" The Jin army generals inside the tent all changed color and discussed it in a flurry.

  "Your Highness! Retreat! Our soldiers have been fighting for four days, they are exhausted. Now the Song army's reinforcements have arrived, if we join forces with the Song army inside the city, our army will be in danger!"

  "Yes! Your Highness! Today's siege revealed that the number of Song troops on the city wall has greatly increased, and it is feared that the plague within the city has been eradicated. In this case, there are already 30,000 Song troops inside Chu State City alone, and our military strength is no longer sufficient to capture Chu State."

  "Your Highness! If we don't retreat now, the Song army inside the city will find out about our plan and launch a surprise attack on us. Meanwhile, the reinforcements from the Song army will attack us from the sides, and I fear that our entire army will be annihilated!"

  “……”

  The Jin generals in the account hurriedly advised.

  Wanyan Bright's eyes were wide open, and the blue veins on his face bulged. He naturally knew that if he didn't withdraw now, he would fall into a predicament. But he really couldn't bear it!

  This attack on Chu State was planned with Wan Yan Zongmin and Xieli Zhining for several days, targeting the current situation of Chu State and the surrounding Song army, confirming that there was no chance of failure before launching it. Originally thought to have made a great achievement, letting the upper and lower levels of the Jin country look at themselves with new eyes. But now it seems that after going back, not only will they face demotion and punishment, but also be ridiculed by others! This is the first time since the establishment of the Jin country that a prince-level big shot has died in battle. Moreover, he was killed by the Song people whom they had always looked down upon. This will have a huge impact on the psychology and morale of both the Song and Jin sides.

  The culprit behind all this was the Song army cavalry that launched a surprise attack on Bianzhou and killed Wanyan Zongmin.

  I must figure out which Song general led me into this desperate situation! Wanyan Liang clenched his fists, secretly making up his mind that once he returned, he would find a way to investigate who had caused him such a crushing defeat.

  "Alright... then let's withdraw..." Wanyan Liang almost trembled as he said the word "withdraw". This meant that all their previous efforts and sacrifices, launching a surprise attack in an attempt to change the course of the battle, had all been for naught.

  "Go, retreat! The Bright Emperor has already ordered to return to Xuzhou!" The Jurchen general walked out of the tent with a sigh of relief and began to pass on the order.

  As the order to retreat spread throughout the army, a huge cheer erupted from the Jin army's camp! They had been fighting bitterly under the city of Chuzhou for four whole days, originally thinking they could take it easily due to the plague within. But in fact, the Song army was getting stronger and more stubborn with each battle, and the Song soldiers on the city walls seemed to be increasing in number and morale.

  The Han army charged forward and was defeated!

  The Khitan and Xianbei tribes also rushed up and were defeated!

  Wanyan Liang personally led the Jurchen army in a charge, but they were unable to breach the walls of Chuzhou.

  Jin army's military discipline is extremely strict, the commander orders a charge, and with the supervision team watching from the side, they can only fight to the death. Now that they hear they can withdraw back to Xuzhou immediately, no one wants to stay in this place where too many people have already died for another moment.

  Moreover, there was a rumor circulating in the army that Song's reinforcements had arrived, and Jiawangye had died fighting. This shocked the Jin army, so they retreated from Chuzhou at twice the speed of their advance.

  Wanyan Liang did not disappoint as the rising star of the Jin army, and his actions were also very measured. He led his Jurchen personal army to cover the rear, allowing the Han and northern tribal armies to withdraw first, greatly winning over the favor of the generals and soldiers.

  He himself walked at the back, letting the military heart be settled, and the retreat was in order. Although Wang De and Han Shizhong wanted to expand their war results, under the cover of the Jin army's rear cavalry, row after row of crossbow arrows shot out, steadily retreating while fighting, allowing the Song army to gain no advantage either.

  After the Jin army had all crossed the Huai River, Wanyan Liang ordered the destruction of the pontoon bridge and gazed at the dense black mass of Song troops swarming on the opposite bank. With a bitter heart, Wanyan Liang raised his saber and shouted loudly: "Our family will definitely return with a large army! We must use the blood of the Song people to wash away the shame we suffered in Chu State this time..."

  Having said that, he sheathed his sword and turned to Jin Jiang beside him: "Let's return to Xuzhou..."

  More than 20,000 Jin troops on the north bank of the Huai River began to slowly retreat towards Xuzhou. Meanwhile, the Song army on the south bank watched them leave, and this five-day Battle of Chuzhou finally came to an end.

  At this time, Yue Yun led more than 400 remaining soldiers back to a forest on the south bank of the Huai River. Here, Yue Yun personally took up an iron shovel and buried the bodies of over 600 fallen heroes. The crowd looked at their comrades who had been together day and night being buried one by one, all crying out in unison, with wailing sounds filling the scene.

  Yue Yun gazed at the over 600 towering tombstones, secretly making up his mind to avenge these fallen soldiers and destroy the Jin State that had committed heinous crimes against the Han people, so that the Great Song would no longer be weak, and the Han people could finally stand tall in front of foreign tribes instead of offering silver, silk, and beauties to the Liao, Jin, and Western Xia tribes every year to beg for peace.

  After paying respects to the fallen generals, Yue Yunfang jumped onto his horse and said to Guan Ling and Niu Tong, "Let's go! We're heading back to Chu State! Let everyone get a good rest! And we'll take care of the proper business too! This battle is over, the plague has ended, shouldn't those grain ships be arriving soon?"

  As Yue Yun's order was passed down, more than 400 cavalrymen all mounted their horses in unison and followed him to Chu State at a rapid pace, with waves of dust rising behind them...

  The new book list is out, and New Morning feels a bit down. For two weeks in a row, it's been stuck at third place on the historical genre signed author new book list. There's nothing that can be done about this, though - first place is Tianzi Dashi, and second place is Sanjiang Recommendation. New Morning knows everyone did their best, so here's thanks to all the friends who've been voting for recommendations for this book.