Chapter 402: Station

"Quick! Quick! Quick!"

"The whole army follows!"

"Don't wait for the infantry. Bring your food, mount your horses, find a poor horse to load your armor, and march north with your whole army!"

"Throw down those pots and ladles! Once we enter Taihangxing, Zezhou is so big that we don't need a ladle like you!"

On the afternoon of the fourth day of the first lunar month, the tenth year of Jianyan had just arrived a few days ago. The ice and snow had not melted, the rivers were not open, and on the plains on the north bank of the Yellow River, the east of Wangwu Mountain, and the south of Taihang Mountain, countless cavalry were marching hurriedly eastward, and the scene was in chaos.

"I wonder what year it is in the palace of heaven?"

In this chaotic scene, surrounded by several knights, on a hillside somewhere in the north, there was a sturdy armored general astride an exceptionally strong warhorse, uttering absurd words.

Of course it is a ridiculous statement.

After all, at this moment, it is the New Year's Day, and the situation and scene are clearly one of war and chaos. This place and division are obviously the former Hanoi, the current Meng and Huai areas.

From any perspective, this poem is totally inappropriate.

However, many senior officers around the general seemed to understand the deep meaning of their commander-in-chief's poem... Now, most of the imperial cavalry were in a state of 'not knowing what year it is in the palace in heaven'?

That's right, the one who recited this poem was Qu Duan, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Cavalry, and many of the people around him who echoed him were also officers of the Imperial Cavalry. The reason why these Imperial Cavalry generals, who were known for being both civil and military, approved of this poem was that the situation of the Imperial Cavalry at the moment really fits the artistic conception of this poem by scholar Su Shi.

In order to prevent the main force of the Jin army from crossing the Yellow River from Hunan, the heavy cavalry in the Imperial Camp Cavalry and a part of the Eight Character Army under Li Qiong, totaling more than 30,000 people, were thrown on both sides of the Chenguan Pass for defense. They did not participate in the crucial battles in Daming Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture. At that time, the Imperial Camp Cavalry was very dissatisfied.

But now, with the two loud noises before the New Year, Daming Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture opened their cities together, and the situation changed completely. Within a few days, good news came in from the north like a stream, and the imperial cavalry received the news passively, so they were naturally even more dissatisfied.

It was as if someone had forgotten about me, or as if I had been isolated from the core war. Anyway, I felt a sense of panic of being abandoned.

As mentioned before, the high-ranking officers of the Imperial Cavalry were both civil and military. How could they not know what the change of hands between Taiyuan Prefecture and Daming Prefecture meant in terms of military and political aspects? How could they not know how the Jinshi who followed the army under Taiyuan City, the "for consultation" who stayed in Queshu Valley, and the ministers, secret councils, and public councils in Tokyo would exaggerate these two great victories in the official newspapers?

But then what?

Then this big victory has nothing to do with them!

The Daming Prefecture was commanded by Yue Fei alone, and Zhang Rong and Tian Shizhong were all hiding in that big camp, so they couldn't hide from the merits, and others couldn't take advantage of them. When Taiyuan City was captured, everyone was there, but your Imperial Camp Cavalry was hundreds of miles away, so you couldn't get in even if you wanted to!

At this time, isn't this poem by the great scholar Su Shi very appropriate?

However, no matter how dissatisfied everyone was, they could not complain about the government and the central government's arrangements, so they could only make a brief comment through poetry and then quickly change the subject.

"Is it too late?" After a moment of silence, Liu Qi, deputy commander of the Imperial Cavalry, looked at the army rushing forward down the hillside, and was obviously a little uneasy.

"It's hard to say." Commander Zhang Zhongfu frowned. "It's true that we are cavalry, but the north knew it almost two days earlier than us. Zezhou is definitely ours, but it's hard to say about Longde Prefecture."

"If that's the case, wouldn't this battle be in vain?" When Liu Qi heard this, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"What do you mean, Vice Governor?" Zhang Zhongfu obviously misunderstood and tried to comfort him. "We are cavalry, and we should be used in field battles, capturing cities, etc. It's good to have merit, but why should we care too much if we suffer losses in seizing these free lands? We will start the decisive battle in Hebei soon!"

"It may not be possible to fight a field battle." Liu Qi whispered a piece of news that only a general-level commander would know. "The logistics cost is much higher than previously planned, and it can only last for three months at most... This is why General Qu was willing to be whipped by the emperor to give it a try... You say, if the Jin army retreats decisively, giving up all the land in Hedong and Hebei, and retreating to the city of Yanjing, then considering the spring plowing, what if the emperor takes advantage of the situation and stops the war for a while?"

Zhang Zhongfu's expression remained unchanged when he heard this, but he was shocked in his heart. He then reined in his horse and took a few steps forward, came to Qu Duan's side, and looked at him, as if to confirm.

After all, he was his own trusted confidant. Riding on the new Iron Elephant, Qu Duan could only nod his head helplessly: "Vice-Commander Liu is telling the truth... But in my opinion, a decisive battle must still be fought... Because the war has come to this point, there is no reason for the government to stop. If we stop and let the Jin army go, and then send troops again in two years, it will be a waste of military resources and manpower."

Zhang Zhongfu nodded slightly, but after a moment's thought, he made a solemn request: "General, no matter what, it's always right to rush to Longde Prefecture... The Jin army has lost Daming Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture, and Longde Prefecture is already a dead end. There is absolutely no reason to hold on. If we can seize it, it will be a credit... How about I personally lead the army?"

Qu Duan thought about it and couldn't refuse, so he nodded immediately: "Go...you can go quickly, but be careful!"

Zhang Zhongfu responded immediately, but rode his horse down the hill and galloped away with a few trusted officers.

After they left, Qu Da was left with only Liu Qi and Xiahou Yuan and a few other guards beside him. He couldn't help but turn around and complain, "Why bother telling these people... They were already in a mess, and now it's even more chaotic. Besides, the Jin army didn't lose its fighting power just because they lost two cities. If they run into one or two crazy people and lose another battle, who will be responsible?"

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