At the end of March, with Wanyan Loushi's surprise attack on northern Shaanxi, the war between Song and Jin broke out again.

Besides, this war was unprecedented in terms of the mobilization strength, breadth and political determination of both sides. In order to fight this war, the Jin Kingdom staged a drama of forcing the emperor to abdicate, and in order to deal with this war, the Song Dynasty staged the incident of entrusting the orphan to the care of the emperor in the palace... Moreover, once both sides made up their minds, they no longer cared about the mess behind them.

What about Mongolian Kubula Khan, what about the Great Sage of Dongting Lake, what about Yelu Dashi of Western Liao? These people and words that must be treated with extreme caution under normal circumstances have been completely forgotten by both sides at this moment.

Hidden within, both countries were determined to make a desperate effort.

There is no way out. For the Jin and Song dynasties, this is a battle of national destiny that is bound to happen.

It was indeed destined. If Zhao Jiu had only relied on his experience as a time traveler, his rough guesses, and chaotic thoughts before, now he no longer had any doubts:

The full-scale war between the Song and Jin countries had lasted for five or six years, and these five or six years of war were divided into stages.

Among them, in the first two and a half years, the Song Dynasty, which had absolute strength, collapsed again and again, while the Jin Dynasty expanded again and again. The so-called quantitative change leads to qualitative change. This continuous collapse and unceasing expansion eventually led to the Jingkang Change that almost led to the demise of the Song Dynasty. In the next three years, the Song Dynasty, which still had most of its body but had just woken up from shock, struggled hard to survive. After struggling for three years, it finally returned to the old capital. At the same time, the expansion momentum of the Jin Dynasty since its founding was finally gradually suppressed.

At this time, the war had entered a new stage after years of trials and accumulation, and the signs of a stalemate between Song and Jin along the Yellow River had become obvious.

However, at this moment, since both sides have already entered the war machine mode... as long as they stick to this mode, many things will not be subject to human will... the battle that is supposed to break out will break out sooner or later, and even the preset battlefield is destined.

Everyone knows that after three years of efforts, the Song Dynasty's imperial camp has become stronger, while the Western Army is still weak. Everyone knows that Guanzhong is a strategically important place, which can be used to control the Central Plains, and keeping it can also ensure the survival of the Central Plains.

This battle is destined to break out, destined to break out in Kansai, and destined to be affected by the overall situation of each country. Every move, every action, every move, every move in daily life, from national strategy and national characteristics to specific policy orders and appointments, will be tested in this battle.

As for Lou Shi and Zhao Jiu, rather than being the initiators and greeters of the battle, it would be more accurate to say that they were the sword-bearers and shield-bearers chosen by two huge countries. They just did not refuse or evade.

In fact, if Lou Shi had not realized that his body was about to collapse, it was most likely Wanyan Nianhan who came to his senses half a year later due to the slackening of political struggles, or it was simply Wanyan Wushu who came to Guanxi to do this.

If Zhao Jiu had not suddenly discovered that he had his own flesh and blood in this era, and then made up his mind deep in his heart long ago, then perhaps Han Shizhong would have presided over this matter... Even if Zhao Jiu had never climbed out of the well, wouldn't Zhang Jun have risked everything in Guanzhong to plead for the small southeastern court?

This battle must be fought!

"We must fight this battle, because only by winning this battle can we preserve Guanzhong. You must know that once Guanzhong is lost, the Central Plains will also be lost. At that time, Guanzhong and the Central Plains will end up like Hebei..."

"The fate of Hebei was clearly stated in the court report before. I have already said it. Moreover, your imperial camp is along the Yellow River. I don't believe that you have never seen the refugees from Hebei. Even if you don't know, go and ask your fellow soldiers in the Eight Character Army. You should know... Don't think that being a submissive subject of the Jin people will do you any good. The Jin people's Meng'an and Mouke don't treat the local people as human beings. They gamble with each other and capture people from the village as chips. The strong ones count as two chips, women count as one chip, and the elderly and children count as half a chip... This is how the Eight Character Army in Taihang Mountains rose..."

"But if we can win this battle, Guanzhong can be preserved. With the population, wealth, and weapons of our Song Dynasty, we will be able to raise an army of 300,000 to march north in three years, and recover the two rivers in five years. In ten years, we may be able to destroy Jin..."

On the last day of March, in the evening, a Song army of about four to five thousand people was setting up camp in front of Sishui Pass.

Thanks to the military conflict more than two months ago and the corresponding imperial expedition, the Song army was familiar with the route this time. The most intuitive point was that there were large garrisons left over from the previous battle along the line from Tokyo to Shanzhou, which made it much easier for the Song army to set up camp. The newly-appointed Jinshi sent out from the army were able to convey the emperor's orders and explain the court reports to the captains before dinner.

It is said that before Emperor Zhao led the army in person again, he tried to let these scholars directly enter each capital (a team of one hundred men) and then convey his determination, intentions, and military orders to the lowest level. However, he gave up because the number of people was not enough.

But even so, as the government and the central government expressed an unprecedentedly severe attitude, these new scholars and military staff had to increase their direct contact with the officers.

At the very least, reading court bulletins to the captains, explaining imperial decrees and military orders, and introducing geographical and military situations had become a "routine" that these scholars had to do when they camped at night. It also became a rope around the necks of these new scholars.

In fact, the official newspaper system under the Honglu Temple also entered the so-called wartime state after the palace entrustment, with supplements almost every day, and the content was no longer confined to the traditional form. At the same time. In order to ensure the wide spread of official newspapers in the army, hundreds of Taixue students, including hundreds of scholars in Tokyo, whether they were young men from wealthy families or booksellers, were uniformly recruited to the Imperial College to copy and organize each issue of the supplement.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!