Chapter 152 Decision

The Jin army noticed the Song army's activities on the night of the 12th day of the first lunar month, or in the early morning of the 13th day of the first lunar month, almost immediately, probably because the moon was getting bigger.

There was nothing that could be done about it. The two sides were too close to each other. A sudden attack would only take an hour. So even though there had been no fighting between the two sides in the previous half month and there was a "peaceful atmosphere", the Jin army could not ignore the large-scale military movements so close to them.

However, the Jin army commander Wanyan Talai knew the reason earlier than these people, because on that night, someone defected to the Jin army camp and informed Talai of the "dramatic changes" that had taken place in Yanling City before the Jin army scouts returned with the situation.

"So... it's not your family who is in power in Yanling now?" That morning, in the dilapidated north of Changsha City, between the water, Talan came to the central army tent with a little irritation after getting up. He frowned and listened to the visitor's words. Even though he was in a bad mood, he couldn't help but take it seriously. "Did the angel from Nanyang take away his power?"

"It seems like he is under house arrest!" A Song general who looked embarrassed stood under the tent, his face full of worry, and he was cautious. "I came here specifically to inform the Marshal about this..."

"Tell me in detail." Wanyan Talan frowned even more. "Who is this person? How could he easily seize your family's remaining military power?"

"It's the Imperial Censor Hu Yin!"

"What kind of official is that?"

"Second only to the prime minister, half a level higher than other officials..."

Upon hearing this, Talai immediately looked at the few Jingxi surrendered people sitting beside him. They nodded quickly, and some even wanted to stand up and explain... But Talai didn't have the enthusiasm to learn. He waved his hand, asked the man to sit down, and continued to ask:

"I see. I can't blame him. But when did that Hu arrive in Yanling?"

"I just arrived yesterday." This person answered every question, even a little eagerly.

Wanyan Talai nodded slightly, as this matched what he had learned about the situation in Nanyang yesterday morning.

However, at this point, Talai still did not ask about the military situation, but suddenly asked something else: "You said your name is Li Kui? Are you a commander under the Tokyo Garrison?"

"Yes!" The man below, Li Kui, quickly responded.

"Where are you from?"

“I’m from Yishui.”

“From JD?”

"Marshal is very insightful..."

"What good knowledge? I went to Jingdong last year, don't you know?" Talai replied unhappily. "If you are from Jingdong, why do you work for the Tokyo Resident Office? And according to what you said, you must be trusted by your resident, so you are afraid that Hu Yin will catch you, so you ran away... How did you get here?"

"Let the Marshal know." Li Kui said awkwardly. "I am from Yishui. After the fight between the Marshal and the Fourth Prince last year, I took advantage of the opportunity and occupied Mizhou with a few brothers..."

"Later, we were attacked by Li Cheng of Qingzhou next door. I had no choice but to lead the remaining soldiers to wander along Mount Tai, and first stayed with Zhang Rong in Dongping Prefecture. But Zhang Rong had his own group of brothers in Shuibo, and he couldn't tolerate me. So I had to continue looking for Yue Fei in Jeju. But Yue Fei had strict military discipline, and I couldn't bear it anymore, so I had to leave again and went to Tokyo..."

"After that, I went to Tokyo. Because I was born in Jingdong, I was also ostracized. I had to wander around in many places and I was too embarrassed to go back. It was not until my family became powerful that I was able to gain his trust because I was not reliable..."

"This time, I am not only worried about the Chief Censor getting hold of me, but I am even more worried about Yue Fei getting hold of me... I must escape from Yue Fei once..."

Li Kui kept on talking and rambling, which annoyed the scholars and generals around him, but Talai listened with great interest. He interrupted him from time to time and called a few relevant people to verify a few words before letting him continue talking.

This is Talan's advantage. Although he is rude, he is an older man after all. He is considerate and meticulous. As he gradually listened to the other party's words, he found that the method, time, and cause and effect almost all matched with what he knew and heard, so he felt relieved.

"Alright, alright..." After listening to the long speech, Talan gradually relaxed and smiled. "Tell me about the military situation!"

"Let the Marshal know." Li Kui couldn't help but put his hands together and lowered his head to take a half step forward, but he stopped abruptly under the gaze of several soldiers beside Talan. "Hu Yin came to pass on the order. After taking over the military power, he ordered the commander of the entire army and the commander of the army to enter the city together, and then urged them to go to war to relieve the siege of Changsha..."

"So, the Song army will come to attack us soon?" Talai frowned slightly, seeming quite worried.

Li Kui shook his head repeatedly: "It is true that Hu Yin urged us to hurry, but he is new here and he is young. How dare the generals and officers in the army come here to fight with the Marshal's main force of more than 20,000 Jurchens just because of his words? Therefore, after a long discussion yesterday, the army argued with him for a long time, but they finally made a decision and decided to send troops immediately. The two routes are divided into two groups. One group will go north along the Wei River to attack Changge first, luring the Marshal's troops to rescue, but it is just a cover; the other group will go south across the Wei River to take advantage of the time difference and attack Linying. After taking Linying, they will cross the Ying River again, so that Yancheng and Xiangcheng can find a place to rescue and explain... This group is the main force, led by Yue Fei, who has a real army of 20,000!"

Talan thought about it and nodded slowly.

You know, right now the situation between the Five Rivers (Yingshui, Weishui, Qishui, Shangshui and Rushui) is already very critical for the Song army, and many key points have already fallen... For example, Changge, which connects Zhongmu and Changsha, is also the key point for the main force of the Jin army to return north, and it was lost at the beginning because of Han Shizhong's defeat; Linying, which was separated from Changsha by the Qishui River and controlled the upper reaches of the Yingshui River, was also lost because of Zhang Yu's surrender; and the two front teeth that directly controlled the Nanyang Basin, namely Wuyang and Xiping, also lost Wuyang... Therefore, the only strongholds that the Song army still had in this area at this time were Changsha where Han Shizhong was located, Xiangcheng where Lu Xing was located, Yancheng where Xu Shi'an was located, and Xiping where Zhai Chong was located, just four places.

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