Thinking of this, Emperor Zhao really couldn't blame those people who had been jumping around recently... Put yourself in their shoes, the road ahead is long and the waves are turbulent, who wouldn't want to prepare an umbrella in advance?
However, just as Zhao Jiu suppressed all his complicated thoughts, based on the advice of Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun, and calmed himself down to prepare to continue the long war of resistance, just one day later, early in the morning of the second day, February 6, he was stunned by a new piece of news!
"Officials!"
Yang Yizhong, still wearing his armor, rushed into the imperial tent, knelt on one knee, and reported hastily. "Your Majesty, come and see quickly. The Jin army has actually withdrawn!"
Zhao Jiu, who had clearly asked others to handle the situation carefully but was sleeping in on the couch, was speechless and confused for a long time before rushing out of the imperial tent. However, he did not even have time to put on the iconic round-necked red robe, which was personally brought out by the chief escort Lan Gui and put on by him under the dragon flag.
However, these details are unimportant, because one fact that can be seen with the naked eye is that Zhao Jiuli stood under the Jinwu banner on the northern ridge of Bagua Mountain, looking at the Jin camp opposite from afar. Sure enough, he saw that the entire Jin army camp was busy - it seemed that they were indeed retreating!
By noon, the retreat of the Jin army was beyond doubt. According to the visual observations of Yang Yizhong and several soldiers, first a lightly armed elite cavalry unit of four to five hundred people led the way north as usual, and then a main force of the Jin army cavalry of at least 7,000 people, with a few baggage vehicles, slowly moved north, and then set out to leave the camp on the banks of the Huai River.
However, as soon as the 7,000-strong army left, the Jin army camp immediately returned to normal order, but no more troops were seen packing up and preparing to leave.
"It should be divided into three parts..." Yang Yizhong immediately explained to the civil officials in the temporary office. "The front army, the central army, and the rear guard... The front army should set out first, occupy a city in the north, or set up a camp, and then the central army will be sent out to escort the baggage out of the camp. After the central army arrives, the rear army will break camp and set out." At this point, Yang Yizhong paused slightly. "This is also because the Jin army is well-trained in field battles, and they claim that their cavalry is invincible on flat ground, and their support is extremely fast, so they can implement this strategy. Otherwise, they will inevitably be punished by the military for dividing the troops without authorization. But on the other hand, it is precisely because the cavalry is invincible on flat ground and has strong support that the Jin army can retreat in this way and naturally preserve the previous spoils."
After Zhao Jiu, there were Lu Haowen, Wang Boyan, and a host of other people who seemed to understand but not quite.
"So are they going to withdraw from Yishui in the east or from Jizhou in the west?" Zhao Jiu suddenly remembered what Han Shizhong said yesterday and couldn't help asking again. "How to go due north?"
"It's hard to say!" This time it was not Yang Yizhong, but the recently re-active Imperial Camp Commander Wang Yuan who answered. "Reporting to the emperor, whether to go east or west depends on whether the Jin army crosses the Wo River to the east. To the north of this place is Mengcheng, which is located on the bank of the Wo River. The outcome will only be known when the Jin army reaches there..."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
Zhao Jiufu asked again, "Maybe we could send out scouts to monitor?"
"Of course!" Wang Yuan responded immediately. "But we have to wait until the rear army breaks camp."
Zhao Jiu finally stopped asking any more questions.
However, Zhao Jiu did not ask, but someone could not help but interrupt: "Your Majesty, I, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, Hu Yin, would like to ask that Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun said yesterday that the great victory at Liangshanpo was not enough to quickly shake Jin Wushu. Then, may I ask why Jin Wushu left in such a hurry today?"
"I, the Hanlin scholar Lin Jingmo, have the same question." Xiao Lin also spoke up, and was more direct and blunt. "Is it that Han and Zhang heard that Yue and Zhang had won such a great victory and were rewarded as pacification envoys, and they were jealous and deliberately belittled the victory of Liangshanpo?"
Zhao Jiu's heart moved slightly.
To be honest, Emperor Zhao knew that it was common for Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun to do such things, and the questioning of Xiaolin and Hu Sheren was reasonable. Of course, he knew that Xiaolin and Hu Yin had no ill intentions. They were just following Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun's example, each of them praised the military officials they recommended, and wanted to remind Emperor Zhao that Jin Wushu's retreat was directly related to the victory of Liangshanpo, and the credit should still be attributed to Yue Fei and Zhang Rong!
However, although Hu Yin understood it, he was fine. But when Scholar Kobayashi spoke so directly, he, as an official, didn't know how to respond for a moment... Should he admit that Han and Zhang were shameless, or deny the contributions of Yue Fei and Zhang Rong?
"Let Lin Xueshi and Hu Sheren know." At this time, the Chief Censor Zhang Jun suddenly spoke up. "The reason for the misjudgment in this matter is not that the two generals Han and Zhang are jealous of talents, but that they are not capable enough... You must know that although General Han, who made the suggestion yesterday, is familiar with military affairs, he does not understand politics and people's hearts."
Zhao Jiu raised his eyebrows slightly, and Hu Yin and Lin Jingmo also listened quietly.
"Especially Mr. Lin, you entered the industry later and you don't know that Jin Wushu's military action was lured by the emperor's personal visit to Huaidian, which was considered as sending troops without authorization! From a military perspective, Commander Han did not make a wrong judgment, but he forgot that although Jin Wushu was the fourth prince of the Jin Dynasty, he was also controlled by Wanyan Talan, the direct descendant of the current Jin Dynasty's ruler. With such a big event happening behind him, perhaps it is not enough to withdraw the troops urgently from a military perspective, but should he consider Talan's urging? Moreover, he lost 7,000 soldiers and stayed in Huaidian for almost two months without any progress. Should he worry about being blamed by the Jin Dynasty's ruler, Wanyan Nianhan, and even his two brothers after returning home? Is he afraid of losing the military power he fought so hard for?"
Zhang Jun spoke eloquently while Hu Yin kept silent. Scholar Kobayashi tried to refute several times but had nothing to say. As for the other important officials in the imperial court, they all nodded and agreed with Zhang Jun's inference of the Jin army's retreat, which was consistent with their own understanding.
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