When the Black Flag Army descended into a fierce war in the northwest, Fan Hongji had just crossed the Yellow River in the south. He was busy with more important matters and temporarily threw the matter of Little Cang River to the back of his mind.
In the Central Plains, the flames of war continued to burn. From the north to the south, a large scale turmoil was surging and spreading.
Time and time again, hundreds of thousands of people collided, millions died, and tens of millions of people migrated. The chaos and sorrow involved could not be described clearly with simple words. From Yanmen Pass to Taiyuan, then from Taiyuan to the Yellow River, and then from the Yellow River to Xuzhou, the Jurchen army rampaged unhindered. They set fire to cities, captured women, seized slaves, and killed captives.
Many people died. Those who lost their families and relatives wandered in all directions. For them, the traces left behind in the flames of war and the blankness left in their souls due to the sudden death of their loved ones might not disappear in this lifetime.
The resistance of the volunteer army became powerless after Zhou Yong went south and Zong Ze passed away. The forces on both sides of the Yellow River began to submit to the Jurchen, and the small-scale chaos became more and more intense. The villagers and bandits who hid in the mountains because they were unwilling to submit, and the swordsmen and tyrants in the streets used every method they could to resist in every place they could reach.
Hunting and killing of small groups of female Daoist masters happened every day, but every day, more and more rebels were killed in this kind of fierce conflict. The cities seized by the Jurchen were often empty, and the city walls were filled with the heads of troublemakers. At this time, the most efficient and least troublesome method of ruling was still slaughter.
This was the era of the Jurchen. For them, this was the heroic nature of the vast ocean. Every time they charged, every time they brandished their swords, they proved their strength. And the once prosperous half of the Wu dynasty, the entire Central Plains, collapsed and peeled off in this kind of fighting and trampling.
In more than half a year, more and more city gates were knocked open by the Jurchen, and more and more people submitted. The fleeing crowd crowded on the roads that the Jurchen did not take care of. Every day, there were people dying in hunger, robbery, and fighting.
In this vast and mighty era, Fan Hongji had long since adapted to everything that happened in this magnificent conquest. When he was at Little Cang River, due to his own mission, he was momentarily surprised by Little Cang River's choice. However, after he left that place, he went all the way to the Zhengzhou Barracks to report the mission to Wanyan Xiyin. Then, he was sent to the mission of recruiting Shi Bin's volunteer army. This was a small part of the vast strategy of the entire Central Plains.
Even though he tried his best to tell Wanyan Xiyin about what he had seen and heard in Little Cang River, Wanyan Xiyin's final opinion of that place was still holding onto Ning Liheng's poem and shaking his head, "Lingling people are still here, who knows that the Yunhan has already perished … Good poem!" He did not belittle the Little Cang River. However, in the current situation, there was no need to pay too much attention to it.
Ning Liheng was an outstanding person, but among the leaders of the Jurchen Clan, which one of them wasn't a hero who looked down on the world? Since the beginning of the war, Zong Han, Zong Fu, Zong Bi, Xi Yin, Lou Shi, Yin Shuke, Ci Bufu, Ba Li Su and the others had attacked cities and seized land without stopping. However, in the northwest, there was a famous general like Wanyan Loushi overseeing it. No one could be considered as underestimating the enemy. In the Central Plains, the frontline of the war was rushing towards Xuzhou.
Since the Eastern Army captured Yingtian and the Middle Army captured Bianliang, the entire main trunk of the Central Plains had fallen in the boiling killing. If the Jurchen Clan wanted to occupy land and rule, then they would have to spend a lot of time digesting the vast Central Plains. Even if they continued to fight, the line of soldiers heading south was getting longer and longer.
The strategic city of Xuzhou was the gateway from the Central Plains to Jiangnan. To the north of Xuzhou, there were many places that the Jurchen Clan had not yet conquered. The resistance was still ongoing. People estimated that the Jurchen Clan would not go south for the time being. However, the aggressive Wanyan Zongbi of the Eastern Army had already brought the vanguard of the army over. First, he called for the surrender, then he surrounded and attacked Xuzhou.
A large number of refugees heading south were trapped in the city of Xuzhou, waiting for the judgment of life and death. After Zhizhou Wang Fu refused to surrender, he sent people south to ask for reinforcements while running around the city walls every day, doing his utmost to resist the attack of the Jurchen army.
This was not a fierce attack, but the beginning of the Jurchen Clan's grand strategy of "searching the mountains and picking up the seas". While Jin Wushu was leading his army to attack Xuzhou, the Middle Army was sending out large numbers of lobbyists like Fan Hongji, doing their utmost to call for surrender and stabilize the situation in the rear. Meanwhile, a large number of Jurchen soldiers who were attacking nearby cities and territories were already surging towards Xuzhou like sparks.
In September, Yin Shushu could reach Xuzhou. His chest was burning with emotions. At the same time, Jin Wushu's army truly launched the fiercest attack on Xuzhou. Three days later, he led his army into the blood-soaked city defenses, the edge of his blade spreading into the city of hundreds of thousands of people.
Outside the city, Yin Shushu led his five thousand elite cavalry and began to break camp and head south. The surging iron hooves rushed toward Yangzhou at the fastest speed possible.
Searching the mountains and picking up the seas to capture Zhou Yong!
From the very beginning, the Eastern Army's goal in heading south was not just to destroy the Central Plains. They wanted to capture every member of the Zhou family who dared to proclaim themselves as emperor and bring them to the north.
At the same time, in September, in the northwest of Qing Prefecture, the battle to the death between the two armies had reached a white-hot state. In the intense confrontation and killing, both sides were exhausted. However, even in this state, the confrontation and killing between the two sides had become more and more intense.
On the night of the fourth day of the ninth month, near the region known as Xuan Jia Ao, the two armies that had been clinging to each other were separated by a short distance, maintaining a short period of peace. Even in such a peaceful rest, both sides maintained a state where they could pounce on each other at any time. After the death of Commander Sun Ye, the soldiers of the fourth regiment sharpened their weapons in the darkness of the night, preparing to launch a feint attack on the Jurchen Clan at night. It didn't matter if the feint attack turned into a real attack, as long as the enemy could not sleep peacefully. At this time, the ground was still muddy, and the starlight flowed like water.
On the night of the fourth of September, in the cellar of the abandoned village of Xuan Jia Ao, a team of twenty or so people silently waited for the footsteps above them to calm down, waiting for the air to gradually thin. They were prepared to launch a surprise attack on the nearby Jurchen soldiers, but the air was the first to break.
On this night, they rushed out and rushed toward the highest ranking Jurchen military officer they saw.
The Jurchen general and the soldiers beside him also saw them.
A conflict broke out in an instant!
Zhuo Yongqing held a saber in his right hand and staggered out. His body was covered in bandages, his left hand was still bleeding, and his mouth was foaming with blood. He greedily inhaled the night air, and the starlight gently sprinkled down. He knew that this might be his last breath.
"Father, mother, your son is unfilial …" Pain and exhaustion surged up again, and his body felt like it was carrying a heavy weight, but at this moment, he only wanted to carry that weight and move forward with all his might.
"Charge —"
Hou Wu, Mao Yishan, and the others put their shields together, and Luo Ye rushed forward. "Jurchen dogs! Grandpa is coming — "
The sound of saber and shield clashing rose to the peak. A Jurchen guard swung his heavy hammer, and the sound of metal drums rang out in the night sky. Sparks flew in the night sky, saber light crisscrossed, blood sprayed, arms flew, bodies flew, and in a short period of time, human figures fiercely pounced at each other.
Dozens of figures charged into the fray. Zhuo Yongqing pounced at the edge of a Jurchen soldier's saber, and the hard part of his armor blocked the other's edge. The two rolled on the ground, and Zhuo Yongqing's saber cut open the other's stomach, causing viscous intestines to gush out. Zhuo Yongqing laughed loudly and tried to get up, but he fell to the ground. Only then did he manage to stand up and stagger two steps forward. In front of him, Luo Ye, Mao Yishan, and the others were fighting with the Jurchen general. He saw that the Jurchen general was tall and thin, and with a wave of his spear, he forced Luo Ye and Mao Yishan back at the same time.
Hou Wu, who was fighting with the Jurchen general, was hit in the leg by his spear, and he fell to the ground. His companions rushed forward, and Luo Ye rushed towards the Jurchen general again. The general stabbed his spear, and it pierced Luo Ye's shoulder. Luo Ye shouted, "Kill him!" He stretched out his hand to grab the spear, but the other side had already pulled out the spear. Two soldiers that rushed forward, one was sent flying, and the other had his throat pierced.
The Jurchen general roared, and with a heroic voice, he charged forward with his spear. Luo Ye's shoulder had already been pierced, and he was about to grit his teeth and charge forward when Mao Yishan rushed over with his shield and blocked the spear. A Black Flag soldier that was charging over was smashed in the head by the spear, and his brain splattered as he fell to the side. Zhuo Yongqing was about to swing his saber when a companion behind him shouted, "Be careful!" He pushed him away, and Zhuo Yongqing fell to the ground. When he looked back, he saw that the soldier who had pushed him away had already been pierced in the stomach by the spear, and the tip of the spear had come out from his back.
Blood and flesh flew in the air as if they had exploded.
In the battle of the night, people kept falling. The Jurchen general waved his spear, and he was like a god of war in the night. In the blink of an eye, he sent the people around him flying, knocking them down, and taking their lives. Mao Yishan, Luo Ye, Qu Qing, and the others rushed forward bravely. In this short moment, they fought without fear of death, and they also slashed at him. However, with a clang, they were split apart by the armor on his body, and his figure and blood splattered everywhere.
Zhuo Yongqing charged forward in the smell of blood, and in the crisscrossing light of the weapons, the Jurchen general stabbed another Black Flag soldier to death. Zhuo Yongqing could only swing his saber with his right hand, and he held his saber horizontally to the extreme. When he entered the battlefield, the Jurchen general suddenly looked over, and in this gaze, Zhuo Yongqing could see a calm but surging killing intent. This was the immense pressure accumulated from killing countless enemies on the battlefield for a long time. The spear smashed down like a dragon swinging its tail. At this moment, Zhuo Yongqing hurriedly swung his saber.
He simply could not reach the enemy's saber and was thrown away. His foot stepped on the slippery flesh and slid to the side, and the sweeping spear flew past his head. Zhuo Yongqing fell to the ground, his hands covered in the sticky flesh of the corpses. He crawled up, feeling ashamed of his cowardice just now. This shame caused him to charge forward once more. He knew that he was about to be stabbed to death, but he was not afraid at all.
However, the spear did not stab him. He charged over and pushed the tall and thin Jurchen general to the ground. The other stretched out a hand to grab Zhuo Yongqing's clothes and resisted. Zhuo Yongqing grabbed a brick and smashed it down on the general's head. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The general's throat was bleeding profusely.
The moment Zhuo Yongqing slipped, the moment of fear, he threw out his saber and slit the other's throat.
Mao Yishan and the others held their shields and rushed forward, forming a small defensive formation. Around them, the Jurchen soldiers had already sounded the war bugle, and the soldiers surged forward like a tide. They fought with all their might, but they were killed in the process. In the blink of an eye, blood dyed everything red. Corpses piled up around them.
At the same time, the Huaxia army charged in the darkness of the night.
In the ninth month, when Xuzhou fell, the Imperial Court in Yangzhou was still ignorant of this matter. On the seventh day of the ninth month, news suddenly reached the palace. Yin Shuke's five thousand elite cavalry had arrived at the Heavenly Water Corps. Zhou Yong, who was enjoying himself in the palace, was completely stunned.
The Heavenly Water Corps was less than a day's journey from Yangzhou. Since the messenger had arrived, it meant that they were already on the way and would arrive soon.
Zhou Yong put on his pants and ran. Along the way, he sent a eunuch to inform Jun Wu and Zhou Pei. Then, he ran as fast as he could to the ferry in Yangzhou and boarded the ship that had been prepared for the disaster. Before long, Zhou Pei and some of the officials also arrived. However, the eunuchs had not yet found Jun Wu, who was surveying the northern part of Yangzhou and studying the defenses.
Two hours later, Zhou Yong anxiously ordered the ship to set sail.
Yangzhou in the ninth month had the unique dusky color of autumn. That evening, Yin Shuke's army arrived. At this time, the officials and rich families in the city were all fleeing. The defending troops had almost no will to resist. Only after the five thousand elite cavalry entered the city to search for them did they learn that the emperor had fled.
That night, the whole of Yangzhou was ablaze and the revenge killing began.
On the other side, Yue Fei's army fled in panic with Jun Wu. Behind them, the refugees and some of the Jurchen cavalry who learned that the young prince had not been able to board the ship chased after them. At this time, the boats on the Changjiang River had basically been occupied by others. Yue Fei found a small boat and sent Jun Wu across the river with a few of his personal guards. Then, he led the soldiers who had been trained for less than half a year to fight the Jurchen cavalry on the riverside.
The small boat sailed towards the center of the Changjiang River. On the shore, civilians were constantly being killed and forced to jump into the river. The fighting continued. Corpses floated to the surface and blood gradually dyed the water red. Jun Wu watched all of this from the small boat and knelt down, weeping.
People were still dying. Yangzhou had been burning for three days and half of the city had been set ablaze. For Jiangnan, this was just the beginning of the disaster. In Xuzhou, after the massacre, the Jurchen Eastern Army was about to spread down. In the next few months, they would complete an unstoppable journey of burning, looting, and killing across Jiangnan. Because they had not been able to capture Zhou Yong, Wanyan Zongfu, Zong Bi, and the others began a series of city burning and massacring.
In the second year of the Jianshuo era, the Central Plains and the Wu dynasty's Jiangnan sank in a sea of fire and blood. Everywhere affected by the war, there were no cities without casualties. Amidst this feast of slaughter that ran through the prosperous Wu dynasty, only in the ninth month of that year did news from the northwest bring the Jurchen army a bitter pill that was hard to swallow. It almost interrupted the Jurchen Zhenren's high spirits as they searched the mountains and seas, and it also sowed the seeds for the Jin's unimaginable revenge on the northwest.
However, war never showed the slightest mercy because of people's cowardice and retreat. On this stage, whether it was the strong or the weak, they could only move forward by hook or by crook. It would not give people even a second's respite because they begged for mercy, nor would it give people the slightest bit of warmth because they claimed to be innocent. Warmth came because of the order that people had established themselves.
The order had been broken. From then on, only the loftiness of iron and blood, the courage to face the edge of the blade, and the struggle and cry in the depths of the soul could make people stand unyielding in this sea of rain and wind. They would not rest until one side died, until one side died, until one side died.
On the sixth day of the ninth month of the second year of the Jianshuo era, Ning Yi received the news. In that instant, he knew that this place was really going to become a pit for millions of people.
"Well done …" He even smiled, and there was a sigh in his throat that was close to a moan.
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