In Xuzhou, a light rain fell from the sky, and the air was cold and gloomy.

Li Zhuohui, a staff officer of the Third Division of the Fifth Army of China, walked through the simple courtyard, and when he arrived at the bottom of the corridor, he took off his coat and slapped the water droplets on his body.

Walking through the corridor courtyard in front, more than a dozen officers had already gathered in the courtyard and greeted each other. It was a regular meeting after the morning, but the scope of the meeting was expanded due to what happened yesterday.

Outside Xuzhou, the skinned and bony body of the Huaxia Army brother was still hanging on a wooden stick. Although it is said that there are always dead people in war, and the siblings who are sent out of the city are in great danger, so they will not take special action because of a certain person, but today, Li Zhuohui still has some different thoughts in his heart.

Somewhere, the time may have come. Yesterday, Li Zhuohui was in charge of verifying the identity of the corpse outside the city, and at night he communicated with several generals in the army, and everyone's ideas were radical and conservative, but today, Li Zhuohui still decided to tell the matter at the meeting.

Not long after, the division commander Liu Chengzong arrived in the courtyard, and everyone went into the room. There will be several topics for each day at the meeting, and Li Zhuohui began by reporting the identity of the body outside the city.

The victim's name is Fang Mu, twenty-nine years old this year, but he is an old scout in the Chinese army, he was a homeless wanderer in the capital more than ten years ago, and was taken in and cultivated by Zhuji at that time, experienced the defense of Bianliang, experienced the rebellion of the king, and later experienced the repeated wars in the northwest, and did underground work for a period of time in Zhuji.

He already had a wife and children in the mountains of Liangshan, and he should not have been allowed out of the city in principle, but over the years, the Huaxia Army had experienced many battles, and there were many brave people, but there were not many people who were really firm and sleek and suitable for spy work—at least in this division of more than 8,000 people, such manpower was lacking. Fang Mu took the initiative to ask for this job out of the city, and at that time he was talking about being a spy among the hungry ghosts, and he might be able to survive without having to fight the battlefield.

"......'I still have a wife and children to take care of at home, and I'm thin, it's easier to ......live when I go out of the city,' he said at the time, but he couldn't think of it...... ...... was discovered."

After Li Zhuohui said this, he sat down in his seat. Liu Chengzong nodded, discussed about Fang Mu for a while, and began to get into other topics. Li Zhuohui was thinking about when it was appropriate to say his thoughts for everyone to discuss, and after a while, Luo Ye, the head of the special regiment who was sitting in front of him, stood up.

"Master Liu, everyone, I have an idea."

"Say." Liu Chengzong nodded.

"I think it's time for a fight." Luo Ye said, "Fight hungry ghosts and kill the king and lion boy." ”

The officers in the room exchanged glances with each other, and Liu Chengzong thought for a while: "For Fang Mu?" ”

"Fang Mu can be a reason, but the main thing is because I think the time has come."

"Oh?"

"I say this for the following reasons." Liu Chengzong looked at Luo Ye suspiciously, and Luo Ye also looked back calmly, and then said: "First, what is the purpose of our coming to Xuzhou?" The Jurchen army of 300,000, more than 8,000 of us, stubbornly defended Xuzhou, relying on the city wall to be strong? This was denied in our military discussions last year. Holdout, street fighting, evacuation, harassment...... Even in the most optimistic scenario, we will abandon the city of Xuzhou and end up turning to guerrilla warfare and harassment. Then, our purpose is actually to prolong the time, make a name for yourself, and give the resistance forces in the Central Plains and even the Yangtze River basin as much as possible. ”

“…… So in such a purpose, what does the hundreds of thousands of hungry ghosts outside the city mean to us? Spring is coming, and the Jurchens are about to be killed, and we can count on these hundreds of thousands of hungry ghosts to become our natural barrier, that is to say, we are waiting for the Jurchens to kill hundreds of thousands of hungry ghosts, and finally come to the city of Xuzhou...... This seems like a good idea, but this choice, I think, is very negative. ”

“…… First of all, let's consider the combat effectiveness of the hungry ghosts, hundreds of thousands of people are about to starve to death, when harassing the Jurchens, even if I am Wanyan Zongfu, I feel very troublesome, but if the 300,000 regular Jurchen army really regards the hungry ghosts as enemies and has to kill them, the resistance of the hungry ghosts is actually very limited. Seeing hundreds of thousands of people slaughtered under the city, and then defending the city, was also a great blow to our morale. ”

“…… Secondly, the Jurchens outside the city have begun to adopt a strategy of division and co-optation against the hungry ghosts, who are very powerful in desperate situations, however...... Once they encounter division and have a way to go, they can't resist this temptation. So the barrier of hundreds of thousands of people just looks beautiful, but in fact it is vulnerable, but the life and death of hundreds of thousands of people is actually very heavy......"

Luo Ye paused: "In the past few months, we have watched them starve to death outside in Xuzhou City, although it is not our fault, but it still makes people feel ...... Unspeakable frustration. But think about it, what good would it do if we dispersed the hungry ghosts gathered under the city now? ”

He raised a hand: "First, of course, it has a boosting effect on the morale of the army. Second, the hungry ghosts gathered in Xuzhou because of Wang Shitong, and once Wang Shitong was killed, the hundreds of thousands of people who survived would disperse in a hurry. The surroundings are miserable, and the road south is difficult to walk, but ...... A small percentage of people will survive, and that's the only merit we can do. Third, with hundreds of thousands of people scattered in a hurry, the people of Xuzhou may also be able to wrap themselves in the whole trend and begin to retreat south, and even all the residents south of Xuzhou can feel this atmosphere and go south to find their last way to live. ”

"Commander, everyone." Luo Ye took a breath and pointed out the window, "Spring has arrived, the snow is about to melt, and this big battle is coming anyway." Let the hundreds of thousands of lives outside the city drag on us for ten days and a half months? Or let's take the initiative ourselves and warm up before the Jurchens arrive? What we want is the strength and determination of the entire Central Plains struggle, as Mr. Ning said, we have to perform this play well, then there is no need to wait for the Jurchens to do it, in case Wang Shitong is really rebelled by the Jurchens, we will have a large group of enemies, and it will be difficult to withdraw from Xuzhou in the future. ”

In Luo Ye's words, Li Zhuohui raised his hand in the rear: "I, I think the same way......" Liu Chengzong looked at Luo Ye in front: "It's beautiful, but what about the specifics?" What about our losses? ”

I have a plan—Li Zhuohui thought to himself. But I could hear Luo Ye in front of him say: "I communicated with several regiment commanders last night and rushed out of a plan overnight. Once the hungry ghosts start to take the initiative to attack, it is annoying to be endless, but their ability to resist the attack is insufficient, we have planted a lot of people among them, we only need to keep an eye on the location of Wang Shitong, break in at high speed with elite strength, and kill Wang Shitong, of course, we also have to consider the follow-up development after killing Wang Shitong, to launch the dark stakes that we have planted in the hungry ghosts, and guide the hungry ghosts to scatter south, in the middle, we need further improvement and a few days of communication......"

Luo Ye handed over the plan, explaining the steps of the plan in his mouth, Li Zhuohui and the others began to nod in agreement, and after a while, Liu Chengzong in front nodded: "Can you discuss it, is there any opposition?" He looked around.

After a moment, Liu Chengzong laughed, and there was a hint of seriousness and ferocity in his smile. Voices rang out in the room.

“…… The plan will be passed on, and everyone will discuss it together, Li Zhuohui, I see that you also have ideas, improve it, and make a formal result in the afternoon. If there is no clearer and more detailed objection, it will be like you say......"

He stood up and banged his fist on the table.

"Spring has arrived...... Kill the king and lion boy sacrifice flag! ”

**************

Xuzhou is a thousand miles to the northwest, and the flames of war and beacon smoke have not yet dissipated.

The Linzhou battlefield, where fierce fighting is falling over time.

It is difficult to determine exactly when the retreat of the Jurchen army began, but at the end of the time, around noon, a large-scale retreat had begun to form a trend. Wang Juyun led the Ming Wangjun all the way to the northeast, feeling that the resistance on the way began to become weak.

The Jin soldiers were retreating, and some of the teams led by the generals still launched a counterattack against the Ming Wang army in the retreat, and some of the retreating Jin soldiers even lost their formation and combat power to take care of each other. Wang Juyun rode on his horse and watched all this.

Shulie Su, and Yinshuke, Bali Su and others are one of the core generals under Wanyan Zonghan, after the death of Agu, the Jin State is divided into two power centers in the east and west, and the army controlled by Wanyan Zonghan is even enough to overwhelm the Jurchen royal army controlled by Wu Qimai. The Jurchen elite under the command of Shulie Speed was one of the most elite troops that Wang Juyun had ever encountered, but this time in front of him was the only time he fought so easily when facing the Jurchen core elite.

He hadn't seen what had happened in the past few hours, but everything he had participated in on the way, and the surviving soldiers of Black Flag who had almost been killed to the point of being out of strength, illustrated the brutality of the killings between the two sides in the previous hours. If it weren't for seeing it in person, Wang Juyun would really find it hard to believe that the army supporting the black flag in front of him was broken up in the hedging again and again, but the scattered teams continued to converge and start repeated battles with the Jurchens.

Even at this moment, he could hardly believe it. Since the Jurchens swept the world and played the slogan of invincibility, more than 30,000 Jurchen elites, facing more than 10,000 Black Flag troops, on this morning, the stubborn opponent was defeated.

At the same time, in the mouths of the Jurchens and some of the routed Han troops, there are also chaotic rumors such as "Zhu Biao is dead" and even "Mr. Ning is dead", and no one knows whether it is true or false, the only thing that is clear is that even in the case of such rumors, the warring parties are still killed in such a chaotic fierce battle.

It was almost a quarter of noon, and Wang Juyun saw Zhu Biao, who was commanding all the soldiers who could still move to rescue the wounded on the battlefield. On the battlefield, mud and blood were mixed, corpses stretched horizontally, the banner of the Huaxia Army and the Jurchen banner were intertwined, the Jurchen brigade had withdrawn, Zhu Biao was covered in blood, and his body was shaky and waved at Wang Juyun: "Help save people!" ”

His voice was already hoarse, Wang Juyun had already rushed to help with everyone, the old man helped Zhu Biao, Zhu Biao smiled, and then waved his hand: "Look carefully!" Look closely! Some people aren't dead,......" he laughed, "they're just out of strength, help them get up......

On the battlefield, many people fell in the pile of corpses without moving, but their eyes were still open, and as the battle was over, many people had exhausted their last strength, and they either sat or lay there to rest, and often did not wake up after resting.

Part of the fighters died at this time.

There were people coming over in the distance, and the scouts who reported the news were exhausted and passing the news from all sides on the battlefield, Hu Yanzhuo was contacted, Qin Ming was contacted, Shi Guangen was contacted, Zhu Biao and Wang Juyun received these news together, every time the news that someone survived was confirmed, Zhu Biao smiled: "This guy is not dead yet...... but there is also a depressing message.

Not long after, someone brought the news of Guan Sheng and Li Jiakai, which was already the news from the riders sent out by Wang Juyun, and behind them, there were already people carrying stretchers to this end, and they told Zhu Biao and Wang Juyun about the thrilling assassination.

"Look at this rice dumpling......

When the stretcher came, Zhu Biao pointed to one of the people on the stretcher and laughed heartlessly, laughing so much that tears flowed out. Lu Junyi's body was tightly wrapped in gauze, his face was pale, his breathing was weak, and he looked extremely desolate.

"The knife in the chest is extremely serious, can you take it down...... It's hard to say......"

The medical officer accompanying the army was embarrassed to talk about the situation, and he already knew the news about Lu Junyi's killing of Shu Liesu, so he took special care of him. The zongzi on the stretcher next to him moved, and his eyes turned to this side.

"His martial arts are so high, he can't die."

This is Li Jiajia. He took more than a hundred people who were originally trying to attract the attention of Shu Liesu, waiting for Guan Sheng and the others to come over, and then discovered the abnormal movement on the other side of the forest, and when he arrived, Lu Junyi and several companions around him had been killed and had no way out. Lu Junyi was stabbed a few more times, and three of his companions were still alive. After Li Jiakai arrived, Lu Junyi fell, and soon after, Guan Sheng led people to kill from outside, and the Jurchen army that lost its commander began a large-scale withdrawal, and the military order for the other teams to retreat should have been issued by the general who took over at that time.

Although one of Lu Junyi's special forces companions who fought all the way was seriously injured and died after that, one of the only two remaining people looked over from there and said, "The last moment of the killing technique, his horse ...... knocked Instructor Lu into the air, if it weren't for that, Instructor Lu was afraid that he wouldn't be able to hold on to the present......"

Zhu Biao nodded, and Wang Juyun on the side asked, "What about the speed of the technique?" ”

"I don't know...... The Jurchens didn't leave the corpse behind......"

Wang Juyun also nodded, bowed, and then the medical soldiers carried the wounded down, after a while, Guan Sheng and others also came to this side, and after a while, a figure went towards the other end of the medical team, and from a distance, it was Yan Qing, who was once active on the battlefield.

There is a cold wind blowing on the battlefield, and in this field, forest, valley bottom, and hills, which has experienced fierce battles, human figures travel and gather for the final finish. Bonfires were lit, tents were erected, hot water was boiled, and people searched the piles of corpses for traces of survivors. Many people died, and naturally many people survived, and after the various messages were roughly outlined, Zhu Biao sat down on the slope, and Wang Juyun looked into the distance: "This battle will definitely shock the world." ”

In the distance, someone held a leaf under the tree and played a tune, which was not the same as the atmosphere of this golden iron horse, but it set off the surroundings warm and quiet.

"It's a pity that the First World War can't save the world." Zhu Biao said.

"There's got to be a start." Wang Juyun's voice always seemed very calm, and after a while, he said: "More than ten years ago in Hangzhou, I had a few meetings with that Mr. Ning, but unfortunately, I don't remember it well now...... With this battle, the Jindi army rose up, and it was difficult for the Jurchens to boast of being invincible, and I wish the general ......"

He looked at Zhu Biao and wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say it. finally just said: "After such a big battle, it's time to take a rest, and Wang will be here to watch the aftermath." Take care of your body so you can cope with the next big war. ”

Zhu Biao stood up, he knew that the old man in front of him was also a real big man, in the Yongle Dynasty he was Shangshu Wang Yin, both civil and military, majestic and domineering and ruthless at the same time, after the end of the Yongle Dynasty, he was even able to sell Baihua and others with his own hands, in exchange for another rising basic plate, and in the face of the Jurchens who overturned the world, the old man stood on the front line of the anti-gold without hesitation, and put the entire family business that had been in business for several years into the tide of anti-gold with an almost ruthless attitude.

"There is King Lao." He saluted Wang Juyun, and Wang Juyun also recalled. Then, Zhu Biao slowly walked towards the tent that had been erected, the time was already afternoon, and under the cold skylight, the bonfire was emitting a warm light, illuminating the busy figure.

Wang Yin looked at these backs.

Far away, the Jurchen armies were still converging one after another in the bleak and misty retreat, and no one could believe the results in front of them. No one could believe that the 30,000-strong army had been defeated in a frontal battle, something that had never happened in the past 20 years.

In the entire Jindi and the whole world, not many people know this first-hand news. In Wasion City, Lou Shuwan raised her head in the cold temperature, muttering calculations, she had not slept for more than half a month, during this time, she arranged all kinds of negotiations, promises, threats and assassinations, and on the other hand, she was like a miser every day to calculate the chips at hand, hoping to gain more strength in the next split.

Many times, she had splitting headaches, and soon after, news would make her sleep well, and in her dreams she would meet Ning Yi.

You Hongzhuo walked through the dim streets and alleys, and the long knife he was carrying was unsheathed. These days, Wasion is splitting, shameless people are advocating the theory of surrender, and they have begun to take sides and form gangs, and You Hongzhuo has killed many people and injured some people.

In the Tianji Palace, facing the towering city tower every day, Shi Jin, who is responsible for security, has no distractions. If one day this huge tower will fall, he will deliver a deadly blow to the enemy outside. It would not be long before the light would shine through the tower, and he would hear the names of some familiar people and hear messages about them.

In the Jurchen camp, Wanyan Xiyin is also calculating the changes in the general trend. The snow melted and the ice melted, and more than 200,000 troops were ready to go, and when the inevitable results of Linzhou came, his next step would be launched one after another......

*****************

South, Xuzhou, three days later.

The Third Division of the Fifth Army of China, a team of more than 8,000 people, seemed to be gradually ignited by something, the gears were strewn, and began to run gradually and rapidly, some information was quietly transmitted under the quiet water, and the breath of war was already brewing rapidly.

Li Anmao, the prefect of Xuzhou, noticed some traces, and often came over to knock on the side in the past two days to inquire about the situation.

On the morning of 12 February, the sound of hurried footsteps sounded in the courtyard of the General Staff Headquarters, and an urgent message came from someone.

"Outside Xuzhou City, the situation has changed-"