The third volume of "Song Xiang" "Northern Expedition" has finally been written, and it should be summarized according to the convention.

In this volume, there is a large part of the description of warfare, and there are many ways to fight, including large army battles, sneak attacks, ambush battles, encounters, sports battles, and so on. The first half follows the second volume of the Northern Expedition of the Song Dynasty and the correspondence of the Jin. The second half is Yang Yan's expedition. In this process, Yang Yan has finally grown into a general who can take charge of himself. And in Jinguo, it has also launched its own double wall: Wanyan Changzhi and Wanyan Chen Monk. In this way, the pattern of Song and Jin in the novel is roughly formed.

In designing the plot of the expedition, inspired by Chen Qingzhi's legendary experience of the expedition of the white-robed army, many places in Zuo's novel have also deliberately emphasized a little. The plot design of the three crossings of the Yellow River is based on the classic examples of the four crossings of the Chishui in the Red Army's Long March. I still remember the first time I read an article about the four crossings of Chishui, I really admired Chairman Mao's old man's military talent and command ability.

Here I would also like to express my respect for his old man.

The final battle of the expedition was by far the most satisfying war I have ever written. On the one hand, it is to create a fighting atmosphere, and I deliberately let this battle take place in heavy rain. On the one hand, there is a single or several battles in the war, especially the one in the end, Yang Yan and Zhao Yueru VS the four monks, fighting wits and strength.

My positioning of the protagonist Yang Yan is not omnipotent, taking everything into his own hands and omnipotent. Therefore, when Yang Yan was in the limelight, he was given a slap on the head. It is necessary to let him lose once, otherwise it will be meaningless to let Yang Yanzhi always be, and at the same time, it can also establish the status of Yan Changzhi and Monk Chen as his future opponents in the novel.

The end of this expedition was not a thrill, but a narrow escape. Therefore, the setting of the First Battle by the Sea ended with a crushing victory for the Jin army, but a crushing defeat for the Song army and fled. Since it was a fiasco, it was impossible not to die, so this time the characters in the Song army were basically dead, including the deputy commander of this expedition, Yu Gongliang, and several female soldiers, which was the limit of casualties that the Song army could accept, and the rest except for Yang Yan and the female number one in parallel, the others were all important roles later. It's impossible to die now.

And the side of the Jin army, which won a miserable victory, must also suffer heavy casualties. Wan Yan Changzhi and Monk Chen played the role of rival Yang Yan for a long time in the future, so they could only be seriously injured and could not die. Tu Danhe, Da Huaizhong, Yelu Yuanyi, and A Qi are all roles, and if the weight is too light, it is insignificant to be completely dead. I had to arrange for one of the four monks to hang up. The disciple of the national teacher, the uncle level of the chief general of the Jin Army, this amount is enough. Hehe!

Let's talk about the topic of Yu Gongliang.

The original reference of this character is Zhen Yining (Wen Hou's son) in "Tianxingjian", and the setting for him is a young general with comprehensive ability similar to Yang Yan in the second and third volumes, on the one hand, because Wanyan Changzhi and Monk Chen had not yet appeared at that time, and did not want Yang Yan to be too prominent and make the whole novel revolve around the protagonist alone, so such a role was arranged, and on the other hand, he could be selected as Zhao Yueru's concubine must have the ability to be no worse than Yang Yan. It makes sense.

But when I set up the role of Yu Gongliang, I determined the ending of his death in the third volume. Yu Gongliang's death has three functions in the novel

One highlights the intensity of the battle on the seaside

Second, his death had a subtle impact on Yang Yan's political future, which will be mentioned in the fourth volume

Three, of course, is to make room for Yang Yan.

In the character introduction, I should explain, and in the first three volumes, I hinted in many places that Zhao Yueru will eventually be with Yang Yan. This was set in mind when the novel was conceived at the beginning. However, Yang Yan and Zhao Yueru, Zhao Qianru's emotional experience is very tortuous, and it will never be smooth sailing. The novel is about a quarter to a third of the way through now, and there are still enough chapters to write about the emotional experience between Yang Yan and Zhao Yueru and Zhao Qianru.

Therefore, I have to be sorry for Yu Gongliang, and he sacrificed honorably in order to fulfill the hero and heroine, which is also the fate of the supporting actor. hehe

But one of the most difficult things I find to write about is the water war. On the one hand, I don't know much about ancient water warfare, and on the other hand, there is very little information to borrow. I have looked through some examples of classic naval battles in World War II, but due to the huge differences in combat methods, I can only provide some value for the three tests, and the actual effect is not great. In other novels, only Huang Yi's "Turning Clouds and Rain" has some descriptions of water warfare.

Therefore, it took a long time to write this water war, but I still didn't feel very satisfied after writing it. In the plot setting of the novel, there will be a large-scale water battle in the future, and strive to write the water battle in the back better. If you have any information about this, you are welcome to provide me with some.

In addition, the use of firearms also appears in the war in the third volume, and the firearms that appear in the novel are basically in line with the historical situation of the time.

In the fourth volume, the novel's center stage will shift to Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty.

After Yang Yan returned to Lin'an, the Jin army pressed the border, and the ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty argued endlessly about whether to fight or not, and when the emperor Zhao Tuan was also indecisive and hesitant, in the south of the Song Dynasty, the Manichaeism took the opportunity to rebel, and for a time, the Great Song Dynasty fell into internal and external troubles.

On the other hand, the marriage of Yang Yan and Zhao Qianru has finally been confirmed, and the relationship between the two has been the same, but as the wedding date approaches, the conspiracy is also unfolding by Yang Yan's side.

I hope you will continue to support the fourth volume of "Song Xiang" "Lin'an".