Chapter 16 Zhang Jun's Choice
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When the imperial edict from Chang'an was passed to Kaifeng, Wang Yuan had already led his army to set off, and Roland also led the front-selling army to attack Yingtian Prefecture.
Yue Fei immediately reported to the final result of the Central Plains War, the relevant strategies and specific arrangements for garrisoning the Central Plains, regaining Shandong and going south to attack Jianghuai.
On September 20, Yue Fei led the main army to leave Kaifeng and directly killed Yingtian Prefecture.
Yingtian Prefecture is only more than 200 miles away from the Wanting battlefield. The Southeast Song army has been paying close attention. Zhang Jun also had thought about sending troops north to restrain and helping the Shandong Jin army to break out of the siege of the Tiger Lie Army. However, Lu Yi firmly stopped it, believing that the Hebei Jin army would need to provide assistance, and both sides would kill blood and both sides would be injured. This would be beneficial to the southeast, so it would be better to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight. However, at the stalemate of Wanting, the emperor's imperial edict was sent from Hangzhou, ordering Zhang Jun to retreat to Yingtian Prefecture, and ordering Xin Xingzong to lead his army south to Yangzhou, and work with the Jianghuai army to surround the Tiger Lie Army, which was in deep territory, to ensure the safety of the Yangtze River defense line.
After the defeat of Yongqiu, Zhang Jun did not immediately submit the court. Instead, he delayed it for a few days until the Hu Lie Army surrounded the Jin army on the south bank of Guangjiqu that he submitted the report to Jiangning, ruling the responsibility for the defeat to Xin Xingzong, Wang De and others, and accusing Shandong Jin army of unfavorable cooperation. This memorial was probably sent to Jiangning, but the emperor was in Hangzhou and did not know that the front line was defeated, and this imperial edict was obviously issued during the Yongqiu War. The emperor issued an order that was completely opposite to Jiangning, not only asked Zhang Jun to retreat, but also asked Xin Xingzong to lead the main force to Jianghuai to encircle and suppress the Tiger Lie Army. This shows that the conflict between Hangzhou and Jiangning has been made public. The emperor completely disagrees with Jiangning's active defense strategy. In order to ensure the safety of the southeast, he had to abandon Yingtian Prefecture and concentrate his troops to guard the two defense lines of Jianghuai.
Since Yongqiu's defeat, Zhang Jun's mentality has completely changed. He has become like Xin Xingzong at the time, eagerly looking forward to Hangzhou's imperial edict and hopes to save his career through the conservative strategy of the old emperor. He has been defeated once. If it weren't for Lu Yi's suggestion, concealing the fact of the defeat, luring the Jin army to Kaifeng, and then forcing the Hulie Army to transfer the battlefield and transfer the main force to the Guangjiqu line to surround the Jin army. Yingtian Mansion might have been lost at this moment, and even if he wanted to shirk responsibility, he would not find a reason.
The next problem is that if the Jin army breaks through, Yue Fei leads his army to attack again. He still can't defend Yingtian Mansion. Wanyan Talai will definitely hate him for standing by and watching while the Jin army is alive and dead, and also taking a wait-and-see approach. Jiang Ning is too busy to take care of himself and cannot provide him with assistance. In this way, Yingtian Mansion will definitely be lost and he will be completely finished. So after thinking about it, the safest way is to give up Yingtian Mansion. Now the old emperor's imperial edict has come. Although there is no clear order to give up Yingtian Mansion, since the main army of Xinxingzong has been transferred, it is obvious that it is to give up Yingtian Mansion, but Zhang Jun needs to bear the blame.
Zhang Jun was very angry. He racked his brains to get rid of the blame, but he did not know that the old emperor and Tong Guan of Hangzhou completely ignored his existence and had already brought the blame for losing Yingtian Mansion to him early. Zhang Jun was furious about this. Yongqiu was defeated, and the main responsibility should be Jiangning. When the Huli Army rushed to the Jianghuai River, Jiangning did not mobilize troops from the north of the Huai River to attack, but ordered him to lead his army to attack north. This was a wrong decision. Now Hangzhou ordered the abandonment of the strategy of attacking north and instead mobilized troops to return to aid. Hangzhou and Jiangning were openly fighting. The conflict between Tong Guan and Yuwen Xu was made public, but he became a victim. This was too unfair.
Zhang Jun's career was over, and there were very few days left for him to take office. Lu Yi was powerless and could not help but show sympathy. The situation in Jianghuai was critical, Jiangning was in danger, and rescue was imminent. Although Xin Xingzong was gone, the old emperor's imperial edict must be followed. No matter how brave Zhang Jun was, he would not dare to rebel. So he discussed with Lu Yi and decided to lead an army of 80,000 south, and he led a army of 50,000 to guard Yingtian Prefecture.
Shortly after Lu Yi left, the battlefield of Wanting changed amazingly, and the Tiger Lie Army actually wiped out the Shandong Jin Army. This news shocked Zhang Jun. He never dreamed that the strength of the Tiger Lie Army had expanded to such a level.
The Tiger Lie Army wiped out the Shandong Jin army, and the land of Shandong was already their own pocket. The world's general trend underwent earth-shaking changes. The Tiger Lie Army took Shandong and then attacked the Jianghuai River. Can the Southeast Song army defend the Jianghuai River? Zhang Jun knew what the result was even without thinking. With the fierce and endless power struggle of the Southeast court and the vulnerable combat effectiveness of the Southeast army today, he is no match for the Tiger Lie Army at all.
Zhang Jun suddenly had an idea, which could not be curbed once it arises. With his current situation, he would lose his official position and dismiss his post and have nothing to do. On the contrary, if he took Yingtian Prefecture to join Chang'an, his career could not only be preserved, but his future prospects would be bright. Today, the strength of the Tiger and Steve Army grew rapidly, and it could even be described as a thousand miles a day. He first captured Daibei, then destroyed Xixia, and today he wiped out the Shandong Jin army and recovered Qi and Lu. It can be imagined that if he continues to develop with such a momentum, the Southeast Song court will undoubtedly be defeated, and the unification of Middle-earth is just around the corner. Zhongtu has been unified, and as one of the ministers of Zhongxing, he is still afraid that he will not have a chance to make a comeback?
Just as Zhang Jun was considering his own way out, something unexpected happened, that was, the Hu Lie Army rushed to Yingtian Prefecture in a blink of an eye. After the Hu Lie Army's victory in the Central Plains, it not only attacked Shandong quickly, but also attacked Jianghuai at the same time. This strength is so powerful that it is scary.
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Roland led his army to Yingtian Prefecture, surrounded the city, and prepared to attack.
Yingtian Prefecture, also known as Nanjing, is one of the four capitals of the Song Dynasty. After years of renovation, the city is tall and sturdy, easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Roland and the generals ran around the city. They felt it was difficult to fight, so they decided to siege and not attack. They rushed south quickly with the main force and took down Bozhou and Suzhou first. When Yue Fei's subsequent army arrived, the selection army could cross the Huai River to fight.
In the second day, Zhang Xian led the ten troops to stay at the city and pretended to be the main force, while Roland led Fang Jin, Abaddon, Fu Xiuguo and Zhang Jun directly killed Bozhou.
Zhang Jun stayed in the city for three days, anxious and repeatedly weighed the pros and cons, but he was unable to make up his mind. He had no trusted subordinates in Yingtian Mansion. He was worried that his surrender would be opposed by the generals and then he would give up his life, so he was reluctant to make a decision.
Four days later, Yue Fei led a large army to kill him, and Yingtian Mansion fell into extreme panic.
Zhang Jun was anxious. If he didn't make a decision, things would be troublesome. That night, he summoned the generals of various army to discuss matters and gave a detailed account of the current situation, the struggle within the Southeast Song court, and the harsh battle situation in the Jianghuai River. He did not say that he would surrender in the city, but let the generals make their own choices.
Zhang Jun's words were very useful. These generals were already very scared. Xin Xingzong and Wang De's army were gone, and Lu Yi led a main force to the south. The army left in this city not only had a small number of people, but also had the weakest combat power. Faced with the Tiger Lie Army who had just defeated the Shandong Jin army, they had no chance of winning. The fear in their hearts can be imagined. Now after Zhang Jun's thorough analysis, he knew that he had been abandoned by the Southeast Song court. Isn't it clear at a glance where he went?
"Xuanfu, under the current situation, even if we defend Yingtian Mansion, what's the point?" Finally, a general couldn't help but speak and test Zhang Jun's thoughts.
Zhang Jun was waiting for someone to ask questions. He pretended to be desperate and sighed to the sky, "It's meaningless, it's meaningless."
"Since it's meaningless, is it necessary to fight this battle?" someone asked immediately.
"It's true that there is no need to fight." Zhang Jun sighed with his head in his arms, "But the Tiger Lie Army wants to fight, they want to capture Yingtian Mansion. We have no way to heaven and no way to the earth, and we are dead."
Zhang Jun's desperate mentality is enough to illustrate the problem. Several generals who were planning to surrender gathered together to discuss it, and then decided to persuade Zhang Jun to take the initiative to offer the city and join the Tiger Lieutenant Army. Taking the initiative to offer the city and being forced to surrender are completely different. If Zhang Jun is willing to offer the city on his own initiative, then everyone will not only maintain their existing official positions and will also gain greater benefits in the future.
When Zhang Jun was overjoyed when he heard a group of generals persuading him to sacrifice the city, he was overjoyed, but he did not dare to show his face, but pretended to be hesitant, "We have sacrificed the city, who can guarantee that the Tiger Lie Army will not kill us?"
Zhang Jun tied himself up with these generals. When the generals saw that Zhang Jun did not object, they were secretly happy. After all, internal strife is not a good thing at this moment. If everyone can be united, they will definitely get more benefits from the Tiger and Lieutenant Army.
The generals agreed and interests were tied together, so the next thing was simple. Zhang Jun immediately sent someone to shoot outside the book city and asked to meet the commander of the Tiger and Lieutenant Army.
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Yue Fei was overjoyed when he received a letter from Zhang Jun. He did not expect that Zhang Jun would surrender voluntarily before the army could fire a single arrow.
"This is a surprise." After reading the letter, Sun Ge said to Yue Fei with a smile, "I can congratulate the governor on his recovery of Yingtian Mansion now."
"It's indeed an accident." Yue Fei was in a good mood and said, "With Zhang Jun's help, we can quickly recover prefectures and counties in the northern part of the Huai River, and the army can then cross the Huai River in the shortest time."
"After crossing the Huaihe River, I hope there are more surprises like this, the better." Huang Zong asked with a smile, "Do you want to sue Luo Shuai in a hurry? Please don't attack the city and capture the village. Cross the Huaihe River directly, find Zhe Kecun as soon as possible and meet him."
Yue Fei considered it and nodded, "The main army of Yingtian Prefecture has crossed the Huaihe River and is expected to be fighting with Zhe Kecun. If Roland can quickly arrive, he will definitely attack Zhe Kecun and dealt a severe blow to the enemy. In addition, judging from the current situation, Jiangning has given up Yingtian Prefecture and instead concentrates troops to guard the Huaihe River, so it is necessary for us to send more troops to go south quickly and control the Huaihe River defense line before the rebels complete the Huaihe River defense."
Chapter completed!