Magical Water Margin: They all call me brother

Page 149

Chapter 438: Encirclement and Trapping of the Imprisoned Soldiers

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

All the Jin soldiers who were still fighting, charging, or putting up a difficult resistance, whether they were heavily armored Ironclad Cavalry, swift-moving cavalry, or shamans and priests driving giant beasts, suddenly stopped in their tracks.

Countless gazes, involuntarily filled with disbelief and horror, were cast towards the most conspicuous and terrifying spot in the center of the battlefield—

Their supreme commander, Wanyan Zonghan, one of the four great generals… his massive, mountain-like frost giant body was slowly and irreversibly tilting backward. His monstrous head, shattered by the power of the stars and covered in ice and blue blood, had separated from his neck, tracing a strange arc in the air before crashing heavily to the ground!

boom!

That muffled thud, though not deafening, struck the heart of every Jin soldier like the heaviest death knell!

The screams and roars of horror, fear, and despair exploded like a plague in every corner of the Jin army's ranks! The once massive army, which had been as responsive as an extension of its own body and obeyed orders without question, began to crumble at this moment with the fall of its commander!

The morale of the Jin army, like a punctured bladder, instantly deflated!

"Run away!!"

"Defeat! The entire army has been defeated!"

"Run! Back to the North!"

Panic spread with alarming speed. The soldiers in the last rank shouted, dropped their weapons, and turned to run! Their rout was like the first domino to fall, instantly triggering an irreversible chain reaction! Fear began to spread like a plague, and the infantry closest to Wanyan Zonghan collapsed one after another! The tightly packed battlefield quickly turned into a chaotic vortex.

Liu Hong stood at the front of the battle, his eyes blazing as he scanned the battlefield. At first, seeing Wanyan Zonghan fall in battle and the surrounding army collapse and fleeing soldiers surge like a tide, he also thought that the overall situation was settled.

However, just moments later, his keen intuition, honed by years of battle, sounded the alarm. Something was wrong.

First, the battlefield stretched far and wide beyond expectations. The Jin army, numbering over 200,000, was deployed in a continuous line of camps, banners obscuring the sky, and the battle line extended for dozens of miles. The shock and panic caused by the fall of their commander was like a boulder thrown into a lake; though it created a massive wave at the center, its force diminished by the time the ripples reached the distance. Soldiers in distant formations might only hear the deafening roar and see some chaos, completely unaware of the dramatic upheaval at the heart of the conflict. They continued to fight mechanically under the command of their lower-ranking officers, meaning the battle in the distance never ceased; hundreds of thousands of Jin and Qi soldiers were still engaged in a bloody carnage on a battlefield stretching for several kilometers!

Secondly, it was not the main force that collapsed, but the vassals. The first to collapse and trigger a chain reaction were the 200,000 Youyun Han-Liao soldiers who had been forcibly conscripted, as well as the Ever Victorious Army under Guo Yaoshi whose morale was weak. They were already demoralized, and witnessing their commander's tragic death, fear instantly overwhelmed discipline, and they only wanted to escape.

However, amidst this wave of retreat, the core force of the Jin army, numbering forty to fifty thousand—the Heza Meng'an directly under Wanyan Zonghan and the Meng'an Mouke of the Jurchen tribe—demonstrated a startling resilience and discipline.

After the initial, brief shock and panic, they did not collapse. The roars of the lower-ranking Jurchen officers quickly drowned out the panic, and the surviving senior generals swiftly rallied their troops and began to retreat. The cavalry used their speed to quickly withdraw from the battlefield, while the infantry fought and retreated in an organized manner. The overall situation was one of defeat but not chaos.

Liu Hong instantly grasped the situation, and the slight relaxation he had felt after killing the commander vanished without a trace. He immediately ordered his four thousand cavalry to either pursue the retreating Iron Pagoda soldiers or intercept and annihilate the collapsing Youyun troops.

At this moment, Guan Sheng, Yelü Dashi, Huyan Zhuo and other right-wing commanders also joined Liu Hong. The more than 30,000 cavalry on the right wing began to operate under Liu Hong's orders. Instead of trying to launch a full-scale attack to defeat them in one fell swoop, they became like a precise and ruthless war machine, starting a more patient and coordinated battlefield squeeze, division and encirclement.

The Liangshan units strictly followed orders. The heavy infantry phalanx, like a moving steel wall, advanced slowly with orderly and heavy steps, shouting with each step, putting continuous psychological and physical pressure on the main Jin army. The archers provided continuous shrapnel fire; although the Jin army's armor was thick, the continuous rain of arrows still caused casualties and greatly depleted their energy.

The real killer move lay in the mobile forces. The cavalry no longer pursued charging into the enemy lines, but instead roamed the perimeter like ghosts, constantly searching for weaknesses in the Jin army's retreating formation, launching short and fierce raids. As soon as the Jin army's formation became even slightly chaotic due to the maneuvering, elite troops would immediately pounce on them, take a bite, tear off a piece of flesh, and then retreat.

Meanwhile, Liangshan drove away the routed auxiliary troops, sending them charging like a flock of panicked sheep into the well-organized formation of the main Jin army. The main Jin army was forced to divert their attention to deal with, and even wield their swords to kill, these fleeing soldiers who were charging into their own lines, further exacerbating the chaos and exhaustion.

The main force of the Jin army was like a tiger caught in a spider's web. Although they were exceptionally brave and each counterattack cost Liangshan dearly, their operational space was constantly being compressed, and their forces were gradually weakened in the ongoing war of attrition. They were unable to break through the encirclement or receive support, and could only watch helplessly as the encirclement grew smaller and smaller.

Finally, as the setting sun dyed the sky blood red, Liangshan completed its encirclement: only more than 10,000 Jin cavalrymen managed to break through Liangshan's encirclement with their mobility and bloodthirstiness. The remaining 20,000 Jin infantrymen and 200,000 Youyun soldiers were all trapped in the encirclement and stuck in Qingzhou.

Even the escaped Jin cavalry had their northward route blocked by Chao Gai, and they could only put up a stubborn resistance.

Chapter 439: The Han Man Speaks the Language of the Hu People

After completing the encirclement, Liu Hong did not rush to persuade them to surrender. Instead, he first ordered all units to reinforce the encirclement, dig deep trenches, set up numerous palisades, and deploy more crossbows, firmly locking the remnants of the Jin army in a desolate area spanning several miles. The Liangshan army's banners were bright, and their armor was imposing, like cold steel walls, silently declaring that any attempt to break out would be futile.

Once the encirclement was complete, Liu Hong rode to the front of the battle line, gathered his strength, and spoke in a booming voice that pierced through the battlefield's clamor, clearly reaching the ears of every besieged Jin soldier:

"Soldiers of the Great Jin! Your commander is dead, and your retreat is cut off! We, the Great Qi, act on behalf of Heaven! We will only punish the ringleaders! We will not kill those who were coerced! Those who lay down their weapons will not be killed! Those who resist stubbornly will only face death! Why waste your lives for those who are already dead, causing your parents, wives, and children to weep in the north?!"

Liu Hong's words were not a simple plea for surrender, but a precise attack on the Jin army's loyalty to their commander and their desire to return home. At the same time, his soldiers, who were fluent in Jurchen and Khitan languages, were organized to repeatedly shout the same message, sowing the seeds of despair.

Small groups of troops, mostly Han Chinese from Youzhou, began to surrender that day.

Seeing that the Jin army's morale remained high and they were still putting up a stubborn resistance, Liu Hong began to send troops out to attack. During the day, hundreds of elite cavalrymen would sometimes gather and sometimes disperse, like a pack of wolves taking turns to attack different points on the Jin army's lines. Each attack was only a brief attempt, and once the Jin army organized an effective defense, they would immediately retreat, but during the retreat, they would cover the Jin army with a precise rain of arrows, causing continuous casualties.

At night, war drums and horns sounded intermittently from east to west, with constant feints. Small squads of assassins would sneak into the camp under cover of darkness, launch rockets to create chaos, or launch sudden, short assaults to kill sentries before fleeing into the distance.

This relentless, highly tense harassment tactic was extremely effective. The Jin soldiers had no rest, their minds were constantly on edge, and their physical strength was rapidly depleting. Every alarm made them like frightened birds, and their morale was gradually eroded by the continuous torment. They watched helplessly as their comrades were constantly being killed in meaningless harassment; the wounded cried out in agony, but there was a lack of medical care and medicine. An atmosphere of despair spread like a plague, and more and more people began to surrender. Liu Hong carefully observed and found that most of them were Khitans.

The psychological warfare and exhaustion of the previous two days had finally reached a breaking point in the face of the most basic survival needs. The Jin army's logistics, already strangled by Chao Gai, were now completely cut off from food supplies! Warhorses were slaughtered and eaten, and tree bark and grass roots were plundered. Hunger, the cruelest weapon, began to relentlessly erode the last vestiges of resistance.

The soldiers' eyes were sunken, their limbs weak, and their hands trembled as they gripped their weapons. The officers' orders could no longer suppress the unrest and resentment fueled by hunger. The will to survive completely overwhelmed their fear of military law and honor. The last Han Chinese and the main force of the Jin army in Yunzhou surrendered.

Liu Hong breathed a sigh of relief; this fierce battle was finally won.

In this battle, Liu Hong deployed a total of 140,000 troops, of whom more than 46,000 were killed or disabled, resulting in a casualty rate of 33%, which was almost the limit for the mortality rate of ancient armies. An ordinary army would collapse if its casualty rate was around 10%. The fact that the Qi army fought on until a third of its troops were dead demonstrates how firm and terrifying their fighting will was.

The Jin dynasty also suffered heavy casualties. Wanyan Zonghan deployed 250,000 troops, but more than 85,000 were killed or wounded in Qingzhou. The casualty rate was also around 33%, which was the limit of casualties for an ancient army. 15,000 people fled, and in the end, all 150,000 soldiers were captured and the Jin army was completely wiped out!

However, the Qi army was also exhausted at this moment. These one-third casualties did not mean that one of the three legions had been completely annihilated.

Instead, every thousand-man battalion and hundred-man unit under the three legions suffered casualties, with more or less one-third of them killed or wounded. Some entire hundred-man garrisons were wiped out, and many captains and commanders died on the battlefield. The legion organization and command chain were all crippled and incomplete, and it will take time to rebuild them.

The 140,000 prisoners of war and the 140,000 mouths to feed were also a major problem. Liu Hong only had 140,000 troops in the battle at the same time. Suddenly, the number doubled, and the logistical food supply would have to increase many times over.

However, if we can absorb these prisoners, it would be a good thing.

Liu Hong didn't rush to advance, and the current situation didn't allow for a large-scale campaign. He simply ordered Lu Junyi to lead several well-organized cavalry battalions to continue the pursuit and rejoin Chao Gai. He himself took a break, restored his army, and comforted the prisoners.

Interestingly, among these 140,000 prisoners, the first to surrender were the people of Youzhou. This is understandable, since Liu Hong had recently saved 200,000 people in Youzhou, which greatly impressed the locals. Although they hated the Song Dynasty, they had a good impression of Liu Hong.

It's understandable that the second wave of surrenders came from the Khitans, since Yelü Dashi had been urging everyone not to act as accomplices to the tyrants, and surrendering to the Yelü royal family was a good thing.

It's understandable that the Jurchens eventually surrendered.

However, the Han Chinese from Yunzhou were among the last to surrender, which puzzled Liu Hong. He specifically pulled out several Yunzhou military officers and asked them questions in confusion.

"You are also Han Chinese, of the same bloodline. Why do you not surrender early like the people of Youyan, but instead help the Jurchens to resist stubbornly, fighting like cornered beasts until you are completely cornered?"

As Liu Hong asked questions, he guessed what he would hear, expecting to hear explanations such as "deeply indebted to me" or "family hostages," or a shameful silence.

However, to his surprise, the officers looked up and their faces showed not guilt or indignation, but a pure and genuine bewilderment and confusion.

They looked at each other, seemingly not understanding what Liu Hong was saying at all. Their eyes even showed a hint of wariness, as if they were looking at a foreign general who spoke a strange language.

"They...don't understand Chinese?"

Liu Hong was taken aback and turned to Yelü Dashi beside him. Yelü Dashi also asked in a very normal tone.

“We’ve occupied Yunzhou for almost two hundred years, so we must be teaching Khitan, right? It’s just that there are so many Han Chinese in Youyan that we opened a Southern Academy. Yunzhou has always been part of the grasslands. If you have to say, it was the pastures that the Han emperor took from us grassland people.”

Liu Hong was shocked and found a Khitan translator to speak on his behalf.

This time, the Yunzhou officers finally understood. One of them, who seemed to be the leader, looked even more confused. He hesitated for a moment, then answered in a heavily accented Khitan language, with a confident and even somewhat proud tone:

"Han people? General, what do you mean? We... are Khitans!"

"From my great-grandfather's generation onwards, our family grazed livestock on the grasslands around Yunzhou, serving the Khans of the steppes throughout the ages. When the Liao emperor personally led his iron cavalry south, drinking from the Yellow River, and besieging Bianliang, he was crowned emperor in the Kaifeng palace. My ancestors were among those glorious soldiers! For their merits, they were rewarded with grasslands and titles. We have served the Liao for generations, receiving their stipends, so we are naturally Khitans!"

Liu Hong was struck dumb, frozen in place, speechless for a moment. Looking at the officers in front of him who looked exactly like Han Chinese, and listening to their words, spoken through a translator and filled with identification with and pride in the Liao Dynasty, an indescribable sense of absurdity and a chilling sense of history instantly overwhelmed him.

The ancient poem, "Han people speak the language of barbarians, yet they curse the Han people from the city walls," has now become a vivid and glaring reality before my eyes!

It's only been a little over a hundred years! Only a little over a century has passed since Shi Jingtang surrendered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun. Yet, in this short period, far removed from the rule of the Central Plains dynasties and living generation after generation under the banner of a foreign people, these Han people of Yunzhou have completely severed ties with the Central Plains in terms of language, customs, and even their most fundamental identity, completing a transformation from "Han" to "Hu" (non-Han people). They have even forgotten their origins and take pride in becoming "Khitans" and fighting for the Liao Dynasty!

And Shandong was no different from Yunzhou. When the Jin army arrived, local officials, intimidated by their strength, only thought about self-preservation. They didn't care who the emperor was; they only cared about protecting their own official hats. The common people simply sought stability; whoever could bring them a better life, they would follow.

The fundamental reason why Shandong did not become a second Yunzhou at this moment is still because it won the Battle of Qingzhou.

Liu Hong felt a chill run down his spine. This was the most direct manifestation of national subjugation and racial extinction. Even in the 21st century, with its incredibly advanced internet information, there are still people who can tamper with history and distort the facts.

In the Song Dynasty, where knowledge dissemination was even more backward, after the people of Yunzhou lost their country, they no longer had the opportunity to read their own history or books, and even their language was altered. Their shared memories with other Han people were completely severed.

The Han people on this land did not all die out, but as individuals, even if they stood in front of them, even if they had the same faces, hair color, and eye color, they no longer considered themselves Han people.

And this will take less than two hundred years.

Chapter 440: A Tremendous Upheaval

While Liu Hong was winning the Battle of Qingzhou, saving Shandong, resettling prisoners, and restoring his army, two major events were happening in the world.

First, the Western Route Army, led by Wanyan Loushi, won the Battle of Taiyuan. Tian Hu, the military governor of Taiyuan, died in battle, Taiyuan fell, and his troops suffered heavy casualties, with only one in ten surviving.

The chief Taoist priest Qiao Daoqing, the Flying Stone General Qiong Ying, the Lion Might General Fang Qiong, the Pi Might General An Shirong, the Biao Might General Chu Heng, the Xiong Might General Yu Yulin and other fierce generals under his command were all scattered by the Jin army's iron cavalry.

With no other option, they retreated back to the Taihang Mountains with only a few hundred remaining soldiers. In these towering mountains where cavalry could not exert any advantage, they temporarily hid from the enemy's advance, splitting into small guerrilla units to barely survive. They were able to send messengers to contact other parts of the Song Dynasty, telling everyone that the last remnants of the Taiyuan troops were hiding in the Taihang Mountains, having become bandits, and requesting support!

After the great victory at Taiyuan, Wanyan Loushi pressed on and swept through the entire Shanxi region, even breaching Hedong in one fell swoop. Hedong, which had blocked Gao Huan's path for a lifetime, only held out for three days against Wanyan Loushi's massive army! Groups of Jin cavalry crossed the frozen Fen River and then the equally frozen Yellow River, causing Tongguan to fall after three days and nights of bloody fighting! Like a sharp dagger, they were thrust into the western Henan corridor.

At this moment, the Song Dynasty's Western Army was in a predicament.

The Guanzhong Plain, a land of four strategic passes and abundant resources, is only accessible to the Central Plains by three roads.

The first route was through northern Shanxi, crossing the Taihang Mountains. However, Shanxi had just been ravaged by Wanyan Loushi, making it impassable.

The second route was through Tongguan, Luoyang, and Hulaoguan. However, Tongguan had also been captured by Wanyan Loushi, making it impassable.

The last route is through Wuguan Pass in the south, in the Nanyang Basin. However, this route is blocked by Huai Xi Wang Qinggen, one of the four major bandit groups, so it's inaccessible.

At this moment, Wanyan Loushi had completely severed the connection between the armies of Guanzhong and Shaanxi and the central government!

Meanwhile, in the central army, Wanyan Aguda found Kaifeng to be indeed difficult to conquer, so he wasn't in a hurry. He focused on persuading surrenders and recovering Hebei while slowly besieging Kaifeng. Hebei's situation was similar to Yunzhou's at this time: the people were illiterate, and they would flock to whoever offered them a better life. The officials were corrupt and incompetent, only concerned with preserving their own power; they only wanted to be county magistrates or prefects in Hebei, regardless of whether they were magistrates of the Song or Jin dynasties.

The fall of Yunzhou more than a hundred years ago is being repeated throughout Hebei and Shanxi!

However, for every people who obeyed, there were those who did not. Some who were unwilling to submit to the Jin Dynasty began uprisings in the occupied areas of Hebei!

When Xiangzhou also fell and surrendered, a new rebel force emerged: a young man with gilded wings on his back and holding a Liquan spear, along with his childhood friends Wang Gui, Tang Huai, and Zhang Xian, raised an army in Neihuang. With a single call to arms, he won the support of hundreds of local militia!

While these people moved to Taihang Mountain and fought fiercely in Hebei, they gradually made a name for themselves. Many of Tian Hu's remnants and defeated generals were also shocked by Yue Pengju's power and began to gradually gather under Yue Fei's command, helping him stir up trouble in Hebei in the Taihang Mountains!

At this moment, the battle reports from the front lines reached Wanyan Aguda, one good news and one bad news.

Although Wanyan Loushi's western army won, Wanyan Zonghan's eastern army suffered a crushing defeat, losing over 200,000 troops. Wanyan Zonghan himself was killed in battle by Qi King Liu Hong! Wanyan Wuzhu, with his remaining 60,000 men, was trapped in Licheng, unable to escape. The Yellow River and the Ji River were teeming with Liangshan's navy, and the entire Qi Prefecture was completely surrounded. Wuzhu desperately pleaded for help—"Father, save my teeth!"

These two pieces of news exploded like thunderbolts within the palace. The high-ranking officials and generals in attendance all changed color, instantly splitting into two factions and engaging in heated debate.

"Your Majesty! Although Zonghan and Zongbi were defeated in Shandong, Lou Shi has already won in Shanxi! The Song army in the west is trapped, and the gates of Kaifeng are wide open. This is a golden opportunity! We should concentrate all our forces to launch a fierce attack on Kaifeng and capture the Song emperor in one fell swoop. Then the world will be at peace! At that time, we will hold the two emperors hostage to command Shandong. Liu Hong's mere 100,000 troops are nothing but a minor ailment. A mere proclamation will be enough to subdue them!"

“That’s right! Prince Wuzhu is brave and strong, and he will surely be able to hold out for a few more days! Kaifeng will definitely fall before Licheng! Even if Licheng falls first, his sacrifice for the country is the duty of a good man of our Jurchen people! How can we abandon the great cause of the world because of one person?”

"If we turn back now, all our previous efforts will be in vain! The Song people will be able to catch their breath and will surely reorganize their defenses! Our army is bogged down beneath the fortified city, and the transport of supplies is difficult. If we fail to capture it after a prolonged siege, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Many pro-war factions ignored Jin Wuzhu and clamored to storm Kaifeng.

"Your Majesty! Zonghan has sacrificed his life for the country, and his body is not yet cold! Wuzhu is also Your Majesty's beloved son, and his bravery surpasses that of the three armies. How can we sit idly by and watch him fall into a deadly situation? If we do not send reinforcements, will we not chill the hearts of our soldiers?"

"The bandits in Shandong are no ordinary people! Their fighting strength is formidable, especially their navy! If we ignore them and allow them to grow stronger, they may become a major threat! They will cut off our supply lines and harass our rear. Even if we capture Kaifeng, we will not be able to secure our safety!"

"The Central Plains are too vast, and only Mount Tai and the Yellow River offer some natural defenses. The rest are all plains, making them extremely difficult to defend. Why don't we first take over Shanxi and Shaanxi, and then add Hebei, which we just conquered, and use Tongguan and the Yellow River to demarcate the border with the Song Dynasty? After digesting these territories, we can then head south to annex the Song Dynasty."

Some conservatives felt that the Central Plains was too large to handle and began to seek stability. The two factions argued fiercely, their shouts almost lifting the roof off the palace. In the end, everyone's attention focused on the silent emperor on the throne.

Wanyan Aguda's fingers unconsciously tapped on Jin Wuzhu's letter of aid, his gaze deep and unfathomable, as if weighing the weight of the entire world. On one side was the perfect opportunity to annex the Song Dynasty and complete his hegemony; on the other was his beloved son and tens of thousands of elite troops in imminent danger, and a huge threat to his eastern flank.

After a long silence, Wanyan Aguda slowly raised his head, the hesitation and turmoil in his eyes replaced by the coldness and cunning of an emperor. His voice was not loud, but it instantly overwhelmed all the arguments.

“Send an envoy to Kaifeng to meet my good nephew and tell him that I am willing to withdraw my troops and make peace with the Song Dynasty again. The specific amount of territory to be ceded and reparations to my good nephew can be discussed slowly. However, Liu Hong must immediately release the 60,000 remnants of Jin Wuzhu’s army to return north and release all the prisoners.”

"I want to see what kind of person this King Qi is."

Chapter 441: Shandong Founds as One

At the confluence of the Yellow River and the Ji River, Licheng has been surrounded like an iron barrel.

In the river, the Liangshan navy under Chao Gai's command was as dense as sand, with masts like a forest, white sails like clouds, and cannon fire like rain, completely blocking all waterways.

On land, Lu Junyi personally led his infantry and cavalry army, which stretched for dozens of miles, with deep trenches and high walls, bows and crossbows strung, and swords and armor gleaming, trapping Jin Wuzhu and his remaining 60,000 exhausted troops in the city. The scales of victory had completely tipped, and capturing the city and its commander seemed to be only a matter of time.

However, inside the central command tent, the atmosphere was a mixture of ice and fire. Lu Junyi's face was ashen, and he tightly gripped a scroll of bright yellow silk edict that had just been delivered by express courier and bore the imperial seal and the seal of the Privy Council.

Every word in the imperial edict was like a red-hot needle, piercing her eyes with pain:

"...Having read your report, I know you have fought hard. However, the Supreme Kingdom has the virtue of cherishing life. I have followed the example of Heaven and my ancestors and reached a peace agreement with the King of Jin... You are hereby ordered to immediately cease hostilities, lift the siege, and release the Fourth Prince of Jin and his followers to return north... There must be no mistakes. This is my decree."

Inside the tent, the Liangshan generals—Lin Chong, Qin Ming, Dong Ping, and others—were all visibly furious, their fists clenched so tightly they cracked. Outside, the faint sounds of the besieging troops training and the booming of war drums could be heard, creating a sharp irony against the absurd imperial edict.

Lu Junyi had a splitting headache and could only postpone the attack on the city. He then sent the imperial edict to Liu Hong in Qingzhou, leaving Liu Hong speechless.

No way, the Jin dynasty can pull the same trick twice? And the Song dynasty can fall for the same trick twice?

"Brother! This...this is utterly absurd!" Black Whirlwind Li Kui was the first to jump up, his eyes wide like copper bells, and he slammed his axe into the ground.

"We brothers have suffered countless casualties, and it was only with great difficulty that we managed to trap that bastard Jin Wuzhu here! We were about to behead him and offer his head as a sacrifice to our more than 40,000 brothers who died!"

That damned emperor, all he knows how to do in Kaifeng is beg for peace! Beg for peace, beg for peace, what kind of peace is that?!

“Brother,” Wu Yong said, his feather fan waving lightly, his expression equally solemn, his voice low, “The Emperor’s will is hard to defy… But if this edict is issued and we truly let the tiger return to the mountain, will the Jurchens be grateful? They will surely recuperate and then make a comeback! At that time, the people of Shandong will suffer another catastrophe! If the Battle of Qingzhou were to happen again, even if we could win, we would still suffer heavy casualties.”

All eyes were focused on Liu Hong. He slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping over each of his brothers who had shared life and death in the tent, looking at the battlefield of Licheng, stained with blood and about to reap victory, before finally settling on the scroll of silk that symbolized supreme imperial power.