The serious Jin army has rarely seen the ferocious momentum of Monk Wanyan Chen's troops.
After the defeat at Yehuling, the economic divisions of the Jin Kingdom were completely destroyed. Although the troops that were rebuilt after that often numbered in the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, in fact most of them relied on the prestige of the generals themselves and were private soldiers rather than officers and soldiers. In this way, it will be difficult to avoid the general's own strength. Therefore, in the many wars that followed, very few Jin generals worked hard, and the less they worked hard, the faster they would die against such vicious enemies as the Mongolian army or the Ding navy.
King Sui established Yuan Yuanguang in Kaifeng, and even at great cost, he wanted to establish thirteen captains outside the original system of generals, just to start anew and avoid this problem.
It's a pity that no matter what the military affairs are, they have to be settled on the battlefield. After the troops of the thirteen captains of the Kaifeng imperial court went south one after another, they got the benefits of plundering and learned the taste. As a result, their troops were constantly dispersed, and they suddenly bumped into the Song people and became violent, making it difficult to get rid of them.
When they returned with their troops, more than half of the army had been reduced, and several important captains all sighed. Even Wanyan Congtan, who was the first to follow King Sui, personally urged him to go to war, but Liao Liao still responded. Some people said that he should guard Lincai Pass, and some even said that Kaifeng city was safer.
Everyone knows how to fight, so why are you so crazy?
A confrontation between huge forces may be compared to a fight between two people.
If the two of them had a normal argument, it would be nothing more than one punching me and the other punching me until my face is full of peach blossoms. My physical strength is exhausted, and I will stop with almost cursing. But if two people are in a life-and-death relationship, the weak one will have no choice but to be slaughtered once his strength is exhausted, so he must take advantage of his remaining strength to fight bravely in order to kill his opponent!
If you don't fight at this time and hide in the city, you will have no chance! The food in the city cannot supply the army for long, and the only result of entering the city is to be trapped to death!
Wanyan Congtan persuaded him repeatedly, but the generals were still hesitant.
It’s certain that the navy is getting closer!
Little half an hour has passed since Ding Haijun left the camp. The two camps are only a dozen miles apart. In a few moments, they will reach Lincai Pass in one fell swoop!
With their well-trained training, it wouldn't take long for them to switch from a field battle attitude to storming the city. By then, the army would be blocked in Guancheng and killed... Then they might as well go to Kaifeng City, where there is still a little room for maneuver. !
Wanyan Congtan was so anxious that veins popped out on his forehead, and he was sweating. He felt that the tent in the central army was as stuffy as a furnace.
At that time, Tu Shanyi mobilized the men he thought were reliable and available to accompany King Sui to Kaifeng southward. There were two military generals at the head, one was Wanyan Heda and the other was Wanyan Congtan.
However, compared to Wanyan Heda's fierceness, Wanyan Congtan was born in Shangshu Province and served as a local official. Although he was both civil and military, he was inevitably soft-tempered, so he was later sent to Tongguan to be in charge of economics. The main task of exploring the Shaanxi and Hezhong areas is to search for more food supplies and maintain the Kaifeng court.
At this time, the monk Wanyan Chen who advocated the battle left in anger. Wanyan Congtan, who was wearing armor but looked like a scholar in appearance and temperament, stood in the tent and was unable to subdue the generals. He was a little embarrassed for a while.
Suddenly there was the sound of rapid footsteps outside the tent, and the soldiers on duty did not stop them.
Wanyan Congtan couldn't help but asked in a loud voice, "Who is it?"
The person who came was actually a member of the Imperial Attendant, Feng Yu, who approached the emperor and said, "Commander, your Majesty has an edict here, and I would like you to read it to everyone."
Wanyan Congtan hurriedly knelt down, took the edict with both hands, and read loudly:
"I have been traveling south with you for three years, but the people there have destroyed their fields and houses, married their wives, and exhausted their energy and brains to support the army. Now that the army cannot resist the war, it can only protect itself. Even if the capital city exists, why is it a country? There are no other countries in the world. What do you call me? What do you call your princes? I have thought about it very well. Life and death are destiny. You princes will not let me down, and I will not let my people down!"
If you read it loudly, all the generals in the tent will be embarrassed.
Wanyan Congtan, the commander-in-chief of Tongguan, was not the direct superior of the captains, so it was the subconscious instinct of the generals to delay him.
But why did the captains become captains? It's because of the promotion of His Majesty the Emperor of Kaifeng!
Why are the captains here? It was because of the sudden attack of the enemy troops that all the troops rushed back to King Qin!
How shameful is it that the people who have been brought down to humble status by Your Majesty, who are called the King of Qin’s army, actually ask Your Majesty to personally defeat the enemy?
The emperor started his career in Kaifeng and practiced military warfare with his generals many times. Although he is young, he has prestige in the army, and he is also kind to the generals! The emperor's words are so sincere, who dares to violate them?
There was silence in the military tent for a while.
Wanyan Congtan had just received the imperial edict when someone in the corner of the tent said with a bit of bitterness: "It is easy for the emperor to speak when he is sitting guarding the city. We are the ones who want to fight in a decisive battle!"
After Wanyan Congtan heard these words, anger arose in his heart and he could no longer control it.
He strode over and saw that the person speaking was a Qianhu under the command of Captain Zhechong Jia Guze.
Jia Guze's Jurchen surname was given by the emperor. He himself was a Han son and his surname was Fan. This thousand households also have the surname Fan, and they seem to be relatives of Jia Guze. They have hundreds of cavalry on hand.
Wanyan Congtan couldn't help but stretched out his hand to pull Fan Qianhu out of the queue.
Jia Guze thought Wanyan Congtan was going to kick or hit him, so he quickly followed him to persuade him.
Before he could say anything, Wanyan pulled out the short knife from his waist and stabbed Fan Qianhu through the neck. He exerted all his strength, and the blade penetrated across the body, cutting off all the muscles, veins, bones and blood, making a muffled sound.
Fan Qianhu struggled hard twice, and Wanyan suddenly drew the knife.
A large amount of blood spurted out from the two wounds, staining Wanyan Congtan and Jia Guze's faces and body armor and stomachs red. Fan Qianhu collapsed on the ground, twitching, and soon became motionless.
Wanyan Congtan looked at Jia Guze fiercely, blood dripping from his eyes, and he said without blinking: "Your Majesty wants to fight, who dares not to fight!"
Jia Guze took half a step back, bowed and said, "Since it is His Majesty's will, let's fight!"
Wanyan Congtan held the knife, strode back behind the table, glanced at everyone, and asked again: "Your Majesty wants to fight, who dares not to fight?"
Several captains responded loudly: "We will launch troops now!"
Wanyan Congtan shouted sternly: "Then send out the troops immediately! I'll let the drums play three times here, and the whole army will be sent out to fight the enemy to the death. If there are any more patrollers..."
He crossed the bloody blade and cut off the little finger and ring finger of his left hand. Then he flicked the blade and threw the two severed fingers into the hall:
"From now on, from the captain down, anyone who hesitates on patrol or is too timid to fight will be killed by me immediately! If I, Wanyan Congtanruo, stay on patrol and are too timid to fight, the generals can also come and kill me! Watch out, I'll cut off two fingers first to serve as a warning!"
At this point, there is no room for retreat. As soon as Wanyan Congtan finished speaking, all the generals rushed back to their base camp, shouting to urge the troops to move out.
As soon as the first war drum sounded, Monk Wanyan Chen led his elite cavalry and flew out of the camp like a strong wind.
Monk Wanyan Chen is not the kind of person who hesitates.
The fact that he abandoned the Daxing Emperor of the Jin Dynasty in Zhongdu did not mean that he was not loyal enough to the Jin Dynasty; when he fought against the Song people, he was shaken because his army was hostile to the people, but it did not mean that he would fight on the battlefield. Hesitant and timid.
After all, he has a pure military temperament. It doesn't matter how he is in normal times. As long as he is on the battlefield, he is like steel. The harder the battle, the more tenacious and aggressive he becomes.
The hundreds of cavalrymen who followed him loyally were either fugitives from the Uighur, Naiman, Qiang, and Tuyuhun tribes, or sinners among the Han people in the Central Plains, and some of them had recently defected from other captains' subordinates to stay with Monk Wanyan Chen. A ruthless character. They have been away from home for a long time, are accustomed to living under great pressure, and often kill people. They are all fierce and violent, with a lawless ferocity in the gloom.
It was precisely because he had such power in his hands that Monk Wanyan Chen dared to speak out in a military meeting with an army of 30,000 to 40,000 people with only 500 people. When the generals refused to obey, he turned back and planned to join the battle himself.
At this moment, the war drums of the Chinese army were beating wildly, which showed that the generals were determined.
The war is about to begin, and Monk Wanyan Chen is only ecstatic!
