Jiang Min walked out of the tent and saw that the ground was completely white with the dim light from the sky. The cold wind howled, carrying fine snowflakes, hitting people's faces painfully. The surrounding mountains and forests are mottled, some places are white, and some places don't even have a single snowflake.
Wang Gan followed up and said: "The weather in August in the Central Plains is still extremely hot, but it has already snowed here. People say that it snows in Hu Tian in August, and it is true. This kind of place is different from the Central Plains, and things are not easy to do. easy."
Jiang Min said: "Hu Tian's August Feixue is not talking about here, but further north. Although it is colder than the Central Plains, it is still the Central Plains."
Wang Gan said: "That's what Zongzhi said."
Jiang Min looked up at the sky and said to Wang Gan: "Get the others up. Let's eat early and we'll set off early."
The king dared to promise and went back to call the others.
In places like this, Wang Xiao's hunting troops usually bring millet pancakes and fried noodles as military rations. The soldiers quickly boiled the water, and everyone had breakfast with the hot water. When the first ray of morning glow falls, we line up on the flat ground.
Jiang Min stepped forward and said: "After the Jin Army was defeated by us, it fled to the mountains in this area. We chased it for two days. We got back the news yesterday and finally caught the traces of the Jin Army. As early as today, or as late as the day after tomorrow, we will We will catch up with the Jin Army. This battle is our first battle with the Jin Army after entering Hedong! No need to say more, we must completely annihilate the enemy army!"
All the officers and men made the promise together, with great momentum.
Jiang Min said: "I came to Hedong to fight against the Jin Army under the orders of Commander-in-Chief. One is to unite heroes from all walks of life in Hedong and expel the Jin Army. The other is to establish a base and build a team that can follow orders and fight. You follow me It turns out that we have gone through a lot of hardships on the road. Once we get here, we must forget about everything else, obey the orders, and complete these two tasks. The task is very difficult, so let’s work together.”
After speaking, Jiang Min looked up at the mountains. Said: "The Jin army fled into the Yangjiao Mountains in the south. They probably want to go over the mountains to Yicheng County and Jiangzhou. Everyone, work harder to eliminate these Jurchens in this mountain!"
The generals promised. Under the leadership of the guide, we headed towards the mountains.
Following Wang Xiaolie's order, Jiang Min left Xiangyang and came to the mountains on Hedong Road to develop his power. With Liang Xing in the east and Li Songchen in the west, Jiang Min chose Jinzhou in the middle. Although the road was not smooth, Jiang Min was not alone with Ruzhou supporting him in the east and Lushi County in the west.
The Jin army guarding Hedong Road was Wanyan Yinshuke from Taiyuan Prefecture. There were not many soldiers and horses, only ten thousand people. Ten thousand gold soldiers can march all over the south of the Yangtze River, but they are not enough to defend the place. Many prefectures and counties in Hedong Road were only nominally subordinate to the Jin Dynasty and were governed by local autonomy.
The base area Jiang Min chose was Shenshan County. It is located among the mountains, with Jinzhou to the west and Jiangzhou to the south, with convenient transportation. Although the place is relatively barren and cannot support much population, it is still suitable as a base area.
Arriving at Hedong Road, Jiang Min's relationship with Li Songchen and Liang Xing was not easy to handle. In principle, Li Songchen was the envoy of Hedong Road. Although this position is a false position in the eyes of everyone, it is an official position after all. Liang Xing is the leader of the Taihang Mountain Rebels. Although his official position is not high, his prestige on Hedong Road is very high. Jiang Min is here. It is difficult to deal with whether he is below or above the two of them.
Wang Xiaolie didn't explain clearly. He just appointed Jiang Min as the envoy to Jinzhou and Jiangzhou to develop forces behind enemy lines.
In enemy-occupied areas such as Hedong, Hebei, and Shaanxi, various envoy-type official positions were not taken seriously. Send someone there and arrange a position at random. What really matters is the relationship with the rear. In this sense, Jiang Min has an advantage.
Shenshan County was originally governed by Lu Yan, a local wealthy man. He was extremely happy to hear Jiang Min's arrival. A cow was specially slaughtered to catch the wind for Jiang Min. From then on, Shenshan County had the background of Wang Xiaolie from the rear. Who dared to look down upon it?
During his three years in Xiangyang, Wang Xiaolie fought in the south and north. He never lost a fight against the Jin army and became very famous in the north. Hedong Road, even a small county in the mountains like Shenshan, knew Wang Jieshuai thousands of miles away.
Everything was going well. Unexpectedly, a slave in Lu Yan's family went to Jinzhou to inform him because he was greedy for wealth. The Jin army sent more than a hundred troops to attack the city, killed Lu Yan's family, and occupied Shenshan County.
Jiang Min is not in the city. His base area was a piece of flat land on the banks of Dishui River at the foot of Yangjiao Mountain, twenty miles away from the county seat. After receiving the news that the Jin army was attacking the city, Jiang Min led a counterattack overnight and defeated the Jin army.
A small county like Shenshan has a sparse population and no city wall in the county seat. After defeating the Jin army, more than 20 people fled into the mountains, and Jiang Min led his men to pursue them. Today is already the third day, chasing deep into the mountains.
It was already late August. The weather in the mountains is unpredictable. In some places, the ground is covered with fallen leaves and the trees are bare. Some places are still lush and green, looking like autumn has just entered.
It snowed last night, and the wind was biting and cold in the windward areas. I don’t know when it turned to the leeward areas, but it was warm as spring again. Most of Jiang Min's men are from the Central Plains and are extremely uncomfortable with this kind of weather.
By noon, many people were out of breath and kept gasping for air. Jiang Min had no choice but to order a rest and let everyone eat to replenish their strength. Rest for half an hour and then continue chasing.
Sitting on a big rock, Jiang Min ate pancakes and looked at the stream in front of her. After chasing for a day, I still haven't seen Jin Jun, which is really worrying. It is said that Jin soldiers can endure hardships, and I finally saw it today.
Wang Gan came over and said, "Commander, I think many people in the army can't hold on any longer."
Jiang Min was silent for a while and said: "If you can't hold on, you have to chase. - Wait until night, if someone really can't hold on anymore, then send someone to stay and gather them, choose a place to wait. Wait until we return to the division. , go back together again.”
Wang Gan hesitated for a moment and said: "Commander, when we lead troops to fight, we are most afraid of dividing our troops. If some people can't insist on staying, others will see it and stop chasing those who can. In my opinion, either we don't care about life or death. We must follow the army to chase the Jin army. Or the whole army should return and stop chasing. Splitting the army here will not be good for the morale of the army."
Jiang Min said in a deep voice: "The army is moving in a hurry, and it is normal for some people to be unable to keep up. Forcibly leading them is not only harmful to their health, but also slows down the speed of the entire army. It is the right thing to divide the troops at the right time and gather them with dedicated personnel. Meaning. If this disturbs the morale of the military, it means that there is a problem with the morale of the military. When we come here, we go deep behind enemy lines and fight the Jurchens on the enemy's territory. Such an army is unusual, and the morale of the military must be stable! If this Sometimes, someone is greedy for pleasure and deliberately refuses to leave. Hmph——"
Jiang Min didn't say any more, but her eyes suddenly became sharp.
Wang Gan couldn't help but tremble in his heart, and he didn't dare to say anything anymore, so he said yes.
