North of Gyeonggi, after a three-day march, the Great Zhou Luoyan army passed through Changheng County all the way to the north and arrived in Huazhou. In fact, Huazhou is no longer under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture, and the three counties in its territory: Huaxian, Yucheng and Weicheng are all small counties, and they all belong to Jingbei Road. But the importance of its location is self-evident. The territory of Huazhou is where the world-famous Baima Ferry is located, and the best place to cross the Yellow River in the north is here. It used to be a place heavily guarded by the Great Zhou Dynasty, but at this moment, there are less than 3,000 soldiers and horses stationed in the three county towns in the entire Huazhou after the Jurchens retreated, and that is still the manpower sent by the Luoyan Army to maintain law and order and restore the control of the imperial court.

According to the plan, the army will arrive in the evening at the county seat of Huaxian, which is the seat of Huazhou near the crossing of the Yellow River. Since entering the territory of Huazhou, Lin Jue's brows have not stretched. In fact, after sending troops from the capital, Lin Jueben's mood was very low. Because I came all the way to the north, what I saw along the way could not be described in a tragic word.

At this moment, it is summer, when everything is vigorous and thriving, the land of Jingbei was originally a large flat land, and the large area of fertile land irrigated by the Yellow River canal should have been a time when the seedlings were thriving and full of prosperity, but now all the way, I only understand that the world is deserted, overgrown with weeds, few people, and dilapidated villages. When the Jurchens went south, the people in the northern part of Beijing fled to death, and only some old and weak people who could not run and walk remained in the local area, and many people died at the hands of the Jurchens who were thirsty for killing.

When the army passed by these dilapidated villages, even places like Fengqiu County, Changheng County, which had almost been destroyed to the ground, seeing those thin and inhuman-shaped, numb standing in front of the dilapidated houses with crutches and watching the people passing by the army, it really made Lin Jue's heart feel like a knife. Although Lin Jue can't do the lofty realm of 'the old and the old, the young and the young', but there is empathy for people with this heart and mind, and there is sympathy for the suffering of the people of the Great Zhou, and with the passage of time, the change of identity and the change of thought, the sense of responsibility that he has increased to himself is getting heavier and heavier. Therefore, seeing such a scene, I feel even more uncomfortable.

Especially into Huazhou, here was once one of the hardest hit areas of the Qingjiao rebellion, when the Jurchen army went south, after crossing the river with the 150,000 troops of the Great Zhou Dynasty in Huazhou, a tragic decisive battle was carried out, and the Jurchens who encountered resistance were bloodbathed and destroyed in the three counties in Huazhou, and the situation here was even more shocking. The fields are overgrown with weeds, ruins and broken walls everywhere, and after entering the county of Huaxian County, you can see rusty and broken weapons, broken vehicles, and corpses that have rotted to the point that only skeletons remain. After the Jurchens crossed the White Horse Crossing, the soldiers and horses of the Xiang army led by Bai Qi died more than 100,000 here, and these corpses were not collected, so they were scattered with the corpses of other people killed by the Jurchens in a radius of more than ten miles.

And the county seat of Huaxian County is like a ghost town at the moment, and there is not a single intact house in the entire city. Not only was it destroyed half a year ago, but it was destroyed again after the Jurchens retreated north from here nearly a month ago. Originally, some of the buildings remained, but now they are all rubble, the walls and houses have been torn down, and there are traces of the spread of the fire. In the setting sun, the evening breeze blew through these ruins and walls, making a whimpering sound,

It was like the ghosts of dead people and soldiers.

"The order went down, camped on the spot, and waited for the arrival of the baggage convoy. Brother Liang, send some people to collect the corpses of more than ten miles around, and bury the monument nearby. Although these are not my soldiers of the Luoyan Army, they are also my soldiers and civilians of the Great Zhou, and they also died for the Great Zhou. They should not be allowed to be exposed in the wilderness, but let them be buried in the ground, and there is a place to pay tribute. Lin Jue dismounted in front of the collapsed city gate and commanded.

"Yes!" Liang Qi dismounted and left, suddenly stopped and asked, "Dashuai, what is written on the stele?" Their names are also unknown. ”

"I will write the tomb of the unknown martyrs of the Great Zhou, they died to resist the enemy, and they deserve the name of martyrs." Lin Juedao.

Liang Qi went to act, Lin Jue slowly walked into the city, and the generals slowly followed. After walking through the ruined streets for a while, Lin Jue climbed a tower that had collapsed in half. This is a temple pagoda in the city of Huaxian County, which was half burned by fire and half collapsed, but it is still standing.

Everyone climbed to the top of the broken tower, and the scenery was in full view. As the sun sets, the four wildernesses are desolate, ruined and broken, and the grass is overgrown. The mood of everyone who saw this scene was extremely heavy.

"The Jurchen dog thieves really did a lot of evil, and I am afraid that the northern land of the Great Zhou will be destroyed by them. Here's a microcosm. Ma Qingshan gritted his teeth and scolded in a low voice.

Lin Jue sneered and said, "They have always been like this. They have always been proud of destruction and destruction. When I spent some time in the army of Wanyan Agu, I experienced their slaughter of the city. They vent their anger by slaughtering the city and intimidating their opponents, but as everyone knows, this method is the lowest method of intimidation. It doesn't matter, the city can be rebuilt if it is destroyed, and the fields that are barren can be reclaimed and cultivated. In a few years, it will be a new city, and it will be a thriving scene. The land watered by the blood of the dead will be more prosperous. What we're really thinking about is how to avoid all of this from being destroyed again. That is to deal with this murderous barbarian race, so that they can no longer do evil. ”

Ma Qingshan nodded and said: "Dashuai is right, everything will be fine, now what we have to do is to annihilate the Jurchens and completely defeat them." ”

Lin Jue nodded and looked into the distance to the north. There, a wide river flows from the undulating cliffs in the distance, winding its way through it to the east. It is the Yellow River, which is located a few miles north of the city of Huazhou. The wide river is the Hakuba Ferry.

"The pontoon bridge must be built overnight tonight, and it must be completed by noon tomorrow so that the army can cross the river. Brother Ruan Binh, if you don't have enough manpower, if you don't have enough, I will send you manpower. Lin Jue said in a deep voice.

Ruan Ping arched his hand on the side and said: "Commander, there are enough people, but I am worried that there will be enemy troops on the other side of the river." That would affect the progress of our pontoon construction. ”

Lin Jue shook his head and said, "Don't worry, there is no one on the other side." The county town of Liyang on the opposite bank was also garrisoned by invincible troops, and the main forces of the Jurchens should all be shrunk in Puyang City, Kaide Prefecture. The previous retreat of the enemy army in Heungin Province to the north is proof of this. I believe that Wanyan Aguda is going to fight us in a decisive battle in Puyang, so all his soldiers and horses will be assembled in Kaide Mansion. ”

Ruan Ping hesitated: "Since the marshal said so, he will be relieved of his humble position." As long as there is no enemy

The army harassed, and the pontoon bridge must be built tomorrow morning, and the army can cross the river as scheduled. ”

Lin Jue nodded. Ma Qingshan couldn't help but ask: "Marshal Lin, forgive the stupidity of the officials, since the dispatch of the army, Lord Lin has always thought that the Jurchens will fight us in a decisive battle in Puyang, I don't know what the reason is." Originally, we suggested attacking the 30,000 Jurchen soldiers and horses of Xingren Mansion first and cleaning up the enemy on the Jingxi Road in Beijing. But just as the commander expected, they actually took the initiative to evacuate. We really can't understand why the Jurchens don't gather in Xingren Mansion to fight a decisive battle with us? After all, Xingren Mansion still has a strong city to defend, and Puyang ...... What kind of city is that? It's not as good as what happened in Xingren Mansion. ”

Lin Jue turned his head to look at Ma Qingshan and the generals, all the generals looked expectant, and they seemed to have this question in their hearts. Lin Jue smiled: "Hey, I thought you all understood, but who would have thought that you all had doubts in your hearts." Blame me for not making it clear to you. It's very simple, although the city of Xingrenfu is strong, how is it compared to the capital? Our means of attacking Bianliang, don't you know about Wanyan Agu Conference? With the sturdiness of the capital city, it can't withstand a half-day attack, can the city of Xingren Mansion stop us? If the Jurchens had figured this out, they would have taken advantage of it. ”

Ma Qingshan suddenly said: "Oh, I'm really confused, I forgot about it." Oops, I'm stupid. ”

Lin Jue smiled and said nothing. Ma Qingshan said again: "But what can they do if they gather in Puyang? It stands to reason that they should have stationed troops on the other side of the river, relying on the crossing of the Yellow River, and it was the one who refused to defend here. ”

Lin Jue said: "Liyang County, opposite the ferry, is where the remaining veins of Tiantai Mountain are located. The terrain is undulating and complex. It's still the same reason, my Luoyan weapon is powerful, and the Jurchens must think clearly about how to break my firearms if they want to fight us. There is no danger to defend at the opposite ferry, and you can only be beaten passively in the face of firearm attacks. The terrain in Liyang is cramped, which is not conducive to the deployment of superior forces and cavalry forces. They have fought against my Luoyan army several times, and they have already suffered a lot, so how can they not learn a lesson. Their only chance of victory is to find a place with gentle and open terrain and encircle us with superior forces. Other than that, they have no other way to win. ”

Ma Qingshan laughed and said: "I see, Puyang is the land of the plains, they don't want to defend Puyang City, but they want to use the plain wilderness in Puyang to fight a decisive battle with us." The handsome man is really thoughtful, this speculation is reasonable, it must be so. ”

Lin Jue said with a smile: "Bold speculation, reasonable decision-making, and keeping in mind for the commander." ”

Everyone nodded their heads, admiring in their hearts. One of the generals suddenly said, "But...... The commander knew that they were gathered in Puyang and wanted to fight a decisive battle with us by taking advantage of the gentle terrain, but he took the initiative to go, wouldn't it be ...... Isn't it right in their plan? ”

Lin Jue smiled and said, "How can that be?" Isn't my army going to fight the Jurchens? It's rare for the Jurchens to gather in one place, and we can't ask for it. If they were scattered, would we have to chase them everywhere and be exhausted? If they are scattered, the poison will be even greater. Only when they fulfill their wishes will they gather in one place, and our army can fight a decisive battle and win a decisive victory. So as not to have endless troubles in the future, and chase after each other. As for whether you are in the trap, hahaha, who fell into whose trap? God knows. ”