Yingzhou fell without any effort.
After dispatching messengers to report the victory, the army marched out of the city, relentlessly pursuing and cutting down the Jin soldiers.
Three days later, they reached Guidé City.
Wu Jibanan was carried into the city on a door panel. Of his thirty thousand Jin soldiers, fewer than three to five hundred had managed to escape with him!
The defending general of Guidé, clad in bronze armor, rushed out from the city in a panic. Seeing Wu Jibanan's wretched state, he asked in confusion,
"Jibanan, what happened!"
Wu Jibanan, extremely weak, opened his eyes, grabbed the Guidé general's hand, and asked,
"Yue, Yue Fei isn't dead~ Yingzhou has already fallen to the Song."
"Did, did the messengers I, I sent get past the city?"
The Guidé general was taken aback, "Are you joking? How could Yue Fei possibly be alive! And what about these messengers you mentioned?"
Wu Jibanan was stunned. The fact that the Guidé general hadn't seen the messengers meant that in their panicked retreat, they had left the messengers who had exited the city earlier far behind!
He knew the strength of Guidé's forces. Yingzhou hadn't held out for even an hour; under such an assault, Guidé City would surely fall even faster!
"Retreat! Quickly~ Pass the order, withdraw to Nanjing!"
He struggled to sit up on the door panel and shouted with all his might.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, he slumped back onto the panel, his eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness again.
"General!"
The four personal guards carrying him panicked instantly. They quickly put the door panel down and fumbled with his clothes to check his injuries.
His upper body was fine. When he jumped into the moat, he had been struck in the lower body by a spear.
When his trousers were pulled down, they discovered that the medicinal powder applied earlier had been washed away by the flowing blood.
"Never mind him for now, tell me what happened in Yingzhou!"
The Guidé general grabbed one of the guards and demanded anxiously.
Wu Jibanan's few words had left him both shocked and bewildered.
Although the guards were worried about their commander, they could only answer his questions first.
After hearing about the events in Yingzhou, the Guidé general stood there, utterly dumbfounded.
How in the world was this possible!
An army of thirty thousand defending Yingzhou was breached by the Song army in the blink of an eye!
Moreover, Yue Fei, who was supposed to be dead, was not only alive but had returned to lead his troops!
"Retreat! Pass the order, abandon the city, and withdraw to Nanjing!"
After a moment of stunned silence, he immediately issued the order to retreat.
Guidé City had only a few thousand troops; staying would mean certain death!
Yue Fei and his men, who were capturing fleeing soldiers, arrived at Guidé a day late. Upon entering the city, scouts discovered it had become an empty shell.
In Bianliang City, Jin Wuzhu's face turned livid as he looked at the Guidé general kneeling below and Wu Jibanan, whose face was ashen. He slammed his fist onto the table.
"So, Yingzhou and Guidé have now been taken by the Song army?"
"Having lost thirty thousand elite soldiers of my Great Jin, Wu Jibanan, how do you have the face to return and see me!"
Wu Jibanan's wound had been re-bandaged and treated with excellent medicine. Although his life was not in danger, his movement was severely impaired.
While the Guidé general could kneel, he could only prostrate himself.
Enduring the pain, he raised his head and pleaded with Jin Wuzhu, "Your Majesty, spare my life! Your unworthy general has returned to report intelligence on the Song army."
"The Song army, from an unknown source, has acquired many strange weapons, similar to bamboo guns, but with an extremely long range!"
"From over two hundred paces away, they can shoot and kill the defenders on the city walls."
"Not only that, but they also possess three enormous war chariots, impervious to blades and spears, and faster than a galloping warhorse."
"The wheels alone are twenty feet high, and even the moat could not hinder them. The city gate of Yingzhou was broken down by these war chariots."
"Preposterous!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Jin Wuzhu kicked over the table and roared,
"If the Song army truly possessed such war chariots as you describe, how did you manage to escape back here!"
The Guidé general looked at Wu Jibanan with confusion.
That made sense.
Their war chariots were faster than your warhorses, how did you escape to Guidé City?
Wu Jibanan was dumbfounded, "Your Majesty, your humble servant does not know either~"
Jin Wuzhu was furious, "Ignorance! Guards, take him out and execute him!"
Wu Jibanan quickly struggled to his feet and kowtowed repeatedly on the ground,
"Your Majesty, spare my life, every word I speak is the truth!"
"Your humble servant truly saw those giant war chariots, and Yue Fei's banner!"
This commotion caused his wound to tear open again. Crimson blood flowed down his thigh, staining the floor tiles red.
But compared to being dragged out for execution in the next moment, he couldn't afford to worry about the injury.
Jin Wuzhu's personal guard, seeing that he had no intention of rescinding the order, stepped forward and pulled Wu Jibanan out.
As he was dragged away, a trail of blood marked the ground.
"Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty, spare my life~"
"Your~"
Before he could finish his last sentence, Wu Jibanan's eyes rolled back, and he fell unconscious again.
The guard bent down, checked his nose and mouth, then looked up awkwardly.
"Your Highness, this fellow is dead~"
Stabbed in the groin, dragging on for days, the wound reopening several times, infection, and severe blood loss. Wu Jibanan, deceased!
"Throw him out!"
Jin Wuzhu waved his hand to give the order without even looking at him, then returned to his seat and surveyed the generals in the hall.
"Guidé is lost, and the Song army will be at our doorstep before long!"
"Since Yue Fei has managed to escape death, then let him remain here forever!"
"Han Chang!"
"Your humble servant is here!"
~~~~~
Two days later, Zhuxian Town, a necessary route to Bianliang.
Seeing the flags fluttering a kilometer away, Yue Yun lowered his binoculars and picked up the walkie-talkie to report to Yue Fei.
"Marshal, enemy forces have been sighted ahead, led by the one-eyed Han Chang, with approximately thirty thousand troops."
Han Chang, completely unaware that his situation had been discovered, was calmly waiting for the Song army to arrive.
However, upon receiving the intelligence, Yue Fei promptly issued several military orders.
Yue Yun did not wait long before seeing Yao Zheng leading the Youyi Army from the rear.
After they joined forces, they immediately began to deploy their attack.
With a thousand cavalry as the vanguard and ten thousand Youyi troops on the flanks, they charged directly at Han Chang's thirty thousand strong army.
The momentum of over ten thousand men charging was undeniable. Han Chang, a kilometer away, quickly reacted.
But upon seeing the approaching enemy, a dismissive smile immediately spread across his lips.
"So few men! Nonsense about Yue Fei's return, it must be one of his surviving dogs picking up the Yue Family Army banner!"
"Archers, prepare!"