Ch.293Downfall (3)

# The Emperor of Song Dynasty couldn’t escape the sense of achievement from his victory against Goryeo.

This victory held great significance for the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty had been suffering at the hands of the Jin Dynasty and the Mongols.

They had been continuously defeated.

This was their first valuable victory after a series of defeats.

As a result, the entire Song Dynasty couldn’t help but be in an uproar.

“It’s a meaningful victory that I won by personally leading the campaign.”

Emperor Xiaozong himself took great pride in his victory.

So he deliberately spread news of this victory far and wide.

People of the Song Dynasty gathered in Hunan Province upon hearing the news.

They cheered enthusiastically while chanting the emperor’s name.

“Long live the Emperor!”

“Long live the Great Song!”

“The Central Plains shall be victorious!”

These people, who gained hope from the emperor’s victory, believed that the emperor would soon push back the Mongols.

So they volunteered for the army, and thanks to this, the forces that had been merely 100,000 quickly grew to 1 million.

“A million troops have gathered, Your Majesty.”

“All of this is thanks to Your Majesty’s victory.”

“Your Majesty’s brilliant strategy has shone through.”

“With Your Majesty present, the revival of the Song Dynasty is not a difficult task.”

Everyone was busy praising the emperor.

Because of this, the emperor believed that now was the crucial moment to defeat the Mongols.

“Now that morale is high, we must attack the Mongols immediately and recover our lost territories.”

All officials nodded at the emperor’s words.

With momentum that seemed capable of splitting bamboo in half, they had no hesitation.

But there was someone who worried about this.

It was none other than Zhao Fan, the eldest son of Zhao Fang.

The Zhao family had traditionally produced Confucian scholars.

However, Zhao Fan uniquely chose the path of a soldier rather than that of a scholar.

Thanks to this, he had achieved great military accomplishments on the Jin Dynasty front along with his younger brother, Zhao Gui.

In recognition of these achievements, he was promoted to Minister of War, Huizhou Pacification Commissioner, Governor of Yangzhou, and Staff Officer of the Jianghuai Control and Supervision Commission.

Since Song Dynasty officials typically held multiple positions concurrently, he had many titles.

But in practice, his main role was as Minister of War, advising the emperor on military matters.

Anyway, from Zhao Fan’s perspective, the current situation was not good.

The emperor’s victory was nothing short of a miracle.

Therefore, it was extremely risky for the emperor, who had no military expertise, to personally lead troops against the Mongol army just because morale was high.

If things went wrong, the emperor could be captured by the enemy.

However, the current situation was not conducive to offering such advice.

Everyone was praising the emperor, and the emperor himself was intoxicated by it.

In such a situation, if he were to offer advice, the emperor would likely not listen.

So Zhao Fan sought help from his younger brother, Zhao Gui, to resolve this situation.

“Brother.”

“Yes, elder brother.”

“If His Majesty personally leads the campaign now, it could lead to unfavorable results.”

Zhao Gui was startled by this.

After looking around, he covered his brother’s mouth.

“Brother, be careful with your words. If you oppose the emperor’s personal campaign now, you could be branded a traitor.”

“What do you mean?”

“As you know, His Majesty is preparing for a major counterattack against the Mongols based on this victory. In such a situation, if you oppose his personal campaign, you’ll face a crisis like a protruding stone gets hammered.”

Zhao Gui waved his hands, trying to dissuade his brother.

But Zhao Fan had no intention of backing down.

“Are you saying that as Minister of War, I should just watch as the country is led to ruin without offering advice?”

“Of course not. But His Majesty won’t listen to your advice.”

Zhao Gui’s words made sense.

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Fan spoke to Zhao Gui as if something had occurred to him.

“Then it would be good to seek help from the Commander-in-Chief.”

When Zhao Gui mentioned Meng Gong, Zhao Fan thought for a moment and then nodded.

“Alright. I’ll send a message to him. But it should be done secretly.”

“Why?”

“Brother, think about it. How would it look to others if we were seen asking the Commander-in-Chief for help to transfer military command?”

“Isn’t it just an action for the sake of the country?”

“That’s why Father said you’re politically lacking. Brother, listen carefully.”

Zhao Gui sighed and continued.

“The forces gathered in Hunan now amount to 1 million. 1 million! If you add the forces led by the Commander-in-Chief to this 1 million, it means the Commander-in-Chief would have control over all of the Song Dynasty’s military power!”

“Ah…!”

Zhao Fan belatedly understood his mistake.

As Zhao Gui said, it was dangerous for the emperor to personally lead the campaign.

So it was a correct thought to transfer command to Meng Gong and let him lead the army against the Mongols instead of the emperor.

But this was only from an outsider’s perspective.

All military power following not the emperor but a mere general.

From the perspective of the emperor ruling the Song Dynasty, this was absolutely unacceptable.

Because those forces could be used to stage a rebellion.

“Meng Gong is absolutely not that kind of person.”

“Of course not. But if we approach him first, they’ll think we’re plotting treason with Meng Gong.”

“Isn’t that going too far?”

“Brother, you’re too soft. In court, a single word can cost lives.”

At Zhao Gui’s passionate speech, Zhao Fan fell silent in thought.

Then he murmured softly to Zhao Gui.

“Even if I bear false accusations, I must stop this. That’s how the country survives.”

“Brother! With your unyielding character, our family could be branded as traitors and ruined.”

“What does the family matter! If the country falls, everyone falls!”

“Even if it’s for a greater cause, if the method is wrong, everything will go awry. Moreover, our family has many enemies in court. If we show such a weakness, there are plenty of wolves ready to pounce.”

The Zhao family had long served as an important family in the Song Dynasty.

Naturally, they had received the emperor’s favor, and many were jealous of this.

“Just because the goal is righteous doesn’t mean you can ignore the process.”

“Are you saying we should waste time being swayed by the process, knowing what the Mongols might do?”

“Brother!”

Zhao Gui was frustrated as Zhao Fan refused to change his mind.

But if he didn’t dissuade Zhao Fan now, it was only a matter of time before he fell out of the emperor’s favor, no matter how noble his intentions.

“I won’t change my mind.”

“Sigh… Alright, brother. Let’s calm down and discuss this. And talking in a place like this, someone might overhear.”

At Zhao Gui’s words, Zhao Fan belatedly realized he had been too excited.

He blushed and nodded.

As the Zhao brothers disappeared, a man emerged from the darkness.

“This… is an opportunity. An opportunity for me to push aside the Zhao family and stand at the center of power…!”

The man in the darkness clenched his fist as he said this.

His identity was Jia Sidao.

He was a man with considerable ability, but his ambition far exceeded his abilities.

* * *

I could see the Song Dynasty’s army swarming like ants.

Seeing this, I could sense that my strategy had worked perfectly.

“The plan has worked perfectly.”

“Indeed it has.”

Munglig nodded in agreement.

I nodded and looked to the side.

There stood Benkei, wearing studded armor well-known as nomadic armor.

He was a large man mounted on a Mongolian horse, wearing studded armor and holding a naginata.

A subtle aura of intimidation emanated from his body.

“Benkei.”

“Command me, Gur-Khan.”

Benkei responded in fluent Mongolian.

Seeing him, I nodded and issued an order.

“Can you fight the Song’s million-strong army and retreat without casualties?”

Retreat in war was quite a difficult tactic.

This was because it meant fleeing while exposing one’s back.

As a result, most battles saw the highest casualties during retreats.

Despite this difficult task, Benkei answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“I’ll be right back.”

With those words, Benkei put on a Cuman mask.

Then he dashed forward like an arrow, followed by Tamma troops wearing Cuman masks.

Seeing this, Munglig gave me a look as if asking for orders for himself as well.

“The Kheshig will remain here. It’s part of the strategy, so don’t make such a disappointed expression.”

At my words, Munglig nodded.

A battle against a million.

If it turned into a full-scale war, even if the enemy were just conscripts, they were large enough to inflict significant damage on our forces.

So we had to avoid a full-scale battle.

“And small victories in battle aren’t our strategic objective anyway.”

“That’s right, brother. Our goal is to wear down the enemy.”

Pretend to fight and then retreat. This way, the enemy would inevitably tire.

The goal of this tactic was to exhaust the Song Dynasty.

In this process, the Mongols planned to continue tactical retreats.

The idea was to repeat these retreats to instill confidence in the emperor and make him continue to chase us.

In other words, it was about luring Meng Gong and the million-strong army so they couldn’t meet each other.

This would naturally lead to the Song Dynasty army reclaiming their territory.

But reclaiming devastated territory was meaningless; they couldn’t do anything with it.

“And the emperor, intoxicated by continuous victories, will lose control.”

With continuous victories, like someone addicted to gambling, one couldn’t make rational judgments.

This was because they became addicted to the dopamine obtained through victory.

Of course, the emperor might notice and become suspicious of our continuous retreats.

“It doesn’t matter if he realizes it later. By then, he’ll realize that the million-strong army is nothing but an illusion.”