Ch.299Conquest (3)

# The Surrender of the Song Dynasty General

As I looked at the general standing next to Munglig, he opened his mouth.

“I offer you the head of the corrupt official Jiashi Dao. Please accept my surrender.”

“Surrender, is it? What is your intention?”

“Please spare my life.”

At this concise statement, I looked at him with interest and asked a question.

“What is your name?”

“I am called Yu Zheng.”

“Yu Zheng…”

The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite remember. I needed to hear more to recall.

“Where are you from?”

“I am originally from North China. I was forcibly drafted into the Jin Dynasty army, then rescued by Song general Zhao Fang and became a commander in the Song army.”

Though his explanation was lengthy, the essence was simple: he began his military career in the Jin Dynasty and later switched to the Song Dynasty.

In modern terms, one might say he was good at changing jobs. But in medieval times, he could only be seen as a man of questionable loyalty.

He seemed aware of this fact, which is why he had beheaded Jiashi Dao to offer as proof of his surrender.

The head of Jiashi Dao.

While I had cornered him, it was Yu Zheng who had actually cut off his head.

So there was no reason to treat the man who brought me this head with coldness.

“I accept your surrender.”

“Thank you, Gurkhan. I will serve you with utmost loyalty.”

Yu Zheng said this with a bow. Looking at him, I suddenly remembered exactly who he was.

“Were you once under General Meng’s command?”

“Yes, that’s correct. How did you know?”

“I see.”

I should have recognized him when he mentioned Zhao Fang, but I realized too late.

In the war between the Song Dynasty and the Mongols—what the Song called the Anti-Mongol War—he was a man who had achieved many merits.

However, due to Wen Tianxiang’s interference and the corrupt official Jiashi Dao’s misdeeds, he fell from grace. This led Yu Zheng to defect to the Mongols, which in the original history allowed the Mongols to build a proper navy.

In other words, Yu Zheng was a man who had been pushed around until he finally betrayed his country. Of course, I wasn’t sympathizing with him. From my position, what mattered was whether he was useful or not.

Currently, the Ulus had already developed a stronger navy than in the original history. So Yu Zheng’s defection wouldn’t cause significant changes to the Ulus navy.

Even so, his abilities as a naval admiral remained undeniable, so there was no problem employing him.

“I know about the man who served under General Meng and worked as a naval admiral.”

Of course, this was a lie. It wouldn’t make sense for a national leader to have been keeping an eye on a mere officer from an enemy country.

It sounded more convincing to imply that I knew everything about the enemy through intelligence gathering.

My approach seemed to work, as Yu Zheng nodded with a greatly surprised expression.

“Indeed. I now realize that the Ulus’s victories were due to such an extensive intelligence network.”

I simply nodded at Yu Zheng’s flattery-laden words. I understood his flattery was necessary for his survival, but there was no need to listen to words without substance.

“More importantly, where is the disgraced General Meng now?”

“General Meng is currently facing off against the Jin army near Chengdu Prefecture.”

I was dumbfounded by Yu Zheng’s answer. Not capturing Chengdu Prefecture and instead fighting the Ulus showed how narrow his military vision was.

“How large is General Meng’s force?”

“About 30,000 men.”

With 30,000 troops, I could immediately march and crush them. In contrast, our forces, including surrendered troops, exceeded 300,000. This was a difference in scale that even the Song’s final great general, Meng Gong, couldn’t overcome.

“Lead the way. We will intercept the Song army led by General Meng.”

The key to this war was capturing the Song Emperor. But leaving a brilliant commander like Meng Gong behind while heading to Fujian would be madness.

It was better to deal with him before doing anything else.

* * *

General Meng’s forces were on the defensive. This was inevitable given that his army numbered only 30,000.

“Facing the Jin Dynasty with such a small force is reckless.”

General Meng nodded at Wang Jian’s words.

“I know this action is reckless. But His Majesty ordered me to recover Sichuan, and as one who receives the nation’s salary, I must follow his command.”

“General!”

Wang Jian couldn’t help but be angry. The Emperor had entrusted full authority to General Meng, only to be swayed by corrupt officials and transfer command from Meng to the corrupt Jiashi Dao.

Of course, this wasn’t entirely Emperor Xiaozong’s fault. The problem was Zhao Fan, who had secretly sent letters undermining General Meng against the Emperor’s wishes.

What Zhao Fan and General Meng had done was clearly for the country’s benefit. But when a political heavyweight like Zhao Fan joined hands with General Meng, who commanded an enormous army, it was natural for the country to become unstable.

This made the Emperor react sensitively. Therefore, all this trouble stemmed from Zhao Fan’s hasty actions.

However, this wasn’t enough to dispel Wang Jian’s resentment toward the Emperor.

“Yu Zheng has beheaded the corrupt official Jiashi Dao and surrendered. General, you should surrender too.”

General Meng couldn’t say anything in response to Wang Jian’s words. Coming from the Meng family that had served the country since his grandfather’s time, he knew better than anyone that his current actions weren’t right.

But the Song Dynasty was already doomed. Feeling this keenly, General Meng couldn’t find a reason to remain loyal to the Emperor or the Song Dynasty.

“I refuse.”

However, the words from General Meng’s mouth were the opposite of his thoughts.

“May I ask why?”

To this, General Meng nodded and answered immediately.

“It’s not out of loyalty.”

At this point, after being abandoned by the Emperor, even a sage couldn’t speak of loyalty. So General Meng honestly revealed his feelings.

“I regret not being able to take revenge against the Jin Dynasty.”

“Revenge against the Jin Dynasty?”

“Yes.”

Both General Meng’s grandfather and father had fought fierce battles at Yue Fei’s army. The reason his family members fought to the death there wasn’t solely for the Emperor.

The reason Yue Fei’s army fought without fear of death was their resistance against the Jin Dynasty.

“It may sound strange, but I cannot stand by and watch the Song Dynasty fall before the Jin Dynasty does.”

General Meng’s grandfather took up arms out of hatred for the Jin Dynasty. His father followed his grandfather’s dying wish and honed his desire for revenge against the Jin. Following the spirit of his grandfather and father, all that remained in General Meng’s heart was resistance against the Jin Dynasty—the spirit of anti-Jin resistance.

That was the driving force that had brought him to this position.

Therefore, surrendering to the Mongols wasn’t difficult. He only regretted not achieving revenge as a Song general before the Jin Dynasty collapsed.

“As a Song general, I must bring down the Jin Dynasty.”

Initially, General Meng had tried to join hands with the Jin Dynasty to fight against the Mongols. This made his current actions difficult for Wang Jian to understand.

“Didn’t you try to ally with the Jin Dynasty against the Mongols?”

“Yes. The Mongols were a greater enemy than the Jin Dynasty, so we needed to stop them first to be able to defeat the Jin with Song’s power.”

“Ah…!”

“The fall of the Song Dynasty is only a matter of time.”

Yu Zheng had surrendered. This meant it was only a matter of time before the Mongols learned the size of General Meng’s forces.

The Mongols would lead a large army to ambush General Meng’s forces, and then General Meng—indeed, the entire Meng family’s—long-cherished wish would never be fulfilled.

“Therefore, there’s no longer any reason to cooperate with the Jin Dynasty. The Jin probably think the same.”

Even if they joined forces now, it would be impossible to stop the Mongols. Above all, with the Song Emperor on the defensive, the Jin Dynasty would have no choice but to fend for themselves.

Additionally, General Meng was currently attacking Chengdu Prefecture to recapture Sichuan, making it impossible for the Song and Jin to join hands again.

“Both the Song and Jin Dynasties are bound to fall to the Mongols. Therefore…”

General Meng swallowed the rest of his words and silently looked at Wang Jian.

Wang Jian made a fist salute and shouted loudly.

“I will follow the General!”

“Save your life, General.”

Wang Jian shook his head and whispered to General Meng.

“I will die as the final Song general who brought down the Jin Dynasty.”

General Meng wrapped both hands around Wang Jian’s fist salute, nodding in gratitude.

Thus, the 30,000-strong suicide squad led by General Meng and Wang Jian attacked Chengdu Prefecture where the Jin forces were stationed. Their sudden attack resulted in the deaths of Wanyan Shengyou and Wanyan Husha who were in Chengdu.

The Jin Dynasty was defeated, and the Song army pursued and killed them all. With this, the Jin Dynasty lost its last operational army and essentially had no power left to defend the country.

With Wanyan Shengyou’s defeat, the Jin Emperor predicted the dynasty’s collapse and fled to Dali with the crown prince and princes. Other Jin royal family members fled belatedly but were all captured by General Meng and beheaded.

Considering that later, when the Gurkhan saw their corpses, he became furious and had their bodies dismembered and fed to birds, General Meng’s actions were relatively merciful.

In any case, Wang Jian and General Meng briefly recaptured Chengdu Prefecture and were able to recover the entire Sichuan region. But they were annihilated without even holding out for a day against the pursuing Mongol army’s attack.

The Gurkhan who occupied this place tried to persuade General Meng and Wang Jian, but they refused to the end.

So the Gurkhan killed the two men painlessly and made Chinese-style tombstones for them, hoping that future generations would remember and honor them.

But contrary to the Gurkhan’s consideration, there was no one left to mourn them. This was because the Gurkhan had killed all Chinese people in Sichuan.

Because of this, later historians could not find the tomb of Meng Gong, the Song Dynasty’s final great general, and his achievements remained only in records.