"What is it?"
Bai Xiaowen sat cross-legged on the bed, watching Sigrdrifa hurry in.
"Master, Shi Miyuan sent an urgent message from Lin'an through a Thousand-Li Voice Transmission Talisman. The Song Army's northern expedition is in grave danger!"
As Bai Xiaowen listened to Sigrdrifa's account, his expression gradually turned grave.
Short of provisions, the Mongols had withdrawn across the Yellow River. The cities of the Central Plains that had been under the Jin Kingdom's control were mostly held by former Jin generals who had surrendered. They hated the Mongols, owed them no loyalty, and commanded only meager forces.
Only a few thousand Mongol troops remained south of the Yellow River.
Under those circumstances, the Southern Song Army advanced with the high morale of men determined to avenge their country and reclaim their homeland. Victory came easily.
Bai Xiaowen had also expected the Southern Song Army to win its early battles. Retaking the three former capitals, at least, should pose no problem. The real challenge would be defending against the Mongol army when spring arrived the following year.
At first, the Song Army took every city in its path. The former Jin generals opened their gates as soon as they saw the Song banners.
In just a few days, Quan Zicai's force had set out from Luzhou and taken Shouzhou, Mengcheng, Bozhou, Taikang, and other cities in succession before recovering Bianjing.
The Mongols responded by sending small bands of elite cavalry to raid the Song supply lines.
Only when Quan Zicai reached Bianjing did he discover that the former Northern Song capital lay in ruins. Just a few hundred households remained, and its garrison numbered fewer than a thousand men.
A city like that could not supply his army.
The gap between Mongol and Southern Song soldiers soon became clear. Small