Dongfang Muxue redeployed a force and began a grand southward offensive against the Golden Snake Camp, giving Ajiu an excuse to turn her army north. Of course, the two sides would not truly fight; they merely maintained a tacit stalemate in Hebei, buying Song Qingshu's side time.
Unlike the southern front, good news arrived steadily from the western front. Wanyan Chen Heshang led the Zhongyi Army to Fengxiang Prefecture, and Pucha Zhen soon led troops to capture Heshangyuan. The Song commander Wang Xi put up a fierce resistance, but then news came that Wu Xi had ordered a retreat, and the Song Army collapsed in defeat.
Wu Xi then ordered Hechi burned and withdrew his army to Qingye. Mqiu Si, the Xingyuan military commissioner, guarded the pass with a heavy force. Yet when Wanyan Chen Heshang's army reached the pass, Wu Xi secretly ordered the defenses withdrawn. Mqiu Si's isolated army was no match for them, and Chen Heshang captured Dashan Pass.
After that, the Zhongyi Army swept forward unstoppably, capturing Fengzhou, Chengzhou, Xihezhou, and Jiezhou in succession. All the lands of Gansu and Shaanxi north of Sichuan in the Southern Song fell into Jin Dynasty hands.
To achieve such tremendous results in less than a month, while partly due to Wu Xi's secret collusion and cooperation from within, also proved the Zhongyi Army's combat strength and the abilities of its generals.
Song Qingshu ordered Tang Kuo Hongda, the most skilled at defense, to remain on the western front and continue holding the vital choke points out of Sichuan. He then mobilized the Zhongyi Army to travel down the Hanshui River through Shangyong and reinforce Dengzhou and Tangzhou. After bidding farewell to the Ge Bi sisters, he led the army with Daiqisi to reinforce the Jianghuai front.
The main reason