Adopted Husband.

Summary

In January, forest dwellers fled north while others escaped west and south from battle zones. A triangular area from Jiangning to Zhenjiang and Lin'an faced war, home to over ten million people. The Wu Dynasty struggled to defend every city against the Jurchens, who had already attacked Jiangnan. The Wu mobilized 170,000 troops to Lin'an, supported by 200,000 imperial guards. Zongfu's Eastern Army targeted Jiangning and Zhenjiang, while Liu Chengzong diverted attention to Xuzhou. The Jurchens had two strategies: crush resistance along the Yangtze or capture cities southward. By mid-January, Zongfu's forces split, with Han troops advancing southward. The Wu Dynasty could not allow this and stationed additional troops to block their advance. By late January, Yue Fei's forces joined the battle, complicating the situation further. In Lin'an, morale fluctuated amid Jurchen attacks and internal rumors of betrayal. Scholars debated strategies, with one proposing to employ sages and execute problematic officials. On February 4, an old scholar distributed flyers with governance strategies, leading to a meeting with the governor, who found his ideas stale. Public opinion was chaotic, with a poetry gathering discussing the Wu Dynasty's situation and the importance of Xiangyang as a stronghold. The scholar emphasized that the Jurchens' true concern was the Black Flag Army, not the Wu Dynasty.

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