To be honest, Wen Dunsizhong definitely wronged someone.
Of the four people that Wen Dunsizhong thought had abandoned him, Han Shizhong and Li Yanxian, needless to say, really treated him like nothing. And Wanyan Bendu, his brother of many years and the golden young man who had spent more than a decade with him in Aguda's tent, also ignored him.
However, Wanyan Balisu, the Jin Dynasty's Taiyuan garrison commander, Taiyuan Military Commander-in-Chief, and actual commander-in-chief of the Western Army, cannot be said to have given up Wen Dunsizhong.
Balisu probably just felt that there was no need to notify Wen Dunsizhong specifically, especially since the Taiyuan garrison commander had already dispatched the main force to move south at a rapid speed.
If the army arrived directly, they would naturally rescue Wen Dunsizhong. If it is not possible to arrive as expected, and the people in Hezhong Prefecture can defend the city, and finally get 500 righteous men from Hezhong Prefecture, and some old people under Taizu Aguda died heroically for their country, and delay some troops and time, wouldn't that also be a loyal subject of the Jin Dynasty?
What do you want me to tell you specifically?
It can only be said that Wen Dunsizhong is still emotionally unstable and cannot appreciate the good intentions of his superior Wanyan Balisudutong.
In fact, on the third day after Wen Dunsizhong's emotional breakdown, that is, on October 5th, Balisu's Taiyuan reinforcements encountered the Song army at the junction of the Linfen Basin and the Hezhong (Yuncheng) Basin.
And if the battlefield is expanded to a hundred miles around the point where the two sides encounter each other, the actual number of troops involved in this battle will be somewhat scary.
In the Jin direction, at least three veteran commanders of the Jin Western Route Army, including Wanyan Balisu's commander, Wanyan Tuhesu's commander, and Wanyan Zhehe's commander, joined the battle, with cavalry arriving first and infantry following. The Song army included Li Yanxian's commander, and his subordinates Shao Long, Lü Heshang, Song Yan, Jia He, Yan Ping, Zhao Cheng, Zhai Jin, Zhai Cong, Zhai Chong, Niu Gao, and Dong Xian, totaling 35,000 people, plus Ma Kuoyi's army, whose organization and number could not be counted at all, all pressing in together.
In other words, Balisu hastily assembled the main forces he could summon around Taiyuan at the first opportunity and came directly here, while Li Yanxian almost left only the most stable Shao Yun to sit firmly in Pinglu, and added his own brother Li Kui to provide support from the rear, and the rest of the army also rushed over at the first opportunity.
Considering that both sides had generals-level figures on the battlefield, it can be said that this was the first large-scale battle after the Song army's Northern Expedition.
But World War I itself was extremely chaotic.
First of all, both sides dispatched their troops hastily and had to travel long distances to attack. For the Jin army, the distance from Taiyuan to Tieling Pass was a full 550 miles, and there were also small-scale harassments by the Taihang rebels along the way that had been prepared. On the other hand, even if Li Yanxian acted decisively and went directly out of Jiezhou from Zhongtiao Mountain, and it was only 140 to 50 miles away from Tieling Pass, don’t forget that before the war, although the Jiezhou area north of Zhongtiao Mountain had been infiltrated to a certain extent, it still belonged to the Jin army, so it was inevitable to temporarily establish a logistics channel and divide troops to besiege a few stubborn towns.
Therefore, no matter which side it was, it was inevitable that they would fight in a state of exhaustion, and the marching routes would be chaotic and the arrival times would be different.
Secondly, the combat strength of both sides is uneven.
For example, on the Jin army side, Balisu's direct subordinate Wanhu not only had the best equipment and the most experienced veterans, but also had a large number of Moukes in a Meng'an, often with seven or eight Moukes for one Meng'an... There was even a personal guard Meng'an modeled after Hezha Meng'an, which consisted of ten elite Moukes.
Relatively speaking, the Wanyan Zhehe and Wanyan Tuhesu tribes, which suffered the heaviest losses in the Battle of Yaoshan, inevitably had many new soldiers recruited after the war. The relationships between Meng'an and Meng'an, and between Mouke and Mouke were as different as heaven and earth.
A similar situation occurred even more severely among the Song army.
Because Li Yanxian's army was active on both sides of the Yellow River all year round, they never checked the number of people. They just sent him military pay, weapons and supplies according to the organization, and then Li Yanxian distributed them from the commanding officer. Therefore, his troops had a strong personal faction color.
Among them, not to mention Li Yanxian’s own core troops in Shanzhou City and Pinglu City, the combat effectiveness of most of the troops depends entirely on the level and integrity of the commander himself, so that the gap in combat effectiveness of the troops is often incredible.
What's more, there are also troops led by Ma Kuo, and their equipment is basically just auxiliary troops.
Finally, the terrain is complex.
The area around Tieling Pass is the junction of Linfen Basin and Hezhong Basin (Yuncheng Basin), with plains, mountains and hills mixed together. Moreover, Tieling Pass, the focus of the battle, is not a strong pass itself... and its surroundings are not exaggerated to the point where one man can block ten thousand men.
There is also the Fenshui Pass next to the Yellow River in the west, and the route to Jiangxian in the east. Tieling Pass is by no means the only route available. Even the surrounding mountains are not a dead end. There is a small pass in Luotuoling, a few dozen miles west of Tieling Pass. No one can clearly describe the small paths that the mountain people use.
Of course, this does not prevent Tieling Pass itself from being the most important hub between the Linfen Basin and the Hezhong (Yuncheng) Basin. It is still a typical battleground for military strategists, especially since it is the end of the Chenguan Pass leading to Hezhong Prefecture from the neighboring Shangdang Basin.
In short, it was under the influence of these complex factors that the battle process was both intense and chaotic, bloody and dramatic.
In just one day, Tieling Pass changed hands three times.
Early in the morning of that day, a local rebel army sent by Ma Kuo, which was the closest to the area, came to seize the pass. The rebel leader, who had followed Ma Kuo from Wumashan, followed the military orders of his general and dressed in plain clothes and tried to sneak into the pass from the rear. However, he was discovered by the garrisoned Jin army and failed.
The rebels lacked equipment and attack capabilities and were at a loss for what to do.
But soon, as a commander under the command of Song army monk Lu Heshang arrived with hundreds of regular troops and launched an attack, the rebel leader immediately realized the existence of the opposite side in the north of the pass. He then made a show of attacking from the north and the south, while at the same time selecting mountain people from the rebel army to wear double leather armor, climb over the ravines and sneak into Guanzhong, and actually succeeded.
The Jin army at Tieling Pass had only one or two hundred defenders, and they were easily defeated and slaughtered by the influx of Song troops.
Soon after, more or less subordinates from Lu Heshang's, Zhai Cong's, and Zhao Cheng's troops arrived one after another. Several nearby rebel forces under Ma Kuo, with a minimum of five or six hundred and a maximum of one or two thousand, also appeared from the east.
In the morning, the number of Song troops around Tieling Pass reached over 10,000 at its peak.
At this time, there was no sign of the Jin army.
They were overjoyed, and perhaps because they were greedy for merit, underestimated the enemy, were homesick, or there was a real military order to seize the terrain, or simply because they all came in a hurry and there was no one in charge who could control and deploy these troops with poor discipline. In any case, no one in the army could hold back, and except for Monk Lu who left behind a few hundred people, all the rest of the troops poured out of Tieling Pass and headed towards the Linfen Basin in the north.
Instead, they rushed to seize villages and towns, and some troops even engaged in looting and rape, and there were sporadic clashes between local and foreign rebel forces.
The result of doing this was that in the afternoon, when the main vanguard of the Jin army appeared on the flat ground of the Linfen Basin, the Song army was unable to organize itself at all. They could only watch as thousands of Jin cavalry, under the supervision of Tuhesu's flag, calmly crossed the Huishui River from a place twenty miles away from Tieling Pass, that is the direction of Quwo northeast of the pass, and launched a mopping-up operation against the nearly 10,000 scattered Song troops.
Moreover, the number of Jin troops is increasing.
Faced with the organized main force of the Jurchen cavalry, and their own disorganization and recklessness, the Song army was completely defeated on the plain between the north of Tieling Pass and the Huishui River, which was more than ten miles wide, and only a few miles wide at the narrowest point. Even Zhao Ben himself lost contact.
Moreover, after a Jin army commander discovered that most of the Song troops on the opposite side were just poorly equipped mountain militias, he took advantage of the situation and swept the defeated troops and actually pushed all the way into Tieling Pass.
Faced with the friendly forces that were oppressed by the Jin army and fell into a desperate abyss in panic, the officers of Lu Heshang's army at the pass had no ability to deal with the situation at all. They lost the pass in a daze and scattered to the south of the pass along with their own troops and these defeated friendly forces.
However, things were not over yet. In the chaos, just as the Jin army had just pressed into Tieling Guanzhong, and more Jin and Song troops were still in chaos on the south side of the pass, the real main force of the Song army arrived, and Li Yanxian himself came to the pass in person.
Seeing the dense flags and neat armor surrounding the "mainstay" banner surging from south to north like a wave, the Jin army Meng'an, who had just entered the pass and had not had a sip of tea, was immediately a little panicked. At the same time, the Taihang righteous army also played their own unique advantages... Although they collapsed quickly, they were able to quickly gather after fleeing into the mountains. In addition, at this time, they saw the main force of their side arriving and the general's banner also arrived from a distance on the mountains, and they were even more confident. They all went to the northern plains to support their own defeated troops, obstruct the large group of Jin troops, and try to attack the small group of Jin troops.
The Jin army came again to drive them away upon seeing this, but they were unable to pursue them up the hill and could only watch helplessly as these light-footed rebels regrouped and poured out again.
For a time, Guanbei was in a stalemate.
At this time, Meng'an of the Tuhesu tribe who had broken into Tieling Pass was completely exhausted. He was afraid of being surrounded by the main force of the Song army in the city, and was also afraid of being ambushed at night. He didn't even understand the internal structure of the pass... So, he made up his mind and chose to withdraw actively. He handed over the pass without even raising the flag.
Many Jin soldiers had no idea that some of their troops had captured Tieling Pass... They captured it in a confused manner and gave it up in a confused manner.
The sky gradually darkened, and the light stopped all the fighting. The Jin army retreated to the northeast direction behind them towards the area of ​​the Huishui Ferry. Li Yanxian also ordered the entire army to set up camp on both sides of the pass.
Let’s not talk about how Li Yanxian cleaned up the mess and then tried to figure out what happened during the day and the current situation, which he might never understand in his lifetime.
On the other side, Meng'an, a soldier from the Jin army, retreated and returned to an already empty market on the bank of the Huishui River, only 20 miles away. Not long after, when it was getting dark, he had just robbed a house and was about to find two eggs to make noodles when he was suddenly called over by his own captain.
I secretly thought that something was wrong in my heart at that time.
When he and Tuhesu's personal guards arrived at a bonfire outside the market, he saw that in addition to Tuhesu, there were several familiar middle-aged generals sitting there cross-legged. He felt a chill at the back of his head. He hurriedly took off the helmet he had put on before going out and threw it on the ground, then bent down and bowed.
"Get up."
Tu Hesu, who was sitting cross-legged, frowned slightly. "How did you learn to be like the Song people?"
"There's nothing wrong with learning from the Song people, but we're afraid that we won't learn the good things but will learn the bad things." The man behind the campfire, that is, the one in the middle, Balisu, heard this and said quietly across the campfire. "I remember your name is Su Wu? Are you also an old soldier?"
"Yes." Meng'an felt bad after hearing this, and stood up straight with his hands crossed. "Do the commander-in-chief and several commanders want to hear about today's battle?"
Crossing one's hands meant obeying orders and making a gesture of apology. This was a unified posture among both Song and Jin dynasties.
"I didn't ask you to come here to ask those questions." Tu Hesu said as he stretched out his leg, which was tingling from the fire. He hammered the old wound on his foot through his boot. "Just now, the commander-in-chief and I have summoned many Meng'an and Mouke, including those who entered the pass with you... We know the situation today. It was just a chaotic battle. Everyone is tired and confused... But you just saw Li Yanxian's army coming and you cowered. You didn't even fight and abandoned the pass, right?"
Su Wu was silent for a moment, then he gritted his teeth and made a decision: "I lacked some backbone today, but I want to let the commander-in-chief and several officers know that the situation was indeed confusing at the time, and there was chaos behind the pass, and no one came to rescue me, so I thought not to throw away my son's life easily... But in the end, the military opportunity was lost, and I, Su Wu, have nothing to say... Commander-in-chief, officers, I am willing to hand over this marching silver medal and go home to bear the punishment."
The scene was so quiet that it was a little eerie. Be it Tuhesu, Zhehe who had been silent, and several other experienced Meng'ans present, all couldn't help but look at Balisu, whose face could not be seen clearly behind the campfire.
Su Wu was a Meng'an after all. Seeing this, how could he not realize that he had committed a crime? He immediately said sternly, "Did you all have already agreed on the matter before I came here, and waited for my reply before making a decision? Wan Hu! From a kilometer point of view, I am a hereditary Mouke, and have been a marching Meng'an for seven years. From a personal point of view, I have followed you since the destruction of Liao. You injured your foot in the battle of Qiaoshan, and I carried you down... After so many years of friendship, are you going to kill me for something like this?"
Let me add a word here. The Meng'an and Mouke system of the Jin army had multiple functions. It served as a title, a military rank, and a people-friendly official. The Eight Banners that came later were basically based on Aguda's invention... For example, Wanyan Loushi was the commander-in-chief of the military division and a gold-medal-holding Wanhu. He was also a hereditary Meng'an with his own private army, the Meng'an. Also, because the hereditary Meng'an was in Huanglongfu, he and his son also enjoyed the taxation, judicial, and administrative powers of Huanglongfu.
Of course, with Wanyan Xiyin's reforms, the role of the people-friendly official has been eliminated, but the significance of the title remains... Before being crowned king, the hereditary Meng'an in the Jin Dynasty was still the most powerful status, followed by hereditary Mouke... because this represented that they had a hereditary army.
As for the Great Jin, it was a country founded on military power.
But how to say it?
Times have changed.
"Du Tong!"
When Tuhesu heard Suwu say this, he couldn't help but look at the person behind the campfire with a pleading attitude.
However , what responded to Tu Hesu was silence.
Tu Hesu was helpless, he sighed, and looked at his subordinates: "Come over to me and kneel down in front of the commander-in-chief!"
A good man never suffers a loss in front of him, so Su Wu hurried over, knelt down across the campfire at the place where Tuhesu had stretched his legs, and prepared to kowtow again. But Wanyan Tuhesu next to him suddenly made a move to stand up again. Knowing that his own Wanhu had poor legs and feet, Su Wu did not dare to neglect him, and hurriedly helped Tuhesu up before kneeling again.
However, in a flash, just as Su Wu was about to kneel down again, Tu Hesu stood up and suddenly took out the steel hammer from his waist and swung it hard at the back of the head of his long-time subordinate.
With just a wave of his hand, he didn't know whether this marching Meng'an, the hereditary Mouke, had time to hear the sound of the wind behind him, and he rushed directly in front of the campfire.
Then, his personal guards stepped forward to finish the job, and at Tuhesu's signal, they cut off the man's head and handed it to the military judge beside him, asking them to display the head in public.
Then, the lame Wan Hu ignored the headless corpse still bleeding on the ground and sat down cross-legged again.
After a while, the body was dragged away, but the atmosphere around the campfire was still bad.
"In this battle, we actually got the upper hand." Unexpectedly, the first person to express dissatisfaction was Wanyan Zhehe, who had not spoken before and had nothing to do with this person.
"I can't do anything about it either." Commander-in-Chief Ba Lisu, who was holding an iron hook, looked at him helplessly. "There hasn't been a major war for five years, and these people have long been in chaos. Instead of trying to make amends for their mistakes, they just want to abandon their posts and go home. When they arrive at the garrison, they grab a house to live in, find eggs to eat, and go to bed early... They don't even know how important this battle is! How can we get eggs to eat and big houses to live in after we lose?"
"That's the truth." Tuhesu, who had just killed his confidant Meng'an with his own hands, unexpectedly stood on the side of Balishu.
"The Song army is not much better," Wanyan Zhehe continued. "And the way they rush forward to claim credit and look down on us is equally ridiculous."
"Not to mention that he was reckless and arrogant, he was at least ambitious." Balisu continued. "And why is he so bad? This is the marching Meng'an and hereditary Mouke of the Jin Iron Cavalry!"
"You saw it clearly on the plateau that day, but you really didn't think about it?" Wanyan Zhehe finally became impatient. "Anger! That anger! The anger that shakes mountains and cuts off rivers! It has long been unified with the old man!"
"Even if we can't shake the mountains or cut off the rivers, we can't do this!"
"Okay, we are here for a military meeting, what are we arguing about?" Wanyan Tuhesu saw that things were not going well and could not help but raise his voice. "We still have 200,000 troops, including 100,000 cavalry! Plus the new army from Yanshan, in my opinion, this battle is a big battle, and the defending side, if we stabilize and delay, and take the opportunity to bite out, there will always be a 70% chance of winning or losing... But you are a general who leads an army, you should have some overall planning in your mind, right? Do you really want to not give up an inch of land?"
"We really can't fight like this." Balisu regained his composure and used the iron hook in his hand to stir up the bonfire in front of him, causing a burst of sparks to fly. "From the overall situation, the battle line is 3,000 miles long. We have a lot of cavalry, so we must use cavalry tactics... The Fourth Prince has already arrived in Zhending. I wrote a letter asking him to come to Taiyuan..."
"You mean we should defeat the whole army one by one?" Tu Hesu frowned. "Which side should we defeat first? How should we defend the other side?"
"That's up to the Fourth Prince to decide." Balisu shook his head. "But to be honest, this is not a good place for a decisive battle... There are passes, mountains, rivers, and ridges here, and the Song army's food supply route is shorter than ours... If we really fight a decisive battle here, if we lose, it might end up like the Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao."
"I don't know what the Battle of Changping is, but I also think this place is not a good place for a decisive battle." Tu Hesu nodded. "Linfen behind us is not a good place either... Although the middle is flat, there are mountains on both sides. The flat land in the middle is too narrow, and the cavalry can't take advantage. It's better to lure the enemy deep into the city of Taiyuan, and then use cavalry to block the exits on all sides and fight the Battle of Taiyuan again... What do you think?"
"That's about it." Balisu answered frankly. "I think anyone who came from the Western Route Army and fought in Taiyuan would have the same idea... We've discussed this before."
"In that case, should we withdraw our troops now?" Wanyan Zhehe suddenly interrupted.
"How can we withdraw?" Balisu frowned more and more, and his tone finally became fierce. "Strategy is strategy, tactics are tactics, and morale is morale... We are far away from Hezhong Prefecture, but this is the first major battle between the two countries in many years. How can we withdraw like this? Don't forget what we discussed a few years ago. When the Song army conquered Xixia, although it was due to the overall situation, the fourth prince repeatedly avoided fighting in the early stage, and as a result, he could not fight a decisive battle in Hetao, which caused the morale to be greatly damaged. This is a lesson! In this situation, whether we should lure the enemy deep into our territory or divide and conquer them, we must use all our strength first! We must not weaken this spirit first! What happened to you in the past few years?!"
Wanyan Zhehe seemed to want to say something but stopped himself.
Seeing this, Tu Hesu quickly made another joke: "Okay... the commander-in-chief must have an idea, tell me about it!"
"What can I say? Of course we should concentrate our cavalry and launch a surprise attack from behind." Balisu replied solemnly. "I thought about it... Although we all came here at a fast pace, the main force of the Song army is infantry, which is more tired than us... Our cavalry consumes horses, especially those who arrived later today and did not participate in the battle, and their spirits are still there... The most important thing is that the soldiers are tired. If we are tired, they will be even more tired... So, don't be stingy with the war horses. While Li Yanxian is still unstable and there is no time to send scouts, let's gather a group of elite cavalry and set off from Jiang County to launch a night attack from behind. Who knows, it may be effective!"
Tu Hesu nodded slightly.
Wanyan Zhehe was stunned for a moment, then looked at the two men again… Tuhesu’s troops were the vanguard, and most of them participated in the battle today. It didn’t matter that they just killed a Meng’an, but the key was that they were very tired. Although Balisu’s army was elite and had a large number of cavalry, was this kind of army used for night raids and encirclements?
That is used for the decisive battle.
With this thought in mind, Wanyan Zhehe thought for a moment and asked seriously beside the campfire, "If we are to charge, to what extent should the armor be reduced?"
"You must have a helmet, armor body, and armor skirt... and the rest of the masks, double brims (neck guards), shoulder guards... those that affect your movements don't need to be brought." Balisu blurted out.
"One more thing." Wanyan Zhehe asked seriously. "I am a commander, alone behind enemy lines, separated by a mountain range. If the battle goes against me, can I retreat at any time?"
Ba Lisu instinctively wanted to respond.
But for some reason, just as he was about to speak, he suddenly thought of something... In the Battle of Yaoshan, Wanyan Loushi ordered Zhehe to attack from the northeast of the Song army camp, but they accidentally fell into the swamp and became a sitting duck. At that time, Zhehe did not dare to move at all, but sent messengers to ask Loushi. Before Loushi gave the order, Zhehe and his troops shot at the Song army in the mud, without moving at all, resulting in heavy losses.
If Lou Shi was here today, why would he be so perfunctory? And why would he ask such a question?
"Can't we retreat?" Zhehe frowned.
"Why don't I go?" Tu Hesu interrupted helplessly when he saw this.
"No..." Balisu reacted and nodded immediately. "You are a ten thousand household, and I also said that I am just trying my best to win the first battle. If we really encounter danger, how can I let you and your tribe die before the battle? Even if it is a madman like Wen Dunsizhong in Hezhong, I didn't give up."
Zhehe nodded and stood up to leave.
Upon seeing this, Balisu quickly stood up and caught up with him, but he grabbed the other person again by the campfire and said earnestly: "After all, we have been friends for decades, and we really shouldn't be angry at this time... If I have done something unsatisfactory, you can tell me about it at the military meeting for official matters, and you can also talk about personal matters now..."
The unshaven Wanyan Zhehe glanced at Balisu, then at Tuhesu who had hurriedly climbed up while touching the bloodstains, and finally sighed:
"General, you are overthinking... How could I not know that this is a war between two countries, a life-and-death battle between the two countries? How could I not know that those bastards are getting worse day by day? How could I not know that we should do our best to hold on to the Tieling Pass regardless of victory or defeat? Besides, I only know how to fight. If you have an order, I will definitely do my best ... If you had just said that we are not allowed to retreat, I would not have said anything... But General! I just don't understand why the Jin cavalry has become like this? It's not about why the Song people are able to fight and dare to fight, but why are we Jurchens unwilling to endure hardships? Why are you thinking more and more? When the old general was here, there were no such things!"
Balisu was unable to answer the other party, or rather, although he knew the answer, he was unwilling to answer the other party. Moreover, the other party stated that he would definitely obey military orders, and he suddenly lost the willingness to be open and frank with him as before.
Upon seeing this, Wanyan Zhehe didn't say much. He nodded quickly to Tu He, who was a little surprised, and turned away.
After a short moment, it could only be said that the military discipline of the Jurchens was still there. Although the Zhehe tribe complained bitterly, they still quickly gathered together under the guidance of Meng'an Mouke, and then concentrated about fifty Mouke, a total of 5,000 elite cavalry, and headed east overnight, preparing to bypass the passage between Jiangxian County and Taihang Mountains on the east side and attack Li Yanxian at night.
After several years in Hedong, the Jin army generals were familiar with geography. After a rough calculation, they found that the distance of 120 miles was within the limit of a long-distance charge by war horses (200 miles).
If we travel this distance quickly, we can reach the destination in two or three hours (four to six hours), which means before midnight. If we travel slower, for example, if we want to leave room for retreat and slow down the horse's speed, the destination will be after midnight at the latest.
All in all, this was a raid that was within the theoretical radius of cavalry combat... and the Jurchen cavalry had definitely played more difficult and extreme tactical moves than this... but it was still very dangerous and a test of the troops' capabilities.
Especially now, the Jin army seems to have lost the spirit to shake mountains and cut rivers, and it is not known whether they can hold on.
But the fact is that Wanyan Zhehe carried out the military order without fail. At midnight, without being sure how many people had fallen behind, this veteran of the Jin army successfully arrived at the pass. After a little preparation, he began to set fire to the extremely simple Song army camp.
This is cavalry, this is the power and significance of elite cavalry.
Cavalry has never had any strategic mobility. No cavalry can march day and night without logistics, or fight over a distance of three thousand miles in half a month. But within a few days, tactically, they can do things that infantry cannot do or even think of.
Since Wanyan Zhehe had launched a surprise attack, fires broke out and shouts of killing shook the sky. Immediately afterwards, Balisu also led his troops to launch an assault from the front of the pass.
To be honest, Li Yanxian underestimated the enemy.
He is also a human being. After the death of his old rival Lou Shi, after sitting in silence for eight years, the entire army marched north. As the only commander-in-chief who held a large stronghold on the other side of the Yellow River, unlike Han Shizhong's pre-war attitude, he was extremely eager to stretch his fists and become the vanguard of the main attack direction.
He did take the lead in seizing Tieling Pass, but the troops were too exhausted, and once he seized the pass, he felt an inexplicable sense of security.
Moreover, he did not make any mistakes after arriving at Tieling Pass - after capturing Tieling Pass, he immediately set up camp on both sides of the pass, and did not allow the defeated troops in the north of the pass to enter the pass, but only allowed them to set up camp behind the pass. Then, without time to deal with the melee during the day, he sent scouts across the battlefield that had just subsided to investigate the movements of the Jin army.
But as soon as Balisu withdrew his troops who had been fighting in daylight, he urged Wanyan Zhehe to attack in darkness.
So, he just didn't make a prediction.
But after all, he still underestimated the enemy, but this underestimation was not in his own mind, but in his reckless advance for the sake of gaining credit. Because of his recklessness, his army fell into a state of extreme exhaustion, and this state caused the army to actually lose control and organizational ability in the dark... In a word, he overestimated his army and underestimated the determination of the Jin army, and he should have informed Han Shizhong earlier.
At the same time, what is more intuitive and fatal is that the combat effectiveness of Li Yanxian's troops is indeed mixed, which can be easily seen from the battle process.
The chaos started from Yan Ping's troops. The tired soldiers encountered a night attack. The hastily erected camp was easily trampled by the Jin army, and the troops dispersed into the night. But soon, the Jin army's raiding troops were stopped by the second camp, that is, Dong Xian's troops... Dong Xian was recognized as a greedy person, but he was also recognized as a good fighter. The chaos in his defense area was obviously slowed down, which gave the Song army a chance to breathe.
Li Yanxian climbed the pass and looked at the scene from afar, his face as gloomy as water, but he had no good solution.
As for night raids, it has been like this since ancient times. He could only stay inside the pass and stabilize the camps from the inside out. If he really sent out troops to rescue at night, with the level of his troops and horses in the outer areas, plus the current state of exhaustion, the number of soldiers devoured by the chaos itself would far exceed the casualties of the rushing cavalry itself... And again, the army was too exhausted.
Moreover, this is the south of the pass, which is an organized army. The north of the pass is already in chaos. The rebel army and the small remnants of the imperial camp's central army, which had just gathered after a whole day of fighting, were simply attacked and their camps were blown up by the sudden attack.
Fortunately, their experience during the day taught them that they could go into the mountains.
"Jiedu."
In the chaos, a man followed Li Yanxian's personal guards and hurried to the pass. He greeted Zhang Qi, the deputy general of Dongxian. "My commander asked me to report that the Jin army can't gain an advantage here, and it seems that they are preparing to withdraw and attack from another camp..."
"I see." Li Yanxian took a deep breath and said in a cold tone.
Zhang Qi, who was standing nearby, took the opportunity to take a look down and understood why Jiedu Li acted like that. Here in Guannan, of the seven camps of the Song army, one had collapsed, one was in battle, and of the remaining five, only three were fully lit, with two half-lit and somewhat chaotic... Obviously, when facing the surprise attack, these two camps used this method to remind the Jin army that they were a weak army and could be attacked!
Zhang Qi wanted to persuade Li Yanxian, but he didn't know what to say for a moment... In today's battle, the Song army's underestimation of the enemy, greed for merit, and arrogance were clearly revealed.
This is not just a problem faced by just one or two individuals. It is a systematic problem that exists in the imperial army after three years of propaganda, recuperation and generous treatment.
There will definitely be all kinds of weird chaos in other places, and we will have to pay with blood to learn a lesson.
As he was thinking this, Zhang Qi suddenly felt that the light in front of him seemed to be brighter. He looked towards the camp at Guanxia, ​​but found that it was only a moment and the situation at the camp at Guanxia had not changed fundamentally.
For a moment, Zhang Boyu (Zhang Qi's pen name) thought that his eyes were blinded by a light somewhere in the night, but the next moment, he noticed that Li Yanxian, Li Jiedu, who had a gloomy face, no longer looked at the chaos in the camp below, but looked towards the southeast.
There are mountains in the southeast direction, Zhongtiao Mountain, Wangwu Mountain, Taihang Mountain, all mountains...On the fifth day of the lunar calendar in early winter, the night should be pitch black.
But Zhang Qi saw a spark in the mountains.
Although it was very small, it was definitely not the spark of a nearby torch. Instead, it was a tiny spark flashing in the dark mountains in the southeast direction.
Zhang Qi gestured and according to his judgment, that should be the entrance to Taihang Wangwu Mountain, Zuantianling, Xiling Pass, and the passage where Chenguanxing came out of the mountains.
Is it the Jin army reinforcements from Longde Prefecture?
Zhang Qi immediately thought of the worst possible scenario, and if that were the case, his army would be defeated tonight!
But, do we have to withdraw?
If they retreat at this time, it will only cause the entire camp to collapse. It is possible that the main force of the Jin army in Guanbei will take advantage of the situation to seize the pass and rush in. By then, the Song army will be defeated without the need for the Jin army in Longde Prefecture.
Moreover, if it was the Jin army, why were there only a few Jin troops coming to attack Taiyuan? Why didn't they send out all their elite cavalry and block the entire Jin army in Longde Prefecture? !
If it was the Jin army from Longde Prefecture, there was no reason why General Ma, who was already in the mountains, would not have noticed it? He could even detect the movements of the Jin army in Taiyuan!
Could it be a strategy used by the Jin army's raiding force to confuse the enemy?
No matter which possibility it is, we must persuade Li Jiedu to calm down and defend Tieling Pass and Guanbei Camp to the death.
Thinking of this, Zhang Qi looked at Li Yanxian again, but found that Li Jiedu, wearing a cloak, still had a gloomy face. He did not even look at the camp in front of him, but just stared at the southeast direction and bit his fingernails.
Zhang Qi had nothing to say and couldn't help biting his nails.
But at this moment, the stars in the distant mountains suddenly jumped, and turned into a few stars, then dozens of stars, hundreds of stars, and then densely packed stars, and then a complex and long line of fire appeared in the distant mountains, and it was constantly extending, winding and connecting.
Finally, within just a quarter of an hour, as if by magic, a whole fire dragon appeared in the mountains, and due to folding and double images, it formed a sea of ​​fire.
From a distance, the entire mountain seems to be cast by wildfire.
Its momentum is so fierce that once it has spread over the mountain, it will surely spread across the prairie.
Zhang Qi felt relieved. When the fire line began to show that strange winding shape, he realized that this was not the Jin army. The Jin army came out directly from the Chenguan Pass. It would only be a spark that was getting bigger and bigger, and then turned into a flame... Judging from the current situation, it could only be Ma Kuo's rebel army coming down the mountain!
They had gathered in a hurry and came here, and then marched in the mountains for days. They should have been forced to spend another night in the cold early winter and go down the mountain early the next morning. But obviously, when they found the dazzling fire here and realized what happened, they chose to light torches and go down the mountain at night.
It was early winter, the grass and trees were withered and wet with dew, but the astonishing number of Taihang rebels staged a fierce battle at night.
Wanyan Zhehe, who had won the first battle, and several Meng'an under his command stared in amazement at the sudden fire behind them. This scene, which they knew was man-made but still looked like a natural wonder, reminded them of many things.
But at the moment, the flames all over the mountain had only one meaning - if they dared to stay here any longer, they would most likely be surrounded.
Therefore, the horn should be blown quickly and the army should be ordered to withdraw along the same route.
However, perhaps this heart-stirring "star volcano" was so dazzling that he was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses at the urging of his subordinates and issued a military order.
The sound of horns continued, not only waking up many Jurchen cavalry, but also waking up a group of people about twenty miles southwest of the pass.
"How boring!"
Han Shizhong, who was riding a horse, also came back to his senses from the artificial volcano, turned his head and smiled at Niu Gao beside him. "Your Jiedu and I both thought we were the main singers of this drama, but he came on early and only sang a warm-up segment, and I came late and only sang the ending segment, but the main part was sung by this steward Ma from a high position in front of the public, and it was sung so spectacularly... What a great performance! It deserves a reward!"
The matter involved three military governors. Niu Gao, who was captured to lead the way, said nothing and pretended to be deaf and dumb.
However, Jie Yuan couldn't help but said, "Fifth brother! Do you think you are in Chang'an watching a drama with Yuwen Xianggong?! The Jin army must be retreating, but they are definitely exhausted. Quickly light torches and chase them! We will definitely gain something!"
Han Shizhong raised his head and laughed loudly, but his face suddenly changed color. He turned around in the night and gave orders to the thousands of elite cavalry behind him. Then the entire army released the restrictions and started the fire together. Another fire dragon appeared out of thin air, shining brightly with the volcano, but it rushed towards the Jin army at a speed that caught the Jin army off guard.
As soon as the horn sounded, Wanyan Zhehe rode away without hesitation.