Prince Han of the Song Dynasty has said so. As the commander-in-chief of the Jin army in Hedong, and having brought the Five-Colored Sun Flag, Balisu certainly cannot retreat like this. If he really retreats like this, the morale of the army will be completely lost.
So, from the evening of October 6th to the afternoon of October 8th, in just two days and nights, the Jin army and the Song army engaged in continuous and intensive fighting in the narrow area north of Tieling Pass and south of the Ruishui River.
Among them, there were fourteen fully measurable frontal battles in which both sides deployed more than a thousand troops .
Except for the small-scale cavalry confrontation in the evening of the sixth day, starting from the second day, the commanders of the two armies almost unanimously chose a similar strategy, that is, to send troops in a dispersed but organized manner... If the Jurchens took the initiative to attack, they would usually use Meng'an as a unit, with a minimum of five or six hundred cavalrymen, and as the day went on, perhaps with the arrival of auxiliary troops behind them, they would start to form an organized team of a thousand people, half cavalry and half infantry. This was also the traditional tactic of the Jin army. If the Song army took the initiative to attack, they would usually choose a commander to lead a varying number of his own subordinates into battle, with as few as one or two thousand and as many as four or five thousand.
No matter which side attacks, the other side will send out troops of equal strength to respond, or basically respond in a ratio of one to two to one to three of cavalry and infantry.
As for the selection criteria, both sides were in sync. Balisu would go into battle in order according to the sequence of the marching ten thousand households, and whoever's turn it was would be the one to go; at the Guan Shang stage, the three Jiedushi sat still. On the first day of the battle, Wang Shixiong, who had killed a Jin army soldier Puliyan (deputy Mouke, captain of fifty cavalrymen), came back with a lottery tube in his hand, and needed people to go into battle. Marshal Han drew one casually, and without even looking at it, he handed it to Deputy Governor Jie Yuan. Whoever drew the lottery would lead his troops into battle unconditionally.
In addition, both sides did not forget to tighten their fences. The army camps in front and behind Tieling Pass became more and more solid, and Balisu also withdrew the entire army camp to the north bank of the Huishui River, and let Wanyan Zhehe, who was slightly injured, lead the troops that returned that day to stay in Quwo City behind him.
Combat is just weird like that.
It was a fierce battle, and it was definitely a fierce battle. The frequency of the battles was there, and it was impossible for them to just pretend to fight after entering the battlefield. The number of casualties was also there, so how could it not be intense?
But although it is tacitly understood, there are also some tacit understandings.
It was as if after the surprise attack phase after the war, both sides found the chaos and uncontrollability unbearable and wanted to take the opportunity to adjust and stabilize the battle line so as to build strong camps, fight a stupid battle, form a confrontation and prepare for a decisive battle.
The subsequent development of the war situation seemed to be moving in this direction.
At dusk on the eighth day of October, Fan Yihong, the commander of Li Qiong's army, led his subordinates who were reorganized from the Eight Character Army and arrived at Tieling Pass first.
That night, a messenger from Liang Xing's army, the most powerful unit in the Taihang rebel army, rushed out of Chenguan Pass and brought the news that Liang Xing's army had failed in its attempt to block the Longde Prefecture army on the other side of Chenguan Pass.
However, the Jin army in Longde Prefecture could do nothing, because the Song army had already set up camp at the Xiling Pass at the exit of Chenguanxing. The reinforcements from the Eight Character Army, which were extremely familiar with the Taihang Mountains, starting with Fan Yihong and ending with Mengde's army that arrived the next day, all moved directly into the prepared camps as soon as they arrived.
The Jin army could break through the Taihang righteous army, but it was unlikely to break through the Eight Character Army, which was once the Taihang righteous army but is now the main force of the Imperial Camp, at the mountain pass.
In fact, the war that broke out on October 9th fully verified this point.
On this day, at least 10,000 Jin troops rushed out of the Chen Pass and directly attacked the Song army camp at the Xiling Pass. At the same time, Balisu also led the army of the Huishui River, but took the Jiang County passage that Wanyan Zhehe attacked that day and night, trying to open up Jiang County and try to connect with the Jin army reinforcements in Longde Prefecture.
This was a very serious military situation. Han Shizhong did not dare to be negligent. Although he still sat firmly at the pass, he sent Ma Kuo to station in Jiangxian County and asked Li Yanxian to immediately lead his troops out of the pass to attack the direction of the Huishui River, trying to bite the tail of Balisu from the north of the pass and force the other side to return for support.
The battle was safe and sound. The Jin army was separated by the Jiang Mountain that stretched for dozens of miles, and it was impossible to organize an assault force to reach the city directly. Not to mention the county seat of Jiang County, even the Song army's increasingly large and mutually supportive camps were difficult to break through. The Song army was not unprepared. Just in this broken place, dozens of veteran generals who had been used to fighting came to their senses and took precautions early - there had been constant fighting in the north of the pass in the past few days, and they also mobilized local civilians and the aiding rebels in the south of the pass to urgently dig several simple trenches, supplemented by simple fences, to form several military connection lines similar to corridors to connect Tieling Pass-Jiang County-Xiling Pass, and also to ensure logistics and hinder the Jin army cavalry.
In this situation, both sides had no choice but to cease fighting after a whole day of fierce fighting.
But what is interesting is that the reinforcements from Longde Prefecture did not retreat directly. Instead, they set up camps. Balisu's army did not withdraw directly to the north of the Huishui River. Instead, it sent Wanhu Tuhesu to set up camps on the south bank of the upper reaches of the Huishui River, near the Jiangxian Passage. The two sides responded to each other from a distance, as if they were trying to pincer the Song army from the north and south, maintain military pressure, and then hold out here waiting for reinforcements to arrive for a decisive battle.
But this behavior has caused some people to have doubts.
"I naturally knew that something was wrong."
On the morning of October 11th, Han Shizhong noticed that the weather was getting a little cold as soon as he got up. He hurriedly drank a bowl of mutton soup, ordered a hot pancake, and went straight to the pass. However, he saw the two large flags on the pass shaking slightly, and many Song army soldiers were a little timid. He frowned even more, and just as he sat down, Li Yanxian, who had been waiting there early, told him bluntly that the situation was not right.
But it was obvious that Prince Han also knew that it was inappropriate, but he obviously didn't care. He didn't even look at the other party. He just looked north and answered: "But some things are beyond human control... We can only be prepared."
Li Yanxian was stunned for a moment, then realized that the other party had misunderstood him, and then he looked at the swaying banner above his head without changing his expression: "Does Prince Han think that I am saying that the weather is getting colder and it is not conducive to the confrontation?"
"Li Jiedu, don't pretend." Han Shizhong said seriously. "Others don't know, but don't you? The military reports from behind are so clear... The Shanzhou River is turbulent, and there are pillars blocking the way. The logistics are difficult. Now the temperature suddenly drops, but it can't freeze quickly. Is it beneficial to confront it?"
Li Yanxian ignored the other party's sarcasm and continued to face him seriously: "Prince, there is something strange about this confrontation."
"Of course I know something is wrong." Han Shizhong still didn't look at him. "Longde Prefecture sent one Wanhu first, but it can send three Wanhu. Taiyuan Prefecture sent three Wanhu first, and it is estimated that it can send another two Wanhu. By then, there will be 90,000 Jin troops, more than half of which are cavalry... But we are too far ahead. There are still two big cities in the Hezhong area, Hedong City and Anyi City, which have not been taken. Not only can we not gather our troops, but the Taihang rebels are swarming in, and there are too many of them... If something goes wrong, something big will happen."
Although Han Shizhong did not understand what Li Yanxian meant, there was no doubt that Li Yanxian knew what Han Shizhong meant.
By the way, now in the area around Tieling Pass, or to the east of Tieling Pass, that is, Wenxi, Jiangxian, and Quwo, which together are equivalent to the key area at the junction of the Hezhong (Yuncheng) Basin, Linfen Basin, and Shangdang Basin, the density of the Song and Jin armies in the so-called area of ​​sixty or seventy miles in radius is already somewhat terrifying.
The Jin army currently has three Wanhu in the north and one Wanhu in the southeast.
As for the Song army, it currently has Li Yanxian's initial 35,000 troops, Han Shizhong's 12,000 troops, plus the 12,000 troops of the four commanders who came to support from Li Qiong's troops, totaling nearly 60,000 main forces. There is also an additional Taihang volunteer army whose number cannot be fully counted, but is estimated to be no less than 30,000 to 40,000.
As for the reduction in staff, to be honest, the reduction is a lot, but not too much.
The high casualties were only in these short four or five days. From the day the two sides met in a chaotic battle, there had been fighting almost every day. This was undoubtedly a bit hasty and numb for the main forces of both sides, one having not fought for three years and the other for five years... It seemed as if both sides were using the lives of their soldiers to recover and warm up.
But at the same time, we have to admit that times have really changed.
Even though they had not fought for several years, the two sides had been in a state of total war at least ten years ago, and their military technology had basically reached the peak of the Middle Ages, especially the armor of the main forces of both sides. The lamellar armor had reached a terrifying level. Unless morale collapsed, basically only the Jurchens' close-range heavy arrows, the heavy cavalry's spear thrusts, and the Song people's long-handled axes and divine arm bows could cause specific damage to each other... So, it is true that the fighting was fierce and frequent these days, but more than half of the casualties on both sides were still caused in the first two days.
All these seemingly staggering casualties are insignificant when compared with the huge numbers of troops on both sides.
However, this balance is only for now.
Just as Han Shizhong said, it is good that the Jin army currently has only four Wanhu. But if we count the days, in a few days, the Jin army will react on all fronts, all main forces will be well prepared, and then arrive as reinforcements. There will be five Wanhu in the north and four Wanhu in the southeast, with as many as 90,000 main forces gathered in the north and south of Jiangxian County.
At that time, any slight movement could cause a chain reaction and lead to a decisive battle.
But at the same time, some mistakes occurred among the Song army.
This is not referring to the fact that Han Shizhong complained that there were still two big cities that had not been conquered - this matter did seriously distract the main force of the Song army. For example, Han Shizhong needed to leave 20,000 people to lock Hedong City. For example, after Li Qiong crossed the river, he only sent half of his troops over, but he personally went to assist Li Yanxian's troops to attack Anyi City, which had few defenders.
However, these were things that had been anticipated long ago, and the Song army had already made preparations for attacking Hedong. This was part of the strategic prediction... When Han Shizhong said this, he essentially wanted to complain about Li Yanxian's recklessness.
The real problem, or the unplanned problem, actually lay with Ma Kuo... Ma Kuo and his troops came too fast, and there were too many of them.
This doesn't sound right. If Ma Kuo hadn't come to his rescue so quickly, who knows what would have happened that night. Even if Han Shizhong was right behind him at the time, he would still unconditionally praise Ma Kuo's army for coming to his rescue in a timely manner.
What's more, Ma Kuo's rebel army had undertaken a lot of work during these days, including building tunnels and trenches, setting up camps, acting as guides, and crossing mountains for reconnaissance. They did all of it.
But this did not delay the rapid arrival of Ma Kuo and his rebel army, but it did cause a serious problem... Don't forget that the Song army's Northern Expedition was a hasty and premature Northern Expedition, and it was originally scheduled to come after the spring plowing next year. This means that even if the Song court had stored military supplies for the winter, it would need to temporarily change the plan and make temporary adjustments to prepare winter supplies.
However, there were too many troops following Ma Kuo down the mountain, and they suddenly appeared on the front line. In addition, they usually had no basic equipment in order to facilitate movement in the mountains, which created even greater temporary logistical pressure.
What's more, long before the war, Liu Hongdao, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War and the head of the Capital Water Conservancy Bureau, pointed out that Shanzhou was the weakest point in the Yellow River waterway transportation, but Emperor Zhao ignored him.
Therefore, due to the combined effects of these factors, the Song army's logistics temporarily encountered certain problems, and even Li Qiong's previous river crossing was obviously affected.
Now, it's getting colder again.
Han Shizhong was concerned about the overall situation and was worried that if the current confrontation continued , the main force of the Jin army would gather first, and the Song army would fall into logistical and manpower difficulties in a short period of time, thus being forced to seize the opportunity and quickly engage in a decisive battle.
However, Li Yanxian really didn't want to say this, and he didn't agree with it.
"What Prince Han means is that if the Jin army gathers its forces first and we are unable to arrive in full force, we should quickly gather tens of thousands of cavalrymen and imitate King Xiang's desperate battle of breaking his pots and burning his bridges, force our way through the tunnel, divide and surround all the armies, and win the battle in one go?" Li Yanxian thought about it and said this for Han Shizhong.
"We really have to be on guard."
Han Shizhong thought about it and simply admitted it.
"I didn't think it would come to this." Li Yanxian looked at him seriously.
"Are you saying that I am worrying too much?" Han Liangchen, who had studied in Chang'an for several years and was naturally eloquent, still did not look at Li Yanxian. "Or do you want to say that Balisu is not as brave as King Xiang? You must know that King Xiang fought ten with one, while Balisu might be outnumbered."
"I'm not saying that Balisu can't defeat the outnumbered, but Prince Han is indeed worrying too much... and in my opinion, the prince is not only narrow-minded, but also blinded by a single leaf and unable to see the big picture." Seeing that the other party was still arrogant, Li Yanxian finally got a little angry.
It was still early and not many people came at this moment.
But under the slightly swaying banner, the two seemed to not need those generals to come over to create atmosphere... After a long pause, the Hedong Marshal finally turned his head and looked at the soldiers in the imperial camp beside him. They all looked at each other in unison:
"Is Mount Tai under your feet?"
"I'm not Taishan. I mean that Balisu will not fight here! Even though he should have someone in the Kingdom of Jin who can make the decision and contact him." Li Yanxian tried to ignore the other party's ridicule, and his words were quite decisive. "And the Prince of Han must have had a military loophole like I did that day, either because he was careless or underestimated the enemy, anyway, he overlooked it!"
Han Shizhong stared at the other party in a daze. After confirming his seriousness, he asked, "Why do you say that Balisu will not fight here?"
"The reason couldn't be simpler." Li Yanxian sighed. "Prince Han... At Tieling Pass, we certainly have some logistical problems because of the sudden arrival of General Manager Ma and the obstruction of the Shanzhou River, but doesn't the logistics of Balisu also need to be sent from Taiyuan? That's 500 miles... Even if it's a wide road, how can it be easier than ours?"
Han Shizhong was silent for a moment, but still shook his head: "How do we know their logistics? The war is hasty, no one knows anyone, maybe they have a large warehouse in Linfen all the time!"
Having said that, Han Shizhong was slightly shaken, because he knew that even if the Jin army in the north might have no logistics problems, what about the southeast?
Even if the Jin army had a large warehouse in Mengzhou on the other side of Chenguan Pass, even so, there was a narrow road of 180 miles along Chenguan Pass. Now that the Jin army in the direction of Longde Prefecture was blocked in Chenguan Pass, how could they arrange the logistics for 40,000 people?
Of course, there is a way. As long as the Jin army decides to attack, the Jin army in Longde Prefecture can temporarily come from Mengzhou.
But to do so would undoubtedly be to risk everything, otherwise it would be suicide.
However, just when Han Shizhong thought that the other party was going to talk about Chenguanxing and Longde Prefecture, Li Yanxian unexpectedly nodded and said, "The prince is right. We started the war in a hurry. How can we know the logistical situation of the Jurchens? We should be lenient with the enemy."
Han Shizhong was surprised for a moment.
But then, Li Yanxian's next words silenced Han Shizhong: "So, why do the Jin army think they can gain an advantage by holding out here? We only realized in the past two days that the Shanzhou River restricted our logistics. How did they know that we had logistics difficulties?"
The wind was howling, Han Shizhong remained silent for a long time, and Li Yanxian was also calm.
As the two sides were at a stalemate, Han Liangchen heard several generals coming up while chatting and laughing. He could no longer bear it and turned back to look at Wang Shixiong: "Block the stairs and let them wait downstairs."
Wang Shixiong did not dare to delay and left in a hurry.
When it was quiet again below the pass and only the sound of the wind could be heard from behind, Han Shizhong slowly spoke: "What Taishan said makes sense."
Li Yanxian was speechless... This guy is even more petty than me!
But now is not the time to worry about this.
On the other side, Han Shizhong immediately asked again: "If this is the case, then Balisu is indeed a little strange... Maybe it's just like you said, there is a loophole in us that he has seen through."
"There can only be one loophole." Li Yanxian blurted out. "For us, the advantage of the Jin Kingdom is always in cavalry... There is Luotuo Ridge on the left of Tieling Pass and Jiangshan on the right, which stretches over 200 miles and is a natural division... He bypassed Jiangshan before, which caught me off guard for a while. Now he must be involved in the front to cover the back, and wait for the reinforcements to arrive, and then join forces with a 10,000-cavalry army from the west to repeat the same trick!"
"Taishan thinks I'm you?" Han Shizhong was disdainful again after hearing this. "Before I came, I left 20,000 troops to Wang Sheng under Hedong City to lock the city, and another 8,000 troops to attack various places. After the various places were taken, Li Qiong took over Anyi City. They naturally went to block the gaps in our west early... As long as we take precautions against those passages and slightly attract a few people, so that the Jin people won't be able to break through them at once, they will be useless."
This time it was Li Yanxian's turn to feel uneasy: "That being said, the Jin people only have this one plan... Generally speaking, since Balisu didn't know that our logistics were in trouble, he didn't have the courage to send a hundred thousand troops to fight a decisive battle in this mountainous area... Since he didn't dare to fight a decisive battle hastily, he still stationed four Wanhu here to confront us. Why?"
"Who knows?" Han Shizhong sneered. "Maybe he is just like you. Because of the loss of troops and generals before, he is worried about being scolded by the Jurchen King behind him, so he is worried that we can break through the mountain and cut off the pass of Chenguan Pass... He dare not retreat easily."
Li Yanxian wanted to bite his nails again, but he held back this time: "Prince Han, I have already confessed my guilt to the emperor. The emperor will decide on my punishment in the next two days..."
"With a powerful enemy in front of us and tens of thousands of Li's troops standing before us, how could the emperor possibly punish you on the battlefield?" Han Shizhong sneered. "Will you really let Prime Minister Lu come and kill you?"
Li Yanxian suppressed his anger and said, "Prince, who is guarding the road between Luotuo Ridge and Jishan in the west?"
"Xu Shi'an, the most reliable commander of the left army of the imperial camp, is stationed in Wanquan County with his troops." Han Shizhong answered proudly.
"North of Sanyi Mountain (later Gushan Mountain) and east of Fanjiayu..."
"Chen Ju led his men to set up camp there, forming a perfect antagonistic alliance with Xu Shian."
"There is a small path to the west where we can march..."
"Most of Dong Min's subordinates are in Hedong City, but he himself led a thousand people to block the Hubi Fort at the intersection." Han Shizhong was still appropriate. "I have been to that place when I was young. It is in a dangerous location. There is an old fort with more than a thousand people!"
Li Yanxian looked a little uneasy, but he still didn't give up: "Where is the mouth of the Fen River where it flows into the Yellow River?"
"Are you talking about Longmen (the north bank of Fenshui River)?" Han Shizhong asked with a frown.
"I mean Ronghe (the south bank of the Fen River, just north of Hedong City)." Li Yanxian said sternly. "Did the prince arrange a special garrison and a general to command Ronghe?"
Han Shizhong shook his head, but still said confidently: "Of course there are some garrisons, but I did not specifically arrange any generals, or leave any large organized troops."
"Why?" Li Yanxian was dumbfounded. "Hedong City hasn't been taken yet. What if the Jin army gathers 10,000 cavalrymen and goes there along the Fen River, and cooperates with Wen Dunsizhong from inside and outside?"
Han Shizhong's strength was obviously weakening, but he still shook his head and said, "Li Jiedu, you're overthinking it. I'm not careless or ignorant. I made an agreement with Wu Da before I came here... Although he wants to wait for the Tangut auxiliary troops and has no intention of advancing on a full scale, he will send a troop to cross Longmen as promised and block the Fenshui River for me... You're overthinking it."
Li Yanxian nodded, and then asked seriously: "So, the prince asked Wu Jiedu to send an army to cross Longmen and block the north bank of Fenshui? Didn't he personally send his own troops to block the south bank of Fenshui?"
"Li Jiedu is overthinking." Han Shizhong finally became a little uneasy. "If they see the Jin army coming from the south bank, will Wu Da's troops still stay on the north bank?"
Li Yanxian pointed at him again and said, "May I ask Prince Han, are Wu Da and his subordinates all human?"
Han Shizhong's expression suddenly changed.
After a moment, he wanted to turn around and call Wang Shixiong, but when the words came to his lips, he stood up himself, then held the jade belt around his waist and hurried downstairs.
" Prince..." Li Yanxian just sat upright on the chair from beginning to end. "Da Hu stays, and Wang Shixiong also stays, let him sit with me."
Han Shizhong nodded and left the city without saying a word.
On that day, the Prince of Yan'an hastily assembled 3,000 Beiwei troops from his own army and 3,000 Chuipian troops. He also gathered the war horses from Li Yanxian's army. A total of 6,000 people were on horseback. After a little preparation, they headed west along the Camel Road from south of the pass.
Arrive at Wanquan in the evening.
We arrived at Hu Bibao at noon the next day.
All is fine.
Another day passed, which was October 12th. When Prince Han bypassed the mountains on the south side of the Fen River and passed by the north of Hedong City and arrived at the Ronghe area on the south bank of the Fen River, he found that there was nothing wrong here, and there were still 500 subordinates left by Chen Ju in Ronghe... This made Han Shizhong greatly relieved, and he was almost ready to go back and scold Li Yanxian.
However, to be on the safe side, he still sent out scouts to investigate northwards and along the river.
Then, that night, I learned a somewhat strange news - about yesterday, a Song army crossed the Fen River from the north bank and hurriedly set up a camp on the road on the south bank.
To be honest, Han Shizhong was a little confused.
First of all, if the troops were sent here purely out of a defensive mentality, why did this army come here to set up fortification now?
Secondly, if the Jurchens really came from here as Li Yanxian judged, they should have arrived in the past few days. This would explain why this Song army crossed the river to set up a fort at this time... But why didn't this army send someone to Ronghe to notify the defenders after crossing the river, so that Wang Sheng, Chen Ju and others could be prepared?
But no matter what, Han Shizhong could not just ignore the matter at this point as he had expected the enemy to be lenient. Although he was extremely confused, he still mobilized the Beiwei Army and Cuipian Army at night. Without even having time to eat breakfast, he hurried north to provide support and arrived at the Song army camp in the morning.
At this time, Marshal Han, who had seen the leader of the Song army with his own eyes, learned two more pieces of information.
First of all, the Jin army is really coming, and will be here soon.
Secondly, this Song army with only 2,000 people and its leader was Zhang Heng was not Wu Jie's subordinate... but the Taihang Volunteer Army. Specifically, it was separated by Ma Kuo and sent to Guji Mountain (Luliang Mountain) many years ago, specifically to connect with Wu Jie. Even when the left army of the Imperial Camp had not crossed the river, it had come into contact with this person due to changes in defense zones.
"Zhang Heng, right? I've seen your name on the documents." The weather was cold, and Han Shizhong sat in the extremely simple camp with his hands clasped together. After looking around, he asked Zhang, the commander in front of him, who couldn't even tell where he belonged, with a solemn face and a confused heart. "You came here yesterday, but you only set up the fence and didn't even have time to set up the tent?"
"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Heng is almost fifty years old this year. He was obviously a little flustered and timid in front of Han Shizhong. He might not even be able to react to the sudden arrival of the message from the other party.
"The Jin army is coming soon?"
"Your Majesty is wise."
"How many people?"
"The two Wanhu originally in Shizhou and Xianzhou gathered together, all of them were cavalry, but the two Wanhu did not dare to come, so they were about 10,000 or so."
"Who's leading?"
"Crying man, Sally, shout..."
"Not surprising." Han Shizhong nodded, and suddenly asked again, "How did you know the Jin army was coming?"
"My family has many acquaintances in Taiyuan."
"I remember now, there is such a saying, the government mentioned it... By the way, has Wu Da sent anyone to Longmen?"
"Let the king know that Wu Jiedu sent the commander Guo Zhen across Longmen, and I am the commander Guo who joined him there." Zhang Heng nodded, obviously shrinking back. "When I saw him the day before yesterday, I told him the news from Taiyuan, that Salihe was leading 10,000 cavalrymen to go south of Fenshui to rescue Hedong... After he heard it, he asked me to guard Longmen and crossed the river directly back."
“…”
“…”
It took the Prince of Yan'an a long time to digest the news. Just a moment ago, there was only one sentence buzzing in his ears - are that Wu Da and his subordinates all human beings?
After a while, Han Shizhong adjusted his mood, but did not ask the other party why he did not follow General Guo to escape back to northern Shaanxi, and why he brought two thousand volunteers across the river. Instead, he shook his head and smiled:
"You are a good man!"
Zhang Heng hesitated to speak.
"What do you want to say?" Han Shizhong asked immediately after seeing it. "Just say it if you want to say it."
"Your Majesty, now that I follow you this time, can I be considered a full-fledged commander of the imperial camp?" Zhang Heng bowed and asked seriously.
"Forget it." Han Liangchen glanced at the other person for a moment, not knowing what he was thinking, but finally nodded heavily. "I personally recommended you!"
Zhang Heng was overjoyed.
Just as the Shaanxi and Shanxi people were discussing the speculation, Cheng Min from Hebei came hurriedly from the front and reported in a distracting Hebei accent: "Prince! Salihe is almost here."
Without Cheng Min's report, Han Shizhong, who had already felt the ground shaking, nodded slightly, and then continued to ask Zhang Heng seriously, but for some reason, his accent became like official language: "Commander Zhang, you don't have a tent here, but you should have food, right?"
"Yes... there is mutton soup in the pot, and there are also ready-made pancakes." Zhang Heng introduced excitedly. "The pancakes were brought from Taiyuan half a month ago, and they are a bit hard... and we only have 2,000 people, so there are not enough pots."
"It's okay." Han Shizhong took a deep breath of the early winter air and looked at the fifty-year-old Shanxi man seriously. "I have three orders for you!"
"That's great!" Zhang Heng quickly stood up with his hands folded.
"My Beiwei Army and Cuipian Army came here early in the morning and haven't eaten yet. Let them drink soup and eat bread quickly, and get some for me as well. But remember, let the Cuipian Army eat first, and then the Beiwei Army..." Han Shizhong gave these instructions to Cheng Min in shock.
"That's great!" Zhang Heng still looked at him seriously with his arms folded.
"Then, you must take your people to prepare for defense immediately. If the Jurchens attack, you must hold them off for a quarter of an hour or two for me. Don't delay us from eating before we can go into battle."
“That’s right!” Zhang Heng’s voice seemed to tremble, but it was hard to tell whether it was out of fear or excitement.
"Finally, when Sali is ready to drink, I'll find someone brave enough to serve him a bowl of mutton soup and two hot pancakes, and bring them to Sali for me, and say that Han Shizhong, the Prince of Yan'an, invited him to drink the soup... That's all!"
Zhang Heng nodded hurriedly and left quickly.
Just like that, about two quarters of an hour later, in front of the Song army camp, Wanyan Salihe, a Wanhu of the Jin army, stared blankly at the steaming mutton soup and hard pancakes placed on a tray on the ground in front of him. It took him a while to react. He picked up the hammer from his waist and smashed it hard at the bowl of mutton soup.
With just one hit, the ceramic bowl shattered and the mutton soup splashed everywhere.
Then, the Wan Hu, holding the hammer that was still covered with oil and white steam, turned around to look at the many Meng'an and Mouke behind him and said angrily:
"The commander-in-chief has been receiving military intelligence, saying that Han Shizhong was sitting on Tieling Pass yesterday, and his banner could be seen from more than ten miles away. But today he came here and prepared soup for us? It's more than a hundred miles away, and we are all cavalry, fast people and fast horses, and we can just come straight along the river, but he had to take a detour... Could he have flown here?! Do you think I'm an idiot? Can't you see that this is the empty city plan in the Song Dynasty storytelling?!"
Having said this, Sali threw the hammer in his hand to the ground in front of him and waved his hand: "Send out the troops! Quickly capture this fortress! We will go to Hedong City for dinner tonight!"
The generals of the Jin army responded with a loud voice, and they showed off their might and might with their weapons and horses.
At this time, behind the dense fence, under the mist, under the eager gaze of the Beiwei Army, the Cui Pian Army and Prince Han had just begun to drink the soup... But to be honest, the pancake was indeed a bit hard, and the soup was too hot, so Han Shizhong simply broke the pancake into pieces and put them into the mutton soup, soaking the pancake while effectively cooling down the mutton soup.
Seeing this, the surrounding soldiers followed suit.