Volume 5 Chapter 62: Looking East and West
Gao Jingshan's response was very appropriate, and Gao Qingyi's initial persuasion was also correct. As independent generals and military assistants, the two had each experienced too much military experience, and they almost instinctively grasped the most critical issue - the Song army set up camp overnight and transferred the main part of the army to the river. This was certainly a military miracle and a feat that was enough to shake the Jin army's mind, but it must have been hasty and full of flaws, strong on the outside but exhausted on the inside.
So at this time, the Jin army did not need to think about too many things. They just had to suppress their fear and astonishment , focus on the gaps in the defense line, and attack with all their might.
If you fail to conquer it, you will have to live a hard life again.
But if the Song army could not resist and the Jin army was able to break through both inside and outside, then all the hard work of the Song army that night would be wasted, and the army would be caught in a dilemma.
By that time, Yue Fei was really being too clever and put himself in danger.
Correspondingly, Yue Fei certainly knew that the matter was not over yet - most of the soldiers and civilians were already very tired, but there was still a lot to do. The narrow terrain and solid fortifications were certainly the only way to make the Jin cavalry lose their combat advantage, but the prerequisite was that the construction and strengthening of the defense line must be completed.
We must insist on completing the defense line!
We must stop the Jurchens!
However, war is not like a dinner party where you set the table, count the guests, arrange the corresponding food and bowls, and then the guests arrive on time as scheduled. At that time, everyone will bow and greet each other before taking their seats. After dozens of days of confrontation, the military situation suddenly changed, and there would inevitably be fierce and lightning-fast military clashes. The scale of the war last night was at most just an appetizer, and the development of battles and events would never develop as the commander expected.
He first appeared unexpectedly in the city.
"What's going on?"
As soon as he left the city, Gao Jingshan saw a familiar-looking Bohai Puliyan (captain of fifty men, deputy chief of staff) riding his horse hurriedly coming along the wall from the west, and he was also furious for a moment.
"General!" Pu Liyan called out and quickly dismounted, but because the horse was moving too fast, he stumbled and almost rolled on the ground before he could stand up by holding onto the wall. "The northwest C corner tower suddenly blocked the passage through the wall with debris and threw down flags from the tower! It must be that Liu An saw the Song army besieging the city and was shaken and decided to rebel!"
Gao Jingshan was stunned for a moment, but soon came to his senses. He turned around and pointed at a Meng'an who had followed him from the city center: "Take people to take it back quickly! If you can't take it back quickly, set it on fire! The city wall is several feet thick with rammed earth and stone bricks, so it's not afraid of burning! Don't give the Song army outside the city a chance to climb the city wall to support! If the Song army doesn't notice, don't make any unnecessary moves, but if the Song army notices, they will definitely strip the clothes of those who are causing trouble and hang them from the tower regardless of whether they are dead or alive!"
Meng'an suddenly realized what was going on and immediately turned around and called out the names of several Mouke and Puliyan. Then he hurriedly followed Puliyan who brought the news to the west, which was the northwest corner of the city.
After the people left, Gao Jingshan thought for a moment, then pointed at Gao Qingyi anxiously and said, "Gao Tongshi, go to the military camp in the city and call out Wang Dang. He is the most reliable Han general. Let him lead the team to inspect the Han army. If there is anything wrong, kill them on the spot... Then you open the treasury, take out silk, wine and meat, and inspect it as well, and appease the Han army again !"
Gao Qingyi came to his senses and left in a hurry.
However, this first accident was a safe bet because the Han army in the corner tower acted hastily and were not unified internally. So that just a quarter of an hour later, accompanied by the rumbling of artillery carts in the east of the city, the Jin army cooperated inside and outside to recapture the Bingzi Horn Corner Tower in the row of diagonal corner towers in the southwest of the city, and then killed all the rebellious Han army officers.
From beginning to end, the Song army outside the city did not even notice this small wave that could directly change the fate of the entire world.
But no matter what, now that this incident was over, everyone in the city knew about the Jin army. Whether it was the crossbows on the river that were smashing the city or the threats from the sidearms, they had all arrived. There was no need to be surprised at what happened next.
"make life difficult for!"
Just as Gao Jingshan turned back to Cuiyun Tower near the north of the city, without even having time to go upstairs, and just as the interface downstairs temporarily added various city defense military orders, unlike the officer who quickly dealt with the rebellion before, another officer who was ordered before came to report with a completely depressed face. "Let the commander know that the Song cavalry is opposite the Yongji Canal, blocking the bridgehead. The messengers we want to send to the north can't get through at all. On the contrary, the south of the city is not well guarded, and the messengers who ordered to burn the ships don't have to cross the Yongji Canal, and most of them rushed out..."
Gao Jingshan, who had only slept for two hours last night, reined in his horse and stood at the foot of Cuiyun Tower. Hearing this, he could not help but let out a long sigh, but he was completely exhausted. Then he forced himself to be strong and headed towards the west city despite the rumbling sound from the east.
After arriving at West City and hurriedly climbing up the city wall, Gao Jingshan just took a look and let out another long sigh, then suddenly felt a headache.
Moreover, when he received the report before, the marching commander of Jin's Damingfu knew that a well-organized Song cavalry unit had been deployed in advance to the west side of the Yongji Canal, and he also knew that it must be Yue Fei's Beiwei Army. But to be honest, the Song cavalry had never been valued by the Jin army.
It is no wonder that the Jurchens looked down on them. On the day of the Battle of Yaoshan, Yue Fei's Beiwei Army actually participated in the battle, but their performance was not very good.
Of course, the Song army had hundreds of thousands of troops and tens of thousands of cavalry. The only exception was Han Shizhong's Bronze-faced Wei Army, which fled from Hebei, expelled Wuzhu from Huai River, and then fought in the Battle of Yanling, the Battle of Yaoshan, and the previous Battle of Hedong. Their performance was truly amazing.
However, when Gao Jingshan personally climbed up the city wall, he only took a quick glance and as a man who had led troops for many years, he realized that he should not bring old problems to new ones - it had been five or six years since Yaoshan, and the times had changed. The Jin army had not fought for five years, and the Song army had not fought for three years. At this moment, while the Jin cavalry was becoming more and more vulgar, the cavalry that the Song army fully supported, especially this type of organization with a long history and combat experience, had probably been gradually honed.
In other words, this well-equipped Beiwei Army was indeed a powerful force that could be regarded as the elite of the Jurchens.
However, facing such highly disciplined elite heavy armored cavalry, it is indeed difficult for a single soldier to make a breakthrough.
In addition, the assessment of the combat effectiveness of this cavalry also made Gao Jingshan think a little further... He is not just a general, but a commander with political acumen and a sense of the overall situation, and even the kind who can handle both military and political affairs.
"General, do you want me to take six of our own men and charge down to provide cover?" Just as Gao Jingshan felt a strange ripple in his heart, Pu Suyue, who was beaten with several military sticks last night and the eldest son of the deceased Da (Shang Bai and Xia Da), and Bohai Meng'an, who had been defending Xicheng from last night until now, could not help but limped over and made a suggestion.
Gao Jingshan turned his head and looked at the other person with complicated eyes, looking a little hesitant.
"General!" Pu Suyue saw that he had obviously misunderstood. "Twenty military sticks won't make me unable to ride a horse or use a spear..."
"It's not the right time yet." Gao Jingshan shook his head repeatedly, his tone a little scattered. "And it's too late... At this point, we can only hope that Ali and Shaohe will seize the opportunity. I estimate that they will be here soon... You go to gather troops, not just your own six Mouke, I will gather fourteen Mouke for you... This is the limit. When we meet in front later, if reinforcements come from the east of the canal, you don't have to cross the Yongji Canal and immediately harass the main force in front of Yue Fei's banner; and if reinforcements come from the west of the canal, you don't have to be afraid of casualties, you must try to break through the canal and distract the reinforcements!"
Pu Suyue was overjoyed. He bowed and limped down to prepare the cavalry. After Gao Jingshan gave a few instructions to the officers who took over the West City to be careful with the city defense, he looked at the elite heavy cavalry outside the city... After a while, he set off for the northwest corner tower, which was best for observing the situation.
The northwest side of Yuancheng was built into a wavy slope due to the turning of the Yongji Canal. There is a city tower on each protrusion. The previous Han army rebellion took place in the Bingzi Building here, and Gao Jingshan climbed up the blood-stained Bingzi Building and looked out from the flat top floor.
As he said before, it was too late.
Only a moment after the Jin army commander climbed onto the No. 1 building, smoke and dust rose on the horizon further north of the Song army's defense line... It was obvious that the Jin army's field forces deployed in Guantao, an army of two thousand households, had completely followed the previous agreement. They would cook at four o'clock in the morning and head directly south to sweep this sandwiched area at dawn.
They didn't miss a single moment.
The Jin army's vanguard cavalry arrived particularly quickly.
There was no other way. Guantao was just to the east of the Yongji Canal. The Jin army's main camp was only twenty or thirty miles away from Yuancheng. The vanguard camp near this side was only ten miles away from the Song army's "camp". We hurried here as soon as it got light today, and ended up arriving as soon as we said we would.
And these Jin army vanguards, like the Jin army on the city, were obviously confused by the huge formation of the Song army.
However, behind them were two fully-established Wanhu troops, and they did not feel the psychological shock of taking over the city overnight. After a little hesitation, they immediately launched an attack on the Song army's position.
The answer is self-evident. The small group of Jin cavalry was helpless in the face of the tight defenses of the deer horns and could only retreat in embarrassment after being hit by the bows and crossbows of the Song army.
For a moment, the Song army slowed down a little, and cheers echoed throughout the northern area.
However, before the cheers completely stopped, Yue Fei, who was sitting silently under the banner, heard a strange sound and instinctively looked towards the river. Not only him, but many officers around him also instinctively looked over there. Because this sound was very similar to the sound of stone bullets hitting the heavy walls of Yuancheng after the naval crossbows fired a volley, just like thunder in a clear sky.
However, there was no sign of the accelerated firing of artillery stones in the river. They were still aiming and positioning themselves in unison, waiting for the signal from the banner of "Doing Justice for the Heaven" behind them.
Yue Fei reacted immediately, then stood up, climbed onto his horse, turned north and stood still. Many officers around him also realized what was happening and turned around in awe.
Sure enough, the thunder grew louder and closer, bringing with it a cloud of smoke that covered the sky to the north. The smoke was as thick as dark clouds, but it soon stopped in front of the northern defense line, and the thunder on the battlefield soon only remained in the river and the east city of Yuancheng.
It was obvious that the main force of the Jin army had arrived.
The Song army scouts also immediately reported that they had seen the flag of Jin army veteran general Ali.
However, the Song army's scouts only took two miles to move back and forth in their own formation. There was no hesitation, no consultation, and even no time to pause. The Jin army in the north chose to dismount and fight on foot without hesitation, using the posture of heavily armored infantry to move the deer horns and fight for the northern fence!
This time, there was no need for scouts to report. The shouts and the sounds of bows and crossbows could be heard from afar. The waving of flags and the giving of orders, as well as the movement of troops, could also be seen from afar.
On the hastily erected defense line in the north, the battle was particularly fierce. The Song army, which had been prepared, fired crossbows continuously from the shooting platform behind the fence, but the heavily armored Jin army was not afraid at all. They directly lifted the deer horns layer by layer despite the crossbows and casualties.
That was not all. As part of the deer antlers were removed, the Jin army immediately changed their tactics. On the one hand, they continued to expand the front line, and on the other hand, they began to dismantle and chop the deer antlers on the spot, wrap them with their own flags and even military uniforms, and then light them up, forming a kind of temporary weird torches and throwing them back and forth under the fence.
This trick worked wonders. Soon, part of the fence was ignited, forcing the commander of the Song army on the front line to panic and rush to get water to put out the fire.
On the corner tower of Yuancheng, Gao Jingshan, who saw this scene and the direction of the smoke and dust behind from afar, was excited... He had to admit the determination and appropriateness of the two veteran generals Ali and Shaohe.
Yue Fei also felt a little serious when he saw the fireworks in the north from afar.
"Du Tong!"
A Jin soldier hurriedly climbed up the corner tower and conveyed the message, "General Pu Suyue is ready. Please go out from the west gate, go around to the north, and attack the Song army from behind to help Generals Ali and Shaohe!"
Gao Jingshan turned around and hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand with all his strength: "No hurry!"
"marshal!"
A Song army councilor wearing leather armor also stepped forward carefully. "The Jin army's offensive is quite urgent. Should we send reinforcements? Sending from here is appropriate enough. Sending from the east of Yongji Canal is also fast enough."
Yue Fei did not hesitate, and without even looking at the other party, he raised his hand and said: "Don't move!"
The senator reluctantly withdrew.
Although the commanders of both sides were not shaken by Ali's offensive for the time being, the direction of the war was beyond everyone's expectations. In other words, the strength of Ali, a Jurchen veteran who rose from a lowly soldier to a commander of a thousand households, and his troops was beyond everyone's expectations.
Almost as soon as he arrived at the front line, he gave the order to dismount and fight for the defense line, and then he used his own flags and military uniforms to burn the fences, which worked wonders. But that's not all... Obviously, with the arrival of his Han army in the rear, the Jin army's bows and crossbows were quickly formed, and real arrows began to fly on the battlefield.
Moreover, the land east of the Yongji Canal was only a few miles wide. Due to the obstruction of deer horns, the two sides were fighting along several narrow fronts that were temporarily opened.
At this time, under this combat mode, the Jin army was certainly unable to deploy a large number of troops, but the numerical advantage of the Song army was not very obvious. Instead, due to fatigue, they fell at a disadvantage to the fresh forces of the Jurchens.
A quarter of an hour later, the Jin army successfully crossed the trench, pushed over a fence whose pillars and ropes had been burned, and crossed the defense line.
"Come with me!"
In front of the defense line, Hu Qing, the commander of the right army of the imperial camp who was in charge of this section of the defense, was in a panic for a moment. He shouted loudly in the Jingdong accent, calling for his own personal guards. Then he hastily put on his helmet and went forward to try to block the gap himself.
However, when he led his troops to meet them, it was only a face-to-face encounter. A Jurchen heavy-armored soldier who rushed out first saw an opportunity and shot an arrow directly at Hu Qing, hitting him in the face where he was not wearing any armor. Hu Qing, a commanding officer, died on the spot in front of the fence.
After Hu Qing's death, the guards behind him panicked and hastily snatched the body of their leader, then retreated in a daze, allowing the Jin army to take advantage of the situation and rush into the gap. They chased and killed them indiscriminately while chopping the fence with weapons in an attempt to expand the gap.
On the tower, Gao Jingshan's breathing became heavy as he saw this scene from afar.
"Let Zhao Buyu lead a thousand men over there to plug the leak!"
A moment later, the news of Hu Qing's death reached the banner. At this time, the Jin army had obviously expanded the advantage of the breakthrough point, and even had two other small breakthroughs. Yue Fei had to face this problem. "But if Tian Dutong has his own arrangements, he should not seize the front line without authorization, but only maintain the rear..."
Zhao Buyou was a student of the Imperial Academy who came from a royal family and was well-known for his martial arts. As early as the Jing Kang period, he met Yue Fei by chance in Xiangzhou and had always been obedient to him. He had been Yue Fei's subordinate since Yue Fei was a general under the Tokyo Liaison Office, and now he was the commander-in-chief.
After Zhao Buyu left, the surrounding councilors and officers gathered around him, and they all felt that the situation was somewhat dangerous and that Yue Fei's handling of the matter had underestimated the enemy.
"It's not that I underestimate the enemy." The life and death of more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians was at stake. At this point, even Yue Fei had to explain to his staff and close officers. "On the contrary, the troops of Shaohe have not appeared, and the reinforcements in the city have not come out! Moreover, the Yongji Canal divides the land into two. Although the battle on the east side seems critical, it is just that the Jin army relies on its fresh troops and has a strong momentum. Once they are restrained, they will inevitably be frustrated. On the contrary, the gap of only a few hundred steps to the west of the Yongji Canal is the real fatal place in this battle. We need to leave enough backup for emergency."
The generals tried their best to suppress their anxiety and continued to wait and see.
However, having said that, just as Zhao Buyu was leading his troops to support the front, the situation on the front line became increasingly worse - the Jin army, taking advantage of the momentum of broke through the gap and without hesitation took advantage of the chaos to rush in front of a team that was obviously civilians carrying water and putting out fires, and they killed them at will, causing even greater chaos.
Seeing this situation from afar, Yue Fei continued to sit upright on his horse without moving, while Gao Jingshan on the corner tower completely hesitated when Pu Suyue asked for a fight for the fourth time.
As the main general of Daming Prefecture, Gao Jingshan had a complete understanding of the war situation and was well aware of Yue Fei's intention of keeping his troops inactive. He was even in a high position, looking far into the north, and could see some things more clearly than Yue Fei.
After all, he was also waiting for the Jin army to bypass the west of Yongji Canal and rush into the gap which was only a few hundred steps away.
But now the big problem is that the Song army built a city overnight and built countless bridges on the Yongji Canal. Although the Song army could not say that it was easy to travel between the east and west sides, it definitely had a mobility advantage. As for the Jin army, whether it was the previous obstruction of the sentries in the city, the lack of the Shaohe at this time, or his hesitation about the direction of Pu Suyue's attack, it actually clearly showed a huge tactical loophole for the Jin army... Under the magical operation of the Song army, the Yongji Canal, which they originally relied on, became the biggest tactical obstacle for the Jin army.
In such a hurry, it was very troublesome for the unprepared large army to cross the Yongji Canal, which was an overhanging river, in a hurry.
This is the case inside the city, and it must be the same for the reinforcements as well.
But now, Ali's decisive charge without hesitation had a miraculous effect, so Gao Jingshan himself didn't know whether he should deploy the mobile forces in his hands to the north or west of the city.
"Let Pu Suyue leave the city and attack Yue Fei's banner in the north of the city... Remember, let him attack, not let him fight recklessly." Finally, after his eyes swept over the Song cavalry waiting silently in the west of the city again, Gao Jingshan suppressed his anxiety and turned back to issue military orders. "Try to hold the enemy back so that they can't do their best to support the northern defense line."
After he said this, the commander-in-chief of the Jin army regretted his decision, but ultimately did not change the military order.
Because he knew that if he continued to let Pu Suyue wait, he would probably suffer and regret it, and changing military orders on the battlefield would be worse than making a possible wrong decision.
Just like that, when the chaos on the northern defense line reached its peak, the Jin cavalry in Yuan City finally appeared amid a rumble, pouring out of the west gate and then gathering northward along the city.
There were two cavalry units of Song and Jin, one on the east side of the canal and the other on the west side. The Yongji Canal in the middle was a slightly raised artificial canal that could not hide the tall cavalry. It was only a few dozen steps wide. Both sides could see each other's armor from a distance, but neither side cared about the other and did not make any unnecessary moves.
The Jin cavalry hurriedly moved north along the city wall, and the Song cavalry did not risk being attacked from a distance from the city walls by harassing them across the river. They just watched the other side pass by.
This scene further confirmed Gao Jingshan's guess on the corner tower that the discipline of the Song cavalry was far beyond his imagination. If the cavalry in the city crossed the canal to the west side of the canal to provide support, the effect would be even worse.
"Marshal, the Jin army has left the city!"
A general beside him was overjoyed. "Here they are! Should we follow the example of Prince Han, lure them to our front, and then let the Beiwei Army risk blocking their retreat, so as to annihilate them completely under the city?"
"No need." Yue Fei did not even look back to see the situation behind him, but his expression remained unchanged as he quickly gave orders on horseback. "Hebei and Hedong are completely different, so we cannot fight recklessly. Send orders to the three commanders Yao Zheng, Pang Rong, and Li Shan to meet the enemy cavalry as soon as they pass the northwest corner tower of Yuancheng and block them in front of the city!"
After the military order was issued, the three divisions waited for the Jin army to move out of the northwest corner tower, and they started to move according to the order. At this moment, another series of continuous thunderous rumbles resounded through the battlefield again, and billowing smoke and dust once again filled the sky.
This time, the movement came from the northwest of the land, and it did not gradually subside like it did from the north before. Instead, it did not stop for a moment and rushed straight to the northwest gap of the land.
That's right, without Gao Jingshan's military order, the Jin army's Wanhu Shaohe, under the cover of Ali, crossed the Yongji Canal from the rear and seized the biggest flaw of the Song army.
"Let Zhang Zigai stand up."
Tian Shizhong, who was exhausted , was relieved. He loosened the dust in his hand, and the dust fell and sprinkled on his dusty armor. "Go to meet him! Tell him that success or failure depends on this! Determine the sequence of deputy generals in advance, don't learn from that idiot Hu Qing, who not only lost his life, but also ruined the battle line! All the others don't have to wait any longer, follow your own defense lines, and go north to meet the enemy!"
As soon as Tian Shizhong gave the order, nearly 10,000 elite soldiers of the Right Army of the Imperial Camp immediately stood up from between the civilians and the flags and rushed northward. The movement was so loud that it seemed like a rising tide.
On the top of the city wall, Gao Jingshan looked at this spectacular scene and suddenly felt something was wrong… The strength of the Song army's combat troops was beyond his imagination… Zhang Rong led the navy in the east, Tang Huai in the south, Zhang Xian in the west, and there were also necessary troops left behind on the other side of the river. Where did these more than ten thousand people come from?
And if the Song army's strength was like this at the beginning, then what would Ali's infantry assault mean? What would it mean to calculate the chances of victory on both sides of the east and west?
There is no chance of winning on the east side of Yongji Canal!
War is not like a dinner party, so people prepare three tables of food in advance, waiting for the two tables of guests.
"Raise the flag!" Yue Fei finally turned his head to glance at Yuancheng, but he gave the order again on horseback. "Tear down the floating bridge on the river, have General Zhang call back the steamer, and fire at Ali along the river! The Central Army, stand by! The Beiwei Army, stand by!"
There are four tables of dishes.
