In the morning, the drizzle became a little more rapid. Amidst the lush green, the deafening shouts of killing with a clear direction reminded everyone that the battle had already begun on the west side of the Stone Bridge-Highland, in the upper reaches of the Taiping River.
The Song army had 20,000 troops in the left army of the Imperial Camp, plus 15,000 Dangxiang light cavalry led by Li Shifu, 10,000 Khitan-Xi light cavalry led by Yelu Yudu, and 15,000 Western Mongolian light cavalry, with a total force of 60,000.
As soon as the Jin army noticed that the Song army was extending its forces upstream, they deployed four Wanhu troops in response.
In the Song army, Han Shizhong's Imperial Camp Left Army Cavalry is undoubtedly the elite and the main force. Although Li Shifu's troops in the Imperial Camp Cavalry are all light cavalry, they are after all Imperial Camp soldiers, well-equipped and well-trained, and can be regarded as a very reliable auxiliary force. However, the Mongolian light cavalry and the Khitan and Xi light cavalry are somewhat inferior in terms of equipment and military discipline... Of course, no one expects them to really kill and break through. Their mission is more to contain and harass the Jin army, and to disrupt the entire battlefield with the mobility of the light cavalry, so that the second main battle group of the Song army can cross the river and fight.
By the same token, the combat strength of the Jin army is also uneven. Their cavalry can never be of the same strength as their infantry, and one Wanhu can never be equated with another.
The zigzag battle line roughly ran from north to south, extending a straight distance of eight or nine miles from the river bank to the back of the high ground. The actual battle line was likely to have exceeded twelve or thirteen miles. However, considering the theoretical scale of the battle of 100,000 people on both sides, the length of this battle line was still a bit short, and it was too short.
Overall, the military forces of both sides are still too thick.
However, this is also the reason why Han Shizhong's banner appeared on the front line. The Song Dynasty needed this sharpest knife to cut through everything.
"What are you going to do?" Amid the deafening shouts and cries of killing, Pushan Beilu, one of the 40,000 households on the western front and the Wanhu of Linhe, suddenly grabbed his son and questioned him face to face.
"I'm going to go under that big banner and kill Han Shizhong!" The tall and burly Pushan Wuzhe pulled down his mask and faced him, his face flushed red. "I'll do this today!"
"Does Han Shizhong just want to behead him?" Pushan Beilu was speechless. "Don't gamble your life easily!"
"Father!" Wuzhe responded angrily. "Taizu ordered our Pushan tribe to guard the border of Goryeo, so that you could not conquer Liao and Song and make merit. Later, the Third Prince (the Third Prince Erliduo was Pushan's son) asked you to go to Longde Prefecture to be the commander-in-chief, but you took the initiative to give it to Bendu and only became an ordinary official. As a result, those people not only did not appreciate it, but also said behind your back that you were incompetent..."
"Wuzhe." Pushan Beilu was full of helplessness. "The Grand Master had good intentions when he asked Pushan to guard the Yalu River. What's the point of being a general? I have been stationed in the rear for many years and I really have no military experience... As for what others say behind my back, what's the point of worrying about words? The most important thing is to protect the whole tribe."
"Even if it's to save the whole tribe, shouldn't we fight to the death today?" The young Pushan Wuzhe was still angry. "The fourth prince's last words also make sense, right? If the skin is gone, the hair will fall. If the Great Jin Kingdom is defeated today, the country will never recover. Will the Pushan tribe be safe by then? We should fight to the death for our country."
"No one is stopping you from serving your country, but today's battle does not require you to do so. You must know that we are on defense this time, and the Song army has no foothold on this side of the river. So as long as we hold the battle line and don't collapse, and wait until nightfall, the marshal will lead tens of thousands of elite cavalry to sweep the area, and by then we will have won." Pushan Beilu said earnestly.
Just as Pushan Wuzhe was about to answer, suddenly, a shout came from the upstream direction to the west, interrupting the conversation between father and son.
The two of them turned their heads together and saw Han Shizhong's unparalleled banner moving towards their side. In front of the banner, the hundreds of Jin cavalry on one wing could no longer be said to be retreating, but more like a rout, because some of the fleeing cavalry were in a panic and actually ran directly into the infantry line, which made people nervous for a moment.
"Wuzhe, I allow you to go to the front line to command." Pushan Beilu turned back and suppressed his anxiety to make a final effort. "You take your Meng'an with you, and I will give you ten extra Moukes to take with you, but you just need to watch the front line, don't expose yourself, and don't attack without authorization like before... You just attacked the riverside, delaying the march with Tuhesu, and Bendu is already very dissatisfied... Can you make me a promise?"
"I got it!" Wuzhe was filled with hatred, but he quickly put on his mask, turned around and rode away.
When Pushan Beilu saw this, he felt a little powerless.
You know, compared to himself who has been guarding near the Yalu River all year round, his son has led a tribe of Mouke to the front line to join the army seven years ago when he was only sixteen years old. He has been participating in battles under the care of his nephew Erlido. He also followed Erlubu and Ali to cross the river and participate in the battle of Luoyang in the Battle of Yaoshan, forcing the Song Dynasty Prime Minister Wang Boyan to death, and his military exploits were recorded in the general's mansion very early.
This difference in experience and age meant that the father and son had completely different views on war, and also meant that their actual influence in the military was slightly misaligned.
Otherwise, why would Pushan Beilu be so worried? And how could Pushan Wuzhe command the troops on the front line?
Without further ado, Pushan Wuzhe left his infantry behind and led ten Mouke and the six Mouke under his own Meng'an forward. On the one hand, he divided the ten Mouke into two groups and advanced alternately to resist the offensive of the Song army again, and on the other hand, he ordered the six Mouke under his own command to rectify military discipline on the spot and gather the defeated soldiers. He unexpectedly took control of the situation easily.
There is nothing we can do about it.
After the war upstream was fully launched, Han Shizhong personally urged the Beiwei Army to advance to this place as a vulnerable part. It can be said that this was the place where the Song army's offensive was the most fierce, and it can also be said that it was a battlefield where the Song army had the upper hand.
But having the advantage does not mean that the Song army can crush the enemy with ease and advance like a tide.
There were casualties, but for the heavy cavalry and heavy infantry of both sides, as long as the formation did not collapse and the morale did not collapse, large-scale casualties were almost a joke, especially since the drizzling spring rain had not yet seriously affected the movement of war horses and livestock, it had already made one of the main armor-piercing and killing means of the two armies... that is, heavy arrows and crossbows, ineffective.
Just as Liu Yan said, when the Ke Di bow is taken out and three arrows are fired, the range and accuracy are completely different from those of other weapons. And the eldest brother does not laugh at the second brother, the same is true for the close-range hard bows and heavy arrows that the Jin army has always relied on.
There was also an advance. Han Shizhong used the Beiwei Army as the vanguard and let Jie Yuan use another elite unit of his own as a flank to hold off the sudden attack. Then he brought in Li Shifu as the rear support. It can be said that he had the elite troops, the manpower, and the morale. There was no reason why he could not overwhelm the enemy.
However, the formations of both armies were too thick, so the battles were often like what was happening now. The Beiwei Army used cavalry against cavalry to defeat the Jin Army's repeated advances using the tactics of the Crooked Horse. Taking advantage of the situation, they advanced more than a hundred steps, and a new group of Jin Army cavalry advanced from the gap again using the tactics of the Crooked Horse. The original defeated soldiers were able to get a short respite in the rear, and then display the unique resilience of the Jurchen cavalry, and rejoined the reserve battle line after just a slight reorganization.
This kind of scene is typical of anxiety.
At this point, the Jin army wants to maintain the stalemate, and the Song army wants to break the stalemate.
This is a test for both sides.
The rain was obviously coming in waves, making both sides anxious and irritated. Then the rain eased up again, and in the chaos, in the thick battle line that had just been forced back more than a hundred steps by Han Shizhong's big banner, Pushan Wuzhe suddenly noticed that dozens of elite Jurchen Iron Buddhas were coming from the distant high ground.
Pushan Wuzhe knew that this was Wanyan Bendu's personal guard just by looking at the iconic vest, and then he gritted his teeth and went to meet them - he just thought that his repeated retreats had caused Bendu's dissatisfaction, so he was going to be scolded again.
"What does the Commander-in-Chief (Wanyan Bendu) have to say?"
He felt irritated, and his speech also became agitated.
"Not the commander-in-chief." It was unexpected but reasonable. The person who answered was a familiar voice. The other party took off his mask and it turned out to be Pusan ​​Wuzhe's good friend Pucha Asa. This person was indeed one of Wanyan Bendu's trusted guards, but now he was just a Puliyan. "It's the King of Wei."
"What did the King of Wei say?" Wuzhe, who had originally relaxed a little due to the arrival of his good friend, felt a chill in his heart again.
"The King of Wei knew that Han Shizhong came from your place, and was worried that you could not resist, so he sent people to find the commander-in-chief (Wanyan Bendu) to inquire about the battle situation. But didn't it rain heavily for a while before? It was a little unclear, so the commander-in-chief asked me to come down and take a look." Pucha Asa said in a relaxed tone.
What do you mean by knowing that it comes from us father and son, and you are so worried that you can't resist it?
Wuzhe was immediately furious, but he couldn't get angry at a brave man like Asa.
On the other side, Asa asked a few questions and observed for a while. He found that the Jin army was losing ground and could only rely on the resilience of the crooked horses to cover the retreat of the battle line. But he finally frowned:
"If this is the case, I'm afraid you won't be able to hold out until noon, and Han Shizhong will be able to push you all the way to the high ground?"
"That's right." Wuzhe responded helplessly.
"Shall I tell the King of Wei like this?" Pucha Asa asked tentatively.
"What else can we do?" Wuzhe blurted out.
Asa didn't care and could only push up his armor and turn back.
But at this moment, there was another loud noise in front. Asa looked back in surprise and saw that the Jin army's front line was in disarray due to the renewed attack of the Song army's cavalry under the urging of the unparalleled banner. He was shocked for a moment, but the Wuzhe had already adapted to it and quickly issued military orders to continue to maintain the front line.
When the military order was issued, Wuzhe withdrew his gaze from the large banner several hundred steps ahead. He was originally planning to send someone to ask his father to mobilize another batch of reinforcements from the rear to replace the part of the front army whose morale was gradually declining. But when he turned his head to look at Asa who was standing there and watching curiously, his heart could not help but move a little.
"Asa." Wuzhe took the initiative to speak.
"What is it?"
"To be honest, I originally wanted to go and get Han Shizhong's head myself, but I have an important responsibility, and I have also fulfilled my father's words to take charge of the front line, so I cannot attack without authorization..."
"You want me to go?" Although Asa was a brave man, he was not a fool.
"Don't you call yourself the bravest warrior of the Longde Prefecture's marching division? Can't you kill a bull with one punch? Didn't you lift a baggage cart stuck in the mud in front of the Fourth Prince on the march? Now is a good opportunity. Although Han Shizhong is a great general, he is so old and has fought for a whole morning. How can he be your opponent? I will give you five Moukes as backup. If you succeed, it will be a great achievement..."
"Don't you want this achievement?" Asa suddenly interrupted.
"I am the young master of the Pushan tribe and the nephew of the great ancestor. Do I lack a path to promotion? When the time comes, I will naturally have wealth and honor... I am doing this for the country and the war situation... If Han Shizhong can be killed here, the Song army's offensive will be abandoned halfway!" Wuzhe tried to respond. "On the contrary, Asa, don't tell me that you didn't have the intention of climbing up when you deliberately lifted the carriage in front of the King of Wei that day... How could I compete with you for credit?"
Asa was silent for a moment, then looked back towards the high ground.
Wuzhe understood and immediately said, "Even if the plan fails and the commander-in-chief blames you afterwards, we father and son will protect you in front of the King of Wei! If it really doesn't work, come to me, I still have you, the military commander... Are you going or not?"
Asa took a deep breath, looked at the big banner just a few hundred steps away, and suddenly laughed: "I am just a small Puliyan, if I fail, it's fine. If I succeed, it will be an unparalleled achievement... Why don't I go?!"
The crow was overjoyed for a moment.
"Wait a minute, let's wait here for a while, wait for Han Shizhong to exert his strength again, and when we get closer, I will attack again!" Asa was rough but meticulous, and quickly formulated a military strategy. "Han Shizhong is a great general after all, and even though he is old, we still have to be careful... If we want to behead him, we must take him by surprise and attack him when he is unprepared."
Wuzhe had even less to say.
The opportunity came at once. In less than half a quarter of an hour, the battle line once again played out the same scenario that had been played out five or six times before:
The two battle lines were barely in a stalemate when Han Shizhong's large banner suddenly stepped forward and urged his elite Beiwei troops to advance from the left and right wings. The Jin army's cavalry on the left and right were unable to withstand the force and instantly lost control of their formation in a small area. They retreated in a panic, causing the central army's infantry line to retreat hastily.
At this time, Wuzhe, as the front-line commander, should have done as usual, replacing his troops on both sides, supervising the battle in the middle, and then leading the defeated troops to the rear for preparation for the next round of replacement.
However, this time, after discovering that the big banner was located in front and to the right near the river, Wuzhe made a slight change... The left wing remained the same, but the right wing was replaced by five Moukes from his own unit who had never participated in the battle. Among these five Moukes were the fifty Iron Buddha riders of Wanyan Bendu's personal guards, led by Pucha Asa.
The cavalry on both wings took turns. The left wing immediately tried to join forces with other cavalry to stabilize the line and protect the infantry, but the more than 500 cavalry on the right wing took advantage of the situation to accelerate after passing the fleeing soldiers and headed straight for the unparalleled banner in the world.
The Song army had just won a small victory and was trying to advance further when they were suddenly counterattacked by a new force. They were indeed a little panicked, and were penetrated by this cavalry and approached to within a hundred steps of the flag.
However, that was all. As the surrounding Song troops noticed and turned back, they squeezed from all sides. The offensive of the 500-cavalry Jin army was quickly brought under control. The Song army only thought it was a tactical counterattack by the Jin army to stabilize the front line and control the situation, and then relaxed again... But at this moment, the cavalry formation suddenly broke apart. The fifty armored Iron Pagoda riders had already accelerated and jumped out of the formation. Then, with an unstoppable momentum, they rushed straight to the big banner that was only a hundred steps away.
The Song army's cavalry was caught off guard and was actually dispersed by this elite Iron Pagoda, which then allowed the latter to actually rush under the big banner.
At this time, the rain stopped for a while and the field of vision was restored a lot. When the Song army on the front line saw this scene, they were immediately shocked and panicked.
Without further ado, let's just say that Pucha Asa rushed to the big banner, extremely excited, but quickly suppressed his emotions and went to look for Han Shizhong... However, around the big banner were all Song cavalry in bronze-faced armor, and there was no cloak, cape, or jade belt attire, so how could he easily identify them?
However, he soon noticed the unusual rider... First of all, this man had a strong build, similar to the legendary Han Shizhong; secondly, this man was skilled in martial arts and had extraordinary strength, and he knocked an Iron Pagoda off his horse with a large iron spear in one encounter; finally, this man was originally at the closest point to the big flag, and when he saw the Jin army's sudden attack, he did not move at all, but instead seemed to be giving orders in a small area.
Asa no longer hesitated, he jumped forward on his horse and swung the heavy sword in his hand to fight.
Seeing this, three Song army knights on the side abandoned their opponents and thrust their spears at him, but he raised his hand and pulled the three spears directly under his ribs. The three Song army knights were actually subdued by his strength alone, and they were also shocked. However, Asa just turned around and chopped off the three spears with his sword. He ignored them and went straight to the knight he had already identified.
The Jin general showed such a powerful force that the majestic Song cavalryman under the banner was not surprised. Instead, he calmly raised his iron spear to meet him. Both sides raised their hands and faced each other with weapons. Pucha Asa was completely sure that the opponent must be Han Shizhong, otherwise how could he have such a powerful force and martial arts? So he became more and more excited and vowed to kill the opponent in battle to achieve an unprecedented feat.
At a distance of 70 to 80 steps from the banner, Han Shizhong, who was wearing the same attire as the rest of the Beiwei Army, turned his gaze away from the fight between the brave Jurchen general and Wang Shixiong and turned to look at Cheng Min, the commander-in-chief of the Beiwei Army, standing beside him.
"Where did this cavalry come from?"
"On the other side of the river." Cheng Min blurted out.
"That's not what I'm asking." Han Shizhong said calmly. "I'm asking you, where did he and his support troops start from?"
Cheng Min was stunned for a moment, then after thinking for a while, he immediately raised his sword and pointed it at a position behind the Jin army: "That place seems to be next to the Meng'an army flag!"
"I said that the Wanhu banner was far behind, but why were the front troops advancing and retreating in a clear manner?" Han Shizhong looked over there and couldn't help laughing. "I think there must be a Jin army commander who is convincing enough to lead the troops... This is a battle opportunity!"
At the end of his speech, Han Shizhong suddenly raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Linhe, which was exactly the route of the Jin army that was attacking the big banner. Because they had to send a decapitation unit to rush directly under the big banner, the decapitation troops were directly suppressed by the Song army on all sides and it was difficult to retreat, which meant that the gap on this side was not blocked in time.
Cheng Min was originally Han Shizhong's personal trainee, and later took control of the Beiwei Army. At this moment, he immediately understood, but couldn't help but look in the direction of the big banner.
"Don't worry about that. How can we be distracted by these trivial matters in the middle of a war? Besides, Wang Shixiong is actually three points stronger than the Jin general, but he is less experienced in battle. If we delay, he will be able to finish off the Jin general sooner or later." Han Shizhong didn't even look behind him, but only looked at the front army formation, or rather, looked at the farther distance behind the army formation. "Blow the horn and mobilize the entire Beiwei army forward. Then you lead 500 cavalrymen along the gap vacated by the Jin army's advance, and directly insert them under the Meng'an flag. I will lead another 500 cavalrymen to follow you. You must defeat the enemy in front of you in one fell swoop! Push the battle line forward!"
“Yes!”
Suddenly, a military call sounded, pulling the anxious Wuzhe back from his speculation about the war under the banner in the distance. He looked around in confusion and saw that the Beiwei Army of the left army of the Imperial Camp in front of him suddenly pressed towards him in a large force.
At first, he thought the Song army was coming up with this countermeasure in order to rescue Han Shizhong and the big banner. But soon, as a group of Song cavalry quickly attacked along the path he had sent to attack and decapitate the troops, this young Jurchen noble who had joined the army at the age of sixteen finally awakened his battlefield instincts - he had realized his mistake. It was his rash attack that disrupted the previous dynamic balance of the front line and revealed a fatal flaw on the front line.
For a moment, Pushan Wuzhe thought of retreating and avoiding the attack, but as soon as he turned around, he saw his father's flag swaying in the faint rain a few hundred steps behind him. He then felt ashamed, but simply did not look back. He just hurriedly mobilized his troops and tried to stop the fierce offensive of the Song army head-on.
Then, after a cavalry unit that had not yet been prepared was hastily sent out, it was immediately dispersed like drifting wood in a flood.
Not only that, what shocked Wu Zhe completely was that the Song cavalry that rushed over from the gap on his right wing near the river, penetrated the front line and achieved an unprecedented breakthrough depth. Instead of taking advantage of the situation to attack the infantry line in the middle to expand the results of the battle, they rushed straight towards his slightly empty front.
The other party not only wants to borrow Asa's previous method, but also wants to use his own method against him and try to behead himself in turn?
His previous action of sending Asa not only disrupted the rhythm of the battlefield, but also exposed himself?
He went to behead Han Shizhong, but the Song army came after him instead? !
In horror, Wuzhe, who had previously shouted in front of his father that he would personally kill Han Shizhong, was completely panicked. He turned his horse around and tried to escape... But after riding a horse for dozens of steps, he suddenly realized it for the third time... On the battlefield, in order to be prepared for any eventuality, everyone wore armor and masks. Unless the silver plate on the waist was revealed, how would the enemy know whether he was Puliyan or Meng'an?
But when he escaped, everyone around him followed him, which completely exposed him!
Out of some instinct, the black man made another wrong choice. He actually tried to stop his horse again, but since his identity was exposed and there was no one around, what was the point of stopping now except wasting time? So, he just stopped for a moment, then reacted again, and tried to escape again... This is what is called panicking. Not to mention the battlefield, which young people have not had similar experiences?
But on the battlefield, this kind of experience only needs to happen once, and often there is no need for a second time.
Cheng Min led his army to charge forward. Wuzhe simply ordered his troops to drop the flags and lie down on their horses to flee. He desperately tried to break through several cavalrymen who were blocking his way. After a short breath, he was ready to escape back to the rear army. But at this time, another wave of Song troops followed from the right side of the river channel. Leading them was a tall Song cavalryman in bronze-faced armor who rode up from the side and, under the guidance of the Song cavalrymen who had arrived earlier, went straight for Wuzhe.
However, when he got close, the Song general reined in his horse and turned around, trying to confront the black enemy head-on.
Wuzhe did not dare to delay when seeing this. He quickly squeezed the horse's belly and drew his spear, preparing to take advantage of the opportunity when the opponent's horse had just turned and had no speed to escape and fight at the same time.
However, the other party did not raise his gun, but instead raised his hand and took out a large iron-framed bow.
It was too late to think too much at this time. The two sides were fighting at a slow speed. The Song general raised his hand slightly and used the back of the bow to block the spear of the Wu player. The Wu player failed to hit him and was overjoyed. He just wanted to escape at this time, so why would he care about these things?
But just as a look of joy appeared under the mask, the next moment, he felt that his neck guard seemed to be grabbed by something, and was pulled backwards with a huge force.
When faced with this huge force, his feet immediately lost contact and he was thrown off the horse.
Not only that, after falling off the horse, Wuzhe was not thrown to the ground. Instead, he continued to be pulled off the neck guard by the huge force and dragged along the messy mud and water on the ground.
In the chaos, Pushan Wuzhe was already so frightened that his mind went blank. He had no idea and couldn't think about what was happening.
Of course, in the eyes of others, the matter was very simple. It was the Song general who had extraordinary strength and agility like a ghost. When the two horses met, he first arched his back to knock away the weapon of the black man, and then took advantage of the situation to hook the neck of the black man with the bowstring. He was even able to turn the bowstring with his backhand and fasten it to the opponent's neck.
The only thing was that the collar around Wuzhe's neck was tight and tight, so he was not strangled to death on the spot.
Of course, even so, Wuzhe was doomed. The Song general dragged him all the way to the riverside where the Song army gathered, and after releasing the longbow in his hand, Wuzhe was so dizzy that he couldn't even turn over, let alone stand. He could only lie down in the puddle and be slaughtered.
The Song army did not hesitate. Several people rushed forward without holding down his hands and feet. One of them lifted his mask while another stabbed him hard in the face with a knife, and easily killed the heir of the Pushan tribe.
Poor Pu Sanwuzhe, not only did he not become the Left Prime Minister and the Commander-in-Chief as he did in another time and space, and lead an army of 100,000 to attack Song Dynasty, and use his family of relatives to control the military and political affairs of a country, but he died in a puddle by the Taiping River because of a small flaw on the battlefield.
He was twenty-two years old.
He didn't even know until his death that the person who pulled him off the horse was Han Shizhong himself.
However, it must be said that although Pushan Wuzhe was no longer the ruler of the Jin Dynasty in another time and space and was not in charge of a country, even at this time, even if he was just a young foreign relative general, his death still had a huge chain effect... The Pushan tribe's 10,000-household vanguard army was already on the verge of collapse, and was broken through by the Song army's massive attack. It also lost its front-line commander and quickly fell into a collapse.
Han Shizhong also mobilized the entire army without hesitation, with the Beiwei Army in the front and Li Shifu's party Xiang cavalry in the rear, rushing forward and driving the defeated army forward.
Blood and mud, painted green by the rain, quickly spread downstream.
In this local battlefield, the overall situation of the Jin army collapsed. Pucha Asa, who had been fighting with Han Shizhong, finally lost his balance and tried to escape, but Wang Shixiong took advantage of his weakness and knocked him off his horse. He was then rushed over by the Song army and easily killed.
Similar to Pushan Wuzhe, Pucha Asa, the so-called "Jurchen God General" from another time and space, had no time to burst out his own light, just like Pushan Wuzhe, lying in the mud worthless... Those who killed them had no interest in knowing their stories. Wang Shixiong, who was responsible for defending the banner, was too lazy to even cut off this man's head, and quickly urged the banner to press forward.
On the high ground, Wanyan Bendu, who was watching the battle from afar, certainly didn't know that his trusted confidant Puliyan had just died, nor did he know that the third prince's cousin had followed the old man. However, the Song army defeated Pushan Beilu Wanhu's vanguard in one fell swoop, and then continued to press forward with an unstoppable momentum, so that he could see clearly the situation of gradually approaching the high ground.
With a sour taste in his mouth, Ben Du immediately sent a messenger behind him.
The messenger rode his horse downhill and fell down with his horse when he crossed the depression behind the empty high ground. He was in a very miserable state for a while. Fortunately, there was not much mud here and the ground was full of green, so he didn't get covered in mud.
From the camp further behind, knights quickly rushed out, rescued him, and brought him into the camp after a command. Then, under the watchful eyes of the soldiers who were densely packed under the wooden sheds, they quickly brought him to a towering watchtower facing the battle.
"Half of Pushan's army collapsed?"
Wushu, who was sitting in the tower, repeated it in a low voice, then looked to the side below him, where Marshal Balisu was sitting in a daze under the five-colored sun flag. "What did the Marshal say?"
"Isn't it expected?" Balisu came back to his senses and responded calmly. "Can we still count on the four Wanhu in the west to kill Han Shizhong and end this battle directly? Just now, Hesheli Taiyu came back to report that his troops killed the Western Mongolian King Huerzahusi, but the Western Mongolians attacked fiercely like crazy, almost disrupting his position? Even the light cavalry of the Western Mongolians dared not stop them, let alone Han Shizhong?"
Wuzhu finally smiled bitterly after hearing this: "Yes, given the current situation, even if Han Shizhong really died on the battlefield, he would not be able to stop the Song army from advancing."
Balisu said nothing more, but continued to look up at the five-colored flag holding the sun... The rain stopped for a while at this time, but water was still slowly seeping out of the flag.
Wuzhu was already on the watchtower, looking down from above, and replied to the messenger: "Go back and tell Bendu that his mission is to exert as much pressure as possible to cause casualties when the Song army crosses the river from the front; to gather the troops and form a large formation to cover the camp and defend the high ground when the western front collapses; if it really doesn't work, die in front of the army and be loyal to the country and Taizu, instead of panicking when seeing half of the ten thousand households collapse, and asking me whether I should attack in advance to support them... Let me put it this way, if he can't calm down, let him come back to guard the camp, and I will replace him!"
The disheveled messenger said nothing, kowtowed several times on the ground, and then hurried back.
"Hong Ya!" Yu Yunwen, who was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back in the tent several miles away from Wushu, finally lost his patience. "There's no one outside now, so I'll be frank. I know who you are. I saw your name in the document that Commander Yang showed me..."
"So what?" Hong Ya, who sat on the couch with his hands folded, responded coldly. "Don't say that I didn't leave any writings back then. Even if I did, so what? You think you are telling a story. You can convict me of the crime of being the Minister of War of the Privy Council of the Great Jin Kingdom based on a few words from seven or eight years ago? Can you convict Taizong if the candlelight and the axe sound are confirmed? If you want us to give you some key points, you want the general situation, not some handle... Qin Huizhi doesn't even care about his own son, do you want to control me so easily today?"
Yu Yunwen knew this truth, but because he was anxious after Bei Yan's death, he couldn't help but get angry for a while: "What do you want?"
"It's not that I want something, but I just realized that in this situation, there are some things you can't give me." Hong Ya said in a low voice on the couch. "Even a captured commander believes that the Song army will win this battle, so the Song army will naturally think that a great victory is a matter of course. Whatever I say and do, won't it all end up being thrown away like a piece of trash after the war?"
"Just tell me what you want?"
"I just want to be rich and stable."
"If you can say something useful, why can't I share it with you?"
"What can I do? Just as I don't care about the promise I made today, how can you care about the promise you made today when you gain power in the future?" Hong Ya sneered even more. "In fact, it is possible that because of my negotiation with you today, I will end up losing my life..."
"How come he lost his life again?" Yu Yunwen became more and more angry.
"Let's not talk about anything else. If you want to be a husband, wouldn't you worry that I, a former fake official, would go around saying that I saved your life? Maybe you can just go to Shamen Island and kill me on the way?"
"Absurd." Yu Yunwen was completely speechless. "I finally understood. You are used to judging others by your own standards. You are just making such a guess because you are shameless..."
“Who doesn’t judge others by himself?” Hong Ya replied calmly.
Yu Yunwen raised his head and sneered, but for some reason, he suddenly calmed down, then turned his head and looked at the other party: "I know."
"What did Yu Tanhua know?" Hong Ya couldn't help but become alert.
"I just came to my senses as well. After all, for someone like you, it would be best of course to enjoy wealth and prosperity in the Kingdom of Jin, but in terms of the overall situation, you cannot be a responsible person. You can only go with the flow and dare not go against the trend. And the reason you are making excuses today is not because you are worried that the Song Dynasty will not be able to fulfill its promise in the future, because even if it cannot promise, would you dare not agree? I'm afraid that the words I just asked are of great importance. I'm afraid that if you say this, you will directly lose the best three-point survival result and the basis for wavering, so you are hesitating here... Is that right or not?" Yu Yunwen forced himself to speak slowly and kept asking.
Hong Ya was silent for a moment.
Yu Yunwen stopped talking for a moment and just stared at the other person.
After a moment, Hong Ya sighed slightly and spoke first, but asked something completely unrelated: "Yu Tanhua, you followed the emperor from Taiyuan. May I ask whether Wanhu Salihe, who stayed behind in Xihe, surrendered or died for his country? There is a lot of fighting here."
Yu Yunwen responded calmly: "Hong Chengzhi, you came from Yanjing with the reinforcements. May I ask whether Hong Ya, the Xinzheng County Magistrate who was appointed in the Nanyang Palace Examination, surrendered or died for his country? There is also endless debate about where his hometown is in Jinan."
Hong Ya stared at him blankly, and shook his head after a while: "Why is Yu Tanhua so aggressive?"
The rain got heavier again. On the banks of the Taiping River, the elite troops of the left army of the imperial camp fought hard forward under the guidance of their commander's banner, while the Jin army on the opposite side was actually attacking them head on!
It is said that when Pushan Beilu learned that his eldest son had died in battle, he immediately thought of Wanyan Talan.
Everyone knows that Wanyan Talai witnessed the collapse of his entire Wanhu in Changsha, and then saw with his own eyes his son-in-law who was cutting off his retreat being hunted down by the Song army on the riverside. It cannot be said that he never recovered from the blow, but his temperament definitely changed drastically. Before that, he was known as the Dragon and Tiger King by the people of the Song people, the military representative of the old king Wuqimai's faction, and had always been enthusiastic about military affairs. He was one of the main promoters of the invasion to the south.
But after Changsha, he was unwilling to talk about military affairs anymore.
Everyone laughed at Talai behind his back. Pushan Beilu was outside the Great Wall at the time, on the banks of the Yalu River, and he seemed to have also vaguely laughed at each other.
However, when he learned that his eldest son Wuzhe had died on the front line only a few hundred steps away from him, this Jin Dynasty relative general, who was always known for his sincerity and prudence, understood the former Talai almost instantly... It turned out that the life and death of a close person can really change everything about a person immediately.
Of course, Pushan Beilu soon corrected this idea... His reason was simple. Talai had only lost a son-in-law, while he had lost his son. Talai was not worthy of being compared with himself.
Next, this Jin Dynasty relative's general fell into a strange state. He quickly gave orders, on the one hand, to have the entire army attack and kill Han Shizhong to avenge his son. On the other hand, he openly stated that anyone who retreated beyond his banner would be killed without mercy.
His chief Meng'an divided out 600 cavalrymen, lined them up in a line, and supervised the battle under the personal leadership of Pushan Beilu. They killed the defeated soldiers one after another. The Jin army was unable to advance or retreat for a while, and they actually mustered up the remaining courage to turn around and attack the Song army.
The scene was extremely intense, and Han Shizhong's troops were also faced with obstacles in their advance.
However, Han Shizhong was ecstatic!
Li Shifu, who followed closely behind, was also ecstatic!
All the main generals of the Song army on the other side of the river who saw this scene were ecstatic!
There was no other reason. When Pushan Beilu ordered his troops to attack head-on, it was equivalent to directly giving up the battle line that they had been trying to maintain. The originally continuous and interconnected battle line finally opened two thin gaps on both sides of Pushan’s army... The gaps were small, but they were enough. Under Li Shifu’s almost trembling voice, more than 10,000 light cavalry of his army rushed forward under the leadership of their respective officers, and then rushed through the gaps between the Pushan army formation and the riverside and highlands.
Then, they arrived at the high ground, arrived at the west side of the Ali tribe, and continued to flow along the back of the Ali tribe.
From the perspective of Li Shifu's troops themselves, this was almost a self-destructive move. But from the perspective of the needs of the entire battle, this was exactly the opportunity that Wu Jie, Li Yanxian, or all the Song troops in front of the stone bridge had been waiting for.
Let the light cavalry follow the left army of the imperial camp across the river for this very purpose!
At this time, it was even far from noon, but it succeeded because of a son's impulse and a father's collapse.
Wu Jie did not hesitate at all and moved the large banner forward, while at the same time ordering the entire line to march with drums beaten.
Under the rumbling of drums, Li Yanxian's banner also moved forward. In front of the two generals, Dong Xian and Niu Gao were in the lead. The huge heavy infantry formation of the Shaanluo troops in the central army of the imperial camp and the troops in the rear army of the imperial camp, totaling 40,000 soldiers, started together... The armor and the outer cover wet by the rain, in the heavy spring rain once again, under the reflection of the emerald green on the ground, formed a rich color with a certain luster, which was neither black nor red, neither bright nor dark.
But there is no doubt that when the entire army rolled together in one direction, it still looked like a torrent, a torrent that could swallow everything but with an unclear color.
As the Song army moved in a big way, the Jin army units on the high ground and on the east side of the high ground seemed to be awakened by the rain. They immediately reorganized their battle formations, and countless scouts were constantly traveling back and forth between the units, preparing for battle.
It was obvious that Wanyan Bendu on the high ground was trying to form an integrated, unprecedentedly large formation of Crooked Horses.
By the stone bridge, Wang De's troops, who had been fighting hard for a long time, were overjoyed. Wang De's two sons, Wang Qi and Wang Shun, were also relieved. Even the Poxi Army finally breathed a sigh of relief... In just this short half morning, more than half of their camel cannons had been destroyed due to continuous firing. There is a reason why the torsion crossbow made of animal tendons has been gradually eliminated by the times.
However, just when the whole army was relieved, on the edge of the small slope where the camel cannons could not reach, the already exhausted Wang De looked back at the magnificent Song army formation on the other side of the Taiping River that was advancing towards him, and then looked at the Ali flag hundreds of steps away, but suddenly laughed at his two sons:
"Are you two tired?"
No one knows his son better than his father, and no one knows his father better than his son.
Brothers Wang Qi and Wang Shun immediately looked solemn, and then the eldest son Wang Qi calmly said: "Father, do you feel a little unwilling that Ali will retreat when the reinforcements cross the river?"
"That's right." Wang De raised his swollen arm, pointed at Ali's flag, and said seriously. "Although you and I have seized the initiative in this battle, our troops are already exhausted. It will be difficult to achieve great success in the next battle. In this situation, if we don't make great achievements, how can we justify the name of our Wang family? Now Ali has not retreated, but his troops have already retreated. No one is willing to fight hard... This is an opportunity."
The eldest son Wang Qi hesitated.
The second son, Wang Shun, did not hesitate and said, "Father, I will clear the way for you."
Wang Qi nodded immediately: "Father, I will cover your retreat."
Wang De nodded, and then walked slowly, taking his two sons, dozens of almost all injured personal guards, and his own general's flag, towards the place where the central army was protected by the camel cannon... It was as if he saw his own reinforcements marching in a large number, and was preparing to return here to rest and wait quietly for the reinforcements.
However, Wang De himself immediately looked around and clicked on the trustworthy knights of his headquarters who were within sight along the way, asking them to follow quietly.
Before reaching the stone bridge, they had already successfully gathered two or three hundred riders.
"Leave the flag here and don't move." The meticulous Wang Qi took the initiative to order the flag bearer.
Not far away, Ali looked at this scene coldly from the slope of the high ground, but he only watched for a moment. He turned his head and looked to the west side of his position, also exhausted due to his old age and long-term command of battles. There, the Tangut light cavalry of the Imperial Camp Cavalry had already arrived and were directly fighting with his own soldiers who were in a state of exhaustion, and were still surging behind him.
In fact, these Tangut light cavalry were just like flowing water, flowing directly into the gaps in the Jin army's formation. The Jin army's mobile force, that is, the iron cavalry, lost their main weapon, the hard bow, in the rain, and their mobility loss was much higher than that of the light cavalry, which put both sides in a ridiculous situation where neither side could do anything to the other... These light cavalry could not kill the Jin army's heavy armored cavalry, and the Jin army's heavy armored cavalry could not catch up with these light cavalry.
But Ali knew that as long as the heavy infantry group of the Song army on the opposite bank crossed the river, or the Jin army on the high ground behind him tried to press down, these light cavalry would do their utmost to delay and hinder the movement of their headquarters... This was the strategic role of this huge light cavalry, to split the battle formation, hinder support, curb the advance, assist in outflanking, and possible post-war large-scale cleanup and hunting for heads.
Therefore, the situation his troops were facing was already very dangerous, and he had to make a choice quickly. Either he had to wait here for Bendu on the high ground to be organized, and then rush down from the high ground, or he had to abandon this small slope, evacuate as soon as possible, and return to the high ground to participate in Bendu's battle formation.
As a veteran general of the founding army of the Jin Dynasty who had been through many battles, Ximao Ali did not take too long to make a decision - the situation had changed so much that if he was forced to stay here now, it would most likely lead to the annihilation of his subordinates.
Ali, who was already 57 years old, really didn't care about his own life or death, but he had to fulfill his duties as a soldier, strive to carry out his superiors' orders, and work hard to protect his subordinates.
Therefore, it is better to retreat to the high ground.
Of course, a major consequence of doing so is that the Pushan Beilu tribe, which had been pushed to the riverside area in front of the high ground by Han Shizhong, would most likely be wiped out under the siege of the Song army.
Therefore, although he already knew that Pushan Beilu's eldest son had died in the battle and that he was mad, Ali still took the initiative to call his personal guards and sent a message to Pushan Beilu, asking him to follow him and retreat to the high ground... When the Song army's light cavalry crossed the upstream defense line and the heavy infantry group advanced across the board without any hesitation, there was no strategic value in maintaining the front line in the riverside area.
After giving this order, Ali was about to tell the troops to get ready and retreat in an orderly manner. Before he could finish his words, he heard a commotion ahead. Looking up, he saw his own infantry and cavalry, which were already somewhat confused and uneasy. They seemed to have encountered a wheat field with hares running through it in autumn, shaking the wheat waves and dodging to the sides in a daze.
Among the parted wheat waves, the hare quickly revealed its figure. It was hundreds of Song cavalrymen. They did not raise flags or shout, but just attacked him with all their might.
Ali had a lot of combat experience and he knew what was going on at a glance. Although he was shocked and angry, he still kept his temper and advanced instead of retreating with the cavalry hammer in his hand. The guards around him also woke up and tried to move forward to provide protection.
However, the Song army's surprise attack took advantage of the great opportunity when Ali's generals were about to retreat, so that after the surprise attack began, there was very little resistance and the progress was very fast. By this time Ali and his personal guards reacted, it was too late - in just a moment, a brave Song general had already rushed to the front, shouted loudly, and led the Song cavalry behind him to shout and kill together.
Ali's close followers, who were in the lead, showed no fear and confronted the enemy head-on, but were shot and knocked off their horses.
However, after succeeding in his attack, the Song general did not try to attack Ali, who was only a dozen steps away. Instead, he wielded his lance and pushed away several riders on Ali's side. He also tried to cut the flag on Ali's right rear, which attracted several knights to stop him.
Ali knew what this person was doing, but it was too late for him to remind him. Instead, he clenched the cavalry hammer in his hand.
Sure enough, before he could finish his words, a tall knight, whose stature far exceeded that of the other Song soldiers, rode up from behind the Song general. The long axe in his hand was shining brightly from the rain, and he had already swung it high up, like a yaksha descending to earth.
With just a glance, Ali knew that it must be Wang Dewang Yaksha himself. This guy had come to him by force of courage, and he knew that he had no chance of survival at this moment.
But in a flash, Ali, with a ferocious face behind the mask, was still fearless. Instead of blocking the giant axe falling from his head, he used his remaining strength to smash the cavalry hammer onto the opponent's shoulder.
In an instant, the winner was decided.
Ali's hammer flew over Wang De's shoulder, but only hit the shoulder socket of Wang Qi, the eldest son behind Wang De... It was not a mistake, it was intentional. As for Ali himself, Wang De chopped him from his upper left shoulder to his right abdomen, and his internal organs flowed out... If the long axe was swung a little later, he might have been split in half.
But none of these details mattered.
Ali is dead.
Unlike Pucha Asa and Pushan Uzhe who died in battle before and died in their youth without waiting for the favor of fate, Ximao Ali followed his father to join the army at the age of seventeen. He started by following Wanyan Aguda to participate in the war of annexation of Jurchen tribes. To date, he has had a military career for forty years. His lifetime military experience is enough to overwhelm most .
He annexed the Jurchen tribes, defeated Goryeo, pacified Bohai, destroyed Liao, and conquered Song... He participated in almost every major battle in the founding and rise of the Jurchens. He also made great contributions in sweeping the Liaodong towns and attacking and killing Yelu Yudu's expeditionary force during the conquest of Liao. He was one of the first group of direct descendants of the Jurchen Wanyan tribe who were not from the Jurchen Wanyan tribe.
In the war against the Song Dynasty, he had already become a core commander of the Eastern Army, which means that he was recognized as a founding hero of the Jurchens.
Even if it was Zhao Jiu, it would be impossible for him to forget this name!
In the first year of Jianyan, Ximao Ali followed Wuzhu and pursued him on the Huai River, almost forcing the small Zhao Song court into a desperate situation; in the second year of Jianyan, he led the Eastern Army and defeated Nanjing, killing Zhang Suo and Xin Daozon; in the third year of Jianyan, he echoed Yaoshan, crossed Mengjin and broke Luoyang, and killed the prime minister Wang Boyan.
It can be said that his achievements, his reputation, and his experience were undoubtedly completed on the day when he died at the age of 57.
Although this thief is dead, I have no regrets.
Even before he died, he hit Wang Qi with a hammer.
Of course, the more regret-free Ali was, the more it showed that the Song army had successfully achieved the first unquestionable and huge result of this battle.
For Wang De, this was a remarkable feat. As the saying goes, "Crossing the river and beheading the general, the spirit will not be taken away. Who else in ancient and modern times can be compared to this rising hero?"
Before noon, as the first phase of the war was successfully completed as expected, the main force of the Song army crossed the river in a large number. Wang De, deputy commander of the imperial army and governor, seized the opportunity and killed Wan Hu of the Eastern Route Army of the Jin Kingdom, the prefect of Jizhou, and the Duke of Han, Xie Mao Ali.
Looking back at the present, Ali was as dead as could be, but unexpectedly, or perhaps it was a familiar feeling, the first reaction of his troops was not to flee in all directions, but to attack the Song army from all directions like crazy.
As soon as Wang De chopped out with his axe, he realized that he was indeed old. Moreover, his eldest son was injured and it was inconvenient for him to ride a horse. He was unwilling to waste time here, so he sent his second son Wang Shun to cover the retreat, and personally supervised his eldest son Wang Qi to withdraw.
After walking only seventy or eighty steps, Wang De suddenly heard a cry of surprise from behind him. Turning back, he saw his second son Wang Shun slipping from his horse. He stumbled and fell off his horse, then was seamlessly submerged in the frenzied formation of the Jin army.
Wang De's mind went blank on the horse. The ecstasy of killing Ali in the battle array disappeared completely in an instant. He wanted to turn around and pick up the axe to retaliate, but he instinctively looked at his injured eldest son on the other side. Then, he could only return to the battle array in a daze under the urging and pulling of his personal guards.
It was only a moment after returning to the small slope in front of the stone bridge that Wang De even came to his senses. The Song army led by Niu Gao and Dong Xian on both sides had successfully crossed the river and established a foothold, and then they could not wait to try to encircle the two Wanhu of Ali and Pushan Beilu.
The two Jin army formations finally collapsed completely.