Volume 1 Chapter 73: Village Raid
As time goes by, things inevitably unfold in a dynamic manner, especially in complex battles.
On the fourth day of February, the Song army relied on surprise attack and used artillery to counter artillery in the battle of Xiacai City, achieving a visible victory in the long stalemate. In the evening of the same day, news of the great victory of Liangshanpo also arrived in Huaishang.
On the fifth day of February, when Han Shizhong sent Tian Shizhong up the mountain, he specifically reminded Emperor Zhao that the battle was far from over.
On the sixth day of February, unexpectedly, the Jin army decisively divided its troops and headed north, seemingly withdrawing in an orderly manner.
On the same evening, Emperor Zhao found Han Shizhong, who judged that the Jin army might make a feint to the east and attack in the west, and proposed a plan to eliminate the Jin army camp according to Emperor Zhao's request, and got Zhao Jiu's approval.
Early in the morning of the seventh day of February, Emperor Zhao, who had made up his mind, summoned the two ministers of the East and West Palaces, Lu Haowen and Wang Boyan, and unilaterally informed them of the general military plan. With the assistance of several close ministers, he nominally approved the discussion in the Council of State Affairs, making this action officially a legal military action at the national level.
In the morning, the Jin army began to pack up again. With Zhao Jiu personally in charge of the water fort, Han Shizhong also began to replace the scattered troops in Xiacai City with the elite troops from the Baguashan camp in Henan according to the plan.
At noon, the second group of 7,000 Jin troops officially set out as expected.
In the afternoon, Zhao Jiu, the imperial guards, and several close ministers followed Hu Yantong's troops across the river and returned to Xiacai from Neidu. However, in order to guard against the spread of the news, they only stayed in the government office and did not show up.
Not long after Zhao Jiu entered the city, in the evening, Han Shizhong, wearing ordinary iron armor and without any flags, suddenly came from the direction of the Jin camp with only a few cavalrymen. After an almost acrobatic chase, he calmly entered the city, but proposed to Emperor Zhao to change the time of the attack.
"It's not good to attack at night, why don't we change it to a surprise attack tomorrow morning?"
Zhao Jiu paused for a moment after hearing this, then nodded immediately. "Just follow what Liang Chen said."
Han Shizhong originally wanted to explain, but failed. Moreover, not only did the emperor agree immediately, but even the civil and military officials accompanying him were speechless and simply took their leave.
As soon as the person left, Zhang Jun, the commander who had been watching coldly, spoke up: "Good instructor, I know that Commander Han is afraid!"
"Is that so?" The Emperor Zhao sat still without changing his expression, but pointed at the brand new red robe on his body. "I thought Han Qing wanted the soldiers who came out of the city to attack the camp to see my new clothes clearly on the top of the city wall."
Zhang Jun was slightly startled. He wanted to hold it back, but he couldn't help it: "Your Majesty! This is simply because Han Wu made a boast before and insisted on arranging a night attack. As a result, he personally went to investigate today and found that the Jin army was well guarded. His old plan of night attack was completely unworkable, so he changed it to a surprise attack in the early morning!"
"General Zhang, what you said is not right," Zhang Jun, the Chief Censor and half-namesake of General Zhang, suddenly stepped out and refuted in public. "General Han's adjustment may have underestimated the defense of the Jin army, but it also overestimated our army's night fighting ability... The night attack failed. Is it because he realized today that the Jin army is too strong or today that our army is too weak? I'm afraid it's hard to say, right?"
When Zhang Jun saw that it was the Chief Censor, he was frightened and his momentum stagnated. When he was about to gather his strength to refute, someone sneered and confronted the Chief Censor before he could. Commandant Zhang raised his eyes and saw that it was Zhao Ding, Zhao Damu, who had shared the same joys and sorrows with him in the past few days!
"Zhang Xiantai!" As soon as Zhao Dingfu opened his mouth, his words showed his alienation and anger, as if he didn't care about their past friendship at all. "Let Zhang Xiantai know that we are facing the enemy in Huaibei day and night, and we know the strengths and weaknesses of the Jin army. If you, the senior officials in the rear, don't know the strengths and weaknesses of the Jin army, just ask us, why are you playing tricks here?"
"Yes," Zhang Jun came to his senses and quickly responded. "If Han Wu had asked us about Huaibei before, why would he have changed his strategy at the last minute? The key is that he put you in a dangerous situation. I'll teach you that I have been dealing with the Jin army here for a long time and I know that the Jin army camp is well-prepared, spacious and well-organized. They are on duty at night and even have hawks and dogs on guard day and night..."
"Hawk dog?" Zhao Jiu, who had been listening expressionlessly for half a day, was suddenly shocked. "Falcon and military dog?"
"No, that's right." Zhang Jun was also shocked by Emperor Zhao's reaction, but he could only bite the bullet and explain. "It is the Saker Falcon and the military dog. The Jin people are good at fishing and hunting, and most of their marching and fighting methods are derived from hunting methods. Naturally, they carry some for defense!"
"Hadongqing is flying so high, can't he see the inside of the city clearly?" Zhao Jiu asked hurriedly. "Wouldn't Haidongqing also be able to see our deployment this time?"
"Your Majesty, you are overthinking." Zhang Jun finally understood what the Majesty meant, and he heaved a sigh of relief. "The Saker Falcon is just a hunting falcon. I have seen a lot of things in Guanxi... No matter how smart this thing is, it is just a bird. It can understand the movement of a large group of people in the grassland, desert and snow. In the heart of the Central Plains, there are people everywhere. It is difficult for it to distinguish between soldiers and civilians in the wilderness, so how can it understand what is going on in the city? If it is really so magical, the Jurchens should have known it when my artillery first started!"
Zhao Jiu knew that he had made a fool of himself, so he nodded slowly: "In other words, this Saker Falcon came to the Central Plains and used its invincibility in the sky to deliver military secrets. Is it more of a messenger?"
"That's right." Zhang Taiwei nodded repeatedly. "Good instructor, you know, in fact, in terms of the defense of the camp, the eagle is not necessarily as good as the dog, the dog is not necessarily as good as the camp, and the camp is not necessarily as good as the people... In short, if Han Shizhong had dared to ask me a question before proposing this strategy, he would never have done such a ridiculous thing as changing the date at the last minute!"
Zhao Jiu laughed dryly and nodded immediately: "I know that Zhang Qing has been supporting Xia Cai independently these days, doing hard work. I also know that you almost ruined your family to defend Xia Cai. You are a great hero in this battle, and I know it in my heart! In short, I will never let you fight this battle in vain!"
When Zhang Jun heard this, he felt as if his bones had loosened a few pounds in an instant. He felt that his gamble was not in vain, and he nodded immediately.
Zhao Ding on the side, on the other hand, seemed a little helpless... The emperor was confused, and it was not known whether he was pretending to be confused or was really confused, but it was not too obvious that he was trying to protect Han Shizhong in some way.
From this perspective, among Zhang and Han, Han Shizhong is more favored by the emperor!
If we dig deeper, we can only say that no matter what, compared with Zhang Deyuan who took the lead and then led step by step, Zhao Yuanzhen was always a little lacking in all aspects.
But at least I didn’t miss this time!
Not to mention some twists and turns before the war, the next morning, at four o'clock in the morning, Emperor Zhao Jiu, who had almost not slept all night, was awakened. Then, under the personal escort of Captain Zhang, he and a group of important officials went up to the east gate tower of Xiacai City.
At this time, several banquet tables had been set up on the gate tower.
"Have the soldiers had enough to eat?" Emperor Zhao, who had changed into a new round-collared red robe and a hard-winged hat, glanced at the densely packed armored soldiers behind the city gate, but was not in a hurry to take a seat. Instead, he smiled and asked Zhang Jun. "Have all the money and goods I brought yesterday been distributed?"
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty!" Zhang Jun, wearing full armor, bowed and leaned forward to answer, with a rare seriousness. " The rewards have all been distributed, the armor and weapons have all been properly deployed, and they have just been fed in batches..."
Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly, but then pointed his mouth to indicate: "Where's the wine?"
"Your Majesty," Shouzhou Zhizhou Zhao Ding finally interrupted with a wry smile. "We have been defending the city for almost two months. Although there is no shortage of food and water, the wine and drinks in the city are really gone. This is simply a temporary request from General Han..."
"Since it is so precious, let's take it away for now." Zhao Jiu waved his hand and said loudly. "When the soldiers return victorious, I will have time to share it with them ... Before that, let me watch how you defeat the enemy!"
These words were obviously meant for the soldiers under the city. How could Zhang Jun and Zhao Ding not understand? So they did not dare to neglect it and immediately followed his instructions.
But at this moment, among the soldiers who were quietly looking at the emperor, someone suddenly spoke boldly: "Your Majesty! I think we may not be able to come back to drink your imperial wine this time. Just like what Zhao Zhizhou said, after two months, our mouths have become tasteless... Why not give it to us first?"
The civil and military officials on the city wall, including the censors, scholars, prefects, and generals, all looked embarrassed. Zhang Jun was even more furious. He stamped his feet and said, "Li Laosan, we are in front of the emperor today. Can't you be quiet with me? Why should I drink with you if you have no merit? And we are going to attack soon. If we reward you now, won't it disrupt the order of attack?"
Zhao Jiu wanted to grant it, but after hearing these words, he saw that the east was gradually getting whiter and countless soldiers under the city were looking forward to seeing him in the morning light. He smiled slightly and said no more, but led the civil and military officials to sit down calmly.
The ruffian in the army at the foot of the city seemed to know that he was in the wrong. He just muttered a few words casually and didn't say much in the end.
After a moment, as Emperor Zhao sat still, first the dragon flag was hung up, and then the people in Xiacai City suddenly fired collectively as a signal.
Next, the suspension bridges outside the east, north and west gates of Xiacai City were lowered together. There was also a floating bridge at the south water gate that connected to the river embankment outside the gate... Together with the small boats that rushed ashore in the Huai River, more than 10,000 Song army soldiers were divided into several groups and immediately rushed out to attack the already slightly panicked Jin army camp.
At this point, the sun rose in the east, and the battlefield on the Huaibei Plain, which had been silent for nearly two months, suddenly became restless.
But for some reason, Emperor Zhao, who was sitting motionless under the dragon flag facing the sunrise, suddenly felt that his heart, which had been restless for half a year, calmed down.
In a trance, the battle had already started in front.
