Volume 1 Chapter 79: Decisive Battle (Part 2)
Besides, Jin Wushu was only twenty-five or twenty-six years old after all, and this was his first time leading an army. Compared with his previous crushing victories, the situation he encountered after getting up today really made him confused for a while.
However, after sitting back and thinking for a while, he shook his head and kept talking to himself while holding the whip:
"It's too late! It's too late for both sides! I just saw with my own eyes that the east has reached the last layer of the fence. The generals of the Song army have calculated this deployment accurately. If I really transfer the troops from the east at this time, it will only harm Puluhun! But it doesn't matter. The Song army is also too late, and their delay is even more fatal. They are concerned about the safety of the Emperor of Song and sent the second batch of troops back, but they have no time to call for support from the east... After all the fuss, they only sent seven or eight hundred soldiers to the east. Judging from the combat effectiveness of our Great Jin Iron Cavalry, the winner is probably still Puluhun!"
"That……"
"After all this fuss, it's just a false alarm. Just sit here and wait for Puluhun to defeat the enemy!" Wanyan Wushu said as he breathed a sigh of relief, but raised his whip and pointed. "This is the incompetence of you Song people... The king, princes, and nobles of our Jin Kingdom always charge into battle in person, braving the arrows. One more noble on the battlefield means one more fighting force. The Song people are different. The emperor boosts morale on the battlefield, but the troops he holds back dare not dispatch them, so they have to send troops to look after him in vain!"
Shi Wenbin on the side hesitated for a moment. He wanted to say that the military situation was unclear at the moment, and since the Song general had calculated the timing so accurately, he might have a backup plan... But he didn't know whether it was out of fear or some more complicated psychology. After taking a look at the whip in the other's hand, he did not tell Jin Wushu his opinion, but just nodded in flattery.
"However, the decisive battle is coming, and we can't just sit here and do nothing." After Jin Wushu regained his confidence, he thought for a while, and then raised his hand and pointed at the stool. "Come here, pass the order to the west for me. Before the troops come back, let the two Meng'an unite and counterattack. We must do our best for Puluhun!"
The Jin soldiers obeyed the order and waved flags on the platform to signal and beat drums.
When the Jin army in front turned around and saw the flag signals, they were naturally faster than Liu Bao who was still struggling to retreat on the river bank. They ignored the mess on the battlefield and had to fight on foot, and did not care that they were hungry after getting there in the morning. They crossed the outer low wall and rushed back on foot under the personal leadership of two Meng'an!
At this time, the Song army had less than 3,000 soldiers (2,000 original soldiers and hundreds of Zhang Jun's personal guards), and most of them were exhausted. The sudden attack of the Jin army, which was less than 2,000, caught the Song army off guard. The battle line gradually shifted backwards, and as the battle line retreated, the Song army's natural fear of the Jin army also broke out instantly. Many people fled west in a panic, trying to be deserters.
What's even more terrible is that at this critical moment, the supervision team that was supposed to maintain the front line in the rear had already squeezed to the front line and was unable to play any supervisory role, which made the situation deteriorate instantly!
On the other side, on the gate tower of Xiacai City, Emperor Zhao and a group of civil and military officials witnessed this scene and were also stunned... According to their understanding of various information just now, the reason why Liu Bao's departure was dangerous was because everyone was worried that once Liu Bao left, Jin Wushu would send out his most elite central army, and then the three Meng'ans would work together to counterattack from the front.
However, no one could have imagined that Jin Wushu did not send any reinforcements at all, and Zhang Jun also sent out his own personal guards. However, just two Jin army Meng'an (a thousand-man team) who had fought for a whole morning and launched a hasty counterattack despite hunger were enough to shake the situation!
At this time, apart from sighing that there is still a huge gap in combat power between the Song and Jin armies, there seems to be nothing else to say.
In fact, even expressing these feelings seems inappropriate at this moment.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty!" At this time, Zhang Jun was sweating profusely on the top of the city wall without any civil officials scolding him, but he quickly knelt down to ask Emperor Zhao to fight. "Your Majesty, although there are no more armored soldiers in the city, there are many ordinary soldiers in leather armor. I will lead a few hundred more people down and personally lead the battle. As long as the people on the front line can still recognize me, I will definitely be able to delay until Liu Bao comes back to help, and never put Your Majesty in danger!"
Zhao Jiu, dressed in a bright red robe and a stiff-winged fu hat, sat upright on a chair. He opened his mouth to speak, but his mouth was dry, so although he spoke fluently, his voice was very small. He could only raise his chin to signal the other person to come closer.
Zhang Jun hurriedly took two steps forward on his knees, lowered his head and listened, then looked at Wang Yuan: "General Wang, the emperor said that most of the troops below are from the Henan camp. I want you to come with me and supervise the battle!"
After all, Wang Yuan had been on the battlefield, so he quickly stood up and obeyed the order, and even felt a little excited.
Just as Zhang and Wang were about to stand up and leave, Zhao Jiu spoke again. Zhang Jun did not dare to neglect him and leaned over to listen again . He was stunned for a moment before turning his head and speaking seriously:
"The emperor has issued an oral order. A few warriors are left behind to restore order. Except for Generals Zhang Jun and Wang Yuan, anyone on the city walls who dares to make noise or leave their seats will be executed, starting from the Chief Censor and the Jade Hall Scholar!"
The people on the city wall, which had been in commotion, were shocked for a moment, but then fell silent in an instant.
The spring breeze fluttered the flags slightly, the water of the Huai River could not hit the north bank in time, smoke and dust rolled below, and the less than 3,000 Song army soldiers fought and retreated, with the shouts of killing gradually approaching. But as Zhang Wang and the other two hurried down the city and brought a group of soldiers equipped with leather armor to meet them, the battle line suddenly stopped at a position not more than half a mile away from the top of the city!
Fortunately, when Liu Bao saw this situation, he did not dare to be negligent and turned back hastily. Although he could not suppress it under the pincer attack from both sides, he was able to control the situation and hold down the Jin army.
The battle started in waves, then quickly subsided, and seemed to have reached a stalemate again.
With his back soaked, Emperor Zhao looked blankly at the farther part of the battlefield in front of him, but he still felt it was a mess and couldn't understand anything. So he simply sighed and continued to slump in the chair.
At this moment, at the easternmost end of the battlefield, on the vertical riverbank to the east of the Jin army's main camp, Yang Yi Zhong had not yet waited for Han Shizhong, who was further east, to raise the flag to signal his arrival, when he suddenly heard a burst of loud cheers from the north. It seemed that Han Shizhong's beloved general Wang Sheng had led his troops to pull out the last layer of the fence!
"Get on the horse!"
In sharp contrast to the cheers and noise outside, inside the East Camp, Puluhun suddenly gave a low order and then mounted his horse. The two Meng'ans, who actually numbered no more than 1,500 armored cavalrymen, naturally could not hear the sound clearly, but when they saw Puluhun mount his horse, they immediately followed suit and mounted their horses in unison.
"Raise the flag!"
Puluhun, who was sitting on the horse, was covered by a visor, his voice was still muffled, but he waved his hand again.
Then, a guard next to him suddenly raised a simple yet rough flag. The flag had a yellow background with black lines, and a huge magpie was embroidered on it.
When they saw the flag raised, the continuous and exquisitely made yellow curtain that was originally standing in front of thousands of cavalrymen was instantly pushed down by the infantry who had been prepared. Once the curtain fell, Puluhun and Wang Sheng's troops were no longer covered, and Puluhun waved his hands again and again, took the lead in reining his horse forward, and slowly accelerated on the exquisite curtain.
At this point, Yang Yi Zhong, who was standing on the high ground outside the embankment, finally waited until Han Shizhong, who was further east, raised his general flag and heaved a sigh of relief.
However, at the next moment, a thunderous roar suddenly sounded. Yang Yizhong looked up in shock and saw that a cavalry unit whose attire was enough to scare countless Song soldiers suddenly broke out from the eastern camp. They were reckless and instantly smashed themselves into the armored formation formed by Wang Sheng's troops nicknamed the Black Dragon and those imperial guards!
With just one blow of the hammer, many knights fell off their horses and died, but the latter were overwhelmed in an instant, with countless casualties!
As this charge was bound to involve countless bloody memories, Yang Dalang no longer dared to hesitate, nor could he maintain his usual deep and reserved attitude. Instead, he roared and ordered:
"Raise the blue flag quickly! Raise the flag!!"
