Volume 2 Chapter 68 Back and forth
Now that the war has come, any calculations are meaningless. It's just a matter of fighting with life, equipment, horses, and courage. But no matter what, the generals are always an extremely important link in the fight. At least they have the final say on how to fight.
Thanks to Yue Fei's strategy of dividing and deploying troops, the original front-line commander Pucha Hubalu and his ten Meng'an under Changsha City were lured to Changge by Ma Gao and others, so the real commander of the Jin army's front line at this time temporarily became the young Wanhu Da (Shang Bai and Xia Da).
Da (Bai on top and Da on bottom) is the younger brother of Databuye who died before, and the successor of Da clan, a prominent Bohai family, in the Jin army... Of course, it is okay to say that Da clan is the royal family of Bohai, because the word "Da" itself evolved from the meaning of leader, and Da clan of Bohai had established the Bohai Kingdom, which was known as the prosperous country in the east of the sea, as early as in the Tang Dynasty, but it was later destroyed by Yelu Abaoji.
It was precisely because of this, and the fact that during the rise of the Jurchens, the Bohai people revolted and attempted to establish the Greater Bohai Kingdom, that by the time of Wanyan Aguda, this Da clan, which had great prestige and strength in the Jurchens' original territory, immediately received the Wanyan clan's sincere solicitation and alliance. The two sides generally formed marriages, and the Da clan in fact enjoyed a transcendent status in the Jin Dynasty second only to the royal family.
How to say it?
This Jin nobleman, who had just been promoted to the rank of Wanhu, was not without military experience, nor was he ignorant of the Jin army's military laws, nor had he not fought in previous wars... However, faced with the military orders conveyed by Wanyan Talan and the reinforcements of the two Meng'ans, this Wanhu became a little hesitant.
He suddenly didn't want to fight anymore.
There are many reasons and they are all very simple… For example, his brother died at the hands of the Song people, and if nothing unexpected happened, he should have died at the hands of the owner of the Yue flag in front of him, and he was a little scared; for another example, when the army gathered here before, the fourth prince Wanyan Wushu abandoned him when selecting the elite, and he couldn't help feeling a little resentful; for another example, these days, Wanyan Talai and Wanyan Nianhan have been planning to set up a vassal state in Henan, and everyone knows it. What makes it difficult for this Bohai royal family to accept is that a few newly surrendered Han people can easily establish a country and proclaim themselves emperors, governing hundreds of millions of people and more than a dozen states and counties, while they, the Da clan, the dignified Bohai royal family and the Wanyan clan's in-laws, cannot even divide a state or a county… So their resentment is even greater!
In a word, since I don’t know when, this great general of Bohai no longer wanted to fight to the death, at least he didn’t want to fight with his own life!
However, the Jin army had strict military discipline. Since the right deputy marshal had personally ordered him to lead the cavalry to break through, he had to lead the troops to break through in person, otherwise he would still die!
"Follow me, follow me and dig in!" After a moment, some messy thoughts flashed through his mind, and Da (white on top and big on the bottom) suddenly raised his cowhide hand guard and cheered up. "Today I am invincible!"
The two new reinforcements Meng'an (Thousand-man Team, Thousand-man Captain) and Da (White on top and Da on bottom) behind him, as well as his own core Meng'an, were also suddenly inspired when they heard the words and worked hard!
Immediately, three complete Jin army Meng'an, all of whom were fresh troops and the largest mobile force that Da (Shang Bai and Xia Da) could organize in a short period of time on the battlefield, began to arrange in a tight formation - the heavily armored cavalry moved forward, holding their spears, and the cavalry without horsearmor automatically moved backward, with bows and arrows in hand, and followed behind Wanhu Da (Shang Bai and Xia Da), slowly turning around to the side and rear, but they wanted to keep some distance and make room for the charge.
The dense cavalry of the Jin army began to move on a large scale. Their vests, armor, spear tips, and bow and arrow tips began to shine with a chilling light in the spring afternoon sun... Even before the charge began, the Jin army itself had already begun to unconsciously feel a surge of adrenaline, and the entire army began to be excited, while the Song army on the battlefield could not help but feel fear and began to worry about the battle situation... This was an instinctive reaction of both sides due to their respective war experiences.
Everyone knows how terrible the hard chiseling of the Jin army's armored cavalry is! In Hedian, Taiyuan, and Tongguan, the Jin army relied on repeated cavalry chiseling to carve out a powerful and prestigious Jin Kingdom!
"General!"
On the top of Changsha City, Cheng Min, who had been watching the battle in the southeast of the city, couldn't help but look at Han Shizhong. "Open the city gate, I will lead the Beiwei Army to charge, and I will definitely be able to hold back one or two Meng'an!"
Han Shizhong, who was sitting on the edge of the collapsed city wall in full armor, was playing with a dagger in his hand. Hearing this, he did not look at the battlefield or Cheng Min at all. He just shook his head slowly and said, "It's not time yet. Wait a little longer!"
Cheng Min shut up immediately, but Wang Shan, the commander of the Tokyo Garrison, hesitated a little: "Captain, this is probably the last chance. Once Yue Fei's 10,000 men who crossed the river first are defeated, the troops behind and those under the Wang banner will probably not be able to catch up, and defeat will be inevitable... Why wait?"
After all, Wang Shan was a guest general, and both sides had worked hard together in the city for two or three months, so they had some feelings for each other. Therefore, Han Shizhong told the truth directly:
"Because the Jin army is too impatient... How long has the war started, and they are already forcing their way in?"
Be it Wang Shan, Cheng Min, or Jie Yuan who had just returned from patrolling other places on the city wall, they were all stunned when they heard this.
Han Shizhong, who was sitting there, turned his head and looked at the large group of Jin cavalry in the southeast direction of the city, which had already begun to distance themselves and were slowly moving forward under the leadership of the large (white on top and large on bottom) flag, and sneered:
"Drilling through with a hard hammer is powerful, but is it that easy? Once the hammer is driven down, the frontal army formation will certainly be lost, but the Jin army itself will also lose a large piece of flesh alive... The Jin army is so hasty and does not care about casualties. It can only be said that the real killer who came to support the royal army this time is still behind. They have to deal with the 10,000 people crossing the river as soon as possible!"
"That's right." Jie Yuan was the first to agree. "As for the opportunity to fight, the Qingqi River stretches for 20 miles, and the Jin army has laid countless pontoon bridges on it. As long as the reinforcements have a backup plan, there will definitely be an opportunity to fight. Our soldiers in the city have been trapped for months and have no extra strength. We must wait until the necessary time to attack in order to be effective... Besides, I always feel that if we don't take action now, it will make Talan hesitate!"
Looking at the large group of Jin troops running out of the city, Wang Shan had a solemn expression on his face, but he nodded repeatedly... To be honest, he was also puzzled as to why he did not see the troops from the Tokyo Garrison. It was okay for others, but Zhang Yong, Sang Zhong and others were loyal people. Since there was a large number of reinforcements arriving this time, they would definitely come.
As they were talking, the Jin army's horses rumbled up and had already rushed straight to the riverside. Even though Yue Fei's troops were well-disciplined, they were all horrified. They could only try to tighten their formation as much as possible at the shouts of their officers. Zhang Xian, who led the Tabai Army, tried his best to lead his few hundred cavalrymen to distance themselves from Yue Fei's flag... This was not an escape, but a search for space to charge. They wanted to rush back as soon as the Jin army broke through the formation to protect their brother and superior.
In fact, just now, as soon as the Jin army gathered, Yue Fei, who understood the Jin army's intention, realized the seriousness of the matter... At this time, Wang Yan's troops almost ran here, and they had no strength to gather for battle, and then cross the river from other places such as the north of Qingqi River to provide effective support; and in Yue Fei's view, the best way to deal with Han Shizhong's troops in the city is to keep them in suspense, to ensure that Wanyan Talan would be distracted and divide his troops to deal with it; at the same time, the reinforcements led by Zhao Guanjia himself had not arrived, and his own troops left on the east bank of the river could not provide full support because of the blocked pontoon bridge passage... The Jin army's attack was indeed the best opportunity to seize the battle, and if they were really knocked down, then they would really be defeated!
But on the battlefield, such worry was meaningless, because only a moment later, the big (white on top and big on bottom) flag suddenly accelerated, and then the three Meng'an Jin cavalrymen were almost like tigers descending from the mountains. Supported by military discipline, morale, fighting instinct and blood rush, they rushed to the river bank fiercely with their own families, and then with the mentality of "pottery colliding and breaking together", they collided fiercely with the infantry formation of the Song army in front of them.
The Song army had tried their best. During the charge, the archers fought desperately with the Jurchen archers on the opposite side. Arrows rained down from both sides. The wailing was completely drowned out by the shouts and the sounds of arrows flying. At the moment the two sides came into contact, the spearmen stood still like a fence, watching the dazzling Jin army's armored cavalry rushing towards them.
However, this kind of charge cannot be resisted by courage alone.
In an instant, after the frontline troops of both sides dissolved into each other in a posture of mutual destruction, countless Jin cavalrymen relied on inertia and almost forcibly smashed themselves and their horses into the Song army formation... and then, in a state that was almost so noisy that it was silent, they completely tore apart the Song army formation in front of them!
Looking from a distance, it looks as spectacular as a stream of iron breaking through a dam.
With this blow, the entire battlefield seemed to fall into a brief silence, and without a doubt, everyone came to the conclusion in an instant that the Jin army had won, and the Song army in front of them had still collapsed... The Jin army suffered countless casualties, and the entire battle formation of the Song army was completely broken. As the Song army's formation was completely broken, the sound instantly returned to the battlefield, and the next moment, everyone watched the three Jin army Meng An Da (white on top and big on the bottom) lead them to wantonly ravage and chop the Song army, which instantly exploded the formation!
The floating bridge behind the regiment began to be crowded and trampled, and countless defeated Song soldiers on the west bank, still wearing armor, simply fled into the early spring river, then easily broke through the thin ice and fell into it.
This confrontation was so clear and so shocking that Wang Yan on the other side of the river could no longer bear it, and immediately ordered his Eight Character Army, which had taken a short rest, to rush across the river from upstream!
Han Shizhong and Wanyan Talai, who were looking down from above and saw the situation most clearly, reacted completely differently after a moment of slight bewilderment - Han Shizhong stood up and burst into laughter; Wanyan Talai's face turned blue, and at the same time, the knuckles turned slightly white.
"I'm going to kill this Bohai bastard!" After two full breaths, Talan threw the whip to the ground, obviously furious . "I'm going to skin him alive!"
The people around looked at each other, no one dared to speak... How could they kill their only front-line commander under such circumstances, and how?
What's more, the other party (white on top and big on the bottom) did not violate military discipline at all... This Wan Hu did lead his troops to dig into the Song army formation! However, he did not dig into the largest formation with a large flag with the word Yue flying, which had three or four thousand men, but went to dig into the formation next to it with a flag with the word Xu, which had only more than a thousand men.
That's right, Wan Hu Da (Shang Bai and Xia Da) of the Jin army took advantage of what might be the best opportunity for the Jin army when the entire battlefield was the most tense. He took great pains to organize the strongest assault, but he led the reinforcements given to him by Talai and his own headquarters Meng'an, and fiercely broke into the army of Xu Qing, the commander under Yue Fei.
The results of the battle were fruitful. Xu Qing himself died for his country at the first opportunity. Hundreds of Song soldiers died on the spot, causing hundreds of Song soldiers to be defeated and the situation on nearly a quarter of the battlefield to collapse.
With such results, it is no wonder that Han Shizhong, who was sitting high and looking far, laughed out loud at the collapse of his friendly army. It is no wonder that Wang Yan ordered the entire army to cross the river at all costs and quickly expand the battlefield while the Jin army 's cavalry was difficult to gather. It is no wonder that Yue Fei and his generals Zhang Xian, Fu Xuan, Tang Huai, Li Zhang, Li Bao and others fell into a strange state of speechlessness - they felt sad and angry for the sudden death of Xu Qing and other comrades, but they were also keenly aware that they had actually survived this most critical breath!
After Han Shizhong finished laughing, he saw Wang Yan's troops begin to cross the river from upstream in large numbers, but he still did not attack, but continued to sit down and wait for the opportunity. At this time, on the main road east of Changsha City, the direction that had gradually become quiet due to the arrival of Wang Yan's troops was filled with smoke and dust again.
Han Liangchen sat on the top of the city wall and watched leisurely for a moment. After roughly calculating the number of this last batch of reinforcements, he couldn't help but exchange glances with his brother Jie Yuan. Obviously, guesses are just guesses, but when the reinforcements of no less than 60,000 arrived, they were still a little bit unbelievable, because it was hard for them to imagine how the government troops organized such a large-scale and decisive rescue operation?
Moreover, ever since the perfect charge by Da (Bai on top and Da on the bottom), Talai on the platform outside the city fell into complete rage and chaos.
The crossing of the river by Wang Yan's troops made this emotion out of control - because Yue Fei's flag was still flying downstream, and the troops on the east bank of the river were still supporting along the pontoon bridge with all their strength, and the great army still could not completely eliminate this army! This situation, coupled with the new battlefield opened up by Wang Yan's troops, meant that Talai had to face a dilemma that he had always wanted to avoid before. How many troops should be sent to stop Wang Yan, and how many troops should be left to guard against Han Shizhong behind him?
To be honest, despite his emotional breakdown, Talai was still sensitively aware of one thing, that is, he was really going to be in a tough battle today!
As for whether Pucha Hubalu can return to provide assistance in time, it is not a question of whether he can solve the current problem of the Song army, but a question of whether he can preserve his own army!
It would be great if we could force the opponent to retreat by then!
However, to Talan's surprise, after he sent three more Meng'ans to the riverside to coordinate with the main force (Shangbai and Xiada) in an attempt to stop the Song army, Han Shizhong in the city remained silent.
And precisely because of this silence, the battlefield has been confined to the banks of the Qingqi River. The Song army on the east bank began to use the ready-made floating bridges on the river to open up a large area of the battle line and expand the scope of the battlefield in order to demonstrate their numerical advantage, while the Jin cavalry began to move back and forth constantly, using their own resilience and cavalry mobility to barely hold on... Of course, under such circumstances, it would be a pipe dream for the Jin army to want to organize the previous large-scale charge.
The two sides seemed to be entering into some kind of torturous tug-of-war, which made Talai relax a little bit, because according to past experience, in this kind of battle that tests endurance and resilience, the final result is often that the Jin army will win.
But just a quarter of an hour later, seeing the reinforcements coming from the east coast again with smoke and dust rolling in, Talai was completely plunged into heartbeat and panic.
For some unknown reason, with the arrival of the last 20,000 reinforcements that had been expected, the Song army, numbering as many as 60,000 to 70,000 on the entire battlefield, began to gradually enter a state of inexplicable excitement... The two most obvious phenomena were that the Song army's speed of crossing the river to provide support and their desire to join the war greatly increased; at the same time, the Song army that was defeated by the Jin cavalry often gave up fleeing, and instead tried to reorganize and gather at the call of some officers.
"It must be the Song army commander Hu Yin himself!" A Han surrendered official explained. "In the past, most Song generals were cowardly, but Hu Mingzhong is so brave... But Marshal, don't worry. The Song army commander has no command ability and is new here. This kind of morale will soon be lost."
Talan believed this statement because they really looked similar.
But a quarter of an hour later, I don't know how many drums it was, but the inexplicable morale of the Song army was still not lost. Not only that, as a strange yellow flag with three tails came from afar, came to the riverside, and then almost without stopping, it got on the pontoon bridge and directly poured into Yue Fei's most solid formation with an elite force. The entire battlefield fell into a complete manic state.
Countless Song troops almost ignored their formation and swarmed across the river from various pontoon bridges. The speed at which the defeated soldiers from Hedong gathered was even more astonishing. The Jin cavalry, which was constantly moving back and forth, could no longer suppress the Song army's offensive across the river. In a short period of time, they lost their suppressive posture along the river.
But what was even more terrifying was that just after the big flag with a tail was erected in Hexi, the Changsha City, which had been too quiet, suddenly fell into a boiling chaos, and all the city gates were opened in an almost terrified manner. In the previous two or three months, Talai had become the most feared person by the right deputy marshal of the Jin army. After being silent for more than half an hour, he suddenly appeared inexplicably.
"Tear down the floating bridge!" Just as Talai was in a state of panic, Zhao Jiu had already arrived at Yue Fei's camp. After getting off his horse, the obviously flushed and nervous Zhao Song official took several deep breaths to barely lower his heart rate. But after his heartbeat recovered, he immediately turned around and gave a strange order to Li Qiong who followed him. "Tear down the floating bridge behind us, and then tell everyone to tear down the floating bridge after crossing the river! Tell them that today I have locked myself, them, and more than 10,000 Jin soldiers together... Only one family can get out alive!"
Li Qiong was stunned for a moment, then turned around and left in Yue Fei's silence... because the two people from Xiangzhou realized at the first moment that Emperor Zhao's crossing the river and demolishing the bridge was not a matter of pure courage, but a brilliant and somewhat cunning operation, because in this way, Pucha Hubalu's 10,000 fresh troops were isolated in Hedong.
In this way, even Emperor Zhao himself would be much safer.
