Volume 3 Chapter 22 You Know and I Know
The rain did slow down, but it was enough to obscure people's figures, wet the flags, and make bows and crossbows ineffective, making it basically difficult to deploy the battle formation, so the battle was ultimately conducted in an unusual form.
And on the official road on the south side of Wushan Mountain, a man with a strong build, riding a big horse, holding two swords, and wearing full armor, was looking at the gray Song army camp and battlefield in front of Beixin Bridge in front of him, but he just stood on his horse in the rain, solemnly silent.
This person is Li Cheng.
It is said that when the Song court discussed the Pseudo-Qi before, they all believed that after Liu Yu, Liu Lin, Li Cheng, and Kong Yanzhou were the three most important to watch out for, which was of course correct. But in fact, in terms of winning the hearts of the army and prestige, Kong and Liu were inferior to Li Cheng in more than one aspect. In other words, from this perspective, Li Cheng was not on the same level as the other two.
Although they had to cross the river and attack in the rain, it did not mean that Li Cheng's troops had no place to stay for the night... Beixinqiao was an important transportation route of the Jishui River, and about three or four miles away there was a small settlement formed due to trade and transportation. However, due to the previous visits of the Jin army and now the Battle of Pingyin, the people here had long since dispersed... In any case, this was a natural place to take shelter from the rain.
However, Li Cheng arrived in the middle of the night. Although he occupied the settlement and drove out the vanguard troops, and asked his elite central army to occupy the settlement for rest, he himself went out of the town and slept in the rain with the vanguard soldiers. When the battle started at daybreak, although he knew that ordinary soldiers could not see his shape in the rain, he still stood up and stood in the rain.
He truly has the demeanor of a great general.
Of course, there were people who could see this behavior. Hong Ya, the prime minister of the pseudo-Qi state who was ordered to come and supervise the army, had just finished his rest in the small village and came to look for Li Cheng on horseback with an umbrella. When he saw this scene from behind Li Cheng, he first folded the umbrella, hung it on the horse, and then stood in the rain for a while before riding forward and standing side by side with Li Cheng.
Besides, Li Cheng, the master of the double swords, is one of the best in the world, and how good is his eyesight? He had already caught a glimpse of the shape of this "prime minister" just now, but he just pretended not to know...
After all, this Hong Ya is more than just the prime minister of the Great Qi. There are rumors that he was originally the confidant of Talai, the right deputy marshal of the Jin Dynasty, and saved Talai's life. It was even this man who cleaned up the mess and maintained the situation when Talai was defeated and fled to Changsha.
And when Talai retreated to Hebei, this man was ordered to go to Daming Prefecture to negotiate with the Prime Minister and Grand Marshal Nianhan of the Jin Dynasty on the establishment of the Great Qi. Unexpectedly, he caught the eye of Grand Marshal Nianhan. So when the Great Qi was established this time, Hong Ya was actually the Prime Minister of the Great Qi who took over from Daming Prefecture... In other words, he was not only a Prime Minister of the Great Qi, nor was he the military supervisor of Li Cheng's Qingzhou soldiers this time. He was more like a military supervisor sent by the Great Jin Dynasty to the Great Qi!
Even the Emperor Liu Yu of the Great Qi Dynasty had to show seven points of courtesy to this person, so logically, Li Cheng should also show three points of courtesy.
However, Li Cheng, the lord of Qingzhou, Mizhou and Weizhou, the so-called Grand Commander of Qi State, was not an ordinary warrior. He knew from the beginning that a warlord like himself with no foundation must have political support in order to survive for a long time, and then find a good opportunity to gradually expand... Therefore, he was very courteous to this Prime Minister Hong.
"Thank you for your hard work, Grand Commander." Hong Ya rode his horse to Li Cheng's side and looked at him calmly. "How is the battle going in the front?"
"Mr. Hong has worked hard!" Li Cheng was also calm. "The battle ahead is not going well."
Hong Ya was slightly startled, but he looked at the chaotic camp in front of him with a little hesitation: "How do you know? Can the Grand Commander see the battle situation clearly? Or is there something I don't understand?"
"It's not some mysterious truth." Li Cheng continued in a stern voice. "It's just that I discipline my army very strictly. I issued an order to Du Yan in the morning. As long as we break into the enemy camp a hundred steps and occupy the fence and the camp gate, we will blow the horn as quickly as possible. Then my central army, which has rested all night, will take advantage of the situation and rush forward. Du Yan will not dare to disobey... But so far, the sound of the horn has not been heard."
"I see, it seems like they are still fighting for the victory." Hong Ya sighed and twirled his beard. "After the battle at Changshe, the morale of the Song army was greatly boosted, and they were no longer afraid of the Jin army. Moreover, we met them unexpectedly in the rain yesterday, and our plan to pretend to be the Jin army did not work..."
"The best scenario is that they will see each other off at the fence," Li Cheng ignored the other party's nonsense and made a further analysis. "The worst scenario is that this group of Song soldiers is very elite and directly blocks Du Yan's Mizhou soldiers at the edge of the camp, killing them in an orderly manner... In that case, the Mizhou soldiers will soon be unable to bear the casualties, and Du Yan will have to come to apologize before the army is defeated!"
"I see."
Hong Ya couldn't help but look at Li Cheng a little more, but he didn't lose his composure because of his words... After all, who hasn't experienced defeat? The key point is that Li Cheng said this so calmly, which made people doubt his thoughts and respect him even more.
No matter what, he always has the demeanor of a great general!
However, just as Hong Ya was lost in thought, the slap in the face happened - in the drizzle, countless Qi troops, that is, Du Yan's Mizhou soldiers, suddenly rolled back like a tide, and the movement was so great that even in the rain one could get a glimpse of their momentum.
Li Cheng was obviously stunned, then his face became gloomy, but he waved slightly to his side.
Following the signal from the Qi State Grand Commander, hundreds of cavalrymen who had been waiting on both sides of the official road suddenly emerged from the rain. Of course, Hong Xianggong had already seen the personal guards of Grand Commander Li, but only then did he notice that these cavalrymen were not only fully armored, but also held a long-handled single-edged broadsword in their hands, and the blade was more than two feet long... and at this time, the blade was exposed, even in the rain, it was still bright, which was amazing!
Then, regardless of the slippery muddy ground due to the rain, the cavalry lined up in a horizontal line and rode forward. The officers stayed behind and shouted, demanding that the fleeing soldiers in front turn back and line up immediately, while the vast majority of the long-sword cavalry, however, faced the fleeing soldiers without haste or delay, and moved forward calmly, and then as soon as they came into contact with the fleeing army formation, they hacked and killed them wantonly.
For a moment, the official road under the southern mountains of our mountain was littered with broken limbs and bodies, and the noise caused was even louder than the previous battle, especially the wailing sounds which were even more terrifying.
But no matter what, the defeated soldiers were quickly reorganized, and the soldiers who had chased out of the Song army camp in front of the bridge immediately gave up the pursuit and turned back to defend.
The situation stabilized a little. Li Cheng was not in a hurry, but he actually glanced at Hong Ya beside him. Seeing that the other party's expression did not change, he stroked his beard and sighed, and he showed a little more respect to him.
"Mr. Hong, please wait a moment." A moment later, several cavalrymen with long swords carrying shining swords drove over an officer in fine armor. Seeing this, Li Cheng first said goodbye to Hong Ya, then turned around and spoke to the officer in front of the horse. "Where are Wu Shun and Du Yan? Why did you lose to such an extent?"
"Brother Du is dead!" Wu Shun was lying in the mud in front of his horse, soaked by the rain, his feet were in the mud, and he was panting. He looked very embarrassed, but because he had several long swords at his side and Li Cheng was in front, he had to explain hurriedly. "Let the commander know that it's not that we didn't do our best, but that this Song army is not an ordinary place, but the trusted imperial guards of Emperor Zhao! So even though there are only two thousand of them, they have been able to hold our five or six thousand Mizhou soldiers tightly for two days..."
Li Cheng and Hong Ya, who had been holding back their stance, finally changed color at the same time. They had originally crossed the river to launch a surprise attack, coming in the rain, and then suddenly engaged in a battle for a day and a night. Even if they had sporadic intelligence, how could they determine the origin of this elite force in front of them?
In fact, on that day in Yanggu, Zhang Maode just thought it was the "royal army" from Tokyo, but he didn't know that it was the imperial guards.
After all, unless one had direct or indirect contact with the official, who would believe that the officials of the Zhao Song Dynasty would be willing to throw away their own guards as consumables?
When they came back to the present, Li and Hong both changed color. Hong Ya regained his composure immediately, but Li Cheng couldn't help but scolded him harshly: "How did you know it was the imperial guard?"
"Let the commander know that it was the government troops who confessed!" Wu Shun kowtowed and answered. "We fought for half a morning today . We thought we could keep fighting, but when both sides were exhausted, the enemy led his personal guards to hide behind the government soldiers on the front line. No matter how tragic the front line was, they just didn't move. When my brother ordered the soldiers in the front to rotate, they suddenly took advantage of the situation and rushed straight to my brother... But my brother was caught off guard and was killed by him! At this time, the warriors beside the man shouted that the one who killed my brother was Yang Yizhong, the commander of the imperial guards and the head of the Imperial City Division!"
Li Ben instinctively sneered: "How do you know he is not taking advantage of the situation to bluff you defeated soldiers? If you hadn't heard that it was the imperial guards, why would you have dispersed to this extent?"
"I'm not bluffing. It's probably true." At this moment, Hong Ya suddenly spoke and made an assertion.
Li Cheng turned around and was slightly startled: "Mr. Hong...?"
"Yang Yizhong must have received the direct order of the Zhao Song official to come here." Hong Ya answered with a proud look. "And I, Hong , am a humble man, but I was defeated by the Zhao Song official in Changsha. That day, under Changsha City, I saw the Zhao Song official's dragon flag from afar. Like General Li, I didn't believe it, but I led a hundred cavalrymen to penetrate the formation to observe the situation. When I arrived in front of the dragon flag, more than half of the hundred cavalrymen were killed or injured, but I could see clearly... From that day on, I knew that the temperament of the official in Dongjing City was not like that of a descendant of the Zhao family! And today, Yang Yizhong led the imperial guards here, which is exactly the right way!"
Li Cheng still hesitated.
Hong Ya was not in a hurry, but twirled his beard and sneered: "Even if the Grand Commander cannot trust me, he should at least trust the fifteen Meng Ans who were killed in front of Changsha City!"
Li Cheng finally said solemnly: "So, the guards in front are really the imperial guards?"
Hong Ya still sneered: "I know the Emperor of Zhao Song, so I am willing to believe it!"
Li Cheng looked up to the sky and sighed, "If that's the case, won't this battle be difficult?"
Hong Ya was slightly startled, and squinted at the other party: "What do you mean by that, Grand Commander?"
Li Cheng immediately sighed and said, "Mr. Hong, think about it, the imperial guards are the best soldiers in the world, how elite are they? If they insist on defending, how can we easily break through?"
"We have 20,000 troops, but the enemy only has 1,000 or 2,000 troops, and they don't have a river to defend themselves, but a river to defend their camp. How can even the elite troops survive and be defeated?" Hong Ya laughed. "Didn't we kill 200 or 300 of them on the spot when we suddenly engaged in battle yesterday? Even if the Mizhou troops were defeated today, there would be no casualties?"
Li Cheng finally smiled: "Mr. Hong, I am not saying that we cannot defeat them, but the imperial guards are so elite that even if we wear them down, the chance of victory will be lost. Moreover, they should have asked for help yesterday. By then, they may not have been worn down yet, and reinforcements may have arrived..."
Hong Ya continued to twirl his beard and smiled: "If that's the case, how about leaving the Mizhou soldiers to guard the imperial guards, and we force a crossing from Huajiakou downstream and attack Pingyin directly from the flank?"
Li Cheng shook his head and continued to smile: "The Mizhou soldiers have suffered such a defeat, how can they keep an eye on the imperial guards?"
Hong Ya finally stopped laughing and said, "In that case, why don't you and I withdraw our troops and return to Liaocheng, north of the Yellow River?"
This is very vicious... If 20,000 people hurriedly crossed the Yellow River, but were forced back to the north bank of the Yellow River by 2,000 squads within two days, I am afraid that the Jin army on the north bank of the Yellow River might be able to cut off Li Cheng directly in Liaocheng!
However, after hearing this, Li Cheng also became serious, but he was not in a hurry to reply. Instead, he nodded slightly to the long-sword knights in front of him... The latter understood, and one of them was in the best position and the most correct angle, and he chopped down at the neck of the man on the horse, and killed Wu Shun, the number two figure of the Mizhou army, right in front of Li Cheng and Hong Ya, and the head of the Five Yang fell to the ground on the spot!
Wu Shun had been lying on the ground listening to the conversation between the two important figures, and he thought he had already saved his life. He even wanted to volunteer when they talked about the Mizhou soldiers guarding the imperial guards...but Li Cheng immediately objected, so he remained lying on the ground motionless.
The result? He suddenly lost his life!
After all, this person forgot that Li Cheng was strict in managing his army. Not to mention the previous defeats, Wu Shun failed to gather his troops after the death of his commander, so they were doomed to fail.
Back in front of us, we saw the head rolling in front of the horses of Li and Hong, and the body was gushing out warm blood, spraying the mud around the front hooves of the war horses into a blood-red color. However, several long-sword knights did not even look at it, and turned around and returned to their teams.
Li Cheng, on the other hand, stared at Hong Ya the whole time. Seeing that the other party was still not afraid, he made up his mind and finally spoke frankly: "Mr. Hong, let me tell you the truth... You only know the Zhao Song official, but not the other person, and I only knew the other person before, but not the Zhao Song official, so we each got here with a little luck. And now that we have come to this point, and at this time, we should open our hearts to each other and let each other understand the future."
Hong Ya just twirled his beard and said nothing.
Li Cheng did not keep anyone in suspense: "I didn't take this battle seriously at first, because everyone thought Yue Pengju was young, and if he integrated the 100,000 troops of the Tokyo Garrison into 50,000 or 60,000, there would definitely be chaos. Even if there was no chaos, the internal situation would be difficult, and it would be difficult to march out to fight. But I knew his ability... That's why he stayed in Liaocheng for a long time before, until the sky turned gloomy and he thought he could fight a quick battle, and then he made up his mind to cross the river! But who could have expected this to happen?"
Hong Ya was slightly moved, and then said: "Although Yue Pengju and I had a fight in Changsha that day, he was just one of the generals and was not outstanding. I wonder how his ability compares to Han Shizhong?"
"I have not met Han Shizhong, so I cannot be convinced by him." Li Cheng answered frankly. "But I have met Yue Pengju, and I am a little bit inferior to him in terms of martial arts and bearing! I dare not say I am convinced, but I believe in his ability and know that he is a person who cannot be underestimated!"
Hong Ya hesitated for a moment, and seeing that there was no one around, he said simply: "What does the Grand Commander want to do? Do you think that the Emperor of Zhao Song and the generals in front of us are both powerful people, and we will definitely lose this battle, so why not just waste time here and wait and see?"
"Yes and no!" Li Cheng responded sternly. "We are blocked here. If we cannot remove or force back the imperial guards in front of us before noon today, the battle of Dongping will be completely ruined. But as a general, how can I retreat in the face of battle? If I wanted to retreat, I would not have gone to Liaocheng to wait in the first place..."
"What exactly does the Grand Commander want to do? Please speak clearly!" Hong Ya became impatient and urged directly.
"I want to lead my elite troops to attack the enemy in front of us. If we can defeat them and drive them back before noon, we will continue to besiege Pingyin from here or downstream." Li Cheng also answered simply. "If this is not possible, then please forgive me for being frank. We two should just waste some time here and wait and see what happens. After all, the Jin Kingdom has tens of thousands of soldiers in Daming Prefecture behind us. We can't let Jinan Prefecture be lost, right?"
Hong Ya finally reined in his horse and smiled again: "If so, I will wait and see what the Grand Commander can do!"
After receiving the promise from the military supervisor, Li Cheng no longer had any political worries, so he said nothing and spurred the warhorse under him with his bare hands, jumping over the broken body in front of the horse and charging forward. Hundreds of cavalrymen with long swords around him followed the officers' orderly orders and rode their horses.
For a moment, although there were only a few hundred cavalrymen on both sides of Li Cheng, they advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, with long swords like a forest, and they created a momentum in the easing rain.
As for the Prime Minister of the Great Qi, Hong Ya, he stopped behind this man for a while, first glanced at the head right in front of his horse's hoof, then stared coldly at the other person's back, trying hard to hide a scholar's instinctive disgust for such a warrior in troubled times, and then rode forward to see the outcome.
