Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 120 Who Can Ask Lian Po’s Old Age? (Part )

Zhang Chou is indeed not a fool.

When he discovered that the loyal army was retreating in large numbers, he knew that his plan had been exposed.

Then, Zhang Chou quickly fell into a dilemma.

At this time, they were only four miles away from the northwest corner of the Song army camp. If they walked faster, they would definitely arrive in two quarters of an hour at the latest, but there was no guarantee that the Loyal Army would not react and clash with them head-on.

But then again, why did Zhang Chou go through this even though he was being scolded? Wasn't it just to show who is the enemy, to show his determination, and to reassure the people?

The so-called winning over the people's hearts depends on nothing more than power and virtue. Zhang Chou is a powerful man who makes a living in the Jin Dynasty. He can't provide "virtue" at all. The only thing he can maintain is "power".

If Zhang Chou didn't even dare to curse at this time, and fled back to Zhuangzi in disgrace, he would have lost even his "prestige" and would have completely lost the support of the people.

So, after hesitating for a moment, Zhang Chou made up his mind and continued to lead his troops towards the camp of the Loyal Army.

Zhang Chou chose a route that was neither straight nor along the widest official road. Firstly, he did not want to trample on the crops, and secondly, he was really afraid that someone would hurt the laborers.

This was retaliation, a life-or-death struggle on the battlefield. Winning meant winning, losing meant losing, and no one could argue. But killing civilians, especially those who had just arrived to help with the autumn harvest, was another matter.

You can kill my men, but I can't kill your peasants? Both sides will settle their accounts and feel the pain, so mutual restraint is the best option.

But this also resulted in Zhang Chou and his eight hundred men finally reaching the Song army camp a little over two quarters of an hour later.

At this time, Wei Sheng had been waiting for a long time on the watchtower in a corner of the camp.

Seeing that only 800 people came, Wei Sheng couldn't help but show a hint of disappointment on his face, but he immediately smacked his lips.

No matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat and should be eaten.

"Pass on my command. Order Zhang Xiaoyi to lead a thousand spearmen from the right army and attack head-on."

"Order Zhang Baiyu to lead his cavalry, wearing only iron crotch and helmet, to catch the enemy as they retreat."

"Order Shi Qilang to lead his own 300 swordsmen and shields, bring plenty of hemp ropes, and prepare to capture prisoners."

"The rest of the generals are in reserve."

"Inform all the troops: the enemy's morale is low, so there's no need to inflict more casualties. This time, in my merit book, the living are more valuable than the dead."

"Here!"

Several military envoys bowed and nodded at the same time, then quickly delivered orders to the troops that were already prepared.

Zhang Chou arrived three hundred steps north of the Loyal Army camp. Just as he was about to deploy his troops, he heard a drumbeat. Several sections of wooden fences on the north and west sides of the camp were knocked down at the same time and placed over the trench, forming a small bridge.

First, more than a hundred cavalrymen carrying spears poured out of the camp. They did not form a battle line in front, but led by a large flag with the word "Zhang" embroidered with a white fish symbol, and passed by the west side of Zhang Chou's troops.

This caused the farmers to panic for a moment, but before Zhang Chou could respond, another group of nearly 300 loyal soldiers armed with swords and shields, led by a large flag with stone characters on it, trotted out from the easternmost side of the camp.

These sword and shield soldiers also had no intention of forming a battle formation, but instead they passed through the gap of nearly a mile between the Shu River and Zhang Chou's troops.

"Two Song troops have already run behind us! Brother, what should we do?" Ma Jintuo was also sweating profusely.

He originally thought that it was relatively far away from the east and west gates of the Loyal Army camp and also relatively safe. Who would have thought that the Loyal Army would actually take the initiative to push down the wooden fence of the camp?
This led to everyone miscalculating the speed of the Loyal Army's attack. The original plan of burning a few wooden fences and shouting a few curses to boost morale was instantly ruined.

And the situation quickly escalated to the point where swords and blades were used to fight each other.

How can sending troops from one gate be the same as sending troops from multiple gates at the same time?
"I... I... can't escape, I can't escape now, form a line! Form a line!" Zhang Chou swayed on his horse, gasping for breath and forcing himself to calm down. How could he not realize that he had come to the wrong place?

In terms of the number of troops, the quality of soldiers, and the wisdom and strategy of generals, how could Zhang Chou compare with this loyal and righteous army?
The eight hundred farmers formed a cluster of formations under the command of the small farmers and the stewards. This formation was designed to deal with invasions by bandits and civil fights. It was a small formation formed by familiar farmers cooperating with each other on the narrow winding road, a bit like the mandarin duck formation.

These small formations were then combined into a large formation, which became the formation that Zhang Chou has set up now.

But just as the formation was formed here, they heard the sound of drums in the Loyal Army camp. Although the drum beats were not urgent, they were clear and the sound shook the whole area.

More than a thousand loyal and righteous soldiers carrying 10-foot-long spears, under the command of a large banner with the words "Zhang, the Right Commander of the Loyal and Righteous Army" written on it, shouted the slogan "Serve and eat", marched out in two lines with neat steps.

In less than a moment, the thousand men had been divided into five teams and stood in front of Zhang Chou's troops. Each team of 200 men formed a square formation with four rows of 50 men in each row, and the five square formations formed a large horizontal formation.

Although these spearmen were wearing little armor, they stood like a forest with their eight-foot-long spears on their shoulders. From a distance, it really looked like a dense forest growing out of thin air.

Zhang Baicao was sweating profusely and shouted loudly: "Brother, give me all the cavalry! I will go and defeat the Song cavalry first and open up a retreat route!"

"Excluding the small village owners and the chief steward, we only have fifty cavalrymen, and we have to cover our flanks. How can we possibly fight you?" Zhang Chou suddenly shouted. "Let alone whether you can defeat those over a hundred Song cavalrymen, if you turn around and try to defeat the enemy behind you, what will the ordinary villagers think? They'll just think you've escaped! Our formation will immediately collapse!"

Zhang Baicao couldn't think of any rebuttal for a moment, because what he had just thought about was not to fight to the death with the cavalry of the Loyal Army, but to escape quickly.

Many smart people have realized that this battle cannot be fought today, including Zhang Chou, but he simply does not dare to give up the capital for his livelihood.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Xiaoyi finally completed the preliminary reorganization of the troops. Seeing that Zhang Chou's troops on the opposite side were neither attacking nor retreating, neither fighting nor making peace, how could he not know that he had taken away the enemy's morale?

Zhang Xiaoyi sneered, galloped his horse twice in front of the spear array, and shouted loudly: "Fire the spears!"

"Release the spear!"

"Release the spear!"

The team leaders, lieutenant commanders, cook leaders, and squad leaders at all levels also shouted at the same time.

The right army of the Loyal Army shouted at the same time. The two rear rows still carried their spears on their shoulders, while the two strong rows held their spears flat and pointed them directly at Zhang Chou's troops.

Originally, this was just a simple action, but when hundreds of people did it together, the sounds of spears breaking through the air mixed together to form a strange whimpering sound.

Although Zhang Chou's eight hundred farmers had training on weekdays and had caught thieves and fought for canals, they had never seen a regular army display such a formation and were immediately shocked.

But Zhang Chou himself was also so shocked that he was completely stunned.

"Enter!"

Zhang Xiaoyi shouted the order again, and the spear formation of a thousand people was like a wall. They shouted the slogan "Serve and eat" and slowly pressed forward.

At that time, the two armies were only one mile apart.

(End of this chapter)