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

Chapter 131: The Central Army's Night Battle at Anhedong

The first thing to meet the Jin cavalry was not the spears or axes of the Xin Army soldiers, but a round of Shenbi bows and arrows.

The Xinzi Army had only a little over a hundred divine arm bows. Except for a dozen or so used for support in the camp, the rest were all distributed to this group of armored soldiers.

Most of these divine arm bows were seized from the Jin Dynasty's arsenal. Thanks to the fact that both Song and Jin dynasties were in a state of decline, the problems in the Song Dynasty's treasury were no less severe than those in the Jin Dynasty's treasury.

Therefore, the quality of this batch of Shenbi bows was also mixed. A round of volleys only knocked down three or four cavalrymen, causing the Jin army's offensive to slow down slightly.

It was because of this delay that dozens of cavalrymen at the back slowed down.

Because everyone knows that it is really a life-or-death situation for cavalry to break through the formation. As long as the infantry formation is more resolute, it will be enough to make the cavalry pay a heavy price.

These Jurchen cavalrymen are not the regular army of the Jin Dynasty, and they are not forced by strict military laws. Who would want to die if they can live?
However, the Golden Cavalry, who had originally worked together to break the formation and achieve complete victory, instantly split into two groups. One group, about thirty riders, led by Shuhu Chitie, charged forward with all their might, while the other group pulled hard on their reins, trying to stop their horses.

"Kill the thief!"

It happened in a flash, thirty steps were just a moment, Shuhu Chitie rushed to the front of the soldiers, and with his superb horsemanship, he thrust out his eight-foot-long spear and stabbed it into the chest of the leading soldier.

But that was all he could do. The next moment, his horse was pierced by three spears from different directions.

The warhorse neighed, but still maintained its inertia, with three broken spears stuck in its chest, and it knocked down three or four soldiers with the magic tiger's red iron.

The remaining thirty or so armored cavalry followed suit, but except for four who succeeded, the rest of the horses were forced to stop in front of the formation by spears and axes.

The reason was quite darkly humorous, because Shuhu Chitie and the four successful cavalry horses were too well-trained. They were not afraid of the spear tips flashing in the firelight, nor were they afraid of the armored soldiers lined up in dense formations.

So the war horses charged forward.

The horse was crashed into along with its owner.

Shuhu Chitie rolled on the ground, but was not seriously injured. He drew out the hand knife worn on his waist and slashed around like a mad tiger.

The night was heavy, with dark clouds covering the sky, dim firelight, and shadows of people everywhere. Shuhu Chitie, with bloodshot eyes, could not see the situation around him. He only knew that he was surrounded by enemies. However, as soon as he raised his knife, he was kicked hard in the waist and abdomen, and he was kicked out.

Liu Huai, who was fighting on foot in the formation, took a step forward and first cut off Shuhu Chitie's arm with a knife. Then he turned the tip of the knife and picked up the opponent's helmet. Then he stabbed Shuhu Chitie's neck with force.

After shaking off the blood on the tip of the knife, Liu Huai was distracted for a moment on the battlefield where the shouts of killing were deafening.

He was originally a virtuous young man in modern society, but after just over a month in the Song Dynasty, he was completely assimilated and turned into a big devil who killed people without blinking an eye. It can only be said that it was fate that played tricks on him.

Liu Huai thought so, but then he looked again at Shuhu Chitie, whose throat wound was still bleeding.

This person was indeed too reckless, but no one can say that recklessness was a mistake. In fact, there is no right or wrong in tactical choices, only should or should not.

For example, the armored soldiers of the Xin Army at this time seemed to be aggressive, but they were hastily assembled at night, started a field battle without any mobilization, and faced a large group of cavalry. They were really strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

In fact, the charge of only thirty cavalrymen had shaken the entire armored formation, forcing Xin Jingwei to dispatch the supervisory team and kill several fleeing soldiers before maintaining the formation.

In other words, if the one hundred Jin cavalrymen really charged into the battle line without regard for their own lives, they might suffer heavy casualties in the moment of contact, but they would really be able to completely defeat the Xin army soldiers.

This is a very cruel but also very realistic thing. When the cavalrymen wearing armor and riding tall horses nearly three meters tall form a cone formation and rush forward with overwhelming momentum, ordinary infantrymen are considered brave if they can hold their urine and still have saliva in their mouths.

While the Xin Army's armored soldiers were capable of fighting in battle, they were by no means the world's elite warriors, fearless and undaunted. "Axe, follow me! Follow me!"

On the noisy battlefield, Liu Huai stood out from the crowd, holding a long sword and roaring loudly.

Immediately, the personal soldiers assigned by Xin Qiji also shouted at the same time and followed Liu Huai forward.

Soon, dozens of armored soldiers holding axes were mobilized, forming a sparse array and charging towards the more than seventy Jin cavalrymen who had stopped.

These Jin cavalrymen had almost stopped, but horses were not as easy to turn as people. In addition, their commander Shu Hu Chi Tie was dead, so there was no one to command them. Some wanted to advance, some wanted to retreat, and they were stuck in a mess.

Of course, this confusion may only last for a moment, but in a life-and-death struggle, this moment is enough to decide life or death.

The axe-wielding soldiers chopped the knights' legs from above and the horses' legs from below. No matter whether the Jin army's cavalry was light or heavy, even if they didn't die immediately after being hit, their bones and tendons would be broken and they would suffer unbearable pain.

Although the soldiers' physical strength was depleted astonishingly and they were exhausted after only swinging their axes for half a minute, this half a minute was enough to teach the Jin cavalry a profound lesson.

More than thirty light cavalry and armored cavalry were killed in front of the formation, and more than sixty corpses of people and horses piled up together, forming a small, gentle hill.

Originally, Liu Huai wanted to leave the remaining thirty Jin cavalry behind, but when he saw that the Khitan light cavalry on both wings were indifferent and did not move forward to encircle them, he returned to the army with the tired axe-wielding soldiers.

With the help of the dim firelight, Liu Huai roughly scanned the battlefield and found that only five or six soldiers of the Xin Army were killed in the previous raid, and seventeen or eighteen were injured. Among them, the number of deaths was even less than the number of people who had just been executed by military law.

"Big victory!"

Liu Huai raised his sword and shouted loudly, also considering the previous battle as a great victory.

"Big victory!"

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

Someone shouted "Long live!" but it succeeded in distracting everyone. But no one cared. Even those inside the Xin army camp cheered.

Before the Tang Dynasty, "Wansui" was a common congratulatory expression, meaning to wish people to live to ten thousand years old. However, in the Song Dynasty, it became a title for the emperor, and ordinary people would get into trouble if they used it.

But hadn't the Song Dynasty been driven south of the Huai River? The Jin Dynasty's territories weren't so particular, or perhaps their weak grassroots governance made such considerations impossible. Remember, even the most materialistic of the Jin Dynasty's nobles wished each other to live to 120 years old. So what if the common people were just shouting "Long live!"?

Amidst the cheers of "Long Live the King", Shuhu Ali looked at the thirty riders who had fled back with a grim expression: "So, that's where you threw my nephew?"

No Jurchen cavalry dared to speak.

At this time, Jia Gushou, who had just arrived, put his big hand on Shuhu Ali's shoulder from behind and said, "Ali, now is not the time to talk about this. The boys are tired. Since this is a tough nut to crack, let's just do as He Lao San said."

Shuhu Ali nodded fiercely and said through gritted teeth: "These Han dogs are getting a bargain!"

After that, more than a thousand Jin cavalrymen moved forward in batches, but they did not storm the camp, nor did they attack the Xin army soldiers or Khitan light cavalry. Instead, they kept shooting arrows at the Xin army, some of which were rockets and even torches.

The Xin army was not to be outdone. They also drew their bows and shot arrows, relying on the wooden fences of the camp to shoot at the Jin army and had a lot of fun.

(End of this chapter)