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

Chapter 133: Trampling Human Life

The 300 armored cavalry of the Jin army led by Pushandamo were different from those miscellaneous cavalry on the east bank of the Anzi River. They were the real main cavalry of the Jin Dynasty.

Because Pushandama's status was much higher than Gao Wenfu's. Gao Wenfu was only a hereditary Mouke and theoretically could only have a hundred personal soldiers, but Pushandama was a hereditary Meng'an, which is what the Han people called a Wanhu official.

The Jin Dynasty court allocated a total of one thousand personal soldiers to the hereditary Meng'an.

Hereditary Meng'an were naturally extremely valuable during the founding of the Jin Dynasty. They were positions that combined military and political power, granting them both military and administrative authority, and even fiefdoms. For example, Wanyan Loushi was the hereditary Meng'an of Huanglong Prefecture, responsible for all military and civilian finances.

But it is obvious that this kind of title that combines military and political power is bound to be a thorn in the eyes of the centralized central government. Therefore, after Wanyan Liang's reforms, the hereditary Meng'an and hereditary Mouke lost their fiefdoms and only had some military power left.

But without fiefdom, how could he earn money? Without money, how could he support his own army?
Besides, Emperor Wanyan Liang has already made it clear that he wants to take back power, so if he continues to keep so many personal soldiers, wouldn’t that be courting death?
Therefore, even though theoretically Pushandarmo could maintain a thousand armored cavalry, he only maintained three hundred of them, and placed them under the command of the state's military commander, Wang Xiongyi.

Pushandharma did not consider himself a general with ten thousand chariots, he only had the courage of a single man.

But the courage of one man, along with a few trusted generals and three hundred armored cavalry, is enough to shake the situation of the battle.

The first to be slaughtered were the soldiers of the Heavenly King's Army who remained in the camp and the civilians who were unable to fight.

The camps built by the Tianwang Army and the Rulin Army were originally defective. They were more like fences made of branches than wooden fences.

The Jin army's armored cavalry were all riding tall horses. They didn't even need to cross the camp, but just kicked through it. They threw torches everywhere, not only setting the tents on fire, but also burning the food and grass gathered in the center of the camp.

Anyone who stood in the way, regardless of gender, age or status, was killed and trampled upon.

"Great!" Pushandama shook his 10-foot-long spear, throwing away the three or four-year-old child that had been impaled on it. He then shouted, "Wang Xiongyi, you lead a hundred cavalry to my left; Gao Anren, you lead a hundred cavalry to protect my right; I will lead a hundred cavalry as the vanguard. Just watch me defeat the bandits!"

After saying this, Pushandharma led a hundred riders behind him and went ahead.

Wang Xiongyi glanced at the child who was thrown on the side of the road like garbage. A ferocious smile appeared on his face. He also raised his long sword and shouted: "Forward! Forward! Follow the prefect Pushan, forward!"

Gao Anren remained silent, but his blood was boiling and he was filled with murderous intent.

After hastily forming a battle formation, the three hundred armored cavalrymen once again charged towards the Heavenly King's army with unstoppable momentum.

He Boqiu looked at the situation in the distance, sneered and said to his confidants around him: "Since the Pushan prefect has come as promised, I naturally can't be perfunctory anymore. Raise my banner and follow me!"

After that, He Boqiu led his personal guards to attack the Heavenly King's army head-on. The farmers in Hejiazhuang, who were already exhausted and at a disadvantage, also mustered up their courage and followed suit to fight forward.

As for the Tianping Army, at this time, not to mention the ordinary Tianwang Army soldiers, even Geng Jing was in a panic when he saw the fire in the camp behind him. However, looking at the broken pontoon bridge and the east bank where people and horses were still neighing, Geng Jing finally felt a little regretful.

I should have known not to send Li Tieqiang across the river. If the Rulin army was lined up behind him, with neat spear formations and long spears like a forest, no cavalry would dare to charge forward.

But it's too late to say this.

"Brother, what should we do?" Zhang Anguo and Ye Shichan were not too far away from Geng Jing, and they hurried over to ask.

Geng Jing panted heavily and gave an order hesitantly: "Let's..."

It was too late to do anything. Although the road conditions were worse at night and more than a dozen Jin soldiers were killed or injured by horses' stumbles, the armored cavalry were running at full speed. Three teams of 100 armored cavalry formed a cone formation and, with a desperate attitude of leaving no room for retreat, they slammed into the back of the Heavenly King's army.

The Heavenly King's army, which was already frightened and panicked, immediately fell into chaos and collapsed like a sand castle hit by huge waves.

Those defeated soldiers and Ye Shichan's troops who had been beaten half to death were already exhausted. The Heavenly King's Army could at least be organized into groups, but the rest of the defeated troops were completely defeated.

He Boqiu had two thousand infantrymen in the south, Pushandamo had three hundred armored cavalrymen in the north, and nearly ten thousand defeated Tianping soldiers were trapped in a narrow terrain surrounded by mountains and rivers by more than two thousand Jin soldiers, unable to live or die.

Geng Jing was stunned, but then he calmed down completely. He quickly ordered, "Zhang Qi, Ye Er, we can't wait for reinforcements. You two take your men and run to the Anzi River. Although the Anzi River is narrow and shallow, it's enough to hold off the Jin thieves for a while. Run as far as you can. Once you get behind Xin Wulang, you'll be safe."

Zhang Anguo nodded quickly, then started again: "Brother, what are you going to do?" "I'll cover your retreat!" Geng Jing drew out a long sword that was more than a man's height: "Stop talking nonsense, and get going!"

After saying this, Geng Jing ordered his personal guards to raise the big flag, hold up the torches, shout out their own names, and march towards the big flag of Pushan on foot.

Ye Shichan panted heavily and watched the scene silently. After bowing respectfully, he waded into the Anzi River with his own flag.

Zhang Anguo's blood boiled, and he wanted to fight to the death with Geng Jing, but when he thought of saving his life, he couldn't help but feel afraid. Geng Jing's order served as a cover. Driven by a complex feeling of shame, guilt, and relief, Zhang Anguo still carried his flag and followed Ye Shichan to swim to the other side of the Anzi River.

The defeated Tianping Army seemed to have found an exit in the darkness and followed suit by jumping into the Anzi River.

It should be said that Geng Jing is a man of both prestige and responsibility. In such a chaotic night, a man like him who raises the flag and wants to fight to the death will naturally gather many people who have not yet completely lost their courage.

Soon, the nearly 200 people who went upstream with Geng Jing attracted the attention of Pushandharma.

Nearly 10,000 defeated soldiers rushed in all directions, making the night extremely chaotic.

Even though Pushandarmo's armored cavalry were well-trained, they were inevitably vulnerable to the onslaught. This wasn't to say that a rout would overwhelm the organized elite armored cavalry, but rather that the armored cavalry would inevitably be divided, separated, or even lost.

Therefore, at this time, Pushandarmo could only command fifty or sixty cavalrymen, but when he saw the big flag with the word Geng on it, he immediately realized that Geng Jing was under that flag, and he became extremely excited.

"Follow me to kill the thief Geng and pacify Shandong!"

Pushandarmo almost shouted out in excitement, and swung his eight-foot-long steel spear left and right, sweeping away the defeated soldiers blocking the road. He used himself and the big flag as a command to make the Jin army gather towards him, and thus surrounded and killed Geng Jing.

Both Pushandamo and Geng Jing were absolutely confident in their own martial arts. They broke away from the formation at the same time, and attacked at the same time, one step and one horse. Pushandamo used the 10-foot steel spear as a blunt weapon to chop it down with all his might, while Geng Jing stood firmly on his horse and lifted up his long sword from the ground.

By chance, the two main generals faced each other and tried to finish each other off in a one-on-one duel.

"kill!"

"Bah!"

After two angry shouts, the sound of weapons clashing was so deafening that it drowned out the shouts and cries of killing around.

Both of them felt numb in their arms, but they were both extremely ferocious.

"What a thief!"

"Come again!"

The two long weapons collided again.

This time, Geng Jing staggered back two steps.

Originally, Pushandamo wanted to use his mount to gain an advantage, but the warhorse was also exhausted after carrying such a giant through the battle. After two wrestling matches, it could not stand steadily. After a long neigh, it fell to the ground.

Geng Jing wanted to take advantage of his illness to kill him, but the opponent's guards rushed up without caring about their lives and fought with Geng Jing's guards.

Pushandarmo pulled his leg free from under his horse, feeling a mixture of shame and anger. He threw down his 10-foot-long spear, snatched the long sword from his personal guard, and limped back into the battle.

At this time, the rest of the Jin army also surrounded them. Under the siege from three sides, Geng Jing did not dare to fight any longer. He took the opportunity to kill several more Jin soldiers and turned around and left.

After Pushandamo had chased for a few steps, he saw Geng Jing jump into the Anzi River. In the dim firelight, the Anzi River, which was full of dead bodies, only made a few ripples, and it was difficult to find Geng Jing anymore.

(End of this chapter)