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

Chapter 155: Mounting a Horse and Crossing the River to Defeat the Mad Hu (Part )
For the Jin army, this battle did not go well from the beginning.

Because everyone imagined that they had at least one or two days to rest, but no one expected that the Loyal Army would attack so suddenly and decisively.

Too hasty.

But there was nothing that could be done about it. Since the Jin army had first won and then lost at the hands of the Tianping army, they had completely lost the initiative. Whether to fight or make peace depended on the attitude of the Zhongyi army.

However, because of the weak point of Cangcheng, the Jin army had to go out of the city to fight.

At this time, Pushandama could only curse the Loyal Army for their lack of martial ethics and curse Liu Fen in his heart, for he just sat in Linyi and did not even leave the city to deploy defenses along the Yishui River.

If Liu Fen knew about this, she would naturally feel aggrieved.

It was already remarkable that the Commander Pushan had taken all the fighting troops out and mobilized the young and strong men in the city to prepare for the defense of the city. But in just a few days, what could he use to reinforce the defense line of Yishui?

He couldn't even do anything to the scouts of the Loyal Army!

But it doesn’t matter. It’s meaningless to worry about who is right or wrong at this point.

In terms of numbers, the Jin army still had the advantage, but as the loyal army crossed the river in large numbers, the advantage was gradually eliminated.

Can't wait any longer.

Just when Pushandarmo was about to lead his troops forward, he found that the Loyal Army had launched an attack first. He then gave orders for the infantry to hold their ground and for the Jurchen cavalry to join the battle.

After all, defense still has to have certain advantages.

Then Pushandarmo seemed to discover that the Loyal Army's large horizontal formation seemed to be somewhat out of touch.

"No disconnect." Liu Huai responded calmly to Luo Shenyan's question. He calculated that after about half a quarter of an hour, when the three generals Zhang, Shi, and Wei on the left wing had advanced about six or seven hundred steps, he ordered a thousand spears to advance in a horizontal formation. "This is to allow the left wing to engage He Boqiu first and see how that Pusan Damo responds."

Luo Shenyan narrowed his eyes. "What if Pushandarmo divides his forces to encircle the left wing?"

Liu Huai shook his head: "Then they will be in chaos in the battle, and even their butts will be exposed. The spear formation will just press forward and crush their center."

After saying this, Liu Huai summoned the military envoy and said, "Send a message to Zhang Baiyu: If those Jurchen cavalry dare to harass the spear formation, the armored cavalry must charge. Tell him clearly, I want to see him break through the enemy lines with his White Fish Banner!"

After the military envoy took his orders and left, Liu Huai and the fifty armored cavalrymen behind him rode on foot, hiding their figures behind the spear formation. He continued to explain to Luo Shenyan, "The left wing concentrates the most elite infantry from the front and right armies, led by a fierce general. The opposing Jin bandits are the exhausted He Boqiu. As the saying goes, Tian Ji's horse race: the superior team against the inferior team, there is no reason for them not to win."

The Jin bandits' central army, facing our spear array, would never dare to move rashly. The only concern is the less than two hundred armored cavalry. Although they are also exhausted, their fighting spirit and combat effectiveness are unmatched by the other Jin bandits in Yizhou."

Liu Huai paused and said, "And I am here to deal with these Jin thieves and armored cavalry!"

At the beginning, the two armies were only three miles apart, which was too close. In less than a moment, the left wing of the Loyal Army had rushed in front of He Boqiu and started fighting with the He family army.

He's army fell into a disadvantage almost instantly.

This is a very helpless thing.

The reason why the Jin army in Yizhou raided the Tianping army first was because the Jin army was completely suppressed by the Zhongyi army in the small-scale combat that these powerful people were best at.

Dozens of people were fighting in formation in the fields. The most powerful farmer in Hejiazhuang said that he could not defeat the loyal army even if he died.

Given this discrepancy in power, deploying a large formation to directly confront or attack the Loyalty Army camp would be even more outrageous. That was a realm the powerful landowners could never touch!

At this time, the He family army, which was already exhausted and extremely frightened, was facing an army of 1,300 composed of the most elite parts of the front army and the right army of the loyal and righteous army.

Under such circumstances, the He family army did not collapse immediately, which was enough to show that He Boqiu was very capable.

He Boqiu immediately asked for help from the central army.

If you, the Grand Marshal Pushan, don't send out your armored cavalry, I really won't be able to hold on any longer.

However, after receiving He Boqiu's request for help, Pushandama still hesitated.

I swear to God, this time it really wasn't Pushandarmo who had any ethnic prejudice and thought that the Han people were lowly and could be abandoned.

It was because the unusually wide forest of spears had already stopped and formed a formation three hundred steps away.

The spear formation of the front army of the Loyal Army was different from that of the right army. On the one hand, the armor rate was higher, but more importantly, in order to ensure flexibility, the front army focused on training in units of ten.

This of course led to a relatively bloated officer corps in the front army. Almost all the rank of captain, team leader, and general above the rank of squad leader had two or three deputies. But in Liu Huai's view, these were all worth it.

With enough officers to command and control them, a large horizontal formation of a thousand people with spears, composed of small squares of fifty people, actually maintained an orderly march for two miles before it became a little bent.

Pushandharma was also knowledgeable. Seeing that he had to fight against such an army, how could he dare to send more troops to assist He Boqiu?
Although the 2,000 infantrymen serving as the central army were all defenders of Linyi City and had not experienced failure or escape in Mengshan, hundreds of them were civilian laborers who were just filling in the numbers and could not even fight a favorable battle. It was a pure battlefield atmosphere group.

The only ones who could fight were the 1,300 to 1,400 Yizhou garrison troops.

Therefore, although it seems that the number of troops in the Jin army's central formation is twice that of the Loyal Army's spear formation, the actual difference in combat troops is really not that big.

Pushandarmo had his own overall considerations, but he did not delay He Boqiu from becoming completely angry and desperate.

Last night, Pushandarmo had sincerely admitted his fault and apologized, which had softened He Boqiu's heart and made him determined to help him. But today, he abandoned him so readily. Who could bear this?
"Sanlang, surrender!" He Lai, also retreating from the front lines in a panic, a feather arrow still stuck in his shoulder, didn't care whether saying this would hurt morale. "Surrender now while our men haven't suffered too many casualties. How can we be a match for the Loyal Army right now? If we lose later, how many casualties will we suffer from trampling on each other?"

He Boqiu looked at the two hundred light cavalrymen who had not yet been dispatched. He opened his mouth but was about to speak when He Lai, as if he knew something, interrupted him: "Sanlang, the loyal army's formation is too solid. We can't charge it. Not to mention our light cavalry, even the governor's armored cavalry can't charge it. There will only be useless casualties."

He Boqiu sighed to the sky and was speechless for a moment in the chaotic battlefield.

At this time, it was not just He Lai, but the generals around him - even the generals fighting on the front line - all turned back frequently, wanting to hear He Boqiu's decision.

"Let's go, let's spread out."

He Boqiu was completely powerless after seeing this. He waved his hand and said loudly, "Go back to Hejiazhuang. If you encounter the Loyalty Army who try to stop you, just surrender directly. They won't make things difficult for you."

After a while, the formation of the He family army completely collapsed and the farmers fled in all directions.

He Boqiu, along with the He family army that was unable to retreat at the front line, abandoned his troops and surrendered, allowing the Loyalty Army to tie him up tightly.

The official battle lasted only a quarter of an hour before the right wing of the Jin army on the south side was destroyed.

(End of this chapter)