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

Chapter 157: Mounting a Horse and Crossing the River to Defeat the Mad Hu (End)
"for how long?"

"Two quarters of an hour, no...it should be less than two quarters of an hour, the two wings of the Jin bandits were defeated."

On the hillside, Xin Qiji and Li Yizhenjin stood side by side, both speechless.

Even though the two wings of the Jin thieves were already tired, the speed of their collapse was too damn fast.

Xin Qiji said nonchalantly, "How long do you think the Jin bandits' central army can hold out? Let's bet, how about less than two quarters of an hour?"

"Since Mr. Xin is so interested, I'll follow him and stay a couple of minutes longer. But to be honest..." Li Yizhen shook his head, "I'm not sure either. Although the Jin bandits' central army has over 2,000 infantry, a similar number to the Loyalty Army crossing the river, their combat effectiveness is clearly far inferior. Tsk tsk, 2,000 Jin soldiers are huddled together, their horizontal array width not even matching Liu Dalang's 1,000 men. This is truly..."

Xin Qiji sighed inexplicably, "So, in other words, the Loyalty Army could easily defeat the Jin Kingdom's garrison troops, which outnumber them, in a field battle?"

Li Yizhen scratched his head. "It's not that easy. After all, our Tianping Army has been at the receiving end. I don't believe that if the Jin bandits had put all their efforts into fighting the Loyalty Army from the beginning, they would have been able to handle it so easily."

As he spoke, Li Yizhenjin counted on his fingers again, "Pusan Damo's elite armored cavalry are 300, the Linyi garrison has 2,000, and the Jurchen cavalry is 2,000. That group of powerful men can probably muster 5,000. Wow, even if Linyi goes all out, they can still muster so many troops."

After finishing the calculation, Li Yizhenjin was also shocked: "If the Jin thieves send all their troops to attack the Loyalty Army first, I am sure that Liu Dalang will be in a mess with his ability."

Xin Qiji listened quietly and then said softly: "The Jin thieves are not fools. So why didn't they do this instead of sending troops to attack our Tianping Army first?"

Li Yizhenjin finally sighed, "Of course it's because the Jin thieves don't have the confidence to defeat the Loyalty Army's thousands with their tens of thousands of troops; but they do have the confidence to defeat our Tianping Army's hundred thousand with their thousands of troops."

Xin Qiji nodded: "That's it."

Li Yizhenjin hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke: "The Loyal Army is our friendly army after all. The stronger they are, the better. Why is Lord Xin so worried?"

Xin Qiji pointed to the granary west of the battlefield and said, "The Tianping Army also needs the food and supplies there. If the Zhongyi Army becomes too strong... it will be difficult to discuss what happens next."

Having said that, Xin Qiji was not in a position to continue. After all, it was too unkind to criticize an ally like this, an ally who had just helped the Tianping Army a lot.

But Li Yizhenjin was a meticulous person, how could he not understand the meaning of Xin Qiji's words?

From the perspective of the Loyal Army, if I have the strength to fight a decisive battle with the regular field army of the Jin Dynasty, and your Tianping Army cannot even withstand the surprise attack of the local forces of the Jin Dynasty, then why should I treat you as an ally instead of a vassal?

You, the Tianping Army, want respect, but on what basis? Where does respect come from?

Respect is based on the comparison of strength between the two parties!
So as a senior official of the Tianping Army, Xin Qiji was feeling mixed emotions at this time.

The good news is that the Loyal and Righteous Army is so capable of fighting, so the Jin bandits can be defeated and there is hope of recovering the Central Plains; the worry is what position the Tianping Army will be in in the overall situation of the world. Can it only keep a low profile?
Just when Xin Qiji was worried about gains and losses, there were some changes on the battlefield in the distance.

When both wings collapsed, Pushandharma actually had very few options.

All he could do was to choose from three options: left, center, or right, and attack with all his might, choosing one of them to break the formation.

Pushandarmo still has more than a hundred elite armored cavalrymen in his hands. Although it is extremely difficult, war itself is unreasonable and the battlefield is full of various accidents. As long as there are fresh troops and as long as they can hold on, there is no need to worry about not being able to turn the situation around.

What if a gust of evil wind blows and breaks all the flags of the Loyal Army?
Of course, as the commander, you only need to think about this kind of thing. The real outcome of victory or defeat will be decided by the swords and guns in your hands on the battlefield.

Pushandarmo took a deep breath and said, "Wang Xiong is great."

"The general is here!"

"You will take charge of the battle here." After saying this, Pushandarmo called for the armored cavalrymen behind him to mount their horses and said, "My men, follow me!"

More than a hundred armored cavalrymen mounted their horses. These cavalrymen, who could be regarded as the backbone of the Jin Dynasty, were exhausted after experiencing a series of battles such as raids, fierce battles, retreats, and entanglements, but they still maintained a relatively strong fighting spirit.

After a brief rest for half a day, this armored cavalry team followed their master to attack again.

The direction of attack chosen by Pushandarmo was not the armored cavalry of the Loyal Army in the north, but Zhang Xiaoyi in the south.

This was not because the prefect Pushan had a change of heart and wanted to go to support the He family army when it collapsed, but because the He family army collapsed too quickly, causing some chaos in the troops of Generals Zhang, Shi, and Wei.

If they could seize the opportunity to defeat the left wing of the Loyal Army, they could then use the defeated troops to attack the Loyal Army's spear formation to achieve a reversal.

And the most amazing thing is that almost all of the armored cavalry of the Loyal Army were on the north side, caught in a melee, and were unable to provide support for a while.

Taking advantage of this gap, we can maximize the cavalry's combat power and speed advantages. If everything goes well, there is still some hope of victory.

Pushandharma's plan cannot be said to be perfect, it can only be said to be a last-ditch effort.

When the cavalry was walking with their horses, they could hide among the infantry. But once the cavalry started galloping, more than a hundred riders were enough to create a huge momentum, and the billowing smoke and dust could not even cover it up.

Liu Huai saw the Pusan flag moving southward amidst billowing smoke and dust, and suddenly clapped his hands: "This is the moment!"

As he spoke, he whistled and waved behind him.

Fifty armored cavalrymen who were leading the horses mounted their horses.

"Follow my Flying Tiger Banner. This battle will determine the fate of Yizhou!" Liu Huai raised his spear and shouted at the armored cavalry behind him, "Kill the bandits!"

"Kill the thief!"

"Kill the thief!"

After a simple pre-war mobilization, Liu Huai took the lead, leading the cavalry out from behind the spear formation and charging directly at the armored cavalry of the Jin army who had already separated from the infantry and revealed their figures.

When Pushandharma saw the Flying Tiger flag rushing towards him, he suddenly realized that he had made a huge mistake before the battle.

Because the Jin Dynasty was founded on cavalry, from decades ago to the present, except for the time when facing Yue Fei, the rest of the time, although the cavalry may not be able to defeat the enemy, but the cavalry must be sufficient.

The meaning is that the scouts must be sufficient and effective.

The reason is very simple. The Jin cavalry had been riding horses and shooting arrows since childhood and had the habit of fishing and hunting. In terms of personal riding skills and bravery, how could the Han people who had been holding hoes since childhood compare with the Jurchens in horsemanship?
Therefore, the Jin army generals had a much more comprehensive grasp of the battlefield situation than the enemy.

In this battle, Pushandarmo still had the inertia of thinking, believing that although the Jurchen cavalry failed once, they still had comprehensive control over the battlefield information.

But he never expected that at this time and place, the cavalry of the Loyal Army was in an overwhelming advantage. Not only could they easily defeat the Jurchen cavalry when forming a battle formation, but the scouts were also not inferior to the already exhausted Jurchen cavalry in terms of personal riding skills and bravery.

This led to the fact that Pushandama had no idea that Liu Huai had hidden dozens of armored cavalry behind the spear formation. He still thought that all the cavalry of the Loyal Army had reached the north end to fight the Jurchen cavalry.

However, when the cavalry charged into the battle formation and attacked with swords, Pushandarmo's ferocious nature was also aroused.

"Follow me and kill this villain!" Pushandharma waved his spear and led the armored cavalry to circle back slightly and head towards the Flying Tiger Flag.

The two cavalry groups collided head-on between the two large regiments of infantry.

Unlike the imagined comet hitting the earth, the speed of the armored cavalry on both sides did not increase to the maximum speed. Both sides shouted and killed at the same time, and although the momentum was strong, they started the battle at almost a trot speed.

However, even without the sudden collision, the ensuing melee was a brutal, bloody, and brutal meat grinder. As soon as the cavalry on both sides engaged, they quickly realized the enemy's armor was thick and tight, and their lighter weapons quickly became ineffective. They dropped their spears and drew their iron maces, melon hammers, and leaf hammers to hammer each other.

Both the Loyal Army and the Jin Army were blood-thirsty, swinging blunt weapons against the enemy's hammers. Often, just as one side swung the melon hammer to knock the enemy off the horse, they were hit by an iron whip on the back. Before they could even scream, the attacker was killed on the horse by the friendly army with an iron mace.

This style of fighting, where injuries were exchanged for injuries, quickly resulted in heavy casualties on both sides.

Liu Huai brandished his heavy long sword, knocking the armored Jin cavalryman standing in his way off his horse. He reined in his horse and rushed to Pushandarmo: "Haha, it's me, your grandfather again, Flying Tiger Liu Huai. My dear grandson, are you surprised? Are you surprised?"

After saying that, Liu Huai still showed no martial ethics and didn't listen to the other party's reply at all. He swung his long sword and chopped it down.

Pushandama also recognized Liu Huai at this time, but his first thought was not curiosity about why this guy came here and became a general, nor was it because of the enemy's insults that aroused his ferocity, but he wanted to retreat and escape.

This wasn't to say that Pushandamo immediately lost his nerve, but rather because during the previous rain raid, Pushandamo had fought at near-full strength, yet had still been defeated in a head-on confrontation. His rib wound was still aching, and one of his arms was powerless, so he simply didn't dare to fight Liu Huai to the death again.

However, Pushandarmo could no longer retreat at this time. The guards of both sides were already fighting each other. He showed his back to Liu Huai and was doomed to die in an instant. For a moment, he could only throw down his spear, take out his round shield and melon hammer, and try to fight back.

Although Liu Huai's advantages were obvious, the Loyal Army was still at a disadvantage in the overall cavalry melee, because if the cavalry wanted to win with fewer troops, they needed to fight quickly. At this time, in a meat grinder-like hand-to-hand combat, the only thing to decide was who had more people.

However, if the infantry is included, there are more people on the left wing of the Loyal Army!

"Just capture He Boqiu and forget about capturing those farmers. Hejia Village is in our hands. Are we afraid that these people will escape?"

Shi Qilang didn't care about hierarchy and grabbed Zhang Xiaoyi's arm and started to attack him: "Commander Zhang, the battle has begun. The commander has entered the battle. We can't disperse!"

Zhang Xiaoyi panted and nodded: "You are right, let's go help the commander first."

"Not right." Wei Chang was also panting and covered in dust. "Commander Zhang, yours is a spear formation, and turning it will be difficult. Commander Shi will come with me to help my brother. You should turn the formation and press down on the Jin bandits' center from the south."

Zhang Xiaoyi nodded quickly: "That's exactly what should be done."

After a few brief conversations, Wei Chang shouted an order to the archers behind him: "Drop your bows and arrows, have ten of you guard them, and the rest of you draw your swords and follow me!"

Since ancient times, archers have been men with broad shoulders and thick waists. In the late Northern Song Dynasty, archers were regarded as the elite of the army and were even more valued. They could even wear slightly shorter infantry armor. In addition to carrying crossbows and arrows, they also had to carry two-handed long weapons for melee combat.

Although the Loyal Army had undergone some reorganization during the Northern Expedition, its basic foundation was still what Wei Sheng brought from the Song Army, so the crossbowmen were all sharp men wearing heavy armor and holding machetes.

Under Wei Chang's order, the crossbowmen put down their crossbows, held machetes in their hands, and rushed towards the Jin cavalry in the melee in a scattered formation.

Shi Qilang followed closely behind with his sword and shield men.

This sparsely-packed formation would be a deadly threat if faced with the charging Jurchen armored cavalry. However, a large portion of cavalry's advantage lay in speed, and a halted cavalry force would be like fish on the chopping block against a large-scale infantry force.

The loyal soldiers, armed with machetes, hacked at the knights from above and the horses' legs from below, occasionally knocking the Jin soldiers' weapons away and dragging them off their horses in groups of three or four. They would pin them down, lift their helmets, strike their necks, and then behead them with a single blow.

Compared with the mere one hundred or so Jin army armored cavalry, the combined number of Shi Qilang and Wei Chang's troops was seven times as many, and they soon almost half-surrounded the cavalry regiment.

However, even when the situation had become so dire, the Jin army's cavalry had not yet retreated.

But the Jin army's central army really couldn't hold on any longer.

Being pressed head-on by the Loyal Army's guns was already very uncomfortable, not to mention that there was also Wang Shilong, who would go crazy in a battle.

After retaking Wangjiazhuang, this guy seemed to have turned on a big switch. He would strive to be the first in every battle, and even rarely rode his favorite horse. He was thinking about leading the soldiers to break the formation every day.

At this time, Wang Shilong simply handed over the responsibility of commanding the army to his deputy general, and he directly led dozens of heavily armored guards, holding axes and long swords, and rushed out from the gaps in the spear formation. He directly faced the long spears of the Jin army and chopped his way into the formation. Almost in an instant, he killed the Jin army in front of him and dispersed them.

Zhang Baiyu was not idle either. After defeating the Jurchen cavalry, although he ordered not to pursue them, the cavalry fighting was too chaotic and many armored cavalry had already chased them for several miles.

Seeing this, Zhang Baiyu simply used his white fish flag as a symbol to gather dozens of riders. Without even waiting, he galloped directly from the north end of the Jin army to the south, intimidating and trampling on them.

Zhang Xiaoyi at the southern end also completed the reorganization of the right army. Hundreds of gun formations were like a high wall that was pressing down on them, and they slowly pushed towards the center of the Jin army again.

After experiencing a perfect semi-encirclement, the center of the Jin army finally couldn't hold on.

No one knew who shouted "Our army is defeated" first, but a burst of noise and screams suddenly broke out in the center of the Jin army. The Jin army, which had been resisting, was startled for a moment, but then they all looked back. After seeing the big flag of Pu San in the armored cavalry regiment fall, everyone was finally completely at a loss.

The Jin army's rout began among the supervising team, followed by the reserve civilians, and then the entire central army fled in all directions like an ant nest scalded by hot water.

They trampled on each other, causing countless deaths and injuries.

Liu Huai spat fiercely, held the long sword upside down and took a rest.

If Pushandarmo's personal guards had not risked their lives to come to his aid and protect him as he fled, he might have been killed here today.

Liu Huai wanted to chase after him and chop him to pieces, but when he looked around, he saw that his own cavalry formation was in chaos. He also knew that the life and death of Pushandarmo was nothing, and there were more important things to do.

"Shi Qilang! Take your men and enter Cangcheng during the chaos to quell the disorder." Liu Huai shouted an order to Shi Qilang, "Achang, you follow us. Do you know what to do?"

Shi Qilang and Wei Chang nodded at the same time, and Wei Chang patted his chest and made a promise: "Brother, we will never let Cangcheng be damaged in the slightest!"

After that, hundreds of people lined up again to seize the gate of Cangcheng.

Liu Huai watched from afar, and only when Shi Qilang led his troops into Cangcheng and secured the gate did he slowly breathe a sigh of relief and feel relieved. Then he shouted orders again.

"Tell Li Huo'er to gather the troops and treat the wounded."

"Order Wang Shilong and Luo Shenyan to straighten the spear formation and prepare the troops for marching."

"Send Zhang Baiyu and his armored cavalry to join me."

"Report to the commander-in-chief, our army has defeated the bandits and will set up camp at the foot of Linyi City today!"

After giving a series of orders, Liu Huai took the Flying Tiger flag and bypassed Cangcheng, heading west towards Linyi City.

Li Yizhenjin, who was watching the battle on the hillside, threw the golden hairpin in his arms, which was still not warm, to Xin Qiji.

The Jin army's central force did not even last two quarters of an hour from the start of the battle to its collapse.

　For the sake of reading experience, two chapters will be released together today, and there will be no more in the evening.

　　Alas, I am a poor writer and write too slowly. I need to write more and keep some drafts.

　　Especially after August 20th, Lao Chen will be very busy. Of course, Lao Chen has never heard of games like "Black Myth".

　　
　
(End of this chapter)