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

Chapter 234: Wind-coated Tiger Skin

"It's finally here." He Boqiu heard the sound of drums and horns, threw away his teacup, jumped off the shaft of the cart, and his armor made a rattling sound as it collided with each other.

"The west and south are firing rockets, while the east is carrying out the main attack. The Jin bandit commander is quite quick-witted and knows how to drive the defeated army north." He Boqiu glanced at the hundred soldiers around him and said, "Let's attack!"

As he spoke, He Boqiu picked up a long axe and headed east first.

One hundred soldiers with long axes started to make noises, holding up large banners with the word "He" on them, and rushed towards the soldiers of the Jin army.

As the first warrior to climb the car, Pushandong found something wrong as soon as he got on the car.

Just as Pu Sandong swung his melon hammer and knocked a crossbowman to the ground who had no time to dodge, another crossbowman behind him threw down his crossbow, picked up the two-handed heavy sword placed beside him, and swung it at him.

Pu Sandong ducked to avoid it, and his heavy sword hit the car board and got stuck deeply. The crossbowman couldn't pull it out for a while. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Pu Sandong raised his two hammers and hit the crossbowman's helmet hard.

The crossbowman didn't even let out a scream before his body went limp and he collapsed.

Pushandong knew that he couldn't stay on the cart all the time. He had to go down to open the vanguard position for his subordinates, so after killing two crossbowmen with hammers, he jumped off the cart.

However, what he didn't expect was that before he could touch the side of the car, several long spears were thrust towards him from under the car.

Even though Pu Sandong was a veteran on the battlefield and was wearing heavy armor, he did not dare to confront seven or eight shining spears head-on and could only take a step back on the cart.

Pu Sandong was shocked and angry. He looked carefully and saw that the soldiers forming a long spear formation below the chariots were all civilians, with almost no armored soldiers.

However, when facing the armored soldiers, these light soldiers held long spears, formed a roughly acceptable formation, and fought bravely without regard for their lives, which surprised Pushandong.

Does the Loyal Army actually have so many brave soldiers?
No, they are all common people.

When did the common people become so powerful?
In a flash, the questions in Pu Sandong's mind had turned around several times.

In fact, the reason is very simple.

Because these civilians were basically all former farmers of Hejiazhuang. They all had some military experience, and some of them could even be called elite veterans.

When He Boqiu led the peasants to the battle, every household was required to send a male. Some households with more than one male were required to send two or even three males.

After the Loyal Army came to power, it was impossible to recruit troops in this way, even land soldiers were not allowed, because there must be enough labor force in a settlement to farm.

Therefore, these former Hejiazhuang farmers who were not recruited as regular soldiers became ordinary people.

But even the Loyalists could not abandon the traditional art of the feudal era: conscription. Simply put, it was to make the people work for the government for free.

The corvée labor in the rear areas was generally focused on repairing water conservancy projects, but the corvée labor around Linyi meant serving as laborers on the battlefield.

Therefore, these civilians with certain military skills became laborers and drove carts to the front line.

He Boqiu's composure was genuine; it was no pretense. These former farmers were his strength. Even though their personal dependence had been abolished, He Boqiu's prestige wouldn't vanish, nor would the farmers' fighting power.

It seemed that someone noticed that the person who crossed the chariot formation first was a general of the Jin army. Suddenly, a strong man holding a long axe stood out from the crowd and rushed directly towards Pushandong.

"Grandpa is Zhang Baicao! Death befall you, Golden Thief!"

Pu Sandong dodged in a panic, then threw out the melon hammer. After temporarily forcing Zhang Baicao back, he turned around and pulled out the heavy sword that was clamped in the wooden board.

"what!"

"Dog thief!"

"Pfft... pfft..."

Many of the armored soldiers who climbed into the chariot formation behind Pushandong were directly stabbed down by spears. The few who managed to stand firm were surrounded on three sides. Not only were they stabbed by fearless spears from the front, but the crossbowmen were also not to be trifled with. When they were approached, they simply drew out the weapons they carried and started fighting on the spot. Some of them were so brave that they even used crossbows as weapons and started smashing things around.

Pushandong knew that he could no longer fight on the chariot. If another group of crossbowmen came and shot at the Jin soldiers on the chariot, things would be troublesome.

Thinking of this, Pushandong swung his heavy sword, deflected the approaching spear head, nimbly jumped off the cart, then grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands, swung it into a ball of sword light, and slashed towards Zhang Baicao.

Zhang Baicao swung the axe twice, but both were knocked aside by Pu Sandong's sword. He knew in his heart that the axe was not a weapon for a duel, so he threw the axe away, took a few steps back, then drew out a machete and fought with Pu Sandong again.

Civilians armed with weapons rushed forward from all sides, trying to pin Pu Sandong to death on the spot. However, the advantage of being an armored soldier lies in this: armored soldiers can withstand many blows, but unarmored infantry will lose their combat effectiveness after being hit by a single blow.

The two-handed heavy sword spun like a wheel of light in Pushandong's hands. Seeing that he could not defeat Zhang Baicao for a while, he simply used his shoulder pad to block the opponent's sword, then turned around and rushed into the crowd of civilians, causing a bloody rain.

In an instant, seven or eight civilians fell to the ground screaming, and the originally neat spear formation instantly collapsed.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, several more soldiers jumped off the cart along the hole opened by Pushandong, each holding their own weapons, and started to fight with their short weapons.

Zhang Baicao was filled with hatred, but he also knew that the light soldiers could not confront the armored soldiers head-on when the formation was in chaos. He was hesitating whether to risk his life again, but he saw a large flag with the word "He" coming rapidly from behind him, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Retreat, don't retreat, retreat to the sides, crossbowmen, come at me! Come at me!"

As he spoke, Zhang Baicao dragged his machete and retreated to both sides.

Pu Sandong did not pursue, but let the Jin soldiers line up in front of him, while he picked up another long axe and went to the connection between the carts behind him, thinking of dispersing the formation.

It's not that he wants to be a garbage man and make a living by picking up weapons, but because the cavalry has no decent heavy weapons except for melon hammers and hand knives.

After all, for cavalry whose purpose is lightness and speed, a long sword is already considered a heavy weapon. Is it appropriate to use a long axe?
Pushandong swung his long axe and split the iron chains connecting the carts, then ordered his men to push the wooden boards away.

At this time, more than a hundred soldiers had rushed into the chariot formation. Among them, more than eighty formed a battle line and faced the enemy head-on, while the rest worked together to try to push the carts away.

"God-arm crossbows, string them! Listen to my command!" Zhang Baicao retreated to the side, gathered about forty God-arm crossbowmen, pointed in one direction, and shouted, "Fire!"

A rain of arrows swept through another gap, where more than a dozen Jin soldiers had already boarded their chariots and were fighting to widen the gap.

Although these Jin soldiers were wearing heavy armor, the Shenbi crossbows were too close. The heavy armor could not withstand the barrage of bullets from a distance of only ten steps, and they fell to the ground with screams.

"Follow me, chop them up!"

On the front, He Boqiu had also arrived with his long-axe armored soldiers. As a fresh force, these long-axe armored soldiers almost immediately crushed the Jin army as soon as they entered the battlefield. Although the two sides were about the same in number and armor, the difference in weapons and strength was huge.

The Jin army had traveled a long distance and only had short weapons to charge the chariot formation, so they could not stop the attack of the long axes. Soon, more than 30 Jin soldiers were knocked to the ground. If the first batch of climbers were not brave, they would have been scattered by now.

"Faster! Faster!"

Pushandong had already thrown down his axe, his muscles bulged, and he gritted his teeth as he pushed a cart sideways to create a gap.

"It's almost there, it's almost there. Just pull out a big cart and break it open, and we can dismantle this convoy. It's almost there!"

Pu Sandong was cheering himself up in his heart, but he heard another commotion outside the chariot formation, and the sound of war drums mixed with gongs.

How could this be?

The sound of gongs represents retreat, and the sound of drums represents advance. How can they sound at the same time?
Pushandong was somewhat surprised and doubtful. Then, regardless of the armored soldiers behind him still fighting with the axe soldiers, he climbed onto the cart himself and looked towards the south as if possessed by a ghost.

Through the already thinning smoke and dust, he saw a huge group of armored cavalry rushing towards the battlefield.

This group of armored cavalry did not seem to be wearing robes. The autumn sunlight shone on the armor, connected into one piece, and reflected back, really like the sparkling river water.

Pushandong opened his eyes wide, as if he wanted to see the whole picture of this armored cavalry, but he saw a huge flag standing in front of the army.

There is a word "Wei" written on it.

This is... this is... Before Pu Sandong could sort out his confused thoughts, a bloody iron spike suddenly protruded from his chest.

Severe pain spread from the chest and a feeling of weakness spread throughout the body.

At the moment of falling, Pu Sandong glanced behind him.

The commander under the banner with the word "He" on it pulled out a short-handled iron spear and threw it forward.

"These loyal thieves...are not...ordinary thieves..."

After the last thought flashed through his mind, Pu Sandong’s vision went completely dark.

(End of this chapter)