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

Chapter 242: The Troops of Each Formation Arranged in Front

After Liang Yuan'er left the stronghold, he was thrown into a corner as usual. He tore off the hem of his clothes, folded them carefully, and then hastily identified the direction and ran away.

A quarter of an hour later, Liang Yuaner finally returned to the army quietly before the Fourth Meng'an was about to launch an attack, and contacted Zhang Jueming privately.

"Brother, the Second Meng'an and the Seventh Meng'an are both finished." Liang Yuan'er didn't say any more nonsense in private. He directly spread out the piece of cloth with the seal of the Second General of the Wuxing Army and said, "They were finished today. The seal and the battle flag were all seized. Brother, the reason why the Zhongyi Army fought this battle today was to use the momentum of a great victory to defeat the Wuxing Army head-on. The commander-in-chief is in danger."

Zhang Jueming was also in a daze. He looked at the red seal. Although it was a little blurry, he immediately confirmed that this was indeed the seal of Wendun Hunyu.

It should be noted that the text format of seals has standards, and artificial flaws are created to prevent counterfeiting, so they cannot be faked.

Even the seal was lost. How badly did Wen Dunhunyu suffer such a defeat?

It is not even certain whether Wendun Hunyu is still alive.

"What do the Loyal Army want us to do?" Zhang Jueming forced himself to calm down. "Cross your side in the middle of a battle? That's impossible... Even if you and I wanted to do it, the other nine marching men wouldn't do it."

Liang Yuaner swallowed and said with difficulty: "Let's retreat to the camp."

Zhang Jueming shook his head. "That's impossible too. How is that any different from turning against one's side in battle? As soon as I gave the order to retreat, people like Gu Dashou might just take my life."

After all, Zhang Jueming had been in power for too short a time, and his prestige was not enough to suppress these arrogant and powerful generals.

Liang Yuaner said anxiously, "This won't work, and that won't work either. Second brother, please come up with an idea. Are you really going to wait here to die?"

Zhang Jueming paced back and forth, sweat dripping from his forehead.

He couldn't hesitate too long, because the military envoy sent by Meng Tian to convey the military order was still waiting for his response. If he delayed any longer, the military envoy would come to urge him.

After a moment, Zhang Jueming finally stopped, gritted his teeth, and made up his mind, "We have to fight... We have to fight after all. And we can't hide the news of Wen Dun Hunyu's defeat. So, Ayuan, go find the military envoy and tell him that we just encountered and fought with the scouts of the Loyalty Army. We got some vague news. It seems that the Second Meng'an and the Seventh Meng'an were defeated. This is a serious matter, and we dare not conceal it. Ask the military envoy to inform the commander-in-chief."

Liang Yuaner nodded and was about to leave when he thought of something: "Second brother, the loyal thieves have a powerful military advisor. It seems that they have known about our ambush. We must be on guard."

As if he had received enough bad news today, Zhang Jueming had no reaction to this. He just waved his hand and told Liang Yuaner to go quickly.

A moment later, the fourth Meng'an, who had been fighting for the whole morning and had only rested for a while, set out again and headed south.

Liang Yuaner also met with the military envoy, explained the situation, and sent him away. Then he returned to the army and began to boost morale.

Then came the first wave of bad news.

The predetermined battlefield, which had been carefully explored and surrounded by elite infantrymen, was exposed and suddenly attacked by the Loyal Army. Two of their divisions were defeated.

Faced with this situation, Zhang Jueming felt calm.

When things have gotten so bad, it actually makes people calm down.

"Send the order to all units, advance step by step carefully! Today I don't want speed, but I must move steadily!"

Zhang Jueming gave orders loudly.

While the military envoy was still on the road and had not yet passed on this fatal news, the Zhongyi Army and the Wuxing Army had already started a small-scale battle on the front battlefield.

"Report! The Marshal has issued an order. Commander Liu of the Front Army will take charge of the front line, Commander Zhang of the Right Army, and Deputy Commander Yu of the Central Army will assist him."

The defensive battle had suddenly turned into a decisive battle, which made most of the soldiers feel uneasy. The soldiers of the Loyal Army had been in fierce battles for the past few days and had become somewhat familiar with the atmosphere of a major battle. Although they were nervous, they were able to follow the command of their officers and form a solemn military formation at the front.

"Don't you believe what Duke Wei says?" An officer ran back and forth, encouraging his soldiers. "I'm telling you, my family has already been allocated land and received rewards. The letters from home are true. Behind the Jin thieves are vast tracts of fertile fields, golden grains, white flour, and a bright future! Kill these Jin thieves, and we'll have everything!"

"it is good!"

"kill!"

The seven hundred armored soldiers in the front and the three hundred crossbowmen all started to cheer. The central and right armies, which were arrayed on both wings, simultaneously looked sideways.

"Stand up straight! You are all men of Donghai, the hard-core fighters who spearheaded the resistance against the Jin." Zhang Xiaoyi paced in front of the right army formation, waving his fist repeatedly and shouting, "Today we've already wiped out two thousand Jin thieves. This is a great opportunity to press on and pursue them. A decisive victory is within our grasp. Don't bring shame to me, don't bring shame to Donghai!"

Only a small number of soldiers could hear it, but it did not stop them from cheering, and the entire right army became excited.

At this time, the 1,000 infantrymen of the central army, led by the deputy commander of the central army Yu Yuan, were lined up on the left wing of the front army.

The 800 infantrymen of the right army were led by Zhang Xiaoyi, the commander of the right army, and lined up on the right wing of the front army.

Two thousand eight hundred infantrymen formed small square formations, which were equipped with spears, crossbows, swords and shields. They were like blades tightly connected together, ready to strangle the invading enemies in the formation.

The remaining central and right armies, consisting of approximately 2,800 infantrymen and the remaining 800 armored cavalry capable of fighting, were led by Wei Sheng himself and deployed behind the first formation to form the second formation.

He Boqiu led his farmers and peasants, and together with Xin Qiji, Yelu Xingge, Li Tieqiang and other miscellaneous cavalrymen, formed the third formation.

To be honest, this kind of stacked formation, which was very common in the Southern Song Dynasty, would be tantamount to seeking death if deployed in a plain area when there were many enemy cavalry.

No matter how strong you are in the front, I will use my cavalry advantage to go around to your flanks. Will you organize a defense? If not, I will start a fierce attack; if you do, I will continue to go around until you lose your composure.

But it is just right for this terrain with hills on the east side, Yishui on the west side, and a road running from north to south.

There is no need to think about anything else, just form a formation and move forward.

The same was true for the Jin army.

Although the Wuxing Army followed the Jin Dynasty's tradition and deployed a large formation of crooked cavalry, there was actually no room for light cavalry to maneuver and harass.

Either you go into the ravine or jump into the Yishui River. The light cavalry can't get a Eureka, and how can you spend fifty gold coins to upgrade to a helicopter?
Wanyan Hongji, the third general of the Wuxing Army, obviously also saw the limitations of the battlefield. After reporting to Meng Tian, he simply ordered many armored cavalry to dismount and form a battle line.

Armored cavalry and infantry combat was also a traditional skill of the Jin Dynasty.

Anyway, today the two sides meet on a narrow road and the brave one will win. There is only one road from north to south, and if they collide with each other along this road, it will easily turn into a situation where the pearl curtain is rolled up. At that time, the winner takes all, and the loser will find it difficult to even gain a foothold.

Will the Wuxing Army be the loser?

How can it be?

Wanyan Hongji looked around at the proud soldiers and brave generals around him, feeling extremely proud.

"Cavalry! Armored cavalry and light cavalry! First test the quality of these bandits."

Seeing that the formation was complete, Wanyan Hongji ordered the cavalry to go out, not only to harass the marching of the Loyal Army's infantry, but also to gather intelligence and to conceal the movements of his own formation.

In less than a moment, a flood of confusing news came in.

"Report, the loyal thieves have not set up any barricades and are also charging forward."

"Report, the Flying Tiger flag and the 'Han' flag are both here. It's Flying Tiger himself who has arrived!"

"Report! The enemy's front line has nearly 3,000 soldiers, all infantry, no cavalry."

"Report! The loyal bandits are powerful with bows and crossbows, and the cavalry can hardly get close enough to harass them!"

As the two sides' battle formations gradually approached each other, the Wuxing Army's cavalry lost the space to maneuver and retreated behind the battle formations to rest temporarily.

It was the third day of the ninth month, at 3:00 p.m., the fourth day since the Wuxing Army and the Zhongyi Army officially engaged in battle.

(End of this chapter)