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

Chapter 247: Seeing Each Other with Blades and Blood
Just as the battle on the front line was becoming increasingly intense, Zhang Jueming felt that he could not hold on any longer.

There are naturally many reasons for this.

First of all, the Fourth Meng'an was originally expanded urgently. After the elite regular troops of the three Moukes were swallowed up in Lianshui County, the organization was restored to a thousand people, and the veterans were naturally diluted a lot.

Secondly, in the past few days of fighting in the mountains, we have suffered more defeats than victories, and many casualties have occurred one after another. Although there are Han'er reinforcements, the decline in combat effectiveness is inevitable.

What's more, morale continued to decline during this period.

Moreover, Zhang Jueming, as the main general, was indecisive, and the marching officers were absent-minded, which made the already precarious combat power even worse.

Today, Zhang Jueming had originally planned to ambush the Loyalty Army to boost morale, but Lu You saw through his plan. Scouts were sent out in all directions, and the hundreds of soldiers in ambush were discovered. Not only did the ambush fail, but they also suffered heavy casualties.

After failing to steal the chicken and losing the rice, the morale of the Fourth Meng'an became even lower. At this moment, the Loyal Army, which had been using the mountain roads to deal with the Fourth Meng'an, abandoned the camp. More than a thousand infantrymen, led by the big flags with the characters "Stone" and "King", rushed out in full force along the mountain road, attacking the Fourth Meng'an like a big pair of pliers.

The decisive battle came suddenly.

After the fourth Meng'an's ambush troops were defeated in an instant, they panicked and tried to run back to their camp, but the mountain road was narrow and rugged, and there was no room for the defeated soldiers to detour.

Zhang Jueming lacked prestige, after all. Furthermore, he didn't dare abandon these soldiers, who had only retreated despite minor casualties. This was a hilly area, and if they just wandered along the side roads, who knew where they might end up? There was no way to gather them together.

Therefore, Zhang Jueming could only retreat quickly with the five Moukes, abandoning this key point in the mountains and leading the defeated soldiers back to the temporary camp, hoping to hold on to it.

At this point, Zhang Jueming didn't even dare to ask for help, because the military order he received was to capture the stronghold of the Loyal Army. Not only did he fail to do so, he was also suppressed and beaten by the Loyal Army and his entire army was almost defeated. How could he dare to report back?
He was even more puzzled. Could it be that the Loyal Army's combat effectiveness was even higher than ours?

In fact, Zhang Jueming's feeling was not surprising, because on the battlefield in the mountains, although both sides had about a thousand people, the combat effectiveness of the Zhongyi Army was much higher than that of the Wuxing Army.

Among them, of course, the Fourth Meng'an suffered heavy casualties and unstable military morale, and the cavalry's advantage could not be brought into play. It was also because the strongest combat power of the front army of the loyal army was concentrated here.

Needless to say, the two brave generals Wang Shilong and Shi Qilang, the long axemen and sword and shield soldiers under their command are also the elite in the army, specializing in fighting and breaking through the enemy's formations.

In such a place where it is impossible to set up a large formation, the Fourth Meng'an encountered these two people, and it can only be said that his defeat was not unfair.

Standing at the intersection of the mountain path that Wuxing Army had just occupied, Wang Shilong was leaning on a long axe, breathing heavily, and looking a little tired.

Although no one could wear heavy armor in the mountains, the axemen had no way to use a small shield to block arrows, so they still wore helmets and iron crotch jackets, but removed the collar, skirt, and shoulder guards.

But even so, the soldiers were so tired that they began to breathe heavily.

Lu You, leaning on a spear, stood beside Wang Shilong, looking at the simple camp ahead. He was also a little breathless, but he had not personally participated in the battle, so he could still speak calmly: "Are you going to attack the Jin bandits' camp?"

Wang Shilong nodded. "We must attack. The battle has already begun. The commander-in-chief has sent all his elite infantry to the stronghold so that I can establish a situation here and support the frontal attack. How can I sit here and do nothing?"

"So what do you want?" "Here are the weapons and tools that the Jin bandits used to attack the camp. They're perfect for me. Shi Qilang's sword and shield will attack first, and then our long axes will rest behind them. Once the laborers have brought the armor from the mountain stronghold, we'll put on our armor and attack the bandit camp!"

Lu You swallowed his saliva and nodded. He asked these questions not to give advice on military affairs, but to absorb military knowledge with a pious attitude.

If you hadn't experienced it yourself, how would you have known that walking less than five miles of mountain road wearing an iron jacket could make a person so tired?
Wang Shilong carried the long axe on his shoulder and pointed at the simple camp and said, "The Jin bandits built this camp not for defense, but to connect the front and the back, so that the baggage transported to the mountains has a place to stay, so they built it in this place with easy access.

Of course, the Jin bandit leaders are no fools. I just saw that Zhang Jueming seems to be planning to build two small camps on the left and right hilltops to support each other, but they're just prototypes, not yet completed. Send troops there immediately to seize this area and throw down all the wood and rocks! I honestly don't believe the Jin bandits can last in this kind of terrain.

As he was speaking, Shi Qilang's sword and shield troops, who had been following behind Wang Shilong and had not participated in the battle, also arrived at the battlefield. After hastily forming a battle array, they launched a frontal attack on the Jin army camp.

Moreover, Shi Qilang was very cunning and only attacked the southeast sides, leaving the north and west sides of the camp completely empty, obviously to reserve a passage for the fourth Meng'an to escape.

Because in this battle in the mountains, defeating the enemy is even more effective than annihilating them completely. No matter which side wins, they will drive the defeated troops out of the mountain pass and use them to attack the main formation.

By then, it might become the final word.

Wang Shilong sat on the ground, slowly drinking the water from his water bag while observing the situation and regaining his strength. "Lu Dapan, you will return to the stronghold to take charge of the situation. Although my Fifteenth has some skills, he is too young. I am worried that he will cause trouble."

Lu You knew that Wang Shilong was protecting him because the country was in chaos and he was afraid that something might happen to him on the battlefield.

But Lu You was not grateful: "Wang Wulang, this is a chaotic world. Since I want to march north, how can I avoid such a thing? It is better to experience the battlefield when our army is victorious than to be in a panic when we are defeated. I will join you in attacking the enemy camp!"

Wang Shilong sighed, then lifted his water bag and took another swig. "If all the nobles of Song were men like Lu Dapan, how could this vast northern land have fallen into the hands of the Jin thieves?"

Lu You was silent for a moment before he spoke, "I cannot control others, but I cannot deceive myself. Wang Wulang, there are many people in the Song Dynasty who are stronger than me. They either bow down and wait for the right time, or are suppressed by treacherous officials and cannot seek justice. As a general, you must not underestimate the Song Dynasty."

Wang Shilong chuckled.

He was born into a powerful family and had seen a lot, so how could he not know that the two factions in the Loyal Army were secretly in conflict? At this time, hearing Lu You seize every opportunity and spare no effort to speak for the Song Dynasty, he was just a little amused.

Wang Shilong wanted to ask, "Wait for the right time." What does "right time" mean? Does "right time" mean waiting for the Jin to make a mistake? Does it mean that the right time will appear out of nowhere? Do you mean waiting for the Han people and the Jurchens in the north to suffer a mutual defeat before the Song Dynasty can reap the benefits?

But Wang Shilong didn't say anything after all. He knew that Lu You was a loyal and honest elder. If Qin Hui were here, he would have made countless sophistry, but Lu You would not. He would only regard these sins that were not his fault as his responsibility and feel guilty about it.

Thinking of this, Wang Shilong held the axe tightly.

Fortunately, I am just a warrior who goes into battle to kill bandits. As for how to deal with specific world affairs, let the smart people like Marshal Wei and General Liu figure it out.

Thinking of this, Wang Shilong turned his gaze back to the battlefield, where the fighting was extremely fierce.

(End of this chapter)