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

Chapter 318: New Murderous Aura at the Edge of the Soapberry Forest
In fact, both Liu Huai and Lu You wronged Liu Qi.

Liu Qi is really not the kind of person who harms his neighbors, nor is he ignorant of political rules, nor is he old and confused.

He sent out all the elite cavalry he could muster, even including Liu Huai. The reason was very simple, that was that the battle at Zaojiaolin was a bit difficult.

Compared to the historically mixed forces of the Jin army that marched south, the seven Jin army garrisoned in Huaibei and Huainan were all elite troops. Of course, without the garbage sea to maintain the front, there would likely be serious consequences. But it is undeniable that in a small-scale clash of elite troops, the Jin army at this time was far more formidable than in history.

Not to mention that the Jin army won great victories and plundered all the way, looting a lot of money and women, and their morale was already bursting.

Although they suffered heavy casualties when they were ambushed, the Jin army reacted quickly and organized their troops, dismounted and fought on foot. While holding off Yuan Qi's troops who were blocking the road, they attacked the Song army archers who were ambushing in the forest from both wings.

The two generals of the Jin army, Gao Jingshan and Han Tang, came to a conclusion after a brief discussion.

This section of the Song army was elite, but that was all. Aside from the one hundred armored soldiers arrayed in formation, the rest of the Song army fired arrows from a distance and didn't dare engage in close combat. They were essentially just a bunch of show-offs.

Han Tang was fine with this kind of Song army, but Gao Jingshan had seen much more. During the Jingkang period, he had followed Wanyan Zongwang, the second crown prince of the Jin Dynasty, southward. The so-called elite Song army was all of this kind. They had some method in long-range bow and crossbow combat, but as long as the armored cavalry pressed forward, the Song army would surely flee.

As for the command issue in the woods.

Gao Jingshan said that he really didn't believe that the Song army could command so smoothly.

Facts also prove that this veteran has a sharp vision.

After the Jin army sent teams of ten into the woods to fight on foot, although their organization was somewhat disorganized, they still managed to defeat the Song army's archers head-on.

Jia Hezhong was better off and was able to maintain the front line, but Wu Chao's entire army east of the official road simply collapsed.

Yuan Qi was indeed a brave general. In this situation, he could even fight and retreat on the official road. However, the mobility of the soldiers was still too poor. When they were about to withdraw from Zaojiaolin, Yuan Qi's troops were finally surrounded by the Jin army on a small hill.

At this time, the sun was setting in the west, and the Jin army was everywhere in front, behind, and on both sides. Even though Yuan Qi's troops were all brave soldiers, they were a little desperate at this time.

"Boss, I'm afraid today won't end peacefully. Use whatever tricks you have." A Song soldier was breathing heavily. His quiver was empty, the bowstring of the bow in his hand had been broken twice, and he didn't know where the ring on his hand was lost. The index finger and thumb of his right hand were covered in blood, as he had suffered some minor injuries in an unsuccessful shooting.

Yuan Qi pulled out an arrow from the shoulder strap of his robe at his side. Without even checking whether the arrowhead was intact, he took a quick aim and shot it out, knocking down a Jin cavalryman who was shooting arrows from more than 30 steps away.

"Don't overthink it. They've already retreated to the Yangtze River. How could the governor not come to rescue us?" Yuan Qi shouted, "Look to the southwest. That Jia Hezhong is still holding on. Could it be that we can't defeat him?

If we die before Jia Lao Er, I will never be able to swallow this anger even in the underworld and before the King of Youdu."

The Song army burst into laughter.

"I really can't swallow this! How dare Jia Laoer compete with heroes like us?" A Song soldier roared, and at the same time used his spear to push back the charging Jin cavalry. Then he turned around and said, "Boss Yuan, if I can't get my revenge today, I will die with my eyes wide open."

Yuan Qi was about to say something else, but his ears moved, and then he laughed and said, "I won't die, the reinforcements have arrived."

Sure enough, the next moment, hundreds of Song cavalrymen with large banners bearing the Chinese character "Wei" passed by the edge of the woods and attacked the Jin army, whose formation had been scattered, head-on, driving them back into the woods. They then changed direction and charged towards the Jin cavalrymen again.

Because of the pursuit of the Song army, the formation of the Jin army's armored cavalry was also somewhat disorganized. Facing the Song army, which was well-organized and seemed to have strong combat power, the Jin army besieging Yuan Qi did not give in. Instead, they fought and retreated, withdrawing towards the two general flags on the north side. It was obvious that they wanted to gather their troops there, organize themselves, and then return to fight.

"Yuan Da! You've fallen on hard times!" Wei Yongshou's eldest son, Wei Shijian, who was familiar with Yuan Qi, was carrying a bloody spear and teasing the extremely embarrassed Yuan Qi: "I thought you were as brave as King Xiang!"

Yuan Qi slumped on the ground. Most of his comrades were of the same character, extremely tired. "Wei Da, you're just eating grass and lamp ashes and talking nonsense. Why don't you try fighting a few hundred rounds on foot in armor?
Damn it! They said we could just lure the enemy out, and that Jia Lao Er and Wu Shiqi would be the ones to kill them. But I think they've killed more thieves than the hundred of us have. They're just useless." Wei Shijian laughed heartily. "These two are a joke. They wanted to show off, but ended up with nothing..."

Wei Yongshou heard something was wrong with the words and scolded him directly: "Ajian, shut up! Even if it's true, you can't say anything nonsense!"

Wei Shijian quickly shut his mouth, but the next moment, he uttered in surprise, "Huh? Those are the Jingnan Army and the Dongping Army, right? They're going to rescue that bastard Jia Hezhong."

Yuan Qi stood up with difficulty, leaning on his machete, and looked into the distance. He saw that Feihu and Qingsi flags each led a hundred armored cavalrymen, who split into two cone-shaped formations while running. After separating to the left and right, they rushed forward together, clamping towards the Jin army like a big pair of pliers.

The Jin army that besieged Jia Hezhong's troops consisted of about seven Moukes, but because they were chased out from the woods, their organization had become chaotic, with only about five or six hundred infantry and cavalry mixed together to besiege the even more chaotic Song army.

At this time, facing the offensive launched by two powerful generals, Liu Huai and Xin Qiji, who personally led elite armored cavalry, the Jin army was unable to resist at all and had no way to resist. The Jin army collapsed instantly.

Xing Meng'an, who was commanding the troops on the battlefield, wanted to gather his troops, but Xin Qiji seized the opportunity and killed him. If it were not for his personal guards who fought to the death to protect him, he might have been beheaded on the spot.

Even so, this escape of Xingjun Meng'an was not without cost. Liu Huai pursued and killed officers who tried to organize the troops for battle, and even snatched Xingjun Meng'an's banner. After defeating several waves of persistent Jin troops, these hundreds of Jin soldiers finally collapsed and fled north.

Liu Huai did not pursue him. Carrying the captured Meng'an flag, he approached Jia Hezhong and asked, "Are you Jia Hezhong? How did you turn the battle into this?"

Jia Hezhong looked extremely embarrassed, but he puffed out his chest and said, "After all, I've been fighting all afternoon, so it's normal for me to be exhausted and unable to fight. Besides, the Jin bandits have also been weakened by us. You led your elite cavalry and came here to recuperate. Even if you defeat the Jin bandits, you can't be considered a hero."

At this point, Jia Hezhong still didn't know where this group of cavalrymen came from, but he knew that they were friends after all, not enemies, so he was willing to talk a little and pretend to be a hero.

Liu Huai laughed and scolded: "You can still open your mouth even in the crematorium. Let me ask you, what should I do to be considered a hero?"

Jia Hezhong stretched his neck and looked around, and saw that Wu Chao's command flag seemed to have been taken away by a Jin cavalry. At this time, it was a few hundred steps to the west, and the Jin army was holding it upside down and running back and forth to show off their power.

"That was my Wu brother's flag. He sprained his ankle today and was defeated. If you can take this flag back, I will recognize you as a hero today."

Liu Huai turned around and saw that there were only a few dozen Jin soldiers. He immediately said with a smile, "How difficult is this? Wulang, organize the troops here. Guan Qilang, follow me!"

After saying that, Liu Huai took only a dozen or so personal guards and cavalry, without even the Flying Tiger flag, and charged directly towards the Jin army.

As Jia Hezhong stared in amazement, the dozens of golden cavalrymen began to boil violently, like a drop of water splashed into a boiling oil pan.

In less than a moment, the entire Jin army formation exploded and fled in all directions, while Liu Huai, covered in blood, held up the large flag with the word "Wu" on it and returned to his own camp amid cheers.

Throwing the recaptured flag to Jia Hezhong, Liu Huai said proudly, "Do you have anything else to say?"

Jia Hezhong was stunned for a moment, holding the banner, then stamped his feet again. "Foolish man, if you have such ability, why don't you save some energy and go chop down the chief steward of the Jin bandits? If you can chop down one of the two chief stewards' banners, today's battle, no matter how embarrassing, will be a great victory that will go down in history."

As soon as he finished speaking, the hundreds of armored cavalry led by Wei Yongshou had already formed a neat formation and began to charge towards the main camp of Gao Jingshan and Han Tang.

"Look at this, look at this, how ruthless the vision of the elder and younger Wei is." Jia Hezhong was furious and anxious, as if he, not Liu Huai, had lost the victory that was within his grasp. "Because they want to pursue us, the Jin army is in disarray right now, and the leader of the bandits has no guards around him. Who knows, maybe Old Wei will succeed in one battle!"

Liu Huai smiled, without saying anything or making any promises. He just pointed his finger to the north, and the armored cavalry under his command, who had already formed a battle formation, began to slowly move north. Only one sentence was heard from afar in Jia Hezhong's ears.

"Just stand here and watch how our heroes from the north defeat the thieves!"

(End of this chapter)