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

Chapter 319: Moss Sealed Battle Bones Moves the Heart

The reason why Liu Huai fought so actively was that killing and wounding the Jin army was one aspect, but the most important thing was to use his military achievements as evidence to prove his own value while making a resounding start.

The saying goes, "Strike the first blow to prevent a hundred blows." The hundred blows do not only refer to the enemy, but also to one's own people.

Especially in a treacherous political environment like the Song Dynasty, stabbing someone in the back had become a path dependency. Liu Huai could only show enough strength and ruthlessness to block the eyes of those who were watching from all sides.

"Father, the Jingnan Army is following us." Wei Shijian said loudly.

Wei Yongshou didn't turn around and said in a deep voice, "I understand."

Wei Shijian hesitated for a moment, then asked again, "Do you want to join forces and charge together?"

Wei Yongshou refused directly: "No, firstly, the two sides have never cooperated before, and the cavalry's charge will be even more chaotic. It would not be beautiful if they killed each other. Secondly..."

At this point, Wei Yongshou looked at his eldest son and said, "Ajian, we went to the battle to protect the general manager's retreat route. How can we let others do it?"

Wei Shijian quickly agreed.

To preserve this last remaining Huaibei army, Li Xianzhong led his cavalry to block Wanyan Liang east of Zhenzhou. Liu Qi stationed his main force at Guazhou Ferry, and also dispatched Li Heng, commanding 8,000 troops, to garrison Yangzhou to block Tushan Zhen's 30,000-man army.

In order to wipe out the Song army, Wanyan Bendu suggested that the Jin army let Gao Jingshan and Han Tang lead the cavalry to advance deep into the enemy's territory, go around to the junction between Liu Qi and Li Xianzhong's armies, cut off Li Xianzhong's retreat, and thus achieve the goal of encircling and killing Li Xianzhong by the river.

Although Liu Qi didn't know who was pursuing him, he knew that the Jin army would definitely come to encircle his retreat. He took advantage of the situation and directly sent ambushes to ambush in Zaojiao Forest, trying to eliminate this group of enemy troops who underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly.

I just didn't expect that the fish would take the bait, but it was a shark.

Even though they had set up an ambush, the morale of the Song army, which had suffered a series of defeats and lost almost the entire Huai River region, was too worrying. After being beaten badly by the Jin army that had reacted, they were actually on the verge of collapse.

Wei Yongshou naturally could not sit idly by and watch his superiors and comrades being cut off, so he led his troops to help in the battle.

"Father, the Jin bandits are coming with a light force, not very strong, and they just split up their forces in the forest. They're at their weakest now!" Wei Shijian excitedly said, brandishing his spear. "The Jin bandits have two generals, and only seven or eight hundred cavalry are around them. This is a godsend opportunity!"

Wei Yongshou nodded: "Ajian, I will be the vanguard and you will be my follower! Remember, don't get too close, and don't get out of touch."

Afterwards, Wei Yongshou took the lead and led the elite cavalry of Jiankang troops to attack the Jin cavalry lined up on the official road.

"There are some heroes in the Song army." Liu Huai looked at the Song cavalry charging the Jin army, turned his head and said to Xin Qiji with a smile: "I underestimated them before."

Xin Qiji held his spear under his right arm, and in his left hand he carefully examined a recently seized waist badge, saying, "Dalang, let's not talk about this anymore. Are we going to sit back and watch the tigers fight to the death, and then come and take advantage of them?"

Liu Huai spread his hands and laughed, "How is that possible? How can such petty cleverness deceive a true hero? Even if we easily take the heads of these two bandit chiefs, won't we still be laughed at by the world?"

Xin Qiji threw the iron waist badge into the saddlebag of his warhorse: "That's exactly the truth."

Liu Huai pointed to the large banner with the character "Wei" on it that was charging in the front: "However, since General Wei has already charged in, we cannot disrupt his formation."

As he spoke, Liu Huai's voice became louder and clearer: "Wu Lang, you lead the Tianping Army to continue my efforts. Men of the Jingnan Army, follow me! First, go and kill that Gao!"

The Flying Tigers pressed forward again, charging directly towards Gao Jingshan on the left wing.

Thanks to the fact that the charge launched by Wei Yongshou attracted most of the attention, Liu Huai rushed to the front of the Jin army almost without any resistance. There was no harassment from any cavalry, and no obstruction from any armored cavalry. Liu Huai directly killed into the Jin army formation from the flank, and all he saw was a pile of fat backs of heads.

"Kill the gold thief!"

"Kill Gao Jingshan!"

Liu Huai and Wei Yongshou responded to each other, and the shouts of killing resounded throughout the battlefield for a while.

At this time, the Jin army also reacted. Seeing that the Song army dared to launch a surprise attack, they were not discouraged, but became furious.

After a series of victories, the Jin army had already developed a certain amount of arrogance. How could they tolerate such behavior? There were often lower-level officers who spontaneously tried to stop it, but they were constantly dismissed.

Seeing this scene, Gao Jingshan did not panic. He had seen many big scenes and had even been attacked by Wang Dewang Yaksha. Compared with the raging waves of the Liao-Jin War and the Song-Jin War, this scene was just a small scene with gentle breeze and drizzle.

"Jingnan Army, Tianping Army, what are their origins?" Gao Jingshan was wearing the same armor and clothes as the nearly one hundred guards around him, so he was not afraid of being ambushed and beheaded. At this moment, he looked coldly at several large flags that he had never heard of getting closer and closer, and couldn't help but wonder.

Several staff members and adjutants had not heard of it either and remained silent.

"I don't know what the Jingnan Army is, but I do know about the Flying Tiger Flag and the Tianping Army." At this time, a royal guard came forward to explain, attracting the attention of acquaintances around him: "These people are the Shandong Han'er bandit army. They are powerful and should not be underestimated." Before Gao Jingshan could respond, he saw Han Tang of the Wurui Army, who was standing side by side with the Wuan Army, raise a small yellow flag and wave it high.

This was Han Tang's signal to Gao Jingshan that he was about to retreat.

Gao Jingshan was speechless.

A war cannot be fought in one day, and Gao Jingshan naturally knew this. It was just a tentative attack with a surprise nature. If the attack failed, the right thing to do was to turn around and leave.

But is it time to leave now? If we retreat in the face of the enemy, won't we be afraid of being pursued and the entire army being routed?

Is this how Han Chang taught his son military strategies before he died?

The next moment, Gao Jingshan realized that he had underestimated others.

Han Tang did not flee in a flash, but gathered all the armored cavalry that could still move at this time, and using his general flag as the military order, he started to attack Wei Yongshou face to face.

The morale of the Wu Rui army was greatly boosted, and they actually withstood the offensive of the Song army and showed a tendency to push the front line back.

Gao Jingshan clicked his tongue and turned around to follow suit, but suddenly he heard a burst of exclamations from his personal guards.

When he looked closely, he saw Feihu rushing towards him like a beast descending from the mountain.

The 300 armored cavalrymen gathered in front of him were actually split in half. The fierce general of the Jingnan Army led the Flying Tiger flag and charged all the way as if they were in an empty space.

Even though Gao Jingshan had a strong heart, he was still a little panicked at this moment.

"Flag bearers forward!"

In the midst of the chaos, the guard who had just answered the question about the origin of the Flying Tiger flag shouted, pushed the flag bearer holding the Wu'an flag beside him, then turned around and called a few comrades and drove their horses forward.

They did not confront him head-on, but simply blocked Gao Jingshan's way.

"I am Liu Huai of the Jingnan Army. I will fight to the death with all the bandits!" In Gao Jingshan's astonished eyes, the majestic general who shouted his own name just led his army to cross the edge of the royal guards' armored cavalry, causing several people to fall off their horses.

Just when Gao Jingshan wanted to turn his horse and escape, he found that Liu Huai did not rush towards him directly, but turned slightly and rushed towards the Wu'an flag which was far away from here.

Gao Jingshan suddenly pulled the reins of his horse, because at this moment the winged tiger did not recognize its master, and if he showed any cowardice or made any strange move, it would most likely attract the other party.

It is true that the Wu'an Army has 10,000 combat soldiers, but most of them are located north of Yangzhou. At this time, there are only more than 2,000 elite cavalrymen who followed the two generals to Zaojiaolin, and there are only a few hundred cavalrymen who are still in place.

Within a few steps, one person can rival an entire nation!
Therefore, this veteran general of the Jin Dynasty just watched silently as Liu Huai broke through the formation, watched silently as Liu Huai caught up with the flag bearer, and watched silently as Liu Huai showed off his power and chased down the defeated army.

After Gao Jingshan remembered this man firmly, he led his personal guards and quietly retreated among the defeated soldiers.

In this kind of terrain, when the Song army was at a disadvantage, it was difficult for the Jin army to chase them; similarly, when the Jin army was at a disadvantage, it was also difficult for the Song army to catch up.

After Liu Huai seized the general's flag, the armored cavalry beside him were exhausted and suffered some damage. Without the support of the infantry formation, he finally decided to quit while he was ahead. He held up the captured flag and roared loudly.

"Big victory!"

Both the Jingnan Army and the Song Army cheered.

Wei Shijian, blood soaking through his heavy armor, rode his horse to Liu Huai's side. Looking at the large flag in his hand, he said with some envy, "Brother Liu, you've made a good profit."

Killing a general and seizing a flag has always been a first-class achievement, and this achievement was also won by the Jingnan Army through real fighting and breaking through the enemy lines. Although Wei Shijian was envious, he did not feel jealous at all.

"Do you like it?" Liu Huai weighed the flagpole twice in his hand, threw it to Wei Shijian, and winked at him: "I have two flags like this, this one is for you."

After Wei Shijian took it, he felt a little at a loss. He wanted to return it, but because these things were related to military rewards after all, he was reluctant to let go for a while.

However, the next moment, he suddenly remembered what Liu Huai had just said.

What do you mean there are two sides? Did these Shandong volunteers actually defeat two armies of 10,000 people of the Jin army?
However, when he looked up, Wei Shijian saw that Liu Huai had already begun to gather the armored cavalry and treat the wounded, but in the end he did not ask.

(End of this chapter)