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

Chapter 285: A Stranger for Twenty Years

"Have the Jin thieves gone mad?" Zhang Baiyu, also stationed on this hill, looked at the battle below Rizhao City, somewhat bewildered. "Didn't they notice us?"

"How is that possible?" Liu Huai shook his head. "Our several hundred armored cavalrymen are already less than four miles away from them. Even if the entire Jin army were fools and didn't send scouts to patrol the area, would they be blind? They can see it!"

The two men were chatting here, naturally not having the leisure to watch the battle, but rather the five hundred knights under their command were taking off their armor from the spare horses, helping each other to put on armor, and taking off their weapons from their riding horses and hanging them on the main war horses that had been running empty.

Although the loyal army's cavalry are well-trained, it will inevitably take some time.

However, just when the knights had finished putting on their armor and mounted their horses, some changes occurred on the battlefield.

As the Shenfeng flag moved forward, the Dongping army could no longer hold on and the central army suffered a small-scale retreat.

Logically speaking, such small setbacks are common in today's wars, not only in the Northern Expedition Army, but also in the Jin Army. However, such a retreat will not lead to a major defeat, because there will be follow-up troops immediately, and officers will come to gather the fleeing soldiers.

However, at this time, the black swan event occurred.

I don't know if it was because the flagpole was of poor quality or something else, but the 'Dongping' flag at the rear of the army was suddenly broken by a gust of wind, and it was broken from the top, making it impossible to raise the flag again even if you wanted to.

This is a very speechless situation.

This kind of thing is so common in history, but when it really happens to you, you can't help but sigh.

Why the hell is he so unlucky.

Seeing this, all the senior officers of the Northern Expedition Army on this battlefield felt nervous: something bad was going to happen.

And the fact was just as they thought. After seeing that the flag did not rise within a moment, the morale of the Dongping Army plummeted, and the right wing close to the east sea almost immediately began to retreat.

Then the left wing, that is, the left army of Dong Cheng of the Loyal Army, also became shaky.

Of course, the biggest problem still appeared in the center of the Dongping Army. A small group of infantry had already collapsed. Once the flag fell, the situation that was originally controllable suddenly became extremely chaotic. The army formation of about five or six hundred people was scattered, and a large part of the battle front was immediately lost.

Pu Nianheda was overjoyed and led more than a thousand infantrymen to charge along the gap. In less than a moment, he completely shook the formation of the Dongping army's center.

The Dongping flag was finally raised again at this time. Zhang Rong, who was ashamed and angry, became ruthless and personally led his guards to stabilize the situation.

But how could the defeated soldiers be gathered together so quickly?
When Pu Nianheda saw Zhang Rong coming forward in person, he had an idea. He wanted to go forward and defeat the Dongping army here in one fell swoop, but then he remembered that five Meng'an had already withdrawn from the battlefield. Changing the military order at this time would simply disrupt the formation, especially since the enemy troops had arrived on both wings, so he gave up the idea of attacking.

Afterwards, Pu Nianheda ordered the Shenfeng Army to stop pursuing, gather the soldiers on the spot and prepare to retreat.

But it takes time to transmit military orders.

No matter which reinforcements they come from, they will not show the spirit of indifference when friendly forces are in trouble.

On the easternmost side of the battlefield, on the sea, Li Gongzuo looked at the situation on the battlefield. His mouth gradually opened wide, and then he said with some annoyance: "Mr. Zhang is also a hero. How did he let the battle turn out like this?"

Behind him, a burly middle-aged man who was polishing his spear said with a smile, "What heroes? Don't they all gather people together to accomplish great things? There are too many people involved in worldly affairs, and there's no telling where something might go wrong.

Not to mention the idea of fate. Zhang Diwan was lucky to have only lost his banner. It was much better than suddenly receiving twelve orders from the imperial court to withdraw after a great victory.

As he spoke, he suddenly stopped talking and just looked towards the north with a complicated expression.

"Father." Li Gongzuo bowed and said: "As you said, even after a great victory, we will inevitably be criticized by the court. So what should we do now?" The middle-aged man was Li San, the Li Bao who had gone through hardships and traveled a long distance to come here.

Hearing this, the man laughed and said, "Who cares? I can throw down the twelve golden medals if I want. But since I'm in Shandong, in your father's hometown, how can I, Li San, not say hello to the people of Shandong? Even if I can't compare to Marshal Yue, I will still follow him for a few steps.

Sanlang, raise the White Tiger Banner, go ashore, and kill the Jin thieves! "

Li Bao's last few words were not spoken in a low voice, but echoed throughout the entire ship like a loud bell and thunder, followed by a chorus of responses.

And when the white tiger flag, which represented fighting to the death, was hung on the highest mast, huge cheers resounded across the entire sea, and for a moment it even overwhelmed the howling autumn wind and the waves.

After a while, dozens of small boats were lowered at the same time, carrying the first batch of 600 Song soldiers towards the beach.

Li Bao held a long spear and stood tall like a mountain on a small boat in the front.

Even though his years of military service had made his face as hard as iron, his emotions inevitably began to surge.

Li Bao was born in Kuiqiu, Shandong. He was fond of martial arts and literature since childhood. When he grew older, he was known for his wild and unrestrained behavior, so he was nicknamed "Spoiled Li San".

When the Jingkang Incident occurred and the country collapsed, Li Bao once again rose up to resist the Jin army, gathered volunteers in Puzhou, and launched a massive counterattack in the 11th year of Shaoxing. However, Li Bao's efforts ultimately failed due to the unjust killing of Yue Fei and the peace talks between Song and Jin, and he returned to the Song Dynasty in disgrace.

Now that I think about it, the last time I set foot on the land of my hometown was actually twenty years ago.

Thinking of this, Li Bao couldn't help but feel a little dazed, and suddenly remembered that when he was young, the old man in Lijiazhuang once pointed to a small mound and said that this was the place where Duke Huan of Qi made an alliance with other countries after he pacified the four barbarians of Hu and Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. Li Bao was young at that time and was a little disdainful. He didn't know why the old man in the tribe would regard a piece of soil as a treasure. He even urinated on it, but didn't think there was anything supernatural about it.

But after leaving home for a long time, Li Bao often thought of the mound in his dreams at midnight, and suddenly realized how great the achievements of Duke Huan of Qi and Guan Zhong were in wiping out the four barbarians, and how much glory the small mound carried. However, he was like a stray dog, abandoning his hometown and the elders who supported him, and was driven to the south of the Yangtze River by the barbarians to live in poverty. How humiliating it was.

"Twenty years..." Li Bao clenched the long spear in his hand, looking at the increasingly approaching shore, letting the scattered arrows fall into the water beside him: "It's actually been twenty years..."

Amid the deafening shouts of the Song army, the small boat rushed onto the beach.

Li Bao's body just swayed slightly, then he slowly stepped onto the beach with a long spear in his hand.

He lowered his head and grabbed a handful of wet sand from the ground, held it in his hand, and then rubbed it on the spear to make it easier to hold.

Small boats kept rushing onto the beach, and the Song army, armed with swords, shields, bows and crossbows, jumped out of them, formed a formation, and marched forward quickly.

Most of the Jin army scouts on guard on the beach had retreated, but there was still a Jin army knight who seemed to be confident of his bravery and wanted to take advantage of Li Bao. He threw away his bow and picked up his spear, squeezed his legs against the horse's belly, and rushed towards Li Bao quickly.

"Song dogs!" The Jin army knight roared, holding the spear in both hands and stabbed out suddenly.

Li Bao just slightly turned sideways to avoid the collision between the spear and the following warhorse, then swung the heavy spear and knocked the arrogant Jin soldier off his horse with just one blow.

"This is no longer Song territory! We have no way to retreat!" Li Bao raised his spear high, drew a line on the beach, and shouted, "Everyone, follow me and fight to the death!"

As he spoke, Li Bao, wearing an iron-clad and light armor and holding a long spear, walked ahead.

The morale of the Song army was also boosted. Many archers and swordsmen stepped forward quickly to protect Li Bao behind them, and the flag bearer also came with a large flag and a recognition flag.

The Song army instantly formed a small square formation and attacked the right wing of the Shenfeng Army.

(End of this chapter)