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

Chapter 336: Broken Rocks and Misty Danger Pavilion

Caishiji is the most dangerous place facing the west side of the river. Under the long-term erosion of the Yangtze River, the bottom of this stone mountain has been carved into a vertical shape by the water. The fortress built on it can not only guard the east side of the general together with Jiangxinzhou, but also protect the ferry on the north side.

Of course, given the level of civil and military laziness in the State of Song, even the Huai River had become a mess, not to mention the river defenses on the Yangtze River.

The military camp on top of Caishiji had long been abandoned and turned into a tax collection post.

The military's transformation of roads is all aimed at the goal of one man blocking a thousand, while the business logic is to hope for a wide highway. This has led to the hill actually becoming less dangerous, especially the top of the hill, which has been artificially leveled to form a flat top that is hundreds of steps long and wide.

But what happened was that the Jin army occupied this place first. The disadvantage of the defenders that should have been a headache for the Song army turned into a trouble for the Jin army, which was really laughable.

"General!" When Liu Huai reached the edge of the platform on the top of the mountain, he was observing the terrain, but suddenly he heard someone calling him. He turned around and saw that it was Zhen Baoyu, the little boy.

"General...General, are you going to capture the Jin army camp?" Zhen Baoyu pointed to the Jin army camp, which was roughly the size of a huge courtyard.

Liu Huai stroked the horse's mane and said, "This is obvious, Baoyu. If you have something to say, just say it. Don't hide it."

Zhen Baoyu swallowed his saliva and said, "That was the outpost where the chief clerk of Dangtu used to collect taxes. I've been there with my father and brothers before, so I know a thing or two about it."

Zhen Baoyu didn't waste any words. He pointed to several nearby roads and said, "Travelers and merchants pay taxes along these roads, but these are official tax routes. Contraband salt and silk smugglers won't come here to pay taxes."

Liu Huai said impatiently, "Warfare is dangerous, just say whatever you want to say."

Zhen Baoyu swallowed hard, "Captain, it's not just the common people who are smuggling. The yamen runners, officials, wealthy families, and wealthy merchants in Dangtu are also smuggling. They have their own routes, especially the yamen runners on duty at Caishiji. How could they let go of such a huge flow of money? They also smuggle some things themselves. And I like to travel around the mountains and rivers, and I just know a small path that leads directly to the tax office from the riverside."

Liu Huai glanced at Zhen Baoyu.

You would be foolish to believe that you can find out about smuggling routes while traveling. It is most likely that the smuggling channels were opened up by the Zhen family and the tax bureau's yamen runners.

But such trivial matters no longer matter.

"Is the passage secret? Could it have been blocked by the Jin thieves?" Liu Huai thought for a moment and still wanted to ask: "How many people can pass through at once? Especially those of us in armor?"

Zhen Baoyu nodded repeatedly, "Of course it's kept secret, because it's only for the yamen runners, and they don't share the spoils with the bailiffs and the chief clerks. If we can hide it from our own family, we can certainly hide it from the outside thieves."

As for its width, Commandant, I have never been there, I have only seen it from a distance, but I heard that a bed for washing was once transported there, so it must be quite spacious.

The dressing table is probably a piece of furniture such as a couch or a stool. It must be made of precious wood, which is why it has to be smuggled.

Although Liu Huai didn't understand how the Song Dynasty's tariff system forced furniture to be smuggled, he simply nodded and said, "Take a few of us to take a look from a distance later."

While Liu Huai and others were talking wildly, the marching marshal Puchalin, who had been standing on the watchtower of the tax outpost that had been transformed into a military camp, had become impatient.

In fact, when Liu Huai and others were investigating the ferry camp, Pucharin had already seen this group of cavalry from a high vantage point.

But he initially didn't care, because the ferry camp had six elite Mouke soldiers, and the marching Meng An Aligua was in charge. If they were captured by these ten or so armored cavalry, the Wuping army would have no time to attack the Song Dynasty and might as well turn around and jump into the Yangtze River.

However, seeing that this group of Song soldiers were coming to the camp on the top of the mountain to investigate again, Pucharin was indeed a little angry.

Although the Jin army only has two Mouke stationed on the top of the mountain, they are also the elite of the Meng'an, equipped with bows and horses. Are they going to be blocked in the camp by ten people and not even dare to go out of the camp to fight?
"Wusaiduo, are you ready?" Puchalin looked down at Wusaiduo, another marching soldier who was wearing armor and standing at the gate with a warhorse, and asked loudly.

Wu Saiduo looked back at the nine armored cavalrymen behind him who were also leading their war horses, and nodded heavily.

"Okay!" Puchalin said loudly, "Open the door!"

The camp gate burst open, and ten armored cavalrymen of the Jin army filed out and charged straight towards the ten armored cavalrymen of the Jingnan army who were overestimating their own capabilities and wanted to explore the camp.

The reason why the Jin army also sent ten people was not because Pucharin was full of chivalry and wanted to duel with the Jingnan Army in a one-on-one duel, but because the camp gate was so small, and in order to ensure suddenness, they could only release so many people at once.

The more people there are, the more difficult it is to organize them. If you want to gather a team of 100 people, the enemy will have already fled by the time you organize them outside the camp.

"I'm here to do business." Liu Huai picked up the spear hanging on the victory hook, turned his head and said to Zhen Baoyu, "You go down the mountain first. I have something I want to discuss with the gold thief next."

The other nine armored cavalrymen of the Jingnan Army each held a bow and spear, and let out bursts of fierce laughter. After responding in unison, they dispersed in twos and threes, and charged towards the concentrated Jin army in an encirclement from all directions.

Zhen Baoyu was indeed somewhat frightened, and he turned his horse and rode away, but after only fifty or sixty steps, he reined in his horse again and, amidst the suddenly increasing shouts and screams, turned back to the battlefield. Then, Zhen Baoyu saw Liu Huai lift Wu Saiduo into the air and, using his body as a hammer, slammed him down on the following Jin troops.

For Liu Huai, this method of killing the enemy was far less efficient than wielding a long sword to sweep through thousands of troops, but it was indeed a huge blow to the enemy's morale.

No matter how brave the enemy is, he will be frightened in an instant when he sees his leading general being picked up by the spear like a child in the first encounter.

The body of Shangguan that followed would also make the following soldiers at a loss, not knowing whether they should continue to charge or stop to provide rescue.

Although it was only a moment's hesitation, it was enough for the Jingnan Army's armored cavalry to make tactical moves.

First, several heavy arrows pierced through the heavy armor of the cavalry from close range, causing four Jin soldiers to lose their combat effectiveness immediately. Then, the cavalry engaged in close combat.

However, in just a moment, the armored cavalry of the Jingnan Army killed all the armored cavalry of the Jin Army at the cost of only one person being slightly injured.

Pucharin stood on the watchtower, his eyes almost popping out of his head at the result.

This was the best warrior among the elite Wuping Army. When they were in Huaixi, ten armored cavalrymen often knocked over the formation of more than a hundred Song troops. How could he just disappear like that?
He was mentally prepared for defeat, but seeing his own men being chopped up like melons and vegetables was so heartbreaking that he was filled with shock, anger, and fear at the same time.

In fact, this result is not surprising, because no matter how powerful the No. 1 Meng'an is, he is only the result of internal selection of the Wuping Army, while the Flying Tiger Army is the essence accumulated by the entire Shandong Volunteer Army after decades of anti-Jin resistance. The ten most elite people are selected, and then led by a fierce general, it is natural that they can easily kill the equal number of Jin troops.

After being stunned for a moment on the watchtower, Puchalin saw that Liu Huai and others had already started to clean up the battlefield. Then he angrily pointed at Puliyan, who was waiting at the gate of the camp and said, "Zhuolu, take your men and take back your Mouke!"

The armored cavalryman named Zhuolu had just put on his iron jacket and helmet, and was helping his comrades to put on their armor. Upon hearing this, he had an ominous premonition in his heart. Regardless of the fact that his armor was not yet in place, he hurriedly called on the more than ten cavalrymen behind him to open the gate of the camp and rush out together.

Liu Huai and others only roughly cut off the heads of the Jin army, and then saw the Jin army rushing out. Then they didn't care about anything else, mounted their horses, led the captured war horses, and turned around and left.

Due to the military law of beheading the entire army, when a Jin army general led the charge, the entire army would naturally follow. However, when the general was in danger, the soldiers under his command would easily give up fighting and turn to protect the general for their own lives.

This is what Zhuo Lu did at this time. After seeing Liu Huai and others fleeing far away, he did not lead his troops to catch up with them immediately, but dismounted to check the situation of Wu Saiduo.

When he saw that his superior was dead and even his head had been cut off, Zhuo Lu was horrified. His first reaction was to mount his horse and give chase, determined to kill the group of armored cavalry and see if he could redeem himself and escape with his life.

However, just as this thought was about to arise, he heard one of his subordinates shouting loudly: "General, the bandits are coming again!"

Zhuo Lu raised his head and only saw the flying dust from among the war horses. He quickly mounted his horse and just as he shouted "meet the enemy", he found that the armored cavalry of the Jingnan Army had rushed to him.

Although most of the Jin army were armored cavalry, they were all rushed into battle. Not to mention wearing armor, some of them didn't even have all their weapons. They gathered together, like a courtesan who lifted her skirt to attract a playboy, luring the Jingnan Army to attack.

Which general can withstand such a test?

Liu Huai immediately led the armored cavalry back and charged straight into the battle. He then stopped his horse, brandished his spear and sword, and started a frontal fight with the help of his full armor.

Zhuo Lu, who had just gone into battle, immediately suffered the same fate as his own general. He was knocked off his horse and then several spears stabbed him on the ground.

However, this time the Jin army did not hold out to the end and fled in all directions after several of them were killed.

Liu Huai held Zhuo Lu's head high and demonstrated to Puchalin who was still in the watchtower.

Puchalin was so angry that he was shaking all over. However, when he turned around and saw his subordinates putting on armor in the camp, he really didn't dare to let his subordinates go out to kill the enemy again without being prepared.

It would be fine if we win, but if we lose again, our morale will be greatly damaged.

Seeing that there was no third wave of Jin troops rushing out, Liu Huai did not want to let his elite soldiers take risks again. After asking the other knights to gather their horses, Liu Huai rode forward a few steps, dismounted, threw Zhuo Lu's head to the ground, lifted up his skirt and unbuttoned his pants, and urinated directly on the head.

It also touched Pucharin's heart.

The marching commander of the Wuping Army put his hands on the wooden railings of the watchtower, squeezing the logs until they creaked. He kept glancing at his armored subordinates, and the order to force the attack turned around in his mouth several times before he swallowed it back.

Faced with such severe humiliation, Pucharin still maintained his composure as a general and did not continue to waste time.

Seeing that the Jin army still hadn't rushed out to fight, Liu Huai tied up his pants, and without caring about the few corpses still wearing armor, he mounted his horse and shouted, "Everyone, raise your spirits and return with a great victory!"

(End of this chapter)