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

Chapter 348: Still holding a long spear like a wall

The battle that took place that night seemed chaotic enough. In fact, to put it simply, the Song army, with its absolute superiority in manpower, launched an all-round siege on the Jin army's ferry camp, and even ignored the fact that there was only one missing person on three sides, and was determined to kill them all.

Faced with this desperate situation, Aligua's response was very simple. He ordered all five Moukes who could move in the ferry camp to take action.

The Song army was allowed to fill the trenches and tear down the camp. At the moment when the Song army attacked, two hundred armored cavalrymen who were ambushed outside stabbed the Song army from behind, while three hundred armored cavalrymen who were recuperating in the ferry camp rushed out all the way. The two sides attacked from the front and back and directly killed the Song army commander.

This tactic places too high demands on ordinary soldiers and grassroots officers. In this era where communication basically relies on shouting, if you want to cooperate at night, you can basically only rely on telepathy, tacit understanding honed on the battlefield, and a little bit of luck.

No matter which of the two armies arrives first or later, the other side will be in danger.

But Ali Gua trusted the First Meng'an whom he had trained personally, trusted his confidant Han Feng, and believed that the Song army would not have such strong morale, so he decided on such a risky plan.

In order to leave room for the charge, the three hundred armored cavalrymen lined up with their backs to the river, allowing the soldiers to flee in the camp.

When they watched the wooden fence of the camp being pulled down and heard the sudden increase in shouting and killing outside the camp, the Jin army was all cheered up.

However, just as Aligua was about to order the entire army to mount their horses and charge head-on, he suddenly heard shouts of killing behind him.

After looking back in horror, he found that more than a hundred soldiers with torches rushed down from the pontoon bridge and directly attacked the back of the Jin army cavalry.

At first, the Jin army thought that reinforcements had arrived, but the helmets of the Jingnan Army were also of the Central Plains style, different from the gourd helmets of the Jin army. After getting closer, they quickly distinguished between friend and foe.

The Jin army's chaos began when they distinguished between friend and foe. Shu Huchi, who was at the back, was simply stunned by the sudden situation.

Zhang Baiyu lamented that he was originally a cavalry general, but because he was good at swimming, he had been doing this kind of sneak attacks and circumventing tasks in the past two days. However, it did not delay him. After seeing a group of fat heads, he became excited again and directly led the Jingnan Army to form a formation and attack forward.

The Jingnan Army was still much more elite than the Huaixi Army. After both had gone through a major battle, the Chaohu Navy was already exhausted, but the Jingnan Army still had some strength left.

Of course, this was also due to the fact that the Jin army was deployed in a cavalry formation, with no defenses against the enemy coming from behind. It was nighttime, and although the camp was brightly lit, it was difficult to command. Even the most elite Jin army could only move among their horses, fighting in groups of three or four.

On the front battlefield, seeing the wooden fence of the camp being pulled down, Liu Huai saw the neatly arranged Jin cavalry through the fleeing soldiers, and immediately understood what the other side was planning.

Afterwards, Liu Huai saw that the Jin army seemed to be in some chaos, and immediately realized that this was a successful plan. Zhang Baiyu came from behind to kill the Jin army.

"Liu Dalang, what should we do next?" Yu Yunwen asked, panting.

"What else can we do?" Liu Huai said excitedly, shaking his long sword. "Tonight's victory or defeat depends on this one move. I will lead the Jingnan Army as the first formation, the armored soldiers from various tribes as the second formation, the Divine Arm Crossbowmen as the third formation, and Yu Sheren as the rear guard. We must push all the troops in! As long as the army enters, we will win this battle! The pontoon bridge will be held!"

After saying this, Liu Huai again shouted an order: "Jingnan Army, dismount and fight on foot. Follow me and fight forward! Huaixi Army, follow me, follow me!"

"call!"

"drink!"

Amidst the strange responses in winter, the five hundred armored soldiers in the front row and more than a hundred Jingnan troops hastily formed a square formation and directly pressed into the Jin army camp.

"What are you waiting for?" Yu Yunwen took a long breath, so hard that his lungs were stung by the cold air. "Divine Arm Crossbowmen, march in formation! Shi Jun, you lead our troops as the rearguard!"

Shi Jun drew his two swords, responded loudly, and then ordered his soldiers to form a battle array, with spears in front and swords and shields behind. Only a moment after the soldiers set off, he pushed forward directly.

At this time, the Jin army camp was actually very crowded, but Yu Yunwen still followed Liu Huai's strategy and directly sent troops to summon Zhang Zhen, asking him to lead a thousand-man team under his command to enter in formation.

Next came Dai Gao and Wang Qi.

No one can escape today, everyone must join the battle.

By this time, the deafening shouts of killing in the Jin army camp had basically become unified. The sound of "Kill the Song dogs" was like a fart in an eight-level gale, drowned out by the shouts of "Kill the Jin thieves."

Nearly three thousand Song soldiers besieged and attacked the three hundred Jin cavalrymen who were not in formation and unable to gallop. This was no longer considered killing, but more like drowning the Jin army with human wave tactics.

The Jin army's armored cavalry had been squeezed into a ball, with people pressed against each other. If they were not riding war horses, they would probably have been trampled to death by the neatly arrayed Song army. Even so, the Jin soldiers on horseback had basically lost the ability to fight back and became sitting ducks for the crossbowmen.

Zhang Baiyu only led his troops to attack twice before he realized something was wrong.

There were so many soldiers shouting to kill the Jin thieves.

He stood on a haystack and looked into the distance. He saw countless Song soldiers bravely charging behind the Flying Tiger flag, and he was immediately frightened.

This was unacceptable. If this continued, the Jin army would be fine, but the hundreds of Jingnan troops that had circled behind would be pushed into the river first. Seeing that there was still time to fight, Zhang Baiyu quickly ordered a retreat. The hundreds of soldiers who had just hastily formed up to participate in the battle quickly covered each other and retreated along the floating bridge to the island in the middle of the river.

Zhang Baiyu stopped several soldiers from the Dongping Army who were good at swimming, took off their heavy armor, gathered their shields, and then lined up directly in the middle and rear part of the shaky pontoon bridge to block the Jin army from trying to escape across the bridge.

But at this time, the Jin army did not dare to retreat.

Because retreating at this time would only be considered a rout. How could a mere pontoon bridge built in such a hurry allow 300 armored cavalry to retreat safely?
Seeing that the threat in the rear had been resolved, Aligua finally turned all his attention to the front battlefield in front of him.

Then the first general of the Wuping Army discovered in despair that the number of Song troops was too large.

Moreover, before the battle, the Jin army was standing with their horses tied to their backs, and could not form an infantry battle formation. Even after riding their horses, they were unable to charge forward. Instead, because they were in a high position, they were targeted by the crossbowmen and shot at close range.

They wanted to fight back, but were pinned down head-on by hundreds of armored soldiers composed of a mixture of the Jingnan Army and the Huaixi Army, making it impossible for them to move.

Aligua was filled with deep regret. Why had he not dared to leave the camp and sweep the surrounding area? Why had he considered this pontoon bridge and ferry crossing more important than the entire army? Why, when he thought of achieving unprecedented feats, was his mind so filled with fame and fortune that he forgot about military and political strategy?
Why did I underestimate the enemy to this extent?
He should have gone back to patrol the camp the day before yesterday, but when he never came back, he should have mobilized the entire army to clear the surrounding area. Why did he have to hold on and wait for help?
The Song army accumulated a series of small victories into a big victory, which gradually boosted their morale. The remnants of the defeated army dared to turn around and draw their swords within just two days, and finally forced the first Meng'an into a desperate situation.

One thing grows while the other one declines! One thing grows while the other one declines!
Aligua looked at his comrades beside him and found that these elite Jin soldiers who could have defeated thousands of Song troops were now in panic. Under the attack of the Song army, they were like flames swaying in the wind, and were about to collapse.

"General, let's fight head-on!" Hu Yuan wanted to drive his horse over from a distance, but he could hardly move forward because the war horses were crowded together, so he could only shout loudly.

Aligua was about to answer when Hu Yuan's call exposed his identity as an officer. He was shot by several heavy arrows, crossbow bolts and short spears from nowhere. Although he was wearing heavy armor and the heavy arrows could not penetrate his body, they still penetrated deeply into his body. He swayed on his horse like a hedgehog and fell to the side.

"Flying Tiger Army's Zhao Xiaodi killed one of the rebel generals!"

Amid the noisy shouting and screaming, someone shouted loudly, as if to report his achievement.

But then, a louder cry was heard.

At this time, Liu Huai, who was in the first formation, had already led the Jingnan Army to rotate to the two wings. He saw that the time was ripe and gave the order directly: "Push!"

More than a hundred soldiers beside him shouted at the same time: "Push!"

Gradually, the 5,000 Huaixi troops who had entered the camp also began to shout, "Push!"

The five thousand Song soldiers instantly formed a combined force, formed a strict formation, and pushed forward like a wall.

At this point, the Song army didn't even need to swing their weapons. As they advanced, the Jin army panicked and their horses retreated repeatedly. For a while, they didn't even dare to fight back.

Faced with the absolute numerical disadvantage and the dilemma of being surrounded by the river, the Wuping Army's No. 1 Meng'an finally collapsed completely and fled in all directions.

Some Jin soldiers boarded the floating bridge and fled to the island in the middle of the river. Some even galloped on horseback. Although the floating bridge was five steps wide, it was still built on the water. It rose and fell with the waves. The horses often stumbled and fell to the ground while running, dragging several nearby Jin soldiers into the river.

More Jin troops had no chance to board the pontoon bridge and were forced onto the mudflats.

After a few Jin troops who tried to cross the river on floating horses were swept to the bottom of the river by the waves, the demoralized Jin army finally began to surrender.

Ali looked up at the sky in despair, sighed deeply, and then drew his sword and placed it across his neck.

Just as he was about to drag the knife, Ali Gua was dragged off his horse by several Song soldiers, kicked a few times, and tied up with iron chains.

There were also Song Jun shouting: "Boss Shi, I arrested a high-ranking official!"

Shi Jun laughed loudly and said, "I'll give you the first credit later, Li Da!"

As soon as the words were spoken, Shi Jun seemed to suddenly realize something. He stood there in a daze for a moment on the chaotic battlefield, and then he raised his arms and shouted.

"Victory!"

"Big victory!"

Cheers resounded across the front battlefield.

At that time, the moon's shadow was in the west, and it was only the hour of Yin.

(End of this chapter)