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

Chapter 400: Killing is always for the living
"Fifth brother! These are all signed soldiers. They only have wooden hoes and shovels in their hands. They don't even have an inch of iron. What are we afraid of? Just walk over and the matter here is settled!"

Jia Rui turned the gun in his hand and urged anxiously.

Xin Qiji frowned in response.

As a general, what Jia Rui said naturally made sense.

The general is only responsible for the war. As long as the war can be won, any means can be used.

But Xin Qiji was not just a general. He was also a senior official of the Jingnan Army and a guest general commanding the Tianping Army. He had to make political considerations for the overall situation.

For example, the huge array of signed troops that stood between Xin Qiji's 800 cavalry and the Shenfeng Army. They were all Han people from Lianghuai, and they all had a blood feud with the Jin Kingdom... Even if they didn't have such hatred before, they now hate the Jin Army to the core after being driven to dig ditches, carry ships, and live a miserable life where they could starve to death at any time in the past few days.

Are these people just to be killed? Not used?

If these people can be used, then the problems of shortage of both soldiers and civilian laborers will be solved.

As for the shortage of food and supplies, don't forget that this time the Jingnan Army attacked the Jin army's baggage routes. Whether it was Dongguan or Chao County, there must have been no shortage of food, supplies and even war horses.

If we follow the inference of Liang Zichu, who has stayed in Chaohu for a long time, the supplies from Huaixi and the Central Plains are now concentrated on this line. No matter which one is captured, it will be enough for the Jingnan Army to eat its fill.

Thinking of this, Xin Qiji quickly made up his mind: "Liang Pan! Lead a hundred cavalrymen to open the wooden fence. The more holes the better!"

Zhang Baiyu's deputy general Liang Pan immediately bowed and said, "I have received the order."

"Huyan Zhangba! You lead a hundred cavalrymen and gallop back and forth in front of the army formation. Do not hurt anyone. Just shout the three words 'return home' together."

Shi Qilang's deputy general Huyan Zhangba bowed in agreement.

"Wang Tiepan, take a dozen riders to the official road. No matter which general arrives first with his troops, tell him to gather the signed troops. Find a way to bring them to the East Gate."

Wang Shilong's deputy general, Wang Tiepan, immediately bowed, but he was a little doubtful: "General Xin, can you use force?"

Xin Qiji shook his head. "We must adapt to the situation, but be as gentle as possible. When the time comes, have the entire army shout that there is food, winter clothing, and shelter at the East Gate. Once they get there, they can eat and drink delicious food. No matter what, even if it means tricking them, we must trick these soldiers into coming."

"Here!"

"Jia Rui, I will take your three hundred cavalrymen and clear the central road and head to the north side of the camp. I'll be on the south side of the camp, so look for my flags. Once these soldiers have fled, we'll crush this group of Jin thieves in one fell swoop!" A sinister smile crossed Xin Qiji's face. "How dare you fight a desperate battle in front of me? Let them be fed to turtles in Yuxi!"

Jia Rui was a little impatient and spoke anxiously, "Fifth brother, your behavior is indeed kind-hearted and in line with the wishes of the commander-in-chief, but today is a surprise attack after all, and speed is the key. If you are so soft-hearted, won't you miss the big opportunity?"

Xin Qiji reached out coldly, grabbed Jia Rui's collar, lifted him off the horse, and threw him to the ground again.

Although Jia Rui was also a brave general, he was like a child struggling in Xin Qiji's hands. When he was thrown to the ground, he took two steps back in embarrassment before he could stand firm.

"Jia Hulu, you are disobeying my military orders, but considering that this is your first offense, I will spare your life." Xin Qiji said in a cold tone, looking down on him: "Let me make it clear to you that the Shandong righteous army, whether it is our Tianping Army, the Zhongyi Army, the Dongping Army, or even the Jingnan Army today, has always killed people for the sake of living people.

If we can save lives but wantonly kill them, even if we gain a quarter of an hour's advantage today, a catastrophic disaster will be waiting for us tomorrow.

And if we can save lives, we must do our best. Even if it is only two quarters of an hour tonight, there will be countless people we saved in the future to make up for the two quarters of an hour we lost!
Do you understand? If you do, go and follow the military order!"

Jia Rui did not dare to delay. He bowed, mounted his horse, raised the flag, and led 300 cavalrymen to form a battle line in the north.

Just as Xin Qiji's cavalry separated and made way for the passage, the 8,000-strong army was also driven forward by the Jin army.

After all, the Qian army had not received complete queue training, so their formation became extremely loose during the march. Some people wanted to stop, but were pushed forward by the people behind them. Soon they arrived at the place where Xin Qiji had just stopped.

If they were ordinary regular soldiers, when they saw the enemy cavalry retreating to the two wings, they would definitely realize that they would be attacked from both sides and would definitely divide their troops to make arrangements. However, how could the Qian army care so much?
The soldiers in the front row originally thought they were dead, but now they saw that not only the camp gate was open, but the wooden fences of the camp were also torn to pieces. They were overjoyed and fled forward desperately.

The Jin army was still driving the Qian army forward, and from time to time they killed several Han people who stopped to move forward. Then they felt the pressure in front of them eased, and the Qian army no longer needed them to drive them away. They swarmed forward and began to flee.

This time, not only the ordinary Jin soldiers, but also Awukui were dumbfounded.

The Jin army was almost entirely composed of soldiers wearing heavy armor, but because they were a navy and had no cavalry, they had no way to stop the Qian army and could only watch as the Qian army escaped in a flash.

"Form a formation! Form a formation!" Now Awu Kui had no other hope and could only form a strong formation on the spot to resist the attack of the Jingnan army: "Form a six-flower formation!"

This is one of the most commonly used and practical formations in the army. In terms of shape, it consists of six small groups of soldiers, like petals surrounding the pistil, protecting the central army.

The Six Flower Formation was created by Li Jing during the Tang Dynasty. Its advantage is that it can be used for attack or defense, and it is simple to practice and easy to master.

Soon, the six Jin army moukes took their positions, while the four in the center gathered, ready to fight at any moment, joining the six outer moukes to attack the invading area. Seeing that his men were still well-trained, Awukui felt slightly relieved. Although the current situation was bad, it was not as bad as the worst case scenario. At least the Qian army had not defected, so they could still resist.

But soon, with the rumbling of horses' hooves, Xin Qiji came galloping with 600 cavalrymen, and Awukui's heart was in his throat again.

Seeing the deputy general manager's unhappy expression, Xingjun Meng'an advised: "Don't worry, general manager. Now that we have a thousand men, we have formed a strong formation. No matter how many more dogs and horses the Song army has, it will be useless! They can't break through!"

Xin Qiji had no intention of breaking through the strong formation at all. Seeing that the Jin army had shrunk into the shape of a turtle, he was just about to order a fire and use the flammable materials found everywhere in the camp to deal with the Jin army, when he saw nearly ten watercrafts gathered on Yuxi River, forming a formation and pointing their bows towards the direction of the Jin army's battle formation.

Then, a howling sound like the wailing of several female ghosts came from far away. A crossbow arrow shaped like a spear shot out and, under Awukui's horrified gaze, smashed into the Jin army formation, setting off a burst of exclamations and screams.

The Jin army was more than fifty steps away from the shore, out of the effective range of ordinary bows and crossbows, but still within the range of the Eight Ox Crossbow.

The Eight Ox Crossbow did have its share of drawbacks, including being extremely expensive, difficult to maintain, easily damaged, difficult to move, extremely expensive, slow to wind, and inaccurate. However, it remained the pinnacle of 12th-century military engineering. Once fired, it could pierce not only iron armor but even the rammed earth and bluestone of city walls.

Although ten eight-ox crossbows were fired simultaneously, only four crossbow arrows actually caused casualties. However, the result of having one arrow piercing the intestines and bursting the stomach was really terrifying.

If Liu Huai were here, he would be able to see at a glance that the Eight Ox Crossbows of the Dongting Lake Navy were accidentally serving as field artillery.

This is not to say how many people they could kill, but that the Jin army could not block the crossbow arrows and had no means of counterattack, so they could only passively take the beating, which was really damaging to their morale.

However, Awukui did not dare to disband the dense formation because Xin Qiji was watching closely from the side. Awukui had no doubt that if the Jin army's formation was slightly scattered, this general with the Qingsi flag would definitely rush forward regardless of everything and trample all the Jin army to death here.

In the cold winter wind, Awukui's face and head were covered with sweat. He wanted to think of a solution, but he didn't have the quick wit.

However, neither Yang Qin nor Xin Qiji would wait for him.

After being hit by four crossbow arrows, the northernmost Mouke finally couldn't bear it anymore and collapsed completely.

The Shenfeng Army was an elite force after all, and the way they collapsed was slightly different. This Mouke did not flee in all directions directly, but disbanded the formation and ran towards the armored cavalry of the Jingnan Army, wanting to find a few scapegoats before he died.

Facing the disorganized infantry, the cavalry's advantage is unparalleled.

The captain who led the troops retreated a few dozen steps to stretch the battle line and make the Jin army's formation more disorganized, and then he charged back. The remaining dozens of cavalrymen also attacked from the side, and they really trampled all of Mouke's soldiers on the spot.

"Can this Eight Ox Crossbow be used like this?"

When Xin Qiji heard his personal soldiers talking to themselves in a low voice, he couldn't help but squint his eyes.

Infantry without formation will be slaughtered when facing cavalry.

The cavalry was like a lion trying to bite a hedgehog when faced with the infantry in formation, unable to start.

Therefore, if the cavalry wants to swallow up the infantry, it must first collapse the large formation formed by the infantry.

The methods used in the past were nothing more than harassment with arrows, intimidation with charges, and the most direct dismounting and fighting on foot.

But now it seems that if there is a super long-range throwing weapon that can easily break through the strong infantry formation, the battle will be easier to fight.

Being distracted on the battlefield is generally a taboo in military strategy, but for Xin Qiji, who had the advantage, it was just a way to relax.

Less than two quarters of an hour later, the entire Jin army formation collapsed under the crossbow arrows of the Eight Ox Crossbow. The Jin army soldiers lost control and scattered in all directions, both charging and fleeing.

The armored cavalry of the Jingnan Army rushed forward, surrounded the enemy in dispersed areas, and then attacked together, dividing the scattered Jin army into pieces that could not respond to each other, and then crushed them.

In this battle, the armored cavalry of the Jingnan Army killed more than 300 soldiers of the Shenfeng Army and captured nearly 400 soldiers including the deputy commander-in-chief of the Shenfeng Army, Awukui.

However, Xin Qiji did not appreciate these achievements. He only left behind a hundred completely exhausted cavalrymen to clean up the battlefield and guard the prisoners. Then Xin Qiji led his army again and headed straight for Dongguan.

Shi Qilang, accompanied by his light soldiers armed with swords and shields, had hurried on, arriving first at this moment. He could only watch from afar as the Qingsi banner vanished into the distance. He stared blankly for a moment, his single eye fixed on the spot, before he spat, "Xin Wulang, are you really not going to leave me even a sip of soup? Where's your former loyalty?"

Wang Tiepan swallowed his saliva and bowed again: "Commander Shi, what Commander Xin instructed..."

Even though Shi Qilang was extremely angry and uncomfortable, he could only sigh and say, "Just do as Da Qingsi says. Damn it, I still have to clean up his mess."

Wang Tiepan looked at the soldiers who were still running around like headless flies, and couldn't help but laugh dryly twice, and then he was speechless again.

(End of this chapter)