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

Chapter 448: Brave, Cowardly, Advance and Retreat
The Dongping Army's target of attack was the Jin Army camp in the north. However, there were not only more than 10,000 Wuan troops here, but also 3,000 cavalry from the Tudan tribe, which was quite powerful.

There was no other way. If Liu Qi wanted to use the offensive in Huaidong to intimidate Tushan Zhen's army, he had to launch an attack on the main force of the Jin army.

Who allowed Tu Shanzhen’s banner to be erected in the North Camp?

The Grand Canal from Huaiyin to Yangzhou was called Han Canal in ancient times. It was an ancient canal that was dug in the Spring and Autumn Period. By the Song Dynasty, it had become a river more than 50 steps wide and ten feet deep.

The Wuan Army Camp was built along the canal.

In order to facilitate the deployment of troops between the east and west banks, a pontoon bridge had already been built on the canal. However, because the Wucheng Army's fleet was about to pass by, it was temporarily dismantled. At this time, soldiers of the Wuan Army were paddling boats back and forth on the river, trying to close the pontoon bridge.

Wu Chengjun still had several ships left behind, so they naturally would not allow Wu Anjun to close the pontoon bridge and block their way back. The two sides refused to give in, and the conflict intensified in an instant, and they were about to draw their swords and start a fight.

All I can say is that Zhang Rong is worthy of being a veteran, and his ability to seize opportunities is extremely accurate.

At this time, the Dongping Army advanced northward along the east bank of the canal, aiming directly at the eastern camp of the Wu'an Army. In the chaos, they pushed down the wooden fences of the Jin Army's siege without any hindrance, and then easily captured two small camps and burned the completed siege equipment inside.

However, Zhang Rong was not satisfied with this victory. He continued to lead 2,000 infantrymen forward, shouting and advancing. In just a moment, they arrived in front of the main camp of the Wu'an Army.

"Jin thieves! Do you recognize your grandfather Zhang Diwan?" Zhang Rong was at the foot of the Jin army camp. He just shouted a few words and the gate of the Jin army camp slowly opened. Several suspension bridges came down with a bang, and hundreds of Jin soldiers rushed out and quickly formed a battle formation under the command of a large flag with high characters on it.

"What Zhang Diwan? He's just the remnants of the Fourth Prince's defeated army!" The leading general shouted angrily, "Today, I, Gao Cunxin, will take your head as a sacrifice to the soldiers who died in vain that day!"

As he spoke, the general named Gao Cunxin took the lead and launched an attack on the Dongping army with nearly 700 soldiers.

This is correct. Just like defending a city, defending a camp is not just about guarding the camp surrounded by wooden fences.

There were food, fodder, war horses, as well as valuables and women looted by the soldiers in the camp. If the enemy broke into the camp, setting fire everywhere would be enough to cause chaos in the entire army.

Not to mention that the Wu'an Army is now divided into two parts, east and west, by the canal. In addition to Tudan's private soldiers, there are more than 6,000 soldiers in the camp. It is impossible not to take the initiative to fight.

Therefore, if you have the ability to fight, you must fight.

Of course, Gao Cunxin is also confident.

He was also aware of Zhang Diwan's reputation. Wanyan Talai had been beaten to a pulp that day, but that was during a special naval battle. Now they were fighting on flat ground, and the Wu'an Army was an elite force with a track record of defeating foes and killing generals. How could Gao Cunxin, a young officer, be afraid of Zhang Rong, an old soldier?

After a short period of direct fighting, the soldiers on both sides quickly entered the stage of pushing each other with shields.

The soldiers were so densely packed that they couldn't use long-handled weapons like axes. They could only use short weapons like shields and hammers to smash each other in close combat.

As the two sides advanced towards each other, it only took a moment for the soldiers at the front to lose their room to move and could only hope to push down the enemy in front of them and step on them.

People kept either stepping on empty air or tripping, and after a scream, they disappeared. They were stepped on by countless big feet and couldn't even scream.

After all, the Dongping Army was established with the Song Army as its backbone, and they had mature solutions to such situations. Soon, one by one, the eight-foot-long spears were taken by the soldiers in the fourth row.

The spears were not meant to pierce the enemy, but to lift the helmets of the Jin soldiers under the spearman's exquisite control. Then the axemen, who had nowhere to exert their strength, could use less force to split the heads of the Jin soldiers who had lost their helmets in half.

But in just a moment, more than 30 Jin soldiers in the front were dead. Some of them were pushed to the ground by the Dongping soldiers, while others were still trapped between the Song and Jin armies. Even though their heads were cracked and their brains were scattered everywhere, they were still standing, which made both the Song and Jin sides a little scared.

After killing several more Jin soldiers, the number of Jin soldiers on the front line had been greatly reduced. Zhang Rong saw that the opportunity had come and immediately shouted the order: "Push!" "Push!"

The sound of horns and shouts rang out at the same time. More than a thousand Dongping soldiers on the battlefield exerted their strength at the same time, either pushing the shields that were in a stalemate with the Jin army, or pushing their comrades in front of them. In an instant, they maximized their numerical advantage and pushed the Jin army phalanx backwards.

step……

Two steps...

The Jin army's formation gradually became chaotic, with Jin soldiers constantly falling to the ground and being trampled by Song army soldiers.

"Trample them to death!"

“Push it over!”

As if they had passed a critical point, hundreds of Jin soldiers collapsed completely. Even the main general Gao Cunxin could hardly control himself and was swept away by his defeated subordinates and fled towards the camp.

The Dongping Army took advantage of the situation and attacked the Wu'an Army camp through the gap in the camp.

However, just as Zhang Rong was gathering his troops and re-forming his battle line, Jia Hezhong's deputy general, Yan Ping, rode up in person, sweating profusely. "General, my general has sent me to report that the Wujie army in the west seems to be making unusual movements. General Zhang, why not withdraw while you can?"

Zhang Rong glanced at Yan Ping and said in a cold voice, "Your commander knows exactly why our army is here. If you don't want to fight to the death, don't bother talking nonsense. Just do whatever you want!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Ping's face turned pale and uncertain. He could only bow and leave. However, after turning his horse three steps, Yan Ping shouted again: "General Manager Zhang, there is indeed movement in the Wujie Army. This is not something our general made up!"

After saying that, Yan Ping quickened his pace and left.

Zhang Rong's expression remained unchanged, but noticing the hesitation of several officers beside him, he laughed and said, "The Jin bandits are separated by a canal. Even if a massive army were to arrive, what would be the use? Men, we are now pawns crossing the river. There is only one way forward: forward, forward, forward! Kill the bandits!"

As he spoke, Zhang Rong walked to the front of the column with his big flag, found a warhorse, and jumped on it so that everyone in the army could see him.

"Kill the gold thief!"

Under the leadership of Zhang Rong, the Dongping Army once again mobilized its entire army and charged into the Wu'an Army camp, where they once again engaged in a head-on attack with more than a thousand Jin Army infantrymen who came to block them.

Yan Ping rode his horse to the rear and said to Jia Hezhong, "General, General Zhang won't withdraw his troops."

Jia Hezhong spat viciously and cursed, "You wicked thief! Even if you don't save your own life, you should at least consider the lives of your men. Zhang Diwan is already old and dead, so why would you throw away the lives of so many men just for his reputation of loyalty?"

In the past, Yan Ping would always agree with his brother's twisted ideas, but now the situation is bad and chaotic, and he is also confused: "Brother, are we just going to watch?"

Jia Hezhong hesitated for a moment before saying, "We will set up a raiding formation outside the Jin bandit camp and support him when he retreats. As for the victory or failure of the Dongping army, we will not interfere."

As he spoke, as if he was afraid to look at Yan Ping's expression, Jia Hezhong cast his gaze towards the west bank of the canal, where the Wujie Army camp was filled with smoke and dust.

Jia Hezhong did not lie. The Wu Jie army did not sit idly by and watch the outcome, but directly sent troops to provide support.

(End of this chapter)