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

Chapter 470: Four-sided Encirclement and Ten-sided Attack

Amidst the flying arrows, although Yu Yunwen maintained his dignity as a prime minister, he couldn't help but be distracted when the various tribes were fighting desperately.

He wanted to express a lot, such as asking about the situation of the Jingnan Army, talking about the hard work he had put in quarrying these days, and discussing the significance of the sacrifices since the Song and Jin dynasties went to war again.

But in the end, this top scholar-official, who could now be considered to have some knowledge of military affairs, asked Lu You beside him: "Why did Wanyan Liang attack the Huaixi army instead of the Jingnan army that was closest to Guishan?"

Lu You was looking in the direction of the defeated enemy army, his mind in turmoil. However, upon hearing Yu Yunwen's question, he gathered his thoughts and said solemnly, "Prime Minister Yu, if you simplify it, war is similar to a warrior's life-and-death struggle. Both use your strongest point to attack the opponent's weakest point.

Just like we've only ever heard of a fist hitting the face, but never of a face hitting a fist. The Jingnan Army's marching formation was too solid, while the Huaixi Army's formation was too scattered, making it easier to break.

As he spoke, Lu You turned his head and looked in the direction of Guishan Mountain. "As for the Wuping Army being attacked from both sides, it's not that the Jin bandits don't want to intervene, but they can't. If Jin lord Wanyan Liang throws all his troops into the battle with the Jingnan Army, it will be difficult to resolve the situation in a hurry. Then, when the Huaixi Army enters the battlefield, it will not only be the Wuping Army that will be attacked from both sides, but also the Weisheng Army and even Hezha Meng'an."

Yu Yunwen nodded slightly: "In that case, now we are exchanging pieces."

Lu You was stunned for a moment, then nodded heavily, "We are now exchanging pieces. If the Huaixi army can tie down the Jin lord and the Wujie army, allowing the Jingnan army to defeat the Jin thief Wuping army, then our army will surely win a great victory.

But if the Huaixi army had collapsed first and been driven out by the Jin lord to attack the Jingnan army from the side, then they would have been completely defeated today."

As he spoke, Lu You suddenly thought of something and stepped forward to grab Yu Yunwen's arm. His tone became fierce: "Mr. Yu! So many people died just to gain this opportunity! This is the only chance! Please don't be a coward! Even if the situation collapses, it can't start with us!"

Yu Yunwen's fat face twitched a few times, and he felt like getting angry. However, when he thought about how Lu You had been living with Ye Yiwen in Huaidong, and after seeing the ability of this Privy Councilor, he would naturally feel a little disappointed with the senior scholars of the Song Dynasty.

But Yu Yunwen is really not someone who can abandon his troops in the middle of a battle!
From the perspective of the State of Song, this war can be said to have been instigated by Yu Yunwen.

Just as Wang Qi said, this battle will be recorded in history books. As a prime minister who wants to make a difference, how can Yu Yunwen let his ambitions be shattered here?
"Staff Officer Lu!" Yu Yunwen suppressed his anger and said to Lu You sternly, "Put on your full armor! Grab your swords and spears! If anything goes wrong today, you and I will fight to the death here!"

Not to mention how the two scholars encouraged each other at the Huaixi army.

Wanyan Alin, who was standing on a gentle slope on the hillside of Guishan Mountain, couldn't help but frown as he looked at the Jingnan army getting closer and closer.

In his opinion, although the Jingnan Army was composed of bandits from Shandong, they crossed the river from Caishi and must be Yu Yunwen's subordinates.

At this time, the Huaixi army was attacked. Could the Jingnan army just sit back and watch?

Who would have thought that the Jingnan Army would just sit back and watch, and rushed towards Guishan without any hesitation.

You, Liu Feihu, are a military man, but you actually watched the high-ranking scholar-officials die without helping them. Even if you win, aren't you afraid of being retaliated against?

However, Wanyan Alin had no time to think about it at this time, because the Jingnan flag was less than a mile away from the rear of the Wuping army!

"Tell Tushan Yingwei that no matter what he does, he must guard the rear line tightly!" Wanyan Alin gave the order quickly, and at the same time pushed the Wanhu flag further forward, trying to use this short time to defeat Chen Min's troops in front of him.

However, the Song army was not blind. They were on higher ground and could see more clearly.

"Hahaha! Reinforcements are coming! Reinforcements are coming!" Chen Min shouted, pointing down the mountain and laughing: "Hold on! Hold on, and we'll win!"

"The Golden Thief is about to be defeated!"

The exhausted Song army once again mustered up their courage and launched a counterattack from a high position.

These shouts not only inspired the Song army, but also greatly undermined the morale of the Jin army.

The ordinary soldiers of the Jin army had some free time and looked around. They saw that the enemy in front of them had not been defeated yet, Cheng Min in the north was still fighting with all his might, and the Song navy on Chaohu Lake in the south was approaching again.

But this is nothing. The most terrible thing is the east.

Thousands of neatly-organized infantrymen in stern armor slowly and steadily launched an attack on the Jin army.

Isn't this just an encirclement and an ambush from all sides?

The Wuping Army was well-trained. Although the situation did not cause the entire army to panic, the offensive was inevitably weak.

Tushan Yingwei was at a loss for words after receiving Wanyan Alin's order. How could they stop the Jingnan army? How could they stop them?

The only organized troops he had were his own Meng'an men, numbering a thousand men.

Even if the tired soldiers who were rotated out and the harassing and reconnaissance cavalry were included, the number of Wuping Army's rear troops was barely two thousand.

But war is not a simple arithmetic problem. Whoever has more people will not necessarily win. Therefore, Tu Shan Yingwei still strictly followed the order and hastily organized his troops to fight based on his own Meng'an.

However, unexpectedly, as soon as the Jingnan Army and the Wuping Army engaged in battle, the situation was not as unstoppable as Xin Qiji had expected, but instead became a stalemate.

After waiting for two moments until the rear troops were fully deployed, Xin Qiji finally flew into a rage and summoned the military envoy: "Take my token and go find those two bastards Jia Rui and Li Tieqiang and tell them that I've lost face this time and forced them into the vanguard position in the name of commanding the army. Wang Shilong and the others are watching us!"
If we are so slow in attacking the Jin bandits, how will others view our Tianping Army? How can we stand firm before the heroes of the world?

Give them another quarter of an hour. If there is no progress, then let them both march under the banner of the Jingnan Campaign, and I will personally lead the vanguard at the front line!"

The two military envoys grabbed their badges and left in embarrassment.

Soon, the two Tianping Army commanders received this stern order.

Li Tieqiang didn't know how Jia Rui reacted, but he did feel a little ashamed in front of this military order, especially in front of Luo Shenyan and Zhang Baiyu, which made Li Tieqiang even more ashamed and angry.

Luo Shenyan led the left army of the Jingnan Army as Li Tieqiang's successor, and Zhang Baiyu led the Flying Tiger Cavalry to protect the army's flank. The two also came to observe the situation after seeing the vanguard suffer a setback, but they did not expect to run into Xin Qiji who angrily scolded Li Tieqiang.

However, Luo Shenyan was a reserved person, and Zhang Baiyu had been silent since his father Zhang Rong's death in battle. Neither of them meant to mock Li Tieqiang. Luo Shenyan said directly, "Xin Wulang hasn't received any military envoys to deliver any information yet, so we don't know the specific situation on the front lines. But now that we have received a strict military order, how can we not obey it?"

Li Tieqiang gritted his teeth and shook his head: "It's not that I don't want to fight to the death, but the current situation..."

As they spoke, the three of them looked towards the battlefield ahead.

The situation there was different from what was expected. The rear army of Wuping Army, which numbered up to 2,000 people, actually had many cavalry.

Come to think of it, the Wuping army was now attacking Guishan from above, so armored cavalry and light cavalry were of no use at all, and almost all the war horses were left at the foot of the mountain. Twenty or so cavalrymen also stayed behind, and formed a battle formation, and started fighting with Li Tieqiang and Jia Rui's troops.

This is disgusting.

After all, the Jingnan Army was still a force mainly composed of infantry and armored soldiers. Although they were pressing forward step by step, compressing the movement space of the Jin army's armored cavalry, Li Tieqiang could even guarantee that as long as he could form a formation and move forward another 500 steps, the Jin army's armored cavalry would lose their mobility, and victory would be certain at that time.

However, this requires a process and cannot be achieved overnight.

But Xin Qiji didn't care about this.

The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. Now the Jingnan Army has the upper hand, but who can say what will happen in a moment?

For example, if the Weisheng Army gave up and the Song Army came to attack, what should they do?
Putting aside other things, what would happen if the Huaixi army could not hold on and was beaten into a rolling pearl curtain by Wanyan Liang himself, and then attacked the Jingnan army?
The three generals naturally knew the battle situation, so they had to strictly obey the orders.

Zhang Baiyu said, "I will personally lead the Flying Tiger Army forward to pin down the Jin bandits' armored cavalry. You will quickly advance and press them, attacking them all at once and killing them. How do you think?"

Luo Shenyan waved his hand: "No, the commander-in-chief will be here soon. I have seen his Flying Tiger flag. The Flying Tiger Army will definitely be of great use! I will handle this matter."

Luo Shenyan then addressed the military officer beside him, "Pass on my orders. Have Wei Chang lead his 300 light soldiers to charge forward! Have Du Heiqi lead all the armored cavalry to follow Wei Chang in the attack! I will lead all the armored soldiers to provide support for them! We will pass the Tianping army on the right and advance!"

"Achang?! Do you dare to let him take risks?"

"Why not? The commander-in-chief placed him in my army just to give him experience. How can he gain experience after fighting?" Luo Shenyan said proudly, "What's more, my second brother Luo Huaiyan is also in his army. What selfish motives could I have?"

The rest of the generals were speechless.

A moment later, Wei Chang received the military order and became extremely excited.

Fortunately, as Wei Sheng's biological son, Wei Chang served as a low-ranking officer in the army. Under his command were the most elite light-armored warriors. They only had iron helmets and iron crotch jackets on their bodies, but they were all tall with long legs and feet. Although they carried javelins, bows, swords, spears, large shields and other weapons on their backs, they could still move briskly. They were born to cooperate with cavalry in flank attacks.

However, due to Wei Chang's special status, these 300 elite soldiers were treated as the general reserve and could not move during these several battles. As a result, although these 300 elite soldiers were obviously the bravest among the three armies, at this time, not only could they not achieve any extraordinary feats, but not even a single one of them could achieve any real great merit.

Now that we have the opportunity, it would be strange if the whole army is not excited.

"Luo Erlang, hurry to the rear to look for Brother Wang Wu." Wei Chang stretched his arms and picked up his spear, but he didn't forget his little brother: "The next step is the warrior's business!"

Luo Huaiyan was no longer the boy he had been when they first met. He had grown some muscles and his face had become more resolute, but he still dressed like a scholar. He shook his head when he heard this: "How can I leave at this time? The military situation is urgent, let's attack together!"

As he spoke, Luo Huaiyan put on his ill-fitting iron crotch and took the large flag from the flag-bearing officer. "Wei Erlang, although I am weak, I can still wave the flag and cheer for you. Set off quickly and don't bring shame upon your father and brother!"

Wei Chang's face flushed instantly. After nodding heavily, he rode his horse and led a dozen personal guards in front, with three hundred light soldiers following closely behind him. They passed the large formation of armored soldiers and the Flying Tiger Armored Cavalry, and headed towards Guishan from the flank of the battlefield.

Du Heiqi, the deputy general of the left army, led more than a hundred armored cavalrymen and followed closely behind, slowly moving forward a few dozen steps away.

Qi Tong, the sixth general of the Wuping Army, quickly discovered this advancing force. After a brief exchange with the fifth general Tu Shan Yingwei, he directly led his 600 cavalrymen to attack the flank.

"Form a battle line!" Wei Chang pulled the reins and gave a loud order.

The three hundred light soldiers quickly formed a battle formation, but unlike ordinary infantry who formed a dense battle formation when facing cavalry and used eight-foot-long spears to resist the battle formation, they formed small square formations, seven or eight people in a group, dispersed, and attacked Qi Tong.

Even in his busy schedule, Qi Tong was still amazed, and then led the cavalry to launch a frontal attack.

When facing infantry that have not formed a solid formation, the armored cavalry's choice is also very simple, just break the formation and charge.

However, this common sense tactic quickly failed in the face of these light soldiers.

"Throw!"

The light soldier in the front row took two steps and threw the javelin.

The javelin, which is much heavier than arrows and crossbow bolts, has an armor-piercing ability far greater than both.

Qi Tong, charging at the forefront, felt a pain in his shoulder and a loss of strength beneath his hips. His horse neighed and fell to the ground. After rolling several times on the ground, Qi Tong, enduring the excruciating pain, looked up and saw that all the thirty or so riders charging at the forefront had been struck down by javelins.

The charge momentum of the Jin army's armored cavalry also stopped. However, as the Jin cavalry's charge stagnated, the light soldiers did not stop. They formed groups of seven or eight and charged directly into the formation of the Jin army's armored cavalry, engaging in hand-to-hand combat and killing each other.

Qi Tong's eyes were bloodshot and he struggled to get up. When he turned around, he saw the blade rapidly enlarging in his eyes.

"Sun Da of Haozhou, kill one of the rebel generals! Kill!"

Faced with the sudden melee, the Jin army's armored cavalry was fine, but the light cavalry, which had lost its speed, was simply unable to fight against the infantry in a meat-crushing battle. The speed advantage gained by the light soldiers at the expense of thick armor also made it difficult for the Jin army's cavalry to escape from the battle.

To make matters worse, the left army deputy general Du Heiqi also led more than a hundred armored cavalry to charge forward. They did not charge directly at the flank of the Jin army, but made a detour and surrounded the Jin army from behind.

In just half a minute, the six hundred Jin cavalrymen were trapped and in dire straits.

This was not the end. The main force of the left army of the Jingnan Army, led by Luo Shenyan, formed a horizontal formation, crossed Li Tieqiang's troops, and pushed towards the melee like an iron curtain.

Although Tushan Yingwei didn't know that Qi Tong was dead, he was still in great panic.

It was not just because the flank was breached, nor was it just because Jia Rui and Li Tieqiang launched the attack at the same time, but also because the navy wandering around Chaohu Lake also began to land.

In the despair of being surrounded on three sides, Tu Shan Yingwei said to his guards, "Quickly inform the general manager of the situation here. Tell him that I can only hold off the Jingnan bandits for two quarters of an hour and cannot defeat them for him. Tell him to make a quick decision! Go!"

After driving away the personal guards, Tushan Yingwei led more than a thousand armored cavalry and launched a fierce charge towards the gap between Jia Rui and Li Tieqiang's troops.

Just like the previous battles between the Jingnan Army and the Jin Army, the Jin Army's armored cavalry were unstoppable as soon as the battle started. Even the armored soldiers' spears and large formations could not stop them. The cavalrymen who were stabbed to death by spears or hacked to death by axes still maintained huge potential energy, and used the corpses of their horses and men to smash a smooth path in the spear formation.

But what is more natural is that after the infantry formation withstood the first round of fatal attacks, the armored soldiers and armored cavalry fell into a big melee, and the armored cavalry, who had lost their speed, quickly suffered heavy casualties under the stranglehold of the infantry.

After the right army led by Wang Shilong quickly formed a battle formation and moved forward to join the battle, these armored cavalry belonging to the Wuping Army deformed and scattered like snowballs in fire.

"Order! All troops advance! Pursue and kill the enemy!" Xin Qiji shouted the order, then stopped the military envoy and said, "Order, have Jia Rui and Li Tieqiang marshal their troops. Shi Qilang and Wang Shilong form their troops and advance to attack the center of the Wuping army!"

"Send a message to General Yang of the Navy and Brother Liang, and have them follow Shi Qilang into battle!"

As he spoke, Xin Qiji looked back at the Flying Tiger flag, which had been placed alongside Zhang Baiyu's white fish flag. He heaved a long sigh of relief and called over his personal guards, "Go and see the Commander-in-Chief for me and ask if there are any other military orders."

After saying this, Xin Qiji marched forward with the Jingnan banner and pressed towards the center of the Wuping Army.

The Wuping army had already suffered heavy losses, and now with the fleeing soldiers being driven out from both sides, the central army could not resist at all. It could not hold out for more than a quarter of an hour before it was completely defeated.

This was certainly due to the fact that the Wuping army was exhausted from the long battle, but the most important thing was that Wanyan Alin, who was supposed to be in charge of the central army, was fighting desperately with the Song army on Guishan Mountain. The central army had no high-ranking officers who could coordinate the overall situation.

To say that Wanyan Alin did not want to manage the central army is nonsense;

But if you say that Wanyan Alin has any solution, that's nonsense.

Unlike the great defeat of Han Tang's Wucheng Army, that place was too far away. Apart from some senior officers who knew the military situation through scouts, ordinary soldiers could only see billowing smoke and dust even if they climbed to a high place and looked into the distance.

However, the defeat of the rear and central armies of Wuping Army was imminent. The nearly 4,000-strong front army of Wuping Army was immediately thrown into panic, and the offensive and defensive situation of the Song Army suddenly changed.

If Wanyan Alin had not been in charge personally and had sufficient prestige, the Jin army might have been defeated.

"General, let's retreat!" Wanyan Mougui retreated from the front line in a panic under the counterattack of the Song army. Fortunately, the slope of Guishan Mountain here was relatively gentle, and Liu Cangyu led the army to the front, so the retreat did not form an avalanche.

Wanyan Alin stood under the banner of Wan Hu. Hearing this, he looked at them coldly, "Retreat? How? If we grit our teeth and hold on now, there's still a chance of survival. If we turn back, retreat will inevitably turn into a rout!"

Wanyan Mougui was speechless, knowing that Wanyan Alin was right. However, the Jin army's situation had deteriorated to such an extent that it was already a major defeat. Gritting their teeth and holding on was the difference between dying standing and kneeling.

It's all death anyway!

Seeing that his confidant was in a panic, Wanyan Alin sighed and told him the truth.

"Mousui, everyone in this battle is fighting tooth and nail. Holding on means victory, glory, wealth, and titles. Failure means death!" Wanyan Alin said in a deep voice, swiping his hand from north to east. "When old Liu Qi was ambushed by Wu Cheng's army, when Yu Yunwen was attacked from both sides, when Cheng Min's Beiwei army was dispersed, even the Song Gou navy that came ashore, Liu Huai, nicknamed Flying Tiger, and even the enemy directly in front of us on Turtle Mountain. Which one of them wasn't fighting tooth and nail?"

"Now that the offensive and defensive forces are against us, it's our turn to hold on. What complaints are there? Are the Great Jin Heavenly Soldiers even worse than the Song dogs?"

Upon hearing this, Wanyan Mougui asked, "General Manager, how long can we hold out?"

"That's not up to me. Either Your Majesty kills Yu Yunwen and returns with a great victory, or Wanyan Yuanyi has time to send troops to support us. Only then can we retreat calmly!" Wanyan Alin responded loudly.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty will come back to save... save us?" Wanyan Mougui said tremblingly.

"Your Majesty never betrays anyone!" Wanyan Alin said solemnly, "I will not betray Your Majesty either!"

"Then I will not betray the General!" Wanyan Mougui cupped his hands and said through gritted teeth, "I request the military order!"

"Take your troops and horses, rest for a while, then support the fleeing soldiers in the rear and stop the offensive of the Song army in Chao County!" Wanyan Alin tapped Wanyan Mougui's chest with his whip. "Hold on, remember? No matter how hard it gets, you have to hold on!"

"Here!"

Wanyan Mougui bowed in agreement, then turned around and led his troops away.

Wanyan Alin looked at the back of his confidant, shook his head, and turned his gaze to the west again.

There was another reason he didn't say.

The sky is dark today, and the winter night comes early. If we can hold on for another half hour, the concealment brought by the night will become a natural ally of the weaker side.

At that time, whether you escape or fight, you will have many advantages.

However, just as Wanyan Alin turned his head to the north, he saw more than twenty or thirty armored cavalrymen passing through the chaotic battlefield, holding gold medals all the way, and the Jin soldiers along the way gave way.

"General Manager Wanyan." When he was more than ten steps away from Wanyan Alin, the armored cavalry pulled the reins, dismounted, raised the gold medal and bowed.

Wanyan Alin took a closer look and found that the person coming was Wanyan Yuanyi's trusted confidant, Olubo.

"What does Minister Wanyan have to say?"

"My chief steward said that this battle is critical, and the Wuping Army is also critical, but we can only save one of the Weisheng Army. As for which one to save, you still need to choose."

"Humph." Wanyan Alin snorted coldly: "How about saving this battle? How about saving the Wuping Army?"

Wulubao bowed and responded with a more humble attitude: "If you want to save the Wuping army, then my general will immediately stop the attack on Chengmin and send a large army to rescue. When I arrived, more than 20 Mouke cavalrymen were already in armor."

"If we want to keep this battle, we need the General to continue to persevere. The longer we persevere, the better. The more troops we can attract, the better. Once the Weisheng Army has swept the surrounding areas, we can then have a decisive battle with that Feihuzi!"

"My steward also said that he is still your Majesty's subject after all."

Upon hearing this, Wanyan Alin replied proudly, "Go back! Tell your minister that not only is he a subject of your majesty's, but so am I!"

Wulubao didn't dare to say more. He bowed again and saluted, then mounted his horse and left.

After a while, Olubao told Wanyan Yuanyi what Wanyan Alin had said.

"General Wanyan only said this one sentence and then sent me back." Olubao said respectfully.

"Alin has said enough. I usually underestimated him!" Wanyan Yuanyi stroked his beard and smiled, then turned around and ordered: "Lou Xue!"

"exist!"

"Lead the cavalry and seek out His Majesty. Follow wherever the Jinwu Banner leads the attack!"

"Here!"

"Remember, don't worry about that kid Wang Xiang. Just do whatever His Majesty tells you to do!"

"This..." Seeing Wanyan Yuanyi's expression turn stern, Lou Xue quickly lowered his head and agreed.

Afterwards, Lou Xue turned his horse and returned to the rear, where there were twenty-six Mouke cavalrymen, all of whom were already wearing armor and leading their horses, ready to attack. This was also the last mobile force of the Weisheng Army.

If Wanyan Alin could not hold on, Wanyan Yuanyi would naturally let Lou Xue lead these cavalry to support the Wuping army.

But since Wanyan Alin was aware of his willingness to sacrifice for the greater good, Wanyan Yuanyi would not be sentimental or fussy and would directly release the last of his strength to support Wanyan Liang's actions.

(End of this chapter)