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

Chapter 474: The Earth Collapses, the Mountains Are Destroyed, and the Warriors Die. Then the Ladder to Heaven and the Stone Steps Connect

The easternmost end of the battlefield is also where the fighting first took place.

A small number of Jin cavalry fled in all directions, and the infantry were unable to pursue them. The armored soldiers collapsed to the ground, not knowing whether they were injured or extremely exhausted.

A little further east, the corpses of people and horses were piled up almost into a mountain, covered by the Pucha flag, and wailing and screaming echoed throughout the area.

The falling snowflakes quickly covered the blood and mud on the battlefield, gradually turning it into a blanket of silver.

A large, blood-stained hand pushed away the corpse, revealing half of the head. However, because the lower half of the body was covered by the horse corpse, it could not move for a while. It could only roar loudly and wave its arms as if looking for help.

Soon, soldiers from the Jingnan Army discovered this place and determined that the person was one of their own from his accent, and then dragged him out with force.

Xu Zongyan gasped for air, as if trying to fill his entire abdomen with fresh air. He then looked at the longsword he had been holding tightly, and after realizing only half was left, he tossed it aside and said to the person beside him, "Did we...did we win?"

The soldier who dragged him out from the pile of corpses was stunned for a moment, and then said: "We won, we defeated the enemy and drove away those Jin thieves... Wuwuwu..."

Before he could finish his words, the sergeant collapsed on the ground and burst into tears.

At first she was just sobbing quietly, then she burst into tears, unable to control herself.

Xu Zongyan staggered to his feet and looked around.

People were bloody people, horses were bloody horses, corpses piled up like mountains, and blood flowed like a sea.

The Jingnan army that was still able to move had less than a thousand enemy soldiers, and almost all of them were injured and exhausted.

Seeing this scene, even though Xu Zongyan thought he was as hard as stone, he couldn't help but want to cry along with the soldiers around him.

The troops led by Pucha Shijie were indeed elite troops rarely seen in the world. If it were under normal circumstances, the two thousand Jingnan troops would definitely not be able to defeat the three thousand Jin troops.

However, every sacrifice is meaningful in the end.

Zhang Rong's sacrifice delayed the support speed of the Huaidong army, forcing Pucha Shijie to join the battle immediately without any rest.

Wang Qi's sacrifice consumed the Jin army's war horses and physical strength, leaving only one war horse left among the 3,000 elite cavalrymen when they participated in the decisive battle, and the horse was already somewhat exhausted.

Their heroic sacrifice, as well as that of countless Han men, created an opportunity to defeat the enemy, an opportunity to defeat Pucha Shijie with only two thousand soldiers.

However, Zhang Xiaoyi did not waste this opportunity. At the cost of heavy casualties to the enemy, he killed Pucha Wudie, the first general of the Wujie Army, Gao Jie, the first general of the Wuan Army, and captured Xiao Zhongda, the first general of the Shenwei Army, alive.

He even injured Pucha Shijie, who was known as the "natural born general", forcing him to escape in a panic under the protection of his personal guards.

Only a few hundred elite Jin troops crossed the Qingxi River and fled in all directions, and the rest were almost all left on the battlefield after being defeated by the enemy.

The price paid for defeating the enemy was also extremely high, so high that even Xu Zongyan, a theoretical outsider, would beat his chest and cry loudly.

But Xu Zongyan knew that he could not cry yet, because although the outcome of the battle on the east side was decided, the center of the battlefield was still in chaos. Even though the specific situation could not be seen clearly due to the wind and snow, the movements of the various flags could still be roughly distinguished.

Neither the large flag with the word "Yu" nor the Jinwu banner fell, and the battle was not over yet.

No one expected that this war would turn out like this. It has even reached the point where the army and individuals are fighting on their own. Any combat power could be the key factor in changing the situation!
Thinking of this, Xu Zongyan stepped forward, pulled up the armored soldier beside him, shouted a few words that he himself could not understand, and then staggered towards the big flag with the word "Zhang" embroidered with the waves of the East China Sea.

"Cuck!"

"Cuck!"

As if frightened by the noise of the battlefield, the crows flew up in fright, but were then stopped by the cold wind. They had no choice but to land on a big tree next to the big flag with the word "Zhang" on it, and kept shouting.

And under the big tree, Xu Zongyan met Zhang Xiaoyi.

I also saw Li Xiu kneeling and crying beside Zhang Xiaoyi.

At this time, the iron armor Zhang Xiaoyi was wearing had been shattered, revealing his white muscles with countless wounds. The peony flower tattooed on it was broken by the knife marks and stained red with blood, looking gorgeous and tempting. However, there was no trace of blood on his face, even his lips were pale, with only a line of blood flowing from the torn corner of his mouth.

Zhang Xiaoyi leaned against a tree, raised his hand with difficulty, wiped his mouth, and patted Li Xiu's shoulder in front of him: "A Xiu...A Xiu, don't cry, don't...make others laugh at you...I...I can't do it...you..."

Seeing this scene, Xu Zongyan took a few quick steps forward. Finally, when he was about three or four steps away, his whole body became weak and he fell to the ground as if his soul had been sucked out.

Zhang Xiaoyi also saw Xu Zongyan. He struggled to move his back from the tree and held up two fingers. "Xu Dapan... the grudge between you and my Donghai Righteous Army... the grudge between the Righteous Army is now... now we are even..."

Xu Zongyan opened his mouth, feeling like he should say something. But his usually articulate mouth felt like it was stuffed with two pounds of paste, making all the words stuck in his throat, making it difficult to utter them. But the tears kept flowing.

"Ah Xiu...Ah Xiu!" Zhang Xiaoyi coughed. Seeing that Li Xiu was still sobbing, he couldn't help but raise his voice a little, but it caused another round of coughing. "Ah Xiu, I can't see clearly. Where is Liu Dalang... Dalangjun?"

Li Xiuqiang suppressed his tears and glanced towards the center of the battlefield. "The Flying Tiger Banner of the General has already charged towards the Gold Lord. I... I... Brother Xiaoyi, please hold on for a moment. I'll go find the General..."

Zhang Xiaoyi took two deep breaths, shook his head and said with a smile: "A Xiu, what a jerk you are... The eldest son is going to do great things, I... This is very good, very good."

As he spoke, Zhang Xiaoyi grabbed Li Xiu's right hand and clenched it tightly: "A Xiu... I can't do it. After I die, you must burn me into ashes, bury half of them next to my father and Uncle Xu, and scatter the other half in the sea... My mother... my brother and sister are all in the sea... As long as I'm here, they won't be afraid, they won't be afraid..."

At this point, Zhang Xiaoyi's consciousness was already somewhat blurred. Looking at Li Xiu who was sobbing again, he once again forced himself to be strong, and his tone became a little fierce: "A Xiu! A Xiu! Tell Da Langjun for me... Tell him... I don't regret following him to do great things. These past few months have been happier than I... than the past ten years.

Ah Xiu, the day that Dalangjun promised, the day when the world will be at peace, I... I can't see it anymore! You, you have to see it for me! You must see it for me!

Li Xiu nodded repeatedly, tears streaming down her cheeks, plowing open ravines: "I promise you, Xiaoyi, you...you will be fine..."

Zhang Xiaoyi could no longer hear Li Xiu's response at this time. He leaned against a big tree, raised his head, looked at the distant sky, and had difficulty breathing, as if he was drowning.

He seemed to have returned to the day when the Donghai Uprising failed, his father and Uncle Xu were killed, and Zhang Xiaoyi fled with his mother, brothers, and sisters in a boat...

There are Jin warships chasing behind...

Several uncles and aunts in small boats turned around to stop them...

The arrows fired from the Eight Ox Crossbows punched a huge hole in the boat, letting in the seawater...

Zhang Xiaoyi felt like a dead leaf floating on the sea, gradually losing his breath. Seeing his mother so close, he couldn't help but reach out his hand: "Mother... Mother..."

The white snow gathers and scatters, and the crows are startled when they roost.

Amid the falling snowflakes and the cries of jackdaws, Zhang Xiaoyi stretched out his hand in his dying moments, as if trying to grasp something. A glimmer of hope flickered in his eyes, then quickly dimmed.

Zhang Xiaoyi, the orphan of the Donghai rebel army who was abandoned by the Song State, died on the battlefield defending the Song State.

He was twenty-one years old at the time.

Xu Zongyan finally couldn't help it and burst into tears.

Li Xiu was stunned. After kneeling for a moment, she wiped her tears and stood up with red eyes. "Xu Dapan, you are here. Use this banner to gather the troops and protect Brother Xiaoyi... Brother Xiaoyi's body."

As he spoke, Li Xiu stood up and picked up his banner from the ground. His eyes seemed to be spitting fire: "I'm going to kill the Jin thieves!"

Li Xiu, leaning on the large flag, stumbled forward two steps. Then, as if his strength had returned, he lifted the large flag onto his shoulders and walked with a firm step. He imitated Zhang Xiaoyi's actions and shouted, "Men of the East China Sea, follow me to kill the Jin thieves!"

The armored soldier who was resting on the spot with his spear, the exhausted knight who was snuggling with his warhorse, and the crossbowman who was bandaging his minor injury were all silently recovering their strength. They had no energy to shake off the snowflakes that fell on their bodies, and the people and their warhorses gradually turned into small snow hills.

They just watched in silence as Li Xiu walked by with the big flag.

Then, no one knew who took the lead, but the small snow mounds began to move slowly, and the snowflakes fell off, revealing the soldiers underneath.

A mixed team of more than 300 infantry and cavalry, led by a large flag with the word "Li", moved towards the center of the battlefield.

As if inspired by something, the rear formation of the Huaixi army, which had been in disarray after a great battle, was mobilized again, and another five or six hundred Song soldiers, a mixture of light and heavy infantry, followed Li Xiu.

They mixed with the defeated enemy troops and became a force of nearly a thousand people. Although they had lost their organization and most of them had scars of varying degrees of severity, and could even be considered to be at the end of their strength, they still mustered up their last bit of courage, charged towards the battlefield, and quickly triggered a chain reaction.

The battlefield underwent subtle changes at this moment, and the first to feel this change were not the Song and Jin armies fighting around the Jin army's Jinwu flag, but Wanyan Wangxiang who had been following Liu Huai.

This military nobleman, who had been in the army since childhood, quickly discovered the disappearance of the Jin army's forces at the easternmost end of the battlefield. After the large flag with the word "Li" approached the battlefield and the Song army began to clamor, he immediately realized that the east side of the battlefield was hopeless.

It was unknown whether Pucha Shijie was dead or not, but he must have been badly defeated. Otherwise, Li Xiu's gathering of troops and marching in this way would have been seeking death in front of the well-organized Jin cavalry.

"My dear! What should we do now?" Amidst the galloping horses, some of the personal guards noticed that the war was developing in a bad direction. They couldn't help but panic and asked loudly.

Wanyan Wangxiang was also panicking, but after a moment's hesitation, he shouted, "Now is the last chance! I don't believe that Feihuzi still has many soldiers! Kill him, and the last breath of the Song dog will be gone! Kill the bandits and serve the country! Ennoble my wife and son! Right now!"

Before the guards could say anything, Wanyan Wangxiang shouted, "When you give your all to Your Majesty, every bit counts! If we don't fight now, when will we?!"

The dozens of armored cavalrymen who were still following behind him were also excited, driving their tired horses and continuing to chase after the Flying Tiger flag.

The battlefield was too chaotic. After the melee began, almost everyone was drawn into it. The Flying Tiger Army could barely maintain its organization at the beginning. After Liu Huai's several rounds of fierce charges, although they were only a few dozen steps away from the Jinwu flag, there were only less than a hundred Flying Tiger armored cavalry behind them.

"Wanyan Liang! Your grandfather is here to take your dog head!" Liu Huai was in a killing mood. He danced with his spear and spun it like flying. He knocked the armored cavalry of the Jin army who blocked his way off their horses. He rode alone and charged forward with unstoppable momentum like an arrow shot out from an eight-ox crossbow.

"Flying Tiger!" A sturdy Jin army officer pointed his halberd and cursed, "This is where you'll die! I, Da Huaizhong, will send you to your doom!"

After saying this, he and another knight rushed forward, one in front and one behind.

Liu Huai sneered and rushed out on his horse alone.

The Jin army officer thrust his spear out, but not at Liu Huai, but at the warhorse under his crotch.

However, the Liquan in Liu Huai's hand arrived first and pierced the opponent's neck first. Although the spear of the Jin army officer fell down weakly, it still scratched the front leg of Liu Huai's horse.

As the two horses crossed each other, Da Huaizhong, who was hiding behind the Jin army officer, raised his long spear and smashed it down with all his might.

Da Huaizhong had used this trick to kill Hua Wang, the commander of the Beiwei Army, before. Now he used the same trick again and wanted to kill Liu Huai. However, unlike Hua Wang, Liu Huai's martial arts skills were much higher.

After the Liquan Spear was retracted, it stabbed out again like lightning.

Da Huaizhong dodged sideways on his horse, and the long spear that was chopped down deflected and hit the ground, brushing against Liu Huai's shoulder.

The two men passed each other. Da Huaizhong threw down his halberd, stepped on the stirrups with his legs, and hugged his arms forward, as if he wanted to throw Liu Huai off his horse.

Liu Huai wanted to use the same trick again. He held the gun in his right hand and stretched out his left hand, trying to pull Da Huaizhong off the horse.

The two men grabbed the straps on each other's armor and exerted force at the same time, but they both realized that they could not succeed. The warhorse itself was not very fast, and it stopped completely. Liu Huai and Da Huaizhong fought each other.

However, neither the Flying Tiger Army nor Hezha Meng'an would let their general fight alone, and they all came to support, but were stopped by the other side. The two sides fought in a melee in the snow, with hammers and iron maces flying, steel whips and sleeve sticks of the same color, and the intensity of the battlefield was instantly raised to a higher level.

Liu Huai pushed Da Huaizhong away with force, squeezed his legs against the horse's belly, and the warhorse neighed and leaped forward two steps. Taking advantage of the opportunity to create distance, the Liquan spear in Liu Huai's hand drew an arc and stabbed backwards.

A fierce counterattack immediately took shape.

Da Huaizhong twisted his body and barely dodged it. Before he could draw his sword, the Liquan Spear retracted like a poisonous snake's tongue. Liu Huai used his arm to pull the reins of the horse, and the warhorse turned quickly.

He then took advantage of the force of his horse's turning and swung the Liquan spear towards Da Huaizhong's side.

Da Huaizhong knew he couldn't dodge it, so he could only duck down on his horse and take the blow with his shoulder blades. Not surprisingly, he was knocked off his horse.

Just as Liu Huai was about to step forward with a grim smile and finish off Da Huaizhong, Wanyan Wangxiang rushed over, shouting and cursing while stabbing with his spear.

"Jingnan thieves! Today..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Baiyu threw down his spear, bent his bow, and shot an arrow through the neck of the warhorse under Wanyan Wangxiang's crotch.

The warhorse neighed, its front hooves softened, and it fell to the ground, throwing Wanyan Wangxiang away.

Poor Wanyan Wangxiang was full of energy, but encountered such an incident just before joining the battle. However, he still maintained his instinct as a military aristocrat and threw the spear in his hand away just before falling.

Liu Huai was fighting with two Heza Meng'ans, but he only heard the warhorse under his crotch neigh and then fell down.

The flying spear hit the warhorse right in the chest. The exhausted warhorse, which had suffered several wounds all over its body, finally couldn't hold on and fell to the ground.

Relying on his rich experience in martial arts from past and present lives, Liu Huai rolled to the side before his horse fell, not only avoiding the long sword swung by Hezhameng'an, but also creating some distance between them. Without waiting to stand up, he thrust out his spear again, piercing the ribs through the gap in the Jin army's armor. Liu Huai then exerted force with both arms and directly picked him up and flew him up.

"Big Brother! Charge in!" Zhang Baiyu used the continuous arrow technique to shoot out heavy arrows. After knocking down several Jin army armored cavalrymen in succession, he was involved in a brutal hand-to-hand combat again. Even so, he still sent out several armored cavalrymen beside him to assist Liu Huai in fighting forward.

The Jinwu banner is less than twenty steps away!

"You! You can't go anywhere!!!" Da Huaizhong roared with all his might. He had no idea where his helmet was thrown, and the golden ring that bound his braid had fallen off. His hair was disheveled and he looked like a madman, but his momentum was still undiminished as he walked towards Liu Huai.

"Jingnan thief!" Wanyan Wangxiang was knocked unconscious by the fall, but he still staggered to his feet, drew out his hand knife, and stared at Liu Huai fiercely.

"You bastard, you're so brave!" The cavalry commander Da Pan had already withdrawn from the Song army formation to rescue his majesty. Seeing Liu Huai charging at the forefront through the wind and snow, he couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Today I will use your head as a urinal!"

Liu Huai took a long breath, swallowing all the cold wind wrapped in snowflakes. Then he raised the Liquan Spear high, made a gun flower, and roared: "Come on!"

Soldiers faced each other, brave men met brave men, blood flowed, warriors went to their deaths, soldiers faced each other, generals faced each other, and in the midst of the soldiers' collision, Liu Huai, wielding the spear inherited from Yue Fei, fought one against three, suppressing the three fierce generals Da Huaizhong, Wanyan Wangxiang, and Dapan, preventing them from making any progress.

Liu Huai wasn't fighting alone after all. "Liu Dalang!" The Song army, which had been holding its ground, broke free and launched a counterattack. The spearhead of the counterattack was unexpectedly the soldiers led by Lu You himself.

Yu Yunwen's flag also moved forward, pressing towards the Jinwu flag.

Li Xianzhong, who had been lurking for a long time, found the right opportunity and led fifty of his personal armored cavalry to charge out suddenly, directly drawing the last organized armored cavalry unit around Wanyan Liang into the melee.

The Song army gave up all defensive measures and made a final attempt to succeed or die.

Wanyan Liang looked indifferently at the bloodbath going on on the battlefield so close to him. In such a chaotic situation, even though he was the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, there were only a dozen fully armed cavalrymen left by his side, and they were all terrified.

At this time, if another hundred organized armored soldiers and cavalry came, it would be enough to overwhelm them.

This is the reason why it is said that within ten steps, one person can defeat an entire country.

Just when Wanyan Liang's eyes turned red and he drew out his iron mace, wanting to throw himself into the Shura battlefield, nearly a hundred Jin cavalrymen stepped over the sporadic obstructions of the Song army and came in front of Wanyan Liang.

Wanyan Liang was overjoyed when he saw this: "Lou Xue, come with me and crush the Song dogs!"

Lou Xue rolled off his horse and grabbed Wanyan Liang's reins. "Your Majesty! We can't fight any further! Pucha Shijie's army has been completely routed, and the Song army is pressing in from the east. The wind and snow are too strong, and the military orders are not in place. I can't organize troops from the outside to stop them! Your Majesty! This is our only chance. If we don't leave now, we'll all be trapped here!"

Wanyan Liang looked towards the east and then looked at the sky.

Several hours have passed since the war began. Even if it was a sunny day, the sun would have set. At this time, the sky was covered with dark clouds, snow was falling heavily, and the sunlight was even dimmer.

In such an environment, or in such a chaotic battlefield, once the army is scattered, it will be almost impossible to reorganize it.

Theoretically, the sounds of gongs and drums are useless now. The only thing that really works is the vaguely visible flags. If the sky gets completely dark, the flags will become completely useless.

"Lou Xue, tell me the truth." Wanyan Liang said seriously, "Are you afraid of death?"

Lou Xue cried and said, "We have tried our best in this battle. Your Majesty personally broke the formation, so why would we care about our lives? Now we can't take it down. The Song dogs' formation is solid, and the soldiers are brave enough to fight. Isn't this a real fight?"
They have such a husband and such a general, so we can be defeated for a while, but if Your Majesty persists, you will throw away the chance of victory in the future!"

Wanyan Liang looked at Lou Xue, then looked at the Song and Jin armies still fighting bloody battles around him, and hesitated slightly.

However, at this moment, a mixture of huge cheers and wailing came from the West.

Wanyan Liang looked in the direction of the sound and saw thick smoke and flames gradually rising in the direction of the Jin army's Guishan camp.

The camp of the woman who had accumulated the gold and silk that the 30,000-man army had plundered along the way seemed to have been captured...

As these thoughts arose in the minds of every Jin soldier who saw this scene, the morale of the army instantly became chaotic.

Da Huaizhong bravely took another blow from Liu Huai with his injured shoulder, then broke away from the battle. He quickly walked up to Wanyan Liang, grabbed the reins of his horse, and said, "Your Majesty, hurry up! We can't fight any longer!"

"No...it's not like that..."

Da Huaizhong's eyes were bloodshot. "Your Majesty, according to the military law of withdrawing troops and executing them, if Your Majesty attacks in person, all the troops will attack simultaneously! We couldn't take them then! We can't take them now! If we didn't defeat the Song army the first time we entered the battle, we should have left! We should have left now!"

As he spoke, Da Huaizhong shouted, "Hu Temo, take His Majesty away! Gao Fu, guard the Jinwu banner!"

Hu Temo nodded quickly, pulled Wanyan Liang's horse reins, and took several armored cavalrymen beside him, found a gap in the melee, and headed north.

The armored soldier named Gao Fu, together with several other armored cavalrymen, surrounded the Jinwu banner representing the emperor in the middle, drew their weapons, and prepared to fight to the death.

"Da Huaizhong has already escaped! What do you think he did?" Liu Huai was in high spirits, wielding the Liquan Spear like a heavy blade, slashing and smashing, sending Da Pan and Wanyan Wangxiang retreating repeatedly. "Haha, your Majesty has lost his nerve! Look back, has he already run away with his tail between his legs?!"

Wanyan Wangxiang was panting heavily. He had already suffered some minor injuries from falling off his horse, and the short weapon in his hand could not gain any advantage. It was all thanks to Dapan's desperate attack that he saved his life from Liu Huai. Hearing Liu Huai's words, he couldn't help but look at the Jinwu flag more than 20 steps away.

There were actually armored cavalry that broke out from under them to the outside.

Wanyan Wangxiang's eyes fixed, he made a quick decision, turned around and ran.

Wanyan Liang has already run away, why should he, a mere marching general, fight for his life?

When Wanyan Wangxiang escaped, the Jin army that followed him was thrown into disarray. Dozens of people were killed on the spot in panic, and most of the Jin army followed Wanyan Wangxiang and began to retreat.

This in turn triggered a series of chain reactions.

Even though the Jinwu flag was still standing, the morale of the Jin army had already reached a shaky point.

Liu Huai exchanged glances with Zhang Baiyu, who was driving his horse closer, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Liu Huai was extremely arrogant and seemed to be invincible, in fact, the physical strength he consumed in fighting against the three powerful Jin army generals was so great that his hands and feet were a little weak at this time.

If Da Huaizhong, Wanyan Wangxiang and Dapan had risked their lives to attack, Liu Dalangjun might have really died here.

"Wanyan Wangxiang has also fled, and you still want to fight?" The Flying Tigers' armored cavalry rushed to pursue the defeated troops and sweep the surrounding battlefields. Liu Huai sneered and said, "Are you so loyal?"

Da Pan moved his hands a few times on the handle of his long sword, grinning and saying, "He is he, I am me! He is a coward, I am not!"

Liu Huai nodded: "Silang!"

Zhang Baiyu understood, drew his bow and shot quickly. In an instant, three or four arrows pierced Dapan's body.

However, Da Pan did not cower in the same place and wait for death, but rushed towards Liu Huai with a roar.

Liu Huai jumped onto a warhorse brought by his personal guards, and then began to charge with a long spear. Amid the thunder of horse hooves, the Liquan spear pierced through Dapan's heavy breastplate, and the remaining force pierced through his strong body and stabbed him into the ground.

"Follow me to chop down the banner of the gold master!" Liu Huai drew out his spear and held it high. The red tassel and small flag on the Liquan spear were already stained with blood. They hung down weakly in the wind and snow, seeming a little listless. However, the Flying Tiger armored cavalry cheered excitedly when they saw the spear, and then followed Liu Huai to launch a charge.

Followed by hundreds of Song soldiers, Gao Fu and several other Jin soldiers were like a small boat fighting for their lives in the raging waves, and were instantly overturned by the wind and waves. Liu Huai snatched the Jinwu flag symbolizing the Jin emperor, raised it high, and then threw it aside.

"Wanyan Liang is dead, kill the Jin thieves!"

The Song army shouted loudly, while the Jin army was horrified. When they looked back, they saw that the Jinwu flag had indeed disappeared, and the morale of the army was instantly in chaos.

The Jin army was able to dare to fight to the death with the Song army that occupied the advantageous terrain even when its vanguard was frustrated, its retreat was cut off, and one army was destroyed. Even when it was surrounded, it could still fight bravely. At least 60% of the reason for this was that Emperor Wanyan Liang was in the army.

Regardless of whether Wanyan Liang escaped, died, or was captured, the fact that the Jinwu flag fell to the ground and could not get up again undoubtedly sent a signal to the Jin army.

Wanyan Liang must be in real trouble.

Fear mixed with the wind and snow spread rapidly throughout the battlefield, infecting every Jin soldier like a plague.

These warriors who dared to fight against several Song soldiers single-handedly in the melee, the knights who dared to fight on foot after losing their horses, and the armored soldiers who continued to fight after suffering minor and serious injuries all lost their courage. The Jin army began to retreat without knowing where it started, and it soon turned into a great defeat.

At the foot of Turtle Mountain, Wanyan Yuanyi, who was being besieged from several sides by the Jingnan and Ezhou armies, sighed deeply and asked Wanyan Bendu, who had already fled to his side, "Duke Chu, is there anything else you can teach me about the current situation?"

Wanyan Bendu, accompanied by two Moukes and several hundred soldiers, escorted the civil officials who accompanied the army. They abandoned the main camp and came to the Weisheng army. Upon hearing this, he smiled bitterly and said, "How can a defeated general still have any solution?"

Prime Minister Li Tong, however, did not sabotage or mock Wanyan Bendu. Instead, he spoke up for him, saying, "Given the situation at the time, there were only signed troops in the camp, no real troops at all. Even if the Duke of Chu was a renowned general, he couldn't cook without rice."

Wanyan Bendu remained silent.

Wanyan Yuanyi sighed again: "In that case, let's go to Tangshan and find His Majesty!"

Everyone present knew that this was an excuse, because no one knew what Wanyan Liang's situation was at the moment.

Maybe he has been arrested?

But no one could mention this.

Does that mean he is going to defend the king? Under the attack of the Ezhou army and the Jingnan army, after the main camp was captured, he turned around and attacked the Huaixi army?

No matter how elite the Weisheng Army is, they are still human beings, not made of steel!
Now we can only assume that Wanyan Liang has escaped, but where could he escape to? He couldn't jump into Chaohu Lake and swim all the way to the Huai River, right?
Now Chao County has been blocked on all sides. The only way to survive is through Tangshan and fleeing to the northeast along Baochan Mountain. If you can escape to Wokou, you will be saved.

"But can we get away?" Li Tong's lips moved, and after a moment he said this.

"For today's plan, there is only..."

Before Wanyan Yuanyi finished speaking, he heard cheers and shouts that became more intense. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the Jingnan army was collectively excited and launched a desperate attack.

The Jingnan flag even came to the front of the battle formation under the guidance of the Qingsi flag. Xin Qiji shouted his own name and led his elite troops to start a rapid advance.

The rear formation of the Weisheng Army, whose morale was not very stable to begin with, collapsed directly. More than a thousand soldiers fled in a panic, discarding their weapons and armor, and some even knelt down to surrender.

It was just like how the Song army in Lianghuai performed against the Jin army when the southern expedition just began!
Seeing this, Wanyan Yuanyi sighed again and ordered the flags to be broken and the entire army to disperse and break out.

The morale of the Jingnan Army rose again, and they drove out the defeated troops and headed towards Tangshan Pass.

Yu Yunwen's blood boiled, and his round face flushed red. When he saw Liu Huai, he grabbed him and said, "Liu Dalang, we won! We finally won! With this victory, the world will change! It will change drastically!"

Liu Huai remained calm, shook Yu Yunwen's hand, and said in a deep voice, "Prime Minister Yu, this battle is not over yet!"

Yu Yunwen nodded: "Indeed, it's not over yet... What should I do next?"

Liu Huai glanced at Li Xianzhong beside Yu Yunwen. Seeing that he was silent, he said nothing more. "Please, Lord Yu and General Li, join me in raising our flags. Let's use the flags to mobilize the entire army to counterattack. Let's march westward and sweep the battlefield!"

After Li Xianzhong nodded, Yu Yunwen said, "That's exactly what should be done!"

Soon, the three flags, the Yu flag, the Li flag, and the Flying Tiger flag, were put together and marched towards the west. The armored soldiers and knights shouted and moved forward. The military forces of the Song Dynasty quickly gathered together and defeated the Jin army that was still resisting stubbornly one by one.

Soon, the three of them arrived at the front line where the fighting was the most intense.

After defeating the largest group of Jin troops, Liu Huai saw Shi Jun, who was on his deathbed, in the small square formation of armored soldiers under the still standing flag with the word "Shi" on it.

The reason why the Jin army failed to defeat the Song army even when Wanyan Liang personally joined the battle was largely due to Shi Jun's desperate resistance on the front line.

It was because of his strategic fulcrum that the surrounding Song troops could be continuously organized. At the same time, it also attracted the attention of most of the Jin army, blocking the Jin army's attack route to the rear, allowing Liu Huai to kill under Wanyan Liang's Jinwu flag.

But all this does not come without a price.

Shi Jun's strong body was already in pieces, with half of a spear stuck between his chest and abdomen. His personal guards covered the wound with their cloaks to try to stop the bleeding, but it was impossible to stop it.

Yu Yunwen hurried forward and turned around to shout, "Where is the military medical officer? Come quickly!"

Shi Jun opened his mouth, blood gushing out of it. He chuckled twice and said, "Yu... Mr. Yu, please don't bother me. My body... I know it's no longer able to function... I, I didn't embarrass you, did I?"

Yu Yunwen felt a slight soreness in his nose, and stroked Shi Jun's shoulder and said, "You are very good, a loyal minister and a good general of the country."

Shi Jun chuckled a few times again, seemingly not sad about his impending death: "My wife is in Jiankang, and my mother is in Lin'an..."

Yu Yunwen held Shi Jun's hand and said, "Don't worry, I will report this to the court. I will definitely grant you a title for your wife and children, and grant your mother an imperial decree."

Shi Jun shook his head: "I am... I am a stingy person... If my wife doesn't support my mother and remarries with our son..."

Yu Yunwen nodded heavily: "You must not give her an imperial decree or reward!"

Shi Jun smiled, then panted and sighed slightly: "Forget it, she...she married me...it was a miserable fate, why not...why not, we should just part ways. My mother has her own clansmen...brothers to take care of her, she will always be able to spend her old age."

Yu Yunwen finally couldn't help himself, and two lines of tears fell: "Whatever wishes you have, tell me, I... I will definitely give you an explanation."

Shi Jun shook his head helplessly, then looked at Liu Huai. "General Liu, your song 'A Hundred Thousand Banners Slay Yama Luo' is truly excellent. Excellent. But I still prefer the song 'The Great River' you sang on the river... I can be considered to have defended the country with my spear today... Do you have any other songs for me?"

Liu Huai looked at Shi Jun, thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Yes."

However, before he began to sing, a loud singing voice came from the foot of Guishan Mountain, and inspired the Flying Tiger Army soldiers here to sing as well. After a few sentences, the Song Army joined in.

It was the adapted heroic song that the Tianping Army used to celebrate their great victory.

Compared with the original version, this song has become completely unrecognizable. However, although the melody has been greatly changed, the lyrics are still the original ones, especially the first sentence "Smoke rolls and heroes sing" which is chanted repeatedly. It is sung passionately at the beginning, but lamented again and again at the end.

Strangely enough, amidst the singing, the few Jin troops who were still resisting stubbornly were completely discouraged, and even the more than 300 first-class armored cavalry of the Weisheng Army who had followed Wanyan Wangxiang out of the formation were scattered.

The Jin army finally suffered a great defeat and fled in all directions in the dark wind and snow.

At this time, Shi Jun's eyes were already dark, and he couldn't tell whether it was Liu Huai who was singing. He chewed on the lyrics in his mind, his consciousness became scattered, and finally he muttered to himself.

"So, someone like me... someone like me can be considered a hero..."

After saying this, Shi Jun died of suffocation.

He was 34 years old at the time.

The snow was falling heavily, the sun was setting, and the sky was getting darker and darker.

In history books, the Battle of Chao County, together with the Battle of Cai Shi, is collectively referred to as the Second Battle of Huaixi, and it finally ended with a tragic victory for the Song State.

(End of this chapter)