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

Chapter 638 Lighting the Flames: Night Battle, the Road is Like Pitch Black

In hindsight, Pucha Shijie's feint was brilliant.

He had long known that after the Jin Dynasty's failure to conquer the Song Dynasty, places like Xuzhou, surrounded by the Huai River and Shandong, were already in turmoil, with both powerful families and ordinary people harboring thoughts of rebellion.

People's hearts are overgrown with weeds.

These people would certainly not take any action while the Jin army was stationed there.

But when the Jin army is at a disadvantage, these people will surely come forward to tear it apart like sharks smelling blood.

They didn't even need to confront the enemy head-on; simply using various methods to delay them was enough to put the Jin army in a dilemma.

The Jin army didn't even know who to kill, because they would inevitably encounter enemies everywhere.

Therefore, when Wu Jiejun was about to withdraw, Pucha Shijie simply chose the biggest target, the Su Causeway, to attract everyone's attention.

Those hiding in the shadows will also have to step forward at this time, bringing all their military forces to retake the Su Causeway.

This was the best opportunity for Wu Jiejun to leave.

Of course, if the people of Xuzhou were cowardly and dared not resist, then Wu Jie's army would really breach the Su Causeway, flooding Xuzhou into a vast swamp, leaving Liu Huai with a huge mess before retreating safely.

If this really happens, Liu Huai won't be able to do anything else for the next three years, as repairing the Yellow River will deplete the manpower of the people in Shandong.

As for the issue of provisions for the army's march, Pucha Shijie was not worried at all, because there was still a large amount of provisions stored along the Jushui River. The provisions that were prepared to cut off the Song army's retreat when the Song army launched an attack were now playing a significant role and were enough to allow the Wujie Army to reach Shouzhou.

As the main force of the Wujie Army marched westward from Ximatai in full swing, Pu Chaping, the third general of the Wujie Army, looked at the torches below the dam that had become a sea of ​​fire and gradually became uneasy.

Pu Chaping only brought 600 jia (a unit of weight) of riders to the dam, while there were nearly 10,000 torches below the dam.

If it were daytime, and both sides could see each other clearly, Pu Chaping would naturally not be afraid.

The Jin army's cavalry were mounted on tall horses, fully armored, and equipped with swords and bows; they were armed to the teeth.

Meanwhile, the rebel army in Xuzhou wore cloth clothes of various colors, cut down trees to make weapons, and raised bamboo poles as flags. Apart from a few private soldiers of powerful families, most of them could only serve as atmosphere-building troops on the battlefield.

The moment the two sides meet, without even a real fight breaking out, the rebel army will naturally lose its courage.

But it was night.

It was a night in which both sides could only vaguely see each other's torches.

The Jin army's torches were as numerous as fireflies and beans, while the rebel army's torches burned brightly like wildfire.

The Jin army immediately lost three points in terms of morale.

Moreover, darkness naturally weakens the organization of an army, but the hastily organized rebel army in Xuzhou was basically disorganized, so there was no weakening effect.

The powerful and wealthy villagers, on the other hand, were able to gain a slight advantage by relying on their experience in rural fights.

This is what is meant by bringing the enemy's combat strength down to one's own level, and then defeating them with rich experience, which is what Cheng Feng and others were trying to do.

Even Cheng Feng had to admit that the Jin army's combat strength was far superior to theirs, and even with various methods, it was still difficult to confront them head-on.

"We can't wait! We absolutely can't wait! The Jin bandits are all cavalry. If they react in time and charge down the slope of the Su Causeway on their tall horses, our ragtag troops will be punctured and thrown into chaos!"

Cheng Feng shouted, "Those with spears, follow me! Charge head-on! Charge up the embankment! Don't let the Jin traitors escape!"

Like all newly formed rebel armies, Cheng Feng's hastily organized Xuzhou rebel army was of mixed quality and lacked a complete system.

After shouting for a long time, Cheng Feng saw that only a hundred or so villagers carrying long spears were approaching him, and he immediately realized a major problem.

His voice wasn't loud enough for everyone on the battlefield to hear; a messenger had to be sent to deliver the message.

However, the rebel army in Xuzhou is in chaos now, so where can we find any military envoy?
Cheng Feng hesitated only slightly before shouting sternly, "Whether you're a hero or a coward, it all comes down to this one tremor!"

I don't know if I was encouraging myself or saying it to the people around me.

Although no one heard Cheng Feng's loud shouts, his actions were clearly seen by everyone.

Soon, the sea of ​​torches below the Su Causeway rapidly rose into a spike, surging towards the causeway like a flood crashing against a dam. Along with this spike, the sea of ​​torches churned into enormous waves, spreading across the entire causeway.

Pu Chaping instantly broke out in a cold sweat, and his lieutenant was equally panicked: "General, let's mount our horses together and charge out!"

"No way!" Pu Chaping shouted sternly, "What do you think we're here for? The army is on the march. If we can't hold these bandits back, they will definitely harass the army's movements!"

Looking at the sea of ​​flames surging up below the dike, the lieutenant asked anxiously, "General! Why not concentrate our forces, wipe out these bandits, and then withdraw?"

Pu Chaping, who already had his spear in his hand, became even more impatient upon hearing this: "These bandits hide and only gather at night. Where are you going to find them during the day? If the army attacks at night, it can easily defeat the bandits of Xuzhou, but how will you annihilate them all?"
Do you really think that after the Xuzhou bandits were defeated, they will no longer oppose us? How difficult it will be to regroup our army!

"Don't forget, that traitor Liu is encircling us from the south and north! If we delay for even two days and his troops hold us back, the whole army will be in trouble!"

"Do you understand? If you understand, then follow me and protect the warhorses. If we can hold out for an hour or two, and the army has advanced ten miles, we can break through the encirclement!"

Wu Jie's army was not afraid of a frontal attack from the Xuzhou rebels, but rather of the local gentry and common people uniting to wage guerrilla warfare and harassment.

The purpose of Pu Chaping's troops was to hold back the Xuzhou rebels and prevent them from having the energy to do other things.

From this perspective, Pu Chaping not only completed the task perfectly, but he did it too perfectly, so much so that Cheng Feng pulled out every possible person to take back the Su Causeway and ensure the safety of Xuzhou before launching a siege on Xima Terrace with the momentum of a great victory.

Only Pu Chaping knew the whole plan, so the deputy general was stunned after listening for a while. But in the end, the deputy general resolutely carried out Pu Chaping's military order, calling on more than a hundred armored soldiers to form a battle formation on the Su Causeway and defend from a high vantage point.

The rebel army in Xuzhou was poorly equipped and was launching a feint attack, so even with an absolute numerical advantage, they still found it difficult to gain any advantage.

The key issue is that the number of rebels in Xuzhou was simply too large.

Moreover, they were people from the same hometown. Often, after one wave of attacks was repelled, another wave would come to attack. As soon as the offensive in that area weakened slightly, the local people from Xuzhou would shout loudly.

"Kill the Jin invaders! Protect the Su Causeway! Save Xuzhou!"

The Xuzhou rebels would instantly become extremely fanatical, charging towards the top of the dike like a tidal wave crashing against the shore.

After holding out for less than half an hour, Pu Chaping could no longer withstand the onslaught. His armored soldiers gradually broke apart in the chaotic attack. The once battle-hardened soldiers were quickly swallowed up by the crowd as soon as their formation broke apart, without even making a ripple.

"General! Just hold on until now! We are all elite cavalry, not here to fight these bandits in battle formation. We need to get moving to be at full strength!"

Urged on by his deputy, Pu Chaping wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up at the moonlight in the flickering torchlight.

"No, the steward told us to hold out for an hour!"

Upon hearing this, the lieutenant became extremely anxious: "General! Brother! If the commander-in-chief knew that so many people were attacking, he wouldn't have ordered us to defend to the death! We are armored cavalry! If we disperse and attack together, we can quickly scatter these bandits! Then we will have fulfilled our military orders!"

Pu Chaping was already in a state of utter confusion. Amidst the deafening shouts of battle, he pondered for a moment before reluctantly nodding, "In that case, let's mount our horses and charge out!"

The lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief, then led the remaining five hundred-plus men to mount their horses, found a sparsely lit area with torches, and rode out from a high vantage point.

Pu Chaping took the lead and easily charged out. Looking back at the sea of ​​torches, he immediately felt reassured.

The rebel army in Xuzhou rose up hastily and their organization was so poor that when they were attacked by concentrated cavalry, they were split in two, and no one has come to fill the gap left by the Jin army.

Six hundred armored cavalry are more than enough to handle this kind of army!
Just as Pu Chaping was about to gather his troops and turn back to continue the charge, a gust of cold wind suddenly cleared his mind.

He glanced around and immediately understood why Pu Chashijie, this seasoned general, had only ordered him to hold the embankment instead of defeating the Xuzhou rebels.

Because it was nighttime, Wu Jiejun, being in unfamiliar territory of Xuzhou, only had one chance to charge when facing the local militia.

Once the initial charge is made, it becomes very difficult for the troops to regroup.

Just like now, Pu Chaping clearly led more than 500 armored cavalrymen out to fight, but after trampling through the Xuzhou rebel army, he could only see more than 200 cavalrymen left.

Even the deputy general who had just urged him to charge out had disappeared.

These people were certainly not killed by the Xuzhou rebels, but rather scattered in the night and could not find Pu Chaping's location.

During the day, scattered troops could still identify their commander by their flags, but now, with shouts of battle and waving torches everywhere, where could one find a large army?

"Retreat!" Pu Chaping could only watch helplessly as the massive and disorganized army of Xuzhou slowly shifted its formation. He then gritted his teeth and said, "Let's retreat now! Let's go after the commander!"

(End of this chapter)