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

Chapter 695 Arrows Fall in a Barrage, Warriors Rush Forward

In hindsight, the timing of Wanyan Liang's personally led charge was remarkably skillful.

If they had arrived a few minutes earlier, the Song army's cavalry on both flanks would not have been caught up in a fierce battle with Wanyan Wangxiang and could have engaged the Jin army.

If they delay for a few minutes, Wu Ting will likely be able to react and order more archers to take up long spears, long swords, and other melee weapons and prepare for battle.

And this moment happened to be the most vulnerable time for the Song army.

Even if they found the right opportunity, the outcome of a war is ultimately decided by blood and iron, and the casualties at this moment still made both commanders feel a little heartbroken.

Needless to say, at least a hundred Jin cavalrymen crashed into the Song army's formation, carving out a wide path while being riddled with spears.

The Song army's double-layered spear formation did have some effect, but it was not completely defeated. After being breached several times, the formation was barely maintained, but it became crooked due to the Jin army's onslaught.

The key point is that the Song army was formed by stacked formations into a horizontal formation. Therefore, when the spear formation at the front was torn open, the space between the stacked formations became a passage for the Jin cavalry to divide the large formation.

The Song soldiers, still carrying bows and crossbows and positioned behind the gun emplacements, were caught off guard by the Jin cavalry charging back and forth. Some threw down their bows and crossbows, wanting to engage in close combat, while others wanted to continue nocking their bows and firing arrows. The scene instantly became extremely chaotic.

"Look at my flag! Form ranks! Form ranks! Uh..." A Song army officer tried to maintain order, but after shouting twice, his actions betrayed his officer status.

Several heavy arrows from the Jurchens came flying from the front. Although most of them were blocked by his armor, one heavy arrow, fired from five feet away, pierced through his helmet.

The Song army officer didn't even have time to scream before he collapsed to the ground.

Wanyan Liang placed the hard bow back to the side of the saddle, then picked up the spear and pointed it forward.

"rush!"

Wanyan Liang had already led dozens of cavalrymen and the Golden Banner into the fray. As a military nobleman who was well-versed in the Jurchen armored cavalry tactics, Wanyan Liang knew that since they had begun to force their way through, there was only one way to go.

"Break through the enemy lines! Kill!"

Wanyan Liang roared.

However, he was met with another loud shout.

"You! You can't go anywhere!"

Wu Ting did not know who Wanyan Liang was. These Jin soldiers were all wearing heavy armor, black robes, and their armor was not decorated at all.

But Wu Ting could still see the golden banner. He knew that since the banner representing the Jin emperor was here, Wanyan Liang must also be here.

As long as we kill these few dozen riders and cut off this golden banner, this battle will be over!
Without saying much, Wanyan Liang stepped forward and led his personal guards and armored cavalry to fight Wu Ting.

This was extremely dangerous for Wanyan Liang.

Because he was still in the Song army's ranks at this moment, the surrounding Song infantry might stop their chaos, be organized, and surround and kill him at any time.

However, Wanyan Liang was not fighting alone.

Tudan Shousu, leading the last five armored cavalrymen of the Mouk, surged in along the path torn open by the vanguard.

The Song army's formation, which had been struggling to maintain its position, finally succumbed to such a fierce attack. The two overlapping formations that were hit head-on collapsed completely, and more than a thousand Song soldiers became routed soldiers, scattering and fleeing under the pursuit of the Jin cavalry.

The weakness of the stacked formation in close combat was fully exposed at this moment.

Although Wu Ting could tell from the shouts and screams around him that the Song army's formation seemed to be in trouble, he still gritted his teeth and swung his spear swiftly on horseback, coordinating with his personal guards to charge towards the Golden Guard banner.

In Wu Ting's view, this was almost the only hope for a comeback.

Seeing this, Wanyan Liang laughed and didn't bother to continue entangled with Wu Ting. He sent out several dozen cavalry to block Wu Ting, while he, carrying a spear, continued to charge towards the rear of the formation.

Wu Ting's eyes were bloodshot, but he was unable to move an inch due to the armored cavalry's entanglement.

Just when the Song army was about to collapse completely, Zhang Wen finally led his troops to the scene and caught the Jin army off guard.

To say that Zhang Wen was destined to be busy in this battle is an understatement. He first took the lead in capturing Mawei Slope as the vanguard of the entire army, but because the Song army wanted to switch from defense to offense, he had to take the lead again and come to the front of the Jin cavalry formation to challenge them.

Originally, it was thought that the Jin army would deal with him first, but unexpectedly, Wanyan Liang did not play by the rules and did not care about the potential dangers in the rear. He directly led his army to charge into the Song army's formation.

This has really stumped Zhang Wen. Is this how you break through from the center? Is he addicted to military adventure?
Despite his inner grumbling, Zhang Wen immediately disbanded the Six Flowers Formation and then led his troops to follow the Jin cavalry.

Because the warhorses of Zhang Wen's troops had all been driven away by the Jin army, they could not be gathered together for a while and could only rely on their large feet to rush back to the battlefield, so it was inevitable that they would be a little slower.

The good news is that he arrived just before the situation deteriorated beyond repair.

The battlefield is now in complete chaos.

The Jin army dispatched light cavalry to engage in a fierce battle with the Song cavalry on both flanks.

The Jin cavalry, like a wedge, drove deep into the Song army's formation, almost shattering the main force of four thousand Song infantry.

Meanwhile, another thousand Song infantrymen arrived from behind the Jin army, blocking the main force of the Jin cavalry in the Song infantry formation that was on the verge of collapse.

In this chaotic situation, it's hard to say who is surrounding whom, or who is actually gaining an advantage.

If we really have to talk about a single decisive factor, then it depends on whether Wanyan Liang can break through the Song army's infantry formation.

If they could break through, the Song army's formation would soon collapse; but if they couldn't, once Wu Ting stabilized the formation, the Jin army would inevitably face attacks from all directions, and Wanyan Liang would have to pay the price for his reckless actions.

During this difficult stalemate, Zhang Congjin led more than twenty cavalrymen from the left flank of the battlefield, along the gaps between the army formations, to the very center of the Song army's main formation.

Zhang Congjin first helped Wu Ting repel the Jin cavalry, then, disregarding Wu Ting's imminent turn to pursue Wanyan Liang, he grabbed Wu Ting's hand and said, "General Wu, we can't fight anymore! Let's retreat quickly while we have the chance!"

Wu Ting, his eyes bloodshot, gasped for breath and shouted, "Steward Zhang, look at this battlefield! How can we retreat now?!"

Zhang Congjin felt somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this, but still managed to speak up amidst the chaos of the battlefield: "If we don't leave now, my men will be routed."

Wu Ting said incredulously, "How many soldiers does the Jin bandit Han army have? You have a thousand cavalry under your command, how come they're already defeated? General Zhang, is this all the troops you've led? You're utterly useless!"

Zhang Congjin swayed on his horse, barely suppressing his anger, and said, "I didn't know the emperor was here before I came! Damn it, how did Wanyan Liang get here?! General Wu, even people like you and me would feel some fear upon seeing the Jin emperor personally leading his troops, let alone my soldiers?"

Wu Ting's cheek twitched a few times as he finally realized the place he had overlooked.

Facing the Jin emperor, the Song army might be shocked or fearful, but ultimately, they were divided into friend and foe, and there was no psychological barrier to fighting each other.

But the Mighty Army was different.

They were originally Jin soldiers, and now that they were facing off against the Jin emperor, it was tantamount to regicide.

In this world, there are very few reckless people like Cheng Ji. It is almost impossible to overcome the mental hurdle of wanting to assassinate the emperor in the street without some mental preparation.

This hesitant and uncertain feeling manifested on the battlefield as timidity and conservatism during combat; and in Zhang Congjin's case, it made him feel that his troops were not under his control.

At first, Zhang Congjin didn't realize what was going on, but when his subordinates kept confirming with him whether it was indeed Wanyan Liang under the golden banner, Zhang Congjin finally realized that something was wrong.

After quickly figuring out what had happened, Zhang Congjin immediately made up his mind: damn it, they couldn't keep fighting like this.

If the fighting continues, his thousand cavalrymen are very likely to be the first to collapse on the battlefield.

After listening to Zhang Congjin's advice, Wu Ting hesitated for a moment on his horse before finally slapping the saddle hard: "I also want to gather our troops first and wait it out, but with so many Jin cavalry, how are we going to retreat?!"

Seeing that Wu Ting also intended to retreat, Zhang Congjin finally breathed a sigh of relief: "That's simple, General Wu. First, send reliable troops to Mawei Slope to form ranks, and then the whole army will retreat together. I will cover the rear."

"We're in chaos, and the Jin invaders are in chaos too. I don't believe they won't regroup their troops and just rush forward in a mess."

"It will be more troublesome to regroup the cavalry. In that case, our army will be one step ahead of the Jin invaders no matter what."

No sooner had Zhang Congjin finished speaking than a loud commotion erupted from the left wing.

The two men looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the small flag bearing the character "Zhang" representing Zhang Congjin's adjutant had fallen down. Although it was quickly put back up, the morale of the troops was shaken at that moment, making the battle lines even more complicated.

Seeing this, Wu Ting could only grit his teeth and say resentfully, "Then it's as you say, but..."

Wu Ting pointed to the Golden Guard banner in the distance and said, "We can't let this guy continue to be so arrogant. We need to stop him!"

(End of this chapter)