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

Chapter 733 Armored Cavalry Invade Like Fire

“Chief Secretary He, since you are the commander of the rear army, your military orders are absolute. In principle, I should not contradict any of your orders. However, since this matter concerns the safety of the Commander-in-Chief, I, as his subject, have no choice but to offer my advice.”

As the Han army's 30,000 main force and the Jin army's two flanks launched their attacks simultaneously, and an unusually large cloud of smoke appeared at the front line, Liang Yuan'er, the deputy commander of the Wucheng army, earnestly said: "Now that the vanguard has been fought to this extent, and the central army has sent out all the troops it can, the Jin army's main cavalry is clearly threatening the central army. The rear army still has several thousand troops. Shouldn't we send them out?"

He Boqiu, drinking the plum juice from his wine sack, raised his eyelids upon hearing this and said to Liang Yuan'er, "You are now in command of Wu Cheng Army. Did you leave the army to come here just for these words?"

After questioning Liang Yuan'er, He Boqiu looked at Wang Youzhi and Zhang Qing: "Did you two come here specifically to suspect that I have ulterior motives?"

He Boqiu's seniority and status were too high, and he seemed to be the number one person under Liu Huai's system. Both of his sons were also very promising. So when he spoke out indignantly, all three of them felt a little overwhelmed.

Liang Yuan'er said sincerely, "Among the entire Jingnan army, if we doubt anyone's loyalty, we would never doubt Chief Secretary He. However, the rear army currently has three routes of troops, and the three commanders are all somewhat hesitant. Can't Chief Secretary He give us an explanation?"

He Boqiu chuckled, gazing at the billowing dust in the distance, listening to the faint sounds of battle shouts, drums, and horns that were approaching from several miles away. He waved away the guards around him, then said solemnly, "Originally, I wanted to take on this responsibility myself, but since the three generals are all capable of handling things, I will speak to you about it."

"At this stage of the great battle, all strategic planning is no longer relevant; we must adapt to changing circumstances."

We originally planned for Xin Wulang to handle the Jin cavalry, but now Xin Wulang has initiated a decisive battle with his infantry, while the Jin cavalry have circled around from both flanks. Their objective is simply to target Xin Wulang's rear, our flank cavalry, our central army, and this area around me.

"Among them, the one they are most likely to tear apart is the central army of the Commander-in-Chief."

Firstly, if the Commander-in-Chief is killed, the matter will be settled; secondly, the Commander-in-Chief is constantly dividing his troops, weakening the central army, in order to lure the Jin invaders away.

"In this way, the Commander-in-Chief becomes the bait, and we become the net. How can we expect to stir up the net in the water before the fish have even taken the bait?"

Halfway through He Boqiu's sentence, the three generals no longer wanted to listen and deeply regretted their decision to argue with him.

Admittedly, from a military perspective, this is indeed an excellent military plan.

However, this military plan was based on putting political leaders in danger, which was extremely disrespectful to a subject.

This could even become a handle for future political enemies.

Are you all the only ones who would stand by and watch your lord die?!

More importantly, this was a completely undeserved disaster. If the three of them had not questioned He Boqiu and had simply obeyed his orders, then He Boqiu would have borne all the possible blame, and it would have had nothing to do with them.

Now look what's happened! It was clearly He Boqiu's idea, but now everyone's brainstorming and working together.

"This subordinate will immediately return to the army to prepare and await Commander He's orders!"

After the three fled in a sorry state, He Boqiu chuckled twice before looking at the distant battlefield with a solemn expression.

He spoke of it with great ease, but the pressure he was under was immense.

If reinforcements are not delivered in time, causing the central army to collapse, then He Boqiu will be guilty of a crime for which he could not atone even with a hundred deaths.

"Report! The Jurchen cavalry are approaching from the north and south!"

"Report! No fewer than six thousand cavalry, all elite armored cavalry of the Jin rebels!"

"Report!..."

"Report! The central army has already engaged in battle, but we can only hear the sounds of fighting from afar and cannot get close to the battlefield!"

After listening to the military intelligence gathered by the scouts, and receiving news that the central army had already begun fighting the Jin army, He Boqiu finally gave the order: "The entire rear army, attack! Everyone, go! Charge together!"

At this time, the rear army still had more than 8,000 men, whose combat strength was uneven.

The Wucheng Army and the Tianxiong Army each had about three thousand men. One was originally a regular army of the Jin Dynasty, and its members came from good families in Shandong. The other was a righteous army from Hebei that had been sifted through the sands of time. Their combat strength was acceptable.

The rear guard of the Loyal Army, namely Zhang Qing's two thousand soldiers, was of mixed quality.

Zhang Qing himself was sent by Zhang Rong, and he also brought in the remnants of the Kai Shan Zhao uprising, such as Kai Zhao and Liu Yi, who had defected to Zhang Rong. Although they had undergone many rounds of elimination and reorganization, their combat strength was still lacking.

However, now that the great battle has begun, everyone, regardless of strength, must fight to the death.

The movement of He Boqiu's troops immediately provoked an overreaction from Tudan Hailuo and Wuyan Chala.

Instead of turning to attack the rear guard, the two men took a desperate gamble, sending a small force of eight armored cavalrymen to delay He Boqiu before launching a full-scale attack on the central army.

However, what Tudan Hailuo did not expect was that, in the face of the fierce attack of the Jin army's elite troops, Liu Huai's central army remained as stable as Mount Tai, but the armored cavalry sent to contain He Boqiu made great contributions.

Zhang Qing's troops marched in disarray, and the Jin army seized the opportunity to break through their lines, resulting in the death of their commander, Zheng Zi.

He Boqiu could only slow down again, advancing slowly in formation amidst the harassment of the Jin cavalry.

Tudan Hailuo did not waste the opportunity created by his subordinates. He dismounted, grabbed his eighteen-foot steel spear, and led his elite troops in a surprise attack on the central army.

"Hold on! Hold on! Eight thousand troops from the rear have arrived to reinforce us! Just hold on for two quarters of an hour!" A Han army commander had just shouted this when a heavy Jurchen arrow shot at close range pierced his head, and he fell to the ground without uttering a sound.

The officer's death immediately caused a small-scale commotion in the Han army, but under the reprimand of the replacement officer, the Han army rallied and maintained their lines.

Liang Su glanced once more at Liu Huai, whose face was as hard as iron, before turning his gaze to Wang Shilong's banner.

He knew that the troops Liu Huai had left in the central army were not actually the most elite troops in the Han army.

The Han army's two elite units were the Vanguard Army and the Flying Tiger Army, each consisting of three thousand men on horseback.

Leaving aside the Flying Tiger Army's role in connecting the north and south in Jeju, the Vanguard Army had already been dispatched by Liu Huai to Xin Qiji's side to serve as the spearhead of the attack. If both of these forces were present, they would have already annihilated the Jin cavalry, so why would they be stuck in a stalemate or even a slightly disadvantageous position?
After thinking about it for a long time, Liang Su finally remembered why he had gone to see Wang Shilong's military flag.

Wang Shilong had just boasted that he would capture a Jin army Meng'an banner for Liu Huai within three quarters of an hour of the battle.

The battle has officially begun for two quarters of an hour now, and Wang Shilong still hasn't made a move. Could it be that he was just boasting earlier?
Just as his thoughts began to wander again, Liang Su noticed that Wang Shilong was leading his personal guards forward to deal with the approaching banner of the Jin army's general.

Meanwhile, Tudan Hailuo, under the banner of the chief steward, seemed to have also noticed Wang Shilong's actions and was also slowly approaching him, not to be outdone.

The two generals faced each other at a distance of more than ten feet. Warriors fought fiercely and heroes faced death in the middle. The soldiers on both sides poured into the flesh mill in front of their generals like madmen.

Just as the Jin army was mobilizing its flanks, a small apricot-yellow flag began to flutter beneath Wang Shilong's banner.

Upon receiving the agreed-upon signal, Yuan Qi immediately led his three hundred elite armored soldiers to their feet and, using the large formation as cover, slowly made their way to the weakest point in the Jin army's attack formation.

Then, the three hundred armored soldiers shouted in unison, wielding long swords and axes, and swarmed out, directly defeating the two moukes who were blocking their way.

Their momentum had not diminished, and they slightly turned, charging towards the banner of Tudan Hailuo's general, cutting through everything in their path as if they were in an empty field.

A Jin army soldier, known as Meng'an, discovered the unusual movements of the Han army and immediately led his personal guards to intercept them. However, Yuan Qi killed him with a single blow and seized the Meng'an banner.

Liang Su couldn't help but look up at the sky and found that Wang Shilong was indeed true to his word; he said three-quarters of an hour and it was exactly three-quarters of an hour, with no time difference whatsoever.

Just as Wang Shilong launched his counterattack, Liu Huai finally made his move.

"Yao Buping, bring your armored cavalry and follow me!" Liu Huai picked up his Liquan spear, put down his saddle, and then signaled the cavalry to raise the Liu-character banner while leaving the Han-character commander's banner in the center: "Mr. Liang, I am going into battle. Please wait here for a while."

Having said that, Liu Huai ignored Liang Su's obstruction, led his warhorse, and slowly headed towards the northern end of the battlefield, with the flags lowered and the drums silenced.

It went unnoticed during this period.

Both the Han and Jin armies were blinded by rage and failed to notice that a force of 300 elite armored cavalry had already reached the charge position.

Wang Xiongyi had been focusing all his attention on Wuyan Chala until his personal guards reminded him that Liu Huai had already arrived behind him with his armored cavalry.

He jolted awake, immediately realizing what Liu Huai was planning to do. A wave of anxiety washed over him.

Young master, can't you be a little more composed?!

He's about to declare himself king and establish his own regime, so why does he still need to personally lead his troops into battle?
If anything were to happen to you, would the Han army still have a future?!
Liu Huai ignored what Wang Xiongyi was thinking and simply shouted, "Wang Xiongyi! Clear the way for me!"

As the saying goes, military orders are as firm as mountains. Wang Xiongyi's words of advice swirled in his throat, but he could only swallow them back, and then loudly agreed.

The elite soldiers of the Loyal Army immediately concentrated their forces and fought their way out along the gap pointed out by Liu Huai, creating a gap more than ten feet wide for Liu Huai.

"Mount up!" Liu Huai leaped onto his horse and roared, "I am Flying Tiger! Follow me and kill the Jin traitors!"

"Kill the Jin traitors!"

"Kill the Jin traitors!"

The Flying Tiger cavalrymen roared loudly in unison with Liu Huai, their morale soaring instantly.

Liu Huai took the lead, stepping out of the battle zone. He then led his troops in an arc, crashing into the back of the Jin soldiers amidst the fury of Wu Yanchala.

Caught off guard, these elite armored soldiers were trampled over by the armored cavalry. Then, the Han soldiers swarmed forward and massacred the scattered Jin army.

In this single clash, the twenty-odd cavalry and infantry under Wuyan Chala suffered nearly three hundred casualties, and as Liu Huai advanced rapidly, the casualties were on the verge of increasing.

This is where armored cavalry has the advantage over infantry. When used properly, cavalry can inflict heavy casualties on infantry in a short time simply by trampling them, causing the infantry's organization to completely collapse.

Most importantly, infantrymen caught in the chaos, even armored soldiers, have little way to stop the cavalry's charge. Just like Wu Yanchala, who is known as the Iron Mace Commander, even though he is brave enough to fight ten thousand men, he can only flee in a sorry state.

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

It is unclear where it started, but amidst the incessant shouts of "Long live the Emperor!", the elite Jin army that came from the north to attack the central Han army was routed and fled in disarray.

From the moment when the central army was in dire straits to the moment when they turned defeat into victory, it was all thanks to Liu Huai's single attack. Even with Liang Su's composure, he couldn't help but cheer.

"Flying Tiger!"

"Flying Tiger!"

"Flying Tiger!"

Liu Huai, carrying a large banner bearing the character "Liu" and wielding the Liquan spear, galloped past the battle lines, both to show off his power and to sweep away the fleeing soldiers.

On the southern battlefield of the central army, listening to the cheers of the Han army and feeling the increasing strength of their counterattack, and looking towards the northern end of the battlefield where the Jin army's flags were broken and falling one by one, Tudan Hailuo sighed and could no longer remain calm.

"Let's go, everyone mount your horses." Tudan Hailuo dejectedly ordered his adjutant, "Go and gather the troops and retreat to the marshal's place. I'll go find that bastard Wuyan Chala. The elite troops of the Great Jin are losing more and more with each death; we should try to save them if we can."

The adjutant wanted to say something, but when he turned around and saw the situation on the main battlefield of the front, he was dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)