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

Chapter 736: Talking and Laughing

"This Jingnan Army military governor and the Jingnan Army of the Commander-in-Chief are not the same thing." The learned Liang Su looked at the tightly bound Wuyan Chala, and with a relaxed expression, he began to popularize knowledge.

"The Jingnan Army was established during the Tang Dynasty and was stationed in Binzhou, Yongxing Army Road, Guanzhong. It was used until the Song Dynasty. The Jingnan Army Military Governor is now a nominal position."

Bi Zaiyu grinned sheepishly, as if he hadn't heard Liang Su's words at all.

Many people, including Yao Buping, looked at Bi Zaiyu with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

How come this guy is so lucky?
This guy not only captured Liu E, but also managed to defeat a Jin army while coming to support them, and even captured Wu Yanchala. Is there any justice in this world?
However, when Liu Huai was in person, these people ultimately dared not show their jealousy on the surface, and could only grit their teeth and say congratulations.

Bi Zaiyu returned the greetings repeatedly, claiming that he had gotten a bargain and that the battle was fought by everyone else.

Wang Shilong and the others naturally didn't care much about the little squabbles between the young men, but instead came up to Liu Huai and said, "Commander-in-Chief, the Jin invaders have already withdrawn."

Liu Huai rubbed the dry soil with his hands to wipe away the slippery bloodstains: "How many people did Tu Dan Hailuo take away?"

Wang Shilong shook his head and said, "The situation is too chaotic. However, there are about six hundred Jin bandits killed or wounded on the south side. If we include the Jin bandits who ran away because they couldn't find their warhorses, the Jin bandits may have lost a thousand men."

Liu Huai nodded: "So that means Tu Dan Hailuo took more than two thousand cavalry with him?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Shilong blushed with embarrassment: "This humble general is incompetent."

Wang Shilong's words were well-founded.

If the troops that Tudan Hailuo took with him were still relatively intact, then the more than three thousand elite troops under Wuyan Chala's command were completely wiped out.

Liu Huai personally led his armored cavalry in a sudden charge, and after completing a perfect hammer-anvil tactic, the first thing he did was to drive away the Jin army's warhorses that had been placed behind the lines.

After the Jin army's infantry and cavalry collapsed, they couldn't find any warhorses and were unable to quickly leave the battlefield. They could only abandon their armor and flee in disarray.

When soldiers are locked in a stalemate, no matter how fierce the fighting, casualties will continue to occur but will not escalate immediately. It is only when one side collapses that a large number of people will truly die.

Unlike the orderly retreat of Tudan Hailuo's tribe, Wuyan Chala was defeated and fled in disarray. During this process, Wang Xiongyi's tribe alone captured and killed more than a thousand Jin soldiers, which can be described as a model of excessive killing and belongs to the "top of the top" of "top kills".

In comparison, Wang Shilong was a head shorter.

Liu Huai waved his hand and said, "You don't have any cavalry on your side after all. Such casualties are already a great achievement."

After reassuring Wang Shilong, Liu Huai solemnly issued military orders.

"Order: Leave a portion of the three central army units to guard the prisoners and treat the wounded, and the rest shall all advance to the vanguard!"

"Order He Boqiu to lead the troops that have not yet participated in the battle, in marching formation, to bypass the battlefield from the north and pursue the Jin invaders!"

"Wang Wulang, I'm entrusting everything here to you." After giving the two orders, Liu Huai mounted his warhorse again: "Now that the overall situation is settled, I'll go check on Xin Wulang's situation."

"Bi Zaiyu! Yao Buping! You two, stop gossiping! Lead your armored cavalry and come with me!"

"Here!"

Liu Huai glanced at Wu Yanchala briefly, noticing that although the other's mouth was gagged, he was still making muffled sounds, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't bother to pay attention.

He simply ordered his personal guards to pull out the banner with the character "Han" on it, and then led his armored cavalry toward the large horizontal formation where Xin Qiji was located.

After the banner representing the Han army's commander began to move across the battlefield, the Han soldiers cheered and were greatly encouraged.

"The Commander-in-Chief is out in battle!"

"The Commander-in-Chief is out in battle!"

"Forward! Forward!"

In hindsight, the most critical moment had passed, and the Han army was now in an overwhelming momentum. Even if Liu Huai had personally charged into battle at this point, it would have had no impact on the outcome of the war.

However, Liu Huai's move was not merely a tactical maneuver, but also a political signal.

Your lord is going to the front lines. Are you, his subjects and generals, not going to do your part?
Watching the 'Han' banner disappear into the distance, the first to react, or rather, the first to lose their composure, were the unfortunate few in the third formation, who were serving as the general reserve for this battle.

Zhang Qing was still frantically trying to gather his troops, while He Boqiu, as a former official of the Yuan dynasty, could relax and do as he pleased.

Both Liang Yuan'er and Wang Youzhi had red eyes.

Especially Wang Youzhi.

This guy's goal was to become the leader of the Hebei martial arts community, but what happened?
Except for a portion supporting the flanks, the main force of the Tianxiong Army remained stationary from beginning to end, making the most of the general reserve force.

If Wang Youzhi tries to win over local martial artists in Hebei in the future, and they find out about his performance in this battle, won't they just think of him as someone who is afraid of death?
Moreover, the eldest son is about to establish a nation and has promised Bi Zaiyu the title of Duke of the Founding State. After this great war, their statuses will likely be worlds apart.

Everyone starts from the same point. After all the credit is awarded, others become marquises or earls, while you only get a viscount. Who can stand that?

Therefore, after Liu Huaijun's order was issued, the Wucheng Army and the Tianxiong Army displayed amazing execution. In order to move quickly, they even left only a few hundred men in armor to ride mules and horses, while the rest of them put their armor on carts and bypassed the battlefield from the north, rushing towards the northwest.

How many Jin troops they can block and how much credit they can claim depends on how fast their marching speed is.

Not to mention the two generals were extremely anxious. Seeing the Chinese character banner approaching, Xin Qiji consciously moved his own blue rhinoceros banner aside, allowing the Chinese character banner to occupy the central position. "Thank you for your hard work, Xin Wulang. How is the situation?"

Before Liu Huai's warhorse had come to a complete stop, he asked in a loud voice.

Xin Qiji pointed ahead: "The Jin cavalry have retreated, and the infantry formation is about to collapse. Only a few places are still putting up resistance. I am currently commanding the troops to besiege them!"

Liu Huai walked slowly forward, and behind the frontmost formation, he found that it was just as Xin Qiji had said.

At this time, the Jin infantry had been completely routed, but several thousand soldiers still gathered in the center, crowding around the banner of the Right Deputy Marshal, and stubbornly resisted.

These Jin troops were clearly exhausted and powerless to fight back. Many of their soldiers were driven in from the flanks, but once they formed a strong defensive formation, the Han army found it difficult to break through.

However, as long as there is such a square formation blocking the way, the Han army cannot leave this organized force behind and pursue it recklessly.

"Right Vice Marshal?"

Liu Huai frowned: "Wanyan Mouyan?"

Xin Qiji nodded: "It is indeed Wanyan Mouyan."

Liu Huai said with a smile, "We're old enemies, aren't we? Who's in command at the front? Is it Jia Rui?"

Xin Qiji nodded again: "It is indeed Jia Hulu."

Liu Huai immediately ordered: "Then tell Jia Hulu that I will only give him a quarter of an hour. If he cannot deal with Wanyan Mouyan, then I will take action myself!"

Xin Qiji knew this was a formal military order and could not refute it on the spot. He could only send his cousin Xin Jingwei forward with the order, repeatedly instructing him to defeat the enemy within a quarter of an hour and not to let his eldest son personally go into battle again!
War is dangerous and perilous. If Liu Huai is not careful and is wounded by a stray arrow, Jia Rui will become a criminal!
Upon hearing the military order, Jia Rui broke out in a cold sweat. After glancing back at the banner with Chinese characters, he quickly grabbed Xin Jingwei and said, "I will lead the army in a fierce attack immediately. When you get back, tell Fifth Brother that you must stop the eldest son!"

Xin Jingwei nodded hurriedly, then shook his head and said loudly, "Jia Hulu, don't you know, Commander-in-Chief? He said he would come personally, and he will definitely come! Who can stop him?! Quickly prepare the troops for battle!"

After Xin Jingwei finished speaking, he fled back to the central army as if in a panic.

Just as Jia Rui had organized a group of armored soldiers, he heard a loud shout behind him.

It was quite messy at first, but it quickly became tidy.

"Commander, take fifty steps forward!"

Jia Rui looked back again and saw that the Chinese character flag was indeed slowly moving forward. In his confusion, he made up his mind, took off his helmet, threw it hard on the ground, and shouted: "Gentlemen, now is the time to fight to the death and make a name for yourselves!"

After saying this, Jia Rui led his personal guards to take the lead and attack Wanyan Mouyan.

The more than 500 organized soldiers were greatly encouraged and rushed forward with their weapons in hand.

This is the benefit of having a political leader overseeing the battle; with Liu Huai watching from the rear, no one dared not slack off.

Liu Huai didn't even need to say anything harsh. Just asking, "Are you up to the task? If not, let's switch positions. You can take the central command position, and I'll personally lead the vanguard," was enough to send generals at all levels fighting desperately.

Once the Han army truly began to fight desperately, the already demoralized Jin army could no longer hold on, and their final formation slowly crumbled.

After swaying a few times, the banner of the Right Deputy Marshal crashed down.

Seeing this, Liu Huai nodded, then spurred his horse forward without stopping, leading the large formation to continue sweeping forward.

"Report! General Jia has captured the bandit Wanyan Mouyan!"

A military envoy came shouting and yelling to report the victory, but Liu Huai merely reined in his horse slightly and said calmly, "Jia Hulu deserves credit. Pass on my order: tell him not to stop, but to continue advancing and pursue the enemy!"

After saying this, Liu Huai continued to slowly advance with the Chinese character banner without stopping for a moment.

The Han army rallied and advanced with overwhelming force.

The few remaining Jin cavalry and infantry who were still resisting were forced to retreat under the pressure of such a large army.

At first it was only one or two steps, then dozens of steps, until finally even the best generals could not stand firm, and the elite soldiers could not hold their ground. The Jin army's complete collapse finally began.

The Han army's cavalry on both flanks finally broke free from the entanglement. After changing into spare warhorses, they continued their pursuit despite their exhaustion. The newly reorganized Liao cavalry battalion also guarded the flanks of the armored cavalry, mimicking the Han army's version of the "Hooked Horse" formation, and annihilated the lagging Jin armored cavalry in their ranks.

Liu Huai arrived at the spot where the Right Deputy Marshal's banner had been erected. He glanced at Wanyan Mouyan, who was tightly bound and pinned to the ground by several burly men, and turned to Xin Qiji, saying, "This time, we have finally achieved a great victory."

Xin Qiji didn't finish looking at Yan Mouyan, but instead looked at the large banner with the character "Gold" lying upside down on the ground, as well as the banner of the Right Deputy Marshal. Hearing this, he nodded and said, "Yes, finally a great victory. A victory..."

In an instant, the hardships of the battles, the painstaking efforts since the uprising began, the hesitation when faced with crucial choices, and the grief of seeing his comrades die in battle were all mixed together in this victory. A hundred emotions surged into Xin Qiji's heart at the same time, causing him to freeze on the battlefield.

Only after cheers erupted from all directions did Xin Qiji come to his senses. He drew his sword, pointed it at the sun in the sky, and roared, "Victory!"

"Big victory!"

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

(End of this chapter)