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

Chapter 771 The outcome of the battle remains unknown

“In this kind of weather, many soldiers suffer from heatstroke.”

Just as Yu Yunwen and the Huaidong army were setting out of their camp and lining up in battle formation, two hundred miles away in Suzhou, Lu You looked at the weather, adjusted his straw hat, and couldn't help but sigh.

Wei Sheng was the commander-in-chief, and he had to wear armor. However, because the sun was scorching, he had to wear a robe over his armor to prevent it from burning him, making him completely covered up and airtight.

Before long, Wei Sheng's face was completely red. With his phoenix eyes, beautiful beard, and the long sword passed down from Han Shizhong, he looked like Guan Yu reincarnated.

It's no wonder that most military operations take place in the fall; deploying troops in the summer is just that arduous.

This also explains the origin of the "armor removal wind" phenomenon. After a general is fully clad in heavy armor and robes, and then fights under the scorching sun, it would be considered exceptionally good physical condition if he didn't suffer from heatstroke. Then, being exposed to a cold wind and cold water would only make things more complicated.

Wei Sheng sighed and said, "Prime Minister Yu has already led his troops to fight the Jin invaders. The saying goes, 'Victory comes through both orthodox and unorthodox tactics.' The battle has already begun, and as the commander of the unorthodox forces, how can I sit idly by?"

Lu You also sighed, turning his gaze to the loyal army crossing the Huan River via the pontoon bridge, forcibly calming his tense mood.

The day before yesterday, Yu Yunwen's handwritten document was delivered by a military envoy on horseback, but it was only a military intelligence report and not a military order.

It details the current situation and predicament of the Song army. Yu Yunwen's memorial to the court was somewhat veiled, while the document sent to Wei Sheng was extremely detailed.

In the end, Yu Yunwen did not issue any military orders to Wei Sheng, but simply let him choose for himself whether to send troops and in which direction to do so.

The implication is clear: even if Wei Sheng remains inactive, Yu Yunwen will accept it.

As loyal subjects of the Song state, what more could Wei Sheng and Lu You say? On the day they received the military intelligence, the well-prepared main force of the Loyal Army of 8,000 men assembled and set off from Fuli, crossing the Bian River to head towards Xiachai.

In fact, Wei Sheng originally had another plan, which was to personally lead his troops to cut off the Jin army's rear. Theoretically, as long as he captured Mengcheng, Ruyin and other cities, it would be enough to cut off the Jin army's food supply.

However, after careful consideration, Lu You still voiced his opposition.

Because the Loyal Army would desperately rescue the Song army, but the Song army might not necessarily come to the aid of the Loyal Army.

If the Jin army returns to retake the city and the Song army does not come to support them, the Loyal Army will have to face the main force of the Jin army alone.

Wei Sheng was also a former subordinate of Han Shizhong, so how could he not know the Song army's bad habits? Therefore, he could not refute it and could only come up with a backup plan: cross the Huan River and the Wo River, approach Xia Cai from the flank, and deliver a final blow to the exhausted Jin army in the form of a surprise attack.

Lu You stared at the pontoon bridge in a daze for a long time before finally saying, "Is it really feasible to only bring three thousand laborers this time?"

Wei Sheng nodded: "It's feasible. The most important thing for the laborers is to build camps and provide auxiliary work for the army. Now our army has a lot of Ruyi chariots and livestock. Once we arrive at a place, we can surround it with Ruyi chariots and it will naturally become a camp. We don't need so many laborers to build camps."

Moreover, the Ruyi chariot could also carry supplies, eliminating the need for laborers to transport grain. Although it was wartime and other matters shouldn't be considered, the autumn harvest still needed to be taken care of.

These points had already been discussed in the military council, but Lu You was somewhat nervous at this moment, so Wei Sheng patiently repeated them again.

Lu You nodded, then cupped his hands to Wei Sheng: "Marshal, the army is about to set off, and Shandong will be left undefended. The only troops in Qixian are the garrison under Zhang Anguo. Marshal, please go ahead first, and I will go and find him again to encourage him."

Wei Sheng: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Lu."

Although the Loyal Army has set out in full force, it still needs to undertake a difficult march in order to participate in the battle.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield of Xia Cai, the fighting had reached a fever pitch.

Now that Yu Yunwen has personally supervised the battle, the Huaidong army will naturally not be as perfunctory as before. Both Li Heng and Liu Bao will fight to the death.

Once the Huaidong army starts fighting desperately in the sweltering heat, the hastily conscripted soldiers will simply not be enough.

Even though the Song army had suffered a crushing defeat, they were still a legitimate army that had undergone complete military training. They were far superior to ordinary conscripted soldiers. In just over half an hour, the massive formation of more than nine thousand conscripted soldiers was already on the verge of collapse.

Hou Yuanliang did not want to send his conscripted soldiers out to their deaths any longer, so he could only send military envoys to Pusan ​​Zhongyi in the rear to request reinforcements, while personally leading three thousand Chenzhou soldiers, who were also his own Henan natives, back and forth to maintain the front line.

By noon, with the Song army gaining momentum by bullying the conscripted soldiers, Hou Yuanliang found it increasingly difficult to maintain his position. Moreover, the military envoy he had sent back never returned, leaving him with a sense of despair.

Seeing the favorable battlefield situation, Yu Yunwen felt no relief; instead, he became somewhat flustered and hesitant. The Jin army had its main force; were they really going to just stand by and watch the Song army defeat the conscripted soldiers and capture their camp?
impossible.

The Jin army must have a backup plan, but we just don't know where it is.

After sending a messenger to confirm with Li Xianzong that the reinforcements were correct, Yu Yunwen gritted his teeth and gave Li Heng and Liu Bao a death order: within one hour, they must defeat the conscripted troops and push them into the conscripted troops' camp, directly overturning the camp!
However, to Yu Yunwen's surprise, while the battle on the east bank of the Fei River, which he personally supervised, was still inconclusive, a major breakthrough had been made in the flanking maneuver on the west bank of the Fei River.

To be precise, having survived the devastating defeat in Huaixi and the two meat grinder-like battles at Caishi and Chaoxian, Dai Gao and Zhang Zhen, as survivors, had a different mindset than the others.

To put it in a somewhat melodramatic way, these two are carrying too much on their shoulders.

It should be noted that of the five Huaixi army commanders who fled across the Yangtze River that day, the other three died in battle right in front of these two in an extremely heroic manner.

Now that they have the opportunity, how could these two not want to get their revenge?

Otherwise, how should Dai Gao respond if he dreams of Sheng Xin again when he crosses the river next time?
Therefore, Zhang Zhen and Dai Gao were truly fighting desperately against the Chenzhou army, and within two or three days, the battle had escalated to a real standstill.

To be honest, having already made up his mind to join Liu Huai, Shi Ju really didn't want to fight the Song army to the death at this time. If he wiped out the Chenzhou army, not only would the result be giving the Jin state a free ride, but he would also lose a lot of leverage in his future dealings with Liu Huai.

However, Shi Ju's ability to see the bigger picture does not mean that all the Chenzhou troops under his command can calmly negotiate with the Song army.

Not to mention fools like Sha Wei, who were blinded by the so-called military governors and regional warlords, Xie Fuyao and others also had no goodwill towards the Song army.

Putting everything else aside, the head of Du Wuji's younger brother, Du Yourong, is still hanging on the city wall of Xia Cai!
The Chenzhou army all felt that defeating the Song army first, chasing them into the Huai River to feed the fish, and then going to fight the Jin army was a good plan.

Once the two sides really get angry, the situation spirals out of anyone's control.

On the afternoon of July 1st, the fatigue accumulated from fighting in the sweltering heat for days finally erupted, and various loopholes appeared on the front lines of the battle, resulting in a series of small-scale routs.

The Chenzhou army quickly reinforced its lines with fresh troops, while the Song army was much slower.

This gave Feng Guo, the general in charge of the Chenzhou army, an opportunity. He personally led more than 600 armored soldiers to attack through the gap in the Song army's route and try to completely break the Song army's line.

This is the right choice. If executed properly, it can not only disrupt the Song army's formation in one fell swoop and make the attack more decisive, but it can even break through the Song army's formation, leaving them unable to attend to both sides.

However, this was a trap meticulously designed by Dai Gao.

More than three hundred crossbowmen and over a thousand well-rested armored soldiers, taking advantage of the cover provided by the Song army's front lines, set up a trap. Feng Guo easily tore through the Song army's lines, only to find himself trapped in the encirclement.

The rest is self-explanatory. The Song army first used crossbows to fire at close range, and then Dai Gao personally led armored soldiers wielding long swords and axes to press forward head-on, directly killing Feng Guo and annihilating all six hundred elite armored soldiers of Chenzhou in the battle.

Without hesitation, Dai Gao launched a counterattack through the breach opened by the Chenzhou army, decisively defeating the first wave of over 6,000 Chenzhou soldiers who had lost their commander.

The Song army was in high spirits and pressed the fleeing soldiers to pursue them.

If it weren't for the timely reaction of Meng'an, a Han soldier from the 2,000-strong Wujie Army, who led his cavalry to cover the rear, the Song army might have achieved a great victory on the west bank of the Fei River today.

Even so, the two southernmost small forts of Chenzhou Army were occupied by the Song army, resulting in the loss of more than two thousand soldiers, which can be described as a crippling blow.

However, these losses did not frighten the officers of Chenzhou Army; instead, they made them even angrier.

To put it bluntly, with so many conscripted soldiers driven over by the Jin Dynasty, the Chenzhou army had no shortage of reserve troops. Why would they be afraid of the Song army because of such a small loss?

In fact, the Chenzhou army quelled the internal turmoil that very night and launched a night raid in an attempt to retake the camp.

Back in the present, after Zhang Zhen and Dai Gao personally led their troops to defeat the Chenzhou army and capture Xiaozhai, they were extremely pleased with themselves and filled with pride. While continuing to pursue the defeated army, they quickly dispatched a military envoy to inform Xia Cai of this good news.

I urge Commander Li to quickly send reinforcements. If we can defeat the Chenzhou army in front of us, then the troops west of the Fei River will be free to join the main battlefield!

Upon receiving the military intelligence report, Li Xianzong showed no excitement. Instead, he looked at the still chaotic battlefield in Hedong from the watchtower, and a moment of doubt settled in his mind.

(End of this chapter)