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

Chapter 773 Those who die in battle will never return.

You can say that Pusan ​​Zhongyi's military tactics were ruthless, or you can think that he should be torn to pieces and executed, but one thing is undeniable: his grasp of the opportunity in battle was extremely precise.

If he had acted later, the Song army might have already stormed into the conscripted soldiers' camp, causing tens of thousands of soldiers to panic and potentially throwing the Jin army into chaos as well.

If they had acted sooner, Li Heng's Huaidong army wouldn't have been in such a chaotic state.

In fact, when the Jin cavalry drove the conscripted soldiers back, the Huaidong army was in its most chaotic state, with each unit vying for credit and chasing after the scattered conscripted soldiers.

Moreover, the Huaidong army had already suffered a crushing defeat once, with heavy losses among its officers and its command system already severely damaged.

Nowadays, not only can the commanders not find their commanders, but the heads of each unit have also completely lost contact with their squad leaders and platoon leaders, and they are almost fighting their own battles.

As the conscripted soldiers were driven back by the Jin cavalry like headless flies, the Song army and the conscripted soldiers immediately became intertwined, and a chaotic and disorganized battle inevitably began.

No matter which army commander, they will try their best to avoid this situation, because the guarantee of an army's combat effectiveness is its organization. Only an organized force can be called an army.

A large-scale melee would cause one's own troops to suffer casualties that should not have been incurred.

However, Pusan ​​Zhongyi did not only regard the Song army as enemies, but also regarded these Henan men who rebelled as sworn enemies.

When his friend Pucha Shijie joined forces with Chenzhou Jun, he was bullied at every turn. Could it be a lie?

At this time, Pu Sanzhongyi was actually planning to kill all the Song soldiers to eliminate external threats and kill all the conscripted soldiers to eliminate internal strife.

Li Heng was unaware of Pu Sanzhongyi's treacherous intentions.

"General, the main force of the Jin bandits is here! Let's retreat!" Sweat dripped from Liu Si's forehead, carving deep furrows into his face powder, but he paid no heed: "Our men have been fighting under the scorching sun until now, which is enough to live up to our conscience. Even if we were to reach the Emperor, we could still say something about it."

Li Heng's cheeks twitched a few times, and he shook his head with difficulty, saying, "No..."

At this moment, Wei You also crossed the chaotic battlefield and arrived at the central command. Upon hearing Li Heng's reply, he became extremely anxious: "General, both Prime Minister Yu and Military Governor Li intend for us to defeat the conscripted troops, and the remaining Jin rebel army will be dealt with by the Chizhou army. How could you be so confused at this time? Do you really think our Huaidong army is the Jingnan army?"

Li Heng shook his head and replied, "Ah You, it's not like that. It's just that we can't retreat now. We can only hold out for a while to gather our troops before we can withdraw."

Liu Si surveyed the surrounding situation, his breathing becoming heavy: "Steward, with things in such a mess, how can we possibly rally the troops?"

Li Heng pointed to the general's banner behind him: "I will set up this banner here. You will each go and gather your troops. Find one squad and you will gather them all. Have them come to meet under my banner."

Liu Si and Wei You exchanged a glance, then immediately stamped their feet and turned to leave.

To be fair, Li Heng's choice was quite reasonable.

Because the battlefield was so chaotic, not only the Song army was in this state, but the Jin army was as well. Moreover, it seemed that there was no reliable figure in the Jin army to step forward and gather troops. As long as the Song army could gather 5,000 men, they could protect themselves in the chaos and hold out for a while even if the main force of the Jin army attacked.

What Li Heng never expected was that Pu Sanzhongyi did not gather his troops not because of incompetence, but because it was completely unnecessary.

"General, look to the northeast! Smoke and dust are approaching!" Wei You and Liu Si had just set off when Li Heng's personal guards noticed something strange on the battlefield and immediately reported, "No, it's Jin cavalry!"

Li Heng frowned and looked around, his mind going completely blank.

It was indeed the Jin Dynasty's armored cavalry, numbering in the thousands, and they were advancing at breakneck speed.

The battlefield was now a mix of friend and foe. How did the Jin army manage to do that?

However, Li Heng was a seasoned veteran who knew this was not the time to think about such things. He immediately shouted, "Form ranks! Prepare for battle! Secure your spears!"

More than 500 Song soldiers immediately sprang into action, forming the Six Flower Formation commonly used by the Song army.

However, due to the lack of officers and the chaotic organization, this six-flower formation was crooked and disorderly, like a broken porcelain bowl.

But Li Heng couldn't care less about that now. As the Jin cavalry rapidly approached, some things became clear.

After Li Heng watched helplessly as the Jin cavalry trampled the mixed Song army and dozens of conscripts under their hooves, he finally understood why the Jin cavalry could move so quickly in the chaos of battle.

These bastards don't care about anyone's life, whether it's an enemy or their own.

By this time, several generals had also noticed the Jin army's unusual movements. Alarmed, they immediately led the troops who could still disengage from the battle toward Li Heng. However, it was already too late.

This Jin cavalry force was no ordinary army; it was one thousand armored cavalrymen from the three thousand Heza Meng'an, all skilled in archery and horsemanship, and incomparably brave.

The thousand armored cavalry first dispersed the surrounding melee, then circled the isolated five hundred Song soldiers, intimidating them and approaching to shoot arrows and throw spears.

Although the Song soldiers were also armored, they were not wearing the heaviest infantry armor. Under the close-range fire of the Jurchen heavy arrows, their armor was of no use.

With each volley of arrows fired by the Jin army, a section of the Song army's formation would fall. The Jin army was like a precise fruit knife, constantly peeling away the outer skin of the Song army, like a large apple, to reveal the tender flesh inside.

The Song army did not fail to retaliate. In fact, there were more than a hundred crossbowmen in their formation. When they were firing at close range, even the famous Iron Pagoda Heza Meng'an could not withstand a single crossbow bolt.

However, compared to the Jin army's armored cavalry, each armed with a strong bow and firing heavy arrows, the firepower of these hundred or so divine crossbows was simply insufficient. In addition, the divine crossbows were difficult to string, and often the Jin army had already fired dozens of arrows before the Song army could retaliate with just one crossbow bolt.

However, the Song army's formation completely collapsed moments later.

Li Heng, standing amidst the chaos, watched as the infantry formation gradually crumbled and the Jin cavalry slaughtered with unrestrained abandon. Yet, he showed none of the previous panic. He simply sighed deeply, then said to his personal guards, "That day, I suffered a crushing defeat at Mengcheng, abandoning the lives of my comrades and fleeing in disgrace. Yet, Lord Yu did not blame me. Instead, he allowed me to continue serving as the Commander-in-Chief of the Huaidong Army, hoping I would learn from my shame and strive for improvement."

But now the army has been routed once again, and because of my incompetence, countless soldiers have died or been wounded. How can I face Prime Minister Yu now?

Having said that, Li Heng put on his helmet, put down his helmet, snatched the great axe from his personal guard, and charged towards the Jin cavalry with a loud shout.

Li Heng's personal guards also moved, and as the general's flag moved, some of the routed soldiers, who were like headless flies, also gathered together, forming a small mixed infantry and cavalry squad of about a hundred people.

When Pusan ​​Zhongyi, who had personally led the Hezhamengan to launch the surprise attack, saw this scene, his expression became solemn.

Subsequently, the Grand Marshal of the Jin Kingdom personally rode forward, accompanied by his personal guards, to meet him.

Li Heng, wielding a large axe, swung it left and right on horseback, cutting down Jin cavalrymen who had lost speed in the melee. He looked up and saw Pu Sanzhongyi galloping towards him. Although he did not know that the man in front of him was the Grand Marshal of the Jin Kingdom, he knew from his imposing figure that this man must be extraordinary. Therefore, he also raised his axe to meet him.

The two sides quickly closed in, but Pu Sanzhongyi had no long weapons, only a hard bow and a heavy arrow.

As the two horses passed each other, Li Heng swung his long axe with all his might, but the long axe was, after all, a heavy weapon, which did not meet the requirements of cavalry weapons to be light and swift. Pu Sanzhongyi easily dodged it by sidestepping.

At the same time, Pu Sanzhongyi drew his bow and nocked an arrow, twisted his body, and shot the heavy arrow from his side and rear. The arrowhead, about a foot long, pierced through Li Heng's helmet and went straight into his brain.

Li Heng's corpse galloped forward two steps with his warhorse, then, clutching his long axe, he fell heavily from the horse.

Pu Sanzhongyi did not look back at the results of the battle, or perhaps he was too confident in his archery skills, knowing that every shot would hit the mark and the one hit would die instantly.

Therefore, Pu Sanzhongyi threw down his hard bow, took the long knife from the victory hook, and fought his way to the Li banner. With one swipe of his knife, he cut the flag bearer and the flagpole in two.

As the banner bearing the character "Li," representing the commander-in-chief of the Huaidong army, fell, the Huaidong army, which had already been fighting hard for half a day under the scorching heat, could no longer hold on and completely collapsed.

Ironically, since the conscripted soldiers were also in a state of collapse, the Song army abandoned the fighting and scattered and fled, which stopped the increase in casualties. However, the conscripted soldiers, mixed with the Song army, swept back towards the main Song army, which terrified Liu Bao.

"Fan Shanshuo! You take Minister Yu and retreat immediately! I'll hold them off here for now!" Liu Bao shouted at Fan Shanshuo, who had just led his armored cavalry to provide support. "Leave now! Quickly!"

Seeing Fan Shanshuo about to pull him away, Yu Yunwen glanced at the Jin cavalry flanking him from both sides, then at Liu Bao, and said coldly, "I'm not going anywhere. Chief Steward Liu, isn't it enough for you to fight to the death here with me?"

This wasn't the first time Yu Yunwen had to clean up Liu Bao's messes; how could he not know Liu Bao's true nature?
If I leave, it would be a miracle if Liu Bao could still fight the Jin army to the death. He would most likely flee with Yu Yunwen immediately, abandoning his two thousand soldiers.

At that time, the Jin army will easily defeat all the troops of the Huaidong army, leaving the front line without any strategic foothold. Even if the Chizhou army arrives, it will have to go through a fierce battle first.

As expected, upon hearing Yu Yunwen's words, Liu Bao showed no excitement, no emotion, and no anxiety. Instead, a barely perceptible anger appeared on his face. Although he concealed it well, Yu Yunwen still caught it.

“Steward Liu,” Yu Yunwen’s tone hardened, “I am aware of your little schemes. If you are truly afraid of death, you might as well flee on horseback now and let me die here in your place. However, the original consequence might have been that only you would die, but now your family will be implicated.”

Liu Bao nodded coldly, then turned around without a word and strode off to prepare his troops for battle.

Seeing this, Yu Yunwen simply shook his head and chuckled. Then, he said to the burly man beside him who was clearly flustered, "Fan Shanshuo, is that it? Don't panic. As long as I stand here, we will definitely not be defeated in this battle!"

Fan Shanshuo could only nod hurriedly.

(End of this chapter)