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

Chapter 774 Claiming to Attack the East, Actually Attacking the West
Yu Yunwen's decision was, in a sense, quite correct.

According to common sense of the time, infantry could only fight cavalry after they were in formation.

Once an infantry formation is established, it is impossible for cavalry to easily break through it unless they possess extremely formidable combat power.

To put it bluntly, Li Heng's five hundred exhausted soldiers could hold out for a quarter of an hour against a thousand attacking Hezha Meng'an. How could Liu Bao's two thousand soldiers, who hadn't participated in the battle at all, not hold out for three quarters of an hour against six thousand Jin cavalry?
Three-quarters of an hour later, Yang Chun could have climbed there even if he had to.

However, once the infantry broke free of their formation and began marching, they were at the mercy of the cavalry on the plains.

Not every army in this era had drill training ingrained in their very being like the Han army.

The Han army's organization, officers' competence, and officer quality were unparalleled, something that the Song and Jin armies could not possibly match.

Returning to the present, if Yu Yunwen really left, the morale of the two thousand soldiers would definitely be thrown into chaos and they would scatter and flee. However, after Yu Yunwen chose to stay put, Liu Bao ultimately dared not sell a prime minister to the Jin army. Even for the sake of his life and property, this veteran soldier could only calm down and start fighting.

"I recognize that banner with the character 'Yu' on it; it must belong to Yu Yunwen, the prime minister of the Song Dynasty. But who is that smaller banner with the character 'Liu' on it? How could someone be so loyal and brave?"

Pucha Shijie had previously marched along the Ying River with the Chenzhou army, so he did not participate in the Battle of Mengcheng.

Seeing that this mere two thousand Song soldiers, facing nearly twenty thousand routed troops charging towards their main force and more than six thousand elite armored cavalry attacking from both flanks, not only did not collapse directly, but instead rallied their spirits and formed ranks to meet the enemy, even though the situation was divided between friend and foe, Pucha Shijie couldn't help but exclaim: "This is the demeanor of a great general of the nation!"

Several people had strange expressions, but dared not say it outright: "This person should be Liu Bao, the deputy commander of the Huaidong army, but the one who is really in charge should be Yu Yunwen in the camp."

Pucha Shijie stroked his beard and said, "That makes sense. After all, although the emperor of Song is incompetent and the generals are lacking, apart from that old dog Qin, the ministers are still capable. Very well, let's finish this man off here today!"

Before they could finish speaking, the Wu Jie Army had already formed ranks. At Pu Cha Shijie's signal, three Meng'an armored cavalrymen bravely charged out and attacked the Huai Dong army's formation.

On the other side, Shuhuchi led two thousand Hezhameng'an to cut in from the right flank.

The battle reached a fever pitch right from the start.

Although Liu Bao was terrified by the casualties in that instant, he ultimately did not despair.

Because Yu Yunwen was holding the line here, neither Yang Chun nor Li Xianzong could afford to be negligent. At this time, Yang Chun had already set up his formation half a mile away, and Li Xianzong even gave up the entanglement with those scouts and risked marching in formation on the battlefield.

Since there are reinforcements, the entire army won't suddenly collapse.

And so, the two thousand Huaidong troops stood like a rock in the middle of the stream, stubbornly blocking the center of the battlefield. Liu Bao finally rediscovered his youthful rascality and his former bravery.

Two quarters of an hour later, Yang Chun led seven thousand Song soldiers into battle and maintained the battle line.

Half an hour later, Li Xianzong led 15,000 troops, who advanced in a horizontal formation.

As the evening heat gradually dissipated, the two sides fought back and forth, engaging in fierce battles. By sunset, the Jin army, unable to bear the heat any longer, temporarily retreated. The massive group of routed soldiers, squeezed between the Song and Jin armies, also took advantage of the night to break free and flee towards their respective camps.

Today's battle was an undisputed great victory for the Song army on the west side of the Fei River, while on the east side, the Song army suffered a crushing defeat.

The Song soldiers returned to their camps to rest, while the generals continued their military council to discuss the upcoming battles.

Because Yu Yunwen took the lead and controlled Liu Bao at a crucial moment, the battlefield did not completely collapse, giving the Song army a chance to counterattack. Therefore, in the military council of this battle, the Song generals were much more convinced of Yu Yunwen's abilities.

In this battle, the Huaidong army suffered another major defeat, and even the commander-in-chief Li Heng was killed in battle. At this time, they had only managed to gather less than 8,000 troops and had completely lost their fighting capacity.

Liu Bao performed exceptionally well in this battle, and Yu Yunwen immediately made the decision to appoint him as the long-desired commander-in-chief of the Quan Huaidong army, which left Liu Bao both amused and exasperated.

Even so, the Huaidong army could not retreat across the Huai River. Yu Yunwen ordered Liu Bao to lead the Huaidong army to set up camp northeast of Xia Cai, behind the main force, to rest and reorganize their troops.

In addition, the Chizhou army also suffered some casualties. After rewarding and encouraging the generals who were exhausted, they returned to their respective camps to rest.

However, no sooner had the generals left than Li Xianzong frowned and returned.

"Lord Yu, the Jin bandits' behavior today is not quite right."

Yu Yunwen perked up: "I have also considered this, but I don't know where the problem lies. It just seems a bit too strange."

Li Xianzong frowned and said, "The numbers aren't quite right. The Jin bandits have over 30,000 regular troops, that number is roughly correct. But today they only deployed a maximum of 10,000 cavalry. I can't figure out why." Upon hearing this, Yu Yunwen's heart tightened: "Could it be because they secretly divided their forces?"

Li Xianzong understood Yu Yunwen's concerns and shook his head, saying, "It's impossible to conceal the movement of 20,000 troops. Even at night, they will leave behind a lot of footprints and horse manure. Although our cavalry is suppressed by the Jin bandits, they can still use the water network to investigate the military situation. It's impossible that they can't find out."

"But if the army is less than 20,000, how could the Duke of Wei possibly fail to cope?"

Yu Yunwen nodded slowly, but was still somewhat worried: "Is it possible that the Jin rebels split their forces and headed north, escaping the main army's reconnaissance range, before turning towards Suzhou?"

Li Xianzong shook his head again: "This is another point I want to make. Wu Jie, the Grand Commandant, once said that the Jin bandits have four strengths: cavalry, perseverance, heavy armor, and bows and arrows. In the battle of Heshangyuan, Grand Commandant Wu used this heat to break the Jin bandits' perseverance."

"This kind of heat is the weather that the Jin bandits fear the most. If the Jin bandits travel hundreds of miles further north, just to make the journey, their fighting strength will be less than half of what it used to be."

Just as Yu Yunwen was about to nod, he heard Li Xianzong hesitate and say, "If we look at it from this perspective, it is understandable that the Jin bandits did not go all out, because even in the camp, the heat these past few days has been very unbearable for the Jin bandits."

Yu Yunwen was also somewhat helpless.

If this kind of repetitive argument continues, it will never end.

Sure enough, Li Xianzong's next words sounded even more hesitant: "However, this is a national war after all, and the Jin invaders have the upper hand today. Is it possible that the Jin invaders have given up on advancing just because of the summer heat? It's really hard to understand."

Yu Yunwen immediately waved his hand to stop Li Xianzong from speaking: "Send more scouts, even if they have to go around to the rear of the conscripted army camp, and see with their own eyes what the Jin bandit camp is really like. If a camp is missing 10,000 or 20,000 men, there will always be some traces."

Li Xianzong breathed a sigh of relief: "That's the only way. I'll send my personal guards. They're meticulous and have excellent eyesight; they won't miss anything. But what if the Jin invaders don't split their forces? What should we do next?"

This is the main issue today, a discussion that cannot even be made public.

The Huaidong army was completely crippled, but it only completed the exchange of troops with the Jin state. It did not attract the main force of the Jin army and did not lead to a decisive battle as expected. Although it managed to retain several hundred elite Jin cavalry, if you calculate the costs carefully, the Song army was ultimately at a loss.

The current situation has become a battle between 25,000 troops from Chizhou and over 30,000 Jin troops. If a real battle breaks out, the outcome is unpredictable.

More importantly, the Jin army seems to have completely disregarded the lives of the people in Henan. They could easily conscript civilians again to serve as conscripts and wear down the Song army.

If it drags on for twenty or thirty days, tens of thousands of soldiers will be neatly assembled again.

Yu Yunwen opened his mouth to speak, but then heard a commotion outside the tent.

The two immediately went out of their tent to investigate and found that on the east bank of the Fei River, flames were soaring into the sky and shouts of battle were coming from all directions. In the darkness of the night, shadowy figures were reflected in the Fei River, making the scene even more hazy.

"The Jin invaders have attacked the camp." Li Xianzong glanced at the scene and made a conclusion: "However, Dai Gao and Zhang Zhen fought well today. With their skills, the Jin invaders' hasty night attack will not cause any trouble."

Yu Yunwen nodded, then returned to the command tent with Li Xianzong: "I was just about to ask you, now that our army and the Jin invaders are separated by the Fei River and cannot support each other, could we concentrate our forces to defeat one of them? No, wait..."

Yu Yunwen became somewhat suspicious: "Is it possible that the Jin invaders have secretly dispatched troops to Daigao to prepare to sweep across the west bank of the Fei River?"

Li Xianzong laughed: "I'll say it again, if the Jin bandits have tens of thousands of troops moving, whether eastward or crossing the river, they will definitely not escape our notice."

Moreover, the Jin invaders would never send tens of thousands of troops on a night raid; their fighting strength is sufficient for daytime combat, and at night they would be at risk of being routed.

At this point, Li Xianzong's smile faded: "However, what Prime Minister Yu said makes some sense. We should rely on the division of the Fei River to defeat one Jin army force, and then deal with the other. As for how to do it, we'll see what Dai Gao and his men can do tonight."

"Report!" A military envoy called out as he entered: "Reporting to the Prime Minister and the Commander-in-Chief, around dusk, just as the entire army was engaged in fierce fighting, there was unusual activity at the Jin bandit camp. Approximately five thousand cavalrymen left the camp and headed east."

Upon hearing this, Yu Yunwen and Li Xianzong were both taken aback, but then both felt relieved.

The unknown is the most terrifying thing. Now that they have the specific movements of the Jin army, the two of them have calmed down.

"Immediately dispatch a military envoy to inform Wei Sheng of the military situation!"

Meanwhile, Jia Gu Qingchen, who was in Mengcheng, looked at the 10,000 troops who were ready to set off and silently calculated the time.

Tomorrow is the agreed date; I hope everything goes well.

(End of this chapter)