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

Chapter 782 Who Says a Commoner Isn't a Man (Part 2)
"Marshal, this battle is beyond our control. Let's find a way to retreat."

On the south bank of the Huan River, the loyal army and the Jin army were locked in fierce battle. However, Lu You made a discouraging remark in public, which drew the attention of the guards around him.

Wei Sheng had already removed the cover from his long sword, his phoenix eyes scanning the surroundings as he stroked his beard in silence, appearing ready to go into battle at any moment.

He was taken aback at first, then looked at Lu You: "Does Mr. Lu also think it's inappropriate?"

Lu You nodded at first, then shook his head: "How would I know so much? It's just that there was clearly the sound of explosives behind me. This isn't a secret in the army, and it will definitely cause unrest among the troops. Moreover..."

Lu You looked around and pointed to the right front: "Commander Li's banner has just moved. He must have discovered something went wrong somewhere ahead and went to fix it personally. Although none of the units have requested reinforcements, it seems that we can still hold on. However, we still need to be cautious in our military strategy."

Wei Sheng stroked his beard and remained silent for a moment before saying, "Mr. Lu, are you worried that the Jin invaders will use explosives to breach the camp?"

Lu You immediately shook his head: "That's not the case, Marshal. The Jin bandits certainly don't have much explosives. If they could really use them freely, they would have used explosives to dismantle the wagon formation yesterday. I'm worried about morale, and even more worried that if the Jin bandits really capture Qixian County behind us, our army will be stuck in a dilemma."

Wei Sheng's eyes twitched slightly, but he remained silent.

This wasn't because Wei Sheng thought Lu You was wrong; on the contrary, it was because Lu You was absolutely right.

Especially in Qixian County, if the Jin army occupies Qixian and cuts off the pontoon bridge, the Zhongyi Army will become an isolated force on the south bank of the Huan River. If they want to retreat, they will have to abandon their armor and weapons, completely give up their ability to fight, swim across the Huan River, and then try to retreat to Fuli.

If the Jin army takes advantage of the situation, they will definitely chase them all the way to Pengcheng!
Retreating now would allow us to temporarily avoid the Jin army's advance and return to protect Qixian County, achieving two goals at once.

However, there is another crucial point here.

How could the Jin army just stand by and watch the loyal army retreat?
If the main force of the Jin army were to pursue and kill them, seize the pontoon bridge, and directly storm into the city through the water gate, then the situation would be completely hopeless!
"Let's wait and see," Wei Sheng said slowly, leaning on his long sword. "Let's wait for an opportunity."

Although Lu You did not know what opportunity Wei Sheng was waiting for, he trusted the military strategy of the man in front of him, so he immediately shut up and then cautiously surveyed the battlefield.

Soon, the opportunity Wei Sheng had been waiting for arrived.

At the easternmost side of the camp, after a fierce battle, the Jin army finally filled in the moat in front of the camp. Then, with the help of hooks and horses, they pulled down several sections of wooden fence, creating a gap of more than ten zhang wide in the camp.

The officer in charge of guarding this place was Commander Yuchi Mingyue. At this time, he should have taken advantage of the fact that the Jin army had not yet pulled up the wooden fence, either by sending out armored soldiers to attack or by using arrows to force the Jin army to retreat.

However, the morale of the loyal army was also somewhat chaotic at this time. The reason was not only because Qixian County was bombed, but also because they had not rested for almost a day and a night after the surprise attack, and their bodies were extremely exhausted.

In addition, the weather is getting hotter today, which has further dampened morale.

Therefore, the actions of the Loyal Army were inevitably delayed, and their tactical maneuvers were somewhat distorted.

Seizing this opportunity, the Jin army actually gathered nine strategists and more than 800 armored soldiers to launch a surprise attack.

Faced with the addition of fresh Jin troops, the loyal and righteous soldiers were forced to retreat repeatedly. Although they maintained their formation due to discipline, they still lost a section of the camp, allowing the Jin army to gain a foothold in the camp.

Seeing that the camp had been breached, the Jin troops from all directions were invigorated and rushed towards the location almost simultaneously.

Yu Chi Mingyue gritted her teeth and said, "Raise the banner and follow me!"

Having said that, he was about to lead his personal guards forward to force the Jin army out of their camp.

However, just as Yu Chi Mingyue was about to take action, she heard a horn sound. Looking back, she saw the Wei banner begin to move forward.

As a long-time subordinate and old brother, Yu Chi Mingyue instantly understood Wei Sheng's military intentions. Even though he was unwilling, he still moved aside to the flanks, clearing a path for Wei Sheng's five hundred personal guards to charge.

Although Wei Sheng could be considered a cavalry general, he did not often use cavalry. This was naturally due to the fact that he had a famous general like Liu Huai under his command. More importantly, given Wei Sheng's calm and deliberate nature, he would not be inclined to make a quick buck.

Therefore, Wei Sheng's personal guards were all armored soldiers wielding long swords. When they lined up in formation, the gleaming long swords formed a forest, causing the Jin army to feel panicked at the mere sight of them.

Eldest brother, not to mention second brother, the loyal army has not rested for a day and a night, so how can the Jin army be any better off?
If we look at it in detail, the Jin army also suffered from the fatigue of a two-night, one-day long-distance raid, in addition to the inability to endure the summer heat!
Therefore, when the Jin soldiers saw this forest of swords rushing towards them, the little morale they had gained from their successive victories quickly vanished.

It is said that during the Song and Jin dynasties, the development of cold weapons had reached a high level. All kinds of weapons that could be developed had been tested on the battlefield. Those that were not adopted by the army were generally very strange and unconventional weapons.

Therefore, the Jin army knew the power of the long-handled swords. After sharpening them, they swung them around and slashed. Even if they were wearing armor, they could not avoid being injured or even killed.

Although the armored soldiers' strength is limited, they cannot use such heavy longswords for long periods of time, and their power is only about three direct hits.

But who would want to take those three blows head-on?
The Jin army officers roared and tried to form ranks, but they only hastily arranged a formation with armored soldiers in front and light infantry behind. Wei Sheng then personally led his long-sword guards to smash through the formation head-on.

Nearly fifteen moukes gathered here, maintaining a defensive posture in the face of five hundred long-sword armored soldiers. However, as the long-sword armored soldiers advanced like a forest, the Jin army that attacked the camp fell down in unison, like rapeseed flowers in the hands of a naughty child holding a stick.

Within half a quarter of an hour, the Jin army could no longer maintain its formation. After Yuchi Mingyue launched a flanking attack from both flanks, fifteen mouke (military officers) and over 1,300 Jin soldiers suffered a crushing defeat, fleeing back along the path that had led into the camp. "Pass on my order, have all troops retreat." Wei Sheng did not pursue them, but stood there: "Yuchi Mingyue will lead the way, Yu Yuan will follow, Li Huo'er will go next, and I will personally cover the rear!"

Just as Yu Chi Mingyue was about to speak, Wei Sheng glared at her, so she could only stomp her foot, turn around, and leave in a hurry.

On the other side, the Jin army's retreat immediately triggered a chain reaction. Jia Gu Qingchen personally stepped forward, dealt with the fleeing enemy soldiers, and then immediately dispatched his personal guards to gather the troops.

However, at this time, Jia Gu Qingchen discovered that due to the defeat of the Jin army in this area, there was also a small-scale retreat on the other two sides.

Even with Heshi Lieliangbi personally overseeing the battle, the Jin army on the south side, which was right next to the east, couldn't help but slow down its offensive. On the other side, Shi Dunzhong kept sending messages, wanting to send fresh troops to replace the siege troops.

Heshi Lieliangbi had no choice but to personally lead the troops forward and reorganize them.

Jia Gu Qingchen suddenly had a bad feeling. The Zhongyi Army was indeed exhausted, but the Jin army was also extremely tired. Even the slightest setback or inconspicuous casualties could lead to a rout.

He's so exhausted, can he really continue playing?

Not to mention Jia Gu Qingchen's deep worries, taking advantage of the chaos in the Jin army, the loyal and righteous army lowered its flags and drums, gathered its troops, abandoned all its baggage and provisions, and retreated along the pontoon bridge towards Qixian County.

Meanwhile, the battle at the west gate of Qixian County had also reached a fever pitch.

Hao Donglai knew that the fighting strength of his group of laborers was really worrying, so he planned to obstruct and delay them from the beginning, with the aim of avoiding a direct confrontation with the Jin army.

However, the laborers were caught off guard and made no preparations whatsoever. They were even short of weapons and could barely manage to block the city gate.

The Jin army advanced slowly through the still-smoky city gate. Thanks to their heavy armor, they ignored the occasional arrows flying from the ground. They kicked aside the caltrops as they slowly approached.

Wulibu had initially come to attack despite seeing the city gate blocked by a jumble of things, but upon getting closer, he realized that the battle was not impossible.

The laborers lacked practical combat experience. While the antlers and wooden railings they pushed off the Ruyi chariot did serve to hinder the enemy, the antlers were arranged haphazardly, forming a small, gentle slope that allowed the Jin soldiers, clad in armor, to climb onto the Ruyi chariot.

This discovery overjoyed Wulibu. He ordered the archers to cover him, and then led dozens of men forward, trudging through the antlers.

"what!"

"boom……"

The path through these piles of antlers was far from smooth; antlers kept breaking, and armored soldiers kept falling, getting stuck in the debris and screaming in agony.

However, as Wulibu felt the arrows and stones coming at him, and heard the roars and shouts of fear coming from ahead, he felt a surge of heat in his heart.

No doubt about it. The Shandong bandits' main forces were wiped out in the explosion just now. This situation must have been created by someone in charge who brought in a group of laborers and even ordinary people.

But as long as you can get close enough to start hand-to-hand combat, you can easily scatter this group of people!
Soon, more than ten Jin soldiers climbed up to the Ruyi chariot using both hands and feet. Spears were thrust out from the gaps in the Ruyi chariot, but their strength and speed varied. Wulibu simply grabbed the spear shaft and snatched it away.

"Hahaha, you Han slaves! You all deserve to die!"

Hearing the approaching Jin soldiers, Hao Donglai gripped his spear tightly behind the Ruyi chariot and shouted, "Reinforcements are coming soon! Let's hold on..."

Before the words were even finished, a Jin soldier leaped onto the Ruyi chariot, slashed down two laborers with his sword, and then jumped onto another chariot, where he began to rampage and kill indiscriminately.

The civilian laborers were not regular soldiers, and having been hastily organized, they lacked formation and morale, and soon scattered and fled in screams.

Hao Donglai felt a chill in his heart. As more and more Jin soldiers climbed over the Ruyi chariot, he inexplicably thought of his wife and children far away in Haizhou. He immediately gritted his teeth, gripped his spear, and prepared to fight to the death.

Just then, Hao Donglai suddenly saw a man beside him carrying two bundles of straw, looking bewildered and somewhat flustered.

"Deng Cao, what are you doing carrying that thing?"

The man shrank back: "I didn't know! I'm in charge of the horse feed. When I saw the chariots being pushed out, I thought we were going to war!"

Hao Donglai had a sudden inspiration, and then looked at the few laborers at the back who were also carrying horse feed, and shouted, "Burn all the haystacks! Burn them now!"

Deng Cao nodded hastily, took out a flint from his pocket, and shakily struck a spark.

Whether it was because the weather dried the straw or because Deng Cao was lucky, the sparks ignited the straw in just two moments.

Hao Donglai had the others fetch some kindling to ignite the remaining debris, then used a spear to lift the burning haystack and throw it towards the doorway.

(End of this chapter)