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

Chapter 898 Victory and defeat are unpredictable in war.

To be fair, Wanyan Lucheng was not deserting in the face of battle, nor was he afraid of death.

The battle at the front is already so intense that people are packed together and the fighting has become a tangled mess. It would be pointless for the rear guard to catch up.

They too can become a single drop of water in a reversible beaded curtain, triggering a chain reaction that is beyond human control.

Wanyan Lucheng left to hold back the remaining three thousand soldiers, preventing them from advancing further and instead ordering them to form ranks and meet the enemy on the wider road below Huangniu Fort.

It can both gather the defeated soldiers and dampen the Song army's morale.

However, Wanyan Lucheng's plan was perfect, but it ran into a big problem in the very first step.

The Jin army was already completely blocked. As the commander-in-chief, Wanyan Lucheng was trapped in the rear of the central army. It was simply impossible for him to abandon his banner and leave quietly.

Under the watchful eyes of the masses, the commander's retreat was a fatal blow to the morale of the army. The moment Wanyan Lucheng left with his personal guards, a massive collapse began in the very center of the Jin army.

Nearly a thousand Jin soldiers were literally stripped of their armor and fled in disarray.

Upon seeing this, Lu You said to Cao Dache, "Signal the Wudang Flying Army and tell them to stay on the mountain and not come down!"

Cao Dache immediately blew the horn, with three long and two short notes in high and low pitch.

Soon, horns sounded in response from the mountain.

These are the mountain people recruited by Lu You in Chengdu Prefecture. There are only about three hundred of them. They are short and thin and cannot wear heavy armor, but they can move swiftly on the mountain like monkeys.

This mountain special forces unit is virtually useless on the plains, but once they enter the mountains, they become a hidden sword.

Lu You did not innovate the military name, but simply followed the old practice of the Shu Han Dynasty and used "Wudang Flying Army" as the military name.

"The Wudang Flying Army?" Wu Ting murmured beside Lu You, but he didn't pay attention to this trivial matter. Instead, he looked at the Jin army in front of him, who were in disarray, and said with an incredulous expression, "Just like that? The Jin bandits have been defeated just like that?!"

Cao Dache, a member of the central army's personal guard, was bored at the moment and was willing to joke with Wu Ting: "It's simple in a way, but not simple in a way."

"Young Master Wu, our army defeated the Jin invaders in just a quarter of an hour and a half, but training an army capable of defeating them will require a long and painstaking process."

Wu Ting nodded heavily.

They are all knowledgeable about military affairs; how could they not know how difficult it would be to train soldiers to this level?

Lu You ignored the boasting of the head of his personal guards and, based on the battlefield situation, continued to issue orders: "Let the second general Liu Hong lead his troops to continue the pursuit, while Zhang Zhen and the first general Liang Wen shall stop and rest!"

The military order was quickly issued, and the more than a thousand armored soldiers who had been rotating at the forefront stopped and stood against the mountain to make way for the troops that followed.

After Liu Hong led over a thousand soldiers in a column to pursue them, Lu You issued his third military order: "Let's go too. Cao Dalang, you go there yourself and warn the rear guard to maintain their column distance. Don't rush, and don't slack off."

After Cao Dache loudly agreed and left, Wu Ting was left standing there dumbfounded, following Lu You forward.

After crossing the foot of the mountain, there was a downhill section. From this vantage point, Wu Ting could clearly see the battlefield situation.

Under the command of an officer named Liu Hong, more than a thousand Song soldiers deployed their troops at an incredible speed, quickly changing from two columns to a horizontal formation, and immediately launched an attack on the Jin army.

Before the Jin army, which had just lined up in formation at the drill ground below Huangniubao could react, they were met with a merciless attack from the Song army, and the three leading strategists immediately collapsed.

However, with the support of follow-up troops, the Jin army managed to maintain a relatively intact formation.

After his hasty retreat, Wanyan Lucheng re-established the central army and raised a large banner to command the troops.

Just as the Jin army's formation seemed to be gradually stabilizing, Lu You gave another order: "Let the Wudang Flying Army bypass the mountains and capture Huangniu Fort!"

Huangniu Fort was built against the mountain and beside the water. There was also a small path in the mountain. As long as the Jin army had not discovered and blocked it, the Wudang Flying Army could easily attack it.

The Wudang Flying Army doesn't need to completely occupy Huangniu Fort; just causing some trouble will be enough to throw the Jin army into chaos.

Indeed, upon hearing the sudden shouts of battle erupting from the fortified fortress behind him, Wanyan Lucheng panicked once again.

However, he knew this time that if he retreated again, he would truly repeat the mistakes of the Song army and be chased to death on the Chencang Road.

However, Wanyan Lucheng alone knew it was useless. As the Song army continued to rotate, and the crossbowmen exchanged fire with the Jin archers for several rounds, the Song army finally deployed its most commonly used composite square formation composed of long spears and great axes.

Instead of continuing to utilize their archery advantage and holding their ground, these Song soldiers launched a frontal assault.

To Wanyan Lucheng's astonishment, Song soldiers charged into the Jin army's formation, throwing them into disarray. Undeterred, they drew their personal short weapons and engaged in close-quarters combat with the Jin soldiers.

This was completely unexpected by Wanyan Lucheng.

In Wanyan Lucheng's... or rather, in the impression of all Jin generals, the Song army, except for a few units, was extremely afraid of close combat.

As long as the terrain wasn't as absurd as Heshanyuan, the Jin army, shields in hand and heavy armor, could easily rout the Song army by charging forward under heavy fire. They only needed to kill the few brave soldiers at the forefront who dared to engage in melee combat to rout the Song army completely. Although the Jin army had already suffered a defeat, Wanyan Lucheng still believed that those were just a few hundred brave men cobbled together from the five thousand-plus Song soldiers, and the rest were mediocre.

But after the Song army rotated through the ranks right under his nose, the newly deployed troops were still so fearless and dared to engage in close combat, which gave Wanyan Lucheng a bad feeling.

Surely not all of these few thousand Song soldiers are tough nuts to crack?

Why is the Song court keeping such a formidable figure at the rear instead of sending him to the front lines? Is there something seriously wrong with the Song court?
Of course, no matter how much Wanyan Lucheng pondered, the final outcome would not change.

After experiencing both great victories and defeats, and then being attacked from both the front and rear, the Jin army finally could not hold on and collapsed.

Even though the Chencang Road became wider near Huangniu Fort, it was still not as wide as the plains, allowing soldiers to scatter and escape.

The Jin army found itself in the same predicament as the Song army's elite troops in Xichuan. On the narrow road, they pushed and trampled each other, even falling into the ravine. The casualties of the Jin army at this moment were enough to exceed the total casualties of the previous battles.

Countless elite soldiers who had not yet engaged in battle began to flee in confusion.

"We've won! Lord Lu! We've won!"

Wu Ting shouted and yelled, extremely agitated.

Lu You glanced at the fellow and then continued to give orders: "Order Liu Hong to clear the way. Third General Fang Zhong will lead his light infantry in a column to pursue them. Tell Fang Zhong that I want him to use his big feet to chase them all the way to Dasan Pass."

During this period, no matter how many Jin bandits he kills, wounds, or captures, it will not be considered merit. As long as he can block all these Jin bandits on the Chencang Road, he will be the one who achieves the greatest merit in this battle!

Not to mention that the Song army immediately changed formation after hearing the military order.

The Jin army's commander-in-chief, Wanyan Lucheng, had fallen into despair. He still couldn't understand why the Jin army had gone from a great victory to a great defeat in less than two days.

These were four thousand elite soldiers, and they ascended to heaven in less than an hour. Wanyan Lucheng could not imagine the extent of the impact this would have on Wanyan Liang's overall strategy.

However, despite not understanding it, Wanyan Lucheng immediately removed his armor and threw away his robe, mingling with the fleeing army as he fled north.

Now that things are beyond saving, survival is the most important thing.

The routed army was completely disorderly, especially when there was enemy troops pursuing them from behind. Wanyan Lucheng quickly became separated from his personal guards and was swept up in the chaos of the army as they fled wildly.

The road was soon blocked, and Wanyan Lucheng dared not approach the mountain stream. He tried to stick close to the mountainside and search for a mountain path to enter the mountain.

But where along the official road can things be completely repaired and kept neat?

Wanyan Lucheng slipped and twisted his ankle in a pit in the haystack. He lost his balance and dragged several people with him into a large pit that appeared to be caused by soil erosion.

Some Jin soldiers got up and continued to flee, while others seemed to have broken their necks and lay motionless, their eyes constantly darting around.

At the very bottom of the crowd, Wanyan Lucheng struggled to push away the soldiers pressing down on him and crawled to the edge of the pit.

Only then did Wanyan Lucheng feel the intense pain in his right arm and left leg. He quickly looked over and saw that his right arm was alright, as if it had been cut by a sharp blade that had fallen into the pit. However, his left leg was twisted and deformed, making it impossible for him to stand.

Before Wanyan Lucheng could even feel dejected and hopeless, a hand tugged at his collar.

He looked up and saw Zeng Di, whose face still bore whip marks, looking at him with a strange expression.

"You big headscarf, drag me out, and I'll reward you..."

I'll slap you across the face!

Zeng Di roared and picked up a stone, smashing it hard towards Wanyan Lucheng's face.

"what!"

Wanyan Lucheng felt the pain and reflexively turned around, lying on the edge of the pit, trying to escape by using both hands and feet.

Zeng Di raised the stone high and smashed it heavily on the back of Wanyan Lucheng's head again.

Wanyan Lucheng only then realized what was happening, and reached for the wrist-cutting knife at his waist with his intact left hand.

Just as he was about to touch it, the third and fourth blows fell heavily...

Zeng Di kept raising stones and smashing them down, his face contorted with rage, his eyes almost bulging out. It was as if he wanted to vent all the fear and resentment of the past few days, completely unlike his usual refined and scholarly demeanor.

Zeng Di only stopped when Wanyan Lucheng's head had become a bloody mess. He knelt down beside him, vomiting and crying.

Neither the pursuing Song army nor the fleeing Jin army glanced at him.

In the midst of a large-scale military campaign, life and death are unpredictable; who can possibly care about the thoughts of a favored courtier?

(End of this chapter)