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

Chapter 936 The Dragon Soars and Wings Flutter (Part 1)
The Han army's scouts and patrols had thoroughly explored the roads over the past few days, and at dusk, scouts guided the White Horse Army to leave beacons along their path.

Most of these road signs are made of torches, while a few are simply people acting as guides.

However, this was, after all, an army of 35,000 marching at night, and even with the best preparations, unexpected events could still occur.

The first issue is the division of forces.

No official road could carry 30,000 troops at a rapid pace, even if all 30,000 troops were combat soldiers.

Similarly, no single general can directly control more than five thousand troops, so dividing the troops is inevitable.

During the daytime, flags and drums could be used to communicate with each other, making communication between military envoys quite rapid.

However, at night, the success of a coordinated night attack depends entirely on the abilities of the commanders of each unit.

Secondly, during ordinary night marches, it was necessary to make a great show of it, with everyone carrying torches, and the sounds of drums and horns never ceasing before the march could proceed.

If it's a clandestine operation, the number of people involved will definitely not be too large. For example, in past night raids on camps, the number of people involved was at most two or three hundred.

Even during the several large-scale nighttime military operations launched by the Han army, it was no longer possible to conceal their presence during the actual execution phase. They had to set everything that could be burned in the surrounding area in order to ensure that military orders could be carried out smoothly.

The idea of ​​over 30,000 troops marching in secret with only a few torches, without any flags or drums, is truly unheard of.

In other words, the command system is now temporarily ineffective, so even if soldiers drop their weapons and desert, officers will basically not be able to detect it.

Whether this battle can be won rests on the shoulders of every single person; individual initiative has never been more important.

However, the Jingnan army was one of the most elite forces in the country. Their daily training was extremely rigorous, and their provisions and rewards were very generous. Most of them had already gained status, family, love, and offspring through the money and land they earned from their military merits.

They are the beneficiaries of the Han army's recovery of lost territory, and it is impossible for them to voluntarily give up the benefits they have.

For Liu Huai, all the usual care, training, and military discipline were for this moment, so that these 30,000-plus people would willingly rush into a life-or-death battle.

Of course, even with maximum subjective initiative, objective problems will still exist.

After traveling for more than two hours, Bi Zaiyu leaned on the banner and looked at the sky, beginning to worry.

Damn it, where have I ended up?
As one of the leaders of the Han King's personal guard, Bi Zaiyu had the responsibility of following Liu Huai to break through the enemy lines, but his main role was to relay messages. In the absence of documents and seals, he conveyed the Han King's orders to the generals in an irrefutable manner.

Therefore, the others only needed to travel in the dark, while Bi Zaiyu had to travel back and forth to deliver messages.

After confirming the attack direction with Wang Shilong for the third time that night, Bi Zaiyu led a dozen personal guards and tried to return to the central army. However, as a cold wind blew, sand and stones were blown into their eyes. They took shelter on a small hill for a while, but when they came out again, they were completely disoriented.

"General, do you see that the North Star?"

"Nonsense, Polaris is next to the Big Dipper. Where are the Big Dipper stars?"

The group of more than ten people searched diligently for the torches while looking up at the sky, looking for the stars.

These knights had all received literacy and basic officer training, but they had never been in command of their own, so when they looked at the starry sky, they were all at a loss.

Bi Zaiyu listened speechlessly for a moment: "Bring the torch closer, I need to see something."

He pulled out a palm-sized disc from the inside of his armor, shook it forcefully, and then, like a fortune teller, squinted and examined it carefully.

“That’s north!” After looking for a moment, Bi Zaiyu said with certainty, “The bandits are in the north now. As long as we head north, we can’t go wrong.”

A knight who witnessed this scene asked curiously, "What is this? Can it predict good or bad fortune?"

Bi Zaiyu spat: "I always tell you to read the newspapers more often, at least the official gazette and the Gewu Gazette, to see what new discoveries the world's smart people have made, but you didn't listen. Now you're asking me these questions, how am I supposed to answer them? Get out of here!"

The knight immediately shut his mouth, and the other dozen or so men did not dare to delay, and immediately spurred their horses and headed north.

In the darkness, Bi Zaiyu dared not walk too fast. After traveling another mile or two, he finally reached the official road and found the beacon marking the direction for the scouts.

However, what surprised and even frightened Bi Zaiyu was that, despite the traces of marching on the ground, he had not encountered a single soldier along the way.

This inevitably made Bi Zaiyu feel somewhat flustered. While constantly taking out his compass to check the direction, he also began to have some doubts about this new gadget created by the Academy of Sciences.

If they looked up a moment later and found themselves back at the Luancheng camp, that would be hilarious.

Fortunately, after traveling a short while longer and turning through a dark grove of trees, Bi Zaiyu finally encountered more than ten Han army knights who looked even more disheveled.

"Halt!" Bi Zaiyu shouted, waving his torch. "Password!"

"One whip, all the way to Qinghe and Luo!"

"Ten thousand miles of clouds and moon!"

Seeing that the passwords matched, Bi Zaiyu lowered his guard slightly and slowly approached with a torch in hand.

"Bi Dalang, is that you?"

"Huh? Commander Hou? It's you?"

The man standing before Bi Zaiyu was Hou Anyuan, the sixth general and deputy commander of the Flying Tiger Army.

However, upon meeting, the two did not experience the excitement of reuniting with old friends; instead, they were both filled with panic.

Does this mean the Flying Tigers have already scattered during the night?

If even the Flying Tigers can't hold out, then wouldn't that mean the entire night raid plan has become a joke?

Fortunately, the two were just startled by each other. After exchanging information, they discovered that they had both gotten separated from the main force while delivering messages, and the army was still marching normally.

"We accidentally wandered into a grove of trees and couldn't tell which way was which, and we didn't dare to ride our horses. If it weren't for Bi Dalang passing by with a torch, we might not have been able to get out until daylight."

Hou Anyuan was still somewhat shaken.

Bi Zaiyu had no time to comfort him, and immediately pointed in a direction, saying, "Let's go together!" "Let's go!"

After walking for a short while, the group finally caught sight of the main force, and Hou Anyuan saw a familiar face again.

"Hey, isn't this Master Shi Wang? What are you doing sleeping in the ditch?"

Hou Anyuan jumped off his horse while joking and laughed loudly at Shi Wang, who was fiddling with the five-jin cannon in the ditch.

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Shi Wang didn't mince words and rolled his eyes, saying, "Enough nonsense. We only brought ten five-jin cannons this time. Losing even one could cause a major incident. See if you can drag the cannon out."

Bi Zaiyu also jumped off his horse, but upon seeing the situation, he immediately commanded: "The horse is already lame. Untie the harness and let it fend for itself by the roadside."

"You attach the grappling hooks to the gun carriages. We have plenty of warhorses, and the ditch isn't deep or steep; it'll be easy to pull them up."

"Here!"

More than twenty knights immediately sprang into action, some lassoing the horses, others leading them.

Working together with more than a dozen gunners, they pulled the five-pound cannon out of the ditch in just a few moments.

"I thought we were going the wrong way! Thank goodness." Bi Zaiyu said with some relief.

Shi Wang's expression, however, looked rather strange in the torchlight: "Bi Dalang, at least you were running in the wrong direction from the start."

The artillery battalion was at the rear of the main force; we were all behind them. You came up from the south.”

Bi Zaiyu almost lost his composure, but he managed to maintain his composure as a general and changed the subject: "Since we've wasted so much time, let's hurry up and leave now."

The group resumed their march.

At first, Bi Zaiyu wanted to immediately return to Liu Huai's side as a guard, but now that they were theoretically at the end of the army, they naturally had the responsibility to gather the scattered troops.

As the moon began to set and the night grew darkest, Bi Zaiyu had already gathered nearly four hundred infantry and cavalry.

For an army in the feudal era, this number was surprisingly small.

Although Bi Zaiyu was mentally prepared for some people to fall behind, he did not expect that he would be the one to gather these people in the end, which made him feel both amused and exasperated.

Soon, this strange mixed force caught up with the rear of the main army and met the strategist general Liang Su, who was bringing up the rear.

“Bi Dalang, it’s best that you’re here.” Liang Su’s expression was hidden in the darkness: “Now I’m giving you military orders. Take your troops and capture that high ground over there to set up positions for your artillery.”

Bi Zaiyu nodded immediately.

This hill was very close to the Jin army's Huolu camp, and dozens of Jin soldiers were stationed on it as a guard.

However, firstly, this place was far from the marching route of the Jingnan army, and secondly, it was the most drowsy time of day. Therefore, when Bi Zaiyu led more than twenty Flying Tiger soldiers to charge up, the Jin army was awakened from their slumber.

Before they could react, the Jin army was completely wiped out.

As dawn broke, Bi Zaiyu, taking advantage of the morning light, looked down upon the marching ranks of the Jingnan army.

At this point, the Jin army in the Huolu camp finally realized the Han army was approaching and began to be alert.

However, the Jingnan army had reached the limit of its marching formation, which allowed it to get close to the enemy. Amid the shouts of the officers and the sudden sound of drums and gongs, the Han army gradually changed from marching formation to battle formation.

Liang Su, who was also standing on this high ground, trembled slightly upon seeing this scene.

"Bi Dalang, do you know why you chose to launch a night attack?"

Bi Zaiyu was also a little thirsty: "Of course I know. It has been clearly stated in the military council that the plan is to take advantage of the fact that the Mongols have not yet dispersed and wreaked havoc in the Central Plains and Hebei, and to block them at the eastern foot of the Taihang Mountains in a surprise attack, so as to wipe them out in one fell swoop."

Perhaps due to excessive nervousness, Liang Su's urge to confide was a bit too strong at this moment. He slowly shook his head: "No, that's not what I'm asking. Rather, why did the Prince of Han think in the military council that our army of 30,000 could also lay low and successfully launch a night attack?"

Bi Zaiyu simply shook his head: "This humble general does not know."

Liang Su pointed to the Jin army camp: "Lu Jia's 'Chronicle of Chu and Han' records: Emperor Gaozu marched towards Xianyang, then south to Wan, but Wan held firm and refused to fall..."

The Jin army camp was now brightly lit. Although the camp stretched for more than ten miles and the Jin army had an absolute advantage in numbers, they were like small beasts under the claws of a tiger, trembling in fear.

Liang Su turned around, pointed to the way they had come, and continued reading from the "Chronicles of Chu and Han": "The Han army then concealed their banners, their men gagged, and their horses' mouths bound..."

Then, Liang Su slowly turned around again and looked at the large Chinese character flag fluttering fiercely in the cold wind of the morning light: "...The dragon raises its wings and spreads them, before the rooster crows, it surrounds Wancheng three times..."

Finally, Liang Su pointed to the Jin army camp and slowly said, "Wancheng has surrendered."

As if to provide a profound commentary on Liang Su's summary, fireworks signaling the final assault rose into the sky and then exploded with a deafening roar.

The drums thundered, echoing across the sky.

The Han army, like a silent dragon, swept towards the Jin army's Huolu camp.

Bi Zaiyu immediately cupped his hands to Liang Su and said, "Mr. Liang, everyone must fight with all their might in this battle. This humble general is going to risk his life!"

After Liang Su nodded in agreement, Bi Zaiyu rode his horse to the mixed troops he had gathered and said, "The King of Han has entered the battle! I want to follow the King of Han to kill the enemy. Who among you dares to come with me?"

"Kill the thief!"

"Kill the thief!"

The various slogans quickly coalesced, and more than four hundred soldiers wielding various weapons shouted them out.

"As per our usual training, spearmen in front, melee weapons behind, and cavalry on both flanks." After a brief division of forces, Bi Zaiyu raised his spear and, amidst the sudden roar of cannons, roared towards the Jin army camp below the hill: "Kill the traitors!"

"Kill the Jin traitors!"

(End of this chapter)