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

Chapter 986 Political Turmoil Shakes People's Hearts (Part 2)
"...That's the situation ahead."

After Xin Qiji left, Hou Gaolang hurriedly rode back and spoke with Li Ziyuan: "This time, the military pay was delayed and the rewards for the expedition were not issued. The impact is really too great."

Li Ziyuan sighed: "There's nothing we can do. With such a big incident happening in the court, everyone is in a panic. Who cares about us troublemakers? Just you wait and see, the Great Green Rhinoceros's methods are far from over."

Hou Gaolang cupped his hands in greeting: "Huozi, be careful. I'll go back and report to Grand Commandant Li to see what else he has to say."

Li Ziyuan took a deep breath, looked at his troops who had become somewhat agitated due to the messenger's message, and said solemnly to Hou Gaolang, "Old Hou, you must persuade the Grand Commandant again for me, and make him make a decision as soon as possible!"

Hou Gaolang just nodded haphazardly.

After watching Hou Gaolang leave, Li Ziyuan turned his attention back to the march of his own troops.

However, after traveling only three or four miles, someone came back from the front. Li Ziyuan looked closely and saw that the person was Liu Si.

By this time, the powder on his face had been washed away by sweat, leaving deep furrows, and the big red flower pinned to the side of his iron turban had lost all its petals, leaving only a stem.

Of course, these behaviors are nothing compared to a general abandoning his post.

"Old Liu, what are you doing here?"

Liu Si waved for the other guards to move away, and then lowered his voice and said, "Something's not right up ahead. You're right behind me, so I've come to discuss this with you."

Li Ziyuan immediately became angry: "Old Liu, what kind of nonsense is this at a time like this! What exactly went wrong earlier?!"

Liu Si waved his hand: "I don't know the specifics either. After all, there's a large formation between us. We rely entirely on military scouts and intelligence officers, so nothing can be explained clearly."

However, there's one thing: the formation in front is sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes moving, sometimes stopping, and the formation is crooked..."

Upon hearing this, Li Ziyuan immediately interrupted Liu Si: "Wobble, which side is protruding forward? Is it Wei You?"

Liu Si paused slightly, his expression suddenly changing: "No, it's Shao Yanei from the left wing."

Li Ziyuan's expression also changed: "Something bad is indeed going to happen. I am a confidant of Grand Commandant Li and I have a hard time with Grand Commandant Shao. You must immediately send a military envoy to report to Grand Commandant Shao and tell him the truth: that Young Master Shao has lost control of his troops and that the Great Blue Rhinoceros is very likely to rush over from there! Let Grand Commandant Shao make a decision as soon as possible!"

Whether it was from applying powder or from the cold, Liu Si's face was even paler. He nodded repeatedly, but after turning his horse away a few steps, he slapped his forehead and came back: "I still have something to say. If those ten thousand or so people really collapse, I'll hold out for you for two quarters of an hour. You must prepare the formation to provide backup!"

Watching Liu Si's departing figure, Li Ziyuan couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, but a question suddenly arose in his mind.

The Song army was clearly very elite, its generals and soldiers were clearly seasoned veterans, and even a young general like Liu Si was perfectly capable. So why did the morale of the troops waver and the army become so unstable when facing a thousand or so Han cavalry?
Li Ziyuan looked at the Yellow River beside him, and then suddenly remembered something else.

Furthermore, if the Song army had followed the safest route of advance, it would have split into two parts, marching along the Yellow River.

Anyway, Shandong and Henan are both very vulnerable, so even if each unit has 30,000 regular troops, it would still be a considerable force.

Moreover, this method of marching ensures rapid movement and forces the Han army to further divide its small forces, achieving two goals at once.

However, Shao Hongyuan sternly rejected this marching plan, arguing that he feared the Han army would defeat them one by one.

Li Ziyuan understood that if the troops were to be divided, Shao Hongyuan and Li Xianzong would each lead a contingent, advancing along the river.

However, Shao Hongyuan was able to command the Lianghuai Army for political reasons, so how could he dare to send the highly respected Li Xianzong away with his troops?
That's why the entire army was marching together in a densely packed formation on the east bank of the Yellow River.

If it is possible to change generals and alter marching methods on the eve of battle due to political reasons, then how can we ensure that the morale of the troops remains stable?
Li Ziyuan, disregarding his position in the army, looked up to the sky and sighed deeply.

Meanwhile, Zuo Shiyuan, who had been making the same expression earlier, also did so.

He discovered that the Flying Tiger Armored Cavalry were challenging him to battle in a way he couldn't understand, and he was unable to subdue them for the time being!
The Flying Tiger Army, though only a thousand armored cavalry, surged forth like an endless tide. Small cavalry squads of a dozen or so men split up freely, advancing and retreating in an orderly fashion, tearing at the Song army like tiny awls.

As a seasoned veteran of many battles, Zuo Shiyuan knew that cavalry had the characteristic of being easily killed. Warhorses were intelligent but not that smart, and they lacked patriotism. Even with a knight in command, they could not advance and retreat and form ranks as freely as infantry.

Cavalry that could scatter and regroup, fighting back and forth for more than ten rounds, were the elite of the elite.

Although the Jin army once boasted that "no cavalry can be called a true cavalry if they don't fight a hundred rounds," even their most elite Heza Meng'an could not achieve that. Moreover, when the army's formation was scattered and officers could not provide adequate support, some would inevitably become complacent and others would inevitably become fearful, thus slowing down the entire army's offensive.

At first, Zuo Shiyuan thought so too.

In his view, no matter how strong the Flying Tiger Cavalry was, the riders and their horses were not made of iron. As long as they could withstand the initial fierce attack, the Han army would have to regroup, which would give the Song army the opportunity to advance in formation.

To Zuo Shiyuan's surprise, the Flying Tiger Cavalry also grew tired and suffered casualties, yet they maintained a fierce offensive, their combat power seemingly unaffected by the disorganized formation. Small formations of a dozen or so riders still moved with measured precision, coordinating seamlessly with other small formations, like a sharp iron file, each attack causing a slight fluctuation in the Song army's formation.

Zuo Shiyuan watched as three cavalry squads galloped towards the front of the formation from the left, center, and right. However, they did not rush forward all at once. One squad was sent to the front to shoot arrows and throw spears, another squad was sent to support the formation, and the third squad, carrying long spears, pretended to charge in front of the Song army's main formation.

The three teams rotated back and forth, seemingly with great tacit understanding.

But what terrified Zuo Shiyuan even more was yet to come.

Although the three squads were easily forced back by the Song army's crossbows, and their formation became scattered during the retreat, the leading knight simply shook his flag spear, and the originally scattered formation was quickly reorganized. In just a moment, they had formed a battle formation again.

Zuo Shiyuan even witnessed a small group of two or three knights, who were not of any particular kind, gather together and, without exchanging more than a few words, immediately form a small squad. They cooperated seamlessly and attacked the Song army's main formation.

"General! You should go yourself! I can't persuade Young Master Shao!" The personal guard rode up, sweating profusely, and said, "Young Master Shao says he has no choice but to go against the will of the people."

Zuo Shiyuan turned his head with difficulty, and was momentarily stunned by the shimmering light of the river before focusing his attention on the obviously disconnected left flank of the formation. He then sighed.

"This time, Erlang wasn't lying. It's not that he wanted to be first; he genuinely couldn't control his troops."

The guards were taken aback and were about to respond when they heard a commotion ahead.

He hurriedly turned his head to look, only to see that after the Flying Tiger Cavalry's attack had retreated, they had once again left behind a pile of gold, silver, and copper coins, which attracted many soldiers in the front to break their formation and rush to grab them.

In the distance, you can still hear things like, "How much did you take just now?" and "It's our turn to get rich this time!"

A commander immediately led his personal guards to suppress the attack, but this had happened several times before, so the veteran soldiers of the Song army were well prepared and all ducked to avoid it.

The Song army was momentarily scattered in front of the battle line.

Just then, Chen Wenben, who had already turned to leave, suddenly turned back and charged forward, leading nearly a hundred knights around him to turn around and charge.

The two hundred-plus Song soldiers were caught off guard and routed by Chen Wenben's attack, causing several small square formations around them to break down as well.

The commander who tried to maintain military discipline was killed on the spot.

"Press the banner forward! Stabilize the formation!" Zuo Shiyuan made a decisive move in the face of battle, immediately leading his personal guards forward slowly to show his resolve.

Seeing this, the surrounding Song soldiers quickly regained their composure, stood firm under the officers' commands, and simultaneously pressed forward towards the hundred or so Flying Tiger Armored Cavalry that charged into the formation.

Seeing this, Chen Wenben was not discouraged at all. He immediately led his troops to withdraw before the encirclement was completed.

Before leaving, they continued to scatter valuables, infuriating the Song army officers who were barely able to eat the dust behind them.

"Boss Zuo, are you just going to watch these people come and go as they please?"

Faced with his subordinates' questioning, Zuo Shiyuan finally lost his composure: "What can I do? Do you expect me to conjure up elite armored cavalry?! Do you think I'll just give you one on the spot?"

His subordinates immediately fell silent.

Zuo Shiyuan, panting heavily, looked at the military situation on both flanks and found that even Wei You's troops were not in good condition. He suddenly realized the oversight he had made and his breathing became even heavier.

"Xiao Gao, go and report to the Grand Commandant that I, Lao Zuo, am foolish for opening the great formation so early and ordering my men to advance and retreat with me, without considering that the terrain is getting narrower and narrower."

"Originally, our army could have easily changed formations, but now that the Great Blue Rhinoceros is personally leading armored cavalry to harass us, our various units have been squeezed from the north and south and are out of control and difficult to move forward."

I fear that if we change formation, the Great Blue Rhinoceros might seize the opportunity to launch a full-scale attack and rout our front lines!

The guard called Xiao Gao grew paler and paler as he listened: "If the Grand Commandant were to ask me what the general intends to do, how should I answer him?"

Even on such a critical battlefield, Zuo Shiyuan remained silent for a moment before replying: "Tell the Grand Commandant that I, Old Zuo, am not very capable, but I do know that if we change our formation now, there is still a sliver of hope. If we do not change our formation, then the front line will fall into chaos."

All I can do now is try my best to control the situation and give the Grand Commandant time to prepare!

By the end, Zuo Shiyuan was already gritting his teeth.

Xiao Gao nodded repeatedly, but then glanced at the situation from the stirrups before riding off at full speed.

(End of this chapter)