Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

...

The Ming army marched another four or five li.

The number of Jin cavalry ahead is increasing.

This forced Chen Ziyi's scouts to constantly retreat.

"Something's wrong!"

Chen Ziyi spurred his horse to meet Yao Pingzhong:

"The number of Jin soldiers ahead is definitely more than 20,000,"

"I can't even send out my elite cavalry."

Although Yao Pingzhong was eager to make a name for himself and loved taking risks,

But he's not stupid either.

He grew up in the military.

They realized they had likely fallen into a trap.

"All troops halt!"

"All units form ranks and await orders."

"All generals, come to the meeting."

Chen Ziyi also summoned several cavalry generals to a meeting.

Let them tell their story first.

As a result, they encountered large groups of gold cavalry on the south, north, and east sides.

After hearing the summary of information, Yue Fei guessed:

"I estimate that there are also Jin cavalry in the west,"

"We are completely surrounded."

Liu Qi also realized what was happening:

"The golden statue has been putting on an act all along,"

"They voluntarily gave up Xinzhou and Daizhou,"

"It's all to lure us into a decisive battle here."

Wu Jie asked doubtfully, "If our army hadn't divided its forces,"

"Their total military strength was two to three times that of the Jurchens,"

"Do they still dare to fight a decisive battle here?"

"Definitely, even if it's one against three,"

"Wanyan Zonghan will also choose to fight,"

Yue Fei said,

"These past two weeks,"

"He has spoken with Han Chang many times,"

"He inquired about many matters concerning the Jin Dynasty."

"According to Han Chang, Wanyan Zonghan was invincible in battle in previous years,"

"The entire army, from top to bottom, was fearless in the face of death."

"Encountered tens of thousands of enemy troops,"

"They dared to charge even with only twenty or thirty riders."

"Such a powerful army, yet it has suffered repeated defeats at the hands of our army,"

"How could Wanyan Zonghan tolerate this?"

Chen Ziyi said, "It's a pity we split into two groups."

"Otherwise, we could have annihilated the entire Jin army!"

Yao Pingzhong laughed and said, "Even if we split our forces, we will still have the advantage in numbers."

.....

Pingxingguan was originally called Pingxingguan.

As its name suggests, the area inside the pass resembles a bottle.

The bottleneck is located more than 50 li east of Fanshi County.

The passage was about five li wide.

Continuing eastward, you enter the belly of the bottle.

It is about fifteen to twenty li wide.

This is a large bottle.

If you go south along the Gushan River

It will also enter a small bottle.

A defeat there would surely result in the annihilation of the entire army.

The plan was to lure the Ming army into the small bottle and annihilate them.

That's impossible.

Because the Ming army would first attack the two villages of Magu and Meihui, northeast of Xiaoping.

Therefore, the Jin soldiers performed a series of feats.

The goal was to lure the Ming army into the Great Bottle.

When acting, you have to go all the way.

Giving up Xinzhou and Daizhou is just the beginning.

When the Jin army withdrew to Daizhou,

They deliberately engaged in widespread looting near the capital.

They also abducted craftsmen and retreated towards Yanmen Pass.

Then they carried out small-scale looting in Fanshi County.

Moreover, they only robbed grain, not people.

These actions were all misleading the Ming army generals.

They released the false information that the main force of the Jin army had retreated into Yanmen Pass.

Actually?

Wanyan Zonghan used a small group of cavalry to disperse the villagers.

They pretended to seize some grain and then retreated to the eastern passes and fortresses.

However, this allowed the main force to move swiftly through Pingxingguan, hiding by day and traveling by night.

Chapter 3163 Attacking Yanmen Pass

Yanmen Pass and Pingxing Pass are the most important.

The Ming army dared not attack Yanmen.

They dared not leave anyone to keep an eye on them.

Therefore, if the Ming army wanted to expand its gains,

This would inevitably leave some troops in the west.

Then the main force headed east towards Pingxingguan.

At this moment, Wanyan Zonghan reined in his horse and stood on the hill.

After listening to the reports from several scouts,

His face grew increasingly beaming with joy.

"Zhang Guangdao has won consecutive victories,"

"They have become arrogant and conceited."

"I thought that after the Ming army divided its forces,"

"At least fifty or sixty thousand will come,"

"I didn't expect there to be only 30,000 or 40,000 people."

"This may be the only chance to turn the tide of the war."

Wanyan Loushi's expression, however, was very serious.

Thirty to forty thousand Ming troops

They couldn't eat it either.

Because there were only 26,000 Jin soldiers in this area.

Their troop strength was even less than that of the Ming army.

"Marshal, the Ming army has halted its advance!"

"Then let's close the net."

Soon, smoke signals rose behind Wanyan Zonghan.

Smoke rose from east to west.

Thousands of gold-plated cavalry received orders,

They broke out from the north and south valleys behind the Ming army's rear.

Block the neck of the large bottle.

More than 30,000 Ming troops

In addition, thousands of laborers and a large number of livestock accompanied the army to transport grain.

It was completely blocked inside the bottle.

Jin cavalry from all directions

They continuously compress the space around their prey.

This time, the Jurchens had no infantry.

All infantrymen were mounted.

Make full use of the speed advantage.

Even if the forces were dispersed during the encirclement,

Encountering a localized counterattack by the Ming army

The Jin soldiers were also able to quickly create distance.

Wait for friendly forces to arrive so they can continue to tighten the encirclement.

.....

Chen Ziyi dispatched cavalry back.

Inquire along the way.

After the Jin army's beacon fires were raised,

There's no need to inquire anymore.

It was absolutely certain that they were surrounded.

Yao Pingzhong discussed the matter with his generals.