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

Yue Fei instructed Han Chang to act as translator: "Tell them to follow me directly to the enemy camp and burn their grain."

"I have another 10,000 cavalrymen behind me, who will arrive soon to help."

……

The Jurchen general who was driven away by several thousand steppe cavalry was named Puchawolun.

He initially served as a bodyguard for Aguda and was a member of the Heza Meng'an.

After Aguda's death, Puchawolun began to lead the army alone, with several hundred Jurchen soldiers under his command, and could command three thousand soldiers in wartime (recruited from militia).

Ten years have passed, and although Puchawolun's military rank has risen higher and higher, the number of Jurchen soldiers under his command has dwindled.

It's beyond repair!

If it was absolutely necessary to replenish the Jurchen soldiers, the only option would be to recruit child soldiers, just like Wanyan Zongfu did.

Puchawolun is now fleeing with over a hundred Jurchen cavalry, among whom are even members of the ancient Southern Tang tribe from Huanglong Prefecture.

This is because, more than a hundred years ago, the ancestors of these tribes were the Jurchen people.

Although they had long been Khitanized, the Jurchen population was so scarce that in the last two years they were still regarded as Jurchen by the Jin Dynasty.

This improved their social status and they were also incorporated into the Meng'anmuq.

Puchawolun led his troops at breakneck speed to inform Wanyan Mouyan that all the steppe cavalry under his command had rebelled!

Suddenly, a group of soldiers could be faintly seen ahead.

Puchawolun, unable to distinguish friend from foe, sent his personal guards to ask, "Which faction are you from?"

Han Chang also rode forward to observe the personal guard's equipment up close.

After confirming that the enemy was Jurchen cavalry, Han Chang avoided their questions and said in a panic, "The Ming army came from who-knows-where and burned all our military rations!"

Chapter 3459 No More Army Rations

The guard was greatly alarmed and hurriedly went back to inform Puchawolun.

Upon hearing the news, Puchawolun rushed forward to inquire, "Is the military rations really gone?"

"This place isn't far from the grain depot, so why haven't I seen any fire?"

Han Chang turned and ran away as soon as he heard the sound; he had run into someone he knew.

Moreover, the enemy was fully armed, while he was dressed as a herdsman and didn't even have proper armor.

Puchawolun shouted, "Come back quickly and tell me the details over there!"

Upon hearing this, Han Chang ran even faster, shouting as he fled, "The Ming army is attacking! The military rations have been burned!"

Puchawolun shouted angrily, "He must be a Ming spy! Don't believe his rumors!"

"Draw your bow and shoot him dead!"

The Jurchen soldiers fired arrows in unison, and Han Chang lay prone on his horse as it galloped away.

Several of his men were hit by arrows behind him, and two of them even fell off their horses.

An arrow struck Han Chang in the back shoulder, and in pain, he quickly fled.

Yue Fei had already led his army over; his troops consisted entirely of Ming Dynasty elite cavalry, totaling more than 1,600 men.

In addition, they recruited more than 300 grassland cavalrymen along the way.

Yue Fei personally led his troops in a frontal assault, while his general Xu Qing circled around to the enemy's left flank, and Li Yanxian's general Luo Ruming circled around to the enemy's right flank.

The three hundred-plus steppe cavalrymen circled around to the enemy's rear from a great distance, mainly to provide moral support and harass and break the enemy's morale.

More than 1,600 Ming cavalry, plus more than 300 steppe cavalry, surrounded and killed only a little over 100 Jurchen cavalry!

Yue Fei fired an arrow forward and immediately spurred his horse to charge.

The disparity in troop strength between the two sides was too great; during battles, several soldiers would fight against one.

Yue Fei rushed forward and knocked down two men. Then, hearing Puchawolun ordering a breakout, he immediately spurred his horse and charged towards Puchawolun.

Several of Yue Fei's personal guards bravely blocked his path.

Puchawolun led his remaining troops to flee to the left, where they ran into Xu Qing, who was leading troops to flank them.

Xu Qing's martial arts skills were inferior to those of the enemy general, but he had a large number of soldiers under his command, and he directly surrounded Puchawolun.

With each thrust, a sweeping motion, Puchawolun was overwhelmed, and his personal guards were quickly wiped out.

In the end, Xu Qing drew his spear and knocked Puchawolun off his horse, then ordered his soldiers to capture the man alive.

There were also scattered Jurchen cavalrymen fleeing in all directions.

More than three hundred steppe cavalrymen harassed the Jurchens with arrows, but Luo Ruming led his troops in pursuit and wiped out all the remaining Jurchens.

Wang Gui ran to Xu Qing's side and said enviously, "You're really lucky; you actually managed to catch an enemy general."

Yue Fei had someone quickly bandage Han Chang's arrow wound and said, "You come and interrogate the prisoners. Ask them why they sent troops here in the middle of the night."

Han Chang came to Puchawolun's side and said with a smile, "General Puchawolun, we meet again."

Puchawolun retorted, "Who are you?"

Upon hearing this, Han Chang was filled with rage.

He considered himself a big shot, and his Han soldiers were brave and skilled in battle. Even Wanyan Zonghan treated him with great respect.

Unexpectedly, he had met Puchawolun many times, but the other party had long forgotten him.

Han Chang's smile vanished: "Why did you send troops here in the middle of the night?"

Puchawolun remained silent.

"You won't say it, right?"

Han Chang shouted,

"Bring all the surviving Jurchen soldiers here and keep an eye on them!"

Soon, more than a dozen Jurchen prisoners were stripped of their armor and brought here.

Han Chang had someone hold down Pu Chawolun's right hand, then drew his sword and placed it close to Pu Chawolun's thumb: "Will you talk or not?"

Puchawolun closed his eyes.

"Will you talk or not?" Han Chang cut down with a knife.

Puchawolun, whose right thumb had been cut off, was in excruciating pain, his face contorted as he struggled and roared, "If you're a warrior, give me a quick death!"

Han Chang pressed on again: "Will you talk or not?"

With each stroke of the knife, all ten fingers of Puchawolun's hands were severed.

Finally, he fainted from the pain.

Han Chang turned to the prisoners and asked, "Who wants to try?"

The prisoners were terrified and turned ashen-faced.

Han Chang randomly pointed to one of the men, drew his sword, walked over, and asked, "Why did you send troops here in the middle of the night?"

The prisoner who was chosen actually shouted to Yue Fei in Chinese: "General, spare my life! General, spare my life!"

“I am not a Jurchen, I come from the ancient tribe of Southern Tang in Huanglong Prefecture.”

“I was assigned to the Meng’an for only four years; before that, I wasn’t even considered a Jurchen.”

"He only fought against the various tribes of the grasslands and the Huangtou Shiwei, and also suppressed the rebellion in Yunzhong (Datong)."

"I have never killed any of the people of the Ming Dynasty!"

Yue Fei said, "The Han people in Yunzhong are also Han people."

Han Chang scolded, "Answer honestly, or I'll cut off your fingers!"

The prisoner spilled the beans: "I was sleeping tonight when the camp suddenly erupted into chaos, saying that the Ming army had captured the rear city."

"The steppe cavalry began to stir, all clamoring to flee back to their respective tribes."

“We were ordered to intercept them, but suddenly those people attacked us, saying that they had already defected to the Ming Dynasty.”

"They had too many men, and it was too dark to fight at night, so the general led us to break through the encirclement."

Yue Fei then personally inquired about the specific situation, including the number of troops guarding the main grain depot.

But these guys knew nothing when asked, only that the generals guarding the grain supplies were Wanyan Mouyan and Wanyan Hezhu.

Chapter 3460 Borrowing Armor

Yue Fei said, "Kill them all. It's inconvenient to take prisoners when we're out fighting."

The prisoners begged for mercy in panic and were quickly killed.

Yue Fei ordered Han Chang and his light cavalry to put on the armor and weapons they had seized from the Jurchen soldiers.

He then summoned the three hundred-plus steppe cavalrymen, pointed to the remaining armor on the ground, and said, "I'll lend it to you for now."

"If you can accomplish something tonight, the whole reward will be yours."

The steppe cavalrymen were overjoyed, and they all knelt down and kowtowed before going to collect their equipment.

Han Chang asked, "General, what's the next step?"

Yue Fei said, "Charge straight into the enemy camp, create chaos, and wait for reinforcements."

After saying this, Yue Fei ordered the entire army to mount their horses and accelerate their advance toward the enemy camp where military supplies were stored.

Along the way, they encountered some fleeing steppe cavalry, so Yue Fei sent the troops he had just recruited to continue recruiting them.

"Don't run away, I am from the Sawen tribe."

Which department are you from?

"Let's go! The Ming army is attacking!"

“We have surrendered to the Ming army and have even been given good soldiers and armor.”

"Come and see for yourself if you don't believe me."

"Surrendering to the Ming army would earn you iron armor?"

"Killing a woman is enough to gain merit."

"I only fired a few arrows just now, and I got a suit of iron armor."

Are those all Ming cavalry over there?

"Yes, all of them. There are another 10,000 cavalrymen behind them; the Ming emperor himself has led the troops."

"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Yes, the Ming emperor is very brave."

"He can eat half a sheep in one meal and drink a whole bucket of mare's milk."

"He can subdue a galloping horse with one hand, and his arrows can pierce through five suits of iron armor..."

This doesn't resemble a war attempt to persuade someone to surrender; it's more like a pyramid scheme.

The surrendered steppe cavalry were scattered by Yue Fei and rushed back to intercept the steppe tribesmen who were fleeing one after another.

The message spread like wildfire, from one person to ten, from ten to a hundred, and the content of the persuasion to surrender became increasingly outrageous.

Some even say that the Ming emperor personally led an army of 200,000 and had already swept through and captured Linhuang Prefecture.

The Jurchen elite troops guarding the grain supplies numbered only two thousand, which was more than enough according to Wanyan Zonghan's plan.

Because the surrounding area of ​​over a hundred miles was covered by the steppe cavalry he had sent out, the Ming army could be spotted from a great distance as long as they attacked.

The more Ming troops the better, and Wanyan Zonghan immediately returned to reinforce them upon receiving the news.

Even if the Ming army sets up a wagon formation, Wanyan Zonghan can still trap them in the open field—and starve them to death!

"Go quickly and inform the marshal, the situation here can't be contained," Wanyan Mouyan said.

Wanyan Hezhu said, "I have already sent someone to deliver the message."

"By blowing horns all the way, we can go much faster."