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

Wanyan Zonghan roared, "Fool! You might as well have let the grain and fodder burn!"

Wanyan Mouyan defended himself, saying, "It's just a completely false rumor. Those grassland tribes all believed it, thinking that the Southern bandits had already captured our rear cities."

Those cavalrymen from the grasslands were mutinying or deserting one after another; I simply couldn't suppress them.

At this moment, Wanyan Zonghan finally understood Wanyan Zongfu; there was really nothing that could be done about the successive rebellions of the foreign tribes under his command.

Wanyan Zonghan asked, "How many of the southern bandits have come?"

Wanyan Hezhu said, "There shouldn't be many."

"Otherwise, we would have been unable to hold out long ago and wouldn't have been able to escape until now."

"However, many grassland tribes have submitted to the Southern Bandits. Although these people are not good at fighting, they are still quite troublesome when it comes to fighting."

Without hesitation, Wanyan Zonghan said, "The whole army will follow me to reclaim the grain supplies."

"If we don't bring back the supplies, the entire army will starve!"

Chapter 3463 Light Cavalry Assault

In fact, the camp where Wanyan Zonghan attacked Li Yanxian had stored several days' worth of grain and fodder.

But in his haste to return and preserve more supplies, he burned the military rations in the south.

Just as Wanyan Zonghan was rushing back, Yue Fei was also making arrangements for his troops.

He first dispatched several light cavalry and a group westward to contact Wang Yan, asking Wang Yan to lead his infantry to speed up their march and arrive as soon as possible to take over the Jin army camp.

Another group bypassed the battlefield, allowing Li Yanxian to lead troops to advance slowly, arriving for the decisive battle while preventing the Jin army from launching a surprise attack.

Immediately afterwards, Yue Fei led all his cavalry, including the steppe cavalry, to the wilderness south of the camp.

He had to fight a bloody battle with Wanyan Zonghan here until Wang Yan's infantry arrived.

Although steppe cavalry are not very useful, they can still harass and buy time with arrows.

Wanyan Zonghan arrived with his elite Jurchen troops, and immediately the sound of horns filled the air.

Trumpets were sounding from the north, east, and west, along with the clatter of cavalry hooves as they galloped back and forth.

There were countless enemies lurking in the darkness, as if the main force of the Jurchens had been completely surrounded.

Extreme fear hung over the Jurchen soldiers.

They had just suffered a crushing defeat in their attack on Li Yanxian, with countless core elites killed or wounded.

The camp has now been occupied by the Ming army, and all their food supplies have been taken away.

It was pitch black, with the sounds of horns and horses' hooves coming from all directions.

Wanyan Hezhu could guess that the Ming army was small, but the ordinary soldiers didn't know that.

Even if you tell them, they won't believe you.

Wanyan Zonghan ordered: "Ignore everything else, charge straight ahead and reclaim our supplies!"

Even Wanyan Zonghan himself didn't know how many elite troops he had left.

During the previous siege of Li Yanxian's camp, countless casualties were suffered in the darkness, including the deaths of three Jurchen generals.

Before the troops had finished withdrawing, they learned that the military supplies had been attacked, so they hurriedly rushed back to rescue the supplies.

Some remnants of troops who had lost their generals or officers could only be temporarily assigned to other generals, or officers could be temporarily promoted to the rank of general.

The fact that it was nighttime combat made the command situation even more chaotic.

It wasn't obvious when we rushed back; everyone just ran together.

Now that war has suddenly broken out, the troops that were just decimated by Li Yanxian and had not had time to be properly reorganized are even losing contact with their new generals.

Even worse is morale!

Humans are not plants or machines; even the bravest soldiers will feel tired and fearful.

After a series of defeats, their supplies were seized, and they were surrounded by enemies on all sides. They rushed back to reinforce their troops and fought in the dark...

The Jin soldiers have accumulated all sorts of negative buffs.

They are still following along to seize grain, and have not immediately collapsed, for two reasons.

First, Wanyan Zonghan had a high enough prestige.

Secondly, if we don't fight to the death to recapture the military supplies, they might starve to death!

Nearly ten thousand elite Jurchen soldiers charged forward in the dark, guided only by a thousand torches.

Some of the hastily reorganized remnants of the army became disorganized as they ran, and some even lost their way to their new officers.

But they are elite veterans after all. Those who have scattered can spontaneously regroup—they can charge straight ahead without any problem, but it would be difficult to command them to execute complex tactics.

In the darkness, cavalrymen were running back and forth on all sides, making it impossible for them to determine the direction of the main Ming army force.

As Wanyan Zonghan led his troops in a straight charge, the cavalry blocking their path quickly fled in droves.

Chapter 3464 Seizing Military Supplies

The more smoothly the battle went, the more alarmed Wanyan Zonghan became: "The Ming army's elite troops are not at the front; be careful they might charge from both sides."

"Order Hu Zhan to lead his troops to intercept on the left flank..."

Before Wanyan Zonghan's military orders could be issued, Yue Fei and Shi Ziming each led several hundred Ming cavalry and over a thousand steppe cavalry to charge the Jurchen troops from both flanks.

The Jurchen cavalry were thrown into chaos on both flanks.

Some mid- to low-ranking Jurchen generals spontaneously led their soldiers to intercept them.

They quickly defeated the steppe cavalry who were charging alongside the Ming army, and instinctively pursued them, causing them to become separated from their nearby allies.

The Jin army's flanks, already in disarray, became even more chaotic due to their local victories.

Who says steppe cavalry are useless?

Making them suffer defeats also serves a purpose!

Wanyan Zonghan couldn't see the situation clearly, nor did he know how the battle was progressing on both flanks, so he could only send his generals with troops to provide relief.

Pucha Huzhan was ordered to lead his troops to the left flank. He had not yet reached the left flank battlefield...

Luo Ruming, who was pretending to be a steppe cavalryman firing back and forth, suddenly led hundreds of Ming cavalry and more than a thousand steppe cavalrymen to intercept him.

The retreating steppe cavalry, after escaping some distance, saw that the main force of the Jurchen seemed to be entangled.

So the tribal leaders returned with their troops and shot arrows at the left front of the Jurchen soldiers.

Some of the sixth men, fearing battle with the Jurchens, even went around to the flanks and rear to fire—causing very little actual damage.

But it put immense psychological pressure on the Jurchen soldiers, making them feel as if they were surrounded by an enemy several times their size.

Unable to see far in the dark, Wanyan Zonghan was unable to command the entire operation.

In the absence of unified command, some Jurchen generals could not tolerate being shot continuously.

They roared and charged towards the steppe cavalry, who were so frightened that they fled from a great distance, taking the pursuing Jurchen cavalry further and further away.

The Ming Dynasty's elite cavalry numbered less than three thousand, making local battles extremely difficult.

However, nearly ten thousand elite Jurchen troops were thrown into complete chaos.

Some Jurchen cavalrymen, in pursuit of the steppe cavalry, had even strayed two or three miles from the main force.

The hastily reorganized Jurchen remnants were completely disorganized, and their commanders couldn't even find their own troops.

They could only rely on force to fight individually, with at most a dozen or twenty cavalrymen spontaneously organizing themselves together.

There were also a large number of Jurchen soldiers facing darkness and chaos.

Not knowing which way to go, they could only run aimlessly in search of the enemy.

A chaotic fight!

Wanyan Zonghan could only lead his personal guards, blowing horns and charging diagonally to gather his troops.

More and more Jurchen cavalrymen, caught in the chaos, charged forward upon hearing their commander's bugle call.

If there are enemies ahead, they will kill them; if there are no enemies, they will ignore everything else and focus on escaping the chaotic battlefield to reunite with their commander.

Trying to suddenly escape the battle isn't that easy!

Some small units that had become separated from their allies were wiped out by the Ming cavalry without even realizing it.

In fact, the Ming army was also in a state of great disarray.

As the fighting progressed, some cavalrymen fell behind and were then surrounded and killed by Jin soldiers who outnumbered them several times over.

Wanyan Zonghan no longer dared to rush into the camp.

He blew his horn all the way, leading the remaining soldiers to gather together, and circled around to the east side of the camp, rushing into the various gates.

Finally, at the first light of dawn, Wanyan Zonghan reclaimed his army's rations!

A headcount revealed only six thousand riders remaining, and they were all utterly exhausted.

"General Yue, General Luo has been killed in action!"

Upon receiving the news, Yue Fei rushed over and found that Luo Ruming's body had been trampled to pieces.

The second-ranking cavalry general under Li Yanxian died at the hands of Jin soldiers during a night battle.

He clashed with the core elite force led by Puchahuzhan.

Luo Ruming not only died himself, but also lost more than 300 of his Ming cavalry.

Pucha Huzhan was originally a general under Wanyan Loushi. Back then, a thousand Jurchen cavalrymen defeated a 30,000-strong Western Xia army, and it was this man who served as the vanguard to lure the enemy.

He led three hundred Jurchen cavalrymen and decisively defeated two thousand Western Xia Iron Falcons in a direct confrontation.

Then they attacked the Western Xia camp, luring 30,000 enemy troops to pursue and kill them.

Finally, they lured the enemy to the ambush site, and with the help of several hundred friendly troops, they routed the 30,000 Western Xia soldiers!

"Withdraw temporarily and take General Luo's body with you," Yue Fei ordered. "After this battle is over, we will properly collect the remains of the fallen soldiers."

"Go and inform General Li Yanxian, and ask him to march at all costs. The Jurchen cavalry will not attack his side."

Although Wanyan Zonghan regained control of the military supplies, Yue Fei's battle objective had already been achieved.

First, buy time and wait for Wang Yan to lead his infantry to reinforce them.

To prevent Wanyan Zonghan from leading his elite troops in a surprise attack on Wang Yan's army while they were on the march.

Second, to dampen the enemy's morale.

The Jurchen main force, which had previously fought desperately to seize grain, was now crestfallen.

They suffered heavy losses in their siege of Li Yanxian, and were further decimated by Yue Fei's surprise attack and chaotic battle.

They had fought desperately to seize the supplies, and although they had managed to get them back, their fighting spirit had been completely extinguished.

What followed was confusion and fear, not knowing what to do next?

Recapture the supplies is one thing, but whether you can take them with you is another!

The steppe cavalry who followed them south either surrendered to the Ming Dynasty or fled back to the steppes.

Chapter 3465 Unstable Foothold

The Jurchen army had only a little over 6,000 men left, desperately guarding a large pile of military rations, without even civilian laborers to help them transport the rations.

Meanwhile, Wang Yan's infantry had already rushed over.

There were no tanks, no cannons, and no thunderbolts.

Yue Fei led his cavalry to protect the Jin army, while Wang Yan ordered his infantry to form a battle formation, three miles away from the Jin army camp.

The sky was getting brighter.

There were still embers burning in the Jin army camp, most of the military tents were burned, and a large section of the wooden stockade wall was also burned down.

Wanyan Zonghan personally rode out on horseback and observed for a moment with binoculars, finally confirming the strength of the Ming army.

He was outmaneuvered by Yue Fei; there weren't many Ming soldiers last night!