Chapter 317: The Arc of Artillery

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Offering courtesy before resorting to force seems to be the conventional practice of military strategists.

After Zhao Yu's talks with Wanyan Aguda broke down, the Jin army launched a fierce offensive.

Amid heart-rending shouts, the Jin forces split into two wings:

The eastern army was commanded by Wanyan Xieye, the foremost of the Jin's "Twenty-One Meritorious Ministers of Yanding" and known as the "First General of Jin," whose subordinates included Wanyan Zongjun, Wanyan Zonggan, Wanyan Zongwang, Wanyan Zongfu, and Jin Wuzhu, among other royal generals.

The western army was commanded by Wanyan Wulu, the victor of the Helan Dian battle, ordered to suppress the Bohai uprising led by Gao Yongchang in Liaodong, who had shattered sixty thousand Liao troops at Yitui and captured Shenzhou as Dabe Jiboli, with his nephews Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zhabaodi, Jin's fiercest general Wanyan Loushi, and renowned generals Wanyan Yinshuke and Wanyan Xiyin among his subordinates.

The Liao army faced the eastern Jin forces; the Song army faced the western Jin forces.

The three armies first probed each other with cavalry, launching successive waves of attacks.

After more than thirty engagements, Wanyan Aguda realized that Song cavalry, including the Jing Sai Corps, though formidable, were no stronger than Liao cavalry, and the Song troops fought with extreme caution—some might say methodically. On several occasions, the Jin army feigned retreat to lure the Song cavalry into pursuit, but the Song always promptly withdrew, denying the Jin any chance to engage them.

As for the Song infantry? Two legs could never outrun four. They could only watch from afar as the cavalry clashed—so long as the cavalry stayed outside their firing range, the infantry had no means to counter them.

On the Liao side, Yelu Chun and others knew this was their final chance; if they failed to fight fiercely now, Liao would be utterly finished. Thus, Liao soldiers braved Jin arrows and stones and fought nearly a hundred bloody battles, suffering heavy casualties on both sides—clearly, Xiao Gan, Yelu Dashi, and other Liao generals were fighting with all they had.

Days passed one by one.

The Jin army's food supplies were exhausted.

Now look at the Song-Liao alliance.

Because the battlefield was near Yan-Yun, the Song had recently built roads there and had ample civilian laborers, so the Song-Liao alliance not only had ample grain but also luxuries like canned food, with zero pressure on supplies or logistics.

Seeing this, young Jin generals like Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang could no longer hold back; they urgently requested a decisive battle, unwilling to continue these probing attacks, for they simply could not afford to delay.

Wanyan Aguda hesitated to fight decisively mainly because it meant massive casualties—losses the small-population Jin could not bear—and because he always felt something was amiss.

Yet the young Jin generals like Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang were right: if they did not fight soon, their supplies would collapse them.

Thus, after consulting Wanyan Xieye and Wanyan Wulu, Wanyan Aguda reorganized the eastern and western armies, secretly transferring generals like Wanyan Loushi and Wanyan Yinshuke to the eastern army, preparing to make the eastern front the main thrust—first crush the Liao army, then encircle the Song army with both Jin wings to secure victory.

—Wanyan Aguda still distrusted Zhao Yu, so he chose the Liao army, which they were more confident they could defeat, as the breakthrough point.

At dawn the next day, as the horizon first glowed with a faint fish-belly white, the camps of Song, Liao, and Jin erupted in clamor. War drums boomed, horns blared long and loud, as if the earth itself trembled, heralding the imminent battle that would decide the fate of the three nations.

Liu Fa observed the changes in the Jin camp and said to Zhao Yu: "Your Majesty, the day of decisive battle has come."

Zhao Yu thought, 'Finally, I can defeat the Jin army? Wanyan Aguda, you've wasted enough of my time.'

Before battle, as overall commander, Wanyan Zonghan raised his curved sword and shouted: "Capture the Song Emperor, and reward: one hundred thousand oxen, horses, and sheep each; grant the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households! Sons of Jin, charge with me!"

Upon finishing, Wanyan Zonghan gave a signal to his younger brother Wanyan Zhabaodi, commander of the fully armored heavy cavalry.

Tall and powerful, Wanyan Zhabaodi spurred his steed and led the charge forward.

Three thousand disciplined, fully armored heavy cavalry followed closely behind him.

Then, under the command of Wanyan Wulu and Wanyan Zonghan, the western Jin army advanced in prearranged formation, crossing the Qingshui River in segments, then launching their assault on the Song army…

Wanyan Aguda intended to break through on the eastern front, but Wanyan Wulu, Wanyan Zonghan, and others preferred to break through on the western front.

This stemmed from the reorganization: the western army had become dominated by the line of Guoxiang Wanyan Saigai, representing Jin nobility; the eastern army was dominated by Wanyan Aguda's line, representing the Jin imperial house.

At its founding, Jin operated as a confederation, more like a joint-stock company, with Wanyan Aguda merely the "chairman," not a traditional emperor.

The Jin imperial house, led by Wanyan Aguda and Wanyan Wuqimai, sought to end this "ruler-not-ruler, minister-not-minister" confederation and establish a true feudal monarchy.

This clearly conflicted with the interests of the Jin nobility led by Wanyan Saigai, who preferred to preserve the confederation and remain Jin's "shareholders."

The Jin nobility needed military achievements to intimidate the imperial house and deter reform.

Likewise, the imperial house sought greater achievements to overpower the nobility, forcing them to submit to imperial reforms and become subjects, not partners.

This created competition between the eastern and western armies.

To seize glory, Wanyan Wulu and Wanyan Zonghan prepared to gamble everything, concentrating all force to crush the Song army using their favored tactic: a central breakthrough with elite cavalry.

Wanyan Wulu and Wanyan Zonghan deployed three thousand fully armored cavalry as the spearhead, with sixty to seventy thousand heavy cavalry forming the flanks of a wedge formation.

—The flanks of the wedge formation stretched extremely long; Jin troops could move between the two wings like the arms of a "∧," enabling concentrated attacks or defenses—highly effective.

If the western Jin army could pierce the Song center, they could continuously split the Song forces and win the decisive battle.

The Song's Crane-Wing formation was ideal for "blunting the enemy's spear, breaking its wings"—defending the center while attacking the flanks.

If the Song infantry could hold against the western Jin assault, they could encircle and crush the western Jin forces, winning the decisive battle.

In essence, this was a battle of spear versus shield.

As combat began, Wanyan Zhabaodi, clad entirely in cold-forged armor, calmly led his fully armored steeds across the Luan River.

This cold-forged armor, also called "haozi armor," was dark blue-black, glossy and mirror-smooth, capable of reflecting hair, bound with musk leather straps, thin yet resilient, far superior in defense to Song armor.

It was not made by Liao, but by the Qingtang Qiang of Western Xia, presented to Liao.

It could be called the most formidable armor of the age.

Worse still, the Song had previously been utterly unable to replicate it.

Only after the Song reclaimed Western Xia.

At the distance of three arrows, the fully armored heavy cavalry mounted their horses.

At three arrows' distance, they rode slowly to pressure the enemy.

At one arrow's distance, they charged full gallop to shatter the enemy line!

This was standard nomadic cavalry doctrine, adopted by the Jin.

Under the lead of three thousand fully armored cavalry, sixty to seventy thousand heavy cavalry mounted and charged toward the Song army.

Simultaneously, Jin heavy infantry also mounted their horses, swiftly advancing through the space between the two wings of the "∧."

To Wanyan Wulu, Wanyan Zonghan, and others, if they could bring their heavy infantry within ten paces of the Song lines, they would win the battle.

Nearly one hundred thousand fully armored cavalry, heavy cavalry, and heavy infantry charging together created an earth-shaking spectacle—as if the ground itself trembled!

No war drums sounded, yet the thunder of ten thousand hooves was more terrifying than any drum—the roar echoed like dozens of thousands of thunderbolts exploding together at the end of the world!

From above, one would see a colossal, sky-blocking wedge driving into the Song center…

Zhao Jian, Zhao Yu's twelfth son, stood at the very front of the Song center, serving as a shield-bearer, a short hammer hanging at his left waist, ten thunder bombs slung across his back.

As an Imperial Prince of Great Song, even if Zhao Jian chose the martial path, there was no need for him to start as a common soldier. He could have had a higher starting point — for instance, like his brothers, he could have studied military arts and then begun as a low-ranking officer.