Chapter 230: Rout

In late April, the morning after the military council, at the Jin army's main camp at the mouth of the North Luo River.

Wanyan Salihuo, the youngest Battalion Commander in the Western Route Army, had originally been ordered to scout downstream to prepare for the next military operation. But unexpectedly, early that morning he was suddenly summoned by Loushi. Only halfway there did he learn that the day before, Tuhesu, who had boasted so boldly, had failed in his attack, been raided and set on fire during the night, and though his losses were not heavy, he could not hold his position and had been forced to withdraw.

A defeat was a defeat—victory and defeat are common in war. But when the generals saw Tuhesu's appearance in person, many lost their composure... For no other reason than that Tuhesu had taken an arrow through his foot. He couldn't even wear a shoe, couldn't stand, and could only lie on the ground in the main command tent with his foot propped high. On top of that, his hair and beard had been completely singed off. He was truly wretched.

As for the others, some were reserved, some constrained by their status, and none dared to speak. Only Wanyan Salihuo, who had been raised by Aguda as a youth and was usually arrogant, couldn't help but burst out laughing in front of everyone as soon as he entered the tent:

"Tuhesu, weren't you the best at infantry combat just the day before yesterday? How is it that after just one day, you can't even walk? And if you can't walk, that's one thing, but why did you shave your head bald? Is this some new way to beat the heat?"

Once Salihuo laughed, the other generals, many of whom were crude fellows who had been holding it in with difficulty, joined in the uproar.

As for Tuhesu, lying on his back in the tent, his foot pierced through, his hair completely singed off by the fire set by the Song army's night raid, and having been forcibly tied to a horse and brought back by his subordinates, he hadn't slept a wink all night. Hearing this, he wanted to jump up and smash the speaker's head with a hammer, but he had no strength to act. He could only force himself to cover his shame and anger:

"Don't... don't mock me!"

"Enough."

Just then, Wanyan Loushi spoke up at the right moment, casually cutting off this little farce. He then fixed his gaze on Tuhesu and asked seriously, "So, you're saying the attack was going smoothly, the Song army had already begun to scatter, but just as you were about to break the stockade, you happened to be too far forward because of your greed, and took an arrow?"

"That's right," Tuhesu said from the ground, extremely embarrassed. "It's absolutely not because I or my men are incompetent. It was just a coincidence..."

Hearing this, the other generals, who had been somewhat mocking, mostly relaxed—after all, a general never dies away from his horse, a jar never breaks away from the well's mouth. Such battlefield accidents were purely a matter of luck, truly not a fault of the fighting.

However, unlike the others, the army's commander-in-chief, Loushi, who had been calm all along, frowned instead: "If that's the case, then the Song army should still be as weak as before, only able to hold out thanks to the strength of their cities and mountain stockades?"

"Exactly so," Tuhesu quickly answered from the ground, his foot still propped up.

"Then why did the Song army dare to leave their city and stockade last night to launch a night raid at Huagou?" Loushi pressed on.

Tuhesu was instantly speechless.

In fact, it wasn't just Tuhesu who was left speechless; the other generals also frowned. After asking his question, Loushi simply fell silent, sitting upright in the tent, lost in thought for a moment.

After a long while, it was the vice commander, Wanyan Balisu, who interjected, breaking the silence in the tent: "Perhaps there were many locals in the Song army. One night raid doesn't prove anything. Besides, I just inspected Tuhesu's troops and asked clearly. In these two small defeats, we only lost two or three hundred wounded and four or five hundred missing. Once the men who scattered into the mountains last night return, the casualties should be around four or five hundred. That's hardly a major defeat. As for Tuhesu's injury..."

Everyone looked at Tuhesu's foot and was also speechless.

In this weather, with a penetrating wound like that, it could heal well or it could go bad—truly troublesome! The only thing certain was that this "invincible in infantry combat" general of the Western Army probably wouldn't be able to take the field for a while.

"Rest in camp for now and see how the injury develops," Loushi said helplessly, giving the order. "If it heals quickly, follow the army as we advance. If there's really a problem, don't delay—go directly to Luojiao City or Fucheng to rest." Saying this, Loushi's expression unchanged, he looked around. "As for your troops, forty-seven mouke. I'll give you seven mouke for your personal use. The remaining forty will be split in half: twenty will be under the central army's command, and the remaining twenty... who will take Fangzhou City?"

Hearing Loushi's allocation, Tuhesu's face was grim, but he had nothing to say. After all, in Jin, there were only hereditary meng'an and mouke, not hereditary chiliarchs. The position of Battalion Commander was essentially a duty assignment, based mainly on seniority, background, and the arrangements of one's superiors. Now that he couldn't take the field, it was only natural for his command of this expedition's troops to be temporarily taken away. If his injury healed, Loushi certainly wouldn't hold onto them.

But on the other hand, while Tuhesu was silent, the other generals were eager to try... because the troops one led on campaign directly determined one's battle merits and plunder. Who wouldn't want those twenty mouke?

It was just that Loushi had considerable authority. After so many years of fighting, even in the Jin army, which had a tradition of military councils, no one dared to make a scene in front of him.

Sure enough, although Loushi asked the question, after looking around, he pointed directly at one man: "Salihuo, are you willing to go?"

Salihuo was overjoyed: "If the commander wants me to go, I am naturally willing!"

"I'll give you Tuhesu's twenty mouke as well. With your own troops, how many days will it take to take the city?" Loushi showed no sign of letting up.

Salihuo also became serious: "How many days does the commander want?"

"The sooner the better, of course," Loushi let out a long breath. "Can you take the city in three days?"

"Yes!" Salihuo answered immediately.

At this moment, he absolutely could not hesitate, not even for the sake of twenty mouke. Besides, Salihuo was confident... He didn't believe he could also get an arrow through the sole of his foot from a divine arm crossbow.

"Then go," Loushi said without further words, fixing his gaze on another general and continuing his orders. "Ma Wu... take your troops south to scout the way. Set up camps along the North Luo River. If possible, it would be best to directly take Baishui City, a hundred li downstream!"

Yelu Ma Wu, who had been silent all along, simply bowed his head in salute and walked straight out of the tent, leaving even faster than Salihuo. Seeing this, Wanyan Salihuo said no more and took his leave to take command of the troops.

And so, a small setback did not shake the Jin army's fighting spirit. On the contrary, because this city's position was like a fishbone stuck in the throat for the Jin army, a stronger force was almost immediately dispatched by Wanyan Loushi.

Wanyan Salihuo was also quite good at learning from mistakes. Having obtained a three-day deadline, he marched his army west along the Jushui River. Relying on his considerable troop strength, he split his more than sixty mouke into three parts... The rear force set up camp in the Huagou area, between the main camp and Fangzhou City, to serve as a relay point. The vanguard rested in a shady spot near the front lines, preparing to attack immediately. At the same time, another unit set up a new camp just three or four li from Fangzhou City, even larger than the Huagou camp, to serve as an attack base.

This move was very, very correct, because the loess plateau terrain of northern Shaanxi was just that treacherous. They said it was twenty li, ten li, or even three to five li away, and you could see the people opposite from afar. But in reality, if there was a gully or a mesa in between, you often had to ride your horse to death just to get there. Setting up camps, relay points, and attack bases in advance was undoubtedly a great help to the war effort.

As the day before, the battle erupted in the latter part of the afternoon, when the heat had somewhat subsided.

But only after fighting for a short while did Wanyan Salihuo realize that Tuhesu's defeat the day before was not undeserved, and he even began to admire Tuhesu a little... Because when he actually started fighting, he discovered just how treacherous this battlefield terrain was!

It was truly treacherous! On the narrow, cramped roads, everywhere was dug full of holes and bumps. The Jin army could only fight on foot, and more importantly, their movement was extremely slow. But these holes and bumps were not enough to block long-range arrows. So, as the Song army's crossbow bolts flew in volleys, shooting from both the city walls and the mountains, the Jin army had to endure one-sided casualties from the moment they engaged.

However, based on past experience, as long as the Jin army endured the casualties and fought their way into effective combat range, the Song army would rout. So, although Salihuo was alarmed, he still urged his troops forward. He selected three mouke of heavily armored warriors, armed with short weapons and bows, advancing in a scattered formation... This choice was essentially the same as Tuhesu's the day before, and it made some sense.

Heavy armor was necessary protection. Short weapons were for maximum lightness and speed. A scattered formation was the best formation to counter long-range attacks and one of only two formation choices in this terrain (the other being dense). This also showed Salihuo's confidence in his soldiers' combat ability. He clearly believed that as long as someone could reach the enemy, the battle would be over. As for carrying bows, needless to say, heavy arrows were the Jin army's primary killing method, whether in cavalry or infantry combat, and the best choice for entering close combat as quickly as possible in this situation.

For the next quarter of an hour, the battle was unremarkable... Just like the day before, it was nothing more than the Jin army being passively beaten while struggling to advance. The only thing worth mentioning was that as the Jin army began to climb Little Bridge Mountain, Salihuo suddenly understood why Tuhesu had gone to the front to supervise the battle.

There were two reasons:

First, the randomly scattered rocks on the mountain were extremely troublesome. These rocks were generally only knee-high, but they were hard and immovable. Moreover, the trees on the mountain had long been cut down. The Jin army had no cover at all while climbing, and instead, these rocks made them dizzy and disoriented... In fact, this was probably the inspiration for the Song army's tactic of digging those medium-sized holes on the road.

Second, when they reached the foot of the mountain, arrows truly fell like rain, bolts flew like the wind. Unlike on the road, at this position and distance, the Song army's long-range killing efficiency was simply astonishing. From their elevated position, the divine arm crossbows could already penetrate all Jin armor except for lamellar armor. And by the time they climbed halfway up the slope, even the gourd helmets and lamellar armor couldn't withstand the concentrated volleys of the divine arm crossbows... Such visible casualties would make any commander's heart pound.

Of course, with the lesson of the previous day before him, although he could see from afar his soldiers on the mountain being bloodily pierced through like targets by those divine arm crossbows and even bed crossbows, Wanyan Salihuo remained motionless on the side of a small hill four hundred paces away (to guard against bed crossbows), displaying the bearing of a great general.

It was inevitably the bearing of a great general. Salihuo had followed Aguda as a child, Nianhan as an adult, and later Loushi. This bearing was practically a basic required course for him.

Who didn't know that Wanyan Salihuo had the bearing of a famous general, known in the Western Route Army as the "Cold-Faced Gentleman"?

And so, under the cold gaze of this Cold-Faced Gentleman, the first wave of Jin troops, a full three mouke, visibly routed and fled back.

Salihuo's expression did not change. He turned his head to look at a meng'an beside him: "Gu Chipi, yesterday, Tuhesu's troops also attacked the mountain with three mouke, the same equipment, the same formation, the same route. The Song army also responded the same way, with the same fortifications. The result was that the Song army was shaken?"

This meng'an, named Gu Chipi, was a well-known seasoned general in the Western Route Army. Hearing this, he replied meticulously: "I respectfully inform the gentleman that I witnessed it with my own eyes yesterday while accompanying the Battalion Commander. Before the Battalion Commander was wounded, the Song people had indeed begun to waver. The front-line divine arm crossbowmen abandoned their weapons and fled into the stockade. Although our men were also somewhat unsteady, they truly only withdrew after the Battalion Commander was wounded..."

Salihuo nodded, still sitting motionless. He raised his hand a second time, unbuckled the saber at his waist, and handed it to the other man: "This saber was given to me by Grandfather Taizu. Gu Chipi, take this saber and behead the three leading mouke (centurions). Have their respective puriren (fifty-man leaders, deputy mouke) take command of their troops."

Gu Chipi took the order and left. But when he met the routed soldiers, after a brief exchange, he returned without killing a single man, holding the saber bestowed by Aguda, and reported publicly: "Gentleman, the three mouke and their three puriren were all shot dead on the mountain..."

Salihuo was slightly stunned, unsure whether to be pleased or worried... Pleased that this rout was due to all the officers being shot, a matter of luck, and ultimately not because his troops were inferior to Tuhesu's. Worried that the Song army's divine arm crossbows and bed crossbows were truly astonishing in this terrain, enough to make anyone's heart uneasy.

But regardless, Salihuo forced himself to stand up, carefully surveyed the terrain he had already been studying all afternoon, and then came to the same discouraging conclusion as before—aside from taking a detour, to break this city, he would have to honestly take this mountain stockade.

And if he really took a detour, why would Loushi have asked him to take the city in three days?

The weather was getting hotter, men and horses were gradually becoming exhausted. The campaign could not be delayed. They had to quickly move south to the Wei River plain. Time was especially precious.

Therefore, helpless and knowing full well the situation, Salihuo gave the order again, reorganizing a second wave of attacks and sending additional officers in advance.

But it was hardly unexpected—this attack also ended in failure.

Moreover, this time, the Jin soldiers who fled back clearly told Gu Chipi, who had come to enforce military law, that they had already gotten within a few dozen paces of the Song army's front line and had definitely killed and wounded the Song crossbowmen at the very front. But although those Song crossbowmen were panicked, not a single one retreated!

Clearly, after the victories of the past two days, the morale and discipline of the Song army had indeed been strengthened, and he could no longer use conventional methods to feed them piecemeal.

Therefore, although the summer evening was extremely long and the weather gradually cooled, after receiving the reply, Salihé remained silent for a moment before still choosing to retreat.

Then, at the third watch of the night, he launched a night attack.

But it still failed.

The Song army was already prepared; torches and braziers were everywhere on the city wall and the mountain path, illuminating the open ground before the mountain as bright as day, combined with the summer Milky Way and starry sky... Under these circumstances, the surprise attack was detected early.

Moreover, although the Song army's long-range striking efficiency had dropped by more than one level at night, the Jin army was not divine either. Compared to daytime, their organizational ability also declined significantly at night, so they still could not charge up the slope.

Even more, after this Jin army retreat, when they returned to the small camp three li away, they discovered that many had suffered close-combat injuries... Clearly, to ensure the safety of their own camp, after long-range suppression took effect, the Song army had chosen to actively counterattack, chasing into the dark night and engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the straggling Jin troops.

It was just that by then, most of the Jin army had already withdrawn, and with the cover of night, it did not appear too intense.

The next day at dawn, Salihé, who had not slept all night, pulled back the frontline troops whose morale had fallen to an unbearable state, replaced them with troops from the Huagou camp, and prepared to continue the attack according to strategy.

But when this Cold-Faced Young Master once again arrived behind that small hill that could provide cover, he lost his composure on the spot and flew into a rage, no longer possessing yesterday's grace... It turned out that after last night's victory, the Song army, knowing this was the most likely position for Jin army officers before the battlefield, had transported dozens of buckets of excrement and filth from the latrine pit behind the mountain stockade overnight, making the entire rear flank of the hill stink unbearably.

After his great anger, Salihé ordered the newly arrived troops to advance slowly with shields and launch an attack, while also having soldiers cut down trees and dig earth, laying trenches and piling up palisades on the road before the mountain, clearly preparing to use engineering works to press all the way to the foot of the mountain... Of course, it was also convenient for him to leave this small hill and command from the front.

That was not all; Salihé also sent messengers back to the Hekou main camp to find Loushi, requesting reinforcements of Han troops skilled in archery, preparing to counter archery with archery.

In addition, this Jin army Wanhu did not forget to send small detachments attempting to cross the northern mountains, trying to circle around and launch a surprise attack on the rear of this stockade.

In short, after successive defeats and this humiliation, the enraged Salihé intended to use every method, disregarding everything to launch an unprecedented offensive, trying to capture this mountain, this stockade, and this city.

Of course, an unprecedented offensive also meant unprecedented casualties. The Song army, having won consecutive victories and inflicted heavy losses, had morale that was no longer what it was at the beginning. Faced with the Jin army's full-scale actions, neither the mountain nor the city showed any signs of wavering, and both began to engage the Jin army without sparing any effort.

On the mountain stockade, they continued to concentrate fire from a height on the Jin soldiers attacking the mountain. Although shields effectively blocked some arrows, once they reached the foot of the mountain, facing the Shenbi Crossbow, the Song army's most effective killing weapon, they still found it inadequate... Wooden shields were completely unable to stop the Shenbi Crossbow, and while the few Jin soldiers carrying metal shields managed to get extremely close, facing the Song army's decisive counterattack, which was no longer in its previous state, those few men were simply walking to their deaths.

After one charge, several hundred shields were instead captured by the Song army.

On the city wall, especially the fixed bed crossbows, they had long since given up targeting Jin soldiers and instead concentrated fire across the river on the earthen mounds and wooden planks the Jin army was erecting, trying to hinder the Jin army from building something like a covered passage along this road... The bed crossbow had a range of five to six hundred paces, farther than trebuchets, and a single hit would directly shatter the hastily built fortification panels, causing splash injuries to the Jin soldiers and auxiliary troops near the works.

The small Jin detachments attempting to circle around were even more futile. How could Wu Jie not have prepared for that? They labored over the mountains, circled half the stockade, and despairingly discovered that the other two sides had no gentle slopes, all had sentry posts, and the trees around the camp had long been cut clean... After hesitating for a long time, these Jin soldiers ultimately did not dare to show themselves.

By noon, with the Jin army frustrated on three fronts, and perhaps the enraged Salihé gradually getting used to the stench, the Jin army finally changed strategy. The main Jin force also withdrew to a safe distance to rest on the spot, while some Jin soldiers, under the supervision of Guchipi, no longer stubbornly erected palisades but instead chose to pile earth along the river to defend against attacks from Fangzhou City across the river.

At the same time, Salihé's request for reinforcements finally reached the Hekou main camp. The reinforcements were immediately approved and set out at once.

The only thing worth mentioning was that after handling the reinforcement matters, Vice Commander Wanyan Balisu took the initiative to visit Loushi and raised a question.

"I did it on purpose."

Just as the frontline Jin army was completely thwarted, the Jin commander-in-chief Wanyan Loushi smiled calmly. "I know that Salihé rarely faces setbacks, is arrogant by nature, and is easily provoked, just as I know that Tuhesu is hot-tempered and likes to charge into battle himself... I wanted to use Tuhesu's temper and Salihé's arrogance... Think about it, if I had sent you or Yelu Ma Wu at the start, seeing those casualties, you two would have played it safe."

Balisu understood in his heart but couldn't help sneering: "But what if Fangzhou City really can't be taken in a few days? Wouldn't so many soldiers' lives be wasted in vain?"

"If it really can't be taken for the time being, then we'll have to split the forces here to blockade the city, and then go south directly, regardless of the danger to our rear," Loushi answered without hesitation. "But it's still better to take it. In the grand scheme, the lives of soldiers, even yours and mine, are insignificant. If they are wasted, then they are wasted. Besides, if it's for a worthy cause and it fails, it's not a waste."

Balisu's face changed drastically, but in the end, he said nothing.

After noon, the sun blazed like fire, and the weather became increasingly unbearably hot.

Because of the continuous fighting over the past two days, the narrow strip of land on the north bank of the Jushui River opposite Fangzhou City had taken on a hint of a bloody stench, and countless bloodthirsty insects and flies were circling incessantly.

On both sides and three fronts of the battlefield, both sides were resting.

The difference was that, without an order to withdraw, the Jin army, after moving the wounded to the small camp in the rear, still waited here. Many soldiers, exhausted, simply hid in the ditches, gullies, and hollows by the roadside to rest as they pleased. But this kind of shelter was extremely ineffective. First, there was only so much shade. Second, many soldiers were wearing armor, and the Jin army's discipline was extremely strict; no one dared to remove their armor easily. Even their helmets—they didn't know whether to take them off or not... Take them off, and the sun was scorching; keep them on, and they were drenched in sweat, so they kept taking them on and off.

In stark contrast, the Song army sat comfortably inside the city and the stockade, not even needing to drink much water... And a considerable number of them had uniformly removed their armor, dressed coolly, and were napping in the shade of tents or under the city wall.

Of course, there was still some activity on the battlefield. On the eastern side of the battlefield, driven by the enraged Salihé's urging and under the supervision of Meng'an Guchipi, a small number of Han auxiliary troops had not stopped piling earth and building ramparts, and the Song army's bed crossbows occasionally fired sneak shots in their direction... But overall, both sides seemed exhausted, both waiting for the evening heat to dissipate.

The sun moved further west, and the battlefield grew more oppressive. Inside the mountain stockade, the atmosphere was subtly wrong... At the front of the stockade, many crossbowmen in armor, with their bows and crossbows laid out before them, were just chatting and laughing. Some soldiers were clearing corpses and stripping loot on the mountain. This area was quite noisy. Then, starting from near Wu Jie's central command tent in the middle-front of the stockade and going further back, a considerable area was eerily quiet. Although many soldiers in cool clothing were resting under tents or wooden shelters, almost no one was talking. They only spoke in low voices when going to the designated water points to drink, and once they returned to their seats, they were as mute as before.

And Wu Jie, sitting in the central command tent to escape the heat, was also acting strangely, not uttering a single word from start to finish.

However, unlike the other soldiers, Wu Jie had been doing something bizarre since noon—he placed a Jin army gourd-shaped helmet on the open ground in front of the central command tent, letting it bake in the sun... It had been stripped from a Jin corpse last night and still had a hole in it... Then, every quarter of an hour, Grand Coordinator Wu personally went out to touch this Jin army helmet, which was stained with strange red and white marks.

And this time, who knew how many times it was, as Wu Jie reached out and touched the helmet, then instinctively withdrew his hand, this Grand Coordinator's spirits lifted greatly, and he immediately waved excitedly to the leader of his personal guards.

The guard leader, seeing this, was someone who could speak. He immediately passed the order, having someone bring out two purple flags. One was prepared and he personally held it upright, while the other was hoisted high at the southwest corner of the stockade, facing the drawbridge.

When the flags were raised, there was an immediate stir in the stockade and the city. Although they still suppressed their voices, the commotion was hard to hide. Especially on the gate tower of Fangzhou City, a red flag was immediately raised in response.

Not far from the two flags, the Jin army Meng'an Guchipi, who had given up his patrol, was already hiding behind an earthen rampart to escape the heat and rest. Witnessing this scene, driven by the instinct of an excellent officer, he stood up dazedly, braving the rolling heat waves. He looked again, then turned back to look at the Jin army troops behind him, listless and scattered all the way to the small camp not far away. He suddenly understood, and immediately mounted his horse and rode towards Salihé.

On the city wall across the river, a bed crossbow that had already been drawn aimed and fired, but it only flew past the top of Guchipi's head—this was not because Guchipi had eyes in the back of his head, but because his horse, due to the weather, after a few steps of sudden start, immediately foamed at the mouth, knelt down, and threw Guchipi off.

But with this commotion, Guchipi's warning had already taken effect.

Amidst the rolling heat waves, Salihé, who was covering his nose and escaping the heat behind the hill in the distance, watched this scene with immediate suspicion. Then, following the reminder of Guchipi, who had just scrambled up and, not forgetting to point somewhere with the Taizu's saber, he discovered the two flags and sensed the barely concealed commotion in the city and the stockade. He too suddenly understood.

Wanyan Salihé immediately ordered the entire army to assemble.

However, after the order was given, the troops assembled extremely slowly... Salihé shouted left and right, but still could not make the troops move any faster... There was no help for it; these Jurchen, Khitan, and Bohai people simply could not bear this heat. For the Jin army, at this moment, the power of the sun was probably more astonishing than the crossbow bolts from before.

After all, crossbow bolts were only effective when they hit a person within effective range. Although they were said to be swift and deadly, the number they actually killed was only in the hundreds. But the sun at this moment was indiscriminately irradiating the entire Jin army position, and all two to three thousand Jin soldiers here were somewhat dazed.

Such was the might of heaven; human strength was difficult to contend with.

Under the heat, inside the Qiaoshan stockade, a purple flag descended from above and charged forward. At the same time, the drawbridge of Fangzhou City was suddenly lowered, and a red flag led the way out. The two flags met before the drawbridge. It was none other than Grand Coordinator Wu Jie and Wang Xi, who had just been promoted to Commander-in-Chief the day before, personally holding shields and wielding swords at the front. Behind them, countless Song armored soldiers swarmed out in two columns...

If this had been yesterday, this scene would have filled Salihé with ecstatic surprise. But now, this Cold-Faced Young Master, who had risked danger to climb the small hill and then hurried down, was terrified to the extreme.

The two large Song army flags crossed the narrow, chaotic battlefield, forcing the small group of Han soldiers piling earth there to flee in panic. Surprisingly, there was no great shouting or killing. On the eastern side of the battlefield, although many Jin soldiers sensed some chaos and received orders, hindered by their field of vision and the heat, they still did not know what was happening and remained sluggish and confused.

But just a moment later, as the Song army drove the scattered Jin soldiers across that narrow battlefield, Wu Jie, personally holding a shield and wielding a sword at the front, forcefully spat out a piece of iron coin from his mouth, then raised his sword and let out a roar.

Then, the seventy or eighty elite Song soldiers following behind him almost simultaneously spat out the iron coins from their mouths and roared along with him!

With a great roar, the small Jin detachment of just seventy or eighty men that had barely gathered in front of the Song army formation immediately faltered. But soon, as a Jin army Silver-Plaque Meng'an at the head, wielding an old saber, charged desperately towards the Song army formation, this small detachment gritted their teeth and bravely met the charge.

However, Wu Jie, without slowing his pace, simply hurled the captured shield in his hand with force at the charging Jin officer, knocking the already unsteady Silver-Plaque Meng'an to the ground, and then finished him off with a single stroke of his saber.

And when Wu Da picked up the opponent's saber, continued his charge without stopping, and pressed forward with the killing, under the blazing sun, this hastily assembled Jin force trying to block the intersection immediately scattered.

At the same time, as more and more Song soldiers poured out from that road of death behind him, more and more iron coins were spat out, and the shouts of killing grew louder and louder, eventually forming an echo between Qiaoshan and Fangzhou City, reverberating without end.

Salihé, who had been standing stunned since the moment Guchipi fell, no longer hesitated. He immediately mounted his horse and fled.

And it was impossible to tell whether it happened simultaneously or in sequence, but the Jin army, worn down to the limit by casualties and the heat, collapsed and abandoned their weapons and fled almost at the same time, before the Song army even reached them... This scene was no different from the performance of the Song army on the front line of the stockade two days ago.

In the end, everyone was just human.