[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-shao-song":3,"chapter-shao-song-shao-song-chapter-49":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Shao Song",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1558215,2024,"Chapter 49: Naval Battle (Part 1)","shao-song-chapter-49",49,"\u003Cp>Deep down, Ali had always dismissed Jin Wushu's arrogance with contempt, because this Jurchen general, who had risen from a lowly soldier to a commander of ten thousand, was one of the rare cautious men in the Jin army… In his view, the ebb and flow of battle, small victories and defeats, were the most ordinary things—win, and keep fighting to fully seize the momentum; lose, and start over to reclaim it. To make a fuss, to whip his own staff officer over a reply letter, to indulge himself so wildly over a battle of this level—his bearing was far inferior to that of the new Zhao Song ruler under the dragon banner on the opposite mountain ridge!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With such an attitude, how could he be mentioned in the same breath as the late Second Prince Wolibu?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, this was a classic case of the wall effect and the advantage of being too far away to see clearly… As a battlefield novice, the Zhao ruler, who had been so nervous that he opened a group taunt and ruined the image he had spent half a year building, never imagined that sitting high and far away could have such a benefit?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Seventh Brother, the Jin are trying to take the boats!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I see that!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Yongzhen, the Preparatory General stationed on the central river, was the commander of that large ship that had earlier rammed the pontoon bridge. Yet, standing on his vessel and watching the chaotic scene on the north bank of the Huai River, he fell into a moment of hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, at the northern section of the pontoon bridge, arrows were already falling like rain. The Jin army, disregarding range and sparing neither equipment nor lives, summoned the Han troops in their ranks and drove them into the icy shallow waters, forcing them to draw bows and set crossbows there to exchange fire with the small support boats, covering the Meng'an Puluhen as he led Jurchen elites onto the bridge for hand-to-hand combat to seize the ships. Bows were manageable, but crossbow bolts had to be reloaded back on shore, which was truly maddening, yet at this moment, no one dared to ask Jin Wushu for any hardship pay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And when the army led by Puluhen threw out their pre-prepared grappling hooks, all the Song naval forces suddenly understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But understanding was one thing; almost everyone was at a loss for what to do… Faced with the Jurchens closing in for melee combat, every ship's first instinct was to disengage quickly. However, large and small vessels were densely packed together, and their front was entangled by a seemingly weak but actually twisted and flexible pontoon bridge—how could they turn around in time?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the more anxious the Song troops became, the harder it was for them to move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Relatively speaking, the Jurchen troops led by Puluhen weren't taking such a reckless risk; they didn't need to fight along the swaying pontoon bridge at all. In fact, after seizing several large and small ships, they quickly abandoned the bridge route and instead used grappling hooks to connect the vessels, using the dense cluster of ships themselves as an offensive path… Meanwhile, once these ships were captured, they were occupied by subsequent Han troops in the Jin army, becoming firing positions for archers and crossbowmen!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Throughout the process, the Song naval forces were like fish and shrimp hitting a fishing net, while the Jin army, though on water, advanced with the speed of wildfire… Zhao Jiu, looking down from his height, couldn't see the details, but he could see the Song troops jumping overboard to abandon ship and flee, while the boats that had been scurrying in all directions to escape gradually stabilized under Jin control, like locusts that had been swatted dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just two quarters of an hour later, the three large ships that had been entangled were all captured. A few peripheral small boats managed to escape, while the rest continued to scurry and collide like headless flies among the three large ships, in the encirclement-like area west of the pontoon bridge, seemingly doomed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, the Song navy, still at two-thirds strength—including the four large ships on the southern half of the Huai River, numerous small boats, and the reserve force waiting upstream—showed no intention of coming to the rescue. Instead, following the constant waving of flags on shore and aboard, they chose to turn around and retreat, apparently intending to redeploy upstream for a subsequent response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, the Jin drums roared, and Jin Wushu laughed even more triumphantly. Meanwhile, on the southern bank of the Huai River, chaos erupted again… countless civil officials crowded around Yang Yizhong and Wang Yuan, pressing them with questions, demanding to know why even the naval battle was inferior to the Jin army. Hadn't they said the Jin were barbarians from Liaodong, unskilled in water warfare?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some even insisted that the two give a definite answer: now that the pontoon bridge was destroyed, wouldn't the Jin army be unable to cross the river today?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Zhao Jiu instantly slumped in his grand chair, dejected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, this Zhao ruler, whose insight was always extraordinary, was by no means as ignorant as the civil officials beside him… In fact, he knew very well what was happening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a word: the Jin army had won consecutive victories for over a decade, with morale, equipment, and military prestige at their peak, so they dared to fight, dared to risk, dared to die. Meanwhile, the Song army had suffered consecutive defeats and routs for years, with morale sunk to appalling depths… Even the only organized contingent of veteran Western Army soldiers in the Huainan camp, after trailing Liu Guangshi across most of China, only dared to use boats against the pontoon bridge. Faced with the possibility of melee combat, they didn't dare to fight!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faced with the Jin army's risky assault, their first reaction, despite having overwhelming counterattack capability, was not to organize a defense but to flee—and to flee without organization or formation, each for themselves. It was essentially a rout, which caused the boats to lose control, obstruct each other, and ultimately fail to escape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was literally fleeing at the mere rumor of the enemy! Collapsing without a fight!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was precisely the difficulty Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun had faced, the reason Liu Guangshi kept running, the motive of the original owner of the body Zhao Jiu now occupied for wanting to flee to the southeast, and the fundamental cause behind everyone advising Zhao Jiu not to waste time here—after the Jingkang Incident, the Song military had truly collapsed, while the Jin army was at its peak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a contradiction remained: to reverse this situation, someone had to stand up and launch the first counterattack, right? And Zhao Jiu had prepared for so long on the Huai River. Despite setbacks, he had largely done his best. So, if there was no stand here on the Huai, would there be one on the Yangtze? If not on the Yangtze, would there be one in Jiangxi or Zhejiang?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was another reason for Zhao Jiu's silence. What he had said to Yang Yizhong earlier wasn't deliberate performance; it carried a great deal of genuine feeling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the same token, his words to Zhang Jun before crossing the Huai on New Year's Eve, to Zhang Jun after crossing, to Han Shizhong at Jingou Town, to Li Gang at Shuizibu Town… Sometimes Zhao Jiu himself couldn't tell which of his archaic sage-ruler postures were real and which were fake. Or rather, how much was real and how much was fake?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fighting on the Huai River waters had not ceased, and every bush and tree on Bagong Mountain seemed like an enemy. Just as the rookie commander, the Fourth Prince of the Jin, grew arrogant upon gaining an advantage, Zhao Jiu, who had been playing the role of the Zhao Song ruler for half a year, was unsettled by a clear defeat, even though he had not lost the overall situation and still held additional cards up his sleeve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Over there! Bring the boat over there!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as the defeat on the Huai River was sealed, on one of the so-called Song large ships in the river, Preparatory General Zhang Yongzhen, standing at the bow, suddenly pointed at the broken end of the pontoon bridge to the north and spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Seventh Brother Zhang!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second-highest officer on the ship, a Company Commander named Hou Dan, quickly stepped forward with a stern expression to dissuade him. \"I know you have skill, and the ruler is watching from above, but this is no time to show off! You're a fine man from Longxi—why show off on the water?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If I could show off on land, why wouldn't I want to?\" Zhang Yongzhen turned back, furious. \"Isn't it because the Jurchens are even stronger on land?! The water is already the best place for us to take a stand against them!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's not what I mean!\" Hou Dan was utterly helpless. \"The Jin are also formidable on water, and the situation over there is already lost. One ship's crew, including the rowers, is seventy or eighty men! There's no reason to throw away their lives for this!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You don't have to throw away your lives!\" Zhang Yongzhen's face twisted savagely. \"Just steer the boat in a curve to the north, send me over, and you can go on your way!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's not worth it either!\" At these words, a soldier from Longyou, a close comrade, rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Zhang Yongzhen's waist. \"Seventh Brother, I know you submitted to the ruler that day, but even so, why throw away such a good life for a few strings of cash and a few bolts of cloth from him?! If you're gone, won't we, this bunch of worthless Longyou men, be bullied in the army?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Right,\" Hou Dan quickly added. \"The pontoon bridge is broken today after all. Even if we lost many ships, the Jin can't use them until tomorrow or the day after. As the saying goes, 'As a monk for a day, ring the bell for a day.' Our work today is already done. Back at the naval camp, that Zhao ruler will have nothing to say and will reward us instead!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You don't understand a damn thing!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Yongzhen, having risen to the rank of Preparatory General in the Western Army and having been the ringleader of the earlier disturbance, still had plenty of strength and prestige. So, with a single shove, he pushed the man hugging him away, then followed up with a kick to knock him over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before anyone else could speak, Zhang Yongzhen directly drew the saber at his waist. With one hand, he grabbed the Company Commander Hou Dan, who had just spoken, and pinned him down on the bow with his outstanding personal martial prowess and strength, then forcibly cut off one of his ears…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After cutting off the ear, he released his grip. Holding the ear in one hand and his saber in the other, he raised his voice amidst the stunned Western Army soldiers on the ship, his face as ferocious as a demon:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I figured it out today! You just send me over. If I die, you can go enjoy yourselves. But if you don't send me, then things won't be so easy between us on this ship right now!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Send him over!\" Hou Dan scrambled up, covering half his blood-soaked face, his own expression twisted beyond recognition, and spoke through gritted teeth. \"He's gone mad and wants to die, and he doesn't know what's good for him. If we don't send him, won't he just be a menace to us?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, Hou Dan also drew his saber with one hand, but after a brief standoff with Zhang Yongzhen, he turned away in fury and, brandishing the blade, barked orders at the rowers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The men had no choice but to let the boat circle around in the middle of the river and position itself at the broken end of the pontoon bridge. Zhang Yongzhen, without another word, had long since shed his heavy iron armor for a set of leather armor, though he kept his iron helmet on. Then, gripping his saber, he leaped down and strode straight along the swaying pontoon bridge toward the center of the battle to the north. What he intended to do was unclear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, seven or eight soldiers from Longyou followed his example, donning the same gear and jumping off the boat, trailing Zhang Yongzhen northward in a reverse assault.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After these men disembarked, the ship hesitated no longer but immediately began to row, turning around completely!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: Thirty alliances, unconsciously and belatedly… This is a veteran reader of the Acting Emperor… It's Cho Rong's avatar! Scared me to death.\u003C\u002Fp>",2160,"2026-06-06T07:45:46.639Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","31a4d31d58c9b3f320ad8f350966a5fdb299c9a270c6464ae966766469452ea6","shao-song-chapter-50","shao-song-chapter-48",489,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fshao-song-cover.jpg"]