Chapter 79: The Decisive Battle (Part 2)

Now, Jin Wushu was only twenty-five or twenty-six, and this campaign was his first time leading troops. Compared to the overwhelming victories before, the situation he had faced since getting up today truly left him in a state of utter confusion.

Yet, returning to his seat to sit quietly and ponder for a moment, this man then shook his head repeatedly while holding his horsewhip, muttering to himself without pause:

"Too late! Both sides are too late! I just saw it myself up there—the east has reached the last row of large palisades. That Song general calculated this deployment precisely. If I really transfer troops from the east now, it will only harm Pulu Hun! But no matter, the Song army is also too late, and their lateness is more fatal. They worry about the safety of the Song Emperor and sent the second wave of troops back, but now there's no time to call them to support the east... After all this fuss, only seven or eight hundred armored men were sent to reinforce the east. Based on the combat power of our Great Jin cavalry, the victor will still be Pulu Hun!"

"Then..."

"After all this commotion, a false alarm. Just sit here and wait for Pulu Hun to break the enemy!" Wanyan Wushu said as he let out a sigh of relief, then pointed with his horsewhip. "This is where you Song people are incompetent... Our Jin kingdom's lords, princes, and nobles always charge personally amid arrows on the battlefield. One more noble on the field means one more unit of combat power. But you Song people—the Emperor comes to boost morale on the front, yet he ties down the troops so they dare not maneuver, wasting troops to guard him!"

Shi Wenbin beside him hesitated. He wanted to say that the military situation was unclear, and since the Song general had calculated the timing so precisely, there might be a backup plan... But whether out of fear or some more complex psychology, after glancing at the horsewhip in the other's hand, he did not voice his opinion to Jin Wushu, only nodding repeatedly in flattery.

"However, with the decisive battle approaching, we can't just do nothing here." After regaining his confidence, Jin Wushu thought briefly, then raised his hand and pointed from his camp stool. "Someone, send orders to the west. While that troop hasn't returned, have two meng'an make a show of force and counterattack. They must do their part for Pulu Hun!"

The Jin soldiers obeyed, waving flags on the command platform to send flag signals and beating drums to indicate.

The Jin troops ahead, seeing the flag signals, naturally reacted faster than Liu Bao, who was still struggling to withdraw on the riverbank. Ignoring that the battlefield was in chaos and they could only fight on foot, and ignoring their hunger since morning, they crossed the outer low wall under the personal leadership of two meng'an and charged back on foot!

Now, the Song army had fewer than three thousand men at the front (two thousand original troops and several hundred personal guards sent by Zhang Jun), and most were exhausted. The sudden charge of fewer than two thousand Jin troops caught the Song army off guard. Visibly, the battle line began to shift backward. As the line retreated, the Song soldiers' natural fear of the Jin army erupted instantly. Many fled westward in panic, trying to desert.

Worse still, at this critical moment, the supervisory troops that should have been maintaining the rear line had already crowded onto the front, utterly unable to fulfill their role, causing the situation to deteriorate instantly!

On the other side, on the gate tower of Xia Cai City, Zhao the Emperor and all the civil and military officials watched this scene, dumbfounded... According to their understanding of the various intelligence just received, the danger of Liu Bao leaving was that everyone feared that once Liu Bao left, Jin Wushu would send his most elite central army fresh troops, and then three meng'an would jointly counterattack from the front.

Yet, no one expected that without Jin Wushu sending any reinforcements, and with Zhang Jun even dispatching his own personal guards, just two meng'an (thousand-man units) of the Jin army, who had been fighting all morning, launching a hasty counterattack on empty stomachs, was enough to shake the situation!

At this moment, aside from lamenting that the gap in combat power between the Song and Jin armies was still a vast chasm, there seemed to be nothing more to say.

In fact, even lamenting this seemed untimely now.

"Your servant... your servant!" At this moment, on the city wall, without any civil official needing to speak harshly, Zhang Jun himself was already drenched in sweat. He quickly knelt before Zhao the Emperor and begged to fight. "Your Majesty, although there are no more armored soldiers in the city, there are plenty of soldiers in ordinary leather armor. I will now lead a few hundred men down, personally supervise the battle. As long as these wretches on the front still recognize me, I can hold out until Liu Bao returns to reinforce. I will never let Your Majesty fall into danger!"

Zhao Jiu, dressed in a large red robe and a hard-winged hat, sat on his chair. He opened his mouth to speak but found his throat dry, so although his words were fluent, his voice was very soft. He could only raise his chin to signal the other to come closer.

Seeing this, Zhang Jun quickly crawled forward on his knees two steps, lowered his head to listen, then looked at Wang Yuan: "Commitor-in-Chief Wang, His Majesty says that the troops below are mostly from the Henan Field Camp. He orders you to go down with me to supervise the battle!"

Wang Yuan, having been on the battlefield before, quickly stood up and bowed to receive the order, even showing a hint of excitement.

Just as Zhang and Wang were about to rise and go down together, unexpectedly Zhao Jiu spoke again. Zhang Jun dared not be negligent, leaned in again to listen, then was startled before turning his head and speaking solemnly:

"His Majesty has an oral decree: Leave a few warriors to maintain order. Apart from the generals Zhang Jun and Wang Yuan, any civil or military official on the city wall who dares to make noise or leave their seat, from the Censor-in-Chief and the Hanlin Academicians downward, may be executed!"

The city wall, which had already begun to stir, was suddenly shocked into utter silence.

The spring breeze gently stirred the flags. The Huai River water lapped against the north bank. Below, dust rolled. Fewer than three thousand Song armored soldiers fought and retreated, their war cries drawing closer. But as Zhang and Wang hurried down the city wall, leading a group of soldiers in leather armor to meet them, the battle line halted about half a li from the city wall!

Fortunately, Liu Bao, seeing this situation, dared not delay and hastily turned back. Under the pincer attack from both sides, although they could not suppress the enemy, they managed to control the situation and pin down this Jin force.

The battle surged and then subsided, seeming to stall once more.

Zhao the Emperor, his back already soaked, stared blankly at the battlefield farther ahead, but still felt it was a tangled mess, unable to make sense of anything. He simply sighed and slumped back into his chair.

Just then, at the easternmost end of the battlefield, on the riverbank perpendicular to the east side of the Jin army's main camp, Yang Yizhong had not yet waited for Han Shizhong's flag signal from further east when he suddenly heard a commotion and cheers from due north. It was clearly Han Shizhong's beloved general Wang Sheng, who had pulled out the last row of large palisades!

"Mount up!"

Inside the eastern camp, in stark contrast to the cheers and noise outside, Pulu Hun suddenly gave a soft order, then mounted his horse. The two meng'an, actually numbering no more than fifteen hundred iron-armored cavalry, naturally could not hear the words clearly, but seeing Pulu Hun mount, they immediately followed suit, mounting in unison.

"Raise the banner!"

Seated on his horse, Pulu Hun's voice was still muffled by his faceplate as he waved his hand again.

Immediately, a personal guard beside him raised a simple, rough banner. The flag had a yellow background with black lines, embroidered with a huge magpie.

Seeing this banner raised, the continuous, finely crafted yellow curtain that had been standing in front of the thousands of cavalry was instantly pushed down by prepared infantry. With the curtain down, there was no longer any cover between Pulu Hun and Wang Sheng's troops. Pulu Hun waved his hand repeatedly, reined his horse forward, and slowly accelerated, trampling over the fine curtain.

At this point, Yang Yizhong on the high ground of the outer dike finally saw Han Shizhong's general banner raised further east and breathed a sigh of relief.

Yet, in the next moment, a thunderous rumble suddenly came. Yang Yizhong looked up in shock. Before his eyes, a cavalry unit, whose appearance was enough to chill the hearts of countless Song soldiers, suddenly burst out from the eastern camp. Without regard for anything, it instantly drove itself deep into the ranks of Wang Sheng's troops, nicknamed Black Dragon, and the armored soldiers formed by the Imperial Guard!

With just one charge, quite a few knights from the former fell from their horses dead, but the latter were instantly overwhelmed, suffering countless casualties!

Accompanied by this charge, destined to evoke bloody memories, Yang Dalang no longer dared to hesitate, nor could he maintain his usual composure and restraint. He shouted his orders with all his might:

"Raise the blue flag quickly! Raise the flag!!"

PS: Third day of the New Year, still sending New Year's greetings, goodnight everyone... Last night, hearing of Kobe's death, I couldn't sleep all night. I don't want to say any words of mourning. I hope to get a good sleep today.