Chapter 80: Decisive Battle (Part 2) 6k2 Combined

The Jin Jun cavalry had just charged out when the blue banner was raised on schedule, but for Wang Sheng, the frontline commander who had long received Han Shizhong's instructions, it still felt too late.

In fact, the moment the Jin Jun struck, Wang Sheng's eyes had already split with rage. Turning back to see the blue banner raised, he hurriedly ordered his two deputy generals, Yue Chao and Dong Min, to each lead a thousand men and split to the two flanks as planned, while he himself led the remaining thousand-plus men in a frantic retreat eastward.

This was a classic strategy of luring the enemy in deep and encircling them from both sides.

However, things always seemed perfect in theory but were extremely difficult to execute in practice... Although Wang Sheng gave the order and put it into action, neither the Imperial Guard units rushing to support from the front of the main camp nor the various units of Han Shizhong's central army could control the massive casualties caused by the Jin Jun's strike. Thus, when they heard Wang Sheng's signal to retreat from a distance, Generals Yue Chao and Dong Min both pulled back, only to discover in shock that their respective banners had been crushed to the same side by the Jin Jun cavalry!

The so-called flanking maneuver instantly became a joke.

Of course, at this point, such a plan no longer mattered. Because as the three command banners all retreated together, and with the Jin Jun iron-armored cavalry still carving through the front, the forward portion of Wang Sheng's force fell into chaos, completely losing all discipline. Countless soldiers abandoned their armor and weapons, jostling each other, breaking into small groups and scattering instantly, leaving the Jin men to chase, cut down, and shoot them from behind.

Clearly, as experience from countless battles with the Jin Jun had shown, the pre-arranged feigned retreat and lure-the-enemy tactic almost always turned into a real rout.

The reason it was "almost" was because Wang Sheng's main force, positioned at the very rear—that is, the easternmost point—had not suffered too many casualties. Moreover, Wang Sheng himself had always been authoritative, so this smaller half of about a thousand troops had not completely lost control. They could still maintain formation, keep their weapons and armor, and follow Wang Sheng in a frantic eastward dash... though their appearance was undoubtedly that of a panicked stampede.

Turning to the present, Pulu Hun, waiting at ease, used cavalry against infantry. With one bold charge of fifteen hundred iron cavalry, he nearly shattered the three thousand Song Jun armored soldiers on the eastern side of the camp. But unlike Jin Wushu, who watched from a distance in the central army and burst into wild laughter, Pulu Hun himself showed no trace of complacency. On the contrary, once this strike succeeded, this chief commander under Wanyan Wushu glanced around briefly, assessed the situation, and without any hesitation, ordered the entire force to regroup and pursue Wang Sheng's unit—the only one that still maintained some semblance of tight formation ahead.

This was the responsible behavior of an excellent cavalry commander, and also the obvious choice... Over a thousand infantry, fleeing with their backs to nearly the same number of cavalry, barely maintaining their organization, while the cavalry had already broken out of the camp's encirclement into the open field, where they should have swept away the large enemy forces still holding formation around the camp.

From any angle, or even out of the beastly instinct of humanity, Pulu Hun had no reason to let this Song Jun force, fleeing with their backs to him, escape.

And so, as Pulu Hun slightly raised his hand to signal, the black magpie banner shook vigorously at the center of the battlefield, drawing the Jurchen cavalry, who had just succeeded in their attack, to shout and howl, abandon their slaughter of the scattered Song Jun on the front flanks, and gather once more under the banner to form a full formation.

Then, following that banner's second slow acceleration, they thundered eastward once again!

On the river embankment, Yang Yizhong dared not show the slightest negligence, nor did he dare to deviate in any way from Han Shizhong's arrangements. He mounted his horse, personally took up the banner, craned his neck, and stared intently at the scene before him. Only when the Jin Jun cavalry started moving again and their entire tail had completely left the camp's perimeter did he hesitate no longer and personally waved the second yellow banner.

As the yellow banner waved, Wang Sheng, whose helmet had already been jolted off, saw it from afar and immediately turned back on his horse, only to reveal a bitter smile... The main Jin Jun cavalry force was biting at his heels. His thousand-odd good lads were mostly infantry. In their flight, they would likely suffer a rear charge immediately, with heavy casualties. How could they possibly execute any effective tactical maneuvers as planned? Just surviving would be good enough.

Of course, Wang Sheng, with nine black dragons tattooed on his body, was after all a trusted general in Han Shizhong's central army. With over a decade of military service, following Han Shizhong across the land, he still possessed decisiveness and courage. Moreover, having known the plan early on, he understood better than anyone where the slim chance of victory lay. So, with no other choice, this Wang Heilong gritted his teeth, suppressed all his thoughts, continued to crouch on his horse, slowly guiding the entire army forward toward the predetermined position.

During this process, the Jin Jun cavalry had already caught up. Screams came from far to near. Wang Sheng, crouched on his horse, let tears flow down, almost forming a string along the horse's mane, but he didn't dare turn his head. He held on until he reached the predetermined spot, then forcefully reined in his horse and turned, leading his banner and the remnants, and dodged northward!

The Jin Jun cavalry's charge did not diminish. The last organized Song Jun infantry unit that had been attacking the eastern camp was also heavily damaged. The general surnamed Wang under the Wang banner, as the main commander of the eastern assault, was completely thrown into disarray and shifted away from the battlefield... It could be said that with this second successful charge, the Jin Jun had completely eliminated the enemy that had been attacking the eastern side this morning!

After these two successful strikes, even the usually cold-faced and taciturn Pulu Hun trembled all over, unable to resist letting out a long howl on his horse, feeling as if the frustration of the past two months had been swept away.

However, in the next moment, as the main Jin Jun cavalry force, carried by the momentum of their horses, continued to swing eastward, preparing to circle north from the further east to outflank Wang Sheng... suddenly, the Jin Jun discovered that with Wang Sheng's northward retreat, at the eastern edge of the battlefield, a pre-prepared crossbow and archer position was revealed!

The Jin Jun, focused only on pursuit, caught completely off guard, had simply exposed their flank to these crossbowmen!

That's right, this unit was Han Shizhong's Cuipian Army, nominally two thousand strong, but actually with a fixed strength of just over twelve hundred, almost entirely equipped with hard bows and large crossbows. Their commander was named Xie Yuan, a fellow townsman of Han Shizhong and the most senior general under his command. This man's position under Han Shizhong was exactly like Wang Gui's under Yue Fei. Thus, the elite fighting spirit, rewards and treatment, and equipment of this army needed no further elaboration.

And Xie Yuan, seeing that Wang Sheng had sacrificed countless lives to complete the lure-the-enemy mission, did not hesitate at all. He personally raised his Kedi bow in one hand while signaling his personal guards to wave his banner, directly ordering the release of arrows.

In an instant, the Cuipian Army, arrayed in a staggered line, all acted together. Waist crossbows, double-flying crossbows, divine-arm bows, and the Kedi bow that Han Shizhong had developed himself based on the divine-arm bow, and even a bed crossbow, all fired almost simultaneously in a flat volley—a thousand bolts launched in a single moment!

Saying "a thousand bolts launched" might not sound as impressive as "ten thousand arrows fired," but at close range against an unprepared cavalry flank, the killing power was astonishing!

Not to mention that the Jin Jun had not yet had time to digest the armor technology of Song craftsmen. Although every man was armored, their horses rarely wore armor. And if an armored cavalryman's horse was struck by an arrow and fell during a fast charge, how could the rider escape unscathed? Thus, with this volley of over a thousand bolts, specifically aimed at the horses, the Jin Jun cavalry exposed before the Cuipian Army's formation immediately fell, men and horses tumbling in pools of blood!

Suffice it to say, the amount of blood a horse could lose and the thrashing it did after being wounded were far more stimulating than the struggles of the Jin Jun riders themselves.

In this situation, horses screamed ahead, the wounded wailed, and the Jin Jun cavalry behind simply couldn't stop their momentum. Even further back, people were still howling and charging forward, causing a certain amount of trampling.

And so, the Cuipian Army, hidden until this moment, struck with all their might. With just one volley, they inflicted at least two to three hundred casualties on the Jin Jun cavalry in a single encounter!

However, in the chaos, the Jin Jun, caught off guard, suffered heavy losses. But Pulu Hun, despite his fury, remained calm. He was the first to rein in his horse and stop. After a single glance to assess the battlefield situation, he personally seized the black magpie banner, lowered the gleaming spearhead at the top of the banner slightly toward the due east, and then personally held the banner and led the cavalry eastward... clearly intending to destroy this audacious Song Jun force!

After all, in his view, although the Song Jun's arrangement was exquisite, the problem was that the general surnamed Wang's feigned retreat had turned into a real one during the lure... Without infantry support and encirclement, this elite crossbow unit had simply been sent to their deaths in vain!

At the same time, according to plan, the Cuipian Army could have taken the opportunity to withdraw. But Xie Yuan, styled Xie Shanzhang, who had just witnessed the Jin Jun cavalry slaughtering Han Shizhong's central army troops ahead, had no intention of leaving.

This most trusted confidant of Han Shizhong, after personally firing a bolt from his Kedi bow, saw that the Jin Jun were not shaken at all but instead immediately adjusted and advanced toward his position. He too showed no sign of wavering.

On the contrary, at this moment, Xie Yuan glanced sideways and saw the red banner waving on the high ground of the river embankment in the distance. He actually lowered his head, ignoring the approaching Jin Jun, calmly stepped on the stirrup to draw the string, loaded a second bolt into his Kedi bow (both the Kedi bow and the divine-arm bow were crossbows), then raised it flat again and nodded toward the banner-bearing guard beside him.

By now, many Jin Jun riders had already charged to within a few dozen paces of the Cuipian Army's position, preparing to shoot their arrows. Seeing this, some gritted their teeth and pressed forward, successfully stepping onto the Song Jun position while shooting arrows, while others were nearly scared to death and, without even using their bows, turned to flee!

Regardless, as the army banner bearing the characters "Cuipian" waved and fell forward, the Song Jun's second volley was finally successfully fired... Although its effect was far inferior to the first, it still inflicted what could be called massive battlefield casualties on the Jin Jun cavalry, which originally numbered only fifteen hundred, and finally stopped the Jin Jun cavalry's momentum for a second time!

Having charged out from the camp earlier with one forceful strike, and then been hit by two crossbow volleys, the Jin Jun cavalry, not being immortals, had their effective fighting strength reduced to barely a thousand. If they had been Song Jun cavalry, they would have already routed... But the Jin Jun were skilled at bitter fighting and adhered to strict military law. They still pressed forward under the command of Pulu Hun, who had been forced to change horses after his was hit by an arrow. Officers commanded calmly, executing those who retreated without permission, while ordinary riders stepped through the blood of their comrades and horses, trying to close in and trample this hated elite crossbow unit into mud.

On the crossbow position, knowing that a third volley was impossible, some in the Cuipian Army began to waver. But Xie Yuan, the commander under the only two banners on the battlefield, remained expressionless. Under the gaze of thousands, he abandoned his bow, drew his saber, leaped out of the position, and led his personal guards into hand-to-hand combat. The Cuipian Army banner naturally followed immediately... Seeing this, the surrounding soldiers' morale soared, and they followed suit!

Not only that, further north, Wang Sheng's banner, for some reason, was also turning back.

A single general, without saying a word, simply drew his saber and stepped forward, and managed to make a crossbow unit hold their ground against cavalry!

Pulu Hun looked at this general, recalling what he had seen on the river that day, and laughed in anger. He personally spurred his horse, holding the banner like a couched lance, preparing to personally go and take this man!

Setting aside how these two generals rallied their troops, don't forget that as early as when the Jin Jun took the first volley of arrows, Yang Yizhong, Yang Dalang, watching from afar and seeing the Jin Jun's charge stall, had already eagerly shaken the red banner in his hand!

The reason Xie Yuan was so calm and brave was that he knew in his heart that once the red banner was waved, his elder brother Han Shizhong would arrive immediately. And since Han Shizhong was coming, with the enemy force limited to only a thousand men, based on General Xie's twenty years of military experience, there was no battle in the world that could not be won!

Sure enough, Pulu Hun had just personally arrived at the front line and had not yet engaged the Song general when he instinctively felt the ground tremble. His expression changed drastically... Wang Sheng's desperate effort to turn the Jin Jun's head northward, the Cuipian Army's two volleys causing heavy Jin Jun casualties, the outstanding courage of the Song general, and the illusion that only the Jin Jun themselves had organized cavalry on the battlefield—all of this had caused this seasoned veteran to overlook certain subtle signs he should have noticed earlier.

And now, finally realizing something was wrong, Pulu Hun was shocked to discover that from the due south of the battlefield, a cavalry force that must have been hiding behind the river embankment had already crossed the embankment onto the flat ground and had already completed its acceleration!

Moreover, unlike the ignorant confusion with Wang Sheng and Xie Yuan earlier, this cavalry force of only about seven or eight hundred men had two banners at the front: one Han banner and one Beiwei Army banner. Pulu Hun recognized them at a glance:

"Beiwei" was a Tangut term for personal guards. Whether it originated from the fact that Tangut personal guards often carried shields to protect their commander, or that they carried wine flasks for rewards, was unclear. But the Song Jun had fought countless battles with the Tangut army and gradually absorbed their culture. Naming their personal cavalry after this term was common. Pulu Hun, having fought countless battles with the Song Jun, naturally understood the meaning of "Beiwei"!

As for the Han banner, needless to say, it meant that one of the two actual Song commanders, Han Shizhong, had personally arrived!

And Han Shizhong was a famous general under heaven, and the Beiwei Army had always been the elite of an army... Even if Pulu Hun was brave and proud, he would not underestimate the approaching enemy. Not to mention that the Song cavalry had already picked up speed, while the Jin cavalry, having been outmaneuvered, were stuck in front of the Cuipian Army and unable to turn around quickly.

However, at this moment, Pulu Hun made a decisive move. He looked back, saw a general behind him, and shouted with all his might: "Alibu!"

"Your subordinate is here!" Alibu, knowing full well the urgency of the situation, responded immediately.

"Lead your own mouke, plus the two mouke of Xiao Jiuli that were assigned to you, and charge south to meet them!" Pulu Hun shouted hoarsely.

Alibu instinctively looked south. He knew Han Shizhong's reputation well, and he knew that Han Shizhong's eight hundred cavalry had already completed their acceleration. For his commander to order him to lead three mouke to meet the enemy was clearly to use him as a meat shield... However, on the battlefield, there was no room for hesitation. Out of the will of an excellent soldier, he only took that instinctive glance before immediately commanding his three mouke to charge south with all their might!

"The rest of you, forget about the Cuipian Army! Turn north with me, kill that Wang Sheng, then circle back to pincer this bastard Han Wu!" Pulu Hun, relieved that Alibu had accepted the order, ignored the thundering hooves as the Song cavalry were about to reach them, and forcefully gripped his black magpie banner-spear, trying to redirect the remaining troops to turn back!

However, this chief commander under Wanyan Wushu had barely managed to gather the remaining cavalry—about five or six hundred men—who had been receiving orders one after another, and was preparing to circle back, when suddenly he heard a deafening, yet all-too-familiar, clamor behind him!

The thunder of cavalry hooves, the shouts of battle, the neighing of warhorses, the piercing clash of metal, the heavy thud of objects hitting the ground... Without even looking, he knew that Han Shizhong's final, fatal blow had landed, and Alibu and those three mouke were likely beyond saving.

But Pulu Hun still couldn't help turning back to look. And when he saw, he was overjoyed again. Although Alibu's three mouke had indeed suffered countless casualties, they had somehow used their bodies to hold back the charge of Han Shizhong's eight hundred Beiwei cavalry! The Song Han banner and Beiwei Army banner were separated by only a hundred-odd paces, blocked by Alibu's sacrifice!

"What fine men we Jurchens have!" Pulu Hun's blood surged, and he shouted repeatedly, continuing to order the remaining cavalry to circle around from the north.

However, before he could continue to rejoice, in the next moment, Pulu Hun could see a Song general with an extremely large frame and a very sturdy build leap out of Alibu's human wall on horseback, as easily as a tiger leaping into a flock of sheep. This man was fully armored in iron, with a cowhide face mask, almost dressed exactly like Pulu Hun himself. Logically, Pulu Hun could not possibly recognize who this man was!

But for some reason, when the Song general looked from afar and pointed his spear, Pulu Hun, meeting his lightning-like gaze, immediately realized that this man must be Han Shizhong!

This person must be the chief culprit behind the current situation!

This person must be one of the two main commanders of the Song army facing them!

This person is precisely the backbone of the new Zhao Song Emperor!

This person is exactly the foremost brave general and famous general to emerge in China at this time!

Kill this man, and this battle will surely end! He himself could also become renowned throughout the world!

A surge of hot blood rushing to his head, Pulu Hun did not retreat but advanced instead. He clamped his arm around the banner that was like a flag-spear, let out a great roar, and charged with all his might southward, heading straight for this Song general!

Not only that—seeing their commander counter-charge, more than a dozen personal guards instantly understood their commander's intent and also spurred their horses to follow.

As for Han Shizhong, having charged out from Ali Burou's formation and seeing the enemy commander accept the challenge and come with over a dozen riders, he said not a word, only leading three or five riders without slowing his momentum.

In the blink of an eye, the two generals met head-on. Han Shizhong first gritted his teeth and parried with all his strength, using his long spear to barely knock aside the opponent's thick flag-spear. Then, taking advantage of the momentum, he actually let go, dropped his spear, spread his right arm slightly, and used his shoulder to brace against the enemy's flag-spear as their horses crossed! The armor plates on his upper arm scraped against the flagstaff, sparks flying, clearly showing the speed of the two generals. And due to the leverage issue, the Jin general was completely unable to exert any force, pinned by Han Shizhong!

When the two horses passed each other, Pulu Hun had just felt the force on his flag-spear slacken and was about to turn and sweep, when unexpectedly the Han Shizhong opposite him, without moving his right arm, directly reached along the flag-spear and wrapped it around Pulu Hun's entire waist. Then he let out a roar and, taking advantage of the motion, lifted him... as if pulling a scallion from the ground, he yanked this great Jin general bodily off his warhorse!

Pulu Hun, suspended in midair, his whole body powerless, felt terrified to the point of death and was stunned that there could be such a valiant man in the world... But before he could think further, he felt as if he were riding clouds and mist, thrown out entirely by the other man, and then landed alive before the iron lances of his own personal guards' horses... Pain wracked his entire body until darkness swam before his eyes, and he could no longer rise.

The surrounding Jin soldiers and generals were left dumbfounded. And as Pulu Hun, along with his great banner, vanished from the battlefield in an instant, the Jin cavalry—already worn down by exhaustion, casualties, and the surprise attack—could no longer hold. Thus, as Han Shizhong paid no heed to the man on the ground behind him and turned back to rally his own personal cavalry, the Jin cavalry on the battlefield, having lost their last shred of stubborn resolve, finally took advantage of the moment to rout. Just as countless Song armies had demonstrated before, they abandoned their armor and weapons and fled north in disgrace!

At the same time, on this battlefield east of the Jin army's main camp, all the troops were Han Shizhong's own. Seeing their commander's banner appear at the critical moment on the front line as always, while the Jin cavalry commander's banner vanished head-on, how could they not realize that Han Shizhong's plan had succeeded and this battle was a great victory?

Having broken the enemy host, Han Shizhong did not pause even for a moment. He led his army westward, gathering his troops as he went, and actually intended to personally charge into the now-empty Jin camp... And so, the Song soldiers who had been fleeing in all directions now cheered and rejoiced, actively gathering around the banner bearing the character "Han" and heading west. Even the laborers clinging to the sails of boats on the Huai River watching from afar, and Yang Yizhong and the others on the riverbank, upon seeing this power that turned the tide, all lost their composure and cheered and rejoiced without end.

In the end, as Han Shizhong paraded his might and personally led his troops in a sweeping advance, the cheers around him rose like thunder, shaking the mountains and rivers!

At that same moment, on the westernmost edge of the battlefield, separated by who knows how many li, His Majesty the Emperor, watching the stalemated hand-to-hand combat right before the city walls, how could he know that this battle had already succeeded and was about to be a great victory?

Quite the opposite—when he heard the thunder-like sounds from the east continuing without pause, he instead grew somewhat flustered and could no longer hold back from speaking... After all, those below the rank of Hanlin Academician and Censor-in-Chief naturally did not include the Emperor himself.

"Lin Qing, what do you think this sound is about?" His Majesty the Emperor, afraid of shaking morale, could only ask in a low voice the person nearest to him.

The young Academician Lin who was asked opened his mouth to speak, but having had a blank mind all morning, he had no idea what to say and could only remain silent.

PS: Continuing to sacrifice my old book, "The Divine Dragon System Across All Realms." This is a high-quality book of over three million words. If you're stuck at home with nothing to read, kill it!