Chapter 382: One Step Forward and One Step Back

Before November arrived, the Song army launched a swift and fierce attack on the Linfen Basin.

The first to take action were Wang De's troops. Wang De, Zhang Jing, and Qiao Zhongfu were famous generals of the Western Army before they joined Liu Guangshi's army. They were also the first military forces that Emperor Zhao conquered. At this time, they formed a V-shaped formation, leading the three troops with the best equipment, the most elite troops, and the largest organization in the imperial camp, totaling nearly 14,000 people. They were the first to cross the Fen River and attack Jiangzhou City in three directions.

Following closely behind were the troops led by Jie Yuan, deputy commander-in-chief of the Left Army of the Imperial Camp, including the commanders Huyan Tong, Chen Ju, Xu Shi'an, Dong Min, and Chen Yanzhang, who also had 17,000 to 18,000 men.

In theory, there are enough garrisons in Jiangzhou city. Wanyan Zhehe, the commander of the Jin army, has been leading his troops here to recuperate since the mixed night attack. There are a total of thirty to forty Moukes and five thousand Han soldiers inside and outside the city.

It's certainly enough to defend the city.

However, Jiangzhou is very close to the Fen River. Although there was frost and light fog on the day of crossing the river, it quickly dissipated from the moment the sun came out, so the overall view was wide. In this case, when Wanyan Zhehe climbed the city to watch, he saw countless Song army soldiers with dazzling armor, clear flags, and clear formations. After building countless floating bridges on the Fen River, this veteran general of the Jin army's western army immediately ordered his well-prepared subordinates to be divided into two. The Haner army immediately took the lead in escorting the baggage to retreat northward, and the Jurchen cavalry were all dressed in uniform and followed him out of the city.

After the Haner army left, Wanyan Zhehe, who led the main force of the Jurchens, came out of the city. He again avoided the powerful Wang Dewang Yaksha and went straight for Qiao Zhongfu's army, which had the most disorganized formation among the three armies that he had identified on the top of the city wall.

Three or four thousand Jurchen armored cavalry took advantage of the fact that Qiao Zhongfu had almost crossed the river and had not yet gained a firm foothold, and attacked him successfully, beheading hundreds of people. However, they did not linger in the fight and retreated in a hurry.

As expected, as soon as the Jurchen cavalry turned back, Wang De handed over the troops that had just crossed the river to his eldest son Wang Qi for organization, and then personally led more than a thousand core elite troops, a mixture of cavalry and infantry, to come to the rescue. His reaction speed and strong desire for battle were astonishing.

At the same time, the rest of the Song army continued to advance and cross the river.

At this time, something interesting happened. Facing Wang De's small group of elite troops advancing continuously, Wanyan Zhehe, who personally led thousands of Jurchen armored cavalry, had an absolute advantage in manpower and mobility, but he advanced and retreated with Wang De, and the intention of confrontation was obvious. Moreover, when he came to the four gates of Jiangzhou City, he had no intention of entering the city, but continued to march north in a strict manner.

Wang De was obviously confused for a moment. He hesitated for a moment whether there was any explanation in the city, but when he turned around and saw that his eldest son was leading his elite troops just two miles away, he finally gritted his teeth and directly commanded the troops to enter the city to investigate.

Wanyan Zhehe did not make any unnecessary moves at all, but remained calm and led his headquarters to retreat in an orderly manner.

When the large group of Song army rushed up and completely took over the city, everyone had no doubt - Wanyan Zhehe actually abandoned the city of Jiangzhou at the first opportunity, and his previous actions were also clear and unmistakable. He was actually personally leading a large group of Jurchen cavalry to cover the retreat of his own Han army!

In a sense, this was a textbook example of cavalry covering the rear, otherwise Qiao Zhongfu would never have accepted it.

The course of the battle was quickly reported to Han Shizhong, but Han Shizhong did not care, because the contrast of military strength on the west bank of Fenshui was too obvious. If the isolated city advanced and lost the protection of Fenshui, it was expected that Wanyan Zhehe would choose to abandon the city. As for Qiao Zhongfu being hit by a club... To put it bluntly, you came here to fight, do you expect no one to die?

In fact, at this time Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian and others had been waiting for battle reports from the east bank of Fenshui River, because this side was more important.

On the east bank of the Fen River, because there was only a smaller Hui River blocking the way, the war broke out early on a larger scale.

The vanguard troops on this side were the Eight Characters Army led by Li Qiong, who were familiar with the terrain of the Taihang Mountains. However, because a considerable part of the Eight Characters Army had been sent to the other side of Chenguanxing, and they also had to take on the task of blocking the passages on the west wing of the Taihang Mountains along the way, Li Qiong only had a little over 10,000 troops at this time, far less than the Shanluo troops that "assisted" him.

Zhai Jin, Zhai Cong, Zhai Chong, Niu Gao and Dong Xian, five typical commanders from the Henan volunteer army, formed a large column for easy marching and marched non-stop along the Fen River.

At the same time, Shao Long, Song Yan, Jia He, Lü Heshang who was demoted to deputy commander due to the defeat at Tieling Pass, and Zhang Qi and Zhang Boyu who were the former deputy generals promoted from Luoyang by Li Yanxian against all odds, and now replaced Zhao Cheng who was dismissed for crimes to lead his troops... were also five commanders, but they led the troops from Shanzhou, also formed a column, and then chose to cross Quwo City on the east side of Li Qiong's Eight Character Army, and march towards Yicheng in the northeast of Quwo City.

It seems that they are preparing to block the retreat of the main force of the Jin army.

From this posture, it can be said that apart from Li Yanxian's own troops who valued their status and Yan Ping's troops who suffered heavy losses and could not engage in battle, the entire Shanluo Army Group also came out in full force.

However, in the afternoon, a little later than the Song army on the west bank of the Fen River, the Song army on the east bank encountered a similar situation.

The difference between Datong and Jin was that the Jin army in Quwo also voluntarily gave up defending the city. Faced with the overwhelming offensive of the Song army, the main force of the Jin army that was originally entrenched there directly chose to turn around and retreat.

The slight difference is that, unlike the city of Jiangzhou on the other side of the Fen River, the Jin army should have gathered three to four thousand households here and in the surrounding areas, and the terrain around Quwo is flat, and there is a sufficient distance from the Huishui River... And don't forget, except for the combat effectiveness of the Eight Character Army in the vanguard, the Shaanxi-Luo Army Group, which serves as the actual main force on both wings, has long been proven to have relatively weak field combat capabilities, and the combat effectiveness of each unit is uneven.

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