Inheriting the Song Dynasty

In 1127 AD, the Northern Song Dynasty fell. Immediately, the ninth imperial prince, Zhao Gou, ascended the throne in Shangqiu amidst widespread anticipation, inheriting the Song imperial line and r...

Chapter 76: Falling Eagle

And don't forget, the ones who collapsed in the battle were his core subordinates.

Therefore, when the Jin army rolled over the plateau, the commander of the Eight Character Army had a blank mind. However, due to the distance problem, Prince Cai was forced by the situation and made a quick and rigid decision:

He was a military commander, and the emperor was in the camp several miles away. The Eight Character Army under his command were soldiers from Hebei who had a deep hatred for the Jin army. Therefore, surrendering or escaping was not an option. Life or death no longer mattered at this time. The key point was that since he was a subject, he had to do his duty and not let the overall situation collapse from his side. Even if he had to do so, he had to die first to repay the emperor's grace.

"Send the order!" Wang Yan was no longer afraid when he thought of this. He turned around and gave the order. "Let Wang De take charge of the battle on the plateau. He must not retreat a single step... Let's turn around and form a battle line to prevent the fleeing soldiers from reaching the plateau... Move the flags and follow me to the front!"

The three orders were quickly conveyed, and then, in full view of everyone, Wang Yan took the initiative to move the flag to the westernmost end of Dongpoyuan, facing the Jin army and countless defeated soldiers on the plateau.

This was a move that greatly boosted the morale of the troops and was also a very timely move.

In response, Lou Shi just glanced at Wang Yan's flag, then waved his arm and pointed to the dragon flag in his northwest direction... To be fair, just a moment ago, the Jin army commander did have the idea of ​​letting his troops take advantage of the situation and rush to the plateau, which would be a way to end the battle.

But it was only for a moment. As Wang Yan turned to raise the flag in time, the Jin army commander immediately gave up the idea that had only emerged for a moment.

The reason for this is not only tactical considerations, but also considerations of terrain, time, and reinforcements. The key is that this battle is Wanyan Loushi's last battle, and he wants to win! When this goal is matched with the dragon banner raised by the opposite side, he should not think about other things.

"Hold on!"

As the Jin army started up again and headed straight for him, Zhao Zhe, the governor of Qinfeng Road, who had just recovered from the sudden outbreak of the battle, suppressed his anxiety and rushed into his own formation from the hill, shouting in the formation. "The emperor is watching us from behind! The rewards for sending troops have been issued! There is no reason for us not to work for the emperor!"

"Follow the instructions of General Wu, the spears are in front, and the front is directly stuck on the ground!"

"Arrange the bowmen, crossbowmen, and archers according to their range!"

"The cavalry is on the wings..."

Zhao Zhe ran left and right in the formation, shouting non-stop, and the morale of the Qinfeng Road troops was quickly boosted... This is not to say that the Qinfeng Road troops were well-trained, but that most of them were infantry after all, and they had already left the camp and formed a battle line when the Jin army wiped out Jiao Wentong's troops. Most of the soldiers only vaguely knew that they had been defeated in front, and could not see the specific scene several miles away at all.

And don't forget that they are numerous, and on their flanks are the troops from Xihe Road who have turned the tide to gain the upper hand - the huge numbers and huge military formation gave the ordinary soldiers great confidence.

However, after Zhao Zhe gave encouraging orders, he suddenly fell into panic when he talked about the cavalry on the two wings, because he had clearly realized that according to the powerful capabilities just demonstrated by the Jin cavalry, his flanks, especially the left wing, were almost undefended!

There were still soldiers from Xihe Road on the right wing! But the soldiers from Lizhou Road, who were supposed to be on the left wing, were in a quagmire far away!

"Insert more spears on the left wing, on the north and east sides..." Thinking of this, Zhao Zhe hurriedly gave the order, trying to remedy the situation.

But halfway through his words, the ground rumbled again. Seven thousand cavalrymen, or to be more precise, more than six thousand Jurchen cavalrymen, were already protecting Wanyan Loushi's five-colored flag of the sun and were heading towards the Qinfeng Road troops!

As Zhao Zhe looked at the smoke and dust that was coming towards him, and the majestic figures of the cavalry that could not be concealed in the smoke and dust, his mouth almost instantly became dry and he could no longer speak.

A distance of just two or three miles was just a matter of moments for the cavalry, but it must be said that Qin Fenglu's performance gave the Song army some confidence... The Jin cavalry rushed to the front of the formation, facing the established infantry positions, but they did not have the amazing momentum of crushing them as before.

This made many people breathe a sigh of relief - the 7,000 Jin cavalry led by Lou Shi were indeed extremely powerful, but it was obvious that the destruction of Jiao Wentong's troops just now caught them off guard. They had fought hard for an entire afternoon, and the formation disadvantage caused by the numerical disadvantage had too many causal relationships.

Although Qin Fenglu's troops were generally recognized as the weakest, their numbers and the thickness of their military formations forced the Jin army to adopt appropriate response strategies... This time they did not directly sweep into the formation, and the flag of Loushi in the middle stopped in time. His direct troops, facing the dense spear formation, simply maintained the Jurchens' usual circular cavalry and archery in the front.

It can be imagined that it would be impossible for the Loushi Central Army to advance recklessly before defeating the gun array in front of Qinfeng Road.

At the same time, the Song army finally began to launch effective counterattacks, and long-range projections arranged according to the range began to produce effective casualties. The Loushi Central Army was of course also heavily armed cavalry archers, but they were not armored cavalry. They were not luxurious enough to put armor on all 7,000 people. In this kind of battle, once the Jin cavalry lost their horses, they basically lost their combat effectiveness.

However, things were not that simple. While Lou Shi was carrying out long-range attacks in the front, two Heza Meng'an on the left and right wings and nearly two thousand Iron Pagodas had simultaneously outflanked both sides of Qinfeng Road... The two armies faced each other in the southeast and northwest. Pucha Huzhan's Heza Meng'an bypassed from the northeast, while Jiagu Wulibu's Heza Meng'an rushed headlong into the junction of Xihe Road and Qinfeng Road.

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