Chapter 324 Golden River

It is said that on this day, Emperor Zhao came to Houtao and met Yelu Dashi, the ruler of Western Liao, Kublai Khan, the king of Eastern Mongol Khanate, Huerzahusi, the leader of the largest Mongol tribe in Central Mongol, and even met an unexpected person - Bilege, the king of Western Uighur.

Considering that the western grasslands were still under the control of the Western Liao Dynasty, and Wuzhu was the actual military executor of the Jin Dynasty's ruling group, it can be said that except for Goryeo, the leaders of major military entities in Northeast Asia basically gathered on the narrow Houtao Plain. Even in Goryeo, there was also a faction representative who traveled here.

These people split into two, forming two distinct and opposing camps. Specifically, the remaining several families joined together to deal with the Jurchens.

This is not a coincidence. The Jurchens had been too powerful and dangerous in the previous twenty years... But from another perspective, if Zhao Jiu had not come this time, the weakest and most divided Mongols would most likely be won over by the Jurchens, including Yelu Dashi. Even if Zhao Jiu provided him with sufficient logistics, he might still collapse.

In that case, the gains and losses in the end would not be a big deal, but the most fatal thing would be missing the opportunity to form a united front and delaying the overall situation in the future.

Of course, Zhao Jiu did not break his promise on that day. He really wanted to fight the Jurchens in this excellent terrain... If they won, the Western Route Army would be basically ruined in this terrain surrounded by water, and the world's affairs might be settled. For the same reason, Yelu Dashi had no reason to miss this opportunity, and he also showed great determination and execution in the subsequent deployment of troops.

Since Zhao Jiu and Yelu Dashi have made up their minds, it seems that the others will have no choice but to make up their minds.

Therefore, on the second day, under the arrangement of Yue Fei, commander of the Song army, the Han, Khitan, Dangxiang, Mongols, Uighurs, Xi, and some people whose races could not be clearly described, all obeyed the orders and the coalition army headed eastward.

Among them, the supplies brought by the Emperor of the Song Dynasty supplied the entire army, and countless Tangut civilians were transformed into qualified auxiliary soldiers, not to mention the huge and famous imperial heavy infantry group beside this official, which undoubtedly brought a great sense of security to all comrades.

Relatively speaking, although the armored cavalry units that were urgently expanded from this battle had reached a certain size, they had obviously not yet been sufficiently proven.

Therefore, Yue Fei divided this huge army into two parts. The infantry became the central army of this march, and the cavalry became the general reserve of the entire army.

At the same time, the Khitan's complicated cavalry reinforcements also came out in full force. Except for the necessary garrison in Wulahai City, the rest of the army gathered on the north side of the Song army's formation and took on the task of the left-wing special forces. They would be responsible for the fatal flank attack after the battle.

As for the tens of thousands of Mongol light cavalry, they scattered to the southeast. Their mission was to search, harass, stick to and pursue.

Even the Uighurs' camels were incorporated into the logistics column.

To be honest, this coalition army really didn't have 200,000 troops. Zhao Jiu was just exaggerating, but there were definitely 150,000 or 60,000 troops. Moreover, the quality of this army was probably the most elite in the world, second only to the Jurchen cavalry... This is not exaggerating, but the war has lasted until today. The Jin and Liao have been fighting for eleven years, and the Song and Jin have been fighting for another seven years. Eighteen years of war is enough for everyone to know each other well.

From the beginning, the Jurchens had less than ten thousand, and they could not defeat the enemy if they had ten thousand, to later, they had twenty thousand households in the east and west; from the initial crushing defeat, to later, they slowly gathered up the remnants of the defeated army.

At this point, who doesn’t know who?

What secrets are there to war?

It's nothing more than fair rewards and punishments, adequate logistics, proper equipment, sufficient depth, suitable terrain... and then courage, training, discipline, and so on.

There is nothing mysterious about it. Everyone has the same conditions. Anyone who can do these things can do it. Otherwise, why were the Xi, Khitan, Bohai and Han people beaten by the Jurchens one moment and then organized into Meng'an and Mouke and able to turn around and beat up their compatriots the next moment?

By now, nearly twenty years of all-out war had basically worn away the mystery of everyone. Yelu Dashi fled to Khatun City and gathered 10,000 or 20,000 remnants of soldiers, and was still able to rise up. Zhao Jiu was chased to the Huai River, but he gradually regained his morale and has now come to Yinshan. If the Jurchens still have any advantages, it is nothing more than their rich war experience, psychological advantages, and some of the hard-working spirit inherited from the deep mountains and old forests before the war.

War experience can be erased, and the spirit of endurance and hard work is something the Jurchens have endured for several lifetimes. It can only be eliminated by time, but today, the psychological advantage must be broken!

"Officially, can you win?"

Under the dragon banner that had already started moving eastward, while Zheng Zhichang had not yet turned back, Lu Benzhong, who was wearing a leather shoulder armor, asked a question nervously on his horse.

The question was obviously inappropriate, but it made sense.

Emperor Zhao, wearing the dazzling golden armor he wore that day in Pu Jin, rode in front. Hearing this, he didn't take it seriously. Instead, he turned around and smiled at another attendant: "What do you think, my Lord?"

"The emperor's divine army has descended from the sky. If I were the commander-in-chief of the Jurchens, I would definitely abandon my place and flee." Ren Baozhong, wearing a full set of armor, carrying a bow and a spear, and looking energetic, responded immediately after hearing this. His voice was so loud that he seemed to be ten years younger.

"That's right." Zhao Jiu nodded slightly. "If I were Wanyan Wushu, I would most likely abandon the land and flee... Not only because I provided timely support and had a strong military force, but more importantly, in such terrain, heavy cavalry and mixed forces would suffer a disastrous outcome if they failed... Even if the Jurchens were aggrieved, as long as they had a little bit of common sense, they would not forcefully fight us in Hetao."

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