As it turns out, the Song army was not cowardly at all, and its fighting strength was not weak. The only ones who were truly cowardly were Emperor Qinzong and the court officials. Otherwise, why would the Song Dynasty have a victory rate of over 60% in its defensive wars against foreign powers since its founding?
Over the past few months, the morale of the Song soldiers has been ignited by the emperor, and they are all willing to fight and die!
With such an army, how could they not win battles?
Even Wanyan Zonghan was greatly surprised. What kind of arrogant soldiers were they? This was clearly an army that was not afraid of death!
This idea only flashed through Wanyan Zonghan's mind briefly. The Jurchen cavalry was later called "Guai Zi Ma" or "Tie Fu Tu" in the Southern Song Dynasty. The fighting style of the Guai Zi Ma was simple and practical: the infantry served as the vanguard, while the Guai Zi Ma attacked the enemy's flanks.
The cavalry has excellent mobility and can quickly break up enemy formations, greatly reducing their combat effectiveness.
In this battle, Wanyan Zonghan deployed a portion of his heavy cavalry as the vanguard, namely the one led by Wanyan Yinshu, which was the one that fought against Yao Pingzhong. That force was known as the Iron Pagoda by the Song people of the Southern Song Dynasty.
The Iron Pagoda was a true heavy cavalry unit, much like the European Crusaders. While less mobile than the cavalry, its charge was incredibly powerful, so it was placed at the vanguard to sweep through the main Song army.
Wanyan Zonghan never expected that Zhao Huan would use the Song army's elite troops to clear the way, and then send two hundred light cavalrymen with thunderbolts to blow up Wanyan Yinshuke and Wanyan Xishi!
But it doesn't matter, the real show is just beginning. Wanyan Zonghan personally led his elite cavalry to break through Zhang Hao's defenses and confront Zhao Huan head-on.
When two armies meet on a narrow path, the brave one will prevail!
"Just do it!" This was Zhao Huan's philosophy of life. Some things can only be resolved through forceful suppression; everything else is futile, such as peace!
The five guards who had just surrounded Zhao Huan were quickly overrun by the Jin army. A gap briefly appeared in Zhao Huan's defenses, and three Jin soldiers rushed forward like lightning. One held a long sickle and aimed it at Zhao Huan's head, another held a large iron hammer and swept it at Zhao Huan, and the third held a long sword and slashed at Zhao Huan.
Zhong Shidao roared, "Protect the Emperor!"
He leaped forward, raising his sword to block the Jin soldier's attack with a long saber. Almost simultaneously, Han Shizhong jumped up, his halberd sweeping across the Jin soldier wielding a large iron hammer, piercing his chest and knocking him off his horse.
Zhao Huan was no pushover either. With a swing of his long sword, he cleaved the Jin soldier's sickle in two. That's what makes the players so awesome. You don't even know who you're fighting, do you? Your sickle-wielding pose is so cool, but I can bury you in money!
After cutting off the Jin soldier's sickle, Zhao Huan used the momentum of his charge to slice across the Jin soldier's head off.
The guards on both sides quickly moved forward to resupply and tighten the defensive line in front of Zhao Huan.
Zhao Huan was also helpless. He was just a greenhorn, and he couldn't just run around naked, could he? He would be killed in a heartbeat!
Zhao Huan had just killed a Jin soldier when he turned around and saw a man in full black armor, like a demon god from hell, leading the elite Jin cavalry to charge forward. This man was none other than Wanyan Zonghan!
If a third party knew that the two had exchanged so many letters over the past few days, they would probably think that the two had developed a passionate relationship through their correspondence.
At this moment, the two men's eyes reddened upon seeing each other, not from being moved to tears, but from wanting to tear each other to pieces and grind the bones to ashes.
Wanyan Zonghan had the illusion that he had been misled by Zhao Huan. As a commander of an army, Wanyan Zonghan was definitely not the kind of fool who acted rashly. He understood very well what kind of war he could launch a direct and proactive attack, and what kind of war he could advance by retreating. Moreover, war was actually an extension of politics, and when necessary, it was possible to launch a political attack on the enemy.
Faced with Zhao Huan's army of over 100,000 men and Zhe Keqiu's left flank army, Wanyan Zonghan could have retreated to Yanyun first. He could have even used the mobility of his cavalry to turn around and outflank the Song army to attack some of their smaller cities, plunder counties, and incorporate their puppet troops.
However, he was misled by that bastard Zhao Huan and made the wrong decision to engage the Song army in a direct battle!
Wanyan Zonghan was so angry that his head was throbbing, and he wished he could hang Zhao Huan up and whip him with a leather whip!
"Zhao Huan, you brat! Today is the anniversary of your death!"
Wanyan Zonghan roared, "Damn it! Bringing Zhao Huan's dog head back to the Jin Emperor is a great achievement, and it will definitely increase our political leverage in the future!"
Wanyan Zonghan led his personal guards and charged forward like a god of war. Any Song soldiers who tried to stop him were killed. In the blink of an eye, he had reached Zhao Huan and thrust his halberd at him.
Wanyan Zonghan was incredibly fast. He was definitely a martial arts master. His years of military service and the Jurchens' ability to withstand the cold made him an invincible Jin marshal.
Zhao Huan, a greenhorn, couldn't react at all. Fortunately, Han Shizhong was there. Han Shizhong was incredibly strong. With a shout, he raised his sword and blocked Wanyan Zonghan's attack. The two quickly clashed, but Wanyan Zonghan's offensive didn't falter. He launched a counterattack, and just as the halberd was about to reach Zhao Huan, Han Shizhong twisted his body forcefully and used the momentum to slash, knocking Wanyan Zonghan's attack away. Zhao Huan immediately spurred his horse out of Wanyan Zonghan's attack range.
After this attack, Wanyan Zonghan dared not return to fight, because there were too many Song soldiers around him. He could not risk his life to perish with Zhao Huan. So he led his personal guards in a charge, broke out, and then turned around and charged again.
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