At this point, the whole courtyard fell silent. With a wave of his hand by Emperor Zhao, whose sleeves were already wet, Shao Chengzhang, the eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, actually brought a chopping board from the back hall. On the board was a pot of "Blue Bridge Fengyue", but there was only an empty cup.
"This wine is not for you."
Zhao Jiu took the pot and cup from Shao Chengzhang, poured himself a cup, and drank it all before speaking. "I use it for myself, because from now on, I am already an idle person... The ten years of hard work, whether there will be any results or not, it is no longer up to me, but to you! I will hold this wine today and watch you decide the rise and fall of the country! Send the troops!"
Han Shizhong and others responded loudly and then dispersed.
Just like that, as the sky was about to brighten, and under the drizzle that was still the kind that could be completely ignored, the two armies, after having their hot meals, began to march out of the camp and line up as planned.
The Jin army was indeed deployed in a large scale with the high ground southwest of Huolu County and across the Taiping River as the core. Across the river, several flags of Wanhu could be seen fluttering slightly on the high ground, including the commander-in-chief Wanyan Bendu. There were also dense deployments on the small slope in front of the high ground next to the stone bridge and on both sides. As for the Song army, in addition to Li Yanxian, Wu Jie, and Li Qiong lining up in large battle array opposite the high ground-stone bridge, Han Shizhong also quickly led the left army of the Imperial Camp to advance to the upper reaches of the Taiping River in the southwest direction under the protection of the Dangxiang, Khitan, and Mongolian light cavalry deployed along the river.
The scouts sent out by both sides at night had already lost their foothold as the army was deployed along the river. Then, both the Song and Jin armies tried to raise hot air balloons, but at this time, the power of the seemingly insignificant rain had already been revealed. The hot air balloons of both sides barely ignited, but soon became damp and dull due to the rain.
In this situation, the Jin army occupied the high ground and obviously had a better visual advantage. No matter whether it was Li Yanxian, Wu Jie, or Li Qiong who were directly behind the high ground-stone bridge, or Zhao Jiu, Lu Yihao, Wang Yan, and Yang Yizhong who were waiting for orders inside and outside the Huolucheng stronghold downstream of the high ground-stone bridge, they could only rely on telescopes to spy. However, it was impossible for them to see the Jin army's deployment in the depression behind the high ground, which was protected by the existing camp on the side and blocked by the high ground... From this perspective alone, the high ground at the stone bridge must be controlled.
About an entire hour after leaving the camp, Han Shizhong's troops finally crossed the light cavalry's cover, displayed the large banner that read "Unparalleled in the World", and then built a large pontoon bridge at the designated location after yesterday's reconnaissance. They also used flag signals to quickly send a signal in the direction of the stone bridge, and tens of thousands of light cavalry also began to lay the pontoon bridge to meet the necessary needs.
As soon as the Song army made its move, the Jin army on the southeast side of the Taiping River immediately noticed the movement.
At this time, the battle had not yet begun and the command was smooth. The high-ranking Jin army officers on and around the high ground were obviously gathering and discussing. The flanks close to the upstream also had a corresponding reaction, as if they were preparing to dispatch corresponding troops to block the left army of Han Shizhong's imperial camp at the riverside.
But at this moment, under the new banner of "Command as Sure as a Glory", a long horn suddenly sounded, and soon after, drums sounded from Li Yanxian's position in the front army.
Wang De, who was waiting for orders in front of the stone bridge, ordered his subordinates to build a simple floating bridge on both sides. At the same time, he sent his second son Wang Shun as the vanguard and his eldest son Wang Qi with dozens of riders as the rear guard. Then, he literally took the lead and rode across the stone bridge himself.
There were countless Jin troops on the other side of the Taiping River. In the drizzle, they saw a large flag with the word "Wang" on it crossing the river first. At first, they thought that the rain was affecting their vision and they missed the size and handwriting of the flag. Even in front of the high ground, on the small slope next to the stone bridge where Huyan Tong was defending, the thousands of infantry and cavalry led by the veteran Jin general Ali were hesitant and unbelieving.
But soon, they had no choice but to believe it.
Since Wang De and his two sons led only a few dozen riders to cross the bridge and arrived in front of the Xiaopo formation, they stopped their horses for a while. Wang De shouted, "Wang Yasha is here! You have fought more than a hundred battles with you for more than ten years since the Jingkang period, but it was like sifting bran and grinding flour. Are there still one or two fearless golden dogs today?"
Realizing that a Jiedushi and deputy governor had almost arrived alone, the Jin army responsible for blocking the stone bridge on the hillside was not frightened at all. Instead, they were all overjoyed. The nearest Meng'an did not wait for orders or say hello to the other Meng'ans, and obviously wanted to take the credit, but directly led his personal guards to ride out to meet the enemy.
The two sides soon closed to a distance of dozens of steps between them, but Wang De did not ride his horse to meet him. Instead, he took out a Jurchen-style bow from under the oilcloth on the side of his horse, raised his hand and shot, hitting the opponent's eye socket, knocking the man off his horse.
Then, amid the rumbling of drums, the man put his bow on the saddle, held his spear to urge his horse forward, and roared forward. As the governor of a town, he led his two sons to kill the more than ten cavalry guards. Then, without stopping for a moment, he led the small group of infantry and cavalry that followed him on the stone bridge and rushed directly into the enemy formation on the small slope in front of the stone bridge.
This literally means the general takes the lead and charges into battle.
Wang De was a famous general with a special authority who had been in office for more than ten years. The two of them, father and son, rushed into the battle formation first. Their troops had been following them for a long time, so their morale was naturally boosted. Not only did they rush forward on the stone bridge, but even on the place where the pontoon bridge was being laid, their subordinates could not hold back and some of them waded through the water forward.
Ali, the commander of Xiaopo, was not with his army at this time. He had learned before that Han Shizhong would lead his troops to cross the river from upstream. After receiving the call from Wanyan Bendu, he turned around and went to the high ground to discuss countermeasures with several Wanhu and try to adjust the formation. At this time, he was halfway up the slope of the high ground facing the stone bridge.
This veteran Jurchen general saw from afar a large banner with the Chinese character "王" leading the way and charging into his own formation, causing the Song army in front of the stone bridge to rush forward and disrupt his own formation. Instead of being angry, he looked around and said with a smile:
"Wang Yasha is a great military governor, but he actually charged into the battle himself. Why am I, an old soldier, pretending to be so arrogant?"
After saying this, he did not wait for a reply from his subordinates, nor did he go to the high ground for a military meeting. Instead, he turned his horse around, pulled down his armor, and raised a cavalry hammer high. He led his flag back to the small slope without haste. In front and around, the subordinates who were at a loss for a moment, when they saw this scene, regardless of whether they were on horseback or on foot, turned around and rushed in front of Ali, rushing straight to the big flag with the word "king" on it.
PS: Thanks to Annaleile QAQ and blackmoon413 for coming back to the show, and thanks to Yunzhuzhige and Xiahou Ningyuan for the rewards.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
