Chapter 411 River
Wang De led the charge, boosting the morale of his troops. Although Ali's tribe was caught off guard and was shaken for a time, they were able to immediately reorganize their army thanks to Ali's prestige and battlefield experience, as well as the tactical qualities of his core members. The two sides immediately engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand fight on the small slope in front of the stone bridge in the drizzle.
From this perspective, the attack by Wang De and his son did not seem to be successful.
But in fact, from a larger perspective, this charge by Wang De and his son was of extraordinary significance.
First of all, it greatly boosted the morale of the whole army... There is no need to say more. Since ancient times, the first soldiers to climb the ladders and the soldiers who break through the enemy lines have all been valued by the entire army. Wang De was a respected military governor, and the two of them, father and son, charged in the front. It goes without saying that this shocked the enemy and inspired our own army.
Moreover, as the battle began, the sun rose in the east, and the drizzle had a limited effect in blocking the sunlight behind the clouds. In the increasingly bright field of vision, the small slope in front of the stone bridge was the most eye-catching place for both armies and the first place of battle. Naturally, it attracted the most attention on the battlefield. Even the various units that could not see this place sent out scouts to keep looking for news of the battle here.
Turning back to the present, after Xiaopo fell into a bitter battle, the battle line was up and down, and Wang De and his two sons, relying on their bravery and heavy armor, led dozens of cavalry to charge back and forth on the battle line, rescuing trapped subordinates on the left and dispersing the large-scale counterattack of the Jin army on the right. The three father and sons led the elite guards as their leader, like a blade, sharp and unstoppable. Although the cavalry behind them continued to suffer casualties, they continued to gather and increase from the soldiers who crossed the river, as if there was some root connected to the Taiping River, making it endless.
On the other hand, Ali personally supervised the battle, gave proper command, and constantly dispatched troops to put pressure on the front line, which actually made Wang De and his son exhausted and made it difficult for the troops to deploy.
The details of such a tragic battle were of course impossible for the onlookers from both armies to know due to the vastness of the battlefield, but they could still see Wang De's flag moving back and forth constantly, the ups and downs of the battle lines of both sides, and how Ali's general's flag was only two or three hundred steps away from Wang De's flag, but could never get any closer.
Then, he used his own experience to judge the intensity of the battle.
This brings us to the second important role of Wang De’s vanguard role this time.
"Jiedu Li, General Wu has issued an order, asking the front troops to take this opportunity to build a large-scale pontoon bridge." A red-hearted cavalryman came galloping with a bell ringing. After receiving commands from various levels along the way, he went straight to Li Yanxian's banner, but he only said a simple word.
Li Yanxian thought for a moment and understood immediately, then immediately conveyed the order to his headquarters: "Order all units to move forward to the riverside and build a pontoon bridge, but do not cross the river without permission."
The front-line troops did not dare to delay and took action immediately. Generals Dong Xian and Niu Gao, who had already advanced to the river, had just started to build a bridge upon hearing the news. Before they had even dragged out the prepared rafts and long logs, they immediately received a new special military order, which said that Li Yanxian had allowed the two troops to send a small group of elite troops to cross the river to share the pressure on Jiedushi Wang Dewang.
Besides, the Taiping River is really just a small river. The sudden rise after the rain a few days ago could not conceal the narrowness of the main river channel, especially since the scouts of the two armies had already understood the river conditions within a few days and knew where there were shallows in the river, where the river channel was narrow, and where the flow was slow.
Therefore, just as Wu Jie had promised before, and just as Wang De's troops had just put it into practice, the construction of the pontoon bridge was quick and simple, and soon more than a dozen simple but practical pontoon bridges were built along the river. A small group of elite Song troops crossed the river and tried to gather at the stone bridge, which triggered a chain reaction on the Jin army's front line along the river... The large group of Jin troops stationed on the high ground was fine, but the Jin troops on both sides of the high ground facing the river reacted instinctively, and some cavalry and infantry took the initiative to fight, trying to stop the Song army's "large-scale crossing of the river."
"Go tell Wanyan Bendu that the Song army is deliberately bluffing, hoping to trap Pushan Beilu near the river. In fact, the Song army cannot risk crossing the river at this time. Even Wang De's surprise attack was intended to cover Han Shizhong. Don't let him make a misjudgment and lose the big picture because of the small one! Just let Pushan Beilu go upstream as planned to stop Han Shizhong... In short, the four Wanhu in the west must advance and retreat together to ensure the stability of the front line."
On the west and south side of the highland, Tuhesu's army had already received military orders and was marching to the upstream area further west to suppress the left army of the imperial camp from crossing the river. However, Tuhesu, who was stationed on his horse to observe the situation on the side of the marching column, immediately noticed the movement by the river and was keenly aware of the intention of the Song army. He turned around and conveyed it to his personal guards.
After hearing the words, the guards repeated them roughly and then hurried away.
But as soon as the guards left, Tuhesu still felt uneasy, and turned to another guard: "Relay what you just said to Marshal Balisu... If Ben Du wavers or hesitates, have him directly send an order to intervene."
Another guard received the order and hurried away.
Tuhesu then continued to urge his horse and continued to move westward with the main force.
"Wan Hu." A Han soldier named Meng An couldn't help but follow up and asked. "Han Shizhong's Imperial Camp Left Army has a total of 40,000 people. Wang Sheng was assigned 10,000 people and couldn't reach the battlefield. There have been constant battles in the past few months, and there must have been a lot of losses. Now there are only 20,000 or 30,000 people. Is the upstream so important that four Wan Hu are needed to stop it? On the contrary, the troops of Li Yanxian and Wu Jie in front of the stone bridge have clear flags and strong troops. It can be seen at a glance... I'm afraid this is the real main battlefield?"
"In a war like this, how can there be any order of priority? This is the main battlefield!"
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