However, the defending general Gao Jingshan was a cautious and decisive general. He made a judgment after being shocked that it should be a sneak attack by the Song army, but the number should not be large. Therefore, he hurriedly called up two ready-made Meng'an around the city, tried his best to find war horses, and then hastily dressed up and led his troops to help to see if he could save a few.
Halfway through the journey, they met a man whose beard had been burned clean but who was still shivering.
Gao Jingshan was shocked to see the former Bohai nobleman in such an attitude, but at the same time he felt a little sympathetic, so he dismounted from his horse, stepped forward to hand over the bag of wine he was carrying, and asked him questions with kind words.
"So, the Song army had a large fleet and a large number of soldiers coming down the river from upstream to launch a surprise attack?" After listening to the information that Da? had given him in bits and pieces, Gao Jingshan looked at the burning Xiao Wu Sha and the gray dust that was gradually appearing in the air, and frowned for a while. "There were fifty or sixty ships that could carry artillery, and two or three hundred ordinary small boats of three or five meters? Moreover, the fire was set on the water, and there were no less than five thousand soldiers on land who launched a surprise attack from behind. On the water and on the shore, more than ten thousand people attacked at the same time, so they succeeded in an instant?"
"If it weren't for this, why would I be in this situation?" Da? drank a few sips of wine, and his body warmed up a little, but he stamped his feet repeatedly. "I only have two thousand soldiers, and we were suddenly blocked in the water fort by the southern navy, and attacked on three sides... Compared with the southerners, we have no hope at all in the water battle. It's not that we can't fight hard on land, but the fire is too big, burning from the river surface, and we can't stand on the side of the old Yellow River. With such a mighty force, it's better to say that we were driven out by the fire rather than being driven out by the southern army."
Gao Jingshan remained silent for a while.
It is said that Gao Jingshan is a man of great talent. In another time and space, he was a general of the Jin army in the early period despite being a foreigner. He then stood firm in the cruel and bloody factional struggles within the Jin Dynasty. Until the reign of King Hailing Wanyan Liang, he was still a senior official in the Jin army. He was indeed a character.
Therefore, at this moment, when this person heard Da?'s words, he had already made his own guess and decision.
First of all, no matter what, this surprise attack by the Song army was unprecedented. Whether it was the naval force that came from the sky or the attitude of daring to take the initiative to attack the Jin army in Hebei, the shock it brought was beyond description.
It really is beyond description. This fact is suddenly placed in front of you, but you find it difficult to understand. It is the same for everyone.
If everyone was shocked by this, how could Gao Jingshan not be shocked? If everyone was frightened and panicked by this, how could Gao Jingshan not be frightened and suspicious?
Secondly, although he was afraid, he did not completely believe what Da? said, because reason told him that even if the Song army came for a surprise attack, they could not have so many troops, and then they could attack from three sides at the same time. There were 5,000 troops for the land attack alone... The total number was about 5,000.
However, some of the words could not be disbelieved, such as installing small and light artillery carts on ships to fire mud balls and gunpowder bags with a very wide range... Many Jin army generals who experienced the siege of Nanyang had described these things in detail, and the Jin army veteran Chizhanhui even risked his life to remind everyone.
As for the fact that gunpowder can burn out of control faster than oil, they had already encountered this during the Jing Kang period. What's more, the fire was visible to the naked eye.
Therefore, Gao Jingshan quickly came to the conclusion in his mind:
Firstly, the water fort and the ships were already beyond saving. This was a typical case of the power of water and fire, and the Song army had already succeeded. No matter how they tried to remedy the situation now, they could not escape the outcome of the great defeat in this battle. If they tried to wade into the muddy water by force, they would probably end up in trouble.
Secondly, the Song army had few soldiers and some of them were still left in the land part of the water stronghold, so there was still some room for maneuver in hand-to-hand combat.
Thirdly, as the defender of Puyang, even if he didn't want to get involved in muddy water, he had to make some gesture, otherwise he would not be able to explain to Marshal Nianhan at the Marshal's Office.
With this thought in mind, the Jin army commander spoke kindly to the 'Bohai nobleman' in front of him: "General, I have something to say, but I'm afraid you don't want to hear it..."
How could he not know what the other party meant? He quickly took a few more sips of wine and stamped his feet even more: "General Gao, how could I not know what he meant? But today's defeat is definitely not because I don't want to fight or dare not fight..."
"It's good that the general understands." Gao Jingshan's expression remained unchanged, and he interrupted the other party in the wild. "But our friendship is here. The general is in trouble, so I have to help him! According to the general, the boats in the water are no longer saveable, but the Song army may still have some infantry in the water fort. How about this, I will rush over to support, the large group of soldiers are still gathering behind me, and I don't know when they will arrive. There are only two Meng'an by my side... but it's enough."
Big? He seemed to be hesitant to speak.
"General, this is not your choice." Gao Jingshan reminded him sternly. "I will hand over the Meng'an of Moriye to you now. You lead them and your defeated soldiers to counterattack the camp. If you can gain something, you may be able to make up for your crime!"
Da? was half grateful and half hesitant: "That being said, what about the current fire situation? Can we really survive if we rush in?"
"General, you are asking this even though you already know the answer?" Gao Jingshan sneered. "If you counterattack now, the Song army will be in the same situation as before. There is fire in the river, and our elite Jin troops are attacking from behind. They will be the ones who cannot gain a foothold... They are going to use the fire to attack you!"
Da? Then he came to his senses and stamped his feet for the third time.
Then this man didn't say anything, he just raised the wine bag and drank it in one gulp. His eyes turned red and he jumped onto Gao Jingshan's horse. Without even saying thank you, he called Meng'an named Moriye and his own defeated soldiers to rush towards the water stronghold.
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