Chapter 387: Lighting up a torch
The sky was gloomy, the moonlight was blocked, and although there was no excessive cold wind, it was a winter night, so the chill was needless to say. And in such a situation, a battle was going on on both sides of the southern fork of the Yellow River North Road, with nearly 100,000 soldiers on both sides.
However, the entire battlefield appeared in a strange state in the dim night.
Daming City on the east side of the river and Yuan City on the west side of the river were undoubtedly the core focus of the battlefield. The two commanders, their actual command centers, and their central military camps were facing each other across the river. The straight-line distance between the two fronts might be only six or seven hundred steps, but they had to maintain a confrontation because of the existence of a big river.
What is even more disturbing is that although the river's channel will not shrink easily, the water in it is becoming shallower and shallower, and it is increasingly likely to freeze over completely, turning it into a smooth road and becoming the key to reversing the situation on the battlefield at any time and anywhere.
Going south from the two cities, the Song army had no less than 10,000 troops, led by several commanders. They suddenly crossed the river under the command of Tang Huai, causing extraordinary bustle and great momentum... There were noises of drums and shouts, as well as fires of all sizes that spread for more than ten miles, forming the loudest and most chaotic place on the entire battlefield, and it was also the brightest place after Yuancheng.
However, the commanders of both sides knew very well that this was the least important place. For the time being, Tang Huai's main task when crossing the river was to make some noise.
Going north, although there are also stars twinkling with fire, the overall scene is quiet and silent.
The commanders of both sides knew that this was the ultimate root of the battle and a place full of murderous intent, because further north in Guantao, a large main force of the Jin army was stationed. They were ready to move southward to sweep the area and support Yuancheng at any time. If the Song army wanted to attack the city, they had to seize the initiative in this open area and block the Jin army reinforcements.
This gap is actually a trap and bait.
Going west, in the Jin-occupied area further west of Yuancheng, the firelight gradually dimmed. When you reached the Yongji Canal, or the west fork of the Yellow River North Road, there was no movement or fire at all, just like a thick black background.
It is conceivable that in the originally densely populated town, after most of the young men were taken away to serve as conscripts, they would be very cautious facing the war in the east.
However, perhaps in the near future, there will be a huge main combat force that is enough to go down in history in any era, and an unprecedented cavalry and infantry army will gather there.
Going eastward, that is, the area where the main force of the Song army was stationed behind Daming City, although there was no deliberate noise or unbridled behavior, the lights in various strongholds, the constant coming and going of soldiers and people, the movement and overall light caused by them could not be concealed at all.
The final success or failure of tonight's operation is brewing here. Ships are crossing the land, civilians are doing their best to prepare planks for fortifications, pull ropes for transportation, and even cook. A large elite main force is also waiting for orders.
However, the strangest place was ultimately the central node of the battlefield. The huge Yuan City where Gao Jingshan, the commander-in-chief of the Jin army's Damingfu Marching Division, lived was brightly lit, with strict orders inside and outside the city and in good order. At the same time, the smaller Daming City where Yue Fei, the marshal of the Song army's Hebei Front Army, was located was dark and terribly silent except for the necessary lights.
There is no other way. This is a "smuggling" and it should have been launched in the early part of this month when there is no moonlight. Now it has been launched in the middle of the month, and we have to choose a night when the sky is gloomy and the moon is obscured. In this case, Daimyo Castle "must" reduce the light as much as possible.
It is also because of this that the light on the increasingly narrow river between the two cities appears particularly dim and difficult to define.
However, on the river where light and darkness coexist, there are some things whose strong presence cannot be easily ignored just because there is not enough light.
Tian Shizhong was waiting for orders in the north of the city, Wang Gui was commanding land ships in Gucheng Town, Zhang Rong was nowhere to be seen, and the rest of the officers had received their missions and had gone elsewhere early. At this time, in Daming City, Yue Fei was sitting alone on a chair next to the high platform for hot air balloons near the west water gate. Even within a few dozen steps, there was only one counselor of the Imperial Camp Navy, You Xuejiu, and a commander in charge of hot air balloons, Bei Yan, accompanying him.
There were only two or three torches around the platform, so it was impossible to see Yue Fei's expression. You Xuejiu was no longer as calm and unrestrained as he was before in front of his own governor. He just squatted under the platform with his hands clasped together in frustration, not daring to move. As for Bei Yan, he was obviously a little panicked and at a loss, but he didn't dare to move easily, so he could only stand there and accompany the two people to endure the boredom.
That’s right, they just endured it. All three of them were enduring it.
Standing in this place, although the shouts and screams from the south were clearly audible, they could not cover up the whistling sound of the Jin Dynasty's stone cannons fired hundreds of steps away, nor the dull plop of the cannonballs hitting the water, nor the crisp impact sound when they hit some wood... The last sound was the most unbearable, even more unbearable than the occasional screams.
Because no one knows whether behind this crisp sound, the Song army is unharmed or suffers more massive losses.
And this is exactly why what Xiao En and his subordinates did seemed so unacceptable, why Zhang Rong was so entangled, and why You Xuejiu almost collapsed at this time, but did not dare to escape at all.
This was not an honorable sacrifice on the battlefield, nor was it the indiscriminate use of weapons in large-scale combat. Rather, the lives of such a group of heroes were wasted from an intuitive perspective. This kind of surprise attack, which was doomed to incur huge casualties, was illusory, and no one dared to guarantee that it would be absolutely effective. It was just a necessary feint from the highest level and from a strategic point of view.
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