Battle of Huangtiandang (Part 2)
Hu Yantong returned with a great victory this time, and was naturally very happy, having wiped out the shame of accidentally letting Wanyan Zongbing go.
Han Shizhong summoned all the generals and held a banquet to celebrate this great victory. After seeing all the generals present, he said, "This great victory is due to General Liang's strategy. Let us toast to her."
The generals were stunned at first. They had heard the emperor had appointed a female general, so they had expected her to possess extraordinary qualities. Seeing her in person today, they had never imagined a woman capable of serving as a general could be so beautiful and charming. They were filled with admiration for her strategy, and they all raised their glasses in a toast.
Liang Hongyu said, "This battle was won thanks to all of you generals. I dare not take all the credit for myself alone." After that, she raised her glass and drank it all.
Seeing how generous she was, the generals began to drink without restraint, no longer caring that she was a woman.
Han Shizhong looked at the woman beside him, whose graceful figure was wrapped in military uniform. The thought of fighting side by side with her made him feel very happy, and he drank a few more glasses without realizing it.
After all the generals returned to the cabin, the personal guards wanted to help the unconscious Han Shizhong back to the cabin to rest, but were stopped by Huyan Tong. Huyan Tong said to Liang Hongyu, "I hope General Liang will take good care of you." After that, he left the cabin and closed the cabin door.
Liang Hongyu looked at the man in front of her and could finally appreciate the person she admired. When she was still a top courtesan, countless celebrities and scholars came to her. Although there were many handsome men among those men, she always felt that they were too feminine and lacked masculinity. It was not until she met Han Shizhong that she felt that the man of her mind should be someone with a tall and strong figure like him.
She gently stroked his face, and his handsome features still looked energetic despite his slightly dark skin.
Han Shizhong was drunk and only felt the warmth and softness around him. An intoxicating fragrance hit him and went straight to his internal organs. He seemed to see Liang Hongyu in his dream. He thought to himself: Could it be that I dreamed of her again today? Then being close to her in the dream should not be considered as a lecher.
So he pulled the beauty in front of him into his arms. Liang Hongyu was shocked. Was he pretending to be drunk to flirt with him? She carefully observed his expression, but felt that he was not pretending to be drunk. She was about to take his hand away from her waist, but his strength was so great. Only Han Shizhong could make her unable to break free. If it were any other man, he probably would not have such strength.
Just when she was helpless, she felt a wetness on her lips. Her eyes widened. It turned out that Han Shizhong was kissing her. She wanted to break free, but his lips and tongue aggressively explored her mouth, frantically demanding her irresistible sweet lips. As their lips and teeth entangled, she finally surrendered. The wonderful feeling instantly swept through her body, making every pore tremble with comfort. She kissed him back fiercely, no longer caring or reserved, and just wanted to enjoy the moment with the man she loved.
Although her body was out of control at the moment, her mind was still very clear. Yes, she was not the one he liked. What if he changed his mind? He would definitely marry her, but that was not what she wanted. What she wanted was mutual love.
Thinking of this, she slapped him in the face. After being slapped, Han Shizhong sat down on the chair in a daze.
After Han Shizhong woke up, he felt a splitting headache and a burning pain on his face. He looked around and found that he had not slept in the bedroom. He had slept in the same position on the chair all night. No wonder he felt sore all over and even his neck was stiff.
So he called his guards and asked, "Why did I sleep in the meeting room last night? Why didn't you help me back to the cabin?"
The guard replied, "General Huyan Tong won't let me help you back."
Han Shizhong had no choice but to call Hu Yantong to ask, "I heard from the guards that you didn't let them help me back to the cabin last night. Why did you do that?"
Hu Yantong laughed and said, "It was General Liang who served you last night. Looking at your expression, could it be that he didn't serve you well enough?"
"General Liang?" Han Shizhong touched his forehead and felt a splitting headache. He seemed to be unable to remember anything that happened last night.
"General, I wanted to fulfill your wish and let you seize this hard-earned opportunity, but I never expected that you would not seize it well."
Han Shizhong said angrily: "Nonsense, can you casually flirt with a woman like General Liang?"
Hu Yantong knew that his good intentions had led to bad consequences, and he apologized: "General, please forgive me. I will never do it again."
After several battles, the arrogant Wanyan Zongbing was frightened by Han Shizhong. If he continued to fight against Han Shizhong, he would probably never return.
Wanyan Zongbing ordered his generals to discuss countermeasures, "Do you have any method to deal with Han Shizhong?"
Someone suggested: "Why not negotiate peace with him?"
The other generals all nodded in agreement.
Someone suggested that Wanyan Zongbing go in person to negotiate peace with Han Shizhong.
Some people objected, saying, "Who the hell is Han Shizhong? Your Highness the Fourth Prince needs to go see him in person."
Wanyan Zongbing no longer cared about his own face at this time and agreed to the proposal.
Both sides agreed to send only one boat to meet in the middle of the river.
Wanyan Zongbi said, "General Han, if you will let me go, I will return all the gold and silver treasures I looted, and I will also give you the Jin Kingdom's precious war horses."
Han Shizhong sneered and said, "Return my two palaces and my territory to me, and then we can have a complete reunion."
Upon hearing this, Wanyan Zongbing thought that not only he could not do it, but even Jin Taizong Wanyan Wuqimai might not be able to do it.
As soon as he knew that the peace talks would fail, he ordered his followers to shoot arrows at Han Shizhong.
However, Han Shizhong was well prepared. He took out the crossbow in his arms and killed the two soldiers who shot arrows at him. Wanyan Zongbing was shocked and ordered his men to turn the boat around quickly.
A war between the two armies is about to break out.
That day, Han Shizhong ordered Liang Hongyu to accompany him to Jinshan to inspect the terrain. He wanted to take this opportunity to ask what had happened yesterday.
Jinshan stands in the middle of the Yangtze River. The two stood on the top of Jinshan, looking at the rolling Yangtze River. The breeze from the mountain blew on their faces, ruffling Liang Hongyu's hair on her forehead.
Han Shizhong asked cautiously, "General Liang, I didn't offend you yesterday, did I?"
Liang Hongyu turned to look at him, thinking: It's more than an offense, have you forgotten everything? But if she told the truth, he would definitely be responsible for her. She needed more than just a name.
So she replied coldly: "General Han, you are overthinking it. Nothing happened yesterday."
Han Shizhong finally let out a long sigh, "Nothing good! I was worried that I might have offended General Liang yesterday."
Liang Hongyu cursed inwardly when she heard this: "Why is there nothing good? You are afraid of being associated with me, so take responsibility for me."
Although she was already seething with rage, she maintained a calm exterior and said expressionlessly, "General, don't worry about this. Worry more about the war."
"General Liang is right."
Han Shizhong looked at the white expanse of the river to the east and said, "General Liang, the river is so vast and we are so few. It is very difficult to defend. In my opinion, it is better to withdraw our troops to the lower reaches of the river and wait until more soldiers are gathered. It will not be too late to fight again."
Liang Hongyu pointed to a verdant reed marsh to the west, as if confident in her plan, and said, "General, look at this endless reed marsh by the river. Isn't it the perfect location for us to seize it through cunning tactics? If we ambush our troops there first, then lure them in, we can catch them off guard! What do you think?"
Han Shizhong was overjoyed when he heard this. After a moment's thought, he said, "Okay! Then I'll go and lure the enemy out!"
"Then I will beat the drum to cheer the general on from the top of this mountain!"
"Come on, let's talk about the truth and the lies!"
"Make him real and fake!"
The two men made up their minds and immediately set up an ambush for their men.
Han Shizhong led his warships and set up a water stronghold at the mouth of Guazhou. At this time, the river breeze blew hard, and the "Han" general flag fluttered in the wind.
Han Shizhong stood atop his ship, gazing westward across the river. He saw a faint, dark mass approaching from the direction of Nanjing. It was the five hundred warships led by Wanyan Zongbing. These warships, displaying their might, sailed down the river, heading for Guazhou.
The warships were drawing nearer. Liang Hongyu, atop Jinshan Mountain, could see them clearly. With a dashing presence, she suddenly beat the war drum.
After Liang Hongyu came to Zhenjiang, she began to train her personal guards to play drums.
"Two long and one short is a flanking attack, three long and one short is an encirclement, and just one heavy blow stops the attack."
After Liang Hongyu explained the rules, she asked Asen to train the guards while she trained the navy. After a few days of training, the guards had mastered how to send signals to the soldiers by beating drums.
On the day of the decisive battle, Liang Hongyu stood on the top of Jinshan Mountain and personally beat the drum to give orders. The soldiers were greatly encouraged and fought bravely without any fear in the face of the Jin army.
Han Shizhong heard the drumbeats from Jinshan: "Dong: Dong! Dong! Dong Dong Dong Dong..." He immediately ordered his navy to raise the sails to meet the enemy. Suddenly, the river was filled with the flash of swords and blood, and the cry of killing shook the sky.
A moment later, Liang Hongyu, on the summit of Jinshan Mountain, began beating the drum twice. "Dong dong! Dong dong dong dong! Dong dong dong dong dong..." The drumbeats were like thunder. Han Shizhong, listening to the drumbeats, commanded his warships to form a V-shaped formation, fighting and retreating. In a blink of an eye, they disappeared into the verdant reed marsh.
When Wanyan Zongbing saw the fat meat in his mouth, he knew he couldn't let it go, so he immediately led the Jin soldiers to follow and chase closely.
Standing atop Jinshan Mountain, Liang Hongyu saw it all clearly: Wanyan Zongbing had fallen for her plan and pursued her into the reed marsh. She immediately waved her command flag and began beating the drums three times: dong dong dong! dong dong dong! dong dong dong! dong dong dong dong… With the earth-shaking drumbeats, the warships ambushed in the reed marsh suddenly shot out like arrows from a bow.
Wanyan Zongbing also heard the drum sound on the mountain and ordered his men to fire cannons at the mountain. The cannons flew to the top of the mountain in an instant and exploded next to Liang Hongyu. Liang Hongyu was blown away instantly and felt a splitting headache. She touched her head and saw a large amount of blood on her hands.
Seeing this, Asen was about to bandage her wound when he heard Liang Hongyu order, "Asen, you come and beat the drum."
"But----" Asen was very worried about Liang Hongyu's injury.
"I'm fine. Asen, remember, don't panic. The lives of millions of soldiers are on your hands. Just beat the drum as you've been trained."
Arsen's face was firm, without any fear. Even the girl was so brave, so what was there for him, a man, to fear? The artillery fire was still raging around them, and there were several times when Arsen felt that the shells were so close that he seemed to be about to fall in the fire.
After another half an hour, the sound of gunfire finally stopped, and Liang Hongyu and everyone else couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Inspired by the relentless drumbeats, some Song soldiers dived into the deep water and used chisels to break through the bottoms of the Jin ships. Others stopped the enemy ships and bombarded the Jin soldiers with rockets and cannons... Smoke billowed and flames shot skyward. One Jin soldier after another was wounded by rockets or killed by cannons, slain by spears or swords. Those who survived jumped into the Yangtze River, only to be drowned by the water.
Every soldier in the Song army was familiar with water, which was the result of Liang Hongyu's usual emphasis on naval training.
Of Wanyan Zongbing's 100,000 troops, more than half were killed, drowned, or injured, leaving less than 20,000 to 30,000 people.
After Liang Hongyu recovered a little, she decided to beat the drum herself. Asen refused, and Liang Hongyu said, "Only when the soldiers see me beating the drum myself can their morale be boosted." Asen had to give up.
Wanyan Zongbing was sitting on a specially made warship. When he saw that the situation was not right, he wanted to escape! But how could he do that? Liang Hongyu beat the drum in the direction his ship was heading.
The sound of drums and waves on the river surface was like thunder. The morale of the Song army was greatly boosted, and they fought more bravely.
Han Shizhong followed the drumbeats and commanded his warships to pursue. The Song warships seemed to have eyes: Wanyan Zongbi's ship drifted east, and Han Shizhong's ship pursued it east; Wanyan Zongbi's ship drifted west, and Han Shizhong's ship pressed west. The very sound of the drums frightened Wanyan Zongbi so much that he was completely terrified.
Wanyan Zongbing had no choice but to lead the remaining 20,000 to 30,000 people westward along the south bank of the Yangtze River, hoping to find a river to return north. Unfortunately, they could not find any other waterway except the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and even if they found one, they could not cross the river.
Seeing the Jin army's movement, Han Shizhong also led the Song navy to follow the Jin army up the river.
To prevent the Jin army from risking a river crossing, Liang Hongyu ordered Asen and her personal guards to dispatch over thirty small boats to periodically attack the Jin army from the south bank of the Yangtze River. Exhausted by the disruption and unfamiliar with the extensive waterways nearby, the Jin army, repeatedly harassed by the Song army, hastily entered a dead-end alley northeast of Jiankang: Huangtian Dang.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
