She Song

Chapter 256 Huben in desperate situation
During the counterattack, the Tiger and Ben troops showed their consistent strong attack power and good psychological quality, making Zhao Kai finally smile.

In this battle, a total of more than 6000 Dangxiang people were annihilated. In addition, Yao Gu's left army killed and wounded [-] Dangxiang people, plus the nearly [-] people annihilated in Yan'an, almost half of Li Qianshun's losses were lost.

In particular, Li Qianshun's arrow fell from his horse, which caused the morale of Dangxiang's army to become unstable and they fled in all directions. Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult for the other party to pose a substantial threat to the Song army in the short term.

Although they could not completely annihilate, the strategic goal had been achieved, so Zhao Kai began to focus on the Danzhou battlefield, where Zhong Fu was blocking Lou Shi's [-]-strong army.

As a result, [-] Song troops quickly returned to Yan'an, and the notification of the Danzhou battlefield had also been delivered.

As soon as Zhong Fu came into contact with the Jin army, there was a fierce battle. Lou Shi first asked [-] subordinate troops to attack, wanting to see the situation of the Huben army in person.

Zhong Fu did not disappoint him. He personally led [-] tiger troops to attack Fu Congjun. After an hour of fierce fighting, Fu Congjun collapsed and retreated leaving tens of thousands of corpses.

Lou Shi gathered his subordinates, chopped off the heads of a number of generals, and promoted a number of brave men to stabilize the morale of the army.

The battle resumed in the afternoon. This time, Lou Shi decided on a strategy of frontal attack with [-] soldiers and two Jurchen troops of [-] people to outflank them.

Faced with a comprehensive siege by the Jin army, Zhong Fu made a decisive decision and the entire army relied on crude fortifications to hold on.

The Huben army, which was both offensive and defensive, once again killed and wounded a large number of subordinate troops, but the right wing defended by 2000 Western troops was defeated by the Jurchens. If Zhong Fu had not led a reserve army of [-] people to plug the leak in time, the entire army might have been shaken.

The bloody battle continued until dusk, when Lou Shi withdrew his troops again.

After taking stock, Zhong Fu had less than [-] men, and the Jin army still had more than [-] men.However, both Zhong Fu and Lou Shi clearly realized that the main forces of both sides had not been seriously damaged, and the battle the next day would determine the outcome.

But what Zhong Fu didn't expect in the early morning of the next day was that overnight, the Jin army drove thousands of civilians from nearby villages to the battlefield to serve as human shields.

Seeing the old, young, women and children approaching the position step by step under the sword of Jin Jun, Zhong Fu finally decided to retreat.Although the subordinates reminded that the entire army's defense dropped significantly during the retreat, the Jin army would definitely launch an attack, and they would still attack with civilians in tow.

"Yes, we will suffer additional casualties, but who doesn't have parents, wives and children? But if we continue to retreat, it is impossible for the Jin Army to guard the people!"

Many subordinates are puzzled that the Jurchens are ferocious by nature, and they use this despicable method because they see that we can't bear to kill each other. As long as we back down, they will definitely use it again and again.

"It takes two days to walk from Danzhou to Yan'an City. Once we retreat to Yan'an City, our blocking mission will be completed!"

The generals thought that this was really the case. Although they would definitely be pursued by the Jurchens midway, there was no other way. They could only try their best to strengthen the defensive measures during the retreat.

Seeing the Huben army slowly retreating, Lou Shi would not let go of the opportunity to fight. He sent seven or eight thousand-man cavalry teams to attack in turns. The Huben army defended desperately, fought and retreated, and rested every ten miles.

When they retreated to Yan'an Prefecture that night, the severely reduced Huben Army had less than [-] soldiers. Of course, the Jurchen cavalry also suffered nearly [-] casualties.

Compared with Zhong Fu's heartache, Lou Shi was also frowning. After two days of fighting, the loss of [-] Jurchens was close to [-]. It is incredible that the Tiger and Ben troops are so tenacious.

Although he didn't know the specific battle situation in the north, Lou Shi could guess from the battlefield performance of the Huben army that Li Qianshun was afraid that he would not be able to do well in front of the [-] Huben army.

In this way, even if both sides lose, the Huben Army will still have at least nearly [-] people defending Yan'an. How many lives will I have to pay to fill it at that time?

Fighting slowly doesn't seem to work, we must find a way to quickly deal with the tiger army in front of us!

Looking at the dark night, Lou Shi suddenly had a bold idea.

At the fourth watch, which is the time when human beings sleep the deepest, around the camp of the Huben Army, [-] Jin troops suddenly launched a night attack, starting the third day of battle.The subordinate army cleared the camp barriers from both sides, and five to six thousand Jurchen cavalry who were ready to attack suddenly rushed into the camp like mercury pouring down the ground.

On the hillside not far away, Lou Shi used the captured telescope to observe the battle situation through the firelight of the camp.

Seeing that the progress was going smoothly, Lou Shi couldn't help but sigh. The guy from Yanjing is really clever. This telescope is really a good thing for marching and fighting!
The southerners are still hiding dragons and crouching tigers. Aguda is right, don’t go south easily!
The Huben Army encountered a night attack by the Jin Army. Although they were panicked, they maintained their formation as a whole, and each unit counterattacked in accordance with the rules.However, the attack of five or six thousand Jin Army cavalry was too fierce, and Zhong Fu had no choice but to lead his army to break out.

At dawn, they retreated to a small hill. An inventory count showed that there were less than 3000 people, and the Jurchen cavalry from the rear group swarmed in.

Zhong Fu quickly deployed three layers of defense and looked at the Jin army at the foot of the hillside and issued an order to hold on: "This place is only fifty miles away from Yan'an. As long as we can hold on for one day, reinforcements will arrive!"

The Huben army was forced into a desperate situation and had no way out at this time, but it still had certain geographical advantages.

In the morning, the Jurchens made several attempts in various directions, but were eventually repelled by the Tiger and Ben troops.

At noon, Lou Shi learned that Li Qianshun was defeated and most of the Song army returned to Yan'an City. They even sent scouts to the battlefield. Suddenly, they felt that the situation had become complicated.

Fighting a [-]-strong Huben army lost more than [-] subordinate troops, and even the Jurchen lost [-] people. If the tens of thousands of Huben troops in Yan'an City joined the battle again, would he be able to resist?
Yan'an cannot be allowed to send troops, and the enemy in the hills must be dealt with as soon as possible!

Lou Shi immediately sent two groups of [-] cavalry to attack Yan'an. While frightening the Song army, he ordered the remaining tens of thousands of Jin troops and subordinate troops to attack Zhong Fu's remaining troops.

In Yan'an City, Zhongshidao was extremely afraid of the two Jurchen cavalry groups, claiming that they could not win without absolute superiority in troops.

Qi Ziyan believed that the fundamental reason why the Jin army sent heavy troops to threaten was to annihilate Zhong Fu and then attack Yan'an with all its strength. As long as the entire army attacks at this time, the Jurchens will inevitably fall into a two-front battle, but there will be a turning point for the Song army.

"Unified system! Is it important to have 3000 people or 4 people? Maybe Lou Shi is waiting for us to leave the city defenses so that we can encircle and annihilate them in a field battle. This is a risk for you!"

Qi Ziyan immediately retorted: "Victory comes from danger! How can there be a foolproof strategy for fighting? I can issue a military order, and [-] tiger soldiers can defeat [-] Jurchen cavalry and rescue Chief of Staff Zhong!"

The seed master asked coldly: "Where are the five thousand Jurchens left?"

Qi Ziyan glanced at the other party provocatively and said: "Su Wen Zhong's army is the pillar of the northwest. I wonder if your 2 people can hold off [-] Jurchens for half a day? Or are you already timid?"

The faces of the Zhong brothers all changed greatly. Cowardice in the face of the enemy will be beheaded in military law!

Only women and villains are difficult to raise, I won’t deceive you if you are honest!
The cultivator was extremely angry, and his eyes were filled with fire.

Zhongshidao thought about it for a while and felt that if he continued, King Yun would really think that the Zhong family was passively avoiding war to preserve their strength, and if he reported it to the court, the civil servants would definitely hold on to it, and the situation of the Western Army would be even worse in the future.

So he raised his hand to Zhao Kai and said: "Your Highness, the Zhong family has been loyal to the emperor and served the country for hundreds of years, which can be learned from heaven and earth! Since Qi Tongzhi insists on going to war, I should go all out to serve the country with my own life!"

Seeing that both sides had issued military orders, Zhao Kai said: "Within two hours, if the Qi commander cannot defeat the Jin army, the entire army will return to defend Yan'an!"

A moment later, Qi Ziyan led the Tiger Army and rushed directly to the Jurchen cavalry on the east side. The Zhong brothers also led 2 troops to block the Jurchen cavalry on the west side.

Under Yan'an City, fighting started again.

(End of this chapter)