my wonderful zoo

Chapter 112 Killing Bear Ridge
On August [-], Xiong Ling was killed in Taiyuan Prefecture on Hebei West Road.

The Zhongshizhong looked at the imperial army that was about to attack again at the foot of the ridge, with despair in his eyes.

Since the lone army entered Taiyuan Mansion, the soldiers have been fighting continuously for more than ten days.

The two armies of Yao Gu and Zhang Hao stopped moving forward and did not come to attack the Forbidden Army as promised. As a result, the Western Army in the Zhong Division was surrounded by the Jin Army.

The soldiers were all hungry and exhausted.

The Imperial Guards at Lingxia knew that the troops in the Seed Division were isolated, lacking supplies, and had low morale, so they organized fierce attacks one after another, leaving no breathing space for the Seed Division.

Before entering Taiyuan Prefecture, the imperial court urged the troops to advance many times. The army was in a hurry and did not bring any supplies or rewards.

Now on the brink of desperation, Master Zhong knew that he would not survive today.

The Jin army attacked again, and the mountains and plains were filled with Jin soldiers charging towards the ridge.

The uphill road left the Jin Army's cavalry useless, but the dismounted Jin soldiers were still fierce and fierce.

Zhongshi once again boosted morale and organized the Song Army's defense. As Zhongshi's old subordinates, the Western Army officers reluctantly obeyed orders.

The Jin soldiers had no horses, which made the Song army's divine arm crossbow even more difficult to attack. The crossbow arrows rained down like rain, and the Jin soldiers holding foreskin wooden shields could not completely defend themselves.

Duo!Duo!Duo!
The sound of crossbow bolts hitting shields.

But what is more is the sound of the crossbow arrows being absorbed into the body. The crossbow arrows fired by the Song Army's divine arm crossbow are far more powerful than bows and arrows at close range, and cannot be defended by the wooden shield used to protect bows and arrows.

The Jin army kept rushing up, and was shot down by the Song army's divine arm crossbows layer by layer. Finally, when it was fifty steps close to the Song army's formation, it finally couldn't hold on. The Jin general called gold again, and the Jin soldiers were like a tide. He retreated, leaving the dead bodies of the wounded on the ground.

The Zhong division once again repelled the Jin army's attack, but the Song army was also shot down by the Jin army's bows and arrows. The loss of troops further aggravated the situation.

"Zhongzhizhi, the soldiers below are making trouble again. Everyone's mood is very unstable. If there are no more rewards, I guess I won't be able to suppress it soon." The generals under Zhongshi came over to report.

In February of the first year of Jingkang, Wanyan Zonghan (Nianhan), commander of the Jin Army's West Route Army, led his troops to besiege the three towns of Taiyuan, Zhongshan (now Dingzhou, Hebei), and Hejian (now in Hebei). The Northern Song Dynasty court appointed Yao Gu as the governor of Hebei. Zhong Shizhong set up a deputy envoy for Hebei Province and ordered Yao Gu to lead the army to rescue Taiyuan. Zhong Shizhong led the army to rescue Zhongshan and Hejian.

Half a year has passed now, and the Zhong division has been wandering around Hebei, with no strategic purpose. Although the Jin army withdrew from Kaifeng to the north, it did not withdraw from Hebei.

Therefore, the deputy envoy of Hebei Zhizhi in the Zhongshi still holds the actual post.

"What can I use to reward the soldiers now?" Zhong Shizhong was very helpless. He didn't want to reach this point. It was a shame that Xu Han, the governor of the Privy Council, listened to the misreported intelligence and made the judgment that the Jin army would retreat across the board, so that the imperial court He repeatedly urged himself to march into the army.

The treacherous officials misled the country!
"Tell the soldiers that we are surrounded here today. Only by putting ourselves to death and surviving can we have a chance of survival. As long as we can break out of the siege, I will sacrifice my life to protect my integrity. I will definitely not treat you badly."

The general heard what Zhong Shizhong said and did not retreat, because he had said this before several times when the Jin army attacked.

Now that the casualties of our own side have exceeded [-]%, drawing big cakes will not solve the problem at all.

"Go ahead, it all depends on people." Master Zhong understood his subordinates' worries, but he had no better way and could only hold on like this.

Before the two men's decision could be implemented, the Jin army at the foot of the mountain attacked again.

The horn of charge sounded quickly, like a reminder.

This time there were more golden soldiers attacking the mountain than the last time.

Finally, the Song soldiers who fought desperately could no longer bear the anger in their hearts because they were not rewarded. They were unwilling to continue fighting and began to flee.

The generals of the Jin army understood the principle of "dogs jumping over the wall in a hurry" and left a gap behind Shaxiong Ridge. Song soldiers who had completely lost their will to fight poured out from here.

Seeing this scene, Master Zhong felt sad.

How could he not understand this obvious tactic of surrounding three and missing one? After the Song soldiers escaped from the gap, they would definitely face an ambush from the Jin soldiers, and they would definitely be outnumbered by then.

Looking around, there were only more than 100 soldiers accompanying him, guarding him in the middle.

"You guys should run away too." Master Zhong lowered his sword and said dejectedly.

With so few people left now, there is still a chance of survival if they escape, but if they stay here, they will definitely die.

"If Zhizhi doesn't leave, we won't go anywhere. We will fight with the gold thief here today. Kill one without losing money, kill two and earn one." These more than a hundred soldiers are loyal enough and are not willing to kill one of the masters. Stay here.Maybe they also know that they cannot escape death today, so they simply will die together with the master who gets along day and night.

"You guys are so ambitious. I, Zhong Shizhong, will stay here today to let the golden thieves know that not all of our soldiers in the Song Dynasty are cowards." Zhong Shizhong was aroused by his men's words and raised his sword again.

"Follow Zhizhi to the death!" More than 100 soldiers shouted in unison.

Golden soldiers from all directions surrounded him.

"Capture the Seed Master alive!" General Jin's order came from the distance, and all the Jin soldiers put away their bows and arrows and drew their long knives.

"Kill!" "Kill!"

When two armies meet, the brave wins.

More than 100 soldiers of the Song army were killed at one time, and the Jin soldiers were not allowed to enter.

"Fire the arrow!" Seeing the tenacity of the remnant enemy, General Jin no longer asked for a living.

Bows and arrows were fired in volleys, and arrows rained down like rain. All the remaining soldiers of the Song army were hit by several arrows, but none of the Zhongshi who were protected by personal soldiers were hit by arrows.

"Fire arrows!" Arrows shot out again.

"Kill!" Zhong Shizhong charged against the rain of arrows. The arrows hit his body, as if there was nothing, and the pace of the charge did not stop.

"Kill!" The long sword slashed left and right, killing two golden soldiers one after another, but more swords around him fell on the body of the seed teacher.

In the end, Zhong Shizhong finally couldn't bear the serious injuries all over his body and drank in the battlefield.

"What a pity!" General Jin's sigh could be heard faintly in the distance.

……

August [-]th, Mid-Autumn Festival.

Chen Xun was sitting in the yard, and next to him Chen Qin was busy preparing fruits and preserves to "offer" to the moon.

Ke Lei, Lu Hui, Sun Zheng and other generals sat around with Chen Xun, drinking tea while listening to Pei Ren's report on the progress of the Hebei Jin Army's war against the Song Army.

"In May, the Song Dynasty once again organized an army to rescue Taiyuan. The main army marched westward from Jingxing, Hebei Province. The other two generals, Yao Pingzhong's adoptive father Yao Gu and Zhang Xiaochun's son Zhang Hao, marched north from Changzhi and Fenzhou respectively. The three armies were at each other's horns. We plan to jointly relieve the siege of Taiyuan."

"Zhong Shizhong led troops from Jingxing, Hebei Province into Shanxi Pingding Army, and quickly recaptured Shouyang and Yuci. However, because Yao Gu and Zhang Hao's troops did not follow up, Zhong Shizhong, who had lost support, in order to avoid going deep alone, Then lead the troops to station in Zhending."

"The commander-in-chief of the Jin Army, Wanyan Zonghan, took refuge in the clouds and let his soldiers graze nearby. The intelligence personnel of the Song court discovered this situation and mistakenly thought that Wanyan Zonghan was preparing to withdraw his troops, so they immediately reported it to the Song court."

"Xu Han, the governor of the Privy Council, misunderstood the intelligence and made the judgment that the Jin army was about to withdraw its troops across the board. He urged Zhong Division to advance troops many times and even scolded him for staying on the sidelines while holding heavy troops."

"After receiving the order, Zhong Shizhong was very sad. Because staying in fear of the enemy is a major crime in the army, Zhong Shizhong has been in the army since he was a child and has been fighting for many years. When he got old, he was unwilling to bear the crime, so he left behind the baggage, food and rewards. He led the troops into Taiyuan with light equipment."

"At the same time, Zhongshi also wrote a letter agreeing that Yao Gu and Zhang Hao's armies would advance in separate directions."

"After entering Taiyuan, the Song army led by Zhong Shizhong was attacked by the Jin army. They fought desperately and achieved three victories in five battles. They moved forward hard and arrived at Yuci, only a hundred miles away from Taiyuan. However, they were afraid of the enemy. The cowardly Yao Gu and Zhang Hao armies heard that Wanyan Zonghan had arrived too far away and did not dare to advance, eventually leading to the death of Xiong Ling in the Zhong division."

Everyone was very sad to hear this.

"Actually, Wanyan Zonghan didn't come to Taiyuan, right?" Lu Hui asked.

"Yes." Pei Ren nodded.

"The Song army was so afraid of gold that they were so frightened that they ignored their allies and stopped advancing just because of some hearsay information." Lu Hui sighed.

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(End of this chapter)