The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 218: Battle of Crossing the River, Yang Kang Escapes

On the mudflats south of the Yangtze River, flames were burning on the ground, broken arrows were stuck in corpses, and bright red blood formed a huge patch on the ground. Corpses were intertwined and stretched out, and there were also surrendered soldiers squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands.

All these scenes indicated that a fierce landing battle had just taken place here.

Not far away, a group of soldiers in leather armor were running back and forth, setting up the front camp. Shi Tianze looked at the ending battlefield and wiped the blood off his face. "The prisoners will be kept here, and the rest of you, quickly build a pontoon bridge."

The clouds in the sky changed shapes in his sight, rolling and drifting towards the south.

As the pontoon bridge was built, the army continued to cross the river.

In the middle of the river, the war drums on the boats have begun to sound.

Guo Jing, wearing armor and a cloak, stood on the deck facing the cold wind on the river and looking into the distance. As far as his sight could see, the water was covered with white sails, and flocks of water birds flew across the sky or cried around the mast.

At this moment, he was incomparably calm. Everything was going terribly smoothly, much smoother than he had expected.

The huge boat sailed through the waves slowly, as if it were flat ground.

The massacre in Xuzhou by the remnant Jin army completely aroused the resistance of the people in Huai area. Guo Jing then borrowed a batch of naval warships from the Song State and entered the Yangtze River from the Han River in Jingxiang, arriving very quickly.

With the help of civilian ships and warships loaned by the State of Song, the battle to cross the river quickly began.

The crossing of the river lasted for several days, and the first group of soldiers who crossed the river had already launched an attack on the surrounding Jin soldiers.

During the day, the two sides fought fiercely. The Jin army defended themselves tightly and set up numerous camps from Jingkou to the river. The defense systems supported each other, and the army needed time to rest after crossing the river.

In a short time, the Han soldiers failed to capture the camp, so the navy moved out, and the sky was getting light.

The river was rippling, and in the darkness one could vaguely see a huge silhouette quietly floating in the water. Under the fluttering flags, one could see a figure walking, then descending and getting into the small boat. The navy soldier spat into his palms, rubbed them hard, and then held the oars.

The ship moved slowly, pushing away the waves. In the sound of the water and the rising mist on the river surface, long oars were creating ripples on the water. Countless ships with their white sails furled were sailing quietly. In between were tall, wide boats loaded with soldiers, heading towards the hazy river bank in the east.

Amid the occasional sound of waves, along the Yangtze River, Jin soldiers were patrolling the waters near the river bank with torches in hand. They walked forward while talking to their companions. Suddenly, someone heard an unusual sound of waves. When he turned around, he saw a cold light in the azure color that instantly rushed into the range of the torch light. What was reflected in the soldier's eyes were feather arrows.

With a "puff", the arrow pierced into his chest. The Jin soldier just lowered his head to take a look and then fell to the ground.

The moment the torch fell to the ground, a patrolling Jin soldier not far away reacted and shouted, "Enemy attack!"

As soon as the voice fell, another arrow came from the darkness and hit his head with a "swoosh". His body fell to the ground. The next moment, another wave of arrows rained towards him, and there were crackling sounds all around.

After a brief moment of silence, the outlines of densely packed warships escorting the troop transport boats emerged from the mist. The river water on the shore could no longer be calm. Driven by dozens of warships sailing on, the waves slammed wildly against the river beach and rocks. The brief sound of the gong also attracted the attention of the nearby beacon tower.

Soon, a flame was ignited in the misty early morning. The sudden fire made the outposts on the river bank nervous. When a large number of scouts were sent out, someone had already spread the news that enemy ships had appeared on the river. Beacon fires were burned along the river, and the Jin garrison that had been deployed nearby gathered here in waves.

Barricades and wooden fences were set up on the riverbank and rock bed opposite the landing site. When more Jin soldiers arrived, crossbows were already set up. Meng Gong walked among the crowd and encouraged the soldiers, "Don't be afraid, shoot with bows and crossbows, the Jin dogs can't rush over!"

Meng Gong took his brothers from Xiangyang to Luoyang. After settling his family, he happened to encounter the expansion of the Han army, so he joined the army.

In the Song Dynasty, they could only defend themselves against the Jin people and were defeated step by step. But under Guo Jing's command, he truly understood what a strong army was and what a real army should look like.

The Meng family has been a family of generals for generations, and the earliest one was a general under Yue Fei. He knew very well what the character of the Song Dynasty army was like.

After joining the army, he successfully became a captain in the new army with his family's martial arts, and made many military achievements in the battlefield of the southern expedition, becoming a lieutenant general. Now he leads a team of a thousand people to attack the Jin army camp at night.

However, the only drawback was that his soldiers lacked experience in fighting on the water and still alarmed the Jin people.

In the blink of an eye, the boat docked and reached shallow water. With a "bang", the planks were lowered and the soldiers jumped out.

They immediately launched an attack on the Jin army camp. "Come on, assemble, prepare your bows and crossbows, shield soldiers and spear formations, move forward, get ready!" The Jin army generals hurriedly gathered people, their hysterical voices rang out in the dark night.

The crossbow string snapped.

"Buzz!"

The first figure that rushed out of the warship shouted as he was shot through the neck and fell down with his head raised. The rushing footsteps stepped on or over the corpses and rushed out from dozens of large ships. Water splashed wildly between countless running legs and rolled over the river beach. Then, a unified Chinese voice was shouted among the teams: "Form a formation!" The air above was filled with the noise of whooshing.

A dense rain of arrows covered the area.

Dozens of Han soldiers who rushed out first formed a formation and turned their shields to cover their companions. There was a bang bang sound from the iron shields in their hands, and feather arrows rained down like raindrops. Most of them fell on the shields and slid down weakly, or happened to fall into the gaps between the shields, splashing blood. Some were nailed to death under the shields in the formation with screams, and some were groaning on the ground holding their arms and thighs.

The roar of war drums sounded like raindrops on the boat. With the signal of attack, dozens of formations gradually gathered in the middle, forming a larger shield formation and began to advance forward under the rain of arrows.

Tonight is going to be a bloody battle, and the Jin army was caught off guard. If they were allowed to deploy their troops calmly and rely on the defense of each camp, I don't know how much time it would take.

Speed ​​is of the essence in war. They must reach Jiankang City as quickly as possible. Therefore, they must eliminate the strongholds on the riverside in the shortest possible time and cross the river safely.

The soldiers who launched the night attack were not only Meng Gong's troops, but also cooperated with other troops.

On a distant warship, a desolate ox horn sounded, and the torches of the Jin army camp illuminated the night, which in turn pointed out the direction of attack for the Han army.

The moment the army stepped out of the shallow water, the Han army rushed out like a torrent on the warships. These people were wearing iron armor, with steel knives and spears on their waists, and their eyes were full of coldness. These people were the elite infantry of the Han army, no better than Meng Gong's recruits.

When they smelled the scent of war, they were not afraid at all and even trembled with excitement. As they ran wildly, the blood seemed to be buzzing in their veins. They simply raised their shields to block the rain of arrows falling from above their heads. Even when their companions fell down beside them, they did not take it to heart and just tried to disperse as much as possible to avoid the arrows.

The killing continued until dawn!
The camp by the river was littered with broken limbs and corpses, and blood was floating on the ground. It flowed into the river along the terrain and was diluted by the surging river water.

Meng Gong leaned against the wooden pillar of the camp, with his steel knife stuck in the ground. His gray military uniform was covered with blood, both from the enemy and his own. At this time, a group of people came to inspect from a distance. The leader walked into the camp. Meng Gong glanced at them and immediately became alert, "I am here to see the general."

Shi Tianze looked at the young general and couldn't help but praise him, "General Meng, you did a great job!"

Meng Gong clasped his fists and replied, "General, thank you. This is all thanks to my soldiers who risked their lives!"

Hearing this, Shi Tianze narrowed his eyes slightly, and without saying anything more, he glanced at him and left.

……

"You bastard, that's unreasonable!"

In the imperial city of the Jin Dynasty, furious voices rang out in the harem hall.

Wanyan Honglie leaned on the dragon couch, and on the carpet were battle reports sent from the front line.

Previously, he thought that he could stop Guo Jing with the help of the navy and the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, and even prepared a plan to block the river with iron chains. However, the navy's defection dealt him a heavy blow. Three days ago, the Han army crossed the river, and not a single warship of the navy moved.

At first, the Jin army did not take it seriously, but the Han army successfully tried to cross the river and established a solid position on the river bank. Later, more and more Han troops sailed across the river and even built a floating bridge.

As the army officially crossed the river and thousands of ships set out, there was still no news from the navy at this time, and the envoys sent by the court did not send back any news. Wanyan Honglie still thought that the navy was attacked by the enemy.

Until just now, the messenger he sent was sent back, but with only a human head.

How could he not understand that the navy was not in trouble, but they were rebelling and surrendering to the enemy.

The traditional skills of the Song Dynasty's imperial guards dealt a heavy blow to the Jin Dynasty. Without the navy to hold them back, the Yangtze River coast could not be defended at all.

The sky is paved with stars like the Milky Way, the bumpy waves hit the river beach, the sound of the rushing water and the noisy clamor from the Jiangnan water forts along the coast merge together in the night, and the sound of the waves hitting the river is transmitted into the big tent.

Inside the lighted tent, an elegant figure sat up from the wooden couch and stared at the oil lamp on the desk for a while before wiping the sweat from his forehead, putting on a single garment, and sitting back behind the desk. The light revealed the outline of a square and kind face. He was Wang Shan, who was guarding Caishiji.

Before the Battle of Xuzhou, he led an army of 20,000 to garrison here. The Jin Kingdom sent a large army to attack fiercely. Caishiji stands in the south of the middle of the Yangtze River, and the terrain is steep, easy to defend but difficult to attack. The Jin Kingdom failed to capture it for a long time, and had to use a large army to contain the attack, and then fought the Battle of Xuzhou.

During this process, the Han army led by Wang Shan suffered heavy casualties, losing almost half of its troops.

However, after the failure of the Battle of Xuzhou, the Jin Kingdom was unable to attack this place and could only leave a large army to contain the enemy.

At daybreak, Wang Shan walked out of the camp and looked at the sky. Birds flew in circles and landed on tree branches. White clouds were floating in the sunlight. In the west, on the river bank, which he could not see, thousands of people and horses were rushing onto the beach and quickly passing through the land of the south of the Yangtze River.

But it does not mean everything is good for everyone standing on this land at this moment.

……

Upon learning that the navy had surrendered to the enemy, Wanyan Honglie knew that the game was over. But he could not leave now. If he left, Jiankang would surely fall immediately.

So he quickly summoned Yang Kang into the palace.

Late at night, Yang Kang was hurriedly summoned to the palace. As soon as he stepped into the palace, Wanyan Honglie said to him, "Kang'er, hurry up and go to Lin'an!"

Yang Kang looked confused, "Father, what happened?"

He knew about the danger of the river defense, but he felt that this was a strategy to lure the enemy. With the navy in hand, as long as the support was cut off, the few Han troops would be isolated and helpless and would inevitably be destroyed.

Therefore, the current situation is not so exaggerated that he has to escape.

Wanyan Honglie was in a state of panic, "Kang'er, the navy has surrendered to the enemy. The Yangtze River can no longer stop the Mongols!"

He had not expected the situation to collapse so quickly. Now, he had some understanding of what the Song Dynasty felt back then. They were able to hold on, but someone defected to the enemy, and the entire war situation was put in danger.

Yang Kang's eyes widened in disbelief, "How could this happen? Where is Wanyan Heda?"

Wanyan Honglie looked emaciated and lost. "I'm afraid he's already dead. The navy killed the imperial envoy and sent his head. I guess the Mongols have already crossed the river!"

"You should leave quickly. It will be too late if you leave later. I will stay in Jiankang to buy you some time."

"Father, is there really no other way?"

Wanyan Honglie closed his eyes and said angrily, "The situation is like this, what can we do? Even if Han Xin were alive, he couldn't save the situation."

Upon hearing this, Yang Kang felt even worse. He wanted to flee from here immediately, but Wanyan Honglie was here, so he couldn't agree immediately. He immediately knelt on the ground, crying, "Father, I will not leave. I will stay here, and you go to Lin'an!"

How could Wanyan Honglie, who was so experienced, not see his true thoughts? But now he didn't have time to care about so many things. Everything was to keep the Jin Dynasty going. "No, I will stay in Jiankang and you go to Lin'an."

"If I stay here, the morale of the Jin Kingdom can be maintained. Once I leave, Jiankang City will not be able to hold on for too long. You go to Lin'an and immediately mobilize the soldiers and build the city. Do you understand?"

With tears in his eyes, Yang Kang nodded continuously, "I understand!"

At this point, it was useless to say more. He knew in his heart that Wanyan Honglie was buying them time.

He wiped his tears, kowtowed deeply to Wanyan Honglie, and then left without looking back.

That night, a large number of civil and military officials left Jiankang and headed for Lin'an. When Yang Kang left, in addition to taking his family with him, there was another person sitting in the carriage, and that was his biological mother Bao Xiruo.

As soon as he left, the Han army broke through Jingkou and headed straight for Jiankang!
On the other hand, upon learning that Wanyan Honglie was still in the city, the Han army was ready to fight. As long as they could take Jiankang and capture Wanyan Honglie, the Jin Dynasty would be finished!
(End of this chapter)