Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 259: The Blood of the Hu Slayer Turns into the Yi River
"A guest general actually achieved the first victory? How can this be possible?! If this gets out, where will our Loyal Army put their reputations down?!"

Pang Rugui, who was observing the situation on horseback, saw the green rhinoceros flag advancing all the way and almost piercing through the back of the Jin army. He immediately collapsed on his horse and lost his composure on the spot.

Wang Xiongyi also looked indignant, but he immediately stopped himself: "Pang Shisan, don't say anything that will damage morale. Also, don't be impatient. Sooner or later, your time to fight will come."

Pang Rugui anxiously tugged at the reins. "I don't mind being the rear guard. We've already made a lot of contributions these past few days, and the men are a little tired. But... but let's talk about it someday. If someone mocks the Duke of Wei for relying on the warriors of the Tianping Army to fight, how will we, the Loyal Army, feel?"

Wang Xiongyi gripped the reins tightly and sneered, "Don't worry, we're not the only ones who can't stand this. I don't believe it takes a few lives to tolerate this."

As soon as he finished speaking, a military envoy rushed over from the front under the Flying Tiger banner: "Commander Wang, the commander has ordered your 800 soldiers to support Zhang Xiaoyi on the right wing. Depart immediately, without delay!"

Wang Xiongyi bowed from his horse and said he obeyed the order, but then he grabbed the military envoy's arm and said, "How is the front line? Don't you need us anymore?"

The military envoy spoke quickly: "When I arrived, General Lei had already requested to fight, and the commander seemed to have approved it. General Wang, I still need to pass on the order..."

Wang Xiongyi nodded, released the military envoy, and smiled at Pang Rugui, "See what I'm saying? It's fine for us soldiers who have been fighting for days, but how can these central troops who didn't participate in the battle endure it? Especially Lei Ben, Yuchi Mingyue, and Zhou Xinglie. Even if they can endure it, the soldiers under their command can't. Otherwise, after the victory, the whole army will be rewarded, and only these few will be left empty-handed. They can't continue to be commanders."

Pang Rugui stopped complaining and looked at the battle situation on the east side.

The armored cavalry were fighting fiercely over there, and it was fitting that these light soldiers with spears should join in the battle.

The fact was just as Wang Xiongyi said. Lei Ben and others who were fighting with Puchaguang on the front line could no longer hold back.

Although he launched a counterattack, Liu Huai still adopted the tactic of advancing step by step and slowly pressing forward, instead of taking risks like Xin Qiji.

This tactic is certainly safe, but it is impossible to make a final decision in an instant.

Although the Jin army has psychological limits, the regular army has some resilience. Who knows when they will give up?
If Xin Qiji comes over from the left wing later, will the credit for defeating Diwu Meng'an belong to the Zhongyi Army or the Tianping Army?
When the time comes to receive the reward, if the Tianping Army says something weird, like if we hadn't defeated the flank first, you wouldn't have gotten the reward, etc., how will the generals in the central army feel?!

Therefore, Lei Ben asked for battle again, wanting to lead the school swordsmen to charge into battle again, hoping to defeat the Jin army in one fell swoop.

Seeing that the time was almost ripe, Liu Huai finally nodded in agreement.

Soon, more than 200 swordsmen rushed out along the gaps between the gun arrays.

The rest of the Loyal Army's infantry followed closely behind and launched a general attack.

At this point, the quantitative change finally produced a qualitative change.

After a marching Mouke was beheaded on the spot, no captain led his troops to fight to the death, but instead retreated involuntarily.

Diwu Meng'an's fear of the Loyal Army finally surpassed his fear of the military law of killing all the soldiers.

And fear is contagious.

After experiencing comrades being beheaded in battle, the camp being on fire, the retreat being blocked, and the flanks collapsing, even the strongest army in the world could not hold on.

Facing the frontal attack of the Loyal Army, the first deserter appeared in the Jin army formation, and then the whole army collapsed from one point to the other.

The solid formations they had formed to resist the enemy crumbled like a sand castle washed away by a flood. The Wuxing Army dared no longer confront the enemy before them and fled. If anyone stood in their way, intentionally or not, they were simply slashed down with their swords, as if their former comrades were mortal enemies.

Seeing this, Pucha Guang could only sigh.

The defeat was so severe that even gods could not save us.

However, this guy did not turn around and flee, but led a dozen personal guards towards the Wuxing flag on the east side of the battlefield.

Over there, the armored cavalry formation, which was the last resort of the Wuxing Army, had stopped moving as a whole. The armored cavalry, in units of a dozen or even dozens of horses, launched a counterattack against the loyal and righteous army that was besieging them from all directions, and quickly fell into a melee.

Although they were not at a disadvantage, the Wuxing Army's armored cavalry had lost their destructive power like a mountain torrent.

Under the banner of Wuxing, Meng Tian, the guardian of the country, looked pale and uncertain.

Because not only were there the Loyalty Army's armored cavalry causing trouble in the rear, there were also 200 armored cavalry charging back and forth in the front. What happened was that the leader of this group of cavalry was full of vulgar language, and kept saying things like "your grandfather Li Xiu" and so on.

Who the hell knew Li Xiu was the onion?!
What made Meng Tian Zhenguo even more angry was that he was unable to do anything about this guy because the main formation had been disrupted by Zhang Baiyu, the rear formation was in chaos everywhere, and hundreds of infantrymen from far and near were pressing forward. Meng Tian Zhenguo had less than three hundred cavalrymen under his direct command.

Although the Jin army was skilled in archery and horsemanship, and their cavalry was more elite than that of the Loyal Army, how could they quickly defeat the armored cavalry of similar numbers?

"General! Retreat! Zhuo Tuo'an has been defeated! We couldn't hold on either! The entire army has been defeated. If we continue to fight, the entire Wuxing Army will be wiped out here!" Seeing Puchaguang lowering his flag and coming in a panic, Meng Tian, the state guard, was about to scold him, but his anger was immediately extinguished by the other party's words.

The man swayed on his horse, opened his mouth to speak, but didn't know what to say.

Finally, Meng Tian, the guardian of the country, said with all his might, "We still have so many cavalrymen. Is this really impossible?"

Pucha Guang pulled out the arrow stuck in his skirt armor and shook his head. "General, I know what you're thinking. You just want to die to repay the country's kindness and live up to His Majesty's grace. But General, have you really considered whether it would be good or bad for the country if all the Wuxing soldiers died here?"
Without the Wuxing Army, who in Shandong can stop these loyal thieves? If Shandong falls, or if the southern expedition is delayed, wouldn't the commander-in-chief be betraying His Majesty?

Meng Tian's face was gloomy and uncertain, and he became frightened as the shouts of "Kill the Jin thieves" became louder and louder.

Because he suddenly realized that what Puchaguang said was right.

Is it impossible to repay the emperor's kindness by even dying?

"General, we can still withdraw some troops now. By joining forces with Pei Manhui, Wugu Suntan and others, we can still defend Yishui County with several thousand troops.

What if the loyal thieves capture Yishui County and then advance into Yidu Prefecture? That's one of the three great military headquarters of the Great Jin! So much military resources are stored there! If the loyal thieves act this way, isn't the commander-in-chief afraid they'll overthrow the Great Jin?!"

Seeing that Meng Tian was still hesitant to defend the country, Pucha Guang finally lost his patience and spoke loudly, ignoring the gazes of the surrounding soldiers.

Meng Tian, the state guardian, finally sighed and said, "Okay, let's go back to protect Yishui County."

Puchaguang also breathed a sigh of relief, stepped forward to grab the Wuxing flag, pulled the reins of Meng Tian's horse, and retreated northward first.

This behavior was extremely presumptuous, but Meng Tian, the state guardian, did not say anything. He just sat on his horse like a stone puppet, allowing Pucha Guang to lead the way. So the few guards just glanced at each other and followed their master.

(End of this chapter)