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

Chapter 49: A Small Test of the Sword Breaking the Forward

Apart from Wei Chang, only four people actually got caught and then worked together to pull it out.

Wei Chang felt his hand sink: "Come and help!"

Two Song soldiers stuck their knives into the ground and pulled the end of the rope: "One, two, go!"

A Jin soldier at the edge was dragged out directly. After struggling and sliding for several feet on the mud, Wei Chang pounced on him and pressed his entire face into the mud.

"Woo... Woo..." The Jin soldier tried to break free from control like a spasm, but the mud under his hands made it impossible for him to gain leverage, so he could only grab Wei Chang's hair with his backhand.

"Knife...quick! Bring me the knife! I can't hold him down anymore!" Wei Chang felt like he was lying on a small boat, constantly bobbing in the wind and waves, and he would be blown over if he wasn't careful.

The scarred Song soldier who had been following him hurriedly handed the sharp knife at his waist to Wei Chang, and he himself pulled out a short knife from the mud and stabbed it into the armpit of the Jin soldier.

At the same time, Wei Chang stabbed the sharp knife into the neck of the Jin army soldier.

Blood gushed out, and the Jin soldiers convulsed violently. The blood dyed the mud red, and Wei Chang also turned black and red.

The Jin army reacted promptly, accelerating their retreat outside the camp while cutting the noose and pulling each other's belts to maintain a tight formation.

In fact, apart from Wei Chang, only one Song army soldier succeeded and dragged out a poor guy. The Jin army did not suffer much loss, but this situation of being able to take a beating but not fight back inevitably made people panic and fearful.

Wu Ye was not just frightened, his heart was bleeding.

Gao Wenfu only had two personal soldiers of Mouke. He had already sent away one twentieth of them before he even arrived. If he sent away a few more times, Gao Wenfu would have no money left to defend Haizhou!

Fortunately, they were not far from the Song army camp and they retreated from the muddy area after a few steps. Wu Ye knew that the morale was low and they could not hold on for long, so he quickly withdrew from the battle.

Naturally, the Song army did not chase after them, but continued to strengthen the camp and build a pontoon bridge.

"Uncle Dong, this is a great victory, right?" Wei Chang asked Dong Cheng, shaking the mud off his face.

Dong Cheng's face was originally solemn, but upon hearing this, he chuckled, "That's just the beginning. We've only left ten gold thieves behind. Your uncle Dong only has this much skill: a little cleverness and a few small advantages. To truly launch a large-scale battle and face a powerful enemy, you still have to rely on your father."

Dong Cheng was telling the truth. If there were thousands of Jin soldiers attacking just now, this little cleverness would be nothing.

The Jin army's regular troops would directly force the soldiers to fight forward, and then step on their corpses to fight. What trenches, what mud, all filled with your lives!

"When will my father cross the river?" Wei Chang suppressed his excitement. "The vanguard of the Jin bandits has arrived, and the follow-up group can't be far behind. If a few hundred more come, we won't be able to withstand it."

Dong Cheng waved his hand. His confidence in Wei Sheng was much stronger than Wei Chang's. "Don't worry, once the pontoon bridge is completed, Commander Wei will definitely be the first to cross the river!"

Dong Cheng smacked his lips again. "Instead of worrying about your father, you should worry about your eldest brother. He took Ma Jun to that reed marsh, and there's been no news since. It's really worrying."

Wei Chang's face, covered in mud, flushed red. "My elder brother is definitely not someone who would flee from a battle."

"Alas, I didn't say Liu Dalang was afraid of fighting. If I had suspected him, I wouldn't have let him take charge of the cavalry and act independently.

The most crucial factor in a cavalry charge is timing. If it's too late, it won't affect the outcome; if it's too early, the Jin invaders will surround and kill them. This timing should have been created by the Wei commander, allowing the cavalry to attack. This is what the art of war calls "winning by combining the right tactics with the unexpected."

But now that military orders are blocked, all we can do is rely on Dalang's tactics. He's so young, he must hold his ground!" Dong Cheng finished speaking when he heard a horn sound from the south bank of the Shu River. Turning back, he saw a large Wei banner erected in the camp on the south bank. He hurriedly said, "Hurry and get to work! Your father is calling for my life!"

On the other side, after the Jin army withdrew from the battle, Wu Ye was still instigating a counterattack, but after the Song army was extremely restrained, the Jin army lost all hope, and their formation became scattered, and they ran directly to the war horses half a mile away.

After getting on the horse, Wu Ye was confused for a moment. He reflexively looked around, but suddenly found that the deputy general who had always been his partner was gone.

"Zhang Lu! Zhang Lu!"

After calling out twice, the one-eyed rider in light armor beside Wu Ye responded in a low voice: "I... I saw General Zhang being dragged away by Song Gou."

Wu Ye was dazed for a moment, then turned around and said, "I recognize you. What's your name, Shi Qi?"

"Shi Qilang." The one-eyed man answered hurriedly.

"Yes, I ran back from Wuxing Army." Wu Ye nodded: "Very good, you are very good! If you hadn't cut the rope just now, I would have been dragged away by Song Gou. From now on, you will be my personal soldier. After this battle, you will have your own wealth and glory."

The one-eyed man, Shi Qilang, quickly agreed, but he felt bitter in his heart.

He has wanted to run away for a long time!

But he was surrounded by Jin soldiers, and some of them were specifically watching him, so he had no way to run away!
As for cutting the noose, that was a huge misunderstanding. It was purely because the noose was resting on Shi Qilang's blade. When both sides exerted force, the rope naturally broke.

In all honesty, Shi Qilang has a trusted villager who has made great contributions this time. If the Song army wins, he will definitely be a commander. He is also from Shandong and will be of great use in the next offensive. Why would he give up his legitimate wealth and become a servant of the Jurchens instead?

Wu Ye did not care about Shi Qilang's inner thoughts, but was caught in a dilemma.

Logically speaking, he should immediately take these forty armored cavalrymen to take off their skirt armor, shoulder armor, and helmets, leaving only the breastplates on, each holding a short weapon, and turn around to fight back again.

The military discipline of the Jin army is still there. As long as Wu Ye fights hard, his subordinates will definitely fight hard too!
But emotionally speaking, Karasuno didn't want to fight to the death anymore.

He had long been accustomed to a life of wealth and luxury, especially when Wanyan Liang moved the Meng'an Mouke households to the interior of the country. These Moukes who were already in the interior of the country made a lot of money from it, and each of them took more concubines. How could they be willing to risk their lives?
Before coming here, I never thought about fighting such a big battle!

Shi Qilang seemed to see what Wu Ye was thinking, and stepped forward and whispered, "General, now is the time to make a decision."

Wu Ye quickly understood that they had just suffered a defeat, and if they hesitated any longer, the morale of the army would be completely lost.

At this moment, a wrong decision is better than no decision!
"So what do you think we should do?" Wu Ye asked in a low voice.

"Leave a few men to watch over Song Gou, and General, take the rest of the troops to reunite with the main army. After slowly reorganizing the troops, we will advance with full force." Shi Qilang took a deep breath. "But don't be impatient this time. No matter what, the situation is on our side."

"you are right!"

After saying that, Wu Ye quickly made up his mind and selected a few riders to act as scouts to watch the Song army, while asking them to act with caution.

Shi Qilang saw that Wu Ye had no intention of letting him be a scout, and although his expression remained unchanged, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

What the fuck is going on?!

(End of this chapter)