The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 322 Get them

The cavalry, with their backs to the city wall, slowly deployed their troops.

After years of training and combat experience, the Northern Song army had made chariot formations standard equipment. The same was true for the cavalry. As soon as they stepped out of the city gate, they spread out their carts to both sides, and large wooden planks were erected, facing Zhang Jun's army, forming a wooden wall...

The Jin army was used to seeing them in this formation.

But Zhang Jun was seeing it for the first time, and he was stunned at first glance: "A chariot?"

But 3.2 seconds later, Zhang Jun realized what was happening and was secretly delighted: This chariot seems quite useful for dealing with cavalry. Wooden planks can block chariots, and chariots can hinder the charge of warhorses. No wonder the Northern Song Dynasty was able to resist the Jin invaders so many times; this chariot formation must have played a crucial role. I can learn it! I can totally learn it! It's not difficult to learn.

Ma Sheng: "Attack!"

At his command, the convoy began to slowly move forward.

On the other side, Zhang Jun shouted, "Retreat!"

Upon hearing this order, the Southern Song soldiers immediately turned and ran.

Ma Sheng: "???"

Madam Gong Er: “???”

Even Yue Wenxuan was stunned: "???"

The Southern Song soldiers used agility that even the Jin cavalry couldn't match, moving as fast as lightning, leaving afterimages in their wake, and galloped southwards. How could the Northern Song soldiers, pushing their chariots and carrying heavy firearms, possibly catch up? They could only watch them leave in utter bewilderment, their faces filled with expressions of utter disbelief.

Later, someone wrote a song specifically for this scene: Watching you leave, I am filled with endless emotions...

Gong Er Niangzi: "What... what's going on? Zhang Jun just looked so fierce, like he was about to fight, why did he turn around and run away?"

Yue Wenxuan shrugged: "I guess he saw that we wanted to fight, and then he saw the chariot formation that he had never seen before, so he didn't want to fight anymore. Besides, he's shameless; once he doesn't want to fight anymore, he runs away immediately, unlike other generals who care about their reputation."

Madam Gong Er: “…”

This is ridiculous!

A person can be shameless, but not to this extent.

She was unaware that during the Fifth Song-Jin War, the Jin army attacked Chuzhou. The Southern Song court sent Zhang Jun to lead troops to reinforce Chuzhou, but Zhang Jun directly disobeyed orders, causing Yue Fei, a guerrilla fighter, to arrive with only a small group of men to reinforce Chuzhou, only to be left to sigh in despair.

This person is truly shameless.

A short while later, Ma Sheng returned with his army, looking dejected: "Oh dear, what kind of Southern Song general is this? He didn't even fire a single arrow, and he ran away before the battle even started, and he ran so fast..."

Yue Wenxuan laughed: "His only top-notch skill is escaping."

Ma Sheng was still muttering to himself, "Our chariots made their first appearance in front of the Southern Song soldiers, and before we even fought, they ran away. They might have even learned from us..."

Yue Wenxuan laughed again: "It's alright! It's not like you can learn it completely just by looking at it once. Without the support of firearms, a wooden cart is useless. Look at the Jin bandits, they learned how to make chariots, but they only had wooden doors to block arrows. Without the support of firearms, they were just a dead wall that could only move. It's good that he's gone, so we can quickly repair Chuzhou."

Ma Sheng nodded: "Once the grain transport team arrives, we'll have a large amount of grain and supplies, and then we can properly revitalize Chuzhou. Speaking of which, the grain transport team should have arrived long ago, why hasn't it arrived yet?"

Yue Wenxuan gave a mysterious smile: "No rush! They're busy over there."
-
The grain transport team was indeed very busy; they were fighting a war.

Rewind time to half an hour earlier...

The notorious bandit Li Cheng, with a large group of men, hid on a small hill. "Report!"

A scout galloped into the woods: "The Second Lady of the Northern Song has led her army into Chuzhou City, and Zhang Jun of the Southern Song will be here soon. Oh dear, the Northern Song army is hard to spot. I can't get close at all. A cricket-like general rushes over from a distance. I have to run... But the Southern Song side is easy to keep an eye on. We can just follow them from a distance. Their scouts don't dare to come and drive us away."

Li Cheng was overjoyed: "The Northern and Southern Song Dynasties are about to go to war, and our plan is half successful. Good, pass down the order to get to work. This job is definitely going to be a big hit."

The bandit army began to move, each one eager to fight.

Their scouting range was blocked, so they couldn't figure out the details of the Northern Song army. However, they were still quite clear about the general location of the Northern Song's grain transport teams. After all, the grain transport teams were different from the main force, and the scouts couldn't keep up with them.

"Brothers, we need to be quick! Rush over and grab their supplies while the main force of the Northern Song army is fighting the main force of the Southern Song army, and then run away!" Li Cheng laughed loudly. "After we've made this run, we'll head north and join the Qi Kingdom."

"it is good!"

Li Chengjun began his descent...

When they move, they are terrifying; a vast and mighty force of people is emerging from the forests that cover the mountains and plains.

In no time, tens of thousands of people had gathered at the foot of the mountain, and more people were coming down from the mountain.

It turns out that Li Chengjun's total troop strength at this time has exceeded 100,000!
You read that right, it really is 100,000.

The reason is simple: the Huainan region was too chaotic, with anarchy everywhere. The people were left unattended and unprotected. When the Jin army came, they would only face certain death. Under these circumstances, it was easy for Li Cheng to coerce the people into joining his bandit army.

Wherever he went, he could easily trick entire villages into joining his bandit army with just a little coercion and enticement. Regardless of age or gender, Li Cheng accepted them all and incorporated them into his army.

As a result, the army expanded very quickly, reaching 100,000 troops in just six months.

But as for the army's combat effectiveness...

cough!
Moreover, feeding such a large army is a serious problem.

At first, they were able to plunder grain, but in recent months, it has become increasingly difficult to do so. Even small fish and shrimp are not enough to feed his large army for half a meal, which has forced Li Cheng to set his sights on the Northern Song army's food supplies.

"The Northern Song army's grain transport team is not far ahead. If we loot them all, we'll have food!" Li Cheng shouted loudly, "Charge!"

The 100,000-strong bandit army, their eyes gleaming, shouted: "Charge!"

Compared to the army of 100,000, the grain transport team of a few thousand men from the Northern Song Dynasty seemed insignificant, like a small stone about to face a raging storm.

The auxiliary soldiers and ordinary laborers in the grain transport team were immediately terrified, their faces turning pale, and they only wanted to abandon the grain carts and escape as soon as possible.

However, the Sui courier and Yan'an soldiers mixed among the laborers suddenly became excited.

What's there to be afraid of when there are a lot of people?

Haven't you seen the Western Xia army? They had a huge number of people, but they were completely useless.

The Song army could defeat ten times the size of the Western Xia army, and the Jin army was even more outrageous, with a thousand Jin soldiers able to defeat fifty or sixty thousand Western Xia soldiers.

Could this motley crew of bandits compare to the regular army of Western Xia?
"What are you afraid of? Let's fight them."

Sui Yi was the first to jump out, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Get them!"

(End of this chapter)