The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 464 Wuyang
Yue Wenxuan was quite satisfied after listening; it was not bad.

In ancient times, it was already quite good if the laborers could make such plans and arrangements in advance.

It was clear that Ma Congyi had already trained and arranged for these laborers' team leaders beforehand, so that each of them knew what they should do.

After listening to the reports from the labor team leaders, Yue Wenxuan was overjoyed. He praised them and promised to promote and raise them in the future, which made everyone happy.

The army rested for a night and continued its advance.

Before long, Wuyang County came into view.

This was just a small county town. The Jin army only had a small detachment stationed here, while the main force in the town consisted of the puppet army of the puppet Qi state.

These puppet troops might have a tiny bit of fighting power when their Jin state was in command, but since the Jin state led its army to launch a surprise attack on Zhongyang Mountain, and there were no Jin soldiers in the city, the fighting power of the puppet Qi troops was...

Yue Wenxuan didn't pay any attention to the siege and continued to stay with the laborers.

The laborers had not received any combat training and were not particularly brave. They dared not move forward and hid far behind the battlefield. They could only hear the booming of cannons in the distance, followed by the banging of muskets. Many of them trembled with fear.

Ma Congyi stood in front of them and shouted, “Don’t be afraid, everyone. Trust our soldiers. They will win. The enemy will not attack us. They are hiding in Wuyang County, trembling with fear. It is they who are afraid of us, not us who are afraid of them.”

His words emboldened many laborers, and many climbed trees to look ahead, but the distance was too great, and even from the trees they could not see anything but the smoke and dust raised by the cannons.

I don't know how much time passed, but then cheers erupted from ahead, and someone shouted, "We won! We won!"

"Capture more alive!"

"After entering the city, you must not disturb the residents."

Such cries rose and fell, and the regular army began to enter the city. The auxiliary troops also began to charge forward.

The laborers finally grew bolder and charged alongside the auxiliary soldiers.

Ma Congyi ran at the very front. It looked rather strange that a small child like him was leading a large group of laborers in a charge. But if you looked closely, you would find that the Ma family's guards were actually protecting him the whole time. They would never let a child be in danger. Noble families would not let their most promising young man be wasted like that.

Soon, the main force led by Gong Erniangzi had entered Wuyang County, and the puppet Qi army in the city surrendered one after another.

Wang Hong led the auxiliary troops to begin clearing the battlefield.

Ma Congyi climbed to the top of the city wall, looked left and right, and gazed into the distance, even taking out a map for reference...

He quickly pointed northeast and said, "First group, go in this direction. There should be a narrow river mouth about five miles away. Build a gray fort at the strategic point of the river mouth. Hurry up!"

A thousand-strong labor force immediately set off, and Wang Hong quickly dispatched several hundred auxiliary soldiers to accompany them. The main role of these auxiliary soldiers was to protect the labor force and prevent them from being attacked by small groups of enemy soldiers.

As for the regular soldiers, they would naturally be stationed in the county seat, radiating influence in all directions.

Everything about the Northern Song army appeared to be in perfect order!

Almost everyone knows what to do.

Just then, a scout suddenly ran over from the southwest and shouted, "There is a group of True Gold Bandits cavalry, about 1,500 men, coming from the southwest. They look like a defeated army."

To the southwest of Wuyang County lies Zhongyang Mountain. Yue Yun was in charge of ambush at Zhongyang Mountain, so the retreating Zhenjin bandit cavalry was naturally the unit that had fallen into Yue Yun's ambush and was retreating.

Gong Erniangzi ordered: "Yizhangqing, you lead the cuirassier troops to intercept them and prevent them from reaching Wuyang County, lest they harm our laborers."

Yi Zhangqing nodded and quickly led his cuirassier cavalry out of the city.

That Zhenjin bandit group was really unlucky. They barely escaped from Yue Yun's ambush and crossed Zhongyang Mountain. Exhausted and thirsty, they just wanted to get back to the county town as soon as possible so that the puppet Qi lackeys they had raised could serve them well. However, they did not expect that just five miles southwest of Wuyang County, they would hear the thunder of horses' hooves ahead.

The Jin cavalry initially thought it was reinforcements from the Jin Kingdom, but when the enemy came into view, they realized something was wrong.

A golden breastplate loomed in front...

Isn't that really the cuirassiers of the Northern Song Dynasty?
The Jin soldiers realized the situation was dire and turned to flee.

But their warhorses had been galloping for a long time and were exhausted; they couldn't possibly outrun them.

The sound of horses' hooves grew closer and closer behind them; the cavalry of the Northern Song Dynasty would soon catch up.

Many Jin cavalrymen, enraged, stopped running, turned around, drew their bows, and fired wildly. A series of clanging sounds rang out as their gleaming breastplates easily deflected the arrows.

Then it was their turn to make a move!

The cuirassiers reached to their waists and pulled out short muskets: "Bang!"

He fired a shot, tucked the pistol into his waistband, then pulled out another pistol, fired it with a "bang," and pulled out yet another pistol...

It turns out that during the last Battle of Kaifeng, due to logistical constraints, the cuirassiers only had a short musket. However, after more than a year of development, the productivity of the Northern Song Dynasty has reached a new level, and the equipment of the cuirassiers, as a top-tier military unit, has been upgraded once again.

Now every cuirassier carries four short muskets at his waist.

Before going into battle, load them all up. Once you're engaged, you don't need to worry about reloading anymore. Fire one shot, then switch to another. After firing four shots, then draw your melee weapon to fight the enemy.

but……

After four shots were fired, there was no enemy left who could sit properly on horseback.

When the cold weapon is drawn, one is already lost and bewildered, for how lonely it is to be invincible.

"Loneliness my ass!" Yi Zhangqing cursed angrily. "Even if the enemy has been wiped out, no one is allowed to show off at this time. Everyone, immediately reload your bullets on the spot. Only do other things after you have reloaded all four muskets, in case the enemy suddenly comes again."

The cuirassiers suddenly realized, "Oh, right!" There was a very important rule in the cuirassiers' discipline: after a battle, they had to reload their guns immediately. They were not allowed to do anything else until all four muskets were fully loaded.

If the muskets weren't loaded properly, even cheering wasn't allowed.

The soldiers quickly suppressed their joy and frantically loaded the guns. This was the moment when men who had been single for thirty years had the greatest advantage; the first one to finish loading would enjoy the privilege of being the "first to celebrate victory."

Finally, the man finished loading the muskets. He neatly arranged the four loaded muskets side by side at his waist, then raised his hands, looked up to the sky, and laughed loudly: "Hahahaha! I won!"

He not only defeated the Jin thieves, but also all his comrades, which is enough for him to brag about for a while.

(End of this chapter)