Withered grass covered the ground and autumn swept the sky.
At the end of the eighth month of the second year of Jianshuo, the first clash between the Black Flag Army and the Jurchen Western Army broke out on the night of the twenty-third of the eighth month in the plains to the northeast of Yanzhou City.
At that time, considering the existence of Hai Dongqing in the Jurchen army as well as the brazen surveillance of Little Cang River, it was very difficult for the sneak attack of the Jurchen army to be effective. However, out of consideration for probability, the upper echelons of the Black Flag Army still prepared a sneak attack before the start of the battle. The plan was to have one of the hot air balloons fly above the Jurchen camp before the Jurchen realized the full effect of the hot air balloons and drop a bag of explosives on Wanyan Loushi's tent.
The time to drop the bomb was chosen at night. If it was lucky enough to kill Wanyan Loushi, the Black Flag Army would effortlessly resolve the danger in the northwest. Even if the explosion occurred near the tent, the Jurchen camp would inevitably panic when suddenly attacked. Then, with Han Jing's four thousand soldiers attacking the camp, it was extremely likely that the Jurchen army would collapse.
Controlling the direction of a hot air balloon at this time — no matter when it was a hot air balloon — was an enormous problem. However, during this period of time in the air, the operators of the hot air balloons on Little Cang River had already grasped the trick. The general direction of the hot air balloon was still controllable. This was because the direction of the wind was not the same at every altitude. Using this method, the hot air balloon's flight could be determined to a certain extent. However, because the accuracy was not high, the position of the hot air balloon could not be too far from the Jurchen camp.
Because of this reason, the hot air balloon was discovered by the Jurchen scouts before it could take off. Perhaps it was because the heavens did not want the Black Flag Army to win here too easily. Afterwards, the leader of the Black Flag Army Special Forces, Chen Xing, decisively chose to give up on the mission and quickly withdrew. Han Jing naturally could only give up on the plan to attack the Jurchen camp at night.
However, after this, the Jurchen general Sahalin Kamu led a thousand cavalry to follow and had a scuffle with Han Jing's troops that night. This was originally a probing scuffle, but it quickly escalated. Perhaps both sides had not anticipated this.
This Jurchen general Sahalin was originally Wanyan Loushi's personal attendant and led the elites of the Western Punitive Army. Throughout their journey south, they fought valiantly on the battlefield and the Han army before them would often be routed in just one or two attacks.
The two sides met face to face, forming a formation to attack, mounted archery. In the beginning, it was still somewhat orderly, but after all, it was night time. After two rounds of entanglement, Saharin remembered Wanyan Loushi's order to obtain the flying object and began to probe the other side. The first round of conflict erupted.
How could Han Jing's cavalry be easy to deal with? They were the group of people who risked their lives the most in Lu Liang Mountain. When they had no food to eat, they would hang their heads on their waistbands and fight with others. Many of them had participated in the battle of Xia Village against the resentful army. When the Black Flag Army of Little Canghe defeated the one hundred and fifty thousand strong army of Western Xia, these arrogant men had long been longing for a battle.
And the most frightening thing was that in this past year, Ning Yi had publicized the battle against Dong Zhiyuan in Green Wood Stronghold and Little Canghe. At that time, when Yu Cangma had led the light cavalry to charge at the formation and posed a threat, the chief of staff of the Special Forces, Zhou Huan, had led a few hundred people to charge in an incomparably violent manner. In the end, a few hundred cavalrymen had forcibly crushed the morale of a few thousand cavalrymen. If Little Canghe could do it, what could Green Wood Stronghold not do?
When both sides had held their breaths and it was night time again, after the first round of charging and fighting had "accidentally" erupted, the entire night suddenly boiled over. Hysterical shouts suddenly exploded in the night sky. With a small portion of the front already mixed together, the leaders of both sides did not dare to call for a retreat and could only try their best to restrain their subordinates. But in the darkness, one could only clearly see who was who when they were right in front of them. In a moment, the sounds of fighting, shouts, collisions and tumbling swept across the night sky!
Based on the military strength and calculations of both sides, these two armies had only met for the first time, so they might not have figured out the purpose of the battle yet. In this brief moment of contact, the morale of both sides had been raised to the extreme, and then it turned into a situation of entanglement and killing. This was indeed rare. But by the time they reacted, it was already hard for both sides to back down.
There were a total of about a thousand soldiers participating in this tragic battle in the darkness of the night, and the remaining soldiers were not idle either, shooting arrows and entangling with each other. Fire arrows and arrows that had not yet been ignited were scattered everywhere. The Female Zhenren's side was the first to release fireworks to retreat, and then Han Jing's side also issued an order to retreat, but it was already too late.
The chaotic fighting in the darkness had already spread, and the large-scale chaos gradually turned into small groups, small scale raids, and fierce fights. That night, the few troops that had fought the longest had probably killed their way out for more than ten miles. The soldiers from Luliang Mountain faced the hunters from Changbai Mountain. Even though both sides had become small groups without any organization, they did not lose their fighting strength in the dark mountain ridges. For half the night, the bloody fighting in the mountain ridges, as each side fled and searched for their companions and troops, practically never stopped.
When it was close to midnight, the reinforcement troops dispatched by Wanyan Loushi arrived, and Han Jing led his subordinates in a leisurely retreat. The other side did not choose to give chase. And after Han Jing's troops retreated several miles, they stopped and set up camp, not planning to leave.
That night, the bustle that occurred in the vicinity of Yanzhou continued for most of the night. As for Yan Zhenguo's troops, who were still leading 90,000 troops to besiege the city, they were still completely dumbfounded as to what had happened. It wasn't until the next day that they roughly figured out last night that Sahalin had clashed with some unknown army, and the origin of this army faintly pointed to … the mountains to the northeast.
Yan Zhenguo called over his aides, Long Zhiyong, Mu Wenchang, and the others to hold a meeting in the camp. Although he was the commanding envoy of Qinfeng Road, the area around Qinfeng Road was mostly the territory of the Western Army. Although his position was high, his actual position was not high. When the Female Zhenren attacked, he was clumsy and couldn't run away. In the end, he was captured and simply surrendered to the Female Zhenren. He was driven to attack Yanzhou, but now he felt that there was no way out. But after being here for so long, he was still clear about the various powers in the surroundings.
"Right now in the northwest, the Zhe family has already surrendered. If it wasn't a fake surrender, the one coming out right now would probably be the devil incarnate of Luliang Mountain. This army is ferocious, perhaps comparable to the Female Zhenren. If they come, we have no choice but to take precautions. "
At this time, the city was still being besieged outside. Yan Zhenguo's scholarly temperament gave him a headache when he thought of this matter. Long Zhiyong comforted him, "Don't worry, Master. Although the Black Flag Army is valiant, their act of regicide shows that they are limited. The Female Zhenren has swept through the world, her spirit swallowing mountains and rivers. Wanyan Loushi is an exceptional general, and his use of troops is steady. Right now, he is holding back his troops to show his tactics. If the Black Flag Army really does come, this student believes that it will be difficult to defeat the Jin army. Master only needs to wait and see what happens. "
Mu Wenchang said, "Our one hundred thousand troops are more than enough to besiege the city. Since Master is worried, first, we should break the city as soon as possible. This way, even if the Black Flag Army comes, Yanzhou will not be able to provide support. Without the help of the Western Army, there is no point in continuing the battle. Second, our side can free up twenty thousand men to form a defensive formation at the back. The Black Flag Army is indeed the devil incarnate, but they are few in number and Marshal Loushi is at his side. If he wants to deal with us and resolve Yanzhou's crisis, he only needs to be slightly entangled. How can Marshal Loushi not seize the opportunity … "
After Mu Wenchang finished speaking, Yan Zhenguo laughed and nodded his head in agreement. Soon after, he dispatched a general to separate twenty thousand men and horses to set up camp at the back of the camp to defend against the enemy coming from the east.
Right now it was the afternoon of the twenty-fourth of the eighth month. Yanzhou's offensive and defensive battles were still intense. At the back of the besieging side, another twenty thousand men were divided into a formation. On top of Yanzhou's city walls, feeling the increasing intensity of the siege, the blood-soaked Zhong Lie faintly sensed that something was happening. The morale on top of the city walls was also boosted.
Meanwhile, at dusk, an army already quickly leapt out from the foothills to the east. The army marched quickly, their black flags fluttering in the autumn wind. The five regiments of the Hua Xia army, consisting of more than 13,000 people, stretched out for several miles. They only stopped to rest for a moment when they reached the outside of the mountain.
The kitchen soldiers distributed steamed buns and meat soup.
Zhuo Yongqing was a new recruit of the Black Flag Army. He was originally from Yanzhou. Right now, he was sitting at the edge of a field, slurping down steamed buns and soup. Most of the companions in the row at his side were in a similar state. The night was already approaching. However, as far as the eye could see, there were Black Flag Army soldiers at the sides of the roads in this desolate world. Row after row, it was as if they weren't in the wilderness at all. He suppressed his nervousness.
The Black Flag Army trained quite a bit normally. A day of marching, for Zhuo Yongqing and the others, only made them feel a bit tired. What they felt was even more nervousness from heading to the battlefield. This type of nervousness was also present on veteran soldiers, but it was rarely seen. Zhuo Yongqing's squad leader was Mao Yishan. Normally, he was a good person, simple and honest, easy to talk to, and he also cared about others. Zhuo Yongqing quietly asked him, "Squad leader, what does a hundred thousand people look like?"
Mao Yishan buried his head in eating and gave him a look. "The food is good, I won't say anything." Then, he buried his head in eating the meat in the soup again.
Everyone used steamed buns to sweep the bottom of their bowls. After a bit of rest, the army set off again. They only pitched camp after walking another five li or so. Along the way, Mao Yishan said to Zhuo Yongqing, "It's about the same as ten thousand people." In the darkness of night, there were long stretches of torches. The soldiers and companions who walked at the same pace actually made Zhuo Yongqing's nervousness disappear a bit.
Apart from the necessary rest, the Black Flag Army practically didn't stop. The next day was a twenty-five li journey. By afternoon, Zhuo Yongqing could already vaguely see Yanzhou City's outline. In the distance ahead, people and military tents covered the mountains and plains. Meanwhile, on top of Yanzhou City's walls, traces of red and black mixed together could be vaguely seen. It was enough to see the desperation of the siege.
The army that Zhuo Yongqing was in reorganized for a bit. In front of them, there was an unknown number of troops slowly pushing over. Zhuo Yongqing was called up. The army began to get into formation. He stood in the third row, shield raised and blade in hand. At his sides, front and back were the figures of his companions. Just like every time they trained, they were in formation and waiting.
At the side, squad leader Mao Yishan was currently using his mouth to secretly exhale a long breath. Zhuo Yongqing followed suit. Meanwhile, in front of him, someone shouted, "Do you still remember what you said when we set off?! When encountering an enemy, there are only two words … "
Zhuo Yongqing paused. Then, wisps of blood welled up in his eyes. He roared out with all his might. At this moment, the entire army was shouting, "Fierce! Destroy — "The plains were shaken until a buzzing sound rang out.
He didn't know how many people were at his side. However, the autumn wind rose. An enormous balloon flew over their heads.
On top of Yanzhou City, Zhong Lie put down the shoddy binoculars in his hands and furrowed his brows in slight confusion. "They …"
On the twenty-fifth day of the eighth month, the Black Flag Army split into two groups. One group of eight thousand people met up with Han Jing northeast of Yanzhou City. After twelve thousand people met up, they slowly pushed towards the Female Enlightened Master's camp. At the same time, the second and third groups of five thousand people started a standoff with the ninety thousand attacking troops led by Yan Zhenguo a bit further south.
Wanyan Loushi ordered Yan Zhenguo's troops to attack the Black Flag Army. Yan Zhenguo didn't dare to disobey and ordered twenty thousand people to advance in this direction. However, before the battle, he was still a bit hesitant. "Should we send an emissary to first summon them to surrender?"
The advisor thought for a bit and responded, "Daren's words are very reasonable. It is the principle of using peaceful means before resorting to force."
At dusk, they sent out an emissary towards the five thousand people. They had only walked halfway when they saw three enormous balloons fly over. The five thousand people formed a formation and pushed forward. On the north side, the main forces of the two armies were in a standoff. Any movement would affect the whole situation. However, the Black Flag Army that had rushed over did not hesitate at all. Even when facing the Female Enlightened Master of War, they did not give any face.
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