The sky was gray, and the 170,000 troops appeared mighty in the autumn colors of the north bank of the Yellow River. The northern wind blew the white grass, and the withered grass and dust spread into the distance along with the extended formation. As the troops were mobilized, the distant sky was already filled with smoke.
Although they were in a huge square formation, the soldiers around them occasionally made noises, and the commotion they caused was still like a tide. Li Xizhi rode on a horse and looked at the dust stirred up by the mobilization of the troops in front of him. The blood in his body had already become boiling.
Even at the last moment, he was still speculating about the true purpose of the Black Flag Army. Was it to threaten and intimidate him so that he would not dare to attack the Daimyo Residence, or was it to create a diversion, and there were other purposes behind it … However, the other party had finally come. In response, there was also the fact that the "Effulgent Army" Wang Shanyue and the others opened the Daimyo Residence and rushed over from the south. The other party's strategic intentions were so simple and crude that he finally did not have to be suspicious anymore. However, what was revealed behind the scenes made his cheeks cold and his head cold. It was as if he had been slapped in the face in humiliation.
Fifty thousand people attacking the 170,000 troops with such determination could only mean that the other party thought that their combat power was far greater than his. They wanted to first sweep his army out of the battlefield before facing Zong Fu, Zong Wang, and the other Jin Kingdom troops.
The fury and humiliation he felt after confirming this fact caused Li Xizhi's entire body to tremble. However, it was soon transformed into seething killing intent and motivation. If Li Xizhi's heart was originally filled with some feigned hesitation, at this moment, the determination to defeat these two parties had already dominated his mind. He had been looked down upon to this extent. If he did not defeat these fifty thousand people, how could he still be a person in the future?
The army of more than a hundred thousand spread out on the battlefield within a radius of several dozen li. In order to prevent a large-scale defeat, Li Xizhi divided the army into lines of defense. She wanted to use a tight defense to deal with the edge of the black flag. Li Xizhi did not underestimate the enemy. He understood the strength of the Black Flag Army's attack. However, no matter how strong the attack was, there were only ten thousand people. Even if they were dragged, they would still be dragged down on this field.
It was the eleventh day of the eighth lunar month in the ninth year of Jianshuo. When the sun rose in the morning, the Hua Xia army split into two groups to attack Li Xizhi's army. At the same time, in the direction of the Daimyo Residence in the south, the Guangwu army split into three groups and attacked Li Xizhi's position from different directions.
The sun gradually rose. To the north of the Daimyo's mansion, the sound of more than 200,000 people fighting and the roar of cannons boiled the sky. The rain of arrows danced chaotically in the air. Occasionally, attacks and explosions streaked across the mountains in late autumn. Smoke filled the air, accompanied by explosions, drifted in the air. This was the first major battle that the Central Plains experienced after the Little Cang River. Cannons were becoming more and more common. Regardless of the quality, both sides were still not familiar with the use of this weapon. On the battlefield in the south, the Guangwu Army's troops would occasionally pass through the enemy's artillery and kill their way through the enemy's artillery, causing a huge explosion. Occasionally, some troops would be defeated by the enemy's artillery.
The Huaxia Army in the north had a much better attitude in the face of the artillery fire. After three years of war at the Little Cang River, they finally retreated to the south. Some of them were deliberately left behind by Ning Yi in the Central Plains. There were also some Huaxia soldiers who were separated from the main force and could not go south. Those who were separated from the Central Plains and returned one after another. Later on, most of them gathered in the Liangshan region and joined Zhu Biao's troops. These soldiers had experienced the cruelest of battles. In the three years of war, they were already used to the breathing of the battlefield. Later generations often said that veterans were afraid of guns and new recruits were afraid of cannons. These soldiers already understood the power of cannons and how to deal with them. In four hours, the commander of the Black Flag Army advanced and contacted Tang Dingyi, Liu Hui, Geng Guoan, and several other ten thousand men under Li Xizhi's command. They pushed the attack to the area of Withered Grass Shop, which was five miles away from Li Xizhi.
Relying on the initial momentum, the Radiant Martial Army's attack from the south also continuously pushed forward. The line of defense formed by one hundred and seventy thousand men continuously operated under Li Xizhi's command. From time to time, there would be troops fleeing in defeat, and new troops would take their place. The scattered troops would then be reorganized. After the battle had gone on for more than two hours, Kou Li, the general that Li Xizhi had arranged in the southern line of defense, led three thousand men and suddenly rebelled. With one attack, it instantly caused the ten thousand men who bore the brunt of the attack to be routed. Li Xizhi's nephew Li Xuan Wu led the nearby troops and fought with all his might before finally stabilizing the situation.
However, even though in the first four hours, the attacks from the south and northeast continuously pressed closer, when noon arrived, Li Xizhi who was overseeing the central army finally released a sigh of relief. In the northeast's Withered Grass Shop, close to forty thousand people finally stopped the Black Flag Army's offensive here. Meanwhile, even though the battle in the south was intense, right now, their advance already began to slow down. As long as they could slow down the other side's offensive, the following situation would be advantageous for them.
This was what he thought, and it was not bad.
However, at noon, a huge explosion suddenly came from the rear of the formation. Smoke and dust rose from the explosion, the earth quaked and the mountains shook. Li Xizhi turned his head to look. The explosion actually happened two thousand zhang away from the rear. Someone had detonated the heavy gunpowder. War horses neighed and sprinted. The chaos had already spread. A group of people urged their horses and charged over. "The Black Flag Army has arrived, kill Li Xizhi!"
"Lu Jianyun has defected!"
"You're courting death!" Li Xizhi's eyes turned fierce. With a swoosh, he pulled out the broadsword at his side. "The Black Flag Army's attack is already tired! This clown is just staking it all on one throw out of desperation! Today, victory is in my hands. Men, follow me to kill this traitor! I want to personally chop off his head! "
At this time, he did not investigate why there was a traitor nearby. It was not surprising that the Black Flag Army would arrange for a traitor. He had also spent his life in the army. With a loud roar, he wanted to personally charge over, but the elite troops behind him had already stopped the cavalry's charge. The people who rebelled retreated in a panic. The nearby troops had already surrounded them from all directions. Li Xizhi was giving orders loudly when a blood-stained cavalry rushed over from the northeast. The scout got off his horse when he got close. The first sentence he said stunned Li Xizhi.
"The Withered Grass Shop has failed!"
"… What did you say!" Li Xizhi's mind went blank for a moment. For a moment, he swung his longsword and slashed at the enemy. However, the scout said a second sentence with a sobbing tone.
"Tang Dingyi has defected. Chop off the head of General Liu Hui …"
"Defected … your mother's spear, Tang Dingyi …"
Li Xizhi trembled all over. He was so angry that he could not speak. However, five miles was not far. Just in the northeast, chaos was starting to spread. There were troops that were swept away and scattered. They were rushing over here. Li Xizhi immediately ordered twenty thousand people to go forward. The military law team drew their swords. On one hand, they had to maintain order. On the other hand, they gathered the scattered troops and blocked the incoming Black Flag Army. However, a chain reaction had already occurred. Lu Jianyun and the others who had defected had not been surrounded and killed. Two more incidents broke out in the army formation, followed by the explosion of supplies.
The twenty thousand people at the front began to disperse as soon as they came into contact with the army formation that was rushing over. The Black Flag Army split the waves in their field of vision and spread over. Someone shouted, "The Huaxia army is here. Surrender and you will be spared …" Li Xizhi ordered the military law team to start killing. He wanted to lead the elites of his army to charge and kill. However, what they faced in front of them was already a curtain of beads. On the side, about five thousand soldiers who were originally under Feng Qize's command were also shouting at this moment. They charged towards Li Xizhi with all their might. During the battle of Linhe Ao, Feng Qize was worried about the defection of the spy in the army. However, during that battle, the spy in the Black Flag Army did not appear. This group of defeated soldiers returned to Li Xizhi's side and was reorganized. No one expected that they would change sides now.
More than two hundred thousand people had been fighting for an entire morning. Now, they had finally become a pot of porridge. It could not be more chaotic. At this time of noon, Li Xizhi saw the most fantastical scene in his life. With Tang Dingyi's defection as the turning point, among the one hundred and seventy thousand soldiers, there were as many as twenty thousand soldiers who defected because their generals were instigated to defect. Large and small scale defections and coups instantly corroded his army into a sieve. At the same time, it destroyed the morale of more than a hundred thousand soldiers.
Li Xizhi's eyes were blood red. He led the twenty thousand elites under his direct command to charge and kill with all their might. Not long after, his nephew Li Xuanwu also brought his troops over. These thirty thousand soldiers clashed on the battlefield. What corresponded to this was the defeat and scattering of more than a hundred thousand soldiers. The Black Flag Army and Guangwu Army chased from the rear. The entire battlefield spread for more than ten li. It extended from the west to the Daimyo Residence. Li Xizhi's troops were chased all the way to the bank of the Yellow River southwest of the Daimyo Residence.
At dusk, more than fifteen thousand soldiers were surrounded by the Yellow River bank. They tried to put up a desperate struggle. In the bitter attacks that followed, large numbers of soldiers were pushed back and forth, pushed into the Yellow River. Li Xizhi was protected at the center by his nephew, personal guards, and others. At this time, his vitality was already dispirited. He continuously shook his head, only saying, "Impossible, impossible …"
If the Black Flag Army had this many spies from the very beginning, then this battle would not have continued until noon.
However, all of this still happened before his eyes.
Before this, he was already the ruler of a region in the Central Plains. In this world, he was supposed to be the person who placed the pieces on the chessboard. However, with the outbreak of war, his 170,000 elite army was routed in a single night in the face of the attack of 50,000 people.
It was hard to imagine just how many wavering people there were in his army before this. As this battle progressed without any room for error, the Hua Xia Army's spies completed the work of instigating the wavering people to defect.
The sun was setting. The Hua Xia Army began to persuade him to surrender. Li Xizhi, covered in filthy blood and dust, picked up his large sword, unwilling to surrender. What welcomed his personal guards was artillery shells. Li Xizhi was shaken to the ground by an artillery shell. He staggered to his feet, brandishing his large sword as he charged at the Hua Xia Army killing him. The other party hacked him to the ground.
"I told you, adults fight — children, get out of the way …"
At this moment, on the Yellow River, countless corpses tumbled along with the waves. The smoke outside the Daimyo Residence had not yet stopped. On this day, there were only a few days until Wanyan Zongbi's vanguard of the Jurchen army arrived. However, the defeat of this one hundred and seventy thousand soldiers was bound to startle everyone in these few days.
Time returned to twenty days ago. Wang Shanyue met with the Hua Xia Army's Zhu Biao on the hill and brought a dangerous topic.
"I have a plan that doesn't care about my life. Today, I brought it to you."
"…"
"Ever since the Jurchen army went south, the Central Plains has been silent for many years. I want to seize the Daimyo Residence and create some trouble for the Jurchen Zhenren. However, I'm afraid this kind of small trouble is not enough to inspire the people, and I can't be sure that the Jurchen Zhenren will stay in the Daimyo Residence … There are countless spies in the Black Flag Army. Help me kill Li Xizhi first. "
"… There are spies in the Hua Xia Army, but spies are not immortals. No matter how incompetent Li Xizhi is, there are one hundred and seventy thousand soldiers there. It's very difficult."
"You helped me kill Li Xizhi, but I won't let you help me keep the Daimyo Residence."
"… You really don't want your life."
"… These years, Li Xizhi and the Jurchen Zhenren have become more and more brutal, but the people who resist have become fewer and fewer. This time, when the Jurchen army goes south, they won't give the Wu dynasty any leeway. This is the Central Plains, but not many people dare to make a move. Even if you capture Liu Yu and return the world to the Wu dynasty … Dou Mingde, the chief of the Yellow Snake Stronghold, and his entire family were killed by the Jurchen Zhenren. Right now, he doesn't dare to stop a chariot with his mantis. Hui Shan Yan Kan's daughter was captured by the Jin people, tortured and killed. I went to ask him for help, but he didn't believe me. If we can defeat Li Xizhi, we can stall the Jurchen army in the Daimyo Residence. With every day that passes, they will have more confidence … Ning Yi is right. To save the world, we need to rely on the people of the world. It's not enough to rely on us alone. "
When she said this, it was just when the sky was full of stars. Wang Shanyue had long hair and a woman's appearance, but her eyes seemed to be pregnant with cold hope. Zhu Biao understood even more that with the Hua Xia army's years of operation, it was not impossible to defeat Li Xizhi with all their strength. However, if Li Xizhi was defeated, who would look after the Daimyo Residence? Without Li Xizhi to look after the Daimyo Residence, the only ones who would look after the Daimyo Residence would be the Jurchen army.
But the Wang family had always been like this. More than twenty years ago, when the Liao people went south, Wang Qisong led his entire family of men to resist the Liao people's army. They were all slaughtered, and the elderly were skinned and their corpses were displayed. When they were buried, not even their bones were complete. Now, the only remaining male of the Wang family was also about to embark on this path.
"You help me kill Li Xizhi," he said.
"I will turn the Daimyo Residence … into another Taiyuan!"
On the eleventh day of the eighth month, Li Xizhi's army was routed like an avalanche under the fierce offensive. The Guangwu Army incorporated a small number of troops and took charge of the supplies, but most of the untrustworthy people were still released after some propaganda. On the thirteenth day of the eighth month, hundreds of people from the Yellow Snake Stronghold arrived at the Daimyo Residence. Every day after that, groups of people came and were incorporated by the Guangwu Army. Until the sixteenth of the eighth month, Wanyan Zongbi's cavalry advanced within a hundred miles of the Daimyo Residence. The number of righteous people who arrived at the Daimyo Residence had reached as many as six thousand people. These people had either lost their families to the Jurchen's butcher knives, or had righteous hearts and had been oppressed by the Jurchen all these years. Most of them understood that once they entered the Daimyo Residence, it would be very difficult to get out.
The Hua Xia army left the Daimyo Residence.
On the fifteenth of the fifteenth, the moon was round on the sixteenth. That night, Zhu Biao was the last to leave. Looking back at the Daimyo Residence, Wang Shanyue smiled and waved from the top of the city wall. Her clothes were like snow, and her clothes were like the wind. At this moment, it was already late in autumn. The Yellow River in the south was still surging. Under the moonlight, the lonely city contained an incomparably heroic dream.
I will delay the Jurchen for as long as I can.
Until …
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