In the third month of the first year of Wu Zhenxing, the Battle of Yan Qiao was the turning point. The Southwest Campaign, which lasted for four months, entered the strategic counterattack period of the Huaxia army.
Fighting and killing began at the same time as the "peace negotiation" of exchanging captives. Although it was an exchange of hundreds of captives, the Jin Kingdom still spent a lot of effort on the list. On the third day after the negotiation began, the Huaxia army arranged four routes of troops to Huangming County and Rainwater Creek to open up the path of pursuit.
The deployment of the Jurchen army was also fast. As the Huaxia army advanced, the Jin army raised their white banners and weapons, ready to launch an all-out attack. In the first few days, this attitude was extremely resolute. The Female Zhen army launched a fierce, fragmented, and crisscrossed offensive in several key areas.
Looking from the back, this experienced feint attack confused many people. Of course, it was not purely a feint attack. If the Jin really wanted to break into the Chengdu Plain, they might not be able to return home in the long run, but at least in the short run, they could still cause a lot of trouble for the Huaxia army. Because of this method, the Huaxia army was relatively cautious in the first few days of the third month. Because of the Jin army's sincere attitude, the instigating of Li Rulai and other Han generals was actually delayed.
This situation could not last for long. On the sixth day of the third month, as the Huaxia army's special forces advanced steadily, the Jurchen Sect could no longer be tense in the front line. On this day, as Ba Lisu led the army in the front line to launch a general attack, the main force of the Jin army began to retreat. The moment the plan was revealed, the battlefield of dozens of miles in the mountains suddenly boiled up.
From Shiling to Xiukou, the attacking troops encountered intensive artillery attacks. Half of the remaining rockets were approved to be used. Tens of thousands of Han soldiers were blocked in the front line of the battlefield. Instigating the Han army to defect became a key part of the battlefield.
Even though most of the soldiers at the bottom of the Jin army didn't know the result of the battle at the Sword Bridge a few days ago, and the news of the Han army was strictly blocked, Li Rulai and the others, as the senior generals, knew the whole story. In the beginning, they were still skeptical about the rumor that the Female Enlightened Master wanted to withdraw, but on the sixth day, the Female Enlightened Master's true intentions began to become clear.
The large-scale attack on the frontlines had caused a great commotion. Wanyan Saba was also very strict with Li Rulai and the others, but with the help of the spies of the Chinese army, the necessary information was still delivered to the eyes of several key generals.
The conditions given by the Huaxia Army for instigating defection this time were not lenient. Once everything was settled, the Han army had to immediately enter the battlefield and complete the counterattack, encirclement, and annihilation of the advancing troops of the Jin army. In terms of various details, this was a copy of the Liangshan army's pledge of allegiance, which needed to be exchanged with lives. Realizing that the war had entered a critical stage, Li Rulai and the others wanted to raise the price, but the Huaxia Army did not compromise.
The one responsible for instigating Li Rulai to defect was Xu Shaoyuan, an officer of the Huaxia Army who used to work with Ning Yi in the secretary's office. He had successfully contacted Li Rulai twice before. On the sixth day, due to the strict supervision of the Female Enlightened Master, Xu Shaoyuan had planned to send a final ultimatum to Li Rulai by letter. However, the Female Enlightened Master was so resourceful that Xu Shaoyuan and his guards exchanged identities under the eyes of the Female Enlightened Master.
After conveying the requirements of the Huaxia Army, Li Rulai's face darkened and he began to complain, such as "My brothers are not strong enough", "The Golden Dog is very strict, so it is difficult to tell everyone to take action", "Fighting against Ba Lisu is tantamount to courting death", and so on. Later, he also threatened, "If we don't surrender, you will also be in trouble if tens of thousands of people block the way". Xu Shaoyuan just shook his head indifferently.
"The headquarters and the General Staff Headquarters have made a decision. Before midnight tonight, if you don't settle down, we will launch an attack and kill you. Anyway, if you don't work hard and block the way, we will kill you all the same. This is the second plan, and the plan has been prepared. "Xu Shaoyuan said," Mr. Ning asked me to bring you a few words. "
"… Say it."
"Mr. Ning said that for a long time, as generals of the Wu dynasty, you should have protected the country and died on the battlefield, but you didn't do it. Of course, you have your own reasons. You can say that for more than ten years, no one has won a beautiful battle in front of the Female Enlightened Master. But today, you have your own victory. "
"The Huaxia army risked their lives to carve out a path. If you want to leave, then put your lives on the line. Pick up the dignity and dignity you lost in the past ten years and fulfill your duty as a soldier. Of course, if it turns out that you can't do it and think you can cause trouble for others, then it only means that you don't have the value of living … For so many years, the Huaxia army has never been afraid of trouble. "
Xu Shaoyuan's merciless words caused the other party's expression to become a bit unnatural. Rulai Li was silent for a long time before he had someone send Xu Shaoyuan out. However, when Xu Shaoyuan left, he added, "You should also go back and ask Mister Ning … If he does things like this, isn't he afraid that everyone will push him down in the future?"
After dark, a large-scale uprising broke out in the camp of the Han army. About a quarter of the army made the first move to attack the Jin army, and another quarter followed, while more troops fell into great chaos.
Wanyan Saba, who was responsible for watching over the Han army, led his personal guards to clash with Rulai Li's rebellious troops. Then, they fought their way out of the heavy encirclement arranged by Rulai Li.
In the boundless mountains, a fierce battle unfolded. During this period, most of the members of the First and Second Divisions shouldered the task of blocking Ba Li Su from Shiling and Xiukou. The Fourth and Fifth Divisions, who were best at field battles, joined forces with thousands of soldiers led by Ning Yi to block, attack, and annihilate the retreating Jin army on the mountain roads.
On the sixth day of the third lunar month, about 7,000 soldiers attacked the six nodes on the retreating mountain roads. On the eighth day, the number of soldiers increased to 13,000. On the tenth day, the number of soldiers attacking the front reached 20,000. The front line of the attack directly extended to the complicated terrain of Yu Yu River.
The distance from the Sword Bridge to the Sword Garret was less than 50 kilometers. It would only take a day for the army to march, but nearly 100,000 Jin troops were intercepted on the winding mountain roads.
In fact, the Jin army and generals who knew that they would not be able to survive made a fierce and tenacious resistance against the retreat. At this time, although the Huaxia army brought out the epochal firearms, the power of the firearms was reduced to the minimum in the rugged mountain roads. The pursuing Huaxia army followed a more rugged path than the main road. They could not carry many weapons and supplies. The advantage they had was that they could attack a certain point and stop a large army. But when it came to fighting, the Jin army once again had the advantage of numbers. They did not even need to fear the firearms of the Huaxia army.
Because of this understanding, Wanyan Zonghan did not flee in a hurry during this retreat. Instead, he organized and mobilized the various units in the Jin army. He clearly defined the task of each chiliarch. Once they encountered the Huaxia army's attack, they were to stop and gather their superior forces to swallow the Huaxia army.
In terms of the art of war, this response was very correct. It also reflected Wanyan Zonghan's experience and toughness in war. But what he did not consider, or even if he did consider, was that from the moment the army retreated, the invincibility of the Jurchen army, which had been honed by Wanyan Aguda, Wanyan Zonghan and the others for thirty years, finally began to collapse.
During the previous invasion of the southwest, it could be said that they had encountered a well-matched enemy. After all, the Jin army had also fought a difficult battle before, and the enemy's strength even made their blood boil. But at this moment, the army that had the advantage in numbers had turned to retreat, implicitly saying many things.
Some of the "wise men" among the generals were still maintaining and boosting the morale of the soldiers. On the battlefield in the mountains, the fighting was still as violent and intense as ever. The Jurchens were hysterically charging at the Huaxia army that was blocking their way. The generals were taking the lead, wanting to open a path for the retreating army. They wanted to use their superior numbers to coordinate with the mountain road to swallow up the Huaxia army piece by piece.
But the situation was changing subtly. Even though they were using cold weapons to kill each other, the Jin people were losing again and again in the battles they were originally good at. The fearless Jurchen soldiers were cut down in pools of blood, and some of the soldiers who had begun to value their lives chose to disperse and flee.
This change was immediately fed back to the Huaxia army's front headquarters. Although the Jurchen people were still very experienced and ruthless, and some of the generals were even more proactive than before, and they were still fighting fiercely, in large-scale battles and cooperation, they often began to be too reckless or collapse too quickly. They were gradually losing the calmness and tenacity to cooperate with each other.
"… When the Jurchen people, who are used to barbaric warfare, begin to pay attention to the advantage of numbers, it means that their decline has begun to become obvious."
On the 10th of March, Ning Yi's order and tone were spread to the whole army, and soon to the Jin army, "What we need to do next is to remove their dignity bit by bit on the mountain road for a hundred miles, so that every one of them can clearly see that the so-called invincible army is already an old joke!"
The quality of the Jurchen people, as the peak army of this era, was collapsing, but for ordinary troops, it was still a nightmare. On the 11th of March, the troops of Batli Su and Safa, who were blocking the front line, began to retreat and break out of the encirclement after paying huge losses. The Han army, who had been constantly causing trouble in the rear, became the lambs before the trapped beast.
Although Li Rulai and the others were oppressed by both sides and did not dare to retreat, after a day of fighting, Batli Su and Safa still led the troops to break through Li Rulai's camp. Anyway, the Han army suffered heavy casualties.
This was a good thing for Li Rulai and the other divisions of the Han army. Many years later, he even sighed with emotion, "Those who survived can finally answer to the Huaxia army."
After the news of his brother Yin Shuke's death came, Batli Su tied a white cloth on his forehead and fought fiercely. But judging from the way he mobilized the troops, this veteran Jurchen general still maintained a great sense of sobriety and rationality. He encouraged the morale of the army with the attitude of mourning soldiers and cooperated with Wanyan Safa to bring up the rear, stubbornly resisting the pursuit of the First and Second Divisions of the Huaxia Fifth Army.
The situation in the mountains ahead gradually became more and more difficult in the fierce battle.
In response to the Jurchen people's malicious words, the scouts' battle continued in the complex terrain of the mountains. On a sunny day, they could occasionally see the spreading mountain fires and smoke rising. On rainy days, the mountain roads were slippery, making it even more difficult to travel. From time to time, the roads were dug up by the Huaxia army, or they were buried with mines, or they were occupied by the Huaxia army at some key points. While the frontline was attacking, the troops behind were blocked on the roads. Under such circumstances, there were occasionally snipers flying out of the woods and hitting some generals or leaders. In such a crowded situation, it became even more difficult to dodge.
Yu Yu still led the scouts and elite Jurchen soldiers to run in the mountains, blocking the pursuit of the Huaxia army and causing trouble for the pursuing Huaxia army for a certain period of time. On March 14, the scouts led by Yu Yu encountered the First Regiment of the Second Brigade of the Huaxia army's Fourth Division. This was an elite regiment of the Huaxia army and later became known as the "Victory Gorge Hero Regiment." In the fire-eating operation that defeated Xie Lili's troops at the Yu River last year, this regiment, led by its regimental commander, Shen Changye, blocked the enemy's main force at the Victory Gorge. More than half of them were killed or wounded, but they did not retreat an inch.
At that time, Shen Changye, the regimental commander, died on the battlefield in the mountains a month after the battle at the Victory Gorge. Now the regimental commander who replaced him was Qiu Yunsheng, the former commander of the Second Battalion. After encountering Yu Yu and the others, he commanded the troops to fight.
Yu Yu was an old general who had followed Aguda to rise to power. He was originally the most ruthless hunter. He could pass through mountains as if he was walking on flat ground, and he could accurately hit the enemy even in the darkness of the night. Qiu Yunsheng was a farmer. His family had died while fleeing in the Central Plains. Later, he was recruited by Tian Hu's troops and joined the Huaxia army after attacking the Little Canghe River. After encountering Yu Yu, he ordered his troops to fight head-on by relying on the terrain, while he himself relied on the advantage of early reconnaissance. He led a company, bypassing the most dangerous and slippery mountain roads, and began to outflank Yu Yu's rear.
After the battle, people picked up Yu Yu's body from the pile of corpses.
The news of victory spread throughout the battlefield, but for the Jin army, it could only be regarded as bad news.
This would not be the only bad news in March.
On March 16, Dalai died in a battle where he led the troops.
During the entire four months of the southwest campaign, this irascible Jurchen general had been thinking of taking revenge on Qu Zhengyan for what happened in the northwest, and the Huaxia army had also made several plans to deal with this. But until the end, such a thing did not happen. From beginning to end, the two sides did not directly confront each other on the battlefield.
On March 16, Dalai led the soldiers under his command to attack a small highland called Fish Ridge on the road back to the army. He tried to surround and drive out the Huaxia army that was nailed to the top of the mountain. The Huaxia army took advantage of the terrain to defend. After fighting for half a day, the tens of thousands of troops in the rear were blocked and stopped. Dalai personally led three charges.
In the attack that was about to advance to the top of the mountain, a Huaxia soldier who was seriously injured and lying in a pool of blood suddenly rose up. At that time, Dalai was protected by eight Jurchen warriors, but in the fierce frontline, no one could react in time. The two sides exchanged their swords. Dalai's long sword pierced through the chest of the Huaxia soldier who was charging down, while the Huaxia soldier's sword chopped down on his face. A crack appeared on his helmet, and half of his head was split open on the spot.
The battle did not stop because of this. That night, the Huaxia army that occupied the top of the mountain was bombarded by the cannons that the Jurchen Zhenren had dragged over with great difficulty. The road a mile ahead was then occupied by the Huaxia soldiers. They dug up the road and buried mines.
A hundred thousand people crowded on the spreading mountain road, like a huge snake trying to drill through a narrow tunnel. Every attack by the Huaxia army was like a nail on the snake's body. Due to the terrain, the scale of each battle was not large. However, each battle was enough to make the giant serpent almost completely stop.
Both sides were suffering huge losses, but as time went on, the anxiety that haunted the Jurchen army grew. At this moment, from the generals to the soldiers, everyone realized that the original hunters had completely become the prey. The huge and bloated Jin army began to flee in a hurry, but the small Huaxia army had already pounced on them like maggots on a tarsal bone. They wanted to tear their prey apart bit by bit.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
