In the turbulent times, people went in different directions. Although most people drifted with the tide, there were always people who moved against the tide and drew their swords forward.
After the Jurchen Western Army broke through Xiangfan, the gates of the Wu dynasty were opened, and the area from Xiangfan to Sword Gate Pass quickly fell. Many people and troops knelt before the Jurchen Zhenren. In less than half a year, all the cities in this area opened their gates to the Jurchen Zhenren.
Some of those who resisted died at the time, and the Jurchens who were willing to surrender showed their loyalty in one way or another. However, there were always some who truly chose to feign civility and wait quietly for an opportunity to turn things around.
Xiangyang and Fancheng were not the only ways to return to the north from the southwest and cross the Yangtze River, but geographically speaking, Xiangfan was in an important position. The Jurchen troops, who had never considered the possibility of failure, had always concentrated their fleet at the crossing of Xiangfan. Because of this, when some of the most unlikely situations occurred, the plan to order the army to attack Xiangfan and cut off the Female Zhenren's escape route had been circling in the minds of some extremely daring people since last year.
The defeat of the Jin at Sword Bridge had touched the nerves of Liu Guangshi, Xia Zhongxin, Xiao Zheng, and the others, causing them to quickly make their own decisions. At the same time, there were always some people who began to contact and carry out their plans.
On the seventh day of the third month, after contacting each other, Qi Xinhan led a brigade and set off along a carefully explored route. On the 27th day of the third month, they arrived at the foot of Fancheng and attempted to launch a sneak attack.
If the sneak attack was successful, it would deal a heavy blow to the Jurchen Western Army, who was trying to retreat. But the subsequent progress was not smooth.
Three thousand people ran for nearly a thousand kilometers, and the route they chose was equivalent to the enemy's rear. The whole operation was actually extremely risky. But considering the estrangement between the Jin and Han armies and the significance of this operation, Qin Shaoqian finally approved this operation. He selected the most elite troops and made several plans. Although the Han army, who had secretly contacted the Huaxia army, made a detailed plan, the Huaxia army did not follow it in the end.
It turned out that this mentality was extremely necessary. As they approached the boundary of Fancheng, Qi Xinhan released the scouts and went to Fancheng in advance to observe the situation. The army did not enter the agreed place at the appointed time.
The contact inside Fancheng missed the appointment, and as the scouts sent out a signal from the south of the city, someone jumped down from the city wall.
The person who was arranged to open the gate in Fan City was originally a low-ranking general of the Han Army of the Central Plains. However, it was obvious that the plan had been seen through by the Female Zhenren. They brought this low-ranking general to the city wall and ordered him to deceive the Huaxia army. However, this person's leap completely eliminated this possibility.
The Jurchen army and the elite puppet army stationed in the Xiangfan area had not confirmed the whereabouts of the Huaxia army beforehand. Only after capturing the spy did they carry out a large-scale mobilization. Tens of thousands of troops, including the three thousand Mountain Slaughtering Guards, quickly surrounded the city. Qi Xinhan did not panic. The 3,000 troops quickly retreated to the vicinity of Danyang Town southwest of Fancheng and set up an ambush under the cover of the night.
The Han army in Fan City saw that the Golden Men had seen through the Black Flag's plan to steal the city and began to flee. Their will to fight became firm and thousands of people quickly chased to Dan Yang. Seeing a group of Black Flag retreating into the mountains, they surged forward in an attempt to take advantage of the terrain. Before they could go up the mountain, the Huaxia army in the middle of the formation launched an attack, splitting the formation in two. Then, another ambush army attacked from the rear and seized the gunpowder, carriages, and iron cannons carried by the Huaxia army.
When the Mountain Slaughtering Guards arrived, the first group of 6,000 Han soldiers were fleeing all over the mountains. The Huaxia army was divided into two groups and set up a horn-shaped cannon array in the mountains, waiting for the Mountain Slaughtering Guards to attack head-on.
Although the Mountain Slaughtering Guards were Jurchen elites, the total number of people in Xi Yin's hands outside the Sword Garret was no more than 30,000. The number of people who could be arranged in Fancheng and sent out to chase was even fewer. With the same number of people, Qi Xinhan directly challenged the Mountain Slaughtering Guards to a duel after defeating a Han army that was twice his size.
The leader of the Mountain Slaughtering Guards was also a valiant general. When he saw the Huaxia army's arrogance, he immediately launched an attack.
The battle at night was unusually fierce. Although the Huaxia army had only fought one battle, they actually had an advantage when they set up their formation after occupying the geographical advantage. It was precisely because of this that Qi Xinhan provoked the enemy. However, the Jurchen general was no fool. He realized the problem in the second half of the first wave of attack and ordered a large number of troops to try to outflank the enemy. At the same time, he deployed more Han soldiers from the south of Fancheng to block the road. Before he could complete his encirclement, Qi Xinhan took advantage of the favorable terrain and quickly began to move before dawn.
The Mountain Slaughtering Guards followed along the way.
Although the Jurchen side had the advantage in numbers, the 3,000 men led by Qi Xinhan had trained for a long time on the plateau. Long distance raids on rugged terrain were nothing out of the ordinary. They weaved through the mountains and occasionally encountered the Han army, but they were defeated with one blow. This situation made it impossible for the Jurchen side to seize the opportunity in the first two days. People only knew that a heated battle had broken out in the vicinity of Fan City.
The battle on the battlefield had already ignited the flames. Outside the battlefield, the situation was extremely complicated.
…
On the 29th of the third month, the sky was gloomy to the north of Zhaohua. In the rear camp of the Jin Kingdom's Western Army.
The forty-three-year-old Jin general Wanyan Yuchi opened the curtain of the tent and greeted the commander-in-chief, "Teacher."
The tent was brightly lit. In the center of the tent was a huge sand table. All kinds of small flags were inserted in corresponding positions on the sand table. The flags had the names of different forces and armies written on them. Every day, with the arrival of intelligence, a round of adjustments and updates would be carried out.
Wanyan Xiyin, who had half a head of white hair and a body that had recently become thinner but was still hale and hearty, sat on a chair in front of the sand table. Wanyan Yuchi noticed that he was holding two flags in his hands and seemed to be lost in thought.
"Teacher." Wanyan Yuchi had followed Xi Yin for many years. Compared to the Little Prince Qing Jue, Wanyan Yuchi's family wasn't very prominent. But because of this, he had climbed up the ranks with solid achievements. He could be considered as Xi Yin's most trusted disciple and right-hand man. Seeing Xi Yin's actions, he could roughly guess what had happened. "… Did you find them?"
"Yes." Wanyan Xiyin nodded and twirled the small flags with names in his hands. After a while, he sighed slightly and revealed a trace of a smile. "Dai Mengwei, Wang Zainan. Do you remember these two?"
Wanyan Yuchi thought for a while. "Dai Mengwei is a great Confucian of West City and Wang Zainan is also a Confucian general. Teacher really liked the things they sent before the New Year and chatted with them for a long time … Did they betray you?"
"They have never truly surrendered, so how could they betray you? Yuchi, I have already said that Confucianism is broad and profound. These scholars in the south don't all kneel down. I am somewhat gratified to know that it was them. "
"Yes." Wanyan Yuchi nodded. Actually, not all of Xi Yin's disciples were people who liked to study.
"Go and deal with it."
Xi Yin's simple words were followed by countless bloody battles.
…
As Wanyan Yuchi led his troops out, the Hua Xia Army's intelligence department members who were originally hiding in the area between the Yangtze River and the Sword Garret were also quickly making their own reactions and actions.
After the Female Zhenren occupied this area, she killed people and massacred the city. Those who resisted either died or surrendered. There were always some who went up the mountains and hid among the refugees. They had been carrying out their own resistance all along. Among the Han army and landowning households, there were also those who leaned towards the Hua Xia Army. It was precisely Dai Mengwei and Wang Zainan, who controlled a few places, who contacted the Hua Xia Army and proposed the plan to seize Fan City.
But it was obvious that Wanyan Xiyin had already predicted the importance of Fan City. Even the fact that the Han army who had surrendered to him would collude with the Black Flag was not out of his calculations. With the appearance of the Wooden Bridge incident and Qi Xinhan approaching Fan City, Xi Yin's arrangements were launched. After forcing Qi Xinhan back, he reviewed the earlier information and the figures of Dai Mengwei and Wang Zainan entered his vision.
At the same time, the Hua Xia Army's intelligence department had to start considering the possibility that Dai Mengwei and Wang Zainan were actually traitors. After this possibility was eliminated, the news of the operation spread in all directions.
The Woodland Heroes and resistance forces led by Fu Lu, who were originally lying in ambush in various cities and refugee groups, began to move. The purpose of their action was to unite the forces of all parties and begin to rescue Dai Mengwei and Wang Zainan, as well as the relatives and clansmen of these two rebels. Amidst the uproar, the Hua Xia Army began to lobby all the other Han army units within a thousand miles.
The chess pieces of both sides were still falling. Wanyan Xiyin was waiting for the appearance of the rebels in an attempt to suppress them in one fell swoop. He wanted to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys and detonate and clean up the possible hidden dangers on the way back to the north. As for the Hua Xia army, Qin Shaoqian wanted to remind everyone that the time for the decisive battle was coming, starting with 3,000 soldiers risking their lives.
…
The fuse outside Sword Gate Pass was lit. Inside Sword Gate Pass, the fierce battle was still going on.
To the south of Huang Ming County, the air was humid and gloomy. Smoke filled the air and the pungent smell of blood filled the nostrils.
Wanyan Xiyama waved his long saber and shouted loudly. He was active in the battle at the front line. His continuous activity boosted the morale of the Jin army.
The rocket named "Dijiang" was launched from the I-shaped frame on the top of a small hill. It whistled over with a terrifying tail flame and fell into a stream not far away. Wanyan Xiyama led his troops and charged towards the small hill that was occupied by a small number of Hua Xia soldiers.
From the 21st of March at Yu Yu Creek to today at Huang Ming County, he had been fighting for several days, shouting himself hoarse. In fact, the most critical moment for Zong Han's army to retreat from the southwest had also arrived.
This was the most difficult and despairing battle he had ever encountered in his life. After fighting for five days at Yu Yu Creek, Shanyan thought he was going to die in that forest. The soldiers led by Qu Zhengyan were only slightly more than four thousand. Although raising Ning Yi's flag was only an empty city stratagem, but those who followed him were the most valiant units in the Black Flag Army. The Jin army gradually lost their morale, on the second day of the frontal battle, they showed signs of weakness. On the third day, Shema was blocked on the narrow mountain path, almost surrounded by two Black Flag Army units.
But there were still warriors among the Jin. The deputy of the Xi people, Ni She Lang, who had been fighting with Shanyan for nearly twenty years, took Shanyan's battle flag and used all his strength to break out of the encirclement. In the end, Ni She Lang was shot dead by the Black Flag Army. Shanyan luckily broke out and escaped with his life.
It was difficult for a person who had been weak all his life to suddenly become a tough bone, and a person who had been proud all his life would not suddenly become weak. After days of fighting, his brothers died, his deputy died, and in breaking out of the encirclement, his favorite warhorse, who was like one person to him, also died. Most of the soldiers around him showed expressions of panic and despair that had never been seen in the past. Shanyan actually forgot his fear. After that, he gathered his troops and fought for another two days. The artillery fire of the Black Flag Army and the stray arrows on the battlefield did not touch him at all.
The terrain of Yu Yu Creek was complicated. In five days, although there was no clear victor after round of fighting, for the Jin people, this battle had indeed delayed Qu Zhengyan's momentum of continuing to push forward. When more Black Flag Army gathered at Yu Yu Creek, Shanyan withdrew his army to Huang Ming County.
At this time, a large number of Jurchen troops were surging towards the narrow Huang Ming Mountain Road. The Huaxia military officers chased after them, causing the Jin people to suffer heavy casualties.
More than a month ago, the army that arrived at the front line of Shiling and Xiukou was a total of fifty thousand Han soldiers and nearly a hundred thousand Jin main forces. On the mountain road behind them, there were more than thirty thousand wounded soldiers and rearguard troops stationed everywhere. After the defeat at Yan Bridge, most of the Han army chose to surrender. There were nearly seventy thousand Jin soldiers who set off from Shiling and Xiukou. But with the people on the road behind them, the total number had reached a hundred thousand.
In more than half a month, under the repeated attacks of the Huaxia army, the Jin army had suffered nearly twenty thousand casualties and went missing. A small number of wounded soldiers who could not be evacuated chose to surrender. On the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth, about fifty thousand Jurchen troops had successfully passed through Huang Ming Mountain Pass. The remaining twenty thousand were blocked in front of the mountain road. Due to the fact that it was very difficult to take a detour around Huangming County, the Huaxia Empire army that had caught up with them launched one attack after another on the fleeing Jurchen troops. After defeating them, they captured them.
The morale of the troops that were left at the back was low. Although they often occupied the road to defend, the range of the Huaxia army's rockets was far greater than that of the cannons. Often, after a round of rockets and a round of attacks, the Jurchen troops at the back began to surrender on a large scale. During this period, Batli Su, Saba, and the others fought bravely to a certain extent to delay the collapse of the Jurchen troops. Shanyan who came from Yu Yu Creek also joined in, trying to stabilize the morale of the troops.
On the twenty-ninth day, a small team of the Huaxia army came from the side and used a sneak attack to occupy a hill beside the road, almost cutting off the path of the thousands of troops at the back. Shanyan led the team and launched two attacks on the hill. The Huaxia army, which was at an extreme disadvantage in terms of numbers, launched several rockets. Seeing the Jurchen Zhenren rushing over, they finally chose to retreat.
A rocket exploded behind a big rock not far from Shanyan. Some of the soldiers around him were blown away. Shanyan had already shouted himself hoarse. When his personal guards rushed over, he was still standing there in a daze for a long time. Then he realized that he was lucky to have survived again.
The Huaxia army on the hill retreated in a panic.
— — And he was still alive.
He thought of many people that the Jurchen Zhenren had called heroes in the past. Aguda, his father, Zong Wang, Xi Yin, Lou Shi, Batli Su … At this moment, he suddenly realized why he was inferior to them. He had followed the army and fought for twenty years. He also prided himself on being brave. But in fact, most of the battles he fought after he became an adult were actually easy battles.
Aguda was different from his father and Xi Yin's generation. In the eyes of the later generations, they were generous and heroic. But when they fought from Ningjiang Province to Hubu Dagang, they fought with a small number of troops against a large number of Liao soldiers. They had walked on the edge of life and death like this.
Only at this moment did he truly understand how difficult it was to survive.
There was a gloomy sun on the horizon and the valley was covered with haze. But at this moment, everything was vivid and moving. Not long after, he saw Batli Su coming from the other side of the road. The two men, stained with smoke and blood, nodded to each other without saying much.
As long as I can return to the Northern Land, I will not let the Great Jin Dynasty die in the hands of the Black Flag.
At this moment, he thought so.
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