Under the hazy starlight, in the wilderness outside Hanzhong City, rows of soldiers slept in their clothes. Swords and spears were placed beside them, and black flags were fluttering in the wind.
This was a land that had already become a battlefield, but apart from the occasional patrolling soldiers, the camp was still very quiet in the latter half of the night. Even if there were people who woke up from their sleep, they rarely spoke. Some people were snoring, sleeping without a care in the world.
After days of fighting, the soldiers of the Hua Xia army were extremely tired, but under the pressure of being attacked at any time, most of the soldiers would still wake up from their sleep from time to time. Sometimes, it was because of the sounds of fighting or explosions coming from afar. Sometimes, it was because the surroundings were too quiet, and the snoring would suddenly stop. The soldiers would wake up and sense the movements around them. Then, they would continue to rest.
The attack on the Jurchen camp not far away continued until the early hours of the morning, and occasionally caused a commotion. The sleeping soldiers woke up and thought to themselves, "Chen Hai, this lunatic." Then they quietly went back to sleep.
The battle initiated by the friendly forces ensured that the people on their side could have a relatively safe space to rest. If Chen Hai's troops had not been harassing Xi Yin's camp all night, they would have been the ones who would have been attacked in the dark. Because of this, while Chen Hai and the others fought through the night, they had to seize the time to recover their strength in order to deal with the upcoming battle.
Even in the quietest moments, there were still many things going on without pause. In the city, Wanyan Yuchi was disassembling a large number of cannons and ammunition, and transporting them in a large cart from the southeast city gate to Xi Yin's camp in the south. On one hand, Chen Hai attacked the camp in different shifts, and on the other hand, he also discovered this movement. He made a request to the rear command center for battle.
The command center rejected his relatively risky plan.
"… Chen Hai, this lunatic …"
In the southwest corner of the Hua Xia army camp, the light in the tent did not stop throughout the night. Qin Shaoqian and several staff officers, brigade and regimental officers were still gathered there. The oil lamps in the tent were dim, and a simple map of the battlefield was placed on a wooden box. Most of the flags were placed in a chaotic and disorderly manner. They could only guess the positions of the troops represented by some of the flags, and were not very sure.
"Chen Hai has less than a thousand men under his command. Since last night, he has already proposed to attack Xi Yin at all costs twice. Is he thinking of sacrificing a thousand men and replacing Xi Yin with a tired army … "
"Chen Hai is very forward-looking. He can already tell that this battle won't be easy after daybreak."
"A regiment commander should also bear some responsibility for his subordinates. It's not good for him to want to sacrifice himself so easily."
Commander Qin Shaoqian, Brigade Commander Hou Lietang, Xu Xiaohu, Staff Officer Lin Dongshan, and the others were gathered here. It was already late at night, and when they talked about these things, their tones were mostly low. After replying to Chen Hai's request, everyone focused on the map and made their final strategic decisions.
"… In short, once the sun rises, Xi Yin's troops will try to launch a general attack on us. Within the city of Hanzhong, they would drive the people out. Xi Yin wanted to finish the battle in one fell swoop. Zong Han was also rushing towards Hanzhong from the west. In that case, we can't just keep fighting. If they want to fight a decisive battle, we can fight a decisive battle. But in terms of tactics, we have to focus on our own key points … "
…
It was a quarter to two in the morning. Even the stars in the sky seemed to have disappeared. The sound of an explosion came from the east of the night. Liu Muxia held the scabbard by her side and suddenly opened her eyes. Then, she looked to the side. It was the squad leader, who was waking the soldiers up one by one.
"Keep quiet, change into black clothes, get ready to form up, move out …"
They turned their uniforms inside out, revealing the black side. Then, under the guidance of the squad leader, they walked towards the west. The order was confirmed by word of mouth as they moved forward.
"The First Division of the Seventh Army and the Second Brigade of the Huaxia Seventh Army are to immediately move towards the northwest after receiving the order. Arrive at the Xiaoyi area at seven in the morning. Be ready to attack and stop. In the early stages of the operation, be sure to stay hidden. The mission of each regiment and battalion is as follows … "
The group of soldiers accepted the order and before leaving the camp, there was some discussion.
"Head northwest. That's where we came from yesterday."
"If we leave, what about Xi Yin?"
"The Third Brigade is also moving out. Are we going to abandon this place?"
"No, the Artillery Regiment and the First Brigade are staying …"
After leaving the camp, the order to keep quiet was given, and everyone stopped talking.
One after another, black figures left the camp outside the south gate of Hanzhong under the cover of the night and began to disperse towards the northwest. More scouts and messengers were already on the way.
…
At daybreak, stretchers were carried into the camp. The doctors began to treat the wounded, and the camp was bustling with activity.
Chen Hai, with a strong smell of blood on his body, led the soldiers under his command back to the camp. He ordered some of the soldiers to find a place to rest, and he himself almost fell asleep sitting on the ground. The next moment, he stood up with a start and scanned the situation in the camp.
"What's going on?"
A staff officer came over and reported to him the decision made by the command center in the early hours of the morning. Chen Hai's face was filled with all kinds of thoughts. In the end, he clenched his fist and waved it. "Good!"
He then said, "I need to rest for a while. Please tell the command center that my men will stay here and cooperate with them to stop Wanyan Xi Yin."
The staff officer saluted and turned to leave. Chen Hai looked back to the east. The camp of the Jurchen soldiers, which had been harassed by him all night, was beginning to show signs of awakening …
…
Twenty-two miles west of Hanzhong, near a small county town called Tuanshan Market, in Wanyan Zonghan's camp, the soldiers had already woken up and had breakfast. The first group of troops had left the camp.
That night, Wanyan Zonghan slept for four hours to recharge his energy.
He had fully confirmed the situation near Hanzhong, including the occupation of the south gate by the Hua Xia army and the confrontation with Xi Yin's troops. The decisive battle was right in front of him.
In the past few days, nearly a hundred thousand troops had been scattered within a radius of a hundred miles, but he still had nearly thirty thousand men under his command. A large number of defeated soldiers were also gathering towards Hanzhong.
Similar to the situation on his side, the more than ten thousand soldiers of the Hua Xia Seventh Army had also been scattered and were rushing towards Hanzhong. Since the two armies had chosen the same path, more than a dozen battles and frictions had broken out last night.
Xi Yin had already grasped the opportunity when she first arrived, and Zonghan also recognized this opportunity. In the early hours of the morning, a large number of scouts had been sent out. Their task was to mobilize all the defeated troops that could be contacted and gather towards the southeast for a decisive battle in Hanzhong!
And Ning Yi, who had defeated the Sword Garret, was at least three days away from here.
The Hua Xia army was also doing something similar, but slightly different from the behavior of Zonghan's scouts, the orders carried by the Hua Xia army were not for all troops to gather towards Hanzhong.
This morning, including the troops contacted by the scouts, including the troops that had arrived in the south of Hanzhong and secretly set off for the west, a total of ten thousand people were converging on the road west of Hanzhong.
Wanyan Zonghan was rushing over.
…
"… In the past few days, in order to avoid defeat in a large-scale decisive battle, Wanyan Zonghan has played tricks. He has nearly a hundred thousand people who have come round after round to grind them down. It looks like they are all over the mountains and plains, but their combat power is getting weaker and weaker. Now, we are tired and they have really lost morale … "
"… Wanyan Xiyin is different. His more than ten thousand people have not been involved in battle yet, and their morale has not been lost. We are already very tired, and fighting a decisive battle with him is using our own weaknesses to attack the enemy's strengths. So to deal with this situation, we have to look at it separately. To deal with Xiyin, we will adopt a defensive stance and try to delay as much as possible. And with Hanzhong as a partition, we will launch an all-out attack on the other side! "
"… In the past few days, Wanyan Zonghan has been tormenting his hundred thousand people, and it seems that he has not really lost yet. With his arrogance, once the decisive battle in Hanzhong starts, his main force will definitely gather here at full speed. Then we will mobilize all the troops that can be mobilized in this area and fight to the west of Hanzhong! Before their Goddess of Grains, Xiyin, can react, we will forcefully eat up Wanyan Zonghan — "
"In such a decision, the most difficult one will be the troops that stay in Hanzhong and are responsible for blocking Wanyan Xiyin …"
…
April 24th.
Dew hung on the leaves of the wild grass by the river, and the sky began to turn white. Then, the wind blew and the clouds dispersed, and the sun gradually rose from the mountains in the east. In the barracks on both sides, the cooks had prepared breakfast, and the smell of meat filled the morning wind.
The soldiers under Chen Hai were still sleeping.
Wanyan Xiyin watched as the iron cannons were loaded and pushed to the front of the battlefield. The Jurchen soldiers under his command had been harassed by Chen Hai for a night, and many of their eyes were bloodshot. This caused their killing intent to soar, and they could not wait to rush over and slaughter all the Black Flag Army on the opposite side. The morale of the army could be used, and this was a good thing.
Flags fluttered in the wind, and the army got into formation and began to gradually move forward. On the opposite side of the battlefield, the Hua Xia soldiers stood behind the mounds they had built, and watched everything silently. Xiyin rode on his warhorse, listening to the morning wind blowing past his ears. The Han River came from afar, winding and rushing. In his heart, he suddenly had an impulse to talk to the enemy commander.
In the Lion Ridge in the southwest, after the defeat at the Wooden Bridge, Zong Han and Ning Yi had a period of negotiation, and Zong Han had already told him the contents of the negotiation through letters. He thought a lot about the development of the investigation of things, and if he was there at that time, he might be able to say something different.
Right now, it was also a crucial battle, and he had some things he wanted to talk to the enemy about, and some questions he wanted to discuss with the enemy. Unfortunately, the enemy was not that Ning Ren Tu.
He had experienced countless battles in his life, and this was the first time he had the thought of "talking", but it was just a thought. The cruel battlefield was after all not the romance that storytellers spoke of. He let this thought stay in his mind.
The prelude to the war, perhaps because of the accumulation of pressure, always made people feel unusually solemn and silent. Not long after, Xiyin waved his hand and gave the order, and the cannons rumbled forward, and then the cannons flooded the enemy's position …
Chen Hai woke up from his deep sleep, and squinted his eyes to look, and then crossed his arms over his chest, and went back to sleep.
"Attack — —"
The shout tore the earth — —
… …
Near Tuanshan, the army under Wanyan Zonghan's command advanced several miles in the morning wind, and the scouts in the front of the army found traces of the Huaxia army.
They might be separated from the troops that were gathering in Hanzhong.
— — At that time, the first thought that came to his mind was this.
If the army led by Wanyan Zonghan was still like a giant beast at this time, at this moment, the troops of the Huaxia army were more like a disorderly colony of ants at first glance. They were divided into several groups, some large and some small, from different directions, and converged on the road that Wanyan Zonghan had to pass on his way to Hanzhong.
At a quarter past seven, Wanyan Zonghan found traces of the Huaxia army in three directions.
After confirming several pieces of information one after another, the veteran Jurchen general was not surprised. He was only silent for a moment, and then he understood everything.
"… Prepare for battle."
He said.
… …
Thousands of Huaxia soldiers were crossing the wilderness, crossing the mountains, and entering combat positions.
… …
The Jurchen Zonghan had passed through forty years of vicissitudes.
In front of them, the attack was coming.
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