The morning sun was not yet scorching hot. Smoke signals flew into the sky one after another, drawing a huge encirclement around the advancing army. Wanyan Zonghan rode on a warhorse, his eyes following the rising smoke, his white hair fluttering in the wind. He had already drawn his sword in his hand.
The advancing formation of the 30,000 troops was mighty and huge. In terms of numbers, the entire Seventh Army of Huaxia participating in this battle would not exceed this scale, not to mention the "ten encirclements" mentioned in the art of war.
But as the smoke rose, the momentum of the attack was already brewing, and the scattered main force of the Huaxia army in the surroundings showed no signs of trickery or feinting. They were serious — what was even more peculiar was that even Wanyan Zonghan himself, the generals and soldiers in the army could more or less understand that the other side was serious.
While the smoke was still rising in the north, the attack began.
The first sound came from the woods in the east, and figures rushed out from there. There were not many of them, and they did not form any formation. Smoke rose between the mountains in the north, and the small group of people seemed to be impatient to rush forward. They shouted loudly, closing the distance between them and the Enlightened Woman's front formation.
Twenty or thirty people rushing towards an army of 30,000 seemed strange, but it also tightened the string in everyone's heart. On the front of the Enlightened Woman's formation, the archers had already nocked their arrows and drawn their bows. The generals in the front formation were experienced in battle and did not rush to shoot. At this moment, the huge battlefield even seemed to be a bit quiet because of the shouting of dozens of people rushing out of the woods.
A low and deep bugle sounded from this' silent 'battlefield. The bugle sounded muffled because the person blowing the bugle was full of energy. But soon after, it swept across the sky, circled, and rushed high into the sky. A second black flag protruded from the mountainside in the southeast.
Then came the northern hills several li away, and then figures rushed out from the south. Then came the fifth formation, the sixth formation, the seventh formation …
The successive attacks were like a tide, coming from all directions. But compared to the huge formation of 30,000 people, the appearance of each group of enemies seemed a bit ridiculous. Most of them were dozens of people, but at this moment, they appeared in different positions several li away, showing the courage of cutting off all means of retreat. Wanyan Zonghan looked at all this in the distance, and his long sword seemed to make the sound of iron and blood in the wind. He sighed, "It's really like a street fight …"
Yes, if he saw such a scene decades ago — or even ten years ago — he would have laughed. At that time, the battlefield was a grand one. Tens of thousands of people, even hundreds of thousands, were fighting in battle formations. In Hubu Dagang, the banners of the Liao people blotted out the sky and the sun. The two sides set up their battle formations and made up their minds to fight to the death. Then, they began to charge with their enormous battle formations. Such small groups of soldiers would not even have the courage to charge on the battlefield. If they were to leave the sight of the general or the supervision team, they would not be able to find them again.
But at this moment, groups of dozens and hundreds of people appeared in his field of vision from all directions. Black flags covered the mountains and plains. He wanted to laugh to boost morale, but there seemed to be ants crawling behind his head, which made it impossible for him to laugh, because he knew that the other side was not joking.
Every single one of the Huaxia soldiers rushing over the mountains and plains was serious!
In the east, on the front line of the Jurchens, the general leading the troops had already ordered to shoot arrows. A rain of arrows rose into the sky.
The first group to attack from the small forest here was a platoon under the command of the Second Battalion, Second Regiment, Second Brigade, First Division of the Huaxia Seventh Army. The platoon leader was Niu Chengshu, and the platoon leader was Zhao Xingwang, a tall and thin 32-year-old veteran with a scar at the corner of his eye. After days of fighting, the platoon under his command had a total of 23 people. Becoming the first army to charge at the Jurchens was a narrow escape, but at the same time, it was also a great honor.
This kind of charge was built on great courage, but it was also built on the confidence they had in their countless comrades. They were the first to charge at the Jurchens, and as they charged out of the forest, they could see the rising smoke. On the mountainside not far away in the southeast, the second black flag immediately launched an attack. Then, the low and low sound of the horn to charge rang out. From the north, the south, the northeast … one group after another charged out just like them. This kind of scene was enough to make one's blood boil and face death with equanimity.
It was true that they were facing an astonishingly large Jurchens army, but they already knew how to deal with such an enemy. They also knew that their comrades would definitely provide them with the greatest support.
The 23 of them were charging at a Jurchens army of a thousand, and the Jurchens general among them was also very experienced. He ordered the archers to hold their bows and wait for the charging Huaxia soldiers to enter the most lethal range. But in the face of a scattered formation of 20 to 30 people, the archers on the other side would be in an awkward position no matter what they chose.
"Pay attention!"
The 23 of them didn't run very fast, and they all maintained a similar speed. When they entered the first spot with rocks of different sizes, Zhao Xingwang gave a short but firm shout. He raised his shield slightly, and the soldiers around him also raised their shields slightly. The battle cries around them had already become noisy with the charge of dozens of troops, and they had entered the best shooting range of the archers.
The black arrows flew up like locusts.
"Hide!"
Zhao Xingwang pounced on a large rock and raised his shield. The soldiers under him also chose a place to hide, and then the arrows fell down one after another. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, bang, bang! The battle cries were still spreading around, and Zhao Xingwang saw that there were also Huaxia soldiers coming down from the northeast ridge. Behind him, the company commander Niu Chengshu had also charged out with two platoons of soldiers. They were a bit slower, and they were waiting for a response. He knew that at this moment, there must be countless comrades around the huge battlefield who were charging at the Jurchens' army.
The timing of the attack without any contact was always particularly strange throughout the course of the war. It was quiet and noisy, rolling but soundless, like a pot of hot water waiting to boil, or a huge wave that was about to hit the shore and explode.
The rain of arrows had already stopped, and Zhao Xingwang didn't have time to ask if anyone was injured. He raised his head and looked forward from behind the large rock. At this moment, they were less than 500 feet away from the Jurchens' front line. One of the Jurchens' front lines had already begun to change shape. It was a team of about 100 people, and they were about to charge over here.
Zhao Xingwang let out a breath. At this moment, he already knew that the commander on the other side was an experienced Jurchens general. After the Huaxia army put explosives like grenades into use, unless they relied on camps, city walls, or fortifications for defense, it was a taboo to fight in formations. Even if the opponent was a team of a thousand people, they would lose momentum if they rushed over and threw grenades at them. When the second and third platoons rushed over, there was basically no need to fight anymore.
With an advantage of about 100 people, it was a relatively suitable choice to ignite the fire and thunder to charge.
Zhao Xingwang made a gesture. "Listen to my command — Go —"
His comrades raised their shields and slightly bent their bodies. They began to rush out from behind the bunkers they had found. They began to speed up. Then, the 100-man team of the Jin army also rushed out. The distance between the two sides was reduced to 350 feet. Zhao Xingwang, who hadn't gone far, stopped, and the soldiers also stopped. "Prepare the grenades —"
"Three!"
"Two!"
The soldiers' eyes lit up. "Charge —"
More than 20 people rushed out with all their strength and merged into the tide of the entire battlefield.
Small-scale skirmishes between soldiers and the use of grenades, fire and thunder to open up the battlefield have only begun to appear in recent years. With the Female Taoist barely adapting to this form of combat in this southern expedition, the countermeasures of the Huaxia army have also begun to increase. Facing the small Jurchens coming up to them, this kind of "walk, stop, and charge" rhythm was a counterattack method that had been developed in recent days in platoons. For the Huaxia army, the three-second pause at the distance where they were about to fight was a step that had been discussed long ago. But for the Jurchens who were charging up with all their strength, it was as if they were suffocating.
The charge of the 100-man team of Jurchens was originally trying to maintain their formation as much as possible. But after this pause, the soldiers' pace was suddenly disrupted, and their formation began to change rapidly. Fighting without a group of soldiers had to change their formation, but self-choice was certainly different from being forced to scatter. But there was no room for more changes.
The distance between the two sides was reduced to 150 feet. Zhao Xingwang and the others threw grenades at the crowd in front of them. Several grenades flew across the sky and fell down. The fire and thunder on the opposite side also came one after another. Compared with the wooden-handled grenades of the Huaxia army, the round fire and thunder on the opposite side had a shorter distance and a lower accuracy.
There was an explosion in the crowd on the opposite side. Some people were sent flying, and some fell to the ground. Facing the explosion, the soldiers of the Huaxia army also fell to the ground in the middle of the charge and chose a defensive posture. In fact, the fire and thunder on the opposite side had a very wide range. The three second pause before the charge of the Huaxia army had disrupted the time for the Jurchens to ignite the fire and thunder.
Black smoke curled up on the battlefield, and the smell of blood filled the air. The hysterical roars of the Jurchen generals could be heard from within the black smoke, as well as the wails and cries of the wounded. Zhao Xingwang had already gotten up the moment the explosion stopped. He glanced to the side and saw that his comrades were also struggling to get up. They wielded steel sabers and shook off the dust on their bodies.
"— Trap — Formation!"
The soldiers charged into the smoke and rushed out from the other side.
They charged forward.
…
Arrows rose up in waves throughout the battlefield, and the sound of cannons rang out. The Huaxia army units chose to defend or retreat under the rain of arrows and cannons, but even more units took the opportunity to charge forward. The entire periphery of the battlefield was like a pot of oil that was gradually heating up, and the boiling and exploding sounds became more and more intense.
By now, the encirclement of several kilometers had already begun in full swing in three directions. The attacking units of the Huaxia army had been split into platoons. With the general direction determined, each unit had its own response. Of course, there were also some Huaxia officers who could only tell when to advance or retreat, but this kind of change was not something the Jurchens' command system could adapt to.
The bombardment of the cannons was like a cannon hitting a mosquito. The Jurchens did not dare to adopt a passive defense. As the charge of the Huaxia army unfolded, the Jurchens began to charge forward with their hundred-man squads. Some of the squads that had been defeated in the previous battles were almost immediately routed, but a few squads managed to block the first round of attacks.
Chaos began to spread. By now, the attacks of the Huaxia army were like needles, piercing through the periphery of Zong Han's army and extending toward the center. By now, Gao Qingyi had gathered a large number of cavalry and begun his counterattack.
The sun was already hanging high in the sky. It was ten o 'clock in the morning on the 24th of April, the sixth and final day of the Hanzhong Campaign. From the start of the battle on the 19th, the Seventh Corps of the Huaxia army had never avoided any battle. This was the strongest blade that the Huaxia army had polished for several years. As the southwestern campaign drew to a close, they were about to complete their mission.
Wanyan Zonghan had originally wanted to start the decisive battle as soon as possible, but decades of combat experience made him choose to delay for a few days. Such a struggle was not without reason, but everyone understood that the decisive battle was bound to happen at some point. So on the 24th, as the Venerable Woman finally corrected her attitude, the Hua Xia Army also corrected their attitude and threw all their strength into the frontal battlefield. It was a five-card stud.
On the ensuing battlefield, the Jurchens put up a tenacious resistance …
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