Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 837 0832 [The soul is gone]

Pucha Hu Zhan got on his horse with determination, and the elite soldiers who had followed Wanyan Lou's room also looked at death at this moment.

but!

Ten minutes ago, the soldiers who had just been added to Pucha Huzhan hesitated a little when mounting their horses.

They are also considered elites and were formerly affiliated with Polu Fire.

Now Po Luhuo is recuperating in Shangjing. His three sons were killed by the Ming army one after another, and the remaining heirs are still underage. Last night, Po Luhuo's nephew led the troops and was killed in the attack on Li Yanxian. Some of the remaining soldiers supplemented Pucha Huzhan's total of 1,000 men.

They really didn't dare to fight anymore.

A few years ago, many people died in the war with Po Luhuo, and the generals who led them changed several times.

There were a lot of casualties again last night, and the remaining breath in the chest was exhausted while retrieving food and grass.

But Wanyan Zonghan's military prestige was too high, and military law was very harsh. These soldiers who were supplemented by Pucha Huzhan did not dare to raise objections at all. They could only fight bravely.

Shi Jianu returned to Beijing to recuperate, and generals Yelu Mawu and Wolu died in battle. The heirs of the three men inherited the troops. All suffered heavy losses last night, and the remaining troops were temporarily assigned to Tuhesu for unified command.

Puchahu Zhan did not attack directly, so he had to wait for the opportunity for such a decisive battle.

Wang Yan's infantry formation fired powerful crossbows, even mixed with divine arm bows.

Those prairie cavalry shot a few arrows and then ran away, but this time they ran very orderly. Yue Fei allowed them to run and shoot arrows, but they were not allowed to attack the friendly formations when escaping, otherwise they would be treated with crossbows indiscriminately.

They concentrated their attack, sent 200 cavalry in front, and carried out four consecutive charges.

Tuhesu was shocked and angry. Although these Khitan cavalry had just been incorporated into his command, how could he tolerate his troops surrendering to the enemy in front of the formation? He immediately led his troops to pursue him.

The composition of the soldiers commanded by Tu Hesu at this time was more complicated. There are the old tribes of Shijianu, the old tribes of Yelu Mawu (Khitan soldiers), and the old tribes of Wolu.

"Shhhhhh!"

They used armor-piercing arrows, which were the most powerful from this distance. Twenty or thirty Ming soldiers were immediately shot through their armor. Fortunately, there were not many casualties in the Ming army, only injuries.

Those were the Khitan cavalry left behind after Yeluma Wu was killed in battle. Because of his loyalty and bravery, he was used as a direct descendant by Wanyan Zonghan, and his military pay and treatment were comparable to those of Jurchen elites.

In history, this person was the one who killed the seed masters.

In order to march in a hurry, the Ming army not only didn't bring their chariots, they didn't even bring their giant shields. There have been more than 200 casualties one after another - most of them were injured but not dead, and the infantry formation remained unmoving.

After several groups of prairie cavalry were scared away, Xu Qing went around to the side and fired arrows to harass them. Yue Fei led his troops and Tu Heshu faced them head-on and fired.

He used Tuhesu and Shalizhi to drive away the enemy cavalry, and at the same time he fired arrows as he passed around the formation, and even drew his gun sideways in front of the formation. Pucha and Hu Zhan followed, leading a thousand elites to charge into the enemy formation!
Tired Jurchen soldiers, riding tired horses, rushed towards the equally tired Ming army infantry.

Seeing that he could not disrupt the formation, Wanyan Zonghan changed his tactics.

The Ming army fired their bows and crossbows again, causing more casualties to the Jurchen cavalry than the Ming army had suffered just now.

The Khitan officer leading the army shouted, and at the same time discarded the long spear on the ground, and then threw away the iron bone and saddle axe. Dozens of Khitan cavalry under his command also made the same move. It was obvious that they had discussed this before going into battle.

The so-called core elite can no longer be called the elite.

Yue Fei retreated while fighting, and led his troops past his own formation.

A group of Jurchen soldiers chased after them and killed a quarter of the deserters, but Wanyan Zonghan blew a trumpet to call them back.

Two generals, Tu Hesu and Sha Lizhi, formed their team and continued to charge.

But it caused a huge blow to the morale of the Jin soldiers!

Su Hesu and Sha Lizhi's charge had already induced the Ming army to fire their divine arm bows. Pucha Huzhan's charge resulted in the Ming army having to use ordinary bows and crossbows to shoot at the enemy.

They continued to shoot arrows at the Ming army's formation under the fire of their bows and crossbows, accompanied by successive feints.

More than a dozen Jurchen cavalry were shot through their armor and died.

Just when the Khitan soldiers surrendered to the enemy in front of the formation, there was also a Khitan soldier on the flank of the Jin soldiers, and they fled towards the north regardless of their madness.

Jin Bing's central army trumpet sounded loudly, Tu Hesu finally held back his anger and led his troops to retreat to the main force of Jin Bing. His tail was bitten by Yue Fei, and he was thrown off by more than thirty horses before he was able to break free.

"Don't shoot!"

They are also the remnants of Yelu Mawu. The friendly forces don't care if they directly surrender to the enemy, so why do they stay? Even if he wins this battle, he will definitely no longer be trusted by Wanyan Zonghan.

"Suddenly, go disrupt the enemy's formation!" Wanyan Zonghan ordered.

The military is demoralized!

But Tu Hesu came forward with these mixed troops, and the prairie cavalry came forward to fight.

In fact, there were not many Khitan soldiers who surrendered or escaped, less than 200 in total.

Wanyan Zonghan quickly ordered: "Blow the trumpet and tell Tu He to come back and reorganize the team. If you chase him again, you will be trapped!"

Yue Fei sent a soldier and ordered: "Guide them back to the rear of the infantry formation, dismount and remove their armor to watch the battle."

Another Jurchen general, Sha Lizhi, was sent by Wanyan Zonghan to fight against Xu Qing.

Tu Hesu continued to lead the troops in the charge. When he reached the front of the formation more than ten steps, he rode and fired at the Ming army's formation - his mission was to shake the Ming army's formation and create opportunities for Pucha Huzhan to forcefully charge into the formation.

"I wish to surrender, I wish to surrender!"

At this moment, dozens of riders under Tu Hesu's command suddenly rushed toward Yue Fei.

Tu Hesu, the clan of the Jin Dynasty and the slave generals of the Shi family, once massacred tens of thousands of Song soldiers guarding the pass in Shanxi.

Even Wanyan Mouyan felt that he would definitely lose today. But he did not dare to dissuade Wanyan Zonghan. He could only observe the battlefield situation at any time. If the situation went wrong, he would lead his troops to escape.

During the charge, Jurchen cavalry continued to fall.

The Jurchen war horse rushed to the forest of spears. No matter how the owner urged it, the war horse automatically slowed down to save its life. But he still couldn't hold back the momentum, and both the man and the horse hit the spear hard.

More than twenty Ming army spearmen were knocked down on the spot, and several spearmen were knocked down by cavalry spears.

Without waiting for Wang Yan to give the order, the front row officers were already directing replacement positions.

The attack scene was extremely brutal for both sides.

The fifth team of elite Jurchens were shot by Ming archers during the charge. Although there were not many casualties, they were already frightened. They slowed down before they reached the front of the formation, then drew their bows and fired arrows past the formation. Morale is too low, I dare not charge into battle...

Otherwise, if the attack continues, the Ming army's infantry formation will definitely be driven out of the hole.

Wanyan Zonghan's heart tightened when he saw it, he knew it was over. The core troops of the Jin Kingdom, who were the bravest and best at fighting, were so frightened that they did not dare to charge into battle. The souls of the Jurchen warriors were gone.

The next few groups of Jurchen elites did not dare to charge forward. They shot an arrow and fled around the formation. They were chased by the prairie cavalry who came to shoot arrows.

The horn sounded again, and the Jurchen cavalry was called back to form a new team.

"The fifth team, all beheaded! Anyone who dares to disobey military orders will end up like them!"

Such harsh military laws had actually become commonplace when A Gu started his army. After several attacks, the Jin soldiers fought to the death.

But the same thing happened now, but it made the Jurchen soldiers feel resentful.

Even the generals felt that they should not kill indiscriminately.

Who is willing to die in a losing battle?
Then, Wanyan Zonghan sent out all the troops, leaving only his own soldiers as a reserve team. In the Ming army on the opposite side, nearly a thousand knights remained motionless, causing Wanyan Zonghan not to dare to send his own soldiers into battle.

This time, the Jin soldiers no longer faced the Ming infantry directly, but went out to kill the annoying prairie cavalry, as well as the Ming cavalry that had already entered the battle.

Such a style of play has deviated from Wanyan Zonghan's combat intention.

He wanted to take advantage of the fact that the Ming army's infantry was not yet firmly established, and while the Ming army's infantry was exhausted, he immediately fought to annihilate the Ming army.

But now that you spend time entangled with the enemy cavalry, the enemy infantry can take the opportunity to recover their strength.

After successive attacks, more than two thousand prairie cavalry were defeated.

They were completely defeated and chased so far away from the battlefield that they couldn't even think of coming back as a whole team for a while.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

There was a sound of horse hoofbeats from the south. The Jin soldiers were frightened, and the Ming army cheered and shouted.

However, the Jin soldiers attacked Li Yanxian last night and lost many troops. Wanyan Zonghan was in a hurry to come back to save food, but he could not take away a large number of spare war horses and pack horses.

When he sent people to burn the food and fodder that accompanied the army, he only had people chop at random on the war horses and pack horses, and there was no time to kill all the horses.

Li Yanxian went around to collect injured and running horses and pack horses. After receiving the news of Yue Fei's request for rapid reinforcements, he immediately sent spearmen, crossbowmen, and musketeers on horseback to reinforce them.

There are still troops following, who have given up their artillery and baggage and are riding on mules pulling carts.

"Wang Gui, you lead the prairie cavalry to respond and guide General Li's troops to occupy the enemy's granary!" Yue Fei ordered immediately.

Wanyan Zonghan was about to give an order to stop the attack, but suddenly another Jurchen general fled.

But it was Wanyan who led the troops to escape. This old guy came from the Jurchen tribe of Huosu Guanbu. Not only was his hometown captured by Ju Ming, but not many of his clan soldiers were left alive. Most of the troops currently in hand are trained Jurchen slaves - these Jurchen slaves were freed earlier, so they are still very loyal.

Wanyan Hezhu led hundreds of Jurchen cavalry and fled toward the north.

He did not dare to return to Liaodong, nor to Shangjing, and planned to defect to the Mongolian Khan Hebul. He couldn't care about his family, since he had an eldest son by his side anyway.

Wanyan's sudden escape from the shared apartment has become the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Immediately afterwards, hundreds more Jurchen cavalry followed and fled one after another.

It was impossible to win in the first place, but reinforcements from the Ming army arrived again. No matter how high Wanyan Zonghan's prestige was, he could not suppress him!

Wanyan Mouyan advised: "Marshal, leave quickly. If you don't leave, it will be too late."

Wanyan Zonghan smiled miserably: "What can we do when we go back?"

Others can escape, but he has no way out.

Even if he successfully escapes back to Beijing, he will be deprived of military power by the Jurchen nobles - those guys hate him to the core.

If military power is gone, sooner or later you will die.

He could also take the remaining soldiers and kill Wu Qimai to stand on his own. But the remaining Jurchen troops in Beijing must have fled back to their tribes, and it is impossible for them to regard him as the leader. It is even possible to join forces to fight him and start killing each other in Shangjing.

Wanyan could go to Mongolia if he lived together, but Wanyan Zonghan absolutely couldn't.

He had a notorious reputation in Mobei, and no great Khan dared to take him in for fear that he would become the second Yelu Dashi.

Yelu Dashi at least still had the great righteousness of the Liao Kingdom. As long as one or two tribes were subdued by force, the rest of the tribes would nominally submit.

And what about Wanyan Zonghan?

Even if he wipes out one or two Mobei tribes, it will only force more tribes to join forces to fight against him.

"Take care of yourself!"

After Wanyan Mouyan finished speaking, he turned around on horseback and left, followed by his father's old troops.

"Army attack!"

The moment Wanyan Mouyan left, Wang Yan and Yue Fei issued military orders at the same time.

Wanyan Zonghan said to the more than 800 soldiers around him: "Those who are willing to fight to the death with me, let's fight together to our heart's content today. Those who want to survive... run away quickly."

After the words fell, no one dared to leave.

Wanyan Zonghan smiled miserably: "I'm not lying to deceive you. If you want to survive, run away."

Finally, a Jurchen officer beat his horse and fled, and then more and more soldiers fled.

The rest are all dead soldiers.

There were more than 300 Jurchen soldiers who chose to stay and accompany Wanyan Zonghan to die together.

They all come from a small Jurchen tribe and have no noble bloodline. Relying solely on merit in battle to obtain promotions or rewards, even ordinary soldiers were given fertile land and serfs.

Wanyan Zonghan is their god. They are not loyal to the Kingdom of Jin, but to Wanyan Zonghan.

(End of this chapter)