pertwk Page 153
Page 153
Wanyan Aguda's face was ashen; he had never seen such a formidable infantry formation. Liu Hong, covered in blood and with tattered armor, stood firm in the midst of the formation, his eyes still sharp.
Both sides paid an extremely heavy price. The corpses of the Jin cavalry littered the battlefield, and the Qi army suffered nearly half its casualties. The setting sun, like blood, illuminated this carnage. The sounds of battle gradually subsided, leaving only the cries of the wounded and the sobbing of the river.
Chapter 451: The Crescent Moon Formation is in perfect harmony
Seeing that the Queyue Formation had failed to break through after a long siege and that its soldiers and generals had suffered heavy losses, Wanyan Aguda was filled with rage.
He couldn't accept that his main Jin army, which he had personally led, had been blocked by an infantry formation defending the river! Liu Hong had only brought 20,000 elite troops to Kaifeng, plus a few remaining soldiers with fighting spirit, bringing the total to a maximum of 40,000. Yet, they had withstood a charge from a force several times their size of cavalry.
He couldn't accept that the spoils of war that were within his grasp had been intercepted by Liu Hong halfway through!
"Issue the order! At all costs! Crush this enemy formation! A reward of one hundred gold pieces will be given for killing the commander of the Great Qi! A reward of one thousand gold pieces will be given for killing generals such as Lin Chong, Dong Ping, and Hua Rong! A reward of ten thousand gold pieces will be given for killing Liu Hong!!!"
Wanyan Aguda's voice was hoarse with rage, and the golden banner waved wildly, urging an even more ferocious attack.
More and more fresh troops of the Jin army were thrown into the battlefield, like an endless black tide, wave after wave crashing against the seemingly thin but always steadfast Crescent Line.
Just look. A terrifying barrage of arrows blotted out the sky, and horrifying cavalry charged in waves. Even the catapults and cannons in front of the Kaifeng positions were brought over by Aguda, their fireballs and cannonballs crashing into the enemy lines, igniting raging fires. The Jin army even drove captured civilians and surrendered soldiers ahead, attempting to disrupt the Qi army's formation.
However, the Crescent Moon Formation under Liu Hong's command did not collapse; instead, it became even more resilient through the tempering of blood and fire. The surviving soldiers stepped over the corpses of their comrades to fill the gaps, and fought a fierce and relentless battle against the Jin soldiers who charged into the formation, using spears, swords, axes, and even their teeth and fists.
The crescent formation was constantly fine-tuned, and the crossbow and musket fire became increasingly accurate and ruthless. The artillery counterattacks could even accurately destroy the Jin army's artillery positions. Every fierce attack by the Jin army was like a wave crashing against a reef, shattering into pieces, leaving only a few traces.
Liu Hong's plan went far beyond simply holding the Crescent Moon Formation and securing reinforcements. He knew that the Jin army's cavalry possessed incredible offensive and defensive capabilities, and that if they relied solely on their formation to withstand the attack, even if they managed to hold out, they would pay an unbearable price.
Therefore, he dispersed his most elite and mobile force—the cavalry unit centered around three top-tier generals, Lin Chong, Qin Ming, and Dong Ping—early into smaller units, like scattering beans to form soldiers, and silently spread them into the vast area surrounding the battlefield.
These elite cavalry squads, each with a small number of men, ranging from three to five hundred or seven to eight hundred, were all veterans who had survived countless battles, possessed superb horsemanship, and were fearless in the face of death.
Like ghosts, they concealed their tracks by relying on the hills, forests, and villages on the edge of the battlefield, patiently lying in wait, like cheetahs lurking in the grass, coldly watching as the main force of the Jin army, like a black torrent, crashed wave after wave, relentlessly, into that crescent-shaped line of death.
Their mission was not to engage in a direct battle with the Jin army, but to wait—to wait for the best opportunity.
When Wanyan Aguda went berserk and committed more and more troops to the frenzied siege of the Crescent Moon Formation, and when the flanks and rear of his army gradually became empty and weak due to the all-out advance, the cavalry squads scattered in various places suddenly launched their attack like a pack of wolves that smelled blood!
Lin Chong, clad in silver armor and a snow-white robe, wielding an eighteen-foot spear, charged out like a pale storm, leading an elite force from behind a mass grave! The spear flashed like a venomous dragon emerging from its lair, instantly scattering a Jin army supply convoy that was busy transporting arrows to the front lines, sending men and horses sprawling in disarray!
"Kill them all!" Lin Chong roared, and his cavalrymen cut through the Jin army like hot knives, tearing apart their vulnerable flanks and rear, setting fire to supplies, and creating massive chaos.
Dong Ping, the Double-Spear General, seized the moment when a group of Jin cavalry had just separated from the main formation and were trying to flank the left flank of the Crescent Moon Formation. He then led his troops to suddenly cut in from the flank!
"The Twin-Gun General is here! Golden Dog, prepare to die!"
Dong Ping laughed wildly, transforming into a terrifying streak of light that instantly smashed through the Jin army's flank. His twin pistols became two terrifyingly hot beams of death, swirling like windmills, thrusting left and sweeping right. Wherever they passed, Jin soldiers fell like mowing grass! His surprise attack precisely disrupted the Jin army's tactical maneuvering, leaving them unable to coordinate their attacks.
Meanwhile, from other directions, Thunderbolt Qin Ming transformed into Hellfire, slamming into the rear of a Jin cavalry unit, putting them under attack from both sides and throwing them into chaos.
Countless cavalry squads, like red-hot daggers, stabbed into the heart and belly of the Jin army, a behemoth, from different angles and at different times!
They never lingered in battle, striking and retreating in an instant! Each raid had a clear objective: either to intercept and kill messengers, disrupting command; or to scatter reserves, preventing them from reaching the front lines; or to burn provisions, undermining morale; or to directly attack isolated, exhausted Jin troops that were regrouping.
These sudden and fierce attacks from all directions, though each one small in scale, caused extremely significant psychological panic and actual disruption.
Sensing the chaos and threat from the rear, the Jin army's frontline troops involuntarily became hesitant and disorganized in their offensive. Commanders were forced to divert their attention to these elusive squads, preventing them from fully focusing on breaking through the Crescent Moon Formation.
The bravery of Lin Chong, Dong Ping, and others greatly boosted the morale of the Qi army, who were holding out in the Crescent Moon Formation. Whenever they saw the banners of their own generals charging left and right among the enemy ranks in the distance, the soldiers knew that reinforcements were nearby, and their morale soared, so they gritted their teeth and fought to the death.
The Crescent Moon Formation withstood the fierce onslaught of the Jin army's main force head-on like a rock, just as described in the military treatise.
Meanwhile, the elite cavalry relentlessly harassed his flanks and rear like venomous bees, ultimately causing Wanyan Aguda to be overwhelmed and his offensive to be repeatedly thwarted, his morale to be constantly depleted. This was a victory achieved through surprise, as described in military texts.
Liu Hong's two tactics annoyed Wanyan Aguda. He snorted and gradually calmed down from his rage. Liu Hong, Liu Hong, it's Liu Hong again!
He thought about it carefully. What use would it be to capture the Song emperor alive? If I capture this useless emperor, what if the Song people replace him with a capable one? Wouldn't that be even more troublesome?
Liu Hong is the key to breaking the deadlock in the south! The Zhao family emperor has fled, but the ultimate goal should be to eliminate Liu Hong.
Chapter 452: Jin Wuzhu's Last Stand Fails
Wanyan Aguda immediately changed his strategy, using cavalry against cavalry and infantry against infantry. Kaifeng was already a useless empty city, so he brought all 100,000 men to fight against Liu Hong's 40,000 men in a bloody battle at Chenqiao Post Station.
Among them, the massive Jurchen and Khitan heavy infantry army formed an indestructible siege hammer. The heavy infantry were divided into twelve teams, taking turns to attack, continuously smashing the Qi's Crescent Moon Formation defense line with the force of Mount Tai pressing down.
Wanyan Aguda did not pursue a direct cavalry breakthrough to break through the Crescent Moon Formation. Instead, he used a massive and continuous infantry offensive to wear down the enemy and see who could hold out first.
If you're so capable, Liu Hong, abandon all your Imperial Guards and escape back to Shandong alone along the Ji River!
At the same time, he ordered his most mobile steppe light cavalry to leave the main battlefield, like releasing a falcon, to do everything in their power to wipe out and hunt down the small groups of Qi cavalry that were lurking around the periphery of the battlefield, especially the elite troops led by Lin Chong, Dong Ping and other leaders.
However, the Jin army's wishful thinking encountered an unexpected setback.
The cavalry led by generals such as Lin Chong, Dong Ping, and Qin Ming, though small in number, were all elite soldiers handpicked from among the best. They were well-versed in the essence of guerrilla warfare, maximizing their mobility.
Faced with the overwhelming force of the steppe cavalry, they never engaged in a direct confrontation. Once they discovered that a large enemy force was pursuing them, they immediately dispersed into smaller groups, using their familiarity with the terrain to disappear into the hills, woodlands, and even abandoned villages, vanishing without a trace in an instant.
When the Jin cavalry dispersed to conduct a carpet search and encirclement, they would suddenly appear from unexpected directions like ghosts, causing the steppe cavalry to panic.
They were few in number; 50,000 cavalrymen had been taken away by Wanyan Zongwang to rescue Jin Wuzhu, and the remaining men could not form an encirclement.
However, once they disperse, Lin Chong and his men will wipe out their small groups with lightning speed.
Despite their numerical advantage, the Jin light cavalry were constantly on the move, exhausted, demoralized, and achieved little success.
What troubled the Jin army even more was that Lin Chong and his men's actions received unprecedented, spontaneous support and cover from the people of Henan.
Liu Hong's heroic act of covering the retreat of the people of Kaifeng at all costs had already spread widely among the people of Henan through word of mouth among the refugees. In stark contrast to the Jin army's burning, killing, and looting, and the cowardice and incompetence of the imperial court, Prince Liu Hong of Qi and his army had become a true army of benevolence and protection in the hearts of the people.
Whenever Lin Chong's cavalry squad needed to hide, farmers would always happen to open the cellar or guide them into the dense forest.
When the Jin cavalry searched for information about the Qi army's movements, the villagers either knew nothing or deliberately pointed them in the wrong direction, leading them astray or into traps.
When the Qi cavalry were exhausted and in dire need of supplies, civilians would risk their lives to secretly bring them precious dry rations and medicinal herbs to treat their wounds.
Even more remarkably, some bold young men from Henan spontaneously organized themselves, disguised themselves as scattered Qi soldiers, and created disturbances in the mountains and fields to attract the attention of the Jin army, thus creating opportunities for the real Qi cavalry.
These seemingly small acts of assistance, when combined, formed a tremendous force. It allowed Lin Chong and his comrades to operate behind enemy lines with ease, possessing excellent intelligence and uninterrupted supplies; while it made the Jin army's mopping-up operations like blind men touching an elephant, encountering obstacles at every turn and making no progress at all.
At this moment, the Jin army was not only facing the main force of the Qi army that was huddled in the Crescent Moon Formation, nor just those slippery cavalry squads, but it was as if they were fighting against the entire land and people of Henan.
Moreover, on the main battlefield, just as the battle was mired in the most brutal attrition quagmire and the pressure on the Qi army's defensive line reached its peak, a large number of ships appeared from the east and landed at the crossing protected by the Crescent Moon Formation. Teams of heavily armed Shandong warriors jumped off the ships and quickly joined the battle under Liu Hong's command, fighting to the death with Wanyan Aguda's Jin army.
Moreover, downstream of the wide Ji River, countless sails suddenly appeared on the horizon! Dozens of large and uniquely shaped Liangshan gunboats were sailing upstream against the wind and waves!
These ships were not ordinary warships; they had gun ports on both sides of the hull, and heavy, dark cannons were fixed on the deck.
"Fire!"
boom! boom! boom! boom!
With a command from the commander, deafening cannon fire erupted, drowning out all the noise of the battlefield! Scorching exploding shells and solid iron bullets pierced the sky, whistling with death, and crashed into the rear of the Jin army and the troops crowded near the riverbank!
The cannonballs landed and exploded with a deafening roar! Shrapnel flew everywhere, and flames soared! The Jin army was completely stunned by this overwhelming, futuristic artillery fire from the water! Men and horses were blown to pieces, siege equipment was blasted to shreds, and their formation was thrown into chaos!
The arrival of reinforcements by water completely altered the battlefield situation. The Jin army was not only attacked from both sides, but also suffered devastating long-range attacks from the river. Even Wanyan Aguda's main force was threatened by artillery fire!
Wanyan Aguda stared incredulously at the reinforcements arriving from the east.
Even if Jin Wuzhu was defeated on the Shandong battlefield, he still had 60,000 men trapped in Licheng.
He even dispatched Wanyan Zongwang with 50,000 cavalry to provide reinforcements, bringing the total number of Jin troops on the Shandong battlefield to 110,000!
Although King Liu Hong of Qi won the Battle of Qingzhou, he suffered as many as one-third casualties and had to send a large number of elite troops from Shandong to the Henan battlefield, leaving few troops remaining in Shandong.
Even so, how could the remaining Qi army not only hold off 110,000 Jin troops, but even have the spare capacity to support the Henan battlefield? How is that possible?
Half a day later, Wanyan Aguda saw dust rising in the east. Wanyan Zongwang had led 50,000 Jin cavalry back and knelt before Wanyan Aguda with a guilty expression, answering his questions.
"Your Majesty! I am incompetent! I have been unable to break through Huyan Zhuo's defenses! The day before yesterday, Li City was captured by Chao Gai, and Jin Wuzhu's fate is unknown. Shandong has completely collapsed, and I can only return with my cavalry to report the news! It seems that the Qi army in Shandong has reached the Henan battlefield by waterway, a little faster than I have?"
Chapter 453: Liu Yu, Hesitant and Indecisive, Surrenders to Qi
A few days earlier, Licheng had been besieged by Huyan Zhuo's army for several days. Outside the city, the Liangshan army's ranks were as high as mountains, their banners obscuring the sky. Siege weapons bombarded the city day and night, and the city walls were already in ruins. Inside the city, the defenders were filled with fear and panic, their food supplies were running out, and their morale was at its lowest point.
Liu Yu, the prefect of Qizhou, who had originally intended to surrender the city to the Jurchens and hoped to rise to prominence through the merit of surrendering the city, was now extremely uneasy.
He was horrified to discover that the unstoppable Wanyan Zonghan had suffered a crushing defeat in Shandong.
Wanyan Zongwang, on whom high hopes were placed, was unable to break through Huyan Zhuo's desperate resistance.
Meanwhile, outside the city, Chao Gai and Li Jun's offensive grew increasingly fierce. A premonition of impending doom gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake.
"It's over... Da Jin... Da Jin can't be relied on anymore..."
Liu Yu was like an ant on a hot pan in his mansion, sweating profusely. He knew all too well that his betrayal of the Song court and his allegiance to the Jurchens had already earned him a notorious reputation, and if the city fell, Huyan Zhuo and the Qi army would never spare him.
Fear breeds new, even more foolish betrayals.
"Quickly! Pass on my orders!"
Suddenly, he grabbed the trusted eunuch beside him, his voice sharp and distorted with extreme fear.
"Open the city gates! Surrender to General Huyan Zhuo! I...I wish to return to the Song Dynasty and assist the royal army in annihilating the Jin invaders!"
Liu Yu's order was quickly relayed to the Liangshan camp, leaving the Liangshan generals bewildered and wondering what Liu Yu was up to, whether it was a trap or not. Zhu Wu, however, stood up abruptly.
"Liu Yu is a complete opportunist! When the Jin Dynasty is powerful, he pledges allegiance to them; when our army is powerful, he pledges allegiance to us. It's perfectly normal for him to betray us a second time. What doubts do you have, General? This is the best opportunity for us to recapture Shandong!"
Upon hearing Zhu Wu's voice, Hu Yanzhuo made up his mind, arranged for a few people to fight against Wanyan Zongwang, and immediately made an agreement with Liu Yu to open the city gates that night so that he could personally break into Licheng!
The garrison in Licheng were mostly former Song army garrison troops. They were in a state of indifference when working for the Song emperor and had no intention of fighting for the Jin people. Upon hearing this order, they were as if they had been granted a pardon. That very night, they actually began to frantically move the huge stones blocking the gate and lift the heavy gate!
The Jin army supervisors and a few loyalists on the city wall were terrified. Several flying beastmen, seeing the situation was bad, fled and sent the news like a thunderclap to Jin Wuzhu, who was in the city supervising the battle and was in a state of great distress.
"What?! That old dog Liu Yu! He actually dared to open the city gates and surrender?!"
Jin Wuzhu was stunned at first, then flew into a rage, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot! He was already seething with anger because of the unfavorable war situation, and hearing that Liu Yu had defected on the battlefield was like adding fuel to the fire!
"What use is a dog that betrays its master! My sons, come with me!"
With a roar, Jin Wuzhu mounted his horse and led a squad of his personal guards in a whirlwind rushing towards the city wall where Liu Yu was located!
Liu Yu was dressed in his finest clothes, joyfully welcoming Huyan Zhuo into the city. He dared not kill Jin Wuzhu, so he personally went out of the city to surrender, hoping to atone for his crimes through meritorious service. But unexpectedly, no sooner had Huyan Zhuo entered the city than Jin Wuzhu also attacked!
Liu Yu was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, trying to explain incoherently, but Jin Wuzhu did not allow him to waste any more words. With endless anger and contempt, he swung down the Golden Sparrow Mountain-Splitting Axe in his hand!
Huyan Zhuo was stunned for a moment. She could have blocked the attack for Liu Yu, but after thinking about it, she felt disgusted and didn't do it. She watched helplessly as Jin Wuzhu's axe fell.
Before Liu Yu could even utter a scream, his head, bearing an expression of utter disbelief and terror, flew into the air! The headless corpse crashed to the ground, its blood staining the gates of Li City crimson.
"This is the fate of traitors!"
Jin Wuzhu spat on Liu Yu's corpse, attempting to rally his troops and regain control of the city gates. However, it was too late! How could Huyan Zhuo miss this golden opportunity?!
"All troops! Charge! Crush them!"
"kill!!!"
The Liangshan army, poised for battle, surged into the open city gates like a flood bursting its banks! Leading the charge were the elite troops personally commanded by Huyan Zhuo!
"Jin Wuzhu! Where do you think you're going!" Huyan Zhuo roared like thunder, his double whips aimed straight at Jin Wuzhu!
The narrow road meets the brave to win!
Jin Wuzhu went completely berserk. The ten-meter-tall frost giant's body expanded once more, and within the gaps of its dark blue ice crystal scales, the dark red lava veins throbbed and surged wildly like living things! Two completely opposite energies, extreme cold and extreme heat, clashed and merged fiercely within his body, transforming into a destructive chaotic torrent that swept out! In the air, it transformed into a pair of molten wings that blotted out the sky.
Although Jin Wuzhu was a direct descendant of Wanyan Wanyan, a frost giant, his mother was a red-scaled fire dragon. He perfectly inherited all the advantages of both.
"Roar!!!"
He roared to the sky, his voice shaking the surrounding wilderness! With a sudden swing of his left hand, his icy breath surged towards Huyan Zhuo like a glacial torrent bursting its banks! Wherever it passed, the earth was instantly frozen, covered with several feet thick ice that shimmered with a deathly light. The air was drained of heat, and even the falling dust was instantly frozen in the air!
Almost simultaneously, he slammed his right fist into the ground, unleashing the power of his Fire Dragon bloodline! Centered on his fist, countless scorching lava fissures spread wildly like a spiderweb, and molten lava gushed forth from the ground like a fountain, colliding with the icy air and triggering a devastating steam explosion that filled the sky! Burning boulders and frozen icicles mingled together, raining down like a meteor shower!
Ice and fire, two forces that should be mutually antagonistic, formed a bizarre and terrifying symbiosis under Jin Wuzhu's furious urging, transforming into a raging tide of ice and fire that swept across the heavens and earth, devouring everything, and attacking Huyan Zhuo from both sides! As far as the eye could see, half of it was an absolute zero frozen hell, and the other half was a burning world of churning lava!
At the heart of this devastating attack, Hu Yanzhuo's figure appeared so small, as if he would be completely swallowed up, annihilated, and vaporized by this inferno of ice and fire in the next second!
Faced with this raging tide that could make even the gods tremble, Hu Yanzhuo remained completely still. Two enormous and incredibly complex star array diagrams suddenly unfolded and began to rotate, centered on her twin whips!
The Big Dipper pattern in the array is dazzling, with countless phantom stars swirling around it, exuding a cold, vast, and timeless cosmic aura!
Hu Yanzhuo wielded the Star Chart Double Whip, unleashing two vast star rivers, one extinguishing the molten fire and the other shattering the ice!
Jin Wuzhu's massive frost giant body suddenly leaned forward, like a moving mountain. His giant axe tore through the air, accompanied by a shrill scream that froze souls and a roar that burned everything. With the force of splitting mountains and shattering peaks, he fiercely cleaved down towards Huyan Zhuo.
Wherever the axe blade passed, the space seemed to be cut into two completely different hells: one frozen and the other scorched!
Facing this devastating attack, Hu Yanzhuo's eyes swirled like a galaxy, showing no fear! The star array beneath her feet shone brightly, and instead of retreating, she advanced, her feet slamming into the ground, creating a shockwave! The pair of male and female dragon whips in her hands, which had transformed into streaks of starlight, seemed to come alive, emitting a roar like dragons.
boom! ! !
The Ice and Fire Giant Axe and the Star River Twin Whips clashed fiercely! The sound produced was not the crisp metallic clang, but a terrifying, muffled roar, like the collision of stars, mixed with the ear-piercing shriek of violent energy annihilation!