Hutuo River is a large river in the middle of Hebei Road, spanning the entire Hebei Province. It is divided into South Hutuo River and North Hutuo River. The two rivers merge into one in the north of Qingzhou, and soon flow into the Juma River, and finally into the Bohai Sea.
The South Hutuo River is a hundred feet wide. It is midsummer at this time and the water is deep and fast. On the afternoon of the next day, 80,000 Jurchen cavalry arrived at Xindu County in the north of Jizhou. In front of them is the Hutuo River.
The Jurchen soldiers used skin rafts to build a pontoon bridge, connected hundreds of medium-sized rafts with ropes as the bridge body, and put wooden boards on top to build a simple raft pontoon bridge.
Three thousand soldiers were busy building the bridge, and the rest of the soldiers were resting in place. Many soldiers opened their wheat bags and let the horses eat wheat, and then went to the river to fetch water for the horses to drink.
Wan Yanchang sat on a big rock, feeling really humiliated in his heart. Hebei Road was lost without a battle. How could he explain to the emperor when he returned?
However, he was also glad that this battle would definitely be defeated. It was a great achievement to be able to preserve 80,000 precious Jurchen soldiers for the imperial court. There was no more land to take back, and nothing was lost after people died.
Wan Yanchang has a new idea in the past few days. If the Jin Dynasty cannot defeat the Song Dynasty, it can seize the Koryo Kingdom. By seizing the Koryo Kingdom, there will be enough resources to recharge and attack Hebei again in ten years. After returning to Beijing,
, I want to discuss this idea with the emperor.
After resting for more than an hour, the three simple pontoon bridges had been built. Wan Yanchang immediately ordered the army to cross the river. The 80,000-strong army began to line up to cross the river. Because it was a simple pontoon bridge, its stability was not very good. It was very unstable to walk on, so you needed to lead the horse carefully.
Fortunately, the horses are well-trained and obedient. Although the pontoon is shaking violently, they can still walk across the pontoon slowly.
According to the current speed, it would take at least three days for the 80,000-strong army to cross the river, but there was no other way. Wan Yanchang sent people everywhere to loot food while waiting patiently.
Captain Wanyan Yinduo led eight thousand soldiers into Xindu County, burned, killed, looted, and raped women in the county. The entire county seemed to have turned into a purgatory, with corpses everywhere and the cries of children and women.
The carts were filled with food and property, and there were many young women sitting on the carts with their hands tied behind their backs, weeping dryly.
At this moment, a 10,000-person Western Army + cavalry swept in from the South City Gate. There were more than a thousand Jurchen soldiers on the South City Gate Street. They were shocked, dropped their belongings, and drew their swords to fight against the Western Army.
, but the Western Army came with ferocity and chopped off the opponent's head while the horses were running. After a while, the streets were full of heads rolling around, and the streets were filled with headless corpses.
Ten thousand Western cavalrymen rushed into the county town. When they saw the tragic scene in the county town, their eyes were red and their hearts were burning with rage. They killed the Jurchen soldiers when they saw them and showed no mercy, nor did they accept surrender.
The Jurchen soldiers were so frightened that they left their food, property and young women and fled. Thousands of soldiers fled the county. Unexpectedly, more Song army cavalry outside the county surrounded them. They fired random arrows and countless soldiers were shot dead.
, then the Western Army cavalry began to attack one after another. The surrounded Jurchen soldiers were unable to resist, and there were fewer and fewer. Finally, they were all killed. Wanyan Yinduo, the captain of ten thousand men, also died under the sword of the Western Army.
Chen Qing issued an order to kill all the Jurchen soldiers who committed adultery and looting without leaving any one alive.
At this time, 80,000 Jurchen soldiers had crossed the river, and more than 30,000 of them, including Wan Yanchang and other generals, had crossed the river. At this time, 200,000 Western Army soldiers came from the south, of which 100,000 Western Army cavalry rushed at the front.
.
There were overwhelming cries of killing all around. The Jurchen soldiers panicked and rushed to cross the river. The pontoon began to shake violently. Groups of soldiers and horses were squeezed off the pontoon. They struggled and screamed in the water, and were swallowed up by the river in a short time.
The Western cavalry came to cover up the enemy. Seeing that there was no hope of escape, the Jurchen soldiers began to resist desperately. However, they had no formation, no fighting spirit, and no morale. They were completely in disarray. They were killed by the Western cavalry until rivers of blood flowed and corpses piled up.
The Western Army chose their opportunity very cleverly. When almost all the enemy generals crossed the river and launched a half-crossing attack, Chen Qing issued a kill order to kill them all without leaving any prisoners.
At this time, the three pontoon bridges were ignited by the fire, and the pontoon bridges quickly broke. Thousands of soldiers and war horses crowded on the pontoon bridges all fell into the water and were quickly swallowed by the river.
The cries of the soldiers on the south bank were loud. Most of them were young Jurchen soldiers. Many of them had only been in the army for two or three years. They were usually pampered and domineering. Most of them did not have the strength and tenacity of the previous generation of Jurchen soldiers. The previous generation of Jurchen soldiers
They would rather die in battle than surrender, but it is a pity that this generation cannot do that.
Countless Jurchen soldiers knelt on the ground and cried for mercy. However, the Western cavalry were all hard-hearted and cut off their heads without mercy and pierced their chests. Tens of thousands of Jurchen soldiers were killed, and the Hutuo River was dyed red with blood.
.
Wanyanchang looked at the soldiers on the other side falling down one after another like wheat, being massacred by the Western Army. His heart was as sharp as a knife, and he knelt on the ground and cried bitterly. Pucha Falcon Balu stepped forward to help his father-in-law, and several personal soldiers
He helped his horse, and they couldn't bear to watch any longer. More than 32,000 people continued to flee north.
Two hours later, nearly 50,000 Jurchen soldiers on the south bank were slaughtered. Chen Qing left 20,000 soldiers to clean up the battlefield and take care of the wounded, and ordered 10,000 soldiers to build three pontoon bridges within two hours.
The Western Army usually used small boats to build pontoons, but when they couldn't find a small boat at the time, the Western Army improvised thousands of large wooden boxes. The large wooden boxes were very rough and even the woods were not peeled off, but they were very strong. They used them to support the bottom and then built wooden boards.
Make a floating bridge.
In less than two hours, the three pontoon bridges were built, which were wider and more stable than the Jurchens' sheepskin raft pontoons. One hundred thousand cavalry and fifty thousand infantry began to cross the river. The next morning, a hundred and fifty thousand troops crossed the Nanhutuo River.
Continue to chase north.
The battle at Daming City ended at dawn. This time it was not an attack halfway across the Hutuo River. Both sides were prepared for battle and their combat effectiveness was extremely strong. Except for the 20,000 signed troops who were defeated in the crossbow battle, the Western Army and the Jurchen Army
The fierce battle was very cruel and tragic. In the end, the Western Army defeated the opponent with three times its strength.
Fifty thousand Jurchen soldiers were wiped out. According to the order of the commander Chen Qing, all of them were killed without leaving any survivors. However, the Western Army also paid a heavy price of 15,000 people killed in this battle. This was also the case for the Western Army and the Eastern Army.
It was the heaviest casualty since the war.
This was also expected by Chen Qing, so Chen Qing's instructions were to annihilate the enemy at all costs. He knew that this battle would pay a heavy price, but this is war. Kill three thousand enemies and lose yourself.
Eight hundred, in a head-to-head war in which both sides are prepared and capable, there will be no victory without paying the price.
At dawn, the battlefield with a radius of more than ten miles is still filled with the pungent smell of blood, and there is also a faint smell of gunpowder smoke. This is the smell left after the explosion of wooden barrels and fire mines. The soldiers cleaning up the battlefield removed body parts one by one.
The broken body was stripped of its armor and thrown onto the cart, along with the scattered arms and legs.
Another group of soldiers put their swords, spears and armor into carts, and when they encountered gold, silver and other wealth, they put it in big boxes. No army allowed soldiers to steal the loot. Once discovered, it would be a felony, and the same was true for the Western Army.
Military discipline is very strict, and anyone who embezzles loot will be severely punished, ranging from beatings to death.
Yang Zaixing stood on a high place and said to Niu Gao: "If the iron fire thunder was thrown, the damage would be greater, and our casualties would not be so heavy. To be honest, His Highness is a bit overly cautious on this point."
Niu Gao shook his head and said: "We have been relying on iron fire thunder. In the end, our soldiers may not even know how to kill the enemy. Just like siegeing the city now, how long have we not used the siege ladder? What if we use the siege ladder one day?
, General, do you think our soldiers can attack it?"
"If you don't know how to attack the city, then you can't do it!"
"Actually, these are not the key. I also asked His Highness, and His Highness said that the iron fire thunder is not a profound thing. If the enemy gets it, it will be easy to copy it. The Jurchens who have the iron fire thunder will be difficult to deal with.
I think His Highness is right. He is very clear-headed on this point. He would rather destroy it than let the enemy get it. We will only use it when it is critical. General Yang, if you don’t have long-term concerns, you will have immediate worries!"
Niu Gao's sincere words moved Yang Zaixing, and he said with shame on his face: "Niu Dutong is right, I am short-sighted!"
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[Today was not very efficient, I only wrote two chapters]
