Although the Song soldiers raised their shields high to face the enemy, the arrows were too dense. Many Song soldiers were hit by arrows and suffered heavy casualties. Before they had even taken fifty steps, nearly two thousand soldiers fell to the ground after being hit by arrows, and hundreds of trebuchets retreated.
Go to a high place and keep throwing fire oil balls downwards. Smoke billows from the shore and the fire burns.
Yang Zaixing's intention was also very clear. He used 5,000 soldiers to attack the other side and create conditions for laying a pontoon bridge behind him. The three-hundred-stone boats were locked together with iron chains and covered with wooden boards. Hundreds of craftsmen started working at the same time, with very unusual movements.
fast.
General Han Chang stood at a high place and watched the changes on the battlefield. He saw the Song army's intention to build a pontoon bridge. He immediately ordered the five thousand cavalry: "attack in a roundabout way, destroy the enemy's pontoon bridge attempt, and intercept the attack."
The enemy's retreat!"
"Woo——"
A low horn sounded on the shore, and a group of auxiliary cavalry came from the northeast to outflank and kill them. Like a flash flood that burst an embankment, they rushed straight to the pier, then turned south and ran along the pier, shooting random arrows at the pontoon bridge that was about to be completed.
When it was shot, dozens of craftsmen were unable to dodge and fell into the water one after another.
The cavalry sprayed kerosene and immediately set the pontoon on fire. The other craftsmen were frightened and retreated one after another.
Hundreds of Song soldiers rushed forward, holding their shields high to resist the opponent's arrows. While dismantling the burning pontoon bridge, they allowed the craftsmen to continue assembling it. Although the advancement of the pontoon bridge did not stop, the speed obviously slowed down.
The five thousand cavalrymen of the Confederate Army were divided into two. Two thousand soldiers continued to block the progress of the Song Army's pontoon bridge, and the other three thousand cavalrymen attacked the back of the attacking Song Army.
At this time, there were still 3,000 soldiers of the Song Army who had stormed ashore. Seeing that the Song Army was in danger of being attacked from the east and west, the leader, Li Ling, shouted: "Fight the enemy to the bitter end and never surrender!"
Three thousand soldiers of the Song army roared one after another, raised their short spears and shields and fought to the death with the enemy. The two sides fought fiercely, but the bows and arrows and kerosene could not work. The crossbowmen of the auxiliary army were transformed into an army of spears, and the army of five thousand spears rushed forward.
Up
Three thousand Song troops were flanked by eight thousand enemy troops, and their casualties gradually increased.
At this time, Yang Zaixing saw that there were obstacles in the construction of the pontoon bridge. He immediately made an immediate decision and sent a second wave of forty ferries to the east bank of the Yellow River.
Not long after, forty ferries docked, and six thousand soldiers of the Song Army rushed ashore and began to attack the two thousand auxiliary cavalry. These six thousand Song troops came at the right time, so that the two thousand cavalry could no longer use kerosene to stop the pontoon bridge.
Without the enemy's troubles, the pontoon bridge construction accelerated again, and forty ferries were also used to build the pontoon bridge, greatly speeding up the progress.
At this time, the pontoon bridge was filled with densely packed Song troops, extending all the way to the shore. There were 20,000 troops. They were waiting for the moment the pontoon bridge was opened.
When Han Changchong saw that the Song Army's pontoon bridge was about to be built, he ordered in a hurry: "Deploy another 10,000 troops to come to the dock."
There are a total of 30,000 troops stationed in Hezhong Prefecture, of which 25,000 are stationed in Hedong City and the other 5,000 are stationed in Wanquan County in the north of Hezhong Prefecture.
There are still five thousand troops stationed in Wenxi County, but Wenxi County belongs to Jiezhou, but it is also under the jurisdiction of Han Chang.
The commander Wang Feng said anxiously: "Captain of ten thousand men, I humbly suggest that it is best to leave five thousand people to defend the city? The city is empty. If the Song army divides an army to seize the city, Hedong City will be finished."
Han Chang had no expression on his face and said coldly: "All troops will be mobilized to fight. Anyone who dares to object will be killed!"
All the generals felt the dissatisfaction in the general's tone and did not dare to say a word. Soon, all ten thousand troops were mobilized out of the city to join the battle, and Hedong City became almost a defenseless city.
After the Song Army's pontoon bridge was built, Yang Zaixing personally led an army of 20,000 people to attack the east bank. In addition to the Song Army soldiers who had already invested, the Song Army successively invested 30,000 troops to attack the Hedong Wharf.
In order to protect the strategic location of the wharf and prevent the Song army from landing in Hedong, Han Chang also invested all 25,000 troops. The two sides fought fiercely on this piece of land with a radius of more than a thousand acres.
The two sides fought until noon, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. At this moment, a soldier rushed to report, "Captain Ten Thousands, something bad has happened. A Song army has entered Hedong City, and Hedong City has fallen!"
Hedong City was almost an empty city, with only a few hundred soldiers guarding the city gates. Unexpectedly, it was unexpectedly attacked.
Han Chang was shocked and asked anxiously: "How many Song troops are there?"
"About five to six thousand people."
Han Chang was stunned, where did Song Jun come from?
At this moment, the clear horn sound behind him sounded "Woo——"
A Song army of 10,000 people came from behind, led by General Niu Gao. Niu Gao arrived at Hedong City on the agreed date and showed up at the height of the battle. He ordered Li Hongwu to lead 5,000 men and take the opportunity to occupy the empty space.
Hedong City, he personally led an army of 10,000 to attack the rear of the Xie Cong Army.
Niu Gao's army entered the battle and dealt a fatal blow to the Xie Cong army. Five thousand crossbowmen of the Xie Cong army were killed and fled in all directions. Niu Gao's 10,000 army was unstoppable and cut the enemy's formation into two sections. The Xie Cong army began to waver.
In the northeast corner, two thousand spear soldiers broke away from the front and fled, and signs of collapse of the entire front appeared.
Han Chang saw that the situation was not good and shouted: "Withdraw the troops! Withdraw the troops!"
"Woo - Wu -" the horn of withdrawal sounded, and Han Chang took the lead to leave the battlefield and led hundreds of soldiers to retreat to the north.
The Xie Cong army was defeated. More than 20,000 people abandoned their helmets and fled desperately. Those who knelt down and surrendered were killed in countless numbers. The Song army pursued them for more than 20 miles before withdrawing their troops to celebrate their victory.
In this battle, the Song army died about 5,000 people, while the enemy army died more than 8,000 people, nearly 10,000 people surrendered, and 25,000 auxiliary troops participated in the battle. In the end, Han Chang only collected more than 3,000 defeated soldiers.
Many defeated soldiers fled home directly.
Han Chang joined the 5,000-strong garrison in Wanquan County and transferred the 5,000-strong garrison from Wenxi County. The army returned to 13,000. He estimated that he could not resist the Song army, so he led his army to evacuate towards Jiangzhou.
Join forces with Wan Yan Huo Nu's army.
The Xie Congjun's food supplies in Hedong City were extremely rich, including more than 300,000 dan of grain alone, 100,000 dan of black beans, 200,000 dans of fodder, as well as kerosene, gunpowder, armor, tents, barracks, trebuchets, etc.
and various military supplies.
Wanyan Yinshu originally expected Hedong City to be able to defend it for a year and a half, but he didn't expect it to be lost so quickly, and he couldn't even defend it for a day.
Of course, there are also hidden elements of Han Chang's personal grudges in this. Han Chang was obviously the commander-in-chief of the southern part of Hedong Road, and Wan Yanchang personally appointed him as the military envoy of the southern part of Hedong Road, but Yin Shuke sent Wanyan Huonv here.
He was appointed as the southern general and appointed as his deputy, completely ignoring Han Chang's feelings, which of course made Han Chang feel dissatisfied.
Yang Zaixing's entire army crossed the Yellow River, and together with Niu Gao's 15,000 troops, there were a total of 60,000 troops.
On the one hand, Yang Zaixing let the soldiers rest and recuperate, and on the other hand, he sent someone to deliver a message to the commander-in-chief Chen Qing. They had crossed the Yellow River, captured Hedong City, and joined forces with Niugao's army to ask for instructions on the next battle strategy.
Unexpectedly, before the messenger soldiers left the city, Chen Qing sent someone to deliver the letter. He sent it to Pujing Pass and then rushed from Pujing Pass to Hedong City.
Niu Gao quickly came to the city head, cupped his fists and saluted Yang Zaixing, "I heard that the prince has sent a letter?"
Yang Zaixing is the general with the highest military rank under Chen Qing. He is the commander of the upper military capital, while Liu Cui and Zheng Ping are the commanders of the capital. Niu Gao, like Gaoding and Liu Qiong, is the deputy commander of the capital. Above the commander of the capital is the marshal level, divided into
It is the fourth level, deputy marshal, marshal, army marshal, and finally the capital marshal. Currently, Chen Qing is the capital marshal.
Once Yang Zaixing is promoted to the rank of marshal, Chen Qing will leave the rank of marshal and take up a military position tailor-made for him, General Tiance of the Western Army.
Tiance Shangjun was a military position held by Li Shimin in the Tang Dynasty, but the Song Dynasty inherited the Tang system, so it was not unreasonable for the Song Army to set up the position of Tiance General.
Yang Zaixing handed a letter to Niu Gao and said with a smile: "Niu Dutong, please read it yourself!"
Niu Gao read the letter and asked in confusion: "Why are we allowed to garrison troops in Wenxi County?"
Yang Zaixing smiled slightly and said: "The messenger just said that General Liu Cui will lead his army from Cizhou through Gushe Mountain and enter Jiangzhou. I understand what the prince means."
Niu Gao also immediately understood that Wanyan Huonv had stationed 30,000 troops in Zhengping, Jiangzhou. If Liu Cui's army came out from Cizhou, it would be in the northwest of Zhengping County, and Wenxi County would be in the southwest of Zhengping County.
A large army formed a pincer attack on Zhengping County from the north and the south.
He thought for a while and said: "Once Wanyan Huonu discovers that we are stationing troops and hears the news, he will guess our intentions. I think it is very likely that he will withdraw to Jinzhou to the north, join the 20,000 troops in Linfen County of Jinzhou, and then bring
The troops from Zezhou and Longde Prefecture have been mobilized. Their strength will reach 80,000, and they can fight us decisively."
Yang Zaixing nodded, "You and I want to go together. I suggest that we divide our troops into two groups. One part of the army will be stationed in Wenxi County, and the other part of the army will continue to go north to ambush the enemy forces in Zezhou and Longqing Prefecture."
Niu Gao agreed to Yang Zaixing's plan. He transferred another 10,000 troops from Shaanzhou and sent the prisoners of war from Jie County and Hedong County to Tongzhou.
The two armies numbered 75,000, leaving 5,000 to guard Hedong City. Yang Zaixing led 50,000 main troops north to Wenxi County as agreed, while Niu Gao led 20,000 troops to Zezhou, preparing to ambush Zezhou's army.