Under the hazy starlight, on the field outside Hanzhong City, soldiers were sleeping in rows and rows, with swords and guns beside them, and black flags waving.
This is a land that has become a battlefield, but except for the occasional night patrol soldiers, the camp still has a quiet atmosphere in the second half of the night. Even if some people wake up from sleep, they rarely speak. Some people are snoring and sleeping hard.
Heartless.
After days of fighting, the soldiers of the Chinese Army are extremely tired. However, under the pressure of being attacked at any time, most soldiers will still wake up from time to time while sleeping. Sometimes it is because of fighting or explosions in the distance.
Sometimes, because the surroundings seemed too quiet, the snoring would suddenly stop, and the soldiers would wake up, feel the movement around them, and then resume their rest.
Regarding the attack on the Jurchen camp not far away, the sound continued until the early morning, occasionally causing a wave of excitement. The sleeping soldiers woke up and thought: "Chen Hai is crazy." Then they fell asleep quietly again.
The battle initiated by the friendly forces ensured that everyone on his side could have a relatively safe resting space. If Chen Hai's troops had not been harassing outside Xiyin's camp all night, then this might be the person who would be attacked in the dark.
It's over. Therefore, while Chen Hai and others are fighting all night, they must seize the time to restore their physical strength to cope with the upcoming battle.
Even in the quietest moments, many things are going on. In the city, Wanyan Yuchi is unpacking and packing a large number of iron cannons and ammunition, transporting them out of the city gate in the southeast on carts and sending them to the south.
Xiyin Camp. On the one hand, Chen Hai launched an attack on the camp in separate shifts. On the other hand, he also discovered the movement and submitted a combat request to the rear headquarters.
Command dismissed his relatively risky plan.
"...Chen Hai is crazy..."
In the southwest corner of the Chinese military camp, the light in the tent stayed all night. Qin Shaoqian and several staff, brigade, and regiment level cadres were still gathered here. The oil lamp in the tent was dim, and there were simple battlefield diagrams and most of the flags on the wooden boxes.
They were placed in a chaotic and disorderly manner, and they were only guessing at the locations of the troops represented by some of the flags, and were not entirely sure.
"Chen Hai has less than a thousand men. From last night to now, he has twice proposed attacking Xi Yin at all costs. Is he thinking of using all 1,000 men to attack Xi Yin and replacing Xi Yin with tired soldiers...
"
"Chen Hai is very forward-looking. He has already seen that this decisive battle will not be easy to fight after dawn."
"A regiment commander should also take some responsibility for his soldiers. It is not good to sacrifice himself at every turn."
Army commander Qin Shaoqian, brigade commander Hou Lietang, Xu Xiaohu, staff officer Lin Dongshan and others gathered here. It was already late at night. When talking about these things, most of the people spoke in low tones. After replying to Chen Hai's request, everyone was still gathering around
Map and start making final strategic decisions.
"... In short, at dawn, Xi Yin's troops will try to launch a general attack on us. In Hanzhong City, they will drive out the people. Xi Yin wants to complete his victory in one battle, and Zong Han is also rushing towards Hanzhong from the west.
Come here. Then, we can’t fight stupidly. In the general direction, if they want to fight decisively, we can fight decisively. But tactically, we have to focus on our own priorities..."
…
At two o'clock in the morning, even the stars in the sky seemed to have disappeared. The sound of explosions came from the night in the east. Liu Muchia held the scabbard at his side, suddenly opened his eyes, and then looked to the side. Come over.
It was the squad leader who was waking up the soldiers one by one.
"Keep quiet, change into black clothes, prepare to form a team, start calling..."
They turned their uniforms over, exposing the black side, and then walked westward under the guidance of the squad leader. The instructions were determined by word of mouth among the soldiers as they moved forward.
"The First Division and the Second Brigade of the Seventh Chinese Army immediately headed northwest after receiving the order, arriving in the Xiaoyi area at Chenshi. They were ready to attack and block. In the early stage of the operation, be sure to pay attention to concealment. The tasks of each regiment and battalion are as follows
…”
A group of soldiers accepted the order and had some discussions before leaving the camp.
"Go northwest, that's where we came from yesterday."
"We're leaving, what will happen to Xiyin?"
"The third brigade has also mobilized. Should we give up here?"
"No, the artillery regiment and the first brigade stayed behind..."
After leaving the camp, the order to silence was given and everyone stopped talking.
One after another, black figures took advantage of the night to leave the camp outside the south gate of Hanzhong and began to disperse toward the northwest. More scouts and messengers were already running on the road.
…
At dawn, stretchers were carried into the camp one by one, and the doctors began to treat the wounded. There was a rush in the camp.
With a strong smell of blood on his body, Chen Hai led his soldiers back to the camp. He asked some soldiers to start looking for a place to rest. He almost fell asleep sitting on the ground. The next moment he squinted his eyes, he stood up again with a start.
He stood up and scanned the situation in the camp.
"what happened?"
A staff officer came over and reported to him the decision made by the headquarters in the early hours of this morning. Various thoughts were swirling on Chen Hai's face. In the end, he clenched his fist and waved: "Okay!"
He then said: "I want to take a rest. Please tell the headquarters that my people will stay here and cooperate to stop Wanyan Xiyin."
The staff officer saluted and turned around. Chen Hai looked back to the east. There were signs of awakening in the Jurchen soldiers' camp that he had harassed all night...
…
Twenty-two miles west of Hanzhong, near the small county town called Tuanshanji, in Wanyan Zonghan's main camp, the soldiers had already gotten up and had breakfast, and the first group of troops came out of the camp.
That night, Wanyan Zonghan slept for two hours to recharge his batteries.
He has fully confirmed the situation near Hanzhong, including the Chinese army's occupation of the south gate and the confrontation with Xiyin's troops. The decisive battle is at this moment.
In the past few days, nearly 100,000 troops were dispersed within a radius of 100 miles, but he still gathered nearly 30,000 troops under his command. A large number of defeated troops were also gathering towards Hanzhong.
Similar to our own situation, the more than 10,000 men of the Chinese Seventh Army have been scattered to pieces and are rushing towards Hanzhong. Since the two armies chose the same path, ten thousand fighting broke out last night.
There were many battles and frictions, big and small.
Xiyin had spotted the opportunity as soon as he arrived, and Zong Han also recognized this opportunity. A large number of scouts were released in the early morning. Their mission was to mobilize all the broken troops that could be contacted and gather toward the southeast.
, the decisive battle in Hanzhong!
And Ning Yi, who defeated Jiange, is still at least three days away from here.
The Huaxia Army was also taking similar actions. What was slightly different from the behavior of Zonghan's scouts was that the orders carried by the Huaxia Army's scouts were not for all troops to assemble toward Hanzhong.
This early morning, including the troops contacted by the scouts and the troops who had arrived south of Hanzhong City and secretly set out to march westward, a total of tens of thousands of people were gathering on the road west of Hanzhong.
Wanyan Zonghan is rushing towards us.
…
"... In the past few days, in order to avoid defeat in a large-scale decisive battle, Wanyan Zonghan used tricks, engaged in wheel warfare, and added fuel to the fire. He had nearly 100,000 people, grinding them round after round. It seemed that the mountains and plains were full of mountains, but the battle
Their strength has been getting worse each round, and now, when we are tired from fighting, they have truly lost their military morale..."
"...Wanyan Xiyin is different. His more than 10,000 troops have not yet been engaged in battle, and the morale of the army has not been lost. We are already very tired. To fight a decisive battle with him is to use our own shortcomings to attack the enemy's strong points, so how to deal with this situation
, we have to look at it separately. To deal with Xi Yin, we take a defensive position and try to delay it as much as possible, while using Hanzhong as a partition, on the other side, we launch a general attack!"
"... In the past few days, Wanyan Zonghan has tried hard to torment his 100,000 men, but it seems that he has not been truly defeated. With his arrogance, once the decisive battle of Hanzhong begins, his main force will definitely gather here at full speed. Then
We mobilize all the available troops in this area and fight to the west of Hanzhong! Before their Valley God Xiyin can react, we will forcibly eat Wanyan Zonghan."
"The most difficult decision among such decisions is to stay here in Hanzhong and be responsible for blocking Wanyan Xiyin's troops..."
…
April twenty-four.
Dewdrops hung on the leaves of the weeds by the river, and white fish belly began to appear on the horizon. Then the wind rolled and the clouds calmed down, and the sun gradually rose from the mountains to the east. In the military camps on both sides, the cooking soldiers had prepared breakfast, and the smell of meat was
Diffused in the morning breeze.
The soldiers under Chen Hai are still sleeping.
Wanyan Xiyin watched the iron cannons being installed one after another and then pushed to the front of the battlefield. The Jurchen soldiers under his command were harassed by Chen Hai's attack all night, and many of them had bloodshot eyes. This made
Their killing intent was so high that they wanted to rush over immediately and kill all the Black Flag troops on the opposite position. It was also a good thing that their military morale was available.
Flag after flag fluttered in the wind, and the army took up its position and began to gradually move forward. On the opposite position, the Chinese soldiers stood behind the mounds they built and watched everything in silence. Xi Yin rode on
Sitting on the war horse, listening to the morning breeze blowing by his ears, and the Han River coming from the distance, winding and flowing. He suddenly felt the urge to talk to the other party's general.
In Shiling in the southwest, after the defeat of Wangyuan Bridge, Zong Han had a negotiation with Ning Yi. Zong Han had already told him through a letter that he had thought a lot about the development of Gewu. If he had been present at that time
, maybe you can say something different.
The battle before him was also a crucial one. He had some things he wanted to talk to the other party and some questions he wanted to discuss with the other party. Unfortunately, the person facing him was not Ning Rentu.
He has experienced countless battles in his life, and this is the first time that he has the idea of "talking about it", but it is just an idea. After all, a cruel battlefield is not a story told by a storyteller. He let this idea stay in his mind
middle.
The prelude to a war, perhaps due to the accumulation of pressure, always makes people feel unusually solemn and silent. Soon after, Xiyin waved his hand and ordered, and the cannon rumbled forward. Then, the artillery fire flooded the opponent's position...
Chen Hai woke up from his deep sleep, squinted his eyes and looked at it, then folded his hands on his chest and fell asleep again.
"attack"
Shouts tear the earth apart
…
Near Tuanshan, the army under Wanyan Zonghan advanced for several miles in the morning wind. The scouts at the vanguard of the army discovered traces of the Chinese army.
Maybe they were separated troops who were gathering towards Hanzhong.
His first thought at that time was this.
If the army led by Yan Zonghan still looks like a giant beast at this moment, the Chinese army's troops at this moment are more like a scattered and disorderly ant colony. They are divided into several groups, some large and some small, from different
direction, converging towards Wanyan Zonghan's only way to Hanzhong.
At two o'clock in the morning, Wanyan Zonghan discovered traces of the Chinese army staying in three directions around him.
After confirming several pieces of information one after another, this Jurchen veteran who had fought all his life was not surprised. He was just silent for a moment, and then thought about everything clearly.
"…prepare for battle."
he said.
…
Thousands of Chinese troops are marching through the wilderness, over the mountains, and into combat positions.
…
The Jurchens passed through forty years of ups and downs.