Pingding Army Thirty-Seven

  "The nineteenth round!" Another charge by the Golden Army was repelled, Yue Fei silently counted the number of clashes, his iron spear was covered with the enemy's blood and flesh, his face was also splattered with bloodstains, almost unrecognizable from his original appearance. The soldiers standing beside him were mostly wounded and bandaged, while those who were seriously injured or killed were concentrated in a safe area surrounded by their comrades.

  "Wang Gui, how many brothers have you lost?" Yue Fei asked in a hoarse voice, his calm eyes hiding the helplessness of having to listen to something unbearable.

  "Report to the school official, 31 comrades have fallen, and 15 are seriously injured." Wang Gui's voice sank down, those familiar faces were still so vivid, but they had already been separated from the world forever.

  Almost half of the troops were lost, Yue Fei remained silent, gazing at the gloomy sky, his heart was also filled with dark clouds. At least an hour before nightfall, could he and his comrades hold on until then? Why couldn't this life-saving rain come down? He recalled his responsibility, and with a confident tone, exhorted: "Brothers, drink water, eat, once it's dark, we'll break through!"

  Indeed, this small group of Song soldiers has held on until now, which is quite difficult. At least a few hundred Jin soldiers' corpses have been left on the mountain slope, but they are also at the end of their strength. Moreover, the current number of people defending the four-sided slope is already barely sufficient, and if the Jin army attacks again for several rounds, once one side is broken through, it will be a rout.

  The Jin army had not yet adjusted, and the enemy's next wave of attack came up. The Jin army was originally strong and resilient in battle, able to launch continuous charges. This time, they were vastly outnumbered, so they adopted a wheel war tactic, with one wave of cavalry attacking without success before immediately switching to another wave. If not for the narrow terrain of Wanyan Ridge making it impossible to deploy heavy troops, and the Song army having the advantage of high ground, these hundred or more soldiers would have been exhausted to death.

  "My fellow comrades, our families and parents are still waiting for us to return home and reunite. As long as we still have a breath of life, we must hold on!" Yue Fei shouted loudly, and was the first to charge into battle.

  The willpower and spirit of human beings are sometimes mysterious, clearly feeling that they can't hold on anymore, but unknowingly until the evening, they find that the trench is still there, and people are still there!

  "Brothers, prepare to break out!" As the night grew darker, Yue Fei gave this long-awaited order. The surviving three or four dozen soldiers buried the dead with earth and stones, tied their wounded comrades to their backs, chose strong horses, and collected arrows in preparation for breaking out.

  Yue Fei mounted his white horse, wiping the blood from his face with his hand. The smell of blood on his hands was overwhelming. Suddenly, he thought that none of his soldiers had killed as many people as him. Song Jiang's "Killing Song" appeared in his mind: "To be a hero, one must be fierce and bold. With sword in hand, one walks the world, killing at will. Drinking blood from the river in the morning, returning with heads in the evening. Killing one person is a crime, but killing ten thousand makes you a champion. The achievements of past dynasties are all based on killing..."

  No matter how much Yue Fei loathed the short and dark fellow he had killed, he gradually felt that the path he was taking was similar to Song Jiang's, perhaps they were of the same kind.

  Just as the troops were about to set off downhill at dusk, several twinkling stars suddenly emerged from the dark land, then merged into a piece, rapidly spreading out, like wildfire, illuminating the entire land... Seeing this scene, every soldier's heart sank.

  Only Yue Fei stood still, with a composed chest and a well-planned strategy that had been brewing since last night. If not for the timely rain, it would have been put to use earlier.

  Tens of thousands of Jin troops surrounded the Wanyan Ridge, illuminating it with torches as if it were daytime. By dawn the next day, when the Jin army launched another attack, they found that there was no resistance, and the small group of Song soldiers on the mountain had vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a pile of rubble and a makeshift tomb.

  The commander-in-chief of the Jin army, General Zong Ze, personally climbed up the mountain to inspect the Song army's trenches and found nothing unusual. This general, who was second only to the Emperor of Jin, sighed heavily: "Lang Zhong's beloved Ninth Brother, was killed by a Song spy in someone's camp. And yet, with just over 100 Song soldiers, guarding an unimportant position, they were able to resist my tens of thousands of troops for one day and then escape safely. The Zhao Song dynasty is not without its heroes."

  Zhu Wen immediately ordered a thick burial of the Song soldiers' corpses in the pile of rocks.

  At almost the same moment, a team of golden armored cavalry appeared on the outskirts of Pingdingjun City. The guards hurriedly beat the drums to sound the alarm, and the Song army, which had been like a sword hanging over their heads, surged up onto the city walls, arrayed in battle formation.

  Unexpectedly, the Golden Army arrived at the city gate without any signs of attacking, but instead threw away their weapons, removed their iron helmets, revealing a hairstyle of the Song people, and some even jumped off their horses, knelt on the ground and burst into tears.

  "Isn't that Yue Wu's Iron Cavalry? They're back..." The Song army on the city wall exclaimed in surprise, "Quickly open the city gate! Open the city gate!"

  In the midst of a grand welcome, this hard-won vanguard entered Pingding Army. Ji Yunqing immediately summoned Yue Fei and inquired about the details of the reconnaissance mission. Upon hearing that a lone soldier had challenged the enemy cavalry at night and that they had defeated a larger force with a smaller one at Wugongling, Ji Yunqing's eyes gleamed with excitement as if he wished to have been present on the scene himself. He enthusiastically praised Yue Fei and promoted him to Deputy Captain of the Vanguard.

  Yue Fei returned to the barracks, his eight-year-old son Yue Yun rushed up to him and exclaimed: "Dad, I heard you killed a lot of Tartars, next time take me with you and let's kill them thoroughly!"

  Yue Fei showed no joy, and upon hearing this, his face sank: "You little beast, you're thinking of fighting and killing at such a young age. How will you be controlled in the future? Go, face the wall for an hour!"

  Yue's head hit a nail, feeling wronged in her heart, but she didn't dare disobey her father's words. She obediently walked to the side and reflected against the wall. Although Liu Ju didn't understand why her husband was suddenly angry for no reason, she knew how to resolve the situation. Holding their three-month-old son, she sent him to Yue Fei: "Lei'er, quickly call Father, Father is back."

  Yue Fei saw the little meatball-like baby and his expression softened. He looked at Madame Huang again: "His mother, you've had a hard time."

  "Men, you have no idea how hard it is for us women. You men go out there and shed blood and sweat, risking your lives, that's what's really tough." Liu Wei looked at her husband with a tired face, sympathetically saying, "Quickly take off your armor, I've prepared hot water for you to wash up, then drink some hot soup."

  "His mother, this time I took out more than a hundred brothers, but only brought back half of them... I, Yue Fei, owe it to their parents and wives and children..." Yue Fei's eyes turned red, the emotions he had been holding in finally came out in front of his wife.

  "Yue Lang, don't be sad. The brothers outside are all praising you, saying that if it weren't for your bravery and strategy, this time the reconnaissance team might not have returned at all." Liu Wei comforted him with one arm around their young son and the other around her husband.

  "Lei'er, Father swears that he will never let you be tainted by the aura of knives and swords again." Yue Fei looked at his little son's rosy and chubby face and made a surprising vow.

  The silly and ignorant Yue Lei looked at his father's mottled grey and black head, was frightened, opened his mouth and burst into loud wailing.

  The arrival of autumn brings a vastly different atmosphere to both South Korea and China.

  From June to August, the last three routes of Song army sent by the Great Song Dynasty to rescue Taiyuan all ended in failure, and from then on, the vast empire fell into a miserable situation where there were no more troops available.

  At the beginning of the year, the Jin iron cavalry retreated after ceding Taiyuan, Zhongshan and Hejian. Considering the Song people to be treacherous and unfaithful, they issued a proclamation for punitive expedition, again dividing their army into two routes, and returned with the autumn wind.

  In September, the Western Route Army of Da Jin captured Taiyuan, which had been besieged for over 250 days. The city's food and ammunition were exhausted, but hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians would rather starve to death or die in battle than surrender to the enemy, how heroic!

  Taiyuan fell, allowing the Jin army to converge on two routes, with its sharp edge pointing directly at the capital of the Song Dynasty. Pingdingjun, adjacent to Taiyuan, collapsed under the sweep of the two Jin armies, and Ji Tuanlian died in battle. The more than 2,000 horses and men, along with tens of thousands of military dependents and civilians, were scattered and fled for their lives.

  "Chirp――" A sharp whistle came from the sky, and in response, a clear and crisp whistle sounded from the mountains below. With that, a small bird with a dark blue back and extremely long wings flapped its wings and flew down from the sky, swooping towards a rough-looking big man standing on the mountain slope.

  That little bird's speed was extremely fast, like a green lightning bolt shooting towards the big man, flying to the front, spreading its wings and slowly landing on the big man's shoulder. The small bird's body against the big man's majestic tall physique was quite disproportionate.

  The Great Han beckoned with his hand, and a string of men and women walked out from the foot of the mountain. There were old and young among them, including four young men wearing the crimson military uniforms of the Song army, but on top of their uniforms they wore the black armor of the Jin army, and even the horses they led were wrapped in the black leather of the Jin cavalry.

  A youth, only a head shorter than an adult, rushed to the front. The two weapons on his back, which looked like guns but not quite, and like hammers but not quite, were very eye-catching. He threw himself into the arms of a rough-looking big man, mischievously stretching out his hand to reach for the blue bird: "Uncle Donkey Dung, lend me the Qingqing to play with."

  "Quickly, come and support your mother!" Yue Fei's stern voice came over, he held the white horse with one hand and supported his wife Liu Niang with the other. Liu Niang was holding seven-month-old Yue Lei in her arms, even with a dusty face and disheveled hair from fleeing, she couldn't conceal her delicate beauty.

  Xiao Yue was fearless of heaven and earth, but feared his father who always kept his word. He shrank his head in fear and obediently accepted the task assigned by his father.

  "Donkey dung brothers, isn't there really a large group of cavalry nearby? Can this Hai Qing be trusted?" Yue Fei walked forward, half believing and half doubting.

  "Brother, brother, rely on me, I've tamed eagles before." Yelü Duanpian patted his chest with a loud thud, having changed into civilian clothes as the advance scout.

  "Brother, you're still the best, can make enemies work for me." Wang Gui carried the crippled Hunchback and led a young boy about the same age as Yue to follow him.

  "Brother, since we're safe now, let's take a rest." Zhang Xian and Xu Qing also helped their respective wives sit down. There were twelve people in total, five men, four women, and three children.

  This mountain has no name, the rocks are steep and majestic, the stream is clear and cold. A few men let their wives and children rest, but they themselves cannot stay idle, some go to fetch water, some graze horses on the grass, some play with the children. When the water is fetched up, everyone uses the mountain spring and millet cakes to satisfy their hunger. Liu Wei turns away from the crowd, opens her clothes, and feeds her hungry and crying baby, Yue Lei.

  Just as they were eating and drinking, a sea eagle on Yelü Chucai's shoulder suddenly let out a loud cry and soared into the sky, becoming a small dot in the distance as it circled back and forth in the southeast direction.

  "No, it's not good, there is an enemy situation! East, southeast direction." Yelü Chühai's face tightened.

  Several women were frightened and huddled together, especially Liu Wei, who hastily covered Yue Lei's mouth with her breast, fearing that he would cry out again.

  The men remained calm, Yue Fei observed the terrain and said in a low voice: "Brothers, you guard Ah Sao, I'll go scout ahead. If there's any situation, watch for my signal with the gun."

  Yue Fei mounted his horse and galloped southeast along the mountain slope, climbing a small hill to observe from behind a pine tree. Below, he saw a group of about 100 Jin army cavalrymen riding across the open terrain, each carrying large and small bundles on their backs, with some soldiers holding young women in front of their saddles, apparently plundering and retreating.

  Yue Fei gazed out to the distance, confirming that there were no other Jin troops in front of or behind him. With a plan forming in his mind, he turned around and pointed his spear into the air three times, then again three more times - this was the signal to take action.

  In an instant, Wang Gui, Zhang Xian, Xu Qing and Yelü Chongjian arrived with their weapons, riding horses, and the five brothers looked down at the Jin army about to enter the mountain pass.

  "Brother, how do we fight?"

  "Annihilate them, leave none alive!"

  Only five people, want to annihilate a gold army of one hundred people, if there are other people listening, they will definitely laugh out loud, but these few people all know that Yue Fei is not joking.

  Hao Yike flew forward, hanging his iron spear on the hook of victory, holding up the large bow on his back, shouting "Kill", and then charged down first on horseback.

  The Jin army was marching forward, when the hundred-man commander at the front suddenly fell off his horse. Immediately after, bowstrings kept ringing out, and the Jin soldiers in the front row fell to the ground one by one, all of them either shot through the eye or pierced through the heart. At that moment, people thought of a shocking legend about a Song army divine archer who had killed 36 people with consecutive shots. The remaining Jin soldiers were so frightened that they lost their souls and shouted as they scattered and fled in all directions.

  This was beyond the expectation of the five brothers. Originally, if the Jin army encountered an ambush, they would definitely gather to resist, and it was extremely rare for them to collapse and flee like this. However, they did not know that the reputation of Yue Fei's "36 Star Constellation" had already spread among the Jin army.

  The plan to annihilate the enemy went awry, and the five brothers could only split up to pursue separately. After a round of fierce fighting, the corpses of the Jin soldiers were scattered all over the mountain slope and valley, and the women who had been abducted took advantage of the opportunity to escape.

  The five brothers returned to one place, clearing the battlefield, collecting arrows and dry rations from the corpses, and Yelü Dashi would, as usual, find a living Jin soldier and finish him off with an axe. Yue Fei furrowed his brow but did not stop him.

  Suddenly, a woman's shrill cry came from the distant mountain slope. The five brothers' faces changed greatly. This was not the direction where their families were hiding, and it must be that the remaining Jin soldiers had discovered these women and children.

  The five brothers galloped away on horseback, if something unexpected happened, each of them would regret it so much that their intestines would turn green. Why didn't they leave one person to take care of the family?

  The five brothers rushed forward, shouting and yelling, but when they arrived, they saw several women huddled together with Wang Gui's son, shivering with fear. In front of them lay the bodies of several Jin soldiers, some with their heads blown open, others with their chest armor shattered, clearly killed by heavy artillery. And a small figure stood motionless at the side, holding a pair of iron pike guns, still maintaining a combat posture.

  "Son, are you alright?" Yue Fei's voice changed, he dismounted his horse and held Yue in his arms, carefully examining him from head to toe. Seeing that he was not injured, he slightly relaxed, but then saw the wooden expression on his son's face and became worried again that he had been frightened by something, using his hand to gently stroke his chest, revealing a father's love.

  "Wah, father......" Yue Meng suddenly burst into loud wailing, sobbing and stuttering, "I... I killed someone, I killed someone..."

  "Son, don't be afraid, don't be afraid!" Yue Fei recalled the scene of his first kill and comforted his son with a pained heart, "You killed a bad person, all bad people deserve to die, your father doesn't blame you."

  "Son, were you the one who killed them?"

  "A true saying: 'A tiger father has no dog son!'"

  "You little scamp, you've finally made something of yourself..."

  "Awesome, awesome nephew, fierce, fierce..."

  Several brothers were both shocked and delighted, pulling Yue from Yue Fei's arms and throwing him into the air, scattering a burst of laughter, and escaping the gloom of Pingding Army instantly reduced a lot.

  After a long and arduous journey, Yue Fei and his entourage, including women and children, did not return to their hometown until November.

  Everyone on the road saw that everything was desolate, trees were either cut down or burned, and most of the good fields and land were abandoned. The walls of houses were broken, and there was little smoke from cooking. Many corpses had not been buried and were exposed in the wilderness. Only after entering Xiangzhou did we find that there was very little destruction. When asked about it, it turned out that Jin Guo's fourth prince, Jin Wuzhu, had ordered that no one was allowed to disturb a single blade of grass or tree in Xiangzhou.

  "Fourth Prince, Jin Wuzhuo?" Before his eyes appeared the proud and generous Jurchen youth, a warmth in his heart, but he immediately remembered something he had said "Bring an army of one million to Jiangnan", his gaze turned cold, regardless of whether or not he was the leader of this invasion of the Southern Song by the Jin Dynasty, he and he would ultimately become sworn enemies who could not coexist!

  "Jin Wushu, remember this well: one day, I, Yue Fei, will ride a horse and trample the Yellow Dragon with my horizontal spear!" Yue Fei silently recited in his heart, turning that playful phrase from his youth into a lifelong vow.