Maojiagang [53]

  On the first day of February, the sky was gloomy from early morning, and by evening, big snowflakes finally began to fall, enveloping the entire city of Kaifeng. The lights of thousands of families lit up one after another, twinkling like stars, hazy and indistinct.

  Under the cover of night and flying snow, Fengqiu Gate, where a big battle had taken place some days ago, quietly opened its gate, lowered the drawbridge, and two rows of infantry and cavalry marched out in an orderly manner, with people holding their breath and horses removing their bells, crossing over the moat, heading towards the Jin army's large camp stationed at Mǎo Gāng.

  There were over 10,000 troops in the Song army, marching on a snowy night, their formation was not chaotic, and they were extremely quiet, at first glance, they were well-trained elite soldiers. The purpose of this campaign was clear, it was to launch a surprise attack on the enemy, and the timing was also well chosen.

  At that time, the Song Dynasty's loyalist troops were stationed in all directions around the capital city, each setting up their own camps. Li Gang was in charge of the city and could be said to have no internal or external worries. After the Jin army received the oath of surrender from the Song court, they too were satisfied and lost their previous momentum. As one side weakened and the other strengthened, it was a good opportunity for the Song army to counterattack.

  The commander of this raid was Yao Pingzhong, the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Xuanfu Agency of the Great Song Dynasty. Who is Yao Pingzhong? He is also a famous general from a family of Western Army generals, known as "Little Taiwei". Yao Pingzhong led these 10,000 carefully selected infantry and cavalry troops to march northwest through the snow, advancing on Mutou Gang.

  Moulangang, as the name suggests, is a high mound, serving as the imperial stud farm of the Song Dynasty's capital city. The mountain top is open and flat, with lush grass and trees. Its north face is a cliff, while its east and west sides are steep walls, only the south slope is gentle, making it easy to enter and exit. The six million iron cavalry of the Jin army stationed here, setting up a large camp.

  Geographically, Mǎo Jiàng Gāng can be said to be a place that is easy to defend but hard to attack. However, it was still Song territory, so Yáo Píng Zhòng first sent out a team of dare-to-die soldiers who were familiar with the terrain to sneak up. This team of dare-to-die soldiers wore white robes and blended in with the snow, silently sneaking up to the top of the mountain. With a flash of cold light, they took down the Jin army's sentry and opened the gate.

  The ten thousand Song soldiers who had been sneaking in got the signal, and with a loud whistle, they drew out their long and short weapons and charged in like hungry tigers emerging from the forest. Just as the Song army thought they were about to start a big slaughter, there was a sudden loud crackling sound, smoke and fire shot up into the air, intermingling with the snowflakes, making for a spectacular sight.

  Under the reflection of fireworks, countless dense black heavy armored cavalrymen surrounded from all sides, like a continuous forest, with those sharp giant spears pointing to the ground, densely packed, and terrifying.

  Under the protection of his personal bodyguards, Song general Yao Pingzhong, seeing that they had fallen into the enemy's trap, remained calm and shouted: "Form a circular formation!"

  The circular formation was a ring-shaped defensive formation that the Song army had practiced for a long time, suitable for field battles. However, at this time and place, it was a helpless move. This circular formation required soldiers to surround in a circle, with one person standing up and another kneeling down, holding shields overlapping each other, using long weapons to defend against the outside. But the Song army, because of the surprise attack on snowy night, had light equipment, so although many infantrymen carried lightweight six-edged shields, they almost didn't bring long weapons, while cavalry was the opposite, carrying only long spears without shields.

  It was too late to talk, and the time passed quickly. Before the Song army could form an array, arrows rained down from all sides, with a momentum completely different from the Song army's arrows. They didn't ask for accuracy, but all fell within the encirclement. Suddenly, the miserable cries of the Song army rose and fell, the infantry still had shields to protect their bodies, while the cavalry was the most miserable, completely becoming targets for the arrows, with men and horses falling down in a heap.

  "Haha, the Ninth Great King, just watch how a certain family's son will annihilate your Song army!" A rough and harsh voice came from the Jin army camp, as a tall goose cart was pushed out.

  This goose cart was originally a siege engine, slightly higher than the city wall, with its top curved forward, shaped like a goose, and had to be pushed forward by hundreds of people. At this moment, it seemed like a giant monster looking down at the surrounded Song army, under the illumination of the flames around, one could see clearly that on top was inserted a large golden banner, below which stood only two men, one tall and large, wearing the yellow silk robe unique to the imperial family of the Great Song. The other was short and small, wearing a fox fur coat, with his forehead exposed, and a long braid hanging down, amidst the swirling snowflakes.

  The Jin army saw the people on the goose cart, and they all cheered together. The arrow momentum did not decrease at all, shooting the Song army like a rainstorm, chaotic and disorderly, falling down in batches. It turned out that the Jin army's arrows were quite unique, with arrowheads as sharp as chisels, six or seven inches long, with extremely strong penetration power, and once they entered the human body, they could not be pulled out, very overbearing. Even the fierce Liao army would collapse at a touch, let alone the Song army which was weaker than the Liao army.

  However, these tens of thousands of Song troops were all seasoned veterans who had experienced the bloody battles of defending cities. They were the elite forces gathered from the Imperial Guards, Western Army and various local militias. Seeing that they would rather die fighting than wait to be slaughtered, some of them disobeyed their commanders' orders to form a defensive formation and charged at the Jin army's iron cavalry with swords and spears in hand.

  Only the sound of drums thundering in the Golden Army formation, the heavy armored cavalry scattered into a fan shape, opening up to both wings, slowly and orderly advancing. Almost at the same time, that breathtaking arrow rain suddenly stopped.

  The two armies clashed, and the Song army's cavalry had already suffered heavy casualties, leaving only infantry. A more tragic scene unfolded as the charging Song army infantrymen were like blocks of live flesh being sent to the knife tip. The Jin army's giant banner spears were about three men long, and the Song soldiers were pierced before they could get close, while those who managed to dodge the spear thrusts found their knives and swords falling on the Jin army's heavy armor and horse hide, unable to inflict any damage, and were trampled to death by the iron cavalry.

  This Song army originally intended to slaughter the enemy, but instead ended up being slaughtered by the enemy. The defeat of this battle directly hit the heart of the Great Song Dynasty's aggression, and from then on, the word "peace" became the top priority. Another terrible consequence of this battle was that it determined how a future ruler of the Great Song would view his enemies.

  This man, the tall and imposing figure standing on the carriage, looked at the slaughter before his eyes, listened to the cheers of the Jin army and the miserable cries of the Song army. At first, he was still calm, but gradually his whole body began to tremble, and finally, with a thud, he knelt down at the feet of the short figure, knocking his head like pounding garlic, wailing: "Second prince, spare the Great Song, spare the Great Song..."

  The short and small one let out a victorious mad laugh: "Nine Great Kings, it's not that our family doesn't want to spare the Great Song, but rather the heavens want to destroy the Song..."

  It turned out that the short and small one was actually the commander-in-chief of the Jin army on the road to Daguanying, the second prince Woli Bu, and what he called the nine great kings was naturally the current emperor of the Jin Dynasty, the ninth brother of Zhao Kuangyin.

  Zhao Gou, this tall and majestic, able in both literature and martial arts son of heaven, from then on had a deep-seated fear of the Jin people, which lasted until his death.

  The battle ended with the complete defeat of the Song army. When the sun rose the next day, it revealed a world of glittering ice and snow, as if all the ugliness of the world had been covered up. The corpses and blood from last night's great battle were also buried beneath it.

  On the snowy ground north of Mǎo Jiàng, four figures stumbled and staggered forward. As they drew closer, it turned out to be five people, with one of them, a large dark-complexioned man, carrying another on his back. All five were dressed in Song military attire, with bandages and colorful strips wrapped around their bodies, and the weapons in their hands stained with blood, clearly having just come from the battlefield.

  "Zhang Si, you said brother woke up, will he blame us? We are now far away from the capital, is it considered fleeing in battle?" A red-faced soldier asked anxiously. Originally, the route of several people was gradually moving away from Kaifeng.

  "Xu Er, our brothers are all injured and unconscious, what's the point of staying in the capital? Besides, we're from Pingding Army, it's time to return to our unit." A pale-faced soldier replied, with a blade of grass still stuck in his mouth.

  "Where are you going, Niu Ergou?" The red-faced soldier spoke with a bit more respect to the tall and dark man who was carrying someone on his back.

  "My cowherd is a country soldier, can only return to his hometown of Lushan." The big black man with two iron hoes on his waist and carrying a hundred or so pounds heavy man on his back walked on the snowy ground without panting. "To say, this time we were able to escape from death, thanks to Brother Yue Wu, if he hadn't fought to kill those few Tartars, how could we have rushed out? Ah, yes, and this donkey dung brother also made great contributions. Donkey dung? Why is it called donkey dung? Hahaha..."

  Niu Gao's words made the two men burst out laughing at the same time, originally each of them was carrying a wound, this laugh pulled on the wound, and they immediately gritted their teeth and groaned.

  "Brother Niu, Brother Erniu, I... we are alive, but my brother Ha... Ha Mazi is gone..." The ridiculed man had a coarse face and clumsy speech, but his tone revealed a kind and honest heart. As soon as he thought of this, he plopped down on the snowy ground and burst into loud sobs.

  A vast dark cloud loomed over the city of Taiyuan, it was already June, a large Song Dynasty cavalry unit gazed from afar at the short and stout city walls surrounding Taiyuan, their hearts were also heavy with foreboding.

  "Brother, we've come this far on our reconnaissance mission and have completed the seasonal troop training directive. It's better to withdraw now. If we were to encounter a large group of Tartar cavalry, our hundred or so brothers wouldn't be enough for them to swallow in one bite." A sandy-faced soldier holding a large knife suggested to the lead officer.

  "Many brothers, seeing that wall, my heart is blocked." Little school raised his iron gun and looked back at the soldiers behind him, his tone was painful. "The Jin people have been besieging the city until now, our great Song's elite have all come out, wanting to lift the siege of Taiyuan, but the troops are scattered and not coordinated, being hit by the Jin people with ease, each one is broken, those tens of thousands of Western soldiers, just exhausted under that wall, famous generals like Zhong Force fought to death, making people extremely sad. If I can get 10,000 soldiers from Yue Fei, this time we must be able to break through the enemy's position and save Taiyuan from danger!"

  Those one hundred cavalrymen solemnly looked at the humble and unassuming Yue Fei, no one thought he was boasting, they all shared a common hatred for the enemy. A white-faced soldier held up his large spear and shouted: "Brother, since we have already arrived under the city walls, why not just kill them quickly, it's better than suffocating in our chests."

  Another red-faced soldier also waved his big hammer and followed: "Yes, brother, we will go and kill them all, vent our anger."

  "Zhang Si, Xu Er, what are you two plotting? If our hundred or so men charge forward, won't we be like sheep entering a tiger's lair, or eggs hitting a rock? All of you brothers have families, can you just die like this? Who will raise your children?"

  Sha Lian's words struck a chord in the hearts of all the soldiers, and for a moment everyone's face showed some hesitation. Only one rough soldier spoke out loudly: "Brothers, have you ever experienced the taste of national destruction and family annihilation? If the country is gone, what use is the family?"

  Yue Fei nodded slightly: "Brother Wang and Donkey Dung said it makes sense, but we are scouts, not combat troops. Since we're scouting, we should at least go to the enemy camp once, scout out their situation, and only then can we complete our mission. Zhang Xian, Xu Qing, Ye Lu Donkey Dung, listen up! You three follow me tonight to scout out the enemy camp. Wang Gui, listen up! You lead the brothers to station at Wugong Ridge as backup."

  That night, four figures wearing grass rings on their heads and branches on their bodies took advantage of the trees to sneak into a Jin army camp. This disguise was something that Yue Fei had learned from the imperial guards of the fallen Liao Dynasty.

  The sky was still overcast, as if it would rain at any moment, and the air was both wet and hot. In the Jin camp, fires were lit everywhere to drive away mosquitoes. The Jin soldiers, who had been on high alert during the day, were now resting in their tents, with only a few guards remaining vigilant. Some of them even slept naked under the open sky, making the defense extremely lax. This made the four night scouts' palms itch with desire, and they wished they could behead a few people to take away.

  Four people passed by an empty tent, suddenly found it was filled with golden armor, Yue Fei's heart moved, he made a gesture to his three companions, and they all crawled in together.

  In the blink of an eye, the four men walked out fully dressed, pretending to be Jin soldiers, and swaggered around the camp with an air of confidence. The Jin army's iron helmets covered their heads and faces, revealing only their eyes, so the four men didn't have to worry about being discovered. However, the Jin armor was very heavy, and even Zhang Xian and Xu Qing, who were physically strong, felt uncomfortable moving around at first.

  A team of Jin soldiers patrolling at night came face to face, Zhang Xian and Xu Qing retreated behind Yelü Chucai, firstly because he was tall and similar in build to the Jurchen people, secondly they thought he was a Khitan, so he should be able to speak Jurchen.

  As expected, when the two sides crossed paths, the leader of the Jin army asked loudly, and Zhang Xian and Xu Qing quickly looked at Yelü Chongji, but he also looked at them with a confused expression in his eyes, scaring the two men who secretly cursed their bad luck, grasping their weapons, ready to fight.

  Yue Fei stepped forward, responded with a few words in a mannered tone, and then saluted the Jurchen general by touching his chest, whereupon the latter led his troops away without any suspicion.

  Zhang Xian and Xu Qing's hanging hearts finally put down, a group of questions rose up, even Yelü Dashi who was born in the Northern Country didn't understand Jurchen language, how could his brother Yue Fei understand it? But at this time and place, it's not suitable to ask out loud, can only temporarily suppress.

  Four people walked through the Jin camp, figured out the Jin army's defense and camping rules, and were about to withdraw when they suddenly heard a woman's shrill cry for help coming from a large tent.

  Four people in the golden camp, for half a day they heard nothing but foreign languages, so when they heard this woman's Chinese, it sounded particularly clear. They immediately stopped in their tracks, four pairs of angry eyes looked at each other, nodded in unison without saying a word, and turned towards the direction of the large tent.

  As the leader, Yue Fei should have maintained his composure and prioritized the bigger picture by leading his troops to leave. However, he couldn't bear to see the evil act of bullying women, so he chose to risk his own life to rescue them instead.

  The four of them started off with steady steps, but the woman's shrill cries grew more and more mournful, until they could no longer bear it, quickened their pace, and rushed towards the main tent.

  Before getting close, the tent door opened and a woman with disheveled hair rushed out, shouting and running wildly. Behind her, a naked Jurchen man chased after her, holding an axe in his hand, with blood flowing from the corner of his mouth and a furious expression on his face. The surrounding tents remained calm, apparently accustomed to such scenes.

  The woman saw four golden soldiers coming towards her, and she didn't expect that they were there to rescue her. In desperation, she turned around, but in her panic, she didn't choose a path and was knocked into by the female Jurchen warrior.

  "Be careful, little girl!" Yue Fei saw the Jurchen general's ferocious face as he raised his axe, wanting to stop him, but the distance was too far and he had no bow or arrow in hand, so he could only shout a warning, but it was already too late.

  "Ah—" The woman let out a miserable cry, but only managed to utter half a sound before it was abruptly stifled in her throat. Her head had already flown off, having been chopped off by the female Jurchen's axe.

  Fellow sisters died so miserably in front of them, Zhang Xian and Xu Qing could no longer bear it. They drew out the knives on their bodies and loudly cursed: "Beast! Straight mother thief!"

  The Jurchen Han heard it clearly, and stared at the several Jin soldiers in armor, rushing over with knives. He suddenly reacted, threw away his short axe, turned around and ran, shouting loudly, but he only shouted out half a sound, because two knives swept through the air, pinning him to the ground.

  At the moment when Da Han was killed, a sharp whistle rose to the sky, and a small black shadow flew out of the big account.

  Yue Fei had the best eyesight, and with the light of the torches, he saw clearly that it was a small bird, extremely fast, and vanished into the night sky in the blink of an eye. He couldn't help but mutter to himself: "What kind of bird is this, so small in shape, yet so loud in voice?"

  In an instant, the surrounding tents were alarmed, and countless Jin soldiers rushed out like a boiling pot, holding knives and guns, thinking that the Song army had raided the camp. Fortunately, the four of them were mistaken for their own people and took advantage of the chaos to mix out of the Jin camp.

  They safely retreated, but the four of them didn't have a single smile on their faces. They took off the iron helmets they had worn for half a day, each with a face full of indignation and grief. The woman's tragic death was still vivid in their minds, making people feel suffocated and sorrowful.

  Upon arriving at the horse stable, the four of them mounted their steeds, with bows and arrows on their backs and grasping their respective weapons. They really wanted to charge back, but they heard that the commotion from the Golden Camp not only didn't cease, but instead grew more intense. The four of them were somewhat perplexed.

  "Brother, could it be that the soldiers and civilians from within Taiyuan City have really come to raid our camp?" Zhang Xian speculated.

  "It's not necessarily so, but I'm afraid the Tartar who was killed is an important figure." Yue Fei pondered.

  "The best one to kill is that sticky guy!" Xu Qing directly pulled up the main commander of the Da Jin Western Route Army.

  "That's really an eye-opener!" Yelü Dashi also chimed in.

  Four people looked at each other and smiled, unconsciously diluting the oppressive atmosphere brought by the woman's death. At this moment, a fire dragon emerged from the golden camp, spreading out in all directions, as if searching for someone.

  "Three brothers, they must be coming for us, retreat quickly!" Yue Fei knew in his heart that he might have guessed correctly, and led the cavalry to leave immediately.