Chapter 36: The Great Victory's Might (Part 2)

  No one knew what Aguda was thinking, including his several sons. He looked at the two sides fighting desperately on the battlefield and after a while pointed to the silver light in the battlefield and asked: "What's that silver light?"

  Both were at a loss for an answer, when Si Zu Cong Wang said: "I know that is Cao Guang Yu's Silver Gun Squad!"

  It was only then that the crowd suddenly realized! The front and left and right of the Golden Army, which had fallen into a heavy siege, were all rushing around, like a pack of wild dogs constantly tearing at the skin and flesh of a large elephant. And those rows of silver light were scattered all over, like a defensive line made of iron nails, guarding the rear of the four thousand people!

  "Good Silver Gun Troop! Good Cao Guangyi! With this man here, these 4,000 people won't collapse so easily!"

  Zong Wangdao said: "Although it is so, but these two are our country's elite, if we drag on for too long, I'm afraid the damage will be severe!"

  Agu Da sank into thought for a moment before saying: "Pass down the order to Zong Han and let him handle things on his own."

  Wanyan Zonghan was in command of the left wing at this time. He was the son of the State Preceptor Sijia and a cousin of Aguda, who held him in high esteem among his younger generation of relatives. At this time, he had also led his troops to arrive on the scene, seeing that the right army was surrounded, while the central army did not advance for a long time, guessing Aguda's intention in his heart. Soon, Aguda's military order arrived, and Zonghan looked at the rolling smoke in the south, thinking: "The foundation of the Great Jin is not yet stable, and the overall situation is important!"

  Zhe Yan Chong was now surrounded, unable to know the situation outside. He saw that the Liao master's chariot was approaching, but Alu's troops were gradually weakening and could no longer charge forward! Zong Xiong and himself had also consumed a lot. He occasionally looked back, but saw silver light flashing behind him, which made him feel at ease.

  Di Yu noticed that the silver light was also gradually dimming, and thought to himself: "Guang Bi is also getting tired. Has the central army not arrived yet? Why are they coming so slowly! If this continues, we will...". Suddenly, a loud killing sound shook the air, coming from the north, Di Yu was overjoyed: "With such momentum, it must be the central army or the left wing that has arrived!"

  The Liao army was more than ten times larger than the combined forces of Zhao Yan and Zong Xiong, but this large elephant's meat foot couldn't crush this hedgehog covered in thorns! On the contrary, it was pierced by the thorns, dragged to exhaustion - the troops that had clashed with the 4,000 men were already battered and bruised, and for a while, they couldn't squeeze out any more fighting spirit. The Khitan generals' hearts were also worn down by the determination of these 4,000 people. They didn't expect that this mere 4,000 people could hold on for so long!

  Suddenly, the hoofbeats grew loud from the north - it was the Golden Army's elite troops! The Liao army turned to defend against them, but who could stop Zhong Han and his men? This exhausted army couldn't hold them back, and they charged right in.

  Aguo saw the battlefield and ordered the central army to advance step by step. Although this approach did not allow for a swift entry into battle, it put great psychological pressure on the Liao people. Before long, the yellow imperial carriage in the center of the Liao army moved southward. Aguoda sneered: "Yelü Yanxi, this loser, ultimately didn't have the guts to stand on the front line!"

  At this time, the Jin army on the battlefield had not yet gained the upper hand, but the emperor's carriage was moving south, which was clearly a fleeing from the battlefield, and it greatly damaged the morale of the Liao army! Aru Ban had already been unable to advance again, and now he saw the carriage turning back, shouting with his hoarse throat, and rushed southward with his life.

  The main force of the Liao army, if divided into a circle, was most elite in the central part, which was also the part that resisted Zhao Yan's advance. The outer troops were inferior and could not withstand Zhao Yan's impact. The closest guards around the Liao emperor were even more inferior - one-third of them were ceremonial guards, another third were nobles' sons who were summoned to protect the emperor, although they had precious horses and swords, but most of them were afraid of death. At this time, seeing the Liao emperor escape first, those bloody Jurchen people came again, and they hastily followed the emperor's escape with loyalty. Their escape caused a great collapse in the morale of the Liao army, and Zhao Yan and Zongyong stirred up their last bit of willpower to desperately rush towards the direction where the Liao emperor was escaping.

  There were routed soldiers within the Khitan army and strong enemies outside, just like a peach that rots both inside and out. Before Abaoji's central army arrived, the main force of the Liao army had already collapsed. Abaoji ordered his sons and generals to cut off and annihilate the defeated Khitan troops.

  Not a single Liao soldier who lost his horse was able to escape back to the Liao border, all infantry were completely defeated, either killed by the Jin army's swords and wolf clubs or taken as Jurchen war slaves. Zonghan's army advanced more than 100 miles, and within 100 miles, the Khitan people were killed and wounded, the Liao ruler Yelü Yanxi escaped fortunately, but he escaped in a very sorry state, even his own carriages and horses were left behind, all falling into Zongyong's hands.

  After the soldiers and horses passed by, Yang Kaiyuan led the workers to come from behind, collecting military equipment, grain, cattle, horses, and prisoners of war on the battlefield. Due to the precedent set by Gao Yanxiu's voluntary handover of the spoils of war last time, the Jurchen people did not reject Yang Kaiyuan's collection of these things.

  Zhe Yan Chong and others stopped to rest after chasing for dozens of miles. Alu Man was wounded nine times, covered in blood, and didn't know how much of it was the enemy's or his own! Yang Kai Yuan caught up and Zhe Yan Chong hastily called a military doctor to treat his wounds. Alu Man stripped off his clothes, letting the doctor tend to his injuries, laughing loudly as if he hadn't fought enough.

  Yang Kaiyuan was quite knowledgeable about medicine and knew that after the intense battle, Aru's body had suffered extreme exhaustion. At this time, he should have been resting, but instead, he was still so excited, which wasn't good for his injuries! Just as he didn't know what to do, Xiao Tienu walked up and said: "Fifth Brother! I used to call you Fifth Brother because you're two months older than me. Today, I'm calling you that because I acknowledge you as the strongest wolf-tooth club in our unit!"

  A'luo Man fell silent, then suddenly burst out laughing and said: "Liu Nu'er! Have you finally submitted to me?" After his loud laughter, he soon fell into a deep sleep. Yang Kaiyuan and the others let out a sigh of relief when they saw this.

  Cao Guangyi sorted out the captives and selected hundreds of them to fill in the vacancies caused by this battle.

  The Jurchen tribes in the front attacked the states and plundered the cities, but they didn't push the war line endlessly - the Liao people suffered heavy casualties, and the Jin army also needed to repair. Yang Kaiyuan still handed over the spoils of war as usual, Aguda returned half of them to him, and heavily rewarded Aluwen and others, personally visiting the camp to see his injuries. At this time, Aluwen's situation had also stabilized.

  "Agu Da asked Zhe Yan Chong: 'Do you want to follow me back, or lead your brothers to continue south? Yin Keju and others are attacking the city in front of them! Hmph! After this battle, our Great Jin's momentum will be unstoppable. The Liao people ahead will see our army and not dare to fight, they'll open the gates and surrender at the shout of children.'"

  Zhe Yan Chong smiled slightly and said, "When it comes to attacking the city, my troops will not fall behind. As for accepting surrender and taking over the city, I don't need to use this exhausted army of mine. Today is cold and icy, and after a big battle, the soldiers are homesick and willing to follow the king back home."

  Ah Gu Da smiled and said: "What's wrong, thinking of Ah Hu?"

  "Right. I'll go home for the winter and hug my wife, and when spring comes, I'll have the energy to help Uncle bring Dalian into his pocket."

  Ah Gu Da heard this and burst out laughing, patting his shoulder in encouragement.

  This war had a great impact on the rise and fall of the national strength of Liao and Jin. Although the Jurchen people had won several victories before, those victories were only regional, but this time the Liao emperor personally led the army, with sharp armor, was still defeated by the Jurchen like a withered tree. From then on, the Liao people, from Emperor Yelü Yanxi downwards, all changed color when talking about the Jurchen. The Jurchen people's morale rose sharply, and their last bit of fear towards the Liao people was also swept away.

  Aguda, Sannian and others also changed their attitude towards the Liao Dynasty: if before this war, the Jurchen leaders' goal was only to establish an independent country, after this victory, their ambition had changed to conquer the Liao Dynasty!

  At this time, Yang Yingqi was gazing at the Big Dipper, thinking about the future of the Han Department.