Chapter 949 Chapter 890: Fire-Eating (Part 1)
December 19th, the eleventh year of Jianshuo.
The dislocation of time will create a dramatic scene in the mountains spreading to the southwest.
The war near Yuyu Creek started tentatively from the early morning of this day.
At noon, Nulili threw a large number of troops into the battlefield and began a strong attack on the front of the battlefield. This action was to cover his intention to lead his own troops to attack Yingzui Rock.
At half past noon, the rear road from Yuyuxi to Huangtouyan was cut off by Chen Tian. The sound of arrows sent the message back to Yuyuxi. Qu Zhengyan ordered the elite to fight out from various forks and launched a counterattack on the entire Yuyuxi position.
The Yingzui Rock was blown apart, and the fight between Niao Lili and Mao Yishan became intense in an instant.
At noon, Jurchen frontline general Yu Yu led a highly mobile scout force to launch a counterattack in the direction of the mountain road intercepted by Chen Tian. Cooperating with it was the Dalai headquarters at Huangtouyan behind the garrison.
Yu Yu has a skinny build. He started out as a scout and can walk across mountains and ridges as if he were walking on flat ground. His pair of iron arms and steel fingers can break off rocks. Dalai is of medium build but strong. Huge wild boar. The two Jurchen generals looked at the rugged mountain road, but their hearts sank.
The scouts who sent messages to the rear were still running on the muddy and slippery road. They were still nearly thirty miles away from the commander-in-chief Wanyan Zonghan who was currently in charge of Shiliji.
At this moment when the winter rain is pouring down, Shiliji is still noisy in a lively scene. The originally small transit market was occupied by layers of military camps. Even if it rained, the transfer of various materials and the deployment of various armies continued. Teams waiting to set off were blocked in front of the camps, waiting impatiently. The generals and soldiers roared constantly on sunny days, and also in the rain. The roars were followed by curses. If it weren't for the suppression by Han Qixian and others, sometimes there would even be signs of a fight.
This situation has been going on for more than two months.
Zong Han felt comfortable and frowned at this phenomenon. What bothered him was not only the stalemate battlefield on the front line and the bad road conditions in the middle, but also the pressure from the rear was gradually coming here. When the battle started on the front line on the 19th day, he received a begging message from Jin Emperor Wu. of letters.
Wu Qimai suffered a stroke and was paralyzed for more than a year. The Jurchens' southern expedition was originally based on the last rational choice of the eastern and western courts while a group of veteran ministers were still there. It's just that Zongfu and Zongwang's purpose is to compete for credit, while Zonghan and Xiyin hope to use this expedition to solve the Jin Kingdom's last major concern - the Southwest Chinese Army.
Wu Qimai's collapse was already in critical condition. It lasted for more than a year with most of his body paralyzed and he was only occasionally awake. Now his physical condition is extremely bad. In October, when Zong Han was preparing to start the war, he wrote a letter and sent it to the country. Wu Qimai in the palace asked people around him to write this letter when he was awake for a while, and wrote this reply to Zong Han. The letter recalled their life. The soldiers and horses hope that Zong Han and Xi Yin can calm down the situation in the world within half a year, because the situation in the Kingdom of Jin still requires them to come back to guard.
Over the years, Wu Qimai has had a strong yet soft character and an extremely strong will. He proposed the half-year period because he may have realized that even if he forcibly extended his life, he would only have so much time.
The memories of the past in the letter were so sad that Wanyan Zonghan, whose hair was half gray, couldn't help but feel emotional. The differences between the Jurchen and Eastern courts and the struggle for power among the younger generations did exist. Starting from October, Zongfu Zongbi on the eastern battlefield had arranged for the army to escort more than 100,000 slaves back north. In November, more than 10 slaves returned to the north. Thousands of people were driven on the journey.
At that time, winter snow had fallen in the south of the Yangtze River. It was unknown how many of these Han slaves who were driven to the north like livestock could successfully reach the Kingdom of Jin.
Of course Zong Han Xiyin also understood that these actions of Zong Fu Zong Bi were to take advantage of the West Route army being dragged in the southwest, first bring the loot back to the country, appease all parties, and discuss merits and deeds reward.
These actions of the two juniors made Zong Han feel disdainful. Xi Yin proposed some countermeasures, but Zong Han just let him do it and did not want to interfere: as long as the southwest is defeated, everything else will be taken care of. . If the war in the southwest goes unfavorably, I won’t have anything to say when I get back. I just want to focus on the battle in the southwest, and all other minor matters will be decided by the God of Grain.
He wrote this to Xi Yin, but was unwilling to participate in Xi Yin's suggestion that he write letters to appease and win over the elderly from all parties in the country. At this time, when he received a reply from Wu Qimai who was ill, Zong Han naturally felt a surge of pride in his heart. He fought with Aguda all his life to establish the Kingdom of Jin. Even in his twilight years, he did not pay attention to the thoughts of his younger generation. .
He walked out of the big tent and inspected the camp. It was almost dusk and the rain had gradually stopped. The changes in the battle situation on the front line had only now crossed the distance of thirty miles and reached Shiliji.
At this time, in Yuyu Creek more than 40 miles away, blood was gathering in the pools, and corpses were covering the hills.
The two-month fierce battle at Yuyuxi was the first time the Chinese army launched a full-scale counterattack. The main force of the 4th Division led by Qu Zhengyan and the 5th Division led by Yu Zhongdao totaled more than 14,000 people. this battle.
When the elite Chinese troops commanded by Qu Zhengyan rushed out from various mountain passes, the Han troops in various parts of the battlefield were first defeated by this sudden counterattack. The backbone of the Jin army, partly composed of Jurchens, Bohai people, and Liaodong people, persisted for a while with their ferocity in the chaotic fighting. However, as the casualties increased to more than 10%, most of these armies also showed signs of decline. In the end, they either suffered a sudden defeat or chose to retreat.
For the current battle, Qu Zhengyan had been secretly observing the offensive patterns in Nielili for two months, recording the recurring problems of various armies in Yuyuxi between rotations, and had been preparing for a long time. But the first step in the so-called battle is to prepare the hard power to hit the iron felt with a hammer.
On this afternoon, the forces of both sides fighting head-on were officially weighed on the balance of the sky in a fair collision.
The initial battle also resulted in the most tragic casualties.
In order to cover Nerili's attack on Yingzui Rock, several positions on the battlefield encountered large-scale attacks that day. The Jurchens set up their positions in the muddy water. At the No. 2 position near Yingzui Rock, where the attack was most intense, the defending Chinese army was even breached the defense line and almost failed to regain the position.
With the brazen attack of Qu Zhengyan's troops, the soldiers of the Han army who participated in the attack may have been a little timid, but the main force of the Jin army, who had been tired of the two months of setbacks in the attack, only felt that the opportunity had come. of excitement.
The troops brought out by brave generals like Nuri will not be afraid of frontal decisive battles. In the eyes of the middle-level generals in the army, as long as they defeat the opponent's attack head-on, all problems will be solved.
The rainfall was accompanied by seeping mud, and the terrain in the Yuyu River area was complicated. During the initial attack by Qu Zhengyan's troops, the Jin soldiers readily faced it, forming eight or nine positions on a huge battlefield with a radius of several miles. At small and medium-sized confrontation points, both sides are either stable or urgent, attacking or defending. The front line of the shield wall composed of more than ten or dozens of people rushes and collides with each other in the blink of an eye.
The clash of gold and iron made a heart-shaking muffled sound in the rain curtain in the mountains, and the sound of fighting roared to the surrounding mountains. On the front line of the battle, the fighting was like a meat grinding machine, swallowing up the advancing lives. Before the soldiers who rushed forward fell, their companions behind them had already followed, and the spittle of the people was full of blood. In the conflict of mutual reluctance, the Chinese army was like this, and the Jurchen soldiers were also like this.
There is not much bells and whistles to this kind of weighing. In the twenty years of this world, in every such confrontation in the past, the Jurchens almost always won.
But this time, the Jurchen formation was retreating.
This kind of hedging showed intense and surging power at the first moment, but the subsequent changes were also extremely rapid and obvious in the eyes of many people. The front line moved a little later, and some middle-level generals among the Jurchens who had the most seniority and unscrupulous killings launched an attack with their guards. Their collision boosted morale, but soon after, these generals and their veterans were also grinding meat. The front line was swallowed up.
In the period from the confrontation to the collapse of one party, people were either panicked or excited, and many thoughts did not even come to a conclusion in their hearts. The Jurchen general personally threw himself into it according to the predetermined procedure - because in the past frontal battles, this choice was the best. By the time they were swallowed up, the battle line had turned from trembling to an avalanche, and the changes had not left many traces in people's hearts. Then the survivors could only turn around and flee with the running soldiers.
The battlefield is like this. Individual abilities often cannot control the development of the battle situation. People are coerced and have a positive attitude to do what they should do. Those who are passive can only follow their peers. In this moment of head-on confrontation in the afternoon, both sides suffered huge losses. Soon after, the Jurchen side's position was torn apart from the front.
The retreat, fighting, and fighting then rushed to the nearby mountains and valleys like a tidal wave.
The terrain of Yuyu Creek is not open after all. The main force of the Jurchens was forcefully pushed away in this fierce attack, and the Han army was defeated even more completely. Although their number was not large on the entire battlefield, due to the narrowness of many mountain roads, a large number of defeated troops still formed a situation like a rolled-up bead curtain in the crowd. Their defeat blocked the passage of some of the main forces of the Jin army. , and then were decisively hacked to death by the Jin people with swords. In some places, the Jin people formed shield walls to not only defend against possible attacks by the Chinese army, but also to prevent the escape of these Han army troops.
This fierce battlefield like an oven has suddenly become a nightmare for the weak.
Part of the defeated Han army was suppressed and killed by the Huaxia army and the Jin army. After their way was cut off, some people chose a relatively open place to kneel down with their heads in their hands. At this time, the soldiers of the Fifth Division who were originally guarding the position also participated in the all-out attack. Qu Zhengyan led the staff and quickly collected the Han troops who surrendered in the heavy rain.
"...the back road from Yuyuxi to Huangtouyan has been cut off. Dalai's army will not be able to gain a foothold in Yuyuxi for ten days and a half. The Jurchens - including you - The 50,000 people on the front line have been divided and defeated by me! Tonight, as soon as the rain stops, I will knock on the Jurchen camp! There will be some who are stubborn and stubborn. ! We will bury them in Yuyu Creek at all costs! "You! As Han people! The Chinese army will not condone such a crime. You are the only one worthy of it in the southwest!" Throw into the mountains to dig! Some of you will be cut to pieces in public! Why are you kneeling here and regretting being thrown away so quickly? Lost your sword? Our Chinese army is not afraid of you! Even the most ferocious Jurchen troops will be defeated by us today! If you don’t surrender, we will defeat you head-on! You have a chance!”
“Only this chance!” Qu Zhengyan shouted in the rain, “Some of you , you can pick up the knife and go back to the Jurchens' military camp! Take the Jurchens' heads to atone for your past sins! For others of you, we will also give you the knife, on the surrounding mountains, at this moment. , those who are still running away and still resisting, I want you to take them down! They are men, go and earn your own life!”
The staff officers who were doing more detailed work walked through the surrendering troops, picked out some of the leading officers, registered the information, and were given face-to-face instructions. Some soldiers were given back their weapons and weapons again.
At this time, the fighting on various roads in the mountains has not stopped, and some Jurchen soldiers were forced into the dead ends of the mountains to resist. On this side, Qu Zhengyan's voice sounded, "...We are not afraid of your hypocrisy! We are not afraid of you fighting us again! Once the rain stops today, our cannons will make the Yuyuxi position no longer exist! We will fight with you then. Let's settle this account together! There is no other way to go! Come on, be an upright Han! Be an upright man! Otherwise, you will all die here——"
In less than three seconds, the first batch of Han soldiers came to the rain. He was incited to rebel in the woods near the stream and joined the team that counterattacked the Jurchens. Since the Jurchen army immediately chose to attack during the head-on confrontation, at this time, most of the combat troops still failed to embark on the road back to the camp.
——Due to the terrain of Yuyu Creek, the Jurchen camp on this side is not placed in front of the city like Huangming County. Since it can launch attacks in several directions at the same time, the Jurchen camp is placed On the hillside of a hill more than three miles away, the rear guarded the road leading to Huangtou Rock.
In the mountains, forests and lowlands, which are less than four miles away in a straight line but the actual terrain is complex and changeable, the Chinese army, which has already calculated the combat steps, selected several key points. For example, the 1st Regiment of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Division, which had the heaviest burden, was led by regimental commander Shen Changye. After easily breaking through the obstruction of the two parallel-imported troops, they directly entered the most critical valley on the way of the Jurchens' withdrawal.
The valley that usually exists quietly in this mountain has no name yet. Shen Changye's thousand-man regiment set up a defense line in the rain. When he came in, the Jurchens on the battlefield had not carefully considered the idea of retreating, but soon after this In the afternoon, Shen Changye's troops encountered as many as eleven repeated waves of attacks in the canyon.
The corpses were piled up into hills in the canyon, and the thick blood dyed the water under their feet red. After this day, the canyon was named "Victory Gorge".
The first regiment of the 2nd Brigade under Qu Zhengyan also became the unit with the largest attrition in the entire battlefield. Nearly 50% of the soldiers slept forever in this bright red canyon.
At the end of Shenshi (three to five o'clock in the afternoon), the rain has gradually stopped, and the sounds of stubborn resistance in the mountains have gradually become smaller. At this time, the news of Nurili's death had spread throughout Yuyuxi. The access road from the camp to Huangtouyan had been destroyed, which meant that reinforcements from Dalai in the rear were difficult to reach. The two main access roads returning to the military camp from the battlefield were blocked by the Chinese army. After repeated battles with the Jurchens, some people fled back to the main camp through small roads. Many troops were forced into a desperate situation. Some powerful Jurchen troops formed formations and stood firm, while a large number of surviving troops chose to surrender.
Including the main force of the Jin army and the Han army, the number of Jin soldiers who were directly killed or injured in this battle was close to 8,000. In addition, about 15,000 people were captured on the spot, disarmed and then detained Towards the rear.
The Chinese army also suffered a lot of damage, but as the rain gradually stopped, Qu Zhengyan asked people to drag the last remaining cannons into the mountains. Some of them would be used to deal with the Jurchen elites who were stubbornly resisting, and some of them would be dragged towards the Jurchens. Camp.
The packhorses used to carry heavy loads dragged dry firewood across the bloody battlefield. After arriving at the outskirts of the Jurchen camp, Qu Zhengyan directed the soldiers to light piles of bonfires upwind. After arranging the bonfire and adding wet firewood, streaks of black smoke climbed up the hillside toward the Jurchen camp.
This Jurchen camp was not attacked in the two months after it was set up. Many of its structures are still intact, including wooden walls and awnings filled with artillery fire, but Qu Zhengyan did not Fear, when the fighting at Yuyuxi was at its fiercest, some of the "broken troops" had already retreated "back" to the camp, and as the black smoke lingered, horse teams carrying explosive packs also came over one after another. As long as Dalai's reinforcements cannot arrive, the fear will ferment in the military camp ahead that night. Tonight, or tomorrow at the latest, he will knock on the wooden city wall and stretch the Jurchens to the Yuyu River. Snake head, chop it off severely and completely!
(End of this chapter)