Chapter 971 When the Headwind Rises
The moon is cold and clear, and the sky is filled with stars.
In the southwest, among the mountains on the Zizhou front line, a strange atmosphere is spreading among hundreds of thousands of people.
The military is also a society. When extraordinary results suddenly occur and the news spreads, people will choose to face it with various attitudes.
Surprise, anger, confusion, seeking confirmation, confusion, confusion... and finally acceptance and coping, thousands of people will have thousands of manifestations.
After nightfall, torches were still spreading in the mountains, and the atmosphere inside each camp was solemn. However, in different places, there were still horses galloping, information being exchanged, and even troops being mobilized.
Within the Jin Army, senior personnel have already entered into the meeting process. Some people have gone to Shiling in person, and some generals are still making various arrangements.
On the Xiukouji front line corresponding to Shiling, near midnight, a battle broke out on the northwest side of the foothills where martial law was still under martial law. The Jurchen troops who tried to make a detour and raid were blocked by the Chinese army patrol. Several more troops participated in the battle. Right in front of Xiukou, the Jurchen troops also organized a night attack under the leadership of Saba.
When she hurriedly arrived at the Xiukou Military Camp, what Ning Xi saw was the scene of a fierce battle in the dark: artillery, grenades, and flaming arrows flying across the side of the mountain, and soldiers between the camp and the front line. Running around, when he found Qu Zhengyan, who was in charge of the war here, the other party was directing soldiers to go to the front line to support him. After giving the order, he only took care of him.
"Ning Xi. Why are you here?" Qu Zhengyan always frowned slightly and spoke calmly. The two saluted each other, and Ning Xi looked at the fire on the front line and said, "Sa Ba still took the risk."
"Two groups of scouts came down from the north, and they seemed to have been intercepted. It is not difficult to predict the Jurchens' desperate measures. The 30,000 people at Wangyuan Bridge were inexplicably defeated. As long as they did not intend to surrender, they would definitely take action now. Maybe if we take advantage of our carelessness and break through the defense line in one fell swoop, we might be able to regain some ground." Qu Zhengyan looked ahead. , "But it's just a desperate move. The two teams from the north can't get around it. The frontal attack looks beautiful, but it's actually weak."
Ning Xi nodded. He actually didn't have much contact with the front line. At this time, looking at the fierce sounds on the front line, I was probably adjusting my perception in my heart: It turns out that this is still weak.
Then he smiled sheepishly: "The battle of Wangyuan Bridge is over, and my father asked me to come over here to listen to his uncle, Uncle Wu, and your opinions on the next battle... Of course, there is one more thing, that is Regarding Ning Ji, he should be leaning over this way. I stopped by to see him..."
Qu Zhengyan nodded and looked at Zhan calmly. Towards the foothills on the northwest side of the field, he then came and patted Ning Xi on the shoulder, leading him to the small wooden shed that served as the command post: "Speaking of which, you will be at Wangyuan Bridge in the afternoon."
"Yes. , I followed the rear guard team and watched from a distance, and later participated in the custody of the prisoners, and only set off here after dark. "
"Okay, then you can tell me more about the battle process and the rockets."
Naturally, there were other people who reported to Qu Zhengyan about the battle of Wangyuan Bridge in the afternoon, but the messenger Ning Xi, who was at the scene and was the eldest son of Ning Yi, knew more about the situation being passed on. Qu Zhengyan took Ning Xi to the shed and poured him a glass of water. Ning Xi also recounted the situation of Wangyuan Bridge and briefly introduced the basic properties of "Dijiang". Qu Zhengyan thought about it for a moment. , discussed the trend of the entire battlefield with Ning Xi. By this time, the movement on the battlefield had actually gradually subsided.
Saba, who took risks but never took advantage, chose to retreat one after another. The Chinese army did not pursue him.
It was almost midnight. Shortly after Ning Xi finished the exchange with Qu Zhengyan, she saw Ning Ji, half-stained with blood, among the people returning to the camp from the battle. This young man, who was a head shorter than the others, was standing there. Following a stretcher running forward, on the stretcher was a soldier who was seriously injured and bleeding from the abdomen. Ning Ji moved skillfully and quickly to try to stop the bleeding.
The camp for treating wounded soldiers is not far away, but in fact, after every battle, there are always not enough doctors accompanying the army. Ning Xi rolled up her sleeves and walked over to Ning Ji with a basin of hot water.
The stretcher was put down in the shed, and Ning Xi also put down the hot water and stretched out her hand to help. Ning Ji looked up - half of his face was covered in blood, and there were scratches on his forehead - seeing his brother's arrival, he lowered his head again The head continued to deal with the injuries of the wounded. The two brothers cooperated wordlessly.
Seeing this scene, Qu Zhengyan turned around and left.
In fact, Ning Ji followed Mao Yishan's team and was further north yesterday, making contact with this side for the first time. At the same time that the news was sent to Wangyuan Bridge, Qu Zhengyan also issued an order for the deserters to quickly gather in the direction of Xiukou. Mao Yishan, Ning Ji and others must have rushed towards Xiukou quickly. When the Jurchens were first discovered in the northwest mountains, they happened to be nearby and quickly participated in the battle.
When Ning Xi came over, Qu Zhengyan was actually not completely sure whether Ning Ji could come back safely.
After following the military medical team for nearly two years, Xiao Ningji, who has also received the guidance of a good teacher, is not much inferior to other military doctors in healing injuries. Ning Xi has also received specialized training in this aspect. Teaching and helping can also play a certain role. But the wounded man in front of him was seriously injured. After treating him for a while, the man's eyes finally gradually dimmed.
In the past few years, Ning Xi has followed Ning Yi, Chen Tuozi and others to learn how to strategize in a larger direction. Such cruel practices are rare. He originally thought that the brothers would be able to save each other if they worked together to cut through the metal. When I saw the wounded man slowly dying, I felt a huge sense of frustration in my heart. But Xiao Ningji, who was kneeling beside him, only remained silent for a moment. After testing the deceased's breath and heartbeat, he touched his eyes and then stood up.
“Brother, let’s go there to help.”
Ning Xi reacted and followed.
As partners, the brothers later rescued a seriously injured person and bandaged a slightly injured person. There were military doctors and nurses walking around under the military camp tent, but the tense atmosphere had subsided. The two of them then went to the side and washed their hands and faces, and slowly walked towards the side of the military camp.
The night sky is filled with stars.
Ning Xi looked at her brother who was nearly four years younger than her, as if she was getting to know him all over again. Ning Ji turned around and looked around: "Brother, where is Sister Chuyi, why didn't you come with me?"
"She was leading the female soldiers to help at the Wangyuan Bridge. Dad asked me to come over and chat with his uncle and the others. Let’s talk about what happened next.” Ning Xi said, then she remembered something and took out a small package from her arms, “By the way, the rice cakes you asked me to bring you on the first day of the new year are already there. Completely cool "I'm hungry too. Let's eat half of it each."
"How can you eat half of what Sister Chuyi gave me?"
"I brought it with you. No." Credit also comes with hard work. Now, do you want the bigger one or the smaller one?”
“I’m a martial artist and I want the bigger one.”
"Don't you know the reason why Kong Rong gave up the pear?"
"I know, brother, if it were you, would you like the bigger one or the smaller one?"
"Of course I said the smaller one. "
"So I want the big one, hahahaha..."
"Hahahaha..."
When the brothers said this, they all laughed. This kind of rhetoric is one of the classic jokes of the Ning family, and the original source may come from Ning Yi. The two of them each held half of the rice cakes and sat down in the open space next to the military camp.
"Brother, I heard that dad took action at Wangyuan Bridge?"
"Well, dad dug out all the belongings, and 6,000 people killed 30,000 people in Xiebao. Let's The casualties are not big. The Jurchens are going to have a headache."
"This. So powerful, how did you fight?”
Ning Ji marched all night, and later participated in the battle. He only heard a few bits and pieces about the Wangyuan Bridge. Ning Xi Then I described it to him in detail again:
"...I heard that in the evening, my father had sent people to the Jurchen military camp to talk to Zong Han. The thirty thousand elites were exhausted in one battle, and the Jurchens actually had nothing left to fight."
While talking, both brothers had already finished eating the rice cakes. , at this time Ning Ji raised his head to the north where he was fighting just now, and frowned: "It seems that the golden dogs do not intend to surrender."
"There must be a period of time to digest the message of Wangyuan Bridge. Time, the Jurchens may be desperate at first, but as long as we Don't give them any loopholes. After they wake up, they can only choose between advancing or retreating. The Jurchens fought their way out of the white mountains and black waters. For thirty years, they have always had the advantage of meeting each other on a narrow road. There is no danger of advancing. , but in general, the greatest possibility is also Will we choose to retreat... When the time comes, we will bite him all the way and devour him."
Ning Ji has been in the battlefield for a while, and although he has achieved quite a lot, he is old after all. It’s not there yet, so it’s hard to say anything about the general strategic level.
Ning Xi smiled: "Speaking of which, one thing may be certain. If you had not been recalled to Xiukou, you would probably have discovered by tomorrow that the Han army under Li Rulai was already rapidly retreating. Withdraw. Regardless of advancing or retreating, this Han army is completely worthless to the Jurchens. If we blast it with rockets, they will probably completely switch sides and rush towards the Jurchens."
Ning Ji blinked, and his moves suddenly lit up: "At this time, the whole army retreats, and if we only need a few charges from behind, he won't be able to hold it, right?"
"That's it. Said, but the most important thing next is to concentrate on catching the Jurchens' desperate move and stop their delusions once he does. They started to evacuate, and it’s time to cut the flesh. Also, dad is planning to show off in front of Nianhan, so don’t let the Jurchens catch you at this time.” Ning Xi added: “So, I am. I’m here to keep an eye on you.”
Under the starlight, Ning Ji’s eyes were melancholy and his face fell flat.
At this time, it was already the early morning of the first day of March this year. While the two brothers were chatting next to the military camp, on the other side of the mountain, the Jurchens never chose to surrender after a sudden and tragic defeat. . By the Wangyuan Bridge, thousands of Chinese troops were guarding the newly defeated 20,000 prisoners. More than ten miles away in the mountains, Yu Yu had already led a team to set off towards this side through the stars and nights.
Waiting in front of them was another round of blockade by the Chinese army led by Han Jing and others.
In the dark woods on the front line of Shiling, there were also sporadic but strange scout conflicts. They continued to break out during the night. The Jurchens were anxiously trying every means of breakthrough. Correspondingly, the Chinese army was fighting in Shiling. A small team secretly advanced from the east side.
The wind blows through the mountains at night.
Accompanied by elite scouts, the technician team set up armor on the edge of the foothills, and someone had already calculated the direction.
"...Testing the horizontal line... It is 43 degrees to the west, the launch angle is 35 degrees, the predetermined distance is 350 feet...two launches..."
Hot air balloon Floating on the peak of Shiling, standing on the hot air balloon in the darkness were already Pang Liu'an and several other high-ranking officers of the Chinese Army. Each of them had a telescope, and some were rubbing their hands, quietly waiting for the display of weapons. moment.
In the Jin's military camp, the lights were bright. At a certain moment, rockets dragged their bright tails and rose from the mountains on the east side of the military camp.
The explosion overturned the tents in the camp and started a fire. The Jin's military camp became lively, but it did not cause large-scale chaos or bombing of the camp - this was a symbol that the other side had been prepared. Soon after, several more rockets roared towards the Jin's military camp. Although It couldn't have the final effect of mutiny, but the momentum it caused was astonishing.
The Jurchens' scout team reacted, and the two sides had a brief battle in the mountains. After an hour, two more rockets flew into the Jinren's Shiling camp from another direction. .
Under the shroud of stars and moon, in a seemingly peaceful night, there are still countless conflicts and malice about to break out.
As long as there is a chance, neither side will give the other any breathing space.
Zong Han, Gao Qingyi, Han Qixian, Ba Lisu, Wanyan Sheyema, Dalai and others gathered in the tent behind Shiling. People were calculating the variables and possibilities for the next battle. Dalai advocated a desperate rush into the Chengdu Plain, while Ba Lisu and others tried to calmly analyze the functions and flaws of the Chinese army's new weapons.
Zong Han did not speak too much. He sat on the chair at the back. It seemed that in half a day, this Jurchen veteran who had lived a lifetime had aged ten years. He was like an old but still dangerous lion, recalling in the darkness the countless hardships and obstacles he had experienced in his life, looking for strength from past difficulties, with wisdom and determination alternately emerging in his eyes.
Decades ago, when the Jurchens had only a few thousand supporters, everyone was afraid of the huge Liao Kingdom. Only he and Wanyan Aguda persisted in their determination to fight against the Liao. They grasped the key to the rise and fall of the ethnic group in the ups and downs of history, and thus determined the prosperity of the Jurchens for decades. At this moment, he knew it was the same time again.
This moment came so suddenly that even the outstanding people gathered around him, such as Gao Qingyi, Han Qixian and others, might not be able to realize it at the first time. But Zong Han is the person who has been responsible for the rise and fall of the ethnic group all year round. As if in the dark, the trembling and goosebumps feeling has come. The really scary thing is not even the capture of his son Xie Bao. The defeat of those 30,000 people was a sign that would fundamentally determine the future fate of the entire Jin Kingdom.
Zong Han couldn't even fully understand this omen. In the darkness, he saw the rockets flying into the military camp and then exploding. It is true that it may have weaknesses of one kind or another, but when it comes to a big battlefield , even with such a weakness, the distance between the Jurchens and the Chinese army may have become an insurmountable chasm.
Even this distance may continue to widen.
Xi Yin once told him about the possibility of the study of things being studied in the southwest. Zong Han did not fully understand it - even Gu Shen himself may not have expected that it might happen on the battlefield in the southwest. of this scene. The original intention of the Southern Expedition flashed through his mind: The next generation of the Jurchens has begun to indulge in leisure and entertainment, and perhaps one day they will even become like the Wu Dynasty. He, Xiyin and others maintained the final glory of the Jurchens , hoping to solve the serious troubles in the southwest before the afterglow disappears.
Is it too late? How much hope is there to move forward?
Step back, maybe the Kingdom of Jin will lose the opportunity forever...
"...For all firearms, the first thing is to be afraid of rainy days. Therefore, if you want to deal with this kind of firearms from the opponent, you first need to It’s still a rainy day... now it’s spring, The southwest is rainy and gloomy. If we can seize this opportunity, it is not impossible to win... In addition, Ning Yi only took out these items at this time, which may prove that he does not have many firearms. We will not be able to defeat the southwest this time. If we fight again in the future, such firearms may be overwhelming..."
"...I wonder if the other party didn't deliberately lure us in..."
"...If so, if they didn't guard Yuyu and Huangming at the beginning, we wouldn't have come in too. If his firearms are endless, when they arrive Under Zizhou City, what's the difficulty in deciding a battle? Hundreds of thousands of people, and How much can you tolerate him? "
"...This statement is reasonable. "
Everyone is still discussing. In fact, they can only discuss according to the current situation and face it. In reality, they would not dare to take the lead in saying something like withdrawing troops. Zong Han held on to the chair and stood up.
"Since the war started last year, it has been four months now. Our army has been moving forward, hoping to conquer the southwest. But if we can't defeat them, we have to withdraw from Jianmen Pass all the way. This method has never been done before from beginning to end.”
When Zong Han said this, his eyes slowly swept over everyone, and the tent was so quiet that it was almost suffocating. Just listen to him say slowly: "Do it...as soon as possible, do the retreat method."
The eyes of Gao Qingyi, Ba Lisu and others sank, as deep as an ancient well. But without saying anything, Dalai clenched his fists, his body trembling, and Sheyema lowered his head. After a while, Shi Yema came out and knelt down in the middle of the tent.
"My son, I would like to be the queen of the army."
The pale breath is coming here. This is a taste that all the generals of the Jin Army have never tasted. Countless thoughts and mixed flavors are coming here. Their hearts were surging, and any detailed decision could not be made at night. Zong Han did not answer Shi Yema's request. He patted his son on the shoulder and looked at the front of the tent.
"At dawn, let someone report back to the Chinese army. I want to talk to Ning Yi."
For the first time in decades, the air around the Jurchens' military camp has become slightly cooler. Looking from the past to the future, in this dark night of conflict, the signal of the changing times caught many people off guard. Some people clearly felt the huge gap and change, and many more people may have to wait for dozens of days. , months or even longer, slowly chewing all this.
At dawn, the army led by Yu Yu's attempt to rescue Wangyuan Bridge was discovered by the blocked army and returned in vain. The front line of the Chinese army was still guarded like gold, with no gaps to be found. The Jurchen side responded to the message that Zong Han and Ning Yi had met to "talk". At almost the same moment, some other news was introduced to the camps of both sides during the day.
In the early morning sunshine, Ning Yi carefully read the urgent news, and when he put down the information, he let out a long, long sigh. There is both good news and bad news in this news.
Over the years, the nature of good news and bad news has actually been similar. Good news must be accompanied by bad news, but bad news may not necessarily bring good news. War can only make people passionate in novels, but in reality, it may only be hurtful or more hurtful.
The battle of Changsha was won. (End of chapter)