Chapter 127 Three Bowls

In the morning, as Han Shizhong began his second bowl of mutton paomo (a type of bread soaked in mutton soup), some Jurchen knights had already donned their armor, and the battle officially broke out.

Immediately, the Song army, guarding the crucial path, found themselves in a fierce struggle.

This was to be expected. In this era marked by heavy iron lamellar armor, almost all tactics revolved around heavy armor and armor-piercing… yet the vanguard of this Song army was equipped with only leather armor. They were fundamentally mismatched against the Jurchen warriors who had hastily armored themselves.

Faced with the Jurchen cavalry's close-range heavy arrows and close-quarters infantry assaults, these Song soldiers could only rely on wooden shields for defense and long spears to hinder the advance, their greatest asset being the fortified camp itself.

They could not inflict effective damage on the Jin army.

Instead, the Song soldiers were constantly in danger of being felled by a heavy arrow fired by a Jurchen knight or dismounted soldier.

There was no help for it; the Jurchen heavy arrows, once struck, would almost certainly result in death or loss of combat ability.

It was a pure waste and attrition.

But at this moment, the elite troops of Han Shizhong's command, hidden behind the stone barricades, trenches, fences, steam, and the leather-clad volunteer soldiers, were merely eating and sitting idly by. At the officers' insistence, they remained quiet and chewed slowly… only a few younger faces occasionally glanced towards the east, towards the battlefield.

This was not out of indifference, nor merely due to Han Shizhong's strict discipline. Rather, it was because the Beiwei Army (Trusted Vanguard Army) and the Cuipian Army (Vanguard of Destruction Army) were truly extraordinary forces. Not only did they enjoy the best treatment from the Imperial Guard Left Army and use the best equipment, but their training was also the most rigorous, and their discipline was the strictest.

Moreover, these two units, formed by Han Shizhong immediately after his escape from Hebei, had experienced nearly all the major and minor battles since the Jianyan era. They had suffered crushing defeats and achieved victories. Even with constant turnover of soldiers, they were still considered to possess an excellent fighting tradition.

It is worth noting that the Beiwei Army never specifically referred to the imperial guards cavalry, nor did the Cuipian Army specifically refer to a strong crossbow unit… both army designations were, in a sense, commonplace.

The name Beiwei Army came from the Western Xia. Whether *beiwei* referred to tall stature or carrying wine bottles or shields was irrelevant. In the centuries of entanglement between the Western Army and Western Xia, it had become a common term, generally referring to a general's guards. However, because Han Shizhong had always been skilled in using cavalry, he chose to set up his Beiwei Army as cavalry when he rose to prominence.

In stark contrast, Zhang Jun also established a Beiwei Army after Han Shizhong. It had previously been led by Tian Shizhong, and in recent years had gradually fallen into the hands of Zhang Zikai, after Tian Shizhong effectively took over much of the daily operations of the Imperial Guard Right Army… and this Beiwei Army was a typical heavy-armored long-ax unit.

In addition, commanders below the *tongzhi* (commander) and *tongling* (adjutant commander) levels would generally choose to set up similar small-scale elite units. Although they did not bear the name Beiwei Army, they were in fact the equivalent of Beiwei Army.

However, later, when Yue Fei rose to prominence and became a *jundu tongzhi* (commander-in-chief), the Beiwei Army he organized was also a cavalry unit. This led to the misconception that Beiwei Army was synonymous with imperial guard cavalry, both in another historical timeline and in the current Imperial Guard army, since the two most famous and numerous Beiwei Armies were both cavalry.

Moreover, even at the level of marshal, not everyone would establish large-scale guard units. Wu Jie did not have this habit, but he would habitually concentrate the strong crossbowmen and cavalry scattered among the various units during each battle… 'Stationed Arrows' (*zhudui shi*) specifically referred to this tactic of concentrating strong crossbows and then rotating volleys continuously.

During the battle at Qiaoshan in Fang Prefecture, Wu Jie used this tactic to shoot through Tu Heshu's foot and bring the Sa Lihe, who was now flaunting his power on the opposite side, to tears. Then, the reputation of 'Crying *Lang Jun*' spread throughout the world with the dissemination of the *dibao* (official gazette), and even the Dali people knew that a Crying Commander (*wanhu*) had emerged in the Jin Kingdom.

As for the Cuipian Army, it was actually a unit within the Imperial Guard Left Army that concentrated the use of strong crossbows. Like the Beiwei Army, it was not a specific designation, because *cuipian* was also a common military title. However, because Xie Yuan, Xie the Benevolent, who led this unit in the Imperial Guard Left Army, was an old brother of Han Shizhong from the Baoan Army, and was also a vice commander-in-chief, his treatment and training were good, and he was never absent from battles, so he was particularly well-known.

Heavy cavalry, heavy infantry with long axes, heavy-armored strong crossbowmen… these elite units in the Song army did not appear out of thin air. They were elite units specifically designed to counter the Jurchen heavy cavalry, and they were learned with the lives of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Song soldiers as tuition.

What name they used really didn't matter.

"Xie, I remember your home is near here?" Han Shizhong held his bowl, slowly swallowing a mouthful of paomo, and lightly sipping a mouthful of mutton soup. He looked at Xie Yuan, as if just making conversation.

"Sixty *li*." Xie Yuan raised his bowl and gestured towards the battle line to the east. "Following the Fen River, it's north of Camel Ridge, south of the Fen River. I seem to remember it's still under the jurisdiction of Ji County."

"That close?" Han Shizhong was momentarily surprised.

"Close or not." Xie Yuan stirred the paomo with his chopsticks… he had put too much pancake in it… He responded helplessly, "I left home to join the Baoan Army in northern Shaanxi when I was a teenager. When I became your deputy commander at twenty-six, I moved my family there… Maybe there are still childhood friends, relatives, and acquaintances here, but if I hadn't come to this area, I wouldn't have remembered it was here."

Han Shizhong was silent for a moment.

After Xie Yuan ate two more mouthfuls, seeing Han Shizhong's expression, he turned around, holding his bowl and frowning, "What's wrong today, Fifth Brother? Could it be that after a few years of rest, you can't stand the sight of blood? Listen to me, what can we do now? We didn't bring double sets of armor… even if we did, it would be too late, and they wouldn't be used to it…"

Han Shizhong shook his head, "That's what I'm saying, but it would have been great if we could have given these volunteer soldiers more iron armor at the time!"

The volunteer soldiers needed to go into the mountains. It wouldn't have been useful to give them iron armor back then… Didn't you know that? And weren't you the one who gave the order earlier? Was the order wrong?

Why pretend to be a Bodhisattva now?!

Xie Yuan wanted to refute him like this, but glanced at Han Shizhong, who had lowered his head to eat paomo, and then glanced at the continuous activity to the east. In the end, he remained silent, continuing to chew slowly, drinking his mutton soup and eating his paomo pancake.

Thus, the two of them led the Cuipian Army to eat slowly for about a quarter of an hour. The Jin army, clad in heavy armor, had already reached the front of the fence. This meant that the outer trenches had been partially filled, and the stone barricades had been breached. The volunteer soldiers of Gujishan were forced to retreat to the last line of defense.

Zhang Heng, wearing a helmet that was obviously a bit too big for his head, ran over anxiously. Han Shizhong had long since returned to his normal expression and handed the empty bowl to Zhang Heng, "This mutton soup is really good. Please trouble Commander Zhang to get me another bowl."

Zhang Heng blankly took it with his bloodstained hands, then realized what he had to do and nodded heavily, "Understood!"

Then, he turned around and left.

As soon as he left, Han Shizhong glanced sideways at Xie Yuan.

Xie Yuan understood and, without getting up, directly ordered his officers. After the officers relayed the order down the ranks, the Cuipian Army began to don their armor and prepare their bows, crossbows, arrows, and other equipment on the spot.

After a short while, Zhang Heng returned with a bowl of mutton soup in both hands. Han Shizhong took the hot soup without a word, took a pancake from the basket next to him, and continued to tear it apart and soak it in the soup as before… The Beiwei Army, who had started eating, followed suit.

Seeing that the other party was not speaking and that Xie Yuan and the soldiers under him were starting to don their armor, Zhang Heng also hurried back to the front line without a word.

Another half a quarter of an hour passed, and seeing more and more Jin troops reaching the front of the fence and starting to try to destroy it, the Cuipian Army had also completed all their preparations.

Han Shizhong looked at Xie Yuan again, and finally issued a new military order, "Don't put on the face armor yet."

Xie Yuan understood and nodded, leaving.

In the morning of early winter, the weather was slightly cold. The water vapor generated by the large-scale boiling of mutton soup filled the sky, forming a misty haze. Under this haze, as Xie Yuan left, the three thousand fully armored Cuipian Army rose to their feet one after another under the leadership of their officers. Then, carrying nearly a thousand powerful crossbows, multiple arrow quivers, as well as some long spear soldiers and shield bearers, they surged forward with a roar.

This army might not have been the most elite unit in the 300,000-strong Imperial Guard Army, but it was undoubtedly one of the most elite units in the Song army.

"I saw it a long time ago, these people should be the rabble from Guji Mountain."

At the same time, far behind, Yanwanyan Sa Lihe, who was supervising the battle, gripped the reins of his warhorse with both hands, his face showing disdain. "What good is a body full of leather armor? Instead of hiding in the mountains, how dare they block my army's path, and use Han Shizhong to scare me? The front line is about to collapse, yet they are still boiling water so diligently in the back?"

Several *meng'an* (thousand-household) and *mouke* (hundred-household) officials chimed in agreement.

One said that it was because there were too many wounded, so they had to boil water to remove arrows.

Another said that this was a "building up the stoves" ruse from the Song people's military books, originally intended to make it appear that there was a large army eating in the rear.

However, most people were simply disdainful.

In fact, this was inevitable, because everyone understood what Sa Lihe was saying… When the Jurchens first gained control of the two He provinces, they did not know how to govern at all. In Hebei, the East Route Army simply divided the *meng'an* and *mouke* among the local areas, and the *meng'an* and *mouke* had the power to govern, so almost instantly, Hebei regressed to a slave society. This caused a large number of Hebei people, regardless of their class or status, to abandon their families and businesses, and either go to the Taihang Mountains or flee across the Yellow River to Henan.

This forced the then-Jin emperor, Yanwanyan Wuqimai, to hastily issue an edict, forcibly stopping this historical regression.

In Hedong, the West Route Army had better military discipline. Things like using Han people as bargaining chips were indeed rare, but it couldn't be helped that Nianhan was strict… During his time, there were all sorts of inconceivable temporary laws, stricter than military law, such as merchants not being allowed to travel more than thirty *li* a day, shaving orders, and even stealing a single *wen* (copper coin), or picking up a single *wen* on the road, would result in the death penalty.

Various unthinkable temporary laws were basically stricter than military law, and the Han Chinese from Yanyun who were assigned to be officials generally had a psychological animosity towards the Han Chinese in the Song lands. They repeatedly treated chicken feathers as arrows and used this method to abuse the people.

Under these circumstances, let alone ordinary people, even powerful landowners could not bear it.

The so-called strict laws in Hedong, the system of enclosing slaves in Hebei, and the forced population transfer to the north of Hebei and Hedong, all three things directly led to the great outbreak of the Taihang volunteer army, and made it impossible for the Jin army to effectively rule the two He provinces for many years.

Of course, this was not to engage in any political reflection, but to say that the Jin army and these volunteer armies were old acquaintances. As soon as they saw the equipment of these troops and heard the accents of their orders, they immediately knew where they came from.

Therefore, they were disdainful.

However, one Khitan *mouke* could not help but express his doubts, "It should be true that they are the rabble from Guji Mountain, but wouldn't the rabble know that their leather armor is only suitable for activities in the mountains? Why would they dare to block the road? Are they really not afraid of death?"

Sa Lihe smiled even more coldly, "You ask me, who should I ask? They must have been forced by a Song official!"

"That's exactly what I mean," the Khitan *mouke*, called Taishi Nu, actually nodded in agreement.

Sa Lihe was slightly stunned, then thought for a moment, and became serious, "Taishi Nu, you mean that these rabble from Guji Mountain may not have come willingly… either there is a Song army behind them that wants to escape, using official titles to control the leaders of these rabble and force them to fight a rearguard action, or someone is bluffing them, saying that there will be reinforcements?"

"That's right." The Khitan *mouke* who was called Taishi Nu nodded repeatedly. "This is the most likely, but there is another possibility… Commander, could there really be Song army imperial guard elites here? The Song army should have thought of sending an army to guard this place, right?"

"Impossible…" It was not Sa Lihe who interrupted him, but another Jurchen *meng'an* who had just returned from the front line. "I just went to take a clear look. The strength of this camp lies entirely in the trenches and fences along the road. Looking far into the interior, although the fog is swirling and the fences are dense, so I can't see the details, but I can still see that there are no tents at all in the rear, indicating that this camp itself was hastily built… If there really were main forces hidden in the back, even if there were several thousand laborers, why would it be like this?"

"The scouts who advanced ten *li* early this morning said the same thing," another Jurchen officer said, verifying this statement. "They said that the number of Song troops was not large, the equipment was messy, and the camp was empty. Only the fence and trenches along the road were long enough, completely blocking our advance route…"

Sa Lihe nodded slightly.

"What I mean is, there are some Song army imperial guard main forces, but not many, so they let the rabble from the mountains come to die first… This is enough to make us careless and underestimate the enemy, and it is also a way to lure us in," Taishi Nu finally became impatient and simply stated his worries in one breath. "Then they will suddenly attack and inflict casualties…"

"So they want to send me mutton soup and pancakes in the name of Han Shizhong first?" Sa Lihe interrupted him, lost in thought. "So that when we are caught off guard, we will suffer casualties, and we will think that Han Shizhong has really arrived here? Maybe we will be discouraged and retreat?"

The other *meng'an* and *mouke* also pondered for a moment, and many nodded.

The Khitan *mouke* who was called Taishi Nu wanted to say more, but unexpectedly his superior, the Khitan *meng'an* called Yelu Yizhen, smiled and said:

"Taishi Nu is just speculating. In my opinion, there is an eighty or ninety percent chance that the commander is right. It's just the empty city strategy in the Han people's storybooks… Just think about it, we are taking advantage of Commander-in-Chief (Ba Lisu)'s cover and launching a surprise attack from the rear. The rabble from Guji Mountain might be able to detect it, but how could the main forces of the Song army's Imperial Guard know?"

"Yelu Yizhen is right," Sa Lihe also smiled. "And even if that's the case, it won't work… If he had mentioned Wang Sheng, Xu Shian, or Wu Jie on the opposite bank, I might have believed him a bit, but he shouldn't have used Han Shizhong to scare us… First, we know where Han Shizhong is better than the rabble from Guji Mountain. Second, Han Shizhong is a famous general in the world, a dignified marshal, the so-called number one person in the Song army. How could he personally come to stop me? It's probably just an ignorant rabble leader, a local strongman, who doesn't understand anything, only hears of Han Shizhong, and takes the opportunity to make wild guesses."

Yelu Yizhen quickly smiled again, and the others also smiled along with him.

Taishi Nu was helpless, knowing that this temporary army was half Jurchen and half Khitan, which was quite embarrassing, and Yelu Yizhen was protecting him… but he could only laugh dryly twice.

But before the laughter subsided, they heard a shout from the front line, followed by a dense whistling sound, and then screams, neighs, gongs, shouts of killing, and cheers breaking out in succession.

The finale was a series of uniform whistling sounds cutting through the air.

Without needing much combat experience, these Jin army officers realized what was happening, because the road was unobstructed, and the tragic scene in front of the distant fence was completely visible. Some crossbow arrows from powerful crossbows even flew directly to a place only a few dozen steps away from them.

The chaos lasted for a moment. Seeing the Jin army's main force in front was in chaos, but they did not dare to retreat in formation due to military discipline, and they were hit by another round of crossbow arrows from powerful crossbows. The Jin army officers watching the battle in the rear woke up as if from a dream – the frontline commander was likely sniped at the first moment.

Then, a *meng'an* quickly rode forward, blowing the horn, temporarily taking over the command, which allowed the chaos on the front line to stop slightly, but the offensive also came to an end.

Jin army soldiers retreated hastily to reorganize. Hundreds of Jin army wounded were carried down, and wailing filled the area. Sa Lihe and the other generals were stunned, and couldn't help but look at Taishi Nu.

Taishi Nu opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word – given the current casualties, he wished he hadn't guessed correctly.

However, the Jin army still had some combat skills.

Some officers braved great danger to go forward and scout, and others took the opportunity to question the retreating soldiers, quickly drawing conclusions.

After all, outsiders watch the excitement, while experts watch the details. Unlike the cheering Guji Mountain volunteer army, the Jin army had already gleaned the number of crossbows, the uniformity of the volleys, and the interval between the volleys from the three volleys of fire earlier.

They even realized that the landing points of the three volleys of the Song army were very tactically selected.

Therefore, the answer was obvious – not only did the Song army have a main force stationed here at the Fen River estuary, but it was definitely an elite unit.

Realizing this, the Jin army generals all looked at Sa Lihe.

Sa Lihe's face was livid, and he stood there on horseback, but his heart was actually thinking about retreating… because these three volleys instinctively reminded him of the battle of Qiaoshan, and reminded him of Wu Jie's stationed arrow tactic.

The scene of arrows being fired continuously like rain, and the Jin army's elite troops being unable to advance an inch, only able to passively take a beating and suffer constant casualties, had long been etched into the heart of this Jin army commander, who originally had a promising future, like a nightmare.

Of course, reason reminded Sa Lihe that even if the Song army had an elite crossbow unit waiting here, and even if these people did not have the unique copper face that marked Han Shizhong's troops, and it was likely that Wu Jie, the old opponent from across the Yellow River, had gathered the elite troops who used the stationed arrow tactic that day, it would not be as bad as the battle of Qiaoshan.

In that battle, the Song army had an absolute geographical advantage, being high above to force the Jin army to attack uphill, the road was narrow to force the Jin army to advance densely, and there were jagged rocks on the mountain, and a state city across the river and the mountain attacked from both sides.

Moreover, there were hundreds of thousands of Song army main forces wandering in front, and Lou Shi's poor health made it impossible for the Jin army to take care of both the front and the rear, but what about now?

With such a wide road, flat terrain, and a full hundred *mouke* of cavalry gathered from two *wanhu*, if he was scared away after just a touch, it would be ridiculous!

At that time, even if the Fourth Prince had arrived at Jingxing, he might not be able to save him from Ba Lisu's anger.

He had to fight seriously!

Sa Lihe forced himself to remain calm, and then sat upright on his horse, repeatedly issuing orders. He appointed a trusted Jurchen *meng'an* to take over as the frontline commander, and used thirty *mouke* with three thousand cavalry to replace the first wave of attacking troops and continue to maintain the offensive.

Then, he urgently continued to separate out fifteen hundred cavalry, dismounted and entered the hills on the south side of the battlefield, trying to bypass the fence and attack from the side and rear.

This was not an important pass like Tieling Pass, but the passage on the south bank of the Fen River, so bypassing it was only a matter of time.

At the same time, he certainly did not forget the Khitan *mouke* Taishi Nu, who had a sharp tongue. Because of this man's involvement, Yelu Yizhen's *meng'an* was appointed as the vanguard of the flanking maneuver.

Finally, he could not help but have people quickly cut down trees and fetch firewood from behind to boil water in helmets to help the wounded remove the crossbow arrows.

Although it was a bit hasty, it must be said that Sa Lihe's arrangement was still in place.

The Jin army quickly stabilized its mentality from top to bottom and tried to continue the offensive.

However, from this moment on, they would have to pay a real and continuous price in casualties. The powerful crossbows and divine crossbows that could pierce lamellar armor within a hundred steps were not just for show.

"The Jin army is indeed not what it used to be."

After the Jin army launched another wave of attacks, Xie Yuan returned from the front line to report, but did not mention any specific military situation.

"What do you mean?"

Han Shizhong sat on the ground holding an empty bowl, with Zhang Heng, who had just withdrawn, beside him.

"If it had been in the past, the Jin people would have charged forward one after another, regardless of casualties, as long as a military order was issued, even if it was just a feint attack. We would have often been overwhelmed by the Jin army," Xie Yuan said with a frown. "But in the current situation, the Jin army's front is not even a feint attack. They are just perfunctory when they see their comrades walking to the flanks…"

Han Shizhong finally seemed a little nervous, "They are not filling the trenches, not pushing the stone barricades and fences?"

"They are only filling the trenches and pushing the stone barricades, but they are unwilling to approach the fence," Xie Yuan shook his head.

"It's not the same thing to be hit by crossbow arrows up close and to be hit from afar. That's human nature," Han Shizhong was relieved. "When I fought the Jin people in the past, I felt strange… Why were the Jin people so fearless and dared to fight and kill so much? Why were we so timid, to the point of collapsing at the mere sight of the enemy? Now it seems that the Jin people are all humans too. Over time, they think too much, and they will all be afraid of death and difficulty. We have experienced more, thought more, and can gradually no longer be so absurd to that extent… However, they are still human, not as strict and orderly as the official gazette says. They can't avoid making mistakes."

"If we had the current military pay and equipment back then, why would we have lost the two He provinces?" Xie Yuan finally sneered. "As for making mistakes or not… to say something unpleasant, even if they are all loyal ministers and generals who dare to die for the country, and they are all good men, given the current gradually improving situation, they still have to compete for seats and distinguish between who comes first and who comes after, right? Otherwise, after death, when they are enshrined in the Yue Temple, the incense will be worse than others."

"That's right, it's not the time to tolerate each other for the sake of the country," Han Shizhong thought for a moment and nodded slightly, but then slowly shook his head after glancing at Zhang Heng, who was obviously unable to interject. "But the two He provinces have not been recovered after all, and it is not time to rest… Commander Zhang!"

"Here."

"First, dismantle the fence on the south side, then go to the east and wait, clear the ground of the camp, and prepare. When the Jin troops who have bypassed from the south are defeated, I will give you the military order, and you will do it. You will pull down the fence in front of you, and you will also push over your own stone barricades and fill in your own trenches! You will also divide your forces to help the Beiwei Army keep an eye on the warhorses!"

"Understood!" Zhang Heng quickly responded, and after waiting for a while and seeing that the other party was not speaking, he asked carefully again, "Is there anything else you want me to do, Your Highness?"

"Get me another bowl of soup, and I'm out of pancakes too. Find one for me specially," Han Shizhong handed the empty bowl to the other party, his expression as usual. "I have a big appetite…"

Zhang Heng was stunned for a moment before quickly taking the bowl.

Han Shizhong finally nodded towards Cheng Min, the commander of the Beiwei Army, who had already finished eating. The latter understood and immediately took action.

The sun gradually rose higher. Although this battle was an encounter, the Jin army needed to put on their armor before the battle, and then their attack on the front was interrupted. They placed their hopes of breaking through the defensive line on the flanking troops who were detouring through the rugged terrain on the south side, preparing to launch a pincer attack at that time, which wasted a lot of time.

By the time Zhang Heng's troops hurriedly pushed down the simple camp on the side and turned to the east again, there was only one person in the entire camp, Han Shizhong, the Prince of Han, who was still calmly sitting in the camp, eating his fourth bowl of mutton paomo.

This time, he ate very, very slowly, but even so, by the time the bowl was empty, he had only waited for the Jin troops who were attacking from the north.

Under the clear sky and bright sun, the water vapor from the early morning had dissipated, making the field of vision gradually clear, and the smoke and dust on the ground in the battle area gradually rose.

However, when this dismounted Jin army vanguard worked hard to pass through the ravines and hills, and emerged from a mountain gully, their bodies were covered in mud and fallen leaves. When they saw the Song army camp appearing in front of them, and it was completely visible, they were all shocked and dumbfounded – inside the Song army camp, which had dismantled the side fence, three thousand fully armed soldiers wearing copper masks were lined up neatly, sitting upright in front of them. Behind the camp, including the rear of the camp, there were more than six or seven thousand warhorses and livestock!

"It's the Beiwei Army!"

Simple elements, plus the bowl of soup earlier, made the leading Khitan *meng'an* Yelu Yizhen almost blurt out, "The vanguard of destruction army (*Cuipian jun*) is in the front! Han Shizhong is really here!"

"Start the battle!"

Cheng Min did not hesitate, immediately got up, drew his saber, and pointed it south, succinctly. "Forward! Kill!"

The surrounding officers immediately waved their flags to convey the military order, and the three thousand Beiwei Army soldiers, who were fighting on foot, saw that the military order had been issued. They were neatly formed and rushed forward vigorously, directly pouncing on the Jin army who were attacking from the side in a disorderly manner.

"Taishi Nu, you go back!"

At a critical moment, amidst the shouts of killing from the Song army, the first Jin army *meng'an* Yelu Yizhen did not have time to sigh, directly turned his head to the Taishi Nu beside him and ordered, "Let the people of the two *meng'an* behind not come to die, and quickly retreat back the way you came. Tell the commander that Han Shizhong is really here! The Beiwei Army and the Cuipian Army are here. You can't steal from the river!"

After saying that, without waiting for Taishi Nu to react, he shouted loudly, drew his saber, and charged towards the Song army's top elite troops, which were several times larger than his own.

Taishi Nu was obviously stunned for a moment, instinctively wanting to chase after him, but looking back at the few hundred people around him, their formations were scattered, and they had worked hard to cross the ravines and hills to get here. Only a small half of the people followed their *meng'an* to charge forward, and most of them had fearful expressions on their faces and hesitated. He stomped his foot and turned back into the mountain gully.

Attacking the few with many, attacking the tired with the rested, and with the psychological deterrence prepared in advance, Han Shizhong did not even look at the battle on the side, just held the empty mutton soup bowl and pretended to keep drinking… He did not know what he was drinking… Anyway, it was enough to give everyone who saw this scene a boost of confidence.

At the same time as the shouts of killing suddenly sounded on the south side of the camp, on the eastern front line, the Jin army launched a strong attack again.

Thousands of Jin troops, under the command of their respective officers, moved back and forth continuously, wearing heavy armor, and charging forward in waves.

The originally dilapidated stone barricades were completely pushed down, the trenches were also filled in, and thick Jurchen heavy arrows were fired densely and continuously, crisscrossing with the Song army's crossbow arrows in the air.

In a short time, small groups of Jin cavalry warriors approached the fence, and at a closer distance, began to engage the Song army in close-quarters heavy arrow fire through mounted archery.

This heavy armored crossbow force of Song troops that had suddenly surged up earlier began to suffer proportional casualties.

"Wait a little longer."

Xie Yuan, standing behind the fence on a hastily piled up small high platform, looked back at Han Shizhong, who was sitting there drinking air, and looked at Cheng Min's troops, who had just returned from the south side, and turned around to order, "Wait a little longer before putting on the face armor!"

"Wait a little longer…"

Several hundred steps away, Yanwanyan Sa Lihe withdrew his gaze from the front line, and lowered his head to look at Taishi Nu, who had returned in a hurry to give him advice. "Wait a little longer… Maybe Yelu Yizhen made a mistake… The offensive is clearly going smoothly on the front!"

Taishi Nu raised his head, his face showing grief and indignation, "Is it because we are Khitans that you don't believe us, Commander?"

"How could Han Shizhong be here?" Sa Lihe heard that something was wrong and quickly explained, but he didn't know who he was explaining to. "Even if he detected our movements from behind Commander-in-Chief, and immediately came over, he would have to detour from Hezhong Prefecture… How could he arrive before us? I'll say it again, did he fly here?!"

Taishi Nu was so angry and anxious that he stood up and stood there, but he could not know that Li Yanxian was very familiar with the terrain of Hedong, and combined the situation to anticipate the enemy's moves, so that Han Shizhong had set off two days in advance, so that he could arrive on the long journey first… Therefore, after thinking about it, he did not know how to persuade the other party, and could only grit his teeth. The surrounding Jin army officers were also anxious and restless, and went forward on horseback to observe.

However, the results of the observation were just as Sa Lihe said. Although the casualties were constant in front, the offensive was indeed going smoothly, and more and more Jin army attack waves had directly touched the main fence.

The fence was also on the verge of collapse, and it seemed that it could really be overturned at any time, and then the cavalry could follow up and massacre these Song troops in the road.

"Han Shizhong is doing it on purpose!"

Taishi Nu also gritted his teeth and watched the smoke and dust on the front line for a while, and seemed to have suddenly thought of something in general. He directly gave up entangling with the time problem, and ran over to hug Sa Lihe's horse neck. "Commander, Han Shizhong is learning from the Fourth Prince's battle on the Huai River that day!"

"What?" Sa Lihe was completely confused.

"We want to attack, we want the cavalry to pass, so we have to destroy and pave the road along the way!" Taishi Nu explained hastily under the horse. "So Han Shizhong sits still, but wants to wait for us to suffer casualties while filling the road, so that his Beiwei Army can counterattack! Then it will be a narrow encounter, and we will be rushed back!"

"If he wants to use the Beiwei Army to charge head-on, why spend so much effort to build the camp hastily?" Sa Lihe was also a little exasperated, and directly poked the other party's helmet with his horsewhip. "Taishi Nu, you are a criminal who fled to Western Xia with Yelu Yudu and then fled back. If Yelu Yizhen hadn't recommended you because of old friendship, and Yelu Ma Wu hadn't been soft-hearted, how could you have continued to serve in the army… But what nonsense are you talking about?!"

Taishi Nu became even more anxious when he heard this, and let go of the horse's neck, turning around in place several times, and then suddenly woke up:

"Commander, the Song army must be in two groups. One group is the rabble who are blocking us and building the camp here. The other group is Han Shizhong leading the Beiwei and Cuipian armies to come to our aid hastily. But because they are exhausted, they simply use a feigned attack to let us pave the camp for them, and they rest and eat in the rear… making a calm appearance!"

Sa Lihe listened blankly, thought for a moment, and still instinctively maintained his opposition, "Still not right… If it's the Vanguard of Destruction Army (*Cuipian jun*), why are there no copper masks?!"

"What?" Taishi Nu did not understand the other party's thinking for a moment.

"I mean, the crossbowmen blocking us in front clearly don't have copper masks. They are clearly crossbowmen who Wu Jie hastily mobilized…" Sa Lihe seemed to have touched some amazing argument, and seemed eager to get some achievement reward for refuting