Chapter 1 Wendun Sizhong's Injustice

To be honest, Wendun Sizhong absolutely wronged someone.

Of the four people Wendun Sizhong believed had abandoned him, Han Shizhong and Li Yanxian were naturally beyond discussion, truly treating him as nothing. And his little brother of many years, who had spent over a decade with him in Aguda's camp, the Golden Token Lang Jun Wanyan Bendu, should also be considered to have disregarded him.

However, Wanyan Balisu, the Jin Dynasty's Taiyuan Garrison Commander, Commander-in-Chief of the Taiyuan Military Affairs, and the de facto commander of the Western Route Army, could not be said to have abandoned Wendun Sizhong.

Balisu probably just felt it wasn't necessary to specifically inform Wendun Sizhong, especially since the Taiyuan Garrison Commander had already dispatched the main force of the army to rapidly move south.

If the army arrived directly, it would naturally rescue Wendun Sizhong along the way. And if, as predicted, they most likely wouldn't arrive, letting everyone in Hezhong Prefecture guard the city with peace of mind, and in the end, produce five hundred righteous men of Hezhong Prefecture, an old subordinate of Taizu Aguda who heroically gave his life for the country, and incidentally delay some troops and time, wouldn't that also make him a loyal subject of the Great Jin Dynasty?

What was the need for specific notification?

It could only be said that Wendun Sizhong was still emotionally unstable and unable to appreciate the good intentions of Commander Wanyan Balisu.

In fact, just three days after Wendun Sizhong's emotional breakdown, on October 5th, Balisu's Taiyuan reinforcements encountered the Song army at the junction of the Linfen Basin and the Hezhong (Yuncheng) Basin.

And if the battlefield was expanded to a radius of a hundred *li* around the point of encounter, the actual number of troops involved in this battle was quite frightening.

On the Jin side, at least three veteran *wanhu* of the Jin Dynasty's Western Route Army, including Wanyan Balisu's own *wanhu*, Wanyan Tuhesuo's *wanhu*, and Wanyan Zhehe's *wanhu*, were投入战斗, with cavalry arriving first and infantry following behind. On the Song side, however, there were Li Yanxian's own forces, along with his subordinate commanders Shao Long, Lü Heshang, Song Yan, Jia He, Yan Ping, Zhao Cheng, Zhai Jin, Zhai Cong, Zhai Chong, Niu Gao, and Dong Xian, totaling thirty-five thousand troops, plus the Ma Kuo Volunteer Army, whose organization and numbers were impossible to count, all pressing forward.

In other words, Balisu hastily gathered the main force troops he could summon in the Taiyuan area at the first moment and came directly, while Li Yanxian also left only the most steadfast Shao Yun to firmly guard Pinglu, plus his younger brother Li Kui to act as a rear guard, and almost all the rest of the army pressed forward at the first moment.

Considering that generals of the *dutong* level from both sides personally participated in the battle, it could be said to be the first large-scale battle after the Song army's Northern Expedition.

But the battle itself was extremely chaotic.

First of all, both sides deployed their troops hastily and had come from long distances… For the Jin army, it was a full five hundred and fifty *li* from Taiyuan to Tieling Pass, and along the way, there were also small-scale ambushes prepared by the Taihang Volunteer Army. On the other hand, even if Li Yanxian decisively exited Jie Prefecture from the Zhongtiao Mountains and was only one hundred and forty to fifty *li* away from Tieling Pass, don't forget that before the start of the war, the Jie Prefecture area north of the Zhongtiao Mountains, although penetrated to a certain extent, still belonged to the Jin army, so it was inevitable to temporarily establish a logistics channel and divide troops to besiege a few stubborn towns.

Therefore, neither side could avoid fighting in an exhausted state, and the marching routes were chaotic and the arrival times varied.

Secondly, the combat strength of both sides was uneven.

For example, on the Jin army's side, Balisu's direct *wanhu* not only had the best equipment and the most experienced veterans, but the number of *muke* in a *meng'an* was also higher, often reaching seven or eight *muke* per *meng'an*… There was even a personal guard *meng'an* that was roughly organized according to the *hezha meng'an*, with a solid ten elite *muke*.

In comparison, the troops of Wanyan Zhehe and Wanyan Tuhesuo, who had suffered the most severe losses in the Battle of Yaoshan, inevitably had more soldiers who had been newly added after the war, and the difference between *meng'an* and *meng'an*, and between *muke* and *muke*, was like heaven and earth.

A similar situation was even more pronounced in the Song army.

Because Li Yanxian's army had been active on both sides of the Yellow River for many years, they never counted the number of people, but simply sent military salaries and equipment according to the establishment, and then Li Yanxian distributed them from the commander level down, so his troops had a strong personal factional color.

Leaving aside Li Yanxian's own core troops in Shanzhou City and Pinglu City, the combat effectiveness of more troops depended entirely on the level and integrity of the commander himself, to the point where the difference in combat effectiveness of the troops was often unbelievably large.

What's more, there were also troops brought out by Ma Kuo, which were simply equipped like auxiliary soldiers.

Finally, the terrain was complex.

The area around Tieling Pass is the junction of the Linfen Basin and the Hezhong Basin (Yuncheng Basin), with plains, mountains, and hills mixed together. Moreover, Tieling Pass itself, the focus of the battle, was not a strategic pass… Moreover, the area around it was not exaggerated to the point where one man could hold the pass against ten thousand.

There was also the Fen River passage next to the Yellow River to the west, and marching through Jiang County to the east was also possible. Tieling Pass was not the only feasible passage. Even the surrounding mountains were not dead ends. There was a small pass in Camel Ridge, dozens of *li* west of Tieling Pass. No one could say for sure about the trails that the mountain people used to travel.

Of course, this did not prevent Tieling Pass itself from still being the most important hub between the Linfen Basin and the Hezhong (Yuncheng) Basin, and it was still a typical place that strategists must contend for, especially since it was also the end of the Zhiguan Xing, which connected the Shangdang Basin to Hezhong Prefecture.

In short, under the influence of these complex factors, the battle process was both intense and chaotic, both bloody and extremely dramatic.

Tieling Pass changed hands three times in just one day.

Early in the morning, a local volunteer army sent by Ma Kuo, which was the closest, came to seize the pass. The leader of this volunteer army, who had been with Ma Kuo since Wuma Mountain, followed the orders of his own commander and disguised himself to circle around the back, trying to trick the pass from behind. However, he was detected by the Jin army *muke* stationed there and failed.

The volunteer army lacked equipment and the ability to attack fortifications, and was at a loss for a while.

But soon, as a commander under Lü Heshang of the Song army arrived with hundreds of regular troops to launch a surprise attack, the volunteer army leader immediately realized the existence of the enemy north of the pass. While making a show of attacking from both north and south, he also selected mountain people from the volunteer army to wear double-layered leather armor, climb the steep cliffs, and sneak into the pass, actually succeeding.

The Jin army in Tieling Pass had only one or two hundred guards. Once a point was broken, they were directly slaughtered by the Song army that poured in.

Subsequently, more or less troops from Lü Heshang's unit, Zhai Cong's unit, and Zhao Cheng's unit arrived in succession. Several volunteer armies under Ma Kuo that were close by, ranging from five or six hundred to one or two thousand, also appeared from the east.

By mid-morning, there were actually more than ten thousand Song troops around Tieling Pass at most.

At this time, there was no sign of the Jin army.

Overjoyed, either greedy for merit, or underestimating the enemy, or homesick, or truly having a military order to seize the geography, or purely because everyone had come in a hurry and there was no one who could make decisions to restrain and deploy these troops whose discipline was not good in the first place, in any case, none of the troops could bear to hold back. Except for Lü Heshang, who knew to leave a few hundred people behind, all the other troops poured out of Tieling Pass and advanced towards the Linfen Basin to the north.

They rushed to occupy villages and towns, and even some troops engaged in looting and rape, and there were sporadic clashes between local volunteer armies and foreign volunteer armies.

The result of doing so was that in the afternoon, after the vanguard of the Jin army's main force appeared on the plains of the Linfen Basin, the Song army was unable to organize at all and could only watch helplessly as thousands of Jin cavalry, under the supervision of the Tuhesuo banner, calmly crossed the Hui River from Quwo, northeast of the pass, twenty *li* away from Tieling Pass, and launched a sweep of the scattered ten thousand Song troops.

Moreover, there were more and more Jin troops.

Faced with the established Jurchen main cavalry, coupled with their own disorganization and recklessness, the Song army was completely defeated on the plains between Tieling Pass and the Hui River, which were ten *li* wide, or even only a few *li* at the narrowest point. Even Zhao Cheng himself lost contact.

Moreover, after a Jin army commander discovered that most of the Song troops on the opposite side were just poorly equipped mountain volunteer armies, he took advantage of the situation to卷败兵压关, and actually pushed all the way into Tieling Pass.

Faced with the Jin army's oppression and the comrades who fell into the cliffs in panic, the officers of Lü Heshang's unit on the pass had no ability to deal with it at all, and in a daze, they lost the pass and scattered to the south of the pass with their own troops and these fleeing comrades.

However, the matter was not over yet. Amidst the chaos, just as the Jin army had just pressed into Tieling Pass, and more Jin and Song troops were still in a chaotic mess on the south side of the pass, the real main force of the Song army arrived, and Li Yanxian himself even came to the pass.

Watching the dense banners and neat armor surrounding the large 'Central Pillar' banner surging from south to north like a tide, the Jin army *meng'an* who had just entered the pass without even taking a sip of tea suddenly panicked. At the same time, the Taihang volunteer army also exerted their unique advantages… Although they collapsed quickly, they could quickly gather again after escaping into the mountains. Moreover, at this time, they saw from afar that their own main force had arrived on the mountains and that the commander's banner had also arrived, and they were even more confident. They went to the northern plains to support their own defeated troops, obstruct the Jin army, and try to attack small groups of Jin troops.

When the Jin army saw this, they came to drive them away, but they could not catch up the troops climbing the mountains.

For a time, the north of the pass fell into a stalemate.

At this time, the Tuhesuo department *meng'an* who had broken into Tieling Pass could no longer hold on. He was afraid of being surrounded by the main force of the Song army in the city, and he was also afraid of being attacked at night. He didn't even figure out the internal structure of this pass… Therefore, he made up his mind and chose to take the initiative to withdraw, even without raising the flag, and surrendered the pass with both hands.

Many Jin troops did not know that they had captured Tieling Pass… So-called captured in a daze, and then abandoned in a daze.

As dusk gradually fell, the light prevented all the melee, the Jin army massively retreated towards the Hui River crossing to the northeast, and Li Yanxian also ordered the entire army to set up camp by the pass.

Leaving aside how Li Yanxian cleaned up the mess and then tried to figure out the day's battle process and the current situation, which he might never figure out in his lifetime.

On the other side, the Jin army *meng'an* withdrew and returned to a certain market town by the Hui River, only twenty *li* away, which had long been empty. Not long after, just as it was getting dark, he had just seized a house and was preparing to find two eggs to make noodles, but he was called over by his own *wanhu* Tuhesuo.

His heart secretly called out that something was wrong.

Waiting for Tuhesuo's personal guards to arrive outside a place with a bonfire in the market town, and seeing that in addition to Tuhesuo, there were also several familiar middle-aged generals sitting there cross-legged, his back of his head felt even colder, and then he hurriedly took off the helmet he had put on before going out, and bowed and cupped his hands.

"Get up."

Tuhesuo, who was sitting cross-legged, frowned slightly. "Where did you learn to be like the Song people like that?"

"Learning from the Song people is nothing, I'm just afraid of learning the bad instead of the good." The person directly behind the bonfire, namely Balisu himself in the middle position, said faintly across the fire. "I remember your name is Suwu? You're also a veteran?"

"Yes." The *meng'an* heard that something was wrong and quickly stood at attention with his hands crossed. "Does the *dutong* and the several *wanhu* want to hear about today's battle?"

Crossing his hands meant listening to orders and making a gesture of asking for forgiveness. It was a unified gesture whether in the Song or Jin Dynasty.

"Calling you here is not to ask about those things." Tuhesuo said while stretching out his legs, but the fire was making them itchy, so he directly hammered the old wounds on the instep of his feet through his boots. "Just now, the *dutong* and us have summoned many *meng'an* and *muke*, including those who entered the pass with you… We also know the situation today, it's just a chaotic battle, everyone is tired, everyone is confused… But you just saw Li Yanxian's army arrived, and you cowered back, without even fighting, you abandoned the pass, right?"

The *meng'an* Suwu was silent for a moment before gritting his teeth and making a decision: "Today's matter is that I lacked two points of courage, but to let the *dutong* and the several *wanhu* know, the situation at the time was indeed confusing, the back of the pass was a mess, and no one came to meet me, so I thought about not easily abandoning the lives of my sons… But in the end, I lost the military opportunity, and I, Suwu, have nothing to say… *Dutong*, *wanhu*, I am willing to hand over this silver token *meng'an* and return home to be punished."

The scene was quiet for a moment, so quiet that it was a little scary. Tuhesuo, who had been silent all along, and Zhehe, as well as the other experienced *meng'an* present, couldn't help but look together at Balisu, whose face could not be seen at all behind the bonfire.

Suwu was still a *meng'an*. Seeing this situation, how could he not know that he had offended someone, so he quickly faced the situation seriously: "Could it be that before I came, all of you *wanhu* had discussed a statement, and after seeing my reply, you would make a decision? *Wanhu*! Publicly speaking, I am a hereditary *muke* and have been an行军 *meng'an* for seven years. Privately speaking, I have been following you since the灭辽时期. You injured your foot in the Battle of Qiaoshan, and I carried you down… How many years of friendship, are you going to kill me for this kind of thing?"

To add a little more here, the Jin army's *meng'an-muke* system had multiple functions, combining nobility, military rank, and civil administration. The later Eight Banners were basically based on Aguda's invention… For example, Wanyan Loushi was the Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs, a *wanhu* holding a golden token, a hereditary *meng'an*, had his own private army *meng'an*, and also enjoyed the tax, judicial, and administrative powers of Huanglong Prefecture because his hereditary *meng'an* was in Huanglong Prefecture.

Of course, with Wanyan Xiyin's reform, the role of civil administration was basically gone, but the meaning of nobility was still there… Before being封王, the hereditary *meng'an* within the Jin Dynasty were still the toughest identities, second only to the hereditary *muke*… Because this represented that they had a hereditary army.

And the Great Jin Dynasty was established on the basis of the military.

But how should I say it?

Times have changed.

"*Dutong*!"

Seeing Suwu say this, Tuhesuo couldn't help but look at the person behind the bonfire with a pleading expression.

However, what responded to Tuhesuo was a moment of silence.

Helpless, Tuhesuo sighed and could only look at his subordinates: "You come to me and kneel down to the *dutong*!"

A wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him. Suwu quickly came over, knelt down in front of the bonfire where Tuhesuo had originally stretched out his legs, and prepared to叩首 again. However, Tuhesuo suddenly got up again. Knowing that his own *wanhu* had bad legs and feet, Suwu dared not neglect it and quickly helped Tuhesuo up before kneeling down again.

However, as fast as lightning, just as Suwu knelt down again, Tuhesuo, who had stood up, suddenly took out a steel hammer from his waist and swung it forcefully at the back of his subordinate's head.

With just one swing, without knowing whether the *xingjun meng'an* and hereditary *muke* had time to hear the sound of the wind behind his head, he directly pounced in front of the bonfire.

Immediately, personal guards came forward to deliver the final blow, and at Tuhesuo's instruction, they cut off the head of this person and handed it over to the military law officer for them to publicly display.

Then the lame *wanhu* sat down cross-legged again, regardless of the headless corpse on the ground still bleeding profusely.

After a while, the corpse was also dragged away, but the atmosphere next to the bonfire was still not good.

"We actually benefited from this battle." Unexpectedly, the first to express dissatisfaction was Wanyan Zhehe, who had never spoken before and had nothing to do with this person.

"I can't help it either." The *dutong* Balisu, holding an iron hook, replied helplessly. "There hasn't been a major war in five years. These people have long become confused. After doing this, instead of thinking about making up for their mistakes, they only think about resigning and going home. When they come to the garrison, they want to seize houses to live in, find eggs to make noodles, and go to bed early… They don't even know how important this battle is! If we are defeated, where will they get eggs to eat? Where will they get big houses to live in?"

"That's the truth." Tuhesuo, who had just personally killed his confidant *meng'an*, surprisingly stood on Balisu's side.

"The Song army is no better." Wanyan Zhehe continued to retort. "And they are reckless in advancing and fighting for merit. Their appearance of looking down on us is also ridiculous."

"Leaving aside their reckless advance and fight for merit, and their underestimation and arrogance, at least they have the spirit of enterprise." Balisu continued to argue. "And why are we comparing ourselves to the worst? This is the *xingjun meng'an* and hereditary *muke* of the Great Jin Iron Cavalry!"

"You saw clearly from the Yuan on Yaoshan that day, don't you have any thoughts in your heart?" Wanyan Zhehe finally became a little impatient. "The energy! It's that energy! The energy to shake mountains and rivers! It has long gone with the old *dutong*!"

"Even if we can't shake mountains and rivers, we can't be like this!"

"Alright, we are holding a military conference, what are you arguing about?" Wanyan Tuhesuo saw that things were not good and couldn't help but raise his voice slightly. "We still have twenty *wanhu*, including ten thousand Iron Cavalry! Plus the Yanshan New Army. According to my view, this battle is still a big formation. We are on the defensive. If we stabilize, delay, and take the opportunity to bite back, there will always be a seventy-thirty chance of winning or losing… But *dutong*, you are, after all, a great general who commands an army. You should always have some overall plans in your heart, right? Do you really want to fight for every inch of land?"

"We really can't fight like this." Balisu regained his clarity, but he used the iron hook in his hand to stir up the bonfire in front of him, causing a burst of sparks to splash. "From an overall perspective, the front line is three thousand *li*. Since we have more cavalry, we must have the tactics of cavalry… The Fourth Prince has already arrived in Zhengding. I will write a letter to him and ask him to come to Taiyuan."

"Are you saying to gather the army and defeat them one by one?" Tuhesuo frowned. "Which one should we break first? How should we defend the other side?"

"This must be decided by the Fourth Prince." Balisu shook his head in response. "But I'll say a honest word, at least this is not a good place for a decisive battle… There are passes and mountains, rivers and ridges, and the Song army's supply line is shorter than ours… If we really fight a big decisive battle here, and we lose, it will probably end up like the Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao."

"I don't know what the Battle of Changping is, but I also think this place is not a good place for a decisive battle." Tuhesuo nodded in agreement. "Linfen behind us is not either… Although it is flat in the middle, there are mountains on both sides, and the flat ground in the middle is too narrow, so the advantage of cavalry cannot be used. It is better to lure the enemy deep and lead them to the Taiyuan city, and then use cavalry to lock all the exits and replay the Battle of Taiyuan… What do you think?"

"That's about it." Balisu said frankly. "As long as they are from the Western Route Army and have fought in Taiyuan, I estimate that they all have this idea… We have discussed it before."

"In that case, are we withdrawing troops now?" Wanyan Zhehe suddenly interjected.

"How is it possible to withdraw troops?" Balisu frowned even more, and his tone finally became fierce. "Strategy is strategy, tactics are tactics, and the morale of the army is the morale of the army… We can't reach Hezhong Prefecture, but this is the first major battle between the two countries in many years. How can we just withdraw like this? Don't forget what we discussed a few years ago. The last time the Song army took Xixia, although it was due to the overall situation, the Fourth Prince repeatedly avoided battle in the early stage, and as a result, he could not fight a decisive battle in Hetao, which greatly damaged the morale of the army. That is a lesson! In the current situation, regardless of whether we should lure the enemy deep or divide and conquer them, we must first exert all our strength! We must not weaken this spirit first! Zhehe, what exactly has been going on with you these past few years?!"

Wanyan Zhehe stopped talking.

Tuhesuo saw that things were not good and quickly came to smooth things over: "Alright… The *dutong* must have an idea, let's talk about it!"

"What is there to say? Of course, it is to concentrate the cavalry and launch a surprise attack from the rear." Balisu said solemnly. "I thought about it… Although they all came in a hurry, the main force of the Song army is infantry, which is more tired than us… Our cavalry is consuming horses, especially those who arrived later today and did not participate in the battle, their spirits are still there… The most important thing is that the soldiers are exhausted. We are tired, but they will only be more tired… So, don't be stingy with the war horses. While Li Yanxian has not gained a firm foothold, and even reconnaissance soldiers are probably too late to send, let's now gather an elite cavalry and launch a surprise night attack from Jiang County. Maybe it will have a miraculous effect!"

Tuhesuo nodded slightly.

Wanyan Zhehe was stunned for a moment, then looked at the two of them again… Tuhesuo's troops were the vanguard, and they generally participated in the battle today. It didn't matter that he had just killed a *meng'an*, but the key was that they were very tired. Although Balisu's troops were elite and had a large number of cavalry, were these troops used for night raids and encirclements?

They were used for decisive battles.

At this thought, Wanyan Zhehe thought for a while and asked seriously by the bonfire: "If we are going to raid, to what extent should the armor be lightened?"

"Helmets, body armor, and skirts must always be there… As for face masks, heavy eaves (neck protection), and shoulder armor… These things that affect activity don't need to be brought." Balisu blurted out.

"Also." Wanyan Zhehe asked seriously again. "I am a *wanhu*, and I am isolated behind enemy lines, separated by a mountain ridge. If the battle is unfavorable, can I make my own decision to withdraw at any time?"

Balisu instinctively wanted to respond.

But for some reason, just as he was about to speak, he suddenly thought of one thing… In the Battle of Yaoshan, Wanyan Loushi let Zhehe突击 from the northeast of the Song army's camp, but inadvertently fell into the swamp and became a living target. At that time, Zhehe did not dare to act without authorization, and repeatedly sent messengers to ask Loushi. Before Loushi gave the order, Zhehe and his unit shot at the Song army in the mud, without moving at all, resulting in heavy losses.

If Loushi were here today, how could Zhehe be so perfunctory? And how could he ask such a thing?

"Can't we withdraw?" Zhehe frowned.

"Why don't I go!" Seeing this, Tuhesuo couldn't help but interject.

"No…" Balisu reacted and immediately nodded. "Zhehe, you are naturally a *wanhu*, and I also said that this is just to do our best and fight for that first breath. If you really encounter danger, how could I let you and your troops die in vain before the battle? I haven't even given up on a lunatic like Wendun Sizhong in Hezhong."

Zhehe nodded and directly got up to leave.

Seeing this, Balisu quickly got up to catch up, but he grabbed the other party again by the bonfire and said earnestly: "Zhehe, we have been through life and death together for decades. We really shouldn't be sulking at this time… If there is anything I have done wrong, you can just say it publicly during the military conference, and you can also talk about private matters now…"

Wanyan Zhehe, with a stubbly beard, glanced at Balisu and then at Tuhesuo, who was hastily crawling up from the blood stains. In the end, he sighed slightly:

"*Dutong* is thinking too much… How can I not know that this is a national war, a life-and-death battle between the two countries? How can I not know that those bastards are getting more and more 혼账 day by day? How can I not know that before and after this Tieling Pass, regardless of victory or defeat, gain or loss, we should use all our skills to top it off at this time? And I can only fight. If you have a military order, I will definitely do my best… If you just said that we are not allowed to retreat, I wouldn't say anything… But *dutong*! I just don't understand, why is the Great Jin Iron Cavalry like this? It's not to say why the Song people can fight and dare to fight, but to say why our Jurchen people are unwilling to endure hardship? Why are they thinking more and more? When the old *dutong* was there, there were no such things!"

Balisu could not answer the other party, or rather, he knew the answer but was unwilling to answer the other party. Moreover, since the other party had expressed his intention to abide by the military orders, he instantly did not have the same sincere intention as before.

Seeing this, Wanyan Zhehe did not say much, nodded to the somewhat stunned Tuhesuo, and then directly turned around and left.

In a short while, it can only be said that the Jurchen people's military discipline was still there. Although Zhehe's troops complained endlessly, they still quickly gathered according to *meng'an-muke*, and then concentrated about fifty *muke*, totaling five thousand elite cavalry, and headed east overnight, preparing to circle around through the通道 between Jiang County and the Taihang Mountains on the east side to launch a night attack on Li Yanxian.

Having been in Hedong for several years, the generals of the Jin army still knew the geography well. After a rough calculation, the distance of one hundred and twenty *li* was within the limit of a long-range raid by war horses (two hundred *li*).

If it was fast, it would probably take two or three hours (four to six hours), which is before midnight. If it was slower, for example, if Zhehe wanted to leave room for retreat and slow down the horse's speed, it would only be after midnight at most.

All in all, this was a raid within the theoretical radius of cavalry operations… and the Jurchen cavalry had definitely played even harder and more extreme tactical maneuvers than this… but it was still very dangerous and tested the troops' ability.

Especially now, the Jin army seemed to have lost the energy to shake mountains and rivers, but it did not know if it could hold on.

But the fact was that Wanyan Zhehe completed the military order without fail. At midnight, without knowing how many people had dropped out, the veteran Jin general successfully arrived behind the pass. After a little reorganization, he began to set fire and launch a surprise attack on the extremely crude Song army camp.

This was cavalry, this was the power and significance of elite cavalry.

Cavalry never has any strategic mobility. No cavalry can break away from logistics and march day and night, and turn around for three thousand *li* in half a month, but within a few days, tactically, they can do things that infantry cannot do or even think of.

And since Wanyan Zhehe launched a surprise attack, fires broke out everywhere, and the sound of killing shook the sky. Immediately, Balisu also immediately launched an突击 from the front of the pass with his own troops.

Frankly speaking, Li Yanxian underestimated the enemy.

He was also a human being. After his old opponent Loushi died, and after sitting idly for eight years, he launched a Northern Expedition with the entire army. Unlike Han Shizhong's posture before the war, he was extremely eager to stretch his muscles and bones and become the vanguard of the main attack direction, since he was the only commander who had a large stronghold on the other side of the Yellow River.

He did indeed take Tieling Pass first, but the troops were too exhausted. Once he seized the pass, he had a inexplicable sense of security.

Moreover, he did not make any mistakes after coming to Tieling Pass - after taking Tieling Pass, he immediately set up camp by the pass, and did not allow the defeated troops north of the pass to enter the pass, but only let them set up camp against the pass. Then, before he had time to deal with the melee during the day, he sent out scouts to cross the newly calmed battlefield to侦查 the Jin army's movements.

But Balisu urged Wanyan Zhehe to send troops out in the dark as soon as the troops who had been in the melee during the day had just withdrawn.

Therefore, he just did not make a prediction.

But after all is said and done, he still underestimated the enemy, but this underestimation was not about personal intelligence, but about being reckless in advancing in order to seize merit, and because of the recklessness, the main force of the army was put into a state of extreme fatigue, and this state caused the army to lose control and organization in the dark… In a word, he overestimated his own army and underestimated the Jin army's determination, and he should have notified Han Shizhong early on.

At the same time, more directly and fatally, Li Yanxian's troops were indeed of uneven combat effectiveness, which can be easily seen from the battle process.

The chaos started from Yan Ping's unit. The exhausted troops were attacked at night, and their hastily erected camp was easily flattened by the Jin army, and the troops scattered into the darkness. But soon, the Jin army's突击 troops were blocked by the second camp, Dong Xian's unit… Dong Xian was publicly recognized as greedy, but publicly recognized as good at fighting. The chaos in his defense area was significantly slowed down, which gave the Song army a respite.

Li Yanxian登关 and looked at this scene from afar, his face ashen, but he had no good way to deal with it.

Night raids have been like this since ancient times. He can only sit in the pass and stabilize the camps from the inside out. If he forcibly sent troops out at night to rescue them, with the troop level of these peripheral troops and the current state of fatigue, the number of soldiers swallowed by the chaos itself would probably far exceed the casualties of this突击 cavalry itself… Moreover, the army was too tired.

And this was the south of the pass, after all, it was an established army. The north of the pass was already a mess. Those volunteer armies and a small number of remnants of the Imperial Army that had been gathered after a day of melee were simply in the process of running.

Fortunately, the experience during the day made them know that they could钻山.

"Commissioner."

Amidst the chaos, a person hurriedly登关 with Li Yanxian's personal guards, and cupped his hands to him. It was Zhang Qi, Dong Xian's deputy. "My commander asked me to report that the Jin army can't get any advantage from us, and it seems that they are preparing to withdraw and冲 other camps…"

"I see." Li Yanxian took a deep breath, his tone indifferent.

Zhang Qi took the opportunity to look down and knew why Commissioner Li was like this. Here in the south of the pass, the Song army had seven camps. One had collapsed, one was fighting, and of the remaining five, only three were fully lit at this time, and two were half-lit and somewhat chaotic… Obviously, these two camps were reminding the Jin army in this way when facing the突击: they were weak troops and could冲 them!

Zhang Qi wanted to persuade Li Yanxian, but he didn't know what to say for a while… In today's battle, the Song army's recklessness, greed for merit, and arrogance were obvious.

This was not a problem with one or two families. This was a systemic problem in the Imperial Army after three years of incitement, recuperation, and generous treatment.

All kinds of strange chaos would definitely occur in other places, and they would have to buy lessons with blood.

Just as he was thinking this, Zhang Qi suddenly felt that the area in front of him seemed to be brighter. He looked towards the camp below the pass, but found that it was just for a moment, and the situation in the camp below the pass had not fundamentally changed.

For a moment, Zhang Boyu (Zhang Qi's courtesy name) only felt that his eyes had been flashed by light somewhere at night, but the next moment, he noticed that Commissioner Li Yanxian, who had been ashen-faced, was no longer looking at the chaos in the camps below, but was looking towards the southeast.

The southeast was mountains, the Zhongtiao