Chapter 224 Before Noon

Before noon, the rain intensified again.

With the predetermined strategic state achieved, the main force of the Song army, forty thousand strong in front of the highlands – the Stone Bridge, no longer hesitated. Under the overall supervision of Li Yanxian, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, they immediately crossed the river in a grand manner, divided into more than ten command units.

At the same time, the Jin army on the highlands also did not hesitate. According to the predetermined plan, four *wanhu* (ten-thousand households) units gathered and formed a formation on the highlands under the command of Wanyan Ben Du, the military commander of the Jin State's Longde Prefecture. Then, with a massive military formation that covered the entire highlands, they pressed down towards the front of the Taiping River, seeking to complete the predetermined tactical objective of 'inflicting as much damage as possible on the Song army crossing the river.'

However, just as the massive heavy army groups on both sides were beginning to move, Wang De, the Left Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard who had crossed the river first, seized the opportunity and successfully killed the veteran Jin general Ali in battle. This directly led to Ali's unit, which was only one order away from a large-scale return to the highlands, falling into command chaos. In addition, Pusan Beilu, another *wanhu*, was emotionally agitated after losing his son, and violated tactical arrangements and the actual battlefield situation by forcibly launching a counterattack, which also led to his unit appearing strong on the outside but wavering on the inside.

Therefore, as the Song army crossed the river in full force, and the encirclement gradually formed, Ali's unit and Pusan Beilu's unit immediately collapsed, and the Jin army's riverfront line directly crumbled.

Of course, this did not prevent Wanyan Ben Du on the highlands from supervising his army down the slope according to the original military strategy, fiercely colliding with the oncoming heavy infantry group of the Song army… It's just that their primary task had changed from 'inflicting as much damage as possible on the Song army crossing the river' to 'receiving and gathering as many routed soldiers as possible' and 'maintaining the battle line, shielding the highlands.'

However, less than a quarter of an hour later, all the senior military officers on the battlefield realized that the so-called tactical mission was a joke.

The Jin army thought so, and so did the Song army.

It must be known that with the collapse of the Jin army's riverfront line, the ten thousand Song army Dangxiang light cavalry who were trying to block the annihilation of the enemy in the middle of the two major heavy army groups immediately mixed with the same number of Jin army routed soldiers, forming a long, complex strip of melee. This strip extended westward and directly connected to the western front battlefield, which had been gradually intertwined and chaotic since the morning.

In this situation, when the two major heavy-armed groups of Li Yanxian and Wanyan Ben Du collided fiercely in front of the highlands, not only did they fail to achieve the imagined large-scale breakthroughs and decisive battles, but instead caused all order and structure on the battlefield to instantly become ineffective.

The front-line troops of both sides were immediately swept into the melee in the middle, and the organization of the front-line troops was also disrupted to some extent. The command systems of both sides fell into a semi-paralyzed state. However, the military formations of both sides were so large that they generated a kind of inertia, both physically and in terms of command systems, causing the follow-up troops of both sides to continuously press into the central melee area, thereby continuously expanding the melee area.

Not only that, once this kind of melee formed a scale, it quickly spread westward, constantly pulling the originally orderly western front battlefield into the fray.

In all fairness, this situation had been anticipated.

Before the war, the senior military officers on both sides had already realized that no one had ever fought this kind of battle before. No one had ever poured so many combat troops into a local battlefield of dozens of miles in a single day. No one had this kind of combat experience… Command failure and fighting on one's own were things that both sides had openly emphasized before the war.

However, no one expected this scene to come so quickly, and no one expected this chaos to be so large and uncontrollable.

Li Yanxian and Wanyan Ben Du, as front-line commanders, almost simultaneously fell into a daze, and then they quickly realized that the victory or defeat of this battle would to a considerable extent be out of their control, and would be decided by the *tongzhi* (regional military commissioners) and *mengan* (chiefs of a Meng'an), or even further, by the *tongling* (captains), *ying zhihui* (battalion commanders), *dutou* (squad leaders), and *mouke* (chiefs of a Mouke), and *puliyan* (leaders of a Puliyan).

Both sides were really going to use a fragmented, unguided by the art of command, but possibly the most capable way to reflect the fighting strength of both sides to determine the victory or defeat of the main battlefield. After all, in this situation, only the side that won more of these small-scale battles would form an irreversible battle line suppression, and then achieve the predetermined tactical objectives.

After realizing this, a complex emotion arose simultaneously in both Li Yanxian and Wanyan Ben Du… It was a kind of emotion mixed with relief and liberation, but also with some frustration and unease, and even vaguely with some fear and trepidation.

The only difference was that the internal proportions of these emotions were slightly different for the two men.

The rain became more and more dense, and the noise on the battlefield suddenly increased by a large margin, which in turn caused the command system and scout feedback to further fail.

"Marshal."

Amidst the clamor of the battlefield, Wanyan Wushu, his face covered in water, finally climbed down from the watchtower, and then hesitated to speak to Ba Lisu, who was sitting cross-legged in the mud below the watchtower.

Obviously, Wushu had learned of the front-line battle situation from the front-line generals, and he was eager to do something, but he also knew very well that he could not do anything in reality.

By the same token, Ba Lisu looked up at the other party and did not respond… Some things didn't need to be said in public.

However, this did not mean that the Jin State Marshal had nothing to do. He looked up at the sky and observed the rain for a while, and then took out a dagger from behind his waist and actually began to dig up the soil on the muddy ground, even as the rain continued to fall.

Wushu understood almost instantly, and couldn't help but take two steps forward to look: "How is it?"

"Two inches of mud, three inches of wet softness, and then there's dry soil underneath." Ba Lisu put away his dagger and turned his head to answer calmly. "And if the rain continues as it did this morning, then by evening, I'm afraid there will be four or five inches of soft mud. The water accumulation on the grassland is severe, and it may be deeper, but as long as it doesn't become a quagmire, it won't collapse easily… However, according to the current situation, there should already be a lot of accumulated water and many quagmires."

"Will that delay our cavalry's attack?" Wushu was a little anxious.

Ba Lisu shook his head, which once made Wushu relax, but soon, the Great Jin State Marshal's series of unhurried words made His Highness the Prince of Wei continue to sink into a kind of powerless frustration:

"Prince of Wei, this is not about the rain at all. Not to mention the current situation, even in the case of heavier rain, muddier ground, and more rapid river water, many people in the army have experienced it before. It's nothing more than the horse speed being slower, and more slips and injuries… Haven't we ever sent troops in the winter ice and snow between the Changbai Mountains and the Heilong River? But today's problem is that there are too many soldiers, and the battlefield is out of control. No one knows what the result will be with so many situations superimposed. I'm afraid that when the last twenty-five thousand cavalry rush out, there will only be time for one military order, and then they will directly fight on their own, and they won't be able to launch a second wave."

Wushu sighed and then suddenly turned around and led a horse out from under the wooden shed in the camp. When the guards such as Taishi Nu saw this, they did not dare to be negligent and followed suit.

"What's the use of the Prince of Wei going to the front line at this time?" Ba Lisu got up directly when he saw this, but he just sat back down in the wooden shed without rain with a normal expression. "Even if it's to inspire people, this is not the time to go… Wait until Ma Wu and Wo Lun send troops before going."

"I'm not going to show off, nor am I going to seize Ben Du's command. I really can't sit still. I'm going to the highlands to see the battle situation with my own eyes!" Wushu blurted out while mounting his horse.

"Then don't carry the flag." Ba Lisu was also helpless.

"Understood." Wushu blurted out.

"After you go, don't come back here. Go to the Huo Nu village on the left." Ba Lisu continued to say calmly.

Wushu was finally stunned, but he nodded heavily—he knew what Ba Lisu meant. Wanyan Huo Nu had the hatred of killing his father with many Song army generals on the battlefield, and he had always had a conflict with the marshal. In other words, Huo Nu was likely to disobey orders and go to war in advance, which would likely have a devastating result on the war.

After nodding, Wushu went straight to the highlands without saying a word, and after only a moment, he had arrived directly at the highlands from the safe and unobstructed rear of the highlands.

However, in the rain, Wushu did not disturb the commanders, but under the escort of his guards, he stopped his horse on a high slope on the highlands, and then looked around and observed the somewhat muddy slope that had been trampled on.

However, this observation did not make the Great Jin Regent Prince feel relieved or relaxed in the slightest, because although the entire battlefield was still chaotic at this time, it had already slightly revealed a clue of the trend of the battle—there was no doubt that the Song army was continuing to advance.

Of course, this was also expected.

It should be known that Wushu was indeed surprised by the all-out collapse of Ali's unit, and at the same time, he was mentally prepared for the collapse of Pusan Beilu's unit, but this surprise and understanding were microscopic and targeted psychological activities… Ali actually died first? Isn't Pusan Beilu always stable? In fact, from a macro perspective, before the start of this battle, Wushu and many veteran generals and military staff had a consensus. That is, this battle today will definitely suffer heavy losses, and the Song army, which has the advantage in strength and morale, will definitely occupy a considerable advantage in the battle, and his side will definitely have famous generals die and lose their divisions in an organized manner.

Even, there is absolutely the awareness that the entire army will be defeated here and lose everything.

However, it was precisely the feeling that no matter how bad it was, everything was within expectations, that made Wushu feel somewhat frustrated and uneasy.

Because, he asked himself that he had really tried his best in this battle.

From the moment he learned that his elder brother had suddenly died of illness on the front line in Hebei, he acted decisively, entrusting the rear to his eldest brother Wanyan Wobben, and he personally went to the front line, striving to gather military morale, unite the troops, search for logistics, mobilize conscripts, and resolutely support and encourage Ba Lisu to launch relevant strategic tactics.

However, Yue Fei's operation in front of Daming Prefecture greatly frustrated his army, making him realize that the army's combat effectiveness was not as good as it used to be. Wang Bolong's annihilation of the entire army made him feel as if he had lost his liver and gallbladder, and he realized from the bottom of his heart the most serious consequences that this Northern Expedition of the Song army might have. The final scene of the simultaneous fall of Taiyuan City and Yuancheng directly caused the main force of the Jin army to lose its last trace of strategic initiative.

Looking back, what Wushu found most unacceptable was that although both sides were obviously acting hastily, the Song army, which had only gained a ten-day head start, had been in control of all the initiatives throughout the entire process, holding everything of the Jin army in its hands… From the dispatch of troops to the current decisive battle, the Song army up and down did not give him the slightest chance to breathe.

All actions were pressed on his face by time, geography, and logistics constraints.

This suffocating sense of aggression was too difficult to adapt to, and the Zhao Song Emperor's means of playing with the universe silently were too terrifying.

Wushu looked towards the direction of Huolu City in the northeast. Intelligence told him that the Zhao Emperor's dragon flag was there. Although it was far away and hindered by the rain, he couldn't see it clearly at all, but the Fourth Prince of the Jin State could still feel a crouching tiger lying there, its momentum fierce, about to leap and devour people.

Again, he had tried his best. So far, the heavens had not obviously favored anyone. This was a very fair battle, and the final victory or defeat of the battle had not yet been decided.

But it was too tormenting.

On the other side of the Taiping River, Zhao Jiu had unknowingly drunk half a pot of wine, so that his face was slightly flushed… After the battle in front of the highlands fell into a full-scale melee, he began to unconsciously increase the frequency of drinking by himself.

Obviously, the Song army had the advantage, visible to the naked eye… The Jin army had lost the riverfront line and lost two *wanhu* units in an organized manner. They could only rely on the high ground advantage to resist desperately. The Song army used 100,000 troops to deal with six *wanhu*, especially since it was not yet noon, and the morale, military morale, and physical strength of both sides could still support it. There was no reason not to suppress the Jin army.

However, Zhao Jiu was still uneasy and frightened in his heart.

Because his shallow military experience told him that as this kind of melee continued, under the effect of rain, mud, and armor, the physical strength of both sides would be rapidly lost. Once a node was passed, large-scale casualties would occur rapidly, and the speed of occurrence would become faster and faster. More importantly, although there was no definite information yet, Zhao Jiu was still sure that, just like his side, the Jin army must still have a large number of fresh troops that had not been put into battle.

At that time, every time both sides invested new forces, large-scale casualties would occur in waves and in an organized manner. This kind of casualty was violent and indiscriminate.

Reason told Zhao Jiu that the battle situation was in the Song army's favor. Even if both sides had to gamble everything in the end, he had a greater probability of winning.

However, this did not mean that Zhao Jiu did not feel tormented and frightened, especially since he needed to sit here, observing and waiting for the battle to advance with an almost outsider's identity and a vague vision.

Lu Yihao and Liu Yan had also been silent for a long time.

As time passed bit by bit, noon arrived. Seeing that the Song army formation in front of the highlands, with the help of more and more reinforcements from the western front, finally occupied one-third of the entire highlands through bloody melee and driving away large areas of routed soldiers, Wushu did not force it. Instead, he followed Ba Lisu's request and turned around to Huo Nu's camp.

Not long after he left, Wanyan Ben Du began to implement the established reserve strategy, which was to order the troops to shrink, integrate, and line up, while gathering the western front troops to retreat, in order to continue to control the highlands and shield the rear camp.

But this action inevitably placed the Tu Hesuo unit, which was located at the corner of the battle line, in a dangerous situation.

"General Huyan!"

Also at the corner of the battle line, a disheveled Khitan knight came from the south. He finally found Huyan Tong with great difficulty, but he did not dismount. Instead, he spoke anxiously. "I am General Yelu's messenger. I have come several times before…"

"Speak directly!" Huyan Tong, who was bare-chested and wrapping a wound on his arm under the flag, scolded coldly without raising his head.

"Yes!" The Khitan messenger did not dare to be negligent. "Jia Gu Wuli Bu's battle line is disconnected from Tu Hesuo's battle line. It is obvious that he is going to retreat. General Chen Jue's main force has already been swept into it. General Dong Min is obviously afraid that Heshi Lie Taiyu's *wanhu* will also retreat, so he has already tried to advance and encircle with Prince Tuoli. My general asked me to ask, is he going to go in with the rest of them or stay and help you end Tu Hesuo's unit first? Also, should we inform General Xu Shi'an and ask him to come and assist here to quickly take down Tu Hesuo?"

"How many soldiers are there on the south wing of Tu Hesuo?"

"Three or four thousand…" The Khitan messenger tried his best to answer. "It's just approximate. The infantry is mostly spearmen, and the cavalry is mostly war hammers. The formation is very stable."

"Let your general go and work hard with the other units to move forward. Just leave me three thousand light cavalry to watch the south wing of Tu Hesuo. After I personally end the north wing where Tu Hesuo is, I will sweep the south wing with these three thousand cavalry…" Speaking of this, Huyan Tong paused slightly, and then gritted his teeth. "I, Huyan Tong, will personally end Tu Hesuo's affairs. The Prince has also personally promised me. What are you calling Old Xu for? I didn't even call Deputy Commander-in-Chief Xie, who is right behind Tu Hesuo."

The messenger knew that the other party was going crazy because of what had happened a few days ago, and now he heard that Han Shizhong had given instructions, so he did not say much. He just responded and rode back to report to Yelu Yu Du.

As soon as the other party left, Huyan Tong couldn't wait to ask his guards to help him put on his armor. After a while, he put on his armor again, and then personally led his troops to launch another offensive against the north wing where Tu Hesuo himself was located.

Seeing Huyan Tong's flag coming again, the veteran Jurchen general under Tu Hesuo's flag, who was full of fatigue, just sighed slightly, and then did not rush to direct the troops forward. Instead, he looked around on his horse to observe the situation.

But what was there to observe right now?

It should be known that although the vision was limited and the battlefield was chaotic, the Jin army's large-scale shrinking trend was still very clear. It was only natural that his unit, which was located at the corner, was about to be surrounded on three sides. Xie Yuan, who was on the side and rear, Huyan Tong, who was in front, the Khitan cavalry, who was on the side and front, and Xu Shi'an, who was always ordered by Han Shizhong to stay put in the distance.

Frankly speaking, Tu Hesuo wanted to retreat at this time. After all, it was meaningless to continue to hold on at this time. Instead, it would be more beneficial to the overall situation to bring the troops back.

But… thinking of this, Tu Hesuo looked directly at Huyan Tong, who had already rushed to a hundred steps away from him… With this person so entangled, how could he possibly escape with his troops?

It should be known that the battle had lasted for half a day. As the two units that had engaged in battle the earliest, the troops of both sides were already very exhausted and had no strength. What was the use of armor? In this situation, once he, Tu Hesuo, chose to retreat, the cavalry could still survive somewhat by virtue of their mobility, but if the infantry lost their footing, they would be drowned in the Song army's battle tide. And if he abandoned the troops to cover the retreat and only led the cavalry to escape, he might be able to survive in the chaos, but not to mention how great the possibility of survival was, what about his troops?

He had been through so many battles, and for the past few decades, he had been taking the lead in every battle. Even if he was injured and restrained, how could he possibly abandon his troops and run away by himself?

With this thought, Tu Hesuo suddenly looked at his south side, and then summoned a trusted guard and whispered, "Tell that noisy Han Chinese that while Huyan Tong is attacking me, let him lead his troops to retreat first. Bring back as many people as he can, and I will cover his retreat!"

The guard was slightly dazed, but under Tu Hesuo's gaze, he turned and left.

Only then did Tu Hesuo turn back and concentrate on mobilizing his troops to meet Huyan Tong's attack… And this time, the battle situation further verified Tu Hesuo's guess. The troops on both sides were becoming more and more exhausted, but because they had already been blinded by anger, their morale was very high, which made the attrition more and more rapid and the battle more and more tragic.

However, Huyan Tong always carried a tenacity, and he just bit him and refused to let go. It was obvious that he was still brooding over what had happened before.

On the other side, taking advantage of this opportunity, Tu Hesuo's trusted guard successfully arrived at the position held by the Han Chinese *mengan* on the south side… Because of Huyan Tong's main attack direction, this place had been maintaining a low-intensity battle, and the troops were much more intact.

"The *wanhu* said that?"

The Han Chinese *mengan*, who had always liked to flatter others, was stunned when he heard this, and then frowned.

"That's right."

The guard was slightly impatient, responded, and hurried away, completely ignoring the other party.

As soon as he left, the surrounding low-level officers gathered around, waiting for the *mengan* to make a decision.

The Han Chinese *mengan* thought for a moment, and gave a wry smile: "At this time, whether to leave first or cover the retreat is up to fate. It's better to stay and hold on and observe the situation."

The crowd looked at each other, but looking at the situation on all sides, they had no choice but to pretend that nothing had happened and continue to wear down each other with the Khitan light cavalry in front.

In this way, the guard returned to Tu Hesuo's side again and told his *wanhu* the result of delivering the message, but until Huyan Tong was repelled again, the troops on the south wing never moved… They neither took the opportunity to retreat and escape, nor were they moved by the situation to take the initiative to rescue.

"I underestimated this noisy Han Chinese." Tu Hesuo's foot, which had been pierced by an arrow, had long stopped itching, but was gradually becoming numb and painful. Seeing this situation at this time, he was helpless for a moment, but simply shook his head and smiled bitterly on his horse. "I also overestimated him."

"*Wanhu*?"

The surrounding Jurchen confidants obviously did not understand.

"He must think that I am ostensibly covering his retreat, but I actually want to use his more numerous troops to attract the Song army's attention, and then take the opportunity to lead my own cavalry to escape." Tu Hesuo replied calmly. "So he doesn't move."

"This person is really judging a general's heart with the heart of a villain!" A confidant said indignantly. "Huyan Tong clearly only has the *wanhu* in his eyes. If he had escaped this time, he would have had a good chance of surviving, but he actually suspected himself and abandoned his chance of survival."

"Don't laugh at others like that, because I do have some of that intention." Tu Hesuo smiled wryly. "After all, if we continue to waste time like this, his unit may be able to support, but we will be bitten to death by Huyan Tong first… So I have the intention of hoping that he will move first to see if there is a chance… Of course, if he escapes, and we are still bitten by Huyan Tong, there is nothing to complain about… Haven't you seen it yet today? In the eyes of God, whether it's Jurchen or Han Chinese, they are all equal."

The Jurchen warriors around had different expressions, but most of them were still somber.

At this time, the horn sounded again in Huyan Tong's unit hundreds of steps ahead, which was obviously a sign of gathering the crowd to reorganize, which made the position here tense again.

"This really won't work… This really won't work." Tu Hesuo muttered to himself, while looking around again. This time, he no longer looked at the overall battle situation, but roughly counted the troops of his own unit in his field of vision.

It is said that Tu Hesuo's unit initially had 9,000 infantry and cavalry, but because Pusan Beilu's advance went wrong, he had to stretch the battle line too long and too thin, so that four-tenths of his unit were directly crushed by Han Shizhong in front. From then on, his unit had been in an awkward situation of fighting on two fronts, especially here on the north wing, where he was constantly weakened and dispersed, and then Huyan Tong successfully bit him in the middle in a previous attack, and then divided him into two. One part was in the south, with about three or four thousand cavalry and infantry maintaining the position, and the other part was around Tu Hesuo's own banner, with about a thousand cavalry and infantry.

Of course, the rest of the troops were not annihilated. If that were the case, the troops would have collapsed long ago. Instead, like the *guaizi ma* (outflanking cavalry) that Han Shizhong faced at the beginning, they were crushed, retreated, scattered, and then disappeared into or away from this battlefield, which may have reached hundreds of square kilometers, and it was difficult to gather them again.

It was time to make a decision.

"The south wing can't be relied on. There are only four or five hundred cavalry and a thousand or so infantry right now." Tu Hesuo suddenly spoke again, and his tone was much more serious. "Let's move ourselves!"

The surrounding officers and guards were all awe-stricken for a moment.

"The cavalry will attack with me, and the infantry will take advantage of the situation to move closer to the south wing." Tu Hesuo calmly ordered. "After the infantry successfully converges, we will also retreat to the south wing to continue to support for a while, in order to save as much strength as possible."

After saying this, the *wanhu* did not wait for the surrounding people to understand, and directly led his horse forward. The surrounding guards also followed without thinking too much. After a little thought, the officers had no objection, so a few hundred cavalry quickly gathered behind his flag, and then slowly started towards Huyan Tong's flag.

The remaining infantry hesitated for a moment, and then began to take advantage of the situation to leave their positions and slowly move south.

It can only be said that Tu Hesuo's strategy did not seem to have any problems. When he took bold actions and personally led the remaining cavalry to face him, Huyan Tong on the opposite side was not angry but happy. He immediately changed his military orders, so that the remaining troops, which were already less than two thousand people, arranged their formations to respond. He did not care about the hasty transfer of the thousand or so infantrymen.

However, as the cavalry gradually accelerated and started, Tu Hesuo suddenly turned around on the battlefield under the gaze of the troops of both sides, and directly brushed past Huyan Tong's unit, leading these hundreds of cavalry along the river towards the farther west outside the battlefield.

This scene stunned everyone, and everyone was caught off guard.

A moment later, the hundreds of cavalry behind Tu Hesuo instantly split. Some hesitated to return, and some lowered their heads and followed non-stop. Even the cavalry that plunged into Huyan Tong's army formation had two kinds: those who had no time to change direction and those who actively chose to charge and fight in anger… and the latter included Tu Hesuo's flag bearer.

After being at a loss and following his *wanhu* to turn around, the guard holding the *wanhu*'s banner quickly realized what had happened, and then silently turned around, raised the flag, and rushed into the Song army formation.

For a time, only a hundred or so cavalry remained behind Tu Hesuo, and they were still dispersing towards Shiyi to the south.

However, this still could not stop Huyan Tong's furious anger. He was probably the most angry person on this battlefield at Tu Hesuo's evasion of battle. He immediately mounted his horse and led dozens of cavalry to chase after him.

While the main battlefield was in chaos, even more bizarre things happened—after galloping out only a few hundred steps, Tu Hesuo, who had already had a high probability of escaping, suddenly turned left and detoured… This was nothing, because the south after the turn was where Shiyi was… However, after turning to the south, Tu Hesuo did not stop at all, but continued to turn until he completely turned around, and then collided with Huyan Tong's pursuers.

In full view, this Jurchen veteran, who was known for his bravery in the past, seemed to have really returned to ten years ago. He took the lead, waved his war hammer, and personally charged in front.

The two generals met head-on. Huyan Tong was obviously caught off guard by the other party's tactical *huimabiang* (returning-horse lance), and was actually lifted up by Tu Hesuo and hit on the side of his arm that was already injured.

In severe pain, Huyan Tong fell off his horse, but Tu Hesuo, who had succeeded in one blow, did not have a good ending. It was obvious that he had lost his strength due to his injured foot. After one blow, he lost his balance on the horse, and then was pushed off his horse by Huyan Tong's guard who came head-on with a mace.

The two rolled into a puddle full of mud and water almost one after the other.

It was said to be a puddle, but it was actually just a slightly concave area on the plain. The water was only up to a person's calf. Huyan Tong fell off his horse first and stood up first. He obviously lost his heavy weapon during the fall, so he chose to take out a dagger from behind his waist, and then rushed towards Tu Hesuo in a panic, swinging a dislocated arm.

On the other side, Tu Hesuo tried hard to stand up in the quagmire, but he could not stand up straight at all. He stood up many times and slipped many times.

His ridiculous posture caused Huyan Tong, who had walked up to him, to laugh out loud.

But at this moment, the lame *wanhu* sitting in the mud suddenly pounced and pressed the other party tightly under him.

Huyan Tong struggled hard and tried to injure the enemy with his dagger, but he could not find a gap in the armor in a situation where one arm could not match two hands. He could only let the dagger constantly slide over the armor on the other party's back. On the contrary, he was choked several times by the other party pressing him in the mud and water, and gradually could not exert his strength.

However, around the quagmire, knights from both the Song and Jin armies had already rolled off their horses like crazy, trying to rescue them. The first person was a Song army soldier.

Tu Hesuo did not dare to delay. After hatefully smashing the other party's helmet into the mud several times, he took the initiative to abandon Huyan Tong, who was already somewhat dislocated, and crawled towards a Jin army knight who was approaching on the other side. But before he could walk two steps, his only foot that could exert force suddenly felt a sharp pain. When he looked back, he realized that Huyan Tong had stabbed him in the calf with a dagger.

That was not all. After succeeding in one blow, Huyan Tong rushed forward again and wrapped his arms around the other party from behind with one hand. No matter how the other party beat him, he just would not let go.

"Kill this guy… cough!" Seeing that the Song army knight arrived first, Huyan Tong, who was lying on the other party's back, shouted loudly, but coughed repeatedly.

The Song army knight holding a weapon did not dare to hesitate, and crossed his *tongzhi* (regional military commissioners) and slammed his hammer hard on Tu Hesuo's shoulder.

Tu Hesuo screamed on the spot.

At this moment, the Jin army cavalry, who had arrived face-to-face, also arrived, but they did not hesitate to slam their hammers hard on the back of the Song army knight, and then actually smashed it back on the arm that Huyan Tong was trying to wrap around Tu Hesuo… But Huyan Tong was not moved at all. However, before he could smash this arm open, another Song army knight who had not yet arrived in the distance threw a hammer over, knocking the Jin army soldier to the ground again.

Then, as if they had gone crazy, the Song and Jin army guards who had been following their respective generals dismounted one after another. Dozens of cavalry on both sides, all of them in heavy armor and with iron hammers, directly fought in a group in the quagmire.

Red, white, yellow, and black, they were all mixed together in the rain.

The existence of the masks made it impossible for the two sides in the melee to determine which person was their own general, or which body their own general was in. Only the bronze faces of the Imperial Guard's Left Army could slightly distinguish friend from foe, ensuring that this bloody melee continued.

It really continued.

Because as early as after witnessing both generals falling off their horses together, this marginal battlefield located in the northwest corner of the overall battlefield, which was already very chaotic, had fallen into a full-scale melee.

The Jurchen cavalry who had originally turned back turned around one after another. Even the infantry on the north wing of Tu Hesuo's unit, who had already begun to move south, also split in two. Some lowered their heads and accelerated to join the main force of the south wing, and some simply counterattacked into the Song army formation.

The Song army was not to be outdone, and the entire army formation also fell into frenzy. Those with enemies on their sides immediately fought with the enemies, and those without enemies on their sides swarmed towards the place where the two generals had fallen off their horses.

The two units quickly fell into the most tragic hand-to-hand life-and-death battle. It was not an exaggeration to describe both sides as having been blinded by anger… because they had already been blinded by anger in the morning's battle, and the madness at this time was definitely even worse.

A little more than a quarter of an hour later, with the hasty arrival of the Khitan cavalry and Xie Yuan's unit, the battle quickly came to a conclusion, and the madness also came to an abrupt end.

For a time, there were moans and cries everywhere.

The corpses of Huyan Tong and Tu Hesuo were also found again and quickly washed away in the rain. However, the two were struggling together, and they had suffered many hammer blows that could not be distinguished as friend or foe, so it was difficult to separate them for a while.

No one had ever thought that this local battlefield would come to an end in this way.

So fast, so bloody.

Xie Yuan stood silently in front of Huyan Tong's corpse, speechless for a moment.

The Khitan general Yelu Nu Ge rode over, dared not interrupt, and turned to face the front of the south wing of Tu Hesuo's unit, which was still confronting. As soon as he passed by, a Jin army *mengan* who had lost his weapon walked over directly holding a silver medal.

Obviously, after witnessing the scene just now, this Han Chinese army *mengan* had lost his last courage to resist. In addition, his unit was actually isolated from the main battle line, so he chose to surrender with his troops.

This unit also became the first Jin army to take the initiative to surrender in an organized manner in this battle.

"Don't kill me!"

When Yelu Nu Ge drove this person to Xie Yuan's side, this Han Chinese *mengan* knelt down directly next to the corpses of Huyan Tong and Tu Hesuo, and blurted out to Xie Yuan without stopping.