PDLP Chapter 161 Jin Army's Nighttime Retreat Meets Ambushe
Chapter 161 Jin Army's Nighttime Retreat Meets Ambushe
Ten miles north of Anyang City, in the Jin army camp, the temperature had just dropped the night before, and the Jin soldiers, both cold and hungry, huddled in their tents, shivering.
Hu Sheng, the commander of the Jin army, was also very worried. The Li family army was too hateful. In the past, when the two armies fought, they would confront each other head-on and decide the outcome on the battlefield. But the Li family army in Anyang City was different. They used the high city walls and ample firepower to keep the Jin army firmly suppressed outside the city. Several attacks on the city failed to even touch the city walls.
Originally, their main camp was set up three miles outside the city. After several night raids, they gradually moved the camp further north, until they reached their current location.
Most of their provisions were destroyed in these night raids, and what remained was not enough for the men and horses to eat. What was even more infuriating was that their grain transport teams had not arrived for many days, all of them being blocked on the way by Li's army. A few days ago, a grain transport team finally managed to rush over, but it was ambushed again while crossing the river. Hu Sheng watched helplessly as the entire load of grain was set on fire with kerosene.
Hu Sheng's personal guards entered carrying a wooden tray.
"General, it's time to eat."
Hu Sheng glanced at the bowl of porridge, the dry black flatbread, and the only other thing on the table was a strip of pickled vegetables about the thickness of a finger.
He broke the cake in half and said to his guards, "Share the rest with the brothers. There's nothing left to eat in the camp. I can't eat it all by myself."
Just then, the quartermaster walked in: "General, this meal is the last bit of food in the camp. If we don't find a way, we'll all starve to death."
Hu Sheng sighed and said to everyone, "Have the men prepare. We will retreat to Cixian after dark and attack Anyang Prefecture again when we are fully prepared."
The quartermaster turned swiftly and stepped out of the tent, like an unstoppable gust of wind, instantly spreading the urgent orders to every corner of the camp.
As he walked away, the entire camp seemed to be activated by an invisible energy. The soldiers sprang into action, some organizing their equipment, others reinforcing their defenses. The camp was a scene of orderly yet subtly urgent activity.
Above the Jin army camp, a nimble drone hovered silently, like a keen eagle, surveying everything below from its unique perspective.
Li Zhen's gaze seemed to pierce through the clouds, penetrating the screen and taking in every subtle movement within the camp.
"It seems these Jurchens want to retreat," said the man staring at the screen. "According to their usual practice, they should be making their move tonight."
Li Zhen slowly retrieved the drone and asked, "Are our men ready? Whether we can take Cixian depends on tonight."
As night fell, the chill intensified, as if nature had gently drawn the curtain of night, quietly weaving the coolness of winter into every inch of the air.
Perhaps it was this chill that made the bright moon shyly hide its form, seeking some unknown warm corner in the universe, quietly hiding away, leaving behind a sky full of stars, twinkling alone in the boundless darkness, as if telling the secret of the moon's absence.
As night fell and all was quiet, Hu Sheng quietly issued the secret order to retreat. He knew that under the cover of darkness, it was the best time to escape the keen sight of Li's army.
The soldiers obeyed the order and moved swiftly and in perfect unison, deliberately suppressing even the slightest sound deep in their throats.
In the past few days, Hu Sheng has come to understand that Li Jiajun's six-wheeled iron carts are a good thing. They are not only fast but also very lethal. Whenever those iron carts appear, many of his Jin soldiers lose their lives.
Just as most of the Jin army had crossed the Zhang River, several flares suddenly went off in the sky, instantly illuminating the entire night sky as if it were daytime.
These flares were a gift from Da Mao when Li Zhen bought weapons from him. Following the principle that it would be foolish not to take advantage of a bargain, Li Zhen put them into his mysterious space and put them to good use here.
"Fire!"
All weapons were fired at the Jin soldiers who were looking up at the sky. By the time they reacted, hundreds of them had already fallen.
Seeing this, Hu Sheng was not nervous at all, but rather excited. He said to the Jin generals beside him, "You see, I told you, attack while the enemy is crossing the river, this is what attacking while the enemy is crossing the river is like!"
The deputy generals beside him rolled their eyes at him. This guy was quite something. His troops had been ambushed by the enemy, but instead of offering any countermeasures, he was getting excited on his own.
During the retreat, in order to guard against a sneak attack from the rear by Li's army, most of the first troops to cross the river were infantry. After these Jin infantrymen failed to break through several times, they began to think of flanking from both sides.
Just as a group of Jin soldiers rushed out of the machine gun's range, a shout of battle suddenly came from the woods, and countless militiamen wielding steel rifles rushed out.
These militiamen were all dressed in armor. In addition to their bodies, they wore cut-resistant gloves and steel-plated work boots on their hands and feet, and steel helmets on their heads, with only their eyes showing.
"Pfft!"
A Jin soldier, brandishing his scimitar menacingly, attempted to leave his mark on the battlefield.
However, fate seemed to be playing a joke on him. Just when he thought he could gain the upper hand with a fierce attack, his opponent's spear, like a dragon emerging from the sea, accurately and swiftly pierced through the air and knocked him to the ground.
The Jin soldier's figure traced a helpless arc in the air before crashing heavily into the dust. The scimitar in his hand slipped from his grasp due to the impact, making a crisp clanging sound that echoed across the smoke-filled land.
He looked up in astonishment, his eyes filled with confusion and resentment—he had clearly struck first, but his opponent's body was tightly wrapped in a thick layer of protection, like an impenetrable wall, leaving his blade with no way to strike, only a shallow scratch, which seemed insignificant on that indestructible armor.
Jin soldiers lay on the ground, panting with low, unwilling growls, surrounded by the shouts of their comrades charging into battle and the relentless footsteps of the enemy.
A militia company commander shouted, "Stop trying to be a hero! Everyone, form a battle formation and stop these Jurchens!"
The Jin cavalry on the south bank of the Zhang River began to cross the river in an organized manner. Now most of the Jin soldiers were fighting on the other side of the river. Hu Sheng had no choice but to commit all his troops, trying to win the battle by using the advantage of numbers.
What Hu Sheng didn't know was that while they were fighting, a group of three hundred men appeared outside the south gate of Cixian County. They were dressed in Jin soldiers' uniforms and were shouting loudly under the city gate.
"People inside the city, open the gate quickly! We're being evacuated from the front lines in Anyang. Let us in immediately!"
By the firelight, the Jin soldiers guarding the city saw that the people below were wearing the same clothes as them, and even had the same hairstyle.
"Quickly open the city gates and let our brothers in. General Hu said this afternoon that he would withdraw his troops here tonight."
With a creaking sound, the south gate of Cixian was opened. The Jin soldiers outside the city lowered their heads and quickly entered the city. Unusually, they did not enter the military camp inside the city, but instead headed towards the city wall.
The Jin officer who had been laughing and joking with them came down, intending to greet them, but then felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He looked down and saw that a short knife was stuck there.