Chapter 9: Scaring off the pursuing soldiers, everyone comes to surrender

  Hearing Liu Xi's scolding, Zhao Bangjie was also somewhat annoyed. He said: "Who finally agreed to leave Wuma Mountain? Wasn't it you? Now that you're saying these things, aren't you being contradictory?"

  Zhao Bangjie's words directly suppressed Liu Xi, who shook his head silently and said: "That letter, Wang Zhao was young and impulsive, the person who spoke was passionate and enthusiastic, we were also confused by the momentary impulse. Now, with the blockade in front and the pursuing troops behind, the critical situation has pushed us into a desperate situation, what can be done now?"

  After finishing, Liu Xi said with hatred: "Xin Wang that kid has led us to leave our homes and we are in a desperate situation, he must be responsible! Didn't he say that the Golden Dog Army is not to be feared? He is a thousand-year-old sage, his words are like imperial decrees! Since he spoke so confidently, there should be a way to deal with the Golden Army. Maybe... perhaps... it's possible that he has a plan to counterattack."

  Zhao Bangjie shook his head, fighting isn't something that can be won with just words or other methods. Fighting requires real battles. Not to mention anything else, King Xīn of Zhao seems to have just turned eighteen, he's too young and can't help but have some frivolous and youthful fantasies that stray from realistic thinking.

  Besides, if General Wang Zhaojun's troops are defeated, and the Jin army catches up with the Five Heroes of Mount Hua at the foot of the mountain, everything will be lost.

  "It's absolutely impossible to turn back now, the Five Horses Mountain has already been occupied by the Jin army. We can only break through and advance forward. If we are caught up by the Jin army and have no other choice, then we'll talk about it later."

  Liu Xizhu shook his head and said, "If the Golden Dog's army catches up, let that little brat Xinfeng go and meet them. He says the Golden Dog is no match for him, can't even withstand a single blow. Let him lead the troops to resist the Golden Army and see if the Golden Dog is as he said, whether he'll be scared shitless at the mere sight of him."

  When Liu Xi spoke, Zhao Bangjie hesitated somewhat. The changing situation on the battlefield could not be determined by a young prince's paper strategy. It was not suitable for Prince Xin to go out and take risks. If he were unfortunately killed by the Jin army, all previous efforts would have been in vain.

  Zhao Bangjie said, "Since we are resisting the Jin army, we have already put our heads on the line. If we lose, we will break through in the direction of Taiyuan Prefecture. No matter what, we cannot betray Xiangzong for a thousand years."

  "Well said, we are all Han people of the Great Song Dynasty. Even if we die, we cannot let the letter be given to the Jurchen butchers. We must fight it out with them!" Ma Zheng also chimed in. "Fight it out!" "Right! Fight it out!" The group of men shouted loudly.

  "Are you kidding? What can you use to fight with your lives? Jin Jun can defeat all of you with just one glance. Relying on your little soldiers and combat power? It's all sending yourselves to death! In my opinion, let King Xiang Zhao Chen send someone to take a look. He is the emperor's son, the emperor's brother, naturally has the vision and ability that we don't have." At this time, Liu San Ge, who had not spoken until now, spoke up.

  Everyone was silent, Liu San Ge is a straightforward person and also has some prestige. The common people didn't know what kind of virtue the royal family had, they thought each one was very capable! They heard that Huizong Qinzong even summoned heavenly soldiers to come and assist in the war, but were defeated by the Jin army's more clever magic weapons.

  They don't understand that actually Huizong and Qinzong were afraid of the Jin army, using a group of swindlers, resulting in a general game, losing themselves and their country to the Jin army, simply stupid to the extreme.

  Finally, everyone agreed to let young King Xing of Zhao try his luck and see if he had any good ideas.

  To General Zhao Kuang, Zhao Bangjie naturally couldn't say, Ah! Now the Jin army is pursuing us, you lured us out of Wuma Mountain, and we have no base. You are responsible for eliminating those Jin soldiers and keeping us safe.

  It can't be said like that. Anyway, King Zhao and Wang are both thousands of years old, they are all subjects, there must be a distinction between the noble and the humble.

  To General Wang Zhao, Zhao Bangjie said: "Your Excellency, now the Golden Dog is pursuing us, and our blocking troops have been defeated by the Golden Dog. Now we are at a dead end, and we need someone with prestige to lead the troops to block the Golden Army again. At present, there is no leader in Wuma Mountain who has the ability to block the Golden Army, so I can only ask Your Excellency if you have any good ideas."

  Zhao Yun immediately accepted the task of blocking the Jin army as soon as he heard it. He readily agreed to take charge of blocking the enemy, but he demanded 5,000 young men from Wuma Mountain and a large number of Liao army uniforms. The Justice Army did have some Liao army uniforms, but many of them were already worn by Han people who had defected from the Liao army or had been obtained by killing or capturing fleeing Liao soldiers.

  Apart from this, Zhao Kun also had many branches cut down and had Ma Zheng collect a large number of mules, horses and carts for him. Although he didn't know what kind of medicine Zhao Kun was selling in his gourd, the loyal Ma Zheng still immediately went to collect everything he needed according to Zhao Kun's instructions.

  This time, Zhao Ke personally led the troops to block the Jin army. For this King Zhao, Zhao Bangjie was also straightforward and, in addition to 5,000 young men, he immediately allocated the only 3,000 most capable infantrymen from the Wuma Mountain Righteous Army to follow him. In addition, he dispatched his own daughter, Zhao Qing'er, to escort him personally. Before departing, he instructed Zhao Qing'er: "If we fail to block the enemy, don't worry about anything else, just take care of bringing back King Qian."

  The golden army's great flag fluttered in the wind, and two thousand iron cavalrymen came galloping over with a fierce momentum. The Righteous Army responsible for blocking at Wuma Mountain was defeated, and although Zhao Songyou gathered the scattered soldiers and still had over a thousand men, these thousand-odd men were already extremely frightened and demoralized, on the verge of collapse.

  Zhao Song immediately led the army to rush to the battlefield of Zhao Song's troops, and then, without even having time to greet Zhao Song, Zhao Song rode his horse to the front of the two armies' formation, with Zhao Qing'er guarding behind him, a righteous army knight holding the banner of Wang Da, while Zhao Song gazed at the Jin army's battle formation in the distance.

  In the Jin army, there is currently a general named Jin who is 1.8 meters tall, with well-developed muscles and an extremely large build. On his angular face, there is a pair of eyes filled with murderous intent.

  Jin Jiang's gaze remained fixed on the Great Flag of Xining Army behind Zhao Chen, and then he sneered coldly. The Jin army general shouted: "The Song Emperor is tyrannical, my Golden Country follows the will of heaven to take over the divine vessel. You, little thief Xining, do not repent, dare to rebel. If you listen to my good advice, surrender to my Great Golden Empire, I'll spare your dog life, otherwise, just come and kill, don't worry about burial."

  Zhao Zhuang was taken aback, "Dog life? Little thief? You dare to scold me like that! I am clearly a prince of the Great Song Dynasty, when did I become a little thief dog life? You even dared to scold my imperial family!"

  Zhao Yun burst out laughing, he knew that in that era, only by pretending to be what you wanted to appear to be could you deceive the enemy. He followed suit and said in a similar tone, "Haha! Are you Deng Ai? You received news of our army leaving Wumashan and rushed here to annihilate us, but little did you know, you've been deceived!"

  Zhao Xun smiled and said, "Wasn't our defense against your army at Wuma Mountain good enough? Why did you suddenly leave?" Upon hearing his words, Deng Yue was somewhat taken aback. He knew that Wuma Mountain was easy to defend but hard to attack, but why would the Wuma Mountain Righteous Army give up an advantageous position to seek a difficult one? This question was indeed puzzling.

  "Haha, look at your IQ, you stupid hat, you can't even guess why this is happening! Zhao Zhong knew that the guys from Wuma Mountain were actually quite capable, but facing these even more powerful and authentic Golden Soldiers, they still couldn't win."

  If the two sides really fought, these 2,000 people could hold back the Five Horses Mountain Righteous Army, and if the main force of the Jin army came later, the Five Horses Mountain Righteous Army would probably be finished. Therefore, Zhao Song must bring out his utmost ingenuity to turn the situation around.

  Zhao Zhuang laughed and said: "Haha! Do you know Yelü Dashi? Right now, Dashi's army is right behind you, a full 10,000 strong. And on your flanks, Liang Xing and Liang Xiao's several thousand brave warriors are closing in. I think you must be thinking that I'm trying to trick you, but unfortunately..."

  Zhao Zhu's eyes were dim and he said, "You're wrong. What you don't know is that we are all pawns, even I, this puppet king, am a pawn. You must also be someone else's pawn." He spoke with an air of mystery.

  Deng Yi heard Zhao Xun's words and immediately frowned. He looked at Zhao Xun with a surprised and uncertain expression.

  "Yelü Linye and Liang Xing's troops have joined forces, and they are also united with me." Zhao Chen observed Deng Zhi's face, and found that his face showed a hint of surprise.

  Then Zhao Yun felt more at ease, his deception had succeeded. He said proudly: "Golden Dog! We have already surrounded you on three sides, I know your cavalry is the vanguard, but as long as we kill all of your 2,000 cavalry, we can deal with the infantry troops behind you."

  At this time, Deng Zhi's face changed greatly, and the killing intent in his eyes gradually dissipated. In fact, he was not a pure Jurchen, but a Liao person who had surrendered, and the soldiers and horses he brought were mostly Bohai people and Khitan people. Although their combat effectiveness was much stronger than that of Zhao Song's brave Righteous Army, when facing Yelü Dashi, who had been fighting for a long time, they would probably lose more often than win. If they encountered the famous heroic general Liang Xing's troops again, once they were surrounded, they would probably be doomed to die without a doubt.

  "What's the big deal? I just need to defeat you and break through from here, right?" "Come on!" Zhao Xun smiled and waved his hand loudly: "Then come and fight me! See if you can escape before defeating me!"

  Zhao Jun's smile made Deng Yizhi suspicious. Originally, the Jurchen troops sent to deal with Wumashan were mostly infantry from Zhending Prefecture, and the cavalry that came from Taiyuan was only a supporting force. However, because the Righteous Army had received news in advance and retreated proactively, the main Jurchen army was unable to catch up, and they could only send their cavalry to pursue them. The cavalry was not numerous, with only over 2,000 men. In yesterday's battle, although a large number of Righteous Army soldiers were eliminated, they still lost over a hundred men. Now, if they were ambushed, it was likely that the main force of the Righteous Army would not be able to catch up, and his small cavalry force would really be put in a precarious situation.

  Zhao Song needed time, and he saw that Deng Zhi's momentum had already weakened. He became bolder and said: "I didn't want to cooperate with Da Shi Lin Ya at first, but you guys were pressing us from behind, we had no choice but to cooperate with him. Actually, I have some understanding of you too. You're just a general judge, with only a few thousand soldiers under your command. If we and Ye Lü Lin Ya join forces and wipe you out, will you have a good ending at the Golden Army Commander's place? I am a prince of the Great Song Dynasty, and I don't deign to unite with those bandit chiefs and the remnants of the Liao army. I want to head south back to my Great Song. So, you retreat, I'll escape, and we'll all be safe. What do you say?"

  At this time, a Jin soldier rushed to Deng Ai's back and said: "Report to the adult, our left wing has appeared with a large number of Liao army remnants, with a large number of people, smoke and dust rolling over 10,000 people, carrying the flag of Dashilin Ya."

  He had just finished speaking when a golden armored scout horse came galloping from afar, and the golden armored scout horse shouted from a distance: "Report to the lord, it's not good! On our right flank, there are countless Han bandits, flying flags with the names of Zhang Xing, Zhang Zhen, Liang Xing, Zhao Yun, Li Jin and other bandit leaders."

  Deng Ai had barely finished speaking when he turned his horse around and galloped away. His expression was solemn, his eyes slightly panicked, and in an instant, the sharp aura of a seasoned general was gone. Deng Ai had long been aware of Liang Xing, Zhao Yun, and Li Jin, but Di Xing and Di Zhu were even more notorious. These men were all bandits operating around Taiyuan Prefecture, and their strength was extremely formidable. Now that they had merged with the Five Horses Mountain bandits, combined with the remnants of the Liao State secretly infiltrated by Yelü Linzhi, Deng Ai knew that if he didn't flee now, he would never be able to escape.

  "Order the rear troops to switch with the front troops, retreat quickly..." Deng Yi turned his head and glanced at Zhao Chen and the more than a thousand wounded soldiers behind him. He knew that even if he defeated these more than a thousand righteous army men, he would still be surrounded by the allied forces from all sides. Everyone wants to achieve merit, but first they need to keep their own lives safe.

  Deng Yi thought of this and put away his desire to capture Zhao Jun, glaring at him from afar with hatred before turning his horse around to follow the retreating troops.

  "Order the brothers to work harder, escort them out." Seeing that the Golden Army was indeed intimidated by him and retreated, Zhao Ze gave orders to a leader of the righteous army.

  Zhao Songyong admired Zhao Chen with a five-body bow. This young king is indeed a real person who doesn't show his true self, but when he does, it's shocking and astonishing!

  Zhao Song ran over and chatted with the Golden General, and after a while, he deceived the Golden Army away. Zhao Song himself used all his strength to block the Golden Army's attack, but was still defeated by the Golden Army. Since then, Xining Wang has been able to use his mouth to retreat thousands of troops and horses, truly worthy of being the Great Song Prince, the Dragon's offspring.

  Zhao Jia's son, the dragon breed of the heavenly family, is indeed different. Zhao Zhen spurred his horse and returned, Liu Song rushed to welcome him, raised his thumb at him, "Wang Ye Qian Sui, you are still the most powerful. With one move of your horse, you can top a thousand soldiers and horses!"

  After the retreat of the Jin army, the righteous army was temporarily safe. During the march of the righteous army, a large number of civilians and small groups of righteous soldiers came to join them. The numerous civilians and righteous men who joined made the number of the righteous army exceed 200,000 in just over ten days, with more than 20,000 soldiers.

  At this time, hundreds of thousands of righteous troops arrived at a place called Huangfeng Mountain. Huangfeng Mountain had a Jin army camp, and the Jin army's camp was also a nail on the road that the righteous troops must take to Taihang Mountain.

  After the consultation of several leaders in Wumashan, the strategy of the Wumashan Righteous Army was very clear, which was to fight and drag at the same time. Using the banner of Xinfeng, they attracted more heroes from the Song Dynasty to arrive at Taiyuan Prefecture to Zhengding Prefecture, attacking the Jin people from other directions. This would force the Jin army to disperse their forces, reducing the pressure on the Wumashan Righteous Army's retreat to the Taihang Mountains. As long as the Jin army and the surrounding Song heroes and righteous armies clashed, the situation would change, and subsequent events would be favorable to the Wumashan Righteous Army. Therefore, the righteous army was not in a hurry to attack, but rather created an atmosphere, creating a posture of determination to fight into the Taihang Mountains.

  Facing the numerous righteous army, the Golden Army entrenched themselves in the mountain stronghold of Huangfengshan and refused to come out. At this time, the number of righteous army and civilians below the stronghold was increasing day by day, and after a few days, the camp stretched for ten miles, with people as far as the eye could see, and the momentum was overwhelming. Those who followed the main force, those who were received along the way, and those who came to join in the name of fame, had a scale of tens of thousands of people.

  That night, Ma Zheng and Zhao Bangjie gathered the military leaders to deploy an attack strategy. When they were on the mountain, as soon as they heard about leaving Wuma Mountain, one by one, the heroes' breath shortened, and even two thousand golden soldiers didn't dare to fight. Now that they had come down from the mountain, the gathering of people and horses grew larger, and everyone saw their own army surging forward, with morale like a rainbow. Everyone's eyes sparkled, and their courage rose. One by one, they were hot-blooded, confident, and loud-voiced. It seemed as if charging forward could flatten Huangfeng Mountain stronghold, kill all the golden dogs, and from start to finish, no one said a word about being afraid of battle.

  Facing the Jin army at Huangfeng Mountain stronghold, Zhao Bangjie planned to mobilize all 20,000 troops and launch a simultaneous attack from three directions - east, south, and north - to disperse the enemy's defensive forces. The main direction of attack was chosen as the North Gate of Huangfeng Mountain stronghold, led by Wu Fengtou with several mountain stronghold personnel, commanding 5,000 righteous army soldiers to launch the final blow, striving for a decisive victory.

  The Yellow Wind Mountain stronghold had few Golden Army soldiers, and most of them were Han people and Khitan people, with very few Jurchen people. So Wu Feng's tone was extremely arrogant. Facing everyone, he said solemnly: "Before sunset, our army will definitely break into the city."

  The atmosphere in the big account was very high, and everyone gathered in front of the map to discuss it enthusiastically. However, for Zhao Chen, who had no military power, the leaders obviously ignored him.

  At this time, Zhao Qing'er was also squeezed to one side, chattering with the leaders about her own strategy. Only Zhao Chen sat alone in a corner, closing his eyes and pretending to doze off because no one paid attention to him.

  "Alright..." Zhao Bangjie's loud voice was like a nail in the coffin, signaling the end of this military meeting. At that moment, Ma Zheng suddenly poked Zhao Bangjie and stared at him with wide eyes. If one were to say who among the five horses mountain was most loyal to Zhao Chen, it would be Ma Zheng and Ma Kuo. But now, Ma Kuo was not present, only old Ma Zheng could still remember this thousand-year-old king.

  Ma Zheng's words reminded Zhao Bangjie of Zhao Chen. Others believed in Wang Qian, nominally the commander-in-chief of the Wuma Mountain Righteous Army, and countless civilians, refugees, and mountain bandits came to join, most of whom were for his sake.

  You should at least give this thousand-year-old some face and ask him a question. You can't just treat him as air because he's just a figurehead. Everyone is a bandit from the mountains, but they really didn't take Zhao Song, the king, seriously.

  Zhao Bangjie turned his head to look at Zhao Chen, finding him sleeping soundly. After hesitating for a moment, he still called out loudly: "Milord Qian Sui, do you have anything to say?"

  When Zhao Bangjie finished speaking, all the generals looked at Xinfeng Qiansui. However, Xinfeng Qiansui saw that no one was paying attention to him, so he lay down on the table and fell asleep, smacking his lips as if he were eating something delicious in his dream.

  "Your Highness, the Young Master! We're going to attack Huangfeng Mountain stronghold!" Zhao Qing'er shouted. As for this young master, she was thoroughly disappointed in him, he was simply a hopeless case.

  "Ah! Attack the city?" Zhao Zhuang pretended to wake up and said: "Who woke up from a big dream, hibernation is unknown! Who said they wanted to attack Huangfeng Mountain stronghold? Who said that?"

  Zhao Jun's words left the generals in astonishment. Going down to Taihang Mountain wasn't your strong request, how did you change your mind? Everyone brought their families and followed you, King Xin, out of Wuma Mountain, but when we arrived at Huangfeng Mountain stronghold, we didn't fight, where would our food come from? What would so many people eat?

  "What's in Huangfeng Mountain stronghold? A small stronghold like this can have that much wealth? How many people will die to take down a stronghold? Don't look at our numbers being intimidating, most of them are just ordinary people. Our soldiers only add up to how many? Are you guys also doing this kind of losing business?"

  "Huh, Xing Wang Qian Sui, didn't you say at the beginning of the military meeting that we should attack Huang Feng Mountain? If we don't take down Huang Feng Mountain and seize the grain and fodder in the stronghold, what will everyone eat?" Zhao Qing Er asked curiously.

  Zhao Zhuo shook his head, he was actually pretending to sleep earlier, deliberately showing a sleepy expression, in order to silently protest against everyone's disregard for him. Oh, you guys can't resist the pursuit of the Golden Army, and when there's trouble, you think of me, this thousand-year-old one. Now that we're winning, you put me aside and discuss things among yourselves, this thousand-year-old one is really not worth much, huh?

  At this time, Zhao Song put away his lazy appearance and said seriously: "Gentlemen, there are many ways to capture a city. Why must we use the worst method? We can cut off the water source in the mountain stronghold, dig tunnels, and harass them day and night so that they cannot sleep. The best strategy is to defeat the enemy without fighting. You are all commanders of your respective armies, surely you know this?"

  "General, I don't know, I don't even recognize the characters." A tall and sturdy leader of the righteous army said. Although this leader was a bit silly, he also spoke out the voice of everyone present. Except for Ma Zheng and Zhao Bangjie, it's estimated that not many people here can read.

  "At this rate, it'll be the Year of the Monkey and the Month of Horse before we can capture the Yellow Wind Mountain stronghold! When will we ever reach the Taihang Mountains?" Zhao Qing'er asked indignantly.

  "What are we going to do with Huang Feng's mountain stronghold?" As soon as Zhao Ze spoke, everyone was shocked.