Chapter 1: The Awakening of Shin Wang...

  "What are we going to do with the Huangfeng Mountain stronghold? Attacking the Huangfeng Mountain stronghold is just a bait, and we want to use this bait to catch a bigger fish. Now that the main force of the Jin army has already attacked Wumashan, they are far away from us, and they are searching for the non-existent Liushulin's Liao army. The surrounding Jin army has been withdrawn, and there is no Jin army that can threaten our main force." Zhao Ke said loudly.

  Everyone finally realized that they were the masters, and they all started listening to themselves carefully. Zhao continued: "Huangfeng Mountain stronghold is just a bait to attract the Jin army's reinforcements and supplies. When the Jin army's reinforcements arrive, won't there be a large amount of supplies? At that time, we can ambush them, not only defeat the Jin army's reinforcements but also obtain their supplies and grain. Have you all heard of besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements?"

  "Does the lord mean to only surround and not attack?" The crowd finally understood, and Wu Feng, the leader, asked. "Who says we won't attack?" Zhao Chen frowned and said: "If you don't attack, why would the Jin army be in a hurry? It's precisely because we want to attack, and attack with great urgency, so that the Jin army can quickly send reinforcements. If we defeat the main force of the Jin army nearby, this land will be ours, and we'll be able to plunder their supplies and grain wherever we go. They won't be our match anymore."

  "Didn't you just say we wouldn't fight?" Zhao Qing'er asked. Zhao Ju heard this and rolled his eyes, no one had carefully listened to the first sentence he said earlier. He repeated, "Cut off their water source, dig tunnels, feign an attack... in short, as long as it's not a deadly move, use them all."

  "What if the Golden Dog's reinforcements are numerous?" asked a leader named Liu Sange. "Run..." Zhao Chen said in a bad tone: "Let the civilians continue to advance towards Taihang Mountain under the escort of a small number of troops, and we will concentrate our elite here to consume them. What if the main force of the Golden Army comes? You have two legs, what are you doing? Won't you run away?"

  Upon hearing Zhao Ju's words, the generals were somewhat stunned. What kind of messy scheme is this? Can't beat them so run away? What's the point of fighting then? Is there something wrong with King Xiang's brain?

  "When the reinforcements arrive, we retreat; when they leave, we come back to fight. In short, it's a war of attrition, keeping the enemy busy responding. At the same time, we also need to seize large quantities of grain and fodder from the enemy, as well as those Han landlords who support them - all are targets for our plunder."

  "We came to Huangfeng Mountain with the intention of drawing the Jin army's main force here, so they wouldn't follow the civilians' main force. Let them follow our lead, take advantage of the autumn wind, and gather grain and fodder. If we can defeat them, we'll defeat them; if not, we'll retreat and come back to fight again. By repeating this process, the Jin army will be torn between different directions, and our other rebel forces will surely seize the opportunity to attack. This way, our hundreds of thousands of civilians can safely enter the Taihang Mountains, and we can also gather some grain and supplies."

  It wasn't until then that the crowd finally understood, after going around in circles, that there was so much to taking down a small stronghold on Huangfeng Mountain, and it wasn't something you could do just because you wanted to.

  "First, you guys drive the defending general in the mountain stronghold crazy, force him to ask for help. When his messenger comes out of the city, you guys welcome him on the way and ask him to hurry up, don't delay on the road." Zhao Song said with a smile, "Whoever accidentally kills the messenger, I'll behead him."

  "The king is indeed a star from heaven, a true divine being...". Immediately someone flattered: "Without real swords and guns, the problem of food and safety for the majority of civilians can be solved. What a wonderful thing under the sky! The king is truly formidable..."

  Some people started, and some followed, the flatterers surrounded a big circle in an instant. Liu Xitou, Wu Fengtou and other old men of Wuma Mountain had different expressions, but without exception, they were all very unhappy.

  Xin Wang, this little king, is pretending to be a pig eating a tiger, feigning sleep to show that he doesn't understand anything, but in fact, he understands everything and is just waiting for the right moment to show off. Now it's good, all the military leaders have lost face. Especially Zhao Bangjie, his face is burning with shame, he has led troops and fought battles before, but in the end, he can't even compare to a foreign little Xin Wang, who defeated him with just a few words.

  If Zhao Song's plan succeeds this time and gets the grain, helping the righteous army to safely pass through the southern gate into the Taihang Mountains, then the prestige of these unruly leaders will inevitably be greatly discounted, while General Wang Zhao Song's prestige will rise sharply, and more and more people will listen to him.

  "Your Majesty, by just besieging the city and attacking the relief troops, can we really get food?" Many of the hesitant generals also had their doubts.

  "Don't worry, we won't go hungry. Get a good rest tonight and start acting tomorrow. However, the patrolling soldiers will be doubled, and drums will be beaten under the mountain stronghold to make it seem like we're about to attack. Let's scare them starting tonight." Zhao Chen said with confidence, looking very self-assured.

  The generals responded with great enthusiasm, as they didn't have to exert themselves in battle tomorrow, so they were all relaxed, gathering together to chat and discuss some sinister tactics for attacking the city.

  In the following days, hundreds of thousands of civilians began to bypass Huangfeng Mountain under the escort of Zhao Songyong's 2,000 militiamen and tens of thousands of young strong men, continuing to advance towards Taihang Mountains. The militia left 20,000 elite troops outside the mountain stronghold of Huangfengshan, cutting down trees in the forest to manufacture siege equipment.

  The righteous army dug many trenches in front of the three city gates of the Huangfeng Mountain stronghold, crisscrossing each other, with sharp wooden stakes inserted inside; set up anti-cavalry and deer fences around the camp to prevent the Jin army from sneaking out at night. In addition, Zhao Bangjie also sent cavalry to plunder the grain and supplies of the Jurchen people and the surrendered Jin officials to provide for the righteous army.

  From dawn till dusk, the rebel army beat drums and formed battle arrays, making a show of attacking, but they just lingered around, not firing a single arrow before retreating. At night, after eating and drinking to their hearts' content, they took turns coming out again, beating drums and blowing horns, making a ruckus outside the city all night long, occasionally sneaking up to the city walls to make a few rounds, scaring the Jin soldiers on guard so much that they didn't dare blink.

  The Jin army was in a very difficult situation, with all twelve hours of the day requiring them to be on high alert, fearing that the righteous army would take advantage of their momentary lapse and launch a surprise attack. Furthermore, the righteous army cut off the water supply to the Huangfeng Mountain stronghold, occasionally throwing stones into the city, and digging tunnels under the mountain. The excavated soil piled up like mountains, but it was unknown how many tunnels were dug or which one led directly into the city. As a result, the Jin army and civilians had no choice but to dig a deep moat along the city wall to prevent the righteous army from emerging from the tunnels.

  After five days of hard work, the thousand Jin soldiers and thousands of civilians in the mountain stronghold were all exhausted, sleeping wherever they fell, their combat effectiveness greatly reduced.

  At this time, the Jin army's defender of Huangfeng Mountain had to send someone out of the city to ask for help. The speed of the Jin army reinforcements was very fast, and three thousand cavalry gathered nearby quickly killed their way to Huangfeng Mountain.

  As a result, the Jin army reinforcements arrived and the 20,000 militia fled overnight. The Jin army reinforcements transported grain and supplies into the Huangfeng Mountain stronghold and then set off to return. Because there are now militia everywhere, these three thousand Jin cavalry still have to guard the place and cannot lose important towns because of a single Huangfeng Mountain, which would be a case of losing the big picture due to a small matter.

  As soon as the reinforcements arrived, the righteous army ran away. The commander of the Jin army's garrison at Huangfeng Mountain was only happy for one night, and the next morning he ran out to take a look, only to find that the city was surrounded by dense crowds of righteous soldiers, and Zhao Jun had brought his troops back again.

  The rebel army continued to attack day and night, with various tactics taking turns. This time the rebel army built many tall cloud-piercing arrow towers, higher than the city walls, shooting arrows from above, suppressing the Jin army's defenders on the city wall, not even daring to lift their heads, dozens were shot dead in one day.

  The Jin army guarding the Huangfeng Mountain stronghold was helpless and had to seek reinforcements again. This time, 2,000 cavalrymen and 1,000 infantrymen came to reinforce the Jin army. Under Zhao Kuangyin's leadership, the militia ran away again. This time, Zhao Kuangyin was worried that the Jurchen people would be enraged and chased after them, so he ordered Zhao Pu to dig countless trenches on the retreat route, making it impossible for the Jin cavalry to pursue.

  The military situation near the Golden Army is extremely urgent at this moment, with a tense atmosphere everywhere, and the righteous army rises in all directions. The Golden Army's reinforcements had to hastily return again. Overnight, the righteous army once again surrounded the Huangfeng Mountain stronghold.

  Huangfeng Mountain is strategically located and is an important route for the Jin army's food supply. The Jurchen general guarding the mountain stronghold was also a pure-blooded Jurchen. After receiving the distress signal, 5,000 Jurchen cavalrymen from nearby gathered to provide support.

  This time, the 5,000 elite soldiers sent out were all crack troops. In addition to driving away the righteous army, they had a more important task. They also escorted the supplies gathered from Hedong Road for the 200,000 soldiers on the southern front line for 20 days.

  As the Jin army received news, the main force of the righteous army had already advanced to the Taihang Mountains, so the righteous army left here must not be many. The scattered and disorderly righteous army saw that 3,000 Jin soldiers were about to escape, let alone 5,000 elite cavalrymen of the Jin army, they would definitely flee in disarray.

  At this time, Xiao Zhong, the officer in charge of transporting grain and grass for the Jin army, thought that the general guarding the Huangfeng Mountain stronghold was too timid. With a thousand Jin soldiers under his command, he couldn't even defeat a mob of bandits, what a waste.

  Xiao Zhong led five thousand elite golden armored cavalry with no psychological burden whatsoever. He led the five thousand golden armored cavalry to escort five thousand civilian laborers transporting supplies, and began advancing towards Huangfeng Mountain.

  Suddenly, the "Woo... Woo..." sound of the horn echoed through the sky. Hundreds of cavalrymen suddenly rushed out from the dense forest on the flank, their long spears and knives emitting a dazzling cold light.

  "Horses' hooves clattered, galloping swiftly like a thunderbolt, getting faster and faster. Wherever the four hooves trod, the green grass was completely covered, and black mud splashed everywhere."

  "Hurry, hurry, hurry..." Zhao Bangjie's robust body was almost stuck to the horseback, his feet fiercely kicked the horse's belly. The warhorse let out a series of painful whinnies, its four hooves lifted off the ground.

  Zhao Bangjie personally led five hundred cavalry, sharp and whistling, like a sharp sword, rushing towards the Jin army at high speed. Less than a hundred steps ahead was the Jin army.

  Zhao Bangjie urged his horse on, suddenly sat up straight, raised his head to the sky and shouted loudly: "Kill Jin Gou......!"

  "Kill the Golden Army!" Five hundred cavalrymen shouted in unison, their long spears and knives raised high as they charged forward like a whirlwind, instantly appearing before the unsuspecting Golden Army and striking them down at the waist.

  "Kill...!" Zhao Bangjie chopped down with one knife, and a Jin soldier was cut in half. Fresh blood and internal organs sprayed out. The long knife rose again, like a rainbow piercing the sun, and swooped down. A Jin cavalryman's upper body fell off, and his intestines flowed out. His lower body crashed to the ground, and several Jin soldiers were knocked over.

  The rebel cavalrymen brandished their swords and guns, slaughtering the Jin soldiers at will. The five thousand Jin soldiers were caught off guard, thrown into chaos. The Jin soldiers in the front blew their horns to sound the alarm and turned back to fight, but many of them were shot down by a sudden rain of arrows. The Jin soldiers in the rear also encountered a large number of rebel troops surrounding them, and they suffered heavy casualties instantly. When the five thousand porters saw that a battle had begun, they dropped their grain and luggage and ran away. Officer Xiao Zhong tried to stop the porters from escaping with his dozens of guards, but he was unable to block their escape, and soon all the porters had run away.

  At this time, Zhao Bangjie led five hundred cavalrymen to intercept the waist of the Jin army, like a sharp arrow, and accurately divided the five thousand iron cavalry of the Jin army into two.

  "Kill! Kill the Golden Dog! Recover our rivers and mountains!" Zhao Bangjie was covered in blood, riding at the forefront with 500 cavalrymen, charging into the Jin army's formation.

  Xiao Zhong, the Jin army officer in charge of escorting the refugees, led his personal bodyguards in a desperate counterattack against the rebel army, attempting to hold off the 500 rebel cavalry. Zhao Bangjie remained calm and fearless, charging forward without hesitation. If their attack was repelled and they could not deliver a fatal blow to the Jin army's wounded troops, the 5,000-strong Jin iron cavalry would regroup and unleash a powerful force that the 20,000-strong rebel army, mostly infantry, could not withstand.

  Zhao Bangjie this time, is with his own five hundred cavalry family to fight desperately, this time encountered so many supplies and grain, his eyes are red. As long as there is this batch of grain, if they eat frugally, it can be enough for hundreds of thousands of civilians to eat for three or four months. With three or four months' worth of grain, the righteous army will not have to worry about food even if they reach the Taihang Mountains.

  "Kill! Kill!" Zhao Bangjie chopped down at a Jin army general with his knife, roaring like a tiger. As the two horses crossed paths, the enemy general's long spear flashed like lightning and stabbed at Zhao Bangjie's ribs.

  A flying sword, Zhao Bangjie ignored it and focused on quickly drawing his knife. In an instant, the lightning-fast knife chopped down, Zhao Bangjie let out a loud roar, his long knife thundering down with great force and speed, its swiftness beyond imagination.

  Only the sound of Jin's mournful howl was heard, as half his body flew into the air. The long spear stopped just as it was about to pierce Zhao Bangjie's chest, and then fell with the half-body into the chaotic hooves, and in an instant there were no bones left.

  "Block my way, die! Kill!" Zhao Bangjie rode his horse like flying, the bloody long knife flashed like lightning, those who blocked him were beheaded, and heads flew in all directions, severed limbs rained down. Facing Zhao Bangjie, the Golden Army had no power to fight back, and they retreated in disorder.

  "Wooo……!" The loud and clear bugle call rose and fell, the sudden killing sound was like a tide, wave after wave of iron cavalry and infantry rolled out like a crazy wind blowing from the ground, carrying with it a sky full of yellow sand and dust, covering the sky and earth.

  Liu Xitou and Wu Fengtou, as well as Liu Sange, led their respective troops in a swift charge, directly attacking the Jin army's vanguard. Wang Jing and Zhao Qing'er led the Xingwang's personal guard battalion to attack and kill the Jin army's rear guard. Ma Zheng commanded a large number of infantrymen to surround and annihilate the Jin army from all sides, with the Jin army surrounded on all sides, unable to escape.

  Everywhere is the majestic sound of bugles, the thunderous sound of horseshoes. The shouting voices are like a tidal wave, one after another, the war flags come from afar and approach with a whistling sound. The righteous army soldiers, filled with hatred for the Jin army, with anger towards the Jin army, bravely charge at the Jin army.

  A team of righteous army iron cavalry appeared, overwhelming the mountains and seas, wherever they passed, destroying the withered and rotten, leaving only a desolate scene and the bodies of the Jin soldiers.

  Faced with being surrounded and killed on all sides, the Jin army suddenly fell into chaos. This was too sudden, they had never thought that the righteous army would be ambushing from behind this hill. All along, it was them who were pursuing and killing the Song Dynasty bandits, surrounding and annihilating the righteous army, who would have thought that today would turn out like this, being ambushed by the righteous army, surrounded and slaughtered by this mob of Song Dynasty civilians.

  The Jurchen people, who were used to being arrogant and proud, seemed unable to accept this fact. They were still in shock, still in doubt, and had not yet awakened from their past victories. Faced with the righteous army that was surging towards them like a tidal wave, they were flustered and hastily prepared for battle.

  In Jinbing, many people even think that they still have enough military strength to defeat this mob of rebel troops.

  However, the situation on the battlefield changed rapidly. The Jurchen people soon discovered that their situation was very bad, and their cavalry commander was killed by the rebels as soon as they clashed, then the battle array was cut off at the waist, and the head and tail could not be taken care of. The grain officer was also surrounded in the center, and the Jurchen people who lost command had to fight separately, planning to rush out of the battlefield at the fastest speed and escape to a nearby city.

  "Surround them, not a single one can escape." Ma Zheng saw the Khitan people were disheartened and fleeing northwest on horseback, hastily blew the horn, ordering his men to surround and intercept at all costs.

  The bugle was blown with a "woo-woo" sound, but the soldiers in each camp were deaf to it and didn't listen at all.

  The righteous army was also composed of civilians who had not received regular military training, and they simply fought fiercely without any rules. Fortunately, the Jurchen people were panicked at this moment, their main goal was to escape, and once they escaped, their formation dispersed.

  The heavy casualties caused the Jin army's strength to be greatly discounted, and they were soon surrounded by the righteous army. The soldiers of the righteous army killed the Jin soldiers one by one, frequently getting the upper hand.

  Ma Zheng saw a team of enemy cavalry about to break out of the encirclement, and in anger, he shouted loudly. The white-haired him still led his personal guards to block the Jin army's breakout.

  The female Iron Knights who were ambushed by Ma Zheng cooperated tacitly, some blocked the enemy while others shot arrows. Before Ma Zheng's men could even get close to them, they had already lost more than thirty people.

  Seeing many of his brothers dead, Ma Zheng raised his long spear and shouted loudly. The Imperial Guards understood the signal, fanned out in a semicircle, and attacked from both wings, advancing in unison.

  The soldiers of the righteous army bent their bows and shot, not at people, but at horses. Several war horses of the Jin army were hit by arrows, and one after another fell to the ground with a sad whinny. The speed of the enemy soldiers behind them suddenly slowed down. At this time, lassos flew in the air, and the enemy soldiers were caught off guard, being pulled down from their horses by a team of horse-riding imperial guards.

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