Chapter 1 The Beginning
Wang Chongyang rushed out of the shop and recognized the person yelling at Sun Yuan as Wu Wanhuo of the Yangwu Gang, whom he had seen at Golden Silk Grand Canyon. Looking closer, the Yangwu Gang was actually cooperating with the government troops to surround two masked men. The attacking Yangwu Gang members had mediocre martial arts, while the three officers among them were skilled with sabers, spears, and fists. The one using fists, with a set of ordinary "Taizu Long Fist," displayed it with such power that the masked man was forced into awkward evasions. Wang Chongyang, seeing the unusual moves he employed while dodging, immediately understood. He quickly turned his gaze to the other masked man, who was being attacked by saber and spear. The one wielding the saber had a curved blade, a wider tip, a thick spine, and a thin edge, with moves that were rough yet intricate, parrying from the outside while attacking from within. This masked man several times shifted his position and stepped aside, escaping the saber's slashes and chops; the one holding the spear immediately thrust the "Ling Gong Spear Technique" to plug the loopholes. This masked man bent his head low, his right palm slightly hooked, his left palm hidden behind, and he closed in on the officer along the spear shaft.
Wang Chongyang recognized the two as Chong and Wu, and Meng Tiankai, and flew to block in front of the officer, quickly employing the fist techniques from the "Jin Tong Swordplay" to counter Chong and Wu's "Lei Jing Xing Huan."
When Chong and Wu glimpsed Wang Chongyang's appearance, Wu Nanrong and Liang Zhonghuan's words flashed through his mind, and he immediately said, "Lin is waiting for you there, why don't you hurry and meet her?"
Had she been captured by Wu Nanrong? Wang Chongyang was stunned.
Chong and Wu seized the opportunity to pull Meng Tiankai and flee.
Shi Weigeng jumped out of the crowd, pointed at Wang Chongyang, and cursed, "You lecher, only caring about your affair with the Jin witch, and letting the traitor who preached surrender to Jin escape!" Wu Wanhuo followed, cursing, "You hypocrite with a compromised private life! Not only are you lustful with the witch, but you also molested our gang's young women in public." Yu Yunwen observed that Wang Chongyang did not retort, Meng Han Guang looked troubled, and Bo Bian's face was filled with disdain. He said, "When the rules are not followed, the essence of life is drained; when virtue is destroyed and evil accumulated, all misfortunes arise from lust." With that, he flicked his sleeve and returned to the shop. The Yangwu Gang's insults did not cease, but Wang Chongyang only cared about her whereabouts. He glanced at Meng Han Guang and pursued in the direction Chong and Wu had fled.
Strangely, considering the distance and time, he should have caught up with his light footwork. Wang Chongyang was surprised that they had vanished without a trace in an instant.
Meng Han Guang waited until dawn was about to break before Wang Chongyang ambled back to the camp. "Don't worry! Sun Yuan, the brothers of the Wei Wu Alliance, and everyone else believe in your character and consider the Yangwu Gang's accusations to be slander. Did you find that fellow surnamed Chong? This person is cunning by nature and cannot be trusted. Sun Yuan investigated and found that about ten days ago, this fellow publicly spread the fallacy of 'surrendering to Jin can avoid war,' the authorities ordered his arrest, the Yangwu Gang immediately severed ties with him, and submitted to the Anqing Prefecture yamen. Heh, the Yangwu Gang gathers for profit; they have no righteousness to speak of."
Wang Chongyang turned back at this moment, gently patted his right shoulder, and said, "If everyone is ready, we can set off immediately."
To avoid the conflict, they turned into a mountain path that was easier to hide in. Traveling south until the Ji hour, Meng Han Guang saw that Wang Chongyang was full of worries and kept thinking about how to comfort him. Was he angry about the Yangwu Gang's slandering, Yu Yunwen's accusations? Or was he still longing for the whereabouts of that witch? While thinking, he suddenly heard Wang Chongyang calling his name repeatedly and woke up.
"Younger Brother Ren, please lead them south for now. I have urgent matters to attend to and must leave the team immediately." Wang Chongyang did not let him speak and blurted out, "Adjutant Yu informed me that the Commander Wang Quan was dismissed for fearing the enemy and abandoning territory. The successor Li Xianzhong's troops are still on their way, so he was ordered to reward the troops and pacify the remnants of the defeated army at Caishiji. Last night when he returned, he helped a group of soldiers and residents who had escaped from there. He learned that Wanyan Liang had set a reward of one tael of gold for the first person to cross the river, so I believe he will seize an opportunity to attack Song from there. This is dangerous!"
Meng Han Guang said, "So you were worrying about this! Hmph, that fellow Yu didn't distinguish between right and wrong and lectured you in public..." Touching his gaze, he realized he had spoken out of turn and said admiringly, "Go ahead, I will handle it. Shall I take Sun Yuan or other brothers with me for more support?" Wang Chongyang shook his head, "The road is unsafe, leave the manpower for you. Besides, I'm just going to take a look, to prevent unforeseen circumstances, and perhaps the military won't need me."
He returned the way he came and then sped onto the main road heading southwest. Along the way, the fleeing crowds they encountered all said they had not met any troop rewarding parties. Could his worries have come true? The Yangwu Gang helped the Jin rebels, and Chong and Wu, together with others, used a "ruse of the bitter flesh" to trick and abduct Adjutant Yu and the others, causing further harm! No wonder that fellow surnamed Chong disappeared so quickly. He searched the dense mountain forests along both sides of the road all night for any trace of troops, but found nothing. At dawn, he rested briefly by a stream and organized his thoughts, deciding to go to Caishiji first.
It was strange that he didn't even encounter any fugitives that day. He was worried and anxious. What bad things had the Yangwu Gang and the Jin soldiers done? It wasn't until the You hour that he met a thin man leading two elders, one woman, and three children. This man was named Tang Qingqing. After listening to his account, he learned that the Yangwu Gang had taken a shortcut with the troop rewarding party and had arrived at Caishiji this afternoon. The local commander was in a panic, the soldiers lacked fighting spirit, and the civilians and soldiers were preparing to evacuate and flee. Yu Yunwen persuaded them, and with the temptation of rewards from Shi Chouxing, everyone was willing to stay and reorganize into five divisions to defend against the enemy. Tang Qingqing said with shame, "My family is all old, weak, sick, and injured. Moreover, my mother misses my two brothers' families who have already fled. Everyone has been considerate and helped us flee." Wang Chongyang was overjoyed and provided them with travel expenses when he said goodbye.
While hurrying, Wang Chongyang suddenly thought that now the morale of the military and civilians was high and they were working together to resist Jin, with the Yangwu Gang providing planning and advice. If he rashly intervened at this moment, even if he didn't provoke their opposition, it would create estrangement and affect their concerted efforts. It would be better to go back. However, after thinking, he would only feel at ease after seeing it. Wang Chongyang arrived at Caishiji the next afternoon. Although he was still some distance from his destination, the shells exploding on the river surface, creating smoke and loud noises, were clearly visible and audible.
On November 8th, Wanyan Liang supervised a hundred sand boats and surged south from Yanglin Ferry, west of Caishiji, to the south bank. The Song army was initially intimidated by the Jin formation, but under the supervision and command of Yu Yunwen and the generals, coupled with Wu Wanhuo and his gang members who were the first to charge and land to kill some of the Jin troops, their fighting spirit quickly rose. The Song army's archery and the obstacles set up on the mudflats disrupted the Jin formation, and they were soon encircled and wiped out by the Song army on the shore. On the Yangtze River, the Song army's eastern and western detachments blocked the initial offensive of the Jin army. The central fleet of Haiqiu ships, piloted by local militiamen familiar with the local hydrology, cut into the river, attacked the enemy formation, and severed the Jin fleet into two halves. Then they drove the Jin ships towards the Song army on the shore or downstream of the Yangtze River. Due to the dry winter water levels, the Jin ships easily ran aground on the riverbank mudflats. The Jin army suffered many casualties and their formation was greatly disordered, but Wanyan Liang quickly adjusted his offensive and encouraged the soldiers' tenacious will, delaying the battle and trying to trick the Song army into believing they were weak and could not last long.
Feeling vexed that the enemy had figured out their details and was exploiting them, yet not daring to force the offensive for fear of being too hasty, Yu Yunwen was greatly troubled. Suddenly, the sound of Cen Heyou's reprimand came from below the ridge. He hurried over to check and prevent any complications, and seeing Wang Chongyang, he couldn't help but be startled. Wang Chongyang said, "I, Wang, have come specifically to serve the imperial court and am at your disposal." Yu Yunwen exchanged a glance with Shi Weigeng beside him. Cen Heyou said, "Your subordinate was just about to report that over 300 Huai Xi defeated soldiers retreated from Guangshan, and unexpectedly, this lecher followed them." Shi Weigeng's eyes lit up, and he blurted out, "What a coincidence!" He said to Yu Yunwen, "My lord, send this... Hero Wang, to lead these 300 soldiers, with plenty of banners and drums, to run from the back mountain to the riverside, as if returning to their posts. During this time, they should continuously wave flags, beat drums, and shout to enhance the momentum." Wang Chongyang couldn't help but praise, "Wonderful!" Yu Yunwen also praised, "A good stratagem of 'making the enemy fear the rustling of grass and the sound of trees, and creating an illusion of strength'!" The three of them then gathered around to discuss the details. Yu Yunwen presented Wang Chongyang with a command flag and ordered Cen Heyou to assist him. Shi Weigeng instructed, "These 300 soldiers have traveled far and are tired, but your great ability alone is enough to accomplish this."
Wang Chongyang ignored whether it was genuine or flattery; he just wanted to act as quickly as possible, fearing that the battle situation would reverse in an instant. Shi Weigeng added, "You must act in secret, and even our own soldiers must not reveal it." Wang Chongyang nodded, understanding in his heart that this plan was not only to deceive the Jin army but, more importantly, to boost the morale of the troops. Wang Chongyang selected 240 soldiers with stronger legs and clearer minds as the vanguard, and the rest as the rear guard, to either create dust or rest to relieve the vanguard. The vanguard was divided into twelve groups: the first and second groups circled around the riverside from the back mountain and ascended the ridge, occupying the first and second sentry posts on the ridge respectively; when the third group moved up the ridge to occupy the first post, the first and second groups would move to the second and third posts; when the second group occupied the last, sixth post, the first group would quietly retreat to the rear, and from the rear guard, replace personnel to become the new first group, and then wait for their turn to depart to another area of the ridge. In this way, in various areas of the ridge, time and again, it created the illusion of a large number of Song reinforcements arriving. Moreover, Wang Chongyang used his light footwork to weave through them, sometimes intercepting Jin soldiers by the river, sometimes kicking up dust in the forests, and sometimes galloping with waving banners.
Wang Chongyang charged forward desperately, making these Huai Xi defeated soldiers believe that they were the key to this battle. They spat out all the humiliation and dejection they had suffered from previous defeats. Although there were only over 300 of them, they displayed the might of dragons emerging from the sea, stirring the emotions of the Song army on the shore and in the river. The shouts of killing instantly shook the sky. The Jin army's morale had already been scattered due to the uncertainty of the succession news. Their briefly gathered fighting spirit had been completely dashed during this half-day battle. Startled again by this sudden momentum, they felt ambushed and fled in all directions.
The small boats in the outer perimeter fled and were pursued by the Song army's Haiqiu ships with crossbow bolts and shells. The Jin army trapped in the encirclement became even more panicked, only concerned with escaping and unable to resist. In the end, they were annihilated by the Song dynasty's concerted effort.
The Jin army suffered a complete and disastrous defeat, and the Song army's cheers shook the mountains and the river.