Chapter 1 Midday

At noon, the two armies were twenty *li* apart.

But after half an hour, as the two armies completed their formations according to their marching order, the distance between them was only fifteen or sixteen *li*. Twenty *li* was not a long distance for armies of tens of thousands on each side, totaling sixty thousand troops.

The shortening distance also meant two things: increased frequency of intelligence gathering and increased difficulty in acquiring intelligence. These two things were not contradictory because the frequency and bloodshed of skirmishes between scouts on both sides were also rising sharply.

Everything has a price. In other words, the two sides had already begun their preliminary battles.

Back to the present, for Yue Fei, the new intelligence naturally brought mixed feelings.

The worry was that, in such a battle with no retreat, Li Cheng also realized the problem and did not waver. This meant that there would inevitably be a battle today with a lot of bloodshed, injuries, and deaths in a short period of time, and even the victor would pay a considerable price.

The joy was that, with the constant coming and going of scouts, Yue Fei learned that although Li Cheng's troops were almost twice the size of the Imperial Guard's vanguard, and their orderly formation suggested a considerable amount of training and discipline, the elite level and equipment were far inferior to those of the Imperial Guard's vanguard. The scouts clearly stated that the number of iron armor troops in the rear of the puppet Qi army had decreased sharply, replaced by troops wearing leather armor, and finally, a considerable number of unarmored troops, like laborers.

This was reasonable. After all, no matter how fertile Jingdong was, no matter how large the population, and even if Li Cheng plundered as thoroughly as the dead Kong Yanzhou, he still had to support his troops, support his scholars, and gather gold and silver to exchange for warhorses from the Jin people, so there would definitely be shortcomings.

The lack of armor and the uneven combat power of the troops were fundamental flaws.

Of course, at the same time, Li Cheng's side was also in a state of mixed feelings.

The joy was naturally the discovery that the opponent had fewer troops, especially cavalry, with only three or four thousand cavalry compared to his own ten thousand; and the worry was of course the opponent's soaring morale, orderly formation, and frighteningly high armor coverage. If the scouts were to be believed, then the armor coverage of the Imperial Guard troops in front of him was almost second only to the Imperial Bodyguards he had encountered on the Wushan battlefield that day.

However, this force numbered around twenty thousand.

"Lord!"

A general galloped from the front and spoke from horseback. "Scouts say that the Zhao Song Imperial Guard troops in front are flying the Yue character flag. Could it be a trick? According to the reports, Yue Fei shouldn't be coming this fast, right? I see only twenty thousand troops... Maybe it's Zhang Jun's general pretending."

"It must be Yue Fei." Li Cheng's expression was serious as he reined in his horse and turned in place. "No one else can put on such a display, and no one else has so many and such well-equipped iron-clad soldiers. Only Yue Fei is willing to pour all his money and grain into the army, just like me."

"Zhao Song's official army has fewer warhorses, so naturally more iron armor." The general realized, but then asked again. "Lord, since Little-Eyes has come in person... are we really going to fight? With such a formation, once we collapse, it will be a complete defeat. If we retreat to Hebei according to Elubu's words, what will we do without capital?"

Li Cheng immediately became furious. "Geng Er, with a great battle ahead, you're not thinking about how to win this battle, but thinking about losing and going to Hebei?! Are you only afraid of Little-Eyes and not afraid of me? Besides, his coming here at this time is exactly what they mean by a tired army! We are an unstoppable returning army!"

That Geng Er, who was the so-called rebel leader Geng Jian whom Li Cheng had subdued on the way south from Hebei in his early years, lowered his head on his horse when he heard this, circled his horse on the ground, and then asked again, "If that's the case, does the lord have any military orders to issue?"

Li Cheng became even more furious. "In such a situation, it's nothing more than the entire army being uniform, standing together, and fighting to the death. What military orders are there? Even if there are military orders, it's only one sentence... Without an order, do not retreat! Do not leave your unit without permission!"

Geng Jian dared not say more and went straight to the vanguard. Li Cheng, after being extremely angry, became a little nervous again and looked at the two generals beside him, one called Xu Wen and one called Guo Zhongwei.

Among them, Xu Wen was from Mizhou, Jingdong (now Rizhao to Gaomi area, Shandong), and had also occupied a territory, regarded as a small semi-independent force in Mizhou. However, after the Battle of Yaoshan, the world was shaken, and the people's hearts changed again. Mizhou had already been gradually taken over by Zhang Jun through means of co-optation and persuasion. But this man was ambitious and, ignoring the wooing of his old brothers Li Kui and the local tyrant Hu Cheng of Yizhou, almost went his own way and defected to Li Cheng alone. He originally thought he could take over the remnants of Du Yan and Wu Shun's Mizhou troops from Li Cheng, but unexpectedly became the other's personal guard general.

Guo Zhongwei was a hero from Huaishang, one of the brothers whom Li Cheng met and subdued when he was wandering in the past, and was the initial personal guard general.

And these two... It's unknown if it was popular at this time or what, but like Guan Sheng, the official army general from Jinan Prefecture who was murdered by Liu Yu, they were both nicknamed 'Big Saber'... Xu Wen's nickname was Xu Big Saber, and Guo Zhongwei's nickname was Guo Big Saber. The two big sabers together managed Li Cheng's long saber cavalry, which was truly worthy of the name.

Usually, Li Cheng would compare them to Dian Wei and Xu Chu beside Cao Cao in storybooks.

Enough small talk, Li Cheng scolded Geng Jian away, and then turned his gaze on the two big sabers beside him, hesitating again... The reason was simple: he wanted to send someone to supervise the battle in front, but he didn't know who to use.

It can only be said that every family has its own problems.

At this time, not to mention the specific situation of the battlefield, but to say that in Li Cheng's army, which was hastily established in Jianye, formed factions like all the emerging warlords in chaotic periods of history... And most of the factions were basically divided around the regional dispute between outsiders and locals.

Li Cheng himself was from Hebei. During the Jingkang upheaval, he went south from Hebei, then circled around Huaishang, and finally, forced by the situation, settled in Jingdong, where he established his base. So his army could be roughly divided into two major factions: Hebei exiles and Jingdong local magnates.

In fact, to be fair, Li Cheng styled himself a hero, and he had a set of methods for governing the army and employing people. He treated his soldiers as his own; he would not eat if his soldiers did not eat, and he would not sleep if his soldiers did not sleep. If there was insufficient rain gear during marches, he would be the first to get wet in the rain. He never hesitated to personally go into battle when commanding the army. He could also treat these leaders with generosity, clothing them with his own clothes, feeding them with his own food, and then rewarding and punishing them fairly and using them fairly.

It was really the two bastards, Great Song and Great Jin, who were unwilling to give this man a chance. Otherwise, with this man's level, he might have been able to put together a force and become a figure like a founding emperor. How could he be like a certain official in Tokyo City, who was only able to be a mediocre ruler?

But conversely, since heroes depend on the times, then now that the times are not good, Li Cheng is naturally helpless... Great Jin is strong and prosperous, and Great Song is vast and populous. Not to mention this man, even if a Liu Bang were parachuted in at this time, he would have to obediently be the head of a local loyalty society in Huaibei.

The same principle applied: Li Cheng was indeed a hero, but the current situation did not allow him to act recklessly.

Within a few months, first there were renewed rumors of peace talks. From that time on, the generals and troops of Jingdong origin began to be somewhat disobedient. Later, when the peace talks could not be concealed, the Jin people were quite sincere and directly offered Li Cheng permission to lead some elite troops back north. At that time, Li Cheng would be officially granted the hereditary title of *mouke* and the waist tag of a Ten-Thousand Household Commander, stationed in the Dezhou and Dizhou areas... As a result, even the hearts of the people of Hebei in the team were somewhat distracted.

The world had been in chaos for several years. Seeing that great things could not be accomplished, and instead there was a situation of north and south standing side by side, what was wrong with going home and getting an official position?

Frankly speaking, even Li Cheng himself was almost despairing under the general trend at that time. For the previous two months, he had been constantly negotiating conditions with the Jin people, hoping to maintain some independence, retain more troops, and divide more territory.

However, how could the Jin people give him so much face? After all, it was impossible for him to surpass the precedent of Wang Bolong, the Han Chinese Ten-Thousand Household Commander of the Jin Dynasty who was a great general and came from a bandit background.

Yanjing and the Military Headquarters of Daming Prefecture had simply decided that he would be allowed a quota of ten thousand troops, incorporated into the Daming Prefecture Military Headquarters system, and become an ordinary hereditary *mouke*, a Ten-Thousand Household Commander.

As a result, Li Cheng went to Jinan at the even more frightened call of Liu Yu. It was the meaning of two people on a dead end wanting to break the net and take advantage of Yue Fei's absence from the Jinan defense area to actively start a war and create a big piece of news.

However, when it came to military matters, the Jin people were not vegetarians. How could they allow them to cause trouble? Nianhan was dead, but a pile of founding Ten-Thousand Household Commanders were still alive. Gao Jingshan received a reminder from Ulin Dazanmo and directly sent Elubu, a Ten-Thousand Household Commander who had been waiting in Dezhou, across the river with light cavalry. He seized Liu Yu almost in the form of a coup and also controlled Li Cheng, who had just bumped into him.

And this, again, goes back to that old topic, and we have to mention again and again the tragedy of Li Cheng, Liu Yu, and others:

In terms of strength, it's not that they had no strength.

In terms of level, Li Cheng's military level was recognized by both the Jin and Song dynasties, and he raised his troops in comparison to Yue Fei on the opposite side. His private morals were better than ten Zhang Jun and Zhang Boying. And Liu Yu, as an emperor, was said to be equally conscientious. He always flattered the Jin nobles and favored the scholars when he plundered money, and he always slept on brushwood and tasted gall like the Zhao Song officials... The Zhao Song officials even wore luxurious cotton cloth, ate ice cream, and drank Blue Bridge Wind and Moon, but Liu Yu often only wore hemp cloth and ate vegetarian food like the monks in Lingjiu Temple.

But the problem was that the attitude of that Zhao Song official was so resolute that it was impossible to tolerate them. The death of Liu Yu's own son was clear proof. Therefore, no matter how helpless or regretful they were, they would not dare to oppose the Jin people unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, even if the world was big, there would be no place for them to stand.

The only thing that could be said in reverse was that Zhang Jun suddenly launched a surprise attack?

Although Elubu had not received a clear word from Daming Prefecture, as an old-school military general who had not suffered a defeat in the previous several wars, and as a Jin Ten-Thousand Household Commander who had the power of exclusive decision over Jinan but was not happy with the peace talks, he was persuaded by Li Cheng to send him back to fight.

Not only that, Elubu even took the initiative to send out an integrated *mouke*, plus two thousand cavalry from Liu Yu's Jinan Prefecture, all disguised as Jin people.

Things turned around again. The local heroes of Jingdong were indeed in a state of returning home, and they were again enthusiastically moving, but the former old brothers who originally thought they could return to their hometowns became increasingly perfunctory.

Back to the present, Li Cheng reined in his horse and slowly moved forward, looking at Guo Big Saber, who had followed him for a long time but was from Huainan, and Xu Big Saber, who was from Jingdong but had come relatively late, and after thinking for a long time, knew that he could not delay, and finally gritted his teeth and pointed to one of them:

"Xu Big Saber!"

"Your subordinate is here!" Xu Wen, holding a long-handled saber covered with a brocade sheath, galloped over.

"You lead two hundred long saber armored soldiers, and take another thousand cavalry from Jinan Prefecture, go to the gap between the left wing and the central army, do you know what to do?" Li Cheng's face was ferocious.

"I know!" Xu Wen replied proudly. "After the fighting starts, block a line, and those who retreat will be beheaded! When necessary, lead the troops to charge and succeed in one fell swoop! And if the front of the left wing is lost, then take over the left wing and continue to fight as a priority!"

"Go!"

"Yes!"

In the central cavalry formation in the rear of the army formation, half of the formation immediately dispersed.

After all, it was a battle that determined life and death. Li Cheng gave such instructions, but he was still a little uneasy. What he was most worried about in this battle was that some generals in the army would inevitably waver, fearing that some people would not be able to support it once the bloody battle started.

Therefore, after thinking again and again, as the troops advanced slightly, he again gave an order, but it was to adjust all the cavalry that were easy to deploy, to divide the cavalry into two, and to array them on the left and right. Even that Jin army *mouke* was sent out by him and placed on the right wing.

In other words, with the enemy army less than ten *li* away, he finally chose the final formation... but it was precisely the classic conservative formation of cavalry on both wings, infantry in the middle, elite armored soldiers in the front, and weak soldiers in the rear.

"Lord." Guo Big Saber seemed to have some ideas when he saw this, but he took the initiative to rein in his horse and move forward after his own general gave the order. "Although this arrangement can be called proper, one must consider the terrain... This is our place, doesn't the lord know the terrain? The marching road in the middle is barely okay, but there are some hills on both sides. Even if the cavalry charges, their combat power may be limited."

How could I not know?

Li Cheng cursed in his heart... His formation was simply to have the cavalry troops that he could directly control hold up the infantry brigade in the middle! It was a conservative tactic to prevent the infantry in the middle from collapsing as much as possible!

But, he couldn't say these words. Helpless, Li Cheng could only wave his hand: "Old Guo doesn't understand, I have my own judgment!"

Guo Big Saber was just offering a suggestion, and naturally had nothing to say when he saw this.

And after a while, with Li Cheng's large-scale mobilization of cavalry, Yue Fei heard the scouts' reports, but his heart moved slightly, but his face still did not show any extra reaction. It was not until Li Cheng's troops completed the deployment of cavalry on the left and right wings during the march... that he suddenly ordered the summoning of Tian Shizhong, Zhang Xian, Wang Gui, Tang Huai, and other major generals.

At this time, the front armies of both sides were only seven or eight *li* apart.

"The opportunity to fight has appeared, and I already know the method to defeat the enemy." Yue Fei reined in his horse in the midst of the army formation, with seven or eight dismounted generals standing in front of him, and the Yue character flag erected behind him. After encountering this flag, the troops behind him naturally divided into two, like a stream of water encountering a reef, and continued to advance without stopping. "Li Cheng relies on his large number of cavalry and actually places the cavalry on the mountains on both sides, and the infantry on the road in the middle... We do the opposite, dividing the infantry into two, meeting the cavalry on the mountains on the left and right, but combining the cavalry of each unit and placing it in the center with the Beiwei Army, charging his heart head on!"

The generals looked at each other, knowing that this was the final decision and there was no time to delay, and they nodded in agreement... In fact, in order to facilitate the march and to protect the valuable cavalry, the current marching route was arranged in this way.

Therefore, everyone also realized that Yue Fei must have other words.

And sure enough, as soon as Yue Fei finished speaking, he immediately narrowed his eyes and stared at one of them: "General Tian! There is something that only you can do... I'll say it in advance, once this military order is issued, you will inevitably feel that I am using you, a guest army, as a ditch, maliciously consuming the trusted confidants of Grand Commandant Zhang... But even so, you must grit your teeth and do it, because your unit is indeed the most elite unit of infantry! If you don't do it, I will punish you according to military law!"

Tian Shizhong was silent for a moment, but seemed to have expected it long ago, and then cupped his fist in salute: "We are all old soldiers. If Grand Commandant Yue really has malicious intentions, I will naturally know... Therefore, Grand Commandant Yue, please issue your orders."

Yue Fei nodded slightly: "I want you to go to the very front of the left wing! Directly clash with the southern cavalry of the enemy's army that has Jurchen cavalry on the mountains!"

Tian Shizhong took a long breath and readily agreed: "Just as Grand Commandant said, my unit is the best infantry in the army, and we have fought the Jin army's cavalry head-on. With Grand Commandant's strategy for dealing with the enemy, I have nothing to say about this arrangement... Now that it's been said like this, my unit can fight on the mountains, and we will never refuse!"

"Good!" Yue Fei nodded slightly, then shook his head again. "I haven't finished yet... I also want General Tian's unit to speed up immediately, first protruding out and clashing head-on with the enemy's cavalry force on the southern mountains! The rest of the units, from south to north, will slow down their marching speed in order, and approach the enemy in an oblique formation!"

Tian Shizhong looked up in astonishment, staring at Yue Fei without speaking.

Yue Fei just opened his small eyes and looked down from his horse, meeting the other's gaze: "If you have anything to say, say it quickly... There can be no delay!"

"Is Grand Commandant telling my unit to go and die?" Tian Shizhong's breathing was heavy.

"That's right! The front line of this battle will inevitably suffer heavy losses, and if your unit protrudes out alone and fights alone first, I am afraid that even more will die!" Yue Fei replied sternly. "But when you are a soldier and eat the Emperor's rations, are you still afraid of death?!"

The corners of Tian Shizhong's mouth twitched once or twice, unsure of what he was thinking. After a moment, he directly flipped onto his horse, then reined in his horse, turned around, and then gestured with his horsewhip on his horse, shouting loudly, "Grand Commandant, if we do this and still cannot achieve a complete victory, I will risk my life to go to the Emperor and complain, and erase the merits of your Imperial Guard's Vanguard for the past half year since they came south!"

After speaking, Tian Shizhong turned his horse and left without waiting for Yue Fei to speak.

Things were rushed, and there was no time for grand speeches. A quarter of an hour later, Tian Shizhong led the Beiwei Army of the Imperial Guard's Right Army, which was his father-in-law's lifeblood, the three thousand heavy armored long ax infantry, and took the initiative to protrude out, and clashed head-on with the facing cavalry on the mountains south of the avenue. As soon as the two sides engaged, they entered the most brutal hand-to-hand combat stage on the narrow and somewhat rugged battlefield.

Armor, warhorses, limbs, and blood plasma instantly began to be scattered on the hills in the heart of Qilu.

The most elite troops on both sides, the kind that were usually thrown in at the end to determine the outcome, began to consume each other from the very beginning. However, thanks to Tian Shizhong's unit's sudden countercharge, Li Cheng's idea of using cavalry to hold up the infantry was caught off guard and directly shattered. Tens of thousands of Li Cheng's infantry, in the situation where the two sides were already engaged in a large-scale battle on the south side, could not be controlled and commanded, and they continued to advance along the flat avenue along with the inertia of the army formation, and a considerable part of the troops was attracted by the battle on the south side, like iron filings encountering a magnet.

At this time, all the cavalry in Yue Fei's central army, only four thousand troops mainly composed of the Beiwei Army, were also gathered at Zhang Xian's Beiwei Army, only a *li* away from the front line of Li Cheng's infantry. With a speed that was completely inconsistent with the conventional posture of cavalry, they slowly advanced at a snail's pace.

Under the Zhang character flag, Yang Zaixing, who was seeing this kind of battlefield scene for the first time, wore a double layer of iron armor, rode a big horse that Yue Fei had personally given him, and held a big iron spear in his hand. After going forward a few dozen steps and glancing at the situation on the south side of the battlefield to the left front, he could not help but gasp for breath, and then trembled all over.

He was not afraid, but excited... Some people seemed to be born for the battlefield from the very beginning.

Behind him, Zhang Xian and Guo Jin, who were neatly armored and experienced in combat, were also panting, and then reined in their horses and slowly moved forward. Contrary to Yang Zaixing, these two were indeed a bit cautious and nervous. They were cautious rather than hesitant, and nervous rather than afraid... The reason for this was precisely because they were experienced in battlefield combat, and they were very clear about what the result would be of a head-on collision on a flat ground surrounded by narrow and rugged terrain.

Sacrifices were inevitable, and victory or defeat would be decided in an instant after one side could not hold on, and then it would be an unprecedented encirclement, pursuit, and forced surrender.

"Charge!" Yang Zaixing saw that Tian Shizhong's side was gradually being completely surrounded by Li Cheng's infantry, and could not help but turn his head and suggest.

Zhang Xian did not say a word, but just went to look at Guo Jin.

Guo Jin, who had a large spoon tied to his waist, reined in his horse and looked to the north, but shook his head: "Vice Commander Wang (Wang Gui) hasn't waved the flag yet."

Zhang Xian nodded and pretended to be calm: "Those three thousand soldiers of Tian Shizhong are capable of fighting. They blocked Haze Mouke and stopped Lou Shi on Yaoshan that day. This kind of scene is nothing! It just happens to absorb the enemy's central army and scatter their formation, making it easier for us to charge."

Yang Zaixing did not know what Haze Mouke was, nor what Lou Shi was. He was just impatient, but he was somewhat helpless, and then reined in his horse and circled forward again.

And when he was unable to suppress the heat in his blood and prepared to come back to urge Zhang Xian again, he suddenly heard a burst of drums in the rear, and then saw countless flags waving together... Caught off guard, Zhang Xian took the lead, with Guo Jin and a team of personal guard knights, and leaped out from his side.

Yang Zaixing was exasperated, turned around and shouted to his troops, then turned around and led the charge.

Immediately, the entire Beiwei Army and all the cavalry that had been hastily gathered, no more than four thousand troops, strove towards the central army formation of forty thousand troops in front.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the Beiwei Army of the Imperial Guard's Vanguard strove to insert itself into the back of the enemy army on the side of the Beiwei Army of the Imperial Guard's Right Army, and the thousands of infantry in Li Cheng's army that had attacked the three thousand long ax heavy infantry were instantly scattered on the spot... Seeing this, the cavalry in the north immediately tried to turn around and hold up this cavalry that had emerged from the middle under the command of the generals. Unexpectedly, on the somewhat rugged mountains, countless infantry shouted loudly, and soon under the leadership of a large Wang character flag, they came head-on in a countercharge. The three units in the south, middle, and north were staggered in an orderly manner, seized the opportunity, blocked the cavalry in the south, attracted and dispersed the infantry in the middle, and connected to the cavalry in the north, not giving the other side any room to adjust and maneuver on the battlefield.

It can only be said that on this day, the two armies, after marching for most of the day, met on a narrow road, and after making only hasty formation adjustments, they faced each other and crashed into each other!

It was really a desperate collision!

Sixty thousand troops, forty thousand on one side and more than twenty thousand on the other, crashed head-on into the land of Qilu, like two pottery jars filled with boiling blood.

For a time, blood flowed all over the ground, debris scattered, steam billowed, and victory and defeat were difficult to determine. Only the shouts of killing were mighty, bringing echoes that spun and rose from behind the hills.

ps: Thanks to classmate Yang Guang Xia de Niu Rou Mian for the double moe!