Chapter 15

Chen Qing calmly watched the Jurchen cavalry charge towards him. They could retreat through the narrow alleys on either side, but the cavalry would have to circle around to the city gate to block them. However...

On the square a hundred steps behind them, it was filled with elderly people and children. Each child's small face was beaming with joy, eagerly waiting for their parents to return, and there were also the elderly with white hair.

Let's leave the hope of survival to them!

Five hundred soldiers, armed with spears and shields, knelt on the ground, quietly waiting for the cavalry charge to come.

First, hundreds of arrows rained down like a storm, and the Song soldiers raised their shields to block the dense arrows.

But the speed of the Jurchen cavalry was not affected by the arrows. They accelerated, their eyes flashing with a fierce, beast-like light.

Fifty steps away.

Chen Qing suddenly sneered, spurred his horse forward, and with a thrust of his spear, he sent Wanyan Lou's headless corpse flying three zhang into the air. 'Thud!' The corpse fell heavily to the ground.

Seeing the corpse rise and then fall, all the Jurchen cavalry shouted in unison, desperately pulling their horses to a stop, fearing that their horses would trample their lord's corpse.

Yin Muya took the lead, leaning out to grab Wanyan Lou's corpse, preventing the horses from trampling it. But the originally fierce tornado instantly diminished, and the arrows stopped.

Chen Qing seized this opportunity and shouted loudly, "Let the Jurchen Tartars taste the might of the Song warriors, charge!"

"Charge—"

The five hundred soldiers stood up, threw away their shields, and charged forward with their spears.

Chen Qing led the charge, sweeping his spear and causing three Jurchen cavalry to scream and fall off their horses. Someone nearby shouted, "Return our lord's head!"

The guard, Yin Muya, swung his mace and charged at Chen Qing, his anger so intense that he wanted to crush Chen Qing's head with one blow.

Chen Qing sneered, his spear trembling, pressing down the mace with his iron spear, and the spear tip flashed like lightning, piercing the opponent's throat.

Yin Muya tried to block the spear, but it was as if a thousand pounds were pressing down, immovable. Realizing the danger, he widened his eyes in terror.

"Thud!"

The spear tip pierced through Yin Muya's mouth, instantly penetrating his skull.

Chen Qing flipped his corpse away, swung his spear, and charged into the densest part of the enemy, causing the Jurchen cavalry to fall off their horses and die in droves.

Chen Qing dared to lead his troops into battle against a thousand Jurchen cavalry because the terrain was not favorable for cavalry. The street in front of the East Gate was only ten zhang wide, about thirty meters. A cavalryman needed at least three zhang of width to fully maneuver, and the street was too narrow for horses to charge.

This was essentially a street battle, where infantry had the advantage, at least matching the enemy. When the infantry and cavalry were crowded together, they used their swords, daggers, and even their teeth, and the narrow street was filled with blood and bodies.

But the Jurchen cavalry had an advantage in archery. The cavalry behind, unable to charge, drew their bows and fired arrows. From a higher position, their arrows never missed, and the Song soldiers, without shields, fell one after another. In just one round of arrows, fifty to sixty Song soldiers were shot down by the Jurchen cavalry, suffering heavy casualties.

Chen Qing was genuinely anxious. He suddenly saw several Jurchen cavalry fall off their horses, and he noticed that several Song soldiers on the rooftops were using the ridges for cover, calmly shooting the enemy with crossbows, and the Jurchen cavalry had no way to counter them.

Chen Qing slapped his forehead and shouted, "Yang Hua, Zheng Ping, each of you lead a hundred men to the rooftops to shoot the enemy!"

"Understood!"

Yang Hua and Zheng Ping immediately led a hundred soldiers each to climb onto the rooftops, lying down to shoot the Jurchen cavalry with crossbows. The Song soldiers, from a higher position, had the advantage.

In the darkness, the Jurchen cavalry kept falling off their horses, or their horses were shot down, forcing the Jurchen cavalry to raise their shields to block the arrows, and their archery was ineffective. The battle entered a stalemate again.

At this moment, countless black shadows suddenly rushed out from the alleys on both sides, using spears, hoes, and wooden clubs to attack the Jurchen cavalry. These were refugees and city residents coming to help, and their numbers grew, with thousands of people attacking from all directions.

"Retreat!"

A hundred-man commander, seeing the situation was not good, shouted loudly.

More than a hundred cavalry turned their horses and followed the commander, galloping westward. The people on the west side had not yet closed in, and they broke through, fleeing in a panic.

The remaining Jurchen cavalry had no chance to escape and were gradually overwhelmed by the angry crowd, all of them brutally killed by the people's hoes and wooden clubs.

......

Finally, the sky brightened, and a group of Song cavalry rode through the city, shouting loudly, "The Jurchens are coming back, please leave Jingzhao City as soon as possible and move to Hanzhong!"

Chen Qing, with a few of his men, came to the granary city. On the square, many famine-stricken families were packing food and valuables, and the children, holding food bags, had joyful smiles on their faces.

The granaries in the granary city had been looted by the refugees and the city's tens of thousands of residents, and some elderly people were still picking up scattered coins on the ground.

"Old folks, please leave quickly!" Chen Qing reminded a few elderly people.

"General, is the Shaanxi Road really lost?" an elderly man asked, unwilling to accept it.

Chen Qing nodded; the situation in Shaanxi Road was indeed dire.

Although he had successfully attacked and captured Jingzhao City, the elite Western Army had been decimated in the Fuping battle, and the Jin Empire would soon reinforce Guanzhong. With the current strength and morale of the Song Army, they could not match the Jurchen cavalry.

"Alright! We will follow the general and move south to Guanzhong."

Under Chen Qing's and his men's urging, groups of refugees began to leave Jingzhao City, moving along the Ziwu Road towards Hanzhong. Not only the famine-stricken people from Tongzhou, but also many residents of Jingzhao City, left their homes and moved south.

Everyone understood that they had looted the Jin soldiers' supplies, and once the Jin main force returned, they would seek revenge a hundredfold.

Even those who were unwilling to leave their homes began to move to the countryside, and the entire Jingzhao City was mobilized.

Last night's fierce battle, although they had annihilated a thousand Jurchen cavalry with the help of the terrain and the people, Chen Qing's men also suffered heavy casualties, with nearly two hundred soldiers killed, most of them by the Jurchen cavalry's arrows.

This battle also made Chen Qing deeply realize the power of archery. No wonder, since the Han and Tang dynasties, proficiency in archery and horsemanship had been a basic requirement for a general. Without archery, it was like losing a wing, and he also needed to find an opportunity to practice archery.

At noon, Chen Qing and his men were also preparing to leave.

Deputy General Yang Yuanqing spurred his horse forward and shouted loudly, "General, the men are ready!"

They had captured more than six hundred warhorses and, in the early hours of the morning, had looted Wanyan Lou's residence, and each soldier had received a substantial amount of wealth, and everyone was overjoyed.

Chen Qing's original plan was to go to Dasa Pass to join the main force of the Eight-Character Army, but the Ziwu Road was infested with bandits, and he was concerned about the safety of the people moving south, so he decided to lead his troops first to clear the bandits for the people.

"March!"

Chen Qing gave the order and led three hundred cavalry galloping towards the Ziwu Road.

......

After capturing Jingzhao City, the main Jin army moved west, capturing Yaozhou and Fengxiang Prefecture. After capturing Fengxiang Prefecture, the Jin army split into two routes. One route, led by Wanyan Zongfu with ten thousand Jurchen cavalry and tens of thousands of surrendered troops, continued to attack Pingliang Prefecture and Jingzhou, where Liu Qi led more than ten thousand Jingyuan Army.

The other route, led by Wanyan Alu with ten thousand troops and thirty thousand surrendered Han troops, was fighting Liu Ziyu's remaining forces in Weizhou.

The other route, led by Wanyan Zongbi with twenty thousand Jurchen troops and thirty thousand surrendered Han troops, moved south from Fengxiang Prefecture towards Dasa Pass, facing off against Wu Jie and Wang Yan's thirteen thousand troops in the Heshangyuan area.

At this time, the Song army's commander, Zhang Jun, had already led the remaining Song troops to retreat to Hanzhong. The Jin army had not yet fully occupied the Shaanxi and Xihedao regions, and Wu Jie and Wang Yan still had troops stationed in Heshangyuan and Dasa Pass, with the potential to counterattack Guanzhong.

In the main tent, Wanyan Zongbi was pacing back and forth, his mind uneasy. He had sent two eagle messages to Jingzhao in the morning and early today, inquiring about the supply situation, and he should have received a reply by yesterday afternoon, but it was now nearly dusk, and there was still no news from Jingzhao, which was indeed worrying.

Logically, the forces in Jingzhao should have been substantial, with six thousand Jurchen soldiers and five thousand Qi troops from Tongzhou for support, which should have been foolproof. But why was there still no news from Jingzhao?

Could the eagle messages have been intercepted by Song scouts, and Jingzhao not received his messages? Impossible, even if one was intercepted, it couldn't happen twice.

At this moment, the sound of urgent hoofbeats came from outside, growing closer, and stopped near his tent. Then someone shouted with a sob, "I need to see the Fourth Prince, it's an emergency!"

Wanyan Zongbi quickly walked out of the tent and saw a soldier almost collapsing on the ground, supported by two scouts.

"What happened?" Wanyan Zongbi asked sternly.

The soldier knelt before Wanyan Zongbi and cried, "Jingzhao was attacked, the general... the general was killed in battle!"

Wanyan Zongbi was shocked, his eyes wide. Where did the Song army come from to attack Jingzhao? What does it mean that the general was killed? Could it be Wanyan Lou...

Wanyan Zongbi grabbed the soldier by the collar and shouted, "Speak clearly, or I'll cut you down!"

"A Song army attacked Jingzhao, bringing tens of thousands of refugees. The city's defenders couldn't hold them back, and the refugees looted the granary. Wanyan General led the guards to suppress them, but on the way, they encountered the Song army. A Song general challenged Wanyan General, and the general was defeated and killed in battle!"

Wanyan Zongbi's eyes turned red, his teeth clenched. "How many were there?"

"About five hundred!"

Wanyan Zongbi was almost driven mad, pulling out a dagger and cutting off the messenger's ear. "If you lie again, I'll cut out your heart!"

The messenger screamed in pain, jumping and shouting, "I'm not lying, there were only five hundred of them. We only had a thousand Jurchen troops in the city, and five thousand were sent to Shangzhou to suppress a rebellion. The Qi troops only had three thousand, and they were no match for the Song army, being defeated by five hundred men."

Wanyan Zongbi finally understood. He clenched his fists and asked, "What about the five thousand Qi troops in Tongzhou?"

"The general said they were there to pick the fruits, and he didn't allow them to come to Jingzhao. They are still in Tongzhou!"

Wanyan Zongbi felt dizzy, and a soldier quickly brought a chair for him to sit on. After a while, he sighed and asked, "Who was the Song army's commander?"

The messenger, almost unable to hold on, gasped, "Fourth Prince, the Song army's commander is the Eight-Character Army general Chen Qing, whom you had offered a reward of ten thousand strings of coins to capture. He challenged Wanyan General and killed him with his spear!"

"Ah!" Wanyan Zongbi was so shocked that his mouth hung open, unable to close it for a long time.