Chapter 9

Chen Qing was not wrong in his guess; Wanyan Alu was indeed hiding in the woods, less than fifty steps away.

Wanyan Alu had also discovered the weakness of the military camp. The surrounding mountains were densely forested, and as long as they did not use the mountain paths or crawled on them, the crossbows of the enemy would be ineffective.

Wanyan Alu hid behind a large tree, observing the terrain around the military camp.

Below the military camp's fence was a fifteen-foot-high steep slope, which, by today's standards, is about four and a half meters high with an incline of about eighty degrees. The Jurchen soldiers could not climb it and would ultimately have to go through the camp gate.

However, they could use ropes to pull down the camp fence and use bows to suppress the enemy, covering the soldiers' frontal attack.

Wanyan Alu waved his hand, calling three hundred-man commanders forward.

"We don't have time to waste on the Song army. We must annihilate them tonight. You three listen to my deployment. Yanshule will lead a hundred brothers in a frontal attack, and I will explain the specifics later. Yinya and Bolte will each lead fifty soldiers to support from the left and right. Our first goal is to destroy the enemy's camp fence."

...

As time passed, it was around the third watch. Black shadows emerged from the woods on both sides of the mountain path.

On each side, there were dozens of people, holding shields and spears, climbing up the muddy ground.

A hundred enemy soldiers also appeared on the mountain path, lying in wait for the right moment to attack.

The Song army sentries immediately noticed the situation, and the soldiers quickly took their positions.

Chen Qing watched the enemy's movements, but the night was pitch black with no stars or moon, and he could only see some vague shadows.

He understood the frontal attack, but why attack the sides? A fifteen-foot-high slope, made slippery by days of rain, was impossible to climb. What were the Jurchens planning?

But the situation did not allow Chen Qing to think further. The enemy's figures were becoming clearer and were getting closer.

"Fire!"

Chen Qing gave the order, and the Song army soldiers crouched in front of the camp fence and fired their crossbows.

After a round of crossbow bolts, only a few cries of pain were heard, and at most four or five people were hit. The enemy had shields and armor, which the arrows could not penetrate.

"Headman, they are using ropes!"

Ropes flew up from below, accurately hooking onto the camp fence.

Chen Qing suddenly understood. The enemy was trying to pull down the camp fence. Without the fence, their archers could suppress them.

"First team, follow me to cut the ropes. The rest, keep firing!"

Chen Qing shouted, swinging his sword to cut a rope. "Snap!" A rope was severed.

The Jurchen soldiers below stood up and pulled the ropes with all their might, causing the camp fence to shake violently.

Ten Song army soldiers swung their swords to cut the ropes on the fence.

At the same time, the other Song army soldiers took advantage of the enemy's inability to use shields, firing a dense barrage of arrows...

The camp fence was not a single piece but made up of twenty sections, each about two zhang (about 20 feet) long. Chen Qing promptly discovered the enemy's intentions and directed the soldiers effectively, cutting most of the ropes.

However, three sections, totaling six zhang (about 60 feet) wide, were pulled down, especially the two gaps on the east side, which were four zhang (about 40 feet) wide, allowing the enemy to use arrows to seal the camp gate.

To create these three gaps, the Jurchen soldiers paid a heavy price, with nearly twenty casualties, including the hundred-man commander Bolte, who was hit by two arrows and severely wounded.

"Fire!"

Wanyan Alu roared, and a hundred Jurchen soldiers concentrated their arrows on the eastern gap.

Arrows rained down, and several Song soldiers, unable to dodge, were hit and fell with cries of pain.

"Charge!" Wanyan Alu saw an opportunity and shouted fiercely.

The soldiers attacking the camp gate on the mountain path stood up, holding their shields and advancing step by step, but the crossbows could not be moved, and the arrows from the gaps sealed the camp gate.

The situation was critical, and Chen Qing shouted to the rear guard Yang Hua, "Send ten shield bearers to block the gaps!"

"Understood!"

Yang Hua divided his troops into two groups, and ten soldiers rushed forward with shields to block the gaps.

But this was only a temporary measure. Yang Hua then led another ten soldiers to drag the Jurchen corpses from the northwest corner.

These were the bodies of about thirty Jurchen soldiers killed by the crossbows during the day, with their armor already stripped off.

They dragged the bodies to the gaps and piled them up layer by layer.

This was called a "human target" or "meat wall," a tactic invented by the Liao army to use the bodies of fallen enemies to block arrows.

Another dense barrage of arrows came, and all the arrows were pinned to the bodies, blocking the gaps and preventing further arrows from entering the camp.

"Commander, those bodies... they seem to be ours!"

The hundred-man commander Yinya discovered the secret of the human target.

Wanyan Alu punched the ground in frustration, his teeth grinding.

He had intended to use the darkness to launch a surprise attack, but the Song army had seen through it, and the cost of attacking the sides was too high.

Moreover, the gaps they had barely opened were blocked in a humiliating way, making his plan completely unprofitable.

Wanyan Alu, enraged, ordered, "Concentrate your forces and attack the enemy camp!"

The original hundred-man attack force was increased to one hundred and fifty, led by the hundred-man commanders Yanshule and Yinya.

Just as the soldiers were using shields to block the gaps, ten crossbows were pushed up, aiming at the Jurchen soldiers on the mountain path, who were already within ten steps.

"Fire!" Chen Qing shouted.

The crossbows fired twenty-five iron arrows, and the Jurchen soldiers at the front fell with cries of pain, many of them pierced by the iron arrows.

The second round of crossbows was fired, and in the chaos, arrows from both sides rained down, causing heavy casualties among the Jurchen soldiers on the mountain path.

The crossbows needed to be reloaded, creating a brief pause. The hundred-man commander Yanshule roared, "Follow me!"

He charged forward with his spear, and the hundred Jurchen soldiers behind him followed, rushing towards the camp gate.

The situation was critical, and Chen Qing roared, charging forward with his spear.

Chen Qing wore the black lacquered iron armor of a fallen Jurchen soldier. This armor, originally from the Liao imperial guard, was crafted by the finest Han artisans in Youzhou and was even more solid and sturdy than the yellow fur iron armor of the Jurchen cavalry, effectively resisting the Jurchen cavalry's armor-piercing arrows.

The thirty Song soldiers behind Chen Qing also wore the black lacquered iron armor of the Jurchen scouts, though the helmets were different. The Song soldiers wore hair-binding iron helmets inside and a conical helmet outside.

Chen Qing roared, and his iron spear moved like lightning, aiming directly at the enemy commander.

Chen Qing's opponent was the hundred-man commander Yanshule. Yanshule raised his spear to block, but Chen Qing's move was a feint. Yanshule's block was in vain, and he realized the danger too late. He tried to retreat but was too slow. He felt a sharp pain in his chest.

"Thud!" The iron spear pierced Yanshule's chest, and he fell with a cry, dead instantly.

Yanshule's death dampened the Jurchen soldiers' morale, and they were pushed back by the thirty Song soldiers.

Wanyan Alu, enraged, shouted, "All troops, charge!"

Wanyan Alu, in a last-ditch effort, sent the remaining fifty Jurchen soldiers forward, bringing the total to two hundred on the mountain path, with Wanyan Alu personally commanding from behind.

"Whoo!"

The Jurchen soldiers' horns sounded, echoing through the mountains.

The Jurchen soldiers surged forward like a tidal wave, with soldiers on both sides holding shields to defend against the Song army's crossbows, and countless spears clashed in front of the camp.

"Clear the way!"

Behind them, the rear guard Zheng Ping shouted, and the Song soldiers moved aside, creating a gap. Several crossbows rushed through the gap, firing eighteen iron arrows, and twenty or so Jurchen soldiers were hit, falling with cries of pain.

Chen Qing turned and shouted, "Continue with the crossbows!"

"Headman, we're out of iron arrows!"

Chen Qing's heart sank. His worst fear had come true.

...

At the most critical moment, the Song army's crossbows stopped firing. Wanyan Alu realized that the Song army had run out of crossbow arrows.

He shouted excitedly, "The Song army has no crossbows left! Charge and kill them all!"

The Jurchen soldiers attacked like a flood, and the Song army also threw everything they had into the fight, with no room for retreat.

Chen Qing waved his spear and shouted, "Brothers, we, the sons of the Song, would rather die in battle than retreat!"

"No retreat!"

The Song soldiers roared in unison, charging fiercely at the Jurchen soldiers. Even the severely wounded soldiers in the cave joined the battle, and a bloody fight ensued at the camp gate. As one group of soldiers fell, another group charged forward.

...

Chen Qing was hit in the leg by a spear, and blood flowed profusely. He was dragged away by the soldiers.

He quickly bandaged his wound and got up to check the situation. The Song army had suffered nearly half casualties, leaving only about fifty men, while the enemy still had over a hundred. If this continued, they would be completely annihilated.

"Yang Hua!"

"Here!"

Chen Qing handed his spear to him, "Lead the soldiers to hold them off. I will buy time and go around to take out the enemy commander."

"Understood!"

Yang Hua took the spear and charged forward.

Chen Qing picked up the only divine arm crossbow in the warehouse and said to Zhao Xiaoyi, "Lead the way, we'll go around!"