One Piece of Song Dynasty

After dawn, the two Song armies embraced each other. This was the first time that the two governor's offices cooperated in fighting. Although the process was not perfect, the result was still very good.

Qu Duan met Guan Shigu and cupped his fists and said, "Thank you, Brother Guan, for your help. Otherwise, even if a certain unit can win, it will probably suffer more casualties, which will be very detrimental to subsequent combat operations."

Guan Shigu said with a smile: "Brother Wang, you don't have to be like this. I didn't expect that your Zhongdu Governor's Mansion would sneak attack on Hezhong Mansion. Originally, I listened to Sa Li and led his army to understand the state. I planned to sneak attack the Jin Army's camp at night and attack the west bank of the Yellow River. Our army will let the Yellow River go and then find a way to attack Hezhong Mansion."

Wang De said: "Oh, I don't know how many troops from your West Governor's Mansion have crossed the river."

Guan Shigu shook his head and said, "I don't know about this either. I'll find out later when Deputy Commander Wu comes."

When Wu Jie got off the boat and stepped onto the boundary of Hezhong Mansion, he sighed: "After two months of confrontation with Sa Lihe, I finally landed on the boundary of Hedong."

Wu Jie walked towards Hezhong Mansion while patrolling. When Guan Shigu saw Wu Jie, he pointed at Wang De and said, "Wu Shuai, this is General Wang from the Zhonglu Dudu Mansion."

Wang De cupped his fists and said, "Hello, Wu Shuai."

Wu Jie returned the greeting: "Hello, General Wang. Where is your Commander Qu?"

Wang De replied: "Commander Wu, our Marshal Qu is leading troops to fight against the Jin army in Jiezhou."

Wu Jie nodded and said: "Although I and your Marshal Qu had some conflicts in the past, we are still old friends after all. This time our West Governor's Office followed the prince's order and joined forces with your Middle Governor's Office to eliminate Sa Lihe. Next, you What are you going to do?”

Wang De said: "Originally, I got Qu Shuai's general order to sneak attack the Hezhong Mansion and hold on to the city. Since the West Road Governor's Mansion has crossed the river, I can lead the troops back to Jiezhou."

Wu Jie stroked his beard and said: "Well, I will lead the troops to go with you. In this way, our two governor's houses will attack Sa Lihe in front and back. The Jin army will be defeated. General Guan will stay at Hezhong Mansion after a hard night. Others I will follow my commander to Jiezhou."

So Wu Jie took Yang Zheng, Yao Zhong, Wu Li, Li Shiyan and other generals with an army of to follow Wang De to Jiezhou.

Sa Lihe arrived at the boundary of Jiezhou in August. After seeing the Song Army's camp, he also went down to the camp. After setting up the camp, Sa Lihe looked outside the Song Army's camp and said: " This Qu Duan is worthy of being a famous general of the Song Dynasty. This camp is very cautious at first glance and there are no loopholes, unlike the Song army commander in the Battle of Fuping."

Xi Buzhu on the other side agreed: "Yes, the Song army is becoming more and more difficult to fight. Now they dare to counterattack. That would have been impossible a few years ago."

Sa Lihe sighed and said: "After this battle, maybe the court should really consider making peace. Let's go back to the camp. The soldiers have just arrived. Let's take a rest today. We will see how Qu Duan will attack tomorrow. We will arrange for soldiers to strengthen patrols in the evening. Beware of a sneak attack by the Song army."

Xi Buzhu nodded and said, "I understand."

At this time, Qu Duan was preparing for the decisive battle in the commander's tent. Qu Duan asked: "Jiang Wu, are your Mo Dao team ready? If they are, I will give Sa Li a letter of challenge."

Jiang Wu was a student who graduated from Xinghan Island Chongwu Academy. He was later assigned to serve in the Modao Team under Qu Duan. Due to his outstanding performance, he was promoted to the commander of the Modao Team.

Jiang Wu said loudly and decisively: "Commander, don't worry, all the five thousand soldiers of our Modao team are ready."

Qu Zang nodded and said: "Okay, Ming will divide your Mo Dao team into two parts and deploy them on both wings of the army. The enemy cavalry has the upper hand. If someone wants to say that Lihe will definitely send cavalry to attack our army's two wings, then it will be you Mo Dao." It’s time for the Knife Team to show off.”

Jiang Wu cupped his fists and said, "Yes, Commander."

After Jiang Wu left, Hu Yantong asked: "Does the commander really want to give Sa Li a gauntlet?"

Qu Zang nodded and said: "Yes, I guess Wang De will take action tonight. Salihe will definitely get the news before then. By then Salihe will either return reinforcements or retreat north. I'm not worried. Salihe returned to Hezhong Prefecture to aid. I was worried that Salihe would withdraw directly to the north, which would be bad for our army in the future. After all, Salihe had nearly cavalry. If he really wanted to withdraw, it would not be us. If we can stop it, it is better to inflict heavy damage here. Besides, most of our troops are infantry, which will make Sa Li's burden light."

Hu Yantong sighed and said, "I'm afraid that if our army loses too much in this battle, it will be bad."

Qu Duan pretended to be relaxed and said: "Brother Huyan is overly worried. I think that General Guan Shigu from the Dudu Mansion on the West Road should have already crossed the Yellow River. After Guan Shigu crosses the river, he will definitely run into Wang De. The two of them will destroy the Hezhong Mansion." The enemy will definitely come to Jiezhou. Even if they are not mentioned, Zhang Xia and the others should have ended the fighting in the mountains at this moment and detoured behind Sa Lihe. Moreover, if the enemies of Hezhong Mansion are eliminated, then the army of the Governor's Mansion on the west road will I will definitely cross the Yellow River and come to help."

Hu Yantong shook his head and said with a smile: "It seems that I am overly worried."

Qu Duan said: "Okay, I will give Sa Li a letter of challenge now, and we will fight tomorrow afternoon."

Despite Qu Duan's relaxed appearance, he actually had no idea whether he could defeat Sa Lihe in a field battle. After all, Sa Lihe had too many cavalry, and considering the feud he had with Wu Jie, after so many years, He was also unsure whether Wu Jie would cross the river to aid him.

After writing the gauntlet, Qu Duan sent someone to the Jin Army's camp. Sa Lihe was a little confused after receiving the gauntlet from the Song Army. He looked at the gauntlet from left to right and fell into deep thought. It is reasonable to face his challenge. For a large army, the Song Army should rely on a strong camp or city to hold on. After all, half of his hands are cavalry, and siege warfare is not good for him. In this case, the Song Army is seeking death by fighting with him in the field. What is Qu Duan doing? What do you mean, is he really sure that he can defeat my cavalry with his infantry, or is there some conspiracy here.

After thinking for a while, Sa Lihe couldn't think of a reason, so he asked his subordinates: "What do you think of the Song Army's war report? Should we accept it or not?"

As soon as Sa Lihe finished speaking, Tongqian shouted: "Commander, pick up, of course we have to pick up. The Song Army wants to fight in the field. This is exactly what we want. The siege battle is too strenuous, and there is no time for cavalry to siege the city." How useful."

Sa Li shouted: "That Quduan is a famous general in the Song Dynasty. He must know how many cavalry our army has. He clearly knows that our cavalry is superior. Under such circumstances, he still sent a letter of challenge. Don't you think it's strange?"

Xi Buzhu frowned and said, "It's indeed strange. For the first time in so many years, the Song Army has taken the initiative to declare a challenge to fight with us in the field. However, the commander-in-chief also thinks that we should accept the Song Army's challenge."

Sa Lihe asked: "Oh, then General Xi will tell me why we should accept the challenge."