"Bold! Sun Tu, you are so presumptuous, how dare you speak like this!" All the generals around him changed their colors and shouted loudly. However, Tong Guan, who was directly offended and questioned by Sun Tu, only had a playful smile on his face and stared at him: "Marquis Yue, are you teaching me how to use soldiers?"
Even though Tong Guan looked old and was not very strong, when he opened his mouth at this moment, he exuded a powerful aura that no one dared to despise. The subordinates, generals and counselors around him were so frightened that they recoiled slightly, and their expressions changed again. But Sun Tu, who was locked by his momentum, did not show any fear at this time. He still made eye contact with him and said loudly: "I don't dare. I am just stating the facts in front of me. At the moment, our soldiers of the Song Dynasty are making a big breakthrough." The Liao Army has the best opportunity, if we miss it, I’m afraid we will all be the sinners of the subsequent defeat and regret it endlessly!”
"Hmph, that's alarmist. In my opinion, the Liao army has not done its best. If they attack at this time, they will really be defeated!" A general nearby immediately retorted: "Marquis of Yue, if you say this, could it be that you had already agreed with me earlier?" Master Zhong said that they have colluded and want to use the lives of our Northern Army and Forbidden Army soldiers to save them?"
"Yes, I think you have a problem. The situation of the war is not clear at present, and the Western Army is greedy for power and has entered into a bitter battle with the Liao Army. If I send troops at this time, I am afraid that I will play into the hands of the Liao Army! What do you mean by this? Intentions?"
For a time, many generals around him began to refute Sun Tu's statement and pushed him to collude with the Western Army. This made Tong Guan even more suspicious of Sun Tu. He looked up and down at this young man who was cultivated and promoted by himself again: "Sun Qianli, tell me, what are your intentions?"
Sun Tu smiled bitterly. Although he had already guessed that there would be such a result, when it officially happened, his heart was still full of loss and helplessness.
Yes, why did the Northern Expedition actually end when the Song Army had an overwhelming advantage in terms of military strength and logistics, and when the Song Army still had an elite army like the Western Army that could compete with the Liao Army? Or will it end in a fiasco? Everything right now is the answer to this question.
From the coach Tong Guan down to these generals, they have all lost the honor and responsibility they should have as a military general. All they thought about was their own safety, honor and disgrace, and how to gain benefits from the Northern Expedition at the minimum cost. More importantly, they also wanted to preserve the power and troops in their hands, and take the opportunity to eliminate dissidents.
In Tong Guan's heart, the family member who had never been of the same mind as him was the dissident. As long as there is a chance, he will eradicate it at all costs, even if it involves the last elite of the Song Dynasty, even if it leads to the ultimate failure of this war. Perhaps in his eyes, the threat from the Western Army or the Zhong family was far greater than that of the Liao people in the north.
As for other people's ideas, it is much simpler. They only need to follow Tong Shuai. Of course, it is best if they do not need to take personal risks and lead troops to fight against the terrible Liao army. Therefore, it is a great thing for them to have the Western Army fighting at the front, regardless of victory or defeat. As for asking them to send troops to rescue? It’s simply wishful thinking!
"My thoughts have been clearly told to you, just to defeat the enemy!" Sun Tu narrowed his eyes and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.
Qiao Qiao, his eyes were full of ridicule and disdain. At this moment, in his opinion, these people in front of him are not worthy of being called generals at all. They are just a group of greedy and irresponsible silverfish, silverfish in the army!
It was also at this moment that Sun Tu no longer hesitated at all. He had decided to change the course of this battle in his own way. Anyway, history has told him what his fate will be in the future, so no matter what he does, it won't be worse than this, right
At this moment, another burst of exclamations from the soldiers came from the front, which instantly attracted the attention of most people, including Sun Tu. Everyone looked at the battlefield over there, and then many people's His spirits also increased: "The Western Army actually has a back-up plan!"
Yes, just when most people thought that the Western Army was about to be restrained by the Liao Army's onslaught, and would eventually collapse, a group of soldiers and horses in this defensive formation unexpectedly came from the side. Suddenly, a cavalry force of 20,000 soldiers shot out!
Since the initial raid on the Liao army camp but was repulsed, this Western army cavalry has not shown up. Both the Liao army and the main force of the Song Dynasty in the rear thought that they had dispersed the cavalry into infantry to make up for the shortcomings in the front. Unexpectedly, they had been hiding this team as their last resort, and suddenly released it at this critical moment.
The prominence of this cavalry unit really surprised the Liao army. Immediately, a horn sounded, and the cavalrymen who were launching a surprise attack on the flank of the Western Army were mobilized to that side. If they wanted to fight cavalry, it would be useless. These cavalry must be entangled first to prevent them from attacking their own army.
Moreover, they believed that as long as they could hold back this cavalry for a while, the Xuanjia cavalry that had circled to the rear of the Song army would be able to quickly attack and annihilate them together. Therefore, although the Song Army's cavalry appeared suddenly, it was not completely incapable of coping with it. A mere 20,000 cavalrymen could not change the direction of the war.
However, changes occurred again when the Liao army quickly mobilized troops to intercept and siege. This cavalry, which seemed to be the last hope of the Western Army's comeback, did not attack their central army as they thought. Instead, before the cavalry not far away could stop them, they turned and ran towards the front at a high speed. There was absolutely no intention of fighting with the Liao army.
"This is..." Yelu Chen, the commander-in-chief at the Central Military Department, frowned deeply, and for a moment he couldn't figure out his intention. Such a cavalry suddenly burst out of the Song army's formation without any intention of fighting to the death. Could it be that they were trying to escape from the battlefield? Or maybe there was an important general of the Song Army among them, and they came out to protect this person from escaping back to the south? But they abandoned the remaining tens of thousands of troops here
This question only lasted for a short while, and was replaced by a feeling of panic, because Yelu Chen suddenly discovered that after avoiding the interception of his own cavalry, the opponent suddenly changed direction, cut diagonally towards the main force of the Liao army, and ran towards the north. . After all, he is a general of the Liao Army with rich combat experience. He always has this vision and prediction. He instantly understood the real goal of this cavalry - they were not coming for the Chinese army where they were, but for the target. Set at the Liao army camp further back!
In an instant, he had figured everything out. It turned out that Song Jun had already made plans.
All the previous attempts to attack and defend were just feints, but the real killing move fell here. When he was ordered to bring out almost all the people in the camp to annihilate the enemy in front of him, the camp in the rear became empty. And as long as the Song Army can bypass their own interception, the camp and the commanders in the camp will become lambs to be slaughtered by their swords!
Thinking more deeply, once the Chinese army's camp is broken and Yelu Xiongge and other generals are defeated by the Song army, the Liao army will definitely be in morale chaos. By then, the direction of the Song-Liao decisive battle will be reversed again. Got it!
We must not let Song Jun’s conspiracy succeed! Yeluchen immediately gritted his teeth and shouted loudly: "Send the order, let the troops in front retreat to intercept, and intercept the Song Army's cavalry at all costs!"
Following the promulgation of this order, several groups of Liao troops who were launching a fierce attack on the Western Army retreated quickly. At the same time, the cavalry on the flanks accelerated their pursuit in a hurry, vowing to catch up with the enemy and block their offensive. The Liao Army's Central Military Department, no longer concerned about its own safety, sent out nearly 10,000 troops and quickly formed an interception formation. At this time, the Liao army could no longer care about the tens of thousands of Western troops in front of them who were still fighting a desperate battle.
Naturally, it was impossible for the Zhongshi division to miss such a great opportunity. With a wave of the flag, a decisive order was given. The Western Army switched from defense to attack and pressed forward across the entire line, instantly reversing the previous passive situation. For a time, countless Liao troops were killed and the offensive became weaker.
In the Chinese army camp at the rear, all the generals who saw this scene were stunned. Who would have thought that the situation of the battle would suddenly change 180 degrees when they seemed to be losing. Even Sun Tu was surprised. He didn't expect Zhong Shidao and the others to have such ruthless tricks to win in defeat and survive in death. The Western Army is indeed worthy of being the last elite force of the Song Dynasty, and the two elders of the Zhong family are also worthy of being... The last two famous generals of the Northern Song Dynasty!
It turned out that not only did they place their hopes on themselves, an outsider, but they also had plans to rely on their own strength to win the final victory. And from the current point of view, once this strange move is used, it is really possible to win in one fell swoop. Because no matter how strong and good the Liao army is, it cannot escape its weaknesses as an army since ancient times. Once the leader is killed or captured, the entire army will collapse.
As for Tong Guan, he was staring blankly at the moment as the Western cavalry quickly tore through the blockade of the Liao infantry, bypassed the Liao formation before the opponent's cavalry, and continued to gallop towards the enemy. Because the Liao army's cavalry had charged back and forth many times before, their horses obviously could not keep up with the speed of the Western army, which had been recharging their strength, and the distance between the two sides was still widening step by step.
His expression became a little weird, and his heart was in a mess. He didn't know whether he should feel happy or disappointed. Because once defeated, all the credit for this decisive battle will belong to the Western Army. Hundreds of thousands of people are watching in full view. He can't take credit from others regardless of face. Moreover, he had just said it to death. The Western Army started the war with the Liao Army "on its own initiative", instead of sending troops under his order from Tong Guan.
Perhaps the only way is to quickly send troops to attack while the war is still pending, so as to gain some credit.
Just when Tong Guan was greatly moved and was about to order an attack, the war ahead changed again...