At night when the goose feathers and snow fell from the sky, a small fire broke out in the courtyard at one end of Zizhou City, which was already uninhabited.

The cause of the fire was that the wind and snow blew away a lantern hanging in the hallway of the house, which slowly ignited the debris that had been deposited on one side of the corridor for a long time. The husband and wife at the top of the Huaxia Army were a little panicked at first, but then launched a fire-fighting operation in this cold winter night, and the small fire was extinguished soon after the heavy snow fell.

Many years later, the mysterious fire that occurred in the corner of Zizhou City during the most tense time of the Southwest Campaign may be turned out of the pile of old papers by a literati or third-rate writer, and turned into the fuse of a certain barnyard official history or a conspiracy story. But at the time, not many people noticed this small incident, and when the couple walked back to the headquarters along the road in the middle of the night, the sky and the earth were already filled with snowflakes, and both of them had indescribable but indeed relaxed smiles on their faces.

- Left memories.

This happened on the night of December 27, the eleventh year of Wu Jianshuo, and by the dawn of the second day, the heavy snow had not stopped, and the rolling mountains in the southwest had been wrapped in silver.

The end of the year is coming. From the dividing line between Huangming County and Yushuixi to the direction of Zizhou, the escort of the captives continued—the Huaxia army was still digesting the results of the battle at Yushuixi—due to the heavy snowfall, some of the Jurchen captives took the risk and chose to flee into the mountains, causing some confusion, but overall, it could no longer affect the overall situation.

And among the mountain roads that stretched from the front line of the battlefield to the Sword Pavilion, the military camp of the Jurchens, which was gradually covered with heavy snow, was filled with an atmosphere of depression, slaughter and madness.

In the midst of the heavy snowfall, there was a small movement caused by fighting in the mountains. In the wind and snow, some pieces of paper whistled towards the camp of the Jurchen army with the heavy snow.

Even in the gap after the phased victory, the attack of the Huaxia army did not stop, and the scouts arrived close to the Jurchen military camp or the mountain road that must be passed through with leaflets, and the behavior of releasing leaflets occurred from time to time.

The leaflet recounts the course of the Battle of Yushuixi: the Huaxia army defeated the Jurchen army head-on, besieged the Yushuixi camp after killing the Lili, and a large number of Han people had already been on the battlefield, and based on their performance on the battlefield, the Jurchens did not regard these Han troops as human beings...... The leaflet was followed by a reward for Zong Han's two sons.

Even without these leaflets, vigilance and hatred of the Han army had actually occurred in the Jin soldiers' barracks.

Over the past few days, Yu Yu has executed dozens of Han scouts who "disobeyed orders": many of them died because of their association with Ren.

In the previous war, in order to ensure the combat strength of these Han scouts, the Jin side drove the Han scouts to contribute by offering bounties. This was originally a correct strategy, but when Ren Hengchong found a way to the rear of the Huaxia Army, he was unwilling to report to the top, and insisted on taking people to snatch this "credit", but in essence, it killed a "possibility" that Jin Bing could have found.

What if it wasn't more than 20 people who ran to the other party's camp to do it, but 200 or even 2,000 female profanities? Maybe the other party's camp has already been in chaos, Ning Yi's son was either captured or killed, and through the chaos in the camp of the wounded soldiers, the backlash of the front line Yushuixi, the battle on December 19 may have a completely different result.

In the process of executing dozens of scouts, Da Lai, who was in control of the army, kept an eye on various Han army camps at the same time, and a large number of Han army members who picked up leaflets from the Huaxia Army were found out and punished. The atmosphere of slaughter oppressed the living space of the various Han armies.

“…… If it weren't for the defection of these southern dogs, there would be no defeat in the Battle of Rainwater Creek! ”

Twenty-eighth, the main camp of the ten-mile set of snow. When entering the gate of the camp, Da Cheng pulled down his cloak, shook off the snow on his head, and was still slamming the "black sheep" in this battle with the generals he met.

To a certain extent, his statement can be regarded as one of the main ideas in the Jin Ren Army at the moment. The generals who came looked at the Han army camp in the distance and waved their hands vigorously.

“…… The southerners are extremely incompetent, and they have long said that they are very difficult to use! Hmph, now that the situation of Yushui Creek has lost slightly, I think, they can no longer be trusted! ”

“…… War fighting, the most afraid of dragging its feet. The road in Yushuixi is complicated, and the southern dog is incompetent, and it is defeated and fled with a slight rush, and it also occupies the rear road, so that the deployment of rescue on the battlefield cannot be timely. I see, it's best to transfer all of them to Huangming County, where the terrain is more open, and it will cost a lot of shells from the Black Flag Army......"

“…… At most, Huangming County can stuff a few people, and today 50,000 southern dogs will be transferred up, and the Black Flag Army will rush in turn, and you may not know how many people have defected, and when they come back, will your camp door be opened? ”

“…… In my opinion, if you don't open it, you can't attack the city wall, and if you dare to come back, you will die! ”

“…… It's just a handover to the Black Flag Army. If the Black Flag Army doesn't take it in, and 50,000 people are blocked on the battlefield, we don't have to attack forward. ”

“…… A bunch of rats! The southern dog is a bad breed! ”

“…… There are dozens of Han slaves at home, and when they do things, they only know how to be lazy......"

Several generals walked towards the high place of the barracks through the snow, exchanging thoughts of this and this. At the other end of the camp, Yu Yu met with the serious-faced Wanyan Xianbao, he looked at the barracks with the tent spreading, and listened to the "King of Baoshan" whispering: "...... If he hadn't died at Eagle's Beak Rock, he would have taken the greatest responsibility for this defeat! ”

"After all, he is dead, so I will say a few words about these words." After listening to Yan Xianbao's words, his brother Wan Yan Sheye also walked over from the side.

In the wind and snow, many generals of the southern expedition are gathering towards Shiliji.

The sudden defeat of Yushuixi eight days ago shook the entire southern expeditionary army of the Jin people. Except for Da Lai and Yu Yu, who rushed to Yushuixi to clean up the mess as soon as possible, almost all the high-level generals were shocked and unbelievable by the sudden message from Yushuixi.

The Huaxia army suddenly attacked with less than 20,000 troops, and crushed the attacking troops of the entire Yushuixi head-on, and their own troops were defeated like a mountain, and finally only a few thousand people kept half of the camp in Yushuixi......

For more than two months, among the Jurchen generals, except for the front line of the Jurchens and the rest of the commanders, who presided over the attack, and the rest of the generals who were in the middle or rear, they also cheered up and participated in the maintenance and preparation of the entire battlefield.

From Jiange to Huangming County, Yushuixi is a long and narrow mountain road of nearly 50 miles, the terrain is rugged, difficult and difficult to travel. In many of these places, the roads are rudimentary, and they have to be maintained after the cars and horses and after the rain. However, under Xi Yin's prior planning and Han Qixian's logistical operation, hundreds of thousands of troops opened up mountains and roads in two months, not only widening the original road twice, but even building new plank roads in some places that were originally impassable but could break ground.

The Jurchens were originally barbaric when they started their troops 30 years ago, but a generation of people such as Aguta and Zong Han were clever and good at absorbing the strengths of others, and they were constantly learning new tactics in the course of fighting again and again. The first ten years of rise relied on the invincible blood courage of the brave who met on a narrow road, and the middle ten years gradually collected craftsmen from all over the world and learned the cooperation of equipment and tactics. It wasn't until this time thirty years later that Zong Han, Xi Yin, Han Qixian and others finally made an orderly joint operation of hundreds of thousands of people.

Most of the people in charge of opening the mountain and opening the road were the Han troops who were driven in and the skilled Han craftsmen who were captured after crossing the river, but it was the Jurchen generals who were in the rear who managed and supervised these people. For more than two months, the front line continued to attack, and the rear was able to solve the most troublesome access problem under such circumstances, and all the generals could actually vaguely feel the magnificent power of "man conquers heaven".

Now this is the power of Daikin when it is fully mobilized!

In the past two months, in the discussion of some generals, if this war really drags on, they can even have the pride of mobilizing Han Nu to "move the southwestern mountains".

The black flag on the opposite side was able to hold out for two months in Huangming County, Yushuixi and other places, and the defense was as strong as an iron bucket and not leaking, which is indeed worthy of admiration. It's no wonder that they defeated Lou Room and quit that year. But for the general trend, there is still enough confidence in the entire Jin army.

The sudden defeat of Rain Creek was a slap in the face when everyone's faith was at its strongest!

At that time, the battle situation on the front line of Yushuixi collapsed rapidly, and in the afternoon it was brutally defeated in the front, and was killed by the Huaxia army at Eagle's Beak Rock, and many troops broke through to no avail. In the early morning and the next day, there was urgent information sent back one after another, and the Huaxia army not only defeated the main force of the frontal army, but even besieged the Yushuixi camp, and defeated the periphery of the Yushuixi camp before the time, and the killing drove straight in.

There are nearly 50,000 people in Yushuixi, and the camp has a favorable location, and in less than a day, it was attacked head-on by the Black Flag Army, which is rumored to be no more than 20,000 people.

As a veteran of the killing field of his life, many Jin soldiers and generals in the rear turned pale after hearing the news, and it was not until the second thought that he finally picked it up, and then he wondered if it was a false alarm, or if he encountered a superb tactic that happened to play a role in the black flag.

The hot-tempered Wanyan Xianbao even cut down a tree with a knife on the edge of the barracks, shouting: "This is impossible! "I will immediately rush to the front line and kill these scouts who lie about the military situation and disturb the morale of the army. He really couldn't believe the result.

The relatively calm and steady Wanyan Shiyema could only confidently say: "There must be something strange in it." ”

No one can believe in such a result. For thirty years, whether fair or unfair, this is a taste that the Jurchens have never tasted.

Nearly a decade ago, Lou Mur had forced the Black Flag Army in the northwest into a disadvantage—of course, in the records of the Huaxia Army—and it was a small coincidence that he was accidentally beheaded by a Black Flag squad on the battlefield, causing the Jurchens to taste their first defeat at the hands of the Black Flag Army.

Although he did not lose his plan in Yanzhou, the tens of thousands of troops under his command still smashed open the gate of Xiaocanghe, forcing the Black Flag Army at that time to flee miserably south, and on the frontal battlefield, the Jurchen army could not be regarded as experiencing a crushing defeat.

Today, a few years later, at the moment when Daikin mobilized its strongest force to march south, and many veterans have not yet left the stage, the black flag on the opposite side shows such amazing fangs...... Did the southwest really give birth to an army that was even crazier than the Jurchens thirty years ago?

Fortunately, further explanations came in the following days.

At noon on the 19th day of December, Lili, who was accustomed to taking risks, finally could not hold back the restlessness of two months, and led the guards to personally attack the key breakthrough called Eagle's Beak Rock.

Secondly, the changeable terrain of Yushuixi caused the complexity of the offensive, and the elite of the Chinese army came out, but the Jin people had to accept the evil consequences of the Han army mixed with the troops in the ranks, and these original surrendered troops all became a burden in the face of the opponent's attack. When some of the Jurchen elites were retreating or rescuing, the roads were blocked by these Han troops, so that the battlefield could not run in time, and the fighters were delayed.

In addition, part of the Han army's rapid surrender to the black flag on the battlefield suddenly attacked the camp that night, resulting in the destruction of the periphery of the Yushuixi camp, causing greater damage to the main force of the Jin army on the front line. Because he had already died in battle, although several middle-level fierce generals fought to the death and defended a small half of the internal camp, it was no longer helpful for the battle itself.

With this information, there is finally a reasonable explanation for the rout of Rainwater Creek.

He was already dead, he was the head of the first army during his lifetime, and the low-status generals in the Jin army could not say anything about him, and he could only be comforted with honor when he died on the battlefield. Then the largest pot can only be carried by the Han army. In the days after the battle, the armies from the Sword Pavilion to the front line still needed to calm the morale of the army and suppress the restlessness...... On the twenty-eighth day, the snow was falling, and several generals who received the order were recalled to Shiliji by the order of Wanyan Zonghan.

The weather was cold, and the huge military camp was surrounded by the mountains, among the rolling foothills as far as the eye could see, and the heat and noise of the crowd were soaked in the snowflakes flying in the sky. Some of the generals arrived in the morning, and some in the afternoon. Towards evening, Wanyan Zonghan lit a roaring bonfire in the open space outside the big tent - the gathering place, ready to be in the snow in the open air.

Wanyan Zonghan threw wood into the bonfire and watched as the sparks splashed out and the snowflakes were forced away by the fire.

In the snow, one after another generals came: Saba arrived, Yu Yu arrived, Da Cheng arrived, Han Qi arrived first, Gao Qingyi arrived, Wanyan also arrived, and Wanyan Xianbao arrived...... There are also figures who have been fighting for many years, and they have seen this raging flame, and they have gathered here in the snow.

Zong Han's tall figure was silent, and he threw another piece of wood into it, and the flames flew up with a bang, and countless flames of light rose to the sky.

Soon, a familiar shamanic war song whispered among the crowd.

“…… Roar, my White Tiger Mountain God!

I am the one who overcomes ten thousand and is favored by heaven!

……

Tell me, O mighty God!

……

O people who are with me!

Listen closely.

……

My Hai Dongqing spreads its wings——

Fly free! ”

Around the roaring bonfire, there seemed to be countless figures, following Ying He......