But everything is one and two, and there is good and bad.

It is precisely because of their greed, or the heart of thrift and maintenance of the materials that the Great Song Dynasty has accumulated with great difficulty, that the Jin army has an opportunity.

While the soldiers of the Tongyun battalion were busy carrying supplies with all their might, the Jin army investigated the real changes in the Haizi Village camp and quickly captured the Song army camp with cavalry, so that the soldiers from the Tongyun battalion did not even have time to set fire to the camp, so they could only leave in a hurry.

Ming Fu's subordinates, or Ming Fu's own greed, immediately let him know the consequences of being greedy when he shouldn't be greedy, because the secret spy detective learned that the Jin army would soon be based on the Haizi Village camp and Yanjing City, and gather troops to attack the transportation camp in two ways!

At this time, the question of whether to retreat or defend was placed in front of Ming Fu, the marshal was not there, and more than 30,000 people were waiting for his order.

Let the Jin army get a complete Haizi Village camp and take up countless materials, it is already a mistake, if you give up the transportation camp again, Ming Fu will no longer have the face to see Yang Congyi.

Ming Fu has only one choice, which is to stick to the camp and wait for Yang Congyi to return to the front line and save the defeat!

After making a decision, Ming Fu immediately gathered his generals and announced that he would stick to the camp and wait for orders from reinforcements.

At the same time, a general was sent to the Chaobai River camp more than 70 miles to the north with his letter, explaining the loss of the Hedgehog River and Haizi Village camp, and agreed that no matter what, the two armies would jointly defend Tongyun and the Chaobai River camp and never retreat, because the success or failure of the Northern Expedition was up to them!

A day later, the general sent out brought back a letter from the Chaobaihe battalion, saying that he would obey the orders of the generalissimo of the Northern Expedition, cooperate with each other in defense and mutual assistance, and defeat the enemy army!

On the night of 12 November, Ming Fu learned that the Jin army had gathered 50,000 troops and was about to launch an attack on the transportation camp, so he sent a messenger to the Chaobaihe camp that night, asking the other side to take advantage of the favorable opportunity to rescue the transportation camp, or send troops to the side to respond, attract the Jin army's firepower, and reduce the pressure on the transportation camp.

On the morning of the 14th, the two Jin armies dispatched from the direction of Yanjing City and Haizi Village Daying met 20 miles west of Tongyun Daying, and then marched together and went straight to the Song Army camp.

Half an hour later, the Jin army's front army arrived at the river west of the Song army's transportation camp, and a river more than ten zhang wide blocked their way.

This place is less than a mile away from the Song army camp, very close to the Song army, and even the Song soldiers on the other side of the river can see it clearly.

Originally, the boat bridge erected by the Song army on this river has been demolished, and all the passage bridges within 20 miles of the entire river have disappeared, part of which was demolished by the Jin army itself when it contracted the defensive circle, and part of which was just demolished by the Song army in the past few days.

The camp of the Song army is close at hand, and it is not a simple matter to cross this river, which is more than ten zhang wide but not very deep.

This place is the territory of the Jin army, of course they know that the river in front of them is not deep this season, only up to the waist, and they can wade through it without a bridge, but at this time it is winter, it is already very cold, not to mention that the dripping water becomes ice, in fact, it is almost the same, let the soldiers wade through the water to cross the river, that is, let them die.

The Jin army's strength in the Yanjing area was limited, and the loss of any troops would reduce their ability to defend Yanjing City, so when the war came, they would rather abandon the city outside the city than fight with the Song army and damage their own troops.

Although the situation has changed, the Jin army still does not want to let their troops suffer unnecessary damage, so building a boat bridge over the river has become their first priority in attacking the Song army's camp.

The 30,000 Song troops on the other side of the river did not eat for nothing, and they naturally would not be indifferent when they knew that the Jin army was going to build a boat bridge to cross the river and rush to the camp.

Therefore, from noon on 14 November, the soldiers of the Song and Jin sides fired at each other with strong bows and crossbows across the river, and the Song army wanted to prevent the Jin army from building a boat bridge, and the Jin army wanted to resist the Song army and cover their own bridge, and the battle across the river was very fierce.

From daytime to late at night, whenever the Jin soldiers were seen in the water, the Song army would shoot with strong crossbows and hard bows from behind thick shields, and at the same time, the Jin army would also cover the Song army's positions on the other side of the river with a rain of arrows to cover the soldiers who were in the water.

Of course, there were also a small number of Jin soldiers who could withstand the cold, cross the river with water, and surprise attack the Song army's riverbank position, but the number of people crossing the river was limited after all, and the ability to move was greatly reduced after the water, and it did not pose much threat to the Song army, but lost their lives.

After a few days, both sides attacked and defended across the river, but each side was damaged, and the boat bridge that the Jin army wanted to build was never repaired under the prevention of the Song army.

The commander of the Jin army decided to send cavalry all the way to the south to detour, cross the river and harass, and fight for the opportunity to build a bridge for the army.

Because after a few days of exploration, the Jin army found that there was still a bridge connecting the east and west banks thirty miles to the south, and there were only a few thousand Song troops stationed nearby, so it could be captured in one fell swoop.

In the early morning of 18 November, a cavalry force of 5,000 men left the Jin camp and, after several miles westward, avoided the sight of the Song army on the other side of the river, and then quickly turned and galloped in the direction of the bridge to the south.

At the same time, the two banks of the river between the Song camp and the Jin camp continued to carry out offensive and defensive battles, and the two sides seemed to be not stingy with feather arrows, and after round after round of shooting, the open space on both sides of the bank was full of feather arrows, dense, like growing dense weeds.

Just when the arrows of the Song and Jin armies were firing across the river and the cavalry troops of the Jin army were hurrying south, a cavalry force of several thousand people was quietly waiting here in the south of Matou Village, more than 120 miles northeast of Gu'an County.

This cavalry unit is well-equipped and brightly armoured, and it is the Great Song Jingwu Forbidden Army.

At the head of the pack was a general in his thirties, with his monoculars in his hand, looking north, and in his binoculars there was an endless, empty wilderness, with no people, no animate creatures, and nothing seemed to be there.

But moments later, a vague figure appeared in his monoculars, and his face couldn't help but move.

As time passed, the figure became clearer and clearer, and a man dressed in the clothes of ordinary people was seen galloping on horseback in this direction.

After finally seeing the face of the future clearly, the general of the Jingwu Forbidden Army put away the binoculars.

Not long after, a man and horse in the previous telescope galloped on the dry grass and smoke, and turned over and dismounted in front of the cavalry general.

"Your Excellency, the enemy army is heading in the direction of Matou Village. Judging by the speed of the enemy's army, you can reach Matou Village in two quarters of an hour! The scout said.

"How many people are expected?" The commander of the Jingwu Forbidden Army was not surprised by the arrival of the enemy army, but how many people from the other side came was the question he wanted to care about the most at this moment.

The scout immediately replied, "Judging from the size of the enemy's army, it should be about five thousand, not more than six thousand, and no less than four thousand. ”

Although the number of enemy troops given by the scouts is not very accurate, it is enough to have this information, whether it is 5,000 people, 6,000 people, or 4,000 people, it does not make much difference to the Jingwu Forbidden Army, as long as it does not exceed 10,000 people, he is confident that he can defeat the Jin army on horseback.

"Good. Go and inform the defenders of Matou Village, tell them not to evacuate too early, and only after the enemy army appears, they can see the enemy army, and the enemy army can see them, so they can withdraw to the other side of the river! If the evacuation is too early, the enemy is suspicious, and the ambush fails, and the commander will personally punish him. The commander of the Jingwu Forbidden Army immediately commanded.

"Order!" A herald dressed as a scout received the order and rode away from the group.

"Report to Gu'an, just say that the enemy army has been dispatched and is about to enter our ambush circle." The commander of the Jingwu Forbidden Army issued another order.

"Order!" Another herald received the order, and Pegasus left the group and ran south.

"The whole army is ready, and in two quarters of an hour it will go!"

As soon as the commander gave the order, the two thousand soldiers of the whole army immediately began to check whether the equipment on horseback was complete and whether it was missing, to check their best companion war horses, to see if the saddles and horseshoes on their bodies were in the most suitable position, and most importantly, whether the armor on their bodies could completely cover their flesh and skin, and whether they could protect their bodies in battle.

The Jingwu Forbidden Army is the heavy armored cavalry of the Great Song Dynasty, and the reason why heavy armor is used is not that it is really needed for combat, at the beginning it was just to protect the war horses and avoid damage to the limited war horses, and later it was to highlight the uniqueness and difference of the Jingwu Forbidden Army.

The imperial court, or Zhao Yan, spent a lot of money on this elite forbidden army, and now there is the only heavy cavalry of the Great Song Dynasty with all the troops and horses wearing heavy armor.

This cavalry is so precious, Zhao Yan is generally reluctant to use it, and when the Northern Expedition to Hedong and Guanzhong was carried out a few years ago, the Jingwu Forbidden Army was not dispatched.

This time, if it weren't for Zhao Yan's personal expedition, the Jingwu Forbidden Army would still not be dispatched, and as a result, Zhao Yan left Beijing, and the forbidden army followed the escort.

The mysterious Praetorian Guard, who had never made a move, went north with Yang Congyi this time, and finally had the opportunity to show their skills and fight a beautiful victory, so that the other armies would recognize their strength instead of calling them embroidered pillows.

Two quarters of an hour of rest and recuperation passed.

With the assistance of his personal guards, the commander of the Jingwu Forbidden Army turned over his horse, and after dancing the spear in his hand a few times, he ordered: "The whole army is on the horse and ready to attack!" ”

The heralds rode away and quickly spread the orders to the whole army.

In a short time, all the officers and men of the army put on their armor and got ready to go to war.

"Lord Commander, the whole army is ready, and you can set off at any time!"

After receiving this report, the commander immediately raised the spear in his hand and said loudly: "The whole army is attacking!" Target Matou Village! ”

As soon as the order was issued, the commander was guarded by the left and right personal guards, and rode out first.

The order went out, and the officers and men of the whole army followed in turn according to the established queue, five people in a row, lined up in a neat cavalry formation, the horses stepped on the barren grass, raised the broken grass and flying dust, and galloped towards Matou Village, ten miles away to the north.