Li Jiangyao walked out of the handsome tent alone, gently adjusting the cloak on his shoulders and looking up to the sky. At this time, there were dense clouds overhead, and it was no longer the usual black night sky, but a dull dark red, which made people feel breathless.
The voice of the white-robed guard reached his ears: "Defender, the offensive troops have begun to gather, and the generals have also gone to Commander Xu."
Li Jiangyao nodded and looked at the people coming and going not far away. A large number of Zhenjiang soldiers were holding various weapons and were organizing their troops in an orderly manner. There was a solemn atmosphere everywhere inside and outside the camp.
"I'm afraid it's going to rain heavily," the guard muttered from the side, and then asked, "Defender, do you want to go over?"
Li Jiangyao looked at the sky again, and then said in a deep voice: "Let's go and have a look."
After that, he walked away and walked towards Xu Youchang's military tent a few hundred meters away.
At this moment, Xu Youchang's tent was already crowded with generals from the First Army, the Second Army, and the Sixth Army. Everyone was receiving Xu Shuai's final departure instructions. When they saw the guardian arriving, everyone quickly saluted and said hello, and at the same time moved out of the way.
Xu Youchang wore a set of serial armor, a black iron helmet, and a scarlet cloak. He looked at Li Jiangyao resolutely. Li Jiangyao came to his side and said calmly: "You are the protagonist tonight, continue with the deployment."
Hearing this, Xu Youchang nodded, continued to turn to his men, and shouted in a solemn voice: "The battle begins at five o'clock! All armies and flags will attack the enemy in front of them in accordance with the established strategy. Only advancement is allowed, no retreat! Only victory is allowed, no retreat is allowed. Defeat! Do you understand?"
"Understood!" the generals responded in unison.
Xu Youchang's eyes were stern: "The scouts reported that the enemy has strengthened their defenses. Once the raid begins, it will soon turn into an attack. Therefore, you must be prepared to fight them as Turkic elites. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" everyone shouted again.
Xu Youchang turned to look at Li Jiangyao, who nodded silently at him. Xu Youchang smiled confidently and waved his big hand: "Move!"
Du Jian, Jigriz and others shouted, turned around and left. For a moment, the sound of armor inside the tent was astonishing. Everyone left quickly, got on their horses, and roared away in different directions.
Click! Rumble——
As the generals rushed towards their troops, a roar of thunder suddenly exploded in the air, followed by muffled thunder, which spread across the sky in an instant. Soon, huge raindrops poured down like crazy pearls, covering the whole world in a curtain of water in a blink of an eye.
Li Jiangyao murmured: "It's raining heavily again, just like Weinan back then."
Xu Youchang couldn't help but laugh and said: "It's true. It seems that God is willing to help. In this kind of weather, it is definitely better to attack than to defend."
"Youchang, the rebels are waiting for you. You must be careful." Li Jiangyao held hands tightly with Xu Youchang: "I'm waiting for your triumphant return."
The situation is indeed as Xu Youchang said, God has helped the attacker a lot.
Although this sudden heavy rain caused the water level of the river to rise sharply and the waves to be turbulent, it virtually made it more difficult to cross the river by boat. However, because of the rapid and violent rain, it also plunged the defense line on the south bank into confusion and chaos. Within a few feet, nothing can be seen, seriously affecting visibility.
Faced with the crazy wash of icy rain, all the rebel posts were struggling. Without waiting for their superiors to nod in agreement, the sentries hid in fortresses and tents one after another, causing almost no alert at the riverside.
Under the cover of the violent storm, the vanguard groups of the Zhenjiang Army entered the preset starting positions one after another. They stood quietly in the dark rain curtain and silently stared at the river that was also plunged into darkness.
Hundreds of large and small military and civilian ships docked in sequence in accordance with the action strategy that had been practiced countless times. Groups of Zhenjiang soldiers were not disturbed by the heavy wind and rain at all, and boarded the ship in batches in an orderly manner.
Countless sails sailed across the turbulent river in the night and rain, sailing bravely to the opposite side.
At the fifth watch, the bugle suddenly sounded!
Immediately afterwards, hundreds of giant war drums were beaten vigorously by the drummers, mixed with the sounds of thunder and rain. The passionate drum beat hit the hearts of all the soldiers on both sides of the river.
The rebels who were hiding in their tents to take shelter from the rain were suddenly awakened by the sound of trumpets and drums. In a daze, they even wondered whether their ears were disturbed by the heavy rain and thunder outside, causing them to have an inexplicable illusion.
However, this suspicion did not last long.
The roar of the mountain and the tsunami-like shouting of killing soon came over very clearly.
This is not an illusion! This is a massive attack by the Zhenjiang Army!
Thousands of heavy armored infantry jumped straight into the water near the beach, then brandished swords and axes, waded through the knee-high river water, and charged desperately towards the south bank defense line.
Along with these heavy armored infantry, there were countless sharp arrows flying from the darkness. Like the heavy rain in front of them, they poured down overwhelmingly and enveloped the entire rebel camp in an instant.
"The enemy is attacking! The enemy is attacking! Be on guard, be on guard!"
The rebel officers brandished their swords and roared at the top of their lungs, reminding their subordinates to gather and fight. However, their frantic voices were completely suppressed by the sound of war drums on the opposite side and the sound of the heavy rain around them, and had no effect at all.
The rebels' riverside defense line was still in a state of chaos and confusion.
From time to time, dazzling lightning flashed across the sky, and the light shone across the river. Looking around, in front of the defense line are dense black sails, and countless soldiers are rushing towards the shore like huge waves!
The entire camp of rebels was suddenly frightened and stunned.
It wasn't until tens of thousands of Zhenjiang's heavy armored infantry successfully landed on the river bank and were within easy reach of the defense trenches that they finally reacted from their daze, picked up various weapons one after another, and began to resist with all their might.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
The mission of the heavy infantry was very clear. While they were desperately killing the rebels standing in front of them, they quickly destroyed the Jumalu Village at the forward position, clearing obstacles for the main attacking force behind them.
In just half an hour, the entire river defense was washed to pieces.
The rebels were all horrified. Not to mention that they were rushing to fight in the night rain and darkness. Even if the weather was clear and they were well prepared, they might not be able to deal with these ferocious men wearing iron masks.
The resistance at this time is both helpless and desperate.
For the rebels, who are suffering from pain, the nightmare has just begun.
As Jumalu Village was continuously pushed down and destroyed, a burst of terrifying thunder suddenly came. However, the muffled thunder did not resound in the air, but rolled from the ground beneath their feet.
The cavalry troops of the Second Army have successfully landed ashore and are beginning to charge towards the rebels!
It's over, everything is over.
Complete despair suddenly arose in the hearts of every rebel soldier.
In the blink of an eye, countless war horses leaped onto the beach, charged forward wildly, and violently charged towards the rebel positions.
The four rebel infantry phalanxes that had just been organized with all their strength were hit head-on by the cavalry group led by Du Jian personally before they had time to advance towards the shore.
In the pouring rain, countless rebels were scattered, knocked over, hacked to death or trampled to death, leaving them almost defenseless.
Not long after the one-sided massacre lasted, earth-shattering shouts of killing came from the direction of the Zhenjiang Army again. A mixed group of light and heavy infantry with a total strength of 40,000 followed closely behind Du Jian and the others and launched a full-scale attack on the rebel defense line.
The giant crossbows of the Shenji Battalion were set up directly on the front high ground and fired wildly at the enemies in the distance. Five thousand archers and three thousand crossbowmen lined up in neat arrays and launched extended shots at the same time.
Under the cover of dense rain of arrows, the overwhelming army of suppressing troops seemed to be more violent than thunder and denser than heavy rain. In an instant, they completely engulfed those rebel soldiers who were lucky enough to escape the cavalry charge.
From the time they started their cross-river attack at the fifth watch, until the rebels' three front and rear defense lines were completely breached, it took Du Jian and the others less than an hour and a half to become invincible. More than 7,000 rebels were killed on the spot, and many more fled in all directions and were defeated.
When Xu Youchang crossed the river by boat and set foot on the south bank, the entire Second Army and part of the Sixth Army had successfully landed and successfully occupied a nearly ten-mile frontal defense line. Du Jian then began to command the cavalry troops to raid the enemy's rear command post and pursue the remaining soldiers.
At the same time, all ships returned to Jiangbei, preparing to carry the second batch of troops.
Xu Youchang looked up at the heavy rain that was not abating at all, and ordered in a deep voice: "Send someone to call General Du back! All soldiers follow my command and immediately strengthen the existing positions to prevent the enemy from counterattack!"
He was right. Those currently crossing the river are mainly the Second Army, which is a mixture of infantry and cavalry. Together with the five battalions of the Sixth Army, the total strength is about 60,000.
Calculating the time, all the troop transport ships returned to the north bank to reload the First Army and the Sixth Army. It would take at least a whole day to send them here, including men and horses.
If the factors of enemy ships coming to block the attack are also taken into account, it will only take longer.
During this period, once Ye Rongcheng and Xie Bao lead troops to join the battle, the troops crossing the river will face a counterattack by the opponent's superior forces, and the situation will become very serious.
Only by struggling to withstand the enemy, firmly holding the beachhead position, and waiting until all the armored cavalry and heavy infantry arrive, can victory be truly in Xu Youchang's hands.
After the military order was passed, the well-trained soldiers immediately took action.
The Zhenjiang Liehuo Second Army, a veteran force capable of attacking and defending well, quickly switched from surprise attack to on-site defense, and relied on the camps left by the rebels to lay out a combat system.
Not long after, Du Jian was ordered to lead the cavalry troops back. He galloped up to Xu Youchang and said loudly:
"Xu Shuai! The bastards are indeed here! It's your old army, the Xuanjia Army!"
