When Shi Songzhi heard that the army besieging Pizhou was attacked by cavalry, his expression immediately became serious.
cavalry? Raid?
A question arose in Shi Songzhi's mind. According to the information he received, the Qi army's 20,000-horse army was in Hebei. How could it appear in Pizhou?
Shi Songzhi was surprised and asked, "How is the situation in the former army?"
"Historical Prime Minister, Qi thieves and cavalry troops broke through more than ten of our camps. The eastern and southern suburbs camps were broken through. When the brothers fled south, they were killed by the cavalry~~~" The visitor said with a cry, "Brothers were defeated." , either killed or captured by Qi thieves~"
When Shi Songzhi heard this, his eyes darkened, and his body swayed slightly. Fortunately, he had seen strong winds and waves, and finally stabilized his body, "Where is Shi Zhaizhi?"
"The envoys fled to the camp in the western suburbs to hold on! Now they are trapped in the camp!" a visitor reported.
In the festival hall, many civil and military officials who had been confident in destroying Qi just now couldn't help but feel a little frightened after hearing this.
The 50,000 front troops were defeated by the Qi army and cavalry in the blink of an eye, leaving everyone unable to calm down.
Liang Dacheng said: "Xiang Shi, could it be that Zhao Tai led the main force of the Qi army southward?"
Shi Songzhi frowned, pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "Impossible! It is impossible for the main force of the Qi army to withdraw from Hebei in such a short period of time. It should only be the cavalry of the Qi thieves!"
"Xiang Xiang, aren't the Qi thieves fighting fiercely with the Mongols? Why can his cavalry army appear in Pizhou? Could it be that the Mongols want to trick us?" A Song general said angrily.
There was not much trust between Mongolia and Song Dynasty, and no one wanted to have a head-on confrontation with the Qi army. They all wanted the other party to annihilate the main force of the Qi army.
Because of the strength of the Qi army, whoever fights the Qi army will end up killing one thousand enemies and losing eight hundred, even if he wins.
They all need to consider the relationship between the two parties after the war. It is human nature for some people to suspect that Mongolia deliberately sent Zhao Tai's cavalry south.
Shi Songzhi's face turned dark when he heard this. He walked a few steps back and forth in the festival hall, stopped, and gritted his teeth and said: "No matter what Mongolia means, we must go north immediately and rescue the soldiers trapped under Pizhou City first. .”
The Song army that besieged Pizhou was attacked by the Qi army's cavalry, which made the Song army look ugly.
If so, Shi Zhai and the remaining Song army were wiped out by the Qi army, and the Song army's front army was destroyed. The Song army would not only suffer huge losses, but also lose face in front of the Mongols.
Shi Songzhi repeatedly emphasized that the Song army could not make a fool of itself like when it attacked Liao, because he was worried that Mongolia would see the Song army's low combat effectiveness and attack the Southern Song Dynasty after destroying Qi.
Now he doesn't care whether the Mongols want to trick him or not, what he has to do is to rescue Shi Zhaizhi first and ensure that the Song army will not suffer any more losses.
There were many civil and military officials in the festival hall. They heard that if they wanted to go north, they would have to run into the Qi army. Everyone couldn't help but look at each other with a hint of timidity in their eyes.
When Shi Songzhi saw it, he couldn't help but became furious, "It is impossible for the main force of the Qi thieves to arrive in Pizhou in such a short period of time. Only the cavalry of the Qi army could come. Besides, how could the Qi thieves not guard against Mongolia?" And attack me with all your strength? I, the Song Dynasty, have an army of hundreds of thousands, are we still afraid of his army of only 10,000 cavalry?"
When the generals heard his loud shout, they immediately cheered up. Liang Dacheng said: "That's right! The Qi bandits don't have too many troops. Even if the Mongols are up to something, the Qi bandits don't dare not to guard against the Mongols and go south to attack us with all their strength. I It seems that the defeat of the former army was just due to a sneak attack by Qi thieves and they were caught off guard. Now that we are well prepared, how can we be afraid of him!"
The Song army could not bear the consequences of the destruction of the former army, and the Mongols could not be made to feel that the Song army was vulnerable. Otherwise, after Qi was destroyed, Mongolia would definitely attack Song.
Shi Songzhi gave the order, and the Song army's battalions immediately packed up their gear, then went out of camp to form formations and advanced in the direction of Pizhou in battle formation.
~~~~~~
Pizhou City.
Shi Zhaizhi was so frightened by the Qi army that he fled into the camp in the western suburbs and never came out again.
The Song army was afraid of being besieged by the Qi army, so they reinforced the camp overnight, dug trenches outside the camp, and upgraded the wooden camp walls to earth walls to ensure that the camp could withstand the attacks of the Qi army's cavalry and infantry.
Regarding the Song army in the western suburbs, Xu Erzhu suggested taking advantage of the great victory to capture them in one go, but Zhao Tai did not adopt it.
There are still 15,000 Song troops in the western suburbs, and their camps have been reinforced. However, Zhao Tai only has 10,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry, and he still needs to look after 50,000 or 60,000 prisoners. The number of troops on hand is obviously insufficient.
If we attack at this time, if the Song army's reinforcements arrive and the Qi army cannot capture the Song camp, it will hurt the morale of the Qi army, increase the prestige of the Song army, and be detrimental to Zhao Tai's next plan.
Therefore, after Zhao Tai defeated the Song Army's camps in the southeastern suburbs, he did not launch an attack on the Song Army in the western suburbs and allowed them to upgrade their camps in the western suburbs.
At this time, Zhao Tai's attention was not on Shi Zhaizhi, but on the main force of the Song army to the south.
After Shi Songzhi learned that the Qi army's cavalry had arrived in Pizhou, he led the army to march north. However, in order to prevent the Qi army's cavalry from raiding, Shi Songzhi sent a small number of Song army's cavalry to guard around the army.
Not long after the Song army moved north, Qi army scouts discovered their movements, and Zhao Tai immediately led the cavalry south.
In the wilderness south of Pizhou, 10,000 Qi army cavalry were stationed on the hills. Zhao Tai was looking down from a high position, overlooking the Song army coming from the wild fields to the south.
Zhao Tai took out his telescope, observed the marching Song army, and frowned slightly. The Song army in the lens was a group of thousands, marching in formation, obviously to guard against the surprise attack of the Qi army and cavalry.
"Your Majesty, let me charge once!" Wanyan Chenghu's injury was still not healed, so he asked for orders to attack again.
Zhao Tai watched for a while, but shook his head, "Song Jun is ready, just send a thousand households to test it out!"
After hearing this, Wanyan Chenghu could only order a general to launch a surprise attack on the advancing Song army.
A thousand cavalrymen rushed down from the hill quickly, their horses' hooves rolling like an unstoppable torrent.
The Song army had long discovered the Qi army's cavalry in the distance. They saw the Qi army's cavalry charging towards them. The few Song army cavalry immediately gathered together to face the Qi army's charge down the hill.
At the same time, the marching Song Army team immediately stopped, and the Song Army infantry immediately formed small square formations of a thousand people amidst the shouts of the officers.
Zhao Tai raised his brows and immediately shouted: "Blow the horn and tell the cavalry not to go deep into the enemy's formation, but to guerrilla outside the formation."
On the hill, the Qi Army's horn sounded. The Qi Army's cavalry, which had just broken through the Song Army's cavalry, was about to charge directly at the Qi Army's infantry. When they heard the sound, they suddenly pulled the reins of their horses, turned around, and ran towards the Song Army's infantry. A wave of arrows missed and they galloped past the perimeter of the Song Army's infantry.
At this time, in the Song army's formation, the divine arm bow began to exert its power, and the dense soldiers fired at the Qi army's cavalry running close to the formation.
On the hill, Zhao Tai saw that Qi Jun's light cavalry could not get any advantage, so he immediately ordered decisively, "Blow the horn! Retreat!"
The sound of the trumpet resounded across the field, and the cavalry who heard the military order immediately drew their horses and retreated.
On the hillock, Zhao Tai also urged his horses downhill, leading nearly ten thousand cavalrymen towards Pizhou.
