usatvline Chapter 75, A Young Man's Spirit is Like a Blazing Flame in a Furnace
Chapter 75, A Young Man's Spirit is Like a Blazing Flame in a Furnace
Time flies by.
That morning, Lin'an City was unusually restless. The waiters in taverns and teahouses had already taken down their doors, and the owners were craning their necks to look outside. There were many more people on the streets than usual, chatting in twos and threes, all discussing the battle situation outside the city that day.
At the end of Chen Shi (7-9 AM), Lin Zhou and his group of 108 people gathered by the river. They all put on the rattan armor given to them by Prince Rui, which looked rather ugly.
Lin Zhou didn't wear armor; he thought it was too cumbersome. So he wore a thick cotton-padded coat with the bulletproof vest that Director Zhao had given him over it. It looked out of place and didn't seem to offer much protection.
Lu You and Yang Ti were fully armed, with even their arm guards and shin guards tightly bound.
Yangti stood in front and slammed the long stick wrapped in burlap to the ground.
To the north, the Song people had already arrived, and their numbers seemed to be no less than Lin Zhou's. They were wearing rattan armor provided by Prince Rui, and they carried all sorts of things: long sticks, short sticks, and even white waxwood poles with the spearheads removed.
Their formation was even more orderly than that of the Jin people, and it was vaguely divided into several sections. Judging from their posture, they were indeed quite formidable.
Lin Zhou immediately spotted Xu Cheng standing at the front. He wasn't wearing armor, just ordinary dark-colored clothing, and he was carrying a long staff. Next to Cheng'er was a handsome young man. Lin Zhou had heard people talking about him; he was Han Liang, Han Shizhong's son.
At this moment, Lin Zhou was starting to miss Xiao'e. If Yue Fei hadn't gotten into trouble, she didn't know whether she would have cheered for herself or for her brothers.
However... if Yue Fei hadn't met with this accident, I would never have met a young lady like Xiao'e.
Prince Rui did not show up, but Lin Zhou saw the carriage of the Jin king parked on a hill in the distance, so he figured that must be him.
After resting, training, and tactical arrangements, followed by lunch, it was already noon.
The people on both sides slowly moved toward the open space in the middle and stopped about thirty paces apart.
Tens of thousands of people came to watch the spectacle, and the entire riverbank was packed with people. Almost all the civil and military officials were present, since most of them had their nephews or nieces here, and everyone wanted to see what the outcome would be.
Han Shizhong struggled through the crowd to reach the front row, only to find Zhao Gou standing right next to him when he turned around.
"Your Majesty..."
Zhao Gou glared at him and gestured for him to be quiet. Then Han Shizhong searched around and found familiar faces from the Palace Guard and the Imperial City Guard everywhere, but he couldn't find Qin Hui.
That makes sense, that old dog Qin Hui wouldn't dare come to such an occasion; he might just get stabbed in the heart.
Just then, someone on Han Liang's side raised a small red command flag and waved it forcefully in the air.
Almost simultaneously, a roar erupted from the Song army ranks: "Execute the traitors! Uphold the law!"
The sounds were chaotic but powerful as hundreds of people pressed forward together, their footsteps thundering and causing the pebbles on the riverbank to tumble.
"Arrowhead! Arrowhead formation! Charge!" Yangti roared immediately afterward.
He just charged ahead without regard for formations, forgetting half of his previous instructions, and was the first to charge into the enemy ranks with his stick, his target Han Liang in the center of the opposing formation.
The dozens of Jin soldiers behind him roared and followed in his footsteps, truly displaying unparalleled bravery.
Lu You didn't follow Yang Ti Chong. Instead, he did as he had been told beforehand, leading about twenty other men to guard the left side, with sticks held horizontally in front of his chest, his eyes fixed on another group of Song people flanking from the right. The leader of that group was a man who wielded two short sticks and moved extremely fast.
Lin Zhou was positioned slightly towards the back of the formation, surrounded by a dozen or so men assigned to "protect the strategist." He was incredibly nervous, his palms sweating profusely. After all, he was of below-average combat strength; he had fought in group brawls before, but this was his first time fighting on this scale…
At this moment, he watched as Yangti charged into the group of Song people like a mad bull, and was instantly covered by five or six sticks. The clanging and groaning sounds immediately rang out.
The Song people were clearly prepared; they did not try to block the sheep's hooves head-on.
The group in front formed a small circle, wielding their sticks with impenetrable force, fighting and retreating, clearly trying to lure Yang Ti deeper into the enemy ranks. Suddenly, about twenty people on both sides accelerated sharply, closing in like pincers, trying to cut Yang Ti's vanguard out of the main force and devour them alone.
"Push! Hold the right side!"
Of the dozen or so men around him, half of them, howling, raised their prepared hardwood pushers and recklessly charged towards the Song soldiers flanking from the right. The Song soldiers, caught off guard, were hit in the chest by the pushers. Their feet were on soft mud, and they cried out in pain as they staggered backward, causing chaos among those behind them.
This is the cavalry tactic of the Jin people. Although they did not have horses at the time, their explosive power should not be underestimated.
Although he held his ground on the right, Lu You was under immense pressure. He was facing a Song man wielding two short sticks. The man was incredibly agile, using one stick to block while the other was used to attack his lower body.
Lu You's long staff, reaching his eyebrows, was a disadvantage in this close-quarters combat, forcing him to retreat step by step. He relied on the staff's length to block left and right, appearing quite disheveled. Several Jin soldiers behind him tried to come to his aid, but they were entangled by other Song soldiers.
"Lu You! Don't retreat! Hold on!" Lin Zhou jumped up and down anxiously, "I'm coming!"
Upon hearing this, Lu You gritted his teeth and, surprisingly, didn't dodge the blow aimed at his abdomen. Instead, he tensed his waist and took the hit head-on. At the same time, taking advantage of the opponent's momentary lapse in strength, he swept his long staff across the opponent's shin with a whooshing sound. The man wielding the twin short staff cried out "Ah!" and fell to his knees.
Lu You took a step forward, pointed the stick downwards, and poked the man in the shoulder socket. The man immediately felt numbness and weakness on one side of his body and lost his ability to fight.
Lu You himself swayed, having taken a hard hit to the abdomen, and his face looked quite pale.
"Damn it... Ouch!" Lin Zhou jumped up and down in panic from behind, yelling, "Are you trying to use your prostate as a shield?!"
At this moment, a small team of about ten people suddenly rushed out from the Song army formation. They were extremely fast and ignored the entanglement on both flanks. They rushed straight to the middle and rear where Lin Zhou's formation seemed relatively weak. The leader was agile and wielded his stick quickly and skillfully. It was Xu Cheng!
"Cheng'er!" Lin Zhou felt a chill run down his spine; that guy looked like he meant no good...
The remaining seven or eight Jin soldiers protecting him roared and rushed forward, but the group Xu Cheng brought was clearly handpicked. They worked together seamlessly and quickly broke through the blockade. Two of them were entangled with a Jin soldier when Xu Cheng shifted his feet and slipped through the gap. With a flick of his wrist, he thrust his stick like a venomous snake toward Lin Zhou's face.
Lin Zhou instinctively raised his stick to block, but a loud clang rang out, making his hand go numb and nearly causing him to drop the stick. Xu Cheng gave him no chance to catch his breath, and the second blow followed, sweeping at his lower body. Lin Zhou jumped back in a sorry state, but was still hit in the leg by the blow, causing him to scream in pain.
"You fucking really hit me!" Lin Zhou cursed. This time, he didn't care about any rules. Before Xu Cheng's third strike could land, he hurled the short stick in his hand at Xu Cheng's face and lunged forward, using his signature move of breaking up fights...
He buried his head in his arms and hugged his waist.
Xu Cheng hadn't expected this move. He dodged the flying stick by turning his head but was instead hit hard by Lin Zhou. The two of them fell into the cold mud. They dropped the stick and used fists, elbows, knees—everything—to roll and wrestle in the mud. It was a pure street fight, with one punching the other's shoulder and the other shoving the other's stomach.
Cheng'er was skilled in martial arts, while Lin Zhou relied on his superior physical abilities. In this chaotic fight, the two were actually evenly matched.
All around were shouts of fighting, the clanging of clubs, muffled groans of pain, and thuds of people falling to the ground.
Yang Ti had somehow rushed to Han Liang's vicinity, and the two exchanged blows with their sticks, creating a spectacular and evenly matched fight.
The Jin soldiers' push-pole tactics initially worked, disrupting the Song's encirclement on one side. However, the Song soldiers quickly adapted and stopped charging recklessly. Instead, relying on their superior numbers, they divided into several small teams, covering each other as they engaged in close combat, gradually wearing down the Jin soldiers' strength.
People from both sides were constantly being knocked down and rolling in the mud. Some struggled to get up, while others just lay there motionless.
Lin Zhou and Xu Cheng climbed out of the mud, both panting heavily. Lin Zhou's face and body were covered in mud, and his forehead and mouth were cut and burning painfully. The two stood two or three steps apart, staring at each other with their chests heaving violently.
"If you don't hit me, you'll become a barbarian!" Cheng'er wiped the blood from her nose. "Again!"
At this moment, both sides were clearly on the verge of a fight, and their fearless attitude stirred the blood of the surrounding people. Victory or defeat became especially important at this moment. Those children floundering in the mud with the Jin people now represented the last face of the Song Dynasty.
Han Shizhong clenched his fists and his eyes were bloodshot. He saw his son wrestling with the crown prince of the Jin Kingdom. Both of them were exchanging blows. He vaguely saw the scene when he met the Jin people on the battlefield. At that time, his soldiers fought just like that until their last breath.
The spirit of the Song Dynasty remains!
The Song Dynasty is not over yet!