In which battle, Yue Fei led his army to defeat the enemy

The Battle of Lincheng

In May of the tenth year of Shaoxing and the third year of Jin Tianjuan (1140) in the Southern Song Dynasty, the two armies were divided into two groups and launched a massive attack on Shaanxi and Henan. After quickly recapturing Henan and Shaanxi, he led a large army to attack Huainan. At this time, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty panicked again and hurriedly issued an edict to ask Yue Fei, who had resigned to stay at home to watch his mother's funeral, attack from Xiangyang to contain the Jin soldiers attacking Huainan and Shaanxi, and to "try to restore the capital (Kaifeng)." However, the Jin soldiers who attacked Huainan suffered a heavy blow from the "Eight Character Army" led by Liu You in Shunchang (now Fuyang, Anhui), and Jin Wushu had to withdraw to Kaifeng. The threat of Jin soldiers to Huainan was quickly lifted. Song Gaozong also immediately changed his mind and gave Yue Fei the order that "the troops should not be moved lightly, but should be dispatched in advance." However, Yue Fei believed that the opportunity was not to be missed, so he marched northward to the Central Plains, capturing Zhengzhou, Xijing Henan Prefecture (now Luoyang, Henan) and other areas, and sent Liang Xing and others deep into the north of the Yellow River to harass the Jin army's rear. Jin Wushu took advantage of the dispersion of the Yue Family Army and personally led 15,000 elite cavalry to attack the command center of the Yue Family Army, Yancheng (now part of Henan).

Battle history

Tens of thousands of Yue family troops led by Yue Fei set out from Hubei and soon entered the battle map of Yancheng in central Henan. They defeated the Jin army in a row and occupied the important military town of Ying. Changfu (now Xuchang, Henan), Huainingfu (now Huaiyang, Henan), and took advantage of the victory to regain Zhengzhou, Xijing, Henanfu (now east of Luoyang, Henan) and other places. Yue Fei also sent Liang Xing and others to cross the Yellow River, unite with the Hedong and Hebei rebels, severely defeat the Jin army in the rear, and recover many prefectures and counties. Wanyan Zongbi saw that the Yue Family Army was dispersed and found out that Yue Fei only had a small number of troops stationed in Lincheng (now part of Henan), so he decided to personally lead 15,000 elite cavalry into Lincheng in an attempt to eliminate the command center of the Yue Family Army in one fell swoop. . On the eighth day of the seventh lunar month, Zongbi, King Longhu, King Gaitian and others faced off against the Yue family army in the north of Yancheng. Yue Fei ordered his son Yue Yun to lead his light cavalry into the enemy formation, charging back and forth to kill them. The Jin army dispatched the heavy armored cavalry "Tie Fu Tu" (Tie Fu Tu: soldiers wearing heavy armor and iron hats, in groups of three, connected with belts, and guarded by wooden blocks to block the horses every time they took a step forward. Retreat.) for a frontal attack, and the cavalry as the left and right wings, known as "Kaizi Ma" (Kaizi Ma: the cavalry placed on the left and right wings, all composed of Jurchens who are good at riding and shooting.) to cooperate with each other. Yue Fei sent Beiwei's pro-army and Youyi's cavalry troops to fight. He also sent infantry armed with maza knives and large axes to chop down the enemy soldiers and the horses' feet, killing and wounding a large number of gold soldiers, making it impossible for the heavy cavalry to show its strength. Yang Zaixing, a brave general in the Yue family's army, broke into the enemy formation on horseback, intending to capture Wanyan Zongbi alive and kill hundreds of Jin soldiers. The two sides fought fiercely from afternoon to dark, and the Jin army was defeated. On the 10th, the Jin soldiers invaded Yancheng again. Yue Fei defeated the Jin soldiers again at Wulitian in the north of the city and killed the Jin general Ali Duo Jin. Wanyan Zongbi gathered 120,000 troops and stationed them in Linying (now part of Henan). On the 13th, Yang Zaixing went on a patrol with 300 cavalry. They encountered the Jin soldiers at Xiaoshangqiao and killed more than 2,000 Jin soldiers and more than 100 generals including Wanhu Saba Jinjin. The Song army also all died heroically. The number of arrowheads hit by Yang Zaixing was two liters. On the 14th, Zhang Xian led the Yue family army to fight again, chasing the Jin soldiers out of the border of Linying County. On the same day, the Yuejia Army defeated the main force of the Jin Army that invaded Yingchang. After the Yue Family Army defeated the Jinbing Guaizi Horse, Wanyan Zongbi had no choice but to take out his special skill, the Tie Fu Tu. The Tie Fu Tu were all Wanyan Wushu's heavy armored cavalry. The horses ridden by such heavy armored cavalry were made of a thick layer of armor. Protected by armor, and each soldier is also wearing heavy armor, and three companies are formed into a team. In order to deal with the situation where the Song Army's infantry are mostly, a team of iron pagodas are used to surround the Song Army's infantry, which can form a group of wall-like destruction. They defeated the Song army with all their strength. The heavy armor on each of their cavalry was not afraid of arrows and weapons such as broken knives. Therefore, it was called the Iron Buddha. enemy! Yue Fei had already expected Wanyan Wushu's method. When he saw the Jin soldiers and Tiefutu coming to fight, Yue Fei immediately ordered the Wei army to return to our formation. The elite infantry of the Yue family army who had already watched the enemy's formation were ready to attack. They rushed forward. According to my estimation, these infantry also belonged to the Beiwei Army. The elite infantrymen of the Yuejia Army were carrying the Wei Army and came forward with heavy axes. Although the golden soldiers and iron pagodas were extremely fierce, they also had their weaknesses. The strength of the war horses The joints were not protected by iron armor, so the Yue Family Army cut off the horses' feet. If a horse had its legs broken, it would be unable to move forward. As a result, a team of horses could not fight back effectively. Taking this opportunity, the Yue Family Army soldiers killed the Jin soldiers. , in the end, Wanyan Wushu's proud Tiefutu also suffered heavy losses. According to records, nine out of ten people died under the machete of the Yue family army! After the Kaizi Ma and Tie Fu Tu failed one after another, the Yue Family Army's combat power surged and they continued to kill the Jin soldiers regardless of their own safety. Suddenly, the 100,000 troops integrated by Wanyan Wushu were defeated. After losing the strong backing of Tie Fu Tu, the Yue Family Army was defeated in a hand-to-hand battle. Erlang fought bravely to kill the enemy and had a clear advantage in the close combat. Wanyan Wushu saw that the situation was over and he had no way to recover. Even if he continued to fight, he might not be able to win, so he had to announce his withdrawal. The battle was finally declared a complete victory for the Song army. The end! This battle was the fourth important battle of the Yue Family Army's Northern Expedition.

Significance of the Battle

The Battle of Yancheng is a schematic diagram of a decisive battle between the elite troops of the Song and Jin sides. The Song army defeated the larger army with less and dealt a heavy blow to the Jin army. If the Song army can take advantage of the victory and advance forward, there is great hope for regaining its old territory. However, Song Gaozong Zhao Gou and Qin Hui only wanted to use the victory as capital to beg for peace with Jin, so they ordered their troops to destroy the victory of this war.

Battle Evaluation

The Battle of Yancheng, which took place in the 12th century, was the most extensive and long-lasting national war in Chinese history. During Yue Fei's lifetime, brutal wars spread throughout the territory of the Song Dynasty, causing serious damage to the economy. The confrontation and division between the north and the south of the Song Dynasty and Jin Dynasty seriously hindered social and economic development and caused deep suffering to the people of all ethnic groups. Therefore, the anti-golden struggle represented by Yue Fei not only served the Zhao and Song regimes, but also essentially reflected the interests and aspirations of the people of all ethnic groups. It was a just struggle against separatism, striving for progress, and opposing regression.