Killing shouts surged like a tide, the thunder of hooves rolled and echoed, and roars, clashes, and the clang of metal on metal filled the vast battlefield. Search: \(\、Full、Book、God、Station、) to read high-quality literature for free.

Black and grey smoke drifted in the air, filling it with a chilling stench. As the iron-clad cavalry unleashed their power at close range, a spear formation met them head-on. The struggle between the lances and warhorses was accompanied by the grating of twisted metal. Spear tips pierced through the gaps, stabbing into the horses' bodies, bringing forth a wave of blood. The wounded warhorses turned, causing men to fall from the spear formation. Knights on horseback swung their long ge, slashing across faces. Heavy hammers swung down, crashing onto the heads of warhorses, sending them crashing to the ground amidst blood and gore.

Horns blared, followed by even larger explosions that seemed to shake the entire earth. Immense columns of smoke rose into the sky.

Then came the Black Flag Army soldiers, surging forward in a tidal wave.

From the moment it began, the battle on Dong Zhiyuan left the Iron Harrier little room for choice. The improved firepower of the gunpowder shattered their original battle plans. After the initial two rounds of artillery fire, the heavily armored cavalry, having suffered enormous losses, could only react belatedly. In an ordinary battle, if the Iron Harrier's losses reached six to nine hundred without the enemy collapsing, they would consider withdrawing. But this time, the front ranks barely engaged before suffering such heavy losses that their options were severely limited. When Meile roughly assessed the situation, he could only rely on instinct to make a choice at once.

He made his choice.

During this time, no orders were issued. The Iron Harrier units could only continue their charge.

Although the heavy cavalry's front ranks had suffered heavy losses, the precise extent of the casualties had not yet sunk into the mind of every rider. Soon after, the Iron Harrier surged towards the artillery positions like a raging tide. The one hundred-plus cannons fired a hasty third round. Less than a quarter of an hour into the battle, the Iron Harrier's immense power was on full display, tearing through the artillery's defenses as the iron steeds swept across the formation.

Cavalry charged across the land. Chang Da's light cavalry, originally intending to charge, saw the Iron Harrier break through the center and decided to harass the Black Flag Army's cavalry from the flanks instead.

Then, before everyone's eyes, the entire artillery position was engulfed in a series of explosions. Black smoke billowed, and the earth shook.

From the start of the battle, the explosions and smoke had painted the battlefield like a nightmare. Iron steeds were struck, caught in the blast waves, and horses, frightened, collided with one another, losing their combat effectiveness. However, as the elite of the Western Xia forces, the Iron Harrier still managed a breakthrough, but only one.

As the artillerymen retreated towards the edge of the battlefield, dragging their few cannons along, the gunpowder stored in the two hundred-odd wooden boxes in the center of the formation began to explode, one after another. The spreading black smoke engulfed everyone's vision like a rising tide. At the same moment, the low horns grew louder and brighter, and the Black Flag Army, which had been shifting to the flanks, launched a general offensive.

In the midst of the explosions, the cavalry squads scattered across the battlefield had largely lost their speed. Infantry swarmed in from all sides, some pushing iron barricades forward and throwing them into the horse formations. The barricades clanged as they were struck by the charging heavy cavalry. Some of the Iron Harrier attempted to break out in close combat. They were the elite of the Western Xia, and even when isolated, they still possessed considerable combat power and awareness, but their morale had plummeted. And the Black Flag Army they faced was also an elite force that could continue to fight even after losing its structure.

The Iron steeds' last resistance occasionally sent men flying into pools of blood. Spears, iron spikes, and barricades toppled warhorses one by one. Heavy hammers crashed against the heavy armor, making terrifying sounds, and the flesh inside was almost pulverized. Each time a warhorse fell, thick blood gushed out from beneath.

Luo Ye led his soldiers, pushing iron barricades, and charged madly toward the enemy's banner. The ground, freshly blasted, was covered in dust and smoke. Occasionally, broken and armored riders charged out of the dust. The men who met them first threw out the barricades, followed by glaives that stabbed and hooked at the horses' legs. Hammer soldiers stood ready to strike with their heavy hammers. Occasionally, Black Flag Army soldiers were cut down by the enemy's spears and ge because they could not break through the armor.

The final, true test of strength began at that moment, and the two sides collided like cold, hard steel!

On one side of the battlefield, Chang Da led his two thousand seven hundred light cavalry in a desperate charge. Soon after, scattered explosions sounded again. The two thousand light cavalry on the Black Flag Army's side charged toward them at the same high speed. The two cavalry forces fought and clashed on the side of the field like long dragons...

And the dragon fought in the field, its blood black and yellow. Thick blood stained the earth red.

Half an hour later, a battle that would determine the entire Northwest situation came to an end.

************

A long, desolate wind swept dark clouds across the sky, and horse teams occasionally ran across the plains beneath those clouds. Near Qingzhou in Northwest China, groups of Western Xia soldiers were scattered about, sensing the impending storm.

Some of these soldiers were originally stationed here, supervising the grain collection in various places. Others, due to the chaos in Yanzhou and the death of Western Xia General Ji Lasailer, were fleeing westward. The horse teams were the fastest, followed by the infantry, who were taken in after encountering their companions.

The defeated soldiers were spreading tales of the mountain bandits' terror. Although no contact reports had yet arrived from many fronts, many people knew the news: a band of fierce bandits was rushing in from the east, with malicious intent.

The Ganzhou Gansu Army, led by Ji Lasailer in the Yanzhou and Qingjian areas, was not the most elite of the Western Xia army, but it could be considered a mainstay. Further west, the garrison in Qingzhou was mostly composed of attached soldiers and logistics troops. Because the true main force had been pulled to Yuan and Huan prefectures not long ago, and given the rapid defeat in Yanzhou, the Western Xia army in Qingzhou was not able to fight.

Yeli Jingji had known about this for two days. He was one of the elite among the Qingzhou garrison, originally a member of a collateral line of a large Western Xia clan. He had studied and trained in martial arts from a young age and was now a member of General Hao Rong's direct guard. When the first wave of news arrived, he understood the whole story.

Although he refused to believe that there was any force in the Northwest other than the Zhe family that dared to provoke the Western Xia, and did not believe that the enemy's combat power would be as high as the scouts said, the death of Ji Lasailer and the total defeat of the army were undeniable facts.

To cope with the sudden Black Flag Army, Hao Rong released a large number of trusted guards and elite scouts to strengthen the intelligence network to the east and monitor the army's movements. Yeli Jingji was sent more than twenty li to the east, guarding the Ten Tiger Plains, to closely monitor the enemy's movements. But the Black Flag Army had not yet passed the Ten Tiger Plains last night. The Iron Harrier arrived first.

Yeli Jingji was relieved. The Iron Harrier was famous throughout the world, and every Western Xia soldier knew how terrifying their charge was. Yeli Jingji also had acquaintances in the Iron Harrier army, and he chatted with them that night, learning that the emperor was furious about this army and that the entire army had pulled up camp and was returning east to stabilize the entire situation in the east. And the Iron Harrier's six thousand riders came mightily, no matter how powerful the enemy was, they would be intercepted in the mountains and dare not act rashly.

The second day was overcast, and the Iron Harrier pulled up camp and left. Soon after, Yeli Jingji received a message that the Black Flag Army had been spotted ahead, and the Iron Harrier was about to attack them. Yeli Jingji ordered someone to return to Qingzhou to spread the news. He led a few trusted subordinates and headed east, wanting to be the first to confirm the Iron Harrier's great victory.

The wind and clouds rolled in the sky. From the mouth of the Ten Tiger Plains to Dong Zhiyuan, the earth was boundless. Yeli Jingji and his subordinates galloped all the way, and they heard a faint sound of thunder from the east. He lay on the ground and listened to the sound. The information transmitted from the earth was chaotic. Fortunately, he could still see some traces of the army passing through. He followed the traces and suddenly saw a fallen warhorse ahead.

The blood was bright red. Scattered arrows were stuck in the ground. The warhorse had been shot down by arrows, and its owner had fallen not far away, with several wounds on his body. He had obviously fought fiercely before his death. It was actually a member of the Iron Harrier's auxiliary cavalry team. Looking around, there were more corpses in the distance.

That was another fallen Iron Harrier auxiliary soldier. Yeli Jingji got off his horse and saw that the man's chest had been pierced by several spears, and his face had been cut off by a knife, the wound was ghastly and showed the bone. The Iron Harrier main team was famous throughout the world, but the auxiliary soldiers were carefully selected from various large clans, and were often more fierce. This man was tall and had several old wounds on his hands. Judging from the clothing adorned with honors, he was also a veteran who had experienced many battles. He didn't know what kind of enemy he had encountered, but he had been cut down like this.

And looking at the direction they were running and falling, it was clearly the opposite of the previous army's direction of travel. Was he actually fleeing?

The wind seemed to be whimpering slightly. Yeli Jingji was stunned for a moment by this thought in his mind, and looked back, but he found it difficult to accept. There must be other reasons, he thought.

According to the time the previous message was sent, the Iron Harrier and the enemy had not been at war for too long, even if they had started. Six thousand Iron Harriers, three thousand iron cavalry, would never fear even tens of thousands of troops. How could they be fleeing? It was more likely that the enemy was killed and fled, and a few people were killed by the enemy in the pursuit of the light cavalry.

He thought it must be so, and remounted his horse. Soon after, he followed the black dust floating in the sky and found the direction of the battle. Along the way, a terrible fact appeared before him. There were more and more fallen riders on the road, most of whom were light cavalry auxiliary soldiers of the Iron Harrier. In the distance, the outline of the battlefield had appeared. The area was surrounded by smoke and dust, and many figures were still moving.

There were no other living people nearby. Yeli Jingji suppressed the ominous feeling in his heart and continued to move forward. He hoped to see a scene of a large number of Iron Harriers moving and cleaning up the battlefield. However, the scene opposite him became clearer and clearer...

Mountains of corpses and seas of blood, fallen heavy cavalry warhorses, eyes that could not close, the black flag fluttering diagonally, the steel helmet being held in someone's hand, and the thick blood dripping from people's bodies and the tips of knives.

In the more distant places, there seemed to be a group of people taking off their armor. Yeli Jingji could not understand the scene before him. At this time, the vast wilderness was full of armies he had never seen before. They were walking in the sea of blood, and some people were looking over here.

The Iron Harrier had launched a charge here, and had fallen into it...

A small team of light cavalry was running towards him. Something was pounding on the blood vessels in the back of his head, or like a hand was grabbing the back of his head. Yeli Jingji's scalp went numb, and he suddenly jerked the horse's head: "Go!"

He ran away madly, wanting to get away from that hellish sight...

************

With a bang, someone pushed a warhorse's corpse to the ground. The soldier under it tried to get up, only to find that he had been pierced through the chest by a long sword and nailed to the ground.

"Damn it! Damn it—"

The Black Flag Army soldier cursed loudly, his body struggling slightly, his hands gripping the sword hilt. The person next to him also gripped the sword hilt. Someone pressed him down, and someone shouted: "Where are the people! Where's the doctor!? Come quickly—"

"Damn it—" Blood gradually poured out of the soldier's mouth on the ground. There were chaotic sounds all around. Columns of smoke rose into the sky. Stretchers ran across the battlefield, ran past piles of corpses. The soldier on the ground opened his eyes until the light gradually faded from his eyes. Not far away, Luo Ye opened the helmet of an Iron Harrier heavy rider. The knight could still move, and suddenly swung a sword. Luo Ye stabbed a knife into his neck, stirred it, and blood splattered on his body. Only when a huge bloody smell permeated around him did he suddenly stand up and pull down his helmet with a swish.

"Mao Yishan! Where is he! Liao Duoting, Liao Duoting—"

Various shouts filled the air. In the process of cleaning up the battlefield, some officers were also constantly looking for the whereabouts of their soldiers. Not many people cheered. Even after the threat of killing and death, there was an unspeakable sense of relief, but only at this moment was everyone looking for something they could do, and in these things, they felt some kind of emotion landing and taking root in their hearts.

At this moment, they truly felt their own strength and the weight of victory.

This weight came from the strength of everyone around them.

There had been too many expectations for the battle against the Iron Harrier, and when the battle occurred, the entire process was too fast. For the Iron Harrier, the landslide-like defeat in the huge explosions left them with no psychological expectations, but for the soldiers of the Black Flag Army, the subsequent collision was not fancy. If they were not strong enough, even if they disrupted the Iron Harrier's formation, they would not be able to swallow this hard bone, but in the end, they forcibly stuffed the Iron Harrier into their stomachs.

The victory in Yanzhou was too quick for them to have a real feeling, but this time, everyone felt the real strength condensed on the blade.

But it also came at a price. The final resistance of some heavy cavalry caused many casualties to the Black Flag Army soldiers. On one side of the battlefield, Chang Da led the light cavalry in a fierce attack on the center of the battlefield to rescue the Iron Harrier main force that was deeply mired in the mire. The several cannons that had been withdrawn in advance caused considerable casualties to the light cavalry, but could not change the momentum of the light cavalry. Liu Chengzong led two thousand light cavalry to intercept the enemy's charge. Nearly five thousand cavalry fought fiercely on the side of the battlefield. Finally, after a small number of heavy cavalry broke through the encirclement and some Iron Harriers surrendered, this Western Xia auxiliary force collapsed and fled.

For these servants of wealthy families, it was often worse to be alive than dead if their masters died. Therefore, the resistance will of these people was even more tenacious than the main force of the Iron Harrier.

But no matter from which level, in this battle, the Black Flag Army suppressed the Iron Harrier head-on. Whether it was the melee on the main battlefield or the crazy fighting of the cavalry on the flanks, the combat power and aggressiveness shown by the Black Flag Army soldiers under a high degree of organization and discipline were stronger than this Western Xia heavy cavalry that was famous for its name.

Staggering, Mao Yishan got up from the pool of blood, feeling pain in his chest. In the melee, he and Hou Wu and others formed a formation to fight with the heavy cavalry. When a lone rider charged from the side, Mao Yishan grabbed a shield and slammed into it from the side. He was knocked away and woke up at this time.

There were fallen comrades beside him. His head was buzzing a little. After a while, the buzzing stopped. He moved forward and saw that the people walking beside him were all comrades: "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?"

In the other party's rhetorical question, Mao Yishan had slowly smiled. He already knew what was wrong in his heart.

We defeated the Iron Harrier.

************

Inside the clanging sound, there were piles of steel armor like small mountains.

The captured heavy cavalry soldiers were gathered here, about four or five hundred people. They had already been forced to throw away their weapons and take off their armor. Watching the Black Flag fluttering, soldiers surrounded them. The silent one-eyed general stood aside, looking into the distance.

A team of light cavalry was returning from there. Behind them they brought back some warhorses. The warhorses carried heavy armor, and some people were tied to the back with ropes, running forward.

These people were dragged to the front. One of them was tall and had a noble temperament, but at this time he looked disheveled and miserable. The more than five hundred people who surrendered looked at this person, and this person also swept his eyes over them, and then looked at the one-eyed general who was walking towards him.

"What... what kind of sorcery are you using." That person was Meile, the leader of the Iron Harrier. At this time, he gritted his teeth and opened his mouth, "You have angered Western Xia, and you will perish sooner or later. If you want to live, quickly release us and follow me to plead guilty to my emperor!"

The one-eyed general stopped in front of him, and after a moment, he spread out his hand to the side: "Look at these people on the battlefield."

On the surrounding battlefield, those soldiers were peeling off the steel armor from the corpses of the Iron Harrier. The beacon smoke had dissipated, and their bodies were covered with blood, scars, and full of firmness and strength. Meile turned his head, and the sound of a long sword being unsheathed had already sounded. Qin Shaoqian drew his sword and slashed across his neck, the blood light was like a training. The head of this Dangxiang leader flew out.

************

Under the cloudy sky, someone put armor on the warhorse. There was still a little bit of blood in the air. Heavily armored cavalrymen appeared again and again. The knights on horseback also put on armor. Some people were holding helmets and putting them on.

"From today onwards... there will be no more Iron Harriers."

On Dong Zhiyuan, the collision between the two armies was like thunder, and the resulting shock also spread and spread like thunder soon after.

At this time, the number of Black Flag Army soldiers who could fight had been reduced to seven thousand. Almost all of the elm cannons had been exhausted in this battle, and the shells were also close to running out. Only the iron-clad heavy cavalry had increased to more than 1,500 after defeating the Iron Harrier. After Xia Village, to the rebellion against the emperor, and then one year of training in Xiaocang River, the combat power of this army finally took shape and stabilized for the first time after showing its edge.

And in front of them, the 70,000-strong army of the Western Xia King advanced. After receiving the news that the Iron Harrier had been almost completely wiped out, the emotions of the upper echelons of the Western Xia court were close to collapse. However, at the same time, they gathered all the available troops, including the garrisons and grain supervision troops in Yuan and Qing prefectures, and gathered them to Li Ganshun's main force. On June 27, the entire army, including various arms such as light cavalry, bubas, strong crossbows, qinsheng, and poshi, had exceeded 100,000, and like a giant, they were marching mightily towards the army that was resting in the east.

In Xiaocang River, Ning Yi was sitting on the hillside outside the courtyard, enjoying the cool. The old man came over. For the first time in the past few days, he did not open his mouth to argue with him about Confucianism. He had confirmed the Black Flag Army's frontal defeat of the Iron Harrier yesterday morning, and today, he confirmed another message.

"After you defeated the Iron Harrier... you still refuse to withdraw?"

"Yes." Ning Yi pinched his fingers and looked ahead, answering.

"...Alas." The old man hesitated for a long time, and finally sighed. No one knew what he was sighing about.

In Qingzhou City, there were not many Western Xia people left. Lou Shuwan stood by the window of the inn, looking at the sky in the east that was about to turn dark.

One hundred thousand people have pushed past, but the other side has not yet moved.

Everything that had happened in the past few days made her feel a chill and tremor deep in her heart. Everything that the man who had been hiding in the mountains since the assassination of the emperor had shown in this crisis made her feel an unimaginable sense of madness, the kind of barbarity and bestiality that swept away everything. Years ago, there was an army that used it to sweep the world.

She could understand Li Ganshun's difficulties. As long as that army made a slight move, whether it was retreating or avoiding, the Western Xia army would have more choices, but the other side did not. The military report said that the other side had 10,000 people, but the real number was probably less than that. The other side did not move at all, so the 100,000-strong army could only continue to push forward.

The Western Xia people's predicament was not important to her. What was important was that in today's dream, she dreamed of him again. Just like when she first met in Hangzhou, that gentle and polite scholar... After she woke up, she had been shivering faintly until now. The things in the dream, she did not know whether she should feel excited or scared about it, but in short, the summer sun seemed to have no temperature...

God, please... kill him...

Qingzhou, the battle clouds are gathering!