One quarter of an hour after the dragon banner was raised, Jiao Wentong's troops under the command of Wang Yan in the central army of the imperial camp completely collapsed, and the commander Jiao Wentong's whereabouts were unknown.

This army had been rotated down from the Dongpo heights by the Song army. As the fierce fighting on the heights continued for longer and longer, both sides became exhausted. In addition, the battle lines had stabilized, so before Lou Shi formed his battle array, during the large-scale melee on the south side of the battlefield, the battle on the heights had already become somewhat tacit.

Correspondingly, Wang Yan had long since abandoned supervising the battle, instead trying to have the front-line troops withdraw from the heights in shifts to rest.

Jiao Wentong's troops had withdrawn before the dragon banner was raised. Originally, because Bo Lisu had suddenly intensified his offensive on the heights, they were preparing to go back up to replace Li Qiong's troops, who had suffered the most casualties. But when the Jin army formed their array on the south side of the heights, and then the dragon banner was raised from the central army, the entire Song army was greatly encouraged. After communicating with Wang Yan, Jiao Wentong chose to stay in place and turn his entire army to face Lou Shi's Five-Colored Banner of the Sun... His intention was to take advantage of Lou Shi's engagement with the heavily armed Qin Feng Road troops and press in from the flank to achieve a miraculous victory.

However, Wanyan Lou Shi would not give him this opportunity. What was the point of having the mobile advantage of cavalry on a local battlefield?

Therefore, Jiao Wentong's troops immediately encountered the Jin army's strongest cavalry, possibly the most powerful heavy cavalry in East Asia at this time, and were completely crushed.

Two *Hezha Meng'an* (合扎猛安) units, carefully selected and established since the time of Aguda, only one participated in the attack on Jiao Wentong's troops. Pu Cha Huzhan led a full complement of one thousand riders, fully armored, who had spent a long time getting their equipment ready below Jin Suo Mountain. They were like one thousand iron pagodas, pushing hard against the base of the heights and literally ‘shoveling’ this force of several thousand Song soldiers off the heights!

The Song army, apart from a very small number of divine crossbows and heavy long-ax infantry, had no, and could not possibly have any weapons that could cause the slightest damage to this force.

Moreover, like other units, Jiao Wentong had handed over most of the few divine crossbows and heavy long-ax infantry in his unit to the Emperor beforehand. Even if there were a few remaining, they had no effect and caused no casualties at this time. Because at the same time that Pu Cha Huzhan launched his attack, Lou Shi's beloved general, Wanyan Pou Shu, also used Lou Shi and that Five-Colored Banner of the Sun as the axis, leading a large number of cavalry to launch a textbook-style Jurchen cavalry assault on the Song army head-on.

First came the circling shots, dense circling shots. Thousands of Jurchen cavalry, shielded by the left and right iron pagodas, advanced in a rotating manner around Lou Shi... Dense Jurchen heavy arrows caused enormous casualties to the Song army. Jiao Wentong's troops were already on the verge of collapse. According to this trend, the Jin army would not have needed to engage in close combat.

But obviously, Lou Shi's wave was extremely rapid and violent. He himself and his banner were advancing like the wind, and the Jurchen cavalry around him quickly swept directly into the Song army's formation. The Jurchen cavalry did not panic at all, but changed from bows to spears, and swept through the Song army layer by layer in a scraping fish scales pattern, each time stirring up countless flesh and blood.

This formation, in a more rustic way, is called the wheel tactic. In a more scientific way, it is called circular volley fire plus close-quarters side impact. And if one were to be vulgar, it could be called a whirlwind cavalry formation or something like that... It was a conventional tactic for small Jin army units. They often launched similar advancing attacks in units of *mouke* (谋克).

But without a doubt, when this cliché tactic was executed by the strongest cavalry general of the era, in conjunction with the strongest cavalry unit of the era, plus a cavalry scale of seven thousand, which could not be underestimated on any battlefield in the world, then it could simply be called a typhoon formation.

In the Guanzhong region, rain had not fallen for many days, but suddenly a cavalry typhoon composed of iron horses and golden spears appeared out of nowhere.

And Jiao Wentong's troops were the first victims of this cavalry typhoon. The entire army was scattered in all directions, and the commander's whereabouts were unknown... The morale of the surrounding Song army, which had just surged because of the dragon banner, was immediately extinguished! The Qin Feng Road army facing them was shocked, the troops on the heights were even more terrified, and even Wu Jie, who was still leaving the camp, and Zhao Jiu, at the distant central army camp, were each horrified.

It was not that no one had expected casualties. In fact, seeing Lou Shi's formation and those two units of almost fully armored cavalry, the Song army from top to bottom had the awareness of suffering large-scale casualties. But why so fast? Why so decisively?

And most importantly, where was the Song army's counterattack?

The Jin army was not without casualties. The Jin army had visible casualties, but most of the casualties came from the natural attrition that terrain caused to large-scale heavy cavalry... On the heights and high ground in the camp, everyone could see very clearly that on the undulating terrain below the heights, many Jin soldiers often stumbled and fell from their horses, and then silently became the inevitable consumables of war.

However, these casualties were mathematical probability casualties after the number of Jin army cavalry reached this level, not artificial casualties. No one saw any effective damage caused to the Jin army by any counterattack from the Song army, because Jiao Wentong's troops almost collapsed directly with Wanyan Lou Shi's advance... This caused a heartfelt sense of panic in the Song army present.

And after the panic was a heartfelt admiration... yes, admiration!

Admiration that cavalry could be used like this?!

Admiration that heavy armored, heavy bow cavalry was so strong?!

However, this admiration quickly disappeared, replaced by various choices deep in people's hearts.

The first to react was of course Wang Yan, who was closest to Lou Shi. He witnessed everything from the closest distance and the best perspective, and most directly felt the power of this typhoon.

And don't forget, the side that collapsed in the battle was his core subordinate.

Therefore, when the Jin army rolled over below the heights, the mind of this commander of the Eight Character Army was almost blank. And after the blankness, because of the distance, Wang Zicai was forced by the situation to make a quick but stiff decision:

As a *jieshuai* (节帅), and with the Emperor just a few miles away in the camp, and the Eight Character Army under his command being Hebei soldiers with a deep hatred for the Jin army, surrender and escape were unthinkable. Life and death were no longer important at this time, but the key was that as a subject, he had to fulfill his duty and not allow the overall situation to collapse from his position. Even if it was unavoidable, he had to die first to repay the Emperor's kindness.

"Pass the order!" At this thought, Wang Yan had no more fear. He directly turned his head and ordered, "Let Wang De take overall command of the battle on the heights, and do not retreat a single step... Our main force will turn to form a battle array and prevent the defeated soldiers from reaching the heights... Move the flags and follow me to the front!"

Three orders were quickly transmitted. Then, in full view, Wang Yan took the initiative to move his banner to the westernmost end of Dongpo heights, facing the countless Jin army and defeated soldiers below the heights.

This was an extremely encouraging move, and a very timely move.

Lou Shi only glanced faintly at Wang Yan's banner, then waved his arm and pointed towards the dragon banner in his northwest direction... In all fairness, at that moment, this Jin army commander did have the intention of letting his troops take the opportunity to rush up the heights. That would have been a way to end the battle.

But that was just for a moment. As Wang Yan turned and raised his banner in time, this Jin army commander immediately abandoned this fleeting thought in his heart.

The reason for this was not only tactical considerations, that is, considerations of terrain, time, and reinforcements, but also that this battle was Wanyan Lou Shi's last battle. He wanted a complete victory! And when that goal was aligned with the dragon banner raised on the opposite side, he should not think about anything else.

"Hold on!"

As the Jin army troops started moving again and came straight towards them, Zhao Zhe, the Qin Feng Road pacification commissioner, who had recovered from the sudden outbreak of fighting, forced himself to ride into his own formation from a small hill and shouted loudly in the formation, "The Emperor is watching us from behind! The rewards for going to war have all been issued! We have no reason not to fight for the Emperor!"

"According to Grand Commandant Wu's instructions, spears in the front, stick the spears directly into the ground at the very front!"

"Divine crossbows, crossbowmen, and archers are arranged according to their range!"

"Cavalry on the flanks..."

Zhao Zhe rode back and forth in the formation, shouting non-stop. The Qin Feng Road troops quickly regained their morale... This was not to say that the Qin Feng Road troops were so well-trained, but that they were mostly infantry, and they had already left the camp to form a battle array when the Jin army swept away Jiao Wentong's troops. Most of the soldiers only vaguely knew that there was a defeat in front, and could not see the specific scene several miles away.

And do not forget, they had a large number of men, and the Xihe Road troops on the flank had already turned the tide - the large numbers and the huge battle formation gave the average soldier extremely abundant confidence.

However, Zhao Zhe gave orders to encourage them, but when he mentioned the cavalry on the flanks, he suddenly became flustered, because he was clearly aware that, according to the powerful ability that the Jin army cavalry had just demonstrated, his flanks, especially the left flank, were almost undefended!

There were still Xihe Road troops on the right flank! But the Lizhou Road troops, who were supposed to be on the left flank, were still stuck in the mud far away!

"More spears on the left flank, that is, on the north and east sides..." At this thought, Zhao Zhe quickly gave an order, trying to make amends.

But halfway through his words, the ground was already rumbling again. Seven thousand riders, or more precisely, more than six thousand Jurchen cavalry, were protecting Wanyan Lou Shi's Five-Colored Banner of the Sun and coming straight towards the Qin Feng Road troops!

And Zhao Zhe, looking at the dust sweeping towards them, and the majestic figures of the cavalry in the dust that were difficult to conceal, almost instantly had a dry mouth and could no longer speak.

The distance of two or three miles was only a moment for cavalry, but it must be said that the performance of the Qin Feng Road troops allowed the Song army to pick up some confidence... When the Jin army cavalry rushed to the front of the formation, facing the prepared infantry line, they did not have the amazing crushing power they had before.

This allowed many people to breathe a sigh of relief - the seven thousand Jin army cavalry led by Lou Shi were indeed extremely powerful, but obviously, the destruction of Jiao Wentong's troops had too many causes related to their being caught off guard, having fought hard all afternoon, and being outnumbered, which led to an inferior formation.

And although the Qin Feng Road troops were recognized as the weakest, the number of troops was there, and the thickness of the battle formation was there, which forced the Jin army to adopt appropriate countermeasures... This time they did not directly sweep into the formation. Lou Shi's banner stopped appropriately in the middle, and his direct troops were simply maintaining the Jurchen's usual circular cavalry archery in front of the dense spear formation.

It was conceivable that Lou Shi's central army would not be able to advance recklessly until the spear formation in front of the Qin Feng Road army was shattered.

At the same time, effective counterattacks finally began to appear in the Song army formation. Ranged projectiles arranged according to range began to cause effective casualties. Lou Shi's central army was of course also composed of heavy cavalry archers, but they were not fully armored cavalry. They were not extravagant enough to provide armor for all seven thousand men. In this kind of battle, once the Jin army cavalry lost their warhorses, they basically lost their combat power.

However, things were not that simple. While Lou Shi was conducting ranged attacks in the front, the two *Hezha Meng'an* units on the left and right flanks, nearly two thousand iron pagodas, simultaneously launched an encirclement of both sides of the Qin Feng Road army... The two armies faced each other in the southeast and northwest directions. Pu Cha Huzhan's *Hezha Meng'an* detoured from the northeast, while Jiagu Wuli Bu's *Hezha Meng'an* plunged fiercely into the junction of the Xihe Road and Qin Feng Road armies.

It was foreseeable that these two thousand iron pagodas would soon insert themselves fiercely into the Qin Feng Road's abdomen, which lacked cavalry protection on the flanks, and shatter this army.

"The time has come!"

At the foot of the mountain at the southernmost end of the battlefield, where Han Chang had thrown out his own eyeball, had long since been occupied by the advancing Song army. At this time, a Song army general on horseback, seeing the attack of the two *Hezha Meng'an* units, was not anxious but pleased, and turned his head to speak rapidly to a middle-aged officer in his forties or fifties beside him. "General Li, the key to Lou Shi's formation is that the two *Hezha Meng'an* units on the flanks complement Lou Shi's central army. Now that the *Hezha Meng'an* units on the flanks are sticking out, his central army will be exposed... We will charge straight at his banner from Lou Shi's side and rear. Even if we cannot take his head, as long as we disrupt his rear formation, this battle will be our greatest achievement!"

"Pacification Commissioner Qu is right!" The so-called General Li, that is, the tribal general Li Yongqi, also saw it clearly, and immediately nodded. "No wonder General Qu didn't let me go to rescue those below the heights before, nor did he let me pester that Wanyan Wushu to death... I will take advantage of the fact that the two *Hezha Meng'an* units have just stabbed out and cannot be retrieved to outflank him!"

After speaking, Li Yongqi turned his head and gestured towards a young general in his twenties with a sturdy build behind him. "D郎! Our father and son will share the task! Let the Emperor know our loyalty and bravery!"

The young general waved his spear and excitedly agreed. He was Li Yongqi's eldest son, Li Shifu.

However, just as Li Yongqi was about to lead his son to rein in their horses and descend the slope, he couldn't help but turn back and ask, "Pacification Commissioner Qu, is the Emperor really under that dragon banner?"

"If not, what would I be doing here?" Pacification Commissioner Qu, that is, Qu Duan, who had lost his iron elephant, laughed coldly when he heard this. "Am I here to save Wu Da, who took my commander's position?! Go, I will provide you with support!"

Li Yongqi was a Dangxiang chieftain, a native of Yanfu Road, so how could he not know Qu Duan's character? Hearing this, he also laughed loudly, then let out a roar and rode down with his son Li Shifu. Behind them, the more than three thousand Dangxiang tribal cavalry who had just been gathered were also divided into two, and galloped towards Lou Shi's side and rear with the Li family father and son!

Obviously, this father and son were going to establish a great achievement in the Emperor's sight.

It must be said that these three thousand cavalry were completely different from those two *Hezha Meng'an* units. The *Hezha Meng'an* units were fully armored cavalry, super-heavy cavalry like iron pagodas, who moved slowly, but were unstoppable once they charged. However, these three thousand tribal cavalry had no horse armor, and few of the soldiers wore armor. They started extremely fast, and once they galloped out, their speed was amazing. Dust and smoke rose like clouds, and they immediately attracted the attention of everyone on the battlefield who had the will to notice.

Lou Shi turned his head and saw this scene, and sighed slightly. He did not say much, nor did he make any extra gestures. From his appearance, it seemed that he had expected this army to attack for some time, but he was a little impatient and simply did not want to adjust his formation for the enemy.

This was understandable, because at this time, the cavalry in Lou Shi's central army were in a circular formation, just like a stable typhoon. In theory, there was no so-called front or rear, so there was indeed no need to adjust, and they could simultaneously respond to the Song army on both sides.

However, a moment later, the Dangxiang tribal cavalry lightly approached with amazing speed. Just as they were about to engage in cavalry archery with the Jin army, Wanyan Lou Shi, who had not moved and had not even looked in that direction, but had only listened intently, suddenly reined in his horse and directly accelerated towards the lightly armed cavalry coming from his side and rear!

As soon as the commander moved, the flag-bearer beside him did not hesitate at all when he saw this. As soon as the Five-Colored Banner of the Sun moved, the entire Jin army cavalry formation did not hesitate to abandon the Qin Feng Road infantry facing them and counter-charged towards the attacking army... The entire cavalry circular formation turned directly and pounced out without any adjustment. The typhoon immediately stirred up again on the battlefield.

The attacking Dangxiang cavalry could not stop, and were caught off guard. The heads of the three thousand cavalry, divided into two groups, directly collided with the entire Jin army cavalry, and then became mixed together.

What was originally thought to be a protracted cavalry archery battle instantly turned into a short, close-quarters combat. The Dangxiang light cavalry, who had been tired all day, were simply no match for the heavy Jin cavalry, who were like a sudden storm. They were almost instantly shattered by the typhoon, and countless tribal cavalry who had only been temporarily hired by Li Yongqi exploded and fled towards the southeast and south.

The troops that had been stirred into the Jin army's formation had nowhere to escape.

Among them, Li Yongqi, leading dozens of family warriors, was terrified and wanted to escape but had no way to do so. In the chaos, this Dangxiang chieftain looked at the two banners in the northwest direction... one was the distant dragon banner, and the other was the Five-Colored Banner of the Sun that was suddenly approaching and still approaching. He gritted his teeth and took the initiative to head towards the nearby Five-Colored Banner of the Sun.

He recognized Lou Shi!

But it was meaningless. When he saw Lou Shi himself, all the dozens of close attendants in his clan beside him had disappeared. He raised his arrow to shoot, but was struck by a rain of arrows from the Jin army, and fell to the ground, horse and all.

In a short moment, more than three thousand Dangxiang tribal cavalry collapsed, and the commander Li Yongqi was covered in blood and captured alive in front of Lou Shi. The two looked at each other, and for a moment, there was only panting, and no words.

"Lou Shi..." After panting for a moment, Li Yongqi steadied himself, raised his head, and opened his mouth to curse.

Unexpectedly, Wanyan Lou Shi, who had been expressionless, suddenly looked ferocious, and directly took a short hammer from behind his waist, and smashed it down on Li Yongqi's face. Li Yongqi's head was broken and his brains burst out, and he was silent.

At this time, Lou Shi's anger did not diminish. He shouted at the corpse, "One after another, Han people, tribal people, again and again, are you worthy?!"

After speaking, he threw down the iron hammer and turned to leave.

Following Jiao Wentong's troops, Li Yongqi's troops were also defeated in one blow, and the commander was killed on the spot.

Having said that, Lou Shi, after killing Li Yongqi, completely ignored the scattered Dangxiang light cavalry, but directly turned around to urge his troops to return. The iron cavalry typhoon rolled in, and came again towards the Qin Feng Road army. And this time, Pu Cha Huzhan had successfully entered the abdomen of the Qin Feng Road army.

Under the dragon banner, Zhao Jiu, supporting the helmet he had just put on, looked down at the battle below the mountain from a high position, but did not move, and watched almost without reaction as Lou Shi showed his great power, easily crushing Jiao Wentong and the tribal cavalry led by Li Yongqi.

It was not that he did not want to react, nor was it that his heart was without waves.

Having invested all his manpower and resources, and painstakingly assembled an elite Imperial Guard central army, and the loyal border officials who did not hesitate to travel through Western Xia to return to the country to help in the battle, disappeared directly on the battlefield like wave after wave. How could he not be moved?

But with his emotions stirred, he did not know how to react, or what kind of reaction he could make... Wu Jie was still below the mountain. Unless even Grand Commandant Wu collapsed, it would not be his turn to command as the Emperor.

At this time, from a rational point of view, what he, the Emperor, should do most was to sit under this dragon banner like a puppet, and continue to provide everyone with a reason and courage to fight.

This was what the art of war meant by: immovable as a mountain! But that was all.

However, Lou Shi's central army, which had easily defeated two Song armies, was coming towards the Qin Feng Road troops again, and at this time, the Qin Feng Road troops were already very dangerous.

Zhao Jiu was on the mountain, looking down from a high position, and saw more clearly than anyone else that at the same time that Li Yongqi was defeated in one blow, the Jurchen's two iron pagodas had also succeeded simultaneously... One had inserted himself between the Xihe Road and Qin Feng Road armies, and the other had simply launched a successful heart-wrenching raid on the Qin Feng Road's weak abdomen.

In fact, if Wu Jie had not successfully formed his battle array in the rear, using his main force as a supervising team, the Qin Feng Road army would have collapsed directly.

"Marshal! Our pacification commissioner requests support for the flanks!" Qiao Ze, who had been defeated for the second time, came to Wu Jie to ask for help.

"Why are you here to ask for help?" Wu Jie, who had barely managed to form a battle array with his back against the camp, was also dry-mouthed, but forced himself to appear calm.

"Military Commissioner Murong Wei died in the sudden raid just now. Our troops had just gone up to support him when they were also scattered. Pacification Commissioner Zhao found whoever he could..." If he had not asked, it would have been better. When asked, Qiao Ze almost cried. "Lou Shi is back again. Please, Marshal, quickly provide support!"

"I know." Wu Jie continued to force himself to appear calm. "Go back and tell Zhao Zhe that if the Jin army comes from your left, along with that iron pagoda that attacked the central army, I will immediately send the entire central army from your left to block them... I will not hesitate! But I have to wait for Lou Shi to decide on the direction of his attack! Do you understand? Tell him to hold on!"

Qiao Ze was relieved and did not respond. He directly jumped on his horse and led a few riders back to the front battle formation as quickly as possible.

Lou Shi turned back to the front of the Qin Feng Road formation, and as expected, changed his formation. He gave up the frontal circular archery and directly plunged into the Song army formation with the *Hezha Meng'an* unit that had already succeeded... However, he did not turn in from the northeast side of the Qin Feng Road army, where a gap had been opened, as Wu Jie had imagined, but actually plunged into the gap between the Qin Feng Road and Xihe Road armies, following the other *Hezha Meng'an* unit led by Jiagu Wuli Bu, and fought hard to plunge in!

He plunged in at all costs!

Wu Jie, watching this scene on horseback, not only did not feel any fear, but was overjoyed for a moment... because he almost instantly realized the problem. Lou Shi thought that there were only the Qin Feng Road and Xihe Road armies in front of the camp, and did not take his unit seriously, so he wanted to resolve the entire battle in one fell swoop!

However, the *Beiwei* Army hidden behind the two armies behind him were the true elite troops and the main force to rely on!

This was an opportunity!

"Lou Shi wants to resolve the battle in one fell swoop!" Qu Duan, looking into the distance, sneered. "He wants to rescue Wanyan Wushu! He also wants to defeat the Qin Feng Road and Xihe Road armies in one fell swoop! What a big appetite?!"

"Pacification Commissioner, please look!" A general beside Qu Duan, named Zhang Zhongyan, calmly pointed to the southeast of the heights. In that area, dust and smoke were billowing, and at least two units of several thousand troops were surging forward. One unit was slightly faster but was in the rear, and the other unit was slightly slower but was in the front. "That direction should be Marshal Han's troops without a doubt. Lou Shi must have been forced to do so... Although Li Yongqi was defeated extremely quickly, he also wasted too much of Lou Shi's time and energy. He is afraid that Marshal Han's troops will rush in and sandwich him from front and back with the army in front of the camp, and he is also afraid that Marshal Han's troops will directly attack the heights and end the battle on the heights..."

"Bullshit battle on the heights!" Qu Duan cursed. He had set out from Luoyang early to gather troops in northern Shaanxi, and he also did not know about the existence of the two *Beiwei* armies. "What's the point of the battle on the heights at this time? If a victory cannot be determined for a while, but Lou Shi defeats the Qin Feng Road and Xihe Road trash here, and drives the defeated soldiers into the large camp, then nothing will be useful! The Emperor is on top!"

"Then..."

"You go!" Qu Duan pointed with his hand and issued a military order without hesitation. "Go and remind Han Wu that the Emperor is here, and Lou Shi is here! Do not go up the heights! When he comes over, just look for my banner for support!"

Zhang Zhongyan did not say a word, but lowered his head and left.

After Zhang Zhongyan left, his elder brother Zhang Zhongfu stepped forward again to ask, "Pacification Commissioner... what should we do? The tribal soldiers said they saw Li Yongqi die with their own eyes, but Li Shifu is still there, crying over there, and wants to lead people to search for his father's body on the battlefield... Should we help him gather the defeated soldiers first?"

"What's the use of a child who cries when his father dies? And Li Yongqi is also trash!" Qu Duan said angrily, but suddenly changed his expression. "But Li Yongqi did not die in vain. Lou Shi's troops are indeed powerful, but they cannot be delayed..."

Zhang Zhongfu stared at his old superior, puzzled. "And then?"

"Raise my banner, gather the remaining troops, as many as can be gathered... Follow me to outflank Lou Shi!" Qu Duan replied calmly.

Zhang Zhongfu was stunned for a moment. "Pacification Commissioner, our support this time was rushed, and we can only gather cavalry. Apart from Li Yongqi's four thousand tribal cavalry, there are only a thousand or so cavalry gathered from both sides... Just now, as many as three thousand tribal cavalry were useless. Now, we have less than a thousand cavalry left. Is that useful?"

"I am not going to save Liu Xi and Zhao Zhe, that bunch of trash!" Qu Duan glanced at the sun, which had been mostly obscured by Yao Mountain, and sighed faintly as he took down the bow and arrows hanging from his horse. "But the Emperor has shown me kindness, and I cannot not go... You must remember this matter, even if I die, you must tell people, because I really do not want to be responsible for the name of risking my life to rescue those two troops of trash."

Zhang Zhongfu was still stunned, but Qu Da waved his hand slightly and led the few remaining troops that he had brought south towards Lou Shi's rear.

Zhang Zhongfu hesitated for a moment, but still followed with his spear.

But as soon as the Qu character banner moved, most of the troops did not have time to gather because of the chaos on the battlefield. Only a few hundred riders headed directly towards Lou Shi's side and rear.

However, as the saying goes, a person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. After all, he was the actual first general in Guanzhong after the Jingkang Incident, and when he moved at this time, even Lou Shi turned his head in astonishment, then became furious, then suppressed his anger and continued to urge his main army to follow Jiagu Wuli Bu's *Hezha Meng'an*, expanding the gap that had been torn open between the two armies!

A few hundred riders might not even be able to get close to Lou Shi. They were like committing suicide. It was better to focus on the front at this time.

However, Lou Shi's first achievement was not to completely tear apart the two armies, but to first rescue Wanyan Wushu, who was almost in a desperate situation! Of course, this rescue was not entirely accurate. Lou Shi had only opened a passage to Wushu's battle group that had been surrounded, but the Fourth Prince was unwilling to leave his main force.

"Fourth Prince, why bother?" In the southernmost Jin army formation, which had suddenly relaxed because the passage had been opened, Han Chang had already tied a cloth strip over his eyes, but he could not help but cover his eyes to relieve the pain. "Now that the encirclement has been lifted, as the Fourth Prince, you may as well go to Lou Shi's side. If necessary, be his backup and take command of the troops for him. Why waste time and energy here among the exhausted soldiers?"

"How can I abandon my subordinates and leave them after I brought them here, only to end up in such a state?" Although Wanyan Wushu had not gone blind, his eyes were bloodshot, obviously due to staying up all night and exhaustion.

Han Chang wanted to persuade him again, but Wushu suddenly asked in return:

"How do you say that army was created?"

Han Chang had only lost one eye, so how could he not know what Wushu was referring to? He immediately laughed on horseback: "How could it be created? That army is so elite and so well-equipped, but it is only good at small-scale skirmishes and cannot organize a large formation to meet Lou Shi. The leader, Liu Yan, is the vice commander of the Imperial Guards, so it is easy to imagine that the Emperor of the Song Dynasty gathered the elite troops of various forces together... This is a reckless act by someone who does not know military affairs. It was just a stroke of luck that it happened to run into us when we were exhausted and unable to organize a large formation, which is why we suffered such a loss!"

"Of course I know that." Wushu shook his head, but looked weakly at the dragon banner on the hillside. "I just don't understand how the Emperor of the Song Dynasty was able to get so many warlords to contribute their elite troops? When he was on the Huai River, he had to kill Liu Guangshi to stabilize the troops. When he was in Nanyang, he had to cross the Bai River in secret and personally seize military power in Yanling to fight to the death. But today, he is able to sit there steadily and deploy elite troops from all sides to his disposal..."

"It must be the Imperial Guard central army that is deploying them..." Han Chang said calmly, looking at the advancing banner of Lou Shi. "Those are his direct troops!"

Wushu nodded and said no more, but stared at Lou Shi's banner as Han Chang did. They could see clearly that just now, Wanyan Lou Shi, who had succeeded repeatedly, had succeeded again - the Jin army commander personally pressed forward and completely crushed a unit of cavalry that the Xihe Road army had worked hard to organize, squeezing open a huge gap.

It was conceivable that, if Lou Shi took advantage of the situation and pressed in, the Xihe Road and Qin Feng Road armies would be completely separated!

In that case, the Xihe Road army would be squeezed at the foot of the mountain and might still be able to fight like trapped beasts, but the Qin Feng Road army, which had been gutted, was very likely to collapse towards the northeast and the camp... At this time, although the troops on the heights were still fighting hard, although behind Wushu, the strange 'trump card' led by Liu Yan was still desperately trying to bypass Wushu's troops and directly attack Lou Shi's side, and although Liu Qi occupied the upper hand at the northernmost end of the battlefield, he could not prevent the Song army's central route from collapsing, and the central gate was wide open!

In fact, not to mention Wanyan Wushu and Han Chang, even Qu Duan was so anxious that he personally charged to the front, trying to press forward as much as possible, but his troops were too few and could not effectively push into the Jin army's main formation.

But soon, the next moment, as Lou Shi, pushing Jiagu Wuli Bu in front of him, completely separated the two armies as he had imagined, something happened that none of these Jin army commanders and Qu Duan had imagined - Wu Jie's marshal's flag moved forward, and an army of heavy armored long-ax soldiers, numbering in the thousands, that no one knew where they came from, launched a counterattack against the Jin army's iron pagodas that appeared in front of them!

Jiagu Wuli Bu's *Hezha Meng'an* had tried its best. At this time, setting aside fatigue, it had lost the mobility to maneuver left and right because it had broken through to the very front - they had thought that the front was disorderly defeated soldiers, defeated troops, and weak soldiers, but unexpectedly, they were met by their nemesis. And this nemesis had actually successfully charged into the formation, forcing the iron pagodas to engage in close combat directly with them!

Three thousand heavy armored long-ax soldiers, who had rested for a whole day, were coming head-on, chopping at the cavalry above and hacking at the horses' legs below. The *Hezha Meng'an*, which numbered less than a thousand, was battered and wounded, and completely fell into a disadvantage under this sudden attack!

Not only that, but at the same time, in the northeast direction of the battlefield, just before the Qin Feng Road army was about to completely collapse, a unit of heavy armored cavalry, numbering no less than three thousand, belonging to the Song army, suddenly broke out from the outer side of the Qin Feng Road army, preventing the complete collapse of the Qin Feng Road's battle formation, and also enveloping another *Hezha Meng'an*.

Two units, one in front and one on the side, exerting force at the same time, clamped the battlefield like a pair of iron pincers.

In the chaos, Wanyan Wushu was completely stunned and could not speak for a long time. Han Chang suddenly sneered, "I was wrong... Fourth Prince, let me say it for you, if we lose today, we will not have been wronged... Such troops must be the personal guards of marshal-level figures like Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, and Zhang Jun. Only a formation of forty to fifty thousand men can support three thousand of them, but they have been willingly sent to the hands of this Emperor of the Song Dynasty... You say, if the Emperor's *Hezha Meng'an* and the Crown Prince's *Hezha Meng'an* had been sent here today, with six thousand *Hezha Meng'an*, wouldn't we have won on the heights long ago?"

Wushu did not say a word, but moved his gaze from those long axes that were quickly becoming no longer bright, and stared at the dragon banner that seemed to have merged with the hillside.

On Mount Bagong, in Xiacai City, in Nanyang City... He had failed to shake this dragon banner time and time again. Would it be the same today?

But things should not be like this. Time and time again, Wanyan Wushu had told himself in his heart that it should be him chasing this dragon banner!

Why had he failed to shake it even once?

At the same time, Lou Shi was