Chapter 1 The Circumstances

On the eighth day of the fourth month, the Song army marched along the river for more than sixty *li* before calmly stopping. At this point, they were no more than forty *li* in a straight line from Xingqing Prefecture. Even if they followed the river and then turned back, the journey would only be fifty *li*. No matter how you calculated it, the Song army could rest for one night and then officially launch their attack on Xingqing Prefecture on the tenth day of the fourth month.

This was a full two days ahead of schedule, and in the current situation, two days could very well be the time difference that determined the life or death of a nation.

At the same time, the Song army’s main force of infantry and cavalry was intact, and their supplies were all present, suffering virtually no losses.

In all fairness, on this day, the Liang Prince, Wei Ming Anhui of Western Xia, had not spared any effort. He sent small groups of tribal light cavalry to continue harassing the Song army, and he had soldiers carried on sheepskin rafts to engage them from the river. However, both efforts were futile against the Song army’s superior crossbows. Even the Jurchens, known for their heavy armor, were wary of the Song army’s bows and crossbows, let alone the hastily summoned tribal soldiers who lacked armor?

Of course, Anhui himself had anticipated this. After observing the battle formation yesterday, this experienced Western Xia veteran did not expect these actions to have any real effect. Those people were simply being forced to use their lives to harass the enemy as much as possible. And this Western Xia clan elder, currently the most experienced military figure in the country and second only to the ruler in status, had focused his attention on two things from the start. One was to conscript and gather as many tribal members as possible. The other was to get ahead of the Song army and arrive at Jing Prefecture, which was almost adjacent to the Yellow River. He then forcibly took away the local *Fan* army and laborers, removed the defenses of the city, and scattered the wealth from the government treasury and the gold from the temples on the road east of Jing Prefecture.

But unfortunately, the Song army did not bother with Jing Prefecture at all. In the evening, the main force of the Song army, consisting of two or three thousand infantry and cavalry, arrived at Jing Prefecture. Faced with the open city gates and the glittering gold and silk in the setting sun, not a single unit broke formation. Instead, the entire army passed through the city without entering and continued forward.

This caused the fear in Wei Ming Anhui’s heart to reach its peak.

After all, the Dangxiang people had never been a purely nomadic people, and Western Xia was not the kind of country where the ruler was wherever Li Yuanhao was when he was alive. After nearly a hundred years, this country established by the Dangxiang people could not resist the strong influence of Han culture. The official system was basically modeled after the Song Dynasty, Han rituals gradually overwhelmed the *Fan* rituals that had been forcibly established at the beginning of the country, and Confucianism became a prominent field of study. Although they still retained quite a few unique ethnic linguistic customs and military systems, the main body of the culture gradually leaned towards the Han system.

All kinds of cultural nourishment, coupled with the richness of the Yinchuan Plain, had gradually formed its own core agricultural area, so it ultimately formed a solid capital concept – Li Qianshun had not left Xingqing Prefecture for many years.

Wei Ming Anhui certainly couldn't articulate these principles, and the Song army who abandoned Jing Prefecture without entering might not be able to articulate them either, but they were all clear about it on another level!

They were very clear that the foundation of Western Xia lay in the Xitao region between the Helan Mountains and the Yellow River, in this land of Xingling, and the heart of this area was Xingqing Prefecture. Taking this city, no one dared to say that Western Xia would perish at this time, but the country would immediately go into shock!

In a word, the gain or loss of Xingqing Prefecture already had enough significance.

To this end, Wei Ming Anhui did not hesitate to empty one of his confidant cities, Jing Prefecture, as bait, in an attempt to slightly hinder the Song army's progress. And the senior officers of the Song army did not hesitate to kill many soldiers and low-level officers who went to pick up the spoils, in order to ensure as much as possible that they could launch an attack on Xingqing Prefecture the day after tomorrow.

And no matter what, in this delaying action, the Western Xia people failed once again.

"The Liang Prince is doing the right thing."

Ten *li* northwest of Jing Prefecture, in a wilderness, under the light of a bonfire, surrounded by several golden-armored warriors and tribal leaders, accompanied by the distant rumbling of drums, a Dangxiang nobleman sitting by the bonfire and wearing a golden high crown, after hearing the report, raised his wrinkled face and sighed. It was none other than Li Qianshun, the nearly fifty-year-old ruler of Western Xia. "If I were here, I would also use Jing Prefecture as bait."

On the other side of the bonfire, several local officials and tribal chiefs from Jing Prefecture were obviously saddened and directly disappeared into the twilight. Wei Ming Anhui, whose hair was already gray, sat aside, but the uneasiness in his heart did not diminish at all.

After hesitating for a moment, he went directly past the Jing Prefecture issue and asked the key question:

"Your Majesty, if we don't stop them tomorrow, the Song army can camp on the east bank of the river from Xingqing Prefecture. That place is only twenty *li* from Xingqing Prefecture and only ten *li* from the palace outside the city..."

"That's why I came to find the Liang Prince in person." Li Qianshun's brow still did not relax. "Liang Prince, I have been unable to sleep or eat for the past three days. I have thought about it again and again. Tell me, can the light cavalry in our hands defend the city? Isn't it self-defeating to have a large group of light cavalry not fight in the field, but defend the city instead?"

"I also think so..." The Liang Prince sighed, then said solemnly, but he was obviously hesitant to speak.

"Today's situation is all due to my incompetence and stupidity. It has nothing to do with you. As long as we can get through this, any words are loyal words." Li Qianshun did not even look at Wei Ming Anhui, but knew what the other party intended to express just by listening to his voice. He directly urged, "If the Liang Prince has any useful words, please speak quickly."

"Your Majesty," Wei Ming Anhui said with difficulty. "Xingqing Prefecture has been renovated and expanded many times, but none were as extensive as when I was Grand Preceptor more than ten years ago... At that time, the country was rarely stable. Your Majesty promoted Confucianism and established Han rituals, while I expanded Xingqing Prefecture and repaired water conservancy... I am not boasting about my merits, but I want to say that I built Xingqing Prefecture with my own hands, but I have long known that the city has too many flaws!"

"How can I not know?" Li Qianshun nodded slightly. "I personally issued the decree to let you build a large temple in the north of the city and a spacious palace in the east of the city. These two places can only be used as siege ladders for the Song army in vain... But who could have imagined that the Song army would come here? Since the founding of the country, Xingqing Prefecture has probably never been touched. A hundred years of peace is not just empty words."

At this point, two old men, one nearly fifty and the other nearly sixty, who were also the highest-ranking rulers and ministers in the heart of Western Xia, were rarely silent together by the bonfire for a moment.

Wei Ming Anhui was slightly older, and Li Qianshun was slightly younger, about ten years apart, and Anhui's seniority was one generation higher than Li Qianshun's, but their political and military experiences basically overlapped... In other words, these two rulers had experienced too many things together.

Starting from the Xiaoliang Queen's attack on the Song Dynasty, Wei Ming Anhui began to show his talent and mastered certain military power. Then, after the Khitans poisoned the Xiaoliang Queen, Li Qianshun tremblingly begged the Khitan princess to be his queen but failed. He could only make Anhui his *Shangfu* and Grand Preceptor, leading the Privy Council. Anhui, as a clan minister, became the head of all officials and commander of the military during the early part of Li Qianshun's reign.

Later, Li Qianshun sought a Khitan princess, defeated the Song people militarily, and negotiated peace with the Great Song, stabilizing the country. From then on, his position became increasingly stable, and this *Shangfu*, who was only ten years older than the ruler, was gradually stripped of his power. Many years later, when Li Qianshun successfully replaced him with his adult brother, Wei Ming Chage, to take control of the army, this person was completely idle... The so-called East Asian monarch-minister drama, they two actually had every element of it... Only today, the Song army suddenly inserted a knife into their abdomen. With no generals available, they hastily reactivated such an old minister.

However, these old grievances would not affect their sincere cooperation and tacit understanding at this time, because both of them understood that the Great White High Kingdom was really at its most dangerous moment.

After thinking for a while, Wei Ming Anhui finally broke the silence: "Your Majesty, what I mean is that it is better to fight in the field than to defend the city. In the end, we still have to try it in the field."

Li Qianshun's spirits lifted. This was the sentence he had been waiting for... At this time, bringing all the troops into Xingqing Prefecture was one thing, desperately blocking the enemy outside the city was another... Li Qianshun himself had already calculated this military and political account very clearly. Otherwise, he would not have come here in person, and his words just now had also hinted enough. But he needed someone to stand up and give him courage, and to tell him and the surrounding tribal leaders that this was the right thing to do.

"I have three reasons." Under the gaze of the surrounding golden-armored warriors and some of the tribal chiefs who remained, Wei Ming Anhui mustered his spirits and spoke vigorously by the bonfire. "One is what Your Majesty said before, that we are mostly light cavalry, and I have never heard of cavalry throwing away their warhorses to defend the city. The other is what I just said, that Xingqing Prefecture itself is not easy to defend... This place is different from Ling Prefecture. After a hundred years of peace, there are too many flaws. The last one is that our palace, Buddhist temples, and imperial tombs are all outside the city. The palace is simply on the Song army's marching route, the Great Buddha Temple in the north of the city is next to the city wall, and the imperial tombs are under the Helan Mountains in the west... When the Song army attacks, are we going to burn the palaces ourselves, or let the Song people burn them? Once they are burned, how will we maintain the morale of the army and the people in the city? And what we fear most is that the Song people will not only not burn them, but will instead use the terrain and materials of the palaces and temples to take advantage of the situation and attack the city. What should we do then?"

The tribal leaders finally began to discuss.

After a moment, Li Qianshun suddenly stood up and drew his sword in public. He fiercely chopped down on the wooden table in front of him, which was filled with food and water... With one stroke, it was clear that he was old and weak, and he could not cut it in two with one blow. He only managed to jam the sword into the table... But that was enough.

After all, Li Qianshun had been the ruler of the Great White High Kingdom for forty or fifty years. He did not need these things to inspire morale. His words and orders were enough.

This stroke was just to show his determination.

"I have made up my mind." After one stroke, Li Qianshun let go of the sword and leaned on the scabbard as he looked around. "We will follow the Liang Prince's words and gather all one hundred thousand troops tomorrow to fight the Song people to the death on the riverbank, and we will never let the Song people reach Xingqing Prefecture! If any tribe does not obey military orders, I will exterminate their clan and wipe out their lineage. Let this be the precedent!"

As soon as these words came out, the Liang Prince, Wei Ming Anhui, knelt on the ground and kowtowed, shouting his obedience. The other tribal leaders also prostrated themselves on the ground and kowtowed, then stood up and shouted and screamed strangely, echoing the strange screams under the drums in the distance.

The morale of the army, with the nearly fifty-year-reigning emperor of the Great White High Kingdom present and making a decision, was finally boosted for a time.

With the decision made, everyone dispersed to prepare for the great battle tomorrow.

However, after the Liang Prince, Wei Ming Anhui, had taken a few steps, he was pulled back by Li Qianshun in the darkness. The former turned around and saw the latter whispering to him: "Liang Prince!"

"I am here."

"Xingqing Prefecture was built by you." Although the strange screams around him did not stop, Li Qianshun lowered his voice again. "You are still the most suitable person to defend the city. Although those Han ministers like Xue Yuanli are loyal, they are useless. The Crown Prince and the Yue Prince have already returned to the capital... If we cannot stop the Song army tomorrow, and there is no time to speak on the battlefield, do not worry about me. Return directly to Xingqing Prefecture to take charge of the defense. If I cannot arrive in time, first arrange things in the name of the Crown Prince. Whether it is the palaces or the Buddhist temples, tear them down if you want, burn them if you want. Use the wealth inside as you want, reward it as you want, without any scruples!"

Anhui was silent in the twilight for a long time before nodding heavily. Only, it was too dark here, and only the golden crown on his head could be seen swaying up and down, causing flashes of light.

Leaving aside Wei Ming Anhui's thoughts, Li Qianshun, after delivering this last important order, turned to a large tent behind him, where he finally let go of his serious and intense demeanor, appearing somewhat dispirited.

Indeed, as the oldest and most experienced ruler among all the countries, Li Qianshun had experienced too many things, even some legendary ones. Not to mention him and his mother, his father-in-law, his wife, and his children, just extrapolating from the current military situation, the military victories of Western Xia against the Great Song alone were enough to make him proud.

However, others did not know, but how could Li Qianshun himself not know?

Although Western Xia had several military victories that could be called remarkable and had repeatedly sent the Great Song army into disastrous situations, in reality, the appearance of these battles themselves meant that Western Xia had been repeatedly forced to the brink of national extinction by the Great Song strategically. If Li Qianshun himself were to choose, he would rather be a peaceful emperor than want the political and military crises that repeatedly achieved his authority as ruler. Otherwise, why would he repeatedly seek peace with the Great Song after each victory? Why would he kowtow to the Great Liao to ask for a marriage alliance?

Of course, he also had some luck. From the time he took office, he was repeatedly troubled because the Great Song had built Pingxia City, but suddenly, the Jingkang Incident came, and the noose hanging around his neck was suddenly loosened.

Although he lost tens of thousands of elite field troops in Yinshan, it did not delay him from taking Pingxia City, taking the Dingbian Army, and even taking a small part of Xi'an Prefecture... Moreover, the rulers of the Great Jin were once willing to give the land inside the meander of the Yellow River to Western Xia.

What a prospect that was!

At that time, he really felt that Western Xia could last for another hundred years!

However, now the Song people had struck back again, had taken back Pingxia City, and then another serious crisis that had to be experienced every ten or eight years.

Frankly speaking, even now, what plunged Li Qianshun into a state of panic was not the Song army's surprise attack... The Song army's surprise attack was certainly fatal, but the problem was that this fatality came from a purely military surprise attack, from his own tactical misjudgment, revealing a gap. In this situation, being seized by a skilled Song army commander could only be said to be inferior in skill.

What really shook Li Qianshun psychologically was still the news of the Khitans' lightning-fast advance along the Hexi Corridor a few days ago!

At that time, he and many ministers had used a lot of effort to accept the reality that the Dangxiang people were being attacked by the Han and Khitan people from both sides.

At that time, Li Qianshun had a certain awareness... This time, the Great White High Kingdom was really in an unprecedented crisis... However, the subsequent development of the crisis was so rapid and so fatal that it also made him tremble with fear.

On the ninth day of the fourth month, as soon as it dawned, Li Qianshun got up directly, and the Song army, which had been harassed all night, also got up properly. After eating, they continued to move along the river as usual.

Last night, the Western Xia people had changed to noise harassment, but the Song army responded properly, still wearing armor on the outer layer for duty, and blocking their ears to sleep on the inner layer, and then rotating shifts... They also launched a surprise attack in the early morning, reaping considerable gains.

After starting the march, everything was still smooth, but Yue Fei, Qu Duan, Liu Qi, and other main generals were already prepared... Without the explicit information brought back by the scouts under Li Shifu in the bloody scout battles, just looking at the unobstructed plains, these generals could notice that the Western Xia people had begun to gather *Fan* cavalry and laborers on a large scale, even on the small slopes they occasionally passed by on the way.

The chaos of the scene, the coexistence of green seedlings and dust, made it impossible to count the specific number of cavalry among them, but without a doubt, the other party was gathering troops as much as possible, preparing to stop the Song army.

Of course, considering the distance, this was also a matter of course.

"As long as we can walk forty *li* today, this battle can be called a victory." Qu Duan shielded his eyes with his hand, looked at it, and then turned to Yue Fei to advise. "But if we can inflict some casualties, it will be much easier to advance into Xingqing Prefecture next... Commissioner, if the Dangxiang people still harass us with light cavalry like that today, we should appropriately allow the cavalry to counterattack further!"

Under the early summer breeze, Yue Fei's expression remained unchanged, and he just nodded slightly, economical with his words: "Allowed."

After saying that, the Commander of the Vanguard Army of the Imperial Guard was about to come down from the small slope and lead the generals to continue forward with the army.

At this moment, Hu Hongxiu, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, who was about to leave, suddenly changed his expression and reined in his horse, speaking out: "Commissioner!"

"What is it?" Yue Fei turned around to ask.

"It's the white yak standard!" Hu Hongxiu pointed to the Western Xia army that was beginning to reorganize in the distance, providing a key piece of information. "The ruler of Western Xia is here!"

The surrounding generals were all shaken and looked out one after another. Even Qu Duan could not restrain himself and straightened up on the iron elephant he had specially put on today to look... It turned out that the so-called white yak standard was not a standard embroidered with a white yak, but rather a large standard decorated with white yak hair on the outer edge. The middle was still embroidered with the words "Great Xia" in Dangxiang script. It had always been a symbol of the ruler of Western Xia. Only, since Li Qianshun, the ruler of Western Xia, had two times suffered from overwork and internal injuries in his youth, he rarely went out on expeditions in person. So, even people from the Western Army of the Great Song had not seen this standard for many years.

Returning to the present, the white yak hair was really eye-catching. The generals looked at it and saw that there was indeed such a large standard looming in the distance. It seemed that the ruler of Western Xia had indeed arrived in person, causing a commotion for a time.

Yue Fei alone was slightly stunned, then continued to turn north: "Don't worry about him. The key today is still to march forward."

The guards behind him also quickly raised the standard of "Serve the Country with Utmost Loyalty" and went north.

Under Qu and Hu, everyone was solemn and followed, but they could not help but look at the white yak standard...

In this way, at noon, the attack finally began. Several groups of unarmored *Fan* cavalry arrived first, but it was obvious that they were probing. And with the previous experience, these cavalrymen simply made a brief foray. Yue Fei still kept the entire army in the same state as the previous two days, still only having the outermost soldiers wear armor, and then rotating shifts, and the entire army continued to move forward steadily.

However, after two rounds of probing, in the afternoon, when the sun was slightly west, the Song army could see with the naked eye that countless Western Xia cavalry and infantry were swarming in and appearing in the fields within their sight.

Many of the cavalrymen were obviously wearing some ill-fitting leather armor, and even some armor-clad cavalry with dazzling armor came and went in the formation. The so-called infantry were still carrying bows and spears, no different from ordinary laborers. This was a typical Western Xia *Zhuang Linglang* (non-Dangxiang cannon fodder troops, mostly Han Chinese, but allowed to calculate military merits) attire, but it was obvious that there were mostly Dangxiang people themselves... And the three combined, the number was a bit too much, almost instantly trampling the green seedlings in the fields flat.

Relatively speaking, the Song army's formation was also visibly compressed from a distance, forcing the marching commanders of each unit to order adjustments again.

"Commissioner..." Hu Hongxiu was a little panicked. "Should we let the entire army put on armor first?"

"No hurry." Yue Fei glanced at it and ordered calmly. "Wait for them to come first... The key is not to stop... Once the army stops, they will succeed."

The generals of course knew this principle, but few of them responded, and their nervousness was very obvious.

At the same time, under the white yak standard, the Liang Prince, Wei Ming Anhui, wearing a golden crown, also looked back at the ruler beside him, who was wearing a slightly higher golden crown: "More than forty tribal camps, about twenty thousand light cavalry, two or three thousand Xingqing armored cavalry, more than a thousand *Bubazi*, forty or fifty thousand... forty or fifty thousand *Zhuang Linglang*... Does the ruler have any other instructions?"

"Yes." Li Qianshun said softly. "These armored cavalry are mostly the private soldiers of the noble families in Xingqing Prefecture, so they have the money to buy good horses. Their family residences are in Xingqing Prefecture, so they will definitely work hard even if they dismount to defend the city, and they will also go back to Xingqing Prefecture if they are defeated. But those more than a thousand *Bubazi* are mostly armored warriors from the tribes under the Helan Mountains... Once they are defeated, they will inevitably scatter in all directions."

"I understand!" Wei Ming Anhui did not have the slightest intention of concealing his meaning. "This battle will naturally be a desperate effort by everyone, but there must also be a sequence. If the *Zhuang Linglang* can succeed slightly, we can let the *Bubazi* follow them and join the battle first!"

Li Qianshun nodded slightly, and in the next moment, as Wei Ming Anhui rode out and waved his hand heavily, the flags in various places swayed non-stop, and the drums rumbled. First, the armored cavalry came out of the formation to supervise the battle. Then, unlike the previous two days, this time, a staggering number of *Zhuang Linglang* surged out first!

These *Zhuang Linglang* shouted and screamed strangely, some with their heads bare, some barely wearing a broken felt hat, and most of them only had an ill-fitting broken jacket. They held bows and surged forward, launching a tide-like attack on the Song army. Often, after one shot, they would switch to long spears and charge into melee combat.

Correspondingly, when the *Zhuang Linglang* were shooting arrows, crossbow bolts were already flying horizontally in the Song army formation, causing countless casualties to the *Zhuang Linglang*. But with the blessing of numbers, these unarmored individual Dangxiang people still rushed forward one after another, swarming to the front of the Song army formation and coming into contact with the Song infantry formation... It must be admitted that this was the first time since entering the hinterland of Xingling that the Song infantry had engaged in large-scale close combat with the enemy.

"The entire army, put on armor!"

Looking at the dense *Zhuang Linglang*, Yue Fei, who was marching non-stop under the banner, finally gave the order, but at the same time, he did not forget to continue to emphasize. "The laborers slow down, the armored cavalry slow down, the entire army should be even slower, but must continue to move forward!"

Qu Duan and Hu Hongxiu on the side were silent. Even the entire army, although shocked by the momentum of the Dangxiang *Zhuang Linglang*, did not have any high-ranking officers who raised objections.

This was because anyone with some military experience, especially those with military experience in the Western Army, understood that the so-called *Zhuang Linglang* army, whether it was made up of Han Chinese or Dangxiang people, was essentially cannon fodder, consumables. Their role generally had only three aspects: one was to gamble that this wave of charge could shake the formation and force the opponent to mobilize, forming a flaw; the other was to actively find flaws in the opponent's army through this large-scale contact; and the last one did not need to be said, everyone knew that it was to consume arrows and dull swords.

No matter how sharp a knife was, it could not cut through bones many times. And once arrows entered flesh, there was no point in thinking about reusing them.

And in the face of this kind of army's offensive, the first thing to do was to stabilize the formation, rather than being mobilized by them. And once they stood firm and did not move, and persisted, these people would suddenly collapse on their own due to casualties.

However, perhaps because the ruler of Western Xia was behind them, or perhaps because there were too many of them, this wave of *Zhuang Linglang* seemed particularly resistant to fighting.

Although the staggered Song army formation formed concave arrays in various places and caused a lot of damage by relying on military discipline, armor, weapons, and formation, it still allowed these Dangxiang people to further crash into the front of the crossbow formation.

Fortunately, even the outer crossbowmen were wearing armor, which meant that the crossbow formation did not suffer too many casualties. But without a doubt, this greatly reduced the Song army's killing efficiency, and seriously hindered the speed at which the Song army troops in the rear put on armor, which directly affected the army's advance.

In this situation, perhaps feeling that they had glimpsed a glimmer of possibility, a small number of Western Xia armored infantrymen, the so-called *Bubazi*, were already preparing to break into the army under the cover of these *Zhuang Linglang*.

"Let the swordsmen and shieldmen put on armor and then leave the spear formation to attack." Yue Fei looked at the dense Dangxiang cannon fodder soldiers and finally frowned. "But do not allow them to chase out of the formation! Only allow them to clear the surrounding *Zhuang Linglang* for the crossbowmen, to prevent the Western Xia people from entering the formation! The great banner will follow me personally, and no matter how slow it is, we must move forward step by step."

As the military order was issued, some of the swordsmen and shieldmen, who had already been prepared for this situation, immediately attacked... These soldiers with armor and sharp blades were simply slaughtering these unarmored but chaotic Western Xia infantrymen in a dense formation.

It was conceivable that as more and more armored swordsmen and shieldmen attacked, the *Zhuang Linglang*'s offensive would eventually collapse, and the Song army's marching speed would quickly recover. But before that, the bloody slaughter would not stop... In fact, even the *Zhuang Linglang* of the Dangxiang tribe themselves were temporarily blinded by the killing and lost their minds... During the swordsmen and shieldmen's attack, small groups of Dangxiang infantry seized gaps in the formation and successfully crossed the defense line, pouring into the army, but what awaited them inside were dense Song army armored cavalry and *Fan* cavalry, as well as cavalry spears and cavalry bows.

Pouring in only meant the hope of survival was almost zero, but they still poured in.

However, anything could happen in a mixed battle, especially when the base number was large, miracles were bound to happen.

Perhaps because the armored cavalry had been ordered to shrink in the formation for several days, they were now a little excited. Therefore, facing a group of Dangxiang *Zhuang Linglang* pouring in, the armored cavalry actually allowed a short Dangxiang person wearing a felt hat to magically cross the defense line.

This person was covered in the blood of someone he didn't know, waving a long spear non-stop, and desperately charging towards the constantly moving four-character banner, waving his arms and claws, shouting strangely, and acting like a madman.

However, considering this person's equipment and stature, it was more ridiculous than terrifying.

Without Yue Fei saying anything, or even looking at this person, and without Qu Duan or Hu Hongxiu saying anything, a preparing general led several cavalry to meet him, preparing to kill this person with one shot.

Then a miracle happened again. When the highly skilled and battle-hardened Imperial Guard cavalry general came close, preparing to thrust his spear, he actually paused instinctively, and let the short Dangxiang person escape from under his spear and continue to rush straight under Yue Fei's commander's flag, shouting strangely.

The preparing general woke up and immediately chased after him, but Qu Duan had already burst into anger, and actually pulled down his mask, riding the iron elephant over in person... The iron elephant was a famous horse in the world, known to all, and Qu Duan had been a soldier for twenty years, although he could not even beat Wu Jie, he was strong enough, so he was now condescending, heavily armored, with a long spear, an iron-faced divine beast, majestic and awe-inspiring, facing the short Dangxiang *Zhuang Linglang* in front of him, like a ghost descending upon ants... In fact, that person panicked completely when he saw him coming, and finally regained his senses, then turned around and fled in a panic.

But how could he still have a chance?

The preparing general stabbed him directly with a spear, easily killing this person, then dismounted, took off the broken felt hat, cut off his head, and respectfully offered it in front of the iron elephant, saying that he was guilty.

However, Qu Duan stared at the head for a moment, and did not pursue his subordinate's mistake at all. Instead, he turned his horse around silently and returned to the central army banner, which was still moving slowly.

"Why not enforce military discipline?"

Yue Fei frowned and spoke.

"There's nothing to say." Qu Duan put down his mask, acting casually. "It's a Dangxiang crazy woman, an old crazy woman, her hair is all white... Commissioner, the Western Xia people are at the end of their rope!"

Yue Fei was finally stunned, then stopped his horse for a moment to seriously look at the white-haired head. At the same time, the great banner of "Serve the Country with Utmost Loyalty" behind him finally paused.

This was the first time since he had seen the white yak standard today that the great banner of this Song army commander had stopped.

However, it only stopped for a moment. After a while, the great banner continued to move north non-stop.

Not only that, as the Song army stabilized its formation, the large number of infantrymen attacked on all fronts, and casualties continued in various places. After abandoning thousands of corpses, the tens of thousands of Dangxiang *Zhuang Linglang* finally scattered, as all those who knew the art of war had expected.

The outer Dangxiang *Fan* cavalry only barely managed to hold back half of the people in front of them, and did not bother to stop the rest at all.

Of course, the Song army, which strictly adhered to military discipline, did not chase them out either. Under the urging of the marching commanders, they immediately adjusted their formation, restored the previous marching formation, and continued north non-stop.

"Imperial Uncle." Seeing that the Song army not only did not chase them out, but continued to advance, behind the scattered infantry all over the mountains and plains, Li Qianshun obviously could not hold back and changed his address on the spot. "Have you seen any flaws in the Song army? We must make them stop!"

"There is one place that I don't know if it can be considered a flaw, but it must be the weakest point of the Song army!" Wei Ming Anhui clutched the reins, turned his head, and said solemnly. "Gather the *Zhuang Linglang*, and press them all up this time. I will personally lead the team to that place."

"I will lend the white yak standard to the *Shangfu*!" Li Qianshun did not hesitate at all when he heard this. "I entrust today's affairs to *Shangfu*!"

The white-haired Wei Ming Anhui nodded, personally reined in his horse and went forward without saying a word. The armored cavalry officers and tribal leaders who heard him clearly followed, and dozens of golden-armored warriors also guarded the white yak standard and went with him.

Looking at the departing Liang Prince, Li Qianshun, standing on horseback in the field of green seedlings, gradually felt hot... At the same time, the Song army also saw the Western Xia army readjusting, but they were not surprised. Because the scholars who accompanied the army yesterday had conveyed it to every soldier, and everyone knew that the Western Xia people would definitely try their best to stop them, and what had just happened was just the release of the *Zhuang Linglang*.

Therefore, in a sense, today's battle had only just begun.