Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2280 Ren Gui Leads a Large Army to Seize Hexi, Zhao Changfeng Flees to Guandong

Although the Eight-Nation Alliance managed to block the combined attack from the left and right flanks by Jing Si, Zhao Bifang, and Gao Yanping, at this point, the alliance had deployed its strongest generals, leaving their central army camp extremely weak.

It was under these circumstances that Zhao Kuangyin led all the main cavalry forces of this battle, personally leading them, straight towards the central camp of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

At this very moment, the Great Hei Kingdom within the Eight-Nation Alliance defected, which became the most direct trigger for the Alliance's crushing defeat.

The original alliance of the four minor dynasties had a long-standing cooperative foundation, but it was still easily broken from within by a single divisive tactic.

Not to mention the eight kingdoms of Li, Yin, Ye, Feng, Zhao, Xi, Li, and Yang, whose internal situations are even more complicated.

The relationship between the two great dynasties, Nan Yin and Da Xi, has been particularly complex over the years, with intermarriages and constant conflicts.

Under such circumstances, there was no shortage of opportunities for Zhao Kuangyin to exploit internal weaknesses.

In particular, the Imperial City Guard of the Song Dynasty, following the conflict between the Southern Yin and several leading martial arts sects of the Great Xi Dynasty, unexpectedly managed to uncover the Great Xi Dynasty emperor's secrets.

This was the most direct cause of the Da Xi Dynasty's defection in the face of battle.

Zhao Kuangyin personally led his cavalry straight to the central army camp, but the troops fighting at the front were suddenly betrayed by their own people, which completely caused the situation on all battlefields of the Eight-Nation Alliance to spiral out of control.

Among the eight fierce generals besieging Zhao Bifang and Gao Yanping, one was a member of the Da Xi Dynasty.

At the same moment, he suddenly switched sides and stabbed Liang Fang in the arm with a spear, although he was immediately sent flying by Liang Lin's hammer.

This sudden turn of events gave Zhao Bifang and Gao Yanping, who were under siege, an opportunity.

Zhao Bifang launched a sudden attack, severing the weakest of the eight, Shi Renhu, and Liu Tiansheng of the Great Xuan Dynasty in half.

Gao Yanping also unleashed his long-prepared killing move, taking advantage of Liang Fang's arm injury to severely wound him with a single strike.

From then on, the original eight-person team participating in the siege suddenly had only five members left, and among these five, Liang Fang, one of the three main forces, was even suddenly seriously injured.

Given the current situation on the battlefield, the five of them were no match for Zhao Bifang and Gao Yanping. With the battlefield already in disarray, the five of them had no choice but to split up and attempt a breakout.

In the end, two of the five were caught up with and killed by Zhao Bifang and Gao Yanping.

Liang Lin, who was left behind, successfully broke through the encirclement. In the process, he even killed Yao Pingzhong, a fierce general of the Song army who came to stop him.

However, Liang Fang, who was already seriously injured, was very unlucky. During his breakout, he ran into Zhao Kuangyin, who was leading his cavalry to attack the flank after breaking through the central camp.

Both of them possessed peak Heaven-level strength, and if they were both at their peak, Liang Fang naturally wouldn't be afraid of him.

However, Liang Fang was already seriously injured at this time, and he was exhausted from the long battle. In less than ten rounds, Zhao Kuangyin knocked him off his horse and then hit him on the head with a stick.

In this battle, Zhao Kuangyin achieved a complete and resounding victory with fewer troops.

Two of the emperors of the Eight-Nation Alliance were even killed by the Song army in this battle, and countless ministers followed them into battle.

Figures like Duan Siliang, Chu Wanli, Gu Ducheng, Zhu Danchen, Fu Sigui, and Song Zhengben of Dali, and Yuan Hongdao and Yang Taisui of the Dayang Dynasty, all died on the battlefield in this battle. It is no exaggeration to say that Zhao Kuangyin's battle almost destroyed the backbone of eight great dynasties.

If the Song Dynasty had not faced a three-pronged attack from the Han Dynasty at this time, based solely on the results of this battle, it would have been easy for Zhao Kuangyin to press his advantage and wipe out these smaller dynasties one by one.

However, Zhao Kuangyin ultimately did not have that opportunity.

For Zhao Kuangyin, the most difficult thing was what happened after he won this battle.

Even though Zhao Kuangyin knew perfectly well that with Xue Rengui having severed the connection between Yangxi Road and Zhao Changfeng, leading his troops north at this point would have virtually no chance of salvaging Zhao Changfeng's situation in Hexi Road.

However, Zhao Kuangyin still could not give up like this. He left Zhao Sheng and a part of his troops to reorganize the prisoners and, incidentally, to support Lian Po on the eastern front of Yangxi Road.

As for him, he led 80,000 troops with the intention of re-establishing the connection between Yangxi Road and Zhao Wuji.

However, just a month later, another piece of bad news came from Hexi Road.

…………

Hexi Road.

Xue Rengui's 150,000 troops captured the three prefectures of Hexi within a month.

Xue Rengui divided his forces into two groups, with himself leading 70,000 troops to block Zhao Kuangyin's reinforcements heading north to Hexi.

He was to lead the remaining 80,000 troops northward, with Feng Yi as the main general and Bai Qi, who had just begun to show his talent, temporarily promoted to be Feng Yi's deputy. He was to cooperate with Chang Yuchun to encircle Zhao Changfeng's rear.

Even though Chang Yuchun annihilated 40,000 of Zhao Changfeng's 200,000 troops, he still had 160,000 troops from the Song Dynasty.

If these 160,000 troops could be dealt with, it would be a devastating blow to the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, this battle can be considered a crucial one in the Han Dynasty's war against Song. Not only did Zhang Liang, the military advisor, personally accompany the army, but important generals such as Yang Jian and Wang Shengzhi were also dispatched by Xue Rengui to Feng Yi's army.

With Chang Yuchun's nearly 300,000-strong army in front and Feng Yi and Bai Qi's 80,000-strong army behind, and with many powerful generals among the enemy forces, Zhao Changfeng's various defensive lines were completely unable to hold.

In this situation, it can be said that there are flaws everywhere.

Ultimately, even though Zhao Changfeng believed that the Hexi Corridor was extremely important to the Song Dynasty, he still had to consider preparing to completely abandon Hexi at this point.

As the most prosperous of the four circuits of the Song Dynasty, the Hexi Circuit was essential to ensuring the Song Dynasty's war potential.

However, there are priorities. If a full retreat is not carried out at this time, in the end, the Zhao Song dynasty will not only be unable to protect the Hexi Corridor, but will also completely lose its hundreds of thousands of troops.

By then, the Zhao Song dynasty would not have simply lost its war potential, but would be facing the complete danger of national subjugation.

Therefore, it would be better to retreat as soon as possible while Feng Yi has not yet cleared out all the counties behind them and has not yet completely surrounded them, and while there is still a chance to retreat.

If we continue to hesitate, it's uncertain whether we'll even be able to retreat later!