lady, please calm down

The third year of Xuanqing in Qi and the fourth year of Daqing in Xixia.

September 10th.

Xixia gathered a regular army of 140,000 people with a support of 70,000 people. It claimed that an army of 300,000 people marched south from Baigan Mountain.

As early as June, Xixia had a conflict with the Western Army.

Baoan Prefecture Commander Tong Wei and Linfu Road Commander Zhe Keqiu were prepared for the possible revenge of the Xixia Army, but they still did not expect that the other party would put up a desperate stance.

There were only more than 200,000 armored men in the entire Xixia. In addition to the indispensable garrison forces in various prefectures and passes, this southern invasion mobilized almost all the mobile forces that could be mobilized.

More than a hundred years ago, Xixia seized the land of Hequ from Zhou, and the latter lost the source of Hequ horses. Since then, the mobility of the Western army has been far inferior to that of Xixia, resulting in the defense of the entire northwest being dominated by military fortresses.

On the 11th, the Xixia Army's forwards broke through the Tumen and Pingrong villages on the first day, turned eighty miles the next day, and broke into the Shunning village at night.

After only two days of southward invasion, they were less than a hundred miles away from Baoan Prefecture, an important town on the Western Army's northern defense line.

Although the Xixia Army's momentum was terrifying, Tong Wei and Zhe Keqiu, two frontline veterans, did not panic.

The two places have been at war for more than 200 years. Although it is unclear why Xixia suddenly devoted its entire country to this battle and risked its national destiny, there were more than 100,000 people from various departments of the Western Army assembled.

Gyeongju, Linfu and Baoanzhou are in the shape of a pin, forming horns with each other. The northernmost Baoanzhou is the tip of the horn. As long as Baoanzhou is not broken, Gyeongju and Linfu will be safe.

On the 13th, Zhe Keqiu led 10,000 Zhejia troops and the 7,000-horse infantry of Hedingbian, the capital of Gyeongju, met at the Sanchuan Plateau in Qili south of Gyeongju and then went down to the stronghold to contain the Xixia army and prevent them from attacking the city with all their strength. The remaining Western armies gathered nearby.

On the 14th, the Xixia army arrived at Baoan Prefecture City. Regardless of rest, they began to attack the city that day.

It was quite surprising that the Xixia army was so eager.

On the afternoon of the 14th, Zhe Keqiu, Zhe Yanwen, his son, and He Dingbian stationed their horses on the Sanchuan Plateau, overlooking the attack and defense of Baoan Prefecture City.

Zhe Keqiu, who had white hair and beard, opened his eyes, held a retractable long tube and looked at Baoan Prefecture. He couldn't help but said: "Is this Xixia army crazy? How many lives can they save if they attack like this regardless of casualties? ?”

After saying that, before He Dingbian could express his opinion, Zhe Keqiu turned around and saw He Dutong looking at the telescope in his hand with great interest. He couldn't help but smiled and handed it over, "This telescope, It was a gift from the King of Chu when our family went to Huaibei last year, and He Dutong gave it a try."

People in the military were not so polite. He Dingbian took it and held the telescope in front of his eyes as if it was a gift. However, he was startled and quickly moved away.

Just because Baoanzhou City, which was seven miles away, suddenly moved in front of him, even the expression of the guarding sergeant could be seen clearly.

After repeating this several times, He Dingbian finally understood the wonderful use of this 'telescope' and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Oh! This is a great thing! With it, I can see all the details of the battlefield!"

After that, He Ding put away the telescope and stuffed it into his waist. Zhe Yanwen on the other side said hurriedly: "Hey! He Dutong, if you want it, just ask the King of Chu for it! This belongs to my father. There is also a message personally engraved by the King of Chu."

He Dingbian took the telescope closer and saw a line of small words on the bronze mirror, 'In the summer of the second year of Xuanqing, the junior first gave it to Zushi Bo'.

Come on, even if He Dingbian is thick-skinned, he can't take advantage of this. He can only smile and offer his hands back.

Perhaps because of the mention of the King of Chu, He Dingbian subconsciously asked: "Did Commander Zhe send someone to deliver a message to the King of Chu?"

"Yes." Zhe Keqiu nodded, but then looked at the stalemate battlefield, and his tone gradually became serious, "Now the elite soldiers of the imperial court are on Hebei Road, and the King of Chu is leading half of the Huaibei army to confront Wanyan Liang. There should be no time in a short time. Xigu. This battle needs to be fought by our Western Army!”

While he was talking, he saw that the offensive on the walls on the east and south sides of Baoan Prefecture suddenly became fierce.

The Xixia army climbing up the ladder changed to a new group of people. All of these people were short and stocky, wearing two layers of armor, but they still moved quickly and climbed extremely fast.

In the blink of an eye, the Xixia army climbed onto the city wall on the south wall.

Zhe Keqiu couldn't help but frown, and after taking a closer look with the telescope again, he was surprised and expected, "Sure enough! The Xixia army mobilized their troops this time, and they really brought Hengshan Bubazi! It seems that they are really not bluffing. Come to ask for Brother Richard, I'm afraid he really wants to take Baoan Prefecture!"

There are two powerful armies in Xixia, one is Bubazi and the other is Tieyaozi.

The Bubazi are composed of strong men from the Dangxiang Qiang ethnic group who have lived in Hengshan for generations. These people often go up and down the mountains and go in and out of streams. Therefore, the soldiers have the characteristics of being able to withstand cold and heat, endure hunger and thirst, be good at walking with light feet, and can reach high and far distances.

Coupled with double-layered infantry armor, it is particularly brave in combat and fearless of death.

However, this kind of heavy infantry, like the Iron Kites, is not large in number.

Xixia was willing to send them to fight, because he must have ambitions to capture Baoan Prefecture.

Tong Qi in Baoan Prefecture City quickly felt the pressure brought by Bubazi. After a while, the city started asking for reinforcements.

"This Tong Laosan can't keep his temper!"

As the most prestigious and senior general in the Western Army, Zhe Keqiu criticized Tong Wei, but still said to his son: "Yanwen, lead 3,000 horse troops in the south of the city to harass the Xixia Army's flanks, and make sure they don't dare to let go. Siege the city."

"As ordered!"

Zhe Yanwen accepted the order and immediately led his troops to leave the camp and enter the battlefield from the southeast.

When Zhe Yanwen was fourteen, he followed his father into battle to kill the enemy. Now he has gone through more than a dozen battles. He was very cautious and did not enter the battlefield directly. Instead, he kept wandering around the outside of the battle line and interfered with the Xixia army's siege. Back team.

After all, Bu Ba Zi is here, can the Iron Kitten be far behind?
Sure enough, as Zhe Yanwen expected, about a quarter of an hour later, the infantry phalanx of the Xixia Central Army arrayed due east of Baoanzhou City suddenly opened a hole.

Horses carrying tall knights slowly came towards the battlefield on the south side from the path given by the infantry.

This army is composed of the descendants of the Party and Qiang nobles and their cronies. The men and horses are equipped with richly decorated heavy armor, which is invulnerable to thorns.

There is a buckle around the waist, and the horse is tied to the horse with a hook and rope. Even if it is killed in battle, it will not fall to the ground.

The war horses tend to continue to charge forward with the group.

When Zhe Keqiu was young, he witnessed a Xixia iron kite with his own eyes. His head had been severed up to his neck, but he was still charging on horseback. The scene was quite frightening.

The two places have been fighting for hundreds of years, and they know each other's strength well, and they are both bright cards.

Seeing that the other party took out the treasure from the bottom of the box just after the fight, Zhe Kezhi breathed a sigh of relief but was also slightly worried.

He breathed a sigh of relief because he knew Tie Yaozi's movements and no longer had to worry about them ambushing somewhere to launch a surprise attack.

The reason for the faint worry is that the critical moment when the battle is stalemate and the outcome is clearly not yet reached. The coach of the Xixia Army, Ren Dejing, is also a veteran. Why can't he be so calm this time?
Below, three thousand iron kites have arrived at the battlefield in the south of the city. According to the plan discussed with his father in advance, Zheyanwen relied on the convenience of light cavalry to fight and retreat, leading the iron kites to the Elegy River on the west side.

On the Sanchuan Plateau, Zhe Keqiu saw that Tie Yaozi was indeed led by his son to a battlefield that was conducive to his side's fighting. He then suppressed his uneasiness and ordered: "Yanzhong, He Dutong, you two will each lead your troops to ride into the Elegy River." "

The armies in the northwest were previously poor and weak and could not afford heavy cavalry with men, horses and armor.

It was not until recent years that the Western Army was able to purchase high-quality iron from Huaibei and cast four thousand pairs of heavy armor due to the cultivation of new wheat and good harvests year after year, as well as the good relationship with the King of Chu.

Among them, the Zhe family has the most equipment, totaling 1,500.

He Dingbian had five hundred cavalry under his command.

It is precisely because of this trump card that Xixia still doesn't know that Zhe Keqiu dares to attack the Iron Kite.

The second son, Zhe Yanzhong, and the governor of Qingzhou, He Dingbian, both led the Western Army to fight with heavy cavalry for the first time. They were so excited that they immediately ordered their troops and horses to rush down the Sanchuan Plain.

Elegy Sichuan is narrow in the west and wide in the east, like a trumpet.

At the moment of Shenshi, Zhe Yanzhong led 1,500 heavy cavalry and entered Sichuan from the trumpet mouth.

The sudden appearance of heavy cavalry from the Western Army surprised Tie Yaozi's commander Ximu Weiming. Then he glanced eastward and mumbled something, looking anxious and almost cursing.

A few miles away on the Sanchuan Plateau, Zhe Keqiu was holding a telescope, always paying attention to the movements of the battlefield of Egechuan and the Xixia Chinese Army camp under Baoanzhou City.

If the Xixia Central Army comes to aid the Sadge River, his task is to lead the soldiers from the plateau to intercept it.

In this battle, Zhe Keqiu had made up his mind to defeat Tie Yao even at the cost of huge casualties, which weakened the Xixia army's spirit.

As the telescope moved, several high-flying large birds suddenly appeared in the narrow field of vision.

Zhe Keqiu had already moved his gaze away, but suddenly felt something strange and subconsciously pulled his gaze back.

Having lived in the northwest all his life, Zhe Kiqiu naturally knows what common birds of prey there are, such as vultures, golden eagles, etc.

But the strange birds hovering over the Elegy River at this moment were things he had never seen before.
A closer look through a telescope shows that this bird has a white head and belly, and gray-brown wing feathers. Although it is much smaller than the golden eagle native to the northwest, it still has the symbol of a raptor called a hooked beak.

While he was wondering, he saw a cloud of smoke rising from behind the hill on the east side.

Zhe Keqiu quickly looked over. Just a few breaths later, a black line suddenly appeared in the telescope.

The horse is a Xixia Hequ horse, but the man is much shorter than the Dangxiang people. The man and the horse are also armored, but they are all black, and there is no gorgeous decoration like the Xixia iron kite. Not even a flag was raised.

Those silent heavy-armored knights looked like evil Buddhas made of iron under the sunlight!
Even though he was still several miles away, Zhe Keqiu could clearly feel the chilling air coming towards him.

With Xixia's national power, it is already the limit to be able to raise three thousand iron kites.

Where did this heavy cavalry come from!

After a brief period of confusion, Zhe Keqiu looked at the strange bird hovering in the sky again.
Haidongqing!
Jinren’s Haidongqing!

Zhe Keqiu's scalp went numb for a moment, and when he looked at the battlefield in the Elegy River, the two sides were entangled, and Ming Jin alone would never be able to evacuate.

"The Western Army is guarding the border for the country. If we advance, we will not retreat. Follow me and kill!"

Zhe Keqiu only hesitated for a moment, then turned around and shouted loudly, leading the generals and soldiers towards the east.

The application time is in the middle.

Zhe Keqiu's troops originally wanted to build a barrier for the Elegy River, but after only half an hour of fighting, the line quickly wavered.

Seeing that this heavy armored cavalry that had come from nowhere had advanced less than a hundred steps in front of Zhe Keqiu, the guard captain Zhe Che'er, who was born in a family, pulled out his sword and shouted to the person next to him: "Lead the commander. Let’s go! Brothers can’t stand it anymore!”

After that, he picked up the horse's reins and rushed towards the enemy.

With him taking the lead, dozens of personal guards immediately came forward on horseback, with the same words, "Take the handsome man away!"

In just a few breaths, Zhe Che'er led dozens of guards and rushed to the Iron Floating Formation, slashed down with his sword, and threw out a stream of sparks.

Immediately, Jin Jiangyi stumbled slightly, holding the mace in both hands and smashing the head down.

Zhe Che'er knew that heavy armor was difficult to break, so he used 100% of his strength with the sword just now, but he didn't want it to remain like this.

The trick is old, and it is inevitable to break the car.
These dozens of loyal guards of the Lord Protector, just above the battle line between the two sides, made a tiny wave, which was then crushed and submerged by the black torrent.

At the end of Shen Shi.

Zhe Keqiu, supported by the remaining personal guards, retreated to the Elegy River.

The Zhejia army, which was fighting with all their strength against the Xixia Tieyaozi, suddenly felt the tremendous pressure from the battlefield on the east side.

The battle lines are shaky.

Zhe Keqiu met Zhe Yanwen by chance in Sichuan. At this moment, both father and son's shirts were stained with blood.

"Dad! Why are you here!" Zhe Yanwen was shocked when he saw his father, "What happened to the east?"

Zhe Keqiu was already old. After a fight, he was out of breath. He simply said: "The golden man! The golden man is here!"

"Golden man?"

Zhe Yanwen was shocked when he heard this, but he also felt it was ridiculous.

Wasn't the main force of the Jin people trapped outside the pass by the King of Chu?

Besides, Baoan Prefecture and Huanglong Mansion are thousands of miles apart, with Mobei Grassland in between. How come they suddenly appeared here?
Zhe Keqiu had no time to explain, so he said hurriedly: "While the western entrance of the Elegy River is not blocked by the Xixia army, lead the soldiers around you and retreat quickly!"

Hearing this, Zhe Yanwen shook his head crazily and said anxiously: "Dad, I won't retreat! Take Erlang back quickly!"

At the critical moment, Zhe Keqiu showed his true nature as a loving father, slapped Zhe Yanwen on the face, and said: "Stop arguing! If I ask you to retreat, you will retreat! Where Erlang is at this time, even his father doesn't know. You take the soldiers and retreat quickly, destroy the army for me, and leave a seed for my family!”

"Dad!" Zhe Yanwen called out through tears.

"Quickly retreat! If you can escape, go find King Chu! Go. Dad will cut off your life for you again!"

Three quarters of the hour.

Zhe Yanwen led 400 heavy armor, 400 light cavalry, and less than a thousand remaining soldiers to fight out from the west entrance of Elegy Sichuan in a bloody battle.

At the end of Youshi.

In the Elegy Sichuan, the corpses of the Western Army and Xixia soldiers were piled on top of each other, densely packed, and the bloody smell reached the sky.

The battle was coming to an end. Xixia Tieyaozi, commander of Ximu Weimingzheng, led his subordinates to look for the Western army who had not yet died to finish the killing blow. At the same time, he dug out the heavy cavalry of the Western army who died in the battle, stripped off the opponent's men and horses, and collected them for his own use.

When I walked to the middle of the Elegy River, I saw the coach Ren Dejing and dozens of people gathered around an old man wearing a general's armor.

The old man's beard and hair were all white, but his beard was dyed crimson with blood.

At this time, he was sitting on the ground with his head drooped, leaning against a handsome flag with the word "Zhe" on his back, and blood was still flowing intermittently from his mouth and nose.

After asking about Ximuwei's name, she found out that this person was actually a big boss of the Western Army who had been at odds with Daxia for decades!
According to people close to Marshal Ren Dejing, Marshal Ren Dejing had just tried to persuade him to surrender, but the old man not only refused to obey, but actually killed more than ten people in a row, cut off the tiger head knife, and took out a copper pipe from his arms to smash it. After smashing one person's head, he was stabbed several times by his own sergeant and lost the ability to move.

After hearing this, Ximu Weiming noticed that Zhe Keqiu's right hand, which had two fingers cut off, was still holding a deformed copper pipe.

Although the old thief was about to die at any moment, Ximu Weiming, who hated him deeply, still wanted to kill him with her own hands in order to comfort her brothers who had died at the hands of the Western Army over the years.

After approaching with the knife in hand, Ximu Weiming found that Zhe Keqiu's lips were closed with his eyes blurred, and Ren Dejing half-crouched, listening attentively.

Unexpectedly, Zhe Keqiu was humming a northwest folk song.
"Thirty miles of the Yellow River, twenty miles of water, and five or fifty miles of mountain roads. I came to see Amei on the edge of the cliff from white to black. From a distance, she looked like a mound of earth."

The intermittent singing became fainter and fainter.

Ren Dejing clearly saw that Zhe Keqiu's death was only a moment away, but in order to prove that he defeated Zhe Keqiu, he still advised: "Old General Zhe, now that Jin Xia has joined forces, your Qi country is about to perish. Please surrender. If you surrender, you will at least be able to preserve your mourning and honor after your death, as well as the glory of your descendants."

Many years ago, probably more than ten years ago, the Qi envoy said this during the Qi Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty.

That time, he surrendered.

But this time, in Zhe Keqiu's increasingly groggy mind, the grand scene of everyone in Huaibei living and working in peace and contentment, and the golden waves of wheat on Linfu Road during this summer's harvest, emerged clearly.

Zhe Keqiu forced out a smile, gathered up the last bit of strength, and spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm.

This was his answer.

It's a pity that his body, which is exhausted and dry, doesn't even have the strength to spit the phlegm into Ren Dejing's face.

Bloody sputum will fall on Ren Dejing's feet.

Seeing this, Ren Dejing raised his hand and took away the copper pipe with a line of words engraved on it from Zhe Keqiu's hand. Then he stood up with his hands behind his back and said to Ximu Weiming: "Kill him, cut off his head. Let's Bring it south.”

Night, midnight.

The new wind blowing from the Mobei grassland has brought a clear chill.

Under the bright silver moon, the fragmented loess plateau looks like layers of frozen raging waves.

This barren and disaster-prone land is thick and tough, gentle but not lacking in surging energy.

After Xixia took care of the bodies of its own soldiers, they would not bury the Qi soldiers.

It's midnight, late at night.

Some people hiding in the nearby ravine groped their way into the Elegy River by moonlight.

After searching for an hour, I finally found a headless body in Sichuan with its armor stripped off and leaning against a flag with the word "Zhe" on its back.

Suppressed sobs immediately echoed in the River of Elegy.

Those who died in the battle today were not only the 'Shuaiye Zhe' who was regarded as the patron saint by the people of various prefectures in the northwest, but also countless sons and daughters of the northwest who were born and raised here.

At the beginning of the ugly time.

The moonlight was shining everywhere, and on the mountain ridge outside the Elegy River, a sad and loud female ditty sounded: "Thirty miles of the Yellow River, twenty miles of water. My sister looked for her husband, but he disappeared, so she found her on the mountain ridge. On the mountain ridge It's a battlefield, and barbarians are coming to steal my food again.
The flowers are stained with blood and are bright red. My sister has found her sweetheart. Her sweetheart has lost his breath. My brother and brother are calling each other out. My sister's tearful balls fall into the loess nest."

On September 15th of the third year of Xuanqing, great changes occurred in the northwest. (End of chapter)