Me and countless me.

Chapter 630 The Demise of Song
Starting from Xiangyang, Liu Bilie was invincible; no city could hold out for more than three days.

When the battle was going well, he could easily conquer many cities with a few hundred men, a large number of counterweight catapults, and special operations teams composed of martial arts practitioners who could move swiftly and agilely.

When the battle was not going well, he only needed to set out large quantities of fried tofu and various kinds of rice and noodles at the entrance to lure the defenders on the city wall, and have these fellow Song people share their experiences. In the next attack, the intensity of the resistance would be reduced by more than half.

Their neat armor, their seemingly inexhaustible supplies, and most importantly—

"The Grand Uyghurs are coming!"

With an excited expression, Liu Bilie drove a large green truck like a roaring beast, leading the cavalry behind him directly into the battlefield.

This was the supply transport vehicle that Li Ke allocated to him, and it was also built by Grey Wolf. However, there isn't enough oil right now, so it can only last for a few months.

However, Liu Bilie, who had long thought that Li Ke's horses were too rubbish to be worthy of wearing iron armor, immediately realized that these steel behemoths were the most suitable weapons for charging into battle. So he did not hesitate to have steel plates installed on these steel behemoths and then brought them to the battlefield as the vanguard of the cavalry!
The Song soldiers, who were arrayed on the battlefield, looked in horror at the approaching steel behemoth. Some instinctively wanted to charge, while others instinctively wanted to retreat. But before they could decide what to do, the truck driven by Liu Bilie crashed into them!

Countless soldiers, though incomplete, were propelled into the air by the roar of the trucks, their sturdy formation shattering instantly. Some brave warriors tried to wedge the truck wheels with their weapons, but the cavalry charging on either side of the trucks were no pushovers. Before they could even make a move, they were sent flying.

Looking at the soldiers he had sent flying, Liu Bilie couldn't shake the smile on his face. In his eyes, these were far more useful than any Akhal-Teke horse! This was the real deal!

Inside the truck bed, the soldiers, secured with ropes, fired continuously with spears and bows, making full use of their mounted archery skills.

Following the cavalry, the fully armored cavalrymen charged in swiftly, instantly tearing apart the already unstable battle line. Although the Song soldiers fought desperately to defend their homeland, their broken weapons posed no threat whatsoever to Li Ke's fully armored warriors. Even forming a spear formation was of no use!

Because the soldiers in the opposing spear formation were also wearing iron armor, and their own cavalry simply couldn't advance as swiftly as the enemy!
But the most desperate place is another one.

Upon seeing the city gate so close, Liu Bilie suddenly shouted.

"Tiger King!"

His voice was filled with excitement, and on the truck, Tiger King, who had been resting and waiting, suddenly lit up his eyes, then lifted the curtain covering his body and flew up. His eyes suddenly shone with a scarlet light, and two gleaming sword teeth appeared on his hands. Then he rushed out like a cannonball and crashed directly into the city gate!

Almost immediately, the city gate was smashed open, and Liu Bilie's Da Yun rushed in, completely shattering the remaining Song army's will to resist.

Under such circumstances, the defeat of the Song army in open field battle was inevitable, and Liu Bilie, who had trucks transporting engineering equipment and various supplies, advanced at a speed that exceeded the expectations of all Song soldiers.

Even the Song generals couldn't determine exactly how many soldiers Li Ke's army there were, because their combat thinking and information transmission speed were still limited to the speed of carrier pigeons and messengers. As a result, some Song generals made the decision to abandon the city based on previous battle reports and the battle lines, even though Liu Bilie only sent a small group of cavalry.

This was a choice made out of necessity. There were no natural defenses left after Xiangyang City, and the finances of the various capitals did not support them to hold out for reinforcements. After all, they did not even have three days' worth of food. Holding out for reinforcements was a joke. From the beginning, the city was designed and built to suppress bandits and serve as a supply depot for military rations and soldiers. It did not have walls and soldiers that could withstand a prolonged war.

As for weapons and armor...

Don't make people laugh. It's difficult to even equip each person with a long spear, let alone armor.

You might just give the order to defend the city, only to have your head chopped off and surrendered to the enemy soldiers and officers the next moment. After all, if you can't even feed your men, expecting them to fight for you is wishful thinking.

It would be better to lead the men to Lin'an and use the city walls there for defense. Otherwise, they would have no hope of victory at all. Moreover, doing so would prevent their soldiers from turning into rebels, which would be the greatest act of loyalty they could offer.

It can be said that the entire Song Dynasty was like an egg. It seemed very hard, and if you left it alone, even if it rotted, it would not look like there was any problem. But once a hole was broken, it would collapse instantly.

Thus, the desk of the pseudo-emperor of the Song Dynasty was filled with a large number of battle reports that he could not understand. He did not even think that the generals who were truly unable to defend the city had fled out of helplessness, but rather out of cowardice.

And that is indeed the case. Although there are many reasons, these generals also made their soldiers suffer a lot, and they also made their soldiers go out to do a lot of work. They were the ones who turned soldiers into craftsmen.

So he glared angrily at the memorials requesting the retreat and the construction of a defensive line in Lin'an, and laughed in exasperation.

"Ha, look at my ministers, saying that the Heavenly Emperor has descended to earth on the other side and that I should go and invite the Jade Emperor. Some say that there are tigers on the battlefield that can ride the gale and form tornadoes that can instantly smash through city walls."

He closed the memorials, completely ignoring their contents, the helplessness they conveyed, and the true intelligence they contained, and then spoke angrily.

"Give the order! Anyone who tries to deceive me with these strange excuses again will be executed!"

After speaking angrily, he looked at his ministers. The ministers did not object, because in the Song Dynasty, if the emperor really wanted to do something, no one could stop him.

Therefore, they all just watched silently, but in the end, it was Jia Sidao who spoke up.

"But Your Majesty, what about the money and provisions..."

He knew very well that his soldiers would not be able to fight without money and supplies, so at this moment he asked them for money and supplies.

The emperor, however, gave a cold laugh.

"Where would I possibly have any extra money or provisions? The military pay was just issued, how could it be insufficient!"

The ministers looked at each other, knowing that the emperor's anger had clouded his judgment and that the other party had indeed been deceived.

Although the other side knew that the Song Dynasty soldiers did not receive much pay and had a tradition of being exploited, they probably did not know how much they were exploited or how severely they were ripped off.

However, if the matter were brought up now, everyone involved would be held accountable, so Jia Sidao asked the question cautiously.

"If there are any shortcomings..."

The emperor immediately spoke.

"There must be corruption involved! If that's the case, arrest them all and execute them! Show no mercy!"

In an instant, Jia Sidao and everyone else gave up on actively exposing the matter, and everyone pretended that the money and food distributed earlier met the most basic needs of the war.

But the emperor wasn't short of money. He was furious at the soldiers' lack of courage and felt that they were just people who couldn't even afford one meal a day. He thought those lowly people shouldn't have rebelled against him at all!

Even many ministers felt the same way, believing that one meal a day was a blessing, and that as long as they didn't starve, that was enough. They thought that commoners had no right to make so many demands.

Therefore, after some deliberation, Jia Sidao and the others could only offer their final suggestion.

"However, many in the army believe that those rebels are heavenly soldiers and generals descended from heaven, so we request Your Majesty to bestow upon them the Yellow Talisman Heavenly Soldiers to boost morale."

They had no other choice. Since the emperor was unwilling to pay, they could only offer some psychological comfort, hoping to use his legitimacy to persuade the soldiers underground to serve.

Upon hearing this request—which cost little money and could prove his legitimacy—the pseudo-emperor of the Song Dynasty immediately beamed with delight. "Great!"

So, a team of six-armored divine soldiers quickly arrived on the city wall!
Unfortunately, these high-ranking figures in the Song Dynasty never understood, or rather, understood perfectly, that most of the problems in this world are ultimately economic and distributional issues.

This economy doesn't refer to money, but rather to the necessities of life, including food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, as well as the social welfare and moral standards one can enjoy.

An emperor who doesn't understand this principle is useless; an emperor who understands it but ignores it is a foolish ruler; but an emperor who understands this principle and is willing to maintain a relatively fair distribution system in order to expand the pie is generally able to go down in history and leave behind the title of a wise ruler, or perhaps—

He died a violent death.

The current Song Dynasty emperor is undoubtedly a foolish and incompetent ruler, because although he understands this principle, he naturally feels that the local soldiers and civilians are not worthy of his explanation.

Those who agree with him in explaining this principle are all the ministers, big landowners, and various interest groups. The local militia and common people should serve him to the death for a bite to eat. If they can't win under his command, it's because they are unwilling to put in the effort; they are a bunch of troublemakers. But if they can win on the other side, it's not his problem, but rather that these troublemakers have a problem with their thinking.

They're a bunch of born rebels!

The ministers were the same. These garrison troops became brave not because they received ample supplies, sufficient pay, and decent treatment and social status, but because they were born with a rebellious and despicable nature.

then--

"We used to live such hard lives."

With a piece of minced meat and tofu in his hand, a fried dough stick in his hand, and a bowl of salted meat porridge in front of him, the Song Dynasty soldier wolfed down his food, tears streaming down his face as he looked at the distant Song Dynasty city wall.

He was originally a farmer who cultivated the land, but due to a disaster, he couldn't repay the money he had borrowed from the local Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries, so he had to sell his land to the local landlord to pay off his debts. Later, due to various circumstances, he was forced into exile and was sent to the local militia for food.

Although he had to work as a craftsman for his superiors, do all sorts of private jobs, only eat one meal a day, wear clothes that were so tattered they looked like stockings, and be looked down upon by everyone—after all, he was really no different from a servant—he still managed to survive.

He was the only one who survived.

Yet at this very moment, they are being forced to fight against the enemy, who are only fed one meal a day, and to battle against fully armed enemies.

Therefore, when he thought about how, after being captured, he watched as the high-ranking official named Liu Bilie personally distributed steamed buns and food to them, only asking them to shout Li Ke's name after receiving the food and to praise the greatness of the Heavenly Emperor Li Ke, in order to eat meat porridge with salted duck eggs, fried dough sticks with salt, and minced meat and tofu in front of him, he couldn't help but wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes.

He touched his new clothes and looked at the gleaming armor beside him.
At this moment, he no longer cared about the glory of the people of the Song Dynasty, loyalty to the Song Emperor, or that resisting the Song Emperor was tantamount to resisting the Jade Emperor and would lead to hell.

At this moment, he absolutely believed that Li Ke was the Heavenly Emperor, and that the Mongol named Liu Bilie was a descendant of the Han Dynasty. At this moment, he only believed one thing.

Anyone who tries to stop him from living this kind of life with the Heavenly Emperor Li Ke will be sent to hell!
Thus, in the siege of Lin'an launched by Liu Bilie, many soldiers who were still Song soldiers just three days ago displayed extraordinary bravery. Before their cavalry could even set out, they had already defeated the Song army's field troops, and even witnessed the extraordinary sight of large numbers of Song field troops surrendering as a whole.

However, just as Liu Bilie was looking at the towering city walls of Lin'an and thinking that the siege would be impossible without the arrival of the Fierce Tiger King, a group of soldiers wearing willow armor, wielding peach wood swords, carrying buckets of black dog blood, and covered in yellow talismans, voluntarily opened the city gates and rushed out with great confidence.

Liu Bilie: "…………"

He felt this scene was somewhat familiar, representing two crucial historical moments, but at this moment he had no interest in thinking about which magical dynasty in history had witnessed such a spectacle twice; instead, he waved his arm.

"Destroy the Song Dynasty!"

Just days before, the Song soldiers roared and charged into Lin'an. The Six Armor Divine Soldiers disappeared like waves in the ocean. At this moment, the soldiers on the city walls also gave up resistance and, led by their officers, defected.

As a result, Lin'an quickly underwent its own purge.

Liu Bilie ordered his soldiers not to disturb ordinary people, but he did not say that they could not harm high-ranking officials.

Then a shocking scene unfolded.

Countless high-ranking nobles were dragged and thrown onto the streets by these angry soldiers, and pulled along by horses.

The once high-ranking daughter of an official, who could be beaten to death with just a glance, no longer enjoys the high status she once held.

The powerful ministers who controlled the fate of the empire were easily killed by swords and spears like ants, while the wicked servants who had willingly submitted to their masters were dragged out, chopped up, and fed to the dogs.

"I am from the family of the Vice Minister of War! I am from the family of the Vice Minister of War!"

A servant cried out, only to discover that the person who had kicked him down was the very commoner he had previously bullied. He had taken away the man's property, wife, and even killed his son, but because he was a servant of the Vice Minister of War, he was able to live a carefree life, while the man was imprisoned and then exiled to the army.

But at this moment, looking at the long sword in the other person's hand, he revealed a fawning smile.

"Sir...please don't kill me..."

However, before he could finish speaking, his head flew off, and the soldier with bloodshot eyes looked at the Vice Minister of War not far away.

Such events continued to unfold. At this moment, Liu Bilie, who was already in front of the inner city of the palace, was eating dried meat with chili peppers with a relaxed expression. He inexplicably felt that as he spread Li Ke's name, there seemed to be an inexplicable power in his body. However, he thought it was the effect of the True Qi Armor and did not notice that his height was slowly increasing.

For some inexplicable reason, he suddenly remembered the vow he had made to Li Ke to follow her for eternity.

"Li Ke can't possibly live for ten thousand years, can he?"

He inexplicably uttered this sentence, which he felt was meant to comfort himself, and then asked the question.

"Have the people all evacuated according to the Emperor's military regulations?"

The adjutant quickly checked and nodded. Basically, all the people of Lin'an City had been evacuated, leaving only the powerful and wealthy merchants.

Liu Bilie didn't care about the specific work details anymore. After all, so much time had passed, and his soldiers had pretty much settled their scores here. At worst, he could just do a spot check later. So he waved his hand.

"Then there's no need to sheath your sword. Obey the Emperor's command and kill."

Based on what he had seen along the way, he did not think Li Ke needed to keep these powerful figures around. More importantly, a royal guard who had rushed to the scene overnight stood beside him, and this guard only brought one word from Li Ke.

"kill."

(End of this chapter)