The prince is more stable

Chapter 480: Reinforcements
Zhang Rong had anticipated that the return journey from Shangjing to the Juma River border would be so dangerous, but he did not expect that when they were only two or three hundred miles away from the border, Yelu Hongji still did not give up on sniping Su Shi.

The rumbling sound of horse hooves seemed to strike at everyone's heart. Zhang Rong's eyes were bloodshot and he stared at the mountain road ahead with gritted teeth.

As an experienced general, Zhang Rong could judge from the sound of horse hooves on the opposite side that the enemy had at least two thousand people.

Yelu Hongji really thought highly of Zhang Rong and the 500 Song soldiers. The previous ambushes were just tests, but this time he was definitely serious, and he would attack with the force of a lion attacking a rabbit to ensure that there would be no mistakes.

The ambush location was also chosen well. This place was a mountain road with no way to escape, which was not conducive to the army's deployment of formations. The victory could only be decided by a battle of heads, and in terms of battle of heads, the Liao army had an absolute advantage.

Zhang Rong quickly assessed the situation and felt increasingly heavy-hearted.

Yelu Hongji was determined to kill Su Shi.

The sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, and the expressions of the five hundred Song soldiers were becoming more and more nervous. Everyone gripped the hilt of their sword and stared quietly ahead.

"There are no cowards in the Dragon Guard Camp!" Zhang Rong suddenly shouted.

This roar seemed to inject a shot of adrenaline into the soldiers. Everyone became excited, and an invisible and intangible fighting spirit filled the air around them.

That suffocating and heart-racing atmosphere was the soldiers' determination to die.

Su Shi in the team clearly sensed this fierce fighting spirit. Literati are emotional and are the type of people who are most susceptible to the surrounding aura.

Obviously, it was something so mysterious and unpredictable, but Su Shi could really sense the indomitable fighting spirit of this Song army. It was a stubbornness that would never compromise and would not hesitate to die with the enemy.

Just before meeting the enemy, Zhang Rong quickly turned his head and looked at Su Shi deeply, with a hint of guilt and self-blame in his eyes.

"Master Su, I'm sorry. I've failed His Royal Highness the Prince's trust. I'm afraid I can't protect you today."

Su Shi was a famous and unrestrained scholar of his time, with a heroic and free-spirited character. At this moment, seeing the morale of the soldiers in the Dragon Guard Camp was high and their fighting spirit was undiminished even though the enemy was numerous and we were few, Su Shi suddenly felt a sense of heroism.

"General Zhang, what nonsense are you talking about! I will die with you, my fellow soldiers!" Su Shi laughed heartily, drawing his sword. "It is the greatest honor of my life to be buried here with you, my comrades!"

The long sword points to the sky, unyielding and fearless.

Looking northwest, shooting Sirius.

The patriotic aspirations expressed by the literati in their poems are about to be realized today. Su Shi has no fear of death at all. Instead, he is excited and full of heroic spirit.

Soon, a snake-like Liao army appeared at the corner of the mountain road ahead.

The Liao army, numbering about a thousand people, immediately accelerated their horses and rushed towards the Song army as soon as they turned the corner of the mountain road.

The effect of accelerating on the rugged mountain road was actually not that great, but it still created impact pressure for the Song army that was standing still to meet the enemy.

Fortunately, the Liao army chose to ambush here, which has both advantages and disadvantages in terms of geography.

The disadvantage was that the mountain roads were narrow, and the Song army could not deploy its battle formation, and the Liao army was also unable to deploy its battle formation. Only the first few Liao cavalry charging in the front could cause damage to the Song army, while the rest were like cattle and horses queuing for food in the cafeteria, each of them very orderly.

"Cut off the horse's legs!" Zhang Rong shouted, raised the oar in his hand, and rushed towards the Liao cavalry on horseback.

After seeing the strengths and weaknesses of both sides at a glance, Zhang Rong's judgment was very accurate and correct. It was impossible for cavalry to charge into such an encounter on a narrow mountain road. The only way to win was to force the Liao army off their horses first.

Seeing the general leading the charge, the rest of the Song army followed even more excitedly. In this kind of terrain, they didn't care about the battle formation and all rushed forward to engage in close combat with the Liao cavalry.

The two sides encountered each other and started fighting almost in an instant. Of course, there was no bloody scene of debating right and wrong after meeting each other, or discussing whether your ambush and sneak attack on me was immoral.

In a real clash between two armies, no matter the size, they start fighting as soon as they meet. There is no nonsense, and in the blink of an eye it will be a fight to the death, life for life.

The number of Song troops was obviously smaller than that of Liao troops, and they were on a mountain road where there was no room for maneuver, so they could only rely on their daring.

Fortunately, this Song army was composed of soldiers from the Longwei Camp. They had followed Zhao Xiaoqian for many years and won many victories. The morale of the entire army had been cultivated, and they had become the veritable elite soldiers of the Song Dynasty. They did not collapse when they encountered the Liao army, which was several times larger than their own. They still gritted their teeth and fought hard even though they knew they were defeated.

Today's weak Song Dynasty may still be a weak Song Dynasty.

But the current Dragon Guard Battalion is by no means weak.

After the battle, the Song army quickly fell into a disadvantage and suffered heavy casualties. More than a hundred people out of the 500-man team were killed in battle.

The Liao army continued to receive reinforcements from the corner of the mountain road ahead and continued to fight.

Su Shi was dragged to the rear by the soldiers of the Longwei Camp. They would not allow Su Shi to take any risks. Until this moment, the soldiers of the Longwei Camp had not forgotten their mission. They were here to protect Su Shi. If the mission could not be completed, then Su Shi must be the last to die.

Watching the soldiers charging one by one in front of him, brandishing swords, dying in battle, and falling in a pool of blood with screams, Su Shi trembled all over and struggled constantly.

At this point, he no longer cared about his status or position, and had even forgotten that he was a world-renowned literary giant. In the midst of the battle between the two armies, he was just an ordinary soldier willing to die for his country.

"It's just death, why are you stopping me? Let me go!" Su Shi struggled and shouted angrily. The two Dragon Guard Battalion soldiers turned a deaf ear to him and pulled him back.

No matter how angry Su Shi was, he was after all a scholar in his sixties and his strength was far inferior to that of the young soldiers who were pulling him.

They dragged him to the back of the team, and the screams and fighting in front became much quieter, and then the two young soldiers let him go.

One of the young soldiers grinned at Su Shi and pointed to the dense forest on the roadside behind him. He said, "Master Su, I'm afraid we can't stop the Liao dogs, let alone protect you. We have to ask you to escape through the dense forest next to you..."

"Once you're out of the dense forest, don't stop. Keep running south. His Royal Highness will definitely send troops to support you. Whether you survive depends entirely on your luck."

As they spoke, the two soldiers looked at each other, then smiled at Su Shi, their smiles calm and fearless. They bowed to him, turned around, gripped their swords tightly, and rushed into the fighting crowd without hesitation.

Almost in an instant, Su Shi saw with his eyes wide open that two young soldiers were stabbed in the chest and their necks were cut by the Liao army, and they fell twitching in a pool of blood.

When Su Shi saw this scene, he clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, his eyes were red, and he was heartbroken.

Until his death, he still didn't know the names of these two young soldiers, but their determination and calmness when they died were like a loud bell, striking Su Shi's heart hard.

"The national hero is nameless, I am not as good as him!" Su Shi murmured in a trembling voice, tears streaming down his face.

Today, he experienced the cruelty of war with his own eyes. During the fierce battle between the two armies, Su Shi's soul seemed to be baptized in blood.

In the center of the battlefield, Zhang Rong had been stabbed several times, but fortunately he was not hit in the vital parts, so he was still able to fight back.

The strength in his body was draining away very quickly. Zhang Rong couldn't remember how many enemies he had killed. He just felt like he didn't even have the strength to lift his sword.

The despair in his eyes grew stronger and stronger. Zhang Rong knew that this battle had already cut off the chances of survival for his comrades, and he could no longer care about Su Shi's safety.

He swung the knife with force, his vision blurred, and his body was covered in blood, he didn't know whether it was his own or the enemy's.

Listening to the screams of his comrades, Zhang Rong looked up at the sky and sighed in despair.

"Your Highness, I have let you down!" Zhang Rong muttered to himself in frustration.

The Liao army on the opposite side continued to pour in, getting close in a moment and killing with swords.

Zhang Rong gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and mustered the last bit of strength in his body, determined to take a few enemies with him before he died.

At this moment, there was a sudden loud noise, and then the rear of the Liao army became chaotic.

Zhang Rong and the soldiers of the Dragon Guard Camp who were still fighting were stunned for a moment, and then everyone cheered excitedly. Many people covered their faces and cried, and roared at the top of their lungs.

They were not unfamiliar with this loud noise; it was the sound of the flintlock rifles equipped by the Dragon Guard Battalion.

"Reinforcements are here!" Zhang Rong roared, raising his knife, his tears and the blood on his face mixed together.

Immediately afterwards, bursts of gunfire rang out from the rear of the Liao army, and the Liao army became increasingly chaotic. Many people shouted in fear in Khitan, then threw away their weapons and rushed into the dense forest on the side of the road.

More Liao soldiers had no time to escape and were hit by Song army's firearms and died on the rugged mountain roads.

A moment later, at the corner of the mountain road, a huge banner with red characters on a black background appeared, with a big word "Zhe" embroidered on it.

"It's Lao Zhe! Haha, this bastard!" Zhang Rong laughed loudly, his body shaking.

In the silent valley, Zhe Keshi's rough and sharp roar echoed.

"Following the military orders of His Royal Highness the Prince of Hejian of the Great Song Dynasty, I will welcome the Song envoys back to their country. Any Liao troops who intercept or kill the Song envoys will be executed!"

"Kill all the Liao people in sight, leaving no one alive!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the gunfire became more intense. The Liao army cried for their parents and fled into the dense forests on the roadside. However, most of them were unable to escape and were killed on the spot by the Song army's firearms.

Soon, the Liao army was completely wiped out, and at the corner of the mountain road, Zhe Keshi came riding on his horse.

Zhang Rong saw a horseman rushing towards him with blurred vision. The figure seemed vaguely familiar, but he was completely exhausted. He could not hold the knife with a rolled blade in his hand, and his body could not help but lean back.

Zhe Keshi jumped off his horse, quickly reached out and hugged Zhang Rong's shoulders.

"Lao Zhang, brothers, I'm a little late. You've suffered." Zhe Keshi sighed.

Zhang Rong gave a faint smile, "You bastard! Most of my men have been killed. I'm not done with you!"

Trying to pull himself together, Zhang Rong seemed to have thought of something. He hurriedly looked back and said anxiously, "Quick, find Scholar Su! We were in the chaos just now and had no time to care about him. We don't know whether he is alive or dead."

(End of this chapter)