You have truly caused me great suffering!

The unusual movements of the Jurchen troops naturally did not escape the notice of the Dingnan Army's scouts.

Upon learning that Zonghan had abandoned the fierce battle and voluntarily retreated eastward.

From Chen Shao to the soldiers on the front lines, everyone was extremely anxious.

In fact, the Tartars were only showing signs of weakness and did not suffer large-scale casualties. The general who died the most so far was the vanguard Wanyan Chang.

Chen Shao originally thought that, given the brutal nature of the Tartars, they would definitely not let the matter rest.

But Zonghan is a person.
It is indeed terrifying; it is a very powerful and worthy opponent to be wary of.

If we don't kill him, the chances of the Jurchens making a comeback are not low.

On the Ansu front, the sounds of galloping hooves and human voices filled the fields.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and mud churned on the ground, making it difficult for horses to pull their hooves out.

The Jurchen soldiers on the city wall were in full battle array, but no one could be seen; only weapons were erected around them.

At this point, attacking the city was simply not feasible.

Li Xiaozhong led his personal guard squad westward for a while, but the rain became increasingly heavy.

The dense rain made him feel gloomy and depressed.

Heaven is fair. Last year, torrential rain stopped the Tartars' advance, preventing them from occupying Yunnei in time and giving the Dingnan army an opportunity to take advantage.

This year's torrential rains made it difficult for the Dingnan army to break through Ansu and pursue Zonghan.

Because he wanted to travel light, Zonghan left almost all of his supplies in Ansu City.

I only brought some food.

They even took off the armor that the Jurchens valued most.

This stance clearly indicates that even if they go to Baigou River, they don't intend to fight, but rather to mobilize Zongwang's forces and retreat north with him.

Zhang Tianwang, also soaked to the bone, shouted, "General, are they abandoning the Ansu garrison and fleeing back to Youyan?"

Li Xiaozhong shook his head with a wry smile, "It seems so. These Tartars are abandoned troops. Let's try asking them if they are willing to surrender."

“That’s Wanyan Loushi, how could he surrender!” Zhang Tianwang had fled from Liaodong to Xiazhou and knew the Jurchen Tartars, especially the Western Route Army, very well.

"That Yelü Ma Wu is no easy opponent. If it keeps raining, we'll have to find another way to conquer Ansu City."

Li Xiaozhong sighed, "Send someone to remind the garrison commanders of Zhuo and Yi prefectures to be on high alert. If they cannot wipe out the main force of the Tartars in Hebei, I don't think the Prince of Dai will give up easily. The next main battlefield will probably be Youyan."

Zhang Tianwang nodded and instructed his men to deliver the message.

In his view, Dingnan Army's ambition to devour the two main forces of the Jurchens in one fell swoop was simply too great.

This is your first time in Hebei, and even the Jurchen Tartars are here for the second time.

Your stronghold is in the northwest, while others are to the north, occupying Youyan, which is even closer to you.

Moreover, they didn't have a numerical advantage, the Jurchen warriors were no weak force, and their commanders were people like Zonghan and Zongwang. How could you have wiped them out so easily?

However, he did not say it out loud, because Zhang Tianwang discovered something: the Dingnan Army, from top to bottom, all had the idea of ​​wiping out their main force.

From the Prince of Dai to the three chief commanders, and even the military officers and soldiers in the army.

He was a defeated general who had escaped from the Jurchen's iron hooves, and his mindset was quite different from that of the Dingnan Army.

The ones who were truly similar to the Dingnan Army were actually their opponents, the Jurchen armored soldiers.

Both sides were at their absolute peak, having never suffered a defeat since the start of their uprising. Therefore, they possessed a strong fighting spirit and the courage and ambition to look down upon the world.

I don't care who you are, I will win every battle, and I will destroy you.

When the two sides collide, it's like a needle clashing with a wheat awn.

The Dingnan Army was at the height of its morale.

Because Chen Shao came from the northwest, after he destroyed the Xia state, and inherited all the land and resources of the Western Xia.

Furthermore, he did not have the Cao and Xiahou clans like Cao Cao's, nor the tribal nobles like Wanyan Aguda, so he did not need to give them preferential treatment or arrange titles and benefits for their sons and grandsons.

This allowed the Dingnan Army to prioritize meritocracy, making the distribution of military achievements far fairer than any other army in the world.

That's why they unleashed such a powerful fighting spirit.

Soldiers, if you see your buddies who fought alongside you yesterday and called you brothers become military officers today, aren't you envious?

Even if someone died in battle or was wounded, they received generous compensation, which was visible and acknowledged by everyone.

Now, hindered by the torrential rain, the soldiers of Xia Prefecture are extremely anxious, but there is nothing they can do.

It's somewhat similar to when Zhang Jue rebelled against the Jin in Pingzhou, and Wanyan Zhamu had no choice but to abandon the attack and wait in the rear for the rainstorm to end.

At this time, the various forces in Hebei had also confirmed that Zonghan had moved eastward, so they traveled north together.

Meanwhile, in the Youyan region, the Jurchen emperor Wanyan Wugumai personally led a large army south to support and welcome the two armies.

After the two Jurchen forces joined together, they were subjected to fierce attacks by the Dingnan Army, which continued almost every day.

Both sides suffered heavy casualties.

After Wanyan Wuqi bought it, he recruited craftsmen and people from Yan to start building the bridge.

More than a dozen pontoon bridges were built over the water, and countless soldiers, horses, and vehicles crossed the river to the north bank like a long dragon.

Wanyan Wuqimai raised the emperor's banner and waited on the north bank, watching the armored soldiers cross the Baigou River one by one.

The air was filled with a fishy, ​​pungent smell, indicating that someone had been fishing in the Baigou River to supply the army with fish rations.

Wanyan Wuqimai looked at the Khitan auxiliary troops on the shore. Their rations were always meager, so they could only survive by fishing.

He said to the general beside him, “Wanyan Xiyin was defeated by a few Tatars at Wuhui Ridge. I often wonder if it is because we treat these foreign tribes too harshly.”

"Back then, the old Khan led us to raise an army because the Khitan dogs were too arrogant. If we don't change, sooner or later the other tribes in the northern lands will also rise up against us."

"Now that we have such a formidable enemy as the Western Barbarians, we may really have to change our ways."

The Jurchen people present were divided into those who agreed and those who disagreed, creating a noisy and chaotic scene.

Wu Qimai waved his hand and said, "When Zongwang and Zonghan return, we will gather at Bolieji to discuss this."

Upon hearing this, everyone stopped expressing their opinions and nodded in agreement.

The Bolieji Grand Assembly held a very high position in the Jin Dynasty at that time, possessing the highest decision-making power.

For example, if Bo Lieji had enough votes against Wu Qimai becoming emperor, then he, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, would have to step down.

However, at this time, many Jurchen nobles also had their eyes on the position of Bolieji.

Because Zonghan's strength was severely depleted, he lost several thousand Jurchen soldiers in Yunnei, Rongcheng, and Ansu.

In total, there were more than 10,000 dead Jurchen soldiers alone, not to mention countless auxiliary soldiers.

His two most trusted confidants, Wanyan Yinshuke and Wanyan Loushi, who were also his most capable fighters, were killed in battle in Datong and left in Ansu by Zonghan.

The Western Route Army suffered nearly half its losses, so your status, Zonghan, will have to decline accordingly.

If they can successfully withdraw, many generals in the Western Route Army will likely seek new patrons.

Zonghan's national theory, Ammab, is extremely strong and should be ceded.
-
Taiyuan City.

The sky was overcast in Hedong as well, the continuous rain having just stopped.

Chen Shao was very pleased to learn that the newly built canals and reservoirs had played a very good role in water storage.

He specifically sent someone back to the Northwest to have Xu Jin submit a report, detailing the weather conditions in various parts of the Northwest and whether this year's harvest would be bountiful.

He also instructed various regions to establish agricultural protection teams as soon as possible to prevent the Tibetans from coming down and seizing the grain.

With the harvest imminent, Chen Shao had no choice but to temporarily set aside his focus on the army lines and instead concentrate on agricultural matters.

War is never just about looking at the front lines.

Although Cai Jing can now mobilize the Song Dynasty's supplies and provisions to support the front lines, Chen Shao's own revenue from his own territory is actually more important.

No one can suddenly cut off this income for you, and even if there is any left, you can save it as capital.

There was no time to regret not being able to completely annihilate the Jurchens; the next phase was about to begin, with preparations to attack the entire territory of Youyan.

In fact, the two sides in the war did not change; only the battlefield shifted from Hebei to Youyan.

After a busy day, Chen Shao stretched.

Pushing open the study door and stepping into the courtyard, a gust of autumn wind blew by, and Chen Shao shrank his neck.

After entering September, he felt that the weather was a bit cool and his body was not as good as before.

Even though he was young and strong, sitting for long periods of time was mentally and physically exhausting, and he couldn't take it anymore.

I remember when we were fighting the Xia dynasty in Xiping Prefecture, the temperature there was even lower and we weren't as cold as we are now.

Looking at the increasingly robust tiger, Chen Shao thought to himself that he still needed to set aside some time to exercise every day.

I used to be in good health because I trained my body and honed my martial arts skills every day.

For someone in his profession, maintaining good health is very important.

For example, Li Longji, because his great-grandfather Li Shimin and grandfather Li Zhi both suffered from wind-related ailments, the cunning Li Longji knew about health preservation and wind protection from a young age.

From a very young age, he ate medicinal porridge with Saposhnikovia divaricata and took Astragalus membranaceus to replenish qi and strengthen the exterior.

Thus, in the Li Tang royal family, where the average lifespan was very short, he managed to live to nearly eighty years old, and was still vigorous in his old age.

Despite his advanced age, he still has no time to entertain guests and serve them.

The gentle and charming Li Shishi used to take this matter very seriously, and now she has learned a lot about pharmacology from Lin Niangzi.

However, after she became pregnant, she had difficulty moving around, so she couldn't take care of Chen Shao as promptly as before; otherwise, Chen Shao would probably have been even more pampered.

Back in the inner courtyard, Chen Shao went to Zhong Lingxi's room.

Her lower abdomen was already quite round, perhaps due to the increased internal heat associated with pregnancy, as she was dressed in light clothing.

The lights were dim, casting a hazy yellow glow. Huanhuan chuckled, "You've been busy until this hour again?"

Chen Shao smiled slightly. He never mentioned politics or military affairs to Huanhuan, because she wouldn't understand anyway.

Thanks to the expert care provided by Lin Niangzi, Huanhuan's pregnancy went relatively smoothly this time.

She was slender and tall with very thin shoulders and back. Even though she had been pregnant for a long time, it couldn't hide her delicate figure.

Chen Shao gently touched it and said, "You're almost due, and you haven't gained any weight."

Zhong Lingxi stood up with a smile, plopped down on his lap, and snuggled into his arms.

Feeling Chen Shao's chest against her chest, she felt a sense of peace. She thought to herself how fortunate she was to have her husband by her side; otherwise, her belly would have grown bigger and bigger each day, which would have been truly frightening.

It's true what they say about pregnant women being like carrying a small stove inside their bodies. In early autumn, even wearing just a soft robe, they still feel warm and cozy.

"Sister Lin said that in a few days, she will have to lie down and can only get up a few times a day."

Chen Shao stroked her back and smiled, "It will be fine after a few more days when the baby is born."

Zhong Lingxi, who had been smiling, suddenly became a little nervous and whispered, "My stepmother said that if the belly is pointed, it means you're having a boy, and if it's round, it means you're having a girl. But I can't tell whether it's pointed or round. Can you help me take a look?"

Chen Shao chuckled and cradled her bottom, saying, "She's only had one child, how could she have come up with all this experience? It's a shame you trust her."

Zhong Lingxi said seriously, "But she's the only one in our family who has ever given birth."

"I'll be happy whether it's a boy or a girl."

"That's good." Zhong Lingxi breathed a sigh of relief, clearly believing it.

It's all the maids gossiping about how important it is for a husband to have a son. But what's the big deal? Just keep having more sons!
It was getting late, and after Chen Shao went to bed, he lay quietly next to Huanhuan.

Although he said that men and women are the same, for Chen Shao at this time, having a son was undoubtedly of paramount importance.

It would be even better if this son were born to the first wife or the daughter of the Western Army leader, Zhong.

As the Dingnan Army rapidly expanded, it needed experienced military officers of the middle and lower ranks who could lead troops.

They can quickly assemble a team, use combat as training, and grow rapidly.

The seed family undoubtedly possesses this ability.

Now, Old Zhong serves as the chief of staff in his own residence, while Young Zhong is a general on the front lines; the two sides are cooperating quite tacitly.

If Huanhuan successfully gives birth to a son, the relationship between the Dingnan Army and the Zhong family will be even more solid. If the only fighting force of the Song Dynasty, the Western Army, also sides with him, Chen Shao cannot imagine what obstacles there will be.

Just as he was thinking, Huanhuan suddenly snuggled up to him again and whispered, "Husband, you still want a son, don't you?"

Chen Shao smiled and held her hand, tickling her palm with his fingers. "Huanhuan gave birth to me. I like both boys and girls. You can see that from Asuo."

Perhaps thinking of Chen Shao's affection for A Suo, Huanhuan couldn't help but believe it again.

She held Chen Shao's hand, staring intently at the dark rooftop in the night, and said, "Don't worry, I'll keep having children for you."
-
The morning sunlight streamed through the window and fell on Chen Shao's face as he slept soundly, waking the lazy man from his sweet dreams.

Chen Shao slept soundly that night. He was quite tired. The situation was so tense that even though he hadn't personally gone into battle, he had still expended a lot of energy.

Rubbing his eyes, Chen Shao hesitated whether to stay in bed a little longer, still wrapped in his blanket. Just then, the door opened, and Huanhuan's maid, Xiang'er, came in carrying a copper basin.

"Master is awake. This servant will help you wash up." Xiang'er said timidly. Her husband's status had changed too quickly; he was now a king.

She also learned from those seductive women from the Western Regions and called her own king "Master," which sounded quite natural and intimate.

Actually, this terminology was a custom of barbarians during the Song Dynasty and earlier.

It was only after the Mongols invaded that the story spread throughout the Central Plains.

"Where's the princess?"

"After the princess finishes her meal, she will rest in the warm pavilion."

Xiang'er placed the copper basin beside the couch, soaked a towel, wrung it out until it was half-dry, and gently applied it to Chen Shao's face.

Feeling the comfort of the heat on his face, Chen Shao hummed contentedly.

He felt the little hands gently rubbing his face a few times, and then the handkerchief was used to wipe his neck, chest and abdomen all the way down.

After feeling refreshed, I squeezed out the toothpaste, wet the toothbrush, and started brushing my teeth.

In the Central Plains, the shape of toothbrushes in the Song Dynasty was already very similar to that of modern toothbrushes, consisting of a handle and bristles.

Brush handles were mostly made of natural materials such as bamboo, wood, bone (tiger bone, ivory, donkey bone, etc.) or horn. Among them, bone brush handles were more common at the time because of their hard texture and ease of preservation.

During the Song Dynasty, toothbrushes had become a daily necessity in large towns and cities, and a specialized sales industry had emerged.

The Menglianglu records that the "various miscellaneous goods" section explicitly includes "toothbrushes," listed alongside items such as wooden combs, fine brushes, and rinsing bowls, indicating that toothbrushes were already common household items.

As for toothpaste, the Song Dynasty official medical book "Taiping Shenghui Fang" records the "medicinal toothpaste method": boil water with willow branches, locust branches, and mulberry branches to make a paste, add ginger juice, asarum and other medicinal materials to make a paste.

At this time, the Tatars on the grasslands were still in a savage state, their stench detectable from ten miles away.

The west side was even worse, in the Dark Ages, where the streets were practically indistinguishable from outhouses.

If it weren't for the fact that multiple foreign tribes rose up in succession in the Central Plains and the north, each more powerful than the last.

Ultimately, this fostered a Mongol killing machine, causing the Central Plains civilization to be interrupted. If the Song Dynasty had continued on its current path, the Central Plains should have had an even more glorious and splendid civilization.

Chen Shao did indeed relax for a day, and by the time he finished breakfast and came out, the sun was already high in the sky.

Thinking about all the hard work he had done recently, Chen Shao sighed.

He stepped into the hall, pushed open the door, and went inside. The people inside only glanced at him before continuing to work diligently.

After Chen Shao sat down, he began to read the day's reports.

Suddenly, a report from Bianliang left him dumbfounded.

After looking at it carefully again, Chen Shao was certain that he had not made a mistake.

The strange winds that have been blowing against Emperor Huizong lately were all stirred up by Wu Min.

This fellow's purpose is truly speechless; he actually wanted to join the Dingnan Army.

Fearing he wouldn't have the qualifications to advance his career, he devised a plan to incite Zhao Ji to cause chaos, and then seize the opportunity to expose and denounce him to the Dingnan Army.

Wang Yin followed the clues, peeled back the layers, and gradually pieced together the truth using the evidence and intelligence at his disposal.

Chen Shao was truly speechless. The Song Dynasty court was in such a state of infighting that it had fallen to this point.

Chen Shao would never use such a disgusting person.

For the sake of his so-called future, he actually did such a thing. Did he not know how much damage a palace coup would cause to the court when an emperor who had ruled the country for twenty years launched a coup?

This is the time for the two civilizations to go all out and engage in a decisive battle, pooling their national strength.

This person's selfishness and malice have exceeded Chen Shao's bottom line.

There were indeed some people under Chen Shao who he disliked, but Chen Shao still gave them official positions.

The saying "spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones" is about uniting all forces and making many friends.

However, the gates of the Dingnan Army will never be open to such a person; no matter how many schemes he plots, it will all be in vain!
After putting down the report, Chen Shao couldn't help but think of Zhao Huan again. He would rather the court today had more people like Zhao Huan than people like Zhao Ji and Wu Min.
-
The torrential rain finally stopped.

As the sun gradually moved westward until it set behind the mountain peak, it shrouded the battlefield in front of Changgankou, which had changed hands twice, in darkness.

The valley road controlled by Changgankou winds through the mountains and is divided into three branches, with access routes to the west, south, and north.

However, there is no way to the east, and one must go north across the Black Reed Embankment and then detour.

Therefore, to attack Ansu, we must first capture Changgankou.

Originally, Changgankou, Heiludi, and Ansucheng were strategically positioned to support each other, making them very difficult to conquer.

However, now that the Jurchen western army has fled en masse, there are too few troops left on the Ansu defense line.

Therefore, Changgankou was captured again by Xiazhou troops, and Heiludi was also captured. However, Jurchen reinforcements arrived again. Because the valley could not support the large army to move together, and the Xiazhou troops' position was far from stable, after a day of fierce fighting, they lost Changgankou and could only be trapped in Heiludi with their remaining troops, waiting for Li Xiaozhong's army to come to their aid!
Wanyan Loushi of Ansu City was clearly a pawn to be abandoned, but he fought exceptionally hard.

In the darkness of night, the lights at Changgankou had long been extinguished, and no sounds of fighting could be heard.

With the Jurchen army's current strength and lack of siege equipment, they simply couldn't take Heiludi; they could only besiege it.

In the valley, at the intersection of three roads, in the military camps where crossbows could be used to strike each other, there was only the smell of blood after a fierce battle.

The already hastily constructed and dilapidated stockade was now crooked and exposed with gaps of all sizes.

The corpses of the dead and wounded soldiers from both sides were scattered haphazardly everywhere.

Disposing of corpses in this way after a heavy rain could easily lead to an epidemic.

But the Tartars were clearly too preoccupied with this at the moment, and no one was there to deal with it.

The Jurchen warriors who had come from Ansu City and those who had retreated from Heiludi were both exhausted. After finally capturing the military camp at Changgankou before sunset, they made some arrangements for guard duty, and many Jurchen soldiers simply found a place to fall asleep.

I'm so tired, I don't even care if the sky falls down.

Even though the Jurchen Tartars had always maintained strict military discipline, they had never fought such a grueling battle. Those western barbarians gave them no chance to catch their breath.

In past battles, the Jurchen main force was also very small.

Therefore, we need to be more aggressive, more strategic, and more ruthless in order to achieve victory.

The opponents were often thrown into disarray by the Jurchen cavalry's mobility, and were so frightened by their ferocity that they dared not engage in direct combat, resulting in their own collapse or a crushing defeat after only a brief engagement.

Whether it was the destruction of Liao or Zongwang's eastern army marching south, the principle was the same.

However, in this battle, the Jurchen army once again employed its deep-range mobile warfare tactics, and initially, things went quite smoothly.

Take the defense of Ansu as an example. Because of Wanyan Loushi's initiative to attack from outside the city, tens of thousands of Dingnan troops were suddenly cut off from their retreat in the Changgankou Valley.

Then, the Jurchen army was thrown into chaos and nearly collapsed. Based on past experience, everyone thought that the next task was simply to clean up the mess.

Who could have imagined that the more than 10,000 defeated soldiers would break free of the net and launch a counterattack on the spot, forcing the Jurchen army to turn back to fill these gaps. This back-and-forth raid was even more arduous than the previous battles against the Khitan army!
Even the Jurchen people, who have lived by fishing and hunting for thousands of years, have never seen such a "prey" that can jump up and bite you even after you've crawled into a cage or trap.

At this time, the Jurchen cavalry that had come out to attack the city were together. The Jurchen cavalry guarding the Changgankou military camp had only four or five hundred men left. Most of them couldn't wait to rest, and there were only one or two hundred Jurchen warriors left on guard outside.

These one or two hundred Jurchen warriors were either serving as scouts on the front lines, or they had finally remembered to collect the corpses of their kin and continue repairing the village defenses. Whether near or far, they moved like wandering ghosts.

Perhaps they also knew that they had become expendable pawns, and it remained to be seen whether Zong Han would come back to fight.

To them, Zonghan's original image was not much different from that of a god.

Besides the old Khan, there was Zonghan!
However, since the fall of Datong in Yunnei, and after several years of intermittent fighting, Zonghan seems to have forgotten how to win battles.

He commanded the western route army but had not yet achieved any major victories.

In fact, if one had a god-like perspective and analyzed the war situation based on the timing, location, people's support, national strength, civilian strength, and military strength, it would be remarkable that Zonghan was able to lead them to avoid a major defeat.

But the Jurchen warriors didn't care about any of that. They thought, "We've been winning for over a decade, how come we're suddenly unable to fight anymore?"

Our soldiers are still capable of fighting and fighting. If they can't win, it must be the fault of their commanders and marshals.

On the Black Reed Embankment, Noriyuki of the Dingnan Army carefully watched what was below.

Beside him, two fires were burning brightly.

Unlike the Tartars, the Dingnan Army would not allow the corpses outside their camp to rot and decompose at will. If this caused a plague, they would be punished according to military law.

Because no matter how strong your fighting force is, once you are infected with the plague, an entire army will often be rendered useless.

Whether they were friendly soldiers or Jurchen warriors, their bodies were dragged to different bonfires and cremated on the spot.

In the night air, besides the smell of blood, there was another unpleasant odor.

Although the battle was hard-fought, Noriyuki didn't take it seriously.

In Xia Prefecture, they experienced something even more desperate: the Dingnan Army, who were then the enemy, built fortresses right under their noses.
That's what you call uncomfortable.

There is absolutely no hope of winning.

Although things are tough now, everyone is determined to win, and the Jurchen Tartars are indeed retreating.

He believed that as long as they held their ground, there would definitely be a time for a counterattack.

Just then, a few sparks suddenly flickered in the west, and the sound of horses' hooves came rapidly.

Before they could make a sound on the Black Reed Embankment, the Tartars resting at Changgan Pass below had already started to get busy.

Yeli Xiong laughed heartily, gripped his weapon, and crawled on the stockade wall, cautiously peering out.

The Tartars were quite skilled archers; he didn't want to get shot through the head.

"Our army has arrived!"

Although he didn't know how Li Xiaozhong had managed to transport his troops to Changgankou, Ye Lixiong knew that the time for a counterattack had come.

After this battle, we should push to the walls of Ansu City, quickly open the city gates, and pursue and kill the main force of the Tartars. That is the right thing to do.

Moreover, there should be seven or eight empty cities in the east at this time, waiting for the Dingnan Army to recapture them!

These are all achievements in battle!
"The Western Barbarians are attacking! The Western Barbarian army is attacking!"

The cries of the Jurchen scouts were shrill and hoarse, yet filled with an indescribable anxiety!
The sound of horses' hooves, like muffled thunder, followed by their warning cries, echoed through the night sky.

After the few sparks lit by these vanguard patrol riders, the western horizon could be faintly seen, a patch of crimson.

Little did they know that a vast army was surging towards them like a torrent.

Yeli Xiong said in a deep voice, "Get up quickly, defend the area at all costs, trap these Tartars down here, and don't let them cross the Black Reed Embankment!"

Torches were planted on the stockade walls, watching as friendly forces surged towards Changgankou like a tidal wave.

The Tartars were all dumbfounded.

They couldn't understand it; it was clearly a defeated and irrecoverable remnant force that had fled.

Yet they manage to break free from their predicament and fight to the death. When will these Western barbarians finally tire?

Upon getting closer, the Tartars realized that the group of Western barbarians were soaking wet.

Did they come from the river?
As soon as the idea came to them, they found it utterly absurd and refused to believe it.

Standing on the pontoon bridge that had been built overnight, Li Xiaozhong watched the offensive ahead and began to plan the next move in the battle.

Once this place is breached, Ansu will be an isolated city. If we can break through Ansu's defenses in time, we can rush over and join the other two forces in a pincer attack.

Perhaps we can leave behind more Jurchen Tartars and kill their main force.

Before the war began, the Prince of Dai repeatedly emphasized that the biggest objective of this battle was to kill or wound the main force of the Tartars.

Kill as many as you can.

We've severely damaged them, but we must continue the pursuit. This battle is by no means solely aimed at driving the Tartars out.

Even driving the Tartars out of Youyan and recapturing Gubeikou was not the goal of the Dingnan Army.

It has to be a fight to the death between the two sides. (End of Chapter)