A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"From here back to Luoyang, and then persuade His Majesty to issue an imperial edict to mobilize troops from the Western Regions, even if it's the Anxi Governor's Office that mobilizes troops, it will take a year for the round trip."

"The shame of killing the envoy, the hatred of being imprisoned—how can I wait a whole year?!"

"Shiren, if we go back like this, won't we lose face? We might even be accused of incompetence."

"If we can borrow troops from the surrounding areas and destroy the Song Kingdom, we might even gain the Emperor's favor."

Jiang Shiren was persuaded by Wang Xuance, and the two then went to the surrounding countries to borrow troops.

They used the pretext of an attack on the Tang Dynasty delegation to borrow troops in the name of the Tang Dynasty envoys.

At that time, the prestige of the Tang Dynasty was at its zenith, and various countries offered their assistance, lending Wang Xuance several thousand to ten thousand soldiers and providing him with provisions.

After visiting all the surrounding countries, Wang Xuance managed to borrow nearly 10 troops.

Wang Xuance led this hastily assembled ragtag army of 10 men towards the State of Song.

Upon hearing the news of Wang Xuance and his group's escape, Song Zhong panicked.

What if the Tang Dynasty receives the news and attacks?

Or could the Tang Dynasty simply let the surrounding countries attack? Could the Song Dynasty withstand the combined forces of so many countries?

Just when he was at his wit's end, he suddenly received news that Wang Xuance had not fled back to the Tang Dynasty, but had borrowed troops from surrounding countries and returned to fight back.

Song Zhong was furious. He felt that Wang Xuance looked down on him. With only 10 troops hastily assembled, he thought he could conquer the Song Dynasty. What was this if not looking down on him?

At the same time, he was also very fortunate that Wang Xuance did not return to the Tang Dynasty, but instead arrogantly chose to attack the Song Dynasty. As long as he could destroy this army and kill Wang Xuance and Jiang Shiren, the Tang Dynasty would not know the truth and would not send troops to attack him.

In order to defeat and capture Wang Xuance alive, Song Zhong dispatched his trusted troops, a super heavy cavalry force that he had built at great expense after taking power—the Great Song Elephant Cavalry!

This elephant corps consisted of 500 war elephants, each with a saddle on its back, on which stood 10 elite soldiers.

When the war elephants launched their charge, it was like an earthquake, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake.

Even the most elite troops would tremble with fear when faced with such a behemoth.

Back then, it was precisely with the help of this Song Dynasty elephant cavalry that they swept across the surrounding areas and established their dynasty.

Of course, this Song Dynasty elephant cavalry was not the original one, but its power was no less, and it was the trump card that allowed the Song Dynasty to stand firm here.

Wang Xuance was well aware of the military strategy of knowing oneself and one's enemy, so when he borrowed troops from surrounding countries, he had already thoroughly investigated the Song Dynasty's strengths and weaknesses.

The elephant cavalry was naturally of paramount importance. Wang Xuance deduced that Song Zhong would definitely send out this batch of elephant cavalry in the first wave, because Song Zhong could not afford the cost of letting him escape and would do everything in his power to kill him.

To deal with the Song Dynasty's elephant cavalry, Wang Xuance borrowed a batch of old oxen when he borrowed troops, specifically to counter the Song Dynasty's elephant cavalry.

On the border of the Song Dynasty, Qiao Gu, the general most trusted by Song Zhong, led the Song Dynasty's elephant cavalry and 20 troops to be stationed there.

This is Wang Xuance's first formal encounter with the Song Dynasty, and this battle will determine the morale of both sides, making it extremely important for both.

On the battlefield, the two did not engage in any verbal sparring. After exchanging glances, Qiao Gu ordered the elephant cavalry to charge forward.

The elephants' enormous size exerted a great sense of oppression on the allied forces, and coupled with the prestige of the Song Dynasty's elephant cavalry in this region, the morale of the entire Tang army almost plummeted.

Even Jiang Shiren felt quite afraid when he looked at this behemoth.

"Brother Xuan Ce, are you really confident?"

Jiang Shiren asked?

"Don't worry, I won't risk my life."

Wang Xuance smiled and revealed his trump card for dealing with the Song Dynasty's elephant cavalry.

They are a group of hardworking oxen!

"Brother Xuan Ce, could this be the legendary Fire Oxen Strategy?"

The Fire Ox Strategy, a classic battle from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, has been widely circulated in later generations. Even Jiang Shiren, who was not a military strategist, had heard of it.

"Indeed, it is the Fire Ox Plan."

Wang Xuance nodded. "I specifically asked someone to learn about the habits of elephants. Although elephants can be tamed, they are extremely easily startled."

"As long as we use the fire ox strategy, we can definitely throw their elephant herd into chaos and make them suffer the consequences."

"Alright, once the elephant herd is in chaos, I will personally lead the charge and avenge this humiliation!"

In the entire envoy team, Wang Xuance was the brain of the team, while Jiang Shiren was the fist of the team. Strictly speaking, the annihilation of the entire mission was due to his inadequate protection.

This is one of the reasons why he agreed to Wang Xuance so easily; he needed to atone for his sins.

Wang Xuance nodded and agreed to Jiang Shiren's request.

Qiao Gu had been in charge of the Song Dynasty's elephant cavalry for many years, so he naturally knew how to maximize the deterrent power of the elephant troops.

That is to deploy in formation and charge head-on. Hundreds of elephants charge, unstoppable. Under the deterrent of head-on combat, no army can remain calm in front of him.

As hundreds of enormous creatures draw ever closer, the string of reason in a person's heart snaps, and the instinctive fear of humanity fills their heart, causing even the most elite troops to crumble.

The army then launched a counterattack, achieving consistently brilliant results, often inflicting massive defeats on the enemy with minimal losses.

He plans to use the same method this time as well.

On this day, the two armies officially met. Wang Xuance, standing on the moral high ground, criticized Qiao Gu and the State of Song.

Song was indeed in the wrong in this matter. Qiao Gu was not going to give Wang Xuance a chance to finish speaking. As soon as they met, he took up arms and wanted to confront Wang Xuance head-on.

This was exactly what Wang Xuance wanted. He was overjoyed to see the elephant cavalry leading the charge right in the center of the army.

Military strategy is static, but people are dynamic. This Qiao Gu is just someone who has studied military books by rote; he is not worth worrying about.

Wang Xuance's perceived chance of winning jumped from 40% to 80%. For someone like Wang Xuance, what difference is there between an 80% chance of winning and a 100% chance?!

Qiao Gu raised his right hand and brought it down hard. The war drums sounded, and the elephant cavalry began to charge towards Wang Xuance.

The army facing the elephant cavalry, under Wang Xuance's command, flew away, revealing the old ox he had hidden in the very center and the soldiers with torches burning beside it.

Seeing the elephant charging towards him, Wang Xuance laughed heartily and waved his hand, ordering many soldiers holding torches to set the old ox's tail ablaze.

The cattle went berserk, their eyes turning red as they charged forward.

The elephant herd had never seen anything like this before. A group of mad bulls were engulfed in flames. Although elephants are large, they are still just animals. Faced with the fire bull formation, the elephants were completely terrified!

Startled by the fire bull, the elephants scattered and fled in three different directions, abandoning the direction from which the fire bull had charged.

And from these three directions, blocking the way for the elephant herd were the elite troops of the Song Dynasty!