Shouts of slaughter rang out like a tide. Horse hooves noises rumbled through the air. Furious roars, sounds of fighting, and all types of metal clashing noises erupted on the massive battlefield.
Black and gray smoke drifted through the air, the air filled with a horrifying smell. When the armored cavalry suddenly exerted force at close range, the spear formation faced them from the front. The spear formation and the warhorses' strength was accompanied by distorted metal scraping noises. The spear tips stabbed into the bodies of the horses through the gaps in the armor, bringing with them a large amount of bloody smell. The warhorses turned around in pain. There were people who fell from the spear formation. The knights on the horses brandished the long spears in their hands, streaking across their faces. There were also heavy hammers that flew over, fiercely smashing into the warhorses' heads with loud booms. The warhorses collapsed on the ground while carrying blood and gore.
Following the bugle horn sounds, an even greater scale explosion sounded, extending into large amounts, almost shaking the entire great earth. Enormous pillars of smoke rose into the sky.
Then, the Black Flag Army soldiers surrounded and charged like a tide.
The battle on Dong Zhiyuan, from the very start, didn't give Iron Sparrow Hawk much time to make a choice. The tremendous power of the improved gunpowder destroyed the originally usable battle strategy. Only after the first two rounds of bombardment did the heavy cavalry that suffered tremendous losses only react slightly. If this was an ordinary battle, the Iron Sparrow Hawk's losses would have reached six hundred to nine hundred. If the other side didn't collapse, then Iron Sparrow Hawk should have considered leaving. However, this time, the vanguard only received the enemy a bit, the tremendous losses leaving them without any choice. When Mei Lei roughly understood the situation, he could only rely on his intuition to immediately make a choice.
He made his choice.
During this period of time, no orders were issued. Iron Sparrow Hawk's troops could only continue charging.
Right now, even though the heavy cavalry's losses were great, the exact number of casualties still hadn't entered every single cavalry's minds. Soon after, Iron Sparrow Hawk surged towards the artillery position like a furious tide. More than a hundred great cannons carried out a hasty third round of firing. Less than the time it took to finish a cup of tea had passed since the start of the battle. Iron Sparrow Hawk's tremendous power was displayed. It tore through the artillery troops' defenses, the armored cavalry's figures rushing past.
Cavalry charged on the ground. The light cavalry troops led by Chang Da who rushed over from the side originally already had thoughts of charging. However, when they saw the armored cavalry break through from the center, they still made the decision to circle around and harass the Black Flag Army cavalry.
Then, in front of everyone's eyes, the entire artillery position was engulfed by the continuous explosions. Black smoke spread, and the earth shook.
Since the beginning of the battle, bursts of explosions and smoke and dust had decorated the entire battlefield, making it look like a nightmare. The cavalrymen had been hit while they were galloping, some of them had been affected by the shockwaves, some of them had been startled, and some of them had collided with each other and lost their combat strength. However, as the most elite troop of the Western Xia, the Iron Sparrow Hawk had still managed to make a breakthrough by relying on his powerful charging ability.
When the artillerymen dragged a small number of cannons to the edge of the battlefield under the pursuit of the cavalry, the two hundred or so wooden boxes in the middle of the formation exploded one after another. The spreading black smoke engulfed everyone's vision like a rising tide. At the same time, the low and deep bugle horn sounds gradually became louder and louder. The Black Flag Army that had already moved to the two sides launched an all-out attack.
Under the continuous explosions, the small cavalry troops that had been separated on the battlefield had basically already lost their speed. The infantry spread over from the surroundings. Some people pushed the iron barricades forward, throwing them into the cavalry troops. The barricades were rammed by the charging heavy cavalry until clanging sounds rang out. A portion of the Iron Sparrow Hawks tried to launch a close-range assault to break out of the encirclement. They were the elites of the Western Xia people. Even though they had been separated, right now, they still possessed decent combat strength and battle awareness. Only, their morale had already sunk to an ice-cold rock bottom. Meanwhile, the Black Flag Army they were facing was similarly an elite force that could continuously fight even though they had lost their organization.
The cavalry's final resistance would occasionally send people flying into pools of blood. Pikes, iron thorns, and barricades also overturned the warhorses one after another. Heavy hammers smashed against the heavy armor, releasing terrifying sounds. The flesh inside was almost shaken to the point of rotting. Every time a warhorse fell, thick blood would surge out from below.
Luo Ye led the soldiers under his command to push the iron barricades in the direction of the enemy's commander's flag. The position that had just gone through an explosion was filled with dust and smoke. Occasionally, there would be damaged cavalry with cracked armor charging out from the dust. The people that rushed forward first threw out the barricades, followed closely by hooked spears and hooked the legs of the barricades. The hammer soldiers were waiting for the heavy hammers to smash out at any time. From time to time, there were Black Flag Army soldiers who were unable to break through the enemy's defense and were chopped down by the enemy's pikes and heavy weapons.
The final, true contest of strength began at this time. Both sides collided together like cold and hard steel!
On one side of the battlefield, the two thousand seven hundred light cavalry led by Chang Da launched a life-risking charge. Not long after, sparse explosions sounded again. The two thousand light cavalry on the Black Flag Army's side similarly charged at the enemy at high speed. The two cavalries were like a long dragon fighting on the plains on the side, killing each other …
And the battle dragon in the wild, its blood was black and yellow. The thick blood dyed the earth red.
Less than an hour later. The battle that would decide the entire situation of the northwest had come to an end.
*****
Although the long wind and hazy clouds swept past, the cavalry occasionally galloped through the plains under the dark clouds. On the land near Qing Province in the northwest, groups of Western Xia soldiers were scattered everywhere, feeling the aura of the coming mountain rain.
Among these soldiers, a portion were originally stationed locally, supervising the harvest of grain. Due to the chaos in Yanzhou and the death of the Western Xia commander Laselle, they fled towards the west. The cavalry was the fastest, followed by the infantry. After encountering their companions, they were taken in.
The defeated soldiers were exaggerating the terror of the mountain bandits. Although there was no news of receiving the enemy from the frontlines, many people knew that at this time, a group of fierce bandits was killing their way from the east, with ill intentions.
In the Yanzhou and Qingjian areas, although the Ganzhou and Gansu troops led by Laselle were not the most elite of the Western Xia army, they could still be called the backbone of the army. Coming from the west, the troops stationed in Qing Province at this time were mostly auxiliary troops and supply troops — because the real main force had been pulled to the Yuan and Huan provinces not long ago. Under the premise of the rapid collapse of Yanzhou, the Western Xia army in Qing Province did not have the strength to fight.
Wild Thorn knew about this as early as two days ago. He was one of the elites stationed in Qing Province at this time. He was originally a collateral descendant of a large Western Xia clan. He had studied since childhood and received martial arts training. At this time, he was a member of the direct guard under the command of Great General Hao Rong. When the first wave of news came, he knew the ins and outs of the whole matter.
Although he refused to believe that there was a force in the northwest other than the Zhe family that dared to provoke the Western Xia tiger's whiskers, nor did he believe that the other party's combat strength was as high as the scouts said, but Laselle's death and the entire army's defeat were indisputable facts.
In order to deal with this sudden arrival of the Black Flag Army, Hao Rong released a large number of trustworthy guards and elite scouts to strengthen the information network in the east, paying attention to the situation of that army coming over. Wild Thorn was released more than 20 li to the east to guard Ten Tigers Plain, closely watching the movements of the invading enemy. And last night, before the Black Flag Army had passed through Ten Tigers Plain, Iron Sparrow Hawk had arrived one step ahead of them.
Only then did Wild Thorn feel relieved. Iron Sparrow Hawk's name had shaken the world. Every Western Xia soldier was very clear about how frightening his charge was. Wild Thorn also had acquaintances in Iron Sparrow Hawk's army. That night, after talking to the other party, he found out that because of this army, His Majesty was furious. The entire army had broken camp and returned to the east to stabilize the entire situation in the east. And with Iron Sparrow Hawk's six thousand cavalry majestically attacking, no matter how powerful the enemy was, they would be intercepted in the mountains, not daring to act recklessly.
The next day, it was cloudy. Iron Sparrow Hawk broke camp and left. Not long after, Wild Thorn received a message saying that traces of the Black Flag Army had been discovered in the front. Iron Sparrow Hawk was about to launch an attack. Wild Thorn ordered someone to return to Qing Province to pass on this news. He himself brought a few trusted subordinates and headed east. He wanted to be the first to confirm the news of Iron Sparrow Hawk's great victory.
The sky was filled with wind and clouds. From the entrance of Ten Tigers Plain to Dong Zhiyuan, the land stretched as far as the eye could see. Wild Thorn and a few of his subordinates galloped along the way. Suddenly, they heard a faint sound of thunder from the east. He lay on the ground to listen to the sound. The information coming from the ground was chaotic. Fortunately, he could still see some traces of the army passing through. Following along the way, he suddenly saw a fallen warhorse in front of him.
Blood was dark red. Scattered arrows were stuck on the ground. The warhorse had fallen after being shot by arrows. Its owner was also lying not far away. There were several wounds on its body. It was clear that it had fought a fierce battle before dying. This was actually a member of Iron Sparrow Hawk's secondary cavalry. Looking into the distance, there were even more corpses.
It was Iron Sparrow Hawk's secondary cavalry that had fallen. Wild Thorn went over and dismounted. He saw that the person's chest had been stabbed several times. His face had also been hacked by a blade. The wounds were mournful, so deep that bones could be seen. Iron Sparrow Hawk's main cavalry was admittedly famous. However, the secondary cavalry were carefully selected by the various great clans and were usually even more valiant. This person was tall and had several old wounds on his hands. From his clothes that were decorated with honor, he was also a brave warrior who had experienced hundreds of battles. It was unknown what kind of enemy he had encountered to be cut like this.
And looking at the direction in which they ran and fell, it was clearly the opposite direction of the army from before. They were actually fleeing?
The sound of the wind was faintly whimpering. Wild Thorn stared blankly at this thought for a moment. When he turned around to look, he found it hard to accept. There must be some other reason, he thought.
According to the time when the previous message came, even if Iron Sparrow Hawk and the other side had fought not too long ago. With six thousand Iron Sparrow Hawks and three thousand cavalry, even if they encountered an army of tens of thousands, they would not be afraid. How could they possibly flee? It was possible that the other side had been forced to flee, and the light cavalry had been chased and killed by the other side.
He thought that this must be the case. He once again turned around and mounted his horse. Not long after, he followed the floating black dust in the sky and found the direction of the battle. Along the way, a terrifying reality appeared in front of him. The number of cavalry that had fallen on the road was increasing. Most of them were Iron Sparrow Hawk's secondary cavalry. In the distance, the outline of the battlefield could already be seen. There was smoke and dust over there, and many figures were still moving about.
There were no other living people nearby. Wild Thorn forcefully suppressed the ominous feeling in his heart and continued forward. He hoped to see a large number of Iron Sparrow Hawks moving about and cleaning up the battlefield. However, the scene in front of him became more and more clear …
Mountains of corpses and seas of blood, fallen heavy cavalry warhorses, eyes that could not rest in peace, black flags fluttering in the air, steel helmets that were held in people's hands, and thick blood dripping from people's bodies and blades.
Further away, there seemed to be a group of people taking off their iron armors. Wild Thorn could not understand the scene in front of him. On the endless plains, there was an army that he had never seen before. They were walking in the sea of blood, and there were also people looking in this direction.
Iron Sparrow Hawk had carried out a charge here, and it had fallen …
A small group of light cavalry rushed over here. There was something beating on the back of his head, as if it was tightly pinching the back of his head. Wild Thorn's scalp went numb, and he suddenly reined in his horse's head: "Go!"
He ran for his life, wanting to get away from that hellish scene …
*****
With a bang, someone pushed the corpse of the warhorse to the ground. The soldier that was pinned down tried to get up, only to find that his chest had been pierced by a long sword, and he was nailed to the ground.
"Fuck! Fuck — "
The Black Flag Army soldier cursed, and his body struggled slightly. His two hands held onto the hilt of his sword, and the people beside him also held onto the hilt of their swords. Someone pressed him down, and someone shouted: "Where is everyone! Where is the doctor!? Come quickly — "
"Fuck —" Blood gradually gushed out from the mouth of the soldier on the ground. The surroundings were filled with frenzied voices. Pillars of smoke rose into the sky, and stretchers ran across the battlefield, passing piles of corpses. The soldiers on the ground opened their eyes until their eyes gradually lost color. Not far away, Luo Ye lifted the helmet of an Iron Sparrow Hawk heavy cavalry soldier. That soldier could still move, and suddenly brandished his sword. Luo Ye's blade stabbed into his neck, and with a twist, blood sprayed onto his body. Only when the surroundings were filled with the smell of blood did he suddenly stand up, and with a swoosh, he pulled down his helmet.
"Mao Yishan! Where is he! Liao Duoting, Liao Duoting — "
The surroundings were filled with all types of shouts. During the process of cleaning up the battlefield, there were some officers who continuously searched for traces of their subordinates. There weren't many people cheering. Even after the slaughter and threat of death, it was enough to bring everyone an indescribable sense of relief. However, only at this moment, everyone was searching for things they could do. While doing these things, they could feel a certain type of emotion take root in their hearts.
At this moment, they truly felt their own strength, as well as the weight of victory.
This weight came from the strength of every single person at their side.
This battle against Iron Sparrow Hawk, there were too many expectations before. When the battle actually happened, the entire process happened too quickly. For Iron Sparrow Hawk, the enormous explosion was like a landslide that no one had any expectations for. However, for the Black Flag Army soldiers, the subsequent collisions weren't fanciful at all. If they weren't powerful enough, even if they disrupted Iron Sparrow Hawk's formation, they still wouldn't be able to swallow this tough bone. However, in that final battle, they forcefully stuffed Iron Sparrow Hawk into their own stomachs.
In the battle of Yanzhou, the excessively quick victory was still a bit unrealistic for them, but this time, what everyone felt was true strength condensed on the edge of a blade.
However, they similarly paid a price. The final stubborn resistance of some heavy cavalry caused quite a few casualties among the Black Flag Army soldiers. On the other side of the battlefield, for the sake of rescuing Iron Sparrow Hawk's main force that had sunk deep into the swamp, Chang Da led the light cavalry to launch a fierce attack at the center of the battlefield. The several cannons that had been removed beforehand caused considerable casualties to the light cavalry, but they were unable to change the light cavalry's momentum. Liu Chengzong led two thousand light cavalry to cut off the other side's charge. Close to five thousand cavalry from both sides carried out a white-hot slaughter on the other side of the battlefield. In the end, only after a small number of heavy cavalry broke out of the encirclement and a portion of Iron Sparrow Hawk surrendered did this Western Xia secondary force collapse and scatter.
For the attendants of these large families, if their master died, their lives would often be even more miserable than death. As a result, these people's willpower to resist was even more tenacious than Iron Sparrow Hawk's main force.
However, no matter how one looked at it, in this battle, the Black Flag Army directly suppressed Iron Sparrow Hawk. Regardless of whether it was the melee on the main battlefield or the crazy slaughter of the cavalry on the side, the fighting strength and aggressiveness displayed by the Black Flag Army soldiers under a high level of organization and discipline were stronger than this Western Xia's famous heavy cavalry.
Mao Yishan crawled up from the pool of blood, feeling pain in his chest. In the melee, he, Hou Wu and the others formed a formation to fight against the heavy cavalry. When a lone cavalry charged over from the side, Mao Yishan grabbed his shield and rammed it from the side. His entire body was knocked flying. Only now did he wake up.
There were fallen comrades beside him. His head was a bit ringing. After a good while, the ringing stopped. He walked forward and saw that the people walking beside him were all his comrades. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?"
Mao Yishan was already slowly smiling when he heard the other side's question. He already knew what was going on.
We defeated Iron Sparrow Hawk.
*****
Amidst the clanking sounds, a small mountain of steel armor was piled up.
There were about four to five hundred captured heavy cavalry gathered here. They had long been forced to throw away their weapons and take off their armor. They looked at the fluttering black flags and the soldiers surrounding them. The silent one-eyed general stood on one side and looked into the distance.
A group of light cavalry was coming back from that direction. They brought back some warhorses with heavy armor on them. Some people were tied to ropes and were running forward.
These people were dragged to the front. One of them was tall and had a noble temperament. But at this moment, his hair was messy and miserable. The five hundred surrendered soldiers looked at this person. This person also glanced at them. Then, he looked at the one-eyed general who was walking toward them.
"You people … what sorcery did you use?" That person was the leader of Iron Sparrow Hawk, Mei Lei. At this moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "You people have angered Western Xia. Sooner or later, you will be destroyed. If you want to live, quickly release us and come with me to apologize to His Majesty!"
The one-eyed general stopped in front of him. After a while, he spread his hands to the side and said, "Look at these people on the battlefield."
On the surrounding battlefield, those soldiers were stripping the steel armor from the corpses of Iron Sparrow Hawks. The smoke dispersed. Their bodies were covered in blood and scars, but they were also filled with determination and strength. Mei Lei turned his head. The sound of a sword being unsheathed was already heard. Qin Shaoqian drew his sword and slashed at his neck. The head of this great leader of Dang Xiang flew out.
*****
Under the hazy sky, some people put on armor for the warhorses. There was still a slight smell of blood in the air. The heavily armored cavalry appeared again, one after another. The knights on the horses also put on their armor. Some people took out helmets and put them on.
"From today onwards … there will be no more Iron Sparrow Hawks."
On Dong Zhiyuan, the collision of the two armies was like thunder. Not long after, the tremors caused by the collision spread out like thunder and wreaked havoc.
At this time, the number of soldiers that could fight in the Black Flag Army had been reduced to seven thousand. Almost all the elm cannons had been used up in this battle. The cannonballs were also almost empty. Only the armored cavalry, after defeating Iron Sparrow Hawks, had risen to more than one thousand five hundred. Since the Xia Village incident, to the regicide and rebellion, and after a year of training in Little Canghe, the fighting strength of this army had finally stabilized for the first time after showing its edge.
And in front of them, the 70,000 strong army of the Xixia King was advancing. After receiving the news that Iron Sparrow Hawks' army was almost completely annihilated, the mood of the upper echelons of the Xixia Imperial Court was close to collapsing. However, at the same time, they gathered all the soldiers that could be gathered, including the garrison troops of Yuanzhou and Qingzhou, as well as the grain supervision troops. They were all gathering towards Li Qianshun's main force. On the 27th day of the sixth month, this entire army, including light cavalry, infantry, crossbows, captors, captives, and other types of soldiers, had already exceeded a hundred thousand people. Like a leviathan, they mightily pressed towards the army that was resting and reorganizing in the east.
In Little Canghe, Ning Yi was sitting on the hillside outside the courtyard, enjoying the cool breeze. The old man walked over. For the first time in the past few days, he didn't open his mouth to debate with him about the Confucian school. Yesterday morning, he had confirmed that the Black Flag Army had defeated Iron Sparrow Hawks. Today, he had confirmed another piece of news.
"After you defeated Iron Sparrow Hawks … you still didn't want to withdraw?"
"Yes." Ning Yi pinched his fingers, looked ahead, and answered.
"… Alas." The old man hesitated for a long time before he finally sighed. No one knew what he was sighing about.
There weren't many Xixia people left in Qingzhou. Lou Shuwan stood by the window of an inn, gazing at the sky that was about to turn dark in the east.
One hundred thousand people had already been pushed forward, but the other side still hadn't made a move.
Everything that had happened in the past few days made her feel a chill and tremble from the bottom of her heart. Everything that the man who had been hiding in the mountains after regicide had shown in this dangerous situation made her feel a kind of insanity that was hard to reach or even imagine. That kind of barbarism and bestiality that could sweep away everything. A few years ago, there was an army that had relied on this to sweep away the whole world.
She could understand Li Qianshun's difficulties. As long as that army made the slightest move, whether it was to retreat or hide, the Xixia army would have more choices. But the other side didn't have any. The military report said that the other side had ten thousand people, but the real number was probably less than that. The other side didn't make a move, so the one hundred thousand strong army could only continue to push forward.
The Xixia people's difficulties were not important to her. What was important was that she dreamed of him again today. It was just like the first time they met in Hangzhou. That gentle and courteous scholar … After she woke up, her body had been faintly trembling. She didn't know if she should feel excited or afraid about what had happened in her dream. But in short, the summer sun seemed to have lost its temperature …
God, please … kill him …
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