[Fantasy] Water Margin Heroes (Complete) - 25-27

Chapter Ninety-Nine: Easily Seizing Xiao Guanyang

's Back Camp Not long after Zhang Yang returned to camp and slept, the reveille sounded.

Zhang Yang had just changed his clothes when Zhong Shizhong and Liu Zhen were already waiting outside his tent.

Both were veteran generals of the Northwest, now with completely white hair and beards, but still as robust as ever, their skill in conquering cities and slaying generals was unmatched, and they possessed a greater degree of shrewdness than younger generals. Even against the elite troops of Western Xia, no one dared to underestimate these veteran generals, especially since they relied more on strategy.

The two old generals entered the tent and greeted the emperor.

Zhong Shizhong glanced at the blood-stained clothes Zhang Yang had changed out of and asked suspiciously, "Could it be that His Majesty went into the pass last night?"

Zhang Yang shrugged and smiled helplessly, "Yes, I couldn't sleep at night, so I simply went into the pass, killed a few enemy chieftains, and set a fire."

Seeing the emperor's nonchalant manner, the two old generals' awe deepened. Having spent many years in the Northwest, the two men were naturally familiar with the conditions of Xiaoguan Pass. While it wasn't impossible for even birds to cross, it was certainly not a place easily climbed by humans. They hadn't expected the Emperor to pass through so easily, leaving the heavily guarded Xiaoguan Pass seemingly untouched. The commotion was immense; fires could be seen from ten miles away, and the area inside the pass was in turmoil all night, suggesting they were still searching for assassins.

The army lit fires at midnight, cooked food at fourth, and marched towards Xiaoguan Pass at fifth.

They only set up camp two miles outside the pass.

Zhang Yang reined in his horse and surveyed the area he had ravaged the previous night. North of the pass, the mountains stretched endlessly, their barrenness—whether burned by the Western Xia or simply naturally barren—revealing the bare peaks and ravines, the true color of the yellow earth. The mountain peaks resembled steamed buns used in sacrificial ceremonies, rounded at the top and overlapping. Below, sheer cliffs cleaved the land into strips and blocks. Xiaoguan Pass was built in a valley between two peaks, its towering walls strategically positioned at the crossroads between Guanzhong and Western Xia.

Western Xia soldiers were already on high alert, archers densely packed along the city walls.

However, a closer look revealed that only a handful of mid-level Western Xia officers were on the walls, and only one tribal chief was present to oversee the defense. The soldiers on the walls were listless and demoralized. Clearly, the previous night's attack had extinguished their will to fight.

A fierce west wind blew, causing the large banners behind them to flutter incessantly, as if foreshadowing the impending battle.

The barren, desolate, majestic, and exposed land trembled, a bloody and brutal war seemingly imminent.

Soon, the Celestial Empire's army arrayed itself, their neat ranks, gleaming swords and spears, and an aura of grim determination rising to the sky.

Zhang Yang rode his horse around the front lines, surveying the battlefield, and nodded in satisfaction. He shouted in a deep voice, "Who dares to lead the charge?"

Liu Zhen surrendered to the Heavenly Dynasty in Bianjing, and then marched all the way back to the Northwest. However, the Western Xia army had already returned to their country to fight for the throne. It could be said that he had not achieved anything since surrendering to the Heavenly Dynasty. Now that he finally had this battle, and with the emperor personally in charge, he naturally wanted to show his loyalty and demonstrate the fighting power of his troops.

Before Zhang Yang finished speaking, he interrupted, "This humble general is willing to be the vanguard."

The Zhong family had only surrendered to the Heavenly Dynasty when the Heavenly Dynasty's army was at the gates. Although the emperor had bestowed official titles and ranks upon them afterward, and they seemed to have the new emperor's deep trust, they were not, after all, the direct descendants of Liangshan. The Zhong family was still cautious.

Moreover, Xiao Guan was undoubtedly an easy target at this time. Zhong Shizhong immediately volunteered, saying, "This humble general is willing to lead the charge."

Zhang Yang glanced at the two and smiled, "General Zhong, your troops previously fought a major battle against the Chage army, holding Weizhou with 30,000 men and preventing Chage's 100,000-strong army from advancing an inch. I already know the strength of your forces. This time, let General Liu lead the charge, so I can see the renowned Jingyuan troops."

Liu Zhen was overjoyed to be chosen first and firmly said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, this humble general will definitely lead his troops to take Xiaoguan in one fell swoop. We will not retreat until we have taken Xiaoguan." Upon hearing this

, Zhong Shizhong couldn't help but look at Liu Zhen with envy.

In fact, both of them knew that if someone infiltrated and carried out a large-scale assassination within the heavily guarded pass, the morale of the Western Xia soldiers would inevitably be low. Moreover, given the Emperor's methods, there might not even be any commanders left in the city. Even if someone managed to escape the disaster and organize the Western Xia troops to resist, with the attack of the newly equipped artillery, the Western Xia soldiers would not be able to effectively defend the city walls. With so many advantages, if they still couldn't capture Xiaoguan, then they would truly be incompetent. Only then did Liu Zhen dare to make such a solemn pledge.

Zhang Yang, upon hearing this, laughed, "I believe your troops will win every battle and conquer every city. General Liu, take full command; General Zhong and I will observe the battle."

Liu Zhen saluted, spurred his horse to the front of his troops, and shouted, "Wu Jie, your troops will lead the charge! Advance with the drums, retreat with the gongs. Artillery unit, sound the gongs and attack Xiaoguan!"

Wu Jie was brave and skilled in riding and archery. He joined the army from a good family, starting as a common soldier, and rose through the ranks to become a senior officer during the war against the Western Xia. During the campaign against Fang La, he was further promoted to senior general. After Liu Zhen surrendered to the Celestial Empire,

Wu Jie became a centurion and was highly valued by Liu Zhen.

"Boom boom boom!"

A series of powerful war drumbeats had just sounded when this famous anti-Jin general from another timeline carried a siege ladder and charged towards Xiaoguan, leading the charge.

"Kill!"

Though only a thousand strong, their earth-shattering shouts made it hard to believe they were a thousand-man

force. Their orderly ranks during the charge clearly indicated they were a highly trained elite army. The tribal chief, who was holding the line at the pass, was a debauched drunkard who had narrowly escaped death the previous night by frequenting brothels in the city. He was awakened in the middle of the night by the commotion at the military camp. Returning to the camp, he found only his chieftain gone and was terrified, but out of fear of military law, he dared not lead his troops to flee. He barely managed to gather his forces and immediately sent someone to report to Prince Jin, Chage.

Unexpectedly, no reinforcements arrived, and the Celestial Empire's army had already attacked from below the city.

This incompetent commander, seeing the Han army charging from below, shouted for the Western Xia soldiers to rise and draw their bows.

Just as the Han army was about to enter firing range, the sound of retreat rang out behind them, and the Han army, which had been like tigers descending from the mountain, retreated like a receding tide.

"Could it be reinforcements? Should I lead my troops out to attack from both sides and rout the Han army?"

Just as the good-for-nothing was indulging in his daydreams, dozens of black dots appeared in the rear of the Han army.

"Cannons! Get out of the way!"

A veteran who had witnessed the power of cannons at Weizhou City shouted immediately upon seeing the iron cannons whistling through the air.

The power of cannons had long been legendary among the Western Xia soldiers; upon hearing that it was cannons, the Western Xia soldiers who had been lined up with bows and arrows drawn just moments before scattered like birds.

The good-for-nothing, no longer caring about defending the city, turned and ran down the city walls.

No matter how much the Western Xia soldiers prayed, the cannons did not slow down. Most of the dozens of cannon shots landed on the city walls, the iron fragments flying everywhere, causing heavy casualties among the Western Xia soldiers.

Most of the Western Xia soldiers directly hit by the cannon fire were instantly reduced to dust, their limbs and flesh flying everywhere.

This time, the useless commander wasn't so lucky. He had just escaped to the tunnel entrance and was about to leave the city when a cannonball exploded overhead. With a deafening roar, his upper body was obliterated.

The death of their sole commander instantly exacerbated the collapse of the Western Xia army, and soldiers on the city walls fled in droves.

Liu Zhen had originally planned to launch several repeated assaults, drawing Western Xia troops up the walls to defend, then bombarding them with artillery to inflict maximum casualties and deterrence, thus facilitating the capture of the city walls. He hadn't expected that the Western Xia soldiers would abandon the walls after only one volley.

Liu Zhen hesitated. Could the Western Xia soldiers have archers lying in ambush behind the walls? If so, a rash charge by the vanguard would likely result in total annihilation. The best course of action would be to have the artillery launch another attack on the city, but with only the city wall separating them, he had no idea where the Western Xia soldiers were hiding.

"Could Xiaoguan have been recaptured just like that?"

Wu Jie stared in disbelief at the fleeing Western Xia soldiers on the city walls.

An awkward moment had occurred on the battlefield: the Western Xia soldiers, occupying the formidable pass, were fleeing in disarray, while the Celestial Empire soldiers watched from below.

Zhang Yang, knowing Liu Zhen's concerns, blew his iron whistle, summoned a giant eagle, and took to the air.

Reaching Xiaoguan Pass, Zhang Yang was astonished to find the Western Xia soldiers already swarming into the city, with dozens of cavalrymen even reaching the city gate leading to Western Xia.

Zhang Yang circled the city again, finding no ambush, before urging the eagle to land on the city wall.

Seeing this, Liu Zhen beat the drum, ordering Wu Jie to ascend the wall.

Soon, Wu Jie's vanguard climbed the walls using ladders.

Wu Jie was the first to scale the city wall. He looked with awe at the emperor, who stood like a god atop the wall, and saluted, saying, "Commander Wu Jie greets the Emperor."

Zhang Yang remembered this famous general from another timeline who had fought against the Jin dynasty. The Wu brothers, Wu Jie and Wu Lin, were both wise and brave generals. Although not among the "Four Generals of the Restoration," their achievements were no less than theirs.

Zhang Yang returned the salute and smiled, "Jinqing (Wu Jie's courtesy name) is still as valiant as ever. Open the city gates and pursue the fleeing Western Xia troops."

Wu Jie hadn't expected the emperor to know his courtesy name. Although puzzled, he dared not ask further. He straightened his back and said, "Yes."

As soon as the city gates opened, the imperial army surged into the city from all directions like a tide.

The cavalry from the two prefectures also pursued directly to the north gate. Because most of the Western Xia forces were defending the city, and their hasty escape left them without horses, they were quickly overtaken and disarmed by the cavalry. If they had known that the Tangut people had been reduced to slavery, perhaps they wouldn't have so easily abandoned their weapons. ...

Chapter 100: Abandoning the City

and Fighting in the Field. While the sun shone brightly in Bianjing, the winters in the Northwest were always cold and long. This winter, however, was even colder. The northwest wind was strong, and clumps of snow and sand swirled through the air, lashing against the rooftops with a rustling sound. A mournful whistling sound echoed in the wind, piercing the ear.

Weiming Ankang unexpectedly ascended the throne, and those who held real power in the country were all his friends. He fully expected to be able to command obedience at will. Unexpectedly, within a few days, the Heavenly Dynasty launched an attack, its momentum seemingly unstoppable.

If he became the ruler of a fallen kingdom, he would have no face to face his ancestors even in death.

Watching his pacing brother, Weiming Ankang finally couldn't help but ask, "Brother, what do you think we should do? Should we immediately order Chage, Renzhong, and Xiao Heda to retreat according to the original plan, to prevent them from being defeated one by one?"

When Weiming Ankang ascended the throne, the major powers of the country had already discussed this plan. Once the Heavenly Dynasty attacked, each army would adopt a scorched-earth policy. Weiming Chage would lead his troops to Mingshachuan, Weiming Renzhong to Lingzhou, and Xiao Heda to Xiazhou, luring the enemy deep into their territory. Then, light cavalry would harass their rear, and when the Heavenly Army ran out of supplies and retreated, the other armies would pursue them relentlessly. This strategy had been used several times by the previous dynasty, and each time it had turned defeat into victory. Therefore, the major powers were very confident in this plan.

However, Weiming Ankang now had doubts about the originally agreed-upon plan. Unexpectedly, within a single day, Gaizhu City, Xiaoguan Pass, Yinzhou, and Mituo Cave all fell. Besides the superior artillery, the destruction of Gaizhu City and Xiaoguan was due to the assassination of all their officers. If the original plan were executed, they would retreat to the interior. If these cities fell again, the imperial army could then press on to the capital. However, if they were ordered to hold their positions, they risked being defeated piecemeal, and the three men might not even obey the order. Chage and Renzhong had only submitted to their younger brother out of necessity; if they were to fight against the imperial army, they would likely refuse.

Weiming Anhui considered the matter carefully, still undecided, and frowned, saying, "This is a matter of great importance. Perhaps Your Majesty should invite the Empress Dowager to discuss it."

Weiming Ankang's ascension to the throne was not entirely legitimate. He was usually sensitive to the name Chongzong, and upon hearing his brother suggest summoning Chongzong's empress, he frowned and said, "The Empress Dowager is just a woman; what's the point of summoning her? Let's discuss it ourselves."

Weiming Anhui shook her head, saying, "Don't underestimate the Empress Dowager. She was the one who first conceived of your succession, and she did it when Chage and Renzhong Army were both unable to hold out. Her timing was impeccable. Moreover, Xiao Heda is a former official of Liao; perhaps a letter from her would be necessary for him to carry out your decree." Weiming

Ankang already knew that his intention to succeed to the throne had been proposed by the Empress Dowager, but he was unwilling to bring it up. After all, it sounded somewhat humiliating for a woman to ascend the throne.

However, he couldn't refute Weiming Anhui's words, so he waved for a personal eunuch to summon the Empress Dowager.

After Weiming Ankang ascended the throne, Yelü Nanxian lived alone in the palace and did not concern herself with court affairs. Therefore, it was quite some time before Yelü Nanxian came to the imperial study.

Upon seeing the Empress Dowager arrive, Weiming Anhui stepped forward and bowed, saying, "May Your Majesty be well."

Weiming Anhui glanced at the radiant Empress Dowager and had no choice but to bow in return.

Yelü Nanxian seemed unwilling to linger in this meeting place. Upon hearing this, she smiled and said, "Your Majesty and Prince Zhengxian of Liang, there's no need for such formalities. May I ask what brings you here?"

Weiming Anhui bowed and said, "Today, the Heavenly Dynasty's army has launched a four-pronged invasion of our country. In just one day, Gaizhu City, Xiaoguan Pass, Yinzhou, Mituo Cave, and several nearby fortresses have fallen. The Heavenly Dynasty's advance is overwhelming; if things go wrong, our country is in danger of being destroyed. Therefore, I have dared to invite Your Majesty here for this meeting."

Yelü Nanxian's expression changed upon hearing this, her mind racing. She frowned and said, "I didn't expect that Your Majesty had only just ascended the throne when the Heavenly Dynasty's army attacked. If we fail to resist, we truly risk national annihilation. However, the new Emperor is both wise and brave, and with the assistance of a seasoned strategist like Prince Zhengxian of Liang, we will surely turn the tide and repel the Heavenly Dynasty's army. Although I have the will..." "I'd like to offer my help, but I'm too weak to even kill a chicken, and I have no strategic

acumen. I'm afraid I'll only make things worse. Your Majesty should discuss it with Prince Zhengxian of Liang." Weiming Anhui was surprised that Yelü Nanxian was shirking her responsibilities, so she quickly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty is too modest.

Your Majesty is wise and resourceful. The unification of the country is all thanks to your wisdom. This is a critical moment of life and death. I hope Your Majesty can come up with another brilliant plan to turn the tide." Seeing this, Yelü Nanxian quickly said, "Prince Zhengxian of Liang, please get up. It's not that I'm unwilling to help, but I'm not knowledgeable in military affairs. Asking me for advice is putting me in a difficult position."

Weiming Anhui had originally hoped that the Empress Dowager would mention her

, so that she could shift the blame onto her. Even if Weiming Chage retaliated later, he would seek revenge from the Empress Dowager and Xiao Heda, allowing her brothers to reap the benefits.

Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager was so difficult to deal with. Seeing that things had come to this point, he could not press the matter further and could only rise and say, "It was my rudeness, please forgive me, Your Majesty. When His Majesty ascended the throne, we, along with Prince Jin, Prince Pu, and General Xiao Heda, had already discussed that once the Heavenly Dynasty's army attacked, we would retreat to the Mingsha, Lingzhou, and Xiazhou line, lure the enemy deep into our territory, fortify our defenses and scorch the fields, and then use light cavalry to harass their supply lines. However, we did not expect the Heavenly Dynasty's army to be so powerful, capturing several cities in just one day. If we retreat according to the original plan, and cannot withstand the attack, luring the enemy deep into our territory will become like inviting wolves into our house. If Mingsha, Lingzhou, or Xiazhou falls, the capital will be exposed to the Heavenly Army's attack. Therefore, I am somewhat hesitant and do not know what strategy we should use to stop the Heavenly Dynasty's army."

Wei Ming An Kang only then realized his brother's worries and could not help but frown and ponder.

Yelü Nanxian asked in surprise, "Our army has the advantage of terrain, how could we have lost several cities in a single day?"

Weiming Anhui, secretly pleased by her question, replied with a worried expression, "The Celestial Empire has new firearms with astonishing power, capable of easily breaching city gates. Furthermore, we have a highly elusive assassin force capable of infiltrating the city and assassinating our generals, which is why our country could not withstand them."

While Weiming Anhui was surprised that the assassins hadn't infiltrated Yinzhou and Mituo Cave, she couldn't believe that the events at Gaizhu City and Xiaoguan were the work of the same person. She simply assumed that Gaizhu City and Xiaoguan had fewer troops, hence the assassin force.

Previously, the Liao Kingdom had been defeated by the Heavenly Dynasty's cannons, and Yelü Nanxian had been considering countermeasures and had come up with several. Hearing that it was cannons again, she feigned confusion and asked, "What's the difference between the Heavenly Dynasty's firearms and the Song Dynasty's? I've heard of Song Dynasty firearms before; their power is only average, insufficient to breach a gate, and the launchers are slow-moving."

Weiming Anhui, recalling the battle report, replied, "The power of the two is incomparable. The Heavenly Dynasty's firearms are incredibly powerful; those hit will be instantly killed, and within a radius of several feet, many will be either dead or seriously injured. The launchers are similar, both being catapults, but the Heavenly Dynasty's are much more accurate."

Yelü Nanxian exclaimed in surprise, "I never imagined the Heavenly Dynasty could develop such terrifying firearms! Defending the city will be extremely difficult!" "There are many [troops/armies]. Why not try field battles? Those catapults move slowly, so they won't be very effective in field battles."

Wei Ming'an Hui feigned sudden realization, bowing respectfully with a hint of surprise, and said, "Your Majesty is wise. Your words have enlightened me greatly. The city is no longer a reliable defense. Taking the initiative to go out into the field for battle can both utilize our army's advantages in field battles and weaken the Heavenly Army's firearms to the greatest extent. This plan is worth trying. However, General Xiao Heda is facing the main force of the Heavenly Dynasty, with two armies totaling no less than 100,000. General Xiao Heda's troops have also lost nearly 20,000 men in Yinzhou and Mituo Cave, and are no longer able to confront the Heavenly Army head-on. Now the Heavenly Dynasty's troops are only two days away from Xiazhou." "The journey is arduous, and Shizhou offers no resistance. The Heavenly Army will reach Xiazhou within two days. However, the 50,000 troops of the Prince of Puzhou and Youzhou will also arrive to reinforce us within two days. We must ask General Xiao Heda to hold out for reinforcements before engaging the Heavenly Army in a decisive battle." Yelü Nanxian said curiously

, "Xiao Heda is a subject of our country. He will obey the Emperor's decree. Why would he need my decree? Besides, how can I, a mere woman, command General Xiao Heda?" "Xiao Heda has few troops and little power; how dare he disobey the imperial decree? It is the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Pu who, with their powerful armies, are becoming increasingly difficult to control and may disobey the decree. If the Prince of Pu's troops remain stationary, and General Xiao Heda obeys the decree and holds firm, it may only cost him his life."

Upon hearing this, Wei Ming'an Hui knew she had agreed to send a letter to Xiao Heda urging him to hold firm, and confidently said, "Both the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Pu are members of our imperial family, their fates intertwined with the nation's. As long as we explain the consequences to them, I believe they will obey the decree. If the Prince of Pu disobeys, General Xiao Heda's fate is entirely up to him."

Her implication was that if Wei Mingren Zhong disobeyed the decree, Xiao Heda could surrender to the Celestial Empire without consequence.

Upon hearing this, Yelü Nanxian smiled and said, "Xiao Heda has served as an official in Western Xia for over a decade. I believe he will be loyal to Western Xia, so this matter is settled. I will go and rest now. Your Majesty and Prince Zhengxian of Liang should also rest early."

Upon hearing this, Weiming Anhui quickly gave her younger brother, who was watching the scene, a wink. The two of them said together, "Respectfully seeing off the Empress Dowager." ...

Chapter 101: Cowardly as a Mouse .

When Weiming Ankang ascended the throne, he devised a strategy to lure the enemy deep into his territory. Therefore, upon receiving the battle reports from the front lines, Weiming did not send reinforcements, but instead prepared to fortify his defenses and retreat. The villages and forts along the border with fewer troops were given priority in fortifying their defenses and retreating to nearby prefectures to avoid unnecessary casualties. The troops in each prefecture were also ready to relocate the populace to the interior.

Benefiting from the Celestial Empire's "non-resistance" policy, the various armies of the Celestial Empire marched towards the heart of Western Xia at maximum speed.

At Yang Keshi's request, Zhang Yang agreed to send 20,000 troops from Huanqing Road to attack Xiama Village, under the command of the western route army.

Zhang Yang led his 20,000 troops from Jingyuan Road to Shangyi Pass without losing a single soldier. After discovering that Geta Village was already in ruins, the army headed straight for Weizhou, reaching within a hundred li of the city by evening.

As the army set up camp, Zhang Yang again rode his eagle to Weizhou, a hundred li away, and infiltrated the city under cover of night.

The Weizhou garrison, unprepared for the swift arrival of the heavenly army, was caught off guard, and Zhang Yang quickly assassinated all the officers and soldiers within the city.

Having carried out these assassinations, Zhang Yang had gained some experience in such tactics, easily eliminating over a hundred men before setting fire to the rear camp.

Since the giant eagle could not fly at night, and the army was a hundred li away, Zhang Yang had no intention of returning to his own camp. The Western Xia soldiers who rushed out to put out the fire were caught in the crossfire.

With Zhang Yang's obstruction, the initial fires quickly escalated into towering infernos.

Seeing the entire camp engulfed in flames and with no one to command them, the Xixia soldiers fled in droves.

Seeing the fire was beyond extinguishing, Zhang Yang rushed towards the north gate.

Many routed soldiers had already reached the north gate, demanding to leave the city. However, the Xixia soldiers guarding the city blocked their way, and the two sides faced off.

Zhang Yang grabbed a Xixia soldier from the edge of the camp, snatched a bow and arrow, and jumped onto a rooftop. The defending officer blocking the routed soldiers was now exposed. Zhang Yang spotted him closely and fired an arrow.

The bow he had grabbed wasn't particularly strong, and Zhang Yang didn't dare draw it with full force. The arrow struck the Xixia officer's armor, penetrating only a few inches. Most of the shaft remained protruding.

The defending officer was only concerned with the routed soldiers in front of him. He hadn't expected someone to fire an arrow from afar and was hit squarely. The excruciating pain in his chest stirred a savage instinct that hadn't completely subsided. He pulled out an arrow, shouted "Kill them!" and slashed at the fleeing soldiers before him with his broadsword.

The soldiers behind him, obeying the order, drew their swords and charged at the fleeing soldiers attempting to break through the gate.

The fleeing soldiers, not expecting such killing, fought back after several were killed.

The gatekeepers tried to cooperate, but the sheer number of fleeing soldiers quickly overwhelmed them, and the gatekeepers were soon slaughtered.

Seeing the battle decided, Zhang Yang circled around to the street corner and mingled with the fleeing Western Xia soldiers, shouting as he ran, "Open the city gates! The Heavenly Army has entered!"

Because Western Xia had a large Han population and frequently raided its borders, many Western Xia soldiers understood some Chinese. Hearing Zhang Yang's shouts and seeing many more fleeing, they immediately believed him.

Several quickly opened the city gates and ran out, the others instinctively following suit in a hasty retreat.

Seeing his plan had succeeded, Zhang Yang slipped into a small alley.

The Western Xia soldiers, though puzzled by his actions, dared not risk their lives to question him and fled in disarray.

Zhang Yang shouted, "The heavenly army is entering the city! The north gate is open! Run!"

Most of the Western Xia soldiers, hearing Zhang Yang's shouts, immediately ran towards the north gate. Some, puzzled by Zhang Yang's use of Mandarin, tried to grab someone to ask for clarification, but Zhang Yang ran so fast he disappeared into the darkness in the blink of an eye, leaving them no choice but to follow the crowd.

The east gate, too, was breached by the fleeing soldiers and became an escape route.

The Western Xia camp was now engulfed in flames, which continued to spread with the howling night wind.

The city's inhabitants had long been awakened by the commotion; most fled with the soldiers, while others hid in their homes, with only a few futilely trying to extinguish the fires.

Zhang Yang only left the city after scaring away most of the Western Xia soldiers; even several miles outside the city, the flames were clearly visible. A few miles outside the city gates was a village. If the heavenly army attacked, this village would undoubtedly be reduced to ashes before they could even breach the city walls. Therefore, hearing the commotion within the city, the villagers fled north with their families.

Zhang Yang had already circled this village when he arrived at dusk, which is why he had come here with a specific purpose. The giant eagle was also resting on a nearby hilltop. Seeing that all the villagers had fled, he found an empty house in the village to rest.

The fire that raged within the city for half the night

gradually subsided.

Even when Zhang Yang awoke, he could still see wisps of smoke rising from the city walls. Zhang Yang

jumped onto a rooftop, blew his iron whistle, and the giant eagle, which had been circling in the air, swooped down. Zhang Yang pointed the eagle past him, then leaped up and commanded it to fly towards the city.

Looking down on Weizhou from the air, most of the city had been burned to a crisp. Only one or two streets had survived. The Western Xia soldiers were nowhere to be seen, with only a few scattered residents panning for gold in areas where the fires had been extinguished.

"It's not that I'm ruthless, it's just that Brother Cha is ruthless, and you were born in the wrong place,"

Zhang Yang sighed, looking at the ruins below. He then spurred his hawk straight to the location where the Jingyuan Road army was stationed.

Zhong Shizhong and Liu Zhen, who were now gradually treating the emperor as a god, heard from Zhang Yang that they had scared away the Western Xia soldiers in Weizhou, so they first ordered two thousand cavalry to head straight for Weizhou and take over the city.

The main army also marched rapidly for a day, arriving in Weizhou by evening.

Many open spaces had been burned out within the city, but embers still lingered in many places, occasionally emitting a burnt smell. Fortunately, the winds had been strong in the past few days, dispersing most of the odor; otherwise, the army would have had to camp outside the city.

The army chose an open space upwind to set up camp. Fortunately, several wells were undamaged, so there was no shortage of water, and soon the camp was filled with the enticing aroma of food.

Although the Tanguts and other ethnic minorities had begun to settle in the city, their nomadic lifestyle had not changed much, and many of their livestock remained outside the city. They were unaware that the Tanguts had been reduced to slaves, but unwilling to entrust their fate to the Heavenly Army, they had already escaped with the withdrawal of the Western Xia troops.

Most of those remaining in the city were Han Chinese. The cavalry that had arrived earlier had already settled the remaining city residents on several intact streets, and the few Tanguts who had not escaped had been imprisoned. Zhang

Yang, Zhong Shizhong, and Liu Zhen rested in a rather large mansion, which was the most luxurious courtyard on the intact streets, with two wells in the courtyard.

Zhang Yang had been flying around for the past few days, rushing from place to place, and had to crawl and fight for the assassination, and was already feeling very uncomfortable. However, the army's water supply was scarce, and it was not appropriate to make exceptions. Now that the conditions were right, he ordered the soldiers to prepare hot water for a bath.

While waiting inside, drinking tea, he heard a commotion in the street. Just

as Zhang Yang was about to go out to investigate, a soldier ran up to report: "The Han people in the city heard that the Emperor is leading the army, and they've all rushed outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of His Majesty."

Zhang Yang also wanted to see these Han people, and upon hearing this, he smiled and said, "Come with me to see them. They are our comrades too, and from now on, they are all subjects of my Celestial Dynasty. It's good for them to see me, the Emperor."

"The Emperor has arrived!"

A quick-witted guard, seeing Zhang Yang emerge and fearing the crowds might disturb the imperial procession, hurriedly shouted.

Although Western Xia strictly forbade the dissemination of information about the Celestial Dynasty, the Emperor's assassination, coupled with the Celestial Dynasty's sudden and seemingly mythical rise, and the deliberate spreading of rumors by the intelligence department, meant that most of the city's residents, except for some nomadic tribes, had heard of Zhang Yang's legendary status.

Upon hearing that the emperor, a god descended to earth, had appeared, the hundreds of Han people on the street dared not look, and instead knelt and kowtowed, fearing to desecrate the divine emperor.

Zhang Yang, looking at his ragged compatriots, felt a pang of sorrow in his heart, and smiled gently, "Fellow villagers, please rise."

Seeing an elderly man with a weathered face trembling as he rose, he quickly stepped forward to help him up.

The old man, not expecting the emperor to help him, stammered, "How can this be? How can this be?"

Zhang Yang had met many people and knew that the people now revered the emperor no less than gods or Buddhas. Seeing the old man's frightened expression, he quickly changed the subject, saying, "Old man, don't be agitated. I have led my troops here. From now on, this is the land of the Han people. You will no longer have to suffer."

Looking at the frostbite on the old man's face, Zhang Yang felt a pang of pity and tried to lower his head to avoid seeing the old man's horrific face, but then noticed that the old man's hands were also covered in frostbite.

Seeing the old man's miserable state, Zhang Yang understood somewhat the hardships Han people faced in Western Xia. He asked, "Old man, what kind of work do you do in Western Xia?"

The old man trembled and said, "I was captured by Western Xia and used to herd cattle and sheep for the Tangut nobles. Summer is better; I can stay in the nearby pastures. But in winter, when there's not enough fodder, I have to go to the snow to scavenge for the livestock." ...

Chapter 102 The Myth Begins.

The wind howled, and in the icy snow, an old man with white hair lay on the ground, struggling to dig through the snow with his bare hands, searching for grass roots. Clumps of snow and sand raged in the wind, turning the world into a world of wind and snow. Before the power of nature, the old man's frail figure appeared even smaller, as if he might be swallowed up at any moment.

Zhang Yang was shocked by the scene that appeared in his mind. A surge of anger erupted from the bottom of his heart, and the ferocity he had cultivated on the battlefield involuntarily spread outwards.

The old man felt a chill in the air around him and shivered involuntarily.

Zhang Yang felt the old man he was supporting tremble, which snapped him out of his daze. He quickly suppressed his murderous intent and gritted his teeth, asking, "Do any Han people do other livelihoods?"

The old man seemed to warm up a bit and stretched out his body, replying, "The Dangxiang people only know how to herd livestock. The Dangxiang emperor ordered the whole country to learn our Han culture and skills. Those with skills live better lives, and some even run shops in the city. However, those captured by the border troops are generally slaves, their lives in the hands of the Dangxiang."

Most of the Han people on the street were dressed in tattered clothes, clearly slaves who had risked their lives to stay behind when the Dangxiang fled. Only a few were neatly dressed, probably commoners. Having been treated as slaves, the people naturally harbored a lot of anger, so the cavalry quickly captured the remaining Dangxiang with their cooperation.

Zhang Yang glanced at the crowd and declared loudly, "From now on, you will be the masters of this place. Soon, I will lead my troops to conquer Western Xia. Those who wish to settle in Western Xia will each be granted 100 mu of land, one head of cattle and horse, ten sheep, and one Tangut slave. The houses you currently occupy will also be yours. Those who wish to settle should register with the garrison general. Those who wish to return to the Central Plains should also register and each will be given ten strings of cash to return home. However, land is scarce in the Central Plains, and there is no land to distribute. I still suggest you stay here. Before long, a large number of people will migrate from the Northwest, Hedong, and Hebei. At that time, this place will also become prosperous."

Most of the people originally hoped to return home, but upon hearing about the many benefits of settling in Western Xia, they hesitated. The houses they were left with were enough for each person to choose one. With houses, land, cattle, and horses, this kind of life would be considered wealthy. Returning to the Central Plains, it would not be easy to accumulate such wealth. They just didn't know if the emperor could conquer Western Xia. The previous dynasties' conquests of Western Xia had all ended in defeat after initial victories. If they stayed here, and the Western Xia army returned, things would be difficult.

Seeing everyone considering, Zhang Yang said, "Those without rations can go to the military camp for more; officials from the country will be sent soon to manage them. Whether you stay or leave, everything you find in the city is yours. It's getting late; everyone should go and rest."

Hearing that the found items were theirs, the people's minds immediately started racing. Last night's fire was fierce. Many families hadn't even had time to pack their valuables before fleeing. Although their houses were completely burned, some gold and silver survived. They had collected a lot during the day. If they didn't hurry and find more valuables, others would probably get there first.

Money and valuables are tempting, and everyone shared the same thought. Hearing this, they all kowtowed and left.

Zhang Yang went back to his room, took a bath, and fell into a deep sleep as soon as he lay down. Three days of fighting, and Zhang Yang had fought for three nights straight. Although he was physically superhuman, he couldn't withstand such exhaustion.

The next day, just as dawn broke, Zhang Yang was awakened by a horn sounding from the city walls.

He dressed, stretched, and felt refreshed. His modified body's recovery ability was practically superhuman; while most people would feel weak after a night's sleep, Zhang Yang could regain his energy with just a short rest, which was why he dared to plot to collect the Queens of Ten Thousand Kingdoms. As soon as

Zhang Yang left his house, he summoned a giant eagle, which flew straight into the sky.

Just as he ascended, he saw an endless array of Western Xia soldiers gathering outside the city; judging by the number, there were tens of thousands.

Last night, when Zhang Yang entered the city, he had scouted the area and found no Western Xia troops within twenty li. He wondered why the Western Xia troops had arrived so quickly. Zhang Yang flew his hawk more than ten li in the direction the Western Xia troops had come from before he spotted a simple military camp.

It seemed the Western Xia troops had arrived here after his reconnaissance.

Zhang Yang circled the area again but found no ambush, so he flew his hawk back into the city.

Zhong Shizhong and Liu Zhen had already led their troops to defend the city walls. Upon seeing the Emperor arrive, they hurriedly went to greet him.

Zhang Yang, however, did not recognize the Western Xia script and, seeing the flags below the city, did not know the origin of the Western Xia troops. After greeting the two men, he asked, "There are nearly forty thousand troops outside the city. Do you know which army they are?"

Zhong Shizhong and Liu Zhen had been guarding the border for many years and had dealt with the troops of several military commanderies in the southwest of Western Xia. Even without seeing the flags, they could recognize which army it was, especially since the Western Xia's

brave and skilled warrior, Chage, was below the city.

Zhong Shizhong reported, "The troops outside the city are from the Xishou Baotai Military Command and the Jingse Military Command. Judging from the banners, it seems that Chage is personally leading the troops. Chage has 100,000 troops, but they are divided among the Xishou Baotai Military Command, the Jingse Military Command, the Zhuoluo and Nan Military Commands, and the Gansu Military Command. Nearly 40,000 were annihilated at Gaizhu City and Xiaoguan, leaving only 60,000 troops. Even if we exclude the 10,000 troops stationed at the Gansu Military Command, Chage can only mobilize no more than 50,000 troops. It seems that Chage has come with almost his entire army this time." Upon hearing this

, Zhang Yang laughed and said, "In that case, the Zhuoluo and Nan Military Commands and the Xishou Baotai Military Command are undefended. As long as we hold off Chage's army, the Qin Feng Road troops can advance unimpeded. I just don't know why the Western Xia didn't use the method of luring the enemy deep into their territory. I was hoping to gain more cities without losing a single soldier."

"Perhaps the Western Xia emperor saw that our army could easily breach the city, and if we were allowed to penetrate deeper, even Xingqing Prefecture wouldn't be able to hold out. That's why he's rushing here to his death."

Zhong Shizhong had originally worried about the Western Xia's scorched-earth policy, but he hadn't expected them to deliver themselves to their doorstep. Although the initial skirmishes had resulted in heavy losses, the Western Xia's entire army was roughly equal to the Northwest army. A one-to-one ratio of losses meant that his own country could withstand the attrition, while Western Xia faced the risk of annihilation. In high spirits, he couldn't help but joke.

Liu Zhen, however, looked at the dark mass of Western Xia soldiers outside the city, but unlike the two men, he wasn't relaxed. Instead, he was somewhat worried. No matter what, the Western Xia army was indeed a notch or two stronger than the Northwest army. If the numbers were equal, perhaps the Northwest soldiers, with their superior training and their commanders' excellent battle formations, could win. But now, the Western Xia army nearly doubled their numbers, so his side had little chance of victory.

"Your Majesty, the Western Xia troops outside the city outnumber ours by two to one, and they are also fierce and skilled in battle. We don't have much of a chance of winning."

Zhang Yang pointed to the Western Xia troops outside the city and laughed, "Do you see any siege equipment on the Western Xia troops?"

Liu Zhen had already carefully observed the Western Xia army's formation and replied without hesitation, "No."

"That's it then. The Western Xia troops have obviously come to reinforce Weizhou, but unexpectedly, Weizhou has already been captured by our army. They have neither siege equipment nor provisions. As long as we don't leave the city, we have no reason to lose. They can't possibly retreat after their request for battle was rejected." Zhang Yang looked at the nearly ten thousand cavalrymen below the city and pondered how to swallow these troops.

"But will you avoid battle?"

Liu Zhen thought to himself, but dared not question him openly.

Now, the generals of all sides had a preliminary understanding of this emperor with his overwhelming power. He could annihilate ten thousand enemy troops, but he would definitely not annihilate eight thousand. He was also more ruthless towards foreign tribes, killing the innocent and sparing the guilty. Fortunately, the emperor possessed extraordinary martial arts skills and was not merely a reckless brute lacking in wisdom; in fact, legend has it that he was exceptionally brave and skilled in both. However, the opponents were too weak, leaving the emperor little opportunity to display his superior intellect. Regardless, under the new emperor's leadership, the Celestial Empire's army indeed won every battle, often decisively.

"Celestial Empire brats, dare you venture out of the city to fight?"

While Zhang Yang and his companions were deep in thought, the Western Xia soldiers had already formed their battle lines, and a fierce-looking general stepped forward and shouted.

Heh heh, prey delivered to our doorstep—why not take it? It's a pity the two sides are so vastly different in strength this time, otherwise we would have crippled Cha Ge. But we wouldn't mind taking on a hundred of the Western Xia's generals; at least we can't let the likes of Zhao Yun shine alone.

How prestigious it is to be a great emperor or a great general throughout the ages!

Only by crushing the Western Xia's will to fight can we reduce our own army's casualties. For both public and private reasons, it's not that I want to show off.

Zhang Yang turned to Zhong Shizhong beside him and said, "General Zhong, take one hundred cavalrymen and accompany me out of the city to confront the Western Xia barbarians. General Liu, oversee the city's defenses."

Everyone knew that the Emperor of the Celestial Empire possessed superhuman martial arts skills, and the one hundred cavalrymen could be withdrawn to the city at any time.

Hearing that the Emperor didn't intend to engage in a decisive battle, Zhong Shizhong and Liu Zhen obeyed.

Zhong Shizhong selected one hundred personal guards and followed Zhang Yang out of the city, forming a single file.

The Western Xia general was truly fearless; seeing someone come out to fight, he roared and spurred his horse forward.

Zhong Shizhong, unaware of Zhang Yang's intentions, tightened his grip on his spear and reported, "These scoundrels, this humble general is willing to lead the charge."

Zhang Yang, not wanting him to steal his business, weighed the divine crossbow he had just picked up from the city wall, feeling it was similar to his own. However, he hadn't brought his golden spear with him from the capital, so he reached out and said, "The Western Xia soldiers have come at the right time. I was just about to

stretch my muscles. I'd like to borrow your steel spear, General." Zhong Shizhong also wanted to see the legendary martial arts of the emperor, who was said to be a god descended from heaven , so he readily handed the spear to Zhang Yang.

Zhang

Yang took Zhong Shizhong's steel spear, weighed it in his hand, and although it was a bit light, it was still much stronger than his weapon.

Looking at the Western Xia general roaring and charging towards him, Zhang Yang's only assessment was "all bark and no bite." He was clearly just trying to bolster his own courage. Why was he shouting? It was just making noise.

To get some peace and quiet, Zhang Yang spurred his horse and charged towards the barbarian general.

Seeing a refined-looking, fair-faced Han Chinese charging towards him, the barbarian general gained even more courage, kicking his horse hard as if afraid Zhang Yang would run away again. With a horse's length between them, he roared and stood up from his horse, thrusting his spear at Zhang Yang. Seeing the pale-faced Han man motionless on his horse, seemingly stunned, and even licking his lips with a bloodthirsty glint,

Zhang Yang dodged the spear when it was less than a foot away, thrusting it forward and plunging the Han general off his horse.

Weiming Cage had been wearing a dark expression since encountering the routed Weizhou soldiers the previous night, which was understandable. He had originally brought 20,000 troops to aid Weizhou, but Weizhou had fallen overnight. What shamed him even more was that, according to the city's escaping residents, they hadn't seen any Chinese troops the previous night. Under his questioning, he learned that the Weizhou soldiers had been frightened away by a few assassins and abandoned the city. While Cage was greatly shocked by the abilities of the Chinese assassins, he was also deeply ashamed of the defenders' hasty retreat. He immediately suppressed the news and executed several surviving officers before gathering his remaining troops.

Seeing his general easily defeated by the Han general, who appeared to be a frail scholar, he felt even more ashamed. He roared, "Are all the men of our Dangxiang tribe so easily defeated? Whoever can retrieve his head will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold and a hundred Han slaves!"

Many of the Dangxiang generals, not taking Zhang Yang seriously and seeing an opportunity to profit, spurred their horses forward to grab the order.

Seeing his generals eagerly accept the order, Weiming Cage's anger subsided slightly. He casually pointed to a valiant general and shouted, "Victory is the only acceptable outcome! If you damage our army's morale, don't come back!"

The general patted his chest and said, "Your Highness, rest assured. I will definitely bring back the Han man's head."

Weiming Cage knew that morale needed to be boosted, so he added, "Don't be careless. Go!"

The general glanced at the slender Han general in the distance, feeling that the Prince of Jin was overreacting, and spurred his horse towards Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang didn't change his tactics; relying solely on pure speed, he unhorsed his attacker with a single thrust.

Seeing his two men fall to the same simple move, Wei Mingchage felt as if he'd swallowed a fly. He pointed to an agile warrior among the remaining generals and sent him into battle.

With another single move, the enemy general was also unhorsed.

The enemy generals now realized Zhang Yang's extraordinary speed. Against the first opponent, Zhang Yang had charged forward on horseback, so it wasn't apparent. But with the next two, Zhang Yang remained stationary, and while both gained an advantage through their horse's momentum, Zhang Yang easily unhorsed them. This demonstrated just how fast Zhang Yang was.

The enemy generals were now alarmed. Some, who considered themselves inferior to the first three, quietly began to retreat.

However, there are always those who consider themselves the best in the world. A man as thin as a bamboo pole stepped forward and said, "I don't believe he can be faster than me. This humble general is willing to fight."

Weiming Cage was now in a difficult position. Seeing that this was the fastest spearman under his command, he nodded and said, "Yes, be careful."

Xiugan spurred his horse forward. When he got close, he used the momentum of his horse to suddenly thrust his spear at Zhang Yang. His speed was truly like lightning. It looked like he was about to hit Zhang Yang. Seeing that Zhang Yang didn't seem to have reacted yet, a sense of pride rose in his heart. Little did he know that the three men before them had the same thought before they died.

Zhang Yang also dodged his spear and thrust it into the bamboo pole, knocking it off its horse. Looking at the bamboo pole's unwilling eyes, he said in a deep voice, "You are faster than them, but not enough."

Xiugan seemed to understand Zhang Yang's words. Only then did he realize that Zhang Yang, bathed in the morning sun, stood there like a god. Perhaps he really was a god, otherwise, human speed should not be so fast.

Seeing even his renowned marksman, Zhugan, fall to Zhang Yang, Weiming Cage began to doubt whether his impulsive arrival was the right thing to do. However, seeing Zhang Yang's shrug and tilted head, he was enraged again.

This was provocation, a provocation against the men of the Tangut people! Were his tens of thousands of troops to be defeated by one man? If he retreated, how would he be any different from the coward who abandoned the city the previous night?

No, perhaps Weiming Renzhong would say that his forty thousand troops had been defeated in a single move.

Weiming Cage seemed to already see Weiming Renzhong's mocking face. Thinking of being

ridiculed by Weiming, Cage abandoned any intention of retreating and looked at his generals.

The barbarian generals, however, were filled with fear. Seeing their commander looking at them, they all lowered their heads, avoiding Weiming Cage's gaze.

Weiming Cage, seeing his generals cowering in fear, could no longer contain his rage. He roared, "Look at your manhood! Are you even men of Tangut descent? Are you so intimidated by a mere Han general that you can't even lift your heads? The women in your tents would be too ashamed to show their faces if they saw you like this! Men

, raise your heads!" His words were ruthless; they caused his generals to blush and raise their heads.

Weiming Cage spat on the ground and shouted, "Remember, we Tangut men will die with our heads held high! You two go out and meet him!"

Although furious, Weiming Cage hadn't lost his composure. He knew none of his men could defeat the Han general alone, so he sent out two. After all, fighting the Han general twice was better than retreating. He had brought 20,000 troops to reinforce Weizhou, but no provisions. Having also taken in 20,000 fleeing soldiers, their already dwindling food supplies were now even more strained. Originally, the plan was to retreat without engaging in battle, but now that they had retreated, some people would think they were scared off by one man.

Between two evils, choose the lesser; overwhelming the enemy with numbers is much better than having 40,000 troops scared off by one man. At least they should defeat him before retreating.

The two barbarian generals exchanged a glance, their courage bolstered, and spurred their horses towards Zhang Yang.

Zhong Shizhong, seeing the Western Xia's intention to overwhelm them, was about to join the fray when Zhang Yang turned back, shaking his head and saying, "You can only observe. Without my order, you are not to leave the battlefield."

Zhong Shizhong was confident in the emperor's skills; his participation was merely a show of support. The emperor's prohibition was exactly what he wanted—to see the emperor's limits and remain a spectator.

The two had exchanged a signal along the way, rode side-by-side to Zhang Yang, exchanged a glance, and simultaneously thrust their spears at him.

Zhang Yang glanced at the two men with amusement, and before they could get close, he thrust

his spear at the man on the left. The two barbarian generals knew that even if they won, one of them would surely be killed, but having been chosen by their commander, they had no choice but to go into battle. They secretly prayed that Zhang Yang would succeed. The

man on the left, seeing the blood-stained spearhead growing larger, looked resentfully at his comrade beside him as he lay dying. But what he saw was his comrade also falling from his horse, the Han general's spear being pulled from his body, leaving a trail of blood.

"Heavens, what kind of monster have you created? Or have I done something wrong that you sent a god to punish me?"

Wei Mingchage cried, watching the two fall from their horses, and closed his eyes in anguish. After a long while, he opened his eyes and pointed at the five men, saying, "All five of you go together. I want to see just how fast he is."

The five men discussed briefly and then charged towards Zhang Yang in a fan shape.

Zhang Yang remained motionless. As the five men approached, he used sheer speed to stab the three in the center off their horses before leaning back to dodge two thrusts.

The two men hadn't expected their deadly attack to be so easily broken, especially since the Han general had killed three of their own. Just as they were about to change tactics, their warhorses charged past Zhang Yang, carrying them past. A sharp pain shot through their backs, and they both fell from their horses.

Wei Mingchage, seeing all five men taken down in a single move, gaped in astonishment. Was this even human?

"You, you, you… come at me all at once!"

Wei Mingchage hesitated for a moment before unleashing a barrage of ten men. Five against one, ten against one—he had utterly lost face today. But even with many casualties, he had to kill him. The men before him could be considered as offering themselves as sacrifices to a peerless hero.

Wei Mingchage stared fiercely at Zhang Yang, but inwardly he had to acknowledge that Zhang Yang was indeed an unparalleled hero.

Zhang Yang watched the ten men charging in a fan shape. When they were less than ten meters apart, he suddenly spurred his horse to

the left to meet them. The barbarian general on the right tried to come to their aid, but it was too late. He could only watch helplessly as Zhang Yang charged into the right flank like a tiger among sheep.

The two men at the forefront were terrified and, despite their prayers, fell to the ground. As Zhang Yang

weaved between two empty horses, he thrust his arm and felled another man before turning his horse around.

The barbarian generals turned their horses and saw the three men lying in the center. In their horror, they could only close the distance between the seven of them again, charging almost side by side.

The barbarian

generals charged like a chain of horses, leaving no gaps in their path.

Zhang Yang patted his horse and charged to the left again.

Seeing Zhang Yang charging towards him, the barbarian general on the left quickly slowed his horse and shouted for his comrades to come to his aid. Upon hearing this, the right-wing general hurriedly spurred his horse forward, changing the formation from a fan shape to a diagonal line, and the distance between them also increased.

Zhang Yang licked his lips bloodthirstily, his momentum undiminished, and within moments he was face to face with the first man on the right wing.

The general charging forward on the right was only then horrified to find himself the first to engage in battle. Just as he was about to rein in his horse and retreat, Zhang Yang suddenly thrust his spear at him, plunging him from his horse.

The second man following closely behind, seeing no way to escape, hurriedly thrust his spear at Zhang Yang, only to see Zhang Yang already draw his spear and thrust again, still arriving first despite being the one who attacked later. Seeing the hole that had suddenly appeared in his chest, he was so frightened that he tumbled off his horse.

While in mid-air, a gushing stream of foul blood finally emerged.

Zhang Yang had already taken down four men, and the remaining three then synchronized their movements, thrusting their three long spears at him like venomous snakes. The sharp tips of the spears gleamed coldly, as if they were about to devour their prey. A sinister smile crept onto the ugly faces of the three barbarian generals, as if Zhang Yang had already fallen beneath their spears. Zhang Yang

had no time to withdraw his spears and thrust again. He drew his steel spear, flicked his wrist, and swept it across the three men. The

barbarian generals, seeing Zhang Yang's hasty change of move, were unconcerned, only watching Zhang Yang with bloodlust—they wanted to see how this Han Chinese, who had slaughtered more than a dozen generals, would fall beneath their spears, how he would groan in pain.

They didn't believe that this Han Chinese, who relied on speed to win, could also possess superhuman strength. Such a hasty thrust could sweep away the powerful, heavy steel spears. With a dull thud,

Zhang

Yang's steel spear struck the tip of the barbarian general's spear.

The first barbarian general to be hit felt a violent jolt in his wrist, and the spear flew out of his hand.

Sweeping away one man's spear, Zhang Yang's momentum didn't diminish; he swept away another's spear before changing his attack to a thrust. With one thrust, he knocked the last man off his horse.

Just as the two horses were about to collide, Zhang Yang leaped into

the air, soaring behind the enemy generals. Seeing Zhang Yang pounce, the two generals

screamed and cowered on their horses in fear. Zhang Yang, looking at the two undefended targets at his feet, lightly touched their backs with his spear, then landed.

A horse's neigh came from behind him, and Zhang Yang realized his own horse had caught up.

Judging from the hoofprints on the ground, his horse had miraculously avoided the imminent collision and galloped past.

It seemed the Northwest truly produced excellent horses; he had only casually picked up a spare horse from Liu Zhen, yet it was already so formidable.

Zhang Yang mounted his horse again, gave the Western Xia army a thumbs-up, and to the astonishment of Cage and the others, suddenly flipped over, looking at Cage provocatively.

Weiming Cage, seeing Zhang Yang's provocative gesture, was enraged. A ferocious look appeared on his face, and he waved to the dozen or so remaining lieutenants beside him, shouting, "All of you, charge! Surround him and attack! Don't charge back and forth!"

The dozen or so barbarian generals discussed briefly, then spurred their horses forward. Before engaging in combat, they reined in their horses and slowed down, forming a tight fan shape as they charged slowly.

The Han general, fearing being surrounded, spurred his horse towards the center, seemingly intending to break through the encirclement head-on.

Weiming Cage, watching the Han general's frantic actions, couldn't hide a smile. If he could break through the encirclement like this, then all his men should go home and herd sheep.

Seeing the emperor charge into the encirclement of over a dozen barbarian generals, Zhong Shizhong was shocked. Ignoring the emperor's orders, he waved his right hand and led a hundred cavalrymen into the fray.

"Let you collect his corpses,"

Wei Mingchage said with a hint of regret as he watched Zhang Yang break through the encirclement.

Zhang Yang swung his spear fiercely, striking the flank of one of the barbarian generals' horses.

"Ah!"

A heart-wrenching scream and a horse's neigh echoed as the first barbarian general was slammed to the ground, horse and all. The other barbarian general was horrified to see his horse's belly caved in, and his comrade's leg, struck by the spear, was reduced to a thin layer—clearly, the bone was broken.

Zhang Yang drew his sword with his left hand, casually sweeping away the approaching weapon, and with his right hand, he discarded his spear for a bow.

His horse, seeing an opening, leaped forward.

When Weimingchage saw Zhang Yang leap out of the encirclement, he couldn't help but curse, "You old thief,

are you even human?"

As his warhorse landed, Zhang Yang had already discarded his sword and drawn three arrows in his left hand. He drew the bow to its fullest extent, shouted "Hit!", and fired three arrows in quick succession. The first arrow pierced the heart of the stunned Weimingchage. The next two arrows struck the standard-bearer and his horse, respectively. Both arrows hit their mark, and the standard-bearer's horse crashed to the ground, the commander's flag falling with it.

Weimingchage looked at the last inch of fletching remaining in his chest, a smile involuntarily appearing on his lips. He murmured, "So he is the Emperor of the Celestial Dynasty. Brother, I've come with you."

With that, he fell from his horse with a thud.

Zhang Yang had concealed his bow and arrows for a long time, intending to kill Weimingchage by surprise... but he hadn't expected that the Han general, with his astonishing speed, would also possess astonishing archery skills, able to hit targets hundreds of paces away.

Seeing Weiming Chage fall from his horse, they showed no mercy, turning and unleashing a barrage of arrows, shooting down the barbarian generals one by one.

Zhong Shizhong and the others, seeing their seemingly certain death turn into a complete victory, forgot to rein in their horses, letting them charge towards the godlike emperor.

At this moment, gasps of astonishment erupted from the Western Xia camp. Both the Han and barbarian armies stared in disbelief at Zhang Yang, who stood like a god in the center of the field.

Seeing the awe in the eyes of the Western Xia soldiers, Zhang Yang acted on impulse, roaring, "Those who surrender will not be killed, otherwise I will represent heaven and earth to annihilate you!"

Zhang Yang's shout jolted the Western Xia army awake. The high-ranking officers of the Weizhou garrison, who had abandoned the city the previous night, had been assassinated by Zhang Yang, and the remaining soldiers had been killed by Chage. They had only hastily replenished their ranks with some generals before leading their troops, hoping the Han army had not yet captured the city. Unexpectedly, the Heavenly Army had seized the city first, leaving them no choice but to try and fight. If they could defeat the Heavenly Army outside the city, perhaps they could seize Weizhou in the process.

At this moment, the Weizhou soldiers, unfamiliar with their general and their soldiers, were thrown into disarray by Zhang Yang's godlike roar and the subsequent surge of troops from the city. Many who believed in ghosts and spirits even knelt on the ground in fear.

This chaos in the Weizhou army also affected the main force of the Chage army, with nearly half of them joining the rout.

"Avenge the general!"

shouted a single barbarian general, leading his men in a charge. Before they could advance more than a few meters, Zhang Yang shot them off their horses with an arrow, followed by a volley of arrows.

"Boom!" "Boom

!"

"Boom!"

The cannons from the city walls arrived just in time, blasting open spaces in the hesitant Western Xia ranks.

The immense destructive power of the cannons became the final straw for the Western Xia army. With a godlike general and weapons as powerful as lightning, how could they possibly fight back?

The barbarians who had initially sought revenge, seeing Zhang Yang's unparalleled archery skills and witnessing the fleeing army behind him, finally succumbed to their hidden fear and turned their horses to escape.

Zhang Yang, leading a hundred men from his army, began pursuing the fleeing soldiers. He casually picked up a fleeing Xixia soldier and shouted, "Those who surrender will not be killed!" "

Those who surrender will not be killed!"

"Those who surrender will not be killed!"

The approaching Heavenly Army echoed this call for surrender. Led by Zhang Yang, they cut through the fleeing Xixia soldiers like arrows, cutting down any Xixia soldiers who were slow to react.

Since the founding of the Xixia Kingdom, there had been constant warfare with the Song Dynasty. Furthermore, Li Qianshun had encouraged the learning of Han Chinese etiquette, so many Xixia soldiers could understand some Chinese. In this situation, they could guess what the other side was shouting. Seeing the overwhelming force of the Heavenly Army behind them, they dared not resist.

With each shout, many Xixia soldiers would drop their weapons and kneel down.

Zhang Yang and his men did not pause, but charged forward shouting, hoping to encircle as many cavalry as possible. The surrendered soldiers behind would naturally be dealt with by the main army that followed.

Unfortunately, the Western Xia cavalry possessed superior horses, were familiar with the terrain, and had already fled. Despite Zhang Yang's valiant pursuit, they gained very little.

Reaching the Western Xia camp, Zhang Yang saw that the cavalry ahead were not entering the camp, realizing he could not catch them. He then stopped outside the camp and waited for the main army.

Seeing the main force routed and the Heavenly Army advancing to their camp, the Western Xia troops abandoned their camp and fled. To draw the Heavenly Army's attention, they dared not burn the camp, but unfortunately, there was little money or food left.

In this battle, almost all of Chage's infantry were annihilated, and most of his cavalry escaped. From then on, Western Xia in the southwest had no strength to resist. ...

Chapter 105: Asakusa Without Horse

Hooves. After defeating Chage's army, Zhang Yang led two thousand cavalry to raid Mingshachuan, capturing it and successfully seizing over a million shi of grain.

Thus, the Western Xia Zhuoluo and the Southern Army Command, Xishou Baotai Army Command, and Jingsai Army Command were like naked maidens, exposed to the Heavenly Army's attack. Zhang Yang, while holding Mingsha, ordered the northwestern tribes to quickly annex the three defenseless commanderies.

The following evening, Zhong Shizhong and Liu Zhen also led troops to Mingsha, thoroughly consolidating this important grain storage location.

However, the two also brought bad news: Yang Keshi of Huanqing Road had suffered heavy losses. Under the strategic command of the Western Xia, Yang Keshi, the military commissioner of Huanqing Road, easily captured Xiama Village and Qintuo Village. He then became complacent and advanced rapidly, only to be ambushed by Weiming Renzhong's army outside Yanzhou City. Fortunately, the Huanqing Road troops were seasoned veterans, allowing them to retreat to their camp. However, they suffered heavy casualties and were no longer able to attack. With Weiming Renzhong's cavalry watching them closely, retreat became impossible. They had no choice but to defend their camp while simultaneously pleading guilty and requesting reinforcements from the emperor.

This was the first bad news since the campaign against Western Xia began. Especially amidst the triumphant celebrations of other armies, Yang Keshi's losses were particularly striking. Moreover, his troops had volunteered for the battle, raising suspicions of them trying to steal credit.

Zhong Shizhong and Liu Zhen watched the emperor cautiously, fearing his wrath and the immediate punishment of Yang Keshi. If that happened, the campaign would be ineffective, and the commander would be punished, rendering the Huanqing army powerless.

After reading the letter requesting aid, Zhang Yang smiled and said to the two men, "The Western Xia army excels in field battles, and this sudden change in strategy made me realize that someone was going to suffer. I didn't expect it to be Yang Keshi, who requested the battle. It seems his luck isn't so good."

Zhong Shizhong and Liu Zhen breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the Emperor casually gloss over Yang Keshi's crime of underestimating the enemy and being reckless.

Zhong Shizhong explained, "General Yang's minor defeat is understandable. The combined forces of the eastern and central routes number as many as 100,000, which the Western Xia cannot overcome. The Qin-Feng route forces are defending Gaizhu City, and our route is personally overseen by the Emperor. Only General Yang's unit is the weakest. This battle has also served as a wake-up call for all sides; the Western Xia's field combat capabilities are indeed slightly superior to ours. If the Western Xia abandons its fortified city and fights us with all its might, I'm afraid our army will face considerable resistance."

Zhang Yang nodded and said, "General Zhong is quite right. If the Western Xia engages us in open battle, the outcome is uncertain. To be on the safe side, it would be best to send more troops to ensure the complete annihilation of the Western Xia."

Zhong Shizhong felt reassured upon hearing that the Emperor had offered reinforcements. The Emperor's military prowess was known throughout the land, but he feared that excessive bravery would lead to defeat. If the Emperor underestimated the enemy... Using only the existing troops for attack might truly lead to a disastrous defeat.

To ensure the success of this campaign, Zhong Shizhong suggested, "Aside from those defending against the Tibetans and those guarding various cities against bandits, there are no more troops available in the northwest. Which army does Your Majesty wish to deploy?"

Zhang Yang, seemingly having already considered this, smiled and said, "The Miao people should be assembled by now. The Miao are valiant; they didn't quite achieve their goal when they accompanied me in the previous campaigns against Dali and Yue Li

. Let's summon them again to assist in this battle. Two men for every one of them, that's over 50,000 troops. That should be enough to change the course of the war." Zhang Yang had previously decided to annihilate the Western Xia, knowing a fierce battle was inevitable. Therefore, upon arriving in Lanzhou, he ordered the Miao people of Chengdu Prefecture to begin assembling their troops. Now that Western Xia had changed its strategy, Zhang Yang immediately thought of the Miao soldiers.

Field battles are arduous. For every 10,000 enemy killed, 8,000 of your own will be lost. Especially given the Western Xia's valiant and skilled warriors, the losses might be even greater. Zhang Yang certainly wouldn't let his own clansmen do such a "good" thing. Moreover, the country didn't have many well-organized troops at the moment, and with the powerful Jin Dynasty to contend with later, he was even more reluctant to lose his core forces.

Zhang Yang thought for a moment, then said, "As for Yang Keshi, I'll personally go there by falcon. You all hold fast to Shachuan and await my orders; do not venture out without permission."

Zhang Yang didn't intend to punish Yang Keshi, nor did he mind making another trip to win over the hearts of the people. Besides, Mingsha was garrisoned by 20,000 well-trained and well-supplied troops, aided by artillery; even 100,000 Western Xia troops might not be able to conquer it. Staying here wasn't really necessary, so Zhang Yang decided to go out for a stroll, treating it as a kind of sightseeing.

Upon hearing that the Emperor intended to depart by falcon, Zhong Shizhong hurriedly said, "The Western Xia army surrounding General Yang numbers as many as 30,000. How can Your Majesty risk such a danger? Now that the Chage tribe is almost completely annihilated, Weiming Renzhong will surely learn of this in a few days and will not dare to expose his flank to us. The siege of General Yang will then fall on its own. We only need to send a message to General Yang, instructing him to hold out for a few more days. Your Majesty's fate is in the hands of the entire nation; how can you repeatedly take such risks?"

Zhang Yang shook his head and said, "Mingsha is five or six hundred li from Yanzhou, and the Lingzhou River blocks the way. It will take our army more than ten days to reach the rescue. If Weiming Renzhong is determined to wipe out the Huanqing army, then General Yang will also be in danger. I will go again; perhaps I can catch him off guard once more. Be careful, even if we are not victorious, I

will lead them to break out."

Saying this, he waved his hand and said, "Time is of the essence; I will depart now."

Seeing that the Emperor's mind was made up, Zhong Shizhong and the other man had no choice but to respectfully see him off.

After flying for half a day, Zhang Yang realized he was no longer in the Central Plains. While it wasn't entirely deserted, it was common to fly dozens of miles without seeing a single village. Moreover, not all the nomadic tribes understood Han Chinese. After passing through several tribes, Zhang Yang finally got directions and arrived outside Yanzhou City before nightfall.

From the air, the two army camps looked like concentric circles, one inside the other. But upon closer inspection, one could see that the central Heavenly Army camp was neat and orderly, while the surrounding Western Xia camp consisted of rows of dark tents, making the whole thing look like a flower stuck in cow dung.

Oh, forgive my metaphor, but Zhang Yang truly felt that way when he saw the encircled camps below.

Zhang Yang didn't rush to land but observed the surrounding area from the sky before landing some distance away.

Night always comes early and goes late in the Northwest. Tonight, the sky was high and the clouds were light, the bright stars twinkled, and the biting wind that had raged all winter was unusually absent. As night fell, all was quiet, save for the occasional crackling of the wood in the fires beneath the camp walls.

The Heavenly Army had been besieged here for two days. On the first day, the Western Xia army launched a fierce attack, but under the assault of cannons and archers, they retreated in disarray, leaving thousands of corpses behind. They hadn't appeared since, only setting up camps at a distance to encircle the area. However, the Heavenly soldiers on guard dared not relax their vigilance, lest the Western Xia army launch a night attack. After all, time was running out for the Western Xia. Under the emperor's leadership, the other armies were advancing rapidly, and a large army would soon arrive to rescue them. If the Western Xia wanted to annihilate them, they had to act within these next few days. Of course, this was what Yang Keshi had told his soldiers; only he knew the truth.

The Western Xia had only set up camps at a few intersections, so Zhang Yang easily passed through the middle. However, entering his own camp proved somewhat difficult.

Zhang Yang stealthily made his way into the main tent. Seeing two guards outside, alert and scanning the area, he leaped out, brandishing his Nine Dragon Token. Under their astonished gazes, he shushed them, saying, "It's the Emperor. Don't shout." The two guards,

surprised that someone could infiltrate the central command tent, were relieved to hear it was the Emperor. After all, when the Northwest Army reached the gates of Bianjing, the Emperor had infiltrated the camp and assassinated Tong Guan and his followers, leading to the Northwest Army's surrender.

However, they didn't readily trust Zhang Yang. The one on the left took Zhang Yang's token, examined it carefully, noting its exquisite design and slight wear. He quickly returned it to Zhang Yang, saluting, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Zhang Yang returned the salute and smiled, "I have some matters to discuss with General Yang. You may continue your guard duty."

Hearing that they had the honor of guarding the Emperor, the two straightened their backs and shouted, "Yes!"

Zhang Yang lifted the curtain and entered the tent, where he saw Yang Keshi already there.

Upon seeing that it was indeed the Emperor, Yang Keshi bowed deeply and said, "This guilty subject underestimated the enemy and advanced recklessly, resulting in an ambush, heavy losses of soldiers and generals, and a disgrace to the nation. I deserve to die a thousand deaths. Please punish me

, Your Majesty." Although it was only a brief encounter, Zhang Yang could see that Yang Keshi looked haggard, clearly having been restless for the past two days. Having already decided not to pursue the matter further, he smiled and said, "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. I have come here to allow you to atone for your crimes. I will infiltrate the Western Xia camp to assassinate the enemy chieftain. When the Western Xia camp catches fire, you will lead your troops to launch a surprise attack. If you succeed, your previous defeat will be forgiven."

Yang Keshi knew all too well that the Emperor had already pardoned him. With the Emperor's abilities, assassinating the enemy chieftain would be a piece of cake. Without a leader, if he still couldn't win, then he truly deserved to die.

Yang Keshi kowtowed again, firmly stating, "Your Majesty, rest assured, if I fail again, Your Majesty need not lift a finger; I will offer my head."

Zhang Yang helped Yang Keshi up, smiling, "I trust General Yang. Alright, gather your troops."

Hearing this, Yang Keshi gave Zhang Yang a grateful look before summoning someone to relay the orders. Zhang Yang watched Yang Keshi relay the orders methodically and nodded secretly.

Under the cover of night, the Heavenly Army, with gloved mouths and horses' bells removed, quickly assembled.

Zhang Yang also quietly disappeared into the night. Before long, a fire broke out in one of the main camps of the Western Xia.

Yang Keshi then led his army to attack the burning Western Xia camp. The Western Xia army, leaderless, quickly began to collapse.

When the other camps tried to come to the rescue, they discovered that their commanders were all dead. Seeing that the main camp's troops were also beginning to retreat, and with countless Heavenly Soldiers shouting and charging in from the darkness, they too fled towards Yanzhou. Chapter

106 A Nation-Wide Gamble

The army inflicted a major defeat on the Western Xia outside Yanzhou City, relieving the siege. While they possessed superior numbers, their high-ranking officers had been assassinated by Zhang Yang, rendering them unable to exert their full fighting power and forcing them to regroup within the city.

Because Wei Mingrenzhong was cautious and not in the camp that night, he escaped the attack and subsequently deployed heavy troops to guard his residence.

Zhang Yang attempted to infiltrate the city several times, but all attempts failed.

The Heavenly Army, having suffered heavy casualties in the previous ambush, was unable to attack the city. Although the Western Xia could quickly promote a group of generals, the generals did not know their soldiers, and the soldiers did not know their generals, rendering them unable to launch an attack, resulting in a stalemate.

A few days later, Empress Dowager Yelü Nanxian of Western Xia was again summoned to the imperial study, still to discuss matters concerning the Heavenly Dynasty.

After several days apart, both Wei Ming'an and his brother looked haggard. The new emperor, Wei Ming'ankang, also lacked his former energy, obediently bowing and greeting Yelü Nanxian.

Unlike the two men who were in a state of utter panic, Yelü Nanxian, who remained dignified and

composed despite her indifference to politics, was completely unsure of the domestic situation. Weiming Ankang, on the other hand, had lost all confidence in the country's future; had he known this would happen, he probably would never have ascended the throne

. Looking at the Empress Dowager's serene expression, he sighed at her ignorance and fearlessness, yet also felt a pang of envy for her—not holding the position, not meddling in politics. If he hadn't ascended the throne, he certainly wouldn't have so many worries now.

Weiming Ankang sighed and said, "I invited the Empress Dowager here because the situation is about to deteriorate; please forgive me."

Yelü Nanxian, seeing the emperor who seemed to have aged considerably in just a few days, felt deeply guilty. After all, she was the one who had suggested placing the throne in his hands. Without her, Weiming Ankang would still be the carefree prince he once was, instead of bearing the heavy burden of the entire nation.

However, for the sake of the country, Yelü Nanxian was willing to sacrifice her own life; what would others do? (Historically, after the fall of the Liao Dynasty, Yelü Nanxian starved herself to death.)

"Your Majesty is too formal. As the Empress Dowager of Western Xia, I never forget my responsibilities to the nation. It is only because of my limited power and wisdom that I dare not concern myself with court affairs. If Your Majesty does not find my views shallow, I would like to share my opinions."

Wei Ming Ankang respectfully looked at the Empress Dowager. She smiled and said, "Your Majesty's wisdom is extraordinary. I admit my inferiority."

"Besides its formidable artillery, the Celestial Empire has also acquired a large number of elite assassins. The generals of Weizhou were all assassinated, and when Prince Chage's army came to their aid, they were shot dead by the Celestial Emperor on the battlefield, resulting in the complete annihilation of the army. The Celestial army also seized Shachuan. Shachuan has a million shi of grain stored there; with the Celestial army's control of Shachuan, they can use our country's provisions to launch large-scale invasions.

Prince Renzhong's garrison in Yanzhou had already ambushed a Celestial army and was on the verge of victory, but they too were attacked and killed by Celestial assassins. Their generals suffered heavy losses and they were unable to fight again in the short term, so they had no choice but to hold out." "Defend Yanzhou. The Heavenly Dynasty's assassins have become a major threat to our army, and they are also elusive. If we are not prepared, our officers will be killed. If this continues, our army will likely collapse on its own without the Heavenly Dynasty's intervention. Moreover, the Prince of Jin's troops will be completely wiped out. Soon, the Heavenly Army will be able to conquer the southwestern provinces, at which point Yanzhou will be attacked from two sides."

Although Yelü Nanxian could control Xiao Heda, to avoid suspicion, after Weiming Ankang ascended the throne, she lived a secluded life and had almost no contact with Xiao Heda, therefore she was unaware of these battle developments.

Yelü Nanxian hadn't expected Chage's army to be defeated so quickly, almost completely annihilated. Composing

himself, he asked, "How is the situation in Xia Prefecture?" Weiming Ankang frowned further upon hearing this, sighed, and said, "No Heavenly Dynasty assassins appeared in Xia Prefecture, but our army numbers only 80,000, while the Heavenly Dynasty has 100,000. In several battles, our army hasn't gained the upper hand, and our casualties are quite heavy. Moreover, the Heavenly Dynasty has over a million troops to reinforce us, while our country has few troops to mobilize. If this continues, even if we win, we may no longer be able to intimidate the various ethnic groups within our borders, and the country may disintegrate."

"Alas, it seems that continuing the war is not worthwhile for our country. Could we negotiate peace with the Heavenly Dynasty?"

Yelü Nanxian had originally hoped that Western Xia could restrain the Heavenly Dynasty, or even inflict some damage, giving the Liao Dynasty a chance to regroup. He hadn't expected Western Xia to be defeated so quickly; continuing the war risked national extinction. After conquering Western Xia, the Celestial Empire's strength would reach a terrifying level. Even the Liao Dynasty at its peak would be no match for it, let alone the Liao Dynasty now in its twilight years. Yelü Nanxian naturally didn't want to see another behemoth rise behind the crumbling Liao Dynasty, even though the Celestial Empire was already quite powerful.

Upon hearing this, Weiming Ankang's face flashed with anger, but his eyes also held a hint of despair. He bitterly said, "The Celestial Emperor has already issued an edict. Because Prince Jin, Chage, burned the Northwest, ravaging the lives of

the people and enslaving the Dangxiang people within our borders, the Celestial army is also plundering our Dangxiang people in the occupied areas, transporting them back to the country to sell. If we send people to negotiate peace, it will probably be like lambs to the slaughter."

It seems the Celestial Empire is determined to wipe out Western Xia, but this decree of demotion is also a good one. It slows down the Celestial Empire's military campaign and also stimulates the Dangxiang people's fighting spirit, weakening the Celestial Empire's strength to the greatest extent.

Yelü Nanxian said with regret, "It seems there's no turning back for our country and the Celestial Dynasty. Since that's the case, Your Majesty should announce the Celestial Dynasty's actions to the entire nation, letting our people know that surrender has no good end."

"The announcement has been made," Wei Ming Ankang said hoarsely, his voice filled with helplessness, despair, and anger. "However, other tribes, seeing the Celestial Dynasty's power, fear the calamity of extermination, and border tribes are submitting to the Celestial Dynasty. My tribe alone probably can't hold out for long." However, his anger was directed at the person who had made him the ruler of a fallen kingdom. Wei Ming Ankang glared fiercely at the Empress Dowager. If she couldn't offer him any advice, he would certainly not let her have an easy time before the kingdom fell.

At least he had long coveted the Empress Dowager's beauty; she was slender yet voluptuous, with fair and delicate skin as smooth as jade, and bright, clear eyes that seemed to smile even when not. Even more remarkable was her noble birth; every gesture exuded an air of authority.

Her long, jet-black hair was tied up high, and her ample breasts swayed with her movements. Her tall figure exuded the unique allure of a mature woman. However, Wei Ming An Hui knew about her cousin's abilities, and most likely, this mature empress dowager was still a pure virgin.

Thinking of this, Wei Ming An Kang's eyes burned even more intensely.

Yelü Nanxian was flustered by Weiming Ankang's unbridled gaze, her face flushing with a girlish blush. She forced herself to remain calm and said, "Last year, Tibet also participated in the attack on the Central Plains. After the Celestial Dynasty conquers our country, it will inevitably send troops westward. They should understand the principle of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.' Why doesn't Your Majesty ask Tibet to send troops to divide the Celestial Dynasty's forces?"

Weiming Anhui also noticed the strange expressions on their faces and quickly coughed. Now was not the time for internal strife. If they offended the Empress Dowager, Xiao Heda might turn against them, and if the Eastern Route Army suffered another defeat, Western Xia would be completely finished.

Hearing his brother cough, Weiming Ankang finally came to his senses, picked up a cup of tea that had been cold for a while, and drank it down to suppress the burning desire within him.

Wei Ming'an Hui then said, "We can't count on Tibet either. When the Celestial Dynasty sent troops, our country already knew about them—but they only sent border troops to harass us. After being severely defeated by the Celestial Dynasty, they retreated to their defensive positions. If we want them to send a large army to reinforce us, we need the consent of the Zanpu and the tribal leaders. Those tribal leaders are ignorant and foolish, and they were defeated by the Celestial Dynasty before. Getting them to send troops to attack the cities of the Celestial Dynasty is probably as difficult as climbing to heaven."

Upon hearing this, Yelü Nanxian also knew that the destruction of the Western Xia was inevitable. Now, all they could do was to delay as much as possible and inflict the greatest casualties on the Celestial Dynasty. After thinking for a moment, she said, "With the defeat of the Chage army, Yanzhou will become a battleground. If we delay any longer, it may be surrounded and annihilated by the Celestial Empire. I believe we should order the Prince of Pu to retreat to Lingzhou as soon as possible, and at the same time gather troops from all over the country to Lingzhou, concentrating the strength of the whole nation to resist the Celestial Empire. If we can achieve a great victory, we might even be able to recover the lost territory."

Upon hearing this, Weiming Ankang stared wide-eyed and asked, "What about the troops in Xiazhou?" Yelü

Nanxian gritted her teeth and said, "They should also retreat to Lingzhou. They cannot win in Xiazhou now, and they might even be defeated one by one. Now we can only fight with the strength of the whole nation, and perhaps we can still..." "There's a chance of winning. And if we cede the cities to the Celestial Empire, they can divide their forces to defend them, thus diverting some of their troops. If our country can defeat the main force of the Celestial Army, it will be much easier to reclaim the various regions."

Upon hearing this, Wei Ming An Hui clapped her hands and said, "The Empress Dowager is indeed shrewd. Rather than letting the Celestial Army defeat us piecemeal, it's better to fight with all our might. This is our only option now . If we are defeated, it will be easier for our entire clan to migrate."

Seeing that they both agreed, Wei Ming An Kang also said, "Then I will order the troops from all regions to withdraw to Lingzhou. Success or failure hinges on this." ...

05-09
Chapter 107 The Great Battle (Part 1)

After receiving the retreat order, Ming Renzhong, fearing the arrival of Celestial Empire reinforcements, secretly withdrew with the nobles under the cover of night.

Xiao Heda of Xia Prefecture felt each day was an eternity. Several battles not only failed to gain the upper hand, but he also suffered greater losses than the Heavenly Dynasty's troops. Coupled with his already smaller forces, the situation grew increasingly dire. Therefore, upon receiving the order to retreat, he immediately withdrew, leaving no one behind.

However, many Tangut people had previously underestimated Xiao Heda's allied forces and had already moved away from the battlefield during the fighting, leaving only a few remaining in the city. After Xiao Heda's retreat, with the Heavenly Dynasty's army entering the city, the remaining Tangut people acquired a new identity—slaves.

A month passed quickly. The Heavenly Dynasty did not attack Ling Prefecture, but instead stationed its army in Yaode City, a hundred li from Ling Prefecture, to deter Western Xia. The army then swiftly took over six military commands: Zhuoluo, the Southern Military Command, the Western Shou Baotai Military Command, the Jing Sai Military Command, the Jianing Military Command, the Xiangyou Military Command, and the Left Wing Shenyong Military Command, wiping out all Tangut people within its sight. Simultaneously, it began to relocate Han Chinese to begin spring planting.

Although the Western Xia had twelve military commands, most of its agricultural land was concentrated in the six military commands conquered by the Celestial Empire. The other military commands were mostly deserts, inhabited by various ethnic groups, and their rule was always unstable. It could be said that the Western Xia's fate was sealed.

Those who obeyed lived, and those who resisted perished.

After receiving the Celestial Empire's ultimatum, various ethnic groups within the Western Xia submitted to it. Some tribal soldiers who had been "kidnapped" in Lingzhou also secretly sent envoys to contact the Celestial Empire. This made the Tangut people suspicious and distrustful, and they dared not allow other tribal troops to guard the city. Although there was no complete break, the morale of the army had already crumbled.

On March 10th, Yaode City had gathered more than 200,000 troops, including 150,000 troops from the Celestial Empire's three armies, 50,000 Miao soldiers, and more than 20,000 newly surrendered tribal soldiers.

The Western Xia also amassed nearly 200,000 troops in Lingzhou. Except for the Gansu and Xiping military commands in the west, which remained stationary, the Right Wing Chaoshun, Heishan Weifu, Heishui Zhenyan, and Baima Qiangzhen military commands in the north all dispatched most of their forces to reinforce Lingzhou, preparing for the final decisive battle.

March 15th, outside Lingzhou city. The two armies faced each other from afar, the air thick with the tension of battle. After a month of waiting, both the Celestial Empire and the Western Xia were eagerly anticipating this battle that would determine the fate of the Tangut people. The

Western Xia camp numbered a full 200,000 troops. Aside from tens of thousands of tribal soldiers on the flanks, the rest were Tangut soldiers. Nearly half of the Tangut men were concentrated here, and they all knew the Celestial Empire's policy towards the Tanguts; defeat meant becoming slaves of a conquered nation. They glared angrily at the opposing Celestial Empire troops, their eyes filled with undisguised killing intent. This further highlighted the fierceness of the nomadic people.

The army consisted nearly half of its troops of cavalry and camel riders. If these troops were annihilated, the Tangut people would likely find it difficult to escape. After all, since Li Yuanhao established his kingdom, he had been conquering surrounding tribes to the east and west, finally establishing the Twelve Military Commands, making him surrounded by sworn enemies. If his elite forces were wiped out, even if the Celestial Empire tolerated him, the surrounding tribes would not easily let him go.

The Celestial army was uniformly dressed in black, even the Miao soldiers and soldiers from newly surrendered tribes had changed into Celestial Empire uniforms. In the center were Hua Rong's 10,000 cavalry and the cavalry of various tribes, and in the center of the cavalry were 3,000 Imperial Guards. Standing before them was Zhang Yang, clad in golden armor.

Wu Song's 3,000 Imperial Guards had only recently arrived before the Emperor. Zhang Yang's Overlord Spear and Jade Lion Horse had also been brought.

His well-fitting golden armor made him appear even more imposing and extraordinary, and his refined face was now filled with determination as he gazed resolutely ahead.

Riding on his magnificent steed, the Jade Lion, under the meticulous care of the palace stable masters, Zhang Yang's snow-white coat seemed to gleam in the sunlight. The Jade Lion, long kept in the palace, appeared eager to charge, its front hooves occasionally pawing the ground, but Zhang Yang held the reins firmly, unable to move.

Zhang Yang didn't need to turn around to know that his troops' morale was high. Since the founding of the kingdom, they had waged war on all sides, suffering occasional minor defeats, but in battles he personally commanded, there had never been a loss. From soldiers to officers, everyone had blind trust in him, which was undoubtedly a good thing; at least he didn't need to boost morale before battle.

Looking at the 200,000 ferocious Western Xia soldiers opposite him, Zhang Yang wasn't worried about defeat, but rather how to minimize his own losses.

His own troops, led by Huyan Zhuo and Guan Sheng, were seasoned veterans, their fighting strength no less than that of the Western Xia army, while his Imperial Guard was capable of easily tearing through any defense. With the flanks reinforced, the Western Xia's defeat was inevitable. The two sides were not far apart in strength. If the Western Xia fought to the death, even if they won, their casualties would be unprecedented.

The decree to reduce the Tangut people to slavery had already foreshadowed today's bitter battle. However, Zhang Yang had no regrets. Even if the casualties were heavy,

he would wipe out the people who had offended the emperor.

Zhang Yang wanted the world to know that "those who offend the majesty of the emperor, though far away, will be punished." No matter if you are a great power or a tribe, you can only be respectful to the people of the Celestial Empire, otherwise the Celestial Empire's army will raze your reliance to the ground.

This battle would determine the fate of the Western Xia and the rise and fall of the Tangut people. The Western Xia sent the new emperor's elder brother, Liang Guozheng Prince Weiming Anhui, as the commander-in-chief.

Both sides had been in position for some time when Weiming Anhui finally could not bear the grim atmosphere of the battlefield and ordered the bugle to be sounded.

The powerful bugle sound instantly broke the silence of the battlefield. As soon as Weiming Anhui's banner moved, 200,000 Western Xia troops surged towards the Heavenly Army's formation like a tide.

Without any battles between generals or any small-scale probing, Yasue Akina decided to settle the matter in one battle. If she won, she would seize the opportunity to reclaim the lost territory; if she lost, she would die on the battlefield.

The earth rumbled under the hooves of 100,000 warhorses and camels, the fierce battle cries of the nomadic people stirring the blood. Without some outlet for their pent-up emotions, one's heart would surely leap out of their chest.

Seeing this, Zhang Yang shouted, "Cavalry, attack! Flanking maneuvers, hold your positions!"

He spurred his horse forward, and the cavalry units, seeing the central signal flag waving, followed suit.

When the two sides were about four hundred paces apart, the Heavenly Dynasty cavalry raised their already drawn bows. With a series of

twanging

arrows, tens of thousands of arrows soared into the air, tearing through the sky, climbing to their highest point before swooping down again.

The Western Xia cavalry could only lie prone on their saddles, dodging the dense barrage of arrows. However, many still succumbed to the deadly arrows; screams and the neighing of horses filled the battlefield, setting the tone for a bloody battle.

Zhang Yang relentlessly targeted and shot down the commanders leading the central army, ignoring the distance. Seeing their valiant generals fall from their horses one by one, the Western Xia soldiers truly understood the power of the Celestial Emperor. Unfortunately, they could neither retreat nor surrender; they could only press forward.

At a distance of 150 paces, both sides switched to standard longbows and began volleying. The Western Xia soldiers, heavily armored, inflicted heavy damage with each arrow. The Celestial Army cavalry, however, were well-armored, and the Western Xia arrows only managed to pierce their armor slightly, so few Celestial soldiers fell to the arrow rain. After

several volleys, the two sides finally engaged in direct combat.

A fierce Western Xia soldier, seeing Zhang Yang charging in golden armor, was not alarmed but rather delighted. A bloodthirsty glint appeared on his rough, weathered face. He roared wildly, but before he could even draw his gleaming saber, Zhang Yang had already thrust him from his horse with a spear.

Zhang Yang thrust, parried, swept, and smashed, his superhuman speed and strength leaving no one standing. Within a two-meter radius, everyone was swiftly swept away.

Behind him, Wu Song led the Imperial Guard, composed of Zhang Yang's former Liangshan personal guards and Song Dynasty soldiers—all elite and valiant warriors. In ordinary armies, ordinary soldiers could easily be centurions, with ten-man and centurion commanders being particularly formidable.

Under the Imperial Guard's leadership, the 20,000 cavalrymen swept through the Western Xia cavalry like a whirlwind.

Several fierce Western Xia generals attempted to stop Zhang Yang, who was acting as their spearhead, but they all fell from their horses before even exchanging a single blow. Zhang

Yang, having defeated hundreds, suddenly straightened his back, realizing he was almost breaking through the Western Xia army. Not far away was Wei Ming Anhui observing the battle, surrounded by only about a hundred heavily armored cavalrymen—the Iron Falcons, seemingly the most elite cavalry of Western Xia.

Seeing that the Heavenly Army, led by the Heavenly Emperor, was about to break through the central army, Wei Ming'an Hui said to the side, "All of you, go! Kill the Heavenly Emperor at all costs!"

The leader of the Iron Falcons replied, "Our orders from the Emperor are to protect you at all costs. Now you only have us left. If we all attack and something happens to you, we will have no way to explain to the Emperor when we return."

Wei Ming'an Hui stared at the general and rebuked him, "The nation is in peril. The rise and fall of the Tanguts depends on this battle. If we lose, there will be no place for us in Western Xia. What are you still thinking about? The situation is already extremely precarious. As long as we kill the Heavenly Emperor, we can turn defeat into victory. Otherwise, you, my family, and I will all be sold into slavery in the Heavenly Dynasty. Now, in the name of the commander-in-chief, I order you to kill the Heavenly Emperor with all your might. Understand?"

Seeing Wei Ming'an Hui's fierce expression, the general dared not hesitate any longer and hurriedly led a hundred Iron Falcons towards Zhang Yang. ...

Chapter 108 The Great Battle (Part 2)

After defeating several more men, Zhang Yang noticed a line of heavily armored cavalry surging towards him. It was none other than Wei Ming An Hui's Iron Falcons, seemingly heading straight for him.

"You want to use the 'capture the leader first' strategy? I'll teach you the consequences of overestimating yourselves,"

Zhang Yang said with a wicked smile, looking at the Iron Falcons who seemed to be encased in a tortoise shell.

The first Iron Falcon, seeing Zhang Yang break through the formation, was about to draw his bow when a flash of cold light struck his face. With a "thud," an arrow pierced his nose, going straight to the back of his head, the tip protruding an inch from his helmet before its force dissipated.

"Ugh,"

the Iron Falcon coughed up blood, his head lolling to the side. He was clearly dead, yet he remained bound to his horse, unable to fall. Supported by his heavy armor, he sat upright on the horse as if he were still alive.

(The Western Xia Iron Falcons were all tied to their horses with ropes, so even if they died in battle, they wouldn't fall off.)

Zhang Yang drew his bow and fired several arrows at the front ranks, all aimed at their unprotected faces. Although the men in the front ranks remained seated as if alive, the Iron Falcons behind them saw several arrows. They all ducked to protect their faces and charged forward.

The Iron Falcons avoided the faces, their bodies becoming like tortoise shells, leaving no place to strike. They were clad in two layers of heavy armor, so even if shot by a divine crossbow, it wouldn't cause much damage.

Just as the Iron Falcons felt relieved, the two in the lead heard their warhorses let out a mournful cry. Where the horse's armor couldn't cover, an arrow had already pierced its eye socket. The warhorse, its head pierced, lurched forward a few steps before collapsing with a crash. The knight tied to it only had time to let out a scream before being crushed off the horse.

Like the tortoise shell armor on the rider's back, the warhorses' armor was also very complete. Composed of six parts—a face shield, a neck guard, a chest protector, a body armor, a rear guard, and a parasitic appendage on the tail—the warhorse's armor covered its head, neck, chest, torso, and rump, leaving only its ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and limbs exposed.

The warhorse's protection was undeniably thorough, but unfortunately, it encountered Zhang Yang. Any target exposed to Zhang Yang's sight, no matter how small, would be shot.

Zhang Yang fired three arrows in quick succession, felling three warhorses. He discovered that shooting horses was more effective than shooting people.

With each horse falling, the Iron Falcon behind, unable to rein in its horse in time, was also tripped. If it were light cavalry, with the horsemanship of nomadic tribes, they could easily command their horses to leap over obstacles several feet high. But now, with people wearing heavy armor and horses clad in iron armor, even though the warhorses were carefully selected, they were nearing their load-bearing limits. Let alone obstacles several feet high, even a foot-high bulge on the horse's belly could trip it.

Seeing the great effect of his horse-shooting technique, Zhang Yang began to target warhorses himself, as their armor was no match for the knights' two layers of heavy armor.

Zhang Yang tried shooting an arrow straight into the chest of a warhorse, discovering that the arrow penetrated nearly halfway.

The struck horse let out a mournful cry and collapsed to the ground.

The Iron Falcon Captain, hiding behind, had originally planned to have his men fight desperately to grab Zhang Yang's golden spear so he could then scavenge for the kill, but instead, the warhorses in front of him were falling in droves. Seeing that he was about to crash into the pile of horses, he only had time to fire an arrow at Zhang Yang before his own horse was tripped and fell to the ground.

Zhang Yang caught the arrow, and seeing Wei Ming An Hui standing blankly on the hill in the distance, he shot Wei Ming An Hui off his horse with a single arrow.

The Iron Falcon Captain was crushed beneath his horse. He had been struggling to straighten his back to see if his arrow would hit its mark, but he saw the other man casually catch the arrow he had shot and return it. It seemed too high, though; even on horseback, he couldn't have hit it.

"Thump!"

Hearing the sound of a horse falling behind him, Captain Iron Falcon turned around with difficulty and was horrified to find only an empty-saddled horse on the hill.

His commander, whom he was ordered to protect, had died from his own arrow. What was even more unbearable was that a hundred men hadn't even reached their target before becoming incapacitated.

All the strength drained from Captain Iron Falcon's body instantly; he could no longer support his full armor and collapsed to the ground with a "thud."

Bound to his horse and wearing two layers of heavy armor, once he fell, he would be unable to stand without help. Crushed beneath his horse, Captain Iron Falcon could only watch sadly as Zhang Yang slowly walked up the hill and cut down the Western Xia commander's flag.

Only the cavalrymen in the first rank, killed by Zhang Yang's arrows, rode past him on their warhorses, a few feet away. However, if they knew in the afterlife, they probably wouldn't feel honored.

The treacherous path god, Yu Baosi, followed behind Zhang Yang, his journey uneventful, and he even got to watch a major battle for free. Seeing Zhang Yang climb the hill, he spurred his horse to follow, planting Zhang Yang's imperial banner on the hill.

The cavalry that had broken through the enemy lines gathered under the banner.

Under Zhang Yang's leadership, the Imperial Guard had mostly broken through the enemy lines; only some cavalry from various units were held back, locked in fierce combat.

The infantry on both flanks presented two different scenarios. The Heavenly Army on both flanks held their circular formations, their front lines piled high with the corpses of Western Xia soldiers, yet Western Xia soldiers continued to charge forward relentlessly. The Miao soldiers and various tribal troops on the right flank were thrown into disarray, engaging the Western Xia army in a chaotic melee.

The Miao soldiers from various tribes, who had previously followed Zhang Yang in his campaigns against Dali and Yue Li, suffered minimal casualties and received rewards for each battle. This time, they joined the war hoping to earn extra income. Unexpectedly, they encountered the ferocious Western Xia, suffering heavy losses in a single encounter, even though they were on the flanks and hadn't encountered many Dangxiang cavalry.

The heavy casualties fueled the Miao people's ferocity, compounded by Zhang Yang's pre-battle warning that those who retreated would be exterminated. Despite being at a disadvantage, they fought bravely against the Dangxiang soldiers.

Zhu Wu, observing the battle from the platform built of siege ladders, saw the imperial flag replace the Western Xia commander's flag and happily waved his signal flag.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Three thunderous cannon shots rang out, and several Western Xia troops on the right flank surged forward, hacking and slashing at the Dangxiang soldiers. This immediately threw the Western Xia right flank into chaos, relieving the pressure on the struggling Miao and tribal troops.

"Wu Song, take five hundred men to guard the imperial flag. The rest of you, charge with me!"

Zhang Yang ordered, then charged forward again, flanking the Western Xia from behind.

Many Western Xia soldiers had already turned back in shock from the sheer number of horses galloping, but the arrival of imperial troops from behind their ranks was simply too astonishing.

Zhang Yang casually picked up a stunned Western Xia soldier and shouted, "Weiming An Hui is dead! Surrender and you will not be killed!"

Thousands of cavalry behind him echoed, "Weiming An Hui is dead! Surrender and you will not be killed!"

The roar of thousands of men silenced the fighting, creating a momentary stillness on the battlefield.

The Western Xia soldiers turned back in fear, only to find that their own banner, which had been planted on the hill, had been replaced by the banner of the Celestial Empire. Their morale plummeted.

The Tangut soldiers on the left flank, seeing the impenetrable circular formation they had been charging at for half a day, were filled with fear of battle. The right flank was in even worse shape, caught off guard by the sudden rebellion of several tribal forces. Now, finding their commander's flag fallen, they had no will to fight.

The Miao soldiers and the newly surrendered tribal troops, however, were brimming with morale and fiercely charged at the Tangut soldiers. Several other tribes, seeing the situation turn against them, also defected, and the situation on the right flank was almost instantly reversed.

"We swear we will never be slaves of a conquered nation! We will fight the Han people to the death!"

A Western Xia general on the left flank, seeing his soldiers hesitate, shouted and charged into the Heavenly Army's circular formation, only to be riddled with arrows. Some fierce Tangut soldiers, also spurred on by his words, charged towards the Heavenly Army's main formation, howling. But even if they managed to escape the arrow rain, they found themselves helpless against the heavily armored infantry on the outer perimeter, quickly being shot and stabbed by the short spearmen and lancers behind them.

Zhang Yang's cavalry was unstoppable. Large numbers of Western Xia soldiers, unable to dodge, were sent flying backward by the charging horses, their ribs caved in, blood gushing forth. They were then trampled underfoot, their flesh and bones reduced to mud.

Led by the godlike Zhang Yang, the Heavenly Army charged forward, wielding sharp sabers and hacking at the Western Xia soldiers.

Countless Western Xia soldiers were beheaded before they could even resist, only buying their comrades a fraction of a second to react.

Soon, the Heavenly Army cavalry emerged from the Western Xia's left flank, scattering the Western Xia forces.

Seeing the Western Xia forces on both flanks in disarray, Zhu Wu waved his signal flag and ordered a full-scale attack. With a deafening

roar

, several gaps appeared in the Heavenly Army's circular formation on both flanks, and the infantry of the inner formation surged towards the Western Xia like a river. They moved like dragons, churning the Western Xia ranks.

The Western Xia troops on the left flank, already unable to withstand the onslaught, began to rout shortly after the onslaught of the Heavenly Army, quickly turning into a complete defeat.

Zhang Yang had already assembled his cavalry and, seeing this, led his troops to intercept the fleeing soldiers.

Chapter 109: A Series of Bad News As

the first rays of dawn appeared, Wei Ming Anhui and his ministers awaited the good news in the main hall.

Wei Ming Anhui had no interest in handling state affairs, but after sitting idly in the hall for a while, he found the waiting unbearable. Seeing that the ministers below were also filled with anxiety, with only a few old ministers appearing drowsy, he coughed a few times.

Seeing that the emperor seemed about to speak, the ministers below quickly bowed, appearing to listen attentively.

They were all old foxes; they still had the leisure to close their eyes and rest.

Seeing that several seemingly drowsy old ministers had suddenly opened their eyes, Wei Ming'an Hui cursed inwardly, but dared not show it. He could only say, "It's not good for everyone to wait here. Since all the ministers are here, please report what's on your mind, and we can discuss it."

These days, the entire Western Xia kingdom had been busy preparing for the great war, and state affairs had long been neglected. Furthermore, the Tangut people were a nomadic people, and although they had established a kingdom, they lacked a solid foundation. In the past, state affairs consisted mainly of one tribe encroaching on another's pastures, or another raiding a city. But these days, everyone was busy preparing for the great war, and the country was on the verge of collapse. All the major tribes were seeking new ways out, and no one had the heart to cause such conflicts. Only some small tribes took advantage of Western Xia's weak defenses to raid various places, but they had no time to deal with them.

A moment of silence fell over the hall, then the garrison commander of the capital made a startling statement: "Your Majesty, several murders have occurred outside the city today. The victims were all wealthy families from other cities of our tribe, their money and livestock all looted

. A herdsman discovered that soldiers from the Hor tribe had passed through." A military officer stepped forward indignantly, saying, "Your Majesty, the Hor tribe dares to kill and rob outside the capital! They truly disregard Your Majesty! I request that troops be dispatched to annihilate them!"

A month ago, Weiming Ankang ordered all tribes to retreat to Lingzhou, and simultaneously ordered the Dangxiang people to gather in nearby cities. Since then, there had been many robberies and killings in various cities, but to avoid forcing the tribes to surrender to the Celestial Dynasty, Western Xia could only increase patrols near the cities to deter the tribes.

Unexpectedly, the Hor tribe had now gone too far, robbing outside the capital. The younger generation in the hall immediately echoed this sentiment, clamoring for a campaign against the Hor tribe.

An older, more experienced minister, fearing that the new emperor would be misled by them,... He hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Now is the time for a major battle. Various tribes have troops stationed in Lingzhou. We must not cause any further trouble, lest they defect on the battlefield."

Although Weiming Ankang was not as wise and brave as his brother, he could still distinguish between what was important and what was urgent. He waved his hand to stop the commotion and said resentfully, "Let them run rampant for a few more days. We'll settle accounts after the major battle. Is there anything else?"

"Your Majesty, the Heishan Weifu Military Command reports that tens of thousands of Kereit troops have entered the territory to plunder. The remaining ten thousand troops of the Heishan Weifu Military Command are unable to drive them away and can only hold out in Heicheng. The people and livestock outside the city who haven't yet entered have already been abducted." "

The Heishui Town Yan Military Command also reports that tens of thousands of Naiman troops have also entered the territory to plunder, and the garrison is unable to drive them away."

During the reign of Li Qianshun of the previous dynasty, the Zubu tribes grew increasingly powerful, frequently entering the territory to plunder. However, Western Xia had tens of thousands of border troops on guard. They only engaged in small-scale incursions and dared not provoke a major war. Unexpectedly, as soon as the border troops were transferred, they crossed the border again.

The Celestial Empire has now launched a major invasion. Western Xia is also unable to send reinforcements north, so it has no choice but to postpone the operation once again.

Weiming Ankang had originally intended to find something to do to pass the time, but unexpectedly, everything went wrong. His playboy nature flared up, and he said with a dark face, "Isn't there any good news?"

Before ascending the throne, Weiming Ankang was a playboy prince who spent his days indulging in eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring. Although he had no major misdeeds, he was also unproductive. Therefore, when Li Qianshun bestowed titles upon members of the imperial clan, he did not give him any important positions. Who knew that later, a power struggle between Weiming Chage and Weiming Renzhong would benefit Weiming Ankang? Fortunately, he had a wise and experienced elder brother, Weiming Anhui, who kept an eye on him and prevented him from acting recklessly.

Unfortunately, Weiming Ankang, who could suppress the emperor, had gone to the front lines to command the battle today. Seeing the emperor's anger, everyone immediately became cautious and protected themselves.

Since ancient times, there have been countless instances of kicking someone when they are down, but few instances of offering help in times of need. Now that the country is on the verge of collapse, what good things could there be? If there was anything good to be found, it was that many livestock had been lost, meaning there wouldn't be a shortage of fodder for the livestock this winter. However, everyone grumbled amongst themselves, unsure if the nation could even hold out until winter, but no one dared to speak out.

The hall fell into a grim silence again, until nearly noon when a voice came from outside.

"Report! Our nation has begun war with the Celestial Dynasty!"

Although Lingzhou and Xingqing Prefecture weren't far apart, they were still about eighty li apart, a journey that would take even a fast horse nearly two hours. Although Weiming Anhui had sent messengers to report the battle as soon as it began, it wasn't until noon that Weiming Ankang and his men received the news.

Even though it was only news of war, it relieved those who had been waiting for half a day. The battle that would determine the fate of the nation had finally begun; today they would know how the nation's destiny would unfold.

Seeing that it was nearly noon, Wei Ming An Kang said, "A great battle can easily last for several hours, and it's uncertain when the outcome will be decided. Moreover, transmitting messages takes time, and the results won't be back for a while. Everyone should go home for lunch and come back to the palace in the afternoon to await news."

An old minister, however, said, "This battle concerns the rise and fall of the nation. I cannot eat in peace even if I go home. I wish to wait here for the battle report."

The others echoed his sentiment.

Although everyone knew that there would be no results by noon, they were still unwilling to go home, fearing they would miss the first-hand information. It had been decided before the battle that news would be transmitted every hour, allowing them to know the battle situation in advance and make preparations.

The demotion order from the Celestial Empire had cut off their option of surrender, leaving them with few choices. If they won in Lingzhou, their entire army would rise up to seize the opportunity to recover lost territory; if they lost, they might have to begin a life of exile. After so many years of peace, they could no longer endure the nomadic life of sleeping in the open, not to mention the countless sworn enemies who would take advantage of their misfortune, potentially leading to the extermination of their clan and their own deaths.

Although everyone said they had no appetite, Weiming Anhui couldn't let them wait there hungry, so he held a banquet in the palace for his officials.

Normally, palace banquets would be filled with music and revelry, but today it was unusually somber, and the food and drink were extremely simple.

After a short lunch, the Western Xia emperor and his officials returned to the main hall to await news.

"Report! King Zhengxian of Liang has died in battle!"

Not long after, a bolt from the blue rang out outside the hall.

Weiming Ankang felt as if his spine had been ripped out; his body went limp, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

"What's the situation with the army?"

An impatient general, hearing only that the battle report said the commander-in-chief was dead, immediately shouted.

His hoarse voice brought a glimmer of hope to the already ashen-faced crowd inside the hall, and they all turned to look outside.

Weiming Ankang, disregarding the outcome of the battle, only wanted to ascertain whether his brother was truly dead. He forced himself to straighten and shouted, "Summon the soldiers to the palace!"

Under

the intense gazes of the crowd, a soldier, drenched in sweat, rushed into the palace and prostrated himself in greeting.

Weiming Ankang asked, "Did you personally witness the death of King Zhengxian of Liang?"

The soldier, without even catching his breath, replied, "Yes, I personally witnessed King Zhengxian of Liang being shot from his horse."

Weiming Ankang, still persistent, asked, "Shot from his horse and dead?"

The soldier was taken aback. After Zhang Yang shot and killed Weiming Anhui, he rushed up the small hill; who dared to go up and see what had happened? Besides, the Heavenly Army had gathered there afterward; even if he wasn't dead, he couldn't escape their clutches.

However, he dared not admit that he hadn't dared to go up and investigate, so he could only say, "Yes, King Zhengxian of Liang died for his country."

Upon hearing that his greatest support had died, Weiming Ankang was stunned, his mind blank.

Without his brother's help, how could he possibly maintain his position above ten thousand men, let alone revitalize the country? He was likely destined to be a ruler who would bring about the downfall of his kingdom.

The ministers had been waiting for the emperor to ask some crucial questions, but he only inquired a few times about Weiming Anhui before becoming stunned.

An old minister, after a few breaths, seeing that the emperor had no reaction, disregarded his presumption and asked, "King Zhengxian of Liang was shot to death, so what was the state of the army?"

"When I left, the central army had already been breached, the left flank was still undecided, but the right flank had gained the upper hand."

Hearing this, the ministers breathed a sigh of relief, at least still holding some hope.

"Report! The army has suffered a complete rout! General Xiao Heda requests to enter the palace!"

Soon after, another bombshell stunned everyone in the palace. This time, it was Wei Ming Ankang who reacted first, shouting, "Summon Xiao Heda to the palace!"

Xiao Heda, seeing the situation was dire, led his troops to retreat from the battlefield, probably the first general to order a retreat. After

withdrawing from the battlefield, he discovered that nearly 10,000 of the more than 20,000 soldiers who had participated were still alive. He ordered his commanders to gather the routed troops, and he himself led a hundred personal guards straight to the capital.

Wei Ming Ankang, however, lacked military experience. Upon Xiao Heda entering the palace, he asked, "How many men can the army still retain?"

Xiao Heda's unit belonged to the right wing. Having seen the Heavenly Dynasty cavalry break through the enemy lines and then charge the left wing, he knew that the left wing was likely decimated. He replied, "I'm afraid the army has suffered more than half its casualties." Xiao Heda had already prepared his explanation; the Heavenly Army, of course, had to be portrayed as unstoppable.

A victory

so quickly would be seen as incompetence. Seeing the situation was unfavorable, they fled, though it was said to be a long and arduous battle, only to retreat when the tide had turned.

This artistically embellished account of the battle immediately demoralized everyone in the hall.

Upon hearing of the Heavenly Army's ferocity, and knowing that his late emperor and elder brother had both been killed in battle by the Heavenly Emperor, Wei Ming An Kang, realizing the Heavenly Army was less than a hundred li from the capital, couldn't help but weep, saying, "The Heavenly Army is so fierce; won't the decisive battle at Lingzhou become our nation's last stand?"

An old minister stepped forward, saying, "Your Majesty, why do you say that? Although our army was defeated at Lingzhou, it is by no means our Western Xia's last stand. Xingqing Prefecture has high walls and deep rivers; as long as we gather the defeated troops, the city's provisions are sufficient to sustain us for several years. Once the Heavenly Army is exhausted, our army can then fight them again and surely turn the tide."

A military general was clearly already prepared to flee. Prepared, unwilling to risk another desperate battle, stepped forward and retorted, "Even 200,000 troops couldn't withstand the Celestial Empire's army before. Now, there are only 20,000 men in the capital, and who knows how many defeated soldiers can be gathered? How can they possibly resist the Celestial Empire's army? Besides, the Celestial Empire has gunpowder to aid them; breaching the city is a piece of cake. Xingqing Prefecture is not even worth defending."

An old general, though unassuming in appearance, uttered a startling statement: "Although the Celestial Empire's cannons are powerful, they can only blow open the city gates. As long as the city gates are blocked, the Celestial Empire's troops may not be able to enter the city."

If Zhang Yang heard this man's words, he would surely praise his foresight. Although the Celestial Empire had been invincible since its founding, the cities breached by cannons were mostly small towns with weak gates. Many strategically important cities were captured by Zhang Yang from within. A few were breached only after the Celestial Empire used a large amount of gunpowder. If they truly fought to the death by blocking the gates, the Celestial Empire's current gunpowder really couldn't blast open the city walls several meters thick. If they then had to defend with 100,000 troops, Zhang Yang might not be willing to launch a full-scale attack on Xingqing Prefecture.

One member of the royal family said, "Most of our Dangxiang people are concentrated in the capital. If we defend Xingqing Prefecture to the death, and the city falls, our Dangxiang tribe will be wiped out. Who can bear that responsibility?"

The moment the threat of annihilation was uttered, the hall fell silent. No one dared to claim they could defend Xingqing Prefecture. The responsibility for the entire tribe was not theirs to decide.

When Weiming Ankang first ascended the throne, there were four powerful factions in the court. Before the new emperor's ascension, Weiming Cage and Weiming Renzhong each commanded 100,000 troops, wielding considerable power. Then came the Weiming Ankang brothers. Although they initially had only 20,000 troops under their direct command, they subsequently gained control of the two northern military commands, amassing over 100,000 troops at their disposal. With the throne, they quickly became the most powerful force. Next was the Empress Dowager. Although she did not hold power, she controlled Xiao Heda's 50,000 troops and had foreign aid from Liao, allowing her to influence the court's power dynamics.

But now, Weiming Chage is dead, Weiming Renzhong participated in the Battle of Lingzhou and his fate is unknown, and Xiao Heda's troops have been decimated. Although Weiming Anhui is dead, his 20,000 loyal followers are still alive and control the defense of the capital.

Only now do people realize Weiming Anhui's "cunning." It seems that Weiming Anhui is also in grave danger.

No matter how unwilling the officials are, they have to admit that the country now has to listen to the "spoiled brat" sitting high above.

Naturally, matters concerning the fate of the entire clan must be handled by Weiming Ankang.

Seeing everyone looking at him with disbelief, Weiming Ankang remembered what his brother had told him before the battle. If they were defeated, he would take the opportunity to eliminate the major forces that were hindering him in the country, and he could then truly control the entire clan. If he was ambitious, he could hold out and wait for an opportunity, or he could lead his people out of the pass and, with his elite Dangxiang troops, dominate the borderlands.

Although he was always a playboy, he was unwilling to be a ruler of a fallen kingdom. However, he was also ignorant of military affairs and dared not make a rash choice. After calming himself down, he said to Xiao Heda, "General Xiao, you have fought several battles with the Celestial Dynasty and have just returned from Lingzhou. In your opinion, how should we respond?"

Xiao Heda, however, had ulterior motives. He replied, "Although the Celestial Dynasty won the battle of Lingzhou, it suffered considerable losses. If we hold our ground, an opportunity might arise. However, the Celestial Dynasty has a million soldiers. If the Celestial Emperor is determined to attack our country, he might mobilize another large army to attack Xingqing Prefecture regardless of casualties. At that time, we might not be able to hold it. Moreover, we don't even know how many troops we can gather." "With so few defeated soldiers, making a decision now might be too early. Perhaps we should discuss it again in a day or two. The Heavenly Dynasty army will likely reorganize in Lingzhou, so making preparations in a couple of days won't be too late."

The member of the imperial clan who had previously advocated retreat added, "General Xiao is quite right. However, relocating the entire clan requires a lot of preparation. In my opinion, it would be better to have the clan members prepare for the relocation first, to avoid being caught off guard."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Heda shook his head, saying, "If this order is issued, the morale within the city will inevitably be unsettled, making it difficult to hold out."

Wei Ming Ankang nodded firmly, saying, "General Xiao is right. Everyone, go home first, and we'll discuss it again the day after tomorrow."

Hearing this, the ministers had no choice but to return home.

Xiao Heda headed straight for the Empress Dowager's palace. Upon reaching the entrance, he was about to enter when a palace maid stopped him

. "General Xiao, please wait a moment. Allow me to inform her."

Xiao Heda, full of vigor, glanced at the maid and laughed, "So you're just afraid of gossip? Western Xia is almost destroyed; who cares about this?"

The maid, indeed a Dangxiang, turned pale with fright upon hearing Xiao Heda's treasonous words. However, remembering the Empress Dowager's instructions, she said, "The Empress Dowager has decreed that no one is allowed to trespass into the palace. General Xiao, please wait a moment."

Xiao Heda dismissively brushed the maid aside and walked inside.

The palace maid, fearing the Empress Dowager's punishment but not daring to stop Xiao Heda, remembered the rumors circulating in the palace about the Empress Dowager and Xiao Heda's relationship. A clever idea struck her, and she said, "General, please wait a moment. Otherwise, if the

Empress Dowager is angry, this servant will suffer the consequences." Xiao Heda, deeply in love with Yelü Nanxian, paused upon hearing this, then waved his hand, saying, "Go and inform her."

Yelü Nanxian had just finished lunch and was tending the garden with the palace maids. The weather was warming, and many weeds had already grown in the garden.

Although the early spring sun was only mild, years of pampered life had left her without her previous strength. After squatting for only a short while, fine beads of sweat appeared on her fair forehead.

As Yelü Nanxian was weeding, she heard footsteps behind her. Just as she was wondering which maid had come to curry favor, she heard unexpected news.

"Empress Dowager, General Xiao Heda requests an audience."

Xiao Heda? Wasn't he leading troops in the decisive battle against the Celestial Dynasty in Lingzhou? Why did you return so quickly? Could it be…?

In an instant, countless questions arose in Yelü Nanxian's mind. She gracefully rose, took out a handkerchief, wiped her face, and said, “Bring General Xiao in.”

Xiao Heda, now full of vigor, strode in and said softly, “Nanxian.”

Yelü Nanxian frowned and said, “Call me Empress Dowager in the palace.”

Xiao Heda was oblivious and hadn’t realized Yelü Nanxian’s true identity. He stubbornly believed that Yelü Nanxian had only been forced to marry Li Qianshun because of royal orders.

Hearing this, he said nonchalantly, “After the battle of Lingzhou, the army suffered another defeat, and Western Xia is on the verge of collapse. The Dangxiang people will soon become slaves of a conquered nation. Who can control us then?” I didn’t

expect Western Xia to be defeated so quickly. Is Heaven going to destroy my Liao Kingdom?

Yelü Nanxian was also shocked by Xiao Heda’s news. She felt her head go blank and her body swayed involuntarily.

Seeing this, Xiao Heda quickly stepped forward and embraced Yelü Nanxian, asking, "Nanxian, what's wrong?"

Yelü Nanxian, though overwhelmed with grief, had already regained her senses. Seeing Xiao Heda's rude gesture, she hurriedly pushed him away, saying, "I'm fine, let me go. There are many people watching."

Seeing that Yelü Nanxian's complexion was normal, Xiao Heda released her, saying gently, "Nanxian, are you worried about your safety on the journey? Don't worry, I still have nearly ten thousand soldiers under my command. I've also had them gather the remaining troops, so we probably have tens of thousands now. That's enough to protect us on our way back to Liao. The Western Xia emperor certainly wouldn't dare to force us to stay."

Yelü Nanxian hadn't expected the oblivious Xiao Heda to have taken the initiative to gather the remaining troops, and she looked at him with delight. If what he said was true, then she could control the situation in Western Xia.

Seeing Yelü Nanxian's approving look, Xiao Heda felt a little lighter and laughed, "Nanxian, my troops will arrive at the city walls by tomorrow at the latest. Make preparations, and we'll return to Liao tomorrow."

Yelü Nanxian thought for a moment and asked, "What was the reaction of the Western Xia court officials today?"

Although Xiao Heda was surprised that Yelü Nanxian asked about the Tangut people's reaction, he truthfully recounted what had happened in court since his arrival.

Upon hearing that some Tangut people were still holding out, Yelü Nanxian's eyes lit up. She said to the palace servants beside her, "Go and prepare some hot water. I've worked up a sweat pulling weeds, and it's quite uncomfortable. I'll take a bath later."

After the servants left, she looked at Xiao Heda hopefully and said, "Heda, you know our country's situation. If we return now, we can't change anything. But if we take some troops with us, the Tangut people will have to flee, and the Celestial Empire can easily gain control of Western Xia. Then our country will be under even greater pressure. For the sake of the country, we must help Western Xia." "Hold on, Xingqing Prefecture can hold out for several years. Perhaps by then our motherland will have recovered its strength, and we can return together then, which would be convenient for both public and private reasons."

Seeing Yelü Nanxian's submissive demeanor, Xiao Heda's bones melted. He laughed, "Nanxian, whatever you say goes. But holding out could lead to the city's fall and the extermination of our tribe. Do you think the Dangxiang tribe will listen to us?"

Yelü Nanxian smiled, "If your subordinates are capable, you should be able to gather most of the remaining troops first. Then, we will be the most powerful force in the city. How could they not listen to us?" Chapter

111: The Decisive Battle is Imminent,

the Emperor Arrives.

As Xiao Heda was speaking with Yelü Nanxian, an unexpected message suddenly came from the doorway.

Xiao Heda was startled.

Could it be that his and the Empress Dowager's plan had been leaked? If Weiming Ankang were to launch an attack now, they would have no choice but to surrender. Although Xiao Heda wasn't exceptionally wise, he wasn't foolishly reckless either; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to control two military commands and one prefecture.

Now, deep inside the Western Xia palace, with his troops still outside the city, and discussing the extermination of the entire clan, the thought of the impending doom sent chills down his spine.

Yelü Nanxian's face also paled. She had discovered Weiming Ankang's designs on her in the imperial study last time, and this time he likely harbored no good intentions either. Xiao Heda's troops hadn't even entered the city yet, so she was powerless to confront him.

Seeing Yelü Nanxian's "fearful" appearance, Xiao Heda's blood boiled, and he forgot his previous fear, firmly saying, "Nanxian, don't be afraid. I'll handle everything. You are the Empress Dowager, and even Weiming Ankang can't do anything to you."

Yelü Nanxian, seeing Xiao Heda's reckless attitude, knew he had misunderstood. Most of the people in the palace were former Liao officials she had brought, and the Dangxiang people usually did menial work. Although she had kept the others away, she would have trusted confidants watching, and anyone approaching would be alerted, making leaks unlikely. However,

Yelü Nanxian was also somewhat touched by Xiao Heda's thoughtfulness, smiling, "Weiming Ankang's visit is likely just a casual greeting; General, please don't give yourself away."

Seeing the shrewd Empress Dowager's words, Xiao Heda relaxed, bowing his head and standing aside to await Weiming Ankang.

Weiming Ankang, however, believed he could now truly wield power. After a moment of sorrow for the nation's fate in court, the playboy's nature resurfaced shortly after the court session ended. Remembering the beautiful Empress Dowager, he headed straight for her palace.

Wei Ming Ankang had intended to look after the Empress Dowager on behalf of the late emperor, lest fertile fields lie fallow—a grave offense indeed. However, Xiao Heda had arrived first, and with him present, it was inappropriate to act against propriety. Suppressing his lust, he politely greeted the Empress Dowager and asked, "General Xiao, what brings you here?"

The implication was clear: if there was something to attend to, do it quickly; otherwise, leave immediately.

Yelü Nanxian noticed Weiming Ankang glancing at her frequently and immediately sensed his ill intentions. Fearing Xiao Heda might let something slip, she quickly said, "General Xiao received a letter from one of my cousins a few days ago. Knowing I was concerned for my clan, he came to tell me some clan matters. We had only exchanged a few words when His Majesty arrived. Hearing of the disastrous defeat at Lingzhou, and with the nation facing such a crisis, there must be many matters in the court awaiting His Majesty's attention. Therefore, I will not keep His Majesty any longer."

Weiming Ankang was taken aback that Yelü Nanxian had actually given him the order to leave. He wanted to force her, but seeing Xiao Heda present, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He could only say dejectedly, "I was just passing by and stopped by to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving now."

Yelü Nanxian watched Weiming Ankang leave the palace before finally letting out a sigh of relief. She said to Xiao Heda, "This Emperor has ill intentions towards me. You should go out of the city and gather troops as soon as possible. With a large army as our backing, no one will be able to offend us."

Xiao Heda was also startled when he thought of Weiming Ankang's lecherous gaze earlier. He had waited for more than ten years without any results, and he couldn't let him take advantage of him first. He hurriedly said, "Nanxian, be careful. I'll go and gather troops to enter the city right away."

Yelü Nanxian shook her head and said, "No rush, Weiming Ankang..." "Kang probably won't come today. Don't gather too many troops, but make sure they are properly reorganized before entering the city. With your army outside, he won't dare do anything to me. Once you've reorganized them, enter the city and build an independent camp. He still won't be able to do anything to you then. I imagine many people have lost their will to fight. You can use the excuse that you can escape to Liao after the failure to persuade them to follow you. Then, force Weiming Ankang to hold out. Once the die is cast, they won't be able to turn back. The key to this matter is deceiving your superiors and subordinates. If you do it well, you'll succeed."

Xiao Heda had originally worried that Weiming Ankang's orders would cause his subordinates to rebel. Hearing Yelü Nanxian's words, he felt as if the clouds had parted and the sun was shining. The soldiers in the army were poorly informed. If he simply replaced the officers, by the time they found out, it would already be a fait accompli. Once the coup was successful, they wouldn't be able to turn back. In truth, he was helping them resist the Celestial Dynasty. He asked the ancestors of the Tangut people to bless him with success.

Seeing that Xiao Heda understood, Yelü Nanxian's face suddenly flushed with embarrassment. She said, "I won't keep you any longer. Let's meet again after it's done."

Seeing Yelü Nanxian's shy expression, Xiao Heda was captivated, his eyes burning as he gazed at his dream lover.

Yelü Nanxian, seeing Xiao Heda's behavior, felt a surge of embarrassment and annoyance, but she couldn't refuse, so she

could only feign shyness.

After a while, Xiao Heda finally came to his senses and looked at Yelü Nanxian affectionately, saying, "Nanxian, I'm leaving. I'll be back soon, and then no one will be able to separate us."

Xiao Heda had a naturally hoarse voice, yet he insisted on acting affectionate, which made Yelü Nanxian feel nauseous. Suppressing the churning in her stomach, she smiled and said, "Okay, I'll wait for you."

Seeing Yelü Nanxian acting like a wife seeing her husband off, Xiao Heda was filled with fighting spirit and went out to work hard. After defeating the Western Xia army, the

Heavenly

Army easily captured Lingzhou. Unfortunately, the city had been completely evacuated, leaving only an empty city.

The Heavenly Army suffered heavy casualties in the battle of Lingzhou, but the regular army's circular formation remained intact, resulting in relatively low losses. The Miao soldiers and tribal troops, however, were thrown into disarray by the Western Xia cavalry, suffering over half their casualties.

To appease the Miao soldiers and tribes, Zhang Yang rewarded them with a great deal of gold and silver.

The Miao soldiers and tribes were largely still under a slave system, with a few nobles holding the reins. As long as they received substantial rewards, they didn't care how many of their men died, especially since they were now bound to Zhang Yang's war chariots—easy to get on, difficult to get off. The hundreds of thousands of elite Dangxiang soldiers were annihilated, and their total population was only a few tens of thousands.

However, Zhang Yang would still need them for future battles, so he rewarded them handsomely as well.

The foundation of a nation lies in its population. Without a large and prosperous population, even a tribe with abundant gold and silver cannot truly prosper, and they may not even be able to protect it. Therefore, Zhang Yang bestowed upon them much gold and silver to gradually weaken their power, and then assimilated them with the sheer size of the Han population.

Many of the Heavenly Dynasty's soldiers had served in Western Xia, and naturally, many had infiltrated the defeated troops. The news of Xiao Heda gathering the remnants of the army along the way was relayed back to Lingzhou the following evening.

Upon receiving this news, Zhang Yang, after some amusement, summoned his men to discuss it.

Upon hearing this, Huyan Zhuo said, "Xiao Heda is from the Liao Kingdom. His interception of our troops halfway through the journey suggests he intends to take them back to his own country. If half of the routed soldiers are taken away by Xiao Heda, the Dangxiang people will likely abandon the city and flee. I believe our army should advance swiftly and annihilate the Dangxiang people in one fell swoop to prevent their escape."

Guan Sheng's territory bordered Xiao Heda's, and he knew quite a bit about this seemingly rough but actually shrewd Xiao Heda. He had also heard much about Xiao Heda's relationship with the Empress Dowager. Upon hearing this, Guan Sheng said, "I've heard that Xiao Heda is infatuated with the current Empress Dowager, which is why he stayed in Western Xia. If he demands the Empress Dowager, the Dangxiang people will certainly refuse, and they might even have another battle. Moreover, Western Xia still has over 100,000 troops. If they hold their positions, it will only increase our casualties. It would be much easier to divide their forces and capture Xingqing Prefecture. Even if Xiao Heda returns with his troops, given the current situation in Liao, he certainly wouldn't dare offend our country. Your Majesty only needs to issue an imperial edict to bring back the deserters from Western Xia."

Seeing that Guan Sheng shared his views, Zhang Yang didn't waste any more time and nodded, saying, "Guan Sheng's words are exactly what I'm thinking. Liao is now in its twilight years and might not dare to harbor the Dangxiang people. If they dare to harbor the Dangxiang people, it will give me a reason to start a war. The Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun have been occupied by them for a hundred years; it's time to take them back."

Most of the people in the hall were military officers, and their achievements were all earned on the battlefield. Hearing that the emperor intended to attack Liao, they were all eager to fight. The Western Xia was on the verge of destruction, but the casualties among its commanders were not too great, enough to sustain another major battle.

After seven or eight days of reorganization, Xiao Heda finally succumbed to the torment of his emotions and led his troops into the city. Fortunately, many members of the Dangxiang tribe also supported the defense, which facilitated the decision to hold the city.

Zhang Yang learned that Xiao Heda's army had entered the city and that Xingqing Prefecture had blocked its gates in preparation for a desperate defense, so he also led his troops forward.

The surrounding garrison cities of Xingqing Prefecture had already been abandoned by the Western Xia. The Heavenly Army did not directly attack Xingqing Prefecture, but instead first divided its forces to occupy Shunzhou, Jingzhou, Huaizhou, and Dingzhou. Xingqing Prefecture thus became an isolated city, and even if it wanted to abandon the city and flee, it would be intercepted by the other cities. With

all four cities fallen, the Heavenly Army slowly advanced to the walls of Xingqing Prefecture, and dug trenches outside the four gates to block them, both to prevent a surprise attack by the Western Xia and to completely cut off their escape route.

Chapter 112: The City Must Fall, People Must Die.

Xingqing Prefecture, with the Yellow River in front and the Helan Mountains behind, was a strategically important location for attack in the era of cold weapons. The terrain here is quite similar to that of Chang'an, the ancient capital of thirteen dynasties, which is why the Tangut people established their capital and kingdom here after becoming powerful.

However, Xingqing Prefecture has a short history, only about a century to date.

When the Tangut people first rose to power, they still couldn't shake off their nomadic mentality. They would conquer a city and then move to a larger one, making their ruling center like their pasture, constantly shifting.

The ruling center of Li Jiqian, the founder of Western Xia, was Lingzhou, which he had seized from the Song Dynasty. After his son Li Deming succeeded him, he believed that Lingzhou was located in a strategically important location, which was not conducive to defense. In 1020, he sent Minister He Chengzhen to lead laborers to cross the Yellow River to the north to build a city, constructing palaces, temples, and ancestral fields, and established the capital here, naming it Xingzhou. After Li Deming's son Li Yuanhao (later Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia) succeeded him, he further expanded the palace city and constructed palaces, elevating Xingzhou to Xingqing Prefecture. He also formally established civil and military officials here, thus establishing the ruling institution of Western Xia. He built a platform south of the city and received the imperial coronation here on the eleventh day of the tenth month of the first year of the Tian Shou Li Fa Yan Zuo reign (1038), thus formally establishing the Western Xia dynasty.

Subsequent Western Xia emperors all used Xingqing Prefecture as their capital. During the reign of Emperor Chongzong Li Qianshun of the previous dynasty, a large-scale expansion was undertaken, spearheaded by Liang Guo Zhengxian Wang Weiming Anhui, who successively built Jietan Temple, Gaotai Temple, and Chengtian Temple.

Xingqing Prefecture, after several expansions, had a rectangular city shape, with walls about three zhang high, not particularly high compared to the strategically important cities of the Central Plains. This was likely related to the aggressive nature of nomadic peoples; the Western Xia dynasty was largely on the offensive. The Song army mostly defended fortified cities and strongholds, occasionally launching attacks, but unable to withstand the harassment of Western Xia cavalry, they were unable to penetrate deeply. The three-zhang high walls were sufficient to withstand brief attacks from the Song army.

The city wall was first constructed with earthen bricks for the inner and outer walls and top. The space between the inner and outer walls was then reinforced with layers of broken bricks, stones, and loess. While it couldn't compare to the stone-built walls of the Central Plains, it was still quite sturdy for this "barbaric land."

Xingqing Prefecture originally had two gates each to the north and south, and one each to the east and west. However, to prevent the Celestial Empire's cannons from breaching these gates, they were now all blocked with stones and earth. Therefore, the Celestial army had no need to worry about a Western Xia attack. They leisurely dug several trenches over ten feet wide outside the range of the Western Xia archers, completely eliminating any possibility of a surprise attack or escape by the Tangut people.

Inside the city, near the walls, the Western Xia demolished all the houses close to the walls, leaving the area inside the walls empty. The Western Xia soldiers could gather and prepare for battle beneath the walls, and any troops that managed to break into the city would be attacked by the sheer number of Tangut soldiers.

From the air, Xingqing Prefecture resembled an isolated island, vulnerable to being submerged by the surrounding Celestial Empire's army at any moment. Only the city wall offered a feeble defense.

The moat, drawn directly from the Yellow River, was over ten zhang wide, making Xingqing Prefecture appear even more like an isolated island.

The army set up camp, and Zhang Yang and his generals inspected the city.

The not-so-high and sturdy walls posed little burden, especially given their proven track record of conquering every city since the founding of the nation, which boosted their confidence.

However, what puzzled them was the cotton netting hanging from the battlements, adorned with bells. Occasionally, a spring breeze would blow, and a clear, ringing sound would echo from the walls.

Hua Rong, listening to the faint sound of the bells, turned to Guan Sheng, who was familiar with the customs of the Dangxiang people, and asked, "General Guan, what is the meaning behind the Dangxiang people hanging cotton netting and bells on the battlements?" Guan Sheng

hailed from Pu County in Hedong, which bordered Western Xia. Coming from a family of military generals, Guan Sheng valued achieving fame and fortune on horseback, and naturally, he was quite concerned about this hostile neighbor. Guan Sheng thought for a long time but still couldn't figure out why the Tangut people had a custom of hanging cotton nets and bells on the city walls.

Zhang Yang frowned as he looked at the cotton nets and bells on the city wall. This setup seemed to be specifically designed to target him. With just a slight tug on the net, the bells would ring, and the quiet night wouldn't escape the ears of the soldiers patrolling the city walls. Moreover, the city walls were covered with cotton nets, and he definitely couldn't avoid them. It seemed the Tanguts had discovered his ability to climb the city walls. However, Zhang Yang was puzzled as to how his ability to climb the walls had been exposed.

"This isn't a Tangut custom; it's most likely set up to prevent people from climbing the walls at night."

Hearing the Emperor's words, and looking at the smooth, mirror-like city walls, the crowd couldn't imagine anyone could climb them. Therefore, no one had previously thought the Tanguts used it to prevent climbing, only suspecting it was related to their custom.

Upon hearing this, Zhong Shizhong suddenly realized and said, "In the Battle of Weizhou, did Your Majesty scale the city walls?"

Zhang Yang nodded and said, "Yes, I was originally planning to enter the city again tonight, but I didn't expect Western Xia to be

prepared. It seems we'll have to rely on you this time."

The generals understood then; only the Emperor could scale such smooth, mirror-like city walls. Although they were used to treating the Emperor as a god, they didn't usually consider him in matters of the heart. Because the Emperor's skills were so astonishing, their subconscious pride led them to overlook him.

To revive the martial spirit of the Han people, Zhang Yang deliberately elevated the status of soldiers. Giving the Emperor only a military salute, without kneeling, was one measure; many other measures in daily life increased the people's willingness to join the army. Even for officials, military merit was an important indicator for promotion. Therefore, when the war with Western Xia began, both civil and military officials rushed to join the war. Unfortunately, Zhang Yang only granted Liu Zhen's request, rejecting all others. The participants were eager to fight, hoping to earn some merit.

However, things didn't go as planned. So far in the war against Western Xia, the only military achievements worthy of a higher rank were those of the Emperor, who had accomplished assassinations and single-handedly captured cities. Of course, the Emperor had no need for such merits, and no one dared to award him any.

The dozens of generals in the three armies had gained nothing. The generals on the western route had simply reaped the benefits, their merits not even worthy of being ranked. Liu Zhen even suffered a defeat due to carelessness and being ambushed. The central and eastern routes had only managed to capture a few cities thanks to their artillery, but their field battles with the Western Xia army yielded little result. It was only after Zhang Yang captured Shachuan that the Western Xia were forced to withdraw their forces, allowing them to capture Xia Prefecture. Fortunately, Zhang Yang was generous, awarding a third-class merit for each city captured.

However, the generals knew that this third-class merit was largely a reward, and while they felt ashamed, they also felt a sense of defeat.

These men were all highly skilled in martial arts, seasoned veterans of countless battles. Especially during the unification of the Central Plains, conquering cities and seizing territories was a piece of cake for them, which instilled a certain arrogance in them. They all believed themselves to be no less than the famous generals of various dynasties who had sealed their territories and expanded their domains. Unexpectedly, they suffered a defeat in their attack on the small Western Xia, leaving them all somewhat embarrassed. Guan Sheng,

whose ancestor was a martial saint, in particular, had always longed to achieve great things. Seeing the current emperor as a powerful and ambitious ruler, he was even more determined to surpass his ancestor. He had rigorously trained his troops, hoping to carve out a territory and leave his mark on history. However, after several battles, he had achieved nothing.

It was only thanks to the excellent training of Guan Sheng's troops that they were able to defeat the Dangxiang soldiers, known for their field battle prowess, in a field battle outside Xia Prefecture.

Seeing that they had already reached the capital of Western Xia and that the emperor had personally taken action, Guan Sheng, who had thought he had no hope of making any contributions, immediately straightened his back and said when he heard Zhang Yang decide to entrust this crucial battle to everyone: "Western Xia are just clowns, why should the emperor personally take action? Within ten days, your subjects will certainly take this city for the emperor."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang shook his head and said, "This city will likely be difficult to take. The Tanguts were able to retreat earlier, indicating they weren't prepared to fight to the death, which allowed our army to advance quickly. Now that they have nowhere left to retreat, they will undoubtedly defend this city to the death. There are over 100,000 troops inside, plus able-bodied men who can go up to defend the city walls, bringing the total to at least 200,000. The Tangut people are also known for their fierce nature; taking this city will not be easy."

Guan Sheng, upon hearing this, assumed that Zhang Yang had lost confidence in him due to the previous battle situation. What military generals fear most is losing the emperor's trust, which would prevent them from being given important responsibilities in the future. They would only be relegated to cleaning up messes and handling logistics, making it impossible for them to achieve great deeds.

Guan Sheng, who had just vowed to surpass his ancestor, naturally couldn't let the emperor lose faith in him. He quickly said, "The Dangxiang people rely on cavalry and field battles, while we Han people excel in weaponry. In attacking and defending cities, the Dangxiang are far inferior to us. Now, the Dangxiang are using their weaknesses against our strengths. It's not that I'm being arrogant, but if Your Majesty grants me 100,000 troops, and I fail to capture this city within ten days, I'm willing to cut off my head as atonement."

Zhang Yang, seeing that Guan Sheng was actually willing to make a pledge, knew that his words were true. Especially with the aid of artillery, it would take great courage for the Dangxiang people to stand on the city walls.

However, even if the Dangxiang abandoned the city walls and held out along the streets, even if Guan Sheng's 100,000 troops were to win, probably only one-tenth would survive. Most would likely suffer heavy losses and return empty-handed. It's important to know that if the Dangxiang were to lose this battle, they would become subjugated people, and few would likely surrender. The power that a nation unleashes in the face of national subjugation and extinction is terrifying. Zhang Yang, who came from a later era, knew that during the War of Resistance against Japan, our country's homemade guns and cannons had decisively defeated over a million well-equipped Japanese soldiers.

Zhang Yang didn't want to lose another 100,000 troops before reaching the capital of Western Xia. He shook his head and said, "I believe General Guan's words, but Xingqing Prefecture is not worth too many casualties for my army. I have already made a plan; let's see what tomorrow brings."

Chapter 113: The Battle of the City Walls .

Early in the morning, a series of mournful bugle calls rang out from the city walls of Xingqing Prefecture. A troop of soldiers rushed onto the walls to prepare for the attack of the Heavenly Army, but their steps were somewhat unsteady.

Western Xia soldiers reached the city walls, and the Heavenly Army also deployed its forces outside the north gate.

To minimize casualties in this campaign against Western Xia, Zhang Yang had mobilized a large number of artillery pieces. Ling Zhen had also arrived in Western Xia with a batch of gunpowder the day before. They had arrived just in time for this battle, originally intending to display their might, but they hadn't expected Western Xia to have already devised a countermeasure.

Looking at the sparsely packed Tangut soldiers on the city walls, Ling Zhen frowned and said, "With the Western Xia's

formation like this, even if the cannons hit the walls, they won't cause too many casualties. It's not worth it." Various armies have used cannons to attack cities before. If the Western Xia aren't prepared, Zhang Yang would really suspect they're some kind of animal that only knows how to eat and sleep. Zhang Yang even thought the Tanguts would abandon the walls and fight in the streets.

It seems the Tanguts are still reluctant to give up the walls. In traditional warfare, many people could indeed be buried beneath the walls, but this time they'll probably soon learn what it means to try to steal a chicken and lose the bait.

Zhang Yang thought darkly, then smiled and said, "Cannons will always have their use. No need to rush."

He then said to the messenger beside him, "Bring the lookout tower. I want to see the city's layout."

The messenger waved his flag, and a strangely shaped cart was slowly pushed out.

The watchtower cart, invented in the Song Dynasty, was constructed with a sturdy wooden pole, eight zhang (approximately 63 meters) high, topped with a five-chi (approximately 1.5 meters) wide plank. Inside, one person held a white flag to observe enemy movements, using simple flag signals to communicate enemy information to the soldiers below. Folding the flag up indicated no enemy, unfolding it meant the enemy was approaching; a horizontal flagpole indicated the enemy was near; a vertical flagpole indicated the enemy's arrival; the flagpole was slowly raised as the enemy retreated, and then folded up again once they had gone. The watchtower cart had wheels for propulsion; footrests on the pole allowed sentries to climb up and down; thick ropes secured the pole at an angle; and the watchtower itself had a rotating axle, allowing it to rotate in all directions for observation.

This particular watchtower cart had clearly been modified; the upper structure was much larger, easily accommodating four or five people. The structure was also modified to be adjustable, obviously designed specifically for the emperor. After all, it would be undignified for the emperor to climb in front of the army.

The watchtower cart came to a stop. All the generals looked eagerly at Zhang Yang, hoping to ascend the watchtower cart with the emperor to observe the battle.

Zhang Yang glanced at the crowd and smiled, "Zhu Wu can come upstairs with me to observe the battle. You all stay down here to cover the rear. It'll prevent any unforeseen events from leading to our annihilation by the Western Xia."

The generals were initially surprised that the Emperor only wanted Zhu Wu to accompany him, but upon hearing Zhang Yang's second statement, they were all taken aback. They exchanged bewildered glances, unsure how to respond. Ignoring

their reactions, Zhang Yang pulled Zhu Wu into the observation tower.

Seeing the Emperor nod, the soldiers behind him pulled together the thick ropes, steadily raising the tower.

Many later generations believed that Wu Yong, the strategist, was merely skilled in intrigue and scheming, while the brilliant strategist Zhu Wu was the true master of warfare. Wu Yong was an old man from Liangshan, and Zhang Yang knew him intimately. His strategies were indeed exceptional, but his military tactics were somewhat lacking. Zhang Yang had first met the brilliant strategist Zhu Wu in Yan'an Prefecture, but time was limited. He hadn't had a chance to speak deeply with him, nor had he dared to place too much importance on him. Zhu Wu also accompanied Huyan Zhuo in this battle, and Zhang Yang had several in-depth conversations with him, learning that Zhu Wu was well-versed in the Seven Military Classics prescribed by the Northern Song court. Even more commendable was Zhu Wu's insightful opinions, so Zhang Yang kept him by his side, awaiting a suitable opportunity to appoint him.

(The Seven Military Classics were a collection of military treatises officially published by the Northern Song court, and also the first military textbook in ancient China, consisting of *Sun Tzu's Art of War*, *Wu Zi's Art of War*, *Six Secret Teachings*, *Sima Fa*, *Three Strategies*, *Wei Liao Zi*, and *Li Weigong's Questions and Answers*.)

The watchtower was nearly five zhang higher than the city wall, offering a clear view of the city and its interior.

Zhu Wu carefully observed the Tangut city wall's layout through the window, in case the emperor questioned him. The city wall was heavily fortified, with only a small number of rolling logs and stones, presumably for destroying the siege ladders; it seemed the Western Xia still intended to use bows and arrows as their primary weapon. If only the Western Xia had placed boiling oil cauldrons on the city walls! Even if a cannon shot missed the cauldrons, the explosions around them would be enough to overturn them, giving the Western Xia a taste of boiling oil themselves.

Although the Western Xia reserve troops were hiding at the base of the walls to avoid artillery attacks, the watchtowers were much higher than the walls, so Zhang Yang and Zhu Wu could still see them.

The command post inside the city was about several hundred paces from the walls, outside the cannon's range, and judging from the flags, it seemed the Western Xia emperor was personally in command.

After observing for a moment, Zhang Yang patted Zhu Wu on the shoulder and asked, "Any ideas?"

Patting someone on the shoulder was a gesture Zhu Wu considered only between friends. Unexpectedly, the Emperor made this gesture, leaving him flattered and excited.

"The Western Xia forces on the city walls are not numerous. Our army can deploy archers to suppress them. If the Dangxiang people mobilize their troops to the city walls, our artillery attack will surely inflict heavy casualties on them."

"Hmm, let's use this plan. I want to see how many people the Dangxiang are willing to die on the city walls."

Not long after Zhang Yang and Zhu Wu descended the city walls, the archers from various units assembled.

Under Guan Shengdi's command, Xuan Zan quickly led ten thousand archers to charge towards the city walls.

Seeing the Heavenly Army charging, the Western Xia soldiers on the city walls also rose to prepare for attack.

When they were within three hundred paces, the Heavenly Army's rangefinders continuously fired test shots at the city walls.

Seeing the archers below with such a long range, the Western Xia soldiers immediately knew they had encountered the Heavenly Army's archers, but everyone knew that this battle concerned the rise and fall of the nation and the people, and no one was afraid to fight.

Finally, the rangefinder fired an arrow into the city, which, naturally, missed its mark as the reserve troops were densely packed at the base of the walls.

A scream erupted from within the city, and the vanguard's banner fluttered. The archers halted, and ten thousand arrows soared into the air. With a tearing sound, the arrows quickly reached their highest point before turning to rain down on the Western Xia soldiers on the city walls.

Seeing the rain of arrows descending like a dark cloud overhead, a Western Xia soldier knew he was doomed. Without waiting for his commander's order, he drew his bow and fired at Xuanzan, who was personally carrying the banner.

The arrows had barely left the bowstring when a hail of arrows rained down from above, eliciting screams from the city walls and the base of the inner ramparts.

The Western Xia soldiers, riddled with arrows, struggled to their feet, looking out at the city walls, only to be disappointed to find their arrows had landed just feet in front of Xuan Zan.

"Just a little bit more,"

a Western Xia soldier murmured, then everything went black, and he collapsed from the wall.

The city walls were studded with white arrow fletching, mingled with blossoms of blood, creating a strikingly vivid image.

The archers swiftly placed their bows on the ground, stepped on the iron rings of their bows, straightened their backs, and forcefully drew back their arrows. At Xuan Zan's command, they unleashed another hail of arrows upon the city walls.

The Western Xia archers, having learned their lesson, were now all hidden behind their shields, none daring to peek out. Therefore, the effect was minimal; only a few arrows managed to penetrate the gaps in the shields, pinning some unprotected Western Xia soldiers to the city walls.

Seeing this from the rear, Guan Sheng waved for Hao Siwen to lead the ordinary archers in a charge.

Hearing the commotion below, the Western Xia officer on the city wall hurriedly shouted for his soldiers to prepare to fire. Once the second wave of Heavenly Army soldiers was within range, the Western Xia officer gave the order, and the soldiers rose to their feet.

Seeing the Western Xia archers rise, Xuan Zan waved his signal flag, unleashing a third volley of arrows. The remaining Western Xia soldiers on the city wall fell in droves.

Some archers below, now within range, were also wounded by the Western Xia arrows, but since the Western Xia forces were few in number, the casualties were not significant.

"Don't stop, keep charging!"

Hao Siwen, at the forefront, was also hit by an arrow, but he snapped the shaft and shouted as he continued charging forward.

The Western Xia general on the city wall hurriedly ordered the archers around him to reinforce, while simultaneously firing arrows down towards the city. However, with few archers remaining, they could no longer cover the area below.

Siwen's archers, having weathered two sparse volleys of arrows, entered their firing range.

"Fire!"

With a shout from Hao Siwen and the waving of the signal flag, tens of thousands of archers unleashed their arrows of vengeance. However, the Heavenly Army's arrow rain was far denser than the scattered arrows from the city wall. The first section of the wall to be hit was instantly riddled with arrows, leaving no one on the city wall unscathed.

Seeing the arrows strewn across the city wall, the Western Xia soldiers on both sides hesitated.

Siwen seized the opportunity to divide his troops into three waves, providing continuous suppression. Faced with the relentless rain of arrows, the Western Xia general had no choice but to abandon the city wall as planned.

Guan Sheng, seeing the Western Xia soldiers on the city wall beginning to retreat, waved the signal flag again. Tang Bin's 10,000-strong force charged towards the city wall, while the soldiers in front pushed flying bridges and ladders towards the moat.

(Flying bridges were a type of equipment used to ensure the passage of attacking troops across the moat outside the city, also called "ditch bridges." These flying bridges were simple to make, using two long round logs with planks nailed on top, and two wooden wheels attached underneath for easy transport. The *Six Secret Teachings* records: "A flying bridge for crossing a moat is 15 feet wide and more than 2 feet long." If the moat was wide enough, two flying bridges could be connected by a pivot to form a folding flying bridge. When transporting, one section was folded and placed on the bridge bed at the back; when in use, the front section was lowered and placed on the opposite bank of the moat, thus forming a simple moat bridge.)

Soon, dozens of moat bridges were erected across the moat. Without the obstruction of the Western Xia soldiers, the ladders were easily hung on the city wall.

05-09
Chapter 114 The Extinction Plan

As Tang Bin's troops climbed the city wall without losing a single soldier, the generals found it hard to believe that the Xiang people had simply abandoned the city wall.

At this moment, everyone couldn't help but envy Tang Bin. Although Tang Bin's troops hadn't engaged in any fighting, given the Emperor's style, he certainly wouldn't let the first unit to scale the city wall go to waste.

Seeing that Tang Bin's entire force had reached the city wall, Guan Sheng ordered another 10,000-strong unit to go up as well, completely controlling the northern wall. The command post then moved to the city wall.

Houses within 150 paces of the wall had been demolished, creating open spaces. In the distance, the streets and alleys were teeming with Xixia soldiers. For the imperial troops to enter the inner city, they would have to fight their way through the crowds.

The Dangxiang people from nearby prefectures had all gathered in Xingqing Prefecture. The already small Xingqing Prefecture had been further cramped with housing after many houses were demolished. Some civilians could be vaguely seen in the distance, and the oppressive atmosphere before the great battle caused some children to cry incessantly.

Looking at the densely packed Xixia soldiers in the distance, the generals' faces grew grave. Although they had captured the city wall, this was only the beginning; the ensuing street fighting would likely be exceptionally arduous.

Guan Sheng remained in charge of command. After observing for a moment, he said

, "Tang Bin, listen to my order: your troops have two quarters of an hour to breach the city gates." Tang Bin was about to accept the order when Zhang Yang shook his head and said, "Wait, there's no need to breach the city gates for now."

Guan Sheng, hearing this, asked in confusion, "What good plan does Your Majesty have?"

Zhang Yang, instead of answering, asked, "What do you want to do by breaching the city gates?"

Guan Sheng thought for a moment, convinced that his order was correct, and then truthfully replied, "The street fighting that follows will undoubtedly be extremely difficult. Ladders can only transport troops; they may not be able to handle some unexpected events. Only by breaching the city gates can our army enter in large numbers and quickly reinforce various locations."

Zhang Yang believed himself to be invincible in battlefield duels, but he also knew that troop deployment was not as effective as that of generals who had received systematic training. Therefore, he appointed Guan Sheng as the commander of the main army. Jia Ren'ai's thinking was limited; he only thought about how to utilize the terrain and fully leverage the advantages of each type of soldier. But Zhang Yang, from the modern era, seeing the crowd of Western Xia soldiers below the city, thought of carpet bombing with artillery, setting fires, and using poison. In short, the tactic was to inflict massive casualties on the Western Xia soldiers without significantly reducing their own forces. Unfortunately, gunpowder was limited, making carpet bombing impossible; only arson and poison were feasible.

Zhang Yang was not one to seek fame or fortune, and moreover, being well-versed in history, he knew about Emperor Yang Guang of Sui's first campaign against Goguryeo. Yang Guang intended to be lenient and merciful, but this resulted in the Goguryeo people's fickleness. Just as the Sui army was about to capture Liaodong City, the Goguryeo people raised white flags and surrendered. As soon as the Sui army retreated, the Goguryeo people regrouped and prepared for war. This back-and-forth resulted in many unnecessary casualties for the Sui army. This bloody history taught him that mercy towards foreign tribes was not the way to go.

Although none of the generals had come up with Zhang Yang's plan, Zhang Yang did not believe that Guan Sheng and his men lacked knowledge; rather, there was a generational gap between them, and a very deep one at that.

Zhang Yang pointed to the densely packed Western Xia soldiers inside the city. "The Dangxiang people have abandoned the city walls. They intend to fight us to the death in the streets. If we actually enter the city, even if we win, we'll likely suffer more than half our casualties. But why should we do what they want?"

Guan Sheng asked doubtfully, "The Dangxiang people must have stockpiled a large amount of grain in Xingqing Prefecture. If we besiege it for a year, we might not be able to force them to surrender. Instead, our army will waste its grain here. Once we capture Xingqing Prefecture, the Dangxiang people will be doomed. Although a direct assault will result in greater casualties, it's still better than spending 200,000 troops here."

Seeing that Guan Sheng still didn't understand, Zhang Yang had no choice but to say directly, "We must attack, but Xingqing Prefecture isn't worth spending 200,000 troops here. But now the Dangxiang people are trapped. Why should we fight to the death? We can set fires and use poison to force them to surrender, or at least render them incapable of fighting. Isn't that much better than a death struggle?"

Hearing the emperor's words, the generals couldn't help but shudder, as if they had returned to the cold winter.

This city, so small, was crammed with hundreds of thousands of people. If a fire were set or poisoned, perhaps only one in ten would survive—that's hundreds of thousands! Throughout history, only the Qin general Bai Qi dared to do such a thing, massacring 400,000 surrendered Zhao soldiers. However, Bai Qi ultimately earned the title of "Butcher of Men." If the fire or poison were truly set this time, the person who gave the order would likely be labeled a god of death or a butcher.

Seeing that the emperor wasn't joking, Guan Sheng quickly advised, "Your Majesty's reputation for benevolence is widespread. If the city were burned down or poisoned, it would likely tarnish Your Majesty's reputation."

Zhang Yang glanced at the crowd and said solemnly, "Remember, my benevolence is for my subjects, not for foreign tribes. You should also remember that on the battlefield, your priority should

be winning with minimal casualties, not for any means to gain fame. As long as my soldiers suffer fewer losses, even if it leaves me with eternal infamy, I will gladly give the order."

If Zhang Yang had said this in court, some pedantic scholars might have refuted him with classical allusions. However, the generals present were all men of courage and integrity, and upon hearing Zhang Yang's words, they felt a pang of shame. The emperor was willing to risk his reputation; how could they be afraid of infamy? Moreover, no matter what the pedantic scholars said, their own troops would benefit. Even if thousands cursed them, their men would surely understand.

This was understandable, as Guan Sheng and the others came from military families and had studied standard military strategy. Although the art of war involved deception, it was only about using tactics; methods that could wipe out entire families were not considered.

Zhong Shidao was the first to react, gritting his teeth and saying, "The weather is hot. Your Majesty, please come down from the city wall and rest. We are sufficient here."

Zhang Yang, upon hearing this, knew that Zhong Shidao wanted him to take refuge temporarily, so that they would bear the name of butchers. However, Zhang Yang wanted to use this opportunity to make his attitude towards foreign races clear, shaking his head and saying, "Today I will personally issue this order to set an example for you. In the future, those in the court will not dare to attack you indiscriminately. Remember, mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself. If foreign races can be used by us, we can assimilate them; if they cannot be used by us, then we must annihilate them without mercy."

The generals, hearing Zhang Yang's iron-fisted declaration, all seemed to be deep in thought. Zhang Yang's declaration was firmly remembered by the generals, which led to the Heavenly Army's unconventional tactics in the future, greatly reducing the casualties of the Heavenly Army. Of course, Zhang Yang's words were later criticized by ethnic minorities around the world, but the Han people had already become a major ethnic group in various parts of the world.

Zhang Yang gazed resolutely ahead and shouted, "All generals, listen to my command! Each unit's engineers, construct a wooden ramp every hundred paces along the outer city wall. All archers

, ascend the city walls to defend!" The generals immediately obeyed.

With the coordinated efforts of the engineers, wooden ramps were quickly erected outside the city, and tens of thousands of archers were deployed to the walls. Once

everything was ready, dozens of soldiers shouted in unison, "Listen up, people inside the city! You have half an hour to surrender at the city walls, or you'll taste the bitterness of fire!"

The soldiers on the city walls, who had initially worried that the emperor would order a direct assault, breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the shouts.

The soldiers from the northwest, whose homes had been burned, were overjoyed; finally, the Western Xia people would experience the bitterness of fire. Many, however, showed signs of reluctance.

Looking at their expressions, Zhang Yang wished he could tell them about the massacres of Han Chinese by the Mongols and Jurchens when they entered the Central Plains, but to avoid being seen as a monster by future generations, he had to keep this thought to himself.

If they had known how the Mongols and Tartars massacred the Han people after entering the Central Plains, they would not have been so merciful to other ethnic groups.

When the Mongols entered the Central Plains, they once intended to exterminate the Chinese, turning fertile fields into pastures. If it weren't for Yelü Chucai's persuasion, there would probably be no Chinese left today. In the four provinces of Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi alone, the Han and Jurchen populations accounted for approximately 90% of the total population. Kublai Khan alone massacred 18 million people, resulting in the genocide of 90% of the Han civilian population in northern China. "In 1279 AD, the Yuan and Mongol forces twice captured Chengdu, committing countless massacres" (quoted from He Qingquan's *Chengdu Lu* of the Yuan Dynasty). "The people of Shu, upon seeing the dead, would gather in groups of fifty and stab them all with knives, piling up their corpses." "At dusk, suspecting he was not dead, he stabbed him again." Before the Mongol Empire's massacres, the most conservative estimate of Sichuan's population was over 13 million. Prime Minister Bayan proposed and massacred Han Chinese with the surnames Zhang, Wang, Liu, Li, and Zhao. Under Mongol rule, Han Chinese and Southern Chinese were considered inferior; their property could be arbitrarily seized, their wives and daughters abused, and their lives taken at will. In Han villages, every new bride's first night was to be spent with the Mongol headman. Chinese people were even forbidden from having names, only their birth dates; they were forbidden from possessing weapons, and several families had to share a single kitchen knife.

Cambridge History of China research indicates that Song Dynasty China had at least 120 million people, or even more, while the Yuan Dynasty only had 50 million. Under Mongol slaughter and rule, China lost over 70 million people. The Mongol Empire's genocide within China was unprecedented and unparalleled; the number of victims even earned a place in the Guinness World Records. The

subsequent Qing army's entry into the pass also resulted in widespread slaughter; the Yangzhou Massacre and the Jiading Massacre saw tens of millions of Han Chinese killed. It was like the story of Mr. Dongguo, who treated others with benevolence, only to find they were beasts. The news of the army's plan to set fire

to the city walls

quickly reached the Western Xia battlefield command, plunging the tribe into chaos.

Faced with death, a member of the Tangut royal family forgot who was in charge of the city and jumped out, pointing at Xiao Heda, saying, "It was all your idea to abandon the city walls; now we're all trapped!"

Xiao Heda's trusted general, seeing someone disrespecting his master, immediately stood up and shouted, "Insolence!" "

The member of the royal family then remembered Xiao Heda's military strength, and his face turned ashen. He lowered his head, not daring to look at Xiao Heda again.

Xiao Heda had originally thought that the Heavenly Dynasty would launch a strong attack on Xingqing Prefecture. After all, capturing the city would bring hundreds of thousands of slaves, each worth ten strings of cash, which would add up to a considerable fortune. He hadn't expected Zhang Yang to disregard this 'fortune' and set the city on fire. Xiao Heda had to admit that he had miscalculated, entrusting his fate to the enemy.

"Now we should be considering how to deal with the Heavenly Army's arson, not pursuing the matter?" Xiao Heda had no intention of arguing with this reckless Dangxiang royal family member anymore, and frowned as he spoke.

With Weiming Anhui dead, Weiming Ankang could only rely on a few members of the royal family and the generals left to him by his brother. He had originally worried that Xiao Heda would take the opportunity to eliminate the royal family members who had offended him, but seeing that Xiao Heda did not intend to pursue the matter, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, General Xiao is quite right. The most important thing now is to deal with the Heavenly Army's arson; nothing else needs to be discussed." "

Weiming Ankang was also afraid of dying in the fire. After speaking, he looked expectantly at everyone, hoping someone could come up with a way to extinguish the fire.

The city wall had been completely occupied by the Heavenly Army. With just one order from the Heavenly Emperor, ten thousand fire arrows could be launched instantly. At that time, it would inevitably cause a raging fire, which would be impossible for humans to extinguish. To stop the Heavenly Dynasty from setting fire, the city wall had to be recaptured, but giving up was easy, and taking it back was difficult. Moreover, the idea of giving up the city wall was Xiao Heda's. Although Xiao Heda had not pursued those who had offended him, it did not mean that anyone could disrespect him.

The idea of taking back the city wall could not be spoken, and putting out the fire was only a temporary solution. Besides, it was not certain that it could be extinguished.

Seeing that everyone was frowning and silent, Weiming Ankang said anxiously, "Even if surrender is the only option left, you have to say something."

Hearing Wei Ming An Kang's words of surrender, everyone was greatly disappointed. A playboy is still a playboy; don't expect him to shoulder any important responsibilities. Seeing

the disappointment on everyone's faces, the royal family feared they would all side with Xiao Heda, and the Wei Ming clan would be finished. They had no choice but to step forward and say, "Your Majesty, there's no need to worry. Most of the houses in the city are made of earth; even if the heavenly soldiers set fire, it might not spread too much in a short time. However, since the heavenly soldiers control the city walls, they can keep firing fire arrows. In my opinion, we still need to retake the city walls to continue fighting the heavenly soldiers."

Although Wei Ming An Kang thought so too, he feared that Xiao Heda's troops now occupied half the city and might turn against them in anger. Hearing someone speak up, he seized the opportunity to say to Xiao Heda, "What he said makes sense. Letting the heavenly army occupy the city walls and set fire is not a good solution. What does General Xiao think?" Xiao

Heda now regretted his initial decision, but he couldn't openly admit to making such a grave mistake. He gritted his teeth and said, "I never expected the heavenly soldiers to be so ferocious. They actually want to burn the city down. Although defending the walls will result in heavy casualties, it's better than them setting it ablaze here."

Seeing that Xiao Heda also agreed to retake the walls, Wei Ming Ankang happily said, "Then let's see which city wall we should capture, or attack from all sides?"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The words had barely left his lips when two muffled booms echoed from the city gate.

Everyone was startled by the cannon fire. The Heavenly Army's ultimatum hadn't expired yet, so why were they already attacking with cannons? Just

as Wei Ming An Kang was about to send someone to investigate, a scout galloped up, shouting from afar, "Report! The Heavenly Army has destroyed the north gate's ramparts!"

Everyone was taken aback. The ramparts connected the city to the walls; they hadn't expected the Heavenly Army to destroy them just as they were trying to retake the walls. One wrong move, and the whole game was lost.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Sure enough, a short while later, cannon fire came from both the east and west gates, and finally, two cannon fires came from the south gate, the number of booms matching the number of cannon fires at each gate.

Although Wei Ming Ankang was a spoiled brat, he guessed what the subsequent cannon shots meant. His face fell as he said, "I'm afraid the cavalry ramps at all the city gates have been destroyed by the Heavenly Soldiers. Without ramps, how can we retake the city walls?"

Xiao Heda, equally ashen-faced, replied, "Without ramps, to retake the walls, we'll need siege ladders and other siege equipment. However, we only planned to defend the city; there aren't any siege ladders inside. We can't build enough in a short time, so I'm afraid we won't be able to retake the city walls."

Hearing this, Wei Ming Ankang's last hope vanished, and he immediately revealed his true nature, completely forgetting the instructions given by the royal family earlier. He

suggested, standing up, and hysterically shouted at Xiao Heda, "So, are we just supposed to wait here for the heavenly soldiers to burn it down? You insisted on abandoning the city wall, and now we're in this situation; you bear the greatest responsibility. If you can't retake the city wall before the heavenly soldiers set it ablaze, then I want to see your head before I die, do you hear me?"

Xiao Heda was furious that Weiming Ankang actually wanted him to do something so suicidal. He glared at Weiming Ankang and shouted, "Weiming Ankang, I only respect you as emperor because of the Empress Dowager. If you dare to talk back to me again, don't blame me for being impolite."

"Rebellion! Rebellion! Men, seize this Liao barbarian!"

Seeing several guards rushing towards Weiming Ankang, Xiao Heda quickly drew his sword and shouted, "Men, come with me and kill this dog emperor, lest he seek revenge later!"

Xiao Heda's generals knew they had forced Weiming Ankang to order a desperate defense, and now they were in a difficult position, so they drew their swords and stood with Xiao Heda.

The generals loyal to the emperor drew their swords and, along with the guards, surrounded Xiao Heda and his men.

"Report! The heavenly troops have destroyed the east gate's horse path!"

"Report! The heavenly troops have destroyed the west gate's horse path!"

Just as a chaotic battle was about to erupt, two belated battle reports broke the tense atmosphere.

An old Dangxiang official also realized what was happening and quickly said, "Wait! Listen to me!"

Everyone knew that if a bloody battle broke out now, the Dangxiang tribe would have no hope, so they all stopped in their tracks.

When Wei Ming Ankang saw that the generals standing with Xiao Heda seemed to have more troops than his own, he felt that he was taking a risk. If a fight broke out, he might fall into Xiao Heda's hands. Seeing both sides breathe a sigh of relief, Wei Ming An Kang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said sullenly, "Speak your mind, I'm listening."

"The Heavenly Army has blown up the horse track. As long as we surrender, they will surely allow us to build a passage. In my opinion, it would be better to pretend to surrender first, and then launch an attack to seize the city after the passage is built."

Wei Ming An Kang doubted, "Even if the Heavenly Army allows us to build a passage, they will definitely be cautious and vigilant. I'm afraid it will still be very difficult to seize the city."

Xiao He Da also calmed down and said, "We can have our soldiers disguise themselves as ordinary people, and then launch an attack to seize the city after we get to the top of the city wall. That should be much easier. This is the only way now, so we can only try it."

Wei Ming An Kang glanced at everyone and saw that they were all silent. He knew they had no other ideas, so he just pointed to one person and said, "Then let's do it this way. Go and send a message to the Heavenly Army."

The person accepted the order and was about to turn around and leave.

The old minister said again, "Wait."

Weiming Ankang frowned and said, "This was your idea, why are you objecting again?"

The old minister quickly bowed and said, "I don't object, but I think we should go later. The Heavenly Dynasty's ultimatum is not even a quarter of an hour old, and if we surrender now, it will surely arouse suspicion from the Heavenly Army. In my humble opinion, we should wait until the time is almost up before we contact the Heavenly Dynasty, so that we can gain their trust. At the same time, the soldiers can also disguise themselves to avoid being caught off guard. We should also select some civilians so that the soldiers can blend in with them."

Upon hearing this, Weiming Ankang nodded and said, "Well then, you go and do it. Remember to select some elderly, weak, women and children from the civilians. The men can be kept to supplement our fighting strength."

The old minister looked very respectful and said, "Your Majesty is wise." Too many able-bodied men would inevitably arouse the suspicion of the Heavenly Army, while the elderly, weak, women, and children could be mixed in with the soldiers. "Then this old minister will go and make preparations."

Just as Weiming Ankang was about to approve the request, a member of the royal family stepped forward and said, "This battle is likely to end badly. To prevent the Weiming clan from being wiped out, I believe that a portion of the royal family should be sent out of the city mixed in with the common people. As long as the people in the lead don't rebel, the Heavenly Dynasty will certainly not massacre them. Although they might be sold into slavery, at least a bloodline will remain, preventing the Weiming family from being wiped out. Perhaps they can escape the Heavenly Dynasty later and restore the glory of their ancestors."

Hearing this, the crowd's minds began to stir. Although going out would mean being reduced to slavery, one can only be a thief for a thousand days, not a thief for a thousand days. As long as they were determined to escape, they might be able to escape beyond the Great Wall, and then they could fly freely again. Although they were determined to fight to the death for their tribe, they couldn't let their wives and children die in vain.

In an instant, everyone requested that their families be sent out of the city mixed in with the common people.

Wei Ming Ankang knew that keeping them was useless, so he granted their requests. However, he felt a great deal of jealousy and envy towards those who escaped.

He also harbored resentment towards Yelü Nanxian, who had advocated for his succession. If he weren't the emperor now, he too could have left the city.

Chapter 116 Zhang Liang's Plan?

The ultimatum was about to expire, and the Dangxiang soldiers inside the city remained heavily guarded. He frowned and said, "Could it be that the Western Xia people are all going to commit suicide?"

Zhang Yang looked at the magnificent army outside the city with boredom and confidently said, "If the Dangxiang people were determined to defend to the death, they should have already made some preparations to prevent fires. But now there's no movement at all. I suppose they're still arguing, or there's some kind of conspiracy."

Upon hearing this, everyone sensed a conspiracy. The city was too quiet. If they were prepared to defend to the death, they should at least have cleared away any flammable materials within range of arrows. If the Dangxiang people were prepared to surrender, they should have already sent someone to negotiate and see how to leave the city. Even if there were arguments, they would definitely be deadlocked. Time was running out; any further delay meant certain death. Those who wanted to surrender should have already started fighting.

Just as the hourglass was about to run out, a group of Western Xia soldiers galloped in from within the city. They only reined in their horses when they were almost within range of the archers on the city walls.

The leader shouted, "I am an envoy of Western Xia, requesting an audience with the Emperor of the Celestial Dynasty."

Zhang Yang nodded to Wu Song, who then shouted, "Come here alone."

The Western Xia envoy dismounted and walked, stopping five or six steps from the city wall. He knelt and bowed, saying, "The Emperor of the Celestial Dynasty has descended to earth, illuminating the world with the light of the sun and moon. All under heaven submit to him. There are those who follow the natural order and those who follow it, and there are wise and foolish people. Our small nation, unaware of the majesty of our superior nation, has wrongly offended your might. We tried to stop the chariot with our bare hands, but now that the city is about to fall, our people are willing to surrender. We only ask that the Emperor of the Celestial Dynasty grant the people inside the city a way to live. We are willing to serve as your slaves."

Zhang Yang didn't believe the Tangut people would surrender en masse; if that were the case, they would have surrendered long ago. Even if they were forced to surrender, suppressing the pro-war faction would likely require a civil war. Looking at the seemingly servile Western Xia officials below the city walls, he smiled and said, "Since you know what's good for you, and I'm not a bloodthirsty person, you may leave the city as long as you don't bring weapons."

Upon hearing this, the Western Xia envoy bowed deeply, kowtowing three times. He said excitedly, "Thank you so much for the Emperor's mercy! The entire Tangut people are deeply grateful. Your magnanimity is like a vast sea of sand; your kindness is like a great mountain..."

The Western Xia envoy couldn't think of the right words for a moment, frowning for a long time before finally saying, "Profound."

The Chinese language is profound and complex; although foreigners could learn some, their choice of words and sentence structure often resulted in some comical situations.

Seeing the Western Xia envoy's furrowed brow in thought, Zhang Yang, fearing he might utter something strange, waved his hand to stop him, saying, "No need for further praise. Just state your demands."

The Western Xia envoy then ceased his boasting and stated his purpose.

"How should we leave the city?"

Zhang Yang pointed to a section of the city wall already marked, saying, "Build a wooden ramp between those two flags."

Two flags stood nearby, facing a ramp about three zhang wide. The Western Xia envoy examined it. "There are hundreds of thousands of people in the city. A wooden ramp might not be able to support them. There are also many elderly and weak people in the city; if the ramp collapses, it could cause accidents."

"Just build it sturdily," Zhang Yang said. "Wood is quick to build, and it's not good for the army to wait here. Finish it within two quarters of an hour; my soldiers need to have lunch."

Zhang Yang was unwilling to gain fame here; this seemingly small concession could potentially increase casualties if Western Xia had a trap. Moreover, it was clear that Western Xia was plotting something, and Zhang Yang would not allow his army to suffer additional casualties for some unnecessary reason.

Seeing that he couldn't gain any advantage, the Western Xia envoy's mind raced, and he said, "It was my oversight."

Then, changing the subject, he added, "However, the army of the superior nation marches so swiftly, I'm afraid they didn't bring many craftsmen. There are many craftsmen in the city; perhaps the emperor of the superior nation would like us to send some out to build the outer horse path."

"No need," Zhang Yang said with a smile, "the outer horse path is already built. Go and give the order, lest you miss the appointed time."

Seeing that he couldn't lay an ambush, the Western Xia envoy had no choice but to kowtow and leave.

"Your Majesty," Guan Sheng said after the Western Xia envoy left, "in my opinion, Western Xia's surrender is definitely a trap. We should prepare as soon as possible."

Zhang Yang laughed, "The wooden horse path is easy to burn down if the Western Xia soldiers make any sudden moves. A few men on the city wall won't be able to cause much trouble."

Zhu Wu said, "I'm afraid the Western Xia soldiers will fight to the death to protect the horse path. In my opinion, we should also make some preparations on the city wall to prevent any unforeseen circumstances."

"Oh? Tell me about it?"

Seeing that the Emperor seemed interested, Zhu Wu quickly said, "The Western Xia people

, disguised as civilians, can only carry some short weapons. If we block off the horse path, even if the Western Xia soldiers rush onto the city wall, they will only be able to stay there as targets, while we can shoot them with arrows."

"Good plan." Zhang Yang patted Zhu Wu on the shoulder, "This way, it will be watertight."

Then he turned to Tang Bin and said, "Go and make the arrangements."

Although Tang Bin was almost reduced to a menial job today, he knew that he had at least earned a third-class merit without any major incident, and many people were envious. He saluted and went to make the arrangements.

Meanwhile, the Western Xia envoy returned and truthfully reported Zhang Yang's words. Finally, fearing the纨绔 (

wán kù, a spoiled, dissolute young man) emperor might not grasp the key point, he emphasized again that only wooden horse paths were permitted. Wei Ming An Kang, though spoiled by nature, was not stupid. Seeing the envoy repeat the wooden horse path twice, he pondered for a moment and understood the crucial point. He frowned and said, "Wooden horse paths are not fireproof. Once we seize the city, the heavenly soldiers will likely set fire to the horse paths. Without the horse paths, we won't be able to reach the city walls, and our previous plan to capture the city will probably be useless."

Set fire? If their own soldiers seized the opportunity to reach the city walls, would the heavenly soldiers have a chance to set fire? However, the heavenly soldiers could easily burn down the horse paths with fire arrows.

Yelü Nan Xian, having just heard that the Earthly Heaven Army wanted to set fire, abandoned all pretense of concealment and rushed to the pre-battle command post. Everyone knew that Xiao Heda was completely obedient to the Empress Dowager. Although there had been previous misrule by Empress Dowager Liang, no one dared to object to her presence.

Yelü Nanxian, unwilling to entrust her fate to them, said, "Since the Celestial Dynasty has set a time limit, Your Majesty should first summon craftsmen to repair the horse track, just in case. Even if they come up with other plans, we won't suffer any losses."

The crowd had almost turned on each other in their desperate situation, knowing there was no other way out, and they didn't want to waste this last chance for survival. Yelü Nanxian's words were immediately echoed by the crowd.

Wei Ming Ankang, seeing everyone praising the Empress Dowager's wisdom, felt immense jealousy. Furthermore, another faction in the city was ultimately under the Empress Dowager's control, so he was unwilling to submit. However, unable to think of any other solution, he could only order the summoning of carpenters.

As soon as Weiming Ankang gave the order, a minister stepped forward and said, "I think we can have a horse path built with water-soaked timber. That way, even if the Heavenly Army sets fire to it, it won't burn down immediately."

Seeing that he had no other ideas and was instead staring at the horse path, Weiming Ankang felt that he was helping the Empress Dowager

and coldly said, "Building a horse path right under the noses of the Heavenly Dynasty people? Are the Heavenly Dynasty people fools? Do you think they would allow us to do this?" The minister met Weiming Ankang's murderous gaze and couldn't help but shiver. Not knowing what he had done to offend the emperor, he quickly lowered his head and stopped speaking.

“Your Majesty is right, but why don’t we give it a try? We can have the carpenter find some excuses. Winter has just ended, the snow has just melted, and it’s inevitable that the wood will be a little damp. Maybe the people of the Celestial Empire won’t notice. Even if it doesn’t work, we won’t lose anything.”

Yelü Nanxian was quick-witted and intelligent. Seeing the murderous intent hidden in Wei Ming Ankang’s eyes as he glanced at her from time to time, she naturally knew what Wei Ming Ankang was annoyed about. But at this moment, survival was the priority, and she couldn’t care less about escalating the conflict between the two sides. Moreover, it was clear that the ministers were disappointed in Wei Ming Ankang. If she acted more assertively, she could help them find a new ally.

Xiao Heda’s faction naturally nodded repeatedly at the Empress Dowager’s words. Even among the ministers loyal to the royal family, the less obtuse ones echoed the Empress Dowager’s words. The smarter ministers saw that it was a power struggle between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, but they all chose to protect themselves, even though they might not be able to protect themselves for long.

With a creaking sound,

Wei Ming Ankang, seeing the Empress Dowager contradict him again, and with so many others echoing her, turned pale with anger, his teeth grinding together with a chilling sound.

Wei Ming Renli, though somewhat talented and previously valued by Li Qianshun, was a coward and pleasure-seeking man. He was also Wei Ming Ankang's playmate and knew him well, knowing that despite his noble birth, he was a ruthless man at heart, and might fight to the death if pushed too far. Seeing Wei Ming Ankang showing signs of losing control, he quickly stepped forward and said, "The Empress Dowager's words have merit; why doesn't Your Majesty give it a try?"

Seeing Wei Ming Renli constantly giving him meaningful glances, Wei Ming Ankang barely suppressed his anger and said to the minister who had chosen to build the horse track, "Let's try anything, even if it's a long shot. Go and do it!"

Seeing the tense atmosphere, the minister, eager to leave, bowed and quickly departed.

Chapter 117 A Moment of Fire

Not long after the Xia envoy returned, hundreds of craftsmen brought timber to build a horse trail.

The Western Xia people were clearly trying to test the Celestial Empire. Many of the timbers were wet, clearly just pulled out of the water. Often, the horse-drawn carts carrying the timber left water streaks after passing by.

Watching the Western Xia people carrying in the soaking wet timber, Huyan Zhuo couldn't help but say to the Emperor, "The Western Xia are using wet timber to build a horse path; they must be afraid we'll set it on fire. This shows their intentions are malicious. Should we stop them?"

Zhang Yang shook his head, saying, "Don't we have 'fierce fire oil'? It's impervious to water. Let them do their work." "

Fierce fire oil" is an offensive weapon made from petroleum. Once it ignites, water cannot extinguish it; the only option is to wait for the oil to burn out or bury it with sand. The Imperial Arsenal in Bianliang, the capital, has a workshop specifically for processing "fierce fire oil." Yan'an Prefecture has vast oil reserves, so it also has a fierce fire oil processing plant. Huyan Zhuo's army brought a large quantity of fierce fire oil with them on their expedition to conquer cities and territories. Huyan Zhuo,

thinking the Emperor had forgotten about sealing the wall, reminded him, "Just now, the Emperor ordered General Tang to seal the city wall connecting the horse path. We won't be able to cross then, and the 'fierce oil' probably won't reach the horse path."

Ling Zhen laughed, "This task is our artillery unit. Just fill ceramic jars with 'fierce oil,' modify the cannons into oil tanks, and we can fire. After a few dozen shots, the city wall will be covered in 'fierce oil,' then you can just ignite it with rockets."

Huyan Zhuo frowned, "Your artillery unit is too far off. If we use cannons, our army will have to retreat several dozen feet to the left and right of the horse path. Leaving such a large open area, if the Western Xia rebel, we might not be able to react quickly."

"No, if the Western Xia rebel, we don't need to fight them; we can just shoot them all," Zhang Yang said coldly, seeing hundreds of soldiers carrying sandbags towards the city wall.

Huyan Zhuo hesitated, saying, "The Western Xia soldiers might blend in with the civilians to enter the city. If a volley of arrows is fired, civilians might be accidentally injured."

Although Zhang Yang had just instilled in them the policy towards foreign tribes, their deeply ingrained Confucian ideology still made it impossible for them to ignore anyone. This was probably a common problem among ancient Chinese generals.

Zhang Yang turned to look at Huyan Zhuo and asked seriously, "What country are the civilians in the city from?"

Seeing the emperor's serious expression, Huyan Zhuo remembered the policy towards the enemy that the emperor had just mentioned and was immediately alarmed. If the emperor took this seriously, it could be interpreted as contempt for him, disobeying the imperial decree. Serving the emperor was like serving a tiger; the emperor's will was unpredictable. Zhang Yang had been approachable when he was in Liangshan, but after the founding of the dynasty, he had led troops outside the capital. Although he was considered a direct descendant of Liangshan, he had only surrendered after being captured while leading troops to conquer Liangshan. Huyan Zhuo knew he was not as trusted by the emperor as veterans like Lu Zhishen, yet he held considerable military power. If he aroused the emperor's suspicion, his fate would surely be grim.

Throughout history, countless generals have been executed due to the emperor's suspicion. Thinking of this terrifying thought, cold sweat beaded on Huyan Zhuo's forehead. His voice trembled slightly as he said, "Western Xia."

Seeing the fear in Huyan Zhuo's eyes, Zhang Yang's expression softened slightly. He patted Huyan Zhuo's shoulder and said, "Yes, they are the people of Western Xia. Since the Western Xia people don't care about the lives of their own people, why should we be sentimental? A good general achieves the greatest results with the least casualties—that's abroad, of course. Domestically, the priority is protecting the people."

Huyan Zhuo was used to Zhang Yang patting his subordinates' shoulders. However, at this moment, Huyan Zhuo was quite flattered. It seemed the emperor still cared for him as always. He quickly straightened his back and bowed, saying, "I respectfully obey Your Majesty's decree."

Zhang Yang looked at the group of generals of the rank of commander-in-chief and said, "In the future, you will all become capable commanders, with more and more troops under your command. Women's compassion is unacceptable." Hearing that they would

have the opportunity to command independently in the future, everyone's spirits immediately lifted.

Before long, soldiers carrying sandbags arrived. Zhang Yang then said to Tang Bin, "Place some sandbags on both sides as well. If the artillery misses, it will be easier to extinguish the fire."

Below, a Western Xia craftsman, seeing the Heavenly Soldiers beginning to block the sides of the ramparts on the city wall, quietly retreated to the pre-battle command post in the city.

"Report! The Heavenly Soldiers are using sandbags to block the sides of the ramparts connecting the city walls."

Having learned his lesson after two defeats, Wei Ming Ankang asked Yelü Nanxian, "What does the Empress Dowager think of the Heavenly Soldiers' actions?"

Yelü Nanxian gave Wei Ming Ankang an approving look. It's better to hide one's shortcomings than to make a fool of oneself; it seems he isn't entirely without self-awareness.

"To put it bluntly, we're now trapped, like turtles in a barrel

, with no control over our own destiny. We can't interfere with what the Heavenly Soldiers do. The only solution is to send more Mountain Scouts; they're adept at traversing hills and streams, moving swiftly and lightly. The Heavenly Soldiers' sand walls certainly won't stop them."

Weiming Ankang said, feigning profundity, "Your Majesty is quite right. Renli, go and arrange for more Mountain Scouts."

Although Weiming Ankang hadn't made any mistakes this time, everyone still felt he was putting on a show.

Weiming Renli accepted the order and left. Weiming Ankang then closed his eyes to rest again. Everyone else pondered their own affairs, while a few bolder individuals secretly glanced at the beautiful Empress Dowager.

Yelü Nanxian possessed both mature beauty and a pure innocence, making her very pleasing to the eye. As these bolder individuals were peeking, they noticed the beautiful woman's delicate brows suddenly furrow. Everyone felt a surge of protectiveness, but knowing their identities, they feared the Empress Dowager would discover their spying, and quickly either lowered their heads or looked away.

Yelü Nanxian, however, said, "This plan is feasible, but what if the Heavenly Army orders their troops to leave the city first?"

Hearing this, everyone was stunned. So, after all this planning, there was such a fatal flaw. It was highly likely that the Heavenly Army would order their troops to leave the city first. If the troops left first, the Heavenly Army would be on high alert, and carrying weapons would be difficult, making a sudden attack to seize the city much harder.

The glimmer of hope that had finally appeared was suddenly shattered; this disappointment left everyone ashen-faced, and the hall fell into a deathly silence.

Unable to bear the silence in the hall, Xiao Heda shouted in a rough voice, "At worst, we'll fight them to the death! The vanguard will carry short blades and fight to the death to defend the ramparts and the city walls. If we can hold out for a while, the rear guard can also enter and attack."

The others clearly didn't think much of this idea; carrying only short blades, they feared the Heavenly Army could easily wipe out the vanguard on the city walls with a few volleys.

"Report! The ramparts are ready. The Heavenly Army has ordered us to prepare to surrender immediately."

While everyone pondered, two quarters of an hour had quietly passed.

Wei Ming Ankang couldn't help but ask Yelü Nanxian again, "Empress Dowager, what do we do now?"

Yelü Nanxian sighed and said, "Proceed according to the original plan. If the Heavenly Army sends its troops out of the city first, say that some troops inside are unwilling to surrender, and the main army still needs to suppress the situation. After the people leave the city, the Emperor will lead the surrendered troops out first."

A drowning person will grab onto any straw without hesitation.

Upon hearing the order, Wei Mingrenli bowed without hesitation and said, "I will obey the Empress Dowager's decree and make the arrangements immediately."

Soon after, tens of thousands of prepared people marched towards the city wall.

Zhang Yang looked at the dense crowd below the city wall, many of whom carried bundles or packages—potentially containing valuables or other items. He waved his hand and said, "Wait a minute. Most of the people are elderly, weak, women, and children; it's not easy for them to climb up and down. The Western Xia troops can leave the city first, and then the city gates can be opened."

Weiming Renli, in charge of the raid, heard Zhang Yang actually want his troops to leave the city first. Remembering the Empress Dowager's instructions, he reluctantly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, but there are still several generals in the city who refuse to surrender. Your Majesty is still personally persuading them. The armies are currently in a stalemate. If Your Majesty's troops move, the situation inside the city will become uncontrollable."

Zhang Yang smiled upon hearing this, "It's rare that Weiming Ankang has such a plan. Then proceed according to your plan."

Weiming Renli breathed a sigh of relief when Zhang Yang didn't insist, but he felt there was something else in Zhang Yang's words. However, he had no time to think further and could only wave his hand to order some unarmed soldiers and civilians to leave the city first.

Slowly, extremely slowly.

The populace consisted mostly of the elderly, women, and children. The hastily constructed ramparts were wet and slippery, causing frequent falls. Fortunately, there were many people ahead and behind, so if someone fell, someone would help them up, preventing any serious injuries. However, progress was extremely slow.

In half an hour, only about ten or twenty thousand people had passed through, while the crowd of people preparing to leave the city remained a dense, dark mass.

The Heavenly Army on guard on the city walls gradually relaxed their vigilance.

Chapter 118 Red-Braised Mountain It

was already noon, and everyone was starting to feel hungry. With the endless stream of Western Xia people leaving the city, impatience was inevitable.

The generals had been standing for over an hour and were starting to feel tired, but with the Emperor himself standing on the city wall, no one dared to slacken their efforts.

Just as everyone was trying to stay alert, Guan Sheng said, "Your Majesty, something seems off about the people coming from behind."

Sure enough, although the group coming from behind was dressed in civilian clothes, most of them were able-bodied men, walking with their chests out and heads held high, clearly not ordinary people. The number of Western Xia soldiers maintaining order on both sides of the street had also increased considerably.

"They're finally here. Just keep things as they are," Zhang Yang said coldly, watching the approaching crowd.

After a short while, the number of able-bodied men among the city's inhabitants had surged dramatically. A

sudden

horn blast rang out in the distance, and several mountain soldiers dressed in civilian clothes leaped onto sandbags over three feet high, brandishing short blades and charging to both sides.

Mountain soldiers mixed in on both sides of the city wall also frantically rushed towards the top. To prevent the heavenly soldiers from seeing through their plan, the ramparts were mostly lined with the elderly, women, and children. In the ensuing scramble, dozens of people were pushed off the ramparts.

"Ah!"

"Catch the child!"

A woman holding a child near the city wall was pushed off the ramparts, screaming as she immediately threw the child back up, only to fall herself.

"Thump!"

In the blink of an eye, she landed on her back on the hard ground, blood immediately gushing from her mouth and nose; she was clearly not going to live. Seeing the child caught by a woman beside her, a smile involuntarily appeared on her face. That smile was so pure and noble. But her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. She glanced at the child one last time, reluctantly letting go.

"Kill!"

The Western Xia soldiers maintaining order on both sides of the city wall charged forward, trying to get more soldiers onto the ramparts. The officers even ordered the civilians blocking the way to be slaughtered.

Many civilians, seeing their own soldiers indiscriminately killing, panicked and jumped to either side.

A series of screams erupted from both sides of the ramparts. Before any fighting even began, Western Xia civilians were being slaughtered by their own soldiers.

To prevent the Western Xia from attacking, the sand wall was six feet wide, and the heavenly soldiers stood several feet away. Zhang Yang pulled three arrows from his quiver and hurled them at the mountain soldiers who had jumped onto the sand wall.

"Ah!"

The mountain soldiers hadn't expected anyone to throw arrows, and with Zhang Yang's incredible speed, the first three didn't even have time to react before an arrow pierced their chests. All three were disguised as civilians. Without any armor, arrows that usually cause little harm on the battlefield easily pierced their chests.

Blood and foam immediately gushed from the mouths of the three men, who collapsed onto the sandbags. However, the Shan'e soldiers behind them did not stop, stepping over the corpses of their comrades and charging forward.

Zhang Yang rapidly drew his arrows and hurled them at the charging Shan'e soldiers while shouting, "Retreat ten zhang!"

The twenty arrows in his quiver were emptied in the blink of an eye, and twenty Shan'e soldiers fell to the ground.

Seeing that Zhang Yang had run out of arrows, the Shan'e soldiers charged forward even more recklessly, several of them heading straight for Zhang Yang, who was clad in golden armor. Although Zhang Yang's name had long been known throughout Western Xia, the fierce Shan'e soldiers had never fought him in close combat. They had always been renowned for their foot combat skills and were known as "Bu Ba Zi" (meaning "foot warriors"). They believed that Zhang Yang was only skilled with a bow and arrow, and if they were allowed to get close, no one in the world could stop them. Zhang Yang's earlier hurling of arrows had further convinced them that he was only skilled with a bow and arrow. Looking at Zhang Yang, clad in golden armor, their eyes gleamed with undisguised greed.

Zhang Yang glanced at the men's ferocious faces, a mocking glint in his eyes, and swung his spear. Several mountain soldiers who rushed towards him were swept out of the city.

"Whoosh!"

"Thud!

" "Ah!"

"Ah!"

...

One of the mountain soldiers felt a gust of wind brush past his stomach, followed by a dull thud, as if a club had struck a grain sack. Then came several screams. The mountain soldier turned his head. Several of his comrades had already been swept off the city walls.

The mountain soldier was stunned by the scene before him. His steps faltered.

"Don't stop!"

the officer behind shouted, seeing his men halt.

The mountain soldiers, worthy of being the elite of the Western Xia infantry, charged forward again, showing no fear.

The one who had narrowly escaped Zhang Yang's sweeping attack then ran into Huyan Zhuo.

Huyan Zhuo, however, lacked Zhang Yang's skill in wielding arrows. With the Emperor's decree for retreat, he could only retreat while waiting for the Western Xia soldiers to charge. Seeing one soldier approach, fearing someone else would snatch him away, he stepped forward and lashed out with his whip at the head of the mountain soldier.

This mountain soldier was unlucky;

he easily dodged Zhang Yang, but then encountered Huyan Zhuo. Before his short blade could even reach his head, the whip struck solidly, instantly turning his once handsome head into a rotten watermelon, red and white splattering everywhere.

The other mountain soldiers fared the same, being dispatched as easily as slicing melons and chopping vegetables. Because the Emperor was at the forefront, none of the Heavenly Dynasty's generals dared to retreat first. However, due to the vast area covered by Zhang Yang's golden spear, only a few could get a chance to retaliate.

With Zhang Yang and the generals covering the rear, the Heavenly Army retreated to their designated positions without losing a single soldier. Many mountain soldiers disguised as civilians occupied the positions vacated by the Heavenly Army on the city walls, but under the attacks of Zhang Yang and his men, they could not advance any further.

"Give the order!"

Zhang Yang commanded, seeing that the opposing banner had also retreated to its designated position. Upon

hearing this, Yu Baosi behind him swiftly waved the imperial flag.

Immediately, hundreds of ceramic jars came hurtling towards them.

The Shan'e soldiers, hearing the whooshing sound in the air, mistook it for cannon fire and panicked, charging forward recklessly. Unfortunately, they only carried short blades, and Zhang Yang and his generals were far more skilled than them; no matter how hard they charged, they couldn't cross the line.

Within moments, the jars had reached the city wall.

The Shan'e soldiers were incredibly fierce, their ranks packed tightly on the wall, making it difficult for the jars to miss.

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

...

A series of crisp sounds followed, and aside from a few unlucky and vulnerable men being knocked unconscious, the Shan'e soldiers suffered no casualties. As the jars shattered, the black, fiery oil poured over those beneath them and many others nearby, though most of the jars were aimed at the horse path on one side of the city.

The Song Dynasty had used potent fire oil extensively in the northwest, so the veteran soldiers of the Western Xia were no strangers to it.

"It's potent fire oil! Be careful, the heavenly soldiers will set it on fire!"

an old soldier cried out in fear, smelling the pungent odor in the air.

Previously, Song soldiers had dug large pits, stretching for tens of feet, along the northwestern border to store potent fire oil to hinder the Western Xia army. The Western Xia army had also suffered greatly from potent fire oil; once ignited, the fire was enormous and could not be extinguished with water—it was truly ferocious.

Hearing that it was potent fire oil, the Western Xia soldiers panicked immediately. The clever ones turned and jumped down from the city walls, while most frantically tore at their clothes, which were soaked in potent fire oil.

"Fire arrows!"

At Zhang Yang's command, hundreds of archers behind him lit fire arrows and fired them towards the horse paths inside and outside the city.

"Block the fire arrows!"

A Western Xia officer, seeing the fire arrows coming, rushed to the front and used his short blade to deflect them. Seeing this, the soldiers behind him also stood at the edge of the horse path to block the arrows.

With them acting as shields, few arrows hit the horse path directly. However, one soldier who had been doused with burning oil earlier was hit squarely. The burning oil, which ignited quickly, burst into flames, and with a "whoosh," a man on fire appeared on the horse path.

The burning oil beneath his feet was also quickly ignited, and the horse path soon burst into flames.

"Use sand to put out the fire!"

An officer on the city wall had a flash of inspiration. He picked up a sandbag that was blocking the horse path, cut a hole in it with his knife, and threw the bag at the fire.

Soldiers on the city walls hurled sandbags at the ramparts, but dozens of canisters of burning oil instantly ignited. For a time, the few hundred Western Xia soldiers on the walls couldn't control the fire.

The wet ramparts inside the city didn't immediately catch fire, but the soaked oil ignited completely, making it appear from a distance as if the entire ramparts were ablaze.

The ramparts outside the city, already concealed with burning oil, were further engulfed in flames by hundreds of rockets.

Western Xia soldiers rushing to the front lines hesitated, wondering whether to fight the fire or charge forward, when another whooshing sound rang out overhead.

Several canisters of burning oil collided in mid-air, the splashing oil igniting beneath the flames. As the oil fell, the intense fire engulfed several struggling men.

Dozens more canisters of oil were poured onto the ramparts, causing the fire to rage again, and the oil on the city walls was also ignited. The Western Xia soldiers on the city wall now regretted throwing the sandbags too quickly. Without sandbags to extinguish the fire, the Western Xia soldiers, their bodies ablaze, could only frantically jump down from the city walls or rush towards Zhang Yang and his men, only to be knocked to the ground by long weapons before they could even get close. With

a deafening roar, the ramparts inside and outside the city collapsed under the raging flames.

Chapter 119: A Good Dream Fades

Away, Everyone Retreat! "

Weiming Renli, who had led the charge, had just arrived at the city walls when he discovered the ramparts had collapsed with a deafening roar. Seeing the swaying, burning figures on the walls, his hard-won courage vanished like a receding tide.

To lower the genius's guard, Weiming Renli had launched his surprise attack with nearly ten thousand civilians behind him. The troops attacking the city consisted of those maintaining order along the streets and elite soldiers disguised as civilians. As soon as the troops on both sides left, the civilians, terrified by the raging fire, panicked and scattered like headless flies. Cries for their parents rose and fell, and the already narrow streets were instantly blocked by the crowd.

Weiming Renli, who had been focused solely on charging forward, turned around and realized his escape route was cut off.

'Drive the civilians away! Quickly!'" "

As soon as Wei Mingrenli finished speaking, he felt a darkness above him. Looking up, he was horrified to see a hail of arrows hurtling towards him. Wei Mingrenli was instantly terrified, his body went limp, and he tumbled off his horse.

To gain the trust of the Heavenly Soldiers, the Western Xia soldiers carried no armor, and the Heavenly Soldiers' arrows were used at their maximum power. Hundreds of Western Xia soldiers fell instantly under the arrow rain, and those who didn't die on the spot let out shrill screams. Blood spread across the ground, staining it red and turning everyone's eyes red.

It must be said that Wei Mingrenli was incredibly lucky; after falling off his horse in fright, he somehow rolled under its belly, and after a volley of arrows, he was completely unharmed.

Only his warhorse, riddled with arrows, collapsed with a thud, landing on top of Wei Mingrenli.

"Drip"

"Drip"

Drops

of horse blood fell onto Wei Mingrenli's face, showing no mercy despite his noble birth, before sliding down his cheeks.

Wei Mingrenli, already somewhat dizzy from being crushed by the warhorse, felt the wetness on his face and regained some clarity, trying to push the horse off him. However, he found his limbs weak, his body limp like mud, unable to muster any strength.

Wei Mingrenli had no choice but to abandon his attempt to push the horse away, struggling to turn his face away from the horse's weight. Looking outwards, he saw a soldier lying prone beside him, riddled with arrows. Several arrows had pierced his back, with only a few inches of fletching remaining; he was clearly beyond saving. He wasn't quite dead yet, his body twitching and convulsing, uttering incoherent groans.

A pool of blood was slowly flowing from beneath the soldier.

Seeing the glaring crimson blood, Wei Mingrenli suddenly mustered some strength and shouted hoarsely, "Get me out of here!" "

It must be said that in the face of death, people can always unleash some strange power. Wei Mingrenli's shout actually drowned out the screams and groans of hundreds of people nearby, clearly echoing in the blood-soaked ground studded with white arrows. Unfortunately, he used it in the wrong place. If he had pushed aside the warhorse's corpse instead of shouting for help, he might have been able to prolong his life for a while.

Compared to the somewhat tragic scene below the city, the scene on the city wall was somewhat suffocating. The flames spreading from the horse path ignited the burning oil on the city wall, and many Xixia soldiers were burned alive. They swayed and bumped against the city wall."

A pungent, acrid smell permeated the city walls, causing Zhang Yang and his generals at the forefront to furrow their brows. Watching

the agonizing screams of the Western Xia soldiers, Zhang Yang, though ruthless, was not a monster. He couldn't bear to watch this agonizing scene any longer. He took a quiver from an archer behind him and unleashed a barrage of arrows, killing the struggling fire-men one by one. Just as

Zhang Yang cleared the fire-men from the city walls, he heard Wei Mingrenli's cry for help, a cry that could "shatter heaven and earth, and move even the gods to tears."

Looking at the carcass of that flamboyant white horse, Zhang Yang clearly remembered it was from the Western Xia... The commander led the way out of the city, followed by Wei Mingrenli's mount, which charged forward at the head of the procession.

Zhang Yang remembered how cowardly Wei Mingrenli had been back in Yan'an Prefecture; a slight fright would send him running for his life. He was a complete coward. Zhang Yang couldn't understand how he had changed so much in just a few months.

Perhaps Zhang Yang would never have guessed that Wei Mingrenzhong, having discovered the strength of the Celestial Empire and the imminent collapse of Western Xia, had released his younger brother onto the grasslands to fight wolves, using the harshness of nature to awaken his fighting spirit. Unfortunately, this hard-won fighting spirit... The scene of carnage on the city walls receded like the tide.

If Weiming Renzhong had seen what had just happened, he would have kept his brother on the grasslands longer.

Although puzzled by Weiming Renli's change, Zhang Yang had no intention of showing mercy. He took an arrow from the quiver of a nearby archer, nocked it, and with a gentle pull, drew it to its full extent before releasing it.

The onlookers even heard the bow creak in Zhang Yang's hand. Looking up, they saw a black shadow flash by, and

the arrow was gone, completely embedded in the horse's belly.

"Clang!"

Weiming Renli felt a sharp pain in his chest, followed by a crisp sound, like metal hitting the ground. A stream of blood foam quietly flowed from Weiming Renli's mouth into the sea of blood on the ground.

The dying guards beside him looked at the blood flowing from their once-golden master's mouth and realized that his blood was just as thick and filthy as their own.

Blood gushed from the gaping wound. Wei Mingrenli felt his strength rapidly draining from his chest, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Glancing at his personal guard beside him, he realized he was just as fragile as the guard. An arrow, a knife, could kill him. If there were an afterlife, he would never participate in war again. He wondered if those who waged war knew that life was equally fragile.

"Ugh,"

Wei Mingrenli coughed up a mouthful of blood, trying to lift his head to look one last time at the jewel-like blue sky, but the weight of the horse's belly pressed down on him, and he finally passed away, unwilling to accept his fate.

If Zhang Yang knew his final thoughts, he would surely tell him defiantly, "My life and death are preordained; mortal weapons cannot harm me." Zhang Yang certainly had the right to be arrogant. With his monstrous speed after his modifications, even arrows would struggle to harm him. Perhaps only a powerful crossbow could strike Zhang Yang at close range, but even that would be an impossible task—to escape the keen eyes and ears of Zhang Yang and get close to him.

Smelling the acrid stench of burning flesh in the air, and seeing the still-burning corpses of the Western Xia people on the city walls, Zhang Yang waved his hand and ordered, "Use sand to extinguish the fire! Set the city ablaze!"

At Zhang Yang's command, the archers on the city walls switched to fire arrows.

Fiery meteors streaked across the sky and crashed into the city. Although the fire arrows didn't increase their destructive power, the pain they inflicted was far greater. Those struck by the arrows let out piercing screams.

Even the Western Xia civilians who had been driven far away outside the city could hear the cries from within. A few Shan'e soldiers mixed among the civilians, seeing tens of thousands of imperial soldiers watching them menacingly, and with the city's troops intercepted, had no choice but to hide among the civilians.

Hua Rong looked at the chaotic Western Xia people in the center, but felt no joy. When he declined the position of governor of Yue Li Road, he knew that war would soon break out in the northern frontier. Neither Western Xia nor the Liao Kingdom, which had occupied the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun for nearly a century, would be allowed to survive by his ambitious brother-in-law. His only fully-equipped cavalry unit would be entrusted with important responsibilities, and achieving great merit was just around the corner. Although the position of Governor-General of Yue Li Road, concurrently in charge of both civil and military affairs, was a rare and lucrative post, he believed that his equestrian skills could pave a brighter future for him. Moreover, with his favored sister in the palace providing support, he was unwilling to remain confined to that remote , uncivilized region.

Of course, he dared not address the emperor as "brother-in-law" to his face. Although the emperor was approachable and gentle, he still held the same awe as ordinary people before the emperor's immense prestige, destined to only look up to him.

However, to his disappointment, with the Western Xia on the verge of collapse, he had not rendered any service. In the siege, the cavalry had no role to play and had now been reduced to guarding the Western Xia people.

Hua Rong noticed that most of the Western Xia soldiers on the city wall were dressed as civilians, and that the majority of the crowd were men. Pointing to the last few thousand, he shouted, "Stop!"

The civilians he pointed to, seeing Hua Rong high on his horse, trembled with fear, unsure how they had offended the Heavenly Dynasty general.

One of them quickly ran out and knelt, pleading, "General, spare my life! I am also a Han Chinese!"

Hua Rong, seeing his ragged clothes and his heavy Beijing accent, assumed he was a captured Han Chinese and nodded, saying, "Stand aside. We'll make arrangements after verification."

Then he shouted, "All Han Chinese, step forward and form a separate line for inspection!"

As soon as he finished speaking, many Han Chinese rushed out. Some Tanguts, pretending to be Han, also tried to escape, but their awkward accents gave them away after a brief check.

Although there weren't many Han Chinese inside the city, the Western Xia soldiers had disguised themselves as civilians to raid the city wall, and those leaving the city included families of nobles and members of the imperial family. Fearing that the Heavenly Army might slaughter those leaving the city in anger, nearly half of them were Han Chinese.

The once high-ranking Tangut royal relatives, seeing the Heavenly Army treating their compatriots with such courtesy, couldn't help but envy their former Han servants. Many begged their former servants to take them out, but their former servants had shown them little kindness. Few Han Chinese were willing to smuggle Tanguts out, and the few exceptions were quickly discovered by the Heavenly Army. Even those who managed to slip through faced even stricter scrutiny.

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