Chapter Forty-Five: Beheading

  But Ma Cheng and Song Pei had a hard time climbing over mountains and wading through muddy swamps, finally finding the cave. Ma Cheng looked at the 100 Liang soldiers waiting in front of the cave and secretly congratulated himself on having left some troops behind, otherwise he would have really become a commander without an army.

  As soon as he opened the box, Sleeping Beauty suddenly appeared, leaving Ma Cheng stunned. Song Pei's inexplicable laughter beside him made Ma Cheng want to find a mouse hole to crawl into.

  On August 27, the second day after Gong Sun Ce captured the city of Chongxin County. Li Si Kong, who was garrisoning Pingliang Prefecture, discovered that what he was facing off against was not Song Yi's army at all, but just a lone detachment making empty threats.

  Li Sikong immediately launched a fierce attack, but the Liao army had anticipated this and retreated early. Li Sikong pursued and killed them, relying on his own Dingnan Army's 200 cavalrymen, advancing triumphantly along the way. On August 28th, they arrived outside the city of Huating County.

  Then, Li Sikong prepared to retreat. Because he saw Song Pei, this spirited and not bad little dwarf. Unfortunately, his withdrawal was still a step late, and the rear route was surrounded by Ma Cheng's detour. He was attacked in turn by several large armies summoned by Song Pei, and only Li Sikong was left gasping for breath, searching for a way to break through.

  Song Pei was very righteous and left him a way to survive. Li Si Gong only managed to escape, so he ran to the city of Pingliang Prefecture, but the three thousand troops he brought with him became the military merit of the Liang army.

  It won't be possible for Li Siyuan to be trapped in Pingliang City forever, will it? Anyway, during the big autumn harvest season, even the farming faction has no heart to farm, let alone Li Siyuan who relies on military achievements. So Li Siyuan swung his horse whip and led 5,000 troops to launch an eastern expedition.

  "How did Huazhen fall into Qin Jun's hands! Who can tell me, why!" Li Sigong was a Tangut person, originating from the Western Qiang. He had a sturdy build and a majestic appearance, which means he looked very heroic.

  If the town of Huāzhèn was guarded by either the Former Qin or the Later Qin, he would have launched a direct attack. When dividing up territories in the Ghost Realm, both the Former and Later Qin were on his turf, as for the two Western Qin nations, he didn't even give them a glance.

  But what appeared now was actually the Pre-Qin! As far as he knew, there were only two places with strongholds in Pre-Qin: Xianyang and Qin Prefecture. Qin Prefecture was surrounded by other national forces and couldn't be defeated. So it must be the Qin army from the Xianyang side, it could only be the Qin army from the Xianyang side!

  Xianyang is a terrifying existence, with 50,000 junior officers, completely capable of sweeping away the current Western Xia forces! So Li Siguang was terrified, having just been beaten by Song Zhe, would he be thoroughly crushed by the Qin army again?

  Seeing the Western Xia army appear, the 500-strong Qin army in Huazhou sent out a messenger seeking help and prepared to defend to the death.

  "Attack! This was originally the land of Dashu, and I reckon the Qin army is also isolated. Otherwise, why not attack my Pingliang?" Li Sigu decided to pull out a tooth from the tiger's mouth at once!

  The pre-Qin was powerful, and it couldn't tolerate concessions. If it did, the pre-Qin would only become stronger. When it became strong enough, it would destroy its own Xia Dynasty, and even dispatch a few elite troops to drag itself to death!

  A small country must exercise hegemonic national policies; otherwise, it will be destroyed sooner or later! This is one of the insights of a revived hero from a chaotic world, absolutely applicable.

  Jinghe County Guardian General was Yinqu Xun, facing him, Gongsun Zan only thought he was a general of the Qin State aristocracy. Yinqu Xun did not tell Gongsun Zan that he also had another name called Chuli Xun. Even if he said it out loud, there were few people who could understand the meaning behind this name.

  Win Ji, a general of the Qin state during the mid-Warring States period, was a younger son of Qin Xiao Gong Ying Quliang and a younger brother of Qin Huiwen Wang. He is also known as Zou Li Zi or Yan Jun Ji. Because he lived in Zouli (also said to be Rouli, now Shannan, Shaanxi), he was called Zouli Ji. He was clever and witty, and the people of Qin called him "the wise bag".

  Win Jie was appointed as the Right Protector and led the army to attack Wei's Quwo, driving out the residents of the city, occupying this land and making it part of the Qin territory. A few years later, he was appointed as the Lieutenant General and led the army to defeat the allied forces of Han, Zhao, and Wei at Xiuyu, capturing Han generals Shen Cha and Kun, beheading over 80,000 people, and forcing the Crown Prince of Han, Han Cang, to enter Qin as a hostage. He then took the Wei territories of Jiao and Quwo; and again defeated Han at Anmen, beheading 10,000 people.

  If the national strength of Qin can keep up, Bai Qi can be completely replaced by Wang Jian to achieve the grand goal of killing one million people!

  Winning Ji was about to send an envoy to Gong Sun Ce for help, and at the same time, he would gather the small troops of Qin army stationed in the surrounding villages to Jinghe County.

  Huazhen's 500 Qin troops, although revived for only three days, had limited strength recovery. However, they held off Li Sigong for half a day, giving Ying Ji enough time to complete the gathering, and the city of Jinghe County was filled with 6,000 Qin troops! Moreover, messengers were rushing to other counties, and subsequent reinforcements would be endless!

  Li Si Gong arrived at the county town of Jinghe in the evening and found that a Qin army had already set up camp outside the city, forming a connected force with the county town. This put him in a difficult position, so he set up camp while sending out messengers to rush towards the county towns controlled by Western Xia forces to seek help.

  He has already poked the tiger's butt, and there is nowhere to hide. He can only swallow this batch of Qin army in one breath! At least for now, he still has a certain advantage, which is that his 5,000 men revived earlier, and their strength is much stronger than the 6,000 men under Ying Ji's command. If he waits until the Qin army's military soul recovers completely, he can only flee in defeat.

  Gongsun Ce received the call for help and immediately led his 3,000-strong army to rush to Jinghe County with dry rations. They rested in a small town 10 kilometers away from Jinghe at midnight. At the same time, he sent Li Jin to contact Ying Ji.

  On the second day, the sky was bright and sunny, the soldiers were still resting, Gong Sun Ce and Chu Mengmeng were playing Weiqi.

  "Our luck is good, but also not good." Gong Sun Ce finished five rounds and didn't make another move. Chu Mengmeng smiled slyly, her eyes gleaming with a thief's smile. She only nodded in response to Gong Sun Ce's words, still basking in the joy of winning several battles in a row.

  Gongsun Ce coughed lightly and continued, "Being able to defeat Song Pei is really our good fortune. I didn't expect him to be so strong, and he actually made Li Sigu's lone ride flee in disarray. From now on, when we meet Song Pei again, we'll have a good harvest!"

  "Sir, don't extinguish others' enthusiasm and destroy your own prestige."

  "In Ah Meng's opinion, Song Pei is good at using unusual tactics and excels at fighting head-on battles. In fact, our Youye army isn't bad either. When we fought against the Liang army, the crossbowmen from Baita's unit and the 500-strong Yuqi cavalry re-established by Cheng Shen - just these thousand men alone could give Song Pei a headache."

  "What's even more annoying is Du Yuanzheng's 200 archers, who are using guerrilla tactics to sweep across the Divine State. It's only a matter of time! Gao Shun's Heavenly Army has been deployed, and they're like bulldozers - they can completely annihilate him with one strike!"

  Chu Mengmeng's analysis is reasonable, and Gongsun Ce also agrees. However, when it comes to playing tricks, although Chu Mengmeng has obtained the ghostly way of Guo Jia's inheritance, he is now like him, lacking in experience and not growing up. Therefore, facing the enemy's conspiracy and tricks has become a weakness of the Horizontal Field Army.

  The military generals who can revive their souls are all fed with this kind of food. Some start from being a small soldier and eat their way up to becoming a general, while others have been eating this kind of food since they were young, accompanying their fathers in the general's household. They play various tactics and strategies, more familiar than Gong Sun Zan playing Angry Birds!

  Soon, a guard brought in food and the two were eating when the ghost brought news that Li Jin had been taken back to the front lines. Gong Sun Ce heard this and jumped up, slapping his case and shouting: "How is this possible!"

  Chu Mengmeng furrowed her brow in contemplation, still puzzled, and guessed: "Is it that Li Sikong was tortured by Song Pei to the point of losing his mind, and actually wants to have a hard confrontation with Great Qin?"

  "It's not impossible! However, this is also inevitable. Not to mention the Great Qin, just our revived Qin army on this road has at least 30,000 soldiers. Gathering two million would be enough to thoroughly threaten his foundation. So if he doesn't make a move now, we'll cut off his four limbs and finally conquer Pingliang, thoroughly defeating him!" Gong Sun Ce began thinking about how to gain the greatest benefit from the current situation.

  Chu Mengmeng didn't have the heart to eat, and began thinking about how to grab the biggest piece of meat in this situation.

  "Even if we can't hold on any longer, we can still rely on the 6,000 men to hold out until noon. So we set out at 10 o'clock and arrived at the battlefield around 1 o'clock. At that time..."

  "The master is indeed a sly hero...". The two of them had an extremely good understanding, and they looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  At this time, the two armies of Qin and Xia in Jinghe County were cooking and having meals. Around 9 o'clock, the Xia army came out to battle, while the Qin army defended firmly.

  The newly built city wall of the county town was simple, but it was more solid than the camp set up by the Qin army outside the city. So Li Si Kuang's 5,000-strong army was divided into two parts, with one part of 3,000 people attacking the Qin army's camp in shifts from left and right. The other 2,000 were led by Li Si Kuang himself to guard against the reinforcements sent out by the county town.

  Now both armies have some bow and arrow weapons, but the number is too small, and the face-saving effect is greater than the actual combat effectiveness. However, you shoot me, I shoot you, everyone shoots, and it's a joy to shoot.

  Li Sikong's offensive was fierce, and in less than half an hour, he broke through the fence of the Qin army camp and engaged in a fierce battle with the Qin soldiers inside. The Qin army's inherent ferocity, recklessness, and love for war made them fight to the death. Despite the strong military strength of the Western Xia Dingnan Army that had entered the camp, they were unable to crush the morale of the Qin soldiers, who were pinned down inside the camp.

  The two armies of Xia attacked the Qin army from both sides, and the Qin army was in a precarious situation, with the possibility of being pierced at any moment. Weng Ji could not bear to see his own people die without rescue, so he personally led 3,000 Qin soldiers out of the city to provide reinforcements.

  Li Si Cong was able to let the win quickly and decisively, opening up the formation and rushing forward. The main force under Ying Ji's command was still composed of halberd soldiers, forming a halberd array and working together with the Dingnan Army to encircle and annihilate them. Seeing Ying Ji lead his troops out of the city, the morale of the Qin army inside the camp surged, and the Dingnan Army, which was pinning them down, knew that time was precious and was willing to sacrifice their lives to suppress this surge in morale!

  Two battlefields, fierce fighting, soldiers are dying every moment.

  The withered ash formed after the death of the military soul was blown up by the wind, and the entire battlefield was like in a fog.

  The halberd formation can attack and defend, seemingly comprehensive, but in fact it is the defensive ability gained at the expense of attacking ability. However, facing the Dingnan army with short guns and waist knives, the halberd formation was indeed difficult to approach.

  The vanguard troops fought with Li Sigu for nearly an hour, and the soldiers of both armies were extremely exhausted. They all knew that this battle was crucial, and they refused to retreat or slack off.

  Half an hour later, Ying Ji saw the military flags in the Qin army camp being cut down, and the only remaining Qin soldiers were surrounded by the city, persisting in the battle, doing their best to hold back the enemy. However, with limited strength, there were still 500 elite soldiers who broke through and killed towards Ying Ji.

  At this time, the sun was high in the sky, and it was already noon.

  Ying Ji believed that Gongsun Zan's reinforcements would arrive soon, and he continued to send 500 more men from the city to join the battlefield, continuing to harass the Dingnan army, who were being killed in waves and retreating. The Dingnan army was also suffering greatly, just like the Qin army, but they had gained momentum, annihilating a unit of Qin soldiers outside the city, with high morale.

  The Qin army, on the other hand, was disheartened. Seeing this situation, even if Gong Sun Ce didn't come, he had to hold on himself. If he retreated now, he would definitely be bitten by the Ding Nan army and killed, and might even be killed in one breath and break through the county city!

  "Reinforcements!" The Qin army on the city wall saw Gong Sun's great flag, and they all cheered and shouted loudly, reminding their fellow soldiers who were fighting to the death below.

  In an instant, the situation on the battlefield was reversed. The morale of the Qin army surged, while that of the Dingnan army plummeted.

  Li Si Gong looked up at the sky and sighed: "Heaven does not help me, what can I do?"

  He turned his head back and was immediately stunned. He couldn't believe what he saw, a large cavalry was rushing towards him.

  Especially the golden armored cavalry general who came to commit a crime, one horse took the lead, both hands holding a halberd and killing him. Gong Sun Ce's unstoppable momentum shocked Li Si Kuang, and Li Si Kuang had more than 100 riders by his side, without thinking, he turned around and retreated.

  Gongsun Zan was killed, and Li Suiguang, who wore a golden armor, was also killed by the Dingnan army. When he saw that the incoming general was fierce, Li Suiguang ran even faster.

  "Take this!" Gong Sun Ce's horse was a newly acquired treasure, tall and lean, with a powerful physique and explosive strength. As they approached the front line where only Li Si Kong remained, he suddenly accelerated and burst forth. Gong Sun Ce thrust his spear forward, striking directly at Li Si Kong's waist and back.

  Li Sikong was knocked off his war horse, rolled over, spat out a mouthful of blood, and gazed up at the blue sky: "Impossible! How can I die here!"

  Gongsun Zan rode his horse over, listened but didn't say a word, stabbed out with his spear, pulled it back, and blood splattered everywhere.

  Another slash!