After the colonel's review, the infantry battalion left in an orderly manner, and the gentry and common people gathered before they dispersed. From the wharf of Western Australia to the city of Guangzhou, there are groups of children running by chanting "Wan Sheng" everywhere, people gather together to talk, some talk about the military appearance of the colonel parade officers and soldiers, some talk about the South China Sea Expedition and the Northern Expedition, some talk about Zhao Xingde and Chen Gongju, especially Zhao Xingde, whether it is a rich businessman or a sailor and footman, everyone recounts his deeds, from the Northern Expedition to the West, as small as a word and deed, as if the characters in the book suddenly came to life in this dynasty, everyone is elated.

If it weren't for the sailor's imminent voyage, there might have been many Confucian scholars vying to worship him.

After the colonel's reading, the morale of the officers and men of the naval division was raised, and there was only one thing that everyone hoped for: under the command of Zhao Xingde, they would send troops as soon as possible, strengthen the ships and artillery, and make the brave soldiers strong, and they would surely sweep away all the forces in the South China Sea in one fell swoop, and they would be invincible, and everyone was full of confidence in victory. In an optimistic atmosphere, the sea ships were repaired, supplies were replenished, and sailors were trained, and all preparations were completed in an orderly manner. Everything is ready, just wait for the northeast wind to rise, and then sail away.

On the third day of September, I finally waited for a stable northeast trade wind. The military situation urged by the Protectorate was like fire, and the trade wind season did not wait for anyone, so Zhao Xingde immediately ordered to prepare to set sail. The day of the flotilla's departure was set on the 10th day of September. In addition to the more than 80 warships of the main fleet of the South China Sea Naval Division, there are also more than 200 large and small warships of the sub-fleet, as well as more than 300 merchant ships along the southeast coast. The owners of the merchant ships prepared their goods at the wharf of Western Australia early, looking forward to the arrival of the trade winds, so everyone agreed on a good day and made their final preparations.

On the ninth day of the ninth month of September, Zhao Xingde came to the residence of the envoy of the Xia State and bid farewell to Li Rui and others.

Li Rui took the letter bag, only to feel that his hand sank, and he almost fell to the ground, and couldn't help but glance at Zhao Xingde suspiciously.

Zhao Xingde smiled bitterly and explained: "This is a letter from the family, and I ask Brother Li to bring it to Neiko." ”

"Okay." Li Rui is not a talkative person, and nodded and said, "Then I hope you will return to your hometown." Li Rui and Zhao Xingde are both Song people, but they are famous in the Xia Kingdom, the word "hometown" is concise and concise, and the hometown they think in their hearts is the real hometown. He shook his head and sighed, "You are a heartfelt wife and children, I only read the few heaven-viewing mirrors in Dunhuang, the teacher's eyesight is not good, and several junior disciples have gone to various places to observe the sky and the earth, and the data accumulated in the past few months is always at ease." With that, he turned and put the letter bag away. In order to return to Dunhuang as soon as possible, Li Rui had already agreed with the deputy envoy Tan Lanxi, abandoned the boat, and the two of them galloped back to Guanzhong with a few escorts.

"The lower officials also wish General Zhao an early victory and an honorable return to his hometown." Deputy envoy Tan Lanxi had a smile on his face and said together.

"Lord Tan should be polite." Zhao Xingde waved his hand, "The two of you are not far away, and they are also here for Zhao, speaking of which, Zhao has to thank the two of you." He smiled, "If the march goes well, I hope to thank Lord Tan in Luoyang at this time next year." After speaking, he raised his teacup and saluted him with tea instead of wine. The general raises love, but the lower officials don't dare," Tan Lanxi hurriedly raised the teacup and said in a deep voice: "Besides, the treasure knife is sharp, after leveling the Turkic royal court, I hope that the lower officials can listen to the general's teachings again in Luoyang." ”

The two looked at each other and smiled, and each drank the tea, and everything was silent.

Zhao Xingde was busy with military affairs, and after only a few words, he said goodbye and left, and Tan Lanxi sent him away, showing regret in his eyes.

If the Great Eclipse War could not have a result within a year or two, it would be a blessing or a curse for the Xia Kingdom. And once the war in the west stabilizes, the eastern battlefield will regain the attention of the Protectorate. If the Liao and Song Dynasty have nothing to do to maintain the balance of power, and now the Prime Minister of the Great Song Dynasty is committed to the Northern Expedition, it seems that in the next two years, the two tigers of the Liao and Song Dynasty will inevitably fight all over their bodies, and at that time, maybe it will be an opportunity to unify the Three Kingdoms. However, for Zhao Xingde, if he refused to be the enemy of the Song State, he could only disarm and return to the field. This is not only the fate of Zhao Xingde alone, but also the fate of the Song Guoshi who refused to surrender to Kansai, and some even shed blood.

In any case, the sword is still sharp, and it cannot but be said to be a pity.

............

On the ninth day of September, the grass in Khorasan is already yellow.

Before the Xia army could attack the Rum Turks, the Ghaznavid princes in the southeast were a threat that had to be resolved. After the Ghaznavid king Duula refused to conclude an alliance, the general's palace mobilized an elite army from the river to enrich the city of Huwen, and at the same time sent cavalry deep into the territory of the Ghaznavid, burning the pastures, destroying the water source, and never letting go of the tribes, all of them were killed or captured, and the princes of the Ghaznavid were restless and complaining, and finally provoked the king of the Ghaznavids, Duura, to lead an army of 50,000 cavalry to attack the city of Huwen. The Xia army held on to the city for more than ten days, and when the Ghaznavid army was about to retreat, the city gate was opened, and the Xia army of 30,000 cavalry went out of the city to meet the battle.

On this day, the sky was clear, the north wind was howling, and there was a chilling killing intent in the air.

The river beach is golden and undulating with the wind, and this piece of wild grass grows excellently, looking from afar, like a wheat wave in the river.

However, in the midst of this golden grass wave, the cavalry of the Xia Kingdom pressed their mounts tightly, the war horse lay on its side, and the man crunched down on the horse's head, which happened to be hidden in this lush autumn grass. Everyone's faces were solemn, and they listened carefully to the faint roar of horses' hooves in the distance, and no one whispered. Because the weeds grow so thickly, if you don't stand upright, you can't see the situation of the battlefield in the wilderness ahead. However, no one dared to straighten up, this river beach was low-lying and soft, the war horses could not run, it was an extremely unfavorable terrain for the cavalry, if it was discovered by the Ghaznavids, as long as it was condescending to the next charge, the ambushed Xia cavalry could be driven down the river. However, because of this, the Ghaznavid people did not expect that the elite cavalry of the Xia Kingdom would actually lie in ambush in the weeds of the river beach that seemed to be unobstructed and could not hide anything, and this area was still the place where the Ghaznavids came to cut the grass a few days ago.

"I wonder how the battle of the Great Array went?" Marching Sima Yu Decheng worried.

"Don't worry!" Wang Tongdeng gently patted the neck of the war horse, comforted the mount, and sneered, "The two forbidden armies of Jiaorong and Lian Rui are holding on in the big array, not to mention the Ghaznavid princes, even if the Sultan of Rûm comes in person, he will have to break his canine teeth." He looked back, and the cavalry and mounts were still steady, except for the look of anticipation on the sergeant's face as the wind and grass swayed.

He closed his eyes slightly, and listened carefully to the faint sound of artillery fire, shouts of killing, horses' hooves, and the sound of chirping in the wind.

"Boom-" "Boom-" "Boom-"

Wang Tongdeng opened his eyes suddenly, only to see three brilliant fireworks rising into the air, "Get on the horse!" He shouted.

"Get on the horse!" Before the words fell, Wang Tongdeng himself had already taken the lead in stepping on the war horse and raising the big gun.

With all four hooves, the mount staggered to his feet from the autumn grass, most of his body exposed to the grass.

The field of vision suddenly broadened, and Wang Tongdeng only felt refreshed. Around him, the war horses stood up one after another, and one after another cavalry emerged from the grass, and as far as the eye could see, on this wide riverbank grass, long lances like forests were erected everywhere, and countless sharp lance blades flashed with cold light. Wang Tongdeng knew that in order to deal a fatal blow to the coalition army of the Ghaznavid princes, the Xia army had ambushed tens of thousands of cavalry on this river beach, and in front of them, the Ghaznavid army had been completely entangled with the Xia State array, and even the Praetorian cavalry of the Ghaznavid king Duura had already moved.

"Follow me!" Wang Tongdeng shouted, and with a lift of the reins, the war horse shook and broke through the grass and marched forward.

At the same time, the other cavalry were already urging their mounts to walk briskly. This meadow is not suitable for cavalry galloping, and it needs to be detached as soon as possible. Tens of thousands of cavalry lurking in the grass of the river beach with unfavorable terrain is a huge gamble, if the Ghaznavid cavalry even reacts and uses thousands of horses to make a condescending counter-charge, the Xia cavalry will be scattered and have no speed advantage, they will definitely suffer heavy losses, and even be crushed on the river beach. However, the Ghaznavid army did not seem to have this ability, and when a large number of Xia cavalry suddenly appeared in the grass not far from the battlefield, several princes immediately took the lead in retreating. A few other Ghaznavid generals desperately gathered their subordinates in the melee, but for a while, they could not gather even a few hundred cavalry.

"Kill!" Wang Tongdeng finally rode out of the grass on the riverbank, and he said loudly, "Follow me—"

The moment the war horse jumped up and stepped on the solid ground with four hooves, Wang Tongdeng's blood seemed to burn.

Although he had not yet engaged, he was sure that the enemy army would be defeated. "Kill!" "Kill!" One cavalry after another rushed out of the river beach, and they were inexplicably excited to see the enemy army in disarray, and for an experienced cavalryman, to defeat such an enemy was like slicing through the meat on a cutting board. However, according to the order, the cavalry should charge the enemy in a whole formation, and at this time, a large number of follow-up cavalry were still slowly advancing in the grass on the river beach, many Xia cavalry looked at the surrounding robes, at this time, only to hear Wang Tongdeng, who was the commander, "Rush with me-" A horse rushed out first, and more than a dozen cavalry around him did not hesitate to ride their horses to follow, more and more cavalry followed them, regardless of the battalion, and the accelerating cavalry formed a sharp arrow formation.

"What are you doing in a daze?! Come on! Wang Ling shouted loudly and beckoned his cavalry to rush forward.

His hundred-man team came out with less than thirty horsemen, but when Wang Ling saw the chaotic appearance of the Ghaznavid army in front of him, he immediately recognized Wang Tongdeng's decision to attack quickly. Although Wang Ling was not Wang Tongdeng's subordinate, and he didn't even know that the brave man who took the lead in charging into battle was the commander of the Second Army of the Flower Hat, this did not prevent him from following the right decision on the battlefield.

"Rush!" "Follow me!"

As if agreed, one cavalry officer after another led the charge towards the enemy.

Although the tens of thousands of cavalry who walked out of the river beach one after another did not have time to form a group, they rushed unstoppably towards the center of the battlefield like a flood that broke the embankment. "Kill me with me—" Wang Tongdeng rushed to the front, his eyes fixed on the enemy in front of him, but before the cavalry advance could make contact with the enemy, the Ghaznavid army had already begun to scatter and flee. The Ghaznavid army, which was in full swing, collapsed with almost no meaningful resistance.