"For the sake of a few acres of barren grass, human beings will never stop killing each other." —Western Xia philosopher Dekang

In the autumn of 1726 (the twenty-seventh year of Zhongxing of Liao Gaozong, the forty-second year of Xia Shizonghua).

The red sun rises from the east, spreading the sunshine that grows all things on the earth, the warm south wind gently blows through the half-human-high grass, and the sound of the Qiang flute slowly steps down the hillside with the beat of the waist drum.

"The decisive battle is today." The middle-aged man riding on a tall red horse narrowed his eyes slightly: "The enemy army is facing the sun, please fight quickly." ”

In the Pan of the Attila River, the elite of the Taixi Governor's Mansion of the Great Liao Empire has been exhausted, and the fierce generals who have made great achievements in the Xiongnu steppe in the past fifteen years have also gathered here.

Chen Luo, the only one after the new military system of the empire and the first Han marshal, the myth of the undefeated Great Liao Empire, commanded more than 150,000 imperial troops and no less than 200,000 servant troops of all tribes in the grassland, and marched into the glory of the Great Liao in Taixi - Watchberg.

For the past four months, they have crossed the Attila River, fought at Fort Glory, chased the vast steppes, and hunted the shores of the Caspian Sea. Finally, today, the enemy army was forced back to a place where there was no way to retreat.

"I am deeply honored to be able to fight with you." The marshal, who had been decorated in battle, spoke calmly to his soldiers before the battle began.

From the right flank, the Menggu tribe took the lead in launching a decisive charge against the Xia army's well-defended long trench, followed by the Mi'er beggar department, the Admiralty department, and the Tatar department. These warriors of the steppe wielded swords made of iron, whistling the whistle of the elves that drove the wind, and in the midst of the dense gunfire and deafening cannon sound, they marched forward, forward, forward!

Quietly listening to the sound of guns and cannons in the distance, the neat red-shirted phalanx under the imperial flag of the Great Liao Emperor did not move. From time to time, a young general raised his telescope anxiously and looked at the hillside in the distance, which was empty and had nothing but weeds.

He occasionally looked back and saw that the commander under the imperial flag had been replaced by Sima Mingjin of the Taixi Governor's Mansion, a cunning lame man called "Attila's Fox" by the Tanguts, even more terrifying than Marshal Chen Luo, who symbolized the myth of the invincibility of the Liao army, in the hearts of the Tangut people.

As the clock rustled, the sun gradually climbed to the height of noon, and the south wind could not help but smell of earth and blood, making people wonder how many people had died on the right-wing front.

Ming Jin sat leisurely on a recliner, sipping new tea from Gusu under the service of the maid, a floor-to-ceiling eight-treasure self-striking bell produced in the Song Kingdom was erected in front of him, and the thick and black seconds were evenly drawn in circles, and the sound of horses' hooves seemed to be heard in the distance...... Ming Jin glanced at the tea cup on the simple small round table again, and the ripples rippled slightly. He stood up, and the maid respectfully handed him the scepter. The man who had become lame in the mutiny that helped the Liao Emperor ascend to the throne was full of majesty. As he walked past the row of generals on horseback, everyone involuntarily straightened up.

Standing beside his beloved horse, he carefully counted the military flags fluttering in the wind in front of him with an irrepressible excitement, a total of seventy-three, seventy-three legions, each with its own glorious history.

"The time has come." He whispered to himself.

The guards helped him onto his horse, and the big Mingzi flag fluttered high on the side of the handsome flag. The team leaders took off their hats and held them in their palms and waved them vigorously.

"Long live Da Liao!"

"Long live Da Liao!"

"Long live the Red Shirts!"

"Long live the Red Shirts!"

The cavalry front of the Tanguts, who had already crossed the slope top, was their famous Aimliuk light cavalry, although the Liao preferred to call them eunuch cavalry.

"Fire on all fronts!"

"Fire on all fronts!"

The ten-inch guns placed at the rear of the line let out a roar, and the shells weighing sixteen pounds whizzed and tore the fragile flesh to shreds, and even if they didn't hit directly, the copper balls and dirt blocks that bounced on the ground could do a lot of damage to the light cavalry with little armor.

At a distance of six hundred feet, the six-inch cannon began to fire shotguns and incendiary bombs, the neatly charged cavalry was knocked down in rows by a swarm of shrapnel sprays, the autumn weeds were easily ignited by white phosphorus, and the warhorses, born with a fear of flames, refused to obey orders before the wall of fire and became a fixed target.

"Forward!" The Liao army blew the horn of the attack, the war drums were behind and the Qiang flute was in front, and the red-shirted soldiers with heavy cotton tires on their backs stepped on the drums and carried spears equal to their height and walked slowly towards the hillside.

On the battlefield as wide as twenty kilometers, more than two hundred phalanxes moved forward at the same time.

The fire receded slightly, and the Amryuk cavalry regrouped and charged again, but since the Liao army had already begun to move forward, the distance left for them to charge was not very long.

"Bang, bang" The range of the carbine pistols equipped by the Aimuliuk is not as long as that of the Liao, but it is much easier to operate. The red-shirted soldiers kept their eyes on the march, stepping on the drums tightly, one by one with their chests to meet the lead bullets, and their commanders stood in the most prominent position in the first row with their sabers held high, all of them keeping the same pace, enduring the fear of their comrades falling one by one, until the rhythm of the drums changed.

"Stand still!" The swords went from a diagonal forward forty-five degrees to straight to the sky, and the footsteps of all the soldiers changed to standing still, the casualties continued, but the counterattack was about to begin.

"Raise your gun!"

All spears on the front were raised over the shoulder.

"Aim!"

At the same moment, the muzzle of the black hole hole is flattened and pointed forward at the same time.

"Fire!"

A milky white cloud rose on the battle line, and the pungent smell of gunpowder smoke filled the sky, and with the commander's command, the first platoon retreated, and the second platoon stepped on, repeating the actions of raising guns, aiming, and firing. The peasants, who had been working in their fields a few months before, had learned only a few steps in the crucible of the Red Shirts, such as walking, raising their guns, aiming, firing, and reloading, and they were confronted by the Amruk cavalry, who had been practicing how to kill more efficiently since they were toddlers.

"A Red Shirt will definitely die when he meets an Emryuk, ten Red Shirts will not be much better against ten Emryuk, a hundred against a hundred is a chess opponent, and a thousand against a thousand will be the Red Shirts will dominate the world." Ming Jin said slowly to his adjutant.

After a few rounds of fire, Emruk began to break up, and the Redshirts marched on to the beat of the drums again, but stopped again as they approached the top of the hill. The artillery in the rear also pushed up, but gritted its teeth and did not cross that watershed.

At noon, the Xia army finally launched a charge again, this time it was no longer the Aimluk light cavalry, but the elite iron harriers they relied on to sweep the grasslands and level the world island.

Today, however, when the panting Iron Harriers climbed a hillside, they were greeted by a neat array of guns and roaring cannons. Broken iron armor, wailing horses, although the courage and determination of the Iron Harrier even surpassed that of the redshirts on the other side, but the Iron Harrier who fell into the trap of Attila's fox left only memories and sorrow for the Tanguts.

"There's the Xishan Fortress ahead." Ming Jin, who had finally reached the top, looked at the defensive position that was waiting on the opposite side, and could already imagine how panicked the other party was. The fortress, which had lost its commanding heights, was as helpless as the stripped maiden in his tent under more than six thousand guns of various calibers.

"The marshal has arrived!" The voice of the guard pulled his reverie away from the intoxicating smell of flesh, and he returned to the fortress on the banks of the sparkling Attila River, only one step away, and the King of Xia was his captive! The avenue to the new Chang'an City has been opened. As the marshal said before: "This is a war of annihilation, a new battle of Changping." Its victory or defeat will determine the trend of the Northwest Frontier in the next 50 years. ”

"Wherever you start, you end." There was no emotion in Chen Luo's voice: "King Xia has sent a messenger to ask for peace, and early tomorrow morning, we will withdraw our troops." ”

Ming Jin almost fell off his horse, and he looked at his old superiors who he had worked with for many years in disbelief. Chen Luo played with his delicate horsewhip with jewels and gold wire: "What can be achieved through the peace treaty, there is no need to sacrifice people to achieve it." Jin, you played well during the day, and someone will continue to do it in my position in the future. ”

A bitterness welled up in his heart, Ming Jin looked down at his war horse, and then looked at the Xishan Fortress that seemed to be within reach, as if he was talking to himself, and said, "How close...... I'd love to go in and have a look. ”

"According to the peace treaty, he belongs to us, and you can always go in and see it later." Chen Luo patted him on the shoulder: "What a quiet Attila River, what a beautiful moonlight." So saying, he turned his horse and was about to go back.

"Marshal!" Ming Jin suddenly stopped him, and Chen Luo stopped his horse: "Is there anything else?" ”

"I'd like to ask...... Where do you go when you're done? ”

"What's this?" Chen Luo thought for a while: "I will find a place with the same beautiful moonlight to retire." The future is the world of you young people. ”