The Song army cheered loudly, but there was no longer any strength left to continue the attack, and Zhu Bochao, who was almost exhausted, leaned against the low wall that was soaked in blood and water, untied the armor on his chest, and carefully took out a Xia State repeater crossbow arrow stuck between the two layers of armor. Beside him, the soldiers of the Crane Army and the Hujie Army sat scattered, some were busy wrapping their wounds, and some were busy turning the bed crossbow that the Xia Army had time to destroy in the future.

"Zhu Bochao is really a good man," Cao Han looked at the battle situation in front of him from behind, and praised, seeing that the soldiers attacking in front of him were indeed exhausted, his face changed slightly, and he shouted in a deep voice, "The people of the Xia Kingdom are afraid of death and retreat, who is willing to lead the troops to continue the attack!"

"I'll go!" Cheng Chang'an, who was reprimanded by Cao Han just now, turned pale with a pale face, and the white cloth wrapped around his left shoulder was soaked with blood, but he stood up with the support of his own soldiers and agreed in a deep voice.

"Okay, I know that there are no bad breeds in the Hujie army!" Cao Han smiled.

In front, the Crane Control Army had already pushed its bed crossbow to the low wall built by the Xia people, Cheng Changan gritted his teeth, and took the elite who had just been selected from the Hujie Army to surpass the defense line of the Crane Control Army and rush towards the Xia Army's trench.

"The prestige of every Xiongguan is really pushed up by countless flesh and blood sacrifices," Zhang Zhongyao regretted that these men could not win a decisive victory with Hu Lu in Mobei, but they died here in vain, "It's a pity that these good men shed their blood here." When Guanzhong is pacified, whether to let the hussars and the white feather armies join forces to go east to Hangu to counterattack the Song State. He suggested that the best way to consolidate Guanzhong was to attack and defend, and when Guanzhong was pacified, the Xia army sent a letter to Guguan to the east, threatening Luoyang and even Bianliang, as long as the Song army was defeated in the field, it could force the Song Emperor to sign an alliance under the city and cede Guanzhong.

"Let's see how the war develops, and let the marching division prepare the strategy for the march first. Wu Yingying smiled and took a volume of pigeon books handed over by his own soldiers, only glanced at it, and the smile on his face suddenly stiffened.

"But what's going on in the country?" Zhang Zhongyao had an ominous premonition rising in his heart.

Wu Yingying nodded, and said in a deep voice: "Liao has tens of thousands of cavalry, and they are marching along Helan Mountain, and they are still about three days away from Lingzhou. ”

"What?" Zhang Zhongyao was shocked, "Why didn't the Military Intelligence Department have any news beforehand?"

"The detailed work of the Military Intelligence Department in the Liao State was developed through the relationship between Kangqu Dagan and Han Derang," Wu Yingying said slowly, "This time the Liao people sent troops, not only always claiming that they were going to attack the Song State through Hebei, but also in order to keep secrets, only used Khitan soldiers and horses, detained all Han officials in the south, and also prohibited all merchants from entering and leaving. Fortunately, the hussars found the Liao army in the shade of the grassland and desperately passed on this military information. ”

"I see," Zhang Zhongyao stabilized his mind and said: "Now there are 50,000 regimental training troops in Lingzhou, and there are still Tiger Wing Army left, and it should not be difficult to implement the plan of the marching division to clear the wilderness, stick to Lingzhou, and wait for the return of the army in the Guannei." But," he frowned, "if the Khitans dare to abandon the fortified city, drive straight into the hinterland of our country, and burn all the way through, it will be difficult." ”

"If the Khitans dare to do this, let him not return on horseback, Xin Gu has already asked for his life, he immediately led the hussars, Lu, and Tayan to return to help," Wu Yingying looked at the Song army in front of him who was fighting for the second trench at any cost, and said in a deep voice, "The cavalry army returns north, the pass is empty, and the Song army must not be allowed to cross the Hangu Pass." From now on, every line of defense will have to be fought with all its might. When the news of the Liao army's attack on Lingzhou was announced, as the commander Cai Lang expected, the Tiger Wing Army, which was full of complaints because they were left in the rear to standby, was full of excitement and joy from top to bottom, as if the tens of thousands of Liao troops were here to send their heads.

"The marching division looks down on us, haha, people are not as good as heaven," Chi Chongming, the centurion of the Tiger Wing Army, shouted quite proudly, "It can be regarded as an opportunity to fight a tough battle." As he spoke, he patted his sword.

"Kill this group of boys who don't know the height of the sky on the battlefield, and you will be rich. Wu Yuanqing, the centurion beside him, was a little worried that this person would use too much force, and he shook down the hundred and ten gems of all sizes inlaid on the scabbard. "Lao Tzu is really unlucky, but he has to fight side by side with this group of young master soldiers. Wu Yuanqing said secretly, frowning and looking at his comrades around him.

Captain Kang Khotan is the uncle of the Xia Kingdom, the son of Kangju Kingdom, the centurion Chi Chongming is the son of the Gaochang Kingdom, the Centurion Chi Seng Jia is the son of the King of Khotan, the centurion An Chongxiao was born in the river and the general, and gave up the hereditary position of the Bukhara family given by the caliph to come to serve the Xia Kingdom, the ten-captain Shi Chang is the heir of the largest horse farm in Dawan, the father of the centurion Cao Huaide is the leader of the nomads in the desert west of Bukhara, and the family of the sergeant He Bozhou is the leader of the Samarkand Jewelry Guild, Sergeant Huo Tiancheng's family has the largest vineyard in the river, and the wine produced every year flows into a river, and Sergeant Wu Boya, Mi Diebu, and Shi Wenyuan are the heirs of their respective families.

Captain Kang Ke Khotan looked at these energetic subordinates with concern, fearing that the world would not be chaotic, although he also claimed to be the son of Kang Juguo, but since he was a child, he went out to do business, and Liao has been to it many times, and he knows the strength of the elite army of the North and South Academy, "The enemy army is menacing, and a battalion of hussars left in Lingzhou has gone to cover the border people at the southern foot of Helan Mountain. The general has an order that we need to burn all the grasslands of hundreds of miles nearby, kill the livestock, poison the water source, and evacuate the nearby people into the city before the Liao people enter Lingzhou. ”

With the hussars coming out, the news that the Liao people were about to attack spread all over the north and south of Helan Mountain, and for a time, chickens and dogs were jumping everywhere, every house set fires, and villages were smoking.

Wang Qing of the shade was holding a torch, his face was full of reluctance, and his wife Wang Yu was busy packing up the soft and slightly valuable things in the house, such as iron pots, grain, pottery bowls, and expensive iron farm tools, all of which were carefully burdened, and all the chickens and ducks raised at home were killed and roasted into dried meat, and five sheep were tied to the back of the carriage with ropes and taken away.

Wang Qing finally gritted his teeth, set fire to the haystacks that had been piled up as high as a hill in autumn, and the flames were so thick that his eyes were full of heartache, and then, according to the instructions of the sergeant, sprinkled the thatched roof with herbal powder that the livestock would collapse to death if they ate it. Wang Yu held the child and looked back at his homeland with nostalgia, Wang Qing put a spear and bow and arrow flat on his side, shouted "Drive!" and waved a whip, the two horses moved with difficulty, and the cart carried the tall heavy soft, heading south, the shade households will meet at the place designated by the hussars, and then retreat south into Lingzhou together under the leadership of the sergeant.

"Be careful! Be careful!" The shopkeeper Sun next to the official road in Lingzhou watched the guys holding white porcelain tableware and stumbling in the wooden box, quite painful, he couldn't wait to give birth to dozens of hands and pack them himself. "Shopkeeper," Liang De stepped forward to ask. "How do you cook with dozens of sheep in the backyard?" "Take them away!" Shopkeeper Sun reprimanded unceremoniously, "And those grapes, wine, bacon, fine white flour, and rice in the warehouse, all of them must be packed and taken away!, and they must be taken away!" "Yes!" Liang De retreated with a bitter face, tossing all day, this inn that was originally well stocked was almost cleaner than being washed ten times by the rebels, and only then did Shopkeeper Sun take his men, driving five carts and dozens of sheep, and hurriedly retreated south. Sun Gouzhi had beads of sweat on his face, looking at the inn that was set on fire, he wanted to jump out of the car to put out the fire, the sergeant felt that the building was too strong, and it was possible that the Liao army would use it as a command post, so he let him burn it himself.

The order to retreat was transmitted from Lingzhou to the north, and the grassland shades, who had not yet had time to receive the order to retreat, had already begun their resistance.