What was even more terrible was that the uneven quality of each unit was clearly evident. Some military formations were obviously shaken, and the rotation of military formations became out of control, forcing the marching commander to come forward personally to adjust the formation and enforce military discipline.

For a time, the number of wavering soldiers executed by the Song army on the battlefield actually exceeded the direct casualties in this situation... The situation was no different from before.

The casualty pattern on both sides in this battle was strange from the beginning.

"Your Majesty." Amid the shouts and cries that almost shook the Helan Mountains and the Yellow River, the only remaining warrior in golden armor on a ridge three or four hundred steps away from the front line could not help but remind his king. "Before leaving, the King of Liang asked me to leave a message for the king, asking him to rotate the Zhuanglinglang and the light cavalry, and the light cavalry should also be divided into two groups, with the front and back formations supervising the front formations, using the wheel tactics, and continue to exert pressure..."

Li Ganshun, who was nearly fifty years old, had a flushed face. He was slightly startled when he heard the words, but then he slowly shook his head: "It doesn't matter... When King Liang said this at the time, he probably didn't expect that my white bull flag would be so powerful when it moved. Only with such a strong force around can King Liang be more easily successful at the end of the team... Don't rotate."

The warrior in golden armor hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded in agreement.

The Xixia people outside were like an overwhelming force, almost drowning out the sound of the waves of the Yellow River... and at the rear of the Song army's imperial camp, the old-school commander of the imperial camp's central army, Zhang Jing, and his subordinates also suffered an unprecedented blow.

This is indeed the weakest point of the entire queue... Unlike the imagined long strip array with its back to the river, its weak point must be the center of the strip. Weiming Anhui was keenly aware that it was impossible to hold down the two ends of the Song army array in front of him and attack the middle, which would be a dead end. On the contrary, since the enemy army array was always moving, and the Xixia army's goal was not to annihilate the enemy or defeat the enemy by the river, but to prevent the enemy from continuing to move, then at this time, the weakest point of this moving queue naturally became the tail of the long strip.

Because in this place, the Song army's emergency combat formation needs to maintain protection on both sides at the same time. Moreover, although it is not known whether the formation at the front of the queue is mainly composed of Zhang Xian's most elite troops in the front army of the Imperial Camp, Weiming Anhui can still see that Zhang Jing's troops at the end of the team are still slightly inferior to those at the head of the team.

In addition, as a veteran, Weiming An Hui noticed another important battlefield factor early on, that is, in early summer, the breeze blows from south to north, which originally made the Song army's advance smooth, but on the other hand, if the tail of the Song army was "pursued" from the rear, the Song army would have to retreat against the wind.

In fact, Zhang Jing's troops encountered this extreme dilemma right from the start.

His combat formation was constantly under fire from the Xixia light cavalry and Zhuang Linglang on the flanks, while from behind he was also under attack from the real Xixia core combat power... arrows and javelins almost suffocated his men, and because they had to withstand attacks from both sides at the same time, they were unable to even rotate their troops.

But at the same time, he received orders that he was not allowed to send out cavalry to counterattack without authorization, nor was he allowed to stop the troops' advance.

In desperation, Zhang Jing could only order his troops to hold up their shields and retreat.

But that was not all. Soon, a worse situation emerged. The Xixia people at the rear began to consciously look for loose soil, wrap it with cloth, and whenever the wind blew, they would blow the soil with the wind. Then some armored Xixia cavalry followed the dust and launched a close combat attack.

For a time, the losses of Zhang Jing's troops far exceeded those of other places.

But they were not really afraid of losses. What really damaged their morale was that, in the current situation, they could not launch any effective counterattack against the army in the rear and could only passively take the beating, passive deaths and injuries, and they could not even discover and help their own dead and wounded soldiers in time, and could only be forced to abandon them... and the corpses of the Song army's imperial camp soldiers left on the ground were picked up with spears by the Xixia people who were constantly pursuing them as a provocation. The few wounded soldiers were even reduced to tools for the Xixia people to provoke the Song army when there was no dust.

Less than a quarter of an hour after the war suddenly entered a fierce stage, Zhang Jing, who had been the main commander of Emperor Zhao's army since Huaishang, became furious and immediately allowed a few of his subordinates who had gone out to fight back without authorization.

Frankly speaking, as a veteran of the Western Army who was able to participate in core military discussions, Zhang Jing was very clear that the two orders he had received before were absolutely correct and rational... He knew the fundamental significance of this battle, which was to persist in marching. As long as they could ensure that they could launch an attack on the empty Xingqing Prefecture tomorrow, they would win. He also knew that if he rushed out with a team of foreign cavalry and a team of armored cavalry, they would be destined to become prey to the Western Xia light cavalry.

However, the problem is, even if he knows it in his heart, how can he control his emotions? In the Battle of Yaoshan, his people died much more than this time, but the problem is, are the main force of the Jurchen Western Army the same as the group of tribal soldiers hastily gathered by the Xixia people to save the situation? Are dying in battle the same as being able to passively take the beating?

The elite soldiers who followed him into the pass this time cost him 100 strings of cash a year to support each one! Yet they were shot to death by a group of barbarians wearing blue cotton jackets, and they couldn't fight back?

Moreover, if they continued like this, by the time they set up camp at dark, the entire army would probably have less than a thousand casualties, except for the few teams he led, who would probably have five hundred deaths!

Who can bear it?

"Is that what Lao Zhang said?" Qu Duan, sitting upright on the Iron Elephant, frowned upon hearing this. "Are there so many casualties back there?"

"Let the commander-in-chief know that our commander said that the casualties were not serious, but he just couldn't stand it." Zhang Jing's messenger pulled his mount in a circle and replied anxiously. "Our commander also said that if the governor doesn't come to support within a quarter of an hour, he..."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!