Another victory from Chengdu? This is a bit unbelievable. Chengdu only had 3,000 soldiers, so how could they have defeated the Dali-Tibetan coalition?

The soldiers ran in breathlessly, "Sir, victory news from Chengdu! My 3,000 victorious soldiers have crushed Gao Liangcheng's forces at Kagong Town, killing over 10,000!"

The entire government hall fell silent instantly, and people stared at each other. No one believed this was true.

They knew that the Shengjie Army was a household name in the capital. Wasn't it the same Shengjie Army that had nearly brought the local tribes of Chengdu to war over land?

This is a group of scumbag troops who are good at playing pranks. How could they possibly defeat Gao Liangcheng's army? Could it be that the local authorities are taking credit for it?

This is possible; it's common for soldiers to claim credit for something. The Shengjie Army must have felt their pay was too low, so they devised this scheme to claim credit for something from the court. This sounds very much like what the Shengjie Army would do; Li Gang and his men were well aware of their combat effectiveness.

Li Gang snatched the letter away, his originally angry face immediately turned into surprise. The letter was not from Wen Zhengming, but from Zhang Ma.

The Kaifeng prefect and the Shengjie Army commander had always been at odds, so it was impossible for Zhang Ma to speak well of the Shengjie Army. But the letter before him was clearly from Zhang Ma.

Li Gang was even more surprised after reading the contents of the letter. The letter detailed the Shengjie Army's formation of a death squad to attack Kagong Town, but only briefly mentioned that he led troops to support it.

"Report! Urgent report from the victorious army of Chengdu Prefecture!" Another official rushed in, but this time it was not a soldier, but an official from the Ministry of War.

This letter was written by Wen Zhengming to the Ministry of War and delivered to the Council of State by an official from the Ministry of War.

Everyone was confused. Meng Gurao took Wen Zhengming's letter. It detailed how Zhang Ma had led his remaining 2,000 Shengjie troops to aid Kagong Town, defeating Gao Liangcheng's army in one fell swoop. It also gave only a few words about how he had led 800 soldiers in a desperate attack.

"What do these two Rans mean?" Meng Gu Rao was furious. "Could it be that they have colluded with each other to claim credit for this?"

Duan Rong was thoughtful. He said, "It shouldn't be. Although the Shengjie Army's combat effectiveness is almost zero, don't forget that they are a local force. Their families are in Chengdu Prefecture. It's not impossible for them to fight to the death. A few days ago, news came from Dali that Gao Liangcheng has imprisoned the Dali King Duan Yu. His subordinates may not all be willing to fight for their lives. It's not impossible for the Shengjie Army to win a landslide victory."

"What's this?" Li Gang suddenly discovered another letter inside Zhang Ma's letter. He opened it and found it was from the handwriting of Prince Zuzan of the Bailang tribe of Tibet. The letter expressed deep apologies for the misunderstanding caused to Tibet. He also stated that the head of General Zama had been sealed in wax and sent to Bianjing. Prince Zuzan's letter was full of flattery, clearly showing his fear of the Song Dynasty.

Meng Gu Rao snatched the letter from Li Gang and after reading it, everyone took turns to take a look. Now everyone finally believed that the Shengjie Army had really won a great victory. People opened their eyes wide in surprise. This inconspicuous local armed force actually had such a strong fighting power.

"Hahaha! Great joy, great joy! Such a great event for our Great Song Dynasty!" Suddenly, a hearty laugh was heard outside the government hall. The person who came was Wang Lun, a signing member of the Privy Council.

"Lord Wang, what are you happy about?" He Li couldn't help but ask.

Wang Lun was clutching a memorial, too. This one wasn't from Chengdu Prefecture, but rather from the prefect of Luzhou, southeast of Chengdu. Song Dynasty officials were responsible for overseeing and impeaching one another. Upon hearing that the post station's postal service had reported a great victory for the Shengjie army, the prefect sent Ran Chengdu to investigate. Confirming this, Wang Lun submitted a memorial to the Privy Council, detailing the battle in Chengdu. He even exaggerated the story of Wen Zhengming suffering dozens of sword wounds, Zhang Ma falling from his horse outside the city walls, and the Chengdu residents lining the streets to greet him.

Wang Lun's eyes filled with tears after reading the memorial. He slammed the table and rushed to the government hall to take credit for Chengdu Prefecture.

Only then did Li Gang and his men believe that the victory of the Shengjie Army had truly occurred. Over the next few days, memorials from counties near Chengdu Prefecture praising the Shengjie Army poured into Bianjing like snowflakes. After all, this was a rare victory, a victory in which the few defeated the many, a victory in which the weak defeated the strong.

"Hahaha!" Meng Gurao let out a rare roar. "Quick, send a letter of divorce and report the victory of the Shengjie Army to His Majesty in Shanxi!"

Everyone immediately got busy: "Yes, yes, yes, and send the memorial about Liuhe Town's victory over the Goryeo King as well!"

"How should we reply to the letter from the Tubo prince?" someone asked.

He Li glared and said, "Send it to Shanxi and ask Your Majesty to make the decision!"

In Shanxi, Zhao Huan's vanguard has arrived at Taiyuan Prefecture. The scale of the military campaign led by the emperor himself is unprecedented, especially the divine arm crossbows of the ten thousand-man army. Anyone who encounters them will become a hedgehog.

The most devastating thing was the dozens of red-coated cannons, the ultimate siege weapon. Once the red-coated cannons arrived, no wall was impenetrable. No matter how strong and sturdy your walls were, a few dozen cannons would instantly reduce them to ruins.

The post road from the capital to Shanxi was unobstructed. After all, it was the communication between the capital and the emperor's army, and there was no room for error. So the letters from Bianjing rushed all the way to Shanxi.

A few days later, Zhao Huan also arrived in Shanxi. He was in no rush to attack. The follow-up troops had not yet arrived. He wanted to wait for the arrival of the 100,000-strong army before overwhelming the Mongols in Xixia territory. Meanwhile, the Mongol soldiers were also constructing fortifications in the city.

Ever since Zhu Qing captured Quanzhou, forming a pincer attack with Han Shizhong's forces, the Mongol cavalry was unable to fully exploit their cavalry advantages at the border. Worse still, some Mongol cavalry were often severely defeated by the Iron Wolf Army's cavalry. Consequently, the Mongol soldiers learned their lesson and stopped attacking. Instead, they built walls and retreated within the city walls.

Zhu Qing was no fool. He didn't want his Iron Wolf Army wasted on sieges. Sieges were for large armies, and his Iron Wolf Army was suited to direct confrontations on plains. Meanwhile, sieges afforded the defenders the advantage of terrain. He didn't want to take a city at the cost of heavy casualties among his Iron Wolf Army; every soldier was dear to him.

Zhao Huan was looking at the map of Western Xia in Taiyuan Prefecture. He was confident that once the red cannons arrived, he would be able to easily conquer Western Xia. By then, Western Xia would belong to the territory of the Great Song Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, urgent news from the capital!" Cao Dongsheng walked in from outside.

Zhao Huan said without even raising his head: "Present it." What urgent news did the capital have? It was just some trivial matters.

Unexpectedly, Cao Dongsheng delivered the letter to the table. When Zhao Huan opened it and saw it, he was completely stunned.