Mass kidnapping can happen in any large-scale war.
At this point, the team can only win and cannot afford to lose.
Everyone is under high pressure and is very sensitive.
Therefore, everyone should say that their side is sure to win.
Some people say that it's not certain we can win.
This person will definitely be executed on the spot, otherwise, once this uncertain idea spreads, the whole team will be doomed.
The greatest losses would be suffered by the supreme commander and his subordinate generals, who would certainly not allow anyone to put them in such a precarious position.
Therefore, Li Ganshun's generals unanimously believed that Great Xia would surely win!
Some people may have doubts: the Song emperor had driven away the Jin army and then destroyed the country of Jiaozhi.
Is the Xia Kingdom truly destined to win?
But this doubt could only be hidden deep within, never daring to reveal itself in the slightest.
At this moment, this deep-seated fear, like countless tiny insects crawling out of the dark abyss, instantly causes one to collapse.
Li Ganshun forced himself to remain calm and said, "All generals, listen to my command! Immediately reorganize the troops. I intend to fight a decisive battle with the Emperor of the Southern Kingdom!"
Just as Li Ganshun finished speaking, another voice came from outside: "Report!"
A scout rushed in, looking disheveled: "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"
Li Ganshun practically spat out through gritted teeth, "What is it?"
"Your Majesty, our rear was attacked by Han Shizhong. All our supplies were burned, and our rear supply troops either fled or were killed!"
Li Ganshun's face turned pale, as if he had aged twenty years in an instant. He suddenly grabbed the spy, as if he wanted to lift him up: "What did you say!"
"Your Majesty... spare my life..."
Li Ganshun's eyes turned red: "Where is Li Liangfu! Didn't I order Li Liangfu to guard the rear? Where has he gone?!"
"Li Shuai has long since disappeared!"
At this moment, Li Ganshun wished he could kill Li Liangfu a thousand times, ten thousand times.
Zhao Huan, dressed in armor and wearing a red cloak, looked dashing. He raised the slender dagger in his hand, pointed it ahead, and said, "My beloved ministers, look at Hongzhou City before us. My scouts told me that Hongzhou has been holding out for more than a month, and there is no food left in the city. The soldiers can only eat leather to fill their stomachs. Every time I think of this, my heart aches!"
The emperor's voice was loud and powerful: "The peace of the Great Song Dynasty was bought with the blood of our soldiers on the frontier! I cannot let any of our fallen soldiers die in vain! And you cannot let down those fallen soldiers either!"
"Your Majesty is benevolent; we, your subjects, will surely destroy the Xia traitors and avenge our fallen soldiers!"
Just then, a horse galloped in from afar, and the scout on horseback waved a flag and shouted, "Great victory! Great victory!"
He attracted a lot of attention.
He rushed to the emperor, dismounted, and said, "Your Majesty, Commander Han Shizhong of the Imperial Guard has launched a surprise attack on the Xia rebels' rear, beheading 20,000 and burning all of their supplies. He is now advancing towards Xiliang Prefecture!"
Upon hearing this news, everyone's face lit up with joy.
This is good news.
Li Ganshun's front and rear have now been cut off!
The emperor looked at Zhong Shi and said, "Minister Zhong, you recommended Han Shizhong to me. He has truly given me a tiger general!"
"It is His Majesty's ability to employ talent without being bound by convention."
"Excellent, excellent, excellent!" Zhao Huan said three times. "When Han Shizhong returns, I will reward him handsomely!"
The Xia army ahead was hastily preparing for battle, while the boundless Song army covered the snow-covered wasteland, a dark mass like a torrent of steel flowing across the wasteland, moving forward.
The Song army was in full force and its morale was at its peak.
Li Ganshun came out of the military camp; he wanted to personally supervise the battle.
He believed that, given the quality of his army, it was capable of fighting the Song emperor.
Moreover, there is a steady stream of soldiers being sent from within the country.
The cold wind whipped Li Ganshun's cloak around, his face remained pale, and anger burned within him.
The officers arranged the soldiers into formation, preparing to engage the Song army head-on.
Clearly, it is now very difficult to spare an army to stop Yue Fei.
Although he had no time to attend to Yue Fei, Li Ganshun believed that Yue Fei would not dare to return for the time being.
Just as Li Ganshun had adjusted his mindset, another scout rushed over in a great hurry, and his heart sank to the bottom once again.
Now, when he sees these messengers, he feels as if he's seeing the emperor of the Song Dynasty, and he wishes he could kill them all.
"Report!" the scout shouted, his voice drawn out.
The scout dismounted and exclaimed, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"
Li Ganshun forced out two more words through gritted teeth: "You say it!"
"Twenty miles behind us, a Song army is charging towards us!"
"Where did these Song soldiers come from?"
The scout whispered, "It's Yue Fei's army."
Li Ganshun was slightly taken aback, seemingly losing his composure, and grinned ferociously, "Good! He just defeated my army in Longcheng, and now he's trying to turn back and launch another attack!"
"It is already merciful of me that I did not go to him!"
"Since he's so eager to die! Renduo Chuqing, you personally lead ten thousand troops to bring Yue Fei's head before me!"
"Your Majesty, I believe that our army's morale is currently low, while the Song army's morale is high. Our army should retreat to Hongzhou City and regroup for a few days before engaging the Song army in a major battle!"
Wei Ming A Quan also stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I think the Marshal is right. We should avoid their sharp edge for now, and after our army has reorganized, we will fight the Song dogs to the death. I will definitely take the head of that dog emperor of Song for Your Majesty!"
After being told that, Li Ganshun seemed to calm down a bit.
The Song army has won one victory after another, and its morale is at its peak. It would be most unreasonable to confront them head-on now.
Li Ganshun was filled with resentment, but he never expected the situation to turn around overnight. But what could he do about it?
He took a deep breath and ordered the entire army to retreat into Hongzhou City for rest and recuperation.
When Zhao Huan heard that Li Ganshun had retreated into Hongzhou City, he sent men to Hongzhou City to hurl insults at him.
In short, the insults were as harsh as they could possibly be.
They cursed all of Li Ganshun's female immediate family members, so much so that the Xia soldiers on the city wall wanted to jump down and bite the Song soldiers who were cursing them.
The emperor himself sat on the command platform in the center of the army. Zhao Huan did not believe that there were any amazing people in the Xia army like those in martial arts novels who could kill him on the city wall.
He leisurely sipped tea on the command platform, while waves of people below took turns hurling insults at him.
Meanwhile, the Song army had already begun preparing large-scale siege equipment.
With morale high, now is the time to launch a full-scale attack on the city.
Bang……
With a loud crash, the first stone struck the city wall of Hongzhou, and the siege began.
The dark mass of Song soldiers charged toward the city wall.
The sheer force of the attack was enough to shake the earth and demolish the city walls, making the Xia army on the city walls somewhat apprehensive.
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