The key point is that the Song army had more than one round of grenades. Because it was inconvenient to carry, each soldier of the Song army only carried two grenades and put them on their waists. After they threw all the grenades, the next batch threw them outside. In just thirty seconds, the Song army threw more than 10,000 grenades.
Nearly half of the Western Xia army was directly killed by explosions, trampled to death, or fell to death. In addition to those who were blown up in the front, those who were far behind were also knocked down by the frightened war horses, colliding, squeezing, and trampling on each other, resulting in countless casualties.
Li Yuanhao was shocked.
In less than a minute, he didn't know what happened, but he saw roars everywhere. Before he could come to his senses, his Western Xia cavalry had collapsed.
Almost immediately after this brief moment of daze, his eyes instantly turned red and he roared, "Quick, blow the retreat order, quick!"
In fact, he didn't need to give such an order, as the Western Xia army was already retreating.
But the Song army was not idle either. After throwing two rounds of grenades, Zhang Kang immediately ordered: "Kill!"
"kill!"
The Song army was running out of energy at this point, and their horses were exhausted, but their morale was too high.
Who could have imagined that the once invincible Western Xia cavalry would collapse at the first encounter.
At this moment, a fanatical and fierce expression appeared on every soldier's face.
Almost at the moment when Zhang Kang gave the order and the charge horn sounded, all the Song army soldiers drew the ring-handled straight swords at their waists.
Thanks to the long-term trade with Western Xia and Tubo, the Song Dynasty had a large number of cavalry.
During the reign of Emperor Renzong, the imperial army numbered as many as 680,000, with over 400 cavalry battalions alone totaling 220,000 men. However, many of these were unemployed, unqualified, and elderly, so the actual number of cavalry was no more than 100,000.
In addition, the weapons of the Song Dynasty cavalry were mainly long spears, long lances, and broadswords (ring-handled straight swords), adhering to the concept that the longer the sword, the stronger it is. The latter were less common, and long spears and long lances were the majority.
But it is really inconvenient to hold a gun or spear while carrying a grenade. It is impossible for you to hold a spear in your left hand and use your right hand to bite the pull ring and throw a grenade.
So this unit all used broadswords.
Anyway, after the grenade, all you have to do is clean up the battlefield.
At Zhang Kang's command, Di Qing, Zhang Yu, Zhe Jimin and other brave generals immediately galloped on their horses and rushed forward with their brothers.
At this time, the Western Xia army was in chaos, and the order in the front and back collapsed. Caught off guard, it was almost pierced through by the Song army. Countless people were killed, and a large number of soldiers fell off their horses. The formation in the rear also collapsed and fled in all directions.
There was no tactical strategy at all. The Song army only needed to rush forward on horseback, swinging the straight sword in their hands, and then the sword came down. Blood spurted half a foot away, and the head fell off, and a Xixia man died.
It was almost a massacre.
Yuan Hao personally led his troops to fight, and he was in the rear army. Seeing this situation, he did not even bother to tell the soldiers to retreat, but hurriedly reined in his horse and ran back.
Amidst this chaotic battle, Zhe Jimin had already spotted the banner of Li Yuanhao in the distance, trailing the Xixia army. He spurred his horse and shouted to his fellow soldiers, "Brothers, follow me and kill him! The banner in front of you is Zhao Yuanhao. Cut off his head, and the imperial court will reward you handsomely!"
You should know that when Li Yuanhao proclaimed himself emperor, the Song Dynasty offered a huge reward for Li Yuanhao's head at the border.
If he were killed, it cannot be said that he would be directly promoted to the Privy Councilor, but at least it can be considered a meteoric rise, with several levels of promotion.
Moreover, the rewards such as gold, silver, copper coins, silk and other goods were worth hundreds of thousands of strings of cash. It could be said that he would live a life of ease and comfort relying on his achievements.
Inspired by this, the soldiers whipped their horses' buttocks like crazy and followed Li Yuanhao as he charged forward.
The horses felt the pain and chased frantically, scaring Li Yuanhao in front of them into a state of panic.
He looked back anxiously from time to time, and when he heard someone shouting, "The big flag in front is Zhao Yuanhao," he immediately ordered the soldiers carrying his flag to throw it away.
Even if the commander's flag is the courage of the army, now the army is gone and the defeat is overwhelming. What is the use of this flag?
As a result, as soon as he threw the flag, the pursuers behind him slowed down.
It’s not that his flag had any magical power, but the Song army had traveled a long distance, and many of the horses had to sprint such a short distance. After running only four or five miles, they were almost foaming at the mouth and were exhausted.
Zhe Jimin's horse's legs went weak and it fell down, almost throwing him to the ground. When he rolled over and climbed up from the exhausted horse's back, he spat out the dust in his mouth. When he looked up again, he could only whip the ground hard with his whip, angry at the horse's lack of strength.
But the next moment, another group of cavalry galloped past, led by an elderly officer who was about fifty years old. Logically speaking, Fan Zhongyan selected elite soldiers, and it didn't make sense for him to choose such an old soldier as a junior officer.
But Zhe Jimin quickly recognized that the man was Zhou Mei, the chief military officer of the Tianwu Army.
Although Du Yuhou was not a high-ranking official, the Tianwu Army was one of the top four armies, with 34 battalions under its jurisdiction. Theoretically, excluding those who drew empty salaries, there were about 17,000 people. Du Yuhou was the assistant general of the commander of the Tianwu Army, and was considered a mid-level officer.
If we consider an army, Zhang Kang is a general, Zhe Jimin is a battalion commander, and Zhou Mei is almost a school commander. Even though he is in his fifties, he even participated in the Battle of Chanzhou when he was young.
Zhe Jimin discovered that Zhou Mei and his men had all changed into Xixia horses. After the Xixia people collapsed, the battlefield was littered with ownerless war horses.
The Xixia people's war horses were much stronger than those of the Song people.
When Zhou Mei passed by Zhe Jimin, she even smiled at him, as if to say, "Young man, you are still too immature, learn more."
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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