Chapter 139: Western Xia Army

Ever since the Revolutionary Army entered Western Xia, Heizi had wanted to become one of them; their figures stood tall, and wielding weapons, they had routed the once-mighty Qinsheng Army that had previously been so formidable.

Though their skills were formidable, unlike other troops, they did not kill, burn, or rape women; not only were they kind to the common people, but they also stood up for them, dragging those lords who had shat on their heads to the dock for trial, so that the once-arrogant nobles were as humble as grandsons before them.

Whenever he thought of this, Heizi always felt that no hero in the world could surpass such deeds.

Now that he had become one of them, he was naturally very happy.

After joining the Revolutionary Army, he found their life far better than he had imagined; although the training was arduous, the food was by no means poor, and the veterans here did not bully new recruits like the veterans in the Western Xia forces did.

Officers there would either withhold their pay and rations or beat and scold them.

Such phenomena simply did not exist here; there was a soldiers' committee composed of soldiers themselves, through which the soldiers supervised the officers, so officers could not arbitrarily withhold their rations nor whip them at will.

Of course, their officers were not such people either; although they were strict with them, they also cared for and looked after them, teaching them everything they knew without holding anything back.

They often said, "Sweat more in training during peacetime, and shed less blood on the battlefield; we are still young and must return home to marry wives."

Such a feeling was like that of a father; although he was strict with you, you knew that everything he did was for your sake.

After training in the new recruit camp for a few months, they were assigned to companies; Standing Committee Member Guo would next lead them to liberate the poor people throughout the Jin Kingdom region.

There were not only gentry and lords of the Jin Kingdom, but also lords from Mongolia and Western Xia who had fled there; they had gone to fetch reinforcements.

He remembered that when he first entered the prisoner camp, he heard people say that the Revolutionary Army in Mongolia had just driven away those lords who had shat on their heads and established a country where they themselves made the rules; the Western Xia king, instigated by those Mongol lords, had gone to attack them.

Letting the lords remain lords and the slaves remain slaves, the Mongol Revolutionary Army then sent troops to liberate Western Xia; whenever he thought of this, he was still very grateful to those Mongol lords, for if they had not encouraged the Western Xia Kingdom to send troops, the Revolutionary Army could not have arrived so early, and at that time he probably would have had to wait a few more years before eating his fill.

But if they were to bring a vast army over, letting the lords in the prisons come out and continue to crawl on their heads, then they would fight those people to the death no matter what.

According to the instructor, the reason that group had not come over yet was that the Revolutionary Army in the Jin Kingdom region had also launched an uprising to overthrow the lords.

But once the Revolutionary Army there was suppressed, the Jin Kingdom would send a vast army over to let the lords in the prisons come out and continue to shat on their heads.

Fighting in the Jin Kingdom was not only to liberate the people of the Jin Kingdom but also for their own future lives.

Heizi tightened his grip on the firearm named Wu Liu Ban in his hand; this weapon gave him ample confidence, for even among the Qinsheng Army guarding the royal city, archers were counted among the most valiant warriors.

These people came from wealthy families, having grown up eating fine rice and white flour; one punch from them could split a person's skull and scatter their brains.

These people could only shoot arrows a distance of one hundred and twenty paces; if the enemy wore iron armor, the arrows hitting them would be like scratching an itch, and moreover, these people could only shoot three or four arrows before they could shoot no more; shooting further would not only injure their fingers but their arms could not support it either.

Yet they could fire their firearms to a distance of four hundred paces, easily killing the armored warriors who were invincible on the battlefield.

Wielding a Wu Liu Ban, one could fight ten Qinsheng soldiers; three people arranged in a three-three formation had the confidence to pursue and kill over a hundred Qinsheng soldiers.

A formation of twenty-seven men could annihilate a hundred Qinsheng soldiers, yet they were not three men, nor twenty-seven men, but three hundred thousand.

Before, they had always heard the older generation say how mighty the Jin Kingdom army was, that "the Jurchens are invincible if fewer than ten thousand, and unstoppable if ten thousand or more," that their men were like dragons and their horses like tigers; now they would have a good look at just how mighty this Jin Kingdom army truly was.

Heizi looked eastward and murmured to himself: "Comrades of the Revolutionary Army in the Central Plains, hold on a little longer; we are about to reach the battlefield."

Three hundred thousand Xia troops marched straight into the Guanshan region; the defending general of Xia Pass, Wanyan Hu Ke, could not help but curse loudly: "These Mongols really know how to pick their timing, coming precisely when our Jin Kingdom is in the midst of internal turmoil."

In recent days, a rebellion had broken out within the Jin Kingdom; the capital was besieged, and troops from all military commands were dispatched by the General Administration to rescue it, resulting in the lands of Qilu and south of the Yellow River being occupied by the rebels.

During this period, he had been wondering whether to send troops to rescue Zhongdu, but what if the Mongols attacked while he was gone? In fact, he had not misjudged.

The Mongols had indeed come; judging by the scale, a full three hundred thousand troops had arrived.

Looking at the yellow sand filling the sky outside the city, the boundless army, and the majority of them with Mediterranean hairstyles, Wanyan Hu Ke pounded the city wall forcefully and cursed: "In merely half a year, he could organize two hundred thousand Western Xia troops to fight for him; is that Guo Jing even human?"

An army of three hundred thousand was something even the Great Jin Kingdom would have to respond to with all its might, yet the country was still in the midst of civil war.

"Do not panic, do not panic; the Western Xia army below the city has only recently surrendered, and their combat effectiveness is quite average. As long as we hold firm, once the rebellion is suppressed domestically, the main army can come to support us at any time."

Wanyan Hu Ke silently comforted himself and prepared to begin defending the city.

At the very moment the city defense battle officially began, he finally deeply realized how one-sided his previous underestimation of the Mongols' strength had been. Originally, he thought the cannons on the city towers were sufficient to pose a huge threat to the enemy, but the reality far exceeded his expectations. The enemy's cannons were astonishingly powerful, almost instantly shattering the cannons on the city towers and completely destroying their combat capability.

The three hundred thousand Mongol soldiers below the city, each holding a firearm, were arranged in perfect order, their firepower pouring down like a torrential rain. Under such fierce suppressive fire, the archers on the city towers could not even raise their heads to retaliate; if they exposed even a little bit, they would immediately suffer a fatal strike. Forced to crouch behind the city walls, they helplessly watched the enemy approach step by step, their hearts filled with powerlessness and fear.

The Mongols' advance was irresistible; without the slightest effort, they fought their way onto the city towers and engaged the defenders in hand-to-hand combat.

The hand-to-hand combat between the defending soldiers and the attacking soldiers was the only casualties inflicted upon these Mongol and Western Xia troops.

This was truly ironic.

Wanyan Hu Ke did not retreat; as blood of the Wanyan family, that pride and dignity absolutely forbade him from fleeing in panic with his troops.

If the city stands, I stand; if the city falls, I shall perish with it.

"Brothers, I, Wanyan Hu Ke, a descendant of Crown Prince Aguda, if I cannot defend the city and resist the enemy this time, then let us perish with the city together! Brothers, for the Great Jin, charge with me!"

Wanyan Hu Ke's roar was like Mount Menghuxia descending, shaking the very air around him. Without hesitation, he grabbed the war blade in his hand; the blade shimmered with a chilling cold light, as if capable of tearing apart everything that blocked it. He led the charge against the surging enemy forces.

Seeing this, the personal guards behind him were all filled with boiling blood; they followed closely behind, charging toward the enemy without the slightest fear.