Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

The Imperial Guards boarded ships at the mouth of the Jinling River and headed west.

When they passed through Jingzhou, they received supplies of grain and fodder from Jiangling and Xiangyang. After a short rest, they continued westward.

Finally, they landed near Hukou Pass on March 20.

Two days later, the main force of the Imperial Guard, numbering 10,000, arrived at Hukou Pass, which was only one place away from the Heluo region.

At this time, the Xia Kingdom's iron cavalry, led by Helian Qianjun, had already withdrawn to Luoyang City for rest and reorganization.

Along the way, the strict discipline of the Imperial Guard impressed Wang Xuance and Ban Dingyuan, who were traveling with them.

There was none of the roguishness of the old army in this army.

They took out their notebooks and recorded everything they saw and heard along the way.

The pass commander, Ji Siheng, personally came out of the pass to greet them. After settling the new army into their rest camp, he and Shen Lang and other court officials entered the commander's mansion.

Inside the garrison commander's residence, a sumptuous feast had already been prepared.

Ji Siheng smiled and bowed respectfully: "The royal army has traveled a long distance to provide assistance, and their journey has been arduous and meritorious. I, Ji, should be rewarding the royal army."

However, due to the urgency of the war, I can only prepare a simple feast. I hope the angels will not find my poverty disrespectful.

Shen Lang smiled and said, "General Ji, what are you saying? We are both serving our country loyally, so there is no distinction between noble and lowly."

This general can endure hardship and enjoy pleasure. Since it is General Ji's kind offer, it would be impolite to refuse.

After Shen Lang finished speaking, he took off his military cap, sat down, and greeted the others, saying, "Sit down, everyone. Since we're here, let's make the best of it and not disappoint General Ji's kindness."

Hearing him say that, the others then took their seats.

After spending this time together, Jiang Shangxian naturally considered him as one of his own brothers.

His only complaint was that since meeting him, Kun'er had no chance to have any extra opportunities to shine, which made him feel very frustrated.

He only hoped that two more beautiful female assassins would come to kill him soon, so that he could find an opportunity to have a grand "Song of Water and Fire".

Wang Xuance and Ban Dingyuan, however, had a much better impression of Shen Lang. Unlike the other imperial consorts, who, apart from being skilled in martial arts and literature, had no other abilities and were essentially just decorations, he was a different story.

Instead, they are very capable.

Ji Siheng personally grabbed the wine pot to pour a cup of wine for Shen Lang: "General Shen, this humble general toasts you."

But the next second, Shen Lang pressed his hand against the rim of the wine glass, revealing a playful smile.

"I apologize, General Ji, but the Imperial Guards' regulations prohibit drinking alcohol during marches. Please understand."

“General Shen, it’s not excessive to make an exception once in a while. This is a spirit flower wine that I’ve treasured for many years. It’s very rare.”

"Thank you for your kind offer, General Ji. However, the regulations for the Imperial Guards were personally formulated by me. If I cannot even abide by the regulations I set myself, how can I lead my troops and command respect? I am truly sorry."

As Shen Lang spoke, he picked up the other teacup.

"I, Shen, will offer tea instead of wine to express my gratitude to General Ji for his kindness. Please."

Seeing this, Ji Siheng was stunned for a long time. When he met Shen Lang's eyes, he knew that it would be useless to persuade him any further, so he had no choice but to put down the wine pot.

"General Shen is so young yet so accomplished. I truly admire him. His Majesty has a discerning eye and has found a good husband for him."

"you flatter me."

Shen Lang maintained a faint smile throughout. After taking a sip of tea by sliding the lid off the teacup, he immediately took the initiative.

"General Ji has been fighting the Hu people outside the pass for some time, so he must be quite familiar with their tactics."

Mr. Shen wishes to request General Ji's guidance, so that he may be psychologically prepared for the upcoming war.

Ji Siheng immediately put down the wine cup he had just picked up and said with a solemn expression, "General Shen, it's not that I'm encouraging them, but these Western Xia Qiang cavalry are truly formidable."

Especially those armored cavalry skilled in mounted archery, who were the elite of the elite, often worked in groups of dozens or even hundreds, drawing their bows and firing rapidly when they were within five paces of our army.

Their arrows were both fierce and accurate; often, after just the first volley of mounted archery, our army within the pass was on the verge of collapse.

"General Shen, if it weren't for Hukou Pass serving as cover for the cavalry's advance, we wouldn't have been able to withstand their exceptionally fierce offensive."

Shen Lang nodded silently upon hearing this.

Everything went as he had expected. The main force of the Western Xia army was its mounted archers, which were essentially no different from the elite armored cavalry of the Yan state.

Being proficient in mounted archery is not scary; what is scary is an organized, clustered close-range attack by mounted archery troops. That was the pinnacle of the cavalry era in history.

If there is one army that can be considered the epitome of massed mounted archery, it has to be the steppe massed army established by Genghis Khan, without exception.

The Mongol cavalry was the most elite cavalry force in history, especially their dense close-range mounted archery, which was a nightmare for settled civilizations across Eurasia.

Contrary to previous understandings of mounted archery, mounted archers did not shoot at targets from dozens or hundreds of paces away on horseback.

Instead, light cavalry would maneuver around the enemy to harass them, while armored mounted archers would take the opportunity to get close and unleash a rapid-fire attack of about 10-16 arrows per minute.

Such close-range, dense bombardment was so intense that even the most elite troops at the time could not withstand the onslaught without collapsing due to a lack of cover.

Even in the era of matchlock and flintlock muskets, the kings of the open battlefield were still the elite cavalry who dared to wear armor and approach closely to fire their arrows.

Early muzzle-loading muskets suffered from various technical limitations, including cumbersome loading procedures and poor shooting accuracy, making them utterly ineffective against close-range cavalry attacks.

The most obvious example is the situation in Liaodong at the end of the Ming Dynasty. When the Ming army faced Ma Yao's Eight Banners army, they were not at a disadvantage in hand-to-hand combat and long-range shooting exchanges, and were even able to launch counter-attacks multiple times.

However, when faced with close-range attacks from the elite cavalry archers of the Eight Banners army, those firearms were completely unable to stop the cavalry's advance.

Of course, the Eight Banners army also suffered heavy losses when they encountered the Guan Ning cavalry armed with three-eyed muskets, because the Guan Ning cavalry was essentially a type of soldier that was good at close-range attacks, and in terms of fighting ability on horseback, they were far superior to the Eight Banners.

However, due to the small number of Guan Ning cavalry and the proliferation of warlords at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court was naturally unable to organize a powerful offensive against the Ma Yao.

However, by the late Ming Dynasty, cavalry civilization had already entered a period of great decline, and the horse demon groups in Inner Asia represented the last glories of cavalry civilization.

Half a century after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the failure of the Tatar cavalry's last expedition to the West marked the arrival of an era of complete revival of infantry civilization.

However, the Ma Yao, carrying China, which should have possessed the world's strongest traditional infantry civilization, has been out of step with the world's mainstream for more than two hundred years.

Ma Yao's fans still don't understand: do they hate the foreign race that rules China?

No, it was a worthless colonial regime that caused China to suffer countless humiliations in modern times, and whose influence continues to this day.

It wasn't until Sun Yat-sen established the Whampoa Military Academy that the world's strongest infantry force began to awaken again on this land, once again standing at the top of the world with an invincible posture.

With his thoughts drifting back to the present, Shen Lang listened to Ji Siheng's description and combined it with the information he had learned from Li Jing. After discussing it together, they could basically conclude that the other party had not concealed anything.

"Thank you for informing me, General Ji. This is very important to me. General Ji withstood the pressure and protected the millions of people of Great Chu behind him."

The imperial court will certainly reward you, and after I, Shen, have recaptured Luoyang, I will personally commend your great achievements to His Majesty.”

Upon hearing this, Ji Siheng was immediately thrilled: "Thank you, General Shen. It is my duty to serve the country, and I dare not claim credit for it."

Shen Lang is currently a favorite of the Empress. If he puts a few good words on my behalf, I can at least get promoted one rank.

But Jiang Shangxian narrowed his eyes at this moment.

He knew that Shen Lang wouldn't easily go against his conscience and praise someone.

Once that's done, the next step is to make the other party bleed a little.

As expected, Shen Lang changed the subject, sighed softly, and said, "General Ji also knows that I have encountered much criticism both inside and outside the court this time while leading troops."

The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War were unwilling to cooperate with Shen and even impeached him multiple times before the Emperor, but of course, none of this mattered.

"It's nothing for Shen to suffer a little injustice, but if tens of thousands of soldiers suffer injustice, this battle will be much harder to win."

After saying that, he tilted his head back at a 45-degree angle to look at the ceiling, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table, waiting for Ji Siheng to speak.

Ji Siheng was taken aback, and hurriedly said, "May I ask what grievance General Shen has suffered? Is there anything I can do to help you? As long as I can do it, I will not hesitate at all."

"Very well! With General Ji's words, I, Shen, have dared to speak up."

Shen Lang immediately sat up straight.

"To be honest, the army is currently short of food. I beg General Ji to allocate 20,000 shi of grain to help our royal army recover the Heluo region! I implore you!"

After speaking, to Ji Siheng's astonishment, she bowed to him with her hands clasped in a salute.