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

At dawn on the second day of the ninth lunar month, the transport fleet, fully loaded with the Independent Brigade, arrived on time on the coast of Xizhao County in Song territory.

Before dawn, Yue Fei decisively ordered the entire army to land and head straight for the Xizhao camp.

The soldiers of the Independent Brigade were all well-trained. When the transport ship was less than a mile from the coastline, they decisively boarded small boats and quickly approached.

In less than half an hour, the entire force of four thousand people had assembled on the shore.

"Commander, are we really going to launch an offensive against Xizhao County?"

Han Ming asked Yue Fei one last question.

After all, the defenders of Xizhao were Song people, and the first battle after landing was an offensive against the Song army. He could never get over that hurdle in his mind.

Yue Fei firmly replied, "The strategic and tactical plans have already been explained to you on the ship. How can we change them now that we are about to fight? We must launch an attack quickly according to the designated plan."

"but……"

"No buts! Military orders are absolute; begin execution immediately!"

"Yes!"

Yue Fei's attitude was firm, and Han Ming had no choice but to give up trying to persuade him.

Standing beside Yue Fei, Lin Fei said, "There is a saying in military strategy: speed is of the essence. The only way to reduce unnecessary casualties is to be fast, so fast that the enemy has no time to react."

Yue Fei nodded: "What Staff Officer Lin said is exactly what I was thinking. This place is less than ten miles away from the Xizhao camp."

At the marching speed of my independent brigade, we can arrive and engage in battle within half an hour.

Lin Fei nodded, grabbed a handful of soybeans, and put them into his mouth one by one, chewing them slowly.

Lin Fei gave Yue Fei a very special feeling. He was a man of few words and rarely made his presence known in front of others.

Moreover, he almost never talks about his personal life or any grand principles; he only becomes energetic when handling official business.

This was the man Yue Fei had ever met who most resembled Shen Lang, and he was also a staunch follower of materialism.

"Set off."

At Yue Fei's command, the four regiments of the Independent Brigade immediately began to rush towards the Xizhao camp in batches.

"A gunshot must be heard within half an hour. Before dawn, the entire army must have breakfast in Xizhao Prefecture."

"Within the next hour, we must take control of all the city towers and quickly organize defensive fortifications in preparation for any eventuality."

Lin Fei calmly and methodically arranged everything for Yue Fei.

It must be said that with Lin Fei's addition, the pressure on Yue Fei was indeed greatly reduced.

The army, under the still dim light, carefully traveled along the official road.

In less than half an hour, the entire army had appeared outside the Xizhao camp on time.

By this time, the sky had gradually cleared, but there was still no movement within the Xizhao army camp.

This made it difficult for Han Ming and others, who were used to having to get up for morning exercises before dawn every day at the military academy, to adapt.

It took them a while to realize that their opponents were Song soldiers.

The Song army's training standards were actually quite strict, but over time, the Song army had become corrupt and decadent.

The Song army generals were only concerned with embezzling military funds, and the soldiers were just going through the motions; few were truly willing to shoulder the responsibility of protecting their country.

Yue Fei took out his binoculars and began to observe the Xizhao camp, only to see a few scattered soldiers yawning and relieving themselves.

He put down his binoculars and whispered to Lin Fei, who was also holding binoculars beside him, "Based on a preliminary estimate of the size of the military camp, the Song army in the Xizhao camp numbers around 20,000."

Their defenses are lax; a regiment could be sent to attempt an attack, thus conserving artillery ammunition.

Lin Fei thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "We can give it a try. If we encounter resistance, we should immediately withdraw from the operation."

Yue Fei immediately gave Han Ming a wink.

Lin Fei then suggested, "The commander could take advantage of the fact that the main camp in Xizhao has not yet returned to defend, and the city's defenses are weak, and personally lead the main force to attack Xizhao County."

"Leave this to me to oversee; a regiment is more than enough to manage one camp."

"Then I'll leave this place to Staff Officer Lin."

"Do not worry."

Yue Fei immediately led the main force of three regiments to besiege Xizhao County.

Lin Fei remained expressionless as he continued to observe the situation of the Song army camp through his binoculars...

A company of soldiers from the Independent Brigade quietly approached the Song army camp.

Although they were all from the Song Dynasty, these people had absolutely no goodwill towards the Song state.

Having experienced life in the State of Chu, they no longer held any hope for the State of Song.

At a distance of ten paces, the company commander immediately raised his hand to signal everyone to lie down.

Looking through the binoculars, I saw two soldiers fast asleep against a wooden pole on the watchtower outside the camp, showing no signs of waking up.

"Shoot those two birds down!"

At the company commander's command, a sharpshooter immediately picked up a modified 98K sniper rifle and aimed at the watchtower.

As the trigger is pulled...

boom--

A gunshot immediately echoed through the silent military camp.

puff.

The scorching bullet pierced directly through the sleeping sentry's head.

boom.

There was another gunshot.

The soldier on the other watchtower also spurted blood from his head and fell backward.

"Quickly take the high ground, don't let me lose this credit!"

At the company commander's soft shout, the entire company launched a surprise attack on the camp gate.

Since most of the Song soldiers had never heard gunfire before, they assumed the two gunshots were just the sound of rocks falling from the mountain and didn't pay much attention to them.

This also gave the Chu army more time to control the core of the camp.

In just a few minutes, the barricades blocking the front of the camp were removed, and more than 120 officers and soldiers filed in and quickly occupied various parts of the camp.

"Don't move! Hands on your heads, and orderly exit the camp!"

Two Chu soldiers rushed into a tent and raised their guns to threaten the Song soldiers who were still sleeping inside.

The Song soldiers, who were awakened, were at a loss. Most of them obeyed and did as the two soldiers did.

But two of the bolder ones, seeing that there were only two people, and that they had no swords, bows, or crossbows, only a "fire poker," roared and charged at the two.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang -"

"Ding, ding—"

They were met with a relentless barrage of fire from the Garand automatic rifles, which instantly riddled them with bullets.

Perhaps because it was their first time participating in actual combat, the two managed to empty all sixteen bullets in their guns in one go. Only when a crisp and pleasant "ding" sound ejected the magazine from the magazine compartment did they calm down.

"Stay still, all of you! Come out one by one!"

While directing the prisoners, the two men nervously pulled out new magazines, slammed them together against their helmets to ensure they were parallel, then inserted them into the magazine well and pressed them down with their thumbs.

At that moment, gunfire erupted from all over the military camp.

Half an hour later, when the rest of the First Regiment arrived, this company of soldiers had already taken control of the entire camp.

An investigation revealed that the camp, originally intended to have 20,000 men, actually only had less than 6,000 soldiers; the rest had been paid by the higher-ups without actually fighting.

At the same time, Yue Fei led his main force to besiege Xizhao County.

The battle turned out to be easier than expected; a single howitzer shell landed on the city wall, and the Xizhao defenders immediately surrendered.

Upon learning that a sorcerer army capable of casting spells had appeared outside Xizhao City, Prefect Wang Tan did not hesitate and decisively packed his valuables to head north to join the Jurchens before the city fell.

Xizhao Prefecture thus fell into the hands of the Independent Brigade without any suspense, providing an extremely reliable stronghold for the subsequent Northern Expedition against the Jin Dynasty.