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

September 12th, Xizhao Prefecture.

woo-

The mournful sound of bugles echoed in the gloomy sky.

Thump, thump, thump, thump—

The drums thundered and resounded.

Yue Fei stood solemnly on the city wall, facing the oppressive feeling of the dark mass of Jin soldiers approaching from outside the city.

Lin Fei stood beside Yue Fei, calmly chewing on soybeans, and said to him, "Commander, although the Jin army is powerful, as long as our army defends properly, we can force them to retreat in one battle."

Yue Fei: "In this battle, I will thoroughly dampen the Jin army's morale. Order the defending troops to prepare for battle."

Lin Fei said no more and continued to stuff soybeans into his mouth.

In the Jin army's ranks, the vanguard commander, Wanyan Ping, noticed a trench stretching for several miles outside the Xijun Prefecture, and his expression turned grave.

Vice General Wanyan Cheng couldn't contain himself any longer: "What are we waiting for? Xijun City is right in front of us. Once we capture it, we can encircle Guangling County!"

Wanyan Ping remained silent, his eyes fixed on the figures floating in the trench, lost in deep thought.

"Wanyan Ping! What are you doing?!"

Eager to achieve his goal, Wanyan Cheng was so anxious when he saw that Wanyan Ping was delaying in giving orders that he called out to him by name.

Wanyan Ping then said leisurely, "When our Jin army arrived, the garrison in Xijun Prefecture only prepared a strange trench. Don't you think there's something fishy going on?"

"What kind of trap could there be!" Wanyan Cheng glanced at the trench and said disdainfully, "It's nothing more than an attempt to stop my Great Jin cavalry from charging."

Even without cavalry, the infantry of my Great Jin Dynasty can conquer that city within an hour.

Wanyan Ping: "We must not underestimate the enemy. It would be best to send scouts to observe the situation."

Wanyan Cheng was immediately furious: "Wanyan Ping, what's wrong with you today? This isn't like you at all!"

Wanyan Ping said, "Didn't you hear what Wang Tan said? There was a loud bang outside the city, like thunder and lightning."

It's somewhat similar to the firearms battalion under the Fourth Prince and General Wanyan Loushi. If the Song army had firearms, then…

"That's nothing to fear!" Wanyan Cheng pulled on the reins. "We've wiped out the most capable Song troops in Bianjing. These local garrison soldiers are nothing to us."

Even if they have firearms, they can't change their sheepish nature. I can wipe them out in one battle.

Since you're unwilling to take the initiative, then I'll take the credit!

Having said that, before Wanyan Ping could react, Wanyan Cheng roared and ordered, "Warriors, whoever first scales the walls of Xijun will be promoted three ranks and rewarded with a hundred taels of gold! Follow me and fight!"

"Kill them!"

With a shout from his fierce army behind him, Wanyan Ping tried to stop them, but it was too late.

Wanyan Cheng led his 500 cavalry and 3,000 infantrymen, charging resolutely toward the city wall of Xijun Prefecture.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it."

Seeing Wanyan Cheng rush out first, Wanyan Ping could only suppress his unease and keep his eyes fixed on what lay ahead.

Inside the trench, Han Ming stared intently at the approaching Jurchen troops, constantly encouraging the soldiers of the Independent Brigade.

"Don't panic. The enemy's weapons are not as sharp as ours. Wait for my order to let them into range before we fire."

All the soldiers held their breath, their eyes fixed on the yellow sand billowing in the sky ahead.

On the city wall, Yue Fei and Lin Fei stood motionless under the military flag, quietly waiting for the battle to begin.

"one."

"two."

"three."

Lin Fei silently counted the numbers in his mouth while slowly crushing the soybeans in his palm into powder.

"start."

After a soft moan...

Boom boom boom——

The artillery battalion, hidden behind the hill on the left, immediately roared in anger.

Six 75mm howitzers fired simultaneously, and the shells fell into the Jin army's ranks, causing chaos and defeat.

"beat!"

At the same time, Han Ming gave the order, and the light and heavy machine guns in front of the position were the first to spew out scorching fire.

Da da da--

Bullets rained down on the advancing golden figure like a dense swarm of locusts.

At the same time, Garand rifles also began to provide auxiliary fire support.

In an instant, clouds of blood mist rose from the Jin army's ranks, and the cries and groans were drowned out by the sound of gunfire and cannons.

As a golden figure carrying a flag watched his companion fall, he was about to cry out in alarm when a grenade exploded at his feet.

boom--

With a loud bang, a large "golden" flag fell to the ground.

The soldier who carried the flag had long since disappeared, leaving only half of his smoking buttocks lying alone on the battlefield.

A fierce barrage of firepower swept across the land, causing incalculable casualties the moment the Jurchens fell into the trap.

Bullets flew across the battlefield, constantly taking away the warmth that life should have.

boom.

puff.

"Uh."

A Garand rifle bullet pierced Wanyan Cheng's forehead squarely, drawing out a bloody patch of brain matter.

He stared ahead in disbelief, then swayed a few times on horseback, his head lolled to the side, and he fell off the horse...

Behind the Jin army, the moment the cannons roared, Wanyan Ping knew that his prediction was correct; there really were firearms in Xijun City.

Watching the mighty warriors fall one by one in front of him, his heart was bleeding.

Within a quarter of an hour of the battle beginning, the Jin army was routed by the onslaught of firearms.

"Withdraw troops!"

Despite being heartbroken, witnessing the devastation caused by firearms, and knowing that staying would only result in more casualties, they decisively chose to withdraw.

However, at this moment, on the artillery position, a main gunner used the scope to measure the distance and locked the target on the large banner behind the Jin army.

"Raise it 2 degrees, deflect it 4 corners to the left, yes, stop!"

The main gunner slowly raised his hand while looking through the gun scope.

"put!"

boom--

With a command given, a blazing grenade hurtled through the air, leaving a long trail of black as it hurtled towards the main Jin army formation.

Seemingly sensing death approaching, Wanyan Ping, who was directing the retreat, slowly raised his head to look at the cannonballs falling from the sky.

"call……"

He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling discouraged.

Then, he flashed a set of bright yellow teeth at his dumbfounded subordinates not far away, as if he were laughing.

boom--

The next moment, the grenade landed directly, tearing Wanyan Ping and his horse to pieces.

The banner that symbolized his status also fell down.

"Dead, dead!"

Upon witnessing this scene, the Jin people exclaimed in astonishment.

"The general is dead! The general is dead!"

"Let's run for our lives!"

Immediately, the Jurchens abandoned their armor and began jostling each other to make their way back.

The intense fear completely robbed them of their will to fight. They repeatedly knocked down their companions who blocked their path, then seized horses and galloped away, stepping on their bodies.

"Sound the horn! Attack!"

Upon seeing the Jin army's defeat, Han Ming immediately gave an order.

The moment the clarion call to charge sounded, thousands of soldiers from the Independent Brigade surged out of their trenches, pursuing the retreating Jurchen troops...

In this battle, from daytime until noon, the Independent Brigade pursued the enemy for more than twenty miles in one go, until the battle ended when the enemy forced their way across the pontoon bridge.

The Jin army suffered over 4,000 casualties, 800 prisoners, and 300 usable warhorses.

Looking at this battle report, Yue Fei and Lin Fei finally felt relieved.

After this battle, the Song people will surely know that there is a righteous army that has utterly defeated the Jin people, which will be enough to calm the restless hearts of the people.