Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Damn it! Has Zhong Shidao gone mad? Is he trying to take us all down with him?"

"It's one thing if he's not afraid of death, but aren't his men also afraid of death?"

"Did any of you dig up his family's ancestral graves?"

"No? If we dug up his ancestral graves, wouldn't that be a great achievement?"

"What a load of rubbish! We didn't even dig up his ancestral graves, so why is he fighting us so fiercely? Whoever caused the trouble should step forward! Don't drag everyone down with them!"

……

On the battlefield of Western Xia, the Western Xia people are cursing and swearing.

They were not unaware that the countries to the east were at war. Their emperor, Li Qianshun, was a master diplomat. In the original official history, it was through diplomatic means during this period that he seized a vast territory in Hexi!

However, in this life, the war situation in the east changed so quickly that Li Qianshun failed to make a timely judgment.

When he came to his senses, the road to the east was blocked by the Zhong family, and the Zhong family seemed to be fighting desperately to prevent them from advancing even a little bit!

They could only learn from scattered information that the Yi Kingdom, formerly part of the Zhao Song Dynasty in the east, now seemed to have become the hegemon of the Central Plains!

Li Qianshun originally intended to cultivate good relations with this Yi Kingdom. In his view, they were all originally from the Song Dynasty, and as long as he dealt with them in the same way as the original Song people, he should be able to make contact successfully. He could then verbally apologize, and he, the King of Xixia, would still be the King of the Northwest.

But who could have imagined that Zhao Song's group had been provoked by something, and the Zhong family of the Western Army had recently been fighting them to the death, never retreating, unlike before when they would sometimes fight in tacit agreement.

This situation is causing headaches for the Western Xia generals commanding at the front. They are now in a dilemma: they cannot advance, and if they retreat, the Zhong family will directly annex their territory.

"Where are the reinforcements sent by the Emperor?"

The general on the front line of Western Xia was Li Liangfu, who had just arrived to maintain the war situation. This famous general of Western Xia originally thought that he was not much worse than Zhong Shidao's army, but reality slapped him in the face. Facing Zhong Shidao's all-out firepower and disregard for losses, Li Liangfu suffered repeated defeats and could not win a single victory!

"General, the reinforcements say they won't arrive for several more days."

"How many days? I don't want to fight this battle for even a day longer!"

Li Liangfu was resting in his tent when he casually threw his helmet to the ground.

"General, we haven't lost either."

When the Western Xia soldiers saw that their general was in a bad mood, they immediately came up to comfort him.

"How many people are there in the Zhong family? How many people are there here?"

Li Liangfu was very dissatisfied.

"We have the advantage in numbers and terrain, yet we get crushed in every battle? Why? Can anyone tell me why?"

All the Western Xia generals inside the tent were so scolded that they lowered their heads and dared not utter a sound.

"None of you will talk, huh? I'll speak for you! You're all cowards who're afraid of death. That old man is clearly here to die. How old is he? How old are you? You all run away as soon as you see him! Why don't you all gang up on him and overwhelm him with your numbers!"

Li Liangfu was truly angered by his subordinates. Useless, utterly useless!

"General, it's not that we don't want to fight, but it's not worth it. Everyone knows that the Song Dynasty is about to collapse. This old man is clearly trying to leave a glorious name in history before the Song Dynasty is destroyed, so why should we grant him that wish?"

A general, having been scolded for a long time, was indignant and raised his head to try and defend himself.

"Then why don't you just win! Just beat him, that'll solve everything! Damn it!"

Li Liangfu grabbed a wine cup from the table and smashed it over the general's head with a loud bang, causing the general to bleed profusely.

"You didn't want him to leave his name, so why were you hiding when that old man Zhong charged at you last time?!"

"They all brag about how great they are, but they can't even handle an old man! What do you call that? Coward! Coward!"

The crowd was so angry at Li Liangfu's rebuke that they dared not speak out. They really wanted to ask him, "If you think we are cowards, then why don't you go up?"

"Did His Majesty announce who will be sending reinforcements this time?"

After finally calming down from his tirade, Li Liangfu asked who had come to provide support.

"It is the Prince of Jin."

One of his men said.

"The Prince of Jin? That's fine."

Li Liangfu's attitude changed abruptly.

Richard, the Prince of Jin of Western Xia and the half-brother of Li Qianshun, was the most capable fighter and the most insightful military strategist of his generation in the Western Xia royal family.

Although Li Liangfu is usually very proud, he still restrains himself in front of Brother Richard.

"Everyone, stay alert, or His Highness Prince Jin will scold you."

Li Liangfu signaled everyone to return to their camps, and also specifically asked the physician to check on the general whose head he had just broken.

"General, why did you react so strongly upon hearing that the Prince of Jin was coming..."

The guards around him were puzzled. Although the Prince of Jin was brave, he did not seem to be much better than their general.

"You don't understand. Anyone who touches Old Man Zhong's fighting style will find it annoying. Prince Jin is a member of the royal family, so he will naturally be the commander-in-chief after he arrives. I'm overjoyed that he can take care of these things for me."

Li Liangfu had already prepared himself to be held accountable by Li Qianshun, but now he could wait and see what happened. If Li Cha also performed poorly, then the Emperor would punish Li Cha, not him, Li Liangfu.

If Richard performs well, then he can focus on being Richard's assistant, and he'll get a share of the military credits. No matter how you look at it, he won't lose out.

……

"General, please eat something first. Your health is important."

At the Zhong family army camp, Zhong Shidao was still wearing his armor, studying the map.

Although Li Liangfu and his men have not won any battles, they are currently holding their ground in their stronghold. The terrain here is easy to defend and difficult to attack, with high mountains on both sides and only a narrow path in the middle that can be taken up. The Zhong family army has tried to attack several times, but all have failed.

This made Zhong Shidao very anxious. If he couldn't take this place, the army's westward advance would be blocked, and all his sacrifices over the past few days would be in vain.

"Where's the scout? Are there any paths on either side of the mountain? Are we going to be trapped here forever?"

Zhong Shidao didn't eat anything; he was still thinking about how to break the deadlock.

"All the scouts have been dispatched, Commander. It will take them some time to return. Please eat something and rest for a while!"

"Sigh... If only my second brother were here!"

Zhong Shidao sat back down in his chair with a sigh. Although he had enough troops under his command, he didn't have many capable generals, because those promising talents were the seeds of the Zhong family army's future and had to follow Zhong Shizhong.

However, with Zhong Shizhong absent, Zhong Shidao, working alone, was indeed finding it difficult to manage.

"Marshal! Marshal!"

Just as he was pondering what to do, a messenger suddenly rushed in.

"General, Han Shizhong, the deputy commander of the Yiguo Jingang Army, is requesting an audience outside the camp with his troops!"

"What? The army of Yi Kingdom? How did they get here?"

Zhong Shidao was shocked. Could it be that the emperor had already surrendered?

"They were brought here by the Tianwu Guards. The leader used to be one of our Western Army members, the notorious Han Shizhong!"

"Han Shizhong, the 'Po Han Wu'? It's actually him?"

Zhong Shidao recalled that there was indeed such a person back then, a promising talent, but he had heard that he had a terrible temper.

"Where are they?"

"He just led his men to bypass the main camp and head to the front lines."

The messenger replied.

"Nonsense! What is he going to do?"

Zhong Shidao slammed his hand on the table. What was Han Shizhong up to?

"He said, he said we've been stuck here for so long, is it because we can't defeat Western Xia?"

"He also said that if we can't take it down, how about we see how he does it?"

……