Chapter 164: The Outbreak of War Between Song and Liao (Part 4)

On the city wall, looking at the collapsed ground surrounding the opposite camp, Cocalaru wore a smile. Her plan had worked without a hitch, and the spell's effect was remarkable.

"Now, next comes the sandstorm!" Cocalaru waved her hand, and the stirred-up dust, controlled by a pair of invisible giant hands, formed a localized sandstorm. The boundary of the storm was strictly confined to the perimeter of the Khitan army camp. After all, Cocalaru had just hollowed out the ground beneath the entire surrounding area.

"Fall!"

At Cocalaru's command, a mountain of dust, rendered nearly solid, crashed down upon the Khitan camp. The previous earth-shattering tremor had not only destroyed the Khitan camp but also ruined any possibility of the army swiftly assembling to form a tactical military array for defense. Clearly, this division of the Khitan army was not elite enough to quickly form a battle array and stabilize their overall situation with military cloud-energy during such a sudden subterranean upheaval.

Thus, there could only be one outcome.

"Solidify!" Cocalaru cast her spell once more, and the relatively loose soil instantly transformed into solid stone. She turned her head to look at Li Qingmeng beside her. "How many of them do you think will survive this?"

Li Qingmeng's lips twitched slightly. At this scale, grandmasters in the advanced stages of innate realms should be able to survive. After all, this mountain of earth turned to stone could not block their absorption of the ambient spiritual energy of heaven and earth; as long as their inner qi remained unbroken, breaking out was only a matter of time.

However, how many advanced innate-level grandmasters could possibly exist within this Khitan army? Perhaps the highest-ranking commander might reach that level?

Seeing that Li Qingmeng did not give a direct answer, Cocalaru turned her attention back, and the two of them continued to observe. Until an hour later, cracks began to appear on the earthen mountain. After two hours, a section of the mountain wall shattered, and a thoroughly disheveled Khitan soldier leaped out. Gazing up at the sky and the vast grassland, he let out a long, defiant howl to the heavens.

A giant hand made of stone grabbed him and crushed him to death.

Over the next hour, four or five more Khitan soldiers managed to drill their way out one after another, but they were all directly squashed to death by Cocalaru.

"Looks like that's all of them." As the sun set and the moon rose, with no one else emerging from the rubble, Cocalaru finally gauged the true extent of her technique. It could catch an enemy completely off guard, but against truly formidable masters, it still lacked decisive utility. In a full-scale battle between two armies, the effect might not be as pronounced, and it carried a high risk of friendly fire.

Most importantly, executing this entire sequence took a heavy toll on her energy reserves. After all, the laws of this world were somewhat different from her own cultivation system, and achieving the exact same effects required a greater personal expenditure of power.

"Actually, this kind of spell can still be quite useful for creating temporary encampments," Li Qingmeng remarked. If simply piling up earthen mountains did not consume an exorbitant amount of energy for Cocalaru, tunneling or paving a path all the way to the Khitan capital wouldn't be entirely out of the question.

Cocalaru rolled her eyes at her. She would have loved to, but how could that be possible! Her magical power wasn't nearly enough for such extravagant consumption, though using earth and mud to temporarily construct a city wall was entirely feasible. Presumably, this trick would prove quite useful during future clashes between the two nations.

As soon as Cocalaru completely wiped out the Khitan garrison guarding their territory, news of the event reached the Khitan capital. Previously, the Song Dynasty side had remained completely inactive, leaving the Khitan army to relentlessly pillage and plunder the scattered towns along the border. This unexpected counterattack caught them somewhat off guard.

"This Song army is sending us a warning!" said the Khitan Emperor. "How are the main army and the grain supplies coming along? If all else fails, dispatch the vanguard first and recapture that city seized by those martial artists!"

"Your Majesty, the allied forces of the various grassland tribes have not yet fully assembled, but the grain and forage have already begun transport toward the front lines," reported a senior minister.

"Can the Western Xia be subdued?" the Khitan Emperor suddenly asked. Earlier, they had incited martial arts factions in the grassland to harass Western Xia, but those forces had suffered a disastrous defeat, and quite a few officials in the Khitan towns bordering Western Xia had been killed. Fortunately, the cities themselves had not been captured; otherwise, they would have had to consider whether to wipe out Western Xia first before going to war with the Great Song.

No matter how weak Western Xia was, it remained a recognized sovereign state. If they were to stab the Khitan in the back while a war between Song and Liao was underway, it would undoubtedly cause immense trouble.

"Your Majesty, at present, the domestic territory of Western Xia is controlled by martial artists, and their military forces have been reduced to a mob of rabble. This minister believes we can dispatch a senior general to lead a punitive expedition and win a resounding victory to demonstrate our might, ensuring they dare not intervene while our nation is at war with Song. We can also extract a tribute of grain and provisions from them to reduce our own domestic consumption."

The Khitan Emperor nodded with satisfaction. "Then have Yelu Zonglin lead a force of thirty thousand and teach Western Xia a lesson!"

Half a month later, the Khitan general Yelu Zonglin led an army of thirty thousand to the border between Khitan and Western Xia, launching an offensive against the Western Xia border passes. By this time, Western Xia had already been abandoned by Li Qingmeng and her companions. Relying solely on the martial artists seeking to lord over Western Xia and the disorganized regular troops, they were utterly incapable of withstanding Yelu Zonglin's formidable army.

Within half a month, the Khitan forces fought their way straight to the capital of Western Xia, plundering countless amounts of grain, gold, and silver.

Yelu Zonglin dispatched five thousand men to escort these supplies toward the front lines while planning to lead ten thousand troops to inspect the border regions, particularly eager to lay eyes on that city that had once belonged to Khitan!

Meanwhile, in the capital of the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Ji listened to the reports from his subordinates, his expression turning rather grim. The Khitan had actually beaten Western Xia into submission and secured a massive haul of supplies for their front lines!

Originally, he had anticipated that Western Xia would cause chaos for the Khitan after the outbreak of war between the two nations! He never expected the Khitan to strike with such swift efficiency. As for the Song side, while the northern regions were relatively stable with troops assembling rather rapidly, serious problems had erupted in the south.

Fang La, Tian Hu, and Wang Qing had openly raised the banners of rebellion. Although none of them had yet grown into an unstoppable force, each had managed to capture seven or eight cities. Fang La's faction, in particular, now occupied nearly half a province, and because they had entrenched themselves and operated in the region for a long time, the surrounding imperial garrisons found it extremely difficult even to mount a defense, let alone annihilate them!

Internal rebellion and external invasion simultaneous! Should they go to war with the Khitan first, or resolve the internal crises first?

"Your Majesty, the rewards for the men of Mount Liang have already been prepared," an eunuch chimed in at that moment.

"Mount Liang—!" Zhao Ji looked up at the sky, his gaze seeming to pierce through the daylight to directly behold the shining astral constellations.

"Send messengers and simultaneously ask Mount Liang if they are willing to march directly to the front lines to fight the Khitan. In addition, issue an order to the garrison at Daming Prefecture, instructing them to muster fifty thousand troops and, upon the arrival of Mount Liang's forces, coordinate with them to attack the Khitan!"

The eunuch was startled, but immediately acknowledged the command and hurried off to transmit the imperial decree.

Back when they defeated Gao Qiu and Tong Guan, Mount Liang naturally ceased hostilities with the imperial court. However, they had consistently refused to release Gao Qiu, sending only Tong Guan back to report to Zhao Ji.

Yet Zhao Ji had not blamed Mount Liang for these actions; instead, he dispatched messengers to appease them and conferred upon Mount Liang an officially recognized military title. This signified that Mount Liang had officially accepted imperial amnesty, and as a byproduct, all the surrounding villages and prefectures within their sphere of influence had effectively become Mount Liang's territory.

A few days later, the imperial envoy arrived at Mount Liang.

Inside the Hall of Loyalty and Honor, Song Jiang received the envoy. When they had previously accepted the amnesty, he had ordered Gao Qiu, half-dead from imprisonment, to be sent back, anticipating that it wouldn't be long before the order to dispatch troops arrived. After all, the three rebel factions led by Fang La had already raised the banner of revolt, and Wu Yong had previously deduced that the court would most likely send them to suppress these three rebel groups.

"Now that the heavenly envoy has arrived, I wonder what imperial edict you bear?" Song Jiang asked with a smile.

The envoy replied, "I dare not deceive the General. His Majesty has sent me here not only to deliver rewards for all the generals, but also in the hope that you, General, will lead your troops on an expedition to resolve the present crisis!"

Song Jiang nodded. "As subjects of the realm, it is naturally our duty to repay the nation with loyalty and share the sovereign's burdens. I wonder where His Majesty wishes us to campaign against? Tian Hu, Wang Qing, or perhaps Fang La?"

The envoy felt a chill run down his spine and hurriedly said, "I dare not keep it from the General; it is none of these three rebel factions, but rather the Khitan!" By the time he finished speaking, his legs were already trembling uncontrollably. Although Tian Hu, Wang Qing, and Fang La were rebels, their scale and strength were of an entirely different magnitude. Even if combined, they were no match for the Khitan!

Although Mount Liang had previously demonstrated the capability to breach imperial cities, they had not occupied vast territories, and compared to the other three rebel factions, their military record did not appear overwhelmingly formidable. To order such a force to campaign against the Khitan—was that not sending them to their deaths?

Seeing that Song Jiang remained silent, the envoy hastily added, "General, the imperial court's border armies—fifty thousand elite troops—will be placed entirely under your command, as long as the General leads the army..."

"Please return and report to the Son of Heaven on our behalf: Mount Liang will mobilize and set out on expedition within ten days!" Song Jiang's wine cup landed steadily upon the table as he spoke with resolute determination.