A dozen or so miles from Zizhou, Lion Ridge stretched like a reclining lion before the mountains. Search: (\(Complete Book God Station)) to read high-quality literature for free.

As the sun set, the black smoke had ceased to billow. For the first time in six days, the sounds of battle ceased. Trees near the mountain, charred by flames, reflected the light of the setting sun, creating a peculiar atmosphere of quiet.

People were still running between defensive positions, soldiers were reinforcing the defenses and checking the artillery. They looked at the Jin army's position in the distance, speaking in hushed voices.

"Do you think the Jin dogs will come again today?"

"Don't think about that. If they come, we'll kick their asses!"

"I heard we won at Wangyuan Bridge, killed Wanyan Xiebao."

"Mr. Ning's men, remember? The Second Company that retreated... Xiebao thought he had 30,000 men, not enough to show off. He went straight for Mr. Ning..."

"How did they fight?"

"It's not clear yet..."

Amidst such whispers, the golden sunlight streaked across the valley. The Jurchens' withdrawal and silence had lasted for over an hour.

Behind the mountain was a field hospital. After the unusual calm on the battlefield had persisted for a long time, wounded soldiers on crutches and wrapped in bandages emerged from the tents, gazing towards the back of Lion Ridge.

"What's happening?"

People asked each other.

In a hot air balloon, someone quickly signaled downwards with flags, reporting every movement in the Jurchen camp. Senior staff officers waited below to ensure that no important clues were missed.

The blocking actions at Lion Ridge and Xiukou had lasted nearly six days. In later records, they were often overshadowed by the epoch-making significance and glory of the Wangyuan Bridge victory. In the entire five-month-long Southwest Campaign, they often seemed unimportant. But in fact, they were crucial fulcrums for the victory at Wangyuan Bridge.

For the entire six days, Qu Zhengyan and Yu Zhongdao blocked the enemy at Xiukou, while Han Jing and Pang Liuan fought at Lion Ridge. Although the Jurchens hoped that Xiebao's troops, crossing the mountains, would pull off some tricks against Ning Yi, they did not slack off or relax in the slightest at Lion Ridge and Xiukou. The relentless attacks pushed the thinly stretched Hua Xia army lines to their limit, threatening to collapse at any moment.

Although they were able to take advantage of the terrain and artillery positions, after six days, the Hua Xia army's casualties on both sides had reached a staggering 7,000. In some ways, this rate of attrition was even more brutal than during the defense of Huangming County and Yushuixi.

Especially in the Lion Ridge sector, the appearance of Zong Han's standard greatly boosted the Jin soldiers' morale. Zong Han, Bali Basu and others also used all their battlefield command and troop deployment skills accumulated over the years, constantly hammering at the mountain defenses with elite soldiers, concentrating the breakthrough on a single point. At times, even the Hua Xia army soldiers participating in the defense struggled to discern where casualties were the heaviest and where the pressure was the greatest. Only when a certain position was breached did they realize Zong Han's true tactical intentions. At this point, they could only redeploy and recapture the position from the Jin soldiers.

This was the tactical gap that Hua Xia army generals consistently faced against Jurchen commanders of Zong Han's caliber. However, in terms of individual soldier quality and small-scale tactical coordination at the grassroots level, the Hua Xia army had already surpassed these Jurchen soldiers, once thought to be "invincible with ten thousand men."

Among them, the Second Division, led by Pang Liuan, who had once lost Huangming County, fought particularly bravely. Facing their "arch-enemy" Bali Basu, the Second Division soldiers, determined to wipe out their shame and seek revenge, even abandoned their usual steady and defensive tactics. In several repeated battles for positions, they displayed the most resolute fighting spirit.

This fighting spirit was, of course, partly due to the efforts of the political officers. On the other hand, it was also because Division Commander Pang Liuan disregarded his own life and safety, repeatedly leading his troops forward personally. To protect their division commander, the brigade and regimental commanders always took the lead.

Bali Basu, on the Jurchen side, personally led the attack to break through the defenses. However, after occupying a position, he was met with a furious counterattack from the Second Division soldiers. One squad even tried to block Bali Basu's path, hoping to get the artillery to bombard the position indiscriminately, regardless of friend or foe. Although the artillery did not do so, the Second Division's attitude forced Bali Basu to retreat in disgrace.

In fact, the Second Division soldiers remembered not only the blood feud of the soldiers who died in Huangming County. Some soldiers had not broken through the encirclement and were still in the hands of the Jurchens. This matter was perhaps the biggest obstacle in the hearts of these soldiers.

The fierce battle at Lion Ridge involved repeated fighting and contention. Later, Army Commander He Zhicheng constantly transferred lightly wounded soldiers, militiamen, and surviving soldiers still maneuvering in the mountains to the Lion Ridge front line, which finally maintained this rather strained defense line. Otherwise, by the 28th, Han Jing would not have been able to spare his thousand-strong cavalry, and it would have been difficult to quickly sweep up and end the battle after the Wangyuan Bridge victory.

The Jin soldiers' ceasefire and hesitation this afternoon was clearly a response to the Wangyuan Bridge battle report. However, the Hua Xia army commanders on the position did not relax their vigilance. He Zhicheng and Pang Liuan constantly reminded the front-line soldiers to consolidate their defenses. They did not formally announce the information about Wangyuan Bridge, to avoid the soldiers becoming careless and suffering a loss in the Jurchens' final counterattack.

Around 6:30 PM, He Zhicheng, Pang Liuan, and others saw the carts coming from Wangyuan Bridge and the cavalry of about a hundred men in front of the carts on the roadside behind Lion Ridge. Ning Yi was among the cavalry. He approached, dismounted, and He Zhicheng smiled: "With Mr. Ning's help, this battle can be won... It hasn't been easy."

His face was also covered in gunpowder. As he spoke, his eyes actually contained tears. Pang Liuan, who was standing to the side, was even more injured and bloody. Due to the loss of Huangming County, he was currently the acting division commander of the Second Division. He saluted Ning Yi: "The Second Division of the Fifth Hua Xia Army was ordered to defend the Lion Ridge front line, and fortunately, we did not fail in our mission."

"Thanks to you."

If it were a normal situation, Ning Yi might have said something witty, but not this time. He returned their salute and walked forward. Pang Liuan looked at the carts behind him: "Is this the 'Dijiang'?"

Ning Yi nodded: "Actually, the whole concept was already there during the Xiaocang River campaign. We completed the manual operation in the last year. We slowly started after reaching the Southwest. Over the years, no less than two hundred people died or were crippled in the First Armory for it, tightening our belts and slowly grinding out these things. We were originally worried if it would be enough, but fortunately, Xiebao ran into it, and it played a role."

Perhaps recalling these years, his tone was serious, but not nervous, a seriousness with a feeling of slight relaxation. He walked forward for a moment and then said:

"Everyone else is still at Wangyuan Bridge. We captured over 20,000 prisoners. It's not easy to keep them under guard, and it's hard to deal with them cleanly for the time being. We were worried that the Jurchens would go crazy here, so we dragged these things over first. Originally, there were over six hundred rounds. Before the battle, we were worried if it would be enough, if we could give the Jurchens the most painful blow in the first battle, but in the end, we only used less than three hundred - how did Zong Han react here?"

"He reacted very quickly, the old ginger is spicier." He Zhicheng smiled. The mountain road was ahead. He raised his hand and looked back: "These carts..."

"Slowly drag them up. Some can be carried by horses. There's no rush. Find a good place." Ning Yi smiled, "The actual measured range, normally speaking, exceeds four hundred zhang. Before they find a way to deal with it, it's enough for Zong Han to take a beating."

"However, Zong Han is prepared."

"...So fast?"

"It started less than half an hour ago. Their lines are retreating." He Zhicheng said, "At first, it was just a simple retreat, probably in response to the situation of the Wangyuan Bridge defeat, and it seemed a bit hasty. But a quarter of an hour ago, there were a lot of adjustments, the movements were not large, and they were very organized."

The group walked up the hillside and crossed the high line on the ridge. In the setting sun, they saw the entire state of the Lion Ridge battlefield, patches of positions stained red with blood, and craters blackened by artillery shells. In the Jin army camp ahead, the large tents and banners were still waving. The Jin people had constructed simple wooden walls, with interwoven wooden spikes outside the walls. The retreat of the forward troops showed the Jin people's entire deployment to be defensive. The movement of troops in the camp seemed to be continuing.

Ning Yi looked at the other side through binoculars. He Zhicheng and the others introduced: "...From the situation we saw half an hour ago, some people are retreating towards the mountain pass in the rear. The retreat of the front line is the most obvious. The tents behind the wooden wall have not moved, and it seems that there are still people there, but summarizing the information from various observation points, the Jin people are drawing away the soldiers in the front tents in a large-scale mobilization. Also looking at the high ground at the rear mountain pass, people were carrying iron cannons up there earlier, it seems to seal off the road when they retreat."

"Zong Han and these people are truly outstanding people of this era." Ning Yi took a breath and muttered.

Lin Jingwei, the chief engineer next to him, was also curiously looking at the situation over there. At this time, he opened his mouth and said: "He is indeed a veteran who has dominated the world for thirty years. If I were in his place, I am afraid I would not believe in the existence of such a strange thing as a rocket in an hour."

"Even if you believe it, I'm afraid it would be difficult to turn this corner in your heart." Someone next to him said.

"Facing reality is the basic quality of a famous general. No matter what, the Wangyuan Bridge battlefield did have firearms that could reach four or five hundred zhang, so he must make a response to this matter. Otherwise, would he wait for the Dijiang to fall on his head before confirming it again?" Ning Yi said while looking through binoculars, thinking, and then smiled: "However, you can praise him a few more times, and write it in the book later - this will make us look even more powerful."

Everyone laughed, and someone said: "If Zong Han is prepared, I am afraid our rockets will be difficult to achieve a miraculous effect again. Now that the Jurchen camp is being mobilized, do you want to take this opportunity to quickly load the rockets and bomb their camp?"

He Zhicheng and the others looked at each other, and most of them began to think. Ning Yi lowered his head and was obviously thinking about this matter as well. He had just said that facing reality is the basic quality of a famous general, but in fact, he also admired Zong Han's speed in making decisions and facing reality. If it were himself, if he were still the him of those years, could he admit reality in such a short period of time when experiencing a sudden blow in the business world - even when his son had suffered misfortune? He was not at all sure.

And how much of an effect could these rockets have if they were thrown out at this time?

Ning Yi licked his lips: "The empty is the real, and the real is the empty. Set up the rockets to prevent them from showing weakness and counterattacking again. Bomb them directly, but not for now. Besides killing some people and scaring them, I'm afraid it will be difficult to have a decisive effect."

The people around nodded.

"From today, the era of the Jurchens being invincible with ten thousand men is completely over."

Ning Yi said: "Wanyan Zonghan must be feeling very complicated right now. I'll write a letter and throw it over later. His son is in my hands. See if he's interested in talking to me."

The sun was setting. It was almost February, and all things were growing. Even old creatures would not stop their resistance to this world. The transmission and reincarnation of the world always proceeded in this way.