The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

The red sun gradually rose and shot down obliquely through the top of the mountain ridge, and the dark scenery in the forest gradually became clearer. The war horses around seemed to smell something, and began to move restlessly.

Li Ningming ordered softly: "Calm down the horses, the Song army is approaching, if anyone reveals his whereabouts, I will kill his entire clan."

The cavalrymen of the Xia Army hurriedly patted the horses' heads to appease the horses. These are battle-hardened horses. They can feel the coming battle, so their restlessness stems from the impulsive rush to kill. The master's comfort made them recover temporarily. calm.

"His Royal Highness, the scouts are here to report that the Song army has left Yingzui Cliff, and it is still eight miles away from here." Lieutenant Ye Lixianzong quietly came to Li Ningming and reported back.

Li Ningming nodded, staring at the official path without blinking, and said quietly: "Tell General Buzang, hold your breath, and wait until the Song Army brigade crosses the bottom line of my ambush before attacking. If you want to cut the other way, decide They cannot be allowed to flee back into the valley."

Yeli Xianzong handed over his promise and went to pass on the order.

Half an hour later, smoke and dust rose from the official road, and a group of Song troops could be seen slowly approaching from the south. In the lead were more than a hundred cavalry troops, followed by a long convoy of chariots and horses, and seven or eight hundred infantry platoons. They lined up in two rows to protect the two sides of the convoy, and at the end there were two or three hundred horsemen guarding a few luxurious carts, presumably sitting in the carts were the escorts for the supplies.

As the convoy approached a little bit, Li Ningming became more and more excited. As long as the convoy passed his ambush army, the two lieutenants Yeli Xianzong and Wu Zangming would lead [-] cavalry to immediately cut off the rear, and I led [-] iron cavalry straight to the center of the opponent's convoy, cut it into two sections, captured or slaughtered the officials behind first, and then said that once the enemy general died, the rest was simply hunting the enemy soldiers; In such a plain area, these Song army infantry were easier to shoot than rabbits when hunting, and there was no difficulty at all.

The hundred or so cavalry at the head of the Song army were only miles away from the ambush. Li Ningming waved his hand lightly and gave an order. He first slowly drew out his sharp machete. As an accessory, he will finally use him to drink the blood of the Song army today; the soldiers under him also got on their horses one after another, each of them raised their swords, and waited for the commander to point the sword, and then they rushed out.

All of a sudden, Li Ningming froze. He didn't seem to believe his eyes, because he seemed to see a horse soldier in the Song Army holding up his right hand and clenching his fist. It was a common gesture in the army to stop advancing. Slowly stopped a mile away, Li Ningming held his breath and took a closer look, and saw the man who looked like the leader of the Ma Jun pointing at the people around him and pointing at the sides with a knife from time to time jungle.

Li Ningming was startled. Could it be that the soldiers of the Song Army were so careful?Do you suspect that there is an ambush in the forest?Or was Nori Xianzong and Mu Zangming not hiding well enough to be noticed by the enemy?

Li Ningming's mind was blank, and he watched as the cavalry soldier sent two cavalrymen slowly down the official road, and slowly approached the woods three hundred steps away, where the army was hiding. There must be traces of cavalry in ambush.

Li Ningming knew that his wishful thinking of cutting off the back road would be in vain, so he made a decisive decision and shouted: "Kill!" He rushed out of the forest first, and the green horse under his crotch galloped up, straight up the official road; Thousands of five hundred cavalry also swarmed out, charging straight towards the Song army.

Li Ning clearly understands that if he rushes over unprepared, the enemy general may escape, but the supplies will not be able to escape. If he is lucky, he can bring back hundreds of heads if he chases him by the tail. If the enemy finds out, he will immediately end Form a formation or turn around and run away immediately. Supplies can be snatched, but heads may not be received. Li Ningming has a big heart. He not only wants supplies, food and grass this time, but also kills all the thousands of soldiers escorted. That's the only way to cover up Li Ningling's credit.

With no choice at the moment, Li Ningming's decision was correct. As soon as he attacked, the two lieutenants who were ambushing in front of the forest immediately rushed out. The soldiers of the Song army were in chaos, and they could hear each other from a distance The leader of the horse army yelled loudly, the Xixia army was coming fiercely, and any yelling would not work. The soldiers of the Song army turned their heads and ran back, and the vehicles full of supplies also turned around quickly. It seemed like a drill Many times, the speed of Song Jun's escape is not slow.

The footsteps of the infantry could not keep up with the horses, nor could they keep up with the carts pulled by the mules and horses. Some people jumped on the carts and escaped with them; At one time, more than a hundred carts were packed to the brim.

Li Ningming charged and scolded with a smile: "This group of Song pigs, mules and horses can carry so many people? Isn't this waiting for us to slaughter?"

Just as Li Ningming expected, the carts full of soldiers and supplies suddenly struggled. Each cart was dragged by at least one horse, and at most two livestock. How could it pull thousands of catties of supplies plus the weight of five or six soldiers? However, no matter how the driver swings his whip, the speed of the cart will not be much faster than walking.

The strange screams and howls of the Xixia army frightened the soldiers of the Song army. Some people threw down the supplies in the cart in a hurry, including sacks of grain and soybeans, bundles of guns and armor, and others. The big iron box that was locked was immediately thrown all over the floor.

The weight of these things accounted for the bulk, and the cart emptied of supplies suddenly became lighter and faster, and although the distance between the two sides became smaller and smaller, after all, they began to charge more than a mile apart, retreating and advancing, and in a short time It is also difficult to catch up.

In addition, the discarded materials on the official road were everywhere, which seriously hindered the speed of the cavalry's pursuit. What's more, when the cavalry rode over these materials, their eyes were stung by the dazzling things scattered on the ground, and they had a few mouthfuls. When the big box was thrown down, it was cracked, hanging copper coins and ingots of silver spilled all over the floor.

Someone quickly reined in the horse's head, jumped off the horse and started stuffing money into their clothes. When the other soldiers saw this, they got off their horses one by one and started to loot. I didn't touch a single hair.

Li Ningming yelled loudly, but the cheering soldiers who were looting couldn't hear it. Some of them drew their swords and were about to fight for the silver on the ground; Li Ningming was furious and ordered hundreds of soldiers who participated in the looting to be arrested. Hundreds of soldiers all had their armor crooked, their swords thrown aside, and their pockets were bulging with money and belongings.

A good opportunity to chase was lost. The materials on the ground were at most [-] to [-]% of the materials escorted by the Song Army, and the rest was retreated by the Song Army. How could Li Ningming not be annoyed?The first time I led troops, there was a situation of disrespect for orders. Although these soldiers were used to looting on weekdays, every time they went deep into the Song Dynasty to raid, the generals tacitly allowed the soldiers to burn, kill and loot. Giving them some benefits is also to improve the enthusiasm of the soldiers.

But how could Li Ningming tolerate it? In his mind, the soldiers of Daxia must be strictly disciplined and prohibited. Looting property like this has greatly exceeded his tolerance.

Yeli Xianzong and Wu Zangming led the men to beat all these hundreds of people with whips, and then they came to Li Ningming with livid faces.

"His Royal Highness, the last general has punished this group of looting wild dogs, please appease your highness."

"Is this punishment? Is the military order of my Great Xia Iron Cavalry to make these dogs so despise?"

"This...Your Highness, calm down, they are really outrageous, but...there is no need to go to war, even if the commander is personally leading, it is nothing more than a small punishment, after all, they are all sons and daughters who were born and died..."

"Shut up! Is the military law just for show? It was obvious that it was all done, but now it has come to such an end, who is responsible for this? Are you two responsible? Look at these supplies, the food is only ten thousand stones, and the weapons and armor are not enough Hundreds of sets, the pitiful few boxes of belongings are less than tens of thousands of pennies, how do you ask me to bring back such a small amount of things?"

Yeli Xianzong and Mei Zangming scratched their heads and said nothing, thinking: What can I do?There is no reason to succeed every time.

Li Ningming walked forward slowly with a treasured sword, and walked slowly along the queue of hundreds of soldiers looting money and things. His face was clouded, and he said coldly: "You are used to laxity, and you even ignore military orders. You must accept stricter punishment." Punishment, whoever is the first to steal the money, stand up for himself."

All the soldiers bowed their heads and were speechless.

"Okay, you don't want to say anything, right? Then we'll all sit together, and someone will dig a hole and bury these dogs alive, and no one will be left behind."

Everyone was shocked, some people fainted on the spot, Yeli Xianzong and Wu Zangming hurried forward to plead, saying that they are in the enemy's territory, they need to lead the troops to withdraw from the Song Dynasty, and we will talk about the punishment when we go back.

Li Ningming didn't listen at all, shook his head and said: "Then I will give you one last chance. If you point out the top ten looters, you can temporarily avoid the death penalty. You will be given ten breaths. If there is no result after ten breaths, you will be buried alive on the spot. "

It was only then that everyone realized that Li Ningming was serious. Once it was time for life and death, the brothers on weekdays would turn against each other. Ten breaths was still too long for them. In less than five breaths, ten Xia soldiers would be accused When they came out, the faces of these ten people were ashen. They didn't expect to be terrified of such a big misfortune today. Things that are commonplace on weekdays, in the hands of this prince, would actually make such a big fuss.

"Go on the road with peace of mind, your family members will be compensated, and the ten of you will die as if you were considered fighting the enemy." Li Ningming said coldly.

"Your Highness, please forgive me, I won't dare to wait any longer." Ten Xia soldiers kowtowed and begged for mercy, weeping endlessly.

Li Ningming shouted to Yeli Xianzong and Wu Zangming: "Aren't you dragged down for execution? Do you want me to do it myself?"

Yeli Xianzong and Wu Zangming looked at each other, neither of them wanted to take a step forward; Li Ningming jumped angrily, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll do it myself, you two are openly disobedient, go back and wait for me."

In desperation, Yeli Xianzong and Wu Zangming hurriedly ordered the guards to see ten people dragged to the grass beside the official road, and then heard screams, and ten bloody heads were thrown warmly in front of everyone.

Everyone was silent, His Highness the Crown Prince was ruthless, it was unexpected, it was an ordinary raid, but he didn't know why His Highness the Crown Prince valued it so much.

"Although you people can avoid the death penalty, you will also be punished. If you want to wash away the shame on your body, you need to kill the enemy bravely to make up for your mistakes. Later, you will attack the Song army in Yingzui Cliff. You need to be the first echelon to charge. If you can survive, I will waive all your punishments and give you a heavy reward, do you understand?"

Li Ningming's words stunned Yeli Xianzong and Wu Zangming, is this crazy?It is a big taboo to lead cavalry into the valley to pursue.

"His Royal Highness, forgive me for talking too much, you can't enter the valley. Once our cavalry army enters the valley, there is no room for maneuver, and the advantage will be lost." Wu Zangming hurried forward and said.

Li Ningming said: "Don't you think I don't know this is a big taboo? Do you know the situation at the bottom of the valley under Yingzui Cliff? It is a wide valley, and thousands of cavalry can move freely in the valley. What are you worried about? Besides Well, look at this batch of supplies. Obviously, besides food, grass, weapons and general supplies, there are also a lot of copper coins, gold and silver. Asking the emperor for military pay and supplies is a great achievement, don't you want to make this great contribution and make your name known to the Great Xia?"

"But... just in case..."

"It's nothing in case. Song people have a saying called 'wealth and wealth are sought in danger'. If you don't enter the tiger's den, you can't get tiger cubs. At this moment, the morale of the Song army is low, and they are mainly infantry. As long as they are not allowed to retreat to the deep valley In a narrow area, we can be sure of winning."

"But what if the enemy army comes to help and blocks the back road?"

"Quick battle and quick decision. Solve the battle before the enemy gets the news of the reinforcements. I have already figured out the way back. Instead of going north from the official road, we will go west to Qinfeng Road in the Song Dynasty, and then turn north. The Song army's defense transfer point between Qingzhou and Jingzhou went north, let them rush to the sky, this battle is destined to become famous all over the world."

"But……"

"Don't worry about it anymore. Quickly organize the army to march towards Yingzui Cliff, delaying the opportunity of the battle. If the Song army retreats to the mountain road, I will ask you."

Yeli Xianzong and Wu Zangming didn't dare to say anything more, although Li Jiqian, the commander of the Jianing Army, had warned them not to let Li Ningming do anything wrong, but under the current situation, the two of them were powerless; Of course, the two still admire Li Ningming's strategic prospects and the route of retreat. Now that the arrow is on the string, they can only gamble with a fluke mentality.