Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 945 0940 [The Power of Two Generals]

The topmost horizontal line of the "J"-shaped bend of the Yellow River has always been a rich area suitable for farming and grazing.

The nomadic peoples who occupied this place had the confidence to spy on the Central Plains.

If the Central Plains dynasty occupied this place, it would be able to prevent the Hu horse from crossing the Yinshan Mountains.

Most of the time, Western Xia and Liao each occupied half of this area, but there were a few times when Western Xia occupied the entire area.

Regardless of whether it is half or full, the entire area is under the jurisdiction of the Black Mountain Wei Fu Military Division.

When Western Xia was at its peak, the number of soldiers under the Wei Fu Army was 70,000!
There is no other way. We must have so many soldiers. Otherwise, if the Liao Kingdom captures this place, they will be able to go south and take the capital of Western Xia.

Of course, there are very few standing armies because we cannot afford to maintain too many.

They usually farm or graze and are not paid.

During wartime, men were conscripted to fight and given travel rations.

Every Xixia man who reaches the age of 15 automatically becomes a male.

One person was selected from every two men as a regular soldier. The imperial court would give each regular soldier a war horse and a camel (or other livestock). War horses and livestock were only issued once. If they died or were lost, the soldiers had to find ways to replenish them themselves. In normal times, they also raised their own war horses, and the Xixia government was not responsible.

The remaining males after being selected as regular soldiers would be drafted as burdens (auxiliary soldiers and miscellaneous servants) during wartime.

That is, during wartime, Xixia men over the age of 15 either served as regular soldiers or did miscellaneous labor.

In principle, every citizen is a soldier, but in reality it depends on how much food and grass there are.

A regular soldier and a burden make up a team.

Chao is the smallest military unit of Western Xia.

……

The Wei Fu Army had three chief officers: a military commander-in-chief, a deputy military commander-in-chief, and a military supervisor.

At this moment, the deputy governor was surrounded by Han Shizhong in Tiande Military City.

The commander-in-chief and the military inspector led reinforcements from the west.

And Xixia had more than just these two cities (Wulahai City and Tiandejun City), there were also a large number of barrier cities along the way, that is, many military fortresses. If the Liao and Jin soldiers came, the nearby farmers and herdsmen could quickly hide in the castles.

On his way from Baotou, Han Shizhong encountered two obstructions, which he bypassed directly.

Han Shizhong did not want infantry or artillery. His purpose in marching so quickly was simply to prevent the Western Xia from gathering its troops in an orderly manner.

He had achieved his goal. The territory under the jurisdiction of the Wei Fu Army of Western Xia was divided into two major parts by Han Shizhong: more than 20,000 reinforcements and about 20,000 soldiers in the city.

There were still more than a thousand people hiding in the two castles he had avoided.

Didn’t they say the total number of troops is 70,000?

That was the heyday of Western Xia, and now they were gathering troops in a hurry, and being able to gather more than 40,000 people was already quite good.

"General, Ming scouts spotted ten miles away!"

"Explore again."

The commander-in-chief of the Wei Fu Army was called Li Quanlu. He was born into a royal family and was the nephew of Brother Richard in terms of seniority.

He can barely be considered a veteran.

When he was young, he fought with Liu Fa, and then was beaten up by Yang Zhi. Taking advantage of the war between Ming and Jin, he followed Brother Richard to steal the grassland city of Jin.

"We can't attack rashly. We should wait for reinforcements," said the military supervisor Cao Yu.

Li Quanlu is Richard's man.

Cao Yu was Li Qianshun's man. Although Li Qianshun died of illness, Prime Minister Li Renzhong did not allow Richard to change the military supervisor.

The commander-in-chief and military supervisor of Western Xia belonged to different political camps!
Li Quanlu said: "I have seen artillery fire. If we are too slow to rescue, I am afraid that Tiande City will have been breached."

Cao Yu said, "The Ming army rushed forward at full speed and reached Tiande Military City in such a short time. We summoned all the troops in a hurry. How could the Ming army have time to transport artillery?"

"Just in case." said Li Quanlu.

Cao Yu asked: "Do you know how many Ming troops there are? Do you know who is the commander of the Ming army? Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle. You didn't know anything, and you didn't even have all the troops, but you rushed to rescue them. What if you return in defeat?"

Li Quanlu said with an unhappy expression: "You are a civil official, what do you know about military affairs? I am not a fool, so I will not fight immediately."

"Now that we have encountered the Ming army's light cavalry, we will naturally choose a place to set up camp nearby. We will send the light cavalry to rush over and find out the situation of Tiande Military City; at the same time, we will wait for more reinforcements to join us."

"Before sending out the troops, I also sent people to rush to ask for help, asking the Qiangzhen Army Division and the Chaoshun Army Division to send troops to rescue us!"

Cao Yu shook his head and said, "It is unknown when the reinforcements from the two military commanders will arrive. We must retreat back to Wulahai City and wait, instead of waiting here at Tiande Military City."

It really takes time to wait until the year of the monkey and the horse.

Li Quanlu was able to gather troops quickly because this battle concerned the interests of the local tribes. In order to protect their pastures and farmland, the tribal chiefs naturally sent troops quickly and followed the main general to come to the rescue.

However, the headquarters of Qiangzhen Military Command and Chaoshun Military Command were located west of Hetao.

The tribal chiefs there would be slow to do so even if they were willing to send troops, and would probably take the opportunity to demand tax cuts.

In time of war, the people responsible for gathering troops are actually the tribal chiefs!

Li Bao ordered Yue Fei and Han Shizhong to charge forward quickly. Han Shizhong galloped all the way without any infantry in order to prevent other military commanders from having time to rescue him.

……

On the grassland forty miles wide north of the Yellow River and south of Wuyuan, the battles between the two countries' light cavalry was very lively.

Both sides were grassland tribal cavalry.

Their equipment is very rubbish, most of them don't have armor, and when they meet they just shoot arrows at each other.

After fighting for a long time, many people were injured, but few were killed.

Those who were shot by arrows retreated immediately, as they were unwilling to fight in close combat anyway.

The grassland was too vast to be defended. There was even a small group of Xixia cavalry that bypassed the northern part of Wuyuan and tried to approach the besieged Tiande Military City and get in touch with the Xixia army that was defending the city.

"Boom!"

The deafening sound of horse hooves came from the east, and the Western Xia light cavalry who were fighting were so frightened that they quickly turned around and fled.

Li Quanlu, who had not yet set up camp, soon received news from the light cavalry: the main force of the Ming army was coming!

When asked how many people had come, I only knew that there were at least tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands.

The military supervisor Cao Yu was terrified: "Quickly retreat to Wulahai City, defend the city and wait for reinforcements, and never fight a decisive battle with the Ming army in the wild!"

Li Quanlu became more and more annoyed as he listened, and he shouted, "What do you know? Have you seen the Ming army's firearms? I've personally experienced it, and a hundred thousand troops were destroyed in an instant! To fight the Ming army, we have to fight on the open grassland. Wulahai City is in the mountains. Once the Ming army drags the artillery and the musketeers arrive, how can we fight back in the city?"

Cao Yu said, "We can't fight in the wild. Have you forgotten that when we were fighting with the Jin Kingdom, our Great Xia had more than 30,000 soldiers but were defeated by more than a thousand Jin cavalry. The Ming cavalry can fight the Jin cavalry head-on. Their cavalry are well-armored, and we don't even have Iron Harriers." "Stop arguing, let me think about it!" Li Quanlu was unsure either.

Han Shizhong arrived too quickly. The farmers and herdsmen around Tiande Military City had no time to retreat to the west and join the group. They could only hide in Tiande Military City and defend it.

Under normal circumstances, it would be no problem to guard it for a year or two.

But the Ming army has artillery!
Li Quanlu was afraid that if he did not rescue them, the city wall would be blown down. At that time, Han Shizhong could use Tiande Military City as a base to continuously increase troops and transport food.

But how to save it?

Cao Yu was absolutely right. In field combat, we would most likely not be able to win.

There were only 3,000 Western Xia Iron Harriers, not because there were not enough riders and horses, but because Western Xia could only afford to support so many.

The Iron Harriers are all in the capital, so it’s impossible for them to arrive in a short time.

Li Quanlu had a limited standing army of only two or three thousand men, and these troops were naturally well-equipped.

The rest were all young and strong men among the farmers and herdsmen, some of whom were selected as regular soldiers and some as burdens. Among these troops, those who could wear leather armor were already elite, and many regular soldiers didn't even have leather armor.

Frightened by the reputation of the Ming army, Li Quanlu actually said intimidatingly: "Withdraw!"

They rushed to the rescue and hastily ordered the evacuation...

Li Quanlu fled very quickly, even leaving behind food and livestock, and the entire army fled in a panic on horseback.

Han Shizhong led his troops to the half-built enemy camp. When he saw the livestock and food in the camp, he didn't understand what was going on for a moment.

This battle was of great importance, and Han Shizhong actually became cautious: "The enemy's escape was too strange, there must be an ambush ahead, luring us over and then killing us. Since the enemy left livestock and food, we will accept it. Don't chase them rashly, take the food back and continue to besiege the city!"

Outside the Tiande Army City, Han Shizhong only left a small number of light cavalry to watch from a distance.

When Deputy Governor Yeli Degui saw that the main force of the Ming army had left, he guessed that Han Shizhong was going to fight the reinforcements, so he gathered his troops and went out of the city to cooperate with the reinforcements.

Not long after Yeli Degui and his army had gone forward, they discovered that Han Shizhong had led his troops back, which frightened him so much that he quickly withdrew his entire army back into the city.

"What's going on? Is the battle over and the Ming army won a great victory? It can't be so fast!" Yeli Degui was confused.

Fortunately, there are a large number of rice fields on both sides of the Yellow River. The Xixia farmers have just harvested the rice, and the herdsmen have brought many livestock into the city. Yeli Degui's food and grass can last for one or two years.

He didn't care about all that and just defended the city. He knew reinforcements would arrive sooner or later.

Only God knows when the Xixia reinforcements will arrive.

Han Shizhong's follow-up troops had already boarded the ship in Dongshengzhou City (Tokto County). This section of the Yellow River is navigable, and there are a lot of canals extending from both sides of the Yellow River for irrigation.

In a few days, the artillery will be delivered and more food will be delivered.

……

However, Yue Fei led 5,000 cavalry and hundreds of Dangxiang cavalry, and went south along the Yellow River and attacked Ningbian Prefecture directly.

On the other side of the Yellow River in Ningbian Prefecture, there is a Ming army castle with 500 soldiers stationed there, which is a second-line force under the command of Yao Pingzhong.

Following the river valley to the castle, Yue Fei's cavalry made some supplies before crossing the river and continuing westward around Ningbian Prefecture.

Why did Yue Fei dare to go around the city?

Because he has friendly forces to help him!

Upon receiving the news from Yue Fei, Yao Pingzhong, who was stationed in Fugu, immediately assembled his troops and marched north along the river, leading thousands of people to besiege Ningbianzhou City and, by the way, open up Yue Fei's food supply route.

Further west is Jinsujun City (northwest of Jungar Banner).

Yue Fei came too fast with four horses. The herdsmen around the city were still grazing their sheep. They watched Yue Fei leading his troops past in a daze, and they thought it was their own country's army.

If they are not our own people, could they be the Ming army?
There is a desert area to the north and Xixia Ningbian Prefecture to the east. It is impossible for the Ming cavalry to fly over here.

The herdsmen along the way did not go to the city to report the news.

When Yue Fei led his troops to the outside of the city, the Western Xia defenders were still drinking mare's milk.

It was just dinner time, so Yue Fei came to give him a snack.

The Dangxiang tribe that surrendered to Yue Fei in Dongsheng Prefecture, along with more than a thousand Khitan, Tanggu and Jurchen cavalry, disguised themselves as defeated soldiers of the Western Xia and fled frantically towards the city.

Yue Fei led two thousand brave cavalry and more than a thousand light cavalry, and pursued quickly two miles behind.

The defenders in the city were so frightened that they quickly closed the city gates, completely unaware of what was happening outside the city.

A Tangut chieftain from Dongsheng Prefecture rushed outside the city and shouted, "The Ming army is coming. Dongsheng Prefecture and Ningbian Prefecture have all been breached. Let us in quickly to help defend the city!"

"Wait a moment, I will go and inform the general." shouted the officer guarding the city.

The Tangut chieftain said, "Open the city gate quickly! If you delay any longer, the enemy will come and kill you!"

Yue Fei had led his troops to within a mile and a half of the city. The officers guarding the city were also panicking and shouted hurriedly: "Cross the moat and come in from the west gate!"

When Yue Fei saw the troops in front going around the west city, he also went around the west outside the moat.

The Xixia garrison commander did not have time to eat, and rode to the west gate on horseback, asking in panic: "How many Ming troops have come? Why is Ningbianzhou gone? Why am I not…"

"kill!"

After the city gate was opened, cavalry from all ethnic groups rushed in.

Unexpectedly, the Xixia defender was chopped down by the Dangxiang chieftain before he could even draw his weapon.

The Western Xia soldiers inside the city gate were in chaos, and cavalry of various ethnic groups rushed straight into the city. Yue Fei led his elite troops and followed them in.

Even before the city was completely captured, Yue Fei ordered his cavalry to change horses: "Follow me and charge towards the Heqing military city!"

"Protector General, the soldiers haven't slept for a whole day and night."

"Then sleep on horseback. Everyone change horses. Our spare horses are tired. It would be best if we could replace them with the enemy's war horses in the city. Leave this city to the cavalry of all ethnic groups. The Ming soldiers will follow me to attack the Heqing military city!"

While Jin Su's army was still fighting in the city, Yue Fei had already led his troops to attack the next place.

There were defeated Xixia soldiers in the city fleeing on horseback. When they saw Yue Fei also leading his troops westward, they were so scared that they quickly turned around and fled elsewhere.

The next day, Yue Fei's troops, who had not slept for two days and one night, unexpectedly attacked the Qinghe Military City in the north of Ordos.

A fight to the death!

There was not even much fighting, and the deputy general was the chief of the local tribe. It had been ruled by the Liao Kingdom before, and then by the Jin Kingdom. It had been less than ten years since the Western Xia stole this place.

Although the local tribes are Dangxiang people, how can they be loyal to Western Xia?

Yue Fei's troops were like a divine army descending from the sky, frightening the local tribes. The local chieftain, who served as deputy general, killed the chief general sent by the Xixia court and led his people to open the city gates and surrender.

Han Shizhong was still besieging the city, but Yue Fei had already cleared several cities in the south.

(End of this chapter)