Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 964 0959 [Xixia Flying General]

Where is Yue Fei now?
Debating with monks in the temple.

Yue Fei won the debate holding the knife handle, and the great monk immediately brought out food to reward the troops.

This temple is called Gaotai Temple, located fifteen miles east of Xingqing Prefecture. It is easy to find because there are several pagodas in the temple, the tallest of which is several dozen meters high.

It was built by Li Yuanhao with a huge effort. He exchanged good horses for Buddhist scriptures from Mount Wutai, and then went to Xinjiang to hire Uighur monks to serve as translators.

It covers a vast area and has abundant grain storage.

Just this morning, Yue Fei evacuated Xingqing Mansion at night. Li Yu saw the pagoda from afar and suddenly had an idea: "Protector General, there should be a lot of food in the temple, right?"

"How could I forget this!" Yue Fei slapped his head.

So Yue Fei took his army to Kodaiji Temple to worship Buddha and beg for food from the monks.

Unfortunately, although the monks were rich, they did not have much food stored.

In the past few years, due to natural disasters, the price of grain soared during the lean period, and Kodaiji took the opportunity to sell a lot of grain. This year, Xixia was short of food and had no choice but to borrow food from the temple.

Most of the food supplies at Kodaiji Temple were gone, and even some young monks were drafted into the army to fight in the war.

All in all, the food stored in the temple was only enough to feed Yue Fei's 6,000 soldiers for about ten days.

Yue Fei's mouth was crooked with smile after getting ten days of food and fodder for free.

Then another officer came to report that when he went out for reconnaissance two days ago, he also discovered a large temple in the southwest of Xingqing Prefecture.

Yue Fei immediately dispatched three thousand cavalrymen, each with three horses, and rushed towards Chengtian Temple in Western Xia.

At dusk, six thousand horses returned loaded with food - all the monks from Chengtian Temple had run away, and because they were in a hurry to escape into Xingqing City, they left a lot of food as "free gifts" to Yue Fei.

Even if Li Cunhui had not come up with the idea, the food obtained from the two temples alone would be enough to feed Yue Fei's troops for half a month.

The temples in Western Xia were so wealthy that there was still so much left after the grain was requisitioned.

If Western Xia was not in danger of extinction, it probably would not have gone to the temples to collect grain, because Buddhism was the state religion of Western Xia.

Moreover, the three major temples in Xingqing Prefecture - Gaotai Temple, Chengtian Temple, and Jietan Temple - were all built by imperial orders. Without the emperor's decree, no one dared to touch the things in the temples, let alone ask monks to collect military rations.

In order to obtain Buddhist scriptures for Kodaiji Temple, Li Yuanhao directly exchanged many top-quality war horses with the Northern Song Dynasty.

This was not because Li Yuanhao was a devout Buddhist, but because he established the legitimacy of the Western Xia regime through worshipping Buddhism!

"Protector General, Li Cunhui sent a message saying that Wang Cunli might move the people into the city tonight. He said it wouldn't be too late to kill them tomorrow at noon, but it would be best if we arrived at daybreak."

"Keep an eye on the monks at Kodaiji Temple!"

Yue Fei was still very civilized and did not massacre monks in the temple.

Only some of them were tied up, and the remaining monks cooked for the tied monks. At the same time, soldiers were sent to watch them and not allow them to move around freely.

The food and fodder for Yue Fei's army were also temporarily stored in the temple.

……

Outside Huaizhou City, the sky was completely dark.

Wang Cunli sent out a large number of light cavalry to investigate and confirm that there were no enemy troops within a radius of fifteen miles. Only then did he open the city gates at dusk to allow the people who were settled in the suburbs to come in.

Before the outsiders arrived, the local people living near the city started moving first.

They knew that the Ming army was heading south and had long wanted to hide in the city. Now they finally had the chance.

The soldiers tried to stop them, but soon a riot broke out. Although they succeeded in suppressing the civil unrest, they blocked several city gates for two hours. As foreigners entered the city one after another, local residents came to join them.

After the commotion, the city gates were blocked again!

Wang Cunli was tired of watching from the tower, so he gave the order helplessly: "Let them all in."

To the east of Huaizhou City was the Yellow River, and torches were lit everywhere on the west, south, and north sides. People drove their livestock, carried food, and rushed into the city with their elderly and children. Many families even brought cooking utensils, firewood, and fodder.

Not only do they want to cook in the city, they also want to feed cattle and sheep in the city.

Wang Cunli did not stop it, and there was no way he could stop it.

Anyway, if there is not enough fodder, the herdsmen will definitely kill sheep and cattle. While making the city stink, the price of meat will also drop, which will be just right for the food-deficient city residents to buy.

chaos!chaos!chaos!
It's a complete mess!
Many people pushed and shoved each other before they even entered the city. Some people lost their livestock and cried out to the sky, looking for them everywhere, but they were squeezed into a narrow area and could hardly move.

Gradually, families were separated, children could not find their mothers, stood in the crowd crying, and some were even trampled to death.

It gets even more chaotic after entering the city.

Wang Cunli forced the residents of the city to accept a certain number of outsiders in each house. But everyone wanted to live in the house, and even after the owner closed the door, some people still knocked on the door and broke in.

Many homeowners did not have time to close their doors, and people kept squeezing in, then conflicts arose and quarrels began.

Even fighting!
There were also people fighting on the streets, each claiming that a certain livestock was theirs, and they even wanted to go see the officials to confirm ownership.

How could the officials in the city care about such things?

Soldiers have disregarded military orders and left their posts to run into the streets to look for their families. They have been separated from their families for several days. Although they are close to each other, they cannot see each other and do not even know whether their families are still alive.

On every street, there were soldiers shouting the names of their families. The whole city was noisy, chaotic and completely out of control.

Wang Cunli stood on the city wall, looking at the city inside and outside, and he felt numb.

If the Ming army attacked at this time, he would not be able to command the troops.

"Come back!" Li Cunhui shouted.

The soldiers under his command said, "Arm the troops, let's go look for our relatives. If we don't come now, when the Ming army arrives, I'm afraid our family will be trampled or killed."

Li Cunhui asked, "Now the city is full of people, how do you find your family? Just shout along the street? There are many Tanguts with the same name, how long will it take for you to find them? Most of the people haven't entered the city yet, your family may still be outside the city, you shouted until dawn but no one will answer."

The soldiers stood there, not knowing what to do.

Among this group of people, only the families of Li Cunhui and his adjutant were collectively settled in the city from the beginning.

Li Cunhui continued, "Stay here and make contributions with me. Finish the war sooner so that you can look for your family members in peace. If you look for them now, what's the difference between that and looking for a needle in the desert?"

Another city gate was blocked.

Because there were too many people entering the city, the Xixia soldiers were unable to maintain order, and suddenly a large-scale stampede occurred in the city gate.

More and more people fell down, and even a lot of livestock were blocking the way. The people outside the city gate had no idea what was happening. They continued to squeeze in, but found that they couldn't squeeze in. So some people suspected that the city was full and the remaining people were not allowed to hide in the city.

This kind of rumor was very popular, and those who were blocked outside began to shout and roar.

Gradually, anger and panic spread outside the moat and turned into various rumors, which spread further and further when the people talked privately.

The Xixia soldiers who were responsible for maintaining order outside the city were pressed against the city wall by the common people. They could not even lift their weapons, let alone draw their swords to threaten.

Wang Cunli was furious: "Shoot, shoot!"

The Xixia soldiers on the city wall shot arrows outside the city gate, scaring the people there so much that they cried and ran away.

After a while of struggling, the place was finally empty.

Wang Cunli then sent troops to clear the corpses inside and outside the city gate and let the people back in.

This time, it was much more orderly and no one dared to squeeze in.

But it was still very noisy, especially in families with many livestock. Some of the animals were disobedient and would run around when disturbed. When driving a large number of livestock into the city, it often took a long time, and the people behind them cursed in frustration.

The chaos continued until dawn, when only half of the more than 100,000 people entered the city.

To be precise, more than 100,000!

The people living in the surrounding areas took the opportunity to flee into the city, and the local people in the suburbs did the same.

The Yinchuan Basin was the most densely populated area of ​​Western Xia.

none of them.

The population density here is almost catching up with that of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

The young and strong men near Huaizhou City were all drafted to the front lines to fight, leaving countless old, weak, women and children at home.

They also want to go into the city.

Yue Fei found that he could not capture Xingqing Prefecture, so he immediately dispatched cavalry to disperse the people. Since Huaizhou was the closest to Xingqing Prefecture, at least half of the people who were driven away by Yue Fei fled to Huaizhou.

Some even escaped from Dingzhou.

These farmers from Xingqing Prefecture were even more miserable. Because they fled in such a hurry, they didn't even have anything to eat and could only beg in the suburbs of Huaizhou.

Wang Cunli thought that he was letting more than 100,000 people into the city, but in fact the number had exceeded 200,000.

The entire Western Xia had only over one million people.

If the civilians and soldiers in the city are counted, one-fifth of the population of Western Xia is here - the other one-fifth is in Xingqingfu, the capital of Western Xia.

Do you think it’s outrageous?

It's normal!

Wang Cunli fortified his city and cleared the countryside, bringing with him soldiers and civilians from several states.

Those states were very poor in the eyes of Ming officials, but they were the "richest regions" in Western Xia after the Yinchuan Basin and the land outside the Taowai. Because of the large population and the fact that they were located on the front line, they also had the largest number of military commanders, and the Western Xia border was entirely supported by those states.

Even though the Ming army suffered a crushing defeat in this battle, it was a miserable loss for the Western Xia who managed to hold on.

The land of the elite has been ravaged, and this year's food can only be replanted. Next year, famine and rebellion will surely break out everywhere. Even if the rebellion is quelled, the population will be drastically reduced, and it will take at least 20 to 30 years to recover.

“Woo~~~Woo~~~Woo~~Woo~~”

Directly to the west of Huaizhou City, the sound of horns came from far away. It was the warning of the Xixia light cavalry who were sent out of the city to investigate.

Yue Fei is here.

Wang Cunli stood on the city wall and shouted, "Close the city gate!"

The people, who had gradually become orderly after several rectifications, suddenly panicked when they saw the soldiers were about to close the city.

They left behind no property, food or livestock, and those who had not yet entered the city rushed in.

The people in the city gate struggled to squeeze forward, and the soldiers were unable to close the door at all.

Outside the city gate, a rain of arrows fell, trying to shoot back the people who rushed in later. As long as the people who followed retreated, the people in the city gate hole went in, and the city gate could be closed quickly.

"The Han army is coming, charge over!"

The rain of arrows could not drive away the people. They held the felt used to pitch tents and rushed in desperately through the rain of arrows.

Li Cunhui led his cavalry to mount their horses. He and his deputy escort team each led 15 people and rushed to the streets from different directions, shouting along the way: "The Han army has sneaked into the city! The Han army has sneaked into the city..."

At this moment, Wang Cunli was blowing the horn to gather the troops, asking the soldiers scattered in the city to gather quickly.

Li Cunhui and his men killed any lone soldiers they encountered on the street, and then immediately charged forward, continuing to shout that the Han army had entered the city.

The streets were filled with people, livestock, and running soldiers.

When the common people heard the shouting, they thought Li Cunhui and his men were the Ming army, and were driven to flee in panic.

More and more people were running around, causing widespread panic in the city.

The people who had just entered the city had experienced several hours of chaos. How would they react when they finally entered the city and had not rested for a while on the street and suddenly heard that the Ming army had entered the city?
People ran around aimlessly, their minds were blank, their bodies and minds were shrouded in fear, and they had lost the ability to think.

Those who climbed over the wall and hid in people's houses were considered sensible. Some people actually fled towards the city gate, as if the Ming army was in the city and they would be safe if they went out of the city gate.

In the end, there was no need for Li Cunhui to create chaos; the people of Western Xia were creating the chaos themselves.

The Western Xia soldiers were influenced by the common people and had no idea how many enemies were in the city. They really thought that a large number of Ming troops had infiltrated the city.

The morning light was dim at this time and visibility was less than ten meters.

Wang Cunli looked at the increasingly chaotic city, and heard the rumbling sound of horse hooves coming from far outside the city. He, the commander, was completely panicked, and actually followed the horse path along the city wall, led several personal soldiers on horseback to the city, and then rushed to the east gate, hacking and killing along the way.

"Open the city gate!" Wang Cunli shouted in horror.

There was no need for him to give any orders, as soldiers and civilians had already opened the East Gate.

Outside the city gate is the Yellow River, and there is no chance of being ambushed by the Ming army, so rational soldiers and civilians choose to escape from here.

Wang Cunli, the father-in-law of the Western Xia emperor and commander-in-chief of the army, fled, abandoning more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians.

What he left behind was one-fifth of the population of Western Xia!

(End of this chapter)