Starting from Comprehensive Martial Arts: Bu Dao Lu

Chapter 249 Attacking Xixia (4)

In May of Xiaokang's 11th year.

The Xixia Empire was in raging war.

A piece of news about Xiaoyaozi quickly spread throughout the top five grassland countries!A spy from the Yuan Empire accidentally discovered the existence of Xiaoyaozi in the capital of the Ming Dynasty!

Once the Five Prairie Kingdoms confirmed that Xiaoyaozi was not dead, the Five Prairie Kingdoms' fear of the Ming Empire instantly became much less frightening!

In addition, the five grassland countries' investment at all costs, the intelligence systems of each country, and months of investigation have allowed the five grassland countries to gradually piece together the truth about the Ming Empire's annexation of the Song Empire.

The Five Prairie Kingdoms believe that the most fundamental reason why the Ming Empire was able to swallow up the Song Empire without bloodshed was because Xiaoyaozi gave up on the Song Empire.

Because, according to the news coming back from the Song Dynasty territory, the Ming Empire had already prepared its plan for the Song Dynasty territory. The Song royal family not only became a puppet in this operation, but also fully cooperated with the Ming Empire's actions.

It was precisely because of the cooperation of the Song royal family that the Ming Empire swallowed up the Song territory in just a few months.

After figuring out the reason for the demise of the Song Empire, the top leaders of the Five Prairie Kingdoms breathed a sigh of relief.

At least, Xiaoyaozi is not dead.

Regardless of the reason why Xiaoyaozi chose the Ming Empire, it shows that the Ming Empire does not yet have the means to kill land gods at will.

Of course, the top leaders of the Five Prairie Kingdoms and the land gods would never have thought that Xiaoyaozi was subdued by Zhu Qi and forced to give up the Song Empire.

In fact, let alone the five grassland countries who didn't know, they wouldn't believe it even if they knew the news.

At that time, apart from Emperor Hongwu setting up Emperor Yu's array to kill a land god, there was no record of the death of a land god in the records of the mainland of China!
Moreover, everyone believed that with Xiaoyaozi’s land immortal’s cultivation, if he were to become an enemy of the Ming Empire, the Ming Empire would definitely suffer heavy losses!Even, it will directly decline.

If a land immortal attacks him regardless of his identity, the entire Ming Dynasty might not be enough for Xiaoyaozi to kill him.

The Five Prairie Kingdoms, which had resolved the crisis of the fall of land gods, could not help but feel a headache when faced with the Ming Empire that spanned half of China.

The war on the battlefield of the Xixia Empire attracted the attention of the four grassland countries.

The Ming Empire used the soldiers from the Song Dynasty to train their troops. In a few months, they pushed across the grassland and defeated the Xixia army!

If the Ming Empire's army hadn't been able to fight steadily, their front might have reached Xingqing Mansion!

Except for the border troops, the Five Prairie Kingdoms have always looked down upon the combat power of the Song Empire's army.But it was the imperial army, Xiang army, and bandit army of the Song Empire that they looked down upon, and they completely shut down the Xixia Empire in the hands of the Ming Empire!
This is really too scary!The western grasslands were in chaos, although the Xixia Empire was weak.But no one thought that the Xixia Empire's army was not powerful enough.If the combat power of the Xixia Empire army was too high, I am afraid that the four grassland countries would have been looting frequently!

Especially the Yuan Empire and the Khitan Empire, which were adjacent to the Xixia Empire.At the junction of the three countries, there are often small-scale conflicts between the three countries.Although the Xixia Empire lost more than it won in these conflicts, the combat effectiveness of the Xixia Empire's army was still maintained at a certain level.What the five grassland countries couldn't understand was that the Xixia army, which still had fighting power, was defeated one after another by the Ming Empire using the weak imperial army, Xiang army, and bandit army of the Song Dynasty.

Although, there were many elites from the Ming Empire in the Western Expedition Army.However, as Zhu Qi continued to mobilize meritorious soldiers to return to the northern region, [-]% of the current Western Expedition army were soldiers surrendered by the Song Dynasty.

The combat power of the troops surrendered by the Song Dynasty was so terrifying. What if the Western Expeditionary Army were all soldiers of the Ming Empire, or soldiers from the garrison?

What makes the top leaders of the five grassland countries most helpless is that.

The Ming Empire, which annexed the territory of the Song Dynasty, occupied half of the central land, and had no problem supporting the Western Expedition army with its national power.

The Ming Empire, which covers half of China, has so many people, fertile fields, and guardhouses.With the terrifying national power of the Ming Empire, I am afraid that the war can continue forever!
The Ming Empire could maintain its Western Expedition army.But the five grassland countries will definitely not be able to withstand it!

The Western Expeditionary Army led by Zhu Qi was extremely rogue in its tactics!

Every time the Western Expedition army captured a city, they mainly drove out the Xixia people and built a large number of Wu forts around the city. Countless Wu forts were connected together, completely dividing the grassland!

Countless Uburgs connected together formed the grassland territory of the Ming Empire.This territory is like a hedgehog, making it impossible for the Xixia Empire to organize an effective counterattack!

If we say that Zhu Qi worked step by step, built Wubao, completely digested the grassland territory, and made the Xixia Empire feel like it was in the throat.Zhu Qi's action of setting fire to the grassland was directly digging the ancestral graves in the grassland.

Although it is not the autumn and winter season, it is difficult to set fire to the grassland. The Western Expeditionary Army, which can carry a large amount of kerosene, still sets off fires in the grassland.Obviously, if it comes to autumn and winter, the fire may directly devour the entire Xixia Empire, and even the Yuan Empire and the Khitan Empire may be affected.

Once fires burn the grasslands, herdsmen with insufficient forage reserves will die of freezing and starvation in the cold winter.There are countless Wubao blocking the border of Xixia, and the grassland cannot plunder the Central Plains like in previous years!
Now, the only way is for the five grassland countries to form a coalition to drive the Ming Empire out of the grassland.

However, the five grassland countries, which are full of contradictions, want to form a coalition army, and it is impossible to complete the alliance before autumn.What's more, the Jin Empire and the Qing Empire, which are far away from the Xixia Empire, may not join the alliance to fight the Ming Empire!
Of course, no one knows that Zhu Qi attacked Xixia cities head-on, built forts to stabilize the territory, and consumed large amounts of kerosene to set fires in midsummer, which was not suitable for setting fires. All of this was to force the five grassland countries to give up their military power against the Ming Empire. Action, select land gods to raid!
In autumn and winter, setting fires on the grassland is really disgusting!This is like setting fire to the granaries of the people of Middle-earth!
Moreover, Zhu Qi not only asked the Western Expeditionary Army to set fires in the Xixia Empire in the summer, but also set fires on the borders of the Qing Empire and the Yuan Empire guarded by Chang Yuchun; and on the borders of the Khitan Empire and the Dajin Empire guarded by Zhu Wenzheng.

Although autumn and winter have not yet arrived, the sinister intentions of the Ming Empire have already been revealed.

In May of the 11th year of Xiaokang's reign, the Western Expedition army led by Zhu Qi suddenly accelerated its advance.

In early June, the army's frontline was directed at the Xingqing Mansion of the Xixia Empire!
Xingqing Mansion is the seat of the Xixia Imperial Capital and the foundation of the Xixia Empire!
The troops of the Western Expedition approached Xingqing Mansion, and the wariness of the five grassland countries against the Ming Empire's army suddenly increased by several levels!

The Western Expeditionary Army was dominated by weak Song soldiers, and their military command was careless, and they actually reached the core of the Xixia Empire.This made the top leaders of the Five Prairie Kingdoms realize that the military strength of the Ming Empire was definitely not what they were waiting to fight against. Now, the only trump card of the Five Prairie Kingdoms was the land gods!

Early July.

The Xixia Empire moved its capital westward and chose to continue its fight with the Ming Empire!
The prosperous and rich Xingqing Mansion became devastated under the flames of war!

(End of this chapter)