Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Xixia is at the end of its battle!

The winner who was beaten by Tong Guan proposed peace because all the food was gone, and there was no way to continue the fight with soldiers and no food.

After two or three years of hard work, Brother Richard led another 30,000 troops to the grassland to rescue the escaped Emperor Tian Zuo. In this battle, not only were all the elite soldiers lost, but all the military rations that had been saved with great difficulty were also seized by Wanyan Zonghan.

Then there was a delay for another two or three years, and he was ordered by the Jin State to attack Shanxi. However, he failed to make any progress and consumed a lot of food and grass.

Last year, he took advantage of the opportunity to invade Han Dynasty and emptied the Xixia government treasury of money and food. It did capture a large area of ​​territory, but judging from the food captured, it was definitely a loss-making business.

Their next step was to capture the Hehuang Valley, because it was a little "richer" and they could at least accumulate grain through farming.

After receiving a letter from Li Yuchang asking for help, Brother Richard quickly organized his army and set off.

Although Li Qianshun, the leader of the Xixia Kingdom, did not want to fight, he was also worried that Brother Richard's prestige was too high. But when Henan Military Division was surrounded, they had no choice but to listen to Brother Richard in everything. The monarch and his ministers were not confused about military and state affairs.

At the height of Xixia's power, the total military strength was approximately four to five million.

Don't think it's outrageous. All the people are just soldiers. They graze and farm in peacetime, and are drafted into the army in wartime.

There are very few professional soldiers who are out of work, and most of them defend the capital.

Brother Richard brought out all the Central Army that could fight, including three thousand Iron Kites, five thousand proton troops (children of wealthy families or tribal nobles), five thousand Bubazi, and more than a thousand Poxi troops (three hundred camels carrying small Catapult).

The total number of these elites is no more than 10,000.

He set out from Xingqing Mansion (Yinchuan) and went south along the Yellow River to Huizhou (Jingyuan). Along the way, he was joined by the Capture Army.

Some border guards stationed in the castle were also mobilized to accompany them on the expedition.

By the time they arrived in Huizhou, more than 60,000 troops had been gathered.

Even Huizhou City was captured last year by taking advantage of the situation, and had been in the hands of the Song Dynasty's border troops before.

From Huizhou continue along the Yellow River to the south, and you can reach Lanzhou City where Li Mida is in charge.

The fortified city of Lanzhou is difficult to capture.

Brother Richard chose to take the land route instead, that is, go around Baiyin. Moreover, he did not go directly to Henan Military Division because the last section of the journey was too difficult and would take too much time and food.

This guy chose to go south along the valley between Henan Military Division and Lanzhou, and go straight to Xiguanbao (Xigu District, Lanzhou City).

Once Xiguan Fort is captured, he can threaten Lanzhou City to the east, and take Yang Zhi's retreat to the west. Cooperate with the defenders of Henan Army Division to block Yang Zhi in the Kalochuan River Valley!

Even if Xiguan Fort cannot be captured, they can still surround Wei and rescue Zhao, forcing Yang Zhi's army to return for reinforcements.

…

At this time, more than forty days had passed since Yang Zhi besieged the city.

Brother Richard's army is about to approach Xiguanbao, but the defender of Xiguanbao is a master.

Zhong Shidao has been in a good mood recently. Although he was given the job of chief of staff by Yang Zhi, his official official position is deputy prime minister (cabinet minister).

Most of his children, nephews and grandchildren have become civil servants, and a few are still serving in the military.

There have been a lot of good news in the past few days. Yang Zhi has already demolished the city wall of Henan Army, and Yao Gu has successfully captured Zhenwu City.

The situation for both the country and individuals is excellent.

"Father, there is smoke!"

Zhong Xi quickly ran into the back house, a little excited as he spoke.

Zhong Shidao was reading when he heard the words and stood up suddenly: "Immediately send a message to General Yang (Yang Zhi) and Governor Li (Li Mida), and all nearby people will evacuate to Jinchengguan and Lanzhou City!"

The overall plan for this troop dispatch was mainly formulated by Zhongshi Dao.

Yang Zhi mainly attacked Henan Army Division and attracted the Xixia army to rescue him. Yao Gu marched slowly and took the opportunity to seize Zhenwu City. He captured it if he could, and besieged the city if he couldn't.

No matter where the Gansu Military Division (the core station is in Zhangye) rescues, Yang Zhi and Yao Gu can act according to the situation.

Brother Richard's Forbidden Army and other military divisions will probably attack Lanzhou or Xiguanbao in order to march in a hurry.

Lanzhou Jiancheng is very easy to defend, as long as Li Mida is in charge, and the defenders are the old Song Dynasty border troops.

Xiguan Fort was guarded by Zhongshidao, and the defending troops were all Sichuan soldiers detached from Yang Zhi.

If he is lucky and Yang Zhi leads the main force to return reinforcements quickly, he might even be able to eat Brother Richard!

Falling rocks, rolling logs, and dung water were all prepared. Zhong Shidao climbed to the top of the city and waited until the afternoon when he finally saw the shadow of Brother Richard's army.

Brother Richard was really arrogant. As soon as he left the valley, he sent troops to plunder.

Xiguanbao is located on the south bank of the Yellow River, facing water on two sides and backed by mountains on one side.

On the north bank of the Yellow River, there were also large farming areas, and Brother Richard ordered to plunder them as soon as he arrived. These guys even grabbed it outside Lanzhou last year.

Thousands of Xixia's captured troops were scattered on foot and on horseback without scruples. Under the eyes of the fortress defenders, they dispersed into countless groups and rushed into the countryside.

They trampled crops wantonly and cheered and shouted when they saw houses.

It turned out that there was not a hair left, and the Han people had already evacuated with their property. They were so angry that these guys set fire to the house to vent their anger.

"Your Highness, there is no one in the nearby village, not even livestock!"

Brother Richard got the news and said without thinking: "The captured soldiers who went out to collect food have been looting outside Jincheng Pass. The louder the noise, the better!"

Zhong Shidao allowed the other party to make a fuss and turned a blind eye, only guarding the castle and waiting for Yang Zhi's main force to return.

Brother Richard issued this order, but seeing that the castle in front of him was heavily guarded, he planned to find another way to hide it.

He attracted the attention of Han soldiers in Xiguanbao and Jinchengguan by looting property and burning houses. When it got dark, they set off with five thousand pacesmen, climbed over the mountain ridges on the north bank of the Yellow River, marched quickly along the north bank, crossed the river at the narrow channel to the south bank, and reached Jingyuguan upstream before dawn.

On the other side of Jingyuguan is the entrance to the Kalochuan River Valley.

Taking Jingyuguan will block the retreat of Yang Zhi's army. Even if the surprise attack fails, elite troops can cross the river and enter the valley to kill from behind Yang Zhi's army.

Although Li Yuchang's letter asking for help stated that the army had strange weapons and that the city had collapsed. But Brother Richard doesn't think the mother city is so easy to lose because the city wall is much thicker. As for the rapid collapse of field operations, it must be due to the fact that the young master did not have enough to eat and his combat effectiveness became increasingly low.

A cannon that can quickly throw iron bullets into the sky without soldiers pulling on ropes?

Stop talking nonsense, Brother Richard doesn't believe it at all. He thought Li Yuchang was making up stories to make excuses for losing his army and the city.

Thinking about it, Brother Richard, no matter how powerful the Ming army was and had new weapons, it would be no problem to defend the Southern Army for two or three months. As long as he sends troops to attack from behind and attack from both front and back, he will definitely be able to eat up the main force of the Ming army!

During these thousands of steps, although the equipment was not as good as in the heyday, I grew up in the mountains and climbed over the mountains and ridges as if walking on flat ground.

In the middle of the night, I lay on a simple wooden ladder to cross the Yellow River. At dawn, I arrived at the Jingyu Pass.

This pass is backed by mountains on two sides and faces rivers on both sides.

But the mountains are not high, just rugged, making it impossible for cavalry to gallop and for infantry to form formations.

This didn't matter to Bubazi who was attacking the city in the dark. They climbed the hill with wooden ladders and were only three to four hundred meters away from Jingyuguan.

At this moment, someone tripped over the rope, and dozens of bells shook violently and made a sound in the silent night.

"Enemy attack!"

"Dang-dang-dang!"

The sentry squatting in a small shack on the mountain sounded the gong in panic.

At the same time, another secret sentry also discovered the enemy and also beat the gong while running away.

"Dang-dang-dang!"

Immediately after the gong sounded loudly in Guancheng, the soldiers who were on duty to guard the city stood up one after another, and the soldiers in the city who were on duty were also wearing armor in a panic.

The generals guarding this pass are brothers Liu Xi and Liu Qi.

Their original defense area had been taken away by Xixia, but fortunately the family members successfully escaped.

Since there was nowhere to go, Ju Ming asked them to come to Lanzhou. They only retained 3,000 soldiers under their command, and the rest were retired and resettled in Hehuang to reclaim wasteland.

Who is Liu Qi?

A fierce man who lost nearly half of Jin Wushu's iron pagoda in one battle, the Eight-Character Army was once his unit. It is a pity that he has been deprived of military power for ten years. He is already old when he leads the army again, and he is suffering from injuries and it is difficult to command the battle.

When he was not leading troops, he was also very impressive as a civil servant, opening up thousands of acres of fertile farmland in Jiangling, and controlling floods in Jingnan swamps.

After receiving news of the appearance of Xixia soldiers during the day, the Liu brothers stepped up their defenses and slept on the city wall wearing armor at night.

Liu Xi led his troops to guard the east wall, and Liu Qi led his troops to guard the south wall - the other two sides were surrounded by the Yellow River.

"ignition!"

The braziers and torches on the top of the city were lit one by one, instantly lighting up the night.

Liu Qi looked at the crowds of Xixia soldiers, bent his bow and arrow, and shot at a dark shadow. The shadow quickly hit the arrow and fell to the ground... then got up again.

The archers were also shooting, but the effect was not good.

Although these Bubazi did not wear heavy armor, they were more than enough to protect themselves from arrows. After being hit by arrows, they were often injured but not killed.

There was no moat, so Bubazi quickly approached the city wall, and the wooden ladder was put up on the low earth wall.

The defenders were holding push rods, and the simple wooden ladder without a grappling hook could easily be pushed down by the push rods. At the same time, falling rocks and rolling logs also began to wait, but the golden juice was not yet burning hot.

In the darkness, there are always some things that slip through the net.

One after another, some people climbed up to the city and were immediately besieged by the defenders.

Liu Xi and Liu Qi were armed with long spears. Both brothers were skilled in martial arts. They stabbed the enemy troops to death before they could stand firm on the city.

Trumpets began to sound outside the city, and the Xixia generals ordered a retreat.

They came for a surprise attack, but when the surprise attack failed, they immediately fled, crossed the river and entered the valley, marching all the way to kill Yang Zhi's back.

They didn't pay attention to the defenders of Jingyuguan at all, because the defenders of the Song Dynasty had always been rubbish. He was very brave when defending the city, but became timid immediately after leaving the city. It was extremely rare to dare to chase him out at night.

Of course the Liu brothers would not pursue them. They only had three thousand soldiers in total. Who knows how many enemies were coming outside, and they might even set up an ambush to lure them out of the city.

"Brother, send three hundred people to cross the river with dry food and enter the Kalochuan Valley to stand sentry along the way. If they encounter enemies, they will hide in the mountains." Liu Qi held up a torch to find Liu Xi. "These walkers are very likely to enter the valley. "

Liu Xi smiled and said: "They entered the valley to die. General Yang has been waiting, but I can make them die faster."