Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The narrow valley and the camp were full of broken soldiers fleeing in embarrassment.

Yang Zhi only brought over 500 cavalry. These cavalry became the main force in the pursuit, constantly cutting through large groups of stagnant troops, making it easier for his own infantry to catch up and capture the enemy.

Occasionally, when a small group of enemies formed a stubborn resistance, the cavalry would go around and leave it to the infantry to handle.

A large number of Xixia troops trampled on each other. They didn't even need the Ming army to kill them, but they trampled countless of their own people to death.

fear!

Not only the fear of defeat and death, but also the fear of the unknown.

The reason why they were defeated so quickly and completely was because the psychological pressure caused by firearms was too great.

If it were an open battlefield, the situation should be much better for the Xixia soldiers. At least they can mobilize their troops to outflank them, and they can also drive the broken troops in front to run to both sides.

But in this river valley, there is no room for extra play.

The Xixia soldiers on the hills on both sides saw the collapse of the main force and fled along the mountains. After going down the mountain and then up the mountain, I didn't dare to enter the valley at all. The mountains were endless. After only escaping a few hills, I was so tired that I stuck my tongue out. Many Xixia soldiers took off their armor while running away.

After chasing for six or seven miles, the Kalo River, which originally flowed at the foot of the mountain on the west side, suddenly became flowing in the middle of the valley.

At this time, there were still 20,000 to 30,000 Xixia soldiers who had broken down, and they spontaneously gathered along the river bank, blocking half of the river valley that was only three to four hundred meters wide.

It really turned into a crowd of people, crazy and trampling on each other, completely losing their minds.

Some people panicked and jumped into the river, forgetting that they were still wearing armor. These people also had poor water skills. They struggled to fill the water with grunts, and there were shouts for help everywhere on the river.

More and more Xixia soldiers knelt down and begged for mercy, even if the Ming army wanted to kill and capture them, they would admit it.

From the afternoon to the night, the troops returned one after another.

After dawn, the prisoners of war were counted. Based on the difference in equipment, more than 2,000 young masters were captured and more than 17,000 soldiers of other ethnic groups were captured.

More than ten miles north from the battle site, corpses were everywhere along the way. There are also many floating corpses on the river, and it is estimated that there will be more in the next few days, because the sinking corpses will float up on their own after being bloated.

"There are too many prisoners, not enough food to feed them, and there is a risk of riots," Li Jinyi said.

Although Yang Zhi was cautious to the point of cowardice, he was not a soft-hearted person: "Take the young master back to cultivate the land. Then identify the Qiang, Tubo, and Uighurs, remove their armor, and let them clean up the corpses." Release them. As for the Dangxiang people, kill the best soldiers and armor and leave only three thousand Dangxiang prisoners of war as serfs!"

I didn't bother to identify the party officers. Whoever wore better armor was simply dragged to death and buried.

Those who are caught without their armor are lucky if no one identifies them.

Han, Qiang, Tubo, Uighur and other ethnic captives were responsible for helping dig the pits. Groups of party prisoners were taken to the edge of the pit and massacred. After killing them, they were pushed into the pit and buried.

The captives of all ethnic groups were so frightened that their faces turned pale. It was not until Yang Zhi came over to announce the policy that they finally felt at ease.

These are all ruled ethnic groups. While they are oppressed by the Party, they also serve as soldiers for the Party, and their hands are stained with blood.

When fewer and fewer party members were killed, and they were unable to lead them to rob their property, and even turned to exploiting them internally, these tribes would inevitably become dissatisfied. At the same time, they saw the power of the Ming army and went back to tell the myth that the Ming army was invincible. The prestige of the Ming army would spread throughout the Western Regions.

In the next few years, I don’t know how many tribes in Xixia will quietly send people to Lanzhou to contact Governor Hehuang.

After killing the prisoners, Yang Zhi immediately led his troops back. He rushed to meet Brother Richard, and by the way, he took along the party prisoners who had only 3,000 killed.

Only one thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry were left to supervise the disposal of the corpses of prisoners of all races.

More than two thousand Han prisoners of war were redistributed weapons and armor. They learned that not only would they not die, but they could also allocate land for farming. They were still hesitant at first, but they immediately put their worries aside after receiving the armor.

These Han people became very active and took the initiative to serve as supervisors for the Ming army, directing prisoners of war of all ethnic groups to collect dead bodies.

The corpses in the river must be fished out, and the entire river valley relies on the Kala River as its source of living water. Not to mention the spread of diseases and plagues, just thinking about the countless dead bodies in the upper reaches of the river when drinking water can make the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty nauseated.

"After getting rid of the body, you can go home. Don't think about escaping or being lazy!"

Five hundred cavalry were divided into five companies and ran back and forth along the river valley.

The more than 2,000 Han prisoners who had received armor also began to show off their power and show off their power, commanding the prisoners of all ethnic groups to do this and that.

The Qiang, Tubo, and Uighur people were immersed in their work and really didn't think about escaping.

Because the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty were repeatedly shouting: "When you return to your respective tribes, you must tell the tribesmen that the emperor of China in the Ming Dynasty is surnamed Zhu, and the world will belong to the Zhu family from now on. Emperor Zhu treats all ethnic groups equally, and will not discriminate against you as long as you live in peace and harmony." . Go back and tell your chiefs that if you can’t stand the party’s oppression, you will secretly send someone to Lanzhou and contact Governor Hehuang there..."

Han Chinese prisoners who could speak various languages ​​were temporarily selected as translators and ran back and forth with the Ming cavalry. They were so tired that they stuck out their tongues and were inexplicably excited.

The words of the chariot were filled in the ears, repeated over and over again, and the captives of all races became even less afraid.

If the Han soldiers wanted to kill them afterwards, why waste their words talking so much?

…

Li Yanxian was not a god, and with more than 3,000 cavalry, he did not delay Brother Richard for long, because the strength of the two sides was so disparate.

What's more, Yang Zhi asked him not to take risks and to keep the cavalry in his hands as his first priority.

During the decisive battle between Yang Zhi and Li Renyi, Brother Richard's leading troops were approaching Dingxi Fort (Henan Army Division).

When Yang Zhi led his army back, Brother Richard's main force also arrived.

Looking at the castle with the changed flag, Brother Richard had no expression on his face and sent someone across the river to shout outside the city.

The caller was a Han soldier. Although he was scared to death, he still had to bite the bullet and said: "Listen to the Han soldiers inside, if you open the city and surrender immediately, you will avoid death, and the defender can still serve as an official in Daxia!"

"Shoot him to death!" Gong Xiu, who was in charge of staying behind, was too lazy to talk nonsense.

More than a dozen arrows were shot down, and the messenger soldier, who was only wearing light armor, was instantly shot into the shape of a hedgehog and fell to the ground dead.

Flags were planted everywhere in the two cities.

Even the newly surrendered Han'er took up arms to defend the city.

Moreover, no reserve team was left, and they all stood at the top of the city. There were so many people in the dense crowd, so as to prevent Brother Richard from guessing that the main force of the Ming army was not there.

After Brother Richard seemed to observe, for a while he did not dare to attack by force. He set up camp and waited for Li Renyi to come from the north. At that time, the two Xixia armies converged, and 130,000 troops attacked from the north and south, enough to crush the defenders in the city to pieces.

As for Li Renyi's defeat and flight?

Are you kidding, that is an army of more than 60,000 people. Even if there are more than 60,000 pigs, the Ming army cannot capture them all in a short time.

Of course, Brother Richard is not just waiting around.

He sent people to climb mountains and chop trees to make siege equipment. Although there were mountains everywhere on both sides of the river valley, there were far more shrubs than big trees, making it impossible to quickly collect wood to make tools.

By the time he finished building the siege equipment, it was estimated that twenty days had passed.

Brother Richard is not in a hurry, he has to spend time waiting for friendly forces to arrive on the battlefield anyway.

Before the friendly forces arrived, Yang Zhi came back.

When the Xixia soldiers in charge of the reconnaissance saw a large army appearing in the north, they immediately returned to the camp with joy to report the news, while leaving others on the spot to continue observing the situation.

Brother Richard quickly received the news and rode over to check it out in person.

Since we couldn't see clearly, we climbed up the mountain to look further.

The northern army was getting closer and closer, but the smile on Brother Richard's face completely disappeared.

That's not Xixia soldiers!

The Ming army came from the north, so where did the soldiers from Gansu Military Division go?

Yang Zhi divided his troops and entered the mother city and the mother city. Gong Xiu, Li Yanxian and others greeted him at the north gate of the mother city.

Gong Xiu said with a smile: "Congratulations to General Yang, you really defeated tens of thousands of enemy troops!"

Yang Zhi said modestly: "Taking advantage of the convenient terrain and relying on the power of firearms."

"In any case, we finally won the battle. This time your military rank will be greatly improved," Gong Xiu said enviously. "In the future, I am afraid that you can be the founding father of the country. I will be satisfied with being a marquis. I don't have a few sons." How can they study? They can only lead troops to fight. I want my grandsons to study and become civil servants."

Yang Zhi spoke calmly: "As long as you kill the enemy bravely, your majesty and the prince will have their own rewards. Not only you and me, but also all the generals and princes of the army."

The two entered the city chatting and laughing. Yang Zhi asked about the enemy's situation, and then asked the soldiers to bring out something: "Get a wooden pole and erect it outside the city."

That is the banner of the Xixia and Gansu Military Division!

Li Renyi and Ding Zhongyi were in such a hurry to escape that they didn't even have time to collect the big banner.

A soldier saw this thing from a distance and quickly ran to report to Brother Richard.

Brother Richard rode forward in person. He was also afraid that the Ming army had magic artillery, so he stopped two miles away from the city and sent a few soldiers to get closer to check.

"You've never fired a cannon, have you?" Yang Zhi asked.

Gong Xiu said: "I didn't fire a single shot, for fear of scaring the enemy general away."

Yang Zhi didn't know Brother Richard, but he could see clearly with a telescope that a Xixia general was approaching with a small group of troops. He told Deng Xia: "All the artillery in the city should be aimed at that general. If you hit him, it's the best. If you don't, it will be treated as a meeting gift."

Pig iron cannons and wrought iron field cannons are all placed in the two cities.

Due to the angle problem, only six cannons can be aimed at Brother Richard.

Deng Chun sent people across the river to Zicheng. After taking aim at the artillery in both cities, he looked at his flag and ordered to open fire together.

The soldier observed across the river for a moment with the arrow in his hand, and then went back to report to Brother Richard: "Your Highness, that is indeed the banner of the Gansu Military Division."

"Did you really see it clearly?" Brother Richard confirmed.

The soldier replied: "You can see clearly."

Brother Richard was speechless. He really couldn't understand how the Gansu Military Division's more than 60,000 troops could be so confused that they even lost the big banner.

Soon he understood!

"Boom boom boom boom boom!"

Six artillery pieces fired a salvo, the nearest one was about two miles away, and the other side of Zicheng was about two and a half miles away.

Four of the shells missed completely.

When a cannonball rolled and bounced, it broke the calf of a soldier, and then broke the leg of a horse.

A cannonball passed by Brother Richard, directly smashing the head of the mounted soldier, and then landed on the ground, bounced and rolled far away.

Brother Richard stared blankly at the body that fell to the ground. His head was completely missing, and it exploded like a watermelon. Even Brother Richard's body was splattered with blood, flesh and brains.

The war horse stood up in surprise. Brother Richard felt great fear in his heart. He comforted the horse and immediately ran away with a whip.

After riding straight for a mile, Brother Richard dared to turn back and looked in the direction of the castle, lost in thought.

The friendly troops in the north have been defeated and fled. He is almost alone and trapped here, and the defenders in the city have such sharp weapons.

How to fight this battle?

In other words, how to break out?

Breaking through to the north, although there are only defenders in front of you, it is almost a dead end.

Breaking out to the south, he left 10,000 people at the mouth of the valley to support him and fight out. However, outside the valley there was Zhong Shi Dao, Liu Xi and Liu Qi led troops to block it, and on the way back, there were two Ming army castles on the south bank of the Yellow River. The passage on the north bank is extremely narrow, and the breakout troops must move in a long snake.

Brother Richard rushed back to the camp and gave the order based entirely on battlefield intuition: "Every unit should be prepared early. The entire army will withdraw south tonight!"