Fenghou

Brother Li Cha was really a little frightened. Chen Qing actually used several months to do strategic deception. He did not hesitate to mobilize hundreds of thousands of civilians, 20 troops, and countless supplies. All of these were fake, just to deceive himself .

Only now did he understand why the Xixia Army was defeated repeatedly by Chen Qing, but this person was so terrifying.

At this time, the staff member Han Feng stepped forward and said: "The Song army's surprise attack on Yingli County should only be an outpost for the main force, and will not go north for the time being. Your Highness must seize this time to implement the army and money. Your Highness actually needs to integrate the army. Time It will be even more tense, and I suggest sending an army south to garrison Mingsha County to contain the Song army and buy time for His Highness."

Brother Li Cha nodded, "Mr. Han is right. He really wants to send an army to the south, but now I am most worried about money and food. Those princes and nobles have money, food and slaves in their hands, but they just refuse to donate a penny to the court." , I really have a big head, sir, do you have a good plan?"

Han Feng was secretly contemptuous. In fact, Brother Li Cha was the nobleman with the most money and the most slaves in Xixia. He was talking about others, but he left out himself. It was a great irony.

Of course, Han Feng also understands Brother Li Cha's reason. Brother Li Cha is already fighting the Song army with all his strength, and he has already paid a lot, so he doesn't need to pay extra money, food and slaves. In the life of drunkenness and dreaming, of course they need to spend extra money, food and slaves to protect their homeland. After all, Han Feng also receives the [-] guan aide money that Brother Li Cha gave him every month. He understands even if he doesn't understand.

"Humble job has a way!"

Han Feng stepped forward and said a few words in a low voice, Brother Li Cha asked doubtfully, "Is this useful?"

Han Feng smiled wryly and said: "The Song army has occupied Yingli County, and the destruction of Xixia is just around the corner. Does Your Highness still have time to consider their feelings?"

Brother Li Cha took a few steps with his hands behind his back. Han Feng chose a good target. Tuoba Aqu was his biggest enemy in the first place. Taking him into surgery not only made him feel angry for many years, but he could also kill chickens and scare monkeys. He didn't believe those things The powerful are not afraid.

"Forget it, let's do it like this!" Brother Li Cha finally made up his mind.

……

At night, a military riot broke out in Xingqing City. Hundreds of houses in the southeast corner were looted. Among them, more than 1000 rioting soldiers smashed into the mansion of Tuoba Aqu, the king of Chu, and rushed in to kill and loot. Women were also ruined. Tuoba Aqu and his family of about 120 people were all killed, and the wealth piled up in the warehouse was also looted.

When the news spread, the city was shocked, and the dignitaries asked Brother Li Cha for an explanation. Brother Li Cha told everyone that the Song Army had already invaded Xixia, and it was only three hundred miles away from Xingqing Mansion. There was no money to pay, and morale was low, so the riots broke out. He was worried that there would be more riots and asked everyone to be careful.

Everyone understood that this was clearly brother Li Cha who was threatening everyone with military chaos. If he didn't provide money and food, he would be robbed by soldiers, and he would be killed, and his wife and daughter would be abused.

These dignitaries are bullying the weak and fearing the strong. They saw that Brother Li Cha had murderous intentions, and immediately realized that saving his life was more important. They all expressed their willingness to spend money and food, and handed over the slaves to form an army. Within five days, Brother Li Cha forcibly recruited There are 50 shi of grain, 200 million guan of money, and 3 slaves who have undergone military training.

At the same time, 11 Khitan slave prisoners of war were released and reorganized into an army. In just three days, the strength of Brother Li Cha reached 5000. Brother Li Cha immediately ordered Zhuo Luo and the Southern Army Division to control Shangdong Yan led [-] troops to Mingsha County to garrison.

He also sent messengers to Shazhou at once, ordering Li Yanwu, the governor of the capital, to lead [-] troops back to Xixia immediately, and temporarily abandon Shazhou.

But the 10,000+ army is not enough. Brother Li Cha is still ordering the local government to recruit young and strong soldiers to join the army. At the same time, he is also collecting all the money and food in the country. Even if the people complain, it is better than Xixia destroying the country.

Chapter 6

Shang Dongyan was the deputy general of Cao Baozong, the commander of the Xixia Army. Because of the outbreak of Xiao Heda's rebellion, the [-] troops he led were transferred away by the court, and he withdrew from the war against Xihe Road ahead of schedule.

Shang Dongyan followed Brother Li Cha to make military exploits many times, and won the appreciation of Brother Li Cha. If it wasn't for the new privy envoy Cao Baozong's revenge and suppression, Shang Dongyan should have been promoted to the general and the commander of the West Route Army long ago.

Now Shang Dongyan is still just a general and in charge of the capital, but Brother Li Cha's trust and trust in him is real. At the most critical moment, Brother Li Cha appointed Shang Dongyan as General Zuo and led [-] troops to Ming Dynasty. Stationed in Sha County to contain the main force of the Song Army and buy time for Brother Li Cha to integrate the army.

Shang Dongyan's father is from Tubo, and his mother is from Dangxiang. He joined the army at the age of 15 and has been in the army for 30 years. He has participated in many wars. Not only is he rich in experience, but he is also clear-headed. , in the Xixia army whose generals are gradually becoming aristocratic, he is very different, and he has obvious characteristics of the Tubo people, so he is also discriminated against in the army.

Brother Li Cha is worthy of being a famous Xixia general, and he used this low-key and pragmatic Tubo general at the critical moment.

As soon as Shang Dongyan arrived in Mingsha County, he received a letter of distress from Li Hanzhong, the second son of Li Cha's brother. Li Hanzhong led an army of [-] to return from the northern part of Yingli County, but was ambushed by the Song Army, causing more than [-] casualties. Do not return to Shatuo Pass.

Now Li Hanzhong has run out of food and has to kill horses for food, and urgently needs rescue.

Shang Dongyan was in a bit of a dilemma. Li Hanzhong was young and arrogant, with a strong desire for power. It was inappropriate for King Jin to let him guard Yingli County. If he withdrew to Mingsha County, he would definitely seize his own military power. He was the second son of King Jin to take over Huili County. If he resisted and refused to hand over power, it would not be good to offend him.

After much deliberation, Shang Dongyan decided that the best way was to let him go north and return to Xingqing Mansion directly, without giving him the chance to go to Mingsha County.

Shang Dongyan then left Li Ke to defend the city, and he personally led [-] troops to Yingli County.

Mingsha County is located on the south bank of the Yellow River, and the army marched along the south bank of the Yellow River.

Forty miles away from Yingli County, Shang Dongyan built a pontoon bridge on the Yellow River, led his army across the Yellow River, turned west along the north bank of the Yellow River, and headed for the north of Yingli County.

Shang Dongyan had his own rescue method. He went to the north bank of the Yellow River just to attract the attention of the Song army. The rescue of Li Hanzhong's army still had to start from the south bank of the Yellow River.

Shang Dongyan sent General Ma Hongsan to lead [-] soldiers to continue marching along the south bank of the Yellow River. They went to the west of Yingli County to build a pontoon bridge to meet Li Hanzhong's army and cross the river down the river.

The advantage of doing this is that after Li Hanzhong's army is out of danger, they will use the pontoon bridge to cross the river to the north, and when the troops on the north bank of the monk Dongyan meet up, Shang Dongyan will send him directly to Xingqing Mansion, and Li Hanzhong will naturally not think about it again. Go to Mingsha County.

……

At this time, there were 15 troops in Yingli County led by Liu Qiong, and Tang Qian led 20 troops and [-] camels to return to the pass stationed along the way. , [-] dans of forage, and a large amount of other military supplies and copper coins.

Just two days ago, Liu Qiong led [-] cavalry to ambush [-] Xixia troops who were trying to escape from the northern part of the county, and wiped out more than [-] enemies.

At this moment, Liu Qiong got the news from the scouts that a Xixia army was present in the northeast of the county, with about 1 people. This army sent about a thousand soldiers, divided into twenty groups, and each group was separated by one mile, lurking in the In the woods in the north of the city, the group closest to the city is only three miles away.

"General Liu, what does the other party mean?" Zhu Pengyun, the commander of the general, asked.

Liu Qiong sneered and said: "This is an artificial beacon. As long as we send troops, they will immediately send an alarm to notify the main force."

"Xiaozhi is willing to lead a thousand brothers to hunt these artificial beacons and defeat their arrogance!"

Liu Qiong nodded, "Yes!"

Zhu Pengyun led a thousand cavalry out of the city and ran towards the enemy's artificial beacon. Not long after, three gunpowder arrows rose into the sky and exploded in the air. Immediately afterwards, another gunpowder arrow shot into the sky in the distance. Gunpowder arrows appeared...

Sure enough, it was an artificial beacon, but what's the point of the other party making this alarm?As long as I send out a little army, I will interfere.

Liu Qiong always felt that something was wrong, but couldn't tell for a while.

In the evening, Liu Qiong received news from the scouts that the opponent's army retreated eastward.

For two days in a row, the scouts did not find any movement in the north. Liu Qiong was a little aware that something was wrong, and sent someone to Shatuo Pass to check the situation. There was only a mess left in Shatuo Pass, and there was not a single soldier in sight. More than [-] soldiers Xixia soldiers managed to escape.

All the generals were puzzled, the scouts didn't find out that the other side's army had arrived, so why did the army at Shatuo Pass fly away?

At this time, Liu Qiong came to his senses, and he smiled wryly at everyone: "The only function of those artificial beacons is to attract our attention. If I guessed correctly, more than 6000 enemy troops at Shatuoguan have already crossed the Yellow River and walked from the other side." They should go directly to Mingsha County."

Commander Sun Xianghu was puzzled and asked: "But Mingsha County is on the south bank of the Yellow River. There is no need to go to the north bank to meet the troops. They can just pick up the troops from Shatuoguan directly from the south bank. Why bother?"

Liu Qiong shook her head, "To be honest, I can't figure out why the other party would do this, but the other party must have a purpose, but we couldn't think of it."

Marching Sima Wang Jian said with a smile: "Perhaps the humble function can guess the reason."

All the generals looked at him together, and Liu Qiong hurriedly said, "Speak, Wang Sima!"

"The current leader of Shatuoguan should be Li Hanzhong. He is the second son of Brother Li Cha, and he is in charge of all officials. If his army retreats to Mingsha County, will it be like Shatuoguan again and become the leader of Mingsha County? Commander?

Perhaps the generals who responded to him didn't want this scene to happen, so they built another pontoon bridge to the east to meet Li Hanzhong and cross the Yellow River to the north and return directly to Xingqing Mansion. "

It sounds a bit unbelievable, but when you think about it, it is reasonable. If Li Hanzhong is an arrogant general, no one will like him.

Liu Qiong immediately ordered Zhu Pengyun to lead 3000 people to march westward to encircle and suppress the Xixia soldiers who were alone, and open up the southwest military road to Lanzhou.

……

Liu Cui led an army of [-] soldiers and marched eastward along the southwest military road. This military road was well built, about two feet wide, with rammed earth for roads, mountains and bridges. It was different from many places in Wuren Road. Wuren Road The most dangerous part is excavated from the loess, and the dangerous part of this southwest military road is dug out of the stone mountain. It cannot use gunpowder to blow up the road like Wuren Dao, and the road on the cliff is basically preserved. complete.

But this does not mean that the Xixia army will not find ways to destroy the roads. All the dangerous passes are blocked by boulders. This is not a big problem. Just use ropes to move the boulders away. It was set on fire by Xixia soldiers, and the engineering soldiers of the Song Army could only rebuild the plank road. It took eight days to repair the burned more than ten miles of plank road in Lingbo Mountain.

The army crossed Lingbo Mountain and walked for another two days before arriving at Roulang Mountain, which is also a dangerous part of the military road. Although there is no plank road in Roulang Mountain, there are bridges, and all eight bridges were burned down by the Xixia army.

Liu Cui stood in front of a cliff, the cliff was more than [-] feet wide, and the mountain stream below was tens of feet deep. In the mountain stream, the white waves rolled, the river roared, and the wreckage of a burned wooden bridge was still hanging on the mountainside. How could they survive the twenty-foot-wide cliff?

A craftsman in charge pointed to a forest on the other side of the Yellow River and said to Liu Cui: "General Liu, please look, there should be an ancient forest over there. I guess there are giant firs in it. I have seen fir trees that are twenty or thirty feet tall. , the Xixia army should have cut logs over there and transported them back to build a bridge."

Liu Cui felt dizzy for a while. They were halfway up the mountain. How to get down the mountain was a big problem. They had to cross the fast-flowing Yellow River, but the opposite bank was still a cliff.Maybe eventually, but it will take a long time.

"Other than that, is there any other way?"

The craftsman leader thought for a while and said, "Another way is to build a chain bridge with wooden planks on it. The key is how do people get across?"

At this time, Zhang Dingbian, the deputy commander of the scout army, stepped forward and clasped his fists and said, "The humble job is from a hunter's background. You can climb down the mountain, and then climb up the mountain from the opposite bank. The commander just throws the rope to the humble job with a trebuchet."

"The water below is so fast, how do you cross the river?"

Zhang Ding smiled and said: "Beizhi observed it just now. The reason for the rapid flow of water is that there are many boulders in the water, which affect the river course. Beizhi can pass over the boulders."

Liu Cui had no choice but to nod, "Then I will leave this task to you."

He turned back and shouted: "Order the whole army to rest in place!"

Chapter 661 to the effect

The soldiers of Song Dynasty cheered as they watched Zhang Ding climb up the cliff on the other side, and Liu Cui immediately ordered: "Bring a trebuchet here!"

A dozen soldiers moved over a small trebuchet, and the preparations were soon completed.

"Launch!" Liu Cui shouted, 'Bang! With a sound, the trebuchet launched a stone tied with a long rope, and it fell far away on the opposite side of the cliff.

Zhang Dingbian picked up the rope, tied it to the rock, and threw three ropes in a row to make a simple rope bridge across the river. Dozens of soldiers and craftsmen began to climb the rope and cross the cliff.

At dusk, the first iron chain had already appeared above the cliff...

Chen Qing led a [-]-strong army all the way to the east. Perhaps it was because of the northwest. The western army had more horses. Even the infantry marched for a long distance. The prefectures and counties on Xihe Road and Shaanxi Road have large forage warehouses, which are managed by special personnel, which solves the needs of marching.

This morning, the army passed through Mount Quwu from Tonghui Fort. Mount Quwu stretches from Xixia to Song Dynasty, and it is as long as thousands of miles. To the west is Xihe Road. There are countless passes on the mountains that stretch for thousands of miles. Some passes can be used by mules, horses or even carts. The strategic value of such passes is very high.

After passing Quwu Mountain, they entered Xi'an Prefecture. The army rested in Haiyuan County for a day, and continued westward the next day. Two days later, the army finally arrived at Xiaoguan.

Tang Qian led [-] soldiers to tidy up Xiaoguan. The gravel was cleaned up and the dead grass was pulled out. The whole Xiaoguan didn't look as dilapidated as before. It only needs a little repair to restore Xiaoguan to its original appearance.

The [-] troops took a rest at Xiaoguan. Chen Qing led a group of generals to inspect the Xiaoguan pass under the leadership of Tang Qian. Xiaoguan was actually a part of the Great Wall of the Sui Dynasty, but there was a canyon pass where horses and carts could pass. , Xiaoguan was built in this canyon, and gradually formed a group of passes, which became the only way to travel from south to north, and the Qin Zhidao, which spanned thousands of years, brought great convenience to Xiaoguan.

"What's going on in Xixia now?" Chen Qing asked.

"There is no movement in Yingli County, but our scouts discovered that [-] Xixia troops have been stationed in Mingsha County."

Chen Qing nodded, "There are a lot of people, what do they want to do?"

"I guess Brother Richard wants to use this army to contain our main force and buy time for him to recruit troops. I got the news that all parts of Xixia are forcibly recruiting troops, and the situation is very chaotic."

"Can these 5000 people restrain our main force?" Chen Qing asked again with a smile.

Tang Qian shook his head, "It's all plain terrain. I think it's impossible. At most, we will cut off our food roads. I guess the other side has the same idea."

Sima Zhang Xiao next to him asked, "How is the defense of Mingsha County?"

"Reporting to Sima, Mingsha County as a whole is not as good as Yingli County. It is only about two feet tall, and the city is twenty miles in circumference. It is still solid and solid, but it is a bit old. We caught a spy, and the general in the city is called Shang Dongyan. Tubo people."

Zhang Xiao pondered for a moment and said: "I've heard about this Shang Dongyan. He was originally Cao Baozong's deputy general. He urged Cao Baozong not to go south from Gongzhou, but the two fell out. This Shang Dongyan has a good reputation among Xixia soldiers. It should be a strong enemy, and our understanding of Xixia is far inferior to that of the Xixia people, there must be a reason for them to be stationed in Mingsha County, and the Xuan Fu envoy must not underestimate the enemy."

Tang Qian blushed, obviously Sima was saying that he underestimated the enemy.

Chen Qing said indifferently: "If Zhang Sima has something to say, just say it, don't be shy!"

Zhang Xiao glanced at Tang Qian, and said bluntly: "The humble official thinks that General Tang should not appear in Xiaoguan. There are still a series of dangerous passes in the north. General Tang should be stationed there and always be on guard against the Xixia army's counterattack. But General Tang Obviously he underestimated the enemy, thinking that there is a garrison over there, nothing will happen, but this Shang Dongyan is from Tubo, he has no status in Xixia people, but he was able to accept orders in the face of danger, which shows that he is a person with real skills."

Yang Zaixing also said aside: "Sima is right, if Shang Dongyan doesn't have special abilities, brother Li Cha won't use him at this critical moment."

Tang Qian blushed, bowed and said, "I know I'm wrong, I'll hurry back to the village now!"

Chen Qing nodded, "Hurry up!"

Tang Qian didn't dare to be negligent, and led two thousand soldiers to rush to Shangyikou, which was eighty miles away.

Chen Qing ordered the army to rest in Xiaoguan for a day, and at five o'clock the next day, the army had breakfast and was ready to set off.

At this moment, Yang Zaixing, the former commander of the army, hurried over, followed by a reporting soldier.

"Dutong, it seems that something really happened ahead!"

Chen Qing was startled, and asked, "What happened?"

The messenger soldier knelt down on one knee and reported, "Reporting to Dutong, the Gauta village was lost and taken away by the Xixia army. General Tang is leading an army to attack."

Chen Qing clenched his fists, as expected, something happened when he underestimated the enemy.

Cutta Village is the last pass of Xiaoguan Road in Xixia, and it is also the most dangerous pass. If this pass cannot be conquered, and the southwest military road leading to Lanzhou cannot be repaired, then the Song Army in Yingli County can only Abandoning the county seat and retreating to Hexi through the desert meant that Chen Qing's plan to attack Xixia failed.

Shang Dongyan is good at strategy. He sent a dead man to pretend to be a spy to investigate the situation of the Song Army, but was caught by the Song Army scouts and couldn't stand the torture. He explained the situation in Mingsha County, which was basically true, but He lied about the most crucial thing. Shang Dongyan's goal was not to cut off the Song army's logistics, but to recapture the two dangerous passes of Cuta Village and Reward Yikou.

On the one hand, he ordered Li Ke to continue to send spies to investigate the situation in Yingli County, and at the same time, he built beacon towers on the north bank of the Yellow River, posing as if he wanted to cut off the Song Army's logistics, but he himself led five thousand elites to quietly leave Mingsha County at night. Went to Weizhou.

Weizhou was located fifty miles west of Ghota Village, and it was already an empty city with no troops stationed there. He led his army up the mountain behind Weizhou and walked along a mountain path.

This trail leads directly to the east side of the Ghota village. Twenty years ago, Shang Dongyan, who was still a general, led a thousand troops to kill the Tongguan army, and burned the Song army's food, grass and supplies, making the already captured Gheta village The 20 Song troops in the village had to retreat to the south, and fell short, which was one of the reasons for Tong Guan's defeat.

The cuta village was guarded by General Luo Jin with 3000 troops. Tang Qian didn't find the Xixia army from Mingsha County coming, so he underestimated the enemy and led [-] people to Xiaoguan to welcome the arrival of the coach Chen Qing.

The main general underestimated the enemy, and Luo Jin also underestimated the enemy. He never thought that the Xixia army would come from behind, and was attacked by the Xixia army and entered the camp. Two thousand Song troops were defeated and suffered heavy casualties. Hundreds of soldiers were forced to give up cutting the village and retreat to Yingli County.

At this time, Tang Qian was very regretful and lost the Gouta village, but he found that the village was so difficult to attack. He led [-] soldiers to attack desperately. After attacking for a whole day, nearly half of them were killed, but still nothing was gained.

In the evening, Chen Qing led the army to the foot of the Ghota village. Tang Qian came to plead guilty with his upper body bare.

"The lowly position underestimates the enemy, and the crime deserves death. I'm here to plead guilty!"

Chen Qing nodded, "Put on your clothes and armor first, you are at fault, but it's not a crime, you don't have to be naked!"

Tang Qian put on his armor and knelt down to accept the punishment. Chen Qing then said: "You underestimated the enemy's carelessness. You lost the defense and cut the stronghold. The soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and the general was killed. According to the military regulations, you will be demoted two ranks to be the commander of the general."

"Thank you Dutong for not killing me!"