Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Yinzhou City is located in Yuhe Town, Yulin City. The city was built at the intersection of Wuding River and Mingtangchuan.

Surrounded by water on three sides, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It has blocked the Song army countless times.

Zhang Xian led his army from Mizhi Village and has been bombarding for seven consecutive days. He also used muskets and crossbows to cover the civilians, built more than ten floating bridges in Mingtangchuan, and left soldiers to build fortifications on the shore day and night to prevent the floating bridges from being demolished.

Dozens of miles north of this city, in the eastern part of Yulin City in later generations, there was the Xixia Shenyong Army Headquarters.

Surrounded by water on two sides and backed by mountains on one side, it is also easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Yao Pingzhong led his army from Jinning (Jiaxian County) and has bombarded the Shenyong Army Headquarters for seven days. He also built more than ten floating bridges on the river.

Wang De Wang Yacha, who was taken away by Zhang Guangdao in Shanxi, is now back under Yao Pingzhong’s command.

Wang De led a small army out of Linzhou (in Shenmu County). He ordered his troops to march out in a swagger and attack Zhuolun Village along Zhuolun River. He led a thousand elite troops, without even siege artillery, and went straight to the farther Zihe Branch along Quye River (Kuye River).

Hiding during the day and traveling at night, the divine troops descended from the sky.

These eight hundred elite troops wore medium-sized cotton armor and carried simple wooden ladders to attack the city at night. Wang De climbed the wall of the village and rushed into the village in just half a quarter of an hour.

The Xixia defenders fled in fear, not knowing how many enemies had come.

Then, Wang De took the flag of the Zihe Branch Village defenders and went to Zhuolun Village to force the Xixia defenders to surrender.

He then led his troops to the north to attack Nuanquanfeng Village, but the defenders here were unwilling to surrender.

Wang De's troops had 16,000 people, but they didn't even have a siege artillery. He himself did not bring them, saying that the targets along the way were all strongholds, there were no real strongholds, and the rugged mountain roads would affect the march with artillery.

Among the 16,000 people, 10,000 were civilians transporting grain, and the other 3,000 were garrison troops. There were only 3,000 real elites.

But those 3,000 elites were all wearing new cotton armor. The equipment of any soldier was better than that of the middle-level officers of Western Xia.

Wang De first asked the civilians transporting grain to raise more flags and arrange them at the foot of Nuanquan Peak. Among the shades of grass and trees, there were flags of the Ming army everywhere, as if tens of thousands of troops were coming to kill.

Then he asked the 3,000 garrison troops to feint and consume the physical strength and supplies of the defenders.

The battle lasted until dusk, and they should have withdrawn to the foot of the mountain and attacked again tomorrow. However, Wang De personally led 3,000 elites, bravely climbed the wall of the stronghold, and broke through this dangerous stronghold in a flash.

Then, he led his army south to join forces with Yao Pingzhong.

At the same time, he sent people north to notify the garrisons in the three cities of Hexi. Let the garrison commander there take the local grassland cavalry to attack Dijinze in the desert.

On the way, Wang De broke through the Xixia stronghold in Tumaochuan in one fell swoop.

A series of battles broke through the four Xixia strongholds in a row, and it took only eleven days. And most of the time was on the march, and the actual fighting time added up to less than 20 hours.

Forty-one of his three thousand elite soldiers were killed and more than two hundred were injured.

Most of the casualties came from boiling oil, gold juice, wood and arrows, and the losses caused by real close combat were few.

Destroy with withered and rotten!

The main reason is that this brother is too fierce. He can always find the weak points of the enemy's defense of the city, and then personally lead the team to climb the ladder to the city. On the city wall, Wang De fought more and more bravely in the face of siege, relying on the medium-sized cotton armor to fight to the death, and his warriors climbed up continuously.

Until Wang De cleared the northern stronghold and ran to join Yao Pingzhong's army, Yao Pingzhong was still bombarding the city of the brave army.

The walls of this city are not high, but they are very, very thick!

Yao Pingzhong bombarded the city for more than ten days, but only collapsed one of the city gates, which blocked the city gate. Yao Pingzhong also tried to attack the city, but failed to conquer it after two days of attack. There were more than 3,000 Bu Bazi in the city.

In a rage, Yao Pingzhong dug up the ancestral tombs of the Xixia royal family!

Li Jiqian's ancestors were buried nearby.

"Take it!" Yao Pingzhong said.

But a team of soldiers came to the outside of the moat with a box and poured out a pile of bones from the box.

Several soldiers pulled open three pieces of white cloth and held them high.

One piece of white cloth had big characters written on it: the body of Li Yichang, the ancestor of Li Jiqian.

Another piece of white cloth read: dig up his ancestral tomb.

Another piece of white cloth read: grind the bones and scatter the ashes.

The soldiers raised the bones and smashed them into pieces and collected them again.

Several cavalrymen rode around the moat, scattering the bones and fragments along the way. Another large group of cavalry followed, trampling the ashes repeatedly.

Most of the Tangut defenders in the city did not know Chinese characters.

But two generals and several civil officials recognized them, and they were immediately furious and shouted that they wanted to avenge their ancestors.

"General, General Wang De is here with his troops."

"Please ask him to come!"

Yao Pingzhong saw Wang De and asked, "Have all four camps in the north been conquered?"

Wang De nodded, "One camp was attacked by surprise, two camps were attacked by force, and one camp surrendered."

"Okay, you will be the main attacker of this city," Yao Pingzhong pointed to the city wall and said, "The east gate collapsed, but only a horse path next to it was damaged. Many war tents and group buildings in the east and north were also destroyed by artillery fire, and most of the parapet was smashed."

"There are Xixia infantrymen in the city. These bastards are poor and fearless of death. I was too anxious two days ago and only built four ladders to attack the city. Lu Gongche only built two."

"The defenders of this city know how to deal with fire guns. They moved many sacks filled with sand and soil behind the collapsed parapet at night and built fortifications with sacks. It is difficult for the fire gun soldiers standing in Lu Gongche to hit the defenders behind the sacks."

Wang De said: "Although the sand sacks can prevent fire guns, they narrow the top of the city wall, and the enemy's troop transport channel is also narrow. As long as you climb up the city wall and gain a foothold in one or two places, you can take down a whole section of the city wall."

"I can't stand," Yao Pingzhong said, "Those infantrymen are fighting desperately, and no matter how I persuade them to surrender, it's useless. Otherwise, how could I grind Li Jiqian's ancestors to ashes?"

Yao Pingzhong's luck seems to have always been bad.

In history, he was sold out by his own people.

In this time and space, either you can't catch up with the war to make merit, or you can set an ambush in the war but don't meet the enemy.

And this time when he attacked the city, he met the Xixia general Yi'e. (Yi'e's surname is unknown, and it is unclear in the history books, and "kou" is used instead of his surname.)

Yi'e was originally a general of the Iron Harriers, and was promoted to a general by Richard.

Historically, he was defeated by Li Shifu, who was determined to return to the Song Dynasty, and even the Iron Harriers suffered heavy losses. Since Wang Shu, the Privy Councilor of Xixia, was also captured by Li Shifu, Yi'e took the blame and was no longer valued, and even did not appear during the rebellion of Xiao Heda.

This man was transferred to the Shenyong Army three years ago. Although he was corrupt, he was not excessive, and he was brave and generous and won the hearts of the army.

Except for Richard, among all the Xixia generals, Yi'e is now the most capable fighter.

Yao Pingzhong continued to have bad luck and encountered a very difficult bone to chew!

"All units prepare, the Ming army is going to attack the city again." Yi'e hid behind a sand sack and watched the Ming army outside the city convey military orders.

A total of five cloud ladders, four Lu Gong cars, more than 200 flying ladders, and countless female walls were pushed across the moat from the river pontoon and rearranged.

The artillery of the Ming army was still bombarding.

After the siege troops were arranged and advanced a distance, the Ming army artillery stopped firing.

The large Lu Gong cart was pushed in the front. Ten musketeers stood on the top of each Lu Gong cart, shooting at the defenders on the top of the city from a high position.

Five ladders advanced slowly, and the carriages were full of Wang De's elite.

Although his 3,000 elite soldiers suffered more than 200 casualties, those with minor injuries could still fight. More than 2,900 people were responsible for the main attack mission and were scattered on the five ladders.

Behind the Xingnu Wall near the ladder, there were other elite troops following. As long as Wang De stood firm on the city, the follow-up troops could continue to climb the city.

The Xixia women's wall, which had been largely damaged, had sandbags more than half a person high piled up behind it. The Ming army musketeers on the Lu Gong carts found it difficult to hit the enemies behind the sandbags, but they used bullets to suppress the defenders so that they dared not raise their heads.

However, although the sandbags could block bullets, it also made it difficult to place wooden beams, rolling stones, and gold juice.

"Rockets!"

Under the command of Yi'e, the rocket troops were transferred to the main attack direction of the Ming army and fired at the Ming army's Lu Gong chariot and ladders.

The Xixia soldiers tried to burn the Ming army's siege weapons, but with little success, and covered with cowhide to prevent fire.

Yi'e ordered the sandbags on the top of the city facing the five ladders to be moved open to facilitate the soldiers defending the city to pour gold juice and throw rolling logs.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

After the sandbags were moved open, they were immediately attacked by the musketeers on the Lu Gong chariot.

Although there were blind spots for shooting, the musketeers stood high. The Xixia soldiers carrying sandbags were in danger as long as they dared to stand up straight.

After shooting and killing many people in a row, the Xixia defenders lay behind the sandbags and dared not move.

They half-crouched and threw arrows to the city, and the Ming army archers also hid behind the Xingnu Wall and shot arrows.

Inside and outside the city, arrows rained down.

The first ladder had been raised, and the soldier pushing the cart turned the capstan, and the wooden ladder rose higher and higher, surpassing the city wall - similar to a fire ladder.

An officer was responsible for observing the distance and ordered: "Retreat half a step!"

The soldiers pulled the ladder back.

The officer shouted again: "Release!"

The wooden ladder slowly fell forward, and the two iron hooks at the front were just hooked on the city wall.

Wang De hid in the carriage of the ladder. He looked up carefully and found that the musket in Lu Gong's car had effectively suppressed the enemy above his head.

So Wang De rushed out of the carriage and climbed quickly.

The ladder was not at a steep angle on the city wall, so pouring gold juice at this time was a useless attack, and it was necessary to throw a wooden pole and roll down the ladder.

The two infantrymen bent over and lifted the wooden pole, and threw it out with all their strength.

Pressing directly on the top of the ladder and rolling down would be an invalid attack. Because there were several anti-raid facilities on both sides of the ladder, that is, erecting arm-thick wood to prevent the defenders' wood from rolling down.

"Bang bang bang!"

The two Lv Gong cars on the left and right of the ladder, the musketeers all stared at this place.

At the moment when the Xixia infantry threw the wood, before they threw the wood, ten bullets were fired at the two.

One infantry fell directly, and another infantry was shot in the arm.

The wood fell diagonally on the ladder, rolled down for a distance, and was blocked by the anti-raid pile, hitting the side of the ladder and falling down.

"Throw stones!"

Many Xixia defenders, either squatting or lying behind the sandbags, they could not see what was happening outside, but just tried their best to throw stones over the sandbags.

The stones were not as big as their heads, and they would not be able to throw them if they were too heavy.

Wang De raised his round shield with his left hand, protected his head and continued to climb up.

A stone fell on the shield, hitting Wang De's arm sore. Another stone fell, brushing against his shoulder and sliding down.

"Gold juice, gold juice, pour it down!"

Two Xixia defenders came forward carrying an iron pot.

Before they could even fall down, ten more bullets were fired. Then there was a miserable cry, and one person was knocked down by a bullet, and the iron pot in his hand fell down. Another person was standing in the blind spot of the shooting, and was not hit by the bullet, but his feet were burned by the spilled gold juice.

At this moment, Wang De flipped to the top of the city wall.

Before he could stand firmly on the sandbag, four long spears stabbed at him at the same time, and two knives chopped at his feet.

The musketeers did not dare to shoot again, and Wang De could only solve it by himself.

Wang De raised his shield to block a long spear, and pulled out his iron mace to smash another one. The remaining two shots, one stabbed him in the chest, and the other stabbed him in the waist. The huge impact force almost stabbed Wang De off the city wall. He abandoned his shield and grabbed the long spear stabbing at his chest to barely stabilize himself.

The other two knives all chopped Wang De's instep.

Boots, also cotton armor boots!

The outer layer is cotton armor, and the inner layer is chain mail, which does not affect mobility.

The 3,000 men under Wang De's command belonged to the key re-equipment troops, specially used for attacking cities and capturing strongholds.

Two Xixia infantrymen were stunned for several seconds when they found that they could not cut through Wang De's boots.

Wang De had already jumped into the crowd, and before his feet touched the ground, he swung his mace to smash the head of a infantryman.

"Kill him!"

Xixia's main general Yi'e was nearby, because this was the main attack area of ​​the Ming army.

Yi'e even crouched down and led his troops to consolidate the defense.

Wang De had no idea how many swords and guns had hit his body, and he relied on the medium-sized cotton armor to withstand it, but his skin and bones were still very painful. He did not rush forward, but repeatedly swung his iron mace to attack within a meter of the original position, holding his position to let the follow-up soldiers follow up.

Finally, another soldier climbed up, holding a shield in one hand and a bone flower in the other, and fought side by side with Wang De.

When Yi'e came to help in person, Wang De had already had five people climbing the city.

Unable to use the long spear, Yi'e carried a wrought iron rod in his hand. Most of the stick is a wooden handle, and the front quarter is wrought iron, which is very convenient for breaking armor.

"Dang!"

When the iron mace and the iron stick collided, Yi'e felt that his entire right arm was numb, and even his hands were about to lose the iron stick.

He was terrified and looked at Wang De as if he was looking at a giant monster.

Wang De didn't care about the attacks of other enemies at all, and the friendly forces would help him resolve them. Taking advantage of Yi'e's arm being shaken and inflexible, Wang De hit him with another iron mace.

Yi'e raised his stick with both hands to block, but was directly shaken back half a step, barely holding the iron stick without falling.

"Huhu hu!"

Wang De swung the iron mace again, making a whistling sound in the air.

Yi'e wanted to raise the stick to block, but found that he couldn't lift his arm, so he lay on his back to dodge in fear.

"Bang!"

An iron mace hit Yi'e's chest, and the cold-forged armor plate was dented. Yi'e's mouth was bleeding. He bumped into the soldiers behind him and didn't fall down.

Wang De rushed forward and smashed down with another mace, hitting Yi'e's helmet hard.

Yi'e's body immediately stiffened, his pupils were dilated, and he fell to the ground and twitched, and blood kept flowing out of his helmet.

"Wang Yaksha is here, who dares to fight again?"

Wang De shouted.

"Yaksha is coming, run away!"

The nearby Xixia soldiers were dumbfounded, and even Bu Bazi retreated in fear.

When they heard Wang De call himself Yaksha and his tall and burly figure, they actually thought he was a Yaksha incarnate.

When Wang De swung his mace again, the enemies in front of him instantly fled, just wanting to get as far away from this Yaksha as possible.