Fenghou

Three thousand Western Xia archers raised their bows and arrows, aiming at the Song Army cavalry who were overwhelmingly killing them.

The yellow dust billowed on the battlefield, and the Song army swept up and killed them. The five thousand cavalry from Xixia were divided into two armies, the north and the south, preparing to encircle the Song army and cut off the Song army's retreat.

Chen Qing sneered, and ordered: "Order the whole army to retreat!"

"Ugh-"

The retreating horn sounded continuously, and the cavalry of the Song army turned around like a long dragon, spun on the spot, retreated to the south, and soon left the battlefield, but the speed gradually slowed down, as if they were luring the cavalry of the opponent to chase after them.

Cao Baozong could see clearly, as expected, as expected, the other party wanted to lure his cavalry to go to the ambush, and he also ordered: "Don't chase!"

The Xixia cavalry stopped chasing, and the Song Army cavalry several miles away also stopped and began to rearrange, as if planning to launch a second offensive.

The two sides confronted each other in the wilderness, and time passed little by little. Cao Baozong looked at the sky, and it was getting late. Could it be that Song Jun wanted to fight him at night?

At this time, the deputy general Shang Dongyan suddenly came to his senses, urged him to step forward and said anxiously: "General, I'm afraid the other party's target is our grain truck!"

Cao Baozong was taken aback, is this really the case?

A cavalry came galloping, got off his horse and crawled to Cao Baozong to report, "General, two thousand cavalry from the Song Army attacked our logistics supplies. The brothers couldn't resist, and suffered heavy casualties!"

Cao Baozong was stunned for a moment. At this time, the soldiers behind suddenly made noises. Cao Baozong looked back slowly, and saw thick smoke billowing in the distance and flames flying into the sky. It was the place where their logistics supplies were stored.

Not only Cao Baozong, but all the generals were stunned. At this time, the sound of horns was heard in the distance, and Chen Qing's army turned their horses and retreated.

Cao Baozong was almost mad with anger, and shouted: "Follow me, I will kill this thief with my own hands!"

"No, the general, there is an ambush ahead!"

Cao Baozong was speechless for a while, and then he realized why he didn't expect the enemy to attack the logistics and the key was that he was deceived by this damned ambush army.

What should I do if there is no food now?

Cao Baozong suddenly remembered Li Taiyue, the military adviser in the logistics battalion, and asked anxiously, "How is Li Taiyue?"

"General, Li Junshi was hit by three arrows and was seriously injured. I wonder if he can hold on?"

Cao Baozong ordered Shang Dongyan: "The army is ordered to withdraw to the north. If there is really nothing to eat, kill the horse!"

Cao Baozong heaved a long sigh and urged his horse to gallop north.

……

Li Taiyue was hit by three arrows, one of which was shot in the chest, causing fatal injuries. Several Xixia military doctors were trying to rescue him.

When Cao Baozong stepped forward, a military doctor shook his head at him, expressing that he was powerless.

Cao Baozong knelt down, held Li Taiyue's hand, held back his grief and asked, "How is the military advisor?"

Li Taiyue was already on the verge of death, and when he saw Cao Baozong, he gasped heavily and struggled to say, "Immediately...return to Beijing...resign!"

"what?"

Cao Baozong's eyes widened suddenly, "Military Master, what did you say?"

Li Taiyue was speechless, and his eyes gradually became dizzy.

"Master! Master!"

Cao Baozong shook Li Taiyue's hand, but Li Taiyue didn't respond anymore, the military doctor next to him sighed, "Mr. Li has gone!"

Cao Baozong stood up, with a sad expression on his face, turned his head and said to his soldiers: "Burn him on the spot, and bring his bones to his wife and children!"

……

The night was already very deep, and [-] soldiers of the Western Xia Army were dejected and camped in the open air in a wilderness. They did not dare to camp in the mountain depression, and they were easily attacked from above by the Song Army.

Wrapped in a thin blanket, the soldiers tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Many people were hungry, but they had no food to satisfy their hunger. The food was burned, and the cattle pulling the carts were also taken away by the Song army.

Now the only food they can eat is the horses of the cavalry.

In the evening, hundreds of horses were killed, but distributed to each soldier, there were only a few pieces of horse meat and half a bowl of hot soup.

But the consequences of killing the war horses are also very serious. The war horses of the Xixia Army are privately owned by the cavalry. If their horses are forcibly killed, the cavalry almost completely loses their fighting spirit. This is like cooking their own relatives. I hate it so much.

If the Song army came to kill at this time, the Xixia cavalry would surely collapse without a fight.

Cao Baozong regretted it very much in his heart. He knew that he should follow the advice of the military adviser and should not fight the Song army. Chen Qing ignored him at all, thinking that the decisive battle was just wishful thinking.

But he regretted that the medicine was gone, Li Taiyue was dead, and he didn't know what to do next.

But there is one thing he is very clear about, that is, he will never follow Li Taiyue's last words and let himself return to Beijing to resign, why?

Suddenly there was a commotion in the distance, and the sound of hurried horseshoes was faintly heard. Cao Baozong was startled.

At this time, a soldier rushed to report: "General Qi, there are two thousand cavalry who refused to stay and fled north on horseback."

Chapter 432 Letting Go

Cao Baozong stood up in shock. What he feared most happened. There were deserters, and 2000 people escaped, which is not bad.

He hurried over with his own soldiers, and the cavalry commander Tuoba Chengqing clasped his fists and said, "General, just now, a thousand cavalrymen won the lottery for offering horses, and hundreds of soldiers repented and escaped on horseback. A large number of other cavalry followed, and the humble position couldn't stop it!"

"How many people ran away?"

Tuoba Chengqing wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "More than 100 people!"

"asshole!"

Cao Baozong gritted his teeth with hatred and said, "How did I tell you before? The men and horses have to be separated, so what kind of shit lottery is needed, so quickly confiscate all the horses."

Tuoba Chengqing said helplessly: "General, the horse pens have been set up, but they are not willing to be fooled. Besides, the horses are their private property and cannot be confiscated. The soldiers will rebel."

Cao Baozong's anger still persisted, so he could only say bitterly: "Then give them compensation! The market price of a horse is about ten guan, if a horse is killed, the imperial court will compensate the owner of the war horse twenty guan, now they should have no objection." Bar!"

"Humble job thinks it's feasible, they all mentioned compensation, it should be negotiable!"

"Tell them that if the horses don't kill them, they will starve to death themselves. If they starve to death, the horses will kill them!"

"Humble job, go and discuss with them now."

……

The more than 2000 cavalrymen who negotiated could not tolerate their horses being slaughtered and eaten, even if they were compensated with money. These cavalrymen were the most radical. When hundreds of people defected first, other cavalrymen also ran away.

But the official road in the north is not a way of life. Ten thousand Song Army cavalry set up a net twenty miles away. Surrender will not starve to death.

Yang Zaixing led a small Xixia leader who could speak Chinese to Chen Qing. The little leader of the Xixia Army was equivalent to the escort of the Song Army, and the main leader was equivalent to the capital.

"I report to Dutong that these 2000 people are all deserters. They were originally Xixia herdsmen, and their horses belonged to their own family. They didn't want their war horses to be killed for military rations, so they mutinied and ran away."

Chen Qing sneered and said, "They actually started eating horses, how long can they last?"

Chen Qing asked the little leader, "If Cao Baozong gathered all the horses, where would he put them?"

"It should be placed in the northwest corner, where they built a large stable with wooden poles, and asked us to gather the war horses together. We all knew that they wanted to take the opportunity to kill the horses, but everyone refused, and a quarrel broke out. We're all done."

Chen Qing roughly drew a camp map on the ground with a branch, and drew a horse circle in the northwest corner, "Is it like this?"

"Exactly!"

"Where's the sentinel? How far is it from the camp?" Chen Qing asked again.

"About a mile or so!"

Speaking of this, the little leader knelt down and begged: "We are ordinary herdsmen, and we still have parents, wives and children at home. I implore the general to spare our lives!"

Chen Qing smiled and said: "Don't worry about this, you are very valuable, it would be a pity to kill you, I will wait for the Xixia court to redeem you."

The little leader was taken away, Yang Zaixing said: "Dutong, tonight is an opportunity to defeat the opponent. They are hungry and unable to fight at all. If we use cavalry to attack at night, we can defeat them all in one battle."

Chen Qing shook his head, "When the two armies are fighting, attacking the heart is the first priority. It is meaningless to defeat them directly. I want to force their entire army to surrender. The best way is to kill and kill the remaining [-] Xixia army."

"Humble job understands!"

Yang Zaixing finally understood the real intention of Chen Qing's concern about the location of the horse pen.

……

At four o'clock, Xixia soldiers began to kill horses and cook. At this moment, a cavalry of about 2000 men came running from the north, all wearing the uniforms of Xixia soldiers.

When the opponent's cold sword hit the top of the head, the sentries suddenly realized that this was the Song army's costume, not their cavalry.

It was too late to call the police, the sentinel ran back and was soon caught up and killed.

The cavalry rushed into the northwest corner of the place like lightning. Thousands of horses gathered here, and there were hundreds of horses waiting to be killed. Two thousand Song cavalry broke through the temporary horse pen. The horses were very spiritual. I witnessed it with my own eyes. The death of their companions, they all knew that this was an opportunity to escape, and thousands of horses followed the Song cavalry and fled southward.

When Cao Baozong led thousands of soldiers to arrive, two thousand cavalry and thousands of horses had already disappeared, leaving only the corpses of more than 300 soldiers who killed horses and dozens of horses that had just been killed.

Cao Baozong stared blankly at the empty stables in a daze, his mind went blank, the generals all looked at each other in blank dismay, the last food was gone, what did they eat?There are still three or four hundred miles to go, and they will all be starved to death on the road.

At this time, the general who guarded the horse pen came forward with a face full of shame, and handed a letter to Cao Baozong, "This is a letter left by the Song Army, and let the humble post be handed over to the general!"

Cao Baozong was finally furious and shouted, "Why don't you die!"

He drew out his sword, pierced the general's chest with one sword, grabbed the letter, turned around and rushed away angrily, the general fell on his back, staring at the sky with regret.

All the generals fought a cold war, and they all seemed to see their end.

……

Shang Dongyan hurriedly found the coach Cao Baozong who was sitting alone in a small tent in a daze, "General, the opinion of the generals is to turn the road to the south, and the Weihe River is densely populated. We can loot some food there."

Cao Baozong glanced at him, shook his head for a while and said, "Don't dream, Chen Qing won't give us this chance?"

"Then what to do? There are only fifty horses, and 8000 people are not enough. What about lunch and dinner? The soldiers will rebel!"

Shang Dongyan was very anxious, he suddenly saw the letter in Cao Baozong's hand, and immediately asked, "What did Chen Qing say in the letter?"

"He says……"

Cao Baozong hesitated and said: "He said that as long as my army is willing to lay down their weapons and surrender, as a condition, he can let 70 people leave."

Shang Dongyan was stunned for a moment, "That is to say, all the generals can leave?"

Cao Baozong nodded, "I guess that's what it means! People are chosen by ourselves, he only cares about the number of people."

"The general...how did you decide?" Shang Dongyan swallowed and asked nervously.

Cao Baozong sighed, "Do I still have a choice?"

He stood up and said, "Go and find all the generals above the deputy general!"

……

The assistant general of the Xixia Army is equivalent to the commander. Above the assistant general is the general, and above the general is the general, which is equivalent to the command and control of the Song army.

With an army of 2 people, there are 57 middle and senior generals including the deputy general, plus Cao Baozong and twelve personal soldiers, exactly 70 people.

Cao Baozong ordered the whole army to lay down their weapons, take off their armor and surrender, and promised the soldiers that he would persuade the emperor to redeem them back to Xixia as soon as possible.

The commander issued an order to surrender, and none of the [-] soldiers who were dizzy with hunger were willing to resist desperately any more. The soldiers threw away their weapons and armor one after another, and sat on the side of the road waiting for the Song army to come to provide food.

The seventy generals cut off the horse meat for dry food, and rode to the north on horseback. The soldiers of the Song army did not stop them, and the seventy generals rode northward on horseback.

Yang Zaixing watched the figures of the 70 people gradually go away, he asked Chen Qing with some puzzlement: "Actually, can you not let them go?"

Chen Qing looked at the dozen or so generals around him, and saw that each of them was very puzzled, so he smiled and said, "Everyone is very strange! Why did I let them go? I have to tell everyone, so that everyone can understand my combat intention. , you can learn to emulate in the future.”

Everyone bowed together and said: "I would like to obey the teachings of Dutong!"

Then Chen Qing calmly said: "I found out that the enemy general Cao Baozong is just a paper-based Zhao Kuo. He went south for no reason, and then retreated north for no reason. Halfway through the withdrawal, he even set up an army formation to fight me. He thought he wanted a decisive battle. , the enemy army will obey his intention to fight decisively?

so!The enemy general who only talks on paper is the opponent we need. Such an opponent will destroy the remaining [-] troops sooner or later. If I capture him, the Emperor Xixia will definitely send another more powerful opponent. Am I a fool? up. "

Everyone laughed, and then admired the wisdom of the commander. Chen Qing laughed again: "As for releasing the other generals, I am worried that they will lead the prisoners to rebel in the future. Without these generals, [-] prisoners of war will be easy to manage."

Everyone applauded together. They were right. The most important thing for prisoners of war to be honest and not rebel is that there should be no leader among them.

Chen Qing immediately ordered: "Give each of them a dry ration, and escort them back to Longxi County!"

Chapter 433 Lintao

The Song army didn't have any extra food to support these prisoners of war. Chen Qing immediately ordered that all the prisoners of war be sent to mine saltpeter mines, and two thousand soldiers were sent to guard these prisoners of war. Anyone who dared to provoke troubles would be killed!

Sending [-] troops to guard the prisoners of war, Chen Qing once again faced the problem of insufficient troops. He had to maintain a standing force of [-] troops, but the [-] troops in his hand were excluding the [-] standing army, leaving only [-] defense troops. , Guarding three states seems stretched.

Especially in Qinzhou, Chengji County needs at least 5000 guards. Adding the 2000 guards in Ganquan Fort, it actually needs 1000 troops. This is the minimum requirement. 1 people.

Recruiting soldiers has become a top priority, but recruiting soldiers needs money and food, and the bitter cold land in the northwest is the two most scarce resources.

This is not like the thousands of people back then, which could be supported by one Qinzhou. Now he has [-] troops, and it is really difficult to support him from three states. He needs to find a larger land for food production.

Moreover, they consume too much food. If there is no additional income from food, they may not last until next year's summer grain harvest.