Fenghou

Cao Baozong bowed his head and thought for a while; "I am also inclined to King Changping's opinion. The attack on Shajiao Manor was just an accident. It should be the work of a small group of Song army scouts. According to the current situation, the Song army's siege supplies cannot We transported them here. At the beginning, we manufactured siege weapons in Lanzhou. They occupied Mingsha County, so they could only manufacture siege weapons on the spot in Mingsha County.

Therefore, according to the judgment of the Privy Council, the Song army will start to attack the city from this winter to next spring. That is to say, we still have two months at most. You can go directly to Datong from Montenegro. "

Heishan refers to the Heishan Weifu Army Division, the northernmost territory of Xixia, which is the Zhongtao Plain of the Yellow River. Xixia has several military cities there.

Everyone agreed with Cao Baozong's suggestion, and Bari Zuren added: "The wheat harvest will start in one month. After the wheat is harvested, the slaves and the wheat will also be transferred there. At that time, the slaves will be sent to the Kingdom of Jin. At least it can offset the property of the local government."

"Yes!"

"Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me."

Changping Wang Li Kan waved his hand to calm everyone down, "I have three suggestions, first, this matter must be kept strictly secret, and Brother Li Cha must never know, second, we need to sign a blood alliance and join our retreat For the plan, we must prick the blood to join, and everyone advances and retreats together; third, everyone will start preparations when we go back, and three days later, we will start to evacuate the first batch of property, Brother Cao, do you want to say hello to Montenegro?"

Cao Baozong smiled and said: "No problem, I will send someone to Montenegro to deliver the letter tomorrow morning, and my brother will come to meet everyone."

Although they were the only ones talking, in fact there were more than a dozen dignitaries sitting beside them, they just couldn't get in their mouths.

Everyone immediately drafted a letter of alliance, and the eighteen dignitaries present each pricked their fingers, pressed bloody fingerprints, and signed their names below, promising to keep the secret strictly, and everyone advances and retreats together.

……

Before dawn, a few people rushed to the west gate of Xingqing City in a panic. The leader rushed to the bottom of the city and shouted: "I am the chief steward of King Jin's Tianlu Manor. If there is an emergency, I need to report to King Jin. Please open the city quickly." Door!"

The soldiers guarding the city reported to the general on duty. Since he was the chief steward of the King of Jin, the general did not dare to neglect and ordered him to be shaken up.

The gate of the city requires a warrant from the emperor or the king of Jin to enter and leave the city at night, but there is also a special method. There is an iron chain hanging board next to the city gate. People stand on the wooden board, grab the iron chain, and use a wheel to shake people up from the top of the city.

The chief steward of Tianlu Manor and several followers were shaken to the top of the wall, and the guard asked, "Is something wrong with the manor?"

"Something has happened. Tens of thousands of cavalry from the Song Army attacked Tianlu Manor yesterday afternoon."

"Ah! Then go and report to King Jin."

The chief steward led his men down the city, and hurried to the Prince Jin's mansion.

……

Brother Li Cha, who was sleeping soundly, was woken up by his subordinates, and he asked sleepily, "What's the matter?"

"The manager of Anda came and said that something happened to the manor."

Brother Li Cha suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, sat up and said, "Where is he? Quickly bring him up."

The manager of Anda is a Sogdian who has worked for Brother Richard for 20 years and has won the trust of Brother Richard.

Not long after, An Yangui, the chief steward of the manor, was brought in, and he fell to the ground crying, "My lord, the manor is over!"

Brother Li Cha was so anxious that he patted the table, "Quickly tell me, what's going on?"

"Yesterday afternoon, [-] to [-] cavalry suddenly rushed into the manor. The Zhuang Ding was caught off guard and was slaughtered by them. I escaped from the tunnel with two young stewards and hid in the reeds. We dared to come out after dark and found a pair of leather rafts. Cross the Yellow River!"

Brother Li Cha was stunned and asked for a while, "Are you sure it's twenty or thirty thousand people, not twenty or thirty thousand?"

"It's [-] to [-] cavalry, otherwise our Zhuang Ding would not have been slaughtered overwhelmingly."

Brother Li Cha is right when he thinks about it. His Zhuang Ding has 8000 people, but they were massacred one-sidedly, which shows how many people there are.

His heart suddenly felt cramped. He had acquired too much wealth recently, and the mansion couldn't put it down, so he transferred all the grain, sheepskins, and copper coins to Tianlu Manor, and there were tens of thousands of slaves. The grain alone cost 30 shi. There are 50 copper coins, more than [-] pieces of high-quality sheepskin, medicinal materials, precious wood, bronze wares, and even [-] large ships. It's all over.

Brother Li Cha is a well-known miser in Xixia. He is extremely greedy for money. He has a nickname called Brother Ajian. He has accumulated a lot of wealth in his life and is known as the richest man in Xixia. Brother Li Cha was heartbroken.

He grabbed his chest and was about to faint. Several concubines hurriedly supported him, "My lord! My lord!"

Brother Li Cha waved his hand and slowly calmed himself down. He suddenly realized a problem. He also deployed three sentry teams to the south. The Song Army dispatched [-] cavalry to go north. Why didn't he get any news?

He hurriedly asked: "Is there an emergency military situation last night?"

The steward shook his head, "There is no urgent military situation sent!"

"What about the general military situation?" Brother Li Cha asked again.

"Reporting to the prince, it was very quiet last night, and no information was sent."

its not right!Even if there is no urgent military situation, general military situation should have been sent. I have explained that I have to report the Song Army's movements every day.

Brother Li Cha suddenly realized that the three sentinel teams he deployed might have been killed by the Song Army.

Chapter 674 Intercepting

At dawn, Brother Li Cha finally got the news that Xiping Mansion sent someone to send information overnight. Thirty miles south of Xiping Mansion, a large number of Song Army cavalry was found, at least 5 people, and the opponent's intentions were unknown.

Brother Li Cha has rich experience. The Song army cavalry found in Xiping Mansion must not be the army that attacked his manor. The distance and time are not the same. These are two armies. Adding the two together, the other party sent more than [-] troops.

Brother Li Cha immediately signed an order to transfer the [-] white armor troops outside the city into the city first.

Brother Li Cha immediately went to the palace to see the emperor.

Li Qianshun calmly listened to Brother Li Cha's report, and asked for a while: "What does the emperor think is the intention of the Song army going north?"

Brother Li Cha bowed and said: "Brother Qi, my brother thinks that the Song army sent cavalry northward, obviously not for the purpose of attacking the city, but if there is no benefit, they will not go north in a big way. After repeated consideration, the other party's intention should be Aiming at various manors outside the city."

"How much material wealth will these estates have?"

Brother Li Cha shook his head, "These dignitaries never tell the truth, and my ministers can't guess how much wealth they have, but they must have a lot of food, hey! These dignitaries would rather let the Song army take away the food than use it to support own army."

"Then just watch the other party looting all the manor?"

"Brother Huang, the Xiping Mansion has discovered that the other party has tens of thousands of cavalry going north. They will soon reach the Xingqing Mansion. If my brother guessed correctly, they are here to restrain us from sending troops to save the manor. My brother's opinion is to divide the troops into two groups." One way, the army went to rescue the manor, and the other army confronted the Song army, and even a fierce battle broke out, please make a decision, Brother Huang."

Li Qianshun sighed, "We have been fighting against the Song Dynasty for many years. It would be a great shame and humiliation to let the Song army come to the city. As the king of Xixia, I can't accept this kind of shame. My brother, let's send troops!"

"Your brother obeys the order!"

……

Brother Li Cha immediately dispatched [-] troops and ordered Li Liangfu, the commander of the capital, to lead [-] troops to rescue the manor. He personally led [-] troops to the south to intercept the cavalry of the Song Army.

Gao Ding led 30 cavalry to sweep all the way on the Hetao Plain of the Yellow River. It took only one day and one night to destroy ten manors, wipe out more than 77 Zhuangding people, liberate more than [-] Han slaves, and seize more than [-] people. There are millions of them, and there are also various property, armor, livestock, cattle and sheep. There are [-] camels alone, and [-] large flat-bottomed boats were also seized.

Gao Ding ordered [-] cavalry to be divided into ten teams, led by Tang Qian, to continue to sweep other small and medium manors, and the remaining [-] cavalry were responsible for transporting more than [-] Han slaves and a large amount of supplies to the west bank of the Yellow River.

At this time, the commander Zhao Xiaoyi led 250 camels to the west bank of the Yellow River. In addition to the captured camels, [-] camels carried money, food and supplies, and more than [-] flat-bottomed boats transported the elderly, weak, women and children, and tens of thousands of extra mules and donkeys Also for the elderly.

Even so, half of the money, food and materials could not be transported away. The Song army simply used more than 5000 large-scale leather rafts seized to transport them. The first group of people set off at dawn in the morning, and the last batch of materials was moved at midnight. Departing on a raft, the team was more than [-] miles long, guarded by [-] cavalry, and headed south in a mighty way.

Li Liangfu once led an army of [-] to attack Ganquan Fort, and was defeated by Song Junhuo. After returning to Xixia, he remained silent, but Emperor Li Qianshun admired him very much. This time he was named Li Cha's deputy.

Li Liangfu is over [-] years old, but he is very efficient. He received orders in the morning and set off with an army of [-] at noon. Xingqing City is only five miles away from the Yellow River. In the middle of the West Yellow River is the vast and fertile Hetao Plain. Gaoding led more than [-] people to cross the West Yellow River, while Li Liangfu led his army to cross the East Yellow River.

Thousands of Xixia soldiers used leather rafts to build pontoon bridges. Tang Qian had always suspected that a large number of ferries were hidden in the city. In fact, this was not the case. Xixia did not have a water gate, and more than 250 large ships were all hidden in various manors. The Song army had already obtained them. There are more than [-] ships, and there are not many big ships left.

But the pontoon bridge had just been built, and the troops hadn't boarded the boat yet. Suddenly, two large ships appeared upstream, each with dozens of soldiers of the Song Army on board. He shouted anxiously: "Soldiers rush up and shoot arrows!"

But it was too late. As soon as two thousand soldiers ran to the pontoon bridge, two large ships slammed into the pontoon bridge, breaking the pontoon bridge into three sections. The pontoon bridge burned rapidly.

Li Liangfu was dumbfounded, but they had a lot of leather rafts. Since it was not possible to build a floating bridge, he immediately ordered medium-sized leather rafts to be launched into the water. Six thousand leather rafts entered the Yellow River, and each leather raft carried four to five soldiers. The raft sailed to the opposite bank.

This move was really powerful, and the two big boats could only dodge far away. The surface of the Yellow River was covered with dense black spots. Although the river was more than ten miles wide, the wind was calm and the current was gentle, which was very suitable for boating.

In less than half an hour, most of the rafts gradually approached the opposite bank. At this moment, countless Song Army cavalrymen suddenly appeared on the opposite bank. They lit the reeds along the bank, and the fire ignited. Hundreds of rafts caught in the reeds were surrounded by fire, and there was no way forward or backward, and the soldiers jumped into the water to escape for their lives.

In the smog, Liu Qiong led the cavalry of the Song Army to shoot arrows, but their targets were the Xixia soldiers struggling on the rafts and water.

Generally, there is a wooden board on a leather raft, but the wooden board is relatively thin, and it does not act as a buoyancy, but only as a fixed support. Balance is very important for a leather raft, especially for a medium-sized leather raft that can accommodate four or five people. Once the sheepskin raft below leaks If you lose your breath, the whole raft will lose its balance.

Arrows were sent like rain, and the rafts continued to overturn, and the soldiers fell into the water.

The rafts in the rear turned around one after another and returned to the east bank. Except for a few soldiers who fell into the water and swam back to the opposite bank with their sheepskin bags, the remaining [-] soldiers who fell into the water were all shot to death by the Song Army cavalry, or drowned in the Yellow River.

For a while, Li Liangfu had no choice but to be intercepted by [-] cavalry on the other side.

……

The [-] Song Army cavalry appeared about [-] miles south of Xingqing Mansion. Chen Qing got the news from the scouts that the Xixia Army had dispatched troops. He immediately led a [-] backup army to the north. Twenty miles away from the [-] Song Army cavalry, Waiting for the war between the two armies.

At this time, the [-] army was divided into three square formations, arranged in an inverted "pin" shape in a wilderness, about ten miles in length, with a magnificent momentum, the autumn wind was strong, and the battle flags of the army were flying and fluttering.

A long black line also appeared in the distance, and Jin Wang Li Cha appeared leading the [-] Xixia army.

These [-] troops are all Xixia's elite cavalry, including his own [-] cavalry, [-] cavalry who retreated from Shazhou, and [-] cavalry from the Tuoba tribe. They are Dangxiang herdsmen recruited by various tribes. They are very weak-willed, and they turn around and retreat when encountering slight setbacks in the Yellow River.

The [-] Xixia army slowly approached, getting closer and closer, and the distance between the two armies was only three miles. At this moment, a cavalry rushed over and handed Liu Cui a warrant. Liu Cui checked the warrant, and it was from Chen Qing. Order, only four words, 'take the initiative to attack! '

Liu Cui drew out his sword and shouted, "Let the drums beat!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The earth-shattering drums sounded, and the [-] cavalry raised their spears and shields and shouted, and suddenly launched.

Brother Li Cha also raised his sword and shouted: "For Xixia's century-old glory, kill!"

'Woo-oo--'

The low-pitched horn continued to sound, and the [-] army was also mobilized, and the overwhelming Xixia cavalry rushed to meet the Song army.

Chapter 675 Tiger's Scheme

In the wilderness, the army of 10,000+ killed the situation, the dust covered the sky, and the two sides were evenly matched. After two hours of fierce fighting, the physical strength gradually became unbearable.

At this moment, Chen Qing led an army of [-] to attack from the south. The outside spies rushed to report to Brother Li Cha. Brother Li Cha also saw Huang Chen rolling in from a distance. He was shocked and said urgently. : "The whole army retreats!"

"Dang! Dang! Dang!" The bell rang for the retreat of the Xixia army, and tens of thousands of cavalry turned around and retreated. The Song army took advantage of the situation to chase and kill. A Xixia army of tens of thousands of people responded to the retreating main force.

This is because Li Liangfu couldn't cross the Yellow River, so he came to help the battle, but he didn't expect that he just caught up with Brother Li Cha's defeated soldiers.

At this time, the cavalry of the Song army were also exhausted and unable to fight any more. Seeing the reinforcements coming from the other side, Liu Cui shouted: "Stop chasing!"

"Woo-woo-"

The cavalry of the Song Army blew the horn to stop the pursuit, and the cavalry reined in their horses one after another and stopped chasing.

In this battle, together with the loss of 2 soldiers in the Yellow River, the Xixia Army was beheaded by nearly [-] people, and the Song Army also suffered nearly [-] casualties. Although the Xixia Army was finally defeated, it also killed [-] enemies. Eight hundred losses.

The Song army executed all the wounded Xixia soldiers on the battlefield, collected armor, weapons, and horses, piled up the enemy's corpses into ten piles, and burned them all. The dead soldiers of the Song army were also cremated and took away the ashes.

After Chen Qing appeased the generals, more than [-] troops crossed the Yellow River and went to Tianlu Manor to camp for two days.

More than 100 manors in Hetao have been cleaned up, and nearly 30 Han Chinese slaves have been rescued. A large amount of money, food and property have piled up like mountains. Although they are not as strong as the top ten manors, they are still rich. considerable.

In the wilderness that stretches for twenty miles, there are piles of bonfires everywhere. The soldiers killed 10,000+ sheep and tens of thousands of deer. joy.

Chen Qing stood on a high place with his hands behind his back, looking at the fir tree that served as a barrier for the manor with great interest, Liu Qiong stepped forward and said with a smile: "The first time I saw this fir tree, I thought it could be used as a siege ladder. "

Chen Qing nodded with a smile, "I'm thinking, taking advantage of today's victory, we can simply take down Xiping Mansion and drive a wedge into their hinterland. After a month, we will be able to openly harvest wheat here."

"Use this fir to make a simple ladder, and then use fire oil to attack the city, but we don't have a large trebuchet, how can we throw fire oil on the top of the city?"

"It is enough to use the oil fire tank. We will build a large cart and put the oil fire tank in it. Since it is easy to move, it can also prevent arrows. The large oil fire oil can be sprayed fifty steps away. Enough to use."

"Humble job suggests using the battering ram to cooperate with the siege at the same time, the effect will be better."

Chen Qing smiled and said: "However, there is no rush for this moment. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of people. Let's go back first. It won't be too late to attack the city when we are ready."

Liu Qiong said again: "I have a discussion with General Tang today and I have an idea."

"Tell me! What do you think?"

"The situation is like this. When we cleaned the manor of Changping King Li Kan today, we found that they were loading a ship and preparing to leave. We captured [-] ships of supplies. We interrogated their chief manager and learned that they were going to ship money, food and supplies to Montenegro. , It is said that many dignitaries are ready to do this, and I think that if Xixia is defeated today, there must be a large number of dignitaries who want to transport away the wealth in the mansion, and it is estimated that they will also be transported to Montenegro. Wealth is lost."

Liu Qiong's suggestion was indeed very timely. Chen Qing thought for a moment and smiled and said, "I guess Brother Li Cha will also send an army of confidants dressed as horse thieves to intercept along the road. You can pray for mantises and catch cicadas, and the orioles will follow behind."

"Is the humble official and Commander Tang together?"

Chen Qing nodded, "The two of you will lead [-] cavalry, and I will give you [-] large ships with enough food and supplies."

"Humble post obeys orders!"

That night, Liu Qiong and Tang Qian quietly headed north with [-] cavalry and [-] large ships full of supplies to carry out their secret mission.

Two days later, 270 camels and 30 large ships arrived. Chen Qing led an army of more than [-] people and marched southward with [-] people, money, food and materials.

……

Although Brother Li Cha's defeat was not a heavy loss, only more than [-] people were killed in battle, it caused an uproar in Xingqing City. The [-] most elite cavalry of Xixia was defeated by [-] cavalry of the Song Army. Could it be that the Xixia people Can you still count on the White Armored Army who don't even have armor?Can you still count on more than [-] old and weak herdsmen troops?

An atmosphere of uneasiness and fear enveloped the Xingqing Mansion, especially the dignitaries of Xixia. The money, food and materials in the manor they hid, as well as the slaves of Zhuang Ding, were all wiped out by the Song army, and the losses were extremely heavy. Terrified, everyone began to think about retreating.

For two days in a row, nearly a hundred dignitaries connected with each other, discussing what to do next?Of course, send the wealth away first, and then escape with the family when the situation is not good.

In just two days, the number of people who signed blood on the blood alliance book has increased from 18 to 98, and it is inevitable that Brother Li Cha will know about it.

In the study, Han Feng said with a smile: "Your Majesty, don't worry. In fact, this matter has disadvantages but also benefits. These people form an alliance. The real worry should be the emperor. If they dare to force a coup in the palace, the emperor will definitely catch them all. Wealth is at the mercy of the prince."

Brother Li Cha shook his head, "As far as I know, they didn't want to launch a mutiny, but just wanted to transfer their wealth out. It is said that many people bought houses in Datong Prefecture. Their first step is to transfer their wealth to Montenegro. Once Xixia can't keep it , they will all flee to Datong Mansion with their wealth.”