Troubled Times: Start with 800 Dead Soldiers

"My lord, but what if he doesn't agree?"

"He didn't want us to agree. He clearly knew that we had been fighting against Song Dynasty. I think he himself was wavering about Zhao Ji, so he might as well let us add fuel to the fire."

"How to add fire?"

"Distant friendship and close attack."

Zongze on the side seemed to have figured out something, "You mean with Xixia?"

"The Xixia army has hundreds of thousands of troops. Ten years ago, they united with Tubo to attack the Song Dynasty. They claimed to have 80 troops. Although the actual number of troops was not many, as long as they attacked the surrounding areas of the Song Dynasty with heavy troops, that kind of family army would not be able to escape and fight with us. In battle, his so-called 27 elite Western troops, no more than 7 can fight us."

"Your Excellency is right, we will contact Xixia Military Supervisor Renduo Baozhong, who is currently the Xixia Military Supervisor in the right wing."

Su Xia nodded, "Your secret service headquarters should also send more people to Xixia and Dali."

......

In May 1118, in the capital of the Xixia Kingdom, at the home of Renduo Baozhong, the military supervisor of the Xixia Army, several "uninvited guests" had already arrived at his home. The leader was none other than Handi Kulu Zhugui.

Zhu Gui came here this time to contact Xixia, and he brought various rare treasures with him.

Nendo Baozhong winked at the steward on the side. The steward immediately understood what he meant and asked everyone to leave.

There were only a few people in the house, including Zhu Gui and the housekeeper.

Zhu Gui was the first to speak: "There is no such thing as a businessman in the world. This time we are here as my lord, just to make good friends with Xixia. Therefore, we are here for the first time and have prepared some small gifts for you."

After Zhu Gui finished speaking, he put the glazed beads that had been prepared into boxes on the table.

In fact, these are the glass beads that Su Xia got when he launched his army. However, in ancient times, this technology was strictly blocked by Su Xia's people, so things that were not valuable at all became extremely precious, especially in the Xixia Kingdom. Comparable to the same volume of gold.

This is not surprising, after all, things are rare and valuable.

Renduo Baozhong nodded: "I have long heard that there is an uprising in the Central Plains of China. In recent years, Song Dynasty has been unable to fight with us anymore. What is your lord's intention in sending you here this time?"

In fact, according to Ren Duobaozhong's conjecture, the reason why Su Xia sent people here was to contact the Xixia Army and attack the main force of the Song Army, the Zhong Family Army, from two directions.

The Zhong Family Army was the last main force of the Song Army.

If China really has this intention, how should it draw the land and govern it?

How should we divide a territory as large as the northwest?

Zhu Gui glanced at Ren Duo Baozhong. He seemed to have guessed that the other party might misunderstand him, and said quickly: "Lord Ren Duo, the reason why we came here is that we hope that the two countries can cross the border and find a road to interoperability. Our mud, Toothbrushes, tooth powder, and glassware can be sold via a detour to Xixia. One hundred carts of items are sold every month without taking a penny. All the profits will belong to your country. I just hope that the Xixia Army can put some appropriate pressure on the Zhong Family Army."

Ren Duo Baozhong looked at Zhu Gui in disbelief. After all, this was by no means a small amount of money, especially since he did not take any penny, and all the profits were his own. This made Ren Duo Baozhong even more confused. He asked in disbelief: "On this one condition."

"My Lord, this is the only condition." Zhu Gui replied quietly.

(Note: By the time of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, transplanted toothbrushes began to become popular in cities. By the Southern Song Dynasty, they had become a common social custom, and there were already shops selling toothbrushes and tooth powder on the market)

In Jingzhao Mansion, the residence of Shilue of the Western Army, the reports in the past few days made him worried. His younger brother Zhong Shixiong said with some worry, "Since the beginning of Xia, the Xixia Army has repeatedly sent heavy troops to reunite in our border areas, trying to Provoke war between the two countries."

Zhong Shi slightly nodded and said: "Wolf ambitions. Now there are Jin and Su Xia troops in the north, and Xixia troops in the west. However, the court's current biggest concern is the Su Xia army. They have been eating away at them step by step over the years. You see, in just a few years, they have They annexed so much land in our Song Dynasty."

Zhong Shilue said while looking at the map.

Seeing his brother so worried, Zhong Shixiong said: "Brother, don't be too anxious. Our Western Army of more than 40 soldiers is not a vegetarian. Recently, I have been recruiting troops on the two roads east of the Yongxing River. Together with the army we have hoarded before, it is enough." We can mobilize [-] troops. Unless Xixia, Suxia, and Jin jointly attack us, we will definitely not be afraid of any party."

Zhong Shilue: "Then have you ever thought about it? Su Xia sent people to unite with Xixia to put pressure on us and prevent us from dividing our forces against them. Although we secretly negotiated peace with them, Su Xia is certainly not a fool. But I have an idea that Xixia must not have reached an agreement with them, and it is just a secret coordination of interests. If there is a war with Su Xia, then Xixia may not necessarily help Su Xia."

"In this case, why not take the initiative, occupy Daming Mansion, and regain the lost territory."

On one side, the Zhong Shilue brothers are gearing up, while on the other side.

Su Xia was also actively mobilizing troops to prepare for war, but it was an indisputable fact that he did not have many troops on hand. Li Dong and Sun Li led tens of thousands of elites to Ryukyu, and together with the garrisons in Danzhou and other places, Su Xia's troops were reduced to Concentrate, now more than [-] people are concentrated to fight against the entire Western Army, which is already the elite.

Among the [-] troops, there were Zhao Wenhui's Guards Division, a division of Pilihuo Qin Ming, and Lin Chong's cavalry.

Su Xia decided to take advantage of Xixia's hard work to expand a group of troops first and intensify the training of the additional [-] soldiers. At the same time, Jin Ming's musketeers were already in place, becoming an absolute leader with [-] muskets. strength.

After all, only a clenched fist has power.

It is worth mentioning that Jin Ming's Musketeers were expanded after the battle on Guangnan West Road.

At the same time, Hongtianlei Lingzhen added a mortar unit, equipped with six mortars, and the firearms aspect was also greatly expanded.

But Su Xia decided to fight a modern war and gain time. Ling Zhen's few mortar cannons alone were not enough. At least [-] Golden Wheel Cannons and Weiyuan Cannons must be prepared!

To fight such a war, in addition to asking the arsenal to step up production, Ling Zhen's main force must also be mobilized to rush up from Fujian Road.

Although there are steam trains from Fujian Road to Jingxi East Road, all other roads are dirt roads and it will take at least half a month. Therefore, Su Xia decided to conduct a comprehensive defense for the time being and wait and see what happens to the Zhong Family Army. Change, and at the same time sent a surprise force to go around the back, led by Jiuzhilong Shijin, wearing the uniform of the Xixia Army as a surprise soldier. Once the Western Army takes the initiative to fire on us, there will definitely be a chaos behind him.

Once the artillery arrives, it's time for a full-scale attack.