Mingsha County is the transit point of the ancient Silk Road, and to the north is the plain area of Xingling Prefecture, and there is no danger along the way. The geographical location here is important, and after the Song army occupies it, the army can be deployed and no longer move around the mountains and rivers.

Because the county seat was too small, the party did not set up a large army, and Di Qing's forward was successfully captured. Nearly 200,000 troops in Huluchuan are gathering here, preparing to attack Lingzhou in the north.

Han Qi and Liu Ji arrived outside the city, looked at the dense military tents outside the city, and said: "I heard that after occupying Weizhou, Pule and Yaode have been occupied in the east, and now Mingsha has been occupied, and the 300,000 troops under Captain Di have finally begun to unfold slowly. I used to be in the gourd river, but I was suffocated. ”

Liu Jidao: "It's not just that. In the past, when I was in Huluchuan, the various armies had to quarrel many times a day over the marching route, stationed camps, and distributed food. Now that it's finally on flat land, the place is big, and there is no need to fight anymore. ”

While speaking, the two arrived outside Mingsha City. Di Qing took the generals to wait here early and welcomed the two into the city.

When they arrived at the county office, Di Qing said: "The two of you came from afar, and they worked hard all the way. Mingsha is a small place, and there is nothing special about it, so I still have to work hard for you these days. ”

Han Qi said: "Taiwei is polite. I came from the Western Regions, two thousand miles away, near the Central Plains, which is already rare. ”

After saying a few kind words, Di Qing said: "I have the decree of the court, the 50,000 soldiers and horses of Liu's department will be under the jurisdiction of Han Taiwei, and I will take the remaining more than 200,000 people to attack Lingzhou." If this battle is won, the party will no longer have the strength to fight back, which is the most important goal of this dispatch. A few of us got together to discuss the future of the war. Only by cooperating with the two armies can we ensure that the party is suppressed. ”

Han Qi said: "Now the party's soldiers and horses, the army is stationed in two cities, one is Lingzhou, the other is Xingqing Mansion. The rest of the small cities did not have many soldiers and horses. If you don't go to Lingzhou, you can't attack Xingqing Mansion. In this battle, it mainly depends on the Taiwei Division. ”

Di Qing said: "Since the troops were dispatched in September, more than two months have passed. To tell the truth, the party did not resist desperately, and there was no big battle. Now there is no danger ahead, and the party has gathered troops in one city, and the most important thing is to attack the city. Although the road in Tiandu Mountain is flat, it has not been repaired, and it is rugged, and it is difficult for heavy artillery to be transported all the way from the Zhenrong army. Without heavy artillery, it would not be easy to attack Lingzhou. ”

Han Qi said: "It's already the end of the lunar month, and it's about to be the New Year." Although it is colder than the Central Plains, the ice of the Yellow River slowly begins to melt in the first month of the following year. Originally, I thought that this place is located in the northwest, and the Yellow River can wade through ice in winter. But I don't want to be frozen, but the ice is not thick, and it is only a section, the army cannot cross the river from the ice, and Lingzhou can only rely on the captain. Lingzhou City is surrounded by water on three sides, and when the ice melts in the coming year, the surrounding area is full of water, and there is only a dozen roads leading to the outside. When the heavy artillery is delivered, I am afraid that it will not be suitable for the siege. ”

Di Qing said: "Is there any way?" I sent someone to Lingzhou to check, and the city walls there are far from being comparable to other cities, and there are artillery in the city, and it is impossible to break the city without heavy artillery. If the timing is not right, you will have to wait until next year to attack the city. ”

Liu Jidao: "The court decreed that I follow Taiwei Han to take Shunzhou and Jingzhou on the west bank of the Yellow River to cut off the connection between Xingling and Xingling. Those two states were both west of the Yellow River, and there were not many troops and horses stationed there, so it was not difficult to capture. However, the party can cross the river from Huaizhou to Lingzhou, and it cannot completely separate the two states. ”

Di Qing said: "I have an army of 200,000, and the party is not afraid even if it comes to the rescue." After you break Shunzhou and Jingzhou, you don't need to be stationed, after abandoning the city, the army can go around the west of Helan Mountain and return to Hequ Road. The Privy Council said that the two emperors of the Khitan were fighting, and Yelu Chongyuan was invincible, and the result was about to be released. The army of Hequ Road was exhausted, and he was worried that the Khitan Road would be interested in Hequ Road. ”

Han Qi said: "There are still 200,000 soldiers left in the party, and it is really not easy for the captain to be such a fierce enemy with his department. After we lead the army back to Hequ Road, we will attack the Shanhe Pass of the Party from Hezhou, so that they will not dare to divide their troops to Lingzhou. ”

Di Qing arched his hand: "That's the best." The party was attacked in the north and south, and lost the west of the river, and the defeat was not far away. ”

The remaining soldiers and horses of the party, except for the Hengshan area, are less than 200,000 in Xingling Prefecture. The most important thing is that Han Qi fought all the way through Hexi, making the party realize that the field battle was not the opponent of the Song army at all. Ordinary small towns and villages could not stop the artillery of the Song army. can only rely on Dacheng and fight to the death with the Song army. Now the surrounding armies are concentrating on a few big cities and giving up a lot of places. If Han Qi led his troops to attack Shanhe Pass from the north, it would inevitably attract a large number of party troops and create opportunities for Di Qing.

At this time, the Song army did not have the intention of breaking through the mountains and rivers and advancing from north to south. The most important task of Han Qi's department was to garrison the Hequ Road and guard against the Khitan. There are only 10,000 or 20,000 people on Hequ Road, and it is difficult to guarantee that the Khitan people have any ideas.

At this time, the overall situation was very unfavorable to the party, and because he knew that he was invincible, Yokoyama did not send troops to help at all. Even if the party strictly ordered it, the guards of Yokoyama ignored it. They knew that they were not the opponents of the Song army, there was Hequ Road in the north and Yanyan Road in the south, so how could they dare to send troops.

At this time, it was almost a year old, and although Han Qi and Liu Ji were dissatisfied with the slow progress of Di Qing's army, it was useless to say it at this time, so they didn't bother to speak. The occupation of the five prefectures in Hexi and the opening of the road from the Western Regions to the Central Plains have been a great success.

After talking about the recent military situation, Di Qing said: "I prepared a thin wine in the rear office, and I don't dislike it for the two of you." ”

Han Qi and Liu Ji hurriedly said that they didn't dare, and followed Di Qing to the back office.

The party members are not good at building, the back office is very messy, and there are no flowers and trees planted in the middle. There was only one pavilion, and I don't know when it was built, Di Qing ordered it to be cleaned up, surrounded by a large curtain, and a wine feast was placed inside.

A few people sat down, and Di Qing said: "There is good mutton here, I ordered a sheep to be roasted, and I will drink it today." ”

After speaking, he instructed the soldiers, brought the roasted mutton, and set it on the table. Next to it, there were some pears, dates and citrus from the Central Plains for wine.

The order was full of wine, Di Qing raised his glass: "Since the troops were dispatched in September, Captain Han and our soldiers have been separated from each other, and we finally met today." Let's have a drink—"

Before he finished speaking, he saw a personal soldier hurriedly running in, and said with a forked hand: "Captain, something has happened to the Qingyuan Army!" ”

Di Qing put down his wine glass, looked at his own soldiers, his face sank like water, and asked sharply: "I am having a banquet for two captains here, why are you so panicked!" Hundreds of thousands of soldiers are facing the enemy country, what kind of chaos can let you trespass! ”

The soldiers bowed their heads and said in a deep voice: "The subordinates are rude, and the captain forgives the sins!" Qinggangxia party prisoners of war rebelled, and the killing was not counted. The Qingyuan army sent troops to suppress it, but they didn't want to be ambushed by the party rebels, and the guards were killed in front of the formation! ”

Hearing this, Di Qing stood up suddenly, looked at his own soldiers and said in a deep voice: "What did you say!" What the hell is going on, let's talk about it in detail! ”

The soldier carefully recounted the news he had heard. It turned out that Chang Yi Yuanzhi took his subordinates and did not stay there after reoccupying Qinggang Gorge, but took supplies and prisoners of war to the nearby mountains. Those Song soldiers were captured and persecuted by the party, and they were taught to use guns and cannons, and the party members used the equipment of the Song army. After Bu Sheng fled back to the Qingyuan army, he immediately asked to send troops to attack Qinggang Gorge again. But he didn't want to, he was ambushed by the party on the road, and the commander Ning Su was killed in the chaos, and the Song army was almost wiped out. This battle became the first major defeat of the Song army since the start of the war.

vertex