The battle at Xiaoguan was extremely difficult, as the Zhenjiang army happened to encounter the Western Xia army escorting supplies.

In such a large-scale battle, especially deep into the enemy's territory, the Tangut people did not dare to use the old, weak, sick and disabled to escort grain and grass as they did in their own territory.

Along with the grain and grass arrived at Xiaoguan were a thousand iron harriers and two thousand Poxi troops.

There were very few cavalry in the Zhenjiang army, and counting the scouts, there were only 1,000 cavalry. The nightmarish existence of the infantry of the Poxi Army is indeed a difficult enemy for the Zhenjiang Army.

A small trebuchet mounted on the back of a camel threw one stone after another the size of a human head into the charging military formation of the Zhenjiang army.

Once the Zhenjiang army uses a loose formation to avoid the damage of stone bullets, the Iron Harrier will rush in again to divide the battlefield. If it weren't for the large amount of gunpowder and incendiary bombs that panicked the mounts of the Tanguts, the Zhenjiang army would have been eaten and wiped clean at Xiaoguan.

The number of casualties of the Zhenjiang Army in this battle was about 3,000, which was the heaviest setback suffered by the Zhenjiang Army since it became an army.

Of the remaining fifteen thousand people, two or three good people can be found out of almost ten people, and the rest are basically injured to a greater or lesser extent.

Even Tang Ning was shot in the shoulder by a stray arrow, and when Pei Xiantong gave Tang Ning the medicine, he saw the shocking scar on Tang Ning's left shoulder, and couldn't help but exclaim.

"When did you get hurt?"

"It was almost a few years ago." Tang Ning turned his head to look at the scar and said in a very soft tone.

As soon as he saw this scar, he remembered Qi Xianyu, who was more stubborn than a donkey, since the woman took Tang Yu home from Chuzhou, she was well-behaved, which made Tang Ning extremely accomplished.

"How? It looks like someone slashed at it with a knife...... Oh, this arm is almost terrible, dog officer, will a person like you who is greedy for life and afraid of death still give people close to him? Pei Xiantong said in a weird way.

Tang Ning frowned and replied, "If you want to scold me, just say it, anyway, you don't scold less." ”

"Hmph, I'm too lazy to scold you." After Pei Xiantong said this, he applied the ointment to the arrow wound on Tang Ning's shoulder: "You just have fun, this arrow is not coated with poison, and when I went to get the medicine, I saw that other soldiers who were hit by arrows coated with poison had died of poison." ”

Hearing Pei Xiantong say this, Tang Ning was also a little happy. So he nodded again and again: "Yes, this is a blessing in misfortune." ”

The ointment is a little cold, and perhaps it also has a disinfecting effect. When applied to the wound, Tang Ning, who was in pain, was full of excitement. Pei Xiantong pursed his lips, bandaged Tang Ning's wounds, washed his hands with the water that Lin Wei had just changed in the copper basin, and then walked out by himself.

After Pei Xiantong left, Lin Wei said to Tang Ning apologetically: "My lord, it was my subordinates who were derelict in their duties and let my adults be injured......

Tang Ning recalled that the sharply angled arrow shot in through the gap in the human head, so he smiled bitterly and said: "

I don't blame you, how can I blame you?

If you want to blame me, I am too unlucky, there are thousands of people in front of me, and the arrow did not hit anyone, and it came to me alone, and it happened to shoot in the gap between the shoulder swallower's shoulder armor...... Do you know how unlikely it is that this will happen? ”

Lin Wei shook his head.

"I don't know, it's just a little bit young."

“……”

Because the defenders of Xiao Pass relied on their own Iron Harriers and Poxi Army, they chose the location of the battle outside the pass. As a result, this battle was actually lost, and most of the Poxi army and the iron harrier became prisoners of the Zhenjiang army, and the garrison in the pass was extremely empty.

After that, the officers and men of the Zhenjiang Army, who were holding back the fire in their bellies, directly swung more than 20 tiger squat cannons and the whirlwind cannons captured from the hands of the Poxi Army to the front of the pass, and crackled the entire pass into a scene of ruins and broken walls.

Entering the pass, they found that most of the defenders were old, weak, sick and disabled. Shenqian is a soft-hearted person. He can be cruel to himself, but he can't be cruel to old men and children.

As a result, he was stabbed in the ass by a child with a wooden spear, so all the defenders in the city were executed by the Zhenjiang army, and none of them were spared. Including the prisoners who rioted during the execution of the defenders, the angry Zhenjiang army also killed them together.

Wars are often so cruel, and wars between nations are even more so that it is not an empty phrase that the hearts of those who are not of our race will be different.

After this, the Song army began to interrogate the captured prisoners, and the answer they got was indeed that these supplies were sent from Mingsha County, Weizhou.

Just as Downing was about to rest and continue his march, something happened.

It is impossible that the actions of the Zhenjiang army will not be exposed, especially for such an important matter as the supply of grain and grass, if there is a problem, the Western Xia people will definitely be aware of it.

Rinda Hozhong, the commander in charge of logistics, suddenly noticed that a supply from Suirong Fort was a full day late, and he began to feel that something was wrong.

The Western Xia claimed to have dispatched a million heroes, but in fact their number was only more than 300,000. However, because of the preparations for siege warfare, another 200,000 people were mobilized, for a total of 500,000 people.

Half a million people eat horses, and the cost is enormous. The materials transported by the five supply routes are only taken care of by those people.

When the soldiers set out, they carried rations and cattle and sheep that would last a month. Now more than half a month has passed, and there are still almost nine days to eat.

During this period, the supply of the rear is especially important.

A day late can be big or small, at worst, it means being hungry and hungry, but at worst, it is likely that the supply route was cut off by the Song army.

So Rindo was loyal and ordered his generals to lead 3,000 cavalry to Suirong Fort to investigate.

Suirong Fort was originally the territory of the Song army and belonged to one of the forts built at the same time as Linqiang Village. It's just Suirong

The fort was built a few days earlier than Linqiang Village, but before the defenders could enter it, it had already been captured by the Tanguts.

This time, Tang Ning wanted to cut off the supply of the Western Xia army, and first of all, Suirong Fort had to be pulled out. Therefore, before attacking Xiao Pass, the Western Xia army in Suirong Fort, as well as the grain and grass, were burned clean by Tang Ning.

When the 3,000 Western Xia cavalry arrived at Suirong Fort, they saw only a scorched black, so he sent people back to report to Renduo for his loyalty, and on the other hand, he began to pursue the Zhenjiang army.

It was at this time that the Zhenjiang army recaptured Xiao Pass. Facing the three thousand Western Xia elite cavalry under the city, Tang Ning changed his mind.

Originally, he wanted to kill Mingsha County directly, like Cao Cao set fire to Wuchao, and also set a fire to burn all the grain and grass transported by the Xixia people to Mingsha County.

But the cavalry that appeared in front of him made Tang Ning feel that it was not bad to stick to Xiao Pass to block the supply of Mingsha County and contain some of the Western Xia troops.

So he made up his mind, and on the one hand, he sent people to monitor the movements of the cavalry, and on the other hand, he ordered people to collect materials and repair the damaged Xiao Pass.

The news conveyed by the adjutant general reached the ears of Renduo Baozhong, and Renduo Baozhong told the Empress Dowager Liang about it.

Empress Dowager Liang's personal expedition was accompanied by Li Qianshun, the young lord of Western Xia. This is a battle to bet on the fortunes of the country, if you win, you can say anything, and if you lose, you will be unlucky.

Not to mention the impact on morale, in the future, when Li Qianshun becomes an adult, he will always have the shadow of this war in his heart.

glanced at Li Qianshun, who was sitting on the side, like a little adult. Empress Dowager Liang sighed and said, "How many troops can we mobilize?" ”

"Except for the soldiers who surrounded Song Dog City and the troops who intercepted reinforcements, there are not many troops that can be used. However, there are always about 50,000 people, and they can be sent to recapture Xiaoguan and restore the route of supply delivery. Rindo replied.

"Then do it." Empress Dowager Liang nodded.

So Rindo was ordered to retreat.

As soon as Renduo Baozhong left, only Empress Dowager Liang and Li Qianshun were left in the tent. As soon as the maids were about to come in, they were driven out by the Empress Dowager Liang.

There was no one else in the tent, Li Qianshun was like a deflated ball, no longer sitting upright, looking at the Empress Dowager Liang with a smile and saying, "Queen Mother, how is the fight outside?" ”

Empress Dowager Liang said in her heart that the little rabbit cub is really a pot that can't be opened, and you and I are worried about this matter. But she would definitely not say this, if even the emperor did not have the confidence to win, then let alone the soldiers.

So she smiled and said: "With you, the emperor, in charge, the war will naturally go smoothly." It's just that Song Gou doesn't know what to do, and he resists stubbornly, and for a while, this city can't be attacked.

Therefore, I don't need to be anxious, stay for a few days, and this city can be taken down! ”

“……”

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