Cheng Kexun is very familiar with this road, in the spring they set off from Tiandu Mountain, crossed the ancient Great Wall through Sanchuan Village, and arrived at Huaiyuan Village, except that there was no detour to Liu Fanbao, and the road they are taking now is almost the same. At that time, that Han Qi was in the Zhenrong Army, only more than thirty miles away from his army, and he didn't know anything about it.

Then crossed Zhangjiabao, almost along the parallel line with Ren Fu to the south, the nearest time only separated by a dozen peaks, and then crossed Longshan in advance to set up an ambush. When the pigeon was released, it used the speed of the cavalry to quickly kill and block the main force of the Song army on the Haoshui River.

The choice of the good water river is that the terrain is flat and open, which is flatter than the Sanchuan Pass, which is conducive to cavalry attack. Not only did he blind the enemy, but he also chose the location of the decisive battle.

But now it seems like everything is turned upside down.

I was more pessimistic in my heart, and with the mood of giving it a try, I came to Huaiyuan Village again.

launched a tentative attack, only to lose dozens of men at the foot of the city.

This time, Cheng Kexun did not leave immediately, but ordered his subordinates to build a high platform, and then climbed it to watch from a high point in the city.

Huaiyuan Village was also destroyed by the Tangut people.

This stockade was built and is larger than the original.

More than 2,000 people poured in, plus many livestock, and it was still packed. There are also many large warehouses, this is what he saw, because of the reception of more than 2,000 people, Huaiyuan Village is almost chaotic, but Zheng Lang has already had a plan. So the clothes and luggage were marked and put into the warehouse, not one family, and there was not such a big place in the city. After the grain is registered, it is also stored in a unified manner. The unwanted livestock are replaced with cloth and other materials urgently needed by the people, slaughtered in the village, watered and frozen, and then transported to Guanzhong for sale, compressing the space.

Half-truths and half-truths, the right to be a real combat exercise.

What country is said to these border people, I am afraid that the effect is equal to zero, and in their eyes, there is not much difference between the Song people and the Tangut people. For them to be faithful, we must first give them a sense of security. It's a pity that the spying of the Tangut people is under control, and Cheng Kesheng doesn't know. Continue to look, there are still a large number of war horses, close to 2,000, and I am wrong, there are only more than 1,000 real war horses, and the others are all horses raised by the people. There were many soldiers standing at the head of the city, and they were mistaken, some of them archers from the people, and some of them were spontaneous organizations of the people.

Orion will have some risks in killing the Tangut scouts, the reward is materials worth fifty yuan, and the soldiers and people in the city will also have a reward if they kill a Tangut person, no matter who it is, as long as they kill a Tangut accurately and reward them with twenty yuan of materials, the soldiers from the inland can directly reward copper coins to improve their combat enthusiasm. If the war is killed or seriously disabled, the bereavement pension is even more amazing, as much as more than 200 yuan, and the burden on the family will be even more.

More money is used, but the effect can be shown during the battle, there is a heavy reward, there is no worry about the family, and the soldiers dare to kill and fight. So after a few months, the Song army on Jingyuan Road has a new look.

Cheng Kexun didn't know the inside story, and continued to look, and could see that some women also wanted to carry bows to fight in the city, but they were stopped by the Song generals inside. Then there are the corners of the city walls...... Suddenly, sweat flowed down. There are also a large number of stone throwers in the corners of the city walls, which are not used. Stone, used. There was also a piece of wood, but this time it was different, it was covered with long iron nails, like a hedgehog covered with thorns. Think about it, how many people will be killed if this large wooden tree that is several feet long is thrown down from the top of the city?

Fortunately, there was no general attack, otherwise these thousands of large sassal trees would have killed nearly 10,000 of their soldiers. There are also killing, there are a large number of gunpowder bags in the city, and every village has them, to prevent the enemy from having a nervous attack, and launch a strong attack on a certain village, so prepare some stone throwers and gunpowder bags to increase the defense ability. But Zheng Lang also ordered that this powder bag should not be used until it was urgent, so as not to alarm the enemy.

has made Cheng Kexiang tremble.

What to do?

He came down from the high platform, did not dare to go south, in front of Longshan, the terrain is complicated, lost his eyes and ears, once in the ambush, Yeli Yu begged tens of thousands of people to be wrapped dumplings, and tens of thousands of people themselves also did not want to have a good end.

Set up a large camp outside the city, and prepare to inform Yeli of the beggar.

Suddenly, the guards outside came in to report that it was the young patriarch of the Wangke tribe in the north of Huaiyuan Village who asked to see him.

Cheng Kesheng of the Wang Ke clan knew that a small tribe had about a hundred accounts, because the tribe was small and bullied, and was bought by Western Xia spies, and he was worried that there was no news, so he said happily: "Let him come in." ”

Three people dressed as Orions came in, and a young man knelt down and said, "I've seen General Cheng Ke." ”

He knew Cheng Kexun, but Cheng Kexun didn't know him, but he politely helped the young patriarch up.

began to report that since the first battle of Shimenchuan, the Song Dynasty mobilized the people to enter the village, the scouts patrolled urgently, and the patriarch of Wang Ke wanted to send the news to Tiandu Mountain, but he couldn't get out. It happened that the Song Dynasty had an order to encourage Orion to go out of the city and use the familiar terrain to hunt the Western Xia scouts, and the Wang Ke patriarch asked his son to sign up.

But deliberately did some conversations with the Song soldiers who defended the city, the Song Dynasty had a total of 70,000 troops, 10,000 soldiers, and more than 10,000 archers. It is possible to mobilize more than 100,000 troops to fight a decisive battle with Western Xia.

It was also expected that the Western Xia people would divide their troops into two routes, one to the south, and the other to Shimen River, so where did the little prime minister and the prince stay in Shimen Chuan, attracting the main force of Western Xia, and the south side of the strong wall was clear, tempting the Western Xia troops to go south step by step, setting up ambushes and besieged them. There are heavy troops in the rear of each village, when the Xixia people are defeated and retreated, the Song army of each village swarms out, although most of them are infantry, but they set up ambushes in the back to carry out layers of encirclement and suppression. can't be wiped out, but it can make Cheng Kexian's part suffer a heavy blow. Then calmly deal with the enemy soldiers of Shimenchuan.

After speaking, the young man said eagerly: "General, you can't go further south, Longshan is in danger." ”

Cheng Kesheng was worried, cold sweat broke out on his body, and he said, "Thank you Young Patriarch Wang Ke." ”

As he spoke, he took some silver ingots, handed them to him, and told him to leave.

Then the troops were withdrawn, not only withdrew, but also withdrawn to the north of the ancient Great Wall, and then set up camp and sent someone to inform Yeli Yuqi.

He was transferring the army, and the three patriarchs of Wang Keshao also entered the city.

Came directly to the Chinese army, see Zhao Xun, the young patriarch Cheng Kexun reported the matter, and took out the silver.

Zhao Xun said: "You will accept what he rewarded you." ”

"Small, small......"

"You're doing a great job this time."

"That ......"

"Forget about the past, not only your Wangke clan, but we also have to appease the Tibetan and other clans, if there is a change, if you don't change, it will only be equivalent to the end of annihilation. As long as you change, you are still good people of our Great Song Dynasty. Next year, we will have a series of measures to make your life better. ”

"Thank you, General Zhao."

"Don't hurry to go, the Tangut people have a reward, and I have a reward," said to the guards on the side, "Go and carry two silks to him." ”

"The little ones don't dare to stand it."

"If you want to take it, you will take it."

Cheng Zheng Lang's ethnic policy is mainly to appease, although Zhao Xun used this person, he was not at ease at first, why did he go to three people, two of whom were his subordinates. to supervise.

It doesn't have to be the Wangke tribe, other tribes can also do it, as long as it is a tribe close to the Western Xia, coerce them to choose one person to send the news out, and the goal is achieved.

How could this change have been anticipated? Jingyuan Road is not the Jingyuan Road he saw in spring. Unless they can win this battle, these Qiang people have completely lost faith in the Song Dynasty and can be used by them again.

……

"Brother Zhigui, the southbound route of Cheng Kexun this time is the route of Yuan Hao's army to the south in the spring." Zheng Lang said.

Han Qi's good-looking show blushed on his face, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Xingzhi, we must release the pigeons this time." ”

Hurt.

Zheng Lang was happy and comforted: "I will definitely let go, I will definitely let go, and I will avenge you for this." ”

"It was my mistake that I didn't pay attention to intelligence." Han Qi sighed.

Zheng Lang was saying in his heart, don't make too many mistakes, don't you pay attention to intelligence, despise military generals, be blindly arrogant, and be arbitrary...... Pick any one, and you can pick out more than a dozen.

Han Qi said again: "Why isn't it buried in the southeast direction?" ”

"Brother Zhigui, don't worry. The enemy army, under the leadership of Yuan Hao, lacked blood surnames, and could only win with cunning and more. They lost a little badly in the last battle, and they didn't dare to underestimate our army. Since the main force of our army is in the rear, does he want to annihilate the main force of our army? ”

"Yes."

"If you want to annihilate the few troops used, can you annihilate them?"

"I can't."

"Frontal attack, can it be annihilated?"

"Difficult."

"He still thinks about the previous tactics, encircled the point to send reinforcements, and transferred the main force back, so that there was a tense situation in our village, forcing the main army in our rear to come to the aid and ambush halfway. If it is attacked from both sides, the troops for the halfway ambush are insufficient. Or leave less, I have a walled wall to block, although they built two bridges over the Shimen River, there is also a buffer speed, the southeast garrison may be overwhelmed by our army. Stay too much, not enough troops for ambushes. As for our army, there are only a few hundred horses, all infantry, are you afraid that we will run away? And to the north, our army cannot get the support of archers and civilians, and we have to send an army to stay behind, how many people can be mobilized to help? ”

"I see that he will send back part of his army to intensify the offensive, but the main force of the other army will continue to lie in wait for our reinforcements. The troops that have been brought back will still be on the other side, not only safe, but also well supplied with food and grass. ”

"Exactly. Let's consume it slowly, in this battle, we are strong and clear, just a supply will aggravate the disaster of the Tangut people. ”

"Go up to town and have a look."

"Okay," Zheng Lang and Han Qi went up to the city together and looked at each other.

After resting for three or four days, there was nothing to do, and some of the Tangut people sat cross-legged on the ground, drinking wine, eating meat, and singing, and they were very happy.

But Zheng Lang thought of the things under their buttocks, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

……

The next day, a part of the Tanguts returned with their army. It is not easy to see an increase of two or three thousand people in a 30,000 army, but an increase of 10,000 people, no matter how concealed, can be seen. Unless the coach is Fan Yong or Ge Huaimin.

Yeli beggar did not hide, 10,000 troops rushed back from the south, directly from the wooden bridge back to the camp, Yeli beggar generously came to the front of the village and shouted: "Please your father-in-law and my prince come out to talk." ”

Zheng Lang carried Li Lingming to the city, and Yeli Yuqi looked at Li Lingming first and asked him how he was doing.

Li Lingming said ashamedly: "Uncle, you don't have to worry about me. ”

He opposed his father's policies, but did not want to see Western Xia dragged into the water by him.

The individual's mind is compared to the state, and the state is ultimately chosen.

Zheng Lang pursed his lips, thinking in his heart that he was a wolf at the bottom, and he couldn't feed himself. But he didn't value this weak prince, but he played a role as a bait in this battle.

The more Li Lingming said this, the deeper Yeli Yu beggar would be dragged by him.

Ye Liyu cried a few times, and finally wiped his tears and said: "Zheng Xianggong, let's start fighting, do you come out to fight, or am I coming to attack the city?" ”

"I have the advantage of the walled city, why should I come out to fight?"

"Then I'll start the siege."

"You attack, I'll defend."

Han Qi stood on the side and laughed. But Han Qi never said his identity, and as soon as he said it, Yeli Yu beggar would count the Song army on Qinfeng Road to also participate in the war, and even count the Song army on Huanqing Road.

But it's not funny at all.

A tragic offensive and defensive battle began. There was no ladder, it was still a small ladder used by Cheng Kesheng, and the Western Xia army carried the ladder to the city wall.

Shimen Zhai did not hide clumsy, and the kind of sassaga that Cheng Kexun saw was the first to be used, and this kind of sassanine wood was carried from the house to the head of the city. It is also advantageous that the walls are not high, and the supplies can be transported to the city head quickly.

More than a dozen Song troops joined forces, and when they saw the Tangut people coming under the city wall, they lifted the sassavels and smashed them down.

This thing is powerful, a piece of sassa can make several people hit, and if it is crowded, it can make more than a dozen people hit. Cheng Kexun was far away and didn't see it clearly, not only was it covered with thorns, but there were also whiskers on the thorns.

The walls were not high, and the momentum was insufficient, and even if they were hit, most of the Western Xia warriors would still be alive.

And then the scene was very funny.

In this smash, the person was attached to the tree, and some ladders were also attached to the tree, and then they stood up, and the tree moved with a bullet, and the ladder moved with a bullet. How much do these two things weigh? Pulling hard, this mustache sank deep, and when he moved slightly, he screamed.

At the head of the city, the Song army was releasing arrows, so they shouted: "Everyone run back together." ”

Pulling the long thorn, he wanted to drag the dead bodies of his comrades, the sasswoods and the ladder to escape back. Can this be dragged? Some of them were really ready to drag in unison, but after only one step, several people bent down and squatted down in pain.

Then one arrow after another was fired.

Seeing that it was not good, Yeli Yuqi ordered a retreat.

This method didn't work, change another method, Zheng Lang broke the sky and gave him the inspiration of the palace, and also created a batch of hooks. Anyway, Shimenzhai is not high, and the hook can be thrown up, and it is easier to climb.

The soldiers in front of them were holding hooks and shields and fastening their belts, while the rows of troops in the back were covering with shields and bows and arrows.

Approaching.

Immediately saw the quality of the two armies, the Song army did not get Zheng Lang's order, and did not move, on the contrary, the Western Xia people were not within the range at all, and some people began to release arrows indiscriminately.

A guard persuaded: "Zheng Xianggong, you go down." ”

Immediately into range, the knife has no eyes, the arrow is ruthless, and it will be dangerous to stay in the city.

Zheng Lang was wearing a thick infantry armor, and the nearly thirty-kilogram infantry armor was almost overwhelming him, and he said with difficulty: "I am the commander of the three armies, how can I leave the battle?" ”

In fact, he didn't need to put an arrow or move a knife, but just standing here boosted morale infinitely.

The generals at the head of the city conveyed Zheng Lang's words, and the three armies were excited, and almost at the same time raised their weapons and shouted.

Zheng Lang held on to the wall with his hand, otherwise he would not be able to stand steadily, and he was very relieved in his heart, if this continues, this Song army may not be able to reach the height of the Zhejia army, but it will become an elite army in the future.

Fifty steps were reached, and there were already sparse Western Xia arrow feathers falling on the city.

Zheng Lang shouted: "Release!" ”

Thousands of arrows rained down.

The two sides began to shoot fiercely. The Tangut people had shield cover, and the Song army also had shield cover, as well as wall battlements, and foot armor, which were condescending.

Counter-shooting is a good deal.

However, the Tangut people paid sacrifices in order to capture the village, and many Tangut warriors fell one after another, but the soldiers who were ready to climb had already come to the bottom of the city wall, shook off the hook, and people grabbed the hook and climbed up. I can't push it even if I scratch the hook and push hard.

There was no pushing, and some Song Jun reached out and took out a spoon and poured the boiling oil below on the faces of the climbing Xixia people.

The types of oil are very complex, there are vegetable oil, soybean oil, and animal fat oil, but it is also necessary to save, so a small spoonful is poured one by one. Does it feel good to pour this thing on the body, some people are hit in the face, covering their faces and rolling down and howling, some people are hit in the eyes and are running around with their eyes covered, and some people are hit and want to untie their armor.

The Song army at the head of the city was very relaxed, continued to shoot, and took advantage of the situation to confiscate the hook.

In fact, this also exposed a fatal weakness of the Western Xia people, although they captured Fengzhou City, they still had no experience in attacking the city.

Seeing that this trick did not work, Yeli Yuqi ordered the withdrawal of the army. Then he sent someone to shout and collect the corpse, and Zheng Lang was approved.

It's twilight.

After dinner, Han Qi called Zheng Lang out: "The enemy is digging a tunnel." ”

Zheng Lang climbed to the top of the city with Lao Chong and Han Qi.

Many Tangut people were digging in the mud with shovels.

Today is the twelfth day of the winter month, the weather is very cold, in exchange for last year, the cold northwest has long been dripping into ice. This year, the temperature is a little high, but the soil is also a little frozen, and it looks like an iron lump when you go down with a spade.

Han Qi asked worriedly, "Will they dig in the camp?" ”

"No, it won't." The old breed said.

"Why?"

"It was cold, and digging tunnels from the camp was longer and more laborious. We are fortified and clear, and we cannot get supplies from our borders, and they do not dare to fight a protracted war. The last time Shimenchuan fought, they didn't want to play clever in front of us, so as not to be smart but mistaken by cleverness. There are many of them, digging tunnels in the wilderness, and we have nothing to do. Although they used their troops treacherously, they were not good at attacking cities, and in fact, they were not rigid and old-fashioned, and the Tangut people were not difficult to deal with. Otherwise, Yanzhou and Weizhou would have been in danger long ago. ”

I don't dare to say what I said below, if I really used the troops superbly, no matter how good I was at attacking the city, Sanchuankou and Haoshuichuan would not have fought so hard, and even Yanzhou would have been lost a long time ago, and Weizhou would have also been lost, and even you Han Qi might have been taken prisoner in Zhenrongzhai.

Zheng Lang showed a hint of appreciation in his eyes.

Lao Chong is indeed a wise general, in fact, after the battle of Dingchuan, Yuan Hao began to drive straight into Chang'an City because he was not struggling to win. If it weren't for Fan Zhongyan to bring troops to help, coupled with Jingtai's excellent performance, at least Jingyuan Road would have been eroded.

But it still proved that Yuan Hao was not good at attacking cities, otherwise Weizhou City would at least allow him to take it at that time.

Han Qi frowned.

Zheng Lang said: "You don't have to worry, come with me." ”

Lead Han Qi to the city wall, shovel away the mud on the ground, and below is the wooden plank, and then uncover the wooden plank, inside is a deep trench, and the trench is full of clear water. There was thick ice on top, and there was still water underneath, but it was stagnant and did not flow.

Han Qi looked at Zheng Lang and Seed Master Heng speechlessly, and turned his head in shame to leave.

The groundhogs continued to work hard, taking turns, and a third group entered at dawn.

Ye Li Yu Qi and Zhang Yuan came out of the camp and looked at the carved line. If you can't dig indiscriminately, you also have a primitive ruler to make the tunnel in a straight line, and use a rope to make a carved line to mark the length of the tunnel. A total of six tunnels were dug, and when the tunnels were ready to be opened, the underground and the ground launched an attack together.

Through the carved line, it can be seen that it is approaching the city wall, and Yeli Yuqi orders the three armies to get up and prepare to make breakfast and attack the city again.

The sun slowly came out, and the Western Xia soldiers finished their breakfast, picked up their weapons, stared at the ground, and waited for authentic news before attacking.

Suddenly, two soldiers carrying mud ran out of a tunnel, all damp. The morning was still very cold, and it quickly froze, shivering, and shouted in a weak voice: "Help, help." ”