Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The topmost stretch of the "Ji" Bay of the Yellow River has always been a rich area for farming and grazing.

The nomads occupying this place have the confidence to spy on the Central Plains.

When the Central Plains Dynasty occupied this place, they were able to cross the Yin Mountains without teaching Huma.

Most of the time, Xixia and Liao each occupied half of this area, and there were also a few times when Xixia occupied the entire area.

Regardless of whether it is half or all, the entire area is under the jurisdiction of the Black Mountain Weifu Army Division.

When Xixia was at its peak, the number of troops in the Weifu Army was - 70,000!

There is no way, there must be so many soldiers, otherwise if the Liao Kingdom captures this place, they can go south and directly take the capital of Xixia.

Of course, the standing army was small because it could not afford to maintain many.

During normal times, they are not given military pay for farming or grazing.

During the war, they would be assigned to fight, and they would have to be given food.

Every Xixia man who reaches the age of 15 automatically becomes a male.

One person from two dings will be selected as a regular soldier, and the court will give each regular soldier a war horse and a camel (or other livestock). War horses and livestock are only issued once. If they die or are lost, the soldiers will find ways to replenish them. I usually raise my own war horses, and the Xixia government is not responsible.

The remaining men after selecting the main army will be drafted as burdens (auxiliary soldiers) during wartime.

That is to say, during the war, Xixia men over the age of 15 either served as regular soldiers or as burdens (menial labor).

In principle, all the people are soldiers. In practice, it depends on how much food and grass there is.

A regular soldier and a burden make up a copy.

Chao is the smallest military unit of Xixia.

…

Weifu Military Division has three chief officers, one is the commander-in-chief of the army, one is the deputy commander-in-chief, and one is the military supervisor.

At this moment, the deputy capital commander was surrounded by Han Shizhong in the Tiande Army City.

The commander-in-chief and the supervisory army led reinforcements from the west.

Moreover, Xixia not only has these two cities (Wulahai City and Tiande Military City), but there are also a large number of blocking cities along the way. That is to say, there are many military fortresses. If the Liao soldiers and Jin soldiers come to kill them, nearby farmers and herdsmen can quickly hide in the castles.

On his way from Baotou, Han Shizhong encountered two impeding cities, both of which he bypassed.

He didn't want infantry or artillery. Han Shizhong's purpose of marching in such a hurry was simply to prevent Xixia from gathering troops calmly.

He had achieved his goal. The area under the jurisdiction of the Xixia Weifu Army was cut into two large pieces by Han Shizhong: more than 20,000 reinforcements and about 20,000 soldiers in the city.

There were still more than a thousand people hiding in the two castles he bypassed.

Didn't it say that the total number of troops was 70,000?

That was the time when Xixia was at its peak, and now that the troops have been gathered in a hurry, it is already good to be able to gather more than 40,000 people.

"Capital, the Ming army's reconnaissance cavalry was discovered ten miles away!"

"Explore again."

The general name of Weifu Military Division is Li Quanlu. He comes from a clan and is the nephew of Brother Richard in terms of seniority.

He can barely be considered a veteran.

When he was a boy, he fought with Liu Fa, and then was beaten violently by Yang Zhi. Taking advantage of the war between Ming and Jin, he went to war with Brother Richard to steal the prairie cities of the Jin Kingdom.

"We can't attack rashly, we should wait for reinforcements." Supervisor Cao Yu said.

Li Quanlu is a member of Brother Richard.

Cao Yu was Li Qianshun's man. Although Li Qianshun died of illness, Prime Minister Li Renzhong did not allow Brother Richard to change the supervisory army.

The capital commanders and military supervisors of Xixia belong to different political camps!

Li Quanlu said: "I have seen artillery. If I am too late to save him, I am afraid Tiande City will have been breached."

Cao Yu said: "The Ming army made a furious advance this time and reached Tiande Army City in such a short time. We summoned all the troops to send out troops in a hurry. How could the Ming army have time to transport artillery?"

"Just in case." Li Quanlu said.

Cao Yu asked: "Do you know how many Ming troops have come? Do you know who the commander-in-chief of the Ming troops is? Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you be victorious in every battle. You didn't know anything, and your troops didn't gather together, so you hurried to the rescue. What if we come back defeated?"

Li Quanlu looked unhappy and said: "You are a civil servant, what do you know about military affairs? I am not a fool, so naturally I will not fight immediately."

"Now that we have encountered the Qingqi of the Ming Army, we naturally chose a place to camp nearby. We sent the Qingqi to rush over to find out the situation of the Tiande Army City; while we waited for more reinforcements to come and join us."

"Before sending troops, I sent people to rush for help, and asked Qiangzhen Military Division and Chaoshun Military Division to also send troops to rescue!"

Cao Yu shook his head and said: "I don't know if the reinforcements from the two military divisions will arrive in the year of the monkey, horse or moon. We must go back to Wu Lahai City and wait, instead of waiting here in Tiande Military City."

We really have to wait until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse.

The reason why Li Quanlu was able to gather troops quickly was because this battle was related to the interests of the local tribe. In order to protect the pastures and farmland, the tribal chiefs naturally sent troops quickly and followed their generals to come to the rescue.

However, the Qiangzhen Military Division and Chaoshun Military Division are stationed west of the Hetao.

The tribal chiefs there are slow to send troops even if they are willing to do so, and they will probably take the opportunity to clamor for tax cuts.

The people responsible for gathering troops during war are actually the chiefs of each tribe!

Li Bao asked Yue Fei and Han Shizhong to kill them quickly. Han Shizhong galloped all the way without the infantry, just to prevent other military commanders from having time to rescue.

…

North of the Yellow River and south of Wuyuan, on the grassland that is forty miles wide, the two countries' light cavalry were fighting in a lively manner.

Both sides are prairie tribe cavalry.

The equipment is very rubbish, most of them have no armor, and they just shoot arrows at each other when they meet.

After fighting back and forth, many were injured, but few were killed.

Those who were hit by arrows immediately retreated, not wanting to fight in close combat anyway.

The grassland is too vast and cannot be guarded against. There was even a small group of Xixia cavalry that went around from the north of Wuyuan, trying to approach the besieged Tiande Army City and get in touch with the Xixia Army that was defending the city.

“Boom!”

The deafening sound of horse hooves came from the east, and the Xixia light cavalry, who were fighting, turned around and fled in fear.

Li Quanlu, who had not yet finished setting up camp, soon received a message from the light cavalry: the main force of the Ming army was coming!

When asked how many people had come, he only knew that there were at least tens of thousands, and possibly hundreds of thousands.

The military supervisor Cao Yu was terrified: "Quickly retreat to Wulahai City, defend the city and wait for reinforcements, and never fight the Ming army in the wild!"

Li Quanlu became more and more annoyed as he listened, and scolded: "What do you know? Have you seen the Ming army's firearms? I have personally experienced it, and a hundred thousand troops were destroyed! To fight the Ming army, we must fight on the open grassland. Wulahai City is in the mountains. When the Ming army drags the artillery and waits for the fire gun soldiers to arrive, how can we fight in the city?"

Cao Yu said: "You can't fight in the wild. Have you forgotten that when we fought with the Jin Kingdom, more than 30,000 soldiers of Daxia were killed by more than a thousand Jin cavalry and the whole army was defeated? The Ming cavalry can fight the Jin cavalry head-on. Their cavalry is well-armored, and we don't even have iron kites in our hands."

"Stop arguing, let me think about it!" Li Quanlu was unsure.

Han Shizhong came too fast. The farmers and herdsmen around Tiande Military City had no time to retreat to the west to join them. They could only hide in Tiande Military City nearby and defend it.

Under normal circumstances, it would be no problem to defend for a year or two.

But the Ming army had artillery!

Li Quanlu was afraid that if he didn't go to rescue, the city wall would be blown down directly. At that time, Han Shizhong could use Tiande Military City as a base to continuously increase troops and transport food.

But how to rescue?

Cao Yu was right. Most of the battles in the field were unsuccessful.

There were only 3,000 Xixia Iron Harriers. It was not because of the lack of riders and war horses, but because Xixia's financial resources could only support so many.

All the Iron Harriers were in the capital, and it was impossible for them to come at once.

Li Quanlu had a limited standing army, only two or three thousand people, and these troops were naturally well-equipped.

The rest were young and strong farmers and herdsmen. Some were selected as regular soldiers, and some were selected as burdens. Among these troops, those who can wear leather armor are already elites, and many regular soldiers don't even have leather armor.

Frightened by the reputation of the Ming army, Li Quanlu actually cowardly: "Retreat!"

Rush to rescue, hurriedly ordered to withdraw...

Li Quanlu fled very fast, even leaving behind food and livestock, and the whole army fled on horseback.

Han Shizhong led his troops to the half-built enemy camp, and saw the livestock and food in the camp, and didn't understand what was going on for a while.

This battle was of great importance, and Han Shizhong actually became cautious: "The enemy's escape was too strange, there must be an ambush ahead, luring us over and then killing us. Since the enemy left livestock and food, we will accept it with a smile, don't chase them rashly, take the food back and continue to besiege the city!"

Outside the Tiande Army City, Han Shizhong only left a small number of light cavalry to watch from a distance.

Deputy Governor Ye Li Degui saw the main force of the Ming army leave, guessed that Han Shizhong was going to fight the reinforcements, so he gathered his troops and horses to go out of the city to cooperate with the reinforcements.

Ye Lidegui had not gone far with his army when he found out that Han Shizhong had returned with his troops. He was so scared that he quickly withdrew his entire army back to the city.

"What's going on? Is the battle over? Is the Ming army victorious? It can't be that fast!" Ye Lidegui was confused.

Fortunately, there are a lot of rice fields on both sides of the Yellow River. Xixia farmers have just harvested rice, and herdsmen have brought many livestock into the city. Ye Lidegui's food and grass can last for one or two years.

He didn't care about that much. He just defended the city and would wait for reinforcements sooner or later.

When the Xixia reinforcements will come again, I'm afraid only the devil knows.

Han Shizhong's follow-up troops have already boarded the ship in Dongshengzhou City (Tokto County). This section of the Yellow River is navigable, and there are a lot of canals extending from both sides of the Yellow River for irrigation.

In a few days, artillery can be transported, and more food can be transported.

...

But Yue Fei led 5,000 cavalry and hundreds of Dangxiang cavalry, going south along the Yellow River and attacking Ningbianzhou.

Across the Yellow River in Ningbian Prefecture, there is a Ming army castle, with 500 soldiers stationed there, belonging to the second-line troops under the jurisdiction of Yao Pingzhong.

Following the river valley to the castle, Yue Fei's cavalry made a little supply, crossed the river and went west around Ningbian Prefecture.

Why did Yue Fei dare to go around the city?

Because he had friendly troops to help!

Yao Pingzhong, who was stationed in Fugu, received the news from Yue Fei and immediately gathered his troops and horses to go north along the river, leading thousands of people to besiege Ningbian Prefecture City and open up Yue Fei's grain road.

Further west is Jinsujun City (northwest of Jungar Banner).

Yue Fei came too fast with four horses. The herdsmen around the city were still grazing sheep. They looked at Yue Fei with his troops in a daze, and they thought it was their own country's army.

If it wasn't their own people, could it be the Ming army?

There is a desert area to the north and Ningbian Prefecture in Western Xia to the east. It is impossible for the Ming cavalry to fly over.

None of the herdsmen along the way went to the city to report the news.

When Yue Fei led his troops to the outside of the city, the Xixia garrison commander was still drinking mare's milk.

It was just time for dinner, so Yue Fei came to give him a snack.

The Dangxiang tribe that surrendered to Yue Fei in Dongsheng Prefecture, and more than a thousand Khitan, Tanggu, and Jurchen cavalry, disguised as defeated Xixia soldiers, fled to the city frantically.

Yue Fei led two thousand cavalry and more than a thousand light cavalry, and quickly pursued them two miles behind.

The defenders in the city were so scared that they quickly closed the city gates, and had no idea what was happening outside the city.

A Dangxiang chieftain in Dongsheng Prefecture ran to the outside of the city and shouted: "The Ming army is coming, Dongsheng Prefecture and Ningbian Prefecture have all been breached, let us go in and help defend the city!"

"Wait a minute, I'll go and notify the general." The officer guarding the city shouted.

The Tangut chieftain said, "Open the city gate quickly, or the enemy will come!"

Yue Fei had led his troops to a mile and a half away from the city. The officers guarding the city were also panicked and shouted, "Cross the moat and go in from the west gate!"

Yue Fei saw the troops in front going around the west city, and he also went around the moat to the west.

The Xixia garrison commander didn't care about eating anymore, and rode to the west gate, asking in panic, "How many Ming troops have come? How come Ningbianzhou is gone? Why didn't I..."

"Kill!"

After the city gate was opened, cavalrymen of various tribes rushed in.

Unexpectedly, the Xixia garrison commander was chopped down by the Tangut chieftain before he could draw his weapon.

The Xixia soldiers in the city gate were in chaos, and cavalrymen of various tribes rushed straight into the city. Yue Fei led the elite troops and followed them in.

Even before the city was completely occupied, Yue Fei ordered the cavalry to change horses: "Follow me to attack Heqing Military City!"

"Protector General, the soldiers haven't slept for a day and a night."

"Then sleep on horseback. Everyone change horses. Our spare horses are tired. It's best to change to the enemy's war horses in the city. This city is handed over to the cavalry of all ethnic groups. The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty follow me to attack Heqing Military City!"

The Jinsu Army was still fighting in the city, and Yue Fei had already led his troops to attack the next place.

There were Western Xia defeated soldiers in the city riding horses to escape. When they saw Yue Fei also leading his troops to the west, they were so scared that they turned around and fled elsewhere.

The next day, Yue Fei's troops, who had not slept for two days and one night, unexpectedly attacked Qinghe Military City in the north of Ordos.

One battle!

There was not even much fighting. The deputy general was the chief of the local tribe. It had been ruled by the Liao Kingdom before, and then by the Jin Kingdom. It had been stolen by the Western Xia for less than ten years.

Although the local tribes were Dangxiang people, how loyal could they be to the Western Xia?

Yue Fei's troops were like a divine army descending from the sky, frightening the local tribes. The local chieftain, who served as deputy general, killed the chief general sent by the Xixia court and led his people to open the city gates and surrender.

Han Shizhong was still besieging the city, but Yue Fei had already cleared several cities in the south.