In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

"Boom!"

The rain has become much lighter.

But there is still an autumn thunder, which is deafening.

Along with the autumn thunder, outside the north city of Miaochuan, the artillery burst into brilliant flames.

Even if the artillery crew has 20 members and the tractor can unload the force, the terrible recoil still makes the wheels tilt backwards and the mud splashes.

Hundreds of shells drew an arc in the air, hit the distant city head, and fell into the city.

The national strength of the Song army is too strong. In addition, after the industrial revolution, steel mills have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. When there is no shortage of steel, there is naturally no shortage of artillery and training ammunition.

Therefore, the members of the artillery crew of the Song Dynasty are very experienced, and their calibration ability is far better than that of the Xixia artillery, which lacks effective training and live ammunition training.

There was no other way. Xixia was poor, and the raw materials for gunpowder had to be imported from Liao. The Liao was already second-hand. The Song Dynasty first imported from Japan and then resold it to Liao. There was very little left in Li Yuanhao's hands.

This led to Li Yuanhao selling his house and iron to get some artillery, but he had to be frugal in training. It was very difficult to train even a slightly better artillery crew, let alone an excellent one.

Under such circumstances, it was considered good for Xixia's artillery to be able to skillfully fire the shells, and the error rate was very high.

On the other hand, the error rate of the Song Dynasty artillery was much lower.

They aimed at either the city gate tower or the city gate below. A large number of shells bombarded the city gate, and the city gate was soon hit with many big holes. It was already shaky and would fall down with a push.

The Xixia army on the top of the city was frightened. There was a mess. Some hurriedly blew whistles, some looked for shelter everywhere, and some ran away directly.

Although the rain was getting smaller, the thunder was still there. That autumn thunder covered up a lot of things.

But this cover-up didn't last long. Yeli Wangrong didn't sleep very well last night. He lived on the tower of the north gate, vowing to fight the Song army to the death in the mountains in the north.

In his opinion, this was the only breakthrough point for the Song army. Even if he used up all the ammunition in the city and all the artillery in the city exploded, he had to defend this position.

In the tower of the north gate, Yeli Wangrong sat cross-legged on the table, his face was a little haggard, but his eyes were fixed on the map on the table. This was his habit, he liked to memorize the surrounding terrain.

"The Song army's consistent strategy is to occupy the mountains and increase the range of artillery by raising the terrain on the mountains. The longest range can even be more than ten miles."

"As long as I control the mountains in the north and prevent the Song army from installing artillery on them, they will have an advantage in artillery fire from a high position, and then they will have no way to deal with us."

"What a pity, the king should have withdrawn all the people back to the city. Although camping on the mountains did stop the Song army for two days, it was not enough to stop it. So many people were lost in vain. If we want to resist the Song army, we still have to Rely on artillery. "

"But the artillery of the Song Dynasty is indeed much stronger than that of our Great Xia. Not only is it well-made, but it is also made of tempered steel. It can withstand the force of gunpowder much stronger than our artillery made of wrought iron."

"Alas, if the king had not been at odds with the Song Dynasty in his early years, it would have been great. Our Great Xia is already poor in national strength, and after years of war, I am afraid that it will not take long for the country to be in dire straits again."

"Hey, what's going on?"

Yeli Wangrong was observing the map, thinking about how to stop the Song army from going up the mountain. While complaining about himself and worrying about the future of Western Xia.

Suddenly, he felt a faint vibration coming from the seat where he was sitting cross-legged, which surprised him.

The thunder was still exploding outside, and the vibration under his body continued. Yeli Wangrong couldn't help but say to the deputy general beside him: "Go outside and take a look. Did they fire the artillery without authorization?"

The recoil of the artillery is large, and it is normal for the ground to vibrate slightly when firing. Moreover, the thunder also covered the sound of the cannons, and no one could tell whether someone on Miaochuan City was firing at the distant mountains.

But Yeli Wangrong had already ordered that if there were any Song army activities on the hilltop, he must be notified to observe.

After all, if they fired cannons once a few Song soldiers appeared on the hilltop, the consumption of more cannons would be very large. In order to prevent the Song army from cheating the cannons, he had to confirm it in person every time before firing cannonballs at the hilltop.

If they fired without authorization, they would definitely be punished by military law.

The deputy general walked out of the city gate tower and looked around. No one moved on the artillery positions on both sides. Although they all set up sheds to shelter from the rain, the heavy rain still affected them, and no one dared to fire without authorization.

But just as the deputy general was surprised, he turned his head and looked to the south. In the direction of the South Gate, about 1.5 kilometers away from him, there seemed to be dust and smoke everywhere, and even the rain could not block the smoke and dust.

And there was a mess over there, and many soldiers were fleeing everywhere, which made the people on the North Gate completely confused.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

A faint roar sounded from the south gate, which made people shudder.

The deputy general had already heard that it was the sound of artillery.

He immediately felt something was wrong and hurried back to the tower to report to Yeli Wangrong: "It's bad, King Tiandu, the Song army seems to be bombarding the city with artillery outside the south gate."

"What?"

Yeli Wangrong was shocked, stood up from his chair, and rushed out of the tower in a hurry.

He also quickly observed the changes in the direction of the south gate.

The faint roaring sound continued to sound, and every time he heard it, his mood sank a little.

"Quick, gather the team immediately and rush to the south gate for help."

Yeli Wangrong knew that once the Song army broke into the city, they would definitely rush into the city to fight, and they would be forced to fight in the streets.

There were less than 30,000 defenders in the city, and they would definitely not be able to fight against the more than 40,000 Song soldiers outside the city with muskets, so they must guard the vicinity of the city gate.

However, the distance from the north gate to the south gate is obviously farther.

Especially the temporary assembly of the team.

When Yeli Wangrong led the hastily assembled more than 10,000 troops to the south gate, the south city had already fallen, and a large number of Song troops rushed into the city and were firing everywhere.

The sound of "bang bang bang bang" of musket shooting was endless.

You can't use muskets on rainy days, but the Song army's design has a waterproof cover, and the ignition device relies on flint, not a matchlock, so there are naturally not so many restrictions.

With the sound of gunfire, the Xixia soldiers were defeated, especially in the tight alleys, where people gathered together and became sitting ducks.

The Song army poured into the city like a tide, and the Xixia army could not stop it at all. The chaotic battle lasted less than an hour, and a large number of Xixia soldiers fled from the direction of the west gate.

"Commander, the enemy has been defeated."

It was not yet noon, almost at the end of the morning, at the beginning of the morning, after an hour and a half of fighting, the Xixia army finally collapsed.

The scout came quickly to report the results of the battle to Zhang Kang.

Zhang Kang narrowed his eyes and asked, "What is the situation in the city now?"

"The enemy's defense at the south gate collapsed, and now they are fleeing towards the west gate."

"Let them go."

"Yes"

The scout was a little surprised, but still obeyed the order.

Fan Ke, the deputy chief of Qinfeng Road, was puzzled by Zhang Kang's order and asked, "General, why did you let them go?"

Zhang Kang glanced at Fan Ke and asked, "Do you remember our mission objectives?"

Fan Ke replied, "Destroy Xixia and recapture Qingtang."

"Recapture Qingtang, are you recaptured for Zuo Si Luo or for our Song Dynasty?"

"This"

Fan Ke opened his eyes wide and understood Zhang Kang's meaning in an instant. He hesitated and said, "Is this the intention of the court?"

If the court wants to annex Qingtang, then it's easy to say, they are just doing things according to the order from above.

If this is Zhang Kang's own idea, then it has to be discussed.

After all, if the court does not want to have a reputation of annexing allies, if they make decisions on their own, they will most likely be held accountable in the future.

"Without the order of the Political System Council, how dare I do this? Besides, why do you think the court summoned Zhao Youlu, the defense envoy of Tongzhou?"

Zhang Kang's light words made Fan Ke suddenly realize.

Yes.

Miaochuan City is a city located on the south bank of the Huangshui River. Outside the north gate is the Huangshui River, and on the other side of the Huangshui River is the hill.

The Song army came from the east, and the direction of the attack was the south gate.

So the Xixia army could only run west.

Where is the west?

Qingtang City.

If the Xixia army did not run west, what reason would the Song army have to continue chasing?

Although the situation of the top leaders of the Zuosiluo regime is very bad now, Zuosiluo is seriously injured. It is said that the wound is infected and his life is still unknown.

Zuosiluo's youngest son Dongzhen was captured by the Xixia army. Now he is missing and he doesn't even know whether he is alive or dead.

But the Zuosiluo regime still has some troops led by General An Ziluo and others.

If the Xixia people are annihilated here, An Ziluo and others may take over Qingtang and Miaochuan, so that Qingtang will still belong to the Tubo people.

But if the pursuit continues, it will be different.

Zhao Youlu, the defense envoy of Tongzhou, was Xia Zhen, the eldest son of Zuo Siluo, and had already surrendered to the Song Dynasty.

At this time, the Song Dynasty, in the name of continuing to annihilate the Western Xia army, successively recovered Lanzhou, Miaochuan, Qingtang and other cities, and then appointed Xia Zhen as the lord of Qingtang.

At that time, give Xia Zhen some benefits, such as letting Zuo Siluo's descendants enjoy wealth and honor, the same treatment as Li Jibang, and he can offer Qingtang to the Song Dynasty in the name of the lord of Qingtang.

In this way, the Song Dynasty will legitimately recover Qingtang.

After all, this time the Zuo Siluo regime itself was crippled by Li Yuanhao, the upper class was almost wiped out, and the lower class also suffered heavy casualties. Many people from small tribes ran away, and people's hearts were very divided.

In this case, if the Song Dynasty did not bring Xia Zhen over, it would be very likely that the Qingtang regime would be occupied by Zuo Siluo's subordinates.

If Xia Zhen is brought here and the Song Dynasty doesn't care, Xia Zhen will be in trouble both internally and externally and will not be able to defend Qingtang.

So the Song Dynasty's strategy is the best way.

There is no armed conflict, nor the bad reputation of annexing allies. The descendants of Zuo Silu are also properly settled. Everyone is happy, and it is a win-win situation for everyone.

"The court's strategy is really great."

Fan Ke couldn't help but give a thumbs up and said: "The ministers of the Political System Institute are really far-sighted. Even if they are thousands of miles away, they can make plans."

"How can the ministers of the Political System Institute have a foresight that you and I can see? What we have to do is to obey the will of the court and do our job well. We can't mess it up and lose the face of the ministers."

Zhang Kang smiled, and then said: "Okay, you go to the city in person and tell the soldiers not to rush to chase so quickly, and leave a gap for the Xixia people to escape."

"Yes."

Fan Ke agreed, and then went into the city in person.

The light rain was still falling, and the ground was wet and muddy. After about an hour, a large number of Xixia people escaped from the west city gate and jumped towards Qingtang.

The Song army took over the city, and a large number of Song troops poured into the city and began to rest and reorganize to a certain extent.

The Xixia people took nothing with them when they fled, but the Song army could not do that. Fighting required a lot of logistical supplies. Not to mention the 40,000-strong army, there were more than 10,000 Qingtang soldiers from Anziluo and 50,000 to 60,000 civilians recruited to help escort the supplies. Woolen cloth.

Light and heavy vehicles were piled up just outside the east city.

Therefore, after the Xixia people escaped, they did not pursue them immediately. Instead, they rested for a night. After a large amount of baggage was transported to the city the next day, Zhang Kang sent the vanguard to continue setting off.

A few days later, the Song Army's vanguard arrived at Qingtang City.

At this time, nearly 20,000 Xixia remnants gathered in Qingtang City, but Yeli Wangrong, who escaped, had no intention of holding on. When he learned that the Song army was chasing him, he immediately ran away with supplies.

joke.

He was loyal to Li Yuanhao, but he was still loyal and willing to die.

All the artillery they captured from Qingtang City were moved to Miaochuan City. Qingtang City now has no artillery. Facing the Song Army's artillery, it is a living target and a dead end.

Therefore, in the past few days, Yeli Wangrong has been plundering Qingtang City's supplies to ensure that their remaining soldiers can recross the Qishan Mountains from the Hehuang Corridor according to the attack route they came from, and then escape back.

Now that the Song army is coming to kill them, how long will it take if they don’t run away?

Under such circumstances, the Song Dynasty's vanguard army saw countless Xixia people riding horses, leaving Qingtang City in a mighty manner and fleeing towards the vast plateau in the northwest.

The three thousand vanguard troops of the Song Army chased behind them for a while, chasing the twenty thousand Xixia people like they were crushing rabbits. They fired a few symbolic shots. After they failed to catch up, they returned to the city and reported the situation to Zhang Kang. .

Zhang Kang was not surprised to learn that the Xixia people had not resisted. If he had faced a powerful enemy that he could not defeat, he would not have sought death like this.

Two days later, in early October, Zhang Kang arrived at Qingtang City.

The rain has stopped in the past few days, and although it is not snowing in the early winter of October, the cold wind is howling, making it bone-chilling.

Zhang Kang stood at the head of Qingtang City and looked into the distance. This is the majestic land in the northwest. Following the vast plateau in the northwest, one can reach the Western Regions that haunted the soul of the Song Dynasty.

That was territory that the Han people had lost for more than a hundred years since the late Tang Dynasty.

"Although I have been admitted as a Jinshi, what I like most is to seal the wolf and live in Xu, drink from the vast sea of ​​horses, and conquer the stone swallows. One day, I will go north and west. I will conquer the grassland and conquer the Western Regions. , Give back our Han people a huge empire!”

Zhang Kang's heart was surging and his blood was full of blood. He was talking to Fan Ke beside him, and almost fanatical excitement flashed in his eyes.

Not only later generations like the strong Han Dynasty and the prosperous Tang Dynasty, but also the bloody Song people.

Once there was nothing they could do.

I can only drink in hatred.

Just like Zhang Kang in history, he was full of passion, but was repeatedly suppressed by civil servants and became frustrated.

now.

They will eventually achieve this goal and let the world recognize the strength and unyieldingness of the Han people again!