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

The next day, Di Qing arrived in Lingzhou.

At this time, the Song army occupied many cities on the Song-Xia border with almost no hindrance.

Most of Xixia's territory is desert, with very few habitable places.

Among them, the Ningxia Plain accounts for the vast majority of the population, followed by the cities on the Song-Xia border, which are later Yulin, Jingbian, Dingbian, Zhongwei and other places, and finally along the Qilian Mountains, Wuwei and Zhangye.

Now the Song army has occupied all the border cities and the Qilian Mountains, and also controls half of the Ningxia Plain, leaving only the north of Xingqing Prefecture and Sha, Gua and other states.

This means that about three-fifths of Xixia's population and important cities were occupied by the Song army.

Lingzhou City.

Li Jiqian's place of Longxing.

Because he was dissatisfied with his cousin Li Jipeng's decision to join the Song Dynasty, he chose to stand on his own. He first attacked Yinzhou, then Lingzhou, and renamed Lingzhou Xiping Prefecture.

But decades later, the army of the Song Dynasty once again occupied this place, allowing the northwest lost during the Zhao Guangyi period to return to the embrace of the Song Dynasty.

Di Qing glanced around. Except for some hills and mountains in the east, the rest of Lingzhou was flat. It was close to the coast of the Yellow River, with thousands of miles of fertile fields and countless fertile fields. There were villages scattered throughout the area, and many Han people could be vaguely seen.

There have always been Han people in the northwest. Since the Han Dynasty, Hu and Han people have lived here together. By the Tang Dynasty, Qiang, Hu and Han people were everywhere. The Hu people plowed the fields, and the Han people raised horses. There has long been no distinction between you and me.

As the saying goes, "The Yellow River has many evils, but only one thing is rich."

As a part of the Hetao area, the Ningxia Plain has been cultivated by a large number of Han people since the Qin and Han Dynasties. The farming civilization and the nomadic civilization are perfectly integrated.

"What a fertile land."

Di Qing sighed.

The mighty Song army appeared on the vast land south of Lingzhou City, attracting the attention of countless Hu and Han people.

Later, under the command of the Song Army, the Yeli tribe began to withdraw from the city and stationed in the wild.

In the heyday of Xixia, there were more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, but now, whether it is the Yeli tribe or the Weiming tribe, their military strength has been weakened to only ten thousand, and they no longer have the ability to fight against the Song army.

The total number of troops dispatched by the four-pronged Song Army this time was about 80,000.

After the reform of the military system, the Song Dynasty had only more than 600,000 troops, of which about 200,000 were distributed across the country as local forbidden troops.

They were used to maintain public order and suppress ethnic minorities who disobeyed the king, especially in the southwest. Among them, the largest number of troops were stationed in Yuechao, Qiongzhou, Guangnan West Road, Guangnan East Road, Bashu and other places.

Then about 200,000 troops were stationed in Bianliang, Tokyo, which was the Kaifeng Military Region. They were mainly used for the defense of the capital and to prevent the rise of local military leaders or uprising forces.

The military arrangements on the Song-Liao border and the Song-Xia border have become less and less in recent years. This is not only due to the Song Dynasty's national policy of strengthening the cadres and weak branches, but also because the enemy has become increasingly declining.

Since the end of the Song-Xia and Song-Liao wars in the sixth year of Qingli, Liao-Xia has been on the verge of collapse. Therefore, the total number of troops in the northwest dropped from more than 100,000 to about 80,000, and the number in Hebei dropped from more than 200,000 to about 120,000.

Including the navy, the total number of soldiers and horses in the Song Dynasty was about 660,000.

The tens of thousands of border troops in the northwest are enough to complete the task of destroying Xixia, not to mention that Ge Huaimin also brought 20,000 capital forbidden troops.

"Commander Di, these are the soldiers of the Rebel Army we captured."

In Lingzhou City, after the Song Army settled in, Di Qing moved into the Lingzhou City Government Office, which was also the residence of Li Jiqian.

Yeli Wuwei entered the hall with more than 20 Han prisoners.

Di Qing glanced over and saw that these people were in ragged clothes and had disheveled faces. They were obviously locked up in cells, and their faces were slightly different from those of the Han people in the Central Plains.

But this is not surprising.

Guiyijun is a Jiedushi vassal town that existed in the late Tang Dynasty. It has been two hundred years since the first generation and has been replaced by thirteen generations.

Even if the original Han soldiers migrated from the mainland, they could marry wives and have children locally and reproduce. They would inevitably marry Hu women and give birth to offspring, thus changing the Han bloodline.

Coupled with the influence of the local climate and environment, it is normal for the appearance of the Han people in Shazhou, Guazhou and the Han people in the Central Plains to change over the past two hundred years.

Di Qing saw that they were all tied up and frowned: "Why don't you let go?"

"Untie!"

Song troops on both sides immediately stepped forward to help them untie them.

Di Qing looked at everyone.

Everyone looked at him up and down.

Shazhou and Guazhou have been away from the Central Plains sequence for too long, and they are also very curious about the Han people in the Central Plains.

"Do you know Chinese?"

Di Qing asked.

He didn't say anything like welcome home.

Because these people only have Chinese bloodlines and names.

Thoughts and behaviors may no longer be different from those of natives.

Therefore, they had no sense of belonging to the Song Dynasty.

Saying such words will not make the other person moved, but will only make the other person feel strange.

"meeting!"

The leader said.

"Um."

Di Qing nodded: "Do you know anything about the Western Regions?"

"learn."

The man was about forty, with rough skin. He said seriously: "We have traveled to the Western Regions many times."

"We, the Song Dynasty, are now powerful and want to regain the northwest, including the Western Regions. You are also Han people. Are you willing to join the Song army?"

Di Qing asked.

Is the Song Dynasty going to regain the Western Regions?

All the rebel soldiers looked shocked.

They were brought by Cao Xian to submit to Xixia and were arranged in the Xixia army. Naturally, they were not completely ignorant of the current Song Dynasty.

Even a strong man like Li Yuanhao was defeated many times by the Song Dynasty. Now the Song Dynasty marched into the northwest, with the intention of destroying Xixia.

But the Western Regions are not Xixia.

From Yan'an Prefecture of the Song Dynasty to Xingqing Prefecture, the capital of Xixia, it may be only seven or eight hundred miles, which is a place where logistics can barely supply.

But if you want to go from Guanzhong of the Song Dynasty to the Western Regions, it is more than two thousand miles to Jiayuguan.

And Gaochang, where the Western Regions Uighurs are located, is nearly five thousand miles away in a straight line, and the actual distance is more than eight thousand miles. The Kingdom of the Black Khan to the west of the Western Regions is even more than ten thousand miles away.

Where did the Song Dynasty get the confidence to recover the Western Regions when the journey was so long?

I'm afraid that they would be dragged to death by the food and grass along the way.

However, the leader did not refuse, but was silent for a moment and said, "We are willing."

"Oh?"

Di Qing noticed that he did not say I am willing, but we are willing.

This means that his identity can represent everyone here.

So he asked curiously: "What is your name?"

The man said: "I am Cao Xianhui."

"Who is Cao Xianshun to you?"

"My brother."

"Where is your brother?"

Di Qing asked.

"Before the Yeli tribe attacked Xingqing Prefecture, my brother was killed by the flow, and the tribe was also dispersed. Some people followed Weiming Yuanhao to flee north, and now they are nowhere to be found."

Cao Xianhui said.

"Please accept my condolences."

Di Qing said in a deep voice: "From now on, you will lead the Guiyi Army first, I will report to the court, and the court will settle you."

"Thank you, Marshal!"

Cao Xianhui said with a bow.

"Come here."

"Sir!"

"Take them to rest, take a shower, get a set of my Song army uniforms, and take them to have a good meal."

"Yes."

"Thank you, Marshal!"

The Guiyi Army was overjoyed and thanked them profusely.

Although they did not feel a sense of belonging to the Song Dynasty, they were already full of gratitude at this time.

After they surrendered to Li Yuanhao, they were few in number and had no status, and were excluded and despised by the Dangxiang people.

Now that they have regained their Han identity, they have been treated with courtesy in front of the Han people, at least much better than among the Dangxiang people.

The Guiyi Army was then arranged to wash, eat, and rest.

When the Song army entered Lingzhou, Wei Ninglingge was also very anxious and kept sending people to send letters to the Song army, hoping to negotiate with the Song army.

Unlike the Yeli tribe.

The Yeli tribe and the Weiming tribe had a mortal feud, and it was obviously impossible for them to serve the Weiming tribe as their master.

Brother Li Lingning wanted to use the power of the Yeli tribe to regain the throne of the King of Western Xia.

But he couldn't make the decision. Even if the Song army didn't come and the Yeli tribe won in the end, he would most likely only become a puppet of the Yeli tribe.

The Weiming tribe had become the ruler of the northwest since the time of Li Jiqian. Although Li Yuanhao was dead, Weining Lingge, as Li Yuanhao's cousin, was also Li Jiqian's grandson and the son of Li Deming's younger brother Li Dezhao.

So Weining Lingge also had the right of inheritance.

In history, when Li Yuanhao died, his two younger brothers Li Chengyu and Li Chengwei had died early.

Several sons were either killed by him, or died from practicing qigong, or died young, leaving only the one-year-old youngest son Li Liangzuo.

In order to avoid suspicion of a young ruler, Li Yuanhao issued a will to let Weining Lingge inherit the throne of Western Xia, but was stopped by Mo Zang Epang. It can be seen that Weining Lingge was basically the only heir besides Li Liangzuo.

Now that Li Yuanhao is gone, Weining Lingge certainly doesn't want the Song Dynasty to come and pick peaches and annex Xixia, so he is determined not to surrender.

But he can't win the fight.

He can only try to contact the Song army, hoping that the Song army will agree to their peace talks, even if the conditions are very harsh, even if a large number of border cities are handed over, it is better than the demise of Xixia.

Unfortunately, he obviously underestimated the determination of the Song army to destroy Xixia and recover the entire northwest region.

Not only the northwest region, but also part of the territory of the Liao Kingdom, such as the East and West Hetao along the Yinshan Mountains, which is Bayannur and Baotou in later generations, must be taken back.

Therefore, Di Qing only gave him two choices-surrender or demise.

Seeing the tough attitude of the Song army, Weining Lingge later said that he could accept surrender and submission, but hoped to retain their power and serve as the governor of Xingzhou in the Song Dynasty.

This is undoubtedly trying to learn from Li Jiqian.

Submission on the surface, in fact, secretly developing strength, and when the army is strong or the Song Dynasty is declining, then raise troops to split one side.

But unfortunately, Di Qing replied to him, saying that he could not promise Wei Ning Lingge and needed to wait for the imperial court's order.

Wei Ning Lingge said that he would wait for the imperial court's order to be issued before deciding whether to surrender.

Obviously, he wanted to have the same idea as Yeli Wuwei.

That is, to see if the benefits given by the imperial court are enough, and then make a choice. Instead of surrendering first and then letting the imperial court make arrangements.

This is a question of who has the initiative.

However, after reading Wei Ning Lingge's letter, Di Qing sneered and then only replied with one content - surrender within three days. As for how the imperial court will arrange it later, it is the imperial court's business. He only cares about fighting.

Di Qing doesn't care whether the imperial court will give them the best treatment. He only knows that the imperial court wants the entire northwest, and it doesn't matter whether they surrender or not.

If Wei Ning Lingge does not reply within three days, then he will personally lead the army there.

Weining Lingge obviously did not have the courage of Yeli Wuwei.

Seeing the attitude of the Song army, they seemed to fall into silence. The three-day deadline passed quickly, and in the end, no answer was given as to whether they were willing to surrender.

October 19th was the seventh day after the Song army arrived in Lingzhou. The Song army rested slightly in the first four days, and communicated with Weining Lingge. The last three days gave Weining Lingge time to consider.

But unfortunately, Weining Lingge obviously made the wrong choice.

In the early morning of the 19th, the Song army began to gather. Outside Lingzhou City, the black Song cavalry formed a surging tide. They did not wear armor and carried long spears.

Some used camels and horses to load vehicles. Some of the vehicles were loaded with food and grass, and some were heavy steel gun barrels. Although it was not the kind of two thousand catties of large artillery, it was also a small steel cannon of one or two hundred catties, and the momentum was deafening.

Di Qing was riding on horseback. He was only wearing the fiery red uniform of the Song army, with a layer of cotton-padded clothes inside, a hat on his head, and a cloak fluttering behind him, like an ordinary middle-aged soldier of the Song army.

If there were no soldiers around him holding up the "Di" flag and the national flag of the Great Song Dynasty, the flag of the Song army and other flags, I am afraid no one would know that he was the supreme commander of the Song army.

"Report, Marshal, our army has assembled!"

"Report, our army has also assembled."

"Report, our army."

Gao Jixuan, Ge Huaimin, Zhao Zhen, Ren Fu and other top generals came over and reported to Di Qing.

The Song army was four armies on the surface, but actually two.

The western route marched along the Qilian Mountains and went straight to Wuwei and Zhangye. The eastern route was divided into three routes, attacking many states and cities on the border of Western Xia, and finally completed the meeting in Lingzhou.

At this time, in addition to the 20,000 people led by Lu Jingchu in the west and the 10,000 people in the rear who were responsible for escorting food and grass and guarding the border cities, the remaining 50,000 troops under Di Qing's command also assembled in recent days.

Di Qing was standing on a hill on the east side of the north of the city. He looked around and saw the densely packed Song army below arranged in ten large square formations and hundreds of small square formations. It was endless and seemed to have no end.

"Let's go!"

He waved his hand and the messenger beside him immediately blew the horn.

"Woo woo woo woo woo!~"

The desolate sound of the horn resounded through the sky.

Then the Song army followed the deployment made yesterday, with Ren Fu as the vanguard, and rushed to the north.

Gao Jixuan's troops followed closely behind, but not to the north, but to the northwest.

Then came Ge Huaimin and Zhao Zhen, who also slightly deviated from their direction.

The Song army obviously did not want to concentrate its forces to capture Jingzhou, the nearest city between the two sides, but wanted to capture Xixia in one fell swoop.

All the cities of Jingzhou, Xingzhou, Huaizhou, and Dingzhou near Xingqing Prefecture, which were currently controlled by Wei Ninglingge, were captured.

By noon, the Song army had crossed the Yellow River.

Ren Fu's army was at the gate of Jingzhou.

This is Yongning County, Ningxia in the future, only 20 kilometers away from Lingwu City, where Lingzhou is located, and across the river.

When the main force of 15,000 people led by Di Qing arrived, Ren Fu's 8,000 people had already lined up outside the city and were assembling artillery.

"General, let's bypass Jingzhou directly and capture one city after another?"

Cao Xianhui has been with Di Qing in recent days.

Because Di Qing needs to learn about the situation in the Western Regions from him, he has to be by his side all the time to facilitate Di Qing's inquiries.

Hearing Cao Xianhui's words, Di Qing smiled and said nothing.

The main force of the Song army bypassed Jingzhou and arrived at Xingzhou City, Xingqing Prefecture, 20 kilometers away.

As the capital of Xixia and also the capital of Ningxia Province in the future, Yinchuan City, Xingqing Prefecture has a huge city, high walls, and artillery defenses.

However, at this time, the primitive artillery of the Xixia people had a huge generation gap with the artillery of the Song army, and the two sides were not at the same level at all.

The Song army arrived outside the city in the afternoon, and began to form a formation on the spot and assemble cannons outside the range of the Xixia people's artillery.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, hundreds of steel cannons were already lined up outside the south gate of Xingqing Prefecture.

"Didn't you ask why we had to bypass Jingzhou?"

Di Qing suddenly said to Cao Xianhui.

Cao Xianhui said: "Bypassing the enemy's city, although it can be a surprise attack, if you can't defeat the enemy, it is easy to make it difficult to take care of both the head and the tail, which is a taboo in military strategists."

"You read the military book well."

Di Qing smiled, and then said: "But sometimes, when the power is strong to a certain extent, the military book is actually meaningless."

"You watch it."

As he said this, he looked in the direction of Xingqing Prefecture and said softly: "I will tell you now why we have to bypass the enemy's city and directly attack their center."

"Because."

"These places have never been an obstacle. My Song Dynasty will crush them all at once!"

Di Qing's eyes flashed fiercely.

He waved his right hand down.

"Boom!"

A moment later, flames spewed out of the cannon.

Countless shells drew a brilliant arc in the air and fell into Xingqing Mansion.

In an instant, the defenders in the city suffered heavy casualties, and even the city gate was blown down.

After that, the artillery fire covered the area with sufficient firepower.

After completing the baptism of countless shells, the entire South City Gate was already in a mess, filled with smoke.

Cao Xianhui stared blankly into the distance. This was the first time he knew that the Song Dynasty was so powerful.

"Kill!"

Di Qing shouted.

"Kill!"

The Song army raised their spears and launched a fierce attack on Xingqing Mansion.

After the baptism of artillery fire, there was no longer any obstacle on the city wall, and a large number of Song troops rushed into the city, with gunshots everywhere.

On this day, the Song army successively conquered Jingzhou, Xingzhou, Huaizhou, and Dingzhou. All the cities controlled by the Weiming tribe were conquered. The defenders died or escaped. Even Weining Lingge died in the chaos.

The remaining Weiming tribal soldiers took the elderly, the weak, women and children and migrated northward to the territory of Liao. Since then, this royal tribe of Xixia in history has disappeared in the dust.

It took less than half a month for the Song army to recover the entire northwest, and the huge Xixia Empire disappeared.