Li Bingchang admired: "This is a great plan! In this way, I'm afraid there won't be many Yanyun troops left in Hexi!" Then he frowned, "But if the Yanyun army in the south learns that Suide has been captured, they will I’m afraid I won’t be so eager to come to support, what should I do?”
Li Yuanzhong said: "Don't worry about this. Even if the Yanyun Army in the south learns that Suide has been lost, they will definitely come in force!..." Li Bingchang understood and nodded: "Yes, the loss of Suide will be a big blow to Yang Yanzhao. It is an unacceptable failure, and he cannot explain it in front of King Yan, so he must go out in full force in order to regain Suide!" Wasn't it Yang Dezheng who guarded Hexi? Why did he become Yang Yanzhao? It turned out that Yang Peng had done something not long ago According to the order, Yang Yanzhao and Yang Dezheng were switched, and Yang Dezheng guarded Henan, while Yang Yanzhao was responsible for the defense of Hexi.
Li Yuanzhong nodded and said: "What your Highness said is absolutely true!" His eyes returned to the map, "After annihilating Yang Yanzhao's army, we can take advantage of the trend to capture Danzhou and Tongzhou, and then cross the Yellow River eastward to attack Shanxi. At that time, Yang Yanzhao's army was destroyed, and Shanxi's flanks were empty. Our army could march straight in! By the time the Yanyun army in Shanxi reacted, they might have captured Bingzhou by our army! At that time, the morale of the Yanyun army was greatly reduced, and our army was in Bingzhou. A decisive battle with Yanyun's army below the city will definitely defeat them! If this battle is successful, the entire Shanxi will be in the hands of Xixia! At that time, we will not encounter too many difficulties when moving eastward or southward! If the Song Dynasty at this time There is nothing better than sending a large army to the Northern Expedition!"
"By the way, there is something that must be reported to Your Highness. Prime Minister Right has sent a secret envoy to the Song Dynasty to persuade them to send troops to the Northern Expedition. If this happens, we will have another chance of winning!"
Li Bingchang couldn't help but sigh: "With the right prime minister and the general giving advice, I have no worries, just do what the general said!" "Yes!" Li Bingchang thought for a while and said to Li Yuanzhong: " My troops should also be handed over to the general, who will command them uniformly!" Li Yuanzhong thanked him with great joy.
His eyes turned to Bianjing.
Wang Qinruo turned out from behind the screen and entered the hall. Glancing towards the hall, I saw a middle-aged man wearing Hanfu standing in the hall. Just now he received a report from his subordinates, saying that he was a big businessman who wanted to give a big gift to the prime minister. Wang Qinruo thought he was another big businessman interested in doing business in Jiangnan, so he didn't pay much attention. When the middle-aged man saw a middle-aged man with luxurious clothes and elegant manners walking out from behind the screen, followed by several entourages, he immediately knew that the person who came was the dignitary of the Song Court, the Prime Minister Wang Qinruo, so he cupped his fists and bowed: "Little I have enough power to pay my respects to the Prime Minister."
Wang Qinruo walked up to the top and sat down, with several followers standing on the left and right. Wang Qinruo looked at the man and asked, "Aren't you a Han?"
"The villain is from Xixia." When Wang Qinruo heard that he was from Xixia, he couldn't help but murmured in his heart and said with a smile: "I didn't expect Xixia merchants to want to come to Bianjing, thousands of miles away, to make a living!" Ye Lirong said. : "Just because there is big business to be done here, we businessmen are only interested in profit, so naturally we don't want to miss it." Wang Qinruo asked, "I wonder what big business you want to do, sir?" Ye Lirong looked at the entourage around Wang Qinruo, " The villain dares to ask the adults to step aside."
Wang Qinruo squinted his eyes at Ye Lirong, feeling that he might want to say something confidential, but he did not dare to shun the people around him because of this. If Ye Lirong deliberately assassinated him, wouldn't it be natural for him to shun the people around him? Seeking death? He has done a lot of bad things, so he is very sensitive to personal safety and will never stay alone with strangers. "If you have anything to say, just say it! Everyone here is my confidant, so there is no need for you to have any scruples."
Ye Lirong hesitated for a moment, then reached into his arms and took out a small wooden lacquer box, holding it up with both hands, "It's just a deposit, please take a look at it, Prime Minister." Wang Qinruo winked at a Marquis Yu next to him, who immediately He went down to receive the wooden box and returned and presented it to Wang Qinruo. Wang Qinruo did not reach out to pick it up and said: "Open it." Yuhou dragged the bottom of the wooden box with his left hand, and opened the lid with his right hand. Six hazy white lights appeared in front of Wang Qinruo's eyes. . Wang Qinruo originally looked careless, but at this moment he couldn't help showing a very surprised expression. With his knowledge, he had never seen such a natural and huge luminous pearl. It was really a rare treasure!
Wang Qinruo came back to his senses and looked at Ye Lirong. At this time, he had put on an amiable expression, "Sir, you are so polite! But I wonder what big deal you want to discuss?" Ye Lirong clasped his fists and said, "Really To be honest, I am not a businessman, but the deputy envoy of the Privy Council of Daxia."
Wang Qinruo was very surprised. He stood up quickly, bowed and said: "It turns out that you are a noble man from Xixia. I apologize for missing you from afar." Ye Lirong returned the salute and said, "Prime Minister, you are welcome! I came here to ask for something. , The Prime Minister is a very influential figure in the Song Dynasty. If we can get the help of the Prime Minister, this matter will be done! After it is completed, not only will the Song Dynasty get countless benefits, but the Prime Minister will naturally not be busy in vain!"
Wang Qinruo smiled, but did not comment, "Thank you, sir! I just don't know what your country needs?" Ye Lirong said: "To be honest, our country is preparing to counterattack Yanyun in a large scale. I hope that the Song Dynasty can send troops from the male side to coordinate with you and me. Let’s destroy Yanyun together. We, Xixia, will only take Shanxi and Henan, and the rest of the land will belong to the Song Dynasty. I wonder what the Prime Minister wants?”
Wang Qinruo couldn't help but hesitate when he heard that it was such a thing. It's not that he didn't want to destroy Yan Yun, on the contrary, he really wanted to destroy Yan Yun so that he could claim credit from his masters, the Khitans. However, he repeatedly incited the emperor to send troops to the Northern Expedition, which was not only in vain, but also suffered heavy losses. The emperor was no longer able to So he trusted him. The one whom the emperor trusted most now was Shen Yuqiu. Wang Qinruo felt that it was not impossible to lobby the emperor to send troops, but he was worried that this time would be the same as the previous times, in vain and even heavy losses. If he did it again After a huge defeat, his status in Song Ting would be completely shaken.
Seeing that Wang Qinruo was silent, Ye Lirong thought that the other party was asking for a price, so he said: "Of course we will not let the Prime Minister be angry in vain! As long as the Prime Minister can leave the city for this covenant, we are willing to give the Prime Minister one hundred thousand taels of gold. , twenty beauties from Xixia, if the Prime Minister has any other requests, you can also make them!"
Wang Qinruo was very moved, hesitated for a moment, clasped his fists and said, "Your Excellency is so kind and generous, I should try my best!"
Ye Lirong was overjoyed and thanked you: "Thank you, Prime Minister!" Wang Qinruo said again: "But I can only do my best on this matter. I can't guarantee whether your Majesty is willing to form an alliance."
Ye Lirong thought to himself: If you, Wang Qin, have all the power in the government and the opposition, it is up to you to take action, how can it be impossible? Ye Lirong only thought that Wang Qinruo was as humble as him, so he was happy to pretend to be generous. He chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister, agreed to work hard for this matter. I am extremely grateful!" Wang Qinruo smiled slightly. Ye Lirong clasped his fists and said, "I won't disturb the Prime Minister anymore. I'll come back to visit the Prime Minister tomorrow!" What he meant was that he would come back tomorrow to inquire about the progress of the matter. Wang Qinruo didn't comment, smiled and cupped his hands, turned to a Yuhou next to him and said, "Send the Lord off for me." The Yuhou stepped forward and led Ye Lirong out.
Wang Qinruo looked thoughtful and frowned slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.
His eyes turned back to Yan'an Mansion.
After Li Yuanzhong got Li Bingchang's permission, he immediately began to make arrangements. Soon after, Baduo, the most powerful general under his command, led tens of thousands of troops disguised as Han people as the vanguard to Suide. Li Bingchang and Li Yuanzhong stood on the city wall, watching the tens of thousands of horses gradually go away. Li Bingchang suddenly remembered something and his expression changed, "No, no, no, no, General Baduo doesn't have documents from the court, I'm afraid he will be exposed." Ah!" Li Yuanzhong said with a smile: "Your Highness, don't worry, the relevant documents have been prepared, and the general has already sent people to Suide in advance. The Liang Yanyun people will never find out about the trap!" Li Bingchang felt relieved! .
Li Yuanzhong said: "Your Highness, I am about to set off too!" Li Bingchang said: "General, please take care!" Li Yuanzhong said with a smile: "Your Highness, don't worry, just wait for the good news in Yan'an Mansion. I believe it won't be long before we arrive." You can hear the news of our army's great victory!" Then he saluted Li Bingchang and strode away.
Baduo led 4,000 cavalry and escorted 40,000 fake people towards Suide. One day later, the officer who went to notify the Yanyun Army first came back. When he saw Baduo, he saluted and said: "General, my subordinates have notified the Yanyun Army in Suide as instructed and handed them the relevant documents. "
"What was the reaction of the other party?" The officer said: "General Fan Long of Yanyun was very happy." "The other party was not suspicious?" The officer shook his head, "No! It's just that he just said some sarcastic words about our Daxia !" Baduo smiled coldly, "Let him laugh. I'll see if he can still laugh in two days!"
At this time, there was a sudden sound of horse hooves from behind, and then a herald galloped to the front of Baduo, reined in the horse, and saluted: "The general sent a small man to inform the general that the army is behind. Please follow the agreement." March at a speed that is neither too fast nor too slow." Baduo smiled and said, "The general is cautious! You go back and tell the general that I will not change the marching speed without authorization. General, don't worry!" The herald said to Baduo again! He bowed and rode away.
Two days later, this 40,000-strong army disguised as Han people had already seen a city, and that was Suide. Although the size and momentum could not be compared with many big cities, it was an extremely important throat in northern Shaanxi to the west of the Yellow River. If the Yanyun Army occupies it, it can certainly wedge itself into the hinterland of Shaanxi-Gansu and make it difficult for the Xixia army in Shaanxi-Gansu. But if the Xixia people control this place, the Xixia people can also take advantage of its condescending terrain to catapult thousands of miles. After entering Shanxi, Suide was an extremely important strategic location in the eyes of Xixia and Yanyun armies.
Baduo glanced ahead and saw that the city gate was wide open, and many people were walking in and out of the city gate. Yan Yunjun was obviously unprepared, and he couldn't help but feel happy in his heart. The team slowly came to the city gate, and were shocked to see the people at the city gate. They rushed into the city gate in panic, and then the city gate was closed. Baduo frowned and muttered: "Did they see through the trap?" At this thought, he couldn't help but feel worried. He raised his head and shouted towards the city wall: "I am General Baduo of Daxia. I have been ordered by the imperial court to return the captives to you. Why do you close the city gate?"
General Yan Yun appeared next to the wall. He was tall and burly, with dark skin and a steel needle beard. It was as if Zhang Fei from the Three Kingdoms period had reappeared in the world. Next to him stood a young general who should be his deputy. The young general raised his voice and said: "It turns out that General Baduo has arrived. Just now we thought they were bandits or something. Please forgive me. General, please be patient. We will open the city gate immediately!" Then Baduo, who was under the city, heard the young general. shouted, and then saw the city gate open. Baduo was secretly happy when he saw this, and immediately led his men and soldiers to escort 40,000 'common people' into the city gate. …
Li Yuanzhong led 200,000 Xixia troops to lurk in the old Huaide stronghold dozens of miles west of Suide, waiting for news. The old Huaide stronghold was originally a garrison for the Song army before the Khitan army went south. The Khitan army went south to invade northern Shaanxi. The Song army in Huaide army abandoned the stronghold and went south. From then on, this important military base in northern Shaanxi was The village was abandoned. Not long ago, Li Yuanzhong led an army of 200,000 Xixia troops into this deserted place and lurked down, waiting for news from Suide. As soon as news came from Suide City that the city had been breached, he immediately rushed to Suide to cooperate with the early attack. The soldiers and horses who entered Suide annihilated the Yanyun army in Suide City in one go.
After waiting anxiously for almost half a day, I saw a horse galloping from the east. It looked like it was the Xixia army. Li Yuanzhong couldn't help but become nervous, expecting and worrying at the same time, and couldn't help but hold the handle of the knife tightly with his palm.
The knight galloped down the hillside where Li Yuanzhong was standing, and was stopped by the guards. He turned over and dismounted, took out his command arrow and raised it high. The guards immediately let him go. The knight ran up to Li Yuanzhong with his command arrow, knelt down and said: "General, General Baduo has captured the city, and the Yanyun army is in chaos!" Li Yuanzhong's eyes widened. He was waiting for the news, and then he raised his voice. Roared: "The whole army attacks!"
The 200,000-strong army was launched immediately, and the originally quiet Huaide Army Village immediately became lively, with people shouting, horses neighing, and iron hooves rumbling. The 200,000-strong army headed east at full speed, preparing to cooperate with Baduo's army to seize Suide in one fell swoop. Soon after, the army arrived at Suide City. However, what they saw surprised everyone. The city of Suide was very quiet, and there was no such thing as the loud killing sound that they had imagined. Seeing the Xixia war flag flying on top of the city, Li Yuanzhong felt relieved and said with a smile: "It seems that Baduo has won! I overestimated the fighting power of Yanyun Army!" All the generals around him laughed. , everyone originally thought there would be a fierce battle, but they didn't expect victory to come so easily! A general named Li Feng laughed and said: "They say how brave Yan Yun's army is, but it turns out that it is nothing more than that! It seems that the previous defeat of His Highness the Crown Prince was really unreasonable!" Everyone agreed.
When the army came to the city gate, a general beside Li Yuanzhong rode out a few steps and shouted toward the city gate: "The general is here, open the city gate quickly!" Suddenly, the earth-shattering sound of war drums rang out from the city wall. At the same time, countless crossbowmen appeared on the city wall, bending their bows and pointing arrows at the Xixia army below the city. The Xixia army suddenly saw this scene and did not react for a while. They were stunned for a while.
"Why, how could this happen?" Li Yuanzhong shouted in disbelief, and then turned to look for the messenger who came to report the news, but there was no trace of him, and he didn't know when he ran away! At this point, Li Yuanzhong had basically understood that he had fallen into Yan Yunjun's trap. However, he was still confused as to how the other party was aware of his intentions and how he arranged them.
"Damn it, you're still too young to play such a trick with us!" A rough voice came from the city wall. Li Yuanzhong followed the sound and saw a burly and majestic general who looked like Zhang Fei standing on the city wall. He couldn't help but exclaimed: "Fan Long!?" Fan Long laughed and said: "It's your Grandpa Fan!" Then he waved his right hand forward, and the crossbowmen on the city wall immediately fired arrows, and arrows rained down like rain. The Xixia army under the city wall had no way to avoid it, and they were shot to the ground one after another. For a moment, the flags were in chaos.
Li Yuanzhong shouted urgently: "Go back, go back!" Two hundred thousand people rushed backwards. At this moment, the rear team suddenly became chaotic, and there were screams and screams. Li Yuanzhong quickly reined in his horse and looked around. He was shocked to see thousands of Yanyun warriors in black clothes, black armor and black cloaks, led by a fierce general, crashing into the middle of his own rear team like a black storm. They galloped forward with their horses, and their own infantry Although the army was rushed to pieces, the cavalry were also killed and their horses were turned upside down. Everyone was frightened and saw the rear army in chaos.
Li Yuanzhong was shocked and shouted urgently: "Hold on, hold on!" Just at this moment, the rumble of horse hoofs came from the north and the south at the same time, and he saw the iron hoofs rolling under Yan Yun's war cavalry, two Yan Yun's war cavalry came like lightning and lightning. Li Yuanzhong hurriedly divided two cavalry armies to fight separately. Two Xixia troops met the Yanyun cavalry from the north and south respectively. In the blink of an eye, the two sides collided violently, with cold light flashing and swords flying. In the blink of an eye, the Xixia cavalry fell to pieces. These Xixia troops had never fought against Yan Yun's army before. Seeing Yan Yun's bravery at this moment, they were horrified and their momentum was dampened. The Yanyun Army became more and more courageous as they fought. The horses galloped and roared like thunder. The soldiers of the Yanyun Army, whose blood was already boiling, waved their weapons vigorously, raising the enemy's blood, flying all over the sky, breaking the army and destroying the formation. They were unstoppable!
Li Yuanzhong was horrified when he saw that his own cavalry was about to be unable to withstand it after just a moment. Just when he didn't know what to do, he suddenly heard someone beside him shouting: "Behind!" Li Yuanzhong was startled, and quickly turned his head to look behind him. He saw that the city gate had been opened, and there were five thousand extremely majestic people and horses. Wearing heavy armor and murderous intent, the formation-breaking cavalry poured out of the city gate. Not only were the formation-breaking cavalry impressive, they were also very majestic and tall. They were several times stronger than the Xixia Iron Kites. Seeing them coming in a surging manner, I felt like With a few words of oppression, as if countless mountains were pressing down on them, the Xixia soldiers were frightened, and they were already frightened before even engaging in battle!
Li Yuanzhong was startled and shouted several times: "The front army turns around to fight! The front army turns around to fight! The iron kites attack! The iron kites attack!"
Tens of thousands of Xixia troops immediately turned around and hurriedly formed an array. At the same time, two thousand iron kites and eight thousand light cavalry under Li Yuanzhong shouted and rushed towards the formation-breaking iron cavalry. In the blink of an eye, the two sides were fighting. Maces and spears were flying in the sky. The mace hit the iron kite's heavy armor with a clanging sound. The heavy armor could not block the power of the mace's blow. I saw blood and flesh flying everywhere and screams; but the iron kite's spear and sword hit the heavy armor of the iron cavalry, but it was unable to do anything, making a clanking sound and splashing countless sparks. After such a fierce battle for a while, the iron kites and the Xixia cavalry suffered heavy losses, but the formation-breaking iron cavalry remained the same as before.
After fighting for a while, the Xixia Army cavalry could not resist and collapsed. The formation-breaking cavalry took advantage of the situation and launched an attack on the Xixia military formation. The Xixia crossbowmen hurriedly fired arrows, and the Xixia soldiers saw Yan Yun breaking the formation and cavalry rushing towards them under the flying arrows. They didn't take it seriously at all.
Fan Long, who was in the lead, couldn't help shouting, and the five thousand cavalry who broke the formation also shouted. The roar was like tigers and thunder, and the rolling horseshoes rolled up the smoke and dust in the sky. The Xixia army officers and soldiers were so frightened that many turned around and fled.
The wave of cavalry slammed into the Xixia Army's defense line, and in an instant, the Xixia Army's defense line collapsed! Yan Yun's cavalry rushed into the Xixia army's formation, charging and killing, trampling with iron hooves, and hitting with maces. The Xixia army could no longer resist. They were killed until their corpses were covered in blood, and they rolled and crawled in all directions! Yan Yun's formation-breaking iron cavalry is wind, lightning, and unstoppable power of God! When Li Yuanzhong saw this, he was so frightened that his whole body trembled. He felt that this was a nightmare. He hoped that this was a nightmare!
Just when Yanyun's cavalry rushed into the Xixia Army, more than 100,000 Yanyun infantry troops surged in from all directions and launched an all-out fierce attack on the Xixia Army. They killed one step at a time and made ten swings and ten battles. The Xixia Army had already been overrun by Yanyun's cavalry. Thrilling and chaotic, they could not withstand the all-out attack of more than 100,000 Yanyun infantry. They were immediately defeated like a mountain and collapsed all over the mountains and fields.
Yan Yun's cavalry chased him from all sides, fighting until the sun set and then rising again, and the killing screams never stopped. The next morning, the sounds of fighting finally stopped. Yang Yanzhao stood on the city wall and looked around, only to see corpses littering the fields outside the city, and the originally green field turned dark red; groups of prisoners were coming here under the escort of Yan Yun's army.
A herald galloped into the city gate, then quickly ran to Yang Yanzhao's side, clasping his fists and saying: "General Qi, the Xixia army has been completely defeated. The 200,000 Xixia army has only escaped with less than 20,000 troops. Yang Yanzhao nodded and ordered: "Send the order to Fan Long to sweep the battlefield and gather the prisoners, and the remaining generals will attack Yan'an Mansion!" The orderer agreed and ran down.
Soon after, Yang Yanzhao led the Yanyun troops who had just won a great victory to advance towards Yan'an Prefecture. The army was like a dragon, the war cavalry surged in the clouds, and the murderous intent was approaching Yan'an Prefecture. Prince Li Bingchang, who was waiting for the report from the front in Yan'an Mansion, was a little surprised when he heard that General Li Yuanzhong was back, and hurried to the hall to meet him. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Li Yuanzhong and others covered in blood and shocked and in a state of embarrassment. His words were immediately stuck on his lips. He opened his eyes wide and asked in shock: "You guys, what's wrong with you?"
Li Yuanzhong sighed and said nothing, with obvious shame on his face. Several other generals also looked downcast.
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
