The two brothers Wei Ming Qian Shun and Wei Ming Cha Ge really fought hard and must fight!
If we don't fight for Dabai, even if the Gao Kingdom is not destroyed, the whole country will have to move westward to the Western Regions - because without Xiping Mansion (Lingzhou), Xixia will have no way to gain a foothold in Xingqing Mansion!
After Zhao Kai captured Xiping Mansion, there was no need to attack Xingqing Mansion, nor to recover Xia, You, and Yin Prefectures. At most, he could capture the two strongholds of Weizhou and Mingsha City, and then he could return to the court—— Mingsha City is on Zhao Kai's way to Xiping Prefecture, and Weizhou is on the edge of Lingzhou River. Zhao Kai can return from Lingzhou River and capture Weizhou without any trouble.
In addition, Zhao Kai does not need to leave heavy troops in Xiping Mansion (Lingzhou), Mingsha City and Weizhou...because his people can also dig the Yellow River and flood the Xixia army that besieged Xiping Mansion!
And doing this will actually not cause any losses, because once Xiping Mansion is captured by him, the surrounding area will inevitably become a battlefield for the Great Song Dynasty and the Great White Kingdom!
The Dangxiang people around Xiping Mansion will flee immediately, and the Han people will be moved away by the Song Dynasty government.
At that time, the Yellow River irrigation area outside Lingzhou City will become a no-man's land... There will be no loss if it is flooded, just release the water!
Therefore, the ownership of Lingzhou is related to the survival of Xixia!
The key to deciding the ownership of Lingzhou is whether Zhao Kai can seize the dam to the west of Lingzhou City before Xixia digs the Yellow River dam. As long as the Song army can seize the Yellow River Dam, Lingzhou will be in the bag.
This battle is very similar to the Battle of Wannian Xindi in the eighth year of Xuanhe. The key is the Yellow River Dam... and the Song army must attack from the bottom when the enemy may dig open the dam at any time.
Therefore, Wei Mingcha Ge, who was ordered to lead an elite army to aid Xiping Prefecture, at first glance seemed to have a good chance of winning. In his opinion, the biggest uncertain factor is the enchantress who can attract thunder... Although "water can make clay", Brother Cha is still not at ease.
Therefore, when I left Xingqing Mansion, I made a special trip to the Great Buddhist Temple and "invited" the eminent monk Dalba from Tibet and several of Dalba's disciples to the army. With the powerful monks following him, Brother Cha confidently and boldly led six squads of 5,000 elite soldiers and 15,000 supporting soldiers (auxiliary soldiers), a total of 20,000 troops, to rush to Xiping Mansion.
Don’t think that Qian Shun brought too few soldiers to Brother Cha to support Xingqing Mansion... In fact, there were only two of the elite Suwei soldiers in Xixia guarding Xingqing Mansion, known as the six squads in the imperial siege. Fifteen thousand people, and they are also armed similar to government soldiers, divided into three groups to guard.
In other words, unless the entire army is mobilized, there will only be more than 8,000 elite Suwei troops in service. Ganshun gave Chage 5,000, which is really not a small amount.
And these five thousand people are all "master soldiers", one is equipped with three auxiliary soldiers, so there are 15,000 auxiliary soldiers, and one plus one is 20,000.
In addition to the 20,000 people, there are 3,000 Iron Kites Cavalry and 5,000 Proton Army in Xingqing Prefecture. In addition, there are more than 20,000 Iron Kites Cavalry and auxiliary soldiers of the Proton Army.
However, the Iron Harriers are the basic armed force directly controlled by the Xixia Wuzu, and they are shock cavalry, so it is too wasteful to use them to defend the city.
As for the proton army, it is not actually used for fighting... It is composed of the nephews of the tribal leaders in Xixia, and they are actually hostages. This is going to be on the battlefield, so it’s okay to kill them. If the enemy captures a lot of them, the trouble will be big.
Therefore, although Xixia, which has all the people as soldiers, claims to be able to send 500,000 troops, before the collection is completed, the number of troops that the Wu soldiers Qianshun can use at their disposal is only 40,000, of which there are only 11,000 or 2,000 regular soldiers ( 8,000 Yuwei within six classes and 3,000 Iron Kites).
Of course, the safety of Xingqing Mansion is still very guaranteed. Because this long and narrow plain between Helan Mountain and the Yellow River is extremely fertile and is also where the Xixia people live. Once a foreign enemy invades, general mobilization can be carried out at any time.
Moreover, it is impossible for foreign enemies to cross the Yellow River in the desert and suddenly appear at the foot of Helan Mountain... But Xiping Mansion is not that safe!
On the day when Wei Mingcha Ge arrived at Xiping Mansion with his 20,000 troops, more than 20,000 Song troops had already appeared on the west bank of Lingzhou River.
However, Wei Mingcha Ge did not find Zhao Kai's six black banners and two white flags. He only had a moon-white general's tooth flag and a red flag with the black word "xiang" tattooed on it.
Standing at the highest point of Xiping Fucheng, Wei Mingcha Ge looked down at the Song Army who were setting up camp on the other side of Lingzhou River, and his brows became more and more frowned.
The "Xiang" flag erected high on the west bank of Lingzhou River should belong to the Shaanxi armies of the Song Dynasty and controlled Xiang Ke. According to the information obtained by Brother Cha, this Xiang Ke was one of Zhao Kai's sworn brothers. He was also the general of the Xiang family general in the Western Army of the Song Dynasty, and was highly relied upon by Zhao Kai. After Zhao Kai took control of Chang'an, he has been leading troops in Shaanxi. Now, together with Liu Qi, the pacification envoy of Shaanxi, and He Ji, the camp envoy of Shaanxi, he has become one of the three military and political officials of the Song Dynasty in Shaanxi.
Although the army of the Dabai Gao Kingdom has not yet fought against Xiang Ke, the commander of the capital, on the battlefield, the Dabai Gao Kingdom still feels that Xiang Ke is a very tough enemy through intelligence and minor conflicts on the border - because the Shaanxi Song Dynasty Although the number of soldiers has decreased a lot in the past year (many Shaanxi soldiers were transferred to Jingxi Road for resettlement), their combat effectiveness has been significantly improved!
The current Shaanxi Song Army has strong morale, a strong desire to fight, and its equipment and training levels are much better than in the past. Although they have changed from recruiting soldiers in the camp at all times to government soldiers who serve on a rotating basis, they only need to serve for four months every year (extensions will cost extra). But the amount of training they completed in these four months was more than the previous two years!
In addition, every soldier who stayed in Shaanxi now received at least 100 acres of official land and 100 acres of permanent land. Moreover, the imperial court also encouraged them to bring their own horses, equipment, armor and auxiliary soldiers (usually the children of the imperial soldiers), and would provide corresponding subsidies. This has greatly improved the combat readiness level of the state armies in the border states of Shaanxi - the state soldiers and their children in the countryside can go into battle armed and armored at any time!
Therefore, since last year, the Xixia military divisions on the Hengshan front line have been at a disadvantage and beaten in the border conflict with the Song army... This made the Xixia generals look at Xiang Ke and He regarded him as a rare and powerful enemy.
Now this powerful enemy has arrived at the gates of Xiping Prefecture, and after the army he led entered the defense area of Xiangqing Military Division (the Supervisory Army Division that guards Xiping Prefecture), he repeatedly defeated the cavalry sent by Xiangqing Military Division, showing extremely strong fighting power!
Under the bright red flag, groups of cavalry wearing dazzling armor in the sun spread out along the Yeongju River, firmly guarding the encamped infantry, and from time to time took out their bows and arrows to attack the east bank of the Yeongju River. The Xixia cavalry fired provocatively, showing a strong fighting spirit.
But seeing that their number exceeded three thousand, and that everyone was wearing shining iron armor, Wei Mingcha Ge sighed and ordered: "Send the order, the cavalry should not cross the Lingzhou River."
After several soldiers left, Brother Cha asked again: "Zhao Kai's big banner and white banner are still outside Mingsha City?"
"Yes... Yu Zang Zhongliang of the Baotai Military Department sent an envoy to report this morning, saying that the officials of the Song Dynasty personally led an army of 100,000 to surround Mingsha City on three sides (one side of Mingsha City faces the Yellow River) and are preparing to attack the city. !”
Li Liangfu, the Xixia general who answered Cha Ge, said that he was appointed as the supervisor of Xiangqing Army a month ago - Qian Shun and Cha Ge sent him to Xiping Mansion to prepare for the war against Song Dynasty starting in the autumn. He needs to collect enough military rations and grass in Xiping Mansion and then transport them to Zhuoluo and Nanjunsi.
"Mingsha City cannot be thrown away!"
Weiming Renzhong also came to Xiping Mansion with Brother Cha. He is no longer as nervous as when he first arrived in Xingqing Mansion. Because he learned from the military envoy sent by Yu Zang's family that his father, Abao, was not "benevolent". Instead, after being defeated outside Shangyikou City, he fled to Mingsha City and now defends the city with Zhongliang, the head of the Yuzang family.
Although Mingsha City, where Weiming Abao is located, is not as important as Xiping Mansion, it is still a castle that "cannot be lost".
Because Mingsha City was lost, the Yu Zang family's Baotai Army Division was left with only Lingbo Mountain, Shaniuling, Roulang Mountain, Weijing Mountain and Yingli City on the north bank of the Yellow River.
Those mountains are surrounded by Mingsha City, Shangyikou City and the Yellow River... In this way, the Yu Zang family and the Tibetan tribes that depended on the Yu Zang family (the Yu Zang family were Tubo people) and the Xixia imperial court in Xingqing Prefecture The communication between them was cut off! You know what will happen without even thinking about it!
And Yingli City on the other side of the Yellow River will fall quickly because it is too isolated!
As a result, the communication between Xingqing Mansion and the Hexi Corridor has become a problem again... In short, Xixia is really in danger now!
"It's better to defend Xiping Mansion first!" Brother Cha frowned and said, "Mingsha City was also captured by the Song Army back then, and a large amount of grain and grass were also taken away... But after the battle of Xiping Mansion, Mingsha City was captured by the Song Army. Isn’t Shacheng still recovered by us?”
He was still talking about the story of the Empress Dowager Liang. In fact, if the Song army had stopped at Mingsha City, it would be hard to say whether Xixia could survive until now!
Cha Ge paused and asked: "If Zhao Kai comes, how long will it take for us to dig the Yellow River dam?"
As he spoke, he turned his head and glanced at the Yellow River Dam to the west of Xiping Mansion and the earthen fortress built against the dam.
"One day is enough!" Li Liangfu said with a smile, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, the general will lead his troops to Dicheng today... and be ready to dig the dam at any time! If the person named Zhao doesn't come, that's it. If he comes, Keep it safe so he can never come back.”
"What about Xiping Fucheng?" Brother Cha asked, "It won't be flooded, right? It's summer now!"
The last time Empress Dowager Liang released water here in Xiping Mansion, it was the dry winter, but now it is the summer with abundant water... Don't let Cha Ge himself flood when the water is released!
"No." Li Liangfu said with a smile, "The wall of Xiping Mansion is high and strong. The water of the Yellow River cannot pass through the wall."
"That's good," Brother Cha said with a smile, "Now we're waiting for Zhao Kai. As soon as he arrives... we'll let him go!"
