However, although Pingliang Prefecture did not have many defenders, the problem was that there was no clan vassalage there, and coupled with successive years of drought, there was basically no food. Even if Pingliang Mansion is captured, there will be no place to obtain the supplies that the rebels urgently need right now. This is the case for the entire Longyou, otherwise Tuoba Jiqian would have attacked the entire Longyou. Without food, even if his army completes training, it will starve to death.
Therefore, after the disastrous defeat in the battle of Qingyang, Tuoba Jiqian, who was stationed in Lingzhou for training, was not ordinary angry. He even did not hesitate to personally lead five thousand elite cavalry, bypassing Pingliang Mansion and attack directly behind Huanzhou. Tuoba's plan to move forward is very obvious, which is to cut off the food route in front of Feng Zhoushan, which is currently clinging to Huanzhou. In cooperation with the 20,000 rebels on the front of Huanzhou, they first recaptured Huanzhou to open the passage south.
The reason why Tuoba Jiqian personally led the team was because after the defeat of Qingyang Mansion, some changes occurred within the rebel army. The rebels had been defeated twice in a row by the Longyou Guards, so except for a few calm people within the rebels, most people no longer paid attention to the imperial army's incursions. The thoughts of arrogance and underestimation of the enemy filled the minds of these people.
The reason why Feng Zhoushan and Du She were able to join forces to defeat the rebels in Qingyang Mansion was because the leader of the Qingyang rebels underestimated the enemy. Adopting the tactic of using cavalry to attack the enemy camp at night, the rebel camp was destroyed in one battle. Du Shezai, who was in the city, took advantage of the chaos and rushed out. He attacked from both inside and outside and defeated the 30,000 enemy troops outside Qingyang Mansion. After the battle, Qingyang felt as if a basin of snow water had been splashed on his face.
This directly caused the body temperature of those high-ranking rebels to suddenly drop from their increasingly high fever. Even because it dropped too fast, it suddenly dropped too much. The rebel generals who were originally arrogant and domineering, clamoring all day long to seize Longyou and sweep across Shaanxi, suddenly became fearful of fighting. However, five thousand cavalry were able to break through their thirty thousand army, and they pursued them for hundreds of miles without any scruples.
This made the rebel generals at all levels change their contempt for the elite soldiers of the Xijing camp into fear now. Only then did they realize that the elite soldiers of the imperial court and the guards were really two different things. The elite are truly elite, far inferior to the rubbish. Because they all knew that in the battle of 30,000 rebels in Qingyang, there were 7,000 real party members in the cavalry.
Even the more than 20,000 Han troops did not dare to compete with the imperial court. But those seven thousand cavalrymen are all the most authentic party members. In their eyes, nature is the most elite part. As a result, these 7,000 cavalry plus more than 20,000 Han troops were defeated by the imperial court's only 5,000 troops, plus 2,000 remaining troops. The two leaders responsible for commanding Zheluo were all killed in the battle, and a large number of Tibetan officials were captured and killed.
Among the 30,000 troops, less than 20% escaped by chance, and most of them were cavalry. As for the more than 6,000 remnant soldiers, after the imperial army chased them all the way, less than 1,000 people actually ran across the Ganhe River. Of the 7,000 pure party members, nearly 6,000 were killed in battle and captured and escaped. The battle at Qingyang caused the rebels' originally high morale to rapidly decline in just a few days.
The leaders who originally thought that the imperial court was not to be feared quickly changed their attitude towards the imperial army to fear. The Han people inside are also somewhat unstable. The rebel army in his hands currently has more than 100,000 troops. But Tuoba Jiqian always believed that most Han people were unreliable. As soon as the imperial army arrives, even if the battle situation is only slightly unfavorable, these people will rebel.
Only the party members in the rebel army are his real backbone. Among the more than 100,000 rebels under his command, there are only more than 50,000 pure party members. In this battle, nearly 20% of the troops were lost, even though they did not belong to his Pingxia tribe. He is just a member of the same race, and is far from being a confidant now. But the problem is that he needs party members as the backbone to control more than half of the Han army in the army.
In this battle, the party members suffered heavy losses. Almost every family in the Zheluo tribe wore mourning, and almost all the young and middle-aged men died in the battle. The Zheluo tribe was one of the first party tribes to submit to him in the entire Ningxia Prefecture, and was also his die-hard supporter. In this battle, Zheluo's entire army was wiped out, and it could almost be said that he broke an arm. It also made other Dangxiang tribes that belonged to him feel like they were dying.
At present, although he said that he will be in Ningxia Prefecture. Almost all the party tribes have been brought under his command. But these party members mostly listen to their clan leaders and leaders. Even the pure party members under his command are far from being able to command. In the battle of Qingyang Mansion, the young men of the Zheluo tribe were almost destroyed. But the Pingxia troops and horses he personally commanded did not lose even a hair.
This made the various tribe leaders and clan leaders somewhat dissatisfied, thinking that he was killing someone with a borrowed knife. Therefore, the rebels are in urgent need of a victory to boost their morale, and also to dispel the suspicion of the clan leaders and leaders. In order to boost morale and resolve internal disputes this time, Tuoba moved to the Qing Dynasty, so he personally led the Pingxia tribe's five thousand cavalry to go deep behind Huanzhou to cut off Feng Zhoushan's food route.
In order to attack from both sides with the 20,000 troops on the other side of the Gan River, they strive to recapture Huanzhou. In his opinion, as long as he can take back the strategically important Huanzhou with his Pingxia tribe as the main force. Not only can we rely on the terrain of Huanzhou to form a line of defense before the imperial army arrives. It can also boost the currently declining morale, eliminate the current disputes within the rebels, and prepare for another move south in the future. .
One is eager to recapture Huanzhou, the gateway to Qingyang Mansion, before the main army of the imperial court arrives. One was eager to rush to Huanzhou, preparing to personally interrogate the captured party official Xiang Fan in order to learn as much as possible about the internal situation of the rebels. Just after Huang Qiong led his army across the Xian River, the two armies encountered each other between the Xian River and Gan River. And this encounter became the real prelude to the Northwest War.
The encounter between the two armies was actually accidental, after going deep into Huanzhou. Not only to spy on the military situation along the route from Qingyang Mansion to Huanzhou, but also to protect themselves. After the battle in Qingyang, Tuoba Jiqian, who felt somewhat guilty, sent out his rangers to investigate everywhere. However, these rangers did not discover the team transporting grain and grass to Huanzhou, but they discovered Huang Qiong's thousand cavalrymen who were galloping towards Huanzhou before their opponents.
Received the news from the reconnaissance cavalry that a thousand cavalrymen of the imperial court were found by the Xian River, and the color of the helmets of these cavalrymen was different from that of the common guards. Tuoba Jiqian, who was originally eager for a victory and should have taken advantage of his own strength and the advantage discovered by the enemy first to press forward with the entire army and eat up the thousand cavalry in one go, instead of dispatching immediately, was very cautious.
Although Tuoba Jiqian lived in the remote Ningxia Mansion all year round, it did not mean that he was ignorant. The helmets and tassels are different from those of the guards, so there is only one possibility for this cavalry, and that is the elite mobilized from the Xijing camp. In the battle of Qingyang, the elite of the Xijing camp, in addition to bringing a great shadow to the rebels, also had a certain, or even considerable, impact on him.
In his eyes, these one thousand cavalrymen are not just fish belly that can be eaten casually, but a solid piece of hard bone. The five thousand elite cavalry in his hands are all his carefully selected disciples from the Pingxia tribe. Military attachés at all levels are also descendants of his clan. After occupying the entire Ningxia Mansion, he tried his best to equip these disciples with the best swords, armor, and the best horses.
These five thousand fine cavalry, together with the three thousand cavalry from the Pingxia tribe among the 20,000 troops on the other side of the Gan River, are his last asset when necessary, and they are the foundation for his settlement in Ningxia Mansion. Among these eight thousand cavalry, almost all the young men of his Pingxia tribe and all the children of his Tuoba family were captured. Losing these children would mean his entire Pingxia tribe was almost wiped out.
And without these hard-core confidants, he would still be groveling to him. Once his strength is exhausted, he might turn against him in the blink of an eye and eat himself alive and devour the leaders of each tribe alive. Among the Dangxiang people, the law of the jungle is the ancestral motto left by our ancestors. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, he absolutely did not want any accident to happen to these five thousand fine knights, even if the damage was too large.
It's just that Tuoba Jiqian has always been hesitant, but the counselor next to him, dressed in Han scholar uniform, his eyes lit up after hearing the news. After confirming that among the thousand imperial cavalry, there must be no grain carts and all were light cavalry, he seemed to suddenly remember something. After thinking for a moment, he leaned into Tuoba Jiqian's ear and whispered softly.
Hearing this guy's whisper, Tuoba Jiqian looked quite unconvinced. However, this man smiled sinisterly and said, "Sir, this man has always loved to take risks personally. During the Zhengzhou Incident, this man, knowing that Hulao Pass was already under the control of the rebels, still He dared to take the risk himself to seize the pass. And in the subsequent battle of Hulao Pass, he personally risked arrows at the top of the city to supervise the battle."
"Although the battle at Hulao Pass gave him a certain prestige among the officers and soldiers, and made everyone in the Xiaoqi battalion become his loyal supporters, it also exposed his weakness of being personally involved in danger. As for the final outcome Your Excellency will know at a glance whether he is this person or not. I heard that at the beginning of this year, Your Excellency also met this person once. I must not be unfamiliar with this person."
"Whether it is true or not, you will know at a glance. Moreover, even if the thousand cavalry escort is not the King of England, they will definitely be senior military attachés of the army. With the strict ranking of the army, it is impossible for non-commanders to lead so many The army serves as personal soldiers. Otherwise, if these thousand cavalry are purely reinforcements, why don't they carry the most urgently needed food and grass for the Huanzhou officers and soldiers?"
"I don't believe it. Feng Zhoushan will not report his lack of food truthfully. Huanzhou's current thirst for food and grass is far greater than that of reinforcements. Therefore, my lord, I can conclude that these thousand cavalry are definitely not innocent. Those who reinforce Huanzhou must be accompanied by important figures. Besides, the opponent the Huanzhou Qi army is facing is not the 30,000 mob outside Qingyang Mansion."
"They are all first-class warriors among our party members. Even if there is reinforcement, there will not be only a thousand people. And according to what our secret agents reported, their army has not even arrived at Qingyang Mansion, and these thousand cavalry have not been escorted. Food and grass. Therefore, I conclude that these thousand cavalry can only escort an important person to Huanzhou. Among the current officers and soldiers, only the King of England and He Yuanfeng can meet this standard. "
"The main force of their army is still on the way. As the commander-in-chief at this time, He Yuanfeng will not easily leave the team and advance alone. And based on my understanding of the British king, I think that the person escorted by the thousand cavalry is probably more than 70% of him. . The five thousand elite cavalry that your Excellency now leads, although the number is a little smaller, are still the most brave and skilled warriors of our Pingxia tribe, and they are definitely no worse than the elite of the Qi army."
"The main force has just passed Ningzhou now, and is still far away from Huanzhou. Although Huanzhou has four thousand elite cavalry, they are firmly restrained by our 20,000 troops on the north bank of the Gan River, and they have no time to worry about other directions. Qingyang Mansion is now The defenders, including the thousand men left by Feng Zhoushan, only have more than two thousand men, which is not enough to stick to Qingyang, let alone take the initiative. No matter how hard Du She can fight, he will have no troops to use."
