Faced with the strategic situation of the Ming army marching forward, Ren Dejing did not intend to surrender.
After finally getting the power, you are going to attack me just because you say you want to attack me?
After the initial panic, Ren Dejing felt relieved and issued a nationwide mobilization order.
He assembled an army of 40,000 people in the shortest possible time, and then asked Ren Decong and Ren Degong to lead 20,000 people respectively to Shunzhou and Xiping Prefecture.
After Ren Decong and Ren Degong set off, Ren Dejing himself stayed in Xingqing Mansion to continue recruiting troops and forming an army.
Although after sending away the previous 40,000 people, he still has an absolute elite of 10,000 people, including 7,000 heavy infantry and 3,000 heavy cavalry. However, it is obvious that this elite army of 10,000 people does not give him much sense of security. .
Ren Dejing's method of recruiting soldiers is relatively traditional, such as sending people to the countryside, and each person is given a quota. If they cannot recruit a certain number of soldiers, their family members will be sent into the army.
Under the stimulation of such motivating KPI, every official who was sent to the countryside by Ren Dejing to recruit soldiers was like a chicken blood.
When you see a man, you will say that he is suitable to be a soldier, regardless of whether he is the breadwinner of the family. When you catch all the healthy young men, you will start to attack the not-so-old elderly and not-so-young children.
Although this was a little unkind, the effect was very good. In addition to the 40,000 people sent out, Ren Dejing formed an army of about 40,000 people.
In addition, Ren Dejing also sent King Qin's order to the three closest military divisions including Chaoshun Military Division in Youxiang, Baima Qiangzhen Military Division, and Heishan Weifu Military Division, and ordered them to send troops to support immediately. Don't delay, otherwise the new emperor Li Chunbao's life will be in danger.
Ren Dejing tried his best to build an army, train the army on the front line, and prepare to fight a scorched earth war in Xingqing Mansion.
On the other side, the Ming army's advance was still very smooth.
On the sixth day of the first lunar month of the third year of Hongwu, the main force of the Ming army under Su Haisheng advanced to the vicinity of Shunzhou, and then encountered 20,000 central troops and 10,000 Shunzhou local troops led by Ren Decong in Shunzhou.
Ren Decong was a tall man, strong in force, and considered a fierce general in the Ren family. He cooperated with the governor of Shunzhou and prepared to enter a protracted war with the Ming army in Shunzhou.
Then Shunzhou was captured by Su Haisheng.
The governor of Shunzhou was unlucky. While supervising the battle, he was affected by the explosion of the thunder cannon. He was thrown from the city to the bottom of the city and fell to his death.
Ren Decong was still loyal and did not choose to escape and become a flying general. Instead, he personally fought with the Ming army at the top of the city. He failed to hold on and died in the battle.
Shunzhou's 30,000 defenders were completely wiped out, and most of them were taken prisoner.
Su Haisheng reorganized the army and dealt with the prisoners. Then on the eighth day of the first lunar month of the third year of Hongwu, he went north to Xingqing Mansion and sent troops to the capital of Xixia.
Ren Dejing was shocked when he learned that the Ming army had conquered Shunzhou and realized that the Ming army was approaching the capital.
If the Ming army cannot be defeated in the wild, they will have to accept the outcome of the Ming army besieging the imperial city of Xingqing Mansion.
He couldn't accept this ending.
He couldn't understand why the Xixia army was defeated so quickly and miserably.
Is the Xixia army really incompetent?
When he rebelled from the Northern Song Dynasty to Xixia, he could be regarded as witnessing the combat effectiveness of the Xixia army. Later, when he took control of the military to defeat the rebellious subjects, he did not feel that the Xixia army was too awkward.
How could an army of hundreds of thousands be defeated so quickly?
Is it the Xixia army that is too incompetent, or the Ming army that is too capable?
At this time, Ren Dejing's clansman and relative Chunxiao suggested that Ren Dejing take advantage of the Ming army's march and unstable footing to send troops to attack the Ming army. This might be able to defeat the Ming army's front.
The situation will not be very bad until they have a firm foothold here and can defend themselves.
Moreover, the Ming army has been fighting since the beginning and must be quite tired. If they send elite troops to fight with them in the field at this time, they will definitely win.
Ren Dejing was quite confused at the time. After much thought, he felt that there was no other way. He thought that this might be a good idea and might have miraculous effects.
But another confidant of Ren Dejing, Xue Zhengshao, strongly opposed this suggestion.
"The Ming army is at its peak, and it is really not the time to confront them tit for tat. The best plan now is to use the tall city walls of Xingqing Mansion and sufficient troops to engage in offensive and defensive battles with the Ming army, so as to contain the main force of the Ming army and It is impossible to divide the troops into actions.
Although the Ming army is strong, it still needs to eat. If the main force is contained in Xingqing Mansion, the rear area will inevitably be empty. The Prime Minister can immediately send orders to the troops of other military commanders so that they do not need to come to Xingqing Mansion and directly go around to attack the Ming army's rear area. Cut off the Ming army's food route.
Once the food route is lost and the Ming army can only rely on the captured food, it will not be able to sustain it for long, and it will inevitably retreat. When the time comes, the Prime Minister will send the elite out of the city to pursue, then our army will definitely win. Although this battle suffered heavy losses, it can still be regarded as a victory in the end. If the battle is won, the Prime Minister will be able to restore the power of the Great Xia army with the power of victory. "
Ren Dejing thought about it and suddenly felt that what Xue Zhengshao said made sense, so he was quite moved and prepared to do what he said.
Unfortunately, Ren Chunxiao and Xue Zhengshao didn't deal with each other, and they had some troubles. Ren Chunxiao also had a vengeful temper. When he saw that Xue Zhengshao's plan was about to be adopted, he felt unhappy, so he insisted on opposing it.
"Xue Zhengshao said well, Prime Minister, but this is clearly to ask the Prime Minister to put himself in a dangerous position in exchange for the possibility of other military commanders' troops to defeat the Ming army. The person who earns prestige in this way may not be the Prime Minister himself, but others. , exchanging the lives and safety of the Prime Minister and my entire Ren clan for the credit of others, does the Prime Minister think this is feasible?"
When Xue Zhengshao heard this, he became very angry.
"Ren Chunxiao, what are you talking about? This is the only and best way to turn the situation around at the moment! Don't mess around here!"
"Am I being reckless? Am I wrong? What a noble person the Prime Minister is, he actually has to withstand the Ming army's attack here and face the most terrible dangers, in exchange for other generals to sneak attack the Ming army's rear and the security of the Ming army in case of success. Prestige!
This is still a situation where the sneak attack can be successful. Let me ask you, if the sneak attack cannot be successful, what will you say? The sneak attack was unsuccessful, the city was surrounded, and the army was gone. How could we still fight this battle? Are you sincerely advising the Prime Minister? ! "
Ren Chunxiao's output made Xue Zhengshao's face turn red.
Xue Zhengshao has always been dissatisfied with Ren Chunxiao, and of course he was very angry at his statement.
He decided to beat Ren Chunxiao from a professional perspective.
"What do you know? Xingqing Mansion has many soldiers and horses, abundant food and grass, and a tall city. Unless the Ming army can fly in, it will not be able to take the capital in a month. And with this month, we can point to other military divisions. The army rushed to the rescue and destroyed the Ming army's food and grass.
The Prime Minister has learned clearly that under the current situation, although our country still has troops from various military divisions guarding the border, the number is small. Such troops coming to support Xingqing Mansion is equivalent to throwing a handful of salt into a tank of water. It has no meaning. It is better to Throw it out and it might turn the tide of the battle. "
However, Xue Zhengshao's professional knowledge did not defeat Ren Chunxiao.
Ren Chunxiao sneered.
"After all, the prime minister still has to be the bait to induce the Ming army to attack. Isn't this just gambling with the prime minister's life? Let me ask you, are you making suggestions for the prime minister or the Ming army?"
"My loyalty to the Prime Minister can be learned from the sun and the moon!"
Xue Zhengshao was furious: "Prime Minister, don't let Chunxiao mess around, and don't adopt his tactics. He doesn't know the art of war at all, he's just pretending to understand!"
Ren Chunxiao laughed.
"I don't understand and pretend to understand? Okay, you said I don't understand and pretend to understand, but what about you? You understand, but you don't want the Prime Minister to understand! Xue Zhengshao, I heard that your son has always admired O Daochong, and O Daochong When he died, he was still burning paper money for him on the street, is this such a thing?"
