"This is simply impossible to do. How could the Song army brave the severe cold to fight!"
Ali Gu received the report from the guard of Longzhu Black City and said in shock.
In the northwest, the severe cold winter is a natural barrier. Even the most ferocious beasts will hibernate in winter, and various tribes will put down their guard in winter to recuperate.
"The general will not dare to deceive. The Song army is wearing cotton armor. Not only can it move freely in the winter, but its defense power is also good." Longzhu Heicheng's defender said with a bitter smile.
Winter combat has been a taboo in the past dynasties, but the Song army found another way to combine cotton-padded clothes with armor, and had armor capable of winter combat.
Qingtang failed to pay attention for a while and eventually suffered a big loss.
"Cotton armor!"
Ali Gu, the Lord of Qingtang, couldn't help but change his expression, and he couldn't help but think of the kidnapping horse that defeated the Qingtang Cavalry. It was equipped with cotton armor.
I didn't expect that the cotton armor, which had only the advantage of being light at first, would pose such a big threat to Qingtang.
"Reporting to your Majesty, the Song army has swept through the Hehuang tribes, Zongge City has been destroyed, and troops are about to approach Qingtang City."
Soon, bad news came one after another. The Song army came well prepared, and each tribe in Hehuang fought on its own. In addition, fighting in winter, the armor was like ice, and the bowstring was frozen and difficult to draw. She no longer had any advantage and were defeated one after another.
Ali Gu suddenly felt as if he was struck by lightning. Zonge City is the most important city in Qingtang, second only to Qingtang City. Once Zonge City is destroyed, Qingtang City will no longer have a barrier.
"The Song people are too cunning. The two countries have already concluded a peace treaty and will always be friends, but the Song people actually betrayed their trust and attacked Qingtang!" said the eldest prince with great hatred.
He was responsible for sending people to the Song Dynasty to sign a peace treaty. The Song Dynasty court only gave verbal warnings, but they did not expect that not long after returning from the Song Dynasty, the Song army immediately turned against them and tore up the peace treaty.
"The Song people's revenge is coming!" Ali Gu said with a bitter smile.
He once united with Xixia to attack the Song Dynasty for the first time, but was defeated. In order to win over him, the Song Dynasty only gave him a verbal warning to let him escape.
But when Xixia proposed to attack the Song Dynasty again, he had many concerns. However, he coveted Xixia's five hundred cold-forged armors, and coupled with his luck the first time, greed finally defeated his reason.
In addition, he believed that he was backed by the Tubo tribes and Qi Bing, and believed that even if they were defeated, the Song Dynasty would be unable to do anything to Qingtang.
As a result, he made a wrong bet this time. The Song people were not without temper. Now that they had cotton armor for winter warfare, they immediately used the weakest Qingtang to scare the monkeys.
"Father, please quickly send people to ask for help from Xixia and Qingtang tribes!" Xiazheng said urgently.
Ali Gu said bitterly: "Ask for help? How can all the troops come here in the ice and snow?"
Nowadays, Qingtang is in a severe cold season, with ice and snow everywhere. Not to mention fighting on horseback, even going out on horseback is a problem.
Not to mention how to deal with the supply of troops and horses along the way, reinforcements from various ministries came to rescue Qingtang City, I am afraid that Qingtang City has fallen long ago.
As for Xixia, Ali Gu shook his head. Xixia suffered two disastrous defeats in Pingxia City in a row. How could he rescue Qingtang when he was already in trouble.
Blind Zheng said anxiously: "Father, don't panic, we have just signed the peace treaty between the three kingdoms, and the Song Dynasty openly attacked Qingtang. Liao and Xia will definitely work together to put pressure on the Song Dynasty, and I, Qingtang, are protected by the epidemic. As long as we survive The Song Army’s winter offensive, and a counterattack after the coming year, will definitely make it impossible for the Song Army to come back.”
As the prince of Qingtang, Xiazheng did have some insight. If it were the Song Dynasty in the past, Xiuzheng's strategy would definitely have miraculous results. However, they did not know that the strength of the Song Dynasty has greatly increased now, and they have already found Ways to break the air plague.
Ali Gu's heart skipped a beat when he heard the words, and he said loudly: "There is a saying in the Song Dynasty: If you keep the green mountains, you don't have to worry about having no firewood, and you have to march blindly. You are responsible for staying in the green ponds. My father will immediately return to Tubo until the weather gets warmer. We, father and son, will immediately counterattack the Song army."
"Ah!" When Blind Zheng saw this, he couldn't help but turned pale and said, "Father, I'm afraid this child will not be able to take on such a big responsibility!"
"You are the prince of Qingtang. My father now orders you to supervise the country and guard Qingtang City. Remember to wait until the weather gets warmer and wait for my husband to bring in reinforcements to break the siege of Qingtang." Ali Gu directly ordered.
He was defeated by the Song Army twice, especially the last time, when he was defeated by the Song Army's Tiefutu and Guaizima. The Qingtang Cavalry had almost no chance to fight back.
This time, it was still Pu Yao and Xiong who conquered Qingtang. Ali Gu had already been frightened out of his courage.
At the moment, Ali Gu handed over the defense of Qingtang City to Xiazheng. Taking advantage of the fact that the Song army had not yet laid siege to the city, he led a small number of elites and confidants directly towards the hinterland of Tubo.
………………
On Qingtang City!
Blind Zheng looked at the 18,000 Song troops under the city and couldn't help but look embarrassed.
Qingtang City was defeated by the Song Dynasty before and suffered heavy losses. In addition, the Song army swept across the Hehuang Valley. The tribes in Qingtang suffered heavy losses and had no reinforcements. Not to mention that Ali Gu took away many soldiers and horses. Qingtang City's military strength is even weaker.
"Prince Qi, the Song army did not attack the city immediately." The defender of Longzhu Heicheng frowned.
Unexpectedly, the Song army did not attack directly like Longzhu Heicheng, but stationed under Qingtang City.
Xiazheng said bitterly: "If nothing unexpected happens, the Song army is making siege weapons."
Qingtang City is the capital of Qingtang. The city wall is quite tall. Just as Blind Zheng guessed, there is no shortage of trees in the Hehuang Valley. The Song army used local materials to build siege weapons.
Cars and ladders! Trebuchet!
In order to ensure that the attack on Qingtang is foolproof, the weapons supervisor has already prepared many core components in advance. The Song army only needs to use local materials. In just a few days, a large number of siege weapons have been built.
"The general's siege equipment has been prepared." Yao Xiong said excitedly as he looked at Qingtang City, which was waiting in full formation.
"attack!"
Zhong Pu immediately waved his hand.
With the cooperation of the trebuchet, the Song army controlled the carts and ladders and headed straight for Qingtang City.
"kill!"
The morale of the Song army soared and they rushed to attack the city first.
Although the Qingtang defenders fought back hard, with the assistance of the Song Army's Divine Arm Crossbow and Thunder Thunder, Qingtang City was directly captured by the Song Army in just two days.
"kill!"
The Song army poured into Qingtang City like a tide.
"General, there is only Prince Qingtang in the city who is marching blindly, and there is no Ali bone!" Yao Xiong calmed down the resistance in Qingtang City and hurriedly came to report.
"Ali Gu escaped!" Zhong Pu couldn't help but frown.
He originally thought that by conquering Qingtang City and capturing Ali Gu, Qingtang would be completely recovered, but he did not expect that Ali Gu would escape without a fight, leaving the prince to conquer the country blindly.
Yao Xiong also sighed helplessly. Although the Song Army had achieved the set results, they would probably face a counterattack from Ali Gu.
Zhong Pu shook his head and said: "It doesn't matter, after losing Qingtang City and Hehuang Land, Ali Gu is just a lonely ghost."
Qingtang City and Hehuang Land are the core of Qingtang. Without these two territories, Ali Gu has nothing to fear.
"How to deal with Blind Zheng?" Yao Xiong frowned.
Zhong Pu immediately ordered: "Send people to escort Blind Zheng back to the court, and at the same time surrender the tribes around Qingtang, find high ground, and let the Song army adapt to the air epidemic. As long as there is no air epidemic, even if Aligu unites with the Tubo tribes Nothing to fear.”
Yao Xiong nodded heavily.
As the Song army made a surprise attack on Qingtang, they captured Qingtang City and captured the Prince of Qingtang for blind march.
The news quickly spread throughout the Tubo tribes, Xixia and Liao Kingdoms.
Suddenly, the whole world was shocked.
……………………
"Song army attacks Qingtang?"
Xingqing Mansion is the closest to Qingtang, and Empress Dowager Xiaoliang was the first to receive the news about the Song Army. She was immediately in disbelief.
Wei Ming A Wu reported: "Qi reported to the Queen Mother that the Qiang tribes in the Hehuang area came to report. Zhong Pu led the Song army to take advantage of the ice of the Yellow River to suddenly cross the Yellow River and surprise attack Longzhu Heicheng, sweeping across the Hehuang Valley and Qingtang City. At stake.”
Xixia is also a powerful country in the northwest. The Qiang people naturally have an irreversible relationship with Xixia. With such a huge change happening in Qingtang, the news was naturally spread to Xixia immediately.
"How is that possible? It's a very cold winter now, and the Song Army is not afraid of snow disasters!" Renduo Baozhong said in disbelief.
The Xixia generals couldn't help but frown. What shocked them most was not that the Song army attacked Qingtang, but that the Song army sent troops in winter.
It’s snowing in August!
In the northwest, severe cold is the biggest enemy in marching operations. When Li Yuanhao attacked the Song Dynasty, he won consecutive battles, but in the end he suffered heavy losses due to a heavy snowfall. Empress Dowager Xiaoliang once attacked the Song Dynasty and was defeated due to a sudden heavy snowfall. .
But now the Song army actually braved the snow to attack Qingtang in the extremely cold winter. It was extremely evil and violated the law of war.
Wei Ming A Wu said bitterly: "If nothing goes as expected, the Song Army's biggest reliance in using troops in winter is the cotton armor worn by the kidnappers!"
"Cotton armor!"
Xixia people couldn't help but be in an uproar. The defensive power of cotton armor was not as good as iron armor, let alone compared with cold forged armor.
Xixia has excellent weapons and equipment. When they learned that the Song Army's kidnapping horses used cotton armor, they didn't take it seriously at all. They thought it was just an opportunistic move by the Song Army to make up for the inferiority of the war horses. However, they did not expect that the cotton armor would have such a great advantage in winter combat.
"The Song army was able to surprise Qingtang. Will they use this method to cross the Yellow River in winter to attack Xixia in the future?" Empress Dowager Xiaoliang worried.
"Qingtang is naturally not as good as Xixia. Xixia's city has thick walls and sophisticated weapons. Naturally, Qingtang's soldiers and horses, which lack iron weapons, cannot be compared. If the Song army comes to attack, the Song army will never come back." Weiming Awu said proudly.
Queen Mother Xiaoliang felt a little relieved.
"Report to the Queen Mother, Qingtang urgent report, Qingtang City fell, Ali Gu fled back to the hinterland of Tubo, the prince was captured in a blind expedition!" Suddenly, Liang Yibu came in a hurry and said.
"The Song Army actually has such combat power!"
The Xixia officials couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
Liang Yibu couldn't help but smile bitterly. His marriage to Ali Gu was to marry his daughter to Xi Zheng. Now the Song army captured Xi Zheng, disrupting all his plans.
"What's more important now is that Qingtang has been destroyed. How will we, Xixia, deal with it!" Weiming Awu frowned.
Empress Dowager Xiaoliang said coldly: "The Song army's sudden attack on Qingtang must be for the battle of Pingxia City and the alliance between Qingtang and Xixia. Now Qingtang is in trouble. If Xixia sends troops to help, it will be just a revenge. It can also bring Qingtang closer to Xixia."
When it comes to attacking the Song Dynasty, Qingtang has been on both sides of the fence. When Xixia was strong, Qingtang would take advantage of the opportunity. When the Song Dynasty was strong, Qingtang would fall to the Song Dynasty.
Now that the Song Dynasty sends troops to attack Qingtang, it will definitely make Qingtang completely fall to Xixia's side.
"The Queen Mother is wise!"
Liang Yibu cupped his hands and said.
Qingtang is his ally, so he is naturally inclined to send troops to Xixia.
Weiming Awu quickly dissuaded him and said, "No, Queen Mother, it is taboo to use troops in winter. Our army does not have cotton armor, so I am afraid it will be difficult to withstand the severe cold."
Renduo Baozhong also smiled bitterly and said: "Our army has just been defeated and suffered heavy losses. I am afraid it will be difficult to form an army. Moreover, the Song army has not attacked Xixia. If Xixia sends troops, I am afraid it will violate the peace treaty between the two countries and I am afraid that I will not be able to explain to Liao."
In the Battle of Pingxia City, Xixia was defeated. The Liao State reluctantly negotiated a peace treaty in order to contain the Song State for Xixia. If Xixia took the initiative to attack the Song Dynasty, it would be tantamount to tearing up the peace treaty again, and I am afraid that it would offend Song and Liao again.
Empress Dowager Xiaoliang was immediately furious. The Liao Kingdom might not value Qingtang, but for Xixia, Qingtang was a top priority.
If the Song army occupied Qingtang, Xixia would be attacked from both sides, and the situation would be even worse.
"However, after all, the Liao Kingdom does not want to see the Song Dynasty become too powerful. The Queen Mother should immediately send envoys to the Liao Kingdom, and work with the Liao Kingdom to put pressure on the Song Dynasty to let it go back to Xinzheng and withdraw from Qingtang." Liang Yibu suggested.
Weiming Awu continued: "Now that Ali Gu has returned to the hinterland of Tubo, he must be secretly planning a counterattack. Now that Xixia cannot send troops, why not give 500 cold-forged armors to Ali Gu and help Qingtang."
Liang Yibu looked at Wei Ming A Wu angrily. In order to contain him, Wei Ming A Wu deliberately blocked the cold forged armor. Now the Qingtang Prince Xiazheng, who was married to the legitimate daughter of the Liang family, has been captured by the Song army. Five hundred cold forged armors Delivering it to Qingtang would not do him any good.
"Yes!" Empress Dowager Xiaoliang waved her hand immediately.
At the moment, Xixia was prepared with both hands. On one hand, it supported Qingtang with weapons and armor, and on the other hand, it immediately reported to Liao the military situation of the Song army's dispatch.
When Liao Emperor Yelu Hongji received the urgent report from Xixia, it was already after the Lantern Festival.
"The Song army attacks Qingtang!"
When Yelu Hongji saw this urgent report, he couldn't help but frown.
The life and death of Qingtang was of no importance to him. What really concerned him was the support of the Song Army in winter operations.
"Cotton armor?" Yelu Hongji frowned.
The Liao Kingdom was located in the north, and the winter was extremely cold, making it impossible to fight. However, the Song Army actually pioneered winter warfare. How could he not be impressed by it?
"This should be the masterpiece of the evil doctor Fan Zheng!" Yelu Yanxi affirmed.
Since the emergence of the evil doctor Fan Zheng, almost all unreasonable things were caused by his hands.
"Da Liao should also have its own cotton armor!" Yelu Hongji said.
"But Xixia intelligence shows that the defensive power of cotton armor is not as good as iron armor!" Yelu Yanxi frowned.
"With every loss there must be a gain. Winter combat alone is enough for the Liao Kingdom to benefit from endlessly. The Song Dynasty equipped cotton armor to defend the Liao Kingdom, but they did not know that the Liao Kingdom also needed cotton armor to deter the Jurchen and other tribes who were more tolerant of the bitter cold." Yelu Hongji looked worriedly to the northeast and northwest.
On the east and west sides of the Liao Kingdom, the Mongol tribe in the northwest and the Jurchen tribe in the northeast are growing stronger. As the overlord of the grasslands, the Liao Kingdom naturally pays special attention to the threats of these two tribes. After all, the Khitan was so strong in the first place.
"My grandson understands!"
Yelu Yanxi nodded slightly and said: "How should the Liao Kingdom respond to Xixia's request?"
"Of course, at the request of Xixia, we rebuked the Song army for innocently raising troops, but there is no need to go to war. What we need is to contain the Song Dynasty and make the Song Dynasty fall into the quagmire of war. Whether the Song Dynasty is fighting Xixia or Qingtang, there is no need to fight. Difference." Yelu Hongji sneered.
In Yelu Hongji's view, Qingtang is not alone. It is a relatively powerful force among the Tubo tribes. Now that the Song army is attacking Qingtang, the Tubo tribes will definitely not give up and this battle will never end so easily. .
"Grandfather is wise!"
Yelu Yanxi said in admiration.
(End of chapter)
