Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 803: Feng Shui Treasure Land (Additional chapter for JJM leader)

Because of the foreseeable results, Tuoba Hou adopted the strategy of breaking through the entire Yang Liu Corps and annihilating them by dividing and destroying them.

Because of the unforeseen consequences, the troops of the six military divisions under Tuoba Hou fell into absolute chaos.

As more and more horses were robbed, the rapidly formed Song cavalry chased after the Western Xia soldiers, like a thorn in their flesh.

The large trade market with a radius of five miles is a Feng Shui treasure land.

This place is located on the south side of Lingdu Mountain, blocking the wind and snow from the north.

When the sun is shining brightly on your body, you can even feel a bit of warmth in this cold winter.

The terrain here is flat, and there is a river winding through the middle of the entire market, and its end merges into the Yellow River.

The ancient Great Wall, which winds along the Hongshui River from Liangzhou and surrounds the desert, extends here.

Then it continues to extend from the north side of Lingdu Mountain towards Shatuo.

To come from the Hetao Plain, you have to pass through here, and to go to the Hexi Corridor, you also have to pass through here.

This is the connecting link between the two major urban communities of Western Xia.

Therefore, the scale of this trade fair is very large.

The fleeing Xixia soldiers fled directly here because this was a key intersection for escaping to the Hexi Corridor or the Hetao Plain.

Behind the fleeing Xixia soldiers were the Liu Yang cavalry, which were also in disarray and had lost their formation.

Although the horse had just been captured, he was still unable to control it as well as he could.

Although there was no tacit cooperation among the cavalrymen, there was not even any organization or command system.

However, there is no need for this for both the enemy and us at this moment.

Because the fleeers are in the same situation.

A pursuit battle is the most satisfying, because the fleeing party has completely lost the will to fight.

Even if both sides have lost the offensive and defensive coordination functions within the ranks and it has become a purely individual battle.

The party that has no intention of fighting will be suppressed by the party that is pursuing and annihilating with great momentum.

People pounced, horses fled, and iron hooves trampled.

Even if the person who fell off the horse was still breathing, he would soon be trampled to death by the horses' hooves.

It was a one-sided massacre, just like when the Western Xia army used its three trump cards as the "arrowhead" to charge into the Song army camp.

The excitement of the fight made the pursuers only know how to charge bravely, kill, chop and kill...

The sight of people around them fleeing made every fleeer lose their courage, and they just wanted to escape faster than others.

The merchants at the trade fair finally realized that Western Xia had been defeated.

Fortunately, they had set up tents to store the mountains of goods, including a lot of cattle and sheep, so the roads between the rows of tents were very wide.

So they watched helplessly as customers, who were supposed to be shopping with blood-stained military uniforms, swords, and pay, ran past them as if no one was around.

Keep running forward without looking to the sides...

The pursuers had no time to deal with these merchants for a while.

They had almost no gold, silver or coins on them, all of which were barter items.

Those looted items cannot be sold in a short time, and they waste time and take up space. They are not as profitable as real military merits.

The most important thing is that when people are blinded by murderous intent, they will not think about these things at all.

"Killing" became the motivation that drove them at this time.

Every pursuer was filled with blood, their eyes were bloodshot, and they were filled with wild and animalistic murderous intent.

"Where can I escape to..."

Tuoba Hou, who was protected by Tuoba Heiyi and was escaping at the front through the trade fair, suddenly reined in his horse and hesitated for a moment.

The Western Xia army has recaptured Liangzhou, and the Wu and Song armies have retreated to Lanzhou and Xiningzhou.

You can turn left from here and escape to Liangzhou.

However, you can also escape to the right towards Xingqing Prefecture.

However, with six military commanders and one-third of Xixia’s military forces, and after fighting such a battle, if I flee to Xingqing Prefecture, will the emperor and the prime minister spare me?

To the left...

To the right...

While Tuoba Hou was hesitating, the pursuers came and attacked.

It’s not that the Western Xia army behind had been completely annihilated, but just like the Western Xia army had just broken through the Song army camp, the pursuers had caught up with the friendly army.

Tuoba Hou had no time to think, because they were directly "cut" in half by the Song cavalry.

Tuoba Hou turned his horse and left, because half of his troops were on the left.

At this moment, Baba Heiyi's personal strength was completely useless.

He could only turn his horse to the right because half of his troops were on the right.

The pursuers were roaring and charging towards us. All the moves and techniques were completely unnecessary at this moment.

It's about who's horse is faster, who's stronger, who's more decisive. One encounter, one sword, one gun, and life or death will be decided.

After all, the Song army lacked cavalry, and the cavalry formed by temporarily seizing horses had no clear combat intentions. They just relied on their bravery and chased and killed.

When they were tired of chasing and killing, they were blown by the wind and snow and calmed down, leaving only endless fatigue.

When they rounded up their horses and returned to the trade fair one after another, the place had become the camp of the Song army.

The winter clothes that Liu Qi's troops need are available here. If they are not enough, they can be stolen from the merchants.

Here is all the food that Liu Qi's troops need, including not only pasta and dried vegetables, but also a large amount of meat.

There were already many merchants here who exchanged beef and mutton for rice and wheat.

Even frostbite medicine and wound medicine are available here. The frostbite medicine and wound medicine in the hands of Xixia merchants are really effective.

After all, there are abundant wild medicinal herbs in the Gobi Desert, grasslands and mountains.

The battle is not over yet, because with nearly 200,000 troops on each side, it is already a major battle.

The entire battlefield was too large. On the vast snowfield, there were still small battle groups of thousands or tens of thousands of people fighting back and forth, and the fight was difficult to resolve.

Therefore, many generals have not returned to their teams yet and are still fighting in "sporadic" battles.

However, the trade fair has become the Song army's central military camp and baggage camp.

The outer circle is composed of circles of stationed Song troops, and the inner circle is the command system and tents for treating wounded soldiers.

Smoke is rising.

Amid the curling smoke, two flags were flying high, one with the word "Yang" on it and the other with the word "Liu" on it.

The war situation turned so quickly that even Yang Yuan and Liu Qi were surprised.

Yang Yuan's original plan was to set up camp on the spot after crossing the mountain and quickly investigate the whereabouts of Liu Qi's troops.

They carried nearly ten days' worth of rations, and the mastiffs and ponies that carried supplies were also their reserve rations.

He was confident that he could find the whereabouts of Liu Qi's troops before the food ran out.

By then, his cavalry reinforcements should have arrived in Huizhou.

Then he took one step at a time, moving along the towering mountains from the side of the Roulang Mountains towards Huizhou.

The reinforcements coming from Huizhou, led by generals such as Gao Gan, went to meet him.

With the two armies fighting against each other and the advantage of firearms, he was confident that he could rescue Liu Qi's troops.

As for Liu Qi...

Two and a half hours ago, he was still thinking about shedding his last drop of blood and dying on the battlefield.

Therefore, faced with this sudden turning point in the battle, the two commanders and the generals who had gathered here one after another, in a state of confusion, tried hard to accept this huge change.

Then, based on the battlefield news that kept coming in and the battlefield situation that was already known, they quickly responded. The so-called response was nothing more than three points:
How should your army behave next, how to expand the results of the battle, how to quickly connect with other legions, and how to formulate new strategies and tactics.

Liu Qi learned about the external situation from Yang Yuan.

After understanding the overall situation of Xixia, and adding the battle records and losses reported by the generals of various divisions, their strategy began to take shape and was constantly improved...

……

Lin'an received the battle report from Wu Gong.

As the old commander Wu Lin died of illness in the army, the military supervisor Zhao Yi first advanced recklessly, then tried to take credit for the victory, and then became frightened and fled all the way, losing many soldiers and generals, and retreated to Xining Prefecture.

The achievements of the Song army's western combat forces were almost lost.

Then, Zhao Yi's memorial in self-defense also arrived.

In his words, the matter is still the same, after all, it is an indisputable fact.

But he put all the blame on the generals of Wu's army.

If a pen is used skillfully, it can produce completely opposite effects even if what is said is entirely true.

The court was divided as to whether it was the responsibility of the generals of the Wu family army or Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi was a civil servant, a Hanlin scholar, and also the emperor's tutor when he was in the palace, so standing on Zhao Yi's side and accusing Wu's army of incompetence was advantageous.

However, those who talk big do not include high-ranking officials at the level of the six ministries, nine ministers, and the prime minister.

They had no time to worry about who was responsible for the disastrous defeat on the Western Front. The key now was that after the disastrous defeat on the Western Front and the retreat to the gate of Lanzhou, Liu Qi's isolated army was left in the area of ​​Lingdu Mountain and Roulang Mountain. What should be done with this army that was surrounded by a pack of wolves?
Once this isolated army is destroyed, the wolves will turn their firepower to the Lanzhou defense line. Will it still be able to hold on?
The reserve force is Yang Yuan's troops.

By withdrawing troops from Shaanxi, leaving only those who rely on strong defense fortresses, and transferring the rest to fight in Western Xia, the situation might be stabilized.

However, due to the crisscrossing mountains, there is only one marching route, and even with the fastest transfer speed, I am afraid that...

In particular, Liu Qi's troops had no winter clothes or military rations and were still under heavy siege.

The result of repeated deduction is despairing.

Even those old generals, after repeated deductions, came up with only one result:
Liu Qi's troops will be wiped out and the Lanzhou defense line will face a fierce attack. Now we should immediately build a second defense line in Lintao.

Yang Yuan's troops moved quickly towards Lanzhou. If they had time, they would join forces with Wu Gong's troops to hold the Lanzhou defense line.

If it is too late, we will support the remaining troops of Wu Gong and retreat to Lintao.

If that were the case, the war against Western Xia, which had been planned for more than five years, would be ruined.

The consolation is that with Tianshui and Baoji in our hands, we have the key to open the gateway to Shaanxi.

However, after more than five years of preparation and the destruction of an army of more than 100,000, all they got was a key...

The optimistic mood of successive victories was swept away in the court.

Everyone in the court and the country knew that the Western Expedition plan had failed, and the war against Xia, which consumed a huge amount of national strength, ended in failure.

At this time, Yang Yuan's military letter was quickly delivered to Lin'an via a gold medal.

This was reported to the court by Yang Yuan before he sent out his troops.

Yang Yuan told the court that he had divided his troops into two groups to go to aid Western Xia.

The whole route was mainly composed of cavalry, which rushed to Lanzhou to provide support and reinforce Huizhou.

Along the way, mainly consisting of infantry, they crossed the Liupan Mountain, Maiji Mountain and other mountains, plateaus and valleys, and took a straight line to reinforce Liu Qi.

Ruined!
Yang Yuan's reckless advance would probably result in the demise of all his elite infantrymen on the snowy mountains.

The gray beards of veteran generals like Yang Cunzhong are turning completely white with worry.

They finally gave the emperor a proposal:
The imperial court allocated funds as soon as possible and began recruiting soldiers in the four routes of Sichuan and Xia.

Be prepared to let Wu Ting return to Lizhou.

The Song army, which controlled the gateway to Shaanxi, was ready to withdraw Hanzhong at any time.

On Yang Yuan's side, he had quickly contacted Wu Gong who had moved his troops to Lanzhou, and ordered the reinforcements of Yang Yuan's cavalry to rush to the foot of Lingdu Mountain as soon as they arrived at the designated provincial capital to join his main infantry force.

At the same time, after receiving a large amount of supplies, Liu Qi's troops began to reorganize the remaining troops.

At this point, the total strength of the two armies is about 70,000.

A large number of captured Western Xia war horses were also divided up between Liu and Yang's armies.

Yang Yuan and the two generals Liu Qi and Wu Gong were on an equal footing, and there was no relationship of restraint or subordination between them.

Therefore, any strategic intentions can only be discussed.

Fortunately, General Liu Qi was right beside him, so Yang Yuan could communicate with him at any time. But with Wu Gong, it required the constant travel of military horses and express couriers, making communication more difficult.

Especially Zhao Yi, the military supervisor on Wu Gong's side, after learning that the battle situation had reversed and the flank threat was no longer there, all he wanted was to immediately lead his troops westward to retake Liangzhou and Ganzhou and continue the western front combat plan.

What he had lost was taken back from him, and he would have something to say when the merits and demerits were discussed after the war.

Because of his obstruction, Wu Gong's communication and coordination with Yang Yuan and Liu Qi were not smooth.

At the same time, Yang Yuan also sent people back to order the transportation of military supplies here.

Since we took control of this large trade market, we have seized countless supplies, and a lot of provisions no longer need to be transported from the rear for the time being.

However, in this battle, Yang Yuan's firearms and ammunition were almost exhausted, and he needed to replenish them from the rear.

At this time, Tuoba Heiyi and some other defeated soldiers had already fled to Yingli and Weizhou areas.

Afterwards, Tuoba Heiyi went to Xingqing Prefecture in person to plead guilty to the Xixia Emperor.

The Western Xia army that fled back to Yingli and Weizhou had a strength of less than one and a half army divisions at most.

If the number of Western Xia troops fleeing to Liangzhou was almost the same, then in the battle of Lingdu Mountain, the Western Xia army lost three army divisions of elite soldiers.

Upon hearing the news, the Western Xia Emperor Li Renxiao was shocked and immediately invited Prime Minister Ren Dejing to the palace to discuss the matter.

"Prime Minister, this is my cousin, Tuoba Heiyi, who has been hiding in Song for a long time and knows the situation in Song.

He personally witnessed the battle at Lingdu Mountain, so the Prime Minister can listen to his story for details."

After Li Renxiao finished speaking, Ren Dejing turned his gaze to Tuoba Heiyi.

Tuoba Heiyi felt very uncomfortable facing this prime minister who had great power in the court and was above the Western Xia emperor.

But now that they are facing a powerful enemy, Xixia must not engage in internal strife again with Ren Dejing, who holds most of the power in the Great Xia Kingdom.

So, Tuoba Heiyi respectfully introduced the details of the Lingdu Mountain Battle to Ren Dejing.

"You said that the Song army has a very powerful weapon that can cause a violent explosion. Not only is the killing power amazing, but the violent explosion will also cause the army's horses to flee in panic?"

Ren Dejing narrowed his eyes and looked at Tuoba Heiyi.

Tuoba Heiyi felt a little uncomfortable with his somewhat feminine gaze, and just agreed in a deep voice, and recounted everything he had experienced on the battlefield and what he had learned from other Western Xia soldiers.

The Western Xia Emperor Li Renxiao was shocked and frightened when he heard this, and looked at Ren Dejing in panic.

However, the countryman did not show any shock at this newly-produced artillery.

He thought thoughtfully for a long time before turning his gaze back to Tuoba Heiyi.

"Tuoba Heiyi, you are very familiar with this Yang Yuan. Tell me about his situation in detail."

Tuoba Heiyi felt a little strange about Ren Dejing's request.

However, the key to the reversal of the war situation was because of Yang Yuan. It is also a reasonable request for the Prime Minister to understand it more carefully.

So, Tuoba Heiyi told Ren Dejing about Yang Yuan's situation in detail.

Ren Dejing listened very carefully. After listening, he closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time.

Li Renxiao could no longer hold back, and could not help but cough lightly, saying, "Prime Minister, our Great Xia is in danger, do you have any plan to repel the enemy?"

"Ah... hehe..., Yang Yuan..."

Ren Dejing suddenly opened his eyes and laughed twice with inexplicable meaning.

PS: Can you imagine that there are various meetings in the first month of the year? There will be meetings from 17th to 23rd. I thought there would be no meetings in the first month of the year, so I didn’t even bring my laptop back home. In the end, in order to keep updating during the meetings, I bought another laptop…

(End of this chapter)