Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

He led 30,000 men to defend the city.

Scouts reported that the Western Xia had 300,000 troops.

Xu Xi, of course, did not believe it.

Instead, they felt that their chance to make a contribution had come.

Regardless of whether there is 300,000 or not,

Anyway, the Western Xia army came in overwhelming numbers.

Xu Xi actually led 30,000 Song soldiers out of the city to fight.

Moreover, they did not choose to attack while the enemy was crossing the river.

They were beaten so badly that they fled into the city.

Then the water fortress was captured.

We can only quench our thirst by digging a well.

Relying on the remnants of the defeated army

Xu Xi, a civil official, actually held out for twenty days.

Moreover, there was no sign of the city being breached.

It's easy to imagine how formidable the Han Chinese were at defending cities.

How weak was the Western Xia's ability to siege cities?

As for the outcome of this battle...

The new city of Yongle, built in just fourteen days

It's a total shoddy construction project.

The soil was clearly not compacted properly during the ramming process.

After a heavy rain,

The city wall has been soaked and softened.

The Western Xia soldiers actually used logs to knock down the city wall...

Not only was the entire Song Dynasty garrison wiped out,

The 200,000 laborers in the vicinity either died, fled, or were abducted.

The city of Henan is definitely not a piece of tofu dregs!

Zhong Shidao said to the Liu brothers.

"You two may divide your forces,"

"One person will remain to guard Jingyu Pass,"

“One person will accompany me to set up a camp outside the valley.”

"Block them at every level, preventing the Western Xia troops from leaving the valley."

Thus, the battlefield situation became like this—

A narrow river valley,

To the north are over 60,000 Western Xia soldiers.

In the middle were more than 20,000 Han soldiers.

To the south were over 60,000 Western Xia soldiers.

Ten thousand Han soldiers were still blocking the southern river valley.

Chapter 1721 What to Do When Setting an Ambush

It's really hard to explain.

Who is surrounding whom?

Regardless, in Richard's eyes,

The Han soldiers in the valley are doomed.

They wanted to seize the city of He Nanjun.

It’s not that easy!

Otherwise, the Song army would have taken it long ago.

How could the Ming army possibly have a chance now?

The Gansu military command troops in the north,

The march was extremely slow.

Fearing that Han soldiers would hide in the valleys and ambush them.

Almost every time they encountered a ravine,

They would always send cavalry in to investigate beforehand.

They are not afraid of small groups of troops.

However, if a large force sets up an ambush...

It will inevitably leave traces in the gullies.

“People are coming from both sides, and the enemy from the north is closer,” Yang Zhi said.

Li Yanxian said, "The enemy general is cautious, so an ambush is unlikely to be effective."

“They stop moving forward at the slightest sign of something amiss.”

"Let's take advantage of the fact that the enemy from the south hasn't arrived yet,"

"Take the initiative to attack and defeat the enemy, and make them flee in disarray."

"Then turn around and annihilate the enemy to the south!"

Li Jinyi said, "We should also leave people to garrison the city."

Gong Xiu patted his chest and laughed, "I've already earned enough military merits!"

"Leave your troops behind to defend the city,"

“You all should go and earn some credit as well.”

Yang Zhi said, "I'll leave the heavy artillery for you."

"They were all erected on the city walls,"

"To prevent the enemy from the south from advancing rapidly and attacking."

"At the gap between the mother and child cities,"

"It's just barely fixed,"

“That red soil wasn’t compacted at all,”

"You must be very careful that the enemy doesn't crash into the city walls."

"If the enemy comes quickly,"

"At most, we can hold out for one or two days,"

"The army will be back soon."

"If the enemy arrives slowly,"

"They probably won't have arrived even after the fighting in the north is over."

Li Yanxian said, "I can send out cavalry."

"To slow down the enemy's march to the south."

"There's no need to confront them head-on; harassment will suffice."

"No matter how many enemy cavalry we encounter in the valley,"

"They are also unable to expand."

"I'll leave the south to General Li."

Yang Zhi said,

"As for the north, five hundred cavalry can be dispatched to accompany the army,"

"It is used specifically to pursue and kill fleeing soldiers after a victory."

...

The later Tianzhu County and Yongdeng County,

At the border of the two counties

Its terrain is even more rugged and complex.

There are many narrow river valleys that suddenly narrow.

Even after entering Yongdeng County, twenty or thirty miles away,

The valley also narrowed abruptly in several places.

Let's just find a place here.

Both are extremely suitable for setting up ambushes.

Therefore, the 60,000-strong army of the Gansu Military Command

Always be as careful as you can be.

Their marching speed was as slow as a tortoise crawl.

Its vanguard would stop after traveling a short distance.

They searched everywhere in the valleys and hills on both sides of the river.

Yang Zhi chose the location for the ambush.

It's the last narrow spot.

The valley is less than 900 meters wide!

There is a protrusion on the west side of the mountain wall.

It extends diagonally in the southeast direction.

The river also follows the contours of the mountain.

Flowing southeast

It diagonally divides the river valley, which is less than 900 meters wide, in two.

If it weren't for the fact that the arable land here is so small...

Building a city nearby would make it easier to defend and harder to attack.

The Western Xia cavalry were responsible for clearing the way.

They quickly ascertained the movements of the Ming army.

He hurriedly went back to report the news.

"Commander, the Han soldiers have not set up an ambush,"

"Instead, they used grain trucks to block the road ahead."

"The river valley there is extremely narrow,"

"It's less than two li wide,"

"If we want to get through, we have to launch a full-scale attack on the Han army's formation!"

How many enemy troops are there?

"I don't know. On the mountainside on both sides of the valley,"