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

The Western Xia generals were still unaware of the danger until Xiao Heda led his troops more than ten paces away and ordered them to deploy into battle formation, at which point they realized something was wrong.

"kill!"

Hundreds of elite soldiers drew their bows and fired arrows, completely stunning the Western Xia general. He hurriedly ducked to avoid the arrows and pulled on the reins to turn and flee.

Do'e charged ahead at the fastest speed. As soon as the Western Xia general turned his horse around, he caught up and stabbed him with his spear, then swept the man off his horse.

There was more than one Western Xia general. In addition to the commander, there were many officers and chieftains who came specifically to welcome "Wang Cunli," this angel.

Xiao Heda led his army in pursuit, while also sending troops to the city of Xiazhou, ordering the city's defenders to come out and fight.

After losing a number of generals, the 20,000-strong Western Xia army quickly collapsed and fled in all directions in the face of the attack.

Xiao Heda and Duo'e led their army in a pursuit all the way to the outskirts of Shizhou City (northern Hengshan District, by the Wuding River), where the Xiangyou Military Command was stationed.

There were only a few thousand soldiers guarding the city.

However, the two men were unable to attack the fortified city. They wanted to chase after the fleeing soldiers and break into the city, but the general who stayed behind would not allow the fleeing soldiers to enter.

After besieging the city for half a day, Xiao Heda and Duo E ordered the infantry to return to Xiazhou, while they led their cavalry straight to Longzhou in the south.

Outside Longzhou City.

Zhong Yanchong is bombarding the city walls, a task he has been carrying out for three days. At the same time, he is ordering laborers to fill the moat and craftsmen to build siege weapons.

"General, three or four thousand cavalry have arrived from the north, claiming to be the Western Xia traitors Xiao Heda and Duo'e!"

"Please come quickly!"

Zhong Yanchong personally went to greet them, and shook hands with the two men, saying, "You two generals are truly righteous men, but unfortunately you were forced to rebel by the tyrannical emperor and treacherous officials."

"If you come to my Great Ming Dynasty in the future, you will surely be able to make great strides!"

Xiao Heda had already written a letter of surrender, so he was not surprised.

Duo'e was very uneasy, fearing that his Tangut identity would not be accepted.

Now he could finally relax. Zhong Yanchong was very welcoming to him, and he thought that he would have a place in the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Xiao Heda took out a flag: "This is Wang Cunli's general's flag. This man has recently taken on the role of imperial envoy and is in charge of the three major military commands here."

"He has been defeated by me and has retreated to Youzhou with his remaining troops."

"Good stuff!" Zhong Yanchong was overjoyed.

A moment later, Duo'e personally raised the flag and rushed to the outside of Longzhou City, shouting: "Wang Cunli has been defeated and killed, and Hongzhou and Youzhou have been captured by the Ming army."

"Why don't you surrender immediately? Do you want to be buried with Wang Cunli?"

"Shoot him dead!" The Longzhou garrison commander exclaimed in alarm.

Duo'e rode his horse, carrying a flag, and galloped wildly around the city, shouting: "Wang Cunli is dead! Wang Cunli is dead..."

The city's defenders were terrified and had lost their will to hold out.

However, their families and property had been moved to Yanzhou, and if they surrendered to the Ming army now, they would be left with nothing.

No one was clamoring to surrender the city, but everyone was clamoring to leave and reunite with their families in Yanzhou.

Moreover, they understood that even if they held out to the death, the city would eventually fall, as the cannons had been bombarding it for three whole days!

That night, all four gates of Longzhou were opened, and countless soldiers rode out of the city and fled.

Soon, flames soared into the sky within the city; it was the garrison commander who ordered the burning of the grain and fodder.

Chapter 3771 Divine Soldiers Descend from the Sky

Zhong Yanchong had already instructed his cavalry to sleep with their weapons at their sides. He anticipated that the garrison would flee, but he didn't know which night they would run away. Unexpectedly, they couldn't resist on the very first night.

"Cavalry, pursue them! Infantry, advance into the city to put out the fire!"

Zhong Yanchong mounted his warhorse and led his cavalry in a fierce pursuit.

……

Yinzhou City is located in Yuhe Town, Yulin City. The city was built at the confluence of the Wuding River and the Mingtang River.

Surrounded by water on three sides, it was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it had blocked the Song army countless times.

Zhang Xian led his troops from Mizhi Village and has been bombarding the area for seven days.

They used muskets and crossbows to cover the laborers as they built more than ten pontoon bridges on the Mingtang River, while soldiers were stationed on the riverbank to build fortifications day and night to prevent the pontoon bridges from being dismantled.

Dozens of miles north of this city, in the eastern part of what would later become Yulin city, lies the site of the Western Xia Shenyong Army.

Surrounded by water on two sides and backed by mountains on the other, it is equally easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Yao Pingzhong led his troops from Jinning (Jiaxian) and has been bombarding Shenyongjun Sicheng for seven days. He has also built more than ten pontoon bridges on the river.

Wang De, also known as Wang Yacha, was taken away by Zhang Guangdao when he was in Shanxi, but has now returned to Yao Pingzhong's command.

Wang De led a detachment out of Linzhou (within Shenmu County), and he ordered his troops to set off in a grand manner, heading along the Zhuolun River to attack Zhuolun Village.

He personally led a thousand elite troops, without even bringing siege artillery, and went straight along the Quye River (Kuye River) to attack the more distant Zihe River branch.

They hid by day and moved by night; divine soldiers descended from the sky.

These eight hundred elite soldiers, clad in medium-sized cotton armor, carried makeshift wooden ladders to attack the city at night.

Wang De took the lead and climbed the stockade wall, rushing into the stockade in just a quarter of an hour.

The Western Xia defenders fled in terror, completely unaware of the number of enemies approaching.

Immediately afterwards, Wang De, carrying the flag of the Zihechazhai garrison, went to Zhuolunzhai to force the Western Xia garrison to surrender.

They then led their troops north to attack Nuanquanfeng Village, but the defending troops there refused to surrender.

Wang De's army had 16,000 men, but they didn't even have a single siege cannon.

He himself did not bring them, saying that the targets along the way were all stockades and fortresses, with no real fortified cities, and that the rugged mountain roads would hinder the march with artillery.

Of these 16,000 people, 10,000 were laborers transporting grain, and another 3,000 were garrison troops. The real elite force numbered only 3,000.

But those three thousand elite troops were all wearing new-style cotton armor. Even a lowly soldier's equipment was better than that of a mid-level officer in the Western Xia.

Wang Dexian instructed the grain transport laborers to carry more flags and set them up at various locations at the foot of Nuanquan Peak.

Hidden among the vegetation, Ming army flags were everywhere, giving the impression that tens of thousands of troops were about to attack.

Then, he ordered three thousand garrison troops to launch a feigned attack to exhaust the defenders' strength and resources.

The battle raged until dusk, and they should have retreated down the mountain to attack again the next day.

Wang De personally led three thousand elite troops, bravely scaling the stockade walls and breaching the fortified village in an instant.

Then, he led his army south to join forces with Yao Pingzhong.

At the same time, someone was sent north to notify the garrison troops in the three cities west of the river.

Send the garrison commander there with the local steppe cavalry to attack Dijinze in the desert region.

On the way, Wang De once again captured the Xixia fortress at Tu Mao Chuan.

A series of battles led to the capture of four Western Xia strongholds, all within just eleven days.

Moreover, most of the time was spent on marches, and the actual combat time added up to less than 20 hours.

Of his three thousand elite troops, forty-one were killed in action and more than two hundred were wounded.

Most casualties came from boiling oil, molten gold, logs, and arrows; losses from actual close combat were few and far between.

Chapter 3772 Weak Points

Destroy everything!

The main reason is that this guy is too fierce. He can always find the weak points in the enemy's defenses and then personally lead the team to climb the ladders and scale the city walls.

On the city wall, Wang De fought with increasing ferocity in the face of the siege, relying on his medium-sized cotton armor to fight to the death and refuse to retreat, with his warriors climbing up one after another.

Even after Wang De cleared out the northern fortresses and came to join Yao Pingzhong's army, Yao Pingzhong was still bombarding the city of Shenyongjun.

The city walls are not high, but they are extremely thick!

Yao Pingzhong bombarded the city for more than ten days, but only managed to collapse one of the city gates. The collapse, in turn, blocked the city gate.

Yao Pingzhong also tried to attack the city, but failed after two days of continuous attacks. There were more than 3,000 infantrymen in the city.

In a fit of rage, Yao Pingzhong dug up the ancestral tombs of the Western Xia royal family!

Li Jiqian's ancestors are buried nearby.

"Take it!" Yao Pingzhong said.

But then a group of soldiers carried boxes to the outside of the moat and poured out a pile of bones from the boxes.

Several more soldiers then unfurled three white cloths and held them high.

A white cloth bears the large characters: Remains of Li Yichang, ancestor of Li Jiqian.

Another white cloth reads: Dig up their ancestral graves.

Another piece of white cloth reads: "Crush to ashes and scatter to the winds."

The soldiers raised their maces and smashed them against the skeleton, pulverizing them before collecting them.

Several cavalrymen rode around the moat, scattering fragments of bones along the way. Then a large contingent of cavalry followed, their hooves repeatedly trampling the ashes.

Most of the Tangut soldiers stationed in the city did not know Chinese characters.

However, two military officers and several civil officials recognized them and were immediately enraged, shouting that they wanted to avenge their ancestors.

"General, General Wang De has arrived with his troops."

"Quickly, bring him over here!"

When Yao Pingzhong met Wang De, he asked, "Have the four northern strongholds been captured?"

Wang De nodded: "One stronghold was attacked by surprise, two strongholds were attacked by force, and one stronghold surrendered."

“Alright, you will be in charge of attacking this city as well,” Yao Pingzhong said, pointing to the city wall. “The east gate has collapsed, but only the horse path next to it is damaged.”

"Many of the battlements and towers on the east and north sides were also bombarded and collapsed by artillery fire, and most of the parapets were destroyed."

“There are Western Xia bastards in the city. These scoundrels are poor and fearless.”

"I was too hasty the other day and only built four siege ladders before attacking the city. I only built two of the Lu Gong chariots."

"The city's defenders knew how to deal with muskets. Behind the collapsed parapets, they brought in many sacks filled with sand at night and used them to build fortifications."

"With the musketeers positioned inside Lü Gong's chariot, it was difficult for them to hit the guards behind the sacks."

Wang De said, "Although sandbags can protect against muskets, they also narrow the top of the city wall, making it difficult for the enemy to transport troops."

"Once you get onto the city wall and establish a foothold in one or two places, you can take down the entire section of the wall."

“We can’t hold our ground,” Yao Pingzhong said. “Those foot soldiers are fighting desperately, and no amount of persuasion to surrender will work.”

"If that weren't the case, why would I have ground Li Jiqian's ancestors to dust?"

Yao Pingzhong's luck seems to have always been very bad.

Historically, he was betrayed by his own people.

In this timeline, one either misses out on making contributions in a major battle, or sets up an ambush during a major battle but never encounters the enemy.

During this siege, he encountered Yi'e, a general of the Western Xia. (Yi'e's surname is unknown; historical records are vague and difficult to discern, so his surname is always represented by the character "口".)

Chapter 3773 Tough Nuts

Yi E was originally a general of the Iron Falcon Army, but was promoted to a regional commander by Richard.

Historically, he was defeated by Li Shifu, who was determined to return to the Song Dynasty, and even his Iron Falcon troops suffered heavy losses.

Because Wang Shu, the Privy Councilor of Western Xia, was also arrested by Li Shifu, he was scapegoated and never given important positions again, and he didn't even appear during Xiao Heda's rebellion.

This man was transferred to the Shenyong Army Command three years ago. Although he was corrupt, he did not go too far, and he was brave and generous, which won him the hearts of the soldiers.

Apart from Richard, among all the Western Xia generals, Yi'e is currently the most capable fighter.

Yao Pingzhong continued to have bad luck and encountered an extremely tough nut to crack!

"All units prepare, the Ming army is about to attack the city again." Yi'e, hiding behind sandbags, relayed the military order to the Ming army outside the city.