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

Some of them even fled from Dingzhou.

These farmers from Xingqing Prefecture fared even worse; because they fled in such haste, they had nothing to eat and could only beg in the countryside of Huai Prefecture.

Wang Cunli thought he was letting more than 100,000 people into the city, but in fact it was more than 200,000.

The entire Western Xia dynasty had only a little over one million people.

If you include the people and soldiers in the city, one-fifth of the Western Xia population lives here—the other one-fifth lives in Xingqing Prefecture, the capital of Western Xia.

Do you think it’s outrageous?

That's perfectly normal!

Wang Cunli adopted a scorched-earth policy and led soldiers and civilians from several prefectures to come over.

Those states, which were considered very barren by Ming officials, were the "richest regions" in Western Xia, second only to the Yinchuan Basin and the outer regions of the city.

Because of the large number of people and the fact that they were on the front lines, the number of military commanders there was also the largest. The Western Xia border was entirely held up by those few prefectures.

Even though the Ming army suffered heavy defeats on all fronts in this battle, the Western Xia barely managed to hold on, and their situation was still dire.

The fertile lands have been ravaged, and this year's crops can only be replanted. Next year, famine and rebellion will surely be rampant.

Even if the rebellion is quelled, the population will be severely reduced, and it will take at least twenty or thirty years to recover.

"Waaaaah~~~Waaaah~~Waaaah~~"

From the west of Huaizhou City, the sound of horns grew louder as they approached; it was the Western Xia light cavalry, sent out to scout, issuing a warning.

Yue Fei has arrived.

Wang Cunli stood on the city wall and shouted, "Close the city gates!"

The people, who had gradually become more orderly after several reorganizations, panicked when they saw the soldiers about to close the city.

They abandoned their belongings, food, and livestock, and those who hadn't yet entered the city rushed in.

The people inside the city gate struggled to push forward, and the soldiers were unable to close the gate at all.

Chapter 3801 Charging into the City

Arrows rained down outside the city gates, attempting to repel the onrushing civilians.

Once the remaining residents have left and those inside the city gate have entered, the city gate can be closed quickly.

"The Han army is coming! Charge forward!"

The rain of arrows could not deter the people; they braved the arrows, their tents covered by felt, and charged forward recklessly.

Li Cunhui led his cavalrymen onto their horses. He and his deputy each led fifteen men, charging into the streets from different directions, shouting along the way: "The Han army has infiltrated the city! The Han army has infiltrated the city..."

At this very moment, Wang Cunli was blowing his horn to gather his troops, urging the soldiers scattered throughout the city to quickly regroup.

Li Cunhui and his men would kill any lone soldiers they encountered on the street.

After the killing, he immediately spurred his horse forward and continued to shout that the Han army had entered the city.

The streets were filled with civilians and livestock, as well as soldiers running about.

Hearing the shouts, the common people mistook Li Cunhui and his men for Ming soldiers and fled in panic.

More and more people were running around haphazardly, causing widespread panic in the city.

Those who had just entered the city experienced several hours of chaos.

After finally entering the city, and without even resting for a short while on the street, what would be the reaction if someone suddenly heard that the Ming army had entered the city?

People fled aimlessly, their minds blank, their bodies and minds shrouded in fear, having lost the ability to think.

Those who climbed over the wall and hid in civilian houses were considered rational; some even fled towards the city gate, seemingly because the Ming army was inside the city and they would be safe once they left the city gate.

In the end, Li Cunhui didn't even need to create chaos; the people of Western Xia were creating chaos on their own.

Influenced by the local people, the Western Xia soldiers had no idea how many enemies were inside the city; they genuinely believed that a large number of Ming troops had infiltrated the city.

At this time, the morning light was faint, and visibility was less than ten meters.

Wang Cunli looked at the increasingly chaotic city and heard the rumbling of horses' hooves approaching from outside the city.

His commander-in-chief was completely panicked. He actually led a few personal guards on horseback along the city wall ramp into the city, and then charged towards the east gate, slashing and killing along the way.

"Open the city gates!" Wang Cunli shouted in terror.

Without his order, soldiers and civilians had already opened the east gate.

The Yellow River flows outside the city gates, so the Ming army would not intercept them. Therefore, some rational soldiers and civilians chose to escape from there.

Wang Cunli, the father-in-law of the Western Xia emperor and commander-in-chief, abandoned more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians and fled.

He abandoned one-fifth of the population of Western Xia!

……

East of Huaizhou City, there is a ferry crossing on the Yellow River.

There are boats at the ferry crossing; one can escape to the east bank of the Yellow River.

If you travel south by boat, Jingzhou City is just a few dozen miles away.

Continuing south by boat from Jingzhou City, you will reach Lingzhou, which is heavily guarded by Ren Dejing's troops and will soon be surrounded by Deng Chun's 130,000-strong army!

Southward?

Or east?

Without much thought, Wang Cunli, who had escaped the city, took a boat east across the Yellow River to find Richard.

Although Richard was his political enemy, at this point, Wang Cunli still chose to believe in Richard's abilities.

Because he thought that Ren Dejing from the south was an idiot!

Wang Cunli is the biological father of the current Empress of Western Xia.

Ren Dejing was the biological father of the former Empress of Western Xia.

Although their daughters were about the same age, they were a generation apart, making their rivalry even fiercer as they were both relatives of the emperor.

Historically, Xiao Heda launched a rebellion.

Chapter 3802 Seizing the Ship

Wang Cunli was the first to lead troops to quell the rebellion, hoping to gain more power through military achievements, but he was defeated by Xiao Heda time and time again.

This gave Ren Dejing an opportunity, and he took over military power. He quickly dealt with Xiao Heda and gradually became a powerful minister in Western Xia.

Soldiers and civilians swarmed out of the east gate and rushed to the ferry to seize boats.

Wang Cunli, accompanied by a group of personal guards, rode his horse and slashed wildly with his sword, killing everyone who stood in his way. He finally managed to seize two boats and fled.

The nearby soldiers followed suit, indiscriminately killing civilians and seizing all the remaining boats.

With no boats available, the soldiers and civilians could only flee along the riverbank.

Fearing that Yue Fei would carry out a massacre, they fled in panic to save their lives, leaving without any food. It is estimated that many of them will starve to death on the way.

After crossing the river, Wang Cunli headed straight northeast, where Richard's troops were hiding.

After traversing the narrow farmland, a vast expanse of lush grassland stretches ahead.

By dusk, Wang Cunli was exhausted and hungry.

Fortunately, when crossing the Yellow River, there was some food on the boat, and water bags filled with Yellow River water.

After eating something, it got completely dark, and Wang Cunli lay down on the grass and fell asleep immediately.

He didn't sleep at all last night, but now he can fall asleep sitting on horseback.

The next day, he continued riding at breakneck speed.

The vegetation gradually became shorter and less dense, and by the afternoon, the area had become a semi-grassland and semi-desert.

After passing through this semi-desert zone, the grasslands ahead are slightly better, but only the local tribes know that desertification is getting worse year by year, and sand is gradually eating away at the grasslands.

This is largely related to overgrazing, but the real reason is the cooling climate and the continuous southward shift of the 400 mm isohyet.

Desertification began to intensify in the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty. The New Book of Tang clearly records that a terrible sandstorm in the second year of the Changqing era buried the famous Tongwan City wall.

“Woooooooo~~~”

"Stop!"

As the bugle sounded, hundreds of light cavalrymen who were grazing their livestock surrounded them.

This is where Richard Ge hid his troops. There is a semi-desert area on the outside, but grazing is still possible inside. Further north is the Mu Us Desert.

Several thousand head of livestock were temporarily kept here as food for Richard's cavalry.

Wang Cunli revealed his identity and asked, "Where is the Prince of Jin?"

The general who was left behind to guard the livestock said, "His Highness Prince Jin has led his troops to raid Yanzhou."

"Quickly send a few men to deliver the message that Huaizhou City is gone," Wang Cunli said anxiously.

Upon hearing this, the hundreds of cavalrymen left behind became even more anxious, as their families were all in Huaizhou!

The general was so enraged that he pulled Wang Cunli off his horse, grabbed Wang Cunli by the collar, and shouted angrily, "You scoundrel, how dare you come looking for us?"

“Since you took command of the troops, you have never won a single battle. All you know how to do is lead us to run away.”

"I fled from Longzhou to Youzhou, then from Youzhou to Yanzhou, and then followed you to Huaizhou."

"We finally got the Prince of Jin to lead us in a counterattack, but you've lost such a huge city as Huaizhou!"

Hundreds of cavalrymen dismounted and surrounded Wang Cunli and his personal guards.

"Kill him!" someone roared.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

More and more Western Xia cavalrymen shouted.

Wang Cunli pleaded in terror, "Please don't kill me! I am the Emperor's father-in-law, my daughter is the Empress... We haven't lost yet, Great Xia hasn't lost yet!"

Chapter 3803 The Sandstorm Arrives

"As long as the Prince of Jin launches a surprise attack and captures Yanzhou, this large enemy army will be cut off from supplies!"

"Don't kill me, you won't get away with it if you kill me..."

Just as everyone was debating whether or not to kill him, a strong wind suddenly blew up.

The wind grew stronger, whipping up countless grains of sand and dust.

"A sandstorm is coming! Quickly, get into Muliang and drive the livestock in too!"

The crowd threw down Wang Cunli and drove the livestock into the tent.

Dozens of miles to the south, in a semi-desert area, Li Yanxian's army also stopped marching.

The sandstorms were less intense there, but they were still unbearable, so everyone stopped to pitch tents and seek shelter.

.......

Further away in Yanzhou, Yao Pingzhong was hiding his troops inside the city.

When Wang Cunli was implementing a scorched-earth policy, he tore down several sections of the Yanzhou city wall.

This dilapidated city wall has not been repaired for decades, and the outer wall has been exposed to wind, rain and sun, and the plaster has long since begun to peel off automatically.

Just like quarrying stone, the craftsmen hammered iron drills into the rammed earth layers, and then smashed the drills vertically to destroy the city wall.

The gaps in the city wall that were torn down totaled two to three hundred meters in width.

This is also the source of Richard's confidence in raiding Yanzhou City!

He wouldn't dare lead his army to attack if the walls of Yanzhou were intact.

Richard had already found out that Li Yanxian had led his generals and elite troops on a march towards Huaizhou, 300 li away, and that the Ming army left to defend Yanzhou City was almost gone.

The sandstorm was getting stronger and stronger, and the Western Xia soldiers were feeling quite uncomfortable.

Richard ordered a temporary halt to the march and summoned the chieftains, saying, "This is Heaven and Buddha protecting us. A sandstorm has blown in to cover us. The enemy forces in Yanzhou must be unprepared. We can easily retake the city."