"This time, your mission is to open up a road so that our army can quickly reach the Xinzhou battlefield, rather than necessarily attacking any city."
After saying a few words, Su Shi simply refused to comfort him, but changed his voice and said: "Captain Hu, can you ensure that this road is blocked, so that no Liao soldiers and Mongolian soldiers will spread the news of our presence here?
Are you going to Xinzhou?"
Sure enough, when the topic was changed, Hu Yunfeng immediately answered energetically, "Yes. Our people not only guarded the official roads, but also arranged people on some nearby trails. No one can try to spread the news from us.
go out."
"Okay, that's enough." Su Shi nodded with satisfaction.
He also knew that it was impossible to completely block the news of the army passing by.
The land bordering Liao and Song was too vast to be sealed off.
But as long as the news is not transmitted from Feihu City, he has room to operate.
Su Shi was just trying to make time.
It is necessary to take advantage of the fact that the Liao army has not yet understood its true fighting intention and mobilized the army outside Xincheng.
He had received accurate information and the Western Army was determined to send troops.
But only sending 100,000 troops, which still somewhat disappointed Su Shi.
It was originally thought that the Western Army could send 200,000 troops, so that the next Battle of Xinzhou would be fought.
But if it is only 100,000 people, it is still too few. By the way, the Western Army should not know the news that the Mongolian Army and the Xixia Army have increased their troops by a total of 100,000.
Think about it, the three tribes have increased their troops by 100,000. If we add their more than 200,000 troops in Xincheng, that's more than 300,000 people.
On the other hand, in the Song Dynasty, there were still tens of thousands of people in Xincheng, and Huang Gao on the periphery.
If the 50,000 reinforcements led by Yi Suo are counted as the 100,000 reinforcements from the Western Army, they will only be just over 200,000.
If you want to use this power to fight against the more than 300,000 and nearly 400,000 people from the three tribes, the military strength is still far behind.
At this time, the 110,000 troops led by Su Shi became extremely important.
Su Shi analyzed in his mind.
In fact, he is the only one who knows the situation on the battlefield best.
No one else is as aware of the opponent's military strength as Su Shi is.
This is the benefit of timely communication.
Looking back to the east, Su Shi said to himself: "There are still three days. In three days, the main army will retreat and come to Feihu City. They will join the battle of Xinzhou. Can they win?"
Su Shi can provide everyone with the most sophisticated equipment and the best food, but other than that, he can't do much.
At least he can't conjure an army.
And this time, together with himself, the Song Dynasty also invested more than 300,000 troops. If the Battle of Xincheng was really defeated, the Song Dynasty would really be seriously injured. As a result, I am afraid that the entire northern border will fall into
into danger.
On the other hand, the three tribes are the invaders.
Even if they lose, they can only spit out some benefits, but they can't shake their foundation.
By comparison, the importance of this battle to the Song Dynasty is obvious.
"What a pity." Su Shi looked far away in the direction of Bianliang City and said: "The officials are still not decisive enough. If we could send 300,000 forbidden troops at this time. No! Even if we send 100,000 forbidden troops, this battle would be much easier to fight.
It's a pity that the timid Zhao Zhen will not spend too much money on this battle.
Even if Zhao Zhen is willing, I am afraid that the gentlemen in the court will not agree.
.
Perhaps in the eyes of many people, even if they lose this battle, they still have no way to retreat. The worst they can do is move their capital to the South.
But if the imperial guards are sent out and the battle is defeated, then it will be difficult to gain a foothold in the Southland.
"Human, sometimes there is no way out. When there are more ways out, there are more things to worry about."
After Su Shi said this in his heart, he looked in the direction of Xinzhou again. At this moment, his eyes seemed to see the scene of a bloody battle, and saw the scene of numerous bones on the ground.
...
At the end of September in the sixth year of Qingli.
In the Xinzhou area, the weather was obviously cooler in the morning and night.
Winter is coming soon.
The war is about to begin.
Di Qing led 100,000 Western troops, including 30,000 cavalry and 70,000 infantry, to the outside of Tuhe Village in the west direction of Xinzhou.
In Tuhe Village not far away, soldiers from the three tribes were stationed here, as if they wanted to isolate them from the outside world.
Di Qing ordered the army to rest where they were, and then called two deputy generals, He Kun and Lu Zifei.
"General He Kun, I asked you to contact General Huang Gaoyi at Chitangguan. Is there any news?" Di Qing asked as he sat with his back against a big tree.
"The news has come back. General Huang said that he will cooperate with us in fighting. As long as we reach Xincheng, he will immediately send troops to respond." He Kun replied with a cold face.
"Oh? They don't have confidence in us. They want to take advantage of the existing achievements." After hearing this, Di Qing immediately knew what Huang Gaoyi was up to, and his face looked a little ugly.
Because of his ugly face, the tattoo on his face looked much more ferocious at this moment.
"Yes, he is
I think so." He Kun nodded heavily, seeming to agree with this statement.
"It doesn't matter." Di Qing quickly calmed down and said proactively: "General Huang has never dealt with our Western Army before, so it is normal for him to look down on us, but it doesn't matter, we will use practical actions to tell them how powerful our Western Army is.
.”
"General, you still need to think carefully. If it doesn't work, just don't count the fifty thousand horses." Lu Zifei, who had been silent for the whole time, spoke.
"Yes, that doesn't count them. But in this way, we only use 100,000 people, but there are as many as 270,000 troops from the three tribes surrounding Xincheng. In this way, we are under great pressure.
" Di Qing glanced at Lu Zifei and nodded, and then fell into deep thought.
One hundred thousand versus two hundred and seventy thousand, not only is the pressure high, it is also extremely stressful.
If it were another general, he might just give up.
But he was Di Qing. He had been in the army for many years and he didn't know what it meant to be afraid.
"One hundred thousand is enough, everyone must have confidence. Besides, General Wang Xin is a man who knows how to fight. As long as we appear outside the city and let him see us, he will definitely send troops to help. In this way, we
We have at least 60,000 to 70,000 reinforcements. If we cooperate internally and externally, we may not have no chance of winning."
Di Qing spoke again, not knowing whether to cheer up the two lieutenants or himself.
After saying this, he began to assign tasks.
He Kun led 30,000 infantrymen to attack from the west.
Lu Zifei led 40,000 infantrymen to attack from the east.
Di Qing himself led 30,000 cavalry forward from the center.
"Two generals
, we will fight this battle as if there are no reinforcements, and we must fight fiercely to boost the morale of our Western Army. As long as we reach the outside of Xincheng, General Wang Xin in the city will send troops to join us.
When our two armies are united, we will have more confidence. Whether to retreat or rely on Xincheng to defend will be based on the changes in the battlefield situation."
"Please rest assured, general, we will fight to the end and never retreat."
He Kun and Lu Zifei also spoke with serious expressions at this moment.
"Okay, take a rest. In half an hour, I will lead the cavalry to attack Tuhe Village first. In the meantime, you will move to the left and right, and we will advance together." Di Qing issued a military order in the name of the general of a hundred thousand troops.
.
Despite the heavy traffic, everyone was only given half an hour to rest. This shows the strong military quality of the Western Army.
It's a pity that Di Qing didn't know that the Mongolian Army and the Xixia Army had also arrived with 100,000 reinforcements. At this time, they were all in place and hidden in the dark, waiting for their arrival.
On the battlefield, if the enemy's intelligence is unclear, it means losing the upper hand.
Half an hour passed by in a blink of an eye. Di Qing got on the horse and spat out a simple and neat word "kill", followed by 30,000 Song Dynasty cavalry who followed him and killed each other towards the Tuhe stronghold on the opposite side.
At this time, it was almost dusk.
In Tuhe Village, there are 3,000 infantry battalion soldiers and horses arranged by the Liao soldiers.
They originally knew that they could not defend this place, but they still sent troops to defend it. The purpose was to give the reinforcements of the Western Army of the Song Dynasty the illusion that they were vulnerable.
In this way, the Western Army of the Song Dynasty would be able to advance straight in and
It is possible that he fell into a trap set by the three tribes.
Otherwise, there is no intention of blocking, but it will make people suspicious. If the 100,000 Song Dynasty Western Army stops moving like Huang Gaoyi, then they will need to make great efforts to build an encirclement on the outside, and there will be too many variables.
Already.
The three thousand Liao soldiers guarding the stronghold were prepared to retreat if this place was breached.
But they didn't expect that the Song army would launch an attack at this time.
Ordinarily, after traveling thousands of miles away, shouldn’t you take a good rest first?
Normally, the war would start early tomorrow morning. Why do you start sending out troops when it's almost dark?
Di Qing's sudden attack caught the 3,000 Liao soldiers by surprise. Some soldiers were preparing for a late dinner. At this time, the Song army came over and killed them. They still used 30,000 cavalry against 3,000 infantry. The Liao soldiers were the first line of defense outside.
It had almost no blocking effect and was directly broken through.
"Kill! Enter the stronghold, we don't need prisoners." Di Qing jumped into the stronghold, stretched out his spear, and shouted loudly.
He just wanted to launch an attack when it was dark, so that the battlefield would appear very chaotic. Only in this way could he achieve the maximum killing effect with the minimum number of troops.
With three thousand Liao soldiers, the first line of defense was lost. Before the second line of defense could be established, Di Qing led his men into the stronghold and began to slaughter them.
The Western Army of the Song Dynasty attacked.
The news spread quickly around.
Huang Gaoyi, who was guarding Chitang Pass, learned the news.
All his generals also came to him and began to assemble.
"Why are you so anxious? It's just the beginning of the war. Let's all go back and have a good rest. How can we fight without rest?"
Done
Waving his hands and repelling the generals, Huang Gaoyi held his chin in thought alone.
The Western Army only came with 100,000 reinforcements, which made him a little disappointed.