Lanzhou has gathered 200,000 troops, including 100,000 cavalry alone, 500,000 shi of grain, nearly one million dans of fodder, and countless various military supplies.
The reason why Chen Qing attacked Xixia from Lanzhou was mainly to use the Yellow River to transport grain and grass supplies. Ten years ago, in order to attack Xihe Road, Xixia mobilized 500,000 civilians to dig a military road along the Yellow River. This military road
It is about two feet wide and is very strong and can carry war horses and carts. It is hundreds of miles long. It starts from Mingsha County in the hinterland of Xixia and reaches Lanzhou directly.
In addition, the Xixia and Song armies have been at war for hundreds of years, and a lot of manpower and material resources have been spent on building hundreds of dangerous passes, large and small, at various passes in the Hengshan Mountains. They are all easy to defend and difficult to attack. If Chen Qing wanted to attack Xixia from the traditional Northern Shaanxi Road,
A heavy price must be paid for these passes accumulated over hundreds of years.
Therefore, based on various considerations, Chen Qing finally chose Lanzhou as the logistics center for dispatching troops. In this way, he successfully avoided the critical points of Xixia's century-old operation, discarded the historical baggage, and moved forward lightly.
But even if we set out from Lanzhou to attack Xixia, it is not easy. One is that the road is too far, and it takes thousands of miles to gradually approach the hinterland of Xixia.
Secondly, the Xixia Army will not sit back and wait for death. They will definitely gather heavy troops to intercept the Song Army along the way and occupy favorable terrain.
With the tenacity and resilience of the Xixia army, and the fact that they are at home, destroying Xixia will definitely be an extremely difficult task and a long process.
For Chen Qing, his combat strategy has always been a combination of good and strange. In addition to the normal dispatch of the main army, there must also be assisting strange troops.
That afternoon, Chen Qing had left Jingzhao and was on his way to Lanzhou. He was accompanied by thirty large ships carrying 10,000 barrels of kerosene, and two thousand cavalry on the shore to escort him.
Chen Qing's trip to Lanzhou this time was not for inspection, but to implement his first step in the Xixia strategy. His war preparations had been completed, defenses in various places were ready, and the time to attack Xixia was completely ripe.
Chen Qing stood on the bow of the first large ship with his hands behind his back. Behind him were more than two dozen soldiers and five civil servants, including Chao Qing and Zhong Huan. This time they would also participate in the war against Xixia.
The two of them were very excited.
Of course, the internal guards also mobilized five hundred elites to accompany them. They were deployed on the shore, ready to hunt down the wolves that moved after hearing the news.
This is also one of Chen Qing's goals. He travels in a high-profile manner, personally using himself as a bait to lure the assassins outside and eliminate them.
At this time, Wang Hao, the commander of the internal guards, stepped forward quickly and said: "To report to the capital, I have received an express message from my subordinates. They found that many people were following the ship, but my subordinates did not alert them."
Chen Qing looked at the sky. It was already dusk, and a red sun in the distance was slowly setting in the west.
"Where are we now?"
"We have now entered the territory of Chencang, and are still forty miles away from Chencang County."
Chen Qing nodded, "Pass my order, the fleet will dock, camp and rest on the spot, and we will leave at dawn tomorrow!"
The trackers pulled the cables and pulled the large ships to the shore. The cavalry began to set up marching tents. The soldiers buried pots and cooked rice. They were very busy.
At this time, twenty miles away from where the fleet was anchored, a team of 300 Heijintang warriors were parked in a forest, waiting patiently for darkness.
Xixia's intelligence station received internal information. Chen Qing's trip to Lanzhou this time lasted for two months. If it was just a patrol, it would not take such a long time. This was obviously an offensive against Xixia.
Under the pressure of a strong sense of crisis, Murong Wenshu decided to abandon the assassination plan in the palace and instead assassinate in the wild. Although it was very difficult, they had no choice.
At this time, a subordinate rushed over to report, "Report to the Hall Master, the fleet has been stationed, just twenty miles away from us. The spies from the trackers sent news that Chen Qing was on the first big ship. He saw it with his own eyes. What I saw was that I didn’t even get off the boat.”
Murong Wenshu nodded, tonight is their last chance. When Chen Qing arrives in Chengji County tomorrow, he will definitely switch to riding horses or camels, and then they will have no chance.
"Command the brothers to rest on the spot, we will set off at the first watch!"
As night fell, Chen Qing sat in the main cabin and looked at the large map. He drew a circle on Yingli County on the map. Yingli County is located seventy miles west of Mingsha County, where the Yellow River enters the Ningxia Plain. It has become very wide. There are nine ferries here to cross the Yellow River, so it is called the Nine Degrees of the Yellow River. More importantly, Yingli County is also a large logistics city for the Xixia Army. It was built to be used as a logistics city, so the city is strong. Tall, easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is an ideal bridgehead for attacking Xixia.
The first battle in the attack on Xixia is to capture this bridgehead, otherwise there will be no need to discuss anything else.
But how easy is it to capture this bridgehead? According to the news from the scouts, Xixia deployed at least 15,000 troops along the western military road to intercept, especially at Shatuo Pass, fifty miles west of Yingli County. Six thousand troops, there is a pass city in a very dangerous terrain. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It can be said that one man can guard the pass and ten thousand can not open it.
Zhang Xiao, who was sitting opposite, pointed to the Hulu River on the map with a wooden pole and said with a smile: "The key is here. When does Xuanfu think they can arrive?"
Chen Qing shook his head and said: "I don't know, I just hope that when I arrive in Lanzhou, they will also arrive!"
This time, 200,000 troops gathered in Lanzhou, and most of the military headquarters also moved to Lanzhou. Sima Zhang Xiao also followed Chen Qing. He was not only the chief military officer, but also Chen Qing's military advisor in the conquest of Xixia.
At this time, Wang Hao walked in quickly and said: "I'm reporting to the capital, the other party has already set off, and I'm ready to close the net!"
Chen Qing nodded, "What's going on over there in the Kingdom of Jin?"
Wang Hao shook his head, "So far, Beizhong's men have not found the Jin Kingdom assassins, but Li Toutuo is still in Jingzhao, and there is no movement. Beizhong suspects that they have a tacit understanding with Heijintang. This time, Black Jintang will dispatch all of them, and they will not Come take a dip in this muddy water."
Chen Qing gave him a meaningful look and said, "Do you still believe in Li Toutuo?"
Wang Hao was startled, then he hesitated and said: "I don't understand what I'm doing, I beg you to make it clear!"
Chen Qing smiled and said: "You underestimate the other party too much. The Jin Kingdom has been hiding for a year without being discovered by the internal guards. How can they be easy to deal with? Lin Jianqing and Li Toutuo are just deceptions thrown by the other party. , let us focus on them, the intelligence chief of the Jin Kingdom is actually someone else."
Speaking of this, Chen Qing walked to the window and looked at the faintly visible Chencang County in the distance, and said lightly: "This is called building a plank road in the open and crossing Chencang secretly!"
"Ah!" Wang Hao was so shocked that he opened his mouth and couldn't say a word for a long time.
Next to him, Zhong Huan's face turned red. Only now did he understand that Li Toutuo's use of Lin Jianqing was a trap from the beginning. The real mastermind behind it used the relationship between Li Toutuo and Lin Jianqing to attract them all. It turned out how stupid he was.
Zhong Huan stepped forward and bowed: "You are humble and stupid, and you fell into the opponent's plan!"
Chen Qing smiled and said: "You are not stupid, but the other party is smart. But if you don't fall into the other party's trap, how can I let the other party fall into my trap?
If my guess is correct, the Jin Kingdom will definitely vigorously defend the east bank of the Yellow River, and Xixia must also think that Liu Qiong and Tang Qian's 30,000 troops went north to attack Hedong and divert the Jin soldiers to reinforce Xixia."
Wang Haoruo realized something, "Could it be that there are really spies in the Jin Kingdom lurking around Dutong?"