The main general in the city is called Li Hanzhong, the second son of Jin King Richard. Although he is only in his twenties, he has repeatedly made military exploits in the war against Xiao Heda. He is recognized as a rising star in Xixia. He was killed by the city leader in his sleep. Awakened by the sound of sirens, his first reaction was that the main force of the Song Army was coming. He felt excited, stood up, walked to the door and shouted loudly: "Notify all soldiers to go to the city!"
Li Hanzhong himself was sleeping with his armor on. He put on his shoes and helmet and rushed out with his sword and spear.
In the military camp, four thousand Xixia soldiers quickly gathered, and a soldier rushed to report, "Reporting to the capital commander, there are enemy troops attacking the city outside the East City, and there are quite a lot of them!"
Li Hanzhong was stunned. It was outside the East City, not the West City? Where did the Song army come from?
"boom!"
There was a huge muffled sound, as if the whole city was shaking. Li Hanzhong's expression changed drastically, "Not good!"
He immediately got on his horse and ran towards the east gate with thousands of soldiers.
Arrows rained down from the top of the city. Thousands of Xixia soldiers fired arrows at the battering ram dozens of steps away. The battering ram was completely covered by shields and airtight. The shields were filled with arrows.
At this time, 10,000 Song Army cavalry fired arrows at the city head at the same time. The arrows shot towards the city head like a storm. The defenders on the city head were hit by arrows one after another, and there were screams. The powerful arrow rain suppressed the city head.
The soldiers of the battering ram ran, and the huge hammer head covered with pig iron hit the city gate hard. "Boom!" There was an extremely dull sound, the city door shook violently, and seven of the ten door bolts inside had broken.
"Come again!"
The battering ram soldiers stepped back dozens of steps. They shouted and ran forward again. The huge hammer head hit the city gate again. "Boom!" With a loud noise, the city gate was slammed open.
"Kill!"
Tang Qian roared with grief and anger, and led a thousand scouts into the city first. Yang Rui's death made him feel extremely painful and resentful, and his emotions exploded.
Later, Liu Qiong waved his sword and said, "Surge into the city, leaving no armor behind!"
Thirty thousand cavalry suddenly launched and rushed into the city.
All the people in Yingli County were evacuated and turned into a pure military city. All residential buildings were razed to the ground, and the city was quite spacious.
The soldiers of the Xixia Army were well-trained. A thousand soldiers transferred from Xicheng stood in formation in the city holding crossbows. When a thousand Song Dynasty scouts rushed into the city, a thousand military crossbows were fired at the same time. The Song Army scouts raised shields to greet them. , but dozens of people were still shot down by crossbows.
While running, the Song Army scouts simultaneously threw the fine steel short spears in their hands at the Xixia soldiers dozens of steps away. This fine steel short spears were a new weapon that the scouts had just equipped. They were only five feet long, or about one meter six. , weighs fifteen kilograms, suitable for use with one hand, holding a shield in the other hand, and can also be thrown to thrust. Within thirty steps, no shield or armor can withstand it.
Although Tang Qian was extremely angry, he did not lose his mind and did not destroy the previously agreed upon plan. He shouted, "Throw an assassination!"
More than 900 fine steel short spears were thrown at the Xixia crossbowmen thirty steps away. Hundreds of crossbowmen were pierced by the short spears and nailed to the ground. The Song army's scout soldiers immediately dodged and quickly headed north. He ran forward and gave up the battlefield to the cavalry behind him.
The thousands of cavalry at the front swept forward like a torrent, and the iron horses and spears instantly engulfed hundreds of Xixia soldiers. The cavalry did not stop, and continued to rush towards the four thousand Xixia soldiers a hundred steps away.
This was a battle without any suspense. Although the Xixia army was tenacious, the gap in strength was too great. Facing the elite cavalry of the Song army, the Xixia army only persisted for only a quarter of an hour before the entire army collapsed. Li Hanzhong, who was commanding the battle from behind, saw
The situation was not good, and he discovered that the opponent had the intention of taking his retreat. If he did not retreat, he would die here.
Li Hanzhong did not hesitate, turned his horse and fled first. His retreat further led to the defeat of the Xixia army. Thousands of Xixia soldiers cried for their fathers and mothers and ran desperately towards the west gate. The Song army's cavalry pursued and killed them mercilessly.
Pierce their backs and chop off their heads.
It was getting daylight, and the city was filled with the smell of blood. Only a few hundred of the 6,000 Xixia troops escaped, and the remaining 5,400 people were all killed, leaving no one alive.
This is an order issued by Chen Qing. This attack on Xixia is a battle to destroy the country. Unless the Dangxiang people can escape Xixia in time, the Dangxiang army and nobles will be slaughtered.
Tang Qian found Yang Rui's bloody corpse in the corner. He knelt in front of the corpse, tears streaming down his face. Yang Rui was his comrade and brother, but he died in the first fierce battle against Xixia.
"General Tang!"
The soldier reminded him: "Liu Tongzhi has something urgent to ask you."
Tang Qian nodded, stood up and said to the soldiers: "Cremate him, and we will take his bones back to his wife and children."
He wiped away his tears and quickly came to the city wall, clasped his fists to Liu Qiong and said, "I'm a bit out of character for my humble position."
Liu Qiong nodded, "Death on the battlefield is the fate of soldiers. We don't have to regret it."
"Thank you, Commander, for your enlightenment. I'm fine with my humble position now,"
Liu Qiong pointed to the west and said, "Did you see it? The beacon is lit!"
Tang Qian saw the black smoke in the distance, which was particularly eye-catching in the morning glow. He frowned and said, "That's Shatuo Pass. Who did they light the beacon to notify?"
"It should be to notify the defenders along the military road that we captured Yingli County and cut off their logistical supplies. Just now Wang Sima told me that he saw the supply records and that they should send supplies over the next two days, but the supply team has not yet
They were captured by us before setting off, and without supplies, they won't be able to hold on for long."
"Then how do they evacuate?"
"Either you can walk along the northern foot of Helan Mountain, and then cross the Helan Pass to reach the north of Xingqing Mansion. This road is very difficult to walk. More than half of it is desert. Without sufficient supplies, I am afraid that more than half of them will not survive.
"The other way is to go around the north of Yingli County. Unless we don't pursue them, they can retreat to Mingsha County to get supplies."
"How many troops will retreat?"
"There will be about 9,000 people coming one after another."
Tang Qian asked: "What about the ruler's opinion?"
Liu Qiong said slowly: "My current idea is not to worry about how the enemy retreats for the time being, but to carry out our main task. General Tang led an army of 10,000 to occupy the passes along Xiaoguan, especially Tagauzhai and Shangyikou.
These two passes are the most dangerous, so heavy troops must be stationed. Then I will lead 20,000 troops to guard Yingli County. As for supplies, I will sort them out immediately."
Tang Qian thought for a while and said: "What about Shatuo Pass? I think that after the Xixia army retreats, we need to occupy Shatuo Pass, otherwise our army will not be able to come from Lanzhou."
Liu Qiong nodded, "I will make arrangements, General Tang, don't worry."
At this time, Sima Wang Jian walked over quickly, clasped his fists and saluted: "Two generals, the inventory situation has been sorted out, which is very exciting. This is the opponent's inventory, which is very detailed and complete."
After saying that, he handed a thick inventory book to Liu Qiong. Liu Qiong was startled, "Why is it our writing?"
"There is one copy of the Chinese inventory and one copy of the Xixia inventory. I compared them and found they are basically consistent."
Liu Qiong looked at it carefully and smiled unexpectedly at Tang Qian: "They actually have eight thousand barrels of kerosene in stock, but they haven't used it."
"It's probably too late!"
At this time, the soldier suddenly pointed to the east and shouted: "There is smoke over there too!"
Liu Qiong and Tang Qian walked to the battlements and looked east. Only three wisps of smoke rose in the direction of Mingsha County. Then, the Xixia court would soon know that something had happened in Yingli County.