The Song soldiers watched Zhang Dingbian climb up the cliff on the other side and cheered. Liu Cui immediately ordered: "Bring a trebuchet over here!"
A dozen soldiers brought over a small trebuchet and the preparations were quickly completed.
"Launch!" Liu Cui ordered, and with a sound of 'Bang!', the trebuchet launched a stone tied with a long rope, and it landed far away on the opposite side of the cliff.
Zhang Dingbian picked up the rope, tied it to the rock, and threw three ropes in a row to make a simple rope bridge across the river. Dozens of soldiers and craftsmen began to climb the ropes to cross the cliff.
By dusk, the first iron cable had appeared over the cliff.
Chen Qing led an army of 100,000 people all the way eastward. Perhaps because they were in the northwest, the Western Army had more horses. Even the infantry marched long distances on horseback. The army of 100,000 people marched on horseback, and their requirements for forage were relatively high, so
There are large forage warehouses in various states and counties on Xihe Road and Shaanxi Road, which are managed by dedicated personnel, which solves the needs of the march.
On this morning, the army passed through Quwu Mountain from Tonghui Fort. Quwu Mountain stretches from Xixia to Song Dynasty and is thousands of miles long. Its remaining line is the Longshan Mountains, which divides the entire northwest into two parts. To the east is Shaanxi
To the west of the road is Xihe Road. There are countless passes on the mountains that stretch for thousands of miles. Some passes can pass mules, horses and even carts. The strategic value of such passes is very high.
After passing Quwu Mountain, they entered Xi'an Prefecture. The army rested for a day in Haiyuan County and continued westward the next day. Two days later, the army finally arrived at Xiaoguan.
Tang Qian led two thousand soldiers to clean up Xiaoguan. The rubble was cleaned up and the dead grass was pulled out. The entire Xiaoguan looked less dilapidated than before. It only needs a little repair to restore Xiaoguan to its original appearance.
One hundred thousand troops took a break at Xiaoguan. Chen Qing led a group of generals under the leadership of Tang Qian to inspect the Xiaoguan Pass. Xiaoguan was actually part of the Sui Great Wall, but there was a canyon pass where horses and carts could pass.
, Xiaoguan was built in this canyon, gradually forming a group of passes, becoming the only way to go from south to north, and the Qinzhidao, which spans thousands of years, has brought great convenience to Xiaoguan.
"What's going on in Xixia now?" Chen Qing asked.
"There was no movement in Yingli County, but our scouts discovered that 15,000 Xixia troops were stationed in Mingsha County."
Chen Qing nodded, "There are a lot of people, what do they want to do?"
"I guess Brother Richard wants to use this army to contain our main force and buy him time to recruit troops. I got the news that various places in Xixia are forcibly recruiting troops. The situation is very chaotic."
"Can these fifteen thousand people contain our main force?" Chen Qing asked again with a smile.
Tang Qian shook his head, "The terrain is all plain. I think it's unlikely. The most they can do is cut off our food route. I guess the other party has this idea as well."
Next to him, Sima Zhang Xiao asked: "How is the defense of Mingsha County?"
"Reporting back to Sima, Mingsha County as a whole is not as good as Yingli County. It is only a little over two feet tall and the city has a circumference of twenty miles. It is relatively strong and strong, but it is a bit old. We caught a spy. The commander of the city is called Shang Dongyan.
Tubo people.”
Zhang Xiao pondered for a moment and said: "I have heard of this Shang Dongyan. He was originally Cao Baozong's deputy general. He urged Cao Baozong not to go south through Gongzhou, but the two fell out. This Shang Dongyan has a good reputation among Xixia soldiers.
It should be a strong enemy, and our understanding of Xixia is far less than that of the Xixia people. There must be a reason why they are stationed in Mingsha County. The Xuanfu envoys must not underestimate the enemy."
Tang Qian blushed, obviously Sima was saying that he underestimated the enemy.
Chen Qing said calmly: "If Zhang Sima has anything to say, just say it, don't worry!"
Zhang Xiao glanced at Tang Qian and said bluntly: "I think that General Tang should not appear in Xiaoguan. There are a series of dangerous passes to the north. General Tang should be stationed there and be alert to the Xixia Army's counterattack at all times. But General Tang Obviously he underestimated the enemy, thinking that there would be troops stationed there and nothing would happen. However, this Shang Dongyan is from Tubo and has little status among Xixia people, but he was able to take orders in times of danger, which shows that he is a man of real ability."
Yang Zaixing also said on the side: "Sima is right, if Shang Dongyan did not have special abilities, Brother Richard would not use him at this critical moment."
Tang Qian's face flushed, and he bowed and said: "I know my fault in my humble position, so hurry back to Geta Village now!"
Valley
Chen Qing nodded, "Go quickly!"
Tang Qian did not dare to neglect and led two thousand soldiers to rush to the reward port eighty miles away.
Chen Qing ordered the army to rest for a day at Xiaoguan. At five o'clock the next day, the army had breakfast and prepared to set off.
At this moment, former army commander Yang Zaixing hurried over, followed by a reporting soldier.
"Du Tong, it seems something really happened up front!"
Chen Qing was startled and asked: "What happened?"
The messenger knelt down on one knee and reported, "To report to the capital, Geeta Village has been lost and was taken away by the Xixia Army in a sneak attack. General Tang is leading his army to attack."
Chen Qing's fists clenched tightly. Sure enough, he underestimated the enemy and something happened.
Cuta Village is the last pass of Xiaoguandao in Xixia, and it is also the most dangerous pass. If this pass cannot be conquered and the southwest military road to Lanzhou cannot be repaired, then the Song Army in Yingli County will have no choice but to Abandoning the county seat and retreating to Hexi through the desert meant that Chen Qing's plan to attack Xixia failed.
Shang Dongyan was good at strategy. He sent a dead soldier to pretend to be a spy to investigate the situation of the Song Army. He was caught by the Song Army scouts. Unable to withstand the torture, he explained the situation in Mingsha County, which was basically true, but Shang Dongyan lied about the most critical thing. Shang Dongyan's goal was not to cut off the Song army's logistics, but to recapture the two dangerous passes of Cuta Village and Shangyikou.
On the one hand, he ordered Li Ke to continuously send spies to explore the situation in Yingli County, and at the same time, he built beacons on the north bank of the Yellow River, pretending to cut off the Song army's logistics. However, he himself led five thousand elites to quietly leave Mingsha County at night. Went to Weizhou.
Weizhou is located fifty miles west of Cuta Village. It is already an empty city with no troops stationed. He led his army up the mountain behind Weizhou and followed a mountain trail.
This trail leads directly to the east side of Cuta Village. Twenty years ago, Shang Dongyan, who was still a general, led a thousand troops to the back of Tong Guan's army and burned the grain and grass supplies of the Song army. The 10,000 Song troops who set foot on the stronghold had to retreat southward and failed. This was one of the reasons for Tong Guan's defeat.
Luo Jin, commanded by the general, led 2,000 troops to guard Gaota Village. Tang Qian did not notice the Xixia army coming from Mingsha County, so he underestimated the enemy and led 3,000 troops to Xiaoguan to welcome the arrival of the commander-in-chief Chen Qing.
The general underestimated the enemy, and Luo Jin also underestimated the enemy. He never expected that the Xixia army would come from behind. He was attacked by the Xixia army and entered the camp. Two thousand Song troops were defeated and suffered heavy casualties. Unfortunately, the general Luo Jin was killed in battle, and the remaining few Hundreds of soldiers were forced to abandon Geeta Village and retreat to Yingli County.
At this time, Tang Qian regretted greatly that he had lost the Cuta stronghold, but he found that the stronghold was so difficult to attack. He led 6,000 soldiers to attack desperately for a whole day, with nearly half of the casualties, but still no gains.
In the evening, Chen Qing led the army to the foot of the Getazhai Mountain. Tang Qian, naked to the waist, came to apologize.
"Being humble and underestimating the enemy is a crime worthy of death. I am here to apologize!"
Chen Qing nodded, "Put on your clothes and armor first. You have made a mistake, but it is not a crime. You don't have to be naked!"
Tang Qian put on his armor and knelt down to accept his resignation. Chen Qing then said: "You underestimated the enemy and lost control of Geta Village. The soldiers suffered heavy casualties and the general died in battle. In accordance with military regulations, I will demote you two levels to the rank of general."
"Thank you, Dutong, for not killing me!"
"If you step back first, it will give you a chance to make atonement."
Tang Qian retreated, and Chen Qing looked at the surrounding terrain. This area belonged to Duoling, with Shangyikou to the south and Geta Village to the north. Between them was a valley dozens of miles wide, with large areas of
woods and rivers.
Tagezhai is located on a steep mountain. The Xixia army dug stones into the mountain and built a winding winding mountain road, which can be used by mules, horses and carts. The winding mountain road is not afraid, but the difficulty is that the mountain is too high and steep. Xixia
The army set up checkpoints at every level and attacked step by step. The cost of casualties was too high.