The greatest advantage of the Xixia Army is that it is resilient and does not retreat easily. If the army does not ring the retreat bell, the soldiers will often fight to the end. Although the first army attacked the city with nearly 50% casualties, the Xixia Army had no intention of retreating.
Siege ladders were set up on the city wall one after another, and people swarmed up the city. Rolling logs and stones fell like hail from the top of the city, and soldiers kept screaming and falling from the ladders.
The Xixia people had obviously learned their lesson. The first two rungs were replaced with iron rods so that they would not be cut off by the Song army's axes. However, they were greeted by spears and rolling logs and stones.
Xixia soldiers held up their shields and struggled to move up. When one soldier was knocked down, new soldiers immediately came up to replace him. The two sides fought fiercely on the top of the city, and the casualties continued to increase.
The arrows on the top of the city were still falling like raindrops. This was already the fifth round of thousands of arrows being fired. It was unknown how many Xixia soldiers died under the arrows.
Liu Cui watched coldly as the Xixia soldiers continued to gather under the city. The time was ripe, and he immediately ordered: "Throw wheat straw and kerosene!"
Buckets of black kerosene poured down the siege ladder, and the siege soldiers were splashed all over their faces. Some soldiers lit the kerosene with torches, and the entire siege ladder burned. Many soldiers on the ladder were instantly killed.
Burnt into flames, he screamed and jumped down from the siege ladder. More and more kerosene was poured down. The fire under the city became bigger and bigger, and its scope became wider and wider. Thousands of bundles of wheat straw were also thrown down. These wheat straws were thrown down.
The pile accelerated the fire.
More than 10,000 soldiers in the city screamed in fear and scrambled for their lives. They were crowded on the bridge. Many soldiers jumped directly into the moat, but the water surface of the moat also burned, and the smoke filled the air, making it suffocating.
Even the soldiers on the top of the city were choked by the thick smoke and couldn't open their eyes, but they were prepared in advance. The soldiers squatted down and covered their faces with wet towels.
Two thousand three hundred barrels of kerosene were dumped into the lower city, turning the entire city into a blazing hell. In fact, most of the soldiers were not burned to death, but suffocated by the thick smoke, trampled to death by other soldiers, and, of course, burned to death.
There were countless soldiers, and the smell of burnt corpses could be smelled from miles away.
All the Xixia soldiers were shocked. Wuyan Puluhun was also dumbfounded. When he saw countless burning soldiers struggling and wailing, an unprecedented sense of fear enveloped his heart. The previous confidence in his heart and his confidence in Song Dynasty
The military's contempt was completely burned away by the fire.
A tentative attack ended with the tragic death of 15,000 people, and only more than 4,000 people escaped, completely giving up the idea of Xixia Army and Jin soldiers attacking Xiping Mansion.
They can only use Xiping Mansion as bait like fishermen, and it depends on whether the Song army in the south will take the bait.
Ten days later, the transfer of all materials and people of the Song Army was completed, and the time was ripe to fight the Jin soldiers.
This morning, Jiang Guangyuan, the leader of the Xiazhou Qiang tribe, arrived with a hundred tribesmen. Chen Qing currently still has 27,000 Qiang cavalry in his team, led by Jiang Guangyuan's brother Jiang Wuming. The Qiang cavalry also suffered losses in several battles.
There were three thousand people.
However, Jiang Guangyuan did not come for the Qiang cavalry, but at Chen Qing's request, he recruited 30,000 Qiang soldiers from the Xixia army. These Qiang soldiers were originally from Xiao Heda's army and became Xixia prisoners of war, known as
Khitano, mines salt in the north.
Because the Xixia army was seriously insufficient, Brother Richard turned all the Khitan slaves into soldiers. The Qiang people have been paying attention to this army. Of course, they hope that the tribesmen will recall their tribes. The battlefield is ruthless. If the Qiang people do not want this army to be wiped out by Chen Qing, they will
You have to find a way to deal with it as soon as possible,
Jiang Guangyuan headed north shortly after arriving in Mingsha County. Chen Qing sent a thousand cavalry to escort them north. At the same time, Chen Qing also decided to march north to challenge the Jurchen army's cavalry.
Before dawn, Chen Qing personally led an army of 100,000 people and 10,000 camels to leave Mingsha County and headed towards Xiping Prefecture.
On the surface, Chen Qing only leads an army of 100,000, which is relatively small. But in fact, he also needs 50,000 troops from Xiping Prefecture, which is the same number as the enemy. The Xixia Army and Jin Bing currently have 180,000 troops, but
If the Qiang army is successfully instigated to rebel, the balance of army numbers will be reversed immediately.
The Song army fighting against the Jin soldiers this time was not cavalry, but 50,000 elite infantry. Each one was wearing armor, holding a large shield and a short spear, divided into a square formation of 50,000 people, and equipped with many weapons to deal with the kidnappers and horses.
The secret weapon of the Jurchen cavalry.
The infantry also rode northward. This battle can be said to be the most critical battle in the attack on Xixia. Whether or not the Jin soldiers can be defeated depends on this battle.
"General Yang, has your injury really healed?" Chen Qing asked Yang Zaixing with a smile.
Yang Zaixing patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "I have been recuperating for nearly two months. I am definitely recovered. The key is that my muscles and bones were not injured and the poisonous gas was removed. If I don't go to war, I will get moldy."
Everyone burst out laughing, and everyone understood Yang Zaixing's pain. Everyone was fighting with the Xixia army in the front, but Yang Zaixing was only recovering from his injuries in the rear. If it were them, they would have gone crazy.
This time Yang Zaixing, as deputy general, commanded 50,000 cavalry, but his task was not to fight the Jurchen army, but to fight the Xixia army and the Congjun army. This made Yang Zaixing quite regretful, but he had no choice but to fight the Jurchen army personally.
In a confrontation, no matter how much he has ideas, he must obey military orders.
Seeing that it was getting late, Chen Qing ordered: "The army will rest on the spot and set off at five o'clock tomorrow!"
One hundred thousand troops camped on the spot beside the Lingzhou River. Marching in Xixia, they must follow the river, otherwise they will be trapped in the vast Gobi Desert and easily encounter the crisis of water shortage.
As night fell, Jiang Guangyuan and his entourage returned under the escort of the Song army. Chen Qing immediately met the chief in the marching tent.
Jiang Guangyuan was about fifty years old, tall and tall. He was also a general of the Xixia army at first. Later, the Qiang people gradually parted ways with Xixia because they could not stand the cruel exploitation of the Xixia court. During Xiao Heda's rebellion, the Qiang people supported Xiao He
Daer completely turned against the Xixia court.
Jiang Guangyuan is currently the chief of the Xiazhou Qiang people and the leader of the Xixia Qiang people. He has high prestige among the Xixia Qiang people.
Chen Qing asked him to sit down and asked with a smile: "How was the conversation with the chief?"
Jiang Guangyuan smiled and nodded, "I used the Qiang people's unique method of communicating with smoke. That night, the Qiang general Asali came to see me. Their chief general was Murong Tao, and Asali was the deputy general. He actually commanded an army of 30,000 people. He
I am willing to obey the commander-in-chief's arrangements and lead his troops to defect in the face of battle."
"Is this Asali trustworthy?" Chen Qing asked again.
Jiang Guangyuan smiled and said: "He was originally an orphan. His parents died. I buried his parents for him, adopted him as an adopted son, and raised him to become the number one warrior of my tribe. I am his father."
"Then what can I use as evidence to make him obey my orders?"
Jiang Guangyuan handed a black stick wrapped in cloth to Chen Qing and said with a smile: "This is the Qiang Ling. It is specially made of wolf dung. It is easy to ignite. After it is lit, its smoke will rise in a straight line into the sky. Asa
Li could tell at a glance that after he led his army over, he would become Jiang Wuming's deputy general and obey the command of the Xuanfu envoy."
It turned out to be wolf dung. Chen Qing took it and asked, "Will the chief go back now?"
"I'll go back to Xiazhou directly!"
Jiang Guangyuan sighed again and said: "I have tried my best. If Asali has an accident and does not come over, the Xuanfu envoy will directly destroy them. I will have no complaints!"
"I will try my best. I will not take this step unless I have to."
Jiang Guangyuan thanked him repeatedly, said goodbye and left.
Before dawn the next day, the Song army set off north again. At noon, a Jurchen ranger cavalry finally discovered them and hurried back to report.
Wuyan Puluhun was already impatient with waiting. He finally received the news that the Song army was heading north. Chen Qing personally led the main army, which was only eighty miles away from him. This information made him ecstatic and immediately ordered the entire army to assemble.
The arrogance and pride of the Jurchens caused them to ignore the Xixia Army and the Xie Cong Army. They quickly assembled and 30,000 cavalry set off south.
Coach Li Kan also got the news and was so angry that he cursed the Jurchens for not cooperating. He also hurriedly led an army of 100,000 and Han Chang's 30,000 auxiliary troops to follow them south. Of course, the Xiping Mansion did not give up, and Li Kan ordered all the troops to be unified.
Murong Tao led 30,000 Qiang troops to continue the confrontation with the Song army in Xiping Prefecture.