The battles in the other three cities ended on the first day. The battles were far less brutal than those in Dingzhou. The defenders of Jingzhou even surrendered without a fight. The gates of Huaizhou were knocked open by battering rams, and the defenders inside the city were destroyed. After killing more than 2,000 people, all the remaining soldiers surrendered.
Shunzhou City was captured by the Song army using a siege ladder. The two sides fought fiercely in the city. Five thousand Xixia soldiers defending the city were killed. The general was killed. The remaining five thousand people surrendered to the Song army under the leadership of the deputy general.
After solving the four cities, Chen Qing immediately led more than 200,000 troops to continue northward. That night, the army arrived at Xingqing Mansion and began to camp overnight.
Brother Richard stood at the top of the city with anxiety, looking at the overwhelming torches outside the city, forming a spectacular sea of fire.
Early the next morning, the outside of the city seemed to be covered with giant mushrooms overnight. Two hundred thousand troops surrounded Xingqing Mansion. The Song army's military camp consisted of a large tent, a barracks and a sentry tower. Among them, there were four city gates. A heavy army was deployed about three miles away from the city wall.
After losing Li Yanwu's 20,000 troops in the city, there were only more than 80,000 troops left in the city, including 60,000 Xixia troops and 20,000 auxiliary troops, as well as 3,000 Jurchen cavalry. Wuyan Puluhun only brought one Ten thousand Jurchen cavalrymen put three thousand pieces in Xingqing Mansion.
At dawn, Chen Qing, surrounded by dozens of generals, came to inspect Xingqing City.
Xingqing City is worthy of being the capital city. It is completely different from other Xixia cities. It is made of large green bricks. The city wall is three feet high and extremely strong. There is a moat around it. There are so many defenders on the city head that it is extremely difficult to capture it. It's easy. Even if they break into the city, the street fighting will be extremely bloody.
In order to conquer Xixia, his army had paid a total of 50,000 casualties, which was unprecedented. The final battle of the capital also had to pay a heavy price, and there was no way to avoid it.
Chen Qing pointed at Xingqing City with his riding crop and asked loudly: "General Cao, does Xingqing City have no weaknesses?"
Cao Baozong said calmly: "Originally there was no weakness, but Li Kan was too stupid and created a weakness out of nowhere."
Chen Qing said happily: "I would like to hear the details!"
"My father was once the prime minister of the Western Xia Dynasty. When I was studying the art of war, I asked my father why Xingqing Mansion didn't build a moat? I accused the court of not knowing military affairs, but my father said that I was talking about war on paper!"
The generals next to him all laughed. His father was absolutely right. Cao Baozong was just talking on paper. He was finally defeated by the Song army and became a prisoner of war himself.
Chen Qingxiao asked: "I'm very interested, why can't we build the moat?"
"My father said that because the land below Xingqing Mansion is sandy and very afraid of water, if we build a moat, over time, the sand below will be slowly hollowed out, and eventually the city wall will collapse."
Chen Qing shook his head, "It will take a year or two to empty out, and we can't afford to wait."
Cao Baozong said quickly: "What I mean is that the soil below is soft and the foundation is not solid. Now it has been soaked in water and the foundation is even more unstable. Therefore, even though the city wall seems to be very strong, it is only on the surface. The inside may have been damaged." It's torn apart. Since the capital has brought a heavy trebuchet, we might as well give it a try and attack the city wall."
Cao Baozong's suggestion was very valuable and indeed worth trying. Chen Qing asked again: "Is there a trebuchet in the city?"
Cao Baozong smiled and shook his head, "The people who can make trebuchets are all in the refugee camp behind Geta Village. Brother Richard didn't think well and cleared the aliens out of the city. As a result, hundreds of Han craftsmen were also driven out of the city. Wait. By the time I realized it, it was already too late. I was so angry that Li Kan cursed Brother Richard every day. I guess Brother Richard has woken up now."
"Are there no blueprints in the weapons prison?" Chen Qing asked again.
"Li Kan searched for it, but couldn't find the blueprint. The blueprint should be in Xiazhou, and the court has no backup blueprint."
"Why?"
"Everyone knows something. Xixia is different from the Song Dynasty. Paper in Xixia is very expensive. It is impractical for Xixia to store a large number of documents. Therefore, unlike the Song Dynasty, there will be spare drawings. Xixia only has one set of all weapon drawings. Some of them are in Xingqing Mansion, and some are in Xingqing Mansion. In Xiazhou, generally large-scale weapons are made in Xiazhou, and the blueprints are also placed in Xiazhou.
After wiping out Xiao Heda and rushing into Xiazhou City, the Xixia army was overly excited. After looting the property, Xiao Heda's pseudo-palace in Xiazhou was burned to the ground. A large number of documents were also burned, and the drawings of large weapons such as trebuchets should be burned. It’s all in it.”
Everyone looked at each other, how could something like this happen?
Cao Baozong gave a wry smile and said: "Li Qianshun was fine in his early years. He worked hard to govern and greatly improved the national power of Xixia. However, as he got older, especially in the past ten years, he was very greedy for pleasure and indulged in drinking and sex all day long. The government became increasingly corrupt and the national power was reduced." It is in decline. There is no money to build various large-scale defense weapons. Officials are extremely corrupt. Even if money is allocated, it will be embezzled by various means.
Therefore, there are no large-scale defensive weapons in the city, only bows and arrows, rolling wood and stones, no gunpowder, and no kerosene. The inventory has been exhausted, and there is no money to replenish it. I am the Privy Council, and I know very well what the situation is in the city. "
Chen Qing nodded and smiled: "Now we know what to do, let's assemble the heavy trebuchet first."
"What about the battering ram?"
“I don’t know if we won’t need it in the end, so let’s assemble them all together!”
Chen Qing stopped patrolling and turned his horse's head back to the camp.
On the top of the city, Brother Richard looked at Chen Qing and his generals from a distance. He vaguely recognized Cao Baozong. His groveling look really made Brother Richard grit his teeth. This bastard actually surrendered to the Song army.
Needless to say, the tall general surrounded by everyone should be Chen Qing, the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi, the commander in chief of the attack on Xixia, and the biggest enemy of Xixia since its founding.
Of course, when Xixia was powerful a few decades ago, it was not the turn of small local warlords like Chen Qing to point fingers at Xixia. It was only in the past two years that Xixia's national power declined severely and its military resources were scarce, which made Chen Qing so rampant.
If Brother Richard learns that even Xiao Heda's rebellion was instigated by Chen Qing, I really don't know how he would feel?
At this time, Li Yanwu stepped forward and whispered: "Your Majesty, I have an idea!"
Brother Richard valued Li Yanwu very highly. Although Li Yanwu fell into the trap this time and almost the entire army was destroyed, Brother Richard did not blame him, but excused him. This really moved Li Yanwu so much that he was willing to die for Brother Richard.
Brother Richard nodded, "What do you suggest?"
"I am willing to lead an army to attack the Song army at night and burn them with fire. Even if I cannot defeat them, I can still severely damage their morale."
Brother Richard narrowed his eyes and said, "What kind of army do you want to lead to attack the military camp at night?"
Li Yanwu said solemnly: "I want to lead the Iron Harriers to fight. If I can bring three thousand Jurchen cavalry, I will be more confident."
Brother Richard was silent in thought. The Iron Harriers and Jurchen cavalry were used by him when he broke out of the siege. Of course he would not coexist with Xingqing Mansion. Once Xingqing Mansion fell, he would definitely retreat to Datong Mansion, so Iron Harriers were heavily armored. The cavalry and the three thousand Jurchen cavalry were what he used to break through the Song army's encirclement.
Unexpectedly, Li Yanwu was interested in them, which made Brother Richard feel a little unhappy.
Brother Richard suddenly thought, it couldn't be Li Yanwu who wanted to break out of the encirclement! He used the night attack on the Song camp as an excuse. Brother Richard knew very well that the Iron Kites were a very popular army wherever they went. Once they surrendered to the Jin Kingdom, Li Yanwu would be the same.
He will be reused, especially if he breaks out with the Jurchen cavalry, the Kingdom of Jin will value him even more.
With suspicion in his heart, Brother Richard would not hand over these two armies to Li Yanwu. He smiled and said: "Don't be impatient for a while, let me think about it!"
Li Yanwu heard that Brother Richard was not willing. He became anxious and said quickly: "The iron kite cannot exert its power in street fighting in the city. It is more suitable for assaulting the camp. Your Majesty, please hand them over to Beizhi! Let Beizhi attack the camp fiercely."
Make a camp."
Brother Richard thought for a while and said: "I have special uses for the Iron Kites and Jurchen cavalry, so be it! I will give you five thousand bodyguard cavalry, equally elite, and tonight you take them to destroy the morale of the Song army."
Li Yanwu was stunned for a moment, feeling really disappointed. He had no choice but to bow and say: "I will definitely live up to the prince's trust in my humble position!"
