Niu Gao placed his command and logistics center in Xiurong County. Xiurong County had a small population of only 20,000 people, but the county town was very large. The city wall was more than 30 miles in circumference and could easily station 50,000 people.
Niu Gao originally thought that he would encounter Khitan reinforcements when he entered Chitang Pass, but he did not expect that the main force of the opponent had not even entered Xinzhou.
This made Niu Gao a little strange, and he immediately asked the deputy general Wang Jingfeng who had surrendered to the enemy.
Wang Jingfeng sighed and said: "This Khitan cavalry should have arrived in Xiurong County three days ago, but they took their time and did not want to rescue us at all."
"Are these Khitan cavalry discriminating against you?"
"Discrimination is a little bit there, but it's not the main reason."
"Then what's the main reason?" Niu Gao asked again.
Wang Jingfeng smiled bitterly and said: "Actually, we all know the reason. They are afraid that after entering Xinzhou, the Song army will directly attack Daizhou along the Hutuo River, cutting off their retreat."
Zhang Xiao, who had been silent next to him, suddenly asked: "Are they transferred from Yanshan Mansion?"
"That's right. They were transferred from Yanshan Prefecture at the beginning of the year and came here via Feihuxing, so they have been stationed in Daizhou and refused to come to Xinzhou and Xianzhou. Once the situation goes bad, they will immediately return to Yanshan Prefecture instead of
Return to Datong Mansion."
Niu Gao waved his hand and asked the soldiers to take Wang Jingfeng down. He turned back and asked Zhang Xiao: "The military advisor decides! Should we encircle and annihilate this army, or force them to leave?"
Zhang Xiao said calmly: "They are not a clay army. They will wait for us to encircle and annihilate them. When we sent out scouts before, we should have sent troops to encircle and annihilate them. Now that two days have passed, I am afraid that if we want to encircle and annihilate them again, we will no longer be able to do so."
It’s reality.”
"Then at least give it a try!"
Niu Gao immediately ordered Liu Qiong to lead 30,000 troops to the north from Loufan Pass and occupy Shanyang County in Shuozhou as soon as possible. He himself led 30,000 cavalry to pursue the enemy.
Thirty thousand cavalry galloped towards Daizhou like lightning, running hundreds of miles overnight, and arrived at the place where the Khitan cavalry had previously been stationed. Sure enough, the Khitan cavalry had disappeared.
Niu Gao was unwilling to give in and continued his pursuit along the official road. He arrived in Yanmen County two days later. Huang Yishan, the magistrate of Yanmen County, went out of the city to welcome the Song army.
Huang Yishan is a local, with a Taixue background. His father, Huang Ying, served as the general magistrate of Daizhou for more than ten years. He retired from the official position last year. Wan Yanchang appointed Huang Yishan as the magistrate of Yanmen County and concurrently as the general magistrate of Daizhou.
Niu Gao did not embarrass him and asked: "I am chasing the Khitan cavalry. Does the county king know where they are going?"
Huang Yishan quickly bowed and said: "Captain Xiao Wan led 10,000 cavalry to the west, saying they were going to support Xinzhou, but they came back yesterday morning."
"Then, where did he go?" Niu Gao asked anxiously.
Huang Yishan pointed to the east and said: "We went east, saying there was enemy activity in the east. In fact, we all know that they came from Yanshan Prefecture and should withdraw to Yanshan Prefecture."
Niu Gao immediately ordered his men to go to the east to check, while he asked the soldiers to rest where they were and eat dry food.
Half an hour later, his subordinates came back to report that they found a lot of horse excrement on the official road to the east, as well as traces of the horseshoes of a large group of cavalry. They must have just arrived yesterday.
Niu Gao ordered the army to continue chasing eastward and arrived in Fanzhi County in the afternoon of the next day. The magistrate told them that 10,000 Khitan cavalry passed through the border at the fourth watch the day before yesterday. After looting hundreds of stones of grain from the official warehouse, they marched to Lingshi County
The direction went.
Now Niu Gao had no choice. They were chasing each other, but they were getting farther and farther apart. He ordered Li Sanghuai to lead a hundred scouts to continue chasing eastward. Even if they caught up to Yanshan Mansion, they had to determine the opponent's position.
After resting for half a day, the army returned westward to Xinzhou.
Just the day before Niugao attacked Chitang Pass, Zhe Yanzhi and Li Muching led 30,000 elite troops and 20,000 baggage camels along Tumaochuan into Xinqin County, Linzhou. Their mission was to capture the four states and three armies in the west.
Completely annihilate the remnants of Xixia who are entrenched in Fuzhou.
After Xixia was destroyed, many nobles followed Brother Richard and fled to Datong Mansion. The Kingdom of Jin had promised to re-establish Xixia in Datong Mansion, but when Brother Richard made this request, he was rejected by the Emperor of Jin State. The reason was:
They did not deliver one million taels of silver as agreed.
The Emperor of Jin immediately engulfed Xixia's most elite 3,000 Iron Kites cavalry. However, under Wan Yanchang's persuasion, the Emperor of Jin, Wanyan Dan, still assigned Fuzhou to Xixia for the sake of the 3,000 Iron Kites army.
Residual forces.
The remnant forces of Xixia immediately began to take action. First, they expelled all the Han people in Fuzhou to Linzhou, converted the entire Fuzhou into Party members, and collected scattered Party members living in various places.
The winter before last, Xia Houliang rebelled against the 3,000 Party Xiang Army stationed in Montenegro. The Party Army killed the general Cao Baohui and came to Fuzhou to join the new Party Army. After several years of accumulation, the new Party Army already had 12,000 people.
General Xia Houliang and deputy general Shang Dongyan led the army.
At present, the highest commander of the prefecture is still Richard Brother, and Bari Zuren serves as the chief administrative officer. There are more than 50,000 party members, most of whom are herdsmen from the grasslands of central Xixia.
The 12,000 soldiers that the party members had worked so hard to accumulate were favored by Wan Yanchang. Wan Yanchang ordered them to join the defense system of the entire northeast of the river and be responsible for defending the three armies of the four states in the northwest. Of course, Brother Richard wanted it most, so he took this opportunity
Expand your power to surrounding states and counties.
But this expansion is not about increasing soldiers, but about increasing pastures and snatching food and wealth. The Dangxiang people have learned their lesson. They no longer plunder Han people as slaves. These Han slaves will become hidden dangers, but let them farm in various places.
Grain, wait until the grain is ripe before grabbing it.
When Zhe Yanzhi and Li Muching led 30,000 troops into Linzhou, it happened to be when the wheat was just ripe.
Xinqin County is a small county. It used to be home to the families of Western Army soldiers. Now the county has a population of less than 600 households and more than 2,000 people. Most of the people are elderly. Most of the people in the county have gone to Xiazhou, but the elderly
Most of them are unwilling to leave their hometown and still live in Xinqin County.
At that time, the core areas of the Zhejia Army were Fuzhou and Linzhou. Zheyanzhi was very familiar with Xinqin County, but he did not recognize Xinqin County in front of him. The county town was in disrepair and dilapidated, and the walls were covered with large
Cracks big and small.
The city gate was not closed, so he led hundreds of people into the county town. He saw that the county town was deserted and there was not a single pedestrian in sight.
Arriving at the county government office, two veterans were taking a nap sitting at the gate of the county government office. "Hey!" Zhe Yanzhi shouted. The two veterans slowly raised their heads. They saw hundreds of soldiers standing in front of them. They were frightened and hurriedly
Stand up.
"Where is your county magistrate?" Zhe Yanzhi asked loudly.
"The county magistrate is not here, so you are not Party members?" The two veterans finally recognized that the troops in front of them were not Party members.
"We are the Sichuan-Shaanxi Army. We are coming from Jingzhao. There are tens of thousands of troops outside."
"Ah! The Western Army is coming. Great, we are saved!" The two veterans were extremely excited and cheered loudly.
Orihiko was confused, "What are you talking about? What can be saved?"
"The party members are coming to grab grain, and the county magistrate is leading everyone outside to harvest wheat!"
It turned out that this was the case. Zhe Yanzhi suddenly realized that this was the tradition of the Xixia Army back then. Every autumn harvest, the Xixia Army would cross the border to snatch people and food. This is still the case now.
Zhe Yanzhi nodded, "Take me to see it."
The two veterans discussed it, and one of them continued to guard the county government office, while the other led the way to the wheat field.
"To the south, I will take the old general."
A veteran walked down the steps and saw Zhe Yanzhi's face. He was suddenly stunned. After a while, he said excitedly: "You are. Are you the Governor Zhe?"