Since ancient times, marching has mostly followed river valleys.
There are many reasons. The river valley is naturally the flattest place. The amount of water has been changing over the years, leaving dry river beds on both sides of the river valley, which is the most convenient path for marching. Moreover, water sources are indispensable, and the soldiers simply cannot afford to carry them for more than ten days of marching.
required water.
All in all, when marching in mountains, there are only a few roads.
There are five roads from Qishan to the north, and two roads to Gongchang, Mumen Road and Luomen Road.
Because the Luomen Road requires climbing over mountains and ridges, few people marched and it has long been abandoned. Therefore, the march in Longxi generally takes the wooden door road, heading towards Tianshui, leaving the Weihe River in the east and entering Gongchang in the west.
It is said that Zhuge Liang ambushed Zhang He at the wooden gate.
Li Xia has often read "Three Kingdoms" and "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" in recent years, thinking about Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, and realized that it would never succeed if it were him.
But he believes that the situation he is currently facing is far luckier than Zhuge Liang.
According to Liu Taiping, Brother Alibaba will soon move south in a large scale. Therefore, it will be impossible for Kublai Khan to mobilize large-scale troops to support the west route in the short term.
The West Route Army had been severely weakened after the decisive battle with Hunduhai.
There is another key point. Once the counterattack reaches Mongolian territory, Mongolia's "tolerance" towards the princes will reveal huge flaws.
Mongolia indulged its warlords, while the Song Dynasty favored culture and suppressed military force. These two different approaches have always brought great victories to Mongolia in the past.
Because the nobles divided their regions, they were able to work hard and use their troops freely.
But the strength or weakness of a system is never constant. Is it really okay for local warlords to be domineering?
It was because Wang Liangchen was so comfortable with his troops that he easily fell into an ambush and was annihilated by the entire army.
That is to say, because the Wang family divides the area, Li Xia does not have to face the entire northern military force like Zhuge Liang.
He just needs to capture Gong Chang in one fell swoop.
There is no need to guard the street or to go to the Weihe River.
In fact, there is no need to take the wooden doorway.
If Li Xia had always wanted to imitate Zhuge Liang in his general strategy, this was the first fork in the road.
On the evening of May 16th, Li Xia was preparing to cross the river on a floating horse at the intersection of Xihan River and Yongping Road. Thinking of this, he suddenly turned around and ordered: "Bring those guides up."
The so-called guides were more than a dozen prisoners he had personally selected, and they soon stood cowering in front of him.
"You have followed me to attack Longxi. If you are captured by the Wang family, you will die. Do you understand?"
In fact, there is no need for Li Xia to say anything more.
When he asked if there was a trail leading to Gongchang, a prisoner soon stood up and raised his hand to point backward.
"Commander...Commander, along the Yanzi River, there is...a mountain road..."
The prisoner talked for a long time.
Li Xia kept looking at him and finally said: "Okay, you will lead the way for me."
"Does the commander believe me?"
"If I remember correctly, you were surrendered on the cliff?"
"Yes Yes."
"You were very smart for not following Wang Zuochen's charge. You made the right choice again today. What's your name?"
"Ma...Ma Dexi."
Since Tianshui was on guard, Li Xia actually had two choices.
The first is to wait for the five thousand elites behind to arrive and attack by force.
The second was a surprise attack on Gongchang.
Li Xia did not want to attack Tianshui by force, not because he was afraid of not being able to defeat it, but because he did not want to give Guanzhong time to react, which was a longer-term consideration.
In this battle, the strategy of using troops with great speed has been decided, and it cannot be repeated.
The most recent counterexample is Meng Ge.
If his brain gets hot, Tianshui may become Li Xia's "fishing city".
learn a lesson.
Li Xia did not hesitate and immediately decided to take the Luomen Road.
Horses could pull him up the mountain, but he left most of his luggage behind and only brought six days' rations.
Because it is calculated that it will take about five days for information about the enemy to reach Gongchang, and two or three days for Gongchang's defense.
There is no need to bring rations for the return journey, I just brought extra thunderbolts.
From Qishan Mountain, take the Luomen Road to Luomen, which is more than 130 miles of mountain road. From Luomen to Gongchang, it is a hundred miles of official road.
Before setting off, Li Xia asked the soldiers.
"Deng Ai sneaked across the Yinping Road. The mountains are high and the valleys are deep. It is extremely difficult and dangerous. He traveled more than 700 miles on the dangerous road in more than 20 days. We can travel 130 miles in four days, can we do it?!"
"Faster than Deng Ai! Faster than Deng Ai!"
The elite soldiers from Shu led their horses and cut through thorns along the way without stopping. It only took three days to cross the Luomen Road.
After resting for a night, they made a sneak attack on the Luomen stronghold, and then rushed to Gongchang.
On the night of the fifth day, they arrived at Gongchang City.
"Enemy attack!"
"Enemy attack..."
A beeping sound was heard, followed by an explosion.
Wang Weizheng boarded the Weiyuan Tower in the center of Gongchang City and listened intently, thinking that the defenders at the top of the city had thrown down thunder.
Above his head, hung two huge plaques.
One part says "Gongchang Xiongzhen" and the other part says "Sound and Hearing Four Worlds".
This tall building was built by Han Qi, a famous official in the Song Dynasty, to strengthen military preparedness and named it "Weiyuan Tower", which means "powerful in the distance".
Later, when Wang Shixian expanded the city wall, he moved it to the city.
It is called Weiyuan Tower, but in fact the Song army was completely defeated in the war against Xixia.
Li Yuanhao defeated the Song Dynasty and proclaimed himself emperor. After winning all three major battles, he was very ambitious and said, "I want to visit the Weishui River in person and take control of Chang'an."
So Lu Yijian, the prime minister of Zhao and Song Dynasties, repeatedly exclaimed, "It's terrible if one battle is not as good as the other!"
Every time he climbed the Weiyuan Tower, Wang Weizheng couldn't help but think of the ridiculousness of the Song Army.
However, only he, Wang Weizheng, failed to avenge his father's hatred when facing the Song army. He lost the state and Hanzhong... Now, the Song army came to attack his home.
anger.
The rage was so intense that it seemed like it could burn Wang Weizheng alive.
But his uncle did not allow him to personally command the city's defense, and only allowed him to watch the battle in Weiyuan Tower.
Li Xia was twenty years old, the same age as him, and he was also handsome.
The difference is that Li Xia can already lead the army in person, but he is still treated as a child!
"Give me the bow!"
Thinking of this, Wang Weizheng shouted loudly and spread his hands.
A six-stone bow was handed to him. He took the arrow and nocked it, looking towards the alley on the long street.
"Whoosh!"
The arrow missed and hit a flag in the distance.
The anger in Wang Weizheng's eyes did not stop, and he wished he could not shoot Li Xia to death himself.
Because the Song army cannot attack here...
"ah!"
A scream suddenly came from the north.
Wang Weizheng suddenly turned around and strode to the other side of Weiyuan Building.
"Commander, be careful!"
The shouts just started, and I could already see a row of figures walking through the streets and heading straight to the Commander-in-Chief's Mansion.
The Commander-in-Chief's Mansion is just east of Weiyuan Building.
In the night, there was a flash of fire, and something was thrown towards the door of the house.
Wang Weizheng arrived at the railing and immediately shouted: "General Gongchang Wang Wei is here!"
"Fire the arrow!"
"boom!"
There was an explosion, and the door to the Commander-in-Chief's Mansion was blown open.
Wang Weizheng was furious and fired another arrow.
"boom!"
"Commander in chief!"
A soldier rushed towards him and knocked him down. In an instant, rubble from the roof continued to fall, and the tower shook slightly.
"Kill!"
More than a hundred Song troops sprang out from the west and quickly reached the bottom of the tower.
"Protect the commander-in-chief and leave!"
"Wang Wei is right there!"
"..."
Just when Wang Weizheng stood up, he saw the Song army coming upstairs to kill him.
At this time, the torches on Weiyuan Tower were brightly lit, but he could not find his bow in the chaos, so he had to draw the sword from his waist and wanted to kill the enemy.
The personal guards, however, hugged him and headed downstairs to kill him.
"puff!"
A long spear knocked over a Mongolian Han soldier.
Liu Jinsuo looked up and could see the bright fire upstairs, shining on the golden armor of a young and short boy.
"Hahaha, the kid will die!"
While he was talking, the spear was waving wildly, and he stabbed two more people.
He did not perform meritorious service in Lin'an, so Liu Jinsuo was holding back his energy and determined to perform meritorious service this time.
Originally, when Qi Shandao ambushed, he first grabbed Pandao Mountain where he had the best chance of reaching the enemy's general's position.
Because when surveying the terrain at that time, Li Xia said, "If the enemy has 25,000 people and the entire army passes through Daya Mountain, Pandao Mountain will be at the center of the enemy's formation."
It's not that the calculation was inaccurate, because later Li Xia also said "if the enemy arrives with 70,000 people", but in short, he didn't get the credit.
But it doesn't matter, Wang Weizheng is the commander-in-chief of Gongchang.
Tonight, Liu Jinsuo led his men around the city and rushed directly to the commander-in-chief's palace in order to behead the Wang family members.
It takes no effort at all!
At this time, there were only about thirty guards on Weiyuan Tower, and they were already panicking. Liu Jinsuo charged in person and quickly rushed to the top of the building.
The Song soldiers on his left and right also refused to fall and stabbed him randomly with their spears.
Blood splattered.
Liu Jinsuo was already facing Wang Weizheng's panicked face.
"Hahaha! You're here to watch, right?!"
"..."
Wang Weizheng was stunned.
He didn't think he was frightened. He had dared to shout downstairs just now to attract the attention of his family's enemies.
But at this moment, blood was splashed in front of the eyes, and for a moment, people forgot what to do.
There are artillery carts, sky-shaking thunder, wood and stone on top of Gongchang City...but they are no longer needed.
The Song Army arrived too quickly. The Song Army had already entered the city when Wang Hanchen came out of the General Commander's Mansion. When Wang Hanchen gathered 500 soldiers and rushed to Weishui Street, 800 Song Army came to kill him.
As soon as they met the enemy, it turned out to be a street fight.
"kill!"
The Song army did not hesitate, raised their spears and began to charge.
"Fire the arrow!"
Wang Hanchen was caught off guard.
A moment ago, he was thinking about closing the city gate, but the arrow had already been thrown in this direction.
"Hold!"
Without any more words, the soldiers from both sides collided.
It's directly a meat blog.
The spears pierced all at once, diagonally piercing the necks of the Mongolian and Han soldiers. Some spears were avoided, some were blocked, and some directly pierced the necks.
The fallen soldier was still twitching on the ground.
There was also a single sword that struck the shoulder of a Song soldier.
Blood dripped from the gaps in the bluestone slabs.
"Puff puff……"
Wang Hanchen took two steps back and tried to calm down.
He knew that if the Song army suddenly attacked Gongchang, there would never be too many people, only two or three thousand at most, otherwise the movement would not be covered up.
Although Gongchang's garrison was small, reinforcements could be sent from neighboring prefectures and counties.
In other words, just holding on to this night is enough.
"Block the streets! Guard the Commander's Mansion! Go call reinforcements!"
Wang Hanchen was indeed a general, he had quickly clarified his thoughts and confirmed the key points of defense.
Although he was shocked by being killed suddenly, he still had a chance.
This time, Li Xia still used Wei Yan's Ziwu Valley plan. It seemed powerful, but in fact, the danger was too high and it was difficult to accomplish anything.
suddenly.
The sound of ringing gold sounded.
Wang Hanchen turned around and saw that Shuai Qi had slowly fallen down upstairs in Weiyuan.
He turned around and ran towards the commander's house in disbelief, not understanding what was happening.
The Song army has clearly been blocked on the long street...
At this time, the Mongolian and Han armies were in chaos, and Wang Hanchen was still shouting. Suddenly someone rushed into the rebel army, grabbed him and ran away.
"Those who dare to retreat will die!"
"Uncle Wu, it's me."
Wang Hanchen took a closer look and called out: "Wei Qin? Wei Xian? Wei Xiao? You..."
"Uncle has decided to surrender..."
Wang Hanchen was furious and shouted: "I am about to fight to the death! Why surrender?"
"We don't know either." Wang Weiqin's eyes were red and he said: "Uncle, please ask your fifth uncle to lead people to Lintao, gather troops and horses, and surrender the remaining fifty-six Panshan prisoners. It doesn't matter whether you surrender to Ali or not, no matter what.
Bring them back."
Wang Hanchen gritted his teeth, turned around and saw that the Song army was about to kill him, so he gritted his teeth and made a decision.
"Follow me and retreat!"
He immediately led his confidants and turned towards West Street.
In the past, Liu Zheng, who was twenty years old, conquered Xinyang bravely and became famous all over the world.
Li Xia never wanted to compare with Liu Zheng, but the idea of breaking the city was the same.
It's just "attack and capture the defender".
If he wanted to take Longxi, he first took Gongchang. If he wanted to take Gongchang, he first took the commander-in-chief's residence.
The manpower that broke the city in the south was already a surprise force, but it was also a virtual force. Li Xia personally went around to the north of the city, like an eagle attacking a rabbit, and went straight to the Wang family mansion.
Why is the idea of this battle based on the word "fast"?
Because the news of Wang Liangchen's defeat had not been received when the Wang family was approaching, it was impossible for the defenders in the city to react, and there was no suspense about the outcome of this battle.
Therefore, Li Xia dared to decide not to bring rations for the return journey.
unnecessary.
It looks like you are gambling, but in fact you are putting all your chips on a sure win.
…
There is still blood on the sword.
Li Xia held the sword and walked step by step into the Wang Family Commander-in-Chief's Mansion.
The footsteps were hurried and orderly, and rows of Song soldiers surrounded them with spears in hand.
In front, Wang Zhongchen was leading dozens of Wang family nephews to kneel on the ground.
"The captured Wang Zhongchen has now surrendered to Commander Li Tianwei... and begged to surrender!"
Wang Zhongchen closed his eyes, leaned over, and put his head on the ground.
His mood must have been extremely desolate, but as he bowed, his eyes could no longer be seen, and only his white hair could be seen in the firelight.
Li Xia did not answer immediately. He raised his sword and glanced at each of the Wang family's nephews. He saw that many of them looked unhappy and lowered their heads and did not dare to say anything.
"The sinner Wang Zhongchen begged to surrender." Wang Zhongchen said again, with a cry in his tone.
Li Xia did not come forward and said: "Accepting surrender is like waiting for the enemy, it is not easy."
Wang Zhongchen felt sad, raised his head, moved a few steps forward on his knees, and cried out sadly: "Please learn from Commander Li! In the past, everyone had his own master, Commander Li was always better than the Wang family, and the Wang family never bullied Li
Handsome... I just want to spare the innocent people in my family and protect the people of Gongchang!"
"When you surrendered to Kuoduan, did you ever kneel down and beg like this?"
Wang Zhongchen did not dare to answer and bowed down again.
Everyone in the court knew that when Wang Shixian surrendered, he must have been much more dignified than he is now. The second prince Kuoduan treated him with courtesy and treated him like a distinguished guest.
How can I get started with a sword like Li Xia?
"You won't answer? It seems that you are not sincere in surrendering."
As Li Xia spoke, he turned to look out the door. After a while, Liu Jinsuo strode in, holding a head in his hand and throwing it in front of Wang Zhongchen.
"ah!"
Immediately the whole hospital exclaimed.
"Brother!"
"Woooo...brother..."
The men of the Wang family stood up one after another, either frightened or furious.
Upon seeing this, the soldiers of the Song Dynasty raised their bows and arrows, or stepped forward with spears.
"Everyone kneel down! Kneel down!" Wang Zhongchen shouted.
He fell to his knees again and was already sobbing, his body shaking violently.
Because in front of him was Wang Weizheng's head.
The young commander-in-chief still had fear and anger in his eyes until he died.
Wang Zhongchen didn't want to cry, but his tears were already pouring out.
"Kneel down...kneel down...Li Shuai, Li Shuai, why are you doing this?! Wei Zheng... Wei Zheng is still a child... He is a literati... A literati, he built a library and carefully compiled a collection of classics and history...
He is a man of letters..."
"You don't have much time." Li Xia said, "Tell me what I want to hear."
"The Wang family is willing to submit to Li Shuai!" Wang Zhongchen immediately kowtowed heavily, "In today's world, no one can save the world unless he has the talent to save the world. The only one who can save the world is Li Shuai..."
Li Xia took a step forward and raised Wang Zhongchen's head with the tip of his sword.
"Like chatting? Okay, answer my question just now."
"My father...my father originally wanted to return to the Song Dynasty, but the Song court did not accept it, so he returned to Mongolia."
Wang Zhongchen is not afraid of the sword in Li Xia's hand.
In other words, he is not afraid of death.
But he was trying his best to look scared, his body was trembling, and his voice was frightened, but his eyes only showed sadness and compassion, without real fear.
"What am I asking?"
"When Kuoduan accepted my father's surrender, my father did not kneel down and beg."
"Then why have we come to this point?" Li Xia asked, "Why do you have to wait until you kneel down and beg me before you surrender?"
"I'm usually... blind."
"I don't think so." Li Xia said, "It's because I'm not strong enough. Even now, you still think I'm not strong enough."
"I don't dare... I absolutely don't dare, Li Shuai is a hero in the world! The reason why I haven't voted yet... is... it's because Zhao Song is too weak..."
"You don't have much time."
Wang Zhongchen burst into tears and asked bitterly: "I wonder what Li Shuai wants?"
"Why don't I ask you what you want? Spare the innocent people in your family? Protect the people of Gongchang? That's well said. You are really a good nobleman who protects the township."
"Li Shuai... I can surrender Qinzhou and Lintao... combined with the garrison troops in various states and counties, there are still tens of thousands of troops... I only hope that Li Shuai can spare the innocent people in his family, protect the people of Gongchang, and prevent the classics of Wanjuan Tower from being lost.
Even if it was destroyed by the flames of war...the Wang family's family motto, articles and morals are the same..."
Li Xia shook his head.
He turned his head and looked out the door.
After that, he murmured something.
"You're running out of time."
Wang Zhongchen looked up and saw that his liver and gallbladder were split.
He saw a one-eyed man walking in carrying a head, and several soldiers behind him were all holding heads.
"Commander, I have blocked all roads leading to Lintao. The heads of Wang Hanchen and others are here."
"Show them."
"yes……"
Listening to this conversation, Wang Zhongchen's eyes darkened, his throat felt sweet, and his heart's blood began to pour out.
After finally coming to his senses, he understood what Li Xia meant.
Li Xia was willing to let the Wang family surrender because of the strength of the Longxi garrison... No, in Lintao's case, Li Xia had already taken care of it.
but,
That sentence "You still think I'm not strong until now" explains everything.
"Li Shuai! Li Shuai!"
Wang Zhongchen did not dare to look at Wang Hanchen's head and cried: "Give me one more chance...Give me one more chance! Let the Wang family go! Give me one more chance...Qinzhou..."
"You still dare to mention Qinzhou?" Li Xia asked: "Didn't I give you a chance? Is it my fault? And you only obey power, what's your fault?"
"I was wrong! It's all my fault, I don't dare to speculate..."
Wang Zhongchen kowtowed hard, until his head was covered with blood, and he begged endlessly.
He was very afraid, very afraid that any nephew behind him would shout "Father, don't be like this" or "Uncle, don't be like this, fight with them."
This is what he fears most.
"I don't dare to do it anymore! I just hope Jieshuai will give me another chance..."
I don’t know how much time passed.
Li Xia finally spoke again.
"You said there are innocent people in your family. Then tell me, who are not innocent?"
"I am guilty, and it is all my fault..."
"You alone are not enough." Li Xia said: "You said that you want to protect the people of Gongchang. You said that your Wang family collects classics and passes them down through articles and morals... But I remember that Wang Shixian's collection of books was shipped from Chengdu."
Wang Zhongchen raised his head, letting the blood on his forehead flow continuously, and opened his mouth, but couldn't answer.
Li Xiandao: "In the third year of Duanping, Wang Shixian defeated Cao Youwen at Yangpingguan, and Kuo Duan then entered Shu and massacred Chengdu... For now, let's count 1.4 million people, right?
In the first year of Jiaxi, Wang Shixian captured Wuxin City at night, captured all its treasury, marched into Puzhou and Zizhou, and slaughtered how many people?
In the second year of Jiaxi, Wang Shixian entered Sichuan and Sichuan again, and his army reached the south of Jiameng. Taking advantage of the victory, he captured Zizhou, plundered Jiading Prefecture, Emei and other places. How many people were slaughtered? In other words, how many people were left in Jiading Prefecture?
In the third year of Jiaxi, Wang Shixian attacked Shu, broke through Kaizhou, advanced to Wanzhou, ambushed the upper reaches at night, attacked Song Zhou division, and pursued Kuizhou..."
"It's Kuo Duan! Kuo Duan's crimes are so heinous that they are too numerous to describe! Kuo Duan deserves to die! Death is not enough to atone for his sins. If he is reincarnated, he should eat his flesh alive!"
Wang Zhongchen was furious and cursed.
"Since the Mongol invaders entered Sichuan, tens of millions of people have been slaughtered under Kuanduan's orders. My father...my father...I have not wanted to be the commander-in-chief these years...I..."
Li Xia looked at him quietly for a long time and said, "Since you are going to war with your father, are you willing to die?"
Wang Zhongchen was stunned and nodded slowly.
"I am willing to atone for my sins, but I only ask Li Shuai to let the innocent Wang family go..."
All night long, he kept saying this, and this was his only request.
Sincere.
"Okay, but it's not enough for you to die. Please point out which ones I went to Chengdu with you..."
"Brother! Fight with the Song people..."
"puff!"
"Puff puff puff puff..."
Li Xia was only halfway through speaking when a general of the Wang family was already in the courtyard, and the Wang family members rose up in violence.
The soldiers of the Song Dynasty had already taken precautions and thrust their spears through without mercy.
Blood splattered everywhere.
"Don't move!" Wang Zhongchen shouted, "Don't move..."
Li Xia grabbed Wang Zhongchen's hair and lifted him up.
"You will die after you have done everything I asked you to do. Or, if your family of more than 400 men, women, and children, I don't leave a single one alive..."
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
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