This plain is sandwiched between the Qinling Mountains and the Weishui River. It does not look very big on the map, but the Song soldiers stationed here felt that it was too vast.
It's so vast that it's unsettling.
Relying on the ability of the enemy cavalry to come and go like the wind, the enemy cavalry sent small groups of loose cavalry and ran wildly outside the Song army's camp, blaring dysprosium and blowing horns, frightening the Song army and not allowing the Song soldiers to rest.
To the north of the camp is the Wei River, and the Song army's baggage went down the river, close to the military formation. Enemy horses had already crossed to the other side of the river, throwing rockets from time to time, frightening the civilians.
This is only the first night of the raid. You can imagine what kind of pressure the infantry will endure if they face the enemy's cavalry for a long time.
The most recent example is that six years ago, the Mongolian army attacked Jiading Prefecture. Yunding guard Lu Da led 5,000 elite troops and 20,000 rebel troops to intercept Wang Dechen's elite cavalry in the plains of western Sichuan. As a result, the entire 25,000 Song army was wiped out... This is the plain
war.
The year after the battle in western Sichuan, the Mongolian army gathered a large army into Sichuan to attack Dali and attacked Yunding City. The army formation was overwhelming and stretched for dozens of miles. As a result, Kong Xian and Xiao Shixian only defended Yunding with 7,000 people... This
It's mountain warfare.
Tonight, in the garrison plains, listening to the sound of thunder outside, many soldiers in the Song Army camp could not sleep.
But fortunately, 4,500 of the 7,000 soldiers were elites brought by Li Xia from Hanzhong.
Li Xia's personal guard camp has one thousand people; the two thousand people who guard Tianshui and the two thousand people who guard the street pavilions have not been reorganized, but one thousand each has been transferred; and there are 1,500 elite soldiers and Longxi captured soldiers combined to form four thousand people.
These elites each experienced the battles of Chengdu, Diaoyu City, Jianmenguan, Lizhou, and Hanzhong, walked through the Qishan Road, and attacked Longxi.
If he waits for a year or two, Li Xia can expand these veterans to 30,000 to 50,000 people, and then train a cavalry force in Longxi.
Even now, they dare to fight on foot and on horseback.
Therefore, it is said that if the enemy is pressed with force, the enemy has no choice but to fight.
Since the enemy has no choice but to fight, how long can it continue to harass?
"Wither's little trick! What if we just let them keep arguing for a night or two?! Those who can fall asleep, sleep, and those who can't, cover their ears!"
Soon, the generals of the Song Army began to calm morale.
They walked past the tents one by one, some calm and others spoke arrogantly.
"What the hell are you afraid of?! Do the Mongols dare to come and attack? Do you dare to charge into the formation? The commander has already made arrangements, so you can rest peacefully and we will defeat the enemy tomorrow!"
"If I really can't sleep, I'll set up a defensive horse and build a camp for defense..."
"..."
In a tent, Li Zeyi saw Lu Xiaoyou coming in and hurriedly stood up and said: "General Lu, I have good riding skills. I can go out of the camp and shoot two enemy sentries and destroy their majesty."
Lu Xiaoyou was stunned.
In fact, he was a little unable to suppress Li Zeyi.
After all, he was just an ignorant pawn three years ago, yet somehow he made so many contributions and became a general.
Li Zeyi, on the other hand, was born as a general and has always led troops, always making suggestions.
One team member told Lu Xiaoyou, "Li Zeyi is unconvinced and is a thorn in the side. He will be beaten." However, Lu Xiaoyou was an honest man and did not want to abuse military law without reason.
"No need." Lu Xiaoyou held on, trying to keep his momentum from weakening, and said: "The commander-in-chief said that we have to wait until the enemy soldiers are defeated before riding on horseback to pursue them."
He always used the title of commander-in-chief.
"Having said that, when the two sides are fighting, it's time to check each other's sentries." Li Zeyi said: "The reason why the commander-in-chief didn't give orders is because there is no general to command the cavalry."
His words were already aimed at Lu Xiaoyou.
But Lu Xiaoyou didn't hear it and actually nodded.
"It seems so, but military orders are military orders, and the consequences of violating military orders are very serious..."
Li Zeyi saw the other party patting her shoulder pleasantly, and was speechless for a moment.
It's not that he is really convinced by Lu Xiaoyou.
I'm just afraid of Li Xia.
Not to mention Lintao's reorganization and Li Xia's killing spree.
Military law in the army is strict. In just one month, Li Zeyi saw seven or eight people beheaded by military law. Some were newcomers who repeatedly disobeyed the generals, some wanted to be deserters, and even Song soldiers who committed adultery and plunder were killed.
…
But the military pay is still generous, and if it is said to be paid every month, it will be paid every month.
Li Zeyi really cares about military pay.
He came from a fairly good background, but his father was not a direct descendant of Li Jie. He had money before, but his expenses were high, and his father had been seriously ill for many years. In the past two years, Li Tingyu and Li Tingwang died in battle one after another, leaving Lizhou and he had no business.
I also lost a lot of money, and now and then I can’t open the pot.
Now, his child is young, and when he went home in early April, he accidentally got pregnant with one... He knew his own affairs, and he had a small branch, which was not as glamorous as he looked.
In short, what Li Zeyi was dissatisfied with was that the salary Lu Xiaoyou received was more generous. She wanted to suppress the other party's performance, but she did not dare to go beyond it, lest she lose her own salary and then lose her life.
As for the current battle, Li Zeyi really felt that he could win.
People in the army are saying "The commander-in-chief has never been defeated" every day. It makes people feel calluses in their ears. You have to believe it even if you don't believe it...
Li Xia inspected the military camp and walked onto the temporary battle platform.
The battle platform was not high, because he brought little baggage and did not dare to send people to cut trees too far away.
The reason why there is so little luggage is because the Weihe River Valley is not an easy journey.
The road in the Weihe River Valley actually has a name, "Chencang Narrow Road".
Why are there "Chencang Road" and "Chencang Narrow Road"?
Just read "Historical Records" and you will know.
When Li Xiaqi entered Hanzhong, he distributed books such as "Three Kingdoms" and "Historical Records" to the generals, because the method of regaining Guanzhong was actually clearly written in them.
When Liu Bang pacified the Three Qin Dynasties, he did more than just "build plank roads openly and visit Chen Cang secretly".
At that time, Liu Bang's opponent was Zhang Han, King Yong of the Western Qin Dynasty who was entrusted to Xiang Yu.
Zhang Han was not deceived, and the main force was still gathered in Chencang, south of the Weishui River. This meant that Liu Bang's soldiers were blocked from leaving Chencang Road.
Therefore, "Yong's army blocked Chen, paid a visit, and planned to return it", so Liu Bang planned to retreat.
Just at this moment, a counselor named Zhao Yan stood up and said, "Follow him."
This "other road" is the Weihe River Valley.
Liu Bang then sent an elite force down the Weishui River and suddenly attacked Zhang Han's back. Together with Chen Cangdao's main force, he defeated Zhang Han in one fell swoop.
Therefore, the Weihe River Valley is also called "Chencang Narrow Road".
Li Xia's strategy this time also comes from this name.
After looking at this name, and then looking at today's Hanzhong and Longxi, we know that the enemy does not dare to let him connect Chencang Road and Chencang Narrow Road.
This is the initiative on the battlefield. Fighting on foot and riding also has the initiative!
From this, Li Xia was able to judge the enemy's next move. Since he didn't retreat immediately, he wanted to stop him. If he wanted to stop him, he had to do it as early as possible.
"If you don't fight tomorrow, you will only lose more and more."
"We can only continue to disturb you this night, and we must fight tomorrow."
Liu Heima said this while looking at the bonfire outside the tent.
Jia Hou asked: "How can we fight an immediate decisive battle between cavalry and infantry? We must first cut off their food routes and weaken their morale..."
"How to cut off the grain road?" Liu Heima asked back: "Can you cut off the Wei River grain road, can you cut off the Chencang Road? If there is no battle tomorrow, for a few days in the evening, the Song army will continue to leave Dasanguan, build forts, and launch artillery. It’s getting closer and closer, so what?”
"In that case, why not return to Fengxiang City and defend the city?"
"Then it's a siege." Liu Heima muttered.
Jia Hou was puzzled and asked: "Brother-in-law, why are you afraid of defending the city?"
"It's not a question of whether to be afraid or not, but...why bother?"
Jia Hou was stunned for a moment, a little confused, but also somewhat understanding.
Liu Heima murmured: "Guard for one year or two years. Why should I defend Fengxiang Mansion if I know it cannot be defended? Li Xia has invited me to fight to the death. If I am even afraid of him, why should I defend?"
Jia Hou asked: "Maybe there will be a turnaround in one or two years? Your Majesty will return to the south and the Song Dynasty will depose Li Xia?"
"My father, when... the Mongolian army swept down and massacred the city if it refused to surrender. It was not until the powerful powers from all over the world surrendered to the Mongols that the villagers were saved. Why? The Mongolian army is invincible in the world. You don't need to fight, you can tell at a glance."
Liu Heima said slowly: "But look at these years. It's not just these years, it's been twenty years, Du Gao, the Meng Communist Party, Yu Jie... Now there's Li Xia, and now I realize that the Mongolian army has been In defeat. Especially in the battle of Lintao. This is my first confrontation with the Mongolian army..."
At this point, he shook his head slightly, looking a little confused.
Only then did he realize when he had lost his temper.
Hunduhai is not as invincible as it seems.
Needless to say, I wanted to invite Li Xia to join the attack, but accidentally entered the enemy's territory. This is just a lack of brains.
Hunduhai was in a bad situation at that time. Wang Liangchen was even more unfavorable. Alan Da'er had already severely defeated Liu Yuanzhen's reinforcements.
Looking for excuses, both sides have excuses. The fact is that Wang Liangchen is braver than Hundu Hai.
The Han army's bravery in battle was not inferior to that of the Mongols.
The idea that "the enemy is invincible", which he had believed in all his life, was shaken, and Liu Heima was a little confused.
He looked at himself, but he still couldn't catch the thought.
Finally, Liu Heima said: "Which one is strong and which one is weak will be known in one battle, so why delay?"
Jia Hou thought about it and understood.
After a battle, regardless of victory or defeat, the situation will be clear for the Liu family. Then why spread the war to their own territory, let the war last long, and destroy their own foundation?
"Then...what did Mr. Lian think? Why did brother-in-law Xu fight to the death?"
Liu Heima shook his head and said: "I don't know, but his thoughts are different from mine..."
Before dawn, the horns were sounding continuously.
Liu Heima, wearing a majestic battle armor, stepped into the tent and saw Lian Xixian already sitting there.
The two saw the ceremony, but did not speak.
Finally, Liu Heima said: "Mr. Lian, I want to fight to the death with Li Xia today. If I win, I will take back Longxi."
Lian Xixian raised his head and said: "Please let Mr. Liu do what you want, don't worry..."
"winter!"
The soldiers had their meal before dawn, and then heard the sound of war drums.
Liu Heima stepped onto the high platform and looked around, seeing that the plains were still vast.
He gave the order, and with the flag flying, groups of light cavalry circled the flanks and rear of the Song army.
The idea of this battle is very simple. The cavalry continues to harass the Song army, looking for loopholes, and then divides and surrounds small groups of Song army.
Horse hooves raised dust, and when the sky was bright, light cavalry had already bypassed the rear of the Song army, approached the Wei River, and fired arrows at the baggage by the river.
They were attracting the Song army to come out to defend and open up the Song army's front.
As long as there are soldiers from Song Dynasty chasing them, they will be pulled away little by little, then surrounded and killed...
Li Xia raised the lookout tube and quickly gave the order.
"Line up the snake formation, march the right wing to the south!"
The war drums were beating and the generals were shouting.
"Shield hand covers! Push back the horse!"
"Go south, let's go!"
"Ding ding ding ding..."
They rode in disorder and ran far away, and were attacked by arrows. The Song army quickly withdrew before they could release their arrows.
The soldiers of Song Dynasty seemed to have not seen them and were minding their own business.
They are like red tides, stretching southward from the banks of the Wei River...
Li Xia's idea was also simple, to seal the Weihe River and Qinling Mountains with military force and no longer give the enemy a chance to circumvent the enemy's cavalry.
Then, push forward to squeeze the enemy cavalry's range of activities and promote hand-to-hand combat...