Gong Xiu was looking forward to getting there first, but Yang Zhi only wanted to besiege the city and bring reinforcements.
Although Ju Ming asked him to fight quickly, finishing the battle in a few days was too fast. If he delayed it for a month, he might be able to wait for reinforcements from Xixia.
Anyway, this place is only more than a hundred miles away from Lanzhou, so the transportation of grain and grass does not consume much.
With the current food reserves of the Ming Dynasty, it can also attack the Henan Military Division. Still want to go to Liangzhou (Wuwei)? Stop dreaming. With that distance and the terrain along the way, the transportation consumption will double and double again.
For several days, the city was attacked with artillery.
Due to the terrain, Henan Army Sicheng was surrounded.
Not to mention breaking out of the siege, the defenders in the city couldn't even send out messengers. The messengers who left the city a few days ago were deliberately let go by Yang Zhi.
The thick city wall built with red clay persisted until cracks appeared on the fourth day, and began to collapse on the sixth day, leaving a gap.
The second, third, and fourth gaps appeared, and then Yang Zhi ordered the bombardment to stop. It was not that there was not enough gunpowder, but that there were not enough shells, and some had to be left to deal with reinforcements that might come.
During the bombardment, the soldiers were not idle, taking turns to carry stones from the cliffs on both sides.
Carry the stone back and have the masons with the army polish it into stone bullets.
"The city wall has collapsed several times, why haven't the Han troops attacked the city yet?" Li Yuchang lay on the tower, carefully observing the movements of the Ming army, with a puzzled expression on his face.
Yeli Fulu suddenly realized: "The Han soldiers are waiting for our reinforcements!"
Li Yuchang was stunned for a moment because the consequences were so terrible.
If there are reinforcements from Xixia, they will definitely come from the direction of Jisang (Gulang).
The straight-line distance from Jisang to Kalochuan is sixty miles, but the terrain is extremely complex and the actual distance is two hundred miles.
The next step is to go south along the Kalochuan River Valley. This section is also 200 miles away. There are countless valleys in the mountains on both sides. You can hide your troops in any place you choose. When the Xixia reinforcements pass by, the Ming army will come out of the valleys.
If there is a blockage in front and behind, it will be difficult to fly!
On this broken terrain, the Ming army set up vehicle formations and infantry formations for defense, and then directly served with guns and artillery. There were mountains on the east and west sides, and the Ming army blocked it in the north and south. The Xixia reinforcements were only left to be shot in the middle valley.
Son.
Li Yuchang and others had never thought of this because they were still thinking about the problem with old thinking and had forgotten the terrifying lethality of guns and artillery in narrow terrain.
It was only now that the Ming army was holding back from attacking the city that they began to worry about the danger of reinforcements.
After thinking about this, Li Yuchang felt entangled in his heart.
I was both looking forward to the reinforcements coming to save me, but I was also afraid that the reinforcements would come to rescue me. If I had known this, I should have broken out that day!
However, the breakout of the encirclement that day was just talk. Based on the battlefield situation at that time, as long as they dared to run, the Ming army would definitely pursue them madly. The cavalry might be able to run away, but the infantry would be ruined, and they would be completely defeated for dozens of miles.
…
Haomen River Valley.
The marching route of Yaogu's army was much longer. Not only starting from the Song army's city, but only after entering the river valley, they had to walk more than 300 miles. Moreover, the mountains on both sides were higher and the river valley was more rugged, making it more difficult to march and transport food.
.
After procrastinating for twenty days, we have only walked more than half of the distance.
Night, camp.
Wu Lin stretched out her hand toward the fire, looked at the dark mountains and said, "Can General Yang really be defeated? I always think it's too childish."
Wu Jie said: "I am accompanying Yao Jing... General Yao to see them fire artillery. I'm afraid they can really blow down the city wall. Once we ask for help from the Southern Army Division, our Xixia troops will definitely be mobilized.
Then Zhenwu City (Ancient Bone Dragon City) will be easy to fight."
"If we can really defeat him, we can comfort the souls of countless soldiers in heaven." Wu Lin sighed.
Zhenwu City is what Song Jun calls, and Ancient Bone Dragon City is what Xixia calls. Too much blood has been shed in that place.
There is more than one route to the Hexi Corridor. The one with Nanjunsi is the shortest and easiest to take. You can also get there from Zhenwucheng.
Can Ju Ming think of threatening the Hexi Corridor? There are so many famous ministers and generals in the Song Dynasty, but they are all fools who can't understand it?
of course not.
However, it was too difficult to fight against the Southern Army's Sicheng, so the Song Dynasty had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and try to open up the route to Zhenwucheng.
The Song Dynasty defeated them, massacred the city and garrisoned them.
Xixia was defeated, the city was massacred, and the army was stationed.
The slaughter came and went, and the surrounding area of the city was sparsely populated, and agricultural production was completely destroyed. No matter who occupied the city, all military supplies had to be transported, but the food roads on the Xixia side were shorter.
The two brothers were chatting for a while, and Wu Lin suddenly said: "The new Governor Hehuang, is he just like the Chief Minister?"
"It should be almost the same." Wu Jie wasn't too sure either.
Wu Lin said: "Finally, a sensible person has arrived. He understands that we cannot rely on fighting here, but must cultivate land to get more food."
Wu Jie smiled and said: "There are many people who understand. It's not that the civil servants were confused in the past, but that the monarchs and ministers in the court were confused. Now that the emperor has changed, people who understand will naturally be sent to visit Hehuang."
"That's right, the emperor should have been changed a long time ago." Wu Lin couldn't help complaining.
The first governor of Hehuang appointed by Zhu Guoxiang was Li Mida. After he surrendered to Zhang Bor, he made the civil affairs of Puzhou flourish in the chaotic Shandong. Not only did he not need any relief from the court, he could also deliver food to the court!
So Li Mida was directly promoted from the district magistrate to the governor of Hehuang, taking charge of Lanzhou, Xining, Huangzhou, Jishijun, Kuozhou, Hezhou and Xizhou.
If you want to conquer the Hexi Corridor, you cannot rely entirely on transporting grain from Guanzhong. Part of the grain problem must be solved at the border.
The Hehuang Valley is a top priority. It is very suitable for agricultural production. Song Huizong did a good job when he came to the throne and provided a large amount of military rations for Tong Guan's expedition to Xixia.
But in the past ten years or so, the situation has taken a turn for the worse.
The civil servants and military generals are all bastards, and the civil affairs are in a mess. The soldiers and people who were forced to immigrate by the imperial court were overwhelmed and fled. Of course, the local Han and ethnic minorities could not escape the crazy exploitation. The number of taxpayers plummeted, and so did their food production.
Decreasing year by year.
Not to mention conquering the Hexi Corridor, with the current agricultural situation, even the Hehuang garrison cannot afford to support it!
The Zhu family sent Li Mida to serve as governor, to put it bluntly, to restore people's livelihood.
Li Mida arrived in Lanzhou last month and the first decree he issued was to halve the taxes of the states within his jurisdiction and abolish more than half of the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes.
He also encouraged the people to cultivate wasteland. As long as they cultivated for three consecutive years, they could go to the government to receive the land deed.
We are not afraid that large households will seize the opportunity to enclose land, because the situation of land abandonment is too serious, and the agricultural population is too small. Even if large households occupy land, they will not be able to recruit enough tenant farmers.
What's more, there are no real big players here.
Large-scale land reclamation must be organized by the government and organized into Baojia to advance and retreat together to guard against plunder by ethnic minorities in the mountains at any time.
Many of the ancestors of those ethnic minorities were Han Chinese hundreds of years ago!
When the Han people who opened up the wasteland had a firm foothold, Li Mida would be gentle with the ethnic minorities and guide them to go out to farm and establish households to integrate the people.
The premise of all these policies is to fight two battles hard and win them well.
Only by winning the battle against Xixia can the prestige of the government be established and the people be given confidence. Otherwise, they will be worried about the invasion of Xixia and the officers and soldiers going to war to forcefully requisition food. Who would be willing to farm with peace of mind in such a precarious situation?
If Henan Army Sicheng and Zhenwucheng are captured this time, the two river valleys will be resettled and reclaimed, so that they can support the defenders of the two cities in the future.
Anyway, you will be given land when you come here, and you will be exempted from taxes in the first year.
After traveling for more than ten days, the leading troops of Yaogu's army arrived at Zhenwucheng and sent people back to report that the defenses there seemed to be lacking.
Yao Gu, who was originally in a nervous mood, was overjoyed and quickly ordered the entire army to speed up.
Yao Pingzhong even led thousands of troops, abandoned all their baggage and marched hastily, and then found... Zhenwucheng was empty.
"We've captured Zhenwucheng now?" Yao Pingzhong couldn't believe it.
The important military town that the Song Dynasty and Xixia fought for repeatedly, the place where the people and soldiers of the two countries shed their blood, actually came back without a single soldier.
The Wu brothers were among Yao Pingzhong's army, and they also felt that things were outrageous.
Wu Lin asked: "Why did the Xixia soldiers escape?"
Wu Jie guessed: "With the Nanjun Division, the Xixia people may be in big trouble."
Zhenwu City (Ancient Bone Dragon City) was taken away by Xixia last year, and there was no way for immigrants to cultivate it. Xixia could only temporarily station troops. As a bridgehead for the invasion of Hehuang, all military supplies had to be transported from the rear.
I heard that Henan Army Division was surrounded and Zicheng had fallen, and the surrounding Xixia people went crazy.
All the troops that could be mobilized were mobilized, leaving only a thousand people stationed in Zhenwucheng.
A few days ago, the defender discovered that Yao Gu was leading an army and immediately abandoned the city with his troops and fled.
Anyway, there is Renduoquan City in the rear, which is the military base of the Xixia people and has enough population to cultivate food. As for Zhenwu City, it is not too important to Xixia, but it is extremely important to the Han people.
Yao Gu led the main force and arrived later, with a smile on his face.
He liked this situation so much. He had the military merit of seizing the city without taking any risks.
Together with soldiers and civilian husbands, more than 40,000 people were dispatched this time.
It seems like a waste of food and grass has resulted in an empty city. But these civilians don't want to go back. They were tricked into farming. From now on, they will open up wasteland in the Haomen River Valley. If they are willing, they can bring their families here.
When cultivating teachers, Li Mida and Yang Zhi discussed it and decided that the only way to immigrate and cultivate was through deception.
Due to the various tricks of the Song Dynasty, ordinary people were unwilling to settle here at all. Of the several waves of immigrants in the past few years, those who did not escape were all dead, either killed by Xixia soldiers or forced to death by the civil and military forces of the Song Dynasty.
Yao Gu announced the news of the immigration and asked the soldiers and civilians to stay first, and then they would select fields in the river valley on a certain day. Three thousand soldiers would also stay and garrison.
As soon as this statement came out, the army and the people were in an uproar, and some people fled that night.
After escaping for a while, they discovered that Yao Gu had secretly sent his soldiers back to camp, waiting for them on the only way they could escape.
We can't be prepared like this forever. Some people will definitely escape in the future. It's enough to keep half of them.
The longer the time goes on, the more people will be left behind.
Especially after the seeds are sown, they have paid the labor cost. If they are not exploited too much, they will not give up the land they cultivate easily.
Even in this land, Xixia people may come to kill you at any time!