Chapter 944 0939 [Yue Fei and Han Shizhong join forces to fight]
Imperial meeting.
Ju Ming asked: "Brothers of the Mu clan of Xixia sent people to contact them about the surrender. What is the background of these two people?"
Before the meeting, Shi Yuangong carefully checked the files:
"The Mu family was originally the Murong family. In the early years of the former Song Dynasty, they were still members of the Song Dynasty, but they rebelled with the Li family of Xixia."
"When Fan Wenzhenggong was the commander-in-chief of the northwest, he personally recruited Mu En, the chief of the Mu family. From then on, the Mu family became the hereditary governor of Huanqing, and brought his people back to the Song Dynasty to become a powerful family in Huanzhou."
"When the Jin army went south, the Mu family did not serve the king and stayed in Huanzhou to garrison the fortress. When the Xixia soldiers came to kill them, the Mu family abandoned the city and fled. He did not go to Xixia. He even served as a border general of the Ming Dynasty at Shangshu. But they
Most of his tribesmen were plundered by Xixia, and the Mu family in Huanzhou was not as good as before, and was squeezed out by the two generals of Miao and Liu."
"When the Ming Dynasty took back the military power of the northwest frontier generals, both Miao and Liu were willing to obey the transfer orders, but the Mu brothers were unwilling to transfer and took the remaining tribesmen to Xixia."
"Now, it is probably because they are not doing well in Xixia that the Mu brothers want to defect again. This wealthy family can be used, but it must not be reused. It has defected countless times over the past hundred years."
Ju Ming finally figured it out: "It turned out to be a former Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty general who defected to Xixia. If you can use it, use it. If you can't, just kill him!"
Zhang Boring said: "If we send troops to Xixia, it is best after the beginning of next spring. There are many fortresses on the border between the two countries, and they must be removed one by one. The fight does not happen overnight. If we send troops this year, we will have to stop and truce until winter, especially
It is difficult to transport grain and grass in the Hengshan area in winter."
Li Bao suggested: "Han Shizhong's side can send troops to the grassland in autumn. The autumn air outside the Great Wall is crisp and the war horses are fat and strong, so they can quickly seize the pastures and cities at the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain. After defeating them, it will be almost winter, and the Xixia army will soon
It’s hard to fight back in the snow to take back the land!”
Zhang Guangdao said: "The three pillars of Mobei are fighting fiercely with each other. It is impossible for them to go south within a few years. Yue Fei can also lead thousands of elite cavalry and join forces with Han Shizhong to fight together."
Wang Yuan said: "The Forbidden Army should set off this year and arrive at the border of Shaanxi before winter. When the snow melts next year, the army will rush out immediately."
Ma Kuo reminded: "Don't forget the Yellow-headed Uighurs. They can be sent across the Qilian Mountains to harass Shazhou (Dunhuang) and Guazhou. If the Yellow-headed Uighurs dare not send troops, they will be taught a lesson afterwards!"
Ju Ming said: "The Privy Council, together with the Ministry of War, will give a detailed strategy."
Li Bao said: "The people on the grassland can't wait to come up with strategies. Let Yue Fei join Han Shizhong as soon as possible and eat Xixia's Black Mountain Weifu Army. Eliminating Weifu Army is equivalent to cutting off an arm of Xixia."
Liu Yao asked: "What is the name of the division that will attack Xia this time?"
"I'll write a petition for Xia!" Huan Guo took over the job.
Ju Ming also said: "The cabinet, together with the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Industry, must ensure that food, grass, equipment, and civilian workers are fully prepared before the spring of next year. If something goes wrong, it will affect the frontline war. In the lightest case, it will be dismissed from office and returned home, or in the most serious case.
Go to jail and face justice!”
"yes!"
Everyone looked serious and stood up to bow.
…
Yue Fei's station was far away from Yinshan Mountain, so he didn't bring many troops there.
He only brought two thousand brave cavalry and three thousand light cavalry, totaling more than five thousand people.
Among them, most of the three thousand light cavalry are Khitan, Tanggu, and Jurchen tribe cavalry. The chiefs of each tribe must recruit elites, ranging from dozens to hundreds, to follow Yue Fei to fight.
In this way, one is to make rational use of the grassland tribes, and the other is to prevent tribes from taking the opportunity to rebel.
After all, Yue Fei left with the main force, and the Han soldiers on the grassland there were empty. Maybe one of the tribes would cause trouble.
Not all tribal cavalry are light cavalry.
Especially those Khitan cavalry who cooperated with Yue Fei in the decisive battle and picked up many armors from Wanyan Zonghan!
More than five thousand cavalry set out from Linhuang Mansion, one person and four horses advancing rapidly.
They didn't bring much food and grass, so the tribes along the way had to provide food. It wasn't in vain, and for how much livestock and grain they had eaten, these tribes could take the receipts and go to the nearest Ming Dynasty government office to receive compensation.
In early autumn, Yue Fei and Han Shizhong joined forces.
Han Shizhong already had plenty of food and grass there, including a lot of military rations shipped from Shanxi.
There are many methods for making military rations in the Northern Song Dynasty's "Wu Jing Zong Yao". One of them is to boil rice and expose it to the sun, remove impurities and steam it repeatedly ten times. 120 kilograms of rice can be compressed into 20 kilograms. There is no time to make rice when marching and fighting.
Just break off a piece and soak it in water and drink it directly. It can be understood as the military compressed biscuit of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Under the improvement of the great Dean Zhu, this compressed biscuit is mixed with dehydrated vegetables, rice flour and bean flour and compressed together.
In this way, Ming Dynasty's improved version of compressed military rations has added vitamins and protein.
When marching and fighting on the grasslands, they would also bring a large amount of dried meat.
Yue Fei and Han Shizhong were stationed on the grassland, so they would naturally absorb the strengths of the grassland cavalry.
After the two men joined forces, the number of cavalry was about 18,000.
More than 60% of the cavalry were not Han Chinese, but came from various tribes in the grasslands. Including the princes of the grasslands who were generously rewarded by Ju Ming, they all brought their tribesmen to help fight the war.
Who dares not to come?
Then don't rush to attack Xixia, deal with the disobedient tribe first!
Eighteen thousand cavalrymen, with more than 50,000 horses, an average of three horses per person, went straight to Dongsheng Prefecture (Tuoketuo County).
There are only 800 Xixia troops stationed in this city.
The surrounding tribes are mostly Dangxiang and Tanggu tribes.
The ancient Tang Dynasty was a grassland tribe formed by slaves of various ethnic groups who lived together in the Liao Kingdom. In the past, they were seriously tending to become Khitan, but now they began to learn Han or Dangxiang customs according to the specific rulers.
All the young and strong men from Dangxiang and Tanggu tribes in Dongsheng Prefecture were recruited as cavalry, which amounted to only two to three thousand cavalry.
Yue Fei and Han Shizhong arrived so quickly, how could they have time to recruit young men for the Xixia garrison?
The Xixia garrison general took eight hundred garrison troops and their families and fled to Baotou. At the same time, he ordered the Dangxiang herdsmen within his jurisdiction to flee together.
The Dangxiang herdsmen here have always been ruled by the Liao Kingdom, and later by the Jin Kingdom, and then by the Xixia Kingdom for less than ten years.
At this time, seeing the Ming Dynasty's strong military strength, the Dangxiang tribes were unwilling to accompany Xixia to die.
Even the party chiefs took the initiative to seek refuge with Yue Fei and Han Shizhong with their young men!
"I'm a visiting soldier. I just need to go south this time." Yue Fei carried forward his style and did not compete with Han Shizhong for credit.
Han Shizhong immediately said happily: "What a man! I will only attack the Tiande Army City in Xixia. I will wait for you to join us there, and then we will go to attack the Weifu Army together."
Yue Fei said sternly: "Don't delay the military plane. If everything goes well for Han Duhu, he should go straight to the thieves' nest. Don't wait for me to get there."
"Okay, I'll prepare a banquet at Weifu Military Command and wait for you to come over to drink and eat meat." The more Han Shizhong looked at Yue Fei, the more he liked him.
Who wouldn’t like a friendly army that doesn’t take credit?
This time the grassland troops went into battle, the strategic goal was to eliminate the Weifu Army Division in Xixia.
Yue Fei gave up all the main targets of the battle to Han Shizhong, who had more troops, and led his 5,000 cavalry south to clear out the secondary targets.
…
But it was said that Han Shizhong led his troops to Baotou, but still failed. The Xixia army had already fled with the herdsmen.
The Xixia army withdrew all the way westward to Tiande Military City (Wuliangsuhai), where there was a solid city built by the Liao Kingdom. Moreover, the desertification in the nearby area was not serious, and there was a large population that could be cultivated and herded, so they could rely on the strong city to hold on for a long time.
In order to rush for time, Han Shizhong did not bring siege artillery, and the artillery is still halfway there.
While he besieged the city with a large army, he also sent people to cut down trees and build siege equipment.
There is the Muna Mountain (Wula Mountain) stretching for 200 miles, with endless trees.
At the same time, Han Shizhong sent Qingqi to the west to inquire about the reinforcements of Xixia Weifu Army Division - Weifu Army Division was stationed at the foothills of Yinshan Mountain.
There was no rush to attack the city for the time being, Han Shizhong was focused on besieging the city and calling for reinforcements.
A Ming army officer who understood Dangxiang's language rushed to Tiande City to persuade him to surrender: "The defenders in the city must surrender quickly. We are just the vanguard, and one hundred thousand tomorrow's soldiers will arrive soon. The Jin Kingdom has hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and they are all captured."
I, the Ming Dynasty, have been destroyed, how can you guys still be able to defend Tiande City?"
The Western Xia guard did not dare to shoot those who tried to persuade him to surrender. Instead, he stood at the top of the city and asked, "Daxia is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and it has been agreed that it will always be a state of father and son. Why did the Ming Dynasty go back on its promise and suddenly send troops to attack the vassal state? Where is the faith of the Ming Dynasty?"
How do other vassal countries view the Ming Dynasty?"
An officer of the Ming Dynasty said: "The land of Xixia was originally Chinese territory, but it was divided by Xiao Xiao Ri Tu. The Li family was originally a barbarian. He was given a surname by the Tang Dynasty. He was a subject of the Song Dynasty but did not know how to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country. The founding of the country was not righteous! What he did was done.
The Ming Dynasty was a vassal state, and the monarchs and ministers of Xixia did not know how to adhere to benevolent governance. The people in the country were in dire straits. Every year, countless hungry people fled to the Ming Dynasty to beg for food. The Xixia people did not abide by the vassal rule, secretly colluded with the Western Liao Dynasty, and cut off the Ming Dynasty business travel. This was a treasonous act. "
"Whether it's to punish the people or to eradicate the disloyal vassals, I, the Ming Dynasty, will do my best this time! If you know what's going on, open the city and surrender as soon as possible!"
The guard general of Xixia argued: "You are talking nonsense. It is the tribal bandits in Hexi who cut off Ming's business travel. I, the Emperor of Daxia, have already punished those tribes and have given an explanation to Ming a long time ago. You guys are just looking for excuses by going over old scores!"
An officer from the Ming Dynasty said: "It was done by tribes once, but is it the case every time? If it happens every time, how can the Emperor of Xixia be qualified to be the king of a country if he can't even control the tribes in the country?"
I really can’t control it!
Due to frequent disasters in the Western Xia Dynasty, corruption in the officialdom, and the inability to go to the Ming Dynasty to rob and replenish blood, many Xixia tribes were starving and poor.
The tribes in the Hexi Corridor robbed business travelers more and more often and did not give the Xixia Emperor any face.
In the past two years, there have been fewer and fewer business travelers in the Hexi Corridor, and they have turned to the Yellow-headed Uighur territory to bypass it. The more this happens, the less commercial taxes collected in Xixia, and the more severe the exploitation of the tribes and people, which has formed
A vicious cycle.
The reason for sending troops because merchants were repeatedly looted was a very upright and upright reason, not a random excuse for sending troops by the emperors and ministers of the Ming Dynasty.
"Da da da da!"
Several cavalrymen rushed back from the west and reported to Han Shizhong: "Captain, a large number of Xixia cavalry were found twenty miles away. It should be that reinforcements from the Weifu Army Division of Xixia have arrived!"
