The topmost stretch of the "Ji" Bay of the Yellow River has always been a rich area for farming and grazing.
If the nomads occupied this place, they would have the confidence to spy on the Central Plains.
If the Central Plains Dynasty occupied this place, they would be able to cross the Yin Mountains without teaching Huma.
Most of the time, Xixia and Liao each occupied half of this area, and there were also a few times when Xixia occupied the entire area.
Regardless of whether half or all of it is occupied, the entire area is under the jurisdiction of the Black Mountain Weifu Army.
When Xixia was at its peak, the number of troops in the Weifu Army was - 70,000!
There is no way, there must be so many soldiers, otherwise if the Liao Kingdom captures this place, they can go south and directly take the capital of Xixia Kingdom.
Of course, the standing army is very small because we cannot afford to maintain many.
During normal times, they are farming or grazing, and they are not given military pay.
In times of war, they would be divided into groups to fight, and they would be given food.
Every Xixia man who reaches the age of 15 automatically becomes a male.
One person from two dings will be selected as a regular soldier. The court will give each regular soldier a war horse and a camel (or other livestock). War horses and livestock are only issued once. If they die or are lost, the soldiers will find ways to replenish them.
I usually raise my own war horses, and the Xixia government is not responsible.
The remaining men after selecting the main army will be drafted as burdens (auxiliary soldiers) during wartime.
That is to say, during the war, Xixia men over the age of 15 were either serving as regular soldiers or as burdens (menial labor).
In principle, all the people are soldiers. In practice, it depends on how much food and grass there is.
A regular soldier and a burden make up a copy.
Chao is the smallest military unit of Xixia.
…
Weifu Army Division has three chief officers, one is the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, one is the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, and one is the Supervisor of the Army.
At this moment, the deputy capital commander was surrounded by Han Shizhong in the Tiande Army City.
The governor of the capital and the supervisor of the army led reinforcements from the west.
And Xixia not only has these two cities (Ulahai City, Tiande Army City), but also a large number of barrier cities along the way. That is, there are many military fortresses. If the Liao soldiers and Jin soldiers come to kill, nearby farmers and herdsmen can quickly hide in
castle.
On his way from Baotou, Han Shizhong encountered two fortresses, both of which he bypassed.
He didn't want infantry or artillery. The purpose of Han Shizhong's hasty march was simply to prevent Xixia from gathering troops calmly.
He had achieved his goal. The area under the jurisdiction of the Xixia Weifu Army was cut into two large pieces by Han Shizhong: more than 20,000 reinforcements and about 20,000 soldiers in the city.
There were still more than a thousand people hiding in the two castles he bypassed.
Didn't it say that the total number of troops was 70,000?
That was the time when Xixia was at its peak, and now that we have gathered troops in a hurry, it is already quite good to be able to gather more than 40,000 people.
"Capital, the Ming army's reconnaissance cavalry was discovered ten miles away!"
"Explore again."
The general name of Weifu Military Division is Li Quanlu. He comes from a clan and is the nephew of Brother Richard in terms of seniority.
He can barely be considered a veteran.
He also fought with Liu Fa when he was young, and then was beaten violently by Yang Zhi. Taking advantage of the battle between Ming and Jin, he went to war with Brother Richard to steal the prairie city of the Jin Kingdom.
"We can't attack rashly, we should wait for reinforcements." Supervisor Cao Yu said.
Li Quanlu is a member of Brother Richard.
Cao Yu was Li Qianshun's man. Although Li Qianshun died of illness, Prime Minister Li Renzhong did not allow Brother Richard to change the supervisory army.
The capital commanders and military supervisors of Xixia belong to different political camps!
Li Quanlu said: "I have seen artillery. If I am too slow to save him, I am afraid Tiande City has been breached."
Cao Yu said: "The Ming army made a sudden advance and reached Tiande Army City in such a short time. We summoned all the troops to send troops in a hurry. How could the Ming army have time to transport artillery?"
"Just in case." Li Quanlu said.
Cao Yu asked: "Do you know how many Ming troops have come? Do you know who the commander-in-chief of the Ming troops is? Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you be victorious in every battle. You didn't know anything, and your troops didn't gather together, so you hurried to the rescue. What if we come back defeated?"
Li Quanlu looked unhappy and said: "You are a civil servant, what do you know about military affairs? I am not a fool, so naturally I will not fight immediately."
"Now that we have encountered the Qingqi of the Ming Army, we naturally chose a place to camp nearby. We sent the Qingqi to rush over to find out the situation of the Tiande Army City; while we waited for more reinforcements to come and join us."
"Before sending troops, I sent people to rush for help, and asked Qiangzhen Military Division and Chaoshun Military Division to also send troops to rescue!"
Cao Yu shook his head and said: "I don't know if the reinforcements from the two military divisions will arrive in the year of the monkey, horse or moon. We must go back to Wu Lahai City and wait, instead of waiting here in Tiande Military City."
We really have to wait until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse.
The reason why Li Quanlu was able to gather troops quickly was because this battle was related to the interests of the local tribe. In order to preserve the pastures and farmland, the tribal chiefs naturally sent troops quickly and followed their generals to come to the rescue.
However, the Qiangzhen Military Division and the Chaoshun Military Division are stationed west of the Hetao.
The tribal chiefs there are slow to send troops even if they are willing to do so, and they will probably take the opportunity to clamor for tax cuts.
The people responsible for gathering troops during war are actually the chiefs of each tribe!
Li Bao asked Yue Fei and Han Shizhong to kill him quickly. Han Shizhong galloped all the way without the infantry, just to prevent other military commanders from having time to rescue him.
…
North of the Yellow River and south of Wuyuan, on the grassland forty miles wide, the light cavalry of the two countries were fighting in a lively manner.
Both sides are steppe tribe cavalry.
The equipment is very rubbish, most of them have no armor, and they just shoot arrows at each other when they meet.
They fought back and forth, many were injured, but few were killed.
Those who were hit by arrows immediately retreated, not wanting to fight in close combat anyway.
The grassland is too vast and cannot be defended. A small group of Xixia cavalry even went around from the north of Wuyuan, trying to approach the besieged Tiande Army City and get in touch with the Xixia Army that was defending the city.
"Boom!"
The thunderous sound of horse hooves came from the east, and the Xixia Qingqi who were fighting were so frightened that they turned around and ran away.
Li Quanlu, who had not yet finished setting up camp, quickly received news from Qingqi: The main force of the Ming army was coming!
When I asked how many people came, I only knew that it was at least tens of thousands, maybe tens of thousands.
The supervisor Cao Yu was so frightened: "Retreat to Wu Lahaicheng quickly and defend the city to wait for reinforcements. Never fight a decisive battle with the Ming army in the wild!"
Li Quanlu became more and more irritable as he listened, and shouted: "What do you know? Have you seen the firearms of the Ming army? I have personally learned that a hundred thousand troops were destroyed in one day! To fight the Ming army, you have to fight on the open grassland. Wu La
Haicheng is in the mountains. Waiting for the Ming army to drag in the artillery, and waiting for the firecrackers to arrive, how can we still fight in the city?"
Cao Yu said: "You can't fight in the wild. Have you forgotten that when we fought with the Jin Kingdom, I had more than 30,000 soldiers in Daxia, but I was killed by more than a thousand gold cavalry and the whole army was defeated? Ming cavalry can fight head-on with the Jin cavalry.
Their cavalry are well-armored, and we don’t even have iron kites in our hands.”
"Stop arguing, let me think about it!" Li Quanlu felt unsure.
Han Shizhong arrived so quickly that the farmers and herdsmen around Tiande Army City had no time to retreat to the west to join forces, so they had no choice but to hide in the nearby Tiande Army City and defend it.
Under normal circumstances, it will be fine for a year and a half.
But the Ming army has artillery!
Li Quanlu was afraid that if he didn't rescue him, the city wall would be blown down. By then, Han Shizhong would use Tiande Military City as a base to continuously increase troops and transport food.
But how to save it?
Cao Yu is absolutely right, most of them can't be defeated in field battles.
There are only three thousand iron kites in Xixia. This is not because there are insufficient riders and war horses, but because Xixia's financial resources can only support so many.
The Iron Kites are all in the capital, and it is impossible to come here at once.
Li Quanlu's standing army was limited, only two to three thousand men, and these troops were naturally fully equipped.
The rest are all young and strong farmers and herdsmen. Some have been drafted as regular soldiers, and some have been drafted as burdens. Among these troops, those who can wear leather armor are already elites, and many regular soldiers are even equipped with fucking leather armor.
nothing.
Frightened by the Ming army's reputation, Li Quanlu gave up: "Withdraw the troops!"
They rushed to the rescue and hurriedly ordered to evacuate...
Li Quanlu fled so fast that he even abandoned his grain and livestock, and the whole army fled in panic on horseback.
Han Shizhong led his troops to the half-empty enemy camp. Seeing the livestock and food in the camp, he didn't understand what was going on for a while.
This battle is of great importance, and Han Shizhong actually became cautious: "The enemy's escape was too strange, and there must be an ambush ahead to lure us over and then rush out. Since the enemy left livestock and food, then we will accept it and don't rush to pursue it again."
, go back with the food and continue the siege!"
Outside the Tiande Army's city, Han Shizhong left only a small number of light cavalry to watch from a distance.
Seeing the main force of the Ming army leaving, Deputy Commander Ye Li Degui guessed that Han Shizhong was going to send reinforcements, so he ordered all his troops to go out of the city to cooperate with the reinforcements.
Ye Li Degui led his army not far before he discovered that Han Shizhong was returning with his troops. He was so frightened that he quickly withdrew his entire army into the city.
"What's going on? Is the battle already over and the Ming army won a complete victory? It can't be so fast!" Ye Li Degui was confused.
Fortunately, there are a large number of rice fields on both sides of the Yellow River. Xixia farmers have just harvested rice, and herdsmen have brought many livestock into the city. Yeli Degui's grain and grass can last for a year or two.
He didn't care about the many people and just defended the city. Sooner or later he would be able to wait for reinforcements.
I'm afraid only the devil knows when the Xixia reinforcements will come again.
Han Shizhong's follow-up troops have already boarded ships in Dongshengzhou City (Tuoketuo County). This section of the Yellow River is navigable, and a large number of canals extend from both sides of the Yellow River for irrigation.
In a few days, artillery can arrive, as can more food.
…
But it is said that Yue Fei led 5,000 cavalry and hundreds of party cavalry, and went south along the Yellow River to attack Ningbian Prefecture.
On the other side of the Yellow River in Yongbian Prefecture, there is a castle of the Ming Army, stationed with 500 soldiers, belonging to the second-line troops under the jurisdiction of Yao Pingzhong.
Following the river valley to the castle, Yue Fei's cavalry made some supplies, then crossed the river and continued westward around Ningbian Prefecture.
Why did Yue Fei dare to go around the city?
Because he has friendly troops to help him!
After receiving the news from Yue Fei, Yao Pingzhong, who was stationed in Fugu, immediately ordered his troops and horses to go north along the river, leading thousands of people to besiege Ningbian Prefecture City, and at the same time open up Yue Fei's grain road.
Further to the west is Jinsu Military City (northwest of Jungar Banner).
Yue Fei and his four horses arrived so quickly that the herdsmen around the city were still herding sheep. They looked at Yue Fei and his troops passing by in a daze. They thought they were the army of their own country.
If he is not one of his own people, how can he still be part of the Ming army?
There is a desert area to the north and Ningbian Prefecture of Xixia to the east. It is impossible for the Ming Dynasty cavalry to fly over.
No herdsmen along the way went to the city to report the news.
When Yue Fei led his troops to the outside of the city, the Xixia garrison was still drinking kumiss.
It happened to be dinner time, and Yue Fei came to give him extra food.
The Dangxiang tribe who had taken refuge with Yue Fei in Dongsheng Prefecture, as well as more than a thousand Khitan, Tanggu, and Jurchen cavalry, disguised themselves as defeated Xixia soldiers and fled madly toward the city.
Yue Fei led two thousand brave cavalry and more than a thousand light cavalry to pursue them two miles away.
The defenders inside the city were so frightened that they quickly closed the city gate, completely unaware of what was happening outside the city.
A Dangxiang chief of Dongsheng Prefecture rushed outside the city and shouted: "The Ming army is coming. Dongsheng Prefecture and Yongbian Prefecture have all been conquered. Let us go in quickly to help defend the city!"
"Wait a minute, I'll notify the general." the city guard officer shouted.
Chief Dangxiang said: "Open the city gate quickly, if we delay any longer, the enemy will come and kill us!"
Yue Fei had led his troops to pursue him one and a half miles away from the city. The city guarding officer also panicked and shouted quickly: "Cross the moat and go around through the west gate!"
Yue Fei saw the front troops moving around the West City, and he also circled outside the moat to the west.
The Xixia guard didn't bother to eat anymore, so he rode to the west city gate and asked in a panic: "How many Ming troops have come? Why is Ningbianzhou gone? Why don't I..."
"kill!"
After the city gate was opened, the cavalry from all races rushed in.
Unexpectedly, the Xixia guard was chopped down by Chief Dangxiang before he even drew his weapon.
The Xixia soldiers inside the city gate were in chaos, and the cavalry from all ethnic groups rushed straight into the city. Yue Fei led his elite troops and followed suit.
Even before the city was completely captured, Yue Fei ordered the knights to change their horses: "Follow me and attack the Heqing Army City!"
"Captain, the soldiers have not slept a wink all day and night."
"Then sleep on the horse. We all change horses. Our spare horses are also tired. It is best to change them to the enemy's horses in the city. This city will be handed over to the cavalry of all ethnic groups. The Ming soldiers will follow me to attack the Heqing army city!"
Jin Su's army was still fighting in the city, but Yue Fei had already led his troops to attack the next place.
In the city, Xixia soldiers fled on horseback. When they saw that Yue Fei was also leading his troops to the west, they were so frightened that they quickly turned around and fled elsewhere.
The next day, Yue Fei's troops, who had not slept for two days and one night, unexpectedly arrived at the Qinghe Military City in northern Ordos.
A fight to the bottom!
There wasn't even much fighting, and the lieutenant was a local tribal chief. It was previously ruled by the Liao Kingdom, and later by the Jin Kingdom. It was less than ten years ago that Xixia stole this place.
Although the local tribes are party members, how can they be loyal to Xixia?
Yue Fei's troops were like divine soldiers descending from the sky, frightening the local tribes. The local chief's deputy general killed the chief general sent by the Xixia court and led the crowd to open the city gate and surrender.
Han Shizhong was still besieging the city, but Yue Fei had already cleared several cities in the south.