Surrounding the rear and attacking the Ming army's castle were eight thousand cavalry from the Yan Army Division in Heishui Town.
Yan refers to the Liao Kingdom, and subduing Yan means subduing Liao.
The original intention of setting up the Yan Army Division in Heishui Town was to prevent the Liao army from setting off from Mobei and attacking Ganzhou (Zhangye) along the Heishui River. At the same time, it was also the node of the Prairie Silk Road, with a "Ganzhou-Heishui City"
—Mobei” trade route.
Black water, that is, weak water, Ejina River.
It originates from the Qilian Mountains and flows northward to form the Juyan Sea.
In ancient times, the area of Juyanhai was as high as 2,600 square kilometers.
During the Han Dynasty, the area of Juyanhai was reduced to more than 700 square kilometers, and the area along the river and around the lake was fertile and wild. The Han Dynasty cultivated 2.8 million acres here, in addition to horse farms and nomadic areas, and sent 180,000 people here.
Build a city and guard the border!
During the Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Xixia, and Juyanhai, the area continued to shrink, but there were still three to four hundred square kilometers left for farming and grazing, with a large population. Historically, after the Mongols captured Heishui City, tens of thousands of people were massacred in the city.
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Well, it's the Blackwater City in "Ghost Blowing the Lantern: Longling Cave".
Fei Congjuli comes from the surname of the eight tribes of Dangxiang. His ancestors were transferred to Heishui City and part of Fei Cong's tribe was moved there to breed.
Life has always been pretty good. There are abundant water and grass, fertile fields and thousands of miles of fertile land. It is also a trade node and can collect taxes.
After the fall of the Liao Kingdom, Mobei was left in disarray, and there was no longer a military threat to the Zhenyan Army.
Their duties also changed accordingly, that is, to be ready to support Weifu Military Division at any time, and to come to the rescue immediately after receiving a homing pigeon or beacon fire.
It’s really a thousand miles away!
There are many desert belts and oases along the way, and beacon towers are built based on oases and rivers.
Fei Congjuli sent out troops very quickly this time, because Weifu Military Division sent dozens of homing pigeons one after another, and the flames of war continued. He had no time to recruit more troops, so he only sent out troops in the area around the East Juyan Sea.
More than ten thousand people, one man and two horses, rushed to Wu Lahai City.
During the decisive battle with Brother Richard, Fei Cong led eight thousand horsemen behind him and brought a large number of simple wooden ladders with him to attack the city.
It was a barrier city, and it was also the location of the largest material transfer station and military warehouse between Wu Lahai City and Tiande Military City.
The artillery and food of the Ming army were hidden in the city!
There is no moat.
Moreover, a gap was created in the east wall of the castle by the Ming army. At this moment, the gap was simply repaired and barely blocked with earth blocks and wood, which was only more than three meters high.
The total number of Ming infantry and artillerymen guarding the city was only a few hundred, and there were hundreds of grassland civilians.
Outside the city, there are many grain-carrying boats on the Yellow River, and the boatmen and some civilians live on the boats.
Seeing that the enemy was coming, all the grain transport ships moved to the south bank. Two of the small ships quickly sailed west to report to Han Shizhong on the main battlefield.
Fei Congju led his troops to attack here. After a brief observation, he immediately jumped into the battle.
Some cavalry dismounted and carried wooden ladders, rushing towards the gap, while the rest of the cavalry took turns shooting arrows to cover.
The Ming army defending the city was banging and smashing iron pots.
The smashed pieces of rammed earth and pieces of iron pot were used as shotguns to stuff the barrels.
These are siege artillery with large caliber and long range. They are temporarily placed here.
If you use siege iron bullets, they will be too ineffective against light cavalry. If you use shotgun shells, it will be different.
"Boom boom boom boom!"
The six artillery pieces on both sides of the gap took turns firing at the charging enemy troops. Countless rammed earth blocks and iron pot pieces flew out, and Xixia soldiers fell down from time to time.
Cleaning the barrel of the cannon was quite troublesome. The rammed earth came from the collapsed city wall, leaving a lot of dust in the barrel when the cannon was fired. There was no way, it was difficult to find stones nearby, so we had to break up the rammed earth to replace it.
Hundreds of grassland folk were also shooting with their own bows and arrows.
The soldiers under Fei Congjuli were repulsed in four consecutive attacks, and their morale was eroded little by little.
He simply divided his troops to attack on all sides instead of just attacking the gap.
The Ming army's remaining troops were too few in number to defend every location, and they were quickly rushed to the city gates by a group of Xixia soldiers.
Those Xixia soldiers were building a ladder when they saw a ball falling from above their heads.
"boom!"
Thunder exploded, causing heavy casualties to the Xixia soldiers. Those who survived all fled in terror.
Fei Congjuli still did not believe in evil and continued to organize attacks, but the Xixia soldiers became timid and moved or stood far apart from each other.
"boom!"
Another thunderbolt exploded, and all the nearby Xixia soldiers fled. Those who were twenty or thirty meters away were all running away. It seemed that they would be the ones who would be bombed if they didn't run away.
"Du Tong, we can't attack anymore, the Ming army's firearms are powerful!" The chiefs under his command begged one after another.
In fact, so far, only more than 300 of the 8,000 Xixia soldiers have been killed or injured, and the casualty rate is less than 4%. Many of the Xixia soldiers who were hit by small rammed earth blocks only suffered fractures, and their lives were not in danger if they were withdrawn.
But they were all frightened by the firearms, especially the thundering thunder, which made the Xixia soldiers dare not approach the city wall.
They came thousands of miles from the Zhenyan Army Division, and there was no need to risk their lives for the Weifu Army Division.
These Xixia soldiers are mainly members of the Uighur ethnic group.
No matter how dangxiang it is, it is not a real dangxiang after all. The language contains a lot of Uighur vocabulary, and many Uighur customs remain in daily life, which is not the same as the dangxiang people of Weifu Military Division.
Fei Congjuli saw that all the chiefs were unwilling to fight again, so he could only bite the bullet and said: "Attack again and send more people!"
"Boom boom boom boom..."
Soon, more than ten thunderbolts exploded one after another, and one group after another Xixia soldiers fled back.
The chiefs looked at Fei Congjuli without saying a word and faced each other in silence.
Fei Congjuli looked at the small barrier city and saw the gap that was only two or three meters high. He swallowed hard and said, "Let's go to the decisive battlefield to help His Majesty the King of Jin."
The chiefs finally smiled. They would rather face tens of thousands of Ming troops on the grassland than attack the castle defended by firearms.
Who knows how many iron balls can explode. As long as the Xixia soldiers rush to the city wall, a group of them will be knocked over by the explosion. How many times can the Xixia soldiers withstand it, no matter how many there are?
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Fei Congjuli took away the wounded soldiers and corpses, and led more than 7,000 horsemen to the main battlefield.
He felt that the battle, with a total strength of more than 100,000 troops on both sides, would not be completed in a while. As long as he maintained the strength of his horse all the way, and suddenly burst out from behind the Ming army at the critical moment of the battle, he would definitely be able to perform extraordinary feats.
To be on the safe side, Fei Congjuli also sent hundreds of light cavalry far ahead to find out the news.
Until mid-afternoon, those Qingqi soldiers ran back in panic: "Du Tong, King Jin has been defeated!"
Fei Congjuli asked in surprise: "How did you lose?"
"I don't know," said the Qingqi officer. "We didn't encounter any Ming Qingqi interception along the way. As we approached the battlefield, we saw prisoners and corpses everywhere. Before we could take a closer look, a group of Qingqi rushed towards us. We were frightened.
You have to run back quickly."
That cavalry was Han Shizhong's personal soldier.
The rest of the Ming Dynasty cavalry all went to chase and defeat the enemy, leaving only Han Shizhong commanding the prairie cavalry to clean up the battlefield.
Han Shizhong had already received the news from the clipper. He deliberately let the Xixia Qingqi who was exploring the path approach to let the enemy troops attacking the castle know that Brother Richard had been defeated.
Inexplicable panic quickly spread among Fei Congjuli's army.
They didn't know how the decisive battle was lost, nor did they know how many friendly troops had escaped.
"Go back to Wu La Haicheng first!" Fei Congjuli gave the order.
These more than 7,000 horsemen immediately galloped north, swam across the Uga River, and then headed west along the north bank, bypassing the battlefield and escaping back to Wu Lahai City.
After running wildly until dark, Fei Congjuli suddenly stopped.
In front of them, on both sides of the Uga River, the Ming army was already waiting there.
There were still many Ming cavalry who had not returned from chasing the enemy. Han Shizhong personally led more than a thousand Ming cavalry and nearly ten thousand grassland light cavalry to guard both sides of the Wuga River to block the enemy's return.
More than ten miles behind Han Shizhong is the Langshan Pass where Wulahai City is located.
A Dangxiang chief who surrendered in the Tiande Army City rode over and shouted: "Don't shoot arrows, I'm a Dangxiang! Don't shoot arrows, I'm a Khitan..."
Fei Congjuli ordered not to fire arrows, and waited until the man rushed in before asking: "Since you are a party member, why do you want to defect to the enemy country?"
The chief of the Dangxiang tribe said: "My name is Brother Mi Qinxin, and I am the head of a branch of the Mi Qin clan. I used to garrison the Tiande Army City, and surrendered only after the city was broken. The Ming army did not kill prisoners indiscriminately, but also ordered firefighting. There was a man who
The Ming Protector named Yue also suppressed and executed two enemy chiefs who killed prisoners indiscriminately. If you surrender, you will definitely survive."
All the chiefs under Fei Congjuli were moved by what he heard.
Especially the Uighur chiefs. Their hometown is thousands of miles away from here, and they are not from the same clan as the Dangxiang people. Why not surrender if they can survive?
What's more, Brother Richard was defeated.
Fei Congjuli asked: "How did King Jin lose?"
Brother Mi Qinxin said: "Including Tie Yaozi, all our Daxia...Xixia cavalry were routed. The Ming army's iron cavalry broke into the infantry formation, and the entire Jin army was defeated. The Ming army captured tens of thousands of people.
, the King of Jin fled with the remaining soldiers, and I don’t know where he fled. But it was definitely not Wu Lahai City, and he did not dare to escape back to the city."
Fei Congjuli was silent.
Brother Mi Qinxin continued: "Han Duhu asked me to send a message. After the spring of the Ming Dynasty, half a million troops will be sent to Shaanxi. The Yellow-headed Uighurs will also send troops to destroy Xixia in three groups. Even if you escape back to Zhenyan
Military Secretary, when the Ming army conquers the Xixia capital, they will also send troops to kill Heishui City. Can you win by then?"
Who can escape, the escape route is blocked!
To the north is Langshan Mountain, to the south is the Uga River, and the grassland in between is only a dozen miles wide.
Even if they could fight tooth and nail and escape into Wu Lahai City, if the Ming army blocked the entrance to Langshan, they would all become turtles in a jar.
At that time, the only way to survive is to cross the Langshan Pass and detour more than a thousand miles from the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain back to Heishui City. There are Gobi, deserts and mountains along the way, and I am afraid that I will starve to death on the way.
Another party cavalry rushed over and shouted: "Han Duhu said whether to fight or flee, let you decide quickly, he will go back to distribute the spoils!"
The Uighur chiefs stepped forward one after another and surrounded Fei Congjuli.
Even the chief of the Dangxiang clan did not stop this behavior and chose to stand on horseback and watch.
Fei Congjuli looked at the chiefs holding their hands on the hilts of their swords. If he dared to say "no", he would probably be hacked to death on the spot.
The descendants of these people defended Blackwater City more than eighty years later, purely because of the brutality of the Mongols.
At this moment, they have a chance to survive.
Fei Congjuli sighed, threw down his weapon and said, "I wish the Ming Dynasty would be conquered."
Han Shizhong called Fei Congjuli over and pointed at Wu Lahai City, which was more than ten miles to the northwest: "None of your cavalrymen are wearing armor. They went to the outside of the city to shout to persuade them to surrender. Just say that the Zhenyan Army Division has surrendered and let us surrender."
The defenders in the city should surrender as soon as possible. If you dare to defend, artillery, bows and arrows will not be wise."
Fei Congjuli had no other choice but to hand over his weapons and armor. Under the "escort" of the Ming Dynasty's knights, more than 7,000 knights rushed to the outside of Wu Lahai City to persuade him to surrender.
Seeing the more than 7,000 unarmed friendly troops, the defenders in the city began to quarrel.
Most people want to surrender. If Brother Richard doesn't flee to the city, he has obviously given up on the city. So why are they continuing to defend it?
Cao Yu, the supervisor of the Weifu Military Division, ordered the killing of several officers who were clamoring to defend, and then led the entire army to open the city gate.
Cao Yu rushed to the front of Han Shizhong and knelt down after a few meters: "Cao Yu, the supervisor of the country, comes to see the general of the country! I am the clan brother of the Empress Dowager of Xixia. I also have a clan brother named Cao Tuan.
I have been an envoy in Luoyang for a long time and got to know many civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty. I am willing to serve the Ming Dynasty and go with the army to Keyi Gate to persuade the general to surrender. The Cao family is also willing to submit to the Ming Dynasty. I can also persuade my sister, Queen Mother Cao, to surrender.
She ordered the Xixia ruler to surrender his country."
Han Shizhong laughed loudly: "You are very knowledgeable."
Cao Yu knelt down and turned around, facing the city gate and said, "General, please come into the city. I will lead the horse for the general."