Xiao Heda stood on the general platform, facing nearly 10,000 soldiers:
"Some people say that I have been in Xiazhou for more than ten years, embezzling military rations and feeding the common people. This time I raised the army just for my own wealth, and they put all the blame for the famine in Xiazhou on me."
"Today, I took out all my free money and gave it all to the soldiers of the three armies. I also used all the food stored in my house to make military rations."
"I've vacated my own mansion, and I don't want the big one anymore. I'll just burn it all down!"
"Go and give the order to burn my house!"
A horse galloped into the city, and half a quarter of an hour later, the people in the city began to shout restlessly.
Xiao Heda added: "Officers and chiefs from each ministry can choose thirty people to enter the city to see if my house has been set on fire!"
One after another, hundreds of people came forward and rode into the city to check the situation.
After a while, these people rushed back outside the city and told their companions that Xiao Heda's mansion was indeed burning.
Xiao Heda continued: "I have also taken out all the fields in Xiazhou and rewarded them for their meritorious service. This is the field deed. It is locked in a box and will be kept by the generals in turn. If you want to get more rewards, then
Follow me to defeat the enemy army and snatch it from the hands of the foolish king and corrupt officials of Xixia. Kill the foolish king! Kill the corrupt officials!"
"Kill the faint king! Kill the corrupt officials!"
The entire army roared, and for a moment the momentum was like a rainbow.
Xiao Heda's rebellion was naturally not for the purpose of liberating the people. He really couldn't survive in Xixia.
How far did Xiao Heda get into trouble in history?
He first defeated the Xixia counter-rebellion army, and then contacted the two Khitan tribes at the southern foot of the Yin Mountain. Then, Hedong Baguan, Shanjinsi, and the northern and southern palaces were all in Beibi... The Khitan tribes and some Han people all raised troops to respond to the rebellion.
.
They combined tens of thousands of troops, defeated the counter-rebellion army several times, and defeated the Xixia armies in the left wing. Then they attacked Lingzhou, which was more than a hundred miles away from the Xixia royal city. Since they could not capture the Lingzhou strong city, they went to capture it.
Strategically located Yanzhou.
Then, they plundered pastures in various states and even sent light cavalry to kill them in the Helan Mountains.
At the beginning of the army, he dispersed all his wealth and distributed the looted goods to the soldiers. Many poor people spontaneously came to seek refuge. Unfortunately, Ren Dejing sent troops to raid his home, and then his retreat was blocked and he was defeated in Yanzhou.
Xiao Heda in this time and space would naturally not be so embarrassed, let alone besieged by large counter-rebellion legions.
In the early winter of last year, he suddenly launched an army to attack Xiazhou Iron Works. He slaughtered all the civil servants and generals there, evacuated all the craftsmen and iron tools, and then repelled the counter-rebellion army from Xiangyou Military Division.
Xiangyou Army Division and Jianing Army Division mobilized troops again, and Xiao Heda defended Xiazhou City, forcing the enemy to retreat before heavy snowfall.
Now that the spring snow has melted, the counterinsurgency army has arrived again.
…
The Xixia military commander responsible for countering the rebellion was the newly sent military supervisor Zong Cunli from the imperial court.
As for Ren Dejing, he was still suppressing the rebellion around Xingqing Mansion and had almost wiped out all the rebels.
"Cunli" is a good name, but adding "甔" to it is ridiculous. Together, it means "Bu Cunli".
The Zong family name is a common surname in Xixia, and Li Jiqian's biological mother's surname was Zong.
Before the snow had melted, Wang Cunli came to the Jianing Military Division and cursed the commander, deputy commander, and military supervisor. He ordered them to immediately recruit troops to quell the rebellion. The only way to do this was to kill Xiao Heda who was entrenched in Xiazhou.
, only then can we help Xiangyou Military Division and Shenyong Military Division to strengthen the walls and clear the country.
If Xiao Heda is not destroyed, the two military commanders will not be able to withdraw even if they want to, and it is even more nonsense to say that the Ming army will strengthen its walls and clear the country.
In various villages and pastures, the people of Xixia were crying and shouting loudly.
All their houses were burned down, and everyone had to take their belongings and food with them and evacuate. Not a grain of food was left for the Ming army. The old, weak, women and children evacuated directly to Yanzhou, while the young and strong went to fight as soldiers and went to annihilate Xiao He.
Up to the rebels.
Of course, before Xiao Heda is destroyed, all frontline troops cannot be evacuated, and people must be left to defend the city against the Ming army.
In a few days, Wang Cunli gathered thousands of troops and withdrew 3,000 standing troops from the front line.
"Da da da da..."
A fast horse galloped over. The rider went to see Neng Cunli in disgrace and said, "Angel, Changcheng Ridge has been lost!"
Bin Cunli was shocked: "Didn't you come to report two days ago that the Ming army had just begun to attack the stronghold?"
The rider explained: "The Ming army used muskets and powerful crossbows to cover their fire, and used hundreds of people to drag the cannon to the mid-mountain to bombard the walled city. Before the walls of the walled city collapsed, the soldiers guarding the walled city were so frightened that they fled!"
Changcheng Ridge is a dangerous mountain range in the southwest of Hongzhou in Xixia. If firearms are not used, even if tens of thousands of troops attack in turns, the more than a thousand defenders there can hold out for at least half a month.
Li Yanxian personally set up the commander's tent at the foot of the ridge, sent troops to capture a gentle slope in the middle of the mountain, and asked craftsmen to cut wood and build a pulley block, and hoist the siege cannon up to build a fort.
Even so, the angle of bombardment is problematic, and it can only bombard an angle of the walled city.
However, the continuous flying shells frightened the defenders in the castle.
There were only 500 garrison soldiers there, and 3,000 standing troops were temporarily mobilized. The 3,500 people guarded the castle, looking at the densely packed Ming army at the foot of the mountain. They were already frightened and fled immediately after the artillery blast.
Because they ran so fast and the mountains were so steep, the Ming army did not capture any prisoners or kill any of the defenders.
"Da da da da..."
Another fast horse arrived, and the rider knelt down and cried out: "Angel, the Ming army has approached Longzhou City. The Shilijing Village in the south of Longzhou is gone. The two Ming armies have probably surrounded Longzhou now!"
In fact, the Helan Yuan Village further southwest has also been destroyed, but the news has not been received yet due to the distance.
Wang Cunli was completely panicked.
His mission was to annihilate Xiao Heda, open up the evacuation channel of Xiangyou Army Division and Shenyong Army Division, take away all the soldiers and civilians of Yinzhou, Shizhou, and Xiazhou, and use strong walls and clear fields to lure the Ming army deep into the area.
But before he had time to put down the rebellion, the Ming army had already attacked the forts one after another, and the army pressed hard on the two prefectural cities of Hongzhou and Longzhou.
How could the Ming army fight so fast?
There is only one reason: the Xixia army has become too decayed and useless.
Historically, Xiao Heda, a foreign military general, was able to repel the three nearby military commanders with just one Xiazhou rebellion. Even after Xiao Heda led his army to march westward, the three military commanders did not dare to send troops to raid their hometowns.
Ren Dejing sent hundreds of elite soldiers to capture Xiazhou.
As for Geng Cunli, who had a heavy army, he was defeated time and time again by Xiao Heda, and finally he hid in Lingzhou City and did not dare to show his face.
What a useless general and army!
It turns out that the Song army during the Huizong period of the Song Dynasty fought back and forth with Xixia, and they were just on the same level as novices pecking each other.
Bin Cunli was shocked and angry, and said in a stern voice: "Order Hongzhou and Longzhou guards to defend the city to delay the delay. I can withdraw after I kill Xiao Heda. Remember, before withdrawing, burn all the food and grass in the city.
!”
Immediately afterwards, Bin Cunli asked the old, weak, women and children to hurry up and rush to the direction of Yanzhou.
Then Bin Cunli led more than 10,000 troops and went north to attack Xiao Heda. Xiangyou Army Division also had more than 20,000 troops to attack Xiazhou from the north and south.
??????55.??????
Wang Cunli quickly marched to Sanchakou Village, where the entire army stopped to camp and rest.
That night, a burst of shouting woke up Bin Cunli from his sleep.
However, Xiao Heda led hundreds of Xiazhou elites, and Duoyou led hundreds of Dingzhou elites, suddenly rushed over to attack the camp at night.
Bin Cunli had no precautions, because the place where he sent troops was farther away from Xiazhou. In his opinion, Xiao Heda should be fighting Xiangyou Army, which had more troops and was closer to the road at this time. It was absolutely impossible for him to fight.
He came all the way to sneak attack him.
"Angel, hurry up, a lot of thieves are coming to kill you!"
"How many thieves have come?"
"I'm afraid there are tens of thousands of people holding torches everywhere."
"..."
Bin Cunli was living in the castle of Sanchakou Village at this time. He climbed up the city wall to check in a panic, but saw fires everywhere in the camp outside the village. Many soldiers fled outside the gate of the city, shouting and wailing, asking to enter the castle to take shelter.
"Don't open the door, lest enemy spies sneak in!" Nong Cunli shouted.
The castle in Sanchakou Village is not big and can only accommodate three to four thousand people. More than half of the troops brought by Nong Cunli are camped outside the village.
Xiao Heda and Duoyou led the elites to light fires everywhere, shouting along the way: "Put down your weapons and surrender without killing!"
These Xixia defeated troops all came from Youzhou, Hongzhou, and Longzhou.
There were Ming troops outside and rebels inside. Their parents, wives, and children were ordered to move away, and even their houses were burned down to clear the country. They were exploited and detained on weekdays, but now they were attacked at night and were not allowed to enter the stronghold to escape. Each and every one of them
Being blocked outside the village gate, I was filled with resentment.
Suddenly, an officer of the defeated army roared angrily: "Stop working for Hun Jun, just vote for General Xiao, and then follow General Xiao to join the Ming Dynasty!"
The defeated soldiers nearby did not respond immediately, but shouted into the stronghold: "If you don't open the door and let us in, we are going to surrender to General Xiao! Open the door quickly!"
"Open the door quickly!"
"Open the door quickly!"
There were shouts and shouts, and he didn't even dare to open the village gate. At this time, he was sure that there was a spy outside the village gate.
After several minutes of commotion, Xiao Heda and Duoyou led their elite troops to kill them closer and closer.
The defeated soldiers became even more frightened and angry. Finally, someone rushed towards the rebels: "Don't kill me, I want to join the rebels!"
The troops were broken outside the village gate, and more and more people were leaving, and they were full of anger and went to join the rebels.
When Bin Cunli heard the shouts of the defeated soldiers, he was immediately frightened out of his wits. He led his elite cavalry and opened another gate of the stronghold. When he saw the defeated soldiers, he killed them and even abandoned the fort and the army and ran away.
An army of more than 10,000 people was directly surrendered by Xiao Heda, and more than 4,000 people were captured.
The next day, Xiao Heda organized the surrendered soldiers and promised to help the surrendered soldiers find their relocated families.
Duoyou asked: "Go back, or go south?"
Xiao Heda smiled: "The heroes have the same view. Both strategies are acceptable, but it is safer to go back."
The two returned to Xiazhou with the surrendered troops and captured grain and grass, where they were besieged by 20,000 troops from the Xiangyou Army Division.
Seeing a large army coming from the south, the Xixia general thought it was a sign of disrespect and personally led a group of cavalry to greet them.
Xiao Heda smiled and said: "Put up the military flag with no respect for etiquette."
The flag with the word "甔" was raised. The Xixia general was completely convinced and even had a flattering smile on his face.
Xiao Heda and Duoyou had already ordered their elite troops to mount their horses. After the Xixia general approached, they suddenly rushed out with hundreds of cavalry.
The Xixia generals still didn't realize the danger. It wasn't until Xiao Heda led his troops to rush more than ten steps away and ordered to form a battle formation that he realized there was something wrong.
"kill!"
Hundreds of elites drew their bows and fired arrows, which stunned the Xixia generals. He quickly ducked down to avoid the arrows, and at the same time pulled the reins and turned around to run away.
Duo You took the lead and charged the fastest. As soon as the Xixia general turned his horse, he chased after him and stabbed him, then swung his gun to knock him off his horse.
There was more than one Xixia general. In addition to the chief general, there were also many officers and chiefs who came specially to greet the angel "Wang Cunli".
Xiao Heda led his troops to pursue them all the way. At the same time, he sent troops to Xiazhou City and ordered the defenders in the city to go out for a decisive battle.
The 20,000 Xixia troops, after killing a bunch of generals, quickly fled when faced with the attack.
Xiao Heda and Duoyi led the army and chased them all the way to the outside of Shizhou City (northern Hengshan District, by the Wuding River), where Xiangyou Military Division was stationed.
There are only a few thousand defenders in the city.
But the two men were unable to attack the fortified city. They wanted to chase the defeated troops into the city, but the generals who stayed behind prevented them from entering the city.
After sieging for half a day, Xiao Heda ordered the infantry to return to Xiazhou, and they led the cavalry straight to Longzhou in the south.
Outside Longzhou City.
Zhong Yanchong was shelling the city wall for three days. At the same time, he asked the civilians to fill in the moat and the craftsmen to build siege equipment.
"General, there are three or four thousand cavalry coming from the north. They claim to be Xiao Heda, the traitor general of Xixia. What a lie!"
"Please come quickly!"
Zhong Yanchong went to greet them personally, held their hands and said: "The two generals are really righteous men, but it is a pity that they were forced to rebel by the ignorant king and traitorous ministers. From now on, when you come to Ming Dynasty, you will definitely be able to show your talents!"
Xiao Heda had already written a letter of surrender, so he was not surprised.
However, Duoyou had always been very nervous, fearing that his party status would not be accepted. Now he was finally relieved. Zhong Yanchong was very enthusiastic about him and thought that he would have a place in the Ming Dynasty in the future.
Xiao Heda took out a flag and said: "This is the flag of a general who has no respect for etiquette. This person has recently been in charge of the three major military divisions here as an imperial envoy. He has been defeated by me and retreated to Youzhou with his remaining troops."
"Good stuff!" Zhong Yanchong was overjoyed.
A moment later, Duoyou personally held the flag and rushed outside Longzhou City and shouted: "Zeng Cunli has been defeated and died. Hongzhou and Youzhou have been captured by the Ming Dynasty's soldiers. Why don't you surrender quickly? Do you want to surrender?"
Will I be buried with him without ceremony?"
"Shoot him to death!" Longzhou guard general was shocked.
Duoyou rode around the city with a flag and shouted: "Wong Cunli is dead! Wang Cunli is dead..."
The defenders in the city were terrified and had lost their determination to defend.
But their families and property have all been moved to Yanzhou. If they surrender to the Ming army now, they will be alone and have nothing.
No one was clamoring to surrender the city, but everyone was clamoring to evacuate and reunite with their families in Yanzhou.
Moreover, they also understood that the city would be defeated sooner or later if they defended it to death. Those artillery bombardments had been bombarding it for three full days!
That night, the city gates on all sides of Longzhou were opened, and countless defenders rode out of the city to escape.
Soon, the city burst into flames, but the guard ordered the food and grass to be burned.
Zhong Yanchong had already told the cavalry to sleep on their arms. He expected that the defenders would flee, but he didn't know which night they would flee. Unexpectedly, he couldn't help it on the first night.
"The cavalry all pursue, and the infantry enters the city to put out the fire!"
Zhong Yanchong mounted his horse and led his cavalry in pursuit.
