The British officer stood in front of the map, with a faint look of anger on his face.
Ever since Xixia's 200,000 troops entered the Song Dynasty, the British Duke's face had never looked good.
For three months, the British prince had not had a good night's sleep. He had been thinking about how to drive out the two hundred thousand Xia troops.
Originally, he and the governor of Gyeongju had already discussed that Gyeongju would hold back the Xixia army for a month. He tried to find a way to go behind the Xixia army and sneak attack the Xixia army, forming a pincer attack with the Gyeongju army.
However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. Before the British Duke started to take action, the imperial decree arrived.
Official Zhao Shu explicitly prohibited the British princess from attacking, and focused on defense, waiting for the arrival of imperial reinforcements.
At the same time that the British Duke received the imperial edict, Zhao Shu also sent two supervisory troops.
The supervisory army is a unique system established by the Song Dynasty. Originally, in order to control the excessive power of military generals, Song Taizu used civil servants and eunuchs to control military generals.
Later, it gradually developed that the supervisory army was more powerful than the generals, and could even influence the generals' military decisions.
Because the supervisory army represents the imperial power, it has the right to directly report to the officials. If they make any small reports, the military generals will have to go around in pain.
Although the British prince held a high and powerful position, he could not openly disobey the official and royal orders.
The 200,000-strong army on the Shaanxi Road stood still, leaving a lone army on the Gyeongju side.
The British Duke received battle reports from Gyeongju every day, and he was heartbroken when he saw the cities falling into the hands of the Xixia people one after another.
Fortunately, Wang Gang was more powerful and managed to hold off the main force of the Xixia Army in Dashun City for nearly two months.
The British Duke also knew that it was a miracle that Wang Gang could survive until now, but without the imperial order, he really could not send troops to support him.
Later, Xia Emperor Li Liangzuo divided his army into two groups and divided the 200,000 troops into two. He led an army of 100,000 to continue the siege of Dashun City, while the remaining 100,000 captured the remaining cities of Qingzhou.
The British Duke immediately guessed Li Liangzuo's purpose of attacking Song Dynasty this time.
Emperor Xia wanted to capture Qingzhou and incorporate the territory into the territory of Xixia.
The British Duke carefully analyzed the map and found that Qingzhou's geographical location was extremely important and was a line of defense for the Song Dynasty against Xixia.
More importantly, once Qingzhou fell into the hands of Xixia, the Song Dynasty would not only lack a barrier, but the hinterland of the Central Plains would be directly exposed to the iron hoof of Xixia.
Qingzhou was so important that the British Duke was even more anxious, but at this time he did not want to support Dashun City.
Because Li Liangzuo divided the army into two, giving the British Duke an excellent opportunity.
A chance to completely defeat Li Liangzuo.
Just as the British prince was thinking, his general Li Fengcheng suddenly ran in.
"Commander, the imperial reinforcements have arrived."
The British prince was so excited that he ran out of the camp happily.
This time the imperial court sent an army of 100,000 troops, led by the eldest son of the emperor, Prince Ying Zhao Xu.
The British prince personally went out to the camp to meet Zhao Xu.
Zhao Xu did not come alone this time. He brought a dozen followers with him, and the army was stationed not far away.
"Old minister, I pay my respects to His Royal Highness King Ying." The British prince did not dare to show off in front of King Ying.
"The British Duke has invited us." King Ying said: "My father asked me to come this time to learn from the Duke. All my troops will be dispatched by the Duke."
The British prince was very happy when he heard this.
When leading an army in a war, the most fearful thing is for laymen to lead experts. Originally, there were two supervisors in the army, which were enough to deal with the enemy. If King Ying comes again, how will the battle be fought?
Now it would be perfect for King Ying to take the initiative to give up power.
"I am here to introduce you to the British Duke. This is General Gu Tingye, son of Marquis Ningyuan."
The person next to King Ying is Gu Tingye.
This time the official Zhao Shu sent Prince Ying and Gu Tingye here just to train them.
The British prince led the two men into the camp, and Gu Tingye was immediately attracted by the map.
"How is the war going now?" King Ying asked the British Duke.
The British general told King Ying and Gu Tingye about the situation on the battlefield.
Gu Tingye became anxious when he heard that his good brother had been guarding the isolated city alone for almost two months.
"British Lord, why don't you rescue Dashun City?"
King Ying coughed and said, "Ting Ye."
Gu Tingye also knew that something was wrong with his tone and said: "My lord, now that our two armies have joined together, can we immediately support Dashun City?"
For the sake of King Ying, the British Duke did not blame Gu Tingye.
"The Xixia army was divided into two. One part was trapped in Dashun City, and the other part was still wandering around Gyeongju, which just gave us a chance to win."
King Ying nodded and said: "If you divide your troops, you will be weak. In addition, the Xixia army goes deep alone. We can just take this army."
"That's right."
Gu Tingye became anxious and said: "Are we just watching Dashun City being breached!?"
The British Duke said: "The key to this battle lies in how long Dashun City can hold out. As long as we annihilate a large army and return to support, we will win."
Gu Tingye was worried about Wang Gang's safety and disagreed with the British Duke's views.
"State affairs are the most important thing." King Ying Zhao Xu finally grabbed Gu Tingye and said, "We can't give up such a good opportunity for the sake of Dashun City."
Gu Tingye gritted his teeth and argued: "Your Highness Prince Ying, can you give me 10,000 people, and I will go to Dashun City to support myself."
King Ying frowned and said: "Don't abandon public affairs for personal reasons. It's not that you don't know the disadvantages of Xixia's division of troops."
Gu Tingye suddenly knelt down in front of Prince Ying and begged: "Your Highness, Prince Ying, Chang Feng is my brother. I can't just watch him die! Ten thousand won't do, but five thousand will do."
The British Duke standing aside saw that Gu Tingye was so affectionate and righteous, and couldn't help but nodded secretly.
"You should know that there are 100,000 Xixia main forces outside Dashun City. What's the use of bringing 5,000 people there?" King Ying helped Gu Tingye up and advised:
"I also want to save Shanda, but you have to put the overall situation first!"
Gu Tingye's eyes were so red that he was about to cry. What King Ying said clearly meant giving up Dashun City.
As a commander-in-chief, abandoning Dashun City was a very correct decision, and Gu Tingye could not make a single mistake.
But Gu Tingye couldn't bear the thought of Wang Gang being killed by the Xixia butcher's knife at such a young age.
The British father finally spoke at this time.
"Your Highness King Ying, it is not impossible to allocate 10,000 people to support Dashun City. You must know that one more day of support from Dashun City will be more beneficial to our plan.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! If Dashun City is captured, Emperor Xia will definitely join up with another army, and then it will be difficult for us to divide and attack."
King Ying heard that it made sense. Besides, as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the British prince would be given the honor to do whatever he wanted.
"Everything is subject to the arrangements of the British government."
Gu Tingye was extremely happy and thanked the British Duke profusely.
The British Duke left Gu Tingye alone and gave him instructions on military matters.
"You are going to Dashun City now and bring more food and grass. I estimate that Emperor Xia cannot capture Dashun City and will definitely adopt the strategy of sealing the city. There should be a shortage of food in the city long ago."
Gu Tingye cupped his fists and said, "Thank you so much, Mr. British."
The British Duke sighed and said: "In fact, I admire Mr. Shanda very much. He is a civil servant and has led the people in the city to support him until now. It is very remarkable. If it were not my responsibility, I would really want to fight side by side with him."
Gu Tingye chatted with the British for a long time, and then led 10,000 elite soldiers and hurried to Dashun City.
…………
Dashun City on the other side has been besieged by the Xixia army for nearly two months.
Since seven days ago, there has been almost no food in the city. If there wasn't an underground river in the city and there was no shortage of water, Wang Gang wouldn't know how he could survive.
Wang Gang lost weight twice, and he couldn't even wash away the blood stains on his body. He had to live on the top of the city for food and accommodation, and only 3,000 of his original 10,000 soldiers were left.
In order to save food, the people in Dashun City only ate one meal a day, and the rest of the food was provided to the army.
After the Xixia army sealed the city, it reduced the tempo of the siege, which seemed to give Dashun City a chance to breathe, but in fact it was very vicious.
Some people in the city were so hungry that they could no longer stand it, and there were voices of surrender. Fortunately, Wang Gang suppressed them.
"Sir, let's have something to eat!"
Kongde came over with half a bowl of porridge. He said it was porridge, but in fact there were only a few grains of rice in the bowl and it was just like water.
"How much food is left in the city?" Wang Gang frowned.
Comte wondered: "The food reserves have bottomed out, and most of the brothers have not eaten today."
Wang Gang asked solemnly: "Where are the people?"
"The people have no more food. Many people are eating tree roots and bark."
Wang Gang looked at the Xixia military camp below the city and said, "We can't defend it any longer."
Conde was startled and asked: "Sir, do you want to abandon the city?"
Wang Gang raised his eyebrows and asked Comte: "Are you afraid of death?"
Comte said without hesitation: "My subordinates are not afraid of death."
Wang Gang smiled and said, "You haven't thought about surrendering?"
Conde said: "Even if my subordinates die in battle, they will never surrender to Xixia."
Wang Gang looked at the dim sky and said, "I want to do something to seek death. Do you want to go with me?"
Comte was puzzled and asked: "My lord, what do you mean by this?"
Wang Gang punched the city wall and said: "Rather than just sit back and wait for death, it's better to fight to the death. Killing one more Xixia man will be profitable."
