Renduoyading clearly remembered that two years ago, when he commanded the Battle of Lingzhou, there were elite Jingyuan and Xihe soldiers under the city. Their vanguard soldiers were all wearing armor and helmets, but they were short of food and weapons.
Facing the solid city wall of Lingzhou City, these Song troops were forced to climb up the wall and swarmed with ants. They were killed and wounded in a mess. In the end, they retreated after running out of food for twenty days and were chased by Dangxiang's cavalry.
When Renduoyading went down to the city, he inspected the corpses of the Song army. The soldiers who died in the battle were all starved to the point of losing their shape. The horses and animals carrying the carts that were killed along the way were also as skinny as firewood.
Ren Duoyading lamented that the Song Dynasty's defeat was not due to war, but was due to the impatience of the generals.
Afterwards, Li Bingchong, the leader of Dangxiang State, met with Renduoyading and said that he had defended Lingzhou City in times of crisis and praised him as a world-famous general of Dangxiang.
Renduoyading was very humble and righteous. This was the result of strengthening the walls and clearing the country, not the skill of his ministers in fighting.
Indeed, when the Song army went on a crusade, Dangxiang failed in field battles one after another. It was a little-known veteran who suggested to the ruler of the country and the Empress Dowager Liang that they adopt the method of clearing the country, gathering powerful troops in Xingling, and luring the Song army to penetrate deeper.
This was the big break.
Of course, Renduoyading has no credit at all? Yes, there is. When the Song army first arrived at Lingzhou City, the people in the city were panicked, and the generals wanted to abandon the city and leave.
It was Ren Duoyading who stabilized the morale of the army and calmly commanded to repel the first round of the Song army's attack. But this was something that many generals could do.
When the Song Army entered the border before, he fought with Zhang Zhi, a Jinglue on Xihe Road, and was hit by an arrow in the shoulder. Compared with Zhang Zhi, he was no famous general. In the end, Mingsha City could not be attacked for a long time, and again
It was Renduoyading who was ordered to take charge of the siege in the face of danger and wiped out nearly 10,000 Song troops in one fell swoop.
If there were still a few people in Dabaigao who were dissatisfied with Ren Duoyading before, now they are all convinced.
Therefore, Ren Duoyading was also sure that once the Liangzhou city was destroyed, the Song army would not spare him.
Worried that the Song army would continue to test fire with artillery, Ren Duoyading and his generals ate on the tower. The meal was just a bowl of brown rice with some green onions and leeks.
However, there was not much difference between the rich and the poor at this time in Dangxiang. It seems that Renduoyading's army only ate brown rice, and the soldiers also used it. There was nothing wrong with it. However, Renduoyading and the others used porcelain bowls for their tableware.
, the soldiers used wooden bowls, these were the only luxurious ones.
Ren Duoyading still adheres to the tradition of the Qing Tang people, braiding his hair and wearing a left fold. Sometimes he can't stand it when his son Ren Duo Baozhong imitates the Han people's wearing of turban and right fold.
He believed that Sinicization would lose the brave and martial spirit of the Dangxiang people.
But he also understood that the implementation of the Han system would help the monarch to centralize power. For example, the Liang family's original tribal system, although there was concern about dispersion, still maintained the brave and fighting custom of the party members. Although Ren Duoyading had opinions, he was like him
In this way, Dangxiang generals who came from the Qing and Tang Dynasties and Han surrender ministers like Li Qing all belonged to the category of "poor families" and could only gain power by relying on the king.
So he didn't object in the end.
Later, he realized that there was nothing he could do about promoting the Han system. For example, Han rice was indeed more delicious than cheese.
But now Renduoyading realizes that he may not even be able to afford brown rice.
Because he foresaw that Liangzhou would be attacked by the Song army, Ren Duoyading had prepared for this battle in advance and dug deep storehouses in Liangzhou City to reserve military rations to prevent the Song army from being trapped in the city.
But they did not expect that when Wen Xixin and Wang Fan's troops arrived on the southern route of the Song Army. Due to the Song Army's previous misdeeds, the tribes near Liangzhou were worried about being massacred by the Song Army and poured into Liangzhou City from all directions.
Even the Song army did this deliberately, specifically driving the old, weak, women and children from all directions into Liangzhou City, while detaining the young and strong, forcing all nearby tribesmen to flee into Liangzhou City.
These tribesmen were all panic-stricken. After entering the city, they had no food and clothing, and poor discipline. Ren Duoyading had to send troops to suppress it. These hundreds of thousands of newly added old, weak, women and children consumed the food reserves in the city, but during the battle to defend the city,
It has very limited uses.
At present, there is not enough food in Liangzhou, and such methods make Ren Duoyading faintly frightened.
When did the Song army achieve their goals, they resorted to such unscrupulous means.
…
After the Song armies on the West Road and the Middle Road joined forces at Liangzhou City.
The generals gathered.
Li Hao and Wang Wenyu, two of the most famous generals in Xihe Road, are not here, but they have other important uses.
Wang Wenyu sits on the front line of Zhuolu City and Gaizhu City, supporting Liangzhou or the East Route Army at any time.
Li Hao was originally based in Lanzhou to support the two groups.
However, after more than 200,000 troops joined forces, the supply of food and grass was no longer available. Fan Yu ordered Li Hao to lead 10,000 people and 30,000 civilians who had just returned to escort the food and grass to Liangzhou City.
The meeting of the two armies was a gratifying event, but the atmosphere inside the tent was a bit solemn.
The generals in the tent were divided into two groups: the east and west armies, the Fan and Han factions, and the civil servants and military generals.
In fact, the factions in the army are more complicated than among the civilian officials, and mountain-top doctrine is prevalent. There is a language barrier between the Ban generals and the Han generals, and there is a gap in the conflict of interests.
Therefore, after the joy of joining forces at the beginning, it immediately entered the stage of undercurrents.
It was Zhao Ji who got up to discuss the matter.
Zhao Ji came from a family of officials. His grandfather Zhao He and his father Zhao Zongdao were both famous officials. Zhao Zongdao and Han Qi were also the sons-in-law of Cui Li.
Zhao Ji was the third generation of the Yamen, but he was a general of the New Party. When he was on inspection, he found that Fu Bi's implementation of the Green Crops Law was unfavorable. At that time, he was impeached by Shangshu, which led to his final official resignation. Zhao Ji is currently in charge of the transportation of Qinfeng Road, and is responsible for the grain and grass of Wang Fan's West Route Army.
The matter of transfer.
Officials of the New Party generally have outstanding abilities, and Zhao Ji is no exception.
This time when the West Route Army marched north, he made perfect calculations in arranging food and fodder, which not only maximized savings on civilian service, but also ensured the supply of the army.
Now the two armies are gathering for discussion.
Zhao Jidao: "Now that the army has gathered together, we should release the accompanying soldiers and civilians as soon as possible, otherwise we will consume food and grass here, and we will run out of food and grass in less than ten days."
That's right, the civilian workers who transport grain and grass also need to eat grain themselves.
Zhao Ji continued: "Shen Cunzhong, the strategic envoy of the Jingyuan Road, once calculated an account and concluded that the most urgent task was to conquer the enemy because of the enemy's supply of food."
"He calculated an account. For example, a civilian servant carries six dou of rice, a soldier carries five days of dry food, and a civilian servant pays one soldier, and he can leave for eighteen days."
"With six measures of rice, one person can eat two liters per day. If two people eat it, it will be used up in eighteen days. If you include the return journey, you can only go in nine days."
"If two civil servants pay one soldier, they can go away for twenty-six days. For example, two measures of rice, one stone, and three people can eat six liters per day. After eight days, the burden of one civil servant has been exhausted, and he will be sent back with six days of food.
.For the next eighteen days, two people will eat four liters of food per day and food. If the return journey is included, they can only go on for thirteen days. In the first eight days, the daily eclipse will be six liters. On the next five days and the return journey, the daily food will be four liters and food."
"Three people pay one soldier, and they can leave in thirty-one days, and they can enter in sixteen days."
"Based on this, it is estimated that one hundred thousand troops and three thirds of the baggage will be stationed at 70,000 soldiers, and 300,000 people have been used to transport food. It is difficult to add more. If they are returned to civilian service, reinforcements will be needed. Then.
Counting deaths and diseases, the number of people will be slightly reduced, and the reduced food will be used to support the soldiers."
Zhao Jizhiyan yawned a little at the generals present and felt very bored.
But Cai Bian knew that this was a true insight. For many people, the last two-pronged attack on the party was a defeat. For example, the old party believed that the war should not be launched, while the new party summed up experience and believed that it had clearly won the frontal battlefield.
It was only due to lack of logistics that we lost in the end. This was not a crime of war.
Shen Kuo has also been reviewing and summarizing his experience in more depth.
Why is the logistics insufficient? The army's supply line should be within a few days.
Shen Kuo calculated that if the limit of three people carrying food to support one soldier was calculated, the supply line would need to be within sixteen days.
Based on the calculation that the army marched thirty miles a day, four hundred and fifty miles was the limit of the Song army's attack.
If we include the five days to attack the city, we can only reach 300 miles at most.
Shen Kuo finally concluded that a hundred thousand troops would go on an expedition, of which 30,000 would be baggage troops. There would be only 60,000 to 70,000 actual combat troops, so 300,000 civilians would be needed to ensure logistics. Under normal circumstances, the imperial court would not be able to afford it.
The final solution to this problem is to defeat the enemy with food.
Of course, Cai Bian also saw Shen Kuo's suggestion from Zhang Yue. However, Shen Kuo's solution of "defending the enemy with food" was changed by Zhang Yue into "shallow attack and advance fortress".
Since it is a shallow attack to build a city, it seems to be a waste of manpower and material resources.
At the same time, Zhang Yue greatly appreciated Shen Kuo's spirit of inquiring, and praised him as a method of "seeking truth from facts" and "exercising excellence".
Zhao Jidao: "It's five hundred miles from Lanzhou to Liangzhou. This time Lanzhou dispatched 150,000 troops and 300,000 civilians. Because they adopted the water transportation method of the Yellow River and Zhuanglang River, they greatly saved the power of civilians."
"At the same time, a large number of mules and horses were recruited from the people. Camels can carry three stones, horses and mules can carry one stone and five buckets, and donkeys can carry one stone. Therefore, it is not only more than enough for two civilians to serve as one soldier, but eight oxen crossbows and artillery carts are also transported."
"However, the civilian servicemen are stranded here, which consumes countless military supplies. The subordinate officials have already sent the Huangzhou civilian servicemen back, but they have not seen the Lanzhou, Xizhou, and Hezhou civil servicemen sent back."
Shen Kuo's method was that three people went on the road, and after eating the food and grass carried by one person, he immediately sent that person back. However, it was very dangerous for civilians to return to the living world, and reinforcements must be used to protect them.
Lanzhou lacked these considerations. Zhao Ji saw that in addition to the army, a large number of civilian services were hoarded under Lanzhou City, which would undoubtedly increase the burden of food and grass, so he made suggestions.
This was indeed a mistake of the Central Route Army. Cai Bian explained that this was to build artillery positions in the north of the city and to build fortifications at the same time. After the completion, the civilian service would be released.
But Zhao Ji was not done yet, and continued: "I impeached the king of Xihe Road, and sent his troops to kill innocent people indiscriminately under Liangzhou City and massacre the people!"
After Zhao Ji finished speaking, Wang Fan sneered, and the generals on his left and right also looked at Zhao Ji angrily.
Wang Hou, the leader, also had a headache. So many nonsense things happened before he even attacked the city.
Cai Bian knew very well that Zhao Ji, as a New Party official, had always been favored by Li Xian before, but as Wang Anshi's son-in-law, he was not necessarily so convinced by Zhang Yue. It should be noted that the other party dared to impeach even Fu Bi. people.
…
When a scene of party struggle was staged in the Liangzhou camp.
Here, the reinforcements from Xingling Prefecture that Renduoyading had been waiting for have been delayed in arriving.
Li Bingchang, the leader of the party, certainly knew the importance of Liangzhou.
When they learned that the Song army was attacking Liangzhou, party ministers gathered in the palace to see the king and the Empress Dowager Liang. The two came forward to meet the ministers. The old minister who had suggested that the Song army should be fortified and the country clear to deal with the Song army said to Li Bingchang: "Your Majesty, I understand The Gao Kingdom is headed by Xiazhou, Suizhou, Lingzhou is the belly, and Liangzhou is the tail.”
"Only by winning Lingzhou, Suizhou and Xiazhou can gain strength, and by winning Liangzhou can I understand the foundation of Gaoguo."
Even several Han officials said: "When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty captured Liangzhou, he claimed to have cut off the right arm of the Huns. If Liangzhou is lost, sooner or later Jiuquan, Dunhuang and other counties will also be lost."
Seeing that Li Bingchang's face was a bit ugly, several Han ministers quickly apologized, but Li Bingchang was very generous and said: "My beloved ministers are plotting against the country, what crime are they guilty of!"
Faced with the collective comments of the ministers, Li Bingchang was actually moved and said: "At this time when the party is alive or dead, you are all loyal ministers of the country. I understand what you have said, and it will be as you wish."
After the ministers left, Li Bingchang returned to the palace and picked up a bronze mirror and looked at it repeatedly and said in his heart, No matter how I look at it, I don't look like a leader who has subjugated his country.
The ministers cheered up and down, and they all took state affairs into account, showing their loyalty. This time when the Song Dynasty sent troops to threaten Liangzhou, the ministers finally put aside their prejudices and gathered around me.
"Xuan Xiangguo enters the palace!"
After Liang Yibu entered the palace, Li Bingchang repeatedly urged Liang Yibu, who now held military power, to send troops. However, Li Bingchang's opinion was rejected by Prime Minister Liang Yibu.
Liang Yibu said: "Your Majesty, the weather is hot in June and July, and it is not suitable for cavalry to move thousands of miles."
"We must wait until the end of July and August, and then enter autumn before we can fight the Song army."
Li Bingchang made a show of using Liang Yibu as his prime minister, asking him to continue Liang Yibu's aggressive attack on the Song Dynasty. Unexpectedly, the other party rejected him outright.
"Why is the Liang family so glorious today? Have you forgotten it?"
Liang Yibu said: "Your Majesty, Duan Wenchang, the prime minister of the late Tang Dynasty, made a living by begging when he was young. After he became prime minister, he switched to using a gold basin to wash his feet as a sign of wealth."
"I have never washed my feet in a golden basin, and I have never forgotten that although I, the Liang family, were ministers of the Han Dynasty, they were highly valued by the emperors of the two dynasties."
Li Bingchang asked: "Why don't you dare to fight?"
Liang Yibu said: "To tell you the truth, the army was extremely depressed after the disastrous defeat in Lanzhou last year, and it has not recovered yet. I have talked with the leaders of various ministries, and they couldn't defeat the Han army two years ago, and they can't defeat it now."
"This attack on Liangzhou is the result of many years of planning by the Han Prime Minister Zhang Yue. He has already sent Huizhou troops to cut off Pangluoling and cut off our way to aid Liangzhou. The only feasible strategy at the moment is that the Song army has been delayed in attacking Liangzhou.
If it doesn't, I will go to rescue the siege again, just like I did at Lingzhou City two years ago."
"We may ask the Liao Kingdom for rescue, but there is no other way! If we force the battle and lose again in the field, even Lingzhou will be lost."
Li Bingchang's face changed drastically when he heard this. He didn't expect Liang Yibu to be so pessimistic. He didn't try to go to Liao for help, but the conditions offered by Liao were unacceptable to him.
At the same time, he was even more angry because Liang Yibu actually discussed it with the tribal leaders in private without consulting him in advance.
This man did not have the courage and wisdom of his father Liang Yimi, but he was just like his father in being domineering and arrogant.
But Li Bingchang was helpless, the military power was in the hands of the Liang family. His confidant Ren Duoyading was trapped in Liangzhou City, and the royal family such as Weiming Awu and others that he could make plans could not control the tribal leaders.
After Liang Yibu resigned, someone flew to report that there was a letter from Ren Duoyading.
Li Bingchang opened the book and read the letter. It turned out that before the Song army surrounded Liangzhou City, Renduoyading sent someone to send a letter to Li Bingchang.
"The Han army has surrounded Liangzhou, and I have the ambition to defend it to the death, but I can't hold on for a long time. Once Liangzhou is lost, Xuansu and Guasha will not be able to protect it!"
"Three generations of emperors have won Liangzhou in hundreds of battles, so we must never abandon it!"
"No matter how difficult it is, it all depends on man."
When Li Bingchang read the letter and finally saw the number "It all depends on manpower", he couldn't help crying and said: "It's my incompetence. I have many loyal ministers sitting in Liangzhou, but I can't send a single soldier to rescue them."
The chamberlain knew that Li Bingchang didn't like Liang Yibu, so he took the opportunity to say: "Your Majesty, Liang Yibu has been in the house these days, calling singers and prostitutes every day, drinking all night long, and he doesn't seem to be worried about state affairs at all. In his heart, he is afraid that he would like to be benevolent.
The general died in Liangzhou earlier."
Li Bingchang was very angry when he heard this. Liang Yibu must have deliberately failed to save him and had to let his loyal minister perish in Liangzhou.
Li Bingchang thought so, but he wrongly blamed Liang Yibu.
In fact, deep down in his heart, he was still doubtful about Liang Yibu's absurdity, but at this time, his mood was a little high.
Li Bingchang replied to Ren Duoyading's letter. He said that he had already ordered the troops of Guazhou, Shazhou and Suzhou to the west of Liangzhou to gather in Xuanhua Prefecture (Zhangye).
Xuanhua Prefecture is Ganzhou. Starting from Li Yuanhao, Dangxiang stationed 30,000 troops here to prepare for the Qingtang and the Uighurs. Now that the Song army has reached Liangzhou, it can no longer take care of the Qingtang and the Uighurs. Li Bingchang has sent troops from the northwest to help.
Liangzhou.
Li Bingchang asked him to hold Liangzhou well until the Xingling and Guasha reinforcements arrived to relieve the siege of Liangzhou.
After Li Bingchang finished writing the letter, he sent someone to deliver it. He didn't care whether Renduoyading could receive the letter because he was surrounded by the Song army. In his heart, he was afraid that he would let down this loyal minister.
He didn't know whether the soldiers and horses of Xuanhua Mansion could save Liangzhou City.
Li Bingchang got up and walked to the flower garden of the Dangxiang Palace and gazed at the sunset for a long time.
…
The Dangxiang commander in Xuanhua Prefecture originally received an order from Liang Yibu not to rescue Liangzhou without permission. They waited for his order and waited for the arrival of Dangxiang's main force from Xingzhou and Lingzhou before they attacked the Song army from east to west together with Liangzhou City.
However, the unified army received three more edicts from Li Bingchang, asking him to immediately rescue Liangzhou. Each one was worded more harshly than the last.
The commander-in-chief knew that the Song army in Liangzhou was powerful and had many soldiers and horses, all of which were battle-hardened. His more than 30,000 soldiers were probably unable to save the city of Liangzhou, but under Li Bingchang's strict order, they could not
No mention of troops to rescue.
The commander-in-chief was worried about being surrounded by the Song army, so he immediately selected elite cavalry as the vanguard.
However, the cavalry on this route encountered the "Dang Xiang Zhi" under the command of Wang Ganbu of the Song Army.
Dangxiangzhi was composed of Dangxiang Jiangjun, and people in the Song Dynasty called them Gui Zhengren.
Only a man with a big heart like Wang Fan can recruit the reformed people into the army.
Because Wang Fan won consecutive battles, Dang Xiangzhi also expanded his troops from 1,000 to 1,500, and finally to 3,000. These Dangxiang knew that they had betrayed Dangxiang, so once the confrontation with Dangxiang's army failed, the other party would not tolerate it.
he.
So the battle is particularly strenuous.
The first encounter between the two armies was extremely fierce.
In the end, Dang Xiangzhi won the battle and wiped out most of his elite vanguard troops.
When the commander-in-chief of Xuanhua Prefecture learned of the defeat of the elite vanguard, they immediately retreated for thirty miles without daring to rescue them.