After Dangxiang's soldiers and horses tried to force the Qiang village to surrender but failed, they left a group of soldiers and horses to surround the city, and the army approached Pingxia City.
The Dangxiang army deployed under Pingxia City, and formed a joint camp nearly a hundred miles north of Wuyan Gorge, with great momentum.
The general guarding Pingxia City was Guo Cheng, a famous general of the Western Army.
During the attack on Lingzhou City, there was a general riding a white horse in Dangxiang's formation. Master Zhong asked who could kill this thief.
Guo Cheng jumped on his horse and cut off the thief's head with a sword, and then he was promoted to the fourth level.
After Guo Cheng won this military merit, he was promoted to a teacher, and Liu Changzuo and others successively recommended him to Shen Kuo.
Shen Kuo had a keen eye for talent. When he entered and built Pingxia City in the second year of Yuanfeng, Shen Kuo asked his generals who could defend the city. They all recommended him: "It must be Guo Cheng."
After that, Guo Cheng became the magistrate of Pingxia City.
Later, five bases were set up around Pingxia City, and the imperial court established Huaide Army to govern it.
Guo Cheng actively built the surrounding fortresses and worked tirelessly, so he was promoted to the position of commander of the Huaide Army by Shen Kuo.
As the commander of Huaide Army and the commander of Pingxia City, Guo Cheng faced the siege of more than 200,000 party troops led by Li Bingchang and the Empress Dowager Liang in Pingxia City.
Pingxia City is extremely hot in June.
Guo Cheng had only 5,000 troops in the city, and the reinforcements distributed in the periphery led by Liu Changzuo, the general manager of Jingyuan Road, were only 30,000, including Xu Xi's 7,000 cavalry who were surrounded in Xiaoguan. This small number of troops
There is really no comparison between the horses and the party's hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses.
However, Pingxia City has been in operation for three years since its establishment, and it has become an important support point for the Song Army in Huaide Army.
There were 5,000 soldiers in the army, and 3,000 soldiers were all equipped with iron armor, as well as divine arm bows, heavy crossbows and other sharp weapons. Over the past three years, the Song army repeatedly reinforced the city and built it into an impregnable city.
After Dangxiang arrived at Pingxia City, he built high-rise vehicles and forts.
In view of the fact that the heavy-duty trebuchet used by the Song Army when attacking Liangzhou City was extremely powerful, the party members imitated it.
After the country's leader Li Bingchang came to power, he presided over many test firings in Xingqing Mansion. The results were excellent and the craftsmen were skilled in the configuration.
The country's main focus is on military affairs and craftsmanship, which has always been the reason why the party's armor and soldiers are strong.
With the use of new forts, high vehicles, tunnels, ramps and other facilities.
After Dangxiang troops surrounded Pingxia for two or three days, they focused on attacking the city.
In the extremely hot weather, the atmosphere was almost stagnant.
Li Bingchang and the Empress Dowager Liang personally took charge and urged the six armies to attack the city from all sides.
As the veteran said, Dangxiang's attack was so powerful on the first day that it could be said that the three armies sacrificed their lives and everyone died.
With the addition of powerful new trebuchets, party troops stormed Pingxia City at the cost of human lives.
Suddenly, under Pingxia City, cannons and rocks were like rain, and arrows were flying like locusts.
One of the tall oars built around Pingxia City was destroyed by Dangxiang's artillery and stone bombardment that day.
With the abundant manpower of the Dangxiang Army, the several trenches built around the city were all filled in on the first day.
Li Bingchang sat under the city to watch the battle. There were two large baskets beside him, filled with priceless gold.
Whenever a soldier performed a meritorious service, he was immediately called to the yellow tent. Li Bingchang gave him a jug of wine, then grabbed several ingots of gold from the basket and pocketed them into the soldier's arms.
The palace guards on the left and right will shout how much money they will be rewarded to boost the morale of the army.
…
Shen Kuo personally led three thousand soldiers and horses to ambush at Xining Village.
In the Song military camp north of Pingxia City, there were not many Han or Fan people. Once the Party troops and horses attacked, they would immediately fortify the walls and clear the country.
However, Pingxia City and Xining Village to the south are populated and important military garrison areas. Once these areas are attacked by party troops, they will suffer heavy losses.
For example, if the imperial court takes over Lanzhou, it will be behind the front line of Huizhou.
Qinfeng Road has become an inland area. The imperial court was able to build a large number of cotton textile factories in Qinzhou. Firstly, it was geographically close to the Silk Road. Secondly, it was safe enough.
After winning Liangzhou, Lanzhou and Huizhou have also become the second line. The two places have already cultivated rice fields and cotton on large areas. Unlike the border areas, they have to clear the fields from time to time.
Unlike the generals who were only focused on making side contributions and gaining population, Shen Kuo, as the privy envoy and economic envoy, knew that the real winner of the war between the Song Dynasty and Dangxiang lay in whether the Song Dynasty's economy could support the logistics of military offensives.
Therefore, he was even more focused on building a sufficient buffer zone between Song Dynasty and Dangxiang by moving forward to protect the economic zone in the rear.
Fortunately, it seems that Dangxiang is only determined to attack Pingxia City and has no intention of attacking the rear of Xining Village. Otherwise, Shen Kuo would have had no choice but to burn the cotton fields and mulberry crops planted last year to avoid falling into the hands of Dangxiang people.
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However, Shen Kuo had a problem and had a bad mentality. When he saw the Party troops and horses surrounding Pingxia City and attacking day and night, he just sat there and sighed.
Shen Kuo said to his left and right: "Now we must make plans to destroy the city."
Zhang Gen looked at it and thought to himself that it was lucky that Shen Kuo was not the first-line commander and had delegated the command of troops and horses. If the generals below saw him like this, they would have no choice but to cause chaos before the battle.
Zhang Gen advised Shen Kuo: "Of all the generals on the Xingyuan and Jingyuan Roads, Guo Cheng is the only one who knows how to defend troops, so there is no need to worry about it."
"As for other troops and horses, as long as they are not used as vanguards of thieves, General Manager Liu (Liu Changzuo) has ordered the generals, envoys, and officials to separate their troops and station them at their advantage. They will not gather in one place when the danger is high and far away.
.If the thieves and horses chase them, just avoid them."
After hearing Zhang Genzhi's words, Shen Kuo paused and asked, "Are all the troops and horses present?"
Zhang Gen said: "Xi'an Prefecture Zhe Keshi has arrived with his troops and horses. Huanqing Road and Xihe Road will arrive in two days tomorrow, and Qinfeng Road will arrive in five days!"
Shen Kuo said: "It is best to obey Zheng Zheng. As soon as the defenders arrive, let General Manager Liu lead his troops to relieve the siege!"
Zhang Gen saw that Shen Kuo was a little confused, so he quickly admonished: "Please entrust this matter to General Manager Liu!"
After hearing this, Shen Kuo was a little unhappy. He looked at Zhang Gen and said: "Once Pingxia City is lost, the imperial court will reduce the responsibility. It will be a great crime."
Zhang Gen was unmoved and said: "Xingyuan, Mr. Liu, Guo Zhicheng has said repeatedly before that only the soldiers outside can the defenders dare to hold on to the wall. If the reinforcements fail to rescue the siege, the morale of the troops in the city will be greatly depressed, and they will really be unable to defend it. This is
Wasn't it agreed upon by the court, the general manager, and the city magistrate at the beginning?"
Shen Kuo thought to himself that it was indeed what he said.
But now that I am in the middle of the situation, I can't help but feel a little concerned about it. It's not like Zhang Gen, a bystander, can see clearly.
After hearing what Zhang Gen said, Shen Kuo suddenly felt that the other party was right. He was immediately convinced, and then changed his stance and said with a smile: "Erlang Jun is absolutely right. I am also concerned about chaos."
Zhang Gen nodded, but smiled and said nothing.
When the staff on the left and right saw this scene, they all actively turned away and pretended they had not seen anything.
Everyone thinks that the prime minister's son has always been like this when he is a military counselor.
What's more, Zhang Gen had lived a good life since he was a child, so he was very generous. He used all the rewards or salaries in daily life, and bought some good wine and meat from time to time, so everyone got along well with his staff.
…
Huanqing Road three days later.
Soldiers and horses from Xihe Road rushed to the area around Pingxia City one after another.
Among them, the Xihe Road reinforcements included 5,000 cavalry from the newly formed Liangzhou Zhi.
There are a total of ten cavalry commanders in Liangzhou, which were organized under Zhang Yue's personal instructions.
Liangzhou was directly led by Fan general Li Zhongjie. The soldiers and horses on this route were a mixture of Fan and Han troops, and there were also many naturalized party soldiers.
After taking Liangzhou, the Song Dynasty finally had a place to herd horses, and finally became more generous in the matter of cavalry, and no longer had to worry about it.
Last year, Liangzhou sent 10,000 war horses to the Song Dynasty, not counting the cavalry provided by Liangzhou itself.
Liangzhou has always been stationed in Huizhou, because Wang Hou, the commander of the Xihe Road, was ordered by the Privy Council to cooperate with the Jingyuan Road to build Tiandu Mountain and Huluchuan, so he kept the most elite cavalry on this road in Huizhou.
After the warning signal came from Jingyuan Road, the cavalry on this road immediately provided reinforcements.
Although it was a long journey, the horses of this cavalry army were all shoed, and there were three horses per person, so they could endure the torment.
You must know that the Song Army's cavalry commanders only have one person and one horse, while those in the mainland have two people and one cavalry. There are even cavalry commanders who have almost no horses and are just in name.
In Wang Hou's words, it is inevitable to pamper your own children. I don't care how many people and horses you have on each road, but my cavalry on Xihe Road must be three horses per person.
Because of this, this Liangzhou Cavalry has strong mobility.
In addition, Zhe Keshi of Xi'an Prefecture also has strong soldiers and horses. After the Tibetan tribe in Tiandu Mountain surrendered, he sent troops this time and gathered many local troops.
Although there were many infantrymen under his command, there were plenty of mules, horses, and camels to transport them, and the reinforcements came all the way very quickly.
The soldiers and horses on Huanqing Road were led by the famous Western Army generals Yao Si, Yao Xiong, and Yao Gu, who led 10,000 elite troops.
As for Miao Tuo on Xihe Road, Miao Lu and his son led 10,000 soldiers and horses and were still on their way.
On the Jingyuan Road were generals such as Liu Changzuo, Zhong Yi, and Peng Sun.
After the reinforcements from all walks of life gathered, for a while, the Song army was full of famous generals.
The generals of the Western Army, such as Zhong, Yao, Zhe, and Miao, all arrived and confronted Dangxiang's soldiers and horses at the ancient trench gate.
The Song army's reinforcements were well-prepared, and seeing that Pingxia City was in danger of being attacked by Dangxiang's army, they held a meeting to decide whether to lift the siege of Pingxia City.
The third-line coach Liu Changzuo has always been known for his caution and prudentness. Although he is the nominal coach, he also knows that he cannot suppress the wolf-like generals of the Western Army below.
The generals below, either eager for military success or worried about the fall of Pingxia City, asked for battle one by one.
Liu Changzuo was also hesitant and embarrassed. He single-handedly promoted Guo Cheng and there was no reason to refuse to save him.
At this time, a general came out of the big tent. This man's name was Guo Zude. He was the sworn brother of the general from Jingyuan Road and Guo Cheng in the city.
Guo Zude made an impassioned speech: "If the army does not move, I will lead thousands of cavalry into the city and die together with my sworn brother!"
After hearing this, the generals of the Western Army all agreed and encouraged Liu Changzuo to fight again.
Liu Changzuo said: "If the Western rebels and horses below the city treat me with elite troops, once we rush to a decisive battle, the outcome will be difficult to know. But for the fall of Pingxia City, we will all be blamed. The imperial court will punish us for being afraid of the enemy and not advancing!" "
"Does anyone have anything to say? If there is no objection, we will immediately send out troops to fight the Western bandits!"
At this time, Zhe Keshi came out and said: "General manager, this must not be done!"
"It is useless to go to war at this moment to win or lose. Although our army is holding fast and is seen as sitting on the sidelines, it is not timid. There are things that cannot be done."
"Now Pingxia City is an isolated city against hundreds of thousands of party troops. The reason why it can hold on is because we and other reinforcements are outside!"
"If we are lucky enough to win in one battle, the siege of Pingxia City may not be solved, but if we are defeated, the thieves will capture our soldiers, horses, and equipment and show them to the city."
"The morale of the army in the city will be broken. How can we hold on?"