People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 428 Xixia’s last swan song
After winter, the grasslands in the northwest become more solemn and lonely.

The grass gradually withered and turned yellow, and groups of herdsmen shouted, cracked their whips, and drove their cattle and sheep toward the Helan Mountain.

Nomads live in search of water and grass, and nomads in various regions look for pasture in four seasons. Among them, the Western Region is dominated by the Altai Mountains, Tianshan Mountains, and Kunlun Mountains, and seasonal pastures are determined by high altitudes.

The Monan and Mobei grasslands move from east to west or north to south, toward the southern end of the Altai Mountains, Hangai Mountains, Erdeleng Mountains, and Yinshan Mountains.

Because most of these places are plains, basins, and valleys south of the mountains, the altitude is low in winter, and the mountains block the cold air from the north, so the temperature will be relatively warm.

For herdsmen, winter is an extremely terrible time. They can only find slightly better conditions amidst the barrenness and difficulties to survive this winter with difficulty.

Compared with herdsmen in the Western Regions grasslands and Mongolian grasslands, herdsmen in the Ningxia Plain have very few places to choose from.

Those who are close to the Qilian Mountains will choose to go to the foot of the Qilian Mountains, while herdsmen in the Hexi Corridor and Henan Corridor (later Otok Banner and Mu Us Desert area) will go to the Helan Mountains.

No matter from the terrain, or from the cities and population centers in this area, it can be understood that only these places can barely survive in the winter.

Therefore, the herdsmen in the Ningxia Plain will choose to do this, even if it is during the civil strife in Xixia.

However, this year there were far fewer herdsmen going to Helan Mountain. Everyone knew that a large number of tribes gathered and occupation was likely to break out again, so many people went west.

Although conditions would be slightly more difficult to the west, the herdsmen did not have the ability to cross the Qilian Mountains to the Hehuang Valley, so they had to stay close to the foot of the Qilian Mountains, which was the area along Wuwei and Zhangye in later generations to survive.

The only good thing there is that since the Song army occupied Zhuoluo and Nan, they have set up forgeries on the border. Many herdsmen will drive their cattle and sheep over to exchange for grain, tea, and ironware from the Song people.

"Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!~"

A small Dangxiang tribe driving a large number of cattle and sheep is slowly moving to the west.

Their location at this time was near the desert northeast of Jisang, almost in the area of ​​Haizitan Town, Gulang County, Gansu Province.

To the north is the Tengger Desert, which was a desolate Gobi at this time, and to the south is Zhuoluo and Nan, which is the area around Gulang County and Jingtai County in later generations, and is the border area with the Song Dynasty.

They want to move to Liangzhou Prefecture, which is Wuwei City. It is one of the few places with rivers and pastures in winter, and it is their only hope for survival.

Amid the sound of bells from cattle, sheep, camels and horses, a cloud of dust suddenly appeared in the south.

"What happened?"

The tribal leader said to the people around him in Dangxiang language: "Go and have a look."

"Yes."

The herdsmen around him immediately turned their horses' heads and rode south.

There were some hills and hills nearby, which prevented them from seeing what was going on in the distance.

But as the dust and smoke continued, according to their experience, everyone knew that this might be a large number of cavalry approaching.

This made the leader of this small tribe sink to the bottom of his heart.

South.

Besides people from Song Dynasty, who else is in the south?

The leader's instinct was to send someone to report to the nearby military commander immediately.

But when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back, and then there was silence.

An uncomfortable silence spread around.

Now the Xixia Kingdom is almost destroyed, their king is dead, and two major forces have split.

If the Song people really invaded, who could send troops to stop them?
"The leader is from Song."

The herdsmen sent out soon came back to report the news, with a horrified expression on their faces and shouting in a trembling voice: "Many Song people!"

"Gather all the young men of the tribe and prepare to defend against the enemy!"

The tribe leader gritted his teeth and said.

They are migrating now, and there are so many cattle and sheep eating as they go that it is impossible to take them away.

If only the tribal people ran away and lost their cattle and sheep, for the grassland people, it would be no different from the genocide.

So they can only choose to fight to the death.

However, the herdsman said: "There are too many of them, at least tens of thousands of them."

The tribal leader showed a desperate expression.

Their entire tribe has less than a thousand people, and many of them are old, weak, women and children, and there are no more than 400 young men who can fight. What should we do?
In the midst of this panic, countless dark figures soon appeared in the distant mountains.

They were far away, but the dust raised and the sound of horse hooves coming from far and near were like the sound of gongs and drums urging death, beating the heart of every herdsman.

Fear and panic filled everyone's hearts.

They all stared at the south with their eyes widened, and no one knew what the outcome would be for them.

This panic lasted for nearly an hour, and the herdsmen still struggled to drive their cattle, sheep and horses, trying to escape further.

But what makes them despair is that the other party seems to be rushing straight towards them, and the fate of death seems to be inevitable.

"Dong dong dong dong!"

The sound of countless galloping horses is getting closer and closer, and the distance between the two sides is less than one mile.

However, just when this tribe was about to face annihilation, the knights did not directly charge them. Instead, they saw that the road ahead was occupied by a large number of cattle, sheep and horses, and gradually slowed down.

"What's going on ahead?"

When Lu Jingchu, the chief officer of the Song Army, saw the road ahead stopped, he asked sternly: "Why did you stop?"

He used to be the pacifier of Huanqing Road. He has a relatively straightforward personality. In history, he has impeached some generals for bribery and civil servants who engaged in malpractice for personal gain. He is a good official.

This time Jingtai was recalled to Bianliang due to his illness and his previous achievements. He served as the military envoy of Xihe Road and led the generals on the expedition.

The leader of the vanguard army was Jia Kui, who had been promoted. He galloped over and reported to Lu Jingchu: "Commander, there are party herdsmen in front of us driving large numbers of cattle and sheep to the Qilian Mountains for the winter."

"Are they heading in the same direction as us?"

"Yes, if we continue to go north, we will definitely rush into their herds of cattle and sheep."

"Then go around it!"

Lu Jingchu said in a deep voice: "Send someone to inform them and ask them to wait for our army to pass before moving forward."

"Yes."

Jia Kui agreed and immediately returned to the vanguard.

After the Song Army's vanguard received the order, they suddenly turned and headed west.

Then another small team came in the direction of the small tribe.

"Which of you is the leader?"

There was someone in that team who knew party language and asked sternly.

The tribal leader hurriedly came over and said: "I am."

"The commander-in-chief orders you to stop where you are and wait for my army to pass before setting off."

"Yes Yes Yes."

"."

The captain of the team originally reined in his horse and wanted to leave, but suddenly turned around and looked at them again, and then grinned and said: "You will be the people of Song from now on. Just obey the arrangements of the court, and don't commit any more crimes." After that, he let his horse go. Speed ​​away.

The people of this small Dangxiang tribe stood there in silence, as if they had not yet recovered.

After a long time, a large number of Song troops were galloping towards Liangzhou Prefecture in the northwest, and someone among them said: "Chief, are we, Daxia, going to perish?"

"If you die, just die."

The leader murmured to himself: "We have lived too hard these years. Maybe the Song people will live a better life if they come."

If his words were used in the past, they would definitely be treasonous.

But now no one refuted it.

In addition to showing a touch of complex emotions on everyone's face, no one looked at Song Jun who was looking into the distance with hostility and hatred.

The nomads have an indifferent sense of gratitude to the country.

As Li Yuanhao became more and more unpopular, there were many tribes in Xixia who wanted to join the Song people. Most of the people's hearts were dispersed, so naturally this country no longer needed to exist.

On the west route, the Song army went north along the Qilian Mountains and soon arrived in Liangzhou.

There is actually a part of the Xixia army stationed in the city, about three to four thousand people, controlled by the local Xixia generals in Xiliang Prefecture.

Since Liangzhou, Ganzhou and other places belong to the southwest end of the Xixia territory and are far away from the center, they are not greatly affected by civil strife, so a certain degree of order can be maintained here.

The generals stationed here became the targets of the two groups.

But when groups of Song troops appeared in Xiliang Mansion, the local garrison generals no longer had any thoughts of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, and quickly chose to surrender.

The Song army took control of Xiliang Prefecture in Xixia and began to move northwestward, heading towards Xuanhua Prefecture, Suzhou, Guazhou and other places.

This is also the current main strategy of the Song Army.

Xixia people would go to Qilian Mountains, Helan Mountains and other places in winter. The main force of the Song army went straight to Xingqing Mansion, captured the Xixia royal court, and destroyed Xixia.

The West Route Division headed north along the Qilian Mountains to regain large areas of important territory.

Since then, the main population and habitat of the Xixia people have been controlled by the Song Dynasty. The rest of the land is mostly desert, such as Mu Us Desert, Tengger Desert, Badain Jaran Desert, etc.

Just when the Song Army's West Route Army was in full swing and had easily captured Xiliang Mansion, the Song Army's East Route Army was also progressing very smoothly.

The East Route Army is divided into three parts, advancing from Jingyuan Road, Huanqing Road, and Fuyan Road respectively.

They targeted many Xixia border military fortresses such as the Xishou Baotai Army, the Jingsai Army, the Jianing Army, the Xiangyou Army, and the Zuoxiang Shenyong Army on the Xixia border.

However, at this time, the Xixia border army was already in name only.

After the civil strife, the border troops were either called back by their own tribes or participated in the war themselves. At this time, the Xixia troops on the entire border were pitifully small.

And most of them have basically lost their will to fight, and they seem to be in a state of decline and a dilapidated country.

Groups of Song troops quickly occupied the border cities. Many Xixia troops either fled or surrendered. It cannot be said that there was no resistance, but it could only be said to be better than nothing.

On October 9, with the howling north wind blowing and the vast mountains undulating, Gao Jixuan, the commander of the Jingyuan Road, led the army and headed north in a mighty manner.

This is north of Roulang Mountain and south of Weijing Mountain. After passing Weijing Mountain, it is Yingli City, the city closest to the Song Dynasty in Xixia.

"Quick, quick, harder."

"It's time to climb over the mountain ahead."

"Don't stop."

The grassroots officers of the Song Army urged the soldiers forward.

Between the ravines, there are large areas of hills and mountains, and only between the two mountains is a small section of plain valley bottom.

The later Beijing-Tibet Expressway passed through here, and 60 kilometers to the west is the Yellow River Stone Forest National Geopark. The geology is unique, and the scenery is picturesque even in early winter when the setting sun shines.

Gao Jixuan was riding on horseback, looking at the surrounding mountains from a distance. This was once the residence of the Xixia Xishou Baotai Army. There are still some ruins of camps in the surrounding mountains.

Abandoned beacon towers can be seen everywhere on the mountains, and you can still vaguely see rows of flags fluttering in the wind on Lingbo Mountain in the northwest.

"Sishuai, over there!"

A messenger next to Gao Jixuan suddenly pointed to a mountain about five or six miles away from them and said.

Gao Jixuan glanced over.

I saw the billowing smoke rising from the unknown hilltop of Weijing Mountain.

He raised the telescope in his hand and saw an old man and a young man on the mountain. They threw cow dung and firewood into the beacon tower, and the smoke went straight up the chimney into the sky.

The old man realized that Song Jun seemed to have noticed them, so he yelled and jumped up and down, as if to attract them.

"Song Gou, come and kill us!"

"You violated our border in Daxia, and you will not die well."

"Come on, come and kill us if you dare!"

The old man roared in Dangxiang dialect.

However, the Song army at the foot of the mountain only glanced at them from a distance, and no one rushed to the mountain to kill them.

Maybe I couldn't understand what he was shouting, or maybe I was too far away. Even if I could understand Dang Xiang's words, I still wouldn't know what he meant.

But everyone knows.

These are just two abandoned party soldiers.

"Let's go and leave them alone."

Gao Jixuan said calmly.

After hearing the order, Song Jun continued to move forward slowly, as if he had not seen them.

The old man on the top of the mountain was desperate and sat slumped on the ground.

Once the beacon was lit and thousands of horses galloped, how could the Song people dare to invade the border?

Today, once their Xixia dynasty fell apart, they were already on the verge of national subjugation.

The young man squatted aside, holding the Qiang flute tightly in his hand.

After a while, the old man suddenly stood up, clasped his forearms, and danced with tears in his eyes.

The young man played desolate music on the Qiang flute.

The old man twisted his body and sang in a sad voice: "Hu Teng's body is from Liangzhou, his skin is like jade, his nose is like a cone, and his light tung cloth shirt is rolled up front and back."

This is the last swan song of the party members.

The next day.

The Song army arrived at Yingli City, which was later known as Zhongwei City in Ningxia.

There were almost no defenders left in the city, and the Song army occupied the city as if they had peacefully taken over the defense.

The same thing also happened in Weizhou where the Jingsai Military Division of Xixia was located, Youzhou where the Jianing Military Division was located, Shizhou where the Xiangyou Military Division was located, and Yinzhou where the Zuoxiang Shenyong Military Division was located.

Overnight, most of the cities on the Xixia border fell into the hands of the Song army. In the end, only a few important cities such as Lingzhou of Xiping Prefecture and Xingzhou of Xingqing Prefecture were left.

(End of this chapter)