I became a saint by picking up corpses in Water Margin

Chapter 393: Gathering Troops in the Northwest
Yang Changke was not joking, he also had a plan to wipe out Xixia, but it was a lower priority. He didn't expect the other party to commit suicide, so he had to advance the plan artificially.

Western Xia originated from Li Sigong, the leader of the Dangxiang tribe. He came to prominence for his contributions in suppressing the Huang Chao rebellion in the late Tang Dynasty, and grew stronger during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. At that time, no matter who was in power in the Central Plains, the Dangxiang Li family would "bow their heads and submit" in exchange for the rule of the area and numerous rewards. Later, they jumped back and forth between the Song and Liao dynasties, and gradually developed into a great power capable of competing against the Song.

Their foreign strategy is very flexible, just like profit-seeking businessmen.

Submit to whoever is strong and bully whoever is weak.

of course.

The reason why Western Xia jumped around like this was because its geographical environment was relatively poor, and it had a small population and army to support. It had to survive in the cracks between big countries, and it would not survive if it did not adapt to the situation.

From the founding of the country by Li Yuanhao in 1038 to now, it has been nearly a hundred years. Although the total military force is not as good as that of the Song, Liao and Jin dynasties, the combat effectiveness of the army cannot be underestimated. The famous Iron Harrier Army (also known as the Linked Armored Horse and Iron Pagoda) is a tactic first created by the Xixia people.

The most powerful Western Army of the Song Dynasty was composed of elite troops trained during conflicts and frictions with Western Xia on the border.

Later, Tong Guan sought to capture Yanjing for Huizong. In order to quell the rebellion and defend against the Jin army in the Song Dynasty, elite troops that could compete with the Western Xia were gradually transferred to the Central Plains. As a result, the Song Dynasty's northwest defense force was sharply reduced. The Western Xia seized the opportunity to gradually erode the area and had basically seized the Guanzhong area at this time.

The Western Xia brazenly invaded Hedong, on the one hand because they were instigated by the Jin people behind the scenes, and on the other hand because they felt that their internal confidence had swelled after taking over the rich land of Guanzhong.

When Nianhan first went south to attack the Song Dynasty, he asked Xixia to join him in sending troops to contain the Song Dynasty and promised to give him some land after the war.

Western Xia sent troops as agreed and successfully tied down the Song army that wanted to rescue Hedong. Nianhan was blocked in Taiyuan by Yang Chang, but ultimately the land was not divided as agreed. Western Xia sent people to ask for it but to no avail.

Later, Yang Chang repelled the Jin army and recovered Hedong, but he did not dare to expand on a large scale due to his own strength. He put aside several states near Western Xia for a long time, and Western Xia had also been planning to do so for a long time.

Recently, Yang Changdong left Taihang. He was fighting against Zhao Gou's Eastern Court and the Jin army in Hebei at the same time, which gave the Xixia people an opportunity.

In addition, Guanzhong basically fell into the hands of Western Xia, and the pro-war faction in the country rose to become the dominant force. They needed a new target to achieve merit, so they all instigated Emperor Li Qianshun to send troops, and then sent General Li Liangfu to lead troops to invade Fengzhou.

At that time, Western Xia had occupied Yan'an Prefecture, which was the east and west lines of Yang Changhe, both of which were adjacent to Western Xia's sphere of influence. Western Xia chose to start from Fengzhou after careful consideration.

First, Xizhou, Cizhou, and Jiangzhou, which border Yan'an Prefecture, have not only been managed by Yang Chang for a long time, but these states are also backed by Jinzhou, so Zhu Tong can send troops to reinforce them at any time;

Secondly, Fengzhou and other places bordered both Xixia and Jin, so if there were any problems, they could just blame the Jin.
The last and most important reason is that Wushi, on the way of retreating northward from the Jin Kingdom, asked the Western Xia to send troops to Hedong in the name of the Western Army Marshal's Office to support the Jin Kingdom's war on the eastern front, and promised that all the lands acquired by the Western Xia would belong to the Western Xia.

The successive monarchs of Western Xia all grew bigger and stronger by relying on big trees, and Li Qianshun could not resist the temptation.

Of course, he also thought that Yang Chang was strong, after all, he had defeated the Jin people many times, but Hedong had no contact with Western Xia, and all relevant intelligence was obtained from the Jin Kingdom. How would the Jin people describe failure?
Inaccurate intelligence from Western Xia led to strategic misjudgments.

In addition to betting that Yang Chang's multi-front war would fail, Li Qianshun also has a well-used strategic trump card.

When Yang Chang unexpectedly defeated Jin and Song and turned to cause trouble for Western Xia, Western Xia quickly admitted defeat and apologized, or at least paid tribute and became a vassal.

After Zhao Fujin took Qiu Qiongying away, Yang Chang immediately found Sun An to explain everything, suspended the plan to attack Hebei, and at the same time asked Sun An to find someone to impersonate him and continue to stay in Zhending to deter opponents.

Although Sun An was a little disappointed, he resolutely carried out Yang Chang's order and immediately ordered Li Yanxian to station troops in Zhaozhou to confuse the Jin army in Hebei.

In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of Sun An's army, Yang Chang only took Lu Junyi and Xiao Gong's troops, and left Liu Tang, Suo Chao and others in Hebei.

When he returned to Yangqu a few days later, Wu Song had selected three thousand elite soldiers as required.

Yang Chang ordered him to lead his troops along the southern road, passing through Fenzhou, Shizhou, Jinning Army, Linzhou, and finally meet him in Fuzhou. Han Tao, Xuan Zan, Yelu Tushan, Guo Qizhong and other generals will follow the army.

According to Zhe Keqiu's intelligence, there were more than 30,000 Western Xia troops invading, and several states and armies on the Hedong border could only muster a few thousand people for defense. Even with Wu Song's 3,000, the literal number was far from enough.

What’s more, Yang Chang wanted to fight back and destroy the country, so he had to transfer troops from other places.

On the day Wu Song sent out his troops, Yang Chang led Qiu Qiongying, Lu Junyi, Cai Qing, Li Zhong, Xiao Gong and their troops northward towards Daizhou.

Considering the need to keep abreast of enemy intelligence at all times in order to counterattack against Western Xia, Yang Chang brought Zhao Fujin with him and handed over the defense of Taiyuan to Hu Sanniang.

The reason why Yang Chang marched to Daizhou was that he planned to draw 10,000 troops from Daizhou, Wuzhou and Ninghua, and then go directly from Wuzhou to Fuzhou to join forces.

He deliberately brought Cai Qing and Li Zhong with him just to replace Dong Ping and Yang Lin.

Since it is a war to annihilate a country, having few soldiers and generals will not be conducive to controlling the place after the war, so he must bring enough people this time.

The whole route to the north was filled with cavalry, and the march was already fast enough, but Yang Chang had Zhao Fujin by his side and was not satisfied with the speed of the war horses.

When the army set out, Yang Chang handed over the command to Lu Junyi and Qiu Qiongying, and he himself left using Zhao Fujin's magical power.

It is necessary to withdraw troops from the Yanmen defense line and rush there in advance to save time and give Yang Zhi and others time to prepare.

When Yang Chang arrived at his first stop, Daizhou, Yang Zhi gave him a difficult problem.

When the Green-Faced Beast heard that Western Xia was going to be destroyed, he was unwilling to give up this opportunity that would go down in history and as a descendant of the Yang family generals, he immediately asked Yang Chang to join the expedition, hoping to be able to resign from his post as the commander of Yanmen.

Yang Zhi had been in charge of Yanmen Pass for a long time, and it would be easy to cause problems if he withdrew the garrison and replaced the generals. If the Jin army from Yunzhong Prefecture suddenly moved south while he was attacking Western Xia, it would put him under pressure, so Yang Chang decisively refused.

Yang Chang comforted Yang Zhi from Xixia National Primary School and promised to take him with him when they fight against Jin Kingdom in the future.

But Yang Zhi was like a person who had eaten a weight. He fell to the ground and knelt down, refusing to get up, and begged that he must be taken with him.

Yang Chang couldn't bear to dampen his enthusiasm, but he really couldn't find a good replacement, so he refused in a tactful way.

"It's not that I won't take you with me, but I don't need to tell you how important the Yanmen defense line is. How about this, if you really want to fight Xixia with me, I can recommend a general who can guard the pass, but this person must be someone I can trust. How do you think?"

"this one"

Yang Zhi pondered and thought frantically, and soon his eyes lit up and he thought of a candidate. He immediately smiled and said, "Didn't Lu Chengxuan go north with the King of Jin? I don't need to introduce his prestige and ability. The key is that he was also in charge of the military and political affairs of Daizhou before. He is more than qualified to replace me."

"Ok?"

When Yang Chang heard this, he thought to himself, Wow, you want to exchange dollars for pounds, right?

But then I thought about it.

At this time, the Yanmen defense line was under the care of each other, and he also intended to let Cai Qing and Li Zhong replace Dong Ping and Yang Lin. If Lu Junyi was allowed to be in charge of the Yanmen defense, Cai Fu and Cai Qing were both from Damingfu, which seemed to be more conducive to coordinated operations.

With this thought in mind, Yang Chang immediately smiled and said, "This proposal is fine, but Mr. Lu originally planned to fight Xixia with me, unless you can convince him."

"well."

Yang Zhizhi nodded and said, "Please rest here for a while, King Jin, and prepare the troops to be taken away. I will go south to meet them and persuade Mr. Lu to give me the opportunity."

"Then I wish you success." As soon as Yang Chang waved his hand, Yang Zhi left in a hurry.

Regardless of whether Lu Junyi agrees or not, Yang Chang will withdraw half of the garrison from Daizhou. Daizhou has the largest number of troops in the entire Yanmen defense line, and Yang Chang has deployed more than 10,000 garrisons here.

Before Yang Zhi left, he ordered all garrisons to gather in Yanmen County to make it easier for Yang Chang to select soldiers.

After all, soldiers had to be left to guard Yanmen, so Yang Changze did not deliberately select elite soldiers, but randomly picked ten battalions of 5,000 people.

By talking to the generals and deputy generals of each battalion, he learned that the Yanmen defense line had always been peaceful.

Especially after Dong Ping and Cai Fu captured Wuzhou, the cavalry of Shuozhou no longer operated on the border. Yang Zhi once sent scouts deep behind enemy lines to investigate and found that the enemies were hiding in the city.

This information was consistent with Yang Chang's judgment. Before the civil unrest in the Jin Dynasty was quelled, the Yunzhong Jin Army would most likely adopt a defensive stance, just like Salihe did to delay time.

The Jin Kingdom sent troops to help Xixia? Isn't this a rebellion against Tiangang?

Yang Chang stayed in Yanmen for only one day when Yang Zhi arrived to pick up Lu Junyi and others.

Who could have expected that the Green-faced Beast, who always had low emotional intelligence, could actually persuade Lu Junyi to give up the opportunity to join the expedition against Western Xia.

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Yang Changsui appointed Lu Junyi as the commander-in-chief of the Yanmen army, in charge of the four towns of Daizhou, Wuzhou, Ninghua Army, and Qilan Army, and was fully responsible for the Yanmen defense line.

After a night's rest, they set out for Wuzhou the next day.

Most of Yang Zhi's men were infantrymen, so they did not need to rest and left that day, agreeing to eventually meet at Shenwu, the capital of Wuzhou.

Yang Chang and Zhao Fujin did not stop either. They arranged the marching route and set off overnight. He also had to go to Ninghua Army, Qilan Army and Wuzhou to draw troops, so he still needed to save time.

And so it went on until mid-October.

The 10,000 troops drawn from the Yanmen defense line only brought enough food for a dozen days. They set out from Shenwu County and marched westward. In five days, they marched more than 300 miles to the Baode Army’s base. Across the Yellow River was Fuzhou where Zhe Keqiu was.

When Yang Chang took over the Hedong states, he transferred some Sparrow Army troops here in order to maintain stability in various places.

Sun Xin and Gu Dasao were transferred to assist Lin Chong, so Le He was appointed as the military commander of the Baode Army and also the commander of the sparrows in the northwestern states.

Before Yang Zhi, Dong Ping and others led the army to arrive, Yang Chang and Zhao Fujin came here to understand the situation in advance.

According to Le He's intelligence, this Western Xia army was led by the great general Li Liangfu, who was ordered to save Liao and fight against the Jin general Lou Shi on the eve of Jin's conquest of Liao, but was eventually defeated and retreated.

After Li Liangfu captured Fengzhou, although he continued to send troops to Fuzhou, the offensive was not as fierce as at the beginning. At present, only more than 10,000 people surrounded Fugu City, and the rest of the troops were looting in Fuzhou and Linzhou.

After hearing this, Yang Chang did not comment. He crossed the river with Zhao Fujin that day and went to Fugu to find out the truth.

The north wind had already risen, and the cold wind was howling in the night.

Yang Chang and Zhao Fujin watched from afar and saw the Western Xia army outside Fugu City, forming a "品" tent formation, which was particularly eye-catching.

These two people have their cultivation to protect them, so the cold and heat have no effect on them.

Seeing that Yang Chang was silent, Zhao Fujin asked quietly, "My lord, is the situation not good?"

"It's nothing bad. I don't care about just 10,000 Xixia people. When will I attack?"

"The troops from both the north and south haven't arrived yet. Your Majesty, are you planning to sneak into the Xixia camp and kill the generals, and then cooperate with Zhe Keqiu in Fugu City to gain the upper hand?"

"hehe."

Yang Chang put his arm around Zhao Fujin's shoulders and said with a meaningful smile, "Princess, you didn't know how to use troops before. Now that you have followed me around, you know how to use them, right?"

"You always use this tactic. No matter how dumb I am, I have learned it."

Zhao Fujin muttered, and then added: "Zhe Keqiu has 3,000 defenders. If the king kills the Xixia army's commander, the siege of Fugu will probably be lifted immediately. I just don't understand."

"What don't you understand?"

"Li Liangfu has 30,000 men. Why didn't he bring all of them here? Instead of just letting 10,000 keep an eye on Fugu, and the rest looting nearby?"

"Ha ha."

Yang Chang touched Zhao Fujian's head and said earnestly, "Do you think the Xixia invaded here just to capture the city?"

"Is not it?"

"It's mainly about plundering people. The Jin and Liao dynasties kidnapped people in Han territory, and the Western Xia Kingdom was even more so. Before I set off, I consulted Wen Huanzhang. He said that since the end of the Lingzhou Battle during the Yuanfeng period, the Western Xia had kidnapped hundreds of thousands of people from the Song Dynasty in the past few decades, and now they are using the same old trick again."

“So that’s how it is”

When Zhao Fujin was sighing, Yang Chang continued, "They will take advantage of my stay in Hebei, and probably use Fengzhou as a breakthrough point to secretly occupy land and plunder people. When I come to my senses and settle accounts, if Xixia can't defeat them, I can find an excuse, admit my mistakes, apologize, and return the land, but the plundered people will be gone."

"The Xixia people are so insidious. How come they are just like profiteers in the market?"

"hehe."

Yang Chang laughed and said, "They were able to dominate the northwest for a hundred years and finally compete with the Song Dynasty. How could they not have some extraordinary means? The Queen of Western Xia was the Liao princess Yelu Nanxian. Because Emperor Li Qianshun did not send troops to save his motherland, their son, Prince Li Renai, died of grief and anger. Yelu Nanxian then starved herself to death because she hated the emperor's ruthlessness. In fact, this is how it is between countries. Everything is based on national interests."

"Although I don't understand, I know they have offended the wrong people. Since they know that the Xixia people are plundering people, should they take action first? How does the king plan to fight?"

"There's no rush to wait a few days. Let these people suffer first, and then when the two armies arrive, we can get back our money with interest."

"Oh"

When Zhao Fujin responded, Yang Chang suddenly hugged her slender waist and said, "Let's go to Linzhou to see where my second brother is so that I can decide when to start the war."

"Ok."

In the Western Xia army.

A soldier went out to urinate and suddenly saw two balls of fire flying in the distance. He was so frightened that he pulled his urine back.

(End of this chapter)