The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 165: The Xixia court was shocked and people were captured

"Boom boom boom~"

Just when people were in panic and the city of Dunhuang was in danger.

Suddenly, a violent roar erupted between heaven and earth, plunging the city of Dunhuang into the abyss.

"Commander-in-chief, something terrible has happened!"

"South Gate City Wall~"

"It collapsed~"

A pale and terrified general hurried over to report to Ji Lasiyi.

He was originally commanding the defense of the city, but at this moment he was stunned.

His face was filled with horror and disbelief.

"Collapsed?"

"how is this possible?"

Although Dunhuang City has been in disrepair for many years, it still has thick city walls. How could it suddenly collapse?
"Gunpowder, the Jinzhou army used gunpowder to blow down the city wall." The general looked dirty and said with a sad face.

During this era, the development of gunpowder in the Central Plains had reached a certain scale, and people began to produce firearms to equip the troops.

Western Xia had a small number of copper cannons, fire caltrops and other firearms.

It’s just that due to the immature technology, the firearms were not very powerful and played a very small role on the battlefield.

It feels like tasteless.

And it is precisely because of this that Ji Lasiyi dare not believe this statement.

"gunpowder?"

"No way."

"How could something like gunpowder blow down a city wall?"

Ji Lasiyi said angrily, his face ferocious, he picked up his subordinate, his eyes wide open, as if he wanted to eat someone.

"It's true, Commander-in-Chief, that's clearly the smell of gunpowder." The subordinate explained in panic.

When the explosion occurred, he was very close to that section of the city wall and watched helplessly as the wall collapsed, followed by flying debris and a deafening roar.

He had seen gunpowder and remembered its smell very clearly.

"Hoohoo, gunpowder~"

"How can a mere gunpowder blow down my city wall?" Ji Lasiyi said with grief and pain.

What is certain is that the Han people in Jinzhou must have mastered a formula for extremely powerful gunpowder.

At this moment, the soldiers' terrified shouts came from the direction of the south city wall.

"The Uighurs have entered the city."

"They rushed in."

"Run quickly~"

At this time, a gap of about ten meters had appeared in the south city wall.

It was simply because this section of the city wall was not solid to begin with, and the Yang Shouzheng brothers had come to Dunhuang as prisoners to repair the city wall and knew this location.

So Li Xiao arranged for people to blast this section of the city wall.

The result was better than expected.

"Black Armor Army!"

"kill!"

Following Li Xiao's loud shout, hundreds of black-armored soldiers rushed towards the gap like a surging tide.

They were dressed in full iron armor, and in the sunlight, they looked like a black steel torrent, the iron cavalry galloping, carrying endless murderous intent and momentum.

Zhang Xianfeng held a shield in one hand and a hook-and-sickle spear in the other, leading a hundred black-armored soldiers under his command as the vanguard, charging violently, raising a cloud of dust behind him.

Countless arrows shot from the city walls on both sides. In a short time, the shield in Zhang Xianfeng's hand was full of arrows.

Crackling sounds continued to be heard, and most of the arrows shot at the armor were bounced back. The men and horses were all armored and continued to charge without paying attention to anything.

Zhang Xianfeng took the lead and rushed into the gap in the city wall without hesitation.

He thrust out with the spear in his hand, and the powerful impact instantly knocked a Tangut cavalryman who tried to block him away, breaking his bones.

After the Black Armored Army rushed into the city, the White Armored Army followed closely behind and cleaned up the city.

Half an hour later, Dunhuang City was completely occupied by the Jinzhou Army.

On top of the city wall, the golden sun and moon battle flags fluttered in the wind and sand.

Soon, Zhang Xinghua and Ji Lasiyi were brought to Li Xiao by the Jinzhou army.

They looked at the young general in front of them who was riding a tall warhorse and wearing white armor, and they could not imagine that this was Li Xiao, the Grand Commander of Jinzhou who led tens of thousands of troops to capture Dunhuang and destroy the main force of the Xiping Army.

Too young, almost the same age as their nephews and nephews.

"Zhang Xinghua, the Governor of Dunhuang?"

"Jila Siyi, the deputy commander of the Xiping Army?

"You harbored the criminal who murdered the King of Gaochang and refused to repent. Do you acknowledge your guilt now?"

Li Xiao rode on a warhorse, looking down at the two of them with a cold gaze.

Zhang Xinghua was fine, his clothes were torn and he looked very miserable, but Ji Lasiyi was seriously injured and was forcibly captured by the Jinzhou army.

"If you want to incriminate someone, why bother?"

"Stop pretending to be like the King of Gaochang."

"It was you who killed the King of Gaochang, wasn't it?"

Ji Lasiyi roared angrily, staring at Li Xiao fiercely, with blood still flowing from the corner of his mouth.

"You attacked my sandbar and killed my people. My king will not let you go."

"Just wait. When our Great Xia elite arrive, that will be the day of your destruction."

Ji Lasiyi was worthy of being the last fierce general of Western Xia, but at this time he had no awareness of being a prisoner.

He is a tough guy who would rather die than surrender.

"The elite of the Xia Kingdom? The famous Iron Harriers?" Li Xiao smiled coldly.

"I'd like to meet them, too, to see the current Iron Harriers and the events of Li Yuanhao's time."

Having said that, Li Xiao did not look down on Xixia at all.

After all, none of the monsters in East Asia are weak.

Although Western Xia did not seem to have much presence, it was repeatedly crushed by the Jin Dynasty and Mongolia.

But that was not because Xixia was too weak, but because its opponent was too strong.

They encountered the Jin Dynasty and Mongolia at their peak period, so it was useless for anyone to come.

But with the current strength of Western Xia, if the entire country were to march westward, all these Central Asian countries would be destroyed.

Western Xia was very powerful.

The military industry is well developed and the army's combat effectiveness is not weak.

The reason why Li Xiao was able to destroy the main force of the Xiping Army so easily and break through the city of Dunhuang.

The most important reason is that the focus of Western Xia has always been in the east, and the Iron Harriers, the Qinsheng Army and other armies are all in the east to guard Xingqing Prefecture.

The Hexi Corridor was poorly defended, with only three local military headquarters established by conscripting local people.

Although these soldiers were brave and good at fighting, and their individual combat effectiveness was strong, they lacked equipment and there were conflicts between the Hu and Han peoples.

That’s why we have the situation today.

With the current strength of the Jinzhou Army, Li Xiao is still confident that he can fight against the Iron Harriers.

After all, today's Iron Harriers are no longer the Great Xia Iron Cavalry from the founding period of the country.

However, it was impossible to reach Xingqing Prefecture with only these 10,000 Jinzhou troops and 30,000 Uighur vassal troops.

Li Xiao’s purpose of attacking Xixia was very clear: plunder!

"Hmph, how shameless!" Ji Lasiyi roared angrily.

Zhang Xinghua, who was standing next to him, tried to appease him, fearing that he would anger Li Xiao and get killed.

Then he slowly bowed to Li Xiao and presented the seal representing the Governor of Dunhuang from his waist with both hands.

"General, you are so brave. Our Dunhuang defenders are powerless to resist. I am willing to lead the entire city's people in surrender. I only ask that you, General, spare the killing and spare the people and soldiers in the city."

Zhang Xinghua's eyes were full of earnestness, and he bowed deeply to Li Xiao.

At this time, Yang Shouzheng whispered a few words about Zhang Xinghua's background in Li Xiao's ear.

"Inspector Zhang is actually the descendant of Prime Minister Zhang?" Li Xiao asked curiously.

Zhang Xinghua smiled bitterly, "My ancestor is indeed Lei Fugong, but I am just an insignificant member of the Zhang family. I dare not be so arrogant as to use my ancestor's name to show off myself."

Li Xiao smiled: "The governor of Dunhuang is not insignificant."

The Governor of Dunhuang is equivalent to a high-ranking official in later generations, a frontier governor.

Zhang Xinghua’s ancestors were even more powerful.

His name was Zhang Yuan, and his courtesy name was Lei Fu.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, people failed in the imperial examinations many times and were marginalized, so they rebelled against the Song Dynasty and defected to the Xia Dynasty in anger.

He was soon highly valued by Li Yuanhao, and he made it his mission to destroy the Song Dynasty. He helped Li Yuanhao defeat the Song army many times and was promoted to the prime minister of Western Xia.

Many people in the Song Dynasty hated him bitterly and cursed him as a "traitor", "national scum", "ungrateful to his ancestors" and so on.

But Zhang Yuan continued to do his own thing, and his abilities and talents were fully utilized in Western Xia.

However, with the death of Zhang Yuan, the Zhang family also fell into decline.

Today, the highest-ranking person in the Zhang family is the governor Zhang Xinghua.

Moreover, he was the governor of Dunhuang, which was also a disguised form of exile.

As a local governor, Zhang Xinghua believed that he had the responsibility to defend the territory, but for the sake of the lives and safety of the people in the city, his forced surrender was understandable.

Li Xiao did not despise him, but looked at him with a slightly admiring look and said, "We Han people have a good saying."

"He who knows the current affairs is a hero."

"Governor Zhang, you are able to consider the people in this critical moment, and you are living up to the legacy of our ancestors."

Zhang Xinghua quickly waved his hand and responded respectfully, "You are too kind, Governor."

"I know full well that when war breaks out, countless lives will be lost. The people in this city are innocent."

"I've only done what a fatherly official should do. How dare I compare myself to my ancestors? I only hope that after the governor enters the city, he can ensure the safety of the people of Dunhuang. I will be satisfied then."

Li Xiao laughed: "Okay."

"Given Governor Zhang's love for the people, this governor will certainly treat the people of Dunhuang well."

"It's just that we can't stay in Dunhuang anymore."

Li Xiao didn't explain too much, and then looked at Ji Lasiyi indifferently.

I thought that after Li Xiao accepted Zhang Xinghua's surrender, he would definitely persuade Ji La Siyi to surrender next. After all, he was also a good general.

But Li Xiao simply waved his hand and said, "Kill him!"

After hearing this, Zhang Xinghua and Ji Lasiyi were stunned.

"Grand Commander, why is this~"

"General Ji La is a rare and formidable general. Let me persuade him well~"

The reason why Zhang Xinghua wanted to save Ji Lasiyi's life was that he wanted to keep the group warm so that he would not be isolated and helpless in the Jinzhou military system in the future.

But Li Xiao didn't care about these at all.

He only believed that "those who are not of my race must have different hearts."

Li Xiao already has quite a few generals under his command, so there is no need to add an unstable factor like Ji Lasiyi.

What's more, Ji Lasiyi has a criminal record in history.

When Temujin launched his third expedition against Western Xia, the Uighurs had already surrendered, and the Mongolian cavalry attacked Dunhuang, intending to attack Western Xia from both sides.

At that time, Ji Lasiyi had already become the commander-in-chief of the Xiping Military Department.

He pretended to surrender, but actually ambushed the Mongolian army, causing heavy losses.

Therefore, Ji Lasiyi was very loyal to Western Xia, and even if he surrendered, he could not be trusted at all.

Li Xiao wants to be Cao Zei, but doesn't want to be Cao Paopao.

Soon, amid Ji Lasiyi's furious curses, the skinny monkey, holding a cavalry sword, instantly cut his neck. "All Xiping army generals above the head of the team will be executed."

"In Dunhuang City, all soldiers, civilians, and merchants are gathered outside the city and are under the unified supervision of the Jinzhou Army."

……

After issuing a series of orders in an orderly manner, Li Xiao led his troops into the city.

In Dunhuang City, the sun and moon battle flags are flying!

At the same time, the situation in Dunhuang finally reached Xingqing Prefecture.

On this day, during the court session, the Privy Councilor reported: "Your Majesty, the Xiping Army is being dispatched urgently, eight hundred miles away."

"The Gaochang Kingdom has invaded the border and is besieging Dunhuang."

Upon hearing this, the Xixia court was in an uproar.

"The Gaochang Kingdom invaded the border?"

"Why did they suddenly besiege Dunhuang?"

"Daxia and Gaochang have always been on good terms, never interfering with each other. Why would you send such a large army to invade?"

The officials discussed in low voices among themselves.

Meanwhile, the Minister of the Central Secretariat reported the memorial from Zhang Xinghua: "The Governor of Dunhuang has urgently reported that 50,000 troops from Gaochang are approaching the border. The situation is critical. Your Majesty is requested to send troops to support us."

Hearing this, Xixia King Li Chunyou frowned and said in a deep voice, "What's going on?"

"Why did Gaochang suddenly invade the border?"

"Did the report specify the reason?"

The Minister of the Central Secretariat and the Privy Councilor looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Your Majesty, the military situation is urgent, and Dunhuang City may not have had enough time to investigate the cause."

"However, there should be more memorials coming later."

Hearing this, Li Chunyou snorted and said, "Go check it out immediately."

Then he looked at the Minister of Rites and said, "Send an envoy to Gaochang immediately."

In fact, Li Chunyou was not really angry.

Because places like Dunhuang and Guazhou have always been neglected in the Western Xia country.

It has no political or economic value at all, and the local Han people sometimes rebel, causing the imperial court to waste its attention.

In history, when Temujin attacked Western Xia for the first time, he plundered Dunhuang, Guazhou and other places and abducted many civilians.

However, after Li Chunyou learned the news, perhaps out of fear of the Mongols, he did not fight back, but simply rebuilt the city walls that were destroyed by the Mongols afterwards.

From this we can see that Shazhou and Guazhou were not that important to Western Xia.

But now, Li Chunyou has just ascended the throne and his ambition has not been wiped out by reality.

For the sake of my own face, I must take care of it.

However, soon, more and more news reached Xingqing Prefecture, making Li Chunyou's mood even worse.

"Your Majesty, from Guazhou City, reports indicate that Du Luo Jianzan, the commander of the Xiping Army, led 6,000 troops to support Dunhuang City. They were ambushed by the Uighur army and completely annihilated."

"Your Majesty, Dunhuang City has completely lost contact with Guazhou and is suspected of having fallen."

"Your Majesty, urgent news from Guazhou City: Uighur cavalry have appeared outside the city. Guazhou City is in danger and urgently needs support."

All the news these days was bad, which made Li Chunyou very depressed.

What's wrong with the people of Gaochang?

Why did they suddenly attack Dunhuang City?

Moreover, if Dunhuang was really conquered, Guazhou would be in danger.

If Guazhou also falls, the Hexi Corridor will be in danger.

Sure enough, Li Chunyou’s worries became a reality, and for the next period of time, Guazhou completely lost contact.

Ten days later, news came from Suzhou.

Guazhou fell!

As soon as the news came out, the Western Xia court was shocked.

Li Chunyou was so angry that he overturned the table.

From the study came his angry roar: "Are the defenders of Guazhou all a bunch of pigs?"

"In just a few days, the enemy captured Guazhou."

"The imperial court spends so much money every year on raising an army, but it's better to raise a herd of pigs."

In fact, the amount of money that Western Xia invested in Guazhou, Dunhuang and other places every year was very limited.

Western Xia’s focus has always been on the east, guarding against Tubo, the Jin Dynasty, and the grassland people.

If too many resources were invested in places like Guazhou and Dunhuang, the imperial court would worry that they would rebel and establish their own regime.

After all, the people in that area have never been submissive to the king.

Now, they were directly captured by the Gaochang people, and Li Chunyou was extremely angry.

"Your Majesty, after Du Luo Jianzan took away 6,000 main forces, the remaining troops in Guazhou City are less than 4,000. I'm afraid they can't stop the aggressive Uighurs." The Privy Councilor said softly.

This can be considered as a reason for the fall of Guazhou.

"Privy Councillor, you don't have to defend those people."

"Du Luo Jianzan underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, resulting in the annihilation of the main force of the Xiping Army. Order his entire family to be imprisoned." Li Chunyou said with a cold snort.

The Privy Councilor shook his head helplessly, but still failed to save Du Luo Jianzan's family.

The Minister of the Central Secretariat next to him took out an urgent report and presented it with both hands.

"Your Majesty, this is an urgent report from the Suzhou Governor."

"After investigation by the Suzhou Army, we discovered that it wasn't just the Gaochang Army that was invading our border, but rather a coalition of forces from Northern Xinjiang and Gaochang."

Hearing this, Li Chunyou was slightly stunned.

"what?"

"Northern Xinjiang?"

He had heard of Northern Xinjiang, but didn't know much about it.

It was more because of the civil unrest that occurred in the Liao Kingdom some time ago.

The rebellion of Xiao Simo, the King of the Six Courts, seemed to end with no one gaining any advantage.

Xiao Simo's base is the northern border.

"The northern border is thousands of miles away from Dunhuang, why would it invade Daxia?" Li Chunyou expressed his incomprehension.

"Xiao Simo just fought a battle with the Liao royal court. Why would he mess with Daxia instead of just licking his wounds?"

The Minister of the Central Secretariat said, "Your Majesty, the Governor of Suzhou has sent people to negotiate with the Northern Frontier Army."

"The other party responded because the Gaochang prince launched a rebellion and drove out Gaochang King Yue Ersi."

"Yue'ersi escaped outside Yumen Pass and was mistakenly killed by our army."

"The Gaochang army is here to avenge their king and capture the murderer."

"Also, Gaochang has now taken refuge with Northern Xinjiang."

"So, the Northern Frontier Army also got involved."

"According to news from the front lines, the commander of the Northern Frontier Army is named Li Xiao. He is the Governor of Jinzhou, Marquis of Wucheng, and the brother-in-law of Xiao Simo, the King of the Six Courts of the Liao Kingdom."

After hearing what the Minister of the Central Secretariat said, Li Chunyou's face turned pale.

Anger said: "That's ridiculous."

"The King of Gaochang died outside Yumen Pass?"

"I think they are just looking for trouble."

As the king of Western Xia, he was well aware of the cruelty of political struggles and would never believe that Yue'ersi was accidentally killed by his own soldiers.

Maybe he was killed by the Gaochang people themselves and they deliberately put the blame on Western Xia.

"Li Xiao, the governor of Jinzhou?"

Li Chunyou frowned angrily and said, "It sounds like a Han Chinese name."

The Minister of the Central Secretariat nodded: "He is indeed a Han Chinese, and quite young."

"Humph~"

Li Chunyou snorted lightly and said nothing more, but he remembered the name deeply in his heart.

Then he asked, "Where are the troops from the Ganzhou (Zhangye) Military Commander?"

As soon as he learned that Dunhuang was under siege, Li Chunyou mobilized the troops of the nearest Ganzhou Army to provide support.

Now more than ten days have passed, but there is still no news.

"If everything goes well, the troops of Ganzhou Military Command should have arrived in Suzhou and will reach Guazhou soon." The Privy Councilor said in a deep voice.

"Inform the Ganzhou Military Commander to hold Suzhou City firmly and not allow the Uighur army to advance any further."

"At the same time, we must also seek opportunities to retake Guazhou and Dunhuang." Li Chunyou ordered.

He was not a foolish emperor, he was just weak at times.

Judging from the battle reports from the front line, the coalition forces of Northern Xinjiang and Gaochang are very large, at least 50,000 people, including a large number of cavalry.

The Gansu Military Command had only about 20,000 troops, and some had to be left behind to guard against Tubo.

It would be difficult to defeat the Northern Frontier Coalition Forces relying solely on the Gansu Military Command and the defenders of Suzhou City.

Therefore, Li Chunyou’s goal was to first defend Suzhou City (Jiuquan) to prevent the Northern Frontier Allied Forces from further threatening the Hexi Corridor.

Then we can consider conquering Guazhou and Dunhuang.

"As ordered."

……

Guazhou is located two hundred miles east of Dunhuang.

The geographical features, cultural customs, etc. are basically the same as those of Dunhuang.

The people in Guazhou City are also mainly Han people, descendants of the Jinshan Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty.

After destroying the 6,000 main forces of the Xiping Army, the defenders of Guazhou City were less than 4,000.

After conquering Dunhuang, the Jinzhou army took a short rest and then headed towards Guazhou.

The Guazhou defenders were already in low morale and in a state of panic, and with the Jinzhou army having the bonus of gunpowder, within just one day, the sun and moon battle flags were raised on the top of the Guazhou city wall.

"Grand Commander, all the defenders in the city have been taken into custody, and all officers above the rank of captain have been executed."

Dahu came to Li Xiao and reported.

After the officers were killed, the remaining soldiers became scattered, and even if someone wanted to cause trouble, it could be quickly put down.

"Where are the people?"

"How many people have gathered inside and outside Guazhou City now?" Li Xiao asked in a deep voice.

"About 40,000 to 50,000 people. There are some villages further away in the mountains and deserts. If we search carefully, we may be able to find a few thousand more people." Dahu said.

The Jinzhou Army simply gathered the people from the main gathering places near Guazhou City, and didn't remember to search carefully yet.

"No need." Li Xiao shook his head slightly.

"We should go."

The total number of civilians and soldiers in Guazhou and Dunhuang was almost 100,000.

For the Jinzhou Army, which had only 10,000 cavalry, management was already quite difficult.

So many people had already reached Li Xiao's psychological expectations, and he was not prepared to continue competing.

"If we are any later, the large-scale reinforcements from Xia will probably arrive soon. We still have so many civilians to look after, so it is not suitable for us to continue fighting."

"Pass the order down." Li Xiao said in a deep voice.

"Two days later, the army will set out back to Dunhuang to reunite with Uncle Six and the others."

"Then~"

Li Xiao looked towards the northern sky and said with a relieved voice.

"Go back to Golden State!"

(End of this chapter)