The prince is more stable

Chapter 218: Losing Virginity
When Zhong Jianzhong suggested attacking Xiliang City, Zhao Xiaoqian rejected it without hesitation.

Because of Zhao Xiaoqian's rationality, he knew that capturing Xiliang City would be of little significance and would cost unnecessary casualties.

Now Zhao Xiaoqian found himself a little too excited.

The temptation of capturing the capital of Western Xia was many times greater than that of capturing the city of Western Liang. Zhao Xiaoqian, who was as steady as an old dog, had to admit that he was no longer calm at this moment.

His decision at this moment is very important, as it may affect the outcome of the entire Song-Xia War.

The meeting between Zhao Xiaoqian and Zhang Xiaoyi was very difficult this time. The message was passed through the spies of the Imperial City Bureau. Zhao Xiaoqian finally decided to meet in this valley more than 100 miles away from Xingqing City.

After this meeting, Zhao Xiaoqian was about to lead his troops to flee far away, after all, there were still 50,000 troops chasing them.

The opportunity to meet is precious, and you must say everything you need to say and explain everything you need to explain.

After pondering for a while, Zhao Xiaoqian waved his hand towards Zhang Xiaoyi and said, "Please wait a moment. This matter is of great importance. I need to discuss it with my generals."

Zhang Xiaoyi nodded, picked up a leg of lamb that was roasting on the campfire, and took a big bite.

After just one bite, Zhang Xiaoyi showed disgust. Seeing Zhao Xiaoqian looking at him coldly, Zhang Xiaoyi hurriedly forced a smile: "Delicious! The most delicious food in the world!"

Zhao Xiaoqian gritted his teeth. "How could this bastard disdain my things? How well is he doing in Xingqing City? Does he eat dragon meat and phoenix liver every day?"
Zhong Jianzhong and Zong Ze quickly came from the end of the team.

The four of them sat together, and Zhao Xiaoqian repeated exactly what Zhang Xiaoyi had just said.

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw that Zhong Jianzhong's breathing gradually became rapid, and even the usually steady Zong Ze's eyes lit up and his expression became excited.

Even Zhao Xiaoqian couldn't resist the temptation, so these two guys couldn't resist it even more.

Looking at the expressions of the two, Zhao Xiaoqian knew that there was actually no need to discuss anything anymore.

A great opportunity was right in front of him. If he did not agree to attack Xingqing Prefecture, these two guys might attack him.

The next question is no longer whether to fight or not, but how to fight.

"We have 5,000 musketeers and the enemy has 6,000. If we can cooperate internally and externally, it will not be difficult to capture Xingqing City!" Zhong Jianzhong said excitedly.

Zhao Xiaoqian shook his head: "No, our army does not have 5,000."

The two looked at him in confusion.

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed, "Don't forget, there are 50,000 enemy troops chasing us. We must allocate at least 1,000 soldiers as decoys to lure these 50,000 enemy troops away so that we can free up our hands to attack Xingqing Prefecture.

Zhong Jianzhong pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Four thousand is enough! But we need a coordinated attack from both inside and outside. Our men will disguise themselves and sneak into the city. Once the signal fire is set outside, the people inside will seize the city gates, and our army will attack and enter. Once we're inside, the defenders of Xingqing City will be nothing but chickens and dogs. We can defeat them in a moment."

Zhang Xiaoyi, who had been silent for a long time, interjected, "I know the steward at the cavalry commander's residence. Perhaps I can help. The marquis's men will disguise themselves as a merchant caravan and enter the city. I can use the steward's influence to meet them inside the city."

Zhao Xiaoqian asked curiously, "Is it so easy to sneak into the Xixia capital?"

Zhang Xiaoyi smiled and said, "I've been hanging around Xingqing City for a while now. Besides the idlers in the city and the officers of the Commander-in-Chief, I've also made friends with several low-ranking military officers guarding the city gates."

"As long as I offer some favors, these military officers won't make things difficult for me for my sake."

Zhao Xiaoqian gave him an admiring look.

Originally, when Zhang Xiaoyi came to help, Zhao Xiaoqian just regarded it as a casual move and had almost no hope. Unexpectedly, Zhang Xiaoyi gave him a surprise.

Reaching into his arms, Zhao Xiaoqian said, "This is a matter of great importance. Don't be stingy when it comes to bribing the military officers. Xiaoyi, I'll leave the important task of connecting with them to you. If we can sneak in a thousand soldiers, the matter will be settled."

He took out several large ingots of silver and some valuable jewelry, which were obtained from the recent looting of villages and tribes.

Although Zhao Xiaoqian said that he would not take the spoils of his soldiers, as the commander-in-chief of an army, it was impossible for him to not take a penny, and he eventually made a small fortune.

After taking out this little money, Zhao Xiaoqian felt it was still not enough, so he looked at Zhong Jianzhong and Zong Ze and said with a smile, "Let's split the burden. This is a big deal, and we shouldn't let the lack of money ruin it. Thank you, two donors."

Zhong Jianzhong and Zong Ze took out the money with a wry smile. Zhao Xiaoqian knew that these two guys were not poor recently.

Seeing the two of them showing distressed expressions, Zhao Xiaoqian said seriously: "It's not that I'm stingy, it's mainly because I want you to feel involved."

"Marquis, we will pay the money, so don't explain." Zhong Jianzhong sighed.

The three of them pooled together a considerable sum of money, which, including jewels and gold, was worth about two to three thousand taels.

Zhang Xiaoyi happily accepted it and patted his chest, saying, "With this money, I guarantee that the military officer at the city gate will not only not make things difficult for us, but will actually escort our soldiers into the city."

Zhao Xiaoqian frowned. Is it really that easy to capture the capital of a country?
I felt a little uneasy in my heart, but I couldn't tell what was wrong. …………

When Zhao Xiaoqian led his troops to plan the capture of the capital of Western Xia, Zhang Yu's troops in the east were also busy.

The 120,000-strong army was divided into six groups and penetrated deep into the territory of Western Xia. On the third day after the division, Zhe Keshi led his troops to capture the Western Xia Zuoxiang Shenyong Army Headquarters.

Unfortunately, Zhe Keshi's subordinates were not equipped with muskets. When they captured the Zuoxiang Shenyong Army Headquarters, they fought the enemy with real swords and guns.

Two hours later, the Shenyong Army Headquarters was breached, and 20,000 Song soldiers swarmed in, killing anyone they saw.

In this battle, the 5,000-strong garrison of the Western Xia Divine Army were all annihilated by the Song army.

The Song army also suffered heavy casualties in this battle, with more than 7,000 killed.

Of the twelve military headquarters of Western Xia, two had been lost.

Empress Dowager Liang, who was rushing to Xingqing Prefecture from Yanzhou, was furious upon hearing the news and immediately ordered her general Weiming Amai to lead 20,000 troops to pursue Zhe Keshi's troops.

At the same time, the 20,000 troops led by Zhang Yu personally marched northward, heading straight for the Chaoshun Army Headquarters of the right wing of Western Xia.

Empress Dowager Liang finally panicked. This tactic of dividing the troops and attacking simultaneously was really unfamiliar to the Western Xia army. They always felt that there was war everywhere in the country. Even though the soldiers had an advantage in military strength, they had to run around in a hurry. They felt powerless and had to tear down the east wall to repair the west wall.

At this time, Mrs. Liang felt even more regretful.

Now she truly reflects on herself and realizes that she shouldn't have started this war, especially not mobilized the entire country's troops.

For so many years, I've been on the offensive while you've been on the defensive. Did you take the wrong medicine this time and suddenly change your tactics? This old bastard surnamed Zhang will not die a good death!
…………

Xingqing City.

Zhao Xiaoqian only had two days left. Two days later, 30,000 reinforcements from Western Xia arrived at Xingqing City, and all his plans were in vain.

Now Xingqing City is short of troops, with only 6,000 defenders.

However, things did not go as smoothly as Zhao Xiaoqian predicted.

At midnight, in a cellar of the residence of Wei Mingsha, the commander of the cavalry.

Wei Mingsha stared sinisterly at the tied-up man in front of him. This man had been tortured too much and was now dying, hanging on to his last breath.

There was no mercy in Wei Mingsha's eyes. Even though this man had served him for many years, his miserable situation at this moment did not cause any emotional fluctuation in Wei Mingsha. Instead, he showed a murderous intent on his face.

"Okay, okay! I've treated you like a brother all these years, but you colluded with foreign enemies to murder me. Okay!"

After he said a few nice words, the murderous intent in Wei Mingsha's eyes grew stronger.

If Zhang Xiaoyi was present, he would definitely recognize that the person being tortured was his friend, the steward of Weimingsha Mansion.

The capital's defenders and government spies are not incompetent, they also have their own intelligence system.

Zhang Xiaoyi, a Han Chinese from outside the city, has been doing very well in the capital's market recently. In fact, the government has already secretly noticed him.

As a result, the manager of Wei Mingsha Mansion, who had close contacts with Zhang Xiaoyi, was naturally exposed to the sight of the government.

The matter involved the commander-in-chief of the cavalry, and the government did not dare to conceal it and had to report it to Wei Mingsha.

Wei Mingsha was a violent and bloodthirsty man. Upon hearing that his backyard was on fire, he flew into a rage. He arrested the steward, locked him in the cellar of his house, and tortured him without saying a word.

"I'll ask you one last time, where does that Zhang Xiaoyi come from? What's his intention in deliberately making friends with you? What have you revealed to him?" Wei Mingsha asked coldly.

The dying steward couldn't even cry. He weakly raised his head and said mournfully, "I... really didn't betray you. I... swear!"

Over and over again, the only thing that matters is this sentence.

Wei Mingsha was silent. Now he gradually confirmed that the manager was indeed unaware of the situation and had not revealed too many secrets.

But, whether intentionally or not, he provoked foreign enemies and deserves to die!
Seeing that nothing valuable could be taken out of his mouth, Wei Mingsha turned around and walked out.

"Kill him! And then find his relatives and family, and destroy his three tribes!"

"From now on, keep an eye on Zhang Xiaoyi day and night to see what he's up to. He must be connected to the Song guerrillas outside the city. Don't rush to capture him. Use him to lure the Song troops out, set an ambush, and capture them all in one fell swoop!"

(End of this chapter)