King of Song

Chapter 639 Trouble Follows
Zhao Zhao didn't expect that Shouzhu actually met a rabbit, it was really good luck.

When the Xixia people attacked Xiaoguan, they deliberately did not resist strongly and let the Xixia people pass.Then set up an ambush in the canyon on the bank of the Jing River, and launch an attack after all the Xixia people have entered the encirclement.

This is a massacre without suspense!The rain of arrows all over the sky came oncoming, and the Song army launched an attack condescendingly, and the Xixia people couldn't resist at all.

There were countless casualties, some soldiers panicked and jumped into the Jing River in an attempt to escape.This section of the river is turbulent, with many sharp rocks, waterfalls and deep pools everywhere.Most Xixia people who can't swim have no chance of surviving when they fall.

At dawn, the battle was over, almost all the [-] Xixia cavalry were wiped out, including the commander Liang He. Only a few hundred people were lucky enough to escape and were captured by the Song Army.

Li Cheng said with a smile: "Your Highness is really clever, catch him right."

"Hey, there's nothing so miraculous about it, I just need to be a little cautious!" Zhao Zhao said, "Interrogate the captives separately immediately. I want to know what's going on north of Xiaoguan as soon as possible."

"Oh, it turns out that His Royal Highness planned it that way, this subordinate will go right away!" Li Cheng reacted instantly and left in a hurry.

Sitting on the sidelines and waiting for a rabbit is an option, and it is impossible for Zhao Zhao to set up an ambush in Xiaoguan specifically for such a small probability event.His actual goal - to break through Xiaoguan and attack Xixia in the north!

The Xixia people could go south from Xiaoguan to attack Guanzhong, so the Song army could also go north from Xiaoguan. This is the real purpose of Zhao Zhao's coming to Liupanshan.

In the name of supervising the war, I came here quietly.In fact, an army of 2 men was already waiting nearby.Why did Liu Changzuo of the Central Route Army have the most soldiers and horses?In addition to the main frontal battlefield from Huanqing Road to Lingzhou, it is also to deceive people.Liu Changzuo's department has 8 horses to the outside world, but in fact it is 2, and [-] people stayed at the foot of Liupan Mountain.

However, Xiaoguan is dangerous, and it is a terrain where one man guards the gate and ten thousand men cannot open it. It is not easy to conquer. Once the Xixia people perceive their intentions and strengthen the guard, all previous efforts will be wasted.

Zhao Zhao was very cautious. In addition to sending scouts to investigate, he also realized that the Xixia people might also adopt such a strategy.Anyway, Liu Changzuo and Zhong Er played well, and I have plenty of time, so I waited patiently for a few days.Unexpectedly, the Xixia people really came, Zhao Zhao was overjoyed and immediately ambushed.

Killing [-] Xixia soldiers is really nothing, but you can learn about the situation north of Xiaoguan through them.When the Xixia people took the initiative to send cavalry to cross Xiaoguan and attack Guanlong southward, they could easily relax their vigilance, and the Song army had an opportunity to take advantage of it.

How could Zhao Zhao let go of such a great opportunity?

Li Cheng came back soon and reported: "Your Highness, Liang Yibu's main force has withdrawn to Lingzhou, and General Liu Changzuo's army is fighting fiercely with Xixia under Weizhou City."

Liang Yibu retreated to Lingzhou?Zhao Zhao couldn't help but fell into deep thought.Lingzhou is close to the Yellow River, also known as Xiping Mansion, the most important city and military fortress of Xixia on the east bank of the Yellow River.

The target of the Song army's dispatch of troops this time was Lingzhou. Relatively speaking, Liu Changzuo's middle army started from Huanqing Road, and the distance to Lingzhou was relatively short.

However, after going up from Huluhe River, they will conquer a military town in the northeast direction-Weizhou!
There are two main defense lines facing the Song army in Xixia. One is Liupanshan facing Huanqing Road, and the other is bordering Linzhou, Fuzhou, and Yanzhou in the northeast.

There are several important cities on these two lines of defense. On the east line are Suizhou, Yinzhou, Xiazhou and Yanzhou.The East Route Army has now conquered Suizhou and is besieging Yinzhou.

Relatively speaking, there is only one barrier on the front line of Liupan Mountain and Lingzhou, and that is Weizhou.This is also the garrison of the Jingsai Army Division. The Xixia Kingdom is divided into twelve army divisions, all of which are the main force.This shows the importance of Weizhou.

Liu Changzuo and Jing Siyi are now under the city of Weizhou. Only after breaking the city can they continue to advance.Liang Yibu must have stationed a large number of troops there, otherwise he would not have retreated to Lingzhou.However, it can be seen from this that Xixia is adopting a strategy of guarding the big city.

It is not surprising that many places in this generation are deserts and barren mountains, and it is these cities that are valuable.

Xixia defended several core cities with all their strength, and gave up the surrounding fortress army towns.

If the Song army wants to advance, it can only conquer these strategic points, and then move forward.It is bound to go through a few fierce battles, and although it is a flat charge, a very bad situation has emerged.

Although the advance process among the Song army was fast and unstoppable, the distance for the supply of food and grass was instantly lengthened.The importance of food and grass to war is self-evident.

The army is charging so fast, can the grain and grass keep up?This means that the speed of the peasants must be accelerated. Where can the speed be so fast in such a rugged terrain near Liupan Mountain?Is it possible to mobilize more civilians to deliver food and grass?Even so, it's hard to say whether it can keep up with the cavalry.

Of course, battles can also be used to support wars on the battlefield.To put it bluntly, using local materials, either intercepted or robbed the food and grass left by the Xixia people.Or, the means are more brutal, robbing food and grass from the people passing through the area to meet the needs of the army.

Now Xixia has defended several big cities, and moved all the people and herdsmen in the periphery to Lingzhou.Between the northwest grassland and the vast sea, the population is small. Unlike the Central Plains where there are densely populated villages and towns, for example, between Weizhou and Lingzhou, there is already a deserted wasteland. Where should the Song army go to grab food?

Clear the wall!

This is the so-called clearing the field with a strong wall. If you can't fight head-on, you can trade space for time.Deliberately retreating, or even abandoning the city, lengthened the enemy's supply line.

In ancient wars, once the food and grass could not keep up, they would either voluntarily retreat or be defeated like a mountain.This is why in history, there are countless famous examples of attacking grain roads and burning grain and grass to turn the tide of the war.

In the Battle of Julu at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu sent Yingbu to harass Zhang Han's grain delivery tunnels, and only then did he win nine battles and nine victories.In the Battle of Guandu in the Three Kingdoms, would Cao Cao have defeated Yuan Shao if there hadn't been a big fire in Wuchao?

Liang Yibu did not use these two tricks, but fortified the wall and cleared the field, and deliberately and quickly lengthened the supply line of the Song Army, which has the same effect.Then he sent his clansman Liang He to sneak attack Guanzhong from Xiaoguan. These two tricks are two-pronged, and the effect is self-evident.

Now that Liang He was dead, he didn't worry about the hinterland being attacked.But how to solve the problem of food and grass supply?Suspension of speed?

Zhao Zhao shook his head lightly. It is said that speed is the most important thing in a soldier. If the army is in a state of overwhelming momentum, if it delays, its morale will inevitably be damaged.Then we can only ensure the supply of food and grass as much as possible, and we must speed up the pace of the war, and strive to win as soon as possible.

"Li Cheng, order Su Zhe and Wen Jiyuan to recruit peasants from all over the Guanzhong; and then ask Qu Zha to recruit Qiang people from Hehuang to participate in grain transportation. No matter what method they use, they must guarantee the army's food and grass supplies, otherwise See you!" Zhao Zhao gave the order solemnly.

Su Zhe was the transshipment envoy of Jingyuan Road, and Wen Jiyuan was in charge of Chang'an's granary. All government affairs in the Northwest must support the army as the top priority, which is their duty.

It's just that this task will be much heavier this time, and Zhao Zhao also knows that his order is a bit unreasonable.But now there is nothing they can do. This is also a test for them.

Li Cheng quickly sent people to set off to pass the order of King Qin to Jingyang, Chang'an and Hehuang, and implement it as soon as possible.

As for how to speed up the progress of the war and win as soon as possible, you need to find a way by yourself.While ordering Liu Changzuo to speed up, it was time for him to set off.

Zhong Shidao will definitely be able to keep up later, but I don't know what happened to Zhekehang and Zhonger in Yinzhou and Suizhou?After all, it is far away from Liupan Mountain, so it is not very convenient to exchange news.

Just as he was talking, news came from Suizhou.Zhao Zhao opened it full of joy, and only took a look, but he felt like the house was leaking and it was raining all night.

Anger, helplessness, resentment, and complicated emotions came to my heart together.

Zhao Xu even sent an eunuch to Linzhou, in the euphemistic name of supporting the battle.That's all, let Zhekexing and Zhonger be restrained?
What's going on here?

Zhao Zhao sneered again and again, although he was in charge of the Northwest military and government, and his name was justified.But Zhao Xu would never sit idly by, and with the respect of the emperor, it is reasonable to intervene.

Resentment is useless, it is impossible for Zhao Xu to discuss it with himself in advance, and he is relieved when he figured it out.It's just that there is a little more worry in my heart, Wang Zhongzheng and Liu Rengui are destined not to obey their orders, Zhao Xu is going to drive a nail in the northwest!

No, I have to find a way to pull out this nail, and it's not difficult to do it.What he is most worried about now is that Wang Zhong is messing around on the battlefield, disrupting his deployment, and even leading to failure.

The imperial decree made him restrain the East Route Army. Zhao Xu was the emperor after all, and Zhe Kexing and Zhong Er could not clearly and completely resist the decree.Even if it's yin and yang, you have to deal with it.

Can an eunuch lead troops to fight?Even if he had some experience with Wang Shao at the beginning, he was only a half-baked guy after all.Zhe Kexing and Zhong Er must be in a dilemma. If they disobey, Zhao Xu just has a reason to make trouble for himself and them.With the enemy at hand, he still couldn't tear himself apart from Zhao Xu.

If the order is carried out, what should be done if something goes wrong and the situation of the battle is unfavorable?
Zhao Xu is really despicable, now it seems that he only cares about his own serious trouble.Can the crusade against Xixia be successful? The life and death of the 30 soldiers of the Western Army, and the national defense and security of the Northwest of the Great Song Dynasty, are no longer important to him!

"Li Cheng, order Zhe Kexing and Zhong Er to attack according to the original plan. As for Wang Zhongzheng, let him play by ear, and he can disobey orders when necessary. I will bear the consequences!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Zhao's expression was solemn, and the order was sent to Suizhou as quickly as possible, hoping that it would be in time.I hope Wang Zhongzheng fights well and doesn't make any troubles.

If there is any mistake, he will surely die a terrible death!
(End of this chapter)