White-robed Minister

Chapter 198-0196 [Xu Sanlang's Western Expedition]

Stepping onto Baicheng.

The great chieftain of the Tubo Kingdom in Longyou, the self-proclaimed Zanpu, Muzheng, was listening to Zhiyuan preach the Dharma with his wife and children.

He had several wives, one of whom was Yu Longqi, who was Yu Longke's sister.

"Your Majesty, Chief Donggu has arrived," a trusted aide whispered to Mu Zheng.

Mu Zheng immediately stood up, clasped his hands together in prayer towards Zhi Yuan, and then quickly walked to the hall.

Mu Zheng had five younger brothers: Dong Gu, Jie Wu Yan Zheng, Xia Wu Chi, Ba Zhan Jiao, and Ba Zhan Mo.

Among them, the biological mother of the two brothers, Ba Zhanjiao and Ba Zhanmo, was from Fuqiang City, which was located in Qinzhou.

After Bazhanjiao surrendered to the Song Dynasty, he recently returned to his maternal grandfather's home. His grandfather had submitted to the Song Dynasty thirty years ago, and although he had passed away by then, his cousins ​​were still alive and had all changed their surnames to Han Chinese.

"Ba Zhanmo sent someone to report that the Song army is mobilizing supplies and may attack at any time," Dong Gu said. "Ba Zhanmo also threatened that if we do not send reinforcements, he will simply follow his fifth brother's example and surrender to the Song Dynasty."

Mu Zheng and Dong Gu are brothers, both born to the Li family, and their maternal grandfather was Li Lizun, a monk from the Western Regions.

The situation is dire. Fifth Brother was ambushed by the Song army and forced to surrender at Weiyuan. Sixth Brother is about to be attacked and has threatened to surrender to the Song Dynasty like Fifth Brother if no reinforcements arrive.

We have to get serious!

Mu Zheng said to his second brother, Dong Gu, "Send troops to attack the Qiao family. If the Qiao family is still unwilling to send troops, I will wipe them out first."

The Qiao family is an extremely powerful clan, with its members spread across several major powers.

Mu Zheng's grandmother fell out of favor not only because of his great-grandfather's loss of power, but also because Lady Qiao and the Uyghur princess conspired in palace intrigue. This forced his grandmother to take his father to Kangu Fort, and his branch of the family lost its right to inherit the throne.

Summer of the second year of the Xining era.

While the Song army was still transporting supplies to Weiyuan, fighting broke out within the Muzheng army.

As the saying goes, "To repel external enemies, one must first pacify internal strife," Mu Zheng mobilized a large army to attack the various tribes of the Qiao clan. Mu Zheng only won two minor victories, which frightened the various tribes of the Qiao clan into surrendering and obediently joining forces to send troops.

But Mu Zheng's fourth brother, Xia Wuchi, remained unmoved. This guy's territory was far away in the Minxian area of ​​later generations, located south of Tongyuan Army and Yu Longke.

Xia Wuchi's thinking was simple: if his brothers won, he would continue to enjoy his life as before, selling smuggled salt to the Song state. If the Song state won, he would surrender without hesitation, and could even use his lineage to help the Song army persuade other nearby tribes to surrender.

Let whoever wants to fight go ahead; he and Mu Zheng aren't born of the same mother.

His father was biased and assigned him the most remote and impoverished territory. If it weren't for a few salt wells, he doesn't know how poor he would have become.

Weiyuan.

Xu Lai personally came here to oversee the situation, and Ba Zhanjiao rushed over to kneel and pay homage.

"Why be so formal, Chief?" Xu Lai warmly helped him up. "I have already reported your merits to the court. As long as we win this battle, you can go to the capital to meet the Emperor of the Song Dynasty."

Bazhanjiao quickly bowed again: "I will remember the great kindness of Governor Xu."

9

Xu Lai thought to himself: I tricked you into launching a surprise attack. Remember this grudge.

Xu Lai asked, "Is your sixth brother still unwilling to submit?"

Ba Zhanjiao said, "I've sent people to persuade him several times, but he hasn't agreed. However, he has left himself an escape route, sending people to deliver messages twice. Mu Zheng's side is already gathering troops, and is even using force to compel the Qiao family to send troops."

Xu Lai immediately understood Ba Zhanmo's mentality.

This guy was unwilling to surrender outright and wanted to fight the Song army head-on. But he was also afraid of losing, so he extended a friendly gesture to the Song army and secretly provided them with intelligence!

-

Several days later, the generals of Qinzhou and Tongyuan arrived with their troops one after another.

Zhang Shouyue did not participate in the western expedition; he stayed in Ningyuan Village to oversee the operation. His duties included guarding against attacks from the Western Xia in the north and from Xia Wuchi in the south—in short, protecting the main camp.

If Zhang Shouyue performs meritorious service in defense, there's no question about it. Even if he doesn't encounter the enemy, Xu Lai will still recommend him for commendation, after all, one shouldn't wrong the person guarding the home.

The valiant general Liu Changzuo was also left in the northern fortress to defend against the Western Xia, at Zhang Shouyue's command.

In Weiyuan, Xu Lai is the commander-in-chief and Gao Zunyu is the deputy commander-in-chief.

Other generals included Han generals such as Liu Shunqing and Xiang Bao, as well as Qiang generals such as Yu Longke and Ba Zhanjiao.

The total strength was 18,000 men, of whom 10,000 were Qiang soldiers.

There were not only newly surrendered Qiang soldiers, but also familiar Qiang soldiers who had surrendered thirty or forty years ago.

The laborers transporting supplies and provisions within the Qin Prefecture territory were predominantly Han Chinese. However, the laborers transporting provisions to Tongyuan Army and the west were mostly Qiang people, primarily from the Yulongke, Shuyang, and Bazhanjiao tribes.

They claimed to have an army of 100,000!

Bazhanjiao, who was most familiar with the terrain, said at the military conference: "There are two routes, north and south, to attack Wushengjun (Lintao) from here. The northern route is closer, but it is more difficult to traverse. The southern route is farther, but it is faster. Historically, major battles have always been fought along the southern route. The northern route is only used for small-scale raids."

Gao Zunyu said, "With nearly 20,000 troops on our side, it's best to take the southern route. Otherwise, our forces won't be able to deploy effectively and will all be cramped together."

The other generals all agreed.

Xu Lai asked, "Who is willing to garrison Qingping Fort to guard against enemy attacks from the north? This task is very important; it can protect our army's food supplies and rear lines."

No one spoke.

Protecting supplies and the rear means potentially missing out on major battles and failing to achieve significant military merit.

Xu looked at Zhao Long.

Zhao Long was the first local scion of a prominent family to come and join him, and he was even recommended by Xu Lai to become a military officer.

We're on the same side!

Zhao Long immediately stepped forward: "I am willing to garrison Qingping Fort to ensure that the army's food supplies and retreat route are not lost."

Xu Lai said with satisfaction, "Good, I'll give you five hundred elite soldiers and another five hundred Qiang laborers."

Xiang Bao stepped forward and said, "I am willing to be the vanguard."

Xu Lai looked at Gao Zunyu, seeking the latter's opinion.

Gao Zunyu was quite satisfied; the head coach respected him. He immediately nodded and said, "Okay."

The following day, Xiang Bao led two thousand light cavalrymen of the Han and Qiang ethnic groups along the river valley to clear a path for the main army.

Ba Zhanmo, the sixth brother of Ba Zhanjiao, led his followers away and headed towards Bao without any obstacles.

It wasn't until they reached the open valley a few miles south of Mount Mobang that Wang Shunchen's scout cavalry finally encountered the enemy's reconnaissance cavalry.

The two sides had roughly the same number of troops, each consisting of only a few dozen cavalry.

"kill!"

Wang Shunchen immediately led his troops to rush forward.

The enemy also seemed eager to make a name for themselves, so they split up and engaged the Song army in mounted archery.

This suited Wang Shunchen perfectly, and he single-handedly shot down three enemies in succession. Seeing this, his cavalrymen were greatly encouraged, and they charged forward while shooting arrows.

The enemy cavalry were terrified and fled in panic, leaving behind more than a dozen corpses along the way.

Wang Shunchen led his troops in pursuit for a while, then stopped when he saw a stockade ahead and took out his binoculars to carefully observe the situation.

Located in Huichuan Town, Weiyuan County, Gansu Province in later years, this fortress was built on an independent stone mound, with a strategic location that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Panshibao, Nanchuanbao — these are the names that have been used throughout history.

It was originally built by Xue Ne of the Tang Dynasty to defend against the Tibetan Empire. For more than a thousand years thereafter, whenever Lintao was attacked from the east, a battle would inevitably take place here. The last battle was fought by the People's Liberation Army.

Wang Shunchen climbed to a high point and observed through binoculars, discovering a high plateau to the north of the fortified village. On the plateau, the tents of the Qiang people could be vaguely seen, but due to the angle and distance, they were not clearly visible.

There is a large army of Qiang people stationed here.

"Waaaaah~~~"

A horn sounded, and Wang Shunchen, without looking back, quickly slid down the hillside, mounted his warhorse, and fled with his scouts.

A large enemy cavalry force is charging in!

Wang Shunchen hurriedly fled back and said to Xiang Bao, "The stone fortress that Bazhanjiao mentioned is extremely difficult to conquer, and the Qiang people have stationed a large army on the nearby plateau."

Xiang Bao said, "Tell me in detail."

Wang Shunchen described it as follows: "The castle is surrounded by water on three sides and is built on a huge stone platform by the river. The stone platform is as if it were cut by a knife, rising straight and steeply from the riverbank, tens of feet high."

"Tens of feet tall?" Xiang Bao found it hard to believe.

Wang Shunchen nodded and said, "We cannot take it by force, not even with artillery. We must first capture the mountain peaks to the east, then defeat the Qiang army to the north, and then besiege them to force them to surrender."

Two days later, Xu Lai arrived with his army.

He, along with military officers such as Gao Zunyu and Liu Shunqing, went to observe the situation in person, and they were all speechless at what they saw.

Gao Zunyu said, "I don't want to touch that fortified village. The only option is to launch a strong attack on Mobang Mountain, and after taking Mobang Mountain, we can bypass the fortified village and fight the enemy in a decisive battle."

The generals looked at each other, unsure whether to launch a direct assault on the fortified village or on Mount Mobang.

That mountain was densely forested, high and steep; who knows how many enemies were hiding there?

Xu Lai asked Bazhanjiao, "What are the routes up this mountain?"

Bazhenjiao replied, "Only one main road is relatively easy to travel. But there are many other paths, which are probably already covered by vegetation and would require clearing a path to get through."

-

Xu Lai said, "Tomorrow we'll feign an attack on the main road and send troops to scout other routes. We'll decide what to do after we've ascertained the detailed terrain. Bu Chao—"

"Here!" Bu Chao stood up.

Xu Lai instructed, "Tomorrow, you will use the cannons to fire upwards."

Bu Chao said, "This mountain is too steep, and the forest is too dense. We have no idea where the enemy might be."

Xu Lai said, "We used artillery to create a great spectacle, hot air balloons were also launched, and gongs and drums were played everywhere down the mountain, with many flags being raised."

The following morning.

Two hot air balloons painted with Bon deities ascended into the sky, startling the Qiang soldiers stationed at Mobang Mountain. Some even knelt down and worshipped the balloons.

Subsequently, Song troops approached from the south and east sides of Mobang Mountain, carrying countless flags.

The sound of war drums also rang out.

Five cannons were mounted on a makeshift earthen platform and began firing wildly at extremely high angles.

Immediately afterwards, Qiang soldiers from the mountains began a feint attack from the south and east. They created a great show of force, but in reality—

The ascent was slow, and most soldiers didn't even see the enemy.

The lookouts in the two hot air balloons took the opportunity to observe the enemy situation through binoculars and figure out the enemy's various defensive positions on the mountain.

They played from morning until evening.

The enemy suffered zero casualties.

One Song soldier was shot dead, 16 were wounded, 3 were injured in a fall, and 1 was injured by a rolling stone. All of these casualties came from Qiang soldiers; Han soldiers were not involved in the battle at all.

Based on the combat situation and observations from hot air balloons, we were able to basically figure out the deployment location of the enemy's first line of defense.

Meanwhile, the Qiang soldiers sent by Xu Lai cleared paths through the bushes and vines along the way to facilitate the actual attack that followed.

Xu Lai said to Gao Zunyu, "Tomorrow, send elite troops to attack the mountain. I am not skilled in military affairs, so Gao, the commander, shall arrange the attack. My two hundred Shenji Battalion soldiers will also be at your command."

Gao Zunyu was overjoyed: "The mountain is steep, so don't wear iron armor, or you'll be exhausted. Those with silk armor should wear silk armor, and those with leather armor should wear leather armor. Just protect yourself from arrows. Don't worry about rolling stones; there are trees everywhere on the mountain, so rolling stones won't go very fast."

Xu Lai felt sorry for his Shenji Battalion, so he ordered the soldiers who had not participated in the attack on the mountain to take two hundred leather armors and put them on the Shenji Battalion. They were also required to wear a layer of silk armor underneath the leather armor.

Next, Gao Zunyu arranged the specific attack routes for each general.

Enemy camp.

Mu Zheng did not come in person; he wanted to stay in Tabai City to keep watch and guard against his own uncle, Dong Zhan.

Dong Zhan's son later married the daughter of Empress Dowager Liang. Dong Zhan himself later helped Mu Zheng fight against the Song Dynasty. However, at this stage, they are still enemies.

Xu Lai had secretly sent an envoy to contact Dong Zhan, who agreed to cooperate with the Song army in plundering Xixia and Muzheng, in order to restrain the two and prevent them from launching a full-scale attack.

Hehe, Xu Lai has allies.

However, this ally is not reliable.

Dong Zhan could not foresee that the Song army would achieve a series of victories. He only hoped that the Song army would inflict heavy losses on Mu Zheng and Xixia. Ideally, the battle would be a draw, so that he could reap the benefits.

Once news of Mu Zheng's crushing defeat spreads, Dong Zhan's attitude will change drastically, and he will instead unite with Western Xia and Mu Zheng to deal with the Song army!

The Qiang ethnic group's head coach who is now facing Xu Lai is none other than Dong Gu, the twin brother of Mu Zheng.

"Great Chief, although the Song army hasn't attacked, our soldiers are terrified," Xia Yao said. "The Song army has raised those two large spheres, and the spheres are painted with gods. The soldiers guarding the mountain can see them clearly."

Dong Gu said, "Tomorrow we will ask the master to set up an altar and perform a ritual, and we will also invite the gods to assist us, so that the soldiers need not worry. My brother is the Zanpu (king), and the gods will surely protect him and his warriors."

The blind man thought to himself: Mu Zheng's title of Tsangpo is self-proclaimed; the real Tsangpo is his uncle. He fears the gods will not protect him, but rather punish him for his overstepping of authority.

In any case, when the Song army launched a strong attack the next day, the Qiang people guarding the mountain were watching the master perform a ritual.

Upon noticing the Song army's movements, they hurriedly ran back to defend, constantly praying for divine protection. But seeing the two "gods" floating in the sky, they felt that the Song army seemed even more powerful than their master.

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