White-robed Minister

Chapter 202 0200 [Expanding the Territory]

"Tsangpo, Tsangpo, Chief Wenbulusiji has been defeated!"

"What happened?"

"The Song army had laid an ambush. We still had two or three thousand soldiers downstream who hadn't crossed the river when the Song army suddenly charged out with torches."

Those who had already crossed the river were all defeated, and those who hadn't crossed yet hurriedly retreated.

"Quickly, go and tell Nian Lanzhan to stop—"

At this point, Mu Zheng abruptly stopped.

It was already dawn. Nian Lanzhan had either finished his smuggling operation or had smuggled a large portion of his troops. How could he possibly stop just like that?

Mu Zheng must personally initiate the river-crossing operation from the front to attract the attention of the Song army and tie down their forces, so as to cover Nian Lanzhan's retreat upstream as much as possible.

Therefore, Mu Zheng made two decisions simultaneously: he created a show of force on the opposite bank of the Song army camp, pretending to force a crossing of the river. He also sent a messenger to Nian Lanzhan: do not return, retreat north along the opposite bank of the river to avoid being ambushed when crossing the river again.

The messenger immediately rode upstream, but after traveling three or four miles, he discovered that the friendly troops, who had already completed their smuggling crossing, were marching south on the other side of the river.

"Waaaaah~~~"

The messenger frantically blew his horn, demanding a retreat.

Before Nian Lanzhan could react, he discovered that Song troops were lying in ambush in the mountains and valleys ahead.

The messenger stood by the river and witnessed firsthand how Nian Lanzhan fell into dire straits.

Upon receiving the news, Mu Zheng was completely disoriented and instinctively ordered, "Stop the feint attack across the river—withdraw immediately."

This time, he mobilized his entire force, ordering all men under 50 and over 15, including even those from single-member households, to serve in the army. His subordinate tribes certainly didn't do this, but his directly controlled tribes did.

Now that two large armies have been smuggled across, he still has more than 20,000 soldiers left. If they are all lost here, even if he escapes back, he will not have a good ending.

We must retreat with the remaining troops immediately!

Just as Mu Zheng was retreating, generals Liu Shunqing, Xiang Bao, Yu Longke, and others left a small force to guard the prisoners and crossed the river directly from the place where Wen Bu and Lü Siji had secretly crossed.

The Song army prepared here for a full month, and had more wooden rafts and sheepskin rafts than the enemy.

After crossing the river with two or three thousand cavalry, Liu Shunqing did not wait for reinforcements and charged upstream along the riverbank. He led his troops to break through the empty enemy camps, and then sent scouts to investigate Mu Zheng's main camp.

The scout reported: "Commander Liu, Mu Zheng's army has retreated, and they even set fire to the grain they couldn't take with them!"

Liu Shunqing was shocked: "Don't pursue the enemy! Quickly come with me to put out the fire! Save as much grain and fodder as you can!"

The retreat of Mok Jung was very hasty, and it was impossible for the food and provisions of tens of thousands of troops to be burned quickly.

Liu Shunqing led his troops in a full-scale effort to fight the fire. The Song troops who followed across the river were also ordered not to assemble and to come to help immediately after crossing. They created firebreaks and, after working themselves to the bone, managed to salvage half of the grain supplies.

Looking at the riverbank littered with corpses, Xu Lai sighed, "The success of one general is built on the bones of ten thousand. I hope that from now on, we will turn our enemies into skeletons."

In this battle, nearly 20,000 Tibetan soldiers crossed the river, but only 4,000 to 5,000 survived. Most of them were trampled to death, and many others drowned after jumping into the river.

A Qiang general covered in blood was brought in: "Envoy Xu, this is Nian Lanzhan, the commander of the enemy forces upstream."

Xu Lai asked, "Are you willing to surrender?"

Nian Lanzhan hurriedly said, "We are willing to surrender, we are willing to surrender!"

Xu Lai said, "Go and tell those remaining soldiers that the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty is also the Emperor of the Qiang people. Buddha and the gods will protect the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty. As long as they sincerely submit to the Great Song Dynasty, they will have good days ahead. Do you understand?"

-

"I remember, the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty was also the emperor of the Qiang people, and he was protected by Buddha and the gods." Nian Lanzhan quickly repeated.

Xu Lai then said, "You will follow Bazhanjiao to Wushengjun City to persuade them to surrender."

Several thousand remaining soldiers have been gathered together, and Bajan and Nianlan have stepped forward to reassure them, so that they are no longer afraid of being killed or captured.

Meanwhile, Bazhanjiao and Nianlanzhan went to Wushengjun City to persuade them to surrender.

Despite his injuries, Wang Junwan led his troops to take over the city. He then took charge of garrisoning the city and recuperating there.

Nian Lanzhan rushed to the city walls, holding up Wen Bu Lü Siji's head and shouting, "Mu Zheng has been defeated! Quickly surrender the city!"

Generals such as Bazhanmo, Xiayao, Qusa, and the four kings Ake came to the city wall upon hearing the news, and were all shocked to see Nianlanzhan.

The blind man asked, "How did you manage to lose the battle?"

Nian Lanzhan said, "The Song army deliberately let Mu Zheng cross the river, then suddenly attacked, and Mu Zheng was utterly defeated. Of Mu Zheng's tens of thousands of troops, only a few thousand escaped. Quickly surrender to the Song with me, Mu Zheng is finished."

This guy knows how to exaggerate. Mu Zheng clearly had more than 20,000 soldiers who escaped, but in his words, there were only a few thousand left.

Ba Zhanjiao rode over on horseback: "Sixth brother, surrender. You can take command of some of the Song soldiers who were captured."

In particular, your remaining old troops can all be returned to you.

Bazhanmo, who was practically left with no one, was instantly moved upon hearing these words.

Bazangmo asked, "Are my family members still alive?"

Bazhenjiao replied, "Your wife, son, and two daughters are still alive. We have also found another wife of yours..."

The body of one son. The rest are missing, possibly having escaped into the mountains.

When Bazhanmo heard that some of his family members were still alive, he felt much better.

He glanced at the other garrison commanders and cautiously probed, "How about we surrender?"

The blind man nodded.

King Ake of Qusa said, "Surrender."

Xu Lai captured all of the city's more than 6,000 garrison troops, more than 10,000 laborers transporting grain, and a large amount of grain.

The entire army rested for three days, and took the opportunity to reorganize the surrendered soldiers and prisoners.

Xu Lai's troops suddenly increased to nearly 40,000, more than three-quarters of whom were Qiang soldiers.

Next, they split into two groups.

Xu Lai personally led the main force, advancing along the Guanghe River valley. Gao Zunyu led a detachment, advancing from a valley further upstream.

Along the way, they encountered some fortified villages, all of which were successfully persuaded to surrender by Bazhanjiao and Bazhanmo.

Meanwhile, Mu Zheng hastily retreated.

During a rest stop along the way, Jie Wuchila led his monk soldiers and secretly escaped in the dead of night.

Upon discovering this, Mu Zheng was so angry that he started cursing.

Fearing that morale would continue to decline, he could only tell the soldiers that he had sent the guru to recruit soldiers, and dared not admit that Jie Wuchila had fled.

The leaders of each department are not fools; how could they possibly believe such nonsense?

Over the next two days, another three to four thousand soldiers deserted. They were all from small tribes located in the Guanghe River basin, and their leaders simply led their people away.

They knew that Mu Zheng was finished and that the Song army would definitely come to attack, so they hurried home to wait for their allegiance to the Song Dynasty.

On one hand, it was out of respect for the strong, and on the other hand, it was because they had long harbored resentment towards Mu Zheng.

Over the years, Mu Zheng has been fighting against Dong Zhan, against the Western Xia, and now against the Song Dynasty, frequently conscripting soldiers from various tribes. Large and small tribes not only have to send men to fight, but also have to prepare their own provisions!

Not only did they send troops and supplies, but they also suffered more defeats than victories, losing money in almost every battle and managing to plunder almost nothing.

What will the leaders of each department think if this continues?

When Mu Zheng returned to Yanjing Fort, only 16,000 of the more than 20,000 soldiers remained. He could only promise the remaining generals that they would be richly rewarded after the battle, and lied that the Western Xia was sending reinforcements.

Yanjingbao was located near the city of Linxia, ​​which later became the city of Hezhou in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Mu Zheng stationed his troops here and continued to order all tribes to conscript men to expand their armies and transport provisions. This order angered the surrounding tribes, as this was the third time this year that soldiers and provisions had been conscripted!

He dispatched troops to block the mountain passes to the east and northeast, where temporary fortifications were hastily constructed. One detachment of troops fled directly, voluntarily surrendering to the Song army and informing Mu Zheng of their current predicament.

The two Song armies advanced with unstoppable momentum, their strength increasing as more and more Qiang tribes surrendered along the way.

Upon hearing the shocking news that both river valleys had been breached by the Song army, Mu Zheng was so frightened that he quickly abandoned Yanjing Fortress, otherwise he would have been surrounded and killed.

Xu Lai captured Yanjing Fort and reorganized the newly attached troops.

Gao Zunyu's ambition for glory was exposed for the first time. He ordered his infantry to garrison the fortified villages along the way to secure his retreat and supply lines. Then he personally led his cavalry in a relentless pursuit, intending to seize Mu Zheng's stronghold, Tabai City, before the commander-in-chief could do so.

Stealing credit from the head coach —

After repeatedly dividing his forces, Gao Zunyu's troops were no longer half the size of Mu Zheng's army.

However, Mu Zheng's army was like frightened birds, and the soldiers were full of resentment, with their morale having plummeted to rock bottom.

Gao Zunyu led his cavalry to attack, and Mu Zheng's army collapsed at the first contact.

Mu Zheng led several thousand men in a hasty retreat, not even daring to return to his main camp, Tabai City, and fled directly towards the more distant Huangshui River.

Gao Zunyu stopped pursuing and led his cavalry in a lightning raid on Tabai City, capturing Mu Zheng's three wives and a bunch of children.

Upon hearing the news, Xu Lai smiled but remained silent.

The other Song generals on Xu Lai's route harbored some resentment towards Gao Zunyu. "Damn it, Gao Zunyu got all the credit for himself, he didn't even share some with us!"

Xu Lai has more important things to do!

He arranged for soldiers from both the Han and Qiang ethnic groups to lead laborers to build fortified villages in various parts of the north in order to prepare for any counterattacks from the Western Xia, Mu Zheng, and Dong Zhan.

At the same time, they sent troops to harass the Huangshui River basin, drawing the attention of the Western Xia.

He also quickly sent messages to the generals of Tongyuan Army and Qinzhou, instructing them to leave only a small number of troops and lead them south to sweep away the Qiang tribes.

Generals of all ranks, including Zhang Shouyue, Liu Changzuo, and Zhao Long, were previously responsible for either guarding their homes or protecting the supply lines, and they couldn't gain any real merit.

Now, Xu Lai is ordering them to send troops south to attack the weaker Qiang tribes, giving the generals an opportunity to earn merit.

Zhang Shouyue, Liu Changzuo, and Zhao Long led a small number of Han troops, along with three thousand Qiang soldiers from Tongyuan Army territory, southward to force Mu Zheng's fourth brother, Xia Wuchi, to surrender.

Xia Wuchi's surrender was incredibly smooth. Upon hearing that his elder brother had been defeated, he sent an envoy to request surrender before the Song army even reached the city.

Following this, he acted as a guide for the Song army, forcing the surrender of Qiang leaders such as Mulingzheng, Qinlingzheng, and Siguodun. He then recovered all the counties that would later become known as Minxian, Zhuoni, Lintan, and Diebu.

The territory recovered along this route was comparable to that conquered by Xu Lai. However, most of it consisted of impoverished, desolate areas. Historically, due to the prohibitively high cost of governance, the Northern Song Dynasty later voluntarily abandoned a large portion of it.

In late September, the fighting completely ceased.

Mu Zheng was reduced to only having the territories of Huangzhou and Kuozhou.

Xu Lai expanded the territory by thousands of miles, causing the Hehuang region to tremble.

Dong Zhan was so frightened that he made peace with Mu Zheng.

The Western Xia were terrified and wanted to make peace with Dong Zhan. Empress Dowager Liang even sent an envoy to propose marriage between her daughter and Dong Zhan's son.

Under pressure from the Song army, the Western Xia, Dongzhan, and Muzheng finally united.

Victory reports arrived in Kaifeng like snowflakes.

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