White-robed Minister

Chapter 2220 [Lead bullets are poisonous!]

When the Western Xia fought against foreign enemies, the normal practice was to conscript one out of every two men.

How many cases of insanity are there?

Nine out of ten men will be selected!

These two methods of drawing are fundamentally different.

The quota of one out of two men was calculated on a family basis. For example, if a family had four men, two would be conscripted to fight in battle or transport grain.

The policy of conscripting nine out of ten men is similar to a general mobilization, which means conscripting all able-bodied men except for the Hexi Corridor, where the supply routes are too far to send a large army eastward.

"Espionage reports from Jingyuan and other routes indicate that the Western bandits have gathered, and the entire nation's population is between seventy and fifteen years old —"

"The Western Xia conscripted soldiers, taking nine out of ten able-bodied men, resulting in 300,000 men."

These descriptions, drawn from records of different wars, certainly included civilian laborers. Of the 300,000-strong army of Western Xia, only about 100,000 actually went to battle.

It might even be less than 100,000.

One hundred thousand soldiers was the limit of Western Xia's military deployment (excluding Lanzhou and the Hexi Corridor).

The southern front.

Dong Zhan, Mu Zheng, and the Southern Army Command of Western Xia mobilized a total of over 40,000 troops to attack Hezhou. Gao Zunyu's forces were insufficient, so he could only defend his fortified village and tightly block all passages.

Xizhou, Qinzhou, and Gongzhou are much easier to deal with, as they only need to deal with the enemy from the direction of Lanzhou.

The two civil officials, Cai Ting and Hou Ke, even ordered a proactive attack, using firearms to launch a fierce assault on the West Market City. This was because the main force of the Western Xia in Lanzhou was constantly engaged in a fierce battle with Xu Lai, with the fighting taking place at Lintao Fort.

Lintao Fort was located ninety li north of Xizhou City, and was later called Daban Town. To its northwest, one could travel along the river valley to Huangzhou, and to its northeast, one could travel along the river valley to Lanzhou.

Xu Lai withdrew his troops and completely abandoned the fortified villages at the forefront of Xizhou, with both soldiers and civilians retreating to Lintao Fort.

Most of the soldiers and civilians within Xizhou have not even arrived at the front lines.

Apart from the laborers who brought and stored grain, the rest of the soldiers and civilians were busy harvesting the crops in the fields. They couldn't delay the farming, otherwise they wouldn't be able to survive the coming days.

The enemy forces have been there for several days, but have not attacked the fortified village immediately. Instead, they are cutting down trees to build siege equipment.

Xu Lai wasn't in a hurry either; he figured he could just let it drag on and finish harvesting the crops.

Enemy camp.

The Western Xia commander-in-chief, Fei Ting'eyu, said to his generals, "This Song army fortress was built last winter. My light cavalry has already scouted it out. Six miles south of the fortress, there is another Song army camp, and the terrain there is even more complicated."

"If we attack the Song army's main camp first, we must cross a small river. On the other side of the river is a ridge extending from the mountains, where the Song army's main camp is located."

"There is flat land, but it is only a little over a mile wide. Moreover, this flat land is bordered by rivers on two sides and the Song army's camp on the other side."

"So if we can't take the Song army's main camp, we might as well attack the stockade directly."

The supervising officer, Liang Zhangning, was a relative of Empress Dowager Liang: "We have more soldiers. One part will launch a feigned attack from the front, while another part will climb up the mountain ridge to attack from behind."

Fei Ting'eyu shook his head and said, "There are also Song troops on the mountain ridge."

Deputy Commander Wei Mingbu frowned deeply: "Just how many troops does the Song army have?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Liang Zhangning said, "The flying ladders are almost finished. Let the Qiang soldiers try to attack them first."

The Song army's Lintao Fortress was built in a way that was extremely difficult for the enemy to conquer. To attack the fortress from the north, one had to cross the river first, and the riverbank on the fortress side was so narrow that it was impossible to deploy troops. Even if troops could be deployed, they would have to climb the terraces first before they could launch an attack.

There was a large flat area to the west of the fortress, but that area was surrounded by two rivers, Song army fortresses, and Song army camps. To come any closer would be suicide!

The Western Xia army could only reach the fortress by climbing the plateaus and mountains from the east. In such terrain, let alone siege ladders, even siege engines couldn't be pushed over.

Ladders and grappling hooks must be used to climb the stockade walls.

This kind of cannon fodder job was naturally left to the Qiang people.

The following day, the main force of the Western Xia dispersed into several regiments and deployed in formation. Three to four thousand cavalrymen were on the opposite bank of the river, guarding against the Song army crossing the river to attack their flanks. Tens of thousands of men were deployed to reinforce the Qiang troops attacking the city, while several thousand more led Qiang soldiers to attack the mountains.

Looking at the Western Xia army in the distance, Bu Chao couldn't help but laugh and said, "Standing so close, are you making me a live target?"

Xu Lai said, "Don't waste ammunition. Slowly wear down the enemy's morale, and wait until we've finished harvesting the grain and the main force arrives before we leave the camp for a decisive battle."

There were only a few thousand Song soldiers here; the so-called main camp was actually empty. However, archers were indeed stationed on the Longdi area, and the narrow riverbank was piled high with chevaux-de-frise.

As Xu Lai was speaking, the Western Xia Qiang soldiers responsible for attacking the camp fled in panic.

The other side was still far from the fortress; they hadn't even climbed the terrace where the fortress was located. What greeted them was three volleys of crossbow fire, followed by a dive attack from small groups of Song infantry.

Zhao Long's warhorse was in the empty camp. Holding a long spear, he charged down at the enemy from his high vantage point. He killed four men in succession, greatly boosting the morale of his soldiers, who shouted and followed him in the charge.

The terrain of Longxi is a nightmare for attackers.

At the foot of the mountains to the east, among the large group of Qiang soldiers, there were also some elite Dangxiang soldiers.

Among the Song infantry defending the mountain ridge, there were also a thousand Shenji Battalion soldiers.

"Send the order to have the archers on the hillside withdraw!" shouted Yu Ping, commander of the Shenji Battalion.

As the Song army on the hillside retreated, the enemy army attacking the mountain was overjoyed.

Fei Tingyiduo, the son of the Western Xia commander, personally led a group of Dangxiang soldiers and a large number of Qiang soldiers to charge upwards.

"First battalion, advance! Second battalion, prepare!" Yu Ping calmly gave the order.

One brigade consists of one hundred three-eyed guns.

All are loaded with shotgun shells, three per barrel, nine per barrel. One hundred guns would fire nine hundred shotgun shells simultaneously.

The closest Western Xia soldiers had already crawled to within a dozen paces of the Song army. Thinking the Song army had collapsed, they didn't bother to fire arrows for cover and charged straight at them.

"Bang bang bang!"

At the top of the loess hill, nine hundred shotgun shells were fired like a shower of flowers.

The Western Xia soldier at the forefront had no idea what was happening. He only heard a sound, saw smoke rising in front of him, and then he was shot.

Apart from the Western Xia soldiers at the very front who were on the verge of death, most of those further back were wounded but not dead, writhing in pain on the hillside.

"Bang bang bang!"

Another hundred three-eyed guns fired simultaneously.

"Ah! My eyes, my eyes!"

Fei Tingyi was hit by two lead bullets. One bullet blew out his eyeball, and the other embedded itself in a gap in the armor. The power of the shotgun shells was ultimately too weak, and they could not penetrate the armor at close range.

"kill!"

The Shenji Battalion's Third Battalion didn't need to fire; the two battalions that had already fired used their three-eyed muskets like spiked clubs to charge forward. The Song infantry that had previously retreated now followed the Shenji Battalion in the charge.

The Western Xia army below, confused about the situation on the mountaintop, were also thrown into a panic and fled, led by the routed soldiers.

Fei Tingyi, the commander's son, fled back with his eyes covered. The army doctor helped him remove the lead bullet, applied herbal medicine, and bandaged his wound.

His father, Fei Ting'eyu, rushed over upon hearing the news and carefully examined the wounded soldier, finding that the wounds were not particularly large. The lead bullets were also small, as they were all shotgun pellets, with only three able to fit into a single gun barrel.

Two days later, the wounded soldiers who had escaped back showed unusual symptoms: localized redness and swelling, increased pain, and pus oozing from their wounds.

Two or three days later, my body felt hot and cold, with a low-grade fever, fatigue, and nausea.

Those Western Xia soldiers with a modicum of discernment believed that the Song army had coated their lead bullets with poison. Many more Western Xia soldiers, however, believed it was witchcraft, and that the Song army possessed magical implements.

"Are they stunned by the firepower? They're neither attacking nor retreating; they've been at a standstill for days," Wang Shao said, observing the enemy camp through his binoculars.

After several days of unsuccessful attacks, the Western Xia army retreated to its main camp and refused to come out again.

Xu Lai guessed, "It's probably because the Qiang soldiers are unwilling to fight anymore. According to the news brought back by our spies, people of all ethnic groups around Lanzhou, including the elderly in their sixties and seventies, as well as strong women, have been forcibly conscripted to transport grain. If the attack goes smoothly, that's fine, but if it suffers a setback, morale will plummet."

"The final battle is about to begin," Xiang Bao said with a smile.

-

Yang Shu, however, was thinking about something else: "The Western Xia is so militaristic and aggressive, why don't the people rebel?"

Xu Lai explained, "Those who dared to rebel were suppressed, and those who didn't dare to rebel came to surrender to the Song Dynasty. On the Hengshan side, most of the border garrison troops were barbarians. Some barbarian generals had served the Song Dynasty loyally for two or three generations, precisely because the Western Xia had pushed them too hard. Moreover, conscripting nine out of ten men was not necessarily a bad thing for the Western Xia."

"Good news?" Wang Shao couldn't help but look at Xu Lai.

Xu Lai laughed and said, "Those elderly people will definitely die on the way to transport grain, which will save a lot of food. Tribes that lose too much population will be annexed by other tribes. Many tribes are looking forward to war. If they win, they will come to seize the Song Dynasty. If they lose, they will take the opportunity to annex weaker tribes."

Yang Shu lamented, "The law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, is truly barbaric."

"Let's launch a decisive battle from the stockade tomorrow. The enemy's morale has been almost completely depleted." Xu Lai put away his binoculars, left the mountain ridge, and returned to the stockade.

While Xu Lai was about to engage in a decisive battle, the fighting on the northern front was even more intense.

In this war between Song and Xia, both countries mobilized large numbers of troops and supplies in June. Frequent battles began in July.

Among the generals on the northern front, the most outstanding performer was not the well-known generals such as Zhong E.

It was Lin Guang!

Lin Guang was originally a bodyguard of the emperor and had led troops under Cai Tingmo a few years ago. It was Lin Guang who commanded the army that seriously wounded Li Liangzuo, the ruler of Western Xia.

Last year, he was transferred to Huanqing Road and became one of Li Fugui's subordinates.

Li Fugui acted recklessly recently, yet he managed to breach the Western Xia strongholds one after another, even beheading thousands. Haha, it was Lin Guang who was commanding the battles.

Tens of thousands of Western Xia troops launched a counterattack on Baibao City. Lin Guang mounted cannons, three-eyed mortars, and divine crossbows on the stockade walls, inflicting heavy casualties on the Western Xia army.

The Western Xia launched a frenzied attack for over ten days, but were unable to capture Baibao City and eventually had to temporarily retreat due to running out of supplies. Lin Guang seized the opportunity and led his army in pursuit, successively capturing four fortified villages: Shierpan, Duoniang, Dayuan, and Zha Niang.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Guang was transferred to guard Rouyuan City. This time, however, he was not equipped with any firearms, nor even a divine crossbow; he went there alone as a "firefighter."

Spies even set fire to the city; if not for Lin Guang's skillful command, Rouyuan City would surely have fallen. After holding out for several days, he suddenly organized a suicide squad for a night raid, causing countless Western Xia soldiers to flee in disarray. He also repelled the enemy forces along the way.

The Western Xia army, which initially launched a fierce offensive, suffered setbacks at various fortified villages, and the two sides began to reach a stalemate.

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