White-robed Minister

Chapter 225 0223 [The Situation is Settled]

Lanzhou was just ahead, a city Xu Lai had been longing to visit.

He had prepared a strategy in advance, but these plans kept changing. Now, none of the plans were of any use, and the Tangut commander simply abandoned the city and fled.

Many Qiang soldiers remained in the city and surrendered to the Song army, then waited for the Song army to provide them with food.

"Lanzhou is so big?" Yang Shu exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the city.

Xu Lai was also confused: "It's probably an old city from the Tang Dynasty."

The "big" that Yang Shu mentioned was in comparison to those border cities.

At this time, Lanzhou city was approximately 900 meters long from east to west and 450 meters long from north to south. It was not only built during the Tang Dynasty, but specifically during the early Tang period!

During the An Lushan Rebellion, the Tibetan Empire seized Lanzhou.

In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, Li Yuanhao captured this city again.

After the collapse of the Tibetan Empire, there was no longer any capacity to repair Lanzhou. When Li Yuanhao captured the city, parts of the city wall had already collapsed. At that time, the Western Xia did not have the national strength to maintain it properly and could only make repairs to the existing city wall.

Perhaps because the remaining Tibetan forces had little ability to attack cities, the Western Xia did not pay much attention to the repair of Lanzhou.

Although the city of Lanzhou was large, its walls were extremely dilapidated, with cracks in many places. Even if the main force of the Western Xia did not flee, Lanzhou could not withstand artillery bombardment.

When Xu Lai led his troops into the city, he was even afraid that the city gate tower would suddenly collapse and crush him to death.

The city is now in complete chaos.

With their leaders taken away by the Tanguts, the remaining Qiang soldiers, starving, were looting the city's inhabitants and shops. However, the grain shops and restaurants had already been ransacked by the Tanguts; there was no food left for the abandoned Qiang soldiers.

Many residents of the city had already fled, and the streets were littered with corpses.

The Qiang soldiers, who had been starving for two days, had begun to resort to cannibalism, turning the entire city into a living hell.

Xu Lai said to Zhang Shouyue, "General Zhang, you are responsible for restoring order in the city. Anyone who disobeys should be killed on the spot. Jie Zhi (Yang Shu), get some military rations and distribute porridge in fixed quantities every day. Don't let the Qiang people starve to death, but don't let them eat their fill either."

Wang Hou and Chen Xiaoyi, along with a group of Xu Lai's personal guards, quickly found the Xixia Baotai Military Command's office. They cleaned the place up for Xu Lai to live in.

Xu Lai rode his horse over and observed the situation in the city along the way.

Perhaps it was because the city was "too big" and its population had never grown. Not only were there no outlying districts outside the city, but some areas within the city were also deserted.

There are even large areas of graves and vegetable gardens within the city!

One after another, more than a dozen Qiang nobles were brought in. They knelt before Xu Lai, wailing and lamenting the brutality of the Dangxiang people, and begging Xu Lai to rescue their leader.

The Qiang leaders who were taken away by the Tanguts were all the fathers or brothers of the people in front of them.

Xu Lai asked, "Which direction did the Tanguts flee in?"

"West!"

"Did they all go to the west?"

"right."

"You go and gather the remaining soldiers and appease the people. I will do my best to help you rescue your leader."

Fleeing westward would lead to the garrison of the Southern Army.

The straight-line distance from there to Lanzhou is only 100 li, and the actual distance is less than 160 li.

Xu Lai called Xia Yao over and explained the general situation: "You are familiar with the terrain here, guess what the Western Xia soldiers are planning to do."

Xia Yao replied, "If I were the commander-in-chief of Western Xia, after leaving Lanzhou, I would go to defend the place where Zhuoluochuan flows into the Yellow River."

Xu Lai nodded.

That was his thought too, and even before entering the city, he had already sent out light cavalry to scout ahead.

Zhuoluochuan is also called Kaluochuan, which is the Zhuanglang River in later generations.

The Dangxiang tribes there were called the Zhuoluo tribe, and even the military region was called Zhuoluo and Nanjunsi.

At this time, the main force of the Western Xia's Southern Army Command was joining forces with Dong Zhan and Mu Zheng to launch a fierce attack on Hezhou, which was controlled by Gao Zunyu.

Once Xu Lai leads his army westward from Lanzhou and captures the confluence of the Zhuoluo River and the Yellow River, he can block the retreat route of the main forces of the Western Xia and Southern Army. At that time, if the enemy wants to return, they will have to cross mountains and valleys to take a detour, and it is estimated that half of them will starve to death on the way.

In the afternoon, the scouts returned and reported to Xu Lai: "At the mouth of the Zhuoluo River, about 60 or 70 li away, the Western Xia army has set up camp on the opposite bank of the Yellow River. The river is very wide there, making it difficult to cross and fight."

The enemy troops who fled from Lanzhou indeed stationed themselves in strategic locations.

Xu Lai couldn't break through in the short term, and the Tanguts took away the boats and sheepskin rafts from Lanzhou. If the Song army wanted to cross the Yellow River to fight, they had to cut down trees and make rafts on the spot.

Moreover, the artillery is still en route and has not yet been delivered to Lanzhou.

Xu Lai dispatched a detachment with many Qiang prisoners as the vanguard to cut down trees and build rafts. The main force rested in Lanzhou for a day.

He arranged all the military and political work. Yang Shu and Zhang Shouyue were extremely capable, while Xu Lai couldn't find anything to do for a while.

He simply rode his horse to inspect the camp and comfort the soldiers of both the Han and Qiang ethnic groups. Then he went to the prisoner-of-war camp to talk with the Qiang nobles who had surrendered or been captured.

By the time we finished all that, it was already dark.

After dinner, Xu Lai, having nothing to do, began writing frontier poems. These were entirely his own original works, and without much time to conceive them, the resulting pieces were all third-rate.

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Gao Zunyu defended his village along the Yellow River.

How should I describe the terrain here?

It was more than ten times more dangerous than Lintao Fort, which was defended by Xu Lai!

The main forces of both sides confronted each other east of what would later become Yongjing County, in the area of ​​the Liujiaxia Hydropower Station.

The geographical conditions of places suitable for building large-scale hydroelectric power stations are entirely imaginable.

"I'm withdrawing my troops. We could fight here for ten years and still not take it!" Rendo Yili roared at Mu Zheng.

The Dangxiang nobles of the Zhuoluo tribe all shared the surname "Rendo".

The man before me, Renduo Yili, is the chief instructor of the Southern Army.

Historically, this man's son was killed in battle by the Song army. Two of his grandsons participated in the attempted assassination of Liang Yimai, one of whom later surrendered to the Song Dynasty, while the other failed to surrender and was imprisoned.

As soon as Renduo Yili finished speaking, Dong Zhan added, "I also plan to withdraw our troops. Not only are we unable to capture this place after a long siege, but we also can't make any progress on the southern flanks. The Song army's fortified villages are infuriatingly built; they're all in strategically important locations. Let alone fighting, even in peacetime, without armor or weapons, it would be exhausting to climb up them."

Mu Zheng hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Of course he wanted to continue fighting and take back his territory.

But he suffered heavy losses last year and has few soldiers left. Now he can only rely on the whims of Dong Zhan and the Tanguts.

Just as the meeting was adjourning, Mu Zheng couldn't help but say, "How about we launch one last three days of attacks?"

Rendo Yili said, "Even one day is too much. I have already lost over a thousand men, and we haven't even reached the Song army's stockade."

Dong Zhan said, "I have mostly cavalry at my disposal, and I'm really not good at attacking stockades. If you want to reclaim your territory, you'd better send troops from Kangu Fort in the future. It's easier to fight there than here."

Renduo Yili smiled and comforted him, "Perhaps our Great Xia's Baotai Army has already helped you retake the Tao River Valley."

Mu Zheng said irritably, "Even if we take back the territory, my uncle will definitely take it away."

He was unaware that his uncle had been taken away by the Tanguts.

Rendo Yili, too lazy to continue arguing with Mu Zheng, turned around and returned to his own camp.

Just as he entered the command tent, his son, Renduo Maiding, came in with a messenger: "Father, our allied forces on the eastern route have suffered a great defeat, and Lanzhou has already fallen."

"What?" Rendo Yili broke out in a cold sweat.

Renduo Mading quickly said, "Father, don't worry. Fei Ting Eyu has retreated to the mouth of the Zhuoluo River and has already secured our retreat route."

"That's good," Rendo Yili said. "Withdraw the troops immediately, leave now."

Dong Zhan and Mu Zheng were both very surprised to see the Western Xia army packing up their tents and loading up supplies. It was already late afternoon, and it would definitely be dark by the time they finished packing up. Did the Western Xia army intend to withdraw overnight?

Dong Zhan then instructed his subordinates, "If the Xia army is going to withdraw, we will leave tomorrow as well. Leave Mu Zheng here to continue the standoff."

Mu Zheng was extremely helpless about this, and he even had the idea of ​​submitting to the Song Dynasty.

His wife and children were all captured by Gao Zunyu last year, and he was left with only a small piece of land. Even his uncle had become semi-independent, holed up in Kangubao and completely ignoring his orders.

It's virtually impossible for him to regain his former strength.

Mu Zheng secretly harbored resentment: If Dong Zhan and Xixia refuse to help to the end, then I'll just surrender to the Song Dynasty and fight you with the Song army!

Meanwhile, the Western Xia army withdrew overnight and only rested briefly at dawn.

Along the way, they plundered the territories of Dong Zhan and Mu Zheng. They not only stole grain and valuables, but also killed the elderly, women, and children.

Rendo Yili looked at the corpses scattered on the ground, frowned, and said to his son, "Why did you kill women and children?"

Renduomading analyzed, "Lanzhou has been captured by the Song army, and Dong Zhan and Mu Zheng will inevitably surrender to the Song. We should kill more of them now to weaken their strength."

Rendo Yili still felt that her son was too cruel, even killing an infant in swaddling clothes.

His son, even among the generally brutal Tangut people, was known for his extreme cruelty. It later escalated to the point that even his own soldiers couldn't tolerate him, and people were frequently executed by Rendo Madin for no apparent reason.

Historically, Rinchen Din's fate was commensurate with his brutality. His soldiers were all outwardly compliant but inwardly rebellious, unwilling to exert themselves in battle. Before the news of their retreat being cut off by the Song army was even confirmed, his generals abandoned their commander and fled, leading to Rinchen Din'in being killed in battle by the Song army.

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This Western Xia army burned, killed, and looted along the way, and it took them two days to rejoin their allies.

The two Western Xia armies joined forces and confronted Xu Lai and Zhang Shouyue across the Yellow River. Both sides, without prior agreement, built fortified villages on the spot, clearly indicating that neither wanted to continue fighting.

The Yellow River is too wide here, and the current is too rapid. Whoever crosses the river first will suffer.

Xu Lai even secretly withdrew his troops, sending half of the soldiers and laborers home first. This was because the Song and Xia dynasties were at war on all fronts this year, and the entire Shaanxi and Henan provinces were struggling to buy grain, which had been requisitioned by the government.

The grain and fodder that Zhang Heng brought was less than planned.

The grain delivered by the merchants was also less than expected.

The Qiang people around Lanzhou were waiting for Xu to lend them grain to survive, as the war could no longer be fought.

The territory that has now been recovered is now right next to the Western Xia territory, with the Yellow River as the border, which will facilitate defensive operations in the coming years.

"This land is so fertile, it's all rich soil. It's a pity that the Qiang people here have all their food stolen," Xu Lai sighed, grabbing a handful of soil.

Yang Shu, holding up his binoculars, said, "The other side is also very fertile; you can tell by the density of the houses. Once we have enough food and supplies, we'll take the other side as well, and then we'll control both banks of the Yellow River."

Xu Lai said, "The Zhuoluo River Valley across the river should also be able to grow grain, otherwise it would be impossible to supply a Western Xia military command. If we send troops in the future and occupy the most fertile land in the Zhuoluo River Valley, it will be equivalent to crippling half of the Southern Military Command."

Yang Shu laughed and said, "When the time comes, if the Western Xia wants to confront us in the valley, they must maintain a sufficient army. But they don't have enough food, so they have to bring food from the rear, which is like continuously bleeding the Western Xia dry."

Xu Lai continued, "After bleeding them dry for a few years, we'll fight our way through and take over the entire valley."

"Hahahaha." Yang Shu laughed loudly upon hearing this.

Xu Lai didn't laugh: "Xihe has been pacified, and Lanzhou has also been recovered. I may be transferred."

Yang Shu was taken aback: "How is that possible? The imperial court should allow you to manage things for another two years, right?"

Xu Lai shook his head: "It's hard to say. I fought too fast and got promoted too quickly. I'll definitely be promoted again this time. If I stay in Xihe, the officials don't trust me. The key to the newly recovered territory lies in its management. I'm afraid my successor will ruin things."

Xu Lai planned to recommend Wang Shao to take over as military commissioner, but Wang Shao's qualifications were too shallow, and the court might not agree.

Zhang Heng would be a good choice.

Mu Zheng remained on the battlefield and pondered for two days before sending an envoy to the Song army's fortified village, requesting to speak directly with Gao Zunyu.

Gao Zunyu soon appeared on the stockade wall.

Mu Zheng also arrived at the foot of the stockade wall: "Are my wife and children alright?"

Gao Zunyu smiled and said, "They are doing very well. Especially Yu Longshi and her children, who are currently living in Yu Longke's house. Yu Longke is very wealthy; I heard he built a large mansion outside Gongzhou City."

Mu Zheng then asked, "If I submit to the Song Dynasty, will I be able to retain my current territory?"

"Okay. But not including the area around Kangu Fort." Gao Zunyu agreed on the spot, because Mu Zheng didn't have much territory left.

Mu Zheng said, "Then I surrender."

Gao Zunyu was somewhat surprised; Mu Zheng's surrender was far too decisive.

"Great victory! Great victory! Our army has captured Lanzhou!" A messenger on horseback shouted from behind the fortified village.

Gao Zunyu was taken aback, then burst into laughter.

He assumed that Mu Zheng had surrendered to him after receiving news of the Western Xia army's defeat. In reality, Mu Zheng was still unaware of this.

When Gao Zunyu invited Mu Zheng into the fortress to discuss the overall situation in detail, Dong Zhan, who had already withdrawn his troops, returned.

Dong Zhan, accompanied only by a small number of cavalry, shouted from below the camp, "I want to surrender to the Song! I want to surrender to the Song!"

Gao Zunyu and Mu Zheng walked up the village wall together.

Mu Zheng found it very strange: "Why are you also going to pledge allegiance to the Song Dynasty?"

Dong Zhan gritted his teeth and said, "Those Tanguts went too far! During their retreat, they burned, killed, and looted all the way. They even killed infants a few months old, and after killing people, they set fire to houses! Mu Zheng, your territory has also been plundered by them."

"My territory?" Mu Zheng was shocked.

Dong Zhan said, "That's right, the places that were robbed were all fertile valleys. They killed anyone they saw, burned any house they saw, and looted anything they could find!"

Mu Zheng's face turned red with rage. He clenched his fists and said, "If I don't avenge this, I swear I'm not a man!"

Gao Zunyu suppressed his joy and held back his laughter.

With Xixia's actions, Dong Zhan and Mu Zheng will undoubtedly submit willingly. Moreover, they will fight with unparalleled valor in future battles against Xixia, for this is a true blood feud.