Chapter 211 Showing the Xixia Army a Big Treasure

Old Fan easily guessed Li Yuanhao's strategy, not because Old Fan was smart.

But Li Yuanhao had no choice but to do so.

First, Zhao Jun had already told Fan Zhongyan that this was what Li Yuanhao did in history.

Second, through analysis and observation, it can be found that Li Yuanhao actually had no extra choices.

In the Song-Xia War, the Song State clearly retreated to defend and consume national strength.

If it were the Liao State, it would definitely be cautious step by step, with a large army pressing forward, encroaching on the border of the Song Dynasty, and also building city walls, with the two armies facing each other.

This is to use force to suppress others, and to fight against the foundation of both sides, and then to compete with the combat power of the army.

By then, the Liao State also had cities and garrisons on the border, and it was convenient to transport and supply food and grass. They could continuously send cavalry to fight behind enemy lines, destroy the logistics supply of the Song Army, and achieve a national victory.

However, Xixia could not do it.

The population of Xixia was only three million at its peak, and it has not yet reached its peak. The population is only one or two million at most. How can you ask Xixia to build cities and how to be cautious step by step? How to supply food and grass?

So the only thing Li Yuanhao could do was to attack from a different angle, change places after firing a shot, find the weak points of the Song army, launch a sneak attack, and retreat immediately after a successful attack.

Knowing Li Yuanhao's fighting style is much simpler. From the map, it is clear that it is Qinfeng Road, which is a place that Li Yuanhao can't even think of using his toes to attack.

The territory of Qinfeng Road extends to Xining in the future in the west and Lanzhou in the east, which is the Tianshui area of ​​Gansu in the future. Fighting here is mountainous and densely forested, the road is long, and logistics supply is difficult. It is impossible to run long distances.

The second choice is Yan'an Prefecture in Fuyan Road. At that time, the Suide Army had not yet been established, so the border was all Yanzhou. But this place has been built into an iron barrel by Lao Fan, with a beacon tower every ten miles and a fortress every twenty miles. Yanzhou City is as solid as a rock.

As for Huanqing Road, Fan Zhongyan appointed his good friend Teng Zongliang as the commander of Huanqing Road, Cao Cong as the general manager of Huanqing Road's cavalry and infantry, Zhao Zhen as the deputy commander of Huanqing Road, and Zhong Shiheng as the commander of Huanzhou.

These people strictly followed his orders and made good preparations.

Therefore, in the eyes of Lao Fan, Li Yuanhao only had Jingyuan Road to choose from.

But Jingyuan Road was actually a trap. The periphery seemed empty, with almost no bunkers and beacon towers, but Lao Fan was very insidious in the Zhenrong Army, Deshun Army, and Weizhou area, which was almost in the Liupanshan area of ​​Guyuan City in later generations.

In this way, the Xixia Army area would immediately be pinned down by countless fortresses. At this time, the reinforcements from Huanqing Road would come and immediately make dumplings for the Xixia Army.

Yuanhao obviously knew this, so he tried to attack the empty Huanqing Road after sending reinforcements. However, Fan Zhongyan predicted Yuanhao's prediction and had seen through the other party's thoughts, so he naturally had no worries.

Now the situation of catching the turtle in the jar has emerged, Huanqing Road has become the jar, so who is the one who catches the turtle?

Fan Zhongyan's eyes shuttled between the many generals under his command.

He currently has the Privy Councilor Wang Deyong under his command. Wang Deyong is an old general, and there is no problem sending him there.

But firstly, Wang Deyong is really old. He is already sixty years old this year. He is only suitable for rear-line command. It is not good to go to the front line in person.

Secondly, the old Wang has a high prestige in the army. According to the system of suppressing generals in the Song Dynasty, he can no longer lead the army in person.

In addition to Wang Deyong, there are only a few generals such as Liu Ping, deputy general manager of Fuyan Road, Ren Fu, deputy general manager of Fuyan Road, Shi Yuansun, deputy general manager of Fuyan, Wang Zhongbao, military commander of Linfu Road, and Xu Huaide, military commander of Fuyan Road.

The rest of Di Qing, Guo Zun, Zhou Mei, Zhe Jimin, Zhang Ke, Wang Xin, Fan Ke and others were actually only junior officers at this time, such as patrol inspectors and military officers, and did not have the ability to lead an army alone.

In addition, Li Shibin, the chief supervisor of Jinmingzhai, Sang Yi, the chief supervisor of Fuyan Road, Ma Huaide, the chief supervisor of Yanzhou, and Miao Jing, the chief supervisor of Yanzhou, were middle-level military generals.

The ranks of generals in the Song Dynasty were chaotic, and the command was unclear, but in general, they were divided into upper and lower levels such as Du Deployment (Du Zongguan), Deputy Du Deployment (Deputy Zongguan), Deployment, Deputy Deployment, Seal, Supervisor, and Du Zong.

This time, it was very important to lead troops to Huanqing Road to attack Yuan Hao, and a general must be sent. Liu Ping, as the transport envoy of Fuyan Road and the deputy chief supervisor of Fuyan Road, had the highest position, so it was appropriate for him to go.

But Fan Zhongyan put down this idea considering that Zhao Jun had told him about Liu Ping's poor command.

If Liu Ping had not been a Jinshi, and had not fought to the death in the Battle of Sanchuankou, saved Yanzhou, and did not surrender to the enemy, Lao Fan would have wanted to transfer him away.

Liu Ping was not suitable, and Ren Fu and Shi Yuansun were not good either, and they were also defeated in history.

Wang Zhongbao and Xu Huaide were good.

But Huanqing Road had to be protected, and Yanzhou also needed a general. The two of them were now responsible for the defense of the north of Yanzhou. If they were transferred away, Anlongzhai and Yongpingzhai in the north of Yanzhou would be empty.

So Fan Zhongyan thought about it and suddenly remembered a person, Zhang Kang, the current governor of Yanzhou and the commander of the army.

This person was the military commander of Jingyuan Road in history.

Zhao Jun later mentioned him to Lao Fan when he talked about the Song-Xia War, saying that this person was quite brave and attacked Xixia many times, making Xixia dare not enter the pass.

Most importantly, apart from the factor mentioned by Zhao Jun, Zhang Kang's own resume was also quite impressive.

He was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianxi. Although he was a Jinshi, he was interested in military affairs. During the Tiansheng period, he took the initiative to request to be the Tongpan of Zhenrong Army.

When Li Deming died, he appealed to the emperor and made early warning suggestions, telling the court that Li Yuanhao was likely to rebel and suddenly attack the Song Dynasty, hoping that the court would prepare early.

It also contains more than ten chapters of strategic advice.

This shows that Zhang Kang had foreseen the Xixia rebellion long ago and was a talented man capable of both literary and military skills and rich in strategy.

Therefore, when Fan Zhongyan took office in the northwest the year before last, he transferred Zhang Kang, the then Zhizhou of the Ansu Army. This was regarded as a smooth transfer from the Zhizhou on the Liao-Song border to the Zhizhou on the Song-Xia border, and he was granted certain military power to deploy for Yanzhou.

However, Zhang Kang did not attend the meeting at this time.

Because this month Pang Ji sent another batch of grain and grass from the rear, and Xue Xiang, the magistrate of Yanzhou, was responsible for sending it to Yanzhou. Zhang Kang, as the magistrate of Yanzhou, would definitely lead his troops to respond in person.

After feeling that Zhang Kang was suitable as the general to send troops this time, Lao Fan did not hesitate and immediately arranged for Liu Ping to provide supplies and replace Zhang Kang.

The next day.

Zhang Kang hurried back from Ganquan County, south of Yanzhou.

Outside Yanzhou City, Fan Zhongyan was already waiting for him.

This morning, he received a letter from Huanqing Road appeasing the governor Lu Shouqin and the patrol inspector Liu Huaizhong, saying that Yuan Hao was attacking Kaolizhai.

At that time, on the other side of Huanqing Road, Zhong Shiheng was stationed in Tongyuan, which was very close to Zhenrong. Therefore, if Huanqing Road supported Jingyuan Road, Zhong Shiheng could only go there.

Teng Zongliang, Cao Cong, and Zhao Zhen, as the highest civil and military officials on Huanqing Road, were stationed in Anhua City, Qingzhou.

It was further away from the security forces than from Yanzhou, so Lu Shouqin, the guard of Jintang City, and Liu Huaizhong, the guard of Kaolizhai, who were on the front line, naturally sent the news to Yanzhou as soon as possible.

Knowing that Li Yuanhao had arrived so quickly, Fan Zhongyan did not dare to neglect. While organizing the troops that had been prepared long ago, he waited for Zhang Kang to return.

At this moment, outside the city, the forty-year-old Zhang Kang, who was tired of his work, galloped all the way to the pavilion outside the south city. He got off his horse, walked up to Fan Zhongyan and raised his hands, saying: "My lord, please call me back. Is there something urgent?"

"good."

Fan Zhongyan said: "Yuan Hao invaded the border area, pretended to attack Jingyuan Road, and actually attacked Huanqing Road. The battle situation is urgent at this moment, and you must lead the army immediately."

"Your Majesty, take your orders!"

Zhang Kang felt his eyes light up. He had been a civil servant for so many years, but his favorite thing was to be a general on horseback.

Even though he served as an official on the border many times, he never led troops to fight in person.

Now the opportunity has finally come.

Although Fan Zhongyan knew that he was a strong man in history, he did not dare to take it lightly. Instead, he warned: "Although you have served as an official on the border, this is your first time leading an army, so you should be careful."

Zhang Kang said: "Please rest assured, Sir, I will definitely live up to my trust."

"okay."

Fan Zhongyan said in a deep voice: "Yuan Hao has many insiders in our army. He must know about the large group of troops dispatched. Therefore, I can only send you eight thousand cavalry. These are the elite knights I have trained in the past two years. Here in Yanzhou Commander Di Qing, Linfu Inspector Zhang Yu, and Linfu Road Inspector Zhe Jimin are all elite men I brought from Bianliang, you can reuse them."

"yes."

"Okay, soldiers are valuable and quick, don't be slow, set off immediately."

"yes."

After Zhang Kang agreed, he immediately headed west to Fulong Mountain according to Fan Zhongyan's instructions.

Because Li Yuanhao was too involved in the northwest frontier army, Fan Zhongyan did not dare to send the soldiers out during the day, so he could only leave the camp at night.

Now we have arrived at Fulong Mountain to the west of Yanzhou. When Zhang Kang arrives, we can immediately set off to help Kaolizhai and Jintang City.

Strictly speaking, Yanzhou is actually very close to the Bao'an Army. The Bao'an Army belongs to Fuyan Road and the Dingbian Army belongs to Huanqing Road. Geographically, Yanzhou's reinforcements are faster than Qingzhou's.

Not to mention the cavalry.

Zhang Kang led eight thousand cavalry. These people were all cavalry pitchers on Fan Zhongyan's patrol, and they all carried a few grenades in their waists.

After so many years of preparation during the Song Dynasty, the Firearms Department cut down on the manufacturing of other firearms and concentrated on making grenades. According to Zhao Jun's instructions, Zeng Gongliang was developing artillery.

It's just that artillery is much more dangerous than grenades after all. The consequences of a single explosion may be several casualties, so progress is relatively slow.

But having grenades is already an epoch-making thing.

At this moment, the battle on the Security Army side was fierce. It was not that Li Yuanhao didn't know that Yanzhou would rush to help, so he was actually fighting the Dingbian Army. As long as Zhong Shiheng was transferred and the Dingbian Army was broken through, he could threaten Huanzhou.

However, precisely because Yanzhou would rush for reinforcements, Li Yuanhao must concentrate his main force to capture the security forces first and block Yanzhou's reinforcements, so that he could march towards Huanzhou.

When the time comes, Zhong Shiheng will definitely return to Huanzhou to defend, and Li Yuanhao will be able to surround the point for reinforcements and attack the reinforcements on Fuyan Road and Huanqing Road.

This is what he did in history. Sanchuankou, Haoshuichuan, and Dingjunzhai surrounded Yanzhou, Huaiyuan, and Liugenbao respectively, luring the Song army to come for reinforcements, setting ambushes three times, and defeating the Song Dynasty three times. The Song Dynasty was forced to sign a treaty and recognize Xixia founded the country and proclaimed himself emperor.

Kaolaozhai, later known as Zhidan County, Yan'an City, Shaanxi Province, if you stand outside the city and look south, you will not see endless plains or towering mountains, but undulating hills.

This is the Loess Plateau, and it is the beginning of spring. The hills and hills, which are less than a hundred meters high and only a few meters short, are like waves, like the lush branches and leaves extending from a towering tree, although they are not as clear as the plains. , but it is also magnificent and has its own spectacular scenery in the northwest.

Li Yuanhao rode on a horse, standing on a high slope four or five miles northeast of the Kaoluo Village, looking southeast.

The howling west wind was strong, making the military flags rustle in the wind.

To his southwest, 30,000 Western Xia troops were attacking the Kaoluo Village fiercely. The brave and warlike Western Xia army howled like wolves and climbed up the wooden ladders. The two outer walls of the village had been lost.

However, although Liu Huaizhong, the defender of the Kaoluo Village, had only 5,000 people, his fighting will was still very tenacious. He relied on the camp to fight a desperate battle with the Western Xia army.

This time, Li Yuanhao was in full force, with more than 100,000 troops. The general Yeli Yuqi led about 40,000 people to make a feint attack in the direction of Jingyuan Road, and Yeli Wangrong led 20,000 people to attack in the direction of Jintang City. He led 30,000 people to take the Kaoluo Village directly, and the remaining 30,000 people were in the rear to support the battle.

In this way, even if the Song army came to support quickly, he could retreat immediately, and there were troops to support him in the rear. Once the Taoluo Village and Jintang City were broken before the Song army's reinforcements arrived, he could block the Yanzhou reinforcements in the east, and the main force would go directly to Huanzhou.

It must be said that as one of the protagonists of the Song-Xia War, Li Yuanhao was indeed smart and capable. This whole set of tactical designs was linked together. If he met Fan Yong, Yanzhou would be in danger at this time.

However, the Fan family also had gaps.

Fan Zhongyan was much stronger than Fan Yong. He had already figured out Yuanhao's plan. He not only sent secret troops, but also quickly mobilized troops from Qingzhou and Yuanzhou to launch a counterattack.

By noon, Taoluo Village was already shaky. Since the day before, the Western Xia army had attacked fiercely. Liu Huaizhong fought desperately many times and repelled the enemy's attack, but the village gate was gradually lost. For this reason, he had to simply use some gunpowder and grease stored in the army to burn the front village gate and retreat to the back village.

Before sunset, the Kaoluo Village was expected to be breached. At this time, Li Yuanhao saw dust and smoke rolling in the southwest direction. There are few trees on the Loess Plateau, so it is very far away when standing on a high place. The dust is at least ten miles away, and it is estimated that it will take half an hour to arrive.

"The reinforcements of the Song army have arrived, so fast."

Li Yuanhao frowned, and then said: "Go and ask Congshun how long it will take to break through."

"Yes."

The cavalry hurried over.

Congshun's full name is Weiming Congshun, and he is Li Yuanhao's cousin.

But this person's military talent is average, and the battle depends entirely on Li Yuanhao's command. At present, Li Yuanhao is on the mountain to observe the entire situation and make overall plans, and Weiming Congshun is in charge of the front line.

Soon the soldiers came back to report: "The general has breached the front camp of the Song army, and is now attacking the rear camp. It can be breached before dark."

"Waste!"

Li Yuanhao was furious, "A small Kaoluo Village has not been broken into after three days of fighting!"

The cavalry dared not say anything.

However, it was useless to be angry now. The Song army was attacking at this time, and it was clear that the village of Taoluo would be breached. It would be a failure to withdraw the troops now.

So after a little hesitation, Li Yuanhao immediately reined in his horse and went down the mountain, and began to gather soldiers to prepare for the enemy.

At the same time, Zhang Kang led 8,000 cavalrymen to gallop all the way. The distance from Yanzhou to Taoluo Village was equivalent to that from Yan'an to Zhidan County in later generations, but it was only more than 90 kilometers, which was not far.

They set out in the morning and arrived in the afternoon.

The horses had poor endurance. If they traveled long distances, they would be almost the same as infantry, and they would need a lot of fodder and bean cakes to maintain their combat effectiveness.

But short-distance raids were the strengths of cavalry, especially Fan Zhongyan, who created horseshoes based on Zhao Jun's description.

This secret cavalry team was trained and equipped separately, so that although the Xixia people knew of their existence, they had no intelligence about them at all, so that even Li Yuanhao did not expect the Song army to support them so quickly.

However, he could judge from the smoke and dust in the sky that the number of enemies coming was not large. He had 30,000 cavalrymen, and even if he could not fight, he would have no problem retreating.

So before the enemy arrived, Li Yuanhao quickly mobilized about 15,000 troops and began to line up in the wilderness.

After half an hour, Li Yuanhao had rearranged the team. He judged that the enemy had rushed all the way to help and had no chance to rest, so their combat effectiveness must be weak. It would be better to strike first and attack directly to catch the enemy off guard.

Do it as you want. After assembling the troops, Li Yuanhao drew out his scimitar, looked at the dense knights behind him, and then turned his head to look at the undulating hills in the distance. He could vaguely see the enemy's vanguard. He did not hesitate and shouted: "Line up, follow me to kill!"

"Kill, kill, kill!"

The Xixia army let out a howl that pierced the sky, and many Dangxiang people kept shouting various strange shouts, then slapped their legs hard on the horses' bellies and went to the east to meet them.

At this time, Zhang Kang had already reached the hillside less than five miles away from the Luoluo Village. The hillside where Li Yuanhao stood just now had Song troops appearing at this moment. The Song troops formed several formations all over the mountains and occupied several small hills around.

They were indeed very tired now. Although it was only a day's journey, the horses had horseshoes to ensure that their feet were not injured. The problem was that running like this was still very exhausting for the knights and horses. Many soldiers and horses were panting heavily, looking at the Xixia army in the distance, and were almost exhausted to the ground.

At this time, they had already seen the mighty Xixia army swarming towards here in the distance.

In history, Liu Ping, Shi Yuansun, Ren Fu, Ge Huaimin and others were defeated in this way.

So why did Zhang Kang do this even though he knew that such a rush would cause his soldiers to be exhausted?

He looked at the attacking Xixia army with a calm look, and kept shouting at the soldiers to occupy the surrounding hills and mountains, looking down from a high position.

Almost when the Xixia army was running and rushing up the gentle slope of the hill, he asked the messenger to blow the horn.

"Woo woo woo woo woo!"

The desolate horn cut through the sky, and the Song soldiers took out something from their waists, blew it, and threw it down the mountain!

Show the Xixia army a big treasure!