What Yang Yingqi said to Li Yongqi in the palace has made the Northwest soldiers return to the center. You must know that Qilin Xianggong is not a weak prime minister, on the contrary, his authority is very heavy, but he has given Liu Qi, Chong Yansong and others a very high level of trust and freedom.

"The war on the summer border is under your full control! Shaanxi Qinfeng can't hold it, I promise you to withdraw the Yellow River; Hedong can't hold it anymore, I promise you to withdraw from Taihang Mountain! ”

The trust of the center has reached this, what else does Liu Qi say? Could he really lead the army to withdraw to Hedong and Hebei? Therefore, after receiving the order, he summoned the generals, first announced the order of the center, and then said: "From today until Your Majesty's triumph, I will no longer receive a penny of military salary!" Go to the barracks every day to eat and sleep with the low-level soldiers! I don't ask you to do the same, but I don't want to see you lose! I don't plan to really withdraw to Hedong and Hebei! Don't talk about Hedong! Even if it's Chang'an, if Brother Wei Mingcha wants to go over, he has to step on my corpse to pass! ”

Brother Wei Mingcha hesitated, and he suddenly realized that his original decision might be wrong! Because on this day, he heard a news: the generals in the northwest of the Han army, from the generals to the low-level soldiers, asked for half of their salaries. When Brother Wei Mingcha heard the news, he couldn't help but tremble twice, and said to the superintendent Wei Mingren: "From ancient times to the present, I have never heard that a soldier will have such a determination and will defeat the battle. If such an army is only a few hundred people, it is terrible, if there are several thousand. But there are still more than 100,000 troops in the northwest of the Han army, how can this be done! If such an army is led by a mediocre future, it would be fine, but it is Liu Qi who leads this army! ”

Wei Ming Renli heard the remorse in Brother Wei Mingcha's words, and asked, "Then should we forget it like this?" ”

"Of course you can't do that!" Brother Wei Ming Cha said: "Now Zhe Yanchong is still in Mobei, and the Han army is so tough, if he comes back, can there still be any relics in Western Xia?" ”

Wei Ming Qianshun was also taken aback by Han Ting's tough attitude, he didn't expect Han Ting to readily agree to the harsh conditions he offered, but Xixia asked for a price, and Han Ting paid back the money on the spot, he thought that in the current situation, Han Ting would always give himself a little sweetness, so that he Qianshun could be in a favorable position to advance and retreat freely. But he didn't expect that what he was waiting for was such a result! Yang Yingqi's toughness made him wonder if this Qilin Xianggong still had powerful hole cards in his hand, otherwise, how could the morale of the Han army suddenly be strong? Liu Qi's murderous aura seems to have made Qianshun, who is far away in Zhongxing Mansion, also feel it!

"Your Majesty," Wei Mingren Zhong played, "it seems that even if Zhi Yanchong is not there, the Han people should not be bullied." ”

Wei Mingqian said casually: "I also know this!" But Yang Yingqi now wants me to send the prince to Tanggu, can I really not do it? ”

Wei Ming Renzhong said: "Of course this is not good. However, we should remove Li Shou and send a more stable envoy to Tanggu in order to be tactful. That Yang Yingqi is not a reckless martial artist, although he said resolute this time, it should only be a counterattack to our request to cut the land, if we really reconcile with Han Ting, he will not insist on going his own way. ”

Wei Mingrenzhong's words were exactly what Wei Ming was willing to do, and he immediately sent another envoy to Tanggu, and at the same time Pegasus told Wei Ming Chage that he should be cautious. But his decision was too late, and when the envoy arrived at the border, he had already launched an attack, and 60,000 iron horsemen roared eastward, heading directly at Chang'an. The Han army did not show weakness, because it had no illusions about the Xia people from the beginning, so the northwest Han army did a lot of defensive homework.

General Liu Qi's horses were lined up in three semi-circular defensive circles, relying on dozens of walled cities to offset the impact of the Xia people. Liu Qi was ruthless in his words about the generals, but the battle was fought steadily, and this spirit of using troops was obviously a "drag" word, not a victory. He knew the advantages and disadvantages of the Han and Xia sides, so he would rather lose some positions on the border than exchange space for time. In addition to the word "drag", Liu Qi also pays attention to the word "province". In the whole process of using troops, he paid special attention to the rationing of military funds, and tried to avoid large-scale battles, because he knew that at this moment, Kwantung and even Weinan could not provide him with enough supplies for his waste. The front line has decided on the position to be abandoned, all the materials will be withdrawn, and those who cannot be withdrawn will be burned, and nothing will be left for the Xia people.

Wei Ming Chage crossed the border for more than 200 miles in less than a month, which was an unprecedented achievement in the years when he and Liu Qi competed. But he was not pleased. Because he didn't get any benefit from this vast land of more than 200 miles! Liu Qi was still waiting for him to attack in the fortress ahead, and it was possible that Liu Qi had already withdrawn when he arrived, or it was possible that Liu Qi would take advantage of the terrain somewhere to attack him. Liu Qi took advantage of the depth of the terrain to offset his advantage in attack power, and the road between Zhongxingfu and Chang'an was not easy to walk, and if he had to go forward, he would have to spend a few more percent of food for every mile he walked.

If Brother Wei Mingcha is greedy for merit, the grain road is in danger of being cut off at any time, but if he takes it step by step, he is afraid that it will take two or three years when he arrives in Chang'an! Of course he couldn't wait that long! A month after the Xia people marched into the army, their actions began to appear a little impetuous, and the more impetuous the Xia people were, the more calm the Han army became.

At this time, more than a dozen mountain soldiers from Weinan began to haunt near the grain road of the Xia people, each of these dozen mountain soldiers is not large, but the negligence comes and goes, it is very difficult to prevent, so that the cost of the Xia people to maintain the smooth grain road is greatly increased.

I am very familiar with these dozen soldiers and horses: they are loyal soldiers under the command of Yan Song! In the past, when he competed with Liu Qi, Weinan had sent troops and horses to help more than once, but at this time, Yan Song could still send soldiers and horses, "Didn't the Southern Song Dynasty move at all?" ”

Thinking of this, Brother Wei Mingcha was shaken. Whether the army of the Southern Song Dynasty moved or not was very important to the Xia army. However, due to the isolation of information, it was difficult for Brother Wei Mingcha to get in touch with the generals of the Southern Song Dynasty, let alone what position the Great Song court took on the conflict between Han and Xia. If the Southern Song Dynasty didn't move at all, but only Western Xia and Yunzhong did, then even if the two of them tried their best, it might turn into a farce in the end.

But now that this war has broken out, it is not like it can be stopped. Brother Wei Mingcha knew that Xia Zhu Qianshun would tolerate him entering the army in advance, but he didn't know if Qianshun would tolerate him returning in vain. And in this case, how should the Xia people face the reproach of the Han court? Could it really be that the prince was sent to Tanggu to be a hostage? But if the attack continues, will the Xia army really be able to attack Chang'an? Even if it attacks Chang'an, can it shake the foundation of the Han Dynasty?

Things that were supposed to be certain suddenly became unpredictable. And as their confidence wavered, Xia Jun's movements also became a little sluggish and hesitant, which greatly affected their combat effectiveness.

"Protect your homeland! Fight against Yidi! ”

Such cries were heard from time to time in the camp of the Han army, and the purpose of their battle was very clear, but the Xia people hesitated instead. Especially the middle and low-level generals, they don't know what this war is for! Although Wei Ming Renzhong did not approve of the impatient use of troops, he could still accept Wei Mingchage's argument that "if you are not enterprising today, there will be no seeds left in Western Xia tomorrow". However, it is impossible for middle and low-level generals to grasp this principle of taking offense as defense. In their opinion, this invasion of Han was just to satisfy the desire of the princes and generals to make meritorious contributions.

Not only did the soldiers in the front hesitate, but even the people in the rear also wavered. Qianshun's support for Cha Ge is obviously not as strong as before he left. Although Lord Xia and King Jin have brothers, at this moment when the prospect of the war is uncertain, how long Qianshun's support will continue, Brother Wei Mingcha has no bottom in his heart.

A month after the start of the war, the political situation in which Wei Mingchage was in was also significantly worse than that of Liu Qi. Because on the side of the Han army, Liu Qi, who is getting more and more comfortable with the fight, knows Yang Yingqi's bottom line very well. Yang Yingqi said that he was allowed to lose Chang'an, and even allowed him to lose Hedong, now it seems that the situation will not be bad to that point, as long as he can hold Qinchuan, the northwest generals will be regarded as a great merit! So he, Liu Qi, seemed very calm, he was ready to take half of Shaanxi and half of Qin Feng in exchange for two to three years of Xia Ren!

After a few months of running in the northwest between the Xia and Han armies, the logistics officers of the Han army were able to adapt to this wartime rationing, and the Han court's financial materials in Qinlong slowly entered an unrich balance. Some people went hungry, but they didn't starve to death. There is food but no money in the army, but a valuable psychology is common in the hearts of the soldiers in the northwest: we are now defending our homeland, we are now waiting for the return of the Northern Expeditionary Army, waiting for the triumph of Your Majesty!

This belief sustained them in difficult circumstances. Because they all believe that there will be that moment!