Western Xia, Qin Wangchuan.

Although Kaifeng Mansion is still relatively warm at the turn of autumn and winter, in Qinwangchuan, which is located in Hexi, it is already an early winter slaughter between heaven and earth. The cold wind was bitter, everything was dormant, and the tiny snowflakes were falling one after another.

However, the cold weather did not stop countless people from turning the northeast corner of Qinwangchuan into a large construction site.

The city, which can accommodate tens of thousands of people and hoard another million stones, grain and grass, is already in full swing. Recruits from Xiliang Province and even Ganzhou further west are building a wall with plywood. It is to clamp two plates, fill in the soil, and tamp it with a pestle.

The four walls that were several miles long had now been built to a height of more than a zhang! The surrounding ditches have also begun to take shape, deep and wide. Four gates have also been built, and eight thick and sturdy gates have been machined and are waiting to be installed.

Within the four unfinished walls were hundreds of improvised grain hoards, some of which were already filled with grain and horse feed, and more were being hauled in wagons. Every time a carriage full of grain arrived, Western Xia soldiers would drive the people forward, carry the grain in the pouches or sacks from the cart, and transport it into the grain hoard.

The Western Xia capital commanded the army, and the king of Jin, Chage, was holding his arms at this time, standing on a high platform made of wood, watching the tiny snowflakes fall from the sky full of dark clouds, and he couldn't help but exhale a sigh of depression.

"It's finally snowing!"

For the panicked Western Xia, there is no better news now than snow and cooling. Although the cold weather was also difficult for the military and civilians of Western Xia, most of the Song people, who could not tolerate the bitter cold, would not brave the cold to launch an offensive, which meant that the Western Xia, which was in turmoil, had a few more months of respite.

"Great King, maybe the Song people don't want to fight us to the death, otherwise why don't they take advantage of the opportunity of Renduo Baozhong's surrender to the enemy to attack Zhuoluo City and Karochuan?"

A middle-aged man wearing a purple robe, with a burly physique, and a physiognomy of the Hu people of the Western Regions, but with a very gentle expression, followed Brother Cha, smiling and guessing Song Guo's intentions.

Brother Cha glanced at the new Zhuo Luo and the commander of the Southern Military Division, a Han noble general named Cao Mian, shook his head and said: "Cao Tongjun, Zhuo Luo Military Division is no better than Xiping Military Division, and the enemy facing is the sworn enemy of our Dabai Gao Kingdom, the Eastern Dynasty!" The monarchs and ministers of the Eastern Dynasty do not die in their hearts, so they must not be relaxed. ”

Zhuo Luo and the South Prison Military Division are roughly the original Right Wing Zhuo Luo Supervisor Military Division, after the rebellion of Rindo Baozhong, they carried out a purge and changed their names, and transferred a large number of reinforcements from the Xiping Military Division in the west. And the new commander Cao Mian was the original commander of the Xiping Army, guarding the western border of Western Xia for a long time.

Don't look at him, he has a face that looks a little like Bai Fan, but he is a Han man, the patriarch of the Cao clan in Guazhou. It is said that the ancestor is still the famous Cao clan of Qiaojun, which is Cao Cao's family!

And the fan element on his face comes from the matriarchal Khotanese royal family, that is, the "Tang fan" Li Tiansheng and their family - the Khotanese royal family Li family and the Guiyi army Cao family have a very close relationship, almost from generation to generation. And Cao Mian's ancestor is the Cao family of the Guiyi Army, who has been in charge of Gua and Sha Erzhou for nearly 100 years. In the third year of Jingyu in Western Xia, he was defeated by Yuanhao and forced to submit to Western Xia.

However, although Wei Ming Yuanhao defeated the Guiyi Army and forced the Cao clan in Guazhou, he did not kill or abandon the Guiyi Army forces in Gua and Shazhou, but took them for his own use.

The reason for this is that 8 years before the fall of the Guiyi military regime, the Khotanese kingdom, the pillar of Buddhism in the Western Regions against the Tianfang religion, was destroyed by the Qarakhanid state, which believed in the Tianfang religion, and part of the Khotanese royal family also fled to the Guiyi army - and this war was not a simple annexation war, but a religious war!

The defeat of Khotan meant the defeat of Buddhist forces in the Western Regions. After the fall of Khotan, the most staunch ally of the Khotanese kingdom and the Guiyi army, which was also the center of Buddhism, became a bridgehead for Buddhism to resist the invasion of the Heavenly Sect.

The Guiyi Army has long relied on Buddhism to rule, so the wealthy families of Guasha, including the Cao clan of Guazhou and the Murong clan of Shazhou, are actually one with Dunhuang Buddhism. If the Han people in the two states were to be wiped out, then the foundation of Dunhuang Buddhism would also be eradicated. At that time, the Heavenly Sect will take advantage of the void!

For the Western Xia regime, which also relied on Buddhism as its spiritual pillar, the surrendered Guiyi forces were not only not a threat, but also an effective tool to curb the infiltration of the Heavenly Sect.

Therefore, the surrendered Guazhou Cao clan became the world-chosen wealthy family of Western Xia, and there were people who served as high-ranking officials for generations. The officers and soldiers under the jurisdiction of the Xiping Military Division located in Guasha Prefecture are mainly Han Chinese in Guasha Prefecture.

Maybe it's because he sees that Guasha and the two states are invulnerable, or maybe he is afraid of the huge and murderous Khitan behind the Western Xia. After the conquest of Khotan, the Qarakhanid did not continue to expand eastward, so the Xiping Military Division did not encounter any major battles in the past hundred years, at most it was to crusade against the grass-headed Hui and Huangtou Hui entrenched on the southern plateau.

Most of the Han generals and officials in the Xiping Military Division were as obsessed with Buddhism as their ancestors. Don't look at Cao Mian, who is tall and mighty, with a big beard on his face, sunken eye sockets, and a hooked nose, he looks quite fierce. But the character is very gentle.,It's a good general who eats fasting and recites Buddha.。 Transferring him from Guazhou, there is really no one to use.

Since the era of Yuan Hao, the infighting at the top of the Western Xia regime has been very serious, and the famous party families who followed Yuan Hao to create a great cause in the early days have withered away in various infighting, leaving only the famous Wei family dominant.

However, the people of the famous family are not prosperous, and the people who can come in handy at the moment are a few people such as Brother Mingcha, Mingming Anhui, Weiming Jingsi, Mingming Renzhong, and Weiming Renli. And no one other than Brother Cha has any talent for fighting with soldiers.

In desperation, the two brothers Qianshun and Chage had to use the low-ranking party members and the children of the Han people as generals.

"Good General" Cao Mian frowned as if he was thinking hard, "The Song people are not fighting the battle with their easy reach, is there a trick?" ”

"What a trick!" Brother Weimingcha's narrowed eyelids couldn't hide the glint in his eyes, "As long as the elite army that defeated Renduo Baozhong took advantage of the situation to march, before this king knew that Renduo Baozhong had surrendered to the Song Dynasty, Karochuan and Qin Wangchuan would be lost, and the million-stone army rations in Renshou Mountain City would also be returned to the Song army." Now the Great White High Kingdom has to move westward! ”

Brother Wei Mingcha's analysis is not wrong at all, although he is proficient in military strategy, but he is not an immortal who can pinch and calculate, and he only learned the news of Renduo's loyalty to the enemy seven or eight days later.

If the Song army takes advantage of the victory to march into the army, and there is Renduo Baozhong, the leading party, let alone Brother Wei Mingcha, let Wei Ming Yuanhao come back to life, he can only be defeated and lost.

"Then why didn't the Song people enter the army?" Cao Mian was puzzled.

Brother Wei Mingcha laughed: "Because they are Song people!" Over the years, have they come up with fewer stupid tricks? If it weren't for these stupid tricks, my Great White High Kingdom would have perished long ago. ”

"So what are we going to do next?" Cao Mian asked again.

"Wait!" Brother Wei Ming Cha said, "Wait for the Song people to make another faint move, and they will crash headlong under the Jiancheng of Qin Wangchuan!" ”

Zhong Fu's faint move gave Cha Ge a chance to breathe, but Cha Ge still realized that the Right Wing Army did not have the strength to defend against the enemy outside the country, and there was no certainty of victory in the field.

So he chose the tactics of retreating and defending the city. The battlefield of the decisive battle was placed in Qinwangchuan, which was 150 miles away from Lanzhou, and a fortified city was built in Qinwangchuan as the support for the decisive battle between the two armies. At the same time, he also ordered the evacuation of soldiers and civilians on the north bank of the Yellow River and the area around the Karochuan River, leaving only a handful of people to bluff. Moreover, he also transported all the grain and grass hoarded in Renshou Mountain City to Qin Wangchuan City - this million stone grain and grass is a trump card for Brother Wei to defeat the invading Song army!

Because for both warring parties, fighting in Qinwangchuan, north of Lanzhou, there is a difficult problem of logistics and transportation. Whoever has food in his hands will be able to concentrate the most troops in Qin Wangchuan.

"Cao Tongjun," Brother Cha said with a smile, "this Qin Wangchuan City will be handed over to you." If the Song army comes to attack, they only need to wait for help...... There are as many as one million stones of grain stored in the city, enough for 30,000 troops to eat for seven or eight years, and the water source is not a problem. Qinwangchuan is low-lying, and wells can be drilled everywhere. If you can hold out here for two or three months, the king will come to the aid of all the troops of the country, and he will be able to destroy all the enemies who come to you! ”

Brother Cha can probably guess the next strategy of the Song army now, it must be to attack the east and west at the same time, so that the Great White Gaoguo will be difficult to take care of.

And Chage's response is also simple, that is, to fortify the wall and clear the wilderness, plus fortify the city and hold on, plus organize a strong mobile corps, wait for the veterans of the Song army division to be tired, and then concentrate on the elite counterattack of the whole country.

On the western front, Wei Ming Chage chose to build a new city in Qinwangchuan to resist the Song army advancing north. On the eastern front, there are many castles in the Wuding River Valley, but there is no need to build new cities. However, it is impossible to divide troops to defend every city, otherwise the 300,000 army will not be enough.

So Brother Cha chose two of the castles to defend, one is located in Xiazhou City on the bank of the Wuding River, Brother Cha moved the Left Wing Divine Warrior Division originally stationed in Yinzhou Mida Cave to Xiazhou, and ordered to build more cities, ready to hold on for a long time.

The other is Youzhou City, located in the western part of the Wuding River Valley, which is the headquarters of the Jianing Military Division. Cha Ge also gave an order to the Jianing Military Division to fortify the city.

At the same time, the grain stocks that were originally scattered in the states on the banks of the Wuding River were basically transported to Xiazhou and Youzhou for storage under the order of Brother Cha. And the rest of the state cities and castles on the banks of the Wuding River have only a few troops left to bluff.