At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the ensuing rebellion of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, in order to compete for territory, began large-scale conscription, and the army swelled viciously. After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, it had to face the strong enemy Khitan in the north, coupled with the conscription of the displaced people, so that the scale of the permanent forbidden army of the Great Song Dynasty in the peaceful era reached the highest point in history, with nearly one million people.

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the population was about 100 million, and it was necessary to feed a million troops, which was equivalent to one hundred people feeding one soldier.

There are three key defense directions in the Great Song Dynasty, the first is the Khitan in the north, so the scale of the forbidden army in Hebei is nearly 300,000, the second direction is the Western Xia in the northwest, and the garrison is also about 300,000, and the third direction is Biandu, the significance of the Zhao garrison in Biandu to protect Biandu is two, one is to prevent the people of the Central Plains from mutiny, and the other is to prevent the rebellion of the forbidden army in the northwest and Hebei, as for the southeast and Jiangnan, the forbidden army stationed in the forbidden army is very few.

After a short period of mobilization, Vaxia's order quickly and secretly spread to the northwest through Biandu. The 300,000 Western Army stationed in the northwest, excluding the garrison, Jingyuan, Huanqing, Xihuang and other five-way forbidden armies began to assemble, and then under the leadership of the pacification envoys of various roads, the 200,000 Western Army began to move to the territory of Western Xia.

The peak of the standing army of Western Xia is about 200,000, and it is usually about 150,000, but from the Zhezong Dynasty to the Huizong Dynasty in the past 30 years, Western Xia was pressed and beaten by the Great Song Dynasty, and repeatedly lost elites, especially those outside the city of Zhuoluo.

The standing army of the entire Western Xia is currently more than 100,000 people, and it is scattered and stationed in four directions, so the 200,000 Western troops of the Great Song Dynasty are overwhelming for the Western Xia.

Lotte naturally followed the side of the planter, and there was a mighty people's grain team behind the 40,000 army on Jingyuan Road, and the Zhenrong army passed the Huaide army, and the front went out to reach the Cutting Village, and the guards of the Cutting Village who had been secretly notified of the matter began to send people to clean up the Western Xia scouts on the Song-Xia border to make preliminary preparations for the army.

Dozens of miles ahead is Mingsha City, after the army was stationed, Lotte filled his stomach indiscriminately, took Wu Song and Maojiu a few guards, climbed to a relatively high mountain, looked to the north, under the starry sky can see the lights in the north from afar, Lotte knows that there is Mingsha City that he has been to, and it is also the target of this army raid.

The ancient military regulations were very strict, and when to start the battle plan that had been made and implemented, and the fame could not be made one day earlier or one day later, otherwise it would be a matter of compliance with moderation, and the crime would be big, especially in the Song Dynasty, where the civil and martial arts were humble. The people who have learned from the past are there, and who of these generals dares not to obey them.

Lotte understands very well in his heart that the Western Army is the most capable army in the Great Song Dynasty, and as for the Hebei Forbidden Army and the Biandu Central Forbidden Army, they are a group of farmers, craftsmen, and artists with weapons, and they have no combat effectiveness at all. There is a lesson from the failure of the Shenzong Dynasty in the five-way summer war, and the people in the Song Dynasty naturally attach great importance to this summer war, and they must not repeat the mistakes of the Shenzong Dynasty.

And Lotte knows that the Western Army is not only the main force to destroy Xia, but also the pillar of the future resistance to Jin, and there can be no big loss, so when he was in Weizhou, Lotte always urged the master to produce as many firearms as possible, and at the same time ordered people to pass letters to Liu Fa, the content is the same, make more firearms.

Having personally seen the benefits and disadvantages of firearms, Liu Fa naturally produced a lot, and the planter also knew the benefits of firearms, and he was even more envious of Liu Fa's military exploits, and he also urged the Jingyuan Road Ordnance Supervisor to make more gunpowder.

Why is it that he is the elder brother who was born a few days early, and he can still take over the position of his father's ninety-five supreme emperor in the future, but he was born a few days later, but he can only be a prince, this is the most unhappy place in Li Renzhong's heart, and his father's meaning is quite clear, without the slightest idea of easy storage. The reason why Li Renzhong came to Mingsha City was to make meritorious contributions and make his father Li Qianshun look down on him, so as to win his father's favor for him.

Whenever he thinks of this, Li Renzhong is very unhappy in his heart, and he will take a big gulp of milk wine to numb himself.

Even Li Renzhong has been thinking in his heart why his prince brother didn't make some mistakes and fell out of favor, so that his father and the emperor could disappoint him and pass on the throne to himself. It's a pity that eight out of ten unsatisfactory people in the world, Li Renzhong can't get what he wants, because of the unsatisfactory in his heart, Li Renzhong will get drunk whenever he thinks of it.

As in the past, Li Renzhong thought of something unpleasant in his heart, and when he was drinking a little dizzy in his head, he suddenly heard a soldier report that something unusual had happened outside the city. This made Li Renzhong's heart angry, and he scolded the messenger out, got up and went to the head of Mingsha City, and when he looked out of the city, his face immediately became ugly.

In the distance, a banner appeared in sight, although he couldn't see the sign of the army flag clearly, but in a drunken state, Li Renzhong immediately reacted, shouting: "The army of the Great Song Dynasty, close the city gate quickly, and prepare for defense!" ”

"Enemy attack, enemy attack ......"

With the sound of the bull horn of the party people, the soldiers in the city shouted, and the soldiers under the city hurriedly closed the city gate in a panic.

Although Li Renzhong was shocked and drunk, he quickly sobered up and immediately commanded the soldiers in the city to prepare for defense, since Li Renzhong could give up his superior life in Xingqing Mansion and come to Mingsha City in front, his natural talent was also very good, otherwise Xia Chongzong Li Qianshun would not have sent him to Mingsha City.

Soon Mingsha City was well arranged under Li Renzhong's orders, and the army was ready for battle.

Looking at the army that was getting closer and closer, many Xixia soldiers began to question in their hearts, the Great Song Dynasty had just left Mingsha City at the end of May, why did it come again at the end of September, obviously it was not good, and it seemed that it was not only menacing, but also unexpected, it must have come to attack Mingsha City, which made the Xixia soldiers in Mingsha City cry bitterly, and the Western Xia soldiers were really scared by the Great Song Dynasty over the years, and even some of the Xixia soldiers began to plan how to escape.

"Compared with the last time, Mingsha City has not only strengthened and heightened the city wall, but also widened the moat outside the city wall, and the Great Song Dynasty wants to capture Mingsha City again, which is tantamount to wishful thinking!" Looking at the advancing Song army, Li Renzhong was angry with his soldiers.

"The grain and grass in the city are enough to eat for a year, and the defending ordnance and blades in the city are enough to support more than a year, as long as we can't hold on, the Southern Dynasty can't help me!" The guard next to him also said.

In fact, Li Renzhong was not wrong, with the lesson of the last loss of Mingsha City, the Western Xia adopted the strategy of building high walls, accumulating grain, digging deep and digging wide moats in Mingsha City, making Mingsha City more and more easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Behind Mingsha City is the hinterland of the Hetao of Western Xia, and further is Xingqing Mansion, so Li Qianshun has to station heavy troops in Mingsha City.

"Have you sent scouts to report to Xingqing Mansion?" Li Renzhong asked his subordinates.

"If you go back to Your Highness, you have already sent it!" The general replied.

Immediately, Li Renzhong thought about it again and asked, "Didn't you send scouts to find out the news of the Song Realm today, why did the Song army suddenly appear outside the city?" ”

There was no scout to come back to report, it must have been killed by the secret sentinels of the Song army, such a simple thing even a fool understands, the dignified second prince also asked, and couldn't help but make the generals speechless. Although in fact, it was just Li Renzhong who drank too much, but he was still unhappy in the hearts of the generals.

……

Heavy crossbows and catapults were aimed at the Great Song army that was already within range, but Li Renzhong did not dare to order an attack, after all, the Great Song Dynasty was too powerful now, and he could not afford to provoke first.

"Half a day later, the dragon flag of my Great Song Dynasty is fluttering at the head of Mingsha City!" Looking at Mingsha City, Lotte smiled.

Heavy crossbows and catapults were placed neatly, aiming at the sky above Mingsha City, and on the crossbow arrows and catapult throwing machines, there were gunpowder bags suitable for delivery. This unit is the newly formed Shenji Battalion of Jingyuan Road Seed Master, and the one who is fully responsible for the affairs of the Shenji Battalion is Lotte, and the backbone of the Shenji Battalion is Liu Fa, who escorted Lotte to Xixia, and Chang Kun Maojiu, these people have experience in manipulating firearms.

After all the preparations were made, the seed master gave the order, and then under the command of Lotte, the soldiers of the Shenji battalion used torches to light the fuses of the gunpowder in the heavy crossbow and catapult throwing machine, and then let go of the heavy bow and throwing machine......

Immediately, the Heavy Arrow and various objects were launched from the Song Army's camp at once, and these various objects were still smoking, leaving a somewhat pungent and somewhat pleasant smell of gunpowder smoke in the air. Seeing this, the Western Xia soldiers who were guarding the city raised their shields one after another, or hid themselves in the battlements to seek safety.

Don't laugh at all kinds of actions made on the battlefield to save your life, in fact, only by effectively protecting yourself, can you better kill and injure the enemy, and the last laugh is those who win, and those who also win also know how to protect themselves.

Looking at the objects flying from the Song army's camp and smelling the smell of gunpowder coming with the wind, Li Renzhong said with questions: "Could it be that these are the firearms that Uncle Cha Ge Wang said......

Rumble! Rumble! Thundered......

However, before Li Renzhong could finish speaking, those various objects descended on the head of Mingsha City. Only this time all the Western Xia soldiers guarding the city miscalculated, and no matter what means they used to avoid these objects thrown from the Song army, they could not change their doom.

The fuse was deliberately shortened, and a lot of gunpowder just flew to the head of Mingsha City and exploded in the air like thunder, and since the sound sounded, the continuous explosion sound was endless, forming an all-round three-dimensional bombardment, and immediately the screams of many Xixia soldiers resounded into one.

The all-round attack without dead ends made those unlucky Xixia soldiers be torn apart on the spot, even if they had a shield and iron armor in their hands, it was useless, and the shock wave alone shook the mouth and vomited blood......

The prelude to the summer has finally officially begun......

sanjiangge