As the so-called standing high and looking far away, the Song army standing on the city wall saw a torrent of cavalry coming from near the distance outside the west gate at the moment when their cavalry rushed out of the Shunzhou city gate.

But to the surprise of the Song army in Shunzhou City, a scene appeared, and from a distance, I saw that the cavalry torrent was like a sharp arrow straight into the Western Xia army array, which immediately brought huge casualties to the Western Xia people.

After Li Yuanhao established the country, he repeatedly invaded the Song Dynasty in the south, won and lost several times, and the barrier of the Hengshan Mountains became the national border between the two countries, and the Han people, Dangxiang, Tubo, and Uighur ethnic groups on both sides of the Hengshan Mountains lived together, and because of the exchanges and integration between various ethnic groups, many people could also understand each other's speech.

The rear rushed to kill and the uproar was everywhere, and then the formation of the rear of the Xia army was in chaos, and I heard someone in the rear of the army shouting that the reinforcements of the Song army had arrived, and the generals and soldiers in the Western Xia army were all cold in their hearts, and they could no longer care about the front at this moment, and they retreated to the north.

The same scene as this situation was also staged outside the east gate of Shunzhou City, a torrent of cavalry rushed towards the Xia army's formation, causing great damage to the Xia army, so that the Western Xia soldiers and horses in the east and west directions of Shunzhou had to retreat to the north.

"My good man, look at this formation, there are 10,000 cavalry, and all the cavalry of the six roads of our entire Western Army add up to more than 20,000, is this cavalry our Great Song Dynasty?" Looking at the cavalry outside the city who wantonly attacked and slaughtered the Western Xia soldiers and horses, the generals guarding the gate of Shunzhou were almost incredulous, and all of them squinted their eyes and said.

"Yes, our Huanqing Road and the cavalry of Jingyuan Road are together, plus the captured Xia people war horses are only more than 10,000, where are there so many cavalry in my Great Song Dynasty!" The deputy next to him also said in surprise.

"Two commanders, be careful of deception!" The third-in-command next to him, Du Yuhou, reminded.

Hearing Du Yuhou say this, the deputy commander nodded hurriedly: "Master Mo is right, the Xia people have always been cunning and cruel, in order to earn the city, they can use any means to earn the city, if these more than 10,000 cavalry enter Shunzhou City, and then the inside and outside should be combined, Shunzhou will be difficult to protect!" ”

After thinking about it for a while, the commander said: "Close the city gate first, don't let these people enter the city, in case you wait for the report to the marshal and the marshal will be in charge!" ”

Hearing the order from the commander, someone immediately said: "Lord Commander, the thousands of cavalry that were killed are still outside the city!" ”

"I can't care so much!" The commander in charge of guarding the city gate shook his head and sighed: "Can a few thousand cavalry compare to Liu Shuai and the two breeders?" ”

The lack of cavalry in the Song army is the biggest weakness that has existed since the founding of the Song Dynasty, and seeing more than 10,000 cavalry outside the city, the Song army guarding the head of Shunzhou City is inevitably incredulous.

The most important reason for the lack of cavalry in the Song army was that the Song Dynasty lost its horse-producing areas. Starting from Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty basically formed four major horse-producing regions, namely: Yan-Liao District located in northern Hebei and Liaodong Peninsula; Hetao District, located in present-day Ningxia; It is located in the Hexi Corridor area of present-day Gansu Province and today's Xinjiang. To this day, these four regions are still the most important livestock producing areas in China.

Among them, the Yan-Liao area was the first to be incorporated into the Chinese territory and was the most traditional animal husbandry area of the Central Plains Dynasty. In particular, the Yanyun region was the most important animal husbandry base of the Central Plains Dynasty as early as the Xia Dynasty. The Hetao Plain was incorporated into the Chinese territory during the Qin Dynasty and was recovered during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, becoming the most important horse-producing area in the north at that time.

After the Hexi Corridor was incorporated into the Chinese territory during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it immediately became an important pastoral area on a par with the Hetao Plain. Among them, the Shandan Ranch at the foot of Helan Mountain is still the most important production area of military horses and camels in China today. The Western Regions were incorporated into the Chinese territory during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and quickly became an important pastoral area. One of the major characteristics of the Western Regions is that it has a large number of excellent horse breeds that are not found in other pastoral areas.

In addition to the famous "sweat and blood horse", the most famous specialty of the Western Regions is the famous Chinese Ili-Kazakh thoroughbred. Unlike the rare, almost deified, sweat-blooded horses, the Ili Kazakh thoroughbreds once served in the Central Plains army for a long time and in large numbers. Compared to the dwarfed Mongolian horses, the Ili-Kazakh thoroughbreds are tall, handsome, strong, explosive, enduror, and heavy-handed. In the past two thousand years, it has been the best war horse in China.

In the Song Dynasty, all of these four horse-producing areas were lost. Among them, the Hetao Plain and the Hexi Corridor were occupied by the Western Xia; As for the Western Regions, it was blocked by the Western Xia, Tibet, and Uighurs, and it was impossible for the Song Dynasty to obtain excellent war horses from the Western Regions in batches, which led to the fact that in the Song Dynasty, the handsome high-headed horses produced in the Western Regions became a rarity!

Looking at the mounts of the more than 10,000 cavalry galloping on the battlefield outside the city, each tall and divine horse, it is not comparable to the cavalry of different qualities bought from the Tubo, Uighur, and Western Xia merchants in the Great Song Dynasty.

……

Adopting the tactics of encircling three and one, the Xixia people did not have a single soldier stationed outside the south gate of Shunzhou City, but the soldiers in the city did not dare to have any carelessness, and were always vigilant against possible enemies.

In a state of war, ordinary people dare not walk around casually, and there is not a single pedestrian on the official road outside the south gate of Shunzhou City. On the wall of the south gate in the distance, an army could be seen coming towards Shunzhou, which immediately aroused the vigilance of the officers and soldiers guarding the city.

Just when the defenders on the city wall were extremely vigilant, a flying horse came to the city gate and shouted: "Xihe Road is slightly pacified so that Master Liu will lead reinforcements to arrive, and the young general and others will go with you!" ”

It is difficult to distinguish the authenticity from the false, and the commanders who defend the city are not good at making decisions without authorization, and they are busy ordering people to teach Shidao, Liu Zhongwu and others.

……

"To relieve the siege of Shunzhou, rely on Liu Jingluo!"

In front of the gate of the Shunzhou City Marshal's Mansion, the Seed Master Dao, Liu Zhongwu, and the Seed Master Zhong greeted the gate of the mansion and smiled at Liu Fa.

Liu Fa returned the salute and said: "The Holy Lord's intention was to cut down the summer in five ways, and Liu didn't dare to be late, but he didn't expect that Liu had just arrived in Shunzhou, so he picked up a big bargain!" ”

The 20,000 cavalry outside the city of Shunzhou attacked the Western Xia army in the east and west, and it was the cavalry under the command of Liu Fa, the commander of Xihe, who had more than 20,000 cavalry, thanks to the two great victories outside the gourd pass of the Zhenwu army and Zhuo Luocheng, and it was precisely because of the capture that the cavalry of Xihe Shi occupied more than seventy percent of the total strength.

Due to the arrival of the Xihe Army led by Liu Fa, compared with the Song and Xia armies in the front-line forces, the ratio of the two armies has reached one to one, coupled with the great victory outside the city of Shunzhou, more than 10,000 Xia troops were killed and wounded, and part of the Xia army's heavy grain and grass fell into the hands of the Song army, and the initiative once again fell into the hands of the Song army.

"I've seen Liu Shuai!" After Liu Fa greeted the seed master Dao and others, Lotte hurriedly stepped forward to give a salute.

In terms of official positions, all the officials here except for the four of Shidao and Liu Fa, the highest official position is Lotte, and Lotte is still a civil official, and Lotte's status is even more transcendent, and it is also the time for Lotte to come forward to speak.

Looking at Lotte, Liu Fa smiled and turned his gaze to the seed master Dao, Liu Yanqing, and the middle of the seed master and said with a smile: "The back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves, and it is really terrifying to be born in the future. ”

The planter laughed, "Liu Shuai is right, it seems that after this summer extinction, I can't wait to meet and return to the countryside, so I can make way for these juniors!" ”

Liu Zhongwu also smiled: "Yes, when we reach this age, it's time to go home and recuperate!" ”

"'The old man is in the bush, his ambition is thousands of miles, the martyr is in his twilight years, and his heart is strong.'" Lotte hurriedly arched his hand and said: "The four handsome men are at the peak of the Spring and Autumn Period, and my Great Song Dynasty has not yet recovered the prosperity of the Han and Tang Dynasties, so why rush to retreat!" ”

"A reader is a reader, and when you open your mouth, Cao Mengde's turtle longevity will be recited!" The planter laughed.

Liu Fa waved his hand and said: "Xia people often say, fear the wisdom of the planter and the courage of the old man, and now according to the old man, the wisdom of the planter and the courage of the old man are not as good as the flowery intestines of your kid......"

"Liu Shuai has been promoted to a humble position!" Lotte said modestly.

Liu Fa shook his head and said seriously: "No matter how brave a brave man like the old man is, it is just the courage of flesh and blood, can it withstand the collapse of gunpowder?" Although the handsome man is wise, can he irrigate Lingzhou like you, attack the city and send reinforcements, burn the summer camp and then rob the camp? ”

Liu Fa spoke like this, and his tone and praise were the same as saying that he was talking about his own son and nephew, which made the relationship between the two seem extremely close.

After Liu Fa's voice fell, Liu Zhongwu also said with a smile: "I have tasted it, Zhuge Kong, the prime minister of Shu Han, is wise and close to the demon, according to the old man, you are a demon in the world!" ”

"Xiaguan is embarrassed ......" said this to make Lotte a little embarrassed.

At this time, the planter said: "It's freezing outside, Liu Shuai should go into the warm pavilion of the marshal's mansion to talk!" ”

As he was about to enter the Shuaifu, Liu Fa suddenly stopped and looked at the guards standing on both sides with swords in hand, and asked the seed master Dao and the others puzzled: "By the way, Liu saw that your sergeant had something on his hands, what was he used for?" ”

The planter who accompanied him said: "The thing put on the hands of the soldiers is called gloves, which was invented by Le Zhongshu, and this thing is used for heating, which can greatly reduce the onset of chilblains on the hands of the soldiers......

……

Bang......

The sound of his palm slapping on the table sounded, Liu Fa's face was blue and angry, and he scolded in his mouth: "Shunzhou was besieged by heavy troops in Western Xia, and he was afraid that not only did he not rush to the rescue, but he fished in the water and took Lingzhou to invite credit, he Liu Yanqing is a shameless turtle bastard!" ”

The Western Army has always been fierce and bold, and the men in the northwest are even more upright, when they heard the seed master Dao mention the current situation between the enemy and us, and even heard that Liu Yanqing took the opportunity to take Lingzhou, which was already half-dead and on the verge of collapse, Liu Fa was immediately angry.

"Liu Shuai, forget it, the situation in Lingzhou, I have already presented it to Your Majesty, and I think that Your Majesty must be a pole in your heart!" The seed master persuaded him, and then said: "Now that my troops and horses from Huanqing, Xihe, and Jingyuan are all in one place, and the strength is almost equal to that of the Xia people, and the morale is even higher, it's time to discuss the next move of my three people." ”

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