After receiving the urgent military information from the front, Helian Tieshu, who was sitting in the rear camp, was also dumbfounded. A thousand-man cavalry team, the company battalion with supplies all disappeared. The Western Xia army, located in the small city in the rear, did not notice it at all. How is this possible?

Helian Tieshu, who learned the news, first thought that it would be because these cavalry were greedy for merit and directly disobeyed the order and ran to the border pass of the Song Dynasty to loot.

The cavalry team that could transport supplies traced all the way to the territory of the Song Dynasty, and did not find a single Western Xia scout. Not to mention, such a huge cavalry force of a thousand people.

Helian Tieshu, who felt that something was abnormal, immediately personally led a cavalry team of 5,000 people from the Xiliang Mansion to the place where the cavalry battalion disappeared. After a careful search, the headless corpses of hundreds of cavalrymen abandoned in the valley were discovered.

Looking at these headless corpses, the anger in Helian Tieshu's heart can be imagined. Although he did not know who did it. But near the Yellow River, who else can do this kind of bloody case, except for the Song Dynasty army?

Since the last time he was in Jiangnan, Helian Tieshu instigated the Western Xia lord to launch a national war to invade the Song Dynasty. It's a pity that the lord of the country and many ministers in the court vetoed his proposal. even accused him of communiquing personal vendetta and losing his prestige as the general of Western Xia Zhengdong.

Now with this tragedy, Helian Tieshu once again folded and asked the lord of the country to intensify the war of aggression in the winter of this year. The reason is that this year's war was initiated by the people of the Song Dynasty, and they also had a reason to go to war.

It's a pity that his idea is very good, but he is far away from the border. Soon after, I received a reply from the lord of the country. The above sentence 'There is evidence' made Helian Tieshu immediately blind.

In recent years, Western Xia has been on Qinfeng Road and Yongxing Military Road to fight the autumn wind of the Song Dynasty. But in the face of the accusations of the Song Dynasty's monarchs and ministers, the Western Xia side always used no evidence as an excuse. Let the soldiers and civilians of the Song Dynasty hate it, but they are helpless.

Then this time the border cavalry battalion was attacked, and there was no evidence from the Western Xia side. If they take the initiative to provoke a war, who would dare to guarantee that Liao and Tubo will be in peace. Won't you pick up a cheap one that falls from the sky when the Western Xia and the Song Dynasty are fighting to the death?

In the words of the lord of the Western Xia, although the strength of the Western Xia has recovered a lot. But if they want to find a national war with the Song Dynasty, their strength is still very insufficient. Once the strength consumed in the national war is too much. Western Xia will even usher in the crisis of losing the country.

Such a risk, the lord of the Western Xia country naturally did not dare to take it. And Helian Tieshu's reply to the lord of the country can add him a cavalry team of 5,000 people. But he was not allowed to provoke too much border dispute before the Yellow River froze.

In the face of the very harsh wording of the lord of the country, Helian Tieshu also felt very helpless. Even if he despised the strength of the Song Dynasty's border army, he also knew that once a major war broke out, Western Xia would not be able to fight a protracted war.

This time, he commanded a team of 10,000 people, and the battle strategy agreed with the lord of Western Xia was not only to increase the riots on the border of the Song Dynasty and plunder manpower and material resources. More or more cameras take over the city of Lanzhou. Seize a frontier city for the Western Xia to land in the Song Dynasty.

Now the lord vetoed his proposal and gave him the command of five thousand more men. This kind of slap to give a sweet date shows that Helian Tieshu is still very favored in the heart of the lord of Western Xia, but he will not be allowed to mess around.

Seeing that the proposal was rejected, Helian Tieshu sat in the large cavalry camp on the shore for a long time, and infiltrated by sending small groups of cavalry for several days. I already knew that the cavalry of the Song Dynasty border army on the opposite side this year seemed to be much bolder than in previous years.

Compared with previous years, the Yellow River was not frozen. These border cavalry did not dare to approach the Yellow River at will. Around the Yellow River this year, there are many shadows of border cavalry.

What puzzled Helian Tieshu even more was that. The strength of these border cavalry seems to have grown compared to previous years. Many of the reconnaissance teams he sent here one after another were invested in the Song Dynasty but never returned.

In addition, the spy personnel, who have been extremely successful in gathering intelligence in the past, have rarely been able to deliver valuable information this year. The information about the defenders of the border cities seems to be no different from previous years. These signs made Helian Tieshu feel a sense of crisis.

When Helian Iron Tree had a headache over the constant loss of Scout Riders. Zhao Xiaoxi, who is far away in Lanzhou City, is also making final preparations. It was not far from the freezing of the Yellow River, and Zhao Xiaoxi continued to select soldiers from the border army to supplement the cavalry.

From the information fed back by the Buyi Pavilion, another cavalry team of 5,000 people was transferred from the territory of Western Xia. This cavalry team. It is from the family of Tuoba Yu. In this way, the number of Western Xia cavalry crossing the border this year may reach nearly 20,000.

In response to this situation, Zhao Xiaoxi quickly ordered the garrison of Yongxing Military Road to divert the people on the border into the city to take refuge as much as possible. As for the major fortresses on Qinfeng Road, they all sent cavalry troops to teach them shield and arrow joint defense tactics.

At the same time, in order to cope with the entry of soldiers after the freeze, Zhao Xiaoxi also asked these fortresses to transfer the old and weak women and children into the border cities as much as possible to take refuge. The people left behind in the fortress are more combatants. It not only plays a warning role, but to a certain extent, it can consume the strength of the Western Xia cavalry army.

Compared with the defensive measures of Yongxing Military Road, there is not much change from the past. This year, the direction of key defense is concentrated on the front line of Qinfeng Road. The main forces of the three border armies were all stationed in the first-line cities for defense.

The materials that Zhao Xiaoxi proposed to the imperial court before the war have also been replenished to the border cities in batches at this moment. To ensure that there was no shortage of military and civilian materials in these cities, Zhao Xiaoxi also strictly ordered the cities to repair the city walls.

The craftsmen transferred from the major prefectures and cities are also working overtime to make defensive equipment at this moment to increase the defense capacity of each city. With the financial and material support of the imperial court, the officials of each city are naturally happy to be overseers.

For officials who dare to derelict their duties, Zhao Xiaoxi found one and did not give the other party any chance to explain at all. After the evidence was conclusive, he was directly pulled to the noon gate and beheaded to show the public. There was never a rule that a scribe could not be killed.

Not to mention the prefects and city guards in the border cities, even the governors and transit envoys of Qin Fenglu faced this county prince who sacrificed Shang Fang's sword at every turn. also dared to be angry but did not dare to speak, for fear that Zhao Xiaoxi would give them a prelude.

The Jiangnan corruption case has proved that the imperial court attaches great importance to the opinion of this county prince. Liangzhejiang Road Zhizhou, being asked by the Autumn Queen is ironclad evidence. didn't even give a chance to exile the army, and directly gave it a click.

With this kind of bloody example, Qin Fenglu's officials are naturally very jealous. In terms of transporting materials and cooperating with the border army, he seems to be very honest. This also allowed the generals of the border army to finally enjoy a respectful and preferential treatment.

It is clear that the favor they are receiving now comes from Zhao Xiaoxi's affirmation of their contribution to guarding the border. If they win a big victory over Western Xia this time, they will all be rewarded for their merits. If one of them neglected his duties this time, causing the city to be breached by Western Xia, the consequences would also be very serious.

Compared with Zhao Xiaoxi's killing of civilian officials, evidence is needed, and killing these officers is really determined by the battle record. This time, because the imperial court was interested in sorting out the chaotic situation on the border with Western Xia, their border troops could also be described as changing guns.

Whether it is military uniforms or weapons, they are all new. At this time of the year, bows and arrows that were unusually lacking were piled up in all cities at this moment.

In addition, there is no need to worry about the food and grass crisis, and if they can't guard the city they are responsible for, they really have no shame to face the Bian Yi father and the court. was slashed by Zhao Xiaoxi, and they had nothing to say when they asked themselves.

Under the organization of Zhang Tingguang, a defensive giant, and Zhao Xiaoxi, a non-negotiable Qincha, under strict orders. All the border cities have entered, and preparations are under intense precedence before the big battle.

It is clear that the Song Dynasty is preparing for war this year, and if the news is not transmitted, it will be enough to lead to a great defeat in the Western Xia war this year. Those hidden spies can also be said to have tried their best to pass on the news.

But in the face of the seemingly pervasive counter-espionage killers, those spies who can successfully sneak out of the city. Often before they reach the border, they are caught by the killers who follow them. Even ordinary people are not allowed to get even half a step close to the border at such a moment.

Nowadays, the only information that can be received by the Western Xia side is the false information that has been transmitted by the counter-espionage. For each city, strengthen the repair of the city defense, store the materials to defend the city and settle in with the army. Helian Tieshu, the commander of Western Xia, has no way of knowing.

Even Helian Tieshu realized that the situation this year was a little unusual, and sent a reconnaissance team to infiltrate the Song Realm to find out information. However, in the face of the heavy resistance of the cavalry of the border army of the Song Dynasty, these reconnaissance cavalry teams often suffered heavy losses, and they could not find any favorable information.

When Helian Tieshu increased the infiltration of the reconnaissance cavalry, Zhao Xiaoxi, who knew that Western Xia did not dare to enter the country with large soldiers, directly sent five teams of 1,000 people. In addition, the expansion of two new thousand teams that are good at riding skills are all sent to the border to find trouble with those Western Xia scouts.

Although some cavalry soldiers were not allowed to be killed and brought back, the squad encountered again and again. Let the rookie cavalry of the cavalry army continue to grow rapidly in this kind of small cavalry encounters.

In addition to the cavalry team in the three border armies of Qinfeng Road, Zhao Xiaoxi also expanded the number of cavalry to more than 10,000 before the war. As long as the first cavalry battle is fought, Zhao Xiaoxi will be confident that he will let the Western Xia enter the country and harass this year and pay a heavy price.

Compared with Zhao Xiaoxi, who was almost immersed in the cavalry battalion and trained these more and more mature cavalry, Zhang Tingguang once again became a commander. The defense measures in the border area of Qinfeng Road are constantly improving.

According to Zhao Xiaoxi's explanation, the Song Dynasty not only wanted to make the Western Xia suffer heavy losses, but also to ensure the safety of the border people to the greatest extent. This means that Zhang Tingguang must do a good job in the defense of the border and let Zhao Xiaoxi affirm his ability.

Although the battle plan was formulated by Zhang Tingguang, it was also Zhao Xiaoxi who finally issued the order. In the face of the majesty of this minister, the officers and soldiers of Zhucheng on the border also did not dare to slack off. The whole city mobilized to build the city into a solid foundation.

After nearly a month of preparation, the cavalry of the two armies, which had been patrolling the Yellow River, sent back to their respective commanders the information that the Yellow River had frozen. This means that the big war is really on the verge of breaking out! (To be continued......)