At the foot of Tiandu Mountain, the palace.

At this time, the palace of Tiandu Mountain did not have the magnificence of later.

If you use the word beauty to describe it, there will be a few people who really captivate the city and the country in this era, one has entered the queen of the Song Dynasty, surnamed Zhang. One is still in the boudoir, and his surname has not changed. One is smaller, surnamed Xiao, far away in the Khitan territory in the north.

Relatively speaking, De Ying, the surname Zhang is the best, and it is possible that it is affected by Zhao Zhen De Ying, and there are no obvious flaws.

The other two have serious flaws, which are pitiful and hateful.

Because of the appearance of the unmoved, Yuan Hao built a lot of construction in Tiandu Mountain, and at that time, the palace here could really be called the palace.

Not yet, but there is a noble man living there.

Yeli Yuqi stood down and said, "Prince, you better go back." ”

"Uncle, why do you want to go back?"

"Tiandu Mountain's troops are thin, I'm afraid of ......"

"Then why are we invading the Song Dynasty?"

"Prince, you can't say it." Ye Li Yu begged nervously.

This person is Li Yuanhao's son Li Ningming, a very interesting person.

He is not the eldest son, Li Yuanhao's biological mother is Wei Mushi, influenced by her husband, she has a friendly attitude towards the Song Dynasty, after Li Deming's death, Li Yuanhao changed his policy towards the Song Dynasty, and Wei Mushi and his brother Wei Mushan Xi opposed it. Then Li Yuanhao said that they conspired to kill themselves and tied the entire Wei Mu clan to a stone and sank to the bottom of the river. Li Yuanhao held the poisoned wine in his own hands and said to his mother that the national law is intolerable, and it is difficult to fulfill filial piety, so he poisoned his biological mother to death.

Whether Murong Shanxi wanted to murder Li Yuanhao, Zheng Lang was very skeptical.

But at the beginning of Li Yuanhao, there were indeed many tribes that opposed it, so they couldn't figure it out, what the Song Dynasty wanted was only a surrender attitude, as long as they surrendered, gave you money, food, and trade with it, tacitly ignored Li Deming's smuggling, called the Song Dynasty vassal state, what is the difference between it and the founding of the country? Once the war began, there were Tibetans in the south, Khitan in the north, Song Dynasty in the east, and Uighurs in the west.

There are many people who believe that Yuan Hao will drag the Tangut people into ruin.

At that time, Yuan Hao's wife was also the daughter of Wei Mu's family, so he questioned Li Yuanhao. Li Yuanhao was furious and ordered Wei Mu's seclusion to be imprisoned. Later, Wei Mushi gave birth to a son, Li Yuanhao's concubine Ye Li Yuqi's sister Ye Li Dulan slandered, saying that the child did not look like Yuan Hao. Yuan Hao was furious, killed Wei Mu's mother and son, and established Li Ningming, the son of Ye Lidulan, as the crown prince.

However, this is a very unusual person, surnamed Ge Renhou, who does not like glory and wealth, and likes Confucianism. Seeing his father's various atrocities, he gradually had the idea of escaping from the world, believed in Taoism, and wanted to cultivate the immortal path and stay away from the world.

Li Yuanhao was angry, so he asked him, what is the way of health preservation?

Li Ningming replied, he is not fond of killing.

Li Yuanhao asked again what is the way to govern the country.

Li Ningming replied, don't be good at having little desire.

For cultivators, a pure heart and few desires are the most important premise.

Li Yuanhao was furious, you kid doesn't speak decently, and you are not a talent for hegemony.

I didn't like him very much, and ordered the prince not to see him.

Li Ningming didn't bother to pay attention to this cruel father, so he often came to the palace of Tiandu Mountain to avoid the world.

Li Yuanhao definitely did something wrong, although he had the luck of going against the sky, he planted the fruits of evil for Western Xia. In the end, the party members were not only exterminated, but also exterminated. A huge nation has completely disappeared into the long river of history.

Li Ningming did not do well, if he inherited Li Deming's foundation, maybe there would be a honeymoon period with the Song Dynasty, but he inherited Li Yuanhao's foundation, even if he ascended the throne alive, under his cowardly policy, the Western Xia people would be destroyed by the Song Dynasty.

Li Ningming asked again: "Uncle, originally the two countries did not invade each other, why did I stay in Tiandu Mountain, and I was afraid that the Song people would invade?" ”

You have violated other people's countries and hurt other people's people, and retribution has come!

It's not that Li Ningming is different, many Western Xia nobles have similar thoughts in their hearts.

There was a strange scene in history, and later whenever the party members presided over the power, the Western Xia and the Song Dynasty could have a period of peace and friendship, but the Liang family and other Han people presided over the state affairs of the Western Xia, and the Song Dynasty was bitten, which was even more powerful.

Yeli begged to answer.

I don't understand, what is Yuan Hao fighting for? The title of king, without this title, the Tangut people also regarded Yuan Hao as a king. Invaded the Song Dynasty, what wealth was captured, many people died in the Song Dynasty, many people died in the Tangut people, and the people were not able to make a living, so why bother?

He said eagerly, "Prince, you can't say this in front of the king. ”

Li Ningming did not answer.

Yeli was helpless, and after thinking for a moment, he never thought that Zheng Lang was easy to bully.

In the first battle of Wulongchuan, he killed his brother and lost his armor.

After coming to Jingyuan Road, he immediately trained the army to build the city, and built the thin waist city with Fan Zhongyan.

He also resettled the people north of Tiansheng Village to the rear of Weizhou.

In order to prevent himself from sending troops to obstruct immigration, he let the Song army bloom a flower on the front line.

This move seems to be weak, but it is actually very powerful, and if the Western Xia invades Jingyuan Road again in the future, it will lose the support of many tribes to the Western Xia, and even affect the logistics.

But on the whole, he has the same surname as Fan Zhongyan and other officials, and is a civilian official who focuses on defense and is supplemented by offense.

So 2,000 people were stationed in the Tiandu Mountain Palace and left the palace.

Li Ningming appeared in the palace, but Zheng Lang didn't expect it.

Not necessarily a good thing, and the war will be more confusing.

……

Blooming again.

Zheng Lang mobilized 7,000 cavalry.

At this time, Zheng Lang had several secret hole cards.

The first is the Jurchen soldiers, the role of the vanguard has been said many times in the romance, and in fact his role cannot be underestimated, such as the battle of Wang Ji and Wang Kaitu Maochuan, it was the terrifying combat effectiveness of hundreds of Qing border troops that inspired the grain team and defeated more than 30,000 troops in Western Xia.

And Zheng Lang wrote a letter, asking the Yang brothers to spare a lot of money to get some Jurchen soldiers, and they didn't expect more, and there were only 3,000 Jurchen soldiers when Ah Gu sent his family. But if you can increase this force to more than 1,500 people, and use them to charge into battle, even in the field, you can really fight the Tanguts.

The second is to get some Tibetan horses through trading.

The environment of Qinghai is far inferior to that of the Tang Dynasty, and it is still an important horse breeding base, and the quality of Tibetan horses is still better than that of the Hetao horses of Western Xia.

Together with the local horses, Zheng Lang organized fifteen thousand cavalry.

It's not like the Western Xia was all cavalry, but it was no longer the cumbersome Song army that used to be almost entirely infantry.

The third is a simple armor, and the whole armor is the product of the combination of Mongolian cavalry armor and Tang chain mail.

The inside is covered with skin or paper armor, and the protection ability is limited, mainly to keep out the cold.

The outside is covered with a layer of iron cloth shirt, that is, a layer of barbed wire, which is used to defend against sword slashes and arrow crossbow shots.

The defensive effect is limited, but if the arrow is not strong enough to break the barbed wire, only a small part of the tip of the arrow will be drilled through, and the outside of the arrow cluster will be covered by the iron net, which will not cause damage to the soldiers.

But this defense is ultimately limited.

and iron armor on the shoulders and elbows, on the chest and abdomen, and on the top of the head. Protect the vital parts of the soldiers.

The protection ability is not as good as the current armor of the Song Dynasty, and the advantage is that the cost is low, Zheng Lang made a batch in Weizhou City, and many officials thought that Zheng Lang was saving costs to make this batch of "inferior armor". Otherwise, there were more cavalry than the original cavalry, and the imperial court finances did not have the ability to let them fully arm the Song Dynasty military armor, so they could not be like the Tangut people, using animal skins to make clothes and armor.

In fact, another function of it is negligent, that is, speed.

The Song Dynasty desperately thickened and weighted the armor, and the Tangut people used limited funds to build the Iron Harrier, all considering defensive capabilities, and no one paid attention to speed.

The fourth is gunpowder, and now Zheng Lang doesn't know how to use it well. But knowing that playing well will make a miracle difference.

The cavalry owned by the Song Dynasty was beyond the imagination of the beggar of the wilderness, and the number of war horses it owned was equally amazing. Moreover, before the war, Zheng Lang brought hundreds of pack horses, which increased the speed of the battle.

The generals were dumbfounded, and Zheng Lang asked people to order Zhao Bao, Zhao Zhong, and Zhao Sheng to come in.

He said in a deep voice: "This time, you must obey General Di's orders, let you enter as you enter, and let you retreat." ”

"Whoa."

"After the end of this war, plus the previous merits, I will combine the two merits, not only let the imperial court grant you an official position, but also send people to the northeast to find a way to bring your family to our dynasty, and then let Your Majesty allocate funds to build houses in the capital, so that they can also enjoy the rich and stable life of our dynasty."

"Whoa." It's louder.

Let them step aside.

The second flower bloomed, and there were fewer people in the south, led by Guo Kui and Wang Zhi, and the main force in the north, led by Di Qing. But the petals open in reverse, from east to west. Continue to persuade the remaining tribes, but this time the attitude is not so good.

If you don't obey the order, our father-in-law will not treat you as a citizen of the Song Dynasty.

If you don't talk about it, I will treat you as enemies in the future.

It worked, and some of the tribes who hesitated to wait and see moved south again with their goods and livestock. There are also a few tribes who have asked the Tangut people for help, let us enter the territory of your country.

Yeli begged to agree, but with kind words, I will protect you.

can't move, after moving to attack the Song Dynasty, there are no longer so many eyes and ears.

But all kinds of camouflage tricks finally made Yeli beggar deceived.

……

At the end of October, the sun was dusk and was about to set in the western mountains.

It is also the shortest time of the year.

The bitter west wind blew, carrying layers of cold.

Di Qing and Guo Kui joined the two armies in the north of Wuyan Gorge.

Di Qing looked at Guo Kui and asked, "General Guo, are you ready?" ”

The two have the same disease, Di Qing is in the position quickly, and many people think that he is lucky and stained with Zheng Lang's light. Guo Kui seems to have risen to the top faster, and has not had any achievements so far. Others even think that Guo Kui is stained with Zheng Lang's light. However, considering the glorious sacrifice of his brother, not many people objected.

But both are arrogant and eager to prove themselves.

"General Di, don't worry," Guo Kui said, holding the pestle in his hand.

"By the way, I have good news for you," Di Qing waved his hand, and the soldiers brought out two scouts, one of the hundred or so scouts sent by Zheng Lang a few days ago.

With two bright brains, standing in the army is very eye-catching.

Di Qing said: "You tell General Guo about who is in the Tiandu Palace. ”

"General Guo, the little explorer heard that there is the prince of the Western Xia Kingdom in the Tiandu Palace, and there are only two thousand Western Xia enemies guarding the palace."

"The crown prince of the Western Xia Kingdom?" Guo Kui almost fainted with joy.

Di Qing laughed.

The opportunity to make a contribution has arrived.

Guo Kui immediately said: "Report to your subordinates." ”

The prince who doesn't want to make meritorious service and captures the prince of the Western Xia Kingdom, what kind of merit will it be?

Stimulated by this merit, all the soldiers will go crazy.

Di Qing said: "Don't worry. ”

This is definitely an accident, and it will also disrupt the original arrangement of Zheng Lang's plan. And he said, "Let us take counsel." ”

was more successful in the early stage, Zheng Lang attached great importance to the scouts, although Yeli begged to meet the brave generals of the Western Xia people, don't take it seriously, he didn't meet an opponent, that's it. The upper position is due to the strength of the family, and the younger sister is the credit of the queen.

But not a mediocre general. He also attached great importance to the intelligence of the Song Dynasty.

In order to confuse, Zheng Lang retreated first, retreated to Haoshuichuan, sent people to collect the remains of the sacrificed soldiers, built a monument, and trained the army in Haoshuichuan.

If you can't behave too mediocre, there will be a demon when things are abnormal. It is necessary to do some measures, which is in line with Zheng Lang's identity. But it is more necessary to act, but these actions must make Yeli beggars think that Zheng Lang is the same as Fan Zhongyan, focusing on defense and will not take the initiative to attack the territory of Western Xia.

Including Di Qing's troops.

From Haoshuichuan to Wuyan Gorge, there are dozens of miles of road, and then to Tiandu Mountain, Yeli beggar will have time to defend.

Therefore, the time from Haoshuichuan to Wuyan Gorge is omitted.

And then another flower bloomed,

It's not a march, it's a coercion of people to move.

Even if they meet at Wuyan Gorge, Yeli beggars will not pay much attention.

But this place is already located on the west side of Wuyan Gorge, only a hundred miles away from Tiandu Mountain.

Then when it gets dark, you can take advantage of the cover of the night, even though the night road is difficult, but you can reach the Tiandu Mountain camp before the fourth watch.

The camp of Tiandu Mountain took the initiative to avoid, and could reach the palace and the cave temples, in addition to the two thousand troops in front of the palace, there was also a battalion, about six or seven hundred soldiers. If you want the enemy to be defenseless, you must first kill all the soldiers of this battalion.

It's all, no one can be missed, and no one is allowed to ventilate.

At dawn, the soldiers sent out the palace, tried to solve the battle in two hours, captured the great monks in the temple and some nobles in the palace, quickly retreated, and then led the crazy Western Xia army into an ambush circle.

But what changes will the emergence of a prince bring?

The two discussed for a while, and Guo Kui said: "It's done, the more princes the better, and the enemy is even more crazy." ”

But Zheng Lang must be notified and let him prepare in the rear.

The scout went to the rear.

Di Qing ordered the whole army to eat hastily and rest after dinner.

Then sat on the grass and chatted with Guo Kui, and said: "Your brother died heroically, it was Zheng Xianggong who returned your brother's innocence, and fortunately, all the sacrificed soldiers in Shuichuan were innocent." ”

"General Di, don't say anything, I will repay Zheng Xianggong."

The two stopped talking, and lay on the turf as if they had not slept.

As the sky began to enter the second watch, the night wind became colder, and they were woken up by the patrolling soldiers.

Standing up and immediately waking up all the soldiers who were taking a nap, Di Qing said: "The great Song Dynasty is majestic, and it will start to rise from today." ”

"Whoa."

"Let's go."

Seven thousand horsemen quickly disappeared into the darkness of the night.