Just when the war in the five states of Dingyan was in full swing, Yang Yi, who was finally looking forward to the two cavalry to take over the defense, let Chong Jianzhong garrison Guazhou, and suddenly killed back with the 20,000 elites of the Western Expedition, like a whirlwind, swept through Liangzhou, Shatuo, and Yingli City, and Yang Yi ignored these small towns and Xixia villages along the way, and buried his head in Xingqing Mansion, the capital of Western Xia.

Near Xingqing Mansion, there are still 20,000 soldiers who can fight in Western Xia, plus the newly recruited old and weak and makui (female soldiers), there are about 60,000 people, which is the last belongings of the Empress Dowager Liang.

Qingxing Mansion is blessed with a unique geographical location, with the Yellow River in the east, Helan Mountain in the west, and the dangerous Qingtong Gorge in the south, each of which is a natural barrier.

Yang Yi's 20,000 troops suddenly came from Hexi, causing great panic in Qingxing Mansion, and Xia general He Langluo led an army of 10,000 to defend Qingtongxia, preparing to use this natural danger to stop Yang Yi's 20,000 army.

Yang Yi did not encounter He Langluo in such a dangerous pass as Qingtongxia, but used a sheepskin raft to suddenly cross the Yellow River in a relatively gentle place; These sheepskin rafts are light and easy to carry, and can be used to cross the river after blowing and tying the mouth tightly, which is the thing that the nomadic people are accustomed to crossing the river.

When the Song army crossed the river at night, it took three hours, and 20,000 horses crossed the east bank of the Yellow River without realizing it, and flew to Lingzhou overnight.

Lingzhou, across the river from Xingqing Mansion, the capital of Western Xia, the Tang Dynasty had placed Shuo Fangdu in Lingzhou, after the invasion of Western Xia, Lingzhou was used as the capital, renamed Xiping Mansion, and then because Lingzhou is located in the plain, there is no danger to defend, and the Western Xia built the capital on the other side of the Yellow River.

As soon as Yang Yi's 20,000 troops arrived in Lingzhou, he didn't say a word, and immediately began to attack the city.

When the news reached Xingqing Mansion, Empress Dowager Liang was shocked, Lingzhou must not be lost, otherwise Yang Yi's 20,000 troops would gain the stronghold of Lingzhou, and the connection between Xingqing Mansion and the five states of Dingnan would be cut off.

The five states of Dingyan are currently under the attack of Zhang Qi and Chongpu, and they are already in danger, and if they cut off the connection with Xingqing Mansion again, the military spirit will inevitably be shaken, which will lead to an avalanche-like rout.

Under the strict orders of the Empress Dowager Liang, He Langluo had to lead 20,000 horses to cross the river at dawn to support Lingzhou.

On a high slope two miles away from Lingzhou, Yang Yi was wearing armor, stationed on the top of the slope, watching the Lei Xiu siege the city, the morning sun had just risen, but the golden light could not penetrate the gunpowder smoke on the head of Lingzhou City, and the continuous explosion sound was like a muffled thunder on the horizon, rumbling continuously.

Liu Laohu came from the bottom of the slope and howled excitedly before he got close: "My lord, my lord, He Langluo has begun to cross the river, let's do it!" Adult ......"

Yang Yi glanced at him and scolded: "Hurry up, are you Liu Laohu still afraid that He Langluo's shrimp soldiers and crabs will not be able to cross the river?" ”

"Hahaha, the last general is naturally not afraid, but the book of war doesn't say that it will be attacked halfway!"

"You've even read a book of war? This is a new thing, but to fight, you have to be improvised, copying the book of war is a dead end, Western Xia is now stormy, He Langluo's army is unstable, even if he lets all 20,000 horses cross the river, we can clean him up, and wait, wait for others to come over a little more, lest we go around looking for him. ”

"Your Excellency is wise, and the last will admire it!"

"Get out!"

Yang Yi said it easily, but in fact, he didn't dare to take it lightly, the situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly, and a little carelessness could bury the favorable situation.

After receiving the report, he asked Lei Xiu to lead 8,000 men and horses to feint to attack Lingzhou, but he was ready to maneuver at any time, and he led 12,000 men and horses to quickly force He Langluo to cross the river.

Around He Langluo's crossing of the river, Yang Yi sent two thousand men and horses, with dozens of people in a group, like an impenetrable net, to hunt down all the scouts sent by He Langluo, making him a blind man.

He Langluo, who was directing the crossing of the river, was worried, but the Empress Dowager Liang gave a strict order, and he had to support Lingzhou, and he also knew that if he didn't support, Lingzhou would definitely not support for three days.

For Yang Yi, He Langluo really hated it, originally if Yang Yi took Xingqing Mansion directly, He Langluo had enough confidence to make Qingtongxia become the cemetery of the Song army, now it's okay, Yang Yi suddenly crossed the river to attack Lingzhou, and a knife was inserted in the soft underbelly of Western Xia, and the situation was reversed all of a sudden, He Langluo had to give up the danger of Qingtongxia and risk crossing the river to support Lingzhou.

Just after midnight, when He Langluo's 20,000 troops had crossed two-thirds, Yang Yi finally ordered to launch, and 12,000 Song troops jumped on their horses and killed the Xia army crossing the river like waves.

He Langluo was not unprepared, he had already placed a wooden fence at the head of the river to resist horses and scattered thistles to prevent the Song army from attacking halfway.

It's a pity that Yang Yi is also prepared for these, he selected hundreds of empty horses, blindfolded the horses, drenched the horse's tail with grease, tied the cluster grenade to these empty horses and lit it, and then ignited the grease-stained horsetail, and let these crazy war horses rush towards the Xia army's defense line.

After the blindfolded horse is burned by the fire, no matter if there is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire in front of you, he will only rush forward vigorously. Although the Xia army rained down arrows, dozens of war horses eventually rushed into the Xia army's defense line; Huge explosions sounded one after another, and one by one the Xia army was blown up, with broken arms and stumps flying in the air, and dozens of huge fireballs raged, which was enough to make the Xia army's formation chaotic.

Taking advantage of the chaos of the Xia army, thousands of Song troops rushed up with iron shields to clear the iron thistles on the periphery, and as soon as the passage was cleared out, Yang Yi pointed at his long knife, and suddenly ten thousand horses galloped, rushing towards the Xia army's large array; The earth-shattering shouting and killing made the entire Yellow River boil, the Song army marched like a cone, the long horse lance ploughed out a bloody rain, and the huge momentum of the war horse knocked out one by one the Xia army, and when it landed, it was no longer human; Yang Yi's feet crossed the dark clouds and covered the snow, and he held a Damascus knife shaped like a crescent moon. And the twenty guards around him all used this crescent moon treasure knife to kill people like chopping melons and vegetables, leaving almost no corpses everywhere they passed, and people with poor self-control ability would vomit on the spot when they saw such a tragic scene, let alone dare to face the battle.

Under their fierce slashing, the Song army was like a flood rushing into the sand, advancing unstoppably, and the defeated Xia army could not retreat, and was forced into the Yellow River in batches.

The boatmen on the river panicked, and they sailed their boats to the shore, and some boats capsized because of too many Xia troops who climbed up, and the whole boat was covered by the hull of the boat, and they became drowned ghosts without even making a scream.

Once it is broken through, there is almost no failure to rout, and the Xia army died tragically under the blades and horses' hooves, but there were not many drowning deaths, and the blood flowed on the river, and the floating corpses flowed.

Yang Yi raised his sword and jumped on the horse, slashing all the way, the knife was like a horse, the momentum was like a long rainbow, and after the formation was chiseled, he immediately let the soldiers around him shout in unison:

"Those who descend will not be killed!"

"Those who descend will not be killed!"

…… In the shouting of the Song army, all the Xia soldiers fell to the ground one by one like the wind blowing wheat waves, including He Langluo, who also thought that it was a blessing to be a prisoner at this time.

Yang Yi ordered to quickly clean up the battlefield, and then put these captives together under the city of Lingzhou, and then let Renduo Baozhong and He Langluo fall under the city to persuade them to surrender, and the thousands of defenders in Lingzhou City saw this situation, and opened the door and surrendered without thinking too much.

At this point, Ren Duo Baozhong really admired Yang Yi in his heart, he always felt that Yang Yi's original series of big victories had a fluke element, but this time, Ren Duo Baozhong was convinced in his heart; As early as Hexi, Yang Yi asked people to collect sheepskin rafts, and at that time, Renduo Baozhong didn't understand what Yang Yi was doing by collecting so many sheepskin rafts.

Now everything is clear, it turns out that when Yang Yi was in Hexi, he had already planned today's action; He waved his army non-stop to make the appearance of going straight to Xingqing Mansion, and asked the Xia army to deploy troops in Qingtongxia on the west side of the Yellow River, but he did not attack Qingtongxia, but quietly crossed the river and attacked Lingzhou; And Lingzhou is the salvation of Western Xia, so he has to cross the river to support, which creates an opportunity for Yang Yi to attack half-crossing.

It can be said that Yang Yi turned the disadvantage into an advantage in an instant, and unless he had superb military talent, he would definitely do it, and Western Xia would be finished!

As soon as Lingzhou is lost, the already precarious five states are bound to collapse immediately, leaving tens of thousands of old, weak, sick and disabled people who are frightened on the side of Xingqing Mansion, and there is no capable general, only waiting for death.

Yang Yi didn't care what Renduo Baozhong thought, and after entering the city, he immediately cleaned up Lingzhou City, and all the prisoners were imprisoned in a military camp in the west of the city and strictly guarded.

After doing this, Yang Yi sent Liu Laohu to lead 5,000 men and horses all the way to the north, although there were no troops in Western Xia north of Lingzhou, but it was the main pastoral area of Western Xia, and the herdsmen must not be allowed to drive cattle, sheep and horses to Liao State.

In addition, Lei Xiu was sent to lead 5,000 men and horses to the east, giving a big surprise to the Xia army in the five states; I don't believe it, three sides, how long can you hold out.

Yang Yi took 10,000 horses to guard Lingzhou, and sent two or three thousand men and horses to pretend to cross the river at different places every day, making the Xia army on the side of Xingqing Mansion all soldiers, and they couldn't stop worrying.

At the same time, he ordered the fine work lurking in Xingqing Mansion to continue to spread rumors and plot against Western Xia officials.

The other is to collect boats and build bamboo rafts in preparation for crossing the river.

(To be continued)