The Xiping Military Division was located in the westernmost part of the land west of the river, bordering Longyou to the south, and adjacent to the Uighurs to the north.

Guazhou, the seat of the Xiping Military Division, and further west is the important town of Shazhou, which is the Dunhuang of later generations.

Further forward in Shazhou, the top is Yumen Pass, below is Yangguan, and the two passes are parallel.

is the so-called: I don't know the outer road of Yumen Pass, there is no reason to go out of Yangguan in the west, Yangguan is three stacks, and Yumen sings.

The army of 50,000, hungry and thirsty, Xiaoxing stayed overnight, went out of Xiliang, passed through Ganzhou, and came to Suzhou outside the city on this day.

Suzhou and Ganzhou both belong to the Gansu Military Division, of which Ganzhou is the place of governance, and Suzhou is at the junction with the Xiping Military Division, which is the Jiuquan of later generations.

At this time, the defender of Suzhou was Zhensanshan Huangxin, and when he saw the arrival of the army, he hurried out of the city to greet him.

In addition to Yuan Ying, Zhao Ta also brought Luda, Wu Song, Qin Ming, Hua Rong, Guo Sheng, and other generals Xie Zhen and Xie Bao.

Entering the city while speaking, Zhao Ta sat in the conference hall and listened to Huang Xin's report on the military situation.

The movements of the Xiping Military Division were all sent by Huang Xin to scout, and then sent directly to Xingzhou, so Huang Xin was the most familiar.

I only listened to his report, and said that Guazhou originally did not have many soldiers, and later recruited some people after changing the flag, but it was mostly a sand thief.

The sand thief is the horse thief in the desert, the sound of the sea.

There were all these sand pirates, including the Dang Xiang, the Gaochang Uighurs, the Yellow-headed Uighurs who were scattered by Tong Guan and his troops in the early years, the old Qiuzi Kingdom, the Caotou Tatars, and even the Han Chinese.

There are many deserts in the northwest, and there are two large blocks adjacent to each other in the original Western Xia, and there are even more on the Uighur side, and these sand thieves are familiar with the terrain and adapt to the environment of the Hanhai Sea, not only intercepting and killing the people of the past, but sometimes even the idea of some small towns or small military camps.

Except for some ancient cities built of bricks and stones, repaired from generation to generation, and standing for thousands of years, the small cities below are actually earthen cities.

The earth city is the earth embryo sand city, it is said to be a city, but it is a fort, the inside is not very large, the defense is also poor, and the sand thieves often loot and attack.

As for the small military camp, there are at most dozens of soldiers, and there are a dozen or so people, all of whom are inquiring for news, or stationed as flag soldiers, and the sand thieves will also attack such places to replenish the military weapons in the ranks.

Therefore, in the northwest, especially as far west as the Helan Mountains and into the territory of the Uighurs, the sand pirates were fierce.

Zhao Ta said: "Guazhou is an orthodox military department, how can it recruit some thieves?" ”

Huang Xindao: "My subordinates heard that the deputy commander of the Xiping Military Division had already colluded with the sand thieves, and after the Xingqing Mansion was captured by the prince, the news was obtained here, and the deputy commander army killed the capital commander and the supervising army, set himself up as the master, and then recruited the sand thieves into the city and accepted them as subordinates." ”

Zhao Ta nodded: "Then ...... later"

Huang Xindao: "Later, I don't know when Li Qianshun's concubine Yuanjing came over, seized Guazhou, killed the deputy commander and others, and even brought Changle City, Shazhou, Yumen Pass at the border and other places to be pacified. ”

Zhao Ta said: "It's all calm? This is some means, and she has no soldiers, how can she be calmed? ”

Huang Xin said: "Lord Wang, although my subordinates did not go over to witness it in person, I heard that this woman still has a team of soldiers and horses in her hands, all of them are women, known as the Spiegel Army." ”

"Spiegel?" Zhao Ta frowned when he heard this: "Why did you still form an army by yourself?" When did this happen? ”

Huang Xin didn't know about the entanglement between Zhao Ta and Yuan Jing, and suddenly didn't know how to answer.

Next to him, Yuan Ying said: "The nineteenth sister originally had a pro-army, and there were many subordinates in the Shenyu Palace, and the Zhuangzi at the eastern foot of Tianshan Mountain listened to the Shenyu Palace, and there were many people. ”

Zhao Ta was expressionless, and said lightly: "Under the whole world, it is not the king's land, the shore of the land, is it not the king's minister, doesn't she understand this truth?" ”

Yuan Ying blinked and whispered, "Master has to go and talk to Sister Nineteen face to face, so that she can understand." ”

Zhao Ta snorted: "What do you say, you have to fight to have a long memory, tomorrow the soldiers will send Guazhou, I want to see what kind of demon she does!" ”

Then Zhao Ta took people to check the city defense of Suzhou, Suzhou is not smaller than Ganzhou, both are ancient cities, but Ganzhou is the place of governance, and has been promoted to the mansion, called Xuanhua Mansion, the population is more than Suzhou, and the prosperity is better than Suzhou.

After reading it, the soldiers and horses were inspected again, and it was not over until the evening.

Then they arranged a feast, rewarded a military service, and rested on the willows on the moon.

On the morning of the next day, the 50,000-strong army set off in a mighty manner and headed straight for Guazhou, the Xiping Military Division.

Guazhou is not close to Suzhou, there are hundreds of miles of road, it is difficult for the army to reach in a day, find a place to camp at night, and continue on the road the next day after resting.

It took three days to set foot in the territory of Guazhou, which was barren, and sent scouts to inquire about the news, and the military horses temporarily stopped thirty miles away.

By noon, the scouts reported that there was no movement in Guazhou City, but it should have been detected by the army, and the four cities were closed and made a defensive posture.

Zhao Tan thought about it, according to Huang Xin's previous information, the entire Xiping Military Division was about 10,000 people, and this was still the number of people who had absorbed and recruited several large-scale sand thieves.

If you go to Changle City, Shazhou, and Yumen Pass, then the number of people in Guazhou will definitely not be 10,000, and it is estimated that there will be 8 or 9,000.

Yangguan is barren at the moment, Western Xia is not operating, and the other three places are calculated according to five or seven hundred soldiers, so Guazhou is at most these people.

It is difficult for these people to hold the siege of the city with an army of 50,000, the reason is very simple, among these more than 8,000 people, they are afraid that except for the old and weak, they are sand thieves.

After all, the Western Xia did not talk about the elite, even if they were in the prime of life, they were all transferred to the front line of the Great Song Dynasty, and there would be no soldiers who were good at fighting in this rear area, and the Uighurs were overwhelmed by the Black Khan, and it was impossible to attack, as long as there were people to defend the city, and some of the people who were already weak or retreated from the front line were all retired in this rear.

As for the sand thieves themselves, they can't defend any cities, so it's good not to just abandon the city and run away, and the original old, weak, sick and disabled are not easy to defend.

Thinking of this, Zhao Ta ordered the army to push over, and he wanted to directly suppress people with momentum, quickly take the city, and capture Mingjing'er twice!

Guazhou is an ancient city, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty placed the four counties of Hexi, Guazhou was the land of the three counties of Dunhuang County, the two Jin Dynasty followed the Han system, Sui placed Changle County, Tang Wude changed its name to Guazhou in five years, and has been used until now.

The army camped five miles in front of Guazhou City, and then took advantage of the fact that it was not too late, Zhao Ta called Qin Ming and Hua Rong to take the artillery cart to the front of the city to fight.

Although this Guazhou is in a barren place, it is not a dry city, there is a river next to it, the name is treading water, it is a glacier group that originates from the northern slope of Qilian Daxue Mountain, the water flow is not small, and the boundary of Zerun is hundreds of miles, Guazhou built a moat accordingly.

Qin Ming and Hua Rong were eager to make meritorious contributions, led 5,000 soldiers to pull the artillery cart over, and after a little observation of the upper and lower realms, they began to order the soldiers to launch flying artillery and fight indiscriminately.

Naguazhou City has not been warred for many years, and most of the defenders in the city have never seen this kind of formation, especially where the sand thieves are willing to defend sincerely, and immediately there is a crying father and shouting mother, and more than half of them ran away.

Qin Ming laughed under the city and said, "Uncle, it's better to take this opportunity to attack the city directly, I think I am eighty percent sure that you can directly take Guazhou!" ”

His wife is Hua Rong's younger sister, and Song Jiang was a matchmaker at that time, so she was called.

Hua Rong was cautious, thought about it and shook his head: "This matter is not proper, even if you can take this city, it is not good to act without permission, at this moment, it is not as casual as before, it is better to go back and report to the prince to know the situation, and see the prince's orders." ”

Qin Ming also felt a little abrupt, and when he heard the words, he changed his words, so he commanded a few more cannons, and then led the soldiers back to the camp.

At this time, Hua Rong took off the treasure carving bow behind him, and a wolf's tooth arrow was drawn out of the quiver, and he didn't aim at it, and the light Shu ape arm "swished" an arrow was released, and the lightning flint speed, and the big flag at the head of the city came with a "rattling" sound, which broke off.

Qin Ming shouted: "Uncle, good means! ”

Hua Rong smiled: "It's a pity that there is no main general, otherwise you will take his life directly!" ”

The two led the troops back, saw Zhao Ta, and reported the previous situation, Zhao Ta nodded: "Rest all night, attack the city tomorrow, and take this Guazhou within one day!" ”

There was no word at night, and no one came to steal the camp until the next morning.

Zhao Ta dispatched troops, the Chinese army advanced, outflanked the two wings, and went straight to Guazhou City.

At this time, there were more people in the city of Guazhou than yesterday, and some wooden stakes and shields were placed to defend against arrows and flying stones, but in Zhao Ta's opinion, it was a mess and completely out of order.

Just as the army was arrayed and about to attack the city, suddenly there was a sound of trumpets in the city, and then the drawbridge was lowered, and the gates were opened, and a procession came out.

This military horse is still in spirit, with the banner of Yuan Zi, a female general headed by it, wearing a handsome helmet with phoenix wings, decorated with 18 red pompoms, wearing a purple flower robe, lined with fish scale fine armor, with a stunning appearance, thin eyebrows and tall eyebrows, and cold eyes, riding a peach blossom horse, making a Jiufeng Chaoyang knife in his hand, followed by many female soldiers and female generals.

Zhao Ta's eyes narrowed when he saw this, who is this not Yuan Jing, why did he still bring troops out, did he want to fight and fail?

However, he didn't have the intention of fighting with the other party at the moment, not to mention that Yuan Jing was a half-step great master, even if he was on the horse, I am afraid that no one would be his opponent, and if he really wanted to fight, it would be bad if he was damaged on his side, and it would be impossible to say that he was lost there.

Yuan Ying said: "Master, what do you want to do with Sister Nineteen?" ”

Zhao Ta thought for a while and said, "Twenty-eight, you go and persuade it!" ”

He ordered the front army not to act rashly, Yuan Ying stepped forward to speak, and he didn't know what to say if he was too far away, but for a moment Yuan Ying came back with a bitter face and shook his head at Zhao Ta.

Zhao Ta said: "How to say? ”

Yuan Ying said: "Sister Nineteen didn't listen to me, and asked Master to beg for mercy before binding yourself!" ”

Zhao Ta suddenly said angrily: "Isn't this mother-in-law crazy, and she asked this king to bind herself and beg for mercy, what does she want to do?" ”

Qin Ming didn't know that the two were entangled, and when he saw this, he immediately asked for his life: "Lord Wang, wait for your subordinates to go and capture this woman and relieve the prince's anger!" ”

Zhao Ta narrowed his eyes and looked at Qin Ming.

Hua Rong also said: "Lord Wang, my subordinates are also willing to go!" ”

Zhao Ta raised his eyebrows, but did not speak.

Yuan Ying said anxiously next to him: "Master, you can't fight!" ”

"Huh! Who said you can't fight, who says you can't fight! Zhao Ta sneered when he heard this: "Qin Ming, you go and capture that woman...... Remember not to hurt her, you must be captured alive! ”

Qin Ming immediately clenched his fists and said loudly: "Yes, Lord Wang, my subordinates will not live up to their lives!" ”

Saying that, he fought his horse and went out of battle, and after walking not far behind, Zhao Ta's voice came again: "Remember, if you are defeated, come back immediately, don't fall in love with the war and lose your own life!" ”

Qin Ming thought to himself, the prince also looked down on his own family, and there was only a weak female general on the other side, how could he be invincible?

He didn't care, he stepped forward on his horse, and directly rushed over and shouted: "Demon girl, don't get off the horse and be captured, Rao Er won't die!" ”

Yuan Jing held the Jiufeng Chaoyang Knife, and looked at the opposite side of the formation, with tiger head and leopard eyes, riding a black horse, and dancing a wolf tooth stick, and couldn't help but say: "Where did you come from, why didn't Zhao Ta dare come out to see me!" ”

Qin Ming yelled: "How can the prince of my family ignore you, a demon girl, and don't look at it!" ”

He stabbed the mace obliquely, but he saw that the other party's embroidered knife was up to meet him, and it had great strength.

Qin Ming suddenly felt that the tiger's mouth was splitting blood, and the big stick in his hand was unstable, and the Jiufeng Chaoyang knife on the opposite side came to wipe his neck, which made him hurriedly lean back and greet him with a stick, but this time he didn't resist the opponent's strength, the mace was swept out of his hand, and flew out of three zhang away, which frightened Qin Ming's soul.

Zhao Ta watched the battle from behind, and immediately said: "Mingjin collects the troops and lets Qin Ming come back!" ”

The gong sounded here, and Qin Ming was lying on the horse's body, panicked like a deer crashing in his heart, he didn't expect this woman to be so powerful, not like ordinary people, and he couldn't resist it.

Yuan Jing came over and wanted to capture him, but unexpectedly, in the opposite array, "whoosh" shot three cold arrows in a row, both accurate and ruthless, and they all went straight to her, and it turned out to be Hua Rong who released arrows to rescue Qin Ming.

Yuan Jing dialed the feather arrow, over there Qin Ming had already rushed back to the formation, although he escaped with his life, but he had palpitations, and at this moment he woke up Zhao Ta reminded him of the reason, it was actually that this Yuan Mirror's martial arts were too high, otherwise he was a person with infinite strength, and he could also knock off the mace in his hand, wouldn't it be martial arts?

At this time, Yuan Jing shouted in front: "Zhao Ta, do you dare to come out and fight me to the death!" ”

"Are you cowardly as a mouse?"

"Don't you dare to come out to fight!"

Zhao Ta's face was as gloomy as water, faint: "This mother-in-law is so arrogant, she dares to shout and provoke with this king!" ”

Next to him, Luda said: "Lord Wang, is it okay to let your subordinates go out and capture Concubine Jing?" ”

Zhao Ta was silent, Guo Sheng said: "Lord Wang, it's better to open the way with bows and arrows, the army will rush directly to kill her, forgive her no matter how high her martial arts are, she can't resist it, if she is not captured, she will also retreat to the city, and she will attack the city at that time." ”

Zhao Ta narrowed his eyes slightly, and Yuan Ying said: "This is not good, for fear of hurting the nineteenth sister." ”

No matter how stupid everyone was at this time, they could see that something was wrong, and their own prince was afraid that he had something to do with this Yuan Mirror, so he immediately stopped making a sound, just waiting for Zhao Ta to decide.

After a while, Zhao Ta took a deep breath: "This woman is outside, and it is not easy to attack the city. ”

Yuan Ying said: "That's it, that's it, Master, you didn't come to kill the nineteenth sister, you came...... Bring back the nineteenth sister, and by the way, accept the Xiping Military Division. ”

Zhao Ta glanced at her and said, "It's not good for this king to go into battle in person and fight with her, won't he lose his identity?" ”

Yuan Ying nodded like a chicken pecking rice: "Master is right, what is the identity of the master, how can he fight in person." ”

Zhao Ta frowned and snorted: "Pass on the king's military order, collect the troops for the time being today, and attack the city tomorrow......"

(End of chapter)