Culturally and religiously, Western Xia had been learning about China.

Whether it is the Great Liao China or the Great Song Dynasty China, it is the goal of Western Xia learning anyway.

Therefore, Buddhism flourished in Western Xia.

At the same time, the Western Xia had its own primitive religion, namely nature worship, ghost and witchcraft, and ancestral beliefs.

Every time the Western Xia sent troops, they would let the sorcerers divination.

Burn the lamb's blade with wormwood, knock it on the ground with bamboo and break it, observe the cracks in the lamb's blade, and calculate the number of broken bamboo, which the shaman uses to calculate the good fortune.

There are also sheep at night to burn incense and pray, and then go to the field to set fires. The next morning, the sheep is killed and dissected, and the stomach is smooth, and the sheep will lose the battle if there is blood in the heart.

Or hit the bowstring with an arrow, listen to the sound to predict victory or defeat, or even calculate the time it will take for the enemy to kill.

Before Li Renyi sent troops this time, he also asked a wizard to divination, and all the above four methods were used once.

The result of the divination is: fierce!

Therefore, he gathered his troops in Jisang (Gulang) and refused to continue the march. Later, he had to advance, and he was cautious along the way, for fear of being ambushed by the Ming army.

Another hill on the east side was pursued and captured by the Ming army. On the hill further south, the Western Xia soldiers stationed there were attacked by the Ming army from the north and south, and they were almost unable to hold it.

Yang Zhi's main army did not move forward again, but began to defend in place, and sent more soldiers to garrison the mountain, because the Western Xia people also divided their troops to recapture it.

Just when the battlefield was stalemate, in the center of the Western Xia camp, the wizard began to practice the battle.

The "Tiansheng Law Order" of Western Xia stipulates that the occupants and officials and witches must carry military armor and go out to fight with the army.

Therefore, wizards belong to the standard configuration of the Western Xia army, and they are all in full armor, and they can also pick up knives and cut people when it is critical.

There were even regulations that once the Western Xia army was defeated, it should be killed within three days, and the enemy should be captured and shot at the place where their own defeat was. It is called "Killing Ghosts and Summoning Spirits". If you can't catch the enemy, you will bury the straw man in the ground, and let the soldiers shoot arrows at the ground, which is considered a curse on the enemy.

At this moment, according to the description of the fleeing soldiers, the wizard used water and mud to make a model of a cannon, and even a model of a musket.

And he used a rope with a spell to tie up the muskets and cannons that were made of mud.

Then the straw man prepared in advance was also tied with a rope and buried in a small pit with a musket and artillery model.

The wizard began to chant the incantation, and then began to dance.

The Tangut soldiers formed a circle and, after receiving the sorcerer's order, shot arrows at the place where the straw men, muskets, and cannons were buried.

After the practice was completed, the Western Xia soldiers were still attacking the mountain, and they were condescendingly killed by the Ming army again and again.

The sorcerer said to Li Renyi, "Dutong, I have cursed the enemy. But the enemy's cannon is blessed by ghosts and gods, and I don't know if it will work this time. ”

"It must work!"

Li Renyi said to the soldiers around him: "Although the enemy's weapons have been possessed by evil spirits, they have been cursed by the sorcerers. Don't be afraid, even if you die in battle, your soul can return to the land of your ancestors! As long as you fight hard to kill the enemy, you will be blessed by your ancestors and ghosts! ”

The soldiers quickly returned to the various departments and told the other soldiers about the incident, and the morale of the Western Xia soldiers, who had been severely hit, finally recovered somewhat.

Ding Zhongyi said: "Victory or defeat is determined, and while morale is improving, we should take the initiative to attack." Otherwise, if the Han soldiers continue to fire artillery, their morale will fall to the bottom again, and the whole army will be dispersed if one is not good. ”

Li Renyi said with a serious expression: "I think the same way, it is difficult to distinguish the truth from the falsehood of the witch wish, and it can only boost morale for a while." The cavalry had already rushed to the enemy's position just now, and the cavalry could continue to charge in three formations. The foot soldiers should not worry too much about the formation, and quickly rush over with the cavalry, as long as they rush to the front of the Han army, those cannons will not work much. ”

Yang Zhi had already climbed to the hillside with his own soldiers and used binoculars to observe the movements of the enemy camp.

Li Renyi's large-scale mobilization of troops was all exposed to telescopes.

The telescope is also an artifact, which is equivalent to opening a full map of the local battlefield for the generals!

There was an abnormal movement on the Western Xia side, and the Ming army immediately made corresponding changes.

The enemy on the hill behind the diagonal has been flanked and resolved, and only the scattered troops are still resisting stubbornly, and the musketeers of the Shenji Battalion who are attacking the mountain there have been brought back.

The tiger squat cannon was also carried to the hill occupied by the Ming army, and infantry was sent to protect it, and the artillery was condescending, able to cover the battlefield, and was not afraid of the cavalry's sacrifice of life.

"The Han soldiers carried the cannon to the mountain, what should be done?" Ding Zhongyi said worriedly.

Li Renyi said: "You have to fight wherever you go, and it is impossible to avoid war." As long as you rush closer, the two sides scuffle together, and those cannons are useless. However, since the cannon was carried away, the cavalry did not need to charge ahead, and let the foot soldiers quickly kill and take over the formation. ”

Thousands of Western Xia infantry, due to fear of guns, lined up in a sparse formation, quickly approaching the Ming army's large array.

And its main forces, however, did not follow too closely, and even the reserves fell far away, for fear of being shelled from the side hills.

Such a tactic is purely looking for death!

Charge in a sparse formation in a narrow river valley and go head-to-head with the Ming army in a large formation?

Moreover, the reserves and the main army of Western Xia are still out of touch with the front army that is rushing and killing, and they will not be able to stabilize it in time once there is a defeat.

This is tantamount to adding fuel to the tactics of delivering food to the Ming army.

But Li Renyi had no choice, if he piled up his brains, he was very likely to be beaten to the point that tens of thousands of troops were scattered.

In fact, it would be good to have a car, and push the car forward slowly.

The Tiger Squat Cannon is divided into flat and curved fire, with a maximum range of three or four hundred meters, and an effective range of only two or three hundred meters. And if you want to show the power of a shotgun, you have to put it within 100 meters, and it is best to launch a shotgun at 50 or 60 meters.

Wearing cotton armor above 100 meters, even if you are hit by a shotgun, you are very likely to be injured but not killed.

Such a garbage cannon is difficult to resist cavalry alone, and it has to be combined with other long-range weapons.

As long as there is a cart, the tiger squat cannon will have to be blind, and a more powerful field gun will be needed.

However, Li Renyi didn't have a car, not even a cotton armor!

Ding Zhongyi advised: "All are unified, you can't fight like this." Either shrink and retreat, or the whole army presses up, looking ahead and only sending a few thousand soldiers out, this is to let them die! ”

Li Renyi said: "The previous ones are all colliding with Linglang, and if they die, they will die, and they will arrest the Han people in the future." Let them try it first, and if it works, send a strong army to press it, and if it will collapse at the touch of a button, find another way. ”

Ding Zhongyi said: "It's true that Linglang is a Han Chinese, but after all, he is a Great Xia soldier. If they are defeated, won't the captives be afraid? Morale drops again and again, and even if the enemy doesn't have a magic cannon, this battle can't be fought again. ”

"So what to do? Send more soldiers to press it up, and then be beaten to the brout of the whole army? Li Renyi said in frustration, "It's not possible to retreat, the enemy has been pressing over with artillery, and sooner or later all our army camps will be occupied." Can you withdraw from the camp with food and grass? At that time, even if the enemy does not chase us, we can only retreat to Jisang for supplies, and the grain depots along the way are barely enough for us to withdraw our troops! ”

Ding Zhongyi said: "The whole army can still fight if it is pressed, and it will definitely fail if you attack like this!" ”

It is estimated that he was disgusted by the Ming army's style of play, and the two party generals next to him also said: "Dutong, fight for your life." Let the Crashing Commander block the cannon in front, and we will follow closely with the Capture Army. Even if Linglang is defeated, we can still fight against the rout. ”

This is also the case, and the party soldiers often use the collision Linglang as cannon fodder.

And since it is cannon fodder, routs are naturally commonplace. The real party soldiers will not see the crash Linglang collapse, and they are so frightened that they flee with the rout. They will even line up to drive out the routs to prevent them from breaking through their formations.

But the premise of all this is that the collision with Linglang should not collapse too quickly, and the entire front army should not collapse and flee collectively in an instant-in the field battle with the southern army outside the city, it was the collision with the front army of Linglang that collapsed collectively in an instant, causing all the party soldiers in the rear to be chaotic.

Under the persuasion of the party generals, Li Renyi finally decided to fight to the death.

Thousands of colliding Linglang were still in front, but the Dangxiang Capture Army followed, Li Renyi's Chinese army also moved forward as a whole, and the Western Xia troops on both sides attacked the mountain like crazy.

"The Lord of Western Xia is going to make a desperate bet!" Yang Zhi held up the binoculars and smiled, he had already driven the enemy crazy.

But when he saw the crashing commanders in front of him, he trembled and moved forward.

Wizards can boost the morale of the party soldiers, but they have no effect on these men, they have already determined that the Ming army must be blessed by ghosts and gods.

How does a mortal body compete with ghosts and gods?

This hasn't been fought yet, out of fear of the unknown, Bang Linglang is already thinking about escaping.

As Han soldiers who were born as serfs, the only belief that supported them to persist in fighting was to continue to live after this battle.

Since your life may not be guaranteed, what the hell is there to fight?

Fortunately, the distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer, and the artillery of the Ming army was never fired, and the Lang began to fantasize that the ghosts and gods would no longer bless the enemy.

The distance between the two front armies was seventy or eighty paces, and the drums on the Western Xia side became more and more urgent, and the banner order also made the crashing commanders accelerate their charge.

When the front army was more than ten paces apart, the capturing army behind also reached within sixty paces and began to throw arrows at the Ming army's large array.

Yang Zhi waved the flag, and more than a thousand muskets were fired at the same time, accompanied by javelins and arrows.

The tiger squat cannon on the hill was condescending, all aimed at the capturing army in the rear.

At the moment when the long-range firepower was fired, the infantry of the Ming army collectively charged and slammed into the Western Xia front army more than ten steps away.

The charge of the infantry of the Ming army was no less powerful than firearms. Crashing Linglang, who suffered a close-range salvo of more than 1,000 muskets, was rushed by the Ming infantry again, and all those who were still alive turned around and fled.

And those party capture troops behind them had just been attacked by forty tiger squat cannons at the best distance of shotguns, and were attacked by their own rout, followed by the wolf-like Ming infantry. Where can I still bear it?

"Defeated...... Lost too quickly......"

Li Renyi lost his soul, he thought that he might lose, but he didn't expect to lose so neatly.

With such a narrow valley, a rout ahead would inevitably lead to a chain reaction, and it would not even be possible to drive the rout to bypass it from both sides. Under the continuous pursuit of the enemy, the whole army will definitely be crushed by the rout.

"Let's go, how much can you escape!" Ding Zhongyi has already led the horse.

Li Renyi smiled bitterly: "You have been prepared for a long time. ”

Ding Zhongyi said: "If you don't think about winning, you should think about defeat first." ”

Before the rout could collide, the two fled with their own soldiers, and the Western Xia cavalry followed.

As for the infantry, ask for more blessings.

(End of chapter)