This humiliating defeat of Western Xia in the second year of Baoyuan obviously became a laughing stock among the three kingdoms of Song, Liaoxia and Xia.

In history, Li Yuanhao also invaded the Song Realm, but he did not fight in the village, but in Jintang City, and the scale was not so large, and he brought 30,000 people to launch a small-scale sneak attack.

In this battle, the defender of Jintang City, the soldiers and horses of the Yanyan Road, Lu Shouqin, and the patrol of the Yanyan Road, Liu Huaizhong, who came to support the Yancheng City, only had 5,000 defenders.

The Song army reacted very slowly, and the battle lasted for several days, but the reinforcements did not arrive, but in the end Li Yuanhao withdrew his troops.

It was not the arrival of reinforcements, but in this battle, there was a young general named Di Qing, who led hundreds of people in his headquarters, resisted the enemy's attack to the death, fought bravely, and repelled Li Yuanhao.

And after this war, Di Qing was promoted four levels in a row, from a junior officer to a mid-level officer. The main general, Lu Shouqin, was also transferred to the Shaanxi Prefecture and returned to Yanzhou.

It can be said that this is a battle for Di Qing's rise.

But then in the first month of the first year of Kangding in the following year, Li Yuanhao made a comeback, first using a plan to break Jin Mingzhai and capture Li Shibin alive, and then surrounded Yanzhou, surrounded the point to send reinforcements, and defeated the Song army.

This was the first major defeat of the Song State in the Song-Xia War, the Battle of Sanchuankou!

Therefore, although Li Yuanhao also withdrew his troops and left this time in history, he did not leave in defeat, at most the battle situation was unfavorable, and the normal withdrawal of troops was not like now, with such heavy losses.

In the entire Song-Xia War, Li Yuanhao's most painful defeat was the Third Battle of Dingchuanzhai.

At that time, his troops were divided into two routes, one main force attacked the Zhenrong army Dingchuan Village, and the other side attacked Weizhou, and when passing through Pengyang City, he encountered the resistance of Jingtai, the governor of Yuanzhou, and more than 10,000 people were wiped out.

It's just that the Song army also suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Dingchuanzhai, which covered up the fact that Li Yuanhao's partial division was also defeated, so it seems that the Song Dynasty collapsed.

And now that the Song Dynasty has a full field of vision, and with the blessing of science and technology, the gunpowder has been treated with high purity and granulation, and the power can be called the peak of black powder.

If it weren't for the fact that the place where the two sides fought was near the national border, and his troops were all cavalry, he could withdraw to his border city within a day, I am afraid that Li Yuanhao would have to explain all the more than 100,000 people.

Rao is like this, he also became a frightened bird, and after escaping back to Hongzhou on the border, he did not stay long, and almost ran back to Xingqing Mansion on the second day.

In Xingqing Mansion, Li Yuanhao was impotent and furious in the palace, several slaves suffered from the disaster of pond fish, and he used it as an outlet, angry to the extreme, he pulled out his knife and cut it, so frightened that everyone fled in a hurry, and a slave who ran slowly was cut off by him.

Outside the imperial palace, Yeli Yuqi, Yeli Wangrong, Zhang Yuan, Yang Su, Wei Ming Congshun and others trembled, looked at each other, but did not dare to enter the palace.

The crazy Li Yuanhao is really terrible.

After about ten minutes, it was finally quiet inside, and they heard Li Yuanhao roar angrily: "Get in!" ”

Everyone reluctantly walked into the hall, saluted him with Western Xia etiquette, and said, "Your Majesty." ”

"Huhuhuhu"

At this time, Li Yuanhao's face was ugly, and he kept panting.

But to their surprise, Li Yuanhao did not get angry, but gradually calmed down, and said in a deep voice: "Have the chieftains of the various departments been appeased?" ”

Yeli Wangrong glanced at the corpse on the ground and said in a low voice: "The chiefs of the various tribes did have some complaints, but no one led the tribe away. ”

Although the Western Xia completed the transformation from a primitive tribe to a state, and Li Yuanhao also formulated the official system, military system, and etiquette, in the final analysis, the Western Xia was still a union state composed of various tribes of the party.

Li Jiqian and Li Mingde, father and son, were strictly speaking, only the largest tribal leaders in the Dangxiang tribe, and through the conquest and annexation of other tribes, they became the kings in the hearts of the Dangxiang people.

But once this king is defeated and has no strength to suppress the various tribes, then just like the later Mongols, it will fall apart in an instant.

Therefore, Li Yuanhao is most concerned about the attitude of the various tribal leaders now, if because of his defeat, those tribal leaders have different intentions, and they leave with their tribal soldiers and return to the northwest grassland, then he really wants to finish the calf.

But fortunately, it seems that things have not yet developed to that point, after all, Li Yuanhao's family has been operating in the northwest for three generations, and this prestige is barely there.

Hearing Yeli Wangrong's words, Li Yuanhao finally felt a little relieved, and said: "That's good, I will gather many chieftains to meet again in two days to appease the people, and I must ensure that they will not turn their backs on me at this time." ”

At this time, he didn't even call himself me.

Then Li Yuanhao said: "Now let's talk about the most important issue today, I never expected that Song Jun would have such a firearm." Before, their firearms simply didn't have such power, why would they suddenly sigh."

He sighed and said, "If I had known that there was such a thing, my sons and daughters would not have been buried, this battle was really too miserable and embarrassing for us." ”

Zhang Yuan's eyes rolled, and he said in a low voice: "I don't know what Your Majesty wants to do in the future?" Is it going to be surrendered to the Song? ”

"What do you mean?"

Li Yuanhao frowned and said, "Aren't you ridiculing me?" ”

Zhang Yuan saw that he was not angry, so he boldly said: "The minister is not ridiculing Your Majesty, but asking Your Majesty, whether Your Majesty still wants to fight with the Song State, if the defeated army sues for peace, I am afraid that the Song State will not only force Your Majesty to reduce himself to be the king, but ask Your Majesty to pay tribute and surrender completely." ”

"Do I still want to continue to fight the Song army?"

Li Yuanhao asked rhetorically.

"It depends on whether Your Majesty still wants to continue to build the empire and call the emperor the hegemony!"

Zhang Yuan said.

"Hmm"

Li Yuanhao groaned.

He is the hero after all, and he doesn't want to continue to be a courtier of the Song State, he has ascended the throne as the emperor, who wants to give up?

But if you sue for peace because of this fiasco, I am afraid that you will inevitably be forced by the Song State to cut yourself to the king, and even the king may not be, at most give a knot to the throne.

So deep down, he must not want to surrender to the Song army, or want to retain his position as emperor.

Even if he didn't defeat the Song army and achieved the original strategic goal of capturing the Shaanxi Road, at least he had to retain his title as the current emperor of Western Xia.

But in the battle with the Song army, he was frightened by grenades.

That thing can be described as a nightmare for cavalry, the reason why cavalry is strong is that the formed cavalry launches a charge, and the infantry cannot stop it at all, and it comes and goes freely, and moves like the wind.

But the grenade was thrown in the cavalry pile, and the explosion speed was fast, so it was difficult to dodge. Even if the explosion did not kill the cavalry, the loud thunderous sound could easily startle the horses and cause them to scurry around.

Therefore, Li Yuanhao said bitterly: "I naturally want to continue to be the emperor, but after the Song army was strong and they broke off the mutual market, the border people complained. If I can't defeat them and force them to open the mutual market again, I'm afraid that the territory of Great Xia will also be in chaos. ”

"Your Majesty forgot, if the Song army becomes stronger, we will not be the only ones who are uneasy."

Zhang Yuan said lightly.

Almost instantly, Li Yuanhao's eyes widened suddenly: "Liaoguo!" ”

Originally, with his ingenuity, it was impossible for him to think of it so slowly, but he couldn't stand the fiasco just now, and he was terrified in his heart, and he forgot about it for a while.

"Not bad."

Zhang Yuan immediately said: "The Liao State has used force to deter the Great Song Dynasty for many years, but the gunpowder is strong, restraining our cavalry, and also restraining the cavalry of the Liao State. If we pass this news to the Liao State, I am afraid that the lord of the Liao State will not sleep in peace. ”

Li Yuanhao nodded approvingly and said: "Yes, in the past, between Song and Liao, Liao was strong and Song was weak, Liao forced Song to pay tribute every year, and Empress Dowager Xiao had to give a lot of congratulatory gifts, and now that Song is strong, Liao will never be willing." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "As long as we can unite with the Liao State, attack from both sides, and let the Song State suffer from the enemy, we may not be able to defeat the Song State, forcing them to also pay us the annual tribute and reopen the mutual market." ”

"Hmm"

Li Yuanhao thought so.

Zhang Yuan said: "Even if the Liao State defeats the Song army in Hebei, the Song army is likely to transfer the army from the northwest to Hebei to defend the Liao State, and the northwest is completely empty, and we still have a chance to capture the Shaanxi Road." ”

It's a flatbread.

But now Li Yuanhao eats this set, unless he doesn't want to be the emperor and doesn't want to continue to show off his power in the northwest, he can only eat this cake.

As for Li Yuanhao, he was naturally unwilling to pay tribute to the Great Song Dynasty, so he immediately said: "Yes, quickly, spread my will, and immediately send an envoy to the Liao State."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Zhang Yuan and said, "Strategist, how about you go?" ”

He felt that Zhang Yuan could speak well, and he would definitely be able to move the Liao State.

Zhang Yuan didn't refuse, but said: "The minister can send an envoy, but before the Liao State agrees to send our troops, we still have to consider how to face the Song State." If nothing else, I'm afraid that the Song State may send people, or even send troops directly. ”

"That's me."

Li Yuanhao frowned, relieved himself after a moment, and said with a smile: "Then I will surrender first." ”

Yang Su wondered, "Your Majesty, how can this be surrendered?" ”

Yeli Wangrong glanced at him and said, "You fool (Western Xia language), what Your Majesty means is to stabilize the Song Kingdom by surrendering. ”

"Your Majesty is wise."

Yang Su hurriedly patted the horse.

Li Yuanhao confirmed the calculation, and the panic caused by the confusion about the future slowly calmed down.

After all, this battle was indeed too great for his losses.

The total number of soldiers and horses in the entire Western Xia was only 150,000.

The First World War directly lost nearly one-seventh, which really made Li Yuanhao feel painful.

The party is really one less than one person who dies, unlike the Song people.

But as Zhang Yuan said, what is now in front of him is nothing more than two paths, one is to surrender and the other is to continue fighting.

The two sides have torn their faces, and it is impossible for the Song State to continue to live in peace with him, and it is impossible to say that the Great Song Dynasty will directly send troops to attack him, so he must be prepared.

Unless he doesn't want to be the emperor anymore, and he can be a canonized envoy of the Song Dynasty with peace of mind, the only way to fight is naturally to seek help from the Liao State.

If it was before, the Liao State might not attack the Song State because of the battle in Western Xia, after all, for the Liao State, the Song State has many cities, and the fortresses on the border are like cow hair, like turtle shells.

Anyway, the Song Kingdom will give them New Year's coins every year, and there is not much benefit if they win, it is impossible to really go south to destroy the Song Kingdom, and if they lose, they will not even have the New Year's coins, so why bother with this.

But now it's different, the Song State has developed a powerful firearm, if the Liao State doesn't do it again, wait for the Song State to hold back for a few more years, and continue to explode the technology tree, I'm afraid that the Liao State's Upper Kyoto will be blown through.

Therefore, Li Yuanhao had the confidence to win over the Liao State and deal with the Great Song Dynasty together.

It's just that before the Liao State agreed to send troops, he still had to pretend to be his grandson, otherwise, if the Great Song Dynasty took advantage of the victory to pursue and kill Xingqing Mansion, wouldn't he be cold?

At that moment, Li Yuanhao quickly made arrangements, while writing a letter to Fan Zhongyan, and then to Zhao Zhen, the letter was full of tears, saying that he was blinded by lard, and he should not claim to be the emperor in vain, and he should not attack the Great Song Dynasty in vain, please forgive the Great Song Dynasty, he is willing to submit to Yunyun.

On the one hand, he immediately sent an envoy to the Liao State, and made a statement to the lord of the Liao State, Yelu Zongzhen, and brought the only dud bomb picked up by the Western Xia soldiers in the chaos on the battlefield as evidence.

In fact, there are still a lot of such duds, even high-end torpedoes in later generations have duds, not to mention grenades, during the Anti-Japanese War, because the quality of the grenades made in the border area is not up to par, there are two or three duds out of ten, which makes the soldiers miserable.

Even later generations have it, not to mention ancient times.

The troops led by Zhang Kang, each of the 8,000 people carried two or three grenades, but less than 10,000 actually exploded, so you can know how high the probability of duds is.

One of them was thrown into the arms of a Western Xia soldier in the confusion, and the soldier had no time to throw away the dud bomb in the exciting charge, and then the army was instantly defeated, defeated and fled, and as a result, a dud bomb was taken back by this person.

But with the dud, the Tanguts couldn't study anything, because this thing didn't mean that you knew black powder and could make gunpowder. What is needed is a complete recipe, a high purity of raw materials, proportions, and how to manufacture them.

Therefore, unless Zeng Gongliang became a traitor and leaked the complete formula, even if the Liao people got this dud, they still couldn't restore the formula and material ratio through the high-purity gunpowder in the dud.

But the dud still detonates, but the tab doesn't ignite the fuse inside. The Tangut people were not ignorant of gunpowder, so they wanted to use this dud bomb as evidence to show the Liao people.

It only takes the Liao people to verify the power of the grenade, and as long as Yeluzong is really not stupid, he should understand that it is the best policy to unite them in Western Xia and attack the Great Song Dynasty together.

So under this national policy, Li Yuanhao embarked on the strategy of Lianliao to resist the Song Dynasty!

(End of chapter)