Qingtang City.

He saw a huge caravan in the distance.

The caravan numbered more than 3,000 people, including more than 10,000 camels and horses.

Dense crowds of livestock walk through the road, as if there is no end in sight.

He has been operating Qingtang for more than ten years, and he naturally knows very well what the scale of the caravans is in general.

The merchants of the Western Regions are usually only two or three hundred, and at most there are seven or eight hundred people, and four or five hundred people are already a very large caravan.

The Hexi Corridor is a little more crowded, but the large-scale caravan is only about 1,000 people, three or four thousand camels, and rarely more than 3,000 people, with tens of thousands of camels and horses.

After all, such a team costs a lot of money along the way, and it is difficult to support the supply of so many people and livestock along the way, and at the same time, there is not such a big force in the entire Western Regions to support such a huge caravan.

In particular, Henan Road, due to the long distance, is generally more small-scale caravans. There are dozens of people, hundreds of people, and only a handful of people can reach the scale of 1,000 people.

For example, "The Book of Zhou: The Biography of Tuyuhun" records that the Tuyuhun mission was envoy to the Northern Qi, and the Western Wei ambushed this mission.

"Received the help of his servants, the generals Zhai Panmi, Shang Hu 240 people, 600 camels and mules, and tens of thousands of miscellaneous silks."

At that time, the procession was the Tuyuhun Road, and this is a direct example of the size of the caravan in the Hehuang Corridor, including 240 merchants and 600 camels and mules.

Therefore, it is obviously a strange thing that a team of more than 3,000 people suddenly appeared in the distance.

There are exceptions, though.

That is, it happens that the caravan meets other familiar teams on the road, and the leaders know each other, so it is possible to go together.

It's just that this situation is very rare, and he is still vigilant, and said to a subordinate general next to him: "Go, send someone to intercept them and check them." ”

"Yes."

The general personally led hundreds of knights out of the north gate and headed out of the city.

The caravan in the distance was Li Yuanhao who sent someone to pretend.

Li Yuanhao first sent a small caravan to infiltrate the city in batches, and then sent a team disguised as a big merchant to set off.

He runs the Hexi Corridor, and naturally knows the size of the caravan.

But he was just gambling and not vigilant, after all, if there were fewer people, it would not be able to achieve the effect of combining the inside and the outside, which was also a helpless move.

At this moment, when I saw that the guy sent someone out to intercept him, he probably knew that he couldn't hide it.

It's not that they are not well disguised enough, but since they can be sent to intercept and question, they must be elite scout knights.

The scout eats the bowl of rice of observing the enemy's situation, both sides are soldiers fighting on the battlefield, and the temperament on his body is not a businessman, and the scout with vicious eyes can see through it at a glance.

So it's very unlikely that you'll want to hide it.

Li Yuanhao remained silent until the scouts sent by the Woo Guy came close and shouted to them, "Where are you from?" ”

Almost instantly, the scouts saw the caravan and quickly realized that something was wrong.

The temperament of these people is not the kind of businessman who has been wandering for many years, although they all wear scarves around their necks, but their eyes are the windows of the soul, which can't deceive people.

Their eyes were all fierce and abnormal, and if one or two were normal, but all of them were like that, it only proved one thing—they were not merchants.

"Stop!"

The 100 people led by him scolded sharply, and then subconsciously touched the horn on his waist.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Qiang Di in the northwest has begun to be good at using horns as a communication tool, which was transmitted to the Central Plains during the Qin and Han dynasties, and was widely used in military warfare in the late Han Dynasty.

But almost as soon as he touched the horn at his waist, a crossbow arrow came at him, piercing him directly in the chest.

"Poof!"

The hundred men covered their chests, looked at each other in disbelief, and then fell off their horses.

This shocking scene suddenly shocked the scouts who came out.

Both sides moved almost simultaneously, but soon Li Yuanhao's team was occupied, and in less than a few minutes, the scouts were scattered.

"Woooooooo

The desolate horn sound resounded through the sky first, it was the horn sound of the Western Xia army.

The Western Xia army hidden in the rear, there were tens of thousands of people, like a dark tide swept towards Qingtang, and the dust raised in the rear seemed to cover the heavens and the earth.

The face of the city was as heavy as water, and he responded calmly, and quickly ordered the city gate to be closed, and although his scouts outside the city could not enter, they could flee to other places from the left and right.

This can be regarded as giving up the small to protect the big.

Then he ordered the city to beat the war drums, mobilize the army, and deliver the ammunition to the city to prepare for the activation of the artillery.

"The summer thieves are coming, and they all move."

"Hurry, hurry, hurry."

"Don't dwell on it, get your stuff up there."

The north city was in chaos in an instant.

There was also a lot of unrest in the city.

A large number of merchants rushed to run out of the South City Gate.

But the gates began to close, and the streets of the city were crowded with people, and there was chaos everywhere.

He couldn't take care of the city anymore, he just wanted to guard the city gate.

However, just as he was about to launch a cannon to attack the Xixia people who were getting closer and closer, a large number of merchants with swords appeared near the city gate behind him.

They reacted quickly one by one, rushed to the gate of the city, and slashed everywhere, catching the Qingtang soldiers who were nervous and only focused on the outside of the city off guard.

"Not good!"

Frightened, he ran to the top of the city gate and looked down, and when he saw that the enemy had taken control of the city gate, he hurriedly shouted: "Come on, kill me with me." ”

He drew his saber from his waist and immediately rushed to the city with his own guards and began to fight the enemy.

But after all, it was a step too late, and the city gate had already been opened.

The Western Xia army outside the city was overjoyed when they saw the city gate open in the distance, and they shouted and galloped their horses.

Qingtang was in a mess, and Dong Yu in the city still had some ability, and after his father went down to the city to fight, he commanded the soldiers to start firing cannons.

"Bang bang bang!"

A loud sound shook the heavens and the earth, and the artillery spewed brilliant fireworks.

As more than a dozen cannons were ejected, they shot towards the battlefield at a very fast speed, and in an instant, people in the distance turned on their backs, and solid bullets actually passed through people, and everyone and horses were shattered, and they could not be stopped.

Just a dozen or so shells caused heavy casualties to the dense Western Xia formation, and at least two or three hundred people were taken away by the terrifying ammunition, each of which could kill twenty or thirty people.

The Western Xia side is also sluggish in the offensive, but the rate of fire of the cannons on the head of the city is relatively slow, and the soldiers still continue to charge hard, basically just to see luck, and whoever hits this kind of heavy weapon can only blame who is unlucky.

Soon, under the command of Dong Yu, the second round of artillery fire came again.

But the cannon they have on hand is not a small steel cannon like the Song army, and the rate of fire is still relatively slow. By the time they finished the third round of shooting, the Western Xia army had already killed the city.

At this moment, the city is also falling into a fierce battle for the city gate, Qingtang's strength is actually not weak, if the soldiers and horses are rectified, it should be able to gather sixty or seventy thousand troops.

couldn't stand Li Yuanhao actually bypassing Qishan and attacking from behind, which caught the guy off guard, and he didn't expect this at all.

As a result, the soldiers and horses were not gathered in a hurry, and the sneak attack was successful.

There were not many troops near the north city gate at all, and some of them were still on the city tower, and there were only two or three thousand people under the city, and the two sides were deadlocked.

When the Western Xia army approached, the rout was irreversible.

"Let's go!"

It's also decisive.

Seeing the enemy rushing over, his eyes were about to be split, and at the same time, he was also brazenly fighting, fighting and retreating.

His muscles were knotted, and he fought bloodily, trying to gather an army for street fighting.

But there was chaos in the city, and the Qingtang army was tied, on the other hand, the Western Xia army killed people when they saw it, which made the scene even more chaotic.

The fierce fighting in the city lasted for several hours, and the south and east gates had already been opened, and a large number of people, merchants, and remnants of the city retreated in defeat.

By the time it got dark, Li Yuanhao had completely controlled Qingtang City.

At this moment, there were corpses everywhere inside and outside the city, blood overflowing, soaking the green bricks at the head of the city, and the huge city seemed to be left with all kinds of screams.

In ancient times, in order to boost morale, soldiers were allowed to rob, rape, and kill at will without sealing their swords.

Therefore, the city was full of plundering soldiers, and the soldiers were plundering a lot of money.

Li Yuanhao frowned slightly.

He originally wanted to take advantage of the victory to pursue, take advantage of the situation to continue the attack, and take Huangzhou and Lanzhou.

But now he has to rest and recuperate, and then set off in two days.

The reason is that the soldiers climbed over the mountains, crossed a large area of the Gobi, and finally captured the city, which was very tired and unsuitable for continuing.

The second is that Qingtang City is the richest city in Qingtang, if the soldiers are not allowed to loot and continue to pursue, then it will obviously make the army discouraged and the soldiers dissatisfied.

So staying in Qingtang is also a helpless move.

I hope that the Song army will react more slowly, and wait until I have exterminated the Gang in two days before sending troops to help.

Li Yuanhao thought to himself.

But it was a fiasco on the side of the Guys, and the various departments scattered and fled, and even the son of the Guys, Dong Yu, was nowhere to be seen.

He was stabbed several times in the chaos, was seriously wounded, and was carried out of the city by his generals.

He looked at the only hundreds of remnants around him, and there were many places in Qingtang City that were burning in the distance at night, and he didn't know how many remnants of the soldiers had not escaped and fought in the city.

For a while, his mood fell to the bottom, and there seemed to be an anger in his chest that could not be vented, and he kept panting, and said with hatred: "Zhao Yuanhao, I swear to kill you!" ”

"Zampu, let's put away the rout first."

The general next to him hurriedly said.

"Quickly put away the pawns, let's go to Huangzhou! In addition, immediately ask for help from the Song army in Xishi Town with a fast horse! ”

was reminded by the general, and he could only stand up with his body.

All kinds of horns sounded around him.

In the distance, the scouts on the periphery of Western Xia galloped and fought bloody battles with some remnants of Qingtang.

On the battlefield within a radius of several kilometers, there are Qingtang people who have run out everywhere, and merchants from the Western Regions and Han people.

There were also many Western Xia soldiers chasing them and robbing them of the money they had brought out of the city.

Taking advantage of this chaos, he gathered about three or four thousand scattered tribes, followed the Huangshui to the east, and fled to his other city, Michuan City, Huangzhou.

(End of chapter)