The northwest wind was raging, dust and sand were flying, and a team of more than 200 light armored cavalry were eating dust.

The horses bounced briskly and trotted forward at a bumpy trot. Behind the team, there were more than a hundred unrided horses driven by people, wrapping them up and marching with the team.

The horse the leader rides on is extraordinarily tall and fat, making him stand out among the others. His armor is also different from others, with a unicorn covering its belly, dark gold arm guards, phoenix wings, and a dark red cape tied around his shoulders.

The colors on the cloak are different, some are dark red, and some are bright red. It is not difficult to see that it was originally bright red, but it was dyed darker by blood and dust.

He raised one hand and supported the zhangba Ma Shuo on his shoulder, the short sword on his waist, and the long saber tied to the horse. The armor leaves moved with the ups and downs, making a unique sound of armor. The red cloak danced with the strong wind.

Flying. The knights behind followed suit, imitating the leader's carefree attitude. No one spoke, only the horses' hooves and the wind.

At dusk, in the distant sky, a firework exploded in the sky.

Wang Yan did not speak. The person behind him took out a firecracker, took out a tubular object from his horse pocket, lit the fuse, and raised it high into the air. After a moment, there was an explosion, and a larger firework exploded in the sky.

Looking up at the fireworks, Wang Yanmeng clamped the horse's belly, and the horse speeded up and headed towards the destination. The people behind automatically divided into a hundred people to follow, and the rest were to protect the eunuchs and civil servants in the team.

Still moving forward at the original speed.

As the horses galloped, hundreds of people continued to join Wang Yan's team. They skillfully controlled the distance and set up a charging formation. After running at high speed for a quarter of an hour, two people had gathered behind Wang Yan.

There are more than a thousand riders, a mighty force.

The team kept charging forward, and after running up a fairly high mound, Wang Yan reined in his horse and stopped.

In front of them was a large open space. A pair of teams of more than 300 cavalry were running towards them, followed by thousands of cavalry chasing them with arrows. Farther away, there were small groups of hundreds of people.

Merged into a team of thousands of people, gathering from all directions.

The thousands of cavalrymen who were chasing them also stopped chasing after them when they saw the mountainous cavalry team appearing on the slope. Without saying a word, the front army turned into the rear army, turned around and ran away.

Wang Yan shook his head, forgetting his memory, and waved his hand boredly. The knights around him didn't say anything. They raised the spears on their shoulders and clamped them under their armpits. They held the reins in one hand and clamped the horses' belly with a roar.

He shouted and rushed down.

This is the northern part of Xixia, which belongs to the hinterland of Xixia. However, the map of Xixia is not good. Most places are not rich, and the population is only about three million. Most of them are concentrated in the places bordering Song and Liao, where the big cities are. But next to it

It’s not that there are no people in the place, they are all farming and grazing. These two are pillar industries. What he does is to destroy the ecology. He kills the cattle and sheep when he sees them, and drives away the horses that can be driven.

If you go into farmland, you'll have to step on it.

The population of Xixia is complex, including Han people, Dangxiang people, Uighurs, and some Mongolians, etc. However, the people of the place that have not been conquered are not the people. Being starved to death or hacked to death has little to do with them.

Besides, all the people in Xixia are soldiers, and even an adult man can wield a sword or a gun, even if he doesn't kill them. However, it is not in vain. As long as they are armed, they will be chopped down regardless of men, women, old and children. Those who are not armed will be killed.

Not moving. But this was not implemented well, because they had been killing people in Xixia territory for a year, and there were always people who took up arms to resist. After arresting people for questioning, I found out that they had a bad reputation, saying that they were everywhere.

It's killing. This arouses people's desire to resist. After all, it's all about death. It's better to resist fiercely and bite the flesh off even if you die.

Of course, that's true, but if you can live, you don't want to die. They all moved south and became refugees, gathering outside the big cities everywhere, and there was no sense of security in the small cities.

This was something Wang Yan deliberately controlled. He came here for two purposes: one was to train troops, and the other was to find opportunities to annihilate Xixia. So when he first arrived, he instead unleashed a massacre outside Xixia Dacheng, destroying farmland, and then luring Xixia's pursuers.

They ran around and destroyed everywhere in their territory. They consciously drove the Xixia people southward and increased the burden on the big cities. At the same time, the Song Dynasty closed the forecourts and stopped doing business with them. They had 400,000 soldiers, working hard and sharpening their horses and swords, so that they did not dare to large armies.

To pursue and suppress the cavalry, only small-scale troops can be sent out to block the attack.

But this is useless. What Wang Yan is least afraid of is fighting guerrillas. Nurhachi and Huang Taiji are examples of this.

Of course, it is impossible to fully recruit the full strength of the Northern Army. There are not that many qualified horses, and there are not that many qualified soldiers. Even the cavalry equipment is funded by the national treasury. Wang Yan's factory takes over the work, and it is under supervision.

It was built by Liu Shui. Otherwise, in two years, it would be impossible to arm 40,000 cavalry according to the weapons and equipment he made. Therefore, due to this, the entire army only has more than 42,000 cavalry.

Among them, there are 6,000 heavy cavalry, which cannot be used for guerrilla warfare in the field. After all, the equipment of 6,000 heavy cavalry requires thousands of carriages to drag them, so they cannot move around like the wind.

All things are in conflict with each other. Heavy armored soldiers can fight against cavalry, but it is difficult to fight against heavy cavalry. And heavy cavalry, against light cavalry, is just cutting melons and vegetables. However, it is limited by the weight of the equipment and the physical strength of the horses, which is not durable.

, so it is difficult to deal with the cavalry kites because they cannot be chased. If they can be chased, of course they will kill them one by one. Therefore, the six thousand heavy cavalry are waiting for the enemy on the frontline battlefield, and are also responsible for supporting Wang Yan and others. After all, Xixia also has a few

An army of 100,000 people is really desperate, so they have to find a way to retreat. With 6,000 heavy cavalry, even a mountain of people can dig a hole through it.

Therefore, the troops that Wang Yan actually brought to Xixia were only 36,000. His tactics were also simple, just like what was happening now, which was to disperse small groups of troops. At the beginning, there were 2,500 people per group.

The unit was divided into ten teams, spread out twenty miles apart, killing and plundering everywhere, and killing large groups of enemy troops behind enemy lines. Then little by little, two thousand people, one thousand five hundred people, one thousand, five hundred people, until now

One hundred people were divided into one group. Even if there were thousands of casualties, there were still more than 20,000 people, divided into more than 200 units of 100 people.

Each team is spread out fifteen miles apart. If the distance is calculated based on a straight line, it will be more than fifteen kilometers, which is a blanket calculation. Of course, the actual implementation cannot be done like that, because the speed of gathering support must be considered.

We also need to consider the fatigue of the troops during the assembly. Therefore, they are dispersed front to back and left and right, covering an area of ​​more than five kilometers in radius. In addition, there is a scout team sent out for 20 kilometers. As soon as a large force comes, they will assemble immediately.

Respond to the enemy. If not, then form small groups and kill everywhere.

In this year, they fought from the border between the two countries to the territory of the Uighurs, and then fought back south, driving everyone to the south.

It is also because of their wanton destruction and driving people south that the pressure on major cities has increased greatly. Because there are people in the country who are destroying, they still have to eat, and there is no trade outside, so they cannot exchange supplies and cannot eat.

Even if they guard the gold and silver and the food and drink for three million people, they cannot sustain it for long.

This time we can't do business, that's really not possible. We should take it seriously. Whoever cooperates with the enemy will have his clan exterminated. Wang Yan participated in the performance, Zhao Ji criticized the red, and directly ransacked the house.

This was also the case, which led to high prices in Xixia and poor people's livelihood. Seeing this situation, Wang Yan predicted that Xixia would be unsustainable. After all, the losses suffered in the previous war with Song could not be recovered even after three years of training, because Xixia's plate was too big.

It was small, its potential was too low, and the place was not very good. This time, he was deliberately sabotaging it, so it would not last long. So he wrote a memorandum to Zhao Ji, who was out on tour and was furious, explaining the situation and talking about this incident.

You will definitely be able to do your best.

Zhao Ji is not ignorant, otherwise he would not be furious. Because he always sits in the palace, imagining that he is rich and wealthy, but when he goes to the place, he sees that everyone is sallow and skinny and looks like they are about to starve to death, which makes his conscience tremble.

He couldn't live with it, let alone the majestic Emperor of the Song Dynasty. He still thought about becoming a civilized and martial arts person and becoming an emperor for eternity. This situation was far from eternity. It was strange that he could be happy. He originally came out to have fun and watch the excitement, but in the end

It's quite annoying to criticize him.

He is the emperor. Although the emperor's trip is not as grand as Yang Guang's, it is still quite big. He has 10,000 forbidden army guards and hundreds of people to wait on him. It is not a small expense to eat horses and chew the horses along the way.

.However, compared to going north to conquer Liao, Wang Yan would rather Zhao Ji wasted his money at home, and the cost was too much.

Of course, it took a lot of hard work to get out, but Zhao Ji successively organized Gaoqiu and Cai Jing, who was powerful, and Wang Fu, the new prime minister, also strongly supported it, so it was finally possible.

It is not a secret that Zhao Ji goes out to patrol the world. The local governors themselves know what to do in various places. Of course, they also pretend to be peaceful along the way. But Zhao Ji is not stupid. Besides, he does not want to follow a large army. In the words of his good son-in-law, it is unnatural. So.

They always disguise themselves and are protected by others, wandering around and looking around. Doesn't this mean they see the truth?

The pain in writing and the difficulty in words are far less stinging than seeing them. Zhao Ji was stung, and he was so disgusted and angry. He went to Yanggu County and Wangjiazhuang, and saw with his own eyes how wealthy it was. When he arrived,

Elsewhere, the gap is truly appalling.

So along the way, he took many local officials, confiscated many houses, and indeed made a lot of money. There was no shortage of officials. After all, they were all redundant to the point of endangering the country's survival. Some were idle, so he promoted them seriously.

Got a batch.

But this is not what the court officials want to see, whether it is the old and new parties in the court, or honest and corrupt officials. Anyone with a brain knows what this will provoke. So another uprising broke out in the local area, and the officials went to court

He said that the journey was dangerous and advised him to return to the court. Of course Zhao Ji understood and returned to Bianjing honestly, as if nothing had happened.

Faced with Wang Yan's memorial to attack Xixia again, he agreed. The reasons were well written, and there was indeed a chance. All the civil and military officials in the court agreed. Besides, if he had not had the intention to attack Xixia, he would not have agreed to Wang Yan's revenge.

The Northern Army went to Xixia to train.

The current situation is that outside the Great Wall, the Western Army of the Song Dynasty is pressing down on Xixia. Wang Yan leads the Northern Army and their horses are wreaking havoc behind enemy lines. Xixia is struggling to hold on and is in danger, like a candle swaying in the wind, which will be extinguished at any time.

The battle in the field is getting farther and farther, because the enemy has no intention to survive. Although this is the rear, it is close to the main towns of Xixia, so they have something to rely on. As long as they can run back, they can survive. This is normal.

In the Jedi, no one wants to die. Especially when facing the Northern Army, an army that killed them with fear.

So the Xixia cavalry ran howling in front, and the Fubei army soldiers chased behind them, constantly drawing their bows and shooting. As time passed, the dispersed hundreds of troops began to gather here, gradually forming a siege.

However, they did not confront the Xixia cavalry. As long as they found the Xixia cavalry charging desperately, they would switch offense and defense. In such an open field, they had several times more enemy troops, so why bother to rush and risk their lives, just kite.

It wasn't until the team ran further and further that tens of thousands of people turned into a big black spot. Standing on the hillside and unable to see clearly the battle formation, the hundred-man team at the rear caught up. Wang Yan then took the lead again and set off again, chewing the hard meat.

Beef jerky, while slowly riding the horse towards the battlefield in the distance.

"Prince-in-law, how many enemy troops have come this time?" A disgraced eunuch rode up to Wang Yan and asked. He was a new eunuch sent by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty to supervise the army, and he was also a close confidant. He came here to keep an eye on Wang Yan.

There was an unlucky civil servant behind him. Although he could not be regarded as a close confidant of Zhao Ji, he was still willing to promote him. He ended up eating dirt on the battlefield, which was Zhao Ji's test for him.

Unlike the unlucky civil servants, eunuchs come here because they are motivated. Although this is a hard job and there is a risk of losing one's life, it is really a lucrative job. Not only can they achieve military success, but they can also be close to Wang Yan, the god of wealth.

The opportunity, coupled with Zhao Ji's expectations for the restoration of the Northern Army, as long as he can return alive, he will definitely advance to several levels. Tong Guan, Yang Jian, and Liang Shicheng are all their role models.

However, it is worth mentioning that Tong Guan was not used in the battle against Xixia this time, because Tong Guan was with Cai Jing. If Cai Jing fell, he would be implicated. This time, the person in charge of the overall situation was Yang Jian, who was recommended by Wang Yan

The generals of each department are still the original Zhong family, Zhe family and other local leaders of the Western Army.

Because of his relationship, Yang Jian is much stronger than in history. After resigning as an official in the palace, he directly fell into the position of supervisor of the Northern Army. He has never made any mistakes for so many years. The military training is also very good, and the local people's livelihood has not been damaged. It has never been the same as before.

In this way, doing local festivals and causing harm to the people was Wang Yan's way of feeding him, so he was still obedient.

So this war against Xixia, although it is named Yang Jian, the basic direction is controlled by his side. This is the benefit of having the emperor's favor. Doesn't Zhao Ji know that Yang Jian is his? Of course not. The problem is, Zhao Ji went out once

, I don’t know who can use it. And the battle against Xixia cannot be delayed. In addition, the Fubei Army can indeed fight, and the tactics are no problem, so he immediately recommended Yang Jian.

"I estimate there are three to five thousand people."

"These Xixia people really don't have a long memory. They have been besieged so many times and there is a war on the front line. They actually dare to send so many cavalry here to die."

Wang Yan did not reply. This is a very simple reason. At this time, there are still 4,000 people coming out to die. It must be that they have made preparations and want to lure the enemy deeper. Perhaps at this time, the road behind them has been blocked.

By the time they arrived in a hurry, the battle was over, and more than 20,000 people had gathered in place. There were corpses of men and horses everywhere, and the blood-stained dark red ground was not noticed by anyone. Even the unlucky civil servant was used to it.

, Wang Yan didn't even say anything, he was still chatting with the guy eating beef jerky.

Seeing Wang Yan and others approaching, Lu Junyi hurriedly ran over: "General, all four thousand enemy troops have been killed. None of our troops died. They were only shot by arrows and injured a few brothers. There are also some who fought hard."
To be continued...