Brother Richard looked at the Song Army camp outside the east city of Xijing for a while on the hillside in the distance, and then led his guards back to the camp.
On the fourteenth night of the eighth lunar month, Brother Richard sent counselors and guards who sneaked into Xijing City and returned to the camp.
"Reporting to the King of Jin, I have entered the north gate of Xijing, which has never been attacked by the Song army. With the letter from the King of Jin, I have met with the commander of the Xiangqing army left in Xijing, and I have summarized the plan set up by the King of Jin to defeat the enemy through internal and external cooperation.
The explanation is clear."
Brother Richard asked how many Xiangqing soldiers and generals were in Xiping City, as well as the morale and morale of the troops.
Brother Richard learned that due to the urgent situation in the Xixia cities on the frontal battlefield, the Xiangqing Army, which originally had 50,000 troops, was divided into 30,000 troops and sent to the frontal battlefield to defend the Song Army Guo Cheng's troops.
Although the Xiangqing Army is mainly stationed in Xiping Prefecture, Xijing, many of its troops are stationed in various counties and surrounding pass roads. Therefore, at this time, the Xiangqing Army in Xiping Prefecture, Xijing, only has eight troops.
Thousands of horses.
Because of this, when the Xiangqing Military Division in Xijing City saw thousands of Song troops appearing outside the East City Gate to challenge for battle, they defended Xijing City tightly, closing the city gates tightly and not daring to leave the city for a decisive battle, waiting for reinforcements.
Policy……
Brother Richard listened to the report from his counselors and asked:
"Now that I have come to aid Xijing, is the Xiangqing Military Division in the city willing to cooperate with me to attack the Song army at night?"
"Reporting to King Jin, after I saw the commander of the Xiangqing Army in the city, he vowed to act in accordance with King Jin's secret order!
The Xiangqing Army in Xijing City will follow the agreement. As long as the Jin King's army attacks the Song Army camp outside the East City, Xijing City will open the east city gate and rush out five thousand elites to cooperate with the Jin King's Iron Harrier Army to attack from both inside and outside.
, Annihilate the enemies of the Song Dynasty in one fell swoop!"
Brother Richard smiled, nodded, and said:
"Okay! Pass on the king's military order to strengthen the defense of the camp tonight. After the rest of the soldiers have a good meal, they will immediately return to the camp to sleep, recharge their spirits, and follow the order in the middle of the night!"
The messengers conveyed Jin King Richard's military orders to all camps...
…
At this time, in the large tent of the Central Army of the Song Army, the commander-in-chief Han Shizhong and the commander Yue Fei were looking at the military map by candlelight while discussing strategies to defeat the enemy...
General Han Shizhong had previously received several batches of the movements of the Iron Harriers detected by the Song Army's scouts. He picked up the key points and told Yue Fei one by one...
Since the Zhao Guan family distributed several telescopes to Han Shizhong's troops, the Song army's scouting horses could observe the situation in the Tieyaozi military camp on distant mountains during the day.
Han Shizhong said: "Pengju, I sent several batches of scouting horses. During the day today, we detected that many Xixia scouting horses were helpless. They went to the mountain city two miles away from our army to peek at our army's camp. But I deliberately did not send any.
Go out and kill them."
Yue Fei praised him: "Han Gong used his body as bait to catch Brother Richard's iron kite army to attack. Fei admires Han Gong's feat very much!"
"Hahaha!" Han Shizhong laughed and said:
"If in the past, my troops were here as bait to catch Xixia's most powerful iron kite army, they would definitely have a narrow escape.
However, things are different now. Many of my soldiers are equipped with gunpowder weapons developed by the Zhao Guan family, so dealing with the Iron Kites Army will naturally give them a narrow escape!"
Yue Fei nodded in agreement and reminded: "Mr. Han, be careful. The Xiangqing Army in Xijing City has left the city and is attacking our army with the Iron Kites Army under Brother Richard!"
Han Shizhong smiled and said: "Peng Ju's concerns are exactly my concerns. During the day, the scouting horse I sent reported:
‘A group of dozens of cavalrymen came out from the Tieyaozi military camp and entered the city from the north gate of Xijing.’
My analysis is that the Xixia Iron Harrier Army has arrived outside Xijing City, but has not entered the city, nor has it rushed to attack our Song Army;
Brother Richard also sent people into the city, which must be his envoys. They went into the city to plan with the commander of the Xiangqing Army who was staying in Xipingfu City, how to attack our troops. "
Yue Fei asked: "What countermeasures can Mr. Han have?"
Han Shizhong said: "We will deal with it according to the strategies you and I have decided before..."
Yue Fei said: "I heard that Brother Richard, the King of the Jin Dynasty of Western Xia, attacked Liu Fasuo, the famous general of the Song Dynasty, three years ago. Therefore, in recent years, Brother Richard has even been arrogant and underestimated the enemy.
I observe all the signs from brother Richard's troops today, and it is very likely that he will come to rob Han Gong's camp tonight!"
Han Shizhong smiled and nodded, looked at Yue Fei with a heroic look, and said:
"Pengju and I thought of going together! Pengju, tell me, when will Brother Richard's troops rob our camp at night?"
Yue Fei said: "Between the end of Zi Shi and the beginning of Yin Shi, people sleep the deepest. Therefore, if Brother Richard's troops come to rob the camp, it is very likely that they will do so between the end of Zi Shi and the beginning of Yin Shi."
"
Han Shizhong said: "That's what I expected. I will definitely make arrangements in advance. It's getting late. Pengju will return to your unit. Remember the previous agreement that your unit will be a mobile army and wait until the agreed time before attacking the enemy."
Brother Richard's Iron Kites Army and the first few attacks of the Xiangqing Army that came out of Xijing City were all dealt with by my department using the gunpowder weapons given by Zhao Guan's family!"
Yue Fei nodded solemnly and said: "Fei will obey Han Gong's military orders and will definitely find the best time to strike the enemy."
After Han Shizhong and Yue Fei finished discussing in the Chinese army's tent, Yue Fei left the camp and returned to his own army.
Han Shizhong ordered: The entire army should be on guard to prevent the enemy from hijacking the camp. The soldiers who have come off their rotation should keep their weapons by their side tonight and sleep without taking off their armor...
At the beginning of Haishi, Han Shizhong personally inspected each battalion and ordered the artillerymen on night duty to cheer up...
…
The next day was the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month in the third year of Xuanhe, at the beginning of the Chou period, when the bright moon was in the sky.
Riding on a tall horse, Brother Richard, wearing a crown of armor, personally led 3,000 heavily armored Iron Kites troops as the front team, followed by the 5,000 elite auxiliary troops drawn from Jingzhou.
After swinging out of the camp, they quietly marched to about one mile behind the camp of Song Army Han Shizhong outside the east city of Xijing, and stopped advancing.
Brother Richard raised his whip and pointed at the camp of the Song army under Han Shizhong's command under the moonlight. He ordered the army commander following him in Dangxiang dialect:
"Sister Lechimo led the first to fourth teams of the Iron Kites, with 1,200 horsemen, as the left wing army;
The prodigal was buried, and he led the fifth to eighth teams of the Iron Harriers, with 1,200 cavalry, forming the right-wing army.
Pay close attention to Canglang, lead the 800 cavalry of the ninth team and the tenth team of the Iron Kites, and follow the king to supervise the Jingzhou Army to attack the Song Army's camp at night.
After receiving the order, the iron kite troops on the left and right wings immediately led their troops to circle to the left and right sides of the Song army's camp. After a head-on battle, the left and right flanks of the Song army will definitely be empty. If you and your troops lead a surprise attack, then
This battle must be won!"
"General, take the order!" The three generals followed the order one after another.
Richard Ge Le stopped on his horse, and under the moonlight, he saw his sister Le Qimo and the Wanderer Burian, each leading an army of 1,200 iron kites, detouring on the left and right and outflanking the two sides of the Song army's camp.
…
Brother Richard is full of confidence in the Iron Kites Army, the most elite division of the Xixia Kingdom, which he personally trained.
The total number of this iron kite army is 3,000, divided into ten teams, all composed of Dangxiang, descendants of Qiang nobles and chiefs, and close associates. They ride good horses and wear heavy armor.
Brother Richard, like his ancestors, trained hard when building this iron kite army. The cavalry and war horses were heavily armored. When fighting with the enemy, they would not be injured even if they were stabbed or stabbed, so their combat effectiveness was extremely high.
In every battle, the ten captains of the Iron Kites Army and all the cavalry would use hooks to hang themselves on their horses in advance, so that when fighting the enemy, they would not fall to the ground if they were injured or killed.
, it is basically impossible for the enemy to capture the prisoners of the Iron Kites or pick up the dead bodies of the Iron Kites.
The King of Jin, Richard Brother, did not rush to order his troops to immediately attack the Song Army camp about one mile ahead. Instead, he ordered:
"Our troops formed a formation on the spot and waited for half a quarter of an hour until the two wings of our Iron Kites army had detoured and outflanked them, and then launched the attack.
The soldiers from Jingzhou will be in the front line, preparing to take the lead, and the eighth and ninth groups of Iron Kites will follow me to supervise the battle."
At this time, Brother Richard was riding on his horse, using the moonlight to look at the Iron Kites on the left and right wings, and moved quickly according to his military orders. After a while, the two Iron Kites disappeared into the night.
"Hahaha!" He was satisfied with the generals around him and said in Chinese: "I, the king, observes that the iron kite under his command is really 'quiet as a virgin and as active as a rabbit'!"
Like Xianshang Canglang, several party generals and Qiang generals who were not highly Chinese-speaking looked confused when they heard what the King of Jin said and did not understand what he meant.
The Han counselors beside Brother Richard immediately explained to the generals:
"In my Han family, a virgin refers to an unmarried woman. The King of Jin said that our Iron Kites are as quiet as virgins and move as unmarried rabbits," which means that our Iron Kites are as calm as unmarried virgins when they are not moving.
But once it moves, it's as agile as an escaped rabbit."
It was only then that the general, who was not very well-Chinese, suddenly realized what he was doing.
This Han strategist did not forget to search for words to praise the King of Jin, so as to flatter King Richard of Jin. He suddenly remembered the words and phrases in "The Art of War" that he always kept reading, and he said to the generals:
"Just now, what our King of Jin said is based on an allusion. Sun Wu once said in "Sun Tzu Nine Places": "The beginning is like a virgin, and the enemy opens an account; the end is like a rabbit that escapes, and the enemy cannot resist it."
Brother Richard, the king of Jin, was very happy when his military advisor quoted scriptures, and he became even more complacent.
Xishang Canglang was even more confused after hearing this, and he asked in broken Chinese:
"Junshi, what do you mean?"
The Han military advisor was riding on a war horse. He held the reins tightly with his left hand and waved his folding fan twice with his right hand. In the name of clearing up doubts, but in fact he wanted to flatter King Richard of Jin a few more times. He said leisurely:
"In the Spring and Autumn Period, Sun Tzu said, 'In the beginning, you are like a virgin, and the enemy opens an account; in the end, you are like a rabbit, and the enemy cannot resist you.' It means that at the beginning of the war, the army should be as solemn and quiet as a virgin, so that the enemy can take it lightly and be unprepared;
When the war breaks out, the army will move like a rabbit with lightning speed, leaving the enemy with no time to resist.
The King of Jin of Daxia Kingdom is both wise and brave, and this is the case with the Iron Harrier Army under the command of King Jin!"
After understanding this, Xiang Canglang and the generals all looked at Jin King Richard Brother with great admiration, whose face was full of pride.
…
Half a quarter of an hour later, Brother Richard estimated that the two groups of Iron Kites troops he had divided should be able to reach the predetermined location. He also saw that the auxiliary soldiers of his headquarters, the elite soldiers and horses of Jingzhou, were already lined up to charge forward.
The first battle.
He spurred his horse forward, arrived in front of the Jingzhou soldiers and horses brigade, and shouted loudly:
"My sons, I have a God-given opportunity to protect your family and country and make great achievements. As long as you follow my king and fight bravely against the enemy, after this battle is won, I will definitely reward you for your merits!!!"
The morale of Xia's army was greatly boosted, and they shouted excitedly, making waves one after another.
Brother Richard, who was confident and high-spirited, rode on his war horse, drew his scimitar, pointed at the Song camp in front and shouted loudly: "The first formation - Jingzhou Army, go out to fight!"