Chapter 314 Officials supervise the battle and shoot King Pu
Zhao Ji rode in the lead, leaving Liu Yanqing and a group of royal city officials and cavalry dozens of paces behind.
He rode to the rear of the large group led by Yue Fei and Liu Guangshi.
Zhao Ji heard that the group of Song troops who were marching with Brother Richard were yelling in unison at the Xixia defenders on the east city of Xiping Prefecture.
"Xia dogs guarding the city, you see, there are only a few hundred of us escorting Brother Richard and parading under your city. Are you so cowardly as a mouse that you dare not go out of the city to take Brother Richard back?"
"Xia dogs, if you open the city now and surrender to our Song army, I will protect you from death. If not, the day the city is destroyed will be your death day..."
At this time, Yue Fei and Liu Guangshi were surprised to find that Zhao Guanjia appeared behind them on a war horse.
They ordered their men to continue yelling and provoking the enemy defenders on the east city.
Generals Yue and Liu turned their horses around and rode up to Zhao Ji. They both clasped their fists on their horses and saluted:
"Wei Chenfei, pay homage to the official family."
"The humble minister Guangshi, pays homage to the official family..."
Zhao Ji smiled and said: "My dear friends, no courtesy."
At this time, Liu Yanqing and the imperial cavalry officers also drove their horses to pursue them and protected Zhao Guan's family.
Zhao Ji asked Yue Fei and Liu Guangshi how the enemy's reaction was when they escorted King Richard of the Jin Dynasty of Xixia and paraded outside the enemy's city.
Yue Fei replied: "It is reported to the officials that just as the officials expected, the guards stationed in the cities of Xiping Prefecture saw Brother Richard, who was escorting them by me, parading in public. They were extremely shocked and shocked.
Angry... However, Xia Jun is still stuck in Xiping Mansion, but he does not dare to go out of the city to fight easily..."
Zhao Ji nodded and reminded: "Pengju, Uncle Ping, and your two dear friends, lead the troops to escort brother Richard to parade outside the enemy city. Remember to pay attention to safety! Be careful to prevent the enemy from shooting from the city.
The arrows are coming down!"
"Chen Fei, please remember to thank the Lord for your kindness..."
"Chen Guangshi, please remember to thank the Lord for your kindness."
When Liu Guangshi saw his father, Liu Yanqing, accompanying his imperial chariot, he came to Zhao Guan's house. He was particularly excited and wanted to show off more in front of the officials and his father. Therefore, he started talking eloquently:
"Don't worry, officials. The humble ministers Guangshi and Pengju led their troops to escort Brother Richard and paraded outside the enemy city to show the public. They all acted in accordance with the official decree. They were more than 200 steps away from the enemy city and never came close."
"Although there are arrows shot down from the enemy's city, due to the long distance, the enemy's arrows are all weak when they reach us, and cannot reach Lu Zhen! How can they still hit us?"
Zhao Ji nodded with satisfaction.
"The three hundred party generals under Wei Chen Guangshi's tent who had surrendered long ago had very loud voices. The three hundred of them shouted to the Xia army on the city together, and their voices spread far. This could spread the people on the city.
The summer dogs were so angry that they were stamping their feet and scratching their cheeks..."
Zhao Ji asked: "Among the enemy's defenders in Xijing City, are there any who came out of the city to fight?"
Liu Guangshi was so proud that he did not forget to flatter Zhao Guan's family and said:
"Weak minister Guangshi, return to report to the official's house. We are escorting Brother Richard to the parade. The summer dogs are all going crazy with anger. Although they should also want to go out and snatch Brother Richard back to humiliate him, but how dare they? So far,
No one dares to go out of the city to fight..."
"The summer dogs in the enemy city of Xijing must be afraid of the imperial power of the Emperor of Song Dynasty, whom you personally conquered!"
Zhao Ji smiled slightly and waved his hand to interrupt Liu Guangshi who was flattering him.
"The enemies of Xia dare not come out of the city to fight, not because of my power, but because of the 150,000 elite officers and soldiers of our Song Dynasty gathered here!"
Yue Fei, who heard what the officials said, nodded in admiration and conviction.
At this time, Zhao Ji was behind the Song army group that was escorting Brother Richard to the public. He was more than 400 steps away from the enemy city. In this era of cold weapons, the distance between Zhao Guan's house and the enemy city was relatively small.
It's very safe.
While Zhao Ji was listening to Liu Guangshi's Song troops in front of him yelling curses and provocative words at the enemy defenders on the city, Zhao Ji looked up at the majestic east city tower of Xiping Mansion.
I saw the Xixia soldiers on the city, and there were many people moving around, as if more troops had been added. They gathered around a man to watch the general, and climbed up to the watchtower on the city.
The general of the Xia army was pointing at the scolding Song army below the city, as if he was planning something for the generals around him...
Because the distance was too far, Zhao Ji couldn't see clearly the appearance of the enemy general on the east wall.
However, this is not a problem. Zhao Ji calmly stretched out his hand and said to the imperial attendant beside him:
"Bring me my telescope!"
"According to the order." The attendant immediately took out the monocular telescope from his backpack and carefully handed it to Zhao Guan's family.
He knew that the lenses used in this telescope were extremely precious and made of "glazed glass".
He had seen a few glass wine glasses and wine cups in the palace before. It was said that they were imported to the Central Plains from a very distant country in the west.
However, the telescope he handed to Zhao Guan's family used lenses that Zhao Guan's family had personally instructed the craftsmen to refine in the same way copper and iron were smelted using so-called silica and other common materials when they were in the capital.
This newly refined treasure is countless times clearer and more transparent than colored glaze.
Butler Zhao named this new treasure with transparency and clarity glass.
At that time, what surprised all the craftsmen involved in smelting glass was that the Zhao Guan family did not use this kind of glass, which was better than colored glaze, to make royal dining utensils.
Zhao Guanjia personally taught the craftsmen to make molds for convex lenses and concave lenses, then poured the molten red-hot glass liquid into the molds, then closed the mold lids, and after cooling, convex lenses and concave lenses made of glass could be obtained.
Zhao Guanjia also personally taught the craftsmen how to assemble the convex lens and concave lens in the appropriate position in the bamboo tube, and finally made a monocular telescope...
This imperial city official knew that this telescope embodies the wisdom and hard work of Zhao Guan's family, so he was particularly careful when handing it to Zhao Guan's family.
After Zhao Ji took the telescope from the Imperial City Secretary, he placed it in front of his right eye and looked at the enemy tower.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The distant scenery becomes clearer in the telescope.
The enemy's appearance and clothing, which were originally about five hundred steps away from the enemy's tower and could not be clearly seen due to the distance, were now as clearly visible as if they were very close.
Through the telescope, he saw on the tower of the east city of Xijing, more than ten Xixia generals were surrounding a general, and they were also looking at the Song army below the city.
Zhao Ji looked at the general standing in the middle on the enemy's tower. Judging from his face and two-inch short beard, he should be in his early thirties. He wore a bright silver helmet and a loose and fat four-clawed python robe.
Zhao Ji said to himself: "Could it be that the man wearing a four-clawed python robe on the city is Li Renzhong, the king of Pu in Western Xia Dynasty?"
Liu Guangshi on the side said: "Back to the official's house, because it is too far away, Wei Chen Guangshi can't see clearly! Rong Chen Guangshi urged his horse forward, went to the city, took a closer look, and then returned to the official's house."
Zhao Ji stopped him and said, "Uncle Ping, there is no need to take risks. I have given you this telescope."
He casually threw the monocular to Liu Guangshi.
"Ah?!" Liu Guangshi took the telescope in surprise and immediately said happily:
“Thank you Lord for your grace!”.
Not long ago, when he was following Yue Fei to escort Brother Richard on a parade outside the enemy's West City and South City to provoke and undermine the enemy's morale, he saw Yue Fei carefully taking out this telescope from his arms.
Baby, look at the enemy city like the Zhao Guan family does now...
At that time, Liu Guangshi asked Yue Fei: 'Brother Pengju, what is the cylinder in front of you?'
Yue Fei replied: 'This is a magical telescope developed by the Zhao Guan family when they were in the capital. It can be used to see clearly people and objects dozens of miles away. This telescope was personally given to Di Fei by the Guan family.'
At that time, Liu Guangshi shamelessly begged Yue Fei to lend him his telescope. Liu Guangshi borrowed Yue Fei's telescope and used it once. He said it was magical...
Liu Guangshi, a second-generation general who was never short of rare objects, couldn't put it down for Yue Fei's telescope.
He wanted to spend a huge amount of money to buy the telescope, but Yue Fei took it back on the pretext that "Di Fei dared not give it to Uncle Ping as a gift from the official family"...
Now, after Liu Guangshi received the telescope given to him by the official family, if he were not riding on the back of a war horse, he would definitely be jumping for joy.
Liu Yanqing, who immediately stood behind the Zhao Guan family's horse, was even pleased to see that his beloved son Liu Guangshi was so highly regarded by the Zhao Guan family. He was extremely grateful to the Zhao Guan family and felt guilty.
This guilt is due to the fact that more than half an hour ago, when Zhao Guan's family suddenly inspected Liu Yanqing's troops, they discovered the signs of lax military discipline. At this time, Liu Yanqing secretly swore in his heart that when I returned to the military camp, I would strictly enforce military discipline and train hard.
.
Liu Guangshi used the telescope given to him by Zhao Guan's family to look at the East City Tower of Xiping Mansion...
"In response to the official report, the humble minister Guangshi also saw the man wearing a four-clawed python robe on the enemy tower."
"Wei Chen Guangshi, when the Song Dynasty negotiated peace three years ago, was responsible for leading the troops to escort my Song Dynasty peace envoys. At that time, I saw that among the Western Xia peace envoys, there was the King of Pu Li Renzhong!"
"At that time, Li Renzhong had not yet been named King of Pu by the Jin Dynasty. He was just a doctor in the Ministry of Rites of Xixia."
"Wei Chen Guangshi was deeply impressed by him, because although he was a member of the Xixia clan, he used fluent Chinese to talk with our Song envoys when negotiating peace. When writing the peace treaty, he could write in Chinese characters with his own hand.
At once."
"Wei Chen Guangshi, looking at Li Renzhong's Sinological attainments, is not inferior to our peace envoy who was a Jinshi in the Song Dynasty. Therefore, Wei Chen Guangshi is extremely impressed by Li Renzhong. Even after three years, Wei Chen Guangshi is still
I can recognize him at a glance."
Zhao Ji nodded and said: "As expected, Xixia was founded by Dangxiang people, but they plagiarized the official system and official uniform style of our Han Dynasty in the Song Dynasty. Who would dare to wear the four robes if they were not crowned kings?
Where’s the clawed python robe?”
All the soldiers nodded and agreed with Zhao Guanjia's words.
"Before, I heard the confessions of the enemy prisoners captured by Han Liangchen's troops. Now the King of Pu, Li Renzhong, is in Xijing City, Xixia. The man in the python robe on the east wall of the enemy's east wall must be Li Renzhong. Now, there is Uncle Ping.
Your words just confirm my guess."
"The official sage..."
Liu Yanqing, who was behind Zhao Guan's family, secretly admired the performance of his beloved son Liu Guangshi.
"As a report to the official family, the humble minister Yanqing heard that last year, Li Renzhong was granted the title of King of Pu by the current Emperor of Xia, Li Qianshun."
"Well!" Zhao Ji nodded and said, "I already know this."
Everyone around Zhao Guanjia admires Zhao Guanjia's "knowing yourself and the enemy".
"During the battle between the two armies, Li Renzhong, the king of Pu in Western Xia, came to inspect the city. I wonder why he wore such a conspicuous four-clawed python robe?" Liu Yanying muttered in a low voice:
"Hehe... Isn't he willing to be my Song Army's target?"
Zhao Ji smiled slightly and said: "I guess he must have thought that our army could not break through the Xijing City of Xia Kingdom that he was guarding for a while!"
"And I sent two generals, Yue and Liu, to parade the captive Brother Richard down their city to show the public. This greatly reduced the morale of the Xia army guarding the city and shook their morale."
"Li Renzhong wore the four-clawed python robe given to him by Emperor Xia Li Qianshun and came to patrol the city in order to boost morale and stabilize the morale of the army."
All the surrounding generals praised him: "The officials know things like a god, and I admire them greatly..."
In fact, Li Renzhong came to inspect the city, just as Zhao Ji had guessed.
Originally, Li Renzhong, who was in Xipingfu City, Xijing, sent troops out of the city more than ten days ago to surround and annihilate the Song army led by Han Shizhong with Brother Li Cha's troops. He originally thought that he could annihilate the Song army invading from a long distance in one fell swoop with that battle, but he
Unexpectedly, the strongest cavalry force in Xixia, the Iron Harrier Army, and its auxiliary troops, the Jingzhou Soldiers and Horses, were annihilated by the Song Army...
After that, Li Renzhong, who was cautious in character, adopted the strategy of holding on to Xiping Fucheng in Xijing. He wanted to use the strategy of holding on to the city and never going out to fight to defeat the Song army that had penetrated deep outside Xijing city.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! However, what shocked Li Renzhong was that in these short ten days, the Song army outside Xijing City had gathered more and more. Now looking at the people outside the city The size of the Song army's camp should be between 150,000 and 60,000 people.
There are only 8,000 Xia troops in his city. Even though he urgently recruited 6,000 young and strong men in the city, the total number of old and new soldiers in the city is only 14,000.
What worries Li Renzhong the most is that because a dozen days ago, the Iron Kites and Jingzhou troops under Richard's brother were almost completely wiped out by the Song army. He has already predicted that the current Xia Emperor Li Qianshun will really be unable to mobilize any more troops like the Iron Kites. Tens of thousands of troops like the Jingzhou Army and Jingzhou Soldiers and Horses marched long distances to relieve the siege of Xijing.
Li Renzhong, the Prince of Pu, who was a member of the Xia Kingdom's clan, knew very well that the current army that the Xia Emperor could really directly mobilize was only a mere 30,000 capital guards.
The guard army of Xingqing Mansion, the capital of Daxia, consists of three parts, namely:
One is the "Six Bands in the Imperial Garden" composed of 5,000 people;
The second is the "Iron Cavalry (i.e. Iron Kites)" composed of 3,000 armored cavalry who are best at riding, shooting and fighting;
Third, the combat effectiveness of the 25,000-strong Beijing Guards Army is much worse than that of the "Six Squadrons in the Imperial Garden", and even worse than the Iron Harrier Army commanded by King Richard of Jin. Far.
However, the current emperor of Xia sent his younger brother Richard to personally lead three thousand iron kite troops and tens of thousands of Jingzhou troops to aid Xijing, but they were defeated outside Xijing city and almost the entire army was wiped out.
Does the current Emperor of Xia, Li Qianshun, really dare to divide the remaining 30,000 soldiers and horses from the "Six Squadrons in the Imperial Garden" and the Beijing Su Guards among the guards of the capital to relieve the siege of Xijing? ?
Li Renzhong racked his brains to think, and he dared to conclude that Xia Emperor Li Qianshun could not take the risk of sending out the only 30,000 troops guarding the capital.
"If I, King Renzhong, can send a messenger from the city to the capital, I will also urge Emperor Xia to never use the six squadrons in the imperial garden and the guards in the capital that are the only ones left in Xingfu in the capital to protect the royal family. We have divided our forces and come to aid Xijing. This is absolutely impossible!"
Li Renzhong was thinking, would there be other reinforcements coming to relieve the siege of Xijing?
Today, the Daxia Kingdom still has about 500,000 local troops. However, when the Xia army is completely at a disadvantage, are they willing to risk the annihilation of the entire army and the destruction of the entire clan to send troops to help?
"Haha..." Li Renzhong thought about this and smiled bitterly.
There are about 500,000 standing armies in various places in Daxia, mainly tribal soldiers, divided into left and right armies.
Each compartment is divided into six local military regions. Each region has a military supervisory department responsible for commanding the army in the region. The highest officer of each military supervisory department, who is served by the leader of each tribe, directs the army. They all have military numbers imitated in the Song Dynasty. Because of their tribes Most of them retain their nomadic life, and each army has a fixed station.
In addition to the military commander, each military supervisory department also has a deputy military commander and a military supervisor, who are served by tribal nobles. There are commanders, coaches and other officials under them, who are served by party members or Han people respectively...
Even though he had a profound knowledge of Sinology, he would lament with indignation: There were a total of twelve military supervisory departments in both sides of Daxia, that is, twelve tribes of different sizes. They were too similar to those in the middle and late Tang Dynasty who controlled military, political and financial power in various places.
The festival was accomplished.
Every time Li Renzhong thought about this, he would get a headache.
Therefore, he knew that the twelve military supervisory divisions distributed throughout Daxia were twelve tribes of different sizes. When the Central Army of Daxia was fighting against foreign enemies and was at an advantage, they would all hear the news and send troops.
Follow the battle in order to gain more benefits after winning.
If the central army of Daxia suffered a huge defeat, how many of the twelve tribes would be able to send troops? It must be very few.
Many years ago, the Song Dynasty's five-pronged army invaded Xia. On the surface, the Song army had the upper hand. At that time, the late emperor was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. He sent an imperial envoy with a silver medal (similar to the tiger charm used by the Han Dynasty to mobilize troops) in an emergency.
Recruited some local soldiers and horses from the twelve military supervisory departments and quickly attacked to resist the Song army...
However, what is the result?
Although the local armies of each tribe accepted the silver medals, indicating that they would absolutely obey the emperor's orders and obey the conscription, the soldiers and horses they sent to the front line were marching as slowly as a tortoise...
However, after they learned that the Central Army of Daxia had defeated one of the main forces of the Song army, they quickly marched in an attempt to carve up and capture the Song army's supplies, hoping to capture Song prisoners as slaves...
Three years ago, Liu Fa, the famous general of the Song Dynasty, led his troops to march straight into the Xia Kingdom. After penetrating into the Xia Kingdom, the local soldiers and horses of all ethnic groups in Xixia also maintained a wait-and-see attitude...
At that time, if Brother Richard hadn't personally led the Iron Harrier Army and tens of thousands of auxiliary soldiers in the capital to defeat Liu Fa's tribe and beheaded Liu Fa, then the siege of Xijing City might have been staged three years in advance.
Li Renzhong saw it clearly:
Many of the people in the "Six Squads in the Imperial Garden" in the capital city of Daxia were composed of local military generals from various tribes and powerful disciples who were good at riding and shooting. They were used to serve as the emperor's bodyguards. What was their purpose?
In fact, the "Six Banzhi in the Imperial Garden" is a hostage army, using the powerful children of various tribes as "hostages" in front of the imperial court to control the leaders and powerful people of each tribe.
However, the effect this can have is that the tribes and powerful people will not openly rebel. It is harder to force them to fight against the wind that may destroy the tribal family.
Emperor Xia always distrusted the tribal soldiers in various parts of the country...
The local armies would not take the huge risk of tribe extinction and send troops to fight to the death for Emperor Xia...
Through past events, Li Renzhong saw through the various local tribal armies in Daxia. On the surface, they respected the Emperor of Xia, but in the interior, they prioritized the interests of their own tribes.
Daxia was not like the Song Dynasty of the Han Dynasty, which was deeply influenced by Confucianism. All the Xiang armies were very loyal and patriotic.
…
During the ten days when Xijing City in Daxia was besieged by the Song army, Li Renzhong visited the city every day to inspect and encourage the soldiers to defend the city...
He also personally led troops to supervise the forcibly recruited civilians every day. He first demolished some houses in the city to collect stones, and then moved the stones to strengthen the four walls of Xijing. Small pieces of stones were transported to the city walls and piled up in preparation for Song Dynasty enemies to use ladders and other attacks.
When attacking the city with weapons, it is easy to use stones to kill the invading Song soldiers...
Of course, Li Renzhong, who was both wise and brave, had not thought that although he defended the city of Xijing, what would he do if the enemy army of the Song Dynasty did not attack outside the city?
Now, the food stored in the city is only enough to feed the soldiers and civilians for two months.
To defend a city, one must be prepared for a protracted war.
Therefore, Li Renzhong ordered that all the food from merchants and residents in the city must be forced into the army, and then uniformly distributed to the soldiers and civilians: in order to maintain the combat effectiveness of the city's soldiers, the soldiers will temporarily provide meals normally, and the daily food supply for civilians will be reduced.
to one-third.
Early this morning, Li Renzhong put on soft armor next to his body and a four-clawed python robe on the outside to show the respect and majesty of King Pu's status and to facilitate the exercise of his power to expropriate food from the people in the city.
He commanded the officials, government officials and soldiers in the city to forcibly "mobilize grain" from all merchants and ordinary people's homes in the city, so that the Xia army could hold on to Xijing for several months or even a year and a half, and prepare grain and grass reserves in advance.
Li Renzhong first asked his officials, government servants and soldiers to post notices in the city, and beat gongs and shouted along the streets to announce the military order to requisition grain:
"Xijing City is the place where our Great Xia Kingdom thrives. There is absolutely no way it will be attacked and fallen by the enemies of the Song Dynasty. Our officers and soldiers are sworn to defend Xijing City to the death, which is also to protect the lives of merchants and common people like you!"
"We ask the soldiers and civilians in the city to unite as one and fight against the enemies of the Song Dynasty."
"The military order of King Pu is now passed down: All the grain stored in the shops and people's homes in the city will be collected and stored in the army, and then uniformly distributed according to the population every day. The number of livestock and poultry raised by the people's homes must also be registered. From today on, no private use is allowed.
The slaughtered animals will belong to our army, but they will be temporarily kept in your homes to be used as meat rewards for the soldiers who risk their lives to defend themselves."
"Those who disobey this order will be killed without mercy..."
"Those who disobey this order will be killed without mercy..."
The people in Xiping Prefecture were furious...
They knew that the Xijing City of Daxia where they lived was now surrounded by nearly 200,000 Song troops.
If your family's food is forcibly taken by the Xia army, although the Xia army will distribute it uniformly, after the battle to defend the city has been going on for a long time and the army rations are used up, how can the Xia army distribute food to the people? Then I
Aren’t all the family members going to starve to death?!
In the Xijing City of Daxia, a small number of brave people resisted the military's forced food requisition...
As a result, they were ordered by Pu Wang Li Renzhong to drag them to the street with the most people and behead them in public to serve as a warning...
There were nearly a hundred people in the city who resisted the grain requisition. After they were beheaded in public in the street, the people in the city were so frightened that they had to obediently hand over all their grain to the Xia army's grain requisition team...
Li Renzhong's Danxiang national bodyguard asked: "Why not kill all the tens of thousands of Han people in the city to reduce the food distributed to them every day?"
Li Renzhong sighed: "Among the Han people in Xijing, some are descendants of Han people who settled here in the late Tang Dynasty, some are Han people who have surrendered long ago, and some are Han slaves captured in the Xia-Song wars a few years ago; alas!
This king really cannot bear to kill him!"
"Alas!" Li Renzhong sighed: "If we wait until five or six months later, when food in Xijing City is exhausted, I will never be merciful again!
The guard officer asked in confusion: "Isn't it true that the tens of thousands of Han people in the city shared the food for half a year in vain?"
Li Renzhong's eyes were blood red, he looked into the distance, his voice was hoarse, and he sneered sinisterly:
"Haha... When that time comes, I will definitely imitate Zhang Xun who defended the city for a year during the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty!"
"Huh?!" the guard of the Party clan asked in confusion: "Who is Zhang Xun? He can actually hold on to the city for a year! Then he must have a lot of military rations in the city he is guarding, right?"
Li Renzhong had a sinister look on his face and reprimanded him in a cold voice: "Ask less, do more! What I say today is not allowed to be spread outside!"
"I obey my orders!" The guard did not dare to say any more.
If Li Renzhong had not been besieged in the city by the Song army for more than ten days, which made him so depressed, he would never have said such words that were contrary to benevolence and justice and inhumane.
'Fortunately, the attendant next to me is a warrior from the Dangxiang clan. This rough man doesn't study and doesn't know the history of the Tang Dynasty. He doesn't even know that during the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Xun, the defender of Huaiyang in the Tang Dynasty, defended the city of Huaiyang.
One year due to lack of food, 30,000 people in the city were eaten...'
Thinking of this, Li Renzhong couldn't help but tremble slightly. He had the second half of the sentence buried deep in his heart:
'If all the Han people in Xijing City in Daxia are eaten up, then the old civilians, women and children among the Dangxiang people who cannot defend the city will definitely become the rations of my soldiers and generals who defend the city!'
'If that happens, I will also follow Zhang Xun's example and be the first to kill his wife, concubines, children, cook them, and reward the three armies to boost their morale!'
'If you kill the useless people in the city and cook them and eat them, you will definitely defend this city and defend the place where our Great Xia Kingdom is prosperous. In this way, we can drag down and drag down the enemy army of the Song Dynasty to death...'
…
"King Pu!" The guard saw Li Renzhong's pale face and trembling body. He asked carefully and softly:
"Prince Pu, you have been working too hard from early morning to this afternoon. Why don't you go back home to have lunch and rest for a while?"
Li Renzhong waved his hands and said: "I am neither tired nor hungry!"
In the afternoon, under the protection of a group of personal guards, Li Renzhong rode a war horse in the city and personally led the team to inspect the progress of each team's grain collection army.
"Report!" Li Renzhong suddenly received a report from his subordinates:
"The Song army escorted the captured Jin King of Daxia Kingdom and marched outside the west city to the south city...'
Li Renzhong frowned and asked: "Are the Song troops marching still outside Nancheng?"
The reporting officer replied: "Reporting to King Pu, the Song army parade has left, but they have not returned to camp."
Li Renzhong thought deeply: "It seems that they are going to march outside the East City and North City of Xijing! According to your investigation, what was the reaction of our army after seeing the Song Army's parade?"
"Reporting to King Pu, the generals of our army guarding the city. After seeing the Song army escorting the procession of King Jin, many soldiers became pessimistic..."
"Rumors spread in the army, and many soldiers spread the word privately:
'The Song army received help from the gods, who were able to draw thunder from the sky, and struck our strongest cavalry, the Iron Kites, in the Great Xia Kingdom, with electric lightning and annihilated the entire army! Otherwise, how could the Song army capture King Jin, the commander of the Iron Kites Army?
Where is Brother Richard?
Prince Jin is our Xia Emperor’s most favored and most relied upon God of War...’”
"Nowadays, among the many soldiers who defend Xijing in our city, rumors are spreading: There is only one way to die in defending Xijing. The city will be captured by the Song army, and this battle will be defeated. It is better to open the city gate while it is dark and forcefully force
If we break out, we might still have a chance to survive..."
With a "pop" sound, Li Renzhong, who was riding on a war horse, raised his whip angrily and threw it with an ear-splitting crack in the air. He shouted angrily:
"Damn the Song Army, they actually resorted to such despicable methods! Come on, follow me to Dongcheng to see what's going on."
"Follow orders..."
………………
After Li Renzhong, wearing a five-clawed python robe, boarded the east city of Xijing, the defenders immediately stopped lamenting and talking in frustration, and the morale of the Xia army defending the city was slightly boosted...
Li Renzhong stood on the city tower and heard the Song troops below the city shouting in unison to the city in alternate Chinese and Dangxiang dialects.
The Song army first shouted in unison to persuade them to surrender, and then they cursed that if the Xia army did not quickly open the city and surrender, they would be captured like Brother Richard, and life would be worse than death...
Li Renzhong held his hand on the crenel on the tower and looked down. He saw nearly a thousand Song troops in the distance below the city. They were escorting Brother Richard who was tied to the carriage and were parading under the city...
In addition to the embarrassed Brother Richard, the cart was also tied with a torn and blood-stained iron kite military flag, and the specially made stainless steel armor that Brother Richard would wear in battle was also hung on the cart.
"Alas!" Li Renzhong sighed sadly.
He originally wanted to lie to his opponent's soldiers and tell them that the person captured by the Song army during the march was not Brother Richard, the Jin king of Daxia.
Unexpectedly, Brother Richard is too well-known. He has led troops for many years and has many old acquaintances in the army.
Last year, Brother Richard, King of Jin, came to Xijing City and paid a visit to the three armies in Xijing City. There were many Xia soldiers who knew Brother Richard in Xijing City.
In order to stabilize the morale of the army and boost morale, Li Renzhong shouted emotionally:
"Although our King Jin of Daxia Kingdom was captured, he did not betray and surrender to the enemy. Otherwise, he would not have been tortured to such an embarrassing state by the Song army!"
All the soldiers around him nodded in agreement.
Li Renzhong shouted: "The King of Jin is loyal and patriotic, and would rather die than surrender. He is a role model for us! We should follow his example, hold on to the city, and swear to fight the enemies of Song to the bitter end!"
The Xia army on the city listened to Li Renzhong's passionate shouts, and then looked at the Song army camps one after another outside the city. They weakly followed Li Renzhong and shouted several times:
"We must hold on to the city and vow to fight the Song enemies to the bitter end!"
Suddenly, Li Renzhong saw another group of hundreds of cavalrymen in bright armor appearing behind the Song army's parade. They were protecting a nobleman riding a white horse and wearing a red cloak.
Watching that noble man from a distance on the city, although you can't see it clearly, you can feel his extraordinary popularity and majestic appearance!
Little did he know that these noble people belonged to the family of Emperor Zhao Guan of the Song Dynasty.
Now Li Renzhong, the king of Pu, who is upstairs in the east city of Xijing, is lucky enough to be looking at each other in silence four or five hundred steps away from Zhao Guan's family, the emperor of the Song Dynasty, far below the city...
"I would like to report to King Pu that I will lead a thousand cavalry out of the city to kill the enemy and recapture our King Jin of Great Xia who was captured by the Song army."
"The general is also willing to go with me..."
"The general is also willing to go with me..."
Above the east city, the calls for battle from several guards interrupted Li Renzhong's trance.
"Don't leave the city easily!" Li Renzhong pointed at the Song army under the city and scolded:
"The Song enemy's move was a deliberate provocation under the city, and they wanted to lure our army out of the city to fight. You only saw the Song army with less than a thousand cavalry under the city, shouting and provoking. Little did you know that when our army opened the city gate, lowered the drawbridge and left the city, Song
The large group of people ambushing in the military camp behind the army will definitely rush out, they will definitely cross the moat easily, and they can rush into the east city gate without much effort!"
"Pass this king's military order and anyone who dares to leave the city will be killed without mercy!"
Just now he was shouting that he wanted to invite those who left the city to fight, but he was immediately speechless.
…
At the same time, Zhao Ji, who was far away from the city, pointed at Li Renzhong on the enemy city and said:
"Send a surrender team to the enemy's moat and shout, "I am here. If King Pu of Western Xia is willing to lead his troops out of the city to surrender, I will definitely give preferential treatment to the soldiers and civilians in the city to ensure that Li Renzhong will not lose his position as King Pu and can still enjoy glory."
Rich!"
Yue Fei took the order and sent out a group of thirty armored cavalry. Each of them wore armor captured from the Iron Kites Army.
After following Zhao Guan's imperial edict, these thirty cavalrymen rode their horses to the moat outside the east city of Xijing.
Facing Xia Jun's tower, they shouted in unison the imperial edict of Zhao Guan's family to surrender Li Renzhong...
Li Renzhong and the Xia army soldiers in the city were shocked when they heard that Zhao Guanji was actually supervising the battle in the Song army's rear formation!
However, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty was too far away from them, and his bow and arrow could not shoot at all.
Li Renzhong was afraid that the voices of the thirty Song Army cavalry under the city's walls would affect his and his soldiers' determination to defend Xijing City, so he roared angrily:
"The archers of our army fired arrows to kill the enemy of Song Dynasty who disturbed the morale of our army."
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
Arrows rained down from the city.
Fortunately, the thirty cavalrymen wearing Iron Kites armor sent out by Zhao Guanjia were about 150 or 60 steps away from the enemy city. The arrows fired by the enemy were already lethal when they got close to them.
reduce.
Even so, several Song Army cavalry had several arrows inserted into their armors...
"Hmph!" Zhao Ji said angrily: "I gave Li Renzhong a chance to open the city and surrender to save the lives of his soldiers and civilians, but he didn't take advantage of it. Then you can't blame me for being cruel!"
When Yue Fei saw that Zhao Guan's family was angry, he immediately asked for a fight:
"To inform the officials, the humble minister Yue Fei is willing to lead a group of skilled horsemen and archers to rush to the enemy's moat and fire arrows together to teach the Xia enemy a lesson!"
Zhao Ji said, "Pengju has the qualifications to be a general. Don't risk your life today."
The young and energetic Yue Fei was still trying to fight, but suddenly he heard Zhao Guan's family shouting:
"Where is my Imperial City Division Musketeers?"
"I'm waiting here!" A group of thirty cavalrymen carrying blazing guns and spears rushed out from the escort of three hundred imperial city officials and reined in their horses in front of Zhao Guan's house.
Zhao Ji raised his hand and pointed at the enemy's east tower and roared:
"You and your musketeers will attack with the whole army, ride your horses to the moat, use the muskets and spears I gave you, and shoot volley at the Western Xia Pu King Li Renzhong who is wearing a four-clawed python robe!"
"I obey the order..." The thirty musketeers all took off their long guns and quickly checked that the guns and ammunition in their hands were filled and in a ready-to-fire condition.
"drive!"
"drive!"
"drive!"
Brother Richard, who was on the upper floor of the east city of Xijing in Xia Kingdom, held on to the crenellations of the city wall and looked down at the city. He laughed and said:
"Look! The Song Army only sends a mere thirty cavalry each time to persuade Long. Aren't they risking their lives?"
"Archers, let me shoot the second batch of Song cavalry in the city who are looking for death!"
"Obey the order." The Xia army archers on the east city of Xijing obeyed King Pu's order. While they were bending their bows and setting arrows, they suddenly heard the sound of several gunshots coming from the other side of the moat below the city.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
"Bang, bang, bang..."
"ah?!"
"Ah?! Ah?! Ah..."
Li Renzhong and many soldiers around him were shot in response and fell into a pool of blood...
"King Pu?!"
"King Pu..."
"Save King Pu quickly!"
Song Jun suddenly fired a cold shot, and Xia Jun's east wall was already in chaos...
"Where is the military doctor? Rescue King Pu quickly!!"