In the several battles with the Xixia people, the real casualties of soldiers occurred during the retreat. However, the so-called retreat at that time was more appropriately defined by rout and flight.
No matter how good the soldiers are, they can't outrun the horses. Retreating means leaving the back to the Xixia cavalry.
The key is that once the retreat begins, it means that the morale of the army is dispersed, the soldiers are timid, and the signs of defeat are exposed...
Now, although the battle to defend the city is difficult, it is far from time to retreat!
Although the route and location His Royal Highness ordered the soldiers to retreat were no longer the same as in the past, and were all wilderness and mountains, the city wall was lost after all, and the Xixia people still invaded.
"Don't understand this military order?"
Zhao Xi looked at everyone in the headquarters, from Han Jiang and other civil and military officials in Qinzhou, to the escort battalion's instructions for joining the army this time. Everyone's face was full of doubts.
It's really hard for people to understand.
"If I weren't worried about the Xixia people's suspicion, I wouldn't even want the border village to resist..."
This... is so amazing!
"Indeed, the war is on our land of the Song Dynasty, which is indeed a harm to the country. From the bottom of my heart, I would rather we invade the Xixia territory, but we can't, because the soldiers of the country do not have such strength. ...No guts!"
Zhao Xi really didn't want to comment like this, but it was true.
"So, this battle is a battle of courage and a battle of revenge. Although the current defense of the border village is very effective, there is one thing that cannot be ignored...the real Xixia elite cavalry did not participate in any battle. Let the war horses adapt to firearms..."
This is an unavoidable problem and an unavoidable fact.
Since the beginning of the war, the intensity of the war that Zhao Xi has seen is very low. The Xixia people only invested in the Chu Linglang and Zhuosheng troops, obviously training their war horses on the battlefield.
"Your Highness..."
The Western Army is still the same Western Army, and the Xixia elite cavalry is still the same elite cavalry. But today's one-sided victory in everyone's opinion is purely due to the sharpness of the firearms. Once the Xixia people adapt to firearms...
After hearing what Zhao Xi said, no one looked at this war optimistically.
Han Jiang was very nervous, nervous about Qinzhou, nervous about the Western Army, nervous about His Highness the Crown Prince planning the final impact of this campaign...
"This is one of the reasons why I'm asking for a retreat now..."
Zhao Xi waved his hand and stopped Han Jiang from continuing.
"The sharp firearms allowed the soldiers to see the possibility of beating up the Western thieves, and they retreated at this time... First, there was no defeat, and the soldiers' courage was still there; second, when they retreated at this time, all the soldiers in the border village were defeated. The damage has not exceeded 20%, and the fighting strength is still there. Gather your strength for the decisive battle!"
It should have been explained clearly, but everyone still looked confused.
Indeed, if we talk about accumulating strength for a decisive battle, we should withdraw all the soldiers south, organize a defense line at Haoshuichuan or Dingchuan Village, and finally carry out the decisive battle.
However, His Highness the Crown Prince's order... was to arrange the soldiers of the border village randomly in the barren mountains and wild ridges like spreading water. It felt like they were deployed purely to preserve their strength, not to fight.
"The Xixia people gathered nearly 200,000 elite cavalry this time, but everyone knows that in the basin from Xiaoguan to Qinzhou, there is no strategic space for 200,000 cavalry to fight. Similarly, there is no strategic space for the east and west roads. A report from the Xixia people to increase their troops."
Zhao Xi took a wooden stick and pointed on the simple sand table from Xiaoguan to Qinzhou along the line between the basin and the canyon.
"The Western Xia people's habit is to rely on food to survive. In other words, they will not prepare food for 200,000 cavalry, but will prepare to raid all villages to ensure their military food after entering the territory of the country."
"According to previous battles, the main force determines the outcome of the war. There is no targeted combat deployment for the Xixia Rangers scattered throughout the country."
"This time it's an encirclement and suppression. I don't want to let anyone go...even the Xixia people with a hundred horses!"
The wooden stick in Zhao Xi's hand was lighting up the entire sand table...
At this time, people took a closer look at the seemingly random flag that Zhao Xi had planted.
"Your Highness, this is everywhere..."
"It can be said that there is smoke everywhere, but I prefer to call it an encirclement and suppression war. After the Xixia people entered the territory of the country, they will definitely divide their troops to plunder. These separated cavalry... I have no intention of letting them go!"
Now look at the sand table...the east-west road is shrinking towards the middle road, and the middle route army is advancing from Qinzhou to the north. And all the Western Army and the New Army that have withdrawn from the border villages are organized into command units, all hidden in the wilderness mountains and forests.
Starting from Xiaoguan, withdrawing troops amid resistance... This was originally the habit of fighting between states and dynasties in the past, and the Xixia people would not have much doubts.
Then, the Xixia people were slowly introduced...
When the Xixia people broke into Haoshuichuan and came into contact with the Xixia people in the middle, the east and west routes could basically form two wings of encirclement. At the same time, the Xixia people's rangers sent out to plunder food and grass would be fired at the same time by these soldiers who were randomly deployed.
…
Zhao Xi was not sure where the Xixia cavalry would be when the decisive battle began, so he could only deploy all his troops in all locations suitable for cavalry operations and ambush.
In this way, not only can all the Xixia cavalry be plunged into war at the beginning of the war, but at the same time, any Xixia cavalry will not have support and cannot be the support of other cavalry. Finally, when defeating the Xixia cavalry, it can also try to use the Xixia cavalry as much as possible.
The Xixia people's escape routes were blocked, and they tried their best to annihilate or capture each other.
Total annihilation... is just an idea. For infantry versus cavalry, even if they have firearms, it would be a dream to achieve total annihilation.
As for the cavalry of the Western Army... Zhao Xi did not want to let them go head-to-head. Zhao Xi was satisfied if he could defeat the Xixia cavalry in the pursuit after the encirclement and suppression.
The cavalry is really no match for the Xixia people.
At this time, everyone saw and heard clearly. Looking at the dense red and blue flags throughout Qinzhou... this was a chaotic battle.
Xiaoguan was also quiet late at night. The two sides seemed to have agreed that whenever night fell, the siege would stop, allowing the defenders time to rest.
Gu Cheng and Liu Wu could not think that far ahead. They could not imagine that the Xixia people attacked the city so gently in order to adapt their horses to gunpowder bombs.
For Gu Cheng, obeying orders is the first rule, but for Liu Wu... he thought he could still keep it, but Gu Cheng almost turned against him.
Therefore, their Western Army will withdraw from Xiaoguan tonight.
Such a scene is not just in Xiaoguan, but also in all the border villages attacked by the Xixia people. Tonight is the time for the Western Army to retreat in a unified manner.
The reason why the Western Army was arranged to withdraw first was that the Western Army did not have long-distance cross-country training. It was impossible for the Western Army to hide its tracks after marching at a high speed, and it was also unable to have the ability to continue fighting after a rapid march.
The general trend has been formed, and Zhao Xi does not want the fighting spirit of the entire Western Army to wane due to the annihilation of a few commanders or soldiers in the military compartment at this time.
Likewise, we don’t want to lose soldiers and cause a certain point to become a loophole in the final encirclement and suppression.
For the new army, Zhao Xi believes that with the foundation of proficiency in the use of firearms and the foundation of targeted cross-country training, they can enter the arranged battlefield at the specified time.