The soldiers of the East Route Army who entered the Central Route Army theater this time were only a little more than 30% of the original East Route Army, and most of the troops stayed in the East Route defense area.
Block the Xixia cavalry from advancing eastward, and at the same time advance westward after the final encirclement and suppression campaign begins.
Zhong E didn't think the Xixia people had much chance to counterattack under the massive siege that had already taken place.
However, His Highness the Crown Prince's words that he would kill without mercy still made him cautious.
In fact, when Zhao Xi allocated the chariots and wheel cannons to the east and west routes, he had objectively limited the marching speed.
There is no dedicated Zizhong transportation team, which slows down the progress of the entire team. This is also specially arranged by Zhao Xi.
Although a rapid advance can kill a large number of Xixia people, it will also make the soldiers tired in continuous battles, which will lead to the lack of successors and the possibility of being charged by the Xixia cavalry in the end.
Throughout the war zone, Zhao Xi had ambushed the team in advance, and the Xixia people needed to constantly collect food and grass from villages, towns and military villages. Even a slow advance was enough to catch the Xixia cavalry that had been scattered. There was no need to
This last tremor caused the soldiers to suffer further losses.
Even with such a slow advance, the Eastern Route Army had already seen the Xixia Rangers after marching eastwards for only twenty miles.
It's a pity that the Xixia people are not stupid. Let alone such a huge team, just talking about chariots and wheel cannons, the Xixia people also fled.
"Brother Ying, this won't work. The Western bandits have been dispersed. We have tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. Not to mention the speed of advancement, even with such a scale, it will be difficult for the Western bandits to fight us."
"I suggest that we split up. Brother Ying, I, and Commander Cao each lead a team of ten thousand people. While the general direction to the east remains unchanged, we each choose a route to pursue the Xixia skirmishers."
"Agree!"
"Seconded!"
Not to mention Zhe Jizu who was used to leading his troops in battles on his own, even Cao Lin had the idea of leading his troops alone.
Zhao Xi had long expected this.
Not to mention the East Route Army, let’s take the West Route Army’s own uncle-in-law. After the general situation has taken shape, he will never be willing to be manipulated by Guo Kui.
Fortunately, the entire war zone has been arranged in advance. Even if there is a war, even if there is a war, there will definitely be an equal number of troops within ten miles ambushed in advance. Therefore, no team will fall into a situation of fighting alone.
This time, the Xixia people claimed to have 500,000 troops, but the actual number of troops invested by the imperial court was nearly 500,000.
Even as the middle road advanced north, Zhao Xi also divided the team into three teams.
It was said to be a large-scale siege, but in fact it was a large-scale melee covering hundreds of miles.
Liu Wu led the remnants of the Xiaoguan defense battle, nearly 3,000 men.
After holding back for a long time, it was finally time to fight again. Although it was only two hours away from Niujiaping, Liu Wu led the team to set off when he saw the signal fireworks.
I couldn't bear it anymore.
Niujiaping is a small village located on the west bank of Hulu River, surrounded by mountains and rivers, with beautiful scenery.
Just because of the war, the villagers all fled to the mountains, and there was no trace of life.
"Commander, why did you ask us to come here? There are still no thieves!"
Lying on the ridge on the west side of Niujiaping, looking at the dark villages below the mountain, there was no sound at all. How could there be any Xixia people?
The soldiers asked Liu Wu, and Liu Wu also wanted to know.
Although the military order was to arrive at nine o'clock, and they were two hours ahead of schedule, it was obvious that there was no one in Niujiaping village, not to mention the Xixia cavalry, not even the villagers.
Is it possible that people like me have to wait here again?
Liu Wu was unclear about the next order. Gu Cheng said that they would meet at Niujiaping and then continue to fight side by side...
"Rest on the spot and wait for the next time!"
Even though Liu Wu didn't know clearly, he still had to pretend to be confident.
He himself was like this, and he couldn't let his soldiers become agitated. He felt that the next step would be very difficult.
Perhaps it was the appearance of signal fireworks that made Liu Wu feel at ease. Anyway, he slept very deeply this time.
"Boom...boom boom..."
Awakened by the sound of an explosion, Liu Wu turned over in excitement and looked down the mountain in confusion...
Niujiaping has been beaten into porridge.
There are nearly two thousand Xixia cavalry in the center, and the front and rear ends of Niujiaping Village are all our own soldiers.
Niujiaping faces the river to the east, and the Xixia cavalry had no choice but to retreat to the mountain ridge...
Liu Wu suddenly woke up,
"Brothers... drop bombs! Kill!"
From a high position, even throwing rocks can be quite lethal, let alone gunpowder bombs.
In an instant, the Xixia cavalry who had rushed to the foot of the mountain were stunned by the sudden gunpowder bombs on the ridge.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Gunpowder bombs opened the way, and the Xiaoguan defenders, who had rested for half the night, rushed towards the foot of the mountain...
At the same time, the soldiers on both sides also increased their attack intensity...
After a while, most of the nearly two thousand Xixia cavalry were dead or injured.
…
This was the first time Cao Lin led an army independently, and he still had 10,000 soldiers.
According to his rank, he is qualified to be a general commander. However, his promotion is due to his family background and the nature of the guard camp. It is not like the Western Army, which relies on fighting on the battlefield.
promoted.
Therefore, he was very concerned about being able to lead the army alone and wanted to take this opportunity to demonstrate his military qualities.
I don't know whether it was luck or misfortune. Just after they divided their troops, Cao Lin and his team marched about ten miles east and found traces of the Xixia cavalry again.
"Commander, these Persian Xixia cavalry will not be less than five thousand, and their target should be the Kaiyuan Fort of the Zhenrong Army."
In this direction, about fifty miles to the east, is the Kaiyuan Fort of the Zhenrong Army.
"When we lurked from the east road and headed west, Kaiyuan Fort had already given up. According to the deployment of the general headquarters, there should be no less than ten thousand lurking troops around Kaiyuan Fort."
"Although we are in pursuit and the latent army is waiting for work, in terms of equipment, we should have an advantage. Therefore, we should take the initiative in encirclement and suppression on this battlefield."
"Twenty miles ahead is the largest open space west of Kaiyuan Fort. If the battle starts anywhere else, the Western thieves will eventually retreat here."
"I ordered: divide into three divisions, each with a thousand soldiers, each carrying five gunpowder bombs. The purpose is not to fight the Western thieves, but to take advantage of the gunpowder bombs to drive the Western thieves to Songshu Slope, that is, Kaiyuan
The largest open space in front of the fort.”
Such a mission is a high-speed march that can only be completed by the new army.
As expected, at the moment when the gunpowder bombs exploded, the Xixia people chose to gather in an open area that was conducive to cavalry combat.
"Boom boom boom..."
Cao Lin was stunned. He hadn't even given the order to fire yet. As a result, gunpowder bombs were fired from the bed crossbow into the Xixia cavalry group on the east mountain ridge.
It turns out that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has already preset this place as a battlefield, and a team has already ambushed here in advance.
And leading the army himself... seems to be what His Highness the Crown Prince expected.