"Daddy, what's going on?" Wang Zixiu's little daughter was wrapped in a thick layer of fur and seemed to be looking around. Her mother's eyes were red. It looked like she had just cried!
"It's okay!" Wang Zixiu picked up his daughter and gave her a small kiss: "Remember to listen to your mother, you know?"
"Daddy, aren't you coming with us?" The little girl seemed to feel something coming and looked at her father nervously.
Wang Zixiu said with a smile: "Daddy will chase you later!"
Boom, boom, boom!
A soldier riding a war horse ran to Wang Zixiu and said, "Sir Wang, several generals have already set off. Please speed up. If you are late, you may not be able to leave!"
"Okay, it's time to set off!" Wang Zixiu gave his daughter to his wife, and then said to his son riding a small horse: "Feng'er, remember to take good care of your mother, sisters, do you know?"
"Kid knows!"
The young man said solemnly.
"lets go!"
Rumbling... The wheels of the carriage turned, and all the prince's one hundred guards followed him away. Only Wang Zixiu and a few old servants were left in the Nuo Da Wang family.
At night, the entire Heishui County was under a curfew. Civilians in the houses could hear sounds coming from outside, including the hoofbeats of war horses and the sound of wheels. Some looked out from the windows and saw the army in the dim light.
On the way out.
They thought the army was performing a mission, such as another night attack on the Xiliang camp.
The battle lasted the night before yesterday and lasted until noon yesterday. If a cavalry team from Xiliang had not rushed back, the Xiliang army outside might have been defeated by three generals.
The three brothers Ma Zhenyu, Ma Zhenxing and Ma Zhenhua gave hope to the civilians and ordinary soldiers in Heishui County.
Let them have the confidence that they can defend Heishui County.
The civilians did not notice that most of the family members of the dignitaries in the city had left with the army!
The direction of the retreat of the army was not towards Zhang Ye's army, nor towards Lingfeng County. Instead, it took a long road directly to Fufeng County.
Only by going to Fufeng County can they escape the pursuit of the Xiliang army. The three of them have never encountered the energy of the Xiliang scouts. But looking at the front battlefield, the Ma Jiajun is basically being led by the nose of the Xiliang army.
But entering the territory of the Xiliang army, their scouts will become deaf, blind, and mute.
It is impossible to obtain the enemy's information. Even if it is obtained, it is not known whether the enemy deliberately released it or whether it is real information.
Only at dawn did Li Xiang find out that an army had escaped. The army that had sneaked up on them had escaped at night. The direction they ran was directly towards Fufeng County. If they wanted to catch up, they could catch them, but if they wanted to stop them, they could.
It's hard to beat the opponent.
The Xiliang headquarters army suffered heavy losses in the previous battle, but they have still recovered. The opponent retreated, and Heishui County fell into their hands!
Li Xiang thought about the order and sent out a large army. On the third day, he continued to violently attack the city wall. Even if he did not send a large army to attack the city, the Xiliang cavalry from the wilderness town on the other side returned to the camp and brought back a large number of prisoners of war.
The road from Yeling Town to the Forging Town is really bad. These prisoners are being kept as well, so it is better to keep them busy.
Ten thousand cavalry were assigned to take charge of these prisoners of war, and Prime Minister Li focused all his attention on Heishui County, trapping all four city gates.
On the other side, General Zhongyi, who received the order from Prime Minister Li, led the army of Xiliang headquarters to fight with the army of the third elder.
The two sides fought bloody battles with the Third Elder for three days in the ice and snow, and the mountains and forests were stained red with blood. The Xiliang army paid the price of 5,000 dead in the battle and repelled the Third Elder and his army.
There was not much blood on the face of the third elder who retreated more than 80 miles away from the battlefield. The battle between the two sides was very fierce. In the extremely low temperature environment, many soldiers died not by the swords of the Xiliang soldiers, but by fighting with the Xiliang soldiers at night.
During the confrontation, he was frozen to death.
The war lasted for three days, and the army under my command could no longer hold on. It could only retreat with the army all the way. If it did not retreat, the army under my command would very likely be defeated, and it would be even worse!
It was already the third day when Li Xiang received the news.
Li Xiang made statistics in the big account and found that the Xiliang headquarters had suffered a huge loss of 20,000 in the battles on the land of Liangzhou, including Sanshui City.
Now they have not been able to capture Zhangye County, and all major county towns in Zhangye County are still in the hands of the Ma family!
"It seems that we really have to celebrate the New Year in this place this year!" Li Xiang calculated that it would take about two months to capture Zhangye County.
Currently, it will take about three to five days to reach Heishui County, but after taking Heishui County, the remaining counties will be much easier.
In Heishui County, Xiliang's most powerful force, the Xiliang Cavalry, was unable to display their combat effectiveness, otherwise they would not have lost so many troops.
"Lord!" Qi Xiao ran to the big tent.
"Get ready. The next batch of infantry will arrive soon. Then you and two cavalrymen will lead 5,000 Xiliang Iron Cavalry and 5,000 headquarters infantry to Lingfeng County!"
All the main troops in Lingfeng County were dispatched and were ambushed by Xiliang cavalry in Yuanye Town. The entire army was wiped out. Now they have become Xiliang road construction workers.
There is not much resistance there, 10,000 people are enough to take it down!
"Yes!" Qinyi said excitedly. After getting used to leading troops out, this commander who has been with Prime Minister Li all year round has already started to like that feeling.
Li Xiang also intended to let Qin go out, and the Xiliang generals trusted him unconditionally, just like the Xiliang people were loyal to him.
If he were an ordinary general, Li Xiangde would have to carefully consider that a 10,000-strong army, even the soldiers of the Seventh and Ninth Legions, were very precious.
If he died, Xiliang would have to spend millions of taels of silver as compensation, so if he could save fewer soldiers, he would still have to die a little less.
This is also the reason why the Xiliang army only wants elites. If Xiliang accepts all soldiers, they will die in large numbers on the battlefield.
"Okay, go to the logistics area immediately and ask someone to prepare food and grass for you. The troops and horses are not moving yet, food and grass go first!"
Li Xiang burned the food in the main camp, but the food in several other camps was not burned, and there was also a large amount of food stored in the forging town behind.
Speaking of the important forging town, Li Xiang thought of the craftsmen who were killed by the generals of the Ma family. Those craftsmen who could open their own shop at random were killed by the generals of the Ma family.
If these people were still there, Xiliang wouldn't need to transport weapons and armor all the way from the northwest.
"Report!" A scout strode in and saw Li Xiang clasping his fists in salute: "My lord, the scout caught a man over there. He said that his master is willing to open the gate of Heishui County and let our army fight into the city!"
"Do you want to take refuge in me?" Li Xiang chuckled, but he didn't have many thoughts in his heart, or that he believed in the other party.
If he really wants to capture Heishui County now, it's not that he can't capture it. He's just waiting for reinforcements to arrive from behind.
Reinforcements from the Dark World are about to arrive, as well as 30,000 prairie cavalry mobilized from the grasslands.
The number of people in Xiliang is only 50,000, including 30,000 Xiliang iron cavalry, 5,000 flying bear troops, 20,000 Xiliang light cavalry, and 5,000 heavy cavalry.
Now both light cavalry and heavy cavalry are in the north, and several other legions also have cavalry, but each has its own purpose. Although Prime Minister Li can mobilize those cavalry to the battlefield here, he will not do so.
The troops of the five major legions are led by five generals. Now the five legions have their own tasks. The Western World, Outside the Pass, the Dark World, and the Northern Beast. Li Shui is the only one who is free. He accepts a thousand weight
Cavalry has been used to protect transportation lines.
Therefore, Li Xiang discussed with the Ninth Army and mobilized 30,000 prairie cavalry from the Ninth Army.
Grassland cavalry are easy to recruit. As long as Li Xiang sends a message, hundreds of thousands of grassland cavalry can be recruited in an instant, but their combat effectiveness is hard to say.
Prairie cavalry basically have no armor. When faced with infantry without war horses and tools, they can fight against them. However, facing Daqian's spear formation, no matter how many prairie cavalry come, Daqian's army can stop them.
If the cavalry is invincible, the grassland will not be defeated by Daqian. Even if Daqian is currently suffering from internal and external troubles, Li Zhen can still block the grassland by sitting in the north, and the grassland people have no time to worry about other places and use all their strength to oppose the Northern Army of Daqian.
The prairie cavalry arrived about a month later, and that was when he launched the general attack on Zhangye County.
Soon the soldiers brought the man to the big tent. He was a middle-aged man who looked pampered and had a little belly.
When the middle-aged man saw Li Xiang, he immediately knelt down and said, "Long Zhengwu, the common man, has seen the governor!"
"Get up! I heard that your master will open the gate of Heishui County for me?"
Li Xiang asked casually.
Long Zhengwu said respectfully: "My husband is a miner in Heishui County, and his family usually has a hundred good people.
Originally, these hundreds of people were nothing. Other families in Heishui County had hundreds of guards for each family. A few days ago, the Ma family's army left, and people from the major families in the city followed the army.
Because my husband had a bad relationship with the city lord and usually had conflicts with some families over mining, when they retreated, my husband did not leave with them.
Now the defenders in the city are the usual soldiers who defend the city in Yurou Township. If you want them to steal the people's wealth and support, they are first-rate experts, but if you want them to fight, one expert can single out six or seven of them.
At this time, the only people in the city who can fight are the city guards under the city lord!"
The middle-aged man said continuously: "My master has already thought of a way. He plans to take out the mutton from the warehouse and send it to the city guards tomorrow afternoon. Treat them to a good meal and put something in the meat.
"
"As long as the city guards fall, and I bring a group of good hands to open the city gate, my lord, you will be able to bless Heishui County!"
After listening to this, Li Xiang had a smile on his face: "It seems that your master has thought very carefully!"
The middle-aged man smiled awkwardly: "I have some conflicts with the City Lord's Mansion. The two have been fighting over the years. This time they abandoned me, and I can't do anything..."
The middle-aged man did not lie, because in Li Xiang’s information, Li Xiang likes to speak bluntly!
It is impossible for his master to say that he does not want to leave Heishui County. Although Li Xiang is the governor of Liangzhou, not many people are optimistic about him, even though he defeated the Ma family's army several times.
The Ma family is not the only one in Liangzhou. The Han family and the Pang family are also still there. Li Xiang is at odds with the Ma family. In the end, the winner will most likely be the Han family and the Pang family. Regardless of which family rules Liangzhou, the Han family and the Pang family will
, it’s nothing to them.
But if Li Xiang comes to rule Liangzhou, it will be a reshuffle of the forces in Liangzhou. Although Li Xiang also has some children of aristocratic families, look at the northwest, how are those big families doing?
They were suppressed by Prime Minister Li one by one. The people of Liangzhou may welcome Prime Minister Li, but the big and small families may not.
If it weren't for the fact that his master had no other choice, he wouldn't have chosen to do this!
Li Xiang opened the small map and took a look. The guy in front of him had turned light green, and he seemed to be sincerely seeking refuge.
"Then set a date!" Li Xiang said to the commander in charge of scouts next to him: "Wait a minute, you take twenty brothers with him to the city. The day after tomorrow, you open the east city gate, and I will lead the army in!
If you have a way out, you should have a way in, right?"
The middle-aged man smiled and said: "I came out through the secret passage that the master asked me to dig. When we go back, we only need to go in through the secret passage!"
"You guys are really interesting!" It was the first time Li Xiang heard about the secret tunnel and he dug it outside the city. This was a big project!
The middle-aged man said awkwardly: "The master said that even if the city lord's palace attacks him, he can still lead us out!"
"Since there is a secret passage, then so be it!" Li said to the scout commander: "You will bring fifty of my personal guards, and you will add thirty more to your side, making up one hundred people. With these one hundred people here, we will be able to
Even if the city guards are not tempted by your master, it will be fine. With these 100 people here, it will be easy to take down the city gate, do you think it is okay?"
After speaking, Li Xiang paid attention to the look on the other party's face. If there was any hesitation, he would not send anyone in.
The middle-aged man didn't notice Li Xiang's eyes. Hearing that Li Xiang was going to send a hundred people into the city, he looked happy. The bravery of the Xiliang soldiers had spread throughout Liangzhou in just a few months.
"Sir, yes!" the middle-aged man said: "With the help of these warriors, it is really not difficult to capture the city gate!"
After Prime Minister Li gave instructions to the Xiliang soldiers several times, Cheng Jushu volunteered to be the leader of this team. However, during the secret passage, Cheng Jushu was at the end. The team was divided into ten groups and slowly entered the city. The first group went inside.
Send one more person back before the second part goes in.
It's troublesome, but it's for safety's sake.
The people in the city didn't notice that there were a hundred more big men from the Xiang family in the east of the city, all of them wearing heavy armor.
As the only wealthy man in the city who has not evacuated from Heishui County, the head of the Xiang family, Xiang Yang brings out some good things for the city defense soldiers to eat every two days.
On the appointed day, Xiang Yang brought a large amount of wild goat meat to the city defense army camp...
