manynovel Chapter 1138 Victory or Loss
Chapter 1138 Victory or Loss
Chapter 1138 Victory or Loss
"Who died?" Liang Yimai asked sternly when he saw a Tangut general being killed by cannonballs from the Song army.
"Reporting to the Prime Minister, it is... it is a false accusation!"
When Liang Yimai heard the name, his face turned pale. This man was a close confidant of his sister, Empress Dowager Liang. Such an important official was unexpectedly killed by the Song army under the city of Lanzhou.
Seeing Wang Meng'e being smashed to death, the morale of the Dangxiang soldiers dropped greatly, and soldiers on all fronts retreated.
Liang Yimai wanted to urge them again, but his attendants advised him: "Today's army is already demoralized, so we don't want to fight again!"
Liang Yimai hesitated for a moment, then he looked up at several wooden stakes not far away, where he saw several generals who were tied to the stakes and shot to death by himself and the leaders of the Dangxiang people.
Liang Yi said, "How can we let it go? If anyone is too cowardly to move forward, I will use them to shoot ghost arrows tomorrow!"
The generals did not dare to persuade him anymore.
Liang Yi immediately ordered the Iron Harriers to go out and appear behind the capture troops that were attacking the city.
For many years, the Qinsheng Army had been accomplices of the enemy and forced other tribes to be cannon fodder. Today, they tasted the bitter fruit and had to grit their teeth and turn around to attack Lanzhou again.
The Dangxiang soldiers continued to use cannons, stones, bows and crossbows to fire at the Song army on the city walls, but at this time the gates of Lanzhou City were wide open.
However, the Song army actually went out of the city and fought a field battle with the Dangxiang soldiers.
The person leading the troops was none other than Wang Wenyu. Last time, he led 700 assassins to attack the camp and forced Liang Yimai to escape across the Yellow River overnight.
Today he led five hundred soldiers out of the city, and attacked when the enemy general Wang Meng'e was killed in panic... At this moment, many Dangxiang soldiers were digging the wall or trying to dig tunnels into the city under the city wall, and they were suddenly killed by Wang Wenyu and his five hundred soldiers.
In order to attack the city, the Dangxiang soldiers under the city spent more than ten days filling up all the trenches and horse traps under the city. Now there was no place to hide, which gave Wang Wenyu the opportunity to chase and kill them.
At this moment, corpses were lying everywhere under the city wall, and blood was like a vast ocean. Wang Wenyu held a horizontal sword and chopped at the Dangxiang people who were digging the wall and climbing the wall with ladders.
This move was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep.
Faced with the 800,000 Tangut troops outside the city, the 500 warriors following Wang Wenyu were not afraid at all and went out of the city to fight!
Upon seeing this, Liang Yimei immediately ordered his troops to intercept the five hundred men.
The Poxi army drove their camels forward, intending to use cannonballs to attack Wang Wenyu's troops, but the Song army on the lookout on the city wall had anticipated this and strung their crossbows, divine arm bows, and enemy-killing bows and shot arrows at the Poxi army.
Dozens of camels screamed and were shot to the ground. Under the powerful impact of the crossbow, camels taller than humans were shot through like paper, and some were even thrown directly into the air.
Under the cover of the city wall, Wang Wenyu was even more excited to kill with a steel knife in hand. He killed one by one, and the Dangxiang soldiers who were digging the walls and the soil under the city fled in panic.
Wherever he and his assassins passed, it was like a typhoon, and the Tangut soldiers were cut down like straw.
kill!
The dead soldiers roared, each with a head tied around his waist, like evil spirits crawling out of the ground.
Faced with this, the Dangxiang soldiers were frightened like sheep and could only wait to be killed.
Liang Yimei tried several times to send troops to seize the troops and horses that were being taken back to the city, but was forced to retreat by the rain of arrows and cannonballs fired from the top of the city.
The rest of the Tangut soldiers could not bear it and immediately ignored the military law, dropping their weapons and retreating, just in time to hit the reinforcements coming from the rear.
They were about to drive their men back to the city, but the attack threw their formation into disarray.
Liang Yimei was anxious and furious, and immediately urged the Iron Harriers to move forward and stop the Song army that had been driven out of the city to fight in the wild.
At this moment of chaos, Wang Wenyu led 500 soldiers and slowly retreated into the city.
Wang Wenyu led several people to stand at the gate of the city as the rear guard. He picked up the blood-stained long sword with a rolled blade and pointed it at Liang Yimi in the distance, as if to say, "You are the next one."
The Song army on and outside the city suddenly cheered.
Liang Yimai's face turned extremely pale.
……
"What kind of person is Liang Yimai?"
Li Xian asked Tong Guan.
Tong Guan said respectfully: "Master, I am a person who refuses to admit defeat and has a narrow mind."
Li Xian said: "Yes, he failed many times in Xihe Road. How can someone be like him and fail again and again?"
"But the truth is, I am this kind of person, your master."
At this point, a smile appeared on Li Xian's lips.
Tong Guan said: "Master, Liang Yi is buried under the strong city of Jiudun, and Lanzhou City has been attacked for a long time without success. We have an army of more than 300,000, and Wen Xixin's 50,000 troops will arrive in two days."
"If we defeat Liang Yimai, Master's achievements will surpass those of Qin Jiedu. I think we can take some risks."
Qin Jiedu was Qin Han, the most famous eunuch in the Song Dynasty for his military achievements.
Li Xian sighed, "With our background, we have no roots and no foundation, and this is all we want in this life."
"That's why I chose you as my disciple. Because we are the same. Why should only scholars achieve great things? Why can we establish our hearts for the world and our lives for the people after reading a few books? We can also make great achievements and become people who stand tall and proud, just like Qin Jiedu."
Tong Guan lowered his head when he heard this.
Li Xian said: "When I first saw you, I knew you were ambitious. And we, the master and disciple, have fought hard to get to where we are today."
"Yes, Master."
"Have the troops from Jingyuan Road and Qinfeng Road crossed the Yellow River?"
Tong Guan said: "Calculating the time, we have already crossed the river downstream!"
Li Xian said: "Han Zhen actually didn't give us any trouble in this matter."
Tong Guan said: "With the example of Yu Chong being exiled to Lingnan, how could Han Zhen not know the general situation? If he was really such a person, Prime Minister Zhang would not have entrusted him with such an important task."
Li Xian said: "This is the benefit of the Privy Council. If we petition His Majesty to send troops from Qinfeng Road and Jingyuan Road, it will definitely delay the military plan. Liang Yi is now trapped in a dead end. Even a mediocre general in Han Zhen's position would know what to do."
While they were talking, a military report came in: "Reporting to the commander, the western bandits attacked Fuyan Road, plundered Anding Fort, attacked Mizhi, and looted countless people and animals."
"Liang Yongneng led his troops to attack Huanqing Road and killed the inspector Wang Shilong."
"Master..." Tong Guan wanted to speak after hearing the military report.
Li Xian interrupted Tong Guan and said, "We don't have the intention to gloat over other people's misfortune. Since the two armies failed to attack Xia last year, Fuyan Road and Huanqing Road have not received any reinforcements. The court is placing all its bets on Xihe Road!"
"The success or failure depends on this one move. While others are silent, I will raise my mane and roar loudly!"
Tong Guan's eyes lit up with sharpness when he heard this.
……
The next day, the Dangxiang troops were defeated again outside the city of Lanzhou.
There have been more than 30,000 casualties in the attack on Lanzhou City. Although most of the dead are abducted civilians and fence-sitting tribes, Liang Yimai knows that if the battle continues, he will suffer heavy losses.
However, we agreed to attack for another three days. Now it is only the second day. What should we do tomorrow?
During the military meeting, Liang Yimei noticed that the leaders of other tribes seemed to have the intention to return.
Liang Yi crossed his arms and said, "Yes, a part of the Song army crossed the Yellow River, but the number of troops is not enough to cause trouble."
"The Qing Tang tribes in front of us are not strong enough to fight. The battle formation relies on years of accumulation. In this respect, our Great Bai Gao Kingdom is much stronger than the Qing Tang that has been defeated repeatedly."
"Don't be intimidated by their large numbers. Half of their soldiers are old, weak, women and children. They are just bluffing and trying to take advantage of the situation. There are not many soldiers who can fight. We can defeat them with one strike!"
"May I ask the Prime Minister, are you not going to attack Lanzhou City?"
Liang Yi said: "Let's put Lanzhou City aside and defeat the current Qingtang tribes. If the siege fails, we can attack the reinforcements!"
"But Wen Xixin's 50,000 troops have already crossed the Huangshui River. They are the elite troops of the Qingtang tribe."
Liang Yimai frowned upon hearing this and said, "Doesn't Renjia have a good relationship with Wenxi? Let him do me a favor."
Ren Duo Baozhong stood up and said, "Your Excellency, we do have a friendship, but Wen Xixin has received a lot of money from the Song people over the years. His residence in Qingtang City was built with gold, and its luxury is second only to Dong Zhen. I don't think he will sell this favor."
Hearing that Wen Xixin actually had a golden house, the Dangxiang leaders below were very envious. In recent years, thanks to the trade between the Song Dynasty and Qingtang, the top leaders of Qingtang had been well fed.
A house made of gold, let alone themselves, even Liang Yimai probably doesn't have one.
Liang Yimai sneered and said, "Everything in the world has a price, as long as I can afford it. Let Wen Xixin wait for me for one day. With just one day, I can defeat the Song army!"
Jinda Baozhong hesitated and said, "Yes, Prime Minister."
Liang Yimei said to all the generals: "Everyone, please watch. Tomorrow we will let those Qingtang people who defected to Song know who is the real hero of Hexi!"
The next day, it was drizzling, and the elite troops of the Dangxiang Army launched an attack on the Song Army, which was stationed on the mountain and along the river near Lanzhou.
With so many troops in front of them, no one could retreat calmly before repelling the enemy in front of them. The Dangxiang army knew that whether they could return to the north of the Yellow River depended on this battle.
Except for a few soldiers who were monitoring Lanzhou, the Dangxiang army led by Liang Yimei launched a full-scale offensive against the Song army outside Lanzhou.
As Liang Yimai said, the Song army, which was mainly composed of the cultivated and raw tribes of Qingtang in Xihe Road, was indeed no match for the Dangxiang army. In just half a day, several important camps and passes were breached by the Dangxiang.
By the afternoon, the Song army had been completely defeated and retreated for more than ten miles.
Wen Xixin's troops advanced slowly that day.
However, the 20,000 Song troops led by Li Xian and Tong Guan resisted the offensive of the Dangxiang army in Nuzha Valley, stabilized the front line, and prevented Liang Yi from achieving complete success.
Liang Yimai failed to capture Nüzha Valley, but fortunately he managed to repel the Song army that was approaching. Liang Yimai decided to withdraw from Lanzhou and lead his troops across the Yellow River.
Unexpectedly, Wen Xixin's Qingtang Army suddenly accelerated at this time and recaptured Jingyuguan, an important town on the west side of Lanzhou.
Liang Yimai cursed Wen Xixin for being so impatient, but he was eager to retreat at this time, so he had to put it aside and immediately led his troops to cross the river to the north and retreat.
Liang Yimai looked at the corpses that had not yet been covered under the city of Lanzhou, feeling extremely disappointed. At this moment, he had no choice but to withdraw his troops across the Yellow River immediately. Fortunately, he had built many pontoon bridges, making it convenient to cross the river.
However, he did not expect that Li Xian's troops had recovered and led their troops into the Lanzhou City, which had been besieged for many days, and gathered troops to pursue Liang Yimai.
At the same time, Wang Hou's troops from Xihe Road, Miao Shu's troops from Qinfeng Road, and Peng Sun's troops from Jingyuan Road had all crossed the Yellow River from the lower reaches and were waiting on Liang Yimai's retreat route.
Ps: Thank you all for your concern. I’m feeling better now and will continue to update tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)