Chapter 12: Battle of Xiazhou (Part 1)

Xiazhou is a famous city in history. It was built by Helian Bobo. The Northern Wei Dynasty destroyed its country and was renamed Xiazhou. Later, although its name changed from time to time, most of it was Xiazhou. During the Tang Dynasty, Tuoba Sigong ruled Xiazhou and was owned by the Li family.

Tuoba Sigong made great contributions to suppressing the Huang Chao Uprising. He once regained Chang'an and was given the surname Li and was granted the title of Duke of Xia. The Xiazhou army returned to Ba Sigong and was also called "Dingnan Army" in the Tang Dynasty.

Since then, Xiazhou has become the birthplace of Xixia and is the political, economic and military center of Xixia.

The Li family occupied Xiazhou, which was a huge threat to the Song Dynasty. Emperor Taizong of Song wanted to remove the cancer and ordered the Li family to go to Bianjing. The Li family did not dare to refuse to obey in the face of Emperor Taizong of Song. Except for Li Jiqian, they all went to Bianjing. Li Jiqian knew that if he went to Bianjing, it would be like a dragon lost the sea and could do nothing, so he fled with a small number of people.

Emperor Taizong of Song thought that Li Jiqian's power was too small and insignificant, so he didn't care. He didn't expect it. Li Jiqian was very politically wise. He married the daughters of several local tyrants, received strong support, and his power rose sharply.

As soon as he had power, Li Jiqian began to be enemies with the Song Dynasty, and his influence became increasingly greater. In order to get the support of the Liao Kingdom, he surrendered to the Liao Kingdom, and the Liao Kingdom appointed him as King of Xia and guarded the West. With the support of the Liao Kingdom, Li Jiqian's back became even harder and made a bigger fuss.

Emperor Taizong of Song was furious and sent troops to attack Xixia, but failed. Despite this, Emperor Taizong of Song was still tough and refused to recognize the Western Xia regime. Unfortunately, after Emperor Zhenzong of Song ascended the throne, he nominally gave him the land possessed by Li Jiqian, which was actually announcing the failure of the Song Dynasty in the northwest, which was equivalent to recognizing the legitimacy of the Western Xia, which was a very wrong move.

The actions of Emperor Zhenzong of Song encouraged the arrogance of the Western Xia. The Western Xia cut off the trade route between the Song Dynasty and the Western Regions and ordered that the Western Regions not be sold to the Song Dynasty. At that time, the Song Dynasty had to pay a high price to buy horses from the Khitans, mainly from the Western Regions. This severance had a great impact on the Song Dynasty. Later, it turned into "using footsteps to control cavalry". The Song Dynasty gave up its ambitions and finally died at the hands of a foreign race.

The success of Xixia is inseparable from the support of Liao. The reason why Liao supported Xixia was because Liao needed Xixia to be in the northwest to restrain the Song Dynasty. However, Xixia was secretly guarding against Liao. Considering that Xiazhou was too close to Liao, it was very unsafe, Xixia moved the capital from Xiazhou to Xingqing Prefecture.

Although the capital was taken away, Xixia still did not give up on operating Xiazhou, because Xiazhou was the eastern gate of Xingqing Prefecture and could not be lost. Xixia had heavy troops stationed in Xiazhou and sent important officials to guard it.

In the Xiazhou city, a veteran general was having a banquet with the generals. The veteran general's hair and beard were all white, and his name was Li Yan. He was a royal family in Xixia and had been in charge of Xiazhou for some time.

"Master, how long will we go to Guanzhong?" Some general couldn't help but ask.

"It's soon! It's soon!" Li Yan put down his wine glass and said happily: "Li Zongbao and his friends fought well in Shanzhou, and they captured five cities as soon as they came. This is something that has never happened in the history of Daxia. With the five cities and Ding Ding, Daxia can launch a large-scale military force against Guanzhong. At that time, we will definitely go."

To this day, the news of Li Zongbao and his friends' failure in Shanzhou has not yet been heard, and everyone is dreaming of making a fortune in Guanzhong.

For the poor and crazy Xixia people, Shanzhou is a world of flowers. When they arrived in Shanzhou, their eyes were blurred. Not to mention, in the rich Guanzhong, the wealth was like the sea, countless, and they were allowed to enjoy it. When they heard that Li Zongbao and the others fought well, they spent their time thinking about going to Guanzhong.

These days, when they got together, the most talked about going to Guanzhong.

"After taking Guanzhong, Daxia will be bound to Guanzhong." Li Yan's tone suddenly turned higher, looking at the generals, his eyes full of beautiful little stars: "If you don't read history, you don't know how important Guanzhong is. The 800-li Qinchuan in Guanzhong is where the Qin Dynasty made its fortune. If there were no Qinchuan, there would be no Qin's power, and there would be no Qin Shihuang to wipe out the six kingdoms and unify the world."

"Qin Shihuang unified the world because of Guanzhong, so that's it!"

Most of the generals here are military men, they read very little, and they don’t know much about history. If they were literati, there was no need to say this. After hearing Li Yan’s words, they suddenly realized and were extremely excited.

"There is a Hangu Pass in Qin State, which is very dangerous. It once blocked the troops of the six countries from attacking the west." Some generals thought even more beautifully: "After Daxia moved the capital to Guanzhong, he lived in Qinchuan with 800 miles. Then he took down Hangu Pass, and he would be foolproof. At that time, Daxia's troops advanced eastward, like Qin Shihuang, destroyed Emperor Song and unify the world!"

"Daxia has tried every effort to take over Guanzhong, and it is certain to unify the world." Li Yan nodded.

The people of Xixia were very ambitious and wanted to take over Guanzhong for a long time. With the natural danger of Hangu Pass, the Song Dynasty had no choice but to have millions of soldiers. In the Warring States Period, Qin could block the six countries in Shandong with this pass, which was verified by history.

"There is a veteran under Qin Shihuang's command, named Wang... Wang Jian, and the general will do that Wang Jian." A general flattered Li Yan.

Wang Jian is a general under Qin Shihuang and a veteran, and a monument in Chinese history! He killed several countries alone, and the most famous one is to defeat Chu and destroy Zhao.

This flattery hit Li Yan's heart, and he couldn't help laughing, picked up the wine glass, drank it beautifully, and said, "It's a pity that Yelu Hongji is too stupid, not even as good as a pig, and he will be defeated so quickly. If he had been holding on for a while and was stalemate with Emperor Song, Daxia would have to get Guanzhong."

"The Khitans boasted that they had a trick. If they were really good at killing and guns, they could only bully the weak and fear the strong. Even Emperor Song could not defeat him." Some generals were very dissatisfied and said, "Will the Song army attack the Daxia after occupying Yanyun's land?"

"That's certain!" Li Yan raised his eyebrows and said disrespectfully: "But the city of Daxia is extremely solid and the city is high and thick. Even if the Emperor Song sent a million troops, Daxia would not do anything! Although the land of Hexi was captured by Huo Qubing. However, at that time, the Huns had this place, without the guards of the city, and only the tabernacles and could not resist Huo Qubing's army. However, Daxia was different. If there was a strong city, even if the Song army came, they would be powerless."

Huo Qubing attacked the Hexi land, defeated the Huns, and cut off the right arm of the Huns. However, at that time, there were no cities in the Hexi land, but only the tents of the Huns. Huo Qubing did not have to attack the city, so he would save much trouble.

After the Han Dynasty took over the land of Hexi, it built a city here. Since then, the land of Hexi has a city. It is difficult to clean up the city. If the people of Xixia rely on the city to defend it, the Song Dynasty would have no good idea.

Of course, all this was based on Li Yan's fantasy. He had no idea that Wu Ji had a sharp weapon to attack the city, and the city of Xixia could not stop it.

"Report to the Grand Commander: The Warriors of the Left Fang, Xiangyou Army has captured the Song Army!" Just as the crowd was happy, a personal soldier rushed over quickly and shouted from afar: "Wu Ji is leading the Song army to attack Xiazhou!"

The personal soldier was very anxious, but it attracted a lot of shouts.

"Shut up! Can the Song army capture the left-wing Divine Army?"

"The Zuoxiang Shenhua Army Office is a strong city in Daxia. Even the elite of the Khitans can do nothing. Even the timid Song army can capture it?"

"It's not what you said when you lie! Xiangyou Army Office is west of the Godly Warrior Army Office in the left wings. It is a strong city. Even if the Commander Song can fly with his wings, he will not be able to fly to Xiangyou Army Office!"

"Master, do this stupid military law that is not very good!"

Li Yan listened to the shouts of the generals, and his eyes were like a fire spurting out. He stared at his personal soldiers and wanted to deal with him. Who would believe this? Who would believe it? Who would be a pig.

"Report to the Grand Commander, the Song army has arrived at the city of Xiazhou!"

Before Li Yan could speak, another personal soldier rushed in hurriedly, and his face was filled with fear and shouted from afar.

"Song Army has arrived? Haha!"

When the generals heard this, they burst into laughter, as if they heard the funnyest jokes in the world.

"Bang bang!" Some generals even smashed the table, laughing so hard that they leaned back and forth.

The first personal soldier reported that the Zuoxiang Shenwang Army and Xiangyou Army were lost, but they did not believe it. In their minds, it was a lie and it was not reliable at all. Not to mention that the Song army appeared in Xiazhou, which was a fantasy. Who could not laugh?

"You guys are so good at joking!" Li Yan's tense face slowed down, waved his right hand, and said with a smile: "If you can joke, you will not be engaged in military law, go ahead!"

"Master, what we said is true!" The two personal soldiers shouted loudly, knelt down, and shouted for affirmation.

"I know your jokes are true!" Li Yan understood differently.

This incident was so funny. Li Yan was in a good mood and reached out to hold the wine glass and prepared to have a beautiful drink. However, his hands froze because he saw the wine in the glass rippling.

Although there was constant laughter and joy in the commander's mansion, there was no movement that shocked the drink: "Who is mobilizing the army?"

Li Yan suddenly came to inquire, and the generals couldn't understand why, look at me, I looked at you, don't know where to start.

Li Yan looked at the generals, and they didn't look like they were mobilizing the army privately. What happened?

"Report to the general, Wu Ji's army has arrived at the city and is in line!" A personal soldier rushed in anxiously and reported loudly.

"No..." The generals didn't believe it at all, and they were about to scold him. Li Yan jumped high and rushed out like flying. The generals knew that something was wrong, so they stood up and rushed out.

As soon as they left the mansion, Li Yan rushed towards the city in panic. The generals were confused and had to follow. When they arrived at the city, everyone was shocked. The city was covered with darkness, and the Song army had already formed a formation, horizontally and vertically, with neat formations and shocking momentum.

A large banner with the word Wu flutters in the wind, stretching like a painting, and is particularly beautiful.

"It's really Song Jun!"

"How did the Song army come? Can they fly with wings? It's so fast!"
Chapter completed!