Prime Minister

Chapter 1325 Extraordinary achievements require extraordinary people

Chapter 1325 Extraordinary achievements require extraordinary people

When veteran Gao Yongneng led his elite troops in a fierce battle with the Iron Harriers on the banks of the Wuding River.

Suddenly, the sound of Jie drums on the bank of Wuding River suddenly became urgent, and thousands of Dangxiang soldiers and horses suddenly crossed the river on grass rafts.

But then he saw Bu Bazi, covered in wet mud, jumping off the straw raft and heading straight for the water fort under the city.

Because Yongle City had mountains but no water, a water fort was built on the other side of the city facing the Wuding River, and forty wells were dug to bring water into the city for drinking.

Now, while the Song army was engaged in a frontal battle in Yongle City, the Dangxiang sent out a surprise attack on the water fort.

Bu Bazi ran in the wet mud beside the river bank with a knife as if he was walking on flat ground. Before the riverside servants could scream, their throats were cut.

Then he covered himself with iron armor and took the bow from his back. The watchman guarding the camp was about to sound the gong to give warning, but was pierced through the body by a wolf-tooth arrow.

How could the servants holding hoes and hoes on the riverbank be a match for the infantry? The Dangxiang cavalry behind them saw that the Wuding River was shallow and could be crossed, so they immediately rode their horses straight towards them.

The Song general guarding the water fort was Li Ji, the transport judge of Shaanxi Road. He was originally the transport judge of Hedong Road and was a confidant of Lu Huiqing.

This man disturbed the people when the new law was introduced, and was also known for his harshness and cruelty as an official, and was as famous as another official, Richard.

The people said, "It is better to be killed by Hei Sha than to be investigated by Ji Cha."

When the two armies attacked Xia before, this man was in charge of transporting grain and grass for Gao Zunyu and Zhong Yan. As a result, the people suffered from the transportation and fled one after another. This man cut off the tendons of the hands and feet of thousands of fleeing civilians and threw them into the valley, leaving them to wail for several days until they died.

Although there were officials from Shaanxi Province who impeached him, Lü Huiqing had nothing to say about his confidant and tried his best to recommend Li Ji so that he would not fall. The emperor also felt that this person was brave enough to take on responsibilities and did not care about criticism or praise. During the Battle of Yongle City, he was appointed as the transportation judge of Shaanxi Province to continue to be responsible for the logistics supervision of this battle.

This time, when Li Ji saw the Dangxiang cavalry charging and the Song army fighting in front, he immediately ordered the gates of the water fort to be closed.

No servants were allowed to enter the city.

The soldiers cursed at Li Ji's actions and immediately took hoes and shovels to dig the city gate. The newly built water fortress could not withstand such digging.

Li Ji cursed: "It is better to lose a few civilians than to delay the army."

Li Ji ordered his soldiers to shoot arrows at the servants digging the city walls. Amid the rain of arrows, a white-haired servant who was shot cried out to the sky, "When Prime Minister Zhong Jinglüe was here, it was never like this..."

"Where is Mr. Zhang?"

Hundreds of soldiers died outside the city.

……

The water of Wuding River was soaked with blood.

Gao Yongneng wielded his spear like a swimming dragon and charged into the Iron Harriers' chain formation. The moment the tip of his spear ripped open the iron scale armor at the throat of the Xixia heavy cavalry, boiling blood flowed back along the spear tip, staining the old general's gnarled white beard red.

The veteran general Gao Yongneng and several of his men personally led the elite troops to charge into the formation. Three of the silver spears in their hands had been broken. At this time, the elite troops broke into the formation of 5,000 Iron Harriers.

"Chisel open the seam of the armor!

"Stab the horse's eye!"

"Cut the horse's legs!"

The old general's roar made the young general's eardrums hurt. Three broken spears were stuck diagonally in the mud, and the old general pulled out the hook-and-sickle spear handed to him by his personal guard.

The old general held up the iron helmet. According to his many years of experience in fighting the Tanguts, the Iron Harriers and the Infantry were all wearing heavy armor. To kill them, one had to use a silver spear to poke the gaps in the armor or pierce the horse's eye.

But these heavy cavalrymen were connected by hooks and ropes, so even if they died, they would be hung on the horses and would not fall off.

What’s even more deadly is that the Iron Harriers can also conduct long-distance raids and serve as the vanguard in every battle.

It is definitely a powerful enemy of the Song army.

When Gao Yongneng saw the Iron Harriers crossing the river, he knew he could not defeat them and had to attack them halfway across the river, otherwise there would be no chance of winning. But Xu Xi actually let them cross the river, which was extremely foolish.

Gao Yongneng leaned on his silver spear, feeling a little exhausted from the previous fight, which made the veins on the old general's forehead throb.

"I'm old. I used to fight three people in a row without getting tired!" Gao Yongneng felt exhausted. Even if he was brave, how many of the five thousand Iron Harriers could he kill?

How to break through such a strong formation?

If they fail to break through, the army in the rear will gather and wade across the shallows, and Yongle City will be in danger.

The only way is to fight forward and break through this strong formation.

"My men! Push forward fifty more steps!"

Gao Yongneng raised his gun and shouted, while his men charged forward fearlessly.

"Daddy! Look!"

The eldest son Gao Shiliang suddenly picked up a piece of broken armor that was peeled off from the Iron Harrier. This half piece of warty armor glowed with a dull green light, and the armor leaves were randomly connected with straw ropes. Gao Yongneng's pupils suddenly contracted.

The cold-forged wart armor with a mesmerizing cold glow can only be broken by shooting with the divine arm bow from 50 steps away.

Now, this armored cowhide is only covered with a thin layer of iron sheet, which is completely different from the past.

Gao Yongneng's eyes shone when he saw this, thinking, since Li Yuanhao, the Iron Harriers who have defeated the enemy repeatedly with a small number of people, could it be that...

……

Xu Xi, wearing heavy armor, stood on the parapet and stared at the city. The "Wu Jing Zong Yao" in his hand was blown by the northwest wind and made a rustling sound. Li Shunju, who was standing beside him, was also worried.

"Report! There's a fire in the water fort."

Li Shunju looked at Xu Xi.

It's not like he didn't hear the generals' comments. "Xu Yuangui is good at talking about military affairs but doesn't know how to adapt!"

But as a military supervisor, Li Shunju knew that he shouldn't discuss these things at this time.

However, when he saw Xu Xi, he sometimes hit his face with his armor, sometimes lowered his eyes and scratched his cheek, and sometimes talked to himself and made convincing arguments. This appearance was by no means the demeanor of a famous general.

Li Shunju could only keep comforting himself that anyone who does strange things must have some strengths.

Therefore, he can completely ignore the eyes of others and the changes in the current situation, and completely immerse himself in his own thoughts.

Li Shunju looked at Xu Xi again and suddenly felt insecure.

"General! General Gao has already broken into the second layer of the Iron Harriers' chain formation!" The messenger knelt down to report.

Xu Xi and Li Shunju leaned against the platform and looked out.

But the veteran Gao Yongneng suddenly burst into laughter, and the red tassel on his iron helmet trembled.

The old general flipped his hand and tore off half a piece of wart armor from a dead Iron Harrier, but saw that the armor easily broke between his fingers: "After Pingxia City, how can there be Iron Harriers?"

"The archer with the divine arm will advance fifty steps and shoot!"

The iron kites that once stood as tall as mountains fell down like straw under the divine arm bow.

"My sons! Follow me and kill!"

Gao Yongneng laughed loudly and led the Song army's cavalry to rush towards the Iron Harriers on the beach of Wuding River.

Xu Xi, who was on the top of the city wall, saw this scene and suddenly slammed the battlement and shouted an order.

"Anyone who captures the Iron Harrier will be rewarded with fifty strings of cash and his armor will be inspected!"

The soldiers below began to preach.

"Anyone who captures the Iron Harrier Wart Armor will receive a reward!"

"The reward is fifty strings of cash. Check your armor and claim the reward!"

Li Shunju thought to himself, smart, smart! Xu Xi is not just a military strategist.

Qu Zhen, who was in charge of the central army, was shocked when he heard that the water stronghold was on fire and was attacked from both sides. He was also shocked when he saw the five thousand Iron Harriers being tottered by the brave cavalry led by the veteran Gao Yongneng.

"broken!"

"The Iron Harriers' strong formation was broken!"

Qu Zhen climbed onto the platform built of earthen fortress, his pupils suddenly shrank and he said, "It's really broken!"

The generals on both sides gathered at the foot of the camp.

Qu Zhen paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, muttering to himself, "Could it be that Xu Jinglüe had anticipated this, and that was why the king's army did not form a line before, in order to show weakness to the enemy and lure them deeper into our territory?"

"So the so-called attack before the enemy is halfway across the river is the strategy to completely annihilate the Iron Harriers? Rather than the scholar ruining the country?"

The generals didn't think about these things, they just asked for battle one after another: "General, give the order!"

"The Iron Harrier Formation has been broken!"

"All the troops are coming?" Qu Zhen said solemnly, "The water fort is on fire. If we attack rashly, we will be attacked from both sides. What will we do?"

"What if the Tanguts pretend to be defeated and trick us into attacking... If Yongle City is lost, we will all die without a burial place."

The generals were silent...

The guard pointed at the top of the city wall and shouted, "General! Raise the yellow flag to guard the city!"

However, the yellow flag on the top of the city wall was seen hanging forward from forty-five degrees, but now it was pressed vertically down on the top of the city wall!

Flag order—the entire army is advancing!

"You are such a scholar! You treat the safety of the army as a joke!" Qu Zhen scolded.

All the generals said: "General! Military orders are as strong as a mountain!"

"As long as I can win, a scholar is just a scholar!"

"Gao Yongneng is from Xihe Road. If he gets the first credit, how will we in Fuyan Road maintain our dignity? The credit should be earned by us Guanxi men who kill with swords and guns!"

After a moment's hesitation, Qu Zhen said with a determined look on his face: "My boys..."

But Qu Zhen slowly drew his sword and pointed it directly at Wang Hu, the commander of the Tangut army, who was on the other side of the Wuding River...

But at this moment, the Iron Kites formation on the riverbank has collapsed. Behind Pingxia City, the armor of the warts is as brittle as straw paper, and the Iron Kites are as timid as lambs.

Gao Yongneng and his sons led hundreds of Beiwei troops to rush across the river bank, crushing the defeated army. Although Gao Yongneng was over seventy years old, he was still as brave as Huang Zhong and Lian Po. His Beiwei troops drew their maces from their horses and rushed into the Dangxiang army without looking back.

The scene of Gao Yongneng fighting hard silently aroused the courage of the soldiers of the three armies.

Gao Yongneng is seventy years old, so he is not afraid of death... At this moment, I wait... I wait... I am not afraid of death anymore.

All the generals looked at Qu Zhen...

"The whole army is pressing forward!"

Qu Zhen's voice was like a torn cloth, and all the frustration he had felt from decades of fighting with Western Xia burst out, and the sword in his hand pointed firmly at the other side of the river.

Thousands of heavily armored infantrymen lined up like a wall jumped out of the army, their black armor clanging. The heavily armored infantrymen crossed the river, and tens of thousands of Song troops waded across the Wuding River.

Suddenly, hundreds of bamboo magpies rose up in the Song army's formation. They were the "Fire Crow Machines" that Shen Kuo ordered the Military Equipment Supervisor to make for the army when he was the Privy Councilor.

These wooden kites had saltpeter in their bellies and a wingspan of seven feet. They flew over the Wuding River and headed for the Tangut army formation on the shore. The fire crows exploded in the air. Many Tangut soldiers and their horses were burned and rolled on the ground.

The Tangut soldiers who were on high alert panicked and fled in all directions.

In a flash, a black flock of bamboo and wood kites appeared, flying across the sky like a phoenix, and landed on the bank of the Wuding River.

After the roar, the Dangxiang army on the shore had no time to stop the Song army from crossing the river and they scattered everywhere.

……

Amid the fireworks of the Fire Crows, Gao Yongneng's cavalry took the lead. As the Beiwei Army swung their maces, iron plates and iron shields were shattered under their horses' hooves.

The Song army had successfully crossed the river beach and engaged in battle with the Dangxiang troops.

Li Shunju was surprised when he saw the defeated Dangxiang troops on the river bank. He turned to look at Xu Xi who was staring at the battle situation on the top of the city wall.

Xu Xi was still holding the book "Wujing Zongyao" in his hand, and the yellowed pages were turning rustling under his wrist.

Li Shunju remembered that the army in Yongle City was short of food these days, so Xu Xi, as a general, set an example by eating only two sesame cakes a day. His daily life was like that of an ordinary official, and he had no other demands.

Li Shunju asked, "Sir, how do you know that General Gao can break through the enemy's formation?"

Xu Xi said: "All Tangut people are soldiers. No matter how many times they fight, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses come together every time. It is really frightening."

"But after Lanzhou, Liangzhou, and Pingxia, the elite troops lost cannot be revived. Therefore, one battle is worse than another. On the contrary, our army has accumulated small victories into a big victory!"

Li Shunju felt somewhat relieved. No wonder, he would just turn over the military books before the battle. From ancient times to the present, extraordinary achievements require extraordinary people!

But there was one thing Li Shunju felt he needed to remind as a military supervisor: "Sir, the two armies are at a stalemate, and I am sending my entire army forward. Will it be difficult for me to continue?"

"What if... the water fort..."

"Sir, the governor!" The sentry on the top of the city pointed to the south.

But I saw a large army rushing towards Yongle City along the mountain path on the cliff, with the flag of General Shen in the lead fluttering!

The soldiers suddenly cried out: "General, the reinforcements from Lord Shen have arrived!"

"Mr. Shen is leading a large army to rescue us!"

"Mr. Shen has not abandoned Yongle City!"

The battlements of Yongle City were boiling instantly.

Several flag bearers climbed up the mountain and waved flags at high altitudes to inquire about the situation at Yongle City.

Xu Xi slammed the military book shut and waved his hand: "Respond!"

But on the top of Yongle City, soldiers were waving the red flags on the city walls with all their might.

The soldiers all stood on the top of the city wall with their arms outstretched, some even climbed to the edge of the battlements, and shouted with all their might.

The people of Yongle City responded with flags from the north to the south, and at the same time paid tribute to the reinforcements from afar.

Shen Kuo, who climbed to the top of the mountain and witnessed this scene, could not control himself for a long time. He opened his mouth many times to say something, but for a moment his old problem of stuttering came back and he could not utter a word.

The generals from Fuyan Road who followed Shen Kuo from Mizhi Village and Yanzhou said with tears in their eyes: "Sir, Yongle City is still there!"

"The soldiers are waiting for us."

Shen Kuo finally let out a breath that had been held in his heart for a long time: "Pass my order...pass my order...the whole army must rush to rescue Yongle City!"

The generals were almost suffocated by Shen Kuo, and they all breathed a sigh of relief after he finished speaking.

Shen Kuo added: "And... plant my flag... plant it... plant it at the highest point of the mountain!"

Looking at the big banner with the word "Shen" on it behind the mountain, cheers broke out from Yongle City.

The Song army that was fighting outside Yongle City all knew what had happened. The battle lines of the two armies, which were originally deadlocked on the banks of the Wuding River, were now moving northward little by little!

The royal flag of the Dangxiang central army was slowly tilting.