Chapter 888 The Great Victory in Yanzhou

A burst of footsteps came from behind Li Zhan. Without turning around, Li Zhan could tell who it was from the firm footsteps.

Zhang Ying, wearing armor and holding a spear, walked behind Li Zhan and looked at the gray distance in the distance, feeling worried.

"Prime Minister, Xixia is experiencing a snowstorm this year, and a large army will inevitably attack. The other soldiers and horses dare not move lightly. Now our Yongxing Army has only 80,000 soldiers and horses. We still need to divide our troops to garrison the cities in various states. We can allocate up to 50,000. The soldiers and horses, I am afraid that they will be weak in this way, and they need to send troops from the imperial court to support them first!"

Li Zhan's expression was gloomy, a trace of determination flashed in his eyes, and he said nonchalantly.

"Although there are hundreds of thousands of imperial guards in the capital, most of them are weak chickens who lack training and have never seen blood. They are not very useful. They are far inferior to the soldiers of the northwest four routes who have fought a hundred battles. They are of no great use! "

Zhang Ying sighed, feeling helpless. He naturally knew that the Imperial Guards were not useful, but it was better to have them than nothing, so he still advised them.

"Prime Minister, even so, we should explain the situation to the court and ask the officials and ministers for some support. It is much better than no support at all!"

Li Zhan looked back at Zhang Ying with a worried look on his face, laughed silently a few times, and said sarcastically.

"Nowadays, the officials and Mr. Han are only focused on fighting for power with the Queen Mother and fighting endlessly over the imperial examination. I'm afraid they have no idea about the situation in our northwest!"

"However, if you insist, just write a petition asking for help, sign it in my name and send it to Bianjing!"

Zhang Ying was overjoyed, bowed his hands, turned around and walked down the city wall, ready to ask for help from Bianjing.

Li Zhan shook his head indifferently, looked at the gloomy sky again, and read loudly.

"Dark clouds are pressing down on the city, threatening to destroy it, and the light of armor opens towards the golden scales of the sun.

The sound of the trumpet fills the autumn sky, stuffed with swallow fat and the night is purple.

A half-rolled red flag is near the Yishui River, and the sound of heavy frost and cold drums cannot be heard.

I will report to you on the golden platform and support the jade dragon to die for you. "

After reading, he turned around and walked down the city wall.

In the second year of Zhiping, Xixia invaded the border with 70,000 cavalry and 80,000 infantry, a total of 150,000 troops. They invaded the Yongxing military road from Xiazhou, killed Xiang Yanzhou, and set up camp 10 miles outside Yanzhou City. The city was heavily surrounded.

At this time in Bianjing City, the officials received a memorial from Zhang Ying asking for help. Because Xixia had not invaded the border at that time, it was just a guess, so they did not take it to heart. They just focused on fighting for power with the Queen Mother, because at this time, after 18 This month, the battle over the Imperial Examination is about to be settled.

The Grand Prime Minister of Han received the edict signed by the Empress Dowager Cao and recognized King Shu as the official emperor. However, the Empress Dowager Cao had always been at odds with the official family. This time, regardless of court etiquette and the opposition of the ministers, she honored the official's biological father as the emperor. The Imperial Examination is indeed puzzling.

As a result, there were many rumors. Some people say that this crucial edict was signed by Empress Dowager Cao after she was drunk the day before. The next day, when the Empress Dowager sobered up, she learned the contents of the edict, but it was too late to regret it. Another legend claims that the Queen Mother's hand edict was issued because minister Han Qi and others made friends with the eunuchs around the Queen Mother and finally convinced the Queen Mother. But no matter what, the Queen Mother cannot deny what is written in black and white. Regardless of whether Empress Dowager Cao's edict was voluntary or not, it was in line with the official's wishes, so she immediately issued an edict to stop the discussion. At the same time, he summoned the governors to discuss how to calm down the emotions of the officials and stabilize the current situation.

In order to obtain the honor after the death of his biological father, the officials racked their brains and used various means. They spent 18 months and finally achieved their goal. In fact, the "Pu Yi" was not a simple dispute over etiquette, but a means for officials to eliminate dissidents and seize power from the Queen Mother. Prime Minister Han and other powerful officials considered that Renzong was dead and the Queen Mother was powerless, so they wholeheartedly supported the officials and helped them fight against the Queen Mother.

After Xixia raised troops, the officials had successfully taken advantage of the court. When they learned that Xixia's 150,000 troops had invaded the border, they were suddenly awakened. They quickly summoned the prime minister and the British Duke, Gu Tingye and other generals to discuss the matter. After discussion, the British Duke decided to As the commander-in-chief, Gu Tingye was the deputy commander-in-chief, leading an army of 200,000 to support the northwest and fight against Xixia.

Yanzhou.

The 50,000-strong Northwest Army of the Yongxing Army successfully withstood more than a dozen siege attacks by the Xixia army within half a month, and repelled them again. The Xixia army left thousands of corpses behind, and then retreated. .

At the beginning, Xixia attacked fiercely and tried to capture Yanzhou with all their strength. Li Zhan personally went up to the city wall, holding a strong bow, and shot eighteen Xixia generals in one fell swoop. Only then did the Xixia people retreat. After that, the Xixia offensive dropped sharply. Now, the Xixia army has shown signs of fatigue.

Li Zhan stood at the top of the city, looking up at the sky, thoughtfully, and then looked towards the Xixia military camp in the distance. Seeing that its defense was lax, he couldn't help but be overjoyed. He got off the wall, beat drums, gathered the generals, and began to make arrangements.

"I watched the sky at night. The wind direction will change drastically tonight. The northwest wind will turn to the southeast wind. The Xixia camp is just northwest of us. Moreover, Xixia failed to attack the city for many days and despised our army, so the camp defenses were lax. I have decided to personally lead 40,000 troops out of the city tonight, attack the enemy camp at night, take the opportunity to set fire to the enemy camp, burn the food and grass in the enemy camp, and defeat the enemy army in one fell swoop!"

After Zhang Ying and others got along with Li Zhan for more than a year, they all respected him very much and asked for his orders one after another.

Seeing that his troops were ready, Li Zhan quickly made arrangements to attack the enemy camp at night.

Li Zhan asked the soldiers to seize the time to rest, and had the hooves of the five thousand cavalry horses wrapped in cotton cloth and the horses' muzzles covered with netting, in preparation for a night attack during the third watch and the fourth watch.

In the second year of Zhiping, on the eighth day of the winter lunar month, it was four o'clock and ten o'clock.

The four northwest routes established and recruited envoys. Li Zhan, the Privy Council envoy, personally led five thousand cavalry to attack the Xixia camp at night. He set fire to the enemy camp's food and grass, and killed more than thirty enemy generals by one man. He was invincible. The Xixia military camp In chaos, morale was completely lost, and they fled in all directions. The Song army's 45,000 main force immediately rushed into the enemy camp, defeated the Xixia soldiers and horses in one fell swoop, and pursued them all the way, even breaking through Xia, Yin, Sui, You and other prefectures, and fought all the way to In Xingqing Mansion, the enemy was killed and captured more than 200,000 people, countless baggage, more than 80,000 war horses, and countless cattle and sheep were seized.

The soldiers and horses supported by the imperial court could only pursue them all the way, and were stationed in the city destroyed by Li Zhan. They completely became logistics troops and did not gain any achievements.

Xixia lost half of the country's troops in this battle, and its strength was greatly damaged. The offensive and defensive positions of Xixia changed with the Song Dynasty, and they had no choice but to defend with all their strength.

Because Li Zhan, the Privy Councilor, had done too much, the officials had to recall him to Bianjing, and ordered the British Duke and Gu Tingye to continue the attack on Xixia and regain the lost territory. The Yongxing military general was very dissatisfied with the official's actions, but he had to obey the emperor's orders. He respected the British Duke as commander, and Gu Tingye as deputy commander, and obeyed his orders.

Ten miles outside Bianjing City, the officials and all the princes were waiting here early.

Li Zhan defeated Xixia this time, killed and captured more than 200,000 people, recovered countless lost lands, and made great military exploits. Even the officials, faced with a great victory that had never been achieved in this dynasty, had to go ten miles out of the city to meet Li Zhan. Zhan, to show respect.