The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

The golden sword is like the sun, the iron horse is like the mountain, and the dark clouds are pressing down on the city.

After the battle, Zhao Tong only rested for one day before urging his army to go north and attack Shunzhou.

There is no other reason. The news that Xingzhou was raided has been passed on, but it is not clear. We only know that Xingzhou was attacked, but we don’t know whether there is a lower city.

Therefore, Zhao Tong could no longer wait. No matter whether General Lu captured Xingzhou or not, he had to move forward.

If General Lu takes Xingzhou, he must immediately march to respond.

If we fail to capture it, we have to march forward, then unite our troops and attack quickly. We are bound to succeed in one fell swoop. We cannot wait for soldiers and horses from all over Xixia to come to rescue us. If we do so, everything will be difficult by then and the opportunity will be lost. Come again.

At this moment, more than 20,000 Xia soldiers from the last war have been surrendered, and the total number of soldiers is close to 100,000.

A hundred thousand troops marched straight towards Shunzhou.

Shunzhou was empty at this time. After repeated battles and dispatching of troops and generals, there were less than 10,000 men in the city and only about 7,000 or 8,000, barely defending the city.

But when news came that Xingzhou had been attacked, half of the seven or eight thousand people went to rescue, leaving only three or four thousand people. Compared with such a large city, they were in vain.

One hundred thousand soldiers crushed them, without any strategy at all, they just attacked by force.

Shunzhou is a big city, but the bigger the city, the more difficult it is to handle. The soldiers were divided into four walls, with only a few hundred people, less than a thousand people on each side.

These hundreds of soldiers were guarding a city wall that was several miles long. How could they protect it? It didn't even take half a day before they were captured directly.

After landing in Shunzhou, Zhao Tong immediately sent out exploration horses to explore the north. The city of Xingzhou was more than a hundred miles north.

At this moment, the terrain is in the shape of four stars surrounding the moon, with Shunzhou at the bottom, followed by Jingzhou, Huaizhou, and Dingzhou from the northeast, forming a semi-arc shape, surrounding Xingzhou in the middle.

Behind Xingzhou is Helan Mountain, and in front is the nearest acropolis, Huaizhou, located due east, only a few dozen miles away.

Zhao Tong sent out hundreds of exploration horses at a time, and the army only made slight adjustments before pulling them all outside the city, making a gesture of heading north at any time.

It didn't take much time before a scout horse came back in a hurry to report. It was even more urgent than the eight-hundred-mile express. The horse's legs were almost broken, and the fur padding in his pants was frayed. The whole person was in an extremely miserable state, and his face was covered with dust.

But it was precisely because of this that Zhao Tong saw the urgency of the situation and hurriedly summoned him. The detective horse brought him extremely exciting news. Xingzhou was captured by General Lu in a surprise attack!

Xingqing Mansion was in chaos, and Xingzhou City was in chaos.

Zhao Tong was excited when another detective came back to report that Li Qianshun had abandoned the city and hid in the Helan Mountains.

The matter was urgent, so Zhao Tong hurriedly mobilized his troops. After all, General Lu had few people. Although he had captured Xingzhou, it might not last long. Li Qianshun escaped, so he had to summon all the ministries. If he didn't catch up soon, Xingzhou would be destroyed again. Something went wrong.

Xingzhou is definitely under pressure now. General Lu has less than 10,000 soldiers. Xingzhou is the capital of Xixia, the largest city with a large population. For fear of rebellion, there is always the possibility of collapse. He must rush over immediately to help suppress it, and then directly Declare the destruction of Xixia!

As long as Xixia is declared to be annihilated, the structure of military supervisory districts with sparse and scattered people like Xixia may directly collapse. Those supervisory military districts that still have soldiers will govern alone, and those without soldiers will be dispersed. Just sweep it over.

Zhao Tong quickly ordered a hundred thousand troops to march straight to Xingzhou.

Soldiers are very fast, but the infantry among the 100,000-strong army was too slow. Zhao Tong ordered eight generals, Lu Da, Xu Ning, Qin Ming, Hu Yanzhuo, Huang Xin, Fan Rui, Xiang Chong, and Li Gun, and took 10,000 soldiers with him. The cavalry acted as the vanguard, while the Chinese army was left under the command of Du Bo. The vanguard rushed to Xingzhou first.

More than a hundred miles is not too far for Qingqi. They set off in the morning and saw Xingzhou City near dusk.

Xingzhou is a large rectangular city with a circumference of more than thirty miles. The moat is ten feet wide. It has two gates in the north and south and one gate in the east and west. In the later Zhou Dynasty, it was Huaiyuan County under Lingzhou. In the early Song Dynasty, the county was abandoned as a town, and Li Jiqian captured Lingzhou. Later, Lingzhou was renamed Xiping Prefecture. After Li Deming succeeded to the throne, he believed that Xiping Prefecture was located in a place with four fortresses and was not as favorable as Huaiyuan, so he built a large city in Huaiyuan and established the capital here, named Xingzhou.

When Li Yuanhao arrived, he built palaces and cities extensively, promoted Xingzhou to Xingqing Prefecture, and formally established civil and military classes here, and built the south of Tai City. In the first year of Yanzuo's reign, he was enthroned here and became the emperor. Taking this as the capital, by the time of Li Qianshun, it was even more prosperous, with numerous palaces and temples.

When Zhao Tong saw Xingzhou City, his eyes narrowed slightly, and with an order, ten thousand cavalry rushed over...

Half an hour later, in front of the Xixia Palace, Zhao Tong looked at General Lu who was kneeling in front of him, helped him up with his own hands, laughed loudly and said: "I live up to my words when I rescued Qinghou from Fang La, and today you stand up..." Such a great achievement!"

General Lu said with shame: "Your Majesty, I am ashamed of myself. At that time, General Lu was no more than a prisoner."

Zhao Tong shook his head and pulled General Lu's arm: "Get up, let's take a look at the luxury of the Xixia Palace with me."

As he spoke, he turned around and strode towards the palace, followed by General Lu, Yang Zhi, Shi Jin, Lu Da, Qin Ming, Hu Yanzhuo and others.

The style of the Xixia Palace is different from that of the Song Dynasty. It focuses on splendor, treasures, glittering gold, and a somewhat exotic feel.

After walking through several halls, Zhao Tong inquired about the military situation and learned that Li Qianshun was still in the Helan Mountains. He couldn't help but wonder: "Why not escape to the east?"

The location of Xingzhou is desolate to the west. Behind the Helan Mountain is the ancient Great Wall. To the west of the ancient Great Wall are the two connected vast sea deserts. Although there is no such thing as a desperate situation, it is far away from the military headquarters and it is not easy to defect.

To the east is different. To the east are Huaizhou and Lingzhou. Further east from Lingzhou are several military divisions along the border. Especially Lingzhou itself is the second largest city in Xixia. It is really puzzling that Li Qianshun did not go to Lingzhou.

General Lu said: "Your Majesty, if Li Qianshun is not going to Lingzhou, my subordinates suspect that Brother Richard is there!"

"Brother Richard is in Lingzhou?" Zhao Tong reached out and touched his chin, laughing and said: "Brother Richard is in Lingzhou, so Li Qianshun can't go? This late king of Xixia is too cautious!"

Hearing the words "Mojun of Xixia", everyone behind him also laughed together. General Lu said: "Your Majesty, this is exactly the case. If you are not careful, you will definitely not leave Lingzhou alone and enter Helan Mountain. It's just that there are few soldiers under your command and there is no way." Go into the mountain and search.”

Zhao Tong thought for a while and said: "Helan Mountain is big and majestic and steep. I can guess where he is hiding. As long as he doesn't come out and go elsewhere, when the army comes from behind, I will personally lead the troops to search. Now there is The other two matters are more urgent.”

General Lu said: "My lord, are you declaring the destruction of Xixia and appeasing the city?"

Zhao Tong nodded: "It is precisely these two things that I have drafted a document today to declare to all the barbarians in the world that Xixia will destroy the country. As for appeasing the people in the city...have all those who deserve to be killed been killed?"

General Lu said: "This... subordinates don't dare to make decisions without permission. They only wait for the prince's order." Zhao Tong thought for a moment, and then said: "Kill them before appeasing them. If there are Xixia courtiers who are unwilling to surrender, there is no need to ask a second time." No one will be kept. Anyone who has the slightest sign of resistance will not be kept without interrogation. Anyone who speaks rudely and slanders the heavenly army will not be kept. The above people, regardless of Han and Xia, will destroy the three tribes!"

"Yes!" General Lu said, "I will do it now!"

Zhao Tong nodded: "Hurry up and do it, and then comfort him, the sooner the better!"

Seeing General Lu leading Yang Zhi and Shi Jin away, Zhao Tong's expression became slightly complicated.

When capturing an enemy's capital, it is customary to kill a wave of enemies to establish their authority.

It was considered a mercy for one general to kill the entire city and not massacre the city. What's more, he didn't kill the Nine Tribes, only the Yi Tribes.

In the war to destroy the country, under the general trend, the party was united and opposed, and only targeted those who resisted, which cannot be called particularly cruel.

Two days later, the letter announcing to the world was sent everywhere. This letter was not written randomly, it had a fixed format and regulations.

And it doesn’t mean that the country will be destroyed just because you say it will be destroyed. All kinds of things must be listed above, and it is best to have surrendered ministers to explain them, so that they can be deterrent and convincing.

As for surrender, there has never been a shortage. This has been the case in all dynasties. There is no shortage of martyrs for the country, and even more of those who are rushing to surrender. Not to mention the court, there are countless people in the clan, so this letter is effortless and reasonable. The documents, with all supporting documents, were sent to various places in Xixia, as well as the Song Dynasty, Uighur, Tubo, Dali and other places.

At the same time, killing people to establish authority and rooting out disobedient and unruly people were carried out, and heads were being killed. Several execution grounds in Xingzhou were full of blood, and corpses were constantly being transported out of the city.

A few days later, the original population of Xingzhou City was reduced by one-fifth. This was only the three Yi tribes. If the Jiu tribes were killed, according to the killing standards given by Zhao Tan, only half would be left.

Then he continued to organize the army, continued to accept surrenders, continued to recruit troops, and then Zhao Tao divided his troops into three groups.

All the way north, defend the Baima Qiangzhen Military Division and the Black Mountain Weifu Military Division. As for the Chaoshun Military Division in the right wing, which is closest to the north, there is only an empty shell left. The troops and horses have long been drained by Brother Richard. As soon as the army passes Direct occupation.

The other way is to go east, first to capture the three acropolises of Dingzhou, Huaizhou and Jingzhou, and then to attack Lingzhou.

If Lingzhou goes down again, even if there are still soldiers and horses in the Zuoxiang Army Division, Xiangyou Army Division, Jianing Army Division, Jingsai Army Division and other places on the front border, it is not a cause for concern, because the retreat is already After being cut off, those military divisions were like water without roots and duckweeds on the river. They could not stir up any waves and could only be slaughtered.

As for the Gansu Military Division, Xiping Military Division, and Heishui Town Yan Military Division in the west, there are not many people stationed there, and they are far away from Xingqing, so there is no threat. As long as the eastern part is wiped out, then these places in the west can use a little force. It will be collected into the bag.

The last road was to besiege all the mountain passes of Helan Mountain. Helan Mountain was so big that it was impossible to surround them all. Even if all the mountain passes were blocked, it would not be easy. Ten thousand soldiers and horses were dispersed and arranged in various places, but it was just barely possible. .

If three or five people want to escape from the mountain, then as long as they are careful, do not take the normal path, and dig through the forest to clear trees, these soldiers will not find it.

But when Li Qianshun entered the mountain, he brought thousands of personal guards with him, as well as many concubines in the palace. If he left together, it would be impossible not to be noticed, unless he left quietly with only a few people, but if that was the case, he would have There is no need to take so many people up the mountain, it goes against common sense.

At this moment, the roads and alleys outside Helan Mountain are all blocked. It is no longer as good as when Xingqing first broke out. It is already extremely difficult to go further and leave Xingqing Mansion.

Therefore, even if they can sneak down the mountain, it is difficult to escape, and this group of soldiers can still be effective.

A few days later, the army heading east was invincible and captured Jingzhou, Huaizhou and Dingzhou one after another, and directly confronted Lingzhou.

Yuan Ying, Yuan Guo, and Wu Song also brought Yuan Kun, the head of the Yuan family, Hunyuan Zhang, to Xingzhou to resume their lives.

Yuan Kun has suffered a lot of bad tempers along the way. Yuan Guo always finds faults, makes sarcastic comments about him, and often says that he wants to "click" him so that his father Yuan Cheng can take over.

Yuan Kun and Yuan Cheng's martial arts are similar. They are both at the level of minor masters, and they also practice the same fists and kicks. They are both Hunyuan Thunderbolt Hands, a secret skill passed down by the Yuan family.

One of the two is nicknamed Hunyuan Palm, and the other is nicknamed Thunderbolt Fist, half a catty, big witch and little witch. The difference is that one is the direct meridian and the other is the concubine meridian.

So Yuan Guo was dissatisfied. Why could Yuan Kun be the patriarch of the clan but his father Yuan Cheng couldn't be? I am already a Han Chinese, so why don’t my father also become a Han Chinese?

Previously in Yuanzhuang, he had deliberately tried to scare the monkeys, and then pushed his father forward. Unfortunately, Yuan Kun had seen through his little trick and surrendered directly, leaving him unable to use his power.

Yuan Guo didn't succeed. He was furious and found fault all the way. Yuan Kun ignored him. Anyway, this evil beast didn't have any martial arts skills. He could only make trouble with his mouth. He didn't have the ability to secretly kill someone.

After arriving in Xingzhou, they went to find Zhao Tan to give orders. After Zhao Tan recorded a few merits, he asked Yuan Kun to question him.

After asking, Yuan Kun was directly granted the official position of infantry chief instructor, thus stabilizing his position as head of the family, which made Yuan Guo stare.

Then he continued to use kindness and power to stabilize and soothe the situation in Xingqing. At this time, everywhere in Xixia, except for the territory occupied by Zhao Tao and the Xiangqing army with Brother Richard, became increasingly chaotic.

There were major chaos in some places, and minor chaos in other places. Even the Xiping Military Division in the west directly announced its separation from Xixia. Because Xixia was destroyed, its name was changed to Xiping Prefecture, and the Dutong Army changed its official position to Xiping Jiedu Envoy.

In Xingzhou City, Zhao Tong read the military reports from all over, and all of them were in line with his predictions. The so-called trees fell and the hozens dispersed, and they all went their separate ways. This was probably the case. This was because his own army had not swept away the land, otherwise some places would have been directly attacked. I can’t tell if it will fall.

That day he took Yuan Ying, Yuan Guo, Bai Ba, Bai Zhan, Lu Da, and Wu Song, together with five thousand troops, and headed straight for Helan Mountain.

It has been ten days since Li Qianshun fled into Helan Mountain. There has been no news, and no trace of his escape has been found at the foot of the mountain. Zhao Tong is preparing to search the mountain himself.

In fact, even if Li Qianshun did not enter the mountain, he still decided to clear Helan Mountain once.

Not only because of the words that broke through Helan Mountain before, but also because the Freedom Gate is in Helan Mountain.

As the state patriarch of Xixia, Zizaimen must be completely resolved. If Zizaimen voluntarily surrendered after he occupied Xingzhou, he could still let it go. However, Zizaimen has not expressed any expression for so long, and its attitude is very clear. On behalf of Being disobedient and intending to resist.

As long as they want to resist, there is no need or value for them, not to mention Zhao Tong's guess that Li Qianshun hid in Zizaimen after going up the mountain.

In this case, it is even more necessary to destroy the Freedom Gate...

(End of this chapter)