Chapter 315 Success

On the tenth day of April, the weather was still sunny and tended to get warmer. Only the gentle breeze blowing along the Yellow River suppressed the heat to some extent.

Before leaving the scope of the morning, the Song army arrived at the Western Xia Palace east of Xingqing Prefecture without bloodshed.

Immediately afterwards, Commander Yue Fei publicly issued an order to discipline the entire army and not allow anyone to leave the team to plunder. After the battle, the civilians were ordered to collect the spoils, and officers above the commanding officer would not take a penny. The spoils would be distributed uniformly throughout the army, with officers taking double the amount and civilians taking half, with no partiality.

Up to this battle, Yue Fei had been famous for five or six years and had been a general for three or four years. His reputation in the imperial camp system was beyond doubt, so when this order was issued, the soldiers and civilians all cheered and were excited.

Then, amid cheers, the commander-in-chief gave orders again. He appointed Qu Duan to lead 2,000 armored cavalry as supervisors, in charge of military discipline and the general reserve. Li Shifu was to lead his own foreign cavalry to circumnavigate the city for reconnaissance. Zhang Jing was to lead his troops and supervise the civilians to demolish the Western Xia Palace from east to west, select building materials, and build ladders, battering rams and other crude siege equipment. Liu Qi was to lead his troops forward to first put out the still burning fire in the palace, and then to pile up debris in front of the city, and even to set up siege positions.

Finally, Yue Fei called Zhang Xian again and handed the gunpowder bags he brought with him to his most trusted subordinate so that he could prepare them when necessary.

One more thing to say here: as a general, Yue Fei certainly knew everything about gunpowder. He personally checked and participated in the experiment of gunpowder bags when he went to Tokyo more than once, and he knew early on that the court already had two relatively mature types of gunpowder weapons:

One type is more combustion-promoting and is mostly used by navy. Zhang Rong and Li Bao's troops obtained the most. In fact, the Jurchens also had this type of gunpowder, and it generally conforms to most people's understanding of gunpowder.

In contrast, the other type of gunpowder, which Yue Fei brought this time, tends to deflagrate... In the eyes of Emperor Zhao, the power of this type of gunpowder is not that great, otherwise he would not have buried so much in the ground in advance to pretend during the public sacrifice. However, in the eyes of Chen Gui and Yue Fei, a mature use of this type of gunpowder is already useful enough - digging a tunnel under the city, and then stuffing enough gunpowder in, or directly hoarding gunpowder under the goose cart, and then stuffing it into the city gate, is enough to instantly break a gap in the city defense.

Unlike the various dissatisfactions of the Zhao family, this method of use, although seemingly simple, is actually revolutionary, because it will destroy the most popular way of breaking the city. With this weapon, the artillery formation that takes tens of days to build will fall into an awkward situation, and the previous single-layer high walls will also be accelerated to transform into a typical multi-layer city defense system.

In fact, the gunpowder brought all the way from Tokyo was another important reason why Yue Fei was willing to take the risk of launching an advance on Xingqing Prefecture. It was also the basis for his confidence today... From the moment the White Ox Banner fell yesterday, in Yue Fei's eyes, this city was already in the pocket of the Imperial Camp Army.

But to be honest, after experiencing the battle yesterday and realizing that the Xixia people's gates were wide open and there was really no time to form an effective defense, Yue Fei did not want to use gunpowder in this situation... If possible, he would rather use this thing in Daming Prefecture, Hezhong Prefecture, Taiyuan, or Jurchen Xijing, as a secret weapon to quickly seize strategic points when crossing the river to the north in the future.

Of course, as a professional soldier, Yue Fei needed to be responsible for the casualties of his subordinates, so he had already made up his mind that if the sun reached the top of the Helan Mountains in the west and still could not break through the defense in front of him, he would immediately blow up the city gate and end the battle.

The Song army was well-organized, but the other side was not idle either, and there were all the usual dramas on the battlefield.

When the Song army put out the fire in the palace, an acquaintance immediately came down from the city wall to "comfort the army". It was none other than Xue Yuanli, the prime minister of Western Xia who had previously been on a diplomatic mission to Chang'an to meet the Emperor of Zhao Song and tasted the crow noodles.

Yue Fei also had an impression of this man. Moreover, as a general who was rare in those days to show concern for the lower-class people, he did have some thoughts of persuading the city to surrender and protecting the people. Besides, there was still time for the siege equipment, so he simply summoned him to have a face-to-face talk.

The two sides met in the open space in front of the meeting hall of the imperial palace. Yue Fei, who was sitting upright on a chair, did not move at all. Hu Hongxiu, who was a little evasive because of his hair, chose to turn his back. At the beginning, Xue Yuanli did not do anything unusual such as being neither humble nor arrogant or staying within five steps. Instead, he bowed deeply with great courtesy.

Seeing this, Yue Fei looked at Hu Hongxiu, who had turned his back but had glanced at him before, and his spirits perked up for a moment.

However, when Xue Yuanli looked up, he gave another explanation: "Jiedu Yue led foreign troops here, but not only did he not disturb the palace, but he helped put out the fire. Jiedu himself even stood by the Mingtang without entering, and did not do anything to humiliate our country. As a prime minister, Xue should thank him."

Yue Fei was filled with emotion, but his expression remained unchanged. He answered frankly: "If so, Prime Minister Xue Shu does not need to thank me. The civilians in the rear are already dismantling the big wood to make ladders. The gold and silver in this palace have already been promised to 30,000 Tiger Soldiers as rewards for this battle. The crowns, robes, and utensils that violate the regulations will also be dealt with according to the emperor's will... I will not enter the hall, but the military discipline is like this, and I have to set an example myself."

Xue Yuanli was not angry, but just paused for a moment, then bowed and asked again: "Speaking of this matter, the Song Dynasty is a big country, and the Dabai Gao Kingdom is a small country. When a small country makes a mistake, the big country should first send envoys to hold the small country accountable and give it a chance to correct its mistakes. Why did they enter the small country's capital without warning, demolish the palace, and then attack the capital?"

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