Chapter 317 Chain
On April 14, the Song army suddenly launched a large-scale attack, first eliminating the Xixia strongholds at the various mountain passes of Hengshan, and then directly crossed Hengshan in two groups. On the 15th, the main force of the imperial camp began to engage in full-scale battle with the hastily-armed Xixia troops. Fights broke out in Longzhou, Hongzhou, and Yanzhou. On the same day, there were seven battlefields where more than a thousand people fought on both sides.
But to be honest, the war was not as devastating as imagined.
In fact, here in the rear of the Imperial Camp, the middle and lower-level Song army officers and soldiers were very surprised about suddenly crossing Hengshan. The officers probably knew that they had no preparation for a real war before, and the soldiers were also somewhat reluctant to leave the fort and abandon the Jurchens on the flank to attack the Western Xia people... Relatively speaking, the Dangxiang people fought very bravely. Although they were caught off guard and the front-line forces were obviously insufficient, they still tried their best to defend each stronghold, and orderly cover the retreat, gathering in large towns and strongholds to resist step by step.
As for the Dangxiang tribes on both sides of Hengshan, they were not very optimistic... Although they made a choice under the rare strong words of the Song army, most of them were very perfunctory. Many tribes simply sent only dozens or even a dozen people to respond to the call, and it did not delay them from privately reporting to the Xixia people.
At the same time, just from the progress of the war, it can be seen that the Hengshan Dangxiang tribe, who stood on the side of their Xixia compatriots without hesitation, actually had more numbers and worked harder.
The reason for all this is self-evident - the information gap is too big!
At this time on the Hengshan front, all the people on both sides of the enemy, except Wu Jie, the commander of the Song army, who guessed that possibility, no one knew or dared to think that Xingqing Prefecture had fallen, that the heart of Western Xia had been pierced by a knife, and that the Dangxiang people were about to reach the end of their road... Isn't this nonsense?
On the Western Xia side, except for a very small number of high-ranking officials such as Weiming Chage, Weiming Renli and the heads of the five states of Hengshan, the rest of the people did not know that Xingqing Prefecture "might be in great danger". In fact, only Chage knew the exact date when the Song army appeared at the gorge. The military supervisor Weiming Renli thought it was three or four days ago, and that there were only 10,000 or 20,000 Song troops, and that there was still plenty of time... It was not Chage's fault. He had to block the news and even lied to reduce panic.
Just look at Xiao Heda to understand this. What Cha Ge did was absolutely right, and it was not even enough.
Therefore, beyond the level of the military inspector Weiming Renli, the defender of Hongzhou Weiming Yunge, and the commander-in-chief of Xiazhou Xiao Heda, many Western Xia officials and soldiers, including the local Dangxiang tribal leaders, were shocked by Wu Jie's sudden and reckless attack. At most, they thought that Cha Ge's retreat had attracted the attention of the Song army, and the opposing Song army thought they could take advantage.
It's not even an attempt to gain an advantage, he just wanted to slow down Cha Ge's pace of returning to the army.
Even the few high-ranking officials who were more careful only focused on the fact that the Khitans colluded with the Mongols to cause unrest in the Yinshan Mountains in the north, which led to the court placing Xiazhou Governor Xiao Heda under house arrest.
As for what happened next, most of the warring parties generally believed that at this time in Hengshan, the strength of the Dangxiang people exceeded that of the Song army, and it was not a wise move for the Song army to cross Hengshan when they were not strong enough, and then take the initiative to attack when the logistics line was not safe. It was even possible that the long and fruitless battle caused the wrath of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty behind them, and just like the dramas of the Western Army in previous years, they were forced to send troops... Therefore, many grassroots officers and tribal leaders easily inferred based on their own experience that this time the Song Dynasty might return empty-handed again.
Of course, there seems to be a chance of victory, that is, unless the Song army can break through Yan'an in a short period of time and follow the Suide army to take Yinzhou, forming a multi-pronged attack.
There is no way. Different amounts and levels of information lead to different judgments and even different ways of thinking. It is no wonder that these people do this. However, what really determines the direction of the battle is definitely the reality behind the information... So what is reality?
On April 16, Weiming Chago, who had already reached Tiemenguan behind Yanzhou, received dozens of intensive military reports in one day. He felt dizzy and fell into extreme panic... Because on this day, he not only received the emergency documents behind him, but also finally met the officials who fled from the desert and the other side of the Yellow River, saw the latest request for help from Lingzhou, learned the reality of the loss of Xingqing Prefecture, and even learned the news that the king and the prince were missing.
For a time, Western Xia Jin Wang Weiming Chage was in a dilemma!
It was really a dilemma. He was not an emperor, but just a general leading troops. He had no power at all and had never thought that he would have to choose between the two largest and most prosperous territories in the country... On one side was the Seven Prefectures of Hengshan, where his ancestors had built their fortune, with salt ponds, the Hengshan defense line, and the area controlled by the Jurchens; on the other side was Xingling, where his ancestors had moved immediately after acquiring the land, and where he grew up, with the Helan Mountains and the Yellow River, the Tang Canal, and millions of acres of fertile farmland.
In terms of value, whether it is economic value, military value, or political value, Xingling is definitely better than Hengshan, and it is far better. But the problem is that Hengshan is completely in the hands of the Dangxiang people at this time. As long as he turns back, I believe that Wu Jie's offensive will be curbed to a large extent. At the same time, the rich Xingling land has been occupied by the Song army for more than half.
Throughout the afternoon, Weiming Chago kept telling himself that no matter what, he must make a quick decision, because the fate of the country was in his hands... Compared to advancing or retreating, the only thing he was sure of was that staying in Tiemenguan would be the most troublesome, because he had already sent out 6,000 Iron Harriers and 8,000 subordinates previously deployed in Yanzhou, who were estimated to have reached Lingzhou by now. His troops were divided into two by the desert... However, the more this happened, the more panicked he became, and the more difficult it was for him to make a decision.
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