However, although Liu Huaizhong, the defender of Taoluo Village, had only 5,000 people, his fighting will was still very tenacious. He relied on the camp to fight a desperate battle with the Western Xia army.
This time, Li Yuanhao mobilized all his forces, with an army of more than 100,000. General Yeli Yuqi led about 40,000 people to launch a feint attack in the direction of Jingyuan Road, while Yeli Wangrong led 20,000 people to attack in the direction of Jintang City. He himself led 30,000 people to attack Taoluo Village directly, and the remaining 30,000 people were in the rear to support the attack.
In this way, even if the Song army came to support quickly, he could retreat immediately, with support troops in the rear. Once the Song army reinforcements arrived, and the Taoluo Village and Jintang City were broken, he could block the Yanzhou reinforcements in the east and the main force would directly attack Huanzhou.
It has to be said that as one of the protagonists of the Song-Xia War, Li Yuanhao was indeed smart and capable. This entire set of tactical designs was linked together. If he had encountered a guy like Fan Yong, Yanzhou would probably be in danger at this time.
However, there are also differences among the Fan family.
Fan Zhongyan was much stronger than Fan Yong. He had long figured out Yuan Hao's plan. He not only sent secret troops, but also quickly mobilized troops from Gyeongju and Wonju to launch a counterattack.
By noon, the Taoluo Village was already on the verge of collapse. Since the day before, the Western Xia army had launched a fierce attack. Liu Huaizhong fought desperately many times and repelled the enemy's attacks, but the village gate was gradually lost. For this reason, he had to use some gunpowder and grease stored in the army to burn the front gate and retreat to the back village.
Just before sunset, with Taoluo Village poised to fall, Li Yuanhao saw a cloud of dust and smoke billowing from the southwest. The Loess Plateau is sparsely wooded, so from a high vantage point, the smoke looked very far away. The cloud was at least a dozen miles away, and it would take half an hour to reach it.
"Song army reinforcements have arrived so quickly."
Li Yuanhao frowned, then said, "Go ask Congshun how long it will take to break through."
"yes."
The cavalry hurried over.
Congshun's full name is Weiming Congshun, and he is Li Yuanhao's cousin.
However, this person's military talent is average, and the battle depends entirely on Li Yuanhao's command. At present, Li Yuanhao is on the mountain observing the entire situation and making overall plans, while Weiming Congshun is in charge of the front line.
Soon the soldiers came back and reported: "General, we have broken through the front camp of the Song army and are now attacking the rear camp. We will be able to break through before dark."
"waste!"
Li Yuanhao was furious, "We've been fighting for three days for a small village like Luoluo, and we still haven't been able to break into it!"
The cavalryman nodded but dared not speak.
However, there is no point in getting angry now. The Song army is attacking and Taoluo Village is about to be breached. Withdrawing now will naturally be a failure.
So after a little hesitation, Li Yuanhao immediately reined in his horse and went down the mountain and began to gather soldiers to prepare to fight the enemy.
At the same time, Zhang Kang led 8,000 cavalrymen galloping all the way. The distance from Yanzhou to Taoluozhai is equivalent to the distance from Yan'an to Zhidan County in later generations, which is only more than 90 kilometers, which is not far.
They set out in the morning and arrived in the afternoon.
Horses have poor endurance and are actually no different from infantry if they travel long distances. They also need a lot of grass and bean cakes to maintain their combat effectiveness.
But short-distance raids are the cavalry's strong point, especially since Fan Zhongyan created horseshoes based on Zhao Jun's description.
This secret cavalry team was trained and equipped separately, so although the Xixia people knew of their existence, they had no intelligence about them at all. Even Li Yuanhao did not expect the Song army to provide support so quickly.
However, he could tell from the smoke in the sky that the enemy was not numerous. He had 30,000 cavalrymen, so even if he couldn't fight, he would have no problem retreating.
So while the enemy had not yet arrived, Li Yuanhao quickly mobilized about 15,000 troops and began to line up in the wilderness.
After half an hour, Li Yuanhao had rearranged the troops. He judged that the enemy had rushed all the way to support and had no chance to rest, so their fighting strength must be weak. It would be better to strike first and launch a surprise attack directly to catch the enemy off guard.
Li Yuanhao, after gathering his troops, drew his scimitar and looked at the dense crowd of knights behind him. He then turned his head to look at the undulating hills in the distance. He could vaguely see the enemy's vanguard. Without hesitation, he shouted, "Form a battle line! Follow me and charge!"
“Kill, kill, kill!”
The Western Xia army let out howls that pierced the sky, and many Dangxiang people kept shouting all kinds of strange shouts, then slapped their legs hard on the horses' bellies and charged towards the east.
At this time, Zhang Kang had reached the hillside less than five miles away from Luoluo Village. The Song army had already appeared on the hillside where Li Yuanhao had just stood. The Song army formed several formations all over the mountain and occupied several small hills around.
They were indeed very tired now. Although it was only a day's journey and the horses had horseshoes to protect their feet, the problem was that such running was still very exhausting for both the knights and horses. Many soldiers and horses were gasping for breath, looking at the Western Xia army in the distance, and almost collapsed on the ground due to exhaustion.
At this moment, they had already seen the mighty Western Xia army swarming towards here in the distance.
This is how Liu Ping, Shi Yuansun, Ren Fu, Ge Huaimin and others were defeated in history.
So why did Zhang Kang do this even though he knew that such a charge would cause his soldiers to become exhausted?
He was seen looking at the attacking Western Xia army with a calm gaze, and constantly commanding his soldiers to occupy the surrounding hills and mountains and look down on them.
Almost at the moment when the Western Xia army was galloping up the gentle slope of the hill, he ordered the messenger to blow the horn.
"Wooo ...
A desolate horn pierced the sky, and the Song army soldiers took out something from their waists, blew it, and suddenly threw it down the mountain!
Show the Xixia army a big treasure!
(End of this chapter)
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