Jia Kui gave another reason.
Jingtai thought it made sense and agreed, "Yes, that makes sense. If we rush out like this, there will only be two outcomes. One is that Yuan Hao becomes concerned, fearing our strategy, and retreats to the city. The other is that he underestimates us and leads his troops to fight us. Neither of these outcomes seems to be a defeat for us."
Thinking of this, he decided, "Okay, let's do it this way. Prime Minister Zhang has asked me to be the vanguard. We should go straight to Huangzhou. The main force will be behind us, so we don't have to worry. Where is Jia Kui?"
"I will be here!"
Jia Kui was delighted and stood up.
"I order you to lead three thousand as the vanguard. Set out today and head straight for the river mouth!"
"yes."
"Where is Zhou Yaowu?"
"I will be here."
"I order you to lead a thousand men to support Jia Kui."
"yes."
“Where is Zhong Baocai?”
Jingtai arranged his military tactics in an orderly manner.
Han Qi was planning the strategy.
The troops were divided into two routes, one for the main attack and the other for a feint attack, in order to complete the strategic task given by the court to capture Qingtang and Zhuoluo and Nan.
Jingtai had to plan his tactics.
Zhang Kang led the main force of 50,000 troops, and he brought 10,000 people on his side. Together with the 3,000 people already in Lanzhou City, they were the vanguard of the main army.
The front army also has a vanguard, so the entire army forms a well-organized process with front and back connections.
However, the actual operation still depends on the deployment of the commander. Otherwise, if the distance between the front and the back is too far and there is no time to rush to the rescue, it will be a disconnect between the front and the back, which is a taboo in military strategy.
Afterwards, Jingtai arranged for the troops of the Qingtang regime to take charge of logistics work. Their troops served as guards for food and fodder supplies, cooperating with the main force in the rear to transport food and fodder to the vanguard army in the front.
After the tactical arrangements were completed, Jia Kui left Lanzhou City and returned to his military camp outside the city. At a command, he officially set off and marched westward in a mighty force.
The soldiers were all riding on horseback. The Song Dynasty no longer lacked horses. The price of ordinary war horses had even dropped to ninety to one hundred and twenty strings of cash per horse, which was nearly half the price during the Jingyou period.
no way.
At that time, both the Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia imposed a ban on the export of war horses to the Song Dynasty, and the only source of war horses for the Song Dynasty was Qingtang.
Now the Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia were forced to open their borders and release their war horses. In addition, the Song Dynasty also set up many horse farms in Shaanxi Province. The supply of war horses exceeded the demand, and naturally the price began to plummet.
In the past, there were more than 200,000 troops in Shaanxi Province, but only 20,000 to 30,000 cavalry. Later, Fan Zhongyan went to the northwest and managed for several years before increasing the number of elite cavalry to 50,000.
But now, the more than 100,000 troops in Shaanxi have almost achieved freedom of war horses, and everyone can ride their horses at full speed.
Countless Northwestern men carried long spears on their backs, with ring-handled swords hanging from their waists. On either side of their horses' bellies were a bag, one containing fixed ammunition, the other containing some coarse bread, water bottles, and other utensils.
Three thousand light cavalry left the city and arrived at the distant Hekou in less than two hours. This place was the ancient town of Hekou on the west side of Lanzhou in later generations, about 35 kilometers away from Lanzhou City.
Jia Kui looked up and saw hundreds of tents densely packed on the south bank of the river mouth in the distance. According to the scouts, Li Yuanhao had stationed more than 10,000 troops here, and the rest of the Western Xia army was in Miaochuan City in the west and Zhuola City in the north.
In the distant wilderness, dozens of Western Xia cavalrymen were watching them from afar on a small hill. One of them blew the horn, and the desolate sound of the horn spread throughout the wilderness.
"kill!"
Jia Kui drew the knife from his waist and pointed it at the Xixia camp on the south bank of the river mouth in the distance.
Behind him, thousands of riders were galloping across the plain, with dust and smoke rising in all directions!
(End of this chapter)
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