In early August, the north wind was howling, the northwest was vast, and amidst the smoke of war, the Song army was unstoppable.
On the sixth day, the Song Dynasty's vanguard arrived at Lanzhou City.
On the same day, General Jingtai of the front army sent the vanguard Jia Kui to break through the river mouth and launch a series of surprise attacks, capturing eleven camps and thirty-three fortresses of the Xia army, defeating more than ten thousand enemies and seizing countless supplies.
Many Western Xia defenders suffered heavy losses, and only about 6,000 remnants remained out of more than 10,000 people. They either fled north to Zhuola City or west to Miaochuan Village.
After occupying the river mouth, the Song army set up camp on the spot, lived in the tents of the Xixia people, used their supplies, and even occupied the north bank, controlling the junction of the Zhuanglang River and the Yellow River.
It can be said that the Song army was extremely arrogant.
On the seventh day, the Song Dynasty's vanguard army, led by Jingtai, arrived at the river mouth.
The main force led by Zhang Kang also entered Lanzhou. The actions of the Song army were not hindered at all. The arrangements made by Li Yuanhao to block the Song army did not play any role.
But Li Yuanhao had not expected how long the Western Xia army at the river mouth could hold off the Song army. What he never expected was that it had only been half a day.
According to his plan, it should be blocked for at least three or four days.
This is outrageous.
In Miaochuan City, Li Yuanhao listened expressionlessly to the scout who had escaped earlier reporting the situation, and there seemed to be no emotion on his face.
But his heart was already in turmoil.
With only 3,000 men, and even the main force of the Song army's front line had not arrived yet, the more than 10,000 men he deployed at the river mouth were defeated.
This speed was far beyond his imagination.
Because in Li Yuanhao's opinion, no matter how powerful the Song army is, they still have to transport artillery.
Even if it is not a large artillery, but a small steel cannon weighing more than 200 pounds.
But the other side did not use any artillery at all. Relying on the muskets that he had seen before, they completely suppressed the Western Xia soldiers, far exceeding his expectations.
Unlike the Liao Dynasty, the Western Xia had not yet begun to research muskets. They had not even fully researched artillery, let alone firearms.
Although they had seen the power of muskets, they also knew that the Song army had such things.
However, the national strength of Western Xia was limited, and it did not have the ability to gain a deep understanding of muskets, so Li Yuanhao greatly underestimated the combat effectiveness of muskets.
Or perhaps it was because they underestimated the progress of the Song army in developing firearms.
After all, when the musket first appeared, its design was not as perfect as it is now, and its range and power were smaller than they are now.
So in this situation, Li Yuanhao had no idea how vulnerable his arrangements were.
"Your Majesty, we have deployed so many troops at the river mouth in the hope of first halting the Song army's offensive, at least for a few days, and then blocking it at the foot of the city. But now it seems that we are afraid..."
General Yeli Wangrong nearby hesitated, "Should we withdraw the military camp on the mountain and gather all our troops in the city?"
Huangzhou Miaochuan City is actually the Ledu District of Haidong City in later generations. The terrain here is relatively flat, and the mountains on the north and south sides are more than ten kilometers away. Even if the Song army deployed artillery on the mountains, they could not enter the city.
There is only a small hilly area in the north, which is located near the North Gate Road in the north of the later Ledu District, about one kilometer away from the city.
If it were in the past, this place would definitely have no value, but in the era of artillery, if the Song army deployed artillery on the mountain, it would pose a great threat to the city. Therefore, Li Yuanhao set up a military camp here early on to achieve a mutual restraint effect with the city.
Logically speaking, Yeli Wangrong is also a veteran and it is impossible for him not to know this.
But he understood that judging by the posture displayed by the Song army in the field battle, this military camp might not be able to play its role at all.
It is even possible that they would be quickly wiped out by the Song army.
Therefore, Yeli Wangrong believed that there was no need to suffer fearless casualties, and it would be better to concentrate forces in the city.
As for whether the Song army would occupy this hill and bomb the city.
Don't forget they also have artillery.
"No, if we withdraw the troops outside the city, then we will only have the city to rely on, which will be disadvantageous to us."
Li Yuanhao pondered for a moment and said, "Let the remaining troops who have retreated go to the North Mountain Stronghold to defend it, and concentrate half of the city's artillery on the north wall."
"this"
Yeli Wangrong immediately understood what he meant.
If there were no defenders outside the city, the Song army would directly surround and attack Miaochuan City.
Although they had artillery in the city, they were far inferior to those of the Song army in terms of both quantity and performance.
But it would be different if there were troops outside the city. In order to prevent being attacked from both sides, the Song army would definitely remove the nails outside the city before attacking the city.
The people in the city can first use artillery to attack the Song army's troops attacking the military camp outside the city.
This will definitely save a lot of time.
But this means that the army outside the city will become abandoned, and there will be almost no possibility of survival.
This made Yeli Wangrong a little hesitant.
Seeing his hesitation, Li Yuanhao sent out a soul-searching question, "Kindness does not suffice in commanding an army. This is a principle the Han people understood thousands of years ago. Don't you understand it yet?"
"yes."
As a general, Yeli Wangrong naturally understood this truth. He collected his thoughts and expressed that he understood.
"I'll leave this place to you. I'll give you a mission of one month."
Li Yuanhao said calmly, "Hold on for a month, then withdraw from Miaochuan and head to Qingtang. Got it?"
"Yes, I will never retreat, even if it means death."
Yeli Wangrong nodded firmly.
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