Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 294: A Thousand Miles Detour! (3k)

The Western Xia army was under great pressure, but they could not really fight a war. They had to wait for the internal disputes in the Song court to be resolved. Otherwise, no one would have time to pay attention to them, and it would be useless for them to show their strength.

Wang Gui, Cai Que and others did not expect that their struggle would actually buy Su Yun the most precious one and a half months of time.

This can be regarded as an unintentional intervention.

During this one and a half months, the purpose was to avoid the attack of the Western Xia army, slowly wear down their morale and consume their food.

Second, at this time Su Yun had already reached Yanzhou, Western Xia, with 3,000 cavalrymen.

The reason why he only brought 3,000 cavalry was, firstly, to leave enough cavalry for Fuyan Road to resist the Western Xia army, and secondly, if the team was too large, it would be difficult to hide. 3,000 cavalry was already the limit.

……

"Useless! Useless! There are only dozens of cavalrymen, and no one dares to fight against them? Are you still the soldiers of Daxia? Qingchi is one of the most important salt ponds in Yanzhou. It was destroyed in an instant. What do you think will happen to our production share this year?"

Helian Pu was furious at his men.

The subordinate was gloomy and explained quickly: "General, don't be upset. In fact, the salt pond was not destroyed. This salt pond is a lake. How can it be destroyed by human power? They just burned our salt-making equipment and let the salt-making slaves go. Give me a month and I will definitely resume production!"

After hearing his subordinate's explanation, Helian Pu's anger was slightly suppressed, but still not gone, and he said: "Don't I know?

What's the point? You were guarding the salt pond with hundreds of soldiers, so how could you be defeated by just a few dozen cavalrymen? Are you useless?"

The subordinate smiled bitterly and said, "You know, the salt pond is very large. In order to boil salt, we can't set up camp like a military camp. We just surrounded it slightly to prevent the slaves from escaping. But it is absolutely impossible to use it to defend against the army.

The area around the salt pond is basically flat, which is the perfect terrain for cavalry to wreak havoc. Although the enemy only has dozens of cavalry, they are too threatening if they charge in. We only have a hundred infantry, so how can we defeat them? "

Helian Pu was a man who knew about military affairs, so his anger finally subsided after hearing this. However, another layer of worry came to his mind: where did these dozens of cavalrymen come from, why did they attack the salt pond, what was their intention, and most importantly, would they continue to attack other salt ponds!
In fact, his worries were right, because later on, reports came in from various salt ponds that their salt ponds had also been attacked. The enemy had dozens or even hundreds of cavalrymen at the least, who burned equipment and robbed slaves in various salt ponds. As for the Dangxiang soldiers, they were ruthless and killed them directly!
Helian Pu was very angry after receiving the news. It was obvious that these people were sent by the Song Dynasty to cause trouble. This small group of cavalry was not good at attacking cities and strongholds, but they were very good at causing destruction.

Helian Pu reacted very quickly and immediately sent out two thousand defenders to hunt down these small groups of cavalry. In his opinion, this was enough.

After all, this is Xia territory, and the enemy cannot have too many people coming in. It is estimated that there are only a cavalry team of several hundred people. Coming behind enemy lines to kill and set fire may seem serious, but in fact it is nothing. It's just that it's a bit annoying that they specifically target Yanchi.

Fortunately, a large amount of blue and white salt has been accumulated, so it won’t be a big problem if production is not stopped for a while. However, these people still have to be wiped out eventually, so that people can feel at ease.

However, the 2,000 soldiers had only been sent out for two days when on the third day some of them returned to the city in disarray. Helian Pu was horrified and interrogated them overnight. He learned that soon after the 2,000 soldiers left the city, they encountered a cavalry force of at least several thousand people. Because they were caught off guard, the 2,000 soldiers were attacked from the flank and could not hold out for more than a quarter of an hour before they were completely defeated!
Helian Pu was stunned when he heard this: Thousands of cavalrymen actually sneaked into Yanzhou silently?
Yanzhou is an extremely important place. It is not only important as the main production area of ​​blue and white salt, but also because it is the most critical connection point between the core area of ​​Xingqing Prefecture of Western Xia and the five states of Dingnan!

If Yanzhou is occupied, the five states of Dingnan will be isolated!

Helian Pu immediately thought of the 300,000 troops fighting on the front line. It was obvious that the Song people wanted to cut off the food supply of the Daxia army, causing the army to panic and then pursue them!

Helian Pu did not dare to be careless. He immediately sent someone to deliver the news to Yinzhou, and then locked the gate of Yanzhou City, for fear that this group of Song troops would sneak in.

After Helian Pu sent the message out, he put on armor and went to the city wall every day, fearing that there would be spies who would open the city wall and steal the house. However, the thousands of Song soldiers disappeared afterwards.

Helian Pu breathed a sigh of relief, apparently realizing that there was no opportunity, and then he secretly ran back.

This is normal. After all, this is just petty theft. It is difficult to shake the strong city. It is also very dangerous for them to stay in enemy territory for a long time. Therefore, they just smash and rob a little and then run away. This is the normal operation.

However, after five or six days, a messenger suddenly came from Xingqing, saying that the Song army had captured Jingzhou and Huaizhou, killing tens of thousands of defenders in the two states, and was already approaching Xingqing Prefecture!

Helian Pu was shocked when he heard this and asked anxiously, "What did the Queen Mother say to the Prime Minister?"

The messenger said helplessly: "I am just a messenger, how can I know what the nobles say."

Helian Pu hurriedly asked in a low voice: "The nobles in Xingqing Mansion, do you have any idea of ​​hunting in the north?" Hearing this, the messenger shook his head and said: "Please don't embarrass me. How would I know these things..."

He looked a little flustered, then lowered his voice and said, "...It is said that the Queen Mother is going to visit the troops at the Chaoshun Military Headquarters on the right wing."

Helian Pu showed a sarcastic look when he heard this: Visiting the troops... is nothing more than running away!

Haha, 300,000 troops, where do 300,000 troops come from?

In addition to sending some troops from the tribal army, wouldn’t it be necessary to transfer people from the major military departments?
After several years of bloody battles, Daxia was already exhausted, and the major military commanders had suffered heavy casualties. How could there be so many people left? After mobilizing 300,000 troops to set off, Xingqing Prefecture had already become an empty shell!

Nowadays, only the border troops still have some people, and Xingqing Prefecture has been empty for a long time. No wonder it was broken by someone's attack.

Helian Pu was a Tangut noble of good family origin. He and Renduo Baozhong were of the same faction. Both were staunch royalists and had been dissatisfied with the Liang family for a long time. Now seeing the Empress Dowager Liang in such an embarrassing state, it would be a lie to say that he had no regrets.

This time, Liang sent out an army of 300,000 and even emptied the guard forces near Xingqing Prefecture, so in his opinion, they deserved to be in such a predicament.

However, he still admired these thousands of Song army generals. They dared to advance alone and even directly attack Xingqing Prefecture. Their ability and courage to perceive military secrets so keenly were truly impressive.

What is the key point? These thousands of Song soldiers are really brave. Although the two thousand Yanzhou defenders are not elite, they are also brave and good at fighting. However, the Song army was able to wipe them out completely, which shows that their combat effectiveness is really terrifying.

Needless to say, the defenders of Jingzhou and Huaizhou were the guard troops of Xingqing Prefecture. They were the elite among the elite, but they were defeated in one blow!

It’s incredible, it’s really incredible!

But why does it feel familiar?
Helian Pu suddenly remembered the previous fall of Yinzhou, Xiazhou and Youzhou, and an idea emerged in his mind: Could it be that Su Yun again?

At this time, the messenger hurriedly said: "General Helian, Xingqing Prefecture is in danger, please come to the king immediately. I will go to other states to inform them of this matter immediately, so I will not stay here any longer."

Helian Pu nodded and said, "Go ahead."

The messenger left in a hurry, and his destination was Yinzhou, where the Western Xia army was now located. If they wanted to come to the king's rescue, they would ultimately have to rely on the 300,000-strong army.

After the messenger left, Helian Pu called together his confidants and discussed the matter with them, asking, "Xingqing Prefecture is in danger, what should we do now?"

The confidants looked at each other, and one of them said, "We are short of troops now. We originally only had a few thousand soldiers, and two thousand were annihilated a few days ago. Now we only have two or three thousand soldiers left, which is barely enough to defend the city. If we send more troops to defend the king, what will happen to Yanzhou?"

Helian Pu frowned.

Another confidant said, "We have to go. Xingqing Prefecture is in crisis, but we in Yanzhou turned a blind eye and didn't rush to help the king. What are they thinking? When this is over, how will we face the blame from Xingqing Prefecture?"
Haha, the Liang family has long been dissatisfied with the general's control of the salt pond. If they are given this excuse, not only will Yanzhou be taken away, but the general will also be implicated!"

The confidant said loudly: "But if the thousands of Song soldiers come back and rush to Yanzhou and capture Yanzhou, then will the general's crime of losing the city be less serious?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Helian Pu suddenly realized that it was not Empress Dowager Liang who was in trouble, but he himself was in a dilemma!
The two confidants immediately started arguing. Helian Pu thought for a while, then stopped the quarrel and said, "What you said makes sense. We must have a gesture to support the king, otherwise it will be difficult to explain after the incident.

But the city does need to be defended. Losing the city is punishable by death. Please help me think of a way to both show loyalty to the king and ensure that the city is defended without any mistakes."

The two confidants looked at each other and were suddenly embarrassed. It was difficult to defend the city with only two or three thousand soldiers, not to mention they had to serve the king... Isn't this embarrassing?

The three of them discussed it and felt that defending the city should not be difficult. However, it would be more dangerous if they encountered the thousands of Song troops outside the city. Therefore, more men and horses were needed. Therefore, 500 soldiers were left to guard the city, while Helian Pu personally led 2,500 soldiers to Xingqing Prefecture.

Of course, it's just a gesture. If you really want to fight to the death, that's definitely not possible.

Helian Pu thought about it and decided that as long as he was careful and didn't get too close, there shouldn't be any problem.

(End of this chapter)