Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 441: The battle of Shunhua Ferry shocked the world!

After Su Yun took over Fengzhou, the first thing he did was to take his men to rush into the horse farm opened by the Xixia Herdsman in Qiantao.

The department of Qunmu Si existed not only in the Song Dynasty, but also in the Western Xia Dynasty, which followed the practice of the Tang Dynasty.

In the second year of Xiandao in Western Xia, Li Yuanhao established the Qunmusi in imitation of the Song system, which was responsible for managing the country's animal husbandry.

During the reign of Li Yuanhao, with the expansion of Western Xia's territory, animal husbandry developed further and the scope of responsibilities of the Pastoral Department continued to expand. It was not only responsible for managing the raising of horses, but also for the breeding and management of other livestock.

Afterwards, Western Xia continued to improve its official system, and the status and role of the Pastoral Department, as one of the important central agencies, were further consolidated and strengthened.

The "New Laws Revised in the Tiansheng Year" classified the Group Pastoral Department as the third grade (middle grade), and its subordinate officials included six directors, six secretaries, six du'an, and fourteen case heads.

During this period, the management of the Pastoral Department became more standardized and institutionalized, which played an important role in promoting the development of Western Xia's animal husbandry.

Therefore, when the Jingsai Army broke into the horse farm set up by the Western Xia in Qiantao, they saw the endless mighty horses, and suddenly everyone fell into a dizziness of happiness!

——War horses, which were extremely rare in the Song Dynasty, were so numerous here that it was hard to see the end of them!
Ping Zicheng couldn't help but admire the scene and said, "The Hetao Plain is indeed a natural pasture. There are tens of thousands of war horses in this pasture alone!

The Tanguts are really good at raising horses. These horses are so well raised!"

Su Yun smiled and said, "When Li Yuanhao founded the country, he set up a special herdsman department to manage the horse breeding business, so the Xixia cavalry had an adequate source of horses.

The Hetao Plain is also blessed with unique natural conditions. It has a flat terrain, good soil, and the benefit of irrigation from the Yellow River, making it an excellent natural condition and very suitable for horse breeding.

This provided a good foundation for the Xixia horse breeding industry. In addition, the Xixia people were indeed good at raising horses, so it was normal for such a grand occasion to occur.

But now, all of them are cheap for us!

Qinglan, make arrangements, bring all the adult war horses, and arrange horses for everyone. The extra people will have two horses, and the extra people will have three horses!"

"Yes!" Ping Zicheng responded excitedly, and then led his men to quickly collect the war horses. He reported to Su Yun at night, and his face looked very strange.

Su Yun was a little surprised and asked, "Why?"

Ping Zicheng swallowed his saliva and said, "Sir, the statistics are out. There are five horse farms in Fengzhou, with a total of more than 110,000 horses. There are more than 50,000 to nearly 60,000 adult and healthy horses that can be used as war horses.

There is another surprise. There is not only a horse farm here, but also a cattle and sheep ranch. After we collected and counted, we found that there are a total of 130,000 cattle and sheep!

These cattle and sheep are very fat and strong. If they were in the Song Dynasty, they would be top-quality meat and could be sold at a high price!"

The teacup in Su Yun's hand slammed onto the table with a clang, and the amber tea splashed onto the sheepskin map, spreading a dark yellow color.

He suddenly grabbed Ping Zicheng's arm, his voice trembling without him even noticing: "What did you say? One hundred and one hundred thousand horses? And one hundred and thirty thousand cattle and sheep?"

Ping Zicheng was pinched so hard that it hurt, but he didn't care. He just nodded vigorously, with ecstasy in his eyes: "It's absolutely true! I personally checked the stable brand and ranch account books. The five horse farms, including the three-year-old foals, have exactly 113,000 horses!

The cattle and sheep are even fatter and stronger. There are tens of thousands of cashmere goats in the pasture called 'Golden Tent' alone..."

Suddenly, there were continuous neighing sounds of horses outside the tent. Su Yun lifted the curtain and looked, only to see countless war horses being driven into a makeshift fence in batches in the twilight, and the dust raised by their iron hooves covered the sky.

A soldier led a chestnut horse past him. The horse held its head high and tossed its mane, with a back as broad as a knife. It was none other than Xixia's most sophisticated "Iron Harrier" warhorse!
Su Yun reached out and stroked the saddle on the side of the horse. His fingertips touched the Xixia characters for "Qunmusi" engraved on the saddle bridge. He suddenly chuckled, "If Li Yuanhao knew about this, he would be so angry that he would crawl out of his mausoleum. The horse farm he painstakingly managed for decades has now become the spoils of my Jingsai Army!"

"Sir," Ping Zicheng handed over a list, "according to your instructions, the 56,000 war horses have been divided into three teams: one team is used as cavalry mounts, one team is used as baggage soldiers' pack horses, and the rest..."

He suddenly lowered his voice and said, "I would like to suggest that we keep 3,000 of the best stallions and send them back to Suide Army overnight and hand them over to Jingsai Army's Pastoral Supervision Department for breeding.

In this way, within ten years, our Jingsai Army will be able to have its own herd of fine horses."

Su Yun turned around suddenly, with approval flashing in his eyes.

He patted Ping Zicheng's shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Just do as you say.

In addition, regarding the cattle and sheep ranch - "He paused, his eyes sweeping across the flock of sheep being driven in the distance, "keep five thousand ewes and two thousand cows, and slaughter the rest.

First, to improve the food for the brothers, and second, "he raised the corners of his mouth fiercely, "cannot leave a grain of food or a livestock for the Xixia people!"

At midnight, the bonfire illuminated the sky of Fengzhou City red. The soldiers of the Jingsai Army sat around the rack of roasted whole lamb, the fat dripping into the fire made a sizzling sound, and the aroma of mare's milk filled the camp.

Su Yun did not join the carnival. He sat alone on the battlements of the city wall, staring at the outline of the Yinshan Mountains in the north in a daze.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded beside him, and Ping Zicheng approached with a scroll of documents in his hand: "Sir, the Xixia military report just intercepted - Liang Yibu personally led a 100,000-man army from Xingqing Prefecture to the north after learning that the horse farm had fallen, and will arrive at Qiantao soon."

Su Yun took the military newspaper, glanced at it, and threw it into the fire.

In the dancing flames, the Xixia characters of "Qunmusi was lost" gradually curled up into ashes.

He took out the wine gourd from his arms and took a sip. The spicy liquor made his throat tight. "One hundred thousand troops? Just in time!

With the arrival of a hundred thousand troops, the pressure on Lanzhou should be reduced a lot. If Liang Yibu comes, our strategic goal this time will be achieved.

But, hey, look at this Fengzhou City..."

He raised his hand and gestured to the city below him, "With the Yellow River at its back and grassland in front, it's a perfect battlefield.

not to mention……"

He suddenly turned around and pointed at the neatly arranged group of war horses behind him, "We now have 30,000 cavalrymen. Are we still afraid of the Xixia Iron Harriers?"

Ping Zicheng looked at the flickering fire in Su Yun's eyes and suddenly remembered the scene he saw at the horse farm during the day:

——In the dust raised by tens of thousands of war horses, a young soldier was tying the reins of a little white horse. The foal's ears were still covered with its fetal hair.

He suddenly realized that this seemingly accidental surprise attack might be quietly changing the balance of power in the world that had lasted for a hundred years.

From today onwards, I'm afraid no one will be able to suppress the Jingsai Army!
The Song Dynasty can’t do it, the Western Xia can’t do it, and the Liao Dynasty can’t do it!
In the distance, the night watchman struck the third watch drum.

Su Yun threw the empty wine gourd to the guard behind him, held the hilt of the knife at his waist and slowly stood up.

The moonlight shone on his blood-stained armor, casting a cold light.

"Pass the order down," his voice pierced through the night, startling several night birds perched on the city wall.

"Before dawn tomorrow, all the troops will march to the Yellow River ferry. We must show Liang Yibu what it means to 'trample the Helan Mountains with black clouds and long swords'!"

Ping Zicheng quickly bowed and said, "Yes, sir!"

Ping Zicheng was about to turn around and leave when he suddenly heard Mr. Su Yun chuckle again. It was especially clear in the dark night. After the chuckle, he heard Su Yun say, "At the foot of Yinshan Mountain, Fenglangjuxu... Qinglan!"

"Yes, sir!" Su Yun said softly, "Western Xia has 200,000 troops stationed in Hetao, and there are tens of thousands in Qiantao. Now another 100,000 are coming from Xingqing Prefecture. Most of the elite troops of the entire Western Xia have come... What do you think? If we defeat them all this time, then most of the Western Xia will be destroyed, right?"

Ping Zicheng's eyes widened immediately when he heard this!

At the same time, hundreds of miles away in Xingqing Prefecture, Liang Yibu was furious at the urgent report from the Herdsmen's Office.

He swept the gilded incense burner on the table to the ground, and the ashes were scattered on the "Horse Herding Picture of Daxia Herdsmen", covering the green grassland of Qiantao Plain.

"Su Yun!" He spat out the name through gritted teeth, his fingertips digging deep into his palms, "You took my warhorse, and I will make sure you never come back!
Order the Iron Harriers to retake Fengzhou at all costs. If they dare delay..."

He suddenly drew out the scimitar from his waist and slashed at the pillar beside him, "Cut!"

To get to Fengzhou from Xingqing Prefecture, one has to go north along the Yellow River. The journey is not short. One has to pass Dingzhou, Youxiang Chaoshun Military Command, and then cross Shunhua Ferry before one can see Qiantao.

While the Tie Yaozi Army was on the way, the Jingsai Army also started to move forward. Their route was to rush from the front set to the back set, first capturing Shunhua Ferry, and then going down the river to attack the Chaoshun Army Headquarters on the right wing.

The Right Wing Chao Shun Military Command was quite quick to seize the opportunity and learned early on that the Jingsai Army was coming. The military commander also knew that there was no strategic location to defend here and was rather skeptical. So he led 20,000 cavalrymen from the Right Wing Chao Shun Military Command and charged towards the Jingsai Army head-on, wanting to defeat the Jingsai Army with the powerful Xixia cavalry.

The leader of the Chaoshun Army on the right wing knew that the Jingsai Army was good at field combat, but he believed that the cavalry under his command was unparalleled in the world. In terms of cavalry, who could defeat them?
As the Chaoshun Army on the right wing was located in the hinterland and had no strategic location to defend, the best way to stop the Jingsai Army was to engage in a field battle with it.

So the 20,000 cavalrymen of the Chaoshun Army on the right and the 30,000 troops of the Jingsai Army marched towards each other, just like love running towards each other.

The two sides fought a battle at Shunhua Ferry that shocked the entire Western Xia!

The yellow sand of Shunhua Ferry was crushed into powder by 20,000 iron hooves.

The commander of the Chaoshun Army on the right wing, Weiming Chago, reined in his green horse and looked at the flag of the "Jingsai Army" faintly visible in the smoke and dust on the opposite bank, with a sneer on his face.

The 20,000 cavalrymen behind him had formed a wedge formation, with their horses' heads pointing obliquely to the sky and their iron spears reflecting the sunlight like a forest - this was the "Iron Harrier Charge" that the Western Xia cavalry was most proud of, which had caused the Liao army's heavily armored infantry to bleed like a river on the grassland.

"The Song people are really arrogant!" Wei Mingcha Ge drew out the short knife from his waist, and the blade drew a cold arc in the sunlight.

"Pass on my order: the first echelon will charge the enemy and the second echelon will split and encircle them. Let these Central Plains barbarians see what real cavalry is!"

War drums thundered across the wilderness, and the Western Xia cavalry took the lead in launching a charge.

The iron hooves of 20,000 war horses crushed the morning mist, raising a wall of sand that was a foot high.

However, when they rushed to within a hundred steps of the Jingsai Army, they saw a strange scene:
The Jingsai Army in front was actually divided into three rows. The soldiers in the front row half-crouched and held up their shields, the soldiers in the back row aimed with crossbows, and in the gap in the middle, dozens of crossbows were slowly raising their ferocious crossbow arms.

"It's a chevaux-de-frise!" Before the deputy general had finished his exclamation, the first round of crossbow arrows from the Jingsai Army had already broken through the air.

Although the heavy armor of the Western Xia cavalry could withstand ordinary arrows, it could not withstand the "peg arrows" fired from the crossbows!
The thick arrow shafts were nailed directly into the sand, forming a dense arrow wall. The horses in the front row were unable to stop in time and fell on the chevaux de frise, with screams rang out one after another.

Wei Mingcha Ge pulled the reins hard and narrowly avoided a fallen warhorse.

He looked at the chaotic formation in the front row and shouted angrily: "Go around the barricades and outflank from both wings!"

However, at this moment, a sharp horn sounded suddenly in the Jingsai army formation, and two light cavalry rushed out from the smoke and dust on both wings.

This army consisted of only 3,000 people, but everyone rode captured Iron Harrier war horses, with leather bags filled with sesame oil tied to their backs.

They galloped along the river bank, and when they approached the Western Xia army, they suddenly threw out leather bags, and countless torches fell.

"Boom--" Flames rose into the sky. The weeds in Shunhuadu were already dry, and the fire instantly spread into a hundred-foot-high wall of fire, completely cutting off the retreat of the Western Xia cavalry.

"Oh no! They are going to burn the grass!" Weiming Chage then realized that he had fallen into a trap - the Jingsai army seemed to be defending with infantry barricades, but in fact they were using fire attacks to force the Western Xia cavalry to gather in the narrow area in the middle.

At this moment, his 20,000 cavalrymen had been forced into a ball by the fire, while the Jingsai Army's crossbows were calmly adjusting their angles, and each round of volley could take away hundreds of lives.

"Look, commander! The Song cavalry is moving!"

The shouts of the guards made Weiming Chago look up, and he saw a gap in the Jingsai army formation, and more than 3,000 heavily armed cavalry rushed out like a black-armored torrent. They were the "Jingsai Cavalry" led by Su Yun himself.

Each of these cavalrymen was wearing mountain-patterned armor, and their horses were covered with the cold-forged armor produced by the Suide Army itself. The sabers in their hands glowed a faint blue in the sun - they were sharp weapons forged by the Suide Military Factory.

"Kill!" Su Yun's war cry penetrated the mask, and with a stab of his lance, a Xixia centurion was lifted off his horse alive, then fell to the ground and was trampled by countless cavalrymen like a rag.

Su Yun led his heavy cavalry and charged left and right in the Western Xia camp as if he was in an empty space.

Weiming Chago tried to organize a counterattack, but found that his orders could not be passed on at all - the triple killing moves of fire, crossbows and cavalry plunged the Western Xia army into complete chaos.

What's even more terrifying is that the Song army infantrymen, who should have been vulnerable, were leaning over behind the chevaux de frise with hook-and-sickle spears in their hands, specifically hooking and cutting the hamstrings of the war horses.

Countless Xixia cavalrymen fell in front of the chevaux de frise, with both their horses and men falling, becoming stumbling blocks for the subsequent troops.

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" Weiming Chago finally gave the order to retreat, but found that the light cavalry on both wings had been entangled by the heavy cavalry of the Jingsai Army.

He looked at the immovable Jingsai army formation on the other side of the river, and suddenly remembered what his father once said: "If the people of Song had war horses, they would be tigers with wings."

At this moment, he finally understood what kind of bloody prophecy was behind this sentence.

At dusk, the fire at Shunhua Ferry gradually died down, and the river was filled with the bodies of Xixia cavalrymen. Su Yun took off his bloody helmet and let the sweat drip down his forehead.

Ping Zicheng rode over on horseback, the bloodstains in Xixia characters on his armor not yet dried: "Sir, the 20,000 cavalrymen of the Chaoshun Army on the right wing, except for a few cavalrymen who escaped, all the others were annihilated!
Wei Ming Cha Ge was trampled to death by the rebels, and his head was cut off by his brothers. "

Su Yun looked at the burning Xixia flag in the distance, and suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the northwest: "Xingqing Prefecture has no defense. If Liang Yibu's 100,000 troops knew that they had been defeated in this battle, their morale would surely be in chaos.

Qinglan, pass the order down - cross the river tonight and take Dingzhou directly! "

He paused, his voice carrying a hint of cold murderous intent, "Let the Xixia people know that the iron hooves of the Jingsai Army not only crush the horses, but also their backbones."

"Yes!" Ping Zicheng clasped his fists heavily. When he turned around, he saw that the river water of Shunhua Ferry had been dyed scarlet. Among those floating corpses, many were teenagers under the age of twenty.

But he knew that the blood would not be shed in vain - from today on, the cavalry myth of Western Xia had been completely crushed, and the cavalry of the Jingsai Army would eventually step onto the top of the Helan Mountains.

The night wind wrapped in gunpowder smoke swept across the wasteland, and dull thunder could be heard faintly from the direction of Xingqing Prefecture in the distance.

Su Yun took out the wine gourd from his arms, only to find that it had been filled with water at some point - some soldier must have secretly replaced it on the battlefield.

He raised his head and drank the water. The cool water washed away the bloody smell in his throat. Suddenly, he chanted softly: "I look at my sword by lamplight while drunk, and dream of blowing the horn in the camp..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard responses from behind him - 30,000 Jingsai soldiers were striking their armor with blood-stained swords and spears, making a deafening rhythm.

This voice crossed the Yellow River and the grassland, announcing to the whole world: The era of the Jingsai Army Cavalry has finally arrived.

(End of this chapter)