Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 799 Divine soldiers descend from heaven
Liu Qi went down the mountain.

The Song army stationed on the six peaks of the Roulang Mountains went out in full force.

If this battle was successful and he could obtain a large amount of supplies, he would gather his troops together, hold out and wait for reinforcements.

There is no point in dividing the troops further.

If it was indeed a trap set by the Western Xia army, then he would gather the entire army and fight the enemy to the death.

This time, the entire army might be wiped out, but if they continue to endure, they will die anyway, so it is better to kill them quickly. At least this desperate fight can inflict heavy damage on Western Xia.

The time for action is of course daytime, when the sun is high in the sky. There is no wind today and the weather is good.

Presumably, this trade fair, which was formed spontaneously by the Xixia people or secretly promoted by the government, must have been very prosperous.

The six armies went down the mountain one after another, and according to Liu Qi's combat intention, they either advanced, infiltrated, detoured, or blocked. Their only goal was to reach the large trading market that could bring them survival supplies.

At that trade fair, merchants with all kinds of goods in felt tents, trading cattle, sheep and camels formed a mobile town with a radius of five miles.

Of course, it was impossible for the Song army to hide an operation of such a scale from the Xixia people.

The various military divisions of Western Xia immediately began to take action.

Liu Qi's troops had eaten all the edible food before going down the mountain.

Everyone knew that if they failed in this battle, they would all die, so their will to fight was extremely firm.

With their tenacious fighting will and crazy, ruthless fighting style, they tore a hole in the continuous defense camp of the Western Xia Army, and continued to expand their victory and move towards their goal.

Liu Qi's troops were like a bright light in the dark night, attracting countless beasts hunting at night. The Western Xia army took advantage of their cavalry advantage to quickly outflank, besiege, break through and penetrate.

On the vast snowy plain, the sound of fighting shook the earth. As soldiers fell one by one, the blood dyed the earth red.

Compared with the former Liao and Jin armies, the Western Xia soldiers were not as skilled in riding and shooting, but they were better at charging and breaking through enemy lines.

Liu Qi's troops, who had lost their horses, used the carts that were used to transport grain to form a simple chariot formation, and assisted with bows, crossbows, and spears to resist the charge of the Western Xia soldiers.

Then they rushed forward fearlessly, seizing the opportunity for close combat and preventing the Western Xia army from leaving the battle.

This tactic of killing 800 enemies but losing 1,000 of one's own forces successfully delayed the Western Xia army, causing the Western Xia army that had been outflanked and annihilated them to lose their advantage in charging.

Because the Song army and the Western Xia army that had already engaged in battle formed a glutinous rice dumpling, Liu Qi's troops were the filling and the Western Xia army that had already engaged in battle were the skin. If they wanted to charge into the formation, they had to first scatter their own people.

However, the Western Xia army was not in a hurry. After all, the desperate Song army had chosen to go down the mountain.

Their only support was gone.

The retreat route had been cut off, and there were ambushes everywhere in front. The Song army was fighting for their lives, and of course they could see it.

As they had an absolute advantage, they didn't need to fight to the death with the Song army.

The Song army, which still has tens of thousands of troops, can be defeated without a fight in just one or two days.

Liu Qi knew very well that he could no longer afford to waste time.

This time, he personally led the main force, wearing helmets and armor, and kept moving forward.

The soldiers of the three armies just looked at the big flag of the central army and followed him forward.

As long as he could successfully break through and reach the big market of the Xixia people, the Xixia army would never allow so many supplies to be destroyed in the battle.

Compared with the Song Dynasty, Xixia's weak economic foundation could not withstand such heavy losses.

By then, they would have a glimmer of hope.

However, when the three trump cards of the Western Xia army, the Iron Harriers, the Infantry and the Poxi Soldiers, appeared, even the old general Liu Qi, whose will was as strong as steel, could not help but fall into despair.

Iron Harriers, heavy cavalry.

Bubazi, heavy infantry.

The Poxi soldiers were the "mobile artillery unit" of Western Xia.

Each of the tall and sturdy Bactrian camels has a torque catapult installed on its back.

When the fist-sized stones in the saddle bags were thrown out, the powerful kinetic energy was so strong that even the Song army's proud infantry could not withstand it.

Infantry armor can withstand flying arrows, spears, sharp blades and knives, but it cannot withstand blows from blunt objects.

However, blunt weapons used by human power may not necessarily cause fatal damage to infantry armor in one blow.

But the stones launched by the Poxi soldiers from camels using torque trebuchets can.

The Western Xia had a total of no more than 400 Cavalry soldiers, 3,000 Iron Harriers, and 4,000 Infantrymen, most of whom were stationed near the Western Xia capital.

Unexpectedly, this time, Xixia could send out even its three most powerful ace troops, a full half of its ace troops.

"Let's fight to the death!"

Liu Qi smiled bitterly and ordered: "Raise the bloody banner!"

No wonder the Xixia people dared to use so many supplies as bait. It turned out that there were three ace armies of Xixia ahead.

For the Song army, which is now short of food and clothing, lacks long-range heavy weapons, and lacks cavalry, the road ahead has become an insurmountable natural barrier.

Therefore, all life has been cut off.

Their final mission was to consume as much of Xixia’s military strength as possible.

One for one is not a loss, and two for one or three for one is better than dying in vain.

The blood-red banner slowly rose to the highest point and the Song army troops, which were rushing left and right like a violently shaking basin of water, paused for a moment, then splashed out of the "basin" and pounced on the enemy in front of them with terrifying madness.

This time, no one tried to conserve their fighting power or avoid the enemy's attacks. As long as there was a chance to save their lives, they would pounce without hesitation.

...Tuoba's black-clad cavalry were entangled in a battle with the Song army.

They had become mixed up with the Song army, unable to withdraw from the battle and unable to once again exploit the advantage of cavalry charge.

Moreover, because of their fighting, the Western Xia troops that had been encircling them were unable to charge.

However, Tuoba Heiyi was not panicking. He was trying his best to gather his troops and withdraw from the battle.

The Song army had no way to retreat and could only fight to the death, but he didn't need to.

The Song army's retreat route has now been cut off and they are trapped in a tight encirclement.

The road here is smooth and there are no strategic locations to defend.

Ahead of the road stood the three elite ace troops of the Great Baigao Kingdom, blocking the way for the assault to the large trade fair which was five miles in radius and where supplies were piled up like mountains.

This fat and juicy bait was impossible for the Song army to eat, but the Song army had already taken the bait.

The Daxia army could easily wipe out these 50,000 Song troops at the lowest cost in just a few days.

At this time, seven miles behind him, Yang Yuan's army had already begun to attack.

The Roulang Mountains are steep in the west and gentle in the east, with slopes that slope as much as 60 to 70 degrees. It is difficult to climb even in spring and summer, let alone winter.

However, you can ski down from the top.

Thousands of soldiers sat on the snow slope in a row, and as they slid down the mountain, the momentum was like an avalanche.

They found some Song soldiers who were left there because of serious injuries in the Song army camp.

If Liu Qi's massive army fails to achieve its strategic goal, these severely injured Song troops will have to fend for themselves.

Or wait until after the war, and be discovered by Western Xia soldiers who came up the mountain to clean up the battlefield.

It is likely that the cost of curing them would be greater than making them slaves, so they would have to be cleared out by the Xixia soldiers.

There are only six peaks on the side of Roulang Mountain facing the plain, and Liu Qi's troops were originally stationed on each peak.

Therefore, it was not that Yang Yuan was lucky, but that no matter which hill he climbed over, he could see the Song army’s camp and find the wounded soldiers of the Song army.

After learning the situation from these wounded soldiers, Yang Yuan first sent out scouts to gather information while clearing out the Xixia cavalry scouts.

He then began to urgently reorganize the three armed forces.

During the seven days and six nights of climbing over mountains and crossing hills, Yang Yuan's army of nearly 60,000 lost more than 6,000 men.

Not all of these people died. Many of them fell behind due to exhaustion, or suffered from diseases such as colds and diarrhea and had to leave the team.

In the end, about 50,000 people successfully arrived at Roulang Mountain.

Yang Yuan quickly divided his 50,000-strong army into three routes.

He led the central army, with Yang Shou's Crazy Army as the vanguard, Zhou Cheng and Zhou Wuyi on the left and right wings, and Yang Wanli leading the central army, charging straight forward.

Guo Di, deputy commander-in-chief of Lizhongxi Road, led the left-wing army, and Zhou Cheng, deputy commander-in-chief of Tongchuan Road, led the right-wing army. Each of them led several generals and infiltrated the rear of the Western Xia army.

The firearms unit led by Gan Quan has now developed two major systems: fire musket troops and artillery troops, with a total of more than 3,000 people. The three armies each received a fire musket and artillery unit of more than 1,000 people and joined the battle.

The Mad Legion is always bloody, cruel and crazy.

Their vitality is as strong as that of weeds.

The whole process of Yang Yuan organizing his troops at the foot of Roulang Mountain took more than two hours.

During this process, most of the soldiers' strength was restored by eating and drinking, and they were not fully recovered until they were ready to go into battle.

Most of the Crazy Demon Legion were already alive and kicking just half an hour after coming down the mountain.

Under the leadership of Yang Shou, the crazy army charged into the enemy's formation, like a sharp knife, and directly stabbed into the rear of the Western Xia army.

This Western Xia army was mainly composed of infantry. They were not the elite main force of the Western Xia army, so they took on relatively easy tasks.

They were digging fortifications in the ice and snow to completely cut off the retreat route of Liu Qi's Song army and prevent the remnants of Liu Qi's troops from breaking through and going up the mountain again.

However, it is not appropriate to say that they were digging fortifications; it would be better to say that they were building fortifications.

They piled up earth, rocks and snow together, and then poured melted snow water on top. In less than a quarter of an hour, it became a wall with an ice surface.

But suddenly, a large group of Song troops emerged from their rear, as if they were divine troops descending from the sky.

The Xixia soldiers were a little dazed for a moment, as if Liu Qi's Song army had made a circle, returned to Roulang Mountain, and then went down the mountain again.

Yang Shou carried two sledgehammers and rushed over the fortifications of the Western Xia army like a madman, swinging his hammers, killing everyone he met and killing everyone he met, and he was almost no match for his enemy.

He rushed forward so fast that his personal soldiers were frightened and they surrounded him tightly, fearing that something might happen to the young general.

Yang Shou had thrown away his dog-skin hat. In the snowy and cold winter weather, white steam was rising from his head.

When Yang Yuan's central army arrived, the battle here was not over yet, but Yang Shou had already led most of the Crazy Demon Army to continue charging forward.

My uncle once said that rescue should be quick and that we should not linger in the battle. Even the stubborn Yang Shou remembered this.

Yang Yuan was so excited that he took off the spear from the victory hook and wanted to jump on his horse and kill with the spear.

Before he could make a move, Yang Wanli led dozens of his personal soldiers and surrounded him.

Seeing that Yang Wanli and his men were ready to rush up and kidnap people as if they were facing a formidable enemy, Yang Yuan could only shake his gun awkwardly and hang his gun back on the victory hook.

Yang Yuan thought sadly: "Life is so lonely like snow. Is there no place for my big gun to be used anymore?"

(End of this chapter)