Usurpation of Mongolia: My father-in-law is Genghis Khan

Chapter 70: Fire Caltrops, Xixia’s Counterattack
Yehu Huaiyuan is dead, and now the deputy commander of the Western Xia army is named Weiming Lingchang.

Wei Ming Ling Chang was also a veteran general who held the position of Taifu and enjoyed high prestige in the army.

He echoed, "The Mongols thought we'd been holed up inside the Keyi Gate for two months, refusing to venture out. We were desperate and afraid of them. They really underestimated the heroes of the world. Besides the Divine Arm Bow, Wart Armor, and the Poxi Army, we have another trump card!"

"What trump card?"

"Does everyone remember this?"

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and presented a fist-sized object in front of everyone.

"Fire caltrop?!" someone exclaimed.

As early as a hundred years ago, a large number of firearms appeared on the battlefields of the East. For example, the ancestor of the rifle, the "Tuhuoqiang", the "Zhantianlei", fireballs, fireballs, thunderballs, smokeballs, poison smokeballs, iron-beaked fire kites, bamboo fire kites, fire caltrops... and so on.

However, most of these firearms burn and produce poisonous smoke, and do not directly kill by explosion, so their power is not outstanding.

Among these firearms, the most powerful one is a weapon called fire caltrop.

Some say this firearm was invented by the Xixia people and later spread to the Song Dynasty and then to the Jin Dynasty. Others say that the fire caltrop was invented by the Song people and that the Xixia learned how to make it during war.

In any case, the Xixia people mastered the complete method of making fire caltrops.

The fire caltrop is spherical in shape, with a porcelain shell and a green glaze. At first glance, it resembles a sea urchin covered in spines.

It is hollow in the middle and filled with gunpowder and small iron blocks to increase the lethality. There is a small hole at the top for placing the fuse.

When ignited, the fire caltrops not only produced a powerful sound and light effect to intimidate the enemy, but also used the small iron nuggets and broken porcelain pieces inside to attack the enemy, with great lethality. After the explosion, the spike-like objects scattered on the ground could also be used to block enemy cavalry.

To put it bluntly, this is the most primitive grenade.

However, given the productivity level of that era, fire caltrops were expensive to produce, so the Xixia people only equipped themselves with a small amount.

Now, Xixia was facing the danger of national destruction, and spared no expense to produce 20,000 caltrops and transport them to the front line.

"Great! We've been patient for two months, and the Mongols must be defenseless. This time, we must catch them by surprise!"

"The light from the caltrop explosion and the fire it caused are enough to allow us to see everything clearly in the darkness!"

"Haha, no matter how brave the grassland barbarians are, have they ever seen the power of firearms? They'd probably think it was a divine army sent from the sky, right?"

"Especially at night, I can scare them to death!"

"Tonight, our army will win!"

……

The Xixia generals finally saw the hope of victory and began to clamor.

At the second watch in the middle of the night, the gate of Keyimen was quietly opened.

Twenty thousand of Xixia's most elite soldiers, with gauze in their mouths and cloth wrapped around their horses' hooves, sneaked out of the city silently.

In the distant Mongolian camp, the bonfires were sparse and the flames were dim. The camp was silent, as if the entire army had fallen asleep.

"Soldiers, follow me to kill the enemy!" Li Chengzhen ordered in a low voice, his voice revealing long-suppressed anger.

The Xixia elite rushed towards the campfire like hungry tigers pouncing on their prey.

"put!

At Li Chengzhen's command, hundreds of fire caltrops streaked across the night sky, raining down upon the Mongol camp like a meteor shower. Instantly, deafening explosions echoed through the sky, flames shot up into the heavens, and the Mongol tents were blown to pieces!
"Kill all the grassland barbarians!"

"Revenge will be exacted today!"...

The Xixia people shouted wildly, each holding a sword and a spear, and rushed into the Mongolian camp, throwing fire caltrops crazily as they ran, as if they were in an empty camp.

Hmm? No Man's Land?

Why is there no one?

broken!

be cheated!
Just when Li Chengzhen suddenly realized what was going on, the Mongolian army in the darkness in the distance had already completed its assembly.

Six thousand Mongolian cavalrymen, all clad in iron armor, stood silently in formation, with only the occasional low neighing of their horses and the sound of their iron hooves scraping the ground.

Their eyes were as fierce as those of hungry wolves, fixed intently on the Xixia army ahead. Their scimitars gleamed with a chilling, captivating light in the moonlight.

"It's really not easy. The Xixia people have finally arrived." Subutai said jokingly while riding on his horse. "The fire and explosions are quite intimidating."

Tonight, he and Subutai each led 3,000 elite soldiers to be responsible for the outer defense.

Subutai said in a deep voice, "Unfortunately, they ran into our meticulously strategist, our Prince Consort. Ashuo warned us two months ago to be on guard against the Xixia people, who might become desperate and launch a surprise attack. Every night we set up a fake camp on the outskirts, lit bonfires, while the real camp remained hidden in darkness. No matter how cunning the Xixia people were, they couldn't escape our Prince Consort's schemes."

"If that's the case, then kill them!" Subutai sneered, "Don't let these Xixia people disturb the Khan's sleep!"

"kill!"

Boom~~
The Mongols moved, like a dagger from the darkness, stabbing fiercely at the throats of the Xixia people standing in the light!
In this battle, the Mongols won a great victory. Li Chengzhen led 20,000 troops to sneak into the camp, but only 3,000 people escaped back to Keyi Gate in a panic.

From then on, he completely lost the courage to take the initiative and just stayed behind closed doors.

But after all, the main force was lost, and half a month later, Keyi City was finally captured.

But Li Chengzhen was unwilling to flee, but also unwilling to surrender. He led the remaining troops and engaged in brutal street fighting with the Mongols. They fought for every house and every street. Some even rushed into the Mongolian army with caltrops and died together with the enemy.

Temujin became furious and personally supervised the battle, with all 10,000 Baru troops going forward.

Anyone who retreats for any reason will be beheaded.

After sacrificing the lives of 4,000 brave warriors from the Baru Camp, Keyi Gate finally fell.

In despair, Li Chengzhen burned himself to death in the raging fire.

"Western Xia is truly not to be trifled with." Temujin looked at Li Chengzhen in the sea of ​​fire and said with lingering fear, "It cost us so much to conquer just Keyimen. I wonder what kind of blood and gore we had to go through to capture their capital, Zhongxingfu."

"Father Khan is worrying too much. We shouldn't need to attack Zhongxing Prefecture."

Zhao Shuo said, "Our army has broken through the Keyi Gate in less than three months. It's truly a swift advance. The Xixia Emperor in Zhongxing Prefecture is probably as frightened as a rat in a gutter, paralyzed."

really!

Three days later, in Zhongxing Prefecture, inside the imperial palace.

"Useless! All of them are useless!"

Li Chunyou slammed his fist down on the imperial desk, then pushed it hard, sending memorials and even writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone scattering across the floor. He roared, "What's the point of me keeping you ministers? Now, the Keyi Gate has been breached by the Mongols, and Zhongxing Prefecture is in imminent danger, and you don't even have any advice for me?!"

The hall was completely silent, with only the sound of Li Chunyou's heavy breathing.

(End of this chapter)