Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

When there was no time to cook during military campaigns, soldiers would break off a piece of bread, soak it in water, and drink it directly. This can be understood as the military's compressed biscuits in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Thanks to the great Dean Zhu's improvements, this compressed biscuit was further incorporating dehydrated vegetables, rice flour, and bean flour, all compressed together.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty's improved compressed military rations contained more vitamins and protein.

When marching and fighting on the grasslands, they would also carry a large amount of dried meat.

When Yue Fei and Han Shizhong were stationed on the grasslands, they naturally absorbed the strengths of the grassland cavalry.

After the two joined forces, their cavalry numbered approximately 18000.

More than 60% of them were not Han Chinese cavalry, but came from various tribes on the grasslands.

Even the grassland kings and nobles who were lavishly rewarded by Zhao Yuan all led their followers to help fight the war.

Who would dare not come?

Then don't rush to attack the Western Xia, deal with the disobedient tribes first!

Eighteen thousand cavalrymen, with more than fifty thousand horses, averaging three horses per person, headed straight for Dongsheng Prefecture (Tuoketuo County).

The Western Xia garrison in this city numbered only eight hundred men.

The surrounding tribes are mostly Tangut and Tanggu peoples.

Tanggu were a nomadic tribe formed by slaves of various ethnic groups living together in the Liao Dynasty.

Previously, they were heavily influenced by Khitan customs, but now, depending on the specific ruler, they have begun to learn Han or Tangut customs.

All able-bodied men from the Dangxiang and Tanggu tribes in Dongsheng Prefecture were recruited as cavalry, numbering around two to three thousand.

Yue Fei and Han Shizhong arrived so quickly, how could they have time to recruit able-bodied men for the Western Xia garrison?

The Western Xia commander led 800 soldiers and their families to flee to Baotou, while ordering the Dangxiang herders under his jurisdiction to flee as well.

The Tangut herders here were ruled by the Liao Dynasty, then by the Jin Dynasty, and then by the Western Xia Dynasty for less than ten years.

Seeing the strength of the Ming army, the Tangut tribes were unwilling to die alongside the Western Xia.

Even more surprisingly, the Dangxiang chieftains, leading their able-bodied men, voluntarily came to join Yue Fei and Han Shizhong!

"I am a guest general, so I will go to the south this time." Yue Fei showed his magnanimity and did not try to take credit from Han Shizhong.

Han Shizhong was immediately delighted and said, "Good man! I will only attack Tiande Military City of Xixia. I will wait for you to come and join me there, and then we will go to attack Weifu Military Command together."

Yue Fei said solemnly, "We must not delay military operations. If Governor Han succeeds, he should strike directly at the enemy's lair. Do not wait for me to arrive."

"Alright, I've prepared a banquet at Weifu Military Command, waiting for you to come and drink and eat together." Han Shizhong found Yue Fei more and more pleasing to the eye.

Chapter 3723 Friendly Forces That Don't Steal Credit

Who wouldn't like an ally who doesn't try to steal credit?

The strategic objective of the steppe troops in this campaign was to eliminate the Weifu Military Command of the Western Xia.

Yue Fei assigned the main objective of this battle to Han Shizhong, who had a larger force, while he himself led 5,000 cavalry south to eliminate secondary objectives.

……

Meanwhile, Han Shizhong led his troops to Baotou, only to find that the Western Xia army had already fled with the herdsmen.

The Western Xia army retreated westward to Tiandejun City (Wuliangsuhai), where there was a fortified city built by the Liao Dynasty.

Moreover, the surrounding area is not severely desertified, and there is a large population that can farm and graze, allowing the fortified city to hold out for a long time.

In order to save time, Han Shizhong did not bring siege artillery, which is currently still en route.

While he besieged the city with his army, he also sent people to cut down trees to make siege weapons.

Here lies the Muna Mountain (Ula Mountain), stretching for two hundred miles, where trees are inexhaustible.

At the same time, Han Shizhong sent light cavalry westward to inquire about the whereabouts of the Western Xia Weifu Military Command's reinforcements—the Weifu Military Command was stationed at the foot of Yinshan Mountain.

Attacking the city was not in a hurry; Han Shizhong's plan was to besiege the city and attack its reinforcements.

A Ming military officer who understood the Tangut language rushed to the walls of Tiande City to persuade them to surrender: "General in charge of the city, why don't you surrender at once?"

"We are just the vanguard; 100,000 Ming soldiers will arrive soon."

"The Jin Dynasty had hundreds of thousands of soldiers, yet they were all destroyed by our Great Ming. Do you think your small force can hold Tiande City?"

The Western Xia commander dared not shoot the man who was trying to persuade them to surrender. Instead, he stood on the city wall and questioned him: "Great Xia is a vassal state of Great Ming. We have agreed to be father and son forever."

Why did the Ming Dynasty go back on its word and suddenly send troops to attack a vassal state?

Where is the Ming Dynasty's credibility? How do the other vassal states view the Ming Dynasty?

The Ming officer said, "The land of Western Xia was originally Chinese territory, but it was carved up and occupied by petty villains."

"The Li family were originally barbarians who received the surname from the Tang Dynasty. They became subjects of the Song Dynasty but did not know how to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country. Their founding of the state was illegitimate!"

"After becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, the rulers and ministers of Western Xia did not practice benevolent governance. The people in their country were living in misery, and every year countless starving people fled to the Ming Dynasty to beg for food."

"The Western Xia did not abide by the principle of vassalage, but secretly colluded with the Western Liao to cut off the Ming Dynasty's merchants. This is an act of rebellion."

"Whether it is to relieve the people's suffering and punish the guilty, or to eliminate the disobedient vassals, our Great Ming Dynasty has a legitimate reason to fight this time!"

"If you know what's good for you, surrender the city immediately!"

The Western Xia general argued, "Nonsense! It was those tribal bandits from Hexi who were cutting off the Ming merchants' travels."

"Our Great Xia Emperor has already punished those tribes and given the Ming Dynasty an explanation. You people are just digging up old grievances and making excuses!"

The Ming officer said, "If it was a tribal act once, does that mean it always is?"

"If this happens every time, how can the Western Xia emperor, who can't even control the tribes within his own country, be qualified to be the ruler of a nation?"

They really can't be controlled!

Due to frequent natural disasters and rampant corruption in the Western Xia government, coupled with the inability to raid the Ming Dynasty to recoup their losses, many Western Xia tribes were starving.

The tribes in the Hexi Corridor were robbing merchants more and more frequently, showing no respect for the Western Xia emperor.

In the past two years, fewer and fewer merchants and travelers have been traveling through the Hexi Corridor, and they have all opted to bypass it by going through the territory of the Yellow-headed Uyghurs.

The more this happened, the less commercial tax the Western Xia collected, and the heavier the exploitation of tribes and people became, creating a vicious cycle.

Chapter 3724 Reinforcements Arrive

The reason for sending troops was that merchants and travelers were repeatedly robbed. This was a perfectly legitimate reason, not a pretext fabricated by the Ming emperor and his officials.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

Several riders galloped back from the west and reported to Han Shizhong: "Protector, a large number of Western Xia cavalry have been spotted twenty miles away. It should be reinforcements from the Western Xia Weifu Military Command!"

The top horizontal line of the Yellow River's "几" (ji) shaped bend has historically been a fertile area suitable for both farming and animal husbandry.

When nomadic peoples occupied this area, they gained the confidence to spy on the Central Plains.

If the Central Plains dynasty occupied this area, it could prevent the Hu horses from crossing the Yin Mountains.

Most of the time, the Western Xia and the Liao each occupied half of this area, but there were also a few times when the Western Xia occupied it entirely.

Whether it's half or all, the entire area is under the jurisdiction of the Heishan Weifu Military Command.

At its peak, the Western Xia Dynasty had a military strength of 70,000 men under the Weifu Military Command!

There was no other way; we had to have so many soldiers. Otherwise, if the Liao Kingdom captured this place, they could march south and take the capital of the Western Xia Kingdom.

Of course, there are very few standing armies, because we can't afford to support too many.

They usually farm or graze livestock, and are not paid military pay.

In times of war, men are conscripted to fight and are provided with provisions.

Every male of the Western Xia Dynasty who turned 15 automatically became a male adult.

One person from every two able-bodied men will be selected as a regular soldier, and the imperial court will provide each regular soldier with a warhorse and a camel (or other livestock).

Warhorses and livestock are issued only once; if they die or are lost, soldiers must find their own way to replace them.

They also raised their own warhorses, and the Western Xia government did not take any responsibility for them.

The remaining men after the selection of regular soldiers would be conscripted as auxiliary soldiers or laborers during wartime.

During wartime, Western Xia men aged 15 and above either served as regular soldiers or performed menial tasks.

In principle, the entire population is mobilized for war; in reality, it depends on how much food and supplies are available.

One soldier and one bearer, together they form a unit.

The "Chao" was the smallest military unit in Western Xia.

……

The Weifu Military Command had three chief officers: a military commander, a deputy military commander, and a military supervisor.

At this moment, the deputy commander was surrounded by Han Shizhong inside Tiande Army City.

The commander-in-chief and the military supervisor led reinforcements from the west.

Furthermore, the Western Xia had more than just these two cities (Wulahai City and Tiandejun City); there were also numerous other fortified cities along the way.

In other words, these were numerous military fortresses, and if Liao or Jin soldiers attacked, nearby farmers and herders could quickly hide inside.

On his way from Baotou, Han Shizhong encountered two fortified cities that blocked his path, but he bypassed them both.

Han Shizhong's hasty march, abandoning both infantry and artillery, was solely aimed at preventing the Western Xia from gathering their forces at a leisurely pace.

He had achieved his goal. The territory under the jurisdiction of the Western Xia Weifu Military Command was divided into two parts by Han Shizhong: more than 20,000 reinforcements and about 20,000 soldiers in the city.

The two castles he bypassed still harbored over a thousand people.

Wasn't the total troop strength supposed to be 70,000?

That was the height of Western Xia's power, and now, with the army hastily assembled, it's already quite impressive that they could gather over 40,000 men.

"Commander, Ming scouts have been spotted ten miles away!"

"Explore again."

The commander of the Weifu Military Command was named Li Quanlu, a member of the imperial clan, and by seniority, he was Richard's nephew.

He can barely be considered a veteran.

He fought with Liu Fa when he was young, and was then beaten up by Yang Zhi.

During the war between the Ming and Jin dynasties, he went to war with Richard and stole the grassland cities of the Jin dynasty.

Chapter 3725 Where Did the Cannons Come From?

"We cannot launch an attack rashly; we should wait for reinforcements," said Cao Yu, the supervising officer.

Li Quanlu was Richard's man.

Cao Yu was Li Qianshun's man. Although Li Qianshun had died of illness, the prime minister Li Renzhong refused to allow Richard to replace the military supervisor.

The commander-in-chief and the military supervisor of Western Xia belonged to different political camps!

Li Quanlu said, "I have seen cannons before. If we are too slow to rescue them, Tiande City may have already been captured."

Cao Yu said, "The Ming army has made a swift and rapid advance, reaching Tiande City in such a short time. We have been in a great hurry to summon troops from all our units."

"How could the Ming army have time to transport cannons?"

"Just in case," Li Quanlu said.

Cao Yu questioned, "Do you know how many Ming troops have come? Do you know who the Ming army commander is?"

“Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you be victorious in every battle.”

"You know nothing, and the troops haven't even been assembled yet, but you're rushing off to the rescue."

What if we suffer a crushing defeat?

Li Quanlu said with displeasure, "What do you, a civil official, know about military affairs?"

"I'm not stupid, so of course I won't engage in a decisive battle immediately."

"Now that we have encountered Ming light cavalry, we will choose a place nearby to set up camp."

"On one hand, we sent light cavalry to rush over and find out the situation in Tiande City; on the other hand, we waited for more reinforcements to arrive and join us."