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

Yue Fei laughed and said, "I've heard that your eldest son is extremely talented. Wearing a big turban from now on will truly bring honor to your ancestors."

Han Shizhong muttered, "I hate people who wear big headscarves the most!"

Upon hearing this, the generals burst into laughter.

After continuing their journey for a while, Han Shizhong chose a spot near the river to set up camp.

Yue Yun proudly donned the armor, even clad his warhorse in armor, and ran to his father to show off: "Father, look how majestic I am!"

"Truly impressive." Yue Fei nodded and smiled.

In fact, this full set of cotton armor is far less imposing than lamellar armor in terms of appearance.

Those who don't know the details might think it's just for show!

However, it is lighter than traditional lamellar armor, provides stronger protection, and is easier to maintain. The downside is that it is more expensive to produce.

Today, the Ming Dynasty's heavy cavalry force has expanded to five thousand men, and last year they were all replaced with heavy cotton armor.

The Ming Dynasty's elite cavalry force was expanded to 30,000, with about 60% of them replaced with medium-sized cotton armor.

In addition, 60,000 Imperial Guard infantrymen and 130,000 infantrymen from the northern outposts also gradually changed into various types of cotton armor.

The reason why not all of them were replaced at once was not because the ordnance factory's production could not keep up, but because they didn't know where to throw the replaced lamellar armor!

Nowadays, in some local prefectures and counties, the rate of second-line troops wearing armor has reached 100%, and the armor they wear is the kind that was discarded during the large-scale re-equipment.

Yue Yun said in a low voice, "Father, I heard that the cavalry units under the three major protectorates in the north will start changing to cotton armor next year."

"Where did you hear that from?" Yue Fei asked.

Yue Yun smiled and said, "Military academy instructors, huh? Many high-ranking officials from the Privy Council and the Ministry of War have to take time out to teach at the military academy. They'll tell you a lot of inside information that isn't so confidential."

Chapter 3742 The Panic-Stricken Western Xia

My son is performing exceptionally well at military school, and several princes and dukes treat me extremely well.

……

Richard finally arrived with reinforcements, and the first thing he asked upon meeting them was, "How many Ming soldiers have come?"

"I'm not sure, but I heard it's 200,000," Li Quanlu replied with shame.

"Nonsense!"

Richard was furious: "If 200,000 Ming troops came here, the Ming army would have already launched a full-scale attack from Shaanxi."

"Tiande City has been lost, and the Hexi region has also been lost, yet you still haven't figured out the enemy's numbers."

Li Quanlu could only argue, "It would be difficult for scouts to break through; the grasslands are teeming with Ming light cavalry."

"All the tribes of the Liao Kingdom's grasslands had previously submitted to the Ming Kingdom, and this time they were also brought here to fight."

"I really...I have no idea how many Ming soldiers came."

Cao Yu, the military supervisor of Weifu Military Command, said, "Your Highness, it would be better to defend Wulahai City to the death and wait for heavy snow to fall so that the Ming army will retreat on its own."

"Whether to defend the city or fight in the field, let's not decide that yet. Let's figure out how many Ming troops there are first!" Richard became more and more angry as he spoke.

He dispatched 3,000 infantrymen to reinforce the troops blocking the city along the way, while sending out more light cavalry to scout ahead.

Meanwhile, Han Shizhong and Yue Fei attacked Aocheng along the way.

Those fortified cities were small castles, either built on the banks of the Yellow River or on the southern slopes of the Yin Mountains.

When the Western Xia was relatively wealthy, each castle would store enough grain and be repaired every two or three years.

But things are different now. There is a severe shortage of grain, the castles have not been repaired for many years, and some castles are even in a state of disrepair.

Why is this happening?

First, the imperial court's funding was insufficient; second, money and grain were embezzled.

The emperor and his ministers in the Western Xia court were naturally afraid of the Ming Dynasty and believed that military preparedness should be strengthened.

But what do the local civil and military officials care about all that?

Especially in the area west of Tiande Military City, which is far from the border of the Ming Dynasty, everyone thought they wouldn't fight, so they embezzled as much money and grain as possible.

Just yesterday, Han Shizhong and Yue Fei divided their forces and attacked a fortified city.

When the vanguard was still more than ten miles away from the castle, the garrison inside abandoned the city and fled.

Anyone who stubbornly defends their position is a fool.

One wall of the rammed earth castle is almost collapsed. It has been exposed to wind, sun and rain for a long time and has not been repaired for thirty or forty years!

The last time it was repaired was when Emperor Huizong of Song had just ascended the throne.

The Western Xia garrison troops who fled back from various castles all claimed, in an attempt to shirk their responsibility, that at least 100,000 Ming troops had come, with some even saying that 300,000 had arrived.

Richard's light cavalry also failed to get close to the main Ming army force and could only engage in close combat with the Ming light cavalry in the grasslands of the middle area.

Only after the Ming army had captured seventy or eighty percent of the Western Xia strongholds did a Western Xia warrior finally lead a dozen or so light cavalrymen...

They slipped through gaps in the vast grasslands, disguised themselves as Khitan cavalry, and approached the Ming army camp.

They even went around to the route the Ming army camp had taken to carefully examine the ashes left behind by the Ming army while cooking.

Another Western Xia light cavalryman circled around to the south bank of the Yellow River, hiding in the desert during the day.

They sped along the Yellow River at night, sneaking out of Tiande Army City to observe the situation.

Richard finally got a rough idea of ​​the Ming army's strength: several thousand soldiers remained to garrison Tiande City.

The main force of Han Shizhong and Yue Fei should not have exceeded 50,000 men, and may even have only been 30,000 to 40,000.

Richard was torn: should they engage in a decisive battle in the open field, or should they defend the city to the death?

Chapter 3743 Fearing the Enemy Like a Tiger

These days, the Weifu Military Command is frantically conscripting men, and the local military force has already exceeded 35,000.

Richard brought reinforcements totaling more than 40,000 infantry and cavalry.

Further west, reinforcements from the Zhenyan Military Command, numbering over ten thousand, also arrived.

In other words, Richard's total military strength exceeded 90,000, which was more than twice the strength of the Ming army!

However, the Weifu Military Command and the Zhenyan Military Command had not fought for a long time, and their soldiers and armor were in short supply, so their combat effectiveness was really limited.

The reinforcements Richard brought from the south were relatively more elite.

Iron Falcons need no further explanation; even soldiers drafted from the ranks would at least possess an ancestral leather armor.

Many even wore ancestral iron armor—the tribes there were wealthier, and their ancestors frequently raided the Song state; some tribes even possessed armor bestowed by the imperial court.

Richard thought to himself: The main force of the Ming army numbered thirty to forty thousand, many of whom came from various tribes on the grasslands. Those grassland cavalry were nothing to them.

Therefore, the Ming army's true elite force probably numbered only around ten thousand.

Can my soldiers defeat 10,000 elite Ming troops?

In the past, Richard wouldn't have thought so much; he would have led his troops to attack long ago.

However, he suffered psychological trauma from being hit by Yang Zhi's firearms in the Hehuang Valley, and also from being hit by the Jin cavalry.

The Ming Dynasty destroyed the Jin Dynasty, which made Richard even more fearful of the Ming army's fighting power.

As a result, despite having twice the enemy's forces, Richard dared not rashly engage in battle.

"Your Highness Prince Jin, an urgent message has arrived from the capital!"

Richard opened the letter and was immediately furious and extremely frustrated.

He had already received news of the rebellion in Dingzhou, but now he received news that tribes in Jingzhou, Huaizhou, and Shunzhou had also rebelled.

The imperial court was busy suppressing rebellions, but supplies were difficult to procure quickly.

Grain must be transferred from the military granary of the Chaoshun Army Commandery—that is where Richard's military supplies originate.

Richard stared blankly outside the city. He could no longer hold the city; he had to go out and fight the Ming army.

With an army of 90,000, the food and fodder for the men and horses could not last.

With the grain reserves of the Weifu Military Command, they could have survived the winter.

But that damned Li Quanlu, last time he led troops to rescue Tiande Army City, inexplicably fled without a fight, leaving behind a large amount of grain and livestock for Han Shizhong.

Richard even suspected that the guy might have embezzled too much and was just balancing the books.

Richard summoned his generals, but instead of mentioning the lack of provisions, he smiled calmly and confidently and said, "I have figured out the enemy's strengths and weaknesses. Although the main force of the Ming army has 30,000 to 40,000 men, the real elite force is only 5,000 to 6,000."

"You may all return to prepare. I will choose a day to engage the Ming army in a great battle on the grasslands!"

……

This is a grassland that is about 100 li wide and more than 300 li long.

To the north lies the western section of the Yinshan Mountains—Langshan Mountain, and to the south flows the Yellow River, which is making a U-shaped bend.

Wulahai City is located at the Langshan Pass. Its main function is not to defend against enemies from the east, but to prevent various tribes in the northern desert from crossing the Langshan Pass and moving south.

Yue Fei and Han Shizhong led an army of 30,000, eliminating the obstacles set up by the Western Xia along the way, and had already entered the Shuofang Commandery region of the Han Dynasty.

In fact, even if there hadn't been so many tribal uprisings in Western Xia, it would have been difficult for Richard to transport his supplies.

Because Wulahai City is located too far north, the Ming army could completely block the supply lines and force the Western Xia army inside the city to come out for a decisive battle.

Chapter 3744 Grain Storage

To reiterate, the primary function of Wulahai City was to prevent northern nomadic tribes from invading southward.

The Ming army, however, came from the east!

And they arrived extremely quickly. Richard rushed as fast as he could, but could only bring reinforcements quickly, and was unable to transport all the grain and fodder quickly.

He thought the Weifu Military Command had enough grain reserves, but in reality, that was not the case at all.

He did not question Li Quanlu, because he would not get an answer anyway.

"We will be leaving the city for the final battle tomorrow," Li Quanlu said.

The supervising officer, Cao Yu, said, "I will lead the remaining troops to defend Wulahai City without fail."

Li Quanlu hesitated, then sighed and turned to leave.

One was a military commander, and the other a military supervisor. Although they came from opposing factions, it didn't stop them from joining forces to make money.

Yeli Degui, who was captured alive by Han Shizhong, was also involved!

The land outside the city walls is suitable for both farming and animal husbandry, and there is a relatively abundant supply of food.

So, can the stored grain be sold for money?

of course can!

When the Liao and Jin dynasties ruled the grasslands, the civil and military officials of the Western Xia did not need to sell grain here, because this place was a must-pass place on the Silk Road of the grasslands.

However, as the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Jin Dynasty and gained control of the grasslands, Ming goods flowed continuously from Hebei and Shanxi to the grasslands.

And the special products of the grasslands can be sold to the interior of the Ming Dynasty nearby.

The Weifu Military Command, a key trading hub, suddenly lost its original function, and the gray income of civil and military officials vanished instantly.

If they want to keep making money, they can only start with food.

There is no shortage of salt here, as there are salt ponds to the west and south, but there is an urgent need for ironware, cloth, and tea.

Li Quanlu, Cao Yu, and Yeli Degui conspired to smuggle grain from military granaries during a year of great famine in Western Xia.

Some of the military rations were transported south to the surrounding prefectures and counties of Xingqing Prefecture in exchange for cheap salt.

Some of the goods were transported eastward to Dongsheng Prefecture to exchange for Ming Dynasty goods that were being transshipped there.

They could even sell Ming Dynasty goods south to Xingqing Prefecture, the capital of Western Xia.

Why did Li Quanlu rush to rescue Tiande Army City?

Because it was also a trading transit point, a lot of military rations were transported there for storage, and a lot of Ming Dynasty goods were temporarily stored there.

Cao Yu also wanted to protect his wealth, so he followed Li Quanlu into battle.