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

He became cowardly halfway through the journey, fearing he would die on the battlefield, and kept urging Li Quanlu to withdraw his troops.

Li Quanlu, fearing defeat and wanting to settle accounts, simply withdrew his troops, leaving the grain and livestock to Han Shizhong.

Why is Richard unwilling to investigate this matter further?

Because Li Quanlu was his direct subordinate.

Li Quanlu always shared a portion of his profits from reselling military rations with Richard as tribute.

He knew that Li Quanlu was reselling military rations, but he didn't know that Li Quanlu was so audacious that he had managed to deplete the military granaries.

They're all corrupt officials, so no one should criticize anyone else.

The large-scale uprisings around Xingqing Prefecture were inextricably linked to Richard himself.

This fellow, taking advantage of the fact that the tribes in the surrounding prefectures and counties of the capital had transitioned from nomadic to agricultural life and were easy to control, frantically encroached on the farmland of those tribes.

Historically, one of the important policies implemented by Li Renxiao was the distribution of land.

That is, after Richard died of exhaustion, his family property was confiscated, and countless fields were distributed to the people of the country.

This single measure immediately won the support of all tribes, and the tribal chiefs all supported Li Renxiao's reforms.

.......

Chapter 3745 Oasis

With an army of 90,000, arranging them in battle formation is a problem in itself.

He first dispatched three thousand light cavalry to cross the desert south of the Yellow River and bypass them to attack the Ming army's grain transport convoy.

At this time, there were many oases. Once they encountered the elite Ming army, the Western Xia light cavalry would immediately cross the river and disappear into the desert.

This really annoyed Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, who could only send out light cavalry along the Yellow River to observe enemy movements, and immediately light beacon fires to report any enemy activity.

Many of the Western Xia fortresses that had been captured earlier originally served as beacon towers, and now they could be put to good use by stationing a small number of soldiers there.

Richard finally led his troops into battle when the Ming army approached within thirty miles.

Several thousand weaker infantrymen were left behind by Richard to defend the city.

Eight thousand cavalrymen from the Zhenyan Army Command were sent by Richard to ambush the Ming army in the north, and circled around to the rear of the Ming army along the Wujia River, about twenty miles away.

Richard sent out tens of thousands of light cavalry to create a disturbance and disrupt the Ming army's light cavalry, in order to cover the battlefield and incidentally provide cover for the eight thousand friendly troops flanking the enemy.

Richard himself led the remaining infantry and cavalry forward slowly.

On Yue Fei and Han Shizhong's side, their force consisted entirely of cavalry, numbering around 32,000.

The infantry were either left to defend Tiande City or stationed at various fortified cities along the way.

Even the artillery was left in the nearest fortified city, to be dragged over after the cavalry besieged the city.

The distance between the two armies was gradually compressed to more than ten miles, and the light cavalry of both sides were still roaming and fighting.

When they were only three or four miles apart, Richard deployed more light cavalry and ordered the infantry to form ranks and advance.

Of Richard's 90,000-strong army, only 8,000 were truly elite core troops.

Two thousand personal guards.

Three thousand iron hawks.

Three thousand crossbowmen.

The crossbowmen were created by Richard and were a relatively new type of soldier in the Western Xia army. They were designed to break through the Song army's formations and were even said to be able to shoot through the Song army's heavy armor.

The bow of this powerful crossbow was made of mixed ox horn, and the arrowheads were cold-forged, giving it superior penetrating power compared to ordinary crossbow bolts from the Song and Liao dynasties.

The soldiers came from all walks of life, regardless of race, but they had to be strong and healthy, as they were also equipped with shields to protect themselves from arrows.

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Western Xia crossbowmen were decimated and never recovered until the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

During the Ming-Jin War, Li Qianshun was building up his firearms unit, while Richard was restoring his crossbowmen.

The Western Xia also had another type of garrison, whose equipment was outrageously good.

It selected members of the royal family and powerful clans to serve as soldiers, which were essentially "hostage troops." In the early days, they were all brave and skilled in battle.

Now he has been reduced to a "Han general," serving as a palace guard and ceremonial guard. If a real war breaks out, he will probably flee as fast as he can.

At this moment, the two armies are facing each other.

The infantry from the two major military commands in the south were arranged in the front ranks and on both flanks, forming several layers of military formations.

Some light cavalry circled around to the sides of the battlefield, while others positioned themselves on the flanks.

Two light cavalry units were positioned on either side of the central army, tasked with coordinating with the Iron Falcons' advance.

Richard's personal guards and crossbowmen served as the central army, observing the situation.

Yue Fei stood on a small hill and observed the battlefield through binoculars. He soon discovered that his light cavalry could not hold out.

Those light cavalry came from various tribes of the grasslands, and they didn't even have enough iron arrowheads, so their armor coverage was also very low.

Facing the same equipped Western Xia light cavalry, but with a larger number of Western Xia soldiers, they began to retreat continuously as the battle progressed.

Chapter 3746 Cavalry Charge!

"Order Yang Yizhong to attack!" Han Shizhong said to the messenger.

After the Hebei War, Han Shizhong was transferred from Shandong to northern Shaanxi to help the imperial court seize military power from the warlords. Yang Yizhong was one of those who came under Han Shizhong's command at that time.

But then the command flag was waved, and with a burst of war drums, Yang Yizhong led 1500 elite cavalrymen out to charge.

The Western Xia cavalry, who were chasing the light cavalry of the grasslands, were so frightened by the sight that they all reined in their horses and retreated.

They dared not engage the elite cavalry head-on, so they fired a couple of arrows haphazardly and ran away, luring the Ming cavalry into their own formation.

Han Shizhong shouted again, "Li Yu, attack!"

Li Yu was originally an officer in the Northern Song Dynasty's Xiang Army. Later, he became a notorious bandit in Shandong, commanding tens of thousands of troops at his peak. In this timeline, he was subdued by Zhang Shuye's army.

Yang Yizhong and Li Yu each led 1500 elite cavalrymen to rescue the retreating steppe cavalry.

Then they continued their charge, braving the enemy's rain of arrows, towards the light cavalry on both flanks of the Western Xia army.

Although the elite cavalry were not as heavily armed as the heavy cavalry, both the riders and their horses were still clad in armor.

At this moment, many valiant cavalrymen, along with their horses, were hit by several arrows, yet they still bravely charged forward, heading straight for the enemy's flanks.

Han Shizhong shouted again, "Yang Jin and Liu Zhengyan, go again!"

The military generals under Han Shizhong are all very interesting figures in history.

Yang Yizhong was ordered to lure and capture Yue Fei, while Li Yu led troops to block Zhao Gou's southward advance.

Liu Zhengyan's mutiny terrified Zhao Gou, causing him to become impotent, while Yang Jin, who commanded tens of thousands of troops, refused to be recruited by the emperor.

"Go and ask Protector-General Yue to send troops," Han Shizhong said to the messenger.

Soon, Yue Fei, along with Xu Qing and Wang Gui, led all his elite cavalry in a charge.

On the Western Xia side, Yang Yizhong and Li Yu had already disrupted the enemy cavalry on both flanks.

Yang Jin and Liu Zhengyan led their troops to the front of the Western Xia army's formation. When they were about 15 paces away, they shot arrows at the Western Xia infantry, and then flew in graceful arcs across the left and right flanks of the infantry formation.

The infantry's spears were longer than their cavalry's lances, but the infantry on both sides didn't have time to turn around, and the Ming cavalry thrust their spears as they swept past from the side.

There should have been Western Xia cavalry protecting the area, but Yang Yizhong and Li Yu had disrupted it. Yang Jin and Liu Zhengyan rushed past the infantry and continued to attack the Western Xia cavalry.

Richard was surprised that Han Shizhong fought so fiercely, deploying a large number of elite troops from the very beginning. He was so frightened that he hurriedly mobilized the Iron Falcons and crossbowmen.

Fifteen hundred Iron Falcons, leading five thousand light cavalry, charged head-on towards Yang Yizhong's fifteen hundred elite cavalry.

At this moment, Yang Yizhong had just broken through three thousand Western Xia light cavalry, which meant he was now attacked from both sides.

The Iron Falcons were infamous and, after all, were heavy cavalry; Yang Yizhong dared not confront them head-on.

Before the enemy could encircle him, he changed direction and charged towards the Western Xia light cavalry to his side and front.

Yang Yizhong paid the price of having more than two hundred elite cavalrymen surrounded and wiped out, but he forced his way through the Western Xia light cavalry and circled around to the outer edge to meet up with Yang Jin.

At the same time, Yang Yizhong ordered the horn to be sounded, reminding Han Shizhong that the Iron Falcon had been deployed.

Just as a large number of Western Xia cavalry were pursuing the four tribes of Yang Yizhong, Li Yu, Yang Jin, and Liu Zhengyan...

The Ming cavalry, who had previously retreated, charged again towards the Western Xia infantry formation and fired arrows in turn.

The Western Xia crossbowmen, carrying shields, stepped forward and opened the supports at the back of their shields.

He held the large shield up in front of him to block the arrows, and then hid behind the shield to reload.

Round after round of powerful crossbow bolts rained down, and many steppe cavalrymen fell, struck by arrows.

Chapter 3747 Enemy Against the Iron Falcon Again

"General Li, I'm entrusting this to you," Han Shizhong said.

Li Shifu, with three hundred heavy cavalry and his entourage, silently followed behind the elite cavalry of Yue Fei, Xu Qing, and Wang Gui.

Yue Yun was both nervous and excited; this was his first time on the battlefield.

The Liao Dynasty also had iron hawks, which were the private guards of the royal family, the imperial clan, and nobles.

The Western Xia Iron Falcons were initially modeled after the Liao Dynasty, and later incorporated features of the heavy cavalry of the Karakhanid Khanate.

Its armor is very powerful, and it is made entirely using cold forging technology.

Han Qi once sent people to conduct experiments to collect data, using powerful crossbows to shoot down iron hawk armor sixty paces away.

They could barely penetrate; the few that did manage to get in were only by chance, hitting gaps in the armor.

Shen Kuo said that the cold-forged armor of the Western Xia Iron Falcons was two-thirds lighter than the armor of the Song and Liao dynasties without reducing its defensive power.

This data is probably somewhat exaggerated, but it is certain that the Western Xia cold-forged armor was lighter.

In recent years, the heavy cotton armor produced by Daming has also adopted the method of water hammering combined with manual cold forging for the inner iron plates.

As for the Iron Falcons' warhorses, most of them came from the Ganzhou Horse Ranch. If you were to change the name, you'd probably have heard of it—the Shandan Horse Ranch!

The Ganzhou horse ranch of the Western Xia Dynasty was larger in scale than the Shandan horse ranch.

However, the century-long war between the Song and Xia dynasties resulted in a huge loss of military horses. This was especially true after the Song army captured Tiandu Mountain.

The Western Xia lost its horse-breeding land there and had to purchase warhorses from the Hehuang region to replenish its supply.

Then the Song army captured the Hehuang region, forcing the Western Xia to increase horse breeding in other areas.

It's not the deadliest yet.

The real reason for the shortage of horses in Western Xia was that the state-run horse farms were being gradually encroached upon and occupied!

Li Yuanhao used to prioritize horses over grain; when he ran out of grain, he would send troops to plunder.

However, the plundering of grain was ultimately unstable. A century later, the horse administration collapsed, and many pastures were converted into farmland.

In areas where land has not been converted into farmland, the number of horses raised is gradually decreasing, while the number of cattle and sheep is increasing, as is the case at Ganzhou Horse Farm.

This situation was not reversed until Li Renxiao's reforms.

Li Renxiao even included specific regulations for the Ganzhou Horse Ranch in the new law.

Private encroachment on horse farms is prohibited, as is raising more cattle and sheep on horse farms without authorization.

The problem is that Li Renxiao is only fifteen years old and has just ascended the throne, so he hasn't had time to implement any reforms yet.

Worse still, with the rise of the Ming Dynasty, the Western Xia failed to reclaim the horse farms such as Tiandu Mountain, could not occupy the Hehuang Valley, and could no longer even cross the border to plunder.

Faced with years of natural and man-made disasters, the Western Xia Ma government became even more corrupt.

For example, the Weifu Military Command continuously increased the area of ​​farmland, improved grain production there, and even made money by reselling military rations.

This was impossible before. The fertile regions outside the city would rather suffer famine than reduce horse production. If they ran out of food, they would rob the State of Song!

Besides warhorses, the amount of iron smelting in Western Xia was also decreasing sharply.

The largest iron ore processing plant in Xiazhou is experiencing a decline in both output and quality due to over-mining.

During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, the Western Xia Iron Falcons suffered heavy losses from years of war, and their actual combat effectiveness began to decline.

The warhorses are not as good as before, the armor is not as good as before, and even the manpower is not as good as before. Strictly speaking, they can no longer be considered heavy cavalry.