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

Now, Zhang Xian, Yao Pingzhong, Zhong Yanchong, Xiao Heda and others have gathered at the foot of Shizhou City and are besieging it from all sides.

They received orders from Li Yanxian to send half of their forces to attack Youzhou.

As for whose troops to go, that's decided by drawing lots!

It doesn't matter who goes anyway, drawing lots is even fairer, and no one can complain afterwards.

How many times will you be arrested?

"Once is enough, don't act like a nagging old woman."

"Alright. To be fair, let General Duo'e write the lots."

"I can't write Chinese characters."

“Draw a circle or an X. The one who draws a circle goes to attack Youzhou, and the one who draws an X stays to attack Shizhou.”

Doe turned away from the crowd, cut paper, drew circles and crosses, then crumpled it into a ball and placed it on the table.

Yao Pingzhong took a wad of paper first, and the others followed suit.

"Haha, my luck has finally turned around for once!" Yao Pingzhong unfolded the paper ball, found the cross, and stayed to continue playing Shizhou.

Zhong Yanchong unfolded the crumpled paper, took a look, and then angrily crumpled it up again and slammed it to the ground to vent his anger.

He led Xiao Heda and Duo'e to besiege Shizhou for several days. The city walls had already been cracked by cannon fire, and it would take them down in two or three days at most.

At this critical moment, however, one must set aside the glory of capturing the city and lead troops to attack that damned Youzhou.

After looking at the lot he had drawn, Zhang Xian said with a grin, "A bet's a bet, General Zhong, please."

Zhong Yanchong turned away with a cold face, and Xiao Heda followed, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Duo E scratched his head and followed him out.

The three men led their troops and passed through Xiazhou, Xiao Heda's stronghold.

Xiao Heda and Duo E's infantry were all inside Xiazhou City. They left a small number of troops to guard the city and led the rest of their forces to continue the advance with Zhong Yanchong.

Duo'e led three light cavalry units from Dingzhou to scout the situation ahead.

However, they found that the villages along the way were deserted and the houses had long been burned down.

They continued on their way and soon encountered scouts sent by Li Yanxian outside Youzhou City.

The gates of Youzhou were wide open, and the garrison had all fled.

Moreover, they led the people away, leaving no one in the city. They even burned down a large number of houses and forced the people who refused to move to leave.

The two cavalry units entered Youzhou City and each sent someone back to report.

Upon learning of the situation, Li Yanxian accelerated the siege and captured Hongzhou City the very next day.

Zhong Yanchong and Xiao Heda led their troops in a rapid advance and occupied the empty city of Youzhou.

Chapter 3780 Letters

That very night, they received a military order from Li Yanxian, instructing them to rest for a day and continue marching, before leading their troops toward Yanzhou.

……

Yanzhou (Dingbian County).

Looking at the dilapidated city walls, Wang Cunli had absolutely no confidence in defending the place to the death.

With walls like this, artillery could destroy them in three days at most!

But Richard gave a firm order: if Yanzhou could not be defended, the most they could do was retreat to Iron Gate Pass or White Pool City.

A fast horse galloped in and went straight into the Yanzhou government office.

Wang Cunli opened and read the letter, and was overjoyed.

The marriage of Li Renxiao, the new emperor of Western Xia, not only allowed him to win over powerful clans within the country through marriage, but also made the sixteen-year-old emperor appear more mature.

Wang Cunli's daughter has been officially made empress!

This matter was accomplished not only by the strength of the Wang clan, but also by Wang Cunli's financial maneuvering, and ultimately by the compromise between Li Renzhong and Li Chage.

Wang Cunli was a confidant of Prime Minister Li Renzhong.

Damn it, my daughter is the empress now, what am I afraid of?

They retreated directly towards Xingqing Prefecture, fortifying their positions and scorching the enemy along the way.

Anyway, I'm not going to engage in any more head-on battles.

The enemy is truly terrifying.

Wang Cunli wasn't even confident of defeating Xiao Heda, let alone the ferocious Ming army.

Historically, Wang Cunli commanded tens of thousands of troops, but was defeated by Xiao Heda at least five times, eventually retreating to Lingzhou and becoming a coward.

Just do it!

Wang Cunli not only led the army and civilians to evacuate, but also sent people to destroy the local salt lakes as much as possible, so that the Ming army could not recover them in a short time.

He now commands the troops of seven states under the jurisdiction of the three major military commands.

To be precise, it refers to the troops of six prefectures, because the troops of Xia Prefecture were in the hands of Xiao Heda.

Moreover, apart from the troops in Yanzhou who had not yet fought, the rest of the armies were all defeated and fled back to Wang Cunli in a sorry state.

Even if we include the auxiliary soldiers (those who perform miscellaneous duties), the total number is only over 70,000.

However, there are more than 100,000 elderly, weak, women and children.

During the withdrawal, cries and screams filled the air. Elderly people and the sick continued to collapse, abandoned on the semi-desertified grasslands.

The morale of the entire army had plummeted to its lowest point, and the soldiers all wanted to know how their families were doing.

Many soldiers wanted to desert, but they were worried that they wouldn't be able to take their families with them, or that their families would be executed because of them.

Zhong Yanchong, Xiao Heda, and Duo E traveled swiftly to Yanzhou, only to find it to be an empty city.

Not to mention the city, even the major salt lakes are deserted.

Well, actually there were a few who hid and didn't leave, but Wang Cunli was in a hurry to retreat and couldn't possibly search every place.

“Yanzhou can be abandoned?” Zhong Yanchong was greatly shocked.

Xiao Heda pointed to the dilapidated city wall and said, "Yanzhou has been free from war for a long time, and the city has not been properly repaired for decades."

"Don't even mention General Zhong bringing cannons, even if I brought the Xiazhou troops, I could take Yanzhou in a few days."

Zhong Yanchong nodded: "That's true."

Although Wang Cunli was cowardly, his retreat was actually the right thing to do.

Otherwise, all 70,000 of his remaining troops would have to perish here; retreating would at least preserve his fighting strength.

If the Ming army pursued them all the way, the supply route would be stretched to an unimaginable length.

Not to mention the grain routes within the Ming Dynasty, there are still five or six hundred li to go after crossing the border!

Chapter 3781 Grain Transport

Moreover, after passing Yanzhou, the route is mostly semi-desert grassland.

Along the long grain transport route, the grain convoys were always at risk of being attacked, and the Western Xia light cavalry could move swiftly and freely in this area.

……

Xingqing Prefecture.

News of the retreat at the front lines came like snowflakes.

The Western Xia rulers and their officials were completely panicked and urgently summoned Richard back from the north to take charge.

He dispatched Privy Councilor Wang Shu to replace Richard to guard Keyi Gate—where it was under attack by Yue Fei and Han Shizhong.

Compared to the hundreds of thousands of Ming troops in Shaanxi, Yue Fei and Han Shizhong's detachment was clearly not valued as much by the Western Xia rulers and officials.

Richard, who had just returned to Xingqing Prefecture, was listening to the latest news on the battles.

"The Mu brothers rebelled and led their followers to surrender to the enemy in Huizhou."

"Several strategic strongholds, including Lingbo Mountain and Weijing Mountain, have all been captured by the enemy."

“That area is all mountainous, and many mountain tribes are unwilling to adopt a scorched-earth policy,”

"If they carry food and hide in the mountains and refuse to leave, they are very likely to defect to the enemy due to lack of food..."

“Last year, Da Bin’s tribe rebelled in Weizhou, although the rebellion was successfully quelled,”

"But the remnants of Da Bin's tribe fled into Leshan, and Weizhou was short of food and supplies due to the suppression of the rebellion."

"The Jingse Military Command was short of supplies, so the soldiers there had no choice but to abandon the city and retreat."

"But the people are unwilling to leave, and their food... was heavily requisitioned last year to quell the rebellion."

“There were even two tribes that did not rebel last year, but this year they went to surrender to the Ming.”

Richard was utterly shocked: "That was the shortest route the Ming army took to attack, and also the main area for the scorched-earth policy. The scorched-earth policy failed completely?"

Li Renzhong nodded: "The commander-in-chief, deputy commander-in-chief, and supervisor of the Jingse Military Command, as well as the prefect of Weizhou, should all be executed."

“These bastards have joined forces to exploit the people, even levying additional taxes during a year of severe drought. Last year, they drove a tribe to revolt.”

"Although the other tribes did not rebel, they were also disloyal to the court. How could they possibly be willing to relocate their people and implement a scorched-earth policy?"

"When you need men, you can't just kill the general in command of troops," Richard said.

Apart from the military supervisor and the prefect, they were all Richard's confidants. How could Li Renzhong be allowed to kill them?

Li Renzhong said, "The soldiers and their followers who have returned, especially the chieftains, are all clamoring that they will only fight if the corrupt officials are killed first."

"We must give these people an explanation, otherwise we should stop fighting. They are very likely to rebel and defect to the enemy."

Richard said, "Then let's arrest the military supervisor and the prefect and bring them back to Xingqing Prefecture. Detain them temporarily, and that will give the soldiers and the people an explanation."

"At the same time, we must also appease the commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief to prevent them from becoming fearful and overthinking because of this."

Li Renzhong dared not kill everyone, so he could only agree to this method: "The one who captured Weizhou was Deng Chun, the commander-in-chief of the Ming army."

"This man is a former subordinate of the Liangshan Emperor. He became the Liangshan Emperor's follower before the uprising even began, and he is known for his undefeated record in his campaigns across the north and south."

"He has continued his advance and captured Pule City, and is now estimated to be besieging Yaode City."

"We're only about 300 li away from Xingqing Prefecture!"

Richard quickly said, "Hold on, we must hold on! The Yellow River's water level isn't high yet; we must wait until the water rises before breaching the dike!"

Li Renzhong looked distressed: "We can't hold them off. The Ming army isn't the Song army; their siege speed is too fast."

"Our Great Xia soldiers are no longer as brave and fearless as before; many tribal soldiers are passively avoiding battle."

Chapter 3782 The Spy

"Moreover, spies were caught. There were Ming spies in various places, persuading those tribal chiefs to betray Xia and surrender to Ming."

“The tribal chiefs dared not directly defect, but instead left themselves a way out to preserve their strength.”

“Take Mengjing Village for example. The Ming army was still several miles away when the soldiers guarding the village fled.”

"After the commander fled back, he was beheaded, and as a result, the chief of his tribe led his people in a defection..."

Richard was speechless.

People's hearts have fallen apart!

The reason why the Western Xia army in the direction of Jingse Military Command collapsed at the first contact and fled at the first sign of trouble was not entirely because the Ming army was too powerful.

The real reason is the combination of years of disasters and excessive exploitation.

The Ming army hasn't even arrived yet, and there were already tribal rebellions last year.

When suppressing the uprising, they requisitioned grain from nearby areas for supplies, which caused resentment among the local tribes.

If Ming spies were to try to win over the Western Xia, many tribal chiefs would waver and would no longer be willing to fight to the death for the Western Xia court.

A eunuch stood outside the hall and said anxiously, "There's an urgent report from the front lines."

Li Renxiao said, "Bring it in."