Chapter 279 Helan Mountain
Mu Guiying was once a famous person in Western Xia. After all, the Yang family had left a deep "memory" in Western Xia.
But a small group can never be compared with a national system, especially when this small group is under the premise of being "suppressed".
As the men and women of the Yang family fell one by one, and when only Mu Guiying was left able to go to the battlefield, all the people of Western Xia knew that the Yang family no longer posed any threat to them.
Just as they expected, the Yang family gradually disappeared on the Western Xia battlefield, and finally even Mu Guiying disappeared on the Western Xia battlefield.
But even so, the names of the Yang family and Mu Guiying are still one of the most terrifying nightmares in the hearts of the Xixia people.
Dai Lichang, a general who defected to the Northern Song Dynasty, had also witnessed Mu Guiying's bravery and bravery on the battlefield. Of course, he was still a Song citizen at that time.
And now, he saw a strange man in blue armor running towards him, and was immediately confused... What the hell is this? The voice is Marshal Mu's voice, but this appearance!
Dai Lichang did not accept the challenge , but signaled the general next to him to take over.
However, just as these generals rushed forward, they were stabbed off their horses by Mu Guiying's pear blossom spear in an instant. The move was so fast that almost no one could see it.
Mu Guiying rode on a cavalry horse and led a team of cavalry to charge very quickly. In almost the blink of an eye, she cut off Dai Lichang's marching team.
When Dai Lichang saw this scene, his face turned very ugly: "These are the elite troops of the Song army. They came prepared. This is obviously a trap. Retreat!"
Although the army was cut in two, Dai Lichang was in the rear half. He asked the flag officers to wave the battle flags and the drummers to pass on the orders, while he himself led his personal soldiers and ran directly towards Dingzhou City.
As for the soldiers who were pulled down, he didn't care.
If he could return to Dingzhou City and save his life, no matter how many Xixia soldiers died, he would be no match for him.
Now they are not far from Dingzhou City and can run back in about an hour.
But when he ran to the city of Dingzhou, he was already in despair. At this time, the earthen city of Dingzhou had been replaced with Song flags, and many of the flags had the word "Yang" hung on them.
"God wants to kill me!"
Dai Lichang looked at the city wall with tears in his eyes, then he drew out his sword and slashed his own neck.
As a surrendered general, Xixia would not let him live if he failed, and the Song court would not forgive the traitor. He could only do this and hope that the Xixia people would spare his family because of his honorable death.
More than a hundred kilometers away, Lu Sen was in the tent and soon received the message from Mu Guiying.
"Dingzhou City has been captured." Lu Sen handed the letter to Di Qing beside him and said with a smile, "Just as expected."
"Master Lu is indeed a military genius." After taking a look at it, Di Qing laughed and handed the letter to Lu Huiqing next to him.
Lu Huiqing held the thin piece of paper in her hands, her whole body shaking with excitement.
Although the credit for this great victory went to Lu Sen and Di Qing, Marshal Mu also made a great contribution. However, as an adjutant and the only orthodox civil servant besides Lu Sen, he would receive a great reward as long as he returned to the court.
Not to say that he could catch up with Wang Anshi's status and position, but at least he could be much closer to him.
In fact, Lu Sen had made two preparations for the attack on Dingzhou City. He asked Yang Jinhua to bring two redstone bombs. If the resistance of Dingzhou City was too stubborn, then Yang Jinhua would use this disposable prop that could directly blow the city gate into pieces.
"If we take over Dingzhou City, the Xixia people will definitely be anxious." Lu Sen looked at the map and smiled, "But Dingzhou City is surrounded by deserts on both sides, and Xingqing Prefecture is behind it. It is impossible to attack from the west or the east. Either attack from the north of Dingzhou, or force an attack from the south. As long as there are no major problems, it is considered impregnable."
Dingzhou is one of the important gateways for Western Xia to the north, and Dingzhou, Xingqing Prefecture and Xi'an Prefecture form a straight line from north to south. No matter whether the enemy is transferring troops from Xiliang Prefecture in the southwest or Jianing Military Command in the southeast, they have to capture Xingqing Prefecture first.
To the south of Xingqing Prefecture is Xi'an City. If anyone dares to attack Xingqing Prefecture, the defenders of Xi'an City will naturally not just stand by and watch. By then, they will attack from both the north and the south. Even if more Western Xia troops come, they will have to return in defeat.
Di Qing sat down and said with a smile: "I have been in the army for more than 20 years, and I have never fought such a refreshing battle."
Indeed, whenever he fought a war in the past, he had to defeat the strong with the weak, and he had to be very cautious and tread on thin ice, for fear of not winning beautifully. The ministers in the court had opinions, and they were also afraid that he would win too beautifully. Then they would say that he was too violent and would still report him.
Under such circumstances, he could not sleep at night no matter whether he won or lost the battle.
But now there is no need for that. With Lu Sen as his strong supporter, he just needs to fight well. For him, there is no happier thing in the world than this.
Lu Sen pointed at the map and said, "With Dingzhou, we can go further north and look to the Helan Mountains in the west."
When Di Qing heard this, he couldn't help but let out a long breath.
Even Lu Huiqing swallowed his saliva.
The significance of Helan Mountain is extremely important both to Western Xia and Northern Song Dynasty.
Because of the existence of the Helan Mountains, the hot climate of the desert in the west is blocked, making the climate here relatively humid. To the east is a plain with dense vegetation.
This is one of the more important granaries of Western Xia and also a very important horse breeding ground.
It can be said that throughout history, several northwestern barbarian tribes "started" near the Helan Mountains.
Taking over the entire Heshanlan area is equivalent to holding the entire northwest territory firmly in one's hands.
Lu Sen pointed at the map near Dingzhou and said, "Let's take a break today. Tomorrow, General Di will lead the army to advance and meet with Marshal Mu, and then sweep the area near Dingzhou. If any enemy in a small town or county dares to resist, they will be killed without mercy, and there is no need to report it. We must firmly seize the Helan Mountain area in the hands of our Song people within three months."
"Yes, sir." Di Qing stood up and said with his fists clasped.
Although he was almost twice as old as Lu Sen, and although his qualifications were much stronger than Lu Sen's, at this moment, he was sincerely willing to treat Lu Sen as his superior.
He knew very well how rare it was to find a superior who dared to fight and protect his subordinates from being attacked.
Lu Sen then turned to Lu Huiqing and said, "Rest for two days first, then follow me to Dingzhou to calm the people, appease the foreigners, and divide the local leaders. The internal affairs are all up to you."
"I obey your order."
Lu Huiqing was even more excited. He knew that as long as he did a good job in Dingzhou, it would be another brilliant addition to his resume.
This played a big role in his subsequent promotion.
Lu Sen looked at the map and smiled. Now that He Shanlan had been captured , the Xixia people were more anxious, not the Song people.
Ten days later, Di Qing and Mu Guiying led a large army to travel around Heshanlan, sweeping away all the Xixia people who dared to resist or refuse to surrender.
The killing was so fierce that heads kept rolling.
Lu Sen was in charge of Dingzhou Prefecture. With him around, no one dared to act rashly in Dingzhou Prefecture. In the past, if the Song army dared to kill so fiercely, at least there would be people who defected to the Northern Song Dynasty who would publish articles and curse and launch a public opinion offensive.
But Lu Sen understood the importance of this aspect too well. On the second day after he entered the city, he bribed many local people and asked them to spread information around Dingzhou City, saying that the Xixia people were barbaric and ungrateful and that God would destroy them. Anyone who dared to speak for the Xixia people was a traitor and collaborator of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Far away in Xuanhua Prefecture, Mei Zang Epang was so angry that he smashed countless porcelain and stationery.
Looking at the mess on the ground, Queen Mother Mei Zang asked, "Are we just going to let the Song people take Helan Mountain away?"
Even as the queen mother, a woman of integrity, she knew the importance of the Helan Mountains to the Great Baigao Kingdom.
"Even if they took it, what can you do?" Mo Zang Epang was so angry that his face turned red. "Xingqing Prefecture is the most important gateway connecting the east and west of our Great Bai Gao Kingdom, but it was also taken away by the Song people. Now Dingzhou has also been captured. As long as the Song people are not stupid, they will firmly occupy these two places. In less than 20 years, our Great Bai Gao Kingdom will be torn apart."
There are several deserts in the territory of Western Xia, which account for about three-fifths of the territory of Western Xia.
The habitable areas of Western Xia, when connected together, almost form the shape of a "mountain".
Xingqing Prefecture is the lowest and most central point of the "mountain", which is why Xingqing Prefecture was the capital of the Western Xia Kingdom in the past.
But now Xingqing Prefecture has not been taken back, and even Helan Mountain, one of the granaries, has fallen into the hands of the Song people.
Queen Mother Mei Zang said sadly: "What should we do in the future?"
"I originally thought that I would negotiate peace with the Song people first, get some benefits from them, wait a few more years, recuperate, and after I have enough food and horses, I will find a way to take Xingqing Prefecture back." Mo Zang Epang's eyes turned red, "I didn't expect that the Song people would take the initiative... How dare they? Are they still the cowardly Song people?"
Queen Mother Mo Zang thought for a moment and said, "Can we ask the Tibetan tribes to pay tribute?"
"They are a bunch of barbarians, even poorer than us. What can we get out of them?"
"What should I do?"
"Let me think about it. There is always a way."
Compared to the gloomy atmosphere in Xuanhua Prefecture, Bianliang was filled with the sound of gongs and drums.
Almost every household is setting off firecrackers and hanging up lights and decorations day and night.
People flocked to the streets to celebrate, and they talked happily about this incident on the rotten wooden benches of street stalls, at the tables of taverns, and among the rouge and powder in brothels.
How long has it been since we had such a big victory... How long!
The people of Song were accustomed to hearing news of failure and treaties of compensation.
The Semites were as obedient as dogs within the territory of the Song Dynasty, but when the Xixia people came to the territory of the Song Dynasty, they were as arrogant as the masters.
How could this not make them angry and depressed?
During this period, there was even a small incident.
After hearing that Master Lu and General Di had broken through Dingzhou and were aiming their swords at the Helan Mountains, the Xixia envoys in Bianliang were unhappy. They rushed out, armed with swords and guns, and were ready to protest at the palace.
As a result, a group of masked men in black clothes emerged halfway and beat them to a pulp in no time.
Afterwards, he was surrounded and beaten and kicked mercilessly by the people of Bianliang who swarmed in.
Guard Zhan from Kaifeng Prefecture arrived late and separated the crowd with constables, but... fifteen of the seventeen members of the Western Xia envoys died, and the remaining two... had their hands and legs turned into mushy flesh, and they probably wouldn't live long.
Inside the Pang Mansion, Grand Tutor Pang was drinking wine and singing songs. Around him sat ministers such as Bao Zheng, Ouyang Xiu, and Fu Bi.
Bao Zheng's face also turned slightly red. He smiled and said, "I never thought that Helan Mountain would fall into our hands in less than two months."
He was happy too, really happy.
He grew up listening to the Xixia people bullying the Song Dynasty, and he had a very strong hatred for the Xixia people.
It's just that due to the situation before, the Song Dynasty couldn't launch a powerful counterattack. Now the situation is different. Now that Helan Mountain has been taken, even if Master Lu no longer leads his troops north, as long as he manages the defense of Dingzhou and Helan Mountain well, he can wear down the Western Xia people to death.
Master Pang smiled and said, "I told you that as long as Sen'er is released, he will definitely achieve great things."
"Master Pang, should we call Master Lu back now?" Fu Bi stroked his beard and said, "This is a rare victory. If we don't consolidate it, the enemy will easily counterattack. Master Lu is young and energetic. If we rush him to lead the army north, that would be bad."
"Is this a good idea?" Master Pang asked, "Sen'er just conquered Dingzhou not long ago, and we are changing the commander. Won't this discourage him?"
Fu Bi shook his head and said, "This is the rule of our dynasty. After a great victory, we must change the commander."
"I don't think it's right." Bao Zheng put down the beautiful little wine glass and said, "Master Lu is not an ordinary person. He is not a military commander, nor is he a civil official like us. He has his own ideas and his own 'Tao'. What we did before already made him unhappy. If we use the same method we used against military men to deal with him, I guess in the future... even if he doesn't turn against our court, he will probably never have anything to do with us again."
Master Pang nodded and said, "Xiren is absolutely right."
Fu Bi sighed and said, "I 'm just worried."
What are they worried about? Everyone knows that they are just worried that the Chenqiao incident will happen again.
"Probably not." Ouyang Xiu chimed in, "Master Lu is not an ordinary person. He has no interest in power. In fact, if he really wanted to do so, he could just take the Sky Boat over Hangzhou and I'm sure the emperor would abdicate."
These words made all the civil servants present blush.
They thought about this situation and felt that it was possible.
Lu Sen's reputation is really huge now. The appearance of Immortal Rice makes him feel vaguely that he has a "mandate from heaven".
The common people were very practical. If a half-immortal who could feed all of them with rice could not become the emperor, who else could be qualified? As long as he wanted, he could be the emperor.
"Master Lu is indeed not interested in the throne." Wang Anshi, who was sitting at the end, raised his glass and said, "He is only a semi-immortal now, and still has human desires, but he seems to be indifferent. If he becomes a true immortal, it is probably a matter of lifting a mountain and ascending to heaven. At that time, our Song Dynasty will not have such a celestial being to help. Therefore, in my opinion, it is a blessing for the people of the world that Master Lu has not yet become an immortal. It is also a blessing for us."
"But we have to find a way to restrict people like this." Fu Bi felt a headache when he thought about Lu Sen's terrible reputation.
"To put it bluntly, we can't even restrict him." Wang Anshi sighed, "If he really wants to rebel, he can spread thousands of miles within a few months with just a wave of his arm. We can't stop him. Instead of thinking about how to suppress him, it's better to think about how to make him feel comfortable. At least this way, the chances of him rebelling will be much smaller."
