C250

Chapter 250 - Assault of Xingqing Mansion

The one hundred thousand strong army included eighty thousand infantry, and another twenty thousand cavalry!

The road here was abnormally difficult. At this moment, 20,000 cavalrymen were circling around, and 80,000 foot soldiers were climbing up the cow-killing ridge, crossing the mountain!

No one had ever walked this path before! For the past hundred years, when Western Xia invaded the Song Dynasty, they had never taken this path! Song Dynasty's counterattack on Western Xia, had never reached here! Moreover, the two countries have been fighting for years. The number of people living on the border is very few, and those people won't be able to pass through this road! This path was abnormally hidden!

Zhao Zhe's younger cousin, Zhao Wu, was currently the commander of the First Army of the Jingyuan Army.

Gradually, the path became narrower! In front of him was a cliff. If one was not careful, one would fall off the cliff!

Zhao Wu raised his hand, and all the soldiers behind him stopped!

"Bring the rope!" Zhao Wu said loudly.

Then, a soldier brought a rope over. Zhao Wu took the rope and walked forward along the cliff alone. He was also a descendant of a general level family, and had trained in martial arts since he was young! However, this path was too narrow and difficult. Even he himself had the possibility of falling!

He carefully moved forward and the cold wind blew. However, cold sweat broke out all over his body! After a full hour had passed, he finally arrived at the other side, which was two kilometers away! He tied the rope here and then ordered the soldiers behind to carry the rope over!

Even so, it was still extremely dangerous! The main reason was because the wind was too strong! Although many of the soldiers were holding onto the ropes, their bodies were still blown away by the wind as they fell down from above!

The soldiers kept moving forward, but they often heard miserable screams!

When Zhao Wu saw this scene, his eyes were filled with tears! In fact, they, the 80,000 foot soldiers, could also go around it, but that would take too long. It would take at least five days! In an emergency military situation, the staff officer's headquarters and the military command were to rush to the Western Summer Capital's Xingqing Mansion at all costs! Under these circumstances, they could only walk this path!

The sky was getting darker and darker. It was only until midnight did the 80,000 foot soldiers all approach from the opposite direction! A total of 1220 people fell off the cliff. They were doomed to die! Upon hearing this news, many of the officers' faces were filled with tears.

The sky had already darkened. The 80,000 infantry continued to move forward! At this time, the road in the mountain was even more difficult!

Zhao Wu was still walking in the front alone, with over 10 martial arts experts following behind him! They were leading the way, and the soldiers were following them! In the current world, only the Song Army would have such a scene! If it was the Western Xia army, women's army army, or Emperor Kang army, they would definitely let the ordinary soldiers scout the way, and would definitely not let their generals scout the way!

Waiting until dawn of the second day, the 80,000 foot soldiers finally came out of the Niu Slaying Ridge!

Then 80,000 infantry soldiers entered the desert!

Of course, at this very moment, the desert was covered with snow, a pure white area!

As they moved forward, they did not rest much. Usually, they would take a break of one hour or four hours every night. During the rest time, they would hurry up and eat! The so-called "rice" is from Xi'an State carrying some cakes, fried noodles, if thirsty, gnaw the snow stomach!

On the 20th of February, eighty thousand infantry and twenty thousand cavalry met in the desert! At this moment, the twenty thousand cavalrymen were in an exceptionally sorry state. Clearly, they had been hurrying on their way! Now, not only the soldiers, even the horses were extremely tired!

Late that night, they found a place with no wind and rested together!

Zhao Wu gnawed on his rations and walked to Zhao Zhe's side, saying: "Big brother, many people in the army have typhoid fever! Especially some of the more seriously ill patients, they're almost unable to move right now! "

Zhao Wu was startled for a moment, then said: "Should we leave some people behind to look after them?"

Zhao Zhe hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said: "They only have typhoid fever, and it's not a serious illness! There's no need to leave anyone to take care of it! "

Zhao Wu stood there in a daze, and said angrily: "Big brother, this time we are going forward with light troops, apart from dry food, we did not bring anything, not even any medicinal herbs! Those seriously ill patients had been left in the desert without any medicinal plants or care. They were definitely going to die! Are you trying to kill them all? "

Zhao Zhe gritted his teeth: How many patients are there in the critical care unit? Are there more than 100 people? "

Zhao Wu said: "Around a hundred and fifty people!"

Zhao Zhe said: Leave ten people to protect them! If it was possible, they could have left the desert! That's all I can do now! "

Zhao Wu argued: "There are really too few ten people! Those who stayed behind not only to watch over them, but to take them away from the desert! I think we should leave at least one platoon of a hundred to watch over them! In this vast desert, there were too few people to leave! If we leave ten people, then we might as well not leave any more! "

Zhao Zhe said: "There is no more to it! You should understand how important this battle is. Even if there's only one more person, our chances of victory will increase! For the sake of victory in the war, for the sake of the prosperity of the Song Dynasty, for the sake of the future of the nation, some sacrifices were essential! As for those who stayed, their chances of survival were slim! But I don't want that either! I just had to! You are a commander, a general, and not just considering the lives of a hundred soldiers, you have to consider the victories of war! "

He scolded Zhao Wu, causing his to stand there in a daze! He tightly shut his eyes. After a long time, he sighed and nodded!

It was only on the 29th of the 29th day of the lunar calendar that the huge army of 100,000 finally emerged from the desert!

By that time, the army had almost used up all of their rations!

Then, as if they were hungry, they rushed to the second day of the third month and arrived at the bronze gate!

This Bronze Pass was an important pass south of the Western Xia Capital's Xingqing Mansion.

Late that night, the Jingyuan Army launched a general attack on the place.

The terrain here was extremely dangerous. There were walls on both sides of the road, so the only way to get there was to break down the mountain pass! There were a total of more than two thousand troops stationed at the Bronze Pass, but these two thousand soldiers didn't have any embankments!

An hour later, the bronze gate was knocked down!

The huge army of 100,000 entered the bronze gate!

At least, they had found some provisions here. Whether it was for soldiers or war horses, they would be able to get some supplies!

After that, the huge army of 100,000 only rested here for two hours before continuing on their journey towards the north!

This was the big city to the south of Xingqing Mansion, and was less than a hundred miles away from the Xingqing Mansion! But to say, this place was practically the Xingqing Mansion's defensive city! There were many troops stationed here, as well as countless provisions and supplies! However, some time ago, the main force of Western Xia was advancing towards the east, and most of the garrison troops were following the main force of Western Xia to head east! There are only twenty thousand troops here!

Zhao Zhe had originally thought that since he had arrived quickly, this place should not have any preparations! However, the day before yesterday, during the battle at the Bronze Pass, the gatekeeper had already sent someone to inform Shunzhou City of the outbreak of war. As a result, Shunzhou City had actually prepared its defenses. Late at night, when the Jingyuan Army just appeared, countless soldiers had already arrived on top of the city walls.

Now, the Jingyuan Army had no choice but to launch a strong attack, the 80,000 foot soldiers had all risked their lives to attack the city! At this moment, the twenty thousand cavalrymen also came down from their horses to join in the attack!

The war went on from midnight until daybreak!

At daybreak, Shunzhou City was finally breached!

A hundred thousand Jingyuan Army s entered Shunzhou City. This time, they finally got enough rations and supplies! Zhao Zhe immediately ordered the army to rest for four hours, and to hurry up to rest, eat, and replenish their energy! After that, he left two thousand people to guard Shunzhou City, while he led the rest to Xingqing Mansion!

On March 6th, just as the sky was about to brighten, a huge army of a hundred thousand came to the Western Xia Capital's Xingqing Mansion and encircled them!