Chapter 252 - Rescue
Li Chage had commanded the army for many years, and although it was only one day of siege, he immediately felt a huge change in the Song Army! But Wan Yanzonggan still found it hard to believe and disdainfully said, "You said that you saw the shadow of our true female army on their bodies, how is that possible? [We are invincible in this world. We are called the undefeatable female army!] And the Chinese people were the most cowardly race in the world! Do you see the shadow of our true army in them? How ridiculous! "Ridiculous!"
Li Chage frowned, and said: "Sir Warrick, according to what I have seen today, it is indeed so! However, this was only to defend the city. If this was a battle on the plains, the Han people would not be so brave and fierce! Han Chinese are best at defending the city! In the past hundred years, our Western Xia has repeatedly gone south, but their defensive capabilities are too high, so they have always stopped us! "
Wan Yanzonggan laughed: "Isn't that it? They were only at the highest level of defensive abilities! Their true combat power is not as good as yours from the Western Xia, and it is even less than our Nvzhen! "
Li Chage thought about it again, and agreed with the logic, he nodded his head, and said: "Sir Warrick is right!"
Wan Yanzonggan asked: How long will it take for you to take down Yanzhou City?
Li Chage said: "The Chinese are good at defending the city, and they have a lot of manpower in the city, I am afraid it will be difficult to defeat the Yanzhou City within one to two months!"
Wan Yanzonggan snorted, and said: "Does it actually take that long?"
Li Chage said: "I have already sent people to inform all parts of the Xia Province and Liang Zhou. There are still some garrison troops there, and right now, the garrison troops are also heading towards the Yan Province! When they get here, they will definitely be able to break through Yanzhou City in one go! "
Wan Yanzonggan then nodded his head, and said: "After we attack and break through Yanzhou, all of you should immediately go south, and join our female True Army to attack Guan Shan together!"
Li Chage replied: "Of course!"
had already lied down to rest while Li Chage was on patrol! During today's war, he felt that the Song Army's strength had greatly increased, so he always felt that something was amiss! He was afraid that Song Army would camp in the middle of the night, so he was very serious in his guard! He personally inspected the barracks, telling the soldiers to not slack off!
It was a good thing that no one had stolen the camp that night!
The morning of the second day, Li Chage once again launched an attack at Yanzhou City!
Three hundred thousand of them attacked the city from all directions. However, during the entire morning, their people had almost never climbed onto the city walls!
Li Chage frowned, he had ordered his troops to retreat!
After that, the generals of General Li Chage gathered together and discussed the method to attack the city! There were those who were involved in the production of siege engines, those who were involved in the excavation of tunnels, while the generals were bringing up all sorts of ideas! Li Chage listened carefully, and said: "Tomorrow we will use these methods to attack the city!"
That afternoon, the western Xia army did not continue attacking the city, but rested!
When it was the thirteenth of the third month, the sky was still bright. Just as Li Chage woke up, a deputy general ran to his side with an anxious expression on his face.
"What happened?" Seeing his expression, Li Chage immediately asked.
"General, we have just received news that the Song Army is making a detour to the Iron Gate Pass and is currently attacking the Iron Gate Pass!" The deputy general said.
"What?" Li Chage was shocked!
The Iron Gate Pass was an important pass in the northwest direction of Western Xia! If the Iron Gate Pass was lost, all the cities in the north could fall into the flames of war! He had already determined that the number of people in the Song Army was around one hundred and fifty thousand. He never thought that a part of the people in the Song Army would be guarding the city and the other part would be heading to the Iron Gate Pass!
"How many Song Army s are there at the Iron Gate Pass?" Li Chage said.
"About 50,000 people!" The deputy general said.
"Fifty thousand people!" Li Chage frowned!
"General, we should save Iron Gate now!" The deputy general said.
"This place is really too far from the Iron Gate Pass! Moreover, only 50,000 people attacked the Iron Gate Pass. There are 10,000 guards there, so they should be able to protect it! The most important thing was that fifty thousand people had gone to Iron Gate Pass. There should only be one hundred thousand Song Army guarding Yanzhou right now! I was just saying that I have seen a limited number of Song Army in the past few days, so that's how it is! We should first attack Yanzhou and eliminate all of the hundred thousand Song Army s here. After that, we should head north to rescue the Iron Gate Pass and eliminate the remaining fifty thousand Song Army s! " Li Chage said.
"But, if the Iron Gate fell, that would be terrible!" The deputy general said.
"Don't be afraid! The Iron Gate Pass had been lost, and the north was a desert. Only those cities which had passed through the desert could reach the north! Song Army is fighting in our Western Xia territory, she lacks military rations, it is extremely difficult to head north! Furthermore, the true female disciples of the Guan Shan and the army in Jiangnan are always eyeing the Song Army covetously, so it is impossible for the Song Army to stay in the Western Xia territory for long! " Li Chage was truly worthy of being a lackey, hence he immediately made a decision!
The deputy general nodded and did not speak further!
Li Chage immediately ordered another assault!
March 13, for an entire day, the city assault continued, but the western Xia army was still unable to knock down the wall! The difference in their quality was too great compared to the Song Army. Adding on the fact that Song Army had already been waiting here for more than a month, in terms of body and mind, they far surpassed Western Xia's army. Thus, the effect of western Xia army's siege was extremely limited!
On March fourteenth, western Xia army actually rested for a day! Initially, Li Chage wanted to give the order for the army to attack the city, but the generals thought that the soldiers were exhausted and should rest! Li Chage had to stop attacking the city!
On the morning of March 15th, the battle drums began to sound. Three hundred thousand Westerners were preparing to attack the city again!
At that moment, over a dozen figures appeared in the distance! A dozen men were galloping towards them!
The moment they appeared, someone from the western Xia army immediately went to block them!
"I am Guardian King Li Renli! Quick, get out of the way! " The person on the horse was covered in dust as he spoke loudly.
"What?" Your Highness Duke Wei? " The Western Xia soldiers who had intercepted him were immediately taken aback!
It was just that they did not recognize Li Renli, and there were still people who stopped him! Li Renli took out his gold plate, and only then did these people believe in Li Renli's identity!
"Your Highness, why have you come here?" The next Academy Officer said.
"Quick, take me to see Brother Cha!" Li Renli said anxiously.
"The general is commanding the siege! When the general comes back, we will take you to see him! " Academy Officer said.
"This is a serious matter, I want to see him now!" Li Renli said.
"This …" The Academy Officer hesitated and said: "At this time, if we go and seek an audience with the general, I'm afraid the general will punish us!"
"What time is it? Are you all still wasting time here!?" Now take me to Chago! I have the royal decree! " Li Renli said anxiously.
"AHH!" The imperial edict! " Hearing that, Academy Officer did not dare hesitate anymore and immediately brought Li Renli to see Li Chage!
Li Chage was leading the battle while riding on his horse, constantly watching the scene on the city wall. In his opinion, the Chinese were unbelievably tenacious! The Western Xia citizens had already resorted to a variety of siege tactics, but they were all blocked by the Chinese!
"To break through Yanzhou City, I'm afraid it will take a very long time!" Li Chage frowned, and thought.
Just then, the Academy Officer brought Li Renli out of the army!
"General Li!" After seeing Li Chage, Li Renli shouted loudly from the back.
Li Chage turned his head and immediately slashed at Li Renli, he was startled! From his point of view, Li Renli did not look like a prince at all, he looked like an ordinary commoner. His clothes were unusually dirty, and his eyes were dull. He was extremely puzzled, as he did not understand why Li Renli was here!
"Your Highness, aren't you in the capital? Why are you here now! " Li Chage said.
"General Li, I'm here on His Majesty's orders!" His Majesty ordered for you to bring the army back to Xingqing Mansion immediately! " Li Renli said.
"What?" Li Chage was instantly stunned! The Academy Officer who brought Li Renli over was also stunned! The ten-odd janissaries were also stunned!
"King Wei, are you joking?" Li Chage said coldly.
"This is His Majesty's personal letter! Take a look! Here are the letters from the Prime Minister, I'll give them all to you! " Li Renli said.
After Li Chage finished reading the letter, his face became deathly pale, and said: "How could this be?"
"Song Dynasty's army has arrived at Xingqing Mansion's side. Xingqing Mansion is now in a state of shock three times a day! His Majesty was in danger! General Li, lead the great army back to the base immediately! " Li Renli said.
After hearing Li Renli's words, the Academy Officer and the personal guards were all stunned again. The Academy Officer asked in disbelief: "Your Highness, what did you say? Song Army came to the Xingqing Mansion? How is that possible? "
"That's how it is! His Majesty has ordered for you to return to your master's side! " Li Renli said.
Li Chage's face was covered in perspiration, he did not believe in this! But with Xia Chongzong's handwritten letter in his hands, he could not not not believe it!
"General Li, what time is it now? Are you still saying that it is impossible for them to come to Xingqing Mansion? Aren't you ignoring the truth? Your Majesty, you're in danger right now. Li Renli said anxiously.
"Could it be that Song Army entered the army from Qin Feng Road? However, if they entered the army from Qin Feng Road, they would be discovered along the way by many counties! Could it be that they had come to Xingqing Mansion from the desert?! But even if we were to circle around the desert and pass through the borders, would we be discovered? " Li Chage muttered to himself.
He did not know that Song Army had experienced countless hardships. First, he crossed the border from Niu Mountain Range, then he went around the desert to the Bronze Pass, and after resting for more than two hours every day for ten days, he finally killed his way to Xingqing Mansion! They advanced in light attire, not slacking off any supplies or carrying any siege weapons. They only brought 10 days' worth of rations and came to the Western Xia with their weapons! It was an extremely arduous journey, one that no one had ever walked before, thus Li Chage was unable to guess!
"General!" Go back to your master! " Li Renli said anxiously.
"This …" Li Chage was extremely hesitant!
They were attacking the city. If they were to return now, what would happen to Yanzhou and the others?
"His Majesty has ordered, if Li Chage disobeys the imperial edict, I will replace you as the great general and lead the army back to Xingqing Mansion! Rescue His Majesty! " Li Renli clenched his teeth and said.
"I will withdraw my troops and lead the army back to Xingqing Mansion!" Li Chage said.