Prime Minister

Chapter 1205 Battle of Liangzhou

Chapter 1205 Battle of Liangzhou

An era has changed.

Ren Duoya Ding clearly remembered that two years ago, when he was commanding the Battle of Lingzhou, the soldiers under the city were the elite soldiers of Jingyuan Road and Xihe Road. Their vanguard soldiers were all wearing armor and helmets, but they lacked food and weapons.

Faced with the solid walls of Lingzhou City, the Song army was forced to climb up the walls like ants, suffering heavy casualties. Finally, they lingered outside the city for twenty days before running out of food and retreating, pursued by the Dangxiang cavalry.

When Renduoyading went down the city, he examined the corpses of the Song army. The soldiers who died in the battle were so hungry that their bodies were unrecognizable. The horses and animals that died along the way were also emaciated.

Renduo Yading lamented that the Song Dynasty's defeat was not due to the war, but was entirely due to the generals' impatience and recklessness.

Afterwards, Li Bingchang, the leader of the Dangxiang State, met Renduoyading and said that he defended Lingzhou City in times of crisis and praised him as a great general of the Dangxiang State.

Ren Duoyading was very modest but said, this was the result of building a strong defense and clearing the fields, not because of my good fighting skills.

It was indeed so. When the Song army launched the crusade, the Dangxiang suffered repeated defeats in field battles. It was an old general who was usually unknown who suggested to the king and Queen Dowager Liang that they should adopt the strategy of building strong defenses and clearing the fields, gathering elite troops at Xingling, and luring the Song army into deep territory. Only then were they defeated.

Of course, did Renduo Yading have no merit at all? Yes, he did. When the Song army first arrived at the city of Lingzhou, the people in the city were panicked and the general wanted to abandon the city and flee.

It was Renduoyading who stabilized the army's morale and calmly commanded the army to repel the first round of attacks by the Song army. But this is also something that many generals can do.

Before the Song army entered the border, he had a battle with Xihe Road Jinglue Zhang Zhi, and was shot in the shoulder by the opponent. Compared with Zhang Zhi, what kind of famous general was he? In the end, Mingsha City could not be captured for a long time, and it was Ding Renduoya who was ordered to lead the siege and wiped out nearly 10,000 Song troops in one fell swoop.

If there were still a few people in Dabaigao who were dissatisfied with Renduoyading before, they are all convinced now.

Therefore, Renduoyading was also certain that once Liangzhou City was broken, the Song army would definitely not spare him alive.

Fearing that the Song army would continue to test firing cannons, Renduoyaiding and his generals had their meal on the city wall. The meal was just a bowl of brown rice with some onions and leeks.

However, the Dangxiang people were not very different in wealth and status at that time. For example, Renduoyating, the commander of the army, only ate brown rice, and the soldiers also ate brown rice, which was not inappropriate. However, Renduoyating and the generals used porcelain bowls for food, while the soldiers used wooden bowls, which were the only luxuries.

Renduo Yading still adheres to the tradition of the Qingtang people, braiding his hair and wearing a left-side lapel. Sometimes he can't stand his son Renduo Baozhong learning to wear a headscarf and right-side lapel Hanfu like the Han people.

He believed that sinicization would destroy the bravery and martial spirit of the Dangxiang people.

But he also understood that the implementation of the Han system would help the king to implement centralization. For example, the Liang clan's original tribal system, although there was a worry of fragmentation, also maintained the custom of the Dangxiang people's bravery and war. Although Renduo Yading had his objections, Dangxiang generals like him who came from Qingtang and Han surrendered ministers like Li Qing all belonged to the category of "poor families" and could only gain power by relying on the king.

So he didn't object in the end.

Later he found that there was no way around it to implement the Han system, for example, the rice of the Han people was indeed more delicious than cheese.

But now Renduo Yading realized that he might not even be able to afford brown rice.

Because he foresaw that Liangzhou would be attacked by the Song army, Renduoya Ding had prepared for this battle in advance and dug cellars deep inside the city of Liangzhou to store military rations to prevent the Song army from besieging the city.

But they did not expect that when Wen Xixin and Wang Shan's troops from the south of the Song army arrived, the tribes near Liangzhou were worried about being slaughtered by the Song army because of the previous misdeeds of the Song army, and they poured into Liangzhou city from all directions.

Even the Song army did it on purpose, driving the elderly, the weak, women and children from all directions into Liangzhou City, while detaining the young and strong, and forcing all the nearby tribesmen to flee into Liangzhou City.

These tribes were in a state of panic. After entering the city, they had no food or clothing and poor discipline, so Renduoya Ding had to send troops to suppress them. These hundreds of thousands of newly arrived old, weak, women and children consumed the food reserves in the city, but their use in defending the city was very limited.

There is not enough food in Liangzhou right now, and such means make Renduoya Ding secretly frightened.

When had the Song army resorted to such ruthless means to achieve its goals?

……

After the Western and Central Song armies joined forces at the city of Liangzhou.

Many generals gathered.

Li Hao and Wang Wenyu, the two most famous generals in Xihe Road, are not here, but are used in other important positions.

Wang Wenyu was stationed in Zhuolao City and Gaizhu City, ready to support Liangzhou or the Eastern Route Army at any time.

Li Hao was originally stationed in Lanzhou to support the two routes.

But after the army of more than 200,000 joined forces, they ran out of food and fodder. Fan Yu ordered Li Hao to lead 10,000 men and 30,000 civilian servants who had just returned to escort food and fodder to the city of Liangzhou.

The joining of the two armies was a welcome event, but the atmosphere in the tent was somewhat heavy.

The generals in the account belong to the eastern and western military camps, the Han and foreign factions, and the distinction between civil officials and military generals.

In fact, the factions in the army were more complicated than those in the civil service, and factionalism was prevalent. There was a language barrier between the foreign and Han generals, and there was a gap of conflicting interests.

Therefore, after the joy of the initial meeting, the two sides immediately entered a stage of undercurrents.

The one who stood up to discuss the matter was Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji was born into a family of officials. His grandfather Zhao He and his father Zhao Zongdao were both famous officials. Zhao Zongdao and Han Qi were also sons-in-law of Cui Li.

Zhao Ji was the third generation of the Yanei family, but he was a general of the New Party. When he was inspecting, he found that Fu Bi's implementation of the Qingmiao Law was not beneficial, so he impeached him, which led to his retirement. Zhao Ji is currently the transport official of Qinfeng Road, specifically responsible for the transportation of grain and grass for Wang Shan's Western Army.

Officials of the New Party generally have outstanding abilities, and Zhao Ji is no exception.

This time when the Western Route Army marched northward, he made just the right calculations regarding the arrangements for food and fodder, which not only saved the greatest amount of civilian labor but also ensured the supply of the army.

Now the two armies meet to discuss.

Zhao Ji said: "Now that the army has gathered, we should release the civilians as soon as possible, otherwise we will consume food and grass here and run out of food and grass in less than ten days."

That’s right, the civilians who transport food and fodder also need to eat food themselves.

Zhao Ji continued, "Shen Cunzhong, the governor of Jingyuan Road, once did some calculations. When a large army is on the march, the most urgent task is to obtain food from the enemy."

"He did some calculations. For example, if a civilian carried six dou of rice and a soldier carried five days' worth of dry food, and a civilian paid one soldier, it would take eighteen days to go."

"Six dou of rice, two liters per person per day. Two people can eat it all in eighteen days. If you count the return trip, it will only take nine days."

"If two civilians provide one soldier with food, the journey can last 26 days. If the rice is 1 stone and 2 dou, three people can eat 6 liters a day. On the eighth day, one civilian has finished carrying all his food, so he is given 6 days of food and sent back. On the 18th day, two people can eat 4 liters a day and food. If the return journey is included, it can only last 13 days. For the first eight days, 6 liters a day. For the last five days, including the return journey, 4 liters a day and food."

"Three men provide for one soldier. A soldier can be on the march for thirty-one days and advance for sixteen days."

"According to this, we can raise an army of 100,000. One third of the baggage and supplies are enough, so we can only have 70,000 soldiers stationed in the war. We have already used 300,000 people to transport food, and it is difficult to add more. If we release the civilians for service, we will need reinforcements. If we also take into account the deaths and diseases during the war, the number of people will be slightly reduced, and the reduced food will be used to pay for the reinforcements."

When Zhao Ji heard this, some of the generals present yawned and felt very bored.

But Cai Bian knew that this was a true insight. To many people, the last two-pronged attack on the Tanguts was a failure. For example, the old party believed that the war should not have been launched, while the new party summarized the experience and believed that they had won the front battlefield, but lost only because of the lack of logistics in the end, which was not the fault of the war.

Shen Kuo has also been reviewing and summarizing his experience in more depth.

Why is the logistics insufficient? The army's supply lines should be within a few days.

Shen Kuo calculated that if three people were required to carry food to support one soldier, the supply line would have to be completed within sixteen days.

Based on the calculation that the army marches thirty miles a day, four hundred and fifty miles is the limit of the Song army's attack.

If we take into account the five days it took to attack the city, it would be only three hundred miles at most.

Shen Kuo finally concluded that of the 100,000-strong army going to war, 30,000 would be baggage troops, and there would be only 60,000 to 70,000 actual combat troops. This would require 300,000 civilians to guarantee logistics, which the imperial court would be unable to afford under normal circumstances.

The final solution to this problem is to rely on the enemy for food.

Of course, Cai Bian also saw Shen Kuo's suggestion on Zhang Yue's side. However, Shen Kuo's solution of "relying on the enemy for food" was changed by Zhang Yue to "shallow attack and fortification".

Since it was a shallow attack and construction, it seemed like a trick. Xu Xi's proposal to advance hundreds of miles in one breath to build a city was not advisable, but building a city every few miles or even dozens of miles was a waste of manpower and material resources.

At the same time, Zhang Yue highly appreciated Shen Kuo's spirit of getting to the bottom of things, and praised it as the method of "seeking truth from facts" and "being precise".

Zhao Ji said: "Lanzhou is 500 miles from Liangzhou. This time, Lanzhou dispatched 150,000 troops and 300,000 civilians. Because they used the Yellow River and Zhuanglang River for water transportation, they saved a lot of civilian labor."

"In addition, a large number of mules and horses were conscripted from the people. Camels could carry three shi, mules could carry one shi and five dou, and donkeys could carry one shi. Therefore, it was more than enough to have two civilians carry one soldier. In addition, eight-ox crossbows and mobile artillery carts were transported."

"But the civilians who stayed here consumed countless military rations. I have already sent the civilians from Huangzhou back, but I have not seen the civilians from Lanzhou, Xizhou, and Hezhou sent back."

Shen Kuo's solution was to have three people set out on the journey, eat the food and grass carried by one person, and then immediately let that person go back. However, it was very dangerous for civilians to return in the living world, so they had to be escorted by reinforcements.

Lanzhou lacked these considerations. Zhao Ji saw that in addition to the army, a large number of civilians were stockpiled under the city of Lanzhou, which would undoubtedly increase the burden of food and fodder, so he made suggestions.

This was indeed a mistake made by the Central Army, Cai Bian explained. They were planning to build artillery positions in the north of the city and fortifications at the same time. After completion, they would release the civilian laborers.

But Zhao Ji was not finished yet, and continued: "This humble official impeaches Wang Shan, the governor of Xihe Road, for allowing his soldiers to kill innocent people and slaughter civilians under the city of Liangzhou!"

After Zhao Ji finished speaking, Wang Shan sneered, and the generals on his left and right also glared at Zhao Ji.

Wang Hou, the leader, was also having a headache. So many messes had happened before the city was even captured.

Cai Bian knew very well that Zhao Ji, as a New Party official, had been highly valued by Li Xian, but he might not be so convinced by himself as Wang Anshi's son-in-law and highly valued by Zhang Yue. You have to know that the other party was the one who even Fu Bi dared to impeach.

……

When a factional struggle took place in the Liangzhou camp.

Here, the reinforcements from Xingling and two states that Renduo Yading had been looking forward to were still not arriving.

Li Bingchang, the leader of the Dangxiang Kingdom, was certainly well aware of the importance of Liangzhou.

When they learned that the Song army was attacking Liangzhou, the Tangut ministers gathered in the palace to ask for an audience with the king and the Queen Mother Liang. The two came forward to meet the ministers, and the old minister who had suggested that they should fortify the city and clear the countryside to deal with the Song army said to Li Bingchang: "Your Majesty, our Great Bai Gao State has Suizhou and Xiazhou as its head, Lingzhou as its belly, and Liangzhou as its tail."

"If we take Lingzhou, Suizhou and Xiazhou, we will be able to expand our influence. If we take Liangzhou, we will be able to establish the foundation of our Great Baigao Kingdom."

Even several Han officials said: "When Emperor Wu of Han won Liangzhou, it was said to have cut off the right arm of the Xiongnu. If Liangzhou is lost, sooner or later Jiuquan, Dunhuang and other counties will also be lost."

Seeing that Li Bingchang looked a little unhappy, several Han officials hurriedly pleaded guilty, but Li Bingchang was very generous and said: "My dear ministers, what crime have you committed in plotting against the country this time!"

Facing the collective advice of his ministers, Li Bingchang was actually moved and said: "At this critical moment of the survival of the Dangxiang, you are all loyal ministers of the country. I know what you have said, and I will do as you wish."

After the ministers left, Li Bingchang returned to the palace, picked up a bronze mirror, and looked at it repeatedly, thinking to himself, No matter how I look at it, I don't look like a ruler who will lose his country.

All the officials were in high spirits, all of them were devoted to the state. When the Song Dynasty sent troops to threaten Liangzhou, all the officials finally put aside their prejudices and gathered around me.

"Xuan Xiangguo enters the palace!"

After Liang Yibu entered the palace, Li Bingchang repeatedly urged Liang Yibu, who now held military power, to send troops. However, Li Bingchang's opinion was rejected by Liang Yibu, the prime minister.

Liang Yibu said, "Your Majesty, the weather is hot in June and July, which is not suitable for cavalry to march thousands of miles."

"We must wait until the end of July and August, when autumn comes, before we can fight the Song army."

Li Bingchang was angry, and he appointed Liang Yibu as prime minister, just to let him continue Liang Yibu's strong attack on Song. Unexpectedly, the other party rejected him outright.

"Why did the Liang family enjoy such glory today? Have you forgotten it?"

Liang Yibu said, "Your Majesty, when the prime minister of the late Tang Dynasty, Duan Wenchang, lived by begging when he was young. After he became prime minister, he changed to washing his feet in a golden basin to symbolize wealth and honor."

"I have never washed my feet in a golden basin, and I have never forgotten that although my Liang family is a minister of the Han Dynasty, they were highly valued by the emperors of two dynasties."

Li Bingchang asked: "Why don't you dare to fight?"

Liang Yibu said, "To be honest, the army was extremely depressed after the disastrous defeat in Lanzhou last year, and it has not recovered yet. I have talked with the leaders of various tribes. They were defeated in a battle with the Han army in the wild two years ago, and they are even more defeated now."

"This attack on Liangzhou is the result of years of planning by Han Xiangzhang. He has already sent the Huizhou Army to cut off Pangluoling and cut off our road to Liangzhou. The only feasible strategy at the moment is that if the Song Army fails to take Liangzhou, I will go to rescue it, just like I did under Lingzhou two years ago."

"There is no other way but to ask Liao for help! If we force our way into battle and lose in the field, we will lose Lingzhou as well."

Li Bingchang's face changed drastically when he heard this. He did not expect Liang Yibu to be so pessimistic. He had tried to ask for help from the Liao Kingdom, but the conditions offered by the Liao Kingdom were difficult for him to accept.

At the same time, he was even more angry that Liang Yibu had discussed with the tribal leaders in private without informing him in advance.

This man did not have the courage and wisdom of his father Liang Yimei, but he was just like his father in being domineering and disrespectful to his superiors.

But Li Bingchang was helpless, as the military power was in the hands of the Liang family. His confidant Ren Duoya Ding was trapped in Liangzhou City, and the royal family members such as Wei Ming A Wu, who he could plan for, could not control those tribal leaders.

After Liang Yibu resigned, someone reported the letter from Renduoyading.

Li Bingchang unfolded the letter and saw that before the Song army surrounded Liangzhou City, Renduo Yading sent someone to deliver a letter to Li Bingchang.

"The Han army has surrounded Liangzhou. I am determined to defend it to the death, but I cannot hold it for long. Once Liangzhou is lost, Xuansu and Guasha will not be able to be saved either!"

"Three generations of emperors fought hundreds of battles to obtain Liangzhou. We must not abandon it!"

“No matter how difficult it is, it is up to us.”

When Li Bingchang read the letter and saw the number "It depends on human effort" at the end, he burst into tears and said, "I am incompetent. I have sent loyal ministers to guard Liangzhou, but I cannot send a single soldier to rescue."

The eunuch knew that Li Bingchang disliked Liang Yibu, so he took the opportunity to say, "Your Majesty, Liang Yibu has been in the palace these days, calling singing girls and prostitutes every day, drinking all night long, and he doesn't seem to be worried about state affairs at all. I'm afraid he wishes that General Renduo would die in Liangzhou sooner."

Li Bingchang was furious when he heard this. He thought Liang Yibu must have deliberately not rescued him and wanted to let his loyal minister and general die in Liangzhou.

Li Bingchang thought so and actually blamed Liang Yibu wrongly.

In fact, he was skeptical about Liang Yibu's absurdity in his heart, but he was a little emotional at this time.

Li Bingchang wrote back to Renduoyading, saying that he had already ordered the troops from Guazhou, Shazhou and Suzhou to the west of Liangzhou to gather in Xuanhuafu (Zhangye).

Xuanhua Prefecture is Ganzhou. Since Li Yuanhao, the Tanguts have stationed 30,000 troops here to prepare for Qingtang and Uighur. Now that the Song army has reached Liangzhou, they don't care about Qingtang and Uighur. Li Bingchang has dispatched troops from the northwest to support Liangzhou.

Li Bingchang asked him to defend Liangzhou well and wait for the arrival of reinforcements from Xingling and Guasha to lift the siege of Liangzhou.

Li Bingchang sent someone to deliver the letter right after he finished writing it, without caring whether Renduoyating, who was surrounded by the Song army, could receive the letter. He was afraid in his heart that he had let down this loyal minister.

He also didn't know whether the troops from Xuanhua Prefecture could save Liangzhou City.

Li Bingchang stood up and walked to the flower garden of the Dangxiang Palace and gazed at the sunset for a long time.

……

The Dangxiang commander in Xuanhua Prefecture had originally received an order from Liang Yibu not to rescue Liangzhou without authorization. He had to wait for his order and, after the Dangxiang main forces from Xingzhou and Lingzhou arrived, they would attack the Song army under Liangzhou from the east and west together.

However, the commander-in-chief received three more imperial edicts from Li Bingchang, asking him to rescue Liangzhou immediately, each one more severe than the last.

The commander knew that the Song army in Liangzhou was powerful, with a large number of soldiers and horses, all of whom were experienced in battle. He was afraid that his more than 30,000 soldiers could not save Liangzhou City, but under the strict order of Li Bingchang, he had to send troops to rescue.

The commander was worried about being surrounded by the Song army, so he immediately selected elite cavalry to serve as the vanguard.

However, this group of cavalry encountered the "Dangxiang Zhi" under the command of Wang Shan of the Song army.

The Dangxiangzhi was composed of surrendered Dangxiang troops, and the people of the Song Dynasty called them converted people.

The only person who could recruit converted people as his army was Wang Shan, a man with a big heart.

As Wang Shan won consecutive battles, the Dangxiang troops also expanded from 1,000 cavalry to 1,500 cavalry, and finally to 3,000 cavalry. These Dangxiang troops knew that they had betrayed the Dangxiang, so if they failed in the battle with the Dangxiang army, the other side would not tolerate them.

So they fought extra hard.

The battle between the two armies was extremely fierce as soon as it started.

In the end, Dangxiang Zhi won and wiped out most of the elite vanguard troops.

When the commander of Xuanhua Prefecture learned that the elite vanguard had been defeated, he immediately led his army to retreat thirty miles and no longer dared to rescue.

(End of this chapter)