met free Page 1587
Page 1587
A squad of soldiers stood guard.
To prevent anyone from storming the city gates from inside the city.
Seeing the king from afar,
The guards then moved the wooden fence aside.
Zhao Yuan also had some impression of these old men from Liangshan.
He reined in his horse and stopped, laughing.
Are you used to the climate here?
The soldiers saw that the king had asked them questions.
They all chimed in, saying, "It's a habit."
Zhao Yuan asked a few more questions.
Then he spurred his horse and headed towards the city gate.
Zhang Qing saw the king coming to inspect from the city wall.
They also dismounted from the city wall.
The Western Xia had many cavalry.
The city wall passageways were also built so that warhorses could ride directly up them.
More than ten feet apart,
Zhang Qing then cupped his hands and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "No need for formalities."
"Any movement from the Tanguts?"
Zhang Qing reported, "There have been cavalry scouts outside the city since this morning."
"It seems the Tanguts will be attacking the city today."
"Their arrival will only bring them more battle merits,"
"Let's go up to town and take a look."
The group rode their horses up to the city wall.
Sure enough, several Western Xia cavalrymen could be seen monitoring the area outside the city.
Zhang Qing's thousand men were divided into two shifts.
Five hundred men guarding
Five hundred people are resting.
Some of the remains are on the streets below the city walls and at the breaches in the walls.
The guards on the city wall appeared very sparse.
However, the group was not worried about being ambushed by the Western Xia people.
The moat, ten zhang wide, was built by the Western Xia people themselves.
This is now an insurmountable gap for them.
The Western Xia wanted to attack the city.
The moat must be filled in.
It would take at least a day to fill in the moat, which is ten zhang wide.
The defending forces had ample time to redeploy their troops.
Zhao Yuan and his four companions looked around the south gate.
Then they turned from the city wall toward the east gate.
I chatted with Tao Zongwang for a few minutes at the East Gate.
As we walked towards the North Gate,
But then they heard the sound of an alarm drum from the south gate.
"go!"
Zhao Yuan turned his horse around.
He took the lead and galloped towards the south gate.
Horses can run on the city wall, which is three zhang high.
Once the warhorse is startled,
They might jump off the city wall.
It's quite thrilling, like walking a tightrope over a cliff.
It was just a simple warning.
The soldiers along the way continued to defend their city walls.
There was no reassignment.
The southern city wall.
Then they saw a cloud of dust rising several miles away.
It looked like a large army was coming to attack.
Zhao Yuan slowed down his horse.
When we arrived at the South Gate,
Dense numbers of soldiers and horses had already appeared on the distant horizon.
Chapter 1898 Defend the city or...?
Zhao Yuan said to Zhang Qing, who came to greet him, "Open the city gates."
Zhang Qing didn't ask any more questions.
He shouted to the soldiers on the city wall, "Open the city gate!"
Upon hearing this, the soldiers on the city wall...
Start turning the winch immediately.
The suspension bridge was slowly lowered.
Zhao Yuan laughed and said, "The five of us will go and challenge the Western Xia generals."
"If the Western Xia army launches a surprise attack and seizes the gate,"
"General Zhang, please wait for us to enter the city,"
"Use fire bombs and crossbows to seal off the city gates."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Qing hurriedly said,
"I wasn't satisfied yesterday either,"
"The task of sealing the city gates can be left to Gong Wang and Ding Desun."
Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "Very well."
"Then make the arrangements, we'll leave the city."
Zhang Qing thought for a moment.
He said to Gong Wangding's grandson,
"Gong Wang, take some men and set up defenses outside the city."
"If the Western Xia army captures the city,"
"Once we return to the city, we'll use the crossbow to seal off the city gate."
"Ding Desun, take some men and stay on the city wall,"
"After we return to the city, you can use fire bombs to blast the Western Xia people outside the moat."
"Don't blow up the suspension bridge unless absolutely necessary."
"Order!"
"Order!"
Zhao Yuan, Sun Li, Zhang Qing, Han Shizhong, Liu Qi, and Yao Pingzhong left the city and lined up in a row.
Sun Lidao: "Still the same order as yesterday?"
Zhao Yuan laughed and said, "I'll go first today."
"I watched your dueling yesterday,"
"I'm getting a little itchy to try it myself."
Yesterday's duel,
The generals of Liang fought three rounds of battle.
Undefeated
They killed dozens of Western Xia generals.
Zhao Yuan was also itching to join in.
However, it was observed that Xiao Heda did not have any particularly strong generals under his command.
So they did not participate in the battle.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Qing smiled and said,
"What merit or ability do the Western Xia generals have to trouble Your Majesty to take the field?"
"Furthermore, Your Majesty should not try to steal our credit."
Sun Li also smiled and said, "That's right."
"Your Majesty, then watch us achieve great things."
Seeing that both of them said this, Zhao Yuan smiled helplessly.
"Then I'll give you credit for it."
The Western Xia troops that arrived were from Huai Prefecture, Jing Prefecture, and Shun Prefecture.
The leader was Prince Shu, Renli, who had fled yesterday.
Yesterday, Daliang attacked the city.
Renli also received the news very quickly.
After hearing that earth-shattering sound,
Renli immediately fled through the east gate and headed straight for Huaizhou.
The cities on the Yinchuan Plain are quite concentrated.
Huaizhou is only twenty li away from Xingqing Prefecture.
Jingzhou is only thirty or forty li away.
After Renli fled to Huaizhou,
He immediately sent word to Jingzhou and the Shunzhou troops who were chasing after the Liang army.
The fast horses of Shunzhou could outrun the fleet of ships.
However, the army could not outpace the fleet.
Moreover, the general of Shunzhou was not worried that Xingqing Prefecture would fall in a single day.
He led his troops in pursuit.
It was merely an attempt to demonstrate loyalty to the new ruler.