Chapter 266: Great River Rolls On
On the land of Liangzhou, numerous civilian laborers drove horse carriages and camels that snaked eastward, leaving long tracks on the scorching yellow earth road.
Sand and dust filled the sky, boundless, like a scarred, grayish-brown long snake.
They were the convoy transporting grain to Yuanchuan Granary.
This was because the civilian laborers and carts and horses conscripted by the Northern Frontier Army in Yuanchuan Granary and the local area were simply not enough to transport all the more than 300,000 shi of military grain.
Song dynasty regulations stipulated that the weight of one shi of grain was 120 jin.
One horse carriage could carry five shi of grain, one camel could carry two shi, one horse could carry one shi, and a civilian laborer could carry half a shi of grain while walking for a long time.
To transport all the more than 300,000 shi of military grain would require 60,000 horse carriages, 150,000 camels, over 300,000 horses, or 600,000 civilian laborers.
Any single one of these items, taken alone, was an impossible task.
Therefore, Li Xiao utilized all the transport capacity from Zhuoluo City and Liangzhou, with horse carriages, camels, and human and animal power all working together, to save as much time as possible for transporting the grain.
Among this convoy of civilian laborers, one horse carriage seemed particularly special, not because of its luxury.
It was because it was escorted by four Northern Frontier cavalrymen.
Curled up inside was Li Anquan, the Deputy Marshal of the Western Expeditionary Army and the Zhenyi Commandery Prince of Western Xia.
At this moment, he had long lost the imposing presence he displayed on the battlefield.
He was wearing an ill-fitting hemp shirt, stained with mud and sweat, with a large tear on his shoulder, and his disheveled hair stuck to his dirt-covered face.
His eye sockets were sunken, and his hair had turned significantly gray, making him look ten years older.
In a short span of half a month, the tumultuous twists of fate had transformed him from a high-ranking prince into a prisoner.
His entire demeanor was listless, having lost hope in life.
He had thought that the Northern Frontier Army had brought him out of prison to behead him.
But slowly, Li Anquan felt something was amiss; the four Northern Frontier cavalrymen were escorting him out of the city, and there were endless civilian laborers and carts and horses all around.
“Brothers, can you tell me where we are going?”
Li Anquan asked the four Northern Frontier cavalrymen, his tone slightly humble, yet doing his best to maintain his dignity as royalty of Western Xia.
“Stop talking nonsense. You’ll know when we get there,”
The leading Northern Frontier cavalryman glanced at him askance and said coldly.
Li Anquan had no choice but to obediently curl up back into the carriage.
It was a pity that all his valuables had already been confiscated, otherwise he could have bribed these soldiers.
After leaving Liangzhou City, Li Anquan discovered they were heading eastward.
“Are they sending me back to Hedong?” Li Anquan pondered, frowning.
When they rested at night, he overheard some civilian laborers vaguely talking about going to fetch grain.
Li Anquan’s heart trembled, and he exclaimed in shock, “Could it be… Yuanchuan Granary?”
Mobilizing so many civilian laborers and carts and horses to fetch grain from the east, the only possibility he could think of was that Yuanchuan Granary had been captured by the Northern Frontier Army.
The subsequent journey further confirmed his suspicions.
They passed through Tiger Wolf Valley, traversed Wushao Ridge, and headed southeast along the direction of the Kaluo River Valley.
That location was precisely Yuanchuan Granary.
“Yuanchuan Granary has really been captured by those Northern Frontier barbarians?” Li Anquan’s heart was shaken.
Western Xia had four major granaries, but two of them had fallen into the hands of the Northern Frontier Army.
Among them, Yuanchuan Granary also held a large amount of grain transported from Xingqing Prefecture and Lingzhou City, which was intended to be military provisions for the Western Expeditionary Army, and it had all been captured by the Northern Frontier Army.
The consequences were quite dire.
Famine!
By the latter half of the year at the latest, a famine would erupt within Western Xia.
But then, Li Anquan shook his head with a bitter smile. He himself was a prisoner; he didn’t know if he would even make it back to Xingqing Prefecture alive.
Why worry so much?
The Northern Frontier cavalry had advanced forcefully from Liangzhou City to Yuanchuan Granary in less than three days.
However, this large-scale convoy of carts and horses took more than ten days to reach Yuanchuan Granary.
Along the way, they also encountered another convoy of grain carriers.
It was the civilian laborers and carts and horses conscripted by the Northern Frontier Army from Zhuoluo City and the surrounding areas of Yuanchuan Granary, who had brought some of the grain back to Liangzhou ahead of time.
Roulang Mountain is located north of present-day Jingyuan, on the eastern bank of the Yellow River.
To the south is the territory of the Jin Dynasty, and to the north is another mountain range called Lingbo Mountain.
Traveling from Xingqing Prefecture to Hexi primarily involved passing through the corridor between these two mountains.
Therefore, Western Xia established the Baotai Military Command here to guard against the Jin Dynasty army south of Roulang Mountain and also to guard against any changes from Hexi.
The only large pontoon bridge in the upper reaches of the Yellow River was located between the two mountains.
On this day, the sound of hooves like muffled thunder exploded on the yellow earth road along the western bank of the Yellow River, and three warhorses carried blood-soaked cavalrymen at a gallop.
The man at the head had a tilted helmet, an arrow shaft still dripping blood from his left shoulder. He gripped the reins tightly, and his hoarse voice shouted loudly, “The Northern Frontier barbarians are here!”
“The Northern Frontier barbarians are here!”
“Quick, burn the pontoon bridge!”
Hearing this, the Western Xia soldiers on the west bank of the pontoon bridge were greatly alarmed, “The Northern Frontier barbarians are here?”
“Quick, quick, immediately burn the pontoon bridge.”
“We absolutely cannot let the Northern Frontier barbarians enter Hedong.”
A Western Xia military general shouted in a panicked manner.
Afterward, a soldier immediately took out a fire starter from his bosom and turned to the general with a reluctant look.
“General, are we really burning it?”
“It took so much effort to build this pontoon bridge.”
The Western Xia court had mobilized a large amount of manpower and resources to build this pontoon bridge, and many civilian laborers had drowned during its construction.
The soldier’s father had died because of the bridge construction, and now he had to burn it down. He felt very uneasy.
However, his hesitation earned him a fierce kick from the general, who knocked him to the ground, snatched the fire starter, and cursed, “This is the Commander’s order. Who dares disobey?”
“Moreover, if we don’t burn the pontoon bridge, when the Northern Frontier barbarians charge over, we will all die.”
With that, the general lit the dry grass that had already been laid out.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~”
Instantly, flames rose, igniting the dry grass soaked in tung oil, burning more and more fiercely. In just a short while, it spread throughout the entire pontoon bridge.
At this time, the Northern Frontier cavalry was less than a mile away from the pontoon bridge.
“Myriad Household Commander, the pontoon bridge has been burned.”
Upon hearing his personal guard’s shout, Wei Xuan, clad in white cotton armor with red trim, frowned, his eyes suddenly becoming sharp.
Looking towards the eastern sky, he could indeed see billowing black smoke rising, and the air was filled with a burnt, foul odor.
“Whoa~”
Soon, Wei Xuan reined in his warhorse on the western bank of the Yellow River, looking at the pontoon bridge burning like a fiery dragon, and said with a slight shake of his head, “These Western Xia people are quite alert.”
He squinted his eyes, his gaze sweeping across the Western Xia garrison on the opposite bank. They all appeared to be on high alert.
They seemed to be intimidated by the notoriety of the Northern Frontier Army.
“I thought it would be a fierce battle, but I didn’t expect…” Wei Xuan shook his head.
Then, his gaze fell upon the magnificent great river before him.
The clear river water, carrying ice floes and deadwood washed down from upstream, surged and roared forward.
The spray from the waves hitting the riverbank rose ten feet high. The turbulent waves, majestic and powerful, had now transformed into a true giant dragon, blocking their path with destructive force.
This was hardly a riverbed that could be simply marked on a map.
It was clearly a wild and powerful natural beast.
“This is the legendary Great River. It is truly magnificent,” Wei Xuan said with a deep sigh.
Having grown up in the Northern Frontier, this was his first time in Guanlong, his first time truly experiencing the grandeur of “the Yellow River’s water coming from the heavens.”
The records of the Yellow River in border region texts from his memory seemed so pale and powerless in front of this actual scene.
This was the mother river of Huaxia, the root of Huaxia.
Unfortunately, it was occupied by the Dangxiang people.
“Although the Great River is wide, it can only protect them for a while.”
“Sooner or later, our Northern Frontier Army will cross the Great River and tread upon the Helan Mountains.”
Wei Xuan said with a solemn expression, his heroic face filled with unwavering resolve.
To expel the Dangxiang people and return the Yellow River’s source to the orthodoxy of Huaxia was the undeniable duty of a man of the Northern Frontier.
As night fell, Wei Xuan led his Myriad Household cavalry to camp on the western bank of the Yellow River.
The pontoon bridge on the opposite bank had turned into a sea of fire, while the Yellow River below continued to surge tirelessly.
Wei Xuan sat by the Yellow River, watching the moonlight sprinkle on the river’s surface, the shimmering scene intermingling with the distant firelight.
He remained there alone for a long time.
The next day, as the army departed, Wei Xuan personally scooped a handful of Yellow River water with his water pouch.
“The Northern Frontier barbarians have retreated?”
On the eastern bank of the Yellow River, Fang Dangyipu, the Commander of the Baotai Military Command, stood on the bank. Seeing the Northern Frontier cavalry disappear into the dawn, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This was the first time he had directly faced the oppressive might of the Northern Frontier Army.
The all-cavalry force in pristine white armor exuded a formidable aura. Even across the surging Yellow River, one could clearly feel the bloodthirsty and murderous intent of the Northern Frontier Army.
It was as if, with a single command, they would transform into an avalanche-like torrent of steel, crushing everything in their path into dust.
“Fortunately, our army is protected by the natural barrier of the Yellow River. Otherwise, it would be difficult to resist the cavalry of these Northern Frontier barbarians.”
Fang Dangyipu said with relief.
Moreover, he had already confiscated all the ships on both banks of the Yellow River in advance. It was impossible for the Northern Frontier Army to cross the great river.
The Baotai Military Command was temporarily safe.
“Report to the Bureau of Military Affairs: the Northern Frontier barbarians are preparing to cross the river and advance eastward. Baotai will ambush them mid-crossing and heavily cripple the Northern Frontier barbarians…”
The embers of the Yellow River pontoon bridge were still emitting blue smoke, while the land west of the river had already become a battlefield for the Northern Frontier Army to roam freely.
They rode tall horses, sweeping through every village like a white plague.
Wherever they went, the cries of the common people and the moans of livestock echoed to the heavens.
Landlords and wealthy households, in particular, became the primary targets of the Northern Frontier Army. All of them were left with ruined families and their money and grain plundered.
Even those who had committed evil deeds in the past would be publicly executed by the Northern Frontier Army, gaining the favor of the populace.
Therefore, many common people were moved by the “sincerity” and “flatbread” of the Northern Frontier Army and were prepared to follow them to the Northern Frontier territory.
Sixty percent of the grain was enough to feed the entire family.
Outside Zhuoluo City, the cavalry of the Northern Frontier Army surged back and forth across the land like a white tide.
Hooves shattered the gravel on the ground, and the rising yellow-brown dust formed a dense net that enveloped the entire city.
The cavalry Centurion at the head abruptly reined in his horse, causing the warhorse to rear up.
His fierce gaze fixed on the city wall, revealing a ferocious scar that slashed diagonally from the corner of his eye to his jaw.
“Listen, people inside Zhuoluo City! Open the gates and surrender immediately!”
“Otherwise, when the city is broken, we will massacre for three days, leaving no survivors!”
Behind him, thousands of Northern Frontier soldiers shouted in unison, “Kill, kill, kill!”
The roaring sound reached the city walls, startling the Western Xia guards so much that their spears trembled in their hands.
Inside the city walls, Yeli Wajie, the Commander of the Henan Military Command, tightly gripped the bricks and stones of the observation hole, his expression grave.
Yuanchuan Granary had already been breached, and the Northern Frontier Army would have more manpower to attack Zhuoluo City.
At that moment, the Deputy General rushed over, his expression terrified, “Commander, our messenger has returned.”
“It seems the Northern Frontier barbarians deliberately let them into the city to bring us this message.”
Hearing this, Yeli Wajie frowned, “What message?”
“The Yellow River pontoon bridge has been burned by the Baotai Military Command. All cities and strongholds in Hexi have fallen. Now, only our Zhuoluo City and Xining Prefecture remain west of the Great River.”
Hearing this, Yeli Wajie felt his vision darken, and his body swayed slightly. He quickly grabbed the city wall to avoid falling.
But his face grew even paler, his eyes filled with rage and ferocity.
“The Baotai Military Command burned the pontoon bridge?”
“Fang Dangyipu, I’ll curse your maternal grandmother.”
Yeli Wajie pointed towards the direction of Roulang Mountain and cursed angrily.
Not satisfied, he even cursed all the female ancestors of Fang Dangyipu for eighteen generations.
This bastard was truly worthless.
While he himself was a coward who feared death, he had instead plunged Zhuoluo City into a desperate situation.
Burning the Yellow River pontoon bridge would indeed prevent the Northern Frontier Army from advancing eastward, but it also hindered the speed at which the Imperial Court’s army could reinforce Hexi.
Currently, only Zhuoluo City stood as an isolated stronghold west of the Yellow River.
No external reinforcements, and no morale internally.
The army numbered less than seven thousand, with less than eight hundred elite troops; most of the rest were civilian laborers.
How could this battle be fought?
But at this moment, a deep roar suddenly erupted across heaven and earth, exploding outside Zhuoluo City like lightning from a clear sky.
“Boom, boom, boom, boom~”
It was the twenty Tiger Zun Cannons.
The Divine Might Cannons were too cumbersome to be transported to Zhuoluo City in a short time, so they could only use the Tiger Zun Cannons for an initial bombardment of the city.
Twenty dark shadows streaked across the sky, smashing into the city wall with fiery trails, and the guards on the city wall let out terrified screams.
The first cannonball hit a soldier directly, piercing his chest. Gravel mixed with flesh and blood rained down, creating a bowl-sized indentation on the parapet.
Other cannonballs also hit the city wall one after another. In a short period, the surface of the city wall was pockmarked by the explosions.
Although the Tiger Zun Cannons were not as powerful as the Divine Might Cannons, they were still more potent than catapults.
Feeling the vibration of the city wall beneath his feet, Yeli Wajie was completely stunned.
All his hopes vanished. The terrifying weapons of the Northern Frontier Army could indeed pose a fatal threat to the city walls.
And this is before he had witnessed the power of the Divine Might Cannon; otherwise, he would have been even more astonished.
“Commander, Commander~”
“It’s too dangerous on the city wall, let’s retreat quickly,” the deputy general shouted with a trembling voice.
Upon hearing this, Yeli Wajie’s face showed despair.
“Leave? Where to?”
In the entire Hexi Corridor, where was there any place of peace?
“Open the city gates!”
Yeli Wajie’s voice was so low it was almost inaudible, yet it plunged all the soldiers around into silence.
“The Great River pontoon bridge has been burned, we are now an isolated army, there is no hope.”
“Surrender!”
At the same time, Li Xiao stood among the army outside the city, calmly watching the Tiger Zun Cannons relentlessly bombard the city wall.
The Yellow River pontoon bridge had been burned, and the entire Western Bank of the Yellow River had become a playground for the Northern Frontier Army.
Therefore, Li Xiao was not in a hurry to break through Zhuoluo City; he had plenty of time to wear it down.
Just then, a personal guard from the command tent stepped forward: “Reporting to the Great Protector, Xia’s puppet king, Li Anquan, has been brought.”
Li Xiao slowly lowered his telescope and said in a deep voice, “Bring him up.”
“As you command.”
Hundreds of Wuwei Army soldiers, clad in yellow armor, stood like a silent iron wall, stretching across the area outside Zhuoluo City, their indifferent gazes fixed on Li Anquan as he slowly approached.
Feeling the killing intent emanating from the Wuwei Army soldiers, Li Anquan clenched his fists, his fingernails digging deeply into his flesh, managing to suppress his panic before walking step by step towards Li Xiao.
Dragon patterned armor, dark gold and shimmering, encased Li Xiao’s mountain-like physique. The moment he looked down, his shadow enveloped Li Anquan entirely.
His pair of black eyes seemed devoid of any emotion, as deep as a dark abyss. When they swept over him carelessly, Li Anquan felt as though he were being stared at by a fierce beast.
This was the first time he had faced the commander of the Northern Frontier Army since his capture.
However, the sense of oppression emanating from Li Xiao surged like a tide, causing his mind to panic, and he involuntarily wanted to avert his gaze from Li Xiao.
But the pride in his bloodline forced him to lift his chin, grinding his back molars tightly: “I am the Zhenyi Commandery Prince of Great Xia, the direct grandson of Emperor Chongzong, how dare barbarians insult me!”
Seeing him in this state, a hint of disappointment flashed in Li Xiao’s eyes.
In history, Li Anquan, in collusion with Empress Dowager Luo, deposed Li Chunyou and proclaimed himself emperor. He had thought him to be a resolute individual.
But he had not expected him to be nothing more than common stock.
Although he feigned composure in front of him, Li Xiao, having seen countless people, could not fail to discern his outward ferocity masking inner weakness.
It was understandable.
If Li Anquan had truly been a formidable figure, how could he have been deposed by Prince Qi, Li Zunxu, just five years after deposing Li Chunyou.
His capabilities were thus limited.
He would serve well for Li Xiao’s purposes.
“Your Highness the Prince of Yue? I have long admired your reputation.”
“I am the Commander Li Xiao.”
Li Xiao suddenly spoke, his voice as low as sandpaper scraping against an iron sword.
Upon hearing the title “Prince of Yue,” Li Anquan felt a surge of humiliation, and he gritted his teeth, angrily retorting: “You are Li Xiao?”
“You are merely a barbarian cloaked in Han attire, acting like a jackal!”
“Li Xiao! I have always kept to my own territory, and you, Li Xiao, with your wolfish ambition, have brazenly attacked my Hexi Corridor!”
“Which of the old, young, women, and children in Hexi is innocent? Yet you allow your iron cavalry to burn, kill, and loot.”
“The over twenty thousand officers and soldiers of Shanle City were all burned to ashes by you; your heart is more venomous than a snake or scorpion.”
“Where the Northern Frontier Cavalry has passed, villages have turned into ruins, and common people lie dead in the wilderness…”
Facing Li Anquan’s furious curses, Li Xiao remained as calm as ever: “Are you finished speaking?”
“No,” Li Anquan shouted.
He pointed a trembling finger at Zhuoluo City, which was being bombarded by cannon fire, his eyes filled with grief and indignation: “You all claim to want to rescue the Han People, but in reality, for your own selfish desires, you have forced the war upon our Great Xia.”
“As a Han person, you have abandoned righteousness and shame, and are more brutal than barbarians…”
Li Xiao gripped the hilt of his dagger, meeting his gaze coldly, as if the frenzied commandery prince before him were merely a noisy ant.
Only when Li Anquan had cursed himself hoarse did he slowly raise his head and say in a leisurely tone, “You, Li Anquan, are quite a character.”
“Even from the Northern Frontier, I have heard much of your abilities.”
“It’s a shame, I am truly too far away to reach you; otherwise, I would also like to witness the demeanor of the Xia Kingdom’s Empress Dowager.”
Hearing Li Xiao’s words, Li Anquan was instantly stunned, his eyes wide, looking at Li Xiao with an expression of disbelief.
“You~ you you you you~”
At this moment, his face was filled with panic, as if his most shameful secret had been exposed.
His mind was completely blank.
His affair with Empress Dowager Luo was a secret of secrets; very few people even among those closest to them knew about it.
How could Li Xiao, who was so far away in the Northern Frontier, know about it?
“You, you are talking nonsense.”
“Fabricating things out of thin air~”
“This King does not understand what you are talking about!” Li Anquan said, his voice trembling.
Li Xiao merely smiled slightly, and on this matter, he could not help but look up to Li Anquan a bit more.
Because this fellow genuinely had some ability!
He had colluded with Empress Dowager Luo.
And most crucially, he had even managed to persuade Empress Dowager Luo to jointly stage a coup, depose her own son, and establish himself as emperor.
In this regard, the past figures of Lao Ai, the Zhang Yi brothers, and Li Yi of the Northern Wei were all weak compared to Li Anquan.
Therefore, Li Xiao truly admired Li Anquan.
However, the most fundamental reason was the power struggle between Empress Dowager Luo and Li Chunyou; both were power-hungry, one unwilling to relinquish power, the other unwilling to be a puppet.
This ultimately allowed Li Anquan to seize the opportunity.
“If you want no one to know, you must not do it. I am not talking nonsense; you know that very well in your heart,” Li Xiao said with a faint smile.
“However, I have long yearned to experience Empress Dowager Luo’s notorious reputation.”
“I am very eager to witness firsthand how the taste of a dignified Empress Dowager differs from that of an ordinary woman.”
“It will certainly be more interesting than breaking through ten cities!”
Li Xiao looked at Li Anquan playfully, a sickening sneer curling the corners of his lips.
These words, however, were like a poisoned dagger, piercing Li Anquan’s heart fiercely.
As Empress Dowager Luo’s lover, how could he watch his woman be so humiliated by Li Xiao?
But then, he suddenly thought of something: “You, you are not going to kill me?”
