Chapter 440: Living Toward Death

The northwest wind raged, dust and sand flew, and a light cavalry team of more than two hundred men ate dust.

The horses moved their hooves nimbly, trotting forward. Behind the team, someone was driving more than a hundred empty horses without riders, wrapping them up and moving along with the team.

The leader was riding a horse that was exceptionally tall, fat, and strong, standing out in this line. His armor was also different from the others—a Qilin-patterned belly guard, dark gold arm guards, phoenix-winged helmet, and a dark red cloak tied to his shoulder guards. The colors on the cloak were different; some were dark red, some bright red, and it wasn't hard to see that they were originally bright red, only dyed deep by blood and dust.

He raised one hand, supporting the eight-foot-long horse spear he was carrying on his shoulder, with a short saber at his waist, a long horse saber tied to his horse, and the armor plates flapping with the ups and downs, making the sound unique to armor, and that large red cloak dancing and fluttering with the gale. The knights behind followed suit, learning the leader's sloppy and calm manner. No one spoke, only the sound of horse hooves and the wind.

Suddenly, in the distant horizon, a firework exploded into the sky.

Wang Yan didn't speak. Behind him, someone took out a fire starter, pulled a tube-shaped object from the horse bag, lit the fuse, and held it high in the air. After a moment, there was an explosion, and a larger firework exploded in the sky.

Looking up at the fireworks, Wang Yan clamped his horse's belly, and the warhorse accelerated, heading toward the destination. Behind him, one hundred men automatically split off to follow, while the rest, protecting the eunuchs and civil officials in the team, still followed the original speed.

With the horse's galloping, one hundred-man team after another continuously joined Wang Yan'

The troop's momentum did not cease; after galloping up a fairly high earthen mound, Wang Yan reined in his horse and stopped.

Before them lay a vast, open expanse. A troop of over three hundred riders was fleeing for their lives toward them, pursued by over a thousand cavalrymen raining arrows down upon them. Further in the distance, small squads of a hundred men were merging into groups of thousands, converging from all directions.

The thousand pursuing cavalrymen, seeing the sea of cavalry appearing on the earthen slope, also halted their pursuit. Without a word, the vanguard became the rearguard, and they turned to flee.

Wang Yan shook his head; they never learned. Bored, he waved his hand. The knights beside him didn't say a word; they raised the long spears resting on their shoulders, tucked them under their arms, held the reins in one hand, and with a shout, clamped their legs against the horses' bellies, charging down with wild cries.

This was northern Western Xia, belonging to the Western Xia heartland. However, Western Xia's geography was poor; most places were not wealthy, and the population was only around three million, mostly concentrated where they bordered the Song and Liao, where the large cities were located. But there were people in other places too, farming and herding. These two were their pillar industries. What he did was the work of ecological destruction. He killed every cow and sheep he saw, drove off any horses he could, and trampled any farmland he entered.

The population of Western Xia was complex, consisting of Han, Tangut, Uyghur, and some Mongols, among others. However, the people of lands not yet conquered were not considered people. Whether they starved to death or were hacked to death had little to do with him.

Furthermore, Western Xia was a nation in arms; any adult male could wield a blade or spear, so they had to be killed. However, there was no wanton killing; as long as they held weapons, men, women, old, or young, they were all cut down; those without weapons were left alone. But this rule was poorly implemented because they had been killing in Western Xia territory for a year, and there were always people picking up weapons to resist. Later, after capturing people for questioning, they learned that their reputation had been ruined, with rumors saying they killed everywhere they went. This stirred the people's hearts to resist; after all, death was certain either way, so they might as well resist fiercely and bite off a piece of flesh before dying.

Of course, that was how it was said, but those who could live did not want to die. They all moved south, becoming refugees, gathering outside the various large cities, as the small cities offered no sense of security.

This was also something Wang Yan intentionally controlled. He came here with two goals: one was to train troops, and the other was to find an opportunity to annihilate Western Xia. So, when he first arrived, he slaughtered livestock and destroyed farmland outside Western Xia's large cities, then lured Western Xia's pursuing troops to run all over their own territory, causing destruction everywhere. He consciously drove the Western Xia populace south, increasing the burden on the large cities. At the same time, the Great Song closed the border markets, ceased trade with them, and stationed four hundred thousand troops, sharpening their blades and preparing for war. This made them afraid to send large forces to pursue and encircle the cavalry, forcing them to send only small-scale troops to intercept.

But this was useless; what Wang Yan feared least was Mobile Corps Commander warfare. Nurhaci and Hong Taiji were the cautionary tales.

The Northern Restoration Army had a full strength of fifty thousand. Of course, it was impossible to reach full strength; there weren't enough qualified horses, nor enough qualified soldiers. Even the cavalry equipment was funded by the national treasury, with Wang Yan's factories taking the orders and manufacturing them on assembly lines under supervision. Otherwise, in two years, arming forty thousand cavalrymen, and doing so according to the armaments he designed, would have been basically impossible. Thus, affected by this, the entire army had only forty-two thousand men.

Among them, there were six thousand heavy cavalrymen, who could not engage in field Mobile Corps Commander warfare. After all, the equipment for six thousand heavy cavalry required over a thousand wagons to haul; how could they come and go like the wind?

All things have their counter; heavy-armored Mo-dao soldiers could counter cavalry, but countering heavy cavalry was difficult. And heavy cavalry, when charging against light cavalry, were like cutting through melons and vegetables. But limited by the weight of the equipment and the stamina of the horses, they lacked endurance, making it hard to deal with cavalry kite-flying tactics because they couldn't catch up. If they could catch up, it would naturally be a slaughter, one spear-thrust per kill. Therefore, the six thousand heavy cavalry were stationed on the front lines to pin down the enemy and were also responsible for meeting and supporting Wang Yan and the others. After all, Western Xia also had hundreds of thousands of troops; if they were truly pushed to desperation, there had to be a path of retreat. Six thousand heavy cavalry could poke a hole through even a mountain of men.

Therefore, the troops Wang Yan actually brought into Western Xia numbered only thirty-six thousand. His tactics were simple, just as they were playing out before them: small units operating independently. At first, they used a unit of twenty-five hundred men as a base, divided into ten squads spaced twenty miles apart, killing and plundering everywhere, wiping out large enemy forces behind enemy lines. Later, bit by bit, they broke into units of two thousand, fifteen hundred, one thousand, five hundred, until the current squads of one hundred. Even with several thousand casualties, there were still over twenty thousand men, divided into over two hundred squads of one hundred.

Each squad was spaced fifteen miles apart; if calculated by straight-line distance, that was more than fifteen kilometers, a carpet-style sweep. Of course, the actual execution couldn't be done exactly like that, because one had to consider the assembly speed for support and the fatigue of the men and horses when gathering. Thus, they were dispersed front-to-back and left-to-right, covering an area of over five square kilometers. In addition, there were scout squads sent out twenty kilometers; as soon as a large enemy force approached, they would immediately assemble to engage. If not, they would act as small squads, slaughtering everywhere.

Over this year, they had killed from the border of the two countries all the way to Uyghur territory, then killed their way back south, driving everyone toward the south.

It was also because of their wanton destruction, coupled with driving people south, that the pressure on the major cities increased significantly. Because there were people destroying things within their own country, and they still needed to eat and use resources, and there was no trade outside to exchange for supplies—consuming without producing—even if they sat on mountains of gold and silver, it would be hard for three million people to sustain themselves for long.

This time, trade was truly impossible; it was for real. Whoever traded with the enemy would have their clan wiped out. Wang Yan submitted a memorial, Zhao Ji gave his approval, and they were directly raided and confiscated.

It was also this that led to soaring prices and the exhaustion of the people's livelihood within Western Xia. Seeing this situation, Wang Yan concluded that Western Xia could not hold on. After all, the losses from their previous battle with Song would be hard to recover from even after three years of recuperation, because Western Xia's foundation was too small, its potential too low, and the land not very good. This time, with his purposeful destruction, it was naturally hard to last long. So, he sent a memorial to Zhao Ji, who was touring abroad and in a towering rage, explaining the situation and stating that this time they would surely achieve complete success.

Zhao Ji was not ignorant; otherwise, he wouldn't have been in such a rage. Because he always sat in the imperial palace, imagining himself wealthy enough to possess the nine provinces and ten thousand directions, but when he looked at the local areas, everyone looked sallow and emaciated, on the verge of starvation. It was something no one with a conscience could ignore, let alone him, the dignified Emperor of Great Song. He still harbored thoughts of literary and martial virtue, of being an emperor for the ages; in this situation, there was no "ages" to speak of, so it would be strange if he were happy. He had originally come out to find amusement and watch the fun, but instead, he was thoroughly disgusted.

He was the emperor, and when an emperor traveled, although not with the grand spectacle of Yang Guang, it was still not small. He brought ten thousand Imperial Guards for protection, plus hundreds of servants; the cost of feeding the people and horses along the way was also not small. However, compared to the northern expedition to conquer Liao, Wang Yan would rather Zhao Ji be extravagant domestically; the costs were vastly different.

Getting him to come out naturally took some pestering, but Zhao Ji had successively dealt with Gao Qiu and Cai Jing and was currently in a position of power, and the newly appointed Chancellor, Wang Fu, also strongly supported it, which was how it barely came to pass.

Zhao Ji's tour of the realm was no secret, and the local officials knew what the situation was like in their respective areas; naturally, there was some whitewashing of the peace along the way. But Zhao Ji was not stupid, and besides, he didn't want to follow the main force. In the words of his good son-in-law, it wasn't natural. So he would always disguise himself, escorted by guards, wandering around blindly looking at things, and that was how he saw the truth.

The bitterness on paper and the difficulties in words were far less piercing than what was seen with one's own eyes. Zhao Ji was pierced, thoroughly ashamed, and thoroughly enraged. He went to Yanggu County, arrived at Wang Family Village, and saw with his own eyes how prosperous it was. When he went to other places, the disparity was truly shocking.

So, along the way, he arrested many local officials, raided many homes, and indeed made a great deal of wealth. There was no shortage of officials; after all, they were so redundant that it endangered the survival of the state, and there were plenty of idle ones, so he properly promoted a batch.

But this was not what the court officials wanted to see, whether it was the new and old parties in the court, or the honest and corrupt officials. Anyone with a brain knew what this would incite. So, uprisings broke out in the local areas, and the ministers submitted memorials stating the roads were dangerous, urging him to return to the capital. Zhao Ji naturally understood, so he honestly returned to Bianjing and acted as if nothing had happened.

Faced with Wang Yan's memorial to attack Western Xia again, he agreed. The reasons were fully stated, and there was indeed an opportunity, and the entire court of civil and military officials agreed. Besides, if he didn't have the intention to attack Western Xia, he wouldn't have agreed to let Wang Yan take the Northern Restoration Army to Western Xia for training.

The current situation was that outside the Great Wall, the Great Song Western Army was pressing Western Xia, while Wang Yan led the Northern Restoration Army to wreak havoc behind enemy lines. Western Xia was struggling to hold on, as precarious as a pile of eggs, like a candle flickering in the wind, about to be extinguished at any moment.

The battle in the field moved further and further away, because the enemy troops were not determined to die. Although this was the rear, it was already close to Western Xia's main towns, so they had something to rely on; as long as they could run back, they could survive. This was normal; unless driven to a dead end, no one wanted to die. Especially when facing the Northern Restoration Army, an army that chilled their hearts.

So the Western Xia cavalry ran for their lives in front, while the Northern Restoration Army soldiers chased them desperately behind, continuously drawing their bows to shoot. As time passed, the scattered squads of a hundred men also began to assemble here, gradually forming an encirclement.

But they did not charge head-on against the Western Xia cavalry; as soon as they discovered the Western Xia cavalry charging desperately, they switched between offense and defense. In such an open field, and with several times the enemy's numbers, why bother with a head-on charge? They just kite-flew them.

Until the troop ran further and further away, and the ten thousand men became a black dot, and standing on the hillside, the battle formation could no longer be seen, the squads of a hundred men from the rear caught up. Only then did Wang Yan take the lead again, and while chewing on hard beef jerky, he slowly spurred his horse toward the distant battlefield.

"Son-in-law, how many enemy troops came this time?" A gray-faced eunuch rode his horse to Wang Yan's side to ask. He was the supervising eunuch newly sent by Emperor Song Huizong, and also a trusted aide, sent specifically to keep an eye on Wang Yan.

Behind him was an unlucky civil official; although he couldn't be considered Zhao Ji's trusted aide, he had the intention to promote him, and throwing him onto the battlefield to eat dirt was considered Zhao Ji's test for him.

Unlike the unlucky civil official, the eunuch came because he had ambition. Although this was a bitter task with the risk of losing his life, it was truly a lucrative one. Not to mention the chance to earn military merit, there was also the opportunity to get close to Wang Yan, such a wealthy son-in-law, and counting Zhao Ji's expectations for the Northern Restoration Army, as long as he could return alive, he would certainly rise several tiers higher. Tong Guan, Yang Jian, and Liang Shicheng were all their role models.

However, it is worth mentioning that for this battle against Western Xia, Tong Guan was not used, because Tong Guan was in Cai Jing's camp, and since Cai Jing had fallen, being implicated was certain. The one in charge of the overall situation this time was Yang Jian, recommended by Wang Yan. The commanders of the various units were still the original local snakes of the Western Army, such as the Zhong family and the Zhe family.

Because of his relationship, Yang Jian was much stronger than in history. After resigning from his palace post, he was directly transferred to be the supervisor of the Northern Army. For so many years, he had never made a mistake, the troops were trained quite well, and the local people's livelihood had not been destroyed. He had not, as originally, served as a local military governor and harmed the common people; he had also been fed full by Wang Yan and was quite obedient.

Therefore, for this battle against Western Xia, although it was named after Yang Jian, the basic direction was remotely controlled from his side. This was the benefit of the Emperor's favor; didn't Zhao Ji know that Yang Jian was his man? Of course he did. The problem was, Zhao Ji had gone out once and didn't know who could be used. And the battle against Western Xia could not be delayed, plus the Northern Restoration Army was truly capable of fighting and the tactics were sound, so as soon as he recommended him, Yang Jian was transferred.

"I reckon there are three to five thousand."

"These Western Xia people truly don't learn. They've been besieged so many times, and the front line is still fighting, yet they actually dare to send so many cavalrymen here to die."

Wang Yan did not reply. This was a very simple principle: if four thousand men came out to die at this time, it was certain that they had already made preparations and wanted to lure the enemy deep. Perhaps at this moment, their path back had already been cut off.

By the time they arrived leisurely, the battle had already ended, and over twenty thousand men had all assembled in place. There were corpses of men and horses everywhere, and no one cared about the blood-stained dark red ground; even that unlucky civil official had become accustomed to it, let alone Wang Yan, who was still there chewing on his beef jerky with a crunching sound.

Seeing Wang Yan and the others arrive, Lu Junyi hurried over: "General, the four thousand enemy troops have all been beheaded. Our army suffered no deaths, only a few brothers had their horses shot by arrows and were injured from falling, and during the fighting, a few dozen brothers suffered sword wounds, which will not affect combat."

This kite-flying hadn't been in vain, and the year of fighting hadn't been in vain; they were becoming increasingly elite. Of course, they had to be elite; out of over thirty thousand men, only over twenty thousand remained, a third of them dead or wounded, the rest...

Wang Yan nodded: "Alright, everyone rest up, hurry and eat something."

Lu Junyi had followed him for a long time and could be considered to have some insight; he frowned and asked: "Have we been surrounded again?"

"The scouts from the north, east, and south all missed their reporting times."

"Then shall we go southwest?"

"Southwest?" Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, eating the last small piece of beef jerky in his hand in one bite: "They only gave us one path of survival; whether they intentionally left it open or the encirclement wasn't in place, we can't afford to gamble. Go east, punch through them, feint an advance toward Xingqing Prefecture, detour around Helan Mountain, cross the Yellow River to the north, and return via the Hedong Circuit."

"But over there..."

"Truth and falsehood, reality and illusion. I reckon Xingqing Prefecture is already heavily garrisoned, so there must be fewer troops surrounding us this time. They also wouldn't think that we, a mere few tens of thousands, would dare to advance on the Western Xia capital, so we will do the opposite and attack Xingqing Prefecture. The front line is tight, and our Great Song army has already reached Huaizhou, pointing directly at Xingqing Prefecture, so the probability of them having heavy troops in the east to intercept us is not high. If I have guessed wrong, then we die."

Western Xia's current state was half his doing, and now that they were close to the battlefield and still behind their lines, there was no reason for them not to deal with him.

The west offered a path of survival, but whether it was a true path or not, he wouldn't take it; he simply couldn't bear the cost of a misjudgment. To the north, countless experiences told them not to go, so they wouldn't let them go north again. Now that the war in Western Xia was going poorly, they had to consider a retreat. To the south was the battlefield between the two sides, and their rear had to be protected. But to the east, he could determine with high probability. If they did the opposite of the opposite, he thought the probability was not high.

Just as he said, that place was already heavily garrisoned, and they weren't afraid of his twenty thousand men. This was something he could think of, and also something Western Xia could think of; this was naturally a dead end, so he chose to head toward the dead end.

Lu Junyi nodded, said no more, and turned to pass on the orders. The soldiers were also familiar with his style; without a word, they took out their jerky and gnawed on it with water. After filling their stomachs, whether they lived or died was unknown.

After resting for half an hour, the twenty thousand men reorganized and set off, heading east...