Chapter 378: Now We Can Swallow Lingzhou

Li Yiyin was fleeing, and just as Zhang Zhao had loyal ministers like Qiongre Duojin willing to die in his place, so too did Li Yiyin.

His third brother Li Yimin had put on Li Yiyin's mingguang armor and was holding the line with five hundred Hengshan infantry, while Li Yiyin himself turned and fled under the escort of a hundred-odd light cavalry.

Of course, the biggest reason Li Yiyin could escape was that the light cavalry duel between the Dingnan Army and the Guiyi Army had already been decided.

Both of Zhang Zhao's Uyghur sworn-follower battalions had been routed, and a Tangut light cavalry battalion of the Yingyang Garrison had lost nearly half its strength.

Had Zhang Zhao's own Basmil light cavalry not fought well, the Guiyi Army would have suffered badly in this light cavalry clash.

I, Great King Zhang, have held Hexi and Longyou for too short a time — two years at most, all told.

He could use righteousness and his golden finger to arm the most important heavy infantry, light armored cavalry, and fully armored cavalry.

But when it came to the far more numerous unarmored or lightly armored horse archers and mounted skirmishers, he was still somewhat powerless.

The Li family of the Dingnan Army had been a great warlord house entrenched in the northwest ever since the first year of Zhonghe, 881 AD, when Huang Chao sacked Chang'an and the chieftain Tuoba Sigong led his troops south to rescue the emperor and was appointed General of the Left Martial Guard and acting Military Governor of Yinxia.

For over sixty years, the Pingxia tribe had worked the four prefectures of Yin, Xia, You, and Sui; though constrained by economics and short on armor, the Tangut light cavalry under their command was still not something an upstart like Zhang Zhao could match.

Of course, this is not to say Li Yiyin got off cheaply — in truth, this Dingnan Army commander wished he could just slit his own throat right now.

A full forty thousand troops, wiped out in three and a half double-hours.

What could basically be confirmed now was that the great general Tuoba Chongde had died in battle, his son Li Guangrui and his cousins Li Yicheng and Li Yijie had died in battle, and Li Yimin, who had held the rear, was probably finished too.

The two thousand light armored cavalry controlled by the Dingnan Army headquarters had been almost completely annihilated, the most precious six hundred cataphract-linked horses had essentially vanished, and the Hengshan infantry were gone as well.

Apart from the light cavalry of various tribes fleeing in panic all over the hills around him, the Dingnan Army had suffered a catastrophic defeat.

Sixty years — no! All the family's accumulated foundation since the Pingxia tribe migrated east two hundred years ago was basically gone.

Stones filled the sky, falling like meteors — the Hengshan infantry's fighting strength was indeed ferocious.

Of course, it was also because Zhang Zhao was unwilling to let cornered beasts like them cost his men their lives that he finally deployed the whirlwind catapults of the Divine Machine Battalion, which he had been reluctant to use.

Five volleys in succession, and the Dingnan Army's great banner position, held by several hundred Hengshan infantry and over a thousand Tangut foot soldiers, was overrun.

Amid cheers, a medium-sized fat man in mingguang armor was dragged over like a dead dog.

Zhang Zhao walked over carrying his mace. Earlier, Zhao Jinfang had come to see Zhang Zhao: Qiongre Duojin had suffered severe head trauma and massive blood loss; he could only do his best to treat him, and whether he lived would be up to fate.

"Is this wretch Li Yiyin?" Zhang Zhao pointed at the medium-sized fat man being dragged over and asked a Dingnan Army officer kneeling on the ground beside him.

"Barbarian thief! You have wantonly slain an imperial Military Governor — the Son of Heaven will not spare you!" This officer was rather defiant.

"Go fuck yourself!" Zhang Zhao let out a curse in plain Mandarin, then raised the mace high with both hands and smashed it down at the officer's head.

Red, white, and pink splattered everywhere; the officer convulsed rigidly once, then went silent.

"Is this wretch Li Yiyin?" Zhang Zhao dragged over another young Dingnan Army officer.

The young officer looked not very old, only twenty-two or twenty-three. His lips trembled twice, as if he wanted to speak, but then felt he could not get the words out.

Zhang Zhao did not give him the chance! Once again he raised the mace high above his head with both hands and smashed it down.

"I'll talk! I'll talk! I am not Li Yiyin — I am Li Yimin!"

After Zhang Zhao had ruthlessly hammered two men to death in succession, the medium-sized fat man in mingguang armor could not hold out any longer and wailed loudly.

"You are Li Yimin?" Zhang Zhao, mace in hand, was actually somewhat taken aback.

Because if he remembered correctly, this Li Yimin was the full brother of Li Yichao. In history, during the time of the Later Jin's Emperor Chu, Shi Chonggui, he had conspired with another brother, Li Yijun, to seize Li Yiyin's position as Military Governor.

After failing, he fled to Yanzhou to hide, was then sent back to Xiazhou by Shi Chonggui, and was subsequently executed by Li Yiyin.

So this traitor of five or six years later was still playing the loving, respectful younger brother now?

"Right! I am Li Yimin!" The medium-sized fat man nodded like a chicken pecking at grain.

Zhang Zhao was even more puzzled. This behavior did not look like that of a loyal rearguard minister at all! Never mind — smash him dead and be done with it!

The moment he saw Zhang Zhao raise the iron mace again, Li Yimin instantly collapsed.

"Great King, spare my life! I am willing to surrender! I am willing to surrender!"

Zhang Zhao was angered into laughter. What use is your surrender? What the hell would I want you for?

"Great King, your servant is the Prefect of Youzhou. Youzhou City is currently in the hands of my younger brother Li Yijun. As long as the Great King is willing to spare my life, I am willing to offer up Youzhou and win over the tribes north of Dijin Marsh for the Great King."

Ah! Now this was interesting. Youzhou was near what would later be Otog Banner in Inner Mongolia. To get from Yanzhou or Xiazhou to Youzhou, one had to cross what later generations would call the soon-to-vanish Mu Us Desert.

The name Dijin Marsh also reminded Zhang Zhao of Li Yuanhao's grandfather, the Dijin Marsh war god Li Jiqian.

That dog had relied on Dijin Marsh to lay the foundation of the Western Xia state. Zhang Zhao's current strength was far inferior to the historical Northern Song, but if he could use this Li Yimin to control the Dijin Marsh area, that would be acceptable.

Right! Zhang Zhao also remembered the Mu Us Desert — this was precisely the period when the Mu Us Desert was forming. From the name Dijin Marsh alone, one could tell that the Mu Us had not yet completely become desert.

As long as the Tangut, Sogdian, and other tribes overgrazing here were relocated, the trend of desertification could still be reversed.

The desertification of the Mu Us was not simply a local ecological problem.

Without it, not only could the difficult problem of northwestern border defense be solved, strengthening the connection between Youzhou, Fengzhou, and the interior.

It could also reduce the Yellow River's silt input by hundreds of millions of tons each year, which would have an excellent effect on controlling the elevated riverbed of the Yellow River at Kaifeng.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhao asked Li Yimin, who was kneeling on the ground trembling: "Do you know the Defense Commissioner of Yinzhou, Li Yijing?"

"I know him! I know him! Li Yijing is my cousin. He is currently defending Yinzhou. Your servant can also win over Li Yijing for the Great King and make him offer up Yinzhou." Li Yimin answered rapidly, desperately showing that he was still useful.

"Heh heh!" Zhang Zhao laughed coldly and placed the mace on Li Yimin's shoulder, frightening the man so badly his soul nearly left his body.

"After you win over Li Yijing for me, lure his entire family out of the city — men and women, old and young, servants and maids — and then..."

Zhang Zhao swept his hand as he spoke. "Slaughter them all, leave not even a chicken or dog alive! Only then will I spare your life."

Li Yimin glanced at Zhang Zhao in bewilderment, then hastily agreed.

Though he did not understand why Zhang Zhao wanted to kill Li Yijing's family, it was not his own family being killed — just a cousin.

Li Yimin of course could not know that this cousin Li Yijing had a grandson, the Dijin Marsh war god Li Jiqian.

And Li Jiqian had a grandson — the Azure Son of Heaven of the Great White High Kingdom, the old daughter-in-law defiler, the pervert, the coveter of married women, the founding emperor of Western Xia, Emperor Jingzong of Xia, Li Yuanhao.

Two days later, Zhang Zhao led ten thousand troops to Iron Gate Pass, twenty li southeast of White Salt Lake.

The commander of Iron Gate Pass had long since been killed by the Guiyi Army's pursuing cavalry, and over a hundred Tangut soldiers had been thrown into a pit and buried.

When Zhang Zhao arrived, he did not continue the pursuit, but instead began gathering in the Guiyi Army light cavalry that had been chasing the enemy in all directions.

Especially those several thousand sworn-follower elite cavalry and some Uyghur sworn followers — their discipline is mediocre, and who knows how far they've chased?

Right now we must gather them back and reorganize the army before we can continue the pursuit.

Otherwise, with just these ten thousand or so men, plunging headlong into the heartland of the Dingnan Army and capsizing in a ditch would be a joke.

So Zhang Zhao, while sending men to order Yin Yaozi, who was garrisoning Yanzhou, to conscript five thousand residents of Yanzhou to help clean up the battlefield around the White Salt Lake — mainly to collect supplies and burn corpses.

Then he sent riders galloping back to Liangzhou, ordering Right Chief Clerk Cao Yuanzhong to levy fifteen thousand laborers and send thirty thousand shi of grain and fodder from the Grand Granary to Yanzhou.

Left Chief Clerk Song Shantong was to levy ten thousand sworn-follower elite cavalry from the six prefectures of Sha, Su, Liang, Lan, Shan, and He to Yanzhou.

This was for occupying, splitting up, and relocating the Tangut and various Qiang tribes within the Dingnan Army's territory in the coming period.

Moreover, Xiazhou was the famous Tongwan City, said to be impervious to arrows and stones, and it was the old nest of the Dingnan Army's Pingxia tribe. Without several months, don't expect to take it — all of which required sufficient auxiliary troops.

Just as he was issuing orders, Guo Tiance walked in, holding the compiled figures in his hand.

"Great King, in the battle at White Salt Lake, of the Dingnan Army's forty thousand troops, about two thousand died in battle. We captured more than five thousand prisoners and wounded. The rest are in flight, though most of those who escaped were unarmored cavalry from the various tribes."

"The Dingnan Army's chained cavalry, the Pingxia tribe's light-armored cavalry, and the Hengshan foot skirmishers didn't get away, did they?" Zhang Zhao opened the tally sheet and asked as he read.

"Apart from a few hundred light-armored cavalry, the chained cavalry and the Hengshan foot skirmishers are all here. Although we also lost several hundred brave warriors, the Dingnan Army's main force has been nearly destroyed. The Pingxia tribe is finished!" Guo Tiance nodded and replied.

"Well fought!" Zhang Zhao clenched his fist in excitement.

"Tiance, you did well too. Remember, you must treat the Tangut and the various Qiang of Yin, Xia, You, and Sui separately.

Our strength is still limited, so don't expand the target. Just keep hitting the Li family of the Pingxia tribe."

Having said that, Zhang Zhao hesitated a moment, then said to Guo Tiance, "Hand over the matters here to a few secretaries from the Righteous Sons Army for now. Go to Lingzhou and see Grand Commandant Zhang and Pei Yuan.

Have them reorganize three thousand men from the Lingwu Army for me. Bring two thousand to Yanzhou, and prepare one thousand to go to Youzhou. But don't force it — mainly see what Pei Yuan thinks."

The moment the Dingnan Army was crushed, Zhang Zhao prepared to swallow Lingzhou.

Although this would draw the attention of all sides, first, the matter could be concealed for a while, and second, as long as the Khitan and the Dingnan Army didn't come together, Zhang Zhao truly wasn't too afraid.

Because given the Khitans' greedy nature, they hadn't even fully digested their own Sixteen Prefectures of Yan-Yun, and Lingzhou was far from the Khitan heartland. With no benefit in it, they couldn't even hold Fengzhou, let alone Lingzhou.

If they came at all, it would only be a detached force. If they really came, Zhang Zhao could use them to farm prestige.

Moreover, Liu Zhiyuan had now returned to Taiyuan. That fellow was about to nearly come to blows with the Khitans over the several hundred thousand people of the Tuyuhun Bai Chengfu tribe, with both sides trading friction back and forth.

Shi Jingtang was caught between Liu Zhiyuan and the Khitans, pressured by both sides and unable to do anything about either, and in the end he died in stifled frustration.

For the Khitans, those several hundred thousand battle-hardened Tuyuhun tribesmen of Bai Chengfu were far more important than Lingzhou, so they probably had no time to concern themselves with what happened to Lingzhou.

As for reminding Guo Tiance to seek Pei Yuan's opinion, it was because Zhang Zhao was still not entirely certain whether Zhang Liecheng had rescued Pei Yuan's family from the Eastern Capital or not.

Related