Chapter 287 The Change of Owners of Xixia 4 Xixia has an army of 200,000, plus some civilians and servants, totaling nearly 300,000 horses. It is impossible to completely hide the whereabouts of such a large army. of. What's more, the three thousand armored cavalry of the Emperor's Guard will deliver news to the Guards at any time. Therefore, Han Zhongwei accurately learned their news two days ago. Although Han Zhongwei only led an army of 100,000 people, his army servants and civilian servants were also very good, numbering around 50,000 people. These people are required to provide baggage, logistical support, medical protection, etc. for his escort. Normally, with two armies like this, it would be extremely difficult for either side to ambush the other. However, Li Shizhen, the commander of the Capture Army, still decided to use an ambush method. Who made the Jin Kingdom invest heavily this time and provide 20,000 landmines to Daxia at once? After Li Shizhen witnessed the terrifying power of landmines with his own eyes, what he never forgot was how to use landmines to deliver a fatal blow to the escort. If Han Zhongwei didn't have accurate information, he might be ambushed by Li Shizhen. You must know that the original firearms in the Xixia army were purchased from Han Zhongwei. According to Heicheng's account books, except for the tens of thousands of grenades by the Xixia army, the entire Xixia army did not have a single landmine. "How many landmines have been laid?" Li Shizhen's camp was located ten miles outside Xiazhou City. Originally, his generals asked him to set up his camp in Xiazhou, but Li Shizhen flatly refused. The commander was in the city and the soldiers were left in the city. Will the morale of such an army be high if it fights tooth and nail outside the city? Therefore, he ordered that no one was allowed to be stationed in the city. Except for procurement personnel and necessary civilian officials, everyone in the army must be stationed outside the city. Anyone who disobeyed the order would be executed. "I just got the latest news. As of noon, more than 2,000 pieces have been buried." Li Zongshan said. He was originally the deputy commander of the Qi Sheng Army. After the death of King Li Renyou of Yue, he is likely to take over the post of commander, but At that time, because he did not support Li An'an, Li An'an was demoted from the position of prince to the county king. Therefore, not only Li An'an was dissatisfied with him, but Li Chunyou also disliked him. He failed to gain favor from both sides and eventually died where he was. move. Li Shizhen was originally just the commander of the Proton Army, because when Li Ping'an came to power, he stood firmly on his side, and now he has become the commander of the Proton Army in one fell swoop. Li Zongshan's qualifications and abilities are superior to Li Shizhen's, but his loyalty is so low that he can only succumb to others now. Li Zongshan sighs every time he thinks about it. It was one wrong move and one wrong move. Although he was still the deputy commander of the Qisheng Army, his status in Li An'an's mind was not as good as before. At this time, there was another person in the big tent who was even more depressed. Li Zunxu, the son of King Li Yanzong of Qi, was appointed by Li Chunyou as the deputy commander of the Capture Army. Originally, Li Chunyou intended for him to take over the post of commander of the Capture Army. However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. Li Zunxu only took over the post of Dutong for a few months, but the capital finally sent Li Shizhen to take over the post of Dutong. Originally, after Li Ping'an came to power, he was going to transfer Li Zunxu back to the capital. With an identity like Li Zunxu's, it was quite appropriate to serve as an official outside. Wouldn't it be uncomfortable to let him lead troops again? But the situation in the capital was not good at that time. The emperor's guard and the capital's garrison were both controlled by Han Zhongwei. If Li Zunxu was rashly transferred back to the capital, and if he was allowed to collude with Han Zhongwei, would he become Li Chunyou's second choice again? Woolen cloth? Li An'an did not dare to take this risk and felt that it would be safer to put Li Zunxu in the Qisheng Army. After all, the Capture Army was the traditional sphere of influence of the King of Yue. As long as Li Zunxu's military power was reduced, the Capture Army would be like a huge cage to him, and he would not be able to leave even a step. Do you really want to be imprisoned by Li Ping'an in the Capturing Army for the rest of your life? "Two thousand? It's been two days. The escort will arrive in two days. What use can four thousand landmines do? No, more people must be sent. In the next two days, at least eight more landmines will have to be laid. "Thousands of landmines." Li Shizhen said extremely dissatisfied. He had 20,000 landmines in his hand, but he couldn't use them all. It was like seeing a young woman taking off her clothes across the abyss and trying to do something but couldn't. "Back to the capital, laying landmines is very cumbersome and will explode if you are not careful. However, the sergeants in our army have not received special training. Being able to lay more than a thousand mines in one day is already the fastest speed." Li Zongshan reported, Landmines are not meant to bury people, it requires skills, and not everyone can do it. After planting the mine, you have to open the fuse, otherwise the mine will not go off no matter how hard you step on it. After the fuse is opened, you can then bury the mine. Sometimes if you are not careful, you will kill your own people. Accidental explosions often happen. As far as he knew, since the landmines were laid yesterday, hundreds of people have been killed by accidental explosions due to improper operation. "It's really sad to have a weapon but not be able to use it," Li Shizhen roared, "Tonight, let those sergeants who have learned how to lay landmines come back to teach the new sergeants. Each person must at least"You have to learn four people, otherwise you can't sleep. If you haven't taught them well before dawn, military law will be engaged." "But in the past two days, more than a hundred people have been killed and injured by accidental bombings in the army. The soldiers in the army may now be afraid of landmines." Wouldn't it increase their fear even more if they were asked to learn how to lay landmines? Li Zongshan said with a frown. "Injuring us now will indeed make them scared, but when these mines blow up the escorts into the sky, they will no longer have any fear." "Li Shizhen sneered, not to mention that he only suffered more than a hundred casualties, even if he suffered more than a thousand casualties, he would not even blink an eye. "But" "There is nothing more, Deputy Dutong Li, You immediately send an order. If the laying of 8,000 landmines is not completed the day after tomorrow, you will also be punished by military law. "Li Shizhen looked at Li Zongshan and said indifferently. "You," Li Zongshan was furious, but now that Li Shizhen was the commander-in-chief, he had no choice but to obey. "Now Han Zhongwei's guard The army and our army are only two days' journey apart. If the mines cannot be laid and the fighter plane is delayed, no one can explain it to the emperor. "Li Shizhen hummed. "Du Tong, if you really want to increase the speed, the general has a way. "Li Zunxu suddenly said from the side. Ever since Li An'an came to the throne, he has always used only his eyes and ears when discussing matters. His mouth seemed to be sewn shut. He never spoke. Even if he was asked, he would not speak. He said: "Oh, but let's hear it. "Li Shizhen's brows jumped and he said slowly. "The last general has heard that Commander Li Wei of the former Emperor's Guard had a secret past with Han Zhongwei. The members of the Emperor's Guard have also been trained to lay mines. If the Emperor's Guards can be allowed to lay mines , let alone 8,000 landmines, even if all 20,000 landmines are buried, it will not be a problem. "Li Zunxu said calmly, but the corners of his eyes were twitching violently, but he was wearing a helmet, so outsiders couldn't see it. "Is this serious? "Li Shizhen also didn't notice anything strange about Li Zunxu, but now even if Li Zunxu wasn't wearing a helmet, he wouldn't notice. "If Du Tong doesn't believe it, call Meng Qing and ask him to find out. "Li Zunxu said. "Here we come, please invite Commander Meng to come to the big tent for discussion. "Li Shizhen said loudly, if it is true as Li Zunxu said, God is really helping Daxia. Meng Qing soon came to the main tent and heard that it was Li Zunxu who recommended him. After answering Li Shizhen's words, he was deeply moved. He glanced at the other party, raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and stood silently below Li Zongshan, "Commander Meng, so the three thousand emperor's guards have received training in laying and clearing mines? "Li Shizhen was overjoyed. Now he could bury all 20,000 landmines in the path that the escort army must pass through. His capture army and the emperor's guard would then attack from the side and let the escort army have a taste of the power of the mines. "Yes, our department can lay 50,000 landmines in a day and night. As long as they are all willing to do so, our department will take care of all 20,000 landmines. "Meng Qing said in a comprehensive manner. "It is indeed the emperor's guard. The hard work of laying mines must be done by Commander Meng. When this battle is successful, we will all report to the emperor to ask for your credit. "A smile finally appeared on Li Shizhen's tense face. "I don't dare. It is a blessing for a villain to serve the emperor. Meng Qing said with a smile. "Without further ado, Li Shizhen asked all the mine-laying personnel of the Capture Army to withdraw and hand over all the mines to Meng Qing. The Emperor's Guards can indeed fight when mounted, and can lay mines when dismounted. Everyone, Including Meng Qingdu, who personally went into battle and quickly buried mines one by one according to Li Shizhen's layout. The valley selected by Li Shizhen was the only way for the escort to go south. There were high slopes on both sides of the valley. , unless the escort dismounts and climbs up, it is impossible to climb up from both sides. What's more, even the sides of the valley are the focus of mine clearance. In Li Shizhen's plan, there are mines at one end of the valley, which is close to Xiazhou. This end. As for the other end, in order not to arouse the suspicion of the guards, there are no mines. The valley stretches for more than 20 miles. As soon as the guards enter the valley, the elite troops of the Emperor's Guards and the Survivor Army will attack. At the other end, the guard will become a turtle in the urn, and it will be a miracle that the guard can last for two days. According to Li Shizhen's estimation, if everything goes well, the guard will be defeated in at most five hours, and it will be a defeat. It was a complete mess. After taking over from the Emperor's Guard, they could lay nearly 6,000 landmines in one hour. This speed made Li Shizhen very satisfied. At night, he originally wanted to invite Meng Qing to come over and have a drink with him. As the Han army has strict military discipline, it is nothing for generals to drink occasionally in the army. But when it got dark, Meng Qing and his three thousand emperor's guards did not.return. Li Shizhen sent someone to ask and found out that the emperor's guards were actually in the valley, fighting all night, preparing to bury all the landmines tonight. Li Shizhen sighed after hearing the servant's return. The Emperor's Guards are the Emperor's Guards, and their loyalty to the Emperor is beyond words. You must know that the emperor's guard's status in the army is originally transcendent. Although they only have three thousand people, their strength is so powerful that it cannot be described as terrifying. Even though Li Shizhen was the commander of the Qi Sheng Army, with a hundred thousand troops under his command, he was still polite when meeting the commander of the emperor's guard. Seeing the emperor's guards working so hard, Li Shizhen felt extremely ashamed. The emperor's guards fought there all night long and served the emperor loyally, but he still wanted to drink and eat meat. Compared with Meng Qing, he seemed to be even more loyal to the emperor. Just a few points worse. He remembered the secret letter the emperor had given him before, saying that Li Wei, the original commander of the Emperor's Guard, was a member of Han Zhongwei, and that he should pay close attention to the current movements of the Emperor's Guard. Judging from the performance of the Emperor's Guard today, from Meng Qing down, the Emperor's Guard is an elite force with excellent quality, excellent style, and loyalty to the Emperor and Daxia. Li Shizhen had nothing else to do for the Emperor's Guards now, so he had to write a memorial to Li An'an, praising the Emperor's Guards, almost praising the Emperor's Guards as rare in the sky, the only remaining Tianzihao No. 1 army in the world, etc. After all is written Finally, even Li Shizhen felt a little blushed after seeing it. Did he exaggerate the emperor's guard too much? But soon, he shook his head firmly. Praising the emperor's guards was actually equivalent to praising the emperor. Li Shizhen had long known this. But if Li Shizhen went to the mine-laying site outside the valley now, he would definitely curse himself for being blind, because at this time, nearly 2,000 people from the Emperor's Guards were laying mines outside the valley, which Li Shizhen did not ask for. ??If you look at it from the sky, the thunder laid by the Emperor's Guards today looks like a big "human" character. The upper part of the human character is located in the valley, which is what Li Shizhen requested. But the lower part of the human character was decided by Meng Qing without permission. This is like a large semi-encirclement. If the Xixia army dives into it, the consequences, haha, will be very bad. The army led by Han Zhongwei suddenly stopped when they were still one day away from the valley. Just as it was impossible for the capture army to completely conceal their whereabouts, it was also impossible for the escort army to prevent Li Shizhen from knowing his whereabouts. Li Shizhen pondered for a long time about the sudden stop of the escort army's advance, but had no clue at all. He wanted to invite Li Zongshan and Li Zunxu to come over for discussion, but thinking of their status in the emperor's heart, he gave up the idea, and finally sent someone to invite Meng Qing. The first is to prepare a little wine to thank him for laying all the landmines in one day yesterday, and also mapped the mines in detail. Except for the 2,000 landmines at the beginning, all the other 18,000 landmines were marked. out. The Emperor's Guards are the Emperor's Guards. Look at what they do, they are so beautiful. This is what they specialize in. Compared with them, whether it is combat effectiveness or other military qualities, there seems to be a level difference between the Capture Army and them. "I've met Lord Dutong." Meng Qing soon arrived at Li Shizhen's tent and was surprised to see that he was the only one there. "Except for you, I didn't call anyone else. Commander Meng, thank you very much for what happened yesterday." Li Shizhen said with a smile. He still didn't know that the mine formation was seriously out of shape, and only more than 10,000 mines were buried in the valley. , and there are more than 10,000 landmines that have formed a semi-encirclement outside the valley. "This is a matter of personal responsibility, so there is no need to say thank you." Meng Qing felt relieved. Just now he was having a secret conversation with Li Zunxu, and when he heard Li Shizhen calling him, he thought there was something wrong. "Han Zhongwei's escort stopped a day's journey from the valley. I wonder what Commander Meng thought?" Li Shizhen knew that he and Meng Qing were both the emperor's confidants, and Li Zongshan and Li Zunxu had to be careful. "Did Han Zhongwei discover our mine array?" Meng Qing wanted to laugh in his heart. Li Shizhen actually found him to discuss military affairs. He was really impatient. But I had to show a solemn look on my face, it was very hard, very hard. "It's not like that, none of the guards' sentries have been to the valley along the way. How could they know that there are minefields there? Even if they knew there were mines, they wouldn't be a day away from the valley." Li Shizhen had no clue at all. , how would he know that Han Zhongwei had learned of his plan a few days ago, and even got the specific location of the mine formation last night, as well as the detailed map. Of course, the landmine mark Han Zhongwei got was completely different from Li Shizhen's, and his was real. "Does the escort need to rest? After all, they have been marching for several days." Meng Qing said. "There is some truth to what Commander Meng said, let's take a look." Li Shizhen looked in the direction of the escort and slowly said:Tao. But one day later, the escort still showed no sign of attacking, and now Li Shizhen couldn't sit still. The escort army can take it easy, but his capture army cannot. But now his sentinel cannot stay too far away from the escort. Anyone who approaches five miles away will be captured by the escort and taken to the army. No matter you are a merchant or a trafficker, you will be locked up first and provided with food and drink. , these people will not be allowed to leave until the escort army leaves. Han Zhongwei didn't care whether Li Shizhen was impatient or not. He was still a day and a half away from Li Shizhen's army. With such a distance, both sides might find each other. The main reason why Han Zhongwei is not moving now is to attract Li Shizhen's attention. Someone from the escort would leave quietly every night. Since Li Shizhen wanted to ambush him, Han Zhongwei certainly didn't mind ambush him in return and let him have a taste of being ambushed. With detailed information, Han Zhongwei can actually act as a hands-off shopkeeper, and Du Gao and his division commanders can do the rest. Du Gao would report to Han Zhongwei once every morning and afternoon. Now that he was not far away from Li Shizhen's army, the other party wanted to ambush him. The escort army must also have a strange army. It was also in order to cooperate with the concealment of this strange army that Han Zhongwei's army suddenly stopped. Every night, those horses with their hooves wrapped in cotton and muzzled would be led by people and leave the army silently. . And Li Wei, the former commander of the Emperor's Guard, left with his former confidant generals on the first night. While Li Shizhen and Meng Qing were drinking, Li Wei's people had arrived at the emperor's guard station For more free novels, please visit ( )