12th month, 10th day, Shu Lands Province near the West Xia border.
The moment news of Tolei's army defeating the main force of the West Xia army spread out, Bear legion corps marshal Li Mu decisively ordered the 1st legion to sneak into West Xia.
Li Mu was taking advantage of the time difference.
At this moment, the West Xia emperor did not ask for help from Great Xia, and Ouyang Shuo did not give any orders.
…
Li Yuanhao was not an emperor that would admit defeat so easily.
In the next few days, Tolei gave up on sieging and led his troops to chase after Yeli Wangrong. Fighting in the wilderness was what the Mongol cavalry were best at.
The ferocious West Xia army, after suffering such a harsh warning, was continuously pursued by the enemy. They didn't even have time to catch their breath. They had a city, but they couldn't enter it, and they couldn't return home. It was really sullen.
Tolei was really smart and used troops well. After successfully setting up an ambush, he immediately changed his strategy from sieging to wiping out the enemy.
As long as the main force of the West Xia army was wiped out, how many days could Xingqing House last?
Each day was a huge torture to the Xingqing House.
Seeing the army being eaten up by the Mongol cavalry bit by bit, Li Yuanhao was really anxious. He was not willing to just sit there and wait for death. On the 13th day, he ordered Yeli Wangrong to lead his troops back into the city.
That night, the moonlight was as red as blood.
When Yeli Wangrong used a trick to shake off the enemy and swiftly retreated toward the city gates, the Mongol cavalry were like a pack of wolves that smelled blood, instantly chasing after him.
This greatly shocked Yeli Wangrong. He really could not think of how the enemy could see through the illusion he had set up in such a short period of time and quickly catch up.
Who knew that the Mongol cavalry were best at tracking?
If they could take the chance to break through the city gates, it would be a huge benefit to the Mongol army.
How would the West Xia army allow them to do that?
To block the Mongol army and cover the main force as they retreated back into the city, 20 thousand West Xia warriors volunteered to cover the back of the army. They formed a formation outside the city and fought a bloody battle.
Seeing that, the defending soldiers on the city wall were in tears.
Only at night did the Mongol army know that they would not be able to smoothly charge into the city after cutting down the West Xia forces. Only then did they retreat like a flood, disappearing into the night sky.
The corpse field outside the city was their medal of merit.
…
On the fourteenth day, the situation on the battlefield had become clear.
The remnants of the West Xia troops holed up in the Xingqing Prefecture, trying to defend themselves with the strong city walls. Early in the morning, Yeli Wangrong, who had rested up, led his troops up the city walls and was prepared to engage in a tough battle with the Mongol army.
In reality, the Mongol army did not attack at all.
Seeing this, both Ye Li Wangrong and the West Xia Emperor Li Yuanhao felt their hearts tremble as they had a bad premonition. After a month of fighting, they had a clear understanding of Tolui's style of doing things.
This was a general who did not play by the rules. He seemed to be unconstrained, but he always hit the enemy's vital points.
The abnormality of the Mongol army definitely meant that there were new changes.
The truth was as such. After the Western Xia army retreated into the city, Tolei lost interest in attacking the city. Giving up a lone city meant that Tolei would gain the entire Western Xia.
That day, Tuolei personally led a hundred thousand troops to defend outside of Xingqing House. The remaining Mongol cavalry were spread out to roam West Xia, pillaging and burning. Looking at their actions, it seemed like they wanted to clean out the entire West Xia.
The battle seemed to have returned to the starting point.
The only difference was that close to half of the 500 thousand West Xia army was lost, and they were holed up in the city, not doing anything.
On the contrary, the Mongol cavalry were getting braver and braver.
On the 16th day, Tolui contacted the Empire and asked them to send people to take over West Xia. He was really arrogant.
At this stage, West Xia was already at the end of the road. That day, the stubborn Li Yuanhao finally admitted defeat. He told Great Xia that as long as they could protect the riches of the Li family, he was willing to submit to Great Xia.
As for surrendering to the Mongol Empire? That was impossible.
After a few rounds of battles, the two countries had formed a blood feud that would not rest until one side was wiped out.
…
Great Xia's efficiency was surprisingly high.
When Ouyang Shuo received the report from the Honglu Temple, he immediately ordered the northwest warzone commander Li Jing to attack West Xia. Pretty much at the same time that Li Jing received the order, Li Mu led the four legions of the Eagle legion corps to charge into West Xia.
In just a day, the first huge battle broke out.
That day, the 1st legion Legion General of the Soaring Eagle Legion Corps, Chen Tang, calmly commanded his troops. Taking advantage of the fact that Mu Qali's forces had not reacted, they swiftly surrounded them and crushed them.
While Tolui led the troops to attack Xingqing House, Muqali's remaining forces had been resting up. How would he have known that the moment he received news that Great Xia was advancing into West Xia, enemy troops would appear around him?
Caught off guard, he immediately suffered a huge loss.
The collapse of Muqali's forces was like a bolt of lightning that streaked across the West Xia night sky. It showed that this country wiping war due to grain had reached a new turning point.
When Tolui, who was outside Xingqing House, received the report, his expression could not help but turn solemn.
He had two choices in front of him. First, he could take the huge amounts of wealth and grain that he had plundered and retreat to the grassland. This would basically complete his pre-war goal.
Second, he could go all out and attack Xingqing House.
As the capital city of West Xia, Xingqing House had the most treasures and grain reserves. If he could take it down, the Mongol army would be able to eat their fill and not have to worry about winter.
When that time came, they could either withdraw their troops or gather in the city to defend. Both were possible.
Such a temptation was something that Tolui could not resist.
During this south conquest of West Xia, Genghis Khan had Muqali as the main general and Tolui as the deputy. In the end, Muqali's forces suffered a crushing defeat while Tolui's forces won many battles.
This was a huge merit.
If they could take down Xingqing House and solve the grain problem of the empire, the next Khanate would be the Tolui Khanate.
Tolui of the wilderness was different from the one in history.
In history, Tolui was a pure general who only knew how to fight on the battlefield. In the end, due to the suspicion of his third brother, Ogedai, he died.
Luckily, Tolui's descendants lived up to their expectations and took control of the Yuan Dynasty bloodline. Even if Tolui was not willing, he had to consider for his bloodline. Taking control of a Khanate was his ultimate goal.
"Send my orders, gather up and attack Xingqing House!" Tolui made up his mind.
"Yes!"
The moment the military order was given, the clouds moved, and Xingqing House entered a tough battle once more.
…
Back to the Great Xia Eagle Legion Corps.
After the 1st legion crushed Muqali's forces, the Eagle Legion Corps did not chase after them. They also did not rush forward to solve the siege of Xingqing House. Instead, under the leadership of Li Mu, they split into five paths, sweeping from south to north.
Of course, the Eagle Legion Corps did not sweep the West Xia army. Instead, they surrounded the scattered Mongol cavalry in West Xia. They did not want to let any of them escape.
With that, the Eagle Legion Corps led the army of the king forward with a huge aura.
Each time they 'recovered' a land, the army would spread the name and kindness of the Xia King, saying, "The Xia King is kind and could not bear to see the West Xia people being slaughtered by the alien races."
Just like that, they bought the hearts of the West Xia people.
To the people living in troubled times, whoever could protect their safety and return them peace and prosperity would be their savior, their king.
West Xia was connected to the Shu Lands, so the Qiang race of the two places had contact with one another. Since the Qiang race of the Shu Lands submitted to Great Xia, their lives had been prosperous, and they were envied by the West Xia Qiang people.
Now that the Great Xia Army had arrived, how could they not warmly welcome them?
On the contrary, the West Xia emperor Li Yuanhao had not done anything since he entered Xingqing House. He could not open up new territory or protect the people, making them feel extremely disappointed.
Especially not long ago, hundreds of thousands of people were slaughtered by his own soldiers, and blood flowed like a river. That totally chilled the hearts of the West Xia people.
Although Li Yuanhao was forced to do that, emotionally, the people still could not forgive him.
Under such a background, the Eagle Legion Corps was invincible. Everywhere they went, the people would welcome them. Furthermore, the Qiang race people were really valiant, and they all led the army to surround the hiding Mongol cavalry.
The encirclement operation went unusually smoothly.
The Mongol cavalry that were still showing off their strength and pillaging suddenly became rats that everyone wanted to beat up.
Although Tolei had given the order to gather up the army, the 100 thousand troops had already been sent out, and they could not just call them back.
To the Mongol cavalry that went out to pillage, this was a great job. While pillaging for the empire, they could also fill their own pockets.
The Mongol army even had a rule that when the army went out to pillage, they only needed to hand over 80% of the wealth. The remaining could be split among the troops that participated in the pillaging.
How could a red-eyed army be called back with just a simple order?
The troops did not dare to openly go against the order, so they could randomly find a reason, such as the sudden storm, the bridge being destroyed, making it difficult to travel, and them having to go around it, which would delay the gathering time.
There were so many excuses like this one that could be found in a basket.
If it were not for the strict discipline of the Mongol army and Tolei's strong methods, who knew how long it would take to gather up the 100 thousand troops.
However, the moment the Eagle Legion Corps arrived, the scattered Mongol cavalry were like rabbits meeting an eagle. They ran faster than anyone else and hurriedly retreated toward Xingqing House.
Especially those scattered in the south, who were afraid that the Eagle Legion Corps would catch up. Sometimes, to quickly retreat, they had no choice but to throw away the wealth that they had obtained with much difficulty like trash.
It was not that the Mongol cavalry were cowards, and it was not that the Great Xia Army was so strong. Instead, they knew that along with the Great Xia Army entering, the entire situation had changed.
Before this, when the Qiang people faced the Mongol cavalry, in front of the fear of death, they could only hide in the mountains and forests. They did not dare to fight back at all.
Now that the imperial army had arrived, the situation had changed.
Before the Great Xia Army arrived, the local Qiang people had already gone down the mountains to welcome the imperial army. The way they looked at the Mongol cavalry was also weird.
Under such circumstances, how would the Mongol cavalry dare to be arrogant?
If they were not careful, before the Great Xia Army arrived, they would be ripped to shreds by the Qiang people.
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