After the fire broke out in the city, many party defenders fled in all directions.

Like Deng Chun, they all thought that Xi Zuo secretly set the fire. And they probably colluded with a tribal chief, otherwise they would never have set fire to several places at the same time.

Who would have expected that the person who set the fire would be the coach of Xixia?

The main force of the Ming army was still several miles away. Thousands of knights had rushed to the moat, and then they discovered that the south gate was open.

"General, is there any fraud?"

"Go to Sanbaiqi first to inquire about the situation!"

Chen Ziyi was stationed outside the moat. He had just ordered several groups of cavalry to enter when he suddenly noticed torches shaking on the tower.

Another person rode out of the city holding a torch and shouted across the moat: "I am from the Military Intelligence Department. I don't know who set the fire, but I have already convinced the two party chiefs, and they are guarding two places in the south city.

Gate. The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty quickly entered the city. The city is now in chaos. Except for the two gates on the south city wall, the rest are enemy troops who have not surrendered!"

Chen Ziyi was overjoyed and immediately mobilized his troops and ordered his cavalry to rush over.

Some occupied the city gates, some occupied the city towers, and some occupied the enemy towers, ensuring that all the southern city walls were in the hands of the Ming army.

Lingzhou City is too important to allow any mistakes.

If Keyi Gate is the north gate of Xingqing Mansion, then Lingzhou is the south gate of Xingqing Mansion.

After taking this place, Xixia lost one arm.

Chen Ziyi did not blindly expand the victory, but only firmly occupied the south city wall and waited for the main force to come over. At the same time, he asked Xizuo and the two surrendered chiefs to recruit more party troops in the city, and claimed that saving any granary would be considered a meritorious service.

He also sent eight hundred knights, divided into four teams, to charge along the street, creating chaos and not allowing anyone to get together, so as to prevent Xixia generals from gathering troops.

Not long after, another three thousand Ming cavalry entered the city, and Chen Ziyi commanded them to occupy the government offices and warehouses.

In the darkness, flames shot into the sky, and there were fleeing Xixia soldiers and civilians everywhere.

They did not dare to escape towards the southern city wall where the Ming army was located, and rushed to run in the other three directions.

Brothers Ren Dejing and Ren Degong took advantage of the chaos and ran to the west, and they were the first ones to leave the city.

These two guys, with their henchmen, grabbed a boat at the ferry, took the horses on board, and took the boat toward the southwest.

The next day, as they approached the northern exit of Qingtong Gorge, they saw a large number of ships approaching from a distance. The brothers were so frightened that they quickly abandoned the ship and went to the west bank of the Yellow River.

The southern exit of Qingtong Gorge was called Xiakou at this time, and there was also a village called Xiakou Village.

Xiakou Village has been occupied by the Ming army and has become a military grain transfer station. There are 50,000 Ming troops on this route. The main force has gone north along the Tanglai Canal and is about to attack Shunzhou City next to Lingzhou.

After galloping for more than ten miles on horseback, Ren Dejing stopped to rest and said in shock: "Fortunately, we escaped quickly, and there were Ming troops on the other side of Shunzhou. Even if we dug up the Yellow River and flooded the Ming troops outside Lingzhou City, Ming troops would not be able to escape."

The army will also come from Shunzhou, and it will be impossible to defend Lingzhou."

Ren Degong said in shock: "How many troops did Emperor Zhu send here? There are probably more than 200,000 Ming troops in Lingzhou and Shunzhou alone."

Ren Dejing guessed: "It is estimated that there are 200,000 Ming troops on Zongcunli's side. No wonder he was completely defeated. A few days ago, I received a letter asking for help, saying that 200,000 Ming troops had attacked Jisang City.

They are almost reaching Liangzhou City."

On the Liangzhou side, Wu Jie commanded the troops, and the field army and garrison forces totaled only 50,000.

However, the roads along the way were rugged and difficult, and the grain roads were extremely long, so a full 80,000 people, 8,000 mule-drawn four-wheelers, more than 10,000 wheelbarrows, and 40,000 horse-drawn carts were deployed to carry supplies.

Donkeys and bad horses.

According to Xixia people's calculations, there are more than 100,000 troops.

When they calculate their own military strength, they will also include the civilian soldiers, who are called burden soldiers.

…

However, it was said that the Ren family brothers were unable to cross the Qingtong Gorge by boat and could only ride horses around the mountains on the west side of the canyon.

The detour route is not long, only twenty miles, and the entire route is half-cultivated and half-pastoral.

After bypassing the canyon, it became more comfortable to walk.

They are all farming areas on the west bank of the Yellow River. The road is smooth, but there are Ming troops.

From time to time, a Ming army grain transport team appeared. Not only was it protected by a small group of troops, but there were also weapons on the grain truck, so civilians could fight with weapons at any time.

The brothers could only travel day and night, and hid on the edge of the Tengger Desert during the day.

They traveled on horseback for five days, a short distance of two hundred miles, and were afraid to avoid the Ming army's food team the whole time.

Approaching Yingli City (Zhongwei City), the brothers did not dare to take the main road and could only go around the desert hills because that city was definitely in the hands of the Ming army.

This went on for more than half a month, driving all the way on the edge of the desert.

On the way, we also crossed dozens of miles of desert and detoured to the northern part of Liangzhou - Nanhu Town in Minqin County. It was surrounded by desert hundreds of years later, but now there are pastures connected to the Shiyang River.

As soon as they emerged from the desert, the brothers saw several herdsmen herding sheep.

There are no strong walls and clear fields here?

The herdsmen were stunned when they saw them, and subconsciously backed away to distance themselves.

Ren Dejing rode forward slowly on horseback, raised his hands to show that he had no weapons, and asked in Dangxiang dialect: "Aren't you fighting?"

"Han people?" asked a herdsman.

Ren Dejing and the others were well prepared. When they escaped, they all put on Han clothes and looked like Han merchants: "We are merchants of the Ming Dynasty. We came here to avoid the military disaster. How is the battle in Liangzhou?"

The herdsman immediately laughed and said enthusiastically: "Hello Han people, come and be a guest at my home."

Ren Dejing was confused: "Aren't you from Xixia?"

The herdsman smiled and said: "We are now the Uighurs of the Ming Dynasty."

"Is the battle in Liangzhou over?" Ren Dejing asked.

The herdsman recounted enthusiastically:

"The fight has been finished a long time ago."

"The bastard general guarding Liangzhou refused to surrender, so the Tomorrow Army used many artillery to bombard it. The city wall of Liangzhou had not been repaired for decades, and a piece of it collapsed on the sixth day of bombardment. The Tomorrow Soldiers rushed in,

The fight didn't take long before the Xia soldiers in the city fled."

"I didn't run away at that time. I hid in a house and peeked outside. The soldiers didn't kill people randomly, and I was so hungry that I went out when they searched the house."

"Haha! General Wu said that those herdsmen and landowners refused to surrender, causing more than 300 casualties during his attack on the city, so he killed all the herdsmen and landowners. General Wu divided the fields among the farmers and the pastures.

To the shepherd, he didn’t bother to break it down and waste time, so we decided to divide it ourselves.”

"If there's a commotion and you can't figure it out, go to Liangzhou City after a while and tell them that a civil servant is coming. If you understand, go and the civil servant will issue the land deed."

"My family was allocated a piece of pasture, and both men and women were given two sheep. They said that when they settled in and got the land title, the government would give them more sheep. The shepherds all said that Emperor Zhu was the reincarnation of the Buddha, and General Wu was under the Buddha's throne.

Master Bodhisattva..."

The herdsmen were still chattering about how big their pasture was.

Ren Dejing basically wanted to understand Wu Jie's intentions.

It's just that there is a long marching route ahead, and there are several cities that need to be attacked. Moreover, the terrain of the Hexi Corridor is long and narrow, and it is very easy for the food route to be cut off. It is especially dangerous if a tribe surrenders and then rebels. Taking the tribe with them will waste food and grass.

Because the grain road is too long.

They simply cut down all the chiefs, even the herdsmen and landowners, and distributed all the farmland and pastures to the herdsmen, and also gave some captured livestock.

As a result, each tribe was leaderless and could no longer organize rebellions.

And it can also bring farmers and herders back home!

Ren Dejing was still confused: "Not a single chief, landowner, or herdsman surrendered? And not a single one escaped?"

The herdsman laughed and said, "Yes. Those who surrendered were also beheaded. General Wu blamed them for not surrendering earlier. There were also herdsmen who led their troops and fled home. When the soldiers heard that they could divide the pasture, they joined forces to kill and send away the herdsmen.

Go to Liangzhou to receive the reward."

Ren Dejing: "..."

In order to avoid rebellion in the future, Wu Jie went to the Hexi Corridor to "attack local tyrants and divide their fields."

In fact, there are also personal emotional reasons.

Wu Jie was a general of the Western Army in the Northern Song Dynasty. More or less the families of the soldiers and civilians under his command were kidnapped. A large part of them were thrown into the Hexi Corridor by Xixia to farm and graze.

Therefore, many of the herdsmen, herdsmen, shepherds, and farmers here are Han Chinese who were taken away or their descendants.

Why did the Ming Dynasty have to accept the surrender of the Xixia nobles and let the Han people or their descendants continue to be enslaved?

After killing, I feel comfortable!

The Ren brothers stayed in the grassland for a day, repeatedly asked about the situation in Liangzhou City, and left dozens of copper coins as reward before leaving.

They went south along the Shiyang River, and the closer they got to Liangzhou City, the more farmland there was.

Farmers can be seen everywhere, happily replanting food, and they don't look like they have just finished a war.

These peasants were also sent to fight in the war, and there were even slaves among them.

They originally thought they had a narrow escape, but they didn't expect that not only did they return home alive, they were even given farmland and seeds.

For the time being, no one has had any disputes over land grabs. There are vacant farmlands everywhere, and everyone is busy replanting them. If this place is taken over by others, just plant it there. There will always be a place that is yours.
To be continued...