In late September, there was no movement, Yelu Zongzhen finally led a large army to Gubeikou. The reason why he sent troops so late was actually very simple. It was because of insufficient food and grass. Even though he issued an order to mobilize food and grass to the states, the previous civil war had already consumed all the materials from the states, and then raising supplies almost killed the lives of these states.

However, under the forced order of Yelu Zongzhen, the various prefectures finally emptied the warehouses, and then they barely collected all the food and supplies. Then, with the order of Yelu Zongzhen, except for leaving 20,000 people in Zhongjing, all the remaining 80,000 people were taken away by him. In just a few days, 80,000 Liao cavalry rushed outside the Great Wall of Gubeikou.

The autumn wind was bleak. After nearly a hundred years, the Khitans and Han people fought to the death on the Great Wall defense line again. Liu Ping stood at the head of Xiguan City and looked at the Liao army opposite. When they attacked the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the Liao army could only defend because of their small strength, but the defense could not exert the strength of the Liao army's iron cavalry at all. The cavalry in front of him that could not be seen at first sight was the real Liao army cavalry.

Of course, Liu Ping would not be so stupid as to go out of the city to fight against the Liao army. The terrain of Gubeikou is dangerous, and most of them are surrounded by mountains and mountains. There is a Great Wall built on the mountain. The cavalry cannot pass through at all. The only valley entrance was blocked by Xiguan. As for the Chaohe next to it, the Liao army is all cavalry and is not accustomed to water wars at all. Moreover, they are extremely susceptible to blocking the Song army when crossing the river.

The most important thing is that prisoners of war were recruited to rebuild the Great Wall at Gubeikou. In addition to the Great Wall and Xiguan on both sides of the mountain, several fortresses with dangerous terrain were also built on both sides of the Chaohe River. The fortresses contained archers and musketeers, which could completely block the surface of the Chaohe River. Dozens of iron chains were even set up on the river to prevent ships from passing.

While Liu Ping was looking at the Liao army, Yelu Zongzhen in the Liao army was also looking at the Xiguan opposite. Half a year ago, the place was still controlled by the Liao army, but the Xiguan had long been ruined. Usually, it mainly collects taxes from merchants entering and leaving the pass, but when the pass fell into the hands of the Song army, his originally ferocious minions suddenly revealed.

The dilapidated city wall of Xiguan had long been restored, and the city was full of Song army standing on the top of the city. After the squadron of the female wall, spears were erected to point diagonally to the sky. Yelu Zongzhen knew that it was a crossbow, and there were iron pipes stretched out from behind the squadron. If he guessed it well, it should be the legendary cannon.

Looking at the Xi Guan in front of him who was armed to the teeth, then looking at the steep mountains on both sides of Xi Guan and the Song army defending on the Great Wall of the Mountains. The entire Gubeikou was like an iron bucket. They had no other way to imagine except for a strong attack.

"Your Majesty, the Song army has been prepared for a long time, and we have long expected that we will attack Gubeikou, but we are fast. If we turn our horse heads and attack Fenghuazhou now, it will be too late!" In the army, Yelu Renxian suggested to Yelu Zongzhen with an anxious look on his face.

Before sending troops, Yelu Renxian used his influence to send a small group of troops to move outside Fenghua Prefecture, hoping to attract some of the Song army, but he did not expect that Liu Ping was not fooled at all. Now Gubeikou is very strict, and in his opinion, it is not appropriate to attack forcefully. Otherwise, even if they fight, they will have to suffer huge casualties and will definitely not be able to move south in the future. Therefore, it is still reasonable to find a place where the Great Wall has weak defense and take advantage of the situation.

"How can this be done? All the food, supplies and the army have been mobilized here. If the target is temporarily changed, do you know that this is a big taboo in the army?" Yelu Zongzhen glared at Yelu Renxian and scolded him. This is Yelu Renxian. If someone else had dared to deny his ideas again and again, I'm afraid Yelu Zongzhen would have pulled people out and chopped them up long ago.

Seeing that Yelu Zongzhen was still unwilling to listen to his persuasion, Yelu Renxian immediately retreated in panic on the surface, but he sighed secretly. He had known that Yelu Zongzhen was too stubborn, but after experiencing this civil war, Yelu Zongzhen seemed to be even more conceited, and Liu Ping on the opposite side seemed to have figured out Yelu Zongzhen's character long ago, otherwise he would not have directly transferred the army to Gubeikou.

"Enter the camp! Attack the city in three days!" With Yelu Zongzhen's order, the Liao army immediately began to set up camps, and the camp was only three miles away from Xiguan, which was a very close distance. If the Song army attacked the camp at night, this distance would be too convenient.

However, Liu Ping at the top of the city smiled calmly. Yelu Zongzhen's cleverness had been seen through at first sight. He put the camp so close to Gubeikou, just to attract them to attack the camp at night. However, he was sure that the Liao army would definitely set a trap at night. If he really sent troops, he would only suffer a great loss.

In the next few days, the Liao army took a rest and sent people to Xiguan City to curse, actually trying to lure the Song army out of the city. However, Liu Ping was a veteran in the army and did not care about the small tricks of Yelu Zongzhen.

However, some young generals couldn't help but ask Liu Ping for battle, but they all got scolded by Liu Ping. It was a good thing that these young generals were not afraid of fighting, but they could not lose their brains. First of all, they had city walls to rely on, and defending the city was the strongest of the Song army. There was no need to sacrifice themselves to go out of the city to fight against the Liao army. You must know that most of the Liao army were cavalry, and they wanted the Song army to go out of the city to fight them in a decisive battle.

In addition, the Liao army is short of supplies now, so time is on the Song Dynasty. As long as the Liao army is slowly dragged down, one day they will not be able to hold on, and it will not be too late to take advantage of the situation to counterattack. These simple truths can be seen clearly by anyone with a little brain. For example, Di Qing and others did not speak up, and all those who asked for battle were brainless reckless men.

The Liao army had been swearing outside the city for three days. The Song army at the top of the city was not willing to be outdone and cursed back. It was interesting to say that there was an army in the army that specifically cursed people. Although there were not many people, they were all composed of strong men with big voices. These people were so cruel when they scolded people, and they didn't have the same style for a day.

Never underestimate the seemingly inequality form of a curse. In fact, these people have a great effect and can sometimes even shake the morale of the other party. If they can curse the other party's general and make a wrong decision, they can even determine the direction of a war. This should be the earliest psychological tactic on the ancient battlefield.

However, after three days of cursing, the people on both sides were out of strength, and many of them even had their throats swollen and could not even speak. At this time, Yelu Zongzhen finally couldn't hold back. After all, the Song army could wait, but he couldn't wait. Not only was there insufficient food and supplies, but the weather was getting colder and colder. If he didn't fight, he would have to return without success.

Early on the fourth morning, the Liao army finally put away the tricks before. Eighty thousand troops gathered outside Xiguan City, and the Song Dynasty was also ready for battle. With a burst of intense horns, the two Liao army pioneers took the lead in killing the city.

Xi Pass is located at the mouth of the valley, with mountains on one side and Chaohe on the other side, so the terrain is quite narrow. Moreover, there is only one city wall facing the Liao army, which also led to the Liao army being able to send a small number of troops to attack the city at a time, otherwise it would not be possible to use it at all. It cannot be said that one man should be the pass, and ten thousand men should not open it, but it is also an extremely dangerous terrain. Otherwise, the Northern Qi Dynasty would not have built the Great Wall here.

"Let's go!" As the Liao army arrived, the cannons on the top of the city opened fire first. A thunderous roar sounded, and black projectiles shot out from the muzzle, and directly hit the formation of the Liao army with the sound of wind and thunder. Some unlucky people were directly hit by the cannon, and the people were immediately smashed into a pool of meat paste.

The lethality of the shell is far more than that, because the shell will bounce after it lands, which will break out of a straight line in the enemy's formation. As long as the Liao army on this straight line is almost dead or injured. Even if it only brushes a little, it will be the result of broken bones and tendons.

"This... is this the Song army's artillery? No wonder it can be opened to the city gate!" Yelu Zongzhen in the central army camp held a telescope and looked at the battlefield ahead. However, at this time, he no longer had his previous conceit, but instead looked shocked.

Yelu Renxian next to him also looked ahead with a telescope in his hand. These telescopes were captured from the Song army. Although they lost the Sixteen State of Yanyun, they could occasionally win several battles, so a batch of telescopes were seized from the Song army generals who died in battle, and all of them were sent to Zhongjing by the defeated army.

"Architecture, musket, and I heard that there are many other firearms in the Song army. These firearms are much sharper than the firearms back then. It seems that the Song army has greatly improved the gunpowder formula, which greatly increases the power of the firearms!" Yelu Renxian also spoke with a heavy expression at this time.

The sharp firearms of the Song Dynasty have long been known to everyone, so Yelu Renxian also asked someone to collect a lot of information on firearms. As for gunpowder, it is not a secret. In fact, the Liao army imported a lot of fireworks from the Song Dynasty every year, so they also knew that the key to firearms lies in the gunpowder formula. Even some people in the Liao Kingdom knew how to prepare gunpowder, but their formulas were problematic, so naturally they could not achieve the effect of the Song Dynasty firearms.

While talking, the two vanguards of Liao troops also rushed to the city of Xiguan. At this time, the distance between the two sides was very close, and the artillery could not perform any effect. Usually, at this time, the archers on both sides were competing with each other, but this time it was a little different. The archers of the Liao army were just about to shoot, but they heard a crisp sound of "papapa" from the Song army at the top of the city. Then the Liao army under the city fell in large numbers, and it was the musketeers who started shooting.

With a city wall to cover it, musketeers don’t have to worry about protection at all. They can shoot with peace of mind. And they can also exert the power of muskets, so the Liao army under the city also suffered heavy losses due to the killing of muskets.

Although this was just a tentative attack, Yelu Zong really looked increasingly ugly when he saw the vanguard he sent out suffered so much loss. Yelu Ren next to him saw this and wanted to persuade him again, but he opened his mouth but did not dare to speak.
Chapter completed!