Although the cannon is powerful, it has many shortcomings. The most troublesome thing is that it is too bulky. A small cannon costs hundreds of kilograms, and some heavy cannons are even thousands or tens of thousands of kilograms. Even if it is pulled by a man, it is very difficult to move. However, when the cannon is installed on the ship, it is a great progress. This combination greatly improves the power and maneuverability of the cannon.

The warships of the Song Dynasty were tall and strong, far from comparable to those of the Li Dynasty's small boats. Now they have the blessing of artillery, so this naval battle was one-sided war from the beginning. The Li Dynasty's fleet was directly bombarded by artillery. Then Commander Wang ordered the entire army to press on and rush around the Li Dynasty's warships. With the excellent performance and strong and tall hull of the Song Dynasty's warships, the Li Dynasty's warships suffered heavy losses, and countless Li Dynasty water soldiers could only jump into the water to survive.

Li Foma, who was escorting the formation behind, was also stunned by the Song Navy. In the end, it was Guo Shengyi's reminder that he woke up, and then he asked someone to cut off the back. Then he and other ministers fled back quickly on the flagship. Commander Wang behind originally wanted to chase after him, but their warships were affected after entering the Red River and caught up with the small boats that were not Li Chao people. In the end, they could only watch Li Foma escape back to Dingnan City.

However, the war had just begun. Li Foma and his friends had just fled back to Dingnan City, and the warships of the Song Dynasty's Navy also began to dock. Then Di Qing commanded the army to start landing, and then rushed towards Dingnan City as fast as possible.

Although Di Qing was all the soldiers of the navy, under his command, he still showed considerable combat effectiveness, not to mention that they had artillery help. Commander Wang asked them to drive a sea boat to the side of Dingnan City, then turned the artillery and bombarded the city gate in a mess, and soon the city gate collapsed, and Di Qing also commanded people to enter the city.

The natives of the Li Dynasty had long been scared by the firearms. At this time, they saw that even the strong city gate had been collapsed, causing many people to lose their will to resist and surrendered simply. Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Foma immediately led people to escape from the city gate on the other side and threw Dingnan City directly to the Song army.

The first battle was won, but Di Qing and the others were not willing to accept it. They did not stop in Dingnan City, but immediately drove a boat along the Red River north, intending to break through Shenglong City in one fell swoop. Shenglong is the capital of the Li Dynasty. If he occupied this place, even if Li Foma was not captured, the Li Dynasty would have almost no chance of turning around.

Just when Di Qing and his friends were raiding the Li Dynasty, the Song Dynasty was preparing for another war, that is, the war to form an alliance with the Liao Kingdom to deal with Dangxiang. Both countries were very vigilant about Dangxiang's rise, especially the Liao Kingdom, because Dangxiang occupied their territory, which was equivalent to sucking the blood of the Liao Kingdom. In addition, the Liao army was defeated by Dangxiang before, which made Yelu Zongzhen even more unacceptable, so he ignored Yelu Renxian's persuasion and formed an alliance with the Song Dynasty.

"The army on the border is already gathering, but the Liao Kingdom's strength is weak, so I'm afraid I can only restrain Dangxiang from the east. The real main force is our army!" In the side hall of the Chuigong Hall, Zhao Zhen pointed at the sand table between the Song and Liao, and Dangxiang, and the forces of the three Dangxiang.

"Your Majesty is right. In fact, even if the Liao Kingdom has the strength, I can't count on them. Li Yuanhao's strength has grown too fast. Even if he cannot be completely destroyed this time, he will not have the chance to turn over again!" Li Zhang also studied the sand table at this time.

Li Zhang never relaxed his vigilance against Dangxiang. He originally thought that after driving Li Yuanhao to the territory of Liao, the other party would be destroyed by Liao. However, he did not expect that Li Yuanhao would take advantage of the opportunity of the war between Song and Liao, and then rise again. However, there was no way at that time. After all, compared to Li Yuanhao, Liao was the number one enemy of the Song Dynasty.

"When will Di Qing come back? Although he is not the leader of the Dangxiang this time, I am optimistic about this young man. It would be a pity if he missed this battle." Zhao Zhen suddenly thought of Di Qing again and asked again.

"Your Majesty, don't worry about Di Qing. The Li Dynasty is not worth his efforts. It is estimated that news will be available soon. Although the army is gathering on the border, if you want to use troops against Dangxiang, you have to wait until next year. Di Qing will definitely come back by then." Li Zhang said with a smile.

Hearing Li Zhang's words, Zhao Zhen nodded, and then smiled again: "The court has not yet concluded the candidate for the leader of the attack on Dangxiang, but I plan to use some young generals this time. After all, Liu Ping and Zhao Zhen are old, and the ministers are not at ease with them to lead the troops again, so it is time to train a group of young generals."

"Your Majesty's words make sense, but there are risks in enabling young generals. I'm afraid the ministers will object." Li Zhang thought for a moment before answering.

"I also know that for the candidates for the chief general, I want to appoint Cao Ya. He is a famous general and has made many military achievements. His only disadvantage is that he has no experience in leading troops alone." Zhao Zhen immediately expressed his thoughts.

Cao Ma is Li Zhang's friend and Cao Wei's son. In recent years, the musket army led by Cao Ma has made many contributions to the Song Dynasty. Now he has become one of the famous generals in the army. It is very appropriate to have him serve as the chief general this time. Of course, as Zhao Zhen said, Cao Ma lacks experience, which will definitely arouse opposition from the ministers. After all, for such an important matter as attacking Dangxiang, they are more inclined to use an experienced veteran.

"Cao Mata is quite a general, and I have no objection to him as the chief general. However, in order to block the ministers' mouths, Your Majesty would better choose a veteran general to help Cao Mata!" Li Zhang thought about it for a moment and replied again.

"I think so too. In addition, it's not just Cao Ya. Hu Yan Shuxin, Di Qing, Cao Qi and other young generals also need this opportunity to train them. Dangxiang is their best whetstone. Only when they sharpen their swords can they better attack the Liao Kingdom!" Zhao Zhen said at the end, and he showed strong confidence. His goal was the Liao Kingdom from the beginning, and this has never changed.

Li Zhang nodded in agreement when he heard this, but then he thought of another thing and asked, "I heard that Goryeo is a little dishonest recently. Aren't we asking them to temporarily stop harassing Liao Kingdom so that Liao Kingdom will focus all their attention on Dangxiang?"

When talking about Goryeo, Zhao Zhen also showed a little unhappy expression on his face: "Goryeo people are ungrateful. This time they have made an excessive demand for us. I am just about to discuss Goryeo with my cousin!"
Chapter completed!