(Thanks to 100 Possibilities, Leisure Ronin, spsu, moshoong, lp and other book friends for their monthly passes. Thanks to a lot of friends who sent gifts. There are so many letter numbers. Are you testing my memory?)
A few days ago, a memorial was sent to Yelu Zongzhen, who was supervising the battle in Datong Prefecture. It was news that the pastoral area east of Dashanguan on the Xia-Liao border was attacked by unknown enemy forces. The losses were not great, and more than a thousand herders were killed or injured.
, 30,000 herding horses were robbed, but this incident made Yelu Zongzhen feel a little uneasy.
Yelu Zongzhen summoned Xiao Hui, who was commanding the battle with the Song army on the front line of Wuzhou, to ask for his opinion on the matter. Xiao Hui was also surprised, but he did not panic because of it. Instead, he called in the local officials who sent the memorial for questioning.
details; however, the local officials did not personally witness the incident and only reported it after receiving the report. They could not give a detailed reason.
Xiao Hui finally relied on experience to deduce that this must be the Xia people taking advantage of the situation. Song and Liao were fighting fiercely on the border.
It was unavoidable, not to mention that the enemy troops broke into the Liao border from the direction of Dasanguan. The Helan Mountain gap was the border of Xia and Liao, and the Xia people could not be seen outside.
This conclusion was also recognized by Yelu Zongzhen. Thinking from another perspective, when the Song Dynasty was at war with Xia Dynasty, he also took advantage of the situation to extort money from the Song people. Although he was unsuccessful, his idea of stabbing someone in the back was surprisingly consistent.[
"The Dangxiang people are so abominable. After the Song Dynasty is destroyed, I will destroy them and teach them that we, the Khitan people, must avenge us." Yelu Zong gritted his teeth.
"Your Majesty, I think it is better to allocate a small number of troops to strengthen the defense in the Dasanguan area. The retinue soldiers in the local state capital are not strong and their troops are not large. If they are harassed by the Xia people again, they will not be their opponents."
"How can we divide our troops? At present, the war situation on the east and west is fierce, and the Song Dynasty is still stubbornly resisting. If we divide our troops too much, it will affect the frontal combat effectiveness. If we divide our troops too little, it will not work. I think we should order the local government to take active precautions and order people to station the beacon towers on the border and activate the beacons. If
When encountering an enemy attack, give early warning and evade it, endure the momentary anger, concentrate on defeating the Song people, and then deal with these nuisance rats later."
Xiao Hui was right when he thought about it. He originally planned to divide 20,000 troops to garrison Dasanguan, and at the same time send people to thoroughly investigate the identity of the attacking enemy. Although he came to the conclusion that it was the Xia people who were causing nuisance, he still felt a little uneasy.
I felt something was wrong, but I couldn't pinpoint what was wrong. After thinking about it, Xiao Hui attributed the uneasiness in her heart to the anxiety caused by being unable to attack for a long time on the frontal battlefield.
…
Huaizhou Prefecture, south of the Taihang Mountains and west of the Tianmen Mountains, is a medium-sized city deep in the inland of the Liao Kingdom. It is located in the core area of Shangjing, a place that is hard to reach from war disasters. It has been rich in products for a long time. To the west and north are mountains blocking access to the north.
Surrounded by air-conditioning and windy sand, the south and east are plain areas, with grasslands and farmland as flat as a blanket. Three major rivers, Qinshui, Dan, Jishui, flow through the jurisdiction, making it an out-and-out large granary.
The years of comfortable life have fostered the lazy habits of Huaizhou people. There is no threat of war, and the city defense is also very loose. All the 30,000 tribal soldiers originally stationed here have been transferred to the front line, and there are only 3,000 regular troops in the city plus police officers.
There were 5,000 miscellaneous troops composed of Yamen and Hu Congjun, and most of the early warning troops set up outside the city were idle. Several alarm beacons twenty miles away also collapsed, and no one was stationed at all.
This morning, Huaizhou City woke up from its comfort. The sunshine in June was a bit fierce, and the sun had just emerged in the morning, but it was already unbearably hot. The soldiers at the city gate opened the city gate and huddled lazily in the cool and ventilated room.
Dozing off here and there to make up for the lost sleep from staying up late last night, he did not bother to check the people coming in and out of the city gate. Although the war broke out, the Emperor of Liao Dynasty issued an edict asking all states to strictly check the entry and exit of the city gate to prevent spies from sneaking into the Liao Dynasty. However, Huaizhou left
The Song Dynasty was more than a thousand miles away, and even if you tried to infiltrate carefully, you wouldn't come here. So not only did the soldiers not take it seriously, but the city lord and the generals guarding the city didn't take it seriously either.
Several Liao soldiers leaning against the shade of the city wall holding spears were staring at the big-assed women coming in and out of the city gate, vomiting and comparing them with the Yao sisters who slept with them last night. Suddenly, the walls of the city wall
Dust fell from the cracks, covering their heads and faces.
Several people were spitting and slapping the dust on their bodies while cursing, and the ground shook a few times as if it had been hit by a heavy hammer in the distance.
A Liao soldier thought there was something wrong with his senses. He turned his head and asked his companions: "Do you feel it? The ground seems to be shaking."
Several other soldiers nodded and said, "It seems so. Could it be that the ground cannot move?"
As he spoke, the ground began to shake again, and in just a split second, a thunderous sound came from a distance. Several people looked at each other in astonishment, and when they were at a loss what to do, they suddenly heard someone screaming at the top of the city: "There are cavalry, it's amazing.
, a large number of cavalry came from the south."
The city gate guard hurriedly ran up from the barracks to the tower and set up a pergola to take a closer look. His whole body was frozen with shock when he saw it. On the southern horizon, densely packed cavalry were as dark as dark clouds, sweeping towards Huaizhou City like a super storm.
Coming, holding the sword high, it shone dazzlingly in the sun, creating a halo of white flowers.
"It's the Song Army. Close the city gate quickly. Quickly... set off the beacon fire and notify the other four gates." The guard's voice changed its tone and became hoarse in an instant.
The soldiers reacted and immediately hurriedly removed the Trojan sandbags at the gate of the city, shouting loudly at the people who were also panicking. At the same time, the beacon fire on the top of the city was also lit, and thick black smoke pillars shot straight up.
Yunxiao.
The people at the gate of the city, both those who were leaving the city and those entering the city, were shouting and trying to get in. The defenders who were closing the city gate were shouting loudly, but it didn't help, but they were pushed back. A team leader was squeezed so hard.
After a fall, he lay with his helmet crooked on the ground and yelled: "Whoever rushes into the car again will be killed without mercy."
The people didn't care about this. Hundreds of people rushed in and opened the half-closed city gate again. The team pulled out their swords and chopped off the head of a man in front of him who was panicking. He immediately chopped him off.
He fell to the ground and cursed in his mouth: "Everyone, get out. If anyone comes in again, he will be punished."
The people screamed in shock and rushed in even more frantically. More than a dozen soldiers drew out their swords and gritted their teeth and slashed indiscriminately. The people in front were so frightened that they backed away. The people behind wanted to rush in, and they were suddenly crowded together.
If it falls down, it will become even more difficult to clear.[
The team was adjusting their helmets and cursing: "A bunch of damn wild dogs. If the city gate can't be closed, no one can survive. Those who have escaped should help close the door quickly, otherwise no one can survive."
The common people who were lucky enough to enter the city gate turned around when they heard the words. Dozens of people helped the soldiers to push the heavy gates on both sides hard. The gate moved slowly. The common people stuck outside the door hole became even more panicked, but were blocked by the thick gate.
The gates were pushed out along the ground like earth machines, and the two gates were like two scrapers, forcibly scraping the bodies of the people blocking the door out.
The crowd cried and beat the city gate like crazy, but were resisted by the soldiers and people inside. Seeing that the gate was closed into a small crack, they looked back and saw that the Song Army cavalry had arrived hundreds of steps away.
The sound of swords waving in the air could be heard. The people were extremely desperate. Some people desperately reached into the crack of the door to prevent the city gate from closing, but the heavy city gate still closed the last crack. Several people hissed.
They screamed in pain, and their arms were trapped in the door panel. Their bones and flesh were already broken, and it was too horrible to see.
The soldiers inside wanted to fasten the big iron bolt, but found that the crack of the door was blocked by the shaking and bloody arms of those who stretched out, and the iron bolt could not be in place at all. The team was so angry that they jumped to their feet, pointing their swords at those few
The arms chopped and poked randomly, smashing it into pieces of broken bones and flesh. Other soldiers also followed suit. As long as the door crack can be closed a little more, the iron bolt will be closed.
Breaking these stuck bones is obviously a good idea.
Sure enough, the soldier in charge of bolting cheered: "The notch is right, hurry up and bolt."
Everyone worked together to lift the large cast iron bolt above their heads and slide it inward along the notch. At this moment, they heard the sound of landslides and ground cracking, and the city gate was hit by a strong force, and the back of the city gate was knocked open.
The soldier fell backwards, and the iron door bolt weighing several hundred kilograms was knocked backwards. One soldier was hit in the head by the iron bolt, and his brain suddenly burst and he died.
As the city gate opened, a large number of bloody objects rolled in. In addition to human bodies, there were also several horse corpses and the remains of a cart that was broken into thousands of pieces. There is no doubt that the Song soldiers drove
The horses pulling the cart forced the city gate open.
Immediately afterwards, horse-drawn carts came one after another at high speed. They crossed the suspension bridge and rolled all the way to the city gate. Dozens of the hundreds of people at the city gate had died, and the rest jumped into the moat.
, to avoid fatal impacts.
Su Jin rode his horse and stood a hundred steps away from the city gate. Watching the carriage knock the city gate open, he secretly thought he was lucky. If the city gate was closed, it would take more effort. Although he had already prepared for this, he could
It saves a lot of worry and effort to open the city gate unexpectedly.
"Hurry up and pull up the suspension bridge." The city gate guard shouted loudly, and the city gate was opened. Now the only way to stop the other side is to rely on the moat. If the suspension bridge is pulled up, it can block it for a while at least.
The soldiers hurriedly turned the scrolls and pulled up the long suspension bridge. Suddenly, there were two bow strings buzzing, and the suspension bridge that was pulled into the air suddenly fell down, stirring up a lot of smoke and dust. The thick slings of the suspension bridge had been pulled by Song.
When the army shot it down, the suspension bridge's slings and even the chain were not used. They just used a thick hemp rope as thick as an arm. Of course, it was broken with one shot.
"Brother Mahan is very skilled." Wang Chao praised.
Ma Han proudly put away his bow and arrows. This was not the first time he had done this. When he followed the young master to the bandits' lair in Bagong Mountain, he had shown such a skill. In comparison, this time it was more glamorous. After all, when
In front of the thousands of troops in front.
Su Jin quietly looked at Huaizhou City in front of him and made a gesture to advance. Pan Jiang raised the sword in his hand and shouted: "Kill!" Then he rode out and rushed out; thousands of Song Army cavalry broke out.
With a roar that shook the sky, they followed the pace of Pan Jiang, the leader of the vanguard army, and rushed towards Huaizhou City.