Kou Ji laughed angrily, "Do you really dare to think that if I have ten times more firearms than Qu Yechuan fought in the first battle, I still need to consult with you?"
Gao Chugong smiled dryly, stroked his beard, and whispered: "I just said it casually..."
Zhao Zhen didn't pay attention to the bickering between the two. He thought about it and said: "Since there is no way to take over Xingqing Mansion in one fell swoop, we can only try to do it slowly."
When Kou Ji and Gao Chugong heard this, they stopped bickering and nodded in unison.
In the next few days, all the soldiers and horses in the military camp helped Zhu Neng make the catapult.
There were many people and there were large areas of forest felling around, so we saved a lot of time.
In addition, Liu Heng and Zhong Shiheng also made some catapults when they attacked Jingzhou and Shunzhou. Together, they had just 20,000 catapults.
Twenty thousand catapults were lined up in a row, with no end in sight.
But after it is spread out in an echelon shape, you can have a panoramic view at a glance.
After Zhu Neng finished building the catapult, he did not hesitate, found Zhao Zhen, and volunteered to attack Xingqing Mansion.
Seeing that Zhu Neng was well prepared, Zhao Zhen did not hesitate and issued the order to attack the city.
In addition to Zhu Neng who led a heavy force as the main attack, Kou Ji, Zhong Shiheng, and Liu Heng each led an army to attack Xingqing Mansion from the other three sides.
Following Zhao Zhen's order, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses moved into action. Together with the civilians and slave soldiers who helped the soldiers and horses fight, the number jumped to over one million.
Millions of people surrounded Xingqing Mansion.
Standing on Xingqing Mansion and looking down, one can see the dense crowd of people.
Zhao Zhen stood on the high platform, looking at the soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty around Xingqing Mansion, looking at the flags that had formed a sea of flags, and his heart was full of pride.
The shame suffered by his ancestors has been completely washed away by him.
From now on, who would dare to be arrogant with Song Dynasty?
From now on, who would dare to say that the Song Dynasty was weak?
If anyone is not convinced, you can ask the millions of soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty if they will agree. You can ask the tens of millions of people of the Song Dynasty if they will agree.
Zhao Zhen clenched his fists excitedly and ordered in a deep voice, "Beat the drum! March!"
Chen Lin, who had gray hair on her temples, heard Zhao Zhen's order, puffed up her chest, walked to the drummer, snatched the drum hammer from the drummer's hand, held it in her hand, opened her arms, and fiercely
He hit the drum head hard.
The drum is a bronze drum.
Only bronze drums can produce the sound of gold and iron.
The sound of bronze drums is far more energetic than the sound of animal skin drums.
"Dong dong dong..."
Chen Lin beat the drum head hard.
The sound of drums spread in all directions.
The moment the soldiers from all directions heard the sound of the drums, their shouts shook the sky.
Then, eighty-one bronze drums were beaten by the warriors in unison, seeming to cater to the shouts of the soldiers.
"put!"
Zhu Neng stood in front of the formation and roared angrily when he heard the eighty-one bronze drums being beaten in unison.
First row, second row, third row.
Three rows of catapults launched a large fireball into Xingqing Mansion.
The fireball instantly covered the entire city.
The sounds of explosions and screams were endless.
Even though the Xixia soldiers and horses in Xingqing Mansion were fully prepared, they still found it difficult to deal with the bombardment of a huge number of catapults.
However, Zhu Neng's attack momentum did not weaken, but became more fierce.
When the catapults in the first three rows fired large fireballs.
The Song Army officers and civilians pushed the catapults in the back three rows and moved them to the front.
The previous three rows in the front were reduced to the three rows in the back.
When the trebuchets that had been reduced to the last three rows stopped attacking, the trebuchets moved to the front and began a new round of projection.
While six rows of catapults were attacking alternately, soldiers pushing artillery and grenade-throwing catapults quickly reached the front.
Artillery and grenade-throwing catapults were added to the battlefield.
The city walls of Xingqing Mansion, which had been battered by catapults, were filled with rubble and numerous gaps.
The Xixia soldiers and horses guarding the city of Xingqingfu were defeated by the Song army's projection.
Stones, shells, and grenades were falling from the sky. Even though they had the power to fight tigers and wolves, they seemed powerless and could only passively take the beating.
"Send troops forward and attack the city!"
Zhu Neng saw that the Xixia soldiers and horses on the top of Xingqingfu city were killed and defeated, so he immediately ordered the soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty to drive a group of surrender troops and begin to attack the city.
The surrender troops charged forward to resist most dangers, while the Song army followed behind to suppress the formation.
Facing Zhu Neng's series of methods, Li Deming had no way to crack it. He could only dispatch troops and horses from the city and continuously pour them into the dilapidated city wall that had been bombed to resist Zhu Neng's attack.
…
Xingqing Mansion West Gate.
Kou Ji and Gao Chugong stood side by side, listening to the shouts of Xixia soldiers and horses at the southern gate where Zhu Neng was attacking.
Gao Chugong turned around and said to Kou Ji: "After Zhu Neng's violent attack, the soldiers and horses at the south city gate cannot have the strength to resist Zhu Neng's attacking troops. Li Deming must have sent more troops to the south city gate.
"
Kou Ji nodded slowly and said, "Then we should also attack the city."
Gao Chugong nodded.
Kou Ji waved his hand with a stern expression.
Behind him, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses drove the surrender troops towards the west gate of Xingqing Mansion like a tide.
Not long after Kou Ji ordered the attack on Ximen.
Zhong Shiheng's tribe at the east gate and Liu Heng's tribe at the north gate also began to attack the city one after another.
For a time, Xingqing Mansion was besieged on all sides.
The huge number of troops attacking the city made Li Deming look desperate.
There was no hole for him to drill through, so he had to mobilize all the soldiers and horses in Xingqing Mansion to climb to the top of the city to defend the city.
Facing the Song army like a tide.
Li Deming had no choice but to hold on.
The war lasted for a day.
Zhu Neng led his troops to the city walls of Xingqing Mansion three times, but was repulsed three times.
The fighting didn't stop until after nightfall.
Soldiers and horses entered the camp.
Kou Ji, Zhu Neng and others also gathered at Zhao Zhen's tent.
Although Zhao Zhen knew that it was impossible to win the Xingqing Mansion in one go, he was still a little disappointed.
So when everyone was discussing things, he didn't look very good.
After everyone entered the Chinese army's tent, they bowed to Zhao Zhen and sat down respectively. Under Zhao Zhen's instruction, they began to summarize the gains and losses of today's battle.
Zhu Neng wiped off the sweat on his forehead and said in a deep voice: "In the early stage, I used catapults and artillery to crush the soldiers and horses on the city top, and the enemy suffered heavy losses.
But when I led my men to the top of the city, the enemy's reinforcements also arrived at the top of the city.
Although the number of enemies was not as large as ours, they fought hard against us one by one, driving our troops off the city wall three times.
At the top of the city, I am sure I can charge forward again, but I am not sure I can stand firm."
Everyone was silent. After a long silence, Zhong Shiheng suddenly spoke, "The enemy fights us to the death, and naturally there are soldiers in our army who dare to fight to the death.
Most soldiers do not have the will to fight for their lives, so facing the enemy and fighting to the death will naturally show their cowardice.
If you want to gain a foothold on the city, you must lead an army of soldiers who are not afraid of death."
Zhu Neng pondered: "A dead soldier?"
Zhong Shiheng nodded slowly.
Zhu Neng gritted his teeth and said: "I want to stand firm on the top of the city, but the number of dead soldiers is too small, so I'm afraid I can't."
Zhong Shiheng said calmly: "Using dead soldiers will result in fewer casualties than if we continue to use them. In today's battle, the Xixia soldiers and horses in the city suffered a lot of losses, and so did we.
If we had not used surrender troops instead of charging into the battle with our troops, our damage would probably have been even greater.
If this consumption continues, our casualties will become greater and greater.
It is worthwhile to exchange the lives of some soldiers for the lives of most soldiers.
Since you are sure to charge forward again, you should use dead soldiers to gain a foothold on the top of the city once and for all.
As long as you gain a foothold on the top of the city, the enemy's military morale will be in chaos, and the other three parties will be able to take the opportunity to attack the top of the city and capture Xingqing Mansion in one fell swoop."
Zhu Neng gritted his teeth and was silent for a long time, then nodded slowly.
"I'll go down in a moment and pick out the dead."
Zhong Shiheng nodded slowly and looked at Kou Ji.
Kou Ji pondered: "Since Zhu Neng is sure to charge to the city again, and will use dead soldiers to stand on the city, then we should not save our efforts tomorrow. We should go all out to attack the city and strive to win as soon as possible.
Take Xingqing Mansion."
Zhong Shiheng and Liu Heng nodded in unison.
Kou Ji looked at Zhao Zhen and asked, "What do the officials think?"
Zhao Zhen said in a deep voice: "Since all of you, dear friends, think that dead soldiers should be used, then let's use them. I will reward their wives and children generously later."
Kou Ji saluted Zhao Zhen and said, "On behalf of the officers and men, I would like to thank the officials for their kindness."
Zhao Zhen nodded and did not speak again.
Kou Ji looked at Zhu Neng and said, "I will accompany you to select the dead men."
Zhu Neng nodded heavily.
Afterwards, the two said goodbye to Zhao Zhen and left the Chinese army's tent.
As the saying goes, kindness cannot lead an army.
If you can exchange the lives of a few people for the victory of a war, as long as you are a leader, you will not hesitate to choose to sacrifice a few people.
Kou Ji and Zhu Neng arrived at the military camp.
Some soldiers had already gone to bed, while others were lying on the thatch, chatting about the day's war.
The two of them did not enter the soldiers' tents, but kept pacing around the soldiers' tents.
The two of them walked around until it was dark, and then they sent someone to wake up the soldiers.
The soldiers were summoned to the school field in a daze.
Confusion was written all over their faces.
Zhu Neng stared at the soldiers in the school field and said in a heavy voice: "Today, I will lead a group of soldiers and horses to firmly stand on the top of the city. It is possible that the entire army will be annihilated.
So I need to choose a group of people who are willing to accompany me to death."
When the soldiers heard this, they were in an uproar.
A school captain stared at Zhu Neng with a solemn expression and asked, "General, are you going to stand on top of the city with your brothers?"
Zhu Neng was stunned for a moment and nodded slowly.
The captain asked again, "If the entire army is wiped out, will the general also die?"
Zhu Neng nodded without hesitation.
The captain raised the spear in his hand and saluted Zhu Neng, "Since the general is not afraid of death, then he is not afraid of death even if he is in a lowly position. It is considered a lowly position."
"Consider me a villain..."
"The villain will go too..."
"Go to your humble position!"
"The general will go where he wishes!"
"..."
When faced with death threats, they were not timid or fearful.
One by one, they volunteered.
Many of them didn't understand the truth. They only knew that they were Zhu Neng's soldiers. If Zhu Neng dared to die, so would they.
Seeing the soldiers volunteering one by one, Zhu Neng clenched his fists and said solemnly: "They are all good ones!"
"Those who are willing to go, stay on the school grounds, while others retreat to the edge of the school grounds!"
Kou Ji ordered from the side.
The soldiers who were unwilling to die hung their heads and left the school grounds in twos and threes.
Some people walked halfway, hesitated and struggled for a long time, and finally returned to the school grounds.
Zhu Neng stared at them without speaking.
Kou Ji spoke again: "The only son in the family, the one who has Gao Tang, his wife and children, and the one who is under eighteen years old, get out!"
None of the soldiers in the school grounds left.
Seeing this, Kou Ji looked a little serious.
Zhu Neng stared at a captain who was left in the school grounds and whispered: "I brought you out from Hexi. I remember that you have an old mother at home and you are an only son. Please retreat quickly."
The captain stared at Zhu Neng and said seriously: "Since the general remembers that Beizhi came from Hexi, he should not let Beizhi leave. We are soldiers and horses trained by the general, and we should follow the general and live and die together."
Zhu Neng stared at the captain who spoke solemnly, "I accept your wishes. But the rules are the rules."
Zhu Neng, in his unwilling state of mind, said to Kou Ji: "Get the booklet!"
Kou Ji nodded slowly, sent someone to fetch the books, and ordered the military clerks, counselors, and officials to compare them one by one.
In the end, more than 600 people were eliminated.
Many of them are under the age of eighteen.
In the end, only 4,352 people remained.
Compared with the 300,000 Xixia soldiers and horses in Xingqing Mansion, 4,352 people are obviously very small.
Compared to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty stationed outside Xingqing Mansion, 4,352 people were still small.
But Zhu Neng is already very satisfied.
If more than 4,000 people follow him to fight bloody battles on the city walls of Xingqing Mansion, they will definitely be able to gain a firm foothold on the city walls.
After daylight.
A new round of siege began.
The method of siege was very similar to yesterday's.
The only difference was that Zhu Neng got off his horse, held his sword, and stood among the infantry.
Catapults, artillery, and grenades launched another wild bombardment against the south wall of Xingqing Mansion.
The Xixia soldiers and horses had yesterday's combat experience, so they looked particularly cunning when fighting today.
One by one, they leaned against the crenellations on the city wall and hid.
Although the casualties were not small, they were far less severe than yesterday.
Under the suppression of artillery and catapults, the Xixia troops could not show their heads.
Zhu Neng led his soldiers and horses towards the southern city wall of Xingqing Mansion.
With the experience of climbing the city three times yesterday, Zhu Neng naturally climbed a little faster today.
Although the enemy's resistance became more fierce, Zhu Neng and others still rushed to the top of the city.
After rushing to the top of the city, it was a brutal close-quarters killing.
Zhu Neng took the lead and killed them desperately.
The soldiers who followed him naturally followed suit and killed them desperately.
Soldiers continued to climb the city wall following Zhu Neng's footsteps, and soldiers continued to die fighting with the Xixia people.
The blood flows down like water.
The corpses fell like raindrops.
The scene was very tragic.
Zhu Neng led his army and fought for a long time, barely occupying a five-foot-long area on the top of the city.
But before he could stand firm, his old rival Ye Li Yuqi led a troop of soldiers and horses to attack.
Ye Liyu took advantage of the convenient mobilization of Xixia soldiers and horses on the city wall and led a heavy army to suppress Zhu Neng in the fight.
Zhu Neng's living space was suppressed to a radius of three feet in an instant.
At this critical moment, a loud roar sounded from the top of the city.
I saw the school captain who had been excluded from the ranks of the dead soldiers by Kou Ji, leading the other 600 people who had been eliminated, to the top of the city.
"Evil thief! Don't hurt my general!"
The school captain led a fresh force to attack the city, relieving Zhu Neng's pressure.
The two joined forces and quickly expanded the living space on the city wall.
As their living space expanded, more soldiers and horses swarmed the city.
Siege warfare is like releasing floods.
If a gap is made in the dam, only a small amount of water will flow out and it will not cause much damage to the dam.
But if a slightly larger hole is made in the embankment, the flood inside will surge out and destroy the entire embankment.
This is how the Song Dynasty attacked Xingqing Mansion.
Zhu Neng led his army to occupy an area of five feet on the city wall, and the number of troops that could rush up was limited.
But the more places he occupied, the more soldiers and horses rushed up.
Until the enemy is defeated.
"The South City Gate has been breached!"
I don't know who shouted.
All the soldiers shouted after him.
The sound spread throughout Xingqing Mansion.
Kou Ji, Liu Heng, and Zhong Shiheng from the other three gates of Xingqing Mansion heard this and ordered their troops to spare no effort to attack Xingqing Mansion.
The news that the South City Gate was breached affected the fighting spirit of the Xixia soldiers and horses in the other three gates, so Kou Ji and his three men attacked the other three gates very smoothly.
As the sun set, the four gates of Xingqing Mansion were breached.
The soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty poured into Xingqing Mansion like a tide.
But the war was not over.
The remaining Xixia soldiers and horses fought street battles with the Song Dynasty soldiers and horses in various streets in Xingqing Mansion.
Some soldiers and horses retreated into the inner city and used the inner city wall to defend themselves.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty have already attacked Xingqing Mansion.
It is impossible to give up on Xingqing Mansion just because of a small resistance.
Therefore, the Xixia soldiers and horses in Xingqing Mansion are just struggling to their death.
But even so, they chose to fight to the end.
After Kou Ji broke through the West City Gate, he did not participate in the subsequent battle.
He rushed to the south gate and went out to see Zhu Neng.
Zhu Neng led his troops to charge personally this time and took the lead, indeed setting an example.
But he also suffered a lot of injuries.
He was stabbed three times.
If the soldiers had not brought him back in time, he might have died of excessive blood loss.
After receiving the news, Zhao Zhen and the imperial doctor rushed to Zhu Neng's tent as soon as possible.
The imperial doctor was ordered to diagnose and treat Zhu Neng.
When Kou Ji arrived, the imperial doctor had already begun to treat Zhu Neng's wound.
Zhu Neng was lying on the bed, his face was pale, his lips were also a little white, but his expression was a little reserved.
The imperial doctor used the knife on him, but he turned a blind eye and just glanced at Zhao Zhen frequently with an embarrassed look on his face.
There was no other reason than that Zhu Neng had a scar on his thigh, and the imperial doctor had to remove his clothes to diagnose and treat it.
Zhao Zhen was watching from the side again, and he naturally felt embarrassed.
Zhao Zhen looked at Zhu Neng with a funny look on his face, "Look at what I do and whether I will feel pain for you."
After Kou Ji entered the tent, he happened to hear Zhao Zhen's words.
Kou Ji said frankly: "I'm used to loving him, but he's just not used to being stared at by officials."
Zhao Zhen was stunned for a moment and said in astonishment: "Can't I see it?"
Before Zhu Neng could talk to Kou Ji, Zhao Zhen said in a low voice: "When I was washing, there were seventeen or eight people standing by to wait on me..."
Kou Ji smiled bitterly.
Zhu Neng, who was lying on the bed, also twitched his lips.
I don't know if it's because of pain or something else.
Kou Ji said nothing, and neither did Zhao Zhen.
The two of them waited quietly nearby until the imperial doctor finished treating Zhu Neng's injury. Zhao Zhen asked: "How is Zhu Aiqing's injury? When will he recover?"
The imperial doctor wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and said softly: "Back at the official house, although General Zhu's injuries are serious, they are all off the mark and there is no danger for his life. He will be cured after a month or two."
Zhao Zhen let out a long breath and said slowly: "That's good. If I lose one of my generals due to poor diagnosis and treatment, I'm afraid I will be heartbroken for the rest of my life."
The imperial doctor was a little ashamed when he heard this.
Zhao Zhen was watching from the side. Even if he had the courage, he would not dare to tamper with the diagnosis and treatment.
When Kou Ji heard what the imperial doctor said, he also let out a sigh of relief.
After Zhao Zhen sent four eunuchs to serve Zhu Neng, he sighed: "Xingqing Mansion... is broken..."
Kou Ji whispered from the side: "I am about to report this matter to the officials."
Zhao Zhen looked at Kou Ji with a confused look.
Kou Ji said in a deep voice: "Although the outer city is in ruins, there is still a palace in the inner city, which is still under the control of the Xixia people. They are obviously prepared to fight to the end. The Xixia people in the city are quite hostile to us, even in their sixties.
Old people, down to urchins as young as seven or eight years old, will appear at random and hurt our soldiers."
Zhao Zhen was stunned for a moment, frowned and said, "Even if I conquer Xixia, won't I be able to gain the support of the people of Xixia?"
Kou Ji was silent for a moment and said: "It can only be said that Li Deming takes great care of the people in Xingqing Mansion, so it is difficult for the officials to win their hearts for a while."
Zhao Zhen lamented: "Isn't there anyone who wants to join us in the Song Dynasty?"
Kou Ji said frankly: "There are only some merchants and some Song people who escaped from our Song Dynasty."
Zhao Zhen said with some waning interest: "I don't like them..."
Kou Ji smiled bitterly and said nothing.
Zhao Zhen thought for a moment and said, "Send someone to tell Li Deming that if he surrenders now, I can spare his life."
Kou Ji still didn't speak.
Until now, Zhao Zhen still gave Li Deming a chance to surrender. That was because Zhao Zhen wanted to win the hearts and minds of the people in Fuxingqing Mansion.
Kou Ji knew what Zhao Zhen was thinking, so he didn't speak.
Zhao Zhen was silent for a long time, then added: "If he doesn't want to, then bring Li Deming's head to see me. As for what the soldiers and horses in the city are doing in the city, I don't care."
If Huairou can't do it, then he can only use the knife.
This is what Zhao Zhen has in mind.
Zhu Neng lay on the bed and said feebly: "It's a pity that I can't live up to my expectations and can't personally take back Li Deming's head and present it to the officials."