Yuan Shan accompanied An Ziluo and Krui, chatting and joking all the way, and drove in a hurry. At noon, the group arrived at Yangguan.
The 100,000 soldiers and horses they led lined up in front of Yangguan, which looked very spectacular.
Yuan Shan, An Ziluo, and Krui rode their horses to the front of the formation, looking at Yangguan City, each thinking.
On the city of Yangguan Pass, there are many flags.
Di Qing and Chen Yaozi stood side by side, looking thoughtfully outside the city.
On their left and right sides, there were many soldiers, holding muskets in their hands and standing ready.
Outside Yangguan.
Yuan Shan put away his playful smile, rode his horse to the side of An Ziluo, and said solemnly: "Song State has sent more troops to Yangguan. Yangguan is not easy to fight."
An Ziluo, while inferring the strength of the troops in Yangguan through the flags and the figures exposed at the crenels, said to Yuanshan: "It's a bit difficult to fight... Previously, the only person who was stationed at Yangguan was Di Qing, the Song general. Now, not only is Di Qing, but also the general of the Song Dynasty.
Chen Yaozi, a Song general in Yongzhou.
Chen Yaozi led a forbidden army.
Coupled with the Imperial Guards in Di Qing's hands, the number of Song Imperial Guards in Yangguan should be between 80,000 and 90,000.
The Imperial Guards of the Song Dynasty are powerful, and their number of eighty or ninety thousand can stop our Qingtang's tens of thousands of men who control the strings.
Coupled with the fact that they are defending the pass, we need to spend more troops to break through the Yang Pass."
Yuan Shan said in a deep voice: "But we no longer have the troops to dispatch."
An Ziluo hesitated and said, "Don't we still have Liao soldiers to help us?"
Yuan Shan snorted coldly, "Can you trust Liao soldiers?"
An Ziluo was speechless.
If he could trust the Liao soldiers, he would not hesitate when he mentioned the Liao soldiers just now.
Krui, who had no sense of presence, had already rode his horse to the two of them. After hearing the conversation between the two, he hesitated for a long time and said slowly: "We can't place our hopes on the Liao people. We have to
Rely on yourself."
Yuan Shan laughed, "Then tell me, how can we break through Yang Pass on our own?"
Cruy smiled dryly and said nothing more.
Yuanshan saw that Krui was timid and looked at An Ziluo again.
An Ziluo was silent for a long time and said in a deep voice: "Kruy is right, we have to rely on ourselves."
Yuan Shan asked: "Tell me, how to fight Yangguan?"
An Ziluo thought about it and said: "If we go head-to-head, it will be difficult for us to conquer Yangguan for a while. If we want to conquer Yangguan as soon as possible, we can only win by surprise."
"What a surprising way to win?"
Yuan Shan asked.
An Ziluo said in a deep voice: "Find a way to lure them out. Without the protection of Guancheng, they are no match for us. A single charge of the Yuanshan Iron Cavalry will be enough to defeat them, and we can take advantage of the situation to attack the city."
Yuanshan narrowed his eyes slightly, "If they dare to come out, my Yuanshan cavalry will naturally defeat them. I'm afraid that they will be like a tortoise, huddled in Yangguan and refusing to come out."
An Ziluo glanced at Yuan Shan and said: "We can slowly think about ways to lure them out of the city. What we have to do now is to send command arrows to Xiao Pidi, and let Xiao Pidi lead his troops and horses to form a two-sided attack with us.
There is some pressure from the Song Army."
Hearing this, Yuan Shan urged: "Then what are you waiting for? Send the command arrow quickly."
An Ziluo nodded and ordered to go down.
A dozen sharpshooters came out, drew out the loud arrows from their waists, and shot them into the sky.
There is a whistle on the nock of the sounding arrow.
After a dozen sounding arrows were launched into the sky, the sound of crisp whistles spread throughout Yangguan and beyond.
In the west of Yangguan Guan, Xiao Pidi, who had just led his troops and horses to approach Yangguan, heard the whistle and immediately ordered the Liao soldiers to abandon the hiding and marching method and changed to the galloping method of marching.
Tens of thousands of Liao soldiers, after receiving Xiao Pidi's order, rushed towards Yangguan one by one, waving their whips.
For a while.
There are many battle flags on the east and west sides of Yangguan.
Di Qing and Chen Yaozi stood on Yangguanguan City and saw everything.
When the Liao soldiers approached Yangguan, Di Qing snorted coldly and ordered: "Fire a few cannons to cheer them up!"
Following Di Qing's order, the artillery placed on the east and west walls of Yangguan opened fire in unison.
"Bang bang bang..."
Hundreds of cannons fired volleys.
Roars and explosions resounded inside and outside Yangguan.
The war horses outside Yangguan Pass heard the roars and explosions, and neighed. Some of the war horses scratched the ground with their hooves uneasily, and some of the war horses were frightened and wanted to escape. The cavalry on horseback clung to them.
Holding the reins to restrain them, they can only keep raising their front hooves in place and keep jumping.
For a time, the formation and queue became a little chaotic.
Seeing this, the soldiers of the Song Dynasty's Forbidden Army in Yangguan burst into cheers of excitement and joy.
"What a show of force!"
Yangguandong.
Yuan Shan restrained the horse under his crotch and praised him.
When the Qingtang soldiers and the Liao soldiers were attacking from both sides, Di Qing fired artillery in demonstration, disrupting the formations and queues of the two armies, and causing a slight drop in the morale of the two armies.
However, the soldiers of the Song Dynasty's Forbidden Army in Yangguan used the power of artillery to inspire stronger morale.
Morale is a very delicate thing.
Soldiers and horses with morale and soldiers and horses without morale are completely two kinds of soldiers and horses.
The strength of morale sometimes becomes the key to determining victory or defeat on the battlefield.
Therefore, Di Qing only used a few shots to mobilize morale, and Yuanshan naturally wanted to express his praise.
An Ziluo frowned, listening to the shouts in Yangguan, and slowly said: "The enemy's momentum is like a rainbow, but our army's momentum is somewhat frustrated. It is not suitable to fight today.
Set up camp on the spot, rest for a day, and attack Yangguan again tomorrow."
Yuan Shan nodded in agreement with An Ziluo's idea.
As for Kruy, after he arrived here, he was like an outsider.
No one cares about his opinion, and he doesn't want to express any more opinions.
An Ziluo immediately ordered to set up camp and bury pots to make rice.
The soldiers and horses under Cruy's command followed one after another.
On the contrary, it was the soldiers and horses of the Yuanshan tribe who began to set up camp and bury pots to make rice after Yuanshan gave the order.
Yangguanxi.
After Xiao Bidi led his troops and horses to rush to Yangguan, he restrained the formation that had been scattered under the threat of artillery. When he heard that An Ziluo on the other side did not lead his troops to attack Yangguan, he knew that An Ziluo had temporarily avoided Yangguan.
The soldiers of Song Dynasty chose to set up camp.
Xiao Pidi immediately ordered his soldiers and horses to set up camp and bury pots to make rice.
Qingtang soldiers and Liao soldiers were setting up camp on the east and west sides of Yangguan, and there was no other movement at all.
Di Qing and Chen Yaozi at the top of Yangguan City were a little uneasy.
The two of them stared at the tents set up by soldiers and horses of the Yuanshan tribe in the east of Yangguan, dumbfounded and unable to say a word.
The square tents and the neat arrangement were so familiar to them.
The two of them stared blankly at the tent set up by the soldiers and horses of the Yuanshan tribe for a long time.
Chen Yaozi couldn't help but ask Di Qing, "I...if I read correctly, that should be the standard tent for our imperial army..."
There was some uncertainty and doubt in Chen Yaozi's tone.
Di Qing solemnly said: "Not only are the tents the standard equipment of our Forbidden Army, but even the way of setting up camp and the order in which they are arranged are also the same as our Forbidden Army."
Chen Yaozi swallowed his saliva, lowered his voice, and said to Di Qing: "So... Privy Kou said that they are his own people, is it possible that it is true?"
Di Qing hesitated for a moment and said: "I have never doubted what my brother said. But, how did they get the tents of our Forbidden Army, and how did they get the camping method of our Forbidden Army?
Moreover, if they use it so blatantly, aren't they afraid of others being suspicious?"
Chen Yaozi said with a strange expression: "If there are people from Qingtang and Liao who have been to Jiaozhi, they won't doubt it."
Di Qing looked at Chen Yaozi in astonishment, not understanding what Chen Yaozi meant.
Seeing this, Chen Yaozi smiled bitterly and explained: "The soldiers and horses in Jiaozhi also use the same method. The tents, camping methods, marching methods, fighting methods, and even armaments are no different from us."
The look of astonishment on Di Qing's face became even stronger.
Chen Yaozi smiled bitterly and said: "Privile Kou sold it to them, and the price is not cheap. Often the price of one tent is enough for us to build three.
When I was in Yongzhou, I even brought troops and horses to escort military equipment."
Di Qing didn't know what to say for a moment.
It is not a secret in the Song Dynasty that Kou Ji resells the Song Dynasty's armaments.
Kou Ji sold the eliminated and unused armaments of the Song Dynasty at high prices to obtain huge amounts of money for the Song Dynasty.
Lu Yijian and the others watched Kou Ji sell the waste that had been eliminated by the Song Dynasty at sky-high prices, and they all protected Kou Ji in this regard.
As long as someone uses this matter to impeach Kou Ji, they will be jointly attacked by the three of them.
And every blow is accurate.
Because Zhao Zhen, who was in charge of the ruling, knew how much benefit the Song Dynasty had gained from this.
It's just that General Kou Ji sold the equipment, and even taught him how to set up camp, which left people speechless.
After Di Qing was silent for a long time, he asked Chen Yaozi, "So, it is not a special case that the soldiers and horses of the Yuanshan tribe were able to obtain the tents and camping methods of the Song Dynasty?"
Chen Yaozi nodded.
Di Qing asked again, "Then we treat them as one of our own, isn't it too hasty?"
Chen Yaozi thought for a while and said with a smile: "It's a bit hasty. Whether they are our own will only be known after verification on the battlefield. But you don't have to think too much. We have made enough preparations to use our own
strength to face the enemy.
So it doesn't really matter whether they are our own people or not.
If they were our own, we would naturally end the war faster.
If they are not our own, then we are just spending more time."
Di Qing nodded slowly.
The two of them made a decision and stopped talking.
After Di Qing finished speaking, he went to the city wall to the west of Yangguan, while Chen Yaozi stayed in the east of Yangguan to take charge.
The next day.
The sky was covered with clouds and gloomy.
God seemed to have sensed that there might be a big battle today, so he specially selected a weather for Yangguan that was very suitable for their battle.
After An Ziluo, Yuan Shan, and Krui woke up, they ordered their soldiers to bury the pot in rebellion and had a hasty meal.
The bull's horn was blown to signal the beginning of war.
"Woooooooo..."
The long horn sound spread throughout Yangguan and beyond.
For a time, everyone inside and outside Yangguan entered a tense wartime state.
After the Qingtang soldiers and the Yuanshan soldiers gathered together, An Ziluo led the Yuanshan soldiers and the Qingtang soldiers to approach Yangguan in darkness.
The strong wind blew a shrill sound like the howling of ghosts and wolves, seeming to urge them to march as quickly as possible.
After the army was forced to the foot of Yangguan.
An Ziluo hardly hesitated and sent Krui to lead his troops to attack Yangguan.
This attack on the city was just a feint, a test.
Therefore, An Ziluo did not send out the entire army.
Yangguanxi.
After Xiao Pidi heard the horn sound of the Qingtang soldiers, he immediately gathered the Liao soldiers and horses and launched an attack to the west of Yangguan.
Both sides of Yangguan were caught in the war.
It is worth mentioning that it seems to be to prevent artillery, grenades and other objects from affecting the war horses and causing frustration in one's own siege.
When An Ziluo and Xiao Pidi sent troops and horses to attack the city, they asked all the soldiers to leave their horses behind.
Yangguandong.
Chen Yaozi stood on the city wall, watching the Qingtang soldiers under the city head slowly approaching. After the Qingtang soldiers entered the range of the artillery, heavy crossbows, and bed crossbows, Chen Yaozi decisively ordered to shoot.
"shoot!"
Cannonballs and crossbows burst out.
The sound of explosions and the sound of crossbows piercing flesh instantly filled the entire battlefield.
The Qingtang soldiers stared at the cannonballs and crossbows as they arrived at Yangguan City.
The musketeers on the top of the city held muskets and shot at them fiercely.
Under the powerful firepower of muskets, artillery and grenades.
It can be said that the Qingtang soldiers suffered heavy losses.
A simple feint turned into a one-sided massacre in the end.
Although the Qingtang soldiers had shields in their hands, they could withstand bullets.
But he couldn't stop the grenades that frequently exploded at his feet.
The war in the west of Yangguan is almost the same as the war in the east of Yangguan.
Under the cover of artillery, muskets, and grenades, the enemy could not get close to the city head.
Yangguandong.
An Ziluo and his party stood in the distance, looking at the Qingtang soldiers who couldn't even get close to the city wall, with very ugly expressions on their faces.
"This is the true strength of the Song Dynasty's Forbidden Army..."
For the first time, Cruy was the first to speak.
Yuan Shan said with a solemn expression: "Under the cover of the firearms offensive, our soldiers and horses cannot approach the top of the city at all. Except for bows and crossbows, the other armaments in our hands cannot do anything to the Song army."
An Ziluo nodded gloomily.
Yuan Shan continued: "If we want to break the city, there are only two ways left. Either lure them out and fight with them in the wild.
Or we can't do enough damage, storm Yangguan, and tear a hole open with human lives."
After listening to Yuan Shan's words, An Ziluo decisively ordered: "Retreat..."
As An Ziluo's order was conveyed, the Qingtang soldiers retreated from the battlefield like a tide, leaving behind corpses on the ground and seriously injured Qingtang soldiers.
Xiao Pidi heard An Ziluo's voice calling for gold to withdraw his troops, and decisively called for gold to withdraw his troops.
After both sides withdrew their troops, they did a little inventory and found that the battle losses were huge.
There were over a thousand soldiers killed and wounded, and over ten thousand soldiers wounded.
This is just a feint.
If a formal attack on the city were to take place, there would probably be more dead and wounded soldiers, and the number of wounded soldiers would be too much for them to accept.
"Tell me, how can we draw them out?"
After An Ziluo and others returned to the Chinese army's tent, An Ziluo sat in the Chinese army's tent and asked everyone.
Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, but no one said anything.
Seeing this, Yuan Shan slowly spoke, "How about I send someone to call the formation?"
An Ziluo shook his head and said: "This is not the period of the Qin and Han Dynasties, so there is no point in calling for formation. They relied on the power of firearms to defeat us easily, so there is no need for them to venture out of the city again."
As soon as these words came out, the Chinese army's tent fell into silence again.
An Ziluo looked at everyone and said in a deep voice: "When we attacked Xiliang City, Ganzhou, Suzhou and other places, although we did not encounter the Song army, we also did not encounter a large number of Song people.
However, we captured some of the Song people who were scattered outside and the messengers who rushed here to deliver messages.
There are probably more than 300 people.
We drove them to Yangguan City to see if the people in Yangguan would save them.
If they save us, then we will rush over and entangle them.
If they don’t save us, then we will find another way to deal with him.”
As soon as these words came out, the generals in Qingtang nodded in unison.
Yuan Shan frowned and asked, "Would it be too mean to do this?"
An Ziluo stared at Yuanshan and asked, "Do you have any other better ways?"
Yuan Shan gritted his teeth and said nothing.
An Ziluo patted the short table in front of him and said loudly: "Then it's settled. You go back quickly to gather troops and horses, and I will send people to drive away the captured Song people."
Yuan Shan stood up and took the lead to leave the Chinese army tent.
Krui hesitated for a moment, and then followed Yuanshan and left the Chinese army's tent.
Then others left the Chinese army tent one after another.
Cruy ran out of the tent and caught up with Wonsan.
"Chief Yuanshan, wait a moment..."
Yuan Shan paused for a moment, then turned around with some displeasure and asked, "What advice can you give me, Mr. Cruy?"
Krui hesitated for a moment, then took out a ring and handed it to Yuan Shan, "When I went to Song Dynasty, I picked up a ring. I heard it is a good thing, can you help me take a look."
Yuan Shan was stunned and wanted to refuse, but when he saw Krui staring straight at him, as if he still had something to say, he did not refuse.
He took the wrench and glanced at it casually.
Yuan Shan was stunned.
On the inner wall of the ring, he saw a small plum blossom seal with the word "寇" missing.
Yuan Shan held the ring in his hand, raised his head, and stared at Krui, "This ring is a good thing."
Krui changed his previous attitude of not caring about anything, stared at Yuanshan and said: "I wonder how much it is worth?"
Yuan Shan hesitated for a moment and asked, "No one told you when you picked up the thumb ring?"
Kruy said solemnly: "When I picked up the ring, the owner of the ring told me that if you and I meet, just listen to you. He said that you will not treat me badly."
Yuan Shan threw the ring to Krui, "Gather the troops first..."
Krui put away his thumb, said nothing, and left Wonsan's side.
The two negotiated for a short time, and they negotiated inadvertently. Although some people saw it, they didn't think about it.
After all, the two of them are now the second and third in command in the military camp.
Except for the top leader An Ziluo, no one has the right to interfere in the negotiation between the two, let alone what they said.
Therefore, even if someone saw the two negotiating, they would at most think that the two were discussing military matters and would not think about other aspects.
After Krui left, Yuan Shan hurriedly returned to his tent.
The nine commanders of the Yuanshan Cavalry were waiting for him in the tent at the moment.
Yuan Shan entered the tent, and the nine commanders all stood up and looked at Yuan Shan.
Yuan Shan walked to his seat and sat down. The nine commanders looked at each other.
Someone asked: "Chief, what happened?"
Yuan Shan hesitated for a moment and asked, "Do you know how many of our own people there are in Qingtang?"
The nine commanders were all stunned, not understanding what Yuan Shan meant.
Yuan Shan did not sell out to them, and said frankly: "Kruy found me just now and showed me something. Then I found out that he is one of our own."
"The young master's people?"
The nine commanders all asked questions.
Yuan Shan shook his head slowly, "I'm not sure whether he belongs to the young master, but he is holding the young master's things."
"hiss……"
The nine commanders all took a breath of air.
They all knew that those who took the things given by Kou Ji were either Kou Ji's people or people from the imperial court.
Whether they are people from Kou Ji or from the imperial court, they are all our own people here.
Although Kruy is not good at talking and doesn't like to be in the limelight, he looks ordinary.
But his status in Qingtang is not low either.
He used to be the young chief of a large Tubo tribe.
When his father fought with Jiao Siluo for the co-ownership of Tubo, he was beheaded by Jiao Siluo.
After he succeeded to the position of clan leader, he was forced by Jiao Si Luo and took refuge with Jiao Si Luo.
After Jiao Siluo confiscated their tribe's people, soldiers, horses, money and food, he gave him a very prestigious position as a general in Qingtang and gave him more than 60,000 soldiers and horses in return.
It stands to reason that in the Song Dynasty, this kind of person would be cut to pieces by those in power.
But in Qingtang, Jiao Siluo couldn't kill him with a thousand swords.
Because if Jiao Si Luo were to kill him without completely digesting his tribe, he would directly force everyone in his tribe to rebel.
Other people who, like Kruy, have taken refuge in Jiao Siluo, will also have a sad feeling in their hearts.
There will be chaos in Qingtang by then.
Therefore, Jiao Si Luo could only temporarily raise him up high, give him some identity, give him some soldiers and horses, and let him live in peace and stability until he dies of old age.
Logically speaking, it is difficult for such a person to be incited to rebel.
And it is easy to be discovered when instigating rebellion.
Because Jiao Si Luo will definitely send people to keep an eye on them after they join his command.
But the nine leaders did not expect that Kou Ji's hand could be stretched out so long, and he could instigate this man to rebel without him noticing.
"The young master's methods are still as unpredictable as before."
The commander of the Youyuanshan Iron Cavalry said in a deep voice.
Another Yuanshan cavalry commander said: "How can we guess the young master's methods?"
Another commander of the Yuanshan cavalry said: "Young master's methods are beyond our imagination even if we think about it. So there is no need for us to pay attention to this matter.
Since the young master allows this person to contact us, it means that this person can be used.
What I'm more curious about now is, how many people did the young master instigate rebellion?
Since the young master has the means to instigate this person, he can also instigate others."