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Volume 4 Middle Chapter 155 The Huns Laugh for a Thousand Years-7

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    The north wind howled, scraping the surface like a knife, and the smell of burning cow and horse dung floated in the air.  Zuo Nianyuan leaned against the battlements of the city and looked out at the vast expanse of frozen land. After many days of tug-of-war, the snow was already very dirty, and there were sparse corpses scattered under the city.  In the distance, beyond the artillery range of the city, there were cowhide tents one after another. The activities of the Liao army could be seen clearly from the city.  Further to the south, the joint camp of the Song Army was vaguely visible. The cavalry occasionally rushed nearby and shot military orders or messages from the camp into the city.  Under the pressure of the Song army, the Liao army's siege of Xiongzhou existed in name only. However, in order to drag the Liao army to a decisive battle under Xiongzhou City instead of retreating to Youzhou to hold on, Wang Gui's army set off from Xiongzhou twenty miles away.  Slowed down the marching speed.  It took three days for the Song army to advance to the underground village five miles south of Xiongzhou.  The Liao army also seemed to have made up its mind. Instead of retreating, it concentrated hundreds of thousands of troops near Xiongzhou to the south, assuming a decisive battle with the Song army.  The sky was getting brighter, and the strong north wind made the sky clear and clear, without a single dark cloud in sight.  The burned-out bonfire was sending out wisps of smoke in the morning light, and the silence outside Xiongzhou City was a bit excessive.  The two armies of Song and Liao seemed to be ready to end their long-standing confrontation.  Previously, the Liao army retreated step by step, and the Song army crossed the Yishui River. The severe cold turned Xiongzhou into an isolated city on the ice sheet.  There is no danger to defend. In the past, the Song army would never have dared to fight the Liao people in such terrain. However, after training the fire gun battalion, the fire gunmen can be used as both archers and spearmen. With the same number, the infantry  The fighting strength of the soldiers was doubled.  With the advice of the generals and staff officers, Wang Gui determined the plan of decisive victory with regular troops, rejected Zhang Xian's suggestion of using cavalry to detour the Jurchen army's flanks, and personally selected the central camp for the artillery battalion and placed the artillery.  The Song Army's central battery had thirty-two four-inch guns and forty three-inch guns, the left wing battery had sixteen guns, and the right wing battery had forty guns.  The entire formation completely complied with the drill code written by Zhao Xingde, which focused on promoting the power of artillery, used gun battalions to protect the artillery forts, and used elite cavalry and infantry battalion heads as reserves for counterattack.  The Liao army was clearly divided into three groups. In front of it was the Muzha fortress built by the Jurchen army. Although it was not strong enough, the Jurchens cunningly set up many tents and bonfires all over the mountains and plains, so that the Song army could not tell where their main force was.  The Meerbo cavalry and the Khitan cavalry gathered further north, away from the Song army's artillery range.  Obviously, if the war goes against their will, they will definitely leave the Jurchens behind and escape alone without hesitation. However, this depends on the timing.  The emperor issued strict orders that anyone who withdraws without authorization and leads to the defeat of the army will be severely punished. Wanyan Zongbi's head is still hanging on the top of Youzhou City, which is a shock to all Liao generals including Yelu Tiege.  Although Yelu Dashi did not come to the battlefield in person, the killing ring had already started, and no one wanted to become the next monkey.  In the morning, the roar of artillery kicked off the battle, and black smoke rose from the snow-white ice field.  As soon as the battle began, the heavy artillery on the artillery forts deployed by the Song Army began to bombard the simple camps built by the Liao Army.  A heavy shelling sound cut through the silent air, and then disappeared into the howling north wind. Then, the second and third shelling sounded, which was the gunners testing the fire.  After the initial shock in the air passed, before the Liao army had time to react, more artillery fire rang out, and the sounds of hundreds of artillery pieces merged into one. Heavy round iron shells pierced the blue sky, and one after another, they rushed to land in front of the Liao army.  In the camp.  Because of Brother Yelutie's selfishness, the Xiongzhou Liao army, neither the Jurchens nor the Merbos, nor the Khitan cavalry monitoring them, had even a single heavy artillery piece.  Therefore, the Liao army was at an absolute disadvantage from the beginning of the bombardment.  However, the Liao army seemed to understand this. Although their camps were not strong, they were widely dispersed. The Jurchen infantry hid far out of the range of the Song army's artillery shells.  Unable to destroy the Liao army in one fell swoop.  The bombardment continued intermittently. After about an hour, more than a thousand Milbo cavalry wrapped in thousands of Jurchen infantry tried to escape the central artillery base of the Song Army and attack the Song Army from the side.  From the top of Xiongzhou City, the Meerbo cavalry is sometimes sparse and sometimes dense. It is obvious that they are very familiar with how to attack under the threat of artillery. The speed of the cavalry is not fast. The large group of infantry followed the cavalry and quickly passed through the middle of Song, Liao and Liao.  of ice sheets.  The artillery shells made sharp whistling noises across the sky from time to time, and some directly penetrated the ranks of the Liao infantry, leaving behind a bloody alley. Because of the distance, apart from the roar of the artillery, the Song army at the head of Xiongzhou City could not hear it at all.  The enemy screamed, and they only saw the Liao army rushing towards the Song army's right artillery base three times, each time more fierce than the last, and three times they were pushed back by the Song army on the flank.  For the last time, the large group of Milbo cavalry almost rushed to the artillery fort. However, when they rushed through the large and small groups of gunpowder smoke and desperately fought their horses to launch the final sprint, the Song army's gunners, who had been waiting for the battle, carried out two rounds of rapid and rapid fire.  Fierce volleys were fired, and at the last moment, the gunman inserted his spear into the spear, and the large white blade shone with a cold light in the sun.The Liao cavalry who were lucky enough to rush to the front of the artillery base could not rush through the iron wall with thorns like a forest of spears. After leaving behind hundreds of dead bodies, they retreated in confusion.  In the other direction, the Song Army¡¯s cavalry attack on the Liao Army¡¯s right wing was also repelled.  However, compared with the Liao army, the losses of the Song army's cavalry were not large, and they almost retreated at the first touch.  Unlike Zhang Xian, who advocated a decisive victory with cavalry, Wang Gui advocated a frontal attack with infantry, and the cavalry attack was only tentative.  The battle fell into a temporary calm, and the Song army took the opportunity to move forward again.  "Can you win this battle?" Zuo Nianyuan took a deep breath, the cold hurting his chest.  "Victory or defeat mainly depends on the camp. We contain the Liao army and can fight out of the city at the last moment." Jia Yuanzhen said solemnly.  "Is it just those weaklings in the south who can't fire a bow and haven't even fired a few rounds with a musket?" Jian Tianliang curled his lips and looked at Zuo Nianyuan provocatively.  After several days of fighting, Jian Tianliang, who had always looked down on the Southern Army, had to admit that the firearms battalion under Zuo Nianyuan was indeed capable of fighting tough battles, and was no worse than the elite troops of Henan.  The artillery volley of Guangnan Camp was particularly powerful. When the enemy ants were attacking the city, the gunners and gunmen were able to resist firing a single shot under the Jurchens' arrows, until the enemy troops were about to board the city with only twenty or thirty steps.  At this moment, the officer gave an order, and the sound of artillery and gunfire suddenly became louder. The bullets in the smoke fell down like raindrops. The enemy soldiers climbing the city screamed and fell like leaves blown by the strong wind. Occasionally, a few fish escaped the net.  After desperately climbing up, the fire blunderbuss in the back row stabbed them all, killing them all.  At this time, Jian Tianliang realized that most of the soldiers in the Guangnan camp were veterans who had fought bloody battles with the Japanese pirates in Guangzhou. Zuo Nianyuan was not a weak scholar, but a ruthless character who had climbed out of the dead. ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? The standard for the judge of strength and weakness of Master Xia ** is very simple.  In terms of strength, each army of the Xia Kingdom is good at winning. The Turkic Dashi is a strong enemy of the Anxi armies. Zuo Nianyuan can defeat the Dashi warriors under the walls of Guangzhou, which explains everything.  However, winning respect is one thing. Jian Tianliang has no good impression of the southerners anyway, and he feels that Zuo Nianyuan concealed Guangzhou's record, making his behavior of ridiculing him become as humiliating as a clown.  Therefore, in the past few days, Jian Tianliang's attitude towards Zuo Nianyuan and other Guangnan soldiers has become increasingly bad. Although the Guangnan Battalion was very good in the battle to defend the city, this did not prevent him from ridiculing the other South Battalions for not being able to fight.  "If you don't practice shooting for three days, an archer will have to shoot at least a dozen arrows a day. I don't think those musketeers can fire even one shot a year" "I don't think so" Zuo Nian  Yuan's face turned gloomy, no matter how good the clay figurine was, he still had a temper, not to mention that he had been fighting the Jurchens at the top of the city these past few days, and the anxiety caused by the battle was suffocating in his heart.  The scholar's self-cultivation has been worn away a lot, and Jian Tianliang would make sarcastic remarks when he met him.  At this time, Zuo Nianyuan's face darkened. Seeing that an argument was about to start, Jia Yuanzhen hurriedly walked between the two of them, interrupted Zuo Nianyuan loudly and said, "I don't think so" The two looked at him together.  , Jian Tianliang held his arms, smiling mockingly, while Zuo Nianyuan had an angry look on his face.  The fire actually reached him. Jia Yuanzhen smiled bitterly and tried to smooth things over: "Firearms are no better than arrows. Once fired, they are worth money and cannot be taken back. The imperial court's expenses are tight. Except for a few elite soldiers, fire guns cannot be used normally."  A few guns are excusable." "Am I right?" Jian Tianliang said reluctantly, as if he was not afraid of the trouble.  At the moment of the decisive battle between the armies, the Liao army suspended the siege, while the Xiongzhou defenders became idle.  Jian Tianliang also developed a problem in his early years. In critical moments, the strings were too tight, and when they were loosened, he became a little unscrupulous.  "Well, the hand of a fire gun is no better than a bow and arrow. They stand in a row and shoot. It doesn't matter whether an individual can shoot accurately or not." Jia Yuanzhen cursed secretly and continued to go back to make up for it: "The key to firing a salvo of fire guns is the movement.  Uniformity and rapid reloading of ammunition can be practiced without firing. Although the musketeers of the Chinese army cannot compare with the skilled archers, hundreds of thousands of people fire muskets together.  It doesn't matter anymore. Moreover, the weather is bitterly cold now, and bow strings made of beef tendon and deer tendon are no longer good, and the range is also greatly affected. Fire muskets do not use beef tendon and deer tendon, except for the occasional explosion of inferior goods.  It's not that troublesome." Jian Tianliang snorted. After all, Jia Yuanzhen is the military commander of the 10th Battalion. Although his words are to protect firearms, it is true. If the range of Jurchen bows and arrows is not affected by the severe cold, the city of Xiongzhou will be destroyed.  There will be many more casualties.  "Without artillery, we can't win at all!" Wanyan Xie also rode horseback to Brother Yelutie's camp in person.  He was very preoccupied, as if he was considering a very important matter, which required him to meet Brother Yelutie.  However, there was only one thing he wanted to say: "Without cannons, we are simply going to die!" His horse was stopped in front of Yelu Tiege's tent, "Why are you riding so wildly!" The guard seemed to not recognize him and said rudely.  shouted loudly.  "Master Xiao, I am the Jurchen King!" Wanyanxie also recognized Yelu Tie.Xiao Jin's deputy general was standing next to him. Xiao Jin wanted to pretend not to know him and let the guards scold this Jurchen barbarian. Wan Yanxie also took the initiative to greet him, and then he nodded to him without the slightest smile and asked: "Your Majesty is not here.  Supervising the battle at the front, why are you here?"
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