Changfeng Thousands of Miles End Han Song

Chapter 504 Hard-boned loyalty, soft-boned reasons

Sunset at dusk that day.Twenty thousand Khitan Han troops arrived at the city of Ansu Army.Together with the supply battalion, most of the siege equipment arrived.Although this move was a hasty move by the Liao army, the most important thing in the Northland was horses.

Wuyan Guangbu deployed a large number of chariots and horses, just to keep the luggage from delaying the speed of travel.Of course, another function of these chariots and horses is to quickly transport materials back to Liao Kingdom.

There are not many defenders in Baosai City. Although it has 7000 people on its books, in fact it has been emptied out by the Forbidden Army.

Compared with the army in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the biggest feature of the army in the late Northern Song Dynasty was the role of soldiers.The generals of the Northern Song Dynasty were not just empty-handed and drinking the blood of their soldiers, but they were enslaving the army.

Perhaps they didn't pay much attention to their achievements, and their only hobby turned into making money.Make the country's soldiers into slaves.

According to the regulations of the Song Dynasty, civilian and military generals could legally serve a certain number of sergeants, called "Baizhi" or "Dangzhi", similar to modern orderlies or guards.Therefore, Zhao Da's "direct troops" for generals and schools are only "limited to the number and followed by orders", and it is impossible to cancel them.And with the development of the times, the number of sergeants in civil and military service at all levels has exceeded the quota one after another, exceeding the scope of duties such as Baizhi, which is considered private service.

When Zhao Ji was in power, the prefects, governors, and governors of the various prefectures sent many soldiers into the mountains to cut firewood and burn charcoal.The magistrate of Fenzhou envoys additionally occupied 110 and six soldiers to weave camel hair jokes, beat three yellow pots, and other private miscellaneous works, totaling more than [-] workers, including more than [-] pieces of stolen silk. There is zero, and the governor of Guangzhou indulged his sons and generals to weave and produce mattresses in the forbidden army, and did not allow them to go to school.As for the generals of the forbidden army, they were even more unscrupulous.Sergeants built mansions, cut firewood and burned charcoal, planted vegetables, weaved jokes, made mattresses, made puppet shows, embroidered, played music, etc., which can be said to be omnipresent, which shows the corruption of the military and government.

Zong Ze told Lu Qian specifically about such things, "The state of Zhao and Song used all their money to support the army. Today, if the sergeants have skills, the officers in charge of the soldiers will take more than 30% of each command. There are [-] forbidden troops in Hebei, and among them are veterans. Weak and sick patients, the number is more than half."

Due to the large number of sergeants taking up private service, there are not many real soldiers in the army.Zong Ze said bluntly about the forbidden army in Hebei: "There are five talismans from the ruler, half of the truth, the old and the weak are one, the artisans are one, the comedians are one, the public servants and Xu Shi are one, and there are all kinds of fake names. Yes, the Song Dynasty raised tens of thousands of soldiers, and those who could use them were limited to a thousand."

This is the case in Baosai City, there is not even one out of ten.The officials here summoned the brave men, and when the Khitan army arrived, they gathered strong men in their own place. The total number was only five thousand and insufficient.However, with the addition of reinforcements from Dingzhou, the 'defenders' were stronger than [-] people.But there are not even a few true soldiers inside who are brave, and few of them have actual fighting experience. Compared with the Khitan army outside the city, they are nothing more than an egg.

"Boom! Boom!"

Under the Baosai City, there were densely packed Khitan soldiers attacking the city. Wu Yanguang used the multi-shooter cannons obtained from the Guangxin Army and the Ansu Army, and hurled the burning cannon stones poured with grease into the city.

With every sound of "boom", there are houses collapsing and flesh and blood flying everywhere.

There are also many guns in Baosai City, after all, this is also an important frontier defense area in the Northern Song Dynasty.Armor with swords, spears, and even bows and crossbows are easy to throw out, but few people touch this stone cannon.

But it is difficult for a group of ordinary people to play well with the stone cannon. Compared with the counterweight Liangshan cannon, this kind of human-pulled multi-tip cannon requires more technology.It's a pity that the defenders don't have any.

Moreover, the defenders knew that their combat power was extremely weak, so how dare they set up a stronghold outside the city and set up stone cannons.Isn't that wasted in vain?Just like the defense of Tokyo in the original time and space, countless stone cannons were thrown to the Jin army in vain, and they were turned around. Instead, the defenders in Tokyo were in a panic.But the stone cannons cannot be erected outside the Walled City, and there is not enough open space in Baosai City for them to display.

Think about it, the seven-tip cannon, nine-tip cannon, etc. need hundreds of people to pull and exert force, so how much space is needed to display it?You can't find this kind of place in Baosai City at all.If you want to set up a cannon, you can only demolish the houses and level the land, and this can't be completed in two or three days.

If so, the soldiers and civilians in Baosai City can only be beaten.

Fortunately, their city defenses are strong, and the Liao army also knows that their time is limited. After hearing the news, Lu Qian will inevitably lead the troops to rush.At that time, most of the Liao army will be sent out of the country as a result.

They must seize the time to break through this city, and then continue to kill Dingzhou.Therefore, Wu Yanguang's method is to use stone cannons to catch people first, destroy the defensive equipment at the top of the city, and lower the morale of the defenders from the beginning.Then they stormed.

He didn't believe that the mob in the Southern Kingdom, who didn't know how to fight, could withstand the onslaught of his troops.

"shoot!"

Arrows criss-crossed in the air like locusts.From early morning to afternoon, the Khitan army's archers never weakened, but the crossbowmen in the city gradually disappeared.

"The rock is ready, let it go!"

Stones weighing tens to hundreds of catties were thrown from the top of the city.It hit the ladder car heavily, and every time it fell, there was a scream.

It's a pity that the time is too short to make too many preparations for the defenders.The rolling logs and stones on the top of the city were almost exhausted, and the big jar of grease was exhausted in the morning.

"The water is not boiling yet..." a voice shouted.

What he answered was a stern voice: "Pour!" Time was running out, and there was no time to wait for the hot water to boil.

After being devastated by stone cannons, the remaining cauldrons at the top of the city are in 'work' all the time.A pot of hot water poured down, and almost instantly there would be a group of horrific screams from below.

Although it doesn't boil, the water temperature of [-] or [-] degrees is equally lethal.

In just this moment, a dozen Khitan soldiers climbing on the ladder truck were finished.The tragic howl can make one's heart tremble with fear. After the scalding hot water was poured over the whole body, hot smoke was rising all over the body. The skin exposed outside the armor instantly turned red, as if it were a ripe lobster, which was shocking.

But the offensive of these people is so insignificant compared to the entire city.

A wave of Khitan troops receded like a tide, and with the sound of a drum beating, a new wave of attack roared and killed them.

With abundant military strength, Wu Yanguang could afford this kind of confrontation.

At this moment, he has the strong self-confidence that Lu Qian had back then.I am stronger than you, and I don't need to play tricks at all to kill you openly.

This kind of battle is the most reassuring, and also the most reassuring for the commander.

"Bang bang" several times, several cannon stones whizzed through the air, and the huge boulder fell, hitting the city with a bang.And if it hits a house, it will inevitably fall down with a crash.

The people near the city had long fled to the south of the city.

Wu Yanguang's banner waved, and a group of Khitan soldiers rushed forward again, roaring and shouting, their faces were ferocious like beasts.

Xu Zilong, the Inspector of Baozhou Soldiers and Horses, panted like a bellows, his arms were thick and heavy, but he still mustered the strength in his body, bent his bow like a full moon, and shot three arrows in a row.Every arrow accurately passed through the gap in the shield and inserted into the chest of the Khitan soldier behind him.The battle armor couldn't resist the arrows shot by the two strong stone bows, and the three long arrows pierced the Khitan soldier's body hard, tearing and gushing blood, and the painful wailing sounded.

When a cloud of arrows was shot from the city, the soldiers around Xu Zilong blocked it with their shields, surrounded him and took back the wooden tablet.The Khitan soldiers rushing up, the defenders stabbing down with long spears, the arrows falling staggered from above their heads...

The corpses piled up under Baosai City and out of a small slope, blood continued to flow from the pile of corpses, and the city was naturally screaming and crying, almost every moment, it was in jeopardy.

Whenever he couldn't hold on, Xu Zilong asked people to hang up a red flag, and the defenders in the battle sheds under the city immediately dispatched a new force to the top of the city for reinforcements.

This is siege warfare.

The sun sets amid the curling embers of fireworks.

Xu Zilong also felt that his field of vision was full of blood and water.He leaned against the wooden stand, panting heavily, and looked up at the sun in the western sky. The time had come to dusk, and it was estimated that it would be exactly the hour of You.The blood-red setting sun was really like blood, sprinkled on the city and around him.

The Khitan army under the city has retreated, but in the northern city, where the attack is the most fierce, there may be thousands of soldiers who will fall to the top of the city after a day's fighting. All hide endless fear.

But there was no fear in his heart, because Xu Zilong was not from a family of generals, but from a martial arts family.He had stood guard on the Zichen Palace, and had also shed blood on the northwest frontier. This time, the Liangshan Army marched northward, unstoppable.

Xu Zilong's heart is very complicated.He naturally has feelings for Zhao Song, but this feeling is not enough to make him die willingly.But surrendering to Liangshan Army, he also felt ashamed of Song Shi's kindness.

At the time of the conflict, news came from the north that the Liao army had entered the bandits.

Xu Zilong put all his troubles behind him, actively prepared for the battle, and prepared to resist.

He is not very willing to serve Liangshan, but he does not want to die for Zhao Song.But when foreign enemies invaded, he was willing to fight to the death and die without regret.

It's just that my family knows their own affairs. Today they withstood the onslaught of the Liao army, but tomorrow it will be different.Most of the defenders in the city are brave and strong, how many casualties can they suffer?If there is another fight like this tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow, Chaoyang himself will not be able to see it.

Xu Zilong sighed secretly in his heart.

Wu Yanguang stared at the head of Baosai City on the temporary wooden platform, on which the tattered battle flag of the Song Army was flying.

Liu Jing, governor of Baozhou, and Shi Qinghe, governor of Dingzhou, all resisted resolutely, and Xu Zilong and several generals gave their full support, even the big households in the city gave their full support.Helpless, the Khitan people's methods in Guangxin Army were too cruel, they not only robbed the whole city, but also took the people as slaves, forcing the soldiers and civilians of Baozhou to fight to the death.

However, the armed forces in the city were really weak. From the perspective of any general with certain military accomplishments, the Khitan army could take Baosai just around the corner.

But at least today, it still stands!

"Are you still unwilling to surrender?" Wu Yanguang turned to Zhang Bangchang and asked.

"Back to General, Liu Jing and Shi Qinghe are stubborn people who don't care about the situation and don't know what is good or bad!" Zhang Bangchang wished his head could hang on the ground.Wu Yanguang has already promised that as long as Liu and Shi are willing to open the city and surrender, he will let the past go, and will never take revenge on the two of them and the soldiers and civilians in Baosai City.But regardless of whether these words can be trusted, it is clear that Liu and Shi do not recognize the strategy of "borrowing troops to suppress thieves".

"Really?" Wu Yanguang sighed and said nothing more.These are all loyal ministers of the country and pillars of the country!If it were in Daliao, this would be the hero of the whole country.

The Liao Kingdom is also being suppressed by the Jurchen. In the past few years of fighting, the dignitaries who have been favored by the court have become traitors who bowed their knees to serve the thieves. Wu Yanguang hates it to the bone.He felt admiration for the two of them in his heart, but he also knew that now he wanted to kill them even more.

The enemy's hero is my enemy.

After a while, he asked his son next to him, "Is there any news about Liangshan Army?"

Wu Yan Yanshou said: "I only know that Lu Qian has raised troops, but there is no definite information on his whereabouts."

"It's really the same smell." Wu Yanguang looked at Baosai City, how similar were Liu Shi and Lu Qian in the city?

As the officials of the Great Song Dynasty, half of the Zhao family's country has fallen, but they are still obsessed with the distinction between Hua and Yi, so old-fashioned?

As for Lu Qian, as an anti-king, the imperial court has not yet overthrown, and he is about to attack Liao, clamoring for the blood of Daliao, he is really a reckless man who has no priorities.

He should know the situation in the Liao Kingdom. It is impossible for his family to contain his army in the Han area, and he just took advantage of the fire to rob him.Compared with the great rivers and mountains in the Central Plains, which is more important than a few military states?
Liao and Qi are complementary and mutually beneficial. Shouldn't they be intensified and closely related now? Why are they so unwilling to bow their heads?Could it be that he wants to find a bargain on Daliao, so that he can win the hearts of Hebei?

Thinking like this is really wishful thinking and unreasonable.

"Stop worrying so much! It doesn't matter until Baosai City is broken tomorrow!"

……

Here, Zhang Bangchang retreated from Wu Yanguang, returned to his own military tent, and saw that Mo Yong was already waiting here.

"Master Zhang, this Baosai City..."

Seeing Zhang Bangchang's return, Mo Yong hurriedly asked.

The latter shook his head, very frustrated.Without saying a word, the meaning is already clear.Mo Yong immediately beat his chest and stamped his feet, "Don't you two Liu Shi know the current affairs? Now the king's career is in trouble, and when he is ashamed to bear the humiliation, if he leads the Liao army into the invaders, the land thieves will definitely take action. Many people of that generation are careless, love loyalty, and have no intention of doing anything. Taking into account the overall situation, if the Eighteenth Nineth Council and the Khitan fight, the pressure on His Majesty will be reduced, this is the overall situation."

Zhang Bangchang shook his head and was speechless.

(End of this chapter)