The banner is fierce, the snow is flying, and the wilderness outside the city of Lanzhou is full of wooden camps and felt cloth tents of the Khitan army.

At this time, it was already the third day that Xiao Tzurin, the king of the Southern Courtyard of Liao, led 70,000 soldiers and horses to arrive in Lanzhou, and the fierce offensive and defensive battle finally began.

In the previous three days, the Liao army had not made any moves against the nearby Lanzhou, but instead divided its troops into multiple routes, raided several nearby military forts, and repaired a group of Song Dynasty border troops who were ready to watch the lively battle.

After clearing the surrounding obstacles, Xiao Tzu Rin commanded the main force and launched an offensive against Shanzhou with great momentum.

Originally, Yang Yanzhao and others judged that the reason why the Liao army attacked the periphery first was simply to cut off the channel for reinforcements from various armies and isolate Lanzhou to the greatest extent, so as to facilitate the formation of a siege situation. However, what people didn't expect was that the Khitan's purpose was not just to sweep as they thought.

The reason why I waited for three more days was because the Liao army was making siege equipment.

It stands to reason that the nomads on the steppe are often good at conducting large-scale cavalry battles on the plains and wilderness, running long distances and coming and going like the wind. On the contrary, for the fortified cities of the Central Plains regime, fighting siege warfare at a glance is the most troublesome thing for those people on horseback.

The same is true of the Khitan, their advantage lies in cavalry combat, and foot combat is a shortcoming, not to mention the siege equipment, which can have a few ladders and small trebuchets, even if it is high-end equipment.

But today, the Liao army attacking Lanzhou is very different. In three days, they actually built a nest car with a height of more than ten meters, and there were more than 20 of them! Although the style of those nest cars is simple, the design is quite exquisite, and there are seven or eight shooters standing on the nest platform, which is far higher than the city wall of Lanzhou, and can form a condescending blow to the defenders in the city without reaching close. As long as they lean against the city wall, the Khitan warriors can climb up the stairs inside the nest car and easily climb to the top of the city. (Support genuine, support Zongheng Chinese Network Zongheng APP debut.) ）

In addition to the nest car, the Liao army also built several large city trucks, using cow leather belts and thick giant logs, which were simply fixed and became the best weapon for bombarding the city gates.

These means were swinged, and the Song army in Lanzhou was a little caught off guard. The two sides started fighting in the morning, and before lunch, the Liao army had already rushed to the city three times and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Song soldiers.

Fortunately, it was the famous general Yang Yanzhao who guarded this place, and the Ningbian Army and the Quick Aid Division were both strong troops that could fight well, otherwise they would not have to wait for the sun to set, and the city of Lanzhou would probably fall into the hands of the enemy.

In the face of the unexpected offensive of the Liao army, Yang Yanzhao was in danger, and repeatedly sent elite combat forces to drive down the Khitans who rushed to the city wall, and at the same time ordered the death squad to do their best to destroy seven or eight nest cars with fire oil bombs, which survived the first day of attack and defense with all odds.

When the sun was setting in the west, the Liao army, which had been fighting all day, finally collected its troops and returned to the camp. For them, today's results are already very good, and they didn't expect to take the city guarded by Yang Liulang once, but they were able to kill the city wall several times, and the gate was also knocked loose by half, which can be said to be an unexpected joy, which greatly boosted the morale of the besieging party.

With today's results as a foundation, the city is just around the corner, so don't panic.

Looking at the Khitans who had withdrawn one after another, Yang Yanzhao's face sank like water, and he stood at the head of the city of Lanzhou without saying a word for a long time. Yang Zongbao behind him said as if talking to himself: "This is too strange! When did the Liao army learn such a powerful offensive method, and it almost made them break the city in one battle! ”

"Has this never been the case before?" Zheng Luya asked.

Yang Zongbao shook his head: "I have been on the border with my father for many years, and I have never seen such a sharp siege weapon. Not to mention the Khitan, even if it is the skilled craftsmen of our Great Song Dynasty, they may not be able to make it! ”

Zhao Liang, who was standing on the other side, said in his heart: Damn, the hateful Shangguan Xueming, he must have made a ghost!

Although these nest cars and city vehicles are not modern technology, they are always suspected of crossing time and space, except for the traversers who defected to the Khitan, who else can help the Liao army improve the level of siege overnight?

Thinking of this, another worry rose to Zhao Liang's heart: whether Shangguan Xueming would fundamentally change the history in front of him.

Although the alliance of the Yuan Dynasty seemed to be a tie between the Song and Liao families on the surface, and even because of the "year coin", the Song Dynasty was still the losing side. (Support genuine, support Zongheng Chinese Network Zongheng APP debut.) But after that, the border peace between the two countries for hundreds of years was definitely not won by begging and worshipping, but in this place of Shanzhou, the Song army really beat the Khitans, so that the invincible Liao iron cavalry could only accept armistice negotiations.

Therefore, winning the Liao army is the only choice for history. However, now with the variable of Shangguan Xueming, whether the Song army can still win, and then exchange for the precious peace covenant, has suddenly become an unpredictable suspense.

Zhao Liang carefully recalled the history of the Northern Song Dynasty that he had read, and suddenly remembered something: it seems that at this point in time, Xiao Tzulin, a famous Khitan general and the commander of the Liao State in Nanjing, was shot in the head with a giant crossbow by the defenders of Lanzhou and was seriously injured and died. The death of the king of the Southern Courtyard was definitely a huge loss for the Khitans, not only did the morale of the whole army suffer, but even the Empress Dowager Xiao dropped out of the dynasty for five days and had the intention of retreating.

It is no exaggeration to say that shooting Xiao Tzu Rin is one of the important factors that contributed to the alliance of the Yuanyuan. Zhao Liang couldn't help but be a little worried: Damn, Shangguan Xueming's guy probably knows about this, if he intends to protect Xiao Tzu and prevent him from having the opportunity to get close to the front line of the siege, then he will definitely not be sniped by the Song army, and this battle will definitely continue to be fought until another result is completely different from the historical record.

Obediently knock, pancake roll green onions! I'm afraid something big is going to happen this time! Zhao Liang secretly felt that the situation was not good, although he was convicted of being a traitor by the bureau because of his forced crossing before, and was also arrested by the agents of the Great Song Dynasty, but from the bottom of his heart, Zhao Liang still had the consciousness of an anti-crossing agent. He couldn't watch Shangguan Xueming wantonly change history, but he sat idly by.

Thinking of this, Zhao Liang didn't even bother to participate in Yang Yanzhao's discussion of defense strategies, and after thinking about it for a while, he hurriedly asked, "What are the large crossbow arrows on the head of Lanzhou City?" ”

At this time, Yang Yanzhao was telling his subordinates about his plan, and was suddenly interrupted by Zhao Liang coldly, Wu Zi was slightly stunned, and subconsciously replied: "Oh, the smaller one has a flying crossbow, and the larger one is a bed crossbow, uh...... Hou Ye asked about this, could it be that there was any good plan? ”

"There is no plan for the time being," Zhao Liang waved his hand again and again: "Whoever takes me to see it first, just look at what kind of bed crossbow it is!" ”

Yang Zongbao then recommended himself: "Brother Zhao, I'll take you there, there is an arrow tower not far from there." With that, he confessed his guilt to Yang Yanzhao, and then led Zhao Liang straight to the arrow tower of the city wall.

The official name of the bed crossbow mentioned by Yang Yanzhao is "three-bow bed crossbow", also known as "eight-cow crossbow".

On the crossbow stand more than two meters long, three large bows are combined, and the combined strength of multiple bows is used to fire arrows, and the power is extremely domineering. And the arrow used in the bed crossbow is also very special, it has a special name, called "Mugan Tieling", its shape and size are like a javelin, there are three pieces of iron feather on the arrow, after firing out, the iron feather spreads, just like three sharp swords, so the world is called "one gun and three swords and arrows".

In the strict sense, this guy has actually surpassed the concept of ordinary crossbow arrows, and should be called "ballista".

Yang Zongbao first gave Zhao Liang a general introduction to the characteristics of the bed crossbow, and then called a military leader and asked him to come over to answer Lin'anhou's questions.

The military leader was short in stature, and he seemed very clever, especially with two sparkling eyes. He walked up to Zhao Liang and said generously: "Humble Shandong Zhang Gui, see Lin'an Houye!" ”

Zhao nodded and saluted, and asked, "Brother Zhang Gui, how do we use this three-bow bed crossbow, and how far is the range?" ”

Zhang Gui gestured with his hands and said, "Lord Hou, please see, there is a winch on each side of the crossbow frame, which is used to pull the bowstring. During the battle, a dozen brothers used a special winch to tear three bowstrings apart, and then used this groove to clamp it. The other main shooter is responsible for aiming, locking on to the target, and then finding a strong guy, smashing the groove wood with a hammer, and the long arrow can be fired. In the absence of strong winds, the bed crossbow can shoot at a range of seven hundred to a thousand paces. ”

"Do you have to smash the slot wood before you can launch it?" Zhao Liang said curiously: "Wouldn't that affect the quasi-head?" ”

Zhang Gui gave a thumbs up and praised: "Master Hou is an expert, and he pointed out the shortcomings of the bed crossbow at once." Every time you use a sledgehammer to smash the hard groove wood, no matter how dexterous your hands are, you will inevitably shake the crossbow frame. Originally, the aim relied on the eyes and experience of the main shooter, and the accuracy was unsatisfactory, and this shock was even more unsound. ”

Yang Zongbao explained beside him: "That's so, but fortunately, the bed crossbow is usually used to shoot at groups of enemies, so as long as it is the same, it can always sweep a piece when it is shot." ”

Zhao Liang shook his head when he heard this, and said in his heart: That's not good, Lao Tzu is going to use this ancient cannon as a sniper rifle. (Support genuine, support Zongheng Chinese Network Zongheng APP debut.) He pondered for a moment, took out a piece of black charcoal from the brazier of the arrow tower, drew a simple structural diagram on the ground, and then pointed to it and asked Zhang Gui: "This thing is called a trigger, can you understand it?" ”

Before Zhang Gui joined the army, he was a well-known skilled craftsman in his hometown, he looked down for a moment, and suddenly said happily: "Oh, do you mean that using this thing instead of a hammer can pull open the groove wood with a light buckle?" ”

"Clever!" Zhao Liang patted Zhang Gui's shoulder: "How about it, can you transform it according to it?" ”

Zhang Gui thought to himself for a while, pointed to one of the positions and said, "This place may be a little narrow and weak, I'm afraid I can't withstand the strength of the bowstring." ”

Zhao Liang took a closer look and said, "Of course, it is not strong enough to use wood, but it should be no problem to replace it with iron parts." ”

"It's difficult, I'm afraid it's difficult," Zhang Gui sighed: "Such a delicate small piece, as far as I know, there is no such good craftsmanship in the entire blacksmith shop in Lanzhou." He pondered for a while, and then said: "Otherwise, the principle remains the same, I will replace the two connected positions with thicker wood, although it is not as light as you are here, but compared to smashing with a hammer, the degree of stability is definitely one heaven and one underground!" ”

When Zhao Liang heard him say this, he couldn't hide his joyful expression, and then drew a few more strokes on the ground and said, "These two parts are called crosshairs, and they are used for aiming. As long as the trajectory of the crossbow bolts flew out in the past, the distance measurement can be slightly adjusted. When it is time to fight, it is estimated that it will be more reliable to point the crosshair at the target and form a line at three points. See if you can make them all together and put them on top of the bed crossbow. ”

Zhang Gui looked closely, then patted his thigh and said, "Master Hou, isn't your old Mo the reincarnation of Grandpa Luban?" ”