When Zhao arrived at the front of the battle, the two sides had already started fighting. The area outside the eastern city of Ezhou is open, and there are many villages scattered along both sides of the road, and after the war began, the residents outside the city either fled into the city or abandoned their homes, which has become a battlefield. This is the terrain between two lakes, and there is only one road leading to the outside. Among them, there are some small hills, the altitude is not high, the Song army set up a camp and set up a village in six miles outside the city, and established a blocking line by using the three hills of Jianshan, Shuangyang Mountain and Tanjialing, and dug several trenches in front of the village, used the soil dug out by the trenches, piled up the earth wall as a wall, and fortified the enemy army layer by layer.

Since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, in addition to the founding of the country, Zhao Kuangyin and his brothers have led troops into battle, the only emperor Zhenzong has personally conquered, but he was still 'hijacked' by Kou Zhun to Lanzhou, which is still a hundred miles away from the battlefield, and the royal driver refused to move forward. Zhao's current position is only two miles away from the enemy, and he can be called a personal front arrow, Shuangyang Mountain is in the middle, the highest altitude, guarding the road out of the city, he will set up the command post on the mountainside, and he can look down on the entire battlefield from a high position.

"Our army is on the defensive!" Zhao looked at the telescope for a while and said. At present, the Yuan army dispatched about 10,000 troops, although the troops were at a disadvantage, but the offensive was fierce, and the first trench had been broken through just half an hour after the battle began. The Wasion military headquarters, which served as the garrison, saw that it could not resist, and retreated after fighting, preparing to reorganize the defense line after retreating to the second trench.

"Your Majesty, it is true. Last night, the Yuan army sent a jumping army to lurk in the trench while it was dark, and when it was dawn, it suddenly came out at the time of the change of guard, and our army could not resist for a while, and was captured by the enemy and occupied the wall. It is the negligence of the minister, please punish Your Majesty! "The Weisheng Army is subordinate to the Fujian-Guangzhou base area, and Xie Ao, as the head of the Fujian-Guangzhou march, of course, also has lax supervision.

"If you neglect to take precautions and are attacked by the enemy, you are at fault. But what I am saying is that our army is on the defensive as a whole and has not yet been able to threaten and oppress the enemy. Zhao Yan said. In his opinion, in fact, the terrain of Dongcheng has its own advantages and disadvantages for both offensive and defensive sides, and there is only one land route out of the city, so whether it is attacking or defending, there is only one way, and both sides can gather heavy troops to fight to the death here to see who is powerful.

"Your Majesty, the ministers are also helpless, the Yuan army is very brave, the Weisheng army is tired after a long battle, and the new recruits who are replenished lack of training, they have lost several battles, and they can only rely on building fortifications to defend to the death." Xie Ao said.

"This can't be done, how can we implement our strategy of breaking the city if it goes on like this!" Zhao shook his head and said.

The situation on the battlefield was still not good, and the Yuan army, which had broken through the first trench, clung to the retreating Song army, and wanted to take advantage of the chaos to follow the retreating Song army and rush into the next line of defense. Some of them buried trenches with firewood and grass to expand the breakthrough, and some of them quickly developed to the two wings, trying to encircle the Song army that was still stranded in the first line of defense and expand the results of the battle. This forced the Song army, which was preparing to retreat, to turn back and fight again, and the two sides fell into a melee for a while.

Since the forbidden army has been fully equipped with firearms, this kind of close-quarters white-knuckle battle Zhao has not been seen for many years, and the situation on the battlefield can be clearly seen from the telescope, and this time it is particularly tragic, the melee between the two sides is staggered, in order to prevent accidental injury to the archers are not afraid to release the arrows, completely with knives and guns to fight hand-to-hand. In his sight, people were constantly falling on the battlefield, the screams of the seriously wounded, the roars of the fighters were endless, the blood mist formed by the splattered blood actually stained the air pink, and the sides of the trench were soon filled with corpses.

In Zhao's view, the war situation is becoming more and more unfavorable for his side. At first, the Weisheng army, relying on its superiority in strength, was still able to resist the offensive of the Yuan army and block the enemy on the front line of the trench. However, as the trenches were gradually filled, follow-up troops of the Yuan army continued to pour in from all directions, dividing the Song army into several sections. At this time, the disadvantages of the lack of training of the recruits of the Weisheng Army gradually became apparent, and they saw that they were in danger of being surrounded, so they panicked, turned around and fled, but were chased and killed by the Yuan army. Not only did the first line of defense fail, but the second line of defense began to falter.

"Your Majesty, your subordinates will go to supervise the battle and drive the enemy army out of the defense line." Xie Ao saw that the situation was critical, and hurriedly retreated.

"Wait. Alas, the left wing could not hold on. Zhao sighed and said, "Order the Second Brigade and the Artillery Regiment to line up in place, and retreat to the first line of Jianshan to respond to the Huai'en Army on the right flank, and order the Mountain Brigade to retreat to the first line of Tanjialing in response to the Weisheng Army, and the Guards Regiment to guard the Chinese army as a reserve." ”

The Song army arranged the defense line with Jianshan as the boundary, with the Weisheng army on the left flank and the Huaien army on the right flank. From Zhao's point of view, the two lines of defense of the Weisheng Army have been lost, and it is difficult to hold them anymore. If the left flank is lost, the Yuan army can take advantage of the gap to make a detour to the right flank, but it will cut off the retreat of the right wing Huai'en army and encircle and annihilate it, which is exactly the common tactic of the Yuan army. Moreover, he also saw that the battle of the Yuan army was inevitable, and now the city of Ezhou was besieged on three sides, and the waterway was cut off to be limited to a state of full encirclement, and if the Song army could not be defeated quickly, it would be trapped in the city.

On the other hand, the Yuan army that held on to Ezhou City and several Wanhu Mansions were all veteran powerhouses, and judging from the battle situation just now, they still maintained strong combat effectiveness, not only fighting bravely, but also skillful in tactics. As soon as the breach was opened, its follow-up troops immediately followed to consolidate the breach, and the vanguard continued to pursue the scattered Song army without stopping. The large army immediately followed up to fill in the trenches to open the way and divide the Song army, and the whole offensive process was as smooth as a cloud, without delay, and it was obviously a well-trained division of a hundred battles.

In addition, in terms of the quality of individual soldiers, most of the Weisheng troops were local troops that were half-ploughing and half-fighting, and in the past, they were stationed in various cottages, and they only gathered in one place for combat, and they lacked training in coordinated operations, let alone the experience of large corps operations. This time, most of the people who fought with them from Jian'an all the way to the state and plundered the capital were the new annex troops with weak combat effectiveness of the Yuan army, but they still suffered a lot of losses, the casualties of the veterans increased, and the number of newly incorporated troops increased, which further weakened the combat effectiveness. If you don't pay it back, it will collapse, and that will be even more unmanageable.

In particular, Zhao found that the dust was rising from the rear of the Yuan army, and it was obvious that there was a back hand behind him, and the sound of horses' hooves was clearly audible. They obviously infiltrated with a small force first, sent an army to attract the attention of the Song army at dawn, and then ambushed the troops to take the opportunity to open the breakthrough, and then the army quickly turned into a strong attack, opening the way for the large army behind, especially the cavalry, then the entire defense line collapsed if the defense line was broken through, and the enemy cavalry could quickly drive directly to the large camp.

"Your Majesty, the minister is guilty, so I will go to supervise the battle in person!" Seeing that his troops were invincible and needed His Majesty to fight, Xie Ao said with shame on his face.

"Have you ever discussed it after the battle, and follow me to the front of the battle to watch the battle!" Zhao waved his hand and said, but he was suddenly stunned for a moment, pointed to the front and said, "Who is the one who led the army to counterattack?" ”

With the influx of Yuan troops, Zhao found that the Song army behind the palace was gradually weakened, and at this critical moment, a team of people entered the battle group from behind. The leader of the leader, with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, rushed forward in iron armor, and fought against it for a few rounds, and their addition not only immediately contained the enemy's offensive, but also killed the enemy and retreated, and in his opinion, there were no less than seven or eight enemy soldiers who died in the hands of the leader, so frightened that the Yuan army did not dare to step forward.

"Your Majesty, that is Cui Gang, the commander of the first general of the Weisheng Army, this person is very brave in battle, not afraid of death, and he will lead the troops in front of every battle." Xie Ao replied.

"Well, this person is not simple!" Zhao nodded and said, he saw that the man was not only very brave, but also well-organized, knowing that his combat effectiveness was weaker than the enemy's, so he chose to fight in formation, covering and attacking each other in the battle, and was able to rescue friendly troops from the enemy's siege and retreat.

The 2nd Brigade of the Protector Army was used as a rear army to guard the large battalion, and at this time they received an order to line out, and they quickly stepped forward to take up their positions in the battalion unit, and then spread out the formation in the capital unit, leaving a passage in the middle for the two retreating armies to pass. At the same time, the artillery regiment also quickly followed up and set up artillery positions, the rocket battalion was arranged behind the array, and the rapid-fire artillery battalion was placed in front of the formation.

The mountain brigade that was originally arranged to serve as a guard at the foot of Shuangyang Mountain went forward to the left flank one step ahead, one of them provided cover for the formation of the second brigade of the escort army, and the other was to meet the retreating Weisheng army. However, under the command of Li Sanniang, the first and second regiments advanced in columns, and the rear of the third regiment advanced in a horizontal formation to block the advancing enemy, marching in an orderly manner without any chaos.

The two regiments in front of the Mountain Brigade gave way to the retreating Wasion Army, and immediately after receiving the enemy, they sent a battalion to break into the enemy group as stragglers to control the chaos and contain the enemy's offensive. Later, each column quickly broke through to the enemy group, and the slang soldiers were already brave, and the spears in their hands could be pierced and hooked, and the long-trained gun formations were tacitly coordinated, stabbing the throat and the chest and abdomen downward, and there were stragglers cruising around to sneak attack, and after two engagements, the enemy forward was blocked.

After a fierce scuffle, the Yuan army retreated back, and they did not love to fight, and took the opportunity to take the opportunity to cover the retreat with wounded soldiers. The Yuan army immediately followed up after a little slowdown, and the three regiments immediately opened their bows and arrows to block the enemy after the two divisions separated, covering the two regiments to retreat to their own positions. The Yuan army did not dare to chase after the Song army when they saw that the formation had been formed, and the two sides shot each other with bows and arrows. After the Weisheng army retreated to the formation, the escort army had already completed the formation, and they also disengaged from the enemy according to the order and returned to the Chinese army......

"See Your Majesty!" Zhao went down the mountain to a high slope, Wen Tianxiang and the generals had already set up the handsome platform, and when they saw him coming, they all saluted.

"The Weisheng army is under the command of Qin Linfeng, and the Huaien army is under the command of Song Lian, and the generals under his command will see Your Majesty!" Then the generals stepped forward and bowed down to worship.

"The generals are exempt!" Zhao raised his hand to let everyone flatten.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" After the generals saluted again, they got off the platform and stood on both sides, and the two commanders and Wen Tianxiang and Wen Tianxiang, Mrs. Xu, Li Sanniang, Huangfu, Chen Dun, and other staff members stood on both sides.

"Back then, we were chased by the Tartars like lost dogs, but I didn't expect that we would have such a military might today!" Zhao looked left and right and smiled with emotion. Now there are more than 30 generals and officers above the command level standing under the platform, and the flags fluttering behind them, and the various team flags standing in front of the formation are like forests, and there are tens of thousands of soldiers, and the width of the large array is five miles, and the depth is not less than three miles.

"Your Majesty, the last general is incompetent, he has failed to live up to His Majesty's trust, and he has failed to train into an elite army!" Qin Linfeng said with a face full of shame when he heard this.

"Yes, we didn't complete the task assigned by His Majesty, and we still have to ask Your Majesty to lead troops thousands of miles away, it's really shameless!" Song Lian also hung his head and said dejectedly.

"I am deeply pleased that I left you in the enemy-occupied area that day, with no more than a thousand soldiers, and less than ten, and now it has grown to a scale of 100,000!" These two people are the two generals of the forbidden army who were left behind in the fight against the rebels in various places, and now they have become the heads of the two armies, thinking about how they have been behind the enemy for so many years, they can just incorporate the rebel armies, and expand to such a scale is already a great achievement, how can Zhao be too demanding.

"This is all the work of His Majesty's strategy, how dare the last general take credit!" Qin Linfeng said.

"Yes, for so many years, Your Majesty has not only provided food and wages, but also sent a large number of weapons and armor, otherwise it will be difficult for the general to do it even if he dies." Song Lian also thought it was authentic.

"There is time to talk about it, how does the scale of this Yuan army's offensive compare with the previous time?" Zhao interrupted the two of them and asked everyone to sit down. Of course, it is impossible to put dragon chairs on the battlefield, just a few Hu beds, that is, Mazazi.

"Your Majesty, the Yuan army has also launched many attacks in the past, although it is also quite fierce, but it is not as large as this time, which also makes the last general negligent and paralyzed, so that this time the enemy broke through the defense line so quickly." Qin Linfeng, the commander of the Wasion Army, said.

"Your Majesty, the last general thought that the Yuan army had a large number of sailors stationed in Yangluo Fort in the past, and they could help each other and evacuate quickly even if the war was unfavorable, so he was not in a hurry to break the siege. But at the moment, Yangluo Fort was destroyed by His Majesty in a battle, and its retreat was all cut off, so the dog jumped over the wall to break the blockade, but we didn't expect that we would be defeated in a battle, and we were almost broken through by the enemy. Song Lian said.

"I also thought so, they felt the crisis, and the delay in the arrival of reinforcements from Jiangbei forced them to go out of the city for a decisive battle, wanting to turn the tide of the war in one fell swoop." Zhao nodded.

"What does Your Majesty think this war should do?" Wen Tianxiang also felt quite embarrassed, he had sent war reports to Xingchao many times, saying that he had confronted the enemy and trapped the enemy in the city, and yesterday he was ashamed to say that the enemy was difficult to break through, and His Majesty set a plan to bombard Ezhou City, but now they rushed out and fought with them, completely breaking their plan.

"The fighter plane is difficult to find, but it is a pity that our naval marines could not accompany it, otherwise they can take a warship to land behind the enemy, which can cut off their retreat, and can also take advantage of the emptiness in the city to seize the city, and even more can gather the enemy between the two lakes!" Zhao looked at the battlefield where the enemy brigade had arrived, and saw that its formation should be no less than 30,000 or 40,000 people, and the city of Ezhou was almost empty, if the city was captured, the enemy army would become a rootless tree, duckweed in the water, but now, alas, ...... r