"During the Lantern Festival, on both sides of Bianjing Royal Street, it is the most lively time. It's a pity that I'm so good-looking, I don't know which scoundrel I'm entangled in. Referring to the Lantern Festival not long ago, Su Wenyu paused with a look of longing on his face, and said with a smile, "Fuhai Bookstore's 'Snow Hidden Immortal' was interrupted after it came out in 25 volumes, and it was not updated when it came out, I don't know if I have the life to see what a magical power Zhang Ming's cultivation to the ninth heaven is." He half-jokingly said to his friend Ouyang Shan beside him, "If anything, you have to burn the continuation book to me." ”

Ouyang Shan replied: "That 'bald pen man' won't be the same as our handsome." All the bow horse disciples laughed together, these young people were greatly affected by the public opinion trend of the Jingshi, and they had no respect for Tong Guan, and they could observe words and feelings, knowing that Wang Yan was not Tong Guan's henchmen, but the two of them had a faint tendency to check and balance, so there was no taboo to joke. After laughing for a while, a man named Wu Jian said: "The Khitan dogs outside the city have not moved for so many days, could it be that they will go back after they have looted enough?" ”

Zhao Xingde used the stick in his hand to stir the charcoal fire, and the charcoal, which was already a little dark, burned vigorously again, reflecting the warmth and brightness in the Tibetan Soldier Cave, and the young faces around the stove were full of expectation. After the bloody war, there is no one who does not miss the peaceful years. The Liao people besieged but did not attack, only cared about looting in the countryside, so that many people were lucky, this time the Liao soldiers may be the same as in previous years, looting, but the scale is much larger. As time passed, the soldiers and civilians in Hejian City were not as nervous as they were when they first entered the city.

Wang Yan remembered the first business trip in Jinwei Mansion, went to Liaoguo to contact Han'er to rebel, and the five robes were out of the plug, and only came back to himself. His throat moved, and he didn't say anything to reprimand these young people for not wanting to kill the enemy and greedy for comfort, but only said lightly: "But there is a Liao dog on the ground of the Great Song Dynasty, so he swears to stand with us." ”

Everyone fell silent, this day was the fifth day of the second month, a round of the moon hung high in the sky, shining on the land of Hebei, compared with the millions of displaced people in the countryside of Hebei, who were in danger of living in fear, more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians in the city of Hejian still had a little steadfastness, and even, a trace of extravagant hope.

"When this military disaster is over, I will go back and find my mother-in-law." Liu Mazi of Xian County cowered tiredly next to a pile of stones under the city wall, resting his head on the stones, looking at the starry sky and muttering. "I don't know if the old house at home was burned down by the damned Khitans, the deed is buried in the ground, it should be fine." Zhu Juren of Baozhou secretly pulled more than a dozen hay on himself, and slept with more than a dozen fleeing squires in one room, and when he slept at night, he had to spread hay on his body to keep out the cold. He really hasn't suffered such a big crime in his life, "I heard that Zhao Shenjun next to Wang Sima is the first rank of Taixue Jia, who was appointed by the saint, if there is a chance, I want to get acquainted." This catastrophe will not die, the ancestors of the Zhu family will bless me as a high school jinshi. Zhu said that with a hint of a smile, he fell asleep groggyly. Also to keep out the cold, the tenant farmer Wang Thirteen was buried in the dry sand and snoring, and in the dream, his son was still calling his father, and Wang Thirteen's tears fell.

A touch of fish belly white appeared in the east, the sky was dawning, Meng Ping, the soldier at the head of the city, rubbed his hands and feet that had been frozen all night, and took the time to look at the Liao camp, suddenly, his eyes widened, he pointed into the distance with his mouth stammered, and shouted: "Iron bucket cannon, what a big iron bucket cannon!" ”

"What are you yelling about!" Gao Ze, the commander of the Zhenbei Army, lowered his head and came out of the battle shed, he followed Meng Ping's gaze and looked out of the city, and was suddenly speechless.

Two miles away from the city wall, a huge iron barrel cannon had been placed in the empty camp originally built by the Liao army. Artillery is no stranger to everyone, there is one in the battle shed where Gao Ze is located, but the guy set up by the Liao people is really too big, it is as huge as the pillar of the main hall of the temple. The cavalry of the Liao State, which was scattered in the past, had already lined up in a neat manner, monitoring the movements of the Song army in Hejian City outside the fort.

Farther away, four or five barrel cannons were being transported, each with nearly 100 oxen and horses pulling the huge gun carriage, and around each huge cannon, the Han army surrounded by thousands of firearms battalions was busy, in addition to controlling cattle and horses, but also rammed earth from time to time to strengthen the road, fill the potholes, and prevent the dozens of huge cast iron wheels of the gun truck from sinking into the mud. In addition, there were countless horse-drawn carts carrying gunpowder, cannons, washing tools, etc.

The speed of the Liao's giant artillery was extremely slow, but whether it was the tens of thousands of firearms battalions of the Han army who were constantly busy in the artillery forts and sports cars, or the 20,000 elite cavalry guarding the side, or the slow-moving giant cannon itself, they all carried an unstoppable momentum that wanted to crush everything, bringing an indescribable sense of oppression to the Song army at the head of the city.

Even Tong Guan was alarmed, and he took many of his staff and scribes to the city tower to look at the enemy's situation, and was immediately stunned. "This ......, this Liao people are too barbaric, brutal, it's just brutal, rude, how can the iron bucket cannon be so huge, such a huge thing, if it can be bulleted, wouldn't the earth shake the mountains?"

"According to common sense, as long as there is enough copper and iron, no matter how big the iron barrel cannon is, it can be made, but it is inconvenient to transport." Zhou Dingchen, the secretary in charge, explained, he looked at the Liao artillery carriage pulled by hundreds of cattle and horses, and said secretly, "Even if there are so many horses in this dynasty, it is more advantageous to form cavalry." ”

Tong Guan had been looking at the clairvoyant mirror, seemingly ignoring Zhou Dingchen's explanation at all, watching the huge cannon of the Liao people slowly move towards the fort that had already been built, he could hardly believe his eyes, and only muttered: "How can the iron bucket cannon be so huge, this ......, the wheels are higher than the horse, and the muzzle is bigger than the grinding plate, can the cannon be fired?" How is this possible? ...... No way! I have never cast such a huge artillery in the world...... No way. ”

The generals on the city tower all looked grim, marching Sima Wang Yan, the commander of the second army in Zhenbei Han Shizhong and others repeatedly observed the huge cannons of the Liao army, and finally understood the reason why the Liao people did not move these days, that is, they were waiting for these siege weapons, Wang Yan even used a clairhand mirror to see the confident and arrogant expression of the Liao generals, and the Liao cavalry in the array with a relaxed expression, gestured to the city tower and cursed.

In the evening, Yelu Dashi answered Tong Guan's question in his way.

"Regardless of the rest, let the three guns prepared in the fort open fire and deter the enemy!" Yelu Dashi put down the clairvoyant mirror, this is a warning, and then he will ask the Han army to send another letter of persuasion to Hejian City, doesn't Wang Yan like to cut off people's ears, let him cut it. China's temple artifacts were moved to Shangjing as early as the Five Dynasties, the Great Khitan is a ceremonial state, these Song people often regard themselves as the Heavenly Empire, regard the Khitan as barbarians, and it is time to use cannons to sober them up.

"Quasi-ready-" With the military order of the commander of the Han military battalion, "ignition!" "The gunner, armed with a torch, ignited the cannon that had already been aimed at the tower.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Three loud bangs shattered the luck of all the soldiers and civilians in Hejian City. The stone projectile weighing more than 1,000 catties was thrown out by a huge cannon, and a stone bullet deviated from the direction, and the amount of medicine seemed to be insufficient, and it fell outside the city by grazing the city wall in the east of the city, smashing the soft ground into a large pit several feet deep. Yelu Dashi frowned slightly, and the gun commander of the Han military battalion, who was responsible for adjusting the direction of the cannon, was immediately taken down, and after a few breaths, the bloody head hung out.

Two other stone bullets landed in the city, destroying several houses and wounding a dozen.

A city wall in the center, accompanied by a huge roar, the soldiers at the head of the city were unsteady on their feet, and they all covered their ears and hid under the battlements. The stone bullet smashed the bricks outside the city wall of Hejian into powder, and smashed the rammed earth inside into deep holes, and the crooked cracks on the masonry wall several feet long spread out from the craters, which was shocking.

"The so-called person who knows the times is Junjie, if you don't surrender, then ten thousand cannons will be fired, the whole city between the rivers will be turned into powder, and the jade will be burned!"

Listening to Zhou Dingchen finish reading the letter of persuasion brought by the Liao envoy, Tong Guan muttered with a blank face: "How is this good?" How is this good? ”

Marching Wang Yan said in a deep voice: "The firearms of the Liao people are powerful, we can't sit still and wait for death, we have to destroy their firearms first." He looked around at the generals on the left and right, and said: "The Liao cavalry gallops and is good at sneak attacks, and I am tough and good at fighting hard against the infantry army." In the past, he fought with the Liao State, fearing that his cavalry would not come to take over the battle, so he only blindly harassed him, and only waited for our army to be exhausted, and then attacked. This time, the Liao State used this inconvenient firearm, but it was a must-keep thing. In this way, the Liao army gained the advantage of firearms, but lost the advantage of the swiftness and erratity of the cavalry. If we take the Liao army's artillery as the target and invite the Liao army to fight, the Liao people will have to give up the advantage of cavalry to fight with our army! ”

When the generals heard him, their eyes lit up. Speaking of which, the Song army emphasized fighting in formation, and was not afraid of fighting with the Liao, but the Liao army often did not simply engage the Song army, but harassed and attacked everywhere, and waited until the main force of the Song State ran out of food, and then won by surprise attack. Now that the Liao people have something to protect, the giant cannon moves slower than a snail, as long as the Song army in the city attacks, the Liao soldiers have to accept the invitation to fight, which is really a good opportunity.

While the generals were groaning, Han Shizhong said loudly: "Marshal, a certain person is willing to lead the army out of battle and destroy the firearms of the Liao soldiers!" "The rout of the Hebei camp almost completely disrupted the formation of the various armies, and the second army in the north of the town collected the rout, and now there are more than 4,000 cavalry and more than 8,000 foot soldiers. Although the Liao soldiers could not be defeated, everyone knew that the Liao people were good at attacking but not good at defending, and this simple construction of field fortifications was even more rudimentary.