Nanshan City happens to choke the narrowest isthmus leading to the south of Suzhou Guannan, which is no more than ten miles wide from north to south. Although the Liao army camped in the northeast of Nanshan City, the terrain was also very narrow, and the coast in the south was mostly muddy and tidal flats, making it difficult for people and horses to move, while the seaside land in the north was relatively solid, and a large number of Liao soldiers and horses were crowded here.

The three sea-going ships approached and stopped near the shore, but did not lower their anchor chains. Not only did the Liao army not avoid it, but many people also gathered together and pointed to the sea. The shape of the gunboats of the Xia Kingdom was very different from that of ordinary merchant ships, and they were not different from each other, but what was particularly striking was that the mast ropes of the gunboats were hung with various small flags that were convenient for communication, and the hull was carved with exquisite patterns that ordinary sea ships did not have. All these made the Liao soldiers feel very novel.

In Li Sihai's clairvoyant mirror, the faces of the Liao army are also extremely clear. Compared with the curiosity of ordinary soldiers, the face of the commander was a little more grim, but it was no more, and the reorganization of his subordinates retreated out of the range of gunboats. This was the first time that the Liao army had encountered a large number of sea ships with artillery, and it was impossible to expect that there were not only so many guns on board, but also that they could hit so far.

The first gunboat built in the Xia Shipyard was only slightly modified on the basis of ocean-going merchant ships, and the deck for erecting guns was only one floor, so it could only carry twenty guns. When the second ship was built, an additional deck was added, and the number of guns arranged on each deck was increased, resulting in forty-six guns. The third gunboat not only erected forty guns on the two-tier gun deck, but also erected a giant barrel gun in the bow and stern of the open deck, which was used by the Anxi military division to bombard the capital of the Rus' state.

Li Sihai's ship was the newest gunboat, not only a lot taller than the first gunboat, but also the huge cannons arranged on the fore and aft decks were particularly conspicuous. The gunner pulled open the thick oilcloth gun jacket, and the bronze gun body, which was wiped twice a day, sparkled in the sun, and Li Sihai nodded with satisfaction.

The operation of this huge cannon was all by manpower, and the gunners shouted the trumpet and pushed the gun body to turn in unison, pointing straight to the shore. Just on the coast, Guo Baoyi, the commander of the Liao army, also used a clairvoyant mirror to observe the enemy ships. "What's going on?" Guo Baoyi muttered in his heart, "Could it be that if the Xia people can't fire at sea, they won't be afraid of shaking the ship apart?" Unlike other Liao generals, Guo Baoyi was extremely familiar with iron barrel artillery, but he did not believe that the sea ship could carry the huge vibration of a real heavy artillery fire.

In the clairnel mirror, the gunners took off their thick military robes, and only wore short coats on their upper bodies, Guo Baoyi could even see the steaming white vapor on their heads, and an ominous premonition came to his heart. He suddenly put down the clairvoyant mirror and said loudly to his lieutenant: "Quickly pass on my military order, retreat, and immediately retreat from the shore!" ”

However, before the military order could be passed down, Xia Guo's gunboats had already opened fire, and with the two roars of the iron barrel guns on the deck, the stone bullets weighing more than two hundred catties were thrown up, crossed the curved arc, and fell directly on the coast, smashing out two deep craters, and the heavy impact force made the ground tremble. At the same time, the artillery below the deck opened fire one after another, accompanied by a roar, and one after another iron projectiles crossed the arc and landed in the middle of the Liao soldiers and horses who had no time to dodge. The Liao army, which was very densely encamped, was suddenly in a mess, and those who were hit or grazed by the shells were either killed or wounded, and the horses neighed desperately, and some even broke free from the reins.

"Stand back, stand back!"

This time, not only Guo Baoyi, but even the ordinary Khitan commanders realized this, and shouted loudly, and some cavalry even ignored the fact that they had already set up camp tents, and directly rode on their war horses and ran inland. After firing a round of guns, the ship's guns began to slowly turn the hull and aim the gun window on the other side at the shore, while the gunners who had already missed this side began to nervously reload. Li Sihai stared closely at the Liao army who were on their backs, and excitedly clenched his fists and shouted: "Good look, fire quickly!" ”

Soon, the other side of the ship turned around, and the ship could barely hear it, accompanied by the roar of the centurion of the gunner below the deck, the gunners lit the arquebus in turn, and the sound of "boom", "boom", "boom" and "boom" sounded again. The Liao army, which had not yet had time to evacuate the coast, accelerated the pace of evacuation.

Yelu Yanshan, the capital of the Liao army in the south, originally came with confidence, but he was hit on the head like this, and he couldn't help but be annoyed and angry. He held the horsewhip in one hand, stared at the sea beasts that were constantly spitting smoke and fire, and said viciously: "Wu Dujian, we also carry iron barrel cannons, why don't you bombard those enemy ships!" ”

"This ,......," said Wu Chun, the commander of the artillery battalion, "General Yanshan, our barrel cannon is too heavy and inconvenient to aim, and besides, I am afraid that the enemy ship will not be able to hit again if it moves its position slightly." Therefore,...... "His ability to operate artillery is much inferior to that of Chai Yilai, the former capital supervisor of the Liao State Artillery Division." Therefore, when answering Yelu Yanshan's question, he couldn't help but tremble. Yelu Yanshan has always been known for his fierceness, not only him, but even Guo Baoyi, the deputy commander of the Southern Expedition Army, often involuntarily shortened by half in front of him.

Before the words fell, there was a "snap", and there was an extra blood mark on Wu Chun's face, and he didn't dare to scream in pain, but he was trembling all over, only to hear Yelu Yanshan scold: "Useless stupid thing, I only know how to fool people with some reasons!" After speaking, he whipped Wu Chun's face a few times without a head. This scene fell in the eyes of Guo Baoyi, who rushed over, and couldn't help frowning, he couldn't speak, so he could only walk quickly to Yelu Yanshan, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Dutong, I see that the range of the enemy ship is only about two or three miles, as long as we are not close to the shore for two or three miles, it is okay, and the top priority is to capture this city as soon as possible." ”

"General Guo reminded me!" Yelu Yanshan turned his gaze to the low Nanshan City, as if he had found an outlet to vent his anger, and whipped Wu Chun again, and said in a deep voice: "Go and aim the iron bucket cannon, if the siege is delayed, I will take your head!" ”

Wu Chun crawled and retreated, secretly complaining in his heart, not only had the artillery not yet installed the gun mount, but even the artillery base had not been dug, how to fire the cannon at the head of the city, not to mention, the city of the Han army was also very strangely repaired, it was small and very low, and it was very inconvenient to aim. And it seems that there must be a lot of artillery on the head of the city, and it is not known who will take advantage of the bombardment. However, he only muttered these things in his heart, but he definitely didn't dare to talk to Yelu Yanshan.

On the hill two miles northwest of Nanshan City, Chai Yizheng said to Zhao Xingde with a smile: "General Zhao, it is absolutely impossible for Liaogou's artillery to hit the sea ship, and our naval division is already invincible." As he spoke, he made a look of special hatred for the Liao State, and said with some regret, "It's a pity that these Liao dogs saw the opportunity early and withdrew from the range of my naval artillery." ”

Since Chai Yi saw the sharpness of Xia Guo's artillery, he completely lost his heart to Liao. He has always regarded the Liaodong Han army as a mountain bandit and is unwilling to join in the same stream, especially after Zhao Xingde revealed the possibility of taking his family out of Shangjing, Chai Yi turned to curry favor with Zhao Xingde. This person has unique insights and experiences on the operation of artillery, so Zhao Xingde does not reject him. Before the military government made a decision to deal with him, Zhao Xingde only took him with him, Chai Yi was also a high-ranking official in the Liao State, and he knew the truth and reality in the Liao army very clearly.

Zhao Xingde nodded slightly, but he didn't feel pity. The isthmus on which Nanshan Castle is located is originally extremely narrow, with a large area of silt and tidal flats in the south, which is not suitable for large armies, and the solid land close to the interior is all within the range of Nanshan Castle's artillery. The beach in the north was relatively solid, and the Liao army could pass through, and it happened to be outside the range of the artillery of Nanshan City, but now, the Liao army did not dare to move within two miles of the sea, and two miles away from the sea, it was within the range of the artillery fire of Nanshan City. In other words, the artillery of the Han army could completely block this isthmus.

"But it's going to freeze soon." Zhao Xingde looked at the north, at this time, the sea water of Liaohai was only blue, and it was many times clearer than that of later generations, but the freezing in winter will not change, "The most difficult time will come soon." He thought silently. In the distance, the cavalry of the Liao army had completely retreated beyond the range of the naval division's artillery fire, and concentrated on an extremely narrow front in the northeast of Nanshan City.

"If I have a heavy artillery with enough range, plus explosive shells, ......" Zhao Xingde shook his head, getting rid of these unrealistic ideas, but listened to Gao Bolong beside him: "It's a pity, if there are only twenty or thirty thousand iron horsemen in the right place, and take advantage of the chaos of the enemy army, you will definitely be able to make Liaogou suffer a big loss." "It's a pity that the Han army only has thousands of cavalry, and the city of Liaoyang has been greatly injured, and now it can't be easily used unless it is absolutely necessary.

The red sun gradually set westward, and the Liao army's attack on Suzhou Guannan began in this unexpected and chaotic day. At night, the north of Nanshan City is full of bonfires where Liao people camp, and even the Evil Tiger Mountain in the distance can also see the fires, as if they are connected to the sky. Among the 100,000 troops, there are more than 50,000 real Khitan troops, more than 30,000 Xi troops, and the remaining 20,000 are miscellaneous soldiers of other races. Since the uprising in front of the Tiebi Battalion, the Liao State has been gradually abolishing the practice of forming the Han people into a separate army.

The Liao army only rushed to build camps and place artillery forts, Yelu Yanshan relied on the strong troops, and did not plan to make night attacks and sneak attacks, he was convinced that as long as he was fully prepared, he could conquer the Han army marshal's mansion with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai. The Han army did not needlessly consume troops to sneak attack the Liao army, which was far stronger than itself. As a result, the night was exceptionally quiet.