The boats and wagons were loaded on wheels, and after landing on the gentle river beach, they drove into the improvised artillery forts under the protection of the cavalry. The gunners half-buried the wheels in the earth, and the covered sails were opened, the barrels of the guns glowed with metallic luster, and a row of black holes pointed at the Xiangyang city wall. Two large groups of heavily armored cavalry stood guard on the left and right sides of the fort. Farther away, a large number of foot soldiers were disembarking at the wharf, driving to the city of Xiangyang, some began to build the barracks, methodically digging trenches, erecting low walls, and inserting antlers, while the other part was lined up in a phalanx next to the barracks, with the first row of soldiers holding short spears, the second row erecting fire guns, and then loading fire guns.

The Liao soldiers defending the city looked at the sudden arrival of the army in horror. Xiao Lira was supposed to send troops to the east city, but when he heard the news, he also rushed to the west gate, and looked down from the city tower, Xiao Hu Lila was shocked. "It's clearly a Khitan cart?" He asked the generals next to him, "What's going on, which part of the people and horses is it?" "The army under the city is clearly hostile, and many of the banners are black-bottomed dragon flags." It seems to be the soldiers and horses of the Xia Kingdom? Xiao Lili thought in fear, "Could it be that Luoyang is occupied by the Xia Kingdom?" Where did the soldiers and horses of the Xia Kingdom come from, and how many people came? ”

The Khitan people are famous for their chariots and horses, grazing and migrating, and it is inevitable to wade through the water when marching and fighting, so the ancestors of the Khitan people built this kind of cart like a small boat, and when they encounter the river, they will unload the wheels and put the tents, felt blankets, etc. on the boat to cross the river. Although this kind of cart is not common among the people of Liao, but the minister of the Song Dynasty has not seen it in the Liao State, and every time it is amazed, however, after the envoy goes back, he has never imitated the Khitan cart in the Central Plains, in the final analysis, the Great Song Dynasty regards itself as the country on the Central Plains, and disdains to imitate the things of the barbarians. However, the Xia Kingdom was different, and when the Xia envoys saw this kind of cart, they immediately inquired about the detailed patterns, craftsmanship and manufacturing methods. Because of the bitter cold and drought in the north of the Xia Kingdom, the traffic arteries of Shuzhong and Guanzhong were passed by bridges, so the Khitan carts were not used much in the people, but the baggage division built a lot, specializing in transporting military supplies in the areas where the rivers and canals were crisscrossed. The Eastern Expeditionary Army went down the Han River, and this time it carried a lot.

Under the city of Xiangyang, a light horseman swept through the bright and stabbing jungle two feet away, causing a panic in the phalanx of foot soldiers, and then there were several angry scoldings: "Do it again, Lao Tzu will release the guns and shoot your turtle son to death!" "I'm full!" "You rushed to the wall!" The cavalry on either side cheered loudly. "Bullying!" Someone laughed and cursed. "Just scare and scare, don't go too far." "You're so bad." "You have to save some face." Strange words were mixed with whistles.

"Damn, the people of the White Feather Army are too ostentatious." Wang Qizhi's face was indignant and said, "There is a kind of going to Xiangyang by yourself!" "The musketeers of the Eighth Battalion of the Eastern Expeditionary Army are all recruited and trained. In order to practice the formation of a formation to resist the cavalry, the Fangzhou Huojiao Battalion also invited the cavalry battalion to cooperate with the drill. It's just that the workers are used to it, and they don't dare to fight with the cavalry. But the officers of the Musket Battalion were all transferred. Wang Qizhi is the battalion commander, and he can't bear this breath. He turned out to be just a centurion, and the military government formed a fire battalion, and he asked to be transferred to be the battalion commander. The matter of the establishment of a captain in the Fire Gun Army has been bargaining in the Protectorate Mansion, and the commander is the right general appointed by the Great General's Mansion. Although the number of people under the command of the king is large, the official rank has not been promoted.

"That's how they are," the deputy commander Li Ziweng pouted, he turned the musket in his hand, and his eyes stared ahead like a falcon, as if there were groups of cavalry rushing over there, "There are four more legs." If there is a Mo knife hand, stumble the Mo knife horizontally down, and Guan Bao will turn the six legs back into two. "Li Ziweng is an officer transferred from the infantry battalion, and he is used to fighting with the cavalry, unlike Wang Qizhi, who was originally an artillery battalion, stationed in the city all the year round, and has never suffered the loss of cavalry.

"I wonder when the 'tap fire' will be distributed?"

"'Tap Fire' is unreliable! Easy to misfire. Wang Qizhi said with a dark face, "The last time I tried the gun, my hands were almost useless." ”

"That's right," Li Ziweng said with a smile, "It would be nice if it went off the fire just now, hehe, let them taste the taste of iron peas in advance." "Although it is enough to relieve gas, the tap fire gun is still too dangerous." Wang Qizhi shook his head, looked back at his subordinates, the firecrackers were lined up in five rows and ten columns, and the team was neat, but the soldiers were all pale and cowering, and when they saw that there was no sergeant, Wang Qizhi couldn't help but be angry, and shouted: "Stand up straight!" ”

The ten-captain wrapped seven feet and one spirit, his hands tightly grasped the musket, and his eyes were leveled ahead. Behind him, the firecrackers straightened their originally straight backs, just like Bao Qizhang said, these days, Bao eats and stays, sees meat all of a sudden, and there are not many places to get a net thirty yuan a year. Compared with the rotten vegetables and leaves and bran rice in the workshop, the food in the Huoqi camp simply made honest people like Bao Qizhang uneasy. Listening to the officers' discussions, after this big battle, the battalions that are not good will be dismantled, and those who are not good will go home and drink the northwest wind. A musketeer who is truly capable of fighting may become a full-fledged sergeant. Bao Qizhang couldn't help but glance at the cavalry next to him, the armor of the men and horses was distinct, and the blades of the horses were dazzling.

"That's one step to the sky." Bao Qizhang secretly sighed, "If you have that life, let's save this life first." ”

The Torch Battalion queue was extremely tense and regrouped. Li Ziweng turned his face to the side. The majesty of the sergeant is not comparable to that of these apprentices who have only been in the army for a year and a half? Wang Qizhi's anger and the fighting spirit between the officers were very meaningless in Li Ziweng's eyes. Although the identity and treatment of the soldiers of the fire battalion are not the same as those of the sergeants. But as the second son of the hereditary Korean Gong, Li Ziweng knows that many of the officers are the founding nobles, which can be compared with the Tiger Wing Army.

Next to the phalanx of musketeers, the gunners were shouting trumpets to place the guns in place. War is the best test of the merits of firearms. Not long ago, the army of the Song State, which was dominated by firearms, defeated tens of thousands of Liao troops in Shuzhou. The General's Mansion attaches great importance to it, but those captains in the Protector's Mansion still cling to the idea that the firearm is only worthy of being used by regimental training, and they will regret it sooner or later. "The trend of the times is not something that can be changed by the courage of the horseman. The Musketeers will surely shine in this war. Li Ziweng's eyes were slightly condensed, and he looked at the triumphant cavalryman, "Although General Wu is good, he has preconceived ideas, and his command and mastery of firearms is still inferior to General Zhao,......, but it's a pity that His Highness can't personally command this army of soldiers and horses." ”

The scout centurion swept past the phalanx of the fire battalion, turned his horse and ran straight to the right side of the phalanx, and came to the front of the general Wu Jie, Bingdao: "General, suddenly a group of men and horses sneak attacked in the east of Xiangyang, and has occupied the Dongcheng Tower. He had doubts on his face, because he had only read the military newspaper yesterday, and the Zhenguo Army was still on its way to help, and it was still a hundred miles away from Ezhou, so how could it suddenly appear in Xiangyang?

"Zhenguo Army?" Wu Jie sighed: "Soldiers are not tired of cheating! It's a good Zhenguo army, a good Yue Fei, even we have been deceived. ”

Gao Gongmao said in a deep voice: "Since the Song army has broken into the city first, according to the opinion of the last general, once the artillery battalion has set up the iron barrel cannon, it will open artillery to bombard the city wall. The 9th and 10th battalions of the firecrackers were deployed next to the forts, the 6th, 7th, and 8th battalions of the firecrackers went to build a camp under the city wall, and the iron-boned army took siege equipment to set up a formation behind the firecrackers camp to prevent the Liao cavalry from rushing out and trampling on the firecrackers. Waiting for the order of the Chinese army, after the artillery bombardment, the city must be attacked immediately. The Lian Rui Army, the Capture Thief Army, and the Xiliu Army formed a large infantry formation, and the White Feather Army formed a cavalry formation, ready to ...... the Liao cavalry who paid the city."

Wu Jie's ears listened to the faint shouting and killing sound in the city, a little distracted, Gao Gongmao stopped when he saw this, Wu Jie came back to his senses, his face was slightly pale, and he said in a low voice: "Now it is the two families who are robbing Xiangyang, whoever takes the lead will take the lead," he raised his voice and ordered, "There is no need to build a fort, since the fire battalion and the iron bone army arrived first, they will attack the city immediately, and the white feather army will sweep the battle for them!" ”

The Protectorate wanted to maintain the undefeated situation of the Liao and Song dynasties in the east, and after the planning of the marching division, the most secure and beneficial strategy for the Xia State was to inflict heavy losses on the Liao army and seize Luoyang, but leave Bianliang in the hands of the Liao army and let the Song State compete with the Liao State by itself. The 50,000 troops of the Xia State went down the Han River, and it was impossible to arrive at the same time, and nearly 20,000 horses from the Fire Gun Battalion, the Artillery Battalion, the White Feather Army, and the Iron Bone Army walked in front, while the Lian Rui Army, the Thief Army, the Xiliu Army, the Hengchong Army and other infantry and cavalry elite soldiers from Guanzhong and Shuzhong were still on the boat behind. If you want to wait until all the armies arrive, Wu Jie is afraid that Xiangyang has been defeated by the Song army. He commanded an army of 50,000 to the south to flank the Liao army, but it was controlled by the Song State. Although Song and Xia were allies, Wu Jie was still extremely reluctant.

"General......

"What else?"

"Since Yue Fei is here with the Zhenguo Army," Gao Gongmao hesitated, "Don't send an envoy to contact him, lest there be a misunderstanding between the two families?" He said in a low voice, "The Protectorate wants to stabilize the situation in the east, and the Song State is still an ally......"

"Then send an emissary." Wu Jie nodded, his face was slightly pale, and he shouted, "Raise the general's flag, send orders to the army, and conquer Xiangyang, just today!" At the sound of an order, the war drums of the Chinese army sounded. Flags waved, and the five fire battalions marched forward with drums. The Iron Skeleton Army's baggage battalion pushed all kinds of siege equipment ahead of the Musketeer Battalion, while the Moswordmen, Archers, Spearmen, and Shieldmen battalions marched a little further back between the Musketeers, ready to rush forward at any moment. The white-feathered cavalry raised their lances and horizontal swords and shouted loudly.

"Forward-" the King of Weapons shouted, "Forward-"

"Damn it!" Li Ziweng pressed his knife forward, and scolded in his heart, "There is no artillery bombardment, so let's attack the city!" If General Zhao is here...... Must have turned his face with him! ”