In Liaoyang Fuzhong, the atmosphere was tense to the point of almost freezing.

Ever since Wanyan Agu Da wisely chose to lead his army back to Liaoyang Mansion after the Great Zhou Northern Expedition army was defeated under the city of Xijin Mansion a few months ago, Wanyan Agu Da knew that the Liao army would be swept in sooner or later. Therefore, after retreating to Liaoyang Mansion, Wanyan Aguda immediately made the decision to comprehensively strengthen the defense of the city and prepare for the big battle.

Last year, when the Jurchen army conquered Liaoyang, in fact, the city reinforcement plan of Liaoyang Prefecture had already begun to be implemented. Of course, it is not because they can foresee today's situation, but simply because Liaoyang Mansion is an important stronghold of the Jurchen tribe from the mountains to the city, and it is the first decent city occupied by the Jurchen tribe. In the future, all the focus of the Jurchen tribe will be shifted from the tribes of the mountains and deserts to this city, so it is necessary to strengthen the construction and scale of its city. This point, when Wanyan Mingyue brought it up, Wanyan Aguda immediately agreed. Therefore, in fact, since the capture of Liaoyang Mansion last year, the reinforcement and construction of the city have begun.

Now, facing the inevitable attack of the Liao army, on the basis of the original foundation, it is natural to strengthen the defense system of the city. Therefore, under the leadership of Wanyan Aguda, reinforcements were quickly mobilized from the Jurchen tribes, and more than 200,000 Jurchen soldiers, including the original 150,000 soldiers and horses, temporarily put down their swords and guns and turned into civil husbands, and greatly transformed and strengthened the city. The original defense system was actually vulnerable, but now, Wanyan Agu still has some confidence in his heart.

Although the alliance with the Great Zhou did not get real help in the battle situation, the vulnerability of the Great Zhou soldiers and horses made Wanyan Agu angrily scold them for being incompetent. But at least they got the same benefit from the alliance with the Great Zhou, that is, they got the manufacturing drawings of a large number of craftsmen and siege and defense equipment given to them by the Great Zhou. This made them suddenly evolve from a soldier and horse who was almost a barbarian soldier who came out of the mountains and forests to a soldier and horse with the means of attacking and defending the city. This is finally showing its value more than gold at this moment.

In the course of a month, the city walls were raised to a certain degree, hundreds of instruments were built to defend the city, hundreds of enemy towers were built, three ditches were dug outside the city, and the moat was widened by one zhang. This almost miraculous feat was accomplished in just one month. More than 200,000 Jurchens accomplished an almost miraculous feat under the tremendous pressure of survival.

In a month, more than 200,000 Jurchens were so tired that they shed their skin, the fat became thin, and the thin became more capable. But when watching the formation of the defense system, watching the bed crossbows installed on the head of the city, the enemy towers standing up, and the ravines winding around, everyone had a sense of peace of mind in their hearts, and they all thought that the hard work was worth it. The whole city is already like a monster armed to the teeth, and the Liao people should sigh with admiration.

However, when the Liao army began to assemble under the city and the war clouds slowly shrouded the city, this sense of peace of mind was slowly lost little by little. When the first batch of 200,000 Liao troops arrived at the city, the Jurchen warriors did not pay attention. One after another, another 100,000 soldiers and horses came, and when it reached 300,000, the Jurchens were a little worried. The number of siege soldiers and horses on the other side is 100,000 more than its own, which is already a bit of pressure. But because of the preparation, this worry is not panic. When the last group of 200,000 tribal cavalry of the Liao people arrived at the battlefield under the city from the edge of the sky, the Jurchen soldiers in the entire Liaoyang City suddenly fell silent.

Even if it is the most casual on weekdays, it is in the worst

The Jurchens, who could survive with a smile in the environment, couldn't laugh when facing the 500,000 army coming to the city. That's an army of 500,000 people, and every Jurchen who looks down from the top of the city and sees the other party's company camp for dozens of miles, with flags covering the sky and the sun, and people and horses like the sea, will feel cold in their hearts and weak in their legs and stomachs. 500,000 against 200,000, the outcome of this war seems to have been decided. In the face of such a huge gap between soldiers and horses, all efforts seem to be in vain, and many people are already disheartened and lose their fighting spirit in their hearts.

Wanyan Agu could naturally feel this tense and suffocating atmosphere in the army. He could not allow this atmosphere to creep in. He summoned more than 600 generals of the whole army to hold a morale-boosting meeting, and he told these people not to be intimidated by the situation in front of them, the combat effectiveness of the Liao people was far inferior to his own, and that 200,000 Jurchen warriors were enough to defeat a million Liao troops, because Jurchen warriors could defeat 10 enemies at a time. He told these people that he only led 5,000 tribal warriors at the beginning, and then fought with Yelu Zongyuan's 200,000 army, and in the end, Yelu Zongyuan not only did not eat himself, but gave up Liaodong. It shows how stupid Yelu Zongyuan is, and how wasteful the Liao soldiers are. He told the Jurchen generals that they should not look at each other's soldiers and horses, but they were all patchwork soldiers and horses, and they themselves were not united, and as long as there was a little feng shui and grass, they would collapse on their own.

In the end, Wanyan Aguda also told his generals that the Jurchens had nothing in the first place, and today's situation was snatched from the Liao people. Even if you take 10,000 steps back, this battle is lost, so what? It's a big deal to return to the deep mountains and old forests of Changbai Mountain to live, do the Liao people dare to enter the mountains? Do the Liao people dare to enter the Gobi desert? They simply didn't dare. It's a big deal to start all over again, it's a big deal to get everything back to zero, the Jurchens haven't lost anything, when the opportunity comes, they make a comeback, so what's they afraid of?

The convincing power of the previous words was limited, but it was the last words that relieved the soldiers. Yes, they already have nothing, and it's a big deal to go back to the time when they had nothing, and return to the deep mountains and old forests of Changbai Mountain to hunt for a living. The Liao people wanted to destroy the entire Jurchen clan, but it was just wishful thinking. Originally, there was some getting by, and once the open-minded Jurchen people who lived a life figured this out, the pressure was released and their mentality was much calmer.

As for Wanyan Aguda, he never wanted to return to the original point. He has his own calculations, and the reason why he spends so much effort on the city defense system of Liaoyang Mansion is that he wants to use all possibilities to delay the time for the other party to conquer Liaoyang Mansion. Because winter is coming. It was not because the Liao people were intolerant of the cold, but because if it was only a heavy snowfall, the Liao would have to defeat themselves, because their supplies would be cut off, and their supplies would depend on arriving here from Zhongjing Road. The severe cold will freeze the Daling River, and the ice and snow will block the road, as long as you persist until then, the danger of Liaoyang Mansion will be solved. And when the spring flowers bloom next year, the situation may change in other ways. Whether Yelu Zongyuan can mobilize so many troops and horses to attack again is unknown.

……

At the end of September, in anticipation, a large number of catapults finally arrived from thousands of miles away. Looking at these siege equipment that arrived in the barracks under black pressure, Yelu Zongyuan was in a good mood. From now on, everything is ready, and the siege is about to begin.

On the second day of October, on a cold, sunny morning, a loud horn broke the silence of dawn. Then the war drums and horns shook the sky and resounded through the sky. The siege of the Liao army finally began.

The first to be dispatched were 50,000 Liao army foot soldiers, who were not responsible for fighting, but in the outer trenches

A passage was opened in the ditch. What they had to do was to carry bags of sand and gravel and mud to fill at least a dozen passages, so that the trenches dug by the Jurchens would lose their blocking effect.

It seemed that the Jurchens could not stop their movement at all, because they simply did not dare to go out of the city to stop it. However, the facts soon shocked the Liao army. As the foot soldiers rushed to the edge of the trench with mud and gravel sandbags on their backs, an inexplicable fire suddenly ignited along the trench, thick smoke billowed and flames steamed, quickly spreading throughout the trench. Turned the entire outer trench into a wall of flames and black smoke. Although the flames did not look high, the smoke was very large, and the thick smoke and dust were extremely pungent. After the black smoke fell, it was actually a trace of black cotton wool.

Yelu Zongyuan and his courtiers and generals were dumbfounded when they saw this scene on the high viewing platform in front of the camp.

"What's going on? How is that done? Is there firewood in the trench? Yelu Zongyuan asked in surprise.

Soon news came that the front reported that the trenches were not filled with firewood and grass, but with a black grease. At some point, the ditches were filled with half a ditch of black oil. This is what burns.

Yelu Zongyuan was dumbfounded, he looked at the people around him and asked, "What is that?" ”

"Is it oil in the stone? The oil in the stone of Beiyang Mountain, Liaoyang Prefecture, is combustible, and the smoke and dust can be used to make ink. The old minister looked at the burning posture, could it be that the oil in the stone was poured into the trench and ignited the fire? Han Yanshou groaned.

"But...... Where does so much oil come from? I also know that this kind of thing comes out of Liaoyang Mansion, but it is only burned to make smoke and ink, and I want to fill the trench as a burning thing, where do I get so much? Yelu Zongyuan asked in astonishment.

“……”

No one can answer his question because no one knows. It is not uncommon for Liaoyang Mansion to produce oil in stones. There is a black oil swamp in the col of Beiyang Mountain, and this kind of oil in the stone is black and rising. But although this thing can burn, it has too much smoke and too strong a smell to be used as fuel. There are smart people who collect soot and black ash and make ink to sell, but they can make the best use of things. But the amount of oil in the stone is limited, and no one takes this thing seriously, just as a vision. Who would have thought that the other party would actually inject such a thing into the trench, and I don't know where they got so much oil in the stone.

At the head of the city, looking at the outer ditches with black smoke billowing and burning, Wanyan Agu laughed loudly, and smiled at Wanyan Mingyue beside him: "Sister, you have made a great contribution." Your method is absolutely effective, and the smoke of the fire is enough to stop their attack. Girl, you're too smart. ”

Wanyan Mingyue said with a smile: "That's also the blessing of the immortal heaven, I went to Beiyang Mountain in the spring, and I originally planned to take the people to clean up the black mud land, because there are many cattle, sheep and livestock trapped in it and died, I want to do something for the clansmen, but I didn't want to dig up those black mud, and the black spring actually came out." I read a book called "Mengxi Bi Tan" in Da Zhou, which said that there was a place in Da Zhou that was rich in oil in stone, which could be burned to make ink. I knew that this is the kind of thing called oil in the stone. This time we will defend the city, and dig a trench and fill it with this thing, and we will be able to stop it. This is the eternal heaven blessing us. ”

Wanyan Agu laughed and said: "Yes, my sister is sent by the Immortal Heaven to bless my Jurchen clan, and my sister is a fairy in the sky." ”

Wanyan Mingyue smiled, and suddenly covered her mouth and fell on the battlements and retched. Wanyan Agu hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?" What's wrong? Uncomfortable? ”

Wanyan Mingyue waved her hand and said, "It's okay, it's just that I just inhaled the smoke and dust, I'll just go down to the city to rest." ”