The north wind is howling, but it still doesn't stop. The sky was overcast, and the sun rose and turned white in the sky.

Liu Jianji stood on a high place, holding a telescope, looking at the Khitan military camp in front of him. Everything was quiet, the Khitans did not point troops, and they did not look ready to fight. Not far away, the Song army was already in formation, and the artillery was sorting out the artillery, which would attack at any time.

Yang Sui came over and said, "Captain, the artillery is ready, do you want to open fire?" Looking at the appearance of the Khitans, they were not prepared. ”

Liu Jianji said: "Quyang City was broken yesterday, and the artillery stopped in the afternoon, and the people in the barracks will not hear it." It's hard to guess what they're thinking. That's it, order the artillery, prepare to open fire. - Shilling artillery on the riverbank, break the ice in the river! Don't let us fire a cannon on our side, and the Khitans over there will run across the river! ”

Yang then promised. "In the early hours of this morning, I went to the river to see it again. Although the ice is thick, there is no problem for pedestrians, but if it is a large army, I am afraid that it will not work. Nearly 10,000 Khitan cavalry wanted to escape from the river, but they were afraid that it was impossible. ”

Liu Jianji said: "We have been besieging here for more than ten days, and in the last battle, don't make any mistakes or omissions." While bombarding the barracks, we must also bombard the river. Only by breaking the ice on the river can the Khitan retreat be cut off. ”

Watching Yang Sui leave, Liu Jianji picked up the binoculars again and looked at the Khitan military camp opposite. The outside of the barracks was quiet, and I didn't know what it was like inside. The Song army had already surrounded it, but the Khitans did not make any preparations.

With a horn sounded, the Song artillery outside the Khitan barracks opened fire. A dozen heavy cannons, as well as more than two hundred slightly lighter cannons, roared together. The barracks had no protection, and the guardrails outside couldn't even stop the flowering bullets, which are used by the whole army today.

As the shells exploded in the Khitan barracks, there was chaos all at once. Many of the soldiers ran around, overwhelmed. For a while, there was a mess of people neighing and horses everywhere.

Liu Jianji turned around and looked at the river not far away with a telescope. The Song army's shells hit the river, blowing up a canopy of snow, and then slid on the ice for a while, and then there was no movement. It wasn't until the second round that a cannonball broke the ice. Seeing this, Liu Jianji was taken aback, he didn't expect the ice surface to be so hard. The iron cannonball hit it, and it couldn't be broken for a while.

The artillery in this army was learned in military schools and was barely qualified. In recent years, the company has reorganized several armies, where can it train so many qualified artillerymen. Most of them were literate and able to fire artillery, so they were incorporated into the artillery. Even some of the auxiliary troops don't even know much about words. There are only a few people in the army who can calculate the range and aim accurately.

Bombarding the river with artillery is not the same as attacking the enemy camp, and even more so from attacking the city. The ballistics of the siege were straight and the muzzle of the guns was low. And to bombard the river, the trajectory should be bent, so that the shells can shoot as directly as possible at the river surface. Straight ballistics, when the shell falls on the surface of the river, the forward speed is large, and the effect of smashing ice is not good. It's just that no one in the army understands this, and like the artillery that bombards the enemy camp, the muzzle is low.

In the barracks, Xiao Hujian led the horse and watched the shells that kept falling in. As soon as the cannon exploded, many soldiers cried and called their mothers. Due to the crowding, the lethality of the flowering shells was very high, and many wounded soldiers quickly appeared.

Turning his head, Xiao Hujian said to several generals: "The snow outside has not melted, and it is difficult for the personnel to march. If you go out to fight the Song army, there is only a dead end. Ladies and gentlemen, there is only one way for us to go, and that is to cross the river. It's hard to say whether the ice surface can be pedestrianized. Willing to follow me, just get on the horse, and kill the river together. I don't want to go, so I have to resign myself to fate here. ”

Ah Wei said: "Where the general goes, we will follow." The Song army has already fired artillery, will it definitely not stop, stay here and wait for death? ”

Xiao Hujian nodded and said, "The ice on the river outside is not thick, and how many people can run today is my own blessing." There is no need to gather his subordinates, get on their horses, and we will go. If the soldiers are willing to follow, they will naturally follow! ”

After speaking, he turned over his horse and looked at everyone.

The generals hesitated, listened to the constant sound of cannons, gritted their teeth, and got on their horses one after another.

Xiao Hujian looked at everyone and nodded, shook the reins of his horse, and walked towards the Lu River next to the barracks.

Liu Jianji held up the binoculars to see that the effect of the cannonballs falling on the river surface was not good, and only a few holes appeared in the ice on the river surface, which were not broken for a long time, and he was anxious. At this moment, a group of knights appeared in the Khitan military camp, rushing towards the river, shouting that it was not good.

When he arrived at the river, Xiao Hu took a look at the reins of his horse and stepped on the ice on the river. As soon as he arrived at the river, Xiao Hu stopped his horse and felt nervous. Last night, I saw that there were pedestrians on the river, but I didn't know if I could ride horses. After a while, I saw that there was nothing unusual on the surface of the river, and I couldn't help but be overjoyed. He lifted the reins of his horse and said in a loud voice: "Let's go, let's cross the river!" The sky is big, let us get away! ”

The generals behind him let out a burst of cheers, and with Xiao Hu, they all went up to the river. The snow on the surface of the river was thick and the ice was hard, just making a creaking sound. In the cheers, he followed behind Xiao Huzhen and walked towards the other side of the river.

Liu Jianji saw it in the binoculars, turned around and said sharply: "Order the cavalry, immediately cross the river from the upper reaches and go around to block the Khitan deserters!" ”

The soldiers shouted their promises and flew away.

In the Khitan barracks, a group of soldiers shouted when they saw the generals fleeing across the river. Some nimble brains hurriedly mounted their horses and rushed to the surface of the river. The snow outside was too deep to move quickly. However, there were too many people who came out, and after a while, they stepped out of a road.

The artillery of the Song army was still roaring, and people were falling in the barracks. As the people in front of them went up to the river, the Khitan soldiers all came to their senses, got on their horses, and fled towards the river. For a while, there was chaos, like a torrent, surging westward.

Xiao Hujian was riding on his horse and saw the cannonballs falling on the river. There was a cracking sound on the ice beneath his feet, and he was anxious, and he didn't care about everything, but he just urged the horse forward. At this time, only by escaping the river can there be a way out.

In the barracks of the Song army, Yang Sui personally ordered the cavalry and led them around the upper reaches, preparing to pursue Xiao Hujian. Near the Khitan barracks, the artillery of the Song army was bombarding the noodles, which was really impossible. It's just that the time for the troops to detour has already delayed a lot of work.

This is the upper reaches of the Lu River, and the river is not wide. Xiao Hujian hurried all the way, and it didn't take long to reach the other side. Back on the river, a large number of Khitan cavalry followed, like ants. With the continuous shelling of the Song army, coupled with the fact that there were too many people on the river, there were constantly places where the river collapsed, and the Khitans above fell into the water together with their horses and people.

With a sigh of relief, Xiao Hu secretly said that he was lucky. Although the river was frozen, it could not pass the army. If I hadn't come out first and joined the brigade, I was afraid that I wouldn't have been able to cross the river.

In the midst of the noise, except for one general who fell into the water, the rest all went ashore behind Xiao Hujian. Several people stood side by side on the bank, looking at the river together, silent. After a while, the ice on the surface of the river began to slowly crack, and soldiers continued to fall into the water. If he hadn't followed Xiao Hujian decisively, as long as he was delayed for a while, he might not have been able to cross the river. Most of the soldiers on the river may not be able to reach the shore.

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