Chang Fang stood at the head of the city, looked at the Khitan soldiers and horses outside the city, and said: "These Khitan people have been attacking for six or seven days, and I don't know how much artillery has been used, so it's not that I can't help grandpa!" In my opinion, it may not be good to let them attack until next year. ”

Cui Qun said: "Commander, these days, dozens of Khitan cannons have been damaged. You say, how much can they bring? How many days can it last? ”

Chang shook his head: "That's not good." Looking at the barracks outside, I heard that 50,000 troops had come. If you look at our army, there are thousands of them. But the Khitans, I'm afraid there aren't so many. ”

Cui Qun said: "There must not be so many." In the last day or two, I saw that there were no iron bullets outside, and I started to use stone bullets. With such a small number of shells, how could they have two thousand. In my opinion, after a few more days, their artillery should be useless. ”

After saying that, the two looked out of the city with a grin. The Song army fired artillery on the city, and every time it exploded near the Khitan gun position, there were always dead and wounded.

Ali only had bloodshot eyes, and commanded his soldiers to place the cannons and look at the city. The artillery of the Song army was indeed more accurate than that of the Khitan. And as time goes by, it becomes more and more accurate. Most of the first thirty cannons were broken, but the walls of the Song army did not move at all. Ali only went from being a hundred times more confident at the beginning, to the loss later, and then to helplessness, and his mood became worse and worse.

I remember that on the first day, when the artillery was set up under the city, Ali was only full of confidence. I heard that the Song army attacked Quyang City, and the city wall collapsed in one day. He felt that even if the Khitan soldiers were a little closer, it would take two or three days of hard work to collapse the small city in front of him. Where to think, six or seven days have passed, and the city wall has not been damaged, but its own artillery has lost dozens of guns.

There are a total of 120 cannons in the army, which is a great asset in the Khitan. This battle was so important that it was transferred to the army of Yelu. If you can't even break through such a small city, and you lose all the artillery, how can you explain? In the past few days, Yelu's attitude towards Ali has become worse and worse, and if it weren't for the fact that no one in the army could compare with him, he would have been replaced a long time ago.

The cannon was mounted, and at the sound of an order, the soldiers began to fire the cannons. Seeing the stone bullets hit the city wall and shatter into pieces, Ali only kept shaking his head. The Khitan is not comparable to the Song Dynasty, there is not so much iron. After a few days, all the iron bullets he brought were gone, and he could only use stone bullets. It's a stone bullet, and there aren't actually many in the army, so it won't take a few days. If you can't break through the city, do you use mud bombs?

Chang Fang looked at the city, his expression was leisurely, and he was no longer nervous a few days ago. If the Khitan attacked the city with artillery in this way, giving them a few months, he would not be able to help himself. Originally, I thought that I only had twenty cannons, and the Khitans had many artillery, so I was a little afraid, how did I know that this would not work.

At this moment, a soldier ran up to the city, crossed his hands and said: "Command, the official letter sent by the Guangxin Army last night!" ”

Chang Fang took the official document and opened it to read. After reading it, I couldn't help but clap my hands: "Okay, good, there is a captain to Hebei Road, and this battle will be easy to fight!" ”

Cui Qun hurriedly said: "Command, which captain will come to Hebei?" ”

Chang Fang said: "It's Captain Du!" Because the Khitan army came to attack, the imperial court ordered Du Taiwei to be the commander of Hebei Road and command all the armies! ”

Cui Qun listened and said, "Taiwei Du is here, who will take care of the Privy Council?" I heard that the affairs of the army are all handled by Captain Du. Just like our army, they all came from the whole training according to the method of Captain Du. ”

Chang Fang said: "Of course, it's still Du Taiwei in charge." The one who came to Hebei Road this time was the Privy Council, and he was still in charge of the affairs of the Privy Council. In addition to Taiwei, there were also many officials such as Deputy Envoy Fu Taiwei, as well as Zhao Taiwei. I think that the Khitan is powerful, and the important ministers want to be in charge. ”

Cui Qun looked outside the city and said with a smile: "This look, no matter how many soldiers and horses there are, it is difficult to say that it is powerful." The 50,000 Khitan army outside the city was only a few dozen cannons on six or seven days, and the cannons were fired there. Two more months, it's useless. ”

Chang Fang smiled: "Is there any way?" The city is built strongly, and the Khitan has no siege equipment, isn't that the case? ”

In this era, there is nothing about the small city, as long as it is strong enough, there is really no good way to siege the city. And the Song Dynasty was strong and clear, and there were no people within dozens of miles, which also made the Khitan scruples. If you go around the city, once it is blocked by the Song army, and there are Song troops on the supply route behind, it will be very dangerous. If we don't open the border defense line, we really don't dare to go deeper.

In Dingzhou, Du Zhongxiao got off the train, and Liu Jianji, Dou Shunqing and Jia Kui greeted him and arrived at the official office. They each sat down and served tea.

Looking at everyone, Du Zhongxiao said: "Since mid-October, the Khitan lord brought a large army to Youzhou, and it has been more than a month now. The Khitan attacked Dingzhou, and finally the entire army was annihilated. Now it has been six or seven days since the attack on Baozhou, and there is no result. Now it seems that the battle is going well. ”

Liu Jianji said: "Previously, Yeluti did not lead the army to attack Quyang, and it was the magistrate who opened the city gate privately, which led to the loss of the city. Judging from the mouth of the Great Wall that the Khitan is attacking now, as long as it is held, it will not be so easy for the Khitans to break through. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The general who guarded Quyang at that time, how is it now?" ”

Liu Jianji said: "The commander Gao Min, after the city was broken, fled back to Dingzhou with hundreds of soldiers. At that time, because the city was lost, he was taken for interrogation. Now everything is clear, it doesn't really have much to do with him, and he is still in prison. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Since it has nothing to do with him, I will let it go, and I still need to use it." By the way, what happened to the magistrate who opened the city gate privately? ”

"Caught by the Khitans. Later, we reoccupied Quyang, and he died in the chaos. ”

Hearing this, Du Zhongxiao said: "It's cheaper for him!" Because of the loss of Quyang, how many things happened later! All the people in the city were killed, and more than 1,000 Khitan cavalry fled south, breaking more than 60 villages and killing more than 8,000 people! You write this matter clearly, and it will be sent by the Privy Council to all parts of the place, and it will be the ring of the magistrate! The Khitan are not good at attacking cities, as long as the defenders do not panic, they do not have many options. ”

Liu Jianji said yes.

Du Zhongxiao said to Jia Kui: "You occupy the flying fox, how is it now?" Did the Khitan send troops to attack? ”

Jia Kui forked his hands: "Back to Taiwei, the last general is in the Flying Fox these days, everything is calm." Although the Khitan had a large army in Yizhou, they did not send people into the mountains. There were not many soldiers and horses in Ulju in the north, and there was no movement. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "The flying fox is in the deep mountains, and it is not easy to transport materials. Your army of 50,000 is too inconvenient in that remote place. Give you five days, make proper arrangements, and leave 5,000 men to garrison. The rest of the army all came to Dingzhou. ”

Jia Kui said yes. asked: "What does the Taiwei mean, he is going to counterattack the Khitan army." ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled and shook his head: "At this time, how can you counterattack the Khitan?" As you all know, this time, the Khitan went south, and there were as many as 400,000 soldiers and horses in the tribe, and there were 300,000 conscripts and troops in prefectures and counties, a total of 700,000 troops. Quyang wiped out 30,000, but in fact, it had no great impact on the Khitans. Now there are 50,000 people attacking the mouth of the Great Wall. There are also 300,000 troops, which are not moved at the border. In other words, the Khitans have not used all their strength, and we don't know what will happen to them next. We will defend this battle, and the Khitans will attack, of course, we must wait for the Khitan army to move, and then find a way. ”

Dou Shunqing said: "The last general wants to come, Baozhou, Guangxin Army, and Ansu Army are not far away, and they are not easy to deal with. The Khitans may still be waiting for the rivers and lakes to freeze before the army goes to attack Xiongzhou. The area there is larger, and the city is not as dense as in the Baozhou area. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "It's possible." This year's leap month, the weather is warmer, the river has been inconvenient to pass the army, and the Khitans can only wait in Youzhou. Attacking the mouth of the Great Wall now may just be a test to attract our army to help. They are not good at attacking cities, and they are most conducive to field warfare, and they still want to find opportunities in field battles. When the weather cools down, it is conducive to the movement of the army, and it should still attract our army. ”

Liu Jianji said: "The border cities are dense, and the walls are clear, how to attract our army?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The strong wall is clear, and it is only a few dozen miles. The Khitans really made up their minds, brought a few days of food, and it passed. The most important thing now is to prevent the Khitan army from suddenly moving south, crossing several border states, and penetrating into the states and counties from the path. Therefore, all armies should prepare early, and once the Khitans bypass the border and move south, stop them in time. ”

The generals will make a promise together.

Jia Kui said: "When I came from Daizhou, I didn't bring any heavy weapons such as artillery, so I went in lightly. Now in Dingzhou, there is still a lack of artillery and other items in the army. I also ask the Privy Council to issue an order for Dai Zhou to bring over by train the heavy weapons I have left there. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Feng Yanji doesn't care about this matter. In this case, you send a thousand men to Daizhou and bring the weapons. If you are in the army, it is better for you to send someone to get lucky. There are railways on the left and right, and it doesn't take much time on the road. ”