"Check the firebolt!"

"Check the ammo!"

"Check the fire fold!"

In the Song military barracks, the captain's shouts came and went.

In the neat queue, the firecrackers hurriedly took out the life-saving household belongings, and carefully inspected them one by one by the faint light of the fire.

The firecracker does not need the strength of an archer, but the steps of setting off the firearm are cumbersome, and once there is a negligence, the enemy cannot be killed, and it will harm itself. "Oops, I can't shake my fire breaker!" A nervous-looking firecracker shouted with a crying voice, and he trembled and blew incessantly, but the fire fold just didn't light up. "Huh?" Captain Wu Zhuang snatched the fire fold with his hand, and encouraged his cheeks to blow it violently, and the fire fold lit up at once. "Blow hard!" The captain couldn't cry or laugh, these guys who have never been on the battlefield, who have done it right countless times in ordinary training, may not be able to do it well now. That's the difference between a recruit and a veteran. Wu Zhuang stuffed the fire fold into the other party's hand, walked to another recruit who called the fire fold not bright, blew it twice, and frowned: "The fire paper is tidal!" Throw this useless one to the ground and step on it, take out a fire fold, rub it open, and hand it over: "Get a new one!" ”

By the time the musketeers checked the ammunition, a large group of officers had gathered at the central barracks.

Zhang Xian was wearing cavalry armor, without a helmet, looking at the camp of the Liao army with a cold face, and then looked back at the officers, at this time, even the officers who had experienced a hundred battles showed a trace of nervousness. After careful investigation, the strength of the Liao army was 30,000 to 40,000, the main force was the Erbo cavalry, the artillery battalion, and the infantry were the Xi army and the Song army. In terms of strength alone, the Liao army even surpassed Zhang Xian's department, and occupied a favorable position, this battle for the Song army, both hasty and sinister, if the Song army did not attack effectively, it was likely to be defeated by the Liao cavalry counterattack, or even the whole army was annihilated.

"Don't be afraid, follow the team later, don't fall behind!" The veteran whispered to the little fellow.

"Big, big brother, I heard that the meat eaten by the Khitan people is fast and the knife is fast, and reaching out is a head."

"Yes, the Khitans are powerful, they eat meat, we eat grass......"

"The Khitans are also the same as us, with two legs on top of a head, and they just remember everything on the drill codex!"

"Grandma's, you kid won't pee his crotch, right?" A rough voice attracted Li Ruoxu's attention.

Immediately after a burst of laughter, a phalanx of firearms turned out from the left of the camp, the first of the first strikers to charge head-on to the enemy. "Don't panic, everyone, follow the drill code, it's really not good, just close your eyes and follow the team, as soon as you open your eyes, you will either die, or a hundred acres of land will be in hand!" There was another burst of laughter, and the rough-voiced commanding officer cheered up his morale loudly while giving a military salute to the central barracks, Zhang Xian waved at him, and there was another cheer in the camp. After this battalion passed, then seven or eight more battalions were transferred to the front, and none of the battalions cheered at Zhang Xian once, and soon, the front team finished lining up in front of the Song army barracks, and the scarlet military flags fluttered in the wind, waiting for the military order to attack.

Li Ruoxu stood beside Zhang Xian, watching him sometimes bow his head and discuss with the adjutant general, and constantly briefly issue military orders.

"It's time," Zhang Xian ordered in a deep voice, "Let's start!" ”

The sky is gradually getting brighter, today is a good sunny day, the Liao army camp is very clear in the morning light, and the black smoke of the burning bonfire is particularly obvious in the fish-belly white sky. "Boom-" A low cannon sound broke the silence of the dawn, and the earth trembled distinctly, "Here we go!" Li Ruo said humbly, looking into the distance, the Liao army camp was still quiet, as if there was no one. Immediately afterwards, the second and third cannon sounds stirred up the cold air, and the Song artillery began to bombard the camp on the opposite side, one after another, scrambling, the Song army's artillery rang out one after another, and the round iron shells drew a black shadow in the air, falling near the Liao army barracks, while the Song army was shelling, about 5,000 people formed a phalanx with the battalion as a unit, and the musketeers walked towards the Liao army camp with neat steps. There was a dense sound of horses' hooves, and two thousand cavalry were transferred to the back of the Song army camp, and the cavalry dismounted and were ready to storm at any time.

The commander camp of the Song army was behind the artillery barrier, and it was also outside the range of the artillery on the opposite side. From where Li Ruoxu stood, the main camp of the Liao army was between the two tributaries of the Yellow River that entered the sea, and under the dawn sun, the morning fog on the river beach was slowly dissipating and transparent, and the black smoke from the artillery was constantly rising. On the vast battlefield shrouded in smoke, the spears of the Song army's gun battalion reflected the early morning sun, and the dense phalanx slowly moved towards the Liao army camp.

After the Song army launched an attack, about a stick of incense, with a "boom", the Liao army's artillery began to shoot at the marching phalanx, because Li Ruoxu's position was far away, not only did he not feel fear, but there was a feeling of blood boiling. As if a trick, clouds of smoke rose from the Liao army fortification, with these thick smoke, he was able to distinguish the Liao army camp and the surrounding woods, depressions, high and low, river beaches and other natural terrain, in the roaring cannon, accompanied by the wind and the density of artillery fire, the black smoke on the battlefield was sometimes dense, sometimes sparse, and the smoke mixed together shrouded the vision of the entire battlefield.

Every round iron cannonball that landed in the Song army's formation would knock down a piece of musketeers.

However, this did not stop the Song army's phalanx from advancing slowly, and the fire guns collected some of the phalanxes in front

Li Ruoxu could only see the battalion flag flying high, and he could only imagine the scene of the firecrackers charging forward with the Liao army's shells.

"Don't panic!" "Everybody's in the queue!" "Everyone stand up to death!"

Recalling the old military number outside the famous city and the Hebei camp, Li Ruoxu's vision couldn't help but be a little blurry.

As the Song army's array got closer and closer to the Liao army's fortification, the Liao army replaced its shotguns, and the Song army's artillery shells became more and more concentrated on the Liao army's artillery fort. There is a small half-man high trench in front of the Liao army barracks, when the Song army gunners passed through the trench, the front and side of the Liao army artillery suddenly fired shotguns together, the smoke of the cannon covered the entire sky, countless firecrackers were caught off guard, whether they were walking, standing, or falling, they were inevitably knocked down by the shotguns, and several battalion flags also fell, in a very short time, the trenches in front of the Liao army artillery fortress were filled with a layer of corpses, however, the heavy casualties did not stop the Song army, the gap between the pause of the heavy rain of shotguns, A group of musketeers who were not afraid of death rushed through the trench, and under their drive, frightened, crazy, and unable to understand what to do now, the musketeers got up from the ground and rushed up with their firearms, and in front of the central artillery of the Liao army, they met the infantry of the Liao army protecting the fortification, and the two sides were short-handed, and someone fell every moment!

"Zhang Chi's cavalry got on his horse and rushed over immediately!"

"The fire battalion of the royal power department is out of battle!"

Zhang Xian narrowed his eyes and stared at the front tightly, as if he wanted to see through the smoke to see the plan of the Liao army commander.

The battle was fierce and unusually fierce at the beginning, and across the wide battlefield shrouded in smoke, the generals, including Zhang Xian, did not know the real situation of the battle ahead, and at this time, the general's own experience in the battle was particularly important. Zhang Xian wanted to ensure that he took the central artillery fortress of the Liao army at the minimum cost, and advanced his artillery to the city of Hejian.

Using the opportunity to attract the Liao army's artillery fire by the phalanx of firecrackers, the two thousand cavalry did not hesitate and desperately urged their horses to rush towards the opposite side. The cavalry of the Song army, each of them was hard-won, and Zhang Xian saw this group of cavalry rushing into the battlefield filled with gunpowder, and his face was much more solemn. Behind the cavalry, the phalanx of ten musket battalions also moved forward. The battlefield is changing rapidly, after the head of the infantry cavalry battalion is out of battle, it is basically controlled by the commander and the battalion commander in front of the formation, and unexpected situations often occur in the front, such as the sudden discovery of the enemy's cavalry, the enemy's hidden artillery suddenly fires, the infantry army formation is shot and collapses, on the battlefield where the artillery is full of fire, everyone can lose his most precious thing at any time - life, in the face of the threat of death, it is not easy for officers to control the battalion, and it is even more difficult to make the right decision, sometimes the expected situation does not happen, And sometimes there are unexpected surprises.

Not long after the Song cavalry was dispatched, about 1,000 Murb cavalry rushed out and went straight into the Song army, which had dispersed.

Suddenly, the knives were waved everywhere, and the firecrackers who didn't have time to line up fell to the ground one by one like a stake, and the Song gunners who were still fighting bloodily before the moment instantly collapsed, and many people fled to the back in embarrassment, and the Erbo cavalry did not pursue too far, but slowly retreated before the Song cavalry rushed up, at this time, after a while of resting, the Liao army's artillery began to fire intensively, and one after another black rocks rose into the air, and the dense shotguns knocked the Song army's gunners in front of the camp to the ground like the autumn wind sweeping the leaves. Many of the Liao soldiers, who had not had time to retreat, were also hit by the shotguns and fell to the ground.

"Bastard!" Li Ruoxu heard someone cursing, but he didn't know who he was scolding!

"Zhang Tongzhi?" Adjutant General Du Yi reminded Zhang Xian in a low voice that this time has failed, is it the first to withdraw the troops?

"Drumming! Rush again! Zhang Xian's face was grim, and he said in a low voice, "The truth of the Liao thief is unknown, and the brave one wins when the two armies meet!" ”

The drums of war sounded, with a certain determination in it. The Song army, which was hesitating on the battlefield, regained its heart.

The cavalry sped up and urged the war horses, almost rushing towards the Liao army artillery base with the rear team of the Murb cavalry just now, and the phalanx of the fire battalion behind also accelerated its pace. The musketeers of the vanguard who had just fled passed through the gap in the rear formation, and the officers began to regroup, waiting for further orders from the commander's battalion. Commander Wu Lun led another 3,000 cavalry to appear on the battlefield, ready to rush forward at any time. Li Ruoxu stood beside Zhang Xian and saw that the faces of every officer were very solemn, and the artillery, infantry and cavalry of the Liao army cooperated well, and it was impossible to take the artillery fort outside Hejian City without paying heavy casualties.

The battle is dangerous, and the next time you rush into battle, I don't know who is killed in battle?