The wind scrambled snow and hit the face painfully. The stars and moon in the sky were gone, and it was pitch black everywhere.

Xiao Hujian took several generals in the army, carried a few lanterns, and walked towards the Lu River to the west of the barracks. In the past few days, the weather has suddenly been cold, and the river has finally frozen. I just tried it during the day, but it still didn't work. It's still cold and windy today, and I don't know what happened to the ice on the river.

In the words of later generations, it was a cold snap in the Quyang area, and the temperature dropped by more than ten degrees in a day or two. It's just that the ice of the river has to be used by pedestrians, not for a day or two, but for a long time it has to be cold. The so-called freezing three feet, not a day's cold, is what it means. In addition, there was heavy snow last night, and the snow on the ice had the effect of heat preservation, so I don't know what the result was.

When he arrived at the river, Xiao Hujian took a lantern and took a photo, and said, "The snow is still so thick, I don't know if the ice is harder." ”

Han Jianu on the side said: "What can you see?" Go up and give it a try, won't you know? ”

After saying that, he took a few steps forward and stood on the ice. Turning to the crowd, he said, "It's okay, it's okay, you see, isn't this just standing?" ”

Xiao Hu said: "It's just that you can stand people, but it's not good, the army is riding by, it's not like this." You jump and see if it will collapse. ”

Han Jianu listened to the order and jumped vigorously, splashing a lot of snowflakes. It's just that the snow is too thick, and I can't see what the ice looks like, but it doesn't crack anyway. After jumping a few times, Han Jianu took a few more steps inside, jumping and jumping there, tossing hard.

Xiao Hu said: "Look at it like this, it may be possible to be pedestrians tomorrow." Today, the Song army has arranged artillery and aimed it at our barracks, and if we don't leave tomorrow, I am afraid that the whole army will be powdered. God is pitiful, and finally gave us a way to live. ”

All the generals said yes together and congratulated one after another. By now, everyone has seen the situation clearly. It was impossible for the Khitan army to defeat the Song army, and the only way out was to flee. But the surroundings were blocked by the Song army, and the only way out was the Lu River. As long as the river is frozen and the army crosses the river, it will always be able to find the place where the Song army is not well defended.

With the exception of the border areas, the Song army's defenses in the interior were rather lax. Often hundreds of thieves can crisscross several states, and sometimes even all the way is helpless. Once these 10,000 Khitan cavalry broke out of the encirclement of the Song army and arrived in the interior, the world would inevitably be in turmoil.

Han Jianu walked on the ice for a while, felt that it was not enough, and jumped back all the way. Several generals saw it and laughed together. Suddenly, I heard a "click", the ice suddenly cracked, and Han Jianu fell into the water with one foot, startled.

Xiao Hu hurriedly said: "Hurry up and get the people back!" It seems that this ice will be frozen overnight, and I don't know if I can do it tomorrow. ”

Han Jianu slammed his foot out of the water, and said, "But it's unlucky, I don't know why I came here for some reason, the ice surface is thinner than other places, and it happened to be stepped on by me." You see, everything else is fine, and tomorrow will be able to go. ”

After saying that, he moved away from the place where he had fallen in, and jumped a few more times.

Calling Han Jianu back, Xiao Hu said: "I hope the weather is colder, the ice will be thicker tomorrow, and the army will be able to escape." ”

After speaking, he took the generals back to the camp, but his heart was uneasy. He could naturally see that it should be okay for pedestrians on the ice now, but if he wanted to say that the army was moving, he was only afraid of risks. They are all cavalrymen, but they are not the weight of a person. Han Jianu didn't wear armor tonight, and they all stepped through the ice and fell in, if they rode a horse, the risk would be very great. Not to mention, what kind of weight is 10,000 cavalry, a large army marching on the ice? I'm afraid that if I wait a few more days, the weather will be cold, and the ice will be able to reach the army.

Thinking of this, Xiao Huzhen looked up at the night sky, and sighed secretly in his heart. Song Jun on the other side will not give himself time. Today they have already set up artillery, and tomorrow they will definitely bombard the barracks with artillery. Quyang City has a city wall, but it is only a day to resist, and there is no city wall by itself, how long can it last? The artillery of the Song army really exceeded expectations.

In the lower reaches of the Lu River, Liu Jianji, Yang Sui and other generals also went to the river to see how the river froze.

Ordered a few soldiers to step forward and use brooms to sweep away the snow on the ice, and Liu Jianji stepped forward to watch. After looking at it for a while, he said, "Dig open the ice here and see how thick it is." Tomorrow to attack the Khitan military camp, if the Khitans can't resist the enemy, it will be troublesome to be able to escape from the ice. The weather has been extremely cold these days, and the river has suddenly frozen, and I don't know if I can make it to the army. ”

Several soldiers stepped forward, raised their ice axes, and struggled to chisel the ice open. Several generals hurriedly stepped forward and watched together.

Look at the ice on the surface of the river, it is more than an inch thick, and it looks very hard. Zhu Gui stomped vigorously and said, "There is no problem with walking on this ice, but if you talk about walking the army, I am afraid that it will be thinner." Thousands of people huddled together, and the ice was unbearable. ”

Liu Jianji nodded: "Yes, it seems that it is not easy for the army to escape from the ice." However, tonight is still cold, and I don't know what tomorrow will look like. Forget it, let's prepare some artillery on the river bank first, and blow up the ice on the river first. ”

Zhu Gui said: "With such thick ice, you don't need heavy artillery, but I'm afraid it won't collapse." In addition, the shells are all things in front of them, and they are afraid that they will not be easy to use when used to bombard the ice surface. This inch of ice, I don't think it can pass the army. ”

Liu Jianji said: "Today, there is no room for mistakes. There are not many Khitan soldiers and horses on the left and right, and there are not a few artillery pieces missing, and tomorrow they will still bombard the river. If any Khitans fled, the ice was bombarded, and it was not easy to escape. ”

The generals said yes. Although I knew that the direction of the shell attack was in front, the effect of smashing the ice was not good, and I couldn't care about it.

After crossing the Lu River, it is Xingtang, not far from Zhending Mansion, and Dou Shunqing's department is ready. Even if the Khitans fled, they would not be a threat. However, Liu Jianji saw the big victory and didn't want to leave hidden dangers.

With 30,000 troops, the 30,000 cavalry of the Khitan were good enough to have such results. The total annihilation of the enemy army, with almost no losses on its own, was enough for the Song army. There are such results, which have a lot to do with the terrain. The river did not freeze for a long time, and the Khitan army was blocked between the Lu River and the Tang River, losing room for maneuver. The Song army's ability to attack fortifications is really not comparable to that of the Khitan.

After looking at a few more places, Liu Jianji said: "Early tomorrow morning, I will arrange twenty cannons to go to the shore to bombard the river." It happened to be outside the Khitan barracks, bombarding the river near their barracks, and the artillery fire was just right. The armies were prepared to prevent the Khitans from being hit by artillery and suddenly backcharging out. ”

Fang Hong said: "With such a thick snow, the Khitans rushed out, and it happened to be the target of the musket. This victory is decided, and the captain does not need to worry. ”

Liu Jianji shook his head: "I know that the victory is decided, not because I am worried about failure, but because I am afraid of leaving the tail of my hand." Our battle is the first battle of the Khitan south, and the better we fight, the greater the impact on the morale of both sides. If we let none of the Khitans escape, the Khitan army in the north will inevitably be affected, and they will no longer dare to be reckless. ”

Yang Sui said: "Taiwei is right, we fought well in this battle, and the impact on the Khitan and the court is not small. This year's battle, the imperial court originally talked about it. Some officials believed that it was enough to repel the Khitan. The Privy Council intends to take this opportunity to annihilate the main Khitan force. We were able to win a big victory, which was good for the Privy Council. ”

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