With six artillery pieces, it is not easy to completely suppress the thirty guns of the Khitan army. By the time Ali had only changed to a heavily armored samurai gun, the casualties dropped greatly. After a short time, he set up a cannon and aimed it at the wall of the Song army.

With Ali's single order, the Khitan artillery roared. In the thick smoke of gunfire, shells flew towards the city walls.

Chang Fang stood on the city, watching the Khitan open fire, and couldn't help but feel nervous in his heart. After a while, I felt a slight shock to the city wall under my feet, and my heart tightened. After a while, when he stabilized, he hurriedly ordered the soldiers to check.

A large basket was placed on the city wall, and two soldiers were loaded down to check the damage to the city wall. After a while, the two returned to the city and said to Chang Fang: "Command, the Khitan cannons just smashed a few white marks on the city wall, and it doesn't matter." ”

Chang Fang listened and sighed. When the city was built, according to the deployment of the Privy Council, it was much thicker than the usual city walls. Moreover, the rammed earth is so strong that ordinary artillery cannot shake it at all. I can't see it from the outside of the city, I just think it's a small city, and it's not very high, but I don't know how wide the foundation is.

Seeing that he hit the city wall, Ali outside the city was only overjoyed, and urgently ordered the soldiers to step up the bombardment of the city. However, before the artillery was reloaded, two artillery pieces were directly hit by the Song army, and the cannons were destroyed and killed.

Ali just didn't care, this time he brought more than a hundred cannons. I don't believe that the Song army can destroy all the more than 100 artillery pieces and break through the city wall.

Baozhou, Jingtai looked at the official documents on the front line, his face was heavy. In recent days, the Khitan army has moved southward, and is now focusing on attacking the mouth of the Great Wall, the first city. According to the battle report from the front, the Khitan concentrated a large number of artillery in front of the city, non-stop every day. However, the city is strong and there is no threat to the city walls. The Song artillery in the city actively fought back, and damaged twelve Khitan artillery pieces in one day.

Putting down the official document, Jingtai said: "The Khitan attacked the mouth of the Great Wall with an army of 50,000 people, and it has been impassable for three days. If this continues, even if the city cannot be breached, the city will not be able to hold out for a long time. I want to lead the army to the rescue, but I am afraid that I will fall for the Khitan tricks. Yizhou has more than 300,000 Khitan troops, so it has to be cautious. Alas, the Privy Council has not yet sent troops to help. ”

He Bin, the deputy commander of the capital, said: "The city is well built, and in a few days, it will not be possible to break through the Khitan." However, the Khitan army besieged the city, and it would not work after all if it was not rescued. I don't know what the Privy Council has in mind, after so many days, I won't transfer Liu Jianji and Dou Shunqing's two armies. ”

Jingtai nodded: "Yes, the other party is hundreds of thousands of troops, how can there be no reinforcements?" I have 50,000 soldiers, and in addition to those who defend the city, there are 30,000 soldiers available. 30,000 soldiers went to attack hundreds of thousands of Khitans, how could this battle be fought? ”

After speaking, he got up and paced slowly in the official hall, thinking of countermeasures.

He Bin said: "We don't go to the Privy Council and urge them." Although there is a railway to Baozhou, the Dou and Liu armies also have to come sooner. ”

Jingtai shook his head: "No need. Taiwei Du is in charge of the Privy Council, and everything has its own rules, so we don't need to rush it. ”

After speaking, Jingtai sat back in his seat and said, "Wait a minute." Judging from the battle reports on the front, the Khitans have no way now, they are just besieging the city. At night, there were spies at the mouth of the Great Wall who came out smoothly, and they did not say that it was critical. ”

He Bin nodded and did not speak. The Khitan did not enclose the mouth of the Great Wall, and at night, they sent people down to the city, and they were able to deliver the letter smoothly. According to the law of the common side, now that the city has sufficient materials, it is not difficult to deal with the Khitans.

It's just that Jingtai is at the forefront, just a strong enemy, and naturally nervous. The Khitan army of hundreds of thousands has been launched, how can it sit still?

Chongzheng Palace, Zhao Zhen said: "According to the report from Baozhou, the Khitan has sent 50,000 troops to attack the mouth of the Great Wall. Moreover, the army brought more than 100 cannons, and bombarded the city every day. Another hundreds of thousands of troops have been stationed on the border. Jingtai did not dare to rush to the rescue and complained to the imperial court. ”

Wen Yanbo said: "Jia Kui has occupied Feihu, and Zhending Mansion and Dingzhou have been safe. The two armies of Dou Shunqing and Liu Jianji can be transferred to Baozhou. An army of 150,000 should be able to hold it. If not, there is also Liu Jiyi's army in Hejian Province. ”

Zhao Zhen looked at Du Zhongxiao and said in a deep voice: "Taiwei, how does Baozhou fight the Khitan, can there be a plan?" ”

Du Zhongxiao praised the wat: "Your Majesty, when you build these cities, tell the front line that they must be built strong and can be defended for a long time." If troops are sent to rescue at this time, it will become a chaotic battle between the two sides, which will be unfavorable to this dynasty. Baozhou has built so many cities, so they have to be used and guarded one by one. But Jingtai decided for himself when to rescue. If you really can't save them, you can also take people out and give them up city by city. As long as he holds Baozhou, it will be a credit. ”

"Only one word?" Zhao Zhen frowned. "Hundreds of thousands of troops are in Hebei, how can they just watch?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "The hundreds of thousands of troops on Hebei Road are used in the decisive battle with the Khitan. In the beginning, it was best to just hold on and consume the morale, grain and grass of the Khitans. Wait until their morale is low, and then send out a large army to fight it. ”

Zhao Zhen was silent for a while. After a while, he said: "The Khitan army of the country, nearly 400,000 people, is surging. Jingtai 50,000 people against each other always makes people feel uneasy. If one is not careful, if Baozhou is lost, it can avoid shaking the whole line. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The army of 50,000 is firmly defended according to the city, there is no shortage of materials, and the Khitans have no choice." This time, there were as many as 400,000 Khitan troops in Youzhou, but they only sent 50,000 people to attack the mouth of the Great Wall, why? Because no matter how many troops there are, it is useless. This is the case with the defense of the city, in fact, the number of troops used to attack and defend each city is not much, and most of the soldiers are just strong. Yichen estimated that as long as there was no problem with the defenders, it would be difficult for the Khitan to break through the city. Although they had cannons, they were not powerful enough and were not familiar with them, so it was difficult to break the city. ”

Han Qi said: "According to Taiwei's estimate, how long will it take to send a large army to counterattack?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Xianggong, it's not that easy. Although the Yan land is now frozen, the river cannot carry a large army, so the Khitans have been waiting at the border. In more than ten days, when the weather is cold and the ground is freezing, it will inevitably turn to the east and attack Xiongzhou. It is necessary that the Khitan 400,000 army is all dispatched and blocked everywhere, and the morale of its army will be low. I don't have a month or two, I'm afraid it's going to be difficult. ”

Han Qi sighed: "It's really hard to endure in the past two months!" When the two armies are fighting, if one is not careful, it will be exposed, how can we ensure that the front-line officers and men will always hold on? Now that I have a large army, I can't attack actively, and I always feel that it is not a solution. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "For Jingtai, if the love [pencil www.qbxs.xyz] report is smooth, you can decide for yourself whether to attack or not." As long as you get out of the game quickly and don't get entangled by the Khitans, there will be no problem. The Khitans were good at field warfare and were not good at attacking cities. They surrounded the mouth of the Great Wall, and their intention was not necessarily to let us send troops to the rescue, and then win in the field. ”

Hearing this, no one in the Chongzheng Hall spoke for a while, all thinking about the meaning of Du Zhongxiao's words.

After a while, Zhao Zhen said: "A few years ago, the king of Beizhou rebelled, and the Duke of Wen commanded the army with a ruling and pacified it in a few days. This time, the Khitan raised the country's troops, and those who came were not good. Now there are six armies on Hebei Road, Flying Fox Jia Kui, Zhending Mansion Dou Shunqing, Dingzhou Liu Jianji, Baozhou Jingtai, Xiongzhou Zhang Qi, and Liu Jiyi Army of Hejian Mansion. Liu Ji was a commander, but he had no subordinate generals, and his organization was incomplete, so it was really difficult to command all armies to fight. This Khitan attack is not trivial, and then with Zai Zhi as the commander, what do you think? ”

Wen Yanbo arched his hand: "Your Majesty is wise!" If there are no important ministers on the Hebei Road, it will be difficult to convince the armies, but I am afraid that the war will not be easy to command. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded: "This time, the Khitan Xing soldiers from all over the country are coming, and I want to fight them to the death!" It's just that at the beginning of the war, it must be the Khitans who will attack, and the dynasty will be defending. Unless you are a person who is heavy, you can't hold down your position at this time. ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at everyone, and naturally understood in his heart that he could only be a Privy Council official sent to Hebei Road at this time. Unlike a few years ago, when the status of Zhongshu was higher than that of the Privy Council, it was not surprising that Wen Yanbo went on an expedition. Now the military is in the Privy Council, and the government hall is afraid that they can't even figure out what is going on in the army.

Standing up, Du Zhongxiao held the wat and said, "Your Majesty, the minister is willing to go on the expedition!" ”

Zhao Zhen looked at Du Zhongxiao and said, "Taiwei is in charge of the cardinal mansion and knows the war well, so he is naturally the most suitable candidate." It's just that the affairs of the cardinal mansion are complicated, and without the captain, the rest of the people are afraid that they will be busy. ”

Han Qi said: "The imperial army, except for the newly formed five armies in the capital, is mostly on Hebei Road. Why don't you let Mrs. Du run the Privy Council and go to Hebei Road to command the battle? Regarding the war, it will be decided by the Taiwei in Hebei and reported back to the capital. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "This is the best. It was decided in this way, together with Fu Bi, Taiwei Du and Fu Bi were in charge of the war in Hebei Road! ”