(2-in-1.) Reply to some of the brothers' questions. Regarding the ownership of the sixteen states of Youyun in this book, some book friends said that I forgot the previous plot, and I didn't forget it. The premise is that the Great Zhou recovered the sixteen states of Yanyun, and the threat of the Liao State to the Great Zhou decreased. That's for sure. But the scope and geography of the sixteen states that I am talking about are different from the real history. Some people may think that this is a quibble, but in my setting, the Great Zhou is not the Great Song Dynasty, nor is it a real historical space. It's like a market town in a state capital in the book, but it doesn't really exist. If you carefully study the real Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, you will fall into this paradox. The setting of this book is also to show the prosperity of the Great Zhou. The scope of the state capital is different, and the name is different, which is why the Liao State can still continue to disturb the Great Zhou. To make a simple analogy, the figures in the Great Zhou Dynasty may have the shadow of real historical figures, but they must be plausible and not the same. If you want to get into the real location, you should question it. So why should this book be written in an overhead way, it is directly written in the Northern Song Dynasty. In short, this cloud is not another cloud, everything comes from a service story, that's all. ）

The siege phalanx was unstoppable, attacking under the city walls in a calm and unhurried manner. The first and only obstacle they encountered was a two-foot wide moat under the walls. But this is indeed a good response for the besieging side. As soon as the phalanx shields changed, the soldiers carrying the gangplanks rushed out of the formation, and began to lay wooden stakes on the river bank at great speed, and the fixed planks began to be spliced. At the same time, the archers in the shield array began to shoot arrows at the head of the city.

The Liao army at the head of the city found a good opportunity, and this was the time for the archers to exert their might. The Liao archers, who had been holding back for a long time, tilted all their anger towards the soldiers who had built the bridge below. Bows and arrows were fired at each other above and below the city, and the arrows flew sideways, their wings whizzed, and there was hardly a safe place.

But after all, it was very cheap to shoot arrows down from the head of the city, and even if there were shield-bearers to protect the soldiers who built the pontoon bridge, the casualties were still very heavy. There were nearly 2,000 soldiers in the five phalanxes who set up the pontoon bridge, and more than half of the casualties occurred in the short time that the pontoon bridge was erected. In fact, there were very few wounded, but all those who were hit by arrows were almost shot like hedgehogs. And the suppression of bows and arrows fired from the back could only cause sporadic casualties to the Liao army at the head of the city. The vast majority of the arrows slashed over the walls or shot directly at the walls beneath the battlements.

But this was also the last group of Great Zhou soldiers that the defenders of the city could shoot during the entire enemy advance. With the completion of the pontoon bridge, a large number of siege soldiers and horses poured into the city, and the brutal siege operation officially began.

The guard general Xiao Sida knew that the most serious time had come.

"Boys, greet them to your heart's content. Rolling Wood and Stone! Boiling water! Smash me down with all your brains, so that they know how powerful I am a Daliao warrior. ”

Xiao Sida shouted the order, and the defenders at the head of the city began to smash the rolling wood and stones into the city, and a pot of boiling hot water and hot oil was also poured down. The shield could not withstand the huge rolling logs and stones that fell from the sky, and the heavy objects fell, the city wailed, and the besieging soldiers were smashed. Boiling oil and boiling water poured down, and the bottom was even more miserable, and the boiling oil and boiling water were poured all over the body from the top of the head and poured into the armor, which was worse than death. Many soldiers were burned and cried, and some jumped directly into the moat, hoping that the coolness of the river would temporarily relieve the pain on their bodies. But the Liao archers at the head of the city would not let them go, the bows and arrows shot out countless blisters like a shower on the water, and countless siege soldiers were shot in the river, and the corpses floated on the opposite side, and the blood stained the river red.

There was a brief confusion among the besieging soldiers and horses, even if they were mentally prepared, but these Great Zhou soldiers and horses had not suffered such a blow. Especially in siege operations, the Great Perimeter Army has been accustomed to defending the city for so many years, and occasionally fighting with the Liao people, but it has never taken the initiative to become the besieging party. Under the well-prepared bombardment of the other party, some people began to panic.

The besieging team on the east side of the city gate suffered heavy casualties, and the 4,000 men were reduced by 30%, and they were on the verge of collapse. None of the dozens of ladders were erected, because the soldiers in charge of erecting the ladders were so frightened that they hid in the corners of the city wall and shivered, almost collapsing.

"you, cowardly rats. This scene scares you like this? The head has fallen off and there is a big scar, what are you afraid of? Do you think you can hide for the rest of your life? If you can't take the city, you still have to fight hard. The more afraid you are, the more you will die. Who is a man, come with Lao Tzu. A rough shout sounded in everyone's ears like thunder, and everyone looked at it and recognized it as Han Gang, a new recruit in the camp.

Han Gang was bleeding from under his helmet, his expression was hideous and terrifying, he picked up a cloud ladder from the ground, and roared sharply: "Don't come to help? rushed up and slaughtered Liaogou and captured the city, and all this will end. Do you think Marshal Yang will order you to withdraw? Dream! He won't give the order to die all here, and the only way to survive is to rush forward. ”

Dozens of soldiers woke up like a dream, oh oh sounded, stepped forward to help Han Gang struggle to erect the high ladder, and firmly hooked the iron hook above the ladder to the edge of the battlement. The tall ladder was like a banner to wake up the besieging army, and the soldiers, who were busy hiding from the raining weight at the top of the city, suddenly realized that they had to storm the walls to end it. So after Han Gang erected the ladder, the siege soldiers and horses on the left and near the city erected the ladder one after another, and braved a fierce counterattack to hook the ladder to the battlements. Countless soldiers shouted and climbed up the ladder, desperate to attack upwards. At this point, the whole siege officially entered the rhythm.

In the rear, Yang Jun, who was watching the battle with a clairvoyant mirror, was originally angry about the chaotic situation under the city in front of him, but when he saw that the first cloud ladder was erected on the east side of the city wall, the siege entered the correct rhythm.

"Who's that? Ben Shuai wants to reward him heavily and promote him. He was the first to erect a ladder. Which general's soldiers and horses were there? Yang Jun asked in a deep voice, he didn't see clearly who the first soldier to lift the ladder was.

"Dashuai, that's General Han Ganghan, he was incorporated into Tian Wenbo's infantry forward battalion. I could see clearly that he was the first to lift the ladder. Bai Qi, the deputy marshal who put down the clairvoyant mirror on the side, said in a deep voice.

Yang Jun slowly put down the clairvoyant mirror in his hand and sighed, "Okay, very good." Han Gang is good, he is still as brave and fearless as before. Didn't disappoint Ben Shuai. Brother Han, I hope you don't die in this battle, there will be countless battles after that, and the commander will still rely on you. ”

Bai Qi nodded and said, "Yes, if General Han can live this time, the marshal will forgive his sins." Thousands of troops are easy to get, and there are not many characters like Han Gang. There are shortcomings, but who is at fault? ”

Yang Jun turned his head to look at Bai Qi and said, "Vice Marshal Bai, you're right, this handsome can't lose a big one because of a small one." I'm a great Zhou Wensheng and martial arts, which is not a good thing. A military general like Han Gang is rare. And you, Deputy Marshal Bai, Ben Shuai is a little prejudiced against you, but after getting along with each other during this time, I have a great opinion of you. You are also a rare person in my Great Zhou. Perhaps, in the future, you will serve as my Privy Counsellor of the Great Zhou, and you will definitely be qualified for this position. The old man was relieved. ”

Bai Qi hurriedly bowed down and said, "Don't dare, don't dare." The last general has never had such delusions. ”

Yang Jun turned his head to look at the battlefield where the shouting and killing was like a tide, and said softly: "If you don't want to, you can't do it, the waves behind the river push the waves ahead, we people will eventually grow old, and we will die after all, and the future of the Great Zhou is on you." It's not a question of whether you want to or not, it's your responsibility. ”

Bai Qi bowed his head respectfully and was silent.

Under the city, the siege battle entered a white hot row, hundreds of ladders have become the passage of the attack on the city, and the siege soldiers risked their lives to climb up, desperate. At the head of the city, the Liao army desperately shot arrows down and smashed down the rolling wooden stones, and the siege soldiers and horses were smashed down like dumplings and fell to the ground. There is also a long fork of the Liao army to fork the upper beam of the cloud ladder, seven or eight people work together, and even a long line of siege soldiers on the cloud ladder with the cloud ladder are pushed away from the city wall. The ladder fell, and the soldiers above also fell from the air, falling into a rolling gourd all over the ground, breaking and breaking their tendons.

After the siege entered a stick of incense, the first team of seven Great Zhou soldiers set foot on the city for the first time. But it was soon killed by the Liao army on the city wall. After that, there were breakthroughs one after another, and hundreds of them set foot in various cities at the same time, but the number of Liao troops at the head of the city was too large, and they all retreated. When the two sides were deadlocked for half an hour, the siege soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou Dynasty had been killed and wounded as high as more than 5,000, but they had not yet been able to really break through the city wall.

This is not that the combat strength of the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou Dynasty is inferior to that of the Liao army, but that the siege war is really a situation in which the besieging side occupies an extremely disadvantaged situation. It is not an exaggeration to say that there is a strong city as a basis, and it can be used as a ten. Unless you have a siege weapon, you can destroy the walls in one fell swoop. Otherwise, the besieging side will always be in a situation of being passively beaten.

However, this half an hour was enough time for the cloud cart to move under the city walls. Due to the barrier of the moat, the moat could not reach the edge of the city wall to participate in the siege, and the pontoon bridge built was not enough for the crane to pass. The pontoon bridge erected by the gangplank could not support the weight of the crane. Therefore, when the siege was in full swing, hundreds of soldiers were reinforcing the pontoon bridge and supporting the pontoon bridge with logs to ensure that the cloud car could pass through the pontoon bridge smoothly.

More than 100 soldiers stood on both sides of the pontoon, and many people soaked in the water, nailing logs into the bottom of the river to support each heavy plank of the pontoon. The two-zhang long bridge deck, supported by more than 50 logs on both sides, seems to be a small number, but the operation is extremely difficult, and it is under the rain of arrows from the other party. If it weren't for the dozens of crossbowmen on the top of the crane to suppress the fire near the city, the time and the number of casualties would have been even greater.

But in any case, when the huge cloud car leaned against the city wall like an iron tower, and when the iron that fixed the wheels firmly stuck to the cloud body, all the Great Zhou soldiers and horses besieging the city finally got rid of their despair. The cloud car, the latest siege weapon of the Great Zhou, completely ignores the invasion of any rolling wood, stone, boiling oil and boiling water and arrows, which is the most convenient way to attack the city wall.

The back door of the Skycar opened, and countless soldiers poured inside, rushing up the wooden spiral ladder to the two-foot-high inner platform. At the same time, on the three-zhang arrow tower platform at the top of the skycar, dozens of crossbowmen were firing with full firepower, and the crossbow arrows were condescendingly and intensively strafing at the head of the city, suppressing the enemy troops on the city wall nearly twenty or thirty paces to the left of the place where the skycar was parked could not move at all. At this point, the axle is loose and the drawbridge opens. With a piercing creak, the shaft turned, and the huge suspension bridge crashed onto the city wall. The passage of the Skycart to the city wall is officially opened. The next moment, a steady stream of Great Zhou soldiers and horses rushed out of the cloud car and rushed to the city on the suspended suspension bridge. Each Vapor Coaster becomes a convenient passage for siege, and ten Vapor Coasters are ten passages, which is like breaching ten walls at the same time. In just a short tea time, thousands of soldiers set foot on the city, and the city was suddenly in chaos.

At the same time that the Yunxiao siege vehicles continuously sent the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou Dynasty to the head of the city, the pressure of the siege soldiers and horses of the cloud ladder plummeted, and the soldiers on more than 100 cloud ladders also took the opportunity to climb the city, which was fully bloomed for a time, and the city wall was fully broken through.

The city wall, which was not wide, was already crowded with tens of thousands of Liao troops stationed on it, and at this moment, the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou Dynasty continued to rush to the city, and they were suddenly impassable. The two sides were anxious and engaged in hand-to-hand combat at the head of the city. At this moment, there is no formation to follow in the battle, and at this stage, it is a matter of who is more fierce and who is braver. As the saying goes, the brave wins when they meet on the narrow road, and they fight hand-to-hand face to face, but if they have a cowardly heart, they will surely become ghosts under the spring.

The Liao people have always been strong, they have always had contempt for the Great Zhou people, and they have fought many times with the Great Zhou soldiers and horses, and they also have an understanding of the quality of the Great Zhou soldiers and horses. If it is the opposite side, the Liao people have an advantage in psychological momentum. But this time, they miscalculated. These 300,000 Great Zhou soldiers and horses were selected from the elite of the 800,000 army. After nearly three months of intensive training, it can be said that they are the strongest group of soldiers and horses in the Great Zhou Dynasty. As soon as they fought, the defenders of the Liao State knew the clues. What's more, when the city wall was broken, the second wave of siege soldiers had already roared, and they were no longer threatened by any threat, so they rushed over the mountains like a tsunami, from the cloud car passage, from the ladder of reinforcements. In this situation, how can the defenders remain calm?

The collapse of morale was in an instant, when the Liao defenders on both sides of the city gate abandoned the defense of the city tower and began to flee into the city, the south gate of Zhuozhou was quickly captured by the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou. The south gate of the city suddenly opened. Countless Great Zhou soldiers and horses poured into the city from the city gates.

When the south gate was broken, at the north street, Xiao Sida and hundreds of cavalry were galloping away with Yelushi, whose face was like white paper. In fact, when the city wall was fully breached, Xiao Sida knew that the general trend was gone. Under the pretext of defending the city gates, he led hundreds of people down the city with Yelushi, mounted his horse and fled immediately. The city can't be saved, but his life must be saved, and there is an excellent excuse to explain the reason for his escape, and that is to protect the prince's safe evacuation. This reason is high-sounding, and Yelu Zongyuan can't punish the crime, let alone Han Desui blames himself for it. In addition, after the city was broken, he had one important thing to do immediately, that is, to rush to the crossing of the Sanggan River, which was located dozens of miles away, and ordered the soldiers and horses stationed at the ferry to burn all the ships immediately. The Great Zhou soldiers and horses could not be allowed to cross the river easily. At the very least, it will delay their crossing of the river.

Therefore, Xiao Sida chose to flee without hesitation. The north gate has been opened, and the defenders of the city gate have already fled cleanly. At the city gate, the people of Liao were crying and fleeing out of the city. Whether it is the Liao State or the Great Zhou, the people will always be the worst. When the two sides are at war, it is always the people who suffer. The Liao people killed the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty like pigs and dogs, but the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou Dynasty killed the people of the Liao State without mercy, and both sides were actually the same. In the minds of the people on the other side, they are all terrifying existences. So when the people learned that the city had been broken, they began to flee one after another.

Xiao Sida and the others were blocked at the door, unable to advance or retreat.

"Kill all those who block the road." Xiao Sida ordered without hesitation.

The Liao soldiers immediately began to rush forward, wielding scimitars to slash and slash the people in front of them, and the war horses also rushed mercilessly towards the crowd. The people fell like mustard, screaming and avoiding on both sides.

Yelushi couldn't stand it anymore, and frowned: "How can this be? They are the people of my great Liao. ”

Xiao Sida sneered: "Your Royal Highness, let's save our lives first and then come to have mercy on them." They are in the way, and you and I will be captured by Da Zhou. It's nothing to be a lower official, it's a big deal to die, but you are the prince of my Great Liao, and your identity is extremely important, if it falls into the hands of the Great Zhou people, won't it become their bargaining chip. How can there be a woman's kindness at this moment? ”

Yelushi was stunned and speechless, lying on his horse's back and no longer looking at the situation in front of him. All I could hear was screams one after another, the cries of babies and women, and the cursing of the people filling the drums. Finally, these voices were gone, the wind was whistling in their ears, and when they opened their eyes, Zhuozhou was already behind them, and they successfully escaped.

……

The battle in the city ended in the early afternoon. It was not so much a battle as a one-sided slaughter. After Xiao Sida and Yelushi and others fled, the city gate was breached, the city wall was fully breached, and the Liao army began to scatter and flee. The soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou Dynasty pursued and killed all over the city, and the cavalry outside the city went around from the east and west directions, chasing and killing the Liao soldiers who escaped from the east and west cities. Although some of the Liao soldiers fled into the hills and wilderness and could not be pursued, the vast majority of the Liao soldiers were killed or surrendered.

By mid-afternoon, the battle was largely over. When Yang Jun rode into the city of Zhuozhou surrounded by all the generals, the soldiers of the whole army shouted jubilantly, and the scene was extremely enthusiastic.

Yang Jun was also extremely excited, not happy because of the victory in this siege battle. The capture of the city was just expected, and a siege battle of this scale in a city like Zhuozhou was not the largest city that Yang Jun had captured and the largest combat operation he had commanded, which was not enough to make Yang Jun feel excited.

But one thing is very different. Zhuozhou has been the city of Liao since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The Liao soldiers who came out of this city had harassed the surrounding towns countless times, and fought with the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou Dynasty countless times. When it came to Zhuozhou, the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty hated to raze this city. Moreover, this is the big city of the Liao people, the first Liao city conquered after the Liao war. He Yang Jun has created a history today, more than 150 years since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, no one has ever won a city and a pool in the Liao Kingdom, today he conquered this city and stepped on the city of Zhuozhou, which is a moment of extraordinary significance. That's where he gets really excited.

"Soldiers, you have done a good job. Do you know where we stand? We stood in the city of the Liao people and annihilated tens of thousands of invincible Liao soldiers and horses. Today's battle, as soon as I wash away the shame of the Great Zhou, also tells us that the Liao people are nothing more than this, they will also be slaughtered by us like pigs and dogs, and they will also kneel and beg for mercy like cowards. Later, the commander will reward the meritorious men of this battle. Tonight, Ben Shuai ordered to kill pigs and sheep, add wine and meat, and reward the warriors of my Great Zhou. Don't get drunk tonight. Yang Jun waved his arms and made the briefest summary and agitation.

Above and below the city, hundreds of thousands of Great Zhou soldiers and horses shouted loudly and rejoiced.