Flying Fox Road, which originally refers to the road leading from Flying Fox to Ulzhou to the north, connects Yunzhou. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Lingqiu Road was dug through Lingqiu to Daizhou, and the Lingqiu Road was also called the Flying Fox Road in the Tang Dynasty. From the flying fox to the east, there is a road to Yizhou in the north, and Dingzhou in the south, which is the core place connecting Hebei and Hedong.

After entering the Song Dynasty, because the flying fox belonged to the Khitan, the Song people came and went to Hebei Hedong Road and took the Jingcheng Road in the south, which was gradually deserted. However, although there are fewer people walking, the road is still there, and the flying fox is still an important place in the Taihang Mountains.

Jia Kui went through a lot of hardships, and finally at the end of October, he arrived at the Flying Fox City.

Looking at the somewhat dilapidated city in front of him, Jia Kui exhaled: "I finally arrived at the Flying Fox City!" In the past few days, have the Khitans sent troops and horses to help? If there are no reinforcements, the siege will begin tomorrow! ”

Hao Zhi said: "I have investigated the surroundings, but there are no reinforcements from the Khitan." Although there are soldiers and horses in Yizhou outside the mountain, there is no one in charge. Quyang was surrounded by Liu Jianji's army and could not move. Now the Flying Fox is an isolated city, and you can rest assured that you can attack it. ”

Jia Kui nodded: "That's the best." We came all the way from Daizhou, walked for ten days, and tasted countless hardships. If you can capture the flying fox early, and then destroy the Quyang Khitan soldiers and horses with Taiwei Liu outside the mountain, everything will be fine. Transporting grain and grass from Dingzhou is much closer than Daizhou. ”

In fact, not only is it much closer, but Jia Kui is also dissatisfied with Feng Yanji in Daizhou. Although the enemy was at present, Feng Yanji did everything he could, and did not deduct the materials of Jia Kui's army. It's just that he doesn't support it, and he will do what the Privy Council has explained, and Jia Kui, who has not explained, said that it is useless. Liu Jianji is a forbidden army after the whole training, so it shouldn't be like this. Moreover, with the unified transfer of the Privy Council, everything is much more convenient.

With a few generals around Flying Fox City, Jia Kui said: "There are 2,000 soldiers and horses in this city, and when they were guarding outside the city, more than 500 people have been wiped out, and now there are about 1,500 people in the city. There is a cloud in the art of war, and the siege of the city must be surrounded by three queyi, and this time we will do the opposite. The whole army attacked only one side, and opened the other three sides. Tomorrow, all the artillery of the whole army will be lined up on the west city wall, and the two ends of the city wall will be suppressed with cannons. Then the army will attack the city and fight for a drum! The enemy escaped from the city, and after all, he could not outrun our cavalry! ”

The generals shouted their promises. Due to the difficult mountain roads, there were few artillery pieces in Jia Kui's army, only some small cannons, which were not very powerful. Since artillery can't collapse the city wall, it is used to suppress the city head and concentrate troops to attack head-on. This is a mountainous area, surrounded by dense mountains and forests, and siege equipment is always easy.

At the head of the city, Xiao Wugu, the flying fox guard, said: "The Song army is besieging the city, and there are no reinforcements outside, what should I do?" ”

Zhang Xu, the magistrate of the county, said: "The king is not big in Quyang, if he gets the news of the siege of the Song army, he will definitely come to the rescue." We only need to hold out for a few days, and when reinforcements come, the Song army will naturally retreat. ”

Xiao Wugu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "It will take a few days for Quyang to get here." As soon as the messenger left, it would take more than ten days for reinforcements to come. With tens of thousands of troops outside, how did we hold on for so long? ”

Zhang Xu's face was calm and he didn't speak. Who can come up with a foolproof solution at this point? There is only one way, just stick to it. Only God knows how long it will last.

The Khitan army has been concentrated in the Youzhou area for more than ten days, but because Yeluther is not blocked in Quyang, it has not been straightened out. It turned out that the Khitans' plan was for Yeluther to go south without an army. It is best to capture Dingzhou, even if you can't capture Dingzhou, you have to go south to the hinterland of the Song army, and take advantage of the fast characteristics of cavalry to disturb the prefecture and county. As a result, the post was not blocked in Quyang, and the deployment of the Khitan was disrupted, and the clue was not sorted out for a while.

The flying fox in the mountains, since the death of the Tang Dynasty, there are not many walkers, and it is not important in the eyes of the Khitan. The Song Dynasty communicated with Hedong and Hebei by the Jingcheng Road in the south, and the Khitan was the military capital in the north, and the Flying Fox in the middle was gradually abandoned. Only occasionally the Khitan attacked the Central Plains in the south, and sometimes they would send troops from the Flying Fox to attack Dingzhou. The current 2,000 defenders, still because of the wartime, deliberately strengthened the defense.

Looking at the Song army camp at the foot of the mountain, Xiao Wugu was a little helpless. Since Jia Kui captured Lingqiu, he reported to the imperial court and asked to send troops to help, but there has been no news. Obviously, in the eyes of the Khitans, this path is not important. As for the Tiebu army in the south, the Khitans' plan was to let them go south, not to retreat. How could tens of thousands of cavalry be surrounded and killed by the Song army in the plains, it is inconceivable to think about it.

Zhang Xu said: "Looking at the arrangement of the Song army outside the city, it is only to gather troops in the west city, and the rest of the gates are not arranged with a large army. Could it be that they only attacked the West City and opened three sides? If that were the case, it would be easy for us to withdraw. ”

Xiao Wugu said: "Zhixian, there are tens of thousands of troops outside, and there are more than 10,000 cavalry, where can we still survive when we go out of the city?" The flying fox is in the mountains, and it is not a plain place, and there is no way to run! It's just that, you can only hold on, and the rest is left to fate. ”

After saying that, he took him and went straight down to the city. Looking at Song Jun here, he blocked himself in vain.

Zhang Xu looked outside the city, his eyes flickered for a while, and his mind turned sharply. I am a Han Chinese, born in Jinshi, and if I dedicate the city, I don't know how the Song Dynasty will treat me. In recent years, the Song army did not take special care of the Han identity for the generals. This time to attack the Khitan, I don't know if there will be a special policy. Now it seems that the Flying Fox will inevitably be broken by the Song army, but it is only a matter of time.

Sighing, Zhang Shu turned around and went down to the city, thinking about it all the time.

Early in the morning of the second day, Song Jun buried the pot and cooked before dawn. By the time the sun was rising, it was already under the castle.

Jia Kui looked at the head of the Flying Fox City and didn't speak for a while. Looking at the appearance of the city, the Khitan increased its defense, but did not transfer all its forces to the western city. Flying Fox Town, a city wall does not need many soldiers, and the most important thing is that there is vitality. However, the Song army had artillery, and the siege and defense of the city were very different from before. Flying Fox City did not have artillery to defend the city, so the Song army could push the artillery in front of the city and block a small section of the city wall with artillery. This is the siege method that the Song army is most familiar with, and it has been like this since there was artillery. On the contrary, there was no long-term siege of the city, there was no opportunity to attack the city with heavy artillery, and there were always doubts about the collapse of the city wall. In fact, now the heavy artillery of the Song army has no problem with destroying the city wall. It's just that transportation is not easy, and it is difficult for heavy artillery to keep up with the marching speed of other armies, and there is no chance to play.

Looking at the sun in the sky, Jia Kui took a deep breath. Zhou Jin on the other side said: "Attack the city later, first use artillery to bombard the top of the west city wall." Then the muzzles of the guns were aimed at both ends of the city wall, so that the Khitans could not replenish their troops. Your troops will send a thousand men to attack the city. ”

Zhou Jin forked his hand and sang a promise. Yesterday, I urgently cut down trees in the periphery to make siege ladders, and today it finally came in handy.

After a while, seeing that the Song army under the city was ready, Jia Kui said sharply: "Open the cannon!" ”

The artillerymen placed under the city lit the cannons together, and after a short time, the dull sound of cannons was heard. Most of the Khitan soldiers at the head of the city saw the cannons, and they did not panic, and they hid behind the female wall one after another. It's just that although the cannon of the Song army is small, it still has a great destructive power on the female wall, and after a while, the screams on the city continue to sound. The Khitan soldiers leaned against the female wall, not daring to move.

Xiao Wugu looked at the appearance of the city wall, and then looked at the Song army outside the city approaching with a cloud ladder, and his brows were tightly locked. As a general, Xiao Wugu has seen the Khitan cannon and knows how to use it. I also know what the Song army outside the city has in mind. But what can be done? The flying fox didn't have a cannon, and he didn't know what to do at all. Without artillery, with flesh and blood, how can you deal with the artillery of the Song army?

As the Song army shifted the muzzle, a horn sounded, and the Song army carried the cloud ladder and ran towards Flying Fox City.

Xiao Wugu said sharply: "Left and right soldiers and horses, don't care about the artillery, immediately go to the middle to defend the city!" If there is a patrol that does not advance, it is especially not! ”

In the rumbling cannon, Xiao Wugu's words could not be heard far at all, and there were no Khitan soldiers to pay attention to him. The Song army has broken through the city, and it can still fight with them. Now stepping forward under artillery fire, isn't it sent to death?

When the Song army arrived at the city, 200 men from each wing fired muskets at the city. Cooperate with artillery to suppress the movement of Khitan soldiers at the head of the city. The Song army in the middle leaned the ladder against the city wall and climbed towards the city one after another.

The ladder is one of the oldest siege equipment, and by this time, it was very well developed. It's not a simple ladder, otherwise the ladder will fall down as soon as it is pushed in the city. Rather, it is an anticline with a solid support behind it and a gentle slope. There was a Song army behind to resist to the death, and the soldiers on one side rushed up one after another. There were not many Khitan soldiers left in the city, and there was no way to push the ladder away.

Seeing that the Song army successfully ascended to the top of the city, Jia Kui said: "The flying fox wants land, it seems that it is not difficult to attack. As long as they go to the city, what else can the Khitans do? No matter how many soldiers there are, how can they stop the muskets? ”

Hao Zhi said: "What Taiwei said is that as long as they climb to the top of the city, what can the Khitans do?" We used guns to deal with the Khitans with knives and guns, and we really took advantage of them. Now it seems that as long as the artillery is fully equipped, it is really easy to break through the Khitan city. ”

Jia Kui shook his head: "You can't think like this. The Khitan people also have cannons, but the flying fox is in the mountains, and the Khitan cannons are few, so they are not arranged here. If it is a big city, the Khitans have a lot of artillery, and it is not easy to attack the city. ”

The role of the artillery at the head of the city is not to fight the siege soldiers, but to destroy the siege equipment of the siege troops. In particular, the artillery range has an advantage, which can suppress the siege artillery. The flying fox had no cannon, and was completely suppressed by the Song army. Especially in siege warfare, the range of weapons plays a crucial role, whether it is artillery or muskets, it can be used to maximize its power.

Xiao Wugu on one side of the city tower, watching the Song army on the city wall lined up on the city wall, holding muskets, attacking both ends. The city wall was narrow, and the Khitan soldiers above didn't even have a place to shoot, and they fell one by one. He closed his eyes and shook his head.