One thought after another flashed through Yelu Ningwu's mind, but there was no answer. He had to shake his head and shake the thoughts out.

The most urgent thing now is to send troops to ask for help from the Xijin Prefecture. Although he said that Zhuozhou was nominally defended by 2,000 troops, the Liao State stipulated that the service age was from fifteen to fifty, so the proportion of the old and weak in the army was not small. When the elite were sent to the south, all that was left were old and weak soldiers. Although it is possible to get more than 1,000 people by gathering the nobles, powerful private soldiers, and family members in the city, I don't know how many Song troops came.

It's useless to call for help elsewhere. Although Yanyun is the main place of the Liao State, but this time the southern expedition sent a lot of troops, and the war with the Western Xia was not completely quelled and was pinned down part of the troops, the troops left in the county towns of Gezhou are either old or weak, suppress a small-scale rebellion of the people, and maintain the grain road, but to fight with the Song army that entered the Liao border is to send people away.

Now the only troops that can send troops to rescue Zhuozhou are the Liaohuang Palace Tent Army stationed in Xijin Mansion and the Yelu Chongyuan troops besieging Xiongzhou and Bazhou. In addition to these two armies, the land of Yanyun is not without elite soldiers, but they are all private soldiers of various nobles and powerful families, and only the Liao Emperor can gather them. So if you want to keep Zhuozhou, you must find the Liao Emperor.

At this time, it was already twilight, but Yelu Ningwu could see the fireworks in the distance approaching Zhuozhou from the tower. As the sky grew darker and darker, he could already see the fire, so he had to make up his mind, get down from the tower, and order the three cavalry to go out of the city to report the news.

Although Yelu Ningwu had not fought much, he still had basic military qualities. He ordered the troops that had been assembled in the city to kill out of the north gate and the east gate, force back the Song army blocking the gate, and let three teams of cavalry go out of the city from the two gates to disperse the Song army's forces, so that as long as one team sent the alarm out, it would be considered a success.

Although he had the audacity to rush into Zhuozhou City and kill a thorough, he actually only brought 500 cavalry, so he had to use horses to drag bundles of firewood behind the woods to intimidate the Liao people to prevent them from leaving the city. Therefore, when two or three hundred cavalry rushed out of the siege from three directions under the cover of the Liao army, he was really powerless to stop all the Liao people, so he could only stare at the pursuit all the way, and the Liao army that reported the news from two ways rushed into the night.

Chong Ge hurriedly called the herald and ordered: "You go to report to the border quickly, and say that the Liao people who reported the news have already set off." Please patrol the border and come to Zhuozhou. ”

Zhuozhou is only about one hundred and thirty miles away from Xijin and Xiongzhou, even at night, if you don't care about the horsepower, it only takes more than two hours to arrive, so the Liao reinforcements should be able to reach Zhuozhou after dawn. Therefore, no matter what you have to do, you must not waste time.

Although time was precious, Li Buqi still led a large group of men and horses around the north of Zhuozhou City. And when Yeluningu saw from the south the tower torches like stars in the sky, he heard the men shouting and neighing, and surrounded the city, and he was so shocked that his heart was broken. He judged in his heart that the Song army had at least 50,000, but because of the obstruction of night, he couldn't see that the captured Liao people were holding two torches, and the vehicles were full of torches.

A river of torches spread around the city in all directions. When Yelu Ningwu thought that the Song army was going to besiege the city on all sides, suddenly, most of the torches on the north, east, and west sides were extinguished. Seeing the three sides that suddenly darkened, cold sweat broke out on his head, and he couldn't understand what Song Ren was going to do.

In fact, it was very simple, Li Buqi only ordered the Liao people who were suspicious soldiers on these three sides to be escorted to the north.

Just after the hour, the Liao people gathered in the north of the city. Yang Shiqing ran over to report to Li Buqi that everything was ready, and Li Buqi turned his head to look at Chong Ge: "General Chong, can you see that the granary of the Liao people is in the north of the city?" ”

He said confidently: "Please rest assured that the general will take a closer look." If it weren't for the fear that the Liao people would close the city gate and intercept us in the city, the last general would have burned it down a long time ago. ”

Li Buqi smiled and said, "It's not too late for us to burn it now." ”

Then he nodded to Yang Shiqing: "Let's start." ”

Yang Shiqing immediately ordered: "Drumming!" Trumpet! ”

The order was passed on, and immediately the drums and trumpets were noisy, and the cavalry of the police division dragged the bundles of firewood to the city wall and lit them, and the Zhenwu army drove the Liao people who had been captured along the way, letting them carry firewood and grass and drive the carriage to the trench outside the city of Zhuozhou.

"The Song people are attacking the city! Prepare your bow and arrows! "There was a loud warning on the city walls. The officers saw the crowd rushing towards the city wall and hurriedly ordered the arrows to be fired. A dense rain of arrows poured out, and immediately there was a cry under the city wall.

"How is it Khitan dialect?" Some of the soldiers stopped in disbelief. The officer came up and kicked him: "Shoot!" This is the Song people's deception! ”

"No, no. Listen, adult, it seems that there are women and children crying. ”

Even the officers hesitated. They risked being shot with crossbows and crossbows and stretched out their heads to look down at the city, and then the bundles of firewood lit by the Song army and the illumination of the rockets fired by the Liao army, they finally saw that those who were stumbling and crying and shouting and running close were the Liao costumes, men and women, old and young. The people they shot and killed just now were really Liao!

Neither the Liao officers nor the Liao soldiers have experienced this situation, and they have never experienced the situation where someone forced the Khitans to attack their cities, and they were stunned for a while, and many soldiers put down their bows and arrows.

But when they saw the Liao people under the city filling the bundles of firewood into the moat, some veterans shouted: "This is the Song people learned our siege method!" Let them fill in the trenches and we'll be done! ”

The officers who came to wake up also made a quick decision, drew their sabers and forced the soldiers to desperately release their arrows. The Liao people under the city continued to be hit by arrows, and the sound of crying and howling spread to the four fields.

Li Buqi turned his head to look at the officers and soldiers around him, and he couldn't bear it, especially Dong Renzhang's body was trembling slightly. Dong Renzhang also felt Li Buqi's gaze, and when he saw Li Buqi's gaze fall on his hastily bandaged arm, he couldn't help but try to sit up straight.

Li Buqi took a few steps forward with the reins, then turned to the strict team and shouted, "Do you think these Liao people are pitiful?!" When you pity the Liao people, think about the people of the Great Song Dynasty who fell under the butcher's knife of the Liao people! ”

"Your kindness to the enemy is cruelty to the people of the Great Song Dynasty! Since the Liao people imposed the war on the Great Song Dynasty, they themselves must also bear the suffering caused by the war! We want the Liao people to know that our Great Song Dynasty can retaliate with a tooth for a tooth! Wash blood in blood! ”

The seed took the lead and shouted: "A tooth for a tooth!" Wash blood in blood! ”

The cries came one after another, and they reached the city clearly. Yelu Ningwu's face turned pale, and he stared blankly at the Liao people under the city, whether they were dressed in tatters or luxuriously dressed, constantly falling under the rain of arrows, their legs trembling. He had never imagined that the Song people could be so vicious, and at this time he had already doubted the prospects of this war.

Li Buqi drove the Liao people to attack the city, but he didn't want to attack the city. Siege is a matter of more than worth the cost.

When the Liao people attracted the rain of arrows in the city, more than 40 partial vans had already adjusted their state in the dim fire, and erected a barrier with thick wooden planks on the side facing the city wall. Then a shrill whistle sounded, and one after another fireballs flew over the walls of the vans into the city.

When these meteors hit the ground, they burst into clouds of flames that flew everywhere, igniting anything they struck, even the brick walls.

At this time, the weather is dry and dry, and the northwest wind is blowing, which is the easiest to walk the water, and the fire has a tendency to spread together. The Liao people in the city hurriedly used various tools to fetch water to put out the fire. Because of the cold weather, the water in the tank was frozen into ice lumps, and water could only be drawn from the well. However, the fire meteors outside the city kept shooting in batches, and after a while, they were on fire everywhere, and they couldn't be extinguished at all.

What's even more evil is that the fire is difficult to extinguish with water, many people are splashed by the fire meteor and burned, and the water cannot extinguish the burned to death, the Liao people are timid, and their hands and feet slow down. A pillar of incense, the north of the city will be blazing, the official warehouse has been in flames, seeing the fire borrowed the wind, it will burn to the south.

Li Buqi looked at the fire with satisfaction and ordered Yang Shiqing: "Immediately take the infantry to Dafang Mountain with cattle and horses and wait for the cavalry to arrive." ”

PS: Thank you Tong Tianlei, Baishagang and Feiyue Infinity 002 for their tips. Today's double watch.