"General Yu, there is still half a journey away from Xiongzhou!"

A personal soldier rushed to Yelu Ming to report, a head is high, and the chest is high, the closer to the Song realm, the closer to heaven. As long as they enter the Song realm, the Liao army can do whatever they want, burn, kill, loot, and annihilate silver, let them throw off their arms and do what they want, and the timid southerners will not be able to stop them.

"Good!" Ye Luming waved his hand, and his soldiers immediately retreated.

Ye Luming's eyes widened, looking at the advancing Liao army, only to see the Liao army passing by, ice and snow splashing, the ice on the ground kept cracking, and cracks extended into the distance.

Although they marched in the ice and snow, the Liao army was imposing and happy, as if such a cold weather was not cold, but their paradise.

The Liao army is like a long dragon, its head is not seen in front of it, and its tail is not seen in the back, rolling south, with a murderous atmosphere!

"With such a strong teacher, why worry about Xiongzhou? This time, I must defeat Xiongzhou! Conquering Xiongzhou is to open up the passage into the Central Plains, and the warriors of Daliao can gallop on the land of the Central Plains! Yelu Ming's heart was steep and high-spirited, and he shouted: "Yelu Bodhisattva! ”

"The last general!" Yelu Bodhisattva hurriedly beat his horse and came over.

"Take two thousand men and bring down the conversion. That Zeng Danian, who is familiar with conversion, you can bring him with you. Ye Luming's eyes are particularly bright, and in this battle, he has great confidence to win Xiongzhou.

Yelu Bodhisattva received the order and led 2,000 Liao troops to return to the faith.

xxxxxx Bianjing, Jiying Palace.

Song Shenzong, Wang Anshi, Wang Shao, Lu Gongzhu, and Lu Huiqing, all of whom were ministers who cared for their lives, were all frowning, and they were very anxious.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Liao people raised 100,000 troops to commit crimes, and 50,000 went straight to Xiongzhou, what do you think?" Song Shenzong broke the silence and asked.

"The official family, the city of Xiongzhou is high and thick, easy to defend and difficult to attack, the Liao people have fought for hundreds of years, but they have not been defeated, and the official family can be relieved." Lu Gong immediately comforted Song Shenzong.

"Yes, the minister thinks so." Lu Huiqing hurriedly agreed: "Xiongzhou is a major matter, the Great Song Dynasty has made a lot of effort, spent countless amounts of money, and the city of Xiongzhou is extremely strong, and the Liao people can't attack it." ”

"Jiefu, what do you think?" Song Shenzong asked Wang Anshi, who had not spoken.

Wang Anshi, whose name is Jiefu, is the most trusted minister of Song Shenzong, and he is bent on implementing the new law, at this time, his eyebrows are tightly wrinkled, and he is deep in thought, until Song Shenzong names him, he woke up in shock: "The official, but the minister thinks that Xiongzhou is in danger." The Liao have not committed a border for several years, which does not mean that the Liao people have not committed a border, but must be making thorough preparations. Now, the Liao army will invade the border again, and it must be relatively well prepared. Once the army comes to Xiongzhou again, it is still unknown whether Xiongzhou can hold it. ”

"Jiefu, don't be alarmist, the Liao people have been fighting Xiongzhou for hundreds of years, and they haven't been able to take Xiongzhou." Lu Gongshu is against the new law, and what he likes to do most is to oppose Wang Anshi, who is worried that Xiongzhou will lose and he will go against the tune.

"The official, the minister thinks that the prince is very reasonable." Wang Shao took over the conversation at the right time and supported Wang Anshi.

The term Xianggong, in the Song Dynasty, referred to the prime minister, which was an honorific title for the prime minister, not a husband and lover as understood by later generations.

Wang Shao is a famous general, and as soon as he spoke, although Lu Gongzhu was unwilling, he didn't dare to say it anymore. After all, in terms of fighting, Wang Shao has the most right to speak, he can laugh at Wang Anshi, but he doesn't dare to laugh at Wang Shao, he is a famous general.

"Oh! Wang Shao, you say. When Song Shenzong heard this, his face turned pale, and he hurriedly urged.

"The official family, in the opinion of the ministers, although Xiongzhou is strong, over the years, the Great Song Dynasty has spent a lot of money on repairs."

Wang Shao began to analyze: "However, no matter how strong the city is, there are flaws, if the siege equipment is good enough, it is not impossible for Liaogou to capture Xiongzhou." The equipment used by Liaogou to siege the city has a hole car, which can reach the city, fill the moat, and the army will attack the city again. Now, the weather is cold, Xiongzhou has long been frozen, the moat is useless, and Liaogou can go directly to the city. ”

The cave car is a kind of siege equipment, made of iron sheets, covered with cowhide, water can not be splashed, fire can not be destroyed, and boulders can not be damaged. This kind of equipment is divided into many sections, and one by one it is pushed to the bottom of the city, forming a solid protective wall, which can well protect the soldiers inside. With the cave carts, the earth can be brought in and the moat can be filled.

It was one of the most useful siege engines of its time.

"The main thing the Xiongzhou Army has to deal with is the goose cart." Wang Shao then analyzed: "If the Liao people have enough goose carts and enough troops to launch a non-stop attack on Xiongzhou, whether Xiongzhou can hold it is still two words." This is the real reason why Yelu Hongji wants to attack in the ice and snow. ”

is worthy of being a famous general, and he explained Yelu Hongji's intentions in one sentence. In the big winter, you don't need to bring a cave car, you can take a goose car with all your might, and attack the city with all your might.

The goose cart was a sharp weapon for attacking the city at that time, and it was still made of iron sheets, covered with cowhides, and water could not be splashed, fire could not be destroyed, and it could not be smashed. Wheels are installed underneath and can be pushed. The soldiers entered the car in advance, and once they reached the bottom of the city and grabbed the city walls, the soldiers could rush to the top of the city and engage in hand-to-hand combat.

"50,000 people, can you take it down?" Song Shenzong was a little frightened, and had to ask this general.

"Official, it's too early to say whether you can capture it at this time. The Liao people sent 50,000 troops straight to Xiongzhou, if the Liao army disregarded the casualties, whether Xiongzhou could be saved, the minister is really hard to say. Wang Shao groaned: "Even if the Liao people can take it, they will suffer heavy casualties. If the city of Xiongzhou is broken, whether to recapture Xiongzhou or fight with the Liao army on the spot, it can depend on the situation. ”

He is the way to seek perfection, like a fortified city like Xiongzhou, even if it is breached, the Liao army will inevitably suffer heavy casualties, if there is a chance, the Song army can attack faster and recapture Xiongzhou.

Even if it can't be recaptured, a new line of defense can be built to block the Liao army's southward movement.

"Can you send more troops to Xiongzhou?" Lu Huiqing asked tentatively.

"It's not going to work." Wang Shao vetoed: "Although Xiongzhou is the most important city in the north, it is so big, and there are no more than 10,000 troops stationed. Besides, the Liao army has already been dispatched, and it is no longer possible to increase the army. The best way to do this is to mobilize an army in the rear and give reinforcements to Xiongzhou if necessary. ”

Xiongzhou is the barrier of the Central Plains, but it was built because of the situation, and 10,000 troops were stationed, which had reached the limit, and no longer it could be tolerated, so everyone had to stop talking about it.

After deliberating for a while, Song Shenzong issued an order to Wang Shao to mobilize elites in the rear of Xiongzhou and prepare to reinforce Xiongzhou if necessary. Wang Shao invited himself to the border, but Song Shenzong did not agree, and the court and China could not do without him.

xxxxxx Xiongzhou, Zhou Wei Shuaifu, Lin Hong, these generals, dressed in uniform, stood straight, like a javelin.

Zhou Wei stood at the front, pressed his hand on the hilt of the knife, looked at the generals, and said in a loud voice: "You all know, Liaogou is here!" It's time to kill the enemy and serve the country, and it's time to defend Xiongzhou! ”

His voice is very high-pitched, some shrill and piercing, but it is full of passion and can inspire people's pride, and the generals said in unison: "Kill the enemy to serve the country, and defend Xiongzhou!" ”

Zhou Wei walked to the map, pointed to the map, and said, "Fighting in the ice and snow is the most beneficial to the Liao people." The Liao people are hardy to cold and heat, and the season of heavy snow is their favorite. This battle will be an uphill battle, and you must be prepared to fight to the death! ”

"Defend Xiongzhou!" The generals roared in unison, and the sound shook into the air, and the room buzzed.

Glancing at the generals, Zhou Wei was still satisfied with the spirit and high morale of the generals, and couldn't help nodding: "Xiongzhou City is high and thick, it is the strongest city in the north, the Liao people have not fought for hundreds of years, it stands to reason that this is just an impossible operation, why do I want to say to defend it?" ”

"General, don't care so much about him, Liao Dog dares to come, let's just fight!" Immediately, a general roared loudly.

"Yes! What do we do about the wars, and what do we do about the birds? Many generals chimed in.

"You can leave it alone, but I can't leave it alone. If I don't understand the intentions of the Liao, it's a blind fight! ”

Zhou Wei waved his hand and asked the generals to stop shouting: "I'll make it clear to you, Xiongzhou is facing an unprecedented test!" The reason why the Liao people chose to attack in the ice and snow is that the Liao people are cold and not heat-tolerant, and in the ice and snow, the Liao people have the strongest combat power, but not all. What's more, in the icy and snowy season, the moat under the city of Xiongzhou will not play a role, and the Liao people will not need to bring a cave car, but can take a goose car. Goose carts, you won't know it, it's a sharp weapon for siege, once the Liao people have a lot of goose carts, they will attack Xiongzhou from all directions, and we will be exhausted to deal with it. ”

Zhou Wei is worthy of being a battle-hardened general, and he has insight into Yelu Hongji's intentions. If the Liao army attacks when it is not frozen, it must bring a cave car, otherwise it will not be able to deal with the moat. In this cold season, there is no need for a hole car at all. The cave car is bulky and difficult to carry, but it is indispensable. In such a time of war, the moat does not work, and there is no need to bring a cave cart at all, just bring a goose cart.

The Liao army arranges to attack in this season, and its preparations must be very sufficient, and there must be a lot of goose carts, and as soon as they arrive at the city of Xiongzhou, they will attack in an all-round way, and it is really hard to say whether Xiongzhou can hold it.

"Although the goose cart is difficult to deal with, it is not impossible to deal with, and if you prepare the bed crossbow and stone thrower, you can still deal with it." Zhou Wei finally said.

Bed crossbows and stone throwers were sharp weapons for defending the city in the Song Dynasty, which could deal with goose carts.

As he was talking, the tea on the table couldn't help but ripple, and Zhou Wei raised his eyebrows: "Liao Dog is here!" Let's go, let's see! ”

Stride out, and the generals will follow. left the marshal's mansion and rushed straight to the city.

Today's Xiongzhou is no longer the prosperous scene it used to be, with few pedestrians and no businessmen. Whenever a big war breaks out in Xiongzhou, it is so deserted, pedestrians are cut off, and there are no merchants. Once the fight is over, it will be prosperous again.

The sky was dark, the snow was falling, and the soldiers of the Song army stood at the head of the city, standing straight, like javelins, worthy of being elite.

As far as the eye can see, the north is empty, and there is no shadow of the Liao army. However, with Zhou Wei's rich experience in galloping on the battlefield, he knew that the Liao army was really coming, and there were quite a few of them.

Zhou Wei's eyes fell on the ice and snow under the city, only to see tiny cracks appear on the ice and snow. These cracks are small and extend from the north. After a while, these cracks grew larger and larger, making a "clacking" sound.

"Rumble!"

There was a faint sound of hooves from the north, like muffled thunder, and at the end of the line of sight, a smooth line of water appeared.

This waterline is surging rapidly, becoming more and more clear, it is the army of the Liao State, people are neighing, a group of murderous atmosphere, countless flags fluttering in the cold wind, making the sound of hunting.

(To be continued)