"Why are there Khitan troops attacking at this time?" After arranging everything, Yang Yanzhao and Zhao Weiji began to rush to the west gate. But Yang Yanzhao still didn't quite understand why there was a Khitan attack at this time. In mid-October, the Khitan generally did not attack the Great Song Dynasty. Because the Yanyun Prefectures bordering the Great Song Dynasty are also mainly agricultural, the Khitan is generally harvesting late rice at this time, and it is unlikely that they will come out to attack.

"It is estimated that it is not Yanyun's tribe, it seems to be more northern. It is estimated that the first snow in the north came early this year. Zhao Weiji guessed as he and Yang Yanzhao rushed towards the west gate.

"General Yang, we'd better not underestimate this attack, this group of Khitan tribes is estimated to have suffered a snow disaster in advance, and there is no way to go south. They couldn't snatch Yan Yun's supplies, so they set their sights on us. This group of people has a strong war **, and it is estimated that it is not so easy to dismiss. Zhao Weiji continued.

"But how did they get through Yanmen Pass?" Yang Yanzhao still couldn't figure it out.

"It's simple, break it up." At this time, Zhao Weiji thought of the practice of the North Vietnamese army in the Vietnam War. "I estimate that their entire army is only about 5,000 men. After they approached the Yanmen Pass, Lima broke up their troops. Bypass through the valley west of Yanmen Pass, and then assemble from the new. Of course, the large army can't do it, but the small force can still get around. Anyway, they only plan to grab one vote and run. Once you have succeeded and then disperse your troops, you can easily escape with the mobility of the cavalry. ”

As they spoke, the two of them had reached the west gate. After about an hour or two, all the people outside the city had withdrawn to the city, and the four gates of the city had been closed.

However, Yang Yanzhao and Zhao Weiji's faces were still cloudy, because they both knew that although they held on to the city and waited for reinforcements from Yanmen Pass to come, they could repel the invading Khitans. But as a result, all the grain outside the city that has not yet had time to be harvested will suffer.

In order to protect the food outside the city, the best way is to go out of the city to meet the enemy, delay the advance of the Khitan army, and wait for the defenders of Yanmen Pass to come to support.

Zhao Weiji and Yang Yanzhao both looked at each other and knew that everyone had the same idea in their hearts. At this time, Zhao Weiji spoke: "It seems that General Yang and I have the same idea, only by going out of the city to meet the enemy can we protect the food outside the city from being violated." But I wonder how many people are in the city? ”

"There were only 10,000 defenders in the city, of whom 1,000 were heavy infantry, 5,000 archers, 1,000 cavalry, and the remaining 3,000 were light infantry. If we go out of the city to face the battle, we can take up to 7,000 troops, or mainly infantry. If it was really as the county prince said, the Khitan had 5,000 cavalry coming, and these troops would not be able to stop so many cavalry. Yang Yanzhao explained to Zhao Weiji the garrison configuration in the city.

"It's certainly impossible to completely resist them, but it's not impossible to hold them back." Zhao Weiji pondered, and then asked, "Is there a crossbow machine in the city?" ”

Yang Yanzhao thought for a while and said, "Yes, but it's not much, it seems to be only five hundred." ”

"Five hundred is enough, if General Yang can trust me. Equip me with 500 crossbows and 1,000 cavalry, and then we will go to the field to line up and snipe the Khitan troops. ”

Originally, Yang Ye had always told Zhao Weiji not to come into contact with the affairs of the army, but now he can't control it so much. can only agree to Zhao Weiji's request.

At this time, the spies who had gone out to reconnoiter the enemy's situation also returned to the city and learned from the spies. Sure enough, a Khitan force bypassed Yanmen Pass and was approaching Daizhou City, which was less than 50 miles west of the city.

After getting this information, Yang Yanzhao quickly found the map, and pointed out on the map the most suitable place for formation interception, which is 20 miles west of the city.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Yanzhao gathered his men and horses and marched 20 miles to the west. And Zhao Weiji, who is here, quickly found Zhao Xin. Immediately the thousand cavalry were reorganized, and five hundred crossbow machines were allocated, ready to set off.

Before leaving, Zhao Weiji used a short time to lecture the thousand cavalry: "Maybe you don't know who I am, maybe you will doubt whether I can lead you, but none of this matters today. Because you need to protect your homeland. Protecting your food is the most important thing. General Yang hands you over to me, and I will be responsible for you. Not only will I make sure you come back alive, but I'm going to make sure our food is safe. Slaughtered the Khitans. ”

"Slaughter those Khitans." Maybe Zhao Weiji's words were indeed inciting, maybe it was the desire to defend their homes and food that inspired these soldiers, in short, their morale had been burned.

"Before leaving, I must first clarify the mission of our cavalry troops. See the crossbow machine you have in your hand? Our mission today is to infinitely harass the Khitan cavalry. When it comes to fighting, the crossbowmen shoot and the archers take cover. While the crossbowman is reloading, the archer fires again. As soon as the Khitan cavalry transfers its troops to chase us and retreat immediately, General Yang's troops will cooperate with us. After speaking, Zhao Weiji led the troops to set off.

……

Twenty miles west of the city, the troops led by Yang Yanzhao have already gathered here. There were 1,000 heavy infantry, and 2,000 light infantry formed a phalanx. Behind them were three thousand archers. Yang Yanzhao's side is already waiting for it.

About a stick of incense has passed, and the Khitan cavalry is now in sight. The Khitan cavalry soon launched a charge. Yang Yanzhao's infantry troops quickly stepped forward to prepare to carry the Khitan cavalry, and the archers also began to fire in large numbers in an attempt to slow down the cavalry charge.

Although the archers' attacks were effective in killing the vanguard of the charge, the speed of the entire cavalry camp did not slow down much. Just as the cavalry camp was about to make contact with the infantry line, Yang Yanzhao could feel that the impact of the Khitan had decreased. I felt that the rear army of the Khitan was scratching.

It turned out that the cavalry troops led by Zhao Weiji went around to the rear of the Khitan. In Zhao Weiji's troops fired heavily at the rear of the Khitan army. Because the troops were equipped with crossbow machines, the ultra-high rate of fire quickly knocked down a vote of Khitan cavalry. Then the troops behind turned around, and the horse's head rushed towards Zhao Weiji's cavalry. The troops at the front were affected by the detachment of the troops in the rear, and the impact was noticeably weaker.

Due to the weakening of the impact, Yang Yanzhao's infantry phalanx, especially the heavy infantry in the vanguard, easily resisted the impact of the cavalry. When the troops in the rear who turned around wanted to take advantage of the loading time of the crossbow machine to approach Zhao Weiji's cavalry, they were shot again by the archers who had already prepared, and their advance speed immediately slowed down. At this time, the ballista was loaded, so they ushered in another burst of crossbow fire.

After easily withstanding these two attacks, the reality in front of them was that Zhao Weiji's troops turned around and retreated. As the rear army continued to pursue Zhao Weiji's troops, a huge disconnect between the Khitan and the front and rear armies formed. Yang Yanzhao instantly seized this fighter and cut the Khitan troops.

The Khitan cavalry, having lost space, could only start a hand-to-hand battle with the Song Dynasty infantry. Due to the loss of space for impact, the combat effectiveness of the Khitan cavalry immediately dropped by several notches.

The troops of the Song Dynasty immediately fell short of this change, and their morale immediately rose. And there was one person in the Song Dynasty array who was unusually active, and that person was Li Er.

It turned out that Li Er was really a martial arts wizard, and after only a few days of training in the army and Zhao Xin, he made great progress. And although it was the first time he went to the battlefield, he did not have the slightest cowardice, but showed courage beyond ordinary people.

Because Li Er's activity led the surrounding Song soldiers, this effect continued to expand. The entire Song army began to continuously erode the Khitan front army.

At this time, the reinforcements from Yanmen Pass also arrived at the battlefield, and Yang Yanping, the eldest of the Yang family, led the troops to the battlefield, and instantly formed a siege of the Khitan troops.

The defeat of the Khitan troops was inevitable, and only the leader and dozens of others finally broke through and left, and the rest died or surrendered. Annihilated.

Due to Zhao Weiji's activity, this battle directly avoided the heavy loss of Daizhou City, and the merit was great. And his performance at least conquered the hearts of Yang Yanzhao and other generals stationed in Daizhou City. Now Yang Ye can't ignore Zhao Weiji.

After this battle, Yang Ye found Zhao Weiji.

"It seems that I still underestimated the county prince, but I didn't expect the county prince to have such military talent. I'm so old that I can't see anyone anymore. Yang Ye sighed.

"I know what the old general is worried about. Don't worry, I'm not here to spy on the old general, on the contrary, my identity is similar to the old general. ”

"Oh, that's interesting, tell me how it's almost?"

"Because I am the grandson of Taizu, the son of Zhao Dezhao, the king of Wei."

Hearing Zhao Weiji say this, Yang Ye immediately understood. It turned out that Yang Ye didn't care too much about Zhao Weiji's specific identity, and only thought that he was the imperial prince. But at this moment, Zhao Weiji was so little, and Yang Ye immediately knew the meaning of Zhao Weiji's words. When he was still in the Northern Han Dynasty, he also heard rumors of the current emperor succeeding to the throne. The identities of the two people mentioned by Zhao Weiji almost make sense.

"Regarding your position in the army, of course I can arrange it for you, but your title is too high. Say it yourself, what should I arrange? ”

"My title is a fictitious title for the children of the nobility anyway, no matter what he is. I'll start with your lieutenant Rokuro. ”

"Since you said so, so be it. The county prince is also tired today, so let's go back to the post house to rest early. Another day, the old man will help the county lord find a fixed place to live. ”

After Zhao Weiji left Yang Ye's study, he immediately met Yang Yanzhao who was outside.

"How's it going?" Yang Yanzhao asked.

"I'll be your lieutenant from tomorrow onwards." Zhao Weiji replied.

"That's wronged the county prince."

"There is nothing wronged that is not wronged."

"By the way, I'll tell you something. Bring you to me, he is a manufacturable material, and I will definitely train him to be a successful general. ”

"It's free for you, but training is okay. I'm also looking forward to seeing how far he can grow. ”

In this way, Zhao Weiji's military career officially began.

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