Brother Biler didn't dare to take a step out of the palace, let alone face the angry people, every day he just scolded the Song army in the palace for hypocrisy, did not dare to attack the city with real swords and guns, and only used some indiscriminate means, and now he actually attacked the ordinary people, it is really better than a beast...... Come down, come down and there will be no follow-up! In addition to worrying about becoming a prisoner of the Song army, Biler Ge also had illusions about Western Liao at the moment, hoping to pull him on his friendship for many years, and insisted on not negotiating with the Song army after hearing about this most difficult moment.

However, with the intensification of the Song army's artillery bombardment, the soldiers and civilians in Gaochang City became more uneasy, and some people began to try to escape from the siege while the Song army had not completed the siege. Those who have money pay off the soldiers guarding the gate go out through the gate, and those who have no money risk falling down the wall from the poorly defended city, and if they are not careful, they will fall to their deaths on the spot. At first a few days it was the work of a few individuals, but after a few days of successful escape, more people joined the fleeing army, including officials and soldiers, who also went from being sneaky to blatant and even trying to open the gates while the defenders were hiding from the shelling.

If everyone runs away, who will defend the country and defend him, Bilge can only be appeased in the face of the deteriorating situation, telling the people that Xiliao has promised to send troops to help, and it will not be long before a large army will arrive to relieve the siege. At the same time as deception, he also implemented a high-pressure policy, ordering a curfew to be imposed throughout the city, and the guards guarding Miyagi patrolled the streets, forbidding the people to go out casually, and violators were killed.

The curfew did not expect to arouse the anger of the people even more, and the officials whose homes were destroyed could find a temporary shelter in the palace, while those people were miserable and could only live on the streets. Or take refuge in a temple. Those who had escaped from the city had appeared on the construction site north of the city, and they were 'assisting' the Song army in building new earthen ramparts. Everyone understands that once completed, the entire city of Gaochang will be covered by the artillery fire of the Song army. They will be inescapable.

The Song army's aggressive attack and shameless fighting style finally angered the generals in the city, and they demanded that the lord of the country agree to let them go out of the city to fight a decisive battle with the Song army, even if they died in battle, it was better than being blocked in a den like a dog. However, their suggestion was rejected by the lord of the country, and the Song army seemed to hear their cries, and that night the Song army's artillery fire turned to the various military camps and city defense facilities in the city, and used incendiary bombs again.

The defenders in the north of the city bore the brunt of the attack, and the towers collapsed in the explosions and fires, and the houses in the camp collapsed. Frightened horses scurried around the camp, and soldiers panicked for shelter from the shelling. And the generals who swore to fight to the death with the Song army during the day were no better, they were worried that this was the preparation of the Song army before launching the siege, and forced the timid to urge the soldiers to go to the city to defend, but they fell under the fire of the Song army in batches.

The raging artillery fire continued intermittently throughout the night, and at dawn the neat barracks were found in ruins, and the surviving pillars of the kingdom cowered in terror at the base of the city, worthy of the warriors who had discovered that this was the best place of refuge. Although the shelling had stopped by this time, they still refused to take a step away. And the generals who asked for battle never said anything about the city, and obviously they were also frightened......

It was already dark, but it was pitch black in Gaochang City, and there was not a trace of light in sight. It's hard to believe that this was once the most prosperous city that never sleeps in the Western Regions. While the Song army stepped up the construction of artillery positions in the southern city, it began to use artillery to continue to attack targets in the city day and night. Instead of concentrating their fire on one location, they switched to sniping at active targets within their range. Any light at night would attract artillery bombardment from the Song army, and even the incense in front of the Buddha in the temple had to be extinguished.

The same is true in the palace at this moment. All the windows and doors were covered with thick blankets, so as not to leak a little bit of light and cause the Song army to be dissatisfied. Invite bad luck. Although no shells have fallen into the palace so far, everyone believes that it is not far from this time, everything is still careful, who knows what other powerful things in the hands of Song Jun have not been taken out!

"Who is it and who is it?" Bilgor, who was lying on the couch in Kazui, suddenly sat up and shouted.

"Great Khan, it was the Song army that bombarded the city gate with artillery!" When an attendant heard the shouts of the Great Khan, he quickly lit a lamp and leaned over and said carefully. These days, the Great Khan is like a psychotic, and when he hears any louder sound, he will think that the cannonballs of the Song army have fallen into the palace, and then he simply ordered people to hang thick quilts on the windows and doors, and plug every gap in the hall to prevent the sound from reaching his ears, but the little movement accidentally made by the chamberlains and maids will still make him frightened.

"Shelling the city gates?!" The dim light reflected Bilgo's unusually haggard face, and he listened attentively, and sure enough, it was a sound from the north of the city, and the cannonballs smashed on the iron city gate, making a muffled sound like a bell, and the aftermath was heard far away, "Quickly put out the lights, do you want to attract the artillery bombardment of the Song army and kill me?" ”

"Great Khan, villains don't dare!" The chamberlain hurriedly extinguished the candle, and in the darkness the chamberlain heard the sound of a sharp blade unsheathed, and knelt on the ground in horror and begged for mercy.

"Do you want to hurt me too?" In the dark hall, Biler Ge lost his goal for a while and shouted, the shelling of the past few days has plunged the city of Gaochang into chaos, thousands of people gathered outside the palace to petition for peace talks with the Song Dynasty, in order to protect the city, and even stormed the palace gate after being rejected and clashed with the soldiers guarding the palace city, and the ministers also hoped that the lord of the country would put aside his selfishness and ask the emperor of the Song Dynasty to avoid the disaster of destroying the country. This made him think that everyone was on the opposite side of him and wanted to sacrifice him to the Song army to surrender.

"Great Khan, the little one doesn't dare to ......" the chamberlain said as he stepped back, trying to escape, but his voice revealed his location instead, and he was slashed to death!

…………

Looking at the Gaochang envoy who left with a disappointed face, Gao Zhong and Zhao Li looked at each other and smiled, and they were also secretly relieved, it seems that they have not been busy in vain for more than ten days. It can be said that the core of artillery attacks on cities is psychological warfare, which is a kind of 'soft killing' that is clearly different from armed warfare. Although the artillery fire can cause heavy damage to the city, the two also know that it is difficult to destroy the entire city with the ammunition they have brought from thousands of miles alone.

However, the appearance of Gaochang's envoy also shows that the psychological impact of artillery attacks on the enemy population is greater than that of other methods of warfare, and the psychological impact will undoubtedly be doubled compared with simple siege warfare. In particular, the bombed government offices, the burned white ground and the shattered corpses, the women and children lying in pools of blood, and the panicked officials and the shivering soldiers in the roots of the city are all very likely to cause social chaos. This is a burden that the Gaochang lord and the military and political sides cannot bear.

"The prison army, why do you refuse to negotiate peace with Gao Chang today, they have already expressed their submission!" There were only two people left in the handsome tent, and Gao Zhong poured Zhao Li a cup of tea and asked.

"Dashuai is in a hurry?" Zhao Li thanked him, took a sip of the cup and said.

"Can you not be in a hurry?" Gao Pet looked at Zhao Li's eyes with resentment and said, "Our food stock is less than twenty days, and the gunpowder consumption is even greater, only three percent are left, if Gao Chang doesn't surrender after a few more days of fighting like this, we can only gnaw down this city wall!" ”

"Hehe, don't worry, today's Gaochang envoy only said to negotiate peace with us, but refused to surrender, if it takes a few more days, they will regret it again, won't we lose even more!" Zhao Li said with a smile.

"Do you want to continue to attack the city and force them to give in?" Gao Chong smacked his teeth and said that as the commander of the Western Expeditionary Army, he not only had to consider how to capture Gaochang City, but also consider the entire battle situation, even if this city was defeated, there were still two important towns of Qiuzi and Yanqi behind, and there was a possibility that the Western Liao Army would go and return, and their cannons would become ornaments without gunpowder.

"Well, we will not only continue to shell Gaochang, but also more fiercely than the previous times!" Zhao Li nodded and said.

"If Gaochang City refuses to give in, and we can't afford to consume it, then we can only go around the city!" Gao Zhong was taken aback when he heard this, and said that if the gunpowder ran out, they could only turn to the southeast to open the passage with Western Xia to receive supplies and fight again, and then they might miss the emperor's plan again because of the delay.

"Don't worry, as long as the high fortress of the northern city is built and our cannonballs fall into the palace, Biler Ge will send envoys to negotiate again, and they will surrender after two more rounds, and then all the crises will be solved!" Zhao Li said.

"The prison army is sure that Gaochang City will surrender, and they are not afraid of forcing them into a hurry and jumping off the wall in a hurry!" Gao Chong was a little skeptical about Zhao Li's confidence, and he also knew that as long as King Gaochang surrendered, the problem of food and salary would be solved first, and the other two towns might also give up resistance, and the Western Liao army would have no point in fighting. Is it just that the lord of Gaochang is willing to surrender at the risk of destroying the country and the clan?

"Marshal, the spirit of the people in the city is on the verge of collapse, and the fact that Bilgor is now willing to send an envoy to sue for peace shows that he has made a decision as a last resort under great pressure from all sides, and that we still have illusions that we can withdraw our troops as long as we pay tribute. And we are now refusing to negotiate peace, and continuing to shell is to tell him not to leave anything to chance, and at the same time continue to put pressure on the soldiers and civilians in the city. If you give up at this time, you will fall short! Zhao Li analyzed.

"Well, I see what the overseer means. We will resolutely refuse the peace talks on the Gaochang side before we have achieved the desired results, and we must continue to attack with more intense firepower, without giving them the slightest respite, and promoting the effect of our previous artillery strikes, so that they have to agree to our demands! Gao Zhong nodded.

"Yes, that's right, as long as we hold on a little longer, Gao Chang will fall into an even greater panic, and it will definitely put more pressure on Bilgo, and he will have to cooperate with us in the case of being betrayed by his men!" Zhao Li said.

"Okay, in that case, I'll take a gamble with the prison army!" Gao Pet said proudly...... (To be continued......)