Early in the morning, the Jin army guards on the watchtower of Hutun Fort saw a group of Song cavalry slowly galloping along the shoals on the Xiliao River, although he knew that this was just a routine patrol of the Song army, he still sounded the alarm bell to remind his comrades in the fort to strengthen their vigilance. Hearing the warning, two hundred soldiers of the Jin Army immediately went up to the fort wall under the leadership of a Sumire.

"Damn, these people let us run too, it's really a toss!" The leader of the troops, Jin Bahule, only saw about 100 Song army patrols coming slowly across the river from a distance, and couldn't help but curse secretly, but he didn't dare to evacuate without authorization.

In fact, it is no wonder that Bahule was dissatisfied, Hutun Fort can be said to be the first batch of forts built on the ferry after Saili defected and sacrificed Linhuang Mansion to prevent the Song army from attacking. Because of the important geographical location, after the Taishi decided to build a boundary trench, it became an important support point on the thousand-mile defense line, and the fortress was expanded, and the beacon and barracks were built; In front of the fort, a trench several zhang deep was dug, and a three-zhang high and two-zhang wide earthen rampart was built with the excavated sand, and there were perfect defensive measures such as arrow platforms and battlements all over it.

There is the West Liao River in front of the natural danger, there are deep trenches for the essential, the barrier is the obstruction, there are the surrounding fortresses for the aid, the earth fortress is also arranged layer by layer of obstacles, even if the enemy army conquers the castle, it is difficult to drive straight in, Hutun Fort can be described as impregnable. However, since the completion of the boundary trench built with huge manpower and financial resources, there has never been a large-scale conflict between the Song and Jin countries, and only more than 200 soldiers led by Bahule are stationed in the stockade on weekdays.

But since the beginning of the summer, it is said that after the emperor of the Song Dynasty toured the north, the border became tense, and the Sushi Lie Zhining Corps, which was originally used to exterminate the Mengwu people, did not withdraw after completing the task. All the border forts were put into combat readiness, and the garrison of Hutunbao was also increased to 1,000 troops. Led by a thousand-commander, Bahule has changed from a soil emperor to a thousand-commander's broken urge. And the emperor of the Song Dynasty drove to the Fuhulin area. The forts of the Jin army once again raised their vigilance, and waited all day to prevent the Song army from sneaking attack, as long as the activities of the Song army were discovered, no matter how many they had to go to the fort wall to prepare for war, and everyone was tossed enough.

"Sumire, there is something wrong with today's situation, the Song army has never crossed the river on patrol, and it is often only more than ten horses, and there is a team of people who came today. Is there any action? A small leader under Bahule looked at the situation and asked.

"What's wrong? We and the Great Song Dynasty are bounded by 200 steps on the east bank of the West Liao River, and both sides of the river are people's territory. Now the emperor of the Southern Dynasty is only five miles away, of course, they must also strengthen their vigilance, cross the river to patrol, and it is normal for there to be more people! Bahule stretched his neck and glanced out.

"Sumire, the Song army is still moving this way after leaving the riverbank, are you coming to attack us?" The little leader touched his nose and screamed after a moment of silence.

"What are you yelling about? Although the army of the Southern Dynasty is powerful, there are less than 100 horsemen who come, you think they are as stupid as you, don't you look for death if you attack us with such a few people! Bahule slapped the little leader's helmet and scolded.

"Sumire. They crossed the river and went to the earthen beams, and our trebuchets could hit them! "The little boss is a bit 'lacking in heart'. After being reprimanded, he still kept broadcasting live for Bahule, and he saw that he didn't pay attention to his own Jianyi. If you don't give up, you will build a yì road. "Xiao Jin, if we quietly get out of the fort and detour from the riverbank, we will definitely be able to surround and annihilate these Song troops, do you want to talk to the elder Qianfu, this is a great achievement!"

"You don't fucking know whether to live or die!" Bahule finally broke out, kicked the little leader to the sky, and scolded angrily, "The commander of the army of Su Shilie has ordered three orders not to provoke the Song army, and the violators will be beheaded, not to mention that the Song army just crossed the river, they are in front of the fort, and it is a capital crime for you to dare to scold a word." Now you have repeatedly instigated this official to attack the Song army, do you want the lives of this official and the elder Qianfu! ”

Seeing Bahule scolding and beating the little leader, the Jurchen soldiers on the fort were stunned with fright, and no one dared to come forward to persuade them. But I was very confused in my heart, did my Dajin Kingdom fear the Southern Dynasty to such a point? If you even raise your voice, you will be beheaded. Alas, can this battle still be fought......

The scene on the fort wall did not affect the Song army crossing the river in the slightest, and a dozen or so of them hit the horses and went straight to the earthen beam, while the rest spread their guard. These people were less than two arrows away from Hutunbao in a straight line, but they were pointing at them like no one was around, not giving any face, and they didn't consider the thoughts of the Jin army at all.

"Zheng Ping, if you let your subordinates take this fort, how will you command?" The earthen beam is five zhang high, it is the only high ground on the east bank of the river, slightly higher than the fort wall, although I saw the details of the fort, but the terrain within the boundary trench was unobstructed, Zhao Ta held the telescope on the horse and observed for a moment, and asked Zheng Ping beside him.

"Your Majesty, if you let my subordinates attack this fort, I will first use artillery to cover the engineer battalion and set up a pontoon bridge over the river, and then lead the army across the river. If the enemy takes advantage of our half-crossing to go out of the fort to counterattack, then use artillery to cover the infantry to seize the beachhead, and establish a cordon to cover the crossing of the river; If the enemy is in formation, they will use hussars to charge the formation, and the two wings of the dragoons will be detoured to defeat the enemy in front of them, and then take the opportunity to launch a strong attack to seize the fortress; If the enemy cannot hold out, launch an attack after the whole army crosses the river, fill in the boundary trenches, open a breakthrough with artillery bombardment of the wall, and wave the army into the city! Zheng Ping replied without hesitation.

This question of the emperor is not difficult for Zheng Ping at all, they have always done this in the past, and it has been tried and tested. After the restoration of the Kryu army, he served as the commander of the capital and stayed in Dading, and after the Jin army on the opposite side built the boundary trench, he already thought that if he was ordered to attack, the first problem would be to break through the boundary trench.

"Well, you mean to enter the fortress through the gap after the artillery bombardment of the fortress wall!" Zhao Ta looked at Zheng Ping and asked, his head said, "Let's not talk about whether you can cross the river along the river, Cao Yi, can your artillery brigade quickly blow up the fort wall and open a breakthrough after the whole army crosses the river?" He turned his head again and asked Cao Yi behind him.

"Your Majesty, the enemy's fort wall is three feet thick, and if you bombard it with concentrated fire from heavy artillery, you can do it with only three or five salvos." Cao Yi was a little puzzled, the artillery was made by the emperor, and he should be very aware of the power of heavy artillery, how could he ask himself, but he couldn't help but answer, and replied after a little contemplation.

"Hehe, it's only three or five rounds for a good one, I'm afraid that it will be difficult for you to damage the fort wall for a day and a night!" Zhao Ta laughed dryly twice, and suddenly said angrily.

"Your Majesty is angry, there is no mistake in the calculation of his subordinates, the walls of the Jin Army Fort are all rammed, and there are no bricks and no stone reinforcement, so it cannot withstand the heavy artillery bombardment!" Cao Yi paused for a moment, thinking that there was nothing wrong with his answer, how powerful an artillery brigade fired a salvo of three or five rounds of artillery fire, and he was already conservative in saying this.

"Hmph, then let me ask you, if you bombard the fort wall with heavy artillery, you must shoot directly to ensure the effect, and the current situation is that there is an earthen wall in front of the fort wall that the Jin army used to dig the sand and soil when digging the boundary trench, can your heavy artillery penetrate the earthen wall as thick as five zhang and then hit the fort wall? Even if it can penetrate, have you considered how much power it can be left? Zhao Ta snorted coldly and asked again and again.

"Your Majesty ......" Cao Yi didn't answer for a long time, only feeling sweaty in his palms and head, how could he ignore this inconspicuous earthen wall.

As the first batch of gunners in the army and the commander of the first brigade after the expansion of artillery, Cao Yi was familiar with the operation and performance of various artillery, and of course knew that the power of artillery shells would be greatly reduced and the lethality would be reduced when they entered the loose sand; Bombarding a city wall from the front is more effective and more accurate than shooting from the top. The earthen wall in front of you is slightly lower than the fort wall, and it looks like an inconspicuous pile of sand, but it just blocks the direct fire of the fort wall, and its thickness is enough to reduce most of the power of the artillery fire.

"Your Majesty, we can use projectiles to suppress the enemy, and let the soldiers use blasting to blast the gap!" Zheng Ping saw the embarrassing scene, and hurriedly spoke out to relieve Cao Yi.

"Hehe, do you think your army can reach the city? I'm afraid that it will be the same as the artillery! Zhao Ta squinted at Zheng Ping and sneered.

"陛xià, the situation is not so strict, right?" The emperor was really speechless, and not only shocked Zheng Ping with one sentence, but also the generals who accompanied the emperor to reconnoiter the terrain were also stunned.

"You see, first, there are many platforms on the wall of the Jinjun Fort, and behind the boundary trenches, there are also rammed earth platforms and unevenly arranged earth ramparts, do you know what they are for?" Zhao Ta pointed at Hu Tunbao with a horse whip and said.

"Your Majesty, those earthen ramparts can be used to shield artillery fire and block the cavalry charge. As for those earthen platforms, they should be ......" Zheng Ping looked at it for a moment and said, he thought of the usefulness of the earthen barriers, but those earthen platforms really didn't know what to do, and it was too much to say that it was a little bigger, but the playground was a little smaller, and he really couldn't think of it for a while.

"Those are the platforms used by the Jin army to arrange trebuchets, and the earthen ramparts can be used not only to shelter the artillery fire, but also to hide the soldiers and equipment, and once the battle begins, those earthen platforms will be covered with trebuchets. If you look at the distance between the boundary trench and the Xiliao River, the land of two arrows is under the cover of heavy trebuchets. As you cross the river and the trebuchets suddenly launch, think about the consequences! Zhao Ta said with a sigh.

"Your Majesty, your subordinates are really stupid, you didn't expect the Jurchens to hide such a ruthless trick!" According to the emperor's typical, Zheng Ping people are cold in their hearts, if they fight according to the way in the past, the artillery will play a decisive role in the whole battle, there is no need to strike the infantry cavalry, as long as the artillery crosses the river to launch a surprise attack with trebuchets to smash the artillery and lose the battle, the outcome is self-evident...... (To be continued......)