However, it is said that the third son of Tobaro, Amon, led the army to retreat, and on the way back to Xizhou, he met with Tobaro's headquarters, and said that during the battle of Luoshi Mountain, the Song people had a new type of artillery, which was different from those wooden frame ballistas in the city of Weizhou.

In particular, the death of the eldest son and the second son in the war made Dobaro sad, and he retreated to Xizhou with Amon to settle down for a while.

That night, the father and son discussed, guarding the Xizhou city wall, and waiting for the Luo Sa Department to bring troops to help.

As a result, only one day later, the Song army went to the outside of Xizhou City and gathered two thousand paces away to set up a formation.

Siege is more difficult than defending a city, and the defenders rely on the city walls, which can inflict great damage on the attackers. In the previous few times, the Song army used human lives to pile up and enter the city with the cooperation of various siege weapons, but this time with Wang Han's artillery, the siege method was changed, and there was no need to build siege engines.

Wang Han asked Ling Zhen to set up the cannon, calculate the angle, and first test fire a shot in the direction of the city wall to calculate the distance. A cannon burst out, twenty or thirty paces away from the city wall, and exploded into a fireball. Tobaro, who was wearing a golden leather hat on the city wall, looked at it, his face was embarrassed, and he muttered in his heart, the Song army has such a firearm, I am afraid that this battle will not be able to fight.

Wang Hou sat on horseback, watching Ling Zhen measure with his thumb with one eye closed, and then reciting words in his mouth, three nine twenty-seven, one eight, eight and eight, and couldn't understand what was said, and he was very surprised. Then he asked Wang Han, "What are the gunners doing?" ”

Wang Han replied with a smile: "Calculate the distance." After speaking, he approached Ling Zhen's side, pointed to the general tower on the city wall, and said, "Commander Ling, do you see that general building?" ”

Ling Zhen: Hmm!

Wang Han narrowed his eyes, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Find a way to him." ”

Ling Zhen gave the order, recalculated, and felt a little embarrassed, "Commander, it's a little difficult, the distance may not be enough." ”

Wang Han gave advice, "Raise the cannon a little higher." ”

Ling Zhen did as he said, put two sleepers under the wheel, and then lit the fire. I heard a tom sound, a black projectile flew into the sky, towards the city tower, before it could fall, the fuse of the cannonball had burned to the head, and it exploded with a bang, and a ball of fire exploded in the air.

Everyone could clearly see that the people on the city tower collectively trembled and shrank into the city wall and did not dare to show their heads.

Seeing this, Wang Hou, the commander-in-chief of the Song army, blurted out a praise: "What a thunderstorm!" After praising it, he looked at Ling Zhen, his eyes were full of smiles, "One more shot, this time be more accurate, and blow up his city gate." ”

What a thunder!!

Ling Zhen was deeply encouraged, but he also knew that the range was not enough, so he ordered his subordinates to push the cannon forward by fifty paces, and then ignited it.

The city wall of Xizhou is built of rammed earth, and the inside is not hollow, so it is not easy to explode, so Wang Han ordered to hit the city gate. The gunners immediately adjusted, fired four or five rounds, and finally took aim and began to continuously row guns.

After only three shots, the city gate collapsed, and Wang Hou saw this and ordered all the troops to march.

The soldiers galloped away, but did not meet resistance, and everywhere they went, they were all old and weak. It turned out that the cannon sound in the air had frightened Tobaro and abandoned the city and ran away through the back door.

This is a result that even Wang Hou didn't expect, and he wondered, when did the Qiang people become so cowardly? Later, when I asked the people left behind in the city, I learned that the thousands of soldiers defending the city were the last strength of the Tobaro tribe, and if they were lost, Tobaro would have nothing, so they did not dare to fight.

In the Tibetan tribes, there are no cattle and sheep to raise, no slaves to rob, but without soldiers, there is nothing. It is precisely because of this concept that the Tibetan tribes have not been able to condense into effective combat effectiveness for hundreds of years, and can only fight among themselves.

Capture Xizhou, take a short rest, two days later and Taozhou, five days later to Hezhou, ten days later to Huangzhou, and so on Huangzhou, Wang Han has no shells in his hands, Tong Guan wants to attack Qingtang, Wang Hou is opposed.

Wang Houdao: "Tubo lost four states in a row, 60,000 horses are all in Qingtang, if they attack again, they will definitely resist with all their might, the Qingtang city wall is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, plus at this time the winter snow is coming, the sky is frozen and the road is slippery, Wang Baoyi has no shells in his hands, it is really unfavorable to our army." ”

Tong Guan nodded when he heard this, "I will follow what the minister said, wait until the climate warms up in spring, and then make plans." ”

At this point, Wang Hou garrisoned Huangzhou and waited for the winter. In addition, Hezhou, Xizhou, and Taozhou also arranged for generals to be stationed and wait for the imperial court to send officials.

But said that Gao Yu Liu Zhongwu all the way, originally planned for them to take Minzhou and then attack Xizhou, but Wang Hou's soldiers were very fast, like a bamboo, and when they took Minzhou, Wang Hou had already taken Taozhou, so he could only pick up the empty city all the way, and wait until Huangzhou converged, Gao Yu was unwilling and admired, and praised Wang Hou's soldiers like gods.

Wang Hou was modest, "It's not that I use soldiers like gods, it's really the work of firearms." Then when Gao Yu and Liu Zhongwu met, Wang Han was introduced, and artillery was introduced.

Gao Yu and Liu Zhongwu are all praised, there are such artifacts, and the Great Song Dynasty will be prosperous. He also said that if Wang Han has this merit, the official family will be overjoyed, and the future is unlimited.

Everyone also said that this time to take back Hehuang, don't abandon the city again, occupy Hehuang, not only to curb the Western Xia, but also to make it more convenient for merchants from the Western Regions to come and go.

After a few days, Gao Yu sorted out the battle report, first returned to Tokyo to resume his life, and by the way, he helped you ask for credit, Tong Guan still stayed in Huangzhou, waiting for the spring of next year to win Qingtang.

Before Gao Yu left, Wang Hou specially advised, "Go back to Tokyo and let the Gunpowder Bureau and the Ordnance Supervision make every effort to build a new type of artillery, with 500 cannons, and you can use troops against Western Xia in the spring of next year." ”

Gao Yu agreed, ate the practice wine, and went back to Tokyo.

But he said that there was nothing to do in winter, Wang Hanxian was uncomfortable, and asked Tong Guan for leave, wanting to go to Yan'an Mansion to visit the old man.

Tong Guan responded, let him be careful on the road, it doesn't matter if he plays for two more days, just come back before the beginning of spring. In addition, he specially advised, "You are ordered to go back to Beijing without an order, if you are seen in Tokyo, the official family will blame me for having no way to manage it." ”

The implication is that Tong Guan thinks that Wang Han misses Li Qingzhao at home and wants to go back to Tokyo to see his wife. Therefore, he was reminded to pay attention to proportion.

Wang Han knew the stakes and said that he would never go back to Tokyo, but really went to Yan'an Mansion.

Huangzhou to Yan'an Mansion, the whole journey is nearly 1,000 kilometers, and it is a winter rush, the wind and snow on the plateau, so that Wang Han has suffered enough, fortunately he came out to ride two yaks, otherwise it is likely to freeze to death in the middle of the road.

Even so, he has no regrets, as a soldier, he has an iron will, and can overcome any difficulties to achieve his goal. Don't say that you can wait for time, you can go to Yan'an Mansion after winter, Wang Han's personality is impatient, he can't wait at all, he has the secret of the body protection armor in his head, and he doesn't sleep well.

When you are fighting, you can still use military paralysis to paralyze yourself, and if you don't fight now, you can follow a group of military men to drink and brag all day long, and your idle eggs hurt, so it is better to go to Yan'an Mansion to find Xu Ning's cousin.

After walking for nearly a month, he finally arrived in Yan'an Mansion, Wang Han found the largest local hotel to take a bath and rest, and took a good night's rest, and went to Yan'an Arsenal to find Tangyu on the second day.

Tang Yu is Xu Ning's cousin and Tang Long's father, the Tang family has been casting weapons for generations, and is very famous in Yan'an Mansion. Because the weapon was good, Tang Yu was deeply appreciated by the old people, so he gave it to a magistrate.

What kind of official is Zhizhai?

[Zhai officials, civil officials. Zhizhai is like a good officer]. This means that Zhizhai is not officially established by the imperial court and is a civil official. To understand it in the meaning of Wang Han's later generations, it is a militia captain, but this captain has actual military power.

For example, at the junction of Western Xia and Song Dynasty, although there is peace on the surface, there are many disagreements in private, often you call and I fight, and the place occupied, it is too late to build a city, so build a village and put a team of soldiers to guard it. This village is Zhizhai. The leader of the soldiers is the magistrate.

Although it is not officially canonized by the imperial court, the treatment is from the treatment of the nine-rank military attaché, and there are many practical benefits, which cannot be detailed.

The other is to inspect the village, which is suitable for bandits.

To be reasonable, a blacksmith who forges weapons can't be an official. But Tang Yu really has a good skill, and the weapons cast by him are many levels higher than others. The old Xianggong is a discerning character, of course, he wants to give Tang Yu some special treatment, so he gave it to a magistrate.

When he arrived at the armory, Wang Han explained his intention to the Xiangjun guarding the door, he was from Tokyo, and Tang Zhizhai relatives, and soon gave a report, and soon a majestic old man came out of it, about fifty-three four, looking Wang Han up and down, smiling, and surprised, "But the cousin of the Xu family?" ”

Wang Han hurriedly bowed his hand: "Hello cousin, my surname is Wang, my name is Wang Han, and Xu Ning is called a brother. ”

After speaking, the fingers on the back of the yak, all kinds of gifts, such a big lump.

Seeing this, Tang Yu bowed his hand, politely and politely, and then asked Wang Han to wait for a while, and he told him to come.

Not long after, Tang Yu came out of the armory, took Wang Han to his home, not far from the armory, is a high-ranking family, there are servants and maids at the door, come to say hello to the guests, help the guests get gifts.

The two guests and hosts sat down, first chatted, asked about the customs of Tokyo, and then asked about the results of the battle of Hehuang Kaibian, and heard that Huangzhou had been occupied, Tang Yu was relieved and praised: "Wang Jing is also a famous general, and his reputation is no worse than that of the old people." ”

It is also a fact that several generals of the Western Army have some ability, but Wang Hou is a little worse than the cultivation of the master. Wang Hou is the son of Wang Shao, and it has only been passed down for two generations. The master of the road is a family of five generations of famous generals, the Yanqing Road defenders are called the family army, is the first army of the Great Song Dynasty, Tang Yu said that the reputation of the two ministers is not bad, but it is modest. He regarded Wang Han as someone in Wang Hou's family.

Wang Han didn't explain, chatted a few more words, pretended to be inadvertent, and asked, "Uncle Tang, Brother Xu Ning's family has a pair of invulnerable Yanlingwei Jinjia, I heard that it is from my cousin's house." ”

The two were chatting just right, and suddenly mentioned the golden armor of Yanlingwei, Tang Yu's expression was stunned, he lost his mind slightly, and quickly covered up the past, and said with a smile: "It was made by the ancestors, but unfortunately the craftsmanship has been lost, and now we can't make that kind of armor anymore." ”

Wang Hanxin said: Of course you can't make that kind of armor, and that kind of blade inlay technique can't be done without a machine tool. He continued to ask: "But I don't know, it was made in that year?" ”

Tang Yu frowned when he heard this, glanced at Wang Han, and seemed to muttered in his heart, not wanting to answer, but still said, "It was there during the Taizu period." ”

said that Wang Han's mind moved, and sure enough, the time when the golden armor of Yanlingwei appeared was before the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, which also explained why there was a three-sentence blood message in the Jia. Someone must have said something to Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Song Dynasty, so he engraved a message on the stone tablet of Taimiao, warning future generations not to kill the doctor.

This trick is ruthless, I have seen the Northern Song Dynasty for more than 100 years, and I haven't killed a single scholar, which is a miracle.

Knowing that these were not enough, Wang Han asked again: "Have you ever heard from the elders of the family that there is anything special about this treasure armor when it is cast?" ”

Seeing that Tang Yu's face became very serious, Wang Han explained with a smile, "That's the case, the little nephew is also a family heirloom casting process, and he has an understanding of all kinds of steel metals, but he has never seen the materials on the gold armor of Yanlingwei, so he is curious, so he came to inquire and discuss." ”

Tang Yu shook his head twice, "How did I know about what happened more than a hundred years ago." If you know, the golden armor of Yanlingwei will not be the only one in the world. ”

When Wang Han heard this, his face was disappointed.

Seeing this, Tang Yu asked: "You have traveled thousands of miles from Huangzhou just to ask this?" ”

Wang Han denied it with a smile, "No, it's mainly for Brother Xu Ning's cousin." ”

Tang Yu smiled, stopped asking, got up and walked to the door, looked outside the house, sighed, his face was sad, and muttered: "How ambitious it is to sacrifice for you!" ”

Wang Hangang was holding the teacup to drink, and when he heard this, he was shocked, and the teacup was pinched.