In the lobby of Xingyuan Mansion, Zhao Hong sat high in the hall, and the guards served a large cup of "bubble tea" that no one appreciated, and the tea was fragrant and steaming.

Zhao Hong picked up the teacup and looked at the courtiers below, Chen Longzhi and the others were all frowning and their faces were solemn.

Zhao Hong put down the teacup and smiled slightly.

"Two Chen Xianggong, don't be impatient, drink some tea."

He was actually panicking in his heart, just pretending to be calm.

Although he has a strong personality, he is also very emotional, and he cannot see the casualties of the officers and men in the army.

Chen Longzhi and Lizhou East Road pacified Chen Li and the others, and they all obeyed the order.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The emperor was calm and calm, which made them feel much more at ease.

Everyone picked up the tea cup, but they were all full of thoughts, the drink was tasteless, and the atmosphere in the lobby was still dull.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Tatar army of 50,000 is menacing. Are you all a little worried? ”

Zhao Hong was helpless and enlightened everyone.

After all, a civilian official is a civilian official, and he has no experience in battlefield warfare. If those generals were here, I am afraid they would already be ready to move and ask to go out of the city to fight.

"If Your Majesty is not there, the ministers will not feel anything. Now that Your Majesty is in the city, the minister's heart is always uneasy! ”

Chen Li couldn't help but speak out first.

"Your Majesty, the Tatar cavalry comes and goes like the wind, and the field battle is not comparable to our army. Now that the Tatar army is besieging the city, if Jiang Wanzai and Wang Jian lead troops to come to the rescue, wouldn't they be caught in the Tatar army's strategy of besieging the city and luring the enemy. After thinking about it, I still feel uneasy! ”

Chen Longzhi then spoke.

"Yes, Your Majesty! The same is true of the ministers! ”

"Your Majesty, the ministers are worried!"

The Wenchen below spoke one after another, all worried.

"Zhuqing, it doesn't have to be like this at all!"

Zhao Hong looked at everyone and shook his head slightly.

"Our army has strict military discipline, and without a military order, who dares to wave troops to come? Until the last minute, I won't light the wolf smoke. I believe in my soldiers! ”

Xingyuan Mansion City does not light wolf smoke, whether it is Jiang Wanzai's department or Wang Jian's department, they will never dare to wave their troops to come. This is the previous military arrangement, and no one dares to disobey it for no reason.

The ministers said yes again and again, but the earth-shattering artillery explosions outside and the shouts of killing continued, and everyone was forced to laugh and panic.

"Your Majesty is in danger of the Great Song Dynasty, and the body of ten thousand gold, so you shouldn't be here. If Your Majesty is a little bad, the minister will die and will not be redeemed. ”

The military department Shangshu Xuanxuan's sad face, his white beard trembled, and his inner uneasiness can be seen.

"Your Majesty, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, let alone Your Majesty's Ninety-Five Supreme. His Majesty has some Meng Lang. The minister is guilty of failing to admonish, and he will ask the court for guilt in the future! ”

Chen Longzhi was disturbed by the shouting and killing outside, and followed the solemn worship.

Zhao Hong shook his head secretly. These important ministers experienced a great war for the first time, and it was attacked by tens of thousands of Mongol troops. If those generals were here, they would definitely not be so restless.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have a question for you. What is the geometry of the Tatar army? How many foot soldiers and cavalry were there? ”

Zhao Hong picked up the teacup and asked softly.

"Back to Your Majesty, according to Commander Zhang's report, there are 50,000 Tatars, 10,000 foot soldiers, and 40,000 cavalry."

Chen Long replied in confusion.

"The Tatar cavalry is stronger than the field battle, and the hard work of attacking the city is, of course, handed over to the Han army infantry first. With 10,000 soldiers and 3,000 forbidden troops, what is there to fear about the 10,000 besieging Han army, defending the city and firearms? Five will attack, the double will be divided, and the enemy will be able to fight. Even if the 50,000 Tatar army attacked the city, our army would not be afraid. What else are you worried about? ”

Zhao Hong took a few sips and put down the teacup again.

"As for the Tatar army besieging the city and sending reinforcements, you can rest assured. My Great Song Border Army is strictly disciplined, and I have no will to summon them, so they will not come. Even if they came, it was the convergence of the armies of the two northwests. Wang Jian's division of the Yangzhou defense line will never come. ”

Zhao Hong's words made all the ministers nod their heads, and many people's faces became much more relaxed.

The king is holding on to the throat of the east, and he should not act rashly.

As for Lu Wende and Jiang Wanzai, who came together, it was also an army of 50,000, and it seemed that it was not so easy to be defeated.

"Your Majesty, I just don't know, what is the situation on Lizhou West Road now?"

Chen Longzhi was a little relieved, and unconsciously asked again.

If Lü Wende's troops really fought with the Tatar army in the field and could defeat the Subutai troops that invaded the Lizhou West Road, they could come to reinforce and at the same time hit the morale of the other party, and at the same time, they could also strengthen the Song army of Xingyuan Rongsi.

"Lu Wende is young and vigorous, but I am afraid that he can't help but fight with the Tatar army. But don't let anything happen! ”

Xuan Xuan sighed again.

"The military order is like a mountain, Lu Wende will not fall in love with the war, the west wall of Lizhou Road is clear, there is no way to burn and loot in Subutai, and he will definitely go west to Hanzhong and join the Torre army!"

Zhao Hong thought for a moment, and then continued:

"Lizhou West Road is different from the Hanzhong Plain, with steep mountains and dangerous terrain. Subutai suffered there and he will not repeat the mistakes of the past. ”

Slowing down and entering Hanzhong, Lu Wende, Cao Youwen and Yu Yu closed their doors to beat dogs. When the time comes, it will depend on the strength and courage of both Song and Mongolia.

The decisive battle of more than 100,000 troops, I feel adrenaline rushing when I think about it.

"Your Majesty, the Tatar infantry is attacking the city, there are too many archers, and there are earth-shaking thunders, and our army has suffered more than three hundred casualties!"

Xu Sheng came in to report, and the faces of most civil officials turned ugly.

"What about the losses of the Tatars?"

Zhao Hong was calm and asked rhetorically.

"Back to Your Majesty, the Tatar infantry probably lost about five or six hundred people."

"Did the Tatar army use firearms? What about firearms? ”

Zhao Hong asked softly, very curious about the firearms of the Mongol army.

"Back to Your Majesty, the Tatar army used firearms, and the heavy artillery on the gun carriage could fire about 200 paces, but most of them were broken by our artillery and the gun carriage could not move forward. Tatar cannons can be brought near the city walls, but the range is only less than 100 paces, and the lethality is very small. ”

"What about the earth-shattering thunder?"

Zhao Hong perked up and sat up straight.

In siege warfare, the lethality of artillery is limited. But the earth-shattering thunder is a sharp weapon in close combat, so he can't help but be nervous.

"Back to Your Majesty, the Heaven-Shaking Thunder of Tatars, it seems that there are only about two of them per footman, and the dumb fire rate of the Heaven-Shaking Thunder is about thirty percent. After the earth-shattering thunder exploded, most of them were two or three pieces of iron, and most of them were no more than four or five pieces. Your Majesty, please see. ”

Xu Sheng took off the cloth bag on his body, put it on the table in front of Zhao Hong, and took out some broken pieces of iron from it, as well as a few earth-shattering thunderbolts that did not explode.

"Your Majesty, be careful!"

Dong Songchen's face turned pale, and he immediately stood in front of Zhao Hong.

Although the ministers in the hall did not move, everyone's faces changed.

The lethality of the earth-shattering thunder is not trivial, if you are not careful, your flesh and blood will fly, who is not afraid of Niang?

"These earth-shattering thunderbolts have all been dismantled, and the gunpowder has also been poured out, so they won't hurt Your Majesty."

Xu Sheng pointed to a few leads on the table and said angrily.

This Dong Songchen, like a thief, thinks of himself as a person?

Speaking of which, he is the emperor's confidant. When he followed the emperor, Dong Songchen didn't know where he was?

Dong Songchen's face turned red and stepped aside. Zhao Hong smiled slightly, picked up the iron piece and looked at it, sure enough, two or three pieces of iron sheet made up a sky-shaking thunder, which was larger than the sky-shaking thunder used by Song Jun.

The dumb fire rate of the Song army's earth-shattering thunder is around one percent, and the gunpowder formula of the Mongolian army is definitely not as good as that of the Song army, and three percent should be a reasonable number.

"Where's the gunpowder that was poured out?"

It seems that the craftsmen of the Mongolian army also knew that the gunpowder was not as good as the Song army, so they chose to increase the amount of gunpowder to enhance the power.

Xu Sheng put the gunpowder paper bag on the table, and Zhao Hong watched it carefully, secretly frightened.

He has seen too much gunpowder from Song Jun, and the gunpowder in front of him is estimated to have added some auxiliaries, and the purity of nitrate and sulfur is not good, not as good as his own, but maybe it won't be long before the other party repeatedly studies it, and he will catch up.

War drives the progress of science and technology, and sure enough.

"Go down! If there is any military situation, continue to report it! ”

Zhao Hong nodded, Xu Sheng glared at Dong Songchen and retreated.

"Your Majesty, why are the Tatar sergeants only equipped with two earth-shattering thunders per person? Why is the rate of dumb fire two percent higher than that of our army? The lethality does not seem to be as good as that of our army. ”

Xuan Xuanhu asked suspiciously.

Each person has two earth-shattering thunders, and 10,000 Mongolian soldiers are 20,000. If this is a siege, the Song army soldiers don't know how many casualties they will have?

"Don't underestimate the earth-shattering thunder. This reflects a country's national strength, including iron smelting technology, steel production, and gunpowder technology. The Tatar army was skilled in mounted archery, and only the infantry used firearms. The production of steel is insufficient, the gunpowder technology is backward, and the production of earth-shaking thunder is of course insufficient, and the lethality is of course limited. ”

Zhao Hong said, his heart also heavy.

The Mongol army broke through the Wuxiu Pass and naturally captured some firearms of the Song army. Fortunately, the soldiers blew up the ammunition depot, otherwise the losses would have been even greater.

Artillery is nothing, after all, gunpowder is the key. The main thing is the earth-shattering thunder, and the lethality is extraordinary, which makes him worried.

Needless to say, this Hanzhong war will be more tragic than he imagined.

"Your Majesty, don't worry. There are still 10,000 soldiers and civilians in the city, who can go to the city to participate in the battle at any time. ”

At this time, Xuan Xuan persuaded Zhao Hong instead.

Both sides had artillery and earth-shaking thunder, the Mongolian army only had tens of thousands of earth-shaking thunders and hundreds of artillery pieces, while the Song army had hundreds of thousands of earth-shaking thunders and nearly a thousand artillery pieces. When the Mongolian army's earth-shattering thunder and artillery were exhausted, the advantage of the Song army's firearms would be reflected.

"Your Majesty, in this battle, my army is afraid to lose a lot. Tomorrow, we will immediately arrange the auxiliary army to fight and ensure the number of soldiers at the head of the city! ”

Chen Longzhi couldn't help but play.

"Your Majesty, how long will such a siege last?"

Chen Longzhi couldn't help but ask.

"If you lose one or two thousand people a day, you have to stop and stop in the middle, intermittently, and the impact of rain, how can it take about a month. I'm in the city, and Torre won't give up. ”

In the face of great temptations and benefits, Torre will not give up easily. This fierce battle has just begun.

"Your Majesty, the Tatar army is fast and the Taitai Department is outside the city!"

In the evening, the sergeant came in to report that the Mongolian army from the east and west finally met outside the city of Xingyuanfu.

"It's time to come!"

Zhao Hong let out a long breath.

If you don't go east quickly, it seems that Lu Wende finally didn't make a mistake. The Mongol army was gathered in one place, 70,000 troops, and Torre would not give up easily.

Let's make the storm more violent!