At the end of the afternoon and the beginning of the day, the sun had not yet set.

The setting sun shines through the thin autumn clouds and falls on the earth, reflecting a brilliant fiery cloud in the western sky.

In the early autumn of July, the whole world seems to be the color of withered yellow, the weather is cold, the grass and trees are swaying in the wind, the sky is also orange, and only the sunset on the edge of the clouds still flashes with purple light.

To the north of Anlongsai, the road on the bank of the Qingshui River is extremely wide, and at the end of the road is densely packed with countless cavalry. This place is the throat of Western Xia to Yanzhou, guarding two passages.

One passage is to follow the Qingshui, that is, the later Shiyan River to the northwest. The other is directly to the north, and there is a small road to the Western Xia Longzhou.

It's just that the terrain of this road is narrow, which is not conducive to the passage of the army, so if Li Yuanhao wants to pursue the traitor, he naturally has to take the right path faster.

And because the west bank of Qingshui is surrounded by hills and mountains, the main road is on the east bank, and the east bank is now set up by Fan Zhongyan Anlong Village, the location is in Jianhua Town, Ansai District, Yan'an City, Shaanxi Province in the later generations, like a moat across the middle of the road, cut off at the waist.

At this moment, the summer thieves outside the walled wall are surging like a tsunami, the black clouds are pressing down on the city and want to destroy it, the Song army on the walled wall looks nervously outside the wall, all kinds of bows and arrows, firearms are readily available, catapults are ready, and barrels of grenades are placed at their feet.

The soldiers crouched quietly behind the wall, the Xixia thieves in the distance were getting closer and closer, Fan Zhongyan stood on the wall and looked at the north, almost when the other party was about three hundred zhang close, he shouted: "Wind!" ”

This string does not refer to the bow and crossbow, but to the eight-ox bed crossbow.

In the Han Dynasty, one zhang was 2.31 meters, and in the Song Dynasty, it became 3.33 meters, and about 300 zhang was one thousand meters, which was exactly the attack range of the eight-bull crossbow.

I saw more than 20 big crossbows on the wall, the crossbow body is more than three meters long, with two positive and one negative a total of three crossbows superimposed, when the light is pulled, the distance that the bowstring can pull can reach 155 centimeters, and the thrust generated can easily reach a thousand meters away!

But this bed crossbow is powerful, and the disadvantage is also obvious, that is, it is very difficult to wind. According to historical records, it took thirty soldiers to pull the winch shaft to pull it apart, and the iron arrow with a length of three feet and five inches and a thickness of five inches was powerful, but the accuracy of the head was also average.

In the era when there were no scopes, this thing was not as convenient to operate as a sniper rifle, and it was very difficult to move aiming. So unless it's against that kind of large-scale legion, you don't need to aim at all, and it's still very difficult to snipe the enemy.

The only time in history that the enemy general was sniped was recorded in the battle of Shanzhou, when the Liao army attacked the city, the defending soldier Zhang Gui was startled, and hurriedly hit the crossbow, and the arrows thundered out, and the result just hit the Liao general Xiao Tzurin, which directly contributed to the birth of the Lanyuan Alliance.

However, it is unrealistic to want to snipe the enemy, but Li Yuanhao brought a large army over this time, and the power of the Eight Bull Crossbow can still be reflected. It's just that basically it's more deterrent, with the speed of the Western Xia cavalry, you can kill the enemy without shooting twice to the city.

But apparently, Li Yuanhao looked at the wall above Anlong Village from afar, and saw the sharp arrow arrow sticking out of the wall, reflecting a strange white light under the sunset, which still made him feel an inexplicable sense of threat.

Since he wanted to invade the Song Kingdom, it was impossible for him not to know the guarding equipment on the wall of the Song army's wall. Thinking of the tragic situation in which Xiao Tzu Rin was said to be torn apart, Li Yuanhao still gave the order to stop advancing.

The two sides confronted each other from a distance of 300 feet.

Both sides looked at each other as dense black dots, and the military flag was waving in the wind, and it froze for a while.

Fan Zhongyan looked at the outside of the village for a long time, with his hands behind his back, with a leisurely expression.

Shanyu Weiliang's defection was a very big blow to Western Xia, and if Li Yuanhao didn't capture him back and kill him, it would have serious consequences for both his prestige and the internal stability of Western Xia.

So it's not him who is in a hurry anyway.

A moment later, Li Yuanhao really sent a knight, galloped to the bottom of the village, and shouted to the top: "Where is your principal?" ”

"This guy has the guts to dare to come over and die? Xianggong, let me shoot him! ”

A silver-armored young general next to him said to Fan Zhongyan.

The young general is the Linfu Road Patrol Envoy Zhi Jimin, although he is only a middle- and lower-level seventh-grade officer, but he inherits his father's bravery, and he is still quite brave and good at fighting.

Fan Zhongyan waved his hand and said: "Don't worry, you go and ask him something, if you ask about the mountain meeting Weiliang, you will say that you have never seen this person." ”

"Yes."

Zhi Jimin poked his head out, looked down and shouted: "Where did you come from, what did you call the master to do?" ”

The knights below are not surprised, the soldiers in the army are used to being rude, but they are not nobles or scholars, they pay attention to the quality of literature and courtesy, and there are often skirmishes on the border between the Great Song Dynasty and the Xia Kingdom, and it is also normal for both sides to open their mouths and scold people.

He shouted: "The king of my family asked you to hand over the mountain Yu Weiliang!" ”

"Get out."

Zhi Jimin scolded: "Your lord has never heard of this person. ”

"Bold!"

The knight shouted: "Shan Yu Weiliang, that traitor, obviously fled into the Song Realm and was hidden by you. ”

Zhi Jimin directly bent his bow and arrow, and then shot an arrow violently, hitting the three feet in front of the knight, and scolded: "Your master said that if you haven't seen it, you haven't seen it, and if you dare to talk nonsense, you will die." ”

"Buzz buzz buzz! ~~~”

The knight couldn't help but swallow as he watched the arrow in front of him plunge three inches into the ground, and the wings of the arrow's tail shook to make a crisp sound.

If this arrow was shot at his throat or face, with this force, I am afraid it would be able to penetrate directly.

Seeing this, the knight did not dare to continue to entangle, so he turned his horse's head and went back.

After a while, he came to Li Yuanhao, repeated the other party's attitude, and then said: "King, looking at their appearance, it seems that they are trying to shield that traitor!" ”

Li Yuanhao's face was ugly.

He was a step slower.

In history, Shan Yu Weiliang did not catch up, but he was tied up by Guo Quan and Li Wei and returned it to him directly, so that he could pick up a bargain.

Now that Fan Zhongyan has come over, he won't give him this leak to pick up.

So although Li Yuanhao didn't know that he easily caught Shan Yu Weiliang in history, at least now, he can already feel the difficulty of the Song army.

Thinking of this, and then looking at the Song soldiers who were waiting solemnly on the wall of the distant wall, Li Yuanhao decided to talk about it first to see if he could ask Shanyu Weiliang to come back at the negotiation table.

"Who is the other party's master?"

"The head of the city is the banner of Fan, and I think it is Fan Zhongyan."

"Go, tell Fan Zhongyan that I am willing to retreat from the army for 200 zhang, leaving only 30 armor soldiers by my side, and I hope he can also bring 30 armor soldiers over, go to the front of the two armies, and talk to me in person."

Li Yuanhao told the knight to go back and speak again.

In fact, in front of the two armies, it is almost impossible for the two main generals to meet in front of the battle, like Zhuge Liang in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" scolding Wang Lang to death in front of the battle, it is impossible to achieve.

After all, the soldiers are not tired of deceit, and the two sides will meet closely, in case the other party prepares an ambush with crossbowmen and kills the main general, it will not be the end.

But Li Yuanhao also has his own considerations.

One is that he knows that the eight-bull crossbow has a long range, so he still doesn't want to risk his life, his army withdrew from 200 zhang, and he himself is about 300 zhang outside Anlong Village, so he should be very safe.

The second is that he prides himself on being brave, and when he was very young, he followed his father to march and fight, and he went to the battlefield to kill countless enemies, and he had no fear at all.

The third is that even if Fan Zhongyan agrees to come out, it doesn't matter, the two sides are in the middle of the formation, shouting at a distance, there are guards holding shields, there is no need to worry about the enemy putting cold arrows, but he can tentatively see if he can catch Fan Zhongyan.

If Fan Zhongyan is caught, it will be worth it, more than ten mountains and Wei Liang.

Even if Song Jun doesn't agree to his request, it doesn't matter, the other party is shrinking into the city, he can spread it around, saying that Song Jun is a shrinking turtle and does not dare to come out, so that he can cheer up the army, and then whether he sends troops to attack or retreat and leave, he can be regarded as at ease.

So all things considered, Li Yuanhao was quite thoughtful, and it was beneficial to him in any aspect.

When the knight got the order, he galloped back to Anlong Village, shouted Li Yuanhao's request to the city wall, and then turned his horse's head and left quickly.

Fan Zhongyan listened to it, and immediately thought about it.

To go or not to go?

If he goes, maybe Li Yuanhao has any conspiracy.

But if you don't go, won't you fall into the name of the Great Song Dynasty?

Just hesitating, Wang Deyong said: "Xianggong doesn't care what he does, if he wants to come, let him bring the army himself, Xianggong must not take risks." ”

"I'm not afraid of danger, and there's nothing dangerous about it, I just have two grenades in my waist."

Fan Zhongyan frowned and said: "It's just that I'm thinking about what's the benefit of going, I think this Li Yuanhao is here to talk to me about the matter of Shan Yuweiliang, if I kill him directly, will it make the Western Xia side directly collapse and destroy the country." ”

"Xianggong is going to blow him up with a grenade?"

Wang Deyong said in surprise.

Fan Zhongyan said with a smile: "This fang led a large army and swaggered into the territory of my Great Song Dynasty, even if he was killed by me in front of the battle, it is a legitimate thing." I'm not a pedantic person, so I won't talk between the two countries without using a sword. ”

"But there are dangers in this way"

Wang Deyong had seen the power of grenades, and said euphemistically: "If the distance is too close, the lower officials are worried."

"It's okay, I'll go out and meet this guy for a while."

Fan Zhongyan said, giving Di Qing and the others a look, Di Qing, Zhang Yu, Zhe Jimin and other young officers suddenly understood, and they all carried a few grenades on their waists, and then followed Lao Fan down the wall.

Over there, when Li Yuanhao saw the gate of Anlongzhai open, he knew that Fan Zhongyan really dared to come out, and sneered in his heart that he was worthy of being a scholar of the Song Dynasty, but he was pedantic and didn't know how to be flexible.

He deliberately went out of the range of the bed crossbow, and he was also surrounded by the Iron Harrier Army, just to simply shoot once the talks collapsed.

Although I don't know if I can catch Fan Zhongyan, if I do, it will be too cost-effective.

At that time, Da Song will inevitably pay a lot of money and want to exchange Fan Zhongyan back, he can ask for a sky-high price, extort Da Song's money and grain, etc., and force Da Song to send Shan Yu Weiliang back.

However, what Li Yuanhao obviously didn't know was that he slandered Fan Zhongyan's body, why didn't Fan Zhongyan want his life? He thought he was thoughtful, but he didn't know about grenades.

Fan Zhongyan felt that if he could simply kill Li Yuanhao, it would be much easier than continuing to fight the Song-Xia War later, and once Li Yuanhao died, I was afraid that the huge kingdom he had worked so hard to build would fall apart in an instant.

At that time, the enemy of the Great Song Dynasty will only be left with one Liao State.

Here, the Western Xia army slowly retreated, and on a small hillside in the center of the battle, only Li Yuanhao and thirty ironclad cavalry were left watching condescendingly.

Seeing this scene, Fan Zhongyan frowned.

The opponent is on a small hill, and the grenade is not far away, and it is good for ordinary people to throw seven or eight zhang, even if they are well-trained bombardiers, they can throw about ten zhang.

As a result, Li Yuanhao's position is still at a high place, which is much more difficult than throwing it on the ground, which makes Fan Zhongyan think about how to get close to the past?

The two sides slowly approached.

When it was about seventeen or eighteen zhang, Li Yuanhao's personal soldiers shouted: "Stop! ”

Fan Zhongyan had no choice but to stop.

Because the other party raised crossbow arrows in their hands, and the Song army raised their shields on their side, if they continued to move forward, it seemed to be unfavorable to the Song army.

But in such an unfavorable situation, Song Jun did not obey the other party's orders and continued to move forward, which was obviously wrong.

So in order to prevent Li Yuanhao from noticing, Fan Zhongyan had to follow the other party's instructions.

And Li Yuanhao's eyes showed doubts.

Under normal circumstances, he must have hoped that the two sides would be as close as possible, so that he could catch the other party off guard.

But when he got closer, he found that the Song army didn't bring a bow and crossbow, and all of them had bulging pockets around their waists, and the hands of the Song soldiers were also on their waists, as if they were hiding something.

This made Li Yuanhao suspicious.

When things go wrong, there must be demons.

He was originally suspicious, and Song Jun's strange behavior made him can't help but be careful, and he didn't allow the two sides to get too close.

After all, compared to catching Fan Zhongyan, his own safety is the most important thing.

"Fan Xianggong!"

Li Yuanhao came out of the crowd, Lema was on the hillside, and shouted condescendingly: "You have been in Shaanxi for almost two years, and we often write letters, but now it is the first time we have met. ”

Fan Zhongyan replied casually while estimating the distance: "What the king said is that the Great Song Dynasty and Western Xia are good neighbors and friendly friends, I don't know what the king wants to do today when he suddenly brings so many soldiers and horses into my Song realm?" ”

Li Yuanhao said: "My subordinates have a mountain to meet Weiliang, plotted rebellion and defected, and ran to the territory of the Song Kingdom, so I hope that Xianggong can hand over the people." ”

"Oh?"

Fan Zhongyan smiled: "But I have never seen this person. ”

"Xianggong laughed."

Li Yuanhao's face was ugly and said, "Someone saw him flee into the Song Realm and was picked up by your army. ”

It seems that there are Western Xia fine works everywhere on the border of the Great Song Dynasty.

Fan Zhongyan frowned.

Although he had withdrawn the fortresses on the periphery, cleared the walls and carried out strategic defensive contraction.

However, there were still a large number of Hu and Han people living on the border of Western Xia and the Great Song Dynasty.

There are party members, Qiang people, and Han people.

They traded with each other, and they themselves lived in the surrounding hills and mountains, and Fan Zhongyan could not expel or move everyone back to Guannai.

Therefore, Li Yuanhao's meticulous work found the traces of Shan Yuweiliang, and it was normal to report it to him.

Thinking of this, Fan Zhongyan no longer denied it, but said: "General Shanyu sincerely came to vote, I have accepted him, if I make friends with the Great Song Dynasty, where is the majesty of the Great Song Dynasty?" ”

"This is my domestic affair in Great Xia, and I hope that the prime minister can make it convenient and not interfere in our state affairs."

Li Yuanhao's tone became more and more unkind: "If the prime minister insists on not handing over people, I don't know if you can afford to be responsible for provoking a war with Great Xia." ”

"Is the king threatening me?"

Fan Zhongyan also sneered: "If you take so many soldiers and horses and trespass into the territory of my Great Song Dynasty without authorization, you are already provoking a war, I advise you to leave, don't make a mistake!" ”

Seeing that the conversation was incompatible, Li Yuanhao's eyes became more and more gloomy, looked Fan Zhongyan up and down, and was silent for a moment, and suddenly turned the horse away without hesitation.

This was beyond Fan Zhongyan's expectations, he instinctively reached for his waist to get something, but in the end he didn't take out the grenade.

Because the distance between the two sides was already far away, now Li Yuanhao did not advance but retreated, and left directly, and the grenade could not be thrown at all.

Forget it.

Fan Zhongyan could only look at Li Yuanhao's departing back regretfully, and also turned his horse back.

(End of chapter)