"Woooooooo

The desolate horn sounded between several nearby cities such as Yingzhou, Guangning, and Yuguan.

The three cities are basically located in the northeast of Changli County, Hebei Province, to Qinhuangdao City, and then to the Shanhaiguan area, which are only more than 20 kilometers apart.

But the soldiers stationed in the city saw the ships on the sea level in the distance, and like ghosts, they slowly approached the shore.

The most frightened were the soldiers of Yuguan, because when there were still ten miles from the shore, the main force of those ships came straight in the direction of Yushui, and seemed to sail directly into Yushui.

The rest were divided into a part of the ships and headed in the direction of Yingzhou and Quang Ninh.

Yingzhou is actually not near the sea, it is about three or four kilometers away from the coastline, almost in the northeast of Changli County in the later generations, close to Beidaihe, a famous tourist attraction in the later generations.

At this moment, as the ships of the Great Song Dynasty got closer and closer, the defenders in the direction of Yuguan were already in a mess, some ran to the city from the shore, some were still standing in place, and some even simply saw the commotion around them, and secretly ran away.

Many soldiers in the rear of the Liao State Xijin Mansion were recruited Han soldiers, and according to the records of the "Khitan Official Ceremony", the Liao Dynasty "had Han soldiers from state to state".

At that time, the core army of the ruling class of the Liao State was still dominated by the Khitan leather army, and then the tribes ruled by the Bohai people, the female straight people, and the Mengwu tribes were the vanguard, while the Han people in the sixteen states of Yanyun only acted as the local township army, which was the same as the Xiang army of the Great Song Dynasty.

Therefore, these soldiers are not very loyal, except for the recovery of the sixteen states of Yanyun in the Song State, the local Han people are afraid of the tax revenue of the Song Dynasty, and then rise up against the Great Song Dynasty, basically have no combat effectiveness.

After all, I only get a few hundred copper coins a month, what kind of life do you play?

In such a situation, the entire direction of Yuguan is very chaotic. There were Liao officers who scolded, Han soldiers who shouted indiscriminately, and those who didn't know whether it was Liao or Han, after glancing around, they secretly left.

On the Fu boat, the main ship of the Ping Navy, Di Qing took a telescope to observe the enemy's situation, and saw the Liao army on the shore in the distance in a panic, so he said: "Go directly to the shore and charge the battle." ”

"Di Shuai, it's a good idea to be humble."

Hu Yan Shouyong said.

"Oh?"

Di Qing asked, "What's the idea?" ”

"We secretly sent people to Liao to be black merchants, but in fact, we observed the terrain, and the terrain of their city defense has long been figured out by us."

Hu Yanshou pointed in the direction of Yuguan in the distance and said: "There is a river over there, called Yushui, if we go up the river and line up the boats in the middle of the river, we can cut off the necessary road between Tokyo and Nanjing in Liaoguo." ”

"And that matter?"

Di Qing became interested, looked in the direction that Hu Yanshou pointed to, and then after thinking for a while, he said, "Have you found out the reef over there, and whether there is a reef?" In addition, it is now winter, whether the river is full of water, so that the boats will not be unable to move forward. ”

Hu Yanshou said with a smile: "Don't worry, Di Shuai, we have been scouting for several years, and we have long known whether there are reefs and river waters. ”

"Alright, do as you want."

Di Qing nodded.

Originally, he planned to get close to the shore first, bombard the city with artillery, and take down the three important city passes of Yingzhou, Guangning, and Yuguan.

In this way, the connection between the two capitals in the southeast of the Liao State was cut off, and the main force of the Liao State was directly intercepted in Liaoyang Mansion in Tokyo.

But that would be a clear inappropriate.

Because they need to carry the ship's artillery to the city, and if they go back and forth, they will inevitably give the enemy a chance to take advantage of them, and even find an opportunity to defeat them.

In addition, Yuguan is not the kind of moat pass that cannot be opened, it is the Bohai Sea Ocean in the south, the Yanshan Mountains in the north, and there is a smooth road about twenty or thirty miles longitudinally from north to south in the middle.

Yuguan City is located in the middle of the terrain, and if the artillery is not too high and the terrain is blessed, it will shoot about two kilometers at most, and it cannot cover the entire Yuguan passage.

But if the boat is driven to the Yushui, it is different, the boat can patrol back and forth, control the entire north and south of Yuguan, and not a single Liao soldier can pass.

So that's a really good idea.

The boats riveted in the direction of the riverbank, and at this time the defenders from all over the country finally came to their senses.

Yingzhou and Yuguan could only watch dryly, they were too far from the coast to have no use for the artillery on the city, while Quang Ninh was busy starting to launch artillery.

"Bang bang bang!"

I saw the fire on the top of the city, the smoke was filled, and more than a dozen cannonballs crossed a brilliant arc in the air, like the sun falling, fiercely attacking the Song army's fleet.

However, although the artillerymen of the Liao State were slightly stronger than the untrained Western Xia artillerymen, they were actually not much stronger.

After all, the excellent artillery crew members have been transferred to the front line, and many of the gunners in the rear have not been trained a few times, at most they know how to fire, and the accuracy and technique of firing the guns are far behind.

The most important thing is that there are no targets on the ocean, in fact, even when fighting at close range, it is often easy to empty artillery, which is why in many naval battles before and after World War I, many ironclad ships have to get close to the enemy ships and fire their cannons.

Therefore, the dozen or so cannons at the head of the city on the Guangning side seemed to be fighting lively, but in fact, they were 108,000 miles away from the fleet, and all of them were hit into the sea, and the fleet of the Great Song Dynasty did not suffer any losses at all.

However, although not a single ship on the side of the flotilla was hit by artillery, the sudden artillery fire still frightened many warships.

Even though the shells were far away, even if they were unharmed, some of the oarsmen and wheelers of the fleet unconsciously stopped their hands and feet, and listened to the movement outside in disbelief, fearing that artillery would hit the boat.

In the final analysis, it is true that the artillery crews of the Liao State lacked training. However, the naval fleet of the Song State was also seriously untrained, and had no experience in dealing with the enemy's artillery.

Where did the artillery come from the smuggling ships they used to deal with?

It's good to have cold weapons.

Now that he suddenly encountered the artillery fire of the Liao army, the disadvantages of insufficient training were manifested.

The two sides are quite a bit of a rookie pecking at each other.

Di Qing naturally keenly noticed that the speed of many ships on the left and right behind him began to slow down, and he snorted coldly: "Order, go at full speed, the slower the speed, the more live targets will be." But those who hesitate are engaged in military law. ”

"Yes."

Hu Yanshou hurriedly responded, and then ordered the flag bearer on the ship to notify the surrounding ships in flag.

Soon the order was delivered.

When the ships received the order, they immediately sent messengers to the cabins to give a message.

"Di Shuai has an order, move forward at full speed, and those who violate the order will be dealt with by military law."

"Hurry up, you slackers, what are you afraid of, the Liao artillery can't hit us at all."

"If the speed is slow, it is easy to be targeted by the enemy, and only by maintaining high speed can we not hit us, do you want our whole ship to be buried with you?"

"Now immediately speed up, don't you hear!"

"Yes, yes, yes."

Under the reprimand of the officers, the sailors rowing and stepping on the wheels in the cabin hurriedly increased their speed, and began to work hard again, and the speed of the ship immediately increased.

Although it was early winter, the north wind was blowing, and the fleet was heading against the wind, but the waves did not stop and soon began to move closer to the shore.

The range of the two sides gradually approached, and when the distance reached the range of the guns of the Great Song fleet, the fleet began to fire artillery fire at the city of Quang Ninh.

The artillery of the Great Song Dynasty was much more fierce than that of the Liao State, and the number of artillery pieces reached more than 600, which formed a great fire suppression on the city.

"Bang bang bang!"

Countless shells came at a gallop, hitting the head of Quang Ninh City, and it was powerless to fight back.

It didn't take long for the Liao people to not even dare to show their heads under the suppression of the ship's artillery fire.

Above and below the city of Quang Ninh, the rumbling sound is endless, the dust is high, and a large number of cannonballs can be seen embedded in the city.

Many Liao troops rushed around, and the situation was quickly taken over by the Song army.

Seeing this, Di Qing waved his hand and said: "Occupy all the ports and docks, and the rest of the small boats will sail into Yushui first and seize the pass." ”

"Yes."

Hu Yan Shou responded, and immediately went to issue a military order.

Immediately, the Song fleet poured into the port near Quang Ninh City like a black cloud.

It was once a trading hub for smuggling ships, so the port was large enough to accommodate so many ships.

After the capture of the port, the soldiers on the ship began to disembark, raised their muskets in their hands, and the scattered Liao troops in the vicinity had almost no resistance and were quickly dispersed.

The Song army then began to settle in the city of Quang Ninh.

After the age of firearms, the siege methods also changed a lot.

In the past, people could only go up to the city through siege ladders or ordinary ladders, and open the city gates after seizing the city walls.

But now it's far less troublesome, just need artillery to collapse the city gates. This is also a common siege method used by the Ming army or Qing army with artillery in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

"Di Shuai, our army has successfully taken Quang Ninh!"

Hu Yan Shou said excitedly.

Although their Huyan family is a noble family, the honorable family is not worth much in these years, and if there is no real military exploits, it is useless to have this noble background.

If you can win Quang Ninh now, you have made a great contribution, and it will be logical to be promoted in the future.

"Well, enter the city at once, and wait for me to observe the terrain."

Di Qing nodded.

Immediately, all the ships of the Song army began to quickly dock into the harbor, and some small boats began to go up the Yushui.

After the rest of the ships docked at the dock, leaving enough men to guard them, a large army began to enter the city of Quang Ninh to clear the remnants of the Liao army.

Many Liao soldiers fled in panic, and the vast land of Youyan was full of fleeing enemy troops.

The Song army did not pursue either, and they methodically began to enter Quang Ninh, and then the fleet moved north from Yushui to attack Yuguan from the rear.

It didn't take long for Yuguan to be breached, and the remaining Liao troops scattered and fled.

At this time, in the direction of Jinzhou, another Liao army came in the direction of Yuguan, and wanted to pass through Yuguan to the front line of Liaoyang Fu.

Yelu Zongzhen's hundreds of thousands of troops naturally did not pass over at one time, and the movement that made such a disturbance was too big, and it would be noticed by the Song people, knowing that he had mobilized a large army in Youyan, he would not necessarily lure the Song army to take the initiative to attack, so they all came in batches.

This time it is an army of 5,000 people, and the leading general is called Shulu Si Liji, although he is not the top nobles of the two Liao kingdoms surnamed Yelu or Xiao, but he is also from the Shulu tribe under the surname Yelu and Xiao.

As a high-ranking aristocratic member of the Liao Dynasty, Shulu Si Liji once served as a henchman, that is, the leather room army. Now that he is in charge of a part of the palace army, he is naturally highly regarded by the military leadership.

He was on horseback, and in addition to the 5,000 palace army he was in charge of, there were about 10,000 Bohai Navy and Jurchen Army in the farther direction.

"Your Majesty has assembled a large army this time, and it is finally going to start a war with the Song people, I have been waiting for this day for a long time."

Shulu Si Liji's lieutenant looked excitedly into the distance, and after passing the Yuguan Pass, he arrived at the Nanjing Mansion of the Liao State, where the Song-Liao front line was.

The Liao people have been pressing the Song people since ancient times, but in recent years, the Liao people have been repeatedly deflated, which has long made some young Liao generals feel dissatisfied, and now they are finally going to be ashamed.

However, Shulu Si Liji had experienced the Song-Liao War before, when he was only a commander of the Draga army, equivalent to the battalion commander of the Song State, and experienced the battle that made him feel terrified when he looks back on it now.

Yelu's enemy, Lugu, a well-known warrior in the Liao Kingdom, was bombarded to pieces in this way, and it is still fresh in his memory.

So Shulu Si Riji knew very well that this war would be very cruel.

He glanced at his deputy, this is a noble son of the Diethorn tribe, who was only promoted last year, how can he know how powerful the enemy is?

It's just that Shulu Si Riji didn't say anything, and shook his head with a smile.

It's not a bad thing for a young man to be motivated, I just hope he can survive this brutal war.

At this moment, someone on one side suddenly shouted, "What is that?" ”

People nearby looked at each other.

In the distance, there were many black spots running in all directions, as if some monster was chasing them behind them.

"What's going on?"

Shulu took a sip of the horses, and then said to the scouts beside him, "Go and see." ”

"Yes."

The scout immediately galloped away.

The team of five thousand also stopped in place, quietly watching.

The wilderness in the distance is vast, the winter wind blows, the wild grass and basil on the seaside sway with the wind, the remaining veins of the northern Yanshan Mountain towering into the clouds, and the earth is as silent as a solemnity.

After a long time, the scout came back and reported a very bad news to Shulu Si Liji - the Song people have arrived!

"What?"

Upon learning that the Song people had emerged from the sea and occupied Yuguan, Shulu Si Liji was shocked.

He never expected that the Song people would actually appear here.

You must know that Yuguan is the only way to connect Tokyo and Nanjing, and if Yuguan is broken, it will be a huge bad thing for Liao.

Then Shulu Si Riji asked for details.

When he learned that the Song people had just come ashore and had not yet gained a firm foothold, he thought for a little and said without hesitation: "We must not let the Song people seize Yuguan, and immediately grab it back now." ”

"Yes!"

The adjutant general did not ask why he went now, and excitedly took the order.

Under the calm command of the above-mentioned Lu Si Liji, while sending people to transmit a message to the troops in the rear, he made people gather the rout, and at the same time personally led the army to rush and kill Yuguan.

He actually knew that this time there was a lot of bad luck.

But he couldn't help it.

The importance of Yuguan is too great, and once it is lost, the entire Liao Kingdom will fall into an extremely embarrassing situation.

So he could only take the risk and snatch it back while the Song people had not yet gained a foothold.

Above the wilderness, thousands of horsemen rushed away.

At the same time, the Song army had just seized Yuguan, but they put their main combat strength on the ship and did not move their artillery to Yuguan City.

Yuguan is located on the east bank of Yushui, and the Liao people naturally bear the brunt of the attack.

Di Qing had just entered the city at this moment.

Yuguan has not yet been renamed Shanhaiguan, and when it was established in the Tang Dynasty, it was not built as very majestic as Shanhaiguan in later generations, and at this time it was not even comparable to the size of an ordinary county town in the Song Kingdom.

After all, Yuguan was established by the Tang Dynasty, and then occupied by the Liao State for a long time, both countries did not need to care too much about the invasion of ethnic minorities in the northeast, so there was no need to repair it, until the Ming Dynasty to resist the ethnic minorities in the northeast before the establishment of Shanhaiguan.

Di Qing was going to go up to the city tower to have a look, but before he could go up, he saw Hu Yanshou hurriedly running over and reporting to him: "Di Shuai, there is a large Liao army in the east, should we retreat to the ship first?" ”

Due to the small size of the city and the fact that the main force is on the ship, there are actually only hundreds of Song troops in the city.

However, Di Qing did not answer immediately, but just climbed the tower and began to observe the enemy's situation.

Not far behind Yuguan is Yushui, and ships can bombard the city on Yushui, but the height of the city is more than the water surface, which can be said to be condescending.

At most, the ships will bombard the city wall, and if the enemy recaptures Yuguan, there will be only one result - the Liao army will rearrange the artillery on Yuguan, and then it will become the Song army on the water and the Liao army in Yuguan.

After looking at the entire terrain, Di Qing had a plan in his heart.

He said in a deep voice: "The best way is to dismantle Yuguan, or retreat to Quang Ninh, deploy artillery in Quang Ninh, tear down the bridge over the river, and rely on Yushui to block it." However, it is unrealistic to dismantle Yuguan, and if we retreat to Quang Ninh, it means that we only have two lines, Yushui and Quang Ninh, which is very unfavorable to us. Once the enemy uses Yuguan to force back our boats on the river, and then build a pontoon bridge to cross the river, then Quang Ninh is still at risk of losing, so I must hold Yuguan, and we cannot evacuate unless absolutely necessary. ”

"But Di Shuai."

Hu Yan Shouyong still wants to say something.

Di Qing interrupted: "Needless to say, I have my own decision, the number of enemies coming is only a thousand, if we can hold on to this attack, we can gain a firm foothold in Yuguan, and immediately send an order, let the rear send another two thousand people, and the rest of the people dismantle the artillery on the ship and prepare to enter the city." ”

"Yes."

Hu Yanshou saw that he had already decided, so he didn't say anything and immediately went to implement it.

Di Qing narrowed his eyes and looked at the east.

Smoke and dust rose in the wilderness in the distance, and thousands of cavalry surged like wild wolves.

He planned to snipe with three lines of defense: Yuguan, Yushui, and Quang Ninh.

But they have only just entered the customs now, and they have not yet gained a foothold, so how difficult is it for the ship's artillery to move over?

I'm afraid I won't be able to get the cannon to the city for a few days.

However, Di Qing knew that no matter how difficult it was, he had to do it, and only in this way could he successfully intercept the Liao army.

Therefore, before the artillery was carried up, they could only use the muskets in their hands to fight against the huge number of Liao troops.

Hum!

So what?

No matter how many Liao soldiers you have, I will let you sink in the sand!

Di Qing looked at the dust and smoke in the east and clenched his fists.

This.

He will use 10,000 forces to block the Liao army in Tokyo, the entire Liao country, rushing to help!

(End of chapter)