The dark night sky was overcast, the pouring rain fell from the sky, the originally calm river of the Cangtou River became turbulent, and the pontoon bridge made of rafts on the river surface also swayed from side to side, looking like it could be washed away by the current at any time, but this difficult environment did not stop the elite Zhijia army and the soldiers of the Western Army, they were calm and resolute, facing the heavy rain, stepping on the shaking pontoon bridge, crossing the river at the fastest speed.

In order to hide their traces, in order not to be discovered as much as possible, they went over the mountains and mountains, took the inaccessible paths, walked day and night, endured all the hardships, trekked for two or three months, traveled thousands of miles, and finally came to the Cangtou River, which is hundreds of miles away from Xijing of the Liao State, and the hardships are naturally self-evident.

If it weren't for the fact that this army was composed of the disciplined Zhejia army and the elite soldiers and horses under the command of Han Shizhong, I am afraid that it would have been unbearable long ago.

At this time, the silver-armored Oriyan had already crossed to the east bank of the river first, and was anxiously urging the soldiers to speed up their pace in the heavy rain, and the rain slapped on his face, making him a little unable to open his eyes, but he didn't seem to realize it.

"Fold Big Brother!!Fold Big Brother!!Big Deal Bad !!"

The burly Han Shizhong ran quickly from the dark depths of the east, his heavy steps splashed with mud and water, and his shouts were also muffled by the rushing rain, which did not allow Orihiko to hear, which made his pace even faster.

A moment later, he rushed to Zhi Yanzhi's side, close to his ear and shouted: "Brother Zhe, just now Dai Zong and Shi Qian came to report that something happened to the East Route Army!"

"Something's wrong?" Orihiko wiped the blindfolded rain and asked loudly, "What's wrong?"

Han Shizhong's face was full of anxiety: "Yelu Dashi transferred soldiers and horses from Datong Mansion of Liao State and all over the northwest, and gathered more than 200,000 troops to encircle and suppress Liu Yanqing's middle route army, then Liu Yanqing was afraid, retreated without a fight, and ran back to Changshan Pass directly, Wang Yu had no choice, and also retreated, and as a result, the left wing of the East Route Army was exposed." Yelu Dashi took advantage of this opportunity to contain them with 50,000 men, while the rest of the soldiers and horses marched east to Yizhou, successfully cutting off the back road of the Eastern Route Army, making Zhao Wangye trapped in Zhuozhou and surrounded by the main force of nearly 400,000 Liao. ”

"What about Shi Qian and Dai Zong?" Ori Yan asked urgently.

"They have decided to rush to the East Road to investigate the situation and try to rescue Zhao Wangye, and they can no longer continue to support our surprise attack on Datong Mansion. ”

With Han Shizhong's words, Zhe Yanzhi's face showed deep exhaustion, even the pouring rain could not wash away the thick folds on his face, he knew very well the consequences of the destruction of the Eastern Route Army, and he knew what the fiasco of the Northern Expedition would bring to the Great Song Dynasty.

Han Shizhong next to him was so anxious that he didn't say anything for a long time, wiped the rain on his face fiercely, and asked loudly: "What should we do now? ”

This voice made Zhi Yanzhi come back to his senses, and turned his eyes to look at the soldiers who were still advancing rapidly, he quickly cheered up and said fiercely: "Fight! We must defeat Xijing of the Liao State! The Eastern Route Army is personally commanded by the prince, no matter how desperate the situation is, he will definitely do his best to delay, only by taking Xijing as soon as possible can we have a chance to change the situation of the Northern Expedition, and we cannot lose this Northern Expedition!!"

Han Shizhong was overjoyed, he was afraid that he would be in a hurry and ordered a retreat, seeing that he was determined, he immediately laughed heartily: "His ancestor is a bird, just wait for your words, let's break the cauldron and sink the boat, put it to death and live in the future, and turn him upside down!"

............

When Zhe Yanzhi and Han Shizhong went through a lot of hardships to attack Xijing of Liao, the large-scale battle of Zhuozhou had already sounded, Yelu Dashi personally went to the front line to command, and more than 300,000 Liao troops launched an overwhelming onslaught on Zhuozhou City, and the tragedy could not describe this fierce battle, whether it was Zhao Bufan, or Zhai Xing and other veterans of the Western Army, no one had ever seen such a bloody battle.

In just ten days, the Great Song Dynasty lost more than 28,000 people, and the Liao State, as the besieging party, paid an even greater price, at least nearly 50,000 troops, but they were still attacking endlessly, sleeplessly, day and night, and the soldiers on both sides had already killed red eyes, and even fell into numbness.

Zhao Bufan's heart is also unprecedentedly heavy, even the summer sun can't dispel the cold, but he can only grit his teeth and insist, he deeply understands that only by holding on can there be hope of victory, and he must bring confidence to the officers and men of the whole army.

Lin Chong, whose battle armor was broken, stepped up to the top of the city with heavy steps, quietly came behind Zhao Bufan, looked at his lonely back, and sighed softly.

"When the gamon was covering everyone's withdrawal from the outer defense line, he was with several generals of the Western Army...... Heroic death!"

Zhao Bufan trembled.

The scenes of Yantou Village gradually came to his mind, and his heart ached.

After a long silence, he whispered softly: "Although Gan Xiong has committed many crimes, he has learned his way back, and has accumulated a lot of contributions in Northern Xinjiang for many years, and now he has left the last drop of blood for the Great Song Dynasty, and he should be credited with the same merits as other fallen generals!"

"Honorable Order!"

Lin Chong responded, and then turned his gaze to the battlefield outside the city.

"At present, the Liao army is constantly offensive, the outer defense line has been breached, our trebuchets and artillery heavy weapons have also been seriously damaged, and the second layer of defense line may not be able to withstand it for too long. ”

Zhao Bufan did not hesitate and refused directly.

"No! at least block the Liao army for five days, you can only do more, not less, and consume the Liao army's siege equipment as much as possible, otherwise the city wall of Zhuozhou will not be able to withstand it!"

"The last general understands, so I'll go and pass the word to General Zhai!"

Lin Chong didn't say much, turned around and walked down the city.

The walls of the second layer of defense are stronger than the perimeter, and there are more arrow towers and horses, and the defense itself is stronger than the perimeter, but due to the excessive wear and tear of heavy weapons such as trebuchets and artillery, the lethality of long-range weapons is greatly reduced, and it is more difficult to defend than before.

After three consecutive days, many walls collapsed, and various defensive facilities such as arrow towers and horse rejection were also greatly damaged, the battle became more difficult, and the rate of casualties increased steadily, and by the afternoon of the fourth day, the soldiers were already a little unbearable, and Zhao Bufan was forced to personally come to the front line of defense to boost morale.

He walked briskly along the rear of the entire defensive line, loudly encouraging the fighting spirit of the soldiers, and repelled wave after wave of powerful attacks by the Liao.

In the middle of the night, there was a brief pause in the offensive of the Liao army, which was supposed to be redeployed.

Taking advantage of this time, the soldiers stationed in the defense line are also quickly changing guards, the rested soldiers are on top, and the exhausted soldiers are retreating to rest and eat.

Zhao Bufan walked slowly, and everywhere he walked, the moist eyes of the soldiers would look at him in unison, and he hid all the pressure in the depths of his heart, encouraged them with firm eyes, and gave them confidence with his own calmness.

Not long after, he came to the area where Wu Jie was stationed, and saw that the young Wu Jie's eyes were red, but he was still arranging reinforcements to come up with crossbowmen to arm, and walked towards him at the moment.

Wu Jie noticed his arrival, tore off the helmet that was already a little deformed on his head, wiped the blood on his face, and grinned: "The prince is here!"

"How is it? What about the losses of his subordinates?" Zhao Bufan asked in a deep voice.

Wu Jie's smile was even brighter, but it was a very complicated smile, with some determination, with some sadness, and with some helplessness.

"The last general's headquarters brother has been killed more than half of the battle, and the fight is almost gone!"

Zhao Bufan knew that Wu Jie was a handsome talent, and in time he would be able to become the commander of the army, the leader of the young generation, and the future of the Great Song Dynasty.

After a moment of contemplation, he lowered his voice and said, "If you hold on for another day, I will dispatch troops and horses to change guards with you and let you retreat to the city." You are a great general, I hope you live well!"

"Thank you for your weight!"

Wu Jie bowed slightly sincerely, but then raised his head with a smile, his sharp eyes were full of resolute death: "But don't bother, the brothers have all fallen here, how can the last general steal his life, if that's the case, even if I go back alive, I will live forever in guilt, and I will never be qualified to be a general, I'm afraid I'm just a crazy man who gets drunk every day."

This is a big war that shakes the past and the present, I don't plan to go back alive, I just want to fight with the Liao people here to the end, I hope the prince will understand, even if he is dead, I am satisfied, I can be wrapped in horse leather on the road of the Northern Expedition to the Liao State, and it will not humiliate my male body, it is a good destination, not to mention that even the cowardly guy in Quduan is crazy now, how can I lose to him. ”

These words were said very slowly and easily, but they contained Wu Jie's resolute will.

Zhao Bufan looked at him deeply for a long time, and finally gave up his original idea, feeling that he had no right to stop a hot-blooded man from being brave, rather than leaving a Wu Jie, who was drunk all day long, it was better to let him compose the glory he longed for here.

"No matter what, try to stay alive!"

Wu Jie smiled freely: "That's natural, if we can plant the military flag of our Great Song Dynasty at the head of Nanjing, Liao State, it will be the best consolation against the dead brothers!"

"By the way, you said Qu Duan is crazy, what's going on?"

"A few good brothers who grew up with him were besieged by the Liao people when they evacuated the outer defense line earlier, when he cried and begged me to go back with him to save him, I followed him to kill back, but rushed back and forth a few times, and finally failed to save it, after that, Qu Duan was like crazy, brave and tight, and I killed more Liao soldiers than anyone. ”

Zhao Bufan was surprised: "Your conflict with him has been resolved?"

Wu Jie smiled: "The past is over, we are now gathered together to fight to the death, he saved me, I also saved him, eating a pot of rice, a lot of words have been said, each other is at fault, don't mention the past, just be a brother in the future!"

"It's a good thing, you ......"

As Zhao Bufan was speaking, the passionate war drums suddenly sounded again.

"The Liao army is coming! All the departments are in place!!

"Hurry, hurry, crossbowmen ready!!"

With the hoarse shouts of the generals of the various departments, the officers and soldiers of the Song Army who had just completed the rotation immediately rushed into action, and Wu Jie didn't care about saying more, and rushed to the edge of the wall, nervously commanding many soldiers to garrison.

Zhao Bufan looked at the clear night sky silently and took another step......