The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

(Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, the third watch today!)

Youzhou, an important town in the south of the Xixia Kingdom, has been completely surrounded. The tents of the [-] soldiers of the Song Army are densely packed, and the pennants, swords and guns stand like forests; The stones and arrows shot out by the catapults and bed crossbows, bursts of smoke rose, and it was very lively.

Su Jin's big tent was set up on the top of a hillside five miles away from the south gate of Youzhou. The noise around the city was much quieter here, and there was no tense atmosphere in the big tent. Su Jin was fully armed. Sit behind the case and talk to a person who looks like a lieutenant in armor.

"Didn't the soldiers and civilians in the city evacuate a month ago? Why did you ask us to stop the bombardment again?" Su Jin asked lightly, playing with the handsome seal in his hand.

"Marshal Su, the younger one was ordered by Commander Li to stay in Yuzhou. You said it was a feint attack, but stones and arrows kept smashing into the city. There were still many people in the city, and there were many casualties. It also collapsed quite a bit, and if this continues, Commander Li will be stabbed when he comes back." The deputy general murmured. [

Su Jin smacked his lips and said, "What should I say about you? You have been told to gather your personnel to the north of the city a long time ago, but you just didn't listen. The efficiency of the work is too poor. Okay, okay, I know it, but you have to do it immediately after you go back. Concentrate the people in the northern city, otherwise the casualties will not matter."

The deputy general said: "Can you ask the commander not to smash into the city? Just throw it on the open space outside the city."

Su Jin sternly shouted: "Don't push yourself further, I will immediately order General Pan to stop attacking for an hour, and you go back quickly to evacuate the people, and you will still smash in after an hour."

The deputy general pleaded: "Why bother? Since it's a feint attack, why bother..."

Su Jin shouted: "Thirty breaths of an hour have passed, if you want to grind your mouth here, you can grind it slowly, left and right, pull him out and stand in the snow and chatter slowly, I don't have time to talk to you Long winded."

The deputy general had no choice but to bow his hands and say goodbye: "The villain is going to evacuate the people, the commander-in-chief must not be angry, and the younger one will leave."

Su Jin waved his hand without even looking at him.

After the deputy general stepped back, Li Chong on the side suddenly smiled and said, "These guys are looking forward to Shu, and they don't know how to keep secrets at all, hey."

Su Jin sighed: "Yeah, I just can't explain it to them. It's a complete show. The Liao people must have eyes and ears on the battlefield. Of course, it's normal to really throw stones into the city and shoot arrows, destroy houses and kill people." , otherwise can it be realistic? Not only that, tomorrow we will organize people to charge and attack the city, climb up to the top of the city and pretend to be beaten down, and then charge up and be defeated, so as to show that our Song army is desperately attacking the city; They have hired 20 troops to accompany them in acting, and they are still asking for conditions, which is really unreasonable."

Li Chong laughed and said, "Su Shuai's handwriting is big enough. A few days ago, dozens of homing pigeons flew over the hills in the southwest. It seems that the news has already been sent to the Liao people."

Su Jin said: "Don't take it lightly, let's continue the show, anyway, it's just a combat training, idle is idle, but how is our material preparation, I asked Brother Zhao Ting to help me, how did you do? ?”

Li Chongdao: "Things are going well, although it has attracted a lot of criticism, but you have spoken before the emperor, saying that you have done something extraordinary, so the court has no reaction at all."

Su Jin waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter them, how can I get such a huge sum of money to purchase weapons and armor, I can only issue bonds in the name of the third division, and mobilize the state government of Song Dynasty to purchase it. With the help of various preferential conditions, and mandatory apportionment, the three-pronged approach will naturally make up the money."

Li Chongdao: "The first batch of 100 sets of armor, 160 knives and guns, 200 sets of bows, [-] million arrows, and [-] million stones of food have already arrived in Xiajing in secret. The second batch of [-] sets of light armor and [-] barrels of firearms The oil has already been shipped, and the third batch of [-] million shi grains will be shipped soon, anyway, I will not miss your business."

Su Jin smiled and said: "Brother Zhao Ting is the head of my family. Without you, I don't know what to do with these things. Brother Zhao Ting, I will drag you back to Beijing after the war. I will also bring you into the Sansi yamen, and it would be good to be a salt iron or a Duzhi envoy."

Li Chong said with a smile: "I will go wherever Zicong goes, and I will hang out with you."

Su Jin said: "What if I don't become an official anymore?"

Li Chong was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said: "Then I will resign as well. I will live next door to you, and it will be fun to talk about poetry and wine every day."

Su Jin laughed loudly and said: "Okay, good friends for a lifetime!" [

Li Chongdao: "What good friend?"

Su Jin scratched his head and said: "Let's not mention this for now, remember to ask the Queen Mother Yeli to send the receipt. After the things are delivered, they will forget our kindness and come to settle the old score."

Li Chong laughed and said, "I'm so fussy with your mother-in-law."

Su Jin smiled and said: "My mother-in-law is not a fuel-efficient lamp. My own husband dares to kill her. Think about what else they can't do? Let's keep it handy."

……

As soon as it was dawn, Xiao Hui's army had already pulled out their camp and set off. On the Gobi Desert as far as the eye could see, the sparse weeds and rocks were covered with frozen frost, and the mouths of men and horses sprayed long white air, like It is a large teapot that is boiling one by one.

Xiao Hui ordered Xiao Biser, the capable general under his tent, to lead [-] cavalry to set off first. He was responsible for scouting the road and searching. To the south is a small city called Kedun City in the Xia Kingdom; although judging from the terrain, it is a fortress guarding the main roads, but judging from the garrison at the top of the city, there are less than a thousand garrison troops in the city, and they are not on guard. However, Xiao Hui didn't pay attention to this small city at all.

"Lieutenant General Xiao, I ordered you to set off immediately with [-] iron cavalry, and occupy Ketun City before sunset. Our follow-up supply of food and materials will be based on this city. It will be cheaper for you.”

Xiao Bise held the cross arm of the wolf tooth lance on his chest and bent down to salute: "Thank you, Your Majesty, we don't have to wait until sunset, we will see you in the afternoon."

Xiao Hui said: "Nonsense, sixty miles away may not be able to reach the place in the afternoon, and I'm not afraid that the wind will flash my tongue, but this city is nothing to worry about, let's do it quickly."

Xiao Bise shouted and led the order to go out of the tent, and rolled towards the distance like thunder with ten thousand cavalry overwhelmingly, gradually turning into black spots one after another, and the raised dust polluted half of the sky.

Xiao Hui watched the vanguard leave with a smile, and said to the left and right with a relaxed tone: "Let's not worry, just move forward slowly, and just arrive at Ketun City before sunset to garrison. Disgusting, it will save trouble when they clean up."

The left and right laughed loudly and said: "My lord, General Xiao should have taken the lead and should have done some hard work, otherwise I would be very upset."

Xiao Hui said with a smile: "Don't be unfair, from today onwards, you all have the opportunity to show your talents, pack up your headquarters and march out."

All the generals agreed in unison and dispersed, and the whole camp suddenly became lively.

Xiao Biser's [-] cavalry, who were as violent as the wind, arrived at the mountain shortly after noon. The mountain was not high, but it could not be ridden by war horses. The valley between the two mountains formed a natural passage, which was the only place to go south. .

Xiao Biser had a lot of experience in combat, so he sent two centurions into the valley to advance slowly. Although he knew that the opponent had only a thousand troops and it seemed possible to ambush him, his high military quality still prompted him to make a normal move.

The two teams of cavalry searched all the way to the open area outside the valley, and they could see the black walls of Ketun City, so they dared not go any further, so they hurried back to report.

Xiao Biser carefully inquired about the situation in and outside the valley, and concluded that the enemy had not noticed the enemy's attack, so he waved his hand and ordered that the entire army slowly enter the valley.

In fact, Xiao Biser also felt that his caution was quite superfluous. There was nothing on the slopes on both sides of the valley except black rocks. It was a completely barren land, and there was no place for people to hide; the army passed through the valley safely without any suspense. , there is an open land in front of you, and Ketun City is right in front of you three or four miles away.

"Order the whole army to quickly pass through the canyon, and the whole team is ready to charge." Xiao Biser issued the order with a stern face, and the cavalry behind him poured out from the valley mouth continuously, forming a long column.

The ground trembled a little, and there was a rumbling sound like thunder. Xiao Biser thought it was the sound made by his troops lining up, but soon he realized that something was wrong. It was the sound of war horses running at full speed shaking the ground. The team is slowly moving to set up the queue. [

In an instant, as far as Xiao Biser's eyes were concerned, huge yellow dust rose up from both sides of Ketun City, sweeping like a yellow cloud. Below the yellow cloud were several black jumping spots, which were densely packed cavalry troops. , I can’t tell how many people there are, I can’t tell how many people there are, I can only see the gleaming scimitar shining brightly under the winter sun, making people dizzy.

"That's... not good! Enemy attack!"

Xiao Bise shouted, and his heart became tense. Didn't he say that there are only a thousand defenders in the city of Kedun?There are tens of thousands of cavalry swarming here. Could it be that they fell from the sky?

Xiao Bise rubbed his eyes and ears, all this was not an illusion, it was indeed tens of thousands of cavalry from Xixia rushing forward.

"Meet the enemy! Meet the enemy!" Xiao Bise let out an earth-shattering cry, and at the same time raised the mace in his hand high...