People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 391 The decisive battle turns into a mess
In the wilderness, if you look down from a high altitude, you will see countless densely packed people running around on the vast land north of Xijin City.

There were too many Liao troops, so naturally they did not gather together, but divided into three groups.

They evacuated to Huairou, Wangjingguan and Dazhuzhuang in the northeast, and set up ambushes in the surrounding areas to ambush the incoming Song army.

But they never expected that the Song army, without respecting martial ethics, would actually launch a counterattack and catch the Liao army by surprise.

The battlefield was in chaos and there was a lot of gunfire. The Liao army fled in all directions, and the entire formation was - there was no formation, only chaotic and noisy sounds resounding in the sky.

"Run quickly, the southern thieves are coming."

"Don't be chaotic, don't be chaotic, form a formation immediately, form a formation immediately, ah!~~"

"The deputy commander is dead, the deputy commander is dead, run away."

Zhang Kang put down the smoking musket in his hand and reloaded the ammunition, thinking to himself, this thing is still useful.

As he spoke, he turned around and said, "Who shot and killed the Liao general just now?"

However, it had only been two or three years since the Song Dynasty's army was reorganized. The graves of many generals and nobles had grass three feet high, and the rate of decay was not that fast.

Therefore, the current military merit recording method can be said to be the best and fastest promotion method for most low-level soldiers of the Song Dynasty.

"Kill!"

Moreover, the Liao army also has grenades, which can still cause a lot of trouble to the Song army at close range.

"kill!"

The deputy general behind him shouted.

The Song army was also prepared for the enemy to rush forward over the muskets. When the enemy was fifty paces away, they would keep shooting with muskets, and when the enemy was within fifty paces, they would switch to short muskets.

But fortunately, what a good coach needs is not superb marksmanship but strong leadership ability, so he pretended to be calm and asked the hero who had made great achievements.

The Western Army has fought with Xixia many times and has rich actual combat experience.

But no one from the soldiers at the rear responded.

Although this may lead to some corruption, for example, the children of powerful people bribed the supervisory officers, replaced the bullets, and put the credit of the soldiers on their heads.

Sure enough, as the Song army continued to fire, even if no one was hit, the Liao army was frightened and panicked and fled in all directions.

The soldiers galloped wildly, shooting at the same time.

It's just that generally at this stage, very few of the Liao army can break through the two layers of firepower and get closer, and the Song army can only gain the advantage by bullying the smaller number of people with more people.

Therefore, although the Song army's raid was to suppress the Liao army, there were also many casualties, but compared with the casualties of the Liao army, this number was pitifully small.

The Liao army suddenly broke out, catching the Song army off guard. But Zhang Kang's soldiers and horses were all well-trained. They listened to the horns and whistles in time, stopped the horses, and then started shooting.

So not long after, Yelu Zongzhen, surrounded by many ministers and Pishi troops, left the north of Xijin City and headed for Shunzhou.

But no one cared about it, because Fan Zhongyan was very strict in running the army. He asked his soldiers to engrave the lead on the bullets, and supervisory officers would search for the corpses and take out the bullets to record military merits.

The Northern Army had not been at war with the Liao Kingdom for many years, and was almost defeated by the Liao Kingdom in the last decisive battle. It was all thanks to Fan Zhongyan leading 50,000 elite Western troops to rush for reinforcements.

Hundreds of people had opened fire just now, and the smoke filled the air. Who knew who the bullets had killed.

Seeing no one responded, Zhang Kang had no choice but to say: "The whole army listens to the order and comes with me to charge together!"

Even though the level of training increased after the army was reorganized, many of the Northern troops were not as good as the Western troops in horsemanship, so they were scattered far apart during the pursuit and could not assemble immediately, so they were attacked by the Liao army.

Although this musket is very useful, Zhang Kang's hand shook just now and the bullet hit the sky, which made him slightly embarrassed.

For a time, the 20 to 30-kilometer road from Xijin City to Shunzhou and Huairou was full of Song and Liao troops going back and forth. Within a radius of 40 to 50 kilometers, the enemy and our troops were intertwined and chaotic.

Soon, the Song and Liao armies were fighting in a large area north of Xijin City.

Although the accuracy of shooting from a horse is terrible, the Song army did not care about the accuracy in the first place. What they wanted was the effect of scaring the Liao people.

However, the Liao army did not take any advantage in the close combat.

The people from the rear arrived immediately, some continued to pursue north, while others headed south to intercept the Liao people who were leaving the city.

Not long after, the matter was also reported to Yelu Zongzhenna.

It's not that the Song Army was careless. After all, not every Song Army unit was as well-trained as Zhang Kang's troops. For example, the quality of the Northern Army on Hebei Road is not as good as that of the Western Army on Shaanxi Road.

This run caused the surrounding Liao troops to follow suit, and they turned their horses and were driven to the northwest.

Gunfire broke out.

At this time, his position was south of Dazhuzhuang, almost in the area of ​​Wenyu River Park in later Beijing, about ten kilometers away from Xijin. Basically, the battle area between the Song and Liao Dynasties was almost in the north of Chaoyang District in later Beijing.

After a hail of bullets, the Liao troops who were attacking were killed and their armor was discarded. Before they could get close, they quickly dispersed.

After the bullet from the short musket is shot, there are two ways to do it. One is to install spikes on the long gun, and the other is to draw the sword from the waist.

The convoy was walking slowly. Yelv Zongzhen was riding on horseback and looking into the distance from time to time. Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves came galloping behind him. A scout passed through many escorts and came to Yelv Zongzhen and shouted: "Jinjin urgent report!"

When Yelv Zongzhen left Xijin in the morning, all he saw were Song Army scouts and reconnaissance. He thought that even if the Song Army launched a pursuit, it would be in the afternoon or even tomorrow morning at the earliest.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Zhang Kang immediately ordered the pursuit to continue.

After all, they are used to long-range fire strikes. Even if they can train in close combat, they are definitely not as good as the Liao army who can make a living with what they have.

The Song army pursued for a while and encountered a main force of the Liao army. Zhang Kang immediately ordered the pursuit to stop, and ordered the soldiers to quickly form a long formation, with two to three thousand people arranged in horizontal rows, and the remaining stray soldiers and horses in the rear supported from the side.

"What happened?"

Yelu Zongzhen tightened the horse's rope with his hand and signaled the horse to stop, then turned his head and looked at the scout.

The scout had arrived, dismounted from his horse, knelt down on one knee and said, "Your Majesty, several groups of soldiers and horses from the Song Army have been dispatched, and they are now attacking my army in the rear."

"what?"

Yelu Zong was really shocked, and immediately asked: "What's the situation at the rear?"

"Not known yet."

the scout replied.

"Your Majesty, this should be a harassment strategy of the Song army. They are afraid that our army will leave and they will be ambushed or have difficulty catching up if they pursue it again, so they send people to harass us."

Xiao Xiaoyou, who was left behind in Nanjing, said solemnly: "If His Majesty returns to help, he will fall into his scheme and be delayed from evacuating, allowing Fan Zhongyan to catch up calmly."

"Well"

Yelu Zongzhen frowned and was about to think deeply.

Suddenly, another scout came galloping from behind and shouted: "Report, the Song army is coming and is attacking our retreating team."

"How's the battle going?"

"Our army is at war with the Song army."

"No rout."

"There are some, but most of them are fighting fiercely with the Song people."

"How is the Song army's offensive going?"

"They didn't have large groups of troops. They were mostly thousands or even hundreds of people. They harassed everywhere and shot from a distance with muskets. As soon as our troops got close, they dispersed."

The scout said: "Moreover, their muskets were extremely inaccurate when shooting on horseback. Our army suffered few casualties. We took them with grenades, and then fought in close combat, which also caused a lot of damage to the Song army."

"Oh?"

Yelu Zongzhen listened to the scout's words, nodded slightly and said: "Sure enough, the Song army wants to delay us with a small army. Don't pay attention to it, so that the rear army can get rid of the Song army as soon as possible."

"Yes."

The scout reined in his horse and left. On the other side, Xiao Ying, the envoy of Xuanhui Nanyuan, frowned and said: "Your Majesty, I always feel that there is something strange in this."

"Tell me?"

Yelu Zongzhen tightened his legs slightly on the horse's belly, sat down on the horse and continued to move forward unhurriedly.

Xiao Ying still frowned and said: "I can't tell. I just think that the Song people really think that a small force can delay our army's advance?"

Unless the muskets on the war horses are immediately arrayed and arranged in a formation, otherwise the accuracy of shooting while running is terrible.

Since the Song Army knew that a small force could not delay them, why did they send it out? Did the Song Army really think that they could stop their large army with just this few people?

Yelu Zongzhen said with a smile: "Maybe this is just Fan Zhongyan's plan to make me mistakenly think that he is launching a large-scale attack, so that I can go back and rescue him. Once he falls into the trap, the Song army can calmly set up their formation and fight us in the fields north of Xijin City. "

"Well, His Majesty's words are very reasonable."

Xiao Ying had nothing to say.

They don't have a God's perspective, so they naturally don't know what's going on.

Because after the Song army left the camp, the scouts came over immediately to report the news, so naturally they didn't know what happened next.

So they can only judge from the current perspective for the time being.

But not long after, the next news came, which filled Yelu Zongzhen and others with horror.

"Report!"

The scouts galloped fast.

The official road was full of Liao war horses, which crowded the road.

Therefore, these scouts often come from the nearby plains and grasslands.

The soil is splashing everywhere, mixed with the fragrance of early spring grass, and there are many Liao soldiers on the river bank in the distance, riding their horses to drink water.

The scout's panic quickly attracted the attention of many Liao soldiers.

Yelu Zongzhen's emperor's guard also slowly stopped, waiting for the scouts from behind who were getting closer and closer.

"Report!"

The scout shouted loudly, almost hoarse.

When he got close, he didn't even have time to turn over and dismount. Instead, he turned over and said: "Your Majesty, the whole army of the Song Dynasty will attack and fight our army to the death in the rear."

When he finished speaking, he knelt down on one knee, and you could tell how urgent the military situation was.

"Army attack?"

In an instant, Yelu Zong really felt goosebumps all over his body.

He never expected that Fan Zhongyan would be so courageous.

You must know that the Liao army was indeed retreating and did not form a formation.

But could you, Fan Zhongyan, be able to arrange your formation during the pursuit?

It is difficult to even shoot a gun on a running horse, let alone forming a formation.

Therefore, according to the conception of the Liao think tank team, the Song army did not form a formation and pursued directly, which was tantamount to giving up its own strengths and choosing its own weaknesses to fight the Liao army.

How dare Fan Zhongyan?

"Your Majesty, the Song people are marching in large numbers, we must return to defense immediately."

Xiao Ying said quickly.

"Yes, we must go back immediately."

Xiao Xiaoyou also made a decision.

"Send the order, go back immediately and fight to the death with the Song people!"

Yelu Zongzhen no longer hesitated.

Because there is nothing to hesitate. If he doesn't care about the army behind him, won't he directly lose half of his troops?

So at this time, since Song Jun is willing to give up his own strengths and choose to fight them hard, why should he be afraid?

Thinking of this, Yelu Zongzhen immediately ordered: "Immediately send an order to have all the surrounding armies rush to help immediately. This battle is a decisive battle, do you hear it?"

"Yes!"

The surrounding messengers responded immediately and then dispersed.

About 200,000 troops were withdrawn from Xijin, Yuhe, and Wanping areas. In addition, there were a large number of Liao troops coming from the rear in other surrounding prefectures, counties, and cities.

These troops are scattered everywhere. Now that the entire Song army has attacked, it is time for the Liao army to start a desperate battle with the Song army.

Soon the Liao army's orders spread to all directions, and the large group of Liao army began to turn their horses and run south towards the battlefield.

At this moment, the battlefield was in chaos.

If you look down from a high altitude, you will see the entangled Liao and Song armies everywhere, more than ten kilometers from east to west and more than ten kilometers from north to south, to the north of Xijin.

The Song Dynasty people had various fighting methods. Some of them were divided into parts. An army of 5,000 people was simply subdivided into battalions to fight separately.

Some galloped their horses, and when they got close, they quickly formed a formation and began to fire at the Liao army.

Some even abandoned their guns and fought in close combat, fighting fiercely with the Liao army.

Smoke filled the air and gunfire overflowed.

The Song army not only had cavalry, but also many infantry. Many of the infantry even dismounted and fought on foot, because fighting on foot was more convenient than fighting on horseback.

"Kill, kill Nangou!"

"Don't be afraid, just put a shield on your chest. We will win when we get close."

"Shoot, shoot!"

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang!"

Smoke filled the air, one Liao soldier fell down, and the horses ran around.

In fact, the current Liao army has already thought of countermeasures.

They themselves do not lack artillery, so they often conduct desensitization training on their war horses. Now their war horses are no longer afraid of the loud noises of artillery and muskets.

But I'm afraid of pain.

The bullets sputtered and penetrated into the body. They would not make the horses fall down immediately, but would make them suffer from pain and fear, and they would instinctively run away to the rear.

Therefore, many times the Liao troops were not shot to death by bullets, but were taken away from the battlefield by their own horses.

However, the shortcomings of the Song army's chaotic fighting style soon became apparent. The battlefield was inherently chaotic, and it was difficult for single-shot firearms to form a dense firepower network. Once the Liao people made a surprise attack from the side, they would fall into passivity.

Therefore, except for some Song soldiers who are quick-thinking and flexible, who will immediately mount their horses to distance themselves after a round of shooting and engage in guerrilla warfare, many generals of the Song army who are not very capable are easy to fight. Will be in close combat with the Liao army.

This is why Fan Zhongyan said that this battle depends entirely on the command of the generals of the Song Army.

If commanded well, the Liao army can be used as a kite.

If you don't command well and don't make correct tactics in time, you will be approached by the Liao army and forced to fight hand-to-hand with the Liao army.

Although the Song army's surprise attack caught the Liao army by surprise, in the chaos, the Liao army slowly stabilized the situation. Even if it lost to the Song army, there was no immediate large-scale rout.

The only problem is that now the entire north of Yijin is in chaos. The Song army still had middle and lower-level generals commanding each other, but the Liao people's command system had completely failed, and they were almost fighting independently. Without reinforcements, defeat would be a matter of time.

(End of this chapter)