Became a feudal lord in the late Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 254: Horse hoof goes south and people look north

"The fight started."

A military officer quickly walked into the commander's tent. Except for Liu Ling, everyone in the commander's tent showed excited expressions after hearing this.

The Song people started fighting, which meant that all their armies would pour into Hebei in a short period of time, and the northwest region of the Song Dynasty would fall into a state of emptiness. In previous years, when they encountered such an opportunity, the Xia people would take the initiative to invade and look for opportunities. Find something in the Song Dynasty's house.

There are generals from Liao, Xia, Song, Prairie and even Jin people in Liu Ling's tent. They all understand that now is the best opportunity.

"Five armies of troops marched southward, and the Song Dynasty's city to the east of our army's front was Fuzhou. If Fuzhou is not broken, the northwest gate cannot be opened."

Kang Gongbi stood up and added Liu Ling's words with understanding: "The governor of Fuzhou is a good man. I heard that he was Qu Dutong's superior officer in the Song army two years ago. I don't know if Qu Dutong can persuade him to surrender." This person?"

Everyone looked at Qu Duan. Liu Ling rubbed the tiger talisman in his hand and heard Qu Duan reply: "This man is not a general who can be surrendered. It is better to catch him by surprise now, so as not to fail to surrender and make the people of Song Dynasty wary." Heart.

Furthermore, the war is about to begin, and the first battle will break the hearts of the Song people, so that the cities behind can be persuaded to surrender or attacked. "

"Let's do it like this." Liu Ling knocked on the table with the tiger talisman and said solemnly: "Just obey the order."

There are at least three large military strongholds around Fuzhou, with more than 2,500 defenders, plus some very small forts, with more than 3,000 troops, enough to form a strong defense line in a short period of time. Even if it cannot be blocked, it can Light a warning beacon for the prefectures behind.

All the Xia people's tribes in the 400-mile city surrendered, but they had to surrender in the end. People's hearts were unpredictable. Liu Ling also needed a victory to severely shock the former, so as to ensure that many routes such as the rear grain roads would not be cut off.

Of course, another use is that attacking these two states can make the Song people make further wrong judgments. For example, if they learn that Hedong is being attacked, the troops ordered to support can only support Hedong, but if the Han army changes direction at this time, When attacking the Yongxing Army Road, the Song Army general who led the army could not make his own decisions and follow him at this time.

He lied.

"I will obey your orders!"

Zhe Keqiu followed the soldiers to the top of the city in a hurry. When he saw the countless troops outside the city, he did not slump or curse angrily. He just pursed his lips and shouted to the surroundings: "Reinforcements from the imperial court." We are already on the way, defend the city well, the court will not treat you badly!"

It would take at least a month for the orders to come and go.

In June, when the weather started to get hot, an endless black wave appeared outside Fuzhou City. Countless flags were like sails on the sea, and the huge Fuzhou City was just a rock impacted by the waves.

Fuzhou and Linzhou are two prefectures to the east, west and north of the river. They are in dangerous locations. Although Liu Ling originally intended to capture Guanzhong, to be on the safe side, he needed to remove the two thorns in Fuzhou and Linzhou first to prevent him from moving south. The retreat route was cut off by the Song people.

"The general is here!"

"Take the military talisman. Your army will be the vanguard in this battle. After the Fu and Lin Prefectures are captured, the Lulong Army and other troops will attack the Song Dynasty's Yongxing Army. The deadline is at most seven days, and Fu Prefecture must be captured."

But not only did those military strongholds not light beacon fires in the past few days, but even the sentinels sent out of the city did not rush back to warn in advance. It was not until the Han troops came to the city that Zhe Keqiu realized that there was no way out.

"The Yan thieves are hundreds of miles away from us. They must be exhausted from coming all the way. As long as they hold on for two days, they will definitely retreat!"

Zhe Keqiu shouted. At this time, he could only temporarily use this kind of lie to cheer up people's hearts. The imperial court ordered the deployment of the Third Route Western Army to suppress Hebei. Zhe Keqiu's troops were also mobilized a lot. In addition, the Xia Kingdom had completely declined in the past year. , no longer the threat it once was, the military center of the Song Dynasty gradually moved away from the northwest.

Zhe Keqiu's men originally had more than 10,000 troops, but they had been transferred from east to west in the past two years. There was also an element of deliberate suppression by the court, so at this time, they actually fell into the dilemma of insufficient troops.

In contrast, the Han people were already well prepared, and before that, they had only increased the number of sentinels. Other than that, they just prayed silently in their hearts that the Han people would not interfere.

When a foreign enemy comes to attack, the general's first reaction is of course to fight back. However, there are no more than 1,500 fighting soldiers in the city. In addition, they can only mobilize civilians to help defend the city. However, because of the fear of war, the latter also .
The dark formation of the Han army seemed to have never stopped. The former military lieutenant galloped wildly in the queue, delivering new orders. There were many arrows stuck in the soldiers in the front row, and the feathers at the tail of the arrow shafts were sticking out. Trembling slightly as the soldiers advanced.

This is what puzzled many Song generals: the King of Han seemed to particularly like to let elite soldiers stand in the position of cannon fodder, and let them do things that cannon fodder would do, and the latter were willing to do it for them. The king of Han fought desperately, not caring whether his position was safe or not.

The effect was obvious. When the military formation composed of these soldiers pressed in front of the city wall, arrows basically could not penetrate their heavy armor. Moreover, Zhe Keqiu had no intention of sending cavalry out of the city to test the situation. Then it went out.

Generally speaking, the city defenders take the initiative to block the city gates, but now the Han army blocks the city gates first, cutting off the hope of the defenders in the city to leave the city. This is not a normal siege method at all!
"Fire arrows!"

The sound of a series of bowstrings falling back was like a thunderbolt. Qu Duan could see this spectacular scene standing on the hillside in the distance. He had also defended the city in Fuzhou City in front of him, so he knew the garrison inside the city. The pressure in the face of this offensive.

In the distance between him and the former army formation, dozens of various siege equipment, large and small, were being pushed towards the city wall by the auxiliary soldiers. This was also a key care area for the Song people.

Zhe Keqiu divided the hundreds of crossbowmen on his hands into three teams. The sparse arrows could still cause considerable damage to the auxiliary soldiers in the Han army. If the latter were hit by arrows, those who were not seriously injured could continue to move forward. , the seriously injured ones will be left where they are by their comrades, and civilian husbands will come from behind to take people back to the camp for treatment.

"Fire again! Fire the arrow!"

The city top of Fuzhou City was becoming more and more turbulent. The Han people's arrow rain was extremely large, and they found their target after two rounds. The arrow rain covered the city head again and again. The Song Army did not have the heinous attacks of the Han Army. The armor rate and the number of casualties soared immediately.

From the beginning of the siege, the defenders were at a disadvantage throughout the entire process. The bed crossbows and other defensive equipment on the city top were also the key areas for the Han people to take care of. Qu Duan didn't care at all how many people would die on the city top. All he wanted was Flags with Chinese characters were planted at the top of the city.

In the evening, both the east and north city walls had been completely lost. The Han army rushed down the city wall with corpses on the ground, and the sound of killing spread from the city wall to the city. Zhe Keqiu retreated into the city with some remaining soldiers, planning to fight in the streets, but the Han army They have already preached everywhere that they will never loot or kill the city after breaking it, so that the will of the city to resist is not strong.

A group of soldiers lit torches and raised the Han flag in the night wind. The city gate made a clicking sound. A large number of Han troops outside the city immediately entered the city in batches in an orderly manner, gradually taking control of various urban areas, blocking streets and imposing curfews. ;

Qu Duan led a group of cavalry and went straight to the government office under the guidance of the soldiers. Zhe Keqiu took the last part of the defenders and retreated into the government office, intending to defend here.

Qu Duan rode his horse to the street outside the government office. He looked at the dark silence around him. There was only the sound of the footsteps of the Han soldiers and the friction of their armor. He felt that the silence at this time was particularly comfortable, so he shouted loudly to the government office. road:

"Tell Zhe Keqiu that if you don't come out and surrender within three seconds with the official seal, I will massacre this city!"

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Zhe Kezhi's hoarse voice came out from inside:

"Thief, you rebelled against Song Yuke, and now you are still shouting that you want to massacre the city. You are not a human being!"

Qu Duan was not angry because he was scolded. He turned over and dismounted, and replied loudly to the inside: "It was the Song Dynasty that didn't treat us as human beings in the first place!"

(End of this chapter)