The struggle of the reborn prince

After listening to Wan Yanliang's explanation, Xiao Zhonggong cursed loudly. He didn't have the demeanor of a prime minister of a country, but he looked like a shrew on the street.He originally thought that Zhao Er would still be released to him when the war between the two countries was in turmoil, and he still had the ancient style of not beheading the two armies. In a blink of an eye, he sent himself into this besieged city.

"My lord, stop scolding, then Zhao Er is a hypocrite, why don't you think about how to get out?" Seeing that he was tired of scolding, Xiao Yu ordered someone to bring tea to persuade him.

"The Northern invasion of the Southern Dynasty seems to be inevitable. On the way home yesterday, I saw Zhao Er's camp stationed ten miles outside the city. I think he wants to personally oversee the attack on Jinzhou. You all have a countermeasure." Xiao Zhonggong Said frowningly.

"Your Excellency, don't worry. There are 20 soldiers and civilians in Jinzhou City, and [-] tiger and wolf troops. Even if the city is fortified, Zhao Er can be dragged to death under the city." Wan Yanliang said with a smile.

"The 20 soldiers and civilians consume a lot of grain and grass every day. Now that foreign aid is cut off, how long can the city store grain last?" Xiao Zhonggong is not optimistic about this. He saw grain trucks from all over the country constantly coming and going in Yingzhou. Point~The novel’s supplies, food and grass are piled up like mountains, masts are like clouds, and this is only hidden in one place. I am afraid that I will starve to death first if I want to delay by defending the city.

"Don't worry, my lord, there are millions of stones of food and grass stored in the city, enough for the entire city's soldiers and civilians to survive until winter." Wanyan Bingde replied with a smile.

"That's very good." Xiao Zhonggong nodded, but he became suspicious in his heart. Jinzhou had stored so much food and grass, which obviously exceeded its needs for war preparation.Could it be that he still had some ideas, he couldn't help but squinted at Wan Yanliang.

"Hehe, the millions of stones are just to stabilize the morale of the army. In fact, only two months are needed in the city. This is still enough to send away tens of thousands of people. Otherwise, it will only be enough for one month." Xiao Xiao How shrewd is Yu, he immediately saw that Xiao Zhonggong was suspicious, and quickly covered it up.

"What the capital inspector said is true, and it won't be long now. The siege of Jinzhou will be lifted soon. Your Excellency can return to Beijing." Wanyan Liang gave Wanyan Bingde, the talkative donkey, a hard look and said with a smile, he knew Xiao Zhonggong It is the prime minister of a country, how can he not understand the domestic situation, there is so much food and grass in Zuo Shuai's mansion.Can't stop him from worrying.

"Oh. Shuai Zuo said that the Song army will withdraw from the siege soon. So what?" Xiao Zhonggong was really attracted by the topic, and no longer delved into the matter of food and grass.

Wan Yanliang then said that the emperor thought of the deep brotherhood and would never leave him dead. The Jinshui army had already stopped the Song army attacking Liaoyang in Heye.It will be wiped out in a few days, and the severely injured Song army has to retreat, but with the help of reinforcements, I can tell the story of breaking the Song army inside and out, and of course I can't forget to express my loyalty to the emperor.After listening to it, Xiao Zhonggong's expression softened a little, and his mood improved a lot.

"Supervisor, Sir Zuo Xiang is exhausted from the hard work all the way, and I still have some military affairs to deal with. Please send me to the Houfu to rest." Seeing Xiao Yu's persistent winks, Wan Yanliang knew that he had something to say to him. He said that he found a reason to separate the two of them.

After sending the two away, Wan Yanliang, Xiao Yu and several trusted generals returned to the hall, and ordered their personal soldiers to strictly guard the gate, not allowing anyone to enter or leave casually.In fact, everyone present here understands that Zuo Shuai's mansion originally only had [-] soldiers, and the rest were temporarily recruited tribal troops. After Sa Lihe surrendered to the enemy, he took away Wanyan Nieer's [-]-man team and some tribal troops.Although there were a large number of young men who were conscripted again, most of them were old and weak, and less than half of them were capable of fighting. Outside, force him to use his life.As for the reinforcements, they had been on the road for more than ten days, and they should have climbed up, so they didn't report too much hope, the key still depends on themselves.

"Marshal, the Song Army showed thunderous tactics in the first battle today, and they will surely mobilize troops to attack the city tomorrow. How should we deal with it?" Seeing that there were no outsiders, Xiao Yu finally got to the point, with a hint of worry in his words. The power was so strong that it made his liver tremble.

"The Song army is besieging the city on all sides, and their strength is not inferior to ours. It's just that we can't tell which side they will attack?" Wanyan nodded.

"Commander, the general thinks that the Song army's attack on the east city is a reason for raising suspicious soldiers. Zhao Er is used to attacking the east and west, so the general judges that the Song army's attack on the east city tomorrow must be a feint attack, and the west city is most likely their main attack direction." Shu Lie Said, he is one of the three ten thousand heads of Zuo Shuai's mansion.

"The last general thinks that the Song army will attack Dongcheng tomorrow. The outer trenches and camps here have been destroyed by artillery fire, while the other gates are still there. How can the Song army give up what is easy and ask for difficulty. Furthermore, the last general will see the Song army's artillery attacking the city today. The cannons used are different from those used in the past, and they are much more powerful." Shan Zhen, another disciple of Wanfu, said.

"Oh, what's the difference?" Wan Yanliang asked in amazement, Tu Danzhen was Wan Yanliang's brother-in-law, so the relationship between the two was naturally closer.

"Commander, according to the soldiers who fled from Congcheng, the iron bombs fired by the Song army were as big as rice bowls, and all the giant trees on both sides were broken. This kind of artillery was unheard of in the past, but now it is used to attack Dongcheng, obviously because of this." Tu Danzhen said.

"That's right. A cannon that can fire such a huge bomb must be bulky and heavy, making it difficult to move. Using it to attack a city will do more with less effort." Wanyan nodded her head.

"Commander, the last general has just inspected the city and found that the Song army camp outside the east city is brightly lit, transporting siege vehicles, bridge vehicles, and a large amount of firewood to the front of the formation. These are all things used for the siege. The other three sides are only the west city. There are soldiers and horses being mobilized, and they seem to be mobilizing to the east.” A single-eyed general reported that this man was named Han Chang, whose father was Han Qinghe, the commander of the Han army in the state of Jin. country.Later, Wan Yanliang and the three chased Song Junzhong in Liaoyang. He was in the army at the time, fighting bloody battles to the death. He was shot in the left eye and bled and was still wounded. He rescued Wan Yanliang and won his trust. After he arrived in Jinzhou, he was promoted to Chief Wan , Manage the Han army.

"Well, it looks like the Song army is going to pretend to attack the west city, and the main force is deployed in the east city, and it will definitely attack the east city tomorrow." After listening to the analysis of the two, Wan Yanliang said, "Han Chang, you will lead the Han army to quietly move to the west city tonight. Allocate [-] strong men to your dispatch, and plant banners and flags on the top of the city to make heavy defenses; Tu Shanzhen and Shu Lie, you change your defense overnight to the east city to prepare for battle, prepare more human torches, rolling logs, stones and kerosene, waiting for the enemy to attack the city At that time, he suddenly rushed out and inflicted severe damage on him. Allocate [-] men and strong men to your two departments, and prepare more earth bags, wooden fences, and knife carts to block the destroyed city walls."

"The last general obeys the order, and immediately transfer the army to change the defense." The three saluted in unison.

"The Song army's artillery fire is sharp, you should pay attention to your precautions, you can garrison heavy troops under the city wall, and then go up to defend the city when the Song army's artillery fire stops and prepares to attack the city." Wan Yanliang ordered them to leave again.Xiao Yu was left alone to talk...

At this time, the drum has been beaten three times.It was late at night, and the city fell into dead silence after a massacre, only the footsteps of soldiers patrolling outside the hall and the clang of weapons and armor colliding with each other.At this time, Wan Yanliang had lost the composure he had just commanded and talked and laughed, but faced anxiety and worry.

"Captain. Do you think we can defend Jinzhou City?" Wan Yanliang asked with a frown.

"Marshal. I thought it would be difficult for the Song army to hold the siege for a long time. Ten days and a half months should be no problem." Xiao Yu thought for a while and said.

"In the past, I thought that with the deep city and sufficient food and grass, even if Shangjing was breached, we would still be able to defend it. But today, the artillery fire of the Song army is too powerful. The strong Guocheng was razed to the ground in less than half a day, and two thousand elites lost Exhausted, I suddenly felt that the previous plan was too naive." Wan Yanliang said leisurely, the fierce artillery fire of the Song Army today also left him with a huge shock, and his confidence was greatly hit.

"Don't be discouraged, Marshal. As long as we can hold on to the city for a few days, the current situation will definitely change. If we keep the green hills alive, we won't have to worry about firewood. As long as we hold on to the fundamentals, there will still be opportunities." With less than a trace of panic, he said with a smile.

"What do you think has changed?" Wan Yanliang asked in surprise, he was deeply surrounded and desperate, and Xiao Yu's words made him grab a life-saving straw.

"The current situation seems dangerous, but there is an opportunity. The Song army attacking Liaoyang will be blocked or even wiped out, and we can get a steady stream of reinforcements. The Song army will surely retreat after suffering such a large loss. In my opinion , Zhao Er has already learned that his soldiers on the waterway have suffered heavy losses, otherwise how could he suddenly attack the city." Xiao Yu said.

"Captain, what is the relationship between siege and defeat? It is the best policy to retreat as soon as possible!" Wan Yanliang was a little confused and couldn't figure out the key point.

"Zhao Ernai is a treacherous person who has not been around for a thousand years. Even if he is defeated, he will not return empty-handed. His attack on Jinzhou was only to lay the foundation for future peace talks, and he wanted to use this to draw a line. Otherwise, how could he easily let Xiao Zhonggong come back? This shows that He wants to leave a way out for future events, so as long as we keep the city, the outcome is unknown." Xiao Yu smiled slightly mysteriously.

"You mean that Zhao Er's attack on Jinzhou City was just to make some money before he failed, and he wanted to continue the peace talks when he let Xiao Zhonggong back. " Wan Yanliang said, thinking of Xiao Zhonggong's distraught look just now when he learned that the city was besieged, he couldn't help laughing.

"Hehe, there is news in Beijing that the grand master is already terminally ill, and there is not much to come for the medicine stone to be ineffective, but now that the war is urgent, we have to try our best to preside over the overall situation. Once he dies, the emperor will have nothing to rely on, so what he does will not be much use In time, the government and the people will be angered, and the commander-in-chief will take the opportunity to mobilize righteous soldiers, straighten the country, and great things will be accomplished!" Xiao Yu said with a smile, cupping his hands, as if the person sitting in front of him is already the emperor.

"What do you think of the Superintendent?" Wan Yanliang was also touched by him, his mood improved greatly, and he asked closely.

"Although the supervising army is a fellow with us, he has no intention of being the commander-in-chief, so this person can be used, but he can't be too secretive." Xiao Yu said after a moment of pondering.

"What about the Prime Minister Zuo, he also has the idea of ​​usurping power, can he be used by us?" Wan Yanliang asked again with a flash of murderous intent on his face.

"He lives in a temple, and he is the head of all officials. If he can be used by us, he will add a big help. I will talk to him later." Xiao Yu nodded and said...

…………

While the city was still plotting to usurp the throne, the Song Army was also busy, and the officers and soldiers of the Fifth Artillery Brigade entered the position with the help of the First Supplies Brigade.In order to ensure that a breakthrough can be opened for the siege troops at the first time, Zhao Xiao decided to let the artillery approach and shoot.However, because the golden army destroyed all the roads before withdrawing into the city, and it has been raining heavily recently, the ground is muddy, and the sound of horseshoes can easily expose the target.They went through more than a dozen trenches in front of the formation before sending the cannon to within [-] steps of the city.

In order to cover up the actions of the artillerymen, the cavalry pretended to mobilize and galloped back and forth between the two arrows in front of the enemy's city to attract their attention.The infantry followed the night and set up a position three hundred steps in front of the enemy's trench to cover the artillery behind them from the enemy's attack, and it could also be used as an assault position for their siege.The supply brigade was busy repairing roads, transporting ammunition and siege equipment, and arranging engineering blasting teams to carry out secondary destruction of the remaining fortifications after the bombardment and open up passages.The Tiger Wing Army in the east of the city was preparing to attack the city with great fanfare.Confuse the enemy and make them think that this is the main direction of attack.

Follow the adjusted siege plan.The first, second, fourth, and fifth heavy artillery battalions of the fifth artillery brigade of the Song Army, as well as the artillery directly under the brigades of the Tiger Wing Army, Leopard General, and Wolf General, all strengthened to the west city. To provide fire support, there is an artillery almost one step outside the city wall that is only more than one mile long.Such a high artillery density is unprecedented in the history of the Song Army's land warfare.Even Zhao Xiao was the first to command so many artillery in actual combat.

When night recedes.When the sun rose, the Wolf General's infantry began to move forward into position, and they were deliberately arranged to pass through the artillery positions.In order to let the infantry watch the majestic lineup of the artillery and increase their confidence in victory.Then the Artillery Battalion directly under the Wolf General and the First Battalion of the Fifth Artillery Brigade began test firing. In order to prevent exposure of positions and attempts, the rest of the battalions kept silent.These few cannons hit, and one of the cannons knocked down the banner of the Jin army on the tower to the ground, scaring the enemy troops from shrinking behind the wall and daring not to show their heads again.

When the morning fog dissipated at Maoshi, the direction of the east city started first, and then the west city also received the shooting order. The soldiers quickly removed their camouflage, adjusted their elements, reloaded and fired.More than 500 artillery pieces roared in unison from east to west, and Jinzhou City was immediately shrouded in gunpowder.

In the main attack direction in the west of the city, the artillery must first clear the obstacles arranged by the Jin army in front of the city.The trenches dug by Wan Yanliang with tens of thousands of people collapsed section by section under heavy bombardment, and gradually filled up with the lifted soil.Those horns and wooden fences used to block the cavalry's impact turned into a pile of debris and rotten wood in an instant, burning under the high temperature generated by the explosion.The breast wall used to block the artillery fire is much thinner than the city wall. As long as it is hit by a heavy artillery, it will fall down several feet.

The most pitiful thing is the soldiers of the Golden Army guarding the ditch. They fled in all directions under the artillery fire. Some people jumped into the ditch to avoid it, but they were buried alive in it; crushed to death; and the explosive shells fired by mortars are even more terrifying. After the explosion, there is often only a huge earth pit with incomplete corpses and wounded people crying and howling. No one can escape from it.But the gate of the city has been closed, and it is impossible to return to the city. Staying here is just waiting to die. Survivors flocked to the Yangma City below the city, but when a cannonball destroyed the suspension bridge, their last retreat was also cut off.

In just one hour, under the bombardment of artillery fire, the outlying fortifications and enemy defenses under Jinzhou City were wiped out.However, the Jin army was unable to launch a single arrow or launch a counterattack from the beginning to the end, and thousands of people became the first batch of martyrs in Jinzhou City.The Jin army on the top of the city wanted to use the trebuchet to suppress the Song army's artillery, but they had just ventured to shoot a stone bomb, and they were discovered by the artillery observers, and they immediately reported to the command post. Before the enemy fired a second stone bomb, several shells It exploded next to him, and the result was that the cannon was destroyed and people were killed, and the Jin army dared not move again.

After destroying the enemy's outer defense line, the artillery fire of the first and second battalions of the fifth artillery brigade shifted to the enemy's city wall, while the mortars of the fourth and fifth battalions raised their muzzles and threw explosive shells into the city, killing the enemy troops in the city.The range of the small artillery equipped by each army and brigade has reached the limit. In order to increase the lethality, they began to move forward.

'Boom, boom' At this moment, the chorus of thousands of artillery fires has become a solo of heavy artillery.Breaking through the fortified city is Qiao Shijun, the leader of the Fifth Artillery Brigade, who is good at it. He used his experience in shelling castles in the expedition to Persia to concentrate his musket guns and fire solid bullets to bombard the roots of the city walls.Under the impact of projectiles weighing [-] kilograms, the bricks outside the city wall rained down, and the rammed earth layer that could not be penetrated by a knife or arrow was dug out a row of bullet holes as deep as Zhang Xu.

Then it only takes a few flowering bullets to hit the bullet holes, and under the vibration of the explosive force and the gravity of the city wall itself, the city wall that lost its foundation will collapse along with the surrounding walls, forming a slow slope.The rest is simple, as long as you keep shooting with solid bullets, the wall will fall to the inside of the city wall, forming a gap.The fallen wall became a road leading to the city.

With a loud bang, the west city wall of Jinzhou finally couldn't support it under the continuous bombardment of heavy artillery. After trembling a few times, it suddenly fell down, forming a gap more than ten feet wide.After the transfer, several artillery battalions opened fire again, suppressing the enemy troops in the upper city and attacking Ding Zhuang who was trying to seal the gap.The long-prepared wolf generals and a brigade of officers and soldiers jumped up from the position, and took advantage of the lingering smoke as a cover to launch an attack.The heavy artillery, on the other hand, took advantage of its long range and extended its fire into the city, opening the way for the infantry that launched the attack... (To be continued...)