Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 505 Great Victory
"put!"

Geshe Lamu shouted and released the arrow in his hand.

The cavalry behind him received the order and shot arrows one after another.

Fifty thousand arrows darkened the sky, and the dense rain of arrows enveloped the shield formation in the front row of the Song army.

"Ding...Ding...Ding..."

"what…"

The arrows hit the heavy shield, and the clinking sound continued, like a piece of music.

There were also some screams mixed in.

Although they were protected by heavy shields, the Liao army was firing projectiles, and a few soldiers were still injured.

It’s just that the number of people is relatively small, and basically none of them are fatal.

It can be said that the killing power of this round of arrow rain from the Liao army was minimal.

Geshe Lamu could not see clearly, but Yelu Yixin and the Liao army generals on the high platform could see it clearly.

"Your Majesty, the front-line shield formation is impenetrable. This kind of probing will have no effect at all. I have heard of the story of the Han people borrowing arrows from a straw boat. The Song army is doing this now, and it is very likely that they will deceive the Liao arrows again." A Liao general reminded.

Yes, that round of rain of arrows just now consisted of 50,000 arrows. Except for some that were damaged, most of them were still intact.

The Song army could just pick it up and use it.

While they were talking, Geshe Lamu had already turned around with his cavalry, ready to shoot a second round of arrows.

Yelu Yixin frowned slightly. If this caused some damage to the Song army, it would not matter if they lost some arrows, but the losses of the Song army were minimal, so they were just sending arrows to the enemy.

He immediately gave the order: "Pass the order, order Geshe Lamu to shoot the second layer of shield formation!"

The front row all have thick shields, the big ones, but the second row has round shields.

This kind of shield is also called an arm shield. It can be combined with many soldiers and raised above the head to defend against arrows from the city walls during sieges, and can also be used to prevent enemy hacking in melee.

In the current situation, the defense of this small round shield is somewhat insufficient.

After Geshe Lamu shot two rounds of arrows, the damage caused to the Song Dynasty was minimal. In fact, he had already considered getting closer and shooting at the second layer of shield formation.

He was delighted when he heard the drumbeat that signaled the troops to move a hundred steps closer.

As a result, the Liao cavalry was less than a hundred steps away from the Song army's front shield formation.

At this distance, even if they were not on horseback, as long as the Song army had archers behind the front row of shield formations, they could still threaten the Liao cavalry.

Geshe Lamu was on guard carefully, and if he spotted any Song army archers showing up, he would lead the cavalry to retreat.

However, to his surprise, no attackers showed up from the Song Dynasty. Instead, many soldiers held something that looked like a round stick with a round hole in the middle. They placed it on heavy shields and pointed it at them.

There was also a soldier holding a torch and lighting a fire nearby.

He didn't know what this thing was, but seeing that it was not a crossbow, he didn't care. He pulled out an arrow and bent the bow to shoot.

"Boom..."

At this moment, strange noises suddenly came one after another.

Meanwhile, thick smoke was coming out from the first layer of the Song Dynasty's shield formation.

Although the ten thousand muskets did not fire at the same time, there was almost no difference in their firing.

The combined sounds were like bursts of thunder.

Geshe Lamu was so frightened that the arrow that had just been put on the bowstring fell down.

Just as he cursed in his heart and just woke up to draw another arrow, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his face and body.

It felt like being hit by many arrows, but it was different.

"what…"

Geshe Lamu uttered a scream because he had just been shooting an arrow and had let go of the reins.

The sudden pain made him scream and fall off his horse.

Geshe Lamu was walking in the front. He fell off his horse, and the horses behind him did not have time to stop, so many of them trampled over him.

This scene happened repeatedly among the Liao army.

There were ten thousand muskets, all filled with gravel, with each musket containing dozens of gravel.

They were ejected almost at the same time, and the destructive power was much more terrifying than the 50,000 arrows fired by the Liao army before.

The Liao army had no heavy shields to protect themselves and they were all light cavalry.

Fifty thousand cavalrymen were rampaging in front of the Song army, and with the war horses they made a considerable target.

It was considered a good thing that the man was shot and fell off his horse.

Many war horses were shot but not fatally, and they ran wildly and uncontrollably due to the pain.

For a moment, the Liao army was in chaos, and some cavalrymen who were not shot were frightened by the collisions of the frightened war horses.

"Woo~"

"Boom~boom~boom~"

Melodic horn and drum sounds rang out, and the soldiers moved their shields away, leaving a passage of dozens of meters.

"drive!"

"kill!"

The cavalry in the rear, who had been ready for battle, were in high spirits. Led by their generals, they galloped out on their horses and charged towards the chaotic Liao cavalry.

"quick!"

On the stands behind the Liao army, Yelu Yixin was stunned by this scene. It was not until the Song cavalry attacked that he came to his senses and shouted, "Order Yelu He to send troops to support!"

Yelu Yixin was also worried that the Song army would send cavalry to deal with the probing cavalry, so he had already ordered people to prepare to go and support them.

…………

The Duke of England put down the telescope in his hand and smiled, "This thing is really a magical item on the battlefield!"

Although he could see the situation on the battlefield from the high platform he was standing on, due to the distance he could only get a rough idea.

The specific details still depend on the scouts to pass messages back and forth.

It will take some time for him to receive the message and give the order.

But with the telescope, he can clearly see the situation on the battlefield and respond in time.

"Yes, it is indeed a divine object!"

Zeng Gongliang put down the telescope and said, "Duke Ying, is it time to order the troops to withdraw?"

"No hurry, now is the time to give the fallen dog a beating."

The Duke of England smiled slightly and raised the telescope again to observe the situation on the battlefield.

Only after seeing the Liao Kingdom sending reinforcements did he order his troops to retreat.

The Song army, which was chasing the Liao cavalry on the battlefield, turned around and retreated immediately when they heard the drum sound for retreat.

The soldiers raised their heavy shields again and filled the gap.

"There probably won't be any fighting today, let's set up camp," the Duke of England ordered.

The Liao army suffered such a great defeat that they may not dare to fight again today.

"Duke Ying, we have won a great victory today and morale is high. But we must also be on guard against the Liao army raiding our camp," Zeng Gongliang reminded.

High morale has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages.

The saying "arrogant soldiers go before a fall" means that after winning a battle, the morale of the soldiers is high, but they may become careless and give the enemy an opportunity to seize the opportunity.

"Haha, I'm hoping the Liao army will raid our camp." Duke Ying laughed. "It seems Duke Ying has already made preparations, so my reminder is unnecessary."

Zeng Gongliang smiled and said, "In that case, why not celebrate it?"

"We must celebrate, but I'm afraid it's impossible to lure the Liao army into a surprise attack."

Duke Ying heard what Zeng Gongliang meant and shook his head slightly, saying, "The Liao army is being cautious right now. This is too deliberate."

"Haha, I still think it's a bit simple."

Zeng Gongliang laughed at himself and asked in surprise, "If that's the case, why did the Duke of England celebrate so loudly?"

He proposed celebrating because it was a means for the British public to prevent the enemy from raiding the camp.

They thought they might as well celebrate in a grand manner, so that the Liao side would mistakenly believe that they had won a great victory, become complacent, and lure the Liao army to raid their camp.

However, after the Duke of England said this, he realized that it was a bit deliberate.

It was normal for the soldiers to be a little slack after just winning a great victory, and even the generals ordering a grand celebration was indeed a bit deliberate.

"It is unlikely that the Liao army will raid our camp today. Doing this will also paralyze the Liao army. The more deliberate we are, the more the Liao army will think there is a trick. When we become more cautious in the future, they will think we have no plans." The Duke of England laughed.

In cold weapon wars, night battles occur very frequently.

Raiding a camp is the most commonly used tactic in night battles.

How to prevent camp raids is a compulsory course for generals.

Generally speaking, when the enemy seems to be unprepared, it may not be a good time to raid their camp.

Because this is most likely a trap set by the other party.

On the contrary, the other side seemed to be well guarded, making it more suitable for raiding the camp.

There is always a loophole in a perfect plan. A large camp occupies a large area. No matter how strict the defense is, there will always be loopholes.

As the saying goes, there is only a thief who can steal for a thousand days, but you can never guard against thieves for a thousand days.

Over time, if the generals do not slack off, the patrolling soldiers will also become lazy.

"Duke Yingguo, is he sure that the Liao Kingdom will choose to raid the camp?" Zeng Gongliang asked in surprise.

"I'm not sure." Duke Ying smiled and said, "Liao can't afford to delay. As long as I focus on defense, Liao won't be able to gain any advantage. There won't be many means that can be used."

The purpose of Yelu Yixin launching the decisive battle was to delay the Song Dynasty from opening up the road to Youzhou City.

Now, not only has the goal not been achieved, but also a great loss has been suffered.

Next, as long as news of progress from the Song Dynasty continued to come, Yelu Yixin would be the one who became anxious.

"The British prince is a military genius, I admire him!" Zeng Gongliang exclaimed.

He used to think that he was no worse than those military generals in commanding troops.

When it comes to the issue of valuing culture over military power, he is considered to be on the neutral side.

But from a long-term perspective, he also believed that emphasizing culture over military was a good strategy.

If he really wanted to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, he would still support emphasizing culture over military.

Otherwise, if the military generals were stationed in the north, which was too far away from the imperial court, they would easily become independent and self-reliant.

But after watching the Duke of England's command today, he realized the difference.

Although the Duke of England had been in command before, everything had been going smoothly without any major wars, and the Duke of England's talents had not been demonstrated.

"You are too kind, Privy Councillor."

The Duke of England changed the subject and said, "I have to check the casualties and set up camp. The report of this battle and the next plan need to be reported to Your Majesty. I will trouble the Privy Councilor to do that."

…………

The morale of the Song army was high and the soldiers were busy setting up camp.

There was silence in the temporary central camp of the Liao army.

Yelu Yixin's face looked very ugly. More than half of the 50,000 light cavalry were killed or wounded. It was a disastrous defeat.

He was filled with anger but didn't know who to vent his anger on.

Not only did Geshe Lamu die, but he was also trampled into a pulp by war horses, leaving no intact body.

Even if Geshe Lamu was wrong and died on the battlefield, Yelu Yixin could not hold him accountable.

What's more, the fault was not Geshe Lamu's at all, as he was the one who gave the orders.

"Tell me, what did the Song army use?" Yelu Yixin said in a hoarse voice.

"Your Majesty, we still don't know what the Song army is using. But this thing should have many disadvantages!" Yelu He said.

"Go on!" Yelu Yixin said.

"Yes!"

Yeluhe said: "The Song army didn't use it at first, which shows that the range of this weapon is not as good as that of a bow and arrow. And according to the soldiers, the Song army lit the fire first, and then there was a long time between the sound and the ejection of stones."

"Besides, the power of this thing is also limited. I have checked the soldiers whose bodies were hit by stones, and the stones did not penetrate deep into their flesh. If they were protected by heavy armor, this thing should not be able to do anything to them."

"Ah."

Yelu Yixin's expression eased a little, and he nodded, saying, "You are right, but this thing spewed out so much gravel at once, and it has a great power. We must figure it out first."

Although the Liao Kingdom had the ability to manufacture weapons and armor, it still could not provide large-scale heavy armor to its army.

Money is only one aspect.

Heavy armor is very heavy, and heavy cavalry needs to choose top-quality war horses to be able to bear the weight.

Soldiers also need to be selected from very strong people.

Otherwise, you won’t be able to bear it, let alone kill the enemy.

Moreover, fighting a war requires the coordination of multiple arms, and a single arm can easily be targeted.

Even if the Liao Kingdom could afford it and its soldiers could bear it, it would be impossible to transform both cavalry and infantry into heavy armor.

"There is no rush for this matter. We can always find out by seizing spoils on the battlefield or capturing prisoners. Now the most urgent task is morale. Today's defeat has dealt a heavy blow to morale! Some rumors have been spread in the army. Although I have ordered people to severely punish those who spread nonsense and stop the rumors. If we don't restore morale as soon as possible, we won't be able to fight the next battle!" said Yelu Yixin.

"Your Majesty, Xixia offered to help Liao fight against Song, but Xixia has been slow to send troops. I think we should force Xixia to attack Song's northwest border to tie down some of Song's troops."

"Yes, this will definitely greatly reduce the morale of the Song Dynasty, and it will also encourage the soldiers of the Liao Kingdom and restore their morale."

"Your Majesty, I think we can launch a raid on the camp tonight. The Song Dynasty has won a great victory, so there must be some oversight. If the raid is successful, we may be able to defeat the Song Dynasty in one fell swoop!"

The Liao generals were talking at once and offering suggestions.

"Don't count on Xixia!"

Yelu Yixin said coldly: "The Xixia are short-sighted and only want to seize Hehuang. I sent the crown prince, but he didn't even get to see little Li Liangzuo!"

Speaking of Yelu Yixin, he was furious. He sent his son to see Li Liangzuo, but he was not even allowed to see him.

"His Majesty!"

A Han official stood up and said, "As the saying goes, this time is different, that time is different. Xixia was unwilling to send troops because it felt that our Liao Kingdom could stop the Song Dynasty. Now..."

"Are you saying that I am no match for the Song Dynasty?" Yelu Yixin looked at the Han official, with a hint of murderous intent in his eyes.

He was so angry that he had no place to vent his anger.

This Han official was saying that the Liao Kingdom could not resist the Song Dynasty. He personally led the army to fight. Wasn't it the same as saying that he was no match for the Song Dynasty?

"Your Majesty, calm down. I didn't mean that."

The official said quickly: "Our army suffered a great defeat, not because of the war. It was because the Song Dynasty always used some strange things. If it didn't have these, how could the Song Dynasty be a match for the Liao Dynasty?"

"But Xixia's attack on Hehuang wants Liao and Song to suffer mutual defeat, which is a crime worthy of death. Xixia must be dragged into the water. I am willing to go to Xixia as an envoy and use my eloquence to persuade Xixia to attack the northwest border of Song Dynasty. If it fails, I am willing to accept the punishment!"

(End of this chapter)