The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 376 Night Battle in All Directions
The Song Dynasty camp was surrounded by fortifications, including trenches, pits, and tripwires. Sharp stones, wooden spikes, and iron caltrops were scattered in the trenches and pits.

The troops from Zhuozhou were feigning to break through these defenses. Arrows provided cover in front, while soldiers behind them erected wooden planks, sprinkled yellow soil, and laid down dry grass and reeds.

However, their movements were slow and they were putting in the work but not putting in any effort, clearly just bluffing.

Seeing this, Zhao Ti hesitated for a moment, then ordered, "You may move."

As soon as he finished speaking, a messenger immediately relayed the order, and the sound of arrows rang out as rockets soared into the sky, visible even from the farthest reaches.

Zhong Shidao and Yao Gu, who were lying in ambush far from the camp, immediately noticed and led two groups of soldiers to circle around from both sides, launching an attack less than a mile from the main camp.

Zhao Ti and Cai Jing devised a plan to lure the enemy out of their hiding place, and they considered all the possible countermeasures after the plan succeeded. Among them, the plan naturally included sending troops from Zhuozhou City to feign an attack on the camp in order to coordinate the assassination.

In this situation, the best course of action is to lay an ambush outside, then suddenly appear to cut off their retreat, and then coordinate with the troops inside the camp to annihilate them in one fell swoop.

If troops from within the city come to our aid, then we might as well lay in ambush at several points and engage in a fierce battle. After a major battle, we can see if we can seize the opportunity to take Zhuozhou.

If the luring of the snakes out of their holes is successful, the minimum gain will be killing two sorcerers who command ghostly beasts, while the maximum gain will be saving the trouble of attacking the city and allowing them to directly capture Zhuozhou.

Zhong Shidao and Yao Gu were lying in ambush outside, watching for rocket signals. They were about to surround them. However, they did not have all of their hidden troops. Generals Liu Fa and Liu Zhongwu led two more layers of troops in ambush.

The Liao soldiers in front of the camp were caught off guard. They had no idea that the Song army had hidden troops outside the camp. In their panic, they hurriedly turned around to meet the enemy. But at that moment, a horn sounded in the Song camp, and the troops that had been prepared rushed out and immediately launched a pincer attack on the Liao army.

The Liao army was actually quite large, numbering over 20,000, accounting for one-third of the forces in Zhuozhou City. However, the Song army was even larger, with 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers already engaged in battle. With attacks from both sides, they routed the Liao army in the blink of an eye.

Although the sky was dark at this time, fires were rising everywhere. The Song army launched rocket attacks, burning many places and illuminating them as if it were daytime.

The Liao soldiers pretended to sabotage the Song camp's fortifications and lit many torches, making them easy targets in the firelight, making it difficult for them to escape.

As the Song army advanced from three sides, Liao soldiers fell one after another, their warhorses neighing in despair, and their soldiers roaring and screaming in agony. The Song army, on the other hand, surged forward like a tide, their crossbow bolts flying like locusts, mercilessly harvesting weeds.

At that moment, the city gates of Zhuozhou suddenly opened, and a large group of people rushed out, shouting and neighing.

This group, led by several Liao generals, numbered in the tens of thousands, brandishing their swords and roaring, and was trying to reach and reinforce the besieged team.

Just as they were about to engage in battle and a chaotic melee with the Song army, rockets shot into the sky again from within the Song camp, signaling that a second ambush force had received the signal and was rushing over from afar.

Chaos erupted in front of Zhuozhou City. A Liao general, wielding a long sword, tried to show off his martial prowess, but Liu Zhongwu, coming from the opposite direction, used a "Python Emerging from its Cave" technique to knock him off his horse with his spear.

The troops behind them, now without a commander, instantly collapsed. Warhorses trampled wildly, and screams mingled with the clash of weapons, echoing through the night sky.

The Song army divided into several units, forming a battle formation called the Golden Gate Encirclement Formation. They pressed forward relentlessly, with swords flashing and spears clashing. Liao soldiers fell in droves into pools of blood, and severed limbs were scattered everywhere.

Zhao Ti then climbed the watchtower in the camp and looked ahead, saying calmly, "It seems that almost all the troops from Zhuozhou have been mobilized, so why isn't Yelü Yan here?"

Cai Jing, standing nearby, said, "Your Highness, could it be that you saw the battle was going badly and secretly fled through another city gate?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a small group of a few hundred men rushed out of Zhuozhou City. Their armor was different from that of the ordinary Liao army; it was more tightly wrapped, and each of them carried something resembling a bamboo tube on their backs.

"He's out, Your Highness! Yelü Yan has escaped!" Cai Jing hurriedly said. "His five hundred personal guards are right next to him. Behind him, bamboo tubes can spew out flames that can reach about half a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters). I don't know what they're made of."

Zhao Ti nodded. Not only did Yelü Yan possess fire-breathing magic, but his personal guards also had these special fire-tube weapons. In addition, their armor resembled heavy armor, covering them completely. Although their numbers were small, they were exceptionally fierce.

"Give the order: proceed according to plan," Zhao Ti said.

Then, the rockets inside the camp shot into the sky for the third time, and the last force that had been lying in ambush outside turned around and tried to seize the city from behind Yelü Yan.

Yelü Yan never expected such a change, and his expression changed drastically. He had originally planned to rely on his own magic and the extraordinary skills of his hundreds of personal guards to support the Liao soldiers outside, but he did not expect that the other side would have troops lying in ambush.

He urged his ox-like beast to turn back towards the south gate of Zhuozhou. His mount was called the Fierce Horned Beast, a mutated breed of wild ox that had emerged during a great upheaval in the world. It could emit a call containing hidden spiritual energy, which made some warhorses hesitant to approach.

However, the Song army that was circling around and seizing the city numbered in the tens of thousands. They had already made preparations and set up crossbow formations, and had no intention of letting these few hundred men come to the vicinity.

Although these Liao soldiers wore full-body armor, it was not as effective as true heavy armor in resisting a rain of arrows. Moreover, the Song army used crossbows instead of arrows, making them stronger. Although it was not as convenient as shooting with bows and arrows, their superior numbers and the constant reloading of arrows prevented these few hundred soldiers from advancing.

Thus, the fire-breathing cylindrical weapon was completely ineffective, and Yelü Yan's magic was also useless.

The Liao army was at a disadvantage due to its smaller numbers. Normally, 60,000 to 70,000 troops would not have been a problem defending the city. Even if the Song army had more than 200,000 troops, attacking and defending a city are two different things. Often, a force several times larger than the defending force is needed to have a good chance of winning.

The Liao army also has soldiers skilled in magic. If these soldiers are focused on defending the city and don't get distracted or think about other things, the Song army won't be able to take Zhuozhou for a while, and even a strong attack might not be effective in the short term.

But things were different now. Almost all the Liao soldiers who could fight had come out of the city. Not only was the city empty, but the Song army had also wrapped it up layer by layer, like wrapping dumplings.

Yelü Yan's expression changed repeatedly. He couldn't understand how a simple plan to assassinate the enemy commander had turned into this situation.

His mind was a jumbled mess, unable to make sense of how things had turned out this way. Just then, the head of his personal guards whispered in alarm, "General... we should break out of the encirclement quickly, otherwise the Song army will slowly press forward and we'll have a hard time escaping."

Yelü Yan stared at Zhuozhou City ahead and roared, "Where do we break out? Don't we care about the city?"

The head of the personal guards stammered, "The city... there are too many Song troops over there. I'm afraid it will be difficult to get through."

Yelü Yan said angrily, "Do you expect me to abandon the city and flee, becoming a shameless coward?" The leader of the personal guards twitched his face and said, "General, as the old saying goes, 'Where there's life, there's hope.' It's already difficult enough to open up a path to survival at this moment. The city can be retaken in the future."

Yelü Yan took a deep breath and looked around. He could hear the shouts of the Song army everywhere. The Liao soldiers had long since collapsed and were no longer in formation. The Song army was cutting them apart piece by piece and then surrounding and killing them.

"Give the order..." Yelü Yan's gaze swept around, finally settling on the east: "Order the entire army to break out eastward with me!"

Upon hearing this, the head of the personal guards was delighted and hurriedly urged his men to signal with flags. However, at this moment, the sounds of battle cries, screams, horse neighs, and the clashing of weapons and the whistling of arrows were all mixed together in a chaotic mess. Even though the firelight was as bright as day and the flags and signals could be seen, how many people could possibly pay attention in this direction?

Seeing that not many troops were approaching, Yelü Yan gritted his teeth and said, "Let's break through while summoning soldiers." With that, he urged his horned beast to charge straight east.

Unlike the city of Zhuozhou in the north, where tens of thousands of Song soldiers were stationed and taking turns firing crossbows, the east side was blocked by Liu Fa's army. There were not as many soldiers as in the north, nor as many crossbowmen to hold them off.

Yelü Yan led his personal guards and some Liao soldiers who had just seen the flag signals in a desperate charge, gradually breaking through the Song army's encirclement to the east and pushing them more than a mile away.

Zhao Ti frowned from the watchtower in the camp: "Liu Fa's side is about to be unable to hold them off."

Cai Jing hurriedly said from the side, "This subordinate will immediately notify the troops on this side of the camp to go and provide support."

Zhao Ti nodded: "By the way, let my senior brother go over too. After all, Yelü Yan has magic powers, so we shouldn't let him get away."

"Yes!" Cai Jing responded, quickly running down the watchtower to relay the order.

Half a day later, in the southeastern distance of Zhuozhou City, the corpses of Liao soldiers covered the ground for an unknown distance. Their warhorses, frightened and frantic, trampled over the bodies of their comrades and ran wildly everywhere.

The Song army unleashed a barrage of arrows and spears, the sounds of armor shattering mingling with screams of agony. Liao soldiers fell in droves, their blood flowing over the grass, forming winding, rugged streaks of red.

Yelü Yan's face was ashen, half of his beard was gone, clearly burned by fire, and his armor was dented in several places, with broken arrowheads even stuck in some of the gaps.

He had only a few dozen riders left behind; the rest had all died during the breakout. Although he had broken out of the Song army's encirclement, the Song army was hot on his heels, very close, within range of arrows, and he couldn't shake them off at all.

Yelü Yan was extremely flustered at this moment, but at the same time he also had some realizations.

The Song army's move was simply a ploy to lure the enemy out. They had even planned to assassinate him, but the assassination failed. However, the Song army's follow-up moves were seamless, perfectly predicting their plans and laying layers of ambush, like a net that made escape impossible.

I was plotting against my opponent on the ground, but who knew that my opponent was planning and arranging things in the cloud? The difference was just too great.

Yelü Yan was filled with remorse upon thinking about this, but it was too late to say anything now. He could only mutter to himself, "Where there's life, there's hope."

As he spoke, he turned to look to the side, only to find that the leader of the personal guards who had spoken earlier was gone. He had been beheaded by a long sword that appeared out of nowhere when he broke through the last layer of encirclement.

He sighed, squeezed his legs together to urge the horned beast beneath him to speed up again, when he suddenly saw what appeared to be a figure standing far ahead on the road.

Could there be an ambush? Yelü Yan's heart skipped a beat, and the hairs on his body stood on end. He immediately held the long-handled iron mace in front of him.

It seems...not the Song army? As they drew closer, they saw a tall, robust old man on the road with flowing hair, a snow-white beard, and wearing a strange long robe that looked like a funeral garment. His eyes were slightly closed, and he remained motionless.

Yelü Yan couldn't help but show a hint of surprise and uncertainty on his face. At this moment, dozens of horses were galloping at high speed and there was no way they could stop. He tightened his grip on the iron mace.

When they were only about ten feet away from the old man, the old man still did not move, as if he were standing and sleeping in the middle of the road. Yelü Yan couldn't help but show a ferocious expression.

In the blink of an eye, the horned beast was almost within a zhang of the old man. Suddenly, Yelü Yan opened his mouth and spewed out a flame that burned straight towards the old man.

The flame was crimson in color, with faint black smoke swirling around it; it was a powerful spell he had mastered, called the Flame Technique.

This fire can shoot about ten feet away. Although it can't melt gold or turn it into stone, it will definitely seriously injure any human or animal it touches. It can even kill them after burning them for a few breaths, leaving their bodies charred and their faces unrecognizable.

However, although this magic is powerful, it is only useful in one-on-one battles or when fighting against a small group. When facing an army of tens of thousands, which is endless, it is like a drop in the ocean and cannot make any waves.

Yelü Yan then spurted a burst of fire at the old man in front of him, not caring about his identity or background, just burning him to death so he wouldn't block the way.

The fire was incredibly fast, reaching the old man in an instant. But the old man was even faster; his figure vanished from the spot in a flash.

"Huh?!" Yelü Yan was immediately shocked. He vaguely saw a shadow approaching from the air, and he couldn't help but look up and hold the iron mace horizontally in his hand.

But suddenly a dazzling light shone from above, as if a star had fallen. He couldn't withstand it, and with a muffled "bang," he was knocked off his mount by the bursting starlight.

The old man blocking the way was none other than Murong Longcheng. After defeating Yelü Yan with a single punch, he moved swiftly towards the other Liao soldiers.

The Liao soldiers, numbering only a few dozen, were instantly killed by him, with half of them killed. The remaining soldiers continued to flee, but the Song army had already caught up. A volley of arrows followed, and then the pursuit resumed. In no time, they had caught up, hacking and slashing with swords and spears, trampling underfoot with iron hooves, turning them almost into mincemeat.

At this moment, the sky gradually turned white, emitting a white light. In front of Zhuozhou City, on the surrounding plains, corpses were piled up in layers, stretching for an unknown distance, as far as the eye could see, with no end in sight.

Broken banners were soaked in blood, broken spears and shards lay discarded on the ground, the morning wind swept by, wounded soldiers lay on the ground, warhorses collapsed, barely clinging to life, emitting continuous cries of pain.

After the last batch of Liao soldiers who were putting up a stubborn resistance were shot to death by arrows, the rising sun pierced through the clouds, and the first rays of dawn dyed the earth a pale gold. The Song army began to organize the cleanup of the battlefield.

After a night of fierce fighting, Zhuozhou fell, and a great victory was achieved.

(End of this chapter)