The prince is more stable

Chapter 409: The Last Elegy

Information asymmetry is a terrible thing.

The Liao Kingdom actually knew about the Song Dynasty's flintlock rifle, and in order to obtain the secret of the flintlock rifle, the Liao Kingdom secretly carried out many tricks.

Niaoniao, a chess piece that had been buried for a long time, was exposed because of the flintlock rifle. Later, the intelligence network that the Liao Kingdom had deployed in Bianliang, the capital of the Song Dynasty, was uprooted.

When Xiao Guangjing led an envoy to the Song Dynasty, Zhao Xiaoqian arranged an autumn hunting activity, and the members of the Liao delegation witnessed the power of the flintlock rifle with their own eyes.

The envoys were so shocked by the scene that they were speechless, and many of them burst into tears on the spot. They knew that the era of Liao's hegemony was over.

The Liao envoys all knew about this and reported it to Yelu Hongji in detail after returning to the capital.

Later, in the Song-Xia War, the 5,000 soldiers of the Dragon Guard Camp penetrated deep into the heart of Western Xia as if they were in an empty land. They also relied on this kind of powerful firearms.

Yelu Hongji of Liao had already been informed of these matters.

However, there were no videos or recordings in those days, and the power of the Song army's firearms was limited to written descriptions, which created an information gap.

Yelu Hongji was afraid of the Song Dynasty's firearms, but he was unwilling to see the Liao Kingdom lose its dominant position. At the same time, he also wanted to clearly test the true combat power of the Song army.

All these factors combined led to Yelu Hongji's determination to send troops to attack Zhending Prefecture.

Outside the border of Zhending Prefecture, the 10,000 Liao troops stationed there all year round had actually long known that the 40,000 troops of Zhejin Prefecture were on their way.

Therefore, the 10,000 Liao soldiers were in a very relaxed mood. They slept soundly in their tents in the heavy snow. After the main army gathered together, they marched straight into the Song territory, burning, killing and looting. When they encountered the Song army, they beat them severely, and finally forced the Song to send envoys to ask for peace. The Liao Kingdom sharply increased the annual tribute, and the two countries continued to maintain friendly relations.

Isn't this what we have done for so many years?

But who could have imagined that the Song army would dare to cross the border and attack the Liao army camp in such a cold season.

To be honest, the two thousand Liao soldiers who hurried out of the camp to fight were a little confused at the moment. The dark array of Song army in the distance was right in front of them, but they still couldn't believe their eyes.

The Song State, which had been weak for a hundred years, actually had the courage to take the initiative to attack. Who gave them the courage?
Is it because the Liao Kingdom has been too friendly to them in recent years? Does the Song army really think they can do it again?

About a mile ahead, the Liao general estimated that the Song army had about 7,000 soldiers and horses, and they had dismounted and were calmly forming a battle formation.

The Liao army left the camp hastily and had not yet formed up. This was the best opportunity to launch a surprise attack, but the Song army gave up and just stood there in formation, waiting calmly for the Liao army to form up their array and hold their weapons.

Seeing the Song army so calm, the Liao general who was the first to leave the camp felt his heart sink for some reason.

The two sides had not yet engaged in battle, but the Liao generals had already clearly felt that this Song army that was actively attacking was completely different from previous Song armies.

Just from the overall spirit of this Song army, one can tell that it is very different.

The seven thousand soldiers were just standing quietly in the snow, but the Liao general could feel the suffocating murderous atmosphere. Even a mile away, he could feel the eyes of the Song soldiers, which were quiet and terrifying, like looking at two thousand pigs waiting to be slaughtered without any resistance.

Forcefully suppressing the uneasiness in his heart, the Liao general gritted his teeth, raised his sword, and shouted, "Form a formation, advance!"

The quality of the 2,000 Liao troops was still quite strong. Although they were forced to fight in a hurry, they quickly formed a battle formation, wielding spears, swords and halberds, and slowly advanced forward under the command of their generals.

The rumbling sound of horse hooves came from the camp behind him.

The remaining Liao troops in the camp had put on their armor, mounted their horses, and were ready to attack.

The Liao general in front felt a little relieved. Since his comrades behind him had already mounted their horses, this battle would not be a big problem.

When the Liao people mounted their war horses, they became the invincible Liao cavalry, and no one on this land could stop them.

"Quick, advance!" the Liao general shouted, and turned his head to look. Thousands of cavalry had rushed out of the camp and circled around the two thousand Liao infantry on both sides. At this point, the Liao army camp had come out in full force and formed a complete formation facing the Song army.

The infantry advanced in the center, and the cavalry encircled the left and right wings.

Inside the camp, the rhythm of the war drums suddenly accelerated, like a signal urging people to attack.

The pace of the two thousand Liao troops was getting faster and faster, while the Liao cavalry on both wings began to charge on horseback, stabbing the daggers that had pierced the ribs of the Song army fiercely towards the center of the Song army.

The two countries, which had been at peace for nearly a hundred years, officially started fighting.

There were no so-called punitive manifestos, no declarations of war or verbal abuse, and even after the two armies came into contact, there was no nonsense on the battlefield, and the encounter was a fight to the death.

In the Song army formation, Zhe Keshi squinted his eyes and stared at the Liao cavalry charging on the opposite side. His heartbeat seemed to quicken with the sound of horse hooves.

This was his first time commanding the Song Dynasty's firearms army in battle. Needless to say, he was very excited, but he was also under a lot of pressure.

For Zhe Keshi, who had a deep understanding of this type of firearm, victory was a foregone conclusion. The biggest pressure was how to fight today's battle beautifully so that he could have the nerve to brag about it in front of the Duke of the County when he returned.

Holding such an extraordinary firearm, if he still suffered heavy casualties in a battle and barely won, Zhe Keshi would have committed suicide by slitting his own throat, truly living up to the promise of "coming to see his head with his head held high".

"Entire army, spread out at both ends and attack the cavalry on the left and right wings separately. The middle section remains still and waits until the enemy is within 300 steps before firing." Zhe Keshi gave the order loudly.

The 7,000 soldiers of the Dragon Guard Battalion usually practice more drills than actual combat, but they are already familiar with the various formations and responses of each type of troops during drills.

The situation before them had been dealt with many times during training, so the soldiers changed their formation calmly. The formations on the left and right ends dispersed, and they stood sideways facing the Liao cavalry and re-formed their formations in an obtuse angle. At this point, the entire formation of the Song army was like a huge, thick arrow, without any panic.

The Liao cavalry were very fast, and the distance of one mile, along with the vast plains, was ample room for the cavalry to accelerate. As the Song army had just settled into their formation, the Liao cavalry were already within 300 steps of their range.

Zhe Keshi raised his hands excitedly: "Left and right, release!"

There was a loud bang and clouds of smoke rose from the Song army's formation, while the Liao cavalry that came into range on the opposite side wailed. Countless Liao cavalry fell down inexplicably and were ruthlessly trampled by the horses behind them until they were turned into meat paste.

One round of firing followed by a second round, followed by another loud bang, and the charging Liao cavalry fell to the ground again, followed by a third round...

Like workers on a factory assembly line, the Song army mechanically and precisely repeated standard procedures such as firing, retreating, filling positions, loading gunpowder, and loading bullets, like emotionless machines.

However, the iron bullets fired had already caused great casualties to the Liao cavalry.

Originally, the Liao cavalry encircled the Song army from the left and right wings and attacked the center of the Song army. As long as the Liao cavalry rushed into the formation and disrupted their formation, the Song army would be basically defeated.

However, after entering the range of 300 steps, the Liao cavalry found that they could not advance any further.

Within three hundred steps, the corpses of the Liao cavalry warriors and their war horses had piled up like a mountain. The Song army on the opposite side fired tirelessly round after round of guns. The Liao cavalry stepped over the corpses of their comrades and war horses to continue the charge, and then continued to be shot and killed by the firearms of the Song army in the next round.

Three hundred steps have become a natural moat.

It was like a huge mouth opened from deep underground, devouring the lives of the Liao cavalry soldiers with relish. No matter how many lives it took, the bottom of this huge mouth was hell.

In this charge alone, more than 3,000 Liao cavalrymen on the left and right wings were killed.

The Song army on the opposite side didn't even touch a hair.

The Liao army officers and soldiers were completely frightened. Although the military order was as firm as a mountain, under the threat of death, the surviving Liao cavalry on the left and right wings still tightly pulled the reins of their horses and dared not charge again.

In the Song army formation, Zhe Keshi suppressed his excitement and tried to keep his expression and eyes calm. He looked at the results of each round of shooting, the pile of corpses three hundred steps away, the Liao cavalry who had obviously become timid and hesitant, and the Song Dynasty flag fluttering in the wind behind him.

Zhe Keshi's hands trembled slightly.

This was his first time commanding the Song Dynasty's firearms army, and he finally witnessed with his own eyes the dimensionality-reduction crushing of the new civilization over the old civilization.

It turns out that this is a firearm.

It turns out that the soldiers do not need to fight desperately, they only need to respond to the enemy in an orderly manner according to the training manual, and they can kill the enemy from a distance and win.

Back in the northwest, those Song Dynasty soldiers fought bloody battles with the Western Xia army. They died on the battlefield, but in the end they suffered more defeats than victories. What was the significance of this?
Zhe Keshi's eyes were red, and the faces of his comrades who had lived and eaten together as close as brothers, but were now buried forever in the ground, appeared in his mind one by one.

If Duke Zhao had been born a hundred years earlier, and if the flintlock rifle had been invented a hundred years earlier, would those brothers have avoided having to sacrifice their lives?
At this moment, Zhe Keshi's joy of victory has gradually subsided, and he has turned into a sad mood.

The Liao army on the opposite side, both infantry and cavalry, seemed to be frozen alive by this damn weather. They all stopped moving, staring blankly and sadly at the unharmed Song army three hundred steps away, and at the corpses of more than three thousand comrades lying on the ground in front of them.

The cold wind was like a sharp blade that pierced their bodies and their souls.

An era is over.

And they are the last sacrifices offered on the altar by the hands of the old era.

But who is willing to be a pitiful sacrifice?

They are living people, the invincible cavalry of the Liao Kingdom, and warriors for whom dignity is more important than life!
The leading Liao army general had red eyes and was breathing heavily on his horse. He raised his sword slowly but firmly.

At this point in the battle between the two armies, the outcome was no longer in doubt.

The Liao army needed to exchange death for a decent exit.

"Let's... charge again!" The Liao general turned around and looked at the soldiers behind him with a reluctant but resolute look.

The remaining thousands of Liao cavalry raised their swords and spears.

"One more charge!"

The Liao cavalry officers and soldiers shouted with all their might, their voices tragic and resolute.

"Alright, all troops, listen up! Re-form your formation and encircle us from both sides..." General Liao smiled carefreely, "This time, I will lead the way. You all follow me."

The cavalry formation was quickly rearranged.

The Liao general took a deep breath, suddenly rode his horse ahead, and rushed towards the Song army opposite without hesitation.

Behind him, the remaining thousands of Liao cavalry also started to move and followed closely. No one retreated cowardly. Even the two thousand Liao infantry rushed towards the Song army at a rapid speed.

"The Great Liao is invincible!" The Liao general galloped on his horse, his eyes blurred with tears, and his roar shook the sky, like the last elegy of the old era.

"Great Liao is invincible!" Thousands of Liao soldiers roared in unison.

boom! boom!
In the Song army's camp, smoke rose, ruthlessly harvesting lives.

(End of this chapter)