Richard's face turned ashen. He watched helplessly as the envoy he had sent out was beheaded and displayed before the Song army, serving as a sacrifice to the enemy.

In war, envoys are not to be killed!

These are the most basic rules of war. The Song state is the legitimate successor of the Chinese nation. Didn't you Chinese people invent these rules?

You killed my messenger without asking a single question. Aren't you afraid of being ridiculed by the world?

The sound of war drums resounded outside the city.

While Richard was feeling frustrated, he saw the Song soldiers below suddenly separate and push out long black iron tubes mounted on wheels from behind. He didn't know what those things were for and found them very strange.

The artillery battalion soldiers methodically pushed all thirty cannons to the front and arranged them neatly.

These thirty cannons were all the cannons the Song Dynasty possessed; they were the first batch of cannons hastily produced.

Without any hesitation, Zhao Huan dragged all the cannons out first.

Thirty cannons, their effectiveness uncertain, were all aimed at the main gate of Qingzhou City.

If he could blast it open directly, Zhao Huan would never use a second method. Just as he said, if he could exterminate the Dangxiang people, he would never give them any chance to live.

Richard still felt strange. Why did the Song army bring out thirty of these things instead of siege engines and ladders?

Could this thing possibly be used to attack cities?

Just as Richard was looking puzzled, the captain of the Song army's artillery battalion drew his sword, raised it, and shouted, and all the soldiers began to load iron bullets!

They loaded the iron pellets into the cannon barrel, and then, as the officer's saber fell from his hand, they lit the fuse together.

Bang bang bang...

Thirty cannons were aimed at the center of the city gate and fired simultaneously!

The tremor left Richard, who was on the city wall, completely dumbfounded.

Boom boom boom...

Thirty iron bullets were fired at the city gate, causing an explosion that immediately cracked the gate.

The city tower shook several times, and Richard almost fell to the ground. He was helped up by his subordinates. They quickly recovered and, after the men went down from the city tower, began to organize the army!

His scouts had already reported the arrival of the Song army to him, and he was prepared for a protracted war with them, since he was certain that the Song army could not capture Qingzhou so quickly.

But the war was completely unexpected, and his heart trembled as a bad premonition arose.

Richard roared, "Quickly! Mobilize all military forces and prepare for a full-scale battle!"

Boom boom boom...

The sound of cannon fire filled the air again. Thirty cannonballs were fired simultaneously, hitting the city gate and exploding, blasting the gate into a crooked shape.

The archers on the city wall fired arrows, hoping to kill the despicable Song artillerymen below, but the arrows fell limply to the ground, their range failing to reach the cannons.

Even the stone cannons on the city tower could not reach the location of the cannon.

Richard's face turned ashen. He mounted his horse and galloped wildly into the city, roaring madly.

The Xia army within the city assembled urgently.

Richard immediately ran to the Iron Falcon's military camp in the city. Everyone began to tidy up their armor, put on helmets, drape their warhorses in armor, and pick up their spears, battle axes, swords, and hammers, quickly forming ranks.

Boom boom boom...

The sound could be heard clearly throughout the city, shaking people to their core.

On the fifth bombardment, the city gate was completely reduced to rubble, and even parts of the city wall collapsed.

Immediately, the cannons began to change direction and fire at the city tower.

Five shots were fired, totaling 150 iron projectiles, which exploded on the city tower, causing it to collapse and killing the Xia soldiers on it.

All the cannonballs had been fired, and the defenses on the city wall were very weak. The siege ladders that had been deployed earlier were erected on the city wall, and the Song army began to climb the city wall using the ladders.

The war drums grew louder and louder.

Inside the city, a large number of Xia soldiers rushed to the city walls and began to climb the towers.

The city walls were quickly reinforced, but Song soldiers had already climbed onto the walls.

The battle on the city wall immediately entered a fierce fighting phase, with both sides engaging in close-quarters hand-to-hand combat.

Waves of cavalry rushed from all directions of the city to the south gate, while heavy troops were already stationed at the east, west, and north gates.

Qingzhou has 130,000 Xia troops, and its strength is not weak.

The city gates were open, but the Song army did not rush to attack the city.

The artillery battalion began to withdraw the artillery in an orderly manner, with three hundred musketeers appearing at the front.

Behind them were archers, and behind them were the most elite infantry of the Song Dynasty, with cavalry on their left and right flanks.

This formation is typical of waiting for the Xia army to charge out, then firing muskets first, followed by archers, then using heavy infantry to withstand the attack head-on, while cavalry charges from the left and right, and suicide squads to capture the city walls and occupy the high ground.

Xia Jun's elite troops gathered at the south gate and stopped inside.

Richard dared not attack rashly; the best course of action was to defend the city gates with a large force.

The vanguard of the Song army did not rush into the city gate, because the city gate was too narrow and could not allow a large army to attack at the same time.

If you rush in, you'll end up getting wiped out in one wave after another—a classic example of feeding kills.

The two armies were in a tacit standoff inside.

The real battlefield has moved to the city walls, where a bloody and brutal battle has begun.

Once the city walls are captured, the Song army, positioned high above the Xia army inside the city, can coordinate with the Song army that has entered through the city gates to launch an offensive against the Xia army.

Therefore, the Song army's siege was two-way, attacking both the city gates and the city walls!

At the same time, they also prepared for a possible sudden attack by the enemy.

More and more Song soldiers rushed toward the siege ladders, climbed the city walls, and fought one after another.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!