Yeli Yuqi gestured and said, "The craftsman said that a cannon is a cannonball fired after the gunpowder burns. If we shrink the cannon to a size that a person can hold in their hand, and also shrink the cannonball a lot, it should be like this."

The principle of the musket is the same as that of the artillery. When the firearms battalion is fighting, the steel guns in their hands will also produce a lot of smoke when shooting. When the white smoke is thick, it can even submerge the entire firearms battalion.

So the Western Xia army would only see a cloud of white smoke about a hundred or two hundred steps away, with occasional bangs heard, and then their comrades around them falling one after another.

This is very similar to the scene when an artillery position fires a cannon. The cannon will also emit a lot of thick fog. The difference is that what the person is holding is a small steel pipe.

Therefore, when the soldiers below reported the situation to higher levels, these people were actually able to understand the principle of the musket.

"You mean, that thing is a miniature cannon?"

Li Yuanhao was shocked.

"yes."

Yeli Yuqi nodded.

Li Yuanhao's mind immediately began to think rapidly.

As the king of field battles, artillery has been imitated by the Xixia and Liao people since its inception.

Due to the serious corruption in the Song Dynasty army, they were able to buy quite a few of them. After being disassembled by craftsmen, they were studied thoroughly.

Now it seems that the Song Dynasty is ahead of them again.

"If it's just like artillery, does that mean we can also imitate it?"

Li Yuanhao asked hurriedly.

Yang Su said: "If we give the craftsmen some time, it should be possible."

"Um."

Li Yuanhao nodded slightly and said, "If Daxia had such firearms, we wouldn't be afraid of the Song Dynasty."

Zhang Yuan reminded him, "Your Majesty, we still need to go back and discuss the matter of firearms. The Liao Kingdom has given us a lot of sulfur. Whether it's cannons or this new long-barreled cannon, we can make them in the future. The problem now is the present."

"Hmm"

Li Yuanhao pondered for a moment. The current problem was that both Qingtang Zuosiluo and the Song Dynasty had sent troops.

This is not something that can be solved by just withdrawing his troops.

Because they were about to attack Zhuola City, it was even a question whether they would let him go back, not to mention whether there would be a chance to make firearms in the future.

Although Li Yuanhao thought that the enemy had long-barreled cannons for field combat, he placed the remaining cannons on Zhuola City, which should prevent the enemy from breaking in. But the problem was that if the Song Dynasty was angered, what would happen if the firearms battalion attacked from all sides from the border?

Therefore, the top priority now is to calm the anger of the Song Dynasty.

This is diplomatic mediation.

Li Yuanhao immediately said, "Then I will immediately send someone to report to Emperor Song and tell him that this is all a misunderstanding."

"Your Majesty."

Zhang Yuan smiled bitterly and said, "If our army had only suffered a minor defeat, perhaps they would still be wary, but..."

"But what?"

"But we were defeated by only one or two thousand people. The Song Dynasty will definitely look down on us. If we submit a petition again, the Song Dynasty will definitely put forward various conditions."

"you mean?"

Li Yuanhao looked at him gloomily. Although he also wanted to send troops, it was all because of Zhang Yuan's instigation.

Zhang Yuan didn't notice Li Yuanhao's gaze and lowered his head in deep thought.

This is actually a question of initiative.

If they submit the petition first, the initiative will be in the hands of the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty will definitely control them.

The best case scenario is that the Song Dynasty issues an edict to reprimand them first, so that the Song Dynasty's attitude can be understood. The initiative is in the hands of Western Xia, and Western Xia can respond with words.

It doesn't matter even if I lower my posture a little. What I fear most is the military threat from the Song Dynasty.

So after a moment of contemplation, Zhang Yuan said cautiously, "I think we should send someone to contact Yang Xie, the transport envoy of Qinfeng Road, to express our intentions, hoping that he will withdraw his troops first. As for Zuo Silu, without the support of the Song Dynasty, they would not dare to attack us, Daxia."

"is that so?"

Li Yuanhao asked.

"Yes."

Zhang Yuan nodded.

"Um."

Li Yuanhao said, "That's it."

He immediately sent an envoy to Xishi Town, hoping to communicate with Yang Xie.

Yang Xie had not yet received the imperial edict and did not dare to make a decision on his own, so he did not reply immediately but reported to the court.

This has nothing to do with whether the generals are willing to fight or not.

The reason is simply that the Song Dynasty court never gave frontline generals the opportunity to act on their own.

"When a general is away from home, he may not obey the orders of the king" does not work at least in the Song Dynasty.

So far, there is only one person who has such convenience and can make decisions without consulting the court, and that is Fan Zhongyan, the current co-director of the Political System Council.

So when faced with Li Yuanhao's desire to communicate, he directly refused, continued to station his troops in Xishi, and also communicated with several other transport envoys.

The Shaanxi Road General was a temporary position. After Fan Zhongyan returned, no one held the position. The five transport envoys were of the same rank.

Zhao Jun thought that Liao and Xia were going to attack again, and originally planned to send Pang Ji, but now the situation seems that there is no way to start a war, so he decided to wait and see for the time being. Therefore, Yang Xie's superior was the court.

But it wasn't long before Yang Xie no longer had to worry about it. The order from the Constitutional Council was quickly issued, just like his current choice, to ignore Li Yuanhao and continue the confrontation.

By late September, seeing that there was no movement from Yang Xie and the Song court had not issued an edict to reprimand him, as if it was determined to fight to the end, Li Yuanhao suddenly became impatient.

The Song Dynasty was a powerful country and could maintain a military standoff.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!