On the Yushui River, more than twenty Song Dynasty warships were lined up in battle formation.
Directly east of them was the city of Yuguan.
To the southwest is Guangning City.
In this way, the entire Song army's defense line was three, forming a three-shaped shape.
However, because Yushui is located at a lower altitude, it is almost impossible for artillery to hit the front, so the frontal pressure is almost entirely on Yumen Pass.
It’s not that Di Qing didn’t want to retreat, but he had three considerations.
First, if they retreated to Yushui, the enemy could take advantage of the situation to occupy Yuguan Pass, and from their high ground, they could shoot at the Song army on the water from the city, and the Song army would suffer a lot.
Secondly, this would create one less line of defense, which would put much less pressure on the Liao army. If they were not careful, they would be forced back to the sea.
The last and most important point was that he drew his sword and rode his horse, intercepting the central location of Yumen Pass, and abruptly cutting off the main traffic route between Xijin Prefecture and Liaoyang Prefecture of the Liao Kingdom, which was equivalent to cutting the two heads of a snake in half.
Since it was a two-headed snake, with fangs on both the head and tail, it was bound to bite back from both ends. Thus, Di Qing was bound to be attacked from both sides by Xijin Prefecture and Liaoyang Prefecture, putting him in an unfavorable position of being trapped from both sides.
If there were too few defense lines at this time, there would be only one result waiting for Di Qing - that is, the Song army would be surrounded on all sides, in a panic, and would most likely be annihilated by the enemy.
Therefore, Di Qing had to allocate troops reasonably, letting Yuguan deal with the enemies in the east, Guangning deal with the enemies in the west, and the Song army on the Yushui River block the entire Yuguan passage to deal with the Liao army that detoured from several kilometers north and south of Yuguan or rush to support Yuguan and Guangning at any time.
On the top of Yuguan City, Di Qing was using a telescope to observe the Liao army galloping towards him from a distance. Their soldiers had already formed up on the top of the city walls. Although they had no artillery, they had muskets, so they thought it should be no problem to stop this wave of enemies.
"They are not numerous, and we have mobilized another 2,000 soldiers to defend them. The biggest problem is that they must have other troops in the rear. If they are surrounded by the Liao army, it will be very difficult."
Di Qing commanded his men confidently, forming a battle array on the city walls, aiming their muskets downward. He then said to Hu Yanshouyong, who was standing beside him, "We must strike them head-on. After repelling this group of enemies, we will immediately begin transporting artillery to the city walls to stop the enemy."
"Yes, Marshal."
Huyan Shouyong had already understood Di Qing's good intentions and nodded repeatedly to show his understanding.
Then Huyan Shouyong went over to command the soldiers to fight in person.
Two thousand more soldiers came on the boats outside the city, relying on the city walls for defense. Although muskets were powerful in field battles, it would be difficult to defend against cavalry if they bypassed the two sides, so having a city was naturally the best choice.
Soon, in the dust and smoke, Shulü Chuliji was less than three miles away from Yuguan Pass. He suddenly raised his hand and shouted, "Stop!"
"stop!"
The messengers in the rear shouted loudly, but in fact such shouting was of no use, but they would wave their arms to issue military orders.
So the cavalrymen behind him reined in their horses and stopped charging.
Deputy General Dieci Da also asked, "Xiang Wen, what's wrong?"
Shulü Chuoliji's official title was Xianwen, which was equivalent to the commander of an army in the Song Dynasty.
He looked around and saw from afar that the Song army was already on guard in the city, with dense crowds of people emerging. His heart sank for a moment, realizing that he was too late.
Of course he knew what the result would be if the cavalry attacked the city. Moreover, they were a marching team and did not even have any supplies. When they passed through cities in various places, the local cities were responsible for their supplies.
This meant that they did not have much food with them and did not have any siege equipment. If they could not attack the enemy when they were not yet firmly established, it would be difficult to complete the siege.
Wait a minute.
I remember the person who escaped before said that the enemy used artillery to blow down the west gate of Yuguan to enter the city. In other words, the west gate of the city is broken?
Shulü Chuliji narrowed his eyes and glanced at the top of the city wall. There seemed to be a lot of people there, but an experienced veteran could tell at a glance that there seemed to be only a few hundred people there, and he could completely avoid attacking the east gate and go around to the west gate.
Thinking of this, he immediately said, "The enemy has already occupied the city. We can't charge in from the front, but do you remember? The man just now said that the Song army used artillery to blow down the west gate."
Diecida also opened his eyes wide and asked, "Xiangwen means we bypass the east gate and attack from the west gate?"
"good!"
Shulü Chuoliji nodded, then waved his hand and said, "You lead two thousand men and go around from the north gate, and I will go around from the south gate. Got it?"
"yes."
Dieci Da also agreed.
Then, in the wilderness, 5,000 Liao cavalrymen split into two groups and rushed towards Yumen Pass in a mighty force.
There was a cry of surprise from the top of Yuguan City Wall, and someone shouted, "The enemy has taken a detour."
"General, should we go to the west gate?"
"Need I tell you more? Go to the west gate right now and run!"
Hu Yanshou shouted almost in a roar.
A large number of Song army soldiers hurriedly put away their guns that were originally aimed at the outside of the east city gate and headed towards the west gate.
Only Di Qing remained calm and composed, standing where he was. Huyan Shouyong hurried over and said, "General, it's just as you said. They went to the west gate."
"Are they all hidden?"
"Yes, we have them hiding at the foot of the river bank. If the Liao people come, we can charge out and kill them."
"Let the people on the ship fire a few cannons. The Liao people are not fools and will not be fooled so easily."
"yes."
Huyan Shouyong ran to the west gate in a hurry again. He was really tired.
Just now he went to arrange the two thousand ambush troops, and then came to the top of the city to set up the array, and had to run up and down the city.
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