"Protecting the upper body with a short round shield and then wearing heavy armor might be feasible. As long as the people in the front can withstand the attack, the flanks and the front army will charge fiercely and close in on us. Why should we be afraid of those Song soldiers who can only fight at range?"
Everyone below was discussing the matter and each proposed their own solution.
What's more, after brainstorming, they actually came up with a feasible plan. The only drawback is that it would cost the lives of the front-line soldiers.
"Maybe this method is feasible, but this is not what I am most worried about."
At this moment, Zhang Jian suddenly said.
Yelu Zongzhen hurriedly asked, "What is the Prime Minister worried about?"
"What worries me is that the Song people's firearms are constantly improving, with new weapons appearing all the time."
Zhang Jian said, "If they continue like this, I'm afraid they'll be able to create a musket that can fire continuously, like a repeating crossbow."
He looked sad and shook his head slightly bitterly. It wasn't that he was a prophet, but that was how the long crossbow developed.
Originally, the longbow could only fire one arrow at a time, just like the longbow.
The Qin State's bows and crossbows were unrivaled in the world, sweeping across the six kingdoms. All it needed was to learn how to load, unload, and fire to provide fire coverage, making up for the fact that an elite archer needed long-term training.
Later, the repeating crossbow gradually appeared. Although the crossbow was developed further, it was still inferior to the bow and arrow in range and could not completely replace the bow and arrow.
But today's firearms are different.
It has a longer range than a crossbow, greater power than a crossbow, and a faster firing rate than a crossbow.
It also doesn't require long training times like a crossbow.
It can be said that it combines all the advantages of a crossbow and all the advantages of a bow, and is already a king-level existence among long-range weapons.
The only drawback nowadays may be that it cannot fire continuously and needs to reload bullets after each shot.
But even so, it can make traditional bows and crossbows obsolete. Once the Song Dynasty solves the problem of continuous shooting, I am afraid that artillery will not be able to prevent the Song Dynasty from rising completely and sweeping across the East.
So Zhang Jian was distressed.
He found that he had seriously underestimated the speed of Song's development.
This is too exaggerated.
A few years ago, there were ways to crack the muskets.
The current muskets can only cost lives, not to mention that people have more than just muskets, they also have cannons, grenades, etc.
The probability of winning by sacrificing one's life is also very small. How many elite soldiers of the Liao army can be willing to sacrifice themselves in this way?
"No matter what, we must decide to fight a decisive battle with the State of Song."
Yelu Zongzhen clenched his fists and said in a deep voice, "If we don't fight a decisive battle now, they will continue to surround the city. Once the city is besieged, we will be doomed."
Their original intention was to lure the Song army to their own territory to fight, and use the advantages of artillery and terrain to defeat the Song Dynasty.
But now they found that their slight advantage had been made up for by the Song army's muskets, and the gap between the two sides was getting bigger and bigger. It was impossible to restore the Liao Kingdom's former status.
But what can we do?
They were defeated at the beginning. If they didn't continue fighting, in a few years they would not even be able to fight and would have to wait for their country to be destroyed.
So at this moment, the saying still applies - it's hard to get off the tiger.
"Your Majesty, give the order."
Xiao Ying and others stood up and bowed to Yelu Zongzhen.
"Well, let's discuss it. We must find a time to launch a surprise attack on the Song army, preferably at night."
Yelu Zongzhen returned to his desk and looked through the map of the situation around Youyan.
At this moment, the Song army and the Liao army were fighting each other. The Liao army was mainly concentrated in the surrounding cities centered on Xijin Prefecture, which was later Beijing.
The Song army was in the process of infiltration, and the main force had surrounded the Liao army's front fortress city of Liangxiang, which was roughly the area between Fangshan District and Daxing District in Beijing in later generations.
Their next step is likely to continue to advance into Yuhe and Wanping, which is the Fengtai District and the South Fourth Ring Road area of Beijing in later generations, cutting off Liangxiang's connection with the north and thus besieging the city.
Yelu Zongzhen pondered and decided to deploy troops around the Song army. Although they did not know the situation over there due to the lack of reconnaissance during the day, they could also use the darkness of the night to sneak over and conduct reconnaissance.
The area is so large, can the Song army arrange sentries on every inch of land?
That's unrealistic.
"Xiao Xiaoyou, you send it away."
Just when Yelu Zongzhen was preparing to ask Xiao Xiaoyou to send a suicide squad to investigate outside the Song camp tonight.
Suddenly, a guard came in from outside, knelt on one knee and said, "Report, urgent news from Yuguan!"
"Yuguan?"
Yelu Zongzhen was stunned for a moment, then said, "Let someone in."
Zhang Jian frowned below, feeling that something bad seemed to have happened.
A moment later, a messenger hurried in and said anxiously, "Report, Your Majesty, the Song army sent a large fleet to raid Yuguan Pass. They have now occupied the pass and cut off our rear troops."
"What?"
Yelu Zongzhen suddenly stood up from his chair again, his eyes revealing horror.
Yuguan is not only the connecting channel between Nanjing and Tokyo of Liao Dynasty, but also the only way for his main force to pass through.
Although nearly half of his main force had already arrived due to advance deployment, troops from Tokyo were still rushing here one after another.
In addition, there are a large amount of supplies, food, and equipment.
You should know that the current gunpowder production base of the Liao Dynasty is in Tokyo Liaoyang Prefecture. It is not that Yelu Zongzhen is unwilling to move to Zhongjing, but due to geographical factors.
The Liao Dynasty did not produce sulfur. Their main source of sulfur was imported from Japan. The nearest point for sea transportation was in Liaoyang. Other places like Xijin and Donghai were very far away, which would greatly increase transportation costs.
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