At the end of the Shen hour and the beginning of the You hour, amidst the dark clouds and hazy twilight, a rumbling rainstorm arrived as expected.
At this time, both Fan Zhongyan in Youyan and Di Qing in Yuguan, more than 200 kilometers away, were aware of the seriousness of the matter.
Rainy days would only significantly reduce the power of the firearms that the Song people relied on. Gunpowder is easily affected by moisture, so storage and loading must be done with caution. Although the muskets were designed to be waterproof, wind and rain could still cause various problems with them.
For example, the success rate of flint ignition decreases, gunpowder burns incompletely due to moisture, causing the musket to misfire, or even if the bullet is fired, it will be affected by wind and rain, causing a large deviation in accuracy.
Moreover, it was not just the muskets that were affected, the artillery was also greatly affected. Therefore, in this heavy rain, the Song army's ability to fight in the field would be severely weakened.
At this moment, outside Yumen Pass, the sky was as dark as ink, as if there was no sunshine. It was clearly only afternoon, but it was gray and hazy as if it was approaching dusk.
If you stand on Yuguan Pass and look out, you can see more than ten Liao army camps stretching out in a row about five or six miles from the city. They are not connected together, but are scattered in an orderly manner.
The number of people in the camp ranged from three to four thousand to ten thousand. A rough estimate by the Song army showed that there were at least sixty to seventy thousand Liao troops east of Yumen Pass.
As time went on, the Liao army's follow-up troops were all blocked east of Yumen Pass. A large number of Liao troops, gunpowder, and supplies were piled up. They attacked at night and caused great trouble to the Song army.
Amidst the heavy rain, the Liao army camp in the distance suddenly woke up from its deathly silence. With the sound of drums and horns, in several camps that supported each other, teams of soldiers emerged from behind the battlements of the rammed earth walls, with bows strung and swords unsheathed.
Everywhere was filled with the rustling sound of armored vehicles, anxious and angry urgings, uniform shouts, short and rapid commands, and sharp whistles.
The new Liao Dynasty's Tokyo Governor Lanling Prince Xiao Wanli inherited the title of his elder brother Xiao Pidi. Xiao Pidi was framed and killed by Empress Dowager Xiao in his early years. After Yelu Zongzhen ascended the throne, he rehabilitated him. Since Xiao Pidi had no descendants, he reused his younger brother Xiao Wanli.
This man is only forty years old this year, but he once followed Xiao Xiaomu, the former governor of Tokyo, to suppress the rebellious Bohai people. He not only showed bravery and fighting skills, but also was quite courageous and wise, and was highly regarded by Xiao Xiaomu.
He observed that although the Song army was strong in daytime field battles, they were not so effective at night battles, so he formulated a strategy of multiple night attacks, which caused Di Qing considerable trouble.
If Di Qing had not been equally brave and good at fighting, and had not been able to resist the Liao army, which was ten times larger than his number with a small number of troops, without being at a disadvantage at all, the attacking Song army would probably have been forced back from Yumen Pass by the Liao army and returned to the ship.
"Your Majesty."
Shulü Chuoliji came riding in the rain wearing a straw raincoat.
The horse's hooves trampled the mud and splashed water everywhere.
He came to Xiao Wanli's side, dismounted, and said, "Your Majesty, the Song people's ships have sailed."
"The boats at the dock?"
Xiao Wanli asked.
"Yes."
Shulü Chuoliji said, "Scouts saw them set sail and disappeared."
"It's going to get dark soon. Isn't it courting death to go out to sea now?"
Xiao Wanli was puzzled and looked to the east.
In the distance, the East China Sea was also covered with dark clouds, lightning and thunder.
Even non-fishermen know what the consequences are of going out to sea during heavy rain.
So it is difficult to understand what the Song army was trying to do.
"Could they go around to our rear and attack our troops?"
Shulü Chuoliji said.
"Not good! They must be heading west first to attack the King of Qi."
Xiao Wanli immediately realized that something was wrong.
The Song army now moved all its ships to the Yuguan Port because it was close to the Yuli River, making it easier for the fleet to block the river.
Guangning basically relies on city defense.
But similarly, there were not many Liao troops in Guangning, only less than 20,000.
After all, Yelu Zongzhen still had to deal with the main force of the Song army, and it was impossible for him to dispatch too many troops from Xijin to provide support.
So the current situation is that the pressure in Guangning is far less than that in Yuguan.
The Song army most likely wanted to defeat them one by one, first concentrating its forces to attack Xiao Xiaomu's side, which had relatively fewer troops, and then deal with him.
Just like the day before yesterday when the Song army suddenly attacked the Liao army stationed in Jiaoshan.
"What should I do then?"
Upon hearing Xiao Wanli's words, Shulü Chuoliji also realized that something was wrong and hurriedly said, "After the heavy rain, the Yu River has swollen. Although the Song army's ships are drifting, they have anchors and ropes to secure them, and they have cannons on board. We can't get close at all."
"The Song people are truly formidable. They use ships and cities to link up, supporting each other. If you try to attack one side, you'll inevitably be attacked by the other. Furthermore, their cannons are very light."
Xiao Wanli frowned. The Liao army's artillery weighed more than 2,000 pounds. Although the Song army's main battle artillery also weighed more than 2,000 pounds, they had small steel cannons weighing more than 200 pounds, and their mobility was much stronger than that of the Liao army.
In this situation, it was difficult for them to bring the cannons to the shore or outside the city. After all, the Song army's cannons were not used for nothing.
Now that it was raining heavily, the Song army's firearms were indeed affected, but their artillery was also unusable, so he originally wanted to use a primitive method, brave the rain and attack the Song army's city at night, and directly force the attack.
Unexpectedly, the Song army's fleet left the dock and implemented their own tactics, so the Liao army obviously had to consider countermeasures.
"You mean, the Yushui River is rising now?"
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