Chapter 312: Going out to
fight The flags were flying, the helmets were shining, the horses were neighing, and the 80,000-man army was majestic and powerful.
When the people who were seeing them off saw the flag of the Regent Prince Zhao Defang, they seemed to have less worries in their hearts. They hoped that the Regent Prince, the god of war of the Song Dynasty, would lead the army to victory and their children would be able to fight bravely and be rewarded.
Regent Prince Zhao Defang believed that the quality of soldiers was more important than the number. Although the army for the Northern Expedition this time was only 80,000, plus the troops guarding the border, the number of people was only more than 120,000. But the soldiers were confident of victory. After a year of hard training, the quality of the soldiers had improved several times, and the morale was high!
The great army commander Zhao Defang was even more confident of victory. In addition to his elite soldiers and generals, the magic crossbows and thunderbolts were the basis of his confidence in victory.
At the fork in the road, Yang Yanzhao led 30,000 troops and went their separate ways with the regent Zhao Defang. The Yang Family Army was the main force of the Western Army in the Northern Expedition. Yang Ye, the Golden Sword Lord, was the commander of the Western Army, and Yang Yanzhao was the vanguard. The father and son fought side by side, responsible for conquering Shuozhou, Huanzhou, Yingzhou and Yunzhou that had been captured last time from Yanmen Pass, and attacking the Eastern Army from both sides to capture all the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
Zhao Defang, the regent, boldly used young generals Cao Wei and Gao Yingxiong. He was the commander of the 50,000-man army, and Cao Wei and Gao Yingxiong served as the vanguard commanders.
When the eastern army arrived at Yizhou City, the garrison commander Cheng Yu led his lieutenants out of the city to greet them.
When Zhao Defang was guarding Yizhou City, he had already recruited Cheng Yu, the commander of the 16,000-man army, under his command. Now, the new emperor has ascended the throne, and the King of Qin has been canonized as the regent with real power. Several lieutenants admired the vision of the commander Cheng Yu. The choice was right, and the future was limitless!
People of the same family don't need to be too polite. After Cheng Yu and others paid homage to His Royal Highness the Regent, they exchanged greetings with Cao Wei and Gao Yingxiong, and then casually chatted and laughed as they entered Yizhou City.
Regent Prince Zhao Defang pointed at the sand table with the thin wooden stick in his hand and said, "This time the Eastern Army will still attack from Zhuozhou. After taking Zhuozhou, the retreat of Yingzhou and Mozhou will be cut off. General Cheng, you will take 15,000 soldiers to recapture these two states.
I will lead General Cao and General Gao to continue to attack Youzhou, Jizhou, and Danzhou to the north, and then work with the Western Army to attack from both sides and recapture the entire Sixteen States of Yanyun.
After Cheng Yu accepted the order, he said with regret, "Yingzhou and Mozhou were originally taken back by the Song Dynasty a few years ago. Your Majesty has also gone to Ying to investigate the corruption case of the disaster relief bank. However, the useless defenders of the two cities lost them again. I heard that the people in the two cities are eagerly waiting to be rescued!"
The Regent Prince Zhao Defang said with a firm look in his eyes: "If we take it back this time, we will never lose it. The border with Liao State is temporarily set at the foot of the Great Wall in the north, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. After a few years of recuperation, I will lead the army to attack Huanglong directly and conquer his Shangjing City!"
His Royal Highness the Regent Prince spoke confidently and domineeringly. The generals were inspired and their blood boiled. They all clasped their fists and responded: "I am willing to fight for you, my lord, and follow you until death! "…
After the 65,000-strong army easily captured several pass strongholds, they arrived at the city of Zhuozhou.
Cheng Yu looked at the high city walls in front of him which were filled with Liao troops, and cautiously suggested: "Your Majesty, the walls of Zhuozhou City are tall, wide and thick. There are more than 15,000 defenders in the city, all of whom are elite Liao troops. If we attack rashly, our army will suffer heavy losses. I suggest that we build more siege chariots and catapults to engage in long-range shooting with the Liao troops on the city walls, consume the enemy's arrows and morale, and then attack and capture Zhuozhou City in one fell swoop. "
The Regent Prince Zhao Defang just smiled faintly, "General Cheng, I will capture Zhuozhou City today. You will see how the future wars will be fought?"
Cheng Yu was surprised, but when he saw the confidence on the prince's face, he was excited again. The generals would not question the words of the God of War of the Song Dynasty, the Regent Prince.
"Cao Wei will lead two teams of archers from both sides to be responsible for protection. Yun Yi will lead twenty shadow guards and one thousand elite Moyun cavalry to be responsible for the main attack.
Gao Yingxiong will lead three thousand elite infantrymen and follow closely behind Yun Yi, responsible for controlling the city wall after it is captured. "
Several generals obeyed the order respectfully, and each of them assembled their soldiers, preparing to cooperate with each other in the siege.
Cheng Yu and the two deputy generals beside him were a little confused after listening to the arrangements of the prince. Why was the prince so confident that the twenty shadow guards and a thousand Mo Yun cavalry elite soldiers led by Yun Yi could take down the city wall?
Only to hear His Royal Highness the Regent give another faint order: "Wuxing, push the catapults to the front and send more explosive bullets to the enemy on the city wall."
"Yes, sir! "Wu Xing accepted the order and directed his men to push the catapults forward.
Yun Yi, with his armored Shadow Guards and Mo Yun Cavalry elite soldiers, carried siege ladders and stayed on the city wall, out of the range of the arrows, waiting silently.
Yelu Buhua, the Liao army garrison commander on the city wall, looked at the battle formation below, his heart beating with anxiety, hoping that the reinforcements would arrive soon. The news
from the rear of the Grand Marshal The military order required him to defend the city for ten days, and reinforcements would arrive. But when he saw the banner of Regent Zhao Defang in the distance, he felt miserable. When the war god of the Song Dynasty came to the city to command the battle, it was a miracle for these 15,000 soldiers to defend the city for seven days.
Seeing the trebuchets being mobilized in the distance, Yelu Buhua ordered, "Trebuches, prepare the crossbow carts for defending the city, and shoot at the enemy. "
He was not afraid of long-range attacks. On the three-meter-high wall, he had a great advantage over the enemy's upward attack.
Wu Xing led the trebuchet team into the range. The well-trained soldiers quickly adjusted their positions. The team leader next to each trebuchet adjusted the projection parameters with a ruler. This was a new skill they had been trained to develop. It was said that Shen Qiu had learned it from a booklet on mathematical functions. The result was several times more accurate than the previous shooting.
The rattan net bag did not contain millstone-sized stones, but several black iron guys.
The Liao army on the city wall opened fire first. After a round of catapults, a millstone-sized stone fell a few dozen steps to the right of the Song army's catapult position. The ground was hit and dust flew up, and the millstone-sized stone rolled and bounced. The formation was not small, but the enemy was unsuccessful.
Yelu Buhua looked at the soldiers in front of the trebuchets on the city wall, adjusting the shooting angle in a tense and orderly manner. He thought that the next wave would be the opponent's test firing. After three rounds of firing, the two sides would be able to find the landing point.
Seeing that the opponent's trebuchets were ready to fire in the distance, Yelu Buhua was not nervous, but only hoped that his trebuchets would succeed in the next two rounds of firing.
The enemy's catapult finally fired, and Yelu Buhua was surprised to see that what flew over were not big stones, but dozens of small black things.
Yelu Buhua looked at those small black things flying accurately towards the city wall, and hurriedly shouted to the soldiers to take cover, and he also hid under the battlements on the city wall. More
than forty dark guys landed on the top or behind the city wall: "Boom!..." "Boom!..." "Boom...!"...
The thunder exploded, the flames ignited and the smoke filled the air, there were screams and wailing sounds of souls flying away...
Yelu Buhua, who was squatting under the battlements of the city wall, was stunned. The terrifying thunder used by the elite soldiers of Mo Yunqi could also be fired by a catapult?
: "Not bad! Cut the gunpowder twister one inch shorter, and it will explode directly on top of the enemy's head!" After Wu Xing praised it, he ordered the soldier responsible for igniting the thunder to shorten the gunpowder twister one inch.