Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 74

The soldiers of the Fire Gun Battalion rushed forward like a 'tide', Zhao Xingde could only act together with the soldiers, his heart was suddenly filled with an ominous premonition.Not long after rushing into the front of the Liao army, the ground shook slightly.

Behind the tall artillery barracks of the Liao army, thousands of cavalry suddenly rushed out of the leather tents at the top of the city that they thought were the heavy supplies of the Liao army. Regardless of the defeated soldiers who trampled on their own side, they rushed towards the Song army like a flood.The Liao and Song Dynasties have been at war for a hundred years, and they have 'touched' each other very clearly.The Song army fought bravely, but when they successfully broke into the Liao formation, the archers, spearmen, and sword and shield hands often became chaotic because of scrambling for the first place.Taking advantage of the moment when the Song Army's formation was the loosest, the Liao Army's cavalry struck fiercely, often by surprise, killing a corpse all over the field, turning defeat into victory.

Wang Yan, who was watching the battle from the top of the city, was shocked. In such a situation, even if the Song army could withstand the impact of the iron cavalry, the scattered vanguard would inevitably suffer huge losses, and Zhao Xingde happened to be in the front at this time .

"Drumming! The Chinese army formation presses up!" Wang Yan said in a deep voice, and the flag officer quickly pulled the ocher flag representing the Chinese army formation, stood below and waved the white flag, giving the order to go out.

The commander of the Zhongyong Army, Bai Anmin, heard the rapid drumming on the city tower, and immediately issued a military order. Nearly 500 infantry, with a battalion of [-] people as a unit, the Chinese army formed by nearly [-] small phalanxes began to move forward slowly.Although the formation was out, the speed was extremely slow compared to the Liao army attacking from the opposite side. At this time, no one dared to force the formation to speed up. Even the formation is also taken in.

At the top of the city, Wang Yan saw the large formation of the Chinese army pressing forward according to the order, but compared with the approach of the cavalry of the Liao army, it was as slow as a snail, and his face became more gloomy. ” The Khitan army was not good at defending. When fighting against the Song army, they often retreated first, and then kicked back the Song army with cavalry. This is an old technique.But every time they fought, the Song army couldn't stop rushing because of the tricks of the Liao army.At the risk of rushing to the front of several commanders, they usually risk suffering heavy losses from the cavalry's counterattack.Zhao Xingde had no experience in fighting the Liao army, Wang Yan was worried that he would be afraid and delay the opportunity to defeat the Liao army's iron wall camp, so he deliberately did not tell him.From what he saw, as long as the large infantry formations that the Liao people had arranged in advance to protect the artillery fortresses were defeated, even if the Liao cavalry charged back and killed several times, with the tenacity and courage of the Song army infantry formations, it would not be possible to destroy the giant artillery of the Liao Kingdom. question.

"The Khitan dog is charging up again!"

"Liao cavalry!"

Before Zhao Xingde issued the military order, the battalion commanders and the heads of all shouted together, "Formation!" Facing inward, the circular formation with the head and spear facing outward protects itself.Because this formation is simple, in just a few breaths, dozens of large and small circle formations appeared on the messy battlefield, as if there were six plum blossoms, with more than two hundred people at most, and some at least as many people. Dozens of people.The officer yelled loudly, "Face outward, and wait for the enemy." The soldiers unanimously pointed their spears outward.

After the circle formation was completed, the soldiers of the Huobao Battalion were still under the command of the officers. According to the banner in the center of the circle formation, the head of the circle slowly moved closer to the circle commanded by the battalion, and the commander of the battalion moved closer to Zhao Xingde's place. , Compared with the speed of the assembled formation, the speed of the circular formation at this time is extremely slow, and it has hardly taken a few steps. The cavalry of the Liao people washed between the various circular formations like a torrent of flood, and the explosive horseshoes did not move. Trampled on the corpses on the ground scrupulously, the Khitan cavalry surrounded the circle of the Song army and kept firing their bows and arrows.

Zhao Xingde's banner of the Chinese army was taken special care by the Liao army, and he was hit by more than a dozen arrows in almost a moment. He stood motionless under the banner, while Su Wenyu and several banner officers carried the shields discarded by the Liao people to cover him. Holding the arrow, he can only see the situation outside through the gap in the shield.

"General! The last general will protect you, charge out!" The arrows of the Liao people smashed on the shield, and Su Wenyu was a little impatient.

"No! Hold on to the formation! Don't act carelessly!" Zhao Xingde's face turned pale. He didn't expect such an embarrassing situation surrounded by superior cavalry. The Firebolt Battalion, which was approaching but had lost its advantage in firepower, was completely passively beaten.Just now, a man who was about to set up a firecracker fell to the ground with a scream.Liao cavalry were very rampant, within a dozen steps they fired their bows and arrows, and almost all arrows were fired. Zhao Xingde believed that within a few minutes, the Firebolt Camp might fall into a trap because they couldn't bear the damage caused by the cavalry's arrows. collapse.

Although it seemed that he was surrounded by Liao cavalry and shot and killed recklessly, Liao general Guo Baoyi was also very depressed. The Song army suddenly shrunk into a hedgehog formation, but it was not as refreshing as usual to rush into the "rebellious" army formation and slaughter the infantry. So far, I have only "shot" two or three Song army soldiers to death.

Guo Baoyi was hesitating whether to give up these hedgehogs and charge directly to the Song army formation on the opposite side, but the rigorous formation was daunting. Do not attack the Song army formation, this is almost engraved in the bones of Liao cavalry generals. Just as Guo Baoyi was still hesitating, the Song Army camp that was slowly marching opposite began to shoot dense and powerful arrow feathers, and some Khitan cavalry had already been hit by arrows.

Looking from a distance, the hedgehog formations of the Fire Gun Battalion are slowly closing in on each other, and the gap between the formations is getting narrower and narrower. The Khitan cavalry really seem to be circling around the hedgehogs, but they can't find the fox at the lower entrance. "This guy surnamed Zhao has some abilities, and he deserves the attention of the master." Bai Anmin turned his head to Jiao Zhongyi, the marquis of Yu, the loyal soldier, "Come forward and drive out the Khitan cavalry!"

Seeing that the Zhongyong Army finally rushed up, more than [-] Song Army infantry raised their guns and knives at the same time, fighting with the Liao cavalry, and there were countless strong bows and crossbows behind them, shooting and killing the Liao cavalry trapped in the infantry. .At this time, the cavalry of the Liao army on the left and right flanks also retreated, and the cavalry of the left and right vanguards of the Song army appeared on the flanks.

In front of the Song army, which is attacking like a tide, is the fortress of the Liao army's giant artillery. I can vaguely see some Liao troops shooting arrows, but the low rammed earth barracks can't stop the advance of the Song army at all. The defeat of the army not only spread the atmosphere of defeat to the rear, but also disrupted the formation of the firearms battalion of the Han army, which was originally not good at close combat.

"Finally survived." Zhao Xingde breathed a sigh of relief, he held a firecracker in his hand, and told Su Wenyu: "The commanders of the battalions should gather the soldiers, and everyone should not run away."

The artillery fortress of the Liao army was built between the two tributaries of the Yellow River to the west of Hejian City. The Song and Liao armies fought in the narrow strip, and the sound of gold and iron clashed together.The Khitan cavalry couldn't gallop, and almost all the cavalry who entered the battlefield had to keep turning their horses' heads to deal with the Song army's infantry in front, back, left, and right.The Liao generals Xiao Dabuye and Yelu Dashi who commanded in the rear all frowned.The Khitans were unwilling to be infantry, and the Han and northern barbarians could not be trusted. As a result, the Liao Kingdom lacked a truly reliable elite infantry.Thousands of slave troops from the iron wall battalion had to be driven to protect the artillery fortress, but they were defeated by the weird firecracker and long spear army of the Song people.The defense of the Khitan cavalry cannot be tight. They always hold the intention of retreating if they can't fight, and then look for a chance to fight, even if they dismount to fight, they are not like the Han people who would rather die than retreat.

"It seems that after we put down Han Chang's rebellion, we reduced the Han army, and even the Han people in the firearms camp did not allow them to practice bows and crossbows. This national policy has both advantages and disadvantages." Yelu Dashi murmured secretly, but Hearing a sudden bang in front, it was a Song army infantry who had entered the most protruding artillery fortress, ignited the gunpowder, and the explosion was earth-shattering, causing the surrounding horses to run and jump wildly. Several Khitan cavalry were knocked down.Immediately afterwards, Song Jun blew up another giant cannon.

The battle lasted until night, until both sides were exhausted from fighting, and every inch of the narrow battlefield was soaked in blood, and the Hejian city was called to withdraw. In this battle, five giant cannons of the Liao army were blown up. , Destroyed dozens of small iron barrel guns nearby.The morale of the army and civilians in Hejian City was greatly boosted.

After the battle, Zhao Xingde inspected the fire gun battalion, and 330 people were killed and 760 people were injured. Most of the casualties were caused when they were surrounded by Liao cavalry and shot arrows.

Zhao Xingde is not a general's son, he arranged in advance to join the battle, to deal with the enemy, to formulate the military order of firecrackers, and to deal with the hedgehog formation when the cavalry charged into the formation. Where did people learn the ability to fight between the two armies.In this world, there is no such thing as the knowledge of later generations that is readily available, and a little bit of extraordinary knowledge will be kept privately for pride.After this battle, all the generals in the government and the Huobaoying battalion secretly admired Zhao Xingde.

At the same time, in order to resist the offensive of the Song army, the Liao army continuously dispatched the cavalry in charge of guarding the reinforcements of the Song Dynasty into the battlefield. Yellow River.

He Xuan, who joined the army in the east camp, was dressed in ordinary civilian clothes, but his expression was a little haughty. After checking the confession and other tokens, he said in a deep voice: "General Yang Yanqing has led [-] fine riders and [-] horsemen to the Zhending Mansion. Let's see if the armies in the river are worthy of a battle, and if there is any courage to spare, then we will arrange a battle between the two rivers, and let the Liao bandits come and go!"

But Wang Yan murmured: "Mr. He doesn't know something. Since the Hebei camp was attacked by the Liao army, there are less than [-] soldiers in Hejian City. Although there are only a few Liao army infantry besieging the city However, there are at least [-] Liao troops in Hebei, most of whom are cavalry. Once I make an appointment with General Yang to fight, these Liao cavalry gathered around Hebei can arrive overnight The battlefield. If the battle is inconclusive for a while, it will become impossible to ride a tiger."

He Xuan smiled and said, "There is no need to worry about the king's rule." He stood up and pointed to the frozen Yellow River outside the city, "The Liao people have reinforcements, and we also have one. When General Yang came, he sent extra horses to observe the river. The water potential is just like the heaven destroying the Liao bandits. The ice on the downstream river has not yet melted, but the ice and snow on the upstream have melted. Now the river water in the upstream section of the river has risen very high. As long as a dozen openings are dug on the crumbling embankment Son, what did the Liao cavalry say about coming and going like the wind! It's just a fish swimming in a cauldron, a turtle in the mud."