Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 693 Long Range Fire Attack
At dawn, Fan Ning got the interrogation report. There were [-] Liao troops in the city, mainly equipped with iron armor, and another [-] militiamen were recruited. Most of them had military experience and were equipped with leather armor. Thousands of troops.

Fan Ning became more convinced of his strategy. He had to destroy the fighting spirit of the enemy army and the entire Youzhou City from the will, before he could talk about entering the city and start street fighting.

Just after dawn, the deployment of the Song army changed. Twenty super trebuchets began to move to the south city. Fifty heavy trebuchets were replaced outside the east city. This kind of heavy trebuchets had a range of about 250 steps. half of a trebuchet.

But all the catapults of the Liao Army on the top of the city have been destroyed. As long as the bed crossbows of the Liao Army cannot be taken out, within 250 steps, the Liao Army will have nothing to do with the catapults of the Song Army.

Before the super catapults were completely withdrawn, fifty heavy catapults rumbled forward. Before the Liao army deployed the bed crossbow, fifty heavy catapults were launched one after another.

Song Jun projected a kerosene tank, a thin-skinned clay pot like a wine jar, filled with sixty catties of kerosene, and tied five or six burning gunpowder tubes outside the pot, which is exactly the same as the cartridge on a rocket. Burning violently once lit, they are responsible for igniting the kerosene.

Fifty heavy-duty trebuchets threw fire oil cans one after another, some hit the city wall, some flew over the top of the city, flew into the city, and ignited a fire in the city, but most of the fire oil cans hit the top of the city. It burned rapidly and ignited the kerosene flowing on the top of the city. For a while, thick smoke billowed from the top of the city, and the crimson flames engulfed everything on the top of the city.

The five thousand soldiers guarding the city panicked and fled to the bottom of the city one after another. Thousands of soldiers who had nowhere to go either jumped from the top of the city or were engulfed in flames.

There were no soldiers at the top of the city, and the tactics of the trebuchets began to change. Thirty heavy trebuchets began to move forward until they came to the moat. They still threw fire oil cans into the city, but these fire oil cans Throw it into the houses, and soon, a large number of houses near the city wall in the south of Youzhou City were on fire. The fire spread rapidly, and the people in the city fled to the north city crying.
The same thing happened in the south of the city. The Song army's long-range attack was very methodical. Twenty super catapults were responsible for destroying the defense system on the top of the southern city, and then dozens of heavy catapults appeared to force the Liao army to the top of the city, and then It is to attack the houses in the city at close range.

This offensive method fully embodies Fan Ning's strategic thinking and destroys the resistance will of the Liao Army and Youzhou City.

There is not a single Khitan tribe in Youzhou City. Besides the Khitan people, there are also Han people, Xi people, Bohai people, and Jurchen, etc. It is difficult for them to form a single rope to work together, let alone get stronger and stronger.

Especially after the Liao army withdrew to Liaoyang Mansion, which in some form gave up Youzhou, the external conditions that enabled the soldiers and civilians in the city to fight against the enemy have disappeared. What's more, there are Song Dynasty undercover agents in Youzhou city who will spread rumors and continue to weaken the city. The will of the military and civilians to resist.

It was based on the consideration of the above factors that Fanning decided to use the strategy of extreme pressure to destroy the will of the enemy.

After three rounds of earth-shattering explosions on the top of Nancheng, the fifty trebuchets on the top of the city had completely disappeared, and the two hundred bed crossbows originally deployed on the top of Nancheng were also blown to pieces. Ten heavy trebuchets participated in the battle and turned the city into a sea of ​​flames. The heavy trebuchets continued to move forward and began to attack the houses in the city.

At this time, a Baishi sentry ship of the Song Army approached the water gate. It came from a tributary from the east and did not encounter any attack from the top of the city. There was not a Liao soldier in the east or south of the city.

The water gate is one foot and five feet high. Like other water gates, there are two iron gates inside and outside. The iron gates are very heavy, and each iron railing is as thick as a baby's arm. Saw off.

Of course, the Liao army also knew that the water gate was the weak point of defense, so they also deployed a lot of soldiers in the city. Once the soldiers of the Song army approached the water gate, they would shoot arrows at random, or the Liao army would also pour kerosene in the water to stop it with fire. Song Jun's destruction of the water gate will even have a last resort, filling the water gate with huge stones to death.

Of course, the last trick can't be used easily, because it would allow Song Jun to calmly transport the boulder away and open a passage into the city.

At this time, the raging fire in the city had driven away all the soldiers of the Liao army who were approaching, and there were no soldiers of the Liao army in the water city.

Several soldiers of the Song Army on the small boat hung a huge explosive iron fire mine weighing 150 jin on the iron gate, lit the matchlock and left quickly.

Not long after, an earth-shattering explosion blew out the huge iron gate. The smoke filled the air, and the bricks and stones above fell down and became very broken.

The long-range fire attack did not end until the afternoon. Nearly [-]% of the houses in Youzhou City were burned down by the fire, tens of thousands of people were left homeless, and thousands of Liao soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians died in the fire.

From top to bottom, everyone's heart became extremely heavy. They all realized the strength of the Song Army's fighting power and the horror of war.

The Song army stopped attacking and the fire fuel was exhausted. Liao army soldiers finally appeared one after another in Dongcheng and Nancheng.

Yeluhu Jian led hundreds of people standing beside the Caohe River at the water gate. He watched the situation inside the water gate with a gloomy face. The outer iron gate had disappeared, and the Song army could even go directly to the city through the corridor.

He understood Fan Ning's hint that the Song army could capture Youzhou City at any time. Could it be that Fan Ning wanted to surrender himself?

Seeing Yeluhu, he felt a chill running down his back.

For three consecutive days, the Song Army launched a large-scale attack on Youzhou City. After the East City and South City, the Song Army launched an offensive against the West City and North City, destroying all trebuchets and bed crossbows, and burning down the houses near the city wall. In just three days, more than half of the houses in Youzhou City were burned, and even half of the granaries were burned. The Liao army in the city was unable to resist, so they had to block the water city gate with huge stones while the Song army suspended its attack at night. .

The originally high morale in the city gradually became sluggish under the continuous attack of the Song army.

That afternoon, Chong Er hurried to the big tent of the Chinese army in the south of the city. The soldiers invited him in. When he entered the big tent, he saw Fan Ning pacing back and forth inside the big tent with his hands behind his back.

Zhong Er clasped his fists and saluted, "What's the important thing for Fan Xianggong to find a humble job?"

Fan Ning sighed, and said slowly: "Just got the latest information, a plague broke out in the Jingxing Liao army!"

Zhong Er was taken aback, and quickly asked: "How is the situation? Has the Song Army been affected?"

"The situation of the Liao army is unknown, I only know that it is very serious. Di Shuai has experienced the test of Xixia's epidemic prevention, so it should not be a big problem."

"What does the humble function do?"

Fan Ning said indifferently: "The old general has experienced human feelings for a long time, and he understands right and wrong. I invite the old general to come over and ask the old general to make a decision for me. To be honest, I feel very conflicted."

"Please tell me, Mr. Humble, I will do my best."

Fan Ning pondered for a while and said, "What if I let a group of Liao Army soldiers go back to Liao Kingdom, say 2 soldiers?"

Zhong Er suddenly understood, "Xianggong wants the soldiers of the Liao Army to bring the plague to the Liao Kingdom?"

Fan Ning nodded, "I'm really in a dilemma. I know it's a good move strategically, but I'm afraid it's morally untenable."

Zhong Er pondered for a moment and said, "I advise Mr. Xiang to give up this idea."

"Why?"

"Master, the plague is a demon. The outbreak of the plague in the Jingxing Liao army is also God's punishment for them. But if the devil is released artificially, it is against the law of heaven and will damage the reputation of the master. And if you are a little careless, the plague will eat back the Song army. It made our strategy fail and gave Liao a chance."

Zhong Er's last sentence was the key, and Fan Ning had to be cautious. Indeed, the Song Army's epidemic prevention capabilities were far from sufficient, and if they were not careful, they would be backlashed by the plague, and in the end it would be a waste of money for the Liao Kingdom.

"The old general is right, we really can't take this risk."

Fan Ning finally gave up the idea of ​​using the plague to attack Liao.

(End of this chapter)