Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 696

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Fan Ning reported the current situation of the entire battle to several ministers in the Zhizheng Hall and the emperor Zhao Xu.

"The siege of Jingxing is over. I believe everyone has seen Di Shuai's battle report. All 12 Liao troops were annihilated, and none survived so far. The Song army suffered 8000 casualties, of which more than [-] were killed. The Song army captured There are [-] sets of armor and [-] horses, but Jingxing has become a ghost prison. In order to ensure that the epidemic does not spread, I ordered the road to be closed for three years. After three winters of cold, I believe that the epidemic can be eliminated, and these battle reports are all there.”

Fan Ning paused and continued: "But there are some things that were not reported in the battle report. Let me tell your majesty and fellow ministers, one is the plague, and the Song army is actually infected!"

Everyone was taken aback, Zhao Xu asked anxiously: "Is the situation serious?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, we adopt the reporting and isolation system, first of all to eliminate the worries of the soldiers. As long as the disease is discovered early, it can be cured completely. Therefore, if the soldiers feel unwell, they are required to report immediately, and then be isolated in time and treated in time. In Niangziguan, a total of 570 people were quarantined, 520 were finally cured, and 53 died of illness. In addition, a small number of soldiers who participated in cleaning up the corpses were also infected. There were 37 people, but all of them were cured and did not die. Currently, the soldiers who participated in cleaning up the corpses are still in isolation. Among them, but no new patients were found."

Fu Bi asked again: "What is the cause of the infection? Have you found it?"

"The reason has been found out. At the beginning of the outbreak of the epidemic in the Liao army, the Song army had no protection. Several soldiers on duty at night hunted and killed a fox, peeled the fox's skin, and then were infected by the plague carried by the fox. Good luck The city wall of Niangziguan was relatively small, and General Cao Wenjing adopted the battalion guard system. Each battalion took turns guarding the gate and had its own garrison, so the disease spread only in one battalion, and there was no large-scale spread. The soldiers who were finally quarantined were all the same Twenty-five percent of the 2000 soldiers in the battalion were infected, and none of the other soldiers were infected.”

Wen Yanbo also sighed: "The plague is the enemy of the army and the people. Last year, a temple in Mianchi County, Henan Province also had a plague outbreak. As a result, all 540 monks in a temple died. In the end, the county had to burn the mountain. The entire hilltop including the monastery was burned, and no one dared to go in. This time, the Jingxing Song Army only infected more than [-] people, which is really a blessing in misfortune."

Everyone was infected one after another. The Song army isolated in time and rescued a crisis. Fan Ning smiled and said: "I heard that Yelu Hongji gave up the rescue after hearing the news of the outbreak of the plague in the Liao army in Jingxing. The Liao army in Loufanguan withdrew. Datong Mansion.
In addition, our fleet fought fierce battles with the Liao army in Liaoyang Prefecture in Liaohe and Jinzhou respectively. Jinzhou followed suit and wiped out [-] enemy troops, while the Liaohe warships fought fiercely with [-] Liao troops, and the enemy lost more than [-] people , we also lost two large ships, which were burned by the enemy with kerosene. "

"Fan Xianggong, why did you fight the enemy in Liaohe?" Zhao Xu asked a little puzzled.

Fan Ning bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, this is the pressure strategy of this minister. One of the reasons for putting pressure on the Liao army in Liaoyang Prefecture is to contain the Liao army and allow the Kunzhou fleet in the north to withdraw smoothly. Another reason is to cooperate with the [-] Liao army in Liaoyang Prefecture, and give them a reason not to rescue Youzhou."

Only then did Zhao Xu understand. He nodded and said, "I understand, so let's talk about Youzhou! How should we destroy the city tonight?"

At night, the big tent of the Chinese army was brightly lit. The emperor, wearing a golden helmet and armor, sat on the commander's seat and looked at the ten commanders and twenty commanders in front of him solemnly.

Zhao Xu said slowly: "Tonight is the moment to defeat the enemy. I will personally command this war that the Song Dynasty has longed for for a hundred years. Since Gaozu, the recovery of the Sixteen Youyun Prefectures has become the goal of the people of the Song Dynasty and tens of thousands of soldiers. The dream is also the dream of the monarchs and civil and military ministers of the Song Dynasty. Tonight, the dream will come true. It will be realized in the hands of the generals. I will not be stingy with rewards. Your blood and sweat will not flow in vain. I only hope tonight In this battle, the aura of the soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty was played out. In addition, I require strict military discipline, and strictly forbids taking advantage of the opportunity to rape and plunder. Anyone who dares to violate the prohibition will be severely punished!"

Thirty generals knelt down on one knee and said in unison: "Follow the order!"

At the time of Haishi, that is, at nine o'clock in the night, three hundred heavy trebuchets of the Song Army launched an attack in the South City, East City and North City at the same time. , Gravel flying randomly, the Liao army has long been accustomed to the bombing of the Song army.

When the Song Army's trebuchets began to be set up, tens of thousands of Liao Army soldiers on the top of the city began to retreat quickly to the city to avoid the Song Army's violent bombing and burning of the city. When the explosion occurred, there was no one on the city.

For more than a month, it has been like this almost every day, but tonight seems to be a little different. One is the violent explosion, and the other is that there is no fire attack. Even the Liao army coach Yelu Hujian in the city is also aware of this, especially today when the Song army is marching in the west of the city. He went to the new battalion and added nearly 10 troops, causing the Song army to completely surround Youzhou City. Seeing that Yeluyu was really worried, he had a strong premonition that the Song army's general attack might be within two days.

The Song army was indeed ready. The 20 troops lined up neatly, with white cloth tied on their left arms, and waited in line on the east, south, and north sides respectively. , To prevent the Liao army from escaping from the city, they have not been trained for overnight battles, so they are not suitable for entering the city to fight.

The main force tonight is the [-] Western Army led by Chong Er. The Western Army is good at night fighting and has a strong combat effectiveness. They will enter the city in the first round, followed by the [-] Hebei Army led by Cao Shi. They have also trained in the past two months The night battle is not weak. They will enter the city in the second round, and there are [-] troops guarding the Lu County logistics battalion. The civil and military officials who are currently following the emperor's northern expedition are currently in Lu County.

Fan Ning is the chief of staff tonight, assisting the emperor Zhao Xu in commanding the siege.

Amidst the explosion at the top of the city, a fleet of 24 remodeled siege ships slowly sailed from the Gaoliang River in the south.

The siege ships are based on three-thousand-stone building ships. The inside of the building ships has been dismantled, and a wide staircase has been installed directly. There is a mobile rope bridge on the top, which can be directly connected to the top of the city. The so-called rope bridge is a wide and thick A long plank with thick rope woven on both sides to form a protective net.

The siege ships were wrapped in rawhide facing the city wall, which could resist burning oil. In addition to the eight boarding ships, there were sixteen flat ships, which were also special ships. The ships were completely flat, so that the soldiers could maintain maximum speed. run.

There are three wide wooden boards connecting the boats. There are special facilities on the sides of the boats, which can be quickly buckled together. They are strong and reliable, and they will not fall off easily. The Song Army has accurately calculated that the ten-foot-wide moat, three boats are side by side. It will be enough.

The fleet sailed into the moat and divided into two groups, half sailing north and half sailing south. They continued sailing close to the outside of the moat. At this time, there were no defenders on the city head, and the ships were not affected in any way.

Zhao Xu watched the fleet start to sail into the moat, turned his head and ordered: "The Western Army is ready!"

'Boom!Boom!Boom! '

Following the order of the emperor Zhao Xu, the drums for sending out troops sounded, and there was no shout of killing. One hundred thousand Western troops rushed towards the moat.

All 24 ships were in place, Zhao Xu waved his hand, "Stop shooting the trebuchet!"

Ten rockets shot continuously into the sky, and three hundred trebuchets gradually stopped firing.

Yeluhu Jian, who was watching the movement of the Song army in the city, not only heard the long-lost drums, but also saw ten rockets rising into the sky in succession.

He immediately ordered, "Order all the armies to assemble, assemble quickly, the Song army is attacking!"

Tens of thousands of Liao troops quickly assembled from all directions in the city.

The explosions on the top of the city suddenly stopped, Youzhou became deathly silent, and the air became extremely oppressive, as if it was the calm before the storm.

(End of this chapter)