big song poppi

Chapter 381 0377 [A good bird chooses a tree to roost in, a good minister chooses his master to serve]

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

Seeing Han Zhen's arrival, Han Shizhong immediately stepped forward to greet him, bowed and clasped his fists.

Han Zhen glanced in the direction of the tower and asked, "How many defenders are there in the inner city?"

"There are less than 20,000, and most of them are imperial guards in the Beijing camp. They have long been corrupted."

Compared with Han Zhen and others, Han Shizhong, a former middle-level general of Zhao and Song Dynasties, was more familiar with the Zhao and Song armies. He had a clear idea of ​​which soldiers were capable of fighting and which were useless.

Han Zhen asked: "Does Zhao and Song still have an army capable of fighting now?"

"Have!"

Han Shizhong nodded solemnly.

Han Zhen became interested and asked: "Which ones?"

"At present, there are still two capable armies in the entire Zhao and Song Dynasties. One is the Fanzi Army in Qingjian City in the northwest, with less than 8,000 people. This army is composed of Han, Dangxiang, Tubo, and Uighurs. , each of them is strong and brave, which is their trump card against the Xixia people."

"When he came to Beijing this time, Zhongshi Dao did not bring him, but handed him over to Yang Weizhong to frighten Xixia."

Han Shizhong paused and continued: "The other one is the Shengjie Army under Tong Guan. Although Tong Guan has great ambitions and few talents, he knows something after fighting for so many years. He removed the elite from the forbidden armies from various places and formed We won this elite force of 10,000 people."

"These ten thousand people are carefully selected elites. They are well-fed and well-trained on weekdays, so they are naturally powerful in combat."

With three thousand victorious troops, Wang Zhen was able to hold Taiyuan City under Wanyan Zonghan's 60,000 elite Jin troops. One can imagine his bravery.

Apart from these two, the rest are not worth mentioning.

Lao Jiu on the side agreed: "What Brigadier Han said is right, the Fanzi Army is indeed brave. They have fought against Xixia in recent years and have made many military exploits. As for the Victory Army, I am not familiar with it."

Han Zhen asked curiously: "How does it compare to the Qingzhou Army?"

Han Shizhong pondered: "If you don't count firearms and artillery, the number of field battles between the two is still five to five. The general feels that our Qingzhou Army's training time is still short, and it has experienced too few battles. In another two years, Fan Zi The army is far behind."

A strong army is not only produced by training, but also by fighting.

In Han Shizhong's opinion, the Qingzhou Army has experienced too few battles.

In comparison, Fan Zijun has been at the border for many years and has fought more than a hundred battles with Xixia, large and small. Each of them is a veteran of hundreds of battles, and they have much more experience.

"Ah."

Han Zhen nodded, looked at the Suzaku Gate from a distance, and asked, "How long will it take to win it?"

Han Shizhong said loudly: "Your Majesty, give me half a day, and I will surely capture the inner city in half a day!"

"it is good!"

As soon as Han Zhen finished speaking, he heard Zhao Ting say from behind: "Your Majesty, why don't you let me give it a try? Maybe we can capture the inner city without spending a single soldier."

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Zhao Ting knew that his position as the right-hand man in the cabinet was not stable. How could he not know how much he weighed?

Being a minister is already the limit. It is really difficult for him to leave the cabinet and become a prime minister.

After all, the territory was small before, with only Shandong Road and Shandong Road. Since there were not many government affairs, he could barely cope with it. However, as Hebei Road and Gyeonggi and Beijing West all fall into his hands, the pressure to govern will also increase dramatically.

Managing millions and tens of millions of people is not a concept at all, and the difficulty is exponentially multiplied.

The main reason why His Majesty arranged for him to join the cabinet was to set an example for the surrendered ministers of Zhao and Song Dynasties and the landlords and gentry.

When the war ends, the cards in the court will be reshuffled.

If you can persuade the defenders to surrender and capture the inner city without any bloodshed, with this skill, you can still be a leader even if you can't stay in the cabinet.

Hearing this, Han Zhen muttered: "But, Han Shizhong is protecting some servants of Zhao."

It doesn’t matter if you give it a try, it will be an unexpected surprise if it works.

"Order!"

Han Shizhong responded with clasped fists.

Under the escort of groups of shield soldiers, Zhao Ting mounted his horse and walked towards Zhuque Gate.

When they were six hundred steps away from the city wall, Han Shizhong reminded: "Zhao Pushe, if you go further, you will be within the range of the three-bow crossbow."

Three-bow bed crossbow?

Zhao Ting swallowed, hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and said, "Keep going!"

Six hundred steps away, how could the defenders on the tower hear his voice clearly?

Those with bad eyesight can't even see clearly who he is.

Han Shizhong ordered: "Keep moving forward."

The front row shield bearer got the order and continued to move forward.

When the defenders on the tower saw this, they turned around and asked, "General, the other party seems to be here for peace talks. Do you want to order the shooting?"

"Not urgent!"

Yao Pingzhong shook his head and stared at the approaching Qingzhou Army.

This group of Qingzhou troops advanced until they were two hundred steps away from the city wall before stopping.

Two hundred steps is already the limit, and further forward is the range of the divine arm crossbow.

Although the three-bow bed crossbows are powerful, they are few in number. There are only six or seven on the city tower.

But there are hundreds of divine arm crossbows, and with one volley, Zhao Ting will definitely die.

Sitting on the horse, Zhao Ting suppressed the fear in his heart and said loudly: "My officer, Zhao Ting, please come out and see Li Bangyan and Cai You!"

Zhao Ting?

The other top soldiers didn't recognize it, but how could Yao Pingzhong not recognize it.

He once served as the magistrate of Hangzhou and Qingzhou, and was one of the first Zhao and Song officials to defect to the bandits.

"Just wait."

Yao Pingzhong couldn't decide, so he ordered someone to inform Li Gang.

Not long after, Li Gang's figure appeared on the tower.

"Brother Boji, long time no see."

Seeing Li Gang, Zhao Ting smiled and cupped his hands, preparing to get close.

Unexpectedly, Li Gang stared at him with a pair of bloodshot eyes and shouted loudly: "Zhao Ting, you treacherous sycophant, I wish I could eat your flesh and sleep with your skin!"

"Fire arrows!"

As soon as the voice fell, the crossbowman on the tower immediately raised the divine arm crossbow in his hand.

Several three-bow crossbows also immediately turned around.

"Get out!"

Han Shizhong made a prompt decision.　　　唰!

A dense rain of arrows came, but they were all blocked by military shields.

But the three-bow bed crossbow couldn't stop it.

Fortunately, Zhao Ting was lucky and was not shot.

After fleeing back in panic, Zhao Ting said with a shameful expression: "I failed to persuade you to surrender, please punish me."

Han Zhen waved his hand: "Li Gang has a strong personality and has nothing to do with you."

Xie Ding muttered: "Your Majesty, I have some friendship with Li Gang, why don't I give it a try."

"no need."

Han Zhen waved his hand.

Li Gang ordered arrows to be fired as soon as he disagreed, and he obviously had no intention of accepting the persuasion to surrender.

Not long after, seventeen siege guns were brought in from outside the city.

The dark gun barrel was aimed at the city tower from a distance, making all the defenders terrified.

These days, the siege artillery made them suffer a lot and frightened them out of their wits.

The solid iron egg is almost indestructible, and the military shield is like paper. It is not safe even if you hide behind the city wall.

Every shot will take away the lives of several or even a dozen Song soldiers.

Seeing this scene, Yao Pingzhong immediately advised: "Xiangong Li, the Qingzhou thieves are about to attack the city. The artillery is fierce and they can kill the enemy generals from several miles away. The city tower is dangerous, so please leave first."

Li Gang shook his head and said firmly: "Behind me is the imperial city, where can we retreat? Today, I am on top of this city tower, living and dying with all the soldiers. When the city is alive, people will be there, but when the city dies, people will die!" "

These impassioned words made Yao Pingzhong's heart surge.

But the soldiers under his command were indifferent.

These Imperial Guards in Beijing are all veterans and are good at building houses, but when it comes to killing enemies in battle, isn't this embarrassing them?

How could he put his own life on the line just for Shangguan's words?

Either way, I'll die, but I still have a family to support.

……

Half an hour later, a set of siege equipment also arrived along the Imperial Street.

At this moment, Zheng Li from Yue Fei's command came to report: "Your Majesty, Brigadier Yue has led the reorganized Song military camp to surround the other three walls of the inner city."

"Siege!"

Han Zhen waved his hand.

Boom boom boom!

The passionate drums sounded slowly.

"fire!"

Chi Chi Chi!

A dozen fuses were lit, flickering with fire.

Boom boom boom!

Along with the deafening bang, bursts of thick smoke rose from the muzzle.

On the tower of Zhuque Gate, bursts of screams and wails immediately sounded.

For a moment, blood splattered everywhere.

A three-bow crossbow was hit by a cannonball and immediately fell into pieces.

Several of the crossbowmen who were controlling them were hit by pieces of wood flying everywhere, and lay on the ground with a muffled groan, lifeless.

It was the first time that Li Gang experienced the power of siege artillery in person. When he saw a big hole in the wall of the city tower, his face turned pale and he murmured to himself: "This is the power of God. Isn't it beyond the power of man?"

"Ms. Li, be careful!"

Yao Pingzhong's exclamation rang in his ears.

The next moment, Yao Pingzhong pushed hard with both hands, and Li Gang was pushed aside.

Before he could recover, a crossbar hit him head on.

"Pfft!"

Yao Pingzhong was hit in the chest, spitting out a mouthful of blood mist and flying backwards several meters.

Boom boom boom!

The artillery battalion did not give the defenders a chance to breathe, and the second round of artillery bombardment struck.

After three consecutive rounds of shelling, the 1,500 people who first climbed into the camp immediately took advantage of the situation and came to the city and climbed up the ladder.

Li Gang fell to the ground and felt his ears buzzing.

A member of the Qingzhou Army climbed up the tower and massacred the Song Army.

"Run!"

The imperial troops guarding the city did not hesitate at all and fled immediately.

"Don't run away, don't run away!"

Li Gang roared at the top of his lungs, but it had no effect at all. He could only watch the imperial army break up and run away.

After working hard all night to set up the city defense, I didn't expect that I couldn't hold on for even a quarter of an hour. The soldiers of the Song Dynasty were rotten to the core!

Seeing the Qingzhou Army swarming up the city wall, Han Zhen ordered: "Han Shizhong."

"The general is here!"

Han Shizhong responded loudly.

Han Zhen ordered: "Take down all the forbidden troops in the inner city, guard the city gate, restrain the officers and men under your command, and do not disturb the people. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed!"

"The last general takes command!"

Soon, the wide and tall Suzaku Door opened from the inside.

A group of Qingzhou troops escorted Yao Pingzhong and Li Gang to Han Zhen.

Yao Pingzhong spat out a mouthful of blood: "Han Shizhong, I didn't expect that even you would surrender to the thieves!"

Both of them had served under Tong Guan when they were in the northwest, and they were both fierce generals, so they knew each other naturally.

Han Shizhong said loudly: "A good bird chooses a tree to roost in, and a good minister chooses his master to do his work."

"Ah!"

Yao Pingzhong said contemptuously: "To surrender to a thief is to surrender to a thief. Why do you need to put gold on your face?"

Han Shizhong clenched his fist and knocked on his chest, making the gold-plated leopard-patterned black light armor clang. He replied with an indignant look: "Since I joined the army, I, Han Shizhong, have fought bravely to kill the enemy. I must be the first in every battle. I fought against Xixia, captured Fangla, and conquered the Liao Kingdom. He suppressed the rebellion and made many military exploits. He was worthy of Zhao and Song, and worthy of myself. But what about that dog emperor of Zhao and Song? He granted titles to stones and officials to white foxes. I, Han Shizhong, devoted himself to the country, threw his head and shed blood, but in the end he was worse than a beast. !”

These words left Yao Pingzhong speechless.

Just because everything Han Shizhong said was true.

(End of this chapter)