Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 332

Yelu Yanshan couldn't help frowning when he saw the Xi army forming a dense formation in front.In all fairness, he didn't take the Liaodong Han army seriously. Yelu Dashi sent an army of [-] to attack Suzhou Guannan, and Yelu Yanshan felt a little disapproving.This low Nanshan City was nothing more than a threshold for attacking Suzhou. It could have been kicked open by a [-] army.However, in order to lay down the outermost trench of this earthen city, they must be prepared in full battle.

The contrast between before and after is so great.Looking at Wu Chun, the artillery supervisor who was sweating profusely, Yelu Yanshan groaned in his heart. I am afraid that he will have to run with artillery and transfer the real heavy artillery from Liaoyang to really take down this kind of city.The Liao army suffered heavy losses in the first battle, and was about to launch a second attack on the city, but a white flag was erected outside Nanshan City, and the sharp-eyed soldiers of the Liao army began to point and point. "There was a hint of doubt in Yelu's eyes. Unlike ordinary bandits and bandits, Han's rebellion was a tarsus maggot that lasted for a hundred years in the Liao Dynasty. The Han army in Liaodong once executed five thousand Khitans. The Liao army was already different from the Great Khitan army. Although the Liao army's offensive was extremely fierce just now, it was clear that the Han army had not suffered heavy losses. How could it be possible to surrender suddenly.

While wondering, the Han army under Nanshan City began to shout loudly.Although Chinese is used, almost all Khitan and Xi people can understand it.The Han army actually allowed the Liao army to put away the corpses in front of the battle. The Liao army, from Yelu Yanshan, Guo Baoyi, to ordinary soldiers, couldn't help feeling a little bit strange. It has been many years since the other party collected the dead robed body in time.

"Sure enough, they are not ordinary thieves." This idea suddenly popped up in many people's minds.There was a commotion among the Xi army who was preparing to attack. Xi people are accustomed to settling down and farming, and they have long accepted the concept of peace in the soil.Many people's fathers, brothers and relatives were killed in battle just now. Now that the two armies are fighting, the wilderness will recognize the corpses. Now that they have the opportunity to collect the corpses, they will not let it go.Moreover, he felt a little grateful to the guard of Nanshan City.Seeing that the army's morale was shaken, Xiao Zhong, Yu Wenmo and other Xi army commanders had nothing to do, so they had to stand still and send someone to Yelu Yanshan to ask for the corpse.

Yelu Yanshan thought to himself, thinking that the chief bandits of the Han army did not usually do this, he nodded slightly, and said to his subordinates in a deep voice: "Stop attacking Nanshan, and order 500 people to go out to collect the corpses." The general of the Xi Clan gratefully agreed Then retreated.

The soldiers of the Xi nationality with white cloths on their heads drove dozens of carts slowly towards the mountain, and the Han army did not fire their guns or arrows as agreed.Up and down the mountain, 10,000+ soldiers from the Liao and Han Dynasties watched in silence as the 500 people carried one corpse after another onto the cart. Soon, the corpses on each cart piled up like a hill.This scene fell in the eyes of hundreds of thousands of Liao troops, not only Xi people, but also many Khitan and Han people showed the sadness of a rabbit dead and a fox in their eyes. It is even more powerful when there are corpses everywhere.

The slightly injured Xi Jun fled back. There were still many wounded Xi Jun left on the battlefield, and many of them were screaming loudly, begging the tribe to bring them back to the main formation.Many of these people were seriously injured, even if they might not be able to come back alive, they still had more chances to survive.Xi Jun, who collected the corpses, couldn't bear to abandon these people, and collected them all into the cart.

"Master Zhao, the Liao dog didn't keep his word and brought the living back."

"Let them take it back," Zhao Xingde watched the scene, and said in a low voice, "If you are seriously injured, you can't move, and you need to spend manpower to take care of it. It is beneficial to our army." The surrounding subordinates nodded. , Xi Jun, who was slightly injured on the battlefield, tried every means to escape, and those who remained were seriously injured. It is better to be generous than to care about every detail.Tong Yunjie and Liu Zhijian felt that Zhao Xingde was shrewd at this time, and the enemy's collection of corpses would not help the attack, but the Han army took advantage of this rare gap, repaired the fortifications, and added a large amount of ammunition to the artillery positions.For artillery, ammunition is undoubtedly the most important issue.

On the watchtower of a fortress in the south, the generals had just rejoiced, and saw the inexplicable truce in front of Nanshan City, and then the Liao army sent people to the battlefield to collect the corpses, but the Han army did not fire. Xu Detai wondered: "What the hell is General Zhao?" Meaning?" As soon as the words finished, someone answered: "General Zhao has his own intentions, right?" All the generals stopped talking.When Zhao Xingde advocated the construction of Nanshan City and went to the city governor to guard the city, everyone was skeptical, but now Nanshan City and the Artillery Battalion easily repelled the enemy's attack, and the doubts about him naturally dissipated.

"General Zhao has his own reasons for doing things." Someone whispered again.Then all the generals saw the flag waving on Nanshan City almost at the same time, this was Zhao Xingde reminding the big and small fortresses behind Nanshan City to be ready for battle, after a commotion, the military order was passed down immediately.

The packed Liao army carts returned one after another, bringing back more than a hundred seriously injured.Yelu Yanshan looked at the top of Nanshan City, with a complicated look in his eyes. No matter what the intentions of this general are, he is not an opponent worthy of attention, so he should not be taken lightly.

Yelu Yanshan drew out the sword from his waist and raised it towards Nanshan City.Xi Jun, who had already been ready for battle, set off immediately, pushing the chariot in front to resist the guns, while the soldiers behind them formed a dense column formation and followed behind with their shields held up.In the large formation of the Liao army, horns sounded in unison, and dozens of drums beat in unison. At the same time, dozens of iron barrel cannons in the Liao army artillery barracks fired together, and the roar of the cannons was earth-shattering.The morale, which had been somewhat low just now, was revived again. Under the leadership of the officers, tens of thousands of soldiers cheered for the Xi army in unison.Five thousand cavalry rode on their horses, and after the Xi army had absorbed most of the artillery fire from the Han army, they penetrated into the back of Nanshan City through the open space on both sides of Nanshan City, cutting off the connection between Nanshan City and the rear of Suzhou Guannan.

Nanshan City is just a small earthen city. Not only does it have no people, but it also cannot garrison too many soldiers.Yelu Yanshan reckoned that once such a small city was surrounded and the retreat was cut off, the defenders would have to collapse automatically, or even abandon the city and flee.In this way, it will be much easier to conquer Nanshan.

Yu Wenmo led the front team Xi Jun to approach Nanshan City, and the fortifications of the Han Army seemed very quiet.The more this happened, the more uneasy Yu Wenmo became.Through the gap in front of the cart, he saw teams of archers standing behind the low walls of the ditch.

"Looks like there's going to be a fierce battle." Yu Wenmo gritted his teeth.

When they attacked Nanshan City last time, some Xi soldiers rushed to the front of the Han army's bunker, but found that there was no other entrance to these soil lumps except for the narrow blast holes. He tried his best to dig and dig, but finally he was defeated by the artillery fire of the Han army.In order to conquer the bunker, Yu Wenmo and other generals of the Xi army discovered that the weakness of the Han army was that it was too low and the embrasures were not high.

This time, just as Xi Jun entered the effective shooting range, Zhao Xingde put down the binoculars and ordered in a low voice: "Fire the cannon." His order was passed on immediately, and soon, all the cannon positions in Nanshan City facing the north were all in place. roared.Regardless of whether it is an enemy platform or a dark fort, the artillery positions are all condescending, and the round iron bullets fired by the heavy artillery drew arcs and whizzed away, as if a mad galloping horse broke into Xi Jun's formation.

With a "bang", a ten-jin round iron bullet directly penetrated the roof of the car, and the soldiers hiding in the car screamed, blood spattering everywhere.This kind of chariot is covered with cowhide and quilts, which can defend against arrows and artillery stones, but under the bombardment of Xia Guo's iron barrel cannon, the protection of the chariot is too weak.Under the bombardment of heavy artillery, the flying sawdust injured many Xi Jun, and the shafts of many rickshaw vehicles were broken, and they could no longer move forward.

Xi Jun suddenly became confused and paused.Yelu Yanshan also frowned. At this point in the battle, he had already realized that this battle was not easy.At this time, after Xi Jun made a commotion for a while, a young general brandished a scimitar, ignored the flying shells, and reorganized the queue. The fort marched.

"Yu Wenmo, you are a general!" Yelu Yanshan's eyes flashed with admiration, and he ordered in a deep voice: "Beat the drums, cheer for the warriors!" The pawns also cheered louder.

"True warriors!" Guo Baoyi sighed. In the Liao army, the Xi people and the Han people were the main force of the infantry, and they were often compared with each other by the generals. Now, the shells kept falling into the crowd of people who were advancing, and the flesh and blood Flying horizontally, people kept falling down, but Xi Jun was still advancing, so Guo Baoyi had to give his thumbs up from his heart.

However, a growing fear permeated the Xi army ranks.The dense formation maximizes the lethality of the shells.Compared with sharp arrows, this heavy round iron shell seems nothing, but it has a huge lethality, and every shell that whizzes through brings out countless flesh and blood. "Advance!" "Advance!" "Make up!" Yu Wenmo and other officers shouted loudly, telling the soldiers to maintain their formation and not retreat without authorization.Most of Xi's soldiers were in the same team and under the same command from the same village and tribe. Therefore, despite the growing fear, no one in the queue wanted to be the first to turn around and run away.

Many people's legs are weak, but they still hold on to move forward.The artillery barracks of the Han army were only [-] paces away, but these [-] paces were so long, and in the front, there were constant shells whizzing over, and Pao Ze fell beside him, dying, miserable. Screaming, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and finally, a soldier stopped and vomited uncontrollably. "Stand up, go, go!" The officer patted him behind with the scabbard. The man straightened up, his face was pale, and he staggered forward. Not long after, he was suddenly caught by something. He stumbled and fell to the ground with a "plum".