Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 350 Prosperity and Withering Different Flame and Coolness (4)

"About [-] to [-] Liao troops have entered the hinterland of Suzhou, and while besieging Tieshanbao and Nanshan City, they are trying to build the city." Zhao Xingde stood beside the sergeant who was playing the flag, looking into the distance.The wind was fierce on the top of the city, the torches held by the sergeants whistled, and the smoke from the flames flew straight to the faces of the people.Although the torch can replace the small flag, but only two swaying light spots can be seen in the distance, and the movement must be slow in order to recognize what the other party means.

After waiting for the sergeant to "speak out" this sentence with a semaphore, he continued: "There are sufficient ammunition reserves in the city. Seventy-six people were killed in the battle and more than two hundred people were injured. Two trenches were filled and the attack The enemy army in the city can go straight to the bottom of the city. However, the city is strong and the morale is available, so there is no need to worry about it." After a while, Zhao Xingde stopped looking at the south, and said in a deep voice, "I saw the Liao army dragging on the ice three days ago. The giant cannon may have arrived at the foot of Laotie Mountain in recent days. The stone bullets fired by the giant cannon weigh hundreds of catties. In January, the sea ice will start to melt. The navy should check the thickness of the sea ice every day. If the Liao army insists on stationing troops in Guannan, Or you can use artillery to cut off their way of retreat, gradually exhausting them, and hitting them to return home."

The sky was still dark, and in the wilderness outside the city, the flames gradually increased. It was the Liao army who were lighting the fire, but they were not cooking, but preparing oil tea and milk tea.The Khitan were born in a bitter cold place, and their diet was different from that of the Han people.Fruits, vegetables, wild vegetables, etc. are all frozen outdoors, and when they are to be eaten, they are soaked in cold water, and they can be eaten after the ice melts.As for meat, cheese, etc., this is even more so. Often cattle, sheep, pikas, etc. are slaughtered, and the bloody meat, heart and liver are slightly chopped, and then eaten with wild garlic pickles and the like.Because the food was cold and greasy, the Khitan people loved tea very much, almost to the point of obsessing over it. In the trade between the Liao Kingdom and the Xia and Song Dynasties, tea has always been the most important commodity.

After going out to the battle, all the units of the Liao army had a hasty breakfast, then left the camp, went to the foot of Nanshan City, and set up their formation.In the south of Suzhou, about 2 Liao troops were attacking Tieshanbao, and more than [-] people established a large camp in the hinterland of Suzhou.However, the completely frozen land made it almost impossible for the Liao army to build a strong enough city wall. After a lot of effort, they could only build the wall with wooden pile fences. More than [-] Liao troops guarded the various artillery fortresses. There were few soldiers in Nanshan City, but there were more than [-] cavalry soldiers, who often took advantage of the gap to attack and harass the city.Once the Liao army's defenses were a little lax, and the Han cavalry almost stepped on the most important artillery fortification. The Qiangong tent army camped next to the artillery fortifications, but the Han cavalry never tried to attack the Liao army's artillery fortifications.

"The power of my iron barrel cannon is actually higher than that of the thieves, but the accuracy is not good. If the cannon is moved forward, even within three or four hundred steps of the city wall, the accuracy of the stone bullet will be greatly improved. But if the cannon Moving forward, we entered the shooting range of the bandits' artillery at the head of the city. The bandits' artillery skills are extremely accurate, and they are almost guaranteed to hit within three or four hundred steps. Our iron barrel guns are heavy, and it is inconvenient to avoid, so... "

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Xiao Tachi was chewing on the lamb liver while listening to the report from Wu Chun, the supervisor of the Artillery Battalion.Xiao Tachi had reprimanded him several times because the giant iron barrel cannon hit the city wall too few times, and the punishment became more and more severe. Wu Chun felt the chill on the back of his neck more and more, so he had to come up with this method.Seeing Xiao Tachi's noncommittal, Wu Chun continued, "From the point of view of the general, although the bandit's iron barrel cannon is accurate, but the cannon is light, it is not powerful enough. If we can build a large shield chariot, it will cover our army On the outside of the iron barrel giant cannon, the shield cart is dragged in by oxen and horses, and the front and top are covered with huge wood, so it is difficult for the artillery of the bandits to penetrate. With this, our artillery can go straight to the city wall within [-] steps, and can be fired from close range. Cannons, hundreds of catties of stone bullets only need to be hit a few more times, and the city walls can be blown down."

After Wu Chun's report, Xiao Tachi also just ate a piece of mutton liver with blood on his mouth, looked at Wu Chun and said, "The sea ice will melt in another fifty days, how much do you need to build this shield chariot?" People? How many days will it take to complete the project? How many days will it blow down the Nanshan city wall?" His pupils turned green, like a wild cat staring at its prey.Wu Chun instinctively sweated on his back, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and said, "If Lord Dutong allocates 5000 people to work, the work can be completed in about 20 days, and it will take two days to get it to the city. The walls have collapsed."

"30 days," before he finished speaking, Xiao Tachi waved three fingers in front of Wu Chun's eyes, "I'll give you 30 days, and if the city wall of Nanshan doesn't collapse, you can attack the city yourself. Let's go." After he finished speaking, he waved his hand, indicating that Wu Chun could step down, took a sip of camellia oleifera, closed his eyes, and suddenly recalled a few words of his grandfather, "War is like hunting gazelle , Don’t be afraid of suffering, surround the enemy from all directions, be patient like a pack of wolves, watch the night like an owl, pounce like a white eagle, and leave no way out for the enemy.”

"Nanshan City, Zhao De," Xiao Tachi held the horn cup tightly, "No matter how powerful you are, you can only be my prey."

Since serving the Liao Kingdom, Xiao Tachi has been full of ambitions. He killed the deposed emperor Yelu Yanxi, was recruited by Yelu Dashi as his son-in-law, and slaughtered countless Jurchen villages in the Northern Expedition. However, at the age of 20, all of them commanded 20 people in the southern camp. army.Based on the original strategy of Your Majesty and the Northern Academy, the Northern Expeditionary Army was divided into two routes, the Northern Expedition and the Southern Expedition. The imperial conquest went straight to the Huanglong Mansion and the Huining Mansion, swept away the remnants of the Kingdom of Jin in the Huntong River area, and captured the strong Jurchens to the south. Leaving the Liao army guarding the north, and detaining the Jurchen King of the North, the various ministries, while the southern battalion captured the Han army commander's mansion, and swept Kaizhou, Laiyuan, Zhengzhou, and Hengzhou all the way, deterring Taibai Mountain and the Yalu River. The Jurchen tribes in other places, intimidating the country, detained the Southern Jurchen King and restrained all the tribes.

Although Yelu Yanshan suffered setbacks, Xiao Tachi didn't pay much attention to it. In his mind, capturing Nanshan City was not even a start.I didn't expect to meet such a tough opponent here.Not only that, the offensive of the entire southern camp was extremely unsatisfactory, and most of the people moved to the north of the Gunmen River. Kaizhou, Zhengzhou, Hengzhou, etc. were all empty cities, and there were no people at all.Or it is a hard nail like Nanshan City.If such a conspicuous thorn in the flesh cannot be removed, it would be ridiculous to search the mountains and plains for the remnants of the enemy.

Xiao Tachi won His Majesty's favor, and the army in charge was trapped by a small Nanshan City. Many Khitan generals in the camp were submissive on the surface, and they seemed to have the mentality of watching a joke.Although the Khitan people were regarded as Hu people by the Southern Dynasties, they had a sense of superiority over other Hu people in their bones.But at this moment, when Xia Guo attacked Xijing Road, Bo Shenghuo Mierbo, who was originally regarded as a barrier to the west by Yelu Dashi, led his troops and fled without a fight.Although Yelu Dashi didn't put this account on Xiao Tachi's head, every time he thought of this, Xiao Tachi felt deeply humiliated.

"Father, are you really such a coward?" He was thinking with some pain when the soldiers outside reported that someone was going to offer a plan to conquer Nanshan City.Xiao Tachi regained his sinking face, and sent an order to bring the man up.

Nanshan City was repeatedly attacked, and Xiao Tachi offered a reward in the camp. If anyone offered a strategy to conquer the city, he would be rewarded with 300 catties of gold and [-] servants.Under the heavy reward, there must be a brave man. The soldiers brought in this man. He was born with a deer head and mouse eyes, a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, and two mouse whiskers on his lips. When he saw Xiao Tachi, he knelt down on his left knee and said: "Little man Ge Lu, when you see the son-in-law, you will be in command." grown ups."

Xiao Tachi looked at him and asked, "What's your plan?"

Ge Lu was a little flattered and said: "Report to my lord, the villain is from the water dragon team of the rear camp." Water dragons have been added to prevent fire hazards.Xiao Ta only nodded his head, but didn't speak.

Ge Lubing said: "There was a fire in the army's camp before and after, and the water dragon was also used, because the weather was very cold, and the water was frozen to ice not long after it was poured." Xiao Ta couldn't help but wrinkled. brow.While talking, Ge Lu secretly looked at Xiao Tachi's face, and hurriedly said, "The villain had an idea and came up with a way to break through Nanshan City. Although Nanshan City is strong, it is narrow inside, so we can't see it." Is there any way to drain water. If hundreds of water dragons are used to continuously water Nanshan City, this is the weather where dripping water will turn into ice, and the Han people inside will be frozen into ice picks. Naturally, Nanshan City will not fight And broke."

After Ge Lu reported, he knelt on the ground cautiously, while peeking at Xiao Tachi's face.Xiao Tachi frowned, with a suspicious expression on his face, but he still asked: "How many people will it take to break the city in a few days?" Ge Lu hurriedly said: "There were originally more than 50 water dragons in the camp. , If there are hundreds of labor slaves working, and some necessary materials are mobilized from nearby counties and counties, more than 100 water dragons should be ready in ten days."

"That's 20 days." Xiao Tachi held out two fingers. In fact, he didn't fully understand what Ge Lu said, but as long as there is a way, this does not prevent him from trying. "After 20 days, the army will attack City, I want your water dragon to follow! If the water dragon is useless, you will attack the city with other soldiers."

"Yes, yes." Gelu nodded again and again, and asked hesitantly, "Then..."

"Now that you are the head of the craftsman camp, thirty catties of gold will be sent to your tent, and you will be rewarded as a servant when you return to Shangjing." Xiao Tachi looked at this man with some annoyance, and said secretly: "The official position and gold will be deposited with you for the time being." Here, if I find out that you are talking nonsense, I will take it back with your life." He didn't look at Ge Lu, waved his hand, and ordered him to back off.