Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 409 Open the door to accept the evil (3)

At three o'clock in Yin time, soldiers and horses from various ministries of the Hebei camp marched to the west of the city.Daming Mansion is an important town in Hebei, the circumference of the city is more than forty miles, and the gates of the city are even more overlapping.There are three city gates in the west, Baocheng Gate, the outer gate, Lihe Gate, the second gate, and Yize Gate, the sub-city gate.The [-]-odd king army was divided into front, middle, and rear. The commander of the Ningbian army, Bai Anmin, commanded the front army of [-] infantry. Xu and other civil servants were also included, and Zhang Yi, the commander of the Jingsai Army, led more than [-] cavalry as the rear army and protected the two wings of the army.

It is difficult for the army to go out of the city without disturbing the Liao cavalry, but Wang Yan still strictly forbids the soldiers to carry lanterns and hold fire.Fortunately, it was a full moon night, and the north wind was roaring furiously in the sky, driving away the dark clouds.One after another, wrapped in military flags, they gathered around the three gates of the west city, especially where Wang Yanzhong's army was located.In the weather where dripping water turned into ice, Li Ruoxu was still shivering in the fox-fur robe, the chill of the chain mail penetrated through the inner padded jacket, his legs were icy cold, and the soles of his feet were stinging from the cold, so he could only keep shaking. stomp.He looked at the soldiers of the Yabing Battalion with some admiration. Their clothes were much thinner than his, but they seemed to be doing nothing in such a severe cold weather.In the feudal town, the tooth army is the basis for the generals to control the army.The Yabing Battalion completely ignored Qin Huicai, the commander of the Hebei Economic Strategy, surrounded by Wang Yan's scarlet commander flag, some with calm expressions, some with stern faces, and the faint moonlight shining on some people's faces The tattooed words such as "swear to guard the river" and "serve with a heart" are really scary.The generals in Hebei came and went, asking Wang Yan for instructions on military strategy, and when they passed by Qin Hui, they just bowed their hands in a hurry.

Qin Hui's face was as usual, not because he was extraordinary, but because he was in the midst of the elite soldiers, and his uneasy mood was slightly at ease.It is easy to defeat the enemy by talking and laughing in the court, but the soldiers and civilians on both sides of the river are terrified. The Liao army swept Hebei, and the talk changed all the way. Qin Hui went north to announce the decree.Therefore, Wang Yan insisted that the army should not go out of the city to return aid, and Qin Hui didn't try to force him, knowing that the imperial decree fell on him, he had no choice but to decide to leave the army.I don't know whether it was cold or fear, but Meng Yuan's face was as pale as a dead man's. He was fat, and he finally found a pair of leather armor that could be put on, and it was wrapped tightly, making people breathless. It was like being strangled by a pair of cold hands.Feeling being gently patted on the shoulder, Meng Yuan turned his head, but it was Li Ruoxu who looked at him with concern. He forced a smile on his face, and secretly said, "Brother Yuan Zhi, this little brother-in-law, is a brave man."

Just as he was about to speak, the army in front suddenly moved. Meng Yuan could only pull himself together and march forward slowly with Ya Bingying.Li Ruoxu also urged the horse to follow.The cavalry of the Jingsai Army walked slowly in their bridles. They moved slowly in the city, and only accelerated after leaving the city. They were gradually distributed within a few miles to the left and right of the army, but Zhang Yi still joined the rear with nearly [-] cavalry.

After walking for nearly half an hour, a white belly appeared in the eastern sky. The majestic city of Daming Mansion had slowly disappeared under the horizon, and there was no trace of the Liao army. Li Ruoxu's hanging heart gradually calmed down, and Meng Yuan's expression also changed Returning to normal, he said in a low voice: "Gather tens of thousands of horses without raising fire, go out of the city, and march silently. Wang Jiedu still has some skills. I didn't disturb the Liao people. Sakyamuni blesses us, and we will be safe and sound." to Liyangjin." Li Ruoxu nodded and smiled slightly, at this moment the army stopped suddenly, and the two of them were puzzled when dozens of cavalry sent out flags from the central army, urging their horses to march forward, backward, left, and right The column ran out, and one of the riders just galloped towards this side, and said loudly: "Enemy attack - march in formation!"

"Enemy attack - March and form!"

As the flag passed the order, the Song army, which was still a little loose just now, suddenly became tense, the rear army accelerated, the front army slowed down, and the marching column quickly became dense.The infantry pushed wooden chariots of various sizes, such as side vans, King Kong chariots, decisive victory chariots, and crossbow chariots, to the outside of the queue.The Hulu rode more, and the Southern Dynasties had fewer horses. Therefore, the famous generals of the Central Plains, such as Wei Qing, Li Ling, Liu Yu, and Ma Long, all won with chariots.Since the founding of the dynasty, the famous ministers Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan have all advocated the Daxing chariot. On the chariot is a large and thick wooden shield. The heavy armored spearman and hook gunner, and the long-handled axeman walked on the side of the chariot. And fight and go, to prevent the cavalry of the Liao army from rushing into the marching array.Under the protection of the chariot formation, the crossbowmen took turns firing arrows to defeat the enemy.

After discovering the traces of the Liao cavalry, the cavalry scouts of the Song army on the periphery shrank back one after another, and the marching speed of the army also slowed down a lot. "No tampering!" "Be careful!" The officers shouted loudly, and the soldiers below held their weapons nervously, looking out of the chariot formation, but the Liao army had not yet appeared.

Li Ruoxu only felt that his heart was about to jump out of his throat.In order to suppress the tension in his heart, he chanted words as if chanting a mantra. "If you don't meet a big enemy, don't ride on a war horse. As soon as you get close to our division, you will compete to ride on it. Therefore, Xinjian's war hoofs have spare power. And use the art of the army, form a line without fighting, and take advantage of it when you retreat. Many soldiers will be ambushed and food will be cut off. Dao, braving the fire at night, dragging firewood in the local wind, paying for oneself, retreating and losing without shame, dispersing and reuniting, cold and strengthening, this is its director..." It is exactly what Duke Hui'an of the Song Dynasty said a hundred years ago in the Liao Dynasty. Military situation.Song Qi was born in Youyan, so she knew the Liao army very well, and Li Ruoxu devoted himself to related writings in order to contribute to the army in the future.

From when the cavalry discovered the enemy attack to when the cavalry of the Liao army appeared in sight, it seemed as long as several hours.There are more and more Liao army cavalry. Although they only hovered around the Song army, they did not launch an attack except for the temptation of a few or a dozen cavalry. However, the number of enemy troops continued to increase, but it slowly increased in the hearts of the Song army soldiers. pressure.The sky in the distance raised dust all over the sky, and the ground seemed to tremble slightly.

A sun and moon flag gradually appeared on the northern hills, and the cavalry of the Liao army cheered in unison.Shamanism worships the sun, moon, heaven and earth, and the sun and moon flag is the symbol of the Liao Kingdom and the emperor of the Liao Kingdom. The copper coins cast after Yelu Dashi ascended the throne have the year name on one side and the sun and moon figure on the other.Amid the cheers of the Liao army, a huge white umbrella stood up. Yelu Dashi, wearing a white armor, stood on the top of the mountain, overlooking the entire battlefield.The cheers of the Liao army became more violent.

"Those who lie about the military will be punished. Yelu Dashi did not cross the river." Qin Hui immediately realized that the person under the white umbrella must be the emperor of the Liao Kingdom, and then thought, "He is here waiting for the defenders of the Daming Mansion to go south." Immediately recalled Cold sweat dripped down.Before he left Bianliang, soldiers and horses from Henan reported seeing the yellow Luo umbrella of the Khitan emperor, so they took it for granted that they lied about the military situation.In fact, before Yelu Dashi usurped the throne, the royal family of the Liao Kingdom admired the culture of the Central Plains, wearing yellow robes and using yellow umbrellas, but after Yelu Dashi succeeded to the throne, they thought that yellow was used by the emperors of the Central Plains, while the Khitan people still favored white. All changed to white.Also, the dragon is the symbol of the emperor of the Central Plains, and all objects with dragon patterns in the palace are not used, and the Khitan sun and moon patterns are used instead. Even if there are dragon shapes, most of them are Khitan warriors crouching over the dragon, "shooting" the dragon, and subduing the dragon. .

Yelu Dashi appeared on the battlefield, as if it was a signal to attack.The horns of the four fields blew together, and the morale of the Liao army was greatly boosted. They waved scimitars, bows and arrows, and uttered all kinds of strange screams in their mouths.There are enemies all over the mountains and plains, the sound of horseshoes is shaking the sky, and the bloodthirsty shouts are full of jackals and beasts. At this time, most of the Song soldiers felt a sense of despair in their hearts.

"Those who turn around will be cut! Those who turn around will be cut! Those who are in chaos will be cut! All the armies will fight and walk, marching slowly."

The flag officer passed down the military order again, which brought many commanders back to their senses.The Hebei army and the Khitan are life and death enemies, and they have been fighting continuously since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty.In every battle, the Hebei infantry formed an formation to fight against the Liao cavalry, which almost became the instinct of survival.After a moment of panic, the army formation was reorganized again, and the panic in the soldiers' eyes gradually turned into a determination to fight to the death. "We still have Wang Jiedu." Many people turned their heads to look at the handsome flag and took a reassurance. They suddenly remembered the military order "Behead those who turn back", and they held back, but twisted their necks painfully. Can stare straight ahead.

Wang Yan's face was as cold as iron, and a stern look flashed in his eyes. Surrounded by his own soldiers, he reined in his horse and walked slowly.Behind him, several burly eight-foot-long personal soldiers raised the commander-in-chief flag, and the strong north wind blew the scarlet commander-in-chief flutteringly.On the handsome flag, there is a line of big characters "Da Song Hebei Camp Capital Deployment King" lined up vertically, which is the courage of the army.The surrounding spears and axes are like a forest, and three thousand soldiers densely surround the commander in the middle. Further outside, layers of crossbowmen are walking and winding. After the crossbow is fired, the empty crossbow in the hand is returned to the formation. The crossbowmen in the queue are only responsible for putting in arrows and stringing, and handing over the stringed crossbow to the crossbowmen outside.

The Song army's chariots moved forward slowly, the strings "bang bang" and "bang bang" resounded, and the crossbow arrows continued continuously.Tens of thousands of cavalrymen of the Liao Army seemed to be shooting at them wave after wave like the raging tide of the sea. The cavalrymen bent their bows and set arrows on their horses, and they also kept firing arrows at the dense Song army.Arrows fell like rain on the Song army's formation.The armor of the Song army was strong, and the surroundings were covered by chariots, so the number of casualties was less than that of the Liao army.However, in the fierce battle, the Song Army's marching speed has slowed down.

Relying on their horses and sharp swords, the Liao army spread out their cavalry in all directions, and kept coming forward.Intercepting from the front, rushing from the side, and lagging behind the tail, the Liao army completely abandoned the rule of "no fighting in a row", and tried to defeat the marching ranks of the Song army again and again without hesitating casualties.As time went by, fierce battles broke out in front, back, left, and right sides of the marching Song army. Both the Liao army and the Song army burst out with the greatest courage and fought desperately.The Song army piled all the dead and wounded on the chariot. The corpses and wounded were layered on top of each other. As they moved forward, blood continued to flow from the chariot, like a red stream.Even so, the Liao army still couldn't stop the Hebei army from advancing slowly. Behind them, the wilderness was covered with corpses, and the road was dyed in different shades of red.