Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 411 Open the door to accept the evil (5)

"Contribute - Song Zhu!"

"Do you want to die!"

Accompanied by stern scolding, the leather whip slapped and slapped the signing army non-stop.The clothes on his back were easily torn, and his thin back was covered with welts, and there were shocking blood scabs.The signing army can only push the iron barrel cannon weighing several thousand catties with all their strength.At the same time, the Khitan waved their whips and drove dozens of reining horses to pull the cannon carriage.

Yelu Baoyi, the commander of the Han army, was sweating profusely, took off his armor, and rolled up his military robe, looking as if he wanted to push the cannon cart himself, and shouted: "One, two, three—get up! The heavy gun cart shook a few times, and the wide wheels rolled upward from the mud pit. It was about to come out, but finally it went backwards with a "boom--".The huge pulling force generated by the rear seat of the cannon cart, the steeds neighing loudly, the iron hoofs stamped deep hoof prints on the soil, stepping back step by step, the ropes drew bloodstains on the shoulders of the signing army, some people staggered and couldn't stand still In terms of stature, some people couldn't eat enough. Afterwards, more people were brought by the cable, and all the signers fell down.Many people sprained their muscles and bones at that time, and they were so tired that they couldn't get up on the ground.

"Bastard!" Yelubao yelled angrily, pulled out his whip, galloped over, and "cracked" on the standing signers, pointing the handle of the whip at those who were still lying on the ground. Said: "These lazy ones are all killed, so as to make a warning to others!"

This trip to intercept the Song Army, although the Liao Army Artillery Battalion had already calculated several routes, but when the battle started, it could only temporarily decide where to fire bombardment based on the speed of the Song Army.Because the artillery moves extremely slowly, Yelu Dashi ordered the various departments of the Liao army to try their best to hold back the Song army.It was very difficult for the iron barrel cannon to turn, so even if the speed was fast enough, for Yelu Baoyi, there was only one suitable place for the artillery battalion to stop the Song army.Once left behind by the Song army, it is considered a return to the mountain.

Yelu Baoyi was originally a Han son with the surname Guo, and he spoke Han dialect. Although the accent was different from that of Hebei, the signers could hear him clearly.As soon as the words fell, the fallen sign army begged for mercy loudly: "My lord, spare your life!" "The little one is still useful!"

The cavalry of the Liao army came over on horseback, bowed their bows and set arrows, their knives gleamed. Some soldiers struggled desperately to get up from the ground, while others were so frightened that they could not move.However, the Khitan cavalry didn't care about this, they shot arrows from a distance and slashed with knives from a distance. In an instant, they killed all the troops in this area, leaving only corpses on the ground, blood dripping all over the ground.The signing army not far away watched this scene in horror. The cavalry of the Liao army selected dozens of young and strong men to fill in the vacancies.

"Song pig!" Yelu Baoyi scolded in Khitan, full of disdain and disdain.

Although Yelu Dashi himself also read Chinese books and spoke Chinese, he strongly advocated that the courtiers of the Liao Kingdom use Khitan characters and speak Khitan language. As a Han son, Yelu Baoyi was even more afraid of falling behind. He shaved his hair and wore Khitan braids. Before going south, he finally got his wish and was given the surname Yelu by Yelu Dashi. He already completely regarded himself as a Khitan.Yelu Baoyi was deeply proud of being a Khitan.

This time the Southern Expedition entered the territory of the Song State, and the roads for transporting artillery were excellent, even wider and flatter than the roads specially built by the Liao State for transporting iron barrel cannons.Yelu Tiege, the privy envoy of the Northern Academy, vaguely revealed to him that there were important officials from the Southern Dynasty who were loyal to His Majesty. During the past ten years, they used excuses such as transporting grain and grass to the border towns, transporting tributes from Hebei to Bianliang, and helping the people. repairing bridges and paving roads.Traveling southward, Yelu Baoyi became more and more frightened as he led the artillery battalion of the Han army. There were suitable roads and bridges almost everywhere where the heavy iron barrel artillery of the Liao army might pass.As if by divine help, Yelu Baoyi was filled with inexplicable awe for His Majesty.However, this time the army that blocked the Hebei camp, because the route of the Song army's return to aid was uncertain, the Han army's artillery battalion did not have a ready-made road.Even if the severe cold makes the land in Hebei extraordinarily hard, it cannot carry the heaviest [-]-jin iron barrel gun in Liao.The artillery battalion of the Han army used widened wheels to barely move the heavy artillery weighing thousands of kilograms on ordinary roads, but it fell into unpredictable pits from time to time, which took a lot of time to go.

"One, two, three——" the steerer and the civilian husband finally got their strength together, and with a "boom—" the heavy sports car was pulled out of the road pit, and continued to move forward unsteadily.Behind the bulky gun carriage, dozens of corpses of signed troops were left behind.Every mile that the heavy iron barrel cannon travels, it will leave behind hundreds of innocent souls.

The Khitan cavalry continued to yell loudly, and the sound of "cracking" whips was endless.Yelu Baoyi breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Soon, soon—" he said to himself.In just one hour, Yelu Dashi sent the palace tent cavalry to urge him three times.The cavalry of the artillery battalion of the Han Army responsible for surveying the terrain also went back and forth more and more frequently.Finally, the sound of booming firecrackers, the neighing of war horses, and the shouts of the Liao and Song armies could be heard faintly in the distance.

After untold hardships, the thirteen heavy iron barrel guns were finally dragged to the open battlefield where Song and Liao fought.In order to prevent the Song army from attacking, Yelu Dashi sent [-] Xi troops and [-] palace tent cavalry to station behind the artillery battalion.These thirteen iron barrel cannons were cast by the Liao Kingdom after imitating the new cannons of the Xia Kingdom. Although they are still extremely heavy, they are still much lighter than before. The bullets fired are not rough stone bullets, but smoother. round iron bullets.With the same weight of gunpowder, it can hit farther than the old iron barrel cannon.

The gunners quickly untied the thick gun covers, urged the horses, and carefully placed the heavy iron barrel guns into the gun positions, and the thirteen dark gun muzzles were lined up.The artillerymen of the Han army only adjusted the height of the muzzle, but did not care about the direction.The marching column of the Song Army was narrow and long, like a dragon trapped in the shallows.As long as the iron barrel artillery of the Liao army shoots the shells head-on, it is difficult to miss.Because the distance is not far, it is necessary to fire as many shots as possible without exploding the gun. Yelu Baoyi instructed the artillerymen to be careful not to add powder.

"Master Du Tong, the ammunition is loaded, can we fire?" Wu Jin, the supervisor of the Artillery Battalion, looked at Yelu Baoyi obsequiously.If Yelu Dashi is the sky of Yelu Baoyi, then Yelu Baoyi is the sky of Wujin.Yelu Baoyi's entire wealth and life are in Yelu Baoyi's hands. "Wait," Yelu Baoyi frowned, and looked at the hill where Yelu Dashi was stationed with a binoculars. After a while, he saw the command flag shaking, which was His Majesty's order, and the artillery camp opened fire.

"Fire!" Yelu Baoyi ordered.He was relieved, the gunfire had no eyes, and with the emperor's order, if he killed a Khitan, his responsibility would not be too great.At most, hand over the gunners like Wu Jin.Thinking of this, Yelu Baoyi looked at Wu Jin with kindness.Wu Jin didn't expect that he would be designated as a scapegoat. Seeing Yelu Baoyi's strange eyes, he shivered in his heart, and hurriedly ordered to fire.

"boom--"

"Boom——" "Boom——"

Cast iron bullets flew across the battlefield with a sharp whistling sound, most of them landed in the long formation of the Song army, a few bullets hit the Liao army on the periphery of the Song army, a round iron bullet flew over the heads of the two armies, A big hole was punched in the wilderness.Looking at the battlefield where hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses fought fiercely, more than a dozen shells seemed to fall into a few dead branches and leaves in a huge whirlpool.The appearance of artillery seems to have only made the chaotic Liao and Song armies even more chaotic.The accidentally injured Khitan cavalry scolded loudly, trying to calm the frightened horses.

However, the rampant artillery shells obviously did more damage to the dense Song army. Neither shield vehicles, shields, or iron armor could stop its rampant massacre.With the continuous roar of the artillery, gaps were opened in the originally tight formation of the Song army, and the Khitan cavalry were extremely good at finding gaps in the infantry, and galloped in.All parts of the Song Army resisted desperately, and the Liao Army must not be allowed to rush into the 'disrupted' formation.Long knives, iron spears, long axes, scimitars and maces waved around, and the Liao and Song armies fought together again.The artillery in the distance was still roaring, opening gaps in the Song Army's formation, and more and more Liao Army cavalry, Xi Jun, and Jurchen infantry poured into the Song Army's formation.The number of the Liao army was twice that of the Song army, and there were more cavalry. The Song army lost its strict formation and fell into a melee situation. The balance of victory began to tilt a little bit towards the Liao army.Because the Daming Mansion is much closer than Liyangjin, some Song generals led their troops to retreat the way they came.However, the Liao Army seemed to deliberately leave this way of life in order to dispel the Song Army's will to resist.

Zhang Yi, the commander of the Jingsai Army, was already covered in blood, and he shouted to Wang Yan: "Wang Jieshuai, let the last general protect you and swear to break through!" He also gave Qin Hui a vicious look.If he hadn't seized the military power of the army and forcibly returned to the army, how could he have suffered today's defeat.Wang Yan arranged for the deployment and march, but he did it knowing that he could not do it.

Facing the situation where the army was defeated like a mountain, Qin Hui was also helpless, looking at Wang Yan in fear, hoping that he would make a calculation.Li Ruoxu also looked at Wang Yan nervously, the heroic spirit of joining the army in the past has long been lost.After this battle, he has seen more blood and dead bodies than ordinary frontier soldiers have seen in their lifetime.

"The Liao army managed to lure us out of the Daming Mansion with great difficulty. How could they allow us to leave?" Wang Yan smiled lightly, straightened his helmet, and said in a deep voice, "I am in charge of an army. How can I abandon my subordinates? Gao Hang up the commander-in-chief flag and beat the drums! We Hebei men will die in a dignified manner!" The soldiers of the Chinese army hoisted Wang Yan's commander-in-chief flag on the three-foot-long flagpole.The banner officer beat the drum vigorously to encourage the soldiers to fight to the death.Wang Yan turned to Qin Hui and said: "Zhang Yi is a strong general in Hebei, and he will escort the gentleman back to the court. Wang defended the city and did not fight, not because he was afraid of death and cowardice. He originally planned to leave an elite force for the court to strangle the rear Back, so that they dare not go south unrestrainedly. The matter has come to this point, I want to serve the country with my death, and I also hope that Qin Xianggong will report the heroism of my Hebei man to the Holy One!"

Although Wang Yan's voice was not loud, every word and every word made Li Ruoxu's eyes tear open. He felt his blood rushing up, and he only wanted to stay and fight to the end with tens of thousands of Song soldiers. "Wang Jiedu," he cried out, Wang Yan looked over in a blink of an eye, seemed to see through his mind, smiled slightly, and said in a deep voice, "Li Zhuangyuan, a handsome young man, should serve the court with a useful body. It's up to you." After saying this, he turned his face away, no longer looking at these civil servants, and shouted at the flag officer: "The drum is too soft! Damn it, use more force!"