Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 467 - 88 Sincerity crowns the ancients forever - 1

"Fire—" "Fire—"

With the command of the gunner, five-jin round iron bullets pierced through the rain curtain and fell into the dense crowd with great inertia.After the simplest correction, every cannonball will bring up a lot of screams and flesh and blood.The pale-faced Liao army hadn't recovered from the shock of the flood, and suffered heavy shelling. Most of them lost the ability to think, and what was left was endless fear and panic.The gurgling blood and rainwater mixed together to form countless blood-colored streams, and the dead bodies and blood water continuously flowed into the torrential flood around the highlands.

For the Liao army, such a scene was as terrifying as hell.They are densely packed, and there is no way to avoid them.

"My lord, my lord!" Yeluxian Zhenxun looked over at him, only to see the deputy general Xiao Sarah yelling towards him.

Xiao Sala squeezed over desperately, and said loudly: "It's such a disadvantage for us to be bombarded like this!" Yelu Xianzhen remembered that he was a member of the queen's family, a young man with a strong blood.This time I followed him to Fangzhou, probably because there is no danger, but I can accumulate military merits.Seeing the soldiers around him trembling like walking corpses, Yelu Xianzhen understood that the flood and shelling had completely destroyed morale, and the so-called defeat was like this.He was in a daze, Xiao Sala had already squeezed in front of him, his face was covered with mud, and he said in a rough voice: "My lord, the Song people's artillery must be killed!"

"Get rid of it?" Yelu Xianzhen looked at the raging flood, sighed, and shook his head feebly.

Song Jun's artillery barracks are on the opposite side of the flood, how to get rid of it?fly over?The morale of the army has been lost, relying on you or me?He looked at the surrounding subordinates again. In the panic, many soldiers were not fully armored, and even their horses were gone.Xiao Sala followed his gaze to look around, and understood that under such a situation, Yelu Xianzhen had lost the will to fight. "Daliao soldiers and horses marched southward, and they have never been defeated. Could it be that they just admit defeat?" He stared fiercely at the flood.Xiao Sarah didn't understand water, even if she wanted to fight, she was afraid that she would drown herself if she didn't swim to the opposite side.

After several rounds of shelling by the Song army, the signed troops began to flee, and the Khitan people instinctively huddled together.The narrow high ground is so crowded that it is impossible to insert a foot.The pattering raindrops fell endlessly, but at this time, people felt a bone-chilling chill.The pitch-black night sky, and the deadly shells flying over from time to time, made people terrified to the point of despair.Someone yelled like crazy in fright, someone scrambled desperately on the narrow high ground to avoid shells flying from nowhere, someone was pushed down and trampled to death, More people were squeezed into the flood, some were trapped in the mud, some were submerged in the torrential flood, and they could no longer see the clear sky.

The flood formed by the breach of the embankment came and went quickly.After a short period of raging, the flood gradually receded.At dawn, there was already a muddy swamp full of puddles outside Fangzhou City, and the Liao Army was washed away by the flood.Under the deliberate instigation of Xi Zuo, most of the signers fled.The rest of the Liao army gathered on several high grounds and survived the all-night bombardment, leaving less than 2000 troops.At this time, the Liao army had completely given up the idea of ​​​​conquering Fangzhou. From top to bottom, they just wanted to escape from the damn place of Fangzhou as soon as possible.As soon as the flood receded, the Liao army on various high grounds fled eastward in a hurry, dragged by horses, and the remnants of the defeated soldiers struggled in the mud.

However, Lu Mingyu, Luo Xian and the tenth general appeared with their subordinates.Most of the soldiers of the Baoyi Army were from pirates. They wore straw sandals with bare legs and light paper armor on their bodies.They isolated the various departments of the Liao army, and then shot arrows at the Liao soldiers who were struggling in the mud.The battle at this time was already a one-sided massacre.The Liao army had no ability to fight back in a panic. Seeing their companions fall one by one in the muddy water, the remaining people lost their last bit of courage.Before the Baoyi army persuaded them to surrender, all the Liao army knelt in the muddy water, and the battle was over.

"Is this the end?" Du Chuijiao rubbed his hands, looking very regretful, "It's too soon."

"It's over." Gao Su sighed, "General Zhao overestimated these Khitan people."

Around the artillery position, the line of defense set up by two thousand musketeers with antlers and pickets was made in accordance with the requirements for dealing with the neatly armored cavalry rushing into the formation.Because it was the first battle, the officers were required to be ready to stab the cavalry in hand-to-hand combat.However, after learning that the battle was over, the gunners all secretly heaved a sigh of relief, and then felt unreconciled.Especially seeing other departments of the Baoyi Army escorting teams of prisoners everywhere, happily catching those horses scattered in the swamp, many people felt even more itchy.

Because of floods and muddy land, a large number of manpower is needed to gather horses and prisoners. Zhao Xingde sent Lu Mingyu and Luo Xianshi's left and right troops to do these things. letter.Looking at the clear traces of the flood on the city wall, Zhao Xingde murmured inwardly that it was a fluke. Fangzhou City has experienced floods for many years and withstood the flood last night.The city was besieged for more than a month, and the guards at the top of the city learned that it was the Baoyi Army who came to help them, so they rushed to inform the Shangguan, and Zhao Xingde took care of the soldiers and horses to wait outside the city gate.

Gao Zhen's eyes were bloodshot, but his face was flushed with surprise.Zhao Xingde personally came to rescue Fangzhou, the sudden flood, the sound of cannons all night and the battle outside the city after dawn were all his handwriting. "Sure enough, there are no worthless men under a great reputation." Gao Zhen secretly said to him, and immediately called Chen Keli, the commander of the army and horses, to greet him.Looking down from the city tower, I saw a general stationed in front of the city gate. This man had a short beard, a burly figure, and a black cloak over his iron armor. Hundreds of soldiers stood upright behind him. Surrounded by his subordinates, he looks calm and dignified.

After seeing Gao Zhen and Chen Keli opening the city gate to meet them, the general got off his horse immediately and went up to meet them with a smile on his face.

Gao Zhen cupped his hands and said with a smile, "My official is Gao Zhen, the magistrate of Fangzhou. On behalf of the elders in Mancheng, I would like to thank your Ministry for your righteous rescue!" Nodding his head, he looked behind the general, but he didn't find the person dressed as a scribe, so he couldn't help but secretly wondered, and said hesitantly, "Where is Mr. Zhao Yuanzhi? Please ask the general to introduce him."

Zhao Xingde was slightly taken aback, smiled and cupped his hands and said: "I'm Zhao Xingde, the cursive characters are straight, I have met Master Zhizhou Gao!"

Gao Zhen suddenly felt extremely embarrassed, bowed and cupped his hands and said: "Mr. Zhao, Mr. Yuanzhi forgives the crime, but only one." He was secretly surprised, he thought that Zhao Xingde was a celebrity, but who knew that he had such a demeanor.Zhao Xingde smiled slightly and said, "Lord Gao and Mr. Zhao have never met before, what is your fault?" He stretched out his hand to support Gao Zhen, but he laughed off the misunderstanding, and the distance between the two narrowed considerably.Zhao Xingde then met with Chen Keli, the military commander of Fangzhou, and Chen Keli was secretly amazed: "It's better to be famous than to meet each other. Zhao Yuanzhi turned out to be a martial artist. Zi said, judge a person by his appearance, and lose Ziyu, so that's how it is."

The Baoyi Army then entered Fangzhou City.The Liao army attacked the city for days, and the people died and injured countless times. It can be said that every family wears mourning and everyone wears mourning.Many houses in the city have been vacant, and they can be used as barracks with simple cleaning.When the state capital was making plans to reward the army, the people woke up from the flood and the shock of the Liao army's retreat. They took out the white rice and wheat noodles that they were reluctant to eat during the siege, as well as the Lingluo copper coins in the hoard, etc. I collected fifteen carts of money and goods and sent them to the places where the Baoyi Army was stationed.This is actually the meaning of hoping that the armies will not 'harass' the civilians.Before Zhao Xingde saw it, Lu Mingyu, Luo Xianshi and the others decided to accept it, and distributed it to each department according to the rules. It was a moment of joy.

The enthusiasm of his subordinates is very high, and Zhao Xingde is also willing to let go.In this battle, nearly 3000 signing army prisoners and more than [-] Khitan prisoners were captured, and most of the rest were drowned in the flood.The number of captives has surpassed the Baoyi Army itself, how to deal with the captives so as not to leave future troubles?He thought about it all night, but he still hasn't made up his mind.At dawn the next day, he received a message from the Military Intelligence Department using pigeon books.Zhao Xingde took a look, and found a secret order to strengthen and reform Fangzhou's city defense.If necessary, after the main force of the Baoyi Army retreats, all [-] firearms battalions can stay in Fangzhou to assist in defending the city.In addition, Gao Zhen, the prefect of Fangzhou, and Chen Keli, the general manager of soldiers and horses, will directly receive assistance from the military.

It is rare for the military government to directly intervene in the military affairs of the front line. Zhao Xingde felt a little strange. He did not expect that Fangzhou City, which the Song Dynasty regarded as a chicken rib, was so important in the eyes of the military government.In the future, if Xia Jun wanted to directly assist Fangzhou's defense, Gao Zhen, the magistrate of Fangzhou, and Chen Keli, the military commander, had to agree, but the secret order did not mention this.It seems that there is no need for Zhao Xingde to contact Gao Chen in advance, or has Gao Chen already contacted Xia Guo?

For the next two days, Zhao Xingde had no time to think about the intentions of the mansion, and was only busy arranging the aftermath of the Fangzhou battle.Since the defense of the city is to be consolidated, it is best to leave thousands of signed troops to Fangzhou.Outside the city of Xiangyang, which is close at hand, there are hundreds of thousands of Liao troops watching.It is necessary to build artillery forts outside the moats of the state city, and to construct cross-fire artillery firepower without dead ends.Among the more than 3000 Khitan captives, Song State had the habit of using Fanbing captives as cavalry, but Zhao Xingde did not want to leave this hidden danger.In the future, Ezhou will need a large amount of labor to mine the Daye iron ore, and these captives are not enough.Nearly [-] war horses were seized in this battle. Among the southeastern armies of the Song Dynasty, the Baoyi Army was definitely making a fortune.It's a pity that there are too few people in the Baoyi Army who are likely to become cavalrymen. Zhao Xingde plans to build up a cavalry force of about [-] people for scouting and pursuit.In addition, one-third of the captured war horses were reserved for Fangzhou. Presumably the military government will help Fangzhou train a usable cavalry.The other one-third of the war horses can be given to the Ezhou Military Quartermaster, but they can take the opportunity to ask for a batch of money and food from the Military Quartermaster to reward the troops.