Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 815 Night Attack
As the night darkened, lights strung around the top of the city wall of Hekou County, looking like patches of stars from the Liao people's camp.But in Hekou City in the dark night, the continuous shadows under the city are far darker than the city walls.

"This is the darkness under the lamp that the Han people often say." Xiao Dage withdrew his gaze from afar, his eyes flickering, and said back.

Xiao Dage had already assigned and deployed the task of attacking the city tonight, and now only his confidant generals were left behind.Originally, they were waiting for the king's final order, but a group of generals did not expect Xiao Dage to say such a sentence suddenly, they were all stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer.Although they have also heard of the Han Chinese saying that the lamp is black, they basically know it but don't know why.

Xiao Dage bared his teeth, his expression was extremely ferocious and proud, and he said quietly: "The so-called darkness under the lamp means that the brighter the brighter, the darker the darker naturally. If the lamp is not lit, the things in the dark will still be dark." I can barely see the outline, but when the lamp is turned on, it becomes even more difficult to see in dark places without light."

The generals suddenly realized, and then looked at Hekou County, they were overjoyed, the lights above the city wall were brightly lit, but it was pitch black under the city wall, it wasn't just the darkness under the lights.

...

...

Night has finally come.

The stars and the moon in the sky are blocked by thick clouds, and the night without enough light is a thick black that can't be seen.

In the darkness, there was a mass of dark figures, half squatting, half kneeling, curled up, or lying down, looking at the city wall not far away.And in the dark wilderness farther away, there are more Khitan elites lurking in places where the defenders of Hekou County cannot see, secretly accumulating energy, waiting for the final order.

There are seven long ladders that will accompany them to the bottom of the city wall at the same time.It was a siege weapon made by the artisans accompanying the Liao army after a busy night.

Sure enough, as Xiao Dage expected, the elite sent out from the village where the camp was set up to lurk all the way to the last waiting area before the siege, did not encounter any obstacles or attacks, obviously they were not discovered by the defenders.

There are still three hundred steps away from the city wall. On a cold windy night, at this distance, there is no need to worry about the giant crossbow bolts on the city wall and the powder packs fired by the catapult.

They were still waiting, and unless orders from the rear began to sound, they could lie in wait until night fell.

While waiting, a war drum suddenly sounded, beating the hearts of countless people.The sound of the drums was transmitted in the camp, like lighting the fuse of fireworks and firecrackers. Immediately, there was a frenzy in front of the city gates on the north and south sides of Hekou County.

Nearly a thousand elite soldiers of the Liao army ran wildly on both sides of the official road in front of the city gate, and passed through houses and pavements to avoid observation in the city.

A series of short horns began to call, and after listening to their ears, many Liao soldiers straightened up and began to charge.They only knew to charge forward silently.There was no yelling or screaming, and everyone had a coin in their mouths so that they would not make the slightest cry when they charged.They dragged seven ladders, ready to rush down to the city and erect them.

Two hundred steps, one hundred steps, seventy steps, fifty steps, forty steps, 35, the Liao army ran wildly.

The black shadow of the city wall occupied more and more territory in the field of vision, as long as there were two or three more breaths, they could attack the city as planned beforehand, but at this moment there was a loud bang from the air.

A ball of fireworks exploded high above Hekou City, and the colorful fireworks bloomed in the sky, becoming the most dazzling existence in the sky.

A bunch of grass balls tied with straw were dropped on the top of the city, and they were so light that no one was hurt.But the strong smell of fuel from the grass ball still made the Liao Army's nose twitch.

"It's fuel!" Someone in the Liao army screamed.

Clusters of flames descended from the sky and landed on the rows of houses outside the city, and the sparks immediately pierced the darkness below the city.

I don't know whether it was the wind that brought the fire, or the fire fueled the wind, or the effect of the strong smell of fuel oil in the air. The little flames spread out in an instant, and the houses and shops were engulfed in flames. swallow.The beating rays of light dyed half of the sky red, attracting the attention of countless people.

Nearly a thousand Liao soldiers caught in the sea of ​​flames suddenly let out extremely shrill screams, and the Liao soldiers who were lucky enough not to be engulfed by the flames were also separated from the night by the flashing flames below the city.The crossbow bolts, strong bows, giant crossbow guns, and gunpowder packs on the top of the city immediately became accurate.

Arrows were like rain, but they were far more dangerous than fine rain. In the place where fire and darkness intersected, more and more suppressed screams appeared below the city.

At intervals on the city wall, there is a platform protruding from the outer wall, which is the so-called horse face, and the enemy tower is built on the horse face.Adjacent enemy towers can support each other and shoot directly at the enemy troops at the foot of the city wall from the side.

The city walls of Hekou County did not have such a design before. After the founding of the Xiangfu State and the Ministry of Military Affairs issued regulations on the construction of city defenses, city forts, and military forts, the city walls of all states, counties, and military forts in the country were remodeled.This kind of transformation naturally consumes a lot of financial and material resources, but it is obviously very necessary to rebuild the original enemy tower with only the base. Although it is not high, the arrow houses also make the originally bare city wall become claw sharpen up.

The arrows coming from the city are getting denser and denser, like bursts of torrential rain accompanied by strong winds.No one can escape or pass through the storm of arrows.

Some Liao people who survived by luck and were far away from the sea of ​​flames crawled on the ground. They tried to raise their heads several times, but they were all pressed back heavily by the arrows that never stopped.Today, Xiao Dage and Shi Fat gave up attacking the city during the day and chose to raid in the dark. Half of the reason is that they are afraid of Xiangfu Kingdom's fast crossbow, gunpowder pack, and giant strong crossbow. All sharp weapons are bound to become blind.

However, under the sea of ​​flames, Ye Guang did not help the Liao army offset the advantages of the defenders in Hekou County in various powerful weapons.

At this time, nearly a thousand people who passed through the houses under the city had been burned to death in the sea of ​​fire, and the screams gradually disappeared.And at all times on both sides of the sea of ​​flames, there were still screams and groans that were suppressed.The Liao army who were still alive were also shrouded in the rain of arrows. It was only because they were lying under the shadows of the field ridges and hiding deep in the shadows that they were lucky not to be exposed by the sea of ​​fire and became targets.

I don't know when, the arrows gradually became thinner, and then they shot intermittently.The dense strings lingering in my ears just now dissipated, but there was still a faint sound coming with the wind in the distance.

The defenders of Hekou County had run out of arrows, or had no strength to draw their bows anymore.Most of the Liao soldiers crawling on the ground flashed this idea judged from past experience, but there were also a few veterans with a keen sense of danger who felt something was wrong and did not get up and charge.

"Don't stand up!" A Liao army officer's roar was a step behind, and hundreds of soldiers jumped up quickly, rushing directly to the foot of the city wall.Even though they were suppressed by the defenders of Hekou County with strong bows and crossbows for a long time, they were still fearless.

It's just that such bravery is tantamount to recklessness, even death. They only rushed two steps forward. Their bodies screamed and fell to the ground without a sound.

While the few Liao soldiers who didn't stand up and charge were lucky, they broke out in a cold sweat from fear in the winter.

"This is a complete trap! The other party has long known that we are coming to attack the city tonight?" This is the voice of almost all the living Liao soldiers who came to attack the city at this time.

...

...

With the aid of the blazing fire below the city tower, Ye Chen could clearly see that the incoming Liao soldiers suffered heavy casualties, they were completely suppressed by the arrow rain on the city, and they couldn't even get close to the city.

However, the arrows consumed in this way are also a huge number. It is completely throwing money at people, with tens or even hundreds of taels of silver thrown out every moment.

"Are there enough arrows?" Ye Chen asked.

"There are 23 crossbow arrows and 51 ordinary hard bows and feathers in the warehouse. In addition, there are more than 5000 crossbows and guns, and [-] gunpowder packs." Tang Xingwu replied in response.

Over the past few days, Tang Xingwu's extraordinary talent and superb memory have made him the best staff officer.

"Tang Xingwu! You bring a hundred black cavalry and choose 3000 young men from the city to teach them how to operate the crossbow. You will be given three days. If you do this well, you will make a great contribution." Ye Chen said .

Tang Xingwu was overjoyed. Although he was valued more and more by Ye Chen these days, he didn't make any great achievements, and it was difficult to improve quickly after the war.Now training three thousand people to operate the fast crossbow is a real great achievement.

After taking the order, Tang Xingwu left quickly.

Ye Chen withdrew his gaze and glanced at Hu Sanguang, who was watching the enemy with a telescope, and said: "Xing Xiyang is worthy of being Zhang Wumeng's direct disciple and Tiyin of the royal family of the Liao Kingdom. There are his people in the middle. This time the Liao army attacked at night, Xing Xiyang’s people sent you a letter in the secret language of the Ministry of Security in the afternoon. It really surprised me. After the war, all the affairs of the Ministry of Security of the Liao State were handed over to Xing Xi. Yang! He has the unique convenience."

Hu Sanguang respectfully said yes.

Ye Chen put his eyes on the battlefield again, and said softly: "Although there are a lot of various crossbow arrows, feather arrows, and gunpowder packs in stock, the rhythm must be grasped and not wasted." Suppressing the enemy with arrows is not just to shoot indiscriminately, it is reasonable The rhythm of the arrow can maximize the effect of the arrow.

Hu Sanguang replied: "Your Majesty's instructions have been passed on before, and the battalion commanders and company commanders who direct the shooting know what to do."

Ye Chen nodded. He said similar content before, and he conveyed it during the two days of training.If it can be done, if there are no accidents in this battle, basically there will be no big problems.

(End of this chapter)