Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 828
During the siege of the Liao camp in Hekou County, Xiao Dage jumped off his horse.The fatigue accumulated over the past four days did not affect his agility at all, but the rising smoke made him cough a few times.

According to Xiao Dage's just heard the battle damage report, they can last at most two days to attack the city with such scale and intensity.If after two days, they still can't capture Hekou County, the only option left is to retreat with hatred.

If so, the loss would be too great for them.Not only did more than 1 people die, but in the face of Xiangfu Kingdom's counterattack, how to retreat the army to Daxia Pass was the most troublesome thing for him.

Xiao Dage, who only wanted to make a great achievement, would never let his name be associated with failure.His cold eyes licked the faces of all his subordinates like poisonous snakes, staring at them and their hearts tightened.

I only heard Xiao Dage's voice so cold that it made people feel chills from the bottom of my heart: "Each department is responsible for a piece of the city wall. After three horns, if they can't attack the top of the city again, and those who retreat after going out to battle, they will all be killed!"

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Half a day later, the Liao army dropped nearly a thousand corpses and withdrew.

In Xiao Dage's tent, the atmosphere was extremely dull.

"What happened to the 3000 extra people on the top of the city?"

Xiao Dage roared angrily, but no one dared to answer.

"Xiao Angui, tell me, you are responsible for inquiring about the military situation. Why are there 4000 people in Hekou County besides 3000?"

Xiao Angui stood up with a pale face and said: "Your Highness, the general took the risk to sneak up and observe carefully today. Although the extra 3000 people are wearing iron armor, wearing low-brow helmets, and are proficient in operating fast crossbows, they can't do anything with them. It seemed quite stiff, and I asked the first group of soldiers who survived the attack, and they all said that those people were quite flustered at the beginning. Therefore, the general suspects that they are these Tianxiang Fu Kingdom Emperor Ye Chen who sent people from the city They are selected from the common people, only the common people who have been trained by the quick crossbow."

Everyone was thoughtful, Xiao Dage and Shi Fat looked at each other, what Xiao Angui said was obviously not a sophistry, but a fact.But even if these 3000 people only operate the quick crossbow, the role they play at this time is extremely critical, even fatal.Simply use numbers to show that to kill these 3000 people, at least [-] Liao troops will be used to consume them.However, the Liao army could no longer afford it.

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Thirty thousand Liao troops besieged Hekou County with only four thousand troops.Now for four and a half days, Xiao Dage didn't know how many defenders there were in Hekou County, not counting the three thousand people who could only operate fast crossbows, but there were less than 2 horses left on their side.The most important thing is that they are running out of arrows, and all the trebuchets have been worn out one after another.And Hekou County only broke a small gap.Although he was very unwilling, Xiao Dage had to admit that although he still hesitated, it was indeed time to retreat.

Just when Xiao Dage was thinking about whether to carry out another night attack tonight, and making his last effort, a messenger from Daxia Pass came here and brought him the news.After Xiao Dage was furious, shocked, and horrified, he resolutely gave up the fantasy of breaking the city, and began to think about how to retreat smoothly, and then rushed back to the Daxia Pass as quickly as possible.

Xiao Dage forcibly calmed himself down, and then asked people to call Shi Fat and his generals, and told them the news that shocked, angered and made everyone feel unbelievable.

"Thirty thousand bandits on Huanglong Mountain came to attack Daxia Pass. Daxia Pass is in a hurry. When the messenger left, the bandits had already entered the pass. How is this possible?"

"Are those bandits stupid pigs? Daxia Pass is purely a military camp. There are no civilians, no gold and silver inside, only some food and grass. What are they attacking?"

After the generals heard the words, they were stunned for a moment, and then they cursed after the face changed drastically.

"The bandits in Huanglong Mountain are naturally not stupid. The reason why they came to attack Daxia Pass is probably that they have been recruited by Xiangfu Kingdom's court. They have become a rebel army." After Shi Fat was shocked, he quickly figured out the reason.

"Send urgent horses to inform the army to intercept Yang Jiye and Zeng Shangfei, as well as the 5000 people outside Yinzhou City, and quickly retreat to Daxiaguan." Xiao Dage suppressed the anger in his heart, and said with an extremely dignified expression.

"Wait a minute!" Shi Fat stood up and stopped a general who was leading the order.

Xiao Dage and the generals looked at Shi Fat, and Shi Fat said: "When we arrive at the Daxia Pass, the Daxia Pass will probably be lost. If we lose it, we can regain it? So, what I mean is the matter of the Daxia Pass. The ministries must be notified as soon as possible, but whether they should be allowed to retreat to Daxiaguan is still open to discussion.”

"Now it seems that Ye Chen used the honor of the emperor as a bait to drag us to Hekou County, and Daxia Pass was obtained by bandits. It was Ye Chen's conspiracy. Imagine that we retreated to Daxia Pass in this situation. Not to mention how difficult it is to recapture the Daxia Pass, if Ye Chen retreats to the Daxia Pass, it must be within Ye Chen's expectations, how could he have no arrangements, according to my expectations, Ye Chen wants to keep us all in Yinzhou, yes Want to catch us all."

As soon as Shi Fatty's words fell, Xiao Dage and the generals all changed color.If you think about it carefully, that's not the case.Although there are about [-] troops in all their ministries and places, in terms of numbers, it is still much larger than the army that can be transferred to Yinzhou from Xiangfu Kingdom, but their current state is really very bad. Well, first of all, without the supply of food and grass, one of the incidental effects of Ye Chen being trapped in the vast sea of ​​​​the people is to fortify the wall and clear the country. It is too difficult for them to hit Caogu now.The second is the war horses. The cavalry moved thousands of miles away in winter at the cost of killing more than half of the war horses after the war.Finally, there is morale. Morale is something that cannot be touched, but it can be seen from the soldiers' expressions, words and deeds, and the appearance of the army.The morale of the Liao army is now at a low ebb.

"Morale is not difficult to solve. Just tell everyone below that we have reached the critical point of life and death. If you don't work hard, you will die. Morale and blood will naturally be stimulated. This is the truth of the so-called death and survival." Shi Fatty said finally.

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Dark clouds cover the moon, and the winter is cold.

At the juncture of life and death, Xiao Dage and Shi Fat held night talks by candlelight and stayed up all night, formulating contingency strategies for each step of the entire action plan, and even the variables that might be faced at each step.

In Hekou County, the city walls were brightly lit, and the soldiers were sleepy, sleeping on their pillows, always preparing for Xiao Dage's night attack.Shangguan Bingyun had already reported to Ye Chen the news that the Daxia Pass had been obtained through Haidongqing. Ye Chen guessed that the Liao army would know about it later, and would probably jump over the wall in a hurry and attack Hekou County with all its strength at the end. After all, facing this only It's a flop or the only way out, it's no wonder that the Liao army didn't work hard.

Nearly two thousand black riders who were still alive tonight slept with their clothes on beside the fire in the city, recharging their energy, while the three thousand fast crossbowmen trained by Tang Xingwu were on duty to defend the city.So Tang Xingwu dressed neatly, patrolled the city wall at night, climbed up and looked into the distance, looked at the lights in the Liao army camp, but in his heart hoped that the Liao army would come to attack the city again, so that the value of the three thousand fast crossbowmen he trained could be maximized, so that To make his contribution even greater, Tang Xingwu didn't care how much these 3000 people could survive after defending the city for a few more waves.

In this winter's battle with the Liao Kingdom, Xiangfu Kingdom's military supplies, supplies, and treasury are certainly empty, and the finances are in urgent need again, but the Liao Kingdom will definitely suffer heavy losses. It is already extremely difficult for the Empress Dowager Xiao to control the huge Liao Kingdom as a woman. , and even brought the flames of war to the country. If Xiao Dage's [-] troops were to be wiped out in Yinzhou, the tribes and vassal states affiliated to the Khitan would be ready to move. The possibility of a battlefield.From now on, the Xiangfu Kingdom will truly rely on the fish to leap into the sea, and the sky to let the birds fly. After the three wars after the founding of the country, what has been exchanged is long-term peace and the opportunity for rapid development and rise.

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It has been many years since the Liao Kingdom had three knights carrying white flags enter the city at the same time, and more and more flags went to the back.

Even if the frontier is occupied by a state, or even a place along the way, the people of Shangjing in the Liao Kingdom will not panic, but they will inevitably think wildly. In the background of the post-red twilight, there was a slow and thrilling knock.

Boom!Boom!Boom!
Layers deep in the palace.There were many people in that vast hall.But it was completely silent.Empress Dowager Xiao, who presides over state affairs, has rushed from the harem to the main meeting hall of the front palace at this time, dressed in a phoenix robe and very majestic.

Empress Dowager Xiao sat indifferently on the dragon chair, her right hand was supported by a confidant maid, but this maid could feel that Empress Dowager Xiao was extremely angry from Empress Dowager Xiao's slightly trembling hands and extremely cold eyes.

His Highness knelt down three informers whose spirits were exhausted to the extreme. The snow on their bodies wet the luxurious blankets, but they still knelt with their heads bowed.Dare not speak out.I was afraid that if I said something more, I would anger the Queen Mother and cut off their heads to vent my anger.

Soon, important officials below the fourth rank of the Liao Kingdom entered the palace one after another as quickly as possible.

"More than [-] cavalrymen from Xiangfu Kingdom entered Wuzhou. Seven small tribes and five medium tribes have been wiped out." This is the news sent by the first cavalryman. This messenger traveled eight hundred miles from Wuzhou to Shangjing in an urgent manner It ran for three days.

"The Daxia Pass has been lost. Xiao Dage, the king of the Southern Academy, fell into the tricks of the Emperor Xiangfu. Yinzhou City was not conquered, but was defeated in Hekou County. The most important thing is that the Daxia Pass was lost. Xiao Dage and the Privy Council envoys were fat. Leading an army of [-] has lost the way to retreat." This is the news sent by the second cavalry, and this news was sent to the Wuzhou stronghold by Hai Dongqing, the spy of Eagle Eye Guard who was lurking near the Daxia Pass, and then passed through [-] soldiers. Riga urgently delivered to Shangjing.

"According to the news sent from Yinzhou by the Eagle Eye Guard spies through a secret channel, if there is no rescuer to get through the prefecture to respond, the [-] army may be wiped out." This is the latest news sent by the third messenger to the Eagle Eye Guard .

Inside the palace hall, there was dead silence, and the atmosphere was so dull that one could hardly breathe.

(End of this chapter)